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Rhode Island Commercial Vehicle Accidents
Commercial vehicles offer individuals, groups, organizations, and businesses convenient modes of transportation. These vehicles also present potential risks to their occupants, and to occupants of smaller passenger vehicles, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Used by a business to transport goods or passengers, a commercial vehicle is required to be licensed by municipal or state agencies to operate on highways, roads, and streets. Drivers are required to have special commercial licenses. The most common types of commercial vehicles are large trucks, large vans and buses, school buses, and taxis.
When someone is injured in a commercial vehicle collision, many questions arise about legal rights and liability. At Marasco & Nesselbush, Providence’s trusted personal injury law firm, our Providence accident lawyers have years of experience helping those injured by another driver’s negligence obtain the compensation they deserve for lost wages, pain and suffering, medical expenses, and other losses. We strive to provide each and every client with extraordinary case results and legal care.
Types of Commercial Vehicle Accidents
Large Truck Crashes
15-Passenger Van Accidents
Van Crashes
Bus Collisions
Taxi Crashes
Because commercial vehicles are typically large, others on the road who are not occupants of the commercial vehicle often suffer the most serious injuries and fatalities. However, for commercial vehicles such as buses, seat belts are not typically required by law, therefore increasing the risk of passenger ejection and other circumstances that can lead to catastrophic injury or death.
According to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), which is maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a large truck is considered to be a truck with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of more than 10,000 pounds. Drivers of these vehicles are required to have a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) as well as pass additional tests to obtain specific endorsements on their CDL, depending on the type of commercial vehicle. Some common endorsements for large trucks include those for hazardous materials, tank vehicle, double/triple trailers, and combination of tank vehicle and hazardous materials.
Commercial truck drivers operating big rigs, semi-trucks, or tractor-trailers, are required to obey the rules and regulations implemented by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) with regard to Hours of Service (HOS), inspection, repair, maintenance, transportation of hazardous materials, proper and secured loads, as well as abiding by traffic laws.
15-passenger vans are a popular choice among churches, schools, and other groups who need to transport more people than the average car, truck, or SUV will hold. However, most states, including Rhode Island, do not require a chauffeur’s license or CDL to operate a 15-passenger van. These vans have particular safety concerns, especially in relation to rollover accidents, that typical passenger vehicles don’t pose, particularly when the van is fully loaded with passengers or cargo.
Similar to 15-passenger vans, vans are particularly prone to rollover accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). A van’s rollover risk increases as it is loaded with people and cargo, especially if any part of the load extends to or over the back axle. As the weight in the van increases, the van’s center of gravity shifts upward and to the back. This makes it far more likely to roll over at lower speeds and with less side-to-side movement than would be required to roll an ordinary passenger vehicle. Also like 15-passenger vans, drivers of vans are not required to have a CDL.
In addition to being required to have a CDL, bus drivers must also obtain a “P” endorsement on their CDL for which they must pass “Knowledge and Skills Tests.”
While bus accidents occur less frequently than crashes involving small passenger cars, the injuries they cause to occupants of the buses and to others on the road can be devastating. Based on data provided by the FMCSA, in 2009, there were 9,000 bus crashes, causing injuries to 20,000 people. There were 221 fatal bus crashes, in which 254 people were killed.
In addition to being required to have a CDL, school bus drivers must also retain an “S” endorsement on their CDL for which they must pass “Knowledge and Skills Tests.”
The most severe school bus accident injuries often occur due to a lack of seat belts. The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) reports that five states (California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York) require that school buses provide seat belts, and that Texas requires all school buses purchased after September 2010 to have seat belts.
Rhode Island state law requires that a person who wishes to drive and operate a taxi must acquire either a valid chauffeur’s license or a valid Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) issued by the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), or an equivalent license issued by another state and acknowledged by the Rhode Island DMV.
In many taxi accidents, passengers suffer serious injury coming into contact with taxi windows. Although taxis have seat belts, a false sense of security sometimes leads passengers to feel that they don’t need to use them. Nevertheless, taxi drivers are required to drive safely and not put passengers in harm’s way by causing an accident.
Call our Commercial Vehicle Accident Lawyer
Being injured in a commercial vehicle accident is not only physically painful, but often presents several unique legal hurdles with regard to determining the identity of negligent parties and proving fault. In some instances, the commercial vehicle driver, the owner of the commercial vehicle, and the company that employs the commercial vehicle driver may all be responsible for causing an accident that results in injury and/or death. At Marasco & Nesselbush, we have the legal resources and experience to help accident victims hold negligent parties liable and obtain rightful compensation. For years, we have been conducting thorough investigations, gathering effective evidence, and building successful cases on behalf of our clients. To learn more about how we can help, please fill out a contact form or call us at one of our local offices.
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Oneohtrix Point Never shares “Black Snow” video from new album “Age Of”
“Black Snow” is the first single taken from Oneohtrix Point Never‘s upcoming album “Age Of,” to be released on June 1 on WARP. Daniel Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point Never re…
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Anohni – Drone Bomb Me (Video)
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fter declining to go the Oscars for her nomination, Anohni is coming back with music after the release of her track “4 Degrees“. Listen here to “Drone Bomb Me”, another collabo…
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Park Jun-young | pjy970108@uos.ac.kr
Most people have probably seen American college life in TV dramas or movies. It looks like a dream. Campus has a free, bright atmosphere, a fresh lawn, and wonderful, classical buildings. People have probably dreamed of living that life at least once, but many people may not have even tried to go to a U.S. college for many reasons. However, students from the University of Seoul (UOS) can enjoy this life more easily through our exchange programs. Here is an American university that you might consider: The University of Iowa.
▲ Homecoming Parade
The University of Iowa is located in Iowa City, Iowa, the United States. It is in the Midwest of the United States and close to Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1847 and is the oldest public university in Iowa. It is also the second largest university in the state. Among American universities, the University of Iowa was the first public university to open as coeducational, and it was the first university to officially recognize an LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) student organization. In addition, it was the first university to use television in education, in 1932, and it has the largest library in the state, with four different specialized libraries. This university has few exchange students, but there are many Asians, especially Chinese. That is because there are many students studying abroad. However, about 90 percent of students are white.
1. Application to the University of Iowa
Students can apply to enter the University of Iowa if they have higher than 80 points on the TOEFL Internet-based Test (TOEFL IBT) and higher than 17 points on a TOEFL Subscore. The cost is 5 million KRW per semester, including dormitory and meal tickets for five meals per week. If you only want to use the dormitory, but no meals, it is 4 million KRW per semester. Other costs amount to about 400,000 KRW a month.
2. Introduction to scholarship
The UOS Times featured an article about the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP) in the last issue. In addition to the support provided by UOS for exchange students, there are other programs providing assistance for costs. One of these is the Mirae Asset Scholarship. This Scholarship aims to provide more opportunities for Korean students to participate in exchange programs, helping them to find wider academic and cultural experience. The conditions of applying for this scholarship include a grade point average (GPA) higher than 3.3, and less than eight income quintiles . There are about 300 students who receive scholarships every semester. There are no restrictions on universities, countries, or majors. The scholarship provides 7 million KRW for students going to the Americas, Europe and other regions, and 5 million KRW for students going to Asian regions.
▲ On Iowa event for transfer student and fresh men
3. School life
Students at the University of Iowa are generally individualistic. Unlike Korea, there are no club rooms, and there are no official after-parties. These cultural differences provide some benefits, but also some challenges, for Korean students. Seo Jae-won (Dept. of Mechanical and Information Engineering, ’14) majored in liberal arts. He provided some examples of these experiences. Recalling one experience, Seo said there was a team project in his major class, in which students designed cars given by a company.
“I was able to accumulate practical experience while doing this team project,” Seo said. Seo later took an acting class, but his experience was more challenging. In one assignment, he had to watch two English plays and report on them, which he found quite difficult.
As for campus living, the dorms at the University of Iowa are isolated from the campus, and students can choose between single rooms that live without roommates and double rooms that live with roommates . Double rooms are cheaper than single because students share a living room and kitchen with roommates
4. Life off Campus
A college town surrounds the University of Iowa, and the area just beyond is an agricultural region, with many cornfields. There are restaurants, bars, grocery stores, and Korean stores in the campus town where students enjoy their free time. Farther afield, it takes four hours by bus from the university to Chicago, with many famous sites such as Willis Tower, Millennium Park, Navy Pier, and Cloud Gate. Students often go to Chicago for sightseeing on weekends.
