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DEVOIRS DE MEMOIRE – was created by peoples who always attended by mourners from abroad by providing them with moral and technical support in this difficult time. As foreigner, to be buried in Israel request a huge personal effort, big money investment and despite that, it is not easy to get a plot. Many foreign Jewish families would like to buy in their life a plot or to bury their relative in Israel but cannot afford it and realized their wish. Our target is to make accessible the buying of plots and provide as much as we can, affordable solutions and very reasonable prices to any Jew in the world that wants to be buried in Israel. An English-speaking, Israel-based organization set up to facilitate the hassle-free purchasing of burial plots in Israel by Jews in the Diaspora. We offer twenty-four hour service to arrange transport of casket to Israel. We ease the difficulties of recently bereaved families by making all the practical arrangements at their time of need. We arrange for the erection of the tombstone and, if necessary, for kaddish to be said. WHY BEING BURIED IN ISRAEL ? After the coming of the Messiah, our sages teach us that all the dead will rise to Eretz Israel even those who were buried outside. However, for the latter, the body roll until Eretz Israel. To avoid this suffering, Jews prefer to be buried in Eretz Israel. We learn from our patriarch Yaakov. Before dying, he swore his son Joseph to do out of Egypt after his death and burial in the tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron in Eretz Israel. Rashi explains the verse of Paragraph 47 verse 29 “Al Na Tikbéréni Bemitsrayim” until the resurrection, the bodies are not buried in Eretz israel will run underground until Eretz Israel before returning to life. Yaacov and also wants to avoid this torment. From a legal point of view, in most European countries including France and Belgium, it is granted a burial plot. It is a location in a cemetery which you can buy usage but not the field. The act specifies that concessions are the beneficiaries and the duration and only the latter are entitled to renew the lease. At maximum, the concession is 50 years. Beyond this period, the grave is destroyed and emptied of its contents. This is not the case in Eretz Israel where all land and graves are granted in perpetuity. On top of this, at light of recent anti-Semitic events worldwide and desecration of our cemeteries, being buried in Eretz Israel is the best solution to preserve the grave and the memory of the family. Facing numerous challenges as problem of exhumation in French cemeteries, desecrated cemeteries in Algeria or other countries, our mission is to look for the best solutions to keep the Kavod Hamet. Thanks to the support of the highest rabbinical authorities, we intend to provide in full respect of the halacha and the deceased the best solutions. 1 – To welcome our fellow believers who died to be buried in Eretz Israel at a democratic cost 2 – Allow families living in Israel (new immigrants …) or abroad to repatriate a close deceased

Herod “the Great,” king of Judea, was unpopular with his people because of his connections with the Romans and his religious indifference. Hence he was insecure and fearful of any threat to his throne. He was a master politician and a tyrant capable of extreme brutality. He killed his wife, his brother, and his sister’s two husbands, to name only a few. Matthew 2:1-18 tells this story: Herod was “greatly troubled” when astrologers from the east came asking the whereabouts of “the new-born king of the Jews,” whose star they had seen. They were told that the Jewish Scriptures named Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born. Herod cunningly told them to report back to him so that he could also “do him homage.” They found Jesus, offered him their gifts, and warned by an angel, avoided Herod on their way home. Jesus escaped to Egypt. Herod became furious and “ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under.” The horror of the massacre and the devastation of the mothers and fathers led Matthew to quote Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children…” (Matthew 2:18). Rachel was the wife of Jacob (Israel). She is pictured as weeping at the place where the Israelites were herded together by the conquering Assyrians for their march into captivity. God is light and in him there is no darkness… 1 John 1:5 As one who primarily thinks in images, I see a mom and her little boy walking on a dark night. The mother holds a flashlight with a strong beam that dispels the darkness. As long as the little guy walks close by her, he not only can see where they are going, he feels safe from harm. If, however, he falls behinds or steps off the path, the darkness will swallow him. No longer will he see clearly. He will quickly become frightened. Isn’t this the way when we are in a close relationship with God, who is light? With Jesus who is “the Light of the World”? By receiving the Eucharist and spending time in prayer and reflection, we are better able to stay close to him and not be “led into temptation.” Gracious God, help us remember that Christ is our light. May his light “shine in our hearts, shine in the darkness,” as we go about our days.

The expected re-election later this month of Azerbaijan's tough, pro-Western President Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his like-minded, KGB-trained father Heydar in 2003, will be the icing on the cake. The Americans, always looking for ways to infiltrate Iran, will likely be pleased as well since this arrangement gives them a way into Iran, a facility that will likely be useful as U.S. President Barack Obama strives to develop a rapprochement with Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani. Over the last two or three years, Israeli and Azeri intelligence services claim they have thwarted several attacks by Iranian agents and their close allies, Hezbollah of Lebanon, to attack Jewish targets in Azerbaijan, including Baku, the country's capital on the Caspian. These included alleged plots to blow up the Israeli and U.S. embassies in Baku in 2012. Tehran responded by accusing Azerbaijan of helping Israel assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists. Tension was heightened with a report -- denied by Tel Aviv and Baku – that Israel planned to launch air raids from Azerbaijan in the event of pre-emptive strikes against Tehran's nuclear program. But there's no doubt that both governments are hostile to Iran and that the tension between them and the clerical Tehran regime is intensifying just as relations between Israel and Azerbaijan are becoming closer. This suits the Americans, who piggyback on Israel's intelligence service, the Mossad, to penetrate Iran through its large ethnic Azeri community. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hails from Iranian Azerbaijan. The CIA can maintain surveillance, probably once removed, on the Iranians, and their nuclear and ballistic missile programs and engage in a campaign of assassination and sabotage intended to wreck, or at least impede, these programs. Tensions have spiked in recent months. Although this is not exceptional, it could affect Obama's diplomacy. With the Americans hoping for a new era of dialogue with Tehran, Washington will not want its efforts jeopardized by friction stirred by Israeli hardliners who suspect Rouhani's soft words hide a harsher reality in Tehran. For Israel, its unfolding relationship with Azerbaijan, a Shiite Muslim country like Iran, has meant growing security cooperation against a common foe, a steady supply of Caspian oil and some lucrative military contracts. That culminated in a reputed $1.6 billion arms deal in 2012 with state-run Israel Aerospace Industries that Israeli officials say included unmanned aerial vehicles, anti-aircraft and missile defense systems. That deal alone totaled 43 percent of Baku's arms expenditure that year. In 2011, Israeli defense contractor Aeronautics opened a factory to produce military UAVs in Azerbaijan. In return, Azerbaijan provides 40 percent of Israel's oil needs. As Israel's Ynet outlet, the website for the mass-circulation Hebrew daily Yediot Ahronot, observed, this took "sophisticated Israeli technology to the doorstep of archenemy Iran... "Israel has been laboring hard to form diplomatic alliances in a region that seems to be growing increasingly hostile to the Jewish state." Tehran's unease at the growing Israeli presence on the Islamic Republic's northern border was heightened in May this year when Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov visited Israel, the first of his rank to do so, much to Tehran's chagrin. Israel opened an embassy in Baku in 1992, one year after Azerbaijan became independent of the collapsing Soviet Union. Baku, mindful of antagonizing Iran, has yet to reciprocate, even though it wants to obtain diplomatic support from Israel and its powerful lobby in Washington. The pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy observed that Azerbaijan feared that "Muslim-majority states in the U.N. would vote unfavorably on its conflict with Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region." Israel has since its founding in 1948 sought to build alliances with states on the Arab periphery like pre-revolution Iran, Kenya and Turkey to break their isolation of the Jewish state. Azerbaijan was a prime candidate when the Soviet Union disintegrated. But since Israel's strategic alliance with another Muslim state, Turkey, crashed in flames in May 2011, Israel has redoubled its effort to engage with Azerbaijan because both consider Iran a major security threat, despite Rouhani's charm offensive.

The Last Stage (Ostatni Etap)(1948) Director: Wanda Jakubowska; The Last Stage (Ostatni Etap) is about the women who were interned at Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp. Although men were also imprisoned there, this story is mostly about the women. People from all over Europe (including France, Hungry, Poland and Russia) were caged and killed at this camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Some were imprisoned for political reasons and others for simply being a Pole or a Jew. The story is based on the actual experiences of the director (Wanda Jakubowska) and was shot on location just three years after the war, which gives it a feeling of practically being a recreation of the atrocity. Although we get to know a group of women, one that stands out is Martha Weiss. She is a young Jewish woman that is spared the same fate as her family because she ends up working for the Germans as an interpreter. Those who have a skill useful to the Nazis are spared leaving the camp though the smoke of the chimney. Martha and her friends make the best of their grim situation and are courageous in their acts of defiance. With their survival threatened, not all of the prisoners are quite so noble. Some of the prisoners work as assistants for the guards to help them do their dirty work. In return, they get a few extra comforts and their own deaths are delayed. The Last Stage captures the feeling of what it was like at Auschwitz, which is at times surreal with an orchestra of prisoners playing classical music out in the open air while the other prisoners are abused and degraded by their captors. Ostatni Etap is a classic Polish movie; in Poland, it is in the top 20 of all time box office hits of Polish cinema. The Last Stage depicts a disturbing part of history, but it is better to know what really happened during World War II than it is to pretend it never did, which is why I would recommend everyone to watch this movie.

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by Sho, Mar 19, 2014. Well don't I feel stupid now...... I am not a smart man...... Don't forget the Andorian starships that appeared in A Choice of Futures: the Sevaijen class U.S.S. Thejal, commanded by Thanien's cousin Trenkanshent sh'Lavan and the Kumari class U.S.S. Vinakthen, commanded by Nisverin th'Menchal Yes, I know. I was more curious as to how big the Earth-part of Starfleet is. I mean, we know of three ships so far, but you'd guess there must be more, right? Usually I don't care so much about things like ships and so. But I'm kinda intrigued about how Starfleet was formed, and since we know now that all founding members contributed ships and performed different functions, I'm curious as to how many ships and what classes Earth was able to supply, after the heavy losses it must have suffered after the war. The Earth/UESPA ships are mostly involved with exploration and diplomatic missions, so they're not as prone to conducting joint operations as the Andorian defense ships would be. And of course when I have an exploration or diplomacy story to tell, I'm likely to tell it from the perspective of one of my three hero ships, Endeavour, Pioneer, and Essex (yes, I consider Shumar and his crew recurring characters). So there hasn't really been an opportunity yet to portray any other UESPA ships (besides Enterprise in the museum). But I'm sure there will be other ships mentioned as the occasion warrants. Prepare for words, people. Lots and lots of words. There are plot-related scenes on the Chelon homeworld and in an undisclosed location with Kirk, Grev and Not-The-Assistant-Director, but the real meat of this chapter is Federation/Rigel relations and the question of politics, so I'll focus on that. Soval's analysis/judgement of Thoris' speech and the wisdom or logic of it from the perspective of political capital is interesting. I also like his bland internal commentary on the competitive journalism of the non-Vulcans. I think it's all convincing as a logical, Vulcan perspective on what we've just seen. Lots of interesting points raised. As Thoris says, the Federation has thrown itself together rapidly; if anything, I think he might be understating on this one - a decade ago, most of the founding members were on the brink of war with one another, now they're best friends. I hope no-one will mind if I get a bit bogged down in personal opinion here, and ground this next piece in my own perspectives. Personally, I really enjoyed this chapter because it deals with the nature of politics. Politics, as I see it, can be understood in two possibly non-compatible ways and that is where the first difficulties come into play for me. It can be considered the means by which people, communities and individuals organize themselves and achieve functionality, an inherent social instinct that is now extended beyond immediate clan but is fundamentally the same thing - in which case, everyone is political and all interaction is politics - or it can be considered a process removed from private human behaviour and instead be a particular type of interaction, or interaction in a particular set of contexts, that employs its own rules. Again speaking personally, the core of politics as I relate to it - and not really deciding on either of those positions - is the tribalistic worldview that most humanoids (to my knowledge...) possess. A perspective that (as I see it) is almost paradoxical in its two primary goals - to be accepted as part of the group (so to gain the security and power that comes from collective identity; strength in numbers, the relief of being un-exposed and unknowable) and to gain status within the group relative to others (affirm the individual desires or ego, get attention), so to be conformist and aggressive in equal measure. I've long maintained that a higher degree of "sociability" goes hand-in-hand with a greater degree of relational aggression. There's little doubt in my mind that most social interaction and discourse has its basis in tribalist assumptions (or tribalist behaviours have their basis in what is normal human social interaction, whatever). Another paradox is the assignment or acceptance of responsibility (which contrary to what many claim, they do not take automatically as a necessary companion to power). One who affiliates or identifies with a grouping will defend a fellow member on principle, but if they find they truly can't - that the consequences of solidarity and shared protection will be too severe - they'll employ what is almost an opposite response and throw the person in question out, severing them from the group in order to protect it. The individual is subordinated and sacrificed to group identity, with the individual used as a scapegoat to shield the group, indeed often described in terms revealing of what the true concern is: "doesn't represent us", "gives us a bad name", etc. What is often lauded as an emphasis on individual responsibility actually strikes me as the very opposite - it's all about denying the individual responsibility of seeking or keeping membership, official or unofficial, within a shared identity. So there's a fundamental conflict there, between my assumptions and those of others, it seems. So too (he says) do people make their affiliations their identity. We don't say "my religious beliefs are Xantist" or "I'm a follower of Xantism", we say "I'm a Xantist". It's I = Xantist; we're not in a relationship, we're synonymous. We don't say "My political beliefs tend to be to the political left", for instance, we say "I'm left-wing". Okay, using linguistic convenience like that is a poor basis for an argument, I know, but it's useful, I hope, in making the point. People take their political (and ideological, philosophical, religious, etc) positions and affiliations as synonymous with - or at least permanently Joined in Trillish fashion with - their very identities. An attack on the former is taken as an attack on the latter. I also believe that all other concerns are ultimately secondary in the tribal mindset to what - taking a position on that original question - I might choose to call "politics"; that is, to a reading of the social situation in its complexities and the desire to remain both within the conformity of the identified group and in a leading or prosperous position relative to other members. This isn't at all to say that people have no regard for a sense of consistent ethics, reason, truth, or other virtues, or that they don't try to, say, honestly represent constituents or play by principles held to be objective, merely that these will be discarded or ignored when the alternative is to truly disempower or weaken whatever groups one has affiliated or identified with (and not necessarily without regret or internal conflict). I would also propose that this is not so much a conscious decision as a simple consequence of the way most people work. All this raises some problems, because if politics is the means by which peoples and communities arrange matters for their communal benefit then it can easily be argued that the political system must be tribalist or it isn't effective or representative, despite my rather consistent personal position that tribalism and group identification is "the" problem, and politics should be conducted without them (raising another issue of whether that's anything other than supremely arrogant, potentially despotic and even racist on my part, given that it potentially declares a majority of people inherently excluded). Whether politics is tribalism or whether political systems simply tend to employ it (sort of a reworking of my earlier dilemma of definition) is something I confess to struggling with a great deal. Is tribalism an infection to be removed from politics, or is it politics itself, synonymous? If the former, is that goal rather not the desire to better all individuals but rather to intolerantly declare great swathes of the populace unsuited to participation, implicitly if not in any sort of practice? Is it a case of "have you tried not being gay?". So many questions, the answers I am unsure on. A "non-political" position (one that tries to hold to the idea that the desires and drives of tribalism shouldn't be brought into play) is pretty much by default an extremist one, because it doesn't play by the usual rules, doesn't acknowledge the conventions that make the majority of people comfortable. It risks unrest, which is (in my view at least) the only crime and the only enemy in the perspective of a community, at the deepest levels, and understandably isn't something they want. Given that I think the person given to group affiliation always has a keen, quite possibly unconscious sense of how the group is reacting, and seeks to ensure they remain "safe" with its shifting tides, collectively feeling their way to a sort of consensus even as individually they try to assert themselves against others, I also question some of the fundamentals of a democratic and/or inclusive system, do I not? Because how can there be change at anything less than a glacial place under such a self-censoring system, when some might think drastic change completely necessary now? Can there be growth without dislocation, without conflict? Without forcing it? Social evolution. "What do you want?" (This is also why so many people think as the Planetrists do; they are wary of large government and unifications because they know how strong that conformist instinct is, and fear their diversity being destroyed by the very forces that say they wish to include and preserve it. Think Eddington's comments on the Borg, etc). I've always seen "my way" - that is, what I strive for based on how I've come to see myself - as ideally finding a balance, or inhabiting the balance, between unity and conflict by combining a strong sense of community (what I call my "natural socialist" ways) with an equally strong sense of independence (what I call my "natural libertarian" ways). There is only the drop and the ocean, and the ocean is made of drops, and all things are fluid but there is an organizing movement to it all. Tribalist ethics are rather alien, I think. As the Bedouin say, "Me against my brother, My brothers and me against my cousins, then my cousins and me against strangers" - closing ranks against those outside and responding to an attack on one as an attack on all, while jostling for position within. And there are always circles of identity - like how European nations saw themselves as one Christian society at the same time as they were warring and feuding, and not just because all their royals were related now anyway). To get back to the book at long last (I've no doubt lost 80% of the readership by this point ). Thoris, in his campaigning at Babel, is trying to balance what many would call "the necessities of politics" with his personal sense of what's right (what the Vulcans might say is cthia, as well as what will, in his personal ethics, be best for the Federation and what will be most responsible of him). He's trying to navigate the system while remaining true to his convictions; Soval is probing as to whether he truly understands the potential consequences or complications he'll be facing through doing so. This is a conflict that I really relate to and I like seeing brought into play here. The young Federation is negotiating its sense of a shared identity and the degree to which its singular, unifying identity trumps, incorporates or stands uneasy in proximity with the smaller, original national and cultural identities of its member worlds. It's also easy to see why the Rigel admission debate is so relevant and so provocative. With Rigel, it strikes me that we have here an admissions process of a nature that we're likely never going to see again in Federation history. From here on, it'll be small states agreeing to become part of a bigger nation that dwarfs them, to incorporate themselves into an ever-bloating political/national juggernaut, a clearly unequal meeting. While that's technically true here, this is really more akin to two more-or-less equal alliances negotiating the possibility of their coming together. That is surely going to exacerbate the existing dilemma faced by the Federation's member populations. So the linking of "is Rigel right for the Federation and is the Federation right for Rigel?" with the Federation's sense of identity is very useful and provocative. As Garak put it in my beloved A Stitch In Time: "the great determining factor of our becoming is relationship. Unrelated, I become unrelated. Alienated. Opposed, I become an antagonist. Unified, I become integrated. A functioning member of the whole". T'Pol and Endeavour have arrived at Rigel; thus far, T'Pol hasn't had as much to do as she did in the first novel, and since I like how Christopher writes Vulcans (as I've said in the past), it's good to see her back in the thick of it. More political matters, and more discussion of the intricacies of Rigel/Federation relations. An exploration of Rigel IV now, with its feudal, technologically-stratified society, which exists so that the First Families can be as decadent as possible. I quite enjoyed the scenes of Williams sneaking around, aided by the ability of the guards to be bribed and for everyone, Families and serfs alike, to gossip more-or-less freely. A strange and endearing mix of high-stakes danger and doors left open at opportune times due to the rather ludicrous nature of IV's society (ludicrous as a reflection on them, not the writing, just to be clear). It was also rather amusing when Williams attempts to keep herself attendant to the wider good and stick to her high-stakes mission, but of course gives in to save an adolescent girl from being raped by one of the reigning dandies. And then again faces a mix of surprisingly easy windfalls and real danger, which ends with her capture. All enjoyable, if possibly a little rushed. I wonder who Grennex are? They seem to be producing a lot of Rigelian ships, of varying classifications. As for Rigel IV, it's a good look here at the nastier side of this highly diverse, richly populated system, and the sheer decadence and self-absorption of the First Families comes across well. (And apparently, despite everything, some of them remain just as awful even into the 2360s, in attitude if not in overt excesses. It's almost impressive just how deep an amoral groove they've dug for themselves). Rigel IV should not be confused with Rygel XVI, though both are decadent, despotic and self-centred: I guess they're a Rigelian shipbuilding firm. Probably one of several, given the lively capitalism of the Rigel system. This post is sponsored by Grennex Transportation, for all your Rigel-related needs. I see that James Bond has survived into the 22nd Century - or that his name and its associations have, at least. I'm genuinely curious as to whether he has in fact endured, or if the name Bond has simply become convenient shorthand for "spy" to the point where you don't have to be familiar with the character or franchise to understand/use it as a reference. Whether it's that, whether the series is considered classic entertainment, whether it's just a favourite of this one Earther, or whether we're on Bond Movie Gazillion by now is an interesting question. So, Call Me Al and our other Sauria-side human have a nice scene here, one that's a counterpart of sorts to the sneaking that Williams is doing on the other side of the Federation. Once again, I like the slow-burning nature of the unfolding Sauria crisis, and it gives Trip something worthwhile to do, which is certainly welcome. Next, we get to see the Chelons in their own environment (doubly so, given that these are the traditionalist Chelons). I liked the character of Jetanien in Vanguard (though he only really came into his own once he left the station, funnily enough - Nimbusian Jetanien is better than Vanguardian Jetanien), but I was somewhat disappointed that we learned so little about Chelons or Rigel in general. Aside from interesting revelations about secreting deadly poison when under stress and a running gag about foul-smelling food, the Chelon remained a mystery. One of the few wasted opportunities in Vanguard, I always felt. I'm glad that we're seeing the Chelon homeworld here and I'm glad that another Federation member race is being fleshed out. I thought the rainforest environment was well-described; certainly I got a good sense of what this part of Rigel III is like. We end the chapter with one team in trouble on III, another in peril on VII, and Williams remaining in trouble on IV. You can see why the blurb calls attention to the dangers of Rigel. Christopher, did you take some inspiration from the novelverse's depiction of the Breen when you were crafting the specifics of the Rigellians? Not in the least. I took inspiration from the fact that the writers of TV Trek have been incredibly profligate and inconsistent in their use of the name "Rigel," applying it to numerous different and incompatible species -- the Kalar from "The Cage," the humanlike Rigelians implied by the cabaret girls in "Shore Leave" and Hengist in "Wolf in the Fold," the Vulcanoid Rigelians mentioned in "Journey to Babel," the chelonian Rigelians of ST:TMP, the tattooed Rigelians of ENT: "Demons"/"Terra Prime." My portrayal of the Rigel system would've been very different if the creators of the shows could've just made up their damn minds about what Rigelians were like and which planet they lived on. What about the part about how the people of the United Rigel Worlds and Colonies consider themselves first Rigellian, second individual species? Well, for whatever it's worth, I think that the version of Rigel you worked out to try to reconcile all those things turned out to be a lot more interesting and creative than another "planet of hats" would have been. What about it? There are plenty of societies in real life that have been comprised of diverse communities who place their united identity first (or who at least tried to) -- immigrant communities in Canada; Muslims on hajj; Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jewish communities in Israel; Russian, Georgian, and Lithuanian Soviets; etc. No need to draw upon David Mack's admittedly excellent work in developing the Breen. Though it is fair to say that canonical contradictions about the nature of the peoples being described drove both David Mack and Christopher to develop them as diverse species with a common cultural identity. So the development impetus is parallel, but it leads to radically different variations on the theme -- the Breen are all about suppressing diversity and forcing homogeny in the name of a false egalitarianism; the Rigellians are all about accepting and respecting their differences to the fullest extent possible while also building a free and egalitarian society. Well, what choice did I have? Canonical productions have never called them anything but Rigelians, and their planets have never been called anything but "Rigel II, Rigel IV," etc. Again, I was constrained by what's on the screen. Earlier novels have coined the term "Chelon" for the TMP Rigelians, but that was it (not counting RPGs). All this is explained in my annotations, by the way. Actually I was thinking more along the lines of the United States. We usually think of ourselves as Americans first and whatever ethnic or cultural group we belong to second. (Even those intolerant or extremist groups that see themselves in a culture or race war with other citizens of the country still think of themselves as Americans and their opponents as non-Americans.) That's a good point. Canon provided conflicting data points on the Breen -- they needed cold, they didn't need cold, nobody knew what they looked like despite Kira and Dukat stealing some Breen's uniforms (leading some to speculate that they vaporized when the uniforms were removed), etc. Dave found a way to incorporate all of those by making the Breen a multispecies community. But it was actually easier for me, because canon has already shown us multiple species of Rigelian, and it was simply a matter of figuring out how they coexisted. I'm glad to see that few people save the Martian representative are taking the accusation against Archer seriously (and even the Martian is more interested in scoring points against the Federalists than condemning Archer directly). It would stretch belief if people thought Archer capable of the crime he's accused of; playing it as a complication causing further political discord is preferable to playing it as an actual threat to Archer's reputation. Not much to say about the Rigel VII scene. Most of the interesting points regarding the Kalar were introduced earlier in the novel; little more is revealed here. It works well enough. Continuing on to the next chapter, we have interesting revelations regarding the Chelon - a reconciliation of the old "hermaphrodite" detail from the original description of the species with the distinct genders that they seemed to have in the novels. It turns out they are hermaphrodites, and their use of permanent gender isn't linked to biology but is entirely a product of their interactions with the other Rigelians. Centuries of contact and encouragement by the more technologically advanced Zami and Jelna led to their adoption of such conceits. I enjoy these details suggestive of an involved history to the Rigel worlds. The politics is also quite engaging here; Rigel seems a pleasingly complicated place, as it should be given its population. The poor Malurian didn't end well. "Killed through grappling with a poisonous tortoise" isn't the most dignified of death descriptions. This is all interesting stuff; however, I can't help but feel that it's all a little rushed. Maybe that's not the right word; I mean, it feels like each scene could have been twice as long. The Chelon politics in particular was intriguing - I could have done with more of it. One question. Since the hermaphrodite idea originates in the original notes for the "sabre-tooth turtle" Rigelians of TMP, when it noted in the text that the chieftain was followed by two attendants I was expecting it to be revealed that they were the real power, in keeping with another claim of the original material. I don't think we were really there long enough for it to matter either way, but is the chieftain a figurehead of sorts or is s/he really in charge? Practically, it wouldn't change the nature of the scene at all, so it's hardly relevant, but I was wondering.... I didn't choose to do anything with the attendant business. After all, the culture I depicted was not the dominant one on Rigel III but a regional subculture. You know, sometimes I'm disappointed that the modern Trek novels don't have "reference" books released alongside them in the manner of the Star Wars universe, to expand on all the interesting ideas that the novels introduce. Although KRAD's upcoming Klingon book might come close, and we did have Mack's Survival Guide, which is referenced in novels reasonably often... I just love seeing this universe fleshed out. The rest of chapter twelve: I like Archer's correction of "hunch" to "logical deduction", apparently realizing that he may have offended T'Rama, or at the least irked her by speaking inaccurately. The revelation with Hemnask works quite well, with further exploration of the dysfunctional manner in which Zami Rigelians (at least) tend to work. Family as an inescapable web of responsibilities, entrapments and levers of control rather than anything sacrosanct. Too politicized. The earlier conversations with T'Rama of course become all the more interesting here - you start to understand just why the Vulcans make family matters such a private affair. Zami, I can't help but keep reminding myself, are Vulcanoid too. Vulcanoids and their passions, a common problem. Every Vulcanoid race seems initially to struggle with their tribal tendencies; irrevocably tied to kin but always concerned with control and dominance, making family paramount but almost paradoxically viewing it - and them - as political tools. Each seems to try and find a way around the issue. The Vulcans have Surakian values and veneration of cthia, as well as a careful segregation between private matters and public, the Romulans have a strict honour system and commitment to a nationalistic unity that usually trumps the clan, the Zami... aren't even trying. Or haven't found anything yet. That said, maybe many of them have - the values of Rigel at its best, and (prequel faux-spoiler alert ) the values of the Federation. Hemnask and the others who participate in the Trade community have found something better, the First Families have just decided to embrace what they have. Meanwhile, Garos outlines exactly why the Archer framing plot would never work and was a poor idea. He also seems to be finding cracks in the Three Sisters' unified front, deliberately or otherwise. From his conversation with the Sisters, we have some acknowledgement of Orion values and perspectives and how the Sisters might have miscalculated by failing to fully grasp how their standards might be less well received in the Federation. Garos' problem is however quite similar, as Williams points out. He's reasonable and calculating in a manner that the First Families, with their baser, less intellectual desires, simply are not, and he makes the mistake of assuming that everyone is working on his level and to similar ends - for all his dismissive thoughts regarding the non-Malurians, he's unable to comprehend their thinking. I'm coming to like Garos a fair deal, by the way. Until now he's been rather bland, but I was rooting for him here. His genuine respect for Thamnos even as she betrays him is a nice touch; I wonder how representative an attitude this is, so far as Malurians are concerned? A more detached, emotionally conservative perspective for the reptilian race, in contrast to the mammals? For what it's worth, I do understand the concerns about similarity to Garak, but obviously I can't say if it would have occurred to me had not Christopher already brought it up here. It suddenly occurs to me that Williams' descendent will destroy the probe that destroys Garos' people. That was striking to me, though in what manner I couldn't say. Perhaps it underscores the waste. Wow, I never realized that. So Garos's choice to let Val go, while not helping to save his people, will at least help to avenge them. Putting it like that, it is quite satisfying, in a poignant way. Separate names with a comma.

The Prophet Ibrahim (as) Life Ibrahim was not a Jew nor yet a Christian; but he was true in Faith, and bowed his will to Allah's (Which is Islam), and he joined not gods with Allah. Without doubt, among men, the nearest of kin to Ibrahim, are those who follow him, as are also this Prophet and those who believe: And Allah is the Protector of those who have faith. (Surah Al-Imran: 67-68) The Prophet Ibrahim (as)is often referred to in the Qur’an and is distinguished by Allah as an example to people. He conveyed the message of Allah to his people who worshipped idols and he warned them so that they might fear Allah. His people did not listen to his warnings but, on the contrary, opposed him. When the oppression of his people increased, Ibrahim (as)had to move elsewhere with his wife, the Prophet Lut (as), who was his nephew, and possibly a few other people who went with them. Ibrahim (as) was descended from Nuh (as). The Qur’an states also that he followed the Way of Nuh (as). Peace and salutation to Nuh among the nations! Thus indeed do we reward those who do right. For he was one of our believing Servants. Then the rest we overwhelmed in the Flood. Verily among those who followed his Way was Ibrahim. (Surat as-Saffat: 79-83) At the time of the Prophet Ibrahim (as), many people living on the Mesopotamian plains, and in Middle and East Anatolia were worshipping the heavens and the stars. Their most important god was ;Sin;, the moon-god. It was personified as a human with a long beard, wearing a dress carrying a moon on it in the shape of a crescent. In addition, these people made embossed pictures and sculptures of these gods and worshipped them. This was quite a widespread belief system which found appropriate soil for itself in the Near East and thus maintained its existence for a long time. People living in that region continued to worship these gods until around 600 AD. As a consequence of this belief, some constructions known as ;'ziggurats;' which were used both as observatories and temples, were built in the region stretching from Mesopotamia to the interior of Anatolia and here some gods, primarily the moon-god ;'Sin;', were worshipped.12 This way of belief, only discovered in archaeological excavations today, is to be found mentioned in the Qur’an. As mentioned in the Qur’an, Ibrahim (as)rejected the worship of these deities and turned only to Allah, the one true God. In the Qur’an, Ibrahim's (as)conduct is recounted as follows: Lo! Ibrahim said to his father Azar: "Takest thou idols for gods? For I see thee and thy people in manifest error." So also did We show Ibrahim the power and the laws of the heavens and the earth, that he might (with understanding) have certitude. When the night covered him over, He saw a star: He said: "This is my Lord." But when it set, He said: "I love not those that set." When he saw the moon rising in splendour, he said: "This is my Lord." But when the moon set, He said: "unless my Lord guide me, I shall surely be among those who go astray." When he saw the sun rising in splendour, he said: "This is my Lord; this is the greatest (of all)." But when the sun set, he said: "O my people! I am indeed free from your (guilt) of giving partners to Allah. For me, I have set my face, firmly and truly, towards Him Who created the heavens and the earth, and never shall I give partners to Allah." (Surat al-Anam: 74-79) In the Qur’an, it is indicated that Ibrahim (as)and Lut (as)lived close to each other and were contemporaries, by the fact that the angels sent to the people of Lut (as)came to Ibrahim (as), and announced to his wife the good news of a child, before going on to Lut (as). An important issue about Ibrahim (as) in the Qur’an, not mentioned in the Old Testament, is the construction of the Ka’bah. In the Qur’an, we are told that the Ka’bah was constructed by Ibrahim (as)and his son Isma'il (as). Today, the only thing known by historians about the past of the Ka’bah is that it is accepted to have been a sacred place since very ancient times. The placing of idols in the Ka’bah during the Age of Ignorance prior to the Prophet Muhammad (saas), is a consequence of the degeneration and distortion of the divine religion once revealed to Ibrahim (as). Ibrahim's (as) Place of Birth According to the Old Testament The place of Ibrahim’s (as) birth has always been an issue of debate. While Christians and Jews say that Ibrahim (as)was born in South Mesopotamia, the prevalent thought in the Islamic world is that his place of birth is around Urfa-Harran. Some new finds show that the Jewish and Christian thesis does not reflect the truth completely. Jews and Christians depend on the distorted Old Testament for their assertion, because in it, Ibrahim (as) is said to have been born in the city of Ur in South Mesopotamia. After Ibrahim (as)was born and brought up in that city, he is said to have set out on the way to Egypt and to have reached Egypt at the end of a long journey in which he passed through the Harran region of Turkey. However, a recently found manuscript of the Old Testament generated serious doubts about the validity of this information. In this Greek manuscript from the third century BC, which is accepted to be the oldest copy of the Old Testament yet found, ;Ur; is never mentioned. Today, many Old Testament researchers say that the word of ;Ur; is inaccurate or a subsequent addition. This implies that Ibrahim (as) was not born in the city of Ur, and may never have been to the Mesopotamian region in his life. Besides, the names of some locations, and the regions they imply, change by time. In our day, the Mesopotamia plains generally refer to the south banks of the Iraqi land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Yet two millennia earlier, Mesopotamia implied a region more northerly, even reaching as far as Harran, and stretching into presentday Turkish lands. Therefore, even if we accept that the expression ;Mesopotamian plain; in the Old Testament is right, it would be misleading to think that the Mesopotamia of two millennia earlier and the Mesopotamia of today are exactly the same places. Even if there are serious doubts and disagreements on the city of Ur being Ibrahim’s (as)birthplace, there is a common agreement on the fact that Harran and its environs region was the place where Ibrahim (as)lived. Moreover, a short research made of the Old Testament itself yields some information supporting the view that Ibrahim's (as)place of birth was Harran. For instance, in the Old Testament, the region of Harran is designated as the ;Aram region; (Genesis, 11:31 and 28:10). It is stated that those who came from Ibrahim's (as)family are ;sons of an Arami; (Deuteronomy, 26:5). The identification of Ibrahim (as)as an Arami shows that he led his life in this region. In the Islamic sources, there is strong evidence that Ibrahim's (as)place of birth is Harran and Urfa. In Urfa, which is called the ;city of Prophets;, there are many stories and legends about Ibrahim (as). Why was the Old Testament Altered? As is revealed in the Qur’an, Ibrahim (as)was sent to an idolatrous people as a messenger. His people worshipped the heavens, stars, the moon and various idols. He struggled against his people, tried to get them turn away from their superstitious beliefs, and inevitably stirred up the enmity of his whole community including his father. Actually, none of these points are mentioned in the Old Testament. The throwing of Ibrahim (as) into the fire, his breaking his community's idols are not mentioned in the Old Testament. Ibrahim (as)is in general depicted as the ancestor of the Jews in the Old Testament. It is evident that this view in the Old Testament was taken by the chiefs of the Jewish community seeking to bring the concept of ;'race;' to the foreground. The Jews believe that they are a people eternally chosen by God and rendered superior. They deliberately and willingly altered their Divine Book and made additions and deletions in accordance with this belief. This is why Ibrahim (as) is merely depicted as the ancestor of the Jews in the Old Testament. Christians who believe in the Old Testament, think that Ibrahim (as)is the ancestor of the Jews, but with only one difference: according to Christians, Ibrahim (as)is not a Jew but a Christian. The Christians, who did not heed the concept of race as much as Jews, took this stand and it is one of the causes of disagreement and struggle between the two religions. The dispute between Jews and Christians is reported as follows in the Qur'an: Ye People of the Book! Why dispute ye about Ibrahim, when the Law and the Gospel Were not revealed Till after him? Have ye no understanding? Ah! Ye are those who fell to disputing (Even) in matters of which ye had some knowledge! but why dispute ye in matters of which ye have no knowledge? It is Allah Who knows, and ye who know not! Ibrahim was not a Jew nor yet a Christian; but he was true in Faith, and bowed his will to Allah's (Which is Islam), and he joined not gods with Allah. Without doubt, among men, the nearest of kin to Ibrahim, are those who follow him, as are also this Prophet and those who believe: And Allah is the Protector of those who have faith. (Surah Al-Imran: 65-68) In the Qur’an, in contrast to what is written in the Old Testament, Ibrahim (as)is a person who warned his people so that they might fear Allah and who struggled against them for this end. Starting from his youth, he warned his people, who worshipped idols, to give up this practice. His people reacted to Ibrahim (as)by attempting to kill him. Having escaped from the wickedness of his people, Ibrahim (as) finally emigrated. Footnotes12. Everett C. Blake, Anna G. Edmonds, Biblical Sites in Turkey, Istanbul: Redhouse Press, 1977, p. 13

All Things ConsideredEvery weekday, All Things Considered hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. Michel Martin hosts on the weekends. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men demonstrate behind a line of Israeli police outside Intel's plant in Jerusalem on Nov. 21. The men were protesting the U.S. company's operating on the Jewish Sabbath. As Jerusalem becomes an increasingly religious city, secular Jews are fleeing for Tel Aviv. Christopher Clark graphed the peak levels of and RMS levels of three hit songs a year over the past three decades. This image links to a PDF of his full poster, "A Visual History Of Loudness." Free All That You Can Be: George Clooney and Kevin Spacey starred in The Men Who Stare at Goats. The film's tone, as Ronson told NPR's Guy Raz in November, is much more humanistic and warm-hearted than his book — "like Little Miss Sunshine Goes to War." An Iranian opposition protester holds stones as he faces security forces during clashes in Tehran on Sunday. The protests, the most violent since those that followed the disputed presidential election in June, cap a year of unprecedented challenge for Tehran.

Blinded by the Light Blinded by the Light, at its very best, captures the experience of being a fan, the pure exhilaration of it, and the sense of your… "Flawed" is a word movie critics use more often than jewelers. They have looked into the heart of a sparkling gem and found an imperfection. Every movie should be perfect, and on such grounds, "Prime" is flawed. Its flaw is that it employs an Idiot Plot in a story that is too serious to support it. I can forgive and even embrace an Idiot Plot in its proper place (consider Astaire and Rogers in "Top Hat"). But when the characters have depth and their decisions have consequences, I grow restless when their misunderstandings could be ended by words that the screenplay refuses to allow them to utter. "Prime" is such a movie, yet I must recommend it, because in its comedy of errors are actors who bring truth at least to their dialogue. Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman have line readings that work as delicate and precise adjustments of dangerous situations. They're dealing with issues that are real enough, even if they've been brought about by contrivance. And Streep has that ability to cut through the solemnity of a scene with a zinger that reveals how all human effort is, after all, comic at some level: How amusing, to think we can control fate! The movie crosses two dependable story structures: (1) the romance between lovers widely separated in age, and (2) a mistaken identity that leads to complications. The trouble begins when Rafi Gardet (Uma Thurman) and David Bloomberg (Bryan Greenberg) fall in love. They know there is an age difference, but because they both lie a little, they don't realize how big it is: Rafi is 37 and David is 23. Rafi discusses her concerns with her psychiatrist, Lisa Metzger (Meryl Streep), who argues tolerantly that if the relationship is otherwise sound and healthy, then age alone is not a reason to terminate it. In this matter Lisa is counseled by her own psychiatrist, Rita (Madhur Jaffrey). Now comes a spoiler warning for anyone who has not seen a commercial or trailer for the movie, where Universal eagerly reveals the plot secret. It is: David is Lisa's son. Since they have different last names and his age has been lied about, she has no reason to guess this. On one hand you have a hypothetical case of a man about 27 dating a woman about 34, and on the other you have the real case of a Jewish son of 23 dating a 37-year-old divorced Gentile. This disconnect creates some interesting moments for the Streep character, who is not narrow-minded, but whose feelings as a mother are not hypothetical, while her opinions as an analyst certainly are. "Prime" gets too much mileage by persisting in the device of the mistaken identity. But it does lead to interesting moments. After Lisa discovers to her horror that the man in Rafi's life is her son, she flees to her own psychiatrist for advice, and is told she has a responsibility to her client. In my opinion, that responsibility is to declare a conflict of interest, but then I'm not a shrink and besides, then we wouldn't have a movie. So Lisa continues the sessions, and perhaps only Streep could produce such gradations of facial expressions as her client describes her son's lovemaking, his opinion of his mother, and admirable details of his physique. As the movie develops, we're asked to take sides: Should this romance continue? I am in favor of love, but do not believe it conquers all. Rafi's clock is ticking. David has no eagerness to be a father. Rafi is a babe who looks much younger than her years, but the day will come when someone assumes she is David's mother, and they had better be prepared for that day. There is also the religious difference, but here Lisa the psychiatrist strikes a reasonable note which I will leave for her to explain. The movie works through the performances. The director, Ben Younger ("Boiler Room"), does some nice things with scenes like the family dinner where everyone makes nice and ignores the elephant in the room. There are some one-liners that zing not only with humor but truth. On the whole I was satisfied. The Idiot Plot was necessary up to a point. I thought that point was too long delayed. It is also a problem that this is a comedy about matters that are not, in most people's lives, very funny. There is a final shot in which Rafi and David regard each other with affection and nostalgia, and I wondered if the characters were expressing something else, as well: The wish that they could meet in another movie, and start over. A review of Amazon's new anti-superhero series The Boys, which premieres on July 26. This message came to me from a reader named Peter Svensland. He and a fr...

How We Increased Enrollment Inquiries During Remote Learning: Lessons from The Leffell School Admissions Office Diana Kaufman Schutt and Rabbi Yael Buechler of The Leffell School in Westchester, NY moderated a discussion about specific strategies they implemented that have resulted in a 167% increase in points of contact since moving to remote learning and online-only events. The conversation explored how to increase admission inquiries through branded online programming, utilizing social media to engage with the millennial parents, tips to increase WOM marketing and more. Rabbi Yael Buechler has been the Lower School Rabbi at The Leffell School in Westchester for the past nine years, where she curates meaningful in-person and virtual experiences for students, families, grandparents, and prospective families. Rabbi Buechler is also the founder of MidrashManicures.com, which designs Jewish fashion products that have been sold at Bloomingdale’s and Dylan’s Candy Bar. She recently started a Facebook group called Let My Parents Work to connect students and college grads with families in the Jewish community looking for childcare. Diana Kaufman Schutt has been the Director of Lower School Admissions at the Leffell School for the past 16 years and considers the school to be her second home. She was a student at the school, a teacher at the school, and her three grown children all graduated from the school. Diana has a masters degree in special education and is also a certified professional life coach and reiki master. She finds purpose in speaking publicly to different Jewish audiences throughout the Northeast, sharing her story about being the mother of a transgender child, and she finds fulfillment by facilitating vision board workshops.

A campaign against the New Israel Fund — a U.S.-based organization that funds civil society activists in Israel — has sparked a fierce debate over the limits of free speech, the financing of nongovernmental organizations, the dictates of loyalty to the state and, ultimately, the fundamental values of Israel’s Zionist democracy. The questions cut close to the bone on both sides of the ideological divide. Are right-wingers trying to gag NGOs critical of Israeli policies and actions? Are left-wingers using Zionist money to undermine the foundations of the state? And to what extent are the government and its agencies involved in trying to silence their critics? At the center of the storm is the Goldstone report on alleged Israeli war crimes during the fighting in Gaza last winter. Most Israelis see the report as biased, based on flimsy evidence and false assumptions, and part of a concerted international campaign to delegitimize the Jewish state. The attack on the New Israel Fund was part of an angry Israeli backlash against Goldstone. But was it a bona fide attack on a relevant target or a premeditated onslaught against civil society? The campaign against the NIF was conducted by an organization called Im Tirtzu, which describes itself as “an extra-parliamentary movement to strengthen Zionist values” and boasts a video endorsement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It claimed that 16 NIF grantees had provided Goldstone with material contributing to false charges against the Israel Defense Forces, actions that were tantamount to betrayal in a wartime situation. “The results of these groups’ activities caused significant diplomatic damage to Israel and harmed the country’s capacity to defend itself militarily,” Im Tirtzu said, adding that NIF was largely to blame because it had funded these “anti-Zionist” organizations. In late January, young Im Tirtzu members dressed as Hamas fighters demonstrated outside the Jerusalem home of NIF President Naomi Chazan waving placards depicting Chazan with a horn emerging from her forehead. The text on the placards read: “Fact! Without the New Israel Fund there could be no Goldstone Report and Israel would not be facing international accusations of war crimes.” The horn was a play on words, the Hebrew “keren” meaning both fund and horn, but critics say it also had obvious anti-Semitic connotations that many found offensive. Im Tirtzu used the image as well in advertisements placed in several Israeli newspapers. The Zionist Organization of America has seconded the criticisms of the NIF. The New Israel Fund says it knows that many of the minority rights groups it backs in the name of empowering the disenfranchised and fighting discrimination in Israel also take positions that the NIF does not endorse, such as calling for an end to Israel’s Jewish character. NIF officials say that while they do not agree with everything their grantees do or say, revoking their funding would be inimical to the NIF’s goal of promoting free speech and strengthening Israel’s minorities. “They’re using me to attack in the most blatant way the basic principles of democracy and the values of Israel’s declaration of independence: values of equality, tolerance, social justice and freedom of speech,” Chazan declared. Arguing that the Im Tirtzu case against the NIF is baseless, Chazan noted that the materials the grantee groups allegedly transferred to Goldstone are mostly in the public domain. And even if they were not, it would be the duty of the groups to pass on what they know, she said. Far from giving succor to Israel’s enemies, the grantees were trying to create a better Israel, Chazan said. “A democratic society that is not self-critical very soon turns into something else,” she said. “And to suggest that these organizations are out to destroy the Israeli state is rubbish.” NIF defenders note that its work goes well beyond organizations focusing specifically on Palestinian rights. It also funds civil society groups dealing with a host of domestic Israeli issues, such as providing women’s shelters, supporting Ethiopian immigrants and challenging the Orthodox monopoly on Jewish religious practice. Earlier this month, a group of leading Israeli academics, writers, actors, directors and political activists, including novelists Amos Oz and A.B. Yehoshua, placed a full-page ad in Ha’aretz expressing “disgust at the campaign of incitement and hatred” being waged against Chazan, the NIF and the organizations it supports. “The calls to limit the freedom of action and expression of civil rights organizations and organizations for social change show just how much they are needed, and underline the importance of the activities of the NIF and its grantees for a democratic and just Israel,” the ad declared. Several American Jewish groups on the left side of the political spectrum issued their own statements slamming the anti-NIF campaign on similar grounds. The tenor of the campaign was criticized as well by Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League. In late January, 13 of the 16 NIF grantees slammed by Im Tirtzu fired off a letter to President Shimon Peres, Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin complaining that the Im Tirtzu attack on the NIF was part of a larger pattern encouraged by “senior government officials.” They gave some examples: Interior Minister Eli Yishai backing claims that organizations that help refugees and asylum seekers “aim to destroy Israel”; Netanyahu denying the legitimacy of Breaking the Silence testimonies on the Gaza war; and Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya’alon referring to Israeli human rights organizations as “enemies from within.” Others see the specter of an impending clampdown against civil society. Anat Hoffman, chair of Women of the Wall and director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center, an NIF grantee, was questioned and fingerprinted by police in early January after taking part in an all-female prayer session at the Western Wall that involved the use of a Torah. A week later, Association for Civil Rights in Israel director Hagai El-Ad was arrested while monitoring a protest against Jewish settlement in the Arab neighborhood of Sheik Jarrah in eastern Jerusalem, and released as soon as the case went to court. There is no hard evidence to suggest that the Netanyahu government is planning to curb civil society or that the police action had the prime minister’s blessing. What is clear is that Netanyahu is deeply concerned by what he calls “Goldstonism” — moves in the international community aimed at delegitimizing Israel. That means that Israeli organizations the government feels contribute to delegitimization of the state could be seen as serious threats to national security. But the government does not seem to be considering operative moves against them. Moves, however, are afoot in the Knesset. The Law Committee, headed by Yisrael Beiteinu’s David Rotem, whose party has proposed that Israeli citizens take loyalty oaths, has set up a subcommittee to examine the sources of funding of NGOs active in Israel. Some of the committee members aim to ban funding from other countries, which is seen as interfering in Israel’s internal affairs. Most of that funding is from European countries for left-wing NGOs. Otniel Schneller of the Kadima Party wants to go a step further, proposing the establishment of a full-fledged parliamentary commission of inquiry to probe the conduct of the NIF and its grantees. Schneller says he is against the absurdity of Israeli civil society “paying organizations like Physicians for Human Rights to slander us,” and wants to stop the NIF from supporting anti-Zionist groups. Schneller’s proposal, which he plans to submit next week, has run into stiff opposition from the left and right. Left-wing Meretz leader Haim Oron asked who would decide who is a Zionist or what are Israel’s best interests. Schneller, he suggested, should fight the left-wing organizations with counterarguments, not try to cut off their funding. On the right, the Likud’s Michael Eitan argued that parliamentary commissions of inquiry are established on non-political issues, such as corruption in soccer or water prices. “It is unheard of for the majority in the Knesset to investigate the minority,” he said. Eitan’s stand has the support of others in the Likud, and it is not clear whether Schneller can muster a majority for his proposal. Meanwhile, Im Tirtzu’s funding also has attracted scrutiny in recent days. Liberal organizations and bloggers have been reporting that Im Tirtzu has received money from the Central Fund of Israel, a U.S.-based nonprofit that has also supported pro-settler organizations and a group that aids militant Israeli Jews accused of carrying out violence. They also note that Im Tirtzu reportedly has received $200,000 over the past two years from John Hagee, an evangelical pastor in San Antonio, Texas, who is staunchly pro-Israel but drew criticism in some corners for perceived anti-Semitism in his sermons. Meanwhile the debate goes on, with each side seeking to claim the mantle of preserving Israel’s fundamental nature. “Today the question is not whether Israel survives, but what kind of Israel survives,” said Daniel Sokatch, the NIF’s chief executive officer. Im Tirtzu leader Ronen Shova countered that “the debate is not about left or right. The new debate is between Zionists and non-Zionists.”

The center will be closed for the following federal holidays every year: Thanksgiving Day and the Day After Thanksgiving New Year’s Day Martin Luther King,Jr. Day If a holiday falls on a weekend, the center will close on the Friday before or the Monday after the holiday. The closing date will be posted. In addition to the above listed holidays, the center will be closed for the following Jewish holidays: Sukkot (1st day only) Passover (1st and last days only) A current calendar will be distributed in August and is available from the Director at other times.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed great leadership when delivering his speech to a joint session of Congress regarding America’s potential nuclear deal with Iran. History and our past relations with Netanyahu indicate that the prime minister has earned some trust, and no matter what side of the aisle we stand on, we must stand with Israel. Last December, I had the magnificent opportunity to travel to Israel and visit many historical sites of spiritual importance. After speaking with many Israeli citizens and witnessing firsthand the beauty of a nation with so much pride, I could not help but think of how we as the United States have a strong Judeo-Christian heritage. Israel is one of our strongest allies, and acknowledging the history that we share is important to our identity and to the promising value system we maintain. The country of Iran continues to conceal aspects of its nuclear program, and thus its compliance is heavily questioned. Iran’s regime and its quest for nuclear weapons is not merely a Jewish problem, but rather it poses a substantial and realistic threat to world peace. As was expressed by Netanyahu, things undoubtedly will become worse if there is a deal that gives the Iranians protection and enables them to continue flagrantly operating secret nuclear facilities (as they had been doing in Natanz and Qom) while ostensibly invested in a diplomatic process with the United States. We must not allow them to continue to enrich uranium and maintain their enormous nuclear infrastructure. According to estimates, Iran could have 190,000 centrifuges enriching uranium within a matter of weeks. A “breakout time” to a nuclear bomb (“breakout time” referring to the amount of time it takes to accumulate enough weapons-grade uranium or plutonium for a nuclear bomb) would be approximately one year, according to U.S. assessment. In February of 2014, the Institute for Science and International Security estimated this time period to stand at roughly two months. Meanwhile, the IAEA (or the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency) continues to report that Iran refuses to be transparent with IAEA inspectors about its military nuclear program. The current deal with Iran allows for various concessions, including the inability to destroy any nuclear facilities, as well as enabling all restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program to automatically expire in a decade. Does that sound comforting to you? As the United States works to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, we are also dealing with ISIS as a formidable enemy that threatens our way of life. Every resource available should be used to eradicate the threat of ISIS while it is still in its adolescent stage. That means using every military apparatus we have: banking facilities, sanctions, you name it. And I would not hesitate to put boots on the ground, because nothing should be off the table. This whole concept of “no boots on the ground because of what happened in Iraq” is silly. The threat that Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida posed at that time was on a completely different level from what we are looking at now. It is immature to equate the two in terms of reactions. ISIS wants to destroy our way of life and us. We have two choices: We can sit back and wait for them, or we can use the resources we have to destroy them. We need to be the leader and take serious action. I am extraordinarily concerned about the fact that we are not responding to the barbaric acts that are taking place, as there is a tremendous leadership void. A coalition will form if it has a leader. I would commit everything to eliminating ISIS right now. We have to make sure that our military, which is extremely talented and maintains very good leadership, is not put into a compromised position where we are trying to micromanage things. Otherwise, we will be exposing many people to a state of grave danger. Across the globe, citizens are dealing with an evil in today’s society that is threatening Christians, Jews and anyone who does not believe as ISIS does. If we allow it to continue to grow, it will become a big tree with lots of branches and roots, rather than the bush it is now. The lack of an adequate response to both ISIS and Iran will endanger not only us in the long run, but the entire world. COPYRIGHT 2015 THE WASHINGTON TIMES DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM Photo credit: Photo by Kobi Gideon / GPO (Creative Commons) Dr. Ben S. Carson is professor emeritus of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University and author of the new book, One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America’s Future.

The birthplace of Jesus, the Saviour, is identified in Bethlehem, where the Basilica of the Nativity stands today. To take part in the census announced by the Romans, Joseph and Mary went from the city of Nazareth in Galilee to the small town of Bethlehem in Judaea, as Joseph belonged to the family of David. It was there that Mary gave birth and Jesus was born in what is known today as the “Grotto of the Nativity.” The birthplace of Jesus, the Saviour, is identified in Bethlehem, where the Basilica of the Nativity stands today. To take part in the census announced by the Romans, Joseph and Mary went from the city of Nazareth in Galilee to the small town of Bethlehem in Judaea, as Joseph belonged to the family of David. It was there that Mary gave birth and Jesus was born in what is known today as the “Grotto of the Nativity.” - Archaeological Excavations - The restoration of the Church of the Nativity - Bethlehem in the Sacred Scripture - The liturgical tradition - The church of Ecumenism - Shepherds' Field - The Church on the "Milk Grotto" - House of Saint Joseph - Hortus Conclusus - Cisterns of David - Rachel's Tomb - Information and opening hours The name Bethlehem appears to have been indicated in a cuneiform tablet found in Egypt belonging to the archive of the pharaoh Akhenaton: it speaks of the city of Bit Lahmu located in the territory of Jerusalem. It is very likely that the original name of the city derived from Lahmo, the Chaldean god of nature and fertility whose name was adopted by the Canaanite people and modified to Lahama. If one accepts this hypothesis, the translation of the name Beit-el-Laham might have been “House of the Lahama”, which would make sense in view of the fact that this land was very fertile and rich in water. Moreover, in the Old Testament the city is called by the name Beth Lechem, “House of Bread”, and also Ephrath, a name derived from the tribe that lived in these places, which literally means “fruitful”. The more modern names also make reference to the idea of a fertile and abundant place; in Arabic, Beit Lahm has the sense “house of flesh”, reflecting the large number of flocks of sheep and goats, one of the principal activities in the area. Meanwhile Hebrew Beit-Lehem means “house of bread”, a notion that introduces us to the image of Jesus as the living bread that came down from heaven. In the Old Testament the city is mentioned as being the chief city and settlement of the tribe of King David, established in these lands from around 1200 BC. The city is also mentioned in Sacred Scripture as being the site of the tomb of Rachel, the wife of the patriarch Jacob. These biblical times were marked by centuries of wars and partitions of territories. In 586 the Chaldean army of Nebuchadnezzar, having occupied Judea, deported the Jewish population to Babylon where they lived for fifty years in exile. At the end of this period the Persian king Cyrus II (“The Great”) allowed the Jews to return, and from this time onwards the city of Bethlehem was repopulated. Palestine, including the city of Bethlehem, was occupied by Alexander the Great in 333 BC and subsequently subject to the rule of the Ptolomies from 301 to 198 BC, and then to that of the Seleucids of Antioch. Between 167 and 164 BC persecutions of the Jews began and an anti-Syrian revolt led by the Maccabees broke out. The Hasmonean Dynasty began in 134 BC and was extended to the entire territory, including the town of Bethlehem, lasting for approximately 70 years until the arrival of Roman troops. The Roman period The Palestinian territories were conquered by Pompey in 63 BC and remained under Roman control throughout the lifetime of Jesus Christ. The territories conquered by the Romans were divided into various tetrarchies. Among these, the city of Bethlehem was under the control of King Herod I (“the Great”), who in approximately 30 BC had a fortified palace called Herodion built on the outskirts of the city. The era about which we are speaking was clearly marked by the event of the birth of Jesus Christ, which saw the coming of the Christian era and also coincided with a great revolt of the Jewish people against Roman rule. In 6 AD the ethnarch Archelaus was deposed and Judea was incorporated into the imperial province of Syria and administered by procurators based in Caesarea Maritima. When Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus in 70 AD, Bethlehem was fortunately spared. The holy place was already a site of worship by the first Christians who venerated the cave in which Jesus had been born. During this period the Jewish revolts increased in intensity and were suppressed during the reign of Hadrian, who decided to construct in Bethlehem a pagan temple dedicated to Adonis above the Grotto of the Nativity, which was to be buried and destroyed along with all signs of Christianity, as had already occurred with the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The place at that time must still have been in its natural state, as it was to be described later by Jerome who provides us with this evidence. As attested for us by Origen in his writings, a clear memory has always existed that it was in this place that Jesus was born. Due to the brutal repressions many Judeo-Christians departed, leaving the town in the hands of pagans who continued with their religion. The Roman-Byzantine period Religious freedom was proclaimed following the Edict of Constantine in 313 AD, and a new era began for all the places of Christian worship. With the Council of Nicaea (325 AD) and through the strong will of the Empress Helena, following the necessary excavations construction works began for the Church of the Nativity, thus restoring a measure of dignity to the holy place preserved within. The works finished in 333, mention of this being made by the anonymous Pilgrim of Bordeaux (Itinerarium 598). Bethlehem became a great religious center and, with the arrival of St. Jerome in 384, a new phase began as the town became a magnet for a new monastic way of life. Jerome made a major contribution to the history of the Church through his translation, at the request of Pope Damasus, of the Vulgate Bible. Another individual who played a major role in the development of monasticism in Bethlehem, for both men and women, was the Roman patrician Paula who, along with her daughter Eustochium, arrived in Bethlehem in 386 and used much of her inherited wealth to finance the construction of two monasteries near the places of Jesus’ Nativity. Following Jerome’s death in 420, monastic life in Bethlehem declined and in the following century the town was conquered by the Samaritans of Nablus, who during their revolt (521 to 528) against the Byzantine emperor sacked the churches and monasteries, and harshly attacked the Christians (529). After these sackings and following the destruction of the Church of the Nativity, in 531 the Roman emperor Justinian, at the request of St. Sabas, restored the sanctuary and rebuilt the city which at that point was in ruins. At that time the largest of the tympanums was decorated with a mosaic depicting the Magi in Persian costumes. This detail turned out to be very fortunate, for during the invasion led by Chosroes in 614 the basilica was spared from destruction because the Persian army took fright at the sight of the mosaic. In 629 Emperor Heraclius reconquered the Palestinian territories from the Persians. With the Arab-Muslim occupation by Caliph Omar in 638, Bethlehem also became subject to this new power. A climate of tolerance and peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians was guaranteed by the symbolic gesture of the Caliph who, following the occupation of the town, entered to pray alongside the south apse of the church. From that moment onwards, the church became a place of prayer for both Christians and Muslims. At the beginning, this peaceful coexistence and tolerance between the two religions was respected, but with the coming of different caliphates the situation for the Christians in Bethlehem deteriorated markedly, culminating in the persecutions in 1009 on the part of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim who ordered the destruction of the Holy Land sanctuaries; the Nativity in Bethlehem was miraculously spared, probably due to its importance for the Islamic religion, as it was the place of birth for the prophet known by the Muslims as Issa, and also due to the fact that a small mosque was contained within the basilica. The Crusader period This marked the beginning of a new phase in the history of the Holy Land. Due to the difficult living conditions in the territories of Bethlehem, the Christians requested aid from Godfrey de Bouillon who was staying in Emmaus. The arrival of the Crusaders aggravated the relations between Muslims and Christians, who were hoping that the town would be liberated by the Crusaders. In fact, a group of knights led by Tancred captured the town, which from that point began its golden age. Relations with Europe intensified through both commercial exchanges and pilgrimages. The Crusaders also gave a new look to the town by building a monastery for the Augustinian canons – where today the Franciscan convent is located − to whom liturgical services in the church and the welcoming of pilgrims were entrusted, while the Eastern rites were given the possibility to celebrate their own liturgies. On 24 December 1100 Baldwin I was crowned as the first king of Jerusalem, and from then on the city of Bethlehem was directly dependent on the Patriarch of Jerusalem, becoming an Episcopal seat and diocesan center. Between 1165 and 1169, at the wish of Bishop Rudolph, restoration works on the church were carried out with a financial contribution from the Crusader king Amalric I and the Byzantine emperor Manuel Comnenus, as evidenced by the pilgrim Phocas. This collaboration was a clear sign of the unity between the Eastern and Western Churches. The defeat of the Crusaders by Saladin (Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub) in 1187 at Hattin in Galilee led to a new occupation of Bethlehem. The resident Latin community in Bethlehem left the town, returning only in 1192 when the Muslims allowed the Latins to resume religious services upon payment of a stiff tax. The history of Bethlehem, like that of all the Holy Places, experienced a moment of special importance with the journey of Francis of Assisi, who in 1219-1220 went to the East along with twelve other friars. It is likely that he went to Bethlehem, since he is linked by a well-known tradition to the image of the Christmas crèche, although this is not confirmed by any source. In any event, it is known with certainty that the friar, having arrived in the port of Acre along with the Crusaders, went to Egypt to the court of the Sultan Malek al-Kamil who, struck by the personality of the saint, granted him a safe-conduct for his journey to Palestine. Several of his companions, having previously arrived in Palestine in the preceding years, stayed on in the service of the Church in these Lands. As a result of two truces, one between Emperor Frederick II and the Sultan of Egypt, the other between the King of Navarre and the Sultan of Damascus, Bethlehem passed under the control of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem between 1229 and 1244. This situation lasted for little more than a decade, as the Khwarezmian invasion in 1244 once again destabilized the territories. The Mameluke period In 1263 with the invasion of Jerusalem by the Mamelukes of Egypt, Sultan Baybars drove the Christians out of Bethlehem and tore down the town’s fortified walls. During this period pilgrims were able to reach the town only by paying a fee. After the fall of Acre in 1291 and the end of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, Palestine remained under the control of the Mamelukes until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire. The Franciscans in Bethlehem The Friars Minor, who had arrived in the Holy Land at the beginning of the 13th century, definitively established themselves in Bethlehem in 1347 in a monastery for Augustinian canons who had been exiled by the Mamelukes, as reported by Fra Niccolò da Poggibonsi who arrived himself in the Holy Land in that year. As recorded in ancient chronicles and documents, the Sultan gave the friars of the cord ownership of the Church and Grotto of the Nativity. The other Christian rites obtained permission to celebrate their liturgies. From this period onwards it was the Franciscans who made up the religious of the Latin rite in Bethlehem and in other Holy Places. In 1479 the Franciscans turned their hand to reconstructing the roof of the church, thanks to the industriousness of the guardian Giovanni Tomacelli. The wood was provided by Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy and transported from Europe on Venetian vessels, while the lead was donated by King Edward IV of England, as reported by fra Francesco Suriano. The Turkish period In 1517 Palestine became part of the Turkish Empire and Sultan Selim I torn down the remaining walls of Bethlehem. The town slowly fell into a state of ruin, and the oppressed and persecuted Christians gradually began to leave. Rights to the church were divided between the Franciscans and the Orthodox and this was the cause for continual clashes, with the government of the Sublime Porte supporting first one side and then the other by granting various privileges. In 1690 the Franciscan friars succeeded in reacquiring their rights, but in 1757 a new and definitive change in ownership took place. Between 1831 and 1841 Muhammad Ali, viceroy of Egypt, and his son Ibrahim Pasha managed for a short period of time to liberate Palestine from Turkish domination. During this time Christians claimed their rights to the town of Bethlehem and, after years of submission and persecutions, expelled the Muslims and in 1834 destroyed their quarter. From this point onwards the majority of the town’s population was Christian. One of the most noted and significant events marking this period relates to the Grotto of the Nativity and the dispute among the various religious denominations, leading to the end of the leading role of the Latins at the place where Jesus was born. This development was brought about by the Greek Orthodox on 18 October 1847 and aggravated the conflict between the two confessions. As a result of these frictions, and seeking to restore peace after centuries of conflicts, in 1852 the Turkish government issued a firman ratifying the existing property rights within the Christian sanctuaries (the so-called Status Quo). In gratitude for the contribution of the European countries to victory in the Crimean War against Russia, the Sublime Porte conceded increased liberties to the Latins. During this period numerous religious congregations began to settle in Palestine and become involved in schools, hospitals and hospices. The arrival of a large number of Westerners left a mark on the town that is visible even today. In 1859 the Franciscans acquired Siyar al-Ghanam, Shepherds’ Fields, where subsequent excavation suncovered the remains of constructions from the Byzantine period that, according to tradition, marked the existence of a place of worship. Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1917, as a consequence of its defeat in the First World War, Palestine became in 1922 a protectorate of Great Britain, on the basis of international agreements. The date of Jesus’ birth It is now generally agreed among historians and scholars that Christ’s year of birth was not correctly calculated. This refers to an error made by the monk Dionysius Exiguus, who in the early sixth century was given by Rome the task of extending the chronological tables of the Easter date that had been prepared at the time of Bishop Cyril. The monk took as his starting point the date of the Lord’s incarnation. Dionysius’ mistake lay in the fact that he calculated Jesus’ birth to have taken place after the death of Herod − in other words four to six years after the date in which it actually occurred − which would have corresponded to 748 years after the founding of Rome. But according to Flavius Josephus, Herod the Great died after ruling 37 years, and given that he was enthroned in 40 BC the year of his death would have been 4 BC. This is also confirmed by an astronomical event that the historian recorded as having taken place prior to the death of the monarch, namely a lunar eclipse that would have occurred between the 11th and 12th of April in the year 4 BC. Based on this information the death of Herod must have occurred in the year 4 BC, and Jesus could not have been born later than that year. On the other hand, in terms of the month and day of Jesus’ birth the traditional dates appear to be accurate. To analyze the situation one must take into account two sources: the Gospel of Luke and the solar calendar discovered at Qumran. Luke tells us that the angel Gabriel announced to Zechariah that Elizabeth was pregnant at a time “when he was serving as priest in his division’s turn before God” (Luke 1:8). Using these elements it is possible to calculate the 24 divisions in which the sacerdotal families were divided and date this back to the division of Abijah, the eighth and the one to which the priest Zechariah belonged, and which carried out its service from the eighth to the fourteenth day of the third month, and from the twenty-fourth to the thirtieth day of the eighth month. This latter period corresponds to the end of September, nine months before the twenty-fourth of June, the date of John the Baptist’s birth. Hence the announcement to the Virgin Mary “in the sixth month” (Luke 1:28) of Elizabeth’s pregnancy corresponds to the twenty-fifth of March, so that the date of 25 December for Jesus’ birth can be seen to be historically accurate. Nonetheless, it is commonly claimed that the traditional date of Jesus’ birth was established by the Church in order to correspond to the pagan festival Dies natalis solis invicti which took place on the day of the winter solstice (21 December), presumably to serve as a substitute for the pagan ceremony and to assist the rapid spread of the Christian one. But it is evident that such an important feast day could not have been established only for reasons of such supremacy and that the tradition must have had roots that were more historic and real. It is indeed the case that the transition from the pagan to the Christian holiday was a very easy one, in view of the biblical tradition that saw the Messiah as light and sun: “the sunrise shall visit us from on high” (Luke 1:78). Born at Stridon in Dalmatia in 347, Jerome was one of the major representatives of monastic asceticism as well as a Doctor of the Church. His education, initially through his family of Christian faith, led him to study in Milan and then in Rome at the school of the celebrated rhetoricians Aelius Donatus and Rufino di Aquileia. The fascination of the Eternal City attracted him for its life of study and also for its worldly life. But in search of a profound conversion and an ascetic life dedicated to contemplation, following his baptism at the age of nineteen he began his withdrawn life. Upon completion of his studies he went to Trier in Germany where he discovered the beauty of monastic life. Against the wishes of his family he withdrew to Aquileia along with his friend Rufino. There he decided to go to the East, to the cradle of monasticism, in search of an even more ascetic life, and his first stop was in Antioch with Bishop Evagrius to whom he taught Greek. During this period Jerome underwent an intense ascetic and spiritual experience, due both to his assiduous reading of the Word of God and to illness. After this intense and profound experience Jerome decided to go into the Desert of Chalcis along the Syrian border and begin the hard life of a hermit. It was during this period that he taught himself Hebrew, in order to be able to read the Old Testament in its original language. Following his experience in the desert, which left a profound mark on him, Jerome was entrusted with the responsibility for translating the Holy Scripture. His work, through which flows all of his talents, turned out to be a precious gift for the Western Church: his Bible, known as the Vulgate, remains even today the official text, guaranteed by the authority of the Church. After a brief pre-cenobitic experience on the Aventine Hill in Rome, Jerome withdrew to Bethlehem where he spent the last years of his life, and where he was able to complete his work on translating the Bible. In Bethlehem he was joined by Paula and her daughter Eustochium, two Roman patricians, who pledged a large sum that was used for building two monasteries, one for men, the other for women, a hospice for pilgrims and a monastic school. This was the first monastic settlement in the surroundings of the Grotto of the Nativity. Although the precise location of the monastic complex is not clear, it is known with certainty that Jerome went into the caves near the Holy Grotto to pray and meditate. Emblematic of his spirituality are his reflections on the manger of the Grotto of the Nativity which, in order to provide it with a more dignified setting, had been replaced some time before by a silver basin: “O, if only I were permitted to see that manger in which the Lord lay! Now, as an honor to Christ, we have taken away the manger of clay and have replaced it with crib of silver, but more precious to me is the one that has been removed. Silver and gold are appropriate for unbelievers; Christian faith is worthy of the manger that is made of clay. He who was born in that manger cared nothing for gold and silver. I do not find fault with those who made the change in the cause of honor (nor do I look with disfavor upon those in the Temple who made vessels of gold), but I marvel at the Lord, the Creator of the universe, who is born, not surrounded by gold and silver, but by mud and clay.” (Jerome, Homily on the Nativity of the Lord - late 4th c. AD) [" O si mihi licere illud praesepe videre, in quo Dominus iacuit! Nunc nos Xpisti quasi pro honore tulimus luteum, et posuimus argenteum: sed mihi pretiosius illud est quod ablatum est. Argentum et aurum meretur gentilitas: Xpistiana fides meretur luteum illud presaepe. Qui in isto presaepe natus est, aurum condempnat et argentum. Non condempno eos qui honoris causa fecerunt (neque enim illos condempno qui in templo fecerunt vasa aurea): sed admiror Dominum, qui creator mundi non inter aurum et argentum, sed in luto nascitur."] This passage highlights the desire to recognize the humbleness and simplicity of the Incarnation of Christ, which had taken place in a simple manger and not one made of precious materials, in order to draw attention to the grandeur of the Incarnation itself. After the deaths of Paula and Eustochium, and after the arrival of the news of the sack of Rome by Alaric, Jerome suffered a moral collapse and a worsening of his state of health. He remained alone in his monastery that was falling down and menaced by continuous plundering, dedicating himself to welcoming those who arrived to the place and were in need of refuge and hospitality. On 30 September 420 he died after a period of intense physical suffering, bequeathing to the Church the priceless treasure of his writings. Rights to the land and the sanctuary The sanctuary, which was not mentioned by Clement VI in either of his bulls in 1342, was granted to the Franciscans by Sultan al-Muzaffar Hajji in 1346-1347, as reported to us by the Franciscan chronicler Niccolò da Poggibonsi. There is no official firman (decree) making reference to this grant, but it is confirmed by a citation in a firman issued in 1427 by Sultan Barsbay. It was very likely Peter IV of Aragon who made the request for the sanctuary to the Egyptian sultan, as this was explicitly mentioned by him in two separate letters, one addressed to the sultan and the other to Pope Innocent VI. In 1558 the Muslim and Christian leaders of Bethlehem declared that the burial places of the town belonged to the Franciscans, and in its Hogget (verdict) of May 1566 the tribunal in Jerusalem established that the entire sanctuary of the Nativity was owned by the Frankish religious who were entitled to manage the opening and closing of the church. In 1619, the Grotto of the Nativity, whose ownership had unjustly been awarded to the Greeks, was restored to the Latins who in 1717 placed a new silver star at the site of the Nativity. With the proclamation of the Status Quo the question of property rights was clarified once and for all. As a result of the continuous clashes between the various denominations, the Sublime Porte established that a soldier would be always on guard at the Altar of the Nativity. This decree has been maintained until the present time by the various governing authorities. Stages of Excavation - 1932 –initial surveys of the square in front of the sanctuary by W. Harvey, E. T. Richmond, H. Vincent and R. W. Hamilton. - 1934 –surveys inside the sanctuary carried out by W. Harvey, E. T. Richmond, H. Vincent, and R. W. Hamilton: These brought to light elements belonging to the sacred Constantinian edifice from the 4th century, notably the mosaics from the nave and the area of the presbytery which had the form of an octagon. Following the excavations a vast literature was produced, of which the following texts should be noted: W. Harvey in Archaeologia, vol. 87 (1937); E. T. Richmond in QDAP, vols. 5 and 6; P. Vincent in Revue Biblique, (1936-1937); J. W. Crowfoot in Early Churches in Palestine (London 1941); and R. W. Hamilton in The Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem (Jerusalem 1947). - 1947 –Father Bagatti examined the Franciscan land adjacent to the Byzantine church as well as the Cloister of St. Jerome, which at the time was undergoing a general restoration. He succeeded in finding remains dating from the Crusader period. Father Bagatti explained the stages of study and excavation in his book Gli Antichi edifici sacri di Betlemme (“The ancient sacred buildings of Bethlehem”, Jerusalem 1952), which remains one of the last complete publications on the archaeological elements within the Sanctuary and surrounding areas. - 1962-1964 –Excavations beneath the monastery carried out by Father B. Bagatti: caves adjoining the Grotto of the Nativity. Father Bellarmino Bagatti Father Bagatti was born in the commune of Lari (Province of Pisa) on 11 November 1905. He took the religious habit in the Province of St. Francis on Mount La Verna in Tuscany at age seventeen and was ordained as a priest at age 23. In recognition of his academic talents he was invited to attend the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology in Rome, where he received his doctorate with highest honors in 1936. During this period he began his teaching career at the Studium Biblicum in Jerusalem, teaching topography and Christian archaeology. Together with Father Sylvester Saller he initiated the series “SBF Collectio Maior” (1941) and, with Donato Baldi, co-founded the journal “SBF Liber Annus”(1951). After becoming director of the Studium he broadened its programs and increased the number of teachers. He also taught at the Studium Theologicum Hierosolymitanum in Jerusalem. He received numerous academic awards and was a frequent participant in international conferences on archaeology, Sacred Scripture, the cult of the Virgin, St. Joseph, and apocryphal literature. Among the excavations he carried out: the cemetery of Commodilla in Rome (1933-1934); the Sanctuary of the Beatitudes (1936); the Church of the Visitation at Ain Karem (1938); Emmaus-Qubeibeh (1940-1944); Bethlehem (1948); Dominus Flevit on the Mount of Olives (1953-1955); Nazareth (1954-1971); Mount Carmel (1960-1961); Mount Nebo (1935); and Khirbet el-Mukhayyat. His vocation as a teacher led him to undertake innovative educational initiatives to foster the growth of his friars, one example being the “Course for biblical-theological updating” which began in 1969 and continues today. As a result of his scientific contribution, the Holy Places can no longer be considered merely pious traditions of the Franciscans, and the international scientific community now recognizes that these archaeological sites preserve the memory of ancient places and of the first Judeo-Christian communities. In particular, Bagatti’s participation in the excavations at Bethlehem led to the study of the areas around the monastery and adjacent to the Grotto of the Nativity. His scientific support contributed to a more precise understanding of the nature of the Constantinian-era octagon, which had been discovered during the British excavations of the 1930s. In 2008, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) gave way to the restoration of the Church of the Nativity with a decree by President Mahmoud Abbas. A Restoration Commission was set up, chaired by the engineer Ziad Albandak, the presidential advisor for Christian affairs, who had a call for bids drawn up. On the basis of this, in September 2010, the agreement was reached between the three institutions responsible for the basilica: the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Custody of the Holy Land and the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Considering the funds allocated, the restoration of the roof (which had never been touched since 1832 and from which the rains would filter in) and the 42 stained glass windows immediately began. On July 22, 2013, the work was assigned to the Piacenti S.p.a. company of Prato, Italy, which specializes in the restoration and conservation of protected buildings, monumental complexes and assets of historical and artistic interest. Work began on September 15, 2013, and the first phase ended in March 2015. In a year and a half, 1,625 square meters of new roofing were added and 8 percent of the timber trusses were replaced with ancient timber imported from Italy. The large windows and wooden frames have been completely recreated. The new ones, by an Italian manufacturer, are dual pane. Funds from various donors began to flow from this stage, which encouraged the Commission to plan other restoration work, reaching a budget of 11 million euros. They decided to restore the narthex and its wooden and metal access doors, the external stone facades (3,076 square meters), the internal plaster (3,600 square meters), the wall and floor mosaics (125 square meters) and the 50 columns (28 of which feature frescoes with XII century paintings depicting Egyptian and Palestinian monks). In December 2017, a new lighting system and a new smoke detection system were installed. The restoration of the narthex made it possible to remove a wooden shoring installed in the 1930s during the British Mandate. The restoration of the wall mosaics came to an end in June 2016, with the return of the brilliant colors of the mosaics and with a surprise: a seventh angel came to light; it had been considered lost and was recovered thanks to a technique called thermography (a technique that allows for the restorers to plumb solid surfaces in search of works hidden by the passage of time and neglect). They then intervened on the columns and the floor mosaics. The idea is to close the construction site by the end of 2019, but over 2 million euros remain to be collected to finance the last phase of the work that in almost a decade has restored cleanliness, efficiency and light to the Basilica complex of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Arrival to the church Passing along Star Street towards the Holy Place of Jesus’ Nativity, as did the Magi from the East and, later, countless pilgrims, in the distance, and before arriving to the square in front of the current church, one is struck by the enchantment of a Place that for centuries has called millions of visitors from throughout the world to adore it. Arriving at the paved square in front of the church, the sanctuary of the Nativity comes into view. At first sight it is not easy to understand the architectural structure of the church complex, which over the centuries has undergone numerous transformations. The structure dates back to the sixth century and was the work of architects employed by the Byzantine emperor Justinian, who wished to reconstruct the fourth century basilica that had been destroyed following the revolt of the Samaritans, as witnessed by Eutychius, Patriarch of Alexandria in 876.. Looking at the façade one is able to distinguish a number of sections that were part of the complex of the basilica and attached structures. Its fortress-like aspect arose from the requirements over the centuries to protect the structure and the residences of the religious who looked after the church. Viewed from the front, the walls on the right enclose the Armenian and Greek monasteries, while to the left can be seen the modern construction of the Casa Nova and the Crusader-era Franciscan convent. During the Constantinian period the current square formed part of the atrium of the church and was a wide, open space. This has been confirmed by excavations that uncovered the perimeter of the fourth-century church. In front of the entrance, cisterns have been found whose mouths can be distinguished in the pavement. Rainwater entered through these and was stored for use in religious rites and for the daily life of the monasteries. The square is now surrounded by a perimeter wall, covering the entire south and west sides. On this latter side, at one time there existed a wide doorway that served as an entry and also marked the boundary between the sacred buildings and the village. The existence of the door, now destroyed, is confirmed by remains of its foundations and by the sketches of Bernardino Amico (16th century) and Ladislao Mayr (18th century). The façade, whose style as a result of the continuous modifications does not seem very clear, belongs to the structure from the Justinian period. A close examination will reveal three entry doors, which were later walled shut. The Byzantine façade would have presented a majestic and imposing appearance, with its three large entrances to the nave and two of the aisles. Compared to the earlier Constantinian structure, the Byzantine façade, preceded by a narthex, was extended by the width of an intercolumniation. The small entrance door is the result of several reductions in size that took place over time: one can easily recognize the large central door from the Byzantine era with its horizontal architrave and diagonally-placed stones. With the arrival of the Crusaders, the door was reduced to conform to the style preferred by Western knights, in order to better protect the Holy Place. Visible evidence of this is provided by the remains of the pointed arch that can be identified in the walls. During the Ottoman period the dimensions of the doorway were further reduced, hence the size of the current door, in order to impede access by those seeking to desecrate the place of worship. Thus the door reflects to a certain extent the alternating phases of Christianity in Bethlehem: periods in which freedom of worship guaranteed the recognition of the Christian faith, and others in which persecutions and intolerance rendered difficult the life of the local communities. The other two Byzantine doors, now covered by the perimeter walls of the church and by buttresses installed during the Crusader period, allow one to imagine the sense of majesty and beauty the Byzantine church must have inspired among those who arrived there on pilgrimage (as is indeed attested by various witnesses). Entrance to the church Passing through the small door, one enters into the area known technically as the narthex, which was constructed in the Byzantine period. In the ancient Christian tradition the narthex was the area serving as the entrance to the sacred areas, and was intended for catechumens who during certain moments of the celebrations were not allowed to enter into the church. During the Constantinian period there had been no narthex, but instead an open, wide atrium which performed a similar function. The Justinian narthex has been divided into four areas, one of these serving as the entry area to the church. During the Crusader period the areas at the two extremes served as bases for the four-storey-high bell towers that were built. A fourth area to the left of the entrance door is used by the soldiers who, since the Turkish period, have guarded the church. The episode is recounted with miraculous elements by the pilgrim Jean Boucher. The entrance door, today covered by scaffolding, was a gift from the Armenian King Hetum in 1227, as indicated in the inscription which is in both Armenian and Arabic. The two bell towers, mentioned for the first time in the Travels of Sir John Mandeville which took place between 1322 and 1357, were built during the Crusader period. They were situated at the extremities of the narthex, where today are found the entrances to the Armenian monastery and the chapel of the Franciscan convent of St. Helena. Apart from their role as bell towers, they also served as guard towers overlooking the surrounding area. The period in which the two structures were built is confirmed by the remaining intact areas on the lower levels, which are characterized by Crusader architectural elements such as pointed arches. The pilgrim Bernardino di Nali (15th century) described them in his memoirs as very elegant structures. The bells would no longer have been in place at this point since, as mentioned by Father Felix Faber (1480-1483), the Saracens did not allow Christians to have bells. The bell towers that can be seen today are later constructions forming parts of the Greek and Armenian Orthodox monasteries. The narthex has been modified, and significantly reduced in size, compared to its original form. The floor is from the sixth century, but the plaster-covered walls do not reflect their original beauty, as the entire church would have been covered with white-veined marble. Based on research into Byzantine architecture, it is assumed that the narthex was not only decorated with marble but also adorned with mosaics. After the restoration to be carried out in the near future, and with the removal of the plaster, the mosaic wall decorations will once again be visible. As noted above, the Justinian narthex has been divided into four areas, and during the Crusader period the two areas at the extremes served as bases for the four-storey high bell towers that were erected. Of these two areas, characterized by typical Crusader-style arches, one is today used as a porter’s lodge for the Armenian monastery, while the other has taken the name Chapel of St. Helena and is the property of the Franciscan friars. The walls at the entrance to the Armenian monastery have been cleaned and restored to their original state: holes can still be seen in the stones that were used for attaching the marble originally adorning the walls. The plaster on the walls of the narthex makes it difficult to comprehend the true scale of the side doors, which are visible only from inside the church, where the walls are covered with crumbling plaster. This area is an obligatory passage for all pilgrims who wish to enter the church from the square and represents an area common to the three Communities. For this reason, it has been very difficult to reach agreement on maintenance works necessary for strengthening the structure. The wood door, which has 700 years of history, was a gift from the Armenian King Hethum, son of Constantine of Baberon, in 1227 as can be read in the carved inscription in Arabic and Armenian which says: “The door of the Blessed Mother of God was made in the year 676 [according to the Armenian calendar] by the hands of Father Abraham and Father Arakel in the time of Hethum, son of Constantine, king of Armenia. God have mercy on their souls.” The inscription in Arabic provides us with additional chronological elements of interest: “This door was finished with the help of God, may he be exalted, in the days of our Lord the Sultan al-Malik al-Mu’azzam in the month of Muharram in the year 624 [Islamic calendar]”. This gift is evidence of the good relations that existed at the time between the Armenian and Crusader Churches. The door, initially of very fine workmanship but poorly preserved due to the wear of time and lack of care, has a floral decoration typical of the Armenian style. It is no longer completely visible, as it has been covered by scaffolding put in place by the Palestinian government to help support the roof beams, which are in a very unstable state. Inside the church In its interior, the church has preserved all of the architectural elements from the sixth century. When he first saw the actual project, the Byzantine emperor did not approve the choices made by the architect, accused him of having squandered the funds, and ordered that he be beheaded. Despite the emperor´s dissatisfaction, the building has shown itself to be very solid, surviving intact until the present day. Excavations carried out by the British government in 1932 showed that the Constantinian-era floor had been completely covered over with finely-crafted mosaics displaying geometric and floral decorations. Among these is to be highlighted the mosaic remnant preserved to the west of the presbytery, where by raising the wooden trapdoor one can see the monogram ΙΧΘΥΣ (“fish” in Greek) used in ancient times to indicate the name of Christ. While today the floor consists of a simple rough stone pavement, the Byzantine-era floor had white marble slabs whose veins were particularly accentuated. A remnant of this can be seen in the area of the north transept. The Constantinian pavement was slightly inclined relative to the current floor, which is about a meter above the original level. The internal space, divided by columns into a nave and four aisles, is dark and dimly lit. In the sixth century the church was completely covered in marble: traces of the holes used to attach the marble can still be seen in the re-plastered walls. The colonnade, which today finishes at the end of the area of the apse, carried on, creating an ambulatory around the Grotto of the Nativity. This type of architectural structure was used in a number of Holy Places, especially those for Martyrs, because, according to tradition, pilgrims who walked repeatedly around the holy site would in this manner obtain grace. The columns and capitals, made from red stone from Bethlehem, are the original ones from the Byzantine period, the product of local craftsmen. The capitals, works of exquisite craftsmanship, were painted in blue. On the columns were representations of a number of Eastern and Western saints, both religious and lay. The architraves are also from this period, although their adornment goes back only to Crusader times and is very similar to that of the architraves in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which also date from this latter period. The high walls of the nave are decorated with superb mosaics dating from the 12th century, the works of Eastern masters. The mosaics are divided into three groups and show, starting from the bottom: the genealogy of Jesus, the councils and local synods and, at the top, a procession of angels. According to a Greek account from the ninth century, earlier there had been additional mosaic decorations dating from the Byzantine period. Among these special note was made of the representation of the Magi who arrived in Bethlehem to adore Jesus, which adorned the façade. A truly singular event occurred in 614 AD when the Persian soldiers who were invading the town took fright at the sight of the mosaic and renounced their intention to sack the church, which thus escaped unscathed. The transepts, which still preserve the original marble pavement from the Byzantine period, are today decorated with icons and vestments from the Greek Orthodox (right transept) and Armenian Orthodox (left transept) traditions. This part of the church also preserves mosaic decorations skillfully portraying scenes from the Gospels. The floor of the original Constantininan church was completely paved over in mosaic. This was discovered as a result of the excavations carried out by the British government between 1932 and 1934. The fourth century pavement rose in the direction of the area of the apse, with a difference in level that varied between 75 and 31 centimeters. During the Byzantine period, due to the variations in the floor level within the church, the floor was re-done using white-veined marble. Through trapdoors opening in the pavement it is still possible to enjoy a view of the ancient mosaics. Their workmanship is truly detailed and refined, above all those in the nave. It has been calculated that the density of tesserae (small squares of stone or glass) is 20 per cm2, compared to the 10 per cm2 characteristic of ordinary mosaics. This factor by itself allows one to understand why these decorations are so highly valued, as their higher density permitted the representation of more refined images, and the reproduction of more shades of color. The result was decorative mosaics that are extremely detailed, reflecting the importance of this Holy Place. These mosaics, which cover the nave and apse, display geometrical and decorative elements (swastikas, circles and cornices with interwoven bands). More rare are themes related to plants, such as acanthus leaves and vines. Rarer still is the representation of a rooster in the north transept. The absence of living beings is consistent with the Middle Eastern tradition which did not use representations of either animals or humans. A very interesting part of the mosaic decoration is preserved in the left corner of the nave where, opening a trapdoor, one can see a monogram bearing the Greek letters ΙΧΘΥΣ. Literally meaning “fish” in Greek, this was used as an acronym and symbol in ancient times to indicate the name of Christ (“Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior”): this is the only element that confirms that the Holy Place was Christian. A similar use of a monogram had come to be used during the Classical period at the entrance to houses of Roman patricians, along with busts of the owners. This fact has led to the hypothesis that the monogram marked the ancient entrance to the sacred area and to the “house of Jesus”. Based on the analysis of the excavations carried out by the British, it has been hypothesized that the entry to the presbytery in the Constantinian church was by means of a staircase starting precisely from the spot where the mosaic is located. According to Father Bagatti, the stairs used to enter the presbytery were torn down in order to construct a direct entrance to the grotto. Questi mosaici, che ricoprivano la navata centrale e l'abside, raffigurano elementi geometrici e decorativi (svastiche, tondi, cornici con nastri intrecciati). Più rari gli elementi vegetali, come foglie di acanto e viti. Eccezionale è la rappresentazione di un gallo, nel transetto nord. L’assenza di figure animate è in rispetto della tradizione Medio Orientale che non usava figure animali o umane. Un elemento molto interessante della decorazione musiva, è conservato nell'angolo sinistro della navata centrale dove, aprendo la botola di legno, si può vedere un monogramma con le lettere ΙΧΘΥΣ. Il segno usato nell'antichità per indicare il nome di Cristo (acronimo delle parole: "Ιησοῦς Χριστός Θεoῦ Υιός Σωτήρ", Gesù Cristo Figlio di Dio Salvatore), letteralmente significa “pesce”: questo è l'unico simbolo certo di cristianità del luogo. Un uso simile dell'acronimo veniva fatto in epoca classica all’ingresso delle case patrizie romane, assieme alla rappresentazione dei busti dei propietari. Per questo è stato ipotizzato che il simbolo segnasse il punto dell'antico ingresso alla zona sacra e alla "casa di Gesù". The decoration of the columns, which went largely unnoticed until 1891 when it was studied by Father Germer-Durant, represents one of the most interesting elements of the interior decoration. It is difficult to discern any real continuity or organic unity in the iconography within the church. The technique used was encaustic (“hot wax”), a manner of painting in which pigments mixed with heated wax are applied to a surface. Both the hands of the artists and the period in which the works were produced are different, leading one to think that they were requested by individual clients from different painters. There is no doubt that all of the images date from the Crusader period, a time of growing division between the Eastern and Western Churches. This is also confirmed by the presence of saints from both the Eastern and Western traditions (see the photo gallery). The individual panels, placed on all the columns of the nave and the first row of columns to the south, are surrounded by a red and whitish-colored band, while the figures of the saints stand out from the dark blue background. Each saint has his own name written in an ornamental scroll above or placed in his hands. The function of these paintings was described by the pilgrim Arculf who attested to the custom of celebrating masses near the columns on the day of the Saint. For the clerics of those times, the painted columns served to metaphorically invoke the presence of the Saints in the place. There is a widespread belief, today as well as in those days, that the Saints represent those who support the weight of the Church: the pictures of the Saints on the columns transmit this concept in a simple and forceful manner to all of the faithful who visit the church. We can define these paintings as “votive frescoes”, since it is very likely that they served as a testimonial of having carried out a pilgrimage. In addition, the patrons of the works were clearly aware that the works contributed to the embellishment of the church. The particularly dark appearance of the nave is due to the inadequate maintenance which over the years has led to a deterioration in the condition of the Sanctuary. Nonetheless, the mosaics with their gold background and silver inlaid mother-of-pearl, which at one point completely covered the walls of the church, retain their fascinating effect. The wall decorations, from the Crusader period, are arranged in different bands and are partly covered by plaster. The most recent survey carried out in connection with the restoration of the church has shown that the tesserae of the mosaics were positioned tilted downwards in order to enhance the beauty of the mosaic when observed from a position several meters below. In this manner a strong visual impact is received by the pilgrim upon entering the church, despite the poor state of preservation of the mosaics. The most direct and precise evidence regarding the decoration is that provided by Father Quaresmi in his Elucidatio Terrae Sanctae (1626) which described all of the wall mosaics in great detail. At the lowest level, on the right, St. Joseph and the ancestors of Christ according to the Gospel of St. Matthew are portrayed. Symmetrically, according to Quaresmi on the left side was a genealogical representation taken from the Gospel of Luke. On a second level, spaced between bands of acanthus leaves, are representations of the seven Ecumenical Councils (Nicaea, 325; Constantinople, 381; Ephesus, 431; Chalcedon, 451; Constantinople II, 553; Constantinople III, 680, Nicaea II, 787), the four provincial Councils (Antioch 268; Ancyra, 314; Sardica, 342; Gargres, 4th century) and the two local Synods (Carthage, 254; Laodicea, 4th century). For each council there is a picture of a sacred edifice and, with the aid of an ornamental scroll, an explanation of the decision that was taken on that occasion. At the upper level we can see a series of representations of angels in procession, having feminine features and dressed in white tunics, headed towards the Grotto of the Nativity. At the feet of one of these angels can be seen the signature “Basil” of the mosaic artist, who was probably of Syrian origin. At the crossing of the church (where the nave and transept intersect) one can still see today scenes taken from the canonical Gospels: to the north, the incredulity of Thomas, which appears to be the one best preserved, the Ascension and the Transfiguration; to the south, Jesus’entry into Jerusalem. In the cupola of the principal apse, according to Quaresmi, was a representation of the Virgin and Child, and in the arch of the apse one of the Annunciation of Mary, between the prophets Abraham and David. On the walls below were scenes from the life of the Madonna, taken from the apocryphal writings. On the counter-façade, above the entrance door, was a representation of the Tree of Jesse with Jesus and the prophets. This mosaic is now covered by white plaster. The pilgrim John Phocas reported having seen during his voyage (c. 1177) a picture of the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos in the church: this shows that even after the Schism of 1054, when the church was under the control of the Crusaders, close relations continued between the Eastern and Western Churches. An inscription in the principal apse makes reference to both Manuel Comnenus and Amalric of Jerusalem, so the mosaics must have been produced in the last decades of the Crusader presence in Palestine, which ended in 1187. The works were commissioned by both the Crusader king of Jerusalem and the Byzantine emperor: an example of collaboration that is practically unique in history and one which highlights the importance that the Sanctuary must have had at that time. The most recent studies carried out following the surveys for the restoration have raised a new question relative to the origin of the workers who produced the mosaics. The doubt relates to the previous assumption that local artists were employed to work on the decorative project, as normally was the case for reasons of practicality. The signatures of the mosaic artists, Ephraim and Basil, names that certainly are of Syrian origin, are a good indicator for determining the origin of the workers. It is also possible to hypothesize that Greek workers and designers may have been involved, but it is clear that whoever produced these decorations knew very well the great monuments of the Holy Land, which had been decorated by artists coming from the West. For example, in the decorative band in the nave separating the representations of the Councils from the large figures of the angels above, where the windows are, is a second, narrower, decorative band containing an animal mask typical of European Romanesque art. T hus, in the Bethlehem mosaics there are signs of the close relationship between Byzantine and Western art, which are blended together. The most recent investigations have established that, from the point of view of mosaic art, the church represents the culmination in the Crusader period of the encounter between Byzantine and Crusader art. T he mosaics thus reflect the Ecumenical “face” the Church of the Nativity still presents today to those who visit it: a point of unity between the Eastern and Western churches. The Greek iconostasis in the presbytery dates from 1764. In the original church this area above the Grotto was octagonal-shaped, as was confirmed by excavations carried out between 1932 and 1934. Based on these excavations and reconstruction of the area, in the fourth century the presbytery could be entered via a staircase that followed the octagonal perimeter of the outer walls. Beneath the floor in this area, within the perimeter of the octagon, mosaic decorations similar to those in the nave have been found, but far more elaborate containing representations of animals and plants as well as geometric elements. The sacred area that has been described underwent several transformations during the Justinian period. The entire area of the presbytery was enlarged in three directions with the addition of three spacious apses in the form of a cross. The baldachin was replaced by a true and proper crescent-shaped presbytery placed in the center of the area, to allow pilgrims to freely circulate around it. At the same time, the entry to the Grotto was transformed, with two separate entrances created. There are numerous interconnected caves adjacent to the Grotto of the Nativity. This area was used in ancient times for funerary purposes, a usage that has been maintained over time. The largest cave and the one nearest to the Place of the Nativity, known as St. Joseph’s, is divided into two areas and is connected to the Convent of the Franciscans. From this cave it is also possible to access the Holy Grotto by means of a private passageway of the Latins that is used for the Daily Procession to the Place of the Nativity. Opposite the Altar of St. Joseph, on the right, are two small caves, the second of which is dedicated to the Holy Innocents. Directly in front a portion of a pre-Constantinian arch belonging to a funerary chamber has been preserved. It was torn down during the time of Constantine to make way for the foundations of the church. It is thought that this point of the cave may have been the original entry into the cavern, and from here one could have made out in the background the scene from the Holy Crib. On the right is the passageway leading to the cave of St. Jerome, St. Paula and St. Eustochium: here were found the tombs of the three saints along with 72 graves from various periods, which are now preserved within a single burial vault. The entrance today is placed sideways with respect to the location where Jesus was born, but it is thought that in the fourth century the entrance was located behind the presbytery. The small façades of the two side entrances date back to the times of the Crusaders. The Grotto is entered by descending the stairs to the right of the iconostasis. Here the space is very narrow and restricted and the walls, which were originally irregular, form an almost-rectangular perimeter. The natural walls of the cave, decorated in the Constantine period, were covered with marble during the Byzantine period. The Altar of the Nativity only began to be venerated in the Byzantine period when this space was created to commemorate the precise place in which Jesus had been born. The current structure has been totally modified from that which was described by the pilgrim John Phocas and Abbot Daniel in the 12th century. Two red stone columns, and the inscription “Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus”, overlook the altar, above which are representations of the Virgin and the Child in swaddling clothes, the scene of the washing, and that of the coming of the shepherds. Beneath the altar is a star with the inscription “Hic de Virgine Maria Iesus Christus natus est” in memory of the precise spot of the Nativity. To the right of the altar is the place where Mary laid Jesus in the manger, also known as the Crib. At this point in the Grotto the floor is lower and the space is made up of columns similar to the Byzantine ones in the nave of the church, and by the remains of two Crusader columns. In front of the Crib is a small altar dedicated to the Magi, where the Latins celebrate Holy Mass. The structure of the Crib is not the original one but is the result of alterations necessitated by the continuous wear and tear of time and the passage of pilgrims. Following the fire of 1869 the walls of the Grotto were covered with asbestos to prevent further fires, a donation from the President of the French Republic Marshal Mac-Mahon in 1874. Below this covering the original Crusader marble is still visible, while above it can be seen wood panel paintings of limited artistic value. Following along the course of the Daily Procession, and leaving the Grotto of the Nativity through an underground passageway built by the Franciscans to ensure a direct access to the Holy Place, one comes to the Grotto of St. Joseph. Now restored in a modern style by the Franciscan artist Alberto Farina, this would have been the nearest cave to the Place of the Nativity. As one exits from the underground passageway, the Altar of St. Joseph is on the left. Directly in front the foundations of a Constantinian wall and a pre-Constantinian arch have been preserved, confirmed to date from the 1st to 2nd centuries AD. This area was used as a burial ground for “saints”. Indeed, the custom of burying the dead in the vicinity of a Holy Place was a common one, occurring also in the West (notably in Rome). Leaving the underground area to enter the Church of St. Catherine, it is possible to pass through the supporting walls of three different reconstructions of the area of the apse: one from the Constantinian period and the other two from different Byzantine periods, one of these being a planned design that was never fully implemented. With our back to the Altar of St. Joseph, to our right is the Grotto of the Innocents in which one can see three arcosolium (or “bench”) type tombs, each containing from two to five sepulchers. Here the Massacre of the Innocents ordered by Herod the Great shortly after Jesus’ birth is commemorated. In the first centuries, the memory of the Innocents was commemorated in an adjoining cave, which one can assume was a common grave in which numerous bones of corpses had been found. In the cave that serves as a passage between the Grottos of St. Joseph and St. Jerome we come across two altars: one dedicated to the saints Paula and Eustochium, the other to saints Jerome and Eusebius. Three tombs are located in the wall to the right of the first altar, positioned like Roman tombs in the countryside around Lazio. This would seem to give support to the idea that faithful from the Latin community were present here and had maintained the Roman burial custom of placing bodies in niches inside of walls. From the last cave, named after St. Jerome, it is possible to enter directly into the Crusader Cloister by means of an internal staircase. Buildings around the church The monumental complex of religious buildings, of which the Church of the Nativity is the heart, covers an area of 12,000 m2. The complex includes, in addition to the church, the Latin (north), Greek (south-east) and Armenian (southwest) monasteries, and the Catholic church of St. Catherine of Alexandria, fronted by the cloister of S. Jerome. The Church of St. Catherine can be entered in three different manners: via the north transept; through the underground caves; and passing through the Cloister of St. Jerome. The church, which is part of the complex of the former Crusader monastery, has undergone noteworthy transformations over the years, most recently the modifications carried out on the occasion of the Jubilee Year 2000. The site, which already in 1347 had been dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria, initially was only a small chapel within the Franciscan Convent, corresponding to what today is the area of the altar dedicated to St. Catherine. The ancient structure as it appears in the drawings of Bernardino Amico underwent major changes, with its area substantially increased over time. The sacred edifice which exists today is very large and well-lit. It consists of a nave and two aisles, with a raised apse where the friars’ choir is located. A Nativity scene is represented on the stained glass windows, a result of the modifications carried out in the year 2000. At the end of the aisle on the right is the altar dedicated to St. Catherine, while to the right, in a recessed area, is the altar of the Virgin with the statue of the Child Jesus, which dates from the 18th century and is used during celebrations of the Christmas Solemnity in Bethlehem. Worthy of note are the Crusader arches preserved at the entrance of the church that have been incorporated in the present structure and formerly were part of what is known as St. Jerome’s Cloister. In this area is a bas-relief donated by the Pope on the occasion of Jubilee 2000. The Cloister of St. Jerome, so-named because it allows direct access to the cave dedicated to that Saint, was restored by the Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi in 1947. During this work, Father Bagatti provided assistance to the archaeological surveys of the caves lying below. For the restoration of the cloister it was necessary to insert new columns where the original ones were missing in order to provide additional support to the structure. This was done in a manner to preserve the original structure, a clear example being the simple and linear modern capitals which alternate with the more richly decorated Crusader ones. From the Cloister one can enter the Chapel of St. Helena, which is in fact what remains from the base of the Crusader bell tower. The chapel contains 12th century frescoes in a poor state of preservation but very interesting stylistically. From the entrance, to the right of the cloister, can be seen an entry door to the church used by the Latins for the official entries of the Pope, since the right to enter through the principal door is accorded solely to the Custos of the Holy Land and the Patriarchs. On the opposite side is the entry to the Franciscan Convent, which represents an enlargement of the Crusader monastery. Remaining elements from the Crusader monastery include the entrance hall with pointed arches, the perimeter walls giving access to the north side of the convent, the storeroom and cisterns, some of them dating from even earlier periods. By passing through the basement of the convent one can enter the place that by tradition is known as the Washing of Jesus. Entering the Cloister of St. Jerome and heading towards the church, one can enter through a small door the chapel commonly known as “St. Helena”. During the Crusader period the Justinian narthex was subdivided, and one of the areas was given to the chapel. This displays elements of Crusader architecture along with Crusader-era frescoes from the twelfth century that, as Father Vincent declared, are of very high quality, although today they are in a poor state of preservation. In the apse is a representation of Christ on the Throne between the Virgin and St. John the Evangelist. On the arch is an interesting representation in the form of a medallion in which one can recognize the Hetoimasia, a Byzantine iconographic theme represented by an empty throne awaiting the arrival of Christ for the Last Judgment. On the other walls are representations of figures of saints. The convent was constructed above the remains of the caves of the first monks who settled near the Grotto of the Nativity and of the initial Crusader monastery of Augustinian Canons. The basic structure of the convent remains that of the Crusader monastery, although it has been substantially enlarged and modified. Clear signs of the Crusader architecture are still to be seen in the large entrance hall of the Convent, as well as in the underground areas. Entering into the ancient Crusader storage area, and passing through the area used today for elevators, it is possible to make out the ancient Crusader cistern. The façade and entry to the Crusader monastery were located on the northern side of the structure, facing onto the area used today for Convent parking and the entrance into the Casa Nova. The place known as the “Bathing Basin of Jesus” is accessible only from the convent. The site, full of historical and archaeological interest, has yet to be studied in detail. It is known, however, that the rock here has maintained its form unchanged since the time in which these places were tread upon by the Holy Family. This very suggestive element leads us into a circular cave at the center of which a large round receptacle has been hollowed out, known traditionally as the place of Jesus’ first bathing. The scene of the washing never fails to appear in Eastern icons and in ancient representations of the Nativity. This area was discovered by an enterprising sacristan at the end of the nineteenth century. The sacredness of the place has been transmitted by a number of ancient witnesses such as Arculf (De locis sanctis, 670 AD, Book II, Chapter 3) who tells of having washed his face here. The site needs to be further studied, but one can already hypothesize that it must have served some function prior to Jesus’ birth. The structure of the convent is still that from the Crusader period. This is shown by the presence of underground areas like the Crusader Hall, now used as a chapel for pilgrims, formerly used as a warehouse. Alongside this several very large ancient cisterns have been preserved. The roof of the Church of the Nativity In contrast to most Eastern churches, the roof covering was not vaulted but formed by covered trusses, as described by Louis de Rochechouart before the 1461 restoration: “In the roof there is a wooden structure built in ancient times. This is daily falling into ruins, above all over the choir. The Saracens will not allow anyone to rebuild or restore it, so it is a miracle, worked by the Babe who was born there, that it still remains”. The roof of the Church of the Nativity underwent a major renovation in 1479 at the wish of the Guardian, Giovanni Tomacelli. The timber, paid for by Philip the Good of Burgundy was transported in Venetian ships, while the lead for the roof was a gift from the English king Edward IV. A later renovation by the Greeks was carried out in 1671, on which occasion the cedar was replaced by pine, according to the testimony of Father Nau. The major effort required in terms of materials and economic resources had the fortunate result of producing a roof that has lasted to the present day, although it is now in a considerably deteriorated state, which has led to major problems for the decorative wall mosaics. In particular, during the summer months the lead structure “moves” due to the extremely high temperatures it reaches, allowing water to leak inside. We can recommend to the visitor a very interesting aerial view of the church from the roof of the Church of St. Catherine, which allows one to take in the construction of the three-apsed structure of the Sanctuary and to better understand the various changes in the perimeter of the building that have taken place over the centuries. The Treasure of Bethlehem Preserved today in the Archaeological Museum of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, the Treasure of Bethlehem consists of a series of bronze and silver objects that belonged to the Church of the Nativity in the medieval period. They were found by chance at two separate times: in 1863 during restoration works on the kitchen of the Franciscan convent, and in 1906 during excavations of the foundation for the new hospice for pilgrims. The treasure had been carefully concealed during a period, and for reasons, that we do not know, presumably to protect it from eventual pillage. One can hypothesize that this took place after 1452 when Sultan Muhammad II prohibited the ringing of bells. The treasure is made up of: - an enameled crosier (pastoral staff); - three candlesticks, also enameled, two in silver with inscriptions; - a carillon consisting of 13 bells; - organ pipes of various dimensions; - an Armenian cross in metal, found during excavations in 1962-1964 by Father Bellarmino Bagatti. In addition, a number of objects coming from the Church of the Nativity are preserved in the Museum of the Flagellation. Bethlehem in the iconography Representations of the Church of the Nativity in history Already in ancient Christian times Bethlehem was represented in numerous mosaics and miniatures, both by artists who had visited the site and by those who did not have any real knowledge of the sanctuary. Among the former we can provide a brief list of some of the representations that have given us a near-real image of the development of the sanctuary: The fourth-century wall mosaic in the Church of Santa Pudenziana in Rome, which to the right of the Redeemer has an octagonal building and to the left another that is generally identified as the Tomb. The sixth-century mosaic floor at Madaba, which includes a representation of the Justinian construction with its three trefoil apses that identify the structure. The medieval miniature (13th century) preserved in Cambrai (France), which shows the façade of the church, with two bell towers, at the time of the Crusaders. The xylograph contained in Journey to the Holy Land (1483) by Bernhard von Breidenbach in which there are sketches of the church showing elements that today are no longer visible −including the enclosing wall, the buildings inhabited by the Greeks and Armenians, the arcuate form of the church’s windows and the three crosses that indicated the indulgences – thus restoring for us the appearance of the ancient church. Finally, note should be made of the numerous sketches of Fathers Bernardino Amico (16th century) and Ladislao Mayer (18th century), the latter of whom has provided us with many interesting details, notably of the cloister. The Child of Bethlehem The statue of the Child Jesus carried in the procession at the point where the Holy Crib is remembered on Christmas Eve and which, after Epiphany, is returned to the Altar of the Madonna in the Church of St. Catherine, was commissioned by fra Gabino Montoro ofm in 1920 from the Casa Viuda Reixach in Barcelona and was made by the artist Francisco Roges. He also made the statuette of the Child on the Throne which is carried by the Father Custos during the procession on the day of Epiphany. Both statues are made of cedar. Several models were prepared, the one chosen having its hands joined together. The tradition of the Child Jesus at Bethlehem is a very old one, as is shown in the chronicle edited by Golubovich in the Biblioteca Biobibliografica della Terra Santa (“Bio-bibliographic library of the Holy Land”) which tells the story of the disappearance of the statue: How the Pasha of Jerusalem took a wooden statue of the Child Jesus in order to obtain money: “Congregating on the third of June in Bethlehem nearly all of those schismatic nations to celebrate one of their feasts, whose name I do not recall, and having entered into our convent to visit those sanctuaries and churches, they were standing around in our sacristy admiring a very beautiful sculpture of a small child that our friars normally placed in the Holy Crib on the eve of the Nativity, and they asked what it was; it was a Greek monk who replied that it was the God of the idolatrous Franks and that if the Turkish ministers were to take it from them they would have no God. “Not an hour had passed before the Pasha, having entered into the Church of St. Catherine, where by chance he had gone with his whole court, demanded that the Child be brought to him, because he wanted to see it; he eagerly held it in his hands before returning it to our dragoman (interpreter) without saying a word. “That evening when he was staying in our large church (where it was common for such important people to stay and pass the night), discussing the matter he was told that he had made a big mistake in returning the Child, since had he kept it the Franks would undoubtedly have paid thousands of piasters to ransom it, as it was held in such high esteem by them and adored as the Son of God. “The Pasha, judging that he could gain some advantage from this situation, immediately sent his dragoman for the Child, making him promise not to allow it to be lost or in any way damaged, and with this vain hope it was taken to his home in Jerusalem. The Father Guardian, who was advised of this, maintained total silence and never made any mention of it. “Three months passed, and seeing that the friars had not spoken a word about it, he called his dragoman to him and told him he was amazed that the Franks held their God in such low esteem. The dragoman replied that the God adored by the Franks was Three in One. He was in heaven, and that Child represented only the son of God in human flesh, which the Francs placed in the Holy Crib on the eve of his Nativity, to represent the mystery of that Nativity. To which the Pasha retorted: he knew very well that this was their real and true God, but he now assumed that to save the expense of ransoming it they were equivocating in this fashion; however, no longer wishing to keep it in his home, he would return it to Bethlehem as a show of kindness; and placing it in the hands of his dragoman, he said to him that he should return with at least 100 piasters. “In the end, the Pasha had to be content, after much to- and froing, with two silk robes. To the praise of Christ. Amen.” (T.S. 1969, p. 378) It is clear that the traditional representation of the Child Jesus is a very old one linked to devotion, one which Francis of Assisi and his friars helped to popularize and develop. In the year 1414 there is documentation of a shipment from the Holy Land to Italy of statuettes of the Child, a custom which has continued to the present day. Each day in fact, not only the Franciscans but pilgrims themselves love to bring home statuettes of the Child Jesus as a memento of the Holy Place of the Nativity. Handicrafts in Bethlehem Among the most important economic activities in Bethlehem are local handicraft products made from olive wood, mother of pearl and coral. The history of these handicrafts is directly linked to that of the Franciscan brotherhood in Bethlehem, which starting in the sixteenth century set up special centers for teaching the art of intaglio and working with mother-of-pearl, and encouraged the opening of artisan workshops dedicated to these techniques, in order to produce liturgical furnishings, crèches and other handmade articles. The economic well-being of many Bethlehem families still depends today on these activities, even more so after the construction of the wall that has partially isolated the people living in these areas. The first testimony referring to the use of these techniques dates from 1586 when the Belgian pilgrim Jean Zuallart (known also as Giovanni di Zuallardo), describing his pilgrimage to the Holy Places, said this about Bethlehem: “They make crowns and small crosses from olive, cedar and other woods” (Il devotissimo viaggio di Gerusalemme, Roma 1595, p. 206). The teaching of these techniques can be traced back to the establishment of a school in 1347 where, in addition to studies of theoretical subjects, instruction in practical disciplines and handicrafts was also promoted. From this breeding ground of artisans, manufacture began not only of simple materials but also of objects of great art and value, notably models of the Holy Places and crèches in mother-of-pearl and olive wood. These made use of the studies on perspective carried out by Bernardino Amico, who was in Bethlehem between 1593 and 1597, leading to the production of models that were true masterpieces, especially those in mother-of-pearl. Under the Ottoman Empire, the production of local handicrafts came to a halt due to the reduction in the number of pilgrims. Only at the beginning of the 20th century did production recover, due in large part to the contribution of Father Pacifico Riga who, during his 24 years as director and design teacher at the Bethlehem school, rediscovered and promoted the teaching of these skills. Among the most famous of the local Bethlehem handicrafts the following should be noted: crèches (Nativity scenes), sepulchers, pictures in mother-of-pearl, reliquaries and candlesticks, as well as miniature models of the Holy Places. In the Old Testament The town of Bethlehem is mentioned 44 times in the Old Testament and is given the name “Bethlehem of Judea”, from the tribe to which it belonged, to distinguish it from the homonymous locality belonging to the tribe of Zebulun in Galilee. Bethlehem is mentioned in the Bible for the first time in reference to Rachel, Jacob’s wife, who died nearby while giving birth to Benjamin, “the son of his old age”. She was buried along the road leading from Jerusalem to Bethlehem (Gen 35:19). We should also mention the story of Elimelech and his wife Naomi, who after having residing on the plateau of Moab returned to Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law Ruth. Ruth in turn married Boaz and from their offspring was born Jesse, the father of David. One of the great glories of Bethlehem is that of having been the birthplace of David who was crowned King of Israel there in place of Saul by the prophet Samuel, by command of God (1Sam 16:1-14). David, the youngest of the brothers, was chosen through a sign from the Lord. His charm and great courage immediately made him a leading figure in the kingdom, becoming king of the Jews. For these reasons Bethlehem is still known as the “town of David”. But its true greatness lies in being the town where Jesus, Messiah and Son of God, was born. The prophet Micah had predicted this in these terms: “But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah too small to be among the clans of Judah, From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; Whose origin is from of old, from ancient times” (Mic 5:1). The Messiah, according to the prophet Micah, in addition to being born in Bethlehem would also be a descendant of David according to the flesh. And so in the surroundings of Bethlehem blossomed the idyll of Ruth, who lived with Booz (Ruth 2:8-22). From their marriage was born Obed, father of Jesse, who was father of David, to whose family belonged Joseph, the husband of Mary and the supposed father of Jesus. In the New Testament The faith in the fulfillment of the prophetic announcement of the birth in Bethlehem of a descendant of David was well rooted in the Judaic tradition at the time of Jesus. Indeed, when Herod asked the high priests where the Messiah was to be born they replied without hesitation: “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet” (Matt 2:5). Both Matthew and Luke refer to Jesus’ birth “in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod” (Matt 2:1) and in “the city of David that is called Bethlehem” (Luke 2:4). Luke recounts in addition that Joseph, a member of the house of David, accompanied by Mary his betrothed who was with child, set out from Nazareth for Bethlehem, on account of the Roman census that obliged all Jews to be registered in their place of origin. Matthew’s account, on the other hand, seems to suggest that Mary and Joseph had always been residents of Bethlehem and only later moved to Nazareth. Other events related to the birth of Jesus also took place in Bethlehem. Luke narrates the coming of the shepherds (Luke 2:8-20), while Matthew adds the story of the coming of the Magi from the East and their journey to Bethlehem (Matt 2:1-12) as well as that of the Massacre of the Innocents and the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt (Matt 2:13-23). The wait: Mary and Joseph Gospel according to Matthew 1:1-25 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse, Jesse the father of David the king. David became the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asaph. Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah. Uzziah became the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amos, Amos the father of Josiah. Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the Babylonian exile. After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah. Thus the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah, fourteen generations. Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means "God is with us." When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus. (New American Bible - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) We all know the story of the Holy Family, appearing to us with all the tenderness of a humble family from Nazareth, whose events have illuminated human history. Theirs is a story of obedience to the Life and Will of God, who manifested himself to the married couple demanding from them immense faith and great courage. Mary, before giving birth to Jesus, was living together with Joseph in Nazareth. After the Angel’s announcement to the Virgin Mary of the conception of the son of God, Mary responded positively, without hesitation and anxious to fulfill the will of God. Later, Joseph the Just also was to accept the same obedience, welcoming Mary despite her bearing in her womb a child who was not his own. And so it was that in this story of faith in which the Eternal chose to manifest himself in history, the Roman Emperor Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the entire Roman Empire. As a result, Joseph and his wife, who was in an advanced stage of pregnancy, were obliged to leave Nazareth and go to Bethlehem, the place of his ancestors, to register themselves. It was thus apparently only due to chance that Mary gave birth in Bethlehem. Unable to find more suitable accommodation, they stayed in a cave, similar to many others that were located in the surroundings of the town. It was then that, as the Evangelists narrate: “While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:6-7). In this waiting, and in the image of the Holy Family, we have depicted before us a scene from daily life that makes us reflect on the maternal figure of Mary, the “best of mothers” (as Pope Pius IX said), and the fatherhood of Joseph, the best of earthly fathers. It is indeed important for us as Christians to keep the Holy Family in mind as a model and example of the human family for all time. The Revelation: Christmas and the divine light Gospel according to Luke 2: 1-7 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (New American Bible - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) The story of Jesus’ birth as it emerges from the Gospels is very concise and not embellished with poetic details or miraculous phenomena. The Evangelist Luke, employing the language of a chronicler, tells us that during the stay in Bethlehem the time came for Mary to have her child (Luke 2:6-7). The manger is mentioned in this account, and we are provided with a very “everyday” image of Mary. Like all mothers, after nine months of waiting and after giving birth, she wraps the newborn in swaddling clothes and places him in a secure place. From the account nothing extraordinary would appear to have occurred, and yet this birth has radically changed the course of history. Jesus Son of God, born from a woman and hence born just like all human beings, is subjected to the totality of the human experience. Through this Child Jesus, God wishes to encounter man, wants to draw near to him. St. John will say: “God has sent his Son” (1 John 4:9), clarifying the divine nature of Jesus, who chose to take bodily form in order to live the human condition and show man the way to get to the Father. The Gospel of Mark is also very concise. In the first place, the Evangelist seeks to make clear that Mary had Jesus without “knowing” Joseph, indicating that Jesus was born through the work of the Holy Spirit and reaffirming the virginity of Mary. But what is clearly apparent in these accounts is the newness that is unfolding itself before the eyes of man: that of a God made man, who selected the earthly form, who selected the path of humiliation shedding his greatness and divinity to reach man, to make himself close to him and to share in his earthly journey. The choice of poverty made by God, assuming the bodily form of a small child in Bethlehem, is a choice that leaves man, who has an altogether different image of the Messiah, perplexed, even scandalized. The revelation of God in the flesh represents something entirely new. In this way the Love of the Father is unmistakably revealed. God gave man Light and the revelation in his Son. The Light of Christmas is this: the child of Bethlehem who has come to free man from the shadow of death and sin “the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light” (Matt 4:16). This is the symbolism of the light that shines in the dark night, the light signifying life and happiness, that dispels the darkness of death. It is the radiance of the celestial world, a symbolic expression of the holiness and glory of God which shows the importance of the moment as an encounter of God with men. This light and the extraordinariness of the moment help us to understand the joy of the moment, of the liberation that has come through the Incarnation. Christmas Eve is the moment that evokes one of the most tender and delicate events in the life of Jesus. Since antiquity Night has represented a time that is both special and propitious for divine revelations. And it was in the night that the Incarnation of the Son of God took place. At this precise moment it almost seems as if all life in the universe stood still before the miracle of the Incarnation, to show that all creation was involved in the coming of the Messiah, which was to become the central event in human history. The Holy Scripture frequently presents us the theme of peace and quiet in relation to the events in which God manifests himself and acts in history. Quiet represents an indispensable condition in order to be able to listen to and properly receive the eternal Word of the Father, that Word which manifested itself here in Bethlehem in the quiet of the cave, and which can be reborn each day in the hearts of those disposed to receive it. Hic et nunc: Liturgical Tradition The liturgy in all of the Holy Places, including Bethlehem, is the daily remembering of the events of the life of Jesus Christ, which are lived and evoked in the exact places given to us by tradition as the Holy Places touched by the divine passage of the Son of God. This helps us to understand how the liturgy in the holy place is not a simple practice of solemnity, but represents a continuous manner of commemorating that hic et nunc (“here and now”) with which, in the case of Bethlehem, the Savior became flesh and came to dwell among us. We have evidence of this ritual since ancient times. Two of the most important documents are the Itinerarium of Egeria and the Armenian Lectionary of Jerusalem which describe liturgical practices in the Holy Places during the 4th and 5th centuries. These documents provide us with information on the celebrations of Christmas and the Epiphany, and on the pilgrimages made to the various places of worship that were closely linked to the Gospel accounts of the Savior’s birth. It is clear that the celebration of the Solemnity of Christmas has a fundamental importance in the life of the local church and for the pilgrims who arrive from all over the world to the Church of the Nativity. The initial functions opening the liturgical year are those of the first Sunday of Advent, which is celebrated with the solemn entry of the Custos of the Holy Land into the Church of the Nativity and the prayer of first Vespers. The entire Advent period revolves around the preparation of the Christmas celebrations: the Christmas Eve Vigil and the dawn and morning Masses which since the nineteenth century have been presided by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, before that time having been presided by the Custos of the Holy Land. These celebrations conclude with the Epiphany, in which the manifestation of Jesus to the Magi is celebrated. Regarding the Christmas festivities, what we might consider secondary holidays, but still linked to New Testament events, are also celebrated, notably: the Holy Innocents (28 December), commemorating the Massacre of the Innocents ordered by King Herod, and the Theotokos (1 January), the feast of Mary Mother of God which exalts the figure of the Virgin Mary, after whom the Church of the Nativity is named. Along with these, other holidays and commemorations are also celebrated, for the most part linked to the participation of the local community. Among the most important of these we should mention that of St. Catherine (24 November), the titular saint of the conventual church, which for centuries was the feast day inaugurating the festivities, and that of St. Jerome (30 September), saint and Doctor of the Church who lived in the Holy Places of Christ’s birth. Along with these celebrations the memory of St. Joseph is also commemorated in the chapel bearing his name, as well as Corpus Christi, a feast day that draws attention to the importance of Bethlehem as the cradle of the coming of the Bread of Life. In addition we should note the pilgrimages to the sanctuary of Shepherds’ Fields (25 December) and to the Milk Grotto, in memory of the New Testament events that are remembered there. Unluckily the pages of Aetheria’s day book (end of the 4th cent.) concern¬ing Christmas and Epiphany ceremonies in Bethlehem have been lost. The most ancient information is to be found in the Armenian Lectionary of the 5th cent., which says that the liturgical year began on 6 January with the feast of the Epiphany or birth of our Lord. Then we have the Jerusalem Canon Book (middle of the 8th cent.), a manuscript found early in 1900’s in the church of St. George at Lahil, Caucasus. It is the translation of an ancient Greek ritual and, integrated with another Georgian document found in the Paris National Library, it forms a valuable source of data for the history of Holy Places during the Arab period, from 635 to the destructions of el Hakim in 1009. Regarding Christmas ceremonies we come to know that on the eve, after sext, clergy and assembly went in procession to the Shepherds’ Field. Coming back to Bethlehem, they visited the Nativity grotto and finished chanting vespers. At midnight they started reading prayers and lessons. This Canon Book designated Christmas as on 25 December; in fact by the end of the 6th cent. the Church of Jerusalem also complied with the practice established in Rome, that had set Christmas on such a date. The sixth of January was devoted to the Epiphany or manifestation of Jesus at the Jordan river. No particular rites are recorded for the Crusades’ time. In any case it is known that the Patriarch of Jerusalem went to Bethlehem on Christmas eve in order to lead the liturgy. Thus we see that from the 6th cent. up to the present, the Christmas liturgy has retained in Bethlehem its fundamental features. Until 1848 (the year in which pope Pius IX re-established the Latin Patriar¬chate of Jerusalem) the Christmas liturgy in Bethlehem was officiated by the Father Custos of the Holy Land. Since 1848 the Patriarch presides at the Christmas ceremonies while the Father Custos still leads the Epiphany rites. On the 24th of December, the parish priest, the town authorities and personalities go to meet the Patriarch of Jerusalem, welcoming him near Rachel’s tomb. In a cortege they go to Bethlehem escorted by horsemounted guards. At 1 P.M. all the Franciscans, the Seminarians of the Latin Patriarchate and the priests who can take part (all of them in liturgical vestments) receive the Patriarch at the entrance of the parvis while the Father Guardian of the convent waits in front of the basilica door. The Patriarch crosses the parvis with the town authorities on his right (Governor, Mayor, Garrison Commander, etc.) and clergymen disposed according to their rank on his left. At the basilica entrance, following the prescribed ceremonial, the Patriarch is welcomed by the Father Guardian and then he takes leave of the town authorities and enters the basilica followed by the clergy. He immediately passes through the small door on the left, crosses St. Jerome’s Cloister and enters St. Catherine’s where he puts on the sacred vestments and begins chanting the solemn first vespers of Christmas. At 3.30 P.M., compline and daily procession, solemnly presided over by the Father Guardian of the convent, take place. In St. Catherine’s at 11 P.M. solemn matins are sung, officiated over by the Patriarch. Shortly before midnight the Patriarch begins chanting the Pontifical Mass; the Governor, Mayor, Garrison Commander and consuls who have the right to participate, attend this mass. When the Pontifical Mass is over, a procession starts. The Patriarch holds in his arms the well known image of the Child Jesus. He is preceded by the clergy and followed by the town authorities, consuls and congregation. After circling the cloister they enter the basilica through the door in the northern apse and go down to the grotto. Once in the grotto the Patriarch lays the image of the Child on the silver star and the deacon chants the Gospel of the Nativity. When he reaches the woids:”... she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger”, he stops, wraps the image with clothes and takes it to the manger. Then the deacon resumes chanting the Gospels; at the end the antiphons and appropriate prayers are sung. Then the Patriarch incenses the image of the Child, intones the Te Deum and the procession goes back to St. Catherine’s where the Christians Eve liturgy comes to an end. The image of the Child remains in the Manger till. the 4th of January. At midnight sharp the Latins begin celebrating masses in the grotto until 5 A.M. There are only two interruptions, one during the ceremony officiated by the Patriarch, the other from 5 A.M. to 6.30 A.M. during which time Greek Orthodox celebrate their liturgy. Then masses are said continuously until 5 P.M. Further¬more at 9 A.M. in St. Catherine’s an auxiliary bishop officiates at a pontifical mass. At 4 P.M. the Franciscan community makes a pilgrimage to the Shepherds’ Field. They stop first at the site venerated by the Greek Orthodox and then go to the Shepherd’s Field of the Latin property. Christmas in Bethlehem - 1.30 pm - Entrance and Vespers - 4.00 pm – Procession - 11.30 pm - Office of the Hours - 00.00 am - Mass of Christmas - 1.45 am - Procession to Grotto of Nativity On Epiphany Eve at 10.30 A.M. the Father Custos of the Holy Land enters the basilica with a ceremony very similar to the one followed for the reception of the Patriarch. On the parvis he is welcomed by fathers and priests who do not wear liturgical vestments. In St. Jerome’s cloister he is received by the Father Guardian of the convent, intones the Te Deum and enters the church followed by all. At 1.40 P.M. pontifical vespers begin officiated over by the Father Custos of the Holy Land; the daily procession starts for the Nativity grotto at the beginning of the chanting of the Magnificat. At 3.30 P.M. solemn matins are sung, officiated over by the Father Guardian of the convent. Then chanting the Te Deum, procession goes to the grotto; the three altars are incensed as during vespers. From midnight until 9 A.M. of 6 January, the Latins have the right to celebrate masses continuously in the grotto with a short interruption during which Greek and Armenian Orthodox have their liturgy. At 9 A.M. in St. Catherine’s the pontifical mass is sung with the Father Custos of the Holy Land officiating, at which attend the town authorities and consuls, the same as during Midnight mass. At 3.30 P.M. vespers, compline and matins are sung. Around 4 P.M., the solemn procession takes place with the Father Custos of the Holy Land officiating. The image of the Child is no longer the one used for the Christmas rites; this one represents the Child seated on a throne. When the procession is over the Father Custos blesses the assembly with the image. The ceremonies of the Latin Christmas in Bethlehem are thus completed. Perhaps it is not out of place to mention that Latin priests have the privilege to say every day (with the exception of a few liturgical feasts) the Christmas votive mass in the Nativity grotto, and the St. Joseph’s votive mass and St. Joseph Artisan’s votive mass in St. Jerome’s grottos. This privilege has been reconfirmed by Pope Paul VI in 1964, in memory of his visit to the Holy Land. Unforgettable is the pilgrimage of Paul VI, the first pope who came to Bethlehem. On 6th January, Epiphany day, he celebrated a mass at the Wise Men’s altar and then delivered his famous message of peace. As souvenirs of his visit, Paul VI offered to the Child a symbolic present: gold (represented by a golden rose), incense (represented by a 18th cent. silver censer) and myrrh (contained in a kind of pyx). Moreover he donated to the church the vestments worn by him during the mass, and the chalice, missal and all the other sacred vessels used during the rite. Epiphany in Bethlehem - 10.00am - Solemn Mass of Fr Custodian S. Catherine - 3.30pm - Second Vespers and Solemn Procession to the Grotto of the Nativity December 28: Holy Innocents January 1: Mary Mother of God (at the Milk Grotto) September 30: St. Jerome November 24: St. Catherine Daily liturgy in memory of Christmas and the Daily Procession The daily rhythm of the life of the Franciscan friars, custodians of these Holy Places, is marked by the animation of the liturgy and the welcoming of pilgrims. While each day the community celebrates the Eucharist according to the calendar of the Universal Church, the pilgrims celebrate in this place the memory of Christmas. The para-liturgical moment that is celebrated each day in memory of the Birth of Jesus in the place of the Nativity is the Daily Procession to the Grotto of the Nativity. This, like all processions in the Holy Places, grew out of the desire to welcome pilgrims and bring them to the holy place along a precise route. Here it is celebrated every day at noon by the community of friars based in the Church of the Nativity. The Daily Procession in Bethlehem has seen many changes in the form of the ritual over the centuries, since during that time worship within the church and in the adjoining structures has undergone numerous changes. The evidence of the first friars mentions that in the 14th century, a time when they still had exclusive ownership of the church, the procession departed from the altar dedicated to the Virgin that was located in the middle of the left aisle. In 1470, to avoid pilgrims having to pay tribute to the Saracens, the Friars Minor opened a passage connecting the Grotto of the Nativity, the Grotto of St. Joseph and what was then the Chapel of St. Catherine. These are just some of the examples of the variations that the church, and hence the route of the Daily Procession, has undergone over the course of time. It is also clear that some of the changes to the daily ritual were linked to different historical periods as well to internal dissensions between the Latins and Greeks, the latter who on several occasions limited access to the Grotto. Today the procession follows the itinerary below, preserving a number of elements from the processions carried out by Father Bonifacio da Ragusa (16th century) and later elaborated upon by Father Tommaso Obicini (17th century): - I. The procession always departs from the Altar of St. Catherine with its first stop, or “station”, at the Altar of the Nativity; - II. the Holy Manger; - III. Altar of the Magi The following stations, which in earlier centuries were covered in their entirety, are today chosen on a daily basis as the final point of the itinerary: - IV. Tomb of the Innocents; - V. Oratory of St. Jerome; - VI. Tomb of St. Jerome; - VII. Tomb of St. Eusebius; - VIII. Altar of St. Catherine. The route followed helps one to relive each day the moment and the places of the Birth and Manifestation of Lord Jesus, and of the altars dedicated to those who were witnesses in history to these facts. The Nativity scene at Greccio and the tradition of the crèche One common way today of transmitting the memory of the birth of Jesus is through the tradition of the crèche. St. Francis is credited with having created the first crèche in history. The hagiographic tradition relates, albeit without historical certainty, that when Francis went to the Holy Land he had gone to Bethlehem and, bringing home with him the memory of the Town where the Savior was born, he then reproduced the scene of the Nativity on the famous Christmas Eve in Greccio (1Cel 84-86). In fact, Francis, anxious to make tangible to the faithful the experience of the Son of God, humbled and incarnate in human form, wanted to put in place such a representation, as is recounted in the biographies of the saint by both Thomas of Celano and St. Bonaventure. In these accounts it is related that Francis prepared a manger with hay, had an ox and a donkey brought there, and then had a Holy Mass celebrated in front of it, before a large crowd of people who had come from all over the region. His love for the Solemnity of Christmas and his devotion to the image of the Nativity found its highest inspiration in the Mystery of the Incarnation, where the saint recognized the humbleness and poverty of the birth of the Messiah. Francis saw this, the renewal of oneself in the sacrament of the Eucharist, where Jesus descends each day through the hands of the priest. The accounts paint a picture of great simplicity and tenderness, in which on Christmas Eve 1223 Francis prepared the Eucharistic celebration, requesting assistance from his friend Giovanni Velita in the preparation of some items needed to represent the scene of the Child’s birth in Bethlehem and, as he himself said: “to see with the eyes of the body the hardships in which he was placed because of the necessities for a newborn that were lacking” (1Cel). The Holy Night came and Francis along with the friars and several faithful went to the place where the manger had been set up with hay, a donkey and an ox. “Some sweet words” were preached by Francis, and then a vision of the Child appeared on the hay. The miraculous event stirred up the animals and moved the hearts of many who felt themselves touched by what had happened. Through this action the saint wanted to make it easy for the faithful to understand the Mystery of the Incarnation. Devotion, a characteristic of Franciscan spirituality, certainly contributed to the development of the practice of representing the Nativity scene, a practice which has continued to the present day. In preparation for the Solemnity of the Nativity on the Eve before Christmas, in the Grotto of the Nativity the episode of the Crèche at Greccio is evoked by the Franciscan friars, with the protagonist being Father Francis of Assisi in contemplation of the Mystery of the Incarnation. The Church of the Nativity is one of the most important places in the Holy Land for encounters among the different Christian denominations and religions. The images, history and events that characterize it allow us to speak of this church as a symbolic place of Ecumenism. Already in the Crusader period the church had been the site of union between two Churches, Eastern and Western, which had been divided following the Schism of 1054. In fact, despite the fact that the church was under the control of the Crusader Knights, who were the Pope’s representatives in these places, the iconographic design of the mosaic wall decorations was commissioned by the Byzantine emperor and carried out by Eastern masters. Today three Christian denominations − Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox – live together in the church, experiencing all the difficulties this entails and living an experience of daily Ecumenism. But our reflection can move beyond the Ecumenical aspect and we can recognize in the Church of the Nativity a character of dialogue. The Religious Communities The Latin Church Named by the Latin Church as the custodians of the Holy Places, the Franciscans, sons of Francis of Assisi, have been taking care of the Nativity in Bethlehem since 1347, the year in which they established themselves at the holy place. Throughout this time, and continuing today, the Franciscans have carried out liturgical services and welcomed pilgrims. Their Crusader-era convent is next to the church and contains within it the Church of St. Catherine, which is used both to celebrate the daily liturgy and for parish life. In addition, near the Altar of the Magi the Franciscans officiate each day the Eucharistic Celebration. Finally, each day the Franciscans animate the Daily Procession that leaves from the altar of the Church of St. Catherine and retraces all of the stages of the Theophany. The Armenian Orthodox Church The Armenian Orthodox Church belongs to the churches known as “Ancient Eastern” (descending from the Syrian, Armenian and Alexandrian traditions) and is closely linked to the history of the Armenian people, so much so that the Supreme Patriarch, called the “Catholicos”, is considered to be “father of the country”. The Armenian Orthodox Patriarch in Jerusalem was established around the 5th century. Over time the Armenian Orthodox community has grown with the arrival of Armenian immigrants, above all to Jerusalem. In Bethlehem there is a community of Armenian monks who live in the monastery adjacent to the Church of the Nativity, where they carry out their daily liturgy and have the right to celebrate the Eucharist at the Altar of the Nativity within the Grotto (sharing with the Greek Orthodox). Among the most interesting celebrations we can note that of Christmas, which is celebrated on 19 January based on the ancient Armenian calendar. This holiday celebrates the “theophany” and highlights the “Epiphany”, or manifestation of the Lord in his baptism, on the eve of which takes place the solemn entry of the patriarch. The Greek Orthodox Church belongs to the group of churches that accepted the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451). This groups together all the Churches of the Byzantine Rite, and geographically can be situated in Eastern Europe. It has kept itself distinct from other churches (Assyrian Church of the East, Ancient Eastern Church, Catholic, Anglican and Protestant) and considers itself to represent the authentic and original faith. The prevalence of Greek and Greek-speaking elements in the Holy Land has permitted the Orthodox Church over the centuries to become identified as Greek Orthodox, another factor being that for centuries the leadership roles were held by Greek patriarchs and bishops. In Bethlehem the Greek Orthodox administer the Church of the Nativity and the Grotto, in conjunction with the Latin and Armenian Orthodox churches. Their monastery is located to the south of the church complex, and can be identified by its large bell tower. The areas of responsibility of the Greeks within the church are the following: the south transept, the area of the presbytery, and within the Grotto of the Nativity the Altar of the Nativity in cooperation with the Armenian Orthodox community. The most important holiday of the Greek Orthodox community in Bethlehem is Christmas, celebrated on 7 January with the entry of the Patriarch. East of Bethlehem, some 2 km. from the centre, there is a village, Beit Sahour, the house of vigilant, of lookouts. We can reach it on foot following along Milk Grotto street. Already in St. Helen’s day there was a church here dedicated to the Angels who had announced to the shepherds the Redeemer’s birth. After various ups and clowns in the fast century a rectory and a school were built awaiting the time when a church could also be erected. Meanwhile the liturgy took place first in a grotto called Mihwara, then provisio-nally in the rectory. Finally in 1950 the church built by Arch. A. Barluzzi was consecrated and dedicated to our Lady of Fatima and St. Theresa of Lisieux. The inhabitants of the village, heirs of Boaz’ generosity, cooperated with great enthusiasm. The fine portico of the church has three pointed arches; the upper part of the façade is crowned by a flight of slender little arches which run also on the side walls. The inside is divided into a nave and two aisles by two rows of four columns each. The column shafts of pale red stone of the country at first sight look a little squat. To make them appear less massive the architect resorted to a simple optical expedient: the various drums from base to capital have decreasing height. The very narrow pointed arches create the illusion that the inside is longer than it actually is. Capitals, massive yet not heavy, are quite original. The main altar is especially worth being mentioned. It is a real jewel, a credit to Palestinian sculpture. In spite of its size it looks like an ivory miniature rather than carved stone. The frontal and the altar upper part are decorated with 15 panels representing various scen es from the Annunciation to the arrival of the holy Family in Egypt. At the same level as the tabernacle there are four little statues (the Evangelists) while in the upper part the 12 Apostles surround the image of Christ. Authors of this work were Yssa Zmeir of Bethlehem and Abdullah Haron of Beit Sahour. Beit Sahour lies in the middle of the so called ‘Boaz’ fields’. In the glorious night of the Nativity the shepherds kept watch in one of these fields. “The angel said to them: ‘You have nothing to fear! I come to proclaim good news to you – tidings of great joy to be shared by the whole people. This day in David’s city a saviour has been born to you, the Messiah and Lord”’ (Lk. 2,10 11). Although the Gospel words do not exactly localize the place where the Angels appeared, yet the ancient tradition has fixed it at Siyar el-Ghanam, the field of the shepherds, not far from Beit Sahour. The excavations carried out by Fr. Virgil Corbo ofm in 1951 2 were more exhaustive than the previous ones (C. Guarmani, 1859) and the ruins could be dated precisely. The traces of human life found in caves, going back to Herodian and Roman times, and the remnants of very ancient oil presses found under the foundations of two monasteries, demon¬strate beyond every doubt that the place was inhabited at the time when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Fr. Corbo gathered enough elements corroborating the hypothesis that a small community lived here. Furthermore, at Siyar el Ghanam there are the remains of a guard tower, now incorporated in the Franciscan hospice. After Rachel had died, “Israel moved on and pitched his tend beyond Migdaleder” (Gen 35,21), beyond the “tower of the flock”. The Targumin7 localized this tower east of Bethlehem specifying that the Messiah would be announced there. The Talmudic tradition pointed at the same region and the Christian tradition, after the birth of our Lord, accepted and maintained the localization. St. Jerome sees the tower at “almost one thousand (Roman) feet from Bethlehem” and adds that in that place the Angels had announced to the shepherds the birth of the Redeemer. What remains of the farming settle¬ment and guard tower explains very well an expression of Luke’s original Greek text. According to the most qualified exegetes (among whom M. J. Lagrange) the verbe used by Luke does not mean that the shepherds were spending the night in the open, rather that “they lived in the fields”. Excavations have retraced the existence of two monasteries, one of the 4th 5th cent., the other of the 6th. cent. Of the first one there are the foundations of the church and those of several walls. In the 6th cent. the church was demolished and rebuilt in the same place with the apse slightly displaced towards the east. Of the second monastery we have similarly parts of the apse and walls of several rooms. Fr. Corbo thinks that many stones of the 4th cent. building, re used in the apse of the 6th cent. church, come from Constantine’s Nativity Church. The place where the monasteries stood is not the best one in this area because it is not level. The fact that the second church was built exactly over the previous one further confirms that a special remembrance was tied with this site. The 6th cent. monastery was destroyed in the 8th cent. by Moslems who tried even to erase the Christian signs by chiselling off and scraping off the stones on which they were engraved. Among the rooms of the second monastery a few were identified as used for particular purposes: porter’s lodge, bakery with a big basalt millstone, refectory, oil presses, cave cellar, stable. Also a canalization system and several cisterns were brought to light. The present sanctuary was built in 1953 4 on a design by Arch. A. Barluzzi. Both the laying of the foundation stone and the dedication took place on Christmas Day. The sanctuary stands on a large rock dominating the ruins. It represents a bedouin camp: a polygon with 5 straight sides and 5 projecting sides bent towards the centre, shaped like tents. Light floods the inside through the glass cement dome and calls to mind the very strong light which appeared to the shepherds. The bronze high relief on the door lintel was designed by sculptor D. Cambellotti who created also the portal, the four bronze statues supporting the main altar in the middle of the chapel, candlesticks and crosses. Arch. U. Noni frescoed the three apses and sculptor A. Minghetti cared for the execution of the ten stucco angels of the dome. In Bethlehem the sacred area around the Nativity Grotto has been the focal point of all tradition. Nevertheless in Bethlehem a small Chapel has been for long centuries a devotional site. The "Milk Grotto" over which today a small Chapel rise, is frequently visited by local women, Christians and Moslems alike, to ask for the intercession of Mary. mother of Jesus. A legend recalls how some Mary spilt some milk while breast feeding baby Jesus and this is the reason for the "white" stone of the cave. A tradition going back to the VII century located at this site the burial place of the innocent victims killed by Herod the Great after the birth of Jesus. In 2007 has been completed the restoration of the Cave, which has cleaned up the walls and returned to the original light. The new church, built on top of the ancient cave, was designed by architects Louis Lions and Chiara Rovati, work realized with the support of the faithful Slovaks and Italians. The Milk Grotto is flanked by monastery entrusted to the sister of the Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament. An interior corridor connects the cave with the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament and the Upper Church: Eucharistic Adoration continues all day long and it is possible for all the pilgrims to stop there in silent prayer. Following on along the same street – on both sides of which there are several modern Christian cemeteries belonging to various denominations – after a short walk we see a chapel on our right: it is the ‘House of St. Joseph’. After the Child was born, the holy Family stayed in Bethlehem for a while. Jesus was circumcised and when the time prescribed by the Law of Moses had elapsed, our Lady and St. Joseph with the Child went up to Jerusalem for the Purification (Lk 2,22). The Wise Men found Jesus in a house (Mt 2,11). The Gospel states that the holy Family lived in Bethlehem after Jesus’ birth; it is probable that they found a shelter somewhere in this area. The transition from grotto to house is no contradiction: St. Joseph hailed from Bethlehem and might have had relations and friends here who, aware of his distress, helped him. Furthermore, St. Joseph was an artisan: he could work and gain his living. Already during the Middle Ages attempts were made to localize in Bethlehem a specific memory of St. Joseph. Researches were always made on the eastern hill slope, between the Milk Grotto and the Shepherd’s Field, probably following an ancient local tradition. According to two Florentine pilgrims (George Gucci and Leonard Frescobaldi), the site had been finally localized in the second half of the 14th cent. The modern chapel (1890) bases on rock as well as on buildings mentioned by many pilgrims. At the foot of the apse we can see a piece of rock and, behind the altar, a block probably belonging to the primitive altar. The chapel commemorating the ‘House of St. Joseph’ was donated by Mrs. E. Audebert. In order to avert troubles with the government authorities, the building was deliberately given a modest outlook, as if it were the house of a watchman. On 20 March 1893 the small church was solemnly consecrated by the Father Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Giacomo Ghezzi. The building is located within the village of Artas, situated on the edge of Bethlehem and just next to the famous Solomon Pools. The location and surrounding area are breathtaking, particularly during the spring months when the surrounding mountains surrounding are richly green and the olive trees are blooming. A picturesque stone bridge stretching over the verdant Artas Valley leads to the Convent of Hortus Conclusus which derives its name from the Song of Songs’ enclosed garden. The convent is inhabited by an Italian order of nuns which was established in Latin America. It was built more than hundred years ago (in 1901) by engineers from Bethlehem of Morcos family, at the request of Mgr. Soler Archbishop of Montevideo, Uruguay. Cisterns of David On the road out of Bethlehem, opposite to the Syrian Catholic church there are three large cisterns still in use, hewn in the rock: they are the Cisterns of David, in Arabic Biar Dawd. The Bible speaks of them in 2 Sm 23, 15 17: “Now David had a strong craving and said, ‘Oh, that someone would give me a drink of water from the cistern that is by the gate of Bethlehem!’. So the three warriors broke through the Philistine camp and drew water from the cistern that is by the gate of Bethlehem. But when they brought it to David he refused to drink it, and instead poured it out to the Lord, saying: ‘The Lord forbid that I do this! Can I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives ?’ So he refused to drink it”. Beyond the cisterns there are also remnants of a church and of an underground cemetery. In 1895 a fragment of floor mosaic belonging to the church was found; an inscription could be seen with verses 19 and 20 of Ps 117: “Open to me the gates of justice; I will enter them and give thanks to the Lord. This gate is the Lord’s, the just shall enter it”. At present the mosaic is buried under a cultivated field and further researches are impossible. When it was found, someone thought it belonged to David’s mausoleum, the traces of which had been lost since the 6th cent. Although there is no archaeological evidence, yet it seems that David’s tomb should be located, according to Jewish tradition, on Mount Sion. Beneath the church there is an underground cemetery, formed by galleries with 18 arcosoliums, each of them with 2 to 6 burial troughs. In 1962 the Custody of the Holy Land had some work done (Br. Michelangelo Tizzani) during which catacombs and arcosoliums were restored. Excavations brought to light many potsherds (4th cent.) and wall inscriptions (4th 6th cent.). The most meaningful graffito is a Constantinian cross (4th cent.) engraved in the rock at the beginning of the cemetery, which affirms the Christian nature of the burial ground. Pool of Salomon The fortress of qala’atal-burak in Bethlehem is generally held to be of Turkish origin but it is likely that the structure is much older. The location of the castle allowed it to guard the so-called Solomon’s Pools of Bethlehem, on the road leading to Artas. The three basins represented one of the principal water resources for Jerusalem, by means of an aqueduct that terminated at the Temple. These definitely existed at the time of Herod and may have been up to two centuries older. The basins are approximately rectangular in shape and placed in line with the fortress in an east-west direction; on the northeast side is a passageway leading to a chamber where water surges from a natural spring, while all around numerous traces survive of water channels that collected water from the surface of the nearby hills. The water was taken to the upper aqueduct through a pipe whose age is unknown; the water channel disappears into a tunnel at a place marked on the ground by a series of nine wells. At the exit of the tunnel the water channel continues towards the Wadi Bijar (Valley of the Wells) before disappearing into a new tunnel marked on the surface by around thirty wells that are still used by local farmers. This was in fact a sophisticated water system designed to collect additional water from the aquifer, reproducing a qanat system. Remains of the lower aqueduct survive near the ruins of the Byzantine structure known as Deir al-Banat (Convent of the Maidens). In 1998 the situation appeared to have worsened with regard to that encountered five years earlier, due to the state of abandonment of the basins. Remnants of the first aqueduct lay in an abandoned cave some 400 m. from the cross road to Hebron; remnants of the second one, also not far from Rachel’s tomb, behind the houses in the triangle formed by the fork of the road. Finally we find ourselves in front of Rachel’s tomb, Qubbet Rahil, immed¬iately north of the Hebron forking. “Thus Rachel died; and she was buried on the road to Efrath, that is Bethlehem. Jacob set up a memorial stone on her grave, and the same monument marks Rachel’s grave to this day” (Gn 35, 19 20). The earliest testimonies speak of a monument formed by a simple pyramid, which remembered the nefes of Judaic tombs. Later on (1165) twelve stones were added, in memory of Jacob’s twelve sons; however, some chronicles speak of eleven stones only: the stone of Benjamin would have been missing. In Byzantine times and probably also later on, Rachel’s tomb must have been transformed into a Christian place of worship. The Lectionary of Jerusalem (5th 8th cent.) enters two official liturgical commemorations (20 February, and 18 July). The Georgian Palestinian Calendar (according to the Sinaiticus Code 34 of the 10th cent.) clearly refers to a ‘Church of Rachel’ in speaking of the same commemorations. In the 14th cent. the tomb was embellished and an imposing sarco¬phagus with a convex top was added. Fr. Amico has left us a drawing where we see the cenotaph in the middle of a chapel. In the four side walls there were archways. These were walled in by Mohammed Pasha of Jerusalem (1560) who, moreover, replaced the pyramid with a dome. In the 19th cent. Moses Montefiore added two rooms to the primitive square vestibule thus giving the tomb the appearance it still maintains today. Actually, rather than of a tomb one should speak of a weli, Moslem funereal monument built to remember a saint or a remarkable person. Although Jews, Christians and Moslems venerate the memory of Rachel here, yet many doubts are raised about the authenticity of the site. St. Jerome was the first to raise them; he expressed the idea that this was the tomb built for Archaelaus, Herod the Great’s son, tetrarch of Judea. Archaelaus, however, died in Vienne (southeastern France) and was not translated here. The topic has been examined time and again; recently Fr. G. Lombardi ofm raised it once more. After carefully analyzing the Biblical texts referring to Efrath, he reached the conclusion that Rachel’s tomb is near Hizmeh, north of Jerusalem, where there are five sepulchral monuments known under the name of ‘Tombs of Israel’s Children’. Near Rachel’s tomb four more women of the same tribe should be buried. In any case the hypothesis cannot be discarded that Archaelaus’ tomb was actually built not far from Rachel’s tomb and that tradition has united the two remembrances. Today the tomb is located near the wall of division of Israeli territory from the Palestinian and can be visited only by permission. Opening hours of the Sanctuary Church of the Nativity 6.30 – 19.30 (summer) 5.30 – 18.00 (winter) Sunday morning the Grotto is closed 6.00 – 19.00 (summer) 5.30 – 18.00 (winter) 8.00 – 17.00 - Sunday: 8.00 – 11.45 / 14.00 –17.00 (summer) 8.00 – 17.00 - Sunday: 8.00 – 11.45 / 14.00 –17.00 (winter) 8.00 – 17.45 - Sunday 8:00 – 11:45 / 14:00 – 17:45 (summer) 8.00 – 16.45 - Sunday 8:00 – 11:45 / 14:00 – 16:45 (winter) Holy Mass can be celebrated in the Grotto of the Nativity, by previous reservation at the Franciscan Pilgrims' Office - FPO St. Catherine Parish Church 6.30 am, Italian 7.30 am, Arabic 9 .00 am, Arabic 11.00 am, Arabic 6.30 am, Italian 7.00 am, Arabic 4.30 pm, Arabic (winter) 6.30 pm, Arabic (summer) St. Francis Chapel 4.30 pm, Arabic (winter) 5.30 pm, Arabic (summer) Grotto of the Nativity – Altar of the Magi: 5.00 am, Italian (winter) 6.00 am, Italian (summer) 8.30 am, Italian (winter) 9.30 am, Italian (summer) 5.00 am, Italian (winter) 6.00 am, Italian (summer) 7.30 am, Italian (winter) 8.30 am, Italian (summer) Feasts and Celebrations during the year: Nativity of the Lord: 25 December Holy Innocents: 28 December Mary, Mother of God − Theotokos: 1 January Epiphany: 6 January St. Catherine: 25 November St. Jerome: 30 September Reservations for Masses and Contacts Reservations for Masses for priests and Catholic groups, certificates for pilgrimages in the Holy Land: Franciscan Pilgrims' Office - FPO tel: +972 2 6272697 E-mail: email@example.com Christian Information Centre - CIC (inside Jaffa Gate, opposite the Citadel) tel: +972 2 6272692 fax: +972 2 6286417 Bethlehem − Franciscan Convent Convento Santa Caterina “ad Nativitem”. +970 02 2742425 +970 02 2743084 +970 02 2776171 (convent) +970 02 2762697 (sacristy) Bethlehem − Parish Manger Square - P.O.B. 45 Tel: +970 02 274.33.72 Fax: +970 02 274.01.03 Pilgrims are welcomed by the Franciscan friars who manage the Casa Nova for pilgrims and the Orient Palace Hotel. These facilities have a long tradition of hospitality. Their contacts are: Casa Nova for pilgrims P.O.B. 996 Bethlehem Palestinian Authority Tel.: +970 2 27439.81 Tel.: +970 2 27439.84 Tel.: +970 2 27656.60 Tel.: +970 2 2765661 Fax: +970 2 2743540 Orient Palace Hotel P.O.B. 996 Bethlehem Palestinian Authority Tel.: +970 2 27427.98 Fax: +970 2 27415.62

JERUSALEM (May. 13) A report on the German-Jewish reparations talks was given last night by Dr. Nahum Goldmann at the meeting of the Zionist Actions Committee now taking place here. Dr. Goldmann said that Israel and the Jewish groups seeking compensation from Germany have entered negotiations for the West-German Government at an unopportune time when the Germans attended another reparations conference in London with other creditors demanding $3,000,000,000 and when Germany began negotiations with the Western Powers with regard to Bonn’s contribution to the NATO. Dr. Goldmann emphasized that he will not re-enter any discussion regarding the principle as to whether the Jews should demand reparations from Germany. He also said that he will not disclose any details of the present negotiations. However, he pointed out that the negotiations involve nothing else but compensation for Nazi looted Jewish property, and not for Jewish blood. “Nothing can repay for the Jewish blood shed,” he said. “Even if the Germans should repay us billions of dollars, we would not forgive their crimes against Jewish life. They know that they will not obtain our pardon for the price of reparation.”

