Anti-evolution, Creationism, Evolution denial, History, Intelligent design creationism
A Crystal Anniversary for the Wedge Document
A Crystal disco ball to celebrate the crystal anniversary of the Disco. 'tute's entry into the creationism business.
Fifteen years ago yesterday, a mail clerk in Seattle was handed a document to copy. As the Seattle Weekly reported, the packet was labeled “TOP SECRET” and “NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION,” and the cover sported an Illuminati-esque triangular design and a copy of Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam.” The title: “The Wedge”; the author: a newly-created division of the conservative Discovery Institute, the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture (CRSC). Later, the Center would drop “renewal” from its title to escape the religious reference, and also switched its logo from the Creation of Adam to a picture of God creating DNA, then to a more secular galactic nebula, and now a mashup of Leonardo’s Vitruvian man and a DNA strand.
The Wedge Document, as the packet came to be known, laid out a bold plan by which the Center would “re-open the case for a broadly theistic understanding of nature,” and “reverse the stifling dominance of the materialist worldview, and to replace it with a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions.” From its first sentence, the document proclaimed its sectarian goals, stating: “The proposition that human beings are created in the image of God is one of the bedrock principles on which Western civilization was built. Its influence can be detected in most, if not all, of the West's greatest achievements, including representative democracy, human rights, free enterprise, and progress in the arts and sciences.”
In order to achieve this religious revival, the creators of the CRSC proposed a five-year plan, with three phases: “Research, Writing and Publication,” “Publicity and Opinion-making,” and “Cultural Confrontation and Renewal.” Of these, they insisted that the first was most crucial: “Without solid scholarship, research and argument, the project would be just another attempt to indoctrinate instead of persuade.”
On this fifteenth anniversary of that five-year plan, it's worth asking just what the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture has accomplished. They promised at the time, “we can accomplish many of the objectives of Phases I and II in the next five years (1999-2003), and begin Phase III (See ‘Goals/Five Year Objectives/Activities’).”
The Five Year Goals:
To see intelligent design theory as an accepted alternative in the sciences and scientific research being done from the perspective of design theory.
To see the beginning of the influence of design theory in spheres other than natural science.
To see major new debates in education, life issues, legal and personal responsibility pushed to the front of the national agenda.
Of these, the first has certainly not happened within science. The second is immeasurable, but hasn’t happened in any obvious way, and to the extent there are new debates in the fields described in the third item, the CRSC seems to have no role to play (aside from sitting on the sidelines and carping).
And the Five Year Objectives covered seven topics, beginning with:
A major public debate between design theorists and Darwinists (by 2003)
While there have been public events staged in which ID creationists and evolution’s defenders squared off, any grand debate died off long ago, and was ended for good with the Kitzmiller v. Dover ruling.
Thirty published books on design and its cultural implications (sex, gender issues, medicine, law, and religion)
Unless one really stretches the meaning of those “cultural implications,” or includes the heaps of books written to debunk ID creationism, I don’t think they can claim success here, either.
One hundred scientific, academic and technical articles by our fellows
Unless you count articles published in the various unimpressive and intellectually incestuous ID journals that have come and gone over the years, or include papers that have nothing to do with ID creationism, they haven’t met this standard, either. Even the CRSC’s own list of publications only hits about 75 items, and most of those are not in credible journals, or don’t mean what the Center claims they mean.
Again, the Wedge document opened by insisting that “Without solid scholarship, research and argument, the project would be just another attempt to indoctrinate instead of persuade.” By their own standard, the ID creationists have to be judged as engaged in “just another attempt to indoctrinate instead of persuade.”
Significant coverage in national media:
Cover story on major news magazine such as Time or Newsweek
PBS show such as Nova treating design theory fairly
Regular press coverage on developments in design theory
Favorable op-ed pieces and columns on the design movement by 3rd party media
While ID creationism has gotten its share of media coverage, and even some cover stories, I wouldn’t say that coverage has been especially favorable. A skim through the CRSC’s media complaints division suggests that they don’t think so either. Certainly no favorable NOVA documentaries—although NOVA’s Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial did treat ID creationism (IDC) fairly—and since there is no “design theory” to make advances in, there’s been no media coverage either.
Spiritual & cultural renewal:
Mainline renewal movements begin to appropriate insights from design theory, and to repudiate theologies influenced by materialism
Major Christian denomination(s) defend(s) traditional doctrine of creation & repudiate(s) Darwinism
Seminaries increasingly recognize & repudiate naturalistic presuppositions
Positive uptake in public opinion polls on issues such as sexuality, abortion and belief in God
Many mainline Protestant churches (and their seminaries) have issued policy statements in favor of evolution in recent years, and against IDC, while the CRSC’s allies in the older creationist organizations have backed away from IDC since its failure in the Dover trial. Public opinion polls show increasing acceptance of marriage equality, views on abortion are quite stable, and belief in God is declining.
Ten states begin to rectify ideological imbalance in their science curricula & include design theory
No state science standards cover creationism, not even in the deracinated form of ID creationism, nor does any textbook from a major publisher. Coverage of evolution has increased since the ‘90s.
Scientific achievements:
An active design movement in Israel, the UK and other influential countries outside the US
Ten CRSC Fellows teaching at major universities
Two universities where design theory has become the dominant view
Design becomes a key concept in the social sciences
Legal reform movements base legislative proposals on design theory
There’s a group in the UK promoting IDC with little success, but no such movement in Israel or any other country. The CRSC fellows are not to be found at major universities; a couple are at UT Austin, and some at Baylor, but before you’d need two hands to keep count, you’d have to stretch the definition of “major university” beyond any meaning. “Design theory” doesn’t exist, and isn’t a dominant view at any university, nor is it relevant in social science research (except for sociologists interested in why people deny science). Nor do any lawyers seem interested in ID creationism, except for civil liberties lawyers.
In short, on this crystal anniversary of the Wedge Document, it appears that the C(R)SC staff’s crystal-gazing skills were awful; they essentially achieved none of their goals. The document also promised that:
Paul Nelson…CRSC Fellow will very soon have [a] book published by…The University of Chicago Press…Nelson's book, On Common Descent, is the seventeenth book in the prestigious University of Chicago "Evolutionary Monographs" series and the first to critique neo-Darwinism.
Fifteen years later, Nelson’s book remains unpublished, to the point that it became a running joke among anticreationist activists of a certain vintage.
By the way, the Wedge Document also offered these “Twenty Year Goals,” which we can revisit in five years:
To see intelligent design theory as the dominant perspective in science.
To see design theory application in specific fields, including molecular biology, biochemistry, paleontology, physics and cosmology in the natural sciences, psychology, ethics, politics, theology and philosophy in the humanities; to see its influence in the fine arts.
To see design theory permeate our religious, cultural, moral and political life.
I am willing to wager a bottle of single-malt scotch that they fail. And unlike some people, I’ll even pony up if I lose.
Polar Bears on the Ark?
(-) Remove Humor filter Humor


Music the Dead Can Hear: Theosophical Presences in Luigi Russolo's Art of Noises. A lecture by Luciano Chessa
Instruments built by Russolo, photo published in his 1913 book "The Art of Noises", first published in "The Art of Noise" by Luigi Russolo, 1913, author: Luigi Russolo
ms², Ogrodowa 19, audiovisual room
27 June 2017, Tuesday, at 18:00 hrs, admission free
Chessa’s study and his lecture present a completely new reading of the mechanical sound synthesizers—the intonarumori—painter/musician Luigi Russolo created beginning in 1913. Chessa, along with other Italian scholars, has reestablished the previously unacknowledged prominence of occultism, including Theosophy, in early 20th-century Italian culture. There it operated in tandem with contemporary scientific ideas about X-rays and wireless telegraphy—all with an emphasis on waves and vibrations and their new communicative potential. With that background he argues that both Russolo’s noise aesthetics and its practical manifestation—the intonarumori—were for him and his Futurist associates elements of a multi-leveled experiment to reach higher states of spiritual consciousness.
Luciano Chessa – musicologist, composer and performer. His book Luigi Russolo, Futurist: Noise, Visual Arts and the Occult, published in 2012 by the University of California Press, is a first monograph entirely devoted to the artist Luigi Russolo and his Art of Noises. Luciano Chessa has been performing futurist sound poetry and conducting an orchestra of rebuilt intonarumoris for well over 10 years. The orchestra was so far performing, among others, as a part of the New York-based Biennale of the Arts PERFORMA or the Festival Transart in Rovereto. Chessa is also the art director and conductor of The Orchestra of Futurist Noise Intoners. He teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, serves in the Advisory Board of TACET, the international research publication dedicated to Experimental Music of the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne.


Brownback to call special session to address school funding; no date set
Jun 7, 2016 - 11:08am
Peter Hancock
photo by: Richard Gwin
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback addresses legislators Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in his State of the State address.
Topeka ? Gov. Sam Brownback said Tuesday that he plans to call a special session of the Legislature to address a recent Kansas Supreme Court ruling on school finance.
“I will do everything I can to keep this session focused on education,” Brownback said in a statement. “I am working to arrange the particular dates of the session, which will occur later this month.”
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that the formula the state uses to distribute one form of aid to local school districts is unconstitutional, and it gave the Legislature until June 30 to fix the formula.
Many have interpreted that as a threat to close schools on July 1, although the court also has the option of ordering its own fix to the formula.