▲ Iowa river
Seo recommended going to the University of Iowa in the fall semester. If you start in the fall semester, you can finish the semester before the cold winter starts. The state of Iowa has very cold weather that easily falls below minus 20 to 30 degrees Celsius in the winter, and it would be better to avoid it. He also said it is good for men to bring clothes from Korea because there are not many good places to buy men’s clothes, except training suits and hoodies. In addition, the Internet speed is rather slow, and Long-Term Evolution (LTE) does not work well in most buildings. He recommended the telecommunications company AT&T rather than T-Mobile.
Also, Seo strongly recommended joining OASIS, the club for foreign students. He said he had good opportunities to make friends in OASIS. For those who are religious, Seo recommends attending a local church. “Church people are very kind, so it is easy to make good friends,” he said. Finally, Seo said the most important thing is to take an active attitude toward meeting people. It is necessary to search for clubs or meetings for foreign students through the university homepage actively. When you make friends, you should do good things such as celebrating birthdays or giving consolation.
The UOS Times hopes that if you choose the University of Iowa for your exchange experience, this advice will help you to have a wonderful school life.
Park Jun-young
pjy970108@uos.ac.kr
Choi Hyun-jung
guswjd5891@uos.ac.kr


← Downtown Los Angeles, 1950: ‘The Underworld Story’ Part 2
Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +) →
Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: There Is a Lake in Toluca Lake
Posted on June 24, 2019	by lmharnisch
Photo: Janet Blair sits on the little platform off the banks of the Lakeside Golf Club. Courtesy of Mary Mallory
Note: This is an encore post from 2013.
Surrounded by homes and the Lakeside Golf Club, Toluca Lake is all but obscured from view by the public. Like the movie stars that soon flocked to it, the attractive little lake helped sell the community that grew up around it.
This area of the San Fernando Valley originally fell under the auspices of the San Fernando Mission before being broken into segments and sold off in chunks to Southern California businessmen like Isaac Van Nuys and J. B.Lankershim, among others. Gen. Charles Forman bought up ranchland just north of the Cahuenga Pass, growing Bartlett pears, walnuts, citrus and other fruit. He suggested the name Toluca for the post office erected in 1893 across from the Chandler railroad depot in North Hollywood, also known as Lankershim.
Real estate developers Heffron, McCray, and St. John purchased 151 acres of the former Forman ranch just north of the Los Angeles River in 1924 to open a real estate tract called Toluca Lake Park, so named because of the eight-acre lake constructed in the middle of the property as an attractive selling feature.
Employing the overexaggerated prose of the day, the development’s first Los Angeles Times ad on Feb. 3, 1924, claimed that “Toluca Lake Park offers irresistibly all the alluring charms of Nature. Great oak trees, full bearing fruit trees, shrubbery, a picturesque park, a sparkling lake, an unchallenged breadth of view of surrounding mountain grandeur and stretches beyond.…”
The chief attraction for the area was the manmade lake, supplied by fresh water from the 27 natural springs situated at its bottom, which residents employed for boating, fishing and other recreation.
Nearby studios flocked to the lake for filming boat scenes. Actress Virginia Valli filmed a scene tipping over a canoe here in May 1924 for the Universal film “K – The Unknown.” The July 6, 1924, Times reported on an unidentified film shooting smuggling scenes on the lake, “The scene, depicting a rum-running fleet twelve miles out at sea, shows miniature oceangoing liners anchored on the center of the lake while small speed boats dash back and forth with their party of passengers.”
Residents who bought lots adjoining the lake would gain exclusive right to use of the lake up to 155 feet from the shore. The real estate promoters claimed that they would construct a park for residents on the west end of the lake where huge eucalyptus would provide an inviting canopy for picnicking or other pursuits. A nearby walnut grove would provide peaceful vistas. Eventually the trees would be cut down to make room for more homes.
A consortium of Hollywood businessmen, including comedy filmmaker Charles Christie, spent $400,000 buying 125 acres south of the lake on April 12, 1924, to construct the Lakeside Golf Club in 1925. The swanky club, a constant celebrity draw for decades, consisted of a modern Spanish hacienda with handmade tile and terraces offering attractive views of the lake, along with 18 holes of golf hugging the lakeside.
Toluca Lake Park immediately attracted film stars, thanks to its location only blocks from both Warner Bros. and Universal Studios, and just a short drive over the Cahuenga Pass to Hollywood studios. Matinee idols like Billie Dove, Mary Astor, Lupino Lane, and Charles Farrell built homes. Farrell constructed an elegant Norman estate along the lake in 1928. He introduced swans to the water and began canoeing along the banks. Richard Arlen and Jobyna Ralston soon built at 10025 Toluca Lake Ave. According to an interview in the newspaper, Arlen and Ralston bought and paid for their lot, before getting married and building their $8,000 Spanish house. The cinema colony also included Walter Huston, W. C. Fields, Frank McHugh, Dick Powell, Jack Oakie, Lyle Talbot, Belle Bennett, Herman Mankiewicz, and George Brent.
Actress Eva Tanguay built a home at 9936 Toluca Lake Ave., before auctioning off the home and furnishings in February 1930 after discovering that the man she married in 1927, Allen Parado, her accompanist at the time, was in fact only his alias. His real name was Chandos Ksiazkiewcisz. In 1933, Boris Karloff bought the residence.
In 1937, director Norman McLeod constructed a $25,000 home at 10010 Toluca Lake Ave. African American architect Paul Williams designed a home costing $40,000 for director Irving Bacon on the opposite side of Toluca Lake Avenue that same year, which actors Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli owned before selling earlier this year.
Aviatrix Amelia Earhart and her husband, George Putnam, constructed a home on Valley Spring Lane in 1935 to be near the Burbank Lockheed facility. After her disappearance, Putnam remained here for a time.
Toluca Lake continued growing beyond the boundaries of the small development toward both North Hollywood and Burbank, soon reaching Riverside Drive by the late 1920s. Within decades, however, the little lake disappeared from public view, save for occasional glimpses through the Golf Club gates or beyond private fences.
This entry was posted in Architecture, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, San Fernando Valley and tagged #valley, film, hollywood, Mary Mallory, movies, Toluca Lake. Bookmark the permalink.


Grey's Anatomy Season 13 Episode 12
None of Your Business
Grey's Anatomy Season 13 Episode 12 (None of Your Business) - You can watch Grey's Anatomy Season 13 Episode 12 online here at putlocker-hd.is. Tv Show Grey's Anatomy s13e12 (None of Your Business). Grey's Anatomy episodes can be found on our website including the new Grey's Anatomy episodes. Grey's Anatomy 13x12 (None of Your Business) online streaming. Watch Grey's Anatomy Online. You'll be able to watch and stream tv Grey's Anatomy with us here at putlocker-hd.is anytime without any restrictions or limitations. Just remember Grey's Anatomy videos are available at our site putlocker-hd.is.
Maggie gets a surprise visit from her mother at the hospital. Bailey has to make a difficult decision when one of the attendings refuses to work with Eliza, and Stephanie gets caught up in Owen and Amelia’s personal drama.
Ring of Fire May. 18, 2017
True Colors May. 11, 2017
Leave It Inside May. 04, 2017
Don't Stop Me Now Apr. 27, 2017
In the Air Tonight Apr. 13, 2017
What's Inside Apr. 06, 2017
Be Still, My Soul Mar. 30, 2017
Till I Hear It From You Mar. 23, 2017
Who Is He (And What Is He To You)? Mar. 16, 2017
Civil War Mar. 09, 2017
Back Where You Belong Feb. 23, 2017
It Only Gets Much Worse Feb. 16, 2017
None of Your Business Feb. 09, 2017
Jukebox Hero Feb. 02, 2017
You Can Look (But You'd Better Not Touch) Jan. 26, 2017
You Haven't Done Nothin' Nov. 17, 2016
The Room Where It Happens Nov. 10, 2016
Why Try to Change Me Now Nov. 03, 2016
Roar Oct. 27, 2016
Both Sides Now Oct. 20, 2016
Falling Slowly Oct. 13, 2016
I Ain't No Miracle Worker Oct. 06, 2016
Catastrophe and the Cure Sep. 29, 2016
Undo Sep. 22, 2016


The talking – about the gas-fired power station at Deli-mara and the storage of gas required to feed it – is far from over. It will probably never be over. Those who oppose the siting of the project will continue to do so for years, though now they say they welcome the fact that it will lead to cheaper tariffs. But note has to be taken that Mepa on Monday issued the basic approval required for the project to get going.