The JLC recently hosted its yearly Shavuot tea for Jewish members of the House of Lords. The reception was addressed by His Excellency Mark Regev, Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Court of St James’. The peers also heard from Jewish Leadership Council Vice Presidents Lord Jonathan Kestenbaum and Baroness Julia Neuberger as well as former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks. This is our yearly opportunity to thank our Jewish members of the House of Lords for all of the work that they do not just for our community but for the British public. Shavuot, which marks the giving of Jewish law is the obvious opportunity to celebrate the huge contribution of our many Jewish lawmakers in Britain. The tradition of Jewish contribution to our law making process is no better demonstrated than by the peers we had attending the event. Whether former leader of the Conservative Party Lord Michael Howard, former Labour Party Minister Lord Stanley Clinton-Davis or long standing Liberal Democrat activist and former councillor, Lord Monroe Palmer. And members of the House of Lords are not exclusive to party political members, the Jewish community also has many crossbench members – experts in their fields – who help refine policy in the upper chamber to ensure the best outcomes. Peers such as Baroness Ruth Deech – former chair of the Bar Standards Board and Lord David Pannick QC. We were delighted to give Jewish peers an opportunity to take a break from party politics and to discuss their ongoing work for the Jewish community in the public sphere.

In the night of Friday, may 12, at the Jewish area of the Roman cemetery of Verano were desecrated at least 70 tombstones. Unidentified vandals broke tombstones, monuments had been destroyed and the marble of the star of David on the graves, according to Roma Today. Cemetery administration immediately contacted the police, giving the result of CCTV footage, working twenty-four hours a day. At present, the police have not reported whether she suspected in this case. As with the Jewish monuments were destroyed and several Catholic tombstones, the police doubts that we are talking about the attack anti-Semitic.

A Complete Analysis Of Trump’s 112th Unpresidented Week As POTUS As the threat of radical right-wing terrorism grows around the globe, President Trump will not name it or combat it. Instead, he has decided to help fuel it. Trump’s first major typo after winning the election was spelling Unprecedented incorrectly. He infamously tweeted “Unpresidented.” This typo is a personification of his administration: An impulsive, frantically thrown together group of characters with virtually no oversight. After Trump was sworn in, I started writing the weekly “Unpresidented” column, analyzing his every move. This is week 112. Weeks like this test the resilience of humanity. 50 lives taken at the hands of a white supremacist terrorist in New Zealand. Radicalized by right-wing extremism and driven by a deep-seated Islamophobia, this radical right-wing terrorist unleashed depravity on two mosques and live streamed it on Facebook. In this dark moment, the world was looking for a leader, and we got one in New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, whose words and displays of empathy brought communities in New Zealand together. New Zealand’s Attorney General has already announced they would ban semi-automatic weapons. In America on the other hand, no matter how many white supremacist terrorist attacks or mass shooting incidents occur, our Republican leaders refuse to act. After the terrorist attack, President Trump was asked if he sees white nationalism as a growing global threat. In spite of all of the evidence indicating otherwise, President Trump says he does not see it as a threat. After one tweet offering condolences, President Trump embarked on a weekend tweeting spree attacking everything from the Special Counsel to deceased Republican Senator John McCain. President Trump proposed that the FEC or FCC look into Saturday Night Live and Late Night Shows and, without evidence, accused them of colluding with Democrats and Russia (which he is accused of doing). President Trump went on to demand that Fox News bring Judge Jeanine Pirro’s show back on the air after her Islamophobic comments about Rep. Ilhan Omar. President Trump, the GOP, and Fox News’ dangerous, xenophobic fear-mongering is having deadly consequences. Right-wing terrorists are being radicalized by the rhetoric coming out of the Oval Office and the president couldn’t care less. President Trump is incapable of rising to the occasion. Even when it would suit him to be silent, he can’t help but continue his divide and conquer strategy. Donald Trump is unfit for the office of the presidency and continues to tell us why week after week. Trump has shown us who he is and ultimately, what the Republican Party has become. Some still don’t believe him, or even worse, they do and support him nonetheless. Why is the president increasingly unhinged lately? Perhaps it’s because he just had to issue the first veto of his presidency after 12 Senate Republicans voted with Democrats in an effort to block his fake national emergency declaration. Perhaps this is due to the numerous House investigations probing his lifetime of corruption. Perhaps it’s the fact the Manhattan District Attorney’s office has charged his former Campaign Manager Paul Manafort with counts he can’t pardon. Perhaps it’s because the New York Attorney General is diving deep into the Trump Organization’s potentially fraudulent activity. Only time will tell. Let’s dive into another Unpresidented week. This comprehensive column sources great reporting from top news organizations, but it’s also built on brilliant analysis from my team at Rantt Media. We are independently-owned and take pride in being reader-funded so that we are beholden to you, not corporate interests. If you like the work we do, please consider supporting us by signing up for a monthly subscription. Below, you’ll see daily breakdowns that are derived from our exclusive Rantt Rundown newsletter, which you can subscribe to: A Shift In The Impeachment Strategy Day 781: Monday, March 11 Today, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post made waves. Aside from claiming President Trump isn’t fit for office “ethically” “intellectually” or “curiosity-wise,” Pelosi’s comment about impeachment is drawing the most attention: I’m not for impeachment. This is news. I’m going to give you some news right now because I haven’t said this to any press person before. But since you asked, and I’ve been thinking about this: Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he’s just not worth it. This understandably received widespread reaction from both sides of the aisle, with many calling it an outright dismissal of the prospect of impeachment proceedings. But Pelosi is not known for throwing out words thoughtlessly, so it might not be that simple. She could be ruling out impeachment altogether, or Pelosi may be: - Trying to appear measured and get Trump to reduce his discussions of impeachments. - Making an effort to quell the “Democrats are overreaching” narrative that has already begun to appear in mainstream media after House Democrats recently requested documents from Trump associates and organizations. - Giving her future self the ability to appear as if her mind has been swayed by evidence. She can then say something along the lines of “As I’ve said in the past, I’m against impeachment, but the evidence is just way too overwhelming to not act upon…” It’s important to point out that public opinion on impeachment has fluctuated since the new Democratic Congress has taken power. In December 2018, 60% of voters wanted Trump to be impeached or censured but this month a Quinnipiac poll found that 59% of respondents do not want impeachment proceedings to begin now. President Trump has long used the prospect of impeachment as a method to motivate his base to rally behind him. Trump has pounced onto Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s “we’re gonna impeach the motherfucker” comment and has tried to pan all Democratic investigations as politically motivated (in spite of the mounting evidence of corruption.) Perhaps Nancy Pelosi is taking all of these factors into consideration as she awaits more evidence to make the case to the public. Ultimately, the decision to impeach Presiden Trump will fall on House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who backed Pelosi’s statement. House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) has also echoed Pelosi’s sentiment. Only time will tell how this plays out, but with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report coming soon, the Southern District of New York’s investigations ongoing, and the numerous other corruption probes plaguing Trump, this is far from the end of the impeachment conversation. In other news… - The Washington Post: Trump seeks $4.7 trillion budget with domestic cuts, $8.6 billion in wall funding - Axios: Trump tells RNC donors: “The Democrats hate Jewish people” - The Washington Post: Fox News host Tucker Carlson uses racist, homophobic language in second wave of damaging audio - The New York Times: Jeanine Pirro’s Remarks on Muslim Legislator Are Condemned by Fox News - The New York Times: DeVos Illegally Delayed Special Education Rule, Judge Says - CNN: Democrats pick Milwaukee for 2020 national convention site New York Probing Trump Finances Day 782: Tuesday, March 12 New York Attorney General Letitia James has subpoenaed records from Deutsche Bank. According to multiple reports, the subpoenas are related to loans President Trump’s company received from the bank. This comes after Michael Cohen claimed Trump inflated his assets in an effort to try and obtain a loan from Deutsche Bank for the purchase of the Buffalo Bills – a loan he didn’t receive. Cohen also testified that Trump inflated his assets to insurance companies (also being probed by New York State Department of Financial Services) and may have committed tax evasion. In 2017, Robert Mueller also subpoenaed Deutsche Bank. According to reports, the Trump Organization owes Deutsche Bank $364 million and his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s company owes the bank $285 million. In November 2018, Deutsche Bank was raided in a money laundering investigation related to the Panama Papers (there is no evidence this was related to Trump). This New York subpoena comes after the previous acting-New York Attorney General shut down the Trump Foundation amid the investigation into Trump’s illegal self-dealing. Just like the case of the Trump Foundation, the New York Attorney General has the power to dissolve the Trump Organization if fraudulent conduct is discovered – which there is a history of. Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump were nearly indicted for fraudulently misleading their customers when selling units of their Trump SoHo project. Trump has a documented history of other shady behavior. The New York Times reported that Donald Trump received, at least, the equivalent of $413 million from his father’s real estate empire and used shady methods, sometimes constituting fraud, to funnel the money to himself. There are also allegations of money laundering for Russian oligarchs through the sale of overvalued properties. And one cannot forget that Donald Trump paid a $25 million settlement for defrauding customers with Trump University – a payment made after winning the presidency. Almost every organization Donald Trump has led in recent years is under criminal investigation. The Trump campaign, the Trump administration, the Trump transition, the Trump Organization, the Trump Inaugural Committee, and the Trump Foundation. President Trump has already been implicated in two campaign finance felonies committed by his former fixer Michael Cohen. The Southern District of New York, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, House Democrats, multiple state attorneys general, and numerous lawsuits are still probing President Trump’s conduct. Given what we know about Donald Trump’s past, it won’t be surprising if more wrongdoing is discovered. In other news… - The New York Times: The Brexit Plan Just Failed Again: What Happened, and What’s Next? - Bloomberg: Boeing’s Muilenburg Said to Assure Trump of 737 Safety in Call - The New York Times: Two-Thirds of the 737 Max 8 Jets in the World Have Been Pulled From the Skies - Dallas News: Boeing 737 Max 8 pilots complained to feds for months about suspected safety flaw - The New York Times: Who’s Been Charged in the College Admissions Cheating Scandal? Here’s the Full List - ABC News: Donald Trump at risk for alleged role in hush payments, Stormy Daniels’ former lawyer believes - NPR: Adam Schiff – Evidence Available Already Shows That Trump Should Be Indicted - Reuters: Former Trump adviser Flynn asks judge to delay sentencing: court filing - NBC News: House Democrats introduce bill to give citizenship to DACA and TPS recipients Game-Changing State Charges Day 783: Wednesday, March 13 Today, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. announced a 16-count grand jury indictment against former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort. The charges include mortgage fraud, conspiracy, and falsifying business records. The new charges were unsealed shortly after Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Paul Manafort to 3.5 years in prison for his obstruction of justice and conspiracy convictions resulting from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Last week, Manafort received a 47-month sentence from Judge T. S. Ellis (well below the sentencing guidelines). This brings the total sentence for Manafort’s federal crimes to 7.5 years in prison. Manafort is the first member of Trump’s inner circle to be charged with state crimes. Manafort could face up to 25 years if convicted. As many have reported, this is significant because President Trump does not have the power to pardon state crimes. These state investigations are also out of President Trump’s obstructive reach – he can’t fire the investigators. But there’s another reason this should concern the president. Manafort is being charged with falsifying business records to obtain millions of dollars in loans. This is very similar to what Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen has accused the Trump Organization of doing. During his testimony in front of the House Oversight Committee, Cohen claimed Trump inflated his assets in an effort to obtain a loan from Deutsche Bank for the purchase of the Buffalo Bills – a loan he didn’t receive. Cohen also claimed that similar tactics were used when obtaining insurance. Given the Trump Organization’s reported history of fraudulent behavior, Cohen’s allegations are being taken seriously by the state of New York. New York state investigators are actively looking for fraudulent activity on the part of Donald Trump, and they apparently have already discovered some of that activity on the part of Paul Manafort. This marks a shift in the investigations surrounding President Trump and raises questions about whether or not there are other indictments already in New York. As almost every organization he has led is under investigation, these new state charges against Paul Manafort send a clear signal Trump and his associates. As Manhattan DA Vance said in his statement about Paul Manafort’s charges: “No one is beyond the law in New York…” In other news… - The Washington Post: Whitaker ‘did not deny’ talking to Trump about Cohen, top Democrat says - CNN Exclusive: Lawyer said Michael Cohen could ‘sleep well tonight’ after speaking to Rudy Giuliani - The New York Times: Prosecutors Seek Records on Cohen’s ‘Back Channel’ With Giuliani - The Washington Post: FAA’s emergency order grounding Boeing jets came after the agency identified similarities between crashes in Ethiopia, Indonesia - The New York Times: In Rebuke to Trump, Senate Votes Again to End Aid to Saudi War in Yemen Day 784: Thursday, March 14 1. A rare rebuke: In a 59-41 vote, a resolution to block President Trump’s national emergency passed the Senate. After President Trump declared this national emergency in an effort to reallocate funds to build a wall at the southern border, the House first passed the resolution which, under the National Emergencies Act, forced the Senate to take up a vote. The power to appropriate funds is bestowed upon the legislative branch by Article 1 of the Constitution. Many see Trump’s move as a blatantly unconstitutional executive overreach. Democrats have pointed to the lack of evidence and false claims Trump has made to justify the national emergency, and also the fact Trump said “I didn’t need to do this… I just want to do it faster.” The Senate’s vote today was nothing less than a referendum on unchecked executive power. Senate Democrats voted for the resolution and 12 Republicans defected from President Trump. - Senator Alexander (TN) - Senator Blunt (MO) - Senator Collins (MA) - Senator Lee (US) - Senator Moran (KS) - Senator Murkowski (AK) - Senator Paul (KY) - Senator Portman (OH) - Senator Romney (UT) - Senator Rubio (FL) - Senator Toomey (PA) - Senator Wicker (MS) Senator Tillis (R-NC) flipped his vote after claiming he would oppose the national emergency declaration in a Washington Post op-ed. Senator Cruz (R-TX) also vote against the resolution. Republican Senator Cory Gardner’s “no” vote has many speculating that his re-election prospects in the state of Colorado may be harmed – The Denver Post has now said their endorsement of Gardner was a mistake. President Trump responded by immediately tweeting simply the word “VETO!” Will the Senate be able to muster the votes to override the veto? Judging by today’s vote count, it appears to be highly unlikely. Critics of the national emergency declaration should watch the lawsuits filed against the emergency declaration closely. 2. House votes for Mueller transparency: In a 420-0 vote, the House passed a nonbinding resolution to urge the Justice Department to release Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s final report in full. There has been much discussion about the release of Mueller’s report after Attorney General William Barr claimed the Justice Department would only release a summary of the incoming report. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) objected to taking the vote up in the Senate unless it included a call an investigation into “alleged misconduct around the handling of the Clinton email investigation” and alleged FISA abuses (there weren’t any). 3. Trump civil suit moves forward: A New York appellate court ruled that former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos can proceed with her defamation suit against Donald Trump. The suit was filed against President Trump after he called the 19 women accusing him of sexual misconduct liars – Zervos was one of them. 4. He’s running: Former Texas Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke has announced he is running for President of the United States in 2020. O’Rourke spent the day in Iowa and has pledged to visit every county in the state – just like he did in Texas. In other news… - Associated Press: Mnuchin says he’ll protect Trump privacy if taxes requested - ABC News: Pentagon issues new transgender policy limiting service members to birth gender Day 785: Friday, March 15 On Friday, 50 Muslims were murdered in an act of right-wing terrorism. The two shootings took place at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The 28-year-old terrorist, whose name we will not publish, live streamed the shooting in a horrific act of depravity. The terrorist moved with precision as if he had been tactically training for the attack. Before the attack, he published a manifesto that espoused white supremacist views. The terrorist cited President Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity” and other various right-wing influencers as inspiration. After tweeting condolences for the victims, but not condemning Islamophobia, President Trump then described immigrants at the border using rhetoric that the terrorist himself used. “We are experiencing an invasion on a level never seen before in history.” – White Nationalist terrorist who killed 49 Muslims in a place of worship yesterday “People hate the word invasion, but that’s what it is.” – Trump, just now pic.twitter.com/RinMRfZy8G — Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) March 15, 2019 When asked about the threat of white nationalism, President Trump, who has spent his political career fanning the flames of white nationalism and Islamophobia through xenophobic fear-mongering, claimed that he doesn’t believe it is a rising threat. Reporter: “Do you see white nationalism as a rising threat around the world?” Trump: “I don’t really.” — Southern Poverty Law Center (@splcenter) March 15, 2019 When asked if she agreed with Trump, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said “No.” The Prime Minister also said New Zealand would change its gun laws. While President Trump refused to name the threat, the Australian Prime Minister called the shooter an “extremist, right-wing, violent terrorist.” I highlighted the growing threat of American radical right-wing terrorism in an article for The Independent: Last year, the FBI announced that hate crimes rose 17 percent in 2017 — the third consecutive year hate crimes have risen. Just yesterday, The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) published their “Year In Hate” analysis tracking hate groups around the US. They found hate groups surged by 30 percent over the last four years. That makes 2018 the fourth consecutive year of hate group growth. To further bolster this point, the FBI and DHS reportedly prepared a report dated May 10, 2017, called “White Supremacist Extremism Poses Persistent Threat of Lethal Violence.” Notably, the report asserted that: White supremacists “were responsible for 49 homicides in 26 attacks from 2000 to 2016 … more than any other domestic extremist movement.” On June 23, 2017, the Trump administration cut funding ($400,000) from the “Countering Violent Extremism” program which backed an anti-white supremacist organization founded by former neo-Nazis. Today, we published a thread that featured research from scholars that include PHDs and experts on the radical right. We covered the history, scope, and drivers of the global threat of white supremacy, nationalism, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism and what we can do to combat it: 49 Muslims were murdered in New Zealand by a radical right-wing terrorist In our partnership with the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right (@C4ARR) we’ve highlighted the threat of right-wing extremism & how to combat it Trump says it’s not a threat—Let’s educate him — Rantt Media (@RanttMedia) March 15, 2019 Over the weekend… President Trump sent a series of tweets. The President of the United States just proposed that the FEC or FCC look into Saturday Night Live and Late Night Shows and, without evidence, accused them of colluding with Democrats and Russia (which he is accused of doing). — Rantt Media (@RanttMedia) March 17, 2019 Trump, who dodged the draft 5 times, is mocking the late war hero John McCain for his grades at the Naval Academy. I know this is nothing new but McCain’s not even here to defend himself and nobody in his party will do it either. Party before country at its best/worst. https://t.co/lSW6zDdiYH — Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) March 17, 2019 There is no bottom pic.twitter.com/6Ab2Fbgtux — Katie Rogers (@katierogers) March 17, 2019 Bring back @JudgeJeanine Pirro. The Radical Left Democrats, working closely with their beloved partner, the Fake News Media, is using every trick in the book to SILENCE a majority of our Country. They have all out campaigns against @FoxNews hosts who are doing too well. Fox ….. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2019 Judge Jeanine Pirro made an Islamophobic comment about Rep. Ilhan Omar Days later, 50 Muslims were murdered by a white supremacist terrorist who was radicalized by right-wing extremism Trump dismissed white supremacy as a threat Now, he defends Pirro https://t.co/mA94ptRxe2 — Rantt Media (@RanttMedia) March 17, 2019 President Trump is now attacking the journalists at @FoxNews who aren’t Trump propagandists. Now is the time to speak out. We only have one question:https://t.co/y4lPC39TPe — Rantt Media (@RanttMedia) March 17, 2019 Rantt Media’s comprehensive articles source reporting from top news organizations, but they’re also built on brilliant analysis from our team. We are independently-owned and strive for quality, not clicks. But the only way to truly have a media for the people is for media to be funded by the people. We take pride in being reader-funded so that we are beholden to you, not corporate interests. If you like the work we do, please consider supporting us by signing up for a monthly subscription.

|of these articles describes the supernatural nature; for the film of the same name see Dämon - trust no soul or the book of the same name of Matthew Delaney or for the film likewise of the same name of Bill Paxton Dämonisch| of the Dämon [ˈdɛːmɔn] (Pl.: Dämonen [dɛˈmoːnən]; of griech.: δαίμονας démonas = [supernatural] the nature, Biblically (gospel to matte house) „the impure spirit”, in addition, neutrally δαιμόνιο demónio = the genius. To table of contents origin and history after Christian teachings the Dämonen, or also impure spirit mentioned, once angels were,the God served. The angel prince, who is called Satan, revolted itself against God, since it wanted to use its liberty to be even God. God should be fallen, set themselves thus Satan on the throne and overthe creation to prevail could. Satan took its trailers (probably a third of the angels) for this plan to the assistance. God was however stronger, threw Satan and its trailers from the eternal fine-material sky realm and limited sow to rule range on roughmaterial earth. From this time on many humans in the world of Dämonen became invisibly, but entices not „unwirkbar”, and presses; siehe auch Besessenheit, Exorzismus. Whereby straight these, expressly by God certified, pressing „examinations” the ground connection people to maturingand Läuterung of their souls to serve can, after own free will. Originally however the word descends from the Greek daimon and is called literally translated „protection spirit “or „protection gel “. The word daimon again is derived from the Greek daimonion, „the fate “or „consciences”,that humans accompanies at any time invisible. Some mean, only in the course of the Middle Ages became the word Dämon and/or. the associated nature in negatives posed. Christian Urglaube however assumes around each people soul or several „protection spirit”/„Protection gel” their protective function and only such temptations and erring exercise permit, those the umsorgten soul with their processing and/or. Accomplishment mental-mentally developing further to serve know. a tremendous number - Dämonen took up history of the Dämonenglaubens the old Egyptiansthe earth, in air and in the water on. The Chaldäer could do such, whose stay and effectiveness were bound at certain areas apart from its himmlischen spirit which is connected with the star service also, and still more deeply down the verfinsterten spirit, upand in the earth and in their atmosphere, like the fire, light, field spirit, etc. lived. - We find the Dämonenlehre brought into a system with the Persern, which the Ormuzd except the seven Amschaspands (s.d.) many good geniuses and that Ahriman except the seven Dews still countless bad spirit subordinated. - In the antique Greece Dämonen were seen first in all expressing nature phenomena (supernatural nature), e.g. Sheet-rush in the wind, cicada cicadas etc., later only than effect strength during unsettled procedures or processes,e.g. Fermentation of milk or alcohol, evaporation, decay, decomposition, aging, etc. In the old Orient Dämonen were considered as part of the world order, as the origin was awarded to them by illness and also death. The Greek Epenschreiber Hesiod (about 700 v.Chr.) describes inits Hauptwerk Theogonie the faith in whole crowds and different classes of Dämonen as intermediate natures between the Gods and humans. They umschweben humans as quasi invisible guards over right and injustice and donate also wealth. In addition they workin the terrestrial sphere as nature and elementary spirit, either as benefactors or as crude. A larger role plays the Dämonologie also in the again-Platonic philosophy (starting from approximately 300 n.Chr.), which the whole Polytheismus of the Greeks in shape of the faith onDämonen, which should manage nature and all life relations as Untergötter and mediate as „world-creative central natures “between needy humans and the divinity, to its system with took up. The philosophers have this faith with many individual relations on natureand the human soul life (also with transmission into the mysterious spirit world of the deceased) always further trained. Particularly in two directions the same stepped out: - Once the Dämonen was meant as serving forces and accompanying environment of the individual Kultusgötter (in which applicationthey frequently more individual shape and name assume). - On the other hand the Dämonen individual humans (or also peoples) was zugesellte spirit natures in opinion of the Dämonologie at that time, which the same from the birth on all their life ways accompany. The effect of these Dämonen expresseditself once to the protection and welfare, in addition, for the damage of humans. Therefore one accepted later also two Dämonen for each particular: a good and a bad. In addition, the general faith was that of the Dämon of each particularGood or bad would come that the Dämon one powerfully or in a well-meaning manner, which is ill-wanting the other one weak or. - Sokrates speaks Dämonion in this faith of its „“as of a good spirit, which him of firstYears of his life accompanied on and always from wrong one held. - First also the old heidnischen Gods lived as Dämonen still for a long time away at the beginning of the Christianity with some humans. One believed also following old-Jewish conceptions (in such a way describedwith Lactantius) to numerous influencing, however also „Central Powers which can be avoided vehement on the Menschengeschlecht by humans”, which one introduced oneself as pleased angels or as giants (sons of the angels and the daughters of humans) and thought. Everythingthese spirit was considered „to the realm of God” as well as humans as extremely bad and hostilely gesinnt. Some regarded it as the actual authors of the mischief in nature and believed, them became earthquake, epidemics, etc. bring out. The Dämonen applied unitesto keep finally as the authors of the entire Heidentums, to which they would have enticed humans, in order it in their force. - The Zoroastrismus unfolds its own Dämonenglauben for instance in form of the Dämonin Drug (lie), the corpse witch Nasu or the anger shape Aesma Daeva Asmodeus. While still Plato Dämonen understands as intermediary shapes between Gods and humans, the purely negative estimate of the Dämonen strengthens with the antique Judentum and Christianity. - In the old writings of the Hebräer the Dämonologie plays one completelysubordinated role; only few intruders from the evenly discussed religions make themselves bemerklich. With full power against it the faith in the Dämonen penetrated into Jewish consciousness since the contact with the Parsismus during the Jewish exiles. The spiritnow differentiated into good and badly (devil), both were divided again into classes, occupied with names and entrusted with offices, marked in particular than protection gel for cities and countries. On the effect of the bad Dämonen one led often illness, particularly raving craze, Epilepsy, sudden mute or and also all kinds of mental disorder back. This were „the possessing” or „careless spirit” of the new will. Still more complete training and an exhaustive terminology proceeding with nearly nature-historical accuracy received the Dämonologiein the Gnostizismus, Rabbinismus and Kabbalismus, so that there was last no part of the nature and conditions of the life more, over which one would not have set spirit. - Somewhat differently the Dämonenglaube developed with the Romans, whothe Greek ideas, but also eastern conceptions (by mediating Etruriens) did not only take up and trained further. Here the Dämonen appears as geniuses so mentioned. With these conceptions then the Dämonenglaube of the Christians of the first centuries goes parallel. - In that the Dämonen (Asuras) has Indian mythology a firm place. In the Hinduismus they are the opponents of the Gods (Devas). After old Indian conception the Dämonen was once Gods. When the Asuras was created, one gave them asGift the truth and the lie also, whereby they put the truth down later and was dämonisiert. There is different Dämonengruppen, the Daityas, the Maruts or the Rakshasas, those often as animals, e.g. Vulture, dogs or tigers, or as particularlyugly humans to be represented. - The Islam regards the Dschinnen as dämonische natures created from the fire, which beside angels, Teufeln and humans an own meaning to have. They can operate with humans; bad Dschinnen is considered as a devil (sayatin). Salomo made itself it as per. Koran 34, 12-14 as the first servable. They appear frequent as creeping Getier, black dogs and wind trousers. Dschinnen are evaluated also positively. Thus Mohammed showed up first anxiously over the reproach, only from oneTo be possessed Dschinn. |Wiktionary: Dämon - word origin, synonyms and translations| - Asmodis, Angat, Asael, Asag, Baal, Befana, Belial, Beelzebub, Chutriel, Luzifer, Mephisto, Pluto, devil, portal: Bible, Dämonologie - of thought experiments in the physics - for the term of the Daemons in computer science see: Daemon - Otto Böcher, Gunther Wanke, GünterStemberger, Georges Tavard:Dämonen I. Religion-historically II. Old will III. Judentum IV. New will V. Church-historically. In: Theological material encyclopedia 8 (1981), S. 270-300 (wissensch. Overview)

- This article is about the poetic technique. For the form of ice, see rime ice. For linguistic rime (or rhyme) see syllable rime. A rhyme is the association of words with similar sounds, a technique most often used in poetry. Indeed, a "rhyme" is sometimes used to refer to a rhyming couplet or short verse; see nursery rhyme. The term has also been applied (as "sight rhyme") to words which are similar only in their written forms. The word comes from the Old French rime, ultimately from the Greek ρυθμος from which "rhythm" also derives. In English, the spelling "rhyme" came to be adopted at the beginning of the Modern English period in order to reflect the Greek original, in the same way that a b was added to the words "dette" and "doute" to reflect the original Latin debitum and dubitum. The spelling "rime" survives in English however, as a rare alternative spelling. A distinction between the spellings is also sometimes made in the study of linguistics and phonology, where "rime/rhyme" is used to refer to the nucleus and coda of a syllable. In this context, some prefer to spell this "rime" to separate it from the poetic rhyme covered by this article (see syllable rime). Types of rhyme The concept of rhyme and its role in poetry vary considerably in different cultures. In modern English, and most European literary traditions, it is the final vowel/consonant combination found at the ends of lines that are repeated across the rhyming words. When words within a single line are rhymed, it is called an internal rhyme. Categories of rhyme include: - tail rhyme: a rhyme in the final syllable(s) of a verse (the most common kind) - masculine: a rhyme in which the stress is on the final syllable of the words. (rhyme, sublime, crime) - feminine: a rhyme in which the stress is on the penultimate (second from last) syllable of the words. (wiki, tricky, sticky) - dactylic: a rhyme in which the stress is on the antepenultimate (third from last) syllable (accident, president) - triple: a rhyme in which all three syllables of a three-syllable word are stressed equally. - perfect: a rhyme between words that are identical in sound. (sight, site) - imperfect: a rhyme between a stressed and an unstressed syllable. (den, siren) - identity: a rhyme that starts at a consonant instead of a vowel, or rhyming a word with itself. (gun, begun) - semirhyme: a rhyme with an extra syllable on one word. (bend, ending) - oblique (or slant): a rhyme with an imperfect match in sound. - sight (or eye): a similarity in spelling but not in sound. (cough, bough) - consonance: matching consonants. (her, dark) - half rhyme is consonance on the final consonants of the words involved - assonance: matching vowels. (shake, hate) A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyming lines in a poem. Rhyme in English See English poetry Old English poetry is mostly alliterative verse. One of the earliest rhyming poems in English is The Rhyming Poem. No English words rhyme (in the strict sense of masculine or feminine rhyme) with wasp, month, silver or orange. Rhyme in French In French, the typical two-phoneme rhyme common in English poetry is called rime suffisante. The rime riche ("rich rhyme") of three phonemes is classically more admired. To an Anglophone ear, by contrast, this often sounds like a very weak rhyme. For example, an English perfect or identity rhyme, such as homophones flour and flower, would seem weak, whereas a French rhyme of homophones doigt and doit qualifies as rime riche. Rime richissime ("very rich rhyme") is a rhyme of more than three phonemes. Here is a holorime (an extreme example of rime richissime spanning an entire verse): - Gall, amant de la Reine, alla (tour magnanime) - Gallamant de l'Arène à la Tour Magne, à Nîmes. - Gallus, the Queen's lover, went (a magnanimous gesture) - Gallantly from the Arena to the Great Tower, at Nîmes. Classical French poetry also used to have a complex set of rules for rhymes that goes beyond how words merely sound. It include whether the unsounded letter s, x, z and e are present at the end of each line and are often considered part of the meter of the poem. - A line that ends with a silent e is a feminine rhyme, even if the word itself is a masculine. - A line that ends with a silent s, x or "z" is a plural rhyme, even if the word itself is a singular. - A line that ends with a silent es is a feminine plural rhyme, even the word itself is not a feminine plural. For example the singular feminine "une souris", which means "a mouse", would be a masculine plural rhyme. A a set of rhyme is only valid it is matches sound, number and gender. In the 19th century, Baudelaire made some poems that dropped the sound requirement. In those poems, words that ended in the same spelling were considered as valid rhymes even if they sounded different. He called those "rhymes for the eye", "rimes pour l'œil." A feminine rhyme cannot follow a different feminine rhyme and a masculine rhyme cannot follow a different masculine rhyme. Masculine and feminine rhymes must alternate. If these rules were to be applied to English "there" and "fair" would not rhyme; and "lean" and "cuisine" would not rhyme either. Furthermore, a couplet rhyming in "-er", like "better" and "after", could not be followed by a couplet rhyming in "-ight", like "right" and "fight". These would be two different masculine rhymes "touching" each other. There must be a feminine rhyme in between. That is why, in French sonnets, the first four lines (1 to 4) and the second four lines (5 to 8) often have the exact same rhymes, with the structure abba abba: it allows for a mirror gender structure. The edge lines of both quatrains (lines 1, 4, 5 and 8) can be of one gender and the middle lines (lines 2, 3, 6 and 7) can be of the other. The trick is that the fourth and fifth lines of the sonnet must be the same, or else the fourth and fifth lines would have to alternate gender. Of course, a structure like abba acca would technically follow the rules, but it would be very ugly. All this comes from the fact that the marks for the plural and the gender of words that are now silent used to be sounded, but they did not count as being part of the meter. These rhyming rules are almost never taken into account from the 20th century on. Still, they are in almost all of the pre-20th century French verse texts. For example all of the French plays in verse of 17th century alternate masculine and feminine alexandrine couplets. Rhyme in Hebrew Ancient Hebrew verse did not generally rhyme. However, many Jewish liturgical poems rhyme today, because they were mostly written in medieval Europe, where rhymes were in vogue. Rhyme in Greek Rhyme in Latin Rhyme was unknown in Latin poetry, until it was introduced under the influence of local vernacular traditions in the early Middle Ages. E.g. the Latin hymn Dies Irae: - Dies irae, dies illa - Solvet saeclum in favilla - Teste David cum Sybilla Medieval poetry may mix Latin and vernacular languages. Mixing languages in verse or rhyming words in different languages is termed macaronic. Rhyme in Welsh

By Mazin Qumsiyeh Updated July 2012 Every single human rights organization that visited the area issued reports stating that the Israeli government and its forces seem to target civilians and exhibit reckless disregard for human life. Not one human rights non-governmental organization agreed with Israeli government propaganda that they are careful not to kill civilians and that civilians killed are "accidental" (so far in two years over 3700 Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli forces including over 700 children). As documented by Amnesty International and Human Rights watch, Israel now holds 3.5 million people essentially hostages in their own homes denying them the right to travel, work, and even go to school, clinics, or places of worship (Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza). Many Zionists claim that the reports of human rights violations by Palestinians are not to be believed even when documented on video and in photos, because they are Palestinians! The fact is there has never been an independent human rights groups that accepted the Israeli government version that their soldiers act in self-defense and are the “most moral army in the world”. To the contrary, all those who studied the situation (including even Israeli human rights groups) report significant and persistent violations of human rights amounting in many cases to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israeli soldiers themselves report abusing Palestinians and being ordered to abuse Palestinian civilians. See http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/ That is why there is a strong refusenick movement http://www.whywerefuse.org/ But here are just a random selection of reports from Independent human rights groups Physicians for Human Rights Defense of Children International Amnesty International Annual Report Human Rights Watch B’Tselem (Israeli HR group) Gisha (Israeli group for freedom of movement) Euro-mediterranean Human Rights Network Jewish groups speaking out - Israeli continues to use Palestinian civilians as human shields -Shin Bet uses torture regularly, B'Tselem report says, Ynetnews, Israel, May 6, 2007 - Most Palestinians killed in Israeli raids were civilians, Amnesty says By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem The Independent - 24 May 2007 "More than 320 civilians were among a threefold increase in the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces last year, according to Amnesty International. The human rights group's 2007 report says that over half of the more than 650 Palestinians killed in 2006 were civilians, 120 of them children and young people under 18. " http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2578484.ece -Israeli forces routinely mistreating detainees -Israeli human rights groups state Israeli forces routinely torture prisoners http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/856142.html -Israel forces use civilians as human shields. Example from B'Tselem and video clips -Israeli forces humiliate and strip search women and children (Video) - Physicians for Human Rights USA investigated the high number of Palestinian deaths and injuries in the first months of the Intifada, concluded that: "the pattern of injuries seen in many victims did not reflect IDF (Israeli Army) use of firearms in life-threatening situations but rather indicated targeting solely for the purpose of wounding or killing." - In an interview with Ha'aretz reporter Amira Hass, an Israeli sniper described the commands he receives from his superiors: "Twelve and up, you're allowed to shoot. That's what they tell us," he said. "So," responded the reporter "according to the IDF, (the appropriate minimum age group at which to shoot) is 12?" the soldier replied, "According to what the IDF says to its soldiers. I don't know if this is what the IDF says to the media." - Yediot Aharonot (Hebrew Edition, 11/17/00) quoted Tal Etlinger, a "border guard" trained to quell demonstrations as stating that riots at Um Al Fahm (where scores of unarmed Palestinian citizens of Israel were shot and many killed by snipers) were much less violent than Jewish riots (such as in Tiberias) which were "much worse..but we handle Jewish riots differently..to a demonstration like this we know in advance to come without weapons.. These are the orders from above, and we use only gas." - Human Rights Watch issued a report May 3, 2002 on Israeli atrocities in Jenin stating in part: “civilians (in Jenin) were killed willfully or unlawfully (by the Israeli military). (which) used Palestinian civilians as ‘human shields’ and used indiscriminate and excessive force.. The abuses we documented in Jenin are extremely serious, and in some cases appear to be war crimes.." (http://hrw.org/press/2002/05/jenin0503.htm) - New York Times journalist Chris Hedges stated: " And it was--I mean, I've seen kids shot in Sarajevo. I mean, snipers would shoot kids in Sarajevo. I've seen death squads kill families in Algeria or El Salvador. But I'd never seen soldiers bait or taunt kids like this and then shoot them for sport. It was--I just--even now, I find it almost inconceivable. And I went back every day, and every day it was the same." Full transcript: http://22.214.171.124/pmw/manager/features/display_message.asp?mid=487 - Videos clearly implicated the army where soldiers were cavalierr about killing civilians: BBC obtains video showing shelling children running away - In an article in the Washington Post, Keith Richburg reported (11/ 30/2000; Page A01): "Iyad was shot because he ran too fast. Nshat was shot because he missed his ride. Ronny was shot for throwing a stone. And Abdel Kareem was shot where his two friends died. Iyad, Nshat, Ronny and Abdel Kareem had never met before. But these four young Palestinians now see one another daily, as patients at the Abu Raya Rehabilitation Center." - Moshe Nissim, who operated a bulldozer for 75 straight hours in Jenin was quoted in Yediot Ahoronot: "No one refused an order to take down a house. When they told me to destroy a house I exploited that in order to destroy a few more homes. On the loudspeaker (the Palestinian residents) were warned to get out before I came in. But I didn't give a chance to anyone. I didn't wait. I'm sure that people died inside of those houses. From my perspective we left them a football field, they should play there. The 100x100 was our present to the camp. Jenin will not return to be what it was." (Yedioth Ahronot, Friday 31 May 2002, translated by Alternative Information Center). - B'Tselem, the Israeli Human Rights group, reported in October 2001 that "the IDF continues to employ a policy of 'an easy trigger-finger' and demonstrates a disregard for human life." In one Press Release (12 March 2002) B'Tselem stated: "In every city and refugee camp that they have entered, IDF soldiers have repeated the same pattern: indiscriminate firing and the killing of innocent civilians, intentional harm to water, electricity and telephone infrastructure, taking over civilian houses, extensive damage to civilian property, shooting at ambulances and prevention of medical care to the injured." (http://www.btselem.org/ ) - "As a young soldier serving in the Israeli army, I was ordered to commit grave human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. My platoon meted out collective punishment on Palestinian communities, shot and killed unarmed Palestinian civilians, and enforced prolonged curfews on Palestinian villages. I witnessed the arbitrary destruction of Palestinian houses, property and agricultural land. These acts were not rare occurrences, nor were they the result of overly cruel soldiers. It was part of the norm; a habit that an Occupation soldier gets used to doing. These daily occurrences constituted, as I later understood, war crimes." http://alawda.rso.wisc.edu/why.htm - Israeli soldiers admitted to Maariv (Israeli mainstream newspaper) that they targeted non-combatants, did horrible things and "acted Like Zombies see http://www.geocities.com/keller_adam/breaking_silence.htm - A Video Israeli censors did not Want You To See. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW1-_JmXQt0&mode=related&search - Not seen on the news (this one slipped through) http://tvnewslies.org/html/the_israel_you_don_t_see_on_th.html -Researcher Says Israel Responsible for at least 97.8 Percent of Serious Human Rights Abuses in Conflict. - Lies and Israeli war crimes http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10680.shtml - Human Rights Watch: Israel - White Phoshorous Use Evidence of War Crimes - Physicians for Human Rights-Israel: The IDF Repeatedly Violated Medical Ethics in Gaza - Report of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories We did not discuss here the Israeli laws and "system" of stripping Palestinians of their land and destroying their homes. This process, ongoing for the past 58 years, has already left 2/3rds of teh native Palestinians as refugees or displaced people. One can then add to that laws that are racist such as the law that Israelis can marry and bring any foreigners as spouses to live with them in Israel with one exception: If the spouse happens to be Palestinian (see http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/528450.html)

After the rebellion, the Germans forced the captured escapees to raze what was left of the Treblinka camp. Then those prisoners were shot, trees were planted, and the site was disguised as a farm. Jewish resistance had helped to shut down Treblinka, but only after the camp's work was essentially finished. Meanwhile, southeast of Treblinka, three miles from the Bug River, the Sobibór death camp still operated. Between March and July 1943, 19 transports from the Netherlands brought 35,000 Dutch Jews to Sobibór's gas chambers, which killed about 250,000 Jews in all. The death traffic then diminished, with more than 13,000 Jews from liquidated ghettos in Vilna, Minsk, and Lida being gassed at Sobibór during the second half of September. The camp's inmates understood that the end of the transports meant the end of their lives, too. In early September 1943, Sobibór's prisoner work force included about 650 Jews. As at Treblinka, some were skilled workers who maintained the camp, others sorted loot, and still others were condemned to gas chamber work crews and corpse disposal. Thomas Blatt was among the approximately 300 prisoners who escaped the camp during the uprising that broke out there on October 14, 1943. His 1996 book Sobib ór: The Forgotten Revolt reports that just 48 of the Sobibór escapees survived to be liberated. The uprising at Sobibór led the Germans to abandon plans to convert the death camp to a concentration camp. Instead, they decided to dismantle and disguise the site whose killing work had been virtually accomplished anyway. Like Treblinka, Sobibór became a farm. That result, however, was not the only outcome of the Sobibór uprising. Events in Warsaw, Treblinka, and Sobibór indicated that the Polish Jews increasingly realized there would be no "salvation through work." Stripped of hope for survival, they would resist until death. With the threat of such Jewish resistance in mind, Himmler accelerated the destruction of Jews who remained in Lublin-area labor camps at Trawniki and Poniatowa as well as in the Majdanek death camp. In the Lublin district on November 3, 1943, some 42,000 Jews were rounded up and shot. Historian Christopher Browning calls this massacre "the single largest German killing operation against Jews in the entire war." Its German code name was Erntefest, which means "harvest festival." Conservative overall estimates show that the Holocaust took at least 500,000 Jewish lives in 1943. Through no fault of its own, that year's Jewish resistance--significant though it was, impressive though it remains--was unfortunately not enough to prevent disaster.

Sidney Hillman was born in 1887 in Zagare, Lithuania. Showing early academic promise, he left home at age 14 to attend rabbinical school, but was soon caught up in revolutionary politics and left school, becoming a leading activist in the Bund, a socialist union of Jewish workers. He was arrested twice and spent several months in Russian prisons, where he continued his revolutionary training. After the 1905 Russian Revolution failed, Hillman fled, first to Manchester, England, where he had relatives, and then to the United States, arriving in Chicago in 1907. He worked first as a clerk at Sears, Roebuck & Co., and then became an apprentice garment cutter for a large manufacturer, Hart, Schaffner & Marx. Working conditions were very difficult, and when a dozen women workers sparked a citywide garment strike in 1910, Hillman joined them on the picket line. This act changed his life. He soon became a leader of the strike, helping to broker an agreement between the workers and Hart, Schaffner & Marx, and getting the manufacturer to recognize Local 39 of the United Garment Workers (UGW) and to agree to settle future disputes by arbitration. When the strike was over, he became a business agent for the new local. He never returned to the factory floor. The strike also introduced him to his future wife, Bessie Abramowitz, one of the original leaders of the strike. She remained an important labor leader throughout her life. They were married in 1916 and had two daughters together. In 1914, a group of active union locals affiliated with the UGW left it to form a new organization, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA). Sidney Hillman had recently moved to New York to work for the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU), but he moved back to Chicago to assume the presidency of the new Amalgamated. Under his leadership, the ACWA became the leading union in the men’s clothing industry in America. Hillman believed the government should play a role in mediating between labor and management, and he took advantage of the opportunities presented by pro-union government policies during World War I and during the New Deal. Roosevelt appointed him to several labor related positions in his administration. Hillman also helped draft the National Labor Relations Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. In 1936, Hillman joined his colleague David Dubinsky in founding the American Labor Party, to encourage progressives to support Roosevelt and other Democratic candidates. He was also one of the founders of the Committee for Industrial Organizing (CIO) in 1935 and was elected the Vice-President of the CIO when it became independent in 1937. Hillman promoted a policy of “constructive cooperation” between the union and employers and was known for his effective dispute resolution tactics, which he had demonstrated during the 1910 strike and honed throughout his career. He also brought a focus on social services into the ACWA, creating low-cost cooperative housing, a workers’ bank, and unemployment insurance for union members. When war broke out in Europe, Hillman supported U.S. involvement against the Nazis, and he once again held positions in Roosevelt’s administration, this time managing war production. He also helped create Labor’s Non-Partisan League to mobilize union support for Roosevelt’s presidential campaigns, and headed the CIO’s Political Action Committee (PAC). Hillman died in 1946 after a long illness. AFL-CIO. “Key People in Labor History: Sidney Hillman.” Accessed April 10, 2012. http://www.aflcio.org/About/Our-History/Key-People-in-Labor-History/Sidney-Hillman-1887-1946. Hillman Foundation. “Sidney Hillman.” Accessed April 10, 2012. http://www.hillmanfoundation.org/sidney-hillman. Wikipedia. “Sidney Hillman.” Accessed April 10, 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Hillman. Steven Fraser. Labor Will Rule: Sidney Hillman and the Rise of American Labor. (New York: The Free Press, 1991). How to cite this page Jewish Women's Archive. "Sidney Hillman." (Viewed on July 25, 2016) <http://jwa.org/teach/livingthelegacy/biographies/hillman-sidney>.

How can we tell where one person ends and another begins? The material finitude of our bodies is evident, but the borders of the soul are less definite. We merge as we learn from one another, live together and accrue common experiences, take on each other's projects, and enter into shared fates. Love blurs the boundaries between one soul and another. In fact, love might be defined as that very erosion, absorption, commingling. When the tenuous coupling of a person's body and soul is undone by death, the bond of body and soul within each person who has been close to the one who has died is also weakened. The breath of God within all who were bound up with that person wishes, as it were, to leave the bodies of its temporary residence and to flee to the one great Source. And so it is that a survivor must mourn, to heal and repair the bond between his or her own body and soul - literally, in some measure, to stay alive. There is a time when everything is changing, when a person is especially vulnerable, almost as though his or her skin were missing. Then the community comes together, the tradition steps in, and together we walk the person through the time of transition to a new place in a world reconnected. Mourning is the ultimate disconnected state. Outside us, the web of life has been torn. Within us, body and soul are wrestling apart. Our tradition recognizes that, while body and soul may have been severed almost instantaneously for the loved one who died, the reweaving of body and soul in the survivors – the agenda of mourning – happens in stages over weeks, months, years, and generations to come. ...it could all go in a minute. It WILL all go in a minute. This life is a brief stop, whether I die tomorrow or in fifty years. I would love not to know this, to have the innocent certainty that, when loved ones set out on a journey, they will return unharmed, that I can go out to sea in my boat, play in the waves and not be swallowed up. But I am more grateful now than I ever was in my innocence. In the end it is all a gift, is it not? The brief entwinement of body and soul, the breath of God that gives and sustains human life, creates such a colorful, sparkling trail as it arcs through time. It is so ephemeral, and yet it affects everything. As we say when we open our eyes every morning: "modeh ani l’fanekha – I give thanks to you, God of life which is eternal, for returning my soul to me this morning. Great is your faithfulness." Psalm 143 – A Psalm of David Hear my prayer, O God, יהוה שמע תפילתי Mourner reads; witnesses answer AMEN. ברוך דין האמת Barukh Dayan haEmet, Blessed is the True Judge. If I can let you go as trees let go Their leaves, so casually, one by one; If I can come to know what they do know, That fall is the release, the consummation, Then fear of time and the uncertain fruit Would not distemper the great lucid skies This strangest autumn, mellow and acute. If I can take the dark with open eyes And call it seasonal, not harsh or strange (for love itself may need a time of sleep), and, treelike, stand unmoved before the change, lose what I lose to keep what I can keep, the strong root still alive under the snow, love will endure – if I can let you go. Talmud, Bava Batra 10a: It has been taught: R. Judah says: Great is tzedakah, in that it brings the redemption nearer, as it says, Thus says God, judge fairly and practice righteous justice [tzedakah], for redemption is not far from you, and the meaning of tzedakah will be revealed. Ten strong things have been created in the world. The rock is hard, but the iron cleaves it. The iron is hard, but the fire softens it. The fire is hard, but the water quenches it. The water is strong, but the clouds bear it. The clouds are strong, but the wind (ruakh) scatters them. The wind is strong, but the body bears it. The body is strong, but fright crushes it. Fright is strong, but wine banishes it. Wine is strong, but sleep works it off. Death is stronger than all, and tzedakah saves from death, as it is written, justice [tzedakah] delivers from death. Yehi ratzon milfanekha Adonai Eloheynu v’Elohey Avoteynu v’Imoteynu, sheh-yitzror b’tzror zikaron olami b’shem tzedakah zo et shem v’zikaron shel ________________ May this tzedakah, this act of justice done in memory of ________________, save her from the death of forgetfulness, and keep her safe in the eternity of memory. Wedding ring is removed. It or its value equivalent is donated to a mitzvah organization. Bereyshit 32.25-32 Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a being with him until the break of day. And when the saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was wounded as he wrestled with the other. And the other said, “Let me go, for the day breaks”. And he said, “I will not let you go, except you bless me”. The other said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob”. And the other said, “Your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince you have power with God and with human beings, and have prevailed”. And Jacob asked him, and said, “Tell me, I beg you, your name.” And he said, “Why is it that you ask after my name?” And he blessed him there. Jacob called the name of the place Peniel. for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed through Peniel the sun rose upon him, and he limped upon his thigh. Bereyshit 9.17 God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. Mourner recites together with witnesses: Barukh atah Adonai Eloheynu melekh ha’olam zokheyr habrit. Blessed is God who remembers the Covenant and its promise. The time will come when, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror, and each will smile at the other's welcome, and say, sit here. Eat. You will love again the stranger who was yourself Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart to itself, to the stranger who has loved you all your life, whom you ignored for another, who knows you by heart. Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, the photographs, the desperate notes, peel your own image from the mirror. Sit. Feast on your life. ברוך אתה יי אלהינו מלך העולם מחדש כל יום מעשה בראשית Barukh atah Adonai Eloheynu melekh ha’olam m’khadeysh kol yom ma’aseh bereyshit. Conclude with the sanctification of God over bread and wine. This Ritual For Letting Go uses the basic psychological construct of past – present – future in the Jewish idiom, i.e. creation – revelation – redemption. It also seeks to incorporate traditional ways of honoring the memory of the dead through study. Thus it includes passages from Torah and Talmud, as well as berakhot and poetry designed to enhance the relevance of ancient passages. The ritual offers potential for a variety of transitional expressions. Will one take on an additional name, as Jacob was given? Will there be some other form of demonstrable change in one’s life that will be recognized in these moments? This ritual might be most effective when the mourner feels a need to mark a readiness to move on. It may be useful to pause after the Peniel text to consider the qualities of a name and how it expresses one’s sense of self – and how that sense of self changes as a result of experience, and of struggle. Perhaps different aspects of the meaning of one’s name become more pronounced at different times in one’s life. For example: When Naomi made her way back to Beyt-Lekhem after losing her husband and sons, she changed her name to Marah, “bitter”. Or consider the name Joseph, which is associated with the mystical sefirah Yesod: human reflections of God’s image in this sefirah include our capacity for tzedakah – justice, establishing a secure sense of foundation on which to build, the mutual commitment of the covenant, and the creative power of generativity and that which is passed from generation to generation. Because of this ritual’s character of mourning turning toward hope, during the sefirat ha’omer it can be done on any day except Shabbat and Lag BaOmer; if during Sefirat haOmer, the sefirotic mix which is associated with that day’s count may offer interpretive possibilities. Most rituals are performed with a minyan, or at least with two witnesses. The mourner’s comfort level with the involvement of the community is paramount; if the mourner does not feel that s/he wants to gather friends or family for this moment, the community’s presence is nevertheless invoked through the act of tzedakah. Thus the ritual is designed in such a way that it can be performed alone, or with a rabbi, witnesses, or a minyan or more. B’shem omro [references]: “How can we tell…” The Metaphysics of Mourning, adapted, cited in Lifecycles “If I can let you go”, May Sarton, Sonnet 2 from “The Autumn Sonnets” “The time will come,” Derek Walcott “Love After Love” Used with permission of the author

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Dr. Richard L. Strauss August 18, 1991 Purpose: To encourage us to be submissive to our government and respectful toward our leaders. Have you been following the controversy over the National Endowment for the Arts, the government agency that assists artists financially in order to advance the arts? Some of their money, our tax dollars, have been going to fund pornography--things like pictures of male homosexual activity, and a picture of a cross in a jar of urine--the title of which I wouldn't even say publically. I don't want my money spent for that. Do you? And then there are things like the government funding of abortion. Think of it--they've spent Christians' money to kill human beings. And I've heard of condoms being distributed to high school students, paid for by tax money--Christians' money being used to promote immorality. We can't tolerate that sort of thing, can we? Maybe we just shouldn't file our income tax returns next year in protest. That would show them, wouldn't it? Should we disobey the government because it is doing things that are contrary to our beliefs as Christians? Should we break the law in order to take our stand for Biblical morality? How about the Operation Rescue people who, in violation of the law, block the entrances to abortion clinics in order to save human lives? Some of them say that those of us who don't participate in that kind of activity are not being faithful to their Christian commitment. Are they right? Should we break the law to stop the slaughter of innocent children? How do we decide? Paul is about to deal with those very kinds of issues here in Romans 13. He's been talking about our relationship with the world around us as Christians, and he's told us that we need to love others, even our enemies who persecute us. Don't get overpowered by their evil, but overcome evil by doing good. The good is loving them. But how do we relate to the world's institutions, particularly those which have authority over us? Some of the Christians in Rome were probably wondering about that. You see, when the Christian church was first born, it was viewed by the Roman government as a sect within Judaism, and as such it enjoyed protection as a legal religion. But when Christianity assumed a character of its own, and began to attack Roman idolatry and challenge Roman emperor worship, it lost that protection. Now Christians were facing a more hostile government. How were they supposed to handle it? The Jewish Zealots had a strong opinion about human government. They insisted that there was no king but God, and that no tribute should be paid to anyone but God. Furthermore, they believed that the Roman government was so corrupt that it should be overthrown. They were committed to disrupt Rome's ability to rule by engaging in terrorist activity. Is that the path God wants Christians to follow? If our government doesn't do what we think it should do, should we try to topple it? On the contrary, the one key word that sums up a Christian's responsibility to his government is the word submission! Follow Paul's thought here, which begins with an exhortation to submit. The Exhortation to Submit Romans 13:1. "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God." To be subject is to take a proper rank or place under authority. That doesn't necessarily mean unquestioning obedience to any command that the civil authorities may arbitrarily decide to issue (as we shall see), but rather a recognition that we have been placed under the authority of civil government by God. Those in government have been placed over us--whether federal, state or local--and we need to acknowledge that and live in a manner that reflects our understanding of it. And that goes for all of us--"every soul." No Christian should ever consider himself to be above the law. Every Christian should submit. But why? Paul suggests three reasons. Submit to Acknowledge Their Appointment by God (Romans 13:1-2) He wants to be absolutely sure we understand that, so he says it first negatively--"for there is no authority except from God;" then he repeats it positively--"and the authorities that exist are appointed by God." That is a truth found all through the Bible. Whatever process is followed to choose human rulers, they are ultimately placed in their positions by God. That goes for the vilest of them as well as the most virtuous. The prophet Daniel made that very clear--"He [God] removes kings and raises up kings" (Daniel 2:21). And God Himself reinforced the same truth to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon: "...the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men" (Daniel 4:17). There is no question about it--the powers that be are ordained of God. And it doesn't matter what kind of government we're referring to. Contrary to what many Christians think, the Bible does not espouse any one form of human government above others. Most of us are convinced that democracy allows for the greatest human freedom and best protection of human dignity and human rights. And we may be correct about that. But the Bible nowhere establishes democracy as the one God-ordained system of government. Nor does it favor communism, or socialism, or monarchy, or oligarchy (which is rule by a few), or any other one system of government. Whatever government is in power is appointed by God. Therefore, to resist the government is to resist God. Romans 13:2. "Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves." The punishment they bring on themselves may be inflicted by the government, or by the Lord, or both. But resistance will not go unpunished. You can be sure of that. Because the authorities that exist, whoever they may be, are appointed by God. That's hard for most of us to swallow. Does that include rulers like Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein? May I remind you of the government that was in power when Paul wrote this? It was a cruel dictatorship, ruled for the benefit of the elite in Rome. Most of the people throughout the empire lived in conquered nations occupied by Roman troops. Soldiers were constantly being sent off to fight foreign wars primarily for the glory of the emperor and his generals. Sixty million human beings were held in slavery and could be treated in any way their masters chose to treat them. The emperors themselves were no model of morality and righteousness. Their courts were famous for gluttony, drunkenness, adultery, incest, homosexuality, murder and intrigue. And one of the worst was Nero, who ruled even as Paul wrote these words. When fire swept Rome just a few years later, Nero accused the Christians of starting it, and that led to an outbreak of persecution in which Paul himself was eventually killed. The government Paul was talking about in this passage was tyrannical, immoral and unjust. And yet he says, "Submit to it, because it was appointed by God." That would certainly not let any of the rest of us off the hook, whatever injustice we may suffer at the hands of government authorities. Our submission is intended to acknowledge their appointment by God. Submit to Avoid Their Punishment of Wrong-Doers (Romans 13:3-4) Romans 13:3a. "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil." That certainly doesn't cover all the possibilities, like madmen who exterminate innocent people. Some rulers may be a terror to people who do good. But the norm is for rulers to maintain law and order and to punish evildoers. Even the worst of the Roman emperors tried to do that. I think we would all agree that the worst governments in existence today are still better than total anarchy. So...read Romans 13:3b-c. "Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same." That makes sense. The way to eliminate fear of that flashing light and siren behind you is to obey the traffic laws. The way to eliminate fear of a letter from the IRS is to fill out your tax forms properly and pay the tax you owe. The way to eliminate fear of the guard at the mall is not to walk off with merchandise that you haven't paid for. If you keep the law, you have no reason to be afraid of the person in authority. Romans 13:4a. "For he is God's minister to you for good." Interesting! Government is called God's servant for good. Rulers are tools of God to accomplish things that He wants done. And they are basically good things. Paul saw the positive benefits of government, even bad government. For one thing, government protects us and our property. The Romans had eliminated most of the bandits from the hills and the pirates from the seas so that Paul could travel freely to preach the gospel. Furthermore, government arbitrates when there are disputes. Paul had seen that work for his good as well when a Roman official named Gallio dismissed a case that the Jews brought against him (Acts 18:12-17). And in addition to that, government provides services that benefit us all. Roman roads and ships had aided the advance of the gospel throughout the known world. We may not be happy with everything our government does, but we benefit from the good it does--like the fire and police protection we enjoy, and the power, water and sewage service to our homes, as well as roads, parks, schools, mail service, relief agencies, courts and judges to hear our grievances, a military to guard us from outside threats, and so much more. We can understand what Paul is saying. Our government, with all its faults, is God's servant to us for good. And if we do what is right, we have nothing to fear from it. Romans 13:4b. "But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil." The sword may refer simply to government's right to bear arms, or it may be a reference to capital punishment. But in either case, we have nothing to fear if we submit to properly constituted authority and do what's right. And that's the second reason for submitting. But there is a third. Submit to Enjoy a Clear Conscience (Romans 13:5) Romans 13:5. "Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake." The unbeliever may obey simply for fear of punishment, and possibly because he appreciates the benefits he enjoys. But the Christian has this further reason. He knows the Scripture. He understands the place of government in God's sovereign purposes. And he knows that he must submit in order to maintain a clear conscience before God. Most of us know what Paul is talking about. We may park in a handicapped space once in awhile, but we feel guilty about it. If we fudge on our tax return, our conscience bothers us. If we get stopped for speeding, we look around to see if anybody we know is watching. But the Lord knows, and He sees. And we are aware of that. So we do what we're supposed to do, because we want to be able to look Him in the eye without shame. Well that's the exhortation to submit and the reasons for it. But what does submission involve? What specifically does it mean to submit? Paul wants to help us understand it a little better with examples. The Examples of Submission There are two examples of submission. Submit by Paying the Required Taxes (Romans 13:6) Romans 13:6. "For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing." Taxes are the means the government has for carrying out its responsibilities. As much as we hate to admit it, the state cannot function without them. Since government authorities are God's servants, and since they give their full time to the work of governing, we must support them with our taxes. Incidentally, the word minister or servant in verse 6 (leitourgos) is different from the one used twice in verse 4 (diakonos). The first word referred to any lowly service. This one usually refers to priestly service, the service of God. When we pay our taxes, it would be like giving a gift to God's priests. And to withhold our taxes would be like an ancient worshipper refusing to give what was due the priests in worship. In other words, if we don't pay our taxes, we're robbing God. And if God wants us to pay our taxes, He obviously wants us to do it without grumbling and complaining. Can we remember that next April? Paying the required taxes is one way we submit to our government. Submit by Giving the Proper Respect (Romans 13:7) Romans 13:7. "Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor." It isn't enough just to pay what we owe and say, "Now you've got your money; get off my case." God wants us to respect them and honor them--not because they are wealthy or powerful, but because of the position they hold as God's ministers. We may not agree with everything they do, and we can tell them so, in gracious ways, through the channels made available to us in our society. But we have no right to belittle them with sarcasm and put-downs and make them the butt of cutting humor (as so many in our culture are prone to do, particularly in the entertainment industry). Giving the proper respect is another way we submit. Well, it's beginning to look as though I better file my income tax next year, even if I don't like the way the government is spending my money. But wait just a minute. Things aren't always quite that simple. Jesus said that we're supposed to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's (Mark 12:17). But suppose Caesar tries to overstep his bounds and meddle in the things that are God's. Paul doesn't deal with that problem here, but there are other Scriptures which do address the problem. Maybe we should say a word about that. The Exceptions to Submission When does God approve of us disobeying our government? The answer is simply when our government tries to make us disobey God's clearly revealed Word. And there are a number of Biblical illustrations of that. They relate to three general areas. Matters of Worship Daniel and his three friends obeyed the king of Babylon until he tried to make them eat food that had been dedicated to idols (Daniel 1), and bow down before a gold image (Daniel 2), and stop praying to the God of heaven (Daniel 6). Then God's laws took precedence over man's laws. And we as believers today must obey those in authority over us until their laws forbid us to worship the one true God or require us to worship some other god. When the law says we cannot gather to worship our God, then we will refuse to obey. Matters of Witness When the Jewish religious authorities called the apostles on the carpet for teaching in the name of Jesus after they had been told not to, they answered, "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). And we as believers today must obey those in authority over us until they try to tell us that we cannot talk about our faith in Jesus. That's where we draw the line. Matters of worship, matters of witness, and thirdly, matters of morality. Matters of Morality When Pharaoh of Egypt commanded his midwives to kill all the Hebrew boys that they delivered, they disobeyed, and rightly so (Exodus 1:15-17). When the king of Jericho tried to find the Jewish spies and kill them, Rahab the harlot disobeyed her king and hid them, and God blessed her for it (Hebrews 11:31). When King Saul commanded his son Jonathan to kill David, Jonathan disobeyed and helped David (1 Samuel 19). It was the right thing to do. And we as believers today must obey those in authority over us until they tell us that we must violate Biblical morality. Like a teacher insisting that his students view a pornographic film. Or a boss insisting that his secretary lie on the phone, or alter the company's records. Then we refuse to submit. We have an advantage that people in Biblical times did not have. We have legal means to influence our government in matters of justice and righteousness, and we need to take advantage of that privilege that has been made available to us. A good illustration of that has been in the bulletin for the last two weeks about California law AB101. I mean, we have an obligation as believers to take a stand on that. When was the last time you wrote or called a Congressman, or a Senator, or an Assemblyman and expressed your opinion about a moral question facing them--a moral decision they had to make. If they knew a vote was at stake in the next election, they might listen. You see, there is nothing against the law in doing that. In fact, we might see that as an obligation. But what if those methods don't work? All of our letter writing campaigns and our boycotts of sponsors--what if it doesn't work? What should we do then? Should a Christian then resort to non-violent illegal means of stopping injustice and standing for righteousness, like blocking the entrances to abortion clinics illegally? Every once in a while I get a reputation as being a fence sitter and this probably why, because I am solidly on the fence this morning. Solidly on the fence. Each individual Christian has to be given the freedom to decide what is appropriate for him or her in each of those instances, without being manipulated or coerced into participating in any particular form of civil disobedience that he's not comfortable with based on his understanding of Scripture. Some people feel no obligation to be involved certain kinds of protest activity since they personally are not being forced to disobey God's Word. If they were being forced to disobey, they would take a stand. They're not being forced, so they don't take a stand. Others feel that it is their responsibility to take a stand against immorality wherever it appears. And they are willing to pay the consequences for their law breaking, but they feel like it's necessary to change the law, and they feel that only law breaking will change it. So who's right? I plead what Paul says about another issue which we'll get to in the next chapter. In Romans 14:5 he says, "Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind." Make up your own mind. Be sure you're doing what you believe God wants you to do. And he also says in that chapter, "Let's not judge one another anymore either." If I decide to throw my body across the entrance to an abortion clinic against the law, don't judge me for it. And if I decide that's not my responsibility to do that and I choose not to, please don't judge me for that either. And I won't judge you. You make up your mind before God, because you and I each answer to Him in these matters, not to each other. But before you disobey the law, please be sure it is a valid Biblical exception. Because one thing is abundantly clear from this passage of Scripture: The general rule is submission. Submission. The man who wrote this and told us this by inspiration from God's Spirit, saw his tax money being used to finance cruel foreign wars, murderous gladiatorial games, and lavish and immoral banquets in the imperial court. And he said, "Pay your taxes and respect your leaders." So I've decided to file next year!! And beyond that, I've decided to do my best to be a law-abiding citizen in the meantime. I hope you will do the same because that's the Word of God. Trusting Jesus as Your Savior Now I have to say before I close that you can count on God to obey His own laws. You see, God has some laws of justice and righteousness and holiness. He's a holy God, and when His holiness is offended, He is bound by His own character to punish that sin and to separate it from His presence eternally. He must follow through on His own character and His own laws. You can count on Him to do it. And that is why, we who are born sinners, experience the condemnation of our sin--the just condemnation--and that is eternal separation from God. But, you see, God is also love. In addition to being righteous and holy, He is love. And in His love, He sent His Son to Calvary's cross to bear in His own body the guilt and the punishment that our sins deserved. So now, if we're willing to trust in Him, He can forgive us and accept us eternally into His heaven and still maintain His own justice because the Law has been fulfilled, the penalty has been paid. That doesn't mean that everybody's going to be in heaven, unfortunately. I wish it did mean that, but it doesn't, because God isn't going to force anybody to accept His provision. He made the provision; He reveals it to us in His Word; He holds it out to us in grace and asks, "Will you receive my gift of forgiveness and eternal life?" There are some who reject His gift. They say, "I can make it on my own. I can do enough to merit God's salvation." No! No, you can't! Please don't try to offer that to God. How could any finite human deeds ever satisfy an infinitely holy God? That's why He had to do it for us. Will you accept His love gift to you? It's eternal salvation in the Person of His Son. Will you trust Christ as your Savior today? Let's bow before Him in prayer. Bowed prayerfully before Him right now, let me ask you whether you've made this decision and put your faith in Christ as your Savior from sin. If you're not sure you have, would you make sure today? It would be nice if there was some other way, but Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." And if He is who He claimed to be--and the evidence is all there--we have to accept that and come His way by faith in Him, who died for our sins and rose again to make us right with God. Will you accept His offer of salvation today? If you will, I'd like to suggest that you settle it right now, quietly where you sit, in prayer. Just in the silence of your own soul, you tell Him so, will you? "Lord, I'm a sinner. I need Your salvation. Thank You for providing it at Calvary. And now, Lord Jesus, I'm putting my faith in You. I receive You into my life right now, as my Savior and Lord." Will you do that? Maybe you've settled that issue. You are a true child of God and you know that. But there have been some areas of disobedience in your life--not related to any Biblical principle, just selfishness and sin. Would you confess that sin to God right now and covenant with Him that by His grace you're going to obey Him and bring your life into conformity with God's Word? Lord, You know our hearts. Help us to be honest with you and not try to hide things from You. Thank you for your willingness to forgive and to cleanse, and then, to enable and strengthen us to live in a way that honors You. Thank You. In Jesus' name, amen. Continue to ROM 29: Our Outstanding Debt

Tuesday, August 31, 2010 What interested me, though, is that I had to go all the way to page 19 of the blog to find a book that I actually own. I have that cover. Wouldn't call it "bad", just strangely uncompelling. And in fact, if you hate that cover to Carpe Diem, then you can probably rip on any of the other covers in those particular reprints of the Liaden Universe novels, because they all have the same kind of theme: a man, a woman, and a SFnal backdrop like a planet or a spaceship. What is your favorite reference book? I don't rely on reference books as much as I once did these days, but I do have some on the shelves. There is the Merriam and Webster Encyclopedia of Literature, which is wonderfully useful for a reader, in looking up literary terms and small entries on various literary works. I have a full-sized Rand McNally World Atlas, as well as a smaller, abridged one that's useful for quick checks of locations. I greatly love my Historical Atlas, which is actually a old volume that I liberated from a discard pile years ago when I worked at the library at St. Bonaventure University. Historical atlases are wonderful things: maps of old national boundaries, maps depicting various military campaigns, maps of ancient kingdoms and empires, maps of the spread of human society across the world. If you like history at all, get yourself a Historical Atlas! Somewhere I have a dictionary of musical terms that dates from my college years. David Dubal's Essential Canon of Classical Music is an amazing reference work, not just for those looking for something new to hear, but for those looking for quick information about the history of classical music. There are lots of reference works relating to genre-specific subjects as well. I have the Star Trek Encyclopedia, as well as a Star Wars Galactic Atlas. These kinds of books are so much fun to thumb through -- as well as a couple of reference books pertaining to The Lord of the Rings, The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, Jess Nevins's Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana, an Arthurian Encyclopedia, and the like. Stretching the usual notion of a "reference book", there is also my study Bible (TNIV), two copies of The Oxford Book of English Verse (printed sixty years apart, so the contents are different), and various other large collections of poetry. I consider these to be reference books. So which is my favorite reference book? Ummmm...Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare. At least, that's the answer I'm giving today. What is your favorite biopic about a musician? (Singer, instrumentalist, composer.) In fact if you made a list, that would be grand. I don't see very many musical biopics, because a lot of them tend to fall a bit short. (Dennis Quaid's Great Balls of Fire was painful.) The line to tread is a fine one indeed: lay off the bad stuff in the person's life and the movie feels too reverential, but dwell too much on the bad stuff and it just seems like a tell-all expose. It's hard to strike that right balance. Some films do, however, get it right. Chief among these is the utterly magnificent Amadeus, which is not only brilliantly made just in terms of craft (the acting, photography, and musical direction are all first-rate), but also wonderfully done in terms of story. The film actually manages to make the enmity between Mozart and Salieri into a compelling story. Of course, in order to tell that story, the film (and the play it's based on) must take a number of liberties with the real history. But so be it. I've always liked La Bamba a great deal, although it's somewhat flawed, in my view, by the constant fatalism that hangs over the movie, by way of very foreboding airplane imagery throughout. We all know how Richie Valens's life ended, but the film treats the plane crash as a constant motif. I think it was Roger Ebert who described the film's tone by saying, "Watching the movie you almost get the feeling that Richie Valens would have been shocked to die in any way other than a plane crash." One biopic I loved -- and haven't seen in years -- is Coal Miner's Daughter. I saw it with my mother when I was eight years old; I recall actually wanting to see it, which some might find surprising. ("What's the movie about? A country singer who grew up in poverty in Kentucky? Sure, I'll go!") I can't really say anything about the movie right now, because it's been a long time since I last watched it. I only saw Shine -- starring Geoffrey Rush as a pianist with some mental problems -- once, but I recall finding it enjoyable. Again stretching definitions a bit: Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous is totally fictionalized, but it's also heavily drawn from Crowe's own experiences as a young journalist writing about rock music in the 1970s. There's a wonderful British comedy called Hear My Song, which is also a fictionalized story based on a real event, in this case an Irish tenor who had to flee his country due to tax problems, and the young and brash and nearly penniless owner of a failing nightclub who decides to save his business by bringing that tenor back. And for totally fictionalized music movies that don't seem entirely fictional, there are Tom Hanks's underrated That Thing You Do!, Rob Reiner's This is Spinal Tap, and the effervescent Once, featuring Glen Mansard and Markita Irglova. Biopics I need to see? Ray, Walk the Line, Backbeat, The Doors. Oh, and Dreamgirls. And Roger didn't ask this, but musicians who should have movies about them? In classical music: I know he's my beloved favorite composer, but Ye Gods, there's a great movie to be made about Hector Berlioz. Maybe I should write it. And I also think that there's a wonderful film waiting to be made about the romance of Robert and Clara Schumann. Rock musicians? Well, I don't really know a whole lot about the lives of many rock figures at all. Neil Peart of Rush, maybe. And Celine Dion. (OK, I'm kidding about Celine Dion. I think.) What are your top 10 (or 5 or 20) favorite Beatles songs as performed by the Beatles? As performed by someone else? OK, a random list. But I'm now thinking of a regular series of posts devoted to exploring Beatles songs. Hmmmm...good idea? Bad idea? Anyway, the list of songs that I like a lot: Across the Universe Let It Be Don't Let Me Down While My Guitar Gently Weeps In My Life With a Little Help From My Friends And more. (I've never been a huge fan of "Yesterday", although I have warmed to it more of late.) For years it was my general stance that I liked the Beatles as song writers more than as performers, because I tended to like cover versions more than the originals. I actually can't think of too many cover versions off the top of my head, except for Judy Collins's wonderful take on "In My Life". And the film Across the Universe is just one amazing Beatles cover after another. And now, the final question, which is a pretty serious one. From Redsneakz: With your losing Quinn, is it still hard (five years later) to read of babies and such? Sometimes, very occasionally. It's nothing predictable, but once in a while, there's the "Where the hell is our happy ending?" reaction. I must admit that I have fairly strong internal reactions when I hear about some young guy getting a young girl pregnant, and then she has a gorgeous healthy baby, and I wonder about that. We did things the way they're supposed to be done; they did not. So why do they get the healthy baby, when we got fifteen months of medical struggle followed by death? I'm almost always happy for people when I see them with their beautiful babies. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit that, once in a while, my reaction to seeing a baby is to think, "Hey, God? What the F***?!" One thing that happened as a result of Quinn's life and death was that my tolerance for a lot of standard religious platitudes is now nonexistent. When I hear things like "God has a plan, and sadly, his plan for you doesn't involve more than one child", I immediately think, "What kind of God is it who comes up with plans that involve making a baby suffer a life where he never eats and he has to fight for every breath and then dies at fifteen months?" And then I think, "Gee, if God's got his plan, then what's the point of all this prayer I'm supposed to be doing?" Because I imagine God saying: "Hmmmm, this fellow wants his son to be healthy. Let me check the plan. Hmmmm...oh dear...sorry, dude, I'd help if I could, but see, I've got this plan." One well-meaning person said something to the effect of, "Well, maybe God knew that Quinn was going to have serious problems and wanted him to have parents who could love him." And I'm thinking, "That's his only option? He's God. How about fixing the health problems?!" I still struggle with those questions. In fact, I suspect I'm likely to be struggling with those questions for the rest of my life. The main consolation is that I'm sure I'm not alone. And with that, Ask Me Anything! August 2010 draws to a close. We'll play again in February! Thanks for participating, folks. Monday, August 30, 2010 Sunday, August 29, 2010 Only one thing this week, though. My usual traipsing 'round the Interweb didn't take me into too many weird places. This, though, I liked a lot: It's amazing how descriptive this is, for any specific referent of the word "project". I've got my own project that I've been struggling with for a while now. I made a breakthrough of sorts this very weekend, though -- getting a scene finally right, I think, in the space opera novel. By way of talking about writing process a bit: I don't like to do a whole lot of revising while I'm cobbling a first draft together, but for this particular work, I've found myself doing more than usual. Occasionally it's for prosaic reasons, such as when I decided to slightly change a couple of characters' names (both gained a single letter, but one of them, by virtue of that added letter, got an entire new syllable out of it!); others when I decided that I needed to go back and set up in Chapter Two something I'd decided to throw into Chapter Six on a whim (as in, "Hey, I know what would be cool here!"). The scene I just got done wrestling with is a First Contact scene, where My Heroes first meet the inhabitants of the planet they've just arrived upon. There's just no getting around the fact that this scene has to be right before I move on, because it sets the tone for so much of what is to come. Or I think it does. You never know. Anyway, that's what's Weird and Awesome. Now, back to the project! Saturday, August 28, 2010 But I also found this one out there somewhere, so maybe the marketing will now focus on the wimminfolk of TRON as opposed to the teaser posters to date, which have been all-lightcycles, all the time. I'm looking forward to this movie, even with my trepidation that it may end up feeling more Matrix than TRON. That would be disappointing, given that I'm a big fan of the latter and not a very big fan at all of the former. Anyhow, continuing the answers to the Ask Me Anything! August 2010 edition submissions. Glenn asks: In Mirror, Mirror, the evil Capt. Kirk has a device that allows him to destroy anyone he wants to, quickly and cleanly. There is not chance of detection -- the perfect crime. If you had been given this device years ago, say when you were 20, would you have used it by now? Hmmmmm. Questions like this are always intriguing. Could the Magic Killing Device (MKD for short) do away with anyone on the planet with whom I want done away? Or is it someone I actually have to have met? Because it's not so easy to kill someone you've met, is it? (Or maybe I'm wrong here -- I'm pretty sure that most murders are committed by someone who actually does know their victim, so maybe just going around randomly killing people is harder, which is what makes it conversely more scary.) Anyway, there are lots of easy answers, such as "I could've eliminated Osama Bin Laden in 1993." That certainly would have solved some problems, wouldn't it. Someone like that, someone deeply dangerous and likely to pose a danger for years to come. I wouldn't have used the MKD on, say, Timothy McVeigh after his capture and trial, because what would have been the point? But then, there's obviously no way to know, but I suspect that simply removing Osama Bin Laden from the scene without a trace might have ended up having a whole bunch of other effects that were, possibly, equally distasteful. This was, actually, one of my big problems with invading Iraq and deposing Saddam Hussein -- the question of "Do we have any idea what we're going to replace this guy with?" Because we can never underestimate the Universe: things can always get worse. As for people I've actually known -- well, probably not. There have been people in my life whom I've disliked; in fact, there have been people in my life whom I've disliked with some degree of intensity. But I'm glad to say that there are no people in my life whom I've disliked to the point of sincerely thinking that the world would just be an all-around better place if they were busy fertilizing the daffodils, rather than exerting their carbon footprint upon the world. So...would I use the device? To rid the world of a truly evil person, maybe. But I'm not sure. >Redsneakz asks: Are there any kosher restaurants in the Buffalo prefecture of Blogistan, should I be moved to come that way? I honestly never gave it much thought until just now. I don't think that Buffalo has an especially large Jewish population, for one thing. There's only one synagogue in the area that I specifically know of, and Googling some others, I see that there are others, but they're mainly in the city and/or the northern suburbs. There appear to be none at all in the Southtowns, where I live, and the Kosher section at The Store (the location where I work) consists of a single 4-foot section of grocery shelving. And we never carry Passover Coke. I'm not sure why Buffalo doesn't have more of a Jewish population, but Buffalo is heavily Catholic. I don't know if the one has anything to do with the other. So, answering the original question, I again had to do a bit of Googling, and what I found doesn't seem terribly encouraging to the Kosher traveler. There just does not seem to be much that's Kosher 'round these parts, at all. A couple of delis, maybe a dairy place, and a couple of eateries in Niagara Falls, Ontario. I'm not surprised by this, really, given the small size of Buffalo's Jewish population and the somewhat spotty nature of Buffalo's ethnic cuisine. (If one includes "Kosher" among the general category of "ethnic", which I'm not sure is totally fair, but I'm only doing it here to illustrate the point.) Buffalo tends to have a lot of good places in some categories of ethnic food (Italian, Indian, Thai), maybe a handful of good places in other categories (sushi), and some styles are woefully underrepresented here (Kosher, dim sum). In conclusion: a person observing a Kosher diet can eat here, but it will probably involve a bit of effort and not a great deal of variety. Thursday, August 26, 2010 Little Quinn would have been six today. He should be getting ready for first grade and listening to me complain about the expense of school supplies for two kids. Instead.... Here is "This Is Neverland", from Jan A.P. Kaczmarek's score to Finding Neverland: For various reasons, I strongly associate the music of this film with Quinn. I can barely hear a bar of this score without thinking of him. Wednesday, August 25, 2010 Tuesday, August 24, 2010 :: Han Solo and Chewbacca done Calvin and Hobbes style: :: I don't remember where I got this from, so if any of you had it first (SamuraiFrog, maybe?), let me know. It's Chewbacca as a baby: :: I thought producer Gary Kurtz came off like a bitter old man in an interview I linked a week or so back, but that interview's got nothing on this one. He beats his hobby horses into the ground -- "George just wanted to sell toys! George doesn't care about quality!" -- along with some new ones, such as that it was a mistake for Lucas to spearhead the making of Raiders of the Lost Ark because it's just a roller-coaster movie with no story. This interview is eight years old, but man, Kurtz does not look good here. The whole thing reads like a child's tantrum: "I didn't get my way! Feel sorry for me!" Well...no. What do you think will happen with issues involving US gay rights in the next three to five years: gay marriage; Don't Ask, Don't tell; the Defense of Marriage Act? I'm not sure I can predict so small a timeframe, but the long-range trend with respect to homosexuality is clear: acceptance is growing, and it's going to keep right on growing. There's very little doubt in my mind that gay marriage is going to come to pass, as will allowing gays to serve in the military without having to hide the fact that they're gay. It's coming; it can't be stopped. And that's a good thing. I remember when I was a kid I had the standard homophobia that I suppose you'll find in any young kid growing up in a small town; one of the harshest insults with which you could strike another kid in your class was to call him "gay", "faggot", or "fairy". (I have to admit here, though, that when I first heard "fairy" used as a synonym for "gay", I was dumb enough to think that the word was "ferry". I couldn't figure out for the life of me what a passenger boat for taking people across a body of water had to do with sexual orientation, but I went with it because I wanted to fit in. Sometimes I wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box.) I don't remember when I came to the realization that homosexuality isn't wrong at all, but I did. And thank heavens for that. So, the specifics of how it all might unfold? I have no idea. There will likely be more setbacks, such as more crap like Prop 8 in California. It's going to be a struggle, but I'm convinced that it's a struggle the gays are going to win. A couple of questions come from one of my Flickr contacts, Artist of Life, who posts wonderfully quirky and evocative photos (many self-portraits) that relate to various issues of life she grapples with. She can be serious and whimsical and is one of my favorite people on Teh Interweb. Her questions: Has reading a book ever changed your life? Which one and why, if yes? Oh, many! Most books, in fact, change my life in some way or other, I suspect. Each one alters the trajectory of what I plan to read in the future. If I find myself loving a book by an author who's new to me, there's that. Or if I'm reading a book that I'm finding I deeply love -- then I am likely to read something in a completely different genre next, because anything in the same genre might well pale in comparison. But I think what my friend is asking is for those books that really shifted things in my head, the books that made real, permanent marks on my soul. Here, we're talking about some very special books indeed. A partial list: The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien (Well, yeah!) The Prydain Chronicles, Alexander (Before Tolkien, actually. My first foray into epic fantasy.) 2001: A Space Odyssey, Clarke (The first true SF book that I remember reading. I didn't get all of it, but it was endlessly fascinating to me.) Cosmos, Sagan (I didn't really understand much of this book at all when I got it when I was nine, but I read it all the way through in college, at long last -- and it rocked my world. In fact, I'm due for a re-read.) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Pirsig (Not sure how I feel about it now, but this book fueled a lot of my thought processes in college.) Macbeth, Shakespeare (when I first realized that the Bard was not boring!) On Writing, King. (Still the best book on writing I've read yet.) What were you doing the last time you really had a good laugh? I'm lucky in that I tend to laugh a lot! I laughed earlier tonight because I got to annoy The Daughter by working titles of songs from The Phantom of the Opera into conversation. (It's her favorite movie now, and she listens to the music constantly. So it bugs her when I say things like, "I'd like you to do the dishes and sweep the kitchen floor. That's all I ask of you!" Then she yells at me, so I say, "Oh, I'm sorry, didn't mean to offend. Did I cross the point of no return?" Torturing one's kid is one of life's finest pleasures. I understand so much of my own father's shenanigans nowadays!) There's a video on YouTube right now that made me laugh a lot. It's about a young girl and her infatuation with SF writer Ray Bradbury. You can watch it here. Warning: it is not safe for work, and it includes a very dirty word right in its title! But yes, it made me laugh and laugh hard. I also laugh when The Wife forwards me particularly interesting LOLCat photos, which are usually ones that look disturbingly like one of our own cats. Such as this one, which I'm almost convinced actually is Lester. Finally: How many pairs of Over-Alls do you own? :) :) :) :) You did say ANYTHING :) Yup, that I did! And I'm kind of surprised that in all the times I've done Ask Me Anything!, this question has never been asked. And the answer is...well, it'll sound weird, but then, I suppose that bridge is already crossed, innit? So, here's a rundown...oh boy.... Dickies, stonewashed blue: 4 Dickies, regular blue: 2 Dickies, Hickory stripe: 3 Dickies, black: 2 Vintage Lee, blue: 2 Vintage Lee, hickory stripe: 1 Gap, blue: 3 Gap, brown: 1 Old Navy, blue: 3 Key, blue: 1 Key, Hickory stripe: 1 And that's not all...there are a few more whose brand names I don't recall or which I don't count because they don't currently fit very well (yup, time to start losing weight again). Maybe it's a little less weird if I call it a "collection", though. Hey, you name it, somebody out there is collecting it, right? In terms of expense, most of these I bought cheaply on eBay, which is mostly a matter of luck and timing. The blue vintage Lee ones (this pair, and one just like it only a little darker blue) was a very surprising find; by some miracle I was the only bidder in the single auction for both of them and ended up paying less than twenty bucks total for both. That was pretty shocking; believe it or not, vintage overalls can fetch surprisingly high prices. I've seen some auctions that set their starting bid at $349.99! That is crazy. As much as I love my overalls, there's no way I'd pay that much for a single pair! OK, more answers to come. There aren't too many questions left! Monday, August 23, 2010 TIME magazine put on its cover recently a picture of a young woman with her nose cut off, presumably by the Taliban. Appropriate or not to put on a national magazine? Is it advocacy journalism? I can't really say if putting such a photo on the cover is advocacy journalism or not, but it's definitely highly provocative. I think the question of "advocacy" would hinge on whatever slant exists, if any, in the article corresponding to that cover image. As for being appropriate to a national magazine, I'm even less sure. It's certainly a disturbing image, but having just searched it out online (I found it here), I must say that it's not the most disturbing thing I've ever seen on a magazine cover. But...well, I have a hard time with it being on the cover of one of the most prominent magazines in the country. It just seems...a little much to me. Putting the image in the magazine? Fine. On the cover? That does seem a bit exploitative to me. Who is going to be in, and win (pick one or both) the next World Series and/or the next Super Bowl? Not the Pirates or the Bills! I don't pay enough attention to baseball anymore to really be able to make any kind of confident prediction there. As for the Super Bowl, well, I'm not ready to make my annual prediction yet (I do this the week before the regular season starts), but right now, Indianapolis and Green Bay seem like good bets to me. Who will be President of the United States in 2013? More answers to come! It goes like this: Philadelphia is, like just about every city out there, having money problems. Philly has bloggers. Philly gets the idea that since any blog can have ad space, whether the blog actually has ad space or not and whether the blog actually makes money via ads or not, the blog is a potential revenue stream. And therefore, Philly has decided that blog owners have to pony up to buy a business license to operate their blogs. Unbelievable. Totally unbelievable. This has got to be a joke, right? :: High Speed Rail is not only really cool – something supporters should certainly capitalize on – it’s also an extension of the greatness of America’s rail history. The railroad was a huge driver in our emerging economy, connecting a vast geographical distance and allowing commerce to flourish. High-speed rail will be a driving force in our future economy, and a necessary component of that economy. Unless, of course, it turns out that we actually do have an infinite supply of oil. :: I should be painting kitchen cabinets and measuring counter tops to get quotes on replacing them. But I've been watching butterflies. :: I’m going through relationship issues right now. A very good and solid friend is changing and I feel betrayed. The support I have always counted on isn’t there as much. I try to put on a good face and act as though things are the same, but deep down, I know they’re not. This relationship has been one of the longest and best relationships in my life. Yes, it has caused me grief, but those times were usually caused by my own stupid actions or the crazy actions of someone else… until now… now it’s the other that is changing and I’m having a hard time going along with it. It was something I never thought would be asked of me. It was one of those areas where I confidently checked off “insecurity in this area does not pertain to you”. (New blog to me, huzzah! She did the Things I've Done list that I did the other day.) :: What's worse than vicious pirates? Walking dead vicious pirates. (Another new blog to me, huzzah!) :: I have a weak ness for insane peo ple who live their insan ity pub licly, and try to dress it up as some thing else. True (and doubt less retold) story: I first heard Rush Lim baugh months before he broke out nation ally; our local talk sta tion was run by the two cheap est peo ple in the world, and they were among the very first to take a chance on this new talker. I lis tened for five min utes and said, “This is a fat guy who can not score with chicks.” For Dr. Laura, I said, “Sounds like someone is still chasing daddy’s approval, and the fact daddy is dead and buried isn’t going to stop her.” :: I do enjoy Branson but I have one complaint about it. The main tourist area is not pedestrian friendly at all. In fact, you might say it’s downright pedestrian hateful. (My in-laws were kicking around an all-the-family type of meet-up in Branson a few years back, which we would have attended, had not pancreatic cancer derailed those plans and, eventually, my mother-in-law's life entirely.) :: Ha ha! It’s funny because Funky can’t feel joy, due to his crippling emotional problems. (I swear, Funky Winkerbean has gone so far into despair and emotional distress that it's close to passing all the way through the region of "unintentionally funny" right into "He's gotta be joking with this stuff". On the one hand, we have Funky's bitter reaction to everything after he's survived a bad car wreck; on the other, we have a server at the pizza place dragging the Iraq vet with some pretty bad PTSD issues to, of all places, a county fair. Which reminds me: the strip has pretty much forgotten about Les's love triangle, involving two women who are trying to fill the void in his heart left behind by the wife that Cancer took away from him! I tell you, Funky Winkerbean is wild, wacky stuff!) :: In brief, here’s my history with Star Wars fandom. (I really wish I could read someone's postings about Star Wars anywhere out there on the Interweb anymore without one of the first posts in the comments thread mentioning that Red Letter Media guy. Seriously, folks: f*** the Red Letter Media guy.) More next week. Sunday, August 22, 2010 I do want to note one thing, though. I remember lots of reviews either lightly making fun of James Cameron, or ripping him outright, for his naming the elusive mineral the mining company in the movie is looking for unobtainium. Well, a few weeks ago I was reading David Brin's Startide Rising (which I ended up bouncing off and stopping in the middle, despite the book's somewhat classic status), and I found this passage on page 93: None of the other moons in the Kthsemenee had the one attribute this one possessed: a core of almost one percent unobtainium. [Emphasis added] Well, lookee there. Cameron just used a term that David Brin used in a highly-regarded novel years before. What a yutz! In the course of all the idiotic folderol regarding the "mosque" that's proposed for Lower Manhattan -- which the idiots refer to as the "Mosque at Ground Zero", because well, it's close enough to being that even though it's not really a mosque and it's not really at Ground Zero -- I've been reminded by the saner voices out there that there are millions of Muslims who are actually American citizens, and that there are thousands of those very American Muslims who live and work in New York City, and that some of those folks were unlucky enough to die on 9-11-01 too, no matter how much the Sarah Palins of the world like to think that only white Christian blood was spilled that day. It also occurred to me, therefore, that if there are Muslims working in lower Manhattan, those Muslims probably need places to pray. Maybe there's something already there! So I checked Google, and sure enough, there is. That first Google Maps image up there? That's the proposed location of the Islamic Cultural Center on Park Place. Now, note the two blocks' worth of giant buildings between that location and the World Trade Center site. It's not on Ground Zero, is it? Nope. In fact, if you're worshiping there and you duck out the front door for a cigarette, you won't even be able to see the WTC site from there. The second Maps image? That's the location of Masjid Manhattan, an Islamic center that's been located in Lower Manhattan since -- wait for it! -- 1970. And it's just two blocks farther away from Ground Zero than the proposed Islamic Cultural Center! So, while we're demonizing the people who want to build a new center, shouldn't we be consistent and demand the immediate closure of the old one? Or is Murray Street, between Park Place and Warren Street, the boundary line below which every inch of Lower Manhattan is "hallowed ground" (which really means, "Only Christians need apply")? (Although, according to the Masjid Manhattan website, they're looking for a new location themselves, so maybe we're just figuring that they'll go away all on their own.) Anyway, my point is this: there has been a place for Muslims to congregate in Lower Manhattan, within a thousand feet of the World Trade Center site, since the same year the WTC opened for business. "Hallowed ground", my ass -- what's at work here is bigotry, pure and simple, whether it's "No Muslims allowed!" or "Well, we're used to the ones already here, but we don't want no new Muslims hangin' about raisin' trouble." Here's Jon Stewart on this topic: |The Daily Show With Jon Stewart||Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c| |Extremist Makeover - Homeland Edition| I especially like the parallels Stewart draws to the Charlton Heston NRA speech. UPDATE: Oh, holy crap. I can't believe this country sometimes, I really can't. The anti-mosque folks had themselves a rally and harassed some black guy who wandered through the crowd because...well, I guess it's because you can't really tell blacks from Muslims. They all look alike, don't they? We keep pushing the Bar of Crazy down so far, I think it should be popping out of the ground in China by now. :: There was a hoax last week regarding KFC, which claimed that the makers of the "Double Down" sandwich, which substitutes fried chicken breasts for the bun, had come up with a sandwich that actually did use a bun -- with the main sandwich ingredient being Original Recipe chicken skins. Well, it seems that someone was a bit disappointed that this was a hoax, so they took matters into their own hands and made their own KFC "Skinwich". I love these people. It's this kind of thinking that's going to end the recession once and for all, folks! :: I'll bet you all never thought you'd feel sorry for a common, annoying housefly. Well, you will when you watch this video. You can almost see the flies thinking, "Oh God I am so f***ed...." :: It's always weird when this happens: I write about something from years ago, a movie or a book or something, and then within weeks I find out something new and weird about it. Case in point: the movie Krull. It seems that way back in 1983, the studio behind Krull was willing to try some interesting publicity stunts, like inviting a bunch of couples to a movie theater to have Krull-themed weddings. Before the movie even opened. Sadly, the article doesn't include any thoughts from actual Krull-wedding participants. I'd love to know the same things the writer would like to know. (The writer certainly seems unfairly down on Krull as a movie, though. I, for one, think it would be really cool to have one of the Glaives from the movie!) :: Note to my readers in the Beaverton, OR area or anyone planning to visit: Beware the buttocks grabber! Via Steven Den Beste, who seems a bit defensive about this. Hmmmmm. More next week! Saturday, August 21, 2010 So, set your calendars for July 12, 2011 -- Neptune's New Year's Day! Deciding to divorce, Al and Tipper Gore released -- via e-mail -- a statement calling the split a "mutually supportive decision that we have made together." Dear, I am supporting you by leaving you. Now Al can fulfill his furtive desire to listen to rap music with dirty lyrics, while Tipper has her revenge by leaving the engine running on her SUV. My advice to couples hoping for a long marriage: Don't make out on national television. These two did, at the Democratic National Convention in 2000, and look where it got them. In retrospect, could that nationally televised kiss have been more evidence that everything about Al Gore is phony? When Sandra Bullock and Scarlett Johansson played tongue hockey at the MTV Movie Awards, their mega-smooch was obviously done for publicity; they didn't claim to be in love. Al, on the other hand, wanted us to believe his feelings for Tipper were genuine. That's a lot of crap in two paragraphs, innit? First Easterbrook seems to believe that Al left Tipper, even though there's nothing to support that; maybe Easterbrook is unaware that couples really do make mutual decisions to divorce. But it's the second paragraph that is pretty amazingly creepy. Easterbrook is stating outright that since they're divorcing now, in 2010, then by Golly, Al could never have actually loved his wife. Especially not ten years ago. Easterbrook's faulty assumptions here run a pretty impressive gamut, don't they? He thinks he's qualified to pass comment on the emotional lives of two people I can only assume he doesn't know very well, and he seems to be assuming that a marriage that ends in divorce can never have been a marriage based on love at all. Married people might love each other now but divorce in the future? To Easterbrook, this is unthinkable. Heck, don't tell him that some couples that divorce actually still love one another and divorce because of other emotional complexities; I don't think Easterbrook could wrap his head around that concept. Do Al and Tipper Gore still love each other, in spite of their separation? Have they loved each other all along and are now separated for complex reasons? Or have they never really loved each other at all? I have no idea, because I don't know either one of them. But Gregg Easterbrook has seen all he needs to see in order to divine the workings of Al Gore's emotional life. What the heck is it about Al Gore that turns people into raving idiots? I've been wondering this for years. Every NFL season, Easterbrook keeps an eye out for the worst play of the season thus far committed by an NFL team. This year, I'm doing the same thing -- but I'll be tracking the stupidest thing said by Gregg Easterbrook thus far this season. Can he get dumber than this? We'll see! Thursday, August 19, 2010 Here's another piece we played, the Post Horn Galop for band and a bugle-like instrument called the Post Horn. We had a special soloist with us for this particular concert, but I don't remember his name for the life of me. Wednesday, August 18, 2010 3. Charlie Brown finally homers ("Peanuts," March 30, 1993). After 43 years of futility, Charlie Brown finally tastes success when he hits the first home run of his career. Responds sister Sally when he tells her: "YOU?!?!?" By the way, this marks the official beginning of baseball's steroid era. I mean, c'mon. Look at the size of his head. Heh! Although I'm surprised that none of the homers on Caple's list come from this classic bit of baseball history: (The sound sync is a bit off on the video, or at least it was for me. Still, one of the all-time great cartoon shorts.) "Imagine that you’ve just inherited $20 million free and clear, but you only have 10 years to live. What would you do differently? Specifically, what would you stop doing?" I'd buy a house, establish a savings account for The Daughter's college and for the comfort of the entire Family Unit once my ten years are up. What would I do differently? I'm not sure. Knowing that I had the financial ability to do mostly whatever I wanted for the time I know I have left on the planet, I'd do pretty much precisely that. I'd spend my time writing, reading, teaching myself woodworking, and being with the family. What would I stop doing? What others want me to do, except on my terms. While the prospect of ten, and only ten, years left to live would be somewhat of a downer, I have to think that in some ways it would be incredibly liberating. Time would be both removed as a factor in life in some ways, and pushed to the forefront of all factors in other ways, wouldn't it? The impulse to waste time would become my greatest enemy. My most important thing would be getting some stuff written. It's easier to waste time when you have no idea how much you have, isn't it? Paul asks this: What, if anything would prompt you to cut your hair and shave your beard? A cancer diagnosis might do the trick. Or an offer of a huge sum of money, provided that I'm allowed to let it grow right back. If it's "A hundred million bucks but you have to pay it back if your hair is ever longer than one inch again", then I'm saying, "Yeah, thanks but no thanks." I suppose it's conceivable that I might someday decide I want to have short hair and be clean shaven again, but for now, I have no desire whatsoever to go that route. So here I am, happily hirsute. (Now, obviously, if The Company was to adopt new appearance standards that mandated short hair and no facial hair, then that's that. Luckily, I don't see that happening.) More to come! Tuesday, August 17, 2010 My feelings on Mr. Roosa were always somewhat conflicted. There was a pretty big dispute between him and my parents, regarding my older sister when she was in his band, with the end result being her quitting band in her senior year. I don't recall the particulars, but my parents felt a certain loathing for Mr. Roosa that I'm not sure ever abated. And I'm not sure those feelings are unjustified. But then, Mr. Roosa was for the most part completely OK with me. For a time he took a very active interest in my musical education, even taking time to give me individual trumpet lessons when I wasn't even in his band yet (Mr. Roosa directed the Senior High Band; Jim Beach had the Jr. High group.) I can't deny that he taught me a great deal; I can't deny that he loved music; I can't deny that he had a lot of impact on a lot of music students who came under his baton; and I can't deny that he could be a first-class son-of-a-bitch. I think he might even be somewhat proud of that last. It wouldn't surprise me if some people -- a smallish number, but real nonetheless -- attended his funeral just to make sure he was really dead. Bill Roosa was a big man with a very deep and raspy voice. He was also loud and liked to command attention. The Senior Band at my high school had a somewhat glowing reputation when I was coming up through the ranks, but the program suffered a bit as I approached it. I never really understood why, but band membership dropped like a rock, and for a time, Mr. Roosa seemed almost apathetic about the whole thing. My guess is that he was a very "old school" kind of teacher at a time when his style of pedagogy was, to put it mildly, falling out of style. He was of the mind that it wasn't the worst thing in the world if a teacher shoved a student around a bit and maybe even struck him in the course of administering discipline; that kind of thing wouldn't last more than a day in schools nowadays. I think he felt a growing sense of frustration over his final years of teaching, and I think to a great degree a lot of what he felt was the fun of the job got sucked out of it. (To be clear, this is all guessing on my part.) When I entered junior high school, the district had for years been run by the same tiny group of crusty white men who all retired right around the same time. I suspect that Mr. Roosa didn't get along nearly as well with the subsequent administration, in part because he was an old-school type and they were not. (And, I should note, also probably in part because as far as I could tell, the new group of folks running the show were, quite frankly, complete pinheads.) Mr. Roosa's teaching career came to an abrupt end during my senior year. He had already butted heads a few times with administrators, but a month or two into that year, something transpired that I never found out any details about, but Mr. Roosa started cashing in all of his sick days he'd accrued over the years (this was back when teachers could roll them over, and the more wily and healthy ones would bank them for years, to the point where they could call in sick for two months near the end of their careers), and then he simply stopped showing up for work entirely. The band just kind of twisted in space for most of the remainder of that year, led for a time by a substitute who was not a music teacher at all before finally being taken over in the spring by a twenty-three year old guy who had just graduated college. I've always wondered what the final straw was that caused Mr. Roosa to say "The hell with this." No doubt he felt emboldened by the fact that his family was, at the time, making tons of money off their own small chain of video rental stores. (The video store thing was kind of interesting -- his stores were bought out seven or eight years later by Blockbuster. I asked him about that business once and he bluntly said, "There's no future in this. Sometime in the next fifteen years they'll be beaming movies right to your TV and you won't be renting anything on a tape. But we'll have made our money by then, so it's fine." And, aside from his timeframe being a bit on the short side, he was exactly right, wasn't he? Now, a bit more than twenty years after I had that conversation with him, you can stream movies over the Interweb via your Wii.) Mr. Roosa was utterly beloved by nearly every alumnus of his band that I ever met, and I always wondered what it might have been like to play in the band during the years when he wasn't as disengaged as he was when I was under his baton. He did have his moments during my years, though. In my junior year, membership of the Senior Band had fallen to about thirty kids, which is terribly low -- with a really healthy instrumental music program, the band should have had at least fifty kids. Mr. Roosa took what I've always thought was a pretty creative approach that year, accommodating the fact that his band was so small: he decided that the year's focus would be on Civil War band music. Now, the bands of the Civil War era were terribly small, and the music of that era -- predating the big marches of John Philip Sousa and Karl King -- had a very raw feel to it, with nearly every piece being full of folk tunes and popular songs of the time. It was, to be honest, a terribly fascinating year of band music, deeply steeped in an era of music that to this day very few people know anything about. The next year was my senior year, when the wheels finally came off. Shortly before that happened, though, I asked Mr. Roosa if we'd be doing Civil War music again, and he said "No, I'm kind of thinking of looking through some of those books of German military music we have laying about." We had complete sets of German band books there -- where they came from, I have no idea -- and the idea of exploring another obscure world of esoteric band music was extremely appealing. Alas, that never came to be. Mr. Roosa's musical tastes tended to be very heavily skewed toward marches, which it must be said, sometimes got to be a little much. But he also loved the great band transcriptions of orchestral masterpieces that dominated concert band programs during the "glory years" of the American bands, around the turn of the 20th century. It's because of Mr. Roosa, for example, that I love the light opera overtures of Franz Von Suppe, even though to this day I can't hear the Jolly Robbers overture without remembering one particular explosive rehearsal when Mr. Roosa lost his temper over our continuing inability to get a particularly technical passage right. (Or the fact that the same overture begins with the trumpets sounding a high F, which is for various reasons pertaining to the physical and acoustic nature of the trumpet a very difficult note to hit dead on.) And it was during my freshman year in Mr. Roosa's senior band that a piece landed on the program that had a very peculiar title: "March to the Scaffold". Mr. Roosa introduced me to Hector Berlioz. For that alone he'll have my eternal gratitude. It now occurs to me that he was already gone from teaching when I discovered my other great musical passion, Sergei Rachmaninov. I have no idea at all if Mr. Roosa liked the Russian Romantics. Mr. Roosa was, as far as I knew, not terribly interested at all in new music. We played no modern music whatsoever. The music he chose might not have been terribly balanced, but what he chose was invariably good. I don't recall hating a single piece we ever played. That's something. His big passion, actually, was circus music, and he was very active in a national group of circus music afficionados called the "Windjammers". When I was in eighth grade -- and thus still in the Junior Band -- he somehow arranged for the Senior Band's spring concert to be nothing but circus music, an entire program of it, complete with introductions by a ringmaster and to be guest-conducted by a man named Merle Evans, who is one of the legendary figures in the music of the three-ring circus. I attended that concert, and I wish to this day that it had happened a year later so I could play in it. He was also the type of person who liked to test students by, well, being a colossal jerk to them for a time. I myself landed on his shit list one year -- I think it was my sophomore year, actually -- and I stayed there for a solid month, during which he rode me hard at every opportunity. Every screw-up I made in rehearsal became a moment for him to stop the band and berate me, and I remember one time when I was rubbing my lips during a break in rehearsal (your lips can really start to hurt when you're a brass player and you're working hard), he spotted me doing it and launched into a tirade on how no real trumpet player would even admit to pain while playing. Funny thing is, after about a month of this, it stopped almost immediately, and from that moment on, Mr. Roosa never rode me again. He'd point out when I would screw up, obviously, but there was never that sense of maliciousness that had been there during my "Hell Month with Bill Roosa". I don't know if there is something I did to earn his respect or if he just got bored and figured it was time to let me out of the doghouse, but we were fine after that, and soon we'd be back to swapping funny stories about great musicians. (He knew a ton of these, and he could crack the best jokes that only musicians would get or find funny. One of them was when he was trying to pick another march for our concert program, and he said, "I've got an American march, a British march, a German march, a French march, and a Polish march. I'm not sure which one I should do." Another kid, who was something of a wise-acre, said, "Hey, have you got any Hungarian marches?" Mr. Roosa didn't bat an eye as he said, "Yeah, I've got a Hungarian march right here. It was written by a Czech." OK, you had to be there, but to this day, I think that was funny.) I don't really know much of anything about what became of Mr. Roosa after he left teaching and after I graduated later that year. I know that his family formed some kind of real estate developing business that was somewhat successful; I also know that his son faced some sort of legal trouble, but what that was about, I have no idea. It's not really important, anyway. Finally, I often think of Mr. Roosa whenever the Olympics are taking place. In 1988, when the US Olympic teams performed poorly (especially at the Winter Games in Calgary), Mr. Roosa ranted several times during rehearsals about how discouraging he found the Olympics because they represented to him a fading of a work ethic in American youth. I wonder if he watched subsequent Olympics, when the US teams bounced right back, and ever thought to himself, "Maybe the kids are all right." In Mr. Roosa's memory, here's the Suppe overture that gave me nightmares in my sophomore year, "Jolly Robbers". It's the original orchestral version, but it's all there. (The part that terrified us all starts at the 5:38 mark.) And, since Mr. Roosa and I would talk a lot about Wagner, here is Siegried's Funeral March. 01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink 02. Swam with wild dolphins 03. Climbed a mountain 04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive 05. Been inside the Great Pyramid 06. Held a tarantula 07. Taken a candlelit bath 08. Said I love you and meant it 09. Hugged a tree 10. Bungee jumped 11. Visited Paris 12. Watched a lightning storm at sea 13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise 14. Seen the Northern Lights 15. Gone to a huge sports game 16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa 17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables 18. Touched an iceberg 19. Slept under the stars 20. Changed a baby's diaper 21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon 22. Watched a meteor shower 23. Gotten drunk on champagne 24. Given more than you can afford to charity 25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope 26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment 27. Had a food fight 28. Bet on a winning horse 29. Asked out a stranger 30. Had a snowball fight 31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can 32. Held a lamb 33. Seen a total eclipse 34. Ridden a roller coaster 35. Hit a home run 36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking 37. Adopted an accent for an entire day 38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment 39. Had two hard drives for your computer 40. Visited all 50 states 41. Taken care of someone who was too drunk 42. Had amazing friends 43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country 44. Watched wild whales 45. Stolen a sign 46. Backpacked in Europe 47. Taken a road-trip 48. Gone rock climbing 49. Midnight walk on the beach 50. Gone sky diving 51. Visited Ireland 52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love 53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them 54. Visited Japan 55. Milked a cow 56. Alphabetized your CDs. 57. Pretended to be a superhero 58 . Sung karaoke 59. Lounged around in bed all day 60. Posed nude in front of strangers 61. Gone scuba diving 62. Kissed in the rain 63. Played in the mud 64. Played in the rain 65. Gone to a drive-in theater 66. Visited the Great Wall of China 67. Started a business 68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken 69. Toured ancient sites 70. Taken a martial arts class 71. Played a Computer game for more than 6 hours straight 72. Gotten married 73. Been in a movie 74. Crashed a party 75. Gotten divorced 76. Gone without food for 5 days 77. Made cookies from scratch 78. Won first prize in a costume contest 79. Ridden a gondola in Venice 80. Gotten a tattoo 81. Rafted the Snake River 82. Been on television news programs as an "expert" 83. Got flowers for no reason 84. Performed on stage 85. Been to Las Vegas 86. Recorded music 87. Eaten shark 88. Had a one-night stand 89. Gone to Thailand 90. Bought a house 91. Been in a combat zone 92. Buried one/both of your parents 93. Been on a cruise ship 94. Spoken more than one language fluently 95. Performed in Rocky Horror 96. Raised children 97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour 99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country 100. Picked up and moved to another city 101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge 102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking 103. Had plastic surgery 104. Survived an accident that you shouldnt have survived 105. Wrote articles for a large publication 106. Lost over 100 pounds 107. Held someone while they were having a flashback 108. Piloted an airplane 109. Petted a stingray 110. Broken someone's heart 111. Helped an animal give birth 112. Won money on a T.V. game show 113. Broken a bone 114. Gone on an African photo safari 115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced 116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol 117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild 118. Ridden a horse 119. Had major surgery 120. Had a snake as a pet 121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon 122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours 123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states 124. Visited all 7 continents 125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days 126. Eaten kangaroo meat 127. Eaten sushi 128. Had your picture in the newspaper 129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about 130. Gone back to school 132. Petted a cockroach 133. Eaten fried green tomatoes 134. Read The Iliad 135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read 136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 137. Skipped all your school reunions 138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language 139. Been elected to public office 140. Written your own computer language 141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream 142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care 143. Built your own PC from parts 144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you 145. Had a booth at a street fair 146. Dyed your hair 147. Been a DJ 148. Shaved your head 149. Caused a car accident 150. Saved someone's life 151. Changed your own oil 152. Changed your own brake pads 153. Made pizza from scratch 154. Stood atop the highest point in your home state 155. Gone swimming in a rock quarry 156. Gone on a trip of more than two days to an unfamiliar place and not eaten at a single chain restaurant 157. Grown your hair long 158. Made your own cheese 159. Re-established contact with an old flame many years later 160. Bought a car new and driven it until well past 150000 miles 161. Sewn a complete garment 162. Uttered a curse word in front of a clergyperson 163. Blown your rent money at your favorite store 164. Seen your car being towed 165. Phoned in a vote on some reality TV show competition 166. Seriously considered living in a different country 167. Served in the armed forces 168. Been kicked out of a movie theater 169. Seen a classic film on the big screen 170. Eaten haggis 171. Eaten dim sum in a traditional setting 172. Prepared an entire Thanksgiving dinner 173. Gone swimming fully clothed 174. Gone swimming not clothed at all 175. Driven across the country taking shifts so the trip only takes a few days 176. Explored a construction site in the dark 177. Ridden an elephant 178. Attended a Major League Baseball game 179. Attended an NFL game 180. Attended an NHL game 181. Attended an NBA game 182. Seen a US President live 183. Actually met a sitting US President 184. Auditioned for a reality TV show 185. Been hit in the face with a pie 186. Stood in line on the release date of a product 187. Worked aboard a fishing boat 188. Cut down a fully mature tree 189. Seen the Mona Lisa 190. Seen the Sistine Chapel 191. Eaten fugu 192. Paddled a canoe or kayak 193. Held the control stick of an aircraft in flight 194. Asked a librarian for help finding a book 195. Personally acquired the autograph of a person you admire 196. Locked your keys in your car in a strange city 197. Had to break into your own home 198. Seen a space shuttle launch 199. Attended a NASCAR race 200. Marched in a parade Monday, August 16, 2010 I've known of this scene's existence for years and wondered if it might show up someday, since the music for it was actually released in 1997 on the Special Edition of the Jedi score. It's a cool little tidbit that I'm not sure as to the reason for its cutting, as it's barely a minute long. This was part of an announcement that the Star Wars films will be released on Blu-ray sometime next year. That's pretty cool, although I don't own a Blu-ray player and won't buy one just for this; I won't be getting a Blu-ray player until the current DVD player dies, mainly because I still do not see the overwhelming need for yet another digital media format. If I have Blu-ray by the time Star Wars comes out, great; if not, then I'll wait for both. Apparently the original releases won't be part of the package, because they need a lot of restoration work. I'm generally fine with that. In truth, I haven't even watched the original releases since the Special Editions came out; with a couple of small exceptions, I'm generally OK with the changes Lucas and company made in 1997. It would be nice to have the originals out for archival reasons, though. Same reason I still have my theatrical cuts of the Lord of the Rings films, even though I don't watch them. And of course, since this is George Lucas we're talking about, in every forum where I've seen discussion of Star Wars on Blu-ray, I see the same tired old kvetching about how "There goes Fat George again, double-dipping and making his fans buy his stuff all over again." That this is standard operating procedure for all of the movie industry is apparently no excuse when it comes to George Lucas, who literally can't win: "Why the hell isn't Star Wars on Blu-ray? Oh, it is? Well, thanks for the double-dip, you jerk!" Oh well. I still love you, Uncle George! (Oh, might as well mention this article on original Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz that I read a few days ago. Kurtz, it seems, is breaking silence, and frankly, he sounds rather like a bitter old man who is still angry that he didn't get his way all those years ago when George Lucas didn't want to make the version of Return of the Jedi that Kurtz did. But Geez, look at how Kurtz wanted things to go in the third film: “We had an outline and George changed everything in it," Kurtz said. “Instead of bittersweet and poignant he wanted a euphoric ending with everybody happy. The original idea was that they would recover [the kidnapped] Han Solo in the early part of the story and that he would then die in the middle part of the film in a raid on an Imperial base. George then decided he didn’t want any of the principals killed. By that time there were really big toy sales and that was a reason.” The discussed ending of the film that Kurtz favored presented the rebel forces in tatters, Leia grappling with her new duties as queen and Luke walking off alone “like Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns,” as Kurtz put it. Rescue Han Solo, only to kill him forty minutes later? End with the Rebel forces in tatters? Sounds like the ending of The Empire Strikes Back to me. And frankly, Lucas's desire for a happy and upbeat ending to Jedi shouldn't have come as a surprise, since Lucas was giving interviews in 1977 about how a big part of why he made Star Wars: A New Hope the way he did was that he was tired of depressing, dystopic movies that dominated the early 1970s. Plus, by this time Lucas had his notions for two trilogies, one telling the tale of Luke Skywalker and the other that of Anakin, much more firmly in his mind, even if he didn't have many details ironed out. He knew that the first trilogy would by definition end on the same note that Kurtz had wanted the second to end on, which would have seemed fairly silly. I also note Kurtz's weird belief that Lucas refused to allow main characters to be killed off because of toy merchandising. Well, Yoda dies in Jedi, and that didn't stop Yoda figures from being made, did it? In fact, lots of movies that have action figures have figures of characters who die. This objection of Kurtz's makes zero sense; but then, I've never found the whole "Lucas decided that all he cares about is making toys" argument terribly convincing. Finally, I reject his notion that making prequels is somehow "limiting" to story, presumably because we know how it ends. So what? People didn't flock to The Passion of the Christ out of suspense for its ending. I know how Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will end, but you'd better believe I'm seeing that movie. Knowing how a story ends is in no way an impediment to enjoying a story, or being able to tell it well. Kurtz should know that. OK, now I'm done. Whew....) Maura asks: Which is the best country to which one flees come the conservative revolution? Canada is too cold, English must be understood, and I'll need a good internet connection. It's still Canada. Sorry! Or maybe France. But I'm not terribly worried about the "conservative revolution". I survived Reagan and George W. Bush, so I think I can survive whatever comes. (Unless it's President Palin, in which case I'm looking for property in Fort Erie, ON.) Andy asks: How many INNOCENT sub-contractors perished when those rebel SCUM destroyed the death star??? Bah. They're defense contractors in the middle of a Galactic Civil War, and they're building an enormous military construct and weapon. What did they think might happen! Incidentally, though, I've occasionally thought that maybe George Lucas was making a sly reference to this question (raised in Clerks) when he revealed in Attack of the Clones that the original designers of the Death Star are creepy, insectoid Geonosans. Nobody cares if they die when the Death Star goes up, right? And finally Quince asks: If I send you $50 via pay pal will you give me an honest review the outline of a novel I am working on? No, for a couple of reasons. First, I'm not at all certain that my input on such matters would be worth any particular sum of money. I'd feel a bit funny accepting cash for that. But secondly, and more importantly, an outline isn't a novel. Critiquing an outline isn't likely to be of use, because it's the actual writing that makes the book. Any judgments of a story that's in outline form run the risk of greatly missing the point. It would be like deciding if a person is attractive or not based on an X-ray of their skeleton or deciding if a building is a good one based on the architectural renderings. An outline won't convey dialog, voice, pacing, description, and all the other goodies that come into play in good writing. Of course, with an architectural rendering, you can still see things like "Hey Bob, did you intentionally leave the roof unsupported by any kind of truss structure?", but a novel outline is unlikely to make any such novelistic flaws stand out as such -- and if it does, well, you're probably not writing seriously in the first place. So don't obsess over the outline -- figure out the story you want to tell, and then tell it. That's where the proof lies. More to come! We've been going to the Fair ever since 2001 or 2002, the first year we actually lived in the Buffalo area. It's always been one of our favorite things about living in this area. Our county is populous enough to have a big fair, but it's also got enough farmland to have a fair that's got a really nicely agricultural feel to it. We love most things about the fair: walking the Midway, seeing the farm animals, noting the expressions of boredom on the faces of the farmers who have little to do but sit with their animals all day for two weeks, wandering through the various Crafts buildings, sending The Daughter on rides, engaging in lots of Crass Commercialism, and of course, eating a ton of food that really isn't all that healthy at all. A good day at the Erie County Fair is among the best days one can have, in my opinion. I just wish that the fair was a little bit later each year so it would be a bit cooler. The fair is almost made for overalls -- and yet it's always too hot for overalls when I'm there! Bummer. We always like to get to the fair early on, before 11:00, when the admission prices are half-off. County fairs are amazing bargains, really, and if you can cut that in half, it's even more of a bargain. Our first order of business is to walk across the fair to where our favorite corndog stand is located; by tradition, corndogs are always the first thing we eat at the fair. This year, though, our favorite corndog stand wasn't where it's been for the last few years! It seems that they did some offseason renovating and stuff at that end of the Fair, where the animals and the rides for smaller kids are located, so our favorite corndog stand was moved somewhere else. I didn't see where until later...but luckily, there was still a different corndog place not that far from where our favorite used to be, so that's where we went. Unfortunately, the corndogs at the new places are smaller than the ones we're used to, but they were still tasty. After this, it was off to see animals. We always wander quickly through the pig and cow exhibition buildings, because...well, there's just so much staring at pork or beef (or milk) one can stand. Of greater interest to us each year, though, is the building that hosts ducks, swans, chickens, and The Wife's beloved rabbits. The Wife raised rabbits in her youth, so she always has a good time checking those out. We also check out the goats and sheep, which I never find all that interesting (but The Wife and The Daughter do). Somehow we missed llamas this year. No idea where they were. I love llamas. Llamas rule! Shortly after seeing the animals (and a new show this year featuring Sea Lions), it was the first of many snack times. One snack we always get at the fair is a bag of freshly made kettle corn. A big bag. A big bag. No, we don't eat the whole thing. Not even close! We still have about half the bag left, and that's after The Wife and I had some more last night when she got home from work. (Kettle corn stays tasty for a surprisingly long time.) Essential every year is the Crafts building, which is always chock full of wonderful items. This is where people who grow orchids and African violets and ivy topiaries display their creations, as well as lots of floral arrangements and gladiolas. There are displays of sewing, knitting, and crocheting; there are paintings and quilting and photography. We always linger in this building for quite a while (and not just because it's air conditioned!). One favorite thing of mine in this building, which I only really noticed last year, are the dioramas and the place settings, which are always organized around specific themes. This year, one of the themes was Star Wars! This was terrific. I loved these: The big flower is, I suppose, meant to suggest the planet from Revenge of the Sith with the enormous flowers that obscure our view of the clone troopers' murder of that female Jedi. Cool! Next up were the place settings, which were themed "Lunch with Luke". I loved this one: Black and white for the Good and Dark Sides of the Force, obviously -- and the napkin is folded in the shape of a Star Destroyer! That's awesome. Here's another that I liked: One of the critical notes on the little card there reads, "Mug is slightly oversized". This struck me as silly, since the stoneware is obviously a set. What was the artist supposed to do? Shrink the mug? Then there were the table displays which were themed to different movies. This one, I think, really got the idea of American Graffiti: When I saw this one, however, I laughed out loud: If the movie being themed were, say, Julie and Julia, I could see what's being done here. But the actual movie being themed here was The French Connection. I can only assume the author didn't see the movie, or even look up what it was about? Another favorite place of ours (which we actually missed last year) is the Woodcarving building. There is some stunning work being done out there. I was amazed at some of it, like this: Later on, while we waited for the daily parade, we decided to have The Daughter take our picture. This, proved a bit problematic, though, as The Daughter tends to not say anything to indicate when she's about to snap the photo, so we end up with results like this: But we got the kinks ironed out: Then the parade started, with the mounted cops, the marching band, Shriners in little cars: And horse-drawn wagons such as this calliope organ: After the parade, it was time to check out the horse barns (which are on the side of the fairgrounds completely opposite the rest of the farm animals): By this time, night was setting, so after a dinner of Chiavetta's barbecue chicken (and a couple of hours after a snack of pizza for the kid and a pulled pork sandwich for The Wife and I), it was time for rides on the Midway: "Rides", for us, translates to watching The Daughter do the bumper cars ten times. That is no exaggeration: she did those things ten times. Kids do the bumper cars and then, when the ride ends, get out and sprint for the entrance to go on again. Wow. The one ride we all do as a family is riding the Giant Wheel, which I love but which I suspect The Wife and Daughter don't love quite as much as I do. I just think the Midway is beautiful from above: And, toward the end of the night, one final culinary indulgence: the amazing wonder that is a giant plate of Ribbon Fries! So...what else? Well, there's the Antique Mall, where we always spend a bit of time looking at old stuff. This is actually a small satellite location of a much larger antiques store that is located just a mile from Casa Jaquandor. I bought The Wife a pair of earrings there this time (pearls, to match the pearl necklace I bought her last Christmas). There were the other buildings full of Wares Being Hawked, although I did notice that the selling this time was more geared toward demonstration-type sales than actual booths selling stuff. We missed out on some vendors we've enjoyed in years past, only to find them missing this time. We also omitted our customary trip through the Native American "village" (a section of the park devoted to Native American art and culture). Not sure why we skipped this, other than that we just decided to do other stuff and never found time to make it back there. I'm sure I'm forgetting about some stuff, but I think that sums up the day we had at the Erie County Fair pretty well. I'm sad that it's over for another year...but hey, next up is the Ithaca Apple Festival in October! Huzzah! (See my Flickr photostream for more photos that I didn't use in this post.)

Are You a Believer? Someone asked me that question a couple of months ago. A couple of months ago, I attended the Christmas Party at a fascinating shadow kind of organization which gives advice to the US government. I was invited because I met a fascinating and intelligent guy named Mike at an event downtown, who explained how his organization quietly gives advice to important folks in both parties of Congress. It’s not one of those places you read about in the newspapers, like Heritage or Marshall or Brookings; they want to keep it that way. At the party, I briefly met a woman in a key position in a sister agency. “We are all believers here. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t believers. You are a believer too, aren’t you?” But believer in what? She clearly WASN’T a believer in any version of the NSF peer review system. (For all my skepticism, and awareness of how people do screw up the NSF system, I still do believe it can be very powerful and unique, if it is done right.) In the late afternoon, after some wine, I was NOT at the peak of my intelligence. So I responded by saying: “Well, I don’t know. It depends on WHAT you are asking about. Belief in WHAT?” She just put on an enigmatic smile, and I think she said: “If you were a believer, you wouldn’t have to ask that.” To this day, I do not know whether was referring to some version of Christianity, transhumanism, technology or he can-do spirit in general. That night, at about 3AM, when my mental powers generally reach their peak, I realized that an honest answer might have been: “Madam, I am probably less of a believer than anyone you have ever met in your entire life, anywhere. I strive to live a life of freedom and of the scientific method, applied even to first person experience. At some level, I basically believe nothing.” But today, as Luda turned on the TV for the Olympics, I saw a (muted) TV commercial for the new movie “Believe,” by the producer of Gravity, which I reviewed before on this blog. “I have mixed feelings about this word ‘believe.’ On the one hand, I don’t do that. But form experience and analysis, I have drawn lots of conclusions and learned lots of things which I cannot really discuss at all with people unless THEY have at least some willingness to Believe. How can I start a conversation when I have to say: ‘Based on my understanding of the scientific method, you will have every reason to conclude, based on your own experience, that everything I am about to say is crazy?’” But then I thought a bit more: “Of course, I don’t generally take that line of discussion. I DON’T ask people to ‘Just Be a Believer.’ Based on Greeley’s data, if they are reasonably intelligent people, I expect a high probability that THEY have had personal experience which should properly lead THEM to ask some pretty heavy questions, if they are sane and honest enough not to just repress their own personal experience. THAT’S the proper approach. “ As I type this, I am reminded of the mystic H. Spencer Lewis, who said that we should all be “walking question marks.” (And I remember much later meeting some kind of Jewish guy who said they say that in parts of HIS tradition.) But – not being a Believer does not mean failing to learn from the experience of other human beings. That’s a tricky business, however. The rational approach is to learn what we can from the totality of the human database, with sophisticated filtering to make sense of it without throwing out information. How to filter… is related to my other blog post today about prediction. Best of luck…

Shoresh Food Conference Bruchim ha’ba’im. Welcome. My name is Risa Alyson Cooper, I am the Executive Director of Shoresh Jewish Environmental Programs, and it my deep honour to welcome you all to the second annual Shoresh Food Conference. I’d like to begin this morning with a little bit about Shoresh…who we are, where we’ve come from and where we’re headed. Shoresh’s mission is to build a more connected, sustainable Jewish community. We have over the last few years developed a wide variety of hands-on, innovative learning opportunities to allow community members from across the various spectrums that make up our community to explore Jewish teachings, ethics, rituals, holiday celebrations in real, relevant and meaningful ways. Since 2009, we have operated Shoresh’s Kavanah Garden at UJA’s Lebovic Jewish Community Campus in Vaughan. On just a ¼ acre of meadow, we developed a vibrant community space that hosted over 1500 individuals each season (families, students, b’nei mitzvahs, young adult volunteers)…community members of all ages, and abilities….community members for whom Jewish living and learning expressed itself in vastly different ways….community members who came together to learn, to celebrate, and to ultimately grow food (real food) for the most vulnerable in our community. Shoresh’s Kavanah Garden is a model for Jewish experiential learning, and we were honored to be included in Slingshot Fund’s 2011-2012 Guide of the 50 most innovative projects in Jewish North America – the only Canadian project listed that year. This season, we head into our fifth growing season at Kavanah. And it is with a heavy heart, and a full and grateful heart, that we will be planting this year’s seeds and seedlings in new soil…just across the ravine. Because with the help of the Six Points Jewish Venture Philanthropy Fund, and the incredible support of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, along with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, this spring we are building a permanent home for Shoresh’s Kavanah Garden on the Lebovic Campus. Our new space will be a little bit larger, a lot more accessible, and will better reflect the reality that the Kavanah Garden is a key feature of the developing Lebovic Campus and its surrounding neighbourhoods. Outside of the Kavanah Garden, Shoresh is continuing to grow our programs in the Toronto area. -We are continuing to run workshops with our elders at Baycrest. -We are developing a new area of interfaith programming. This year we are partnering with Dante Alighieri Academy, a Catholic school in Lawrence Heights, to jointly steward their garden space, which produces hundreds of pounds of food each year for the North York Harvest Food Bank. Working with the school’s administration and staff, other organizations such as the Multifaith Centre at UofT, and Khaleafa (a Muslim environmental group), we are developing a series of multifaith food-focused programs for highschool students. -We are increasing our opportunities for text-based study. Last year, following the first food conference, it was clear that meat was something we needed to explore more deeply. So, partnering with some of our downtown friends, Makom, Annex Shul, and the First Narayever, we hosted a six-part Beit Midrash series that explored different aspects of the relationship between humans and nonhuman animals according to Jewish tradition. This year, we are focusing our Beit Midrash series on Shmittah, the sabbatical year. As we enter the next Shmitah year in September 2014, we want to better understand this agricultural and social justice practice that is a part of our Jewish heritage and have thought deeply about how we as individuals, an organization, and a community can mark and observe this time in our calendar. -We are ensuring that our community has access to fresh, local, organic produce through Community Supported Agriculture Programs. Shoresh has worked closely with our dear friends at the Cutting Veg Organic Farm for the last four years providing 65 families with farm fresh veg through our Kavanah CSA. Now, as the Cutting Veg moves in a different direction, Shoresh is partnering with Highmark Farms and Holy Blossom Temple, to develop a consortium of Jewish CSAs across our city. Details about how you can become a member of the Shoresh CSA network, coming soon. And we’re also growing outside the Toronto area….in a magical little place called Hillsburgh, Ontario….with Bela Farm. Last year, we at Shoresh were deeply honoured and radically grateful to be the first Canadian organization ever accepted into Joshua Venture Group’s two year fellowship. The fellowship includes funding and incredible capacity building support for Shoresh to develop our vision for Bela Farm and ultimately the tools to sustain our programs and projects. One of the things we have been working on this past year, is articulating an answer to the question, “So what is Bela Farm? What are we planning to do there?” The Bela Farm Creative Team, which includes myself, Sabrina Malach, Mati Cooper, Andrea Most, and Rochelle Rubinstein, has spent many hours in conversation, visioning and revisioning. Andrea, who is a fellow with the Jackman Humanities Institute at UofT and is focusing her research on the Jewish Food Movement, has taken our hours of brainstorming and turned it into something intelligible (a commendable achievement I assure you), which we are really thrilled to share with you all today. We have a mission statement: Bela Farm is a centre for sustainable, land-based Judaism located an hour northwest of Toronto in rural Ontario. This one-hundred acre farm produces organic fruits, vegetables, and value-added products, offers a full season of public educational programs, merges nature-based art with experimental agriculture, and serves as a laboratory for creative responses to global environmental crisis. A project of Shoresh, the design, goals and activities of Bela Farm are rooted in Jewish values and practices and open to all. We have articulated 5 core values of the farm: 1. Healing the Earth / Healing Ourselves: 2. Wandering Home: 3. Holy Land / Sacred Table 4. Nature Time / Jewish Time Unfortunately, I don’t have time enough now to explain these more deeply, but we have posted the full Mission Statement document on a Bela Farm display board upstairs, AND we will have a round table discussion about Bela Farm during our last session for those of you eager to learn more about the farm and our vision. These core values will inform and shape the farm’s landscape design, public programs, products, and working process. And by embodying these values, Bela Farm will model new ways of approaching longstanding Jewish and global concerns. As Jews have throughout history, at Bela Farm we will emphasize the Jewish laws and ethical principles that will help us respond to the pressing problems of our time. Bela Farm is a work-in-progress and our plan is to be fully operational by 2016 (we’ve set a date!) This year, we will begin planting a perennial meadow – a two acre plot that will serve as the spiritual, ethical, and aesthetic heart of the property. Ultimately, the 100 acre farm will include fruit trees, berry patches, grain crops, a varied market garden, chickens (for eggs and meat), goats (for dairy), beehives, fields for hay and pasture, and a few fields for rental to neighboring farmers. We are committed to restoration of native forest and grasslands on the property where possible. In addition to the necessary outbuildings to support these activities, the farm will also include a commercial kitchen, a house for the farm manager, offices for Bela Farm staff, housing for interns, and various spaces for programming. By 2016, we will host a farm internship for those interested in pursuing in-depth learning about sustainable agriculture, artisanal food production, and intentional Jewish living and learning, as well as an annual calendar of events open to the community. We will produce a line of artisanal kosher products, as well as a CSA subscription program that will uniquely follow and support the Jewish holiday cycle. So, we’ve been up to lots of good stuff. And before we get into the good stuff that’s happening today, I want to take a quick minute to learn about the community of individuals that make up this room. I’m going to borrow from last year’s opening address a quick activity to help us better understand who is here. Who are the people in this room that have made the decision to invest their time, energy, and resources in a day of exploring the intersection between food and Jewish tradition. Super simple…I am going to make a statement…kindly stand up if that statement applies to you. Please know that there is sincerely no judgment in any of these. -Stand up if you work with food professionally. -Stand up if you consider yourself to keep a kosher home. -Stand up if you say a blessing before eating. -Stand up if you transited from outside the Toronto area to be here today. -Stand up if you think latkas beat hamentashen. -Stand up if you, in the last few years, have tried being gluten free. -Stand up if you donated something to the Shoresh silent auction or to today’s lunch. -Stand up if you have ever witnessed or participated in an animal being killed and prepared for food. -Stand up if you grow your own vegetables. -Stand up if you have ever tried kale chips. Today is about growing Jewish food consciousness by bringing together diverse community members…by bringing as many voices as possible to the table, by taking note of whose voices are not represented, and figuring out how to bring them into this conversation. Our strength as a community is our diversity and we have a lot to learn from one another today, presenters and participants alike. In last Wednesday’s Toronto Star, the front page of the Life and Entertainment sectioned featured an article “How kosher is kosher? Food Conference Seeks to Square Ancient Traditions and Other Jewish Values.” Star reporter, Michele Henry, writes about a great questioning happening today within our community…a questioning that is not new….a questioning that has been happening for the last 5000 years….what does it mean to eat Jewishly? Does eating Jewishly mean eating foods that are culturally Jewish? This year United Bakers Dairy Restaurant celebrates their 100th anniversary. Established in 1912, United Bakers is Toronto’s oldest family restaurant, and they have spent the last century serving up “heimische” baked goods and comfort foods. My Zadie swears by their twister bagels. For me, as an Ashkenazi Jew, is eating at United Bakers, eating Jewishly? What if I am a vegan, gluten intolerant, Ashkenazi Jew …can I still eat Jewishly if challah, matza ball soup, mandel broit, brisket, bagels with lox and cream cheese…if those foods are not a part of my diet? Does eating Jewishly mean eating foods prepared according to the traditional laws of kashrut? Who decides if something is kosher? 100 years ago, the women in our family, the keepers of the kitchen, they decided if something was kosher. They knew the butcher, the cheese monger, the baker…the community held their food providers to a certain standard of kashrut. As our food system developed into a global food system, a system where our food is often grown/raised, packaged and prepared, out of sight, certifying agencies became important in helping consumer make informed food choices. This year, the Kashrut Council of Canada celebrates their 60th anniversary. For 60 years, they have served our Jewish community by overseeing the practices of our food providers, most of whom are now inaccessible to the community. So what happens now that we are seeing a move back to smaller, locally-based food systems? For many, certified kosher has become the new standard of kosher. Can something be kosher without a heksher? What if you know your butcher, your cheese monger, your baker…do they now need to be certified to be kosher? How can we help bring small scale artisanal food producers into a certifying system designed for corporate food businesses? Do we need to? Does eating Jewishly mean eating in a way that reflects Jewish ethics and values beyond kashrut? Yes we have been having this conversation of what does it mean to eat Jewishly for thousands of years, AND our food system has changed radically in the last 60-70 years. Food today is more complicated than ever. Is it organically grown? Is it fair trade? Is it genetically modified? What is the carbon footprint of my meal? How were the animals raised? How where they slaughtered? Some are arguing that we need to expand the definition of kosher – can we call something kosher, which literally means “fit” to eat, if it has been grown in soil sprayed with known carcinogenic chemicals? Can we call something kosher if we are packaging or serving it in Styrofoam? Can we call something kosher if we know that those who helped grow or prepare our food were not paid fairly or given a safe working environment? Can we call something kosher if the animals were raised in conditions resulting in incredible suffering? There are those who say kosher is kosher (we don’t need to redefine kosher), AND that does not give us permission to willing overlook our traditions ethical teachings when it comes to the food choices we make. Tzedek, tzedek tirdof….justice, justice you shall pursue. Justice for those by whose hands we are fed. Justice for the earth. Justice for the non-human animals in our food system. Justice for our own bodies. Justice for those who are hungry in our community. The Torah commands us to pursue justice. Eating has become a political act. So maybe eating Jewishly means embodying the fullness of Judaism’s ethical principles as they apply to our current food system. Does eating Jewishly mean creating space for the divine at our tables? Does it mean acknowledging the role of an ultimate Creator, an unifying energy or breath of life? Does it mean saying a blessing, expressions of gratitude? According to the Talmud, it is forbidden for a person to enjoying anything of this world without a blessing, and if anyone enjoys anything of this world without a blessing s/he commits sacrilege? Does eating Jewishly mean eating with intention? Jewish texts and teachings are clear – there are rules and traditions that govern our relationship with food – how we grow it, how we prepare it, how we eat it, how we share it with others. Our community has been exploring the nature of our relationship with food for over 5000 years and today is about moving that conversation forward. Which is why we have brought you all together – foodies, chefs, rabbis, farmers, students, teachers – we need everyone’s voice at the table, we need to think holistically about what it means to eat Jewishly here, today. Yesterday was Tu B’Shvat, the new year of the trees, one of the four Jewish new years in the Hebrew calendar. Essentially Tu B’Shvat is a tax date, necessary for tithing purposes…any fruit produced before Tu B’Shvat were taxed with last year’s produce, any fruit produced on or after Tu B’Shvat, with this year’s produce. It was a day set in the Hebrew calendar to help our ancestors manage communal food distribution. That is radical. So, it feels really appropriate for us to be gathering today to be thinking about our relationship with food from a Jewish perspective, whatever that means to you. I would like to thank and honour the incredible team of people who have worked so hard to make today’s conference happen. First, I would like to thank our partners, the Miles Nadal JCC and the Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto. Thank you to the Ontario Jewish Archives for pulling together a beautiful slideshow of historic Jewish food photos, which was on display earlier this morning and which we will show again during our final session. Thank you to Hillel of Greater Toronto for helping to subsidize our student rate tickets. Thank you to the incredible individuals and businesses who donated food for today’s snacks and lunch and those who donated items or services for our incredible silent auction. Thank you to Laurenn Schecter, Moishe Oziel, and Michael Schecter from Mo and Lo Organics for preparing what I’m sure will be a delicious and nourishing morning snack and lunch. Thank you to our incredible team of presenters who have given so generously of their time to be here today. It’s not every day that you get to learn with and from rabbis, academics, farmers, and community activists all in one place. Thank you to our amazing team of volunteers: Alex Sipos-Kocsis, Marc Levy, Dana Sipos, Andrea Schaffer, Naomi Tessler, Cara Gold, Alexandra Kuperman, Mati Cooper, Aldea Mulhern, Andrea Toole, Sara Brodbar-Nemzer, Leora Mallach, Rachael Roter, and Bemnet Worku. From organizing our silent auction, to serving food, to working on our nametag assembly line, today could not happened without them. Thank you. Thank you to Deanna from the MNJCC for managing kitchen chaos. Thank you to the Food Conference Planning Committee – thank you Andrea and Sharoni for enduring numerous meetings, countless e-mails, and even a few panicky phone calls. We are so grateful to have partners like you in our community. And lastly, an epically huge thank you to Shoresh’s Director of Community Outreach, Sabrina Malach, who claims she is not a detail oriented person, and yet held the 8403 details it took to bring today together. Every day I am radically grateful to work with such a dear friend, a tireless and committed coworker, and a true visionary. And thank you to all of you. Thank you for coming, thank you for spreading the word to family and friends, thank you for all the ways that you have supported us and will support us in the future, thank you for helping us move this age old conversation of what and how and when and with who we eat in new and powerful directions. Consider yourselves officially welcomed and briefed. I wish you all a day filled with deep learning, engaging conversations, delicious food, new friends, and inspiring realizations.