“After discussion with Legislative Leadership, I have decided to call a special session to keep Kansas schools open, despite the Court’s threat to close them,” Brownback said in the statement. “It is distressing that the Kansas Supreme Court has put the schools and legislature of Kansas in this position over less than 1 percent of school funding.”
On May 27, the court struck down a portion of this year’s school funding formula that distributes equalization aid to poorer school districts to subsidize their local option budgets, which is the additional money districts raise above and beyond their base state aid.
Those budgets, known as LOBs, are mainly funded through local property taxes. But the state subsidizes those budgets for less wealthy districts so they don’t have to levy higher property taxes than wealthier districts with larger bases of property valuation.
Republicans have been saying that the issue involves less than 1 percent of the state’s $4 billion education budget because it is estimated that implementing one possible fix would cost less than $40 million.
However, in its May 27 opinion, the court stated that the unequal method of distributing aid makes the entire LOB system unconstitutional. When both local tax dollars and state equalization aid are combined, that adds up to roughly $1 billion, or 25 percent of the entire education budget.
The court’s decision was released late in the day on May 27, the Friday before the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Lawmakers returned to the Statehouse the following Wednesday, June 1, for the traditional “sine die” ceremony to close out the session. But they did not take up the school finance decision, saying that too many lawmakers had not yet read the opinion and there wasn’t enough time in the one-day sine die session to deal with it.
Conservatives in the Legislature have been harshly critical of the court’s opinion, calling it an overreach of judicial authority, with some indicating they might prefer to defy the court by not calling a special session. And Demcorats, who began calling for a special session over the weekend, have been equally harsh in their statements, blaming the GOP leaders for creating an unconstitutional funding scheme in the first place.
Following Brownback’s announcement Tuesday, neither side appeared willing to tone down its remarks.
“The Kansas Supreme Court has made their desire to close Kansas schools crystal clear,” House Speaker Ray Merrick, R-Stilwell, said. “Their willingness to use Kansas children for their own political gain is despicable. Despite the court’s attempts to stir up fear, it’s not going to happen. During the upcoming special session Republicans will ensure that schools remain open while at the same time upholding the Kansas Constitution and not bowing to judicial overreach.”
“It appears that Sam Brownback is finally listening to the people of Kansas who are very concerned about keeping schools open in August,” Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley, of Topeka, said. “However, it remains to be seen whether he and Republican legislative leaders want to comply with the Gannon (v. Kansas) equity order in a bipartisan way. Or, will they once again push through legislation that sets up yet another confrontation with the Kansas Supreme Court?”
Meanwhile, Rep. Tom Sloan, of Lawrence, a moderate Republican, urged the governor and speaker to put their anger toward the court aside.
“Just as the Legislature and Governor may disagree with each other, so too may Legislators and the Governor disagree with the Court’s decisions,” he wrote in a letter to Brownback and Merrick. “Yet, we must recognize that within the authority granted by the people, all of us are striving to uphold the Kansas Constitution to the best of our abilities, even when we disagree.”
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have suggested that the week of June 20 would be the most likely time for a special session. That would give them only 10 days to pass a bill and send it to the governor so that he could sign it and deliver it to the Supreme Court before the June 30 deadline.
But lawmakers have another incentive to work quickly, especially those who are involved in contested primary elections.
Under state law, according to Carol Williams, executive director of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, incumbent lawmakers may not solicit or receive campaign contributions from registered lobbyists while the Legislature is in session.
After the sine die session last week, lawmakers could begin soliciting and receiving contributions. But Williams said they will not be able to do so during the special session.
She also said that if a lawmaker already has a fundraiser scheduled, and if the special session is going on that day, he or she may go ahead and hold the event. But any registered lobbyist attending will not be allowed to make a contribution until after the special session ends.
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#WinnieMandela: Timeline of a legend
Politics / 3 April 2018, 08:33am / Staff Reporter
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has died at the age of 81. Picture: Independent Archives
Pretoria - Winnie Madikizela-Mandela died on Monday following a long illness. She was 81.
Here are some key points from the struggle stalwart's life:
• Born on September 26, 1936 in Bizana, Eastern Cape. She was the fourth of eight children. Her Xhosa name is Nomzamo (“she who tries”).
• Her parents, Columbo and Gertrude, were teachers. Her father taught history and her mother domestic science.
• In 1953, she moved to Joburg and was admitted to the Jan Hofmeyr School of Social Work. She completed her degree in social work in 1955, finishing at the top of her class. She then took the position of medical social worker at the Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg, making her the first qualified black member of staff to fill that post.
• She met lawyer Nelson Mandela in 1957 when she was 22 at a bus stop in Soweto. They married the following year and had two daughters, Zenani in 1959 and Zindziwa in 1960.
• Her husband was arrested in 1963 and imprisoned from August that year to February 1990. Winnie was slapped with a banning order restricting her movements to Joburg.
• In June 1963 Winnie made her first visit to Nelson who was incarcerated on Robben Island.
• In 1965, a new and more severe banning order was handed to Winnie that allowed her to move around only in her neighbourhood of Orlando West.
• In 1969 she spent 18 months in solitary confinement at Pretoria Central Prison.
• In May 1973, Winnie was arrested again, for meeting with banned photographer Peter Magubane. She was handed a 12-month sentence to be served at Kroonstad women’s prison.
• In 1977 she was banned to the town of Brandfort in the Free State for eight years and only on occasions allowed to visit her husband on Robben Island. She returned from exile in 1986.
• In 1990 she was at Mandela’s side when he was released after 27 years in prison.
• By the time Madiba became president in May 1994, they had been separated for two years. They divorced in March 1996, after which she adopted the surname Madikizela-Mandela.
• At the end of her ban she started the Mandela United Football Club, a group of youngsters known to be involved in vigilante attacks. The attacks included the death of 14-year-old James “Stompie” Seipei, who was accused of being an informant, in 1988.
• In 1991 she was convicted of kidnapping “Stompie”. Her six-year jail sentence was reduced to a fine on appeal.
• Winnie appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1997, which judged her to have been implicated in a number of assaults and murders carried out by the Mandela United Football Club .
• In December 1993 and April 1997 she was elected president of the ANC Women’s League.
• In 2001 she was involved in a scuffle with former president Thabo Mbeki when she arrived late for an ANC event.
• In 2002 she was re-elected to the ANC executive.
• In April 2003 she was convicted on 43 charges of fraud and 25 of theft related to money taken from a funeral fund. She was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, but in 2004, on appeal, her theft conviction was overturned. Her prison sentence for fraud was suspended.
• Shortly after her conviction she resigned from all leadership positions in the ANC and gave up her parliamentary seat.
Pretoria News
#WinnieMandela: We must never forget her sacrifices
#WinnieMandela: Controversial Mother of the Nation


[OPINION] Diyarbakır’s Tragedy Displays AKP’s Distaste for Multiculturalism -1
Philip Bernard Kowalski
Diyarbakır is a city unlike any other in Turkey. With the second longest set of historic walls in the world that enclose its densely packed antique core, it rivals better known Middle Eastern cities with the sheer magnificence of its architectural heritage. Unlike many other cities in Turkey, which have had their historic structures destroyed to make way for concrete high-rise modernity, Diyarbakır’s historic center, known as Sur, has managed to retain its traditional character, being recently awarded UNESCO World Heritage recognition.
With its structural heritage giving way to an evocative, quintessentially Mesopotamian atmosphere, Diyarbakır should by all means be one of the most popular destinations in the world; instead, within Turkey, it is branded as a backwards and dangerous place. Diyarbakır is also unique amongst Turkish cities in its misfortune.
The symptom of Diyarbakır’s tragedy is easy to identify – the majority of its inhabitants are Kurdish. To further complicate the matter is the inconvenient detail that many of its inhabitants are also Armenians. Prior to 1915, Armenians were one of the most significant portions of the population, and many Armenian intellectuals considered Diyarbakır to be the most important Armenian center in the Ottoman Empire. The Armenian Genocide saw Diyarbakır hit particularly hard, but it did not entirely end the Armenian presence in the city; many Armenians converted to Islam as a means to escape persecution, in addition to those who were forced to convert by local Muslims who kidnapped them.
After the genocide, the Turkish Republic, founded in 1923, inherited a new problem – Diyarbakır was now overwhelmingly Kurdish. The Turkish state, with its monoethnic and monolinguistic nation-state project, sought to “Turkify” its Kurdish population. The Kurdish population resisted, resulting in a fierce rebellion in 1925 that was brutally quelled. Subsequently, Turkey made Diyarbakır the focal point in its effort to modernize and Turkify the Kurdish southeast, the most economically backwards and uneducated region of the Republic.
With Kurdish ethnic expression strictly forbidden and economic development virtually non-existent, the Kurdish problem erupted once again in the 1970’s with the rise of the PKK (Kurdistan Worker’s Party), plunging Diyarbakır into a now-familiar cycle of violence.
With an estimated 40,000 deaths since the 1970s and untold economic damages, the conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state has been modern Turkey’s largest challenge. It has also resulted in generations of distrust between Turks and Kurds, a tension which has played out as Kurds have emigrated to Western Turkish cities such as Istanbul, Izmir, and Ankara as a way to escape the violence and earn better wages.
After decades of conflict, the status quo began to cool in the 2000’s, cumulating in the declaration of a ceasefire on March 21, 2013 by imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan that was subsequently accepted by Prime Minister Erdoğan. For Diyarbakır, this slowing down and eventual cessation of hostilities allowed for unprecedented improvement of its social and economic woes.
