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A Brief History Of Intellectual Property In China And India
from the ups-and-downs dept
Wed, Jul 1st 2009 3:45pm — Kevin Donovan
This is the second post in a series of posts looking at the question of intellectual property rights in both China and India. We'll be adding new posts to this series each week for the next few weeks.
To fully understand why increased intellectual property in China and India is unnecessary and objectionable, it helps to understand the relationship intellectual property has with economic development. Historically, intellectual property has generally increased with economic development, but the relationship is not straightforward. Although there is no reliable cross-country index of intellectual property policy, in large part due to the difficulty of quantifying concepts like enforcement quality, some trends are discernable. When a country is poor, IP is unnecessary for a host of reasons, not the least of which is the limited access to productivity enhancing technologies that intellectual property brings and the domestic inability to innovate in a commercially viable manner. But instead of constantly increasing with wealth, IP actually falls with an initial increase in wealth before dramaticaly growing (Maskus 2000). As a country develops, it obtains imitative abilities that make legal prohibition on copying foreign technologies an artificial obstruction to economic growth. However, with further global integration and increased domestic innovative capabilities, patent protection tends to increase. However, China and India have both realized that their relative poverty makes access to technology a more pressing concern, justifying relaxed IP standards.
India's On-Again, Off-Again Relationship With Intellectual Property
India' colonial status brought with it patent legislation, so by 1911 India's IP regime conformed with developed world status (Graff 2007). However, seeking to develop a domestic pharmaceutical industry, in 1970, India abolished patents on pharmaceutical products. This allowed domestic firms to imitate and adapt foreign therapeutic inventions. The policy was a success: the 2,237 licensed drug manufacturers in 1969-1970 grew to 16,000 by 1991-1993, production of drugs grew at an average rate of 14.4% per year from 1980 to 1993, India became a net exporter of pharmaceutical products, and the market share of foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) dropped from 80-90% to 40% (Fink 2005). In 1995, six of the top ten pharmaceutical firms in India were domestic, and employment in the sector had reached half a million people (Lanjouw 1997).
However, to gain access to the global market enabled by the World Trade Organization, India had to ratify the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), the most influential treaty on global intellectual property. Doing so included introducing full product patents on pharmaceutical innovations, extending all patents from 5-14 years to 20 years, and accepting limitations on compulsory licensing (Abramson 2007). Observers noted that this was likely to lead to a loss of consumer surplus (Chaudhuri et al.). However, the government agreed against its wishes to TRIPs for the additional benefits of WTO membership (Lanjouw 1997). Under TRIPs regulations, patenting has accelerated in India (Dahlman 2005).
China As The Late Bloomer
China was a latecomer to intellectual property. Its first patent law came into effect in 1985, followed by a copyright law in 1990 (Graff 2007). However, since then, the pace of progress has been rapid; it has now joined all major international IP treaties (Maskus 2005). Its patenting activity is increasing rapidly, too, with domestic firms nearly doubling the number of patents they received in the past four years (“Chinese firms…”). China’s Patent Office now leads the world, reviewing 800,000 applications in 2008, and in 2009, domestic firms are poised to receive more patents than foreigners for the first time ever (“Battle of Ideas”). Chinese firms are also receiving more patents abroad: in 1999 they only won 90 patents in America, but by last year they had increased that number to 1,225, demonstrating a desire to use their inventions globally (“Battle of Ideas”).
Chinese intellectual property, however, is still frequently critiqued. Enforcement is notoriously weak with the United States citing “rampant counterfeiting and piracy problems.” Strikingly, according to the USTR, China was the origin for 67% of seizures of counterfeit goods at the American border in 2008. In response to these and other concerns, China has recently updated its patent laws, increasing statutory damages and expanding the investigative power of the patent office (Lim 2009).
In the next post, we'll take an extended look at the case made for stronger intellectual property in China and India.
Other posts in this series:
Do China And India Really Want Stronger Intellectual Property?
Why Might China And India Want To Strengthen National Intellectual Property Policy?
Why Increased IP In China And India Is Likely To Disproportionately Benefit The Developed World
In China And India, Stronger Intellectual Property Is Unnecessary
There Is No Harmony In A Patent Thicket
The Way Forward On Intellectual Property For China And India
Filed Under: china, developing nations, india, intellectual property, patents
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Michael L. Slonecker, 2 Jul 2009 @ 8:32am
Re: Re: not creative?
No one can seriously argue that countries such as China and India possess potentially significant "intellectual wealth". At this point in time, however, they have not as yet realized the full advantage of such wealth. In some regards they seem to resemble post-war Japan through the early 60's, i.e., their R&D capabilities lag far behind the major industrialized nations.
A first step towards parity with such other nations necessarily involves the establishment of basic manufacturing capabilities, with the growth of R&D capabilities to follow after implementation of the former. Thus, "copycapting" and "free riding" on the work of those in other nations is only natural in their growth towards becoming a major force in the international market for new products.