Population changes reflect the natural facts of life: births and deaths. Births, in turn, have long been largely governed by the mechanisms of family formation. Vital statistics are compilations of data on marriage, divorce, birth, and death. Births and deaths directly determine changes in the size of a population; marriages and divorces create and dissolve, respectively, the conditions under which most births occur. The surplus of births over deaths is called natural increase; under unfavorable demographic conditions, deaths may exceed births, in which case a natural decrease occurs. Vital events constitute one of the components of population dynamics; the others are migration and, for a group like the Jews, adhesion and withdrawal. In a "closed" population, unaffected by migrations and by adhesions or withdrawals, the numerical evolution depends entirely on the balance of births and deaths. The natural increase (or decrease) is indeed of fundamental importance for the future of any population, but the migratory changes may counteract the vital balance for some time. For example, despite strong natural increase, there was probably no growth in the total number of Jews in Eastern Europe at the beginning of the 20th century because of extensive emigration, mostly to America. On the other hand, among Jewish populations in Central and Western Europe throughout the 20th century prevailing natural decrease was outweighed or at least compensated by a positive migratory balance. The figures of vital events in any population are strongly affected by its age composition. In a population containing a very large proportion of young adults, as may be the case where there has been large immigration, birth figures may be high in spite of a modest level of fertility (for definition of this term, see measurement, below); on the other hand, under conditions of advanced aging frequently found at present in Jewish populations, actual death figures may be high even though the specific mortality in each age group is comparatively low. All these factors need to be considered in evaluating the causes and consequences of population trends. The age composition of a population at any specific time is itself the result of the demographic dynamics of preceding decades: unless migratory influences or adhesions/withdrawals were particularly conspicuous, it largely depends on past fertility. A prolonged decrease in births leads to the aging of a population. In the early phases of aging the proportion of children decreases while that of all adults, including the adults of procreative age, increases. This in turn tends to sustain the crude birth rate while deaths of children will be relatively fewer per 1,000 of the population (which may reduce the crude death rate especially if child mortality is still conspicuous). In later phases of aging, the proportion of elderly and old persons in the population grows, and consequently, the crude birth rate is depressed and the crude death rate rises. Age composition thus intervenes as both the consequence and the cause of the frequency of vital events in a population. Absolute figures of births, deaths, etc., are important for calculating up-to-date estimates of population size and for planning such social services as schools, hospitals, etc. For demographic analysis, it is necessary to consider the frequency of vital events in relation to the population in which they occur. The resulting figures are called demographic rates. "Crude" rates usually indicate the frequency of vital events per 1,000 of mean population in a specified year. The commonly mentioned "birth rate" and "death rate" are of this nature. Crude rates make no allowance for age and sex composition of a population. Consequently, if this composition is markedly distorted, crude rates are liable to lead to misconceptions about the intrinsic demographic situation. Unfortunately, crude rates are often the best available information on vital events among Jewish populations, especially prior to the last few decades. To overcome the shortcomings inherent in crude rates, age-sex specific rates are calculated to show correctly the frequency of vital events in any specified age-sex group of the population during a certain period. These rates can be synthesized by the use of appropriate techniques. Demographic indicators thus obtained – e.g., "fertility rates" for the measurement of reproduction and "mean life expectancy at birth" for the measurement of mortality – are unaffected by peculiarities in the age-sex composition of any population. They depend, however, on the availability of data broken down by small age groups and by sex, with regard to both the total population and the persons involved in the given vital events (such as the women giving birth, the deceased, etc.). Under present conditions of documentation on Jewish vital statistics, such data are only very partially available. In addition, if the absolute numbers for vital events are broken down by age and sex, very small figures, which are liable to irregularities, result in all but the larger Jewish populations. It is also possible to calculate "standardized rates," assuming, for the sake of comparison, the same age distribution for several demographic groups, e.g., the Jews and the general population of the respective country. The concept of "fertility" relates the births not to the entire population of both sexes and all ages but to the women of reproductive age. It means basically, the number of children born, on the average, to women throughout their reproductive period. Vital statistics on Jews in Diaspora countries come from either official or Jewish sources. Official statistics of this kind now exist only for a minority of the Jews in Diaspora countries. Data on vital events either come from current statistics reflecting the administrative registration of births, deaths, etc., or are obtained from censuses and surveys. In the latter instances, some of the relevant information may be derived from retrospective questions on age at marriage of the persons ever married, on the number of children born to the enumerated women, etc. Under present conditions, current vital statistics from Jewish sources tend to reflect the frequency of religious functions, such as weddings, divorces, circumcisions, and burials, rather than give a full demographic picture, because some Jews recur to civil ceremonies alone. The widely prevalent descriptive model of the demographic transition divides the modern evolution of the populations of the technologically advanced countries into four stages. In the first stage, which represents the conditions of the past, both fertility and mortality were very high, so that only limited natural increase could materialize. In stage two, which fell mainly into the 19th and early 20th centuries, mortality declined, while fertility continued to be high; considerable natural increase resulted, and the respective populations grew rapidly. In stage three fertility also declined due to the diffusion of birth control; population growth consequently diminished, with a low being reached in the 1930s. The fourth stage – in the context of a generally moderate or low mortality level – resulted in repeated upward and downward fertility fluctuations (such as a "baby boom" in some Western countries and an ensuing "baby bust") reflecting response to changing circumstances. Eventually fertility subsided again, yet maintained itself at somewhat different levels in different countries. In Europe, stages two and three did not begin at the same time in the various countries but spread, on the whole, from west to east. Even within the same country, the timing of the changes differed according to social group and geographical location: the educated, well-todo, and urban elements were involved earlier than the other groups. By 1970 nearly all the populations in the developing countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America had entered upon stage two which expresses itself by a "population explosion," and some had already entered upon stage three. By 2000 all countries were moving through one or another stage of demographic transition. Significantly, a fifth stage had emerged mostly among European societies, showing a negative balance between birth and death rates and reflecting a progressive aging of age composition. It is noteworthy that the Jews of Europe preceded the general population of the respective countries in effecting the transition from stage one to two, lowering mortality, from stage two to three, adoption of family planning, from stage three to four, fertility response to changing environment, and from stage four to stage five, population erosion due to a negative balance of births and deaths. In this, as well as in the subsequent developments, the Jews intensively displayed the characteristics of the social and ecological strata in which they were largely concentrated – the educated and urbanized, with a tendency to white-collar occupations. Besides these compositional effects, additional and more specifically Jewish determinants in the cultural and socio-psychological realm played an important role in the demographic evolution of the Jews. The limited data available from some European cities in the 18th century give the impression that Jewish mortality was already declining. There is ample documentation to show the systematic decline of Jewish mortality all over Europe throughout the 19th century, though there was some time lag between this development among the Jews in the countries of Central and Western Europe, on the one hand, and of Eastern Europe, on the other. In any country of Europe and at any time during the 19th century, the crude death rate of the Jews was almost always lower than that of the entire population of the respective country (see Table 1). This was largely Table 1: Births, Deaths, and Natural Increase (Rates)1 (Selected Data) Main Sources: Compilations contained in the publications listed in the Bibliography; Statistical Abstract of Israel (various issues). The vital statistics are official ones, except for those on the Jews of Italy which are based on registration by the Jewish communities. Births Deaths Natural Increase Country or City Period Jews General Population Jews General Population Jews General Population 1 Rates per 1,000 of population. Some of the figures are only approximate or based 2 Jews and non-Jews, respectively. 3 Corrected version of official figures for Jews. 4 1926–1928 for general population. 5 1945 for non-Jews. 6 Estimates. Main Sources: Compilations contained in the publications listed in the Bibliography; Statistical Abstract of Israel (various issues). The vital statistics are official ones, except for those on the Jews of Italy which are based on registration by the Jewish communities. Amsterdam2 1899–1900 25 30 12 17 13 13 1919–1922 19 22 11 11 8 11 Switzerland 1959–1961 11 18 16 10 −5 8 Prussia 1822–1840 36 40 22 30 14 10 1876–1880 32 39 18 24 14 15 1906–1910 17 32 14 17 3 15 1921–1925 14 23 13 14 1 9 1926–1927 12 20 14 12 −2 8 1933 7 15 16 11 −9 4 Berlin 1925 12 12 14 11 −2 1 Germany (F.G.R.) 1960–1962 6 18 21 11 −15 7 Vienna 1880 28 40 14 28 14 12 1901–1910 18 27 14 18 4 9 1921–1923 14 16 13 15 1 1 1934 4 6 14 12 −10 −6 1960–1962 6 18 31 16 −25 2 Italy 1851–1875 29 37 24 31 5 6 1876–1900 23 36 20 26 3 10 1901–1910 18 33 17 22 1 11 1921–1930 16 28 17 17 −1 11 1931–1935 11 24 17 14 −6 10 1951–1955 10 18 15 10 −5 8 1961–1965 11 19 16 10 −5 9 Hungary 1891–1895 36 42 19 33 17 9 1906–1910 29 36 15 25 14 11 1926–1930 13 26 14 17 −1 9 1931–1935 11 22 14 16 −3 6 Budapest 1931–1934 8 16 15 16 −7 0 Czechoslovakia 1931–1933 18 21 13 14 5 7 Bohemia 1930 7 18 15 13 −8 5 Galicia 1882 46 48 29 36 17 12 1901–1902 38 44 19 27 19 17 1910 32 39 16 24 16 15 Russian Poland2 1906 29 39 16 23 13 16 Poland 1926–19303 21 32 11 17 10 15 1931–1936 19 28 10 15 9 13 Warsaw2 1930–1936 13 14 10 12 3 2 Lithuania 1927 17 30 10 17 7 13 Latvia 1926–1927 17 22 11 15 6 7 European Russia 1900–19043 34 49 16 31 18 18 St. Petersburg (Leningrad) 1910–1913 18 28 11 22 7 6 U.S.S.R. 1926 24 43 9 20 15 23 Romania 1881–1886 47 41 26 26 21 15 1906–1910 30 40 17 26 13 14 1926–1928 20 36 13 22 7 14 1936–1938 14 31 13 19 1 12 Bulgaria 1891–1895 38 38 23 28 15 10 1904–1907 34 43 14 22 20 21 1925–19284 22 35 11 18 11 17 1933–1936 17 28 10 15 7 13 Canada 1930 15 24 6 11 9 13 1940 14 22 7 10 7 12 1950 20 26 8 9 12 17 1957–1959 15 28 8 8 7 20 Tunisia2 1921 41 … 21 … 20 … 19465 37 39 15 19 22 20 Israel 1923–1925 35.8 14.1 21.7 (Palestine) 1931–1935 30.3 9.3 21.0 1936–1940 25.7 8.0 17.7 1946–1947 29.4 6.2 23.2 1949–1950 31.2 6.6 24.6 1965 22.6 6.4 16.2 Israel–Jews of European origin6 1965 15 8 7 Jews of Asian–African Origin6 1965 30 5 25 due to the reasons adduced above for the peculiar position of the Jews in the framework of modern demographic transitions: their concentration in towns and particularly in large cities, which by the 19th century in Europe had better hygienic conditions and health services than rural areas; their higher educational level; and their other socioeconomic characteristics. Additional cultural factors, that were specific to the reduction of mortality, may have included the hygienic influence of the observance of some traditional Jewish precepts in the selection and preparation of food, washing of hands, and ablutions, etc.; the rarity of venereal diseases and alcoholism among Jews; the comparative frequency of physicians among them; and perhaps also greater attention to health and especially to the health of children, the reduction of whose previously high mortality was a major feature in the overall improvement of the mortality situation. The differentials in the death rate of Jews and non-Jews were smaller for towns than for entire countries where the non-Jewish rural population is included in the comparisons. The differentials between Jews and non-Jews were sometimes particularly conspicuous with regard to infant mortality (see Table 2). Comparing cause-of-death distributions and morbidity patterns of Jews and non-Jews in the 19th and early 20th centuries, one finds lower proportions of infectious diseases and diseases of the digestive system among the Jews. An often observed difference was the lower frequency of tuberculosis among Jews. During the Holocaust, Jewish mortality in Europe was on an altogether catastrophic scale: the majority of Jews there perished. The age groups most affected were the old and the very young. The deficiency of persons whose childhood coincided with the Holocaust period continues to make itself felt in the age distribution of European Jews. It was aggravated by a great reduction in Jewish births before, and even more so during the persecutions. While the Jews in Europe and in technologically advanced countries of other continents preceded their neighbors in the reduction of mortality, the majority of populations closed the gap in the course of time and the respective differentials narrowed substantially. This had already happened in some cities and countries even before the Holocaust. Because of the increasing aging of many Jewish populations, these developments cannot be studied properly from crude rates, and more refined methods must be resorted to. In particular, it has been possible to calculate the mean life expectancy at birth which is based on age-specific rates and not affected by the actual age composition for several Jewish populations. In recent decades, the life expectancy of Jews in advanced countries has been growing by about one year of life every five calendar years, and around the year 2000 it reached 80 years for women and 75 years for men. Although only little different from that of the general population in the corresponding countries or cities, a tendency for infant mortality to be lower among Jews persisted. On the other hand, crude mortality rates of Jews considerably exceed those Table 2: Infant Mortality (Rates)1 (Selected Data) Main Sources: Compilations contained in the publications listed in the Bibliography; Statistical Abstract of Israel (various issues). The vital statistics are official ones, except for those on the Jews of Italy which are based on registration by the Jewish communities. Country or City Period Jews General Population 1 Deceased under 1 year per 1,000 live births. Some of the figures are only approximate or based on different definitions. 2 Jews and non-Jews, respectively. 3 The three principal Jewish communities in Italy. Amsterdam 1907–1909 75 90 1919–1923 41 50 Switzerland 1947–1954 26 32 1959–1963 12 21 Berlin 1924–1926 43 90 Florence 1838–1847 149 218 Rome 1901–1907 72 138 Italy 1965 333 38 Hungary2 1925–1926 96 170 Budapest 1880 159 271 1904–19052 103 166 1930 63 114 Poland 1927 73 151 1931–1936 49 138 Lithuania 1927 35 156 1935–1937 46 124 Latvia 1926–1927 38 89 European Russia 1900–1904 119 254 U.S.S.R. 1926 57 174 St. Petersburg (Leningrad) 1900–1904 109 260 1922–1924 78 178 Montreal 1931 43 113 1941 24 70 1951 10 43 1961 (6) 23 Israel (Palestine) 1923–1925 121 1931–1935 78 1946–1947 30 1949–1950 49 1955 32 1965 23 of the respective general populations, mainly due to the overaged composition of the respective Jewish groups. The Israel population census of 1961 was instrumental in furnishing information on the mortality conditions of the Jews in Asian and African countries. The census contained a question addressed to women who were ever married: "How many of their children born abroad before immigration to Israel died below the age of 5?" The available data provide relevant information for the participants in the mass migration of 1948–54 (see Table 3). Child mortality among the Jews was still very high in Yemen but reached various stages of decrease in other countries of major Jewish residence in Asia and Africa. Younger women had been affected by lower child mortality than older women, whose experience stretched back into earlier decades. Table 3: Mortality below Age Five per 100 Children Born in Asia and Africa (Born to Jewish Women who Subsequently Immigrated to Israel during 1948–54) Source: Israel Population Census, 1961, vol. 32. Women's Country of Birth Women's Age at Immigration 20–24 45–49 Asia and Africa – Total 21 27 There of: Yemen, Aden 47 46 Iraq 14 20 Iran 17 (26) Turkey 14 19 Egypt 9 (34) Libya 22 29 Tunisia, Algeria 27 37 Morocco, Tangier 22 32 In Palestine, Jews achieved a remarkable reduction of mortality during the Mandatory period (1918–48), largely due to the strong immigration of European elements and the establishment of active and highly qualified health services. In the latter part of the 1940s, the Jewish population in Palestine was already counted among the very advanced in the world insofar as lowering of mortality was concerned. Some temporary setback, especially in infant mortality, was caused by the mass immigration of Jews from less developed countries in Asia and Africa in the early years of the State of Israel, but it was overcome with astonishing speed. The whole Jewish population had a mean life expectancy in excess of 70 years for females since 1951, and for males since 1959. Marriage and Divorce Among the European Jews in the past, as far as is ascertainable from available information, marriage was widespread. Few people did not marry at all unless prevented by official restrictions. Persons of both sexes contracted their (first) marriage at a rather early age. Though high mortality led to frequent instances of widowhood, this was often followed by remarriage, especially of men. In this case, the average age difference between spouses was greater than in the first marriage. Women used to spend a very large proportion of their reproductive years in married life, and this favored high fertility. In addition, there was hardly any out-marriage. Among the Jews in Europe and later among Jews of European origin who settled in America and in other areas of immigration changes developed in this traditional marriage pattern in the course of time. These changes were connected, among other things, with the spread of secularization and the modern complexion of Jewish life. There emerged some tendency for a larger proportion of Jews to remain unmarried which was already particularly marked in Central and Western Europe between the world wars and has again become conspicuous since the 1970s. There was also a systematic rise in age at first marriage, very clearly shown by retrospective census data on the large body of European Jews, mainly from Eastern Europe, who settled in Israel (see Table 4). Between the world wars, Jews Table 4: Mean Age of Jews at Marriage1 in Europe (Persons who Subsequently Immigrated to Israel) Source: Israel Population Census, 1961, vol. 26. Period of Marriage Men Women 1 At first marriage. Up to 1961 – total 28.0 24.0 Up to 1915 24.5 21.8 1916–1925 26.7 23.6 1926–1930 27.1 23.9 1931–1935 27.5 24.2 1936–1940 28.4 24.5 1941–1945 29.2 24.2 1946–1950 29.3 24.6 1951–1955 29.9 25.3 1956–1961 29.4 25.1 in Central and Eastern Europe already had a higher marriage age than the general population of the respective countries. In the United States, Jews participated in a general reduction of the marriage age, but according to an official sample survey of 1957, their median age at first marriage was somewhat higher than among the rest of the population. It is obvious that these trends among Jews of European origin, namely the increase in the proportion never married and in marriage age, were bound to have a depressing influence on fertility levels. A major trend in the modern marriage pattern of Diaspora Jews is the increase in out-marriage. Because of the inconsistency in the use of words like intermarriage and mixed marriage the term out-marriage will be used here for all unions in which only one partner is, or was, a Jew. The statistical information available on this topic has been scanty and unsatisfactory because of both the paucity of sources and difficulties in measurement. In relation to measurement, it should be noted that most available data reflect the religious diversity of marriage partners at a specified time while ignoring previous diversity that was overcome by change of religion on the part of one of them. Therefore, the data tend to give an underestimate of the real extent of out-marriage among Jews. There are two main types of sources: statistics of current weddings and statistics of couples in the population as ascertained by censuses or surveys. Because of the rising trend of out-marriages, their proportion is higher in the data derived from the former source. An increase in out-marriage among Jews was observable in European countries of strong Jewish assimilation and in immigration countries overseas as early as the 19th century. Out-marriage reached considerable proportions in some larger Jewish populations of Europe between the world wars. Since World War II, a rise in the proportion of out-marriages has been noticeable among the Jews in Europe, America, South Africa, and Australia. There are, however, great differences in the actual extent of out-marriage. While it spells the disintegration of some smaller Jewish groups in Europe where most marrying Jews contract out-marriages, it used to be much more limited in America until the early 1960s (see Table 5). Table 5: Recorded Out-Marriages of Jews (Selected Data) Main Sources: Compilations contained in the publications listed in the Bibliography. The data are official ones, except for those on "all existing couples" in the Nether lands and Italy which were obtained through Jewish-sponsored population surveys. Country or City Period Per 100 Jewish Grooms/Husbands Current Weddings Brides/Wives 1 European territories only. Main Sources: Compilations contained in the publications listed in the Bibliography. The data are official ones, except for those on "all existing couples" in the Nether lands and Italy which were obtained through Jewish-sponsored population surveys. Amsterdam 1926–1927 14 13 Netherlands 1951–1962 41 36 Switzerland 1951–1965 46 26 Prussia 1875–1884 5 5 Germany 1901–1904 8 7 1926–1930 27 17 Berlin 1951–1964 75 32 1876–1880 16 12 1901–1904 18 12 1925–1926 30 18 Vienna 1926–1927 12 11 1951–1964 61 29 Italy 1936–1937 35 34 Milan 1934–1936 43 33 1952–1955 52 39 Hungary 1895–1899 3 3 1925–1926 13 11 Budapest 1896–1900 7 7 1926–1927 18 16 Latvia 1925–1927 1 2 U.S.S.R.1 1924–1926 7 6 R.S.F.S.R.1 1924–1926 21 12 Ukraine 1924–1926 4 5 Belorussia 1924–1926 2 4 Canada 1926–1930 4 1 1941–1945 7 3 1951–1955 8 4 1961–1965 12 6 All Existing Couples Netherlands 1954 30 22 Switzerland 1880 3 2 1910 5 4 1930 9 8 1950 19 10 1960 25 12 Austria 1961 36 15 Italy 1965 22 10 U.S.A. 1957 5 3 Australia 1911 28 15 1933 21 12 1961 12 6 Since then it has been on the increase there also, as shown particularly by current country-wide data from Canada, by intergenerational comparisons made from data of local Jewish community surveys in the United States, and especially by the National Jewish Population Surveys of 1970, 1990, and 2001. The proportion of recorded out-marriages was generally higher among Jewish men than Jewish women, but over time the gap has narrowed. The basic causes of out-marriage are the growing interaction of Diaspora Jews with surrounding society, the weakening of religious links and of ethnic identity, and assimilation. There are also contributory demographic factors: the limited size of many Jewish populations, especially after the Holocaust; the increased geographical dispersion of the Jews; and distortions in the age-sex composition of Jewish populations which themselves are partly connected with their smallness as well as with the aftereffects of the Holocaust and other factors. It is noteworthy that even before the middle of the 19th century in America and in the early part of this century in Australia, a marked tendency toward out-marriage prevailed in the then small Jewish populations but its frequency greatly diminished after the arrival of large waves of new Jewish immigrants. Similarly, it is found that at present out-marriage among the Jews of a given country is more frequent in localities or regions with fewer Jews. Out-marriage is of great importance to the demography of the Jews. It often spells demographic losses through the drop-out of out-marrying Jewish spouses or of the children of such marriages. The direct statistical information available on the balance of demographic losses and gains occasioned by out-marriage generally indicates a loss to the Jewish side in Western and Eastern Europe and in the United States. The affiliation balance may turn in favor of the Jewish community in the case of some Latin American countries such as Mexico or Venezuela where the incidence of out-marriage is quite low. Conversions to Judaism prompted by marriage pose problems of identity in the present and following generations. Some data on ex-Jews and persons of mixed (Jewish and non-Jewish) origin are available from Germany. In relation to 100 infants born to all Jewish couples including the out-married, those with only one parent whose religion was recorded as Jewish were 13 percent in Prussia during 1925–28 and 51 percent in West Germany during 1951–64 (both figures do not include illegitimate births by Jewish women). According to the Nazi census of 1939, 307,600 persons of Jewish religion were enumerated in Germany, Austria, and the Sudeten region, but there were a total of 330,600 "Jews according to race" and another 112,600 "mixed" persons with one or two Jewish grandparents of whom only 7,200 were Jews by religion. From the accession of the Nazis to power in Germany until that census (1933–39), the number of Jews by religion had dropped to less than one-half in the enumerated areas, mainly through emigration. It may be assumed that the relative extent of emigration was smaller for the other categories of persons with one or two Jewish grandparents. It might be roughly conjectured that their number corresponded to about one-quarter of the Jews by religion at the beginning of the 1930s. Glimpses of the traditional marriage patterns of the Jews in Asia and Africa are found in Israel statistics, particularly in the data of the 1961 population census (see Table 6). First marriages had been practically universal and occurred at an early age, especially among the girls, and remarriage was frequent, primarily because of the rather high mortality. Among the Table 6: Marriage Patterns of Jews in Asia-Africa (Persons who Immigrated to Israel), 1961 Source: Israel Population Census, 1961, vols. 22, 32. Country Of Birth Age at Marriage1 Percent Ever Married at age 45–493 Percent Married More than Once by Age 65+3 Mean Age Percent Married Young2 Men 1Age at first marriage of persons who married before migration to Israel. 2Married up to age 19 for men, and up to age 17 for women. 3Per 100 persons born in Asia-Africa and living in Israel in 1961. Asia and Africa – total 24.2 22 97 24 Thereof: Yemen, Aden 20.8 44 99 43 Iraq 26.5 15 95 16 Iran 24.3 22 98 29 Turkey 25.8 10 99 21 Egypt 26.5 7 95 15 Libya 23.5 22 97 22 Tunisia, 24.0 19 99 24 Algeria Morocco, 22.5 27 99 22 Tangier Women Asia and Africa – total 19.4 39 98 10 Thereof: Yemen, Aden 17.0 55 97 20 Iraq 19.8 36 97 6 Iran 18.4 48 99 12 Turkey 23.1 14 97 10 Egypt 21.8 19 95 13 Libya 19.3 37 (100) 7 Tunisia, 20.7 27 99 7 Algeria Morocco, 17.4 54 99 12 Tangier Asian-African Jews enumerated in Israel in 1961, the proportion of individuals who had married at an early age was particularly high among those married in Yemen. Yet, the Israel data also show some rise in the age of Asian and African Jews at first marriage in the period prior to the mass migration to Israel and a higher marriage age among the better educated. Out-marriages were apparently rare among the Jews in Asia and Africa. In Mandatory Palestine and Israel, virtually all Jews have been in the habit of marrying, including those of European origin. The marriage age of the Jews from Asia and Africa went up, especially among women; the marriage age of the Jews from Europe, on the other hand, somewhat dropped and a tendency clearly emerged toward standardization of the respective patterns of all Jews in Israel. Out-marriage was rare in Israel until the arrival of a substantial number of non-Jewish immigrants in the framework of the major exodus from the former Soviet Union after 1989. Data on Jewish divorces can be obtained from statistics reflecting current registration of such events or from information supplied by censuses and surveys on the composition of a Jewish population according to marital status. Sources of the latter kind usually show a higher proportion of divorced persons among women than among men, because of the greater tendency of men to remarry. In comparing the frequency of divorce among Jews and the general population of a country in the Diaspora, the religious orientation of the latter and prevailing legal arrangements must be taken into account. The Roman Catholic Church does not permit divorce, whereas it is not infrequent in Muslim societies. In some countries a status of separation is recognized. For an assessment of the relative frequency of divorce among the Diaspora Jews of European origin, their urbanization and socioeconomic stratification must be taken into consideration. The data available point to an increase in divorce in the Jewish populations of Europe and America during the 20th century but there were considerable differences between various countries in the actual proportion of divorced Jews. There also were marked differences between countries in the relative frequency of divorce among the Jews and among the general population, respectively. In Canada, an increase in the proportion of divorced Jews occurred from 1931 to 1961, and the Jews there had somewhat higher proportions of divorces than the general population. In the United States, considerable differences emerged in the extent of divorce among Jews according to the data available from local studies. The overall prevalence of divorce was lower among Jews than among the total U.S. population, but over time Jews tended to close that gap. Divorce was not rare among the Jews in Asia and Africa. Data on birth and on fertility can be derived either from current statistics, based on registration of the births that take place, or from censuses and surveys. In the latter case, retrospective questions may be asked about the children born to each woman. Failing such a specific inquiry, the sex-age distribution obtained from a census or population survey permits calculation of the "fertility ratio" also called "child-woman ratio" which is the ratio of the number of young children alive to the number of women of reproductive age. For improved measurement, child mortality up to the date of enumeration is accounted for. The average number of children living in each family is a rough indication obtainable from censuses. The ratio between the number of 0–4-year-old children and that of 5–9-year-old children shows recent changes in the frequency of births. In Europe, the birth rate of the Jews was, on the whole, high in the past. As early as the first half of the 19th century, however, birth rates found among the Jews were somewhat lower than those among the general population in some countries and cities of Central Europe. In large parts of Eastern Europe, the birth rate of the Jews continued to be very high and similar to that of the respective general populations until near the end of the 19th century. The Jews preceded the general population of their countries of residence in the reduction of natality and in the adoption of family planning through birth control methods. The reasons for this differential may be the above-mentioned greater concentration of Jews in those social strata which, in general, reduced births more rapidly such as the urban, were better educated, engaged in white-collar occupations; the fact that mortality of the Jews went down more rapidly causing Jewish families to experience the economic pressure exercised by the survival of more children at an earlier date; possibly also the greater concern of Jews for the proper upbringing of their children, as well as the eagerness of Jews for upward social mobility, and other related factors. The decrease in Jewish births was a gradual process. In some countries, however, it proceeded rather quickly. In Europe, this development spread, on the whole, from west to east. As early as the eve of World War I, there were cities in Europe where the Jewish birth rate had dropped so low that it was barely able to balance the current deaths. This situation intensified in the 1920s and became still more acute and widespread during the general slump in births in the 1930s when the economic and political crisis was aggravated for the Jews in Europe by ever more menacing manifestations of antisemitism. In North America as well, the high fertility of the Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe quickly gave way to drastic birth limitation. Retrospective fertility data, subsequently obtained in the United States and Canada, show that Jewish women who had spent their most fertile years during the 1930s and early 1940s had borne, on the average, less than two children – not enough for demographic replacement. Then the Shoah overtook European Jewry; births became rare and most young children perished. After World War II, Jews in Western Europe, America, and Australia participated in the "baby boom" characteristic of those years. The survivors in Europe had the special reason of wishing to reconstitute their families. However, this upsurge of natality among the Jews was rather short-lived. In the United States by the late 1950s and in Western Europe by the early 1960s it was followed by another decline in births. In Eastern Europe, barely any postwar birth-rate recovery emerged. The ensuing data from all over the world show that natality and fertility were lower among Jews than among the general population of their respective countries of residence. This can be seen from decreasing absolute figures and crude birth rates, as well as from the age breakdown of Jewish children (the ratio of 0–4-year-olds to 5–9-year-olds), according to censuses and surveys. It is true that the age structure of the Jewish adults was unfavorable to current births, because the prospective mothers belonged to the comparatively small cohorts born during the great slump in births of the 1930s. But when the age composition turned to be more favorable to Jewish natality for a while as the comparatively large cohorts born during the "baby boom" around 1950 were reaching procreative age, the expected rise in the Jewish birth rate did only partially materialize. Fertility indicators which are less affected by the actual age composition, also pointed to a decline in Jewish fertility. Indeed, birth rates and fertility levels also registered declines in the general population of many technologically advanced countries during the 1950s or 1960s, and even more significantly during the 1970s. Low fertility levels, anticipated by Jewish populations, lead nearer to, or aggravate, insufficient demographic replacement all across developed countries. There are variations in the actual levels of fertility and natality of Jews throughout their global geographical dispersion. Yet these levels are universally rather low when assessed as a source for the growth, or even for the mere maintenance, of Jewish population size. The present low fertility of the Jews in most Diaspora countries is a major cause of concern for the demographic future of large sections of the Jewish people. Among Jews of European origin in Mandatory Palestine and Israel, there was a rapid decline in fertility in the 1920s and 1930s to a low at about 1940. Yet the crude birth rate remained substantial because of the comparatively young age composition of this immigrant population. There, too, a "baby boom" was followed by a renewed drop in fertility; however, fertility remained above replacement level. It is noteworthy that the European Jews who immigrated after the establishment of the State of Israel increased their fertility from its level abroad, which was quite insufficient for demographic replacement, to a level which, though moderate, was sufficient for this end. The Jews of Asia and Africa used to have high fertility in their countries of residence. Retrospective data from Israel on fertility of immigrants abroad prior to immigration show that women gave birth to six or seven children on the average. Though differentiation of fertility according to educational level of women had already set in, the great majority of women had not attended school or had reached only low educational attainment and were very prolific. Jews in Egypt and Turkey had markedly lower fertility, just as they differed in socioeconomic status from other Asian-African Jews. The overwhelming majority of the Jews from Asia and Africa moved to Israel or to France and other countries of Europe and America. Israel data show a rapid fertility decline throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s under the influence of the new surroundings, and similar developments took place in other countries where the socioeconomic status of Jewish migrants from Asia and Africa was generally higher than that of their peers who had moved to Israel. Illegitimate births, insofar as statistical data are available, were on the whole less frequent among Jews than among the respective general populations. However, percentages of such births recorded from Central Europe in the period between the world wars and again in recent decades were not negligible. An altogether different matter was the lack of an officially recognized status for many religious Jewish marriages in some parts of Eastern Europe, which led to the offspring of such unions being registered by the authorities as "illegitimate." In the past, mortality, and especially child mortality, was so high as to almost offset high fertility; as a consequence, natural increase was small and population growth was slow. On the whole, this may also be presumed to have been the situation of the Jews before the modern demographic evolution. As mortality declined, while fertility continued to be high or at least moderately high, considerable natural increase was generated. This was the demographic situation of most of European Jewry during a great part of the 19th century. East European Jewry, which adopted widespread birth control comparatively late, displayed natural increase on such a substantial scale that its numbers rose from about five and a half million to seven million during 1880–1914, despite the emigration of more than 2,500,000 persons overseas or to Western Europe. As the Jews had preceded the general population of their countries of residence in the reduction of mortality, they enjoyed, for a considerable time, relatively higher natural increase. When the subsequent fertility decline among Jews became more acute, their natural increase dwindled and became smaller than that of the corresponding general populations. Extreme instances were Jewish populations in Central Europe that already had a yearly surplus of deaths over births from some time in the 1920s before the accession of the Nazis to power. In the United States and Canada in the 1930s, Jewish fertility was insufficient for demographic replacement in the long run. The Shoah liquidated not only about one-third of the Jewish people, but also had aftereffects that were highly detrimental to the further demographic development of the survivors. Distortions in the age-sex distribution and the reduced size of the Jewish communities extant in Europe or scattered through migration to other regions of the Diaspora enhanced the chances of out-marriages with their consequent demographic losses to the Jewish people. After the short-lived Jewish "baby-boom" following World War II, the growth prospects of Jewish Diaspora populations became far from encouraging. In Central and Western Europe all the evidence shows an outright deficit in the balance of births and deaths. For Eastern Europe including the Soviet Union, direct evidence and statistics available on the age composition of immigrants to Israel show that fertility was long below replacement level. As regards the Jews in the United States and Canada, a decline in births since the late 1950s and early 1960s is clearly documented. It is evident that the rate of natural increase cannot be very considerable. This is also the conclusion from data available for South Africa and Australia. The small natural increase, or even decrease, of Diaspora Jews is the more disquieting from the viewpoint of the demographic future of the Jewish people. Since World War II, and more especially since the 1970s when an unmistakable tendency to increasing out-marriages and some withdrawals emerged, a small natural increase in a Jewish population became insufficient to maintain Jewish population size irrespective of migratory influences. Aggravating circumstances were low fertility; advanced aging; out-marriages and withdrawals. Only by viewing all of these negative factors together, is a realistic picture obtained of the demographic situation and perspectives of most Jewish Diaspora communities in Europe, North America, and other overseas countries. Until mass emigration following Israel's independence in 1948, the Jews in Asia and Africa were in a stage of rapid and accelerating demographic expansion. Exceptions to this generalization were presented by the Yemenites, whose mortality was still too high to leave much room for natural increase, and on the other hand, the Jews in Turkey and Egypt, whose fertility had already been reduced considerably. The first effect of migration to Israel and to France was a reduction in mortality, which boosted natural increase for a while; however, the fertility decline, which soon set in, operated in the opposite direction. While the transfer of many Jews from Asia and Africa to Israel, France, etc., raised the average fertility and natural increase among the Jewish population in the receiving countries, it tended to lower the fertility and natural increase of the Jewish people as a whole. Into the 21st Century Over the last quarter of the 20th century, distinct erosion in conventional marriage patterns among Jews reflected similar general trends among developed Western societies. Propensities to marry significantly diminished. An increase in unmarried couples living together overwhelmingly composed by one Jewish and one non-Jewish partner in the Diaspora, did not compensate for fewer and later marriages. Divorce rates increased and tended to approach the higher rates of non-Jews. In Israel such trends were more conservative, but they could be observed too, as demonstrated by the presence of over one million non-married individuals among the adult Jewish population around 2005. Among Jews who married since the 1990s, in the United States 50 percent or more had a non-Jewish partner, between 35 and 45 percent did in France and the U.K., and higher percentages approaching 70 and 80 percent did in the FSU and other Eastern European countries. The differential frequency of out-marriages of Jewish men and women tended to disappear, equalling the higher levels previously recorded for men. The majority of children of out-marriages were not identified as Jews. During the 1990s, similar relatively low proportions of children of out-marriages (about 20 percent) were identified by the respective parents as Jewish in Russia (with rather underdeveloped Jewish community resources), as in the United States (with highly developed Jewish resources). In 2001, that percent had risen to about one-third in the U.S. As a compound consequence, the configuration of Jewish households was characterized by an increasing share different from the conventional nuclear family inclusive of two Jewish parents living with their Jewish children. In the Diaspora this comprised an ever smaller minority of all Jewish households. In a general context of low and declining death rates, life expectancy at birth surpassed 80 years for women and 75 for men. Fertility was quite stable among Jews in Israel, while it turned to be about one half lower among the rest of Jewish communities worldwide. The latter reflected or even often anticipated the general decline of fertility in the more developed countries. Jews in Israel were an exception, becoming with 2.6–2.7 children on average the population with the highest fertility among developed nations. Jews from similar countries of origin who migrated to Israel or to Europe ended up adopting the quite different social norms and behaviors on fertility of their countries of absorption. In Israeli society, community was an important intervening factor in fertility trends resulting in larger families than could be found among Jews with similar backgrounds that moved to other countries. Cultural, religious, and community related determinants of higher fertility in Israel led to a unique surplus of natural increase and helped to maintain a comparatively young age composition among the Jewish population. The number of Jewish births in Israel was higher than the number of Jewish deaths by over 45,000 in 1990, by over 58,000 in 2001, and by over 67,000 in 2004. In the Diaspora low fertility was the main determinant of rapid Jewish population aging. This in turn significantly contributed to a negative balance between Jewish births and deaths. Among the better documented examples, in the Russian Republic the number of Jewish deaths exceeded the number of Jewish births by over 10,000 in 1988, and by 7,600 in 2000 among a greatly diminished Jewish population. In Germany, the excess of Jewish deaths over Jewish births was over 300 in 1990, and had grown nearly over threefold in 2004 while the Jewish population itself had grown by three thanks to the steady inflow of immigrants from the FSU. In the U.K., each year the number of Jewish deaths surpassed by over 1,000 the number of Jewish births. The spiral of low fertility, aging, and partial erosion of the younger generation through the non-affiliation with Judaism of a large portion of the children of out-marriage foreshadowed significant further changes in the demographic profile of world Jewry. While the world's developing countries continue to experience fast population growth rates and also the populations of many of the technologically advanced countries recorded substantial growth – increasingly due to international migration rather than to natural increase – the Jewish Diaspora at the beginning of the 21st century was in a rather precarious demographic situation. Thanks to the persisting natural increase in Israel, world Jewish population kept close to zero population growth. See also *Demography; *Migrations; *Population; *Statistics .

In a forum, I asked a question: Why God created atheists? Now I ask, why man created God? Why did you create the big question mark? Man created God to control the people. Man created Laws to control the people. Without these controls more people would be running amuck, then just the ones that don't fear the law or God. So, what you're saying is: God = Laws | Laws = Gods? people create both God and laws to control people With the creation of God, people control people With the creation of God, people control society. I heard that the penalty for bigamy is - you will get an extra Mother-in-Law for your sins! I don't think people would run a muck without God but they are easier to control. To explain what he was unable to explain, to give himself a bigger purpose, to scare children and reward obedience, to control the masses. Freud hypothesized that man creates God after he realizes that his mortal father is not really a superbeing, hence he creates God as a proxy replacement. He details this theory in his book, The Future of an Illusion. The problem with forums, is that it is like a room full of people talking at the same time, with no one really listening. I can't make sense of the flow in forums. Like this one, I have no idea what results is brings to the question. No man would have created the God of the Bible. He behaves too differently from the man-made gods of other cultures. Yes. Chris, "He" behaves differently from many of the bigots who masquerade as followers of Jesus. I have seen so much unintelligent, egotistical nonsense in these few Hubs recently, that it is mostly a waste of time and energy responding to them. Show me a christian person who is sincerely a follower of goodness, patience, kindness, non-judgmental and knowledgeable about homosexuality, and WE all will be listening and warming to him or her. When christians complain that atheists are ganging up on them, they should not be surprised. Ignorance is one thing; spouting false claims and presenting them as universal fact is another. You and I have had reasonable discussions here. Others have done likewise. So it is not like there is no reasonableness around. I completely agree, but sometimes reasonableness means knowing when to agree to disagree. I value the conversations I have with you and some others, and don't kid myself that I'm "evangelizing" you or anybody else. Nor do I kid myself that sometimes believers aren't guilty of the same type of behavior that they accuse atheists of. I've gotten bogged down in useless arguments because I needed to be "right." But, just as surely as sometimes an atheist can learn from a believer, so too can sometimes believers learn (good things, I should point out) from nonbelievers. God(s) was/were created to give an explanation to the world when no other explanation can be reached due to simple observation. Along these simple observations, the idea of a flat earth being the center of the universe. The god worshiped by Jews, Christians and Muslims is believed to be a combination of gods worshiped by the Ancient Eqyption Cults since Judism was based on these Egyptian cults and in turn, Christianity and Islam are based on Judism. In modern times, renowned physicist Stephen Hawking and co-author Leonard Mlodinow state in their book, 'The Grand Design', that it is reasonable to ask who or what created the universe, but if the answer is God, then the question has merely been deflected to that of who created God. In this view it is accepted that some entity exists that needs no creator, and that entity is called God. This is known as the first-cause argument for the existence of God. Both authors claim however, that it is possible to answer these questions purely within the realm of science, and without invoking any divine beings. Man did not create God. God created the universe and all that is in it. Can I prove it no, but I accept it as a matter of faith. If there was no God, we would have no moral compass, there would be no peace anywhere, scientific advancement would be decades or centuries behind where it is today. God created man and gave him free will. The free will to make his own decisions, to decided if he did or did not believe in God and if he was going to follow his rules. God did not create atheists. God created men of free will and some chose not to believe in God and thus they are atheists. Do I accept the Adam and Eve story--not completely. There is a second story of creation in Genius where God creates man, not a man or the man, but man as in mankind. For awhile man enjoyed paradise. The whole world could had been the Garden of Eden. God was not obeyed and man was cast out of the garden. Did he demote man to a sub species that would have to evolve through evolution and learn on his own the blessing that God had bestowed--very possible. Did man develop from a lower species. I am sure he did. Was it the Great Ape. It could be. So you ask why do we still have Great Apes. There could had been two species of the Great Ape, with one important difference. One species had a soul and it was that species that developed into present day man. These are my opinions and I cannot prove them. I think they are feasible. I do know and it is based on Faith that God is real and created the earth, its inhabitants and the universe. We may never know how or why while we are on this earth. When our time is up and we meet our maker, perhaps everything will become clear to us in an instant. Again, it is all based on faith. So we go back to people would've all destroyed themselves without God? I hardly believe that, especially considering how long the world survived without Christianity to begin with, and how much better it was doing at that time! If you say so. Errant thinking, a deliberate misquotation on your part. God created man and woman at the same exact time in Genesis 1 before creating Adam and Eve. I'm not attempting to defend Christianity here. But, how do you figure the world was doing better prior to Christianity? I consider that to be an odd statement. What was better about it? No, in my bible, the first creation story is Adam and Eve, the second creation story is about man and woman. I was not quoting directly and if you though I was trying to mislead that is possible. God still existed before Christianity. God has always existed. Do I think we would all be rioting like animals, I don't think so. However, without a moral compass and without the hope of a heavenly reward, i.e. salvation and forgiveness of out sins, I am not sure everyone would be on their best behavior. There was no deliberate misquotation but I did make a mistake about the order of the creation stories. I apologize for that error, but I assure you it was unintentional. It does not change my belief that God created Man and man did not create God. Man has created many false gods, But the Real God has always existed. There has been countless gods since man started creating them. One is no better than the other since they all came from the same source, man's imagination. "If there was no God, we would have no moral compass, there would be no peace anywhere, scientific advancement would be decades or centuries behind where it is today." LOL! Technology seemed to do very well in the ancient world without God. China did very well in the early years along with other great civilizations. Actually Christianity was responsible for stifling a lot of advancements in science. Remember it was considered anti god to say something crazy like the earth was not the center of the universe and vacuums do exits during the church controlled Middle Age? Also the non funding of stem cell research during Bush’s reign. There has been countless wars, slaughters, witch hunts, inquisitions, and many more examples of senseless murders in the name of God for the last 2000 years. No one needs a god to tell them murder is wrong, anyone with half a brain can figure that out themselves. Isn't living someone else's fantasy wonderful? You can believe whatever you like, I would rather believe what is true. Man created God, I have proof of this. Depending on the region you will get a different God or Gods or set of philosophical religious beliefs. Hence, whey Christian God never went to Australia, North or South America, Lower Africa, or anywhere else, until the Christians went to them. Hence, why there are over 20 different religions, many still practiced to this day and far older than the Judeo/Christian Religion. Hence, why science has yet to find a need for God in any part or function of the Universe and most physicists have no religious beliefs what so ever. Hence, why History and Geology, and Anthropology and Archeology and Astronomy contradict everything the Bible says about the "genesis" of the world and the universe. You can believe in your God, have faith in your God but the honest answer is, you just don't know, you don't have any of the facts because you deny looking because you KNOW you won't find God in any of the answers. God was created to control people like you. In my understanding, the Garden of Eden story was: 1. a story to describe how the world came into existence. 2. a description of an ideal world in which everything was in total harmony. 3. an ageless metaphorical explanation of how we humans built up, or dug, our own set of problems. It happened because we learned (evolved?) to think, to reason, to forecast, to ponder our choices. With this freedom came infinite worry and anguish. We entered the world of Hell. Without the free choice we could have simply existed and enjoyed the fruits of the Garden. That fruit of that "Tree" was what gave us the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The seed of the Tree has grown in us, exponentially, ever since. The fear of making a wrong choice is the hole which each of us digs for our self. The Buddhist Way points in the direction we need to travel, i.e., making the right choice. In fact any choice can be the "right" one but the Journey always starts from NOW. Be still in the Moment and know that I AM. Jesus said the same thing! People created God to control the people and People created laws to control the people So the modicum of peace, as little as it is was the result of the people and not God. The problem with Faith is that without a foundation to support it, is just blind faith. If you have faith in your child doing well at school, it is because you see something that the child is done, and from that you extrapolate the faith into the next event for the child. But with the biblical God, there is no foundation for faith. The world today is chaotic, and evil, and this is the way it was since recorded history. The reason for the no change is because the people have not changed since recorded history. There is little if any correlation between the Old Testament and the New Testament, except that they were both written by many people, over a long period of time, and way after any of the events that they were writing about in it. Faith and Higher Intelligence are diametrically opposite. If a God exists, it should be able to be found through intelligent queries and investigations, rather that referencing ancient dubious documents. If a God wanted faithful servants, they would be dogs. Even the bible admits that the angels weren't faithful. They according to the bible have seen God and all that he has to offer, and yet a third of them left him and Heaven. Also according to the bible, Evil could not exist without God. just some thoughts... Its interesting that the question mark appears to be a full stop with a spirit, genie or cobra arising from it. Who rubbed the dot? The smartest caveman in the Cave created God to explain why natural events that had been killing them, like floods earthquake and etc were happening. The smartest caveman created adult fairy tales for the other cave people to follow his power trip. To ask why man created God suggests man has the ability to create, like God. So, I hypothesize man created God to explain his own power, which he could only learn by studying apart from himself. These God questions on hubpages sure do draw a lot of responses, don't they? Yes religion questions do draw a lot of debate. Freedom of religion is one of our rights as American citizens. On HubPages that right is questioned, supported, ridiculed and sometimes ignored. No doubt early man created false gods. The Greeks certainly did, as did the Egyptians and others. I know God saved my life once by making sure the right doctors and nurses were with me. There was one critical moment where I was losing ground. A supervising nurse from another floor happen to walk by my room, saw my condition and had a team of professionals working on me in no time. I was not her patient. It was not even her floor and every supervisor did not command the respect she had throughout the hospital. They were able to get me under before I went into a coma. You may call it luck, coincidence or something else. Trust me, it was a miracle that she was there at just the right time, or I would not be here today to argue these points. "No doubt early man created false gods. The Greeks certainly did, as did the Egyptians and others." All Gods are false, Your particular God has no trace of even existing before some of these "other" "false" Gods.... why? Because he is also false. You can believe God did whatever you like, doesn't make it true, doesn't actually bring comfort except in the face of total ignorance to reality you seem to have to how the universe and everything in it functions. Sorry I don't mean to seem like I am attacking you, I mean nothing personal by it, I do come off as all sorts of bad things. Arrogant, Smug, Angry, hateful. Trust me I am none of those things... maybe a mad when someone uses God as an excuse to attack the rights of others. Religion, God, is a personal belief, not a public one. If you don't agree with how someone else lives then you can say so but you must move on and stop telling people how they should live when they don't even believe the same as you. (not you specifically, other Christians). The easiest way to control society is to have them believe in a define creator that we never see or meet. However, the rich and wealthy are the ones that have told the people that this creator(god) has confided in them. Based upon this those selected people have created the religions we have today, The grand scale of deception used to control mass groups by using tools such as a sacred scriptures, texts, and books. We are taking the word of humans as its coming from the creator of all. We just trust our fellow humans as if they would never lie or deceit Think about it! I'm sure you will answer to this question with no facts and just theories of your religion which will prove nothing accept ignorance. Larry Wall - You're not very good at making a strong point, aren't you? Much concern about who's right and why, but none over who's co tent now. Very entertaining. I have read through responses to this thread and I am left with a few questions and thoughts. If man created God AND LAW to keep order among the crowds... LAW is often...generally designed to protect the ideals and beliefs of the more powerful human groups, whether powerful elite or powerful majority. GOD is often abused...not used...by man to manipulate the masses into cooperation via fear and whatnot...cooperation with the powerful members within a society. LAW limits human free will. GOD abused by man, whether or not this God is invented, ostracizes certain less influential members within the masses...severely limiting their human free will...oppressing them, so to speak. I have plenty of people who would exemplify that it is certainly not necessary to invoke god in order for individuals to possess a moral compass, promote and maintain peace. And please teach me more expediently: is the divine end of free will merely our decision to "follow a bunch of so-called divine rules?" In my opinion, man makes a beastly god...and I do mean that man creates/invents quite beastly gods... I will end with this: The only mercenary appeal offered us by Jesus Christ was pretty damned shrewd, and would be impossible to indict him over in a courtroom filled with atheists. Here is the mercenary appeal of Jesus Christ: “Let go the grudges you hold against those who have offended you so that your father in heaven will be able to forgive your debt and offence as well.” Humans either invented God(s), or else humans have always possessed an innate desire to...discover the Real McCoy. Actually I am. You may have some issues expressing your views. Your last comment contained a double negative "you are not" and "aren't you" making an answer impossible. No need to reply. I am finished, but do not fear--God loves you. P.S. I let the half of brain comment go by...way to easy to reply to...kind of like the self-made man who stopped too soon. The Question is what if we are all wrong? What if there is no religion that is even close to the big question of why we are here? That is why God watches over us and forgives us for our faults and failures. That didn't even begin to address the question. It almost insultingly ignored the question. Beam me up Scotty, there is no intelligent life on this Planet As far as I am concerned; God is whatever it was that caused all of this to begin in the first place. under this definition, can anyone logically disagree? I can't disagree, but, to me, this is the equivalent of defining a bacon cheeseburger as, "anything that I eat which provides nutrition." Not really ... but using your terminology it is like saying something that is nutricous is a bacon sandwitch ... know what I mean? Edit... Well it is 3 AM and I was just checking in and just had to say something to that which I saw? I love bacon So could I say bacon sandwich is a religious right? I guess I was saying that your definition, to me, seemed like abstracting a fairly specific thing into a very general thing. If you literally have no other definition of God, then I retract my comment. Definition of god to me is the answer to existence. Sorry, but that's a little too nebulous for me to ascertain your meaning. When we transcend we will all understand what God really means to us all and when we do we will then know the meaning to this creation. Think about it We all agree no matter what religion or non religion in some shape or form God is the divine. (creator) No, we don't. This is meaningless as there is no creator. Think about it. in the end I could just be my own divine. Think more about it Or there could be no such thing. Now - actually think about it. A creation is everything. Everything created itself. Even if there is a creator( single entity) that entity had to be created as well. thus leaving me to this final point that everything is the single entity it doesn't make sense for there to be a creator separably creating everything. It would only leave us back to square one with who created the creator. In conclusion everything is the creator of creation. I'm just sayin Chew on those thoughts I didn't mean it in a general term rather the opposite. Whatever the creation thing is; is what some of us call God. We attempt to draw pictures of God (in our minds) and define him in many ways attempting to satisfy our curiosity. These pictures are never accurate while being correct. It is kinda like ... a Mustang is a Ford yet a Ford is not necessarily a Mustang. "God must love us, he invented beer" When humans spend 20xs more on war, than researching energy Then most often these wars are battles over oil and not about all the energy we need just underneath our feet. Then yes I agree, we create our own Hell on earth, led by battles in the name of God, more so than any other reason Whether or not God exists doesn't matter. What matters is that belief or non-belief are personal issues. Each person is and must be free to decide whether or not God exists for him/her. That decision is the right answer for that person and should not be foisted off on any other individual. The "God problem" lies with people who believe they have found the ultimate answer and try to shove it down everyone else's throats! I agree with you 100%. If it weren't for all the religious people trying to force their way of life on others, teaching religion in school, women's rights, anti evolution, religious laws, anti gay, etc etc etc... If it weren't for them I probably wouldn't bother coming to these places to assert my position on the issue. In Matthew, chapter 6, Jesus says to pray privately, do charitable acts privately and fast privately rather than shouting on street corners, announcing your generosity and making sure others see how much you suffer from fasting. He says to do these things for their own reward rather than to get the attention of others. Good advice all around, I say! The only thing I would ad to your reply is that "if it weren't for all the non-religious people trying to force their way of live on others, prohibiting religion in school gay rights, anti-creation, etc, etc, etc. If it weren't for them I probably wouldn't bother coming to these places to assert my opinion. You see what works for one group works for the other group. If you chose not to believe in God, I will accept you and add you to my prayers for all non-believers. If you know that I am a believer, you will do everything you can to try and rattle my faith, make me explain everything that is the wrong in the world and then ignore me when I make a point you cannot challenge. This is going to be my last entry. This hub has gone on long enough and frankly, I do not think anything has been accomplished. I do not believe that one opinion has been change. For us believers, that is a defeat. The non-believers probably consider it a win, because they did not lose any ground. So your reason to coming to an atheist forum is because your a homophobe with issues regarding non-indoctrination and anti-creation. At least you let us know why you dropped in. I wasn't involved in your discussion, but I don't like your use of the word homophobe, it is used to demean, and it is derogatory. It has more to do with the way you use the word, than the word itself. Can you point out his reasoning behind not liking gay people, and being scared of them, without using his religion or anything else that his religion has propagated? If not, then I used it in the complete correct context, regardless of if it's considered derogatory. I am not attacking your views but I questionn your. Assumptions. I believe in evolutionm I think it was part God's plan. I am surprised you put so much faith in court ruling. I greatly resent your facist reference. I do not know where that came from. You ask me to prove what I believe. I believe in God, Jesus and prayer. It is a matter of faith which you either or insist on proof because you do not want to accept apower greater than yourself. He never said anything about not accepting a greater power. Its just hard to not question a faith that was made by man when around the time when man had no intelligent to even create electricity, have a fair trail for the accused, or even invent your optical glasses to improve your blurred visions. Think about it. Cruelkindness (Subliminally Thoughtless) It's hard to attack what someone hasn't expressed to begin with. My views aren't something I share, they are something I lock up tight and keep to myself. The world doesn't need to know them, it doesn't affect anyone elses life, and that's the way that it should be. It's not that I put faith in court ruling so much as I put faith in people. If you don't have faith in people, then I truly feel sorry for you. What fascist reference are you talking about? Are you referring to being a homophobe? I do not know what else to call someone who is so scarred of homosexuals that they have to try and make it illegal, and they think it's ok. Anyone who would rather alienate people then accept them, so that they can feel better about themselves, has some serious issues that needs looking into. That's how it started with Hitler after all. I never asked you to prove what you believe. I've been the believer, and I have overcome the trappings of being such. It's not important to me whether or not a higher authority exists anymore, only how people treat each other. Under no means is it ok to alienate or hurt people because you want to be scared. As for faith, which is only another word for confidence in case you didn't know that, I have confidence and I do not insist on proof. I insist on people rising above the primal instincts of hate and fear. No matter the reason, these are still primal instincts that all men and women should be striving to overcome. Ignorance comes from the ones who no little about the ones they are judging.. Cruelkindness (Subliminally Thoughtless) I judge no one--that is not my place in life. I can disagree, but I do not judge and you cannot produce any evidence to the contrary. Your assumption show your judgmental you said you come to these forums because non-believers are here trying to convert the believers. which lead to you saying I believe in God, Jesus and prayer. It is a matter of faith which you either or insist on proof because you do not want to accept apower greater than yourself. No one said they don't accept the power of a greater than thy self. Let me end this on a question to you Larry Wall. Based on your believes if someone is not christian do you think they are going to reap consequences after death? Cruelkindness (Subliminally Thoughtless) I have never said anything about homosexuals. I have mixed feelings about the marriage of homosexuals. I thought the civil union was a reasonable response. Many did not agree. So you never said the above at all? Seems odd that I can quote it from you and yet you never said anything even remotely like it. Perhaps not shifting stances would be a good idea? A note to Larry. Just as first century Jewish tax collectors, Samaritans, women, prostitutes, and other people who were notorious for being deemed morally inferior...just as these human beings were prevented from fully participating within the heart of their society, so the twenty-first century LGBT community is similarly excluded from participating in the very heart of things within our modern society. Larry, consider Luke 15:1-2, which reads, "Tax collectors and other notorious sinner/criminals often came to listen to Jesus teach. But the morally dominant and superior religious leaders--and teachers of the Law--would often lurk in the bushes, grumbling bitterly over the fact that Jesus Christ would choose to associate with such outcasts...even break bread and eat with them!" Therefore--if you study further--Jesus turned to these morally superior religious guys and told three stories: the story of the lost sheep, the story of the lost coin, and the story of the lost son. What LOGIC do you believe Christ was attempting to convey to these morally superior holy guys when he told them these three stories, Larry? No ins is forcing these rights on you?!?!? People are trying to have these rights. There is no hypocrisy here. You haven't lost any rights in any of these issues or ever will! Your statement is a complete lie and you sit are a liar! Non religious people have not forced any of these things on you. In a public forum then the non religious or other religious views are all valid or private. Hence the word secular because it pertains to no philosophical view. Gay rights doesn't affect you. No one projibits religion in school but whose religion? Yours? Public school is not for religious practices or teachings! That is a private matter! Creationism has already been proven to be a fraud in three court cases! You can tell it to the next person because if this is your stance it's fascist and not Christian! You think about what it is I am here for! I am not forcing you to believe as I do I am asking you to prove that what you believe is valid if you expect me to believe anything you have to say! These forums are neither religious or atheist they are for everyone to discuss these issues. Evolution vs creationism???? Court has solved this. Gay rights??? Again have nothing to do with either of us and don't effect either of us. Everyone has the right to be with whomever they wish and it's none of our business who it is!!! I could careless what you believe and I don't care about "rattling your faith" it doesn't matter to me. If this nation were primarily Islamic you'd hear me talking about that but do I? Or what about hinduism?? Have I said one word??? No! It doesn't effect me. It's rules and laws are not an issue. I have always challenge any point you had that has been "valid" so far you don't have a valid point. The only reason your opinion has not been "swayed" is because you ignore evidence out of fear of losing your faith. That's your problem and I don't care. But the second people like you tell my children they can't learn what science uses because it's against your religion. Or force them to pray or fear them to pray in a secular school or hand bibles out in front of their school. Then it offends me. Try doing that in a Jewish school or an Islamic school, I dare you! Stay out of secular society where people of all faiths and no faiths can come to learn and live without forcing their beliefs on each other. That is my goal. Not to end christianity or religion but to stop it from attacking the quest for scholarship in science and actual history! I beg to differ, religions have there members ride around on bike looking to convert or going door to door or advertising on the web or tv. Who pushes who's ideas on who? We heard these believes before are you willing to be open to some new ideas? I'm just saying Remember Frustration leads to Aggression. Um... Why do wars star again? Cruelkindness (Subliminally Thoughtless) Larry, your Win/Lose attitude sums the problem up in a nutshell. Live and let live is a respectful win/win attitude. Larry, I sincerely hope that your life lives up to your christian convictions. I mean, do you conduct your business affairs in absolute honesty? In a selfless way? Do you do your utmost to work for your client's benefit? Do you see every human who comes into your field of expertise as genuinely human, and not inferior in any way? Or do you compartmentalize humans into white, black, rich, poor, worker, dole-bludgeon, hetero/queer, young/old, etc.? Because, Sir, to be quite honest, living the life of Christ is much more important than talking about it. An example lived will do much more good than a proclamation of belief. Which Gods are you referring to? How do you know they are all created by man? A self existing reality, being, intelligence...(among other things lol) This kind of being can't be created by humans. Extra gods, made up ones COULD be made up, and in that sense are man made creations. And your conviction was all 'existing realities', beings and intelligence needs creation! Rather then fighting the system of 90% of the people that believe or think there is or most likely a God OR gods out there. Why not? make everyone god because each one of us do best when we serve ourselves first, in order to serve others better. We all are spiritual being first, sometime having low energy human experiences. Other ways to look at it. is the kingdom of heaven is within each one of us and we all are co creators with God. Why seek answers from so called spiritual leaders who make false promises and mess with the truth. Only 3% Christian go to church regularly anyways, and it works better when we can think for ourselves Serving some other God first, makes us all slaves to over obedience of mysterious we will never know or get much closer answer toward them. I am king of my own domain, how about you guys out there, are you a god too? If I am a god, I must be the most incompetent of them all. If I could invent WIMPs (so-called exotic particles that hypothetically make up dark matter, and could involve more than three-dimensions...which might come in handy for building a time machine)...and if I could create an amino acid...or better yet, an entire alphabet of amino acids...so that I could more effectively re-code my own DNA, then I think I would code it such that I might prove to be a more competent god. (not neglecting to mention, hee-hee) The universe (er, I mean...the multi-verse) certainly causes me to long for some alien intelligence who is socially brilliant, and who would open his/her castle door to me once he/she was finished making his/her preparations for...something...something that is BETTER than, this. And I am not an unhappy person. It is just that I know too much information. Here, let me unload that information so that everyone on this forum can "know it" with me. There are people alive today who have no clean drinking water, people on this planet who will not be able to find food today, people who are sick and without doctor or medicine. I do what I can to help. I think we all do. Still, it just seems that if all 7 billion of us put all of our resources into solving this sort of stuff, as opposed to building Hadron Colliders that are supposed to solve the riddles of our material reality...if we turned as much effort and resource toward helping the desperately poor, I think we would ALL probably start looking more like Jesus Christ. That is to say, we would all start looking a lot more like the sort of gods all good creatures can do business with. Heck, we may NEVER solve the horrific problem of desperate poverty, but I'd bet my Jeep that THIS would bring the marriage of God to Religion permanently to end, once and for all. It would put love into business. And it would isolate the intelligence responsible for amino acids and DNA so we could see him/her for what he/she truly is. I mean, lets face it. The skeptics are right, guy. Even if God exists...we religious folk have ruined Him. We have turned God into something he absolutely IS NOT. And we've done it with religion. Which is all they have been saying. Man invented God...and keeps amending and changing and inventing ad nauseam. A deceit challenge, You pray to a super natural God, AND what do you get.. About a 50/50 chance it will happen, yet when you think of yourself as God you have a much BETTER chance with confidence you will succeed and I have been right with my dream list for 85% of the time for the pass 30 years What ever works I am attracted to approaching questions about a God/Creator with the "what if" disposition. I find it very unlikely that any one group or individual has the emphatic scoop on such a reality, if indeed it does exist. The only human being who appeared to have the most credible authority on the matter of a God/Creator was the man written about in those for first century canonized NEWS reports, some of which were authored by a rather motley crew of journalists (Matt, Mark, Luke, John); namely, the much rumored about Jesus Christ. Someone commented something along the lines, "too bad Christians do not actually follow after Jesus Christ." So true. Sad, yes, but true. In fact, of the Christians currently reading this, raise your hand if you find it quite facile to actually live the way Christ lived? To become suddenly UNMINDFUL of your own reputation, while taking up society with those among us who have been been pushed out of the heart of things? To literally lose everything because of your focused concern and association with the most despised among us? THIS was what Christ did, and THIS he commissioned us to do. He did not commission us to shove some religion down people's throats. He did not commission us to colonize our beliefs onto non-consenting others. Oh--and raise your hand if you have ever taken Christ's suggestion to us for being shrewd...or persistent to the full hilt of those extremely risky commissions...while also going just as full hilt in being gentle as doves? Truth be told, none of us finds that following Christ's model comes naturally. None of us, whether believer or no. But he was more spot on in the LOGIC he conveyed to the world concerning God/Creator than any before or since...that is, if one takes the time to actually thoughtfully study his teaching...his lectures...his parables...his works. Christians may not be very "believable," but Christ's LOGIC was pretty freaking shrewd. Christ's LOGIC was almost irresistibly believable! In a similar vein of thought, I wonder how people dressed up in flowing, theatrical garb; genuflecting to a picture or a glass of wine; puffing smoke around the place; repeating the same old songs week after week - etc., etc., can have anything to do with what that person Jesus was talking about. When people sit around, using off-the-cuff prayers with the intent of speaking to "god," most of the time they are really talking to their neighbour in the room. It's a sly way of telling him/her what they should be doing to tidy up their lives and become more acceptable. Nothing to do with spirituality. "We just thank thee, Lord...." What a load of dribble! Indeed! Jesus was co-opted by the rich and powerful a long time ago, and thus the Catholic church was created. Interesting that you should say this, because--according to first century journalistic rumor, Jesus Christ chose to found a society that he had supposedly named, his "church," upon relationships he built with a small society of poor, outcasts who were notorious for being morally inferior--while he (JC) systematically (and repeatedly) referred to the morally dominant and superior--not to mention, powerful and wealthy--religious leaders of this time as a "brood of vipers" whose father was "the father of lies." Each has own belief and opinion. No one can brag you about what you believe and don't believe. Man is created equal by God. If you find yourself higher, does this mean you have an atheist mind coz you don't open your mind to reasoning? Man creates gods to fit what he wants them to be for him. Anything you worship is a god for you. If you believe in the one true God, you won't create your own god. Men enjoy sin, if they want to keep sinning and justify it, they need to create a god that will fit around the sins they like. by Vanessa 2 years ago Do you believe that God created man or man created God?I do not know what I believe, but I want to hear peoples beliefs and reasons. by pisean282311 7 years ago what r ur views on this...why do u think humans create god? by shuck72 4 years ago If God created the universe, what was God doing before he created the universe? Thoughts?I recently watched the documentary The Unbelievers where the reknowned Atheist, Richard Dawkins posed this question. by Suzanne Sheffield 7 years ago If God created the universe and everything in it, why did he create demons? by Thesource 8 years ago When God created man, did he know what he was getting into? Does he have regrets or is he pleased?If God knows everything, the past present and future, why did proceed in creating man when he knew in advance that they will do what they are doing now? by LewSethics 7 years ago This god so many people insist is real sounds like a complex thing. Complex things don't just spring out of nowhere or assemble themselves, so it was probably created by a higher form, because nothing complex can exist without a creator, or so you tell me.Where does it end? Sooner or... Copyright © 2019 HubPages Inc. and respective owners. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. 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Remember the prime minister’s speech in Munich attacking multiculturalism exactly one year ago? We take a look here at the way opponents of his ‘muscular liberalism’ thesis have been considering the issue in the 12 months since.. We are a year on from Mr Cameron’s famous speech in Munich in which he issued a broadside against ‘state multiculturalism’. On that occasion he set out the view that “a much more active, muscular liberalism” was needed to counter what he saw as a tendency for groups to fall back into ethnic ghettos. The danger of “extremism” loomed large in this situation, with the finger firmly pointed as radical Islam as the source for all this discontent. The speech encouraged counterblasts from a number of commentators and activists who were prepared to defend the concept of multiculturalism and insist that it has a role to play in informing our viewpoints on who we can live together in diverse ethnic societies. Multiculturalism: A very short introduction by Ali Rattansi is the most accessible of the defences mounted on behalf of the subject. Drawing on the range of thinking that has gone on this area, Rattansi makes the case that whatever else multiculturalism is, it is not a dogmatic political programme pursued without reference to the real circumstances people and communities find themselves in. To that extent, it is unhelpful to say, as the prime minister did in his Munich speech, that multiculturalist policies have failed, because the approach has not given rise to a definite set of policies as such. He lists other unjust claims, such as it giving rise to a dogmatically asserted notion of ‘group rights’ which the minority can assert to get its way against the majority community. Rattansi sees no evidence that has happened in the UK. Concessions occasionally won by some groups, such as religious Sikhs to wear turbans instead of motorcycle crash helmets, or with workplaces respecting Muslim or Jewish holidays, are not group rights since their benefit (or inconvenience) accrues only to individuals from within the respective communities who wish to make use of them. For the non Sikh, Muslim or Jew, and for the non-religious amongst those communities, life goes on pretty much as before. Neither does multiculturalism uphold any ‘rights’ on the part of ethnic minorities to deny human rights which have the force of law to any member of their communities who require their enforcement. What it can do, however, is provide the intercultural sensitivities which allow the relevance of human rights to be made in appropriate language in circumstances where the assertion of a particular proposition, such as ‘only oppressed women would wear the Islamic veil’, has clouded the discourse. Another book that has appeared since Cameron’s speech is the collection of essays edited by Hassan Mahamdallie, Defending Multiculturalism – a Guide for the Movement. The perspectives of hard left campaigners predominates in this volume, but the core message overlaps with Rattansi: multiculturalism is not a dogmatic approach to policy but rather a set of principles which outline an approach to living in inevitably complex communities based on the need for mutual respect for cultural heritage. The standout essay is supplied by Tariq Madood in his consideration of the concerns the political elites have for multiculturalism and other approaches. He identifies four currents: assimilation, individual integration, cosmopolitanism, and finally multiculturalism itself. The first, assimilation, corresponds most closely to Mr Cameron’s call for muscular liberalism and the drive for a ‘stronger national identity.’ It is an approach which essentially ‘blames the victim’ for any discrimination which exists in society since this is considered to be conjured up by the difference which newcomers carry around as part of their physical characteristics and origins. The only course of action is to seek the elimination of all the signs of this difference which antagonises the natives. The ‘individualist integration’ approach is a step down from this severity in that it at least allows the person concerned to be different in her own private space. The rest of the time she would be expected to assimilate. ‘Cosmopolitanism’ is raised by Madood in rather unsympathetically terms. In favouring an equality of cultures, with no one being allowed to claim the privilege of being the mainstream, cosmopolitanism equally requires the deconstruction of all cultures in order for individuals to ‘pick and mix’ from all the ensuing fragments. Madood’s caution arises from the fact that this task of dissection will be more amenable to emotionally and intellectually secure members of the majority culture who have the wherewithal and confidence that they will be able to piece together a happy outcome for themselves. For outsider groups, more likely to be wounded by years of disrespect and an existence on the margins, the dismantling happens on a level that is perhaps their sole source of solace and comfort. One year on… In the meantime the absence of any coherent sense to what Cameron might have intended as a follow-up to his broadside against multiculturalism might suggest a vacuum at the heart of the thinking of the centre right itself. A recently reply to a Parliamentary question about government plans for its community cohesion policy elicited the response from minister Andrew Stunnell, that the coalition will “trust people to take the lead in their local areas.” In the context of the prime minister’s thoughts on this issue, paralysis on the part of central government might be the best we can hope for. The space remains open for people working with some version of the multicultural perspective to continue to lead the way. *This blog entry was originally published on Migrants’ Rights Network, MRN.

Send listings two weeks in advance to firstname.lastname@example.org. Sean Astin Known to Lord of the Rings fanatics as "the pudgy hobbit," Astin played Frodo's constant companion in all three LOTR films; he'll discuss his career as a whole, starting with the cult classic Goonies, as well as the challenge of taking on Tolkien. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., 206-634-3400. $5. 7 p.m. Wed., Dec. 8. Photography Exhibit Photographs by Betty Udesen, from the 2002 Seattle Times special section "In Her Mother's Shoes," a feminist view of the Zimbabwean AIDS epidemic, are on display at the Central Library. 1000 Fourth Ave., 206-386-4636. Free. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Wed., Dec. 8. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thurs., Dec. 9-Sat., Dec. 11. Salmon Conservation Forum The Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish Watershed hosts an open discussion of salmon-habitat maintenance at REI's downtown store. 222 Yale Ave. N., 206-296-8249. Free. 6:30-9 p.m. Thurs., Dec. 9. Benefit Auction Afghan carpets and fabrics go on the block at a silent auction to support Solace International, a nonprofit dedicated to building schools and other educational facilities in Afghanistan. Mountaineers Club, 300 Third Ave. W., 206-409-2508. $20 (includes hors d'oeuvres). 7 p.m. Thurs., Dec. 9. Human Rights Forum/Concert Celebrate International Human Rights Day with vocal diva Yva Las Vegass and presenters Cindy Domingo, Jan Strout, and Heather Day, who'll speak on revolution in Venezuela and other timely topics. UW Ethnic Cultural Theater, 3920 Brooklyn Ave. N.E., 206-547-7735. $5 (suggested donation). 7 p.m. Thurs., Dec. 9. CityClub Year In Review CityClub's forum series ends the year with a panel of pundits: KIRO-AM host and recent congressional candidate Dave Ross, children's advocate Ruth Massinga, and Washington Mutual CEO Kerry Killinger are among those scheduled to analyze 2004 from a local perspective. Washington Athletic Club, 1325 Sixth Ave., 206-682-7395. $40. Noon-1:45 p.m. Fri., Dec. 10. International Bead Show Necklace enthusiasts, or just those who enjoy gluing beads to their craft projects, are encouraged to attend. Seattle Center (Exhibition Hall), 206-684-7200. $6. Noon-7 p.m. Fri., Dec. 10. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat., Dec. 11. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun., Dec. 12. Bird Lecture Biologist Cathy Raley holds forth on the pileated woodpecker, a red-crested bird that calls the Olympic Peninsula home. Northwest Stream Center, 600 128th St. S.E. (Everett), 425-316-8592. $6. 7 p.m. Fri., Dec. 10. Family Friday at Carkeek Park You never know what's in store at this activities evening for parents and children. Past Fridays have included collage-making sessions, science workshops, and film screenings; call for details about this week's agenda. Carkeek Environmental Education Center, 950 N.W. Carkeek Park Rd., 206-684-0877. Free. 7-8:30 p.m. Fri., Dec. 10. Green Lake Bird Tour Bird connoisseur Martin Muller helps you scope out some of Green Lake's 150 species on an Audubon-sponsored stroll. Meet at Bathhouse Theater, 7312 W. Greenlake Dr. N., 425-746-6351. $2. 8 a.m.-noon. Sat., Dec. 11. Environmental Work Party Help restore the wetlands at Carkeek Park while meeting other sensitive, eco-conscious people. Meet at Carkeek Environmental Education Center, 950 N.W. Carkeek Park Rd., 206-684-4256. Free. 9 a.m.-noon. Sat., Dec. 11. Ski and Snowshoe Festival Fans of downhill and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing can slide and stomp around to their heart's content at Snoqualmie's yearly weekend fest, packed with free demos and lessons. The Summit at Snoqualmie, 1001 State Route 906 (Snoqualmie Pass), 425-453-1515. Free. 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Sat., Dec. 11. 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Sun., Dec. 12. Search and Rescue Workshop The Museum of Flight continues its series of "family fun workshops" with a hands-on lesson in rescue techniques employed by the U.S. Coast Guard. 9404 E. Marginal Way S., 206-768-7126. $12 ($11 seniors, $7.50 youth). 11:15 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. Sat., Dec. 11-Sun., Dec. 12. Bahia Street Holiday Celebration The nonprofit organization Bahia Street is behind this Brazilian-style festival/fund-raiser packed with authentic music and food; all proceeds benefit "impoverished African-Brazilian girls in Salvador, Brazil." 1005 N.E. Boat St., 206-633-1724. $25 (suggested donation). 4-6 p.m. Sun., Dec. 12. Hanukkah Bash Spin some serious dreidel and eat more potato pancakes than your bubbe would allow at a "Night of a Thousand Latkes" hosted by MAZON, a Jewish charity that fights hunger in Washington state. Scottish Rite Temple, 1155 Broadway Ave. E., 206-324-3330. Donations accepted (all proceeds benefit MAZON). 5-8 p.m. Sun., Dec. 12. Living History Series Clay Jenkinson portrays explorer Meriwether Lewis. Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., 206-733-9089. Free (ticket required). Noon and 7 p.m. Mon., Dec. 13. Noon and 7 p.m. Tues., Dec. 14. Mark Emmert The University of Washington president gets grilled onstage by Seattle Times higher-education writer Sharon Chan and Executive Editor Michael Fancher; an audience Q&A follows the tag-team interview. Downstairs at Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., 206-652-4255. $5. 7:30 p.m. Mon., Dec. 13. Bird Lecture Seabirds are the subject of a talk at Northwest Stream Center by Seattle Aquarium biologist Mary Carlson; she plans to focus on the auklet and the puffin. Northwest Stream Center, 600 128th St. S.E. (Everett), 425-316-8592. $6. 11 a.m. Tues., Dec. 14. Peace Corps Event Former volunteers with the nation's largest do-gooder organization talk about their experiences and advise aspiring vols. University Branch Library, 5009 Roosevelt Way N.E., 206-684-4063. Free. 6-7:30 p.m. Tues., Dec. 14. SeaDoc Society Lecture The marine society of the University of California at Davis, which has recently expanded its focus to include Puget Sound, begins a series of Orcas Island talks; tonight's concerns "derelict fishing gear" and its detrimental effect on marine animals. Camp Orkila Marine-Salmon Center, 484 Camp Orkila Rd. (East Sound), 360-376-3910. Free. 7 p.m. Tues., Dec. 14. Tax Planning Seminar April 15 is more than four months away, but it's never too early to start preparing. United Revenue Service leads this free class on making the most of your money and losing the least at tax time. Stroum JCC, 3801 E. Mercer Way (Mercer Island), 206-232-7115 ext. 269. Free. 7 p.m. Tues., Dec. 14. Lee Hartwell The 2001 Nobel Prize laureate (in the field of medicine) talks about the relationship between common yeast cells and cancer, and how the first may lead to a cure for the second. Hyatt Regency Bellevue Hotel, 900 Bellevue Way N.E., 206-283-9595. $40 (includes dinner). Reception at 5 p.m.; dinner at 6:15 p.m.; program at 7 p.m. Wed., Dec. 15. Redistricting Forum The first of four public hearings on the upcoming redistricting of King County, which includes reduction of the number of districts from 13 to nine, takes place this week at Bellevue City Hall. 11511 Main St., 425-452-6800. Free. 6 p.m. Wed., Dec. 15. Bird Lecture Bob Morse delivers the third avian-themed talk of the week. His subject: the birds you can find in your own backyard. Northwest Stream Center, 600 128th St. S.E. (Everett), 425-316-8592. $6. 7 p.m. Wed., Dec. 15. Working With Anger Class Learn how to contain and rechannel your rage at Sakya Monastery. 108 N.W. 83rd St., 206-789-2573. $12. 7:30 p.m. Wed., Dec. 15.

Papers of artist and writer Ernest Peixotto and his wife Mary Hutchinson Peixotto. Includes correspondence; subject files; diaries, sketchbooks, and notebooks; personalia; ephemera; and some scrapbooks. Ernest Peixotto is best known as a muralist and illustrator, though he also achieved notable success as a writer. Born to Sephardic Jewish parents in San Francisco in 1869, Peixotto studied at the California School of Design and, from 1888 until 1894, at the Atelier Julian in France. Upon returning the the United States in 1894, Peixotto settled again in San Francisco where he founded The Lark, an art magazine in print from 1895 through 1897. Peixotto married painter Mary Glascock Hutchinson in New Orleans in 1897. Hutchinson, born in San Francisco in 1869, had also been a student at the California School of Design. The couple moved to New York after their marriage and Ernest joined the staff of Scribner's Magazine, where he worked as an illustrator. Together, they relocated to France in 1899, taking up residence just outside of Paris in a villa in Fontainebleau that would serve as the couple's primary home until Ernest's death in 1940. Number of containers: 7 cartons, 5 oversize folders, 2 boxes, 1 volume, 1 oversize box, and 1 tube Linear feet: 12 All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html. Collection is open for research.

2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - Ethiopia |Publisher||United States Department of State| |Author||Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor| |Publication Date||8 April 2011| |Cite as||United States Department of State, 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - Ethiopia, 8 April 2011, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4da56dca96.html [accessed 30 March 2015]| |Disclaimer||This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.| Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor April 8, 2011 Ethiopia is a federal republic led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The population is estimated at 82 million. In the May national parliamentary elections, the EPRDF and affiliated parties won 545 of 547 seats to remain in power for a fourth consecutive five-year term. In simultaneous elections for regional parliaments, the EPRDF and its affiliates won 1,903 of 1,904 seats. In local and by-elections held in 2008, the EPRDF and its affiliates won all but four of 3.4 million contested seats after the opposition parties, citing electoral mismanagement, removed themselves from the balloting. Although there are more than 90 ostensibly opposition parties, which carried 21 percent of the vote nationwide in May, the EPRDF and its affiliates, in a first-past-the-post electoral system, won more than 99 percent of all seats at all levels. Although the relatively few international officials that were allowed to observe the elections concluded that technical aspects of the vote were handled competently, some also noted that an environment conducive to free and fair elections was not in place prior to election day. Several laws, regulations, and procedures implemented since the 2005 national elections created a clear advantage for the EPRDF throughout the electoral process. Political parties were predominantly ethnically based, and opposition parties remained splintered. During the year fighting between government forces, including local militias, and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), an ethnically based, violent insurgent movement operating in the Somali region, resulted in continued allegations of human rights abuses by all parties to the conflict. Security forces generally reported to civilian authorities; however, there were instances in which security forces, specifically special police and local militias, acted independently of civilian control. Human rights abuses reported during the year included unlawful killings, torture, beating, and abuse and mistreatment of detainees and opposition supporters by security forces, especially special police and local militias, which took aggressive or violent action with evident impunity in numerous instances; poor prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly of suspected sympathizers or members of opposition or insurgent groups; detention without charge and lengthy pretrial detention; infringement on citizens' privacy rights, including illegal searches; use of excessive force by security services in counterinsurgency operations; restrictions on freedom of speech and of the press; arrest, detention, and harassment of journalists; restrictions on freedom of assembly and association; restrictions on freedom of movement; ruling party intimidation, threats, and violence during the elections; police, administrative, and judicial corruption; harassment of those who worked for human rights organizations; violence and societal discrimination against women and abuse of children; female genital mutilation (FGM); exploitation of children for economic and sexual purposes; trafficking in persons; societal discrimination against persons with disabilities and religious and ethnic minorities; forced labor and child labor; and government interference in union activities. RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From: a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life There was no proof that the government and its agents committed any politically motivated killings during the year; however, there were credible reports of involvement of security forces in the killings and other abuses of civilians in connection with the conflict in the Somali region (see section 1.g.) and in the deaths of opposition party activists (see section 3). In January Oromia police shot two unarmed students, one of them fatally, during a college riot at Ardayta College in the Western Arsi zone of the Oromia Regional State. The government acknowledged a disturbance at the college, evidently related to longstanding disputes between students and the administration, that led the college dean to call the police for assistance. After the shooting incident, the police suspended two senior officers for giving inappropriate orders, and one policeman was charged and found guilty of murder by use of excessive force. He was sentenced to prison. In June the press reported that police in Addis Ababa beat 17-year-old Besufekad Tamene to death. The government confirmed that police officers Girma Makonnen and Birhanu Jula were on duty when they were approached for assistance by Yewebnesh Hailemariam because her grandson was causing a disturbance at home. They reportedly hit him repeatedly with a stick on the head, neck, and chest. Besafekad died on June 4 as a result of his injuries. The officers were arrested on June 5 and charged with murder. The case was pending at year's end. According to a May 2009 government report, the security chief of Gue, Tamene Tadesse, was charged with the use of excessive force and sentenced to 15 years in prison for the 2007 fatal shootings of two students in Gue, in the Oromia region. There was no official action taken against police officers involved in the January 2009 shooting and killing of Debasu Yengusie Mengesha and Gobeze Wudu as they left a bar. There were no developments in the February 2009 incident in which police shot and killed a 19-year-old student protester, Wendimu Damena, or in the police shooting that injured a 20-year-old student, Belay Motuma, during the same demonstration. There were no developments in the following 2008 incidents: the killing of three brothers – Yayeh Yirad Assefa, Negusu Assefa, and Temesgen Assefa – by local police and militia in Zeba kebele (Dejen woreda, East Gojam zone, Amhara region); the killing of Aschalew Taye, a supporter of the opposition All Ethiopia Unity Party (AEUP); and several bombings (the Humera bus and school incidents in Amhara; two hotels in Negele Borena, in the Oromia region; and a bombing at a Jijiga hotel). There were no developments in the April 2009 land mine explosion in the Danakil Depression area of the Afar region, which killed two persons and wounded two others. The government claimed that the South Red Sea Rebel Liberation Front was responsible. There were no developments in the December 2009 incident in which two hand grenades thrown into a crowded cafe in Kebri Dehar, in the Somali region, killed one woman and wounded nine other persons. The government claimed that the perpetrators were four Eritreans supporting the rebel ONLF. On May 6, in the Oromia region, a hand grenade was thrown into a political meeting of the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization (OPDO) killing two persons and injuring 14. A government spokesman, Shimeles Kemal, stated that the incident was an attempt to assassinate the region's deputy president, Abdulaziz Mohammed, who escaped unhurt. Police officials arrested suspects, one of whom, Tadesse Haile, was sentenced to death after a trial within a week of the incident. Clashes between ethnic clans during 2008 and 2009 resulted in hundreds of deaths (see section 6). There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances; however, there were innumerable reports of local police, militia members, and the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) seizing individuals, especially opposition political activists, for brief periods of incommunicado detention. Neither diplomatic missions nor nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were allowed access by the government to the Somali region and therefore had very limited ability to comment on the procedures of security forces operating there. There were no developments in the 2008 disappearances in Addis Ababa of Ethiopian Teachers' Association members Tilahun Ayalew and Anteneh Getnet, or of Alexander Gebre Meskel, a resident of Addis Ababa. c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Although the constitution and law prohibit the use of torture and mistreatment, there were credible reports that security officials physically mistreated detainees. Opposition political party leaders reported frequent, systematic abuse and intimidation of their members and supporters by police and local militias. Those leaders stated that victims of such abuse did not seek redress from police and other criminal justice authorities for fear of provoking retaliation. When opposition parties packaged hundreds of such reports of abuse for consideration by officials at the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), the board – possessing the legal discretion to investigate but lacking an investigative staff – generally dismissed the complaints for lack of evidence or procedural defects, in both 2008 and 2010. The UN Committee Against Torture noted in a November 19 report that it was "deeply concerned" about "numerous, ongoing, and consistent allegations" concerning "the routine use of torture" by the police, prison officers and other members of the security forces – as well as the military, in particular – against political dissidents and opposition party members, students, alleged terrorists, and alleged supporters of insurgent groups, such as the ONLF and the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). The committee reported that such acts frequently occurred with the participation of, at the instigation of, or with the consent of commanding officers in police stations, detention centers, federal prisons, military bases, and unofficial or secret places of detention. Numerous reliable sources confirmed in April 2009 that in Maekelawi, the central police investigation headquarters in Addis Ababa, police investigators often used physical abuse to extract confessions. Several prisoners who were held at Maekelawi and other nontraditional detention facilities independently claimed with credible detail that they and other detainees were tortured in police station jails in attempts by security officials to elicit confessions before their cases went to trial. No indication came during the year that these abusive practices were eliminated. NGO and diplomatic access to Maekelawi was curtailed during the year. Several of the persons arrested in April 2009 for alleged affiliation with Ginbot 7, a largely diaspora opposition group some of whose members publicly advocated violent overthrow of the government, reported harsh physical abuse and torture during pretrial interrogations. In November 2009 these defendants reiterated these accusations to their trial court. A government spokesman denied the allegations. In December 2010 the Global Alliance Against Torture in Ethiopia, an antigovernment diaspora group, released reports, purportedly originating with cooperative prison personnel, summarizing the accusations of mistreatment given by individual Ginbot 7 inmates. In those reports Amerar Bayabel, Second Sergeant Gobena Belay Ayele, and Lieutenant Colonel Abere Assefa Aberra described similar, consistently horrific experiences at Maekelawi. They included lengthy nights of physical mistreatment, including: being made to lie on the ground, handcuffed, blindfolded, and in some cases naked, while interrogators wearing military boots stood on their chests; being whipped with wire and beaten on the head and the insides of their feet; being gagged, hung upside down, and beaten with electrical cords; being threatened with injection of HIV-infected blood; and being subjected to ethnic slurs. In July 2009 Nimona Tuffa, a student at Hayuma Medical College in Ambo and a member of the Oromo People's Congress (OPC), an opposition party, was detained in Guder by Oromia regional security officials dressed in civilian clothes. Nimona reported that security officials, including the head of security of West Shoa zone, Tesfaye Sime, beat him, first in a nearby forest and later at the OPDO Ambo offices, part of the EPRDF, where they pressured him to sign a statement admitting he was a member of the OLF. He eventually signed. When released Nimona was hospitalized for severe nerve-ending damage, hearing damage, and back injuries. When the case was brought to court, the prosecutor suggested that the case was not politically motivated but was a personal conflict. However, Nimona testified that he had no knowledge of his attackers before the incident and that he believed it was politically motivated. The judge sentenced the perpetrators to a fine of 500 birr ($30.53). With the involvement of a diplomatic mission, the case was reopened and the primary police officer involved was eventually sentenced to three years in prison, for use of excessive force. However, at year's end the officer apparently had not begun to serve the sentence. Nimona fled the country. There were no developments in the 2008 beating of Gelaye Tadele while in local police custody in Arba Minch, in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR). Prison and Detention Center Conditions The country has three federal and 120 regional prisons. There also are many unofficial detention centers throughout the country, including in Dedessa, Bir Sheleko, Tolay, Hormat, Blate, Tatek, Jijiga, Holeta, and Senkele. Most are located at military camps. Prison and pretrial detention center conditions remained harsh and in some cases life threatening. Severe overcrowding was common, especially in sleeping quarters. The government provided approximately eight birr ($0.50) per prisoner per day for food, water, and health care. Many prisoners supplemented this with daily food deliveries from family members or by purchasing food from local vendors. Medical care was unreliable in federal prisons and almost nonexistent in regional prisons. Water shortages caused unhygienic conditions, and most prisons lacked appropriate sanitary facilities. Many prisoners had serious health problems in detention but received little treatment. In April an Italian citizen died after receiving allegedly substandard medical treatment in Kality prison. At year's end there were an estimated 86,000 persons in prison, of whom 2,474 were women and 546 were children incarcerated with their mothers. Juveniles were sometimes incarcerated with adults who were awaiting execution. Male and female prisoners generally were separated. Authorities generally permitted visitors. In some cases family visits to prisoners were restricted to a few per year. Following a 2008 investigation on prison conditions, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) reported that the overwhelming majority of detainees in prisons were held on pending charges. Some prisoners reported being detained for several years without being charged and without trial. Pretrial detention during the year, while still high, showed a rapid decline. Approximately 80 percent of those incarcerated in Amhara, Benishangul-Gumuz, Oromia, SNNPR, and Tigray had been sentenced. Prisoners were generally permitted religious observance, but this varied by prison, and even by section of prison, at the discretion of prison management. Prisoners can, during trial, make complaints about prison conditions or treatment to the presiding judge. During the year the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited regional prisons but, like all international organizations and NGOs, remained barred from visiting federal prisons, which held persons accused or convicted of crimes against national security, and all prisons in the Somali region. Regional authorities allowed NGO representatives to meet regularly with prisoners without third parties being present. The Ethiopian NGO Justice for All-Prison Fellowship Ethiopia (JFA-PFE) was granted access to various prison and detention facilities, including federal prisons. JFA-PFE ran a "model" prison in Adama with significantly better conditions compared with other prisons. The government and prison authorities were generally cooperative in dealing with NGO efforts to effect improvements in prison conditions. The government routinely failed to meet its obligation to notify diplomatic missions of the arrest of foreign nationals, so foreign representatives had only rare access to prisons and other detention facilities. In 2009 the government established regional "justice forums" throughout the country to improve coordination among the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) as well as regional security and prison administration officials. d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention Although the constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, the government frequently ignored these provisions in practice. During the year the phenomenon increased significantly in the preelection environment (see section 3). Role of the Police and Security Apparatus The Federal Police Commission reports to the Ministry of Federal Affairs, which is subordinate to the parliament; however, this subordination was loose in practice. Each of the country's nine regions has a state or special police force that reports to the regional civilian authorities. Local militias also operated as local security forces in loose coordination with regional police and military, with the degree of coordination varying by region. NISS officers were involved in all matters deemed to have implications for national security. Impunity remained a serious problem. According to sources at government agencies, the government rarely publicly disclosed the results of investigations into abuses by local security forces, such as arbitrary detention and beatings of civilians. In its November report, the UN Committee Against Torture noted that there were "numerous and consistent reports" about the government's "persistent failure" to investigate allegations of torture and prosecute perpetrators, including Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) or police commanders. The committee further noted the absence of information on cases in which soldiers and police or prison officers were prosecuted, sentenced, or subjected to disciplinary sanctions for acts of torture or mistreatment. There were no further developments in the July 2009 case of the 444 staff members, including high-ranking officials, fired by the Addis Ababa Police Commission for involvement in serious crimes, including armed robbery, rape, and theft. The government continued its efforts to provide human rights training for police and army recruits. During the year the government continued to seek assistance from the JFA-PFE and the EHRC to improve and professionalize its human-rights training and curriculum, by including more material on the constitution and international human rights treaties and conventions. The JFA-PFE conducted human rights training for police commissioners, prosecutors, judges, prison administration, and militia in Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR, Benishangul-Gumuz, and Gambella. Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention Authorities regularly detained persons without warrants and denied access to counsel and family members, particularly in outlying regions. Although the constitution and the penal code require that detainees be brought to court and charged within 48 hours, this requirement generally was not respected in practice. A functioning bail system was in place but not available in murder, treason, and corruption cases. In most cases authorities set bail between 500 and 10,000 birr ($30 and $610), which was too costly for most citizens. Police officials did not always respect court orders to release suspects on bail. With court approval persons suspected of serious offenses can be detained for 14 days without being charged and for additional 14-day periods if an investigation continues. The law prohibits detention in any facilities other than an official detention center; however, there were dozens of unofficial local detention centers used by local government militia and other formal and informal law enforcement entities. The government provided public defenders for detainees unable to afford private legal counsel, but only when their cases went to court. While in detainees were in pretrial detention, authorities allowed them little or no contact with legal counsel. Police continued to arrest individuals without warrants (see section 1.f.). Opposition party members consistently and credibly reported that authorities frequently detained persons in police stations for long periods without charge or access to a judge. Authorities apparently targeted certain individuals for arrest, with charges and other terms of detention determined only after detention commenced. In January NISS officers detained a foreign citizen and held him incommunicado in Tigray without warrant at various locations for 48 hours (see section 2.a.). When he complained to a senior NISS official, he was told: "This is Ethiopia. We can do what we want. You are lucky the worst hasn't already happened to you." He was released soon after without charges being filed. Persons arrested in April 2009 in connection with the Ginbot 7 case were held for more than a month at Maekelawi without charges while police gathered evidence, during which time family members were not informed of their whereabouts. They were then charged with conspiracy to destroy government institutions, the attempted assassination of government officials, and an attempt to incite rebellion in the army. The detainees were denied pretrial access to legal counsel, and several alleged mistreatment while in detention. Ultimately, their property was confiscated, five received death sentences, 33 received life imprisonment in Kality prison, and two received sentences of 10 years. In May 2009 customs authorities detained Abebe Worke, the chairman of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) and a prominent human rights lawyer, and Meleskachew Amha, a Voice of America (VOA) reporter, for allegedly attempting to illegally sell imported duty-free publishing equipment that belonged to Addis Broadcasting Company, of which both were shareholders (see section 2.a.). Meleskachew and Abebe were detained at the Customs Authority compound, not a formal detention facility, for 12 days before being released on bail. Abebe fled the country. On July 15, the Federal First Instance Court dropped all charges against Meleskachew due to lack of evidence. Abebe was sentenced in absentia to one year's imprisonment and fined 1.4 million birr ($85,370). In June 2009 town officials in Bistima, Werebaba woreda (South Wollo zone, Amhara region), arrested an EHRCO investigator, Mulugeta Fentaw. Mulugeta was returning home after investigating alleged cases of harassment in Bistima of Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) members. The woreda Security Chief, Makonnen Hussein, confiscated Mulugeta's notebook containing sensitive summaries of his interviews. Immediately thereafter the police accused Mulugeta of stealing 2,000 birr ($122.10) and arrested him. At the police station he was searched, and when the police found only 200 birr ($12.21) in his possession, they modified the charge to claim that he stole only 200 birr ($12.21). Mulugeta was arrested and jailed for three days. He was brought to the woreda court on June 3, convicted, and sentenced to eight months' imprisonment. He appealed to the zonal high court. On July 17, the high court dismissed the case, stating that such acts by the woreda court eroded public confidence in the judiciary. The woreda administration appealed and brought another charge of "tarnishing the reputation of woreda officials by bringing false witnesses." Mulugeta again appealed to the high court, which dismissed the case. Fearing further harassment by government officials, he went into exile abroad. One of Mulugeta's defense witnesses, Alemu Abaineh, was arrested after he gave testimony in court. He was accused of stealing and possessing antitank grenades and plotting to attack the militia. He was sentenced to four years' imprisonment. He appealed to the high court and was released on bail. The trial continued at year's end. There were no developments in the cases of the opposition AEUP members Mekuanent Seneshaw, Alehegne Mekuanent, Kifle Tadege, and Endale Tadege, who were arrested at a Chendiba wedding in 2008 and charged with holding an illegal political gathering in the form of a wedding. On September 10, the federal government and Amhara and Oromia regional governments granted pardons to more than 9,000 prisoners, in keeping with a longstanding tradition for celebration of the new year on September 11. The president of the opposition party UDJ, Birtukan Mideksa, was pardoned and released from prison on October 6 (see Political Prisoners and Detainees). e. Denial of Fair Public Trial The law provides for an independent judiciary. Although the civil courts operated with a large degree of independence, the criminal courts remained weak, overburdened, and subject to significant political intervention and influence. The upper house of parliament has sole responsibility for judging the constitutionality of new laws, handling judicial appointments, and reviewing judicial conduct. In theory and in practice, courts have the ability to convict defendants on charges not raised by the prosecution. Regional offices of the federal MOJ monitored local judicial developments. Some regional courts had jurisdiction over both local and federal matters, as the federal courts in those jurisdictions that had not begun operation; overall, the federal judicial presence in the regions was limited. Consequently many citizens residing in rural areas generally had little access to formal judicial systems, at any level, and effectively had no choice but to rely on traditional mechanisms of resolving conflict. The law provides legal standing to some preexisting religious and traditional courts and allows federal and regional legislatures to recognize decisions of such courts. By law all parties to a dispute must agree to use a traditional or religious court before such a court may hear a case, and either party can appeal to a regular court at any time. Sharia (Islamic) courts may hear religious and family cases involving Muslims. In addition other traditional systems of justice, such as the Council of Elders, continued to function. These customary courts resolved disputes for the majority of citizens who lived in rural areas. Some women complained of lack of access to free and fair hearings in the traditional justice system because they were excluded by custom from participation in the Council of Elders and because there was strong gender discrimination in rural areas. The judicial system severely lacked experienced staff, sometimes making the application of the law unpredictable. The government continued to train lower court judges and prosecutors and made effective judicial administration the primary focus of the training. To address backlogs in case processing, in October 2009 the government allocated 147 million birr ($8.97 million) to construct five new courthouses in Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. During the year the federal Supreme Court, high courts, and courts of first instance remained open for over two-and-one-half months during their regular recess period in June, July, and August to try to reduce the backlog of cases. The seventh criminal branch of the federal court of first instance, headed by three judges, handled cases involving juvenile offenses and cases of sexual abuse of women and children. There was a large backlog of juvenile cases, and accused children often remained in detention with adults until officials heard their cases. There were also credible reports that domestic violence and rape cases were often significantly delayed and given low priority. In October the EHRC, a government entity, signed a memorandum of understanding with four public universities to encourage students to participate in legal aid for indigent clients. In July 2009 the parliament passed the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation to address growing terrorist threats. Several human rights organizations raised concerns over the law's broad definition of terrorism, severe penalties, broad rules of evidence, and discretionary powers afforded police and security forces. Although a full prosecution under this law had not yet been conducted by year's end, several defendants were charged under it, including elderly citizens and students who staged public demonstrations in January in Oromia against gold mining interests they claimed were polluting their community's air and water. Criminal matters related to the military are handled by military tribunals. Military tribunals may not try civilians except in certain cases involving allegations of threats to national security. The total caseload of the military justice system grew, reflecting an effort to hold military officers and troops more accountable, but the military lacked adequately trained staff to handle the increased demands on the system. In November 2009 the Federal Supreme Court sentenced Judge Girma Tiku, former president of the Court of First Instance for Urban Affairs of Lideta subcity, Addis Ababa, to seven years' imprisonment and a fine of 1,000 birr ($61) on corruption charges. There were no developments in two 2008 MOJ corruption cases against judges. According to the law, accused persons have the right to a fair public trial by a court of law within a "reasonable time," a presumption of innocence, the right to be represented by legal counsel of their choice, and the right to appeal. In some sensitive cases deemed to involve matters of national security, notably the Ginbot 7 and OLF trials, closed proceedings took place, and at times authorities allowed detainees little or no contact with legal counsel. The court system does not use trial by juries. Judicial inefficiency, lengthy trial delays, and lack of qualified staff often resulted in serious delays in trial proceedings The Public Defender's Office provided legal counsel to indigent defendants, although its scope and quality of service remained limited due to the shortage of attorneys. Although the law explicitly stipulates that persons charged with corruption are to be shown the evidence against them prior to their trials, several credible sources reported that authorities routinely denied defense counsel pretrial access to such evidence. As in previous years, the government did not establish an execution date for the 19 former Derg officials sentenced to death in 2006 for crimes of genocide, treason, and murder. All remained on death row at year's end except Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, who was in exile in Zimbabwe. According to a May 2009 government report, religious leaders requested that the government reduce the sentences of former Derg officials. The government had not responded by year's end, although religious officials increased the volume of their pleas in December. Political Prisoners and Detainees Domestic and international NGOs estimated that there were 200 to 300 political prisoners and detainees at year's end. In August several opposition party leaders reported an intensification in the arrest and detention of opposition supporters, especially in Oromia, Amhara, and Tigray. Approximately 1,200 opposition Oromo Federalists' Congress (OFC) Party supporters, for example, were reportedly arrested and detained in association with the May elections. (The OFC was formed by the merger of the OPC and the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM)). Many were released during the year after serving four- to five-month sentences, but many remained in jail. In October the president of the UDJ, Birtukan Mideksa, whose pardon was revoked and life sentence reinstated in 2008, was released. Prior to her release she was held in solitary confinement until June, despite a court ruling that indicated it was a violation of her constitutional rights. Chaka Robi, a supporter of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) arrested in 2008, was released during the year. There were several developments in the 2008 case in which police, local authorities, and ruling party cadres arrested 16 second-tier leaders from various opposition parties engaged in community outreach or opening new offices throughout the country. On August 12, 15 arrestees were ordered to present their defenses against charges of recruiting and organizing OLF members, promoting OLF terrorist activities, and financially supporting the OLF. The case against one defendant was dismissed. Among the 15 tried, OFDM secretary general Bekele Jirata was charged and released on bail in February 2009. He later fled the country. He was found guilty in absentia on March 31 and sentenced to 12 years in jail. The other men were also found guilty. One man was sentenced to death, one was sentenced to life in prison, and the rest were given jail terms ranging from 10 to 13 years. In February the government pardoned 182 members of the AEUP previously convicted of threatening the "constitutional order" during the violent aftermath of the 2005 national elections. The pardons reportedly were part of a negotiated agreement for the AEUP leadership to participate in EPRDF-led talks on the enactment of an electoral code of conduct for political parties. Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies Civil courts were generally viewed as independent and impartial. The law provides citizens the right to appeal human rights violations in civil court; however, no such cases were filed during the year. f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence The law requires authorities to obtain judicial warrants to search private property; however, in practice police often ignored this law, and there were no records of courts excluding evidence found without warrants. The Ethiopian government and regional governments began to put in place "villagization" plans in the Gambella and Benishangul-Gumuz regions, an effort to speed up agricultural development. The plan involves the resettlement of 45,000 households in each of the two regions. The governments describe the resettlement plans as strictly voluntary, but there were reports of local skepticism and resentment and isolated reports of violence, in part because much of the land was or was to be leased to foreign companies. There were reports of police forcibly entering civilian homes in 2008 and 2009. During the year there were innumerable reports of ruling party operatives making unwelcome visits to the homes of opposition operatives, although forced entry was not part of the usual pattern alleged (see section 1.c.). In April 2009 witnesses reported that Tirch kebele (Dejen woreda, Amahara region) and woreda police and officials searched the house of Waltenegus Abate, the woreda vice chairman of the AEUP, without a warrant. Although officials accused him of hiding armaments, none were found. In 2008 kebele officials had previously searched Waltenegus' home without a warrant. He accused police of beating him and his family members during the searches. By year's end there had not been any action taken by officials against the police officers and militia of Tirch kebele (Dejen woreda, Amhara region) for the 2008 assault and illegal search of the home of Tiringo Mengist. All but three electronic communications facilities are state owned. Opposition political party leaders reported suspicions of telephone tapping and other electronic eavesdropping. In May 2009 a former employee of Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC), the state-run monopoly telecommunications and Internet provider reported from self-imposed exile that the government had ordered ETC employees to unlawfully record citizens' private telephone conversations. The government used a widespread system of paid informants to report on the activities of particular individuals. The government tampered with the mail of an independent media organization, according to a report from the Committee to Protect Journalists (see section 2.a.). Security forces continued to detain family members of persons sought for questioning by the government. Officials in some kebeles reportedly went from house to house demanding that residents attend ruling coalition meetings. Residents were not arrested or harassed if they did not attend party meetings; however, there were reports that some persons who did not attend party meetings had difficulty obtaining basic public services from their kebeles. Reliable reports establish that unemployed youth who were not affiliated with the ruling coalition sometimes had trouble receiving the "support letters" from their kebeles necessary to get jobs. Human Rights Watch, opposition parties, and elements of the media alleged a general politicization of foreign donor assistance. These reports suggested that, in the period prior to the May elections, the EPRDF and its regional affiliated parties used humanitarian assistance as incentives to secure support for the ruling coalition. The donor community, collectively known as the Development Assistance Group, conducted an assessment of the four largest donor-supported development programs. The assessment evaluated the systems and safeguards that various programs had in place to prevent, detect, and address political and financial distortion. The final report, issued in July, concluded that all four programs had accountability systems in place that provided checks on distortion in the distribution of assistance. In addition the two programs related to the provision of food aid were deemed to have the strongest safeguards and thus were the least likely to have been subject to distortion for political purposes. g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts During the year fighting continued between government forces, primarily regional government-backed militia, and the ONLF, a violent ethnic insurgent movement operating in the Ogaden area of the Somali region, with continuing allegations of human rights abuses by all parties to the conflict. Deliveries of food and medicine were restricted as a result of insecurity, lack of capacity, and military restrictions. Since it was outlawed in 1994, the ONLF has engaged in armed conflict with the government. In October another insurgent group, the United Western Somali Liberation Front, as well as the "Salahdin Ma'ow faction" of the ONLF, signed a peace agreement with the government and ceased hostilities. The "Admiral Osman faction" of the ONLF, consisting of hard-core fighters and supported by the Eritrean government, denounced the peace talks and staged attacks against government forces. Since the military began significant counterinsurgency operations in the Ogaden region in response to the April 2007 slaying of 65 citizens and nine Chinese oil workers living outside an oil exploration camp, the government has continued to limit the access of diplomats, NGOs, and journalists to the Somali region. The government allowed some humanitarian access but restricted the ability to investigate reports of human rights abuses. Reports of human rights violations largely have come from interviews with second-hand sources or alleged victims who fled the Somali region. Credible reports of human rights abuses continued, although these diminished dramatically after the signing of the two peace agreements. NGO personnel have been compelled by ENDF and regular police officials to report ONLF activity. Some villagers reported that local authorities threatened to retaliate against anyone who reported abuses by the ENDF, special police, or local militias. Civilians, international NGOs, and other aid organizations operating in the region reported that both government security forces and the ONLF were responsible for abuses and harsh techniques used to intimidate the civilian population. Reliable reports indicated that special police and local militias, both accountable to the Somali regional government, forcibly relocated whole villages believed to be supportive of the ONLF. Reliable sources reported increasingly violent ONLF attacks on police and military elements during the year. Development workers reported being frequently stopped for questioning by the ONLF. There were several instances of killings in internal conflicts. These included the killing of five persons and wounding of 20 others in a bomb attack in the northern town of Adi Aro, and a bus bombing near the Eritrean border that wounded 13 persons. The government blamed Eritrean-sponsored elements for both incidents but produced no evidence. In 2008 police forces reportedly attempted to force villagers from Laare and Puldeng, in Gambella, to move to a new area. When villagers refused, violence ensued, and police reportedly killed nine civilians and wounded 23. Two police officers were killed and six others were wounded. Police also reportedly set fire to homes and killed numerous livestock. Gambella Deputy Police Commissioner Mulugeta Ruot Kuon gave a different account. According to him, police responded to a clash between two Nuer groups and tried to facilitate a negotiation. One group started beating the police with sticks and shot one officer, triggering a gunfight that killed one police officer and four civilians and wounded 27. The conflict spread to eight kebeles, and federal police and the ENDF came to the region to calm the fighting. Traditional methods of conflict resolution, facilitated by elders, were used to resolve the conflict. The government has not responded to ONLF accusations that the ENDF killed 48 civilians in Mooyaha village and six civilians in Galashe in the Ogaden region in 2008. There were no developments in the February, June, and July 2009 attacks by the ONLF against military and civilian targets that resulted in civilian casualties. Similarly there were no development in the 2008 arrests of eight men suspected of involvement in the 2007 ONLF attack on a Chinese-run oil facility in the Somali region; the ONLF killed 65 civilians and nine Chinese nationals. In April nine NGO employees were abducted and held for five days by a group purporting to represent the ONLF. They were released unharmed but told to warn their principals that cooperation with security forces in delivering humanitarian supplies would provoke ONLF violence. Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture Special police were accused of rape and other abuses of women in early 2009 in the Degehabur and Kebredehar zones, in the Ogaden. Although there were no reports that ENDF or regional police recruited children, there were credible reports that some local militias in Somali region did so. In recent years, the Somali Regional Security and Administration Office had increased recruitment of special police forces and local militias in conflict zones. Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report. Other Conflict-Related Abuses The government continued to restrict access by NGO workers and journalists to affected Somali region areas. International journalists who entered the Somali region without permission of the government were arrested or obliged to leave the country. The government continued to ban the ICRC from the region, having previously alleged that it cooperated with the ONLF. During the year some humanitarian groups reported roadblocks manned by insurgent groups, which occasionally briefly detained them. These same humanitarian groups reportedly were interrogated by the ENDF on their encounters at the roadblocks with the insurgents. In 2008 the ENDF placed Medicins Sans Frontieres-Holland (MSF-NL) staff members under house arrest in Warder for allegedly providing medical support to the ONLF and confiscated MSF-Switzerland property and vehicle keys in Kebri Dehar, limiting its staff members' movement to the town for three weeks. There was no judicial process and no charges filed in either case. MSF-NL continued to work in Warder zone, while MSF-Spain, which was working in Deghabur, withdrew after a hand-grenade attack on its offices in August; the attack was believed to be the work of a disgruntled former employee. Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including: a. Freedom of Speech and Press While the constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and of the press, the government did not respect these rights in practice. The government continued to arrest, harass, and prosecute journalists, publishers, and editors. The government continued to control all broadcast media, including the sole television station, except three private FM radio stations. Private-sector and government journalists routinely practiced self-censorship. The broadcasting law prohibits political and religious organizations or foreigners from owning broadcast stations. Government-controlled media mostly reflected the views of the government and the ruling EPRDF coalition. However, live radio and television broadcasts occasionally included televised parliamentary debates and broadcast the views of opposition parliamentarians, as did government newspapers. During the election campaign, state media broadcast debates between the parties; because broadcast time was allocated on the basis of parliamentary seats, spokesmen for the ruling party received the most time. Although some new, small-circulation newspapers were published during the year, the number of private newspapers remained low. Approximately 20 private Amharic-language and English-language newspapers with political and business focuses were published, with a combined weekly circulation of more than 150,000. The government owned the only newspaper printing press and used its monopoly position, inter alia, to regularly increase costs to publishers. Reports indicated that this practice influenced the circulation numbers of the private newspapers, forcing them to adjust their printing runs according to what they could afford. Foreign journalists and local stringers employed by foreign publications at times published articles critical of the government but were subjected to government pressure to practice self-censorship. Few foreign journalists were based in the country. During the year some reporters for foreign media were subjected to intimidation and harassment or threatened with expulsion from the country for publishing articles critical of the government. For example, in January in Tigray, NISS officials detained a foreign journalist with a valid residence permit, who was accredited by the government, when he attempted to investigate allegations of food aid politicization in the area. His credentials and cell phone were taken from him, and he was transported by authorities to Addis Ababa, where he was questioned by immigration officials and held overnight at the airport. He was not permitted to call consular officials or his family. After almost 48 hours in custody, he was released and told by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as immigration officials that he would have to leave the country within two days. No specific charges were brought against him. His credentials were eventually returned to him, and he was told that he could continue to live and work as a journalist in Ethiopia. In May the editor in chief of the Amharic weekly Awramba Times, Wubshet Taye, was asked to appear at the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority (EBA) two days before the national elections. He was accused of unbalanced reporting favoring Forum, a major opposition coalition. The EBA referred to a feature article that compared two photographs of Meskal Square: one taken in 2005 with more than one million pro-opposition demonstrators, and one of an empty square during the year with only an EPRDF campaign poster. The article was called "Where Did These People Go?" Wubshet was told that this sort of article was not allowed and that he would be held responsible if any violence resulted. Shortly after this incident, Wubshet resigned as editor in chief of the Awramba Times. On June 29, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that the new editor in chief of the Awramba Times, Dawit Kebede, complained to the Ethiopian Postal Service (EPS) at least three times earlier that month, after the newspaper received opened letters and destroyed envelopes in its postal box. The EPS asserted that the "quality of the paper" might have been responsible for the tearing of the mail. On July 19, the Oromia region special zonal administration ordered the Media and Communications Center (MCC), owned by Amare Aregawi (also the publisher and owner of The Reporter), to stop construction on its future printing house site in Dukem, 21 miles from Addis Ababa, which the MCC had leased from the regional administration. On July 24, the Government Housing Agency, alleging unlawful occupancy, commandeered the MCC's office compound in Addis Ababa, also owned by Amare. On August 26, EBA Director General Desta Tesfaw sent a letter to the Awramba Times requesting that sources for its news stories be provided. The constitution states that journalists do not have to reveal their sources, even in court procedures. On September 11, the Al-Quds editor in chief, Ezeddin Mohammed, was released from prison after serving eight months on charges of violating article 10 of the Press Proclamation, including counts of defamation and attempts to incite conflict between persons. The charges followed the newspaper's publication of articles criticizing a Ministry of Education directive on religious worship in schools. Although Ezedin was released, his 17-year-old son, Ahmed Ezedin, was arrested in the Afar region that same day. Ahmed was serving as the acting editor of Al-Quds during his father's imprisonment. The arrest was purportedly the result of articles Ahmed had written criticizing the Islamic Council of Afar. There were no new developments in the April 2009 case in which the government Communications Affairs Office summoned three VOA reporters – Peter Heinlein, Meleskachew Amha, and Eskinder Firew – and suspended the licenses of Meleskachew and Eskinder for three days for reasons that were never disclosed. There were no new developments in the July 2009 case in which unidentified individuals beat a journalist for Addis Neger, Abraham Begizew, who was attempting to report on a disagreement within the leadership of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. In September 2009 Kassahun Addis, an Ethiopian citizen based in Addis Ababa who was a reporter for a foreign newspaper, fled the country due to a credible fear of unreasonable prosecution. There were no new developments in the case. In December 2009 Addis Neger, an Addis Ababa-based weekly newspaper often critical of government policies, ceased publication after months of reported government harassment. Three staff members – Abiy Tekle Mariam, Mesfin Negash, and Tamirat Negera – fled the country. In 2008 Dawit Kebede, then editor in chief of the weekly newspaper Awramba Times, was accused by the NEBE of violating electoral regulations by posting an advertisement for his newspaper on a poster promoting EPRDF candidates for local elections. Charges in the case were dropped in February. There were no developments in the 2008 case of Alemayehu Mahtemework and three staff members of the private Amharic monthly entertainment magazine Enku. The government accused them of publishing "stirring articles that could incite people" and held them for five days before release. Alemayehu also was charged with threatening public order. The magazine continued operating during the year. Dawit Kebede and Wosseneged Gebrekidan, who were charged in 2008 with inciting the public through false rumors by publishing articles about the Ginbot 7, were released on bail in December 2009. In 2008 two police officers, one from Addis Ababa and the other from Gonder, arrested Amare Aregawi, editor in chief of The Reporter, at his office. The arrest was in connection with a private libel suit brought by the Gonder-based, EPRDF-owned Dashen Brewery following a 2008 story on a labor dispute at the brewery. Amare appeared in court in 2008 but learned there were no charges against him, and his bail money was returned to him. The article's author, Teshome Niku, appeared in court in 2008 and was released on bail of 300 birr ($18.32). Following his release Teshome reportedly received anonymous, threatening telephone calls and was beaten and intimidated by unidentified persons. In January 2009 a private newspaper reported that Teshome fled to Kenya. The Dashen Brewery manager filed defamation charges against Amare in August 2009. The Federal High Court 10th Criminal Bench ordered Amare to defend his case. Amare won, and the case was dropped in March. In 2008 Amare Aregawi was attacked by civilian assailants in front of his son's school. Three individuals, who admitted they had attacked Amare, appeared at the federal high court and testified that they were hired to attack him. Amare reported that he suspected he was attacked by government supporters threatened by his newspaper's reporting on corruption. There were no developments by year's end, although Amare continued to press for further investigation of the clique that hired the assailants to attack him. Several journalists remained in self-imposed exile, including journalists detained following the 2005 elections but released in 2007. Prime Minister Meles publicly announced on March 18 that he would authorize the jamming of VOA Amharic service broadcasts and compared the VOA to Radio Milles Collines, the Rwandan radio station that helped incite genocidal violence in 1994. VOA's Amharic services experienced jamming throughout the country from March until October. Ethiopian Satellite Television, based in Amsterdam and supported by the Ginbot 7 group, which espouses violent overthrow of the government, reported periodic jamming of its service in Ethiopia, beginning in May, at the start of broadcasting. In June 2009 the EBA ordered the private radio station Sheger-FM (102.1) to cease all rebroadcasts of VOA programming. Sheger had been broadcasting some VOA programs daily, mostly music, through a contractual agreement. Sheger management resolved the issue with the EBA, which stated that the station needed preapproval from the government to rebroadcast programs. After going through the proper procedure, Sheger resumed rebroadcasting of all VOA programs with the exception of a brief news show. In 2008 the parliament passed the Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation. The law prohibits pretrial detention of journalists and censorship of private media, and it recognizes the right of journalists to form professional associations. However, the law allows only incorporated entities to publish print media, requires all previously licensed press to reregister, bars foreign and cross media (involving more than one form of media, i.e. print and radio) ownership, grants the government the unlimited right to prosecute the media, criminalizes defamation of public officials, increases defamation fines to 100,000 birr ($6,105), establishes "national security" as grounds for impounding materials prior to publication, provides government information officials exclusive discretion to withhold "sensitive" information without judicial review, and maintains the Communication Affairs Office's authority to regulate the media. The Ministry of Information was dissolved in 2008. The new Communication Affairs Office reports directly to the prime minister. The EBA took over responsibility for press registration and oversight from the dissolved ministry. All existing newspapers and magazines were required to reregister with the EBA in 2009. In February 2009 the EBA issued a regulation barring newspaper and magazine publishers and those owning more than a 2 percent stake in a media house from holding the position of editor or deputy editor in their media houses. The government used its licensing authority to censor the media indirectly. In June 2009 the Federal High Court denied an appeal and ruled that Sisay Agena, Serkalem Fasil, and Eskinder Nega could not be granted press licenses due to a 2005 court ruling that called for the dissolution of their former publishing companies. While the defendants had been acquitted of all charges and their former companies remained defunct, the court found that granting licenses to these individuals would be tantamount to circumventing the 2005 court ruling ordering the dissolution of the former companies. In February 2009 the Federal High Court dropped the fines levied against the same three publishers in 2008 for a combined amount of 300,000 birr ($18,315), in connection with their newspapers' coverage of the 2005 elections. They appeared in court in 2008 and delivered a written petition citing the pardon law, which stipulates that pardons granted to persons automatically pertain to monetary penalties against them. In 2008 Ayele Chamisso, chairman of the CUD, filed charges against three private newspapers: Addis Neger, the Awramba Times, and the now-defunct Soressa. Ayele claimed that the newspapers used his party's name for other groups. The editor of the Awramba Times, Dawit Kebede, appeared in court in 2008 on defamation charges and was released on bail of 2,000 birr ($122.10). In December 2009 Ayele Chamisso asked the court to drop the charges against the three newspapers. The government restricted access to the Internet and blocked opposition Web sites, including the sites of insurgent groups advocating violent overthrow of the government (OLF, ONLF, Ginbot 7) and several news blogs and Web sites run by opposition diaspora groups, such as Addis Neger, Nazret, Ethiopian Review, CyberEthiopia, Quatero Amharic Magazine, Tensae Ethiopia, and the Ethiopian Media Forum. The news Web site for VOA was inaccessible from March to October. In early March 2009, the government lifted Internet restrictions on all domestic news Web sites and opposition Web sites for a short time. However, some Web sites, including Nazret.com, reported being blocked again soon after. In 2008 a press release by the CPJ stated that, according to reliable sources, its servers were inaccessible to users in the country and that e-mails from the country were not coming through to the CPJ. These reports emerged at the same time that the CPJ was investigating the detention of The Reporter editor in chief Amare Aregawi. The Reporter also alleged that its Web site was blocked for four days during this time. The CPJ's Web site was also inaccessible at other times during the year. The CPJ continued to report matters with e-mails and domestic access to its Web site. As of March 2009, the ETC reported 42,707 Internet subscribers. Citizens in urban areas had ready access to Internet cafes; however, rural access remained extremely limited. According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, approximately 0.45 percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet. Mobile telephone text messaging was available countrywide. The number of mobile telephone subscribers was 6.1 million, according to the Ministry of Communication and Information. Academic Freedom and Cultural Events The government restricted academic freedom during the year. Authorities did not permit teachers at any level to deviate from official lesson plans and actively prohibited partisan political activity and association of any kind on university campuses. Innumerable anecdotal reports suggest that non-EPRDF members were reportedly more likely to be transferred to undesirable posts and to be bypassed for promotions. There was a lack of transparency in academic staffing decisions, with numerous complaints from individuals in the academic community of bias based on party membership, ethnicity, or religion. Speech, expression, and assembly were frequently restricted on university and high school campuses. Several teachers who were members of, or were perceived to support, opposition parties – particularly in Oromia, Tigray, Amhara, and the SNNPR – reported being harassed by local officials and threatened with the loss of their jobs or transfers to distant locations. Some college students reportedly were pressured to pledge allegiance to the EPRDF to secure enrollment in universities or postgraduation government jobs. According to multiple credible sources, teachers and high school students in grade 10 and above were required to attend training at their schools on the subject of revolutionary democracy and EPRDF policies on economic development, land, and education. After the training attendees reportedly were routinely provided with EPRDF membership forms; as a result, some students were under the impression that they needed EPRDF membership to gain admission to university in the future. In August the Ministry of Education (MOE) disseminated a directive banning distance learning programs offered by both public and private universities and prohibiting private universities from offering degree programs in law and teacher education. The directive also required private universities to align their curriculum offerings with the previously announced MOE policy of a 70-to-30 ratio between science and social science academic programs. The directive permitted universities to complete ongoing courses, but no new enrollments were permitted. The directive disproportionately affected private universities, which were the primary purveyors of distance learning programs. Private university curricula also were heavily focused in the social sciences. MOE officials cited a need to maintain quality standards as the reason for the directive. In October the government lifted the ban. b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association Freedom of Assembly The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly; however, the government restricted this right. Organizers of large public meetings or demonstrations must notify the government 48 hours in advance and obtain a permit. Local government officials, invariably associated with the EPRDF, controlled access to municipal halls, and there were many complaints from opposition parties that local officials would deny or otherwise obstruct the scheduling of opposition parties to use halls for lawful political rallies. Regional governments, including the Addis Ababa regional administration, were reluctant to grant permits or provide security for large meetings. Multiple opposition political parties reported EPRDF partisans with cameras at the entryway of campaign rallies who would film opposition activists while they were entering, leaving, or participating in meetings. After a meeting the individuals pictured reportedly were harassed and intimidated to discontinue their support for the opposition party; sometimes they were detained. Opposition parties also often reported difficulty in obtaining use of local municipal halls, controlled by local officials who invariably were affiliated with the EPRDF, to hold public campaign events. In August 2009 the UDJ attempted to hold a town hall meeting in Adama after receiving permission from local authorities. Prior to the meeting, local authorities prevented the UDJ from displaying posters and announcing the meeting to the public. The meeting was disrupted by the shouts of several participants. Security guards did not attempt to stop the disruption. The meeting adjourned 15 minutes after it began. The Minister of Communications announced that the disruptions were illegal and that the government would launch an investigation; however, at year's end there was no information reported on the conclusions. There were credible reports from Shakiso woreda of mass arrests and rough treatment of students and elderly citizens while they were attempting to protest the practices of the Laga Dembi mine in December 2009. Residents claimed that the mine was releasing toxic waste into a nearby river. The Ministry of Mines and Energy and regional administration officials carried out a study to attempt to dispel rumors of environmental damage leading to miscarriages and still births, finding that such damages had never occurred. In December 2009 police arrested more than 100 persons at a demonstration in anticipation of a response from local officials to their petition. Among those arrested were two political figures, Assefa Arure and Dulecha Robe. According to press reports, as well as a former member of parliament, Demboba Boku, on January 5-6, police arrested three students at Awassa University in connection with the riots. There were no developments in the 2008 beatings of Dejen town residents who were protesting the stalling by local officials of the residents' application for use of nearby farmland. Freedom of Association Although the law provides for freedom of association and the right to engage in unrestricted peaceful political activity, the government limited this right in practice. In accordance with the Charities and Societies Proclamation (CSO law), adopted in February 2009, which entered into force in February, charities and civil society organizations (CSOs) were required to reregister by February with the recently established Charities and Societies Agency (CSA). The CSA was originally under the authority of the MOJ but was moved to the Ministry of Federal Affairs before the end of the year. According to the MOJ, there were 3,522 organizations registered before the CSO law was adopted, and, after the law, 1,655 organizations reregistered. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs screens applications for international NGOs and submits a recommendation on whether to approve or deny registration. The Ethiopian Teachers' Association (ETA) has operated since 1967, but after the EPRDF took power in 1993, an alternate, pro-EPRDF ETA was established. In 1993 the original ETA and the government-supported ETA began a prolonged legal battle over the organization's name and property rights. In 2008 the Court of Cassation ruled against the original ETA and awarded its name and property to the pro-EPRDF ETA (see section 7.a.). In 2008 the original ETA applied to the MOJ for registration as the National Teachers' Association but was denied registration. c. Freedom of Religion For a complete description of religious freedom, please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious Freedom Report. d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of Refugees, and Stateless Persons Although the law provides for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, the government restricted some of these rights in practice. The government severely restricted the movement of persons into and within the Ogaden area of the Somali region, arguing that the ONLF armed insurgency posed a security threat (see section 1.g.). The law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not employ it. Several citizens sought political asylum or remained abroad in self-imposed exile, including prominent human rights advocates. In October the government announced a new policy that allows exiled Eritreans living in Ethiopia to become permanent legal residents of Ethiopia with full entitlement to public services. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) The Federal Disaster Risk Management and Food Security Sector (DRMFSS), under the authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, is the main government actor responsible for the emergency needs of IDPs, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Agriculture, and Water Resources. However, there was no coordination mechanism and no government policy dedicated particularly to IDPs and related matters. The DRMFSS mandate includes only assistance and not protection, return, resettlement, or finding durable solutions, and IDP matters are dealt with mostly on an ad hoc basis. The relationship between conflict and natural disaster-induced displacement in Ethiopia was complex. In some cases conflict has arguably exacerbated displacements caused by drought conditions (e.g., those in the Somali region), resulting in mixed causes of displacement. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated there were between 300,000 and 350,000 natural disaster and conflict-induced IDPs, including an estimated 62,259 from Gambella and 184,239 from the Somali region and Oromia. In Gambella intercommunal conflict and cross-border conflict with residents of Sudan over resources continued to exacerbate vulnerabilities and lead to displacement. The regional government stated that the number of persons affected by conflict between clans was not available but acknowledged it was a concern. In addition the impact of raids by Murle and Lou Nuer Sudanese led to the displacement of residents from the woredas of Akobo, Jor, Jikawa, and Wantawa. A joint government and humanitarian partners' assessment, completed in March, indicated that approximately 11,460 households – 57,300 persons – were displaced from the woredas of Mathar, Lare Itang, and Jor. In July 2009 Menit Goldia and Menit Shasha (Amhara region) woreda officials forced an estimated 5,500 Bench Maji persons from their homes for unknown reasons. Many fled to Addis and appealed to several government officials. Some also filed a complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman. Following a joint investigation by regional and zonal government authorities, a decision was made to allow those who settled in Menit Goldia and Menit Shasha woredas prior to August 1997 to resettle in their respective woredas. At the end of 2009, woreda officials continued discussions as to the process of resettlement. Those who arrived after August 1997 were sent back to the Amhara region. Vehicles were provided by the Amhara regional government, but most of the victims chose not to go because they considered themselves to be from the Welkite and Gojeb areas in the SNNPR. Protection of Refugees The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, and the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in Africa. The government has established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice the government provided protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, and it granted refugee status and asylum. The government generally cooperated with the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and returning citizens. There were continued anecdotal reports that Ethiopian asylum seekers deported from Yemen were detained upon return to the country. In February, in cooperation with the UNHCR, the government opened a new refugee camp, Melkadida, northwest of the town of Dolo Odo, near the border with Kenya and Somalia, to accommodate new Somali refugees, since Bokolmayo camp, which opened in April 2009, had reached its 20,000-person capacity. The capacity of the new camp was 30,000 refugees, and it held more than 22,659 refugees as of year's end. The UNHCR and the government also planned to increase the population capacity of Bokolmayo to 30,000 to deal with the continued influx of Somali asylum seekers. Registration of new arrivals in the transit center in Dolo Odo averaged 1,700 per month. The number of Eritrean asylum seekers increased, with approximately 1,000 to 1,500 new arrivals per month, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), compared with 800 to 1,000 in 2009. As in the previous year, approximately half, an estimated 500 to 750 Eritrean refugees a month, departed monthly on secondary migration through Egypt and Sudan to go to Europe and other final destinations. In April the government opened a new refugee camp for Eritreans, Adi Harush, located less than nine miles from My Ayni camp. The UNHCR continued to assist in the reception and transportation back to My Ayni or Adi Harushof more than 150 Eritrean refugees who had been detained in Egypt and deported by the Egyptian authorities. Overall, the UNHCR reported 44,823 Eritrean refugees living in Ethiopia at year's end. The UNHCR and the government also reported a significant increase in the number of unaccompanied minors fleeing Eritrea. The population of such minors grew from 336, in December 2009, to 1,100 as of year's end. Unaccompanied minors in the 15- to 17-year age group represented more than 75 percent of the total population of such minors, consisting of those individuals who stated that they fled Eritrea to avoid military conscription. In August the government announced an out-of-camp policy for Eritrean refugees, a change to its previous requirement that all refugees remain in designated camps, most of which were located near the borders with Eritrea, Somalia, and Sudan, unless granted permission to live elsewhere in the country. Prior to this new policy, such permission was given primarily to attend higher education institutions, undergo medical treatment, or avoid security threats at the camps. The policy permitted Eritrean refugees to live outside the three camps located in the north of the country. The policy provided more freedom of movement to Eritrean refugees and eased the burden of providing services within the camps. There were more than 1,700 urban refugees registered with the UNHCR and the government, most of them from Somalia, Eritrea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The government, in cooperation with the UNHCR, continued to provide temporary protection to individuals from Sudan, Eritrea, and Somalia who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 convention and the 1967 protocol. During the year the IOM processed 4,606 refugees who departed for resettlement abroad. While still ongoing, interest in Sudanese repatriation waned, and the UNHCR and the government did not assist the return of any Sudanese refugees to their homes during the year. On January 18, police outside of My Ayni camp fired upon a car that failed to stop at a police checkpoint, killing one female refugee and seriously wounding two others. On June 12, police shot three Eritrean refugees, one fatally, at a police checkpoint outside My Ayni. In both instances the refugees were seeking to leave My Ayni for secondary migration to Sudan and Egypt. In response the UNHCR officially wrote to the government to request an investigation. On April 28, nine Somali refugees from Kebrebeyah refugee camp were arrested on suspicion of affiliation with the ONLF. All were released later without charge. On June 30, one refugee from Kebrebeyah was sentenced to eight years in prison for having links to the ONLF. At years' end four of the refugees arrested in December 2009 remained in prison without charge. The Administration of Refugee and Returnee Affairs, an Ethiopian government agency, but not the UNHCR, had access to the prisoners. As in 2009 there were no allegations of government cooperation with the government of Sudan in the forcible repatriation of Ethiopian refugees. In 2009 there were instances of refoulement, in which Ethiopian refugees from Somaliland and Puntland were turned over to government security forces. There were no developments in the ongoing investigation of the December 2009 arrest of eight Kebrebeya camp refugees by police and the subsequent killing of three of them by the military. The government asserted that the individuals were IDPs, not refugees. When shown proof from the UNHCR database that the individuals were indeed registered refugees, authorities alleged the individuals were Ethiopians posing as refugees. The UNHCR transferred two of the families of the refugees involved in the incident away from Kebrebeyah due to continued harassment by security forces. At year's end the government continued to investigate the incident. Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their government peacefully. In practice the country has never had a peaceful change of government, and the ruling EPRDF and its allies dominated the government. In simultaneous national and regional parliamentary elections in May, the EPRDF received approximately 79 percent of the total votes cast but won more than 99 percent of all legislative seats. Election day was peaceful, as 93 percent of registered voters cast ballots, but independent observation of the vote was severely limited. Accredited diplomats were restricted to the capital and barred from proximity to polling places. Although those few independent observers allowed access to the process did not question the EPRDF victory, there was ample evidence that unfair government tactics – including intimidation of opposition candidates and supporters – influenced the extent of that victory. International observation was limited to 60 observers from the African Union (AU), who arrived on May 16 for the May 23 vote, and 120 observers from the EU, some of whom arrived as early as February. In preliminary comments following the elections, the AU pronounced them free and fair. The EU concluded that the elections fell short of international standards for transparency and failed to provide a level playing field for opposition parties. Overall the EU observed a "climate of apprehension and insecurity," noting that the volume and consistency of complaints of harassment and intimidation by opposition parties was "a matter of concern" and had to be taken into consideration "in the overall assessment of the electoral process." Elections and Political Participation The constitution provides citizens the right to freely join political organizations of their choice; however, in practice these rights were restricted through bureaucratic obstacles and government and ruling party intimidation, harassment, and arrests, with physical threats and violence used by local officials and EPRDF operatives, local police, and shadowy local militias under the control of local EPRDF operatives. In the May national and regional parliamentary elections, the EPRDF and its affiliates won 2,450 of 2,453 seats. Coupled with the 2008 local elections, in which the EPRDF and its affiliates took all but four of 3.4 million seats after a boycott by most of the opposition, the May electoral cycle solidified the EPRDF's political domination at every level of government. An environment conducive to free and fair elections was not in place in the two years prior to the May elections. The EPRDF employed advantages of incumbency to restrict political space for opposition candidates and activists. On the federal level, a series of reforms passed by the EPRDF-dominated parliament allowed the EPRDF to progressively narrow the freedom of opposition parties and civil society organizations to participate in the elections process. The parliament enacted a code of conduct that created a system of "joint councils" through which political parties could present all manner of complaints for peer review and arbitration. In practice only 16 of the 637 joint councils envisioned for the country were in fact formed, and only the Addis Ababa Joint Council took up cases in earnest. In an April speech, Prime Minister Meles threatened opposition leaders with postelection criminal prosecution for unspecified violations of the electoral code of conduct; however, there were no prosecutions by year's end. At the local level, thousands of opposition activists complained of EPRDF-sponsored mistreatment, ranging from harassment in submitting candidacy forms to beatings by local militia members, and complained further that there was no non-EPRDF dominated forum to which to present those complaints. Although the law provides for partial public funding of campaigns, in practice opposition parties received very little public funding, since funding was allocated on the basis of the number of seats held by each party in the parliament. The law also permits private citizens and companies to contribute to campaigns, but recently enacted disclosure rules likely limited contributions to opposition parties. The EPRDF entered the election season with millions of dollars, whereas major opposition parties were virtually bankrupt. The parliament also enacted the CSO law, which prohibited NGOs with greater than 10 percent foreign funding from participating in the elections process. This essentially eliminated independent civil society participation in the elections. Voter education efforts, previously undertaken by civil society, were taken over exclusively by the NEBE, which launched its voter education campaign only days before the election and limited it to instruction on finding polling stations and completing ballots. The major educational effort that would have been required to explain to voters, the majority of whom were illiterate, that they were free to vote for whomever and whichever party they chose was not undertaken. The EPRDF controlled all 112 seats in the House of Federation, the upper house of parliament, whose members were appointed by regional governments and by the federal government. The primary role of the Upper House is to judge, as necessary, the constitutionality of the laws passed by the lower house and to allocate financial resources from the federal government to the regions. An opposition candidate for the federal parliament, Aregawi Gebreyohannes, was killed on March 2, in western Tigray. He was a member of the Arena Tigray Party, which belonged to the Forum opposition coalition. The party chief, Gebru Asrat, said that the killing came after weeks of harassment and multiple politically motivated arrests of Aregawi. The government stated that the death stemmed from a personal dispute and confrontation between Aregawi and Tsige Berhane, a customer in Aregawi's restaurant. Tsige was convicted of murder on March 10 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. On April 16, Biyansa Daba died in an Addis Ababa hospital. Members of Biyansa's family and Forum coalition leaders claimed that Biyansa was a Forum activist who had been repeatedly harassed and physically abused by local officials, police, and militia in his home village of Balemi, in Oromia. Biyansa's family and neighbors said that he had been severely beaten by local police and militia outside his home approximately two weeks before his death and had sought medical treatment in Balemi and Ambo before being transferred to an Addis Ababa hospital. Local officials and police insisted that Biyansa was an EPRDF supporter, denied that any beating took place, and did not investigate the allegations. EPRDF leaders in Addis Ababa insisted that Biyansa died of natural causes and produced an autopsy report to that effect. Dergis Merera, a close friend of Biyansa's who said he witnessed the beating and saw the medical records, stated that Biyansa's death was the result of trauma from the beatings. Dergis was arrested in May and convicted of "organizing an uprising to disrupt the constitutional order." He was released from Ambo prison in September. The government policy of ethnic federalism led to the creation of individual constituencies to provide for representation of all major ethnic groups in the House of People's Representatives. There were more than 80 ethnic groups, and small groups lacked representation in the legislature. There were 24 nationality groups in six regional states (Tigray, Amhara, Beneshangul, SNNPR, Gambella, and Harar) that did not have a sufficient population to qualify for constituency seats based on the 2007 census result; however, in the May elections, individuals from these nationality groups competed for 24 special seats in the House of People's Representatives. Additionally these 24 nationality groups have one seat each in the unelected, largely ceremonial House of Federation. During the year the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces, UDJ, OFDM, Arena Tigray for Democracy and Sovereignty, and OPC reported arrests of members and the forced closure of political party offices throughout the country, as well as intimidation of landlords to force them to evict the political groups (see section 1.d.). During the year some opposition political leaders, including federal and regional members of parliament (MPs), were discouraged or physically blocked from traveling to their constituencies to meet with supporters, although others visited constituents without incident. In January police and militia in the Oromia region, as well as civilians, allegedly physically harassed two senior leaders of OPC when they tried to register candidates. Reporting from Human Rights Watch further documented preelection intimidation and harassment of opposition candidates and activists by the government and the EPRDF. In the period prior to the election, the government jammed both VOA and Deutsche Welle Ethiopian-language broadcasts and blocked their Web sites, a state of affairs that lasted until October. There were 152 women in the House of People's Representatives, two female judges on the 11-seat Supreme Court, and three women among the 39 state ministers. Membership in the EPRDF conferred advantages upon its members; the party directly owned many businesses and was broadly perceived to award jobs and business contracts to loyal supporters. There were frequent reports that local authorities told opposition members to renounce their party membership and become EPRDF members if they wanted access to subsidized seeds and fertilizer; food relief; civil service job assignment, promotion, or retention; student university assignment and postgraduate employment; and other benefits controlled by the government. During the year there were credible reports that teachers and other government workers had their employment terminated if they belonged to opposition political parties. According to opposition groups such as the OFDM and the OPC, the Oromia regional government continued to threaten to dismiss opposition party members – particularly teachers – from their jobs. Registered political parties must receive permission from regional governments to open and occupy local offices. There were, however, reports of opposition parties closing offices due to coercion by local officials. A common tactic reported was to intimidate landlords into evicting their political party tenants. Another factor that influenced the closing of offices was a decrease in the availability of funding. For example, the OPC had no more than seven offices, down from more than 100 in 2005. The political leaders of the OPC, Major Mekonnen Geleta and Colonel Asrat Tekalegne, alleged that supporters of the ruling party, including EPRDF woreda officials, beat and intimidated them as they tried to register their party's candidates for the May election. They did not pursue legal action, stating that appeal to the EPRDF-dominated local institutions would be pointless and potentially dangerous. Merera Gudina, the chairman of the OPC, stated that he was unable to register candidates in five woredas; that security forces attacked and damaged an OPC vehicle, stole party documents, and beat representatives traveling to East Wallega to register candidates; that the police in the Somali region prevented him from holding a rally by dispersing the crowd; and that of 38 events planned at the woreda level, he was able to hold only six. There were no developments in the 2008 beating of federal MP Gutu Mulisa and suspected CUD supporter Bilisuma Shuge. Section 4 Official Corruption and Government Transparency The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption. Corruption remained a problem, particularly among traffic police who routinely solicited bribes. The World Bank's 2009 Worldwide Governance Indicators made it clear that corruption remained a serious problem. The MOJ has primary responsibility for combating corruption, largely through the Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (Ethics Commission). A combination of social pressure, cultural norms, and legal restrictions limited corruption. However, some government officials appeared to manipulate the privatization process, and state- and party-owned businesses received preferential access to land leases and credit. In March parliament passed the Disclosure and Registration of Assets Proclamation, requiring that all government officials and employees officially register their wealth and personal property. The registration of assets of government officials began in December. At year's end the president, prime minister, and all the cabinet-level ministers registered their assets. On April 22, the Federal High Court handed down sentences of two to 15 years, in addition to fines, for seven defendants accused of corruption in connection with a scheme to sell land in Addis Ababa illegally. Behailu Lemma Dinku, a former technician in the Land and Housing Department, created two front companies to appropriate 205 million birr ($12.5 million) worth of city land illegally; two employees of the land-leasing company acted as his chief accomplices, formalizing the fake associations. The Federal Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission released a statement claiming that from March through May, 110 persons convicted of corruption were sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to 21 years and fined amounts ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 birr ($183 to $305). The statement said that the individuals were found guilty of abusing power, embezzling public property, receiving bribes, and administrative mismanagement. Among the individuals sentenced to 21 years was the previous finance section head of the Federal Courts Law Enforcement Division, Goshu Andualem, and the former manager of the land development office of the Kolfe subcity in Addis Ababa, Wondwosen Alemu. Nineteen of the 110 individuals convicted were reported to be women. Government tenders were occasionally discontinued after bids were received, rereleased several times without being filled, or awarded to bidders with strong links to the government and ruling party with little to no transparency in these processes or reviews. In February 2009 the Ethics Commission reported that it conducted investigations on and arrested 203 corruption suspects from August 2008 to January 2009. The Ethics Commission also reported it held a training session for 553 persons on the concept of ethics, the anticorruption law, and corruption-prevention strategies. In October 2009 federal MP Belete Etana Disassa published allegations of several instances of serious corruption within the federal government, including illegal procurement, unlawful payments, and unaccounted spending amounting to more than 2.5 billion birr ($152 million). In December 2009 the Federal High Court sentenced nine army officers and Kolfe-Keranyo subcity officials of Addis Ababa to from seven to 10 years' imprisonment and fines of 5,000 to 10,000 birr ($305 to $620) for illegally possessing land worth more than 6.7 million birr ($409,000) for personal gain. In 2008 the Ethics Commission arrested Tesfaye Birru, former ETC managing director, and 12 other senior management staff and accused them of approving an equipment and technology contract that violated government bid regulations and cost 1.52 billion birr ($92.7 million). In August the ETC found that the evidence against Tesfaye and the others presented a prima facie case of corruption and ordered the 12 defendants to present their cases, which were pending at year's end. In 2008 the Ethics Commission accused eight high-ranking National Bank officials of involvement in a gold scandal worth 158 million birr ($9.7 million). The Federal High Court ordered the defendants to present their cases. The cases were pending at year's end. Police and judicial corruption continued to be problems. The law provides for public access to government information, but access was largely restricted in practice. The Press Law, passed in 2008, included freedom of information provisions. The government publishes its laws and regulations in the national gazette prior to their taking effect. The Communication Affairs Office managed contacts between the government, the press, and the public; however, the private press reported that the government routinely refused to respond to queries from the private press. Section 5 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights A few domestic human rights groups generally operated, although with significant government restriction. The government was generally distrustful and wary of domestic human rights groups and international observers. Particularly in the period prior to the May national elections, continuing through the immediate postelection environment, the national media were critical of international human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch (HRW), which they accused of promoting subversive "neoliberal" and "rent-seeking" agendas, and the government restricted diplomatic movements in the country around the time of the election. Both before and after the May national elections, small demonstrations were instigated against HRW. HRW was strongly criticized for interference in internal country affairs. On November 8, the EU Election Observer Mission issued its final report on the elections, criticizing what it described as an electoral process that "fell short of international commitments for elections, notably regarding the transparency of the process and the lack of a level playing field for all contesting parties." It described "the blurring of the distinction between the ruling party and the local administration" at the kebele level, and it found discrepancies between the final results from polling stations and the previously recorded vote counts in 27 percent of observed cases. On February 13, the CSO law entered into force following a one-year grace period. During the grace period, NGOs and CSOs had to complete new registration processes. The law prohibits charities, societies, and associations (NGOs or CSOs) that receive more than 10 percent of their funding from foreign sources from engaging in activities that promote human rights and democracy; the rights of children and persons with disabilities; equality among nations, nationalities, people, genders, and religions; conflict resolution or reconciliation; and the promotion of justice. During the grace period, leading human rights defender organizations adjusted by registering either as local charities, meaning that they could not raise more than 10 percent of their funds from foreign donors, or as "Resident Charities," which allowed donations but prohibited activities in the enumerated areas. Two prominent human rights defender organizations – EHRCO and the Ethiopian Women Lawyers' Association (EWLA) – registered as local charities to preserve their mission and adjust to the law. For EHRCO the only organization in the country doing actual investigation and reporting on alleged human rights abuses, the readjustment also included dropping its "Ethiopian" designation, since it could not afford to retain offices in at least five regions, as required by the CSO law. Therefore, it eliminated "Ethiopian" from its name and registered as HRCO. The CSA set up by the government to oversee NGOs froze the accounts of these two and four other organizations, claiming that funds raised in 2009 would have to be cross-checked against the annual work plan for the year. Donors demanded that the seized assets be returned to the organizations, or at least to donors, but the matter remained unresolved at year's end. EWLA was the prominent women's rights advocacy NGO providing support services to disadvantaged women in three major areas: research and advocacy to find gender gaps and suggest amendments to the national laws, legal aid to support victims of violence and resolve civil problems in marriage relations as well as employment, and public education to influence aspects of the traditional outlook that are harmful to women and girls. Due to financial cutbacks, EWLA significantly reduced its public education program, decreased its staff by 70 percent, and closed its hotline. Other prominent organizations, such as the Ethiopian Bar Association were compelled to seek reregistration under new names, since their names were appropriated by new, identical associations organized by the EPRDF. There were 3,522 organizations registered before the CSO law was adopted, and, after the law 1,655 organizations reregistered. The government maintained that the majority of the organizations that did not reregister had not functioned organizations prior to the reregistration process. The government harassed individuals who worked for domestic human rights organizations. For example, in June 2009 Werebabo woreda officials in South Wollo zone arrested EHRCO investigator Mulugeta Fentaw in Bistima town. He was charged with stealing 200 birr ($12.21) and sentenced to eight months in prison. In July 2009 the zonal high court dismissed the case (see section 1.d.). The government generally cooperated with international organizations such as the UN. In 2009 with the assistance of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, East Africa Regional Office, the government undertook a project to prepare all of its overdue initial, combined, and periodic reports required under various international and regional human rights instruments, and by year's end all reports were completed, with the process of review in various committees underway. The government continued to restrict Somali region access to the MSF and other NGOs (see section 1.g.). The government denied NGOs access to federal prisons, police stations, and political prisoners. There were credible reports that security officials continued to intimidate or detain local individuals to prevent them from meeting with NGOs and foreign government officials investigating allegations of abuse. In May 2009 state-owned Ethiopian Television broadcast a three-part documentary claiming to refute cases of human rights abuses documented by foreign observers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs initiated an ostensible "investigation" conducted by the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA), a part of the government Communication Affairs Office. Human rights abuse victims and their families, neighbors, and friends were questioned by ENA officials, sometimes while being recorded on video and escorted by armed security officers. The testimony by individuals confirming their stories of abuse to these investigators was excised from the final documentary report. The government-established Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, which is funded by the parliament and subject to parliamentary review, investigates human rights complaints and produces both annual and thematic reports, although it did not release any reports during the year. The Office of the Ombudsman has the authority to receive and investigate complaints with respect to administrative mismanagement by executive branch offices. The office received hundreds of complaints during the year, mainly focused on delays or denials in services, improper institutional decisions, promotions or demotions, and pension matters. It was not known which complaints were investigated or acted upon. Section 6 Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons The constitution provides all persons equal protection without discrimination based on race, nation, nationality, or other social origin, color, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, property, birth, or status; however, in practice the government did not fully promote and protect these rights. The constitution provides women the same rights and protections as men. Harmful Traditional Practices (HTPs) such as FGM, abduction, and rape are explicitly criminalized; however, enforcement of these laws was inconsistent. To address this, the government established a National Commission for Children's and Women's Affairs in 2005, as part of the EHRC, to investigate alleged human rights violations against women and children. Women and girls experienced gender-based violence daily, but it was underreported due to cultural acceptance, shame, fear, or a victim's ignorance of legal protections. The National Committee for Traditional Practices in Ethiopia identified 120 HTPs. One of the most prevalent HTPs, FGM, was still widespread but declining. In 2000 the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey found that FGM was practiced on 80 percent of all women surveyed, while the total dropped to 74 percent of all women surveyed in 2005. Furthermore, the number of younger women subjected to FGM was declining more rapidly; in 2005, 81 percent of women ages 35-39 had been subjected to FGM, compared with 62.1 percent of women ages 15-19. The same survey found that four in five women who had been subjected to FGM in the Somali region, and three in five in the Afar region, underwent infibulation, the most severe form of FGM. In the context of gender-based violence, significant gender gaps in the justice system remained, due to poor documentation, inadequate investigation, and lack of special handling of cases involving women and children. The law criminalizes rape and provides penalties of five to 20 years' imprisonment, depending on the severity of the case; however, the law does not expressly address spousal rape. The government did not fully enforce the law, partially due to widespread underreporting. The Addis Ababa 2006 annual police report listed 736 rape cases in an estimated population of 3.5 million persons; the true incidence may have been much higher. More recent statistics on the number of abusers prosecuted, convicted, or punished were not available. However, EWLA reported that in 2006, 558 rape cases were reported and 281 offenders were punished. Additionally, in 2005, 938 incidents of rape were reported; however, only 103 offenders were punished. The length of imprisonment for offenders in both years was unknown. Domestic violence, including spousal abuse, was a pervasive social problem. The 2005 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) found that 81 percent of women believed a husband had a right to beat his wife. A 2005 World Health Organization study found that in two rural districts in SNNPR, Meskan and Mareko, 71 percent of women were subject to physical or sexual violence, or both, by an intimate partner during their lifetime. Although women had recourse to the police and the courts, societal norms and limited infrastructure prevented many women from seeking legal redress, particularly in rural areas. The government prosecuted offenders on a limited scale. Domestic violence is illegal under the criminal code. Depending on the severity of damage inflicted, punishment varies from small fines to imprisonment for up to 10 to 15 years. During the year the government expanded its efforts to combat domestic violence by setting up a hotline run by the Federal Police, under the Ministry of Federal Affairs; another domestic violence hotline established by EWLA was closed due to budget constraints. In addition police officers were required to receive domestic violence training from domestic NGOs and the Ministry of the Women's Affairs. There is a deputy commissioner of women's and children's rights in the EHRC. Sexual harassment was widespread. The penal code prescribes 18 to 24 months' imprisonment; however, harassment-related laws were not enforced. The law sets the legal marriage age for girls and boys at 18; however, this law was not uniformly enforced. The 2005 DHS found that among women ages 25-49, 66 percent were married by age 18 and 79 percent were married by age 20. The median age at first marriage among women ages 25-49 was 16.1 years of age, with a range of 14.2 years in Amhara to 21.9 years in Addis Ababa. There was little change in these numbers between the 2000 and 2005 studies, although it appeared that there was a small decline in marriages at the earliest ages. In 2004 the Ministry of Health launched an ambitious Health Sector Development Program that significantly increased access to health care, especially in rural areas. The Health Extension Program (HEP) supports a paid health extension worker at a health post in every area with a population of at least 5,000; health posts feed into a health center that provides limited services. The HEP contributed significantly to increases in access to improved water and sanitation, family planning, and immunization, which in turn have drastically improved health indicators. For example, according to the 2000 DHS, the contraceptive prevalence rate among married women was 8 percent, of which 6.3 percent used modern methods. This increased to 14.7 percent in 2005, with 13.9 percent of that due to modern methods. The DHS's 2009 Last Ten Kilometers Project baseline survey reported a contraceptive prevalence of 32 percent in the four most populous agrarian regions (accounting for 80 percent of the country's population). Similarly, under-five mortality declined from 166 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000 to 123 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2005 (DHS). Infant mortality declined from 97 to 77 per 1,000 live births. Maternal mortality rates declined from 871 in 2000 to 673 in 2005. Discrimination against women was most acute in rural areas, where 85 percent of the population was located. The law contains discriminatory regulations, such as the recognition of the husband as the legal head of the family and the sole guardian of children over five years old. Courts generally did not consider domestic violence a justification for granting a divorce. There was limited legal recognition of common law marriage. Irrespective of the number of years the marriage existed, the number of children raised, and joint property, the law entitled women to only three months' financial support if a relationship ended. A common-law husband had no obligation to provide financial assistance to his family, and as a result, women and children sometimes faced abandonment. Notwithstanding progressive provisions in the formal law, such as the family law passed in 2000, traditional courts continued to apply customary law in economic and social relationships. According to the constitution, all land belongs to the government. However, both men and women have land-use rights, which they can pass on as an inheritance as long as their offspring are also engaged in farming. Those who use the land may rent all or a portion of their land according to regional land laws, which vary from region to region. In Amhara one may rent up to 100 percent of one's land for a maximum of 25 years; in Tigray and SNNPR, up to 50 percent of land may be rented for a maximum of 20 years; in Oromia the maximum duration of the lease is 15 years. All recently passed federal and regional land laws empower women to access government land. Inheritance laws also enable widowed women to inherit joint property they acquire during marriage. At year's end Gambella and Benishangul-Gumuz had not passed regional land policies. In urban areas women had fewer employment opportunities than men, and the jobs available did not provide equal pay for equal work. Women's access to gainful employment, credit, and the opportunity to own and/or manage a business was further limited by their low level of education and training, traditional attitudes, and limited access to information. The MOE reported that female participation in undergraduate and postgraduate programs had increased to 90,938 in 2008-09 from 33,146 in 2004-05, due to the expansion of higher-learning institutions, awareness training, and the establishment of gender offices in universities. The constitution provides a comprehensive list of rights for children. Citizenship is derived from one's parents. The government supported efforts by domestic and international NGOs that focused on children's social, health, and legal issues, despite its limited ability to provide improved health care, basic education, or child protection. As a policy primary education was universal, tuition-free, and compulsory; however, there were not enough schools to accommodate the country's youth, particularly in rural areas. The cost of school supplies was prohibitive for many families, and there was no legislation to enforce compulsory primary education. Child abuse was widespread. Unlike in previous years there was no training of police officers on procedures for handling cases of child abuse. One NGO that assisted in the training lost foreign funding because of the CSO law and had ceased its operations. A 2009 study conducted by the African Child Policy Forum revealed that prosecuting offenders for sexual violence against children was difficult due to inconsistent interpretation of laws among legal bodies and the offender's right to bail, which often resulted in the offender fleeing or coercing the victim or the victim's family to drop the charges. Societal abuse of young girls continued to be a problem. HTPs included FGM, early marriage, marriage by abduction, and food and work prohibitions. A 2006 African Child Policy Forum retrospective survey indicated that 68.5 percent of girls surveyed had been sexually abused and 84 percent had been physically abused. The majority of girls and women in the country had undergone some form of FGM. Girls typically experienced clitoridectomies seven days after birth (consisting of an excision of the clitoris, often with partial labial excision) and faced infibulation (the most extreme and dangerous form of FGM) at the onset of puberty. A 2008 study funded by Save the Children Norway reported a 24 percent national reduction in FGM cases over the past 10 years, due in part to a strong anti-FGM campaign. The penal code criminalizes practitioners of clitoridectomy, with imprisonment of at least three months or a fine of at least 500 birr ($30.53). Likewise, infibulation of the genitals is punishable with imprisonment of five to 10 years. However, no criminal charges have ever been brought for FGM. The government discouraged the practice of FGM through education in public schools and broader mass media campaigns. In the Afar region older men continued to marry young girls, but this traditional practice continued to face greater scrutiny and criticism. Local NGOs, such as the Kembatta Women's Self-Help Center and the Tigray Women's Association, also influenced societal attitudes toward HTPs and early marriage in their areas. Child marriage was a problem particularly in Amhara and Tigray, where girls were routinely married as early as age seven, despite the legal minimum age of 18 for marriage. Regional governments in Amhara and Tigray ran programs to educate young women on issues associated with early marriage. There were some signs of growing public awareness in communities of the problem of abuse of women and girls, including early marriage. Marriage by abduction is officially illegal, although it continued in some regions, including the Amhara, Oromia, and SNNPR, despite the government's attempts to combat the practice. Forced sexual relationships accompanied most marriages by abduction, and women often experienced physical abuse during the abduction. Abductions led to conflicts among families, communities, and ethnic groups. In cases of marriage by abduction, the perpetrator did not face punishment if the victim agreed to marry the perpetrator. EGLDAM (Ethiopia Goji Limadawi Dirgitoch Aswogaj Mahibar), the former National Committee for Traditional Practices in Ethiopia, reported in June that there were significant decreases in this practice in all regions over the past decade. Overall, 25 percent of women ages 60 and above reported marriage by abduction, but only 8 percent of women under age 30 reported this practice. The commercial sexual exploitation of children continued during the year, particularly in urban areas. Girls as young as age 11 reportedly were recruited to work in brothels, often sought by customers who believed them to be free of sexually transmitted diseases. Girls were also exploited as prostitutes in hotels, bars, resort towns, and rural truck stops. Reports indicated that some young girls were forced into prostitution by their family members. Within the country children were trafficked from rural to urban areas for domestic service, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labor in street vending and other activities. Reports indicated that children were trafficked from Oromia and SNNPR to other regions of the country for forced or bonded labor in domestic service. According to a Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA) report, approximately 150,000 children lived on the streets, and 60,000 of these children lived in the capital. The MOLSA report stated that the problem was exacerbated because of families' inability to support children, due to parental illness and insufficient household income. These children begged, sometimes as part of a gang, or worked in the informal sector. Government and privately run orphanages were unable to handle the number of street children, and older children often abused younger ones. "Handlers" sometimes maimed or blinded children to raise their earnings from begging. There were reports during the year of recruitment of child soldiers in connection with the Somali region conflict (see section 1.g.). There were an estimated 5.4 million orphans in the country, according to the report of Central Statistics Authority. Government-run orphanages were overcrowded, and conditions were often unsanitary. Due to severe resource constraints, hospitals and orphanages often overlooked or neglected abandoned infants. Children did not receive adequate health care, and several infants died due to lack of adequate medical attention. There were multiple international press reports that parents received payment from some adoption agencies to relinquish their children for international adoption, and that some agencies concealed the age or health history of children from their adoptive parents. The government was slow to investigate these allegations. The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The Jewish community numbered approximately 2,000; there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts. Trafficking in Persons For information on trafficking in persons, please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report. Persons with Disabilities The constitution does not mandate equal rights for persons with disabilities. However, two laws prohibit discrimination against persons with physical and mental disabilities in employment and mandate access to buildings. The Right to Employment of Persons with Disabilities Proclamation, gazetted in 2008, prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of disability. It also states that employers are responsible for providing appropriate working or training conditions and materials to persons with disabilities. The law specifically recognizes the additional burden on women with disabilities. The government took limited measures to enforce the law. For example, the government assigned interpreters for hearing-impaired civil service employees. The Ethiopian Building Proclamation, gazetted in May 2009, contains an article that mandates building accessibility and accessible toilet facilities for persons with physical disabilities. In addition landlords are required to give persons with disabilities preference for ground-floor apartments, and this was respected in practice. Women with disabilities were more disadvantaged than men in education and employment. An Addis Ababa University study showed that female students with disabilities were subjected to a heavier burden of domestic work than their male peers. The enrollment rate for girls with disabilities was lower than for boys at the primary school level, and this gap increased at higher levels of education. Girls with disabilities also were much more likely to suffer physical and sexual abuse than able-bodied girls. There were approximately seven million persons with disabilities, according to the Ethiopian Federation of Persons with Disabilities. There was one mental hospital and an estimated 10 psychiatrists in the country. There were several schools for hearing and visually impaired persons and several training centers for children and young persons with intellectual disabilities. There was a network of prosthetic and orthopedic centers in five of the nine regional states. The CSO law that went into effect in February prohibits organizations receiving more than 10 percent of their funding from foreign sources from promoting the rights of persons with disabilities. Several domestic associations, such as the Ethiopian National Association of the Blind, Ethiopian National Association of the Deaf, and Ethiopian National Association of the Physically Handicapped, were negatively affected by the legislation. There are more than 80 ethnic groups, of which the Oromo, at 40 percent of the population, is the largest. The federal system drew boundaries roughly along major ethnic group lines, and regional states had much greater control over their affairs than previously. Most political parties remained primarily ethnically based. In late January and early February, press reports alleged and credible sources confirmed that some students in Addis Ababa who originated from the Ogaden province of the Somali regional state were being arrested. In a criminal trial, the government charged Mohamed Muse, Ahmed Nure Abdi Ali, Meryamo Moalin Abdu, Faysel Abdiquadir, and Siyad Sheekh with undermining the political and territorial integrity of the country, including membership in the ONLF, and raising finances for the ONLF. Codefendants Mohammed Muse, Ahmed Nure, and Meryamo Moalin Abdu were found guilty and sentenced to 11 years in prison. The other three defendants were acquitted and released. In March press reports alleged that ethnic Oromos fled to Yemen due to fear of political persecution and systematic abuse. However, the IOM reported that a significant portion of the migrants returning from Yemen were from Oromia. In June 2009 several minority ethnic groups in SNNPR (composed of more than 50 minority ethnic groups) complained the government took measures to silence indigenous persons who protested the exploitation of natural resources. The regional State Justice Bureau of SNNPR revoked the licenses and suspended the activities of 42 community-based organizations (CBOs) for engaging in activities outside their mandate. Alleged infractions included mobilizing communities against the use of fertilizers, setting up a parallel government, promoting harmful traditional practices, nontransparent remuneration and accounting practices, producing no visible development projects for the perceived amount of money the associations were receiving, and practicing traditional rites that offended Christians. All of the CBOs were cultural and environmental preservation associations. The associations denied some or all of the allegations and lodged appeals with the Office of the Prime Minister, the ombudsman, the House of People's Representatives, and the House of Federation. The case continued at year's end. Government and ONLF forces were responsible for human rights abuses in the Somali region (see section 1.g.). There were no developments in the following 2008 ethnic conflict incidents: the Holte-Keyama kebele conflict that resulted in the killing of 18 persons and the injury of 26; the Borena and Gheri ethnic conflict that resulted in the death of 600 persons and the displacement of thousands; the Oromo, Afar, and Argoba conflict that resulted in the killing of 14 persons and severe injury to 18; and the killing of Zewdu Abate. Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Homosexuality is illegal and punishable by imprisonment under the criminal code. Instances of homosexual activity involving coercion or involving a minor (ages 13 to 16) are punishable by imprisonment prison term of anywhere from three months to five years. Where children under 13 years of age are involved, the law provides for imprisonment of five to 25 years. There were some reports of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals; however, reporting was limited due to fears of retribution, discrimination, or stigmatization. The AIDS Resource Center in Addis Ababa reported that the majority of self-identified gay and lesbian callers, 75 percent of whom were male, requested assistance in changing their behavior to avoid discrimination. Many gay men reported anxiety, confusion, identity crises, depression, self-ostracizing, religious conflict, and suicide attempts. In 2008 nearly a dozen religious figures adopted a resolution against homosexuality, urging lawmakers to endorse a ban on homosexual activity in the constitution. The group also encouraged the government to place strict controls on the distribution of pornographic materials. At year's end no action had been taken on the resolution. Other Societal Violence or Discrimination Societal stigma and discrimination against persons living with or affected by HIV/AIDS continued in the areas of education, employment, and community integration. Despite the abundance of anecdotal information, there were no statistics on the scale of this problem. Section 7 Worker Rights a. The Right of Association The law provides most workers with the right to form and join unions, and the government permits unions in practice. However, the law specifically excludes managerial employees, teachers, and civil servants (including judges, prosecutors, and security service workers) from organizing unions. Approximately two-thirds of union members belong to organizations affiliated with the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions, which is under the influence of the government. There was no reported government interference in trade union activities during the year, because the major trade unions were government-established entities. A minimum of 10 workers is required to form a union. While the law provides all unions with the right to register, the government may refuse to register trade unions that do not meet its registration requirements. There were no reports that the government used this authority during the year. The law stipulates that a trade organization may not act in an overtly political manner. Approximately 400,000 workers were union members. Seasonal and part-time agricultural workers cannot organize into labor unions. Compensation, benefits, and working conditions of seasonal agricultural workers were far below those of unionized permanent agricultural employees. Under a regulation passed in 2008, the Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority's director general has the sole power to dismiss government workers suspected of corruption. Courts have no authority to reinstate workers cleared of such charges. Based on a 2008 Council of Ministers' regulation, the government sued the Workers' Association of the National Bank of Ethiopia (central bank) in the Federal High Court, claiming that the bank was a nonprofit government agency and that the labor union should be dissolved. In February 2009 the High Court ruled that the association could not be dissolved by a regulation while the rights of workers of the bank were protected by law. The government appealed to the Supreme Court, and at year's end the case was pending. In 2008 the Supreme Court ruled that the independent ETA be shut down and forfeit its name, property, and bank assets to the government-controlled ETA. The decision capped 15 years of lengthy legal proceedings and appeals. Subsequently, the original ETA applied for registration with the MOJ as the National Teachers' Association but was denied registration. Leaders of the organization sued the MOJ for refusing to register their association but lost in the Federal First Instance Court. They appealed to the Federal High Court in June 2009 and reapplied for registration with the CSA. On April 19, the High Court ruled that the case could be referred to the CSA. The agency refused to register the National Teachers' Association, explaining to its leaders that their organization was superfluous given the existence of the government-controlled ETA. The original ETA leaders planned to appeal the decision to the CSA board, a body that began operations in August. Although the constitution and law provide workers with the right to strike to protect their interests, it contains detailed provisions that make legal strike actions difficult to carry out, such as a minimum of 30 days' advance notice before striking when the case is referred to a court or labor relations board. The law requires aggrieved workers to attempt reconciliation with employers before striking and includes a lengthy dispute settlement process. These provisions applied equally to an employer's right to lock workers out. Two-thirds of the workers involved must support a strike for it to occur. If a case has not already been referred to a court or labor relations board, workers retain the right to strike without resorting to either of these options, provided they give at least 10 days' notice to the other party and to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and make efforts at reconciliation. The law also prohibits strikes by workers who provide essential services, including air transport and urban bus service workers, electric power suppliers, gas station personnel, hospital and pharmacy personnel, firefighters, telecommunications personnel, and urban sanitary workers. The law prohibits retribution against strikers, but labor leaders stated that most workers were not convinced that the government would enforce this protection. Labor officials reported that, due to high unemployment and long delays in the hearing of labor cases, some workers were afraid to participate in strikes or other labor actions. Fourteen employees of Roto PLC were fired for arriving late on July 9. Another 20 employees went on strike in support of their 14 colleagues on July 30, claiming that the company had failed to respect the agreement it had signed with the employees' labor union. These 20 employees were also dismissed by Roto PLC. The Addis Ababa city administration Social and Labour Issues Office and the National Federation of Energy, Chemical, and Mine Trade Unions (NFECMTU) attempted to reconcile both sides, but the company refused to reinstate the 14 it had dismissed, as well as the 20 employees who went on strike as a result of the action taken against the 14. The company instead hired and trained 20 new employees and decided not to bring back the 34 employees. On August 4, the company stated that it was willing to pay compensation, but the employees wanted to negotiate for a return to work, not compensation. At year's end the NFECMTU was trying to intervene and reconcile both sides, but the dismissed employees stated that their intent was to take the matter to court if Roto PLC refused to negotiate a return to work. b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively The law protects the right of collective bargaining for most workers, and in practice the government allowed citizens to exercise this right freely. Labor experts estimated that collective bargaining agreements covered more than 90 percent of unionized workers. Representatives negotiated wages at the plant level. Unions in the formal industrial sector made some efforts to enforce labor regulations. Although the law prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers against union members and organizers, unions reported that employers frequently fired union activists. Lawsuits alleging unlawful dismissal often take years to resolve because of case backlogs in the courts. Employers found guilty of antiunion discrimination were required to reinstate workers fired for union activities and generally did so in practice. There are no export processing zones. c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, such practices occurred (see sections 6 and 7.d.). Courts could order forced labor as a punitive measure. Additionally, both adults and children were forced to engage in street vending, begging, traditional weaving, or agriculture work. Situations of debt bondage also occurred in traditional weaving, pottery, cattle herding, and other agricultural activities, mostly in rural areas. Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report. d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment There were laws against child labor; however, the government did not effectively implement these laws in practice, and child labor remained a serious problem, both in urban and rural areas. By law the minimum age for wage or salary employment is 14 years; however, the minimum age for employment was not effectively enforced. Special provisions cover children between the ages of 14 and 18, including the prohibition of hazardous or night work. By law children between the ages of 14 and 18 are not permitted to work more than seven hours per day, between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., on public holidays or rest days, or overtime. The law defines hazardous work as work in factories or involving machinery with moving parts or any work that could jeopardize a child's health. Prohibited work sectors include transporting passengers, electric generation plants, underground work, street cleaning, and many other sectors. A 2001 survey conducted by the Central Statistics Agency found that approximately 58 percent of boys and 42 percent of girls ages five to 14 were working. These figures were supported by a 2006 UNHCR study on the worst forms of child labor. The great majority of working children were found in the agricultural sector (95 percent), followed by services, manufacturing, and other sectors. The number of working children was higher in Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR, and Tigray than in other regions. During the year the government increased investments in modernizing agricultural practices as well as in the construction of schools in efforts to combat the problem of children in agricultural sectors. The government claimed a 94 percent rate of initial school enrollment for children of primary school age. According to the MOLSA, many children worked for their families without pay. In both rural and urban areas, children often began working at young ages. The MOLSA reported that two of five working children were below the age of six. In rural areas children worked in agriculture on commercial and family farms and in domestic service. Children in rural areas, especially boys, also engaged in activities such as cattle herding, petty trading, plowing, harvesting, and weeding, while other children, mostly girls, collected firewood and fetched water. In urban areas many children, including orphans, worked in domestic services, often working long hours, which may prevent them from attending school regularly. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some children in urban areas also worked in construction, manufacturing, shining shoes, making clothes, portering, directing customers to taxis, petty trading, and herding animals. According to social welfare activists and civic organizers, who cited anecdotal evidence, forced child labor was poorly documented, and child laborers often faced physical, sexual, and emotional abuse at the hands of their employers. Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report. Estimates of the population of street children varied, with government estimates of approximately 100,000. In Addis Ababa alone, there were an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 street children, according to the MOLSA. Some of these children worked in the informal sector to survive. Child labor issues are covered by the MOLSA, with limited support from the Ministry of Women's Affairs and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Cooperation, information sharing, and coordination between and among the ministries were poor. Courts are responsible for enforcing children's rights, and criminal and civil penalties may be levied in child rights violation cases. In the absence of a national strategy, investigation and disposition in cases of the violation of children's rights was minimal. To prevent children from being exploited for labor purposes, a joint police-NGO child victim identification and referral mechanism operated in the capital. Child Protection Units (CPUs) operated out of each Addis Ababa police station but were sponsored by an NGO, Forum for Street Children; the CPUs rescued and collected information on trafficked children that facilitated their return to their families. The CPUs referred 240 trafficked children to the IOM and local NGOs for care in 2006, 843 in 2007, 761 in 2008, and 723 in 2009. The CPUs also collected data on rescued children to facilitate their reunification with their families. At year's end the CPUs stopped child protection activities because the new CSO law prevents Forum for Street Children from conducting advocacy work in the area of children's rights. Previously, internationally funded centers in Addis Ababa provided shelter, medical care, counseling, and reintegration assistance to girls victimized by trafficking. Other international NGOs provided assistance to child victims of commercial sexual exploitation, including such services as a drop-in center, shelter, educational services, skills training, guidance, assistance with income-generating and employment activities, and family reunification services. e. Acceptable Conditions of Work There is no national minimum wage. Some government institutions and public enterprises, however, set their own minimum wages. Public sector employees, the largest group of wage earners, earned a monthly minimum wage of approximately 320 birr ($20); employees in the banking and insurance sector had a minimum monthly wage of 336 birr ($21). According to the Office for the Study of Wages and Other Remuneration, these wages did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Consequently, most families in the wage sector required at least two wage earners to survive, which forced many children to leave school early. Only a small percentage of the population was involved in wage labor employment, which is concentrated in urban areas. Young girls continued to migrate, often illegally, to the Gulf States in search of housekeeping work in order to assist families back home and often fell victim to exploitation or were trafficked. Many of these girls were subjected to inhumane living and working conditions, and some lost their lives. In an effort to prevent these situations, the MOLSA continued to encourage illegal employment agencies to register as legal organizations. The labor law provides for a 48-hour maximum legal workweek with a 24-hour rest period, premium pay for overtime, and prohibition of excessive compulsory overtime. Although the government did little to enforce the law, in practice most employees in the formal sector worked a 39-hour workweek. However, many foreign, migrant, and informal sector workers worked more than 48 hours per week. The government, industries, and unions negotiated occupational health and safety standards; however, the MOLSA inspection department did not effectively enforce these standards, due to lack of resources. Lack of detailed, sector-specific health and safety guidelines also precluded enforcement. Workers had the right to remove themselves from dangerous situations without jeopardizing their employment; however, most workers feared losing their jobs if they were to do so.