Making Amends
In 2004, Abdullah Demirbaş, a Kurd, was elected mayor of the Sur municipality. Amongst politicians within Turkey, Demirbaş was unusual in his cosmopolitan aspirations. Seeking to restore Diyarbakır’s historic grandeur after decades of destruction amidst the PKK conflict, Demirbaş advocated for his municipality to focus on the restoration of historic structures. Mansions, mosques, gardens, and most controversially, churches, were given badly needed professional attention and resources.
Demirbaş didn’t limit his cosmopolitan ideology to structures; Kurdish, Armenian, and Assyrian identity were all encouraged, perhaps being epitomized in the Sur city hall being marked by a large sign in the Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, and Assyrian languages, an extraordinarily taboo move in a country that pushes for a monocultural identity. Demirbaş’s innovations were viewed as separatist provocations by many in Ankara, and he was jailed on several occasions for what was deemed as terrorist propaganda.
Still, every time Demirbaş was released, he continued his work. The crown jewel of Demirbaş’s efforts was the reconstruction of Diyarbakır’s Surp Giragos Church, the largest Armenian church in the region. Derelict since the 1970s, Demirbaş and his allies oversaw a faithful restoration of the church, which was reopened in 2011, quickly becoming one of the main draws to the city, pulling in tourists from Turkey and abroad. Furthermore, the reconstruction once again turned Diyarbakır into the center of Armenian life in Turkey. For the descendants of Armenian converts to Islam, the church served as a means to reconnect with their Armenian heritage, and many of the city’s crypto-Armenian inhabitants felt safe to once again identify as Armenian.
In April of 2012 and 2015, significant memorial events were held in Diyarbakır commemorating the Armenian Genocide, generously sponsored by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, a Portuguese organization which dedicates a large portion of its funding to Armenian cultural events. The openness with which the Genocide was discussed and remembered would have been impossible in any other city in Turkey. Of the reforms, British-Armenian intellectual Ara Sarafian said “…the city authorities did everything they could to retain the memory – if not recreate the reality of Diyarbakır’s Armenians…Armenians were not strangers in those lands, but lost custodians.”
In combination with the peace process, Diyarbakır was finally beginning to gain the recognition it so well deserved. New businesses were opening, the city expanding, and the infrastructure was modernizing. One Diyarbakır-born transplant to Istanbul expressed his amazement at how nightlife had become so exceptional for a city within the traditionally conservative Turkish southeast; with bars being opened up in the numerous restored mansions, serving up local Assyrian and Armenian-made wines and meze. Tourists arrived from Izmir and Istanbul, returning to the west with rapturous remarks on what they discovered. The perception that Diyarbakır was a backwater to be avoided began to change.
For Demirbaş, it was part of a wider vision. As he told Open Democracy, “…we were trying to make Sur reflect its own historical roots, because it is estimated that Sur is historically over eight or nine thousand years old and that over thirty-three different cultures have thrived there. Sur is the largest part of Diyarbakır, making Diyarbakır a multi-cultural, multi-identity, and multi-vocal city. But this remarkable diversity was denied at the foundation of the Turkish Republic, which consists only of a single nation, with a single language, and a single religion.
So we wanted to rehabilitate all of these diverse fragments which have been under the shadow of destruction and keep them alive for the future…We also wanted to give a model of peace to the Middle East, because the Middle East is constructed of different linguistic, religious, and racial groups. We plan to make Diyarbakır, and especially Sur, the center of Middle Eastern peacemaking.”
*Philip Bernard Kowalski is a US based researcher who completed his MA at the London School of Oriental and African Studies, where he studied Kurdish history. He previously lived in Turkey from 2012-2016, during which he traveled extensively across Turkey, the Kurdish southeast, and the Syrian-Turkish border, where he witnessed the rise and fall of the peace process between the Turkish government and the PKK.
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Charity collection for mothers’ home
On the 18th of May the PR and Marketing Section of Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary visited the Lorántffy Zsuzsanna Mothers’ Home in the city of Miskolc to hand out the donations collected by the community of our university within the framework of the Reformed Volunteer Days of the Carpathian Basin.
Cyril O’Regan: Modernity and the Gnostic Thesis
Cyril O’Regan, Professor of Theology and Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, will give a lecture in English at the Faculty of Humanities (H-1088 Budapest, Reviczky street 4., room 104) under the title ‘Modernity and the Gnostic Thesis’ on 24 May 2017, at 14:00.
Spring Semester 2013 for Exchange Student
Our team of three law students has returned from Vienna where they represented the University in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot („the Moot”). This year, 290 law schools participated in the Moot from 62 countries. The competition commenced in October – the writing phase of the Moot was over in January, and the oral hearings took place in Vienna in the spring, the week before Easter. Our students succesfully handled the challenges during the four simulation hearings that they participated in, each lasting for 1,5-2 hours before panels of three international commercial arbitrators. Our opponents were the University of Miami from the United States, the Russian Academy of Justice from Moscow, the famous Brooklyn Law School from America, and the Law Society of Ireland. The subject matter and procedure of the competition is placed in the fifth-year course „The Law of International Economic Relations” in the law curriculum (international sales law and international commercial arbitration).
The week-long oral phase of the Moot was made even more colorful by professional and social events. The Moot commenced as the The 2013 Károli Pre-Moot Sessions, organized by the Faculty of Law, came to an end.
The Faculty was represented by Marianna Balogh, Balázs Szvetlov and Balázs Timár, all full-time students of law in their fourth or fifth year of legal studies. Coaching, which lasted during the entire academic year, was provided by associate professors Dr. Gábor Palásti (Department of European Law and International Law) and Dr. Ádám Boóc (Department of Civil Law and Roman Law). During the stay in Vienna, additional professional instructions were offered by associate professor Dr. Anikó Grad-Gyenge, deputy head of the Department of Civil Law and Roman Law.
While hereby congratulating the participants to the Moot, we also express out thanks to the University and Faculty for the financial, administrative and professional support.
Dr. Gábor Palásti, associate professor, Department of European Law and International Law
International Moot Court Competition and Student Conference on the Faculty of Law of the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church
The Faculty of Law of the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church hosted an international competition designed for law students, called a moot court, between 18-20 March 2013. The language of the moot court, which was called "The 2013 Károli Pre-Moot Sessions" was English. Competing teams came from the University of Oxford, Northwestern University from Chicago, Centre for Transnational Legal Studies from London, the Pontifical Catholic University, Sao Paolo, from Brazil, and the host Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church. However, the students’ countries of origin displayed an even more colorful picture, since the teams from The United Kingdom and The United States had students from China, Korea, Canada and Germany.
“It was our pleasure to host the foreign students. We were proud to see that law students visited us from such distant locations as Brazil or the United States, representing such renowned universities world-wide as the University of Oxford” – said Dr. Péter Antalóczy, dean of the Faculty of Law.
The three-day event was completed with an international student conference, where students from participating countries described their own systems of legal higher education. The comparison of the different models of legal higher education (American, Brazilian, UK and Hungarian) provided an opportunity to come to interesting conclusions regarding the contents of the law curriculum, its duration, admission requirements, tuition or the employment opportunities of fresh law graduates. The system that appeared to be the closest to the Hungarian one was from Brazil, where legal higher education is also a five-year undivided degree program based upon civil law traditions.
Additional social programs – such as an opening reception, sightseeing, museum visit, spa-experience, wine tasting with lecture – made the Pre-Moot even more enjoyable.
Dr. Gábor Palásti, associate professor, chief organizer of The 2013 Károli Pre-Moot Sessions
Report on the Dictionary Day (3 October 2012)
It was the eighth time that the so-called Dictionary Day had been organised by the Dictionary Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The event was held at Károli Gáspár University on 3 October 2012. This occasion was special not only because the Awards for the Best Dictionaries of the Year were distributed, but also because Tamás Magay, who is well known for his being the chief editor of the László Országh bilingual dictionaries, but is as yet little known as the founder of the English Department at our University, received an official laudation as well.
The idea of the Dictionary Day is the direct product of the Change of Regime in1990. The change, brought about by the new regime, had both many advantages and disadvantages. After that time, the edition of dictionaries ceased to be a centralized process. This meant that every publishing house could come up with dictionaries and publish them without any difficulties. The new dictionaries―with either outward or inward innovations, attractive blurbs, favourable prices, however, were not always accompanied by appropriate and acceptable quality. Therefore, on the initiative of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences the Dictionary Day was created, so that attention could be directed to the importance of quality, of learning languages and becoming more conscious of our mother tongue. This occasion also provided the opportunity to officially appreciate the work of the most excellent Hungarian dictionary editors of the year.
As it had already become a tradition, the day was started with a huge book fair in the University’s Hall where such prominent Hungarian Publishing Houses like Grimm Publishing House, Akadémiai Publishing House and TINTA Publishing House exhibited and advertised their different editions, providing an excellent opportunity for those interested to update their home library with new dictionaries and language books.
This year the Award for the Best Dictionaries of the Year was given by Professor Ferenc Kiefer who rewarded the publications of four editors. Among the honoured, the name of Regina Hessky for the bilingual German-Hungarian Dictionary for Children, of Katalin Márkus and Eszter Magay for their English-Hungarian bilingual Dictionary, of Ervin Székely for his Portugese-Hungarian bilingual Dictionary, and finally of Zoltán Kövecses whose English-Hungarian Idioms Dictionary was highly praised should be mentioned.