The hardest part is yet to come. Presumably the commercial operators are in advanced discussions with the banks that, together with them, will be financing the project. Such negotiations would have been dependent on the Mepa permit being issued.
That has now happened. Presumably the road is clear for the necessary physical works to be taken in hand soon. That will have to be done in the context of the Prime Minister’s commitment to see the project ready within 18 months of the start of the works.
It will be a race against time. It is not important that the race will be won within the established timeline because that is a challenge by the Prime Minister. He did not lay down the challenge as a matter of vain glory. It is important that the new gas-fired power station comes on stream because that is how the necessary cost savings to sustain lower domestic tariffs will come about.
Following that, in a year’s time, tariffs should also come down for industrial users. Again, that is not important because it is a government promise. It is essential because it will help to increase competitiveness. That is a process that has to continue unbroken. Producers have to take their own steps to achieve it, together with their workforce and deploying production techniques which incorporate the latest technological innovation, to raise productivity also by lowering costs.
Reduced energy tariffs would be an important input towards that objective. It is not improbable that producers are already incorporating the proposed tariff cut into their cost projections from 2015/2016 onwards. They have expressed agreement that the reduction will be a welcome necessary boost at the margin.
The Opposition ... staked a lot on making the government change its power development plan by locating storage outiside Marsaxlokk Harbour, thus making the project cost much more than forecast and delaying it
In a broader context it is now important that nothing is done to delay progress on the project. That may prove to be too tall an order for the Opposition. It has staked a lot on making the government change its power development plan by locating storage outside Marsaxlokk Harbour, thus making the project cost much more than forecast and delaying it. It is unlikely that the Opposition will now admit defeat. Unfortunately, its history suggests that, along with genuine concern regarding safety factors, it will remain all out to delay, even break up, the project.
Air Malta is grim evidence of that. When another Labour government proposed to set up a national airline the Nationalist Opposition of the time let all hell loose. Its scaremongering and the crude language used to try to frighten potential passengers remains disgusting to this day.
Yet, because the government had the courage to forge ahead while taking all possible safety measures, Air Malta has been a success story. Despite continuing criticism of it, it established itself and was profitable for a long time. Thanks for that goes mostly to Albert Mizzi, Joe Tabone and Louis Grech.
The Nationalists never apologised for the base way they had reacted towards the airline in its early years. There are other examples. Unfortunately the Opposition of the day always opposes. Nationalist Oppositions have a habit of doing so more and more fiercely.
That has already been seen in the first year of the life of the current Labour government. Criticism addressed at everything that moves in government camp has been so vicious that some government members are tacitly shying away from it. Leading Nationalists, like former minister Michael Falzon who is now retired from politics and wields a pen all the more mighty because it is free and unencumbered (though he surely retains his original political beliefs) came out with a blitzkrieg on Sunday.
Whatever the Opposition does, the project managers have to forge ahead. They have to take into account that so much scaremongering could affect individuals who do not know better, pushing them towards some sabotage attempt. The keenest security measures are essential.
Meanwhile, the story of the gas-fired power station project will unfold day by day.


Memory of Centreville boy Jacob Stern lives on through toy drive in support of Salvation Army
Published: Nov 20, 2018 at 3:15 p.m.
Jacob Stern’s sister, Maddie Stern, and his mom, Melissa Benjamin, with a shopping cart loaded with toys donated last year as part of a toy drive held in Jacob’s memory. - File photo
NEW MINAS, NS - The memory of a Centreville boy who touched the hearts of countless people through his brave battle against cancer is being honoured again this year with a toy drive named after him.
Four-year-old Jacob Stern passed away in October 2016 after a courageous fight against a rare form of muscle cancer, rhabdomyosarcoma. He was only 15 months old when he was diagnosed.
Judy Benjamin, Jacob’s grandmother, said he was a “real trooper” considering everything that he went through. The family now holds an annual toy drive to give back to the community that helped them so much during his ordeal. They want to help ensure that children from less fortunate families have smiles on their faces on Christmas morning.
This year’s toy drive takes place at Walmart in New Minas on Dec. 1 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Drop off locations include 415 Stead St., Kentville; RE/MAX Advantage, 17 Webster Ct., Kentville, and Forbes Kia, 5488 Prospect Rd., New Minas.
Jacob Stern’s mom Melissa Benjamin, centre, with volunteers helping out with a toy drive held last year in his memory. The volunteers included several members of the Valley Chapter of Pirate Off-Road Nation.
TOYS DONATED IN JACOB’S MEMORY TO PUT SMILES ON FACES OF VALLEY CHILDREN IN NEED
CENTREVILLE BOY BATTLING RARE CANCER MADE HONORARY FIREFIGHTER, GIVEN PARADE
GIFT OF TIME NEEDED TO MAKE KENTVILLE SALVATION ARMY CHRISTMAS KETTLE CAMPAIGN A SUCCESS
Benjamin said Jacob would have loved the toy drive and he would have loved knowing that, because of him, there will be many more boys and girls with gifts under the tree to unwrap. After all, he loved Christmas and the various toys and gifts that he received from so many different people.
“I think he would have been ecstatic,” Benjamin said. “I’m positive that he’s going to be with us that day.”
All proceeds go toward supporting the Salvation Army in its effort to provide toys to kids in need at Christmas time. The Salvation Army and other area churches work together toward this goal, last year providing gifts to 621 children.
Benjamin said the toy drive is a way for them to pay forward the support the Salvation Army provided to Melissa Benjamin, Jacob’s mom, while Jacob was battling cancer.
Benjamin said people can support the toy drive by purchasing toys and dropping them off or by making cash donations. She said they’ve already raised about $780 through the sale of prize calendars and they’ll be selling 50-50 tickets on the day of the toy drive with the draw being held at the end.
The annual Jacob Stern Memorial Toy Drive is coming up at Walmart in New Minas on Dec. 1.
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„In fairy tales, the princesses kiss the frogs, and the frogs become princes. In real life, the pricesses kiss princes, and the princes turn into frogs.“
Paulo Coelho389
„An amphibophile is the sort of girl who goes around kissing princes in the hope that one of them will turn into a frog.“
— Michael Kurland American writer 1938
Chapter 10 (p. 137)
„Not a frog, I hope?” he asked…She shook her head. “No. And if it was I wouldn’t kiss it, I promise you. I might kiss a prince if I could be sure he’d turn into a frog, but not the other way around.“
— Eva Ibbotson, A Song for Summer
„You don't always have to kiss a lot of frogs to recognize a prince when you find one
-Henrietta Barett“
— Julia Quinn, Minx
„no more pep talks about believing in toads," Liza said.
"Don't they turn into princeses when you kiss them?" Bonnie said.
"Thats frogs," Liza Said. "Entirely different species.“
— Jennifer Crusie, Bet Me
„(on Ashley Tisdale) "You don't need a prince to be a princess."“
— Zayn Malik British singer 1993
„(on "Someday My Prince Will Come" the Ashley Tisdale pop song) "Just because your prince hasn't come doesn't mean you're not a princess."“
„We have tried occasionally to buy toads at bargain prices with results that have been chronicled in past reports. Clearly our kisses fell flat. We have done well with a couple of princes — but they were princes when purchased. At least our kisses didn’t turn them into toads. And, finally, we have occasionally been quite successful in purchasing fractional interests in easily-identifiable princes at toad-like prices.“
— Warren Buffett American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist 1930
1981 Chairman's Letter http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1981.html
„Don't you know that I'm not joking?
Aah, you think you won't, I think you will.
Don't you know that this tongue can kill?
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon.
Lady kiss that frog.“
— Peter Gabriel English singer-songwriter, record producer and humanitarian 1950
Kiss That Frog
„Prince or commoner, tenor or bass,
Painter or plumber or never-do-well,
Do me a favor and shut your face -
Poets alone should kiss and tell.“
— Dorothy Parker, The Collected Dorothy Parker
„One day you may kiss a man you can’t breathe without, and find breath is of little consequence.”
“Right, and one day my prince might come.”