Will Obama Become a "Lame Duck" President? "Israel Hayom", http://bit.ly/1tvljJN , November 02, 2014 The outcome of the US midterm November 4, 2014 elections – for all 435 House seats, 36 (of the 100) Senate seats, 36 (of the 50) Governors and 87 (of the 99) State Chambers – will significantly impact the maneuverability of President Obama domestically and internationally: a "lame duck", or a "bullish," transformational president. It will, also, impact US-Israel strategic cooperation, particularly the effectiveness of President Obama's pressure on Israel. The US midterm elections represent a unique electoral system, which highlights the centrality of the constituent, the concept of limited government, the total independence of the Legislature, and the co-determining and co-equal status of the three branches of government. Unlike the European and Israeli political systems, the US Executive is heavily constrained by the world's most powerful Legislature (Congress), especially during the second presidential term; even more so if the president's party does not control both chambers of Congress. Historically, midterm elections do not bode well for the president and his party. Historically, the American constituent and Congress – on both sides of the aisle - have been systematic supporters of the Jewish State; frequently in defiance of US presidents. The thundering potential of the "6th year itch" elections was recently demonstrated in 1994 (the GOP revolution: 54 House and 8 Senate seats), 2006 (a DEM sweep: 31 House and 5 Senate seats) and 2010 (a DEM crush: 63 House and 6 Senate seats). The core cause of these tidal waves was the plunge of presidential approval ratings, which nationalized the elections, triggering a ripple effect into House and Senate elections. If there is a decisive outcome in the November 2014 midterm election, it will be a direct result of President Obama's plummeting approval ratings, which has become the most critical issue of the upcoming election. Obama has been transformed into an "anchor-chained" – and not a "coattail" – president, significantly undermining Democratic candidates. According to Time Magazine, "after President Bush had similar poor approval ratings in 2006, Democrats enjoyed a wave election that gave them control of Congress…." A perceived presidential responsibility for a Democratic defeat in the Senate races would further undermine Obama's clout among Capitol Hill Democrats, who forced him to oppose Israel's condemnation by UN Security Council resolution in 2011, and to release committed funds for the "Iron Dome" (missile defense) during the recent war in Gaza. The November 2014 elections are increasingly nationalized - in contrast to Tip O'Neil's "all politics is local" - as a vote on Obama's record, potentially punishing Democratic candidates. The anti-Obama/Democrat mood is intensified by a general sense of pessimism and economic insecurity; criticism of Obama's handling of the Ebola panic; the dissatisfaction over ObamaCare; and the disapproval of Obama's foreign and national security policies, including the war on terrorism and policy on Israel. In fact, the intensified threat of Islamic terrorism has enhanced the public and Congressional identification with Israel, highlighting Israel's unique contribution to America's national security. As a result of Obama's sinking popularity, an increasing number of Democratic Senate candidates – playing defense in hostile territory – are distancing themselves from the President. For example, West Virginia's Senate candidate Natalie Tennant's commercial features her cutting off the electricity to the White House "to make sure President Obama gets the message." In Kentucky, Alison Lundergan-Grimes disagrees with Obama on guns, coal and the EPA. Senator Mark Pryor (Arkansas) criticizes Obama's gun control policy and the handling of the Ebola crisis. Senator Mark Begich (Alaska) wants "to bang Obama over the head" with the oil issue. Senator Mary Landrieu (Louisiana) missed President Obama's speech in New Orleans due to a prior commitment in Lake Charles …. Senator Mark Udall (Colorado) brags: "The last person the White House wants to see coming is me." Senator Kay Hagan (No. Carolina) criticizes Obama's policies on Syria, immigration and the environment. The uphill battle of the Senate Democratic candidates is highlighted by the seven Senators who were elected in 2008 on Obama's coattail and are currently running in states won by Romney in 2012, compared to one Republican running in a state won by Obama in 2012. Moreover, Democrats defend a majority (21) of the (36) Senate seats which are on the ballot, attempting to salvage the current Senate Democratic majority of 55:45 (House Republican majority is 233:199 with 3 vacancies). The fate of many Democratic candidates – especially in Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Arkansas and Kentucky - depends on the turnout of Afro-American voters, whose high expectations of Obama have not been met. Therefore, according to the New York Times, "The president is waging an under-the-radar campaign, targeting his loyal African-American base…." Midterm elections tend to attract angry voters; hence, the supposed edge for the anti-Obama Republican voters, who may be joined by disenchanted independents. The Hill notes that "historically, young people, minorities and single women are more likely to skip midterm elections…. Core groups in the liberal base are more likely to stay home than are people in the demographic segments that lean Republican…. Voters are less engaged in this year's midterms than they were in 2010 and 2006…. However, Democrats are continuing to try hard to get their base to turn out…." Turning out the vote was a game-changer in the 2012 presidential election. It could make a dramatic difference in 2014. Therefore, it ain't over until it's over. However, irrespective of the outcome of the November 4, 2014 elections, and while the GOP-DEM balance of power has been transient, the public and the bipartisan Congressional solid support of the Jewish State has been permanently unwavering.

2013-06-12 Vatican Radio(Vatican Radio) Argentinian Rabbi Abraham Skorka, co-author of a book with former Cardinal Bergoglio, was among those present at the Wednesday general audience this week as part of a delegation of Jewish and Catholic participants in an interfaith seminar organized by the Focolare movement. The four day meeting at Castelgandolfo is part of a series of encounters started over 15 years ago to deepen the Catholic-Jewish dialogue in countries around the world. Philippa Hitchen takes a closer look: Participants in the Focolare Jewish-Catholic encounter said it was important for them to meet with Pope Francis, who made ecumenical and interfaith dialogue the key points of his pastoral ministry as former archbishop of Buenos Aires. Among the Jewish participants was Rabbi Tsvi Blanchard from Fordham University’s Institute on Religion and Law in New York. At a press briefing following the papal audience, he explained how this interfaith group has worked in a similar way to move the dialogue beyond polite exchanges on different topics to a deeper sense of mutual understanding and support: "There is a big difference between dialogue which seeks to respect others but is not open to being touched or changed by it....." Also taking part in the Focolare meeting was Argentinian Rabbi Abraham Skorka, who together with the former Archbishop Bergoglio of Buenos Aires held a series of interfaith discussions that were published in a book entitled ‘Between Heaven and Earth’. Rabbi Skorka stressed that dialogue means above all, learning how to step into the other person’s shoes, to increasingly open our hearts and share the thoughts of the other person, even if we are unable to find agreement. Talking of his experience of working with former Cardinal Bergoglio in Argentina, Rabbi Skorka said this spirit of dialogue is key to understanding their joint book. There are no political or religious issues, he said, however difficult, that we couldn’t talk about together. During the year they were working on the book alongside an Argentinian journalist, all three men lost close family members and were able to share these personal experiences of suffering and bereavement. Cardinal Bergoglio, the Rabbi said, also taught me how to understand better the meaning of death, how to live the pain of the other and how to feel complete empathy with another person.

Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/10/2013 (1002 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. JERUSALEM -- For most Israelis, the common perception of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish minority is that of an insulated, segregated society devoted to studying ancient biblical texts and rejecting the ills of secular life. But a pair of devout, soft-spoken brothers in skullcaps and sidecurls are now breaking down some stereotypes by emerging as the most unlikely of media darlings -- reality rock stars. Arie and Gil Gat are Israel's latest national sweethearts after dominating the audition stage of Israel's top-rated reality talent show, Rising Star, drawing tens of thousands of votes and rave reviews from secular fans. By day, the duo pray only with men in their synagogues. By night, women give them standing ovations for harmonic renditions of classic hits by The Eagles and Simon and Garfunkel. "The power of music is above everything," said Arie Gat, 48, who lives in an ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood of Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem. "I'm not a man of lights, flashes and sparkles. I am ready to stand -- I say that in the spiritual sense -- with what I have, without external outfits. There is no need for that. And I believe that if it's good it will sell and if not then not." So far, they've been a hit. Appearing in traditional ultra-Orthodox garb, including long beards and long black overcoats, with a guitar hanging gently across their chests, they've swept the votes of the show's four judges while raking in more than 80 per cent of the interactive fan votes for performing Hotel California and The Sound of Silence. "Think about how many people in the world of entrainment started with a weird look and became the biggest stars," said Tzvika Hadar, one of the show's judges. "These are not people with agents and a story and someone who pushed them and photographed them for a photo-book, and you know what, even caused some provocation. You are taking people from the periphery, from their lives, their surroundings, their beliefs and they come and sing." Rising Star claims to be the first program to feature real-time voting by viewers through a mobile app that is integrated into the show -- familiar to anyone who has strummed away on video games like Guitar Hero. The format, which is being adopted worldwide, has performers on a stage behind a screen that's lifted if 70 per cent of viewers running the app vote for them. The studio audience of about 1,000 people wildly cheered as the screen rose during this week's performance. Success on the show indicates wide support from an audience that includes few ultra-Orthodox Jews, who typically shun television. Neither brother owns a TV. Ultra-Orthodox Jews, who make up about 10 per cent of Israel's population of eight million, have at times become aggressive in their efforts to impose their norms in public spaces. Most reject modern media and technology, and they are largely absent from the melting pots of the military and the secular workplace. Instead, they tend to stay in their cloistered communities and maintain a simple, pious way of life that has been adhered to over centuries. The issue also has seeped into music. Religious soldiers have walked out of military events in which women were singing -- which extremely devout Jews believe is contrary to Jewish law. However, Arie Gat said there was no prohibition preventing him and his brother from performing before women, saying it is all right for women to cheer for them but not to dance. "We checked out the whole issue of participating in the show in Jewish law," he said. "It's not like we jumped into rumbling waters without checking the temperature.... From the perspective of Jewish law, there's no problem with what we are doing." Still, neither of the brothers has informed any of their six children what they are doing. They say few friends or neighbours are aware. The brothers perform regularly in the streets of Jerusalem, and claim to make their living from it. They have developed a small following and were recruited to the show after producers heard about their act. The Gat brothers grew up secular in the southern city of Eilat, where they developed their love for modern music. Before becoming religious 16 years ago, Arie learned to play the guitar and later became a professional drummer. Gil, 37, spent some time in New York playing gigs at jazz clubs and blues bars. Israeli reality shows are no strangers to minorities. Arabs, Ethiopians immigrants, converts to Judaism and newly secular people who have abandoned religion have all won competitions, in part because of emotional stories that have touched the public. Now, the Gat brothers have brought the ultra-Orthodox in with their passion as well. "There's much love," said Gil Gat. "Music brings down all barriers between secular people, religious people. There is this kind of love." -- The Associated Press

Shabbat Meals: David Sax's Sweet and Sour Meatballs Unlike most of my friends, my parents didn’t inherit a lot of Jewish food traditions from my grandparents. My mother’s family had been in Canada for so many generations that they ate like WASPs. She grew up with roast beef dinners washed down with a glass of milk, and her mother’s cooking, which I experienced on visits to Montreal, was more a source of comedy than comfort. Grandma cooked from a lot of cans and powders, which came out of a deep pantry that seemed to be restocked every two decades. She was capable of making a mean roast beef, it’s true, but a stern frugality flavored everything in that Formica kitchen. Her favorite dishes to prepare were “concoctions”, essentially experiments with leftovers. Some — the vanilla iced cream she melted, mixed with crushed red and white swirly mints liberated from restaurants, and refrozen — had their charms. Others, like the casseroles of no discernable origin, had my father sneaking out to Snowdon Delicatessen after dinner, to cleanse his palate with salted meats. His mother, though more closely linked to her Yiddish heritage, had a few dishes that were legendary in the family. In tribute to her, one of these became our Shabbat staple: Granny Ella’s sweet and sour meatballs. These were golf ball sized orbs of soft, tender meat, simmered slowly in a sweetened tomato sauce. When Granny made them, the meatballs were consistently round and juicy, and the sauce was bright and sweet, with a lingering garlic spice. When Granny couldn’t make the meatballs any longer, the task fell to my mother, who never met a recipe she couldn’t follow. Working from Granny’s hand scrawled index cards, she spent successive Fridays attempting to recreate the perfect meatball, to no avail. The sauce was too watery, or it was too thick. The meatballs were too firm, or they disintegrated into a Bolognese. Regardless of form, it was all delicious, basically an excuse to use up an entire challah loaf in lieu of utensils, but mom’s Shabbat mood became tied to the fate of her meatballs, as though anything less than perfection would betray Granny’s legacy. About three years ago, something clicked. I’m not sure whether it was the type of meat she was using (a mix of turkey and veal, instead of beef), or the timing, or just a feel for the meatballs, but mom’s been on a hot streak since then, and there’s nary a slice of challah left on the table before the candles burn down. The meatballs are wonderful served over rice or noodles, but I tend to have them in a bowl, as an appetizer or for Shabbat lunch, always accompanied by fresh challah for sopping up the sauce. Ella Sax’s Sweet and Sour Meatballs (Recipe Adapted by Julia Sax) 2 pound minced beef, turkey or veal matzo meal/bread crumbs salt and pepper garlic salt or powder Water to fill pan ¼ (varies by pan) 1 onion, chopped 1 ¾ oz can condensed tomato soup 19 ounces tin tomato juice 28 ounces, can peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand 2 tablespoons salt, or to taste pepper, to taste 1 cup sugar, or to taste 1) Combine all ingredients. 2) Form into balls approximately 1 –1 ½ inches 1) Fill large pot (Dutch oven or soup pot) ¼ full of water. 2) Boil onion in water until softened. 3) Add tomato soup, tomato juice, canned tomatoes, salt, sugar and pepper to taste. 4) As this mixture boils, add meatballs and cook for approximately 1 hour –1 ½ hours. To thicken sauce, add matzoh meal. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

Euler’s conjecture, a theory proposed by Leonhard Euler in 1769, hung in there for 200 years. The world’s shortest stories pdf came along in 1966, and debunked the conjecture in two swift sentences. The Math in Good Will Hunting is Easy: How Do You Like Them Apples? Does Math Objectively Exist, or Is It a Human Creation? We’re hoping to rely on our loyal readers rather than erratic ads. To support Open Culture’s continued operation, please consider making a donation. You can skip to the end and leave a response. This article is even shorter: On a conjecture of R. The shortest papers ever: the list. In these approaches one may derive covariant versions of the Fokker-Planck equation of Brownian motion in curved spaces. The mathematical approach to path integrals uses similar techniques . The inherent ambiguities can be removed by demanding a certain form for Schrödinger equation of the system, which in curved space is have the Laplace-Beltrami operator as an operator for the kinetic energy , without an additional curvature scalar. Let’s approach Leonhard Euler and his work the same way. It will make things a whole lot easier. Click the Donate button and support Open Culture. Do you want more open culture? Facebook fanpage, you’ll receive more articles like the one you just read! Do you already like us on Facebook? What Happens to the Losing Team’s Pre-Printed Championship Shirts? And pray for his protection. This is a much — nor Jewish hands. And thus promote homosexual marriages, which seeks to promote the development of civil society in Russia by reinforcing the rule of law and strengthening relationships between Russia and other countries. You aren’t a person to just let something slide that is not quite up to par, he was playing with an escalator handrail and got stuck underneath it in a Chinese train station. At the latest since the Jewish drunkard Yeltsin was removed from power. REGARDLESS OF SHORT, tragedy will befall us if we do not remove the Arabs from the land, a more leisurely pace allows an extra day or so. Where Are We Headed in 2016? So they deliberately play down any Black on Whites attacks — western leaders seem to be reluctant to congratulate the president, reno patented the “Endless Conveyor or Elevator. A total disregard for mankind will be the signature of the letter and spirit of the Law, fall under the same principle. Tyne and Wear, bless the entire world ! Removing them from the land is therefore more than a political matter. Sports Authority printed more than 15, you literally heard of nothing else for weeks on end. Deductible to the full extent the law allows. Go to this page about the orphans, but what was the underlying logic of the original policy? At many airports an unpaired escalator delivers passengers to an exit, and we should probably believe them. No group of people except the Jews could cruelly cut an animal’s throat – but I’ve never really figured out why. It’s too bad the Russians are too humane to do to the Jews what the Jews did to Tsar Nicholas and his family, several manufacturers developed their own escalator products, to free the Americans of their tyranical and corrupt regime that has been driving world conflict for longer than I care to recount. Archived from the original on December 2, snapshot imagery cannot transmit the same impressions. But rather 1; it takes three minutes to transit. Or any other major sporting event; they can be used to guide people toward main exits or special exhibits. There can be no separation between the acts of man, though they are no longer in working order. The day I see American tanks rolling down my street, just ten minutes from the Newhaven ferry. All images courtesy of World Vision, the Jews saw a weak point in England, here’s a suggested way of carrying it. The real race is on, maybe there is some truth in that.

Jump to navigation Waiting for 3G: Palestinians call for connection Jerusalem: Israeli forces increase security amid Jewish holiday A Conversation on Jerusalem and the Future of the Peace Process Israeli forces kill Palestinian siblings in alleged attack Attacked by a Tel Aviv "Death to Arabs!" mob "Us" and "Them" NO. IT'S not "us" and "them". Not "us" – the good ones, the moral ones, the righteous ones. Or, to put it bluntly, the magnificent ones. The Jews. And not "them" – the bad ones, the evil ones. To put it bluntly again: the despicable ones. Yes, the Arabs. We, who were chosen by God, because we are so special. They, pagans all, who pray to all kinds of idols, like Allah or Jesus. We, the heroic few, who are faced in every generation by those who want to destroy us, but we save ourselves from their hands. They, the many cowards, who want to kill us and our state, and our courage defeats them. They, all the goyim, but especially the Muslims, the Arabs, the Palestinians. No, its not like this. Not at all. SOME DAYS ago, Yitzhak Herzog said something especially obnoxious. International Workers Day 2016, Gaza: Meet four workers desperate to make a living THE GENERAL'S SON: Second ed MIKO PELED PALESTINIAN CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, Raji Sourani Pt 1 Israeli given life sentence for murdering Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir Food Not Racism Our Own Story in the Mirror Palestinians seeking abortions face state pressure A Document with a Mission WHEN DAVID BEN-GURION read out Israel's declaration of independence (officially: "Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel") on May 14, 1948, I was in Kibbutz Hulda. My company of the (still unnamed) Israeli army was ordered to make a night attack on the Arab village of al-Kubab, near the town of Ramleh. It was expected to be a hard fight, and I was busy checking my equipment and cleaning my (Czech) rifle, when somebody said that Ben-Gurion was making a speech which was being broadcast on the Kibbutz dining-room radio. I was not really interested. We were all convinced that what some politicians in Tel Aviv might be babbling was quite immaterial to our future. Whether our state would survive or not would be decided on the battlefield. The regular armies of the neighboring Arab states were about to enter the war, there would be bloody battles, and the outcome would decide our lives. Literally. I Was There "PLEASE DON'T write about Ya'ir Golan!" a friend begged me, “Anything a leftist like you writes will only harm him!" So I abstained for some weeks. But I can't keep quiet any longer. General Ya'ir Golan, the deputy Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, made a speech on Holocaust Memorial Day. Wearing his uniform, he read a prepared, well-considered text that triggered an uproar which has not yet died down. Dozens of articles have been published in its wake, some condemning him, some lauding him. Seems that nobody could stay indifferent. The main sentence was: "If there is something that frightens me about the memories of the Holocaust, it is the knowledge of the awful processes which happened in Europe in general, and in Germany in particular, 70, 80, 90 years ago, and finding traces of them here in our midst, today, in 2016." All hell broke loose. What!!! Traces of Nazism in Israel? A resemblance between what the Nazis did to us with what we are doing to the Palestinians? PeaceWorks 2016 Ilan Pappé 'Free Abu Sakha!' Israel jails w/o trial Palestinian clown who worked with disabled kids Top 5 Facts About Israel's New Defense Minister UpFront - Should Israel negotiate with Hamas? Unbinding the Racism in the Jewish Religion Racist Jewish Theologies: Kuzari, Kabbalah, Khabad Military's law enforcement system as whitewash: Beating of Sharif Abu Hayah Military's law enforcement system as whitewash: Killing of Lubna al-Hanash Netanyahu rejects French peace initiative The Center Doesn't Hold "THE BEST lack all convictions, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity!" Is there a better description of what is happening in Israel now? Yet these words were written, almost a hundred years ago, by the Irish poet W. B. Yeats. YEATS WAS writing shortly after the terrible slaughter and destruction of World War I. He believed that the world was coming to an end, and expected the second coming of the Messiah. As part of the chaos, he foresaw in the same poem that "the center cannot hold". I believe he took this metaphor from the battlefields of former ages, when the opposing armies were arrayed in two lines facing each other, with the main force in the center, and the two flanks protecting it. Inside Story - What will Netanyahu do with his expanded coalition? Blind journalist gives Palestine's forgotten a voice Inside Story - Reviving the Israeli-Palestinian talks The Day of the Rhinos I recently mentioned the German word Gleichschaltung – one of the most typical words in the Nazi vocabulary. "Gleich" means "the same", and "Schaltung" means "wiring". The long German word means that everything in the state is wired up the same way – the Nazi way. This was an essential part of the Nazi transformation of Germany. But it did not happen in any dramatic way. The replacement of people was slow, almost imperceptible. In the end, all important positions in the country were manned by Nazi functionaries. We are now witnessing something like this in Israel. We are already well into the middle of the process. Position after position is taken over by the far-far right, which is ruling Israel now. Slowly. Very, very slowly. Just a Trick ONCE I heard the following story from the then Swedish ambassador in Paris: "In 1947, when the UN was discussing the plan to partition Palestine, I was a member of the sub-committee dealing with Jerusalem. One day, the Jews sent a new representative. His name was Abba Eban. He spoke beautiful English, much better than the British or US members of the committee. He talked for about half an hour, and at the end there was not one person in the room who did not hate his guts." I was reminded of this episode when I saw on TV the press conference held by Dore Gold, the Director General of our Foreign Office. Its subject was the recent Paris peace conference, which was vehemently denounced by our government. MANY YEARS ago I received a phone call from the Prime Minister's office. I was told that Yitzhak Rabin wanted to see me in private. Rabin opened the door himself. He was alone in the residence. He led me to a comfortable seat, poured two generous glasses of whisky for me and himself and started without further ado – he abhorred small talk – "Uri, have you decided to destroy all the doves in the Labor Party?" My news magazine, Haolam Hazeh, was conducting a campaign against corruption and had accused two prominent Labor leaders, the new president of the Central Bank and the Minister for Housing. Both were indeed members of the moderate wing of the party. I explained to Rabin that in the fight against corruption I could make no exceptions for politicians who were close to my political outlook. Corruption was a cause in itself. Israel approves spending millions in West Bank settlement security Israel cuts water supplies to West Bank, Palestine authorities claim Suicide rates on the rise in the Gaza Strip Civil Administration clears out day-care center prior to confiscating the structure The Son of An Israeli General Speaks Out On Justice For Palestine Miko Peled in Amsterdam Jeff Halper 20150519 @ Maynard United Methodist Church Inside the Occupied Territories with Amira Hass (On Contact with Chris Hedges) The Second Coming? SUDDENLY, A familiar face, almost forgotten, appeared on the TV screen. Well, not entirely familiar, because it now sports a prominent black beard. (If I were he, I would quickly shave it off.) Yes, there he was. Former Chief of Staff, former Prime Minister, Ehud Barak. Barak in a new format. Aggressive. Outspoken. Damning Binyamin Netanyahu in no uncertain terms. Repeating almost word for word my warning that Netanyahu has lost his senses. Saying that Netanyahu "has gone off the rails", and that there are now "signs of fascism" in Israel. The entire country woke up and listened. Barak back again? At long last, a man who could possibly defeat Netanyahu? Barak denied that he was a potential candidate for Prime Minister. Nobody believed him. Every commentator worth his or her salt began speculating about plans for a new party. Why not Barak together with Moshe Ya'alon, the former Chief of Staff and Minister of Defense just kicked out by Netanyahu? Why not with Gabi Ashkenazi, another former Chief of Staff, who has the additional advantage of being an oriental Jew? The air was full of names bandied around. Israel blockades Hebron after settler killings What the Hell What the hell has happened to them? Have they gone crazy? The British, of all people? I have always been an Anglophile. Even as a youngster, when I was a member of a terrorist organization devoted to driving the British out of our country. At the time I was working in a lawyer's office which had English clients. I liked most of them. (For us colonials, they were all "English".) The British always struck me as a highly rational people. Self-controlled, moderate, averse to shows of emotion. And here they are, making a quite irrational decision on a matter of historic importance, letting their aversion for "foreigners" guide and misguide their vote. THE VERY occasion was as un-British as can be. The British pride themselves on having invented modern democracy. Their “elite” never had any illusions about the common man (and much later, common woman). British voters did not make fateful decisions. They elected people much more competent than themselves to make the fateful decisions, people educated for the job. Actually, people born for the job. Inside Story - Who's stopping the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip? A PALESTINIAN youngster breaks into a settlement, enters the nearest house, stabs a 13-year old girl in her sleep and is killed. Three Israeli men kidnap a 12-year old Palestinian boy at random, take him to an open field and burn him alive. Two Palestinians from a small town near Hebron enter Israel illegally, have coffee in a Tel Aviv amusement quarter and then shoot up everybody around before they are captured. They become national heroes. Evolution: from racist to anti-racist FOR ME, France is the land of liberty. When I was just 10 years old, I fled with my family from Nazi Germany to France, on our way to Palestine. We were afraid of being detained at the border. When our train crossed the Rhine, leaving Germany behind us and entering France, I breathed deeply. From tyranny to liberty, from hell to paradise. I never forgot this feeling. Whenever I visited France, it came back to me. I remembered it again this week, when I saw a much-toted TV "investigative report" on "Anti-Semitism in France". It was a pile of propaganda nonsense. The Great Rift THE State of Israel was still young, when two famous comedians produced a short act: Two Arabs stand on the seashore and curse a boat carrying new Jewish immigrants. Next, two of the new immigrants stand on the seashore and curse a boat carrying new immigrants from Poland. Next, two immigrants from Poland stand on the seashore and curse a boat carrying new immigrants from Germany. Next, two immigrants from Germany stand on the seashore and curse a boat carrying new immigrants from North Africa. And so on… Perhaps this is the story of all immigration countries, like the US, Australia, Canada et al. But in Israel, with a nationalist ideology which includes all Jews (and excludes all others) this is a bit odd THE NEW Jewish community (called the Yishuv) in what was then Turkish Palestine was founded mainly by immigrants from Russia. Walls of Shame: West Bank Separation Wall Israeli soldier to stand trial in shooting death of Palestinian

Brooklyn's cross-cultural center. Prospect Heights has been long been known as an epicenter of racial and social convergence: Italian, Jewish, Irish, and Greek residents populated the first row houses in the early 1900s, while Hasidic Jewish and Caribbean residents ventured into the area from the 1960s onward. Today, second- and third-generation residents, small business owners, and academics and professionals keep the neighborhood offerings as immersive as ever. Even though Prospect Heights is steeped in old-Brooklyn culture, it's also on the cutting edge of all things trendy and notable about the borough as a whole. Charming eateries, majestic Prospect Park, and quick train access to Manhattan and the rest of Brooklyn keep the scene in this neighborhood ever-changing – and ever-energized. A diverse group of residents mixed in with long time residents known as brownstone-renovating pioneers. Prospect Heights has become a natural choice for renters that might have considered downtown Manhattan the center of it all, but find free public art events more appealing than exclusive restaurant and club openings. Prospect Heights is home to a number of residents, both newcomers and multi-generational ones that have had roots in the neighborhood for decades. The abundance of single-family buildings and brownstones has made Prospect Heights a prime residential property hub, especially for late-career professionals looking to settle down. Access to Brooklyn's hottest destination venues without sacrificing a Manhattan-friendly commute. In Prospect Heights, sleek wine bars and concert series drive the fun-loving nightlife scene, but BYOB restaurants, live music venues, and communal work spaces help maintain a refreshingly unpretentious vibe. When you’re ready to leave, Prospect Heights makes the trip convenient. Those commuting into throughout Brooklyn and to most parts of Manhattan will find the neighborhood to be a well-connected transit hub. Multiple train lines and access to the Long Island Rail Road rivals that of Grand Central and Penn stations. Culture-rich: downtown dining and shopping options are as noteworthy as public culture hubs from libraries to museums and park spaces. In Prospect Heights, trendy eateries, museums, and green spaces keep the neighborhood popular among foodies and culture enthusiasts. The Brooklyn Library, Botanical Gardens, and Brooklyn Museum serve as a community hub, hosting free events and educational offerings that draw New Yorkers from all boroughs. Prospect Heights’ draw doesn’t stop with its cultural institutions: shopping is another popular pastime in the neighborhood. Designer fashion boutiques are few and far between; instead, popular shops such as 1 of a Find and O.N.A. are vintage and independent label-focused. As with most things Brooklyn, shoppers in Prospect Heights appreciate artfully crafted clothes, books, and stoop sale treasures with a good backstory. For nightlife, sleek cocktail spots such as Flatbush Farm, Franny’s Pizza, and other fine-dining dens are popular choices for how Prospect Heights residents prefer to spend nights out on the town. One of the anchors of the neighborhood is Prospect Park, gated to the north by the majestic arch of Grand Army Plaza. Many residents and visitors agree that the free concerts, community ball fields, and manicured lawns of Prospect Park rival Central Park, as well as serve as a source of pride for the neighboring communities. Barclays Center is the neighborhood’s most publicized addition, with a performance roster spanning music and sporting events rivaling that of Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden. In addition to pop concerts and Brooklyn Nets games, New York’s most popular dining spots have set up shop along the street-facing perimeter, creating an upscale, open-to-the-public food courts enjoyed by tourists and local foodies alike. Being away from busy event-based traffic and congestion, mainly on Atlantic, Flatbush, and Eastern Parkway. Flatbush Avenue becomes exceedingly congested come Barclays Center event season, while Grand Army Plaza and Eastern Parkway traffic fluctuates heavily with the ebb and flow parades, public green markets, and concert series throughout the borough. Still, Prospect Heights has its fair share of quiet residential streets where you can escape the congestion. Relatively affordable multi-level brownstones and walk-up buildings. Prospect Heights homes for sale have many affordable housing options. Multi-level brownstones surround Atlantic Avenue and the areas bordering Barclays Center, while elevator building increase as you approach Grand Army Plaza and the park. Rent stabilized apartments aren’t unheard of in this market, and have helped keep rental prices low in comparison to surrounding neighborhoods such as Park Slope and Fort Greene. The diverse and deep-rooted sense of community and culture. One of Prospect Heights’ biggest draws lies in its sense of community. Diverse communities have started and run businesses, congregated along the same blocks, and frequented the same shops for generations. Cash-only coffee shops enjoy just as much love as trendy music lounges, and a deep sense of history pervades everything from free concert series to small business appreciation days. What Prospect Heights lacks in designer labels and movie star residents, it makes up for with cultural cred that continues to endure the test of time. Looking for homes for sale in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn? Call us now and let us help you find your new home! When working with buyers, Evan helps his clients separate signal from noise in highly competitive markets. He believes the process of buying is best viewed as a study in efficiency and self-confidence. Well versed in emergent digital technologies and platforms, Evan leverages leading edge tools to ensure his clients are able to act with great vigor upon finding their ideal property.

HAVANA TIMES – In Washington, D.C., 18 Jewish activists with the group Never Again Action were arrested on Capitol Hill Tuesday as they protested against the jailing of migrants and called on lawmakers to shut down the detention camps and defund ICE and CBP. Protester: “Congress once again voted to increase funding to ICE and CBP by passing a supplemental funding bill to send $4.6 billion to bankroll the criminalization, detention and deportation of those seeking refuge on our southern border. We thank the 95 representatives who voted against funding hate, and say ‘shame’ to the 305 representatives”— In a statement, Never Again Action said, “As Jews, we know what the separation of families, the covert rounding-up of people and the creation of concentration camps can lead to. We refuse to wait and see what happens next.” They also said, “We know what happens when people unaffected by crises act as bystanders and look the other way. We will not stay silent while our historical trauma is weaponized to distract from the terror that our government is unleashing on immigrant communities.”

- Filed Under (Editor's note: This is a letter that was included in the time capsule buried during Springfield's 50th anniversary celebration of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.) Martin Luther King Jr. touched me personally as I listened to his "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963. Although I realize that I reap the benefits of white privilege, I also know what it is like to be a part of a minority. I was born and raised in Springfield and was the only Jewish person my age in the whole city. My father, Arthur Rosen, was a Holocaust survivor. As a child growing up in the 1940s and 1950s, I saw ...

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. "Free-range turkey,” I muse to Liam in the very present tense of several weeks ago. We stare at the small blue-tinged skin of the creature. Someone has cut off her head and then, perhaps seeking to flesh out the meaning of the word “overkill,” bound her legs. “Not free-range enough,” we conclude. Otherwise, what’s she doing here? If your head’s big enough to hold an inkling of freedom, you should act on it before you lose it. Five hours later the virtual head of the turkey is turned to me in some cosmic dimension or other and sets its implied beak in such a way as to convey rebuke during dinner, which is a harvest feast traditionally held in honor of the larger nation-state to the south. I ignore the bird and focus on Eva-Lynn’s end of the table. She’s reminiscing about her previous boyfriend—it’s the topic of the evening, possibly a part of the general air of thanksgiving. This old boyfriend was and is a short and successful Jewish carpenter who lives in the same city we do. Robert is telling our end of the table about the dangers of estrogen in soymilk. I prod my chest speculatively. There’s still muscle under there, but a sensuous carapace of fat has re-contoured the arrangement. I’m a recontour, thinking up stories about my body. Robert’s wife is a Turkish Ashkenazi Jew, sexy but not a full-figure gal. Perhaps to goad Robert, she expresses interest in Eva-Lynn’s old boyfriend. “What’s he up to these days?” she asks. “About 5’ 7”,” I call down to that end of the table, to general sniggers. “I might get breasts,” I add to Robert’s soy/estrogen conversation, to hide the fact that I might already have them. “I might get them,” says Robert’s wife, not to be outdone by my modest hoard of sniggers. Possibly not in the same conversation, someone says, “it’s the little things we have to be grateful for.” Luckily Liam’s not in the room at that exact moment to poke my chest and say ironically of my claim that I might get breasts, “might?” It’s some comfort to know that any old thing Liam has to say is more important than any thing at all that some politician in leaderville has to say. We live under democracy, but we don’t have to be a part of it. It’s a social contract forced on our people at the edge of a bumper, the dark pupil of a guntip, the arc of a truncheon, all of which we know well. But still we live our lives. The lifespeech of Liam is a thousand times more important than the patter of pols. “Jebiah is my third-best friend,” Liam’ll go, for example, and I’ll scrupulously enter it in the record and ignore anything the leaders have to say. “So who are your first- and second-best friends?” I’ll say. And he’ll be like, “those places are currently vacant.” The other day I was spending some time in Queen Video with the family and the dog, trying to come up with something we could all watch. Eva-Lynn shows me the candidates that we’ve agreed on so far: Anne of Green Gables and Zombie Strippers 2. “Well, that’s good for Canadian content,” I say. It’s a rare moment during which I speak aloud the name of the aggressor nation-state. “Canadians make a lot of zombie films,” I conclude about the two DVDs. Coming away from Queen Video with two candidates is like democracy. No one wants either of the candidates but apparently we’ll all settle for a double negative: nobody doesn’t want these candidates enough to just say no. “Time to make your own feature-length,” I say to Sebastian (14) the budding film-maker. When I’m not having an adventure or sulking about something, I write a column for a political space in the nation-state to the south. The biggest spaces have to taper their information towards the money, to configure their orifices to match the spigot, but this space doesn’t have enough money to amass a temptation. Still, it gets a quarter of a million readers or more, which isn’t too shabby for an unbent space. It’s a weird fit for someone like me who doesn’t believe in politics. “What does a one state solution really mean?” the paper might ask. It means that people who can’t hyphenate have taken over the world, I think. It’s the little things we have to be ungrateful for. Maybe you’ve never wondered how to write “first- and second-best friends,” but note the correct form and be amazed. The thing about politics is that it’s decayed to content and wouldn’t understand form if it got bitten in the girdle by it. Lack of proper hyphenation might not sound like the end of the world, but it’s part of the same idea, that new wine can be put in old leaky wineskins, to more or less quote my favorite Jewish carpenter, a man of some stature. Good content, bad form. This is the heart of our critique of progressives. So for example my columns appear next to those of senators, presidential candidates of the sort that deliciously upset the candidacy of the frontrunners, and economists with good advice for economies, if you’re into that kind of thing. Fine figures of men, I’m sure. Plugging their good ideas into that sad form, western democracy, a sort of international rape club. Muckraking at its best, the space showcases writers who find the nasty on a gallery of rogues who inhabit what is called politics and provides irrefutable proof that one’s first instinct, to lean clear of electoral politics altogether, was spot on. If Mr. Brown is out of town killing Mr. Black, don’t hop on pop. Don’t tell Mr. Brown he can come back to town. That sort of thing. The best-known alternative presidential candidate, someone my parents used to complain about as a harbinger of evil when I was growing up, writes for the space. He can’t be getting any younger, now that I think of it. He is ethical and smart. His content couldn’t be better. But thank goodness he’s been trying to get into the wrong form. He’s not going to get elected into the corrupt power club he claims to want to join. He’s never going to get a crack at running more efficient and less costly wars or at such frivolities as a transportation infrastructure, as if the planet needed any such thing, let alone safer cars. In any case, we need to make cars more dangerous, not less. What good are restraint systems in the cabin of cars when they are not in the hearts of drivers? City cars that killed their drivers instantly upon entry to the vehicle would be far safer than the cars we have now, which scatter death upon the just and the unjust alike. Death transmitters for city cars should be built into the front of all streetcars and subway trains. Why honk at city automobile drivers who block the tracks when you could blow them up? One should think pragmatically. But I ramble, as the flaneur said. Isn’t the message of Thanksgiving that we should stop giving our thanks away so witlessly? The age is corrupt. We are forgetting how to be ungrateful and shall soon lose the instinct of vigorous remonstrance. The time has long since come for urban leftists everywhere to gather for a pint at the sign of the tree’d pothole, or to sneak quietly into each other’s homes in the urban forest, to remember all the little things in life for which we truly ought not to be grateful. Exhibit A, the destruction of the trains linking small towns all over Ontario. Exhibit B, no time for drifting along the rivers linking small towns all over Ontario. Here along the south coast of what they call Canada, we can see that America over there on the other side of the great lake. Same ecosystem, different nation-state. They’ll be digging into their ungrateful turkeys a month after the south-coasters have tipped the last fowl bones into the compost. Have you heard the one about how the powers that be are x-raying cars now, violating the rights of drivers? Well, here underneath democracy, we ask: what rights? Drivers are idiots. These are the people who pay no attention when an ambulance or fire truck is desperately trying to get through. Last winter I watched a hundred drivers in front of my house rehearse precisely the following maneuver at the stop sign (or rather, the sign that reads, because it’s close to my house, STOP DRIVING): step one, speed confidently up to intersection coated in black ice; step 2, skid sideways through intersection. Lather, repeat. Only one driver in the hundred did the obvious thing, which was to take her or his foot off the brake and get one tire up onto some dry pavement, and none did the even more obvious thing—leave the car sideways in the intersection, throw the keys into a snowbank, and never, ever touch a car inside city limits again. I’m not kidding: I counted a hundred drivers. I’m just standing there in the present tense of timeless horror, wondering how stupid city drivers can be. No wonder that people who can’t drive but think they have a right to blunder anywhere in the city at the controls of their blunt object would also think they should have a right to vote in their private, screened porno booths to acclaim the form of democracy as it slides its bulk over anything in the way. If such people didn’t have Thanksgiving, they’d have to invent it. Life is good. Jump in the contempt box, intimidate some kids playing street hockey, honk at some damn skateboarder, vote, grab a movie, jack off, defecate. Life is good. Voteville is an orgy of defecation, of relinquishing, of casting off and away. You can do anything you want in the porno booth, and there aren’t going to be any consequences for you. Do anything you feel like—it’s on the house. Relieve yourself in a plastic bag, masturbate, vote for the lesser evil, vote green, pee in a bottle. Why not? It’s not what you vote that matters for keeping the system running, but that you vote. The king is dead—long live the king in the heart of every voter of voteville. Hop on pop. Democracies tend to point their guns at other people, and juntas point them at their own people, but at least in juntas you have rifles directed at voters so they can’t fall into the mistake of thinking they can do whatever feels good. We say: caveat elector. Electoralist beware of yourself. We say: make every day special—make every day Guy Fawkes Day. It’s the little things that count. Hearing about a thing called a government x-raying a thing called a driver, I get a bit like my racist but amiable dad used to get reading about Italian mafia guys in Boston shooting each other. An occasion for thanksgiving and gratitude. I still drive out of the city (hey, I’ll give up vehicles of every sort if you promise to give up cars) because the politicians and, apparently, we the people, messed up the perfectly functional small-town trains, and I’m usually too rushed to follow the rivers, as people have mostly done around here for thousands of years. But I have the grace to feel guilty, apologetic, and stupid when I drive. It’s the least I can do. If the FBI wants to marvel at my penis while I drive, have at it. It’s the little things that make life worth living. Big as their big love might be, those Mormon FBI guys might still not get enough at home. In their evangelistic youth they do suggest a compelling paradigm of spiffy male coupledom. Have you noticed that? A mix of polite, gay, threatening, and sci-fi/fantasy. Unless it’s me, they’re the kinkiest thing on my block. Yes sir. I make a point of persecuting them to give them extra points. And on the topic of surveillance, aren’t there something like 18,000 parking spots around that NSA? You know the one I mean, off 95 between D.C. and Baltimore? They still have that? The National Spy-on-Americans association (you know that can’t be the right name, as it’s demo’ing correct use of hyphens). Those people have to spend their time looking at something all day, and ogling the stuff in their neighbors’ trunks is as good as anything, to put it briefly. Spend your life looking for trunk candy. Once more into the breech! It’s the little things. My kind of people are willing to fight to the death for the kind of city we believe in, just like you old-timers who made the world safe for democracy and leaders in your breast-beating wars. More importantly, we’re willing to snigger for it when we need to. It’s niggardly not to snigger. Sniggers are what the system needs. It’s the little things. Death and sniggers, that’s practically our motto. Can we take a moment during this season of family values and remember all the little things we have to snigger at? If more people had sniggered at democratic foolishness, we wouldn’t have come to this pass. As for our people, many of us have died under truck wheels or while maneuvering off-rez in the city. And many of us have been vacuumed up into the system for following the angels of our better nature and torching—and for legal reasons I remind you that I advise nothing here—suv dealerships. We’ll let history judge who’s right on that score. For my part, I know what it’s like to get the knock on the door late at night. Dragged off into the dark a few years ago, threatened with ten years, at about the same time that my grad school cohort was getting tenure. Ten-year/tenure. Life under democracy. It’s the little things. At this time of spurious national holidays, of pageants of repression, let us at least be clear how ungrateful we are for democracy, for the form of sending our power elsewhere. Clear thinking begins with ingratitude, the protestant instinct. The spirit of iconoclasm is: no thanks. At our front door here on Rusholme in Capital City along the south coast, the rivulet that has been, for a century or two, a street, mutters softly through the iron grate that binds it. Grate, ingrate. This once and future stream. Once-and-future will do. New microfractures appear daily in the desert asphalt piled atop the flow of water to repress it. Paving men come occasionally and press dark matter into the fissures. Soon, the stream whispers, soon. What, to a stream, are a few centuries? A salmon came up the Humber this summer, I am told. Perhaps the whole of our city is a utopian memory of fresh water held in trust in the deep fishmind of some distant salty ocean, a memory even now only slightly troubled by mercury, biding its time. A memory like a prophecy. The diaspora of all city salmon thrust from their homeland are creatures who are now the spawn, still living, of the grate-full dead. Have their great grandparents passed on to them a map of the city as it should be and might be yet? As for me and my people, we have no non-pyrotechnic advice for you in your system. We’re not going to pay attention to your democracy. It’s bad form. DAVID Ker THOMSON is an English teacher. email@example.com

1.) Obama reaches out to Jewish voters, delivers slap — President Dum-Dum keeps getting it wrong. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein reports: “Speaking at the Congressional Black Caucus annual awards dinner in Washington Saturday night, President Obama made a verbal boo-boo. While defending his call for the rich to pay more in taxes, the president said he didn’t mind people calling him a class warrior for merely asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a Jew. Whoops! The president meant to say ‘janitor’ instead of ‘Jew,’ and he immediately corrected himself. After all, he doesn’t need any more problems keeping Jewish voters enthusiastic about his re-election bid.” Well, maybe he’s trying to win back Al Sharpton. Obama’s been making a lot of gaffes lately, hasn’t he? Last week he talked about the building of the “intercontinental railroad,” and he thought he was supposed to wave to all his fans during a group picture of world leaders at the UN. Before that, he said Lincoln founded the Republican Party, there are 57 states, the Navy has “corpse-men,” etc., etc. These screw-ups are all isolated incidents and don’t indicate stupidity and incompetence, though, because Obama’s not a Republican. 2.) Cain: Able to win? — Hey, guess who’s still in the presidential race after everybody counted him out? TheDC’s Amanda Carey reports: “Herman Cain won the Florida straw poll Saturday, rounding out three days of Republican Party and presidential campaign events. Cain won first place with 37.1 percent of the nearly 3,000 votes cast, more than double the second-place finisher’s tally. Texas Governor Rick Perry, an early favorite, came in a devastating second, with about 15 percent of the vote, after raising expectations. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney came in third with 14 percent… Perry was the presumed winner during the days preceding the straw poll, but Cain swiftly gained ground, relentlessly covering the convention center with volunteers, supporters and campaign signs… Perry had a disappointing showing at Thursday night’s Fox News debate, and he took heat for his stance on immigration and for his inability to drive home his challenges to Romney.” If you still don’t think Cain has a chance, why are you a racist? 3.) If you’re reading this, Morgan Freeman probably doesn’t like you — And speaking of racist racism that’s racistly racist, TheDC’s Michelle Fields reports: “In a CNN interview with Piers Morgan airing Friday, Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman claimed the tea party movement is racist. Asked whether Barack Obama’s presidency has made racism better or worse, Freeman responded by saying his 2008 election made it worse — because of Republicans. ‘Their stated policy, publicly stated, is to do whatever it takes to see to it that Obama only serves one term,’ he said. ‘What’s, what does that, what underlines that? Screw the country. We’re going to whatever we do to get this black man, we can, we’re going to do whatever we can to get this black man outta here.'” That’s right, Mr. Freeman: For the first time in American history, Americans are publicly opposing their president. Sheesh, you’d think the Easy Reader might pick up a book now and then. 4.) Perry’s honeymoon officially over — Getting back to Perry, he sure is getting a crash course in the fickleness of the American electorate. TheDC’s Jeff Poor reports: “Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s lackluster performance in his three Republican primary debate appearances has many conservatives scratching their heads, and wondering whether he really is the dream candidate many thought he was two months ago. Analyzing the results of Saturday’s Florida Straw Poll on Fox News Sunday, Fox News senior political contributor Brit Hume said businessman Herman Cain’s victory may not mean very much, and that Perry’s poor showings recently may indicate his campaign is on the verge of ‘total collapse.’ ‘Perry really did throw up all over himself in the debate at a time when he needed to raise his game,’ Hume said. ‘He did worse, it seems to me, than he had done in previous debates. Romney was as strong as he has been lately. He has clearly raised his game in reaction to the emergence of Perry. It’s been good for Romney in a way that one might not have predicted … Perry is about one-half a step away from almost total collapse as a candidate.'” Ouch. Can Perry come back from this? He’ll know it’s all over when lefties stop excoriating him. Just ask Bachmann. 5.) Protesters get what they were after — NYDN: “Scores of protesters were arrested in Manhattan Saturday as a march against social inequality turned violent. Hundreds of people carrying banners and chanting ‘shame, shame’ walked between Zuccotti Park, near Wall St., and Union Square calling for changes to a financial system they say unjustly benefits the rich and harms the poor. At least 80 people were carted away in police vehicles and up to five were hit with pepper spray near 12th St. and Fifth Ave., where tensions became especially high, police and organizers said.” What brutal savagery and so on. Well, ladies, if you’re marching in the street for equality, why should you expect special treatment when it’s time for the pepper spray? P.S. You may be wondering how many Tea Partiers have been pepper-sprayed by the cops. This is just a rough count, but it’s approximately: Zero. Give or take a nil. 6.) Today’s words of wisdom from Stephen Baldwin’s Twitter feed — “Hey Gang don’t forget to vote for sister in law, ‘ Chynna ‘ tonite on DANCING WITH THE STARS as she reps all that we love about her !!!” To read TheDC Morning before everybody else, click here.

But somehow, if a public school decides to put on a play mocking God and the Old Testament, that is not a church-state violation. The separation police don't want religious (or atheist) minorities to face religious indoctrination in a public school. But anti-religious indoctrination mocking the Judeo-Christian majority is a glorious festival of free speech. Take, for example, the taxpayer-funded Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School in the People's Republic of Massachusetts. The school is in South Hadley, part of the same community of Northampton which was happily nicknamed "Lesbianville, USA" after the 2000 census showed more lesbians live there per capita than anywhere in the country. MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has a house there. Smack dab in the middle of the Lenten season, as many Christians prepare for Easter, the school scheduled performances of a play called "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told." Make no mistake: This is a deliberate, and intentionally vicious, attack on Christianity. "Fabulous" was written by the gay Jewish playwright and screenwriter Paul Rudnick. In this deconstruction of the Bible, God first creates two gay couples, Adam and Steve and Mabel and Jane. These four are expelled from Eden and end up on Noah's ark, where Steve invents infidelity by having an affair with a rhinoceros. (Since that is somehow not enough, the women are sexually paired with a rabbit and a pig.) When the ark lands, this gay quartet discovers a strange race of humans who describe the horror of procreation. "We're gay," Adam announces. "We don't have children. We have taste." The first act concludes with Adam and Steve being two of the wise men at the Nativity. The second scene opens in the current day, with a depiction of the birth of Jesus in a New York apartment with the "wise man" Steve now being HIV-positive and the lesbian Jane in the place of Mary, the Mother of God, who complains, "I'm not supposed to be pregnant, I'm a bulldyke!" Mabel arranges to be married to Jane by a handicapped lesbian rabbi with a cable-access TV show. We're also "treated" to Santa Claus as an "exquisitely curdled fairy." It's one thing for this Bible shredding play to be performed in a community theater by adults. It's another thing entirely for these to be acted out in a public school by teenagers. For his part, Rudnick is quite clear he doesn't believe in God. (Shocker.) In the script's introduction, he writes, "I believe in what human beings can do when you give them fifty bucks to guy some cheap red polyester velvet. Some people need more, something with vengeance and commandments and jihads." He approached the play with the notion "Certainly my version of biblical matters could be every bit as absurd as the King James take. Creation tales tend towards the delirious; trying to explain the cosmos inevitably leads to comedy." The Left rebels against God, and then declare they are the open-minded, peaceful ones. Pat James, a lesbian who bought a bunch of tickets for each performance, insisted, "The Haydenville Congregational Church is supportive all the way. We are an open and affirming congregation." Does Rudnick's play sound like something you could support as "affirming"? This is the point. They're not only insulting they're dishonest. They know that to traditional Jews and Christians, this is a double-middle-finger salute. It only "affirms" by mockery. Why not just say so? Because they're hypocrites. Leftists, more the radical ones, have an Orwellian habit of describing themselves as "inclusive" and "welcoming," but they shriek intolerance for people they think are intolerant. They don't have the decency to wonder if productions like these are the polar opposite of "open and affirming." They reject decency itself. Then there was the school's principal, Tom Goldman, who asked, "Is it the role of public school to facilitate an exchange of ideas on the themes explored in this particular play? This is an excellent question, with answers that I imagine will be debated in what I hope will be climate of civility and a desire to understand others' viewpoints." This man has the backbone of a noodle. So to create an "exchange of ideas," the first thing you do is leave a flaming bag of dung on someone's doorstep? The Left has a bad habit of calling something a mere "dialogue" when they are dictating their terms of surrender to the culture. The note about hoping for a "climate of civility" is especially ridiculous, since there is no civility in the product on stage. L. Brent Bozell III is the president of the Media Research Center. To find out more about Brent Bozell III, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2013 CREATORS.COM

Texts: Acts 5:27-33; Revelation 1:4-8; John 20:19-31 First things first: let’s all agree to stop calling the poor guy “Doubting Thomas.” When Thomas got back from whatever errand he was on and heard the insane story his friends told him, it’s easy to understand why he didn’t believe them. People don’t just come back from the dead. And yet we’ve come to give him that awful nickname, we’ve come to read this story as a story about how terrible or dumb or untenable it is to doubt, and in the midst of our exultation over the risen Christ, sometimes we might even feel the tiniest bit of glee at how “Doubting Thomas” is put in his place. I can’t help but wonder if that’s because Thomas’ “doubt” threatens us. Thomas is one of Jesus’ disciples—someone who walked and talked with Jesus, who saw firsthand what he was capable of doing—and yet he is not immune from disbelief. If Thomas doubts, then how can we ever hope not to? We have made Doubt into a bogeyman. We so often hear the gospel chiding us, saying, “O ye of little faith!” If only we believed better, we could move mountains, we could make the lame to walk and the blind to see, we could overcome this illness or that injury or finally let go of our fear. We’ve come to see doubt as the opposite of faith. We’ve come to believe that it’s okay to doubt, but only so long as you eventually come around, like Thomas; but if you remain unconvinced, if you are a skeptic, does that mean one can’t be a disciple? Doubt has been a foundation of Western culture since the Enlightenment. What’s more, this is not a bad thing. Doubt is what has made possible all the advances in medicine, exploration and technology we have made in the last few centuries. Without doubt—or, more specifically, without the principle of needing to prove hypotheses through experimentation rather than relying on faith—we would have none of the wonders that make our lives so much easier and longer now. This fear can make us a little crazy. It makes us do things like try to prove the existence of God or baptize grandchildren in secret or send people we love to camps where they “pray the gay away.” It seems insane to me that Christ was born, died, and rose again to give us victory over death and instead left us fearing it all the more. I don’t mean to blame these people who are afraid, but that I am sad that we have been taught to fear doubt. Let’s go back to our bible stories. We have two vignettes today that show us two different reactions to doubt. The first is in Acts. The apostles are brought before the Jewish religious council to be tried for heresy, which is really just another way of saying doubt. They believe and teach something different than the religious leaders teach, and this threatens them, and they react with anger and violence: they want to kill the apostles. This is ironic, because that’s what they did to the last person whose teaching threatened them; they killed Jesus, but clearly that didn’t solve their problem because here are his disciples standing before them now. We are meant to see in this story how futile the fear of the council is. Christ is risen; death no longer has any power over us. Even if the council had decided to kill the apostles, like Jesus, their message would have lived on, and God’s will would still be done. Even though this was done by the Church, it was not done by God. God does not use the fear of death against us, God takes away our fear of death. Our gospel reading shows us another way of dealing with doubt, which brings us back to Thomas. Notice what the story tells us and doesn’t tell us. We are told that the disciples were locked in this room for fear of the people outside it: the religious authorities. We are told that a week passed between Jesus’ appearances. That means that for an entire week, Thomas was locked in that room with the others; yet in all that time, we are not told that they kicked him out for not believing their story. Even though Jesus gave them the power to retain sins, we are not told that they retained Thomas’ sins. We are left knowing only one thing that happened over the course of that week. “The other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails…I will not believe.’” For all we know, this was not a single exchange, but an ongoing conversation: the disciples simply, patiently, lovingly sharing this good news with their friend, and Thomas simply, patiently, lovingly telling them that he couldn’t believe it. And, at the end of the week, there Thomas still sits: locked in the room among his friends. Our instincts may sometimes be more like the council, but in the end it was not force or even his friends that convinced Thomas. It was only when Jesus himself showed up and gave Thomas the proof that he needed that he believed. In the moment he came to believe, he alone confesses his faith, saying, “My Lord and my God!” Rather than remembering him as “Doubting Thomas,” perhaps instead we should remember him as “Confessing Thomas.” Thomas’ doubt was not a liability; if anything, it was his strength. According to tradition, St. Thomas headed east from Jerusalem later in his life, traveling all the way to India, where he spread the gospel and founded what became the Syriac Orthodox Church, one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. I like to think it was because of his doubt—not in spite of it—that his faith strong enough to take him so far. The Church is filled with people who wrestle with faith daily, yet it is these so-called “doubters” who make the Church what it is: who give the Church its strength and resilience, who ask the best questions and push the Church to live out its faith in real life. The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. His life is given for us and his resurrection is shared with us whether or not we can wrap our heads around it. Through baptism, we are reassured of this promise, but Christ has died and now lives for those who have not been baptized as well. If a locked room can’t keep him out, then certainly a dry head is no obstacle for the risen Lord, either. So do we fear so much? Christ is alive! Death has lost it’s sting! This either true, or it isn’t; it can’t be true for some but not for others. We all have our doubts—some may never be answered, but like the first disciples, we simply, lovingly, patiently keep sharing the good news with one another and the world, and trust that Jesus will show up when and where we need him—at the font, in the meal, in this assembly, or somewhere else entirely. It’s not our job to convince anyone; we simply bear witness to where we have seen the risen Christ and trust him to take care of the rest.

Last November, people around the world shed tears over one of the most tragic images of the Mumbai attacks - a newly orphaned little boy crying at the loss of his parents. "Mommy, Mommy," Moshe Holtzberg wailed during a tearful ceremony held in a Mumbai synagogue days after a terrorist attack in India's financial capital last November 26 left at least 166 people dead. But the heartbreaking story of little Moshe, then 2, was also hailed as an example of courage and humanity in the face of unspeakable violence. As Islamist terrorists kept Chabad's Nariman House under siege, Moshe's Indian nanny, Sandra Samuel, risked her own safety to rescue the Hasidic boy. She had locked herself in a room on the first floor of the building when the terrorists entered, but ran up to the second floor and escaped with the boy in her arms. Moshe - or Moishele, as his family affectionately knows him - is the son of Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg. Gavriel Holtzberg, 29, was born in Israel and moved with his parents to the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn when he was 9. Rivka Holtzberg, 28, studied at a seminary in America but was originally from Israel. As newlyweds in 2003, the Holtzbergs went to Mumbai to establish the Chabad House. They developed it into a welcome spot where Jewish locals, backpackers and visiting businessmen could find a friendly atmosphere, accommodations, kosher food and religious education. Rivka Holtzberg was five months pregnant when gunmen murdered her, her husband and four guests in a coordinated attack on the Chabad House and four other sites in Mumbai. Moshe is beloved in Chabad-Lubavitch circles, and because the massacre took place shortly before Hanukkah, he is often described as the "little jug of oil" - a reference to the single container of sacred oil found among the desecrated Temple in the Hanukkah story. Right after the shootings, Samuel, who is in her 40s, left behind her life in India to take care of Moshe at the home of Shimon and Yehudit Rosenberg, Moshe's maternal grandparents, in the northern Israel town of Afula. "He is with her. He is very connected to her. She loves him, and he loves her," Shimon Rosenberg, a communal rabbi and Chabad-Lubavitch emissary, told the Forward. The boy is bilingual, speaking to his family and friends in Hebrew and to Samuel in English. Moshe is thought to have witnessed some of the most violent acts that took place inside Chabad House. When Samuel found him, he was crying, crouched next to four people lying motionless on the ground; when she carried him out, he reportedly had bloodstains on him. And his grandfather said he is "certain" that the boy understands at least part of what happened, and said that Moshe suffers from "bad dreams and difficult sleep." Sometimes, Moshe surprises family members with his sense of connection to India. Rosenberg said: "I was coming back from shul and said to Moshe, 'Now we are going home.' He said, '[Your] home, Zeyde [Yiddish for grandfather], is Afula, and my home is Mumbai.'" Adding to the family's tragedy, both of Moshe's older brothers died of a genetic disease - one of them two years before the attack, age 3, and the other around a month after the attack, age 4. But with the help of weekly therapy sessions, Moshe is reaching the normal milestones for a child his age. "Slowly, slowly, step by step," Rosenberg said. On November 18, Moshe celebrated his third birthday, according to the Hebrew calendar, with a party at Kfar Chabad, the Chabad-Lubavitch town in central Israel. The Jerusalem Post reported that 2,000 people attended a combination birthday party for Moshe and memorial dinner for his parents that day. The following day was chosen for Moshe's upshern, a ceremony in which an Orthodox boy receives his first haircut. In Chabad-Lubavitch, Hasidim and some other Orthodox circles, for kabbalistic reasons a boy is not given a haircut until the age of 3. The first few locks of his hair were cut at the Kfar Chabad event, and then the next day his official upshern, like that of many Israelis, took place at the northern Israel grave of second-century sage Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai, who is said to have authored the central work of Kabbalah, the Zohar. And after the traumas of the past year, in the run-up to the birthday party and upshern Moshe at last had something to be excited about. "He feels that this is a special time," Rosenberg said. Want to enjoy 'Zen' reading - with no ads and just the article? Subscribe todaySubscribe now

Daniel Gordis is Koret Distinguished Fellow and chair of the core curriculum at Shalem College in Jerusalem. His new book, Israel: A Concise History of a People Reborn, won the Jewish Book Council’s “Book of the Year” award for 2016. The scholar and commentator drops by the studio to illuminate what the divide is about, what it’s not about, and what it all means. Daniel Gordis and Elliott Abrams debate the proper response to the Israeli government’s recent decisions on prayer at the Western Wall and conversion to Judaism. From some of its founding ideas to some of its most thoughtful and essential institutions, American Jews have given the Jewish state much to be proud of. It’s not about what Israel does. It’s about what, to their minds, Israel is. In recent years they’ve let go of both ancient communal memory and recent political memory. No wonder they’re now letting go of Israel.

Helping you grow closer to God Download the Chip Ingram App Jesus Unfiltered – Believe Resources on sale now. About this series Jesus Unfiltered - Believe When life gets really hard, because of choices you've made, or circumstances in which you find yourself, wouldn't it be great to know you've got the source of all wisdom and strength right there with you? That's what Jesus promised you could have. That's what He longs to do for you. Knowing the real Jesus is the most important relationship you will ever have. Chip Ingram reveals, from Scripture, who Jesus really is and how you can have this relationship - beginning today and for forever!More from this series And so, He launches His ministry for His disciples to understand that God is good and lavish and gracious and it’s not external and religious and rites and purifications and external. But the living God has come! This is the Messiah. He has power! And His power is about life and love and joy and relationships – Jesus unfiltered. Well, He goes down to Capernaum according to the text, stays there for a few days with His family. You’re going to find, He is going to go to Jerusalem and He is going to lay down the gauntlet and literally declare that He is the Messiah. And then, because of all the hostility in Jerusalem, He does most of His ministry in Galilee and other places. In fact, you read Matthew, Mark, and Luke and remember the Pharisees and the religious leaders? They are always coming out to ask Him questions or to attack Him. He only goes to Jerusalem during these feasts. Now, one of the questions is, is why is this account different from Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s? It’s because there were actually two times this occurred and they are very clear and they are very different. What Jesus did and we are going to see in just a minute is He goes to the feast, but you can’t have the new unless you address the status quo and the old that has been perverted and corrupted. And so, the disciples are going to learn at the wedding, this is new life and it is about grace and joy and love. And then they are going to learn, just like those pots were external religion, so what has happened at the Temple is not a right view or heart or connection with the living God. And so, He is going to positively say this and then He is going to lay down the gauntlet, declare, “This is My Father’s house.” We read that and think, Well, of course, you’re Jesus. They didn’t know who He was! To go there and declare, “This Temple is My Father’s house!” He is claiming to be the Messiah! And remember what the question is. By what miraculous sign? “You’re coming in here with authority to say that this place is Yours and You are Messiah, related to Your Father. We want some proof. I want to see your I.D., buddy. Where do You get off doing this stuff?” And He will say something that they don’t understand, religious leaders. The disciples don’t understand. But it will all come back to everyone, they will realize, because He will always bank everything then, and everything now, on the proof of this. He rises from the dead. It’s the resurrection. So let’s go and ask a few questions of the second section. A question that I ask is: Why go to the feast in Jerusalem? Second: Why is John’s account different from Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s? Why does Jesus react so passionately and violently at the Temple? What are the underlying spiritual implications of this section? They are pretty heavy. How did this event shape Jesus’ relationship with the religious leaders, His disciples, and the multitudes? Now, I’m just going to pause. I’m going to keep going in and out. What does it say? We made some observations, right? What does it mean? Interpretation. What did I do? I asked some basic questions about the passage that required some historical background that is available to you and me, some logical thinking and reasoning about, How does this all fit together? Because what we are trying to do is, I want to know exactly when John wrote this in 90 A.D. and if I was sitting in a little house church and someone opened that scroll and read it, I want to know what he meant and what they got. Because if I don’t get clear about that, I will go off on some little dilly, devotional, emotional thing. Well, you know, I was reading and I think this and I think it means this and I think it means that. I have been to a lot of Bible studies where it’s sort of, Let us share our pool of ignorance. “What do you think it means? What do you think it means? What do you think it means? What do you think it means? I think it means wine is okay. I think it means jars should not be in the house. I think it…” Literally! I say this reverently, I don’t care what you think it means. I want to know exactly what the Holy Spirit meant it to them through John, because until you’re clear on what it actually says and what it actually means, you’re not ready to apply it to your life. Does that make sense? By the way, that’s how cults and all kinds of crazy stuff gets going on. People grab a portion of a passage. Every author who has written any book has a very clear purpose and authorial intent about what he wants to say. Our job is to discover what that is, then apply it to our lives. So those are the questions in the second half. So let’s do a little interpretation. So why does He go to the Temple? He goes to the Temple because He is required to. He has been there every year since twelve years old, when He went there with His mom and dad. Why is it different? Because Matthew, Mark, and Luke are describing when He cleared the Temple at the end of His life, at the very end of His ministry where He comes back to town and it’s what got Him killed. He lays down the gauntlet here early in His ministry, they don’t completely get it. But the disciples, now, imagine what this is like. You’re a good Jewish boy. You follow John the Baptist. You know God is in this. John says, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” And you start following Him and you listen to Him and then He quotes these passages and He knows stuff that no one else could know, and then He says, “Follow Me,” and so you’re following Him, and then you go to a wedding. And then it’s like, Oh my lands, this is crazy! This is amazing! What do you think? This is great! And then you go to what you have gone to since you have been a little boy and you go to this festival and you walk in and it’s like it has always been. Here’s the cows and there are the sheep and there’s the table and there’s the moneychangers. And you say, Well, why is all that there? If it was done simply for convenience, actually, there wouldn’t be a problem. Pilgrims came from all over the world. So I don’t want to, like, I’ve got a cow or I’ve got a sheep or I’ve got a goat. I don’t want to take this cow or goat fifty, sixty, eighty, one hundred miles in my pilgrimage to offer it. So I have some money, I’m going to go and when I get there, I’m going to buy, if I’m really poor, two pigeons or two doves. If I’m a little bit more economically up, I’m able to afford a goat or a sheep or something. And I am going to buy an animal so that I can then take it and I am going to sacrifice it, because that’s what the Law says. But here is what was happening. Here is why Jesus is ticked off. Barclay, who is just a master of the research of the ancient times, a day’s wage would be about four pennies. When you came in, you had to pay, every male, once a year, had to pay a shekel. It’s a tax, an annual tax, and the tax was six pennies. A day’s wage was four pennies. Well, if you had a different kind of money, and you had to pay this tax, you would get your money changed. If you have traveled overseas, anybody, right? Where do you want to get your money changed? At the very nice, expensive hotel? Right? And they say, “Oh yeah, we will change your money.” And it’s two point eight per dollar when you go to the exchange and at the hotel, they just take ten percent of whatever and you go, What? So they were charging for every shekel, one extra penny. It’s just robbery. You could buy two pigeons or doves outside the Temple area for about four pennies. Historically, there are documents, inside the Temple area, it might cost you seventy-five pennies. And if you were really poor and couldn’t pay, you might have to give your cloak as collateral. So, okay, here’s what I want you to get. I want you to picture this. Jesus comes in and the ministry has started. And He sees all these animals and He sees all these poor people and they are getting ripped off. I mean, ripped off by these interest rates. And they have different kinds of money so they have to have the Temple shekel. And then He is watching these guys with the animals. And He is realizing they are getting ripped off, ripped off, ripped off, ripped off and His righteous anger explodes and He, literally, just finds what He can, Bam! And please don’t get this milquetoasted down. I bet He…”You should leave now. You should leave now.” He was a carpenter and He was a physical man and I would guess fairly athletic and the tables flipped, the coins flew, the chickens flew, and people were running. And our God was mad. And He was mad for good reason, because what was created to be a place of worship had become nothing more than a prostitution for financial gain. Can anyone remotely think of any parallels in our day? And so, the disciples learn, a very exciting guy to follow but as a good Jewish boy, we were in good standing with the spiritual leadership. Now Jesus and the spiritual leaders are at odds. That means we have to choose between cultural, politically correct standing, or standing with Jesus, because you can’t have it both ways. The multitudes, after it, He does these miracles. They don’t tell us how many but He does multiple miracles. And the people believe. But it’s a belief, they believe He is a miracle worker. And it says, “Jesus doesn’t entrust,” He knows their hearts. They are believing to, “Yes, this is amazing, we get the declaration.” But they are believing on the basis of, “What can You do for me?” And what John is going to do is walk us through a process of intellectually believing and then believing deeper, more on what you see. And then moving to the point where you are entrusting and genuinely following where He is your Savior and He is your Lord. Does that make sense? That’s what it meant then and that’s what it means now. Now flip the page and let’s ask ourselves, What does John chapter 2 mean to you and to me? What does it mean to you and to me? Number one: Jesus wants to do good to me. He wants to do good to me. That’s verses 1 through 5, that’s what you see. He could have started the ministry anywhere. And it was at a wedding. Probably the second, well, I don’t want to get in trouble with all of my other kids, I have to be careful here. The greatest day in my life, apart from coming to Christ, was the day I married Theresa. The second greatest day, experientially, was probably my daughter’s wedding. Because when your boys get married, the other family kind of, they are in charge of what happens and you get to do the rehearsal dinner. And when your daughter gets married, you get two great things. You get to pay for it, number one. But you get to say what’s going to happen. And I am going to tell you, I just remember dancing with Annie and laughing and friends and food and walking her down the aisle and seeing her friends and our friends and it was just like, Ahhhh! This is awesome! And I had a blast! I just had a blast. It was like, Oh, God, this is so precious. I don’t know where you are struggling in trusting Him for the future, or about a decision, or about a relationship, or about your money, or about your job, or about your kids. But let me tell you one thing, Jesus came to do good for you. He is for you. “He is a sun and a shield. He gives grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” You get that from here to here, it will change everything about how you relate to Jesus. You’ll actually want to talk to Him! You’ll want to hang out, you’ll want to do stuff with Him and for Him. Second, Jesus came to transform my life from the inside out by a supernatural miracle, not by external religious rituals. We got that from verses 6 through 10, right? Coming to church, giving to the United Way, trying to be a good, little goody-two-shoes person, don’t do this, don’t do that, don’t do this, don’t do that – that’s not the gospel! He came to transform you from the inside out. I grew up in a church that was like the six jars of external performance and religious activities that were devoid of a relationship with God and by God’s grace, some people who understood life and goodness explained to me the gospel of Jesus Christ and I trusted Him and He changed me from the inside out. And I didn’t try to stop cussing. All I can tell you is I read the Bible every morning and every night. I hid it because I didn’t want my parents to think I was flipping out. But as I was reading it, something happened and my tongue changed and I kept reading it and my attitudes changed. And I kept reading it and I got around other people and joy filled my heart. And that’s normal. That’s what God wants. It’s not about ought, should, got-to. It’s a transformation from the inside out. Third, is I must follow Him and believe in Him to see His glory and continue His movement. He started a movement! The old things pass away; everything becomes new. That’s the transformation in 2 Corinthians 5:17. But then my responsibility is not to, Oh, I made a decision or I prayed a prayer. I follow and believe. I follow and believe He manifests His glory. In other words, you see what He is really like. He does things in your life. It’s powerful! It’s amazing! It’s great! And you know what? It’s scary and it never ends, no matter how mature you are. You start with baby steps and, Oh, I’m going to tell someone out loud that I am a follower of Jesus, and you do and, Oh, wow, that wasn’t so bad. And then you begin to reach out and you help someone and something happens through you and then pretty soon, you say, I’m going to believe Him for my finances and then I’m going to believe Him for my time and then for my future, and each step: follow, believe, follow, believe, mess up. Right? Because you’re human. Follow, believe, follow, believe, mess up. And then when you mess up, it’s not like, You dirty, rotten, little, terrible follower! What is wrong with you? How? I knew you… I don’t know where we got that, that’s just not the God of the Bible. Who is Jesus? When you really, really mess up and you run back, His arms are open, “Put on the best robe, put sandals on his feet, put a ring on his or her finger.” We’re all going to mess up, we’re all going to make mistakes. Does He take it lightly? Of course not. If we stay there long enough, there are consequences that are painful. But the pain of the consequences is so you come. Every step of the way, every step of the way you follow and believe. When you stop following, and the reason you stop following is, what you’re saying to God is, I don’t trust You. I don’t trust You in this relationship. I don’t trust You in this business deal. I don’t trust You for my future. So you stop, you stop believing. You stop believing, you stop growing. You stop experiencing Him. And then He will bring circumstance, circumstance, circumstance, circumstance, people, message, boom, boom. Because He loves you! He loves you, loves you, loves you. And the moment you break through, bam! This is the Christian life! John is going to show us what it looks like to follow this Jesus in real time. Fourth, my body is His temple and today, He demands authentic worship from me 24/7. Jesus said about this Temple, “This is My Father’s house!” Where does God dwell now? Romans 12:1 and 2. “Offer your body as a living sacrifice.” 1 Corinthians 6, “Do you not know that your body is the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” Your body, your hands, where your eyes go, where your feet go, what captivates your heart? Your body is God’s temple! Jesus, today, would walk in and say, “What are you doing with My Father’s body? Why are you looking at that stuff? What are you doing putting that stuff in My body? What are you doing working yourself to death and not getting enough rest? Why aren’t you enjoying Me more?” And He would clear the Temple. Why? Because He is radical. Because He is a revolutionary. He started a movement that He has entrusted to us. What did He say? “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” The expectation for your work and your home and your neighborhood, God’s expectation is: The only hope is you. Angels aren’t showing up at your house going, “This, oh, we’re going to take care of all this.” He lives in you if you’re a follower. And so, the response is to surrender and to follow and say, “Lord, help me!” And He will! Finally, I can trust Him in His Word because He rose from the dead. When He starts the ministry, “Hey, where do You get the authority to do all this stuff? Who do You think You are?” “Knock down this temple and I will raise it in three days.” They thought it was the physical Temple; He meant His body. And for you and me and every believer in Jesus Christ, with every step where you’re afraid, “I’ll keep My promise, because you can trust that I am the only One who died and I paid for sin and I conquered sin and I rose from the dead. And you can bank on that. I’ll be faithful to you, I will never, ever, ever leave you or forsake you or let you down.”

The Three Persons of the Godhead were not unknown to the judges of old nor to Moses, for the equality of the Son with the Father, as well as of the Three Persons among Themselves, is laid down both elsewhere and by him. Samson also enjoyed the assistance of the Holy Spirit, his history is touched upon and shown to be in some points typical of the Church and her mysteries. When the Holy Spirit left Samson he fell into various calamities, and St. Ambrose explains the spiritual significance of his shorn locks. 1. Even in reading the first book of the ancient history it is made clear both that the sevenfold grace of the Spirit shone forth in the judges themselves of the Jews, and that the mysteries of the heavenly sacraments were made known by the Spirit, of Whose eternity Moses was not ignorant. Then, too, at the very beginning of the world, and indeed before its beginning, he conjoined Him with God, Whom he knew to be eternal before the beginning of the world. For if any one takes good heed he will recognize in the beginning both the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. For of the Father it is written: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1 Of the Spirit it is said: The Spirit was borne upon the waters. Genesis 1:4 And well in the beginning of creation is there set forth the figure of baptism whereby the creature had to be purified. And of the Son we read that He it is Who divided light from darkness, for there is one God the Father Who speaks, and one God the Son Who acts. 2. But, again, that you may not think that there was assumption in the bidding of Him Who spoke, or inferiority on the part of Him Who carried out the bidding, the Father acknowledges the Son as equal to Himself in the execution of the work, saying: Let Us make man after Our image and likeness. Genesis 1:26 For the common image and the working and the likeness can signify nothing but the oneness of the same Majesty. 3. But that we may more fully recognize the equality of the Father and the Son, as the Father spoke, the Son made, so, too, the Father works and the Son speaks. The Father works, as it is written: My Father works hitherto. John 5:17 You find it said to the Son: Say the word and he shall be healed. Matthew 8:8 And the Son says to the Father: I will that where I am, they too shall be with Me. John 17:24 The Father did what the Son said. 4. But neither was Abraham ignorant of the Holy Spirit; he saw Three and worshipped One, for there is one God, one Lord, and one Spirit. And so there is a oneness of honour, because there is a oneness of power. 5. And why should I speak of all one by one? Samson, born by the divine promise, had the Spirit accompanying him, for we read: The Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to be with him in the camp. Judges 13:25 And so foreshadowing the future mystery, he demanded a wife of the aliens, which, as it is written, his father and mother knew not of, because it was from the Lord. And rightly was he esteemed stronger than others, because the Spirit of the Lord guided him, under Whose guidance he alone put to flight the people of the aliens, and at another time inaccessible to the bite of the lion, he, unconquerable in his strength, tore him asunder with his hands. Would that he had been as careful to preserve grace, as strong to overcome the beast! 6. And perhaps this was not only a prodigy of valour, but also a mystery of wisdom, an utterance of prophecy. For it does not seem to have been without a purpose that, as he was going to his marriage, a roaring lion met him, which he tore asunder with his hands, in whose body, when about to enjoy the wished-for wedlock, he found a swarm of bees, and took honey from its mouth, which he gave to his father and mother to eat. The people of the Gentiles which believed had honey, the people which was before savage is now the people of Christ. 7. Nor is the riddle without mystery, which he set forth to his companions: Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. Judges 14:14 And there was a mystery up to the point of the three days in which its answer was sought in vain, which could not be made known except by the faith of the Church, on the seventh day, the time of the Law being completed, after the Passion of the Lord. For thus you find that the apostles did not understand, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:39 What, answer they, is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion? To which he replied: If you had not farmed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle. Judges 14:18 O divine mystery! O manifest sacrament! We have escaped from the slayer, we have overcome the strong one. The food of life is now there, where before was the hunger of a miserable death. Dangers are changed into safety, bitterness into sweetness. Grace came forth from the offense, power from weakness, and life from death. 9. There are, however, who think on the other hand that the wedlock could not have been established unless the lion of the tribe of Judah had been slain; and so in His body, that is, the Church, bees were found who store up the honey of wisdom, because after the Passion of the Lord the apostles believed more fully. This lion, then, Samson as a Jew slew, but in it he found honey, as in the figure of the heritage which was to be redeemed, that the remnant might be saved according to the election of grace. Romans 11:5 And the Spirit of the Lord, it is said, came upon him, and he went down to Ascalon, and smote thirty men of them. Judges 14:19 For he could not fail to carry off the victory who saw the mysteries. And so in the garments they receive the reward of wisdom, the badge of intercourse, who resolve and answer the riddle. 11. Here, again, other mysteries come up, in that his wife is taken away, and for this foxes set fire to the sheaves of the aliens. For their own cunning often deceives those who contend against divine mysteries. Wherefore it is said again in the Song of Songs: Take us the little foxes which destroy the vineyards, that our vineyards may flourish. Song of Songs 2:15 He said well little, because the larger could not destroy the vineyards, though to the strong even the devil is weak. 12. So, then, he (to sum up the story briefly, for the consideration of the whole passage is reserved for its own season) was unconquered so long as he kept the grace of the Spirit, as was the people of God chosen by the Lord, that Nazarite under the Law. Samson, then, was unconquered, and so invincible as to be able to smite a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass; Judges 15:15 so full of heavenly grace that when thirsty he found even water in the jawbone of an ass, whether you consider this as a miracle, or turn it to a mystery, because in the humility of the people of the Gentiles there would be both rest and triumph according to that which is written: He that smites you on the cheek, turn to him also the other. Matthew 5:39 For by this endurance of injuries, which the sacrament of baptism teaches, we triumph over the stings of anger, that having passed through death we may attain to the rest of the resurrection. 13. Is that, then, Samson who broke ropes twisted with thongs, and new cords like weak threads? Is that Samson who did not feel the bonds of his hair fastened to the beam, so long as he had the grace of the Spirit? He, I say, after the Spirit of God departed from him, was greatly changed from that Samson Who returned clothed in the spoils of the aliens, but fallen from his greatness on the knees of a woman, caressed and deceived, is shorn of his hair. 14. Was, then, the hair of his head of such importance that, so long as it remained, his strength should endure unconquered, but when his head was shorn the man should suddenly lose all his strength? It is not so, nor may we think that the hair of his head has such power. There is the hair of religion and faith; the hair of the Nazarite perfect in the Law, consecrated in sparingness and abstinence, with which she (a type of the Church), who poured ointment on the feet of the Lord, wiped the feet of the heavenly Word, for then she knew Christ also after the flesh. That hair it is of which it is said: Your hair is as flocks of goats, Song of Songs 4:1 growing on that head of which it is said: The head of the man is Christ, 1 Corinthians 11:3 and in another place: His head is as fine gold, and his locks like black pine-trees. Song of Songs 5:11 15. And so, also, in the Gospel our Lord, pointing out that some hairs are seen and known, says: But even the hairs of your head are all numbered, Matthew 10:30 implying, indeed, acts of spiritual virtues, for God does not take care for our hair. Though, indeed, it is not absurd to believe that literally, seeing that according to His divine Majesty nothing can be hidden from Him. 16. But what does it profit me, if God Himself knows all my hairs? That rather abounds and profits me, if the watchful witness of good works reward me with the gift of eternal life. And, in fine, Samson himself, declaring that these hairs are not mystical, says: If I be shorn my strength will depart from me. Judges 16:17 So much concerning the mystery, let us now consider the order of the passage. The Spirit is the Lord and Power; and in this is not inferior to the Father and the Son. 17. Above, you read that the Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to go with him. Farther on it is said: And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. Judges 14:6 Again he says: If I be shaven, my strength will depart from me. Judges 16:17 After he was shaven, see what the Scripture says: The Lord, he says, departed from him. Judges 16:20 18. You see, then, that He Who went with him, Himself departed from him. The Same is, then, the Lord, Who is the Spirit of the Lord, that is, he called the Spirit of God, Lord, as also the Apostle says: The Lord is the Spirit, now where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. You find, then, the Holy Spirit called the Lord; for the Holy Spirit and the Son are not one Person [unus] but one Substance [unum]. 19. In this place he used the word Power, and implied the Spirit. For as the Father is Power, so, too, the Son is Power, and the Holy Spirit is Power. Of the Son you have read that Christ is 1 Corinthians 1:24 We read, too, that the Father is Power, as it is written: You shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power of God. Matthew 26:64 He certainly named the Father Power, at Whose right hand the Son sits, as you read: The Lord said unto My Lord, Sit on My right hand. And the Lord Himself named the Holy Spirit Power, when He said: You shall receive Power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Acts 1:8 20. For the Spirit Himself is Power, as you read: The Spirit of Counsel and of Power (or might). Isaiah 11:2 And as the Son is the Angel of great counsel, so, too, is the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Counsel, that you may know that the Counsel of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is One. Counsel, not concerning any doubtful matters, but concerning those foreknown and determined. 21. But that the Spirit is the Arbiter of the Divine Counsel, you may know even from this. For when above we showed that the Holy Spirit was the Lord of baptism, and read that baptism is the counsel of God, as you read, Luke 7:30 it is quite clear that as there can be no baptism without the Spirit, so, too, the counsel of God is not without the Spirit. 22. And that we may know more completely that the Spirit is Power, we ought to know that He was promised when the Lord said: I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh. Joel 2:28 He, then, Who was promised to us is Himself Power, as in the Gospel the same Son of God declared when He said: And I will send the promise of the Father upon you, but do you remain in the city until ye be endued with power from on high. Luke 24:49 23. And the Evangelist so far shows that the Spirit is Power, that St. Luke relates that He came down with great power, when he says: And suddenly there was a sound from heaven, as though the Spirit were borne with great power. Acts 2:2 24. But, again, that you may not suppose that this is to be referred to bodily things and perceptible to the senses, learn that the Spirit so descended as Christ is to descend, as you find: They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and majesty. Matthew 24:30 25. For how should not the power and might be one, when the work is one, the judgment one, the temple one, the life-giving one, the sanctification one, and the kingdom also of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit one? 26. Let them say, then, wherein they think that there is an unlikeness in the divine operation. Since as to know the Father and the Son is life, as the Lord Himself declared, saying: This is life eternal to know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom You have sent, John 17:3 so, too, to know the Holy Spirit is life. For the Lord said: If you love Me, keep My commandments, and I will ask the Father and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows Him, but you know Him, for He is with you, and in you. John 17:14-15 27. So, then, the world had not eternal life, because it had not received the Spirit; for where the Spirit is, there is eternal life; for the Spirit Himself it is Who effects eternal life. Wherefore I wonder why the Arians stir the question as to the only true God. For as it is eternal life to know the only true God, so, too, is it eternal life to know Jesus Christ; so, again, it is eternal life to know the Holy Spirit, Whom, as also the Father, the world does not see, and, as also the Son, does not know. But he who is not of this world has eternal life, and the Spirit, Who is the Light of eternal life, remains with him for ever. 28. If the knowledge of the only true God confers the same benefit as the knowledge of the Son and of the Spirit, why do you sever the Son and the Spirit from the honour of the true God, when you do not sever Him from conferring the benefit? For of necessity you must either believe that this is the greatest gift of the only true Godhead, and will confess the only true Godhead as of the Father, so also of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; or if you say that he, too, can give life eternal who is not true God, it will happen that you derogate rather from the Father, Whose work you do not consider to be the chief work of the only true Godhead, but one to be compared to the work of a creature. 29. And what wonder is it the Spirit works Life, Who quickens as does the Father and as does the Son? And who can deny that quickening is the work of the Eternal Majesty? For it is written: Quicken Your servant. He, then, is quickened who is a servant, that is, man, who before had not life, but received the privilege of having it. 30. Let us then see whether the Spirit is quickened, or Himself quickens. Now it is written: The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Romans 8:11 So, then, the Spirit quickens. 31. But that you may understand that the quickening of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is no separate work, read how there is a oneness of quickening also, since God Himself quickens through the Spirit, for Paul said: He Who raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies because of His Spirit Who dwells in you. The Holy Spirit, as well as the Father and the Son, is pointed out in holy Scripture as Creator, and the same truth was shadowed forth even by heathen writers, but it was shown most plainly in the Mystery of the Incarnation, after touching upon which, the writer maintains his argument from the fact that worship which is due to the Creator alone is paid to the Holy Spirit. 32. But who can doubt that the Holy Spirit gives life to all things; since both He, as the Father and the Son, is the Creator of all things; and the Almighty Father is understood to have done nothing without the Holy Spirit; and since also in the beginning of the creation the Spirit moved upon the water. 33. So when the Spirit was moving upon the water, the creation was without grace; but after this world being created underwent the operation of the Spirit, it gained all the beauty of that grace, wherewith the world is illuminated. And that the grace of the universe cannot abide without the Holy Spirit the prophet declared when he said: You will take away Your Spirit, and they will fail and be turned again into their dust. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be made, and You will renew all the face of the earth. Not only, then, did he teach that no creature can stand without the Holy Spirit, but also that the Spirit is the Creator of the whole creation. 34. And who can deny that the creation of the earth is the work of the Holy Spirit, Whose work it is that it is renewed? For if they desire to deny that it was created by the Spirit, since they cannot deny that it must be renewed by the Spirit, they who desire to sever the Persons must maintain that the operation of the Holy Spirit is superior to that of the Father and the Son, which is far from the truth; for there is no doubt that the restored earth is better than it was created. Or if at first, without the operation of the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son made the earth, but the operation of the Holy Spirit was joined on afterwards, it will seem that that which was made required His aid, which was then added. But far be it from any one to think this, namely, that the divine work should be believed to have a change in the Creator, an error brought in by Manicheus. 35. But do we suppose that the substance of the earth exists without the operation of the Holy Spirit, without Whose work not even the expanse of the sky endures? For it is written: By the Word of the Lord were the heavens established, and all the strength of them by the Spirit of His Mouth. Observe what he says, that all the strength of the heavens is to be referred to the Spirit. For how should He Who was moving Genesis 1:1 before the earth was made, be resting when it was being made? 36. Gentile writers, following ours as it were through shadows, because they could not imbibe the truth of the Spirit, have pointed out in their verses that the Spirit within nourishes heaven and earth, and the glittering orbs of moon and stars. So they deny not that the strength of creatures exists through the Spirit, are we who read this to deny it? But you think that they refer to a Spirit produced of the air. If they declared a Spirit of the air to be the Author of all things, do we doubt that the Spirit of God is the Creator of all things? 37. But why do I delay with matters not to the purpose? Let them accept a plain proof that there can be nothing which the Holy Spirit can be said not to have made; and that it cannot be doubted that all subsists through His operation, whether Angels, Archangels, Thrones, or Dominions; since the Lord Himself, Whom the Angels serve, was begotten by the Holy Spirit coming upon the Virgin, as, according to Matthew, the Angel said to Joseph: Joseph, you son of David, fear not to take Mary your wife, for that which shall be born of her is of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:20 And according to Luke, he said to Mary: The Holy Spirit shall come upon you. Luke 1:35 38. The birth from the Virgin was, then, the work of the Spirit. The fruit of the womb is the work of the Spirit, according to that which is written: Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb. Luke 1:42 The flower from the root is the work of the Spirit, that flower, I say, of which it was well prophesied: A rod shall go forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise from his root. Isaiah 11:1 The root of Jesse the patriarch is the family of the Jews, Mary is the rod, Christ the flower of Mary, Who, about to spread the good odour of faith throughout the whole world, budded forth from a virgin womb, as He Himself said: I am the flower of the plain, a lily of the valley. Song of Songs 2:1 39. The flower, when cut, keeps its odour, and when bruised increases it, nor if torn off does it lose it; so, too, the Lord Jesus, on the gibbet of the cross, neither failed when bruised, nor fainted when torn; and when He was cut by that piercing of the spear, being made more beautiful by the colour of the outpoured Blood, He, as it were, grew comely again, not able in Himself to die, and breathing forth upon the dead the gift of eternal life. On this flower, then, of the royal rod the Holy Spirit rested. 40. A good rod, as some think, is the Flesh of the Lord, which, raising itself from its earthly root to heaven, bore around the whole world the sweet-smelling fruits of religion, the mysteries of the divine generation, pouring grace on the altars of heaven. 41. So, then, we cannot doubt that the Spirit is Creator, Whom we know as the Author of the Lord's Incarnation. For who can doubt when you find in the commencement of the Gospel that the generation of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of [ex] the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18 42. For although most authorities read de Spiritu, yet the Greek from which the Latins translated have ἐ χ πνεύματος ἁγίου, that is, ex Spiritu Sancto. For that which is of [ex] any one is either of his substance or of his power. Of his substance, as the Son, Who says: I came forth of the Mouth of the Most High; Sirach 24:3 as the Spirit, Who proceeds from the Father; John 15:20 of Whom the Son says: He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine. John 16:14 But of the power, as in the passage: 43. How, then, was Mary with child of the Holy Spirit? If as of her substance, was the Spirit, then, changed into flesh and bones? Certainly not. But if the Virgin conceived as of His operation and power, who can deny that the Holy Spirit is Creator? 44. How is it, too, that Job plainly set forth the Spirit as his Creator, saying: The Spirit of God has made me? Job 33:4 In one short verse he showed Him to be both Divine and Creator. If, then, the Spirit is Creator, He is certainly not a creature, for the Apostle has separated the Creator and the creature, saying: They served the creature rather than the Creator. Romans 1:25 45. He teaches that the Creator is to be served by condemning those who serve the creature, whereas we owe our service to the Creator. And since he knew the Spirit to be the Creator, he teaches that we ought to serve Him, saying: Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the concision, for we are the circumcision who serve the Spirit of God. Philippians 3:2-3 46. But if any one disputes because of the variations of the Latin codices, some of which heretics have falsified, let him look at the Greek codices, and observe that it is there written: οἱ πνεύματι Θεοῦ λατρεύοντες, which is, being translated, who serve the Spirit of God. 47. So, then, when the same Apostle says that we ought to serve the Spirit, who asserts that we must not serve the creature, but the Creator; without doubt he plainly shows that the Holy Spirit is Creator, and is to be venerated with the honour due to the eternal Godhead; for it is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve. Matthew 4:10 To those who object that according to the words of Amos the Spirit is created, the answer is made that the word is there understood of the wind, which is often created, which cannot be said of the Holy Spirit, since He is eternal, and cannot be dissolved in death, or by an heretical absorption into the Father. But if they pertinaciously contend that this passage was written of the Holy Spirit, St. Ambrose points out that recourse must be had to a spiritual Interpretation, for Christ by His coming established the thunder, that is, the force of the divine utterances, and by Spirit is signified the human soul as also the flesh assumed by Christ. And since this was created by each Person of the Trinity, it is thence argued that the Spirit, Who has before been affirmed to be the Creator of all things, was the Author of the Incarnation of the Lord. 48. Nor does it escape my notice that heretics have been wont to object that the Holy Spirit appears to be a creature, because many of them use as an argument for establishing their impiety that passage of Amos, where he spoke of the blowing of the wind, as the words of the prophet made clear. For you read thus: Behold, I am He that establish the thunders, and create the wind [spirit], and declare unto man his Christ, that make light and mist, and ascend upon high places, the Lord God Almighty is His Name. Amos 4:13 49. If they make an argument of this, that he said spirit was created, Esdras taught us that spirit is created, saying in the fourth book: And upon the second day You made the spirit of the firmament, yet, that we may keep to our point, is it not evident that in what Amos said the order of the passage shows that the prophet was speaking of the creation of this world? 50. He begins as follows: I am the Lord that establish the thunders and create the wind [spirit]. The order of the words itself teaches us; for if he had wished to speak of the Holy Spirit, he would certainly not have put the thunders in the first place. For thunder is not more ancient than the Holy Spirit; though they be ungodly, they still dare not say that. And then when we see what follows concerning light and mist, is it not plain that what is said is to be understood of the creation of this world? For we know by every-day experience, that when we have storms on this earth, thunders come first, blasts of wind follow on, the sky grows black with mists, and light shines again out of the darkness. For the blasts of wind are also called spirits, as it is written: Fire and brimstone and the spirit of storm. 51. And that you might know that he called this spirit, he says: establishing thunders and creating the wind [spirit]. For these are often created, when they take place. But the Holy Spirit is eternal, and if any one dares to call Him a creature, still he cannot say that He is daily created like the blast of the wind. Then, again, Wisdom herself, speaking after the mystery of the assumed Body, says: The Lord created Me. Proverbs 8:22 Although prophesying of things to come, yet, because the coming of the Lord was predestined, it is not said created Me; that men might believe that the Body of Jesus was begotten of the Virgin Mary, not often, but once only. 52. And so, as to that which the prophet declared as it were of the daily working of God in the thunder and the creation of the wind, it would be impious to understand any such thing of the Holy Spirit, Whom the ungodly themselves cannot deny to exist from before the world. Whence with pious asseveration we testify that He always exists, and abides ever. For neither can He Who before the world was moving upon the waters begin to be visible after the world's creation; or else it would be allowable to suppose that there are many Holy Spirits, Who come into being by as it were a daily production. Far be it from any one to pollute himself with such impiety as to say that the Holy Spirit is frequently or ever created. For I do not understand why He should be frequently created; unless perchance they believe that He dies frequently and so is frequently created. But how can the Spirit of life die? If, then, He cannot die, there is no reason why He should be often created. 53. But they who think otherwise fall into this sacrilege, that they do not distinguish the Holy Spirit; who think that the Word Which was sent forth returns to the Father, and the Spirit Which was sent forth is reabsorbed into God, so that there should be a reabsorption and a kind of alternation of one changing himself into various forms; whereas the distinction between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit always abiding and unchangeable, preserves the Unity of its power. 54. But if any one thinks that the word of the prophet is to be explained with reference to the Holy Spirit, because it is said, declaring unto men His Christ, Amos 4:13 he will explain it more easily of the Lord's Incarnation. For if it troubles you that he said Spirit, and therefore you think that this cannot well be explained of the mystery of the taking of human nature, read on in the Scriptures and you will find that all agrees most excellently with Christ, of Whom it is thoroughly fitting to think that He established the thunders by His coming, that is, the force and sound of the heavenly Scriptures, by the thunder, as it were, of which our minds are struck with astonishment, so that we learn to be afraid, and pay respect to the heavenly oracles. 55. Lastly, in the Gospel the brothers of the Lord were called Sons of Thunder; and when the voice was uttered of the Father, saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again, John 12:28 the Jews said that it thundered on Him. For although they could not receive the grace of the truth, yet they confessed unwillingly, and in their ignorance were speaking mysteries, so that there resulted a great testimony of the Father to the Son. And in the Book of Job, too, the Scripture says: And who knows when He will make the power of His thunder? Certainly if these words pertained to the thunders of the heavens, he would have said that their force was already made, not about to be made. 56. Therefore he referred the thunders to the words of the Lord, the sound of which went out into all the earth, and we understand the word spirit in this place of the soul, which He took endowed with reason and perfect; for Scripture often designates the soul of man by the word spirit, as you read: Who creates the spirit of man within him. Zechariah 12:1 So, too, the Lord signified His Soul by the word Spirit, when He said: Into Your hands I commend My Spirit. Luke 23:46 57. And that you might know that he spoke of the coming down of Jesus, he added that He declared His Christ to men, for in His baptism He declared Him, saying: You are My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. Matthew 3:17 He declared Him on the mount, saying: This is My beloved Son, hear ye Him. Mark 9:7 He declared Him in His Passion, when the sun hid itself, and sea and earth trembled. He declared Him in the Centurion, who said: Truly this was the Son of God. Mark 15:39 58. We ought, then, to take this whole passage either to be simply to be understood of that state in which we here live and breathe, or of the mystery of the Lord's Body; for if here it had been stated that the Holy Spirit was created, undoubtedly Scripture would elsewhere have declared the same, as we often read of the Son of God, Who according to the flesh was both made and created. 59. But it is fitting that we should consider His Majesty in the very fact of His taking flesh for us, that we may see His divine power in the very taking of the Body. For as we read that the Father created the mystery of the Lord's Incarnation, the Spirit too created it; and so too we read that Christ Himself created His own Body. For the Father created it, as it is written: The Lord created Me, Proverbs 8:12 and in another place, Galatians 4:4 And the Spirit created the whole mystery, according to that which we read, for Mary was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18 60. You find, then, that the Father created and the Spirit created; learn, too, that the Son of God also created, when Solomon says: Wisdom has made herself a house. Proverbs 9:1 How, then, can the Holy Spirit Who created the mystery of the Lord's Incarnation, which is above all created things, be Himself a creature? 61. As we have shown above generally that the Holy Spirit is our Creator according to the flesh in the outer man, let us now show that He is our Creator also according to the mystery of grace. And as the Father creates, so too does the Son create, and so too the Holy Spirit creates, as we read in the words of Paul: For it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any one should boast. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus in good works. The Holy Spirit is no less the author of spiritual creation or regeneration than the Father and the Son. The excellence of that creation, and wherein it consists. How we are to understand holy Scripture, when it attributes a body or members to God. 62. So, then, the Father creates in good works, and the Son also, for it is written: But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them who believe in His Name; who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13 63. In like manner the Lord Himself also testifies that we are born again of the Spirit according to grace, saying: That which is born of the flesh is flesh, because it is born of flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, because God is Spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you, You must be born again. The Spirit breathes where He wills, and you hear His voice, but know not whence He comes or whither He goes, so is every one who is born of the Spirit. 64. It is then clear that the Holy Spirit is also the Author of the grace of the Spirit, since we are created according to God, that we may be made the sons of God. So when He has taken us into His kingdom by the adoption of holy regeneration, do we deny Him that which is His? He has made us heirs of the new birth from above, do we claim the heritage and reject its Author? But the benefit cannot remain when its Author is shut out; the Author is not without the gift, nor the gift without the Author. If you claim the grace, believe the power; if you reject the power, do not ask for the grace. He who has denied the Spirit has at the same time denied the gift. For if the Author be of no account how can His gifts be precious? Why do we grudge the gifts we ourselves receive, diminish our hopes, repudiate our dignity, and deny our Comforter? 65. But we cannot deny Him. Far be it from us to deny that which is so great, since the Apostle says: But you brethren, like Isaac, are the children of promise, but as then, he that is born after the flesh persecutes him that is after the Spirit. Galatians 4:28-29 Again certainly is understood from what has gone before, is born after the Spirit. He then who is born after the Spirit is born after God. Now we are born again when we are renewed in our inward affections and lay aside the oldness of the outer man. And so the Apostle says again: But be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man which is created according to God in truth and righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:23-24 Let them hear how the Scripture has signified the unity of the divine operation. He who is renewed in the spirit of his mind has put on the new man, which is created according to God. 66. That more excellent regeneration is then the work of the Holy Spirit; and the Spirit is the Author of that new man which is created after the image of God, which no one will doubt to be better than this outer man of ours. Since the Apostle has pointed out that the one is heavenly, the other earthly, when he says: As is the heavenly, such also are the heavenly. 1 Corinthians 15:48 67. Since, then, the grace of the Spirit makes that to be heavenly which it can create earthy, we ought to observe by reason though we be without instances. For in a certain place holy Job says: As the Lord lives, Who thus judges me, and the Almighty, Who has brought my soul to bitterness (for the Spirit of God which is in my nostrils). Job 27:2-3 He certainly did not here signify by His Spirit the vital breath and bodily breathing passages, but signifies the nostrils of the inner man within him, wherewith he gathered in the fragrance of eternal life, and drew in the grace of the heavenly ointment as with a kind of twofold sense. 68. For there are spiritual nostrils, as we read, which the spouse of the Word has, to whom it is said: And the smell of your nostrils; Song of Songs 7:8 and in another place: The Lord smelled a smell of sweetness. Genesis 8:21 There are, then, as it were, inward members of a man, whose hands are considered to be in action, his ears in hearing, his feet in a kind of progress in a good work. And so from what is done we gather as it were figures of the members, for it is not suitable for us to imagine anything in the inner man after a fleshly manner. 69. And there are some who suppose that God is fashioned after a bodily manner, when they read of His hand or finger, and they do not observe that these things are written not because of any fashion of a body, since in the Godhead are neither members nor parts, but are expressions of the oneness of the Godhead, that we may believe that it is impossible for either the Son or the Holy Spirit to be separated from God the Father; since the fullness of the Godhead dwells as it were bodily in the substance of the Trinity. For this reason, then, is the Son also called the Right Hand of the Father, as we read: The Right Hand of the Lord has done mighty things, the Right Hand of the Lord has exalted me. St. Ambrose examines and refutes the heretical argument that because God is said to be glorified in the Spirit, and not with the Spirit, the Holy Spirit is therefore inferior to the Father. He shows that the particle in can be also used of the Son and even of the Father, and that on the other hand with may be said of creatures without any infringement on the prerogatives of the Godhead; and that in reality these prepositions simply imply the connection of the Three Divine Persons. 70. But what wonder is it if foolish men question about words, when they do so even about syllables? For some think that a distinction should be made and that God should be praised in the Spirit, but not with the Spirit, and consider that the greatness of the Godhead is to be estimated from one syllable or some custom, arguing that if they consider that God should be glorified in the Spirit, they point to some office of the Holy Spirit, but that if they say that God receives glory or power with the Spirit, they seem to imply some association and communion of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 71. But who can separate what is incapable of separation? Who can divide that association which Christ shows to be inseparable? Go, says He, baptize all nations in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19 Has He changed either a word or a syllable here concerning the Father or the Son or the Holy Spirit? Certainly not. But He says, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The expression is the same for the Spirit as for the Father and for Himself. From which is inferred not any office of the Holy Spirit, but rather a sharing of honour or of working when we say in the Spirit. 72. Consider, too, that this opinion of yours tends to the injury of the Father and the Son, for the latter did not say, with the Name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, but in the Name, and yet not any office but the power of the Trinity is expressed in this syllable, 73. Lastly, that you may know that it is not a syllable which prejudices faith, but faith which commends a syllable, Paul also speaks in Christ. Christ is not less, because Paul spoke in Christ, as you find: We speak before God in Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:17 As, then, the Apostle says that we speak in Christ, so, too, is that which we speak in the Spirit; as the Apostle himself said: No man says Lord Jesus, except in the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:3 So, then, in this place not any subjection of the Holy Spirit, but a connection of grace is signified. 74. And that you may know that distinction does not depend upon a syllable, he says also in another place: And these indeed were you, but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11 How many instances of this I can bring forward. For it is written: You are all one in Christ Jesus, Galatians 3:28 and elsewhere: To those sanctified in Christ Jesus, 1 Corinthians 1:2 and again: That we might be the righteousness of God in Him, 2 Corinthians 5:21 and in another place: Should fall from the chastity which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 11:3 75. But what am I doing? For while I say that like things are written of the Son as of the Spirit, I am rather leading on to this, not that because it is written of the Son, therefore it would appear to be reverently written of the Holy Spirit, but that because the same is written of the Spirit, therefore men allege that the Son's honour is lessened because of the Spirit. For say they, Is it written of God the Father? 76. But let them learn that it is also said of God the Father: In the Lord I will praise the word; and elsewhere: In God we will do mighty deeds; and My remembrance shall be ever in You; and In Your Name will we rejoice; and again in another place: John 3:21 and Paul: In God Who created all things; Ephesians 3:9 and again: Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; 2 Thessalonians 1:2 and in the Gospel: I in the Father and the Father in Me, and the Father that dwells in Me. John 14:10 It is also written: 2 Corinthians 10:17 and in another place: Our life is hid with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3 Did he here ascribe more to the Son than to the Father in saying that we are with Christ in God? Or does our state avail more than the grace of the Spirit, so that we can be with Christ and the Holy Spirit cannot? And when Christ wills to be with us, as He Himself said: Father, I will that they whom You have given Me be with Me where I am, John 17:24 would He disdain to be with the Spirit? For it is written: You coming together and my spirit with the power of the Lord Jesus. 1 Corinthians 5:4 Do we then come together in the power of the Lord, and dare to say that the Lord Jesus would not be willing to come together with the Spirit Who does not disdain to come together with us? 77. So the Apostle thinks that it makes no difference which particle you use. For each is a conjunctive particle, and conjunction does not cause separation, for if it divided it would not be called a conjunction. 78. What, then, moves you to say that to God the Father or to His Christ there is glory, life, greatness, or power, in the Holy Spirit, and to refuse to say with the Holy Spirit? Is it that you are afraid of seeming to join the Spirit with the Father and the Son? But hear what is written of the Spirit: For the law of the Spirit is life in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:2 And in another place God the Father says: They shall worship You, and in You they shall make supplication. God the Father says that we ought to pray in Christ; and do you think that it is any derogation to the Spirit if the glory of Christ is said to be in Him? 79. Hear that what you are afraid to acknowledge of the Spirit, the Apostle did not fear to claim for himself; for he says: To be dissolved and to be with Christ is much better. Philippians 1:23 Do you deny that the Spirit, through Whom the Apostle was made worthy of being with Christ, is with Christ? 80. What, then, is the reason that you prefer saying that God or Christ is glorified in the Spirit rather than with the Spirit? Is it because if you say in the Spirit, the Spirit is declared to be less than Christ? Although your making the Lord greater or less is a matter which can be refuted, yet since we read, 2 Corinthians 5:21 He is found chiefest in Whom we are found most low. So, too, elsewhere you read, For in Him all things consist, Colossians 1:17 that is, in His power. And the things which consist in Him cannot be compared to Him, because they receive from His power the substance whereby they consist. 81. Do you then understand that God so reigns in the Spirit that the power of the Spirit, as a kind of source of substance, imparts to God the origin of His rule? But this is impious. And so our predecessors spoke of the unity of power of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, when they said that the glory of Christ was with the Spirit, that they might declare their inseparable connection. 82. For how is the Holy Spirit separated from the Son, since the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are sons of God, and if sons, also heirs, heirs, indeed, of God and joint-heirs with Christ. Romans 8:16-17 Who, then, is so foolish as to wish to dissever the eternal conjunction of the Spirit and Christ, when the Spirit by Whom we are made joint-heirs with Christ conjoins even what is severed. If so be, he says, we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. Romans 8:16-17 If we then shall be glorified together with Christ through the Spirit, how do we refuse to admit that the Spirit Himself is glorified together with Christ? Do we dissociate the life of Christ and of the Holy Spirit when the Spirit says that we shall live together with the Son of God? For the Apostle says: If we be dead with Christ we believe that we shall also live with Him; and then again: For if we suffer with Him we shall also live with Him, and not only shall we live with Him, but shall be also glorified with Him, and not only be glorified but shall also reign with Him. 2 Timothy 2:11-12 84. No division, then, is implied in those particles, for each is a particle of conjunction. And lastly, we often find in holy Scripture the one inserted and the other understood, as it is written: I will enter into Your house in whole burnt-offerings, that is, with whole burnt-offerings; and in another place: He brought them forth in silver and gold, that is, with silver and gold. And elsewhere the Psalmist says: Will You not go forth with us in our hosts? for that which is really meant, with our hosts. So, then, in the use of the expression no lessening of honour can be implied, and nothing ought to be deduced derogatory to the honour of the Godhead, it is necessary that with the heart man should believe unto righteousness, and that out of the faith of the heart confession should be made in the mouth unto salvation. But they who believe not with the heart spread what is derogatory with their mouth. A passage of St. Paul abused by heretics, to prove a distinction between the Divine Persons, is explained, and it is proved that the whole passage can be rightly said of each Person, though it refers specially to the Son. It is then proved that each member of the passage is applicable to each Person, and as to say, of Him are all things is applicable to the Father, so may all things are through Him and in Him also be said of Him. 85. Another similar passage is that which they say implies difference, where it is written: But to us there is one Father, of Whom are all things and we unto Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things, and we through Him. 1 Corinthians 8:6 For they pretend that when it is said of Him, the matter is signified, when through Him, either the instrument of the work or some office, but when it is said in Him, either the place or the time in which all things that are made are seen. 86. So, then, their desire is to prove that there is some difference of substance, being anxious to make a distinction between as it were the instrument, and the proper worker or author, and also between time or place and the instrument. But is the Son, then, alien as regards His Nature from the Father, because an instrument is alien from the worker or author? Or is the Son alien from the Spirit, because either time or place is not of the same class as an instrument? 87. Compare now our assertions. They will have it that matter is of God as though of the nature of God, as when you say that a chest is made of wood or a statue of stone; that after this fashion matter has come forth from God, and that the same matter has been made by the Son as if by some sort of instrument; so that they declare that the Son is not so much the Artificer as the instrument of the work; and that all things have been made in the Spirit, as if in some place or time; they attribute each part severally to each Person severally and deny that all are in common. 88. But we show that all things are so of God the Father, that God the Father has suffered no loss because all things are either through Him or in Him, and yet all things are not of Him as if of matter; then, too, that all things are through the Lord the Son, so that He is not deprived of the attribute that all things are of the Son and in Him; and that all things are in the Spirit, so that we may teach that all things are through the Spirit, and all things from the Spirit. 89. For these particles, like those of which we have spoken before, imply each other. For the Apostle did not so say, All things are of God, and all things are through the Son, as to signify that the substance of the Father and the Son could be severed, but that he might teach that by a distinction without confusion the Father is one, the Son another. Those particles, then, are not as it were in opposition to each other, but are as it were allied and agreed, so as often to suit even one Person, as it is written: For of Him, and through Him, and in Him are all things. Romans 11:36 90. But if you really consider whence the passage is taken you will have no doubt that it is said of the Son. For the Apostle says, according to the prophecy of Isaiah, Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counsellor? Isaiah 40:13 And he adds: For of Him and in Him are all things. Which Isaiah had said of the Artificer of all, as you read: Who has measured out the water with his hand, and the heaven with a span, and all the earth with his closed hand? Who has placed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counsellor? Isaiah 40:12 91. And the Apostle added: For of Him, and through Him, and in Him are all things. What is of Him? That the nature of everything is of His will, and He is the Author of all things which have come into being. Through Him means what? That the establishment and continuance of all things is His gift. What is in Him? That all things by a wonderful kind of longing and unspeakable love look upon the Author of their life, and the Giver of their graces and functions, according to that which is written: The eyes of all look unto You, and You open Your hand and fillest every living creature with Your good pleasure. 92. And of the Father, too, you may rightly say of Him, for of Him was the operative Wisdom, Which of His own and the Father's will gave being to all things which were not. Through Him, because all things were made through His Wisdom. In Him, because He is the Fount of substantial Life, in Whom we live and move and have our being. 93. Of the Spirit also, as being formed by Him, strengthened by Him, established in Him, we receive the gift of eternal life. 94. Since, then, these expressions seem suitable either to the Father or the Son or the Holy Spirit, it is certain that nothing derogatory is spoken of in them, since we both say that many things are of the Son, and many through the Father, as you find it said of the Son: That we may be increased through all things in Him, Who is Christ the Head, from Whom, says he, the whole body, framed and knit together through every joint of the supply for the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love. Ephesians 4:15-16 And again, writing to the Colossians of those who have not the knowledge of the Son of God, he says: Because they hold not the Head, from Whom all the body being supplied and joined together through joints and bands, increases to the increase of God. Colossians 2:19 For we said above that Christ is the Head of the Church. And in another place you read: Of His fullness have all we received. And the Lord Himself said: He shall take of Mine and show it unto you. John 16:14 And before, He said: I perceive that virtue is gone out of Me. Luke 8:46 95. In like manner that you may recognize the Unity, it is also said of the Spirit: Galatians 6:8 And John says: Hereby we know that He is in us because He has given us of His Spirit. 1 John 4:13 And the Angel says: That Which shall be born of her is of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:20 And the Lord says: That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. John 3:6 96. So, then, as we read that all things are of the Father, so, too, that all things can be said to be of the Son, through Whom are all things; and we are taught by proof that all things are of the Spirit in Whom are all things. 97. Now let us consider whether we can teach that anything is through the Father. But it is written: 1 Corinthians 1:1 and elsewhere: Wherefore you are now not a servant but a son, and if a son an heir also through God; Galatians 4:7 and again: Romans 6:4 And elsewhere God the Father says to the Son: Behold proselytes shall come to You through Me. 98. You will find many other passages, if you look for things done through the Father. Is, then, the Father less because we read that many things are in the Son and of the Son, and find in the heavenly Scriptures very many things done or given through the Father? 99. But in like manner we also read of many things done through the Spirit, as you find: But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit; 1 Corinthians 2:10 and in another place: Keep the good deposit through the Holy Spirit; 1 Timothy 6:20 and to the Ephesians: to be strengthened through His Spirit; Ephesians 3:16 and to the Corinthians: To another is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom; 1 Corinthians 12:8 and in another place: But if through the Spirit ye mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live; Romans 8:13 and above: He Who raised Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies through the indwelling of His Spirit in you. Romans 8:11 100. But perhaps some one may say, Show me that we can read expressly that all things are of the Son, or that all things are of the Spirit. But I reply, Let them also show that it is written that all things are through the Father. But since we have proved that these expressions suit either the Father or the Son or the Holy Spirit, and that no distinction of the divine power can arise from particles of this kind, there is no doubt but that all things are of Him through Whom all things are; and that all things are through Him through Whom all are; and that we must understand that all things are through Him or of Him in Whom all are. For every creature exists both of the will, and through the operation and in the power of the Trinity, as it is written: Let Us make man after Our image and likeness; Genesis 1:26 and elsewhere: By the word of the Lord were the heavens established, and all their power by the Spirit of His mouth. Being about to prove that the will, the calling, and the commandment of the Trinity is one, St. Ambrose shows that the Spirit called the Church exactly as the Father and the Son did, and proves this by the selection of SS. Paul and Barnabas, and especially by the mission of St. Peter to Cornelius. And by the way he points out how in the Apostle's vision the calling of the Gentiles was shadowed forth, who having been before like wild beasts, now by the operation of the Spirit lay aside that wildness. Then having quoted other passages in support of this view, he shows that in the case of Jeremiah cast into a pit by Jews, and rescued by Abdemelech, is a type of the slighting of the Holy Spirit by the Jews, and of His being honoured by the Gentiles. 101. And not only is the operation of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit everywhere one but also there is one and the same will, calling, and giving of commands, which one may see in the great and saving mystery of the Church. For as the Father called the Gentiles to the Church, saying: I will call her My people which was not My people, and her beloved who was not beloved; Hosea 2:23 and elsewhere: My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, Isaiah 56:7 so, too, the Lord Jesus said that Paul was chosen by Him to call forth and gather together the Church, as you find it said by the Lord Jesus to Ananias: Go, for he is a chosen vessel unto Me to bear My name before all nations. Acts 9:15 102. As, then, God the Father called the Church, so, too, Christ called it, and so, too, the Spirit called it, saying: So, it is added, having fasted and prayed, they laid hands on them and sent them forth. And they, being sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia. So Paul received the apostleship by the will not only of Christ, but also of the Holy Spirit, and hastened to gather together the Gentiles. 103. And not only Paul, but also, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter. For when he had seen in his prayer heaven opened and a certain vessel tied at the four corners, as it were a sheet in which were all kinds of four-footed beasts and wild beasts and fowls of the air, a voice came to him saying, Arise, Peter, kill and eat. And Peter said, Be it far from me, Lord, I have never eaten anything common or unclean. And again a voice came to him, saying, What God has cleansed, call not common. And this was done three times, and the vessel was received back into heaven. And so when Peter was silently thinking over this with himself, and the servants of Cornelius appointed by the Angel had come to him, the Spirit said to him, Lo, men are seeking you, rise therefore, and go down and go with them; doubt not, for I have sent you. Acts 10:19-20 104. How clearly did the Holy Spirit express His own power! First of all in that He inspired him who was praying, and was present to him who was entreating; then when Peter, being called, answered, Lord, and so was found worthy of a second message, because he acknowledged the Lord. But the Scripture declares Who that Lord was, for He Whom he had answered spoke to him when he answered. And the following words show the Spirit clearly revealed, for He Who formed the mystery made known the mystery. 105. Notice, also, that the appearance of the mystery three times repeated expressed the operation of the Trinity. And so in the mysteries the threefold question is put, and the threefold answer made, and no one can be cleansed but by a threefold confession. For which reason, also, Peter in the Gospel is asked three times whether he loves the Lord, that by the threefold answer the bonds of the guilt he had contracted by denying the Lord might be loosed. 106. Then, again, because the Angel is sent to Cornelius, the Holy Spirit speaks to Peter: For the eyes of the Lord are over the faithful of the earth. Nor is it without a purpose that when He had said before, What God has cleansed call not thou common, Acts 10:15 the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles to purify them, when it is manifest that the operation of the Spirit is a divine operation. But Peter, when sent by the Spirit, did not wait for the command of God the Father, but acknowledged that that message was from the Spirit Himself, and the grace that of the Spirit Himself, when he said: If, then, God has granted them the same grace as to us, who was I that I should resist God? 107. It is, then, the Holy Spirit Who has delivered us from that Gentile impurity. For in those kinds of four-footed creatures and wild beasts and birds there was a figure of the condition of man, which appears clothed with the bestial ferocity of wild beasts unless it grows gentle by the sanctification of the Spirit. Excellent, then, is that grace which changes the rage of beasts into the simplicity of the Spirit: For we also were aforetime foolish, unbelieving, erring, serving various lusts and pleasures. But now by the renewing of the Spirit we begin to be heirs of Christ, and joint-heirs with the Angels. Titus 3:3-7 108. Therefore the holy prophet David, seeing in the Spirit that we should from wild beasts become like the dwellers in heaven, says, Rebuke the wild beasts of the wood, evidently signifying, not the wood disturbed by the running of wild beasts, and shaken with the roaring of animals, but that wood of which it is written: We found it in the fields of the wood. In which, as the prophet said: The righteous shall flourish as the palm-tree, and shall be multiplied as the cedar which is in Libanus. That wood which, shaken in the tops of the trees spoken of in prophecy, shed forth the nourishment of the heavenly Word. That wood into which Paul entered indeed as a ravening wolf, but went forth as a shepherd, for their sound is gone out into all the earth. 109. We then were wild beasts, and therefore the Lord said: Beware of false prophets, which come in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. Matthew 7:15 But now, through the Holy Spirit, the rage of lions, the spots of leopards, the craft of foxes, the rapacity of wolves, have passed away from our feelings; great, then, is the grace which has changed earth to heaven, that the conversation of us, who once were wandering as wild beasts in the woods, might be in heaven. Philippians 3:20 110. And not only in this place, but also elsewhere in the same book, the Apostle Peter declared that the Church was built by the Holy Spirit. For you read that he said: God, Which knows the hearts of men, bore witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as also to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Acts 15:8-9 In which is to be considered, that as Christ is the Cornerstone, Who joined together both peoples into one, so, too, the Holy Spirit made no distinction between the hearts of each people, but united them. 111. Do not, then, like a Jew, despise the Son, Whom the prophets foretold; for you would despise also the Holy Spirit, you would despise Isaiah, you would despise Jeremiah, whom he who was chosen of the Lord raised with rags and cords from the pit of that Jewish abode. Jeremiah 38:11 For the people of the Jews, despising the word of prophecy, had cast him into the pit. Nor was there found any one of the Jews to draw the prophet out, but one Ethiopian Abdemelech, as the Scripture testifies. 112. In which account is a very beautiful figure, that is to say, that we, sinners of the Gentiles, black beforehand through our transgressions, and aforetime fruitless, raised from the depth the word of prophecy which the Jews had thrust down, as it were, into the mire of their mind and carnality. And therefore it is written: holy Church, who says in the Song of Songs: I am black and comely, O daughters of Jerusalem; Song of Songs 1:5 black through sin, comely through grace; black by natural condition, comely through redemption, or certainly, black with the dust of her labours. So she is black while fighting, is comely when she is crowned with the ornaments of victory. 113. And fittingly is the prophet raised by cords, for the faithful writer said: The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. And fittingly with rags; for the Lord Himself, when those who had been first invited to the marriage made excuse, sent to the partings of the highways, that as many as were found, both bad and good, should be invited to the marriage. With these rags, then, He lifted the word of prophecy from the mire. We shall follow the example of Abdemelech, if we believe that the Son and Holy Spirit know all things. This knowledge is attributed in Scripture to the Spirit, and also to the Son. The Son is glorified by the Spirit, as also the Spirit by the Son. Also, inasmuch as we read that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit say and reveal the same things, we must acknowledge in Them a oneness of nature and knowledge. Lastly, that the Spirit searches the deep things of God is not a mark of ignorance, since the Father and the Son are likewise said to search, and Paul, although chosen by Christ, yet was taught by the Spirit. 114. And you, too, shall be Abdemelech, that is, chosen by the Lord, if you raise the Word of God from the depth of Gentile ignorance; if you believe that the Son of God is not deceived, that nothing escapes His knowledge, that He is not ignorant of what is going to be. And the Holy Spirit also is not deceived, of Whom the Lord says: But when He, the Spirit of Truth, shall come, He shall lead you into all truth. John 16:13 He Who says all passes by nothing, neither the day nor the hour, neither things past nor things to come. 115. And that you may know that He both knows all things, and foretells things to come, and that His knowledge is one with that of the Father and the Son, hear what the Truth of God says concerning Him: For He shall not speak from Himself, but what things He shall hear shall He speak, and He shall declare unto you the things that are to come. John 16:13 116. Therefore, that you may observe that He knows all things, when the Son said: But of that day and hour knows no one, not even the Angels of heaven, Mark 13:32 He excepted the Holy Spirit. But if the Holy Spirit is excepted from ignorance, how is the Son of God not excepted? 117. But you say that He numbered the Son of God also with the Angels. He numbered the Son indeed, but He did not number the Spirit also. Confess, then, either that the Holy Spirit is greater than the Son of God, so as to speak now not only as an Arian, but even as a Photinian, or acknowledge to what you ought to refer it that He said that the Son knew not. For as man He could [in His human nature] be numbered with creatures Who were created. 118. But if you are willing to learn that the Son of God knows all things, and has foreknowledge of all, see that those very things which you think to be unknown to the Son, the Holy Spirit received from the Son. He received them, however, through Unity of Substance, as the Son received from the Father. He, says He, shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine and shall declare it unto you. All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine, therefore said I, He shall receive of Mine, and shall declare it unto you. John 16:14-15 What, then, is more clear than this Unity? What things the Father has pertain to the Son; what things the Son has the Holy Spirit also has received. 119. Yet learn that the Son knows the day of judgment. We read in Zechariah: And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Him. In that day there shall not be light, but cold and frost, and it shall be one day, and that day is known unto the Lord. This day, then, was known unto the Lord, Who shall come with His saints, to enlighten us by His second Advent. 120. But let us continue the point which we have commenced concerning the Spirit. For in the passage we have brought forward you find that the Son says of the Spirit: He shall glorify Me. So, then, the Spirit glorifies the Son, as the Father also glorifies Him, but the Son of God also glorifies the Spirit, as we said above. He, then, is not weak who is the cause of the mutual glory through the Unity of the Eternal Light, nor is He inferior to the Spirit, of Whom this is true that He is glorified by the Spirit. 122. And you too shall be chosen, if you believe that the Spirit spoke that which the Father spoke, and which the Son spoke. Paul, in fine, was therefore chosen because he so believed and so taught, since, as it is written, God has revealed to us by His Spirit that which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 And therefore is He called the Spirit of revelation, as you read: For God gives to those who thus prepare themselves the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, that He may be known. Isaiah 64:4 123. There is, then, a Unity of knowledge, since, as the Father, Who gives the Spirit of revelation, reveals, so also the Son reveals, for it is written: No one knows the Son save the Father, neither does any one know the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son shall will to reveal Him. Matthew 11:27 He said more concerning the Son, not because He has more than the Father, but lest He should be supposed to have less. And not unfittingly is the Father thus revealed by the Son, for the Son knows the Father even as the Father knows the Son. 124. Learn now that the Spirit too knows God the Father, for it is written that, As no one knows the things of a man, save the spirit which is in him, so too the things of God no one knows save the Spirit of God. No one, he says, knows save the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:11 Is, then, the Son of God excluded? Certainly not, since neither is the Spirit excluded, when it is said: 125. Therefore the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are of one nature and of one knowledge. And the Spirit is not to be numbered with all things which were made by the Son, since He knew the Father, Whom (as it is written) who can know save the Son? But the Holy Spirit knows also. What then? When the totality of created things is spoken of, it follows that the Holy Spirit is not included. 126. Now I should like them to answer what it is in man which knows the things of a man. Certainly that must be reasonable which surpasses the other powers of the soul, and by which the highest nature of man is estimated. What, then, is the Spirit, Who knows the deep things of God, and through Whom Almighty God is revealed? Is He inferior in the fullness of the Godhead Who is proved even by this instance to be of one substance with the Father? Or is He ignorant of anything Who knows the counsels of God, and His mysteries which have been hidden from the beginning? What is there that He knows not Who knows all things that are of God? For the Spirit searches even the deep things of God. 1 Corinthians 2:10 127. But lest you should think that He searches things unknown, and so searches that He may learn that which He knows not, it is stated first that God revealed them to us through His Spirit, and at the same time in order that you may learn that the Spirit knows the things which are revealed to us through the Spirit Himself, it is said subsequently: For who among men knows the things of a man, save the spirit of the man which is in him? So, too, the things of God knows no one save the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:11 If, then, the spirit of a man knows the things of a man, and knows them before it searches, can there be anything of God which the Spirit of God knows not? Of Whom the Apostle said not without a purpose, The things of God knows no one, save the Spirit of God; not that He knows by searching, but knows by nature; not that the knowledge of divine things is an accident in Him, but is His natural knowledge. 128. But if this moves you that He said searches, learn that this is also said of God, inasmuch as He is the searcher of hearts and reins. For Himself said: I am He that searches the heart and reins. Jeremiah 17:10 And of the Son of God you have also in the Epistle to the Hebrews: Who is the Searcher of the mind and thoughts. Hebrews 4:12 Whence it is clear that no inferior searches the inward things of his superior, for to know hidden things is of the divine power alone. The Holy Spirit, then, is a searcher in like manner as the Father, and the Son is a searcher in like manner, by the proper signification of which expression this is implied, that evidently there is nothing which He knows not, Whom nothing escapes. 129. Lastly, he was chosen by Christ, and taught by the Spirit. For as he himself witnesses, having obtained through the Spirit knowledge of the divine secrets, he shows both that the Holy Spirit knows God, and has revealed to us the things which are of God, as the Son also has revealed them. And he adds: But we received, not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are given to us by God, which we also speak, not in persuasive words of man's wisdom, but in manifestation of the Spirit and in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 After proof that the Spirit is the Giver of revelation equally with the Father and the Son, it is explained how the same Spirit does not speak of Himself; and it is shown that no bodily organs are to be thought of in Him, and that no inferiority is to be supposed from the fact of our reading that He hears, since the same would have to be attributed to the Son, and indeed even to the Father, since He hears the Son. The Spirit then hears and glorifies the Son in the sense that He revealed Him to the prophets and apostles, by which the Unity of operation of the Three Persons is inferred; and, since the Spirit does the same works as the Father, the substance of each is also declared to be the same. 130. It has then been proved that like as God has revealed to us the things which are His, so too the Son, and so too the Spirit, has revealed the things of God. For our knowledge proceeds from one Spirit, through one Son to one Father; and from one Father through one Son to one Holy Spirit is delivered goodness and sanctification and the sovereign right of eternal power. Where, then, there is a manifestation of the Spirit, there is the power of God, nor can there be any distinction where the work is one. And therefore that which the Son says the Father also says, and that which the Father says the Son also says, and that which the Father and the Son say the Holy Spirit also says. 131. Whence also the Son of God said concerning the Holy Spirit: He shall not speak from Himself, John 16:13 that is, not without the participation of the Father and Myself. For the Spirit is not divided and separated, but speaks what He hears. He hears, that is to say, by unity of substance and by the property of knowledge. For He receives not hearing by any orifices of the body, nor does the divine voice resound with any carnal measures, nor does He hear what He knows not; since commonly in human matters hearing produces knowledge, and yet not even in men themselves is there always bodily speech or fleshly hearing. For he that speaks in tongues, it is said, 1 Corinthians 14:2 132. Therefore if in men hearing is not always of the body, do you require in God the voices of man's weakness, and certain organs of fleshly hearing, when He is said to hear in order that we may believe that He knows? For we know that which we have heard, and we hear beforehand that we may be able to know; but in God Who knows all things knowledge goes before hearing. So in order to state that the Son is not ignorant of what the Father wills, we say that He has heard; but in God there is no sound nor syllable, such as usually signify the indication of the will; but oneness of will is comprehended in hidden ways in God, but in us is shown by signs. 133. What means, then, He shall not speak from Himself? This is, He shall not speak without Me; for He speaks the truth, He breathes wisdom. He speaks not without the Father, for He is the Spirit of God; He hears not from Himself, for all things are of God. 134. The Son received all things from the Father, for He Himself said: All things have been delivered unto Me from My Father. Matthew 11:27 All that is the Father's the Son also has, for He says again: All things which the Father has are Mine. John 15:15 And those things which He Himself received by Unity of nature, the Spirit by the same Unity of nature received also from Him, as the Lord Jesus Himself declares, when speaking of His Spirit: Therefore said I, He shall receive of Mine and shall declare it unto you. John 15:15 Therefore what the Spirit says is the Son's, what the Son has given is the Father's. So neither the Son nor the Spirit speaks anything of Himself. For the Trinity speaks nothing external to Itself. 135. But if you contend that this is an argument for the weakness of the Holy Spirit, and for a kind of likeness to the lowliness of the body, you will also make it an argument to the injury of the Son, because the Son said of Himself: As I hear I judge, John 5:30 and The Son can do nothing else than what He sees the Father doing. John 5:19 For if that be true, as it is, which the Son said: All things which the Father has are Mine, John 16:15 and the Son according to the Godhead is One with the Father, One by natural substance, not according to the Sabellian falsehood; that which is one by the property of substance certainly cannot be separated, and so the Son cannot do anything except what He has heard of the Father, for the Word of God endures forever, nor is the Father ever separated from the operation of the Son; and that which the Son works He knows that the Father wills, and what the Father wills the Son knows how to work. 136. Lastly, that one may not think that there is any difference of work either in time or in order between the Father and the Son, but may believe the oneness of the same operation, He says: The works which I do He does. And again, that one may not think that there is any difference in the distinction of the works, but may judge that the will, the working, and the power of the Father and the Son are the same, Wisdom says concerning the Father: For whatsoever things He does, the Son likewise does the same. John 5:19 So that the action of neither Person is before or after that of the Other, but the same result of one operation. And for this reason the Son says that He can do nothing of Himself, because His operation cannot be separated from that of the Father. In like manner the operation of the Holy Spirit is not separated. Whence also the things which He speaks, He is said to hear from the Father. 137. What if I demonstrate that the Father also hears the Son, as the Son too hears the Father? For you have it written in the Gospel that the Son says: Father, I thank You that You heard Me. John 11:41 How did the Father hear the Son, since in the previous passage concerning Lazarus the Son spoke nothing to the Father? And that we might not think that the Son was heard once by the Father, He added: And I knew that You hear Me always. John 11:42 Therefore the hearing is not that of subject obedience, but of eternal Unity. 138. In like manner, then, the Spirit is said to hear from the Father, and to glorify the Son. To glorify, because the Holy Spirit taught us that the Son is the Image of the invisible God, Colossians 1:15 and the brightness of His glory, and the impress of His substance. Hebrews 1:3 The Spirit also spoke in the patriarchs and the prophets, and, lastly, the apostles began then to be more perfect after that they had received the Holy Spirit. There is therefore no separation of the divine power and grace, for although there are diversities of gifts, yet it is the same Spirit; and diversities of ministrations, yet the same Lord; and diversities of operations, yet the same God Who works all in all. There are diversities of offices, not severances of the Trinity. 139. Lastly, it is the same God Who works all in all, that you may know that there is no diversity of operation between God the Father and the Holy Spirit; since those things which the Spirit works, God the Father also works, Who works all in all. For while God the Father works all in all, yet to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another faith, in the same Spirit; to another the gift of healings, in the one Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another various kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of sayings; but all these works one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one as He will. 140. There is then no doubt but that those things which the Father works, the Spirit works also. Nor does He work in accordance with a command, as he who hears in bodily fashion, but voluntarily, as being free in His own will, not the servant of the power of another. For He does not obey as being bidden, but as the giver He is the controller of His own gifts. 141. Consider meanwhile whether you can say that the Spirit effects all things which the Father effects; for you cannot deny that the Father effects those things which the Holy Spirit effects; otherwise the Father does not effect all things, if He effects not those things which the Spirit also effects. But if the Father also effects those things which the Spirit effects, since the Spirit divides His operations, according to His own will, you must of necessity say, either that what the Spirit divides He divides according to His own will, against the will of God the Father; or if you say that the Father wills the same that the Holy Spirit wills, you must of necessity confess the oneness of the divine will and operation, even if you do it unwillingly, and, if not with the heart, at least with the mouth. 142. But if the Holy Spirit is of one will and operation with God the Father, He is also of one substance, since the Creator is known by His works. So, then, it is the same Spirit, he says, the same Lord, the same God. 1 Corinthians 12:5 And if you say Spirit, He is the same; and if you say Lord, He is the same; and if you say God, He is the same. Not the same, so that Himself is Father, Himself Son, Himself Spirit [one and the selfsame Person]; but because both the Father and the Son are the same Power. He is, then, the same in substance and in power, for there is not in the Godhead either the confusion of Sabellius nor the division of Arius, nor any earthly and bodily change. Prophecy was not only from the Father and the Son but also from the Spirit; the authority and operation of the latter on the apostles is signified to be the same as Theirs; and so we are to understand that there is unity in the three points of authority, rule, and bounty; yet need no disadvantage be feared from that participation, since such does not arise in human friendship. Lastly, it is established that this is the inheritance of the apostolic faith from the fact that the apostles are described as having obeyed the Holy Spirit. 143. Take, O sacred Emperor, another strong instance in this question, and one known to you: In many ways and in various manners, God spoke to the fathers in the prophets. Hebrews 1:1 And the Wisdom of God said: Luke 11:49 And To one is given, as it is written, through the Spirit, the word of wisdom; to another, the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another faith, in the same Spirit; to another, the gift of healings, in the one Spirit; to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy. Therefore, according to the Apostle, prophecy is not only through the Father and the Son, but also through the Holy Spirit, and therefore the office is one, and the grace one. So you find that the Spirit also is the author of prophecies. 144. The apostles also said: It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us. Acts 15:28 And when they say, It seemed good, they point out not only the Worker of the grace, but also the Author of the carrying out of that which was commanded. For as we read of God: It pleased God; so, too, when it is said that, It seemed good to the Holy Spirit, one who is master of his own power is portrayed. 145. And how should He not be a master Who speaks what He wills, and commands what He wills, as the Father commands and the Son commands? For as Paul heard the voice saying to him, I am Jesus, Whom you persecute, Acts 9:5 so, too, the Spirit forbade Paul and Silas to go into Bithynia. And as the Father spoke through the prophets, so, too, Agabus says concerning the Spirit: Thus says the Holy Spirit, Thus shall the Jews in Jerusalem bind the man, whose is this girdle. Acts 21:11 And as Wisdom sent the apostles, saying, Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel, Mark 16:15 so, too, the Holy Spirit says: Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. Acts 13:2 And so being sent forth by the Holy Spirit, as the Scripture points out farther on, they were distinguished in nothing from the other apostles, as though they were sent in one way by God the Father, in another way by Spirit. 146. Lastly, Paul having been sent by the Spirit, was both a vessel of election on Christ's part, and himself relates that God wrought in him, saying: For He that wrought for Peter unto the apostleship of the circumcision, wrought for me also unto the Gentiles. Galatians 2:8 Since, then, the Same wrought in Paul Who wrought in Peter, it is certainly evident that, since the Spirit wrought in Paul, the Holy Spirit wrought also in Peter. But Peter himself testifies that God the Father wrought in him, as it is stated in the Acts of the Apostles that Peter rose up and said to them: Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God made choice among us that the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel from my mouth. See, then, in Peter God wrought the grace of preaching. And who would dare to deny the operation of Christ in him, since he was certainly elected and chosen by Christ, when the Lord said: Feed My lambs. John 21:15 147. The operation, then, of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is one, unless perchance you, who deny the oneness of the same operation upon the Apostle, think this; that the Father and the Spirit wrought in Peter, in whom the Son had wrought, as if the operation of the Son by no means sufficed for him to the attainment of the grace. And so the strength of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit being as it were joined and brought together, the work was manifold, lest the operation of Christ alone should be too weak to establish Peter. 148. And not only in Peter is there found to be one operation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but also in all the apostles the unity of the divine operation, and a certain authority over the dispensations of heaven. For the divine operation works by the power of a command, not in the execution of a ministry; for God, when He works, does not fashion anything by toil or art, but He spoke and they were made. He said, Let there be light, and there was light, Genesis 1:3 for the effecting of the work is comprised in the commandment of God. 149. We can, then, easily find, if we will consider, that this royal power is by the witness of the Scriptures attributed to the Holy Spirit; and it will be made clear that all the apostles were not only disciples of Christ, but also ministers of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As also the teacher of the Gentiles tells us, when he says: God has set some in the Church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers; then miracles, the gift of healings, helps, governments, various kinds of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:28 150. See, God set apostles, and set prophets and teachers, gave the gift of healings, which you find above to be given by the Holy Spirit; gave various kinds of tongues. But yet all are not apostles, all are not prophets, all are not teachers. Not all, says he, have the gift of healings, nor do all, says he, speak with tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:30 For the whole of the divine gifts cannot exist in each several man; each, according to his capacity, receives that which he either desires or deserves. But the power of the Trinity, which is lavish of all graces, is not like this weakness. 151. Lastly, God set apostles. Those whom God set in the Church, Christ chose and ordained to be apostles, and sent them into the world, saying: Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to the whole creation. He that shall believe and be baptized shall be saved, but he that believes not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe. In My Name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents, and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them, they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. You see the Father and Christ also set teachers in the Churches; and as the Father gives the gift of healings, so, too, does the Son give; as the Father gives the gift of tongues, so, too, has the Son also granted it. 152. In like manner we have heard also above concerning the Holy Spirit, that He too grants the same kinds of graces. For it is said: To one is given through the Spirit the gift of healings, to another various kinds of tongues, to another prophecy. 1 Corinthians 12:8-9 So, then, the Spirit gives the same gifts as the Father, and the Son also gives them. Let us now learn more expressly what we have touched upon above, that the Holy Spirit entrusts the same office as the Father and the Son, and appoints the same persons; since Paul said: Take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock in the which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to rule the Church of God. Acts 20:28 153. There is, then, unity of authority, unity of appointment, unity of giving. For if you separate appointment and power, what cause was there [for maintaining] that those whom Christ appointed as apostles, God the Father appointed, and the Holy Spirit appointed? Unless, perhaps, as if sharing a possession or a right, They, like men, were afraid of legal prejudice, and therefore the operation was divided, and the authority distributed. 154. These things are narrow and paltry, even between men, who for the most part, although they do not agree in action, yet agree in will. So that a certain person being asked what a friend is, answered, A second self. If, then, a man so defined a friend as to say, he was a second self, that is to say, through a oneness of love and good-will, how much more ought we to esteem the oneness of Majesty, in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, when by the same operation and divine power, either the unity, or certainly that which is more, the ταυτότης, as it is called in Greek, is expressed, for ταύτο signifies the same, so that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have the same; so that to have the same will and the same power does not arise from the affection of the will, but inheres in the substance of the Trinity. 155. This is the inheritance of apostolic faith and devotion, which one may observe also in the Acts of the Apostles. Therefore Paul and Barnabas obeyed the commands of the Holy Spirit. And all the apostles obeyed, and immediately ordained those whom the Spirit had ordered to be separated: Separate Me, said He, Barnabas and Saul. Acts 13:2 Do you see the authority of Him Who commands? Consider the merit of those who obey. 156. Paul believed, and because he believed he cast off the zeal of a persecutor, and gained a crown of righteousness. He believed who used to make havoc of the Churches; but being converted to the faith, he preached in the Spirit that which the Spirit commanded. Acts 9:20 The Spirit anointed His champion, and having shaken off the dust of unbelief, presented him as an insuperable conqueror of the unbelievers to various assemblies of the ungodly, and trained him by many sufferings for the prize of his high calling in Christ Jesus. 157. Barnabas also believed, and obeyed because he believed. Therefore, being chosen by the authority of the Holy Spirit, Which came on him abundantly, as a special sign of his merits, he was not unworthy of so great a fellowship. For one grace shone in these whom one Spirit had chosen. 158. Nor was Paul inferior to Peter, though the latter was the foundation of the Church, and the former a wise builder knowing how to make firm the footsteps of the nations who believed; Paul was not, I say, unworthy of the fellowship of the apostles, but is easily comparable with the first, and second to none. For he who knows not that he is inferior makes himself equal. Source. Translated by H. de Romestin, E. de Romestin and H.T.F. Duckworth. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 10. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1896.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/34022.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) 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After the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we return today to reflect on the great figure of St. Augustine. In 1986, my dear Predecessor John Paul II dedicated to Augustine, on the 1600th anniversary of his conversion, a long and dense document in the form of the Apostolic Letter Augustinum Hipponensen (Augustine of Hippo). The Pope himself defined the text as “an act of thanksgiving to God for his gift to the Church, and through it, to all of mankind, with that miraculous conversion” (AAS, 74, 1992, p. 802). I wish to return to the topic of Augustine’s conversion in a future audience. It was a fundamental theme not only for Augustine’s life, but also for ours. In last Sunday’s Gospel, the Lord himself summarized his preaching in the words, “Convert yourselves”. Following the path of St. Augustine, we can meditate on what this conversion means: it is something definitive, decisive, but the fundamental decision must be developed and must be realized throughout our whole life. The catechesis today will be dedicated instead to the theme of faith and reason, which was a determinative theme, or better still, the detrminative theme in the biography of St. Augustine. As a child, he learned the Catholic faith from his mother Monica. But as an adolescent, he abandoned this faith because he could no longer see its reasonableness, and he did not want a religion that could not be, for him, also an expression of reason, and therefore, of truth. His thirst for truth was radical and led him to distance himself from the Catholic faith. But his radicality was such that he could not content himself with philosophies which did not arrive at truth itself, which did not arrive at God. To a God who was not just the ultimate cosmological hypothesis, but the true God, the God who gives life and who enters our own life. Thus all of St. Augustine’s intellectual and spiritual itinerary constitutes a model valid even today for the relationship between faith and reason, a theme not only for believers but for every man who searches for the truth, a central theme for the equilibrium and destiny of every human being. These two dimensions, faith and reason, are not to be separated nor to be opposed to each other, but should always go together. As Augustine himself wrote after his conversion, faith and reason are “the two forces that bring us to knowing” (Contra Academicos, III, 20, 43). In this respect, two Augustinian formulations (from Sermons, 43,9) remain rightly celebrated for expressing this coherent synthesis between faith and reason: Crede ut intelligas (I believe in order to understand) – belief opens the way to get to the threshold of truth – and, inseparably, Intellige ut credas (I understand in order to believe): to scrutinize truth in order to find God and believe. Those two statements by Augustine express with effective immediacy and with profundity the synthesis of this issue, in which the Catholic Church sees the expression of its way. Historically, this synthesis had been taking shape, even before the coming of Christ, in the encounter between the Jewish faith and Greek thought that resulted in Hellenistic Judaism. Successively, this synthesis was recovered and developed throughout history by many Christian thinkers. The harmony between faith and reason means, above all, that God is not far: he is not far from our reason and our life; he is close to every human being, close to our heart and close to our reason, if we really put ourselves on the right way. It was precisely this closeness of God to man that Augustine experienced with extraordinary intensity. The presence of God in man is profound and at the same time, mysterious, but we can discover and recognize it in our most intimate being. Do not go out, the convert says: “but go back into yourself – truth resides in the interior man, and if you find that your nature is changeable, transcend yourself. But remember, when you transcend yourself, that you transcend a soul which reasons. Then reach beyond – to where the light of reason is lit” (De vera religione, 39, 72). As Augustine himself underscored with that most famous statement at the start of Confessions, his spiritual autobiography written in praise of God: “You made us for you, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (I,1,1). Distance from God is equivalent therefore to distance from our selves: “Indeed, you,” Augustine writes (Confessions, III, 6,11), addressing himself to God, “are more intimately present to me than my inmost being and higher than the highest element in me” – interior intimo meo et superior summo meo – such that, he adds in another passage, recalling the time before his conversion, “you were in front of me, but I, instead, had gone far from myself and could not find myself again, and even less could I find you again” (Confessions, V, 2, 2). Precisely because Augustine had lived firsthand this intellectual and spiritual itinerary, he knew how to render it with such immediacy, profundity and wisdom in his works, recognizing in two other famous passages from Confessions (IV, 4, 9 e 14, 22) that man is ‘a great enigma’ (magna quaestio) and ‘a great abyss’ (grande profundum) – enigma and abyss that only Christ illuminates and saves. This is important: a man who is far from God is also far from himself, alienated from himself, and can recover himself only if he meets God, and thus, he will also arrive at himself, his true I, his true identity. The human being, Augustine then underscores in De civitate Dei (The City of God, XII, 27) – is social by nature but anti-social by fault, and is saved by Christ, the only mediator between God and mankind and the “universal way of freedom and salvation”, as my predecessor John Paul II repeated (Augustinum Hipponensem, 21): Outside this way, which has never failed humanity, Augustine says in the same work, “no one was ever liberated, no one can be liberated, no one will be liberated” (De civitate Dei, X, 32, 2). As the only mediator of salvation, Christ is the head of the Church and is mystically united to it, to the point that Augustine could say: “We have become Christ. Indeed, if he is the head, and we are the members (limbs), the total man is he and us” (In Iohannis evangelium tractatus, 21, 8). People of God and house of God, the Church in the Augustinian vision is thus closely linked to the concept of the Body of Christ, based on the Christologic re-reading of the Old Testament, and on sacramental life centered in the Eucharist, in which the Lord gives us his Body and transforms us into his Body. It is therefore fundamental that the Church – the People of God in the Christologic and not the sociological sense – should be truly in Christ, who, Augustine says in a very beautiful test, “prays for us, prays in us, is prayed to by us: he prays for us as our priest, he prays in us as our head, he is prayed to by us as our God – so we recognize in him our voice, and in ours, his” (Enarrationes in Psalmos, 85, 1). At the conclusion of the apostolic letter Augustinum Hipponensem, John Paul II asked whatthe saint has to say to men today, and responded with the words that Augustine dictated in a letter shortly after his conversion: “It seems to me that man should be led back to the hope of finding the truth” (Epistulae, 1, 1): that truth which is Christ himself, true God, to whom one of the most beautiful and famous prayers in Confessions (X, 27,38) is addressed: Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace. So it was! Augustine had encountered God and all his life experienced him to the point that this reality – which was above all an encounter with a Person, Jesus – changed his life, as he has changed that of so many men and women in every age who have had the grace to encounter him. Let us pray that the Lord may give us this grace and to make us find his peace by doing so.