The bestowing of the awards was followed by the official laudation of Tamás Magay, whose 55 years’ jubilee of being a dictionary editor was celebrated. He was praised for his incredible, indefatigable and versatile contribution to English-Hungarian lexicography. While Dr Dóra Pődör, the head of the Department of English Linguistics at Károli Gáspár University, praised the academic achievements and the personal qualities of Professor Magay, emphasising his contribution to the establishment of the English Department, László Borbás, the company director of Grimm Publishing House, highlighted the lexicographic merits of Professor Magay, calling him “the Michael Schumacher of English-Hungarian Lexicography”. Finally, Tibor Pintér talked about the ‘Festschrift’ entitled Szavak pásztora (The Shepherd of Words), which was to symbolise the respect and gratitude for the energetic work and achievements Professor Magay managed to carry out in the field of lexicography.
After the introductory part of the day, the more practical side of the event followed in the form of three lectures on certain aspects of lexicography and related areas.
Zita Hollós introduced and popularized the EMLex program which is an excellent opportunity for MA students interested in lexicography not only to deepen their knowledge in this field but also to visit different universities within Europe and to gain an insight into the actual creation process of dictionaries. She was followed by Ágota Fóris whose presentation dealt with the use and necessity of terminology in modern life, and introduced shortly what terminology is about and how it could be used in several spheres of life. The event was closed with the thought-provoking lecture of Ottó Pecsuk who elaborated on the difficulties concerning the translation of the proper names in the Bible; the Hungarian forms of these names are to be standardised among the denominations.
In short, the event of the Dictionary Day shed light upon the competition concerning dictionary publishing. The meeting also highlighted and showed great appreciation for the―in the most cases―“invisible” amount of work that is behind a published volume. Moreover, through some examples the problems and modern attempts made in the field of lexicography were also shown.
Viktória Hesz and Amandine Agboca
MA students in English Studies
Education and Culture DG Lifelong Learning Programme
The Department of Labour Law and Social Security of the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary (Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, Budapest) participates as vocational partner in the Implementation of the Lisbon Strategy (Europe 2020), 2nd edition (EU)” Erasmus Intensive Programme (IP), a course lasting seven months.
Sub-topics of the program are: human resource management (HR and felxibility), labour law, economic growth (the role of SMEs); CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), social security (pensions).
Five students of law represent the Károli Gáspár University in this programme: Alexandra Espár, Éva Mercédesz Konta, Emese Lehoczky, Róbert Muzsalyi and Liliána Urbán. The mentors of this students are associate professors Dr. Attila Kun and Dr. Árpád Homicskó
European Universities participating in the program:
Kaunas College Lithuania;
Plantijn Hogeschool van de Provincie Antwerpen Belgium;
Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Umwelt Nürtingen-Geislingen Germany;
Universitat de Girona Spain;
Oulun Seudun Ammattikorkeakoulu Finland;
Juridische Hogeschool Tilburg Avans-Fontys Netherlands.
As closing of the program the participants attend a two-week course in Oulu.
The program is sponsored by the European Union.


Former Make-A-Wish child raises $23,000 to grant wishes for others
Zack Abel, 13, organizes fundraiser for kids fighting cancer
Updated: 12:59 AM EDT Aug 21, 2012
A 13-year-old cancer survivor helped raise more than $23,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.Channel 4 Action News first reported on Zack Abel's fight with cancer several years ago. Now, as a survivor, he's come a long way, helping other kids live their lives.The 13-year-old Ingomar Middle School student organized an Aug. 19 bike/walk/run fundraiser for Make-A-Wish at North Park on Sunday. "I'm so proud of him," Zack's mom, Natalie Abel, said. "This was completely his idea. He begged me to do this. He got this idea in his head. When Zack gets an idea in his head, he doesn't give up."Abel said Zack is paying it forward, knowing the struggles of so many other children who just need their spirits lifted."That's why I want to do this fundraiser," Zack said. "To help kids get new thoughts about that and what happened and new memories."His goal was to raise $3,900, which is the cost of one Make-A-Wish wish."They've just done so much for me, and I just wanted to give back to them," he said.Instead, he raise more than $23,000."It was phenomenal. It was outstanding. I couldn't even begin to talk to the people or thank them enough for coming, because I crushed my goal and helped Make-A-Wish a lot," he said.Seven years ago, an 8-foot-tall T-Rex named Meaty paid a visit to Zack, who dreamed of becoming a paleontologist. Zack's wish was granted through Make-A-Wish."I still have people come up to me today and say how big I've gotten since then," Zack said.Now, Zack said that visit is a constant reminder of how his wish was granted and how he beat cancer."I was lucky I got it because there's kids that go through it … and they don't get their childhood like they wanted to," Zack said. "So I want to raise money so more kids can get their wish and have a memory they'll remember forever."The teen is now already planning his next fundraiser."We had three months to plan this fundraiser, and we're just going to make this one bigger by planning it for a full year," he said.
FRANKLIN PARK, Pa. —
A 13-year-old cancer survivor helped raise more than $23,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Channel 4 Action News first reported on Zack Abel's fight with cancer several years ago. Now, as a survivor, he's come a long way, helping other kids live their lives.
The 13-year-old Ingomar Middle School student organized an Aug. 19 bike/walk/run fundraiser for Make-A-Wish at North Park on Sunday.
"I'm so proud of him," Zack's mom, Natalie Abel, said. "This was completely his idea. He begged me to do this. He got this idea in his head. When Zack gets an idea in his head, he doesn't give up."
Abel said Zack is paying it forward, knowing the struggles of so many other children who just need their spirits lifted.
"That's why I want to do this fundraiser," Zack said. "To help kids get new thoughts about that and what happened and new memories."
His goal was to raise $3,900, which is the cost of one Make-A-Wish wish.
"They've just done so much for me, and I just wanted to give back to them," he said.
Instead, he raise more than $23,000.
"It was phenomenal. It was outstanding. I couldn't even begin to talk to the people or thank them enough for coming, because I crushed my goal and helped Make-A-Wish a lot," he said.
Seven years ago, an 8-foot-tall T-Rex named Meaty paid a visit to Zack, who dreamed of becoming a paleontologist. Zack's wish was granted through Make-A-Wish.
"I still have people come up to me today and say how big I've gotten since then," Zack said.
Now, Zack said that visit is a constant reminder of how his wish was granted and how he beat cancer.
"I was lucky I got it because there's kids that go through it … and they don't get their childhood like they wanted to," Zack said. "So I want to raise money so more kids can get their wish and have a memory they'll remember forever."
The teen is now already planning his next fundraiser.
"We had three months to plan this fundraiser, and we're just going to make this one bigger by planning it for a full year," he said.


Agrizoophobia (Fear of Wild Animals)
Posted on February 11, 2014 by Steven Fritchie
Agrizoophobia
(Fear of wild animals)
Edward Jones had always had a fear of wild animals. The one incident that had brought on this fear occurred when he was eight years old. He was on a school trip to the zoo and everything was going fine until James Barrow, a boy who was a year older than Edward, had dared him to climb up on the fence which ran around the wall of a gorilla enclosure. Edward had always liked animals but gorillas were not known for being the most tranquil of animals. Edward and James held back from the rest of the class and when everyone, especially the teachers, were out of sight, Edward climbed up the bars of the fence. He was half way up the fence when he decided that this may not have been the smartest thing that he could do and was ready to climb down, but James insisted that he touch the top of the fence. Edward took a deep breathe and hooked one of his legs on the fence and climbed the rest of the way. Once his objective had been reached, Edward started on his way down. Unfortunately, neither Edward nor James had been paying too much attention to the gorillas. One of the alpha males saw the boy trying to climb the fence and charged. The gorilla considered this as an assault on his territory and was not going to allow this incursion. He swiftly ran across the trench that divided the fence and his pseudo-rocky territory and grabbed the intruder by both arms and banged him against the bars. Edward let out his first scream when he felt the strong hairy paws of the primate grab a hold of him. Before the gorilla started to slam Edward against the bars, Edward had looked into the eyes of the enraged primate and saw the primal rage within. That was one of the last things that Edward remembered before the pain of the bars knocked him unconscious. He never saw James running away calling out for help from the teachers. He never saw the zoo attendant run up to the enclosure with a rifle loaded with a tranquilizer dart and shoot the gorilla and he never saw the faces of the ambulance attendants as they carried his limp body away on a stretcher. Edward Jones was in the hospital for a week recovering from his injuries, and James Barrow and his parents were the first people, after his own family, to come visit him after he was allowed visitors. James deeply apologized for daring Edward to do such a stupid stunt and he promised that he would never do such a thing again.
James, for the most part, kept his promise because one year later he and his family moved to Eugene, Oregon. Edward and James kept in touch with each other until they both hit puberty, but after that they both found other things, and people, to occupy their time. James would eventually go to college in Oregon, get married after graduation, have two kids, and in his fifteenth year of marriage leave his wife and kids and move to Denver with his new girlfriend. Edward never knew any of these things but, during the occasional times that he did remember James, his recollections were always scarred by the gorilla attack.