“I doubt he’ll be a prince, Ms. Lane. Men rarely are.“
— Karen Marie Moning, Bloodfever
„Three days later the little princess was buried, and Prince Andrei went up the steps to where the coffin stood, to give her the farewell kiss. And there in the coffin was the same face, though with closed eyes. "Ah, what have you done to me?" it still seemed to say, and Prince Andrei felt that something gave way in his soul and that he was guilty of a sin he could neither remedy nor forget.“
— Leo Tolstoy Russian writer 1828 - 1910
Bk. IV, ch. 9
„Life invented it first, Zoe thought, like so many other things. Like eyes: Turning photon impacts into neurochemical events with such subtlety that a frog can target a fly and a man can admire a rose.“
— Robert Charles Wilson author 1953
„Life isn’t a fairy tale; the knight who kills the dragon doesn’t necessarily get the princess. So what? Who’d want to live in a cosmos less rich and various than the real one?“
— Poul Anderson American science fiction and fantasy writer 1926 - 2001
Section 3 “Admiralty”, Chapter X (p. 207)
„Like all fairy tales, the story of Sleeping Beauty begins with "Once upon a time," and continues with a foolish young princess who makes a witch very angry, and then takes a nap until her boyfriend wakes her up with a kiss and insists on getting married, at which point the story ends with the phrase "happily ever after."“
— Daniel Handler American novelist, children's writer, creator of Lemony Snicket 1970
Lemony Snicket
„He had risked his life and now it was walking away from him, hand-in-hand with a Ruffian prince.“
— William Goldman, The Princess Bride
„It's not about winning, Haven. I'm not a prize to be won. I'm not the princess that needs rescuing from the dragon. I'm the prince and I kill my own monsters. You need to be ok with that. -Anita Blake“
— Laurell K. Hamilton, Bullet


What’s the Matter with the Kansas Supreme Court? (Part 1)
On Friday, in Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt, a 6-1 majority of the Kansas Supreme Court struck down S.B. 95, a law that prohibits the use of dilation and evacuation (D & E) abortions except where necessary to preserve the mother’s life or to prevent a “substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman.”
D & E abortions entail dismemberment of a fetus. They are a common form of abortion during the second trimester and later. Partial-birth abortion is a variation on this procedure, and the federal prohibition on it was upheld by the Supreme Court in Gonzales v. Carhart (2007), in a decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy.
In this case, the court grounded its decision in the Kansas Constitution rather than the U.S. Constitution, so no ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court reaching a different conclusion under the Fourteenth Amendment would limit the new abortion regime in Kansas.
Does the Kansas Constitution have any more to say about abortion than the U.S. Constitution? The Hodes & Nauser majority notes that Section 1 of the Kansas Bill of Rights’ declaration that “All men are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights” contains a phrase not found in the U.S. Constitution: “inalienable natural rights.” In other words, no.
But that was enough to convince the court it was on to something. Its 118-page per curiam (unsigned) judicial opinion meandered from the historical and “philosophical underpinnings of natural rights” to an exploration of bodily integrity to how “liberty and the pursuit of happiness” must include “decisions about parenting and procreation” to how natural rights extend to women in general and pregnant women in particular, before straining to downplay the one aspect of Kansas legal history that actually addresses abortion: Kansas’ longstanding statutes, dating back to the earliest years of statehood, that prohibited the practice.
The reality is that during the 19th century, abortion had been substantially proscribed under the common law, and at the time the Kansas Bill of Rights was adopted in 1859, the growing trend in that and other states was to strengthen criminal statutory abortion prohibitions. Those laws went much farther in restricting abortion than S.B. 95. The question presented to the court is not what policy should be, but what the law actually says. There can be no doubt as to what the drafters of Kansas’ constitution would have thought of extending their broad language about natural rights to include a right to conduct dismemberment abortions.
Yet the majority lacked enough self-awareness to invoke authorities from Locke to Lincoln as if they somehow supported their conclusion while dismissing the explicit historical evidence against them as “tethered to prejudices from two centuries ago.” “In this imagined world,” retorted Justice Caleb Stegall, the court’s lone dissenter, “the Liberty Bell rings every time a baby in utero loses her arm.
The outcome-seeking nature of the court’s flimsy analysis is transparent, and its attempt to invoke history is an embarrassment. One member of the majority even penned a concurrence that distanced himself from what he called the “historical back-and-forth” between the majority and the dissent, preferring the supposed clarity of admitted living constitutionalism. (Well, he sort of admitted it, preferring to use the euphemism “contemporary context.”) That only one justice on that seven-member tribunal had the good sense to dissent from this jurisprudential travesty should be a red flag for any observer of American courts.
What’s the matter with the Kansas Supreme Court? The answer is to be found beyond the content of the court’s opinion. To understand the problem requires understanding the system of judicial selection that prevails in that and regrettably many other states. More on that in part 2.
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Filed Under: In The News, JCN Bench Memo Tagged With: abortion, Carrie, Carrie Severino, JCN, Judicial Crisis Network, religious liberty


The 12th Man: How on earth has it come down to this?
Darron Gibson in action against Hull
Latics fans
Where do we go from here? It depends on your point of view and general leaning in life I suppose.
But if you’re looking to me for words of wisdom then look elsewhere (nothing new there!) as I simply don’t know. I have continued to put my weight behind Paul Cook when others have faltered, but maybe all the BMWing from elsewhere (bitching, moaning and whining) has been justified. Maybe some of the great visionaries among our fans have seen this coming, their direct criticisms of Mr Cook have been absolutely spot on, and now the League One chickens are coming home to roost. In terms of outcomes, there now looks likely to only be two. Firstly, we continue to match or better Rotherham’s results, or collect a few more points than say QPR or Millwall and finish above someone else – unlikely given our points run rate. Essentially, we ‘do enough’ to stay up and the naysayers can move on to their stock argument of ‘well, it was only because there were three teams worse than us’ (generally this supposedly incisive analysis is factually true about any relegation-based scenario). Those of us daft, remaining happy-clappers can say ‘well, the aim in August was to stop up and we’ve achieved it’. Again, technically true, but there can’t be another club in the country with worse away form than us. The more the weeks go by, the more it seems barely staying up maybe the most likely outcome and, although I’m sure we would celebrate if that happened. Well, effectively, we’re celebrating nine months of pure dismal mediocrity interjected with the odd great performance. Of course, the other outcome is we drop into the bottom three we have avoided all season and stay there. It could even be we only spend one day in the bottom three and that day is May 5 – the only day which matters. The culmination of all those continual gripes at the manager will be justified by those people who have expended considerable effort criticising Cook, whereas those who have (mostly) stuck by him, like myself, end up looking like a right wally. Well, anyway, it wouldn’t be the first time and I’m not changing horses now. Furthermore, perhaps implying we could avoid the bottom three before the last day is hopelessly optimistic given the opposition in our next two or three games, which is why so many have been fretting over our inability to pick up more points again Hull, Bristol City and Brentford. In both home and away games, we have been quite consistent in a way. At home, we usually seem to match our opponents without necessarily putting them to the sword, the awful Bolton excepted. Whereas away, well I’d go further than just say we have an away-day phobia. It seems to be we aren’t necessarily afraid of scoring and (attempting to try) to win away from home. The panic actually seems to take over, once we have taken the lead – as if they know collectively what’s coming. It is a managerial problem we cannot figure out the art of holding onto a lead, but it now seems to have reached fever-pitch psychological levels, and I don’t know the answer apart from perhaps (here comes the brickbats again) re-grouping in League One and learning how to win away again. In this respect, if League One is our destiny, well to quote that awful Catherine Tate character – ‘Am I bothered?’ Yes and no. Or rather no and yes. No, because a football club is about so much more than which division you are in. I have been so tied up organising the Joseph’s Goal ‘Walk to Leeds’ next week and trying to get a fanzine off to the printers that I have barely had time to sit there ruminating over the lacklustre performances of Wigan Athletic. However, indirectly, Wigan Athletic is still consuming nearly every minute of my spare time, but in a more productive way than the stuff I can’t control, like the results on the pitch. I mean we’ll all still be here next season right? Regardless of which division we are in, so why get so upset about it? I think it will now come down to the last three games and, if the players and manager can approach them like the FA Cup ties of last year, maybe all the indifference that has gone before will be forgotten. If we fail to stay up, I fully expect Paul Cook to walk. But as I said in my last robust defence of him a while back, maybe that was the plan all along, seeing as our form and approach to games turned dramatically downwards soon after the new owners came in. All we are left with is speculation as to what has gone wrong and how we fix it but, as I say, whatever the outcome, we’ll still have a club to support next season, and that’s the bit that matters, right?