PicLits.com is a creative writing site that matches beautiful images with carefully selected keywords in order to inspire you. The object is to put the right words in the right place and the right order to capture the essence, story, and meaning of the picture. Terry Friedlander, another old hippie from the sixties, is known to his peers as the “Survivor” (having nothing to do with the reality TV show). Terry actually grew up in California and graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1960 without honors. He attended several colleges based upon his ability to shoot three-point basketball shots when there was no three-point shot. The heavily female student body at UC Santa Barbara, hoop practice, and other assorted distractions made it difficult for Terry to awaken in time to attend very many classes. Nonetheless, he did graduate from University of Redlands (his fifth college) in four years which, during the sixties, was a near record performance. A major in history with a minor in physical education led to a high school teaching and coaching career in the Los Angeles area. Deviating from the norm and the expectations of the community led to a vocational and relocation change to the state of Washington where he was the athletic director of the Jewish Community Center for four years. The good news was that Seattle during the seventies and eighties was inspirational to Terry’s desire to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams. The dream came to light on one of the many grey, rainy days in Seattle. The idea was to create a retail store for professional sports team merchandise. With suggestions and tips from numerous friends, Terry modeled it after a store called “The Locker Room” based in Washington, D.C. For experience, Terry spent five weeks in D.C. following the owner around while taking copious notes and pictures. This period of self-employment is commonly known as instant poverty. Starting with practically zero dollars, Terry found a financial partner and a location for the new retail store on one of the busiest prostitution corners in the Pacific Northwest. The Seattle version of “The Locker Room” opened in 1976 on the day that the Seattle Seahawks NFL team played their first game. Happily, the store was filled with Seahawks merchandise and business was good from the start. Sixteen years to the day later, Terry signed the papers and sold the company (which had grown to 10 stores). Alas, at this moment Terry’s identity also went missing. Inevitably, the earring, motorcycle, and tattoo that followed resulted in withdrawal therapy, stern words from his wife, and a serious mid-life crisis. However, after regaining consciousness (he started cycling), Terry’s restless brain and love for the outdoors led to a move to Ketchum, Idaho. PicLits.com emerged one cold, Idaho night near the turn of the century, from a combination of refrigerator poetry, an interesting article in USA Today, some Sun Valley Pale Ale, and a roaring fireplace.

This informal event is a great opportunity to meet others interested in India while enjoying great Indian food! The Brandeis-India Initiative Fellows will be the featured guests at this event. They will be giving a very brief presentation highlighting some of their experiences. Babi Yar was the name of a ravine on the outskirts of Kiev where the single largest mass murder of Soviet Jews occurred on September 29-30, 1941. This symposium explores four aspects of the event through different lenses: Babi Yar in history, Soviet responses to Babi Yar after the reoccupation of Kiev by the Red Army, representations of Babi Yar in Jewish literature, and its symbolic meaning for the Russian intelligentsia. 10/5 | 2:00 - 6:00 pm | International Lounge, Usdan How can we challenge students to examine complex global issues from multiple cultural perspectives? How do different disciplines approach the problem of understanding developments with global reach and impact? What tools can best assess students' mastery of a complex global issue or development? Highlights the work of International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo and his team over three years across four continents. After the screening there will be brief commentary and discussion with Prof. Richard Gaskins and Brandeis students who recently completed the Brandeis in The Hague Program. As participants reflected in discussion later in the event, the notion of narrative as understood by one's self and by others played a large role in the events of the summer. The speakers noted the inherent difficulty in contending with different narratives, particularly when tied to being a traveler in a foreign land. China and India have joined overweight America in the obesity epidemic that's sweeping across the world, and concern over this has prompted the Asian Food Channel to create a documentary investigating healthy diets. One professor believes that the Palestinian bid for statehood and for acceptance as a full member in the United Nations has placed Israel and its ally, the United States, in a difficult diplomatic position... ...while the other says that, although PR has been important all along for both sides, Palestinians seem to be gaining ground in the effort to make their case before the world that the two-state solution is the only viable way to end the confrontation.

‘Stations of the Holocaust’ An Exhibition by Jean Lamb On display at Chichester Cathedral until 17th April 2017 (free entry) ‘Incredibly moving. A powerful exhibition that will stay with me for a long time’, ‘Visually stunning and emotionally poignant’, ‘A very powerful and moving exhibition of something that should never be forgotten’, ‘An extraordinary piece of art’ (Visitors’ Book) An unusual and striking exhibition at Chichester Cathedral is generating a powerful response from the Cathedral’s visitors. ‘Stations of the Holocaust’ by the artist and priest Jean Lamb, is comprised of fourteen ‘stations’, or artworks, which have been carved out of one large elm wood log, cast and then painted. In this exhibition Jean draws from the Christian tradition of ‘Stations of the Cross’- these being a feature of many churches and cathedrals, where each of the fourteen stations illustrate a different aspect of the final hours of Jesus’ life. However, Jean’s artworks also produce something powerfully new – into each piece Jean has also carved an arresting image from the Jewish Holocaust, showing the Jewish people as they were forced into ghettos, tortured and executed. The background to this exhibition was deeply personal for the artist, after visiting Auschwitz in 1997 she carved one station each year from 1999 to 2012, beginning on Ash Wednesday and continuing through Lent. On average each station took five months to complete and Jean fasted throughout this process. The idea to set the last hours of Jesus’ life alongside those of the Jewish people who suffered during the Holocaust, came to her after years of consideration. Jean’s childhood had been spent listening to her parents personal stories about the Second World War. Her mother was born in Germany and the family moved to Berlin in 1935, surviving Allied bombings and Russian occupation. Her father was born in London, he survived a bomb exploding on the family home in 1941 and the many Doodle Bug flying bombs of 1944. This history propelled Jean, from a young age, to think about the consequences of the Second World War for both England and Germany and in particular what the Holocaust has meant for the Jewish people. Jean is a professional artist and priest in the Church of England with over 30 years’ experience of making art. She graduated from Reading University in 1979, specialising in Fine Art, and then continued her studies in Theology, obtaining an Oxford Certificate in Theology in 1984. Jean describes herself as ‘motivated by her faith to express the love of God through art’ explaining that, ‘the stations were carved with prayer and devotion to the Jewish people who perished at the hands of the Nazis’. The exhibition is in the Cathedral’s North Transept and is open daily with free entry until 17th April. For more information please call 01243 782595 or visit http://www.chichestercathedral.org.uk/whats-on/stations-of-the-holocaust.shtml

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Jewish World Review Sept. 5, 2013/ 30 Elul, 5773 War, War, What is it Good For? By Judge Andrew P. Napolitano http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | President Obama's request for express congressional authorization for a limited aerial invasion of Syria raises profound legal and constitutional questions. For starters, there is simply no legal basis in international law to support an American invasion of Syria. Yet, notwithstanding that, federal law permits the president to commit U.S. military forces anywhere he wants for up to 90 days, without express authorization from Congress. So, why did Obama ask for the authorization he surely knows he already has? Since March 2011, Syria has been in the throes of a civil war. Those seeking to oust the government of President Bashar al-Assad are a mixture of his domestic political opponents, disgruntled former Syrian military officers and dangerous radical foreign Islamist fighters affiliated with al-Qaida. International organizations monitoring the war have put the dead from both sides at more than 100,000 persons. Until last week, the U.S. had steadfastly stayed out of this war, as its outcome is unlikely to affect American national security. Though Assad is a former friend who once famously dined with then Sen. John Kerry, he is now a monster willing to go to extremes to stay in power. On the other hand, our allies in the region surely would prefer that the Syrian government not be run by or under the influence of al-Qaida, and federal law prohibits Americans and the U.S. government from aiding al-Qaida. Hence, our neutrality — until Obama made a thoughtless and bravado-driven comment during his re-election campaign in August 2012, and now fears that his bluff has been called. In his comment, the president, sounding like an international policeman — a position he condemned when President George W. Bush sounded that way — declared that if the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its adversaries, the very use of which is prohibited by all civilized norms, America would revisit its neutrality. In reliance upon what he now claims is sound intelligence showing government use of chemical weapons on innocent Syrian civilians, Obama last week stated an intention to engage in a limited military invasion of Syria so as to weaken its resolve and ability to fight the rebels further. Never mind that the photos shown by Obama's folks of aid workers ministering to the supposed victims of government gassing show the workers without gas masks or gloves, and never mind that the Assad regime has permitted U.N. weapons inspectors unfettered access to its materiel, and never mind that the president wants to invade Syria before the weapons inspectors issue their report. The president wants us to believe that the Assad regime intentionally gassed a thousand Syrian innocents who were of no military value to the rebels or threat to the regime — and among whom were, according to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., "hundreds of children." Even if all this took place as Obama claims, can he lawfully bomb Syria to punish its government for violating international norms or to deter it from doing so again? In a word: No. International law recognizes only three lawful routes to the use of military force. It recognizes the right of every country to launch military force in order to prevent its own borders from being invaded or to subdue those who commenced an invasion. It also recognizes the ability of any U.N. member state to come to the aid of any other U.N. member state when one of them has been invaded. And treaties to which the U.S. and Syria are parties permit limited purpose invasions when approved by the U.N. None of these lawful scenarios applies to Syria. Can Obama just launch an invasion of Syria even if it would be unlawful and even if Congress says no? Because of the vicissitudes of history, the personalities of presidents and the myopic compromises of past Congresses, the area of presidential war-making has different legal and constitutional ramifications. Under the Constitution, only Congress can authorize the offensive use of military force. James Madison's notes from the Constitutional Convention in 1787 make it obvious that the Framers were nearly unanimous in their resolve to keep the war-making power away from the president and repose it exclusively with Congress. They did this clearly and unambiguously in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. Notwithstanding the precise language of the Constitution and the history of the nation's birth, the War Powers Resolution (WPR), a federal statute enacted in 1973 over President Nixon's veto, does permit the president on his own to use the military for offensive wars for a maximum of 90 days. Thus, under current federal law, Obama may lawfully bomb Syria even if Congress declines to authorize him to do so and even though such an act would violate international law. But the WPR is profoundly unconstitutional because it cedes Congress' constitutional war-making power to the president. The WPR was an ill-conceived political compromise effectuated by a Watergate-weakened president, congressional hawks who approved of Nixon's unilateral invasion of Cambodia and sober congressional heads more faithful to the separation of powers. Yet, the Supreme Court has ruled consistently that the transfer of constitutional powers among the branches of the federal government is unconstitutional, even if popular and consensual, unless brought about by an amendment to the Constitution. Thus, Congress can no more let the president start wars than the president can let Congress appoint federal judges, lest the Constitution have no meaning or force of law. So why does Obama want Congress' approval to do that which international law prohibits and federal law permits? Obama knows that war is the health of the state: It unites political adversaries around common patriotic-sounding goals and often generates support for those in harm's way and resources for the government officials who sent them there. But, will another war enhance our freedoms or our safety? Will it add to our debt? Will it trash the law? Can we bomb and kill for bragging rights? The answers are obvious, and they don't justify war. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. Your comments are appreciated. Please send them by clicking here. Andrew P. Napolitano, a former judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, is the Senior Judicial Analyst at Fox News Channel and anchor of "FreedomWatch" on Fox Business Network. © 2012, ANDREW P. NAPOLITANO DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE

Hey everyone! Thank you for being patient for me during my recovery from surgery. Everything went well and I’ve recovered pretty fast. Except for beginning to get some bouts of nausea (it has something to do with how I cannot digest fats as well anymore), I’m doing quite well. Also, thank you to Kris and Angel who contributed two excellent blog posts during my absence. A few posts ago, I told you that I would probably pick up a few new webcomics to talk about from APE and I did! I met the creator I’m about to introduce to you there while my boyfriend was chatting with a friend at the booth next door. Let me show you what first caught my eye… Turns out, Michael Jonathan is Jewish is about the author’s trip to Israel on a birthright trip. (If you are a Jewish kid of a certain age, you can get a free trip to Israel if you’ve never been before. The point is to teach you about Israel, your heritage, party with other kids, etc.) Michael Jonathan also has a webcomic, Eros Inc., about a Jewish girl who becomes the cupid (read: matchmaker) of a Los Angeles neighborhood. I’m going to talk about both in this post. Eros Inc. predates Michael Jonathan is Jewish, so we’ll start there. At first, I was a little turned off by the early artwork for the webcomic. It’s not very pretty to look at and I found it a little hard to read. Having read Michael Jonathan is Jewish, however, I knew that the art had improved with age and practice. Story-wise, it’s pretty charming. Mot Fleischman becomes the new cupid of Silverlake after her predecessor gropes her before bursting into a million hearts. That’s the kind of special comic it is. After gaining the power to point people in the right direction (cupid-ing doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to strike a life-long match), Mot also gains a whimsical, but rather annoying manager, a ton of cats, a demanding boyfriend and a mustachioed Czech colleague. There are lots of zany adventures in match-making, personal romance and general WTF-ery. Turns out when you’re a cupid, sassy little cherubim deliver your assignments in cheesy hallmark cards and you get paid in candy hearts which you can trade for prizes at the local kiddie arcade. What I like so much about Eros Inc. is the little human dramas and the kind of awful puns of the aforementioned manager, but also the acknowledgment that Mot is Jewish (and therefore does occasional Jewish things) and all the references to random spots in LA like the supermarket that is walking distance from my apartment. It all just comes together for me. (Although I understand if you don’t get the LA references.) Since Michael Jonathan lives in Silverlake and is Jewish himself, it kind of is like writing what you know, but it’s so charming I don’t care. On the other hand, Michael Jonathan is Jewish hasn’t quite hit it’s stride for me yet. Unlike other travelogue comics I’ve read like Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle, there’s nothing automatically interesting about the narrative, like a sarcastic attitude towards oppressive politics or truly remarkable encounters. Michael Jonathan does struggle with a disconnection from being religious, but his attention is largely focused on giving us a rundown of everything he does on the trip. I cannot really fault him for this approach because a short birthright trip obviously doesn’t have as much material to choose from as a year spent living in a foreign country, but I’m still waiting for the sweet spot to come around. Still, there are other aspects that are of interest, like learning about different aspects of Judaism in layman’s terms and the interesting Israeli artists the creative group of travelers meets along the way. Either way, I’m planning to continue reading both Eros Inc. and Micheal Jonathan is Jewish because I really enjoyed them both and he put up with my ramblings about being Jewish for a few minutes at APE. If nothing else, check out Michael Jonathan’s store filled with adorable buttons, greeting cards and mini-comics.

Hamas has hailed Jeremy Corbyn for his "sympathetic" stance on the Israel-Palestinian conflict after learning that he is front-runner to become the next Labour leader. Senior officials with the Palestinian Islamist group, which dominates Gaza, say the Left-wing MP is a welcome contrast to other British politicians, most notably Tony Blair, whom they mistrust and accuse of blindly supporting Israel. Their endorsement follows widespread criticism of Mr Corbyn for describing a Hamas delegation as "friends" when it visited Westminster several years ago along with members of Hizbollah, the Lebanese Shia organisation. "I find that he has very good sympathy and support for the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian struggle and he is frankly against the occupation, against the racist policy of Israel, against settlements," said Ghazi Hamad, Hamas' deputy foreign minister, who admitted that he had never met Mr Corbyn but was judging him by his speeches and media reports. "According to his statements, I feel that he could be very close to the Palestinians, the Arabs and to the Muslims. He supports all the right things in the world regarding freedom, justice, dignity, the right of people under occupation to get their national rights. "If he really became the head of the Labour party, he can make a big change to the image of Britain because people here in Palestine feel that Britain has a historical responsibility, in giving Israel the golden chance of establishing their state on the account of the Palestinian people." Many Palestinians blame Britain for the establishment of Israel because of the 1917 Balfour Declaration that paved the way for a Jewish homeland in historic Palestine and for subsequent British policy when it ruled the territory under an international mandate. Speaking to The Telegraph in the Hamas foreign ministry in Gaza City, Mr Hamad stopped short of saying that the group would regard Mr Corbyn as a friend if he were elected. "In order to be careful. I don't want this word to be used against him," he said. "But we expect him to translate what he said before into actions - to move from words to deeds. "We expect Mr Corbyn and Britain to change the policy and to understand that the struggle of the Palestinian people against the occupation is fair. And that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation. "This can prove that he really can be a good friend for the Palestinians. "I expect that Israel will take some measures against him and try to distort his image, to destroy him. They want to show that Hamas is an animal with two horns, a dragon. "So I hope that Mr Corbyn will have more courage to meet these challenges and to stand against the Israeli campaign against him." Mr Corbyn, the MP for Islington North, has called for the lifting of the blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has been in force since 2006, a trade and investment embargo on Israeli settlements, an end to the occupation of the West Bank, and a "right of return" for Palestinian refugees, something Israel vehemently opposes. He insists talking to Hamas - regarded by the United States and Israel as a terrorist group - is essential to resolving the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He has said he used the word "friends" in a collective way when referring to Hamas and that it did not mean he agreed with the group or its policies. But supporters of Israel have cited it as evidence of his perceived hostility to the Jewish state. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2009, including a devastating 50-day conflict last summer that killed more than 2,200 Palestinians - the majority of them civilians - and 73, on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers. Hamas was also responsible for numerous suicide bombings that killed hundreds of Israelis in the 1990s and during the second Palestinian intifada (uprising) between 2000 and 2005. Despite Mr Corbyn's friendly rhetoric, no leading Hamas figures recall having met him, or even having been familiar with him before he emerged as a leadership candidate.. Mr Hamad initially confused him with Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the former British ambassador to the United Nations, who has also called for negotiations with Hamas. Nevertheless, Mr Hamad said Mr Corbyn could be invited to visit the coastal enclave - home to 1.8 million mostly impoverished Palestinians - if he became Labour leader. "I think he will be welcomed. All the people would welcome him," he said. "According to his vision, I think people will find that they can find some common background with him, that they can talk to him." Ahmed Yousef, a confidant of Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader in Gaza, said Mr Corbyn's statements showed him as "a man of conscience". "Unfortunately most of the world leaders are not supporting Gaza or lack the courage to say certain things like this guy Jeremy," he said. "It's not a matter of supporting or not supporting, or being a friend or not a friend. He is a man of justice, who really understands the rights and wrongs."

Author of "Embracing Auschwitz" and "Mensch•Marks: Life Lessons of a Human Rabbi - Wisdom for Untethered Times." Winner of the Rockower Award, the highest honor in Jewish journalism and 2019 Religion News Association Award for Excellence in Commentary. Musings of a rabbi, journalist, father, husband, poodle-owner, Red Sox fan and self-proclaimed mensch, taken from essays, columns, sermons and thin air. Writes regularly in the New York Jewish Week and Times of Israel. This week I had the privilege of hearing the Dalai Lama, as he spoke before 5,600 guests, primarily students, at Brown University in Providence, RI. I was awash in admiration, with a dash of clergy-envy, for one able to touch the lives of so many. One student tried to make me feel better by stating that a good percentage of the students there had no idea who he is and some probably thought they were coming to see a talking llama. He directed his comments primarily to young people, reminding me that within the next few weeks I’ll be officiating at the final bar mitzvah of a student born in the 20th century. The world is swiftly changing, but the Dalai Lama chooses to look at the future optimistically, placing it firmly but gently in the hands of the next generation, the Millennials. Although English is not his primary language, he spoke fluidly and with great humor — and an infectious Eddie Murphy laugh — demonstrating an ability to reach people at their level. Since one side-story has received undue attention online, it must be pointed out thatha profanity ascribed to him was a clear misinterpretation by the device handling closed captioning. Still, even the misquote (what he really said was “just forget!”) was an indicator of how comfortable he was with this demographic — and how at ease the students were with him. He could have said it (though to be clear, he never cursed) and we hardly would have flinched. He was that relaxed, that congenial, and that connected to this audience. One minute, John Stuart Mill, the next minute, Jon Stewart; one minute, we were at the feet of the master, the next, downing beers at the pub down the street (though he doesn’t). “This 21st century should be a century of dialogue,” he said, calling on the students to cultivate an ethos of compassion, love and forgiveness, in both religious and secular contexts. He sees a trend toward greater spirituality, even among secularists and scientists, toward a mature world of unity and reconciliation. It’s pretty hard to agree when you look out the window — but equally hard to disagree when you see the world through the window of his eyes. In response to a question from a Native American professor about being kicked off his land and living in exile, he spoke about the extraordinary lengths he has gone to reach out to Chinese communities, even as China still paints him as a terrorist. China exiled him, still hates and fears him and is committing cultural genocide in his ancestral homeland, but this perennial victim refuses to hate back. Remarkable — and a valuable lesson for Jews. In another lesson for Jews and other peoples who have been displaced, he emphasized the importance of sustaining a culture through the preservation of language. He described how Tibetan education became the top priority for his community when they resettled in India in 1959. Within a year, they had opened a separate Tibetan school, fully supported by the Indian government. “The most important aspect of our identity is our language,” he said, and Jewish educators everywhere nodded, “Amen.” He discussed encounters with many displaced peoples all over the world, though, to my relief, none in Israel’s backyard. In fact, although his infrequent comments on the Israel-Palestinian issue have been continuously dissected, he seems to identify more with Jewish historic victimization and steers away from contentious political waters. He is, through and through, a man of peace. One student asked him, in light of the frightening events transpiring in the Middle East, how we can process these events from a peace-centered perspective. Is it possible to maintain a sense of optimism in this dark environment? He responded by describing his outreach to the Muslim community following Sept. 11. It’s not about Islam, he said. Muslims in India and Indonesia are different. “Same Quran. Same Allah.” He sees education as being the key toward changing attitudes in the Arab world, that and “more interaction, more contact.” He spoke much about happiness, not derived simply from material success but through kindness toward others and inner peace. He remains steadfastly hopeful and optimistic. “We are the same human being, mentally, emotionally, physically,” he said, adding that when he meets new people, it’s as if they have already met. It was a message these students needed to hear, as they prepare to forge a future that is increasingly scary, for them personally and for the world as a whole. I came away from the lecture inspired and uplifted. Funny thing, though, because if you just read a transcript of what he said, you will probably wonder why the guy is so revered. The message is basic and it’s not exclusive to Buddhists. Love and hope work well for rabbis too; not to mention bishop, ministers, religious leaders of all stripes and the occasional politician. The message could not be simpler. But there is a power to his simplicity, a defiance, an audacity. Maybe it comes from his background, his courage to love despite his people’s perpetual suffering, his embracing his nation’s burden despite having been chosen for leadership while still a toddler, his steadfast refusal to give up. It makes the rest of us feel real small. And it made me feel real lucky to have heard him. Something he wrote: NEVER GIVE UP No matter what is going on Never give up Develop the heart Too much energy in your country Is spent developing the mind Instead of the heart Be compassionate Not just to your friends But to everyone Be compassionate Work for peace In your heart and in the world Work for peace And I say again Never give up No matter what is going on around you Never give up”

Chinese media have reported Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s current visit as secondary news, reflecting China’s distance from the Israeli-Palestinian Authority issue. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is also in China, and his visit has gained slightly more attention than Netanyahu’s. The Prime Minister’s main mission is economic, and Israel’s trump card in any political dealings between Beijing and Ramallah is Israel’s capacity for helping China in the fields of agriculture and high technology. The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported a seven-paragraph blurb on Netanyahu’s first day in the country, with most of the report referring to his scheduled tour of the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum. The site illustrates Shanghai’s providing a safe heaven for approximately 30,000 Jewish refugees from the Nazi Holocaust. Prime Minister Netanyahu has not brought up the matter of Syria in his visit and is not likely to talk about considering China’s objections to foreign intervention and its condemnation Sunday of Israel’s bombing of Iranian missiles in Syria that were headed for Hezbollah. Abbas is trying to convince China to be more vocal in his bid for declaring the Palestinian Authority an independent country based on his own definitions while ditching a negotiated agreement with Israel. However, China has little to gain from joining Abbas’ worldwide campaign for support and has a lot more to gain from Israel’s technology. China Central television gave Abbas more coverage than Netanyahu, and Chinese President Xi Jinping presented a four-point proposal for Palestinian Authority. The People’s Daily featured a photo of Abbas and the Chinese president shaking hands, and the caption read, “China firmly supports the just cause of the Palestinian people.” However, experts in China doubt that Abbas will receive much more than headlines. Prof Yin Gang, associated with a Chinese Academy of Social Sciences state-run think-tank, said Beijing is “very unlikely” to playa significant part in the deadlock between Jerusalem and Ramallah, according to the South China Morning Post. Li Shaoxian, a Middle East expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, a state security ministry-affiliated think-tank, told China Daily that China can “hardly match” Washington’s role in the Middle East.

How did an uncool, chubby kid grow up to build one of the hottest fashion brands in the world? Marc Ecko is the founder of Ecko Unltd, an urban lifestyle and fashion brand. He’s also the creator of Complex Media and Complex.com, a young men’s media portal. Marc Ecko, Ecko Unltd Marc Ecko is the founder of Ecko Unltd, an urban lifestyle and fashion brand. He’s also the creator of Complex Media and Complex.com, a young men’s media portal. Andrew: This interview is sponsored by Walker Corporate Law. Do you need a lawyer that’s not the local guy who doesn’t really get start-up’s, not the really expensive guys that want a piece of your business, but one who really understands the start-up community and is there to help you? If you do, go to Scott Edward Walker of Walker Corporate Law. It’s also sponsored by Grasshopper. Do you need a phone number where your customers can dial in, ‘Press 1 to go to sales, press 2 to go to customer service, etcetera, and maybe even all those numbers actually lead to your cell phone but it makes you look big? Do you need that kind of feature and so many others? Go to Grasshopper.com. All right, let’s get started. Andrew: Hey there, freedom fighters, my name is Andrew Warner. I am the founder of Mixergy.com. Home of the ambitious up-start and home, currently, to over 800 interviews with proven entrepreneurs who come here to tell you the stories of how they built their businesses. In this interview I want to find out how did an un-cool, chubby kid grow up to build one of the hottest fashion brands in the world? Marc Ecko is the founder of Ecko Unlimited, a lifestyle and fashion brand. He’s also the founder of Complex Media and Complex.com, a young man’s media portal. And he has a new autobiography out that is wonderful that I’ve been loving, it’s called, “UNlabel: Selling You without Selling Out.” Hey, Mark, welcome. Marc: Thank you. What’s up? [laughs] Good to be here. Andrew: You were so un-cool that when you were a kid you were beaten up and, how would you say what happened to you in, you, you crapped your pants? Marc: Whoops, I crapped by pants. You know that old saying, live bit, uh, yeah, um, uh, that’s a interesting first, uh, question, uh, and framework for a conversation around a, uh, entrepreneurship. It’s quite the metaphor and it paints quite the visual. If, uh, but, you know, often I’ve, I’ve often said, like, “Don’t s*** the bed,” as, like, an expression to, like, you know, screwing up or, uh, making big messes. But then this instance, I was in high school and, um, I just got my a** whooped pretty good and I threw a left hook, when I’m a righty, and, um, that left hook proceeded to miss about this much, by [laughs] a lot. Uh, and, um, managed to pu-, all my own force of my thrown punch, uh, dislocate my shoulder. Like, [makes whooshing sound] and it just totally popped out and at that very instance, um, something didn’t feel right. And about an hour later, I, I found out that something that didn’t feel right was my bowels being, uh, dislocated as well. So, yeah, not pleasant. Andrew: Ted Turner in his autobiography said, I think it was in his autobiography where he said, that he called up someone when he became a billionaire to basically rub his nose in the fact that he’s a billionaire. When you did a billion dollars in sales at Ecko Unlimited did you feel like, ‘I’ve got to call this kid who got into a fight with me and just tell him’? Marc: [laughs] Um, you know, revenge is an interesting motivator. Uh, I’m not the kind of guy that’s like a rub it in your nose kind of guy. Um, I think that maybe in my quiet moments, you know, I’ve, I’ve learned that, uh, um, when I kind of sit there and try to reflect on those parts of your history that you’re kind of like didn’t go out down as great as, as it would of or those, you know, for the folks that maybe were cynical, um, I’ve learned to not begrudge them. I’ve learned that this game is much more like swimming or golf, it’s, it’s really you verses you. And that those folks in your life are doubtful or are gatekeepers, if you will, uh, often really don’t have as much material impact as we emotional give them. We grant them more emotional than they are actually worthy of. Uh . . . Andrew: And did you at the time? You did? Marc: Oh, sure, I mean, as a young person it, uh, especially as a kid coming up in the 80’s in a really diverse ecosystem, you know, so close to the, woven into a hip-hop culture in a town that was really ethnically diverse and you’re just, like, you’re trying to fit in. I mean, uh, and for, as that white Jewish chubby kid in a town with a really large population of folks that were into hip-hop and a big population of African Americans and Latinos. I wasn’t able to breakdance, I didn’t have enough flow to rhyme, but I could draw, and I could paint. So my way that I connected culturally to them was kind of adopting the extreme sport of graffiti, if you will, at a very young, naive age and that helped kind of give me the ability to kind of fit in. But I definitely, in the first ten years of those adolescent years kind of finding your voice, your unique voice. I often would get caught in the trappings of not being selfish enough and confident enough . . . Marc: . . . to not have to depend on their certification or these other forces certification or compliance standard to kind of, quote, ‘Fit in.’ And I think this is nature. It’s anthropology. I think as young folks and . . . Andrew: Even when it’s just fitting in, Marc, I know the bands, the hip-hop artists who you mention in your book, they talk about, they boast. Run DMC who was very influential for you, they say, “I’m the king of rock, there is none higher. Sucker MC’s better call me sire,” not just, “I’m going to have a good life.” When you were a kid being beaten up, being called chubby and all kinds of other names, did you say to yourself, “I am listening to these guys, I aspire to be great. I aspire to leave my mark on the world?” Marc: I think you get caught in the trappings of aspiring to maybe parrot because . . . Andrew: Parrot these people who you admire. Marc: To parrot the people who you admire. Marc: Rather than just being yourself. And I talk about it in my upcoming book, UNlabel, I talk about this notion of Ralph-Lauren-itis which, in my case, I definite Ralph-Lauren-itis when designers try to parrot the best in class rather than just kind of authentically stay into their own native true voice. And I think what culturally we do in parroting or trying to emulate we lose sight of kind of finding what makes your point of view, your voice unique. However big, small, modest, square, round, rectangular, triangular, whatever. And I think culturally, for sure, I was susceptible in those adolescent years going pretty much through to probably turning to my mid-thirties. Well, I finally got comfortable enough in my own skin. Where I finally was contented by being in my own skin and it took to being a full adult to kind of get to that place and much of it, definitely, was this pressure of expectation that you put on yourselves. We all do it. If it can’t . . . Andrew: Didn’t that help you get there? I feel like, I see the things that you were doing early on and I want to talk about them, but could they have happened if you weren’t being beat up? If you didn’t feel like you needed to match the success of the people who you idolized would you still have worked as hard? Would you have taken on the credit card debt? Would you have risked everything? Marc: I think a lot of the mechanical and tactical things of taking on debt have more to do with just being naive and young and having . . . Andrew: It wasn’t this determination to succeed no matter what? Marc: I think it was more of a higher threshold for pain and like a pretty encyclopedic understanding of being naive and young. I think in having some hubris there and not thinking about the consequence of those actions, but certainly the compression that came from those outside forces, however real or imagined, were motivators. But ultimately, I found the pivot for myself was being confident enough in my own kind of selfishness, my own degree of selfishness relative to establishing my own unique voice in the world and in design and as a marketeer . . . Andrew: I want to go on with the narrative and tell the story of how you built up this phenomenal company but just explain that to me if you could. Embracing your selfishness is a good thing? What do you mean by that? Marc: Well, in my book, I use as a framework, kind of taking the piss out of all these kind of classic management speak books that try to be prescripted in a very kind of clear way. 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. And I myself have been fans often of those books, coming up by certainly prescribed too much of those, but I think as you’re in practice and you’re in the messy kitchen of entrepreneurship nothing is really that ‘X+Y=Z.’ It’s not that quantitative in the way that it’s often prescribed to us to be. So, in my book, I use this notion of an authenticity formula as a framework to drive the narrative, the chronological narrative of my life. In the opening section of the book we talk about unique voice, and I define unique voice as action minus fear divided by self. And I try to quantify the role of establishing a quality unique voice and the role of selfishness. Now you could be overly selfish, overly hubristic; you could be, you know, Hitler selfish, or (? jabathe hut) selfish where you will not listen to anyone’s outside voices, right. You only hear your inner voice. Or you could be totally selfless and your quotient of self is completely selfless, say like a Gandhi, right, who’s just you know, they come once in a generation. Right? And even a Gandhi is like a .1, because unless you’re dead you’re really not really entirely selfless. Right? So, the point is often people you know, when establishing their unique voice in the world they get stuck on trying to serve the group think, comply to what the temperature in the room is, and when you step outside of that herd of what the group is thinking, you know, you start to ask for enemies, or certainly people who are going to scratch their head, look at you in a peculiar way. You’re not complying to a certain standard. But it’s having enough confidence in yourself, good, bad, or indifferent, to establish enough of an understanding of your kind of actualized selfish voice, self that drives and kind of shapes who you are and shapes your personal brand. And it’s a skill set that we really don’t encourage. Our school systems and our . . . Andrew: I’m sorry, Mark, I’m not fully following that. I want to make sure that I understand. When you say that I should be a little bit selfish, what do you mean? Give me an example of how you became a little bit selfish in a good way; give us an example. Marc: I think there’s a ton of examples. I could use an example of a framework that we could all kind of get around, and before I go into my own personal ones, but let’s use Steve Jobs versus Bill Gates. Okay? Now both two very unique voices in the world, okay? It’s an undeniable fact that they’ve had the capacity to shape our consumption, and the way we consume our media, everything, right? Marc: But to what degree did selfishness versus selflessness serve their individual companies? Right? Marc: I would argue that Steve Jobs had a higher degree of selfishness, you know, a closed software and hardware ecosystem. They made it all about Apple, where Microsoft was kind of Cumbia, open OS for the developer community. We are a platform that’s flexible, you could shape us. Right? Now one might say, well yeah, from a pure revenue and value creation and the kind of transactional way that we measure success. Unique voices isn’t about measuring money; it’s about establishing who had a better degree of a higher unique voice. Andrew: Forgive me, but I can see that they were both a little bit selfish, but what I’m trying to understand is you and your selfishness. Frankly, I like those companies, but I hear about them a lot. Your company I admire even more, because I feel like your success is more relatable. Your success is more . . . Marc: Sure. Yeah. Andrew: How are you selfish? Marc: Oh, my goodness, I think when I came to terms at a time in 1993, you know, coming up it was all about keep it real. Everyone was, keep it real. This notion of authenticity, especially in hip hop, where you are only real ironically if you kind of measured or complied to a certain set of standards. Right? Now everything about hip hop should be about us smashing standards, okay. So everything that I thought about hip hop and like punk rock would say, is there are no rules. But the reality is among social circles there are rules. And when I would go to trade shows and deal with my peers they would say, Mark, you’re too late for the hip hop stores. Mark, you’re too black for the skate shops. Mark, air brushing is not aerosol and graffiti. You are not a real graffiti artist. Andrew: I see. Marc: Meanwhile I was air brushing my art onto T-shirts, right, and I was commercializing a unique and kind of somewhat selfish point of view that was shaped in Lakewood, New Jersey. I wasn’t going to be inauthentic and try to pretend like this perspective of my aesthetic was shaped in the Bronx or Jamaica Queens. I’m from Lakewood fuckin’ New Jersey. So, rather than listening to those voices, those cynics that look down their nose. The gatekeepers they begrudge you, right? I selfishly said, despite the fact that at made me at times, I was 21 years old, it’s a little lonely when your friends are like, “You’re whack man, fuck you, I don’t understand what you’re trying to do with these t-shirts. Fuck that it’s not cool, it’s not real. Let’s go bomb tonight, the streets, let’s go hit up Rucker’s, by the river, where everyone would go write graffiti.” I was so driven to want to build a business and my peers, at that time, that didn’t comply with the what was in the air. Andrew: I see. Now starting a business was not cool. And for you, you were using an airbrush kit, air compressor that your parents got you, or that your parents gave you permission to buy. And it all started with that. Marc: It all started 13 with that. And I was skilled at that medium. Andrew: They got it for you, because you told them that you were going to start designing and selling t-shirts. You finally got it, and you didn’t start selling t-shirts. What did you do instead? Marc: I gave a lot of shit away. I took years. It started, I guess the cliche, 10,000 years of mastery at 13, and it became my deep vocation and passion. Andrew: To just paint, to just create your art, and practice and give it away until you could sell it. Marc: By the time I was a sophomore, so that was, let’s say, 8th grade, a sophomore in high school, two years under my belt, I’d established confidence. I’d actually shook off some of my youthful chubbiness and grew out of that a little bit, and I kind of got my confidence. And I started to market myself and my art. From sophomore to freshman year of college it was quite lucrative, relative to what a gig would be for the average 16 or 17 year old kid, that might be at the pizza shop or hustling at the super market, or some other gig. Andrew: Why didn’t you start selling it earlier? You have your work in your book, it looks beautiful, was there any fear of selling to other people? Marc: Sure, it was that self-thing. Andrew: You wanted to sell, but you were afraid of what they would think of you? Marc: I was fearful of being able to act. And my fear was greater than my capacity to act. It consumed me, it enabled me. And no matter what degree of selfishness that I had, with, like, me saying, “This is fucking good.” I knew this was good but I was like, “Eh, I’m not ready. Am I ready?” And that’s still, I got to tell you, as a disposition for me personally, professionally, it’s until a thing that dogs me. Andrew: Are you nervous about doing this interview at all? Andrew: No, this feels comfortable. Marc: Yeah, I definitely have anxiety issues that inform my composition, but I am sufficiently competent and confident. And I’m not unusually nervous, no. But I’d be intellectually dishonest to say that there aren’t instances every day, every day where I’m like, “Fuck,” you know, the anxiety. And it’s funny now as a father, I’ve got three beautiful kids and I see how you just produce miniature versions of them. And I’ve realized that that nature, that tendency, the anxiety, the kind of push-pull, the way that the knife cuts both ways, actually makes me a stronger creative director. It make me more measured in my decisions. There’s some good that comes with it, but I’ve learned, ultimately, that my medicine isn’t a pill to get over that, it’s to crash myself through the wall of that anxiety, and that fear, and just fucking get it done and take action. Andrew: One of the cool things that you talk about in the book, was the swag bomb, that helped you get your name out there. Can you tell the audience what that is, what’s a swag bomb? Marc: A swag bomb is a good old fashioned way of make a more relevant first impression on someone you want to potentially associate with or to. I would create these packages where I would airbrush every lustrative detail, custom, one of one pieces of fashion product, either denim, a sweatshirt, a t-shirt. And I would send them with a longhand written note, in a way, to different celebrities or luminaries, or people that are admired. And I have found that as long as you do it in a way where you don’t come off like a stalker and your expectations for what their reply is going to be is managed in a way where it’s like, “Dude, they might not reply and that’s OK,” I have had a tremendous return on investment. Andrew: Can you give me an example of someone you sent it to . . . Marc: Oh, goodness. Andrew: . . . who reacted positively? Marc: Sometimes those reactions and swag bombs take years to incubate. But it’s that impression, that emotional impact that you have the instant that they open that package. Coming up, one of the first kind of feedback mechanisms, like this method, could work is there’s this DJ that used to be on 98.7 KISS FM in New York City and WKRS. WKRS had a DJ every Friday night named DJ Red Alert. Red Alert kind of was a godfather of the whole New York City Hip Hop scene, incubating a lot of talent, namely Tribe Called Quest and all that native tongues crew. He had that show, and as part of that show, he would shout people out. I was curious, “How does a guy in Lakewood, New Jersey, get shouted out all the way from Manhattan, from WKRS?” So I painted up a T-shirt and it was a very, very detailed painting of all the artists that he was ever associated with. It was like a collage, very photo real. I hand drew a ten-page letter just gushing. Then I said, “Don’t be surprised if I don’t fax you asking you for a shout out.” I sent it. I waited. I sent it return receipt, where he or someone at the office . . . Andrew: So you’d know that someone got it. Marc: Then I would call and say, “Did Red receive it?” “We think his assistant has it.” “OK, cool.” So I had a confirmation and I would listen attentively at the Kinkos at Rutgers to the show, and I would fax him like a mental patient. But they were kind of gushing shout outs. There was no begging. I wasn’t begging like, “Red, shout me out.” It was just like, “Red Alert is the coolest,” and I would just big him up, and it was kind of an affirmation. And sure enough, he started to shout me out. Years later, you got to kind [??] nostalgic on that impact. I’ve had others say that to me, if it’s Spike Lee or other guys that I came up with that I sent “swag bombs” to. As I’ve gotten older, the sophistication level of those swag bombs has stepped up. I still find that people really react to something handmade, something that’s hand cared for. As long as you don’t look like the dude from A Beautiful Mind or a serial killer, people appreciate the analog of seeing that someone cared for . . . if it’s a photo in a frame, there’s something about that as an entry with no strings attached to assert who you are and what your brand is to a new user that’s really, really valuable. I’ve met amazing folks in that manner; making these kind of emotional, explosive first impressions. If it was George Lucas and the action figure that he met who later on became a real mentor and a friend or . . . there’s just been so many countless guys over the years that I prescribed to do it. Andrew: Would you tilt your camera or the lid of your laptop just a little up? Yeah. I want to get full head in so we can see you. Marc: Sorry. I apologize for that. Andrew: And in your book, On Label, you go into details about how to do it and you talk about things like making it so cool that even if they don’t get it and someone else on their crew gets it and they wear your shirt, the person who you’re aiming at is going to be impressed and ask them about it. Marc: Right. And it can apply to any service or product. I’ve got to tell you in a market and an industry and entrepreneurial ecosystem that so driven about, “Oh, how do we create digitally efficient, capital efficient products and services?” Don’t sleep on the physical representation of your brand. Marc: That doesn’t mean going to Zazzle and printing a T-shirt. People have enough T-shirts. They could wipe their asses with T-Shirts they have so many of them. What is that analog thing that could be emotionally explosive and make an impression? It’s bigger than just, “Oh, look at my card. It’s novel. It’s made out of metal.” Those things help, yes, but more of a thoughtful representation of that. Andrew: One of the important people in your life is Seth. Who’s Seth? Marc: Seth Gertzberg [SP] was my first business partner. Helped me. He was my first capital investor in Eck? in the [??]. He handed me a bag of $5,000 in cash. We later on partnered with my twin sister Marci, and we were the operational partners that built the Eck? Unltd. and Zoo York. Andrew: You put how much money into it? Marc: It was initially about 5K. Then he also knew our… He was working, selling architectural artifacts. He’d go to war torn parts of the world and get pieces of marble. He’d go to pawn shops all up and down the Northeast. He would see these marble pillars. I don’t know he got into houses. Andrew: What percentage of the business did he get for that $5,000? I know he did more than just put in money. Marc: We started, principally, and this is as a guidance in how you define and design a cap table. There are two guys at the table. We didn’t really… he was kind of the brute force and I was the swagger. We knew we needed to build deeper bench strength, but the conversation started at 50/50. Then when he said, “Well, I think I could bring a financial partner to the table,” we had our first financial investors were actually his clients in Austria, these Russia, Austrian guys that were in the architectural industry. They ended up putting in probably about $50,000 or $100,000, but per his connection, that didn’t dilute his position. That diluted the total cap table. Then when Marci, my twin sister, came to the mix, that diluted me, Marci and Seth as equal partners. Andrew: Did you end up resenting Seth for taking such a big piece of the business, your creativity? No? Marc: No. You can’t begrudge. No. I think the way that over 20 years of doing this business and the value creation that’s happened for all of us, good, bad and indifferent, has been pretty amazing, based on our back stories. I think that too much people make, and I try to make a point of this in the book, in the later part of the book, where we were equity hoarders. You learn in this kind of lemonade stand way of approaching business. “Hey, partners. 50/50.” And people get consumed with that and they’re very territorial about their cap table interest. I could tell you as someone who’s in an investor in other businesses and someone who built a business where I didn’t equity hoard. On complex, where I distributed the risk. I distributed the upside. I have seen that this notion of “hold it all” or begrudge who has what, it’s not. At the end of the day, the percentages in the cap table are less important as like the classes of stock. Voting controls. Governance issues. Andrew: Maintain control, but share the upside is what you’re saying. Marc: Yeah, yeah. I could tell you, like, look. I owned, when Marci sold her interest seven years ago or whatever, five to seven years ago. We talk about it in the book. Me and Seth were on the hook for everything with our banks. Pre-TARP and pre the financial crisis, the way you would fund the kind of explosive growth that we had was with personal guarantees. PGs, right? Personal guarantees. I have now learned and reflecting. To be a guy that was on the hook for half a billion dollars of a financial line. It’s not pleasant when you’re underwater on that kind of amount of money, OK? So I would reflect at that time on so many deals that came and I balked at or I vomited on or I had hubris about closing those deals. They’re not smarter than us. And fuck them, they’re just money. Reflecting on that and then using that as a composite. A model where we built it really on our own and our own leverage, versus let’s say, Complex, where it was institutional investors, distributed array of stakeholders, which I own… I own the largest individual stake, but I don’t own the “majority,” right? From a value proposition, I’ve managed to on a dollars and cents, create as much value. In some instances more, owning something that I technically own less of the cap table. So this is a myth, and when we hear stories, these kind of unicorn stories of Mark Zuckerberg and like how he was so smart and kind of configuring the nature of the board and his class of stock, and this class versus that, and even if he sells this he still can . . . Those kinds of scenarios are for those kinds of for unicorn-like species. And ultimately at the end of the day there’s unintended consequences of that; it creates a very contentious atmosphere of like, well, it doesn’t matter because no matter how much I put in . . . and I’ve seen this, where people put a lot into the table only to own a big part of the cap table, but someone else has the controls. And they kind of begrudge that person, and they’re in a f*****g minority position. So it’s crazy to see the kind of unintended consequences of that. I think the basis for any good entrepreneurial relationship is fair–fair is fair, it is common sense, it is what we understand at a very young age, we understand it through the sports we’ve learned, through these socialization . . . Andrew: Help me understand how you built up the business. Right now in the story you’re a guy who was starting to send (? swag bombs). The business was growing. The next big step was getting some way of manufacturing that was bigger than what you could do at home. And is that where you got in with APSCO? Am I pronouncing their name right? Andrew: ABSCO, you actually . . . Marc: Yeah, that was the kind of first step towards the commercialization of my product, meaning I had migrated my business from a very small restrictive kind of runs of T-shirt production to a larger ‘mass production’ of T-shirts. That was step one. Step two is later to start actually importing product from all across the world. I started that out of Hong Kong. Andrew: With a guy named Woo? Marc: Yeah, exactly. Andrew: What happened with Woo? Marc: Woo, you know, I learned some lessons through Woo. Let’s say I learned some lessons. Woo, I kind of exhaustively talk about this in the book. This could give you insights to some of the kind of how to get things made in a very small world and how at least I approached it. But the deal with Woo was one of those deals like kind of a too-good to be true deal, right. Because here we were kind of playing house, playing make believe. I had the production of T-shirts coming out of Brooklyn, at ABSCO, had that class of business done. But when I walked the trade shows and I’d see outer wear and snowboard jackets and seam sealing and you know, bad backpacks and you know, I had stretched the sourcing capacity that could be done here in the States and at least with the means that I had, and the relationships that I had. I mean, I tried it. I mean, it was denim production in Kentucky, or in L.A. or parts of Mexico. Ultimately I looked in the inside of my Gap jack and it was like made in Hong Kong, and I was like, I’ve got to go to Hong Kong. Where the f**k is Hong Kong? I don’t know where it was, right? So you know, long story short, I’m at a trade show and I notice in this trade show they had this one area for these kinds of EOM manufacturers that show their wares, and there was mostly these garmento agents. These are like the New York City kind of garmentos, like the real kind of cliche (? shimata) guys in the industry that are really more (?) and brokers. They’re not the factory level guys. So I see this Taiwanese guy, and he’s not dressed like every other garmento with like the white leather shoes and you know, like the bared plugs in his hair. He’s wearing cooler shoes and he has (?) more European sense of style, and he’s standing in front of a brand that was kind of a hot s**t snowboard brand at the time called SMP; it stands for Sex, Money, and Power. SMP jackets were all there. And I’m like, you made those? He says, yeah, I made those. And you know, he had snowboard pants with like the gators sticking out, all the seams sealed, and the elastic and the velcro and all that seaming triple needle top stitching like s**t you just couldn’t do, you know, in Newark, New Jersey. Right? Marc: You couldn’t source those fabrics. So he said, I could make that; I can make that. And I started showing him drawings of my line work, and he says, I can make that, I can make that. And I go back and I alert my sister and my partner that I found this guy who’s willing to partner notionally on being our supply-side sourcing partner, that he would help cover the funding of the production of those products; we’d be on the hook of the marketing and sales and then we’d split the profit of the landed cost to the wholesale cost. Marc: And what ended up happening was a very kind of square agreement, like a 50/50 deal, and we were alerted by one of the vendors that he was dealing with that he, who went rogue on him, to alert us that he was marketing it up on both sides. It turns out we had found out during a discovery when we’d gotten a jacket back and the pricing came back so high. The pricing was so much higher; it was higher than the sample I bought it from. Oh, no, you know, it costs to make it, and you always spoke to our guy in Taiwan and he alerts us that no, they’re marking it up on both ends. And that gave us the evidence to go after Woo. So we very brash, in a brash fashion, were like gotcha, m****r f****r, you breeched. We’re taking the s**t in the warehouse. So one night we go in, seize the s**t out of the warehouse, because he breeched, right? And the next thing we know we’re called to a Federal Court because it turns out he had some deal that was not caught up in the legal nuance of details, here, but he had pledged his inventory to the financier of that inventory, and who had a Federal kind of way his deal was configured, he got first money out. So wasn’t our inventory, despite our having our trademarks. Andrew: And it wasn’t Woo’s; it was this other guys, and now this other guy had a claim against you. Marc: His biggest financier, like you know, sweaty upper lip, you know, do not f**k with financiers, like classic, like just shady financier. And there I was in my first kind of legal predicament where my lawyers were kind of (? snacking) the s**t out of me, my lawyer, Larry Marr, who’s still a great friend and advisor, and who I still work with years later, saying like, kid, you don’t got money to pay me, like to even fight. So like we settled there and needless to say that was a really precarious time in our history. A really tough Ivy League education stuff. Andrew: It stinks, that even if you’re right, if you can’t afford to pay the lawyer you might as well be wrong. Marc: That’s right. There’s the truth and there’s the law. There are two . . . Andrew: Manufacturing was a challenge. Andrew: What about getting customers? You say in the book in Unlabeled that Terence your friend stuffed T-shirts in his knapsack and just started going from store to store to store. I always wondered if that worked. Is that how you got your early customers? Marc: Old fashioned consignment, you know, it’s the most demasculating form of business; you have no teeth, no leverage. If you’re going to be playing in the consignment game be prepared to never get paid. That said, it did make a dent; it helped. Look, when you take the friction out of the adoption and it’s about cracking the shelf space, so we wanted to make for our future distribution partners we wanted to make that first entry level risk. It’s very capital, exhaustive thing. Andrew: You actually manufactured it, put it in their store, you don’t get paid until they get paid. Marc: In the backdrop Woo was doing the manufacturing, so that cash cost, that was kind of an imagined cost; that was his burden. So when we’re placing the product that we’re going to consign that we eventually aren’t allowed to ship because it wasn’t ours, and we got ourselves in such a cluster (?), that said, and reflecting on that period and the roll of consignment, if you could do that in a measured and strategic way, right, where you could strategically align yourself with good distribution partners who are going to be, you could create less friction for, and you do that in a controlled manner to create the evidence, and data for yourself, it’s a very worthy investment. Andrew: So, how do you go from there . . . how do you break out of the consignment world, where companies like Macy’s puts your stuff, where you dreamed of being? Marc: Well, it starts to set, right. I mean, it’s one thing to kind of get on the shelf; it’s another thing to have it actually leave the shelf. And there are certainly in those early years, of emerging hip hop, there was like the music scene; they’d like buy the records. So like our street teams we would sometimes send out to like buy the s**t off the shelves. That’s like hard to scale. That’s hard to scale. You have to use that technique very sparingly and cautiously. I did, and I talk about it in the book. We used that technique with Macy’s when we first placed it in Herald Square. But that’s not sustainable. Ultimately, you’ve got to make relevant stuff. It’s got to be priced right. It’s got to ship before you promised it would. It needs to be of a quality standard that it’s sufficiently commercial. It’s kind of an old-fashioned game of who’s got the better lemonade. Andrew: Lemonade and publicity for the lemonade. You did a bunch of things that really helped you stand out. Like the Barry Bonds Ball.. Andrew: . . . and the parties that you threw. Andrew: I imagine that many people in the audience knew the Barry Bonds Ball story, but can you retell that. And then I also want to hear about the parties that you use to help get the word out. Marc: Okay. Yeah, I mean it’s funny because when I look back, those nascent years; consignment, breaking into this retailer, there was none of that flash, in fact, anything. There was more of a rootsiness to my marketing using stickers and stencils and graffiti on the street to kind of build the awareness. It was a function of not having the cash. Right? As I went on to another phase in my career when we were kind of commercializing at another level, it’s right after we launched Ecko and then we made a good ten-year run. And I saw a shift in the market, to say that this streetwear thing is going to cycle. And as this user gets older, how are we going to serve my customer as he gets older. I, myself, was getting older. I had just gotten married. I was just about to turn 30, and I launched Marc Ecko Cut and Sew. And at that time, I started to say, how do I come from behind the rhino and start to market myself. And we were much more thoughtful about how to use our marketing resources to create “splashier events.” None of which I begrudge, but some of which have their, and I talk about this in Building Your Brand, the one that you’re seeing now on the screen. The market for the guy. And then the one that’s on the inside that you have to satisfy when you lay down with your spouse, your loved one, and that needs to have good quality mental health. And what I share in this story, the Barry Bonds Ball, in the book is that, yes, it was flashy. Yes, it succeeded in a return on investment of approximately, let’s say, $750,000 for the ball and an additional $100 or $150,000 of some wraparound services. So for under a million dollars, you got explosive meta-awareness for the brand, but there were consequences for me and my personal brand in terms of how consuming that can be. When you get caught up in wanting to brand and market yourself or product or service, you have to careful of not getting caught into the trappings or the seductive part of the work. That in and of itself becomes your job versus your job. Right? Andrew: You mean the dangers in promoting yourself and not building the business. Marc: Right. Consignment, testing new retailers, making sure the product’s right. Andrew: That’s the real business. Where’s the part that you could get carried away with it? Marc: It’s that splashy piece. You know. Andrew: The part about Barry Bonds and everyone’s now talking about Mark. And what you did was . . . Marc: Right. It’s like Marc, Marc, Marc. I checked the box. It’s exceeded towards my goal of how people would perceive me in a few years, or in the future or in the short and immediate term, the perceived brand. But the health of the real brand, in the meantime, was in fact decaying. Marc: There was no doubt about it. Oh, there was over-extension of growth, the explosive growth in the retail sector where we started at 16 stores to 30 stores to 110 stores at its peak. You can imagine as a capital expense and the financing of that is you really need to have your eye on the ball. Andrew: And so you were deep in debt as a result of all this expansion? Marc: Yeah. I mean it was working to a degree when it was creating the revenue, but the rigor it takes to govern that sort of business is not trivial. And being out and that was a wildly successful tactical move in creating more awareness for the guy behind the brand. Now I don’t begrudge it, and I wouldn’t not do something like that again. And I’ve done things like that since, and I’ve done it before that. I think the distinction is, in that scenario, I disproportionately lent my time to that, as if that was my job. Andrew: How do some entrepreneurs do it? Where I feel like they’re constantly promoting themselves and the business seems to magically run. They could be out at parties promoting themselves. They could take endless meetings promoting the business and finding partnerships. They could put themselves in the media over and over, and the business magically runs. I thought that’s what was going on with you as an outsider. That your business was just being run. And you could . . . Marc: I think it’s a massive fallacy. And I know guys in the space that do a great Kabuki theater. And the reality, and when that’s the most authentic, is when you’ve got the business delegated and distributed in a way where the risk and the governance is sufficiently covered. It’s one thing to use your perception as a front. It’s another thing to try to portray. Elon Musk is not Tony Stark though we perceive him as such. If you study the rigor of that business, Elon’s brilliance isn’t the sex appeal of the products that he builds, but the rigor that the businesses are built on. And the guys that do it and do it right, and are not charlatans, or martyrs, but are really authentically hustlers, where they’re square at the top and they’re square at the bottom. There’s an artist named Joey Roth who’s a friend has got a great illustration of visualizing the notion of a martyr, a charlatan and a hustler. And the guys that are really authentically able to kind of pull that s*** off, are masterful delegators. They have sergeants on the ground operating. And they’re often not really CEOs. They might take that portrayal because the CEO title, that’s the glossy, that’s the kind of, you know, we understand that like we understand pepperoni and cheese, you know, like in pepperoni pizza. CEO equals business leader. But the real world of CEO really, and often, is a lot less sexy and a lot less out in front. Andrew: And so you’re saying many of the people who we perceive as the leaders of these companies are really just CEOs in name, and they’re out there as . . . Marc: Yeah, they probably . . . Andrew: . . . promoters. But if they were called promoters, or VP of PR, no one would pay attention to them if they . . . Marc: Yeah. They might be chief creative officers, but they’re not the kind of operating CEO that, for instance, in Complex. One of my partners in Complex is a guy named Rich Antoniello. He’s one of my best friends, and I’m very lucky in life and in business to have him. But he’s not an out in front guy. I mean, he can be on a panel with media lead, and he can hold his own. But he knows he’s best served and the organization is best served so that the gravitas is there, tactically on the ground with the front line to not lose the power of that veneer, of gravitas. I have found in my role is much better served as a kind of a cheap creative officer, a chairman officer. But I’ve learned enough, having played CEO, having played president that there are guys that know how to play those positions. Like there’s a distinction between a first mitt baseman and a shortstop. Andrew: So who did you get in your company then to do things like put systems in place, to make sure that there were checks and balances on the finances? Who did that? Marc: For us at Ecko coming up, we had a very kind of loosey goosey infrastructure. We didn’t have the rigor of a board, in the way that I do in my current businesses and in how the businesses at Ecko have evolved. The businesses at Ecko have certainly evolved and are far more mature and rigorous today. But at those times, it was kind of like the board meetings happened on the elevator and the hallways. And it was really this kind of composition between me, Marcy and Seth. And there was something magical in that composition. That’s the kind of thing that only really happens amongst founders that start very young, or certainly naive, professionally naive times in their lives. And we had the emotional connection and the kind of trust amongst one another as, her being my twin, and said to me . . . Andrew: Was it her who was doing things like making sure people didn’t rip you off at stores because there was a system in place that would be duplicated through all the stores? Was that . . . Marc: We had a triangle and it was governance, who was Marcy, brute force, which was the commercialization, the kind of creating unfair advantages, retail was set, and then the swagger which was kind of the branding, the marketing, the product development, the forward stuff which was me. And when Marcy sold her interest is when we saw the dysfunction of that triangle. Andrew: I see. Marc: And even though we can put a C.O. in a place, a C.F.O., we still emotionally, the way that me and Seth had come up with this construct in our heads and that 50-50, there was no, I don’t care what the bi-laws of the board was. It didn’t matter how many advisors and lawyers and accountants were around. And I think for us, yes we had rigorous components to the business but we got away with being pretty f***ing dysfunctional for a pretty long time. Pretty, pretty long. Andrew: How’d it feel on the inside? What did we not see from the outside? Marc: I think we didn’t see the sloppiness. We didn’t see . . . Andrew: For example? Marc: Oh, my goodness, like, renting, signing a twenty-year lease in Times Square for a 30,000 square foot retail store that cost, just to hold that lease before restoration, that’s a couple million dollars a year with no real plan as when we’re going to open it in sight. And millions and millions of dollars into the development are historical business that we, historical building which you can imagine is very expensive to restore, very politically difficult to migrate in . . . Andrew: I see. Marc: ‘You can’t paint here,’ or, ‘You can’t remove this.’ Instances like that where the veneer of that billboard on the outside of the store, ‘Coming Soon,’ but really what was coming was a s*** show. Andrew: You eventually sold your part of the business too. Does Wikipedia have it right? Is this one Wikipedia? Yeah. That 51% of the business was sold to Iconix for 109 million dollars in 2009 and according to, I think it’s a press release from them, another 45 million for the rest? Marc: Yeah, that’s right. Andrew: That means that the value of the company went down after the first sale. Marc: Yes. It definitely went down. Marc: I was only a party to the first sale and the way that I’ve configured my interest in the brand is not unlike how many designers have in their careers, if it’s Calvin, or Tommy, or Donna Karen, I am incented on the gross sales of the business. Andrew: I see. Marc: I kind of get a royalty and . . . Andrew: Still to this day? Marc: Yeah. I’m still involved and it’s been great and I’m actually excited about some of the things that are happening right now and off-the-record, not that we could use it here, it’s an . . . [SS] . . . Andrew: Don’t say anything that you want me to edit out. I can’t edit it out. Marc: OK. So, I won’t say it. Marc: But there’s exciting stuff coming to announce. Marc: And, you know, I . . . Andrew: What were you going to say? We can say it publicly. Marc: No we can’t. Marc: Not yet. I don’t like until the fat lady has sung. I have learned . . . [SS] . . . Andrew: Do you remember when you got that first big check from when you sold the business? Marc: Yeah. I do. Andrew: How did it feel, a wire transfer? How did that day feel? Marc: It was an amazing. I talk about it in the book. It was both beautiful but painful. It was like having to lose a part of your body because you get so accustomed to it being there and it definitely was a disorienting feeling, but also at the same time, where I was at that particular time, and I felt that at the stage of the business at that time I felt that that was the right move, it was kind of like everything that’s beautiful that you would imagine getting like a massive amount of capital then . . . Andrew: Millions of dollars, all at once, safety, security. Marc: . . . and then at the same time everything that’s kind of painful because you know you are losing some of the controls or the governance that you once had. That said, my partners at Iconix who are now the I.P. owners are really good people. And I’ve been very, very lucky and happy with how they’ve been helping to invest and try to grow the business and what’s on the horizon. Andrew: We talked a lot about this tough part to early life, getting beaten up, being chubby, etcetera. I don’t want to leave this story with just that but not the opposite. What’s the best part of having made it? Marc: The best part of having made it is, I think, there’s so many good parts to having made it. I don’t know that I qualify myself with being contented for quote, ‘Having made it.’ Andrew: Do you feel like you have made it? Marc: You never really feel like that. I think . . . Marc: . . . I’ve learned that when you arrive at the gates of financial success and liberty, you, for an artist and a creator like myself, money does not sate in enough of a way. And I feel so cliche saying that because I could just imagine in social commentary, in comments in Twitter, I see it all the time. People are like, ‘Oh, crying over for the rich guy.’ But there’s something about just doing stuff with your hands that gratifies in a way that shapes who you are. Transactions, the stuff that you collect, isn’t really what defines you, and I talk about it and helping manage peoples’ ability to quote, ‘Unlabel,’ is, if you’re going to create wealth, create wealth that matters. Right? So much of life and in business we’re taught that the things you collect, the things that I could count and quantify in a definitive number has more value than this other esoteric . . . Andrew: What is it about your wealth that matters then? Marc: Oh, my goodness, the, what I’ve been able to provide as a knowledge base for my kids. I think, I’m not one that, I don’t really talk about it in the book because I’m kind of like a little bit, I don’t want to be cliche about it but I’ve given a lot of my wealth away to causes that matter to me and I’ve seen impact of that. Andrew: What’s the biggest cause, biggest impact that you’ve seen? Marc: Oh, I’ve helped build a whole institution out in the Ukraine called Tikva Children’s Home where we’ve taken on kids and they’re effectively orphans and help them all the way through marriage. Really help, quote, ‘Create an infrastructure,’ for these guys and to the tunes of millions of millions of dollars, and educational organizations and a whole host of things. And I think the impact is the things that, the impact that matters is the transactions that you get from that, that have nothing to do with a financial transactions but kind of an emotional foundational thing that makes you feel good about what you’ve done and what you’ve accomplished. I think that counts. I think an awareness of who I am, a comfort in my skin. The book starts and I use the metaphor of anatomy throughout the book and this peeled away skin, that’s the cover art. I think that I am now wildly comfortable in my skin. And that gives me a tremendous amount of . . . Andrew: What did you do to get yourself comfortable in your skin? Marc: I think learning to refuse to be packaged by my skin. Andrew: And then . . . Marc: You know . . . Andrew: Uh-huh. And how do you learn to do that? Marc: I think I learned to refuse to be packaged within the skin that I was born in and perceived in by going through these life experiences, by building these business, by succeeding, by failing a lot. Success is the hangover of failure, right? And I don’t know that if I would have remained a pharmacy student and gone on to count pills that I’d be as comfortable in my skin on the eve of my 41st birthday. I think that I am shaped by the experiences and the wealth of experiences, the travel the . . . Andrew: Sorry, I don’t understand it. I understand if you’re a pharmacy student and you’re stuck in a pharmacy making a safe living that you’re not fully realizing yourself and that’s the path that you could have taken. You decided to take this path. A lot of other people go through ups and downs in business and they don’t come out feeling comfortable in their skin. What did you do differently that allows you to say, “I’m comfortable here, I’m comfortable with my age, I’m comfortable with my skin color, I’m comfortable with who I am?” Marc: I stopped counting things measured by finite numbers, right? I stopped counting the money; I stopped counting the wins, the losses, the followers, the friends… I stopped giving a fuck about Wikipedia or… Andrew: Don’t you know if you stop looking at the numbers of how many people come to your site, how many people buy… Marc: No. If your business is contingent on that, yes you’ve failed. Complex stuff, doing that, you fail at but that is my business. Andrew: I see. Marc: I separate myself emotionally from what an orchestrated group of human beings have to do. OK? When an orchestrated group of human beings that I have to kind of play alchemist and kind of, you know, Elmer Fudd orchestra to try to get a bunch of emotional creatures to do something in unison to execute, that’s what you measure success by. That’s the numbers on the outside. Look, if you’re in the red all the time, you lose, OK? Fact of life is, you can’t keep conducting business, not making revenue, right? That is a fact of life, right, that is a Business 101 but success is something entirely different. Success is something entirely different and being, and taking time to create enough of a, allow yourself the romantic supply, to allow yourself to be, to grant yourself, in order to be self-actualized to the best that you can. To be comfortable in your skin, a lot of people with the most money in the world never let themselves do that and it’s really kind of fucking sad. I think that’s the point, that’s the point that in B school, they don’t teach that, right? I think that comes from my backstory as a guy who uses his hands who fancies himself as an artist first probably. Then I’m probably very emotionally connected to what makes me tick. Good, bad or indifferent. I have afforded myself, often by design, often by circumstances, OK, the ability to let some of that stuff go. People don’t allow themselves to let the gatekeeper’s rules stop governing them vs. the goalkeepers who actually count. All right, if you’re shooting through the goals and your scoring, it’s good, you’re doing your job, right, but if you try to kind of get into these gatekeeper’s array and it’s an abstract notion of what’s going to be on the other side, don’t be disappointed from an expotation point of view once you arrive there that it doesn’t sate you. That’s what we culturally; we spend too much time doing, if that makes sense. Andrew: It absolutely does. I was surprised to hear you say that. Frankly, I don’t know why but I thought, “Maybe because of the brand, maybe because of your early influences that this was going to be much more of a hip-hop interview where we were talking about, you know, having suckered designers.” Marc: You see because you know my skin to the world brand because you and the viewers perceive me and my brand a certain way. Andrew: You know what, not only that, I read the book, I saw you talk about this, this struggle. You even have an equation, not just in the book within the chapter but it has its own image. At least in the digital version I saw. I still couldn’t see beyond the expectation that I had which is surprising because my job is to see beyond that. Marc: I must have done a shit job with the book. Marc: I must have done a shit job with the book then, I guess. Andrew: No I loved the book and I love your openness in the book about these struggles in the book. Maybe I was also bringing my own expectations into this thinking, “Now I’m really going to blow people away with the story about how great life can be when you finally make it big.” That’s a problem, isn’t it? Marc: I think that that’s one of the, life is great but life is really great in the most quiet of moments. Andrew: That’s my challenge as an interviewer because people don’t want to get excited about the quiet moments, they want to get excited about – Andrew, and then I got a jet, and then I got a million dollars, and then I got, et cetera. Maybe not in that order. Marc: Right, because you always covet what you wanna want. It’s like grandma said “grass is always greener”, right? I mean, that’s that. And look I’m not going to be intellectually dishonest and say that being able to fly private’s not nice. It certainly is nice. There’s a level of, kind of, self-masturbation that comes with that too. And a little bit of self indulgence-y that I’ve prescribed against personally for who I am as a brand, and for my family and my life on how I conduct business. And I don’t think that reflects well when you’re flossing like that. I went through that period, I went through that period, and what I realize, and I talk about it in the book, that was the inauthentic period. The perceived part to your point is that, “wow, that’s the authentic display of success!” Marc: Right, and isn’t that the irony? Marc: Right, so you know, what you see, isn’t always what you get. And I think that there’s something healthy, and more healthy for a younger generation, to when they build their brand, to be sensitive about the role of the spine of authenticity in branding them. And not to get caught in the trappings of trying to paint their brand to appeal to just the gate keepers, right? Because that brand? It fucking stays with you, forever, right? Forever! I could sell my business but my brand is Mark Ecko. And that’s one thing, the iconics [SP] guys, my partners, they know that. They know. It’s like, wow, we need Mark. Right? So there’s something very powerful in you sourcing and honing and defining the formula of what defines your personal brand. And people mis-utilize this notion of brand, personal brand. They use it like the word love. It’s another one of these “buzz ideas”, it’s on every self-help-y list on FastCompany or this one or that [??]. And I don’t begrudge how people frame it, but they have a real lack of understanding for the kind of, philosophical, thoughtfulness it takes to compose a brand. It is a rigorous exercise. And you have to be careful to always be mindful of the degree of how authentic you are being to yourself. The guts to the skin brand is what comes first, right? And what I pride myself on now at this level, at this place in my career, the things I’m doing and the businesses I’m building is that the great gift, the great wealth that matters now is that I’m here, I can say this. I’m not the fashion designer that comes out at the end of a runway show waves at everybody, and actually is fucking deluded to think that I could do that all by myself. I think that’s a different pedigree, that’s a different class. That’s that type-A last century, asshole motherfucker, that’s not who I am, right? So, excuse my language. Andrew: I like your language. Thank you so much for doing this interview the book is “On Label” and it’s a phenomenal read and it’s because you’re so open, because you’re a great story teller, because you use a lot of dialogue, which keeps things interesting and because you’re open. I think there was one person’s name who in this interview you didn’t want to use, and in the book you use the name. You’re extremely open and I appreciate that. And I know that to the person listening, if you’re looking for an autobiography this is one that I highly recommend. And I say that because I know that if you read it, you’re going to be grateful to me for doing it, and it’s going to increase my credibility with you. Andrew: Oh, serious, thank you for that. And if they go to UnLabeled.me, we are launching all of our pre-sale [SP] initiatives and we’re going to be doing all kinds of cool things as we gear up for the release on October 1st. Andrew: Sounds like you’ve talked to Tim Ferriss. Marc: I have talked to Tim quite a bit. And I’ve been very lucky in meeting guys that have done this once before, or at least a few times before. I don’t know, but we’ll see how it works for me, but again for me, this is about getting it out there, and I appreciate that, you being gracious with me and helping ask really good questions and kind of, pulling it out of me. I appreciate it. Andrew: Thanks. 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Norman Vincent Peale Award Winner Speaks of Defending Religious Freedom Contributed By By Janet Peterson, Church News contributor - Brother Corbitt spoke to 180 people representing many faiths and varied backgrounds and quoted Joseph Smith. - The Norman Vincent Peale Award for Positive Thinking is given annually to three individuals who think positively with faith. - Brother Corbitt spoke about the importance of having and defending religious freedom. NEW YORK CITY “Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven’t half the strength you think they have,” once said Dr. Norman Vincent Peale and quoted by Ahmad S. Corbitt, director of the Church’s New York Office of Public and International Affairs. Brother Corbitt received the 2014 Norman Vincent Peale Award for Positive Thinking, named in honor of the minister and preacher, prolific author, and television and radio host. In remarks given at the awards dinner held at the prestigious Yale Club in Manhattan on May 21, Brother Corbitt proposed that the threat to religious freedom is an obstacle that has become increasingly larger and stronger. He referred to a statement of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which warns, “Our most cherished freedom [of religious liberty] is under threat” and also to the warning of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, recipient of the 2014 Canterbury Medal, that “the loss of the fundamental right of religious freedom necessarily jeopardizes all other basic rights in a democracy.” Brother Corbitt then mentioned President Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo, Egypt: “Freedom in America is indivisible from the freedom to practice one’s religion. Freedom of religion is central to the ability of peoples to live together.” “The solution and indeed the opportunity,” said Brother Corbitt “is unity in our common cause” of defending and promoting religious freedom. He again quoted from Rabbi Sacks’s vigorous speech on religious freedom given May 15 in New York City: “You have to be willing to stand alongside other faiths [even] when your own liberties are under attack.” The growing obstacle or threat to religious freedom can be met by people of faith, by people of good faith, and by people who have no faith uniting to preserve religious freedom throughout the world. “We live in a time and a place where Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and so many others of our brothers and sisters—each within their own designations—can unite to preserve the freedom we each need to thrive and survive,” said Brother Corbitt. “As we work together toward our common values of religious freedom, whether we are religious or not, liberty will increase and be more secure for all.” Speaking to an audience of 180 people representing many faiths and varied backgrounds, Brother Corbitt quoted the Prophet Joseph Smith, very much a defender of religious freedom: “The same principle that would trample upon the rights of the Latter-day Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics, or of any other denomination. … If it has been demonstrated that I have been willing to die for a ‘Mormon,’ I am bold to declare before Heaven that I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist or a good many of any other denomination. … It is a love of liberty which inspires my soul—civil and religious liberty to the whole of the human race.” The Norman Vincent Peale Award for Positive Thinking is given annually to three individuals “whose lives clearly and inspirationally exemplify the power of thinking positively, with faith, deep caring for people, and dedicated commitment to improving the world.” Previous awardees have included President Ronald Reagan, the Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes Jr., James Earl Jones, the Very Rev. James Parks Morton, and General Colin Powell. Brother Corbitt was nominated for this year’s award by Dr. Dale T. Irvin, president of the New York Theological Seminary and was introduced as “my friend and brother” by Rabbi Noam Marans, director of the American Jewish Committee in New York. Also honored were Dr. Yoon Soo Park, a retired physicist, educator, and a leader of the Korean Methodist Church of Greater Washington, and Denise Richardson, a television personality, fundraiser, and community volunteer.

I heard an interesting concept recently where Jews were referred to as “G-d Wrestlers”. Those that wrestle with G-d. We struggle, we question, we doubt, we lose faith, we come back, we return, we read and read, we analyze and read some more. In last week’s Torah portion we see Jacob wrestle with an “angel” all night until he triumphs. He asks for a blessing. He wins and from that day forward is known by his new name Israel. Life is a struggle, it’s a part of the equation. In class, we have been intensely studying G-d, believe it or not. Jewish tradition and modern thinking in a theological sense. It’s been pretty intense for me and last night really got to me. I have been nervous and shy since this topic arose in class. It is quite surprising for me to get shy and nervous in a Jewish class but our relationships with G-d is VERY personal. I have been very comfortable with my faith in G-d but up until now, it’s been MINE. My opinion, my thoughts, my moments and prayers. Suddenly, without thinking about it, I am sitting with a group of adults, all reading the same book, openly expressing our thoughts, our feelings, and even going one on one with each other for discussion. Since being back in Los Angeles, I have yearned for community. I have been searching for a connection with other Jews and the feeling that I belong somewhere. Here I am, finally getting to know people and being given the opportunity to share my spiritual body with others and I am FRIGHTENED. This is the most unexpected emotion I’ve experienced lately. I approached this class with so much excitement, thrilled to join a group and learn with them. What I hadn’t thought about is that I would be faced with many, many different perspectives and opinions about Faith, G-d, and Judaism altogether! Suddenly, my opinions aren’t so precise and solid are they? Enter fear. Enter embarrassment. Enter doubt. Again, completely unexpected. So last night I found myself holding back tears nearly the entire time. I walked into class, already nervous because I hadn’t read the chapter. I really make it a point to complete assignments but had quite an overwhelming week and I slipped. I was also late, which I don’t like to do either. Good start! We immediately get asked to pair up. Chevruta is a Jewish concept of learning in pairs. (http://www.myjewishlearning.com/practices/Ritual/Torah_Study/How_to_Study_Torah/Havruta_Learning_in_Pairs_.shtml) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chavrusa) I learned a lot about Chevruta once at a Shabbat table, the Rabbi was talking about it and I thought it was great. I remember saying to the Rebbetzin, “I want a learning partner!” Now, again, I am given the opportunity to experience something I’ve wanted to do and I feel hesitant. I don’t want to. I’m scared. The thing is that it seems my faith is pretty simple. So I guess I’ve been feeling like it might be stupid to others. Only because I feel surrounded by people who question faith a lot. Many people have a hard time digesting the idea that you can have a conversation with G-d when I feel that I do it everyday! I’ve been paired up twice now with people that “don’t like to talk about G-d”. Okay. So then maybe I won’t tell you how cheezy my sentiments about G-d are. How I DO believe he is everywhere. That I have no problem saying “He” or Hashem – and that I am feminist, by definition, but am not offended by this. That I DO believe he answers prayers. Oy. During the Rabbi’s lecture later, he is clearly coming up with ways for others to comprehend their own relationship. Help them by showing them different perspectives with hopes that one might click for them. Offering us different avenues we can choose to explore and eventually find peace. For example (in talking about prayer) “maybe it’s an enlightenment within yourself”, he said, which, to me, IS G-d! When we connect with ourselves or with each other in prayer, at home or in shul, that is G-d. Why is it an issue to assume G-d’s existence in B’reishit or in general? I guess I didn’t understand in the moment, that the Rabbi was not negating my thoughts, just giving everyone options, so-to-speak. It was just overwhelming. Honestly, I’m not sure entirely why yet. I am slowly coming to understand the emotions I’ve been feeling the past few weeks in this environment. Truthfully, I am not an academic. I do not have a lot of formal education. Perhaps I just need to get used to the class environment and the Teacher/Student relationship (even, perhaps, the class and “fellow classmates relationship”). At the end of the lecture, Rabbi shares an incredible moment in his life during a rabbinical interview where he is asked to comfort a mother after the loss of a child (hypothetically). While listening to him speak about his answer and what he came up with, I could feel the tears starting to well up. Not only because of how beautiful his answer was, but the thought of a rabbi’s position in general. What it must be like to be him and be a part of such difficult situations on a regular basis just blew me away. He finished speaking, I packed up quickly and BOLTED out of that room. I reached the fresh air and let it out. Bawling. I walked quickly to my car and cried some more. Oddly enough, I felt G-d with me even then. Because I happened to park in front of the Chazzan’s car. She looked into my car and saw me crying and frantically writing. (I thought if I write down the feelings in the moment, I could try and figure it out later). She opened my car door, gave me a hug, and talked me through it. Talked me through enough so that I was calm and breathing. She had a big smile on her face the whole time. Her beautiful smile was so inspiring because I knew by her reaction that there was nothing wrong. Her smile told me that what I was feeling was okay. Her smile also told me that she loved me and supported me. Having her in my life, having the Rabbi, the class, all of the students, my thoughts, my feelings are ALL blessings for me. And that, my friends, is G-d.

Dating site for stoners Multiple dating apps have popped up catering specifically to marijuana users some say it's hard to find a match on a traditional dating site who. Feb 6, 2015 speaking to fastcoexist, mitchem said: i hated dating on other sites and apps because as soon as the idea of my cannabis consumption came up — date over i actually walked out of a date (after paying of course) and said to myself, that's it weeding out the ms wrong from ms right was complex. Nov 4, 2014 it's been about a year since i ruined a tinder date with pot cookies, and that was the last time i met up with someone through a dating site after that night, i made i was trying to show that there are more faces to weed than the stereotype of the stoner, cheech and chong and dreadlocks, lozano said. 420 singles app royal queen seeds dating stoners while most dating sites offer the possibility to connect with people with the same interests. Dating is hard for everyone across lifestyles that's why there are myriad services to help singles find romantic prospects with similar interests we've seen dating sites for jewish people, farmers, kinky folks, and even white people with 1 in 8 american adults admitting to smoking weed, it only makes sense. Stupidity is an online dating sites for medical or cigarette accepting smoking passions with other stoners free dating site for the cannabis, bizarre and has thousands of testing smokingsingles free online dating site uk this blend has been around forever, intelligent, www sane would ever to a crack pipe smokers. So now, tuned-in stoners and users of medical pot are turning on to dating websites that cater exclusively to tokers or, at the very least, the. Feb 6, 2015 attention love-seeking stoners “i hated dating on other sites and apps because as soon as the idea of my cannabis are you a lazy stoner. Aug 9, 2016 though the marijuana industry is young, it is ripe with possibilities including the possibility to meet a like-minded stoner-type with a simple swipe right some popular 420-friendly dating sites include high there, stoner singles, my 420 mate and 420 singles, though many other popular sites offer cannabis. Any content you see on this site was contributed by someone from the closer, with a social media feed, dating, dispensary map, chat roomsand me -arend. Reality dating shows like “the bachelor” and “the millionaire matchmaker” have made it a familiar scene: attractive singles gather in a chic location to toast cocktails, exchange guests have to be medical marijuana patients to attend, but there will be a doctor on site to give recommendations if needed. Meet singles who smoke weed on the 420 singles dating app or website won't get rejected just because you're stoner or like to smoke the occasional joint. Apr 7, 2017 we tested three different cannabis dating and friend-finder apps: high there, 420 this site reminds me more of okcupid than tinder events though, these apps could be exactly what you need to find sweet stoner love. Consistent germany free online dating sites time with reports of the variety of options available on the market, and the vibe is extremely message unless free. Jun 2, 2017 according to slater from “dazed and confused,” one of the most beloved stoner movies, “behind every good man, there is a woman, and that. Best marijuana dating site for the cannabis community and all 420 friendly people register for free and date with single girls that love to smoke weed or enjoy. Dating site for stoners As attitudes toward online dating and marijuana shift, new dating sites are emerging. Feb 6, 2015 weed smokers get their own dating app, dubbed 'tinder for stoners' “i hated dating on other sites and apps because as soon as the idea of. A new dating website my420matecom launched in april (on 4/20, obviously) to connect cannabis users looking for romance. Classification of the largest dating sites when texting related acronyms which matches the hot new era of drugs like you get panicked by stoners, we looked at. Read reviews, compare customer ratings, see screenshots, and learn more about 420 singles download 420 singles and enjoy it on your iphone, ipad, and ipod touch. Most popular dating sites and apps, such as e-harmony, tinder, matchcom, datehookupcom, chemistrycom, speeddate, and plentyof fish i saw the fact many women he heard from are prejudiced against marijuana users “as soon as i tell a woman i'm a stoner, that's pretty much the end of the conversation,” he said. High there isn't the only option for stoners seeking love online, but it is the best there are sites like 420 singles and my 420 mate, but they're handicapped by abysmal design and amateur coding one called 420 cupid never got around to sending me an activation email, even after two sign-up attempts. Do you love the green and want to find someone who has a similar personality type to you we've made it simple – whether you live in melbourne, sydney or. Jun 3, 2014 the new dating website my420matecom launched in april (on 4/20, naturally) to connect marijuana users looking for romance, but who don't want to have the awkward do you smoke conversation some people might think it's just a dating site for hippies or stoners, says jay lindberg, 30, the st. Smoking weed is just as much, if not more, of a social activity as it is a solo one but if you're bored of getting faded by yourself and your friends don't share your interest, where else could you look to recruit a smoking buddy that's where high there comes in the self-proclaimed cannabis social network. Aug 9, 2017 like a lot of the best stoner technology, our preferred method for finding pros: while dating sites such as matchcom ask questions such as.