Edward also went to college, met a girl he liked but did not make any commitments to her, due to the heavy load of work that college presented him with. He was planning to be a lawyer but he wasn’t sure what area of law he wanted to get into. He was torn between Corporate Law and Medical Law and until he could make a commitment to his future, he felt that it wasn’t fair to make a firm commitment to his girlfriend. Sandra, who understood Edward’s dilemma and supported him in his decision, felt happy just knowing that he cared for her and that once he made his choice for his career, he would be more secure in committing himself to her. Sandra, although a very pretty and smart girl, did tend to sometimes live in a fool’s paradise. She would sometimes visit Edward in his dorm room in order to help him study for exams, but she also saw this as an opportunity to slyly remind Edward of her usefulness to him.
One evening as Sandra was coaching Edward for his final exams, she asked him if he had made any plans for the summer.
“Huh? I’m sorry, what did you say Sandra?” Edward asked as his half-sleepy eyes fluttered open.
“I said, have you made any plans for the summer?”
“Well, the only thing that I thought about was going back home and trying to get a summer internship at a law office in LA.”
“Well, does this mean that you’ve finally decided on what area of law you’re interested in?”
“I think that I’m going to go into corporate law.”
“Well, Los Angeles is fine but I think, and this is only a suggestion, that you would be better off if you tried to get an internship in New York. You’d be able to make more money and there are more important companies that you could work for in New York.”
“But, I have family in Los Angeles and I could save money on rent by living with them.”
“However, if you go to New York, you could stay with me and my family. My father has lots of important connections and I’m sure that he would be happy to help you. It would also give us more time together. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Sure, you know I would, but…”
“But what? You think that I’m trying to pressure you into making a commitment?”
“No, it’s not that. I’ll tell you what, we have four more days until summer vacation and I’ll give you my answer in two days, but right now, I just want to get some sleep. Is it a deal?”
“Two days? Alright, I’ll hold you to that. Well, I better leave now anyway. It’s after eleven o’clock and I have an eight o’clock class tomorrow. I’ll see you later, Eddie.”
“Good-night, Sandra.”
Edward had made his decision; he decided to spend two weeks with his family and then he would fly to New York to be with Sandra and her family. “If her father is as well-connected as she says, it might be worth my time to stay with Sandra,” Edward told his parents when he got back home. Although his parents were a bit disappointed, they understood Edward’s reasoning.
“Well, do you have any plans for the time that you’re here?” his mother asked.
“I do plan to check out any internship programs while I’m here; sort of get the lay of the land, so to speak.”
“But if you find something here that you’re interested in, won’t Sandra be disappointed?”
“I have thought of that, mother. Sandra is a very nice girl, but I’m not sure if her invitation has any strings attached and I’m trying to focus on my career before thinking of marriage.”
“Well, I’m sure that you know her better than your father and I do, but it wouldn’t hurt to see where your options in New York would lead you.”
Edward gave his mother a small smile and left the living room. He knew that his mother worried about him, but after the near death experience at the zoo when he was a child, her worry sometimes became oppressive. Edward, for his part, managed to suppress the terrible incident. The only time that the experience had caused him any discomfort was when Sandra and some friends had invited him to a party at one of the frat houses and some joker thought that it would be funny to dress up in a gorilla outfit and jumped out of some bushes when guests showed up. Unfortunately for the prankster, Edward, without thinking, took a swing at the guy and knocked him out. It’s true that his hands were shaking after wards, and the guy forgave him, but the party lost any joy for Edward and he told Sandra and her friends that he was not feeling very well and that he was calling it a night. Sandra asked him what was wrong but Edward didn’t give her an answer. She never brought the incident up to him and, after a few days, totally forgot about it. That night he did have trouble sleeping, but after waking up in a cold sweat, he got out of his bed, went to the bathroom and washed his face with cold water. That seemed to calm his mind and he went back to bed without further incidence.
After his time home with his parents, Edward packed his bags, had his father drive him to the airport, and caught his plane. Six hours later, he was greeted at JFK by Sandra. They found her car and she drove Edward to her parents’ house in the suburbs. It had been built in the Tudor style and had six bedrooms and three bathrooms. Sandra’s mother and father greeted the couple at the front door and were very cordial towards Edward. After all of the formalities had been taken care of, Sandra led Edward up to the room that would be his while he was there. Checking to see if anyone else was around, Sandra closed the bedroom door and practically jumped into Edward’s arm after he set down his luggage. She gave him a passionate and long kiss, then broke off and said,
“I’m so glad to have you here. I missed you terribly for those two weeks.”
“And I missed you, Sandra. Well, I suppose I should get unpacked.”
“Oh leave it. The valet will take care of that for you. I think that you should just freshen up a bit and come downstairs for a drink with my parents. I know that daddy has been busy on your behalf.”
Edward and Sandra’s parents did manage to get along quite well. Her father told Edward that the family had invited some of their friends over the next night for dinner and a cocktail party and that many of the people that could be helpful to Edward would be there. The rest of the evening went well and after dinner, Sandra took Edward out to a club to meet some of her friends. Although, for the most part, Edward did enjoy the night out, he was beginning to wonder about Sandra’s intentions. Was she taking him to meet her friends only as a courtesy or was she trying to get him to be overwhelmed with the social life in New York and decide to stay? His fears about being pressured to make a decision were slowly creeping into his head. Edward was not normally a heavy drinker, but that night he had a couple drinks more than usual. This, combined with his nagging fears, caused him to ask Sandra if they could go home before she practically had him proposing to her in front of all of her friends. The drive back to Sandra’s parents’ home was fairly quiet. Sandra asked Edward what was bothering him but he only mumbled an answer as he stared out at the lights along Broadway. When they got back to the house, Edward gave Sandra a peck on the cheek and went up to his bedroom. The next morning at breakfast, conversation was at a minimum. Edward had come to the table with his head hung down, walked over to Sandra and quietly apologized for his behavior. Sandra gave him a small smile and told him that she forgave him. Sandra’s mother was the only other person at the table and she knew better than to ask questions about any problems the couple may have had.
“So, Sandra, do you and Edward have any plans for today?” her mother asked after what she considered an appropriate amount of time.
“I thought that Edward and I would go downtown for a few hours and catch a matinee of a play and then have lunch. Would that be alright with you Edward?”
Edward put down his fork, looked at Sandra and gave her a smile and told her that would be a very nice idea. Satisfied that Edward was willing to give her another chance, she told him that they would leave in an hour in order to get to the first matinee. Edward was relieved by the fact that Sandra was willing to give them time to be alone and not be surrounded by people who would expect him to pretend to be something that he was not, mainly Sandra’s fiance.
The ride into the city was less tense than the night before and the conversation leaned more towards their academic futures than their personal futures. Sandra found a parking space in a lot and they crossed the street towards the theater. Edward did not really pay much attention to the name of the play, but he went to the window and ordered two tickets, hoping that it wouldn’t be something too boring. They found their seats, which were about a dozen rows away from the stage, and sat down.
“I’ve wanted to see this play since it came here. It’s suppose to be very entertaining even though it is basically meant for children.” Sandra told him. Edward then happened to look at the program and saw the title of the play. He was startled but then thought to himself, “It’s only a play; the animals aren’t real.” With this thought implanted into his subconscious, he smiled at Sandra and sat back in his seat as the house lights went down and the curtain rose on the first part of “The Lion King.” On the outside, Edward put on a facade of enjoying the play for Sandra’s sake, but on the inside, Edward was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable. He knew that the animals on stage were just actors in costume, but the costumes were so well done, that he clutched the armrests of his chair throughout the play. He was almost relaxed enough by the final act of the play to let loose of the armrests, when something occurred which he had never expected. The actors in their costumes when coming off of the stage and into the audience. The final song of the play was being sung, but Edward paid no attention to it. Within minutes, he and Sandra were being surrounded by the actors. Edward’s heart was racing as he saw the actors playing the lions come closer to their seats. Sandra and the other audience members were smiling and laughing, but Edward’s fear was becoming too much. Suddenly, he leapt out of his chair, screamed, pushed the actor in the lion suit to the floor, and ran out of the theater.
At the same time that Edward’s fear was overtaking him in the theater, Marco Santorini was on his way to his part-time job. Even though the job didn’t particularly pay well, Marco decided at the time that “beggars can’t be choosers” and accepted the job. The outfit for his job was a bit cumbersome and since it was the middle of summer, he carried it in his strong, muscular arms. Marco’s job was to be a costumed performer for kids at a family restaurant which had a circus theme to it. He was two blocks away from the restaurant when someone ran into him so hard that, although Marco kept his balance, the person who had run into him bounced off of him and fallen to the ground. Marco looked down to see if the man was hurt, but instead he saw that the man was staring at the gorilla head of the costume that Marco had been carrying. When Marco bent down to get the head, the man suddenly looked at Marco and started screaming.
Sandra, in the meantime, had grabbed her coat and purse and, excusing herself to the animal-actors, made her way out of the theater. Once her eyes got used to the daylight, she saw Edward sitting on the sidewalk screaming while a large man carrying part of a gorilla suit was trying to calm him down. She slowly walked over to Edward so as to not startle him. When she got to him, she managed to embrace him and, at the same time, quietly asked the large man to call for an ambulance. An ambulance arrived within ten minutes and the EMT managed to get Edward on a gurney and in the ambulance. The EMT helped Sandra get into the ambulance and, with a word to the driver, the medical vehicle took off. After the ambulance had taken off, Marco picked up the gorilla head, looked it over carefully for any damage and noticed that he had only five minutes to get to work if he didn’t want to get fired.