MARTIN TARBUCK
When Paul Cook did his coaching badges, he clearly missed the ‘how to see out a game’ day. The number of points Latics have thrown away from winning positions this season is just incredible. The defence has been suspect all season, so why not bring back a goalkeeper who has looked like a shadow of the player he was last year? If teams were much better than us all over the pitch, I’d accept we’re not good enough and move on – but I don’t think they are. We hand goals to them like it’s part of the game-plan. If we had a game-plan, that is, which we almost certainly don’t. The game at Hull certainly wasn’t helped by losing Nick Powell at half-time. But then Cook settled into his usual tactic of talking off any attacking threat we might have, and handing control over to the opposing team. Hull’s winning goal came because they, like every other team, know we offer nothing going forward once Leon Clarke is wandering about up front. This time Clarke went one better, and was wandering about in his own box when Jordy de Wijs came strolling past him to win the header and score. Cook is blaming individual errors for costing us games, and he is right, but only up to a point. Eventually, he – or someone – is going to have to look at his own errors. Errors in team selection which left us in this position in the first place once we reached September, and errors in having no way to control a game for longer than 50 minutes. We could be four up at half-time, and we’d all still be expecting to walk away with no more than a point. That’s how bad we are. Ẁe have a defence that is too slow and lacks any kind of organiser and leader. We have a midfield that collectively think going forward is for other people, and we have a centre forward on loan who must be laughing every time he’s told to go on. A point at Hull might well have seen us safe. It would have left Rotherham needing to win two more games than us, due to their inferior goal difference. As it is, our persistent failure to play for 90 minutes leaves them just one win from going above us. This situation can’t go on. In fact I’ll say it, we were better under Owen Coyle than under Paul Cook. Not under Warren Joyce, but the end result might well be the same. Cook seems to have no idea how to fix things, and seems utterly unable to look at himself and where he’s going wrong. Roll on May 6 , whichever league we end up in, and let’s just get this nightmare over.
PAUL MIDDLETON
It isn’t losing against Hull that’s the problem, it’s the manner of it. Latics have given away a startling number of points from winning positions away from home this season, 19 at the last count. The fact we haven’t won away from home since August tells its own story. Both mentally and physically, we’re shattered. It isn’t we can’t score away from home, or indeed get a lead it’s that we can’t hold on to it. As the clock ticked down on Wednesday night at Hull, it looked like another decent point for Latics against a side battling for a play-off place. To concede as we did – like we did against Reading, Derby, Villa and countless other sides – was unacceptable. Our game management is absolutely non-existent, and that sees us in this position. Individual errors have been present all season but, over the last few weeks, they’ve increased tenfold. Paul Cook looked like a broken man at Hull. There’ll be inquests galore post-season as to the manager’s future but, with five matches left, this must be the toughest test of his career. Can he live up to that and, in return, can his players? Injuries have once again reared their head, and it’s going to be a patched-up Latics side trying to get over the finishing line. Injuries have haunted us all season, but we’ve still had plenty of opportunities to get out of this mess – and for one reason or another have failed to take them. With five matches left to go, and only two points separating ourselves and the relegation zone, thoughts turn to just what we need to escape this mess. Two wins? Two wins and a draw? That may just be enough to see us over the line – but where exactly do those results come from? If we match or better Rotherham’s results over the coming weeks, we’ll stay up. It’s as simple as that. The worrying thing is Rotherham have shown a lot more heart and fight than we have this season. They may have lost in midweek like we did, but they have momentum. Sunday has become a huge match, one that no-one will expect us to win. The only two positives I can think of are Norwich may well be showing a bit of nerves as they edge to the finish line.
Equally our home record has been fantastic, in stark contrast to that horrific away form. Time is running out, but amazingly it is still in our hands. There needs to be some honest words and some fresh thinking on the training ground this week. Something needs to change, so let’s start it Sunday with a performance like we had against Bolton. Paul Cook is a fighter, and I want to see that fight in his side. Starting on Sunday. Come on Latics. It isn’t over till it’s over.
SEAN LIVESEY
As I sit here on my sofa watching the closing stages of Manchester United-Barcelona, a couple of things spring to mind. One is that even the best players can have off days, and the other is that when we see the world’s top players playing week in and week out, we often expect all footballers should be able to do the same sort of things that they do. I hear this latter sentiment at the DW Stadium, when fans question why players did that with the ball, rather than something more effective. It never seems to enter their minds that it may well just have been a poor pass rather than a conscious decision. Or they were just doing what they are capable of doing rather than attempting what Lionel Messi is capable of. On the former point, it is certainly true that when we Latics players have an off day, we are in trouble! Yet when it comes to Latics away games it doesn’t seem to matter how we play. We just cannot win. Saturday apparently was a very good performance. Yet having been in the a winning position, we ended up losing, until a late goal salvaged a point at Bristol City. During the week, again having been in a winning position, we managed to lose the game against a pretty poor Hull side. This was doubly disappointing as the three points would have put us five points above the relegation zone with just five games to play. As it is we have a two-point advantage, though with our goal difference that is effectively three points. And we only have ourselves to blame for dropping some of these points. We have thrown away so many points from winning positions. Obviously some teams just play well and come back and beat you but, more often than not with Latics, it seems to be us shooting ourselves in the foot. Clearly there is must be a psychological problem. An away run like this, dropping so many points in such a manner, cannot be a coincidence. There must be a root cause and it must be be in the mind. The belief we cannot win away is turning itself into a realty. And that is a real problem because it is not easy to solve. After such a bad run, even one win might not be enough to change the mindset and break the pattern. We might need a run of results to prove to ourselves we can do it. That can take time and we are rapidly running out of that. We have not been in the drop zone at all this season, but we could be if Rotherham beat Stoke on Saturday. That would heap further pressure on the team going into Sunday’s game, which we seriously do not need in what already looks like like the a mammoth task against Norwich.
STUART GLOVER
'You have to show patience,' admits Wigan Athletic boss


Celebrate the five year anniversary of The 9/12 Project
On Thursday, Glenn will present an evening of programming to commemorate the 5-year anniversary of the 9/12 Project. At 5pm ET, Glenn will sit down with an audience of 9/12 members to discuss the evolution the movement has undergone these last 5 years. Then at 8PM ET, Glenn will narrate a special presentation of Meet John Doe starring the legendary Gary Cooper. On radio Wednesday, Glenn spoke about the plans for the evening and the importance of the 9/12 Project.
"Five years ago we were all afraid. Five years ago we could feel our country being lost. And we didn't know what to do about it," Glenn explained.
On March 13, 2009, Glenn asked people to tune in for a special episode of his FOX News show where he laid out the 9 principles and 12 values that showed the real power to change America laid with the people.
"We had no idea if anyone would watch. We had no idea if anyone would listen. We had no idea if people would actually gather together. And they gathered together unlike Americans had ever gathered together before," Glenn explained.
So where are we now five years later? How has not only the country changed, but all of the individuals involved? That's what Glenn wants to find out on Thursday's show.
And then with Meet John Doe, Glenn hopes to show people the parallels between the fictional John Doe Clubs and the 9/12 Project, and how politicians and the media tried to co-opt both movements and use them to propel partisan agendas, when they were really all about principles and values.
"The ending is critical, because what happens in the end (of the film) needs to happen to us. There's a lot of people that got frustrated with politics and everything else. The point was never about politics. And the point was never about one individual. Watch it tomorrow night only on TheBlaze. Watch it with your family and join me all the way through it as I kind of take you through this movie and tell you exactly what it means." Glenn said.
The Beginning of the 9/12 Project
When the 9/12 Project was first announced, Glenn called for people to return to the people they were on 9/12/2001 and wrote on GlennBeck.com:
Do you watch the direction that America is being taken in and feel powerless to stop it?
Do you believe that your voice isn’t loud enough to be heard above the noise anymore?
Do you read the headlines everyday and feel an empty pit in your stomach…as if you’re completely alone?
If so, then you’ve fallen for the Wizard of Oz lie. While the voices you hear in the distance may sound intimidating, as if they surround us from all sides—the reality is very different. Once you pull the curtain away you realize that there are only a few people pressing the buttons, and their voices are weak. The truth is that they don’t surround us at all.
We surround them.
What were the 9 Principles and 12 Values Glenn asked people to untie around?