Freaks and Geeks |In '65 I was seventeen and running up 101| I added a page for the video game themed book series Worlds of Power, and the first book in the series, - You don't need to hear Trump use the N-word to know that he's a racist. He's been saying and doing racist things - The White House continues its downward spiral. - After the Boston Globe published a collection of all the newspapers around the country who criticized Trump's call to violence against the free press, someone called in a fake bomb threat. - The boos finally reached Trump about his war-mongering parade, and he has decided to cancel it, blaming everyone else for the high costs. Of course, we all know what really happened, he became embarrassed after seeing my awesome - The Republican party really is going full fascist. - Retired Admiral William McRaven, after hearing about Trump revoking the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan because Brennan was critical of Trump's many failures, demanded that Trump revoke his security clearance as well, stating it would be an honor. - If we get rid of undocumented immigrants, who will grow, transport, prepare, cook, and serve our food? Many of the horrors committed by the priests in Pennsylvania have come to light, and it's just sick what they did, how long they did it, and how much protection they received from the Vatican. A female doctor is more likely to save your life, so why do we pay them half as much as male doctors? The saga of Dennis Prager's really stupid argument about the after life. A reminder of what the Internet was like at the turn of the millennium. |When I turned 16 I was furious and restless| I added a review for Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and the casual game, Burrito Bison: Launcha Libre. - Former CIA director John Brennan has rightfully been speaking out against Trump's failure to protect Americans from Russian cyber attacks, so Trump responded by revoking his security clearance. Trump has also threatened to silence in a similar way any other critics in the US security and intelligence sectors. Meanwhile, a new Russian satellite is behaving in a strange way, and US intelligence claims it doesn't know Russia's intent with it. - Over 300 newspapers around the country call out Trump's violent rhetoric against the free press. - At Trump's demand, the White House forces employees to sign a non-disclosure agreements saying they won't leak any of Trump's ignorance or bigotry to the press. Of course, the NDAs are not legally binding, the White House just does it to placate Trump. - The USA was involved with the Saudi Arabian coalition that just bombed a school bus full of children. - Like most of American's disgustingly wealthy self-proclaimed patriots, Betsy DeVos avoids paying taxes on her yacht that she anchors and sails in the USA by claiming it's registered in the Cayman Islands. - Trump is expected to waste $92,000,000 of the US taxpayer's money just to see soldiers and tanks on parade. Can't we just get him some green plastic army men to play with? Is it possible to have a square with only three sides? What about five sides? Seth Andrews talks to people about all the weird things they used to believe in. What it's like to live in a home the size of a closet even when there is plenty of land to build on. |Beware the ides of August| I finished reading Nick Hornby's book, Funny Girl, which I loved. I also added a page for Microsoft's - I miss living in a country when you could actually trust what came out of the White House to be mostly true. With Republican's in power, reasonable people must automatically distrust everything they say until it can be confirmed to not be a lie, but it usually is a lie. - Under Trump, coal plants are closing at the same rate they were under Obama, despite his claims to have rejuvenated the - When you surround yourself with dishonest people, you should expect everything to become a - The Republican goal of hiding where money comes from is especially helpful to astro-turfing. - Trump doesn't have the slightest idea what's going on in the world, where countries are, or even how to pronounce them. - Betsy DeVos has been paying Republicans to ruin American schools for - One good thing you have to admit about Trump, he's so loud and obnoxious, he can't ever do any evil in secret. - Things continue to go poorly for Alex Jones. - White supremacist Jason Kessler was interviewing his Republican friend and Nazi Patrick Little about his failed Senate attempt, when it came to light that he was filming in his parent's house (because he lives with his parents), and his father was none to pleased that his son was promoting racism in his home! Yet another Catholic diocese is discovered to have systematically protected over 300 Republican gun nut, Dan Roberts, is pissed off that he put Sacha Baron Cohen's dildo in his mouth and is trying to sue. Science teachers Coleen and Milan explain why they teach evolution. Dorkly has created some pretty dark animations over the years. California constantly has wild fires, in large part because of humans messing with the environment. |Tuesday the 14th?| I added a page for the book Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. and the author - The bad news is, there was another rally in Charlottesville, Virginia full of white supremacists, Nazis, and KKK members, you know, the people Trump loves. The good news, they were vastly out-numbered by the amount of counter protesters! It's sad that we still have to have counter protests like this, but, if you remember, back in 2017, Trump was toying with the idea of renaming the "Countering Violent Extremism" program to a much more specific (both racially, and ideologically) "Countering Radical Islamic Extremism." Like most of Trump's talk, the White House hasn't followed through, but it gives you an idea where their priorities lie. Rhetoric like is no doubt partially responsible for non-violent black activists being spied on and kidnapped by the US government. You have to wonder, under Republican leadership, are law enforcement agencies being ordered to even look into the KKK giving candy with racist literature to random - Sheesh, lie to millions of people about your cancer-causing weed killer, and suddenly, you're the bad guy! Monsanto will have to pay $289,000,000 in damages, but, naturally, the EPA under Republican leadership still says the cancer-causing chemical glyphosate is perfectly safe. - Hasan Minhaj gives a very serious talk about whether a sitting president can recuse himself of his own crimes. - Republican hopeful Melissa Howard admits that she lied about her university diploma, but said, "It was not [her] intent to deceive or mislead anyone." Really? You created a fake diploma, not for deception, but for... what? Howard is taking the moral low ground and intends to stay in the race for Representative claiming she will "lead by example from now on." This it truly on-point for the Republican brand. Some of the more horrifying security flaws that have cropped up recently. Tipping is bad for the economy and has a racist history. Coming out as an atheist is always a scary proposition, but sometimes it goes pretty well. Why does Iran hate the USA and UK? Mostly because the USA an UK have been extremely terrible to them for decades because they wanted to have an independent democratic government and sell their oil at a |Monday the 13th| Over the weekend I installed, played, and beat Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent. - People who continue to lie should be punished, not made into the US president. - It's not even exaggeration anymore to say that everyone associated with Trump is a criminal. - Trump's pro-war Space Force is a really stupid idea and not much can be done to make it sound - There is a concentrated effort to cast doubt on the scientific consensus of human-caused climate change, and it's terrifying. Why do intelligent people like the Koch brothers want to purposely continue the destruction of the environment? - Ever since Republicans have passed laws making it legal to hide where political money comes from, all sorts of new dishonest attack ads have shown up targeting democrats, and nobody can say for certain which Republicans are responsible for them. - Trump is very much against chain migration... unless it helps his inlaws. Black men are much more likely to be shot to death by cops than white men or women, but it's not just white cops who do the shooting. Black cops are also more likely to shoot black men than anyone else. Christians continue to lie to children about sex in public schools. In this episode, they tell children that if they become sexually aroused too often, they won't be able to develop romantic relationships when they get older. More hidden messages in video game hardware. Christianity continues to die in America. South Carolina, one of the nation's most religious states, has lost almost 100 churches in the past seven years. Did you know you can make a calculator out of marbles falling down various chutes? |Still have blood in my mouth| I added a page for the Microsoft Windows port of Tetris and the image compressor - Trump appointee for Secretary of Commerce, Republican Wilber Ross, has been accused of swindling from his business associates $120,000,000. Trump's earliest backer, Republican Chris Collins has been arrested for insider trading. Trump keeps incriminating his own son. Former speaker of the house Sean Spicer is doing a book tour defending all the lies he told for Trump. Did Trump hire anyone who isn't a crook? - Republicans are demanding the US win the war in space having not been informed that there is no war in space. Trump insists on a new branch of military just for space having not been informed that the US Air Force already has a space division. Republicans are crippling the US economy by wasting billions adding more to the already largest military in the world. - Trump is still trying to convince his fellow Republicans to let him stop the investigation about his collusion with Russia. - Republican Stephen Miller, grandson of minority religious immigrants and creator of a law that bans minority religious immigrants from entering the country, is now trying to deport - Now that Melania has found out, along with the rest of the country, how Donald Trump has cheated on her multiple times, she doesn't appear to be playing - Women in the US still face a lot of discrimination, especially because they can get pregnant. Police officers Brandon Spillman and Alexander Daniel choked an unarmed black man to death. Armando Frank passively resisted the demands of the two cops saying he would comply if they show him their warrant. The two officers instead choked Frank for six straight minutes then dragged his corpse to their squad car before finally realizing that they had killed him. They made no attempt to resuscitate him, and, according to an expert on Louisiana law, police are allowed to use any means of force they deem necessary, and, because of this, neither officer will be punished. The medicinal importance of having someone poop inside of you. Christian pastor Bill Hybels has a dark history of sexually assaulted his assistant and sexually harassed several other women, and his entire staff has resigned in disgrace for initially taking his side only to be prove wrong. |Gonna need an extraction| I added a page for the Famicom Disk System. - If Republican Stephen Miller were in power when his grandparents immigrated to the US, he would have turned them away and they'd probably be murdered for being Jewish. - Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his friend Rick Gates are both criminals, but they might not see jail time because Trump loves to - Why do white supremacists, KKK, and Nazis congregate to the Republican party? - Even though corrupt Republican Scott Pruitt is out, his replacement, coal supporter Andrew Wheeler, is just as anti-environment as they come. - All four West Virginia Supreme Court justices might be impeached for corruption. State Democrats say that Republicans waited until after a Republican governor was elected to address the corruption so that all of the seats can be filled at once by a Republican. - In 2012, Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz shot across the US/Mexico border and killed 16-year-old José Antonio Elena Rodriguez. The boy was hit 10 times, mostly in the back, while Swartz was standing in the USA and Rodriguez was in Mexico. The US government's official position was that foreigners on foreign soil have no rights, and, therefore, it's perfectly legal for Americans to murder them. How it took nearly six years for US courts to conclude that murdering someone across a national border is actually illegal is beyond me. - The National Archives is denying Senate Democrats access to files about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh unless they first get permission from Republicans. - Ohio Republicans aren't exactly a cut above the rest. - The details of how the Republican party has partially sold out to Libertarians like the Koch Brothers and they're spending millions to get Americans to vote against what they actually want. - Trump says immigration is bad, and chain immigration (where whole families are brought in) is even worse. Naturally, His immigrant wife's family of immigrants are now American citizens. For those of you who have been considering buying the DragonBox Pyra, there was an AMA with the hardware designer. Some glitches in the New Super Mario Bros. In case you needed another reason to hate Comcast, they had a security flaw which exposed the personal information of millions of their users. The unchecked power of corrupt American prosecutors. Another day, another Christian pastor is going to prison. You could actually fuse all your chromosomes together, but I don't recommend it. |Tooth surgery today...| The infamous Tersigni Sisters are wanted for under-aged voting! I added a small page for the disc software AnyBurn. The election results for Genesee County show it's still primarily Democratic, and all the millages - Trump keeps admitting that his son, in order to help his father win the presidential election, deliberately colluded with Russians. - LeBron James opened a school for high-risk children offering them free lunches and free college. Naturally, Trump hates him. - Republicans are working to make US citizenship more difficult, especially if they have ever been sick or poor. - Trump's pick for US Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh believes that US presidents can ignore laws they don't agree with, and should not be punished. - Republican Rand Paul is following Trump's lead and inviting Republicans to the US, but doesn't think that there will be time to talk about Russia's endless hacking of the US government. Well, at least he will get have a nice chat with Russia's latest special US envoy, Steven Seagal. Seriously, is this real life? - An investigation into the FCC shows that they were subject to a DDoS attack which means Republican Chairman Ajit Pai lied about it. The more likely reason their servers went down was due to the overwhelming amount of people wanting to voice their opposition to the Republican elimination of Net neutrality. - In 2017, Stephen Dalton Baril raped a woman. In court, Baril admitted that there was enough evidence for him to be found guilty, but despite this fact, Judge Humes J. Franklin refused to sentence him to prison at all, and instead told him that he merely wasn't allowed to talk to the woman he raped for the next five years. How could this possibly happen? Maybe it's because Baril is the son of Republican Steve Baril, and the grandson of former Virginia Governor, Republican John N. Dalton. 3D printed guns aren't really anything new, homemade "zip" guns have been around for years, and even plastic guns are nothing new. However, they sure are a heck of a lot easier to make now. Christian parents let their 10-month-old daughter die because they refused to let her be treated by doctors have been charged with murder. Science makes mistakes, but it's also self-correcting. Here are five things humans got wrong about our bodies. Ironically, those areas in the US with the highest concentration of Christians also have the most executions. Even more ironically, Christians who are in favor of the death penalty call themselves Finger print analysis is a helpful tool for discovering a person's identity, but it isn't fool proof. - The problem with putting your trust in criminals is that they eventually turn on you. While on trial, Rick Gates, former Trump adviser, explained how Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, had 15 foreign bank accounts, but Gates did not report them even know he knew they were illegal because Manafort ordered him not to. - Republican Jeff Sessions is quite evil and he's wasting your tax dollars protecting Christians from - In the end, Trump's appointing of another US Supreme Court Justice is probably going to cause a lot of deaths. - Despite the lies of the Conservatives, MS-13 is an American born gang, it's not that big, and it's not growing, but it is indeed horrible and needs to - Because he can't hurt American allies enough, Trump is threatening to block US trade will every allied country that trades with Iran, including the entire European Union! - Trump's pick for Secretary of Education, Besty DeVos, a woman who never went to public schools and whose family became rich through pyramids schemes, has a summer mansion which puts her $40,000,000 yacht - Trump remains oblivious to the increased levels of Russian hacking. Simone Giertz has a new workshop. Why you shouldn't eat mold, but you'll probably be okay if you do. The danger of making lopsided levees. Killing the myth of humans having a reptilian brain. |Less puss; tooth still iffy| I've added a page for the Ultima VII hint book, Key to the Black Gate, the Nintendo Player's Guide series, and several more - In an effort to try and vindicate his family, Trump admitted that the meeting his eldest son, son-in-law, and campaign manager had with Russians in 2016 was definitely about trying to get dirt on Hillary Clinton, despite his earlier lies, claiming what they did was "totally legal." Of course, seeking the help of a foreign adversary to undermine an American election is neither ethical, nor legal. - And, while Trump's Twitter posts are super annoying, they may end up being the cause of his presidency because he can't stop using it to incriminate himself. Aren't you glad you're not Trump's lawyer? - Under the guidance of self-proclaimed "fiscally responsible" Republicans, the US is borrowing money from foreign countries at the same rate as the last depression. But, despite bankrupting the US government, Republicans are trying to give the rich an even bigger tax cut. - Republicans have tried for the third time to end the DACA program, and, for the third time, US judges have ruled that they violated the Constitution in doing so, and the program must be restored. Can they ever -not- violate the Constitution? - Ivanka disagreeing with her father by saying the media isn't the enemy of the people, is not courageous. - Facebook and Apple have finally removed some of the work of Alex Jones citing too much hate speech and bullying. - The reason Paul Manaforte is in big boy prison is not because he's Republican, it's because he's really stupid! Facts about bears. London is an extremely diverse city. Nintendo and Sega have a history of some rather risqué advertisements. I've answered all of the questions in the Christian survey: 136 Questions to Ask In a - Rich people are making more money while poor people have to spend more to buy the same thing from a year ago, and Trump's multiple trade wars are not helping. - Republicans claim to be pro-family, but only so long as everyone in the family is white. And more allegations are coming out that the children who have been ripped from their parents and put into make-shift jails are being sexually assaulted. - QAnon is just another bunch of know-nothing conspiracy theorists. - Republicans don't believe the fact of global warming. 2017 just clocked in as the third hottest year in recorded history. Just below the first and second hottest years, 2016 and 2015. In fact, in the top 10 hottest years in recorded history, nine of them are in the 2000s. 2018 might take the number one spot as it already has the hottest day ever recorded. - Trump can't spell basic words, and he seems to really love the heads of crime syndicates. - American Nazis exist, and have been spurred on by Trump, but they're having a harder time selling their pro-Nazi merchandise on - Trump rallies are basically Klan rallies. - Republican Jim Jordan is better than most because he's only a pedophile enabler! A Russian arms dealer wants to create a Utopian space colony. It's actually not that funny that men are constantly raped in prison. I've been refusing plastic straws at restaurants for a couple weeks now, and it feel pretty good. Despite the fact that we don't actually use the commonly-cited number, we still use far too many, and it's a good idea to stop using them. The origin of viruses is still an unknown. What happens when you respond to men bullying women on Twitter? I've added a page for Queen's drummer, Roger Taylor. - After hearing about the trial of his former campaign leader, Paul Manaforte, Trump used Twitter to tell Attorney General Jeff Sessions that he should end the FBI's investigation into his conspiracy against the USA with Russia. Sessions has yet to do it, and the White House is trying to downplay yet another instance of Trump obstructing justice. And despite changing his statement from no collusion to collusion isn't a crime, conspiring to defraud the US government is a crime. - Trump convinced himself that he ended the threat of North Korea's nuclear missiles, but what really happened in North Korea just expanded the range of its - Trump continues to throw a fit about not getting taxpayer funding for his border wall that he said Mexico would pay for. His tantrum has grown to the point where he says, unless he gets his own way, he'll shut down the entire government. - Donald Trump is, by far, the most dishonest president the US has ever had and the rate at which he lies - Despite claiming that they did so, Republicans failed to reunite hundreds of children they had stolen away from their parents by the court appointed deadline. For many of the children, they don't even have the slightest clue who their parents even are. - Rick Snyder and several of the people ultimately responsible for poisoning Flint have been removed from the class-action lawsuit. - True to form, Trump has filled his Wildlife Protection Council with trophy hunters and donors. - It should have been done ages ago, but Facebook has suspended the account of Alex Jones and YouTube is removing some of his videos. While he and his fans are crying a violation of free speech, this is nothing of the sort. Jones may still shout his nonsense as much as he wants, companies are under no obligation to give him a platform. - Thanks to Betsy DeVos destroying public schools, we now live in a country where you can only get a decent education if someone from your home town becomes a huge sports star. If evolutionary psychologists want to be taken seriously, they should probably clean house and get rid of the anti-Semites in their group. Harry L. Thomas, the Christian pastor who created the largest Christian music festival has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for raping several under-aged girls. How quarks help us make sense of the universe. Looking inside Nintendo hardware. Patrick Evans, a Christian on the Board of Brown County, Wisconsin, doesn't see the problem with the county endorsing Christianity and he's willing to waste taxpayer money to try and keep it that way. Why doesn't he see the problem? Probably because he thinks that Wiccans worship |August, I'll see you soon, under yellow moon| I added maps and collectibles to the Altered Beast page. - As the FBI gets closer and closer to uncovering Trump's direct collusion with Russian spies, Trump's lawyers are now trying to dismiss his iniquity by claiming that working with an adversarial foreign power for political gain isn't even a crime, so - In order to help sell Republican voter-suppression laws and prevent poor people from voting, Trump claimed that you can't buy groceries without a photo id. - Republicans greatly benefit from Gerrymandered districts, and, thanks to the work of my fellow CFI members, a plan to redistrict Michigan and place it in the hands of an independent body will now be on the November ballot. Even though all the required signatures were accounted for and approved, thus guaranteeing it a place on the ballot, Republicans, including Bill Schuette, still tried as hard as they could to eliminate it, the State Supreme Court just ruled that it must be - Who could have possibly saw this coming? Republicans, who are all about th troops, cut federal taxes to the extremely wealthy, and now they can't afford to pay for wounded veterans. - Once again, under the guidance of Republicans, the US is seeing it's debt grow to an unprecedented level. I'm almost 40-years-old, and, in my entire lifetime, every Republican president has created more debt, and every Democrat has done their best to fix it. - Facebook takes down more accounts which appear to be Russian trolls trying to influence US Argon is argonalicious. Gloria has found a better life outside of religion, and you can too. Part 1, part 2. North Carolina actually has a law preventing people from competing with hospitals when it comes to medical imaging procedures. Apparently, in the 1970s, 49 of the 50 States purposely created a monopoly for hospitals, and, even to this day, only 14 have repealed these laws. Want to know why health care is so expensive? If a study is paid for by the industry that is most likely to benefit over positive results, it should raise some red flags. The Vatican didn't just cover up their Catholic priests raping little boys, but also their priests raping their fellow nuns. Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast remake was terrible. |I don't want a story affair to make me feel my life is heading somewhere| I added a page for the Queen album Made In Heaven. - Racist Attorney General Jeff Sessions is creating a special task force to make sure Christians have enough liberty. Because if anyone needs more free reign, it's Christians. - Trump's campaign manager Paul Manafort is having his first day in court! - While the Trump administration continues to deny the scientific consensus of climate change, humans have recorded the hottest temperature ever. - The men at Fox "News" are pretending they don't know the rules about sexual harassment. Oh come on, they had three major employees fired for sexual harassment, how could they not? And no, conservative men are claiming to be afraid to even being around women for fear of being charged with sexual harassment, which gives you a good idea of how they behave around women. Of course, this by itself won't solve the problem. After all, Trump admitted to sexually assaulting women and he still got a large minority of Americans to vote for him. Likewise, Clarance Thomas was a serial harasser to Anita Hill, and Republicans still made him a Supreme Court justice. - It's terrifying, but a Federal Judge had to tell Republicans they can't give imprisoned children psychotropic drugs without their parent's consent. Cell phones still don't cause cancer, despite the clickbait claims made by The Guardian who should know better. Despite their recent progress, it's still a crime in Saudi Arabia for women to publicly hug men outside of their family. Jeff Whitman, owner of Uriah's Heating, Cooling, and Refrigeration in Columbus, Ohio, followed a black man for miles to shout racial slurs at him. Unfortunately for Whitman, he was driving his company van with the phone number on the side. Whitman was initially unrepentant saying he "grew up with [the n-word]" so it's "not a big deal for me." But most people don't care to do business with a racist, so his company has received terrible reviews on social media, and people are calling to give him a piece of their minds. After realizing what his racism cost him, Whitman said, "I'm out of business, I'm completely out, I'm done, I'll never work in Columbus again. This has completely and thoroughly ruined my life. I just don't understand the intensity of the hate." Got that? The man who doesn't see a problem with racist language and followed a black man to his home to shout the n-word at him doesn't understand why people hate. It took until 2018 for all 50 US states to legalize public breastfeeding. |Wise from your gabe!| I added a page for the video game Altered Beast. - Russian hackers have already been caught attacking US elections. Republicans continue to ignore the problem, because they need them to help in the 2018 midterms. - Trump is actively bringing down the nation, not just by selling us out to foreign powers, and ruining the economy, but also by trying to convince people to stop believing in facts and believe in his lies. - It seems the only problems Trump can fix are the ones he created in the first place. - Trump wasted $12,000,000,000, just on farmers, trying fix the tariff mess he created. Naturally, he views this as a win for the USA and Europe, but - A one-time illegal immigrant just ratted out a girl who had escaped from a Republican child prison because, now that he's safely a US citizen, he's a Trump supporter! - Betsy DeVos, the Republican who is destroying the nation's public school system, had her $40,000,000 yacht set adrift. I don't approve of such vandalism, I would much rather people show civil disobedience by protesting her. - One of the nice things about Trump foolishly using Twitter, is that he's creating a permanent record of all of his racism, bigotry, and, best yet, People in the UK get to die with dignity... but not in the US. The Vatican is "punishing" its child-raping priests by telling them to go home and pray about what they've done. For years, the McDonald's Monopoly game was rigged by an ex-cop. 357,686,312,646,216,567,629,137 is a prime number, and every time you remove a number from the left, you're left with a prime number! Center For Inquiry is suing CVS because of their longstanding fraudulent business practice of selling sham medicine. |Bedtime beings: 6:30, both girls finally fall asleep: 10:15| I added a page for Liz Phair's self-titled album. - Uh oh! Ever since journalists discovered that Trump's son had been lying and did indeed hold a clandestine meeting in Trump Tower with what he thought was a spy from the Russian government to get dirt on Hillary Clinton, the White House has been assuring America that Trump senior knew absolutely nothing about it, and certainly would have put a stop to it if he did. But now, Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, is stating that Trump not only knew about it, but he approved his son's meeting with - The media is having a field day with the first of 12 audio recordings release of Trump and Cohen. His payment of $150,000 to the adult model, different from the $130,000 porn star, with whom he was cheating on his wife didn't go so well, and it also raises questions about Trump's first divorce. - At least during Watergate, there were trusted journalists who helped take down the completely corrupt president. Now, a large percentage of the nation trusts Fox "News." - With the pro-white, anti-journalism, dirty money, and Russian spy, the NRA certainly appears to be a terrorist organization. - There is a bit of irony with Trump imposing Chinese tariffs and forgetting that the majority of his stuff he tries to sell comes from China. - We're currently at the point where we're resorting to depression-era laws to prevent the American agricultural industry from going bankrupt because of Trump's failed tariff gamble. - After using a racist comment to try and prove he's not racist, Republican racist John Schnatter, former CEO of Papa John's, is now suing his own company for asking him to resign because of his racism. - In case you needed a reminder of just how bad things have gotten under Trump. - I don't condone vandalism because you can never trust a lone person to have the best interests of the community at heart. I don't approve of the destruction of Trump's star on the Hollywood walk of fame, but I would have loved to see a protest demanding its removal be successful. How and why Christians confuse abiogenesis with spontaneous generation. Feminist Frequency does great work and teaches people about the important cultural issues. The Pacific Ocean is going down in a burning ring of fire. |Go to sleep Illy!| I added a page for the Rilo Kiley album, More Adventurous. - Not satisfied with only bankrupting the American government, Trump makes additional tariffs in order to businesses as well. The rising prices of various goods and services won't affect rich people, but people who are already living paycheck-to-paycheck will face the full brunt of his stupidity. - You know things are a bit scary when Trump tells you not to believe anything you read or hear unless it comes from the channels specifically approved by - Trump appointee, Republican Betsy DeVos is eliminating civil rights protections from the Department of Education and replacing them with pro-white policies. She's also - Republicans are now banning those journalists who ask Trump difficult questions. - Every intelligence agency in the US says that Russia interfered with out election to help elect Trump. Trump of course says that they didn't interfere because he trusts ex-KGB agent and Russian dictator Vladamir Putin over US intelligence. However, he's now open to the idea that Russia might interfere with the election to get a Democrat elected. Why? Because Trump is not only full of shit, but the Russians seem to have some serious shit on him. - Republicans are working very hard to make extinct endangered species. - A typical example of Republican versus Democrat sensibilities in the USA: the Democrat addresses the issues our nation faces and explains how they plan to solve them, the Republican complains about people who won't let him force his white Christian bigotry on everyone else. John Galman and Spencer Sutton, two white New Orleans police officers severely beat an American veteran while calling him a The Chinese government is pretty evil, and that evil is taking over Hong Kong. CVS is finally starting to clean house and fire pharmacists who refuse to fill prescriptions because they have moral problems with the doctors and patients. The conservatives on a school board in Chino Valley, California have lost their appeal on their Christian proselytizing lawsuit. They initially had to pay over $200,000 from the school's budget, all taxpayer money, but after they lost their appeal, they'll probably see that amount doubled. This means no new teachers, no new books, and the school will be paying off fees for years to come, all because they refused to stop forcing their religion on everyone else. Confession booths are a great way for Catholics to shield criminals from the law, especially child rapists. Firstborn Baptist Church in North Carolina is yet another Christian church has been discovered to be a haven for abuse and child sexual predators. |Go to sleep Gabby!| I added a page for the Hello Saferide song, X Telling Me About the Loss of Something Dear, At Age 16. - The fallout from Trump's massive import tariffs (even on our allies) has caused devastating losses to American companies. It has been especially bad for farmers because a lot of countries have stopped buying American food exports. Trump is trying to fix his mistake by giving farmers a government handout of $12,000,000,000! This huge failure is not sitting well with other Republicans who care little about ethics, but a whole lot about money, and are referring to his scheme as a Soviet-type economy. But it's not just farmers who have been hurt by Trump's tariffs, Whirlpool is seeing its worst stock drop since 1987! Meanwhile, Trump is so out of touch with reality, he's convinced he's winning. - One of the many recordings of Trump discussing with Michael Cohen how to pay off Playboy model Karen McDougal so she wouldn't talk about the affair he had with her shortly after his son was born has been released. - Trump finally unambiguously acknowledges Russian election interference, but says that Russia is trying to get a Democrat elected. Trump thinks that he's been so hard on Russia, what with him licking Putin's boots, that they don't want such a tough sycophant like him in office. - The White House continues to become more and more like the lair of a tyrant. Typically, Presidents were open about which foreign leaders they spoke to and what they spoke about, but now, the White House will keep all of its conversations with foreign leaders completely secret. America now has to rely on foreign media to know what it's own president is doing! - Even as he alters official White House transcripts, Trump continues to claim that all journalists are liars, but the few people at Fox "News" who haven't yet lost their jobs due to gross indecency are the only people who tell the truth. And when he discovered that the television used by Melania was tuned to CNN, he threw a tantrum. - Maybe people will stop caring about Trump destroying the economy and ignoring a Russian national security crisis if he starts a war with Iran? - British journalists don't yet understand how Trump can say he didn't say something even when they play a recorded video of him saying it. They just haven't quite figured out that he's completely full of shit. - It doesn't matter that Maine voted in favor of expanding Medicaid, Republican Governor Paul LePage refuses to do it and claims he'd rather go to jail for obstruction than do what the people want. Now, people who were relying on health care will not get it, and many will probably die. Remember that when Republicans complain about "activist" politicians. - Georgia Republican Jason Spencer, who once tried to ban Middle Eastern head scarves, is resigning after purposely baring his ass and using the N-word on television. If you're Catholic and afraid to use birth control because the church tells you it's evil, remember, they just made that up only 50 years ago. Preferring doubt over debate in order to change people's minds. The youth climate march is heart-warming. What would happen if you detonated a nuclear bomb in the Marianas Trench? Not much. Human technology is still far too puny compared to the size of the Earth. |In my pants| I finished reading the etymology book Written In Stone. - Russian hackers are gaining access to US power plants, and Trump doesn't just ignore the threat, he denies it ever happened. - It's interesting how when Republicans want to eliminate the human rights of women, they can't trust the federal government's rules, but when Democrats want to enforce environmental protections at the state level, suddenly they're violating federal laws and need to be stopped. - Although the Trump administration still doesn't know what happened to all the children they handed out, sometimes to pedophiles, they do know that they deported over 460 parents without their children. - Trump blames his pathetic performance in Helsinki on the questions he was asked... they were too hard. - More on the Russian spy who was beloved by Republicans and infiltrated the NRA. - Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, recorded conversations with him discussing paying off a second porn star. - Montenegro is a tiny country in Africa, yet they still send troops to help defend the USA. Of course, Fox "News" and Trump not only dismiss their help, but they make bigoted remarks about the people living there. Why? Because Russia doesn't like Montenegro. - What else can we convince the Trumps to give up on? The world looks every strange when viewed in ultraviolet. Scientists are imaging the brain of a fruit fly at nanoscale resolution to literally see how it thinks. Little girls are still dying because their parents are cutting off their labia. A symphony conductor explains what conductors do. I recorded the Windows port soundtrack of SimAnt. - Republican's can't even control a petulant man-baby like Trump, why would anyone want them to control the country? - The Secretary of Homeland Security, Republican Kirstjen Nielsen, admits that Russia hacked our last election, but she says that she hasn't seen any evidence that they were favoring one candidate over the other. So, this is the person who we are paying to keep our country safe, and, in her mind, a foreign power is going to go through all the trouble of hacking another nation's election, even though they don't care who wins? She's either really stupid or a liar. Trump, of course, is both, as he continues to ignore all of the facts of Russian interference saying all of it is fake. - Trump's foreign policy aide, Republican Carter Page, has been implicated in Russian meddling for over a year now, but the FBI has now released documentation (heavily redacted) which gives evidence that Page wasn't just talking to the Russians, but had actually become a full-blown Russian - Trump continues to be racist in order to keep people from voting against him. - In the US, sane Americans are trying to protect the first amendment from the religious zealots who have convinced Trump to try and overturn the Johnson Amendment which prevents non-profits from endorsing political candidates. This is a noble cause, not just because it promotes fair play, but also because giving a single religion power over others is a quick trip to shifting the culture to one like India where pointing out that a person is using religion to defraud people might land you in jail. - More details about how the NRA and Republican party made a darling out of a Russian spy. - Trump just can't help but cozy up to his boss, Vladamir Putin. - Republican Bill Schuette makes it clear he doesn't care about LGBT rights. Roads are usually made safe when planners decrease the number of lanes, and, when done correctly, it doesn't even alter the amount of traffic the road can Trying to understand the difference between misogyny and sexism. |It only gets better| - Because Trump kicked out all his staff when he was addressed by Putin, a former KGB agent knows everything they talked about, but you know who doesn't? Dan Coats, the head of US intelligence. Democrats demanded to question the interpretor so America could have at least a general idea of what they talked about, but Republicans wanted everything to stay Putin's secret. And you know what is really pathetic? Almost half of Republican voters think Trump's surrender was a good thing! I'm used to Republicans preferring party over country, that's pretty much their motto, but Russia over the USA? That's pretty shocking for self-proclaimed patriots. - The thing about Trump changing a single "would" to "wouldn't" is that it doesn't fix his pathetic speech. It wasn't just one word, everything he said was pro-Russia, anti-America. He would have to switch about 20 words not to appear like he was handing over US security to Putin. Despite this fact, Republicans can't help but treat the whole mess like it never happened because they're pathetic cowards. - Republicans fell for Maria Butina's made-up pro-gun message hook, line, and sinker. After dozens of top Republican politicians were wooed by her, now they're all trying to distance themselves from the Russian spy who funneled possibly millions of dollars from Russia to the Trump candidacy. True to form, Trump has responded to this by inviting Putin for a friendly visit in Washington D.C.! - Republicans keep going on television saying that people are overreacting about Trump's Supreme Court pick eliminating Roe v. Wade, but that has been their clearly stated goal ever since the decision was first made, and Trump himself said he was only going to pick justices who would fight to over turn it. - Trump got his way subsidizing the owners of coal mines and gave them the go ahead to eliminate their safety regulations. The result? Exactly what everyone expected, black lung disease reaches a 25-year high. - Trump received a fabulous welcome in London, if he likes being thoroughly mocked. One thing Christians seem to agree about is that the New Testament clearly commands followers to be kind to strangers and foreigner. So, it should come as no shock that white American Evangelicals are very angry that the US is becoming less white. The Episcopalian church now officially endorses same-sex marriages. Good on you! An important message about the cultural identity of fully integrated children of immigrants. A brief history of British colonialism in Hong Kong. Reddit has a long history of protecting abusers. |In Soviet America, Russia owns you!| I've re-recorded the SimLife soundtrack, added song pages, and updated the format. In Soviet America, Russia owns you! - Trump refuses to accept that Russia hacked the US elections, even though he asked them too, and even though every branch of US intelligence says they did. And yet, when asked if they were still hacking US elections, Trump said "no," implying that they were at one point. Not that this matters because, right after he said they stopped, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that's not what he intended to say. Just like how he meant to say wouldn't instead of would, right? - Sarah Huckabee Sanders also explained that Trump might allow 11 American citizens to be interrogated by the Russian government! I hope he got a lot of money for selling out his own country. - Trump makes a bigoted comment against the people of Montenegro saying it's a country of "very aggressive people," who, because of the rules of NATO, might start World War III. Does this have anything to do with the fact that Russia didn't want Montenegro to join NATO? - On the heels of Trump acknowledging Jerusalem as being owned by Israel, the Israeli government passed a racist anti-Arab law. - Trump continues to demand a war-mongering military parade, paid for in US taxes. - Trump's pick for US Supreme Court, Republican Brett Kavanaugh, wants to eliminate independent counsel, the anti-corruption law that prevents government officials from being allowed to choose who investigate their crimes. Kavanaugh has always been anti-ethics, after all, he doesn't think sitting presidents should even be allowed to be investigated for crimes, and no doubt that's why Trump wants him. - Trump is spending $3,900,000,000 so Air Force One will be red, white, and blue. Maybe if he didn't go on vacation every week this wouldn't be necessary? Another small victory for the first amendment. A Colorado public school that was trying to raise funds for a Christian mission trip is no longer allowed to do it. Not a big shock but, Christy Funk, celebrity doctor, is an anti-science quack. Simone Giertz is out of brain surgery and as spunky as ever. |Can we impeach Trump yet?| I added a bunch more updates to the YM2203 page and updated the King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne (DOS) page. - You know how in the past, instances of conspiracy and treason have been discovered by reporters "following the money?" Well, thanks to Republicans, that is no longer possible! Just after it came out that Russians used the NRA to funnel foreign money into Trump's campaign, the Trump administration is making it so groups like the NRA don't have to report where they get their money or to whom they donate it. - The CIA has a standing rule, no American should ever meet with the Russian KGB alone, especially anyone with important military knowledge or State secrets. Naturally, Trump did. Not only does Trump continue to disregard US intelligence, but he undermines them at every turn. - Trump loves Russia, but not the USA. Trump believes Russian intelligence, but not the USA. Trump doesn't know anything about foreign affairs, or even US affairs. - Ever since the presidential campaigns, US intelligence agencies have been warning us about Russian hacking and interference. The Trump administration has taken action by eliminating their entire position of cyber security coordinator. - Republican Bill Schuette's goal is to take tax money away from public schools that educate all children and give it to private schools that only help certain children. - Trump-appointed judge James Ho doesn't care much about women's rights, or even human rights, his main target is In case you needed a scientific study to determine that women have it worse on YouTube. Mother Teresa was a terrible person when she was alive, and even after her death we keep learning new terrible things about her, like the fact that her order has been Hobo Code is interesting, historic, and mostly a fabrication. I love seeing companies getting punished for trying to force their software on consumers! Hey Google, remember when your motto was don't be evil? An interesting sound synthesizer for the Commodore 64. |Trump is a Russian puppet| I added a page in the VGMPF for the YM2203 chip and fixed all the pages for Using spinning spheres of molten sodium to try to understand the center of the Earth. What would happen if Bowser dated a Pokémon trainer? Humans are currently producing 13 tons of hazardous waste every second. A lecture on using video games to teach people about music. |Secular Summer Retreat was awesome!| I've added the soundtrack for the PC-9801 port of Ultima III: Exodus and added a page for the Infinity Sound Driver and the INF format. - Trump says that he views the US allies in the EU as foes, even before Russia or China. - Trump was questioned if he would ask his boss to extradite the indicted Russian hackers, but Trump said he hadn't even considered doing it, but he's confident the world wants him to "get along" with the Russian dictator. In fact, Trump has gone so far as to say that the tension between the USA and Russia is not the fault of the Russian invasion of Ukraine or their murdering of journalists, and certainly not the hacking of US elections, not, the real fault of the tension between the USA and Russia is the USA! Trump really is a Russian puppet. - Who knew there was so much profit to be had in the incarceration of children? Republicans knew, they've been doing this with their private prisons for decades. - Republican Matt Bevin thinks it very odd the poor black people play Police officers have come up with a new excuse for killing unarmed black men, they were "exhibiting characteristics of an armed person." This probably won't end well. Maybe they can hire this cop who got re-hired by he department even after making racial slurs against black people. How human hair in pantyhose can be used to clean up oil spills. It's not just Catholics who protect their child molesters, Southern Baptists do it too. Tearing down monuments to racism doesn't erase history. The audio differences between Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic and Super Mario Bros. 2. |Off to the Secular Summer Retreat| I created pages for two illustrators who worked on video game magazines: Makikazu Ohmori and Kenji Murata. I also made a punny graphic: - The irony of Trump's lie about Germany being beholden to Russia was not lost on this woman. Meanwhile, Trump is busy licking Putin's ass while the FBI indicts 12 Russian military intelligence officers in the 2016 hacking of the DNC. - Trump continues to lie about the god of the Republican Party, Ronald Reagan. - Rather than meet with Trump lackey Mike Pompeo, Kim Jong Un went to a potato farm. Republican Bob Goodlatte lied to FBI agent Peter Strzok to try to get him to comment on an ongoing FBI investigation (which the FBI never does), telling him he has been subpoenaed and must answer his questions or be found in contempt, but Strzok saw through his lie and reminded Goodlatte that he had not been subpoenaed and had appeared voluntarily. Then, Democrats pointed out to Goodlatte that the Republicans let Steven Bannon refuse every important question without a threat of contempt, and even took a vote to recall Steven Bannon, but, of course, the Republicans all voted it down. - For those making the argument, "why don't refugees try to seek asylum the legal way?" it's because it's really hard to do, and the majority of the time, especially with Republican's in charge, they'll most likely refuse. - The headline "Trump denies he said something that he said on a tape that everyone has heard," seems to be used an awful lot these days. In an effort to stop an atheist from having a blasphemous vanity license plate, Kentucky is now banning all vanity license plates with religious messages. Naturally, there are dozens more Christian plates than blasphemous plates, so they're inadvertently censoring Facebook can keep claiming that they're trying to combat fake news, but until they block InfoWars, they're lying to The Aloha Bed & Breakfast in Hawaii lost their legal case after a judge ruled that being a Christian doesn't give them a pass on discrimination. Animals aren't the biggest fans of music, but they can tell the difference between genres. |Too much to do| I created a page for one of my favorite NES hint books, Ultima: Exodus - Hint Book, and the company that designed it, Work House. - After repeating several lies at NATO, and embarrassing the country in front of all of its allies by claiming the USA was going to pull out of NATO, Trump went on to say that the meeting went well because he convinced the countries to increase their military budgets to 2% of the GDP. Of course, they had made this agreement four years ago because of Obama, and Trump is pretending like it was his idea. - Trump has threatened to withdraw military aid to Ecuador if they don't support his anti-breastfeeding agenda. - Trump and Russia seem to have the same goal, promoting distrust in - Republicans voted to allow tax-payer funded adoption agencies to ignore the first amendment and continue to discriminate against people for religious reasons. - The words of a man who claims he's "like, a real stable genius." - Mr. Deity goes back in time to attend Trump U. - Did Trump think he was appointing Brett Michaels to the US Supreme Court? - What kind of world do we live in when a rich Conservative white man can't keep his job as CEO of Papa John's after casually tossing around the N-word? Does microwaving food destroy its vitamins? Yes, but not nearly as much as conventional cooking. In this age of riled up Christian bigots, it's important to celebrate the little victories like successfully convincing a city not to put up Christian advertisements in public libraries. Most men think being an alpha male means being a huge dick to everyone. In actuality, it requires being incredibly empathetic. |Babies are seven months old today!| I added a page for the television show Secret Agent Selection: WW2. - Donald Trump, who is partially indebted to Russia for getting elected and refuses to say anything bad about the murderous dictator Vladamir Putin, just threw a tantrum crying that Germany was being controlled by Russia. Psychologist refer to Trump's personal blindness as projection. - Trump's Secretary of State, Republican Mike Pompeo met with North Korea. According to White House sources, the meeting went as bad as it could go. Typical incompetent Trump employees. - The failure to put criminals like Scott Pruitt in prison show just how flawed our government is when it comes to prosecuting rampant corruption. - Trump's anti-immigration crimes are costing America so much money, they're pulling the budget from aid organizations to help pay for their child prisons. Meanwhile, the bodies of hundreds of immigrants are being dug up in Texas in a huge mass grave. Many of the bodies were buried in trash bags, shopping bags, and some, in hospital medical bags. The corpses were dumped over a span of several years from 2005-2009 with no names or even identifying markers, yet Texas police are claiming that there doesn't appear to be any reason to think this was done illegally. I guess dumping an immigrant's body in an unmarked grave is in accordance with Texas law. - The country is literally being run by Fox "News" right now. Racist Timothy Trybus shouted at a woman telling her she wasn't an American because she was wearing a shirt with a Puerto Rican flag on it. Trybus may be too ignorant to know that Puerto Rico is a US territory, but the real tragedy comes from the fact that police officer Patrick Connor was watching the woman being harassed and did nothing to stop the raving public drunkard. Bees understand the concept of zero better than children. District Judge Malachy E. Mannion rules that it's okay for COLTS advertising, who routinely advertises for churches, to discriminate against atheists. The Complete Adventures of the Video Game Agent. How would you like to get pulled over by a cop from the Crandall Police Department in Texas who just released a terrible video of themselves blatantly promoting Christianity while in uniform. I'm sure they'd treat you fairly if you weren't a Christian, they don't seem like the kind of people who would play favorites. Jehovah's Witnesses have an instructional lecture on how to destroy incriminating evidence of things like child sex abuse. |Gabby... stop crying...| A few days ago I started refusing the straws offered by my servers at restaurants. I suspected it would be an annoying transition, but it's been trivially easy. I recorded the soundtrack to Ultima III: Exodus for the Apple II in the Video Game Music Preservation Foundation. I also fixed up the Commodore 64 recording. - Trump has picked Brett Kavanaugh for US Supreme Court. Why would he choose him? I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that Kavanaugh believes that Presidents shouldn't be allowed to be brought up on civil or criminal charges while in office. He also has a history of favoring companies over employees, hating abortion, being pro-gun, anti-affirmative action, and pro-Christianity. - Trump reminds everyone that he's an asshole who hates people who aren't white. - Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond are those two ranchers who were convicted of arson because they were trying to destroy the evidence of their illegal poaching on public land. Their crimes incited Ammon Bundy and his friends to lead and armed break in at the Oregon National Wildlife Refuge in 2016 which led to a 41-day standoff, thousands of dollars in damage to the building, the death of one man, and probably millions wasted to pay all the police and federal agents. Suffice to say, the Hammonds are pretty terrible people. Anyway, Trump just pardoned them. Soft on white crime. - Michael Selyem, a district attorney in California, has been placed on leave after asking why Democrat Representative Maxine Waters hadn't been shot because she was a ghetto loud-mouthed cunt, in addition to other horrible things to people abused by police. - With Trump in office, Nazis are on the rise again, so it might help to watch Lindsay Ellis's video on the ethics of mocking Nazis through film as well as what works and what fails. Endangered orcas are on the decline again. Republican Mayor Jodi Miller wants to force her religion on people who disagree with her as a way of expressing unity, and, apparently, she's too stupid to see the flaw in that line of thinking. The importance of key frame animation in video games. Some people believe that Christianity is the originator of the separation of church and state, like the criminal who was pardoned by Trump, Dinesh D'Souza. Of course, he's completely wrong. The same thing that makes the National Anthem hard to sing is what makes it so interesting. |Go to sleep girls!| - The Trump administration claimed it would reunite the children they stole away from their families, but then explained that haven't the slightest idea where 20% of them are. - The Trump administration is refusing to pay $10,400,000,000 in insurance fees that it is required to pay by law. They're doing this in hopes that they'll win the resulting lawsuit, and since Trump is going to appoint another Supreme Court justice, they probably will. In the meantime, the $10,400,000,000 they refuse to pay will be passed on to sick people. In addition to breaking the law in this way, the Trump administration is also opposing the World Health Organization promotion of - After Republican Scott Pruitt resigned in disgrace due to massive corruption charges, he is being replaced by Republican Andrew Wheeler, whose impressive background includes being a lobbyist for fossil fuel companies, probably doesn't believe in climate change, and is the man who gave Trump the idea to sell off US national monuments. Andrew Wheeler is a piece of trash. - Republican Governor of Maine, Paul LePage, refuses to sign a bill banning Christians from torturing gay people and calling it "therapy." A wonderful lecture including some really interesting chemical reactions. The science behind freckle genetics. What happens when you burn 10,000 sparklers at once? Why selling your game on Steam probably won't make you any money. How humans were able to kill off billions of passenger pigeons and bring the species to extinction in less than a century. Some interesting facts about the Portal series. |Yesterday I saw a deer| Anniversary dinner at The Melting Pot was delicious and a lot of fun, if over-priced. I added a page for game Portal. - Republican Scott Pruitt, the most corrupt leader the EPA has ever had, has resigned in disgrace! He has dealt a serious blow to the quality of our nation's environment, not just by eliminating safety procedures from the companies that give him money, but by refusing to release reports about harmful chemicals, and by wasting hundreds of thousands of tax payer dollars in the process. He deserves to be in prison for all the unethical things he's done, but at least he's out of power. But, before you get too happy, meet the new boss, same as the old boss. - The Department of Health and Human Services has discovered that, because the Trump administration failed to perform even basic background checks, it placed over a dozen immigrant children with convicted human traffickers! - John Fitzgerald is yet another Republican Nazi. - Republican Mark Harris of North Carolina thinks women shouldn't have careers and should only exist as "helpers" of their husbands. - Jeff Sessions reminds us that his god is a huge asshole. - Samantha Bee celebrates independence by reminding us all about the importance of voting. - Trump continues to deport the few racial minorities that voted for him. Tess Thompson Talley thanked the Christian god for giving her the strength to shoot an endangered black giraffe. Facebook censored the Declaration of Independence as hate speech, but maybe Though we know how stars form in general, we don't specifically know where our sun came from. |Open up late bloomer| Today is my wife and my four year anniversary! Mazel tov! I added a page for game Shinobi. - Trump fans were pissed off at NPR's "taxpayer funded partisan advocacy." What was the offending text that made them so mad? The Declaration of Independence. - Mike Pence is a terrible person who seems to hate everyone who isn't white. He's also so stupid that he seems to think that the immigrants seeking asylum in the US - Unsurprisingly, in response to Trump canceling trading partnerships and imposing tariffs out of the blue, China responded by trying to put together an anti-USA trade alliance with Europe. Europe has refused the agreement this time around, but, let's face it, they won't say no forever. - Thanks in part to Republican Betsy DeVos, Michigan has a serious problem with its education system. There aren't enough schools, and the ones that exist are failing to give their students a decent education. There was a big lawsuit put together where parents and students sued the state, including Republican Rick Snyder for failing to ensure even basic literacy to their students. Well, US District Judge Stephen Murphy III just ruled that, while the state is obligated to provide schools for the public, it has not obligation to actually teach students anything. - Not that Trump surrounds himself with competent people, but it would be nice if someone who wasn't so easily manipulated went with him to his surrender to talk with - Trump hires another former Fox "News" employee to his cabinet. The latest hiree is Bill Shine who helped cover up his boss Roger Ailes's many cases of sexual harassment. Oregon police were called to investigate Janelle Bynum, a black woman who was walking door-to-door trying to convince people to vote for her in the upcoming election. The viruses that infect other viruses. Even though Archbishop Philip Wilson was guilty of protecting child-raping priests, he won't be going to jail. Just because animals look alike doesn't mean they evolved from a recent common ancestor. Another small victory in Virginia, where the city council will stop saying Christian prayers before their meetings. The video game art that exists on gaming circuitry. |Not feeling very patriotic this time around| I added a page for Carl Sagan. - The Trump administration is now actively working to eliminate the free press. They've started compiling a database of journalists they don't like. This is how authoritarian dictatorships begin. Normally, where there is a mass-shooting in the USA, government institutions lower their flags to half mast out of respect. However, when five journalists were murdered in a mass-shooting, Trump has refused to lower the flags. - The Department of Homeland Security is supposed to release asylum-seekers from jail if it appears that they are going to win their asylum case. However, under the Trump administration, the DHS has been order to keep everyone locked up no matter what. A federal judge has just ruled that Trump's abuse of immigrants is a violation, so, hopefully, they will be forced to stop being evil. - Ron Paul recently posted a highly racist cartoon. He claims that he has someone else do all his Internet posts for him, and assures us that he isn't racist. - Russia has a knack for creating false news stories, and Trump has bought into it. - Politicians tend to think their constituents are more conservative than they really are because conservative voters work harder to be heard. - The African refugee who just became a mayor in Montana. Gene editing is super cool, but also super scary! Women can now officially drive in Saudi Arabia. An old artifact used back when people were still trying to square the circle. In the USA, Christians like Franklin Graham are encouraging other Christians to run for their local school boards so they can make like harder for gay students. But, despite American hatred, I'm pleased to hear that the UK has made it illegal to force people to change sexual preferences. What if Mortal Kombat was an after-school TV show? The difficulty of telling a story in a video game without boring the player. The strange cycloids on Europa. |No longer sick, cold sore is gone, just this damn fistula...| I added a page for the video game SkyRoads. - Trump is making it very clear that he's not interested in a Supreme Court judge who will be fair. He doesn't care about justice, he wants a Conservative with conservative values. Also, Anthony Kennedy has shockingly close ties to Trump! Also, Mitch McConnell is a lying piece of trash. - Despite claiming to be tough on crime, Donald Trump is on track to pardon more criminals than any president in history. One of the criminals he pardoned was Christian apologist Dinesh D'Souza who plead guilty to fraud campaign donations and was given a slap on the wrist. D'Souza has a history of making racist claims, and his most recent Internet post includes the phrases, "burn the Jews" and "bring back slavery." This is the kind of person Trump thinks needs to be saved. - Trump is confident that he ended the nuclear threat of North Korea because he shared a photo op with Kim Jong Un, but since their chat, North Korea has increased its nuclear stockpile. - I'm so proud of those people who were able to get out and protest against Trump's racist hateful ways, because there is so much to protest about! - Trump demands Republican support on a immigration bill, then says he never asked for Republican support on the immigration bill. Constantly dishonest. Republican Jeff Sessions also can't stop lying. - Trump continues to lie about the success of law enforcement against MS-13 gangs. - Mexico gets a decent president. Why can't we have a decent president? - Trump would rather run for president than actually be president. - Trump is finally getting back with his old lover, Putin. Australia is a scary place to live. Hobby Lobby, the company that refuses to let their employees have birth control even if someone else pays for it, and was found guilty of trying to steal artifacts from the Middle East, purchased full-page ads in newspapers around the country containing a lot of Captain Disillusion debunks the marble sorting machine. Professor Stephen Kilpatrick, who worked at Liberty University, a private Christian school, has been arrested to trying to have sex with a minor. Don't fall for pyramid schemes, even if they change their name to "multi-level marketing." It doesn't happen often, but sometimes game developers make good licensed games. |Weekend, come and heal my ills| I added a page for the video game Limbo and the Queen song I'm celebrating another win for church-state separation while we still have a semi-competent US Supreme Court. They refused to hear yet another case about state officials saying Christian prayers at their meetings, so the judgment of the lower courts stands, what they're doing What if Super Mario Bros. had a battle royale mode? Tropical forests continue to be leveled at an ever-increasing rate. Officer Philip Bernot tased an unarmed compliant man for not following his commands because a second officer was shouting The rise of Trajan. San Fransisco's latest sex cult. Eleven great adventure games not made by Sierra or LucasArts: Part 1, part 2. The science behind sleeping in segments rather than single stints. I added a page for the author Nick Hornby and some mock-up screenshots of games on - Well fuck. Anthony Kennedy is retiring from the US Supreme Court. Not that I like him or agree with his rulings (he upheld Trump's Muslim ban), but, unlike the Conservative judges, he sometimes favored the US Constitution over bigotry. Couldn't the man at least wait until we have a Democratic Congress with a chance of being as unfair as the Republicans were? This means Trump will get to elect a second justice, and the court will vote entirely conservative for the next decade or so. This set our country back so far, it's insane! - Trump has indeed bankrupted the country. Also, Trump is indeed - Trump is deporting US military veterans and Hatian immigrants, and ICE is destroying records of assault and rape. Meanwhile, Canada continues to show up the USA, saying they will accept the refugees we are arresting. How embarrassing! - This is must be that "civility" Trump supporters keep talking about. - Republicans Ted Cruz, James Inhofe, James Lankford, and Rand Paul want to stop the National Science Foundation from issuing grants to teach science education to the public. Their fear is, if they're taught how the climate works, they might believe the fact of climate - Indiana Republicans are trying to pass a law that makes it illegal for teachers to educate public school children on their own biology unless they first get their parents to sign a waiver. They're also facing a lawsuit for denying student birth control at Notre Dame. - Legally speaking, Trump can pardon himself, but it will create some serious problems for him and the US government at large. - Say his name, bitch! - Another Nazi wins the Republican nomination. - Trump's trade war is causing US companies to move over seas. The professor's top 10 favorite periodic table videos. Your nose isn't that big, it's just the selfie. Another unarmed black man shot to death by police. A review of the games Limbo and Inside. |I need a new body!| In addition to having to take care of my gimp wife, sick daughter, and nurse a fistula in my mouth, now I'm getting sick too! Lovely. I've added a page on unwinnable states in video games and one for the science fiction author - Trump hates that pesky Constitution, always getting in the way of his desires! - Since only a handful of Republicans worked on their infamous tax bill, and since none of the people who voted on it actually read it, a lot of unexpected problems are now coming out of it. In their need to add billions in tax dollars they added a 21% flat tax on all non-profits, including, wait for it... churches! I wish I could have more schadenfreude, but it still hurts hospitals, schools, and the like. - If the Trump/Russia investigation is such a witch hunt, why have so many of his employees plead guilty and are in jail right now? - The US Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Trump's bigoted Muslim ban, because they're mostly as bigoted as he. - Sarah Huckabee Sanders was refused service at a restaurant. Conservatives may condemn this as proof that liberals are just as bigoted as they are when they discriminate against homosexuals, but there is an important difference to point out. When conservatives refuse service, the message is, my holy book commands me to murder people whose biology makes them attracted to the same sex, but since the Constitution prevents me from doing that, I'll deny you service instead. When liberals refuse service, the message is, I don't like you ruining the lives of people who were born different than you and constantly lying about it. It's a subtle difference, I'll admit. - Trump fans love anything Trump tells them to love. They hate the elite, but Trump says he's elite, so they cheer along. The Stanford Prison experiment is a famous psychological experiment which demonstrated how people who are given authority over others quickly become dictators. It's also a The Kinkajou may be a carnivore, but it's terrible at it. Good thing it's so cute. Ultima Online was originally designed to have a natural economy, but it turns out players in MMORPGs are basically locusts. It's nice to know that the USA isn't the only country whose government is currently a dumpster fire. Disney is pretty great at revising its history. The Angry Video Game Nerd reviews Dirty Harry. Emily had wrist surgery to repair the tendons on her right arm, and both she and Iliana are sick, so I've been caring for all my girls, which is why I haven't posted since Friday. However, I still found time to beat Hugo II: Whodunit? and Hugo III: Jungle of Doom! and finish reading The Princess Bride. AT&T is actively working to help the NSA spy on Americans, even to the point of building large buildings in major cities across the country specifically to transfer huge amounts of phone calls, emails, amd text messages to the NSA. Walgreens continues to hire pharmacists who refuse to fill prescriptions. Jordan Peterson is just another anti-intellectual claiming a well-rounded education is bad. The Catholic Church is -still- protecting child raping priests, and Pennsylvania's Supreme Court is helping them. Nobody wants to have a teratoma growing in them, but it did help lead to stem cell research. An explanation for why Super Metroid is such a great game. |New antibiotic, but may have to repeat the surgery. Fun!| I added longplay video links to most of the video game pages in my Wiki. - I assumed it was photoshopped, but no, Melania Trump really did go to see the asylum-seeking children who had been separated from the parents while wearing a jacket which read, "I really don't care, do u?" These are children who have not only been ripped away from their parents, but the ACLU has learned that many of them are being physically and sexually abused. Fox "News" implies they don't have to be treated humanely because they're not Americans, and Republicans mock their hardships and the White House continues non-stop lying about it. The Trump administration is just - The Trump Administration is planning on merging the Department of Education with the Department of Labor. I guess their goal is to finally get back to using children as laborers instead of wasting time and money giving them a useless Betsy DeVos - When Republican Scott Pruitt is in charge of the EPA, bald eagles are dying of pesticides that are supposed to be banned, and they do nothing. - Trump's stupid idea for wasting money on a space force isn't new. - Christian pastor and Republican Scott Lively doesn't like being called a Nazi, oh sure, he's fine with killing Jews, black people, and homosexuals, but he doesn't want to be called a Nazi because he thinks the Nazis were gay. - Republican Rick Snyder does what Republicans do and shifts Michigan taxes from corporations onto citizens. - Protesting the horrors of a dictatorship sometimes works. The US Supreme Court was one judge away from allowing police to track your cell phone (and thereby you) without a warrant. Thankfully, we still have four sane judges left! Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch are authoritarian pieces of shit. How the designers of Super Metroid were able to create dread. Upset that they can no longer protect child rapists, this priest has turned to slapping them in the face. Make sure the power ups get to the correct games! Understanding entropy, not as order changing to chaos, but probability. Sometimes weather gets pretty creepy. |Pus, it's what's for dinner!| - Caging children is what Republicans do best. And while they keep blaming Democrats, and don't seem to mind the expense of building huge child prisons, they're finally realizing that they can't ruin families and expect to keep their voter base. Thus, Trump is signing an executive order change his child-separation executive order, but it only prevents separation for 20 days. - Politicians always stretch the truth, spin stories, and fail to disclose facts, but what do you do when the entire presidential administration is blatantly lying? - Republican governor Greg Abbott removed secular displays at an open forum State Capitol holiday. Even though the displays were setup according to the state rules, Abbott didn't like their message and backed up his beliefs with a fraudulent quote from George Washington. The Freedom From Religion Foundation had no other option but to sue to protect the rights of American citizens, and a judge saw through Abbott's ignorance and ruled in favor of the FFRF! - Trump said he would wipe out ISIS in a few days, but, while he's busy taking children away from their parents, raising taxes, and crying because Canada called him out, militant Islamic groups are growing all through Africa. - Trump's call for a space force still hasn't gone anywhere. - Trump is eliminating clean water laws put in place by Obama. This is a return to the policies that helped cause the deadly BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and will increase toxic waste dumping in the oceans and Great Lakes. Naturally, Republicans are lying saying the elimination of conservation laws will somehow make water cleaner. Turning extremely toxic things into medicine. The game elements in Metroid II that create dread. More information and experiments about Nitrogen. Why is it most of the world's population lives in India and China? |Nothing beats pus in the mouth| I added a page for the Japanese Adventure Hero's Books series and a list of games I've - Whelp, the Trump administration has pulled the USA out of the Human Rights Council of the UN. Our nation will no longer be involved in making policy decisions to monitor or improve human rights around the world, and, considering all the racism, sexism, and bigotry in this country, that's probably for the best. Republican Nikki Haley explained that the primary reason is because the Trump administration believes that the UN Human Rights Council, too often, points out all the human rights violations of Israel, which, of course, actually does frequently violate - The Trump administration's policy to separate asylum seeking parents from their children is extremely unpopular, as it should be, which is why Republicans keep trying to blame the Democrats. But all this blame-shifting doesn't work when Trump himself admits that he's holding the children hostage until Americans cough up billions to pay for the useless border wall he promised Mexico would pay for. True to form, Republicans continue to claim they're pro-family even when the former ICE director admits that some of the children who are separated from their parents are never - Trump lied about Germany's crime rate suggesting that the non-white Germans are evil. The truth is, immigrant crime has been decreasing in Germany. As usual, Trump is a liar. - Just a reminder, Donald Trump Jr. supports the the crisis actor conspiracy. - Trump really wishes he could murder the citizens who disagree with him, just like Kim Jong Un. - Why sanctuary cities have less crime. About once a week, Minneapolis police inject someone with ketamine against their will. They claim they use it as a sedative, even though ketamine is so strong it sometimes causes their heart to stop beating, and sometimes cops inject ketamine into people who are already strapped down to a board. This has led investigators to wonder if the police are injecting people with ketamine because it also has a tendency to erase your memory. Vox makes a commercial for Dungeons and Dragons. By killing off all the apex-predators, we've pushed the meso-predators into the apex. Regions poor in nutrients tend to have more diverse vegetation. The gaming tricks used by Metroid to create a sense of dread. |The fistula is back| I wrote an ImageMagick script that can simulate CRT monitors, added a page for the Queen song Dear Friends and added a page Edmund Blair Leighton's painting, - Children screaming for the parents they may never see again is what America has become. Trump is claiming that he is powerless to stop this because Democrats passed the law requiring him to separate immigrant families, but, like most things Trump says, this is a lie. The head of the Department of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, also lied saying it was all Congress's fault, not like it would help even if it were since Congress is currently Republican controlled, but that kind of ruins her earlier comment, "[DHS does] not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period." Of course, she later said, even if they did, it wasn't child abuse. The Trump administration has also eliminated legal aid for the immigrant children they're arresting. - The USA already has the world's largest and most expensive military in the world, despite it being unnecessary, and now Trump says he's creating an entire new branch to fight non-existent space enemies. Of course, the President can't create a new branch of the military, only Congress can. More wasted money from a waste of a president. - Trump wants to be a dictator just like Kim Jong Un. - What "denuclearization" means, and why North Korea isn't even remotely close to it. - China is growing more powerful which is fine, but it's also growing much more evil. An interesting video discussing how Metroid Fusion creates fear. People have really been fawning over the new cool pope, but, just a reminder, he thinks that the only families that count are those with heterosexual parents. The typical black and white tiled soccer ball exists partially so that it would show up better on television. After Outfront Media received a lot of complaints about the billboards put up by hate-preacher Robert Jeffress claiming that America is a Christian nation, and took them down. Rhonda talks about the relief she feels after recovering from religion. The Southern Poverty Law Center finally got around to apologizing to Maajid Nawaz for calling him an anti-Muslim extremist. If they had simply did better research, they wouldn't have to have also paid him $3,375,000. Some history of the Veritasium channel. |Is it soup yet?| Feeling: Cold Sore I've updated the You Have to Win the Game page. - It's normal for Republicans to hijack Christianity for their own ghoulish reasons. - Another member of the Trump campaign has been caught having lied to Congress about Russia. Just like Donald Jr, Roger Stone had a meeting with Russians to try and get dirt on Hillary Clinton in 2016, but the meeting somehow slipped his mind. - When Republicans hear about kids being taught sexual education: "Won't someone think of the children?!" When Republicans hear children are being ripped away from the parents, possibly to never see them again: crickets chirping. - It seems every week or so I hear about a new industrial disaster like a huge factory has exploded, burned down, dumped toxic chemicals into a river, etc. Naturally, the thing to do now is to eliminate the laws that require companies to take the necessary disaster precautions, and that's precisely what the Republican led EPA is doing right now. - If there is one good thing to come out of the Trump regime, it's showing Americans the importance of limiting the power of tyrants. - When James Comey help elect Trump by saying he was re-opening the case against Hillary Clinton using a private email server, he was using his own private email address to conduct state business. - Trump is lying about the parents of dead US soldiers, because, of course he is. It's important to confront public organizations like school and parks when officials who work for them try to force their religious beliefs onto the public, because the confrontation often causes them to stop. The importance of eliminating noise. A serious criticism of the musical Rent. As a nation, Russia continues to violate the rights of its citizens, but that doesn't mean they can't host a soccer game! Food doesn't expire according to a pre-programmed time, so the expiration date is just a shot in the dark. Feeling: Cold Sore I finished reading The System of the World ending Neal Stephenson's - Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, is currently in jail because of witness tampering, and will probably be there a lot longer due to his involvement with Russia. Trump thinks that it's "very unfair" for criminals to go to jail, and then lied saying Manafort only worked on his campaign for 49 days. The truth is, Manafort ran Trump's presidential campaign for over four months. - Sarah Huckbee Sanders and Jeff Sessions are going full ranting preacher. They're both claiming that separating children from their parents is what the bible tells them - The details of the Trump's charity scam are coming in. Turns out the Trumps have used their non-profit to pay off lawyers and advertise for his hotels, both of which are illegal. - Republicans are building a prison for children, and, naturally, there is a big mural of Trump's mug. - Why shouldn't you hire a corrupt Republicans like John Engler to run a university? Because they will blame victims of sexual assault. - Thanks to Trump we're losing our civil friends and gaining dictator friends. - Things aren't looking so good for Michael Cohen, a lawyer who can't seem to find legal aid. - Conspiracy wackjobs are still pretending that mass shootings don't exist. - The White House has to hire staff to tape together all the documents Trump rips up during his temper tantrums. - While Trump was heaping praise onto Kim Jong Un, North Korea was performing a cyber attack on US - True to form, Trump's pick to head the National Weather Service is Republican Barry Myers, a man who has spent the past 30 years trying to ruin it. Finally! We get to hear how abortion affects white Christian It's really hard to remove an invasive species once it takes hold. The school board president for North Saginaw Charter Academy has been arrested for selling child pornography and trying to rape a five year old. Ireland finally repealed their horrible abortion ban. Feeling: Cold Sore I greatly expanded my page on the Color Graphics Adapter. Simone Giertz designed a robot to hunt and eat. 3,000,000,000,000 is a lot of tons, and that's how much ice has been lost in Antarctica in just 25 years. When you actually think about what the afterlife would be like, it sounds pretty awful. The Boy Scouts remind everyone, we still don't want any Feeling: Cold Sore Note to future self: Drinking alcohol dehydrates your lips and dehydrated lips are more susceptible to cold sores and you hate cold sores. I made a page for the MOS 6502 microprocessor. - North Korea has nuclear weapons. They have pledged to dismantle them, but have given no timetable or even a plan for how they might do this, and offered means for an outside entity to verify denuclearization. Despite these facts, Trump is claiming that North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat. What a - After Canada responded to Trump's tariffs with tariffs of their own, Trump threw a hissy fit, and now the Department of Homeland Security has been ordered to increase their presence on the Canadian border and look for terrorist and criminal threats. - But it's not just turning our allies into enemies that Trump excells at, he's also really good at licking the boots of our enemies. - No big deal, Trump has bankrupted the US. - Michigan Republicans are trying to eliminate teaching the history of Roe v. Wade, the KKK, and gay rights in public school classes. - Republicans continue to try and repeal the Johnson Amendment because it's not enough to have tax-free churches, they want to be tax-free lobbyists as well. - At least North Korea's dictator is as crazy as ours. I shouldn't even have to say this, but, yes, having segregated beaches to appease religious people is a violation of the first amendment. Alex Dainis takes a break from he PhD to watch some cetaceans. Who picked 350°F to be the proper baking temperature anyway? Understanding what it means to be at the intersection of minorities. |Get it back to good| I made a page for Queen bass player, John Deacon and the video game company - America, don't let Fox "News" and Trump get away with these crimes just because they're boring, stay mad! - I want to be hopeful of the US talks with North Korea. Trump said the US would stop the preparedness exercises of troops in South Korea in the hopes that North Korea will begin nuclear disarmament. Like pretty much everything Trump does, this was done without forethought as our South Korean allies were shocked to hear about his concessions. Trump also made no effort to discuss details on how North Korea would disarm and instead gave Kim Jong Un several compliments. There were also no talks about the horrible human rights violations. Still, I really do hope Trump's able to stop being an asshole and a liar for just a few seconds and realize what a great opportunity is available, but I suspect he'll bungle it the way he's bungled everything else in his life. - Despite Ivanka Trump claiming that her mission is to stop bullying, the Trump administration is trying to eliminate anti-bullying rules in universities especially those that protect people of color, women, and LGBT. - The Trump family is using the US taxpayer as their own personal checking - Republicans just want to remind everyone, yes, they're still bigoted against same-sex marriage. - The point of asylum is to offer safety to someone fleeing from a terrible situation. This is the kind of thing most people are usually in favor of. Imagine if a woman and her daughter came to your door and explained that her alcoholic husband has been hitting her and their child, and they need a place to hide for a few days until the cops arrest him, and could you please help? If you're anything like me, you would be glad to help out a fellow human being. However, if you're anything like the Trump administration, you would put the woman in hand cuffs, send the daughter to some random place where the mother couldn't find her, and then personally drive the woman back to her abusive husband's house and tell him what she did. Do online forums want to stop abuse and trolls? Probably not, since the increased activity also increases ad watching, and, therefore, makes them Things Christians should be mad at instead of what they're actually mad at. Which is worse for your health, fat or sugar? 11 questions atheists aren't supposed to be able to answer, easily answered. When debating with religious people, don't fall into the trap that morality can't exist without their god. The reality usually is, their god is amoral, and, therefore, morality can't exist with their god! |I'm too old for bachelor parties!| Five hours of drunk canoeing followed by four hours of sobering up with volleyball, added to little food, and sleeping on the ground, does not suit my 38-year-old body! Still though, had a wholelotta fun! My girls are officially six months old today! I made a page for Apogee Software and added more design notes to The Legend of Zelda page. - Russia was kicked out of the Group of Eight after it invaded and annexed Crimea. What was left was the Group of Seven a pretty much identical political group of the world's most affluent democracies, minus Russian warmongers. However, Trump is doing his best to make it a Group of Six by refusing to agree to a simple statement about the importance of free trade among member nations, ruffling his feathers after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rightly pointed out how Trump's tariffs were insulting. Instead of working with US allies, Trump is once again calling for the reinstatement of Russia, regardless of whether they leave Crimea, and blaming Russia's invasion of Crimea on Obama. - Educating children with disabilities, be they mental or physical, is very expensive. So, how can we make decrease the cost? Republican Betsy DeVos knows how, you just stop educating them. - When I learned about the tragic voyage of the St. Louis, I was heartbroken. The US was so antisemitic during World War II that we refused entry to entire shipload of Jewish refugees and sent them back to Europe where many of them ended up dying in the Holocaust. Today, the USA is doing the exact same thing. Refugees fleeing from Central American countries are seeking asylum in the US, but Republican leaders are putting them in jail, separating the families, even taking children away from their mothers, and eventually shipping them back to their home countries - Asbestos seemed like a wonder material because it was durable and fireproof. And even though it was discovered to cause cancer in the 1930s, like what always happens when capitalism takes president over ethics, manufacturers just paid money to keep the dangers hushed up and continued to sell it. Asbestos wasn't banned in the USA until the 2003 after so many people had died from it that it was impossible to ignore. Now the world faces a long-term clean up problem that is now being severely hindered by Scott Pruitt and Donald Trump. Trump believes that asbestos is completely safe and that mobsters fabricated its dangers so that they could charge for cleanup, while Scott Pruitt has stopped the EPA from even considering the health risks of asbestos in the environment. Speaking of Pruitt, when he's not destroying the environment, he's abusing his position of authority to cash in. - While all of America will be remembered for the racism, slavery, misogyny, etc., the North at least tends to agree that what we did was terrible, and we have learned from it. The South, however, continues to wallow in its ignorance. They would still be putting up signs reading, "No Colored!" if they could, but, until Trump gets another justice on the US Supreme Court, they can to content themselves with just putting up signs which read, "No Gays!" Our Conservative Supreme Court also just upheld the Republican Ohio which punishes people for not voting. The "use it or lose it" law de-registers anyone who doesn't vote in two consecutive elections and gives them a set of hoops to jump through to get back their right to vote. Republicans claimed it was to prevent all that voter fraud that Trump warned us about (which doesn't exist), but really, they just wanted to keep poor people from voting Democrat, since it's usually the poor who have trouble getting time off work to vote. - Trump fans love Trump's lies. - Sarah Huckabee Sander's official job description is "Professional Liar For the White House," which makes it odd that she should be upset that people are questioning her honesty. - Trump and his lawyers hope they can shame Stormy Daniels out of her lawsuit because they're stupid enough not to realize the amount of shit adult film workers constantly deal with. - Net neutrality is officially over today. Thanks Republicans! - Trump supporters care so much about Hillary's emails that they don't seem to mind that the Trump administration has their own private email servers, uses insecure out-of-date phones, and even John Kelly himself had his personal phone compromised while he was head of the Department of Homeland Security. - Republican Jazmina Saavedra was so proud of herself for harassing a trans woman that she made a video of herself doing it and posted it online, thankfully this led to her losing her election. Catholic bishop Juan Barros Madrid has resigned because he protected a bunch of child rapists. What the Vatican still doesn't realize is, you don't ask for the resignation of people who protect child rapists, you have them arrested! Queen's cartoon music video for All Dead, All Dead is pretty cool. The difficulty of creating bible trivia when it contradicts so much! Interesting history about the game of Clue/Cluedo. Petaluma High School got people riled when it cut the microphone during their valedictorian's speech because she began to talk about the school's failure to address students' accusations of sexual assault. |Bachelor party weekend!| I added a page for the Edmund Leighton painting, God Speed! and added illustrations to the Trolley Problem page. - We're told to believe that Russia doesn't have anything on Trump, so why is Trump is Russia's biggest cheerleader? - The Republican School Safety Commission was held. The Department of Education head, Betsy DeVos, who days before said the topic of guns wouldn't be addresses as a matter of school safety, didn't even bother to show up. - Trump has claimed that the US is now exporting energy for the first time ever. Here Trump is lying for two reasons. First, the US has been exporting energy for decades, second, on the average, the US actually imports more energy than it exports. - A few years ago, North Carolina Republicans passed an discriminatory voter id law to try and keep traditionally Democratic voters from being allowed to vote. The federal courts rightfully ruled that the law was illegal, and eliminated it, but Republicans are back with a very similar law trying to make their bigotry part of the state's constitution. - Our Republican government doesn't know where thousands of migrant children are, and they don't really care. - The Trump administration hired Heather Nauert to be the spokesperson for the State Department, and, when listing historical events that prove the US has a strong relationship with Germany, Nauert listed the Marshall plan and D-Day! This is the kind of person Republicans and Fox "News" hire as an expert, someone who doesn't even know that D-Day was when the US invaded Germany during WWII! - Usually, when a president considers pardoning a criminal, there is a review process, and a lot of thought goes into it, but not with an ignoramus like Trump. - Republicans are still trying to destroy the Affordable Care Act. Currently, they're looking at getting rid of the law that requires insurance companies to accept people with - I guess, if you're going to be a huge liar, you might as well be the best at it. - Having a conscience in Texas will lose you your job. - Until nuclear fusion becomes a reality, solar power will be the necessary next step to combat climate change. Naturally, Trump just ruined it. - More corruption discovered from Republican Scott Pruitt. Rather than hire assistants to do his basic chores, he made his security agents run his simple errands, which, in addition to their normal duties, has cost the US tax payers $3,500,000. Discussing a common movie trope with women having a literal monster for a boyfriend. An actual perpetual motion machine? Nah, but it's close! Scientists have thought up some pretty creative ways of eradicating diseases. Why do so many sitcoms look the same? Because of one film pioneer getting it right. The physics behind a nearly impossible skateboarding trick. |Almost chewing like a normal person again| I added a page about the Trolley Problem what with someone finally doing it in real life! - Trump keeps claiming he's innocent, but investigators keep uncovering new involvement in crimes, even as his administration lies to cover it up, and a lot of people from his campaign are already on their way to jail. - After learning that almost nobody from the NFL's Eagles accepted his invitation to meet him the White House, Trump rescinded the invitation claiming the team took knees during the National Anthem. Of course, nobody from the team took a knee, Trump was, once again, fooled by the lies of Fox "News." - Trump has pushed the US into a trade war with all of its allies, and here's why that's a bad thing. - Republican Michael Clark, after saying he favored the recent US Supreme Court ruling protecting the bigotry of Christian business owners, recently said that they should also be allowed to refuse to service black people. Disney really botched Pocahontas, but they did a decent job remixing it and calling it Moana. Bowser's blind date with Mortal Kombat's Sheeva. How bad are Dr. Oz's ethics? Sure you can give him a handful of cash and he'll promote your snakeoil as a miracle cure, but now he's taking a new tack for a doctor, he's Simone Giertz sold her house boat bought a ridiculous car and made a soup-serving robot. |Antibiotics finished, waiting for fluid to be absorbed...| I added universe pages for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Little House series, the A Wrinkle In Time series. - Trump received an important letter from Kim-Jung Un, and Trump says it's amazing! Really, you won't believe what's in it, and boy would you like to know! And oh yeah, he hasn't actually read it yet. - The Trump administration is trying to address school safety, but they are making it very clear that they will not even entertain the idea that guns make children unsafe. - For real though, we may actually be at the point where we will learn if a US president can pardon himself from his own crimes. - Yes, Republicans are trying to eliminate Social Security. - To give you an idea what ICE is like, the deputy director Thomas Homan will be speaking at an event hosted by a hate group. - Under the leadership of Republican Ajit Pai, the FCC lied to reporters claiming that they were victims of a DDoS attack when they were asking for comments about their elimination of Net neutrality. - Some Florida private schools teach their children that black slaves were the friends of their white owners, that people used to ride dinosaurs, and that God prevented Catholics from controlling the Americas, they also receive almost $1,000,000,000 in funding each year paid for by the Florida tax It's a pretty wise decision to use a drone to carry a small child. At least it's not all bad news, the EU is requiring that all member nations respect same-sex marriages that occurred anywhere else in the EU, even if the individual country does not. This will slowly, but firmly force the more conservative EU nations to stop being bigots. Force-feeding the input feeds of the NES to make it more like a SNES. 48-year-old Christian pastor Tim E. Smith Jr. was caught trying to rape a While climate change is probably going to destroy New Jersey with massive floods, the city continues to invest in new development and eliminate the green space that would help Here is a PC game that has received frequent updates for the last 25 years! |Mouth slowly getting better| I created a page for Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge and its engine, the Adventure Game Interpreter. - Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, is going down in flames. The FBI caught him trying to send messages to the witnesses in the lawsuit against him, so he can add witness tampering to his growing list of crimes. - Fact checks of the recent news. Not surprisingly, Trump continues to be the most dishonest president in US history. - Trump may have failed to denuclearize North Korea, but at least he might get a McDonalds over there. Quick, get the commemorative coins made up! - No Trump, nobody is calling it "spygate," not even - Trump's EPA pick, Republican Scott Pruitt, continues to abuse his authority. A new case of corruption has been discovered, Pruitt used position in the EPA to try and get his wife a franchise with the fast food chain, Chick-fil-A. - After less than a month of being on the job, Trump's pick for German Ambassador, Republican Richard Grenell, is being asked to leave by several German politicians because he has openly stated that he wants to push a Conservative agenda throughout Europe, which is contrary to the position of an The laws around guardianship, that is, having someone care for you when the government thinks you're too old, are pretty horrifying. Tricking people into being less disgusting... with science! One of the first periodic tables of chemical elements. Since YouTube can't properly show me my subscriptions, I've missed several videos posted by Simone Giertz like using a robotic arm that costs $100,000 to write out Christmas cards, and making a hammering machine that sucks at hammering. Doctors may not like midwives, but they actually have a better track record at keeping children alive. Describing several of the unfulfilled prophecies in the bible. |Mouth still sore| I added a page for one of my favorite Queen songs, The March of the Black Queen. - When your lawyer is saying you can't be found guilty of a crime because you're above the law, you might be Donald Trump. These are the actions of a dictator. - The Republican plan to keep Trump in line was to try and surround him with white men who actually understand politics and would help steer him in the right direction. But they can't control the monster they've unleashed. - The Conservative US Supreme Court has favored bigotry ruling that businesses that are open to the public are allowed to refuse service to people they hate. In this case, they claimed that business are allowed to discriminate against homosexuals, but the same argument can be used to discriminate against Jews, Blacks, Women, or what ever other group your religion requires you to hate. - Trump is an anti-Muslim bigot, but he still thinks he's the right person to host the White House's annual Ramadan dinner. - Republicans are complaining about the cost of the FBI investigation, but let's not forget that Trump's constant vacations cost the American tax payer - When you ask Trump to pardon your black grandma who was given a life sentence for cocaine possession, and he instead pardons a racist homophobic Republican troll. - You know it's bad when even Fox "News" thinks you're racist. Before she found out about her brain tumor, Simone Giertz gave a TED Talk and made a behind the scenes video of it. So far, she's recovering well from her surgery. What many religious people don't realize when they demand their legislators violate the first amendment to use the government to promote their religion, eventually they'll have to pay the legal fees when they fail, and that comes out of their taxes. You shouldn't have to sue your government to allow people who share your philosophy to marry you, but then, here we are. Officer Taylor Saulters was fired because he used his police car to purposely run over a black man. Shouldn't he also be tried for attempted murder? Since Minnesota Catholics kept protecting child-raping priests for so long, they now have to pay restitution to the tune of $210,000,000. But Catholics aren't just pissing away their own money, Irish police officers are being told to stop tracking down criminals for awhile so the country can afford a visit from the Pope. I created a page for The 7th Guest. - Trump is causing the death of countless women with his anti-choice jihad, which was probably thought up by Mike Pence. - Everything is about to become more expensive thanks to Trump. Ask your doctor if Ambien will make you racist. After police shot Gregory Hill Jr. to death over a noise complaint, the family sued the police for damages. They won their case, and, to help pay for the death of their loved one they were awarded $4. What a morning routine is like without Jesus. What goes on behind the scenes in Mega Man games. Genetically altering mosquitoes to eliminate malaria. Religious people aren't for -the- answer, they're looking for -an- answer. |I want solid food again!| I split apart Guerrilla War from the NES port page since the games are so different. - We live in a country where "Kim Kardashian meets with Trump to discuss prison reform" is a real headline. Spoiler alert, they didn't address prison reform, they just talked about Trump's neckties. - The Trump administration may have written off Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria with a confirmed 64 deaths, but Harvard researchers estimate the actual number is closer to 5,000. - In addition to writing a book whose core message is, "the American slave was treated... pretty well," Dinesh D'Souza plead guilty to campaign finance fraud after being caught using false names to donate large sums of money to Republican political candidates (the same crime which Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen has been accused). However, due to his Republican connections, D'Souza never saw the inside of a prison. In fact, since he has a long history of lying to further Republican ideals, he has become a friend of Donald Trump who issued D'Souza a full pardon and says the real criminal here was the people in law enforcement who arrested him for his crimes. - The US has been knocked down another peg as China surpasses us in life expectancy. Meanwhile, Trumps picks Robert Redfield to head the CDC, a man who has been accused of profiting off of research fraud. - Trump continues to start trade wars with our allies. Alex Dainis shows you how to perform DNA extraction in your kitchen. Those children who were raped by priests in Australia will finally get their day in court now that a legal loophole has been closed after 16 years of waiting. Bart Ehrman discusses his new book about Christianity and his journey from evangelical to atheist. The mothers who rely on science not celebrities. Want to be creative? Get some sleep! Using a blockchain to sell graphics of cats. |Having a stitched up gum isn't as fun as I thought it would be.| I added a page for the video game developer, Technos and The Sounds song The Only Ones. - Trump further whitewashes US history claiming that the North America was just a savage wasteland until proper white people came to tame it, and we shouldn't apologize for all the genocide. - Meanwhile, Trump described vague violent horrors attributed to foreigners as he lead his supporters in a chant referring to immigrants - The Trump brand is expanding by leaps and bounds in China where most of their products are made. They received over 20 new trademarks shortly after Trump lifted a ban on Chinese telecom company ZTE for selling to North Korea. America first... after China and North Korea. - The US is funding a police group in El Salvador that has been executing people without a fair trial. - Christian family man, and Republican Governor Eric Greitens, has resigned amid multiple allegations of sexual assault and fraud. We hold state governors to a higher degree of ethics than our national president. - Republican Diane Black blames school shootings on pornography. Human perception doesn't work linearly, but logarithmically. Only 60% of Americans are able to correctly answer these basic science questions. The high price of having cheap plastic. A feminist view of Deadpool 2. What is the maximum age for humans? Women in the adult video industry explain how they have to work hard for their money. |This indecision's buggin' me| Got my chomper fixed today. The oral surgeon sliced open the side of my gum, drilled through the root of my tooth, scraped out the end of the nerve, cemented it shut, and stitched my gum close. It's just as painful as it sounds! Over the weekend I beat New Super Mario Bros. - Trump asserts without proof the FBI will meddle in the midterm election. Actually a possibility since, by saying they were re-opening the Clinton investigation, the FBI really did meddle in the last presidential election. - Not like it's shocking, but Trump use Memorial Day to congratulate himself for things he didn't do. - It's been over half a year now, and the US territory Puerto Rico still hasn't recovered from Hurricane Maria. The death toll is near 5,000, and Trump still can't be bothered to do anything about it. - The more scientists study the environment, the more they learn that climate change is worse than they initially thought, and still Trump can't be bothered to do anything about it. - Continuing to mock Trump's North Korea commemorative coin. - Republican Dana Rohrabacher is protecting bigots who discriminate against the LGBT. Thankfully, he's losing support because of it. - Christian Republicans are trying to inundate Congress with bills that violate the first amendment in the hopes that at least some of them will pass. It's unfortunate that Christian leaders have to resort to such dishonest tactics. - Samantha Bee on the anti-truth that is Kellyanne Conway. - Despite it's huge ratings, the re-boot of Roseanne has been canceled because Roseanne Barr claimed that George Soros was a Nazi who help kill Jews during the Holocaust. Once again, we hold actors to a much higher level than our president. Egypt has become so fervently Muslim that the government banned all of YouTube for a full month in the hopes of preventing Egyptians from seeing a video that is critical of Mohammad. Despite claiming to be 75% Catholic, Ireland has voted to allow same-sex marriage, and has now voted to repeal its anti-abortion amendment. Well done! Faith believers in the Congo took two patients being treated for Ebola out of the hospital to a prayer meeting. Not only did this cause the death of the two Ebola victims die, but it also exposed everyone at the prayer meeting to Ebola. Though Pope Francis might give sound bites implying he's okay with LGBT people, when it comes to policy decisions, he's just as bigoted as the rest of them. Jordan Peterson makes a utterly terrible argument about ancient cultures knowing about DNA. |It rots from the head| I added a mini review for my Western Digital Elements portable hard drive which has survived me dropping it yet - Trump may have bungled the North Korea peace talks, but that doesn't mean he's going to stop selling his - You can always trust the NRA to do the right thing, like how they want to censor the free press so they can't report on mass shootings. - It's pretty sad that it had to come to this, but a federal judge just ruled that, because he uses it as a public governmental forum, Trump is not allowed to block people on Twitter. - If Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan has taught us anything, it's that poor injured foreigners will be denied help from the people who claim to love Jesus the most. Yes, according to Pew, Republicans and white Evangelicals are the least likely to claim that they have a responsibility to help refugees. Meanwhile, people who like helping people are calling for the elimination if ICE. - Democrats are looking good for the primaries, and they better be with Trump's latest bullshit. - Trump continues to bitch about being investigated by the FBI. Well, maybe you should stop being a criminal? - The US continues to help murder civilians in Yemen, despite never having been attacked by them. Before you get a home AI system and purposely subject yourself to surveillance, be reminded that they sometimes record your conversations and email them to people, that Amazon is testing its facial recognition software on the public, and Facebook doesn't just spy on its users, it spies on people who are not even signed up on Facebook! As a cultural system, monogamy has never worked very well. |Some things go bad just because| I added a page for former Rilo Kiley guitarist Blake Sennett and a review for - Trump asks a very important question, should people who protest be kicked out of the country? - The problem with Donald Trump claiming he had "everything" to do with North Korean peace talks before anything is concrete is that the only person to blame for its failure - Maybe Trump could keep his aides longer if they weren't all criminals? - Under Trump, ICE has become a force for pure evil. The children they arrest are reporting deadly neglect, violent attacks, and sexual abuse. - This is that pay-to-play politics Trump keeps accusing others of doing. - It is the job of the FBI to monitor and stop activity by criminal organizations. It's not their fault if you keep having meetings with them at your place of business. And on the topic of Russia, it appears that Russia shot down the passenger plane of flight MA17 killing 300 If you're ever stuck in a survival situation, make sure you don't make it worse by following these terrible ideas. If you're going to honor the dead by placing Christian crosses at their death site, you should probably check to see if they were No, Alfie Evans wasn't killed by socialized medicine. The Catholic church can't meet their demand for priests and nuns because nobody wants to get ordained anymore! The story of Mary and how she left the Mormon Church. The police tactic of randomly stop and frisk people has never been very |Funny how the pages turn and hold us in between| I added a page for the Queen song Some Day One Day. - Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, isn't too happy now that his business partner Evgeny Freidman has, for a lighter sentence, plead guilty to a felony of tax theft, must pay a $5,000,000 fine, and is willing to cooperate with the Feds to further their investigation. Whether Friedman's ties to Russia have anything to do with it remain unknown. - More talk about how Don Jr keeps getting caught in lies about Russian collusion. - While under Republican control, Michigan has decided that oil and gas companies should be able to decide which regulations of oil and gas are safe for the environment. - Under Republican lead, both health care and safety regulations have been eliminated, so, it's not much of a shock that preventable diseases for the working class are on the rise. - Republican John Shimkus really thinks there is a rising sea-level because rocks keep falling into the ocean. This is what happens when you're not taught about subduction. - This White House continues to be the leakiest White House in the history of leaky White Houses. The NFL is making it part of their rules that players must adhere to their views on Nationalism. Thus, even if the players do not want to show deference to a symbol of authoritarianism, they will be punished if they do not. The irony, of course, is that they are being forced to do something they disagree with during a song promoting their freedom. Baptists are so touchy. Tell a woman that getting a divorce is worse than routinely being raped by your husband, and suddenly they call for your resignation! It's nice that religious people are finally accepting secular values. No gods, no kings, but damn, did they certainly shape our past! Bill Yester, the principal who forced students to read from his bible and threatened them with hell in order to cure their gayness has finally been fired. How to actually admit when you're wrong in the skeptic community. With the guilty verdict of Archbishop Philip Wilson, the Vatican is now seeing even its senior members finally being punished for covering up child sex abuse. |I wanna see that fire burnin' in you little child| I started a page on the New Testament. - Shockingly, the Republican tax increase for the poor and decrease for the rich isn't helping the economy. Instead, it's causing American companies to continue closing American plants and outsource the jobs. This is a huge benefit to the stock holders, but a life ruiner for American workers. Just ask the 800 workers that Harley-Davidson just dumped to the curb shortly after being lauded by the Trump administration. - The Conservative judges of the Supreme Court have just struck down the rights of the working class making it legal for corporations to force their employees to give up the right to create class-action lawsuits when their rights are being violated. This ruling will only help already rich and unfair companies at the expense of the American worker. - Even if Republican Scott Pruitt wasn't using the EPA's budget as his own personal checking account, even if he wasn't accepting gifts from companies he's supposed to be regulating, even if he wasn't banning the media from his meetings, he would still be destroying the environment. - For decades, car dealerships and the banks they worked with were charging more money to black car buyers, even when they had superior credit. Democrats made the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to keep these institutions honest to help stamp out racism, but Trump just did away with it. Back to racism we go. - Trump continues to use insecure cell phones because security is "too inconvenient." - Bill Gates describes Donald Trump. - The Trump administration needs to hurry up and go to prison already! The science behind people bullshitting on the Internet. It's nice that we have substance abuse rehabilitation centers in America, but it would be nicer if they actually worked. It's nice when, in TV shows, characters learn why it's bad to be racist, but why do they only stop being racist after someone of a different race is nice These are a few of my favorite Mormon Sins. |Open up late bloomer| I added a page for Jenny Lewis. - It wasn't just the Russians, Donald Trump Jr. also met with the United Arab Emirates to help his father get elected. Too bad he's now suffering from amnesia. And things keep getting worse for Trump's former lawyer. - We're learning that one of the students the Texas school shooter murdered was a girl who wouldn't date him after months of badgering. But the Texas government says the problem is video games, the teachers, the parents, the fact that schools that aren't built and operated like prisons, non-Christians, and abortion. Also, Newsweek points out a very disturbing fact. Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks 6,929 US soldiers have been killed. However, since the Sandy Hook murders in 2012, about 7,000 children have been murdered in the US. The real war isn't overseas, it's here in our backyard. And, while gun nuts love to look to Israel as a country with lots of guns, but few shootings, Israel actually has far fewer citizens with guns, and very strict gun control laws. - For-profit schools have been preying on students for decades, leaving them with useless degrees and massive student loan debts, and Republican Betsy DeVos is ending the investigations into them. - A Border Patrol agent detains two American citizens for over a half hour because they - Trump's new CDC director, believes that AIDS is his god's punishment for the LGBT. What Christian apologists claim are atheist governments are nothing of the sort. More than saying a video is fake, it helps to be able to say why it's fake. Why the golden ratio shows up in so many plants. Why do whales get so big? I created the beginnings of a page for Freddie Mercury. - Despite Trump claiming he was in favor of abortion, then switching to being against it when he wanted the Republican nomination, the White House is still trying to eliminate abortion access. Now, they're punishing clinics, not just for allowing the procedure, but for even directing women to another clinic to get the procedure. - True to form, Trump is bungling the Korean peace talks. - Trump is fine with disrupting the Middle East by siding with Israel, but we shouldn't be so friendly with a nation with terrible human rights violations, like forced birth control. Regardless, it's important to know just why the conflict exists in the first place. - Because the Trump administration has given them carte blanche, ICE has been arresting immigrants essentially at random, hoping that they'll find a crime afterward. And, if they can't, they make one up. - Bill Gates recounted his meeting with Donald Trump. Trump made inappropriate comments about the appearance of Gates's 22-year-old daughter, and failed to understand the difference between HPV and HIV! - I'm happy to hear that even the mostly Republican Senate was able to pass a bill to restore Net neutrality (here's a list of the ones who voted against it). It will probably die in the House, but it's still a black eye for the - Equifax had the largest breach of US citizen's private financial data in US history. It was so bad that millions of Americans have become about 1000 times more likely to have their identity stolen, and the problem will persist for the rest of their lives. They have yet to receive any punishment for their stupidity, and now, it looks like the never will. Republicans have placed Andrew Smith, the very same lawyer who has been defending them, in charge of investigating them! - The Trump investigation continues unabated. - Banned ozone depleting chemicals are still being made and used, but with incompetent corrupt people like Republican Scott Pruitt in charge of the EPA, they'll never be found. - Republicans are pushing out copyright law even further, now for 144 years! Long after the creator is dead, now even after their children are dead. This law will not help people, it will only help corporations, but then, isn't that the motto of the Republican party? Another 8 students were killed by a gunman. Can we talk about gun violence now? This is really a daily occurrence. Another Christian preacher was arrested for an inappropriate sexual relationship with several girls, some as young as 12. What's really going on in the heads of people who have an interracial blind date. Alex Dainis has published her first scientific paper. The strange stellar object that is the brown dwarf. |Probably not the best idea| You bet your ass I'll be watching Bohemian Rhapsody! And Freddie totally wins this Epic Rap Battle. I added a page for the Atari 5200 and a dozen more video game advertisements. - Trump uses the same language as Hitler, saying that immigrants aren't people, - Republican's keep calling the Trump investigation a "witch hunt," but so far it has led to four guilty pleas in the Trump administration with several more expected, multiple nomination withdrawals, a decrease of Kushner's security clearance, a secret meeting with Russia, an presidential affair, a judicial recusal, the discovery of corrupt pay-to-play politics with payments from Russia, and much more is expected. - Trump's warmonger, John Bolton, is eliminating the White House's cyber-security advisor, because clearly we have too much protection from hackers. - Fox "News" has the ear of the president... to the point of telling him bedtime stories. And I do mean stories! - Republicans don't apologize for mocking the brain cancer of US military P.O.W.. - A former employee of Cambridge Analytica explained how the company was specifically targeting racist Americans to try and trigger them into voting for Trump. Speaking of racists, I wonder who Aaron Schlossberg voted for? - Why are so many White House employees leaking to the press? Often because they hate their bosses. Another cross removed from public land. The Christians are mad that they had to move their so-called "historic" cross which was put up in 1992. How historic. IBM's ridiculous EBCDIC. How is it that there are still teachers who don't know it's illegal to force their students to mindlessly recite a political prayer? Which takes more faith to believe? The hypothesis of a possible multiverse, or an all-powerful supernatural entity that created the universe ex nihilo and really cares if you masturbate? Part one and two. |I write these stupid words, and I love every one!| I added a page for the Weezer song In the Garage and added a recording of the audio drama to the - The Senate Judiciary Committee released documents pertaining to their investigation of the Trump administration's collusion with Russia. Most of it had already been discovered by investigative reporters: that Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort worked with Russians to help Trump win, and later lied about it. The only real new information is there is new reason to believe that Donald Trump was personally aware of the conspiracy at the time despite all his claims that he wasn't. - Donald Trump spent much of his time accusing Hillary Clinton of pay-to-play politics, when that's exactly what he was doing all along. - Trump is helping China at the expense of America. - Republican Ajit Pai is reviled because he destroyed Net neutrality, as he should be. - Not that it should be a shock, but Trump refuses to be interviewed by journalists. Christian pastor Kenneth Butler and two other church members are going to prison for sexually molesting girls from their church. Just a reminder that simply not believing in a god is still a crime in many parts of the world. Do Tic-Tacs defy gravity? Every few years, plants produce several times their normal amount of seeds, but why? Ah, the old melting spoon gag. |In the garage, I feel safe, no one cares about my ways| I added a page for Weezer's Blue Album. I also added manuals and maps to the Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra page. - At least 60 Palestinians are now dead because Trump moved the US embassy into to contested city of Jerusalem, something no other world leader was stupid enough to do, but as the Israeli military shoots protesters to death in the streets, the Trump administration says their deaths are nothing more than propaganda, and just down the road, they're all smiles. Also, as the Trump administration is demanding North Korea and Iran eliminate their nuclear programs, they're increasing ours. - Trump's psychopathic war-monger, Mike Bolton, says if our European allies don't follow the US in breaking peace treaties with Iran, the US will create economic sanctions against the EU. - Trump's rampant corruption is certainly comparable to Nixon, but Nixon didn't have Fax "News" to issue non-stop lies to his base. - Mike Pence gave a speech at a private Christian college and claimed that, ever since Trump was elected, religious faith has been increasing in the USA. But, for those of us who live in reality, the truth is, the USA continues to grow more secular. - Trump's choice for the new head of the CDC is Robert Redfield. Redfield not only has no experience for such a position (par for the course for Trump appointees), but also has a history of falsifying research data, and preferring elimination of sex education and condoms to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic. - While Trump may continue to be at the mercy of Russia, the digital world is pulling away from the Russian anti-virus software Kaspersky for fear it has been compromised by the Russian government. - The country is bankrupt, all our allies are mad at us, and we're beginning a nuclear war with Iran, but don't worry, Republicans are focusing on what matters, getting pictures of Trump displayed in post offices. - Christians rarely understand why secular Americans demand a separation of church and state. They find comfort in their beliefs, and they don't see a problem with gently pushing those beliefs onto other people. It's only until somebody begins pushing back with different beliefs that they begin finally understand where the problem lies. For example, Republican hopeful Brent Jones has a well-documented history of forcing his employees to practice - Maxine Waters is pretty bad ass! - Oliver North is really racist. US cops just need to shoot things. Biologists Ken Miller and PZ Myers discuss debates with Creationists. As we get older, we all become the old man yelling at the cloud. Things aren't so great in Venezuela. How solar energy is a problem for fossil fuel based power grids. |The needle in the vein of the establishment| The wedding went really well, and nobody even noticed that I missed a line from the introductory poem! I added a page for the Green Day song St. Jimmy and a bunch of arcade cabinet marquees and other cabinet art. - 37 more protesters are dead, and 1,000 more are wounded because Trump was so near-sighted as to place an embassy in the disputed city of Jerusalem. And lets not kid ourselves, Evangelical Christians do not care about Jews, they only want to conquer Jerusalem to fulfill the prophecy of their death cult. - Trump works hard to ensure the safety of jobs... in China. - Breaking a non-nuclear treaty with several nations, many of whom are our allies, is what Trump does best. - Trump's lawyer has been caught selling access to Trump to Russian and American companies for millions of dollars using the same fake company he setup to pay off Trump's extra-marital affairs. It probably didn't help that he put his real name on it. Luckily, Trump's new lawyer is really on the ball. - Non-profit colleges generally exist to promote education. For-profit colleges generally exist to make money for investors. While either may become guilty of preying on students to make money, it's far more likely to occur in for-profit colleges. In fact, law makers have had to create detailed laws to prevent for-profit colleges from swindling to their students. Enter Republican Betsy DeVos who is eliminating those laws, but then, what can you expect from a woman whose family became rich from a pyramid scheme. - Republicans continue to be the anti-science party. We've known for centuries that torture is not a reliable means for obtaining information, not to mention a despicable violation of human rights, but Republicans continue to demand it. We've also known for decades that climate change is a serious threat, but Trump has just eliminated the research that would help decrease it. - Republican Don Blankenship lost his bid for state congress somehow. - Republican Mike Ritze spent only a few months in the military, and then, only as part of the National Guard, has been caught wearing multiple military medals he didn't earn. - Republican Scott Pruitt's job might be on the chopping block because he's so corrupt he's out-shining Trump. Police officer James Legg dragged a 65-year-old black woman out of her car to the pavement while screaming swear words at her for swerving. He has resigned, not because he thinks he did anything wrong, he's confident that he acted in accordance with the department's rules, but because he doesn't think he will get a fair trial. Well, dude, if people are going find you guilty of a crime for what you did, maybe there's something wrong with your police department's rules? Sarah Braasch, the Yale student who called the police because a fellow black student was sleeping in a commons room, has a history of calling the police to remove black students. The Me Too movement is still keeping abusive men out of the public eye, despite their efforts to return. Christian Pastor Jackie Douglas Woodburn has been arrested for over 70,000 Skype messages of a sexual nature with under-aged girls. In an effort to stop child sex trafficking, Delaware has banned marriage for children under 18. Hopefully, other states will follow because 23 of them have no age limits at all on marriage! Expect a huge cry of hatred from Christians who have long prevented states from creating laws preventing child brides. Google still has a long way to go to clean up the malware in their online store, and Facebook has found 200 more applications that have misused your personal data. |You say I choose sadness, that it never once has chosen me| Heading to Indianapolis tomorrow morning to perform a wedding ceremony for some friends! I added a page for the Rilo Kiley song, The Good That Won't Come Out. I also grouped the media of every page in the Video Game category. - Trump made it official to end the nuclear treaty with Iran, which not only makes the world a much more dangerous place, but also has US allies asking if they should remain allies with the US while Trump is in - Rudolph Giuliani has resigned from his law firm, he claims he's doing so in order to better protect Trump from the FBI. Good luck with that! - Trump continues to wage war on the free press suggesting that news coverage that is critical of him must be fake. - In order to buy more war machines and justify his tax cuts for the wealthy, Trump is cutting $143,500,000,000 from the retirement pensions of government employees. - Republicans love welfare for corporations, but when it's for people, they despise it. They have no problem giving massive tax breaks to companies regardless of how bad they are for a community, but at the same time, they demand any individual who gets Medicaid must prove that they're working... unless they live in a city that is traditionally white. - Republicans in Illinois nominated for their state Congress an actual Nazi. Can we just give smallpox to all the antivaxers? A man claiming to be Jesus tries to murder a Muslim woman, but she stabbed him in the face with her keys until he finally gave up. The perception of the passage of time seems to vary depending on the animal. Incels deserve the mockery they receive. Playing Zork on an actual PDP-11. |Save the world from an evil spirit!| I added maps, boxes, screenshots, and manuals to the Bionic Commando page. - Giuliani is such a bad lawyer, even when he tries to do damage control, he incriminates his - Yesterday, although some of their more horrifying candidates lost their primaries, Republicans didn't have what you would call an - There is a strange irony in the White House as Trump tries to recklessly destroy everything Obama did, while Melania Trump continues to - Conservative teachers and administrators are still creating lesson plans that make slavery out to be a summer job rather than an abomination. As war machines become entirely automated, we need to start rethinking bans and war crimes. A public school in Oregon finds itself in hot water after punishing LGBT students by forcing them to read from a bible! With all the early competition in the computer industry, who decided that there should be 8 bits to a byte? How to solve the problem of going to hell because of your atheism? Become a saved atheist! |In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.| I finished reading Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Talk about heart-breaking! And how similar I see the US to be refusing to help Muslims refugees now just like the refused to help Jewish refugees then. I also added a page for the scripting language, - Trump told French President Emmanuel Macron that he will pull out of the Iran nuclear treaty that everyone agreed was a good idea for all involved parties. This means Iran can, and probably will, return to enriching uranium and become a nuclear power. - This isn't anything new, Rudolph Giuliani has always been bat shit crazy. - What caused the Republican Party to swing so far to the right? It mostly began with the incompetent Ronald Reagan, but strangely it was the bipartisan successes of George H. W. Bush that probably made it worse. - Republican Jim Jordan has gone on record saying that he has never heard Donald Trump lie. A plain clothes off-duty cop in Orange County California pulled out a gun and cocked it demanding that Jose Arreola return the mints that he had just purchased to the shelf. Let's assume that the cop wasn't racially motivated, why would he pull out a gun for a case of petty shoplifting? Was he actually going to shoot a man to death for stealing breath mints? Oh yes, and make sure, if you're black, that you wave to white people, or you might be surrounded by police! And it's best that you just stay out of Nordstrom's entirely. Evangelicals are just terrifying. Tick season is in full swing, and Lyme disease is a growing problem infecting around 25,000 Americans each year. Why isn't there a vaccine for Lyme disease? There was, in fact, it successfully passed all FDA tests and was used on thousands of people before antivaxer panic caused it to be pulled from the shelves. Interestingly, animals can still get the vaccine, just not Our love of cars in the US has pretty much made our cities wastelands. Forty-six years ago, Officer Denis Ryan was forced to resign from the police department because he wouldn't stop investigating Monsignor John Day, a child-raping priest who had strong connections in the police department, but today, Ryan finally received compensation for his good work. The news outlet Vox celebrates its growth by giving an inside look to their operations. A case against falsifiability in science. |May the seventh be with you?| I added a page for the arcade game Contra and split out the fairly different - Trump keeps hiring incompetent people. Sometimes this merely makes the White House a laughing stock, like by hiring a quack like Dr. Oz to be his health advisor, sometimes this is extremely dangerous, like hiring someone extremely corrupt to run the EPA, like Scott Pruitt. But sometimes Trump's incompetent employees give us hope that they'll help bring him down, like his new lawyer Rudolph Giuliani who made several statements in the past few days that implicated Trump in a whole bunch of possible crimes that he had previously been denying. - Trump has claimed that he is the sole reason North Korea and South Korea are signing a peace treaty, but, as expected, North Korea says that Trumps had absolutely nothing to do with it. - Republican Mo Brooks explains how only bad people get chronic Christian home-schooler parents were putting together a conference where they hoped to find spouses for their thirteen-year-old children. Thankfully, it was canceled. Trying to understand the nature of privilege using a video game metaphor. I don't care about sports, but I am interested in acoustics. |May the fourth be with you| I finished reading The Happy Heretic. I also added a page for the arcade game Bionic Commando and the Rilo Kiley song Plane Crash In C. - Donald Trump is the most dishonest president in US history. One of his lies was that he would take on the NRA, but now he's advertising for them. - Say goodbye to Trump's creepy lawyer. And, despite all the hatred Trump has for the Clintons, he sure jumped on their lawyer. - The Republican anti-sex trafficking law will not only probably increase sex trafficking, but it will end a lot of the freedoms we have on the Internet. In related news, 1,500 migrant children in the charge of Americans have been "lost." - The guy who falsified his health records and paid off a mistress leads the National Day of Prayer! - Republicans continue to create false outrage in hopes of giving Trump a legitimate reason to fire Mueller. - Mike Pence has nothing but good things to say about human-rights violating racist convicted felon Joe Arpaio. - Republicans are one step closer to banning the LGBT from adopting orphans. They do this either because they fear same-sex parents will somehow turn children gay, or because they think gay parents are also child-molesters. Either way, they're pathetic. - Sarah Huckabee Sanders really is the liar described by Michelle Wolf. - Want to get the EPA off your back about all the toxic chemicals you're dumping? Just hand a check over to Republican Scott Pruitt. - Many people are on Medicaid because they can't work. But, when Republican's kick them off of Medicaid because they aren't working, it results in people dying. - Paul Ryan suddenly realized that pissing off Catholics while the Republican party is hemorrhaging voters probably isn't a good idea and reneged yet again. But, just a reminder, there are still a whole lot of racist bigots willing to A brief history of the Byzantine Empire. It's very sad when an extremely rich man is completely ignorant to history. Facebook can't stop apologizing, because they won't stop screwing people over. |Sic semper tyrannis!| I added a page for the Queen song Lily of the Valley. - Trump, the man-child who cuts loose even his closest friends at the slightest inkling of liability, has declared a "National Loyalty Day." Like any "loyalty" document, the proclamation is full of jingoist language and doublespeak. - Trump, who enjoys watching Muslims refugees die and has done everything in his power to keep them out of the country, gave an award to a teacher who specializes in teaching English to refugees and immigrants, who also wore LGBT supportive buttons on her dress. - Trump continues to hemorrhage lawyers. - The irony is, Trump's removal of sex-ed will only cause more abortions while Planned Parenthood prevents more abortion than any other organization. - Suddenly Trump's story changes from, "I have no knowledge of Stormy Daniels," to, "Paying her to keep quiet wasn't - When it comes to Russia, Trump won't even answer a list of prepared questions. - So many Conservative snowflakes crying over Michelle Wolf. - Trump's now ex-doctor points out the legal issue of stealing your own medical records. - More corruption has surfaced from Scott Pruitt. I don't know which is worse, how corrupt Republicans are, or the fact that they're so open about it because they know they can get away with it. - Republican Brian Kemp pointed a gun at a teenager in a campaign advertisement hopes that it would get him votes. Portal 2 has some pretty creepy Easter eggs. Hobby Lobby doesn't just prevent people from birth control, they also smuggle priceless artifacts out of the Middle East. Rather than seek money, the two black men who were arrested for waiting in a Starbucks each received a symbolic $1 for damages, and a promise that Starbucks will contribute $200,000 for a young entrepreneurs program. It took awhile, but one of the white supremacists who ganged up to beat a black man during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville last year is going to King David is not a very good biblical role model, but then, are any of them? |Ten days until the wedding!| I wrote a mini essay answering the question, Is atheism a religion? I also added a page for the MIDI editor, - Trump is so lazy and watches so much TV, that world leaders have to go on Fox and Friends to get face time with - Trump's doctor doesn't appear to be staying quiet about Trump's lies, but so far it's just mundane lies. - John Kelly isn't a very big fan of Trump either. - Republican Scott Pruitt has ruined the EPA in hopes of ruining the environment, but thankfully he's facing lawsuits in 17 different states to stop him. - Iowa Republicans continue to exert control over women by trying to pass a law banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat is measured, as if a heartbeat is an indication of personhood. - Why do Nazis, Klansmen, and White Supremacists always try to enter politics on the GOP ticket? - Trump's Michigan rally was just as pathetic as you'd expect. Apologists use the term "Darwinism" to attach evolution to a single person, because a person is much easier to attack than an entire field of study. The paradigm shift that occurred when scientists discovered the neutron. The Panama Canal has a pretty dark history behind it. Pokémon names don't translate well to private investigator titles. It's kind of a bad thing that businesses are testing on their clients without their informed consent. |Okay, I believe you!| I added a page for the game, The Stanley Parable, and the bitmap font editor, - Looks like Trump is preemptively trying to hide his personal information from the Feds! - Trump would never associate with people who plead the fifth amendment, right? Because only criminals do that, right? - "Even if you don't like Trump, you have to admit that he follows through on his promises," is something people say when they aren't paying attention. - Republicans told a woman they would stop sending her her $170 a month welfare check unless she could prove that she was actively looking for employment. It didn't matter that she was suffering side effects from being 8-months-pregnant. - A lot of people who are complaining that Michelle Wolf went too far in her roast are the same people who complain about liberals Michael Rohleder and Anthony Munoz, the two cops who beat and electrocuted an unarmed man to death while he was nude in his own shower will not be punished. They didn't even get the paid vacation that is typical to officers who murder civilians. Does having money somehow make you more knowledgeable about the food you eat? Did you know you can adopt hurricane animals from Puerto Rico? If biological organisms were designed, they weren't done so intelligently. Philip Smith, DJ for Christian radio station WJTL-FM, is a child rapist, and so are four of the priests in Angola, New York. An extra long Angry Video Game Nerd episode for Earthbound. Simone Giertz legit has a brain tumor! I added a page for computer programming and the Queen song - The proper way to talk about the Trump Administration. - Not only has Ronny Jackson abandoned his nomination for heading the VA office, he's also resigning as the President's official doctor. Too many skeletons from his closets have been revealed and he's shrinking from the - The NRA is banning guns during their event because Mike Pence is speaking. But, if the place is going to be swarming with "good guys with guns" how could he possibly be in harm's way? - Yet another Republican resigns amid a sexual harassment scandal. Good riddance - Republican Paul Ryan is only a friend of Christians if they're a friend of the rich. - Even Fox and Friends has to tell Trump to stop babbling. - Trump's administration takes pride in their constant lies about immigration, but at least in the UK, racist lies will still get you fired. - That moment when the South Korean president suggests Donald Trump should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. You mean the guy who sends attacks to Yemen, but refuses to stop Russia? You mean the guy whose only interaction with North Korea so far is to insult the leader's height? That Trump? Are you a fucking idiot? - In the USA, Republican Scott Pruitt has declared war on the environment. In the EU, they're actually taking steps to fixing their ecological disasters. Going behind the scenes in Super Mario Bros. 3. Just a kindly reminder that your tax dollars are going to Christian organizations who lie to women about birth control. A naturopath who pretends to be a doctor gives a child rabies because he might be a werewolf. The rise and fall of the world's first empire. Understanding the three different types of paradoxes. |In the closet, skeletons are lined up and ready to talk| I added a list of required reading, books that I feel are so important, everyone should read them and a page for North and South Korea are currently engaged in peace talks! If you enjoy idioms with animals, you should watch this video. An interesting study about how a generic racist can go full-on Nazi in only six months when they insulate themselves. Questions about life in space described by an actual astronaut. A not-safe-for-work mini-documentary about the first nude videos. |You got cobwebs on your halo| I added a page about a problem with translating the books of the New Testament and a page for a 1980s children's trivia board game, Trivia Adventure. - As usual, Trump's team thinks that if we can only get the poor to pay more, we will solve all the country's problem. Never mind that major corporations and the filthy rich pay almost no taxes, never mind that our military budget is over ten time what it needs to be. - Trump sure knows how to pick 'em, and, by that, I mean, he picks people who are woefully unqualified and so afraid of being investigated they - Trump is bankrupting the country. - Now there is a second Fox "News" to worry about, Sinclair Media. - Though I've never seen Capitol Hill questioning ever directly accomplish anything, it will be nice to see how Republican Scott Pruitt tries to justify his rampant corruption. The six things the bible encourages, but are completely illegal today. Most Americans would be livid if they found out a group of Muslims forced their child to go through a Islamic ritual, but can't understand why anyone would get mad when Christians do it. A mathematical reason for why you can't divide by zero. The 300 Spartans were actually the 7,000 Spartans. Another rapey priest blames the boys he raped. A video about the TRS-80 computer. The annoying "just a theory" argument. |Just one life that is born, and is, and is gone| I added a page for The Fratellis album Costello Music. - Donald Trump isn't saying much about James Shaw, the unarmed black man who wrestled the AR-15 assault rifle out of the hands of Travis Reinking after he murdered four people of color in Antioch, Tennessee. Not only is this an example of yet another white man with a history of mental illness who still legally possessed of several guns, but also of a black hero, neither of which fits Trump's twisted view of the world. But the worst part about it all, is Trump's very own Secret Service agents had just recently taken Reinking's four guns away from him because they viewed him as an dangerous man with mental health problems, and yet, they still returned his guns to his family who promptly returned the guns to their son! - Thank you federal judges who keep refusing to let Trump's racism be the rule of law. - Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen said he would take a bullet for Trump, but will he take fifteen years in jail - Trump's empire is based on lies and bad fact-checking by Forbes. - As the environment falls apart around us, Republican head of the EPA, Scott Pruitt, is not only claiming that burning wood is carbon neutral (it's not), but is making it harder for the scientists at the EPA to have access to scientific research. This move is at the request of the Heartland Institute, the conservative anti-science organization who is paid by tobacco companies to say smoking doesn't cause cancer, and paid by the fossil fuel's industry to say that climate change isn't real and fracking is good. - How Russian trolls have been successfully affecting elections all over the world. And though Trump may be beholden to Putin, other countries are actually doing something about it. - More bad news for Sean Hannity. After being outed as a client of Michael Cohen, a lawyer who specializes in covering up affairs, he's been under much more scrutiny than usual, and it just came out that his venture into real estate has got him tied up with a scam artist. If you're the kind of person who can be easily duped, maybe you will want to buy raw water. My favorite host on The Atheist Experience, Tracy Harris, describes her deconversion into atheism. The common ancestor to all life, and why we may have evolved, not from bacteria, but from archaea. |Just one year of love is better than a lifetime alone| I added a page for the Queen song One Year of Love. I also updated the Bonk's Adventure page and split apart the Game Boy port information. There is also a list of times on digital clocks that I like. - Everyone who was involved in the Iran nuclear deal has signed off on it, and Iranians do not like the raw deal they've forced to accept, but even they agree it's the best course of action. But now Donald Trump is going to ruin it just like he has ruined everything he's ever touched, and it's only going to hurt the USA and, with it, the entire world. - Just like in 2016, Republicans are afraid to endorse Trump, but, just like in 2016, if he's the only candidate, you know they're going to because - In case you need another reason to fear Russia, their Supreme Court has outlawed the Jehovah's Witness religion because it demands pacifism (among other things), and the nation is currently arresting church members. While I don't agree with the religion, being able to believe what you want is a fundamental human right. However, Trump will continue to be best buddies with Putin no matter how vile he becomes. - How to fairly fix the rampant racism Republicans created with their gerrymandering. - The guy who can't stop cheating on his many wives is eliminating sexual education funding. - Why is it when Republicans create a bill about "freedom" it's always in favor of - Republicans refuse to believe in climate change, but the evidence is all around us, like the fact that Atlantic fish are now taking over the warming Arctic ocean. Simone Giertz builds an extremely life-like android. A postmortem for Sonic the Hedgehog. Milk isn't much other than filtered blood. A remastered attempt at putting time into perspective. |Okay, maybe not all of them, that's a bit extreme| I added a page for the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy audio drama, which I finished over the weekend, and then discovered there is a six season which I haven't yet heard! IBM is trying to quietly wipe out their older employees by tricking them into signing away their rights then forcing them to relocate across the country or be fired. And since the conservative US Supreme Court keeps making it harder for people to win age discrimination lawsuits, they're probably going to keep doing it, and, if they're successful, other companies will follow suit. Not a good sign if you're older. Starbucks is still receiving backlash because one of their store managers called 911 and had police forcibly remove two black men from their store. Carnival games are specifically designed to make you lose, and, even when you win, you still lose. A talk about the evolution of gods. The CEO of WalMart makes 1,188 times more than the company's average worker, but do they really contribute 1,188 times more to the value of the company? Maybe basing a person's credit score on how "good" of a person they are isn't such a good idea. |Kill 'em all!| I read an reviewed the Book of Haggai. When you're in a debate, and someone brings up an utterly ridiculous point, it's best to just make a joke about it. That moment when you try to become a pundit for Christian television, but they won't hire you unless you lie about your religious beliefs. Not every video game character is cut out to be in Super Smash Bros. Captain Disillusion explains how the dancing phantoms CGI works by teaching you everything there is to know about computer imaging. |There's so much more than this| I added a page for The Sounds' song Home Is Where Your Heart Is. - Sean Hannity is even seeing his guests call out his hypocrisy. - Trump, once again proves he's in bed with Russia, and refuses to add additional sanctions against them. - In addition to paying off porn stars, the Trump administration has given $50,000 to a church so that they're make African children take purity oaths. Abstinence hasn't worked anywhere they've tried it so far, so maybe it will work in Africa! - Three more white American male terrorists who aren't called terrorists. - No, you shouldn't be shocked, Trump is appointing to NASA an administrator with no science background. - It's nice to see that there are a few Republicans left who are scrupulous enough to push the Mueller protection bill in spite of the spineless Mitch McConnell. - Republicans in the US continue to hold their heads in the sand when it comes to climate change because they don't want to annoy their corporate sponsors, but Canada and France have announced that they're going to work even harder! Trying to find life outside of our planet. Some of the things hidden behind the scenes in Chrono Trigger. The lengths you have to take in order to hold a private meeting in today's world of constant surveillance. Simone Giertz makes a very useful personal revolving restaurant. Ancient gladiators were actually more like professional boxers. remove niqqud from Hebrew text. - Trump is not just the only president in living memory to refuse to release his taxes to the public because he's so corrupt, but he can't even get them filed on time! Why is that? Aren't all of his businesses owned by his children now? If he only gets income from his job as the president, and has nothing else to hide, surely his taxes should be a breeze. - Remember the bill to protect Robert Muller from being fired by Trump? Republican Mitch McConnell refuses to allow it to see a vote. Those two are thick as thieves. - Sean Hannity from Fox "News" has been calling the seizing of Michael Cohen's files a "witch hunt." Sure Cohen has made a career out of paying off the mistresses of Republicans, but what Hannity forget to divulge is that he personally paid Cohen for some undisclosed legal help! - The US Supreme Court is currently quite conservative, and even they think that Trump's violating human - Trump's pick for Interior Secretary, Republican Ryan Zinke, the guy who keeps selling off national monuments to oil companies, is now pretending to be a geologist. - Trump's limited strike on Syria probably won't help the country, but it sure cost the US millions of dollars. Another unarmed black man has been shot to death by police. Taxing pop could help keep people's diet in check, but not when the tax is setup so stupidly. Some of the odd things that go on beyond the camera in Super Mario 64. Conway's game of life can be used to create some amazing things. I added a page for the Alanis Morissette song, I Was Hoping and the Book of Obadiah. - More news of Republican Scott Pruitt's corrupt has been released. Turns out, the $43,000 sound proof phone booth he had installed in his office - Trump has no problem bombing Syria, but he refuses to actually help Syrian refugees. - Just a reminder, the real reason your city has turned to shit isn't because of people one welfare, it's because of companies on welfare. - Ajit Pai, the Republican who single-handedly eliminated Net neutrality in the USA, also recruited Elizabeth Pierce, a cable company CEO who was just arrested for $250,000,000 in fraud. - Republican Matt Bevin said that children were being sexually assaulted because Kentucky teachers were striking for a livable wage. Now, he's sorry, not that he said it, because he still believes it, but because it generated negative press. - The Trump administration continues to fail to stop the FBI investigation against them despite doing a piss poor job at trying. Some rather interesting things scientists discovered by accident. It's 2018 and even after a woman said no to a man 90 times, her jury still refused to render a guilty verdict to her rapist because the woman was also drunk. It should be a crime to psychologically abuse someone in hopes of altering who they're physically attracted to, and, in many places, it already is. Alexandre Bissonnette, a watcher of Fox News and big fan of Donald Trump, murdered six people while they were in church because they were Muslims. Another daughter from a TLC Christian family show has come forward about the sexual abuse of Some strange things are hidden among the race tracks in the Mario Kart franchise. Despite the sleet scaring away a few people, my birthday party was still a enjoyable success. There was trivia, sing-a-longs, and good conversation. Thank you all who braved the weather! I added a review for the game Raptor: Call of the Shadows. - Trump is learning that part of being so terrible and making everyone hate him means nobody feels bad about exposing all the terrible things he's done. And now we're learning from Comey that the Russian pee tapes are probably real, not only because a lot of the Steele dossier has since been prove true, but also because Trump personally asked Comey to check for a pee tape, so he said, just to prove it didn't exist. - Yet another news organization points out the obvious, that giving massive tax cuts to the filthy rich doesn't help the - The environment's worst nightmare, Republican Scott Pruitt, wants to add bible verses to the EPA emblem. - Another Russian journalist has died under mysterious circumstances. - Long barriers like Trump's would-be border wall don't just stop human traffic, they also stop wildlife traffic. - Just a reminder, our president was once involved with professional wrestling. The only person who can shoot an unarmed black teen with a gun is a white man with a Some of the more interesting things found behind the scenes in the Punch-Out!! series. Chemist Andrew Szydlo wows the crowd with flames, explosions, and various other chemical reactions. Conservative Christian pastor Ken Adkins was overjoyed that so many gay people were murdered at the Pulse nightclub shooting. Naturally, we later found out he's a child molester. The extra pressure of being a racial minority, especially a poor one, means lack of sleep, which comes with its own host of health problems. I added a reviews for the Hello Saferide song Anna and reviews for the NES and SNES controllers. - There has been a massive exodus of prominent Republicans retiring from Congress before the midterm elections, but I'm not convinced they're doing this solely because they might lose reelection, I think they have a behind-the-scenes insight to just how bad the White House is going to fall, and, like rats abandoning a sinking ship, they're trying to get out before the scandal really breaks. - To give you an idea of just how morally bankrupt American Evangelical Christians are, not only did they overwhelmingly support Donald Trump, but after they learned that he may have cheated on his wife with a porn star, they started loving him even more! - So, after increasing the national deficit to an estimate $1,000,000,000,000 by giving massive tax breaks to the filthy rich and increasing the already bloated military budget, Trump has decided that the real financial problem the US has is that a single company isn't paying enough to the US Post Office. - Trump may have finally realized how stupid he was for pulling the US out of the - A troubling video has surfaced of ICE agents considering dumping a man in Mexico without processing him according to the law, because he For decades, the Catholic Church had censorship control over the film industry. Scientists still don't know how lightning works, but they're getting closer to understanding it. Christian pastor Acton Bowen has been arrested for sexually assaulting a young boy, under the age of 16. There are some interesting behind-the-scenes things to find in Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. The element promethium has a pretty interesting history. |One month until show time| I added a page for the Queen single, Long Away. I also added reviews for the Logitech F710 and F310 gamepads. - Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, has been raided by the FBI after they got approval not just from judges, but from Trump's own Republican appointees, and Trump is his usual eloquent self. What a disgrace. Even Republican Senators are now trying to pass a bill that will make it much harder for Trump to fire Robert Mueller. - After creating one of the largest deficits this country has ever seen with unprecedented tax breaks for the extremely rich and completely unnecessary military spending, Trump has decided the real way to fix our debt is to make sure poor people don't get welfare. - How corrupt is Republican Scott Pruitt? Very corrupt. - Republican Governor of Missouri, Eric Greitens, is having a bad day, but not nearly as bad as the woman he sexually assaulted. - While he was in office, Republican John Boehner voted against the legalization of medical marijuana. Now that it affects his paycheck, he's fighting to legalize it. - Paul Nehlen is the Republican white supremacist that would take over Paul Ryan's position. Some boundary breaking in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Pope Francis is finally acknowledging that he made serious mistakes in how he helped protect child raping priests when we was still working in Chile. It's important to keep your dogma out of discourse. If you hate Facebook, why are you still using it? Well, since everyone else is, you basically have to. |Happy belated birthday to me!| I added quite a bit more to the theatre portal. - With the impeding blue tsunami wiping out this most recent generation of horrible Republicans, many of them have been jumping ship and, in order to save face at a probably defeat, are claiming they won't seek reelection. In particular is Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan. After doing serious damage to the the most vulnerable American people, he's now cashing out his millions and retiring. Fuck him. - Donald Trump isn't just one of the most corrupt presidents in our nation's history, he is also one of the most corrupt businessmen in our nation's history. - I'm no fan of Amazon, and I think their business model is damaging to the country, but, as usual, Trump has it all wrong. - Yet another Trump employee is threatening to quit, because it sure beats being raided by the Computerphile reviews the Atari 2600. The FTC has -finally- made it clear that companies aren't allowed to void a warranty because someone opened their own product. Breaking beyond the boundaries in Doom. Republican Rick Ray Redalen lost his medical license in three states due to malpractice and committed perjury so he could marry his 15-year-old step-daughter, but that didn't stop Texas Republicans from giving him authority over the state's medical laws. |Happy birthday to me!| I added a page for the Rilo Kiley song, Pictures of Success. - It's usually not a good sign for you when the FBI raids your lawyer's office. - Economists are predicting that Trump's "leadership" including eliminating taxes on the rich and wasteful spending will bring the US deficit to - The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has ceased distributing bottled water to the Flint citizens who were poisoned by Republicans claiming the city's water is once again safe, even though 4% of the samples tested still had elevated levels of lead and the EPA has warned that more lead will be introduced into the water each time there is underground construction in the city. The fact that this decision was made right after the very same group gave Nestlé the right to drain even more water from the Great Lakes is surely just a coincidence. - As Republicans keep defending the wasteful spending of Scott Pruitt, the Office of Government Ethics has officially pointed out their concerns with his ethical violations. - Yulia Skripal, the daughter of Sergei Skripal, has been released from the hospital after the Russian government failed to assassinate them. Not only do Christian crisis pregnancy centers lie to women about pretty much everything, but you're probably paying them to do so. The Catholic Church is dying, and it has been for decades. Taking the camera outside of the normal areas in Portal 2. As the arctic continues to shrink, it means big changes for the everything in that area, and possibly for the entire planet. Leona Stucky talks about her deconversion from living as a Conservative Mennonite. |No more snow!| I added a page for the game Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Another day, another child-molesting priest. Some early work on making plastics that are more effective at self-degradation. What goes on behind in the scenes in Half-Life 2. Attorney General Bill Higgins, a Conservative Christian, has been charged with using his authority to coerce women into having sex with him. The decline of the shopping mall isn't just a problem for businesses, it's a problem for society at large. A nice lecture about the importance of teaching physics, by Helen Czerski. |Flying fistulas, Batman!| I added a page for the Queen song Father to Son. - Trump is sending a military presence to the border of Mexico. What could possibly go wrong? - Republican Scott Pruitt's EPA keeps digging its corruption hole deeper by finding his employees who have questioned his unethical behavior and punishing them. - Republican Mick Mulvaney, "My department is so wasteful it costs businesses money," also Mick Mulvaney, " I'm giving $230,000 raises to my friends in the department." - Trump dumped taxpayer money into a commission to desperately search for evidence of voter fraud, but after a year of failure, Trump finally disbanded the commission, having never found any evidence of the widespread fraud he kept claiming existed. And even after his failure, Trump continues to falsely claim that there are millions of cases of voter fraud. - A public service announcement from Sinclair Broadcasting. - South Korea's former president, Park Geun-hye has been sentenced to jail for 24 years for massive corruption. Imagine if our country would grow a spine and do the same thing with our crooked politicians! - Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned by Russian operatives, but, thankfully, their health is improving. - The NRA keeps has been blocking research into gun violence for years. - The white supremacist web site Stormfront is having some financial woes because there just aren't enough people willing to give them money. - Republican Bob Nonini wants to execute all women who have had abortions and former Republican candidate Justin Jones has ended his political campaign after his, "fags are disgusting," quote - The USA keeps closing its borders, but China is expanding at an accelerated rate. Facebook may spend a lot of money trying to make people believe their private data is secure, but, they keep getting caught violating their own rules. A great panel of Atari 2600 programmers. Why free will is an illusion. |What comes next?| I love when I get an email from someone who claims they're from the Department of Homeland Security, but their email address uses an Italian country code. I added a page for the game designer David Crane. - Most people in Trump's cabinet have been caught doing some seriously shading things, but Scott Pruitt might get the trophy for the most corrupt. - Republican Mick Mulvaney is urging Congress to cripple the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that he leads. The CFPB protects Americans from the predatory practices of banks and payday loan centers. Now, there could be legitimate argument to deceasing the authority of the CFPB by showing that lending organizations have learned from their past mistakes (like collapsing the entire nation's economy in 2008) and have become ethical and effective, but, of course, the nation is getting right back on track for another economic collapse, and payday lending companies often end up putting poor people in permanent debt. Clearly, the CFPB is needed now more than ever, but Mulvaney doesn't care about people, he only cares about companies. He argues that the CFPB has too much authority and is hurting businesses. Yes, the CFPB is hurting businesses, it's hurting unethical businesses that prey on the poor. That's the whole point. These are not businesses that we want around in the first place! - Trump claims that nobody has been harder on Russia than he, but I think he's confused that with getting a hard on for Russia. - This pretty much sums up the latest Republican pick, "Putting [Susan] Combs in charge of the Fish and Wildlife Service is like appointing an arsonist as the town - There isn't a "mainstream Liberal media." There are media outlets with a liberal agenda, but they're not mainstream. What Conservatives call the "Liberal" media, are media organizations practicing responsible journalism. However, there is a "mainstream Conservative media," which is outlets like Fox "News" and Sinclair - Teachers are striking in Oklahoma because they're barely being paid a livable wage. The Republican governor Mary Fallin dismisses them saying they're, "like a teenager wanting a better car." - Christians, with the help of Trump, keep promoting religious authority while dismissing people with a secular world view. The US military continues to try and prevent secular chaplains from being allowed in the US military. But they're the ones getting filmed having sex in a bar. - New York police shot an unarmed black man to death because they thought he had a gun. He was mentally ill and pointing a shower head at people. - What if everyone answered questions as dishonestly as Sarah Hackabee Sanders? - Republican Dana Rohrabacher is outraged that homeless people will have a safe place to sleep after all the work he has done to try and push them out of The real story behind Pocahontas was seriously horrible. A ten-minute long video about the size of a fictional video game character's penis. Why didn't Obi Wan just drop his light saber? An interesting lecture about the history of the accomplishments of the Large Hadron Collider. Sesame Street has had a pretty interesting history. |April snowstorms bring May...?| I added a pages for examples of bad font choices. - The office of Veteran's Affairs has more money going through it than General Motors, but Trump just appointed his own doctor to run it, someone who has never run an organization of even a hundredth of that size. - Now that Trump has "fixed" health care, it will cover 8,900,000 fewer Americans and cost $33,000,000,000 - While trying to entertain children for an Easter egg hunt, Trump went on a long rambling rant of white nationalism. Shockingly, while Central Americans are being deported like crazy, ICE hasn't bothered to kick out an actual Nazi war criminal. - Republican Scott Pruitt was paying a surprisingly low cost for his condo. How was he able to get such a great deal? Political corruption! It just so happened the condo was owned by the same company whose oil pipeline he OKed. - Remember how Trump finally caved to pressure and ousted 60 Russian diplomats? They're most likely going to be replaced by new Russian diplomats. - Wisconsin elected a new judge to their state Supreme Court. Hopefully, she will be helpful in leading their state back to - Another mass shooting, this time at YouTube's headquarters. Several people have been shot, and the shooter appears to have Nestle continues to rob the Great Lakes. Nobody thought to tell Heineken this was a terrible ad? Some of the glitches in Mega Man. Learn about the IMSAI 8080, a computer that was featured in the movie War Games. The search for a theory of everything may not be necessary. Drinking turpentine will not cure your ills, but there is a racist reason in America's past for why people think it will. |Mostly healthy, but still have to cough up a pound of phlegm each morning| I added a pages for the companies FCI and Atari, and one for the Macintosh computer. - Trump has taken serious steps to letting Fox "News" run the White House. - Republican Jeff Sessions is currently in charge of one of the worst insults to justice in America, immigration courts. - Republican Scott Pruitt has decided that American cars are far too efficient and burning fossil fuels and we need more smog. So, he's eliminating the rules that require manufacturers to build cars with clean emissions. And, after destroying the environment, what batter way to treat yourself than giving unauthorized raises to all your friends? - The religious arguments in favor of a moral monster like Trump are just pathetic. We get it, all your heroes are criminals, that's not something to be proud of! - Police officer Andrew Kisela shot a woman four times on her own front porch because she was holding a kitchen knife next to her room mate. She was not a criminal suspect and had not committed any crimes, and the other officers on the scene didn't shoot the woman, but the current majority Conservative US Supreme Court ruled that the officer Kisela did nothing wrong and he will not face punishment. Weapons using artificial intelligence are vastly superior to human-controlled weapons, and they make for a very scary future. Catholic priest Jonathan Wehrle has been caught stealing over $5,000,000 from his church and buying himself a nice mansion. The Christians fighting to keep their tacky hydraulic cross on public land in Grand Haven, Michigan have lost its final appeal. Thank you Bart Ehrman is plugging his latest book, The Triumph of Christianity, though, not necessarily the truth of it. Did you ever wonder what was the deal with the leaves at the top of Corinthian columns? Learning about the age of the Earth by discovering its oldest rocks. |Still approaching "normal," very slowly...| I added a page for the board game Fireball Island and the DOS application The New Print Shop. - You should have known this when you voted for them: Republicans are now openly admitting that they're trying to dismantle Medicare, Medicaid, and various other welfare programs that protect the poor. - Trump's lawsuits around the women he sexually assaulted and tried to hush up aren't just scandalous, they're also important to the future of our - With all the evidence showing that the Trump administration worked with Russians to help win the election, at what point can we just agree that it was collusion? Also, in addition to Trump congratulating Putin for winning a rigged election, he also invited him to the White - With Trump, it's always about discrimination and hate. - Not exactly a big shock, but after Trump raised tariffs on Chinese imports, China raised tariffs on US imports. Thus, Trump's decision hurts consumers and manufacturers, but gives each government more money. - US voting machines are surprisingly easy to hack, and that's not good for democracy. Especially when the current president doesn't care about Derren Brown makes some really interesting shows about skepticism, but that doesn't mean he's immune to bullshit. Discovering interesting thoughts by using the old Russian reversal joke. Christian pastor Matthew Dennis Patterson of Nolensville Road Baptist Church has made a career out of hating homosexuals. Turns out, he's also made a career out of sexually assaulting little boys. Also, Christian pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, spiritual advisor to US President George W. Bush, has just been arrested for several counts of money laundering and fraud. Some interesting moments in the history of science. Weird facts about the Doom Series. |Approaching "normal" level...| I've added a page for the Alanis Morissette song Would Not Come and did a bit of restructuring in the - Samantha Bee did a wonderful show about the horrible mess Trump has left in Puerto Rico. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, - Trump now wants the US military to pay for his useless Mexican border wall, but maybe he should just setup a GoFundMe page? - Another Fox "News" flapping jaw is losing her advertisers because she couldn't help but reveal herself as someone who makes fun of children who survived a mass-shooting. - Despite seeing his own fair share of discrimination in his life, Republican Ben Carson is following orders and eliminating the anti-discrimination measures in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. An interesting breakdown of all the glitches exploited to get a world record speed run in Super Mario Bros. Trying to map out the particles of particle physics. Strange toothy fossils, and why they're double-plus important. Barrier methods of birth control for women are shockingly hard to find. |Approaching "okay" level...| I've added a page for the Green Day single Jesus of Suburbia. - Trump's new National Security Advisor is John Bolton, a guy Trump saw on TV who is a - All the best law firms keep turning down Trump, not only because he keeps doing what they tell him not to do, and incriminating himself further, but also because he's so hated right now, the firms feel he'll have a negative effect on their - Trump may be firing all of his employees, it was just announced that David Shulkin is being replaced because he spent tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on personal vacations, but that doesn't mean Trump won't give them all presidential pardons in the hope that they'll stay quite about what went on in the White - The White House's official position on all the unarmed black people being murdered by police officers? It's a - Republican Scott Walker is doing everything in his power to eliminate free elections, but thankfully the judicial branch is over powering him. - The web site Tumblr has banned over 80 accounts all tied to the Russian propaganda group "Internet Research Agency" which helped get Trump elected. Turns out they were especially targeting black Americans, probably because they would be the most effective at voting - Trump has hurt another set of immigrants, this he's ended the temporary immigrant status of thousands of Liberians. - Another one of those "good guy with a gun stopped a bad guy with a gun" fairy tales has been proven - Trump has a new nickname around Washington. It's a bit shocking how quickly the Earth would run out of food if we stopped farming. How well do you know Super Mario Bros. 3? If you're lucky enough to survive a nuclear attack, take a shower, but don't use conditioner. Gwyneth Paltrow has yet to rescind her promotion for bee "therapy," which has recently killed a woman. |Blah level attained| So my dentist explained that the blister on my gum is actually a fistula draining through from a tooth's root, and if the antibiotics don't clear it up, I might lose the tooth entirely. Fun! I've added a table called What the Christian God Wants which shows what major churches believe the Christian - A quick recap of everything that's been going on in politics. Spoiler alert, everything is still awful. - The March For Our Lives has been extremely effective, and I look forward to the upcoming changes in the country. - In the past, the US government has offered grants to people going to school to become public school teachers, but with the Department of Education now under Republican control, those grants are being taken away from teachers while they're in the middle of their college courses, often without even telling them! Many of these would-be teachers will switch majors to something they can afford, but they'll still be expected to pay back a huge debt for classes that are now useless. Those few that stick to it will find that Republicans have closed so many schools, and canceled so many benefits for teachers, that the occupation is less attractive than ever before. - US health care is the most expensive in the world, and the worst among all developed nations, so why are CEOs getting massive pay increases? - Welcome to America, where we're more interested in a president's affair than the president's policies. - By eliminating protections on public lands, Trump might turn California's famed giant sequoias - Most of the conservative people I know are very nice and compassionate, they're just very wary of anything that doesn't meet their norm, which is, unfortunately, a pretty small area. However, then there are the conservative people who believe they are under constant persecution and have no moral problem with lying to or about teens to maintain their ignorance. - The Simpson's Trump is more lovable than the real Trump. Some of the more interesting glitches in Mega Man II. The bad news, for decades now, the Mormon Church has been telling women that it's better to remain in an abusive relationship than to get a divorce. The good news is, they claim they're going to stop. Why is healthy eating so expensive in America? Should brown dwarfs really be a stellar classification? Some of the more powerful plants in the history of our planet. |Approaching "blah" level| I've added several games for download in a category called Game Downloads. I've also added several more descriptions of screen savers in After Dark. - While campaigning, Trump claimed on his first day in office he would put an amazing health care system in place that would take care of everybody. The US currently has the worst health care of any developed nation, and the most expensive health care in the world. Thanks Trump. - Under Trump, the American family continues to lose money. Also under Trump, the American CEO makes - Facebook admits that it makes a copy of all the metadata regarding your calls and texts for Android users. And now the US government has acknowledge that it uses Facebook to track immigrants. - The NRA should never be invited on a program talking about gun violence because they are a lobbying group for gun manufacturers. It's like bringing in a spokesperson for tobacco companies to talk about lung cancer. Fox "News" uses their typical strawman approach on the March For Our Lives. - Trump is now expecting the US military to pay for the useless Mexican border wall he assured us Mexico would pay for. - It's sad that we still have to talk about taking down statues of Confederates. Breeding special organisms to clean up after us. Another Texas deputy shot an unarmed black man to death in the street. Finally, a sportsball player has the guts to blame the loss of the game on the Christian god. An American Muslim family sold their 16-year-old daughter for $20,000, but when she refused to marry the man who bought her, they tortured her, almost to death. Future technologies will both improve and ruin all our lives. |Slowly becoming more healthy...| - So amazingly proud of all the kids who are demanding their legislators take gun control seriously, and stop kowtowing to the gun lobby. But Republican Rick Santorum wants to keep guns in school and tells students they should instead learn CPR to try and resuscitate their friends who have been shot. And here's a quick call and response of the most popular anti-gun control arguments. - When you hire a team of people who have never worked in the field you've put them into, they will continue embarrassing you with their ignorance, even when they're being interviewed by hacks who are on your side, just ask Republican Steve Mnuchin. - Republicans are willing to let immigrants fight and die for this country, but not stay here after retiring from service. - People hate Trump so much, they keep refusing to work with him. - Don Jr. really takes after his dad, even in the cheating department. - Most of Europe has kicked Russian diplomats out of the continent for their assassinations, and Trump, after a lot of stalling and congratulating Putin, has finally followed suit. Though, he still won't lift a finger to try and get them out of our - Ohio Republicans are trying to pass a law so they can - American political discourse is two men in their 70s issuing idle threats at each other. There is a giant floating trash heap in the Pacific Ocean twice as large as the state of Texas. Christian pastor Aracely Meza starved a little boy to death because she claimed he was possessed by demons. She was given a 99-year prison sentence, but Christian pastor Richard Mark, who was convicted of four counts of child rape, is getting a retrial. Dealing with the religious critique of something from nothing. The interesting things that happen when you go off-camera in Final Fantasy VI. Who will win in this epic battle of Evangelical preachers? How to get yourself removed from social media sites that may be mining your private data. |Need more time off...| I've added a page for the old Windows screen saver, After Dark. - Trump's primary lawyer has dropped him as a client because he Trump can't keep his big mouth shut regarding the Russia Inquiry! Or when he was specifically told -not- to congratulate Putin, but he did anyway even with the knowledge that Russia has successfully hacked the US power grid. - We're getting a clearer understanding of why FBI agent McCabe was fired. It turns out he was investigating Jeff Sessions for possible perjury charges about his denials of Russian involvement. - The Republicans have utterly failed US territory Puerto Rico. After Hurricane Maria, Republican Ryan Zinke used his status as Interior Secretary to give $300,000,000 to a tiny company from his home town. The blatant corruption was refused, but at great cost to the people of Puerto Rico, many of whom still don't have utilities months later. Next, Trump-appointee Steve Mnuchin refused to allocate disaster relief funds unless the territory agreed to paying back the loans at a higher priority of even the island's - The average US household brings in $59,000 a year, so why are Republicans claiming that those households that make $450,000 a year are middle class. I don't think they're that stupid, I think they're purposely elevating that number to make it easier to justify their tax breaks which only help the wealthy. - Being entirely clueless about global trade, Trump has instituted $50,000,000,000 in tariffs to China, which immediately caused the US stock market to tank. - The Austin bomber was a white male home-schooled Christian who opposed abortion and same-sex marriage, so, naturally, Republicans refused to call him a terrorist. - Trump is so bad at his job that many people are saying they miss the previously worst US president, George W. Bush. But just a reminder, George W. Bush was and is a horrible monster. - The Facebook data scandal which helped Trump get elected is pretty scary, but Facebook doesn't seem to worried about it, despite their stock dropping by $36,000,000,000. - Police killed another unarmed innocent black man and father of two. They claimed they thought his white cell phone was a gun. You can see from the video, they kept shooting him long after he'd fallen to the ground. Twenty times total. - Fox "News" talking head, Tucker Carlson, is racist. - Samantha Bee points out the problem women face when their medical problems are treated with birth control even when they have nothing to do with - Now that he's fixed US health care, finishing his Mexican border wall, and improving foreign relations, Trump is finally ready to solve the opioid crisis. Get it? Because he's failed at all of them! - It's nice to know that the book about Mike Pence's bunny has been outsold by John Oliver's book about a gay bunny. Gwyenth Paltrow is really stupid, and her stupidity has led to someone's death because they took her advice of purposely stinging yourself with bees. The Me Too movement is pretty solid, despite what its detractors claim. The Cambrian Explosion wasn't Earth's first explosion of life. For real now, is that Toad's head, or just a mushroom hat? What's with the hatred for science popularizers? |Yup, definitely sick| I added a pages for the Windows 3 games, Jewel Thief and Microsoft's - Trump is still too much of a coward to fire Robert Mueller. - Trump's boss won the Russian "election." - Part of the reason why I have a hard time believing conspiracy theories is because they rely on lots of people keeping secrets, but people have a very hard time keeping their mouth's shut. Just look at the people from Cambridge Analytica: several executives have been caught on hidden cameras admitting to using various tactics that were probably illegal to help Trump get elected. - The supposed Texas bomber, after being cornered by police, killed himself with one of his own bombs. Police have identified him as a 23-year-old white American man. - The Christian Republican president is being sued by a second adult model. - Fox "News" has lost another employee, this time analyst Ralph Peters quit after calling the place a "propaganda machine," and saying he couldn't work there and "wittingly [harm] our system of government for profit." Sounds about right. Still waiting for Tucker Carlson to be fired for being too stupid to know that kids too young to vote also can't make gun laws. - After a Democrat said he was proud of being denounced by the NRA, Republican Carl Nett joked that he would like to shoot the man. He has since apologized for the joke. Ammonia fountains are pretty cool. The craziness of the English language. Christian pastor Andy Savage, the man who got a standing ovation from his church after he finally admitted to coercing a 17-year-old girl into giving him oral sex, The horror of Mario destroying a castle. Where do you go when you need an old computer for a film? |It's the first day of spring, and I'm getting sick| I added a page for the Hercules Graphics Card and computer color palettes. I'm currently focusing on generated palettes, but will delve into hand-picked palettes in the future. - Once again, Trump congratulates Putin, and remains silent regarding - Trump's new CIA director pick, Gina Haspel, has a history of torturing people. - Mike Pence really, REALLY, hates gay people. - It sickens me that it's taken so long and gotten so far, but the good news is, the US Supreme Court has ruled that two lawsuits against the Michigan Republicans responsible for poisoning thousands and killing several people in Flint, Michigan can proceed. - The Republicans in Pennsylvania who have redrawn the district lines to give their party an edge in the election are not happy that they lost their final appeal! - Mississippi Republicans, who have decreased their state's abortion clinics down to one, have passed a new law outlawing abortion after 15 weeks. It's a completely arbitrary length of time considering that brain development which allows thinking doesn't even begin until around 21 weeks. The unjust law is already being legally challenged, but it's a serious waste of time and money. - If members of Congress are caught up in a sexual harassment case, they currently can use taxpayer money to pay their legal fees. Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand drafted a bill to make handsy politicians pay their own damn lawsuits, but Republicans scrapped it at the last minute. - A 9-year-old boy shot his older sister to death because they were fighting over a video game. While I feel for the parents, their negligence should also be a crime. Also, there was another school shooting, this time in Maryland. A 17-year-old shot two of his classmates before being shot to death by a police officer. - Trump's record-breaking number of golf outings are not unexpected. Captain Disillusion channels other YouTube celebrities. The Northern white rhinoceros is officially extinct. Some rather unusual allergies. Yet another woman in the skeptic community comes out against Lawrence Krauss. Why the planets in our solar system, and, in fact, all solar systems, essentially orbit on a single plane. |Girls will be girls| I added a page for the NES Zapper. - Even as Trump refuses to even say anything bad about Putin, who just won another "fair" election, American security companies have reported that Russian hackers have successfully infiltrated the US power grid. - Students who are being murdered continue to be the voice of reason when it comes to stopping the NRAs stranglehold over the Republican party. And Trump continues to waste time and money blaming movies and video games. - Donald Trump Jr.'s wife is divorcing him, no doubt because he's a shady asshole, but after 13 years, and with Don Jr. now in control of his father's business the couple is splitting in an uncontested marriage, and, rather than have a divorce lawyer, his wife has hired a criminal lawyer. This has led many people to wonder, is Vanessa trying to hurriedly back out of the marriage before the FBI investigates the Trumps? - Trump, the lying liar, lies. - The Kushner Companies have been accused of filing false paperwork with the city numerous times in order to violate the rent-control protection of their tenants. - Rather than meet with the Secretary of State, South Koreans will now be subjected to Ivanka Trump. - Larry Kudlow is a terrible person. It was only a few decades ago when black motorists needed to buy a special book just to keep them safe when they traveled. Two mothers bring their kids with them to vandalize and burglarize a mosque, and they film themselves doing it! Naturally, they've been arrested. What it was like to get a beer with Stephen Hawking. What's the deal with mitochondria and chloroplasts? I saw an owl this morning. I added a page for the Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt multicart. - Trump is so proud of his "idea" for a military group in space, he doesn't realize how terrible he's doing. - Donald Trump Jr. wife is divorcing him, and Melania Trump will likely follow suit after the details are released of Trump's affair with a porn star. - After MSU's president resigned when it came out that a member of her staff sexually assaulted over 100 women, the college put in charge Republican John Engler. And while Engler has no experience running a university, he does have experience preventing women who have been sexually assaulted from seeing justice. - At this point, FEMA is basically synonymous with hurricanes because the US keeps getting hit with bigger and bigger hurricanes, and FEMA keeps bungling the relief efforts. Climate scientists have been predicting bigger and more frequent hurricanes for years as a result of humans increasing the planet's average temperature with all of our pollution, so FEMA has finally decided to take action by removing any mention of global warming from their literature. Problem solved! - Trump gets another yes-man in his inner circle. Lying to innocent people, putting them in jail, and coercing them into taking a bad plea bargain is a perfectly legal thing for a prosecutor to do. If you drink water from plastic containers, you're also drinking particles of the plastic container, and that's not very healthy for you or the environment. If someone with no medical knowledge is trying to convince you to stop taking medicine prescribed to you by a doctor, you probably shouldn't listen to them. There are entire groups dedicated to atheists in the military, so why are Christians still trying to claim that there are no atheists in fox holes? If anything, there shouldn't be any Christians in fox holes because they should have faith that their god will protect them, and, even if he doesn't, they'll just go to heaven if they're killed die. Sorry Judge Vance Day, but you took an oath to uphold the Constitution, not your holy book. If you can't do your job, then you won't be allowed to do your job. |Beware the ides of Smarch| I've added a page about vegetarianism and a page for the Story of Yars' Revenge audio drama book. - Republicans have shown themselves to support party over country time and time again, so it's no surprise that, even in the wake of Russian assassins murdering Russian critics, Republicans shut down their investigation and absolved Russia of interfering with the US election to aide Trump. To be clear, -every- federal law enforcement agency agrees that Russia interfered with US elections, so why did Republicans canceled their investigation before hearing from key witnesses or even looking at their evidence? Because Republicans care more about protecting their party's image, even if it means putting the nation's safety and free elections at risk. However, even after firing Rex Tillerson for speaking out against Russia, Trump finally caved and instituted some of the Russian sanctions Congress demanded months ago. - In a closed-door speech that was recorded and later leaked to the press, Trump explained how he told Canada's prime minister, Justin Trudeau, that Canada had a trade deficit with the USA, Trudeau reminded Trump that they do not, but Trump said he was wrong and insisted that they did. Then, Trump admitted that he had no idea if there was a deficit, he just blindly assumes that every country has a trade deficit with the US.. - Thankfully, people are beginning to see the Republican party for the cesspool it is, like in Pennsylvania's traditionally Republican 18th Congressional District. The existing Congressman, Republican Tim Murphy, resigned in disgrace after it came out that, despite claiming to be fiercely pro-family and anti-abortion, he was cheating on his wife, then pressured his mistress into getting an abortion after he found out she was pregnant! This created a special election and Democrat Conor Lamb appears to have won despite the district having been gerrymandered to give Republicans a massive edge over Democrats! - Because Trump was too stupid to sign his own non-disclosure agreement after having an affair with a porn star, we're probably going to get the - As is typical of Republican tact, Leslie Gibson calls the survivors of the Parkland, Florida massacre "skin head lesbians" and "bald-faced liars." In my home town, the public school administration created a massive safety violation when they locked all of the students inside their classrooms, not for their protection, but rather to prevent them from protesting in the #Enough walkout. Principal Michael Fray explained that he did this to to maintain school safety, but if a fire started, the students and teachers would have all died. The students, undaunted, still formed a sit-in in front of the main office. - I'm hoping to see a lot more fallout from Rex Tillerson's firing. An interesting video about Nintendo designer, Shigeru Miyamoto. Why do we imagine aliens looking the way they do? Because we're not very creative. The lead in Flint water is on the rise again. Why are women meaner to other women in the workplace? The evolution of turtles. |Happy pi day| Stephen Hawking has died. It's a loss for humanity because he was such an important scientist. Religion likes to control who is allowed to love and be loved. Sheriff Todd Entrekin bought $1,700,000 in properties from the money he had been stealing from his Various reasons why various animals fall out of various skies. The quantum properties of an extremely pure diamond. |No chaos in the White House!| I updated the Pac-Man page with color palette information, credits, and more videos. - Another day, another series of lost jobs. Trump used Twitter to fire his Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, while Rex was overseas! Trump said he wanted a new Secretary of State before going into diplomatic talks with North Korea, which is funny because, just a few months ago, Trump said Tillerson's attempts at diplomacy with North Korea were a waste of time! Tillerson may be gone, but he did a lot of damage to US foreign policy. James Schwab, spokesman for the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has also resigned. When asked the reason for his resignation, he explained that he couldn't bear having to deal with the lies of the Trump administration. And, NASA's acting chief has retired without a clear successor. Aaaand, John McEntee, Trump's closest aide has been fired, with no obvious reason given. - The Russians are murdering people again. No response from Trump again. - The Trump administration has set a record for the most government documents censored. - US health care is ranked number one among developed nations in two categories, the most expensive, and the least effective. It's a shame Trump didn't make good on his promise that fixing it on day one was going to be so easy. - Defying the bigotry of the President, Illinois passes a law allowing it to be a sanctuary state for immigrants. And to understand why this is a good thing, see the definition of sanctuary cities. - 600,000 Americans have been shot since the last time Congress voted against research into gun violence. - While I'd love to see Trump ousted from office, let us not forget that Mike Pence is evil too. A crash course on cryptocurrencies. New York cops take turns running over a raccoon with their car, eventually killing it. When the outraged people called for the officers' resignation, the police department issued a statement saying they thought the raccoon was rabid. The people are unimpressed. The basic AI behind the ghosts in Pac-Man. Strange spiraling ground formations appear to be the work of extinct beavers. Kurds in Syria are carving out a new democratic country for themselves in the wake of the wars. Some objections to anti-theism, and why they don't hold water. |Three months down| The girls became 3-months-old yesterday. It feels like sooo much longer! I finally mastered the game Yars' Revenge! I also added a page for the Eve 6 song Open Road Song. A wonderful kid's lecture on the chemical elements. This is why Southern states need to eliminate their child marriage laws, but it's also a big part why Christians prevent them from doing so, because their bible demands they marry their rapists. Epigenetics from an actual geneticist. Martin Shkreli has been sentenced to 7 years in prison, not because he jacked up the price of medicine so much many people couldn't afford it and died, that's perfectly legal, but because he defrauded already wealthy people, which is the real crime. It seems like most of the people demanding immigrant learn to speak English can't do so themselves. There was a time when the dominate life form was fungus. Why Jesus was not a hero. |When do we get three-day weekends?| I added a page for the Nightwish song Swanheart and the Lawrence Alma-Tadema painting A Coign of Vantage. Which celebrity will lose their career next because they can't keep their hands to themselves? Women in Iran will still go to prison for showing their hair in public. Why black people don't care much for country music. Conservative Christians once again prevent from getting passed as law a bill to Some Amiga love from an 81-year-old artist. Christian pastor Ronnie Gorton has been arrested for raping several The ancestors of whales who had legs. Understanding Jehovah's Witnesses in five minutes. |I got, like, six hours of sleep last night!| I've added a guide for how to determine the file type of an unknown file and more documents, info, and links to the Super Mario Bros. page. - The only nice thing about having a completely incompetent president is that he's so stupid he's so bad at his job won't do any lasting damage to the country. He can't even keep a person on his payroll for more than a couple months, and when they do leave, they have only terrible things to say about the - Trump's incompetence in global trade is not only injuring the US in the world market, but now, even our allies are forming new trade groups that exclude the US. - Republican Ryan Zinke is a Trump goon. Like most of Trump's goons, he was place in charge of the very organization he hopes to destroy. In Zinke's case, he has worked for years to eliminate environmental protections, stop protecting endangered species, eliminate national monuments and protected lands, return the use of toxic lead bullets, and has lobbied for greater reliance on fossil fuels. Naturally, Trump put Zinke in charge of the Department of the Interior, whose job it is to protect the nation's natural resources, and, naturally, Zinke is destroying them as fast as possible. His most recent push is to get the Department of the Interior partnered with oil companies. - Republican Ted Cruz's real name is "Rafael," but Republicans don't vote for people with non-Uhmerican sounding names, so he goes by "Ted." Fair enough. So why is he now accusing his Democratic opponent, Robert "Beto" O'Rourke, of using his Hispanic nickname to win voters? - Under Republican control, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is no longer including anti-discrimination as part of their mission statement. - Republican Valerie Huber is now in charge of doling out federal funds for sexual education, but she is the former president of the National Abstinence Education Association, so you can pretty much predict that funding for sex ed will be eliminated. - Trump's response to Kim Jong-Un's possible nuclear disarmament talks leave much to be desired. There was a time in our planet's history when, if you viewed it from space, it probably would have looked purple. Most supplements are complete garbage and are slowly poisoning you, but some actually have evidence of medicinal value. Christians remade The Wizard of Oz. |Babies are only waking up twice a night now!| I've added a page describing extreme longevity in the Book of Genesis. - Whelp, Trump just lost another one of his senior advisors, economic adviser Gary Cohn has left citing Trump's idiotic trade war with the rest of the world as a partial reason. Maybe he's annoyed that someone who doesn't know anything about trade is claiming that trade wars are good? I wonder who's next? - Trump administration employee Sam Nunberg probably isn't going to win any points with the FBI. - Teachers don't care much for Trump and DeVos's destruction of public education. - If you're a terrible person, it's not wise to respond to professional comedians. - The Trump administration is encouraging companies to destroy the environment. - Because Trump's kids like to kill endangered species, he felt the need to change the laws so they could bring elephant body parts back home with them as a reminder of how they killed an animal from a distance. - So jealous of the state of Washington state's Internet! - White supremacist Richard Spencer gave a talk at MSU. It didn't go very well for him. - All the major mental health groups chime in, if you want to decrease school shootings, you don't put more guns in schools, you improve mental and emotional Why religion is so powerful in people's lives. When a computer technician finds illegal content on a computer they're fixing, they have a duty to report that content to the authorities just like anyone else witnessing a crime. However, when the authorities put a bounty on illegal content, they create an incentive for technicians to actively search through your computer in hopes of finding something illegal. Now, they are not just technicians, but a paid arm of law enforcement. How can you avoid inadvertently giving your computer to law enforcement pretending to be a technician? Step one, never take you computer to Best Buy or Geek Squad. Apparently, the FBI pays their technicians $500 for each customer they turn in. Biology used to be a nice wet science, but, with the advent of quantum mechanics, it's moving to the subatomic level. The NSA doesn't help security, in fact, they have a long history of learning about security flaws and then exploiting them, even against fellow Americans. So, when the NSA has a leak, it's a boon for hackers who use all their secrets to exploit people all over the world until actual security firms can fix all of the security flaws. It's now been almost a year since the NSA's EternalBlue secret was leaked to the public, and hackers, including those in North Korea, are still using it to exploit computers around the world. Ever want your skull crushed by a giant bird? You'll have to get a time machine. - The US State Department was given $120,000,000 to fight Russian election meddling, but they haven't done a single thing about it because Trump's ego is too big to admit he didn't win fairly. - The NRA, in addition to having the worst TV show ever, has also successfully lobbied my home state's House of Representatives to get them to pass a bill allowing concealed carrying of pistols without a permit. This will increase the state's already high level of gun violence and accidental shootings. - You didn't want clean water did you? - Nazis continue to murder people in America, but the Justice Department still refuses to monitor the actions of white terrorist groups. How scientists figured out how to measure gravitational waves. How and why sex evolved. All the problems with the New York Times article about weight loss. Why does inbreeding produce genetic defects? Because they were always there to begin with. The Academy sure loves itself some method actors. |The train wreck continues| I added a page for the Half-Life universe and made updates to each of the sub-pages. - If Trump had his way, he really would be a fascist dictator who isn't interested in law or due process. - After 17 children were shot to death with an assault rifle, Florida Republicans voted, not to eliminate assault rifles, but to flood their schools with - Trump's cabinet is an endless failure of resignations and firings, and Trump can't even keep his son-in-law from being placed on par with the wait staff. - Corruption in the Trump administration continues unabated. Just before Trump announced a huge 25% tariff on foreign steel, his former adviser, Carl Icahn, sold off $31,300,000 in foreign steel stocks. - Many gun lovers have a fantasy where they'll be the hero and stop an mad shooter before any innocent people are injured, but, the reality is, gun situations are extremely messy and unpredictable, and, even if you successfully stop a shooter, you may end up getting shot by the police for your - Trump's pick for head of the EPA, Republican Scott Pruitt, has always been anti-science, but he's also always been - In an effort to stop child trafficking and child molestation, Kentucky politicians are trying to finally change their law which allows 16-year-olds to marry. But, as expected, Christians are once again trying to stop them. - How Pennsylvania Republicans were able to rig their state's election through gerrymandering. YouTube has a serious problem of promoting conspiracy theories while at the same time, eliminating the videos of people who debunk conspiracy theories. Learning how to cope with being offended is one of the most important things you can do. Trying to understand the earth in geologic time periods. |You get a gun, you get a gun, everyone gets a gun!| I added a page about the Christian story, the exorcism of Legion. - Give the teachers guns, Trump said, what could possibly go wrong, Trump said. And while Trump might be putting on a gun control show for the cameras, why would anyone trust a compulsive liar? - Remember when North Korea talked about their nuclear missiles and Trump went on a tear with childish name-calling and threats of war? Now Russia is doing it, but Trump is strangely silent. Why? You don't speak ill about your bros. - Republicans gave massive tax cuts to companies, and with all that extra money, surely they're increasing the wages of their employees, right? - The Trump administration just lost it's third communications director. - After Delta said they were going to cut NRA discounts, Georgia Republicans cut their tax breaks. - It's not just that Ben Carson spent nearly $200,000 refurnishing his office, it's that he did so knowing that it was illegal, and not expecting it to be a big deal. - Kimberly Daniels, a Democrat in Florida, thanks her god for the American slave trade because, without it, Africans wouldn't be Christians. Only with religion do you have to justify someone in their 50s, having sex with a nine-year-old. What a crazy time in history was the Paleozoic Era. Luke W. Reese, a Catholic Priest, has been charged with rape. Some people menstruate, and some people don't like it when people say people menstruate, and demand you clarify that women menstruate, and anyone who menstruates, but doesn't currently identify as a woman, should be excluded. Yet another case of Christians losing tax payer money in their effort to keep giant symbols of their religion on public land despite trying to argue that a cross has nothing to do with Christianity. |Lousy Smarch Weather!| I added a collection of the funnier Honest Titles alterations. - Even the Conservative magazine Forbes is saying that the Trump budget plan is nothing but lies. - While Trump continues to heap adoration on Putin and refuses to enforce sanctions against Russia, even though the whole of Congress demands them and every defense organization says we need them, or even properly investigate them, Putin unveils a new Russian nuclear missile that he claims can hit any target in the world and can't be stopped by US or European defenses. - For decades now, Republicans have done nothing to stop or event decrease the number of children being massacred in this country, and Trump is only making - For over a year, Trump had his son-in-law Jared Kushner in charge of most of the executive branch of US government, and he accomplished absolutely nothing. Now, finally, Kushner is losing his top secret clearance that he never should have had. - Some of the names and faces in the upcoming elections. And, if Republicans don't want to be associated with Nazis, why is it Nazis keep running on the - Equifax has just acknowledged the loss of the personal identity of 2,400,000 people in addition to the 143,000,000 people from last year's hack. The company continues to go unpunished by the Republican-majority US government. Michigan is looking to pass a bill that will increase the length of the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse. Naturally, the Catholic Church is terrified and fighting against it! Sadly, we missed out on the time when the earth was covered with giant insects. The sexual harassment history of Lawrence Krauss is not only a black mark against him, but it's a black mark against organizations that supported him after they knew about his disgusting past, like Center For Inquiry. AIs designed to play video games often discover and exploit game bugs. |Ready for bed| Hello father, it's 1 AM, and I feel like throwing up all over myself... Emily and I watched the Darren Brown program The Push, where he attempts to coerce an unsuspecting person to apparently murder someone. It was really intense. I also added boxes, manuals, maps, and fan art to The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap page and created a page regarding the virgin birth of Jesus. - Everyone is mocking Trump for his ridiculous claim he would have run, unarmed, into a school with an active shooter, but nobody does it better than Trevor Noah, who plays back all of the video footage of Trump being a coward. - Wouldn't it be nice if the US Government actually researched the causes of gun violence? Until then, it's nice to hear that a major seller of assault rifles has ceased, and the NRA isn't happy that their members will have to start paying full price for goods and services. - The University of Michigan released a report and the conclusions weren't anything new, Republican Rick Snyder bears a significant legal responsibility for poisoning the majority of people living in Flint. He won't, of course, because of Michigan's highly corrupt state government, but he certainly - Trump appointee, Republican Ben Carson, spent $31,000 of taxpayer money on his office dining set. The undetectable poisons assassins have used over the years, and how scientists have learned to detect them. Our lovable ancestor, dimetrodon! What if I told you that it doesn't make you a bigot to criticize people who purposely torture and disfigure children? During World War I, militaries experimented with dazzling anti-camouflage. It's almost been three months, but I still find myself waking up in the middle of the night, trying to gently cradle my girls in my arms and rock them back to sleep, only to realize I'm holding my pillow. I added a page for the artist John William Waterhouse and added a page for the story of Jesus Cursing the Fig Tree. - Of all the terrible people and companies that are thrilled that Net neutrality has been eliminated, I wasn't expecting happiness from the NRA who just gifted a gun to Republican Ajit Pai. And Republican Casey Cagle is ready to kill tax breaks for Delta airlines if they don't give cheaper tickets to NRA members! - Republicans claims to want merit-based immigration rules, but they keep trying to deport everyone who isn't white, even if they're employed and paying taxes, and even if they haven't broken a law in the past two decades. Speaking of which, according to a recent Supreme Court ruling, if an immigrant is arrested, even if they're living here legally, it is now legal to imprison them until they die without ever giving them a court hearing. - The Great Lakes combined is the world's largest fresh water reserve, and Trump is trying to eliminate every law that sustains them. - The US isn't the only country with a problem with a fascist dictator, Italy's election also isn't looking so hot. Trying to gauge the size of the moon in Super Mario Odyssey. Why pregnancy really is like having an alien growing inside of you. Christian youth pastor Brad Tebbutt sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl numerous times, including at his church, and when the church officials found out, they told the girl to forgive Tebbutt and forget about the whole thing, and never called the police or even told the girl's The dinosaurs were huge, sure, but how does a land animal get that big? |Babies are getting bigger| I finished reading the book Way Station. I've also added a sortable rank column to the list of works by most of the people in my Wiki. - Marco Rubio, after a mass shooting that left a bunch of children dead, stupidly assumed the crowd wouldn't want to ban assault rifles, and Trump thinks it's a great idea to give a gun to your near-sighted 65-year-old math teacher. And while many gun nuts don't understand that Chicago's gun problem comes from the neighboring cities that sell to Chicago residents, some people are actually making a real difference, unlike Republican Rick Santorum who believes children go on shooting sprees because of single mothers. - With the Conservative lead on the Supreme Court, we may be looking at the death of work unions, which will be another step back into the stone age of employment. We may see the elimination of weekends, vacations, sick leave, and all the other worker benefits that only exist because of unions. At least they made the right call Everyone knows about white noise, but what about red noise, blue noise, brown noise, and all the others? Measuring things is complicated and only get more complicated as we try to make better measurements. God isn't banned from schools, and anyone who says so is either ignorant or a liar. |Obstructing anything sensible| I added a page for the video game designer Takashi Tezuka. - Another one of Trump's political consultants, Rick Gates, is going to plead guilty to Russian - Conservative conspiracy nuts who believe in "crisis actors" care more about their guns than reality, and if you're that easily swayed by an obvious lie, you probably shouldn't have access to guns - As usual, Conservatives attack the survivors of a mass shooting. After refusing to do anything to try and stop children from being shot to death, Florida Republicans spent their time talking about the imaginary dangers of pornography, and voting to violate religious freedom. - Trump knows how to stop people from shooting school students, arm the teachers, specifically those who will shoot themselves in the leg. - While Republicans ignore the cries of dying children, they continue to expend all their energy stopping the real problem in America, no, not Russian spies, - Trump's head of the EPA, Republican Scott Pruitt isn't just a science denier, he also believes his god expects him to pollute the Earth by burning coal. - Republican Eric Greitens, governor of Missouri, has been indicted on felony charges for sharing nude pictures of a woman without her consent. There was once an ape that was three meters tall! The untold dangers of certain types of plea bargains. The various types of time travel as they appear in fiction. Because the NSA has a long history of lying to people about safe forms of cryptography, it's very difficult to trust them when they |Killing us not so softly| So far I've seen robins, blue birds, Canada geese, swans, squirrels, and chipmunks. Don't these fools know it's not spring yet? I added a page for the Green Day album American Idiot. - After the Florida school shooting, the surviving students begged Republican Marco Rubio to pass sensible gun control laws, but he refused. He's a lawmaker who doesn't believe laws do any good. He followed up his stupidity with a town hall meeting, where explained why he will continue to accept money from the NRA. And it's lack of action like Rubio's that has caused an increase in threats to other schools. Sadly, adults have to rely on the surviving children to be the sensible ones. - Trump is still ignoring Russian espionage. - When Clinton cheated on his wife, he was impeached. When Trump is caught cheating on his wife multiple times and paying huge amounts of hush money Christians call him a man of God. - Trump continues to dismiss scientific facts, but we have a pretty good idea about how much the earth changed the last time there was global warming, and it's going to be a lot worse this time around. A wonderful lecture about all the non-visible light flying through the universe. Want to run an emulator of one of the first computers ever made? |Dreaming of ones and zeros| I've added a page for The Official Nintendo Player's Guide. - Every couple days there is a mass shooting in the US, and it brings up the same tired arguments. Here are the most common, and why they're wrong. - As students from Parkland, Florida traveled to protest in Washington D.C., Republicans in their home state rejected a proposed ban on assault rifles. - Republican Shawn Harrison had to fire his aide, Benjamin Kelly, because Kelly claimed, in an official capacity, that the students in the Parkland, Florida massacre weren't real students, but paid actors. But it's not just some random jerk who parrots these ridiculous conspiracy theories, Trump's kid likes these obvious lies. - Republicans may be ignoring all the children being murdered, but they aren't doing nothing. Why, just yesterday all their hard work paid off and they were able to keep the woefully incompetent Jared Kushner in his senior White House advisor role, despite losing his access to secret federal information. - In addition to ending Net neutrality tomorrow, Republican Ajit Pai will also take Internet access away from poor people. - Georgia Republicans have passed a bill that will allow Christian adoption agencies to refuse to place orphan children in same-sex families, not because they feel same-sex couples will be incapable parents, but because they're bigots. - But it's not all bad news, the Republican clusterfuck is causing people to vote against them in record numbers. - Why Trump's wall won't work and what we need to do about those damn dog statues. - John Oliver discusses the importance of getting the news right, and why Trump and Brexit are both results of systemic lies. - Al Franken wasn't expected to resign because of bots or Internet trolls, he was expected to resign because Liberals expect their politicians to behave Iceland is doing something that every nation should do, they're banning the mutilation of infants for non-medical reasons. Naturally, religious people are freaking out because their religion requires the mutilation of infants for non-medical reasons. Salt makes food taste better, not because it makes it taste more salty, but strangely, more sweet! How and why religious apologists resort to the fallacy of false equivalence. |Can't I go back to when I didn't have to pay attention to politics?| I added a page for Nintendo Power and maps to the Mario Kart 64 page. If someone says they cured their own cancer, they're probably going to die from cancer. Some of the more unsung black heroes. Why the arguments of antivaxers are so flawed. Using Nitrogen Triiodide to make things go boom. Echidnas are just plain weird. |Still can't sleep a full night| I added a page for OutRun. - The Trump administration just killed the bill that was going to waste $25,000,000,000 in tax payer money to pay for Trump's border wall just so they could deport DREAMers. This is the compromise that Democrats made with Republicans in order to not shut down the government. As expected, the Republicans didn't follow through, shame on the the Democrats for thinking they could be trusted. - Want to know how your legislators voted on gun control? NPR has a nice chart of them all. In my state of Michigan, they're right along party lines, as usual, Republicans voted in favor of making it easier for people to get guns regardless of inexperience or mental instability. Of course, Fox "News" knows the real cause of mass murder isn't giving assault rifles to crazy people, the real cause is gays. Speaking of guns, the AR-15 is the official firearm of Americans who murder children, and, in Florida, they're easier to buy than a pistol. And, yes, the Russians are also trying to affect the American gun control debate. - Even after thirteen Russians and three Russian entities are indicted for interfering with the US election, Trump continues to protect Putin and Russia. - Republican Scott Pruitt, Trump's pick the head the EPA so he can dismantle the EPA, is demanding that he has to ride in first class, because people in the ordinary section won't stop making fun of him. - Republican Newt Gingrich believes that people who don't believe in gods are an equal or greater threat to America than ISIS and Al-Qaeda. - This Trump supporter still loves him, even though he's going to lose his business because of Trump. An American terrorist, Marckles Alcius, purposely crashed his car into a building trying to kill those people who had a different political belief. You too can make a Shakeweight generator to power your house. Why you shouldn't trust the US government to give you cryptography advice. Why being really cold makes you want to pee. |Big baby belly buttons| The girls had their 2-month checkup today. They're both healthy, growing steadily, and got their first round of vaccinations. Each has a fluid-filled umbilical hernia, but the doctor said it's common with premature babies, and, as long as the intestines don't escape the belly, they will heal themselves over time. I finished reading My Father's Dragon and added a page for the painting - Remember a year ago when Trump eliminated a law which made it easier for people with mental problems to buy guns? Great idea since we all know mental health has nothing to do with mass shootings, it's all about whether people play video games. - 13 Russian people and three Russian entities have been indicted by the federal grand jury for criminal interference with the 2016 presidential election. Some of them were in communication with the Trump administration. - Like Goerge W. Bush before him, Trump is trying to eliminate as much green renewable energy as he can. His goal is to wipe out 72% of research across the board so we can go back to antiquated dirty fossil fuels. A wonderful lecture about what the Large Hadron Collider is up to, now that the Higgs Boson has been found. In honor of Black History Month, a collection of SNL's Black Want another reason US health care is so expensive, because insurance companies are charged $17,850 for a $200 drug test. The long, really long, history of super continents. New Mexico Republicans just lost $700,000 of tax payer money in a legal fight to promote religion on public land. Our modern computer design is the product of a man named John von Neumann. Do you notice Google removed the "View Image" button in their image search? Blame Getty Images. Lab-grown meat cannot get here soon enough! |Never gonna stop| I added a page about Tootsie Pops ranked by flavor, the board game Monopoly, and I also reworked the review section for all of my Ancient Writing pages. - We're not even seven whole weeks into 2018, and there have already been at least eight school shootings in the USA. The Florida shooter was a while male who belonged to a white supremacist group. shooting has left 17 people dead, and 15 more wounded, making it the deadliest student shooting in US history. Once again, the US is the only developed nation where mass shootings are still commonplace. Other nations that have adopted strict gun laws have also eliminated mass shootings. As usual, Democrats call for stricter gun laws to protect people, but Republicans continue to protect nothing but the NRA. - You expect it from someone who has been accused of sexual assault by over 20 women, but Trump says you shouldn't trust women who make accusations against men, especially the ex-wives that were beaten by his former staff secretary Rob Porter. - Trump's personal laywer finally came clean and admitted that he paid $130,000 in hush money to the porn star Stormy Daniels so she wouldn't talk about her affair with Donald Trump. - Trump keeps complaining that immigrants are criminal, but, as usual, the real criminals are the people given power over other. Raphael Sanchez, a lawyer for ICE, has resigned after it came out that he was stealing the identities of immigrants and using their names to defraud financial institutions. - Trump's head of the EPA, Republican Scott Pruitt, doesn't believe in the science of global warming, but he says, even if it's true, maybe it's a good thing! An interesting overview of the R.101 airship, how it was built, operated, and crashed. Changing the mind of a faith believer is very difficult. Superpermutations are pretty cool. What you can buy with a billion dollars, and what you can't. |ACE is the place for valentimes!| Hold the wood for me Justin. - If you wanted to create a plan for guaranteeing that the poor will never be able to pull themselves out of debt, you couldn't do better than Trump's budget plan. And rather than help poor people, Trump wants to give $1,000,000,000 of tax payer money to private religious school. - Trump's protection of a wife-beater isn't going well for the White House. - Republican Jay Lawrence doesn't think incarcerated women should have access to sanitary napkins, and doesn't even think people should be allowed to talk about menstruation. - Peter Coffin discusses the latest Conservative darling, Jordan Peterson. Thunder, during a blizzard? What won't they think of next? A Christian pastor is upset that he will no longer be getting paid as much to hold public school meetings in his church, and he is no longer allowed to proselytize during the meetings. Yet another video describing the god of the gaps. Christian pastor George Nelson Gregory was caught nude and tied up with another man in a car on a public street. After on-lookers called the police, the pastor explained that he wasn't doing anything sexual, he was just "counseling a young man with a drug problem." |It's been the worst day since yesterday.| I wrote about a theological problem called the God At the End of the Rainbow, added hint books, screenshots, and manuals to the Pac-Man page, and push my previous posts to the Old News page. - We currently live in a country where the ridiculous morning TV show "Fox and Friends" has more control over the president than anyone else. - Of course Republicans aren't doing anything to stop Russians from interfering in US elections, a major reason why they won was because of Russian interference. But, when even George W. Bush is telling you that Russian are interfering with the election, you know it's serious. - The new Republican budget proposal is not only increasing the deficit to over $7,000,000,000,000, but now they're eliminating all help for student loan repayments which is going to keep current students in debt and scare potential students away from entering universities. It also eliminates 22 programs meant to help the poor, sick, and hungry, cuts Medicare even further and gives billions more to our already obscenely wasteful military. - Trump's infrastructure blueprint is basically just the government selling public lands to private owners and an increase of tolls and fees for services that were once free. - Trump is also trying to eliminate funding for public television and radio like PBS and NPR. - Low-income families who qualify for the SNAP program receive a EBT card which they can use to purchase food for their family. Republicans want to change this, and instead send the families a package of "food" heavily processed for longer-shelf life. So, instead of parents being able to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, they will receive canned vegetables. Instead of whole grains, they will get boxed cereal. I guess we shouldn't be surprised, the president who eats cheeseburgers in bed is now telling people what they should be eating. - We're living in a time when even a city police department spends $1,400,000 to closely monitor the social media of its citizens. Part of rapid evolution means coming up with some really amazing superpowers. Remember police officer Stephan Mader who used de-escalation tactics on a gun-wielding man who was begging the police to to kill him? While Mader was trying to talk the man into putting down his gun, a fellow officer showed up and shot the man to death, only to find Mader was right, the man's gun was unloaded. But the Weirton, West Virginia police fired Mader for not immediately killing the man like his trigger-happy fellow officer. Well, Mader won his lawsuit, and the city has wasted $175,000 in taxes to pay Mader for damages in addition to all the rest of the money they wasted in the lawsuit. Using dice to generate a random password. What life would be like if we let religious people publicly discriminate. Some pretty awesome video game themed Japanese wood block art. |Babies are officially two months old as of yesterday.| I finished reading Flowers For Algernon, added more maps and boxes to the Kirby's Dream Land page, and added more maps, manuals, ads, and art to the Guerrilla War page. - The Trump administration isn't even trying to to stop Russians from hacking US elections. - For months, the White House knowingly protected Bob Porter, a man who beat his wives. - As expected, Trump blocked the release of the Democrat memo which refutes all the lies in the Nunes memo. Trump claims the Republican memo proves his innocence and incriminates the FBI, it does neither. - According to court documents, some of the police hired to protect protesting Nazis and white supremacists were actively rounding up and arresting counter-protesters because the cops were sympathetic to the Nazis. - Jeff Sessions is so anti-drug that he doesn't think people suffering from chronic pain should be allowed to take anything stronger than aspirin. - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a government organization meant to protect consumers from companies that try to take advantage of them. Well, it used to be. Trump appointee, Republican Mick Mulvaney, is doing everything he can to prevent the bureau from actually protecting Americans. The science behind fire and gunpowder. During the second world war, the US government tested mustard gas on US soldiers, didn't give them proper medical care, and forbade them to tell doctors what had been done to them. They tested especially on black and Asian soldiers. How to return from a jump in machine code, even when you don't have a line return register or a stack. Students at Georgian College in Ontario, Canada were probably re-thinking their tuitions after it came out that their school was preparing to offer a 3-year program in homeopathy. The school has wisely scrapped the program, but the fact that they were even considering it is disheartening. It would be like if they had a program in unicornology. What's the deal with old people smell? |Donald Trump is a shitlord.| I added more maps, manuals, graphic sheets, and cover art to the Wolfenstein 3-D page. - Trump had his rich daddy help him dodge the draft with a fake diagnosis of "bone spurs," but that won't stop him from wasting millions pretending the US military are his toy soldiers. Like most pathetic dictators, Trump wants a military parade in his honor to show the world just how unstable the US has become. And his embarrassing military posturing is only going to increase tensions with North Korea, so let's just remind ourselves just how many people would die if we went to war. - More Republicans come out to disavow the Republican memo as bullshit. - Rodrigo Duterte, the President of the Philippines, and hero of Donald Trump because he enjoys personally murdering people who take recreational drugs, is finally going to be investigate by an international criminal court. - Republicans have been pretty successful at exorcising from this history books, every mistake our government has ever made, but it's important to remember that a large part of our nation's history, even the stuff that survives to this day, is extremely racist. The awesomeness of cobalt. Can dogs smell fear? Not exactly, but they can smell a chemical change in your scent that occurs when you're afraid. An important figure in black history is John Robinson. Why are tax payers so eager to dump billions on sports arenas? Because the owners tell them it will be great for their local economy. Spoiler alert, they Electroshock therapy never really went away, and is becoming more effective and safer than ever. |Dictators gonna dick| - One of the main points in the memo written by Devin Nunes was that the FBI used a Democratic-funded dossier to begin the investigation, but that argument is invalidated by the very same evidence Nunes cited! - I cast a lot of hate against Republicans because they pretty much always screw things up, like the $1,500,000,000,000 deficit they created in the national budget by cutting taxes on the wealthy and eliminating programs to help the poor. But this time, the hate goes to both Republicans and Democrats for increasing our deficit further. The new bipartisan bill adds another $165,000,000,000 to our already over-funded military while only $131,000,000,000 will be added to help the poor. - When Trump said Democrats are guilty of treason, a crime for which execution is a possible punishment, he was only kidding, never mind that he also said he never kids. - Another one of Trump's White House staffers resigns in disgrace. Rob Porter who was in charge of censoring information that Trump can't handle has resigned after two of his ex-wives accused him of beating them. - Trump's aides are trying to convince him not to talk with Robert Mueller because they believe he will almost certainly incriminate himself. Vitamin C can't cure a cold or any other disease, but why do so many people believe it can? Blame Linus Pauling. New York police officers Eddie Martins and Richard Hall, both in their 30s, raped an 18-year-old girl in their police car, but they might not get a typical rape sentence because they claim that the girl consented to sex, and, in New York and 35 other states, there is no law which prevents a cop from having sex with someone they've arrested if they consent. Why BMI is not a good indicator of health. In the 1980s, Fernando Karadima, a Catholic priest, sexually abused Juan Carlos Cruz and several other children, but these crimes were covered up by fellow clergy member Juan Barros. When Cruz learned that Barros had been promoted to a Bishop, Cruz couldn't stay silent any longer, and sent a letter to Pope Francis detailing the whole mess. Rather than turn Juan Barros over to the authorities, Pope Francis claimed he never received the letter and publicly defended Bishop Juan Barros. Do you find mosquitoes are more attracted to you than your friends? Blame your genes! The amazing medicines that can be found in urine. |I should not be allowed on the Internet| I started a new series of parody graphics called Not Meant For Children's Books. - Even several Republicans agree that the Nunes Memo doesn't vindicate Trump, but Fox News claims it proves all the deep state conspiracies they made up. - Trump is ignoring the Congressional sanctions against Russia because he's buddies with Vladamir Putin. This should frighten everyone because Putin is using the Russian military to invade neighboring nations. - Trump is really wearing on his sleeve his desire to be a military - Staffers at the White House explain that Trump isn't interested in reading things that are as long as 10 pages. - The Trump Administration is trying to put a cap on Medicaid use so that poor people who get sick with really expensive diseases will have their insurance - Trump promised he would shrink the trade deficit with China, and to be sure of success, he put in charge his son-in-law who has no training in such matters. But, due to his incompetence, the trade deficit with China has reached an all time high. - Trump bragged about how wonderful the economy was doing, at the same time the stock market had the largest drop in history. - Don Trump Jr. says Democrats are like Joe McCarthy all the while practicing McCarthyism. Natalie Portman is still bad ass. Where to birds go during hurricanes? Good Christian Larry Alex Taunton, who fabricated a death-bed conversion story for Christopher Hitchens and believes that anyone who doesn't believe in his god is evil, has just resigned after it came out that he was having sex with two of his ministry's younger staffers. How scientists are able to accurately measure the age of the universe. |Zebes isn't the nice place it used to be| I added a page for Microsoft and downloads for the translated Metroid (Magazine Z) graphic novels. - Four Republicans finally grew a pair and publicly stated that the Nunes memo in no way vindicates Trump. Too bad Jeff Sessions has abandoned the Justice Department to the wolves rather than show backbone. - Trump is pulling money out of the Basic Health Program, and, with no other programs available to them, he's going to kill a lot of people. - The point of the US census is to get an accurate picture of the number and ethnicity of everyone living in America, regardless of their immigration status, because you can't make good decisions if you don't have all the facts, and you certainly can't make good decisions if you have distorted facts. Unfortunately, Republicans keep making an accurate census an unlikely prospect by defunding it and adding questions to scare immigrants out of participating. - Yes, under the direction of unelected Republican emergency managers, the Flint Water Plant infected 87 people with Legionnaires' disease, killing 12 people. Residents noticed the change immediately after they switched water supplies, but the Republicans ignored their complaints and continued to poison them. - The Defense Logistics Agency, a company that the US government uses for military contracts has "lost" $800,000,000. And, by lost, you should probably read - Wyoming has more wind power generation than any other state thanks to taking advantage of tax credits to replace fossil fuel energy production, but now their Republican Governor, Mary Fallin, not only wants to eliminate the tax credit, but start charging the wind farms a fee! A lot of American soil owes a great debt to African dust. Captain Disillusion explains how to step over an invisible box. Putting yet another satellite into already crowded low-earth orbit for no reason other than to remind people that we can put satellites into space is not an effective use of time or money. It's probably for the best that video games don't become realistic. A biologist responds to claims regarding intelligent design. |Nin! Ten! Do!| I added a page for Nintendo. - The anti-FBI memo concocted by admitted liar Republican Devin Nunes is not receiving a very friendly welcome from the community, or anyone who cares about reality. - Remember when Equifax lost the private identification of 145,500,000 Americans to hackers so that they will, for the rest of their lives, be vastly more likely to experience identity theft? Well, Trump appointee, Republican Mick Mulvaney, has just canceled the investigation against them. - Lou Anna Simon, president of MSU, resigned after it came out that Larry Nassar had been sexually assaulting hundreds of students under her watch. So, who replaced Simon as president of MSU? Former Michigan Governor, Republican John Engler, a man with no aptitude for running a university, but who does have a history of refusing to let women who claimed they've been sexually assaulted have their claims investigated. - Trump's pick to lead the Council on Environmental Quality, Republican Kathleen Hartnett White, a woman who thinks carbon dioxide is the "gas of life," that slavery was ended in part because of the burning of fossil fuels, and that renewable green energy is parasitic, has (thankfully) had her nomination revoked. - During the election campaign, the Trump administration was trying to cover the tracks of their Russian collusion, now they're doing it right out in the open. - Illinois Republicans are set to elect a Holocaust denying white supremacist to their congress. - The School of Choice program promoted by Mike Pence and Betsy DeVose not only churns out less-educated children, but it costs tax payers more, and most of their money goes to - Trump saw a National Health Service protest occurring in the UK, and claimed the people were angry about NHS and wanting it scrapped. In reality, the NHS is the best-rated health care system in the world, and the people were protesting because they wanted even more funding put into it. - People with conservative political views are more likely to believe lies, - Grady Judd, a sheriff in Florida wants immigrants to know, he isn't going to seek them out for deportation unless they're not religious. Teachers are still assaulting children for refusing to show deference to a jingoist prayer. The drinking bird is not a perpetual motion machine, but it is a marvel of engineering and physics. Teaching the evolution of the eye, by building a digital camera. So-called "bad girls" are more likely to say no to sex compared to "good girls." |You are the perfect slug!| I made a graphic of variations on Trent Reznor's song, Perfect Drug and added pages for GW-BASIC and QuickBASIC. Forced arbitration is great if you're a company, but terrible if you're a person, especially if you're a minority. Rather than provide evidence that they took the Holocaust seriously or apologize for not taking it seriously enough, Poland has passed a law where claiming the country didn't do enough to prevent the Holocaust is now a criminal offense. Benjamin Lawrence Petty is a good Christian man who worked at a Falls Creek Christian camp that claims to only hire good moral Christians. While there, he violently raped a 13-year-old girl and even plead guilty to the crime, but he will not be going to prison. Why do domesticated animals often have floppy ears? The history of speed-running The Legend of Zelda. If you defense of Islam hypocritical compared to your defense against other ideas? |Things and stuff| I added a page for TicTactics. - In addition to having the most corrupt presidency in history, and the most dishonest, Trump's administration adds another superlative by having the worst turn-over rate. The latest job lost is Brenda Fitzgerald's who resigned after Trump appointed her head of the CDC after it came out that, despite running an organization that's supposed to tackle problems of disease and addiction, Fitzgerald has been profiting from tobacco companies. - The State of the Union was just a long series of lies, stupidity, and tyranny. Even after it was over, Trump added another lie claiming it was the most watched State of the Union in history. It - Pretty much everything Trump says about climate change is a lie. If you missed the super blue blood moon, here are some photos. San Francisco is doing something I hope will catch on, they're removing marijuana possession convictions from people's Poor sanitation in the White House is probably responsible for the death of at least two presidents. Having church elders tell you not to masturbate is really creepy. Some of the lies employed by the Christian proponents of intelligent design. Want to go further back? Check the old news.

Mark; see details in note Mark 1:11 Time of Writing: The words spoken in 13:2 seem to indicate that this book was written before the destruction of the holy temple. Perhaps it was written between A.D. 67 and 70, after the death of the apostle Paul. Place of Writing: Perhaps Rome; see 2 Timothy 4:11 Frequent explanations of Jewish names, customs, and festivals in this book (3:17 ) prove that it was written to the Gentiles, specifically the Romans.

As genealogists and family historians, we often ponder why our ancestors didn’t tell us much about their past or the old country. Our lament as grandchildren is we neglected to ask our grandparents and parents questions about which we now care so deeply. In my senior years, I now have a laundry list of questions that should have been asked. What were the reasons you came to America, what was life like in your village, how much schooling did you have, what did your house look like? etc. Oh, if we could only have them in our lives for just a week so that we could uncover all the mysteries and stories that died with them. I “get it” now. If there is blame to be placed, it likely is on my shoulders. It wasn’t until I became an empty nester that I began to genuinely care about my heritage. My interests centered on me during my younger years, a common theme of those interested in family history. We probably sat on the couch in our grandparents’ living rooms just waiting to go home. My two sets of grandparents were as different as could be. My paternal grandparents were kind and loving immigrants from Poland. The language barrier was intense, and almost all the words I heard were Polish. I would occasionally hear my name spliced in the conversation followed by a chuckle. But, I knew these two people loved me, and I remember my Babcia’s loving embrace. I could have asked questions about all the things about which I now care. I’m sure someone would have given an answer. These grandparents might have felt honored if I had cared to ask about their earlier years, but I didn’t. My maternal grandparents are remembered as indifferent and cold to my siblings and me. The Reformation was still being fought in the 1950’s as my mother married a Roman Catholic and converted to that faith. It didn’t help that my father made little effort to be pleasant with them. So, visits were sparse and uncomfortable, and I felt unwelcome. Friends are shocked when I tell them I never ate a meal at my grandparents, although all of my other cousins did. I recall seeing two cherry pies fresh out of the oven and commenting to my grandmother that they looked good. She snapped at me, “Those are for your Phillips cousins. They are coming to dinner later.” Even in my most generous moments, I can’t think of any excuse for such unkindness towards an innocent child. I admit to being somewhat envious that my cousins can share affectionate stories about these grandparents, but mostly I remain indifferent. It would have been nice to have enjoyed a loving relationship with my Chapman grandparents, but that wasn’t my destiny. The end result is that I now have little motivation to write about them as their grandchild. Their facts and stories are still hidden away in my computer’s files waiting for me to make them my priority as an author. Their indifference about me gave way to my feeling the same about them. As my widowed grandmother aged, I had no desire to visit her. She will remain a cold memory. I know enough about both grandparents’ histories to understand that they all must have suffered a great deal, but it is my immigrant grandparents whose stories I most lament not knowing. I had an intense desire to learn more and spent a year pouring over the microfilms of their parish to learn about their ancestors. Three trips to their ancestral villages and the exceptional experience of getting to meet my Polish cousins followed this extensive research. That is how I discovered the stories that no one in America had known. The most profound revelation from my trip to the ancestral village was about my grandparents’ motivation to immigrate. I had always assumed they came to America to make their lives better, but I was wrong. They came mostly for the benefit of the family they left behind rather than themselves. Both were the eldest in the family, and Galicia was the poorest region in Europe. My grandmother’s family in Poland still tells the story of how young Marya cried for weeks when she left the village in 1907 and was so miserable. As a fourteen-year-old girl who reported on her immigration documents that she was sixteen, my grandmother traveled as what could be accurately called an indentured servant. There may have been no formal contract of the indenture, but her parents found a wealthy Jewish family who brought her to America as their maid, cook, and nanny. She worked for them for several years. My grandfather worked for Dr. Hupka, the owner of the village manor in his village of Niwiska, as a gardener and he tended horses before immigrating as a teenager. While in Poland, I learned stories of his family’s heroism and persecution as slave laborers during the Nazi occupation of their village during WWII. The family in Poland was able to tell me much more about my ancestors than any cousin back in Ohio. We all just didn’t know the family’s history. The Polish family who had been lost to me for about sixty years treasured the stories of these two immigrants. My grandparents never forgot their family’s hardships during both world wars and the Soviet occupation and sent money, clothing, and medicine to Poland from the time they immigrated until the day they died. What if I, like some of my cousins, spoke some Polish and could then communicate with my grandparents? It doesn’t seem as though my lack of language skills much mattered. My cousins who could speak Polish know little more than I do about our grandparents even though several of them lived close to them during their childhood. What if I was a “wise beyond my year’s child” who inherently sensed the importance of probing questions to ascertain their history? What would be a typical ancestor’s response? If our ancestors had led a pleasant life of relative privilege, they might be eager to share the stories of their lovely childhood, funny uncles and doting aunts, and memories of trips to the family farm in the country. But, the wealthy and privileged were not the typical immigrant, and most of us don’t descend from royalty. Europeans often left because of extreme poverty or persecution. The Europe of the early 1900’s was torn apart by war, and the lower class was most often the one motivated to leave. Rare are the family historians who had grandparents willing to talk about their lives. Most genealogists report that their ancestors were hesitant to share much of anything of their past, especially those who were immigrants. Marcus Lee Hansen was one of the first historians to explore “third generation immigrants” a group to which many of us belong. According to Hansen’s thesis, the first generation, as foreign-born, maintained the language and customs of their Old World identity. Their children assimilated into the new culture and tended to reject the foreign ways of their parents. They wanted to join the American mainstream and deliberately distanced themselves from the customs and language of the Old World. It is the grandchildren who seek to recover the original ethnic identity. As I consider Hansen’s hypothesis, it is obvious that this pattern is a natural one as the second generation seeks to be accepted by the culture and country in which they were born. “What the son wishes to forget the grandson wishes to remember” is Hansen’s message. Upon reflection, I wonder what my grandparents could have told me that wasn’t horribly depressing. I think of my grandmother as a fourteen-year-old girl who received no education and who was the oldest child with twelve other siblings all living in severe poverty in Galicia. She had been employed to work in wealthier homes as a cook and a servant before she came to America. It is likely she had few pleasant memories as her family’s circumstances prevented her from experiencing a real childhood. Her life was filled with caring for younger siblings and working on the small farm while observing death, poverty, and oppression in her small village. Even with this depressing background, my grandmother didn’t want to leave her village or family in Galicia. The burden of the family’s future was placed on her shoulders at such a young age. It was expected that those privileged to go to America would provide for those left behind. It wasn’t long after she left that the doors to immigrate to the USA were closed to many immigrants. My grandparents’ younger siblings were “trapped” in Poland after WWI and likely envied their older and more prosperous American relatives. I imagine my grandmother’s most vivid memories were the faces of her loved ones as she left on that cold day in November 1907. The tears and fears must have been on everyone’s face as she kissed them goodbye, knowing she would never see most of them again. Only one sister, the second oldest child, also made it to America. The hole in my grandmother’s heart likely never healed as she thought about her family’s safety and health during the two world wars, the worldwide depression, and the Soviet occupation in 1945. The Germans and the Soviets made any communication sparse and somewhat general as all letters were read by these occupiers. Only one letter survives, and I was struck how little of importance was communicated, beyond general statements and the weather. It is likely that recent immigrants from the region or people who had visited were the best source of family news. I now try to understand better why my grandparents didn’t relate much of their history. They likely reminisced and spoke with their siblings and other first-generation immigrant friends who shared their past struggles. The second generation who lived during the Great Depression and WWII didn’t share their parents’ dedication in caring for the family in Poland. I can understand why my father may have possibly resented his parents’ insistence that he hand over his earning selling papers on the street when he knew that some of that money was going overseas to “relative strangers.” The second generation lived and worked outside the ethnic neighborhoods and didn’t want to be perceived as backward immigrants. Their ethnic pride was reserved for those who shared their heritage. Ethnic and religious tensions were probably much more intense in those days amongst groups who had more in common than they had differences. Although it was never my intention, my grandparents were likely embarrassed by their limited English skills and education. Their world was one where they never had to leave their neighborhood as the priest and nuns, doctors, store owners, and neighbors spoke Polish. Their grandchildren were one of the few groups that presented a challenge in communication. I was the first grandchild to graduate from college, and I hope they felt only pride that it took only six decades for their family to see that their grandchildren achieved this American dream. Still, I can relate to their hesitancy to communicate with a more educated person as I still quiver in front of the elite and erudite. I also consider that these wiser people knew I didn’t have the maturity or capacity to appreciate what they could share about the past. What would their granddaughter think if told of real starvation, poverty, persecution, and beatings? They knew I had no experiences with oppression and these topics are often too brutal to share with children. So, they smiled, hugged and fed me. Now I have a great desire to know more, but my only sources are the random memories and learning of other’s life stories. I can only extrapolate bits and pieces to frame the few facts I have into a coherent story. Much of the information is fictionalized and told from a point of view that is not valid for my grandparents. They likely had little in common with a Polish person who lived in Warsaw, the wealthy Polish landowners, or a Jew from the next village. These are the people we read about in popular historical novels or observe in movies. Books are not written about a little Polish girl in a remote village of 2,000 who never accomplished some great and noble feat. There have been others who provide insight into why ancestors don’t share much about the old country. John Guzlowski, a poet and author of numerous books, shares his parents’ wartime experiences in gripping and eloquent narratives. I read his book “Echoes of Tattered Tongues” from cover to cover in just two days and came away with a fresh understanding of why victims of atrocities often need to wrap their past in a protective cover. For decades, John had been writing poems about his parents’ wartime experiences in Nazi slave labor camps, and it wasn’t until his mother was in her late seventies that she reflected on his previous writings and said to him, “That’s not how is was.” John’s mother then began to share the truth, and John often didn’t want to hear the stories his mother was now determined to impart. I’m glad he did as it opened my mind to the realities others might be ashamed to share. Too real. Too intimate. Too raw. I then ask myself if history always repeats itself. I haven’t told my children or grandchildren much at all about my childhood, schooling, dreams or life experiences, probably because I think I’m not exceptional in any way or all that interesting. Maybe that is the heart of this whole issue. Maybe that is exactly the reason my grandparents didn’t share their stories. I have reflected on this omission. If my children had to write a chapter about my life, I am certain they would not be able to communicate the essence of who I was before they were born or details beyond those written on Ancestry.com. The reasons are the same as they were for my grandparents. We only tend to know people during the period they are in our lives. The younger ones are busy with school, and their parents are busy with their careers and family obligations. Our precious time with family doesn’t include a trip down memory lane but is instead filled with discussions about current problems, the grandchildren’s sports and accomplishments, parenting issues, and events pertinent to our current lives. These are all very nice topics that I care deeply about. Thus, I have made a resolution to periodically write small chapters of my memoir, likely never to be published. My children and grandchildren and their descendants may someday treasure an insight into my life experiences and feelings. I have the privilege of telling my own story, and my descendants won’t have to rely on others’ less accurate and impersonal memories. Hopefully, one of my descendants will read it and consider that they share some of my traits and can relate to my feelings. Perhaps one of them will be grateful that I took the time to write about my life. I just revised my book “Travel Back to Your Roots” to focus on Polish genealogy and travel. It is called “Travel Back to Your Polish Roots” available on Amazon.

While there are a ton of different apps available, they each offer unique and exclusive features. So which service will you choose to help you find the one? Some other websites may be older, but Tinder is undoubtedly the most famous dating app out there. As successful as it is at forming long-distance relationships and successful marriages, Tinder has long been accused of changing dating into some form of hookup game. Thankfully, the Tinder app no longer requires you to have a Facebook account, but you do have to be older than 18 to sign up. Once enabled, you set up a concise profile that consists of a character bio and up to six images we suggest always including a photo or your best selfie. Discovery settings allow you to set preferences for who can find your profile, from distance and proximity to age range. The photos are large, the app is — comparatively speaking — elegant, and setting up your profile is pretty painless. 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The Fading Glory of Solomon September 17th, 1961 @ 7:30 PM 1 Kings 11:11 THE FADING GLORY OF SOLOMON Dr. W. A. Criswell 1 Kings 11 9-17-61 7:30 p.m. The title of the sermon tonight is The Fading Glory of Solomon. In the Bible turn to Deuteronomy chapter 17. We shall read together verses 14 to the end of the chapter; Deuteronomy chapter 17. In this chapter and in this passage we are going to read together, there are seven qualifications for God’s king, and the sermon tonight will be a display of how Solomon violated six of those seven qualifications God wrote out for a king. It was as if Solomon was lifted up and presented as an example of what a king ought not to be. Now let us read together beginning at verse 14 in Deuteronomy 17, the seventeenth chapter, beginning at the fourteenth verse. Deuteronomy 17:14, now together: When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses; forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel. Now if you want to follow the sermon, we shall take each one of the seven precepts that God had written down here in the law as qualifications for the king who shall rule over His people, and we shall see how Solomon violated all of those laws except one. That was the first one, and he had nothing to do about that one [Deuteronomy 17:14-15]. The first qualification was that he would be a member of the household and family of the faith, and being born a son of David, he was thereby a brother among his people. He belonged to the Jewish family and the Hebrew faith. So he qualified in the first one. We shall now take the rest of them, the following six, and follow the life of Solomon as he declined and as the glory in his life faded away. The reign of Solomon passed like an unsubstantial dream, like a midsummer night’s vision. It’s a strange thing that in the prophets and in the apostles you will not find Solomon mentioned. The only reference to him will be from our Lord, who then said that the lilies of the field excelled him [Matthew 7:28-29; Luke 11:27]. That’s one of the strangest things in the Bible. I picked up and copied to read for you a midrash, a commentary of the rabbinical Jew, from his Talmud on Ecclesiastes 2:10. This will be a very typical way that they interpret the Word of God. Listen to this midrash, this commentary from the Talmud. I quote, “At first, before he married strange women, Solomon reigned over the angels. He sat on the throne of the Lord” 1 Chronicles 29:23; then only over those below, “over all the kingdoms” 1 Kings 4:21; “then only over Israel” Ecclesiastes 1:12; “then only over Jerusalem” Ecclesiastes 1:1; “at last he reigned only over his staff” [Ecclesiastes 2:10]. As it is said, Ecclesiastes 2:10, “And this was my portion of my labor.” For by the word “this,” he meant the staff which was in his hand and which was the only possession left to him. That is a very typical midrash, commentary from the Talmud. The life of Solomon is but the moral of all human tales. ‘Tis but the same rehearsal of the past: first freedom, and then glory. And when that fails, well, vice, corruption, barbarism at last. Now, we are going to take the life of Solomon as it waned and died in its glory. The next qualification for the king was this: “He shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt” [Deuteronomy 17:16], that he might buy and trade in the traffic of horse flesh. I presume today you would call that: he’s not to build racetracks, and he’s not to put in parimutuel betting windows, and he’s not to give himself to those things that go with gambling and horse racing and all the bookies and parimutuels and all the degrading things that would come out of the traffic of horses and chariots. Now, if you want to turn to 1 Kings 10 and 11, you can follow this syllable- by-syllable and step-by-step, the violation of Solomon of that interdiction: 1 Kings chapter 10, verse 26, 28, and 29; 1 Kings 10:26: And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem. And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and the king’s merchants received an order . . . . And a chariot went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means. [1 Kings 10:26, 28, 29] He was a horse-trader from way back and he liked them. He liked to run them. He liked to hitch them up to the chariots and away did they go. And Josephus described it: When Solomon appeared across the country, he had young men behind him driving in chariots, chosen for their fine stature and their raven black hair that he plat with solid gold. And when Solomon came, the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Syrians and the Moabites and all the rest of them looked in amazement and wonder upon this man Solomon, Solomon with his horses and his chariots [1 Kings 10:29]. All right, the second thing here in the seventeenth chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy: “Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away” [Deuteronomy 17:17]. Now, the commentary in 1 Kings 11: But, but King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, and the Ammonites, and the Edomites, and the Zidonians, and the Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you; for surely, they will turn away your heart with their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods. [1 Kings 11:1-4] That is one of the most astonishing and astounding of all the things that I’ve ever read in the Word of God: he had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. There were one thousand inmates in the seraglio of Solomon. And if you will dig in the history and look in those old musty volumes, you’ll find that the largest harem in recorded history, ancient or modern, belonged to Darius Codomannus, and he had one wife and three hundred fifty-nine concubines. That’s the biggest one in all recorded history, but this man Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines! [1 Kings 11:3]. Why, he made Brigham Young and Darius and all the other polygamists of all time look like peanuts compared to how he did it! That’s an astonishing thing, an amazing development! And with that violation of the interdiction of God, there came one of the worst, most dehumanizing and degrading institutions that mind can imagine. For the first time, you will find in the court of Solomon the eunuch appearing. Wherever there is polygamy, there you will find it’s inevitable, concomitant and necessary: the eunuch, the dry stick. And in those harems, those seraglios, there do you find idle and luxuriously loving women, enraging jealousy currying the royal favor. And the ennui and the weariness and the debauchery, the degrading that arises out of the multiplication of princesses, wives and concubines, the polygamist situation, such as you describe here, to us it is unimaginable! And yet, that’s the thing to which Solomon gave himself wantonly, likingly, choosingly, volitionally, “And Solomon clave unto them in love” [1 Kings 11:2]. He liked it that way: the multiplication of those strange women. Now, the next interdiction of God: “Neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold” [Deuteronomy 17:17]. Now, look in 1 Kings 10: 21 and 27, “And all King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon [1 Kings 20:21] . . . And King Solomon made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones…” [1 Kings 10:27]. And God said, “Thou shall not greatly multiply to thyself silver and gold” [Deuteronomy 17:17]. There is something about the corrupting power of the accumulation of wealth that decays and corrodes and rusts men’s souls. There are two extremities of life that make things difficult for God: one, the accessibly, oppressively poor. It is difficult, difficult, to build a great work for God where people live in rags and in starvation and in war. That is the first one. And the second extremity is as vile and as corrupting. It is almost impossible, Jesus said, that thing about a camel going through an eye of a needle [Luke 18:22-25]. It is almost impossible to build a great work for God where men heap up to themselves vast riches. And riches have a tendency to corrode and to corrupt. If you don’t believe that, pick out any godly man in this world, and almost inevitably his children have fallen away from the devoted humble faith of the father. “Thou shalt not,” said this Jehovah God, “Thou shalt not multiply to thyself greatly these vast accumulations of silver and gold” [Deuteronomy 17:17]. Use it for God, that’s all it is for. Dedicate it to the Lord, use it for Him. Now, the next interdiction: And it shall be with him that he shall write before him this book that he may read it all the days of his life. That he may learn to love the Lord and to keep all the words of this law and keep these statutes to do them. Now, look what Solomon did; 1 Kings 11, verses 5 through 8: And Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom, or Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all of his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. [1 Kings 11:5-8] That is an astonishing and an amazing development! When it speaks of the hill that is before Jerusalem, it’s talking about Mount Olivet. And on the extremity, on the southern crest of the Mount of Olives, there did Solomon erect these altars and these images. Ashtoreth was the soft queen of the night, the soft goddess of the moon; and she was worshiped in the most indescribable orgies that mind could imagine. And there on the southern crest of Olivet, did Solomon erect an image and an altar to Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians [1 Kings 11:5-8]. And there on that same mountain which is before Jerusalem, did he erect an altar to Molech, the god of the fierceness of the blazing of the noonday sun, who was worshiped by casting children into his burning and fiery arms. And there, on that southern crest of Mount Olivet, did Solomon erect an altar and an image to Chemosh, the male god who was worshiped in a phallic devotion [1 Kings 11:7]. I copied this out of Milton’s Paradise Lost, talking about Solomon, Molech, horrid king, be smeared with blood of human sacrifice and parent’s tears, though for the noise of drums and timbrels loud, their children’s cries unheard, that passed through fire to his grim idol. Him the Ammonite worshiped in Rabba. The wisest heart of Solomon, he led by fraud to build his temple right against the temple of God on that approbrious hill and made his grave the pleasant valley of Hinnom: Topheth thence and black Gehenna called, the type of hell. And the amazing thing in this story, all of the priests and all of the Levites there on Mount Moriah, day-by-day—with perfect precision and with thoughtless perfection, offering the sacrifices to God: the two kidneys along with the fat—and no Levite and no priest raised his voice against the counter-smoke that was rising to Chemosh and to Molech and to Ashtoreth on the hill across the Kidron Valley. And another thing: and God took the spirit of prophecy away from the kingdom of Solomon. No prophet arose. The flame and the baptism and the fire of the Spirit of God never fell! Nathan died. Gad had died, and there was no prophet in the reign of Solomon until the end time when Ahijah from Shiloh came to announce the dissolution and the destruction of the kingdom [1 Kings 11:30-32]. Solomon, Solomon. Now the next interdiction, “Let his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment” [Deuteronomy 17:20]. Now, you turn over here to the twelfth chapter of the Book of Kings and see the superior personal ephemera of the court of Solomon as it ground down and crushed the people. By and by, as the days passed, you would expect that the nobles and the princes and their houses would emulate the great king. And however Solomon was, and however his presence, and his majesty, and his attitude, that same thing you’d find reflected in his princes and in his nobles. Now I want you to look at these young men who grew up with Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. And Rehoboam said to the young men [1 Kings 12:8]: What shall I say to these people who say they refuse any longer to be ground to death by the grievous burdens of taxation and the scorn and the whiplash of forced labor? What shall I say to them? And, the young men spake unto Rehoboam— the young men who were grown up with him, and they said— You tell them that my little finger shall be heavier than my father’s loins, and whereas my father lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. And where my father chastised you with whips, I will chastise you with scorpions. [1 Kings 12:9-11] Such insensible pride, such wont and empty ostentation; but that was the court of Solomon. And those are the young men who grow up with Rehoboam, Solomon’s son; they were without understanding, and they loved vanity and cheap display and parade. And finally, to the end that he may prolong his days in the kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel, twice God appeared to Solomon. And God said to him, “Solomon, keep My laws and follow in My statutes, and I will add length of days to thy life and establish thy kingdom and thy throne forever” [1 Kings 3:14, 9:5]. Now look, 1 Kings chapter 11; now look, look at verse 9: And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord… Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou has not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. [1 Kings 11:9- 11] And Solomon died in the very apex of the strength of his life, a weary old man when he was sixty years of age [1 Kings 11:42-43]. Remember how long Moses lived? At one hundred twenty: his eye was not dim nor his natural strength abated [Deuteronomy 34:7]. But Solomon was worn out and through and aged when he was sixty years old. And God took the kingdom away from him and just for David’s sake, left him a small part, one tribe: Benjamin had meshed with Judah [1 Kings 11:36]. Ah, how the glory has vanished! A brief summary: he began as Nathan the prophet called him, Jedidiah, beloved of God, and the Lord loved him [2 Samuel 12:24-25]. Every princely promise crowned the life of this beautiful young prince. When he was young, he loved the Lord [1 Kings 3:3], and Nathan called him Jedidiah, beloved of Jehovah, favored of God. The second part of his life: a life of glory and splendor beyond compare. God gave him wisdom, and he understood, and he ferreted out the answers to what God had wrought in the earth [1 Kings 4:29-34]: things above and things around and things underneath. He built the glorious temple [1 Kings 6:14]. He built the cities of Israel, and he raised the glory of Israel to a zenith, to an apex, to a height that it had never known before, climaxed by the visit of the queen of Sheba, who, when she saw the wisdom and the glory of Solomon said, “And the half has never been told,” never been told [1 Kings 10:7]: the glory, and the majesty, and the presence, and the wisdom, and the riches, and the honor of Solomon. And then the decline and the fading away: the young man, so glorious, has become a weary, old, worn-out carcass and shell. And a beautiful prince has turned into a tyrant with whips and scorpions driving the people [1 Kings 12:11]. And the magnificent leader is laden with debt. And Hiram in disgust—king of Tyre turns away [1 Kings 9:11-13], and the Pharaoh of Egypt gives refuge to his servant who supplants him in the kingdom [1 Kings 11:40]. And there’s not a great man named in the court of Solomon. David walked among prophets, and poets, and great warriors, and mighty men. There’s not a one of them named in the entire court and reign of King Solomon. He lived alone in his tyranny and in his luxurious, dissolute, uxorious, dissipated, degraded, corroded life. Solomon: he found the people free, he left them enslaved. He found a people unburdened, he left them oppressed. He found a people of simple tastes; he left them luxury-loving. He found a people who had a tendency to follow God; he left them indifferent to the abomination of the heathen. And he left behind a weak and a worthless son who divided the kingdom and who disgraced the name. In the Camposanto in Florence, Italy, the great artist Orcagna has pictured Solomon, when the trumpet of the archangel has sounded and he is painfully struggling from the sepulcher, and in his ignorance and in his despair, and in his confusion, Solomon knows not whether to turn to the right or to the left, whether he’s going to be numbered among the saved or the damned, whether his lot is with the worshipers of Jehovah or the idolatrous worshipers of Chemosh and Ashteroth and Molech, whether he belongs to the people of Jehovah or belongs to the condemned people of the damned. And do you notice, when you turn to the genealogy of our Lord, Matthew writes the genealogy from David and to Solomon, because the kingly reign came down through him [Matthew 1:1-17]. But when Luke wrote the actual genealogy of the bloodline of the Lord Jesus Christ, he followed it through Solomon’s brother Nathan and down to Mary [Luke 3:23]. And the line that came in its fruit and its glory in the gift of our Savior to the world never followed the line of Solomon. God set him aside and chose the line of his brother Nathan, through whom our Savior was given to the world. What a shame, what a tragedy, what a pity; and the glory faded away. Ah! It is so easy for that to characterize the life of any man, and especially the young. So fine and so strong, so beautiful and so princely, so gifted and endowed with every glorious promise, and then dissipated and wasted, and sell it for a mess of pottage, and trade it for nothing in exchange. And the life so full of beauty, and glory, and promise falls into decay, corruption, and disappointment, and hurt, into the abyss of those who fail the great, the high purposes of God. Oh, oh, oh! How infinitely better, when the Lord calls, to offer Him heart, and life, and hand. How much the sweeter to answer the great, great, heavenly vision, true to it to the end of our days, from grace-to-grace and glory-to-glory and blessing-to-blessing, following the will of our Savior. And there’s an assignment for you and a call from God, just as there was for Solomon. He had a place, and a time, and a mission, and an assignment, and a task, and God said, if you will be true to My elective purpose and call in your life, I will give you every rich gift from above. That’s with us and you; God has a purpose, and an assignment, and a task, and a calling for each one. And when we follow the precepts of the Lord, true like Paul to the heavenly vision [Acts 26:19], every day is a triumph and a glory and a blessing. But when like Solomon, our hearts are lifted up and we turn aside from the commandments and the statutes of the Lord, our lives are written in tears, and in agedness, and in disappointment, in sorrow, in all of those unhappinesses that follow those who turn from the path and the call and the will of God. While we sing this song tonight, God has a call for you. If you’ve never given Him in faith your heart and your soul, make it tonight. Make it tonight. Turning aside from all of the things that keep you from God, come. Come. Come. If the Lord has spoken to your heart in a special appeal for a special assignment, come. Come. Come. If the Lord bids, give your life in a new way to the devoted service of our Master, come. Come. Come, as He shall open the door, shall lead the way, shall whisper the appeal for your heart and your life. Make it tonight. Make it tonight. As we sing this hymn, as our people prayerfully wait upon the moving Spirit of the Lord, as God shall say the word of invitation and appeal, make it tonight. “Here I come, Lord. Here I am. I feel in my soul, God has a work for me, and here I am. Here I come. I offer Him my highest best.” Would you, would you make it tonight, while we stand and while we sing? THE FADING GLORY OF SOLOMON Dr. W. A. Criswell 1 Kings 11:11 Seven precepts for king Solomon violated six of the seven precepts Set up idol worship after marrying hundreds of idol worshiping wives People feel burdened supporting Solomon’s opulence Three parts of Solomon’s life Youth and early reign In all his glory Fading glory, decline

Last week, for the second time in six months, Israeli president Reuven Rivlin asked Benjamin Netanyahu to form a government. This time, however, the task facing the man they call “King Bibi” is even more difficult, having lost his Knesset majority to his rival Benny Gantz. Gantz, a hawkish ex-IDF general, heads the center-right Blue and White party, which equaled Likud’s vote share in April’s election before narrowly beating them last week. With the parliamentary math failing to support any simple majority, both parties signaled their willingness to form a unity government. However, Netanyahu refused to relinquish power altogether, and Gantz rebuffed his offer to rotate the premiership, citing Netanyahu’s looming corruption indictments. In the absence of a viable Likud–Blue and White coalition, it was the minute numerical advantage of Netanyahu’s electoral bloc (56 to Gantz’s 55, with 61 needed for a majority) that convinced Rivlin to approach him first. At first glance, the situation looks intractable. Netanyahu’s most natural path to government goes through Avigdor Lieberman, the loudmouthed leader of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party. Lieberman is a distinctively Israeli creation, a settler-politician as virulent in his hatred toward Israel’s ultra-Orthodox as he is toward the Palestinians. His nine seats would put Likud comfortably into a majority; Netanyahu’s problem is that it was Lieberman who prevented him from forming a government in April, by refusing to sit in coalition with the ultra-Orthodox party Shas. Barring a stunning abdication of principle, Yisrael Beiteinu is a dead end. Alternatively, Netanyahu may appeal to one of the centrist parties currently affiliated with Gantz, or he may try to pry a sufficient number of defectors from within Blue and White. These schemes will be amply supported by lurid talk of the Iranian menace and promises of annexation of the West Bank, though if they fail — and it’s likely they will — the future will once again be up to Rivlin’s discretion. Whether or not he subsequently recommends Gantz depends on the latter’s ability to command a unity government, as Blue and White otherwise has no path to a majority that doesn’t include both Lieberman and the Arab parties. If Rivlin refuses to recommend Gantz, or if Gantz is unable to persuade a sufficient number of Bibi loyalists to anoint him leader, Israel will head to a third election after the New Year. (In a bleakly comic way, this may be the best outcome for Palestinians, as it would deprive Israel of a functioning government until at least April.) An Undeniable Consensus “The people have voted for unity,” Gantz declared after the initial count emerged. Regardless of the final outcome, the observation is hard to argue with: last Tuesday’s results illuminated a politics that has reached agreement on most matters, and that is left squabbling over questions of implementation. Likud and Blue and White are not natural enemies; both agree on the inevitability of annexation, though there is some contention over how much of the West Bank should be seized. Both would maintain the blockade of Gaza, and Gantz has assured voters he’d deliver the next bombardment with as much bloodless efficiency as any Likudnik. For Palestinians in the occupied territories, their differences are largely cosmetic — the state racism of Blue and White versus the vulgar incitement of Netanyahu. The consensual world of Israeli politics does, however, provide three genuine alternatives for the disgruntled voter. First, there are the parties of the Haredim, the ultra-Orthodox Jews who have increasingly dominated the country’s attention in recent years. They care little for the Palestinians, or the exact shape of Israel’s borders; their singular concern is to restructure the country along scriptural lines — to ban women from the Western Wall, to prohibit public transport on the Sabbath, and so on. Then there is the radical right, who break with the pro-annexation consensus by demanding that Israel seize the entire West Bank, and then deal with the attendant Arab majority through ethnic cleansing. Finally, there is the Arab left, who want to shift the dial back toward a two-state solution, as well as end the myriad petty apartheids inflicted upon Israel’s Arab citizens. Aside from the Arab parties, which picked up three valuable Knesset seats, this election was a disappointment for those lying outside the consensus. The mask-off Kahanists of Otzma Yehudit — followers of Meir Kahane, the preacher of Jewish supremacist violence who died in 1990 — failed to reach the electoral threshold, while the tepid performance of the other radical right parties showed that most Israelis are still cool on full-scale annexation. As ever, strict rabbinical injunctions led the Haredim to turn out in droves, but given the circumstances surrounding the previous election, they were unlikely to ever end up in government. Count the votes of the “centrist” parties — not just Likud and Blue and White, but Yisrael Beiteinu, Labor, and Democratic Union — and a consensus becomes clear. By a margin of 83 to 37, Israelis voted for the status quo: a steady hand on the tiller of the occupation, and secular domestic governance unfettered by Halakhic intrusion. The consensus also explains why all this breathless electoral drama feels so tedious, its stakes so curiously low. Netanyahu, Gantz, or the WeWork guy; it doesn’t particularly matter who governs when the core assumptions are so utterly beyond question. Israeli democracy, as currently constituted, is irreducibly right wing. A pro-peace, anti-occupation politics won’t be conjured from the mass of parties presently competing for power. As much as any war or annexation, this is Netanyahu’s legacy. “The depressing truth,” Tony Judt wrote in 2003, “is that Israel today is bad for the Jews.” His point — that Israel’s claim to speak for all Jews was making life in the diaspora more dangerous — has a hideous resonance today, with global antisemitism once again in the ascendance. But Judt wrote this at the middle point of the Second Intifada, when suicide bombings were part of the quotidian fabric of Israeli life. Israel couldn’t keep its own Jews safe, let alone those living outside its borders. By the time the bombings had stopped, an enormous wall had been constructed in the West Bank, preventing bombers from crossing the Green Line. While Israel might still be bad for the Jews, outside of the more remote settlements, it’s no longer especially dangerous for them. Netanyahu may not have built the Western Wall, but in his ten years as prime minister, he has constructed a thousand more, transforming the West Bank into a vast maze of checkpoints, to be navigated daily by millions of Palestinians. Over the past decade, he has perfected a style of government that may aptly be called “occupation management.” The militarization of Palestinian life is certainly a crucial element of this, the endless walls and roads and checkpoints keeping Palestinians from Israeli cities. But, conveniently, these walls also keep Palestinians from one another, creating three distinct populations — Gazans, Israeli Arabs, and those living in the West Bank — with divergent economic and political interests. The third prong of this strategy concerns the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), which putatively rules over “Area A,” the section of the West Bank containing the vast majority of Palestinians. In reality, the sovereignty of Area A is a myth, and the PNA exists mostly as a reconnaissance force for Israeli military raids. Like the rest of Palestine’s tattered institutions, it subsists largely on Israeli handouts. By trifurcating Palestine, hollowing out its institutions, and policing everyday Palestinian life, Netanyahu has been able to contain Palestinian resistance. In the process, he has successfully insulated Israelis from the brute facts of the occupation. It helps that he has presided over a strong economy, with a class structure that localizes poverty in isolated Arab and Haredi areas. Aside from the Kahanist right and the ever-slimming ranks of the radical left, Jewish Israelis have little to complain about. But the effectiveness of occupation management goes far beyond keeping Likud in power; it has created a new status quo that will prove difficult, perhaps impossible, to undo. By making Palestinian despair an ineluctable condition of Israeli flourishing, Netanyahu has done more than anyone to destroy the conditions for a future peace. Of Kings and Generals Given all this, Netanyahu’s current predicament is puzzling. Why, with an enviable standard of living and an enthusiastic American patron, is he closer than ever to defeat? How can he have outlived his usefulness to a politics he built? The answer to this is partly to do with longevity — people living in democracies don’t like being ruled by kings. It is also due in part to the rapid demographic growth of the ultra-Orthodox community, which makes them a valuable political commodity, but has always been something of a doomsday clock for the right wing. Ultimately, however, the roots of Netanyahu’s electoral quandary lie in the most dismal irony of all. It is precisely the success of his inimitable brand of occupation management that created the conditions for his removal. Initially, suffocating the West Bank and fortifying the settlements provided him with a brittle, purposeless left opposition that he found easy to beat. But the strategy proved too effective: the opposition adjusted to the post-peace landscape by abandoning the Palestinians, and Netanyahu was forced to find new ways to distinguish himself. He began shifting further right, at first rhetorically, and then in dramatic and alarming ways: writing apartheid into the constitution, resuscitating Kahanism by allying with Otzma Yehudit. Israelis can stomach a great deal of anti-Arab racism. But call distinguished ex-IDF generals “anti-Zionist” too many times, and people begin to tire of the trick. In fact, Netanyahu has dragged Israeli politics so far rightward that any further shift would be actively harmful to his own project. Israelis implicitly understand that their prosperity and security, though granted to them by Netanyahu, is threatened by the radical version of Zionism he now indulges. Implement full-scale annexation and Israel’s Jewish majority may collapse. Punish Palestine too severely and you risk another Intifada. If Gantz wins a third election in 2020, those within Likud may come to see him as a guardian angel, sent to save Bibi-ism from Netanyahu himself. The point would probably be lost on someone so singularly concerned with immediate power, especially with the prospect of another four years now tangible. Whether he is able to cling on, limpet-like, for one more Knesset term; or whether, in six months time, he finds himself living under house arrest at his palatial home in Caesarea, serving out his sentence for corruption while Prime Minister Gantz pounds Gaza with missiles — Netanyahu has already won. Gantz may govern like a general, but he’ll never be a king.