It should be readily apparent that any country embarking on the above course will at first be quite reluctant to embrace IP rights to the full extent expressed in current international treaties. At the same time, however, that reluctance will have to be reassessed as and when such a country desires a "seat" at the "table".
Simply put, and like it or not, at some time in the future, and likely sooner than later, I expect both India and China to adopt national laws that afford significantly more substantive protection than is now the case. Until this happens they will continue to be viewed askance by the major industrial powers, and will consistently encounter difficulties having their products imported into other nations. Call it "protectionism" if you will, but this is simply a fact of life.
Merely as an aside, I find it somewhat interesting that a pharmaceutical manufacturer of generic drugs in India, despite having built its business based on the manufacture and sale of generics, is just starting to secure patents in India and other industrialized countries in which it seeks to conduct business. The same can be said of businesses situated in China.
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The Presidency has confirmed the release of abducted students of Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State.
The girls were abducted by the terrorists sect, Boko Haram, sect on February 19.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed this when contacted.
Shehu promised to give further details on the development later.
“Yes, the girls are being transported to safety. We will give details later. We thank God,” he said.
The girls’ release came exactly one week after President Muhammadu Buhari visited the school where they were kidnapped.
Buhari had during the visit last Wednesday reassured parents of the abducted schoolgirls that the Federal Government will not rest on its oars, until their wards are safely brought back home.
The President, who was accompanied by Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State, said he had directed full scale aerial surveillance and investigation to ensure that the girls were returned safely.
“I have read the full report of what happened in Dapchi. As I received the report, I was saddened and I am praying that God will continue to console you,” he said.
Buhari also said government will ensure that the Boko Haram menace is totally brought to an end.
“Boko Haram was in control of many local councils in Borno and some parts of Yobe State before we came. Now it has resorted to using young girls for suicide missions in mosques, churches and motor parks.
“We will not spare their members. We will ensure that Boko Haram meets its waterloo. By the will of God, I have directed the police and reinforced them, and the army and air force to keep searching until the children are returned alive,” he said.


About Energy & Power
Energy & Power (EP) is the first and only full-fledged fortnightly magazine that deals with the much cried energy and power sector in Bangladesh. Since its inception on June 16, 2003, EP is working very hard to
a) Develop public conscientious on sustainable and even development of energy sector;
b) Assist the policy makers in assuming pragmatic policy for balanced development of the energy sector;
c) Continue supply of information among public; and
d) Develop a group of reporter in its field.
Traditional sources of energy have adverse affects on environment. In order to minimize such affect the concept of environment friendly energy solution has been developed. Energy sector leaders are considering as many options as possible including use of renewable energy as well as optimum utilization of the energy.
Bangladesh is an energy deficit country like other countries in the region and most of the people do not have adequate access to the energy and power. The country is completely dependent on fossil energy source; at the same time, it is one of the most inefficient energy using countries in the world by all means.
It lacks of efficiency in planning, management, generation, distribution, load management and even at end user level consumption.
In spite of the above drawbacks, issues relating to utilization of renewable energy, exploring alternative use of energy, planned use of environment friendly energy are significantly undermined in Bangladesh.
The biggest challenge of Bangladesh is to find a path for balanced growth of its energy sector. Despite of its resource constraints, EP dynamically strives to provide with flow of energy sector information and create public awareness; so that the policymakers get guideline and platform for the sustainable development of energy sector in Bangladesh.
EP believes that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of a journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility.
EP editorial policy is to share a dedication to ethical behavior and uphold the Zero Conflict of Interest principles and highest standards of practice.
EP believes into
Seek truth and report the same
Minimize harm to the concerned
Act independently
Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived; and disclose unavoidable conflicts in public
Be accountable to readers, well-wishers and people of Bangladesh
Admit mistakes and correct them promptly
Policy Campaign
EP now steps into it 16th years of publication.
For last 13 years, apart from publication, the EP worked on campaign programs to promote renewable energy, energy efficiency, environment and energy conservation.
EP also started a green campaign. In this connection, the EP is working with the government and development partners like GTZ, UNDP and others.


Gideon’s Army at Guantanamo
by Phil Hirschkorn
Despite enormous logistical and legal hurdles, defense attorneys for high value detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military prison, say they press on for the judgment of history, if not for a fair turn before the embattled military commissions that substitute for trials in federal court.
Attorneys for alleged 9/11 attack planners Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) and Ramzi Bin al-Shibh and alleged USS Cole bombing plotter Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri described their challenges to an audience gathered by the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School in Manhattan on Wednesday night.
Even though all the defense attorneys are vetted and cleared to access Top Secret documents, they agree that secrecy remains the root of most delays and dysfunction.