The Nine Principles
1. America is good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
12 Values
After announcing the 9.12 Project on FOX News, Glenn went into detail on the origins the next day on radio (including the crying in the earlier video):
The following is from the transcripts of the 3/17/2009 radio show:
GLENN: 9/10 we were burying our heads in the sand or we were playing politics. It was about Republicans or Democrats. On 9/11 we were freaking out and no one knew who attacked us, where did this come from, what is this. On 9/12 no one in the government had to tell us what to do. We just did it. We went and we found a place to give blood. We went and we gave money. We gathered together. We gathered our family around. We prayed. We were the people that our grandparents were and nobody had to tell us. But then again the parties got involved and George Bush told us to do our patriotic duty and go shopping. That’s offensive. That’s not our patriotic duty. That’s part of the reason we’re here now today because our patriotic duty was to go shopping. That’s not it. And I remember saying on the air, "Please, Mr. President, give us something to do. Let us be involved in the solution." It’s not just, oh, we’re going to go and bomb them. We’ve got to fundamentally change. We’ve got to be involved. Give us something to do. And they didn’t — well, no, I take that back. The two parties, what they did is they gave us something to do, argue with each other and hate each other. And I was part of it. I didn’t see it. I didn’t see. Well, now I do. And I started seeing it, what, 2006, 2004 and said, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, guys, we’re on the wrong track here; wait a minute; see what’s going on? And others have woken up. And it’s both the Republicans and the Democrats. It’s both of them. And we just need to be those 9/12 people.
Let me tell you this: Those values I had been working on for a long time, the values and the principles. And I had been reading and we really did a lot of research and et cetera, et cetera, but I just scribbled them down, the 9 and the 12. I just scribbled them down right before I went on the air. I hadn’t even counted the number of them. And I went on the air and I gave them to you and then I got into a break and I said to Stu, I said, gee, I wish I — how many do I even have here? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. I wish I could have come up with another one but I ran out of time. And then I came up with the other ones and there were twelve. And I said, what a wild coincidence: 9/12.
You know, in Iran if you’re looking for the twelfth Imam, they call you a Twelver. The Twelvers over in Iran are evil. They are so bad that the Ayatollah Khomeini back after the Islamic revolution banned them, wanted them all killed. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a Twelver. But you know what? I’m not looking for the twelfth Imam, but I’m a Twelver, too. I’m a 9/12er. And that’s what I announced on Friday. Commit yourself to live the principles that you knew were true and the values that you knew were true on 9/12. Become a 9/12er and don’t be afraid of it. Don’t be ashamed. Try to understand all of what’s going on in your world through those values and those principles and don’t — you know what, I notice that the website is — has been — I mean, it’s remarkable what’s happening. It’sthe912project.com, the912project.com. And it’s a meeting place to look at the different news and then try to find solution and what principles are we violating. It’s a place where you can find some of the quotes from the founding fathers that might help you solve. There’s going to be so much more on this. But really hope this is a meeting place where you can find solutions and you can present solutions and you can meet together and you can say, look, we’re going to do this project, we’re going to do a march on Washington and it’s going to be on this day, and you can try to put it all together as long as it’s all framed with those principles and values, then I’d be with you. I’d be for you. The minute it gets out of — the minute it becomes a movement for power and a movement for political clout or a movement for anything else other than those principles and those values, I’m in. The minute it — or I’m out the minute it becomes about that. I’m in as long as it becomes about those.
You know, everybody says we don’t have a special interest group for us, we don’t have a lot. You are going to be the special interest group, but it is important that — and I’m going to let this happen organically. I’m not going to steer it. Whatever it is you decide to put together. Now look, this is a very libertarian idea and, you know, libertarian is like trying to round up a bunch of cats. It’s almost impossible. You are going to disagree with people. You are going to have a hard time getting through, but forget about arguing about the parties. Forget about arguing, "Oh, well, you guys did this and you guys did that." Forget about it. It is a waste of time, and I really believe time is running out. So focus on what you are, who you believe, what you think we need to do as a country and stop tearing the other side apart because we — at least I do. I know who the Republicans are. They sold their soul to the devil, for power and money.
Now, that’s not all of them, but the ones, the ones who have been in control, they are that. And a lot of them have decided they would become progressive Republicans. The Democrats who’s running the party right now is the same thing except they are an extreme to the left. There are good people in both parties, but they’re alone. And here’s what I believe can happen. It may not but it will be up to you. What can happen. If you decide to keep this as a grassroots, if you use the meetup.com, you use the912project.com and you heard these cats together and you put together some real principles and you live by those principles, I’m telling you that I can bring my camera from state to state, I can bring my television and radio show from state to state and there will be politicians that will beg you for your support. They will beg you because they will fear you because you will be in such great number. But that will only happen if you don’t make it about politics, if you only make it about principles and values. Once it becomes about politics, it’s done. You must stand for principles, and the number one principle you just stand for is to reestablish the Constitution. It has been so perverted by man, this country has been so perverted, it needs to be reestablished. And if you will stand on the founding principles and you know what you’re talking about, that’s why I said in the show — and people I know blow this off but, gang, unless you know what you’re supposed to know, unless you know who our founders are, you won’t be able to do this. They will win. They will win. You must know who the founders are.
You know, I read a great quote. I’m reading a book about Harry Truman right now and I was reading a part of his childhood and he was a mousey little kid. He had glasses. So he couldn’t go out and play and, you know, et cetera, et cetera. But all of the kids when they would be playing, you know, cowboys and Indians, they would ask him, "No, no, no, wait a minute, what happened with Marshal Dillon, what happened?" And he would explain it because he knew history. And he said all readers are not leaders but every leader must be a reader. You must know history. You must know ours. And it hasn’t been taught. Develop and we’ll help you on this on the 9/12 project. We’ll help you develop book clubs. We’ll help you with developing things where you can grab your neighbors together. I had notes stuffed in my mailbox in my neighborhood. I thought I was alone in my neighborhood. I had notes stuffed into my mailbox: Please, Glenn, will you join us at our table, will you join us in our… yes, I will, because you’re my neighbor and this is going to happen in the neighborhoods. It’s going to happen in your house. That’s the only way it will work, if it’s done on a small scale and yet everybody is doing it across the country. This is true grassroots.
STU: I still don’t see how any of this explains the crying.
GLENN: I was going to explain that, wasn’t I?
STU: That was the thought at one point.
GLENN: I’m a chick.
STU: That explains the crying.
GLENN: I just believe in my country. I just believe in my country.
STU: A lot of people believe in their country without crying on national television every three minutes.
GLENN: I believe that it has been so perverted and on Friday I had so much hope that it could be saved because there are so many people that feel the way I do, and it was amazing to see them and to feel them and to know that they were all across the country.
STU: There was a lot of people there, most of them not crying. Just pointing out.


Community Foundation hires two new employees
READING, PA (April 26, 2019) – Berks County Community Foundation has hired two local residents as new employees.
Brian Martin has been named to the newly-created position of Director of Accounting and Technology. He will assist the Senior Vice President for Finance and Operations in managing the financial and technology functions of the Community Foundation.
Brian worked in the insurance business for a number of years before moving on to a wholesale company. There, he served as Vice President of Accounting and Administration.
A lifelong Berks County resident and a graduate of Antietam High School, Brian received a scholarship from the Antietam Foundation Scholarship Fund of Berks County Community Foundation in 2000.
This marks the first time that a recipient of a Community Foundation scholarship has been hired by the Foundation.
Brian earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance with a minor in Legal Environment of Business from The Pennsylvania State University.
Josie Munroe has taken on the visible role of receptionist at the entrance to the Community Foundation’s busy Community Conference Center at its headquarters at Third and Court streets. Nonprofits can hold meetings, workshops and events in the Conference Center at no charge.
Josie Munroe
As the Community Foundation’s bilingual receptionist, Josie helps oversee the Conference Center and lobby, greets and directs all callers and visitors, and handles clerical duties.
Immediately prior to coming to the Community Foundation, Josie worked on QVC’s live TV programming, operating behind the scenes to drive sales and increase profit margins through fashion styling, merchandising, and carrying out the vision of fashion designers and producers.
A New York City native, Josie moved to West Reading in 2014. In New York, she worked for major TV studios, such as MTV, Paramount and Warner Bros., where she managed wardrobe and prop departments and executed the vision of art directors and television producers.
Josie replaces Eunis Domenech as receptionist. As previously announced, Eunis was promoted to Finance and Operations Administrator to oversee the Foundation’s accounts payable and other finance-related functions.
Berks County Community Foundation is a nonprofit corporation that serves as a civic leader for our region by developing, managing and distributing charitable funds aimed at improving the quality of life in Berks County. More information is available at www.bccf.org.
jasonb@bccf.org2019-04-26T11:49:38-04:00News|


One of the last remaining Confederate monuments in California is vandalized
By Colleen Shalby
Palm trees surround the graves and headstones in Santa Ana Cemetery, seen here in 1996. (Christine Cotter / Los Angeles Times)
One of the last remaining Confederate monuments in California was vandalized days after the Fourth of July.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans monument was erected in the Santa Ana Cemetery in 2004. On Sunday, it was discovered covered in red paint with the word “racists” written vertically down one side.