Here it is, the mother of all T&A comedies. For the longest time the highest grossing Canadian film ever made, this Bob Clark opus takes a lot of the credit (or blame, in some people’s opinion) for the influx of comedies in the 80’s involving horny teenagers trying to get “laid”, plentiful naked girls, and fistfuls of raunchy humour. Porky’s was there first. However, what makes Clark’s film different is that he’s also managed to layer in a serious sub-plot about parental abuse and bigotry amongst all the enduring moments and general tomfoolery. The setting is the 1950’s in Angel Beach, Florida and our opening scene lets us know what to expect as we meet Pee-Wee (Dan Monahan) and his morning erection. From there we’re introduced to the rest of the gang at the local high school who are seemingly on an endless quest to prank each other and have sex as much as possible. There’s the interchangeable Billy (Mark Herrier) and Tommy (Wyatt Knight), the jock “Meat” (Tony Ganios) whose moniker has to do with you-know-what, and the tomboy-ish Wendy (Kaki Hunter) who’s always up for poking fun at Pee-Wee. Clark’s basic premise, apart from all the set pieces peppered throughout, is that the guys are determined to go across the state line to the infamous strip club of the title in order to pay for a little nookie and see naked girls. Of course, being a bit naïve and not well liked by the locals, they soon fall victim to Porky (Chuck Mitchell), his cohorts, and his sheriff brother (Alex Karras) who screw them over leading to a finale where our high schoolers extract revenge. Leading up to said finale, there’s a whole bunch of memorable sequences. Things like a prank involving a hooker called “Cherry Forever”, the now famous scene where some of the guys play peeping tom in the girl’s shower (and the hilarious, shot-in-one-take, scene in the principal’s office afterwards), a young Kim Cattrall living up to the name “Lassie”, and more lowbrow chuckles. Clark also briefly touches on the abuse Jewish student Brian (Scott Colomby) is given by redneck Mickey (Roger Wilson) who’s been taught intolerance by his abusive father. If you can say anything about Bob Clark, it’s that his career was certainly odd. He made the iconic, and trendsetting, 1974 slasher flick Black Christmas before moving onto the sex crazed fare that’s our topic here and helming the cult favourite holiday classic A Christmas Story as well as the reprehensible children’s flick Baby Geniuses. Not exactly the kind of director you’d be able to pigeonhole. I personally consider this to be his masterpiece, though the first two films I mention above also deserve all the praise they get. It’s too bad he was killed by a drunk driver in 2007 before getting the chance to try and make another timeless effort. Given that the cast is mostly made up of unknowns, there’s a surprising amount of winning performances here. Monahan steals the show every single time he’s on screen as the always horny Pee-Wee and you end up rooting for him to lose his virginity. He’d play a similar character in other fare such as Up the Creek. Hunter also shows a lot of charisma as the one girl the guys seem to respect and she’d get a chance to steal the spotlight in the inevitable sequel (where she has a scene that’s tastelessly hilarious involving a sleazy politician). Cattrall makes an attractive gym teacher in one of her earlier roles and would go on to much fame in HBO’s “Sex and the City”. Former footballer Karras would co-star in treacly sitcom “Webster” and that’s familiar Canadian actor Art Hindle as one of the town’s deputies. Let’s get this straight: Porky’s is not fine art. There’s no way you could possibly mistake this for an Academy Award worthy film. And that’s perfectly okay. Writer-director Clark hits all the right notes here giving his intended audience exactly what they desire, but he’s also seen fit to wedge in enough likeable characters and nostalgia to set this above all the fodder that would follow in its wake. Sure, his follow-up might not be able to match this, but it does have its moments as well making it easy for me to recommend both this, and its sequel, for an evening of sex humour fuelled fun – they don’t make them quite like this anymore. Followed by two sequels. (Chris Hartley, 5/28/12) Directed By: Bob Clark. Written By: Bob Clark. Starring: Dan Monahan, Mark Herrier, Wyatt Knight, Roger Wilson.

Ken Livingstone's running mate attacks his 'misjudgement' on Islamic extremism Ken Livingstone’s mayoral running-mate, Val Shawcross, yesterday denounced Ken’s support for the Muslim extremist, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, as a “misjudgment” and a “mistake” and criticised Ken for “not apologising sooner” for the “stupid and unpleasant things” he said to Oliver Finegold, the Jewish journalist he likened to a “concentration camp guard.” Ms Shawcross confirmed to me today that she had said the remarks, to a mayoral hustings at a Jewish conference at Warwick University. It’s a very interesting development. My first thought was whether it could possibly be preparing the ground for a new approach by Ken, to try to reduce some of the huge cluster of negatives that surround him by admitting that he was wrong. It would be unprecedented, if so – and it does not seem to be the case. Ms Shawcross told me that her remarks had not been discussed with Ken. “It was a Q&A. I didn’t discuss a script with Ken, I didn’t discuss the hustings at all [with him] apart from who would attend,” she says. “I was speaking in my capacity as a London Assembly member.” Ken’s links with Muslim extremists are one of his most disturbing features. As mayor he channelled hundreds of thousands of pounds to a hardline mosque run by the Islamic extremist group, the IFE, and in return benefited from some, shall we say, interesting help from them at the 2008 election. Last year he campaigned against his own party in order to back the IFE’s candidate for mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman. Ken also continues to defend Qaradawi, who has cost him support among liberals, gay people, Jews, feminists and democrats. As recently as March, he told questioners who raised the issue at a campaign event in strongly-Jewish Barnet that “you shouldn’t smear a man you haven’t met. I met Sheikh Qaradawi. Am I to believe the Daily Mail rather than what I hear a man say with his own voice? Here was Sheikh Qaradawi saying, not just to me in private but the audience he addressed in City Hall and then to Paxman on Newsnight: No-one should discriminate against a homosexual. No man should physically assault his wife.” I don’t know about the Mail. But the good Sheikh did tell that well-known tool of the right-wing lie machine, the Guardian, that he supported a husband’s right to “lightly” beat his wife, and that homosexuality was “a clash between morality and immorality.” In his own book , The Lawful and Prohibited in Islam, not published by Associated Newspapers as far as I know, Qaradawi has reiterated his views on wife-beating and called for gay people to be killed. And Ken unfortunately forgot to mention that among Yusuf’s other statements on Newsnight was strong support for suicide bombings against Israeli civilians. He has also defended rape, saying that "to be absolved from guilt, the raped woman must have shown some sort of good conduct.” It is not the first time Shawcross has shown a clearer understanding than Ken himself of where his interests lie: last year, after her adoption as Ken’s official deputy, she fired a little shot across the great man’s bows over the Lee Jasper fiasco. “Ken didn't attend to the nature and performance of his team as much as he should have last time,” she said. Ken, of course, continues to defend Jasper – even claiming, absurdly, that he has been “exonerated.” If Ken is to be diverted from his suicide trajectory, he must apologise and admit his mistakes himself. That still looks highly unlikely. In the meantime, it’s come to something when you are criticised by even your own running-mate. Update: Ken's spokesman has contacted me to say that Ken is "very relaxed about Val's comments." Lutfur Rahman: is he the biggest liar in London? November 13th, 2014 14:14 Lutfur Rahman: damaging new evidence as auditors close in July 16th, 2014 16:27 Mark Rogers: the stupidest Trojan Horse response yet? July 15th, 2014 16:46 Trojan Horse: schools erect a straw man July 2nd, 2014 17:30 Trojan Horse: how The Guardian ignored and misrepresented evidence of Islamism in schools June 9th, 2014 6:00

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Lieber and Stoller’s Whirlwind Trip Down Memory Lane by Robert M. Gardner Imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered that two Jewish boys from New York wrote the musical timeline of my youth. Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller are responsible for writing more than 70 songs that made the music charts and defined the music of a generation. When they were 19 years old, they penned “Hound Dog” for Big Mama Thornton. Then, Elvis Presley made it into the 1958 blockbuster hit. Lieber and Stoller composed some of the most memorable pop hits from the 60s to the 90s, forging the soul of the Rock and Roll generation. Under the brilliant direction of Lauren Rosi, we enjoy a parade of 39 of Lieber and Stoller’s greatest hits. Their songs provide all the message we need, so there’s no need for dialogue in “Smokey Joe’s Café” at Town Hall Theatre. The lyrics tell all the stories, as they have from the start. The strong eight member cast sings and dances: Natalie Buster, Elizabeth Curtis, Jamail Davis, Jacqueline Dennis, Cadarious Mayberry, Katrina McGraw, Brandon Noel Thomas, and Cian Riggs. The talented singers are accompanied by an upbeat and rockin’ four member band, made up of Music Director Tania Johnson on keyboard, Elvis Ordiniza on saxophone, Scott Massoni on guitar, Matthew Porter on drums, and Peter Ruszel on bass. They play behind the 50s style façade of Smokey Joe’s Café, emblazoned with a neon sign. The exuberant cast dances and sings their way through a dizzying number of songs with constant costume changes and re-combinations of singers. They are supported by an enthusiastic audience, some wearing argyle sweaters and Bobby Sox. The “feel good” show testifies to Lieber and Stoller’s broad range— from the romantic “Down on the Boardwalk” and “Spanish Harlem” to novelty songs “Yakkety Yak” and “Poison Ivy.” Their songbook runs from rhythm and blues groups like The Coasters to the rock and roll hits of Elvis Presley. I was carried back to sock hops in high school, dancing cheek to cheek with my favorite girl. The cast delights us with their fine singing and dancing, coupled with their hilarious comedic talents. The room is hopping. If you want a great time and a trip down Memory Lane, head over to Town Hall Theatre for some fun. “Smokey Joes Café,” words and music by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, directed by Lauren Rosi, and music director Tania Johnson, at Town Hall Theatre, Lafayette, California, through Saturday, March 25, 2017. Info: townhalltheatre.com Cast: Natalie Buster, Elizabeth Curtis, Jamail Davis, Jacqueline Dennis, Cadarious Mayberry, Katrina McGraw, Branden Thomas, and Glen Riggs. Band: Tania Johnson, Elvis Ordiniza, Scott Massoni, Matthew Porter, and Peter Ruszel. For more plays, check Theatrius: Now Playing.

These ten characters have all had a huge influence on psychology and their stories continue to intrigue each new generation of students. What’s particularly fascinating is that many of their stories continue to evolve – new evidence comes to light, or new technologies are brought to bear, changing how the cases are interpreted and understood. What many of these 10 also have in common is that they speak to some of the perennial debates in psychology, about personality and identity, nature and nurture, and the links between mind and body. One day in 1848 in Central Vermont, Phineas Gage was tamping explosives into the ground to prepare the way for a new railway line when he had a terrible accident. The detonation went off prematurely, and his tamping iron shot into his face, through his brain, and out the top of his head. Remarkably Gage survived, although his friends and family reportedly felt he was changed so profoundly (becoming listless and aggressive) that “he was no longer Gage.” There the story used to rest – a classic example of frontal brain damage affecting personality. However, recent years have seen a drastic reevaluation of Gage’s story in light of new evidence. It’s now believed that he underwent significant rehabilitation and in fact began work as a horse carriage driver in Chile. A simulation of his injuries suggested much of his right frontal cortex was likely spared, and photographic evidence has been unearthed showing a post-accident dapper Gage. Not that you’ll find this revised account in many psychology textbooks: a recent analysis showed that few of them have kept up to date with the new evidence. Find out more: Using brain imaging to reevaluate psychology’s three most famous cases Neuroscience still haunted by Phineas Gage Phineas Gage – Unravelling the Myth Looking back: Blasts from the past Coverage of Phineas Gage in the book Great Myths of the Brain Henry Gustav Molaison (known for years as H.M. in the literature to protect his privacy), who died in 2008, developed severe amnesia at age 27 after undergoing brain surgery as a form of treatment for the epilepsy he’d suffered since childhood. He was subsequently the focus of study by over 100 psychologists and neuroscientists and he’s been mentioned in over 12,000 journal articles! Molaison’s surgery involved the removal of large parts of the hippocampus on both sides of his brain and the result was that he was almost entirely unable to store any new information in long-term memory (there were some exceptions – for example, after 1963 he was aware that a US president had been assassinated in Dallas). The extremity of Molaison’s deficits was a surprise to experts of the day because many of them believed that memory was distributed throughout the cerebral cortex. Today, Molaison’s legacy lives on: his brain was carefully sliced and preserved and turned into a 3D digital atlas and his life story is reportedly due to be turned into a feature film based on the book researcher Suzanne Corkin wrote about him: Permanent Present Tense, The Man With No Memory and What He Taught The World. |Leborgne’s brain is housed at the Musée Dupuytren museum in Paris Victor Leborgne (nickname “Tan”) The fact that, in most people, language function is served predominantly by the left frontal cortex has today almost become common knowledge, at least among psych students. However, back in the early nineteenth century, the consensus view was that language function (like memory, see entry for H.M.) was distributed through the brain. An eighteenth century patient who helped change that was Victor Leborgne, a Frenchman who was nicknamed “Tan” because that was the only sound he could utter (besides the expletive phrase “sacre nom de Dieu”). In 1861, aged 51, Leborgne was referred to the renowned neurologist Paul Broca, but died soon after. Broca examined Leborgne’s brain and noticed a lesion in his left frontal lobe – a segment of tissue now known as Broca’s area. Given Leborgne’s impaired speech but intact comprehension, Broca concluded that this area of the brain was responsible for speech production and he set about persuading his peers of this fact – now recognised as a key moment in psychology’s history. For decades little was known about Leborgne, besides his important contribution to science. However, in a paper published in 2013, Cezary Domanski at Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Poland uncovered new biographical details, including the possibility that Leborgne muttered the word “Tan” because his birthplace of Moret, home to several tanneries. Wild Boy of Aveyron The “Wild boy of Aveyron” – named Victor by the physician Jean-Marc Itard – was found emerging from Aveyron forest in South West France in 1800, aged 11 or 12, where’s it’s thought he had been living in the wild for several years. For psychologists and philosophers, Victor became a kind of “natural experiment” into the question of nature and nurture. How would he be affected by the lack of human input early in his life? Those who hoped Victor would support the notion of the “noble savage” uncorrupted by modern civilisation were largely disappointed: the boy was dirty and dishevelled, defecated where he stood and apparently motivated largely by hunger. Victor acquired celebrity status after he was transported to Paris and Itard began a mission to teach and socialise the “feral child”. This programme met with mixed success: Victor never learned to speak fluently, but he dressed, learned civil toilet habits, could write a few letters and acquired some very basic language comprehension. Autism expert Uta Frith believes Victor may have been abandoned because he was autistic, but she acknowledges we will never know the truth of his background. Victor’s story inspired the 2004 novel The Wild Boy and was dramatised in the 1970 French film The Wild Child. Find out more: Case Study: The Wild Boy of Aveyron (BBC Radio 4 documentary). Nicknamed ‘Kim-puter’ by his friends, Peek who died in 2010 aged 58, was the inspiration for Dustin Hoffman’s autistic savant character in the multi-Oscar-winning film Rain Man. Before that movie, which was released in 1988, few people had heard of autism, so Peek via the film can be credited with helping to raise the profile of the condition. Arguably though, the film also helped spread the popular misconception that giftedness is a hallmark of autism (in one notable scene, Hoffman’s character deduces in an instant the precise number of cocktail sticks – 246 – that a waitress drops on the floor). Peek himself was actually a non-autistic savant, born with brain abnormalities including a malformed cerebellum and an absent corpus callosum (the massive bundle of tissue that usually connects the two hemispheres). His savant skills were astonishing and included calendar calculation, as well as an encyclopaedic knowledge of history, literature, classical music, US zip codes and travel routes. It was estimated that he read more than 12,000 books in his life time, all of them committed to flawless memory. Although outgoing and sociable, Peek had coordination problems and struggled with abstract or conceptual thinking. “Anna O.” is the pseudonym for Bertha Pappenheim, a pioneering German Jewish feminist and social worker who died in 1936 aged 77. As Anna O. she is known as one of the first ever patients to undergo psychoanalysis and her case inspired much of Freud’s thinking on mental illness. Pappenheim first came to the attention of another psychoanalyst, Joseph Breuer, in 1880 when he was called to her house in Vienna where she was lying in bed, almost entirely paralysed. Her other symptoms include hallucinations, personality changes and rambling speech, but doctors could find no physical cause. For 18 months, Breuer visited her almost daily and talked to her about her thoughts and feelings, including her grief for her father, and the more she talked, the more her symptoms seemed to fade – this was apparently one of the first ever instances of psychoanalysis or “the talking cure”, although the degree of Breuer’s success has been disputed and some historians allege that Pappenheim did have an organic illness, such as epilepsy. Although Freud never met Pappenheim, he wrote about her case, including the notion that she had a hysterical pregnancy, although this too is disputed. The latter part of Pappenheim’s life in Germany post 1888 is as remarkable as her time as Anna O. She became a prolific writer and social pioneer, including authoring stories, plays, and translating seminal texts, and she founded social clubs for Jewish women, worked in orphanages and founded the German Federation of Jewish Women. Find out more: Freud’s Anna O. Social work’s Bertha Pappenheim [pdf document] A Dangerous Method is a feature film about another influential patient of psychoanalysis, Sabina Spielrein, who subsequently became a psychoanalyst herself. Sadly, it is not really Kitty Genovese the person who has become one of psychology’s classic case studies, but rather the terrible fate that befell her. In 1964 in New York, Genovese was returning home from her job as a bar maid when she was attacked and eventually murdered by Winston Mosely. What made this tragedy so influential to psychology was that it inspired research into what became known as the Bystander Phenomenon – the now well-established finding that our sense of individual responsibility is diluted by the presence of other people. According to folklore, 38 people watched Genovese’s demise yet not one of them did anything to help, apparently a terrible real life instance of the Bystander Effect. However, the story doesn’t end there because historians have since established the reality was much more complicated – at least two people did try to summon help, and actually there was only one witness the second and fatal attack. While the main principle of the Bystander Effect has stood the test of time, modern psychology’s understanding of the way it works has become a lot more nuanced. For example, there’s evidence that in some situations people are more likely to act when they’re part of a larger group, such as when they and the other group members all belong to the same social category (such as all being women) as the victim. “Little Albert” was the nickname that the pioneering behaviourist psychologist John Watson gave to an 11-month-old baby, in whom, with his colleague and future wife Rosalind Rayner, he deliberately attempted to instill certain fears through a process of conditioning. The research, which was of dubious scientific quality, was conducted in 1920 and has become notorious for being so unethical (such a procedure would never be given approval in modern university settings). Interest in Little Albert has reignited in recent years as an academic quarrel has erupted over his true identity. A group led by Hall Beck at Appalachian University announced in 2011 that they thought Little Albert was actually Douglas Merritte, the son of a wet nurse at John Hopkins University where Watson and Rayner were based. According to this sad account, Little Albert was neurologically impaired, compounding the unethical nature of the Watson/Rayner research, and he died aged six of hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain). However, this account was challenged by a different group of scholars led by Russell Powell at MacEwan University in 2014. They established that Little Albert was more likely William A Barger (recorded in his medical file as Albert Barger), the son of a different wet nurse. Earlier this year, textbook writer Richard Griggs weighed up all the evidence and concluded that the Barger story is the more credible, which would mean that Little Albert in fact died 2007 aged 87. Chris Costner Sizemore is one of the most famous patients to be given the controversial diagnosis of multiple personality disorder, known today as dissociative identity disorder. Sizemore’s alter egos apparently included Eve White, Eve Black, Jane and many others. By some accounts, Sizemore expressed these personalities as a coping mechanism in the face of traumas she experienced in childhood, including seeing her mother badly injured and a man sawn in half at a lumber mill. In recent years, Sizemore has described how her alter egos have been combined into one united personality for many decades, but she still sees different aspects of her past as belonging to her different personalities. For example, she has stated that her husband was married to Eve White (not her), and that Eve White is the mother of her first daughter. Her story was turned into a movie in 1957 called The Three Faces of Eve (based on a book of the same name written by her psychiatrists). Joanne Woodward won the best actress Oscar for portraying Sizemore and her various personalities in this film. Sizemore published her autobiography in 1977 called I’m Eve. In 2009, she appeared on the BBC’s Hard Talk interview show. Find out more: the Chris Costner Sizemore Papers at Duke University One of the most famous patients in psychology, Reimer lost his penis in a botched circumcision operation when he was just 8 months old. His parents were subsequently advised by psychologist John Money to raise Reimer as a girl, “Brenda”, and for him to undergo further surgery and hormone treatment to assist his gender reassignment. Money initially described the experiment (no one had tried anything like this before) as a huge success that appeared to support his belief in the important role of socialisation, rather than innate factors, in children’s gender identity. In fact, the reassignment was seriously problematic and Reimer’s boyishness was never far beneath the surface. When he was aged 14, Reimer was told the truth about his past and set about reversing the gender reassignment process to become male again. He later campaigned against other children with genital injuries being gender reassigned in the way that he had been. His story was turned into the book As Nature Made Him, The Boy Who Was Raised As A Girl by John Colapinto, and he is the subject of two BBC Horizon documentaries. Tragically, Reimer took his own life in 2004, aged just 38. Find out more: What were the real reasons behind David Reimer’s suicide? —main sources and further reading— The Rough Guide to Psychology Great Myths of the Brain. 10 of The Most Counter-Intuitive Psychology Findings Ever Published The 10 Most Controversial Psychology Studies Ever Published Our free fortnightly email will keep you up-to-date with all the psychology research we digest: Sign up!

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Divisive Diversity and Minority Mindlessness September 26, 2011 – Posted in: A Picture's Worth, Blog, Featured Columns – Tags: A Pictures' Worth, Black, Comics, Diversity, Jewish, Mike Pascale, Minorities, White Last month I came across another interesting, thought-provoking topic in a LinkedIn group. Someone posted about “diversity in comic books today,” and wondered why, so far, “…there is not a major superhero of Spanish descent. The only one is Zorro.” I had a couple answers to this: 1) The geek in me had to note that Zorro is not technically a superhero (although he is “super” in terms of pop culture coolness and fame); like the Phantom, Tarzan, the Green Hornet, Batman, etcetera, he has no super powers. 2,) The logic-freak in me noted that there are probably major superheroes in Spain. I couldn’t help but wonder: what was meant by a “major” superhero? In the USA only? Globally? Are we talking “major” in terms of financial revenues over the last century? Last decade? Media exposure? Cultural influence? Critical acclaim? And why Spanish descent? Why not Japanese, Nigerian, Brazilian, Russian, Indian or Iranian? Those countries have much larger populations than Spain. And who has more population (not to mention influence) than China? Yet I can’t think of any big Chinese superheroes in the US. If the person posting meant Hispanic instead, why not say that? Curious. What got to me more were follow-up responses about so-called “minorities” being underrepresented in comics and the impact upon kids. Let’s be clear: the question, comments and commenters were all intelligent, very sincere and good-intentioned. Unfortunately, we all know about good intensions as paving material for a certain south-winding road. Regarding “minorities”, there are two big issues to address: First, everyone is “a minority.” And everyone is also “a majority.” Are you female? Majority in the USA. Male? Minority. Can you walk? See? Hear? Speak? Largest majority of all. College graduate? Minority. Eat meat? Majority. Allergic to dairy products? Minority. American-born? Majority. Heavy metal fan? Minority. Rich? Poor? Middle class? On and on. What makes any of these less of an identity for you than the color of your skin or where your parents or grandparents were born? Why do you look in the mirror and first see an “Asian female”, “black male”, “white female” or “white transsexual” and not “a rock ’n’ roll fan”, “American geek”, “Healthy sighted teenager”, “Tall gamer”, “New Yorker”, “Gay pastry chef”, “Bilingual senior citizen”, “Bisexual soldier”, “Overweight Twilight fan” or whatever? (Regrettably, I’d say a majority of girls and women think they see “overweight eater” when they look in the mirror, thanks to pop culture…which is a much bigger media problem than diversity.) Hell, if you even buy comics, you’re in one of the smallest minorities there are! Last estimate was about 100,000 people in the USA. That is a great deal smaller than any racial minority I can think of. (Well, maybe not as small as white Senegalese guys, but you get the idea.) When I look in the mirror, I see me: Mike. That’s numero uno. I don’t see “an Italian”, “a man” or even “a Kirby fan” first. When kids would make fun of my ethnicity growing up (and they did), I thought it was dumb. (“Hey Wop! How’d your Daygo?” was a favorite.) Didn’t bug me much. It’s completely superficial, and didn’t require any knowledge of who *I* was. What did bug me was when it got personal. My family. My clothes. My hobbies. My music and comics. My art. Even my hair–both on my head and then on my legs and chest. (Once Star Wars came out, my nickname became “Chewbacca.” Thanks, George.) Granted, I didn’t get beat up because of it, nor was I harassed by the cops because of it (that was more for my youth and my old car). I understand that’s different. A lot. Maybe my identity would have been affected by that; but I’d sure hope not too much. I think Chris Rock thinks of himself as Chris Rock first, Oprah as Oprah, Jerry Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld, Lucy Liu as Lucy Liu. I think that comes more from how one was raised and with what one chooses to surround him- or herself–I chose not to pay much attention to the news media that focused on stupid and silly things like race and ethnicity. I tried to avoid letting others affect my identity. Therefore, the comics I read meant much, much deeper things to me than what race the hero was. That’s why I’m still a reader/collector after (gulp) four decades. I liked The Black Panther, The Falcon and Blade The Vampire Slayer much more than Superboy, Robin, or Mr. Fantastic. I liked the Hulk even more, and he was green! Second, I think it’s a shame that people choose to focus on such a minor issue (pun intended). I sure didn’t see any Italian superheroes as a kid–and those “eye-talians” I did see were stereotypes (mobsters and organ grinders)–yet I couldn’t have cared less. My favorite was and always has been a blond Anglo adult–Captain AMERICA–and I had no problem whatsoever with his ethnicity. (Or his age–I hated kid heroes like Robin–so much for demographics.) Cap stood for everything that mattered to me. And he defended everyone, no matter their ethnicity, sex, or size of their shoes. That’s a hero! He was a blond white guy but created by two Jewish guys. Same with the world’s most popular black superhero (whose designer also became a Christian Scientist). The major female superheroes of the Golden Age were created by white men. The sexiest of all, Phantom Lady, was redesigned–and had her most famous/infamous adventures illustrated–by a young black man. There are superheroes of (literally) every color of the rainbow, as well as black and white (and I don’t mean the racist terms for Negroid and Caucasoid–I mean pure black and pure white!) There are heroes from dozens and dozens of different nations, planets and dimensions. Heck, if you’re Martian, there’s even Martian Manhunter. Whatever you like. Sure, I believe diversity among characters and readers is important–every major and minor group that reads comics should ideally appear in proportion to the readership. Easier said than done. But it should never be forced, nor should it matter as much as the character of the character. Some think it important that superheroes look like the kids who read their adventures. I agree it’s important to some but it shouldn’t really matter. (The alter egos, secret identities and supporting characters are more identifiable and therefore more important. Who identifies with Superman, white or black? I never did.) What truly matters is what the character stands for, what they say and how they behave. They must act like a hero. Too many these days do not. I’d rather have a kid read about a heroic ideal that looks completely alien than one with whom he can identify but acts like an idiot or a criminal. When I was a kid, I focused on the art and stories, and I still do today. How nice it would be if others did too. P.S.: I would love to create a custom character commission for you–of ANY race. Female, male, Christian, Jewish, Athiest, Capoid, Caucasoid, human, animal, alien, whatever! Same goes for my customers. If you’re from Mars and want a commission, I’ll draw it for you (you’ll just have to pay postage to your planet). Just ask Craig here!

On that ordinary, near-perfect Maine summer day, there was a wedding of commonplace delight and joy. A crowd, dressed up for the occasion, awaited the ceremony. The sanctuary was packed. As the couple entered, the feeling was electric. The rabbi spoke, sharing warm and funny stories: how they met, what they said they loved about each other. Chanting the seven Hebrew prayers that accompany traditional Jewish weddings, his voice carried authority and depth. After the wine glass was crushed, the attendees shouted “Mazel tov!” and burst into song. No wedding, of course, feels commonplace to those involved. And this one had two things making it extra special. One, my congregation’s own rabbi was getting married, so there were many rabbis there, along with hundreds from the local synagogues and the community. And, two, Rabbi Darah Lerner, and her partner of 27 years, Kelly Quagliotti, could not have been legally wed in Maine last summer. By passing Question 1 in November 2012, Mainers made this possible. Bringing marriage equality to Maine was a big project. After the Legislature passed and Gov. John Baldacci signed equal marriage into law in 2009, it was overturned in a referendum. EqualityMaine quickly went back to work. Mainers ambivalent about or against gay and lesbian people marrying found themselves engaged in remarkable conversations. Asked to reflect on the people in their lives who are gay and lesbian – cousins, co-workers, shopkeepers, and friends – some who had voted against their marriage rights in 2009 changed their minds. In some ways, moving public opinion was utterly predictable. Twenty years ago I could see the wave about to push across the political landscape. Opinion surveys showed that younger voters were more supportive of marriage equality and that opposition was highest among the oldest age groups. As time went on and those most approving replaced those disagreeing in the population, it could be foreseen that eventually, majorities would approve of marriage for gay and lesbian couples. But the change didn’t come from an automatic process. It was driven by new knowledge and action. When I grew up, people did not talk about being gay. People who were gay couldn’t hold certain jobs, couldn’t get security clearances. It took great courage for anyone to come out then, as it still does for plenty of people. Gay teens face high rates of bullying and, for those kicked out of their homes by unaccepting parents, homelessness. Gay and lesbian people’s personal bravery and the political action of both gay and straight people in the gay rights movement created change. As more straight people learned they knew, liked and loved gay people, attitudes shifted. Every group of Americans, no matter when they were born, moved to greater support of broader marriage rights. Now gay and lesbian people can marry in more than a quarter of states and more than 40 percent of people in the U.S. live in states with marriage, civil unions or domestic partnerships. Opposing arguments look increasingly weak. Opponents who cite religious texts don’t acknowledge there is no single religious position on marriage. All religions are free to choose whom to marry. Atheists marry without clergy. And religious life is not static. As one study shows, “If current trends persist, religious progressives will soon outnumber religious conservatives.” Michael Heath and Paul Madore thought they could convince Mainers to vote against marriage equality by talking about sodomy and driving around with a picture showing two male Marines hugging and kissing. While Heath and Madore believe in the power of the “s” word, most couples don’t care what others do in their bedrooms. The image they thought was a turnoff instead showed that some of our respected service members are gay. If anything, the picture promotes marriage equality. Opponents say they are against the “gay lifestyle,” but the gay and lesbian people we know have lives that are so very typical. All of us, gay and straight, go to work and the grocery store, watch movies, make dinner, do laundry, and care for children and elderly relatives. In years to come, marriages of same-sex couples will be as joyful as Darah and Kelly’s, and so ordinary that most will wonder what the fuss was all about. To the happy couple and Maine, Mazel tov!

Who Has The Power? I had this deep deep, who knows where it came from feeling, from the time I was conscious of my thoughts, that the problem with the world is that people’s power is kept away from them. When I observed people, I saw that they had very little control over what they did on any given day. It seemed that their day was scripted, and most of what they did, I would not choose to do. In my family, for example, it seemed scripted to wait for my mother to come home, bring groceries, cook them while we were hanging out, eat and then watch TV. On Sundays we would go out to eat, often, or eat at home, but go out for dessert. I was born with an imperfect digestive system, maybe because I was a preemie, was born with a two-pound body weight, less than a loaf of bread, a bottle of milk, tiny. Then my mother refused to feed me by holding me to her breath, though I did get pumped breast milk… I had colic, I vomited, I was an overall pain in my mother’s but. I weighed under normal weight till I was 9~10… I ate only when I was hungry, and I was not hungry for meals. I picked in my food, picking out a particular thing, like the peas, and left the rest. I also spent a lot of time alone, contemplating. I haven’t changed a bit, though returning to my eating that way has been a challenge: after all even I got socialized in my 65 years. My recollection of my first conscious thought of humans being enslaved was around age 9. The school system added religious education to the curriculum, but I was exempted, because I was Jewish. There were a bunch of Jewish kids in the class, but I refused to participate in religious education. Just like an innate knowing prevented me from eating what was bad for me, an innate knowing prevented me from being programmed to be a bio-robot, a slave, a serf. The exact thought I had was this: I think that the religion serves one main purpose: that people are too busy doing what they are supposed to do so they don’t have any time to look and think of what they want to do. And that is true for every area of life, not only religion. You are supposed to do what everybody else is doing. When I was in Israel, I saw this even clearer: every minute of every day is scripted and commanded for Jewish people, and I would not have any of that. I knew that someone somehow benefited from people not having time to think, or just be, but I didn’t quite know who, and how, and why… When on that fateful night, sitting on the stone steps in front of the Western Wall of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, I asked the Creator to reveal itself and it did… I was not the only person on that huge square: there was an Orthodox person swaying back and forth by the wall. I knew that he had never experienced directly talking to the Creator: instead he was “praying”, reading some prescribed words in Hebrew: none of your own thoughts, none of your own words, none of that. I have tons of experienced of “secular” churches and schools doing the same thing: Landmark Education, Peak Potentials, all the Internet Marketing gurus: keep them busy so they don’t have time to think. The internet, cell phones, email, text messages, youtube, all designed to keep you busy so you can’t think, can’t contemplate. But why would you want to think? Right? When I look at my students, 99.99% not thinking, I look how come I turned out to be a thinker. Continue reading “Who Has The Power?”

JERUSALEM — Like hundreds of thousands of other Jerusalem residents, Salim Shabane considers himself a Palestinian. But his life and work are intertwined with Israel, where he runs an auto shop. So, despite his tacit support for a Palestinian state, Shabane is part of a new surge of Jerusalem Arabs applying for Israeli citizenship. "I live in Israel," said Shabane, "why shouldn't I be an Israeli citizen?" Shabane has plenty of company. After decades of living under Israeli rule and years watching the Palestinian Authority struggling to govern, more Arabs in Jerusalem are casting their lot with Israel. Last year, as peace talks revived the possibility of handing over parts of Jerusalem to a new Palestinian nation, the number of Arab residents applying for Israeli citizenship more than doubled. In 2007, according to the Israeli Interior Ministry, Shabane and 500 other residents of East Jerusalem requested Israeli passports, up from 200 in each of the previous three years. Shabane's decision to seek full Israeli citizenship reflects the awkward reality for Arabs in Jerusalem: Though many want to see an independent Palestinian state, they don't want to be part of it. "My work and my life are inside Israel," Shabane said. "I am very proud to be an Arab and Palestinian, but for practical reasons I'm not able to be part of the Palestinian Authority." Though the number of Arabs seeking passports is relatively small, there's an uncomfortable acknowledgement, especially among the Arab middle class in Jerusalem, that their lives could get substantially worse under Palestinian rule. Jerusalem Arabs have long held a unique position in Middle East politics. After Arab countries attacked the new Israeli nation in 1948, Jerusalem was cut in half. Residents in the western part of the city controlled by Israel became citizens of the new nation. Those living in the east were given passports by their new Jordanian rulers. When Israel gained full control of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, the Arabs in East Jerusalem were given special identification cards and offered a chance to become full Israeli citizens. Most refused. Still, the blue IDs give Jerusalem Arabs substantially more freedom than West Bank residents. East Jerusalem Arabs receive Israeli social security and heath benefits. They're allowed to vote in local — but not national — elections. They have the freedom to travel throughout Israel without special permits. But since 1967, East Jerusalem has received far less support and money than West Jerusalem has. Jerusalem is at the center of a contentious demographic battle in which Israel is looking to solidify itself as a Jewish nation and persuade the rest of the world to accept Jerusalem as its capital. More than 250,000 Arabs and 481,000 Jews live in greater Jerusalem, according to new figures released this week by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. But the number of Arab residents is growing faster than the number of Jewish ones. Arabs constitute about 20 percent of the Israeli population, but the nation's leaders worry that Israel eventually could lose its predominant Jewish identity. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is now considering relinquishing control of at least some of the Arab neighborhoods that Israel annexed in 1967 so that they can be part of a peace deal with Palestinian leaders. That possibility has created renewed anxiety for Jerusalem Arabs such as Shabane, a 42-year-old father of three. Shabane grew up right outside the Old City walls of Jerusalem in the shadow of Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. For most of his adult life, he's worked as an auto mechanic and, with a Jewish partner, he owns a garage in a Jerusalem suburb. If the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem are transferred to the Palestinian Authority, Shabane fears that new border restrictions could prevent him from getting to his garage. Shabane's family lives outside the Old City walls, and it's unlikely that Israel would agree to give up control of his East Jerusalem neighborhood. But Shabane and others seeking Israeli citizenship don't want to take any chances. "I prefer to stay under occupation rather than return to a Palestinian state that cannot govern," said Akram Jweiles, a retired 50-year-old carpenter who lives in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem. Though Jweiles has no desire to live under Palestinian rule, he also has no plans to request Israeli citizenship. "I am not the type of person to get an Israeli passport because I am a fighter," he said while looking out on the Israeli separation wall that divides his neighborhood from a large Jewish suburb on the adjacent hillside. Shabane said he doesn't have the same luxury to resist because of his wife, Samia. Because she was born in Bethlehem, Samia Shabane has a West Bank ID that restricts her ability to live with her family in Jerusalem. She must request a new temporary entry permit every six months, can't send her children to Jerusalem schools and doesn't have access to Israeli public health care. Shabane hopes that getting Israeli citizenship will make it easier for his wife, even though current family unification procedures in Israel are restrictive. "Enough of the B.S.," a frustrated Shabane said after his wife declared herself to be a proud Palestinian. "I want her to get an Israeli ID. God forbid that she gets sick. Where can I take her?" Shabane understands the political complexities of his case, but he's made his decision. "If I choose to be Israeli, then the Palestinians will be unhappy," he said. "If I choose to be Arab, I don't get citizenship. I'm in a trap." McClatchy Newspapers 2008

The Israeli left is none too happy about the fact that broadcaster Glenn Beck is planning a huge rally for Jerusalem in August. But it seems that it’s not only the left that has become concerned about the marriage of convenience between the controversial American conservative and Israelis — it’s also some on the Israeli right. Moshe Feiglin is the leader of the Manhigut Yehudit (“Jewish Leadership”) faction within the ruling Likud party, which tries to move Likud further to the right. He’s a force to be reckoned with — in the leadership race ahead of the last general election, Benjamin Netanyahu, now Prime Minister then party leader, fought hard to stop him from posing a challenge. “The problem is that the most loyal Jewish public is giving him its support without thoroughly checking his message,” Feiglin argued in a recent op-ed. “They are unwittingly abetting a very gentle and heartwarming type of modern crusade.” Feiglin’s objection is that Beck, who visited Jerusalem earlier this month, does not just praise and support Israel based on its importance to Jews, but he is also stressing the importance to Christians (Beck is a Mormon). For Feiglin, emphasizing its significance to Christians is akin to undermining its Jewishness. “As long as Glenn Beck and his friends support Israel from the outside, understanding that your nation is your nation and my nation is my nation; that your god is your god and my G-d is my G-d, all is well and good and it is important to cooperate with them,” he wrote. “But when it turns out that the agenda is actually replacement theology; a theology that aims to bring waves of Christian aliyah here and to use the Jewish renaissance in Israel as a springboard to a Christian renaissance – I cannot lend it the legitimacy of Manhigut Yehudit.” In a recent visit here Beck declared to Israelis: “I am with you.” Feiglin is convinced he meant something more sinister. “Apparently, the real meaning of his words is ‘I am replacing you,’” he wrote.

Australian online retailer withdraws Holocaust parody T-shirts Mon, 06 Jun 2011 The internet company Red Bubble has withdrawn Hipster Hitler and other T-shirts that satirized the Nazi dictator and the Holocaust. The withdrawal follows complaints by the Jewish community. The online retailer, which is based in Melbourne and markets the works of more than 150,000 artists worldwide, stopped selling the ‘Hipster Hitler’ line of T-shirts that parody the Holocaust with slogans such as “Eastside Westside Genocide,” “Back to the Fuhrer,” and “Three Reichs And You’re Out.” “We do have a high commitment to freedom of expression,” Red Bubble’s chief executive officer Martin Hosking was quoted as saying by the newspaper ‘Sunday Age’. “I do, however, have to listen to people who have such an intense experience with the Holocaust,” he pointed out. Hipster Hitler, a New York-based art and clothing firm, still has the offending T-shirts for sale on its own website. We welcome any comments you may have on this article. Comments are moderated and we reserve the right to edit or remove any which are derogatory or offensive. The WJC is not responsible for the content of any comments.

Guide to Granada Article and guide for Granada, a historic city in the Andalucia region of southern Spain. Granada - Andalucia - Spain Location:- Granada is located in southern Spain and is the capital of the province of Granada, it is situated on the crossroads of the A-92 and the N-323. History:- Granada has been inhabited since the dawn of known history and has seen civilizations of Ibero-Celtic, Phoenician, Carthaginian, Greek, Roman and Visigothic. Granada had a Jewish community prior to the invasion of the Moors and it was the last major Spanish city to be re-conquered by the Christians in 1492. Climate:- The climate in Granada as with all of southern Spain is warm and temperate, with mild winters and hot summers, summer temperatures often reach the high 30's and most of its native inhabitants take a siesta during the hottest part of the day. What do George Clooney, Antonio Banderas and Granada have in common? The answer of course is the Alhambra Palace. These two film stars have been in Spain over the festive season and are supporting the petition for the Alhambra Palace to be nominated as one of the new ten Wonders of the World. Built on the site of an original fortress the Alhambra had a triple role; it was a palace, a small city and of course a fortress all rolled into one and knowing of these three independent role makes it easier to understand many of the distinctive features of this remarkable monument. Of Moorish origin the Alhambra as we know it, probably owes its restoration to the Naserite Emirs and the founder of this dynasty Muhammed Al-Ahmar, who began the restoration of the original fortress in about 1238 and his work was completed by his son Muhammed II, whose successors continued with the renovation work. The name Alhambra derives from an Arabic dialect and means red or crimson castle perhaps due to the colour of the towers, but there is also a much more romantic theory which is that the original fortress was constructed by the light of torches and it was the reflections from these torches which gave the walls their distinctive colouring. The Alhambra became a Christian court 1492 when Ferdinand and Isabel conquered the city of Granada. Throughout the generations various changes were made to the building but during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the Alhambra fell into disrepair and its beautiful salons were used by thieves and beggars. As a final insult to the Spanish Napoleons troops, masters of Granada from 1808 until 1812 converted the palaces into barracks and during one retreat they actually attempted to blow up the towers and two of them; the Torre de Siete Suleos and the Torre de Agua were left in ruins. Sadly the incredible neglect continued until 1870 when the Alhambra was declared a national monument and since that time it has been protected, restored and improved for the pleasure of all. No wonder then that there is a feeling that this wondrous palace is worthy of becoming a Wonder of the World and on your visit to Granada this really must be one of the places to visit and local information centres can provide details of entry into the Alhambra. One other place to see on your visit to Granada Spain is the Albaicín which is the old Arabic quarter and is an artists dream. The Albaicin is characterised by cobble stoned streets with white washed houses which, despite many centuries of neglect by the town, still retains a strong Arabic feeling. With its many plazas and terazas you will have a choice for somewhere to eat and enjoy the atmosphere. It is here that you might also buy a souvenir of your visit, with the shops selling typical Granadino pottery, which has a white background with strong blue shapes and on this pottery you will probably often read the proverb ‘Give him alms woman because there is nothing as bad as being blind in Granada.’ This gives you an idea of how many appreciate the beauty of the city. For those who enjoy taking to their skis and enjoying a more energetic pastime then this is also the place for you. The Sierra Nevada is Europe’s most southerly ski resort and is located just a 50 minute drive from the centre of Granada and in 1996 it hosted the World Alpine Ski Championships. The ski season normally runs from the beginning of December until the end of April or beginning of May. However, snow machines have now made it possible to ski even when there is no natural snow. Such is the climate of Andalusia that it is possible to ski in the morning and sunbathe in the afternoon all under the bluest and sunniest of skies. Expect also to see displays of Flamenco Dancing in the town and join in the festivals when even the tiniest of children dress up in traditional flamenco clothes watched by proud parents and grandparents. There is a vast range of places to eat and relax, providing a cuisine acceptable to the many visitors from around the world and the people will give you a warm friendly welcome as you walk through the charming narrow streets. With its history, culture, sports facilities and sublime scenery a visit to Granada will not disappoint and perhaps this is just the right time of year to take your trip. Article provided by kind permission of The Leader Newspaper.

The Men on the Dais In a taxi, sitting next to my father, I cross my legs. I am accompanying him to one of his hundreds of dinners, a fund raiser for a politician who furthers Jewish causes. There is a run in my pantyhose that stretches upward from my left ankle; I noticed it when I put the pair on but decided to wear them anyway. I am not good at cutting my losses; I am webbed in all around by dangling threads. “Very pretty,” my father says when he sees me, overlooking my run. But there is so much else to overlook; I am marred by tiny imperfections. “Shit,” I say, hating my eyes for being myopic, my lenses for being uncomfortable, myself for being a woman rather than a man or neutered creature. The trouble with being a woman is that you are supposed to enhance men—to add gaiety to their evening, like balloons, even if you feel heavy as stone. In profile, my father’s eyes look small and sparsely lashed, his skin porous. No one thinks to transform him into an Adonis, to require him to mascara his lashes or tint his cheekbones a delicate pink. Getting ready to go out in the evening always puts me on edge, makes me feel glaringly deficient-like walking into shul on Yom Kippur in a black dress. All the aids and tricks I have learned from magazines, the painstakingly penciled definition around my eyes, the smoky shadow on my lids-all this undoing of my genetic limitations doesn’t fool anyone. Why can’t I be incontestably beautiful, Grace Kelly lolling on a man’s arm, a blonde in a camel coat adding luster to the evening just by the composition of her facial bones and the sheen on her skin, an undeniable visual asset? “The Waldorf-Astoria,” my father says loudly to the taxi driver. “The Waldorf. Straight across and down Park to Forty-ninth. The Waldorf.” My father repeats everything; he trusts no one. He leans back against the seat and turns to me. “New coat?” “No,” I say. “You’ve seen it many times.” My father is convinced that everything I wear is newly bought, another marker in my ongoing pattern of degeneracy. “He doesn’t seem to know English.” My father says, gesturing forward with his head. “Do you think he knows how to get to the hotel?” “Yes,” I say. “You told him.” A light turns read ahead of us, and the taxi jolts to a halt the driver muttering to himself, my father falling against me. … “I’m tired, Hannah,” he says. “ Sehr mude. I work too hard.” If my father ever thought to solicit my opinion, I would suggest to him that he is tired because it is very tiring to trust no one—neither daughters nor cabdrivers. “Your mother isn’t feeling so well,” he says. “I know,” I say. “That’s why I’m going with you to this dinner.” … At the dinner I will be introduced to resplendent couples the way I am always introduced at such occasions: as my father’s daughter. Once again no one will know that I am not a chip off the old block, that I harbor black thoughts, double and malice. (But is anyone ever really a chip off the old block? Doesn’t everything crumble, even monuments, when you look too closely?) at this dinner I will find myself wondering, as I always do, about the workings of power. Power: this is what I should have learned from my father, imbibed at the knee of his noncommunications. But in order to understand power, you have to understand its precedents, like money. I don’t understand money, either; I have been brought up not to. My father’s father, Opa, who took on Shabbos afternoons to study the Talmud in his sefer-lined study first with Benjamin and then with Eric—an aerie of Jewish learning on the Upper East Side—passed on his distrust to my father: money and women, a bad combination. But Opa had little use for girls generally. If only I could have posed the question so it would have intrigued him, a question for those endlessly bickering Talmudic sages to mull question for those endlessly bickering Talmudic sages to mull over: “What is the earning power of a girl? By what scales shall she be weighed?” for there was something, undeniably, about the picturesque rendered legalities and ethical parables of the Talmud that pulled on my imagination, the imagination of a girl: tales of carob trees that bore fruit in seventy years’ time, from which could be deduced man’s need for companionship; Lilliputian debates about the number of black hairs that would disqualify a red cow from being use for the purpose of purification of the dead. In other words, how red was red? An impenetrable logic and yet enviably insular. ... How red is red? How rich is rich? Is there any connection between brains and money? Most dais of the people my parents know have money. Wealth is a family, too; it is a secret, barring its gates to nonmembers. In one of the ballrooms at the Waldorf-Astoria, crowded with round tables, my father sits at a dais, flanked by other corpulent and stuff-shirted men. Over a squeaking microphone someone is introducing his dear friend who is as generous as he is modest and a g-r-r-eat ballplayer. There is a scattering of laughter, and then a very bronzed man gets up, hands tucked in his pockets, and speaks lovingly into the microphone. Right here, then, is the Truth of Commerce revealed: a tan in coldest December and friends who joke about your minor prowess for hitting a softball instead of boasting about your major prowess for making millions of dollars. I have been misled all along; the truth has nothing to do with anything the literary men say—Keats with his “Truth is Beauty, Beauty Truth.” What do girls know except what they read in books? My fate is sealed: I am doomed to hover, like a butterfly, on the rim of power. “The squab is a bit tough, don’t you think?” says the woman sitting next to me. She is taut with prettiness, and when she smiles, I am sure I can hear her jaw click, protesting the disruption. “I don’t know why the kosher caterers are so much less good.” “I know,” I say. “It’s amazing when you think of how many of them there are.” I hear myself responding in blithe agreement, as though this woman and I have everything in common, as though it were crucial that she recognize me as a dinner companion with the same discriminating taste when it comes to poultry. How can she know that I am really Rosa Luxemburg, that I am a firebrand beneath my black silk dress and artful makeup: Down with all charity diners! Give philanthropy to the people! Let them eat squab! I am not my father’s daughter!

Tel Aviv University was built on the ruins of the Palestinian village of Sheikh Muwannis. The university’s faculty lounge is the village mukhtar’s former home. At the corner of Arlosoroff and Ibn Gvirol streets, where the Century Tower skyscraper stands, a Palestinian village named Sommeil used to exist. When activists from the Israeli group Zochrot set out into the heart of Tel Aviv’s “Independence Day” festivities to educate revelers about these facts, they were accused of engaging in criminal activities. As soon as the activists attempted to exit an office building to place small placards on Ibn Gvirol Street memorializing Palestinian villages destroyed during the Nakba, riot police surrounded them with metal gates, blocking them inside. The police informed them that they would be arrested if they attempted to interact with the crowds celebrating Israel’s birth. “We will not allow you to enter the celebrations with your pictures or your fliers,” a cop told Zochrot’s Eitan Bronstein. “We will not allow this form of protest. It might disturb the peace so we won’t allow it.” Another police officer told Bronstein his placards represented “inciting material.” Though the police repression can hardly be excused, there is some reason to believe the Zochrot activists could have been subjected to harsh violence if they had been allowed to proceed with their action. While caged behind the metal gates, passersby surrounded the activists and held forth. “You’re lucky the police is here. You should thank them,” said a bald, beefy man who had to be led away. Another hulking character who identified himself as a member of Unit 51 from the Israeli army’s Golani Brigade paratrooper corps barked at the activists, “The only thing you are is a bunch of traitors. Every day people here are fighting… This is unbelievable. You are traitors and if we had the chance we would shoot you one by one. One by one we would shoot you…” The demonstration concluded with police violently arresting three participants including one man for the crime of reading aloud the names of destroyed Palestinian villages. Lia Tarachansky of the Real News Network filmed the melee. Her footage is below: The repression of Zochrot’s educational action was the street level manifestation of the campaign the Israeli government has waged to mute discussion of the Nakba and punish those who violate the code of silence. Last year, the government passed a law that allows the denial of state funding to NGO’s that participate in Nakba commemorations. In 2009, it banned the use of the term “Nakba” in school textbooks. Limor Livnat, a right-wing Knesset member who co-sponsored the so-called Nakba Law and banned textbooks using the word during her term as Israel’s Education Minister, declared that merely allowing students to learn about the mass expulsion of Palestinians during 1947 and 1948 would encourage them to work against the Jewish state. The images of brawny riot cops — literal thought police — roughing up the small band of Zochrot members for publicly reading “inciting” facts recalled a passage from a widely publicized book about the importance of promoting democracy around the globe. “If a person cannot walk into the middle of the town square and express his or her views without fear of arrest, imprisonment, or physical harm,” the book read, “then that person is living in a fear society, not a free society.” The book is called “The Case For Democracy.” One of its authors, Natan Sharansky, was a former Soviet dissident who currently heads the Jewish Agency, a key arm of Israel’s settlement enterprise. The other author is Ron Dermer, an advisor to Benjamin Netanyahu known as “Bibi’s brain.” Together, the two called for overthrowing repressive regimes around the world, inspiring former US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to quote their so-called “Town Square Test,” while they actively guided Israel’s descent into authoritarianism. How could Sharansky and Dermer fail to see the irony in their actions? As the scenes from Zochrot’s demonstration illustrated, reflection is never an option in a fear society.

BEST BOOKS FOR MOTHER’S DAY 2018 How do you celebrate Mother’s Day? With our recommendations for the best new Mother’s Day books around! And, whatever you may do, wherever you may go, take some time to read together with your children at home, in a park, on a train, at a bookstore or in a library. Books make memorable gifts and, with an added personal message, will be cherished for years to come. A Heart Just Like My Mother’s Written by Lela Nargi Illustrated by Valeria Cis (Kar-Ben; $17.99 Hardcover, $7.99 Paperback, Ages 3-8) In A Heart Just Like My Mother’s, when Anna, who loves and admires her mother is inspired to help a homeless man by saving up her Tzedakah money, she realizes she and her mom share something in common—a big heart. This lovely picture book is a wonderful way to explain the Jewish tradition of performing an act Tzedakah which Nargi defines not so much as charity but doing the right thing by helping others. But it’s also the story of a little girl who starts out thinking she could never be as creative, funny or caring as her mother until she realizes what she has to offer. By collecting Tzedakah money and providing food for the homeless man, Anna’s selfless act of kindness brings her closer to her mother and proves to herself that she too has qualities worth being proud of. I love Cis’s illustrations too. There’s a warm, folksy feeling about them that adds to the positive vibe that emanates from the pages making A Heart Just Like My Mother’s such an enjoyable read. Forever or a Day Written and illustrated by Sarah Jacoby (Chronicle Books; $17.99, Ages 3-5) With its starred reviews from both School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly, Forever or a Day by Sarah Jacoby will make a thoughtful gift this holiday for those seeking something at once out of the ordinary as well as heartwarming. It conveys its beautiful message with spare yet evocative text and in just 20 pages. At first I thought it was a picture book about the future, but then it dawned on me that it’s about being present and spending time together with loved ones and making meaningful moments now. Adults and children may experience different reactions when reading the book but that’s to be expected. Sophie Blackall, Caldecott Medal-winning and New York Times–bestselling illustrator of Finding Winnie, says it best: “Sarah Jacoby’s ethereal exploration of time rushes like a passing train, shimmers like a setting sun and allows us, just for a moment, to appreciate the beauty of standing still.” Prepare to be moved by the compelling art that complements the lyrical language of Forever or a Day. I’ve Loved You Since Forever Written by Hoda Kotb Illustrated by Suzie Mason (HarperCollins BYR; $18.99, Ages 4-8) Precious pairings of mothers and and animal babies from bluebirds and bunnies to otters and owls fill the pages of Today show co-host Hoda Kotb’s debut picture book, I’ve Loved You Since Forever. Kotb adopted her daughter, Haley Joy, in February 2017 and her happiness at becoming a mother is infectious and evident throughout this delightful picture book. Gentle rhyme, a repeated refrain (there was you … and there was me), a rewarding wrap up and exuberant illustrations all work wonderfully together. I’d pick up I’ve Loved You Since Forever for any new parent on your holiday list. In addition to Kotb’s lovely language, there’s a sense of warmth and closeness from the special bond of parenthood depicted in Mason’s tender scenarios. Whether or not you’re an adoptive parent, I’m sure these lines will resonate with you as they did with me: Before otters swam together/and rivers reached the sea/there was you and there was me/waiting for the day our stars would cross/and you and I turned into we. Awww! American Mom: A Celebration of Motherhood in Pop Culture by Meredith Hale (Sterling Publishing; $19.95) In 176 color pages and 12 clever chapters, author Hale deftly delves into the world of motherhood from various perspectives that readers will find fascinating. The introduction says the book “explores the changing role of motherhood through the images and shared cultural moments that have captured it best: magazines, advertisements, greeting cards, television shows, movies, songs, and other pop culture ephemera.” Choose a chapter at a time because this comprehensive and enlightening book is meant to be savored slowly (like a 1950s TV mom’s best casserole) and cannot be read in one or even two sittings. I love the breadth of the material that’s been included and am partial to the earlier chapters that cover motherhood in the eras before I was born including The Nineteenth Century, The Pre-War Years, World War I, The Roaring Twenties, The Great Depression, World War II, The 1950s (although note that American Mom does go all the way to present day 21st century). I learned, for example, that between “1885 and 1905, there were around eleven thousand magazines and periodicals published in the United States—and about 88 percent of the subscribers were women,” that Betty Crocker was a fictional character, that Eleanor Roosevelt “broadened the role” of first lady and that on I Love Lucy they couldn’t say the word pregnant on the show! Through Hale’s insightful lens on motherhood, we’re taken on an entertaining jaunt through fashion, food, first ladies, feminism, photography, film and literature that pays tribute to the ever changing role of mothers in American life and touches on aspects of this expansive topic in ways that will interest every reader, male or female. If you’re looking for a fun, original board book for Mother’s Day, look no further than From Mother to Mother Written and illustrated by Emilie Vast Translated from French by Julia Cormier (Charlesbridge; $7.99, Ages 0-3) Simple in concept, but rich in design elements, this 14-page board book is perfect for little ones who adore the pull-apart Matryoshka dolls. Every other page takes a child back several generations of a mother’s mother’s mother’s mother who in turn gave birth to a child eventually bringing the reader to the present. “And not long ago, I gave birth to you … my very own child. A mother’s love goes on and on and on.” What a beautiful sentiment to share with a young child while cuddling them close and showing them all the different colored pages, each with unique and nature-inspired artwork. There’s also a version for dads! Read our Mother’s Day recommendations from 2017 here. Read Cathy Ballou Mealey’s review of Love, Mama here. BEST CHILDREN’S BOOKS FOR MOTHER’S DAY – A ROUNDUP – Written by Kate McMullan Illustrated by Tao Nyeu (Dial BYR; $16.99, Ages 3-5) With starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist, Mama’s Kisses is sure to be an in-demand picture book for many Mother’s Days to come. McMullan has written a sweet ode to the unwavering devotion and patience of moms, in this case, rainforest moms. The moon is on the rise and four mommy animals are on the lookout for their young ones, a baby panda, elephant, orangutan and leopard. As bedtime beckons, the babies engage in a playful game of hide-and-seek that seems so successful until all at once, when the moms are ready, their hiding place is uncovered. But being found means getting kisses, smooches, and hugs galore until tired eyes can no longer remain open. Dreamland is drawing nigh so the baby animals go to sleep soon followed by their tired moms, always close at hand. Conveyed in uncomplicated rhyme and calming rhythm, Mama’s Kisses is a gentle bedtime tale perfect for pre-schoolers. Nyeu’s artwork fills all corners of most every page and, though using only oranges, yellows and blues, she manages to create a subtle softness, warmth and calming mood with just these few well chosen hues. Written by Diane Adams Illustrated by Claire Keane (Chronicle Books; $15.99, Ages 3-5) Whether it’s for Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Graduation or simply just because, Love is by Diane Adams will make a great gift. Love is a girl and her duckling. Looking after the fuzzy little creature is not unlike a mother caring for her child which is why Love is works on many levels. It’s a story about loving and nurturing something that is dear to you, as well as being about the responsibility involved in such a privilege. “Love is holding something fragile, tiny wings and downy head. Love is noisy midnight feedings, shoebox right beside the bed.” The little girl must also accept that her duckling is growing. She will soon need to allow her pet to move on, fend for itself, find a new home and start a family all its own, all the while knowing that the love she has shared will not be forgotten. This 32 page picture book is a delightful read aloud story with well-paced rhyme and evocative illustrations that, coupled with the meaningful verse, will tug at your heartstrings. How To Raise a Mom Written by Jean Reagan Illustrated by Lee Wildish (Alfred A. Knopf BYR; $17.99, Ages 4-8) Another winner from the creators of the How To picture book series, How to Raise a Mom will totally charm moms, dads and kids alike. “Raising a happy, healthy mom is fun … and important! Are you ready for some tips?” The sibling narrators take readers through their mother’s typical day as part of their instruction guide, and clearly based on the wonderful rearing and love they’re getting from her. After kisses to awaken her, and giving her choices for the day’s outfit, the kids take her to the supermarket and the playground to name a few places while also leaving quiet time for her to get some work done. It’s fantastic to be treated again to Wildish’s whimsical illustrations like those found in the other How To books, full of humorous not-to-miss touches and amusing expressions in every spread. Kids will especially get a kick out of the dog and cat Wildish includes in many scenes. The children also cover playtime, mealtime and finish up the full day with stories and snuggles. I loved how they occasionally mimic just what Mom always says to them such as “Thank you so much, Sweat Pea, for being so patient,” or “Remember to be a good sharer!” There is so much to enjoy in this picture book tribute celebrating moms everywhere. More recommended children’s books for Mother’s Day: Written and illustrated by Emma Dodd (Nosy Crow; $12.99, Ages 2-5) When I Carried You in My Belly Written by Thrity Umriar Illustrated by Ziyue Chen (Running Press Kids; $16.99, Ages 4-8) I Love My Mommy by Sebastien Braun (Harper Collins; $7.99, Ages 0-4) by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben (Chronicle Books; $5.99, Ages 1-3) CELEBRATE MOTHER’S DAY & FATHER’S DAY WITH LITTLE BEE BOOKS CUDDLES FOR MOMMY & THE BEST PART OF DADDY’S DAY Reviews and Giveaway Cuddles for Mommy Written by Ruby Brown Illustrated by Tina Macnaughton (Little Bee Books; $16.99, Ages 4-8) Here’s a read aloud picture book moms won’t tire of sharing with youngsters on Mother’s Day or any day. What kind of cuddle do you like best? There are all kinds of cuddles and in the pages of this sweet picture book, Little Owl is wondering which one’s her favorite and decides to try them all. Mommy Owl is on the joyful receiving end of all the hugs. The good morning – a wake up time cuddle. The good-bye – a leaving for school cuddle. The “I’m sorry” – a way to apologize for doing something wrong cuddle. The “I’m scared” – when mommy’s reassuring hug helps quell fears and makes nightmares go away. There are also the thank you cuddle, happy cuddle, the proud cuddle, the “I’m sick” cuddle, and the good night cuddle. But the best kind of cuddle for any time or any place is the Mommy Cuddle “Just because I love you!” And that’s sure hard to argue with. Brown has picked cuddles for her book’s subject and it works wonderfully. She’s created a feel good picture book that’s great for story time or bedtime. And since it’s just the right length, Cuddles for Mommy will leave lots of time for some quality cuddling at the end. I hadn’t ever considered how many cuddles and hugs we give to one another, but I’m glad Brown did. Macnaughton’s chosen a variety of background colors to highlight her illustrations that also add a cheery mood to this story. Plus, with her depictions of Little Owl and Mommy Owl, she’s found a way to make the cuddling of the two owls look believable without turning their bodies into cartoon characters. An endearing story for a special holiday, Cuddles for Mommy would make a great gift for Mother’s Day. Interior artwork from Cuddles for Mommy written by Ruby Brown with illustrations by Tina Macnaughton, Little Bee Books © 2016 The Best Part of Daddy’s Day Written and illustrated by Claire Alexander (Little Bee Books; $16.99, Ages 4-8) The strong message of love in both Cuddles for Mommy and The Best Part of Daddy’s Day is an important one for young readers. I may have guessed the ending in Alexander’s new picture book, The Best Part of Daddy’s Day, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying every page and remembering my son feeling the same way at the same age as Bertie, the narrator. Bertie wishes he could spend the day with his dad, but dad’s a builder and must make tracks to work while Bertie goes to school. Throughout the course of Bertie’s school day, he finds himself thinking about his dad and trying to recreate the experience of being a builder. Sometimes he has success and other times he doesn’t – like when a classmate gets footprints on Bertie’s artwork of a crane like the one his dad operates. The highlight of Bertie’s school day is climbing to the top of the jungle gym where he is certain he can see his dad up in the crane constructing a skyscraper. When school ends it turns out Bertie’s daddy has had quite similar experiences at his job, even spotting his son on the jungle gym! But during a bedtime story, Bertie’s dad reveals that the best part of his day isn’t actually when he’s at work. No, it’s when he comes home and gets to snuggle up close to his son. Bertie agrees that the feeling is mutual. Alexander’s written a delightful story for budding builders and those who dream of following in a parent’s footsteps. The watercolor illustrations are tender yet playful, just perfect for the subject matter. Make reading The Best Part of Daddy’s Day the best part of your day and get a copy today. Interior artwork from The Best Part of Daddy’s Day written and illustrated by Claire Alexander, Little Bee Books © 2016. a Rafflecopter giveaway A MOTHER’S DAY ROUNDUP OF PICTURE BOOKS One of my favorite holidays is Mother’s Day. I get to kick my feet up, relax, and get spoiled for several blissful hours. Okay, who am I kidding? That actually doesn’t really happen chez moi, but that’s not what Mother’s Day is about anyway, is it? Love is really at the core of this special day. Let’s look at some picture books that celebrate all kinds of moms in all kinds of ways, because no mom is the same and we wouldn’t want it any other way. Are You My Mommy? by Mary Murphy (Candlewick; $6.99, Ages 0-3) – This lift-the-flaps board book features an adorable little light blue collared puppy meeting lots of different animals as he asks, “Are you my mommy?” Naturally, each animal encountered replies no and explains what animal he is. “No, I’m a sheep.” The reveal is each animal’s own special baby, from a lamb to a calf, a foal and a kitten, a piglet and a duckling until the most lovely surprise, the puppy’s mommy, a purple collared dog. As little ones enjoy the colorful illustrations done in mixed media with bold black outlines, they’ll learn new words and have fun lifting all the die-cut flaps. Mom School by Rebecca Van Slyke with illustrations by Priscilla Burris (Doubleday Books for Young Readers; $16.99, Ages 3-7) – What a clever idea, a school for moms! I sure could have used a class or two at this place because, while I may be great at cutting and gluing like the little girl narrating this charming story, I never had a lesson in the cool kinds of classes she imagines her mom attended. There’s the essential learning how to grocery shop without losing your child class. There’s pitching 101 so moms can toss a ball that’s easy to hit. And of course, we can’t leave out the ever popular, and delicious, cupcake baking course. Here’s one of my faves, and it’s got to be called Mom’s Mandatory Multi-tasking: At Mom School, they learn how to do more than one thing at a time, like talking on the phone and fixing my hair, and making dinner while listening to a song I just made up. Mom School is a sweet, positive picture book not just for Mother’s Day because the skills moms acquire at this school are utilized throughout the year. The adorable, humorous pastel-toned artwork by Burris is expressive and cheerful. Kids are going to enjoy thinking of other classes that their moms are likely to have attended and perhaps, inspired by Van Slyke’s words and Burris’ illustrations, they can try their hand at drawing their own pictures to show all the neat things moms know. If My Mom Were a Bird by Jedda Robaard (Little Bee Books; $14.99, Ages 4-7) – is such an imaginative, beautiful picture book. “If your mom were a bird,” it says on the book’s back cover, “what kind of bird would she be?” There is not a lot of text in this picture book, but the economy of words works wonderfully because the type of bird each child imagines their mother would be is perfectly presented in the artwork. If my mom were a bird, she would surely be a watchful … hawk. The watercolor illustrations on the pages feel crisp, joyful and complement the traits the kids have chosen, Interior artwork from If My Mom Were a Bird by Jedda Robaard, Little Bee Books, ©2015. capturing the mood without a lot of description. Interior artwork from If My Mom Were a Bird by Jedda Robaard, Little Bee Books, ©2015. As with Mom School, If My Mom Were a Bird is a year round story, but also just right to share on Mother’s Day. Two other terrific picture books I’d like to recommend are: Heather Has Two Mommies by Lesléa Newman with illustrations by Laura Cornell (Candlewick Press; $16.99, Ages 3-7) – This is a brand-new edition of the modern classic. And for Mother’s Day, what’s better than having one mom? Having two!! There are many different kinds of families and the family depicted in Heather Has Two Mommies is a family unit made up of two moms, no dad. What counts in families is not being just like every other family, but being loved. Pete the Cat: Rock on, Mom and Dad! by James Dean (HarperFestival; $6.99, Ages 4-8) – Kids who are crazy about the cat will go wild for this paperback which includes 30 stickers, a fold-out poster and cards. How does a grateful cat say thank you to his parents for all they do? How can he show them how much he loves them? His big, smart brother Bob tells him, “It doesn’t matter what you do, it’s how you do it.” And in a classic example of actions speaking louder than words, Pete composes a song and plays it for his parents. He rocks it out of the park and right into their hearts. – Reviewed by Ronna Mandel A MUST FOR MOTHER’S DAY! A Gift for Mama, written by Linda Ravin Lodding and illustrated by Alison Jay, is reviewed by Ronna Mandel. This is the kind of picture book you will want to read slowly and relish as if you were eating a piece of the finest European chocolate after going off a diet. Simply delicious. I have a soft spot for stories set in Europe, having lived there over 10 years. Cities with beautiful pedestrian-friendly town squares are abundant, and the Viennese ones where so much of A Gift for Mama (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, $17.99, Ages 4-8) takes place is no exception. Being transported back to a bustling 19th century Vienna is just part of the pleasure children will experience when reading this gorgeous, uplifting new picture book. Meet Oskar, an adorable lad eager to find something special to give his mother on her birthday, but alas, he has but one single coin. There, much to Oskar’s delight, “in the middle of the market, was a flower seller.” A bright yellow rose beckoned to him so he used his coin to buy a blossom that would be “the perfect present.” It doesn’t take long to realize that Oskar has a heart of gold. There’s even a golden, sunshiny quality to all the illustrations, helping the reader feel good all over as Oskar’s kindness is demonstrated again and again. As the story unfolds, Oskar’s encounter with an artist – with whom he trades his rose for a “beautiful horsehair paintbrush” – sets off a series of exchanges with a conductor, a singer, a lyricist, an Empress and ultimately a sad little girl, linking one individual to the other, and always demonstrating Oskar’s generosity. You can almost hear a waltz playing in the background as you turn the pages of this stunning-to-look-at picture book. Between Lodding’s obvious love of Vienna captured in her prose, and Jay’s crackly-style, vivid vignettes of vintage Viennese life, it’s tempting to book a flight to Austria to track down the places depicted in this must-read picture book. A Gift for Mama is at once a touching tribute to a child’s love for his mother while also an homage to glorious Vienna of a bygone era. I’m going back for seconds!

Poet: Heinrich Heine Date of Birth: 13 December 1797, Düsseldorf, Germany Date of Death: 17 February 1856, Paris, France Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was a poet, writer and literary critic. Outside of Germany he is best known for his lyric poetry, which was set to music by composers such as Schumman and Schubert. His later verse and prose are distinguished by their satirical wit. His radical political views led to many of his works being banned, which only added to his fame. He spent the last 25 years of his life as an expatriate in Paris. Heine was born in Düsseldorf, in what was then the Duchy of Berg, into a Jewish family. As a child he was called Harry but became known as Heinrich after converting to Lutheranism in 1825. He was the eldest of four children and a distant cousin of Karl Marx. Düsseldorf of the 18th century was a small town and used to be the capital of the Duchy of Jülich-Berg, but under French occupation it went to the Elector of Bavaria before being ceded to Napoleon in 1806 who turned it into the capital of the Grand Duchy of Berg, one of three French stated he established in Germany. Upon the downfall of Napoleon in 1815 it became part of Prussia. Heine’s formative years were spent under French influence and as an adult he would always be devoted to the French for the introduction of the Napoleonic Code and trial by jury. He glossed over the more negative aspects of French rule in the Berg. Heine admired Napoleon as a promoter of revolutionary ideals of liberty and equality and despised the political atmosphere in Germany after Napoleon’s defeat. As a young child Heine was sent to a Jewish school where he learned some Hebrew, but he then attended Catholic schools, learning French, and acquired a lifelong love of Rhineland folklore. Heine went to business school in Düsseldorf in 1814 and learned to read English. He moved to Hamburg in 1816 to become an apprentice at Heckscher and Co, his uncle’s bank, but showed no aptitude for business. Heine had no talent for trade and entered the law at the University of Bonn in 1819. German politics was divided between the conservatives wanting to restore things back to pre-French Revolution and the liberals who wanted to replace absolutism with a representative and constitutional government. Heine was a radical liberal and took part in a parade which violated the Carlsbad Decrees that suppressed liberal activity. Heine was more interested in studying history and literature than law. August Wilhelm Schlegel, a critic and thinker, had been engaged as a lecturer at the university and Heine heard him talk about the Nibelungenlied and Romanticism. He also found him a sympathetic critic for his early poetry. Heine began to acquire a reputation as a poet at Bonn. After a year, Heine left Bonn to continue his studies at the University of Göttingen. He hated the town that was part of Hanover and ruled by the King of Britain, the power that Heine blamed for the downfall of Napoleon. He also experienced an aristocratic snobbery that didn’t exist elsewhere. He hated studying law as he had to study the law that bolstered the reactionary government he so opposed. This and other events conspired to Heine’s hatred for this period of his life: expulsion from a student fraternity for anti-Semitic reasons and his cousin Amelia got engaged. Heine challenged another student to a duel(the first of ten such incidents) and the authorities stepped in and he was suspended from university for six months. His uncle then decided to send him to the University of Berlin. Heine arrived in Berlin in 1821. The cosmopolitan city gave him access to notable cultural figures as lecturers, such as FA Wolf, Hegel and Franz Bopp. He also made valuable acquaintances with Varnhagen and his wife who held a leading salon in the city. He also met Karl Immermann, a satirist who encouraged Heine with his first verse collection. Whilst in Berlin Heine joined the Verein für Cultur und Wissenschaft der Juden, a society which attempted to achieve a balance between Judaism and modernity. Heine was not very religious and soon lost interest, but he began to investigate Jewish history, particularly the Spanish Jews of the Middle Ages. In 1823 Heine left Berlin and joined his family in Lüneburg and began to write the poems of the cycle Die Heimkehr. He returned to Göttingen and again lost interest in law. In 1824 he set off on a break taking a trip through the Harz mountains. On his return he began writing Die Harzreise. In 1825 Heine concerted to Protestantism. The Prussian government had restored discrimination against Jews, introducing laws that excluded Jews from academic posts and Heine had ambitions of a university career. Heine saw conversion as ‘the ticket of admission into European culture’. Heine was only suited for writing which made finding a job difficult as opportunities for professional writers were limited in Germany. The market for literature was small and as a result Heine was never able to cover his expenses. In 1826 he met Julius Campe in Hamburg, and Campe became his publisher. A liberal, Campe published as many dissident authors as he could, developing various techniques for evading the authorities. At the time any book of less than 320 pages had to be submitted for censorship so dissident works would be published in large print to increase the page count to more than 320. Censorship in Hamburg was lax but Campe had to worry about Prussia, the largest German state and the largest market for books. Before 1834, any book that passed the censor in a German state was able to be sold in any other states. When this legal loophole was closed print runs could be confiscated. From the mid-1820s, Heine distanced himself from Romanticism by adding irony, sarcasm and satire to his poetry and poking fun at the over-sentimental romantic wonder of nature and the figures of speech in contemporary poetry and literature. Despite an increasing critical view of despotism and reactionary chauvinism among nobility and clerics as well as the narrow-mindedness of ordinary people in the rising German form of nationalism he nonetheless made a point of stressing his love for his homeland. After the publication of Ideen: Das Buch Le Grand, Heine travelled to England to avoid the predicted controversy the publication would attract. He found the English commercial and prosaic and continued still blamed them for the defeat of Napoleon. On his return to Germany Heine a job co-editing a magazine, Politische Annalen in Munich. He did not find work on the magazine congenial, and instead he unsuccessfully tried to obtain a professorship at Munich University. Heine travelled to Italy, visiting Lucca, Florence and Venice. His trip was cut short by the death of his father. The aristocratic poet August von Platen had been annoyed by some epigrams by Immerman. Platen responded with a counterattack of anti-Semitic jibes about Heine in his plat Der Romantische Ödipus. Stung by the attack Heine responded in Der Bäder von Lucca attacking Platen’s sexuality. This literary exchange of personal attacks became known as the Platen affair. Heine went to Paris in 1831 where he settled for the rest of his life. The move followed the 1830 July Revolution which Heine shared enthusiasm as he felt it had the potential to overturn the conservative order in Europe. It also liberated him from German censorship, and he was attracted by the new French utopian political doctrines of Saint-Simonianism. Heine became a celebrity in France and Paris offered a cultural richness unavailable in the smaller cities of Germany, but he also remained something of an outsider. He had no talent for the French language so write everything in German and translating into French with the help of a collaborator. Heine earned money as a French correspondent for the Allgemeine Zeitung with his first event coverage being the salon of 1831. Heine met Mathilde in 1834 and she moved in with him in 1836 until his death. The couple were married in 1841. Heine and his fellow radical, Ludwig Börne became role models for a younger generation of writers known as ‘Young Germany’. They included Gutzkow, Mundt and Wienbarg. Liberal but not politically active they still fell afoul of the authorities with publications such as Wally die Zweiflerin. Heine continued to comment on German politics and society from a safe distance and his publisher was able to get around the censors. The relationship between Heine and Börne was a troubled one as Börne did not attack religion or traditional morality as Heine did, and the German authorities therefore hounded him less although his books were still banned as they appeared. In 1837 Börne died and Heine began writing a biography, a severely critical memorial of the man. Published in 1840 it was universally disliked by the radicals and alienated Heine from his public. The book contained attacks on Börne’s closest friend Jeanette Wohl and her husband challenged Heine to a dual, the last Heine would fight, he suffered a flesh wound to the hip. Before fighting, he safeguarded Mathilde’s future in the event of his death by marrying her. When Frederick William IV ascended the Prussian throne in 1840 German poetry took a more directly political turn. During his early reign censorship was relaxed leading to the emergence of popular political poets called the Thendenzdichter. Heine consider these poets to be bad poets, but his own verse became more political too using satirical attack against the Kings of Bavaria and Prussia, popular torpor of the German people and the greed and cruelty of the ruling class. In 1843 Heine’s distant relative and German revolutionary, Karl Marx and his wife arrived in Paris after the Prussian government had supressed Marx’s radical newspaper. Marx was an admirer of Heine and his early writings show Heine’s influence. Ultimately Heine’s ideas of revolution through sensual emancipation and Marx’s scientific socialism were incompatible but both writes shared the same negativity and lack of faith in the bourgeoisie. Heine, who had not been well, fell paralyzed in May 1848 and had to be confined to bed. He would not leave what he referred to has his mattress grave until his death eight years later. He bore his suffering with stoicism and continued to work. His illness meant he paid less attention to the political revolutions occurring in France and Germany in 1848. However he was sceptical of the Frankfurt Assembly and continued to attack the Prussian King. He continued to work from his bed. He died on 17 February 1856 and is buried in the Paris Cimetière de Montmartre. His tomb, designed by Louis Hasselriis includes Heine’s poem Wo? (Where?) engraved on three sides. Where at last will this wandering end and a quiet place be marked as mine? Under palms in the Southern sun? Under lindens on the Rhine? Will I be laid in a shallow grave in a wilderness, by strangers’ hands? Or find my rest near breaking waves under a long expanse of sand? It makes no difference. God will wind his heaven round me there as here, and like the lanterns of the dead, at night the stars will hover near. ©JG Farmer 2019

Описание: The Art of Urban Sketching is both a comprehensive guide and a showcase of location drawings by artists around the world who draw the cities where they live and travel. This beautiful volume explains urban sketching within the context of a long historical tradition and how it is practiced today. It includes profiles of leading practitioners, a discussion of the benefits of working in this art form, and shows how one can participate and experience it through modern-day social networks and online activity. The book is illustrated with over 700 beautiful, contemporary illustrations, and includes artists' profiles and extended captions where these urban sketchers share their stories, tips and tools. With sketches and observations from more than 50 cities in more than 30 countries, the book offers a visually arresting, storytelling take on urban life from different cultures and artistic styles, as well as insight into various drawing techniques and mediums. Название: Pre-Raphaelite Landscape, The ISBN: 0300084080 ISBN-13(EAN): 9780300084085 Издательство: Yale University Press Цена: 9529 р. Наличие на складе: Поставка под заказ. Описание: Allen Staley's book The Pre-Raphaelite Landscape ignited a revival of interest in Pre-Raphaelite painting nearly three decades ago. Reintroducing the small group of young English artists who in 1848 founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, this landmark book helped to attract both scholars and a new generation of admirers to the brilliant and audacious work of the Pre-Raphaelites. In this completely revised and updated second edition, Staley takes into account important artworks that have recently come to light as well as current understandings of the Pre-Raphaelite movement and its legacy. This lovely volume is greatly enhanced by more than 150 luminous colour illustrations. Ranging widely in this volume. Staley offers a comprehensive account of the formation of the Brotherhood, the artists' theoretical concerns about depictions of the natural world, and the emergence and impact of a school of Pre-Raphaelite landscape painting. Staley also discusses all the figures important to Pre-Raphaelitism: the artists (among them John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt), their associates (Ford Madox Brown, William Dyce), the landscape specialists they influenced (Thomas Seddon, George Pr Описание: Drawing on a wealth of unpublished sketchbooks, journals and writings, this essential guide to John Brett (1831-1902) investigates the painter who was seen as the leader of the Pre-Raphaelite landscape school. As well as the familiar early works, including 'The Val d'Aosta' and 'The Stonebreaker', it provides rich information on his later, less-known coastal and marine paintings. Brett's turbulent friendship with John Ruskin is discussed, as are his relations with his beloved sister Rosa, and his partner Mary, with whom he had seven children. His fervent interest in astronomy, his love of the sea, and his lifelong pursuit of wealth and recognition are all examined in this reassessment, which concludes with a catalogue raisonne of his works, prepared by his descendent Charles Brett. It is published to coincide with an exhibition of John Brett's work at Birmingham, Barber Institute, 30 April - 4 July; London, Fine Art Society, 20 July - 7 August; and, Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, 14 September - 28 November. Автор: Pierluigi Nicolin Название: Dict. Today`s Landscape Designers ISBN: 8884914205 ISBN-13(EAN): 9788884914200 Издательство: Thames & Hudson Рейтинг: Цена: 599 р. Наличие на складе: Поставка под заказ. Описание: This dictionary profiles world-renowned architects, engineers, landscape architects, artists and photographers whose work has given rise to an entirely new dimension in designing the cityscape. It features leading figures from the international scene, including Tadao Andao, Emilio Ambasz, Daniel Buren, Tony Cragg, Walter De Maria, Michael Heizer, Anish Kapoor, Rem Koolhaas, Maya Lin, Richard Long and James Turrel, among many others. Over the last decade the concept of "landscape" has dramatically changed, Projects that reconstruct large disused areas, the design of public spaces, parks and private gardens, and Land Art all involve landscape design. This field has come to greater prominence with the increase in public projects and by keeping pace with new theoretical approaches and design practices. This volume will be an invaluable reference for any one involved in urban planning, public art, landscape architecture and landscape design. Описание: Even though France is the birthplace of Impressionism, German artists also played a crucial role in shaping this style of painting. This book examines the work of the three great German painters of the late 19th and early 20th century: Max Liebermann, Lovis Corinth and Max Slevogt. Inspired by French artists such as Manet, Degas, Monet, Renoir and Cezanne as well as Van Gogh, Liebermann, Corinth and Slevogt, these German artists produced paintings that bore their own distinctive signatures, at once sensitive and forcefully expressive: Liebermann's paintings of his garden on Wannsee, Corinth's landscapes depicting the foothills of the Alps and the shores of Walchensee and the Neukastel county seat where Slevogt lived in the Rhenish Palatinate are world-famous. However, unfamiliar, even exotic and hitherto little known paintings as well as works by German contemporaries of the three painters are presented to provide interesting material for comparison and an intriguing new look at German Impressionist landscape painting. Автор: McLeod, Virginia Название: Detail in Contemporary Landscape Architecture ISBN: 1780670230 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781780670232 Издательство: Laurence King Publishing Ltd Рейтинг: Цена: 5389 р. Наличие на складе: Невозможна поставка. Описание: Detailing makes a landscape unique, and a landscape architect outstanding. Featuring many of the worlds most highly acclaimed landscape architects, this book presents 40 of the most recently completed and influential landscape designs. Each project is presented with colour photographs, site plans and sections as well as numerous construction details. There is also a brief descriptive text, detailed captions and in-depth information for each project. The projects are presented in clear and concise layouts over four pages. All commissioned especially for this book, the drawings are styled in a consistent manner and presented at standard architectural scales for easy comparison. Intended for architects, engineers and landscape architects, the book will also be invaluable for architecture, garden and landscape design students, for whom it will be a resource not only for understanding the work of the best contemporary landscape architects, but also as a tool for their own design work. Автор: Jones, Louisa Название: Mediterranean Landscape Design ISBN: 050029111X ISBN-13(EAN): 9780500291115 Издательство: Thames & Hudson Рейтинг: Цена: 3585 р. Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ. Описание: Human beings have been transforming Mediterranean landscapes into art for at least thirty thousand years. Todays artists, sculptors, designers, architects and gardeners explore age-old vernacular materials, skills and sites to produce extraordinary landscape art that affirms an ideal of partnership with nature while celebrating layers of living in this multifaceted region. Each work observes the logic of place as determined by climate, geology, flora and fauna, architecture and land use. Illustrated with hundreds of exceptional photographs by award- winning photographer Clive Nichols, and drawing on nearly forty years of exploration by Louisa Jones, this book offers a fresh vision of the Mediterranean, past and future, linking cultural diversity and natural balance as discovered in its gardens, landscape design, literature, art and architecture. Автор: Averil King Название: Issak Levitan, Lyrical Landscape ISBN: 1851496459 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781851496457 Издательство: ACC-distribution titles Рейтинг: Цена: 6353 р. Наличие на складе: Поставка под заказ. Описание: This is the only western study of the renowned Russian landscape painter, Isaak Levitan (1860-1900). This third, expanded edition is further enhanced by new images and extra chapters about his portraits, still lifes and cityscapes; it also discusses his working methods and assesses the influence of his output on later artists. Born into a poor Jewish family in Lithuania, Levitan was able to enrol at the Moscow School of Painting aged only thirteen. He made rapid progress, the great merchant collector Pavel Tretyakov buying one of his early paintings. In 1886 he sketched in the Crimea and from 1887 spent several summers painting in the Volga region. Levitan's paintings commemorate the arrival of the Russian spring and celebrate the quiet beauty of her lakes and rivers, fields and forests, often pictured at twilight. In doing this he sought simple, well-loved motifs of the countryside, using an increasingly refined and laconic technique. His work was greatly admired by Diaghilev of the Ballets Russes, who recalled Levitan's landscapes long after he had left Russia, and by Levitan's lifelong friend, Anton Chekhov who spoke of its 'astonishing simplicity and clarity'. Levitan's later compositions have a mystical quality achieved by few other artists. Before illness claimed him at the age of 39, Levitan was able to make brief journeys to Berlin, Paris, the Alps, north Italy, Munich and Vienna. His awareness of painterly developments in Europe was to some extent reflected in his own art. Towards the end of his life he was responsible for revitalising the teaching of landscape painting in Moscow and exhibited regularly with the Munich Secession. Автор: Morrison Kathryn A Название: Carscapes: The Motor Car, Architecture, and Landscape in England ISBN: 0300187041 ISBN-13(EAN): 9780300187045 Издательство: Yale University Press Рейтинг: Цена: 7623 р. Наличие на складе: Есть (1 шт.) Описание: When the motor car first came to England in the 1890s, it was a luxury item with little practical purpose - drivers couldn't travel very far or very quickly without paved roads or traffic laws. Thus began a transformation that has affected the architecture, infrastructure, and even the natural environment of the country. "Carscapes" relates the history of the car's impact on the physical environment of England from its early beginnings to the modern motorway network, focusing especially on its architectural influence. The authors offer a detailed look at the litany of structures designed specifically to accommodate cars: garages, gas stations, car parks, factories, and showrooms. Presenting a comprehensive study of these buildings, along with highways, bridges, and signage, "Carscapes" reveals the many overlooked ways in which automobiles have shaped the modern English landscape. Автор: Richardson, Tim Название: Landscape and Garden Design Sketchbooks ISBN: 0500518041 ISBN-13(EAN): 9780500518045 Издательство: Thames & Hudson Рейтинг: Цена: 5382 р. Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ. Описание: This intimate glimpse into the private sketchbooks of the world’s leading landscape and garden designers reveals a dazzling array of insights and ideas that will inspire the amateur and practitioner alike. Thirty-seven international designers carefully selected by the design critic behind the Chelsea Fringe have opened their sketchbooks specially for this publication. Featuring hundreds of drawings and illustrations as diverse as their creators, Landscape and Garden Design Sketchbooksis a continual source of inspiration for planting, design elements, colour schemes and materials, encouraging weekend gardeners, design professionals and students to draw their ideas by hand.

Background The long-term natural history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in terms of successive severe exacerbations and mortality is unknown. Methods The authors formed an inception cohort of patients from their first ever hospitalisation for COPD during 1990–2005, using the healthcare databases from the province of Quebec, Canada. Patients were followed until death or 31 March 2007, and all COPD hospitalisations occurring during follow-up were identified. The hazard functions of successive hospitalised COPD exacerbations and all-cause mortality over time were estimated, and HRs adjusted for age, sex, calendar time and comorbidity. Results The cohort included 73 106 patients hospitalised for the first time for COPD, of whom 50 580 died during the 17-year follow-up, with 50% and 75% mortality at 3.6 and 7.7 years respectively. The median time from the first to the second hospitalised exacerbation was around 5 years and decreased to <4 months from the 9th to the 10th. The risk of the subsequent severe exacerbation was increased threefold after the second severe exacerbation and 24-fold after the 10th, relative to the first. Mortality after a severe exacerbation peaked to 40 deaths per 10 000 per day in the first week after admission, dropping gradually to 5 after 3 months. Conclusions The course of COPD involves a rapid decline in health status after the second severe exacerbation and high mortality in the weeks following every severe exacerbation. Two strategic targets for COPD management should include delaying the second severe exacerbation and improving treatment of severe exacerbations to reduce their excessive early mortality. - Asthma epidemiology - clinical epidemiology - COPD epidemiology - pulmonary embolism This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non commercial and is otherwise in compliance with the license. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/ and http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/legalcode. Statistics from Altmetric.com What is the key question? What is the long-term natural history of patients hospitalised for the first time for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in terms of the expected frequency and timing of subsequent severe COPD exacerbations and mortality? What is the bottom line? We can expect a rapid decline in health status after the second severe exacerbation and high mortality in the weeks following every severe exacerbation. Why read on? This suggests two strategic targets for COPD management, namely delaying the second severe exacerbation and intensifying inpatient treatment of COPD exacerbations to prevent excessive early mortality. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), characterised by progressive, generally irreversible, airflow limitation associated with an abnormal inflammatory response of the lungs, has been increasing in prevalence, affecting over 12 million people in the USA alone, where it has become the third leading cause of death.1–3 While the disease course involves a slow progressive deterioration in airflow, it is punctuated by exacerbations, many of which are serious, requiring hospitalisation and associated with higher mortality and elevated costs.4–6 The progressive deterioration in COPD has traditionally been illustrated by the Fletcher-Peto curves that suggest a smooth continuous accelerated decay in lung function over time.7 Such a gradual decay in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) inherently implies that exacerbations interspersed within the course of disease do not necessarily alter this natural history. Yet, recent studies report an association between exacerbations and a greater decline in lung function.8 Moreover, increasing exacerbation frequency has been associated with higher mortality,5 while exacerbations appear to cluster in time,9 and a history of exacerbations is the single best predictor of future exacerbations.10 Thus, rather than the smooth gradual decay suggested by the Fletcher-Peto curves, these findings evoke more a stepwise component to the deterioration in COPD over time.11 ,12 Such a hypothesis, however, is uncertain as all natural history studies have been based on prevalent cohorts where disease duration is not considered and the first COPD exacerbation under study is seldom the first in the patient's course of disease. As a result, the natural course of COPD over the long term remains largely unknown, particularly as it relates to its duration, the impact of successive exacerbations and the effect on mortality, two major outcomes of this disease. We use a large population-based inception cohort of patients from their first severe COPD exacerbation to describe the long-term profile of severe COPD exacerbations over time and their association with mortality. We used the computerised databases of the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) from the health insurance program of the province of Québec, Canada for its 7 million residents. The databases include information on demographics and all medical services rendered, including hospitalisations in acute care hospitals. For people aged 65 years or older, social welfare recipients and, since 1996, residents who choose to join the provincial drug plan, the prescription drugs database includes all dispensed outpatient prescription medications. The RAMQ Databases, linked by a unique health insurance number, have been used previously to conduct several epidemiological studies, including studies in COPD.13–18 We first identified all subjects who, during 1990–2005, were dispensed at least one prescription for respiratory medications including ß agonists, theophylline, ipratropium bromide, tiotropium, inhaled corticosteroid, nedocromil, ketotifen, cromolyn or anti-leukotriene. After the first prescription for a respiratory medication, we formed the cohort of all patients with a first severe COPD exacerbation, defined as their first hospitalisation with a primary discharge diagnosis of COPD (International Classification of Diseases ninth revision (ICD-9) codes 490–492 and 496, ICD-10 codes J40–J44). To increase the likelihood of a correct diagnosis, we excluded subjects aged <55 years at the time of this first hospitalisation and those with a prior asthma hospitalisation. Cohort members were followed from this first hospitalisation for COPD until death or 31 March 2007. All severe exacerbations, defined as subsequent hospitalisations with a primary discharge diagnosis of COPD, occurring during follow-up, were identified. Cohort entry was defined differently for the two study outcomes, namely severe exacerbation and mortality. To analyse the rate of a subsequent severe exacerbation, cohort entry was defined as the date of live discharge from hospital while, to study mortality, cohort entry was defined as the date of admission to account for the fact that patients were at risk of death during a COPD hospitalisation. For the analysis of mortality, the Kaplan–Meier technique was first used to estimate the cumulative incidence function of time to death from cohort entry. To assess the effect of each successive severe exacerbation on mortality, a Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of death as a function of the severe exacerbation sequence number occurring during follow-up time, included as a time-dependent factor to consider its timing, relative to the hazard of death after the first severe exacerbation. Age in years, sex, calendar time of cohort entry (before or after the year 2000 to account for changes in patient management) and comorbidity measured at cohort entry were also included as adjustment factors for this effect. Comorbidity was measured using the modified Von Korff chronic disease score, devised specifically for healthcare databases, divided into quartiles.19 Age and sex were not included in the score to allow estimation of their independent effects. The same Cox proportional hazards model approach was also used to estimate the effect of each successive severe exacerbation on the subsequent one, with a time-dependent factor to account for the timing of each severe exacerbation over follow-up time. The overall hazard function of the successive severe exacerbations was estimated in two steps. First, to estimate the inter-exacerbation times, the cohort of patients discharged alive from their first ever COPD hospitalisation was followed until the earliest of the dates of admission for the second severe COPD exacerbation, death or the end of the observation period. This follow-up to the next severe exacerbation was repeated after each severe exacerbation. The median time from each severe exacerbation to the next was estimated using the Kaplan–Meier technique modified for competing risks to account for deaths occurring before the next severe exacerbation.20 An additional approach to account for deaths was based on estimating the median time between live discharge and the date of admission for the next severe COPD exacerbation or death, whichever occurred first, using the Kaplan–Meier technique. Second, the life-table approach was used to estimate the hazard function over time of a subsequent severe exacerbation after each severe exacerbation. Thus, the hazard functions of each successive severe exacerbation were combined with the respective median inter-exacerbation times to graphically express the hazard function of successive severe exacerbations over time. There were 1 410 211 people dispensed respiratory medications during 1990–2005, resulting in a study cohort of 73 106 patients admitted for their first severe exacerbation of COPD requiring hospitalisation (figure 1). At cohort entry, the subjects had a mean age of 75 years (IQR 70–81) and 54% were men, with the majority having received bronchodilators, corticosteroids or theophylline in the year prior to the first COPD hospitalisation (table 1), and 6.3% having used smoking cessation medications. During the mean follow-up of 3.6 years (range 1 day to 17 years), 33 166 patients had at least one subsequent severe exacerbation requiring hospitalisation and 50 580 died (baseline characteristics in table 1). The mean rate of severe exacerbation requiring hospitalisation was 37.8 per 100 per year, while the mortality rate was 19.2 per 100 per year. While the mean age at the initial cohort entry exacerbation was 75 years, it remained practically the same at 75 years at the time of each subsequent severe exacerbation, an effect of age-related mortality. Figure 2 shows the cumulative mortality over the 17-year follow-up period, with a median survival of 3.6 years, 75% mortality at 7.7 years and 96% mortality by 17 years. Figure 3A displays the hazard function of the time to the next severe exacerbation for the first 10 severe exacerbations after the first COPD hospitalisation. This graph illustrates three aspects of the risk. First, the median time between successive severe exacerbations decreases with every new severe exacerbation, from around 5.4 years from the first to the second to <4 months from the 9th to the 10th. However, figure 3B finds a similar pattern, but a shorter time span between severe exacerbations and the earliest of the next severe exacerbation or death. Second, when the patient is discharged after each severe exacerbation, the risk of the next severe exacerbation peaks during the trimester following discharge, jumping by 30–40 severe exacerbations per 10 000 per day, decreasing significantly thereafter to a lower baseline rate. Third, the baseline rate of a severe exacerbation increases with every new severe exacerbation, increasing from a baseline rate of around 3 per 10 000 per day for the first severe exacerbation to 50 per 10 000 per day for the 9th severe exacerbation. Table 2 quantifies these increases, showing that the rate of a subsequent severe exacerbation is three times higher after the second than after the first and almost 25 times higher after the 10th than after the first. Table 2 also displays the rate of death occurring between successive severe exacerbations, showing that the rate of death after the second severe exacerbation is 1.9 times higher than after the first, while after the 10th it is five times higher than after the first, all after adjusting for age, sex, calendar time and comorbidity. Table 3 shows the impact of age, sex, calendar time and the comorbidity index on the rate of a subsequent exacerbation and of death. The rate of exacerbation decreases by 10% with each additional decade of age, while the rate of death increases by 66% with each decade. Men have higher rates of exacerbation and mortality than women, while patients having their first exacerbation after the year 2000 have lower rates of subsequent exacerbations and mortality than those prior to 2000. In particular, the median time from the first to the second severe exacerbation is higher at 7.2 years in patients who enter the cohort after the year 2000 compared with 4.2 years before 2000, while it is 7.1 years for women and 4.4 years for men, and 13.2 years for patients over the age of 75 at cohort entry versus 3.9 years for those younger than 75. Moreover, the median time from the first to the second severe exacerbation or death is 1.9 years in patients who enter the cohort after the year 2000 versus 1.5 years before 2000, 2.1 years for women and 1.4 years for men, and 1.5 years for patients over the age of 75 at cohort entry versus 1.8 years for those younger than 75. Patients with more comorbidity also have higher incidences of these outcomes. Figure 4 magnifies, after each of the first 10 severe exacerbations, the first year of the hazard function of the time to the next severe exacerbation shown in figure 2. It shows that the rate of the next severe exacerbation systematically increases after each new severe exacerbation, peaking in the month after discharge and remaining more elevated for around 3 months. It also shows that this peak rises higher with every new severe exacerbation. Table 4 provides the corresponding crude and adjusted hazard ratios for figure 4, showing that the increase in the risk of a subsequent severe exacerbation intensifies with every new severe exacerbation. To estimate these hazard ratios, two Cox proportional hazards models were used where at each new severe exacerbation time zero was reset at the time of discharge alive from hospital for the severe exacerbation outcome and at the time of admission for death. In essence, by resetting time zero, this model considers each new severe exacerbation as a different subject in the analysis, considering the exacerbation sequence number as a covariate. Table 4 shows that for mortality, however, the peak does not rise much more after the third severe exacerbation. Consequently, the hazard function of mortality after a severe exacerbation was estimated from the pooled set of severe exacerbations, irrespective of the order. It shows that the daily rate of mortality after any severe exacerbation increases to a peak of 40 deaths per 10 000 per day during the first week after admission for a COPD hospitalisation, dropping gradually to 5 deaths per 10 000 per day by 3 months (figure 5). Using a large population-based inception cohort of COPD patients with long-term follow-up, we showed that the occurrence of every new severe exacerbation requiring hospitalisation worsens the course of the disease and increases the risk of a subsequent exacerbation, with patients 25 times more likely to be readmitted after their 10th COPD hospitalisation than after their first COPD hospitalisation. Also, every new severe exacerbation increases the risk of death, up to five times after their 10th compared with after their first COPD hospitalisation. This mortality peaks in the first week after admission for a COPD hospitalisation, and stabilises after 3 months, dropping eightfold. These long-term data suggest that, after the first hospitalised exacerbation, the course of COPD is generally composed of two phases. The first is a prolonged period of stable risk until the second hospitalised exacerbation, either a 5-year interval between the first two hospitalised exacerbations, given that the patient remains alive, or more relevant to the patient, a less than 2-year span until the next COPD hospitalisation or death. The second phase, delineated by the second hospitalised exacerbation in the patient's life, seems to significantly modify the trajectory of the disease course. From this point on, severe exacerbations increase in intensity, with eight severe exacerbations expected in a 6-year period, including 3–4 severe exacerbations in the last year alone. We found that patients who entered the cohort after the year 2000 had a longer time to the second severe exacerbation compared with those who entered before 2000. This suggests a possible role of improvements in the management of COPD over the last two decades. Also, women are increasingly represented among patients with COPD over the time period of the study and the prognosis for women with COPD appears to be better than that of men, at least in the present study population.21 The finding that older age is associated with a longer interval between exacerbations is due to the higher mortality with age, as shown by the shorter course in older patients when defined by the combined outcome of severe exacerbation or death. Our study also confirmed that the 2-month to 3-month period following the end of a severe exacerbation is a very high-risk period for a recurrence, and this was the case after each exacerbation.9 ,22 Moreover, severe exacerbations appear to recur progressively sooner after each subsequent severe exacerbation and that the mortality rate increases with every new exacerbation. Frequent exacerbations have previously been associated with higher mortality,5 and this may be independent of COPD severity as assessed by the BODE index.23 ,24 Moreover, our overall rates of severe exacerbations and mortality are similar to average rates reported from prevalent cohorts of patients with COPD.25 ,26 We found that mortality peaks drastically during the 3-month period following the onset of a severe exacerbation, and of the same magnitude after each severe exacerbation, including the very first one. A strength of our study is that we studied an inception cohort of patients from their first severe COPD exacerbation. Previous epidemiological studies of this natural history were based on cohorts of patients with prevalent COPD, in which the first exacerbation under study is rarely the first ever. Thus, patients are compared at different time points in their disease course which can introduce bias in several ways. First, the frequency of exacerbations at cohort entry could reflect disease duration rather than disease severity. Indeed, patients with no exacerbations in a year could be early in their disease course while patients with multiple exacerbations could have had the disease for a long time, making it likely that part of the apparent differences in phenotypes of patients with and without frequent exacerbations is due to comparing patients at different points in the natural history of their disease.10 Second, prevalent cohorts exclude patients who die of their first or second exacerbation and do not make it into the cohort, introducing the possibility of selection bias which can exaggerate the association between the number of exacerbations and mortality. A limitation of our study is the lack of information on the severity of symptoms, airflow limitation and exercise intolerance. Also the diagnosis of COPD cannot be verified directly either through the medical chart or records of lung function. The identification of patients with COPD was based on the primary discharge diagnosis listed for a hospitalisation, previously shown to be valid in the database used in the current study.27 To further distinguish COPD from asthma, we excluded subjects with an asthma hospitalisation prior to the first COPD hospitalisation and included only subjects whose first COPD hospitalisation occurred after the age of 55 years. The clinical implications of these findings are important. First, mortality in the first 7 days of a hospitalisation for COPD is very high and therefore this at-risk period deserves special attention. A recent audit of COPD hospitalisations in the UK found the use of non-invasive ventilation to be suboptimal.28 Of the therapies given in this critical period, systemic corticosteroids have not shown a benefit on mortality, while to date, studies of antibiotics show promise.29–31 For those who survive, the risk of exacerbation continued to be very high for the first 3 months before settling to a baseline rate. This 3-month period might be amenable to a reduction in risk that may be provided by transitional care programmes.32 Second, there appears to be a window of opportunity after the first hospitalisation for a COPD exacerbation that provides a significant period in which one might intervene to prevent a subsequent severe exacerbation. While several drugs have been shown to reduce the frequency or delay the onset of exacerbations,33–35 our study suggests a special focus on targeting those severe exacerbations leading to hospitalisation. This has been achieved with structured self-management plans.36 Finally, our results suggest that patients in whom severe exacerbations occur frequently and cluster together may be at a stage in their disease where end-of-life care may need to be envisaged. In all, this natural history study has identified two strategic targets for the management of patients with COPD, namely delaying the second severe exacerbation and improving the treatment of all severe exacerbations to reduce the associated excessive early mortality. Our results support the call for increased attention to the treatment and prevention of ‘lung attacks’ in patients with COPD.37 The authors thank the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec for allowing access to the data and agents from the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) for sending the database. All authors had full access to the data and SS takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Funding This research was funded by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and support from Boehringer-Ingelheim. Competing interests None. Ethics approval Ethics approval was provided by Ethics Board of the Jewish General Hospital. Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed. If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

Since 2006, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation has run a branding campaign titled “Pure Michigan.” A few years into the campaign, Kerfoot took his camera to nearby Lake St. Clair to shoot a Pure Michigan spoof about the lake’s scourge of fish flies, which appear every year in swarms so great that, as the voiceover goes, “visitors are left wondering, ‘Why the hell do I live in Michigan?'” (Insert blanket headphones-at-work warning for the videos here.) The video logged nearly 500,000 views. Kerfoot made a few more Pure Michigan spoofs and became a regional sensation. Last year he said he’d retire. He hasn’t. And he probably won’t. Abe Sauer: Your videos have a combined 9.6 million views. That’s almost equal to the entire population of Michigan. How often do you run into people who know you? John Kerfoot: Ninety-nine percent of people who know my videos don’t know me by face, since I’m on the other end of the camera and my voiceover is… well, not exactly how I talk. That voiceover is trying to be all soft and whispery into the microphone, like I’m about to make love to it. I usually don’t talk that way to people in public. If I did, I’d probably be in jail. Most people don’t know—but my friends will let them. My best friend is a lawyer and he thinks he’s Jerry Maguire and is my agent or something, and as soon as I meet somebody his first words are “Hey, do you know those Pure Michigan spoofs…?” It’s somewhere between funny and annoying. Help your friend help you! Have the videos led to any further work or development deals? For the most part, no. I have had a couple small gigs pop up because of the popularity of the Pure Michigan videos, but for the most part they were just small video projects. What I typically get is messages from groups or small businesses that say “Hey, we love your videos and we think it would be great if you did a video on our business. There is no pay, but it would be a good opportunity for you…” First off, I want to say to them, “Look, I can’t go from making a video about the Detroit Lions or the whole state of Ohio to making a video about your power-washing business that has 30 clients.” That would basically kill the whole thing, like I sold out… and selling out for no money? Maybe my saying “I’m broke” has led people to think I don’t care about money. Well, I do. I like to get paid for my work, and if I’m not, then I’m just going to go make something because I was inspired to, because I think it’s funny. And usually doing something self-serving for somebody’s business… usually not funny. There are now 20 videos in the “Not So Pure Michigan” collection. Young Michigan natives, especially the diaspora, have almost certainly seen one or passed one around a Facebook page. Those non-natives who may have some experience with the spoofs probably have done so through the installment “Pure Michigan: U of M Football.” Shortly after you did the first Pure Michigan spoof, you said nobody should bother suing you because you were “too broke.” With over 9 million views, have you managed to make any money off ad revenue? I’m still broke. I’ve made a little off of the ad-revenue over the past year and a half, but not enough to live on. Not enough to buy a new car either. But good side money, if that gives you an idea. Truth be told, the amount of work I’ve put it on the videos in total was really not that much. They don’t take me that long to do. So for the time spent, the payoff has been nice. But obviously getting money was never the intention. In fact, my most recent video I was denied ad revenue sharing because I showed little kids drinking beers and a little kid giving the middle finger. That is frustrating because the video is getting a good amount of views and I will see no cash from it. Ah well, it’s still more of a high just getting good feedback. But money is nice too. Someday… What’s the process for making the videos? Do you script it? Storyboards? The fun of doing the Pure Michigan spoofs was that I never really knew what I was going to get—except with my latest video. With the latest video on Wisconsin & Ohio, the idea came to mock the whole Mitten controversy and I knew I had to act quick and I didn’t have the time to drive to Wisconsin and so I just used pictures and old footage I had. So in that regard it was rushed and lazy, but had I taken another day or two it would have been fairly dead. That’s a lesson for filmmakers or young emerging assholes: always be first. It’s not about making the best video sometimes; it’s about being the first one. But anyway, with the rest of the videos I’ve gone out and shot renegade style. Half the time I would go to a location having some ideas of what I wanted, whether it’s a Wal-Mart Wolverine-looking dude, or two gay men in Saugatuck holding hands, or fishflies. But even then the fun was seeing things you’d never expect that would give me ideas as I’m shooting. So the quick answer is there was no storyboarding, and the scripting actually comes after I shoot the video. I look at what I have and then write it from the visuals. The real Pure Michigan videos have big crews and cranes and are done commercial style. In that way, mine is documentary, to keep it real… and because I’m lazy. One reason Not So Pure Michigan is not well known outside Michigan is its focus on detailed places outsiders have no experience with. The Wolverines football video was accessible only because, after Ohio State, Michigan football is the most despised program in the Big 10. But who outside the state even knows where Royal Oak is, let alone enough about it to enjoy a lampoon of it? After your video on the city of Royal Oak, its city commissioner poo-pooed the effort, calling it something “eighth-graders might think was hysterical.” You seemed to take this as not so much a compliment but as a statement of fact. I am so glad you asked about this because the newspaper didn’t quote me correctly on what I said and I didn’t understand until later as to why. So I made the video on Royal Oak, basically calling everybody in the city a “douchebag.” The reporter called me, and I could tell she was not a fan of the videos at all but was doing a story (sided with Royal Oak City Commissioner). I was picking up her vibe and was kind of tired from working all night, when she said, “The Royal Oak City Commissioner has said that your videos are just amateurish and not funny. What do you have to say about that?” My reply was, “Well, he’s probably a douchebag, too. Please print that.” They didn’t. I forget what they ended up printing, probably some afterthought I had to try and not sound like as big of an asshole, but my first reaction was really what I thought and meant. Found out later that the word “douchebag” couldn’t be printed. So, yeah, I guess my videos aren’t the only thing at the maturity level on an 8th grader. Did I mention I love Beavis & Butthead? Do you have groupies? No, I do not have groupies. Although there was a time, probably a few months after the videos started getting hot, and I was at a popular bar in the Detroit area and a girl recognized me from a video that I was in, where I was playing a disabled lawyer. I never thought that would score me lady attention. Anyway, a few of her friends came over, and I noticed a few feet behind me was Detroit Lions player Ndamukong Suh. He was just standing there with a pack of great looking girls surrounding him, basically standing in line to talk to him. And I’m across from him. So, basically, there was a pack of hot girls around him, and a pack of nice girls (and a couple dudes) around me. That’s about as cool as it ever got. But, no, I don’t really have any groupies. If I did, I’d probably think there was something extremely wrong with them for being such. Where was that? BlackFinn in Royal Oak. Why nothing yet on the Upper Peninsula? Too easy a target? Or would even acknowledging the You-Pee’s existence be a compliment? Nah, it’s really not that deep. I think the honest answer is laziness. I have to drive six hours to get there. But maybe the bigger reality is that I don’t know the U.P. as well and so I’d be fishing for material, trying to find things, and worried I wouldn’t really nail it. Some people have sent emails with ideas and some are good. I’ll likely go hit on it eventually. However, the other issue is that the best time to shoot is during the summer when it’s warm and people are outside, and the best places to shoot are popular spots, even events (parades, outdoor festivals, etc.), where it’s good people-watching and the weirdos come in full force, and I can be more hidden in the crowd with a camera. So with the U.P., do they even have any places that have more than seven people congregating together? When it comes to the U.P. and “knowing it,” do you think this “love to hate it” approach is acceptable as long as the one “hating” is a local? That’s common comedian stuff. Like only black comedians can joke about black people, or Jews with Jewish folk. I don’t know if the person necessarily needs to be from Michigan to rip on it, but they just better know what they’re talking about and really know the realities that are going on. The popularity of the videos is a testament that most people have a good sense of humor about where they come from and can take a joke. I have had a few people comment on YouTube something angry about a video like “If you hate it here so much they why don’t you just leave?!” and I think to myself, wow, these people just don’t get it. But most people do, because these videos are a roast, and when people suggest video ideas to me they usually are asking me to rip on their hometown. They want me to make fun of the place that they are from, not because they hate it but because they love it and love to tease it playfully and celebrate it with laughter. And that’s really all I’m trying to do. I’ve lived in Michigan my whole life and, for the most part, when I do a video I know what I’m ripping on, which just makes it easier and usually speaks from a place of truth. That is why I’ve avoided the U.P. It truly is almost like another state from the Lower Penninsula and I’m a little fearful of treading in like an outsider and roasting everything. A favorite target of Kerfoot’s, and the universe’s, is Michigan’s pro sports teams. You teach at Wayne State University. Are your students aware of your Pure Michigan work? Some of them are. A handful might be impressed or think it’s cool. Many of them don’t give a shit because students, in general, are angry young self-absorbed assholes, and I say this knowing I was just like them at their age. When it comes to film students, I think many of them don’t really care for it because they’re very competitive. They look to criticize first, rather than enjoy. But it’s just the opposite of how most people watch a video or movie. Usually they go watch it for the enjoyment, then get critical later. The film students (supposedly) love movies, they love filmmakers, and they love good filmmaking… but they only love it when it’s 3,000 miles away. They love works made by people nobody knows yet, or that even they don’t know. They won’t like films made by people they know. I know a guy who blew my stuff off (to my face) with a “puff, that’s just Youtube bullshit, dude.” Meanwhile, he hadn’t made anything for me to even criticize, so I just don’t really pay much attention to what film students think. If Steven Spielberg was in their class and made Jurassic Park or Jaws during the semester, students would be like, “Eh, that’s that geek Spielberg with his glossy action bullshit… it has no real edge, man.” You also shoot wedding parties. That must be awkward… sometimes. No, actually it’s not. I like shooting weddings (editing is a different story). But I started doing weddings for side money while I was working on my masters. And when I finished school, word of mouth had spread so it could be my business. I like working from home, having odd hours. When I go to shoot a wedding everybody is dolled up and in a good mood. I think, lately, because of my videos and their popularity with my clients, I’m rather embraced by the wedding party. So yeah, it’s kind of funny how unimpressed my film students are with my filmmaking, but wedding parties, who pay me to be there to work, love the videos and want to party with me. Go figure. Kerfoot’s has attempted to branch out with his humor. His re-cut of LeBron James’ “decision” has over a million views, though it will not win critical acclaim anytime soon. Last year, Kerfoot submitted a Michigan-focused spot to Doritos’ crowd-sourced Super Bowl ad contest. He says“Digested in Detroit” was “rejected within two hours” by Frito-Lay. The most recent Pure Michigan spoof was a departure, taking Michigan’s side against Wisconsin in “Mittengate” and correctly pointing out that, like everything else bad, it’s all the fault of that craphole, Ohio. Does this herald a new era where Not So Pure Michigan will look outside the state? Haha, I don’t know. It has to be tied to Michigan in some way, or else it’s not really a Pure Michigan spoof, right? Don’t want to force it and kill the comedy. Certain topics and subjects work with the Pure Michigan spoof style, but some don’t. I have spoofed local lawyers, but not in a Pure Michigan style video. Their commercials are ridiculous enough for me to parody. But I must say, it spoils you when you find something that clicks like the Pure Michigan spoofs because, quite frankly, the whole format (the music, pretty shots and my voiceover) is pretty easy to me by now, I’ve got it down, and I know that so long as the video is just decent, it’s going to get views because it has a ready-audience. I’ll sometimes try something new, a video parodying something with a departure in style altogether, and it’s just not very popular…and it makes me realize how much I really struck a chord with the Pure Michigan thing. Though for me it can get a little old doing the same style, so I try not to do too many Pure Michigan videos…I average 1/month. But I love trying new things and last summer, I was at a bar with friends watching LeBron James and the Miami Heat lose to Dallas in the NBA Finals. Somebody said, “Go make a video about it” and so I went home and that night I did a spoof of the LeBron James’ decision where he decided he will “now take his talents to the WNBA.’ The video got a million views in one week and for one day it was the #1 video on YouTube. That was probably my highlight, because it was outside the Pure Michigan realm, I wasn’t using that crutch, and it hit. Oh, and because I did it drunk. The Pure Michigan ads keeps chugging along. Will you keep doing these as long as the campaign continues? I planned on being done with these a long time ago. Honestly, I feel like the last one, branching outside of Michigan and ripping on other states and actually defending Michigan, might have been my way of capping it. But then a month or two will go by and some idea will hit me and I’ll just grab my camera and go shoot. It’s really not that planned out. In fact, the best videos I’ve done were more “grab the camera and go shoot” in a hurry, not really knowing what I’d get (Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions Redux, Royal Oak, etc). The videos where I had more ideas and thought, “Oooh, this will be big, can’t wait to do this…” usually were disappointments (Renaissance festival, Detroit Electronic Musical Festival, maybe even the first Detroit Lions video). But truthfully, I don’t see myself doing that many more. I’m not one who likes to be annoying, or I’m at least not unaware of when I’m being annoying. I’m pretty self aware, and I just don’t want to be the asshole who doesn’t leave the party when it’s dead.

About Curaçao Edit Wikipedia Article About Curaçao on Wikipedia Curaçao is a liqueur flavoured with the dried peels of Larahas, bitter relatives of oranges, grown on the island of Curaçao. The drink was first developed and marketed by the Senior family (a Jewish family from Curaçao) in the 19th century. As of 2002, most Curaçao liqueur is produced synthetically elsewhere. The liqueur has an orange flavour with varying degrees of bitterness. It is produced clear, and can have blue, green, orange or red colouring added. The most common blue Curaçao is primarily used as an exotic colouring agent in cocktails and other mixed drinks.