The day after Edward was admitted to the hospital, Sandra came to visit him with a bouquet of flowers. Edward was awake when she entered the room and almost as soon as she sat on the side of his bed, Edward told her about his childhood experience. Sandra was very understanding and once Edward was out of the hospital, she swore that she would never take him to a play with animals ever again. She also made sure that when they were together and went to a movie that “King Kong” was not playing at any of the cinemas.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged actors, corporate law, Edward Jones, play, wild gorilla, zoo by Steven Fritchie. Bookmark the permalink.
2 thoughts on “Agrizoophobia (Fear of Wild Animals)”
Remmy Meggs on May 17, 2016 at 2:30 pm said:
Wow i am more afraid of cars than animals but the story is good.
corporatewhoreofbabylon on May 17, 2016 at 5:36 pm said:
Thank you for the compliment.


Anti-war march in 1972; Credit: Asian Pacific American Photographic Collection, Visual Communications Archives
What Today’s Protesters Can Learn From the History of L.A.’s Asian-American Movement
Lilian Min January 24, 2017
On Saturday, Jan. 21, hundreds of thousands of people spilled into downtown Los Angeles to protest a president whose promise to “make America great again” threatens to turn back the clock on civil liberties at least several decades for marginalized groups.
Coincidentally, just two days earlier, the Chinese American Museum opened “Roots: Asian-American Movements in Los Angeles 1968-80s,” an exhibit that digs into an oft-overlooked historical resistance, which can inform how we build new activist coalitions for the future.
The Asian-American movement was the first broad, pan-Asian diaspora coalition in America. Within it, activists rallied around causes that ranged from the war in Vietnam to the eviction of elderly, non-English-speaking residents within gentrifying communities to youth drug abuse. They boosted socially conscious films and music by Asian-American artists, joining a groundswell of movements that included the civil rights movement, the Chicano movement, second-wave feminism and the gay liberation movement. “Roots” is an effort to contextualize the many causes at work during this era while specifically centering L.A.’s Asian-American activism and identity formation — a mighty task, considering that Asia is a vast continent with individually and regionally complicated histories.
“This idea of Asian America didn’t exist until 1968, and it’s really the work of people in their 20s, even teenagers, coming together and producing culture, making institutions, working on campaigns, that defined this identity. It’s pretty remarkable to think about how Asian-American is a term all of us use now, but it was really created and invented by dedicated young people,” Ryan Wong, who curated the exhibit over the course of years, said over the phone. Wong had previously put together the show “Serve the People: The Asian-American Movement in New York” in NYC’s Interference Archive space.
That show ran from late 2013 into early 2014, and it was during this time that CAM curator Steve Wong (no relation) first entertained the notion of bringing a similar show to L.A. Though the exhibit is hosted at CAM for the next six months, Ryan Wong is quick to point out that this was for the space’s community-oriented mission, rather than a move to, say, center Chinese-American activism: “A really important and significant step for any kind of identity-focused museum is to recognize these common points of intersection and overlap.”
Credit: Alan Ohashi, Courtesy Visual Communications
The task of centering Asian-American identity in Los Angeles is extra difficult. The city’s Asian ethnic enclaves include Little Tokyo, Chinatown, Koreatown, Historic Filipinotown, Little Bangladesh, with larger communities in the surrounding area. “Roots” makes a sincere effort to include as many intersections of Asian-American identity as possible, but part of the problem is that inter-Asian conflicts abound. Yet as Steve Wong explained in a tour of the exhibit, “Back then, because of strict Asian immigrant laws, most Asian-Americans were second-gen[eration], third-gen, and didn’t have the same opinions about other Asians that their parents might have.” Combined with both the recent past of Japanese internment and the vicious war in Vietnam, young Asian-Americans began to formulate explicitly political identities. One of the photographs on display, of an anti-war protest, features someone marching with the sign “Viet Cong don’t call me a fat chink.” Activists, generally young and often college-educated, mobilized to defend their immigrant elders and challenge what they saw as an imperialist war against both Vietnam and the Third World as a whole — it was part of a larger critique of Western militarization and colonialism.
As we’ve seen in the past year, public memory about the struggles of civil rights activists of all causes is incredibly shoddy. When a Trump supporter raised Japanese internment as a precedent for a new Muslim registry, what surprised me more were the stories people shared of never having been taught about internment in basic U.S. curriculum, or about any sort of Asian-American political activity. It is into this information void that the Asian-American movement has slipped; many of the organizations behind the movement, like JACS-AI (Japanese American Community Services-Asian Involvement) and the Amerasia Bookstore in Little Tokyo, and the Asian-American Tutorial Project (centered in Castelar Elementary School in Chinatown) no longer exist, though others like SIPA (Search to Involve Pilipino Americans) and Visual Communications (which was home to the first Asian-American filmmakers) do. This lack of available activist history then contributes to pervasive stereotypes that Asian-Americans are apolitical model minorities, aligning themselves to a white, heteropatriarchal status quo.
The full legacy of these movements, Asian-American and otherwise, seems to have been compartmentalized into narrow academic strata. Steve Wong received his education through UCLA’s groundbreaking Asian-American Studies department, but like African-American Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies and Chicana/o Studies, the Asian-American movement’s legacy of activism and organizing is lost to most of the general population — Asian-Americans included.
Police and protesters in downtown L.A.; Credit: Courtesy CAM
What “Roots” showcases well is the breadth and reach of the movement’s efforts: Old copies of Gidra Magazine, which was started in and centered at UCLA but circulated across the country, detail many of the same issues we face now. The Chinatown Education Project’s family newsletter included English, Chinese and Spanish text to reach out to the area’s heterogeneous population. And the show’s name comes from the landmark UCLA Asian-American Studies textbook, published in 1971, which became both a foundational text and a reference for young activists.
These artifacts, many of them in the form of fragile paper posters, newsletters, magazines and prints, alongside music by singers like Chris Iijima and Charlie Chin and a loop of Visual Communications–produced films, were painstakingly curated from archives, museum collections and personal collections. But it was through oral histories from now-elders of the movement that Ryan Wong first became interested in this part of Asian-American history; “Roots” is necessarily formed through personal narratives like that of Yvonne Wong Nishio, whose speech for the 1977 International Working Women’s Day (the first and only one) remains fiercely relevant today. The result is an exhibit that knows it’s limited — by its material, by the void it’s trying to redress, by the spread of its interests — but leaves viewers wanting more.
CAM’s opening reception for “Roots” drew more than 700 people: activists of yore reflecting on their contributions (both then and literally on the walls) and communities, but also many young people who came to seek out a history that has largely been elided over in their educations. These are the people that Steve and Ryan are seeking out. The latter Wong knows this can happen because that was the impetus behind his research and curation, and hopes that what “Roots” does is give activists now a new foundation upon which to stand: “That’s a really important lesson for this moment: If you believe that history is made by presidents, then it’s really easy to despair. But, in fact, by looking back at this history, history is really made by communities, it’s made on the person-to-person level, it’s made by people organizing, by creating arts. … To remember that what you’re doing as an Asian-American activist isn’t in isolation but actually comes in this lineage.”
Credit: Courtesy CAM
“Roots: Asian American Movements in L.A. 1968-80s,” Chinese American Museum, 425 N. Los Angeles St., downtown; through June 11. camla.org.
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Exhibition Unfurled: Supports/Surfaces 1966-1973
Unfurled: Supports/Surfaces 1966-1973
Supports/Surfaces installation view. Work by Patrick Saytour, Louis Cane, André-Pierre Arnal, Pierre Buraglio. Courtesy of CANADA
The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit presents the first exhibition in the Midwest and most comprehensive show to date of the French art movement Supports/Surfaces. This group of twelve artists, along with several others who were closely affiliated, lived and worked in the South of France, producing artwork marked by an interest in materiality, a lyrical use of color and expansive ideas of what constitutes a painting. French society was undergoing social protests and upheavals in the 1960s that mirrored the civil rights and anti-war movements in the USA. The Supports/Surfaces artists sought new forms and methods to reflect their times: standard art materials were dropped in favor of homespun non-art materials (bed sheets, rope, dish rags) and figuration was replaced by loose, permeable grids that hinted at a more democratic method of art-making and a proposal for humane society.
APRIL 4: TALK SUPPORTS/SURFACES—RACHEL STELLA + RAPHAEL RUBINSTEIN + WALLACE WHITNEY
Supported by Étant donnés Contemporary Art, a program of the FACE Foundation, developed in partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States, with the support of Institut français-Paris, the French Ministry of Culture, the Florence Gould Foundation, the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Comité professionnel des galeries d'art, and private donors.
When Feb 1 - Apr 24, 2019
2019-02-01 00:00:00 2019-04-24 00:00:00 UTC Unfurled: Supports/Surfaces 1966-1973 Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit 4454 Woodward Ave Detroit, MI 48201
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4454 Woodward Ave
The Arts of Fire
"The Smoking Image": Laure Prouvost's Talk


Tag Archives: Hudson River
December 4, 1913: Sewer Explosion, Salinity of Hudson and Other Stories from Over a Century Ago
Sewer Gas Explosion
December 4, 1913: Municipal Journal. A series of stories that dealt with both drinking water and sewage problems, which were typical for the beginning of the 20thcentury, were featured in this issue.