The 7-ton granite monument is dedicated to those who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. It includes the names of 33 people with ties to the Confederacy, including Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.
In the past two years, as monuments and statues dedicated to Confederate soldiers have been taken down throughout the country amid an outcry over the glorification of a history tied to slavery and racism, the Orange County Cemetery District Board grappled with a decision regarding the monument’s future.
The confederate monument at the Santa Ana cemetery was vandalized with paint https://t.co/aX3oMxlrOW #orangecounty
— Orange County reddit (@OCReddit) July 8, 2019
Orange County Cemetery District general manager Tim Deutsch said the board initially agreed that the monument could stay put with some modifications, which included limiting the names inscribed on the memorial to soldiers who died in Orange County after the war. More than 300 Civil War soldiers are buried in Santa Ana.
But more recently, the district couldn’t find details on the original board action regarding the monument’s approval. When the Sons of Confederate Veterans failed to respond to the board’s letters about modifications and permit violations, members approved its removal on July 2. Until it is removed, Deutsch said the monument remains concealed from public view under a tarp after efforts to remove the graffiti failed.
California confronts its Confederate past as monuments are abruptly removed
By Esmeralda Bermudez, Corina Knoll and Anh Do
Debate over the place of Confederate symbols in American history escalated in 2015 after a self-proclaimed white supremacist massacred worshipers at a Charleston, S.C., church. Following the mass shooting, President Obama called for the removal of the Confederate flag from places of honor, saying it was a “reminder of systemic oppression and racial subjugation.” Soon after, South Carolina lawmakers voted to take the flag down from the Statehouse.
The debate has continued, and escalated to a new level in 2017. A Unite the Right rally turned violent when a group protesting the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Va., clashed with demonstrators on the opposite side. The chaos ended with a white supremacist plowing his car into a crowd of demonstrators, leaving one woman dead.
Gordon Bricken, an amateur historian and former mayor of Santa Ana who helped establish the monument, uncovered much of Santa Ana’s Civil War connections before his death in 2013. With the help of a group of Civil War buffs, he was able to locate the graves of more than 800 Civil War veterans in Orange County.
His daughter, Patricia Bricken, told the Orange County Register that the monument was never meant to glorify the negative history often attached to the Confederacy.
“That’s part of our freedom, is that we should be able to erect monuments to whoever we want, especially on private land,” she said. “We didn’t force it down anybody’s throat at all.”


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This Jan. 13, 2018 file smartphone screen capture shows a false incoming ballistic missile emergency alert sent from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency system.Caleb Jones / AP Photo
HONOLULU — Hawaii’s nuclear missile scare showed that the state began testing alerts before fully developing a plan to address the ballistic missile threat and that a public outreach campaign months earlier wasn’t effective, said a report released Tuesday.
The state Department of Defence, the agency that oversees Hawaii’s emergency management, released the internal review after an alert was sent to cellphones, televisions and radio stations across the state last month.
The notification, which read “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL,” triggered widespread panic as more than a million residents and visitors feared they were about to face a ballistic missile strike.
Gov. David Ige assigned Brig. Gen. Kenneth Hara, the second in command at the Department of Defence, to conduct a comprehensive review of the agency’s operations.
“The response and recovery sections of the plan were minimally developed,” Hara’s report said. “The plan lacked clear details for sheltering, county co-ordination and protocols for decision to send out all clear or false missile alert messages, e.g., interception, missile impact without effect to Hawaii, etc.”
The public didn’t get adequate directions about what to do, the report said.
An agency employee mistakenly sent the alert to cellphones and broadcast stations across the state during a shift-change drill at the agency on Jan. 13.
Officials later disclosed the employee didn’t think he and his colleagues were participating in a drill and instead believed a real attack was imminent. The state has since fired him.
State officials said the worker, who had been employed at the agency for 11 years, had mistakenly believed two prior drills — for tsunami and fire warnings — were actual events. His supervisors counselled him but kept him for a decade in a position that had to be renewed each year.
In this Jan. 13, 2018, file photo provided by Civil Beat, cars drive past a highway sign that says “MISSILE ALERT ERROR THERE IS NO THREAT” on the H-1 Freeway in Honolulu. (Cory Lum/AP Photo) Cory Lum / Civil Beat via AP
The ex-worker disputed that, saying he wasn’t aware of any performance problems. The employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared for his safety after receiving death threats, told reporters that he was devastated about causing panic but was “100 per cent sure” at the time that the attack was real.
Some managers didn’t follow proper procedures to deal with unsatisfactory performance, which contributed to the false alert, the report said.
Hara’s report recommends employee development training for supervisors and managers.
The agency’s administrator, Vern Miyagi, resigned on Jan. 30. The agency’s executive officer, Toby Clairmont, resigned down shortly after the incident because it was clear action would be taken against agency leaders, he said.
A fourth employee was suspended without pay.
It took the agency 38 minutes to send a follow-up message to broadcast stations and cellphones notifying people the alert was a mistake, in part because the agency had no prepared message it could send out in the event of a false alarm.
Within hours of the alert, the agency changed protocols to start requiring that two people send an alert. It also made it easier to cancel alerts by preparing a pre-programmed false alarm message.
The report’s recommendations include suspending all activities related to the Ballistic Missile Preparedness Campaign, with the exception of the monthly ballistic missile alert tone siren testing, until a plan is published and the majority of Hawaii’s public know “what to do, where to go, and when to do it.”
It also recommends reviewing the feasibility of reinstituting “fallout shelters.” Hawaii stopped maintaining such shelters after the Cold War ended and funding ran out.
Although spurred by the missile scare, the report provides recommendations about all the hazards the islands face. Because Hawaii relies on nearly all of its goods to be imported, the report recommends improving ports and expanding distribution infrastructure, but notes doing so will be expensive and time-consuming.


Charity Corner: Book Aid International
Welcome back to Charity Corner. This is my new series where I will be using my blog as a platform to lend a voice to different charities and organisations of all sizes, backgrounds and causes. Today’s Charity Corner, I speak to Jenny Hayes, the Communications Executive at Book Aid International, a charity which provides books to underprivileged places in the world.
What is the mission of Book Aid International?
Book Aid International is the UK’s leading international book provision and library development charity. We believe that books and reading give people the opportunity to change their lives for the better. Our mission is therefore to get brand new books to the places around the world where books are scarce but where, if people had access to books, they could make a huge difference. To do this, we work in partnership with libraries, providing brand new books, resources and training to support environments in which reading for pleasure, study and lifelong learning can flourish.
What’s the story behind the creation of your charity?
Book Aid International was founded in 1954 by Hermione, Countess of Ranfurly. Two years prior to that, Lady Ranfurly had moved with her husband to the Bahamas where he was Governor General. As she toured the islands, she was shocked at the lack of reading materials. She set about collecting books which she packed up and sent to schools, libraries and institutions on the islands. Thus the Ranfurly Library Service was born. On her return to the UK in 1956 Lady Ranfurly decided to expand her ‘book scheme’ to the British Commonwealth. The Ranfurly Library Service took up residence in London and sent books to countries all over the world. In 1994 the charity changed its name to Book Aid International.
What outcomes has Book Aid seen through its work?
The charity has been going for over sixty years and in that time we have sent more than 33 million books to libraries around the world. There are more brilliant outcomes than we can count! The books we send are helping students at Mzuzu University in Malawi continue with their studies after their library was destroyed by a fire. In the Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya, they allow people forced from their homes to continue their education. Prisoners in Uganda use them to study for law degrees while they await trial. In Sierra Leone, the books are helping pupils who missed a whole year of school during the Ebola crisis get back to learning; and that’s just to name a few! Take a look at these individuals’ stories of the positive difference books have made in their lives on our website.
In what way do donations to your charity benefit you?