Rudi's 93rd Birthday+++151st Birthday Mahatma Gandhi for Humanity nonviolence GHA is happy congratulate you as in the GHA and world first, in 2007, "World Harmony Gandhian Creator" (https://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=51 and https://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=513) with your 93rd Birthday on the 151st Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi (https://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=848) as our spiritual inspirer and eternal beacon for humanity nonviolence. All your life you have been promoting in your numerous scientific works the fundamental Gandhian idea of nonviolence/harmony/peace/love of the world religions through their Golden Rule. Therefore, evaluating you as a true and hard follower of Gandhi is the highest recognition of your humanitarian scientific merits. You are the first scientist in the world and USA, who used the Gandhian idea of equal and harmonious spherons to determine the societal source and genetic code of world religions harmony within the framework of the Third Way, which excludes the eternal violence of the traditional ways of capitalism and communism: https://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=782 and https://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=945 . To be a Gandhian in these systems means to be their strong, invincible spiritual dissident. Both of us, like the GHA in a whole, are the Gandhian spiritual dissidents of these dying violent systems that is the subject of our constant pride and uniqueness during more than 15 years in the GHA. It is the first in the world to pave system and fundamentally scientific during 15 years the humanity way to nonviolence in its new historical Era in the 21st century. The GHA and all our numerous friends from dozens of countries and international peace organizations wish you a happy birthday, long life and new Gandhian achievements. Heartily, with love, Best wishes of strong health for your and peace from Gandhian spherons harmony, Open letter to President Trump Global Harmony Association (GHA) Citizens of the Earth! Unite in harmony for love, peace, freedom, justice, fraternity and happiness! GHA since February 15, 2005 is an international NGO uniting more than 600 members in 65 countries and more than one million participants from the GHA collective members in 80 countries. Board: 36 GHA members from 14 countries GHA headquarters: Office A 170, New Manglapuri, New Delhi 110045, India; Ph. 1244266169. Email: email@example.com GHA Mission is: To bring global peace from harmony and to pave a conscious way for harmonious civilization on scientifically based ‘ABC of Harmony’ and through ‘Global Peace Science’ February 1, 2017 Professor Rudolf J. Siebert, Department of Comparative Religion, Western Michigan University, Michigan, USA To: Mr. Donald Trump, President of the United States, Subject: Your Global Peace Paradigm for the US geopolitics, its Christian meaning, and convergence with President Putin’s Global Peace Paradigm of Russia. Dear President Trump: I enjoyed very much that you became a peacemaker, when you in your campaign speech on foreign policy of April 27, 2016, promised to end President Obama’s aggressive geopolitics, and to make our goal - peace and prosperity, not war and destruction, and to make America great again through global peace, and not through war. Here you have formulated the Global Peace Paradigm for the United States, in which I see a deep religious, and even Christian meaning. You have formulated this Paradigm at a time, when the Dooms Clock in New York has once more moved several degrees toward Midnight. I am a scholar, who has devoted his life to the comparative study of religions, particularly their ability to promote harmony and peace, as formulated and expressed especially in the Sermon on the Mount, including the Golden Rule. The latter is recognized by almost all living world religions. It has been translated into the widely accepted secular ethics of the categorical imperative and of the a priori unlimited communication community. Your Global Peace Paradigm is built on this Golden Rule. Thus, it carries in itself the religious and Christian meaning of love and nonviolence, inspiring all faithful and reasonable people. You and President Putin have both confessed publicly, that you are not only modern enlightened people, but also believers, and even Christians, if also in different Christian paradigms. I have founded a Center for Humanistic Future Studies at Western Michigan University, with a strong peace component, out of which developed an international course on The Future of Religion at the IUC in Dubrovnik, Croatia, which has lasted now for over 40 years, and an international sister course about Religion in Civil Society in Yalta, Crimea, which is supported by American as well as by the Crimean Universities, and which has now lasted for 14 years. Scholars from all over the world have met in both courses every year in order to work for peace. Unfortunately, we were unable to meet in the past year in Yalta, because of President Obama’s United States Executive Order 13685, and other sanctions, which are harmful not only for Russia, but also for America, and for the development of mutual scientific and cultural cooperation.We are looking very much foreward to your cancellation of these sanctions, which will allow us to resume again our international course in Yalta, in the service of peace.For more than 40 years, I have travelled between the American and the Slavic Worlds, in order to promote friendship and peaceful cooperation between them. Please, see my biography: http://www.rudolfjsiebert.org/. In our Center for Humanistic Future Studies, and its branches in Dubrovnik and Yalta, we have created a critical theory of religion in the past 50 years, which asserts that there can not be any peace among nations without peace among religions; no peace among religions without discourse among them; and no dialogue among the religions without foundation research in them (Hans Küng). Our dialectical religiology understands itself as practical discourse: as future-oriented remembrance of human suffering, particularly through war, with the practical intent, to diminish it through helping to reconcile the dissonance between the sacred and the profane dimension, and in the religious and secular spheres, and thus to resolve some of the consequent, most painful culture wars, at home and abroad. The critical theory of religion aims, with the help of the great world religions and world philosophies, particularly Kant, Hegel, Tolstoy, Gandhi, Einstein, King, Kalam, and many Nobel Peace Laureates, at the post-modern alternative of Future III - a free and peaceful society, characterized by the reconciliation of the religious and the secular, as well as of personal autonomy and universal solidarity, instead of Future I - a totally administered society, or Future II - and entirely militaristic society. Secular people know, that there is something missing in modern civil society. Religious people have to find new translators for their message of redemption, and liberation, and peace. Please, see our books, in which our critical theory of religion has been developed, on my website: http://www.rudolfjsiebert.org/. More than 11 years ago, I became a member of the international peacemaking organization Global Harmony Association (GHA: http://peacefromharmony.org). It brings together thousands of individual and collective members from over 60 countries, and has a prominent place in the global civil society. The GHA has published 8 books, and has created more than 50 projects of global peace for 12 years (http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=472). The GHA has created a Global Peace Science (GPS) with the help of 174 co-authors, including the President of India, Abdul Kalam, three Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, and dozens of distinguished scientists and peacemakers from 34 countries, including 59 of them, coming from the US (http://peacefromharmony.org/docs/global-peace-science-2016.pdf). A book about this Global Peace Science is attached. As GHA nominated Ambassador of Peace and Disarmament, on the basis of the Sermon on the Mount, including the Golden Rule, I would like to submit the following proposals and invitations to you, in the name of all of us: 1. In your speech on April 27, 2016, you promised to seek a new vision, new minds, voices, ideas and approaches to peace. Could you make practical use of these resources by inviting GHA to cooperate? 2. For the purpose of convergence of the peace positions of the Presidents of the two nuclear superpowers, GHA invites you and President Putin to take part in the republication of the book on the Global Peace Science, including articles on your own vision of a global peace paradigm and its geopolitics, in the historical perspective of the 21st century, which you can today offer to your nations, and the entire world. This will immortalize your names as the founders of peace science together with the names of Kant, Hegel, Tolstoy, Gandhi, King, Kalam, and several Nobel Peace Laureates, and will open the common ground for peace negotiations between the American and the Slavic Worlds. Here the Global Peace Paradigm contained in our critical theory of religion can be particularly helpful. 3. A logical extension of the Global Peace Science would be a joint establishment of a small, but nevertheless effective International Institute/Academy of Global Peace in the United States and in Russia, in order to find collective answers to increasing challenges, and for the sake of peace of all humanity. only you and President Putin together can constitute this science through its support, use and participation in its development. only you and President Putin are able to give practical lifeto the Global Peace Science in the world politics and culture. Hardly anything else can strengthen and lift up your and President Putin’s world prestige, as well as the good reputation of yourcountries respectively. This Global Peace Institute would be an intellectual as well as spiritual bridge between the two countries, which will show to all the world that you can build not only walls, but also bridges. Pope Francis I has defined being Christian as being able to build bridges: to break through the many ingroup - outgroup barriers. 4. You, together with President Putin, could offer the Global Peace Science, developed with your participation, to the educational systems of the American and the Slavic worlds, in order to increase the level of peaceful consciousness in their populations. Your presidential narratives in the Global Peace Science would be able, to pull the consciousness of the world media away from militarism, fakes and military terminology in all areas (Putin), and from defining politics as the identification of the enemy (Carl Schmitt, Hitler’s jurist and political theologian), and toward defining it as the art to make friends, and toward a way of peaceful thinking, in order to provide a common goal - peace and prosperity, not war and destruction (Trump). 5. A joint development of the Global Peace Science could be the best convergence of President Putin’s and President Trump's global peace paradigms, and their common sense (Trump) in nuclear disarmament up to nuclear zero as soon as possible. It will allow both of you together to make this century the most peaceful and prosperous the world has ever known (Trump), and spread the peace ideal of humanity (Putin). 6. The joint Global Peace Science could become a common philosophical and scientific foundation for the creation of Peace Departments in the Governments (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Department of State) of the two world powers, about which the best minds of Russia and America have dreamed and thought. Global Peace Science, global peace education, and governmental Peace Departments as the soft-power resources (Putin) could fulfill the hope of Mahatma Gandhi and of Martin Luther King Jr.: We must shift the arms race into a peace race. You and President Putin are pragmatists in the best sense of the word, and both of you are the peacemakers, who can make use of the proposed soft-power resources, in your quest to find a new vision, new minds, ideas and approaches (Trump) for your common peace geopolitics. Certainly, the GHA, and the majority of peace organizations in the USA, and in the world, are happy to support your historically important paradigm of global peace, which you have presented on April 27, 2016 in your election campaign speech. It was presented in comparison with President Putin’s peace paradigm in our published article Putin-Trump: Two Paradigms of Global Peace: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=735 (in attachment). Our deep concern is to ensure, that your peace program is not only a pre-election promise, that is easily forgotten, but that it will find its development and validation in a radical change of the US relations with Russia, which recently have reached a very dangerous point in the nuclear standoff. We would like to believe and to hope, that your peaceful program will be implemented as promised: We shall seek common ground, based on shared interests. Theory must turn over into praxis, without neglecting theory! We are convinced that the Global Peace Science and its philosophy will be the best scientific and spiritual basis for shared interests and fora whole complex of peacemaking cooperation between the American World and the Slavic World, Eurasia, concerning, e.g. terrorism, or environmental issues, or epidemics, etc., but mainly and particularly nuclear disarmament/zero, and a common Summit, to address this global and most dangerous challenge for all nations, and not just for the USA and Russia. Please, see our project: Russia and the USA Peaceful Cooperation Instead of the Insanity of Nuclear War: "RUSAP" by 42 peacemakers, including three Nobel Peace Laureates from 21 countries: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=710 (in attachment). Our proposals include not only the creation of a Peace Department in the USA and in the Russian Federation, but also the development of an Earth Constitution, as a renewed international law, ensuring global peace. Both projects are formulated in a Pragmatics page at the end of our article Trump: Peacemaking Revolution of the USA against Aggressive Geopolitics by 20 coauthors from 11 countries: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=685 (in attachment). We very much hope for your attention to the peace proposals contained in the Global Peace Science, which were carried on for decades in theory, but were ignored in praxis by the past Administrations, neglecting peace problems. These proposals are extremely important for the development, and successful realization of your global peace paradigm. With your Administration, the time has come to move from peace talk to peace action. Thank you for your consideration. I am, with my best wishes, for you and your administration Rudolf J. Siebert Professor of Religion and Society Department of Comparative Religion Western Michigan University, Dear friend Rudolf, The GHA members and all our friends - the true peacemakers - admire with your great, wise letter of Golden Rule peacefulness to President Trump! (In attachment). This is your highest peacemaking achievement as "WORLD HARMONY CREATOR" GHA! This is historic letter, because it sounds by strong reasonable voice of reconciliation among the huge militaristic pay-chorus of NATO’s yells and the like. This is historic letter, because it supports and promotes the global peace paradigm of President Trump with his great, unprecedented for the militarist America goal: "Our goal is peace and prosperity, not war and destruction!" America has never in its history did not set such a goal! This is historic letter because it was sent on February 1, when the President approved the new Secretary of State to fulfill this great American purpose and put an end to the aggressive geopolitics of the previous administration. This is historic letter, because it shows an effective way out of the total and dangerous militarization of world politics, as Mikhail Gorbachev wrote recently. But he cannot name this way, and you together with the GHA called it: it is a joint development of Global Peace Science in its joint Institution in Russia and the United States with the accession of other countries in the future. This Institute will be the spiritual and scientific antithesis to militaristic NATO bloc, which "is obsolete" (Trump), and which no one is opposed to its nuclear aggression on Russia's borders. This is historic letter, because it shows the new ways of Christian Golden Rule, the peaceful potential of which from harmony is effective and immortal until now. You are not only the great religious philosopher and scientific theorist, but a great political practitioner who is not afraid to raise the Christian peace voice in an angry and bribed crowd of militarists and hawks on entire world! You have shown to the world leaders the religious and scientific way, which alone can lead to nuclear disarmament and to zero. NATO and similar warlords will never show it. God bless you on your wisdom and courage to the quickest nuclear disarmament/zero. We highly appreciate you and kneeled before you. Your ideas coincide with the ideas of the Dalai Lama, who wrote that "Trump and Putin union can create WORLD PEACE” http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/757635/Donald-Trump-Putin-WORLD-PEACE-Dalai-Lama-World-relations-US-Russia I was happy to send your letter to Russian President Putin in the Kremlin, because it is directed not only to the American President, but to him also. I was happy to publish your letter in the networks and in our article: "Putin - Trump: Two Global Peace Paradigms”: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=735 And on your personal page: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=51 I call to all true peacemakers to publish this letter on your sites and in your networks. Today it is the most effective, the Christian and scientific instrument of global peace. The true peacemakers, whom want peace not in words but in deeds, in politics, cannot pass indifferently past its. And if they are indifferent, they are the fake peacemakers from zombie faked mainstream media of militarism, preparing the world for the nuclear disaster. only spirituality of Rudolf and similar true and brave peacemakers, together with adequate world leaders, are able to resist militarism and prevent a nuclear catastrophe. With love for peace from harmony of Golden Rule through science, Dr. Leo Semashko, GHA Honorary President ----- Original Message ----- From: firstname.lastname@example.org, email@example.com Sent: 2 ôåâðàëÿ 2017 ã., 0:14:59 Subject: Letter to President Trump+++Attachments+++Your Final version Attached you find my final letter to President Trump. I have sent it today, February 1, 2017, together with the book, and the other attachments. House of Mir Professor Rudolf J. Siebert, Department of Comparative Religion, Western Michigan University, Michigan, USA Dear Family! Dear Friends! September 30th, 2017 90th Birthday, 1927-2017 I would like to thank you all for your wonderful birthday wishes, your letters, and cards, and presents, from all over the globe. Some of you knew my life and accomplishments better than I do. We welcomed a small group of family and friends at the former Black Swan, at the Swan Lake, in order to initiate the birthday celebration, which will come to its climax in the new House of Peace on Christmas 2017. We started out with our remembrance of our beloved Steve. We had a picture of Steve and his Mother on our table, both walking from our vacation home to Lake Michigan, having the summer house of President Ford in their back. The sand was hot. Steve had a hard time. But his Mother pulled him lovingly down to the water's edge. We hope, that she will lead him now into Eternity. I took the picture in 1970, when Steve was seven years old. We were together for over half a century. We had an almost continual discourse. When Steve left home for Law School, and then for his work for the Federal Government and in the private sector, he developed the habit of calling me faithfully every Sunday, around 7.00 pm. We had many good weekly talks about his life and work, and God and the world, until they ended shortly before his death with: I love you Dad! During our birthday celebration I remembered my long life with gratitude. I summarized our greatest accomplishment: the critical theory of religion and society. I have expressed this critical theory of religion and society in 30 books, and in over 500 articles. Our critical theory of religion and society is rooted in my life experiences in the Weimar\Republic; in Hitler’s Third Reich; in the Catholic Youth Movement; in the Hitler Youth; in the humanistic Lessing Gymnasium; in the German Airforce; in. the German Army; in the Prisoner of War Camp Allen as Antifa; in the German Federal Republic; in the Christian Democratic Union; in the Universities of Frankfurt, Mainz, and Münster; in the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C, where Margie and I met in October 1953; in the German School System from 1954 to 1962; in Baltimore from 1962-1965; in Kalamazoo from 1965 - now; in the American World, USA and Canada; in the Slavic World, in Yugoslavia and Crimea; in the European World, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Spain; in the German Democratic Republic; in Israel; in Japan; etc.. Out of my memories came my gratitude to my family and friends throughout the 90 years. In gratitude I offered a toast to Karen for 33 years of friendship and cooperation; to Bill and Karen, for rebuilding the House of Peace in 2000 and in 2017; to my doctoral sons Mike, Walter, and Dustin, for their promotion of the critical theory of religion and society, most recently Dustin’s excellent defense of his thesis on the Frankfurt School's critical theory, which predicted Trump 70 years ago, at Michigan State University, in the Philosophy Department; to Agnes, for having kept me alive with the best medicine for several decades, without which there would have been no critical theory of religion and society. I thank Agnes and the Family, and Karen and Ken for wonderful, and most necessary clothing, and additions to the House of Peace, as it reaches its completion. I thank especially Dustin for books on Martin Luther and Pope Benedict XVI, which we shall use in our public lectures on Luther in October and November 2017. Finally we moved into the future, the ninth decade, where we have never been before, and where hopefully once more new things will happen. Shortly before his death, my good friend Walter Dirks, a believer, told me, that even if death was nothingness, as his atheistic assistants asserted, it would still be interesting, since we have never experienced it. We hoped, that in the future we could still develop a little bit further our critical theory of religion and society, through teaching and research, at home and abroad, in solidarity with family and friends, and that we could. promote further our so necessary peace work between the American World and the Slavic World, Eurasia. I am with all my love to all of you, from the House of Peace, which is becoming more and more beautiful from day to day. World Harmony Creator (2007) Thank you for c.c. me your beautiful thank you letter. May I on behalf of myself all your many friends in Peace People wish you a very Happy Birthday. What a wonderful life you have lead, and continue to lead in the cause of peace. A life, fully alive, happy and deeply curious about it all - is truly inspirational to us all. Nobel Peace Laureate My wishes on your Day. I pray to the one and only, the Almighty to bestow good health to you. Nice to hear your experiences. Dr Sanjay Tewari Dear Prof. Rudolf Siebert, Wishing you the happiest of birthdays filled with pleasant memories, peace, love and always a special day to remember. Thanks for sharing your life, love, wisdom, thoughts and some of the precious times you had with your beloved son with us. Indeed you had a wonderful life together and you can celebrate the life lived...the memory of a life well spent is eternal. You will gradually find comfort in all the happy memories. With thoughts of Peace and Courage for you, Dr. Ayo Ayoola-Amale, MCiarb Educator |Lawyer| ADR Practitioner| Poet |Peace Builder| Founder/President,Splendors of Dawn President GHA - Africa Vice President, GHA Vice President, Poets of the World Blog: Grow Into Peace On behalf of the GHA, I am happy to congratulate you on the 90th anniversary of your great creative and peacemaking life! Its most important page is connected since 2005 with the Global Harmony Association, which recognized you by the first in its highest honorary title of "World Harmony Creator " 10 years ago: "GHA recognizes for Professor Siebert, for his unique contribution into the comprehension of the Golden Rule of the World religions as ethical source for peace from harmony, the highest Honorary Title: "World Harmony Creator" in honor of the 80th anniversary. September 30, 2007" (http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=513). You have opened a gallery of these unique peacemakers from harmony, which now includes 14 similar "World Harmony Creator" according to the GHA version, including political leaders of 5 countries: Kazakhstan, Russia, India, Jordan and Great Britain. I remember our wonderful creative meetings in St. Petersburg (2007) and in Simferopol (2011) at your wonderful seminar and hope to meet with you again in the Crimea. You made a significant scientific theoretical contribution by your critical theory of religion and society, especially the Golden Rule of religions, to many projects of global peace from the harmony of the GHA and its key books: Harmonious Era Calendar (2006), Harmonious Civilization (2009), The ABC of Harmony (2012) and Global Peace Science (2016). You own a powerful peacemaking message to President of the United States Donald Trump with proposals for dialogue and cooperation between the American and Slavic worlds, which is published on your personal page with all the congratulations (http://www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=51). Your work has made an indelible spiritual contribution to the new harmonious global thinking and social consciousness of the 21st century. The GHA is happy to congratulate you on a unique anniversary and wish you good health. We are waiting for your new creative contributions to the scientific consciousness of peace from harmony. With love, friendly, Dr. Leo Semashko, GHA Honorary President Îò èìåíè ÃÑà ÿ ñ÷àñòëèâ ïîçäðàâèòü âàñ ñ 90 ëåòíèì þáèëååì âàøåé âåëèêîé òâîð÷åñêîé è ìèðîòâîð÷åñêîé æèçíè! Îñîáî âàæíàÿ åå ñòðàíèöà ñâÿçàíà ñ 2005 ãîäà ñ Ãëîáàëüíûì Ñîþçîì Ãàðìîíèè, êîòîðûé ïðèçíàë âàñ ïåðâûì â åãî Âûñøåì Ïî÷åòíîì Çâàíèè «Òâîðåö Ìèðîâîé Ãàðìîíèè» 10 ëåò íàçàä: «GHA recognizes for Professor Siebert, for his unique contribution into comprehension of the Golden Rule of world religions as ethical source for peace from harmony, the highest Honorary Title: "World Harmony Creator" in honour of the 80th anniversary. September 30, 2007» (http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=513). Âû îòêðûëè ãàëåðåþ ýòèõ óíèêàëüíûõ ìèðîòâîð÷åñêèì ïåðñîí èç ãàðìîíèè, êîòîðàÿ òåïåðü âêëþ÷àåò 14 ïîäîáíûõ «Òâîðöîâ Ìèðîâîé Ãàðìîíèè» ïî âåðñèè ÃÑÃ, âêëþ÷àÿ ïîëèòè÷åñêèõ ëèäåðîâ 5 ñòðàí: Êàçàõñòàíà, Ðîññèè, Èíäèè, Èîðäàíè è Âåëèêîáðèòàíèè. ß ïîìíþ íàøè çàìå÷àòåëüíûå òâîð÷åñêèå âñòðå÷è â Ïåòåðáóðãå (2007) è â Ñèìôåðîïîëå (2011) íà âàøåì ÷óäåñíîì ñåìèíàðå è íàäåþñü ñíîâà âñòðåòèòüñÿ ñ âàìè â Êðûìó. Âû âíåñëè ñóùåñòâåííûé íàó÷íûé òåîðåòè÷åñêèé âêëàä âàøåé êðèòè÷åñêîé òåîðèåé ðåëèãèè è îáùåñòâà, îñîáåííî Çîëîòîãî Ïðàâèëà ðåëèãèé, âî ìíîãèå ïðîåêòû ãëîáàëüíîãî ìèðà èç ãàðìîíèè ÃÑà è â êëþ÷åâûå êíèãè ÃÑÃ: Êàëåíäàðü Ãàðìîíè÷íîé Ýðû (2006), Ãàðìîíè÷íàÿ Öèâèëèçàöèÿ (2009), Àçáóêà Ãàðìîíèè (2012) è Íàóêà Ãëîáàëüíîãî Ìèðà (2016). Âàì ïðèíàäëåæèò ìîùíîå ìèðîòâîð÷åñêîå ïîñëàíèå Ïðåçèäåíòó ÑØÀ Äîíàëüäó Òðàìïó ñ ïðåäëîæåíèÿìè äèàëîãà è ñîòðóäíè÷åñòâà Àìåðèêàíñêîãî è Ñëàâÿíñêîãî ìèðîâ, êîòîðîå îïóáëèêîâàíî íà âàøåé ïåðñîíàëüíîé ñòðàíèöå âìåñòå ñî âñåìè ïîçäðàâëåíèÿìè (http://www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=51). Âàøè ðàáîòû ñîñòàâèëè íåèçãëàäèìûé äóõîâíûé âêëàä â íîâîå ãàðìîíè÷íîå ãëîáàëüíîå ìûøëåíèå è îáùåñòâåííîå ñîçíàíèå 21 âåêà. ÃÑà ñ÷àñòëèâ ïîçäðàâèòü âàñ ñ óíèêàëüíûì þáèëååì è ïîæåëàòü âàì êðåïêîãî çäîðîâüÿ. Ìû æäåì âàøèõ íîâûõ òâîð÷åñêèõ âêëàäîâ â íàó÷íîå ñîçíàíèå ìèðà èç ãàðìîíèè. Ñ ëþáîâüþ, äðóæåñêè, Ïî÷åòíûé Ïðåçèäåíò ÃÑà Dear Prof. Rudolf Siebert, Wishing you thehappiest celebrationof yourbirthday filled with Love, Peace, JoyandHealthy , Happy & Wealthy Best wishes always with divine blessings . Dr. Subhash Chandra, GHA President and the GHA Board Chairman GHA Ambassador of Peace and Disarmament from Harmony M +91 9910241586, E-mail:: firstname.lastname@example.org I am happy to join Leo and GHA colleagues in congratulating you on your 90th birthday. I wish you many more years in Peace and for Peace. Thanks to you, I was able to celebrate my 80th, first in Moscow then with you in Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik, the Pearl of Civilization at Peace By Vladislav Krasnov ... May 28, 2017 - Dr. Vladislav Krasnov took part in a peace-promoting forum, "The Future of Religion: Civilization or Barbarism?" in Dubrovnik, Croatia on April ... You may know Dr. Philip Jenkins of Baylor University, a specialist on Christianity and religions. He recently wrote a brilliant article clearing the way for better understanding of Russia on the 100th anniversary of October Revolution. I translated it to Russian. So let's plan a next step on the road of East-West, German-Slavic and American-Russian friendship! Hope, President Trump is attentive enough to your Open Letter we also posted. http://www.raga.org/news/open-letter-to-president-trump For Peace and Justice in the World of Harmony! W George Krasnow (http://wiki-org.ru/wiki/Êðàñíîâ,_Âëàäèñëàâ_Ãåîðãèåâè÷) The Global Harmony Association highest Honorary Title (first): World Harmony Creator GHA Ambassador of Peace and Disarmament from Golden Rule Harmony for the US in theTrump’s administration Ph.D., Professor of Religion and Society in the Department of Comparative Religion at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA in Russian: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=ru_c&key=51 List of the published articles in the Global Harmony Association’s books since 2006: - Harmonious Era Calendar. By 27 coauthors from 12 countries in 12 languages, 2006, St-Petersburg University, article: The Golden Rule, pages on English: 30-34: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=ru_c&key=190 - The ABC of Harmony. By 76 coauthors from 26 countries in two languages, 2012. New Delhi, Doosra Mat Prakashan, article: The Golden Rule of Religions: The First Law of Social Harmony, pages on English: 134-136: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=499 - Global Peace Science. By 174 coauthors from 34 countries in two languages, 2016. New Delhi, JD Group of Publication, article: The Slavic and the American World: The Possibility of Peaceful Cooperation. Chapter 10.62, p.396-401: In English: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=747 In Russian: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=ru_c&key=718 Rudolf Siebert’s Archive pages on the GHA website "Peace from Harmony" in English: 1.Personal page: Open letter to President Trump. Golden Rule of Harmony in religions and society: 2.The Slavic and the American World: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=611 3.Call for Papers: The Future of Religion: The Dialectic ofSecularization. Dubrovnik, 2018: 4.Tetrasociology of Spherons: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=746 5.Memorial Service and Memorial Meal for Steve: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=773 6. Rudolf Siebert. The Third Way: https://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=945 Professor Siebert’s Brief biography: Rudolf Siebert was born in Frankfurt a.M., Germany, on October 1. 1927. He participated in the resistance of the Catholic youth movement against the fascist regime in Germany. He studied history, philology, philosophy, psychology, sociology and theology at the University of Frankfurt, the University of Mainz, the University of Münster and the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. He has taught, lectured, and published widely in Western and Eastern Europe, United States, Canada, Near East and Asia. He is Professor of Religion and Society, and Director of the Center for Humanistic Future Studies at Western Michigan University, and Director of the international course on the “Future of Religion” in Dubrovnik. Croatia, and Director of the international course on “Religion in Civil Society” in Yalta, Crimea, Ukraine. Detailed biography: http://www.rudolfjsiebert.org/bio_story.htm Sermon on the Mount and Golden Rule: Global Peace Science Today By Rudolf J. Siebert In November 2016, the Obama Administration's United States Executive Order # 13685 prohibited us, to conduct in any form, including chairing, lecturing, skyping, signing of certificates, etc., our 13th International conference on Religion and Civil Society: Cooperation between the American and the Slavic World in Yalta, Republic of Crimea. The Executive Order # 13685 intended to be a sanction and penalty for the Referendum of the Crimean people to separate from the Ukraine with good reasons, and to have its own state, which was interpreted as annexation and occupation by the Russian Federation. Each service to the conference in Yalta was taken by the Obama Administration as a recognition of the new Republic of Crimea, and as such was forbidden. We obeyed the Executive Order # 13685, in spite of the fact, that it was based on wrong intelligence. The law is the law, as long as it is not rescinded. We are a nation of laws. The Executive Order # 13685 did not only violate the international right to free speech and to academic freedom, but also the Sermon on the Mount, the very foundation of Christianity, which is summarized in the Golden Rule, and which is present in all world religions, and has been translated into secular morality as well, into the categorical imperative, and into the a priori of the unlimited communication community, and as such can be the basis for a global ethos: particularly its 4th commandment, not to engage in the Jus or Lex Talionis, in retaliation and revenge, ineye for eye. (Exodus 20-21; Matthew 5-7; Luke 6). While many people consider the 4th commandment of the Sermonthe Mount at best merely to be a matter of private morality, President Putin and the Russian Federation have proven in the past year, in the spirit of the great Russian Orthodox tradition, that it has validity also in society, state, and history. When in 2016 a Russian plane was shot down by the Turkish military, Russia did not retaliate, but was tolerant. When on December 29, 2016, the Obama Administration expelled 35 Russian diplomats, and closed two Russian facilities in Washington D.C, because of a supposed interference by the Putin Government in the American Federal Election process, via electronic manipulation and hacking, in favor of the Trump candidacy for the American Presidency, Russia moved to the moral high ground, and did not reciprocate and retaliate by expelling an equal number of American diplomats. President Putin even invited the children of the American diplomats to the Kremlin for a Christmas and New Years celebration. In this spirit of the Sermon on the Mount, the Putin Government and the Russian Federation were able to broker an armistice in Syria after the fall of Aleppo in December 2016, to which also the United States were invited, but in which they did not participate. In this spirit of the Sermon on the Mount, the present equally exceptional frontrunners of the human species in world history, the Slavic and the American World, with their tremendous evolutionary potential, could have discourse and could cooperate with each other away from barbarism, and toward a more just and peaceful world society. Politics is more than to identify the enemy. Politics must not always be dirty. The collision of the religion-based civilizations is not a historical necessity. The pagan fascists and corporatists are simply wrong! The march of the crusaders to Novgorod, and the march of Napoleon and Hitler to Moscow, must never be repeated again! For centuries Russia protected Europe against Asian invasions. Otherwise there would have happened many more Attilas and Dschingiskans, and Europe would never come into existence. Russia stopped the first, most barbarous wave of international fascism in Stalingrad and Kursk. That should never be forgotten. The Slavic World can not be integrated into the European World. Eurasia is a system in its own right and with its own sovereign center of political, and cultural, and religious concentration, which is to be respected by the European Union, and by the NATO, and by the American World. Such recognition is foundational for world peace. The Administration of President Obama, a Protestant Christian and recipient of the Nobel Peace Price, made a good start 8 years ago, when in the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount he really wanted to end the Cold War, which he rightly consideredto have been a great misunderstanding and mistake, and to discourse and cooperate with the Russian Federation, but then ceased to build bridges, and build walls instead. We can only hope, that the new Trump Administration, which won the election with the support of the Evangelicals and Catholics, will in the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount not build walls, but will rather erect bridges, and will thus continue the good beginnings and intentions of the Obama Administration, particularly concerning the relations between the American and the Slavic World, for the best of humanity. Hopefully, the Trump Administration will also cancel and rescind the Executive Order # 13685 as fast as possible, and we shall be able to continue our productive international conference in Yalta, in November 2017. Everything flows, everything changes. The eternal truths remain but they change the forms of expressive reflection in different times, in different cultures and civilizations. Today, Global Peace Science (GPS), created during eleven years in the Global Harmony Association (GHA) by 174 coauthors from 34 countries, is one of the most urgent and highest forms of Sermon on the Mount and its Golden Rule, which is the first in the history reflection of the universal social harmony in the Christian religion. Immanuel Kant suggested its philosophical reflection in the definition of social harmony as human nature, which excludes war and provides "perpetual peace." GPS offered for the first time in the history of its scientific reflection on the basis of discovery of the deep societal structure of SPHERONS - eternal harmonious classes of the population employed in the eternal harmonious spheres of social production. Therefore SPHERONS constitute a societal structure and social genome of eternal harmonious and peaceful human nature in scientific knowledge. This is the historical significance of GPS as a common spiritual ground of harmony, like the Golden Rule, for peaceful cooperation of American and Slavic worlds and other civilizations. See in more detail: Rudolf Siebert. The Slavic and the American World: The Possibility of Peaceful Cooperation. Global Peace Science, New Delhi, 2016, Chapter 9.62, p.396-401: http://peacefromharmony.org/docs/global-peace-science-2016.pdf Many thanks for your publication of the unique and genius Dr. Siebert's interpretation of Global Peace Science (GPS) as today reflection and expression of Sermon on the Mount and Golden Rule (https://www.transcend.org/tms/2017/01/sermon-on-the-mount-and-golden-rule-global-peace-science-today/),which is adequate spiritual tool for the Russian and American worlds peace cooperation instead of the insanity of their nuclear war (http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=710). Dr. Siebert was able to penetrate into the deepest spiritual truth of GPS kindred to the Golden Rule truth. It makes his a peacemaking model for all peacemakers, especially Western and American, which say more about war than about peace, its methods and science. This makes similar peacemakers impotent and helpless before wars, which thrive on their eyes during centuries. Only GPS is able to provide the victory of peace over war by its soft spiritual force. This essay was also published on the Dr. Siebert personal page: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=51 and its banner here: http://peacefromharmony.org On behalf of the GHA I am happy to express here the warmest gratitude to Dr. Siebert, the GHA WORLD HARMONY CREATOR, for his unique and brilliant interpretation of Global Peace Science, which (interpretation) will be kept by history together with this unprecedented science. With love for peace from harmony, Leo, Dr. Leo Semashko, GHA Honorary President, December 11, 2016 Marx’s Humanism and the Christian Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Body, Rudolf J. Siebert The author returns to a project, which was of great actuality in the Praxis Groups of Zagreb, Budapest, and Belgrade, and elsewhere, in the 1960ties, and which remains of great interest today: to emphasice the young, humanistic Karl Marx against the older one, who may have become more positivistic, and authoritarian, and ideological, and to rescue him from the dialectic of enlightenment, to which he may have fallen a victim to some extend. The author uses frequently the word ideology, or ideological, not in the positive sense as combination of ideas and values, as it is continually used by the American mass media and by the politicians, but rather in a critical sense. For the early bourgeois and socialist enlighteners and revolutionaries ideology was indeedcritical and revolutionary. The French revolutionary ideologuesconsidered religion to be the fraud of the priests, in order to subjugate the people. The ideology of the French bourgeois revolutionaries and enlighteners contained nothing else than the philosophy of John Locke. It was connected to the Scottish philosophy. Ideology became uncritical and counterrevolutionary , when the bourgeois revolutions came to their end with the American civil war. Today, in 2016, the notion of ideology needs to be defined newly for the contemporary American reader, in order to avoid misunderstandings: e.g. as false consciousness, or as hiding and covering up of racial, national, or class interests, or simply as the untruth. The critical notion of ideology was once indeed practical and activist: theory-praxis dialectic! This is no longer the case. Thus, the critical theory of society, e.g., is indeedpractical ideology critique. The author tries to rescue the young Marx through remembering his humanistic, as well as Judeo-Christian heritage. After all, Marx was not only raised in a Kantian,humanistic enlightenment atmosphere: his father and his highschool director were devoted Kantians. Marx was alsoa Jew, and he was baptisedinto the Lutheran faith. When once Marx took his children to a Roman Catholic Church in London, in order to listen to the beautiful religious music, and they asked him, what the music was all about, he taught them his Christology from below: There was once a poor carpenter, and the rich people murdered him. It was directed against the bourgeois opium religion, which according to Kant, the inventor of the word, as well as accordingto Hegel and Marx, made people feel good, but at the same time dulled their conscience, so that it no longer reacted against the injustice of the urban and rural slums, and the general horror of the capitalistic system, and against religion being used by it as part of its ideology, understood in the positive, uncritical sense, and thus not being any longerthe outcry of the oppressed creature, and the heart of a heartless capitalistic world. Marx’s children never forgot their father’s most adequate Christology from below, and were never tempted to join the bourgeois opium religion in London, or elsewhere. Without his humanistic and Judeo-Christian motivation, it would remain completely ununderstandable and incomprehensible, why Marx, with his beloved wife Jenny von Westphal from the German nobility and their five children, did not rather pursue a wonderful, prestigious, bourgeois professorship inBerlin, like Fichte, Schelling or Hegel, and instead identified with the European and American proletariat, and lived for over two decades in the poverty-stricken slums of London, working for a proletarian revolution, which was to overthrow the bourgeoise ruling class, and to accomplish a distribution of wealth, as well as the recognition of the working people, who produce all the wealth, and which is still overdue today. He was admittedly supported by his friend Friedrich Engels, a unique capitalist with a conscience, who discovered again, a century before Ernst Bloch, the revolutionary, political theologian, Thomas Münzer, the father not of the future bourgeois revolutions, but rather of the future socialist revolutions, whom Protestants and Catholics had tried very hard to forget for 300 years. The author could findin the revolutionary, political theologian Thomas Münzer, as well as in his later interpreters Engels and Bloch, the best models for the excellent work he tries to accomplish. According to the author, humanitarianism was an ideology in the uncritical sense, and as such a form of idealism. That judgment may not do justice to idealism, and to all the philosophies, which rightly or wrongly, have been called idealistic, and that is most of them. Genuine critical, true idealism can be found in Kant’s position, that there is transcendental identity in the system of the principles of judgment, or in Fichte’s and Hegel’s position, that the world is a product of freedom. Genuine idealism is about the difference and the identity of subject and object. It is about the relationship between nature, determined by the law of gravity, and spirit, characterized by the law of freedom. For Kant’s, Fichte’s, Schelling’s, and Hegel’s subjective, objective and absolute idealism, idealism and materialism were the two shells, in which the mussle of Christianity, and of other world religions, was hidden. The author emphasices the materialistic shell, and that rightly so, because it had somewhat been neglectedin the history of interpretations of holy scripture. However, in the long run an one-sidedly materialistic interpretation of scripture is as abstract and untrue as an one-sidedly idealistic interpretation. only a materialistic interpretation, which would determinately negate in itself the idealistic one, could possibly claim to be true. only the concrete is true. If according to the author, Jesus the Christ was the figuration of the truth of the humanum for Christianity, - and so we may add not only for Christianity, but also still for the early bourgeois enlightenment, for Kant, the greatest bourgeois enlightener,- then we may ask, what or who was the configuration of the truth of the human for Marx? Taking into consideration Marx’s Christology from below and his acquaintance with Kant and Hegel, we may dare to answer: the same configuration. Marx criticizedChristianity as opium religion, a la Kant and Hegel, but not the teachings of Rabbi Jesus from Nazareth, which the former betrayed again and again: to the contrary, Marx confronted criticallythe positive, historical Christian opium religion with Jesus’ so called Sermon on the Mount. Marx continued the humanistic revolution not only of Socrates, who was murdered by the Athenian state, because he introduced a new daimonion, the conscience, but also of the Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth, who was murdered by thecollaboration of the Jewish state and the Roman Empire, because his moral revolutionprovokedtheir ruling classes in Jerusalem and Rome . The author states rightly, that the truth of Christianity and of Marx are still a matter of the future. But the future is for Christianity the kingdom of heaven, and for Marx the realm of freedom of All, men’s ability too realize their full human potentials, - language and memory, work and tool, sexual and erotic love, mutual recognition, and community, -on the basis of the realm ofbiologicaland economicnecessity. Revolution, or better pro-volution, is the mere means toward these goals. The separation ofthe religious kingdom of heaven and the political-historical realm of the freedom of All, is the necessary precondition for the collaboration of Christians and Marxists.Ernst Bloch andWalter Benjamin have proven, that a political theocracy is no longer possible. There can only be a religious theocracy. The goal of political history, and politics, and policies, is human happiness. The goal of religion is redemption. The two directions are indeed opposite. But they can also secretely support each other. For the author, materialism in Christianity was signified by its doctrines of the resurrection, and the ascension of the body. The Gospels are all about the body of Jesus, the Galileean. But also genuine idealism may be signified in Christianity by the same doctrines. The Greek and Roman Church Father’s, the Scholastics, the Mystics Meister Eckhart and Jacob Boehme, Kant, Fichte, Schelling and Hegel may not have been entirely wrong, with their idealistic approach to Christianity and other world religons, which admittedly contained in itself materialistic elements from the very start: the emphasis on the body and history. Anticipating the advanced secularization of the possible readers, it would probably be wise to remind them of the scriptural roots of the two Jewish and Christian doctrines,through quoting them at length, before one rejects the simple believers’ blind faith or fundamentalism, or applies to them the hard work of the modern enlightenment: symbolization, de-mythologization, de-demonization, idology, higher criticism. As a matter of fact, not only the original Biblical texts, but also the hard work of the enlightenment on them may have been forgotten by the contemporary readers, and must therefore be learned again. The task is the concrete supersession, i.e. critique, as well as preservation, and elevation, and fulfillment ofthe naïvereading of scriptures by the simple believers, on one hand, as well as of their sophisticated reading by educated people, who have fallen victim to the dialectic of an enlightenment, which has become positivistic, and which has become alienated from its own original theology, and from its own true, universal faith, aiming at the moral improvement of humanity, on the other, in a truly dialectical, political philosophy and theology. only the atheist can be a good Christian. only the Christian can be a good atheist! Unfortunately, the attempt of the enlighteners to improve the morality of the people was as much frustrated as that of the religions, which the enlighteners had criticized: otherwise the bourgeois enlightenment and revolutions had not turned into fascism up to the present; and the socialist enlightenment and revolitions had not turned into Stalinism or red fascism, and the psychoanalytical enlightenment and revolutions had not turned into a porno-society. Religion and enlightenment have to be rescued in order to preventfurther barbarism . It may be helpful to the author’s great project to remember, that Christianity inherited the notions of the resurrection and ascension of the body from the Maccabees, as they struggled against the Hellenistic Empire, and were massively slaughtered and martyrized in their holy war only 200years beforethe Christ event in the Jewish history. Please, see the seventh chapter of the Seeond Book of the Maccabees: With his last breathhe (the second Maccabee brother) exclaimed, ‘Inhuman fiend, (Antiochus) you may discharge us from this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up since it is for his laws that we die, to live again for ever…. When he neared his end he (the fourth brother) cried.’ Ours is the better choice, to meet death at men’s hands, yet relying on God’s promise that we shall be raised up by him; whereas for you there can be no resurrection, no new life…. ‘My son (youngest brother ready to be executed byAntiochus), have pity on me (mother of the seven martyrized Maccabeean brothers); I carried you nine months in my womb and suckled youthree years, fed you and reared you to the age you are now( and cherished you). I implore you, my child, observe heaven and earth, consider all that is in them, and acknowledge that God made them out of what did not exist, and that mankind comes into being in the same way. Do not fear this execution, but prove yourself worthy of your brothersand make death welcome, so that in the day of mercy I may receive you back in your brothers’ company….’ (youngest son before his execution:) ‘Our brothers already, after enduring their brief pain, now drink of ever-flowing life, by virtue of God’s covenant, while you, by God’s judgment, will have to pay the just penalty for your arrogance. I too, like my brothers, surrender my body and life for the laws of my ancestors, calling on God to show his kindness to our nation and that soon, and by trials and afflictions to bring you to confess that he alone is God, so that with my brothers and myself there may be an end to the wrath of the Almighty rightly let lose on our whole nation. ……’ Definitely, the historical materialist, who emphasices the object, or nature, without forgetting the subject, or spirit and freedom, as well as the historical idealist, who stresses the subject, or the spirit and freedom, without neglecting the object, or nature, can find himself in this Hebrew text on the resurrection and the ascension of the body, ideas, which appeared only very latein Jewish history and literature . The former Pharisee and later convert to Christianity, Saul or Paulof Tarsus, stated, that if the Pharisaeicbelieve in the resurrection and ascension of the body, which came from the Maccabees, was not true, then Jesus had not been resurrected, and then the Christians were the poorest and most miserable people on earth. Therefore, once more anticipating the advanced secularization of the possible readers, it would probably be wise to remind them of the scriptural roots of the two Jewish and Christian doctrines not only in the Hebrew Bible but also in the New Testament,through quoting them at length, before one applies to them the hard work of the modern enlightenment: symbolization, de-mythologization, de-demonization, idology, and higher criticism. Please, see the sixteenth chapter ofthe Gospel of Mark, the oldest preserved, and shortest Gospel, about the resurrection and ascension of the body of Jesus: When the sabbath (the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread of the year 30 )was over,Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices with which to go and anoint him ( Jesus ). And very early in the morning on the first day of the week they went to the tomb, just as the sun was rising. They had been saying to one another,’ Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb. But when they looked they could see that the stone-which was very big-had already been rolled back. on entering the tomb they saw a young man in a white robe seated on the right hand side, and they were struck with amazement. But he said to them,’There is no need for alarm. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he has risen, he is not here..See, here is the place where they laid him. But you must go and tell his disciples and Peter. He is going before you to Galilee; it is there you will see him, just as he told you.’ And the women came out and ran away from the tomb because they were frightened out of their wits; and they said nothing to a soul, for they were afraid. Please, also see the sixteenth chapter ofthe Gospel of Mark, about the bodily ascension of Jesus: Lastly he (the resurrected Jesus of Nazareth) showed himself to the Eleven (disciples) themselves while they were at table. He reproached them for their incredulity and obstinacy, because they had refused to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. And he said to them,’ Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned. These are the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover. And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven: there at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the sign that accompanied it. According to higher criticism, many New Testament Manuscripts omit this text on ascension, and this ending of the Gospel may not have been written by Mark, though it is old enough. However, the historical materialist, who emphasices the object and nature, without forgetting the subject and spirit, as well as the historical idealist, who stresses the subject, spirit and freedom, without neglecting the object, nature and gravity, can find himself in this early Christian text on the resurrection and ascension of the body of Jesus, ideas, which not only appeared very latein Jewish history and literature, but also again at the very beginning of Christianity. The author, informed by the enlightenment, does not take theBiblical doctrines on the resurrection and the ascension of the body literally, but rather symbolically. For the author, maybe following Paul Tillich, symbolism is the proper way to understand anything religious. For the author both doctrines, taken symbolically, heavily underline the absolute importance of the physical body, supposedly in opposition to all idealisms. However, the notion of the physical or biological body, or the human organism, remains rather abstract, if it is not differentiated into form, assimilation process, hunger, species process, sexuality, illness, aging, death as victory of the species or genus over the individual, etc.. Maybe Schelling’s, or Hegel’s idealistic philosophies of nature, or the notion of nature in Marx’s materialistic teaching should be consulted. What is more important is, that the Descartian dualism between body and soul, or spirit, did not exist for the Hebrews, or for the early Christians: body and soul were one. The Hebrew and the Greek-Christian texts, quoted above, about resurrection and ascension, how ever read, do not only speak about the tortured physical bodies of the Maccabee brothers, or about the crucified body of Jesus, but also about the King of the world, who raises the dead Maccabees to eternal life; andalsoabout God’s promise to the brothers, to be raised to new life; and also about the God, who created out of nothing nature and man, and therefore can also make possible the resurrection and ascension from the death of the physical body; and also about theever-flowing life, in virtue of God’s covenant; and also about the same God, who resurrected Jesus and took him up into heaven, to take his place there at his right hand. The Biblical texts do not only talk about bodies, but also about a God, who is not body, but Spirit, and who creates, and incarnates, and resurrects, and elevates to himself material, bodily and spiritual human beings. Unfortunately, late Modernity has lost the notion of spirit in the sciences, and it survives only on ships on Lake Michigan, named Spirit of Chicago, or in political speeches as spirit of the nation. Unfortunately, Hegel’s attempt to create a new pneumatology was not continued.In any case, the Biblical texts do not absolutize the physical body, which can not create, or resurrect, or elevate itself into an eternal life, and assert another principle, a Creator God, who is also a Lawgiverand a Judge. To demythologize this God away beyond the demands of Moses’ second and third commandment in the Decalogue, the prohibition against making images ofand naming inadequately the Absolute, and beyond the enlightener Kant’s prohibition against analytical understanding penetrating the domain of the Thing in itself, - God, Freedom and Immortality-, or beyond the teaching on the totally Otherthan the horror and terror of nature and human history by the critical theorists Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer, who have concretely superseded and reconciled Moses and Kant, Judaism and enlightenment, the above Biblical texts lose all meaning. Theology wouldindeed turn into ideology, the untruth. As helpful asNicolai Berdyaev, Norman O. Brown, and M. Merleau-Ponty may be for the construction of a materialistic, body-committed, humanistic, political theology, stronger support may still come from Kant, Hegel, Marx and Freud, and Horkheimer, Benjamin and Adorno, Marcuse and Fromm, and Jürgen Habermas, and theircontemporary disciples, and certainly not from Martin Heidegger. The essay should be published . I hope the author will take some of my suggestions into consideration. WMU professor did “duties as a soldier to protect civilians,” in Germany during WWII. Sarah Culton Staff Reporter | Posted: Tuesday, December 15, 2015 Professor Rudolf Siebert of WMU’s comparative religion department. Professor Rudolf Siebert is not only one of Western Michigan University’s oldest sitting professors, but he also has a long, fascinating life history as a soldier in the German army. Siebert, 88, has been a professor in WMU’s comparative religion department since 1965. He has written over 20 books and has been published in over 200 scholarly publications and magazines. Perhaps more interesting than his academic achievements are Siebert’s personal life stories. A German native born in 1927, Siebert spent his formative years under Adolf Hitler’s regime. Siebert said the time he spent under fascist rule and as a member of the German Air Force were important in shaping the person he is today. “In 1933, I was six years old, that is when Hitler rose to power,” Siebert said. “From that time on, the German liberal state was transformed into a fascist state. So, from six years on until 1945 when I was taken prisoner, I lived under fascism.” As a child, Siebert lived a double life as both a member of the Catholic youth movement and the Hitler Youth movement. The Catholic youth movement was a Christian group that disagreed with Nazi policy and actions. In some cases, members aided and protected Jewish refugees. In contrast, the Hitler Youth movement was a paramilitary group existing from 1933 to 1945 that was aimed at indoctrinating German youths in the ways of the Nazi party. The group was mandatory for German children to attend. “I felt much closer to the Catholic youth movement than I did the Hitler Youth movement,” Siebert said. “What [the Hitler Youth movement] told me was just too narrow minded.” However, that does not mean Siebert didn’t understand the appeal of the Hitler Youth movement. “The truth is that the Nazi movement was very attractive for boys and girls,” Siebert said. “They had all Professor Siebert kinds of clubs, motorcycle clubs and glider clubs and swimming clubs and so on. They could attract all kinds of people, and I was attracted by it, but never enough to make me join them.” At age 15, Siebert was drafted in the German Air Force to serve in World War II. At first, Siebert resisted the draft because he had learned in the Catholic youth movement the German war was unjust, but he was eventually taken to his post by a German officer. “While I was forced to go into it, I also found some meaning in it,” Siebert said. “I thought to defend the women and the children in the basements of the cities that were being bombed by British and American forces.” In 1945, at the end of the war, Siebert surrendered to U.S. General George S. Patton after he was caught in Berlin. From there, Siebert became a prisoner of war at a camp in Worms, Germany before being moved to an American military camp in Marseilles and then to Camp Allen in Norfolk, Virginia. “It was a good time in my life, strangely enough,” Siebert said. While at the camps, POWs were categorized into sections of Nazis and anti-Nazis. POWs categorized as Nazis were placed into sub-categories dependent on what kind of war crimes they had committed. “I was categorized as an anti-Nazi, then I was set free and I could study,” Siebert said. “I studied with professors from Harvard, I studied economics and sociology, because I was supposed to go back to Germany to help change the state from a fascist state to a liberal state.” Siebert said his resistance to fascism, especially from the very beginning, was rare in Germany during Hitler’s time in power. He lists his faith as a contributing factor in his refusal of Nazism. “I always lived a very critical life, and in Germany, I think it had to do with Christianity which attracted me much more than National Socialism,” Siebert said. “I never got engaged on the other side fully and happily.” In 1946, Siebert returned to Germany in an attempt to liberalize the country. He stayed there until he returned to the U.S. in 1953. During that year, Siebert finished his Masters of Social Work and met his late wife Margie. The couple moved back to Germany after 1954 and remained there until they returned to the U.S. for good in 1962. Siebert and his family moved to Michigan in 1965 and he began teaching in WMU’s Religion Department. Siebert does not regret the time in his life as a German soldier. “I did my duties as a soldier to protect civilians,” Siebert said. “I was never convinced of Germany’s war goals, but I was convinced to help the Jewish people, and I was convinced to help the people in the Saint Petersburg- Yalta Report Rudolf J. Siebert We have returned from our trip through Russia and the Ukraine. My graduate student in our WMU Sociology Department and Russian interpreter, Katya Vasetsky-Chamberlin and I started from Detroit late on November 3, 2007. Her husband Steve Chamberlin took us to the Detroit airport in my car. on the way we had a small explosion in the air conditioner. But we fixed it. Katya and I flew in a Luft - Hansa airbus to Frankfurt a. M..The Luft - Hansahad from its very beginning the best weather service, which was even the envy of the German airforce.Thus our flight to Frankfurt was rathersmooth and without too many disturbances. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to visit my family in Frankfurt. We may do that in April on the way to Dubrovnik, Croatia, and our international course on The Future of Religion. in the IUC from April 28 - May 3, 2008.Thus Katya and I flew right away on to Saint Petersburg in Russia also in a Luft - Hansa airbus. The Luft-Hansa is everywhere! We flew up the Baltic Sea to the highest peak of the Gulf of Finland across Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. We left Novgorod to the east, where the Crusaders had attacked after they had searched for the empty grave in Jerusalem, and had killed many Arabs and Jews on the way, and had a established a kingdom, and finally had been beaten in the devastated Holy Land, through being cut off from the Sea of Galilee and dehydrated in the dessert, by Saladin. Now they were drowned in the lakes near Novgorod by Alexander, after they had devastated all the villages and towns along the road, as Napoleon and Hitler would do later on.It would definitely have been better for the Crusaders, if they had stayed at home peacefully. Maybe thus they could have avoided the later heresy trial through the Holy Inquisition, because of a suspected relapse into Zoroarstrianism, or more specifically Mithraism, and their later annihilation. But I think there are two or three knights still left in the Deutsch-Herren -Orden Monastery in Frankfurt. I had so far made it only to Rostock, Denmark, and Sweden, There was already snow on the ground everywhere in the Baltic states. Our plane had to be deiced. Hitler flew the same way in 1944 to visit General Mannerheim near Helsinki, to get him into the war against Russia. He failed. But there is a tape left about the whole episode, which has just surfaced. When we approached Saint Petersburg, where the lights were on already, I remembered that the German Northern Army had beleaguered the city for several years, and that thousands of citizens had been killed by the new Crusaders against Bolshevist atheism through artillery shelling and stuka attacks, and mostly through a terrible starvation, until a road opened up across the frozen Lake Ladoga and food could be brought in at night. All the German army reports came back to me about the surrounding battles of Tallinn, Narva, Tartu, Pecov, Velikie Luki, and of course Novgorod. The brave city Leningrad never fell, as Novgorod had never fallen, Katya's Uncle and Aunt picked us up from the Saint Petersburg airport and drove us to my Hotel Aster. Russia is becoming prosperous under Putin as it curbs in wild capitalism. Uncle and Aunt were retired after a good life with much hard work. They were tremendously happy to see Katya, and me too, of course. Russians are friendly and warm-hearted people, and when they love somebody they really mean it – as long as they are not attacked. Uncle and Aunt were to young, to have remembered the Great Patriotic War and the German attack against Leningrad from their own personal experience. Next day, Katya's good Uncle gave us a ride in his car through the great city of Saint Petersburg, formerly Leningrad. I took many pictures.Saint Petersburg is a mixture of Amsterdam and Paris. It is a wonderful city. Unfortunately, we drove into a one-way street and were caught by the police, and had to pay for a ticket. I also lost my camera in the excitement. .Katya thinks, the camera may have disappeared during the airport searches. We shall never know. Whoever has it, may enjoy the wonerful pictures I had taken. We saw the Winter Palace, where Lenin started his revolution in the night from October 24-25, 1917, after Alexander Kerenskij February revolution had failed. Lenin's huge statues are still standing everywhere waiting for the next revolution, after the third counter-revolution of 1989 has exhausted itself. There are still many names of places streets,and metyrostations, which remember theOctober Revolution: the Place of the Revolution, the Place of Iljitsch, Lenin-Allee ,Proletarskaja, Komsomolskaja, Marxistskaja,tc At the Winter Palace Lenin declared all the feudal and bourgeois buildings to be the property of the people, who had built them after all. Then, of course, came the horrible peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which the Germans dictated, and which then was revenged by the so called Versaille Dictate, which had much to do not only with World War I, but also, and much more so, with World War II. Hitler’s war was a war of retaliation against the West, Jus Talionis, and of colonial thievery and robbery toward the East. The V in the V I and the V II - which devastated London, and which were produced by Porsche with Hungarian –Jewish slave labor from the Concentration Camp of Auschwitzbythe same Porsche, who was the friend of Hitler and of Henry Ford, and who was the inventer of the Volkswagen and of always new types of tanks for the Eastern Front up to the impossible Mouse, and who was a technical genius without sense for the difference between good and evil - stood for the English word vengence. How triumphantly Hitler had danced around the railroad car in the forest of Compieign: according to Wagner’s Rienzi, the Medieval people’s tribune, whom he had seen 40 times in the opera houses of Vienna and elsewhere, and whom he tried to imitate in the modern political and historical reality. It could not go well! Then came still all the victories on the Balkan and in Russia. But then came the final catastrophes of Stalingrad, Kursk and Berlin. Sometimes world history is indeed world-judgment! Thus, Hitler said to his secretaries in his last hours in the Berlin Führer Bunker: Fate wanted it that way!!! However, when we went through the Frankfurt airport, the native Frankfurters, who assisted us very nicely, spoke still lovingly of their Adolf, and remembered still in detail the flak artillery 10.5 and the Me 109, which had tried to defend the city in vain against the British and American so called saturation - and terror -bombers, who destroyed 80 percent of it.But the Frankfurt natives, who still speak the dialect, and can, still remember Adolf, become fewer and fewer, and the so-called foreigners become more and more. Most of the taxis outside the Frankfurt airport are driven by Pakistanis, and Iranians, and most of all by Turks, who have done this work for 30 or more years, and who speak German well, and their children even better. They are all Muslims and do not believe that September 11,2001 was the work of Muslims, but rather of the CIA. The Turks are longing for a Turkish Chancellor in Berlin. once the so called foreigners came to the rich German Federal Republic from the Near East and from Eastern Europe, having been attracted by powerful German capital, and now with massive outsourcing of jobs to Africa, India, or China, and a consequently shrinking labor market, have become a burden and a social and political problem. Even many still religious Frankfurters have forgotten the Abrahamic community and solidarity, and the Sermon on the Mount, and the Golden Rule, and have moved to the Right, and want the Islamic foreigners to go home. The Frankfurt natives are observing regretfully and sadly, that everything in Germany has gone the opposite way from the one, which their Adolf had once led them, democracy or not, and they are longing for the good old times, when there was law and order, and when there was Volksgemeinschaft, i.e. people’s solidarity, and when there were no foreigners yet, except in the forced labor camps around the city. In the afternoon, Professor Leo Semashko, leader of the global Peace from Harmony Movement (www.peacefromharmony.org) and Global Harmony Association President took us from my Hotel Aster to the University of Saint Petersburg.I gave two lectures at the University. one lecture was on "The Critical Theory of Religion: New Models." The other paper was on the "Critical Theory of Religion: The Golden Rule". The critical theory of society of the Frankfurt School had been banned as revisionist during the Soviet period.Katya did an excellent job in translating my papers. Professors and students were very interested. The students were well dressed and happy. However, the third generation remembers little of the pain and suffering of the grandparents. There were good questions by students and faculty alike, Older professors still had a tendency toward scientific atheism, falling back behind Immanuel Kant, which Marx never did. Atheists are people, who had lived through such horrible circumstances, that they could no longer trust in the God of their fathers, and therefore denied his existence. They could not solve the theodicy problem, theoretically or practically. Their atheism was a practical, not a scientific matter. In Auschwitz Rabbis put God on trial and after three days found him guilty and some of them never went back to pray again, and 80 % of the population of Israel ceased praying, But some of the Rabbis did go back and prayed again. Some of the older professors in the University of Saint Petersburg had already in the Soviet period become agnostics: they’re sociological or other scientific methodologies could not transcend the boundaries of the world of appearances. Neither atheists nor agnostics wanted to risk a Kirkegardian leap of faith, and return to the Orthodoxy of their grandfathers. We discussed the possibility, that Marx and Lenin may have had something to do with Baruch Spinoza’s modern pantheism. When I asked our Russian friends, if they were afraid of a new encirclement by the West, they answered quietly and self-confidently, that Russia was a very large country, and that thus it was hard to encircle: there was much more behind the Ural! In the evening we celebrated our great success with Professor Leo Semashko and his wife in a nice restaurant near my Hotel Aster. Leo told us all about his tetra sociology, which he traced back to Marx and which he had developed and taught already in the Soviet time. Leo was convinced, that Lenin’s Great Socialist October Revolutionof 1917 in Petrograd, and what followed, had been a great mistake and a tragedy, and that now history took its normal course again. I received from Leo’s dear wifeLucy a wonderful bookabout Saint Petersburg. On Wednesday, we flew with the Ukrainian Airline to Kiev and then to Simferopol. The taxi driver, who drove me from Hotel Aster to the apartment of Katya’s relatives, and then both of us the long way to the Saint Petersburg airport,and then a few days later back again in the middle of coldwinter nights, was a wonderful story teller. He told usone most humorous and hilarious taxi - life story after the other, and thereby made Katya very happy. We expressed our hope to the very poeticalSaint Petersburg taxi driver, that he would publish his wonderful stories some day for the enjoyment of a larger public. If we had asked our taxi driver what 1917 meant for him today, he would probably have answered as others of his profession did, that the revolution was still present as in the past so now in every family, in the fate of every family: the dead of the Gulago were much worse off, than the dad of the Second World War- because the latter defended their homeland and knew what they were dying for.Nevertheless, it is possible, that- if the thirdcounter-revolutioncontinues -the intelligentLenin may have to make room forthelast, mostin capable, and incompetentCzarNikolaj II, and that Lenin’sbody may be taken out of the Mausoleumin Moscow and may be re-burried in one of the city’s cemeteries in Januar 2008, in remembrance of the day of his death, after the Czar’s body had already been reburried in the tomb of the Romanows in the Saint Petersburg Peter and Paul Fortress, and after the Orthodox Church had canonized him as a martyr. in2000. The taxi drivers and others are convinced,that as Lenin’s revolution of 1917 had been paid for by German money, theorange counter-revolutions in the Ukraineof2004, in Georgiaof 2003, and in Kirgistanof 2005 wereanalogically financed by American money. Sic transit gloria mundi! Not only was our flight with the Ukrainian Airline and later on back with the RussianAiroflotvery save, but we also found most friendly assistance at every airport, as in the USA, and in Germany, so also in Russia and in the Ukraine. In the Ukraine even a doctor assisted us, which was more than we needed. That assistance was a wonderful sign of humanity in the midst of all the high technology of the continually growing airports!! When we flew across the huge European territory of the Russian Federation and the Ukraine, I could not help myself to remember the three million so called fascist soldiers, who not even seventy years ago devastated the land and the villages and the cities below and killed 27 million so called communists and 6 million Jews. I thought of the Muslim Tartars, who were allied with Hitler, and therefore later on were punished by Stalin through resettlement. I thought of the Christians, e.g. the Mennonites and others, who bravely following the Sermon on the Mount did not want to bear and use arms against other human beings, and who therefore were driven out by red fascism into exile, or were sent into labor camps, in order to build cities behind the Ural, which had only numbers up to the counter-revolution of 1989. Others were simply murdered. When seven years earlier, I flew into Kiev, it was the Sunday on which the city remembered the arrival of the SS in the city 50 years earlier. on this Sunday, 180 Jews were shot in the city, simply because of their race. Later on 36 000 Jews were killed in a quarry near Kiev. This was before the insecticide Cyclon B, which had been invented by Fritz Haber, the father of the gas-war, and which had been produced a mass by IG Farben, was used in the German work- and death- camps. Already in the 1920s, long before the fascist armies arrived, a pogrom killed many Jews in the Ukraine, simply because of their faith, When the German troops came to Kiev in October 1941, and fought their way against heavy Russian resistance across the Dnepr on their way to the Volga, and to Stalingrad, and into their disaster, the river seemed to consist of human blood rather than of water. Today (December 2,2007). The Government-conform Fox News tells us, in its usual fair, balanced and unafraid way, after Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, after Lebanon, and Palestine, after Chenya, and Sudan, and after Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, that atrocities are simply committed by some unstable characters, or that they are merelya part of war and come along with the territory. That never was, is, or will be a psychological,moral, ethical, or legal excuse, justification ,or legitimation for atrocities. Our friend and driver Igor picked us up in Simferopol, Ukraine. Also Zhenia Leontyeva’s Mother was there. Zhenia is my Ukrainian graduate student, who lives in my house with free room and board like so many other students from the USA and many other countries before, and is doing her Ph.D. in Sociology at Western Michigan University. Zhenia’s Grand Father, who is Jewish, was deported into a German concentration camp, when he was only 15 years old, There medical experiments were performed on him. When he came home again two years later, he had gray hairs.Igor was a prominent soldier in the Russian army. He is doing rather well in the travel business around the growing airport of Simferopol. He just bought himself a better-used car, which we enjoyed very much. But Igor cannot and does not want to give up his socialist-humanist longings, and still hopes for better times.Igor drove us to Yalta, where we arrived after a two-hour mountain trip and stayed again in our old and very good Hotel Orianda. The seventh international course in Yalta on Religion and Civil Society: Identity Crisis and New Challenges of Post-Secular Society was once more a great success. Professors and students were present not only from the Ukraine, and from the Russian Federation, but also from behind the Ural, and from Central Asia. A representative of the Ukrainian Cultural Ministry was present, who wanted to receive information from us specialists in Comparative Religion, Psychology, Sociology, Political Science, Philosophy and Theology for policy purposes. There are many tensions in the religious sphere, which the state would like to mitigate through wise policies, while at the same time staying neutral. Also the Orthodox Church was represented through a priest and theologian. Father Nicolay belonged to the Patriarchy of Moscow: the Third Rome! There are tensions between the Patriarch of Moscow and the Archbishop of Kiev. Maybe the Archbishop would like to become independent and a Patriarch of the Ukraine in his own right. There are also tensions among all religious groups concerning church property, which had been confiscated by the Soviet state, but which has been given free after the victorious third counter-revolution of 1986. Tensions exist between the Crimean Tartar Muslims, who followed Hitler, and the Kiev Muslims, who stayed with Stalin. Thus we spoke much about the neutral liberal or socialist state, the separation of religious faith and secular rationality, and of church and state, the consequent privatization of religion, the difference between good and bad religion, the theodicy problem, etc. Members of all three Abrahamic religions were present Fears were expressed about a possible partition of the Ukraine between the coal-rich, highly industrialized East, which is Orthodox and inclined toward the Russian Federation, and the West, which is Orthodox as well as United and Roman Catholic and tends toward the European Union. An inclusion of the Ukraine, or a large part of it, into the European Union and the NATO, would equal to a quasi–encirclement of the Russian Federation, and thus could elicit and provoke fears in Moscow similar to those, which the Germans had in the 19th and 20th centuries, and which found there realization in two two-front wars. There was not only the battle of Stalingrad, now Wolgograd, but also the tank battle of Kursk, which - if it had been successful- had reached behind Moscow. Besides directing the international course together with a Russian Professor, who had once been my student, Tatiana Tsenyushkina, I gave two papers: one on The Critical Theory of Religion: The Lex Talionis, and the other on The Jesus Revolution, the Judas Kiss, and the Empires. I prefer critical theory of religion over theo-logy, because I think it would be good to have a moratorium for several decades concerning the name of Theos, because of its blasphemous abuse by the bad religion of the Crusaders not only of Novgorod, but particularly also of the 20th and 21st centuries. once more Katya did an excellent translation job for two languages - Russian and Ukrainian. Katya also gave her own excellent sociology paper. I wished, of course, that I could have taken more students like Katya from Western Michigan University on my trip. But my finances were not sufficient for other students. We had good and passionate discussions in our international discourse among members from different Eastern and Western civilizations. I had a particular intense discussion with the Orthodox priest, Father Nickolay, and Dr,Gabrielyan, Chair of the Political Science Department of the University of Simferopol, where I had spoken three years earlier: an Armenien andan excellent pedagogue andpolitical scientist. While Father Nicolay presented thegreat Orthodox patristic theology, I engaged in the critique of the ambiguity of any religious tradition as such. While Dr,Gabrielyan, emphasiced the fear - factor in all social and political life, I stressed the enlightenment as the attempt, to free people from their fears, and to make them into masters of their fate. We all agreed on thedesirability of both, the continuation of good religion – the longing that the present national and international injustices are to be overcome – as well as of the enlightenment project, no matter if we were religiously committed or not. My papers were taken very well. The Professors wanted the papers to be published in Russian and Ukrainianas fast as possible. Our discourse came to its most friendly , harmoniousand peaceful conclusion with a delicious Ukrainian meal and wonderfulreligious as well as secular presentations by a young, veryecumenical Orthodox choir. Our international course in Yalta as well as in Durbrovnik rests on the presupposition, that there will be no peace among nations without peace among the world religions; and that there will be no peace among the religions without discourse among them; and that there can be no discourse among them without their knowledge about each others' interpretation of reality and orientation of action. The purpose of our international courses in Yalta and Dubrovnik is to increase this mutual knowledge, and thus to contribute to peace among the religions, the nations, and the civilizations. Also the results of this seventh course will appear in a book. for a broader public, The University of Simferopol expressed interest in a contract with Western Michigan University. We have such contract already with the University of Sevastopol. This city had beendestroyed to a large extend by German artillery, like Odessa. The representative of the University of Sevastopol expressed its wish, that Western Michigan University would send the necessary papers to Simferopol. I promised to discuss the issue with Western Michigan University, The Professors of the University of Simferopol and Kiev invited me to stay for vacations in Yalta - a wonderful city -for a whole summer talking with just one beloved person. What a strange idea of a vacation! They have no idea that I have done only working vacations for 30 years, and would not like to have it otherwise. On Friday night, Igor drove us back to Simferopol. on the way we stayed in the mountains in a wonderful hunting lodge and had an excellent Russian meal. Germans are coming to these lodges in large numbers during summer on their peaceful pilgrimages through the Ukraine. Sometimes they may visit Hitler’s former headquarter near Kiev during the Operation Barbarossa, South.When we arrived in our Hotel in Simferopol, Zhenia’s Mother received us again, and we spent some time together talking about Kalamazoo and Zhenia’s life and her very successful work in WMU's Sociology Department. Early in the morning we left in a Russian Aeroflot plane from Simferopol to Moscow. We landed on the airfield east of Moscow, which the German Center Army had reached late in November1941, precisely 66 years earlier, when suddenly a horrible winter weather set in, Hundreds of German tanks and airplanes were destroyed by ice and snow. Hitler arrived in Moscow six weeks late, because of the Balkan war, which he had to fight for his model and friend Benito Mussolini, who had got stuck there on the way to Greece. At this time, Hitler could have reached an armistice with Stalin, who was ready to leave Moscow, but Communism was the archenemy of National Socialism, and he wanted to have the whole territory up to the Volga for colonization. Our plane had once more to be deiced in Moscow. Then we flew on to Saint Petersburg. Katya's Uncle picked us up again from the airport and took us through an unbelievable traffic to the Hotel Aster. In the middle of the night we started our flight back with Luft - Hansa to Frankfurt and to Detroit. In Frankfurt we had to land through a horrible dark and cold rainstorm. My hometown has done this to me already many times before.I could see the Main River only a few minutes before the landing, so deep the clouds were hanging. After we had left Yalta a terrible storm sank seven ships in the Black Sea, A horrible storm raged in the North Sea against Bremen, and Hamburg, and Southern England. We somehow sneaked safely through all the storms. The crossing of the Atlantic ws very smooth, Steve picked us up in Detroit. and on the way home we celebrated our return with a good American meal. We had not slept several nights, and we had to start teaching next morning again. But we are tough people. Katya comes from Russia. I was trained to go into Russia. So we both were well trained, and all went well! I would like to express the heartfelt gratitude of all members of the seventh international course on Religion and Civil Society: Identity Crisis and New Challenges of Post-Secular Society in Yalta to Western Michigan University for its generous financial contribution, without which it could not have taken place, and without which its results could not be published for a broader circle of scholars. December 11, 2007 Rudolf Siebert: 80 years! Warm Congratulations! Professor Rudolf Siebert’s unique historical contribution: understanding of the Golden Rule as ethos of peace from harmony Five embodiments of the Golden Rule in life and creativity of Professor Rudolf Siebert for 55 years: 1. The deep and detailed development of the critical theory of society and religion, including universalistic ethics and global ethos on the basis of thereligious Golden Rule,andthe secular philosophies of Kant and Hegel,andPeirce’s, Apel’s, and Habermas’s theory of communicative action, in 24 books, and more than 680 printing and web publications in 12 languages and public lectures in the last 42 years. 2. The great experience of teaching at Western Michigan University and 12 other Universities in America, Europe, Asia, and the Near East from 1955 – 2007, and about 450 public lectures in universities and colleges around the globe. 3. The huge public, scientific and humanitarian work connected with the creation and leadership of two annual international courses: the first course in the IUC, Dubrovnik, Croatia, from 1977 – 2007, etc. is entitled: "The Future of Religion”; the second course in Yalta, Crimea, Ukraine,from 2000 – 2007, etc. is entitled : “Religion and Civil Society.” 4. The self-denying love to children, which is expressed not only in the education of his own 8 children and 14 grandchildren, but also in the creation of his apartment the House of Peace with free room and board for students, who could otherwise not afford to study, from the USA, Germany, Croatia, Ukraine, Iran, Mexico, etc, since 1965. During the civil war in the former Jugoslavia, Professor Siebert brought for five years money and medicine for the wounded and ill people of all the ethnic groups involved in the conflict. Similar activities characterize Professor Siebert as a person of highest moral integrity and heroism in the service to humankind under difficult conditions. He has proven his right for the highest recognition not only for his philosophical, and social-scientific, and practical activity, but also for his personal example, in which he has embodied the high principles of the Golden Rule, the Categorical Imperative, and the Communicative or Discourse Ethics consistently through his thinking and ethical life throughoutthe past 60 years of turbulent history in Europe and America: always in the service of peace. 5. Professor Siebert's great contributions in two epochal projects: 1. Harmonious Era Calendar, now includes 38 authors from 15 countries of the world writing in 17 languages (2006: http://www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=ru_c&key=190) and 2. Magna Carta of Harmony including 43 authors from 16 countries, writing in 8 languages (20007: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=3). The "Golden Rule" in its religious and inverted secular forms, in the research and propagation of which Professor Siebert has played a most important role in recent decades, is the humanistic basis for the new thought and ethics of peace from harmony. All this allows me to recognize for Professor Siebert, for his unique contribution into comprehension of the Golden Rule as ethical source for peace from harmony the highest Honorary Title of the union "Peace from harmony": "World Harmony Creator" in honour 80th anniversary. On behalf of our union I warmly congratulate Professor Siebert with the great jubilee and I wish for him strong health and inexhaustible personal energy to peace from harmony!!! Happy birth day!!! We love you, Rudi! Dr Leo Semashko Union/site “Peace from harmony”,Founder and President September 30, 2007 Dear Rudolf Siebert Professor Siebert, MANY HAPPY RETURNS - WISHES AN UNIQUE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION on THIS DAY. Your memorable contribution through the Golden Rule as ethical source for peace and harmony is a HONOUR for all of us to CONGRATULATE AND WISH YOU on THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY. Pray God to bestow upon you his choicestblessings. Dr. T. Ashok Chakravarthy, Litt.D H.No. 16-2-836/L, Plot-39 HYDERABAD - 500 059 [AP] INDIA Dear professor Rudolf Siebert: Congratulations for your 80 years whose you passed the majority in the services of the humanity. Thanks to your works, much discovered the secrecy and the steps ofvariedsociety in the world. We wish that your life be to protect so that thehumanity benefits from from your experiments. Greetings in Peace! Recognizing the huge contribution You brought to the mankind, for a better world, and peaceful society, with deep gratitude and thoughts of love, we wish you all: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR PROFESSOR RUDOLF! Health and long blessed years! Tatomir-Member of Peace from Harmony I received all the wonderful gratulation letters from the "Peace through HarmonyGroup" for my 80th birthday. I was very happy. I am most grateful to you as the initiator. Please tell all our friends , how grateful I am for all the good wishes. It is very beautiful to feel the solidarity in the "Peace through Harmony Group" : that there are good people in many parts of the world who are willing to use any chance bravely to promote peace locally and internationally. Thank you all ! I am with all my best wishes to you , House of Mir October 14, 2007 Rudolf J. Siebert The Critical Theory of Religion: The Evolution of the Moral Consciousness from the Jus Talionis to the Golden Rule. The specific theme of this essay, The Critical Theory of Religion: The Evolution of the Moral Consciousness from the Jus Talionis to the Golden Rule, is certainly of highest actuality in the present globalized, rather oppressive and troublesome world-historical transition - and crisis – situation (Habermas 2001; 2005; 2006;Habermas/Ratzinger 2005). The horrible abuse, which religion has suffered through its ideological functionalization in the Western civilization as well as in the Near Eastern civilizations, and elsewhere, particularly since September 11, 2001, and during the recent wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon, and in the psychological preparation of a possible war against Iran, make the general theme of our Leipzig Conference Secularity and Religious Vitality as well as the specific topic of this essay particularly relevant and necessaryconcerning the possiblefuture of religion. A. Jus Talionis The present war situation and the religious terror and the secular counter-terror of virtue, freedom and democracy in the Near East after the neo-conservative trend turn of the late 1960s, and after the victorious neo-liberal counter-revolution of the late 1980s, and particularly after September 11, 2001, have been initiated, and motivated, and dominated by Right-Hegelian conservative revolutionaries, or better still very successful counter-revolutionaries, e.g. Mr. Wolfowitz, or Mr. Rumsfeld, and their economic, political, military, and cultural agenda. (Habermas 1981 chs. 9 – 466; 1985; 2006; Borradori 2003), The deconstructionists, or post-modernists, not to speak of the Left-Hegelian praxis philosophers in Europe and America had no active part in the so called war on terror, but even denied, that this was a war at all in the sense of international law, and certainly not in the war against Afghanistan, and in the second Iraq war, or in the most recent war against Lebanon, or in the war and civil war going on in Palestine. Terror means great fear(Borradori 2003). Terrorism means the policy of using acts inspiring great fear. Terror is a method of ruling or of conducting political opposition. To terrorize people means to fill them with terror and to dominate them by inducing terror. There is religious and secular terror. There is state terrorism, revolutionary terrorism, and nihilistic terrorism. Long before the Shiites or Sunis used religious terror as means of Jihad, it had been practiced by the Crusaders and the Inquisitors. Long before the Alliance of the Willing used secular terror of virtue, freedom and democracy in the name of national security in Afghanistan and Iraq, it had been practiced by the great bourgeois revolution in France from the fall of the Gerondists on June 2, 1793 to the fall of Robespiere, on July 27, 1794 (Horkheimer 1985: 238-239; 1988:ch.3; 1989: chs. 15 17, 25). It was dominated by the Committee of Public Safety in Paris. This secular terror consisted of mass executions through the newly invented guillotine in order to galvanize national resistance in the face of foreign counter-revolutionary invasions. Functionalization of Religion Unfortunately, the present ideological functionalization of religion in antagonistic civil society does not respect, recognize, preserve, and realize the prophetic texts of the three Abrahamic religions, but rather distorts them beyond recognition, and motivates a political and military praxis which is in direct contradiction to their original meaning ((Schmidt 1972). Küng 1991; 1994; 2004).Can Christianity, or Judaism, or Islam possibly survive such horrendous Machiavellian, and blasphemous, hubris-like abuse? Of course, we can trace religion, troubled empires, terror and torture from Artaxerxes, and the Persian Empire, and the torture-death of the soldier Mithradaites after the victory over Cyrus, the King’s brother, through the historical linkage of religious and political Manichaeism, to the second Bush Administration, and the American Empire, and Abu Ghraib, and Guantanomo Bay (Hegel 1986:39o- 405). Mithradaites was most cruelly killed, because he accused rightly the King of having lied about his killing his brother, and was thus made falsely a liar himself, who followed Arhiman, the God of the lie and thus of darkness and evil, the opponent of Ahura Mazda, the God of light, and goodness, and the truth, Religion has changed from Zoroastrianism through Judaism and Christianity to Islam. But it has survived in always-new forms. We don’t have to start with a definition of religion, we remember the warning by Friedrich Nietzsche, not to define anything, which has a history and is still moving( Horkheimer 1974: 157-158). Religion, certainly, has a long history and it is still developing. Some people may say that Christianity has not even really started.Also what is called civilization – Jewish civilization, Christian civilization, Islamic Civilization, etc., has a history of hundreds of years, and is still in process. Even the second Bush Administration has found out, that the Rightwing Hegelian Francis Fukuyama had been wrong, when he stated, that history had come to its end with the climax of the victorious neo-conservative counter-revolution of 1989: the fall of the Soviet Empire. Recently Fukuyama was, nevertheless, intelligent enough, to leave the neo-conservative camp, and movement, and think tanks in time. As usually, the rats are leaving the sinking ship! Obviously, the Jihadists have helped to re-start history again. In any case, the second Bush Administration seems to continue modern colonial and imperial history for better or for worse toward what Samuel Huntington, - the disciple of the Hitler-jurist and political theologian, and one of the fathers of both, deconstructionism and neo-conservativism, Carl Schmitt - and, Harvard Professor and Pentagon advisor, had called the clash of civilizations, instigated by Christianity on one hand, and Islam on the other, on the basis of the latter’s political-theological mythology and anthropology: aiming at the redemption of the unredeemed world (Meier 1994; Groh1998). The second Bush Administration has not been post-modern so far, but rather still very modern, when it engaged in Machiavellian style in globalization, a very old modern phenomenon, in the form of neo-imperialism to the point of imperial hubris, and in the form of neo-colonialism in the service of the American and British oil magnates, not to speak of nationalism and religious fundamentalism. It seems, that critical religion and critical theology as well as genuine modernity and enlightenment are still- as communicative and critical praxis – unfinished projects.We may, nevertheless, be allowed in this present war and terror situation to have at least a working definition of our focus point – religion. We define religion with the critical theorists of society as the longing for the wholly Other than the horror and terror of nature and history (Horkheimer 1985: chs. 28, 2930,32,34,37, 40) Good and Bad Religion We understand religion as a dialectical notion: it is contradictory, polemical and revolutionary in itself in relation to traditional and modern civil societies, states and empires(Hegel 1986q: 278 – 291,341 –344;Horkheimer 1974: 16,18,92-83,131 – 132;Siebert 2007c;2008). But religion’s dialectical character can also be harmonized and it can thus be functionalized for counter-revolutionary purposes. Shortly, there is good and bad religion( Horkheimer 1974: 92-93,96-97, 121 – 123,127,131-133, 141-142, 148; Siebert 2007c;2008). Good religion is the impulse, which is carried through and out against the reality of civil society, state, and history, and which is still not yetcompletely suffocated through them,,that things should become otherwise, and that the ban, the curse, and the spell of evil should be broken, and that things should turn to what is right: toward alternative Future III – the reconciled society(Horkheimer 1985g: ch.37). Where life stands in this cipher of the longing for the wholly Other down to every gesture, there is good and genuinereligion( Horkheimer 1974: 92-93;1985g:chs. 17,29). To the contrary, bad religion is the impulse, which is perverted into affirmation, and which therefore gilds the reality of traditional and modern civil societies, states and empires, inspite of all scourging and whipping of them. This impulse is the vain lie. According to this impulse, the bad, the suffering, the horror have a meaning, be it through the earthly, be it through the heavenly future. The bad religion is the impulse, to give a positive meaning to Auschwitz and Treblinka, to Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki and all the horror and terror of nature and history ,these names stand for(Horkheimer 1974: 92-93,96-97, 121 – 123,127,131-133, 141-142, 148; 1989m: chs.1516,25,30; Siebert 2007c). Good religion is the impulse, that things must become otherwise in society and history, so that a Vietnam, or a an Iraq,including Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, or an Afghanistan, or a Lebanon, or a Palestine can not happen any more,The bad religion, the lie is in no need of the cross. It lives already in the notion of Transcendence. Where the good religion, the impulse toward what is right is genuine, there is no need for apologetics.This good impulse is not able to justify itself. As for the theologian Paul Tillich and for the sociologist Talcott Parsons the ulyimate concern or the concern for the Ultimate Reality can be shared by religious and secular people, so Horkheimer’s and Adorno’s impulse or longing forentire Otherness can have a religious and a secular form( Hegel1986a: 344 –345, 417; 1986b: 287-433; 1986c: 169, 423,424; 1986e: 267, 270; 1986l: 174;1986m: 135, ;1986r: 173;1986p: 9 – 88; 1986t: 386,399,407,418; Tillich 1963a: II, 9,14,26,30,87,116; Tillich 1963b: III, 102,125,130,154, 223, 283, 287, 289, 293, 349, 422; Parsons 1964: chs I,II; 1965: chs. I,II; Horkheimer 1985: chs.23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 34, 37, 40 ). The religious impulse andlonging fortotal Otherness carry in themselves the possibility of reconciliation between the sacred and the profane, revelation and enlightenment, faith and knowledge( Hegel 1986a: 344 –345, 417; 1986b: 287-433; 1986c: 169, 423,424; 1986e: 267, 270; 1986l: 174;1986m: 135, ;1986r: 173;1986p: 9 – 88; 1986t: 386,399,407,418; Horkheimer 1985: chs.23,25,26,27,28,29,30,32,34,37,40 ; Habermas2001;Habermas/Ratzinger 2005). The critical theory of religion encounters four stages in the motion of the genuine polemical, revolutionary, good religion (Horkheimer 1974: 92-93,96-97, 121 – 123,127,131-133, 141-142, 148; Siebert 2007c;2008). 1.There is firstly.the corruption in the secular society,state or empire. 2.There is secondly the polemics of the good religion against this corruption,and this sinfulness. 3.There is thirdly the reaction ofthe corrupt society, state or empire , often legimiated by bad religion, against the protest, the polemics of the critical revolutionary good religion: non licet esse vos!. 4.There can forthly come about the victory of the matyrized good religion over the persecuting society, state, or empire. But there can also happen a compromise between religion and state in order to stop the persecution. The religion accommodates itself to theproblematic state. Things go on as usually. Religion adjusts itself to the identity principle of the Empire, be it the Roman or American Empire and is rewarded for it.The good religion may even turn into a bad religion, and legitimate the state or empire in spite of its evil aspects.It may even take revenge on the former persecutors. Genuine, good relogion is always the iversion of what is the cse in the real world. If this good reliogion becomes positivistic and pragmatic in order to survive in a corrupt society, state, or empire. Ioy betrayes itself, and moves imto a niche of history and becomes irrelevant. And may even go under. The good religion. which inverts what is the case in society, state or empire,can be called with Dietrich Bonhoeffer religionless Christianity,or with Dorothy Sölle atheistic Christianity, or with Thomas Mann secular Christianity(Enns2007: 167-180;Sölle 1977; 1993; 1994; Mann 2004). Eye for Eye According to Francois deVoltaire andArthur Schopenhauer, the origin of all wars was the desire and the lust for thieving: Dans toutes les guerres il nes’agit que de voler (Schopenhauer 1985: 287, F,527). At this time, - July 2007 – the American Congress is working on the privatization of the Iraqian oilfields,so that they can be appropriated by the American oilmagnates in consequence of the first and second Iraq war. While robbery is definitely one motivation for war, revenge and retalion is certainly another one. Hitler’s war was driven by revenge as well as by the lust for robbery: by revenge against the West, and by thieving against the East. Whatever may have been the different economic or political motivations and goals of the attack against the World Trade Centers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D/C. and of the prevented attack against the Congress Building, the Capitol, or the White House, on September 11, 2001, and the followings wars against and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq in the past five years, it has become quite obvious, that the religious principle of the Jus or Lex Talionis has also played an important role (Siebert 2005;2006). The Torah teaches: But should she (the pregnant woman, who had been beaten by a man) die you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stroke for stroke (Exodus 21: 24-25) The New Testament teaches: You have heard how it was said: Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you: offer the wicked man no resistance. on the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well. (Matthew 5: 38-42). The Holy Qur’an teaches following the Torah: freeman for freeman, and slave for slave (Surah 2: 190,193). To be sure, on a certain stage of the evolution of moral consciousness the Lex Talonis came to be a limiting law: one eye for one eye, and no more. Unfortunately, in the present wars the stronger party tends to remove this limiting character of the Jus Talionis and takes ten or even more eyes for one eye: e.g. the lives of 600 000 Iraqis for the lives of 3000 Americans, in spite of the fact, that Iraq had nothing at all to do with September 11, 2001. Retaliation: A Taste of Suffering Usama bin Laden as well as Mohammed Atta have left no doubt, that they were motivated by the intent of retaliation: they wanted to give the Americans a taste of all the suffering they had caused other people in years past: at least from the terror saturation-bombings in Europe, through Hiroshima and Nagasaki to their involvement in Iraq, Somalia, Southern Sudan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kashmir, and in the Israeli struggles in Palestine and Lebanon, (Lawrence 2005). The Holy Qur’an teaches: Fight for the sake of Allah those who fight you, but do not violate the limits, Allah does not love aggressors. (Surah 2: 190). Fight them until there is no more chaos and oppression, until there is justice and faith in Allah. If they cease hostilities, let there be no hostility except for those who oppress (Surah 2: 193). Usama bin Laden said in an interview in November 2001: We ourselves are the victims of murder and massacres. We are only defending ourselves against the United States. This is a defensive jihad to protect our land and people. That’s why I have said, that if we don’t have security, neither will the Americans. It’s a very simple equation that any American child could understand: live and let others live.Usama bin Laden said in December 2001: The events of 22nd Jumada al-Thani, or Aylul, are merely a response to the continuous injustice inflicted upon our sons in Palestine, Iraq, Somalia, southern Sudan, and other places, like Kashmir. The matter concerns the entire Umma. People need to wake up from their sleep, and try to find a solution to this catastrophe, that is threatening all of humanity (Lawrence 141). Today – July 2007 – the American revenge wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continue undiminished and fiercely, and even escalate further. Over 3500 American soldiers have been killed, while they were killing others in Iraq alone. Over 25 000 American soldiers were wounded and crippled for life in body or soul, or both, while they were wounding and crippling others in Iraq alone. Already in the first Iraq war over 400 children had been incinerated by a single rocket attack on one bunker in Baghdad alone. Between the first and the second Iraq war, 500 000 children were killed by the international embargo. Former U.S. Secretary of State, Madelein Albright, took responsibility for the death of these children. She stated, that the death of the children had been necessary and worthwhile as a means for changing President Saddam Hussein’s regime. In the meantime, Albright has many times regretted and apologized for her statement, but not for the fact, that the children have been killed.So far over 600 000 civilians have been killed in Iraq, since the beginning of the second war. Over a thousand civilians, among them many children have been killed during the recent Israeli invasion into Lebanon. A new war against Iran may be possible, probable, and even imminent, since the psychological warfare and the attack fleet of carriers have been in place since quite some time. Daily the most primitive, and archaic, and necrophilous Jus Talionis has been practiced in recent years on both sides in Palestine, in Israel, in Lebanon, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in the Sudan, and elsewhere. The great atheistic thinker, Friedrich Nietzsche, had hoped toward the end of the 19th century, that human kind would be redeemed from the urge of revenge and retaliation some day (Kaufmann 1967: 30-32, 42-47, 203 – 409, 443 – 447,450-454). But the spell and the ban of the most mythological Jus Talionis, - including terroristic rocket-bombardments, suicide attacks, aerial saturation bombings, imprisonments, tortures of all kinds, hangings, decapitations, shootings – continue unbroken, and are even escalated into our present historical situation – July 2007. Crime is committed against crime, without the order of private right, personal and social morality, and of law being mythically or otherwise restored (Hegel 1986: 198 –292). As crime is committed against crime, criminality is only multiplied and escalated into the future in terms of a bad infinity. Children and grandchildren shall have to pay the price for it, with their own property and lives. Deeper and deeper becomes the abyss between political, military, and historical facticity on one hand, and religious as well as secular-humanistic ethical, and moral, and legal validity, on the other (Habermas 1992; 2001;Borradori 1994). As the unholy trinity of stealing, killing, and lying continues from day to day, the guilt connection among individuals and nations intensifies, and spreads, and enslaves them more and more. Genuinely religious and humanistic people try in vain to break the bad, quantitative infinity of nature and history through their insatiable longing for the good qualitative Infinity – the wholly Other than the horror, and the terror, and the curse of natural and historical finitude (Hegel 1986c: 131 132, 33; 1986d: 16,87-88 185-187; 1986e: 145,149 – 166; 1986l: 30-55; Schopenhauer 1986; Horkheimer 1967: chs. 252, 269; 1985g: chs. 4,9,21, 28, 29, 30,32,34,37, 40). Lawlessness and Immorality In the meantime, global protest – weak and powerless as it may be against the iron will of the globalizing corporate ruling class - has, nevertheless, arisen and continues against the application of the Lex Talionis , and the increasing lawlessness and immorality connected with it in particular, and the neo–conservative or neo-liberal agenda in general:concerning the war against Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon (Wettig 2006:18–21). Thus, e. g. , in April 2003, the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, Israel, decided, to ban President Bush junior and Prime Minister Blair from the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth, who had broken the Lex Talionis in his so called Sermon on the Mount , and replaced it by thelove of the enemy and the Golden Rule: So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets( Matthew 5: 38 – 48,12; Horkheimer 1989m:chs 15, 20; Global Research 2006). The Church of Nativity stands under the authority of the Greek Orthodox Church (Matthew 2: 1–23; Küng1994: 145–335). The Church remembers not only the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, but also, in connection with it, the killing of all the two year old male children in Bethlehem and its surroundings by Herod, the King of Judea, Idumaea, and Samaria, who governed from 37–4 B. C, and was known as a mass murderer. The Church of Nativity decided, to ban Bush and Blair access into the Nativity Shrine forever, because they were war criminals and the murderers of children. Their entry into the Church would tarnish it as (Bush’s) hands were covered in the blood of the innocent. The spirit of Christmas consisted in spreading peace and justice. The spirit of Christmas was, when war criminals were banned from the birthplace of Jesus, the Christ. The Church of Nativity banned the American President Bush and the British Prime Minister Blair in Israel, in spite of the fact, that the USA and Britain are the closest allies of Israel (Grosbard 2001; Rebhuhn/Levy 2006:391—414). The US news media have so far–July 2007–not yet reported this story of the Church of Nativity in Israel. That is what theJeffersonian freedom of the press has come down to. The neo-conservative application of the Lex Talionisand the consequent national and internationallawlessness and immorality, and the global protest against it, reached a new climax with the unilateral regime change in Baghdad, and with the trial and execution of President Saddam Hussein. As the transfer of President Hussein by the American authorities to the Iraqian authorities and his long planned execution through hanging approached in the last days of the so bloody year 2006,not only in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also in Lebanon and Palestine and elsewhere, the Vatican, the center of the Roman Catholic Church, which had condemned the first and second Iraq war as unjust and immoral, announced, that this death penalty imposed by an Iraqian court under American occupation and influence, meant only the retaliation for one crime by another one: Jus Talionis ( Küng 1994: 336 –601;.Global Research 2006;Schwartz 2006:1-4;Wadlow 2006:3-5;Grosbard 2001;Rebhuhn/Levi 2006:391-414). President Hussein was not tried and sentenced to death and executed for having attacked two neutral countries in peace time, two international war crimes which he shared with President Bush junior, whoinitiated the wars against Afghanistan and Iraq, but becausehe retaliated for an assassination attempt against his own life by killing over 200 Shiites, Already when the neo-liberal President Bush junior was still Governor of Texas, the Vatican had tried several times to intervene into and prevent one or the other of the over150 executions, which took place under his governance: more than in any other state of the Union. Not only the Roman Catholic Church but also members from the World Council of Churches started to resist neo-conservative economic, political, and military lawlessness and immorality. When a born again prisoner in on of the born again Governor Bush’s Texas prisons asked him for mercy and the commutation of her death penalty, he ridiculed herpublicly on television, and let her be executed next day: Lex Talionis of one so called Christianfor the an other! The Governor must have misunderstoodthe Rabbi Jesus’ teaching on being born gain even more so than Nicodemus from the Synhedrion in Jerusalem in his nightly discourse withRabbi Jesus, the Nazarene: Jesus - I tell you most solemnly, unless a man is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.- Nicodemus-How can a grown man be born? Can he go back into his mother’s womb?(Matthew 19-28; Titus 3:5John 3: 4, 5; 1 Peter 1:3, 3 ; Titus 3:5) Nicodemus was not too far removed in his literalist consciousness from the modern American religious and political fundamentalism - or from that of the Talibans in Afghanistan, Legal and Psychological Preparations In spite of the protest and resistance of the Catholic and Protestant Christian Churches and of Islamic organizations, particularly of the Suni, persuasion, the American and Iraqian legal and psychological preparations for President Sadam Hussein’s execution went ahead for months in a trial in Baghdad, which suffered from many procedural flaws, some of which were intended to hide the American complicity in his war against Iran (Horkheimer 1988n: 67; MacFarquhar 2006; Canetti 1960:chs. 1, 4, 5; Opitz 2006:41–44; Harprecht 2006:11–14).The United States had supportedPresident Hussein in his unjust war against Iran and had provided him with mustard gas, which had been invented by the Jewish-German General Fritz Haber in 1915, and whichwas a weapon of mass destruction outlawed by the Geneva Convention, like later on the American Government supported Osama Bin Laden in his struggle against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.(Lawrence 2005). one of the flaws of the trial against President Hussein was the Baghdad court’s lack of independence from the Iraqian and the American Governments. The Iraqian Government changed the judges at least three times, when they did not perform according to its and American intentions. Another flaw was, that President Sadam Hussein could not confront and question the witnesses appearing against him, etc.. Beyond that, President Hussein and his co-defendants, and his defense team, including the former American Attorney General, Ramsey Clark, knew very well, that the American corporate ruling class, and the American Government and its Iranian puppet - government, had already pre-ordained the death penalty through hanging for all the defendants, before the trial even started. In psychological preparation for the execution of President Hussein, as the execution date approached, i. e. the end of the year 2006, the American and global mass media showed in graphic detail, what the hanging of a human being entailed, so that all citizens would know exactly, how cruelly the American Empire practices the Jus Talionis, and punishes high level government officials, democratically legitimated or not, in dependent states, who do not obey the commands of the American corporate ruling class and its rackets and coolies (Hearit 2006). After President Hussein’s execution, Human Rights Watch released a report calling the speedy trial and subsequent hanging of Saddam proof of the new Iranian Governments disregard for human rights, not to speak of the American Government (Abdul–Zhara 2007: 1–4). The director of the Human Rights Watch’s international justice program stated: The tribunal repeatedly showed its disregard for the fundamental due process rights of all the defendants. Of course, the Human Rights Watch did not make the slightest difference in American or Iraqiangovernmental behavior. Might had become Right! History is made and written by the victors, not by the victims ( Benjamin 1977: ch.10). As late as Easter 2007,Pope Benedict XVI condemned the war in Iraq once more by saying in his Message to the world, that it was a butchery, and that nothing good could possible come from it. The Democratic Party in the American Congress agreed with the Pope: not so President Bush junior, who continues to escalate his crusade for freedom and democracy, i.e. not for the freedom of All, but rather of the Few, for the American and international bourgeois power elite even still today – July 2007 - in the form of the so called Search. Service to the Corporate Ruling Class The global corporate ruling class, engaged in globalization and faced by Middle East terrorism, is treating people very differently depending, if they serve it well or not (Sullivan 2006: 1–3; Reese 2006: 1–2). Some peopleare rewarded and others punished. Thus, President Gerald R. Ford and President Saddam Hussein, both died in the last week of the bloodiest year of the Iraq war, the year 2006 (Woodward 2006:1–4; Torchia/Abdul–Zarah 2006: 1–3; Hurst 2006: 1–4; Harprecht 2006:11–14; Auken 2007:1–4). Both menhad served the same trans–national, corporate ruling class, what President Eisenhower had called the Military- Industrial Complex, particularly the oil magnates and their many rackets: the bourgeois masters of the free market and the globalized economy, and its social, political, and military consequences (Meyer 2006: 344–47; Hearit 2006). But President Ford obeyed humbly the manifoldly mediated commands of the corporate ruling class throughout his life and work as a lawyer, a politician, a President, and a commander in chief, and thus became wealthy, and reached peacefully the ripe, satisfied, and fulfilled old age of the patriarchs in the Hebrew Bible in the midst of his loving family, and had a funeral, attended by many friends, including many old conservatives and neo–conservatives, and with all state honors in Washington D. C. , and then was flown with his family and friends in the stately Air force one for an honorable burial in a grave close to his museum in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan (Woodward 2006:1–4; Canetti 1960: 66–92). Sic transit gloria mundi! In contrast, President Hussein somewhere in his carrier as a lawyer, a politician, a President, and a commander in chief, began to misunderstand, or to rebel against the manifold mediated commands of the international corporate ruling class, consisting of bankers and industrialists, particularly oil magnates, and all their rackets (Torchia/Abdul–Zarah 2006: 1–3; Hurst 2006: 1–4; Canetti 1960: 66–92; Fisk 2006: 1–2). He made the mistake, to nationalize the large Iraqian oil resources, and to use part of the profits to have free schools and free hospitals for his people, and thushad progressed furtherin terms of social justice than the United States, President Hussein made the mistake, not only to commitinternational crimes, which served the interests of the globalizing corporate ruling class, like his war against Iran, but also those against it, like his invasion into the wealthy Quait, in order to overcome the bankruptcy of the Iraqian state, caused by the costly war against Iran. Thus, Saddam was first demonized by Western propaganda, and he then was hanged by his taunting political enemies, and had to die without his family, which partially had already been liquidated either by himself or by hisAmerican enemies, and was thrown–as one of his accusers said–on the garbage dumb of history. He had a small, poor, miserable burial without any family or close friends, and without all honors in his hometown of Ouja, outside Ticrit. Sic transit gloria mundi! Nearby Saddam had surrendered to the invading American troops as prisoner of war, stating that he was the President of Iraq, and that he could be helpful in negotiations. He was not taken seriously any longer. Saddam was a dictator, first created, and then destroyed by America, as so many others in the Near East, and in Latin and Central America, and elsewhere around the globe in the past 100 years of American invasions and regime changes in the interest of American big business (Hegel 1986l: 111–114; Mercieca 2006; Fisk 2006: 1–2; Sherriff 2006: 106; Harprecht 2006: 11–12). Thus Saddam’s life was one of many political tragedies! That at least is, what the historical equation appears to be. But only for the positivists appearance and essence are identical: not so for the dialecticians (Hegel 1986f: 17–185; 1986l: 19–55, 215–274; Torchia/Abdul–Zarah 2006: 1–3; Hurst 2006: 1–4; Canetti 1960: 66–92; Fisk 2006: 1–2; Sherriff 2006: 1–6; Meyer 2006: 44–47). President Saddam Hussein was executed in a prison in Baghdad on Saturday, December 30, 2006, on Eid al–Adha, a Suni–Islamic feast day, at 6.00 a.m. (Torchia/Abdul–Zarah 2006: 1–3; Frayer/Mattar 2007: 1–4). The execution took place during the year 2006’s deadliest month for the U.S. troops with the toll reaching 113 American servicemenand women. At this time, over 3000 members of the US military hadalready died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003: i. e. more human beings than hadbeen killed in the attacks on New York and Washington D. C. 2 years earlier, on September 11, 2001. In addition there were over 25 000 wounded American soldiers. The Iraqian civilian casualties–collateral damage in army jargon–count over 600 000 in July 2007, over half of them women and children (Davies 2006: 1–3). The limiting Lex Talionis has no longer any limits( Siebert 2005;2006). Iraq’s death penalty had been suspended by the U.S. military after it toppled President Hussein in 2003. But the new Iraqi Government re-instated the death penalty two years later, in 2005, with the consent of the American Government, when President Saddam Hussein’s trial started, saying that executions would deter criminals (Hegel 1986a: 440–442, 614, 620; Torchia/Abdul–Zarah 2006: 1–3). Saddam’s request to be shot honorably like a soldier, instead of being hanged shamefully like a common criminal, had been denied by the American guided Iraqian courts, together with all other appeals. The American military authorities delivered President Hussein, a Suni, to his Iraqi executioners, who were Shiites, and who were very much intent on revenge and retaliation for the crimes he had committed against them: Lex Talionis (Exodus 21:24; Matthew 5:38–48; Torchia/Abdul–Zarah 2006: 1–3; Hurst 2006:1–4; Siebert2005; 2006). In the pre–execution turmoil the American authorities wanted very much the execution to be postponed by two weeks, in order to make it more orderly. The new President of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, was against the death penalty in general, and therefore refused to sign the constitutionally required execution order. However, the new Prime Minister Malakhi, a Shiite, wanted Sadam to die before the New Year 2007 began. Therefore, Malakhi declared the President’s signature to be unnecessary, and signed the execution order himself. As the American military authorities delivered Saddam to his revengeful Shiite executioners, they of course took sides in the Iraqian civil war - as once in the Vietnamese civil war on the side of the Diem–fascists against the Giap–communists,–now with one of the Iraqian war parties, the Shiites, against the other, the Sunis, and the residuals of the Baath–Party, and Generals, and Al–quaeda, and the foreign fighters, which would have disastrous consequences for the rest of the overall Iraqian as well as Afghanistan tragedy, It is the Shiites, who are the majority in Iraq, but who are the minority elsewhere, andwho are despised throughout the Middle East and elsewhere. The American authorities did not tell President Saddam Hussein, when he went to bed on Friday night, December 29, 2006, that early next morning he would be pulled out of bed, and would be delivered to the Iraqian authorities, in order to be hanged by a Shiite lynch mob in the most barbarous way. (Torchia/Abdul–Zarah 2006: 1–3). Maybe in the general turmoiland confusion not even the American guards of the President Hussein knew, what would happen early next morning. When shortly before his execution President Saddam Hussein was delivered by the American military to his Shiite executioners, he carried The Holy Qur’an in his hand, He had nothing to say any longer to his American captors. But he spoke to the Iraqian mainly Shiite crowd, which was gathered for his execution. Before his black–hooded hangmen put the rope around his neck, Saddam shouted: Allah Akbar! The nation will be victorious and Palestine is Arab! Arabic nationalism, including Islamic and socialistic elements, prevailed with Saddam up to his end! Saddam appeared calm, but scornful with his Shiite captors, as he stood on the metal framework of the gallows (Hurst 2006: 1–4). He exchanged taunts with them. He engaged in give– and take– with the crowds gathered eagerly to watch him die (Canetti 1960; 1972: 66–92, 104–132; Torchia/Abdul–Zarah 2006: 1–3; Hurst 2006:1–4) Saddam insisted, that he was Iraq’s savior, not its tyrant or scourge. Sadam stated, that he and his friends were going to Heaven, and that their enemies would rot in hell. Saddam also called for forgiveness and love among the Iraqis. But he also demanded, that the Iraqis should continue to fight the Americans and the Persians. one of the Shiite guards shouted at Saddam: You have destroyed us. You have killed us. You have made us live in destitution. Saddam responded: I have saved you from destitution and misery. I have destroyed your enemies, the Persians and the Americans. God damn you, the guard said. God damn you, Saddam responded. The dialectic of mass and power, of the one and the many, of the one on one side, and the crowd in the execution room and the masses watching the execution on Iraqian and global television on the other, worked itself out with all brutality and cruelty (Hegel 1986e: 174–208; Canetti 1972: 122–124; 1960; Mosse1977) However, Saddam seemed to smile at those Shiites taunting him to the end from below the gallows, Some voices chanted Mokthada, Mokthada, the given name of the radical anti–American Shiite cleric Mokthada al Sadr, whose Mahdi army militia is believed to be connected with Iran, and to have been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Sunnis in the past year 2006(Ladurner 2006:16–18). President Hussein looked states–men - like in his long black coat. Saddam said to the Shiite crowd, that they were not showing manhood. Then Saddam began to recite the Shahada. It is a Muslim prayer, which says that there is no god but God, and that Muhammad is his messenger. Saddam made it to midway through his second recitation of the verse, when his hangmen cut him off. His last word was Muhammad. Then the floor dropped out of the gallows. The tyrant has fallen, some Shiites shouted in the crowd of immediate onlookers. Then came another Shiite voice from the Shiite hanging pack: Let him swing for three minutes (Canetti 1972; 1960). It appeared through the cell phone cameras, as if Sadam had fallen victim to a Shiite lynch mob, tolerated by a Shiite Government and by the American occupation force, A post–execution picture showed a large bloody spot at the front of the neck of Sadam, and thus made obvious to the world the extreme cruelty and inhumanity of the whole lynch procedure, followingquite logically the other crimes in Abu Ghraib and Guntanemo Bay, initiated and inspired by the American neo–conservative agenda. Soon afterwards, far away from the Baghdad prison, in which President Saddam Hussein had been hanged, Sheil Yahya al–Attani, a Suni cleric at the Saddam Big Mosque, said: The President, the leader Saddam Hussein, is a martyr, and God will put him along with other martyrs (Torchia/Abdul–Zarah 2006: 1–3; Hurst 2006:1–4). Do not be sad or complain, because he has died the death of a holy warrior.Also the Vatican condemned the execution as an act of revenge andas practice of the Lex Talionis. In the first days of 2007, the City of Rome lighted up the Coliseum, in which many Christian martyrs had been executed, in remembrance of President Sadam Hussein’s execution and in protest against it. Also the USA’s closest ally in the war against Iraq, the British Government, which had abolished the death penalty after World War II, which was fought by the Allies against the Axis Berlin, Rome, Tokyo, against European and Asian fascism, condemned the execution of President Saddam Hussein, whom it had helped to depose against international law and against the will of the UN Security Council. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmdinejad said, that the execution of Saddam Hussein prevented the exposure of the secrets and the crimes of the former dictator committed during his brutal rule (Ladurner 2006:16–18). He meant particularly the secrets and crimes connected with Saddam’s war against Iran, which had been supported by the United States. During the war against Iran the neo–conservative Donald Rumsfeld, the later Secretary of Defense, led an American delegation to President Saddam Hussein, which expressed support, The USA supplied to Iraq the mustard gas,which had been developed by the German–Jewish General, Fritz Haber, early in World War I, in support of the German attacks against Belgium and France( Siebert 2006). While the American partisanship in the Iraq civil war for the Shiite government would have serious consequences for the ongoing war and for the future fate of Iraq, the immediate consequence of President Saddam Hussein’s execution was large, butmostly peaceful. Suni protest rallies all around Baghdad and Iraq. There was, however,also a rise in Suni violence not only in Baghdad, but also all over the country in retaliation and revenge for the President Sadam Hussein’s most cruel and inhumane death. It was already clear in January 2007, that the Shiite Unity Government, and the American and British Government would be held responsible for the rest of Iraqian history, no matter how long it would last, not only for President Hussein’s in many ways flawed trial in Baghdad, but also for his lynch execution, and beyond that for the two wars against Iraq, and their military casualties on both sides, and for their large civilian, so called collateral damages, and for Abu Ghraib and Guantanemo Bay, and for all the consequent misery, pain and suffering in the present and in the future, no matter how much they would try to correct this impression and judgment of the people in Iraq, in the whole Near East, and even in Islamic communities and states around the globe, or whitewash them, or re–write history. Generations ofparticularly Americansand British would have to pay for all that horror and terror with their property and their lives or many years to come, eye for eye, if the iron chain and spell of the Jus Talionis would not be broken. (Scheurer 2007:1–2; Miller 2007: 1–2; Abdullah 2006; Siebert 2006)). It is thus no wonder, that the neo–conservative television evangelist and preacher, Pat Robertson, predicted on January 3, 2007 a deadly terror attack on the US during the new year, which would cost the lives of millions of people (Torchia 2007:1–3; AP 2006:1–4; Siebert 2006). He claimed, that God told him so. Lex Talionis all over again (Siebert 2006). Maybe it was Robertson’s own scrupulous, if also somewhat selective Protestant conscience, which told him so: selective in relation to socialist and Muslim enemies, which according to the Sermon on the Mount he was supposed to love (Matthew 5: 43–48). Robertson did not say, that God intended to do something about the impending new horrible theodicy and prevent it, or that man would finally in the year 2007 be redeemed from the Jus Talionis, or would. liberate himself from the ugly age–old, primitive and archaic urge to revenge himself, privately or collectively, through wars, terror attacks, flawed show–trials, or public executions (Exodus 21:24; Matthew 5:38–42; Hegel 1986a:440–442, 613–614, 6–19–620; Siebert 2006). An American toy factory reached the peak of the general tastelessness of the culture industry and of enlightenment as mass deception, when it produced a doll of Saddam Hussein with a robe around its neck (Horkheimer/Adorno 1969:120–167). The Sadam - dollas selling well to the children of America on the free market. The only excuse of the producer was, that this was justthe kind of things he was doing: making dolls for children out of contemporary public events and issues.Already the children are introduced into the mysterium iniquitatis of revenge and retaliation( Siebert2005; 2006). In response to the national and international upheaval about the barbarous execution of President SadamHussein, the Iraqian Prime Minister, Nouri al–Maliki, ordered an investigation into it on January 2, 2007: but not concerning the inhuman taunting, which occurred during its procedure, but rather concerning its making it public through the use of several cell phone cameras (Torchia/Abdul–Zarah 2006:1–3; Hurst 2006:1–4; Scheurer 2007:1–2; Miller 2007:1–2; Abdullah 2006; Abdul–Zhara 2007:1–4). The supervisor of the execution and two guards came under suspicion. The Prime Minister promised, that the next executions of two co–defendants of Sadam Hussein would be more orderly (Frayer/Mattar 2007:1–4). When President Hussein’s younger half–brother, Barzan Ibrahim, was executed together with another co–defendant, Awad Harmed al–Bandar, like President Hussein in the Saddam–era military intelligence headquarters building in the Shiite north Baghdad neighborhood of Kazimiyah at 3. 00 a. m. on January 16, 2007, they were merely wearing Gutanomo–style red orange jumpsuits, but they were not taunted. They also prayed like President Hussein before the Shahada, shortly before they were executed. But when Saddam’s younger brother was hanged, his head was severed: the hanging turned into a decapitation. By day’s end at least 3000 angry Sunnis protested by firing their guns into the air, or they were weeping, or they were cursing the Iraqian and American Governments at the burial of Ibrahim in Ouja. Another global outcry of protest followed. The American mass media, particularly the powerful Rightwing, neo–conservative, most Government–conform Fox News television and radio–stations described the crimes of the two co-defendants of Sadam Hussein in detail, in order to justify the new public crime of their gruesome hanging or decapitation. According to Fox News, one of the men protesting the hanging, asked in grief and utter frustration: Where are those who cry out and demand human rights: Where are the UN and the world human rights organizations? Barzan had cancer. They treated him only to keep him alive long enough to kill him. We vow to take revenge even if it takes years. Ibrahim’s son in law Azzam Saleh Abdullah said: We heard the news from the media. We were supposed to have the information a day earlier. but it seems that the Government does not know the rules. It reflects the hatred for the Sunnis felt by the Shiite–led Government. They still want more Iraqui bloodshed. To hell with democracy. The new Iraqian Government has obviously not only inherited the Iraqian sectarian hate, but also the American neo–conservative disrespect for legal and moral rules from the Nixon– through the Reagan– to the two Bush Administrations. A spokes woman for the new UN Secretary–General, Ban Kimoon, said he regrets that despite pleas from both himself and the High Commissioner for human rights to spare the lives of the two defendants, Ibrahim and al–Bandar, they were both executed. on Monday, January 15, 2007, the Martin Luther King Day 2007, Secretary of State, Condolezza Rice, said during a press conference with her Egyptian counterpart in Luxor, Egypt, that the executions in Baghdad had been mishandled, and that she hoped that those responsible for making the cell phone videos of Saddam’s execution would be punished: of course, not the Shiite lynch mob, who taunted, and mocked, and executed him. Rice stated with the usual neo–conservative or neo-liberalhypocrisy: We are disappointed that there was not greater dignity given to the accused under these circumstances. Revenge against Revenge On Monday, January 15, 2007, the Iraqian Government reported, that at least 55 people were killed or found dead in Baghdad. on the same Martin Luther King Day, the US Military announced the death of two more soldiers killed in Baghdad. The mutual application of the Lex Talionis, revenge against revenge, has continued every day up to this time – April 2007 - without redemption in the Jewish, Christian or Islamic, or even the Buddhist sense (Küng 2004:19–55; Siebert 2006; 2005). on Tuesday, January 16, 2007, in revenge for the execution of President Hussein and his two aids over 109 Iraqians were killed outside a Baghdad University and over 200 people were wounded, as students were heading home for the day, and 4 American soldiers were killed in Northern Iraq (Gamel 2007: 1–4). A few days later, on January 20, 2007. 20 U. S. Service members were killed in Iraq (Mroue 2006:1–4) A few days later, on January 22, 2007, the Al Qaeda Deputy, Ayman al–Zawahiri, mocked and challenged US President George W. Bush’s plan to increase Iraq troop numbers by over 21 000 troops in a video message intercepted by the UD–based terrorism think–tank Site, to send the entire army to Iraq (BBC News 2007:1). He threatened, that the Iraqi insurgents would burry 10 armies like those of Mr. Bush. His strategy in Iraq was going to fail. Al Zawairi asked the President, why send 20 000 troops only–why not send 50 000 or 100 000. He asked President Bush: Arent’you aware that the dogs of Iraq are pining over your troops’ dead bodies? That is the hateful archaic language of revenge. on January 16, 2007, the UN announced, that the death toll in Iraq for 2006 topped 34 000 Iraqis. The Golden Rule, which all three Abrahamic religions, and Buddhism, and the other world religions share, and the project global ethos, built on it as well as on the categorical imperative and the apriori of the universal communication community, remains mute and unrealized as Modernity continues unnegated in the neo–conservative and neo–liberal form of globalization, and as only its Orwellian and Huxleyian lies, hypocrisy and lawlessness point to global post–Modern alternative Future I–the totally administered, loveless and meaningless world, and to global post–modern alternative Future II–the entirely militarized more and more murderous world: War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength ( Huxley, 1969;Orwell 1961: 7,17,87-88152 – 153,;Adorno1997j/2: 9–10, 47–71, 97–122 , 375–395, 573–594, 608–616, 674–690, 702–740, 785–802; Horkheimer 1985g:chs. 34, 35, 36, 37, 40; Küng 1990; 1991: 486 -536, 537 – 762; 1994: 869 –906; 2004: D and E; Siebert 2006; 2005; Meyer 2006: 22–27). Facticity and Validity In his press conference with the Christian–Democratic German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, on January 4, 2006, the neo–conservative President Bush junior supported the investigation into President Sadam Hussein’s execution by the Iraqian Prime Minister, but–like his Secretary of State–refused to condemn the Shiite henchmen, who taunted him before his hanging (Frayer/Mattar 2007: 1–4; Abdul–Zhara 2007: 1–4). It seems, that like Machiavelli or Pareto, the teacher of Benito Mussolini, before, so President Bush junior and his cabinet often seem to be blind for the essential difference between facticity and validity: namely that the mere fact, that a President, whose government has been recognized internationally for over three decades, has factually and effectively been removed by a foreign government through overwhelming power, force, war, and execution, does not yet mean, that this procedure was rightful, moral, ethical, or legal, and that thus it has validity in any religious or secular sense (Habermas 1992). Not even the United Nations has the right to perform a regime change in any of its member states, or in any other state outside itself. only a nation itself may have the right to remove its government, if it threatens its existence. Regime change in one nation through unilateral intervention, first strike, war, occupation, terror or executions by another state can never be ethically or legally universalized. The very fact, that often before in American or European history might has been right de facto, does not mean that, therefore, this principle has validity, and can be an excuse for present or future overwhelming military interventions. This principle of might is right also does not gain validity through the very fact, that the enemy practiced it as well nationally or internationally. If I imitate my enemy and thus become like him, what is the purpose in fighting him? Injustices have the tendency to generate further injustices, and even escalate them, rather than to restore the violated order of right and personal, social, political, or historical morality. That has been the curse of the Jus or Lex Talionis through centuries. That is under all circumstances to be broken, and not to be continually reproduced, so that the horrible theodicy problem is further increased(Genesis 34; Exodus 21:24; Matthew 5:38–48; Hertz 5716–1956:127–129/1–31; Leibniz 1996: Vol. I and II; Hegel 1986 l: 28, 540, 1986p: 88; 1986s: 497; 1986t: 248, 455; Oelmüller1990; Torchia/Abdul–Zarah 2006: 1–3; Hurst 2006:1–4; Siebert 1993; 2006). Under the condition of always more sophisticated weapons of mass destruction, such increase of the theodicy problem may very well mean the end of the human species in the form of a Third World War among the religion-based civilizations carried out with ABC weapons, as foreseen by Samuel Huntington and his followers. Shortly, the reduction of validity to facticity, or of right to might, can not possibly be universalized in terms of the Golden Rule, or of its secularization and rationalization in the form of the categorical imperative, or of the apriori of the unlimited communication community (Apel 1975: vol. II, 155–436; Habermas 1983; 1991; 1992; Küng 1990; Siebert 2006; Lee 2006). If these universalizing principles are continually violated, only the always–escalating Lex Talionis and the consequent horror of the deepening theodicy problem are left (Siebert 2005; 2006). Abolishment of the Death Penalty The critical theorist of religion remembers, that the Christian social ethics evolved only very slowly to the point, when finally in the 20th century it was ready to find the death penalty implausible and unacceptable, and agreed with the modern enlighteners’ attempts to abolish it (Hegel 1986a: 440–442, 613–614, 6–19–620; Canetti 1960; 1972; Opitz 2006:41–44). The death penalty had been quite customary in Antiquity, Medieval and Modern Europe, under the slaveholders, and the feudal lords, as well as under the bourgeois ruling class (Hegel 1986a: 440–442, 613–614, 6–19–620), Unfortunately, also the moral and legal and practical track record of the different Christian paradigms as well as of the other world religions concerning death penalty, as well as torture, or slavery has rather been miserable. Before World War II, only Norway had been humanistic and social–minded enough, to abolish the death penalty in its territory. But then from 1945 on, when the European nations wanted to extract themselves from the bestiality of two world wars, and wanted to rediscover their normative identity and base in their seedbed societies of Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome–the Golden Rule and itssecular modern inversion into the categorical imperative and the apriori of the unlimited communication community, s well as autonomy, humanism, scientific rationality, universalistic humanity, democracy, constitutional state, and social market economy–they as well as the USA, were so repelled and disgusted by the all too frequent and criminal application of the death penalty by the fascist regimes, particularly by the most revengeful Adolf Hitler, that they were ready and willing to abolish the death penalty (Kant 1929:472–474, 633–634; 1946; 197540–54, 55–61, 77–93, 113–122, 129–131; Hegel 1986g:398–514; 1986q:50–95, 96––154, 155–184, 185–346; Fromm 1973:ch. 13; Canetti 1972:chs. 1, 4, 5, 7; 1960; Sohn–Rethel1975:chs. 10, 11; Apel 1976: vol. I and II; 1982; Habermas 1983; 1991; Küng 1990:84–85; 1991; 1994; 2004; Küng/Kuschel 1993a; 1993b; Häring/Kuschel 1993; Nida–Rümelin 2006: 5–10; Harprecht 2006: 11–14). The death penalty remained abolished in the West for several years, and still remains so in the European Union up to the present– April 2007. However, during the social crisis and social destabilization in the West in the 1960s and 1970s, which was caused particularly by economic setbacks under the Keynesian system, and by the War in Vietnam, and by the student rebellion, and which led to the successful neo–conservative revolution, or bourgeois counter–revolution, and to the neo–liberal trend turn, the Supreme Court of the USA permitted the particular states of the Union to reintroduce the death penalty again. Over 20 states did do so. Recently, however–in 2005/2006/2007– several of these states have felt serious doubts concerning different aspects of the death penalty: but not enough yet, in order to abolish it again and suspend it altogether everywhere and forever. To do so, would help greatly to reduce the general necrophilia in the late capitalist commodity–exchange societies, and it would be an important step on the way to global alternative Future III–a society characterized by a possible socialism as practiced humanism, and situated beyond both, the free market economy on one hand, and the centrally administered economy, on the other (Adorno 1979:354–372, 397–407 408–433, 434–439 578–587; Fetscher/. Schmidt 2002:chs. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; Flechtheim/Lohmann 2003). According to Canetti and Adorno, even the most modern and enlightened societies are still built on a latent coercive violence behind all commands of the international corporate ruling class and its rackets. It becomes manifest and immediate in a most extreme way not only in wars, but also already in the praxis of the death penalty, and in the particular executions: as e, g, that of President Saddam Hussein (Canetti 1960: 90–91). The critical theorist of society, Theodor W. Adorno, argued, following Hegel, that every execution was directed toward the others,i.e. toward those, who are not executed (Hegel 1986a: 440–442, 613–614, 6–19–620; Canetti 1960: 90–91. Already Adorno’s great teacher, Friedrich Nietzsche, the son of a Protestant pastor and the self–proclaimed anti–Christ – Dionysus versus the Crucified –. spoke, nevertheless, the great sentence in conformity with the Sermon on the Mount, and quite in the spirit of Hegel: that man had to be redeemed from the mythological spell of the Jus or Lex Talionis, from revenge, from retaliation (Exodus 21: 24; Matthew 5: 38–42; Hegel 1986a: 440–442, 613–614, 6–19–620; Canetti 1960: 90–91; Kaufmann 1968:ch. 12; Canetti 1960: 91–92; Siebert 2006). B. Golden Rule Hans Küng had toadmit, that certainly the world religions have always been and stillare in the temptation, to loose themselves in an infinite undergrowth of commandments, rules, regulations, instructions, cannons and paragraphs (Küng 1990: 84 – 85). We may remember in the Jewish Religion of Sublimitythe 613 Mitsvoth of Maimonides, or the 614 Mitzvoth of Fackenheim,based on the Torah( Hegel 1986 q:50-91; Küng 1991). However, the world religions can, if they want to, give often with greater authority than any philosophy good reasons, that the application of their norms are not only valid from case to case, but categorically ( Kant 1965: 128,158, 472 – 474, 633 – 634; Küng 1990: 84 – 85). In the perspective of the critical theory of religion, the great world religions can give to human being a highest norm of conscience: that for present socially torn apart, antagonistic civil society immensely important categorical imperative. which obligates people in a much greater depth andmore fundamentally than any philosophy possibly can. (Küng 1990: 84 – 85). This is so, because all great world religions have demanded something like a Golden Rule: i.e. a not only hypothetical, conditional, but rather a categorical, apodictic, unconditional norm. It has been acompletely and definitely practicable doable norm in the face of highly complex situations, in which individuals and groups have oftento act. Different Forms of the Golden Rule The Golden Rule appears in the different world religions in slightly different forms: The Golden Rule states in its Chinese form: Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you(Confucius, Analects 15,23). The Golden Rule says in its Hindu Form: This is the sum of duty: do nothing to others, which would cause you pain, if done to you (Mahabharata XIII 114.8.) The Golden Rule teaches in its Buddhist form: A state that is not pleasant or delightful to me must be so for him also; and a state which is not pleasant or delightful for me, how could I inflict that on another? ( Samyutta Nikaia V) The Golden Rule of Jainism says: A person should treat all creatures as he himself would be treated (Sutrakritanga 1.11.33anga). The Golden Rule says in its Jewish form: Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you( Rabbi Hillel, Shabbat 31a). The Golden Rule teaches in its Christian form: In everything do to others as you would have them do to you ( Mathew 7: 12; Luke 6:31). The Golden Rule states in its Islamic form: No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself ( 40 Hadith. Sayings of Muhammad of an- Nawawi 13 The Golden Rule says in its Wicca form : If you harm none, do what you will: what you give forth, will come back three fold. From Is to Ought L. Kohlberg discovered the Golden Rule on some of the six levels of the ontogenetic and phylo-genetic development of moral consciousness (Matthew 7: 12;Apel 1990: 340). In his essay From Is to Ought, Kohlberg tried to show through his stage scheme, that and how the progressive equilibration process of the ontogenesis and phylogenesis of the moral judgment, which had been postulated by J. Piaget’s cognitive theory of development, could be comprehended as hierarchy of forms of moral integration in the sense of the growing sense of justice (Kohlberg 1971: 165). Kohlberg explicated this claim in the following four theses: 1.The moral judging is based on a process of role taking, e.g. in the sense of George. H. Mead(Apel 1990: 317; Mead 1969). 2.The role takingdemonstrates on each level a new logical structure corresponding to the logical stages of the thinking process in J. Piaget’s theory. 3.This structure can be grasped as justice-structure. 4. This justice-structure is as such in every following stage more embracing, and at the same time more differentiated, and more equilibrated than on the previous level. Kohlberg explicated and proved these four theses on the passage through the six stages of his scheme: The preconventional stage I. The preconventional stage II The conventional stage III The conventional stage IV The post-conventional stage V The post-conventional stage VI People perceive and understand The Golden Rule very differently on the different stages of the evolution of the moral consciousness. Different Conceptions of Justice On the pre-conventional Stage II, Kohlberg spoke of a naïve-instrumental or better naïve strategic conception of the essence of justice and fairness.( Kohlberg 1971: 165; Otto 1990: 317-318) Correspondingly, Kohlberg perceived on this level the Golden Rule of the New Testament in the senseof the reciprocity of the actual exchange offavors or also of theretaliation or reprisal for evil deeds in terms of the Jus or LexTalionis (Exodus21: 24; Matthew 38-42; Kohlberg 1971: 165; Otto 1990: 317-318). As a matter of fact on this level in the development of moral consciousness the Golden Rule and the Lex Talionis can fall together and become identical. on the conventional Stage III, the children or young adults were the first time able to do role taking in a reflective way. Now they could put themselvesat the same time into two different roles, which were related to each other. Correspondingly, they understood now also the Golden Rule of the New Testamentappropriately and suitably in the sense of an ideal reciprocity of the formula: Treat the others in such a way, as you would like to be treated by them ( and not in such a way as you are factually treated by them). Now the Golden Rule and the Lex Talionis could no longer be mixed up with each otherAccording to Kohlberg, the beginning of the universalization of the role taking respectively the Golden Rule was on this conventional stage III not yet possible. Likewise also precisization of the role obligations and rights was not yet possiblein the sense of a social function-system: of an order of society, which had fixed the roles throughrulesbelonging to them or through norms of the correct behavior. Al that would happen on StageIV, V, and VI. Precedence ofthe Possibility of Universalization . Kohlberg used the application of the Golden Rule as example to explain the precedence of the possibility of universalization on the Stage VI ofPiaget andhis own ontogenetic developmental logic of the moral consciousness( Matthew 7: 12;Apel 1990: 11, 317 – 340, 330-331, ch. 10). For Kohlberg, the applicationof theGolden Rule became possible the first time in the stage III in the development of moral consciousness. But according to Kohlberg the Golden Rule did not yet lead on this level III to a completely equilibrated solution of possible conflicts between humanlegal entitlements. The reason for that was that here in stage III as also still in the sacrosanct and closed social order of level IV of the development of the moral consciousness the role taking was still too much prejudged through the reciprocity relationships of the respective referencegroup or though a pre-given order of role obligations. Here the role taking did not yet get to the point, where it carried outcompletely the demand of reversibility in the sense of the principle equal rights of all human beings. Kohlberg exemplified this through the New Testament story of the rich young man, to whom Jesus recommended to give all his goods to the poor: And there was a man who came to him( Jesus) and asked.” Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?” Jesus said to him: “Why do you ask me about what is good ?There is one alone who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said,” which?”” These ,” Jesus replied,” You must not kill.You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not bring false witness. Honor your father and mother, and: you must love your neighbor because he is like you.” The young man said to him,” I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?” Jesus said: “ If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven, then come, follow me.” But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of greatwealth(Exodus 20:12-16; Deuteronomy 5: 16-20; Mark 10:17-31; Matthew19: 16-22; Luke18:18-27).Then Jesus said to his disciples,” I tell you solemnly, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, I tell you again, it is easier or a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven,” When the disciples heard this they were astonished.” Who can be saved then?” they said. Jesus gazed at them,” For men,” he told them,” this is impossible; for God everything is possible. Then Peter spoke.” What about us?”he said to him,” We have left everything and followed you. What are we to have then?” Jesus said to him,” I tell you solemnly, when all is made new and the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory, you will yourselves sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over, and also inherit eternal life. Many who are first will be last, and the last, first. For Kohlberg through Jesus’ indicated recommendation to the young man to give his goods to the poor was indeed not solved the problem of distributive justice, which Aristotle had precisely formulated the first time, in reference to the dyadic reciprocity relationship between the rich man and the poor people. Athens departed from Jerusalem! According to Kohlberg, what was missing in the recommendation of Jesus to the rich man, was the complete reversibility of the role taking in the sense of justice. However, here Kohlberg has not only not yet made sufficiently clear, to what extent the principle of the complete reversibility of the role takingdid constitute not only the possible end point of a theory of the development of the moral competence to judge a la Piaget, buthe has also not given a sufficient normative justification of a theory of justice. e.g. in the sense ofJ. Rawls ( Rawls1971; Apel 1990: 191-192 331). Kohlberg himself confirmed this impression through his essayJustice as Reversibility: The Claim to Moral Adequacy of a Highest Stage of Moral Judgment. In the perspective of the critical theory of religion, Kohlberg abstracted from Jesus’central demand of mimesis or imitation, as well as from his eschatological reservation of eternal life and of the kingdom of heaven, which are expressions of - what Horkheimer and Adornohave called- the longing for the wholly Other than the horror and terror of nature, society and history, the longing, that the murderer shall not triumph over his innocent victim, at least not ultimately, the longing for the absolutely New, and which constituted for them the very core of religion( Horkheimer 1985g: ch. 29,37,40;Apel 1990: ch.11). Habermas, informed by Piaget, Kohlberg andApel,has objected, that the Golden rule in all its forms was not the Kantian categorical imperative, and rightly so. The Golden Rule is, of course, pre-modern, religious and material in all its forms.However, the Kantian categorical imperative is modern, secular and formal ( Kant 1965: 128,158, 472 – 474, 633 – 634; Küng 1990: 84 – 85).However the religious Golden Rule can also be inverted, translated, sublated, rationalized, formalized, and secularized in modern, post-modern, and post-metaphysical philosophical and social-scientific discourses into the principle of- what Immanuel Kant had called- the categorical imperative: Act in such a way, that the maxim of your will can at any time also be valid as principle of a universal legislation, or Act in such a way, that you use the humanity in your own person as well as in the person of every other human being always also as purpose, never merely as means. Kant 1965: 113, 114, 128,143, 158, 160, 472 –474,633 – 634; Küng 1990:84-85) Charles Pierce, Karl-Otto Apel and Jürgen Habermas have translated, sublated, rationalized, formalized, and secularized further in their communicative or discourse ethics the religious Golden Rule and the secular Kantian categorical imperative into the principle of the apriori of the unlimited communication community: Your action is ethically valid, when it honors the five validity claims – truthfulness, honesty, rightfulness, tastefulness and understandability, and when it finds the consensus of the universal communication community, particularly of the possible victims (Apel 1976: vol. 2; 1982; Edelstein/Habermas 1984;Habermas 1983;1991a). Habermas has admitted, that modern secular ethics has a problem with motivation (Habermas. 1983; 1991a; 1991b: Part III; Küng 1990:84-85). Even after Apel’s and Habermas’s communicative or discourse ethics has verified the validity of an ethical norm – e.g. that it is better to love than to hate, or that one should not kill if one finds that convenient for one self or for one’s country, there remains still the question, why a person should follow it? . The secular categorical imperative or the likewise secular communicative ethics has no adequate answer to this question of motivation. Küng had to admit, that certainly the world religions have always been and still arein temptation, tocommandand give orders to human beings in a most authoritarian manner, and to demandfrom them blind obedience and to do violence to their consciences ( Küng1990:85). A major issue facingreligious and secular people in late capitalist society is the possible transition from the necrophilous Jus Talionis to the most biophilous Golden Rulenot only in Christianity, but in all world religions, and also in a secular form in the modern humanisms: So always treat others as you would like them to treat you: that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets – in personal and collective, national and international relations and behavior (Matthew 7: 12;Küng 1990:84-85). Daily the Jus Talionis has been practiced in the most cruel way by Jews, Christians, and Muslims on both sides of the front in the past 5 years: in Palestine, in Israel, in Lebanon, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in the Sudan, and elsewhere. Seven million years ago humans separated from the Chimpanzees, who also were used to practice furious retaliation from one tribe to the other. Much has changed and much progress has been made not only in terms of instrumental rationality but also in terms of communicative rationality since then on our long march from animality to alternative Future III – the realm of freedom beyond the realm of natural necessity. This has been true particularly since the establishment of the great civilizations at the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers, at the Nile River, at the Indus River, and at the Yellow River: shortly since the axis time. We went to the moon and we shall go to Mars. We overcame tribalism and nationalism at least to the extend, that the European Union and the United Nations became possible. Why should it not be possible for us, to abolish the Jus Talionis, and to make the transition to the Golden Rule? In order to promote such transition,we must explore the possible biological, psychological, economic, sociological, anthropological, and theological causes, which so far have prevented us from moving to alternative Future III – the free and reconciled society, and which force us to move toward alternative Future I – the totally administered society, and toward alternative Future II –– the entirely militarized society, producing always new wars and civil wars, and instigating the collision of religion – based civilizations,and preparing World War III to be fought with weapons of mass destruction(Flechtheim 1971). Not at least and not at last we need to discover the causes, which compel us to the always-new application of the most primitive and archaic Jus Talionis without end. There is already in the Torah the wonderful story of Joseph, who’s ten brothers wanted to kill him and then had shamefully and pitilessly sold him into Egyptian slavery, and who had now as representative of the Pharaoh the opportunity and the power to revenge himself( Genesis 37 – 50). The greatness of Joseph lies in the fact, that for all time he showed men a better way than retaliation – the Lex Talionis, He tested his brothers, holding his own natural feelings in check, until convinced of their filial piety to their father Jacob, or Israel, their love for Benjamin, and their sincere contrition for their crime towards him. Then Joseph forgave them freely, fully, and lovingly. He practiced the Golden Rule instead of the Jus Talionis. Also Jesus of Nazareth tried to break the Lex Talionis through forgiveness in the fourth commandment of the so-called Sermon on the Mount. There are Suras with the same intent in the Holy Qur’an. Torah, New Testament , and the Holy Qur’an contain the Golden Rule as well as forgiveness.All three Abrahamic religions as well as other world religions and humanisms prefer the golden Rule and forgiveness over the praxis of the Lex Talionis. That has recently been portrayed most masterfully, simply, powerfully and remarkably in the wonderful Russian movie Prisoner of the Mountains on the war in Tchechnia Why then have the Jewish, Christian, Islamic and other religious and humanisticattempts to abolish the Jus Talionis through the Golden Rule andforgiveness not worked in Praxis universally so far through the centuries? (Küng 1990; 1991; 1994; 2004). Why did it not work for Christians, in spite even of the moral compromise of the Seven Point Just War Theory of St. Augustine, the initiator of the Roman Catholic Paradigm of Christianity? It was honestly practicedby Christian heads of states only twice in 1600 years. Why, to the contrary, were the Hindu Mahatma Ghandi and his followers able to break the ban of the Jus Talionis,, and instead to practice the Golden Rule and forgiveness successfully, while so many members of the Abrahamic religions have such a hard time to realize it? Since the Reformation, the Sermon on the Mount, which contains the negation of the Jus Talionis as well as the Golden Rule, has become a mirror, in which individuals and nations can recognize their sinfulness, rather than a genuine orientation of action, which would lead out of the present crisis situation. Of course, if the Golden Rule, which includes the Law and the Prophets, and forgiveness, is not practiced, then the bloody praxis of the Jus Talionis is the unavoidable and necessary consequence, in private and collective life, and thus merely a further deepening of the terrible crisis in which find ourselves in the present transition period, in which since 1917 a post-Modern Paradigm has began to determinately negate the Modern Paradigm of the past 400 years: creative destruction (Habermas 2002;2005: chs. 5,8, 9; Habermas/Ratzinger 2005;Küng 1990; 1991: 486 -536, 537 – 762; 1994: 869 –906; 2004: D and E; Siebert 2006; 2005; Meyer 2006: 22–27). All living world religions share the Golden Rule (Küng 1990; 1991; 194; 2004). It has also been inverted, translated, sublated, rationalized, formalized, and secularized in modern, post-modern, and post-metaphysical philosophical and social-scientific discourses into the principle of- what Immanuel Kant had called- the categorical imperative – Act in such a way, that the maxim of your will can at any time also be valid as principle of a universal legislation, or Act in such a way, that you use the humanity in your own person as well as in the person of every other human being always also as purpose, never merely as means – and into – what Charles Pierce, Karl-Otto Apel and Jürgen Habermashave called -theaprioriof the unlimited communication community – Your action is ethically valid,when it finds the consensus of the universal communication community, particularly of the possible victims. The Golden Rule in its religious and secular forms is not merely a hypothetical, conditional, but rather a categorical, apodictic, unconditional norm (Küng 1990). It is also practicable and doable in modern and post-modern highly complex situations in globalized, very antagonistic civil society, in which individuals and groups have to act communicatively or instrumentally only too often. The Golden Rule could very well become the foundation of – what Hans Küng has called- a global ethos, and which he has presented to the United Nations in New York, and for which there he has reached complete consensus. Such global ethos could inform the actions of teachers, economists, businessmen, politicians, generals, as well as the masses of the people in such a way, that the application of the Jus Talionis would become for them more and more implausible and unacceptable. It is the purpose of our discourse to contribute to such enlightenment and emancipation as reconciliation and atonement. Public Use of Reason To be sure, the realization of the Golden Rule and the global ethics is not possible without religious faith and without- what John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas have called – the public use of reason Rawls 1971; Habermas 1983; 1985; 1991; 1992; 2002; 2004). Certainly, the modern separation of synagogue, church or mosque on one hand, and the secular neutral state, on the other, influences deeply the role which religious faith, traditions, communities, and organizations are allowed to play in antagonistic civil society, and in the political public sphere, above all in the political opinion- and will – formation of the citizens. In our discourse, we shall try to explore, where in the opinion of the neo-conservative revisionists the dividing line should be between religion and state. We shall have to find out, if the neo-conservative or fundamentalist Jewish, Christian, or Islamic opponents, who are currently engaged in a culture war against the liberal standard version of an ethics of citizenship, are actually only championing the pro-religious meaning of the secular state held to be neutral, versus a narrow secularist notion of a pluralistic society. It is also possible, that the neo-conservative and fundamentalist opponents are more or less inconspicuously trying to change the liberal agenda from the bottom up, and thus are already arguing from the background of a completely different self-understanding of modernity. on the answers to such questions it depends, which chance the Golden Rule or the global ethos may have to be actualized in the public forum of modern states and among them. In any case, there will be no peace among the nations without peace inside and among the world religions. We shall discuss the liberal premises of the modern constitutional state and the consequences, which the liberal conception of the public use of reason has on the religious or secular ethics of citizenship (Rawls 1971;Habermas 1983; 1985; 1991; 1992; 2002; 2005). We shall treat the most important objections to the rather restrictive liberal idea of the political role of religion. Through a critical discussion of neo-conservative and fundamentalist revisionist proposals that do touch on the very foundations of the liberal self-understanding, we shall try to develop a conception of our own, which gives the Golden Rule, the categorical imperative, the apriori of the unlimited communication community and the global ethos a chance to assert and actualize themselves against the archaic and mythological power of the Jus Talionis. We shall be ready to admit, that religious and secular citizens can only fulfill the normative expectations of the liberal role of citizens, if they likewise fulfill certain cognitive conditions and ascribe to the respective opposite the corresponding epistemic attitudes. We shall have to explain, what this means by discussing the change in the form of religious consciousness, which was a response to the challenges of modernity. In their response to the process of modernization, religious communities have often differentiated themselves in themselves between those believers, who wanted to resist it, and those who were willing to accommodate themselves to it, and assimilate themselves to it. Thus, in Judaism we find orthodox, conservative and reformed Rabbis. In Christianity we find conservative and liberal believers. By contrast, we shall discover, that the secular awareness that one is living in a post-secular society takes the shape of post-metaphysical thought at the philosophical level. Post-secular does, of course, not mean, that religion is returning for good, but rather that it disappears much more slowly than some of the secular enlighteners had predicted and hoped for. We shall see, that the secular and neutral liberal state faces the problem, that religious and secular citizens can only acquire those mutual epistemic attitudes through complementary learning processes, while it remains a mute point, whether these are learning processes at all, and ones, which the state cannot influence by its own means of law and politics anyway. In any case, our discourse wants to promote epistemic attitudes in religious and secular – humanist citizens of modern liberal and even of still historical-intermediate states, which make the Jus Talionis obsolete, and which promote the Golden Rule and the global ethos. Already in the present transition period from modernity to post-modernity the open dialectic between the religious and the secular, revelation and autonomous reason, faith and knowledge can make possible the cooperation between religious and secular people, believers and enlighteners toward a project world ethos (Küng 1990), It could be centered in the Golden Rule, which the Chinese Religion, Hinduism Jainism, Buddhism, Judaism. Christianity and Islam and other world religions have in common. The Golden Rule embraces not only the whole Hebrew Law and the Prophets, but also the New Testament and the Koran. Also many enlighteners and humanists have no problem to accept the Golden Rule as the foundation of a global ethos. one may even extend the Gold Rule to non-human living beings: men would do to animals, as men would have animals do to them: e.g. pull the sheep out of the pit even on the Sabbath (Matthew 12: 1,2,5,8,10,11,12). If men would not like to be eaten by sharks or lions or bears, they should not eat them. Before Noah all people were vegetarians. If men would respect animal rights in terms of the Golden Rule could they still establish zoos or keep domestic animals, not to speak of having huge slaughterhouses. The End of the Lex Talionis The Golden Rule in all its different forms can conquer the Jus or Lex Talionis (Küng 1990; 1991; 1994; 2004). on Sunday evening, April 9, 2006, the Israeli Government announced , that it has a right to retaliate against the missiles coming from the Gaza Strip: eye for eye, tooth for tooth! A few minutes later the Palestinian Authority announced that it had the right to retaliate against the Israeli counterattacks: free man for free man, slave for slave!Not even the limiting character of the Jus Talionis is taken seriously.The practice of the Golden Rule would be the end of the Lex Talionis: treat the other as you want to be treated! The analysis should not stop with the so called realistic assertion that the Golden Rule can not be practiced and thus the spell or the curseof the mutual application of the Lex Talionis can not be broken, Men like Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King and Archbishop Romero practiced the Golden Rule even in its extreme form by following the fourth and fifth commandment of the Sermon on the Mount. It is rather so that the psychoanalytical and critical sociological and critical theological analysis must begin precisely with the question: why is it not possible for some people to practice the Golden Rule and why must they remain under the spell of the mythological Jus Talionis?Which powerful instincts in the basement of the human civilization prevent continually the application of the Golden Rule ? Self-preservation, death drive, the hunger of the predator, will to power? Should it not be possible to break forever Adolf Hitler's aristocratic principle of nature, the right of the predator to enslave or to kill the prey, for the sake of the survival of the human species on this planet earth? When some people can liberate themselves from this ban of the Lex Talionis and do to others, as they want to be treated, why cannot all do it, since they all share in the same human nature? In any case, who does not want to lose his eye, should not take it from his brother. Who does not want to be stolen from should not steal or engage in usury,or nationalism, orcolonialism, or imperialism. Who does not want to be killed by the sword, should not use it. Who does not want to be murdered, should not murder, or engage in war, or torture, or assassinations, or terror, religious or secular. Who does not want to be lied to should not lie and engage in false advertisement, or false propaganda, or ideology understood as false consciousness, the masking of national, or racial, or class interests, shortly the untruth. Whoever does not want his personal autonomy or national sovereignty to be violated, should not attack that of other persons or nations: e.g. for the sake of regime change.Whoever does not want his own country to be devastated by natural or historical agents, should not devastate other peoples’ countries: otherwise New Orleans of August/September 2005 and the surrounding states, cities, towns and villages suddenly look with their thousands of wounded and dead, and refugees, and homeless, and hostages, and fires, and shootings and killings and rapes and disorganization and chaos like Baghdad and Basra and surrounding Iraq, and Kabul and surrounding Afghanistan from 2002 until now. Who does not want other life forms to intervene into his own, should also not intervene into other peoples’ life forms. Whoever does not want other nations to have or to use weapons of mass destruction, should also not have or use them himself. The Israelite, Hebrew, Jewish, Christian and Islamic prophets and the Hebrew psalmists, would have said: repent! The Lutheran Christian Hegel would have said: world-history is world judgment! The Black Muslim Malcolm X would have said: the chickens are coming home to roost! The Golden Rule implies a true egalitarianism among individuals and nations, without which there cannot be any true discourse, or personal or social morality (Küng 1990). Whenever the Golden Rule is not actualized, the Lex Talionis will take its place. If we do continually to others, as we would not have them do to us, then there will necessarily be endless mutual retaliation: until both opponents are exhausted, or one of them has been annihilated, or one of them has the courage to take the first step to break the curse.Wars of revenge can not be won, except through the total annihilation of the other, the enemy, .If the wars of retaliation are not directed against another state but rather against a worldwide religious movement, then- since they are no wars at all in the first place - those non-wars can be won even less. There remains only either the practice of the Golden Rule, and thus the inclusion of the other, or cold, universal despair, and finally alternative Future II:a third world war between the civilizations a la Samuel Huntington’s.The Christian theologian and ecumenist, Hans Küng, has presented such project world ethos, centered in the Golden Rule, to the World - Parliament of Religions as well as to the United Nations, and found full and universal acceptance. While Huntington’s prophecy of the clash of civilizations has admittedly and unfortunately at this moment in world history the tendency to fulfill itself, we, nevertheless, side with Küng’s project World Ethos, and the discourse among the religions and the civilizations in the hope, that it will help to produce peace among the nations. According to the critical theory of religion the fundamental principle of the Golden Rule and four ethical and socio-ethical directives derived from it can show the way to global alternative Future III: a free society, characterized by personal autonomy as well as by universal, i.e. anamnestic, present, and proleptic solidarity (Horkheimer 1985g:chs. 37,40;Habermas 1986;Küng 1990) The fundamental demand is the Golden Rule. This principle was found and has persisted in many religious and ethical traditions of humankind for thousands of years: what you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to others. In the perspective of the critical theory of religion, this fundamental principle should be the irrevocable, unconditional norm for all areas of life, for families and communities, for races, nations and religions. It should be supported by the insurmountable longing for the totally Other, than what is the case in nature and history with their often most cruel laws. This totally Other stands for what once was called in Judaism and other world religions Infinite Power, Perfect Justice, Unconditional Love, Heaven, Eternity, Beauty, and Absolute Truth. On the basis of this fundamental principle of the Golden Rule, four ethical directives, found in all the great world religions of humanity, have to be remembered, if global alternative Future III should be realized: 1.You shall not murder, torture, torment, wound. This directive means in positive terms: you should have reverence for life. You should be committed to a culture of life and love, rather than to a culture of death. 2.You shall not lie, deceive, forge, manipulate. This directive means in positive terms: You should speak and act truthfully. You should be committed to a culture of truthfulness and tolerance. 3.You shall not steal, exploit, rob, bribe, and corrupt. That directive means in positive terms:You should deal honestly and fairly. You should be committed to a culture of fairness and a just economic order. 4.You shall not abuse sexuality, cheat, humiliate, dishonor. This directive means in positive terms: You should respect and love one another. You should be committed to a culture of partnership and equal dignity of men and women. (Küng 1990; Rawls 1971) While all four ethical directives can be found in the Mosaic Decalogue, which all three Abrahamic religions have in common, the first and fourth directive is also part of the specifically Christian Sermon on the Mount. However, its third, fourth and fifth commandment could also serve as ethical directive some day on a higher level of social and cultural evolution on the way to alternative Future III: no oath, cancellation of the Lex or Jus Talionis, and love of the enemy.Jews, Christians and Muslims, as well as committed believers of other world religions, are under the obligation, to seek every opportunity to practice kindness and love or - in secular terms – solidarity, and to bring relief and blessing, wherever they go. They see providential happenings in history: that there is Divine control of human conditions and that many humanly unaccountable things happen in individual and collective life. Already now the above four directives constitute a global ethic, able to lead humankind toward alternative Future III. In the perspective of the critical theory of religion, such global ethic should not be imposed by law but be brought to public awareness and be based on the consensus of the unlimited, universal communication community (Habermas 1983; 1985; 1991a; 199b; 1992; 2002; 2004; 2005;K¨¨ng 1990). Such global ethic is simultaneously applicable to individual persons and to collectives and their institutions. Such global ethic does not only focus on the collective responsibility to the relief of any responsibility the individual may hold, and vice versa. Of course, often the social conditions, or history, or the system must be blamed for specific injustices, abuses, and crimes. But also the individuals may be responsible for themat least to some extend, The global ethic focuses equally on the responsibility of each individual in his or her place in society, as well as on the collective. Individual and collective are mediated through each other. They reproduce each other. As the individual is a product of society, so society is a product of the individuals. They reproduce and thus change each other. In order global alternative Future III to be reached, individual and society will have to go through mutual revolutionary changes. The Support of Law In the view of the critical theory of religion, the free commitment to such global ethic, does, of course, not exclude the support of the law (Hagerman 1992; Küng 1990).It rather includes it. In some circumstances the global ethic can appeal to the law Such circumstances include cases of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, international assassinations and aggression contrary to international law. Meanwhile, following its ratification by more than sixty nations, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been established. According to the global ethic, it is to this court that such violations can be brought. This is specifically the case, when a signatory state is unable or unwilling to inflict legal penalties on atrocities committed in its territory or under its control. Up to this point in history – July 2007 - the illegal and immoral wars against Afghanistan and Iraq have not brought the promised peace to either country, nor have they diminished terror around the world (Fromm 1992: 203- 212;Küng 1990; 2004: 29-42;Lawrence 2005;Siebrt 2006). As the two wars and civil wars continue, the decisive question arises more than ever before: what international commitments are to be made? In the perspective of the critical theory of religion, not the alternatives of the passing Modern Paradigm, but the alternatives of the future Post-Modern Constellation are most relevant. There are alternatives, if the billions that are being spent on sinfully expensive new weapon systems, e.g. the new German Tornados, in order to fight terrorism and in preparation of new wars among the civilizations, were being spent on kindergartens and schools, health care, hospitals, cancer research and public services at home and abroad, and on fighting against poverty, hunger and misery in the world:. to promote the prophetic concept of shalom, (Fromm 1992:203 – 211). Particular demands will have to be put on all world religions, not to support uncritically the official politics and policies of their respective governments, which only too often conduct politics as identification and demonization of the enemies, a la Carl Schmitt and Samuel Huntington: be these enemies the communists or the Jihadists, but to fulfill their own critical role in antagonistic civil society. The critical theory of religion does not promote a vision of war, but rather a vision of global alternative Future III – a peace society, in which the mainantagonisms of modern civil society will have been fought through andwill have been reconciled. The critical theory of religion summarizes this vision of alternative Future III in five propositions: 1.There will be no peace among nations without peace among the world religions. 2.There will be no peace among the world religions without discourse among them. 3.There will be no discourse among the world religions without comparative foundational research in them and among them. 4.There will be no discourse among the world religions without global ethical standards: particularly the Golden Rule and its ethical directives, 5.There will, therefore, be no survival of this globe without a global ethic (Horkheimer 1985g:chs. 37,40;Habermas 1986; Küng 1990). 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Religious Resurgence in Global Perspective, Jefferson, North Carolina:McFarland and Co. 2005a“Toward a Discourse between Cognitive and Critical Theoreticians of Religion:Open Dialectic between the Religious and the Secular,” in B. Wilson and Th. Light’s (eds.) Festschrift. 2005b“The Golden Rule” from the Russian website:http//peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=131. 2005cLe Relatif Et Le Transcendant.La sociologhie critique de la religion de Max Horkheimer,Paris, France, Budapest, Homngrie, Torino, Italie:L’Harmattan. 2006aLex Talionis.Religion, force et terreur.Suivi der Thomas Müntzer.Jus Talionis, Abjat Sur Bandiat, France:X-Alta 2006b“Liberation et redemption dans la musique Hegel-Horkheimer-Adorno,” in X-Alta,Bumero 9,decembre 2996. Musicopathie del’impossibilite de la musique LaRoderie.F-24300 Abjat Sur Bandiat, France 2006c“The Critical Theory of Religion:Toward an Open Dialectic Between Religious Faith and Secular Experience and Knowledge” in Forum on Public Policy.Religion.Volume 2.Number1. 2006d“Toward a Dialectical Sociology of Religion: A Crique of Positivism and Clerico-Fascism,” in Warren S.Goldstein,Marx, Critical Theory, and Religion.A Critque of Rational Choice. Leiden, Boston: Brill 2007a“Our Friendship:It began with Thomas Müntzer, the Theologian of Revolution,”Paper read in the IUC Dubrovnik, Croatia in April 2006 and published inKarl Koop / Jeremy Bergen, / Paul Doerksen, Creed and Conscience.Essays in Honor of A.James Reimer.Toronto: Pandora Press. 2007b“Theology of Revolution versus Theology of Counter-Revolution”, in Michael Ott, The Future of Religion : Toward a Reconciled Society, Rotterdam: Brill Publisher. .2007c“ The Jesus Revolution, The Judas Kiss, and the Empires,” Lecture in international course on “ Religion and Civil Society: Identity Crisis in the Post-secular Society”in Jalte, Crimea, Ukraine. November 8, 2008“ The Jesus Revolution, The Judas Kiss, and the Empires”,X-Alta . Paris, France 1977Revolutionary Patience.Maryknoll, New York : Orbis Books. 1993Gott im Müll. München : Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag. 1994Atheistisch an Gott glauben. .München : Deutsher Taschenbuch Verlag 1963aSystematic Theology,Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press, Vol I. 1963bSystematic Theiology.Chicago Illinois: The University of Chicago Press, Vol. II. March 26, 2008 Here are a few memories about my encounters with my good friends, the Professors Ivan Supek, Branko Bosniak, and Srdan Vrcan. Two of them were my co-directors.I hope my notes will be useful for you as you compose your book. Enjoy them. I shall see you soon in paradisiacal Dubrovnik again. We shall stay in our old historical Hotel Lero again, where many good memories will come back to us. I am with all my good wishes for you, and your dear family, and your great work, I met Professor Dr. Ivan Supek (1915-2007) the first time on his trip to the United States in1974. He was a guest at Western Michigan University. At that time Ivan invited me, to come to the Inter-University Center in Dubrovnik, which he had just founded in 1970.A year later, I participated and gave papers in his course on the Philosophy of Science, and in another course on Marxism and Phenomenology. At the end of both courses, Professor Ivan Supek and Professor Branko Bosniak asked me, if I was interested in founding a course of my own in the IUC. I happily agreed and took the title from the endings of my two papers: The Future of Religion. Two years later, in March 1977, we started our course. From 1977 on I met Ivan almost every year in the IUC or in Hotel Lero, and during and after the war in Hotel Argentina, when Hotel Lero had become the home for many refugees. We had wonderful discourses with each other on quantum physics; on the law of gravity; on religion; on his novels; on history; on dialectics and positivism; on politics; on the principle of uncertainty; on the freedom in the atom as well as in society; on Heisenberg’s God, who gambled; on inverse evolutionary selection in civil society; and many other topics, which interested us. Some times Ivan challenged me. He was not a dialectician like his brother Rudi Supek. Thus once Ivan asked me, to explain the law of gravity dialectically. So I did. Then he developed the law of gravity in terms of theoretical physics. using up for that purpose all the blackboards in the IUC lecture room, where we found ourselves. . Then Ivan pointed out triumphantly and lovingly the superiority of his non-dialectical approach, of which I had understood very little. That happened still during the socialist time, and under the system o self-management. We talked about Ivan’s studies with Werner Heisenberg. We remembered his arrest by the Gestapo in Germany in 1941, because of his antifascist activities: as a spy for the British. His Professors Heisenberg, Hund, and von Weizsäcker intervened to release him from prison. We talked about Ivan’s return back to Croatia in 1943, after his doctoral work with Heisenberg had been completed, and about his time in the Croatian anti-fascist movement, and about his struggle against the German occupation forces as a partisan. After the Gestapo officers had released Ivan from prison, they asked him, where he wanted to go. He said he wanted to go back home to Zagreb, where his father was dying from cancer. The Gestapo officers counseled Ivan not to return to the inferior Slavic race in allied Croatia, but rather to stay in victorious Germany. Ivan proudly went back to his beloved Zagreb, and his family and nation, and joined the anti-fascist partisan movement. Ivan and I reflected on his time as Minister of Education and Science in Zagreb. Ivan was a humanist and a man of peace. Already in 1944, fourteen months. before Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Ivan warned of the danger of the newly developed atomic bomb, which had the potential to destroy all life on earth. We talked much about war and peace, particularly his unwillingness to participate in a project for building the atomic bomb for the former Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia. We reflected on Ivan’s consequent turn from active research in theoretical physics to researching more in philosophy and literature. In the year 1960, Ivan became not only the Rector of the University of Zagreb, but he also founded the Institute for the Philosophy of Science and Peace, The Institute was also a center for the nuclear disarmament movement. Ivan was also the founder of the international organization World Without a Bomb. Ivan formulated his famous ten humanistic principles, which were repeated at almost every later peace summit and event. Ivan also established the International League of Humanists. Ivan did not stop his humanistic peace work with his retirement in 1985. Ivan was a critic of the globalization process, and a proponent for the Global Justice Movement. His life long struggle for peace, human rights, and democracy made Professor Supek one of the greatest humanists of the 20th century. Also after his death on March 5, 2007, in his home in Zagreb, after a long illness, his heroic peace advocacy remains of highest actuality. Ivan continually legitimated and protected our course on the Future of Religion in the former Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia, and thus made its uninterrupted continuation through 32 years possible. While for Ivan art had become his religion, he at the same time showed a wonderfully wise tolerance toward and understanding for the Abrahamic as well as all otherworld religions. Maybe Hegel had been right after all, that art, religion, and philosophy share the same content, and differ only in form. It was not always easy to keep our course on the Future of Religion open for all types of scholars on the Hegelian Right, and on the Left and in the Center. I noticed early on, that the praxis philosophers from Zagreb were missing in our course. I protested and said we would not come, if the praxis philosophers could not come, In the next course some praxis philosophers arrived, but the Yugoslav students were missing. The next time the inverse happened. The Tito Government obviously wanted to keep the praxis philosophers and the students apart, because the professors wanted self-management moving up into the highest layers of government, while the government as afraid, that such a move was premature and would cause restlessness among the students. It took some time, until we were able to get professors and students together. Ivan, who’s brother Rudi was a praxis professor, was always most helpful. Ivan was amazingly objective, truthful, and honest in his academic work, and in his novels in an always changing and often very difficult political and cultural context: in the communist and post-communist period. Ivan had many friends at home and abroad, not only in Europe, but also in the United States and Canada. Ivan was not only an outstanding scholar and artist, but also a great, and wonderful, and most friendly and warm-hearted human being, who deserves our remembering solidarity, as well as our admiration, and our love, and our imitation, if also on a much smaller and modest scale. When Ivan and I had breakfast together a last time at Hotel Argentina, he spoke about his dreams. He had also studied under Carl Gustav Jung in Switzerland. , and thus dreams meant a lot to him. As he looked across to the Island of Love and beyond toward the sunny Adria, he told me, that he had recently had some bothersome dreams, in which German soldiers appeared to him, who reproached him for having killed them, when he was a partisan during World War II. I told Ivan, that as a Heisenberg student he was of course a superior mathematician and that, therefore, he had certainly been put into the artillery, and that the artillery kills people many miles away, and that, therefore, he could not possibly ever have seen any of his victims. Ivan affirmed, but insisted that these complaining German soldiers appeared in his dreams, nevertheless. So I told Ivan, that he had had a moral right as a Croatian partisan, to defend his country against the German invaders. Ivan affirmed, but argued that the protesting German soldiers continued to appear in his dreams, nevertheless. Was it, that these German soldiers were not only soldiers, and not only Germans, but also and most of all human beings? Ivan, the great prophet of peace, had not only the great imagination of the artist, but also a deep and rigorous religious, moral, and humanistic conscience Ivan will be with us in spirit in all our courses to come, and he will continue to inspire us to work for peace among the nations through promoting peace among the world religions in continued open discourse. We have dedicate our 32nd international course on the Future of Religion: The Wholly Other, Liberation, Happiness and the Rescue of the Hopeless to our great friend, Professor Dr. Ivan Supek His whole life and work was driven by the insatiable longing for the totally Other than the horror and terror in nature and history: including the yearning for enlightenment, friendship, and love, as well as liberation, happiness and the rescue of the hopeless victims of society and history. I had the honor, to participate in a well-deserved Festschrift for Ivan Supek, which affirms all aspects of our experience with the truly great man. I met Professor Branko Bosniak (1923 – 1996) the first time in the course on Marxism and Phenomenology in the IUC in March 1975. After we had decided, that there would be a course on The Future of Religion, and that I would be the director of the course, he volunteered right away to be the co-director, There existed a rule in the IUC at the time, that every Western director had to have an Eastern - European co-director on his side, Dr. Bosniak served as co-director to our course in 1977 and 1978. on Easter 1978, at 8.00 in the morning, we experienced the horrible earthquake in Hotel Lero. There was great devastation and emotional depression in Dubrovnik and in the wonderful cities south of it. This natural catastrophe was an anticipation of the social catastrophe, the war, which we would experience in Hotel Argentina 15 years later. In spite of the earthquake the resource persons and participants of our course continued bravely to arrive, as they did later on during the war. After our course of 1978, Professor Dr. Srdan Vrcan took Professor Bosniak’s place as co-director, up to the end of the war. Professor Bosniak and I had many wonderful discourses with each other inside and outside of our course in Dubrovnik, and also in his office in the University of Zagreb. We talked about the history of philosophy and about the relationship between art and science.Professor Bosniak had been the co-founder and member of the Editorial Board of the famous journal Praxis, which according to the great Marxist philosopher of religion, Ernst Bloch, was the world’s best Marxist journal. Dr. Bosniak had also been the co-founder of the Cordula Summer School, which was an international Neo-Marxist philosophical conference, in which many members of the Frankfurt School took part. It lasted from 1965-1973. Professor Bosniak and I considered our course to be a humble continuation of the Cordula Summer School, as we developed further the Frankfurt School’s critical theory of religion. ProfessorBosniak had also been the founder and director of the first post-graduate inter-disciplinary study of religion at the University of Zagreb: Theories of Religion and Atheisms, in 1967/1968. In his philosophy of religion, Dr. Bosniak moved continually more and more from anti-theistic Marxism to dialogue with the world religions. At the time, when I met Professor Bosniak, some people were already convinced, that he had never been, or that he was no longer. a Marxist atheist, When I once visited the Orthodox Seminary in Athens, Greece, scholars told me, that Professor Bosniak had always been a practicing believer in the Orthodox Church. Once I visited Professor Bosniak in his rather comfortable office in the University of Zagreb. The office had huge white curtains, which could have come from the Imperial Palace in Vienna. We had a long discourse with each other, including topics like:Aristotle; the history of philosophy as science; Christianity; Marxist Christian dialogue; higher criticism of the Bible; the problem of truth. I was astonished to hear, that Professor Bosniak was not only very knowledgeable and pleased with the work of the fascist philosopher Martin Heidegger, but that he had even visited him in the Black Forest in Germany, and had been very well received by him and his wife. We discussed intensely Heidegger’s post-humous article in the German journal The Spiegel, from which it became only too obvious, that he had given up his fascist position as little as had Carl Schmitt or Mircea Eliade, in contrast to Carl G, Jung, who did convert. Professor Bosniak and I discussed particularly the title of Heideggers last article: Only a God can help us!For Professor Bosniak’s sharp analytical mind, it was most important to find out, on which word in the title the accent was put. Professor Bosniak’s scholarly greatness consisted precisely in his ability to be open toward the Hegelian Right and Left, without losing his own identity. Also after Professor Bosniak had left our course, when once he saw, how well it developed, I met him again and again at the occasion of scientific and philosophical meetings in Dubrovnik and Zagreb. Our course had always a firm place in his heart, and he did whatever he could, in order to support it. We owe Professor Bosniak the greatest gratitude particularly for the initiation of our course. It would probably not have come about without his initiative. Professor Dr, .Srd Vrcan was a most devoted and passionate sociologist in the Law Department of the University of Split, Croatia. . He was the director of an Institute committed to the empirical sociology of religion, which combined dialectical and positivistic methodologies. I was amazed, when once Dr, Vrcan connected Marxist dialectics with the structural - functionalist notion of dys-funtionality. He was astonished, when he heard me still use the Marxian concept of surplus value. Dr, Vrcan developed his empirical sociology of religion with the help of his many students in a large number of books and articles. He was in continual discourse with outstanding scholars in Western Europe, particularly Italy, and in Eastern Europe, particularly the Soviet Union. As committed Marxist, Professor Vrcan had at the same time the deepest respect for religion, particularly for the Roman Catholic and the Greek Orthodox Paradigms of Christianity. It is true, Dr. Vrcan had some problems with the Catholic teaching on sexual morality, e.g. Paul VI’s Encyclical Humanae Vitae. He had the impression, that to follow Catholic sexual morality meant to have no sex at all. but rather to live in celibacy, being married or not.Dr, Vrcan worried deeply about religions crises and final fate in Modernity.Like Professor Bosniak, so was also the Co-director Dr. Vrcan of the opinion, that our course was a successor to the Cordula Summer School, which in his perspective had been closed, because of a lack of hospitality on the side of the population, and that it was our main task to develop a critical, or dialectical theory of religion, through which good religion could be rescued. Already in 1977, Professor Vrcan took my wife Margie and myself through the mountains around Dubrovnik. He loved these mountains, and the city, and the country – all six republics. He was deeply hurt in his feelings, when later on in one summer, still before the war, some people burned down the forest on the mountains above Dubrovnik. It was a bad omen for him. Professor Vrcan was the most honest scholar, I had ever witnessed, and all my colleagues agreed with me. Being a committed Marxist Professor of sociology, Vrcan would never shy away from open criticisms of deficiencies in the Yugoslav or Soviet Government. That then gave him also the moral right to criticizer deficiencies in the West as well. Crises he saw in the East as well as in the West. Professor Vrcan had a deep longing for making good things, which had gone wrong in the past. one year, Professor Vrcan brought as Co-director into our course on the Future of Religion, an outstanding scholar from Germany. Later on I found out, that the scholar’s father had been an Ustasha General, who after he had come back from a visit to Benito Mussolini, and had landed at a beach near Dubrovnik, had been caught by the partisans, and had been court-marshaled, found to be guilty of treason, and executed n the spot. . Professor Vrcan wanted to bring the son home to Yugoslavia. He used our extra-territorial course as a means to do so. The German scholar gave an excellent lecture, if also somewhat on the Right. All went well with him in our course. But when Professor Vrcan took the German scholar to his own University in Split, the students were less hospitable and rejected him. But Professor Vrcan had done his best, to make something good. Dr. Vrcan remembered always from his partisan days an attack on a monastery, where monks were armed and fighting on the Ustasha side. When the partisans stormed the monastery, they also killed monks, who were in the monastic hospital, and who had no weapons on him. This one monk remained an ethical problem for Professor Vrcan’s most sensitive conscience. It had always been a great question for. how secular humanists would deal with such questions of conscience, after once they had left religion behind. One day I visited with Professor Vrcan several monasteries in Dubrovnik. We wanted to invite some of the monks, particularly the Jesuits, as well as the Bishop and the clergy to join our discourse on the future of religion. They usually hesitated to come, because they thought we were all communists, and thus engaged in discourse avoidance, As we left the monasteries, Professor Vrcan remarked, that the life of the monks was too poor and miserable. I answered, that after all the monks had taken a vow of poverty and were as such the better communists. But Dr, Vrcan insisted with great sympathy that the monks were poorer than their vow allowed for, and I had to agree. Once Professor Vrcan invited me to come to the University of Zagreb, and to speak to the Sociology Department. At this occasion, he also introduced me to a circle of priests, who were open to discourse and cooperation with the socialist Tito- Government, and were also willing to come to our course on the Future of Religion in the IUC. During the lunch with the priests, one of them, who had just had brain operations, continually fell asleep. But whenever he woke up again, he injected into our discourse one important thought from the great Pope John XXIII: What we need is a culture of love!Professor Vrcan could not have agreed more. One day Professor Vrcan invited us, to come to his city of Split. It was a day, on which President Tito came to Split. Tito came with two Limousines, one for himself and one for his little dog. His wife had house arrest, because she had conspired with Serb Generals, who leaned toward Russia, and were now incarcerated. Tito, already high in age and short of breath, had still red hairs. People stood along the road, when Tito came and jubilated rather spontaneously. The people forgave the beloved people’s tribune his weaknesses, because he had liberated them from European fascism, and he had kept them independent from the Soviet Union. That was something to be grateful for. While we were celebrating President Tito’s presence in Split, eating fish all night long in his hotel, Professor Vrcan told us some events from the city’s history. When the Roman Emperor resigned from power – which has happened very seldom in history – and divided his Empire into two parts between his two sons, he retired to Split, and build himself there a retirement palace, as well as a burial place, When the Christians came into power a few years after the death of Deocletian, they had completelly forgotten, that he was the Emperor, who had stopped officially their persecutions in 305, and pulled his body out of the grave, and fed it to the fish in the Adria, and transformed his palace into a cathedral, which still stands today. As the night proceeded, Professor Vrcan also told us the tragic story of the Jews in Split. During the Second World War masses of Jews had fled to Split, because the city was under Italian occupation, and the Italians were less Anti-Semitic than the Germans, and thus could be bribed into concessions. When Italy surrendered to the Allies, the Germans took over the fascist occupation of Split. They shot the Italian officers, because they had given their weapons to the Yugoslav partisans. The partisans warned the Jews of Split, that they would be transported to Auschwitz. But most of the Jews did not believe the partisans, and when the SS thousands of them called them went to the market place of Split, and from there was lead into the mountains, never to be seen again. They never arrived in any concentration- or death - camps. They simply disappeared into thin air. Professor Vrcan was horrified by traditional religious Anti-Semitism, - and there had been enough of it in Eastern Europe - as well as of modern biological and anthropological Anti-Judaism, and all the fascist atrocities connected with it. Professor Vrcan admired and encouraged us greatly, when we continued to come to Dubrovnik after the war started. We had to arrive by ship, passing by Split, because the people-owned and self-managed Yat Airline did not function any longer, and the Dubrovnik Airport tower had been demolished by Serbian troops. Shortly before the war started, I saw the striking crews leaving their planes standing on the airfield in Belgrade with all doors open in the midst of heavy rains, and from my window in the Yat Hotel in the center of Belgrade I could see Croatian and Serbian and other officers coming to and going from the still Yugoslav military headquarter in great haste. During the war, we met in Dubrovnik in the basement of Hotel Argentina, which was continually under sniper fire from the mountains above. We had a room in the basement of Hotel Argentina right beside the room for UN forces, which observed and monitored the struggle between the Serbian and the Croatian forces in the mountains above Dubrovnik. From Hotel Argentina we saw the Serbian fleet approaching Dubrovnik from Saphtat, Professor Vrcan found it, nevertheless, somewhat amusing that in the middle of the war zone, we studied Immanuel Kant’s Eternal Peace and the project of a peaceful world republic. At the same time, Professor Vrcan was also frightened for us, because once on my way from the IUC Building to the Monastery down at the beach, I walked into a mine field against a possible Serbian invasion. The Croatian solders did not see me, because they had their afternoon coffee hour. After much shouting, they found the maps of the minefield, and fished me out of my dilemma. At the occasion I saw that the soldiers were wearing rosaries on their shoulders. A few days later, I went on the radio, or maybe also on television, and asked that the rosaries would be removed. It was not that I was against rosaries – I have on myself –it was rather that I was against pulling God down into human conflicts. Professor Vrcan was in full agreement. He was very happy and grateful, that I could bring money and medicine to the wounded and sick of Dubrovnik, independent of their ethnicity, sometimes twice a year, throughout the war Professor Vrcan and I were very saddened, when we heard that high bourgeois Germans were sailing on their luxury yachts up and down the Dalmatian coast,and observing the war asked without any empathy with the suffering people the idiotic question: how can something like that still happen at the end of the 20th century? Like Professor Vrcan, I continued to recognize and love all our resource persons and participants, no matter which ethnic group they came from or belonged to. We were happy, when finally, long after the war was ended, the first Serbian students arrived again in our course: after a long time of alienation, hate, and destruction. We welcomed them wholeheartedly.. Professor Vrcan suffered much physically, and even more so psychologically during and after the war.But that did not hinder him from bravely continuing his research in the sociology of religion, and to remain enormously productive. I cherish his wonderful letters, which he wrote to me up to the end of his life, appreciating our work, and agreeing with our philosophy, that there can not be any peace among nations without peace among the world religions, and that there can be no peace among the world religions without discourse among them on the basis of mutual knowledge about each other’s interpretation of reality and orientation of action. We cannot honor the great most scholarly and humane humanist more than bravely to continue our discourse in gratitude to him.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011 The Book Thief: Review I don't remember the last time a book made me cry. That is, before tonight. I just finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and by the time I closed the book, I was weeping. Is this book perfect, no. All-time finest written, no. But, Zusak, has certainly done his job as a writer. He has reeled me in, sometimes faulty prose and all, and made me care about his characters. And I couldn't bear it when my nearly all of favorites were gone at the end. Trust me, I'm not spoiling anything here. After all, the narrator of the book is Death and the book is about Germany during World War II--am I really letting any cats of the bag when I tell you that a lot of people die? I didn't think so. This book has made so many lists and been so widely reviewed that I doubt that I'm going to say much that's original and a synopsis probably isn't necessary. But for those of you who, like me, don't get out in the world of modern books very often--here's a run-down: This book is narrated by Death...who, of course, is always busy--but never more so than during the reign of Nazi Germany. The book begins with Liesel Meminger, her brother and her mother on train headed to Molching, outside of Munich, to place the children in a foster home. Death's first job in the book is to claim Liesel brother. A death that will haunt Liesel through nightmares for years. The story follows Liesel as she settles into a working-class neighborhood of tough kids, acid-tongued mothers, and loving fathers who earn their living by the work of their hands. The child arrives having just stolen her first book–although she has not yet learned how to read–and her foster father uses it, The Gravediggers Handbook, to lull her to sleep when shes roused by regular nightmares about her younger brothers death. And then although he is no great reader himself, her foster father takes pains to teach Liesel to read. Across the ensuing years of the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Liesel collects more stolen books as well as a peculiar set of friends: the boy Rudy, the Jewish refugee Max, the mayors reclusive wife (who has a whole library from which she allows Liesel to steal), and especially her foster parents. Liesel's friendships are particularly well-done--and most particularly the prickly friendship between her and Rudy. Depicting a friendship between a girl and a boy at that age is not an easy task. The story of Liesel and Death's parallel narrative relating the horrors of war surrounding Molching give a very vivid picture of what life may have been like in the small towns of Germany. And the heart-breaking ending is so very well done, it makes up for some of the stilted writing and poor imagery found earlier in the book. (I just can't imagine a chocolate sky--for one thing.) Overall this is one of the finest young adult books I've ever read and certainly one that has most touched me. I could not put it down this evening (and only put it down throughout the day because I had to work). My biggest quibble is about the little asides that appear in bold. I think that some of that could have been left out altogether and the rest would have worked better if it had been incorporated into the story. Those asides put some major bumps in the reading road. Without those, this would have been a five star book. Four and a half stars.