“If you sat down to design a system and said, ‘I want to create a legal system where everything will move slowly, glacially,’ you would design this,” said Richard Kammen, who represents al-Nashiri. For example, if Kammen, who is based in Indianapolis, wants to read a classified court document, he must travel to a secure facility in Washington, D.C. to do so. Once, Kammen said, he was ordered to respond to motions he was not allowed to read.
Even when the attorneys are at Guantanamo to meet in person with their clients, a detainee’s own words are considered secret.
“We were told that anything that came out of client’s mouths were considered to be ‘presumptively classified,’” said Jason Wright, who represented KSM until this August. “This phrase ‘presumptive classification’ is something that has never existed before in the laws of the United States.”
To make sure he understood, Wright, a former Army JAG, received a power point presentation at Guantanamo.
“I had a briefer who told me, when you meet with your high value detainee, you have to treat everything that he says as presumptively classified – every word, every utterance, every gesture,” Wright recalled.
“I said, ‘Hypothetically, what if he told me he liked peanut butter sandwiches? Is that classified?’”
“Yes,” he was told.
Wright said, “What country in the world believes it can actually classify someone’s thoughts and beliefs? What they’re classifying were the words that would come out of their mouths about the torture experiences.”
Wright, Kammen, and James Harrington, who represents Bin al-Shibh, see a persistent effort to block any disclosures about detainee mistreatment, particularly when the detainees were held overseas in CIA custody.
“Virtually all the restrictions we operate under are designed to protect CIA information,” Kammen said. “The government takes the position that even we can’t be trusted with it.”
Instead, defense attorneys have been provided vague summaries of their client’s past interrogations and statements. How vague? As an example, Kammen shared his itinerary of the previous 48 hours – flying on Tuesday, October 28, from his home in Indianapolis to Chicago for a presentation at Loyola University. After spending the night there, on Wednesday, he flew to New York for meetings related to his Guantanamo case during the day and then attended the Fordham panel in the evening.
Kammen said, “The summary would probably read something like this: ‘On a day in the fourth quarter of 2014, Rick left his home and went from one place to another place, and then he went onto a third place, and then he returned.’ Literally that’s how general the summaries are.”
Harrington believes the information about detainee torture is being kept secret to protect officials who carried it out or allowed it to happen.
“Whether it’s the people who engaged in the torture, many of whom were assured by their government that if they did these things no one would ever know, and they would never be prosecuted,” Harrington said. “We want to believe still that this [country] is the shining city on the hill. This is a real black hood put over the light.”
At Guantanamo, everywhere the defense attorneys go seems to be bugged. Microphones at the defense tables have picked up their conversations. Fake smoke detectors in attorney-client meeting rooms hid eavesdropping microphones. During a hearing, someone off site set off an alarm when his agency thought classified information had been revealed. Just as bad, Harrington believes, is the lack of indignation over these discoveries by the military commission judges.
“I cannot imagine a federal judge who would let somebody – anybody – interfere with his or her domain, which is the courtroom, that he or she did not know about and did not sanction for approval,” Harrington said.
Even getting to Guantanamo is not easy. Charter flights from south Florida to Cuba leave you stuck there for a week, because the planes go down only on Monday and return only on Friday. Compounding that, according to Michel Paradis, an attorney in the DOD’s office of chief defense counsel, is the alphabet soup of agencies that control different parts of the base – the courtroom, the detainee center, lodging.
“Every single time you go to Guantanamo, you spend about a day – a full working day — simply getting the keys to your office, or the badges you need to get where you are going, to get a car to so you can drive around this base,” Paradis said.
Despite the hassles, the defense attorneys find the work purposeful and important. Standing up to the government and holding it accountable, even when top al Qaeda members are the clients, is what they signed up for.
Kammen said, “These cases will be reviewed in history – 10, 20, 30 years from now. The question that’ll be asked is, ‘Were the lawyers doing what lawyers are supposed to be doing? Were they telling the truth?’ And I hope when they look back on me, they’ll say, ‘Yeah, that guy was in there, and he was fighting.”
Paradis added, “In some respects, we are the immune system for the American justice system. We caught a disease after September 11th, which led us to torture, which led us to give up our values.”
Paradis recently argued an appeal of the one life sentence that has resulted from a Guantanamo military commission. He said, “Trying to heal the legal system, if that doesn’t sound too trite, I think does motivate me.”