Terrific Sewer Explosion in Pittsburgh.Pittsburgh, Pa.-Almost a mile of a nine-foot sewer in the Lawrenceville and Bloomfield districts was rent with a terrific explosion last week that tore up streets and alleys, demolished houses and solid brick buildings and broke gas mains. Estimates place the more seriously injured at 17, but scores were slightly hurt. Sewer gas is generally accepted as the cause of the explosion.
Newark’s Sewer Disposal Plant Finished.Newark, N. J.-Newark’s new disposal plant is now finished. The pipe line, however, will not all be in before some time the first of the year, so the modern disposal plant that has been constructed by Contractor L. B. Jacobs, can not be put in operation for several months.
Typhoid.Chicago, Ill.-Typhoid fever has invaded Chicago with a force not felt for several years, according to the bulletin of the Health Department just issued. More cases have been reported each week during the last month than for any similar period for several years. Figures of the Health Department show that 68 cases of typhoid fever were reported two weeks ago, compared with 58 the preceding week and but 16 for the corresponding week of 1912. Commentary: The chlorination systems on the lake water source would not be finished for 3 years, but after completion, typhoid disappeared.
New Sewerage System at Valley Junction.Valley Junction City, Ia.-The Valley Junction City Council has voted to accept the new sewage system which has recently been completed by the contractors.
Ashokan Reservoir at Sunset
Ashokan Reservoir Increases Salinity of Hudson.Poughkeepsie, N. Y.-The relation of the filling of the Ashokan reservoir to the increasing salinity of the Hudson river in the neighborhood of Poughkeepsie formed one of the main topics of discussion at the meeting of the Poughkeepsie Board of Health. Mayor Frank, president of the board, said that the river water is getting constantly more salty, and that the natural supposition would be that the fresh water being taken by the Ashokan reservoir for New York City was being drained from the twelve-mile watershed in the neighborhood of Esopus Creek and its tributaries, which formerly emptied into the Hudson and were the main sources of the city’s water supply. Commentary: I seriously doubt that this is true.
1907 Postcard of Binghamton Waterworks
Filter Plant Overtaxed, Water Polluted.Binghamton, N. Y.-A note of warning was sounded by Health Officer D. S. Burr to all water users, directing that until the new filter plant is completed all water used for domestic purposes be boiled. This is made necessary by the discovery of sewage bacteria in the filtered supply and the realization that the present filter plant is entirely inadequate to answer continually increasing demands.
Altoona Has Solved Its Water Problem.Altoona, Pa.-All the city’s storage and service reservoirs are now filled with water, including Lake Altoona, in which there are 601,000,000 gallons, the big basin being filled to its capacity and running over. After the impounding dam became filled following the heavy rains of several weeks ago, Lake Altoona filled up very rapidly and several days ago it was filled and is now running over.
Cannot Find Waterworks Leak.Dayton, O.-Consternation is beginning to develop in the water department because of its utter inability to locate a bad leak or a series of leaks that developed and which now threatens to cause a serious water famine all over the city. There is scarcely any part of the city that is not now affected, and there is no means of determining when the difficulty will be adjusted.
Reference: Municipal Journal. 1913. 35:23(December 4): 770-1.
This entry was posted in Year 7 TDIWH and tagged Altoona, Ashokan Reservoir, Binghamton, Dayton, drinking water, Hudson River, leak detection, Newark, salinity, sewage, sewer explosion, water, water history on December 4, 2018 by safedrinkingwaterdotcom.
October 13, 1821: Birth of Rudolf Virchow; 1986: Hudson River as Source of Water for NYC
October 13, 1821: German physician Rudolf (Carl) Virchowwas born. He was famed for cell theory, founded the medical journal Medical Reform(Medicinische Reform), and wrote “Report on the Typhus Epidemic in Upper Silesia.” He was also was a well-known pathologist, anthropologist and statesman, widely credited for his advancements in public health. Later in life, Virchow fought for improving the health and welfare service, meat inspections, and the first four urban hospitals in Berlin. He encouraged water and sewage system development.
Hudson River at Poughkeepsie
October 13, 1986: New York Times headline–Report Backs Hudson as Water Source. ”Supplementing New York City’s water supply of 1.5 billion gallons a day with up to 300 million gallons from the Hudson River is feasible, an engineering study commissioned by the city has concluded.
But even before the study has officially been made public, concern has been mounting here in the Hudson Valley about the potential impact of such withdrawals, which have been called the only realistic means of meeting the city’s water needs by the year 2000.
‘If New York City were to take 300 million gallons from the Hudson, the major question is: would there be enough for us?’ said Herbert Hekler, chairman of the water supply committee of the Hudson Valley Regional Council. Several municipalities in the fast-growing Hudson Valley, including the city of Poughkeepsie, rely on the river as their sole source of drinking water.”
Commentary: Mayor Koch called for universal metering in the city to cut water use and that is exactly what happened. There was no need to tap the Hudson after all.
This entry was posted in Year 7 TDIWH and tagged drinking water, Hudson River, public health, Rudolf Virchow, sewage, water, water supply on October 13, 2018 by safedrinkingwaterdotcom.
December 4, 1913: Municipal Journal. A series of stories that dealt with both drinking water and sewage problems, which were typical for the beginning of the 20th century, were featured in this issue.
Terrific Sewer Explosion in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, Pa.-Almost a mile of a nine-foot sewer in the Lawrenceville and Bloomfield districts was rent with a terrific explosion last week that tore up streets and alleys, demolished houses and solid brick buildings and broke gas mains. Estimates place the more seriously injured at 17, but scores were slightly hurt. Sewer gas is generally accepted as the cause of the explosion.
Newark’s Sewer Disposal Plant Finished. Newark, N. J.-Newark’s new disposal plant is now finished. The pipe line, however, will not all be in before some time the first of the year, so the modern disposal plant that has been constructed by Contractor L. B. Jacobs, can not be put in operation for several months.
Typhoid. Chicago, Ill.-Typhoid fever has invaded Chicago with a force not felt for several years, according to the bulletin of the Health Department just issued. More cases have been reported each week during the last month than for any similar period for several years. Figures of the Health Department show that 68 cases of typhoid fever were reported two weeks ago, compared with 58 the preceding week and but 16 for the corresponding week of 1912. Commentary: The chlorination systems on the lake water source would not be finished for 3 years, but after completion, typhoid disappeared.
New Sewerage System at Valley Junction. Valley Junction City, Ia.-The Valley Junction City Council has voted to accept the new sewage system which has recently been completed by the contractors.
Ashokan Reservoir Increases Salinity of Hudson. Poughkeepsie, N. Y.-The relation of the filling of the Ashokan reservoir to the increasing salinity of the Hudson river in the neighborhood of Poughkeepsie formed one of the main topics of discussion at the meeting of the Poughkeepsie Board of Health. Mayor Frank, president of the board, said that the river water is getting constantly more salty, and that the natural supposition would be that the fresh water being taken by the Ashokan reservoir for New York City was being drained from the twelve-mile watershed in the neighborhood of Esopus Creek and its tributaries, which formerly emptied into the Hudson and were the main sources of the city’s water supply. Commentary: I seriously doubt that this is true.
Filter Plant Overtaxed, Water Polluted. Binghamton, N. Y.-A note of warning was sounded by Health Officer D. S. Burr to all water users, directing that until the new filter plant is completed all water used for domestic purposes be boiled. This is made necessary by the discovery of sewage bacteria in the filtered supply and the realization that the present filter plant is entirely inadequate to answer continually increasing demands.
Altoona Has Solved Its Water Problem. Altoona, Pa.-All the city’s storage and service reservoirs are now filled with water, including Lake Altoona, in which there are 601,000,000 gallons, the big basin being filled to its capacity and running over. After the impounding dam became filled following the heavy rains of several weeks ago, Lake Altoona filled up very rapidly and several days ago it was filled and is now running over.
Cannot Find Waterworks Leak. Dayton, O.-Consternation is beginning to develop in the water department because of its utter inability to locate a bad leak or a series of leaks that developed and which now threatens to cause a serious water famine all over the city. There is scarcely any part of the city that is not now affected, and there is no means of determining when the difficulty will be adjusted.
October 13, 1821: German physician Rudolf (Carl) Virchow was born. He was famed for cell theory, founded the medical journal Medical Reform (Medicinische Reform), and wrote “Report on the Typhus Epidemic in Upper Silesia.” He was also was a well-known pathologist, anthropologist and statesman, widely credited for his advancements in public health. Later in life, Virchow fought for improving the health and welfare service, meat inspections, and the first four urban hospitals in Berlin. He encouraged water and sewage system development.


Posts Tagged ‘Nina Simone’
John Legend and the Roots – “Wake Up!”
Posted in Album review, tagged ?uestlove, Arcade Fire, Baby Huey, Barack Obama, Bill Withers, Black Thought, Captain Kirk Douglas, Common, Curtis Mayfield, hip hop, Jimmy Fallon, John Legend, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, Lincoln Thompson, Marvin Gaye, Melanie Fiona, Nina Simone, protest music, reggae music, soul music, Tammi Terrell, The Roots on September 24, 2010| Leave a Comment »
(Above: First Stephen Foster, then Ray Charles. Now John Legend and the Roots have “Hard Times.”)
A little more than three months after releasing one of the best albums of their 17-year career, The Roots are back, this time with John Legend.