When it costs just £2 to send a book, donations achieve so much! We work with our partners to get books to the places and people where they can make the most difference, supporting libraries which might otherwise have empty shelves. This includes libraries in schools, hospitals, prisons, refugee camps, cities, slums and remote and rural communities. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, each year we send our library partners around one million brand new books to fill over 2,600 libraries and provide hundreds of thousands of readers with the resources they need to develop their skills, make the most of their educations and discover a passion for reading . We also work with our partners to develop programmes to help readers get the most out of the books we send. In 2016 we launched our Inspiring Readers programme to create libraries in schools where it is common for children to share one book between many. Through this programme, we aim to improve the reading opportunities of a quarter of a million primary school children in Africa. As part of this, teachers are trained in bringing books to life in the classroom and they are linked up with a local library to access bigger book collections and to visit with their classes for further reading activities. In 2016, the programme launched in Kenya and Uganda and this year it will expand into schools in Malawi and Uganda.
How can people help Book Aid International besides just giving money?
There are many, many ways people can support us besides donating money, from packing books in our warehouse to running marathons to baking! There really is something for everyone. If you are able to join us at our warehouse in Camberwell, London, we always welcome regular help with stamping and packing books ready to ship to our partners. In 2016, we sent our library partners 1,032,610 books and we couldn’t have done this without the dedication and hard work of our fantastic warehouse volunteers! Many of our supporters choose to fundraise for us in a variety of ways, from holding cake sales at work to running marathons. We also have a team of dedicated Community Ambassadors who raise awareness about our work in their communities by speaking about our work at schools and festivals and holding events to fundraise for us.
Book Aid International is one of World Book Day’s official partner charities and every year hundreds of school children fundraise for us by donating £1 to dress up as part of their schools’ celebrations. Last year, their efforts raised over £121,000 – that’s enough to send 60,500 books to our partners! People also hold cake sales, readathons and quizzes to support our work on World Book Day both in schools and workplaces. This year World Book Day will be on 2 nd March and taking part by dressing up or fundraising is easier than ever before. Visit our website to get started. We also welcome support on social media. Retweets and post-sharing are a great way our supporters can help spread the word about our work. We really couldn’t do the work we do without our supporters. You can find out more here.
Where can people find more information on your charity?
For further information about Book Aid International, from more details on where we work and what we do, to the stories of the people we support, visit our website.
Do you have a charity that you’d like me to discuss in this series? Please email me for more info. Click here for more Charity Corner features.
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Filed Under: Charity Corner
Tags: Books, Charity Corner, International Book Aid, Lady Ranfurly, World Book Day
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When Vala Afshar Tweets, People Listen
Today@UMass Lowell
Tell Us About It
Electrical Engineering Alum a Leading Influencer as Salesforce’s Chief Digital Evangelist
Photo by Ed Brennen
Electrical engineering alum Vala Afshar, chief digital evangelist at Salesforce, talks to students about digital business disruption at Alumni Hall.
By Ed Brennen
As “Chief Digital Evangelist” at Salesforce, a global leader in customer relationship management technology, Vala Afshar’s job is to understand the forces behind the digital business revolution – and to share his insights with the world.
Afshar’s tallest soapbox is Twitter, where the UMass Lowell alum has more than 216,000 followers and he receives about 2 million mentions per day. He also has a popular HuffPost blog, a weekly web series and a book, “The Pursuit of Social Business Excellence.”
Forbes has named Afshar the top social media influencer of chief marketing officers (CMOs) for two years running. Not bad for someone who couldn’t even speak English when he emigrated to the United States from Iran at age 10. After resettling with his family in the Boston area, Afshar earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the Francis College of Engineering and began his career in 1996 as a software developer.
Afshar returned to campus recently to help the Manning School of Business launch its participation in the Trailhead for Students Program, a Salesforce initiative that lets students (of all majors) learn more about its technology and better prepare for internships, co-ops and jobs after graduation. Afshar spoke with students and faculty about digital business disruption and the role of technology. He also took time to answer a few questions about his own career (as well as one about President Trump’s Twitter use).
Vala Afshar poses for a photo with student Yomar Salazar Reyes after speaking at Alumni Hall.
Q. How does an electrical engineering grad become chief digital evangelist at a $60 billion company that’s been ranked “Most Innovative” by Forbes for seven straight years?
A. As a student, I learned that I could contribute most to project-based assignments. I enjoyed the beauty of a presentation, building a strong narrative, connecting technology to business outcomes. That’s when I knew there was a little marketing-sales guy in me. But it took me 15 years to pursue that marketing piece. The teachers I have fond memories of are great storytellers. They could explain not just the “what” and the “how,” but the “why.” And when you understand the thing that you’re building, how it can advance society, whether in health care, education, whatever industry you end up serving, that’s important.
But I didn’t go to UMass Lowell thinking I’m going to be a storyteller for one of the fastest growing, most successful companies in the world right now. What I did discover five years ago (as CMO at Enterasys Networks) is that if you take that small step of sharing things that you find interesting on social media, over time people will find you interesting. So now, when I read an article or watch a TED Talk or I’m at a conference and someone is doing something that inspires me, I share that. Social changed my career.
Q. Why is it important for students to be active on social media?
A. This year, for the first time, social surpassed SEO (search engine optimization) as the No. 1 way of finding digital content. There’s 1 million Facebook logins per minute and half a million tweets per minute. If you are a student and don’t have a digital footprint, you are losing big-time. I applied for my job at Salesforce on a direct message on Twitter. I didn’t even have a résumé, and they didn’t care. Digital-native companies – the ones born in the cloud, mobile, social – they don’t follow traditional rules. Students should work hard in class, get good grades and build awesome CVs, but trust me, employers are looking at your digital footprint and your digital exhaust – those unintended consequences of things you leave behind.
Twenty years ago, I won a graduate research award here and I didn’t have the opportunity to share my achievement. Today I think about all those research papers and presentations that might be good to share with others outside the Lowell ecosystem. The reason I have 200,000-plus followers on Twitter is because when I find something interesting, I share. That’s how you increase your likelihood of being employable. And it doesn’t have to be Twitter. I don’t even know if Twitter is cool among UMass Lowell students. Maybe it’s Snapchat or WhatsApp. But my point is, your digital footprint and exhaust will define your career moving forward.
Q. What skills should students be building to succeed in the digital economy?
A. The most important skill in a digital economy is your ability to stay teachable. Your thirst and hunger for staying interested is so important. If you’re not teachable, you will not reach your full potential in your career. You need to be taking a personal inventory proactively. What did I learn this week? This month? Did I share it with anyone? If you’re not learning cool stuff every month, not becoming a better student, you’re falling behind.
The importance of emotional intelligence, of being mindful, is critically important. That’s why I believe liberal arts degrees are the most important in the digital economy. Liberal arts students can teach businesses. When you talk about artificial intelligence and the fact that we’re entering an algorithmic economy, how do you prevent biases from being baked into those algorithms? If we are worried about over-automating and taking the humanity out of business, it’s important to have a rich, diverse background.
If I could build a time machine and go back to school, I’d spend rigorous time fine-tuning my writing skills. I’m a first-generation immigrant who moved to the U.S. (from Iran) when I was 10 years old. I couldn’t speak the language, but I was really good at math, hence the engineering track. But boy, I should have spent more time reading and writing.
Stay teachable, always be interested and share what you learn were key points of advice Vala Afshar shared with students.
Q. What does being named the top CMO influencer mean to you, and does the distinction bring any added pressure when you tweet?
A. I’m humbled and surprised. As a former CMO, I appreciated when people would educate me on what investments I should make in marketing, or what tech would help grow a business and delight customers. So all I’m doing is giving back.
There is pressure, but it’s good pressure. There’s accountability, transparency – all these things that motivate you. There’s a sense of responsibility when you’re named someone who influences businesses and business leaders. It motivates me to curate and create quality content, because it’s a privilege to become a trusted adviser. I get to be in the room with influential CMOs who share content, and suddenly you realize your voice is being scaled based on the quality of connections and networks you’ve made.
If your North Star, your guiding principles, are such that you’re motivated by educating, inspiring and igniting positive action, then finding your name on these lists simply allows you to continue to appreciate your network. It’s a great feeling, and I don’t take it for granted.
Q. As a social media expert, what do you think of President Trump’s use of Twitter?
A. I believe one of the key factors in him being elected was his use of social. It’s the next generation of building a ground base. The way he used it, regardless if you agree or disagree with him politically, there’s no question that it was him. And therefore, if you appreciate authenticity, consistency and staying true to who you are, then I think it was brilliant use of social media.
Regardless of your political affiliations, being able to connect at a level where no one’s questioning that it’s your words, your sentiment, your viewpoints, I think was very instructive. And lesson learned for future politicians or business leaders: It’s your face that’s on the avatar, it’s your bio and it’s your words, so stay true to who you are.