The pairing is inspired. The Roots have long have a reputation as the best band in hip hop. For the past couple years they’ve proved their mettle to the mainstream as the house band on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” Legend is clearly a great talent, but often gets overwhelmed by slick production and light-weight songwriting. These 10 reinterpretations of classic soul protest songs offer the perfect platform for him to shine.
Legend lives up to the opportunity, singing with grit and emotion only hinted at on his solo albums, and feeding off the Roots’ vibe. Opening cut “Hard Times,” a lost Curtis Mayfield classic written for Baby Huey, feeds off a horn line ricocheting off of Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson’s drums and Captain Kirk Douglas’ bright guitar. Black Thought’s rap in the middle reinforces the track’s message and feel. This is music to spark both revolution and revelry.
“Wake Up Everybody” features a guest rhyme from Common that feels like a verse from a lost hymn. Legend’s duet with Melanie Fiona here captures the same mood as a classic Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell number. “Little Ghetto Boy” – bolstered by another Black Thought cameo – and the buoyant gospel reading of Nina Simone’s “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free” are other high points.
Unfortunately, the album can’t sustain these moments. Legend’s vocal shortcomings come to the foreground on “Wholy Holy.”Gaye’s voice soars effortlessly on the original, while Legend strains just to lift off. His over-singing on Bill Wither’s “I Can’t Write Left-Handed” is accidentally exposed by Douglas’ understated, tasteful soloing.
Not all of the blame lies at Legend’s feet. Normally an impeccable arranger, there are some surprising issues with Thompson’s choices. Les McCann’s “Compared to What” swings and skips like a rock skimming the top of a lake. Thompson’s slower arrangement is leaden in comparison. His treatment of Lincoln Thompson’s (no relation) reggae song “Humanity (Love the Way it Should Be)” hews closely to the original, but without the Jamaican patois it seems stiff and forced. The performance should have been reworked to emphasize what Legend could bring to the number.
“Wake Up” was inspired by Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential victory and Arcade Fire’s song “Wake Up.” The original plan was record an EP, and truthfully Legend and the Roots should have stayed with that concept. The handful of strong cuts present would have made for an outstanding mid-player. As is, this is a solid album with plenty of outstanding moments, but ample opportunity to skip to the next cut. Or, better yet, seek out the originals.
Review: For The Roots It’s All In The Music
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell – “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing”
Fans delay Maxwell’s next album
Bettye LaVette – “Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook”
Posted in Album review, review, tagged Barry Manilow, Bettye LaVette, covers album, Elton John, George Harrison, Interpretations, Nina Simone, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, R&B, Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart, the Beatles on May 28, 2010| 3 Comments »
(Above: Bettye LaVette owns The Who’s “Love Reign O’er Me” at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2008. This performance helped inspire LaVette’s latest album, and is included as a bonus track.)
From Rod Stewart to Barry Manilow, albums based on the 1960s and ‘70s pop song book are a dime a dozen and usually worth even less. So while the concept behind Bettye LaVette’s latest album may not be novel, the delivery certainly is. LaVette has audaciously selected a baker’s dozen of the era’s biggest songs and steals every single performance.
Throughout “Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook” LaVette not only erases Paul McCartney and Elton John’s fingerprints from “Maybe I’m Amazed” and “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” respectively. She scrubs off four decades of radio saturation, turning in performances that arrive sounding completely fresh.
LaVette accomplishes this feat by ignoring the original melody and phrasing and focusing entirely on the lyrics. She crawls inside the words, mining new depth and emotion and lets that frame the arrangement. Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” aches with loneliness. LaVette sneaks a reference to HIV/AIDS in “Salt of the Earth,” the Rolling Stones free-love era tribute to the working class. In “Don’t Let the Sun,” LaVette pleads with a desperation that feels like her life is hanging in the balance between light and dark. Robert Plant liked her treatment of “All Of My Love” so much he gave her the opening slot on his summer tour.
While every song fulfills the title by hailing from the United Kingdom, LaVette slyly hedges her bets with two numbers that are also associated with one of her primary influences, Nina Simone. LaVette mirrors Simone’s epic treatment and sparse arrangement of George Harrison’s “Isn’t It A Pity.” Earlier, LaVette reminds listeners that while the Animals may have had the bigger hit with “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” it was originally a Simone single. LaVette happily returns the gift.
Five years into her comeback, LaVette sings like something to prove. At 64 she is a contemporary of most of the performers she covers on “Interpretations.” But while most of them are content to coast by on these very songs, LaVette still sings with a hunger fueled by the decades she unjustly lost in obscurity. The force and authority in her voice make LaVette one of the most vital and compelling artists today.
Review: Bettye LaVette and Buddy Guy at Roots n Blues BBQ Fest (2008)
Review Roundup – Rakim, Dodos, Naomi Shelton, Blakroc and Daptone Gold
Review – Booker T.


10 Most Overlooked Shows That Deserve an Emmy
by Merrill Barr
in TV News, SR Originals
Last week, the television community was smacked in the face with a major surprise when it was announced Tatiana Maslany had finally received an Emmy nomination for her outstanding work as the various clones on BBC America’s Orphan Black. However, the famed genre series isn’t the only one long overdue for some kind of Emmy nomination. In fact, throughout the years, there have been several series without even a much-deserved technical award… and that’s what we’ve compiled for you here.
That said, before we begin, there are a few qualifications that must be met for a series to make it onto this list:
The show must have never been nominated for an Emmy in any category, including technical awards (sorry, Parenthood).
The show must still be eligible for Emmys in 2016 (sorry, Sirens).
The show must have been eligible for Emmys no later that than this past year and not received a nomination (sorry, UnReal).
THE FOLLOWING IS PRESENTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
Category: Outstanding Stunt Coordination
This won’t be the last time a show deserving of the Outstanding Stunt Coordination category comes up on this list because, while things like Outstanding Drama and Outstanding Comedy may take the spotlight, it’s hard to deny the amount of snubbing that takes place in this category. Just this past year, Daredevil was passed over for this award in favor of, of all things, Boardwalk Empire. However, the Marvel series did get some other nominations for its trouble, which brings us to Arrow.
The Greg Berlanti-produced CW series has been killing it on the fight choreography and pulse-pounding action front since day one. Even if the story sometimes dips to the point of controversy among fans, what hasn’t dipped is the show’s ability to excite once someone wields a bow and arrow or sharpened blade. Also, how does Oliver’s boxing glove arrow moment not land the show something? That’s just plain ignorance right there.
Categories: Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor (Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen), Outstanding Supporting Actor (Laurence Fishburne), Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Directing, Outstanding Special Visual Effects
It simply wouldn’t be an Emmy snub list without the inclusion of one of the academy’s most egregious and constant omissions: Hannibal. To be fair, the show wasn’t eligible this year since season 3 missed the cut-off with its push to summer, and won’t have a (final?) shot at awards until 2016. That said, there’s plenty in seasons 1 and 2 that made the Bryan Fuller series worthy of acclaim.
Even just ignoring the amazing acting, writing, and directing for a second: how does the show not land an Outstanding Visual Effects nomination? Not only is its post-work hauntingly beautiful, it also does something so rarely seen in Hollywood: It has narrative importance. All that CG blood means something to the narrative of the show, particularly for Will, and it’s a shame that fact constantly goes unnoticed.
As this year was the first time it was eligible for awards, since season 2 only just started airing a few weeks ago, you’re probably wondering why The Last Ship made the cut. Well, the answer has to do with the scene that surely was submitted by the production team for the category it lost out on.
Those that saw the pilot of The Last Ship will remember an epic action sequence that took place in the snowy tundra of Antarctica. Well, believe it or not, that entire sequence was shot and directed by none other than the show’s executive producer, Michael Bay. So, are you really going to tell us that the best action sequence of 2014, helmed by one of Hollywood’s top action directors, wasn’t worthy of at least a nomination for Outstanding Stunt Coordination? Please.
Check out an EXCLUSIVE 5-minute sneak peek from the premiere of The Last Ship! Join the ranks this Sunday at 9/8c on TNT!
Posted by The Last Ship on Thursday, June 19, 2014
Category: Outstanding Comedy Series
With its final season set to premiere later this year, it’s hard to believe that The League has never garnered an Emmy nomination for its efforts. Despite not having any actual scripts to go off of during production – instead relying on the improvisational skills of its actors – the show remains a bright spot in television’s comedy scene. Every episode contains more laughs than some of the best sitcoms that do make the cut (looking at you Louie), and given that the first rule of any comedy is to be funny, it’s clear there’s some serious oversight happening on the part of the Television Academy concerning The League.
Some may say the show’s crassness is to blame, but Louie is far crasser and more offensive at times, yet it still manages to land acclaim. Some may say it’s the show’s lack of a script and reliance on improv, but that doesn’t make much sense since the show is still written. The creators have said repeatedly that every episode has a detailed outline, which contains everything featured on screen, except for dialogue. That’s the only thing made up on the spot. So, if it’s not an Academy-wide aversion to crassness or improvisation, then what could possibly be the reason for not allowing one of television’s best comedies a chance to compete with the big boys? The answer: a simple unwillingness to think outside the box of “usual suspects.”
NEXT PAGE: Maron, Morgan Spurlock Inside Man, and The Strain
Tags: teen wolf, suits, arrow, hannibal, The Strain, emmys, mr. robot
Zachary Levi Reunites With Two Chuck Co-Stars in Feel-Good Video