Al-Nashiri,
Guantanamo,
Guest Author,
Ramzi Bin al-Shibh
Phil Hirschkorn
Fellow at the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School and New York-Based Journalist covering Al Qaeda and terrorism trials for 15 years
July 10, 2019 by Ryan Vogel
Deprivation and Despair: The Crisis of Medical Care at Guantánamo
June 26, 2019 by Scott Roehm
For the Military Commissions, a Fork in the Road on Torture
May 6, 2019 by Scott Roehm
Al-Nashiri III: A No Good, Very Bad Day for U.S. Military Commissions
April 16, 2019 by Steve Vladeck
Shifted Burdens: The U.S. as Detainer of Last Resort
February 26, 2019 by Benjamin R. Farley
The Status of Guantanamo 17 Years In
January 11, 2019 by Rita Siemion and Patricia Stottlemyer
The “ISIS Beatles” and “Non-Territorial” Application of the European Convention of Human Rights
December 17, 2018 by Antonios Tzanakopoulos
Rear Admiral Hutson: Why Senators Should Vote No on Kavanaugh
September 14, 2018 by John D. Hutson, Rear Admiral, JAGC, USN (Ret.)
Guantanamo is No Answer–But Here’s What Can Work
August 31, 2018 by Tess Bridgeman, Joshua Geltzer and Luke Hartig
Brett Kavanaugh and the Risk of a Return to Torture
August 10, 2018 by Jamie Mayerfeld
How the U.S. and EU’s Cooperation with Sudan Rubberstamps Bad Behavior
July 30, 2018 by Mohammed Osman


AGIG plans additional development at WA facility
The Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) will undertake new expansion works at its Tubridgi Gas Storage Facility in Western Australia.
AGIG announced it will complete a seismic survey and expand the injection and withdrawal capacity of the facility to 90 TJ/d and 60 TJ/d respectively.
The seismic survey will produce detailed 3D mapping of the location’s underground reservoir, which sits approximately 550 m below the surface, in order to define the maximum storage volume of the area and de-risk any additional wells that may be installed in the future.
AGIG Chief Customer Officer Andrew Staniford said developing the facility was an essential operation.
“The new expansion works are a necessary part of ensuring that AGIG can continue to meet market demand in the longer term and provide our customers with the flexibility they require to meet their energy requirements,” he said.
“These latest projects further increase our role as an owner and operator of critical infrastructure in the state and demonstrate AGIG’s confidence in WA as an investment destination.”
Located in WA’s northwest, the Tubridgi Gas Storage Facility was redeveloped and commissioned by AGIG in 2017 at a cost of $74 million.
The facility is the largest of its kind in the state and the third largest in Australia.
For more information visit the AGIG website.


NATO puts pressure on Afghanistan to sign troop agreement
By By David S. Cloud
BRUSSELS -- The U.S. and its European allies on Wednesday turned up the pressure on Afghanistan to authorize foreign troops on its territory after 2014, even as officials acknowledged that they may have to wait for President Hamid Karzai's successor to resolve the standoff.
At the opening of a two-day NATO meeting, Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned that all alliance troops serving in Afghanistan would follow the U.S. in withdrawing at the end of the year if Kabul refuses to sign an agreement with Washington.
"If there is no agreement, there will be no NATO troops in Afghanistan after 2014," he said. "This is not our preferred option, but it might be the unfortunate outcome if the security agreement is not signed."
The warning from NATO was closely coordinated with the White House and came a day after President Obama told Karzai in a telephone call that the U.S. was planning for a complete withdrawal over Karzai's refusal to sign the troop agreement.
NATO has been negotiating a separate agreement with Afghanistan that would authorize other countries to keep troops there after this year, but alliance officials have said from the beginning that the deal was contingent on Afghanistan concluding an accord with the U.S.
The stalemate over the troop agreement has frustrated the White House and the Pentagon, but it has taken even more of a toll in Europe, where the idea of keeping troops in Afghanistan after this year is even more controversial than it is in the U.S.
A senior NATO official said Italy, Germany and Turkey, each of which had pledged to play small but important roles in the post-2014 mission, face deadlines starting later this summer for getting parliamentary approval for the mission and the funds to carry it out.
Allied countries thus may not be able to wait as long for a decision on whether foreign troops will remain as the United States, which could delay until as late as October and still get its remaining troops out of the country by the end of December, officials said.
On Thursday, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and other NATO ministers are expected to approve guidance for alliance planners to begin preparing for possible full withdrawal later this year, officials said.
The U.S. has about 33,000 troops in Afghanistan, though the number will drop substantially over the summer, officials say, leaving a small force in place that will take over the post-2014 mission or depart completely. There are about 19,000 troops from other countries.
U.S. officials say they are increasingly resigned to waiting until Karzai leaves office after elections to choose a successor this spring, in hopes that the new Afghan leader might sign the deal. In a clear sign of growing exasperation with Karzai, Rasmussen also raised that possibility Wednesday.
"It appears that President Karzai is not ready to sign a security agreement," he said. "We are ready to engage with a new president."
But officials concede that even that option is not foolproof, because the elections could drag on for months due to runoffs and the possibility of contested results. Nor is there any guarantee Karzai's successor would sign the agreement.
The U.S. and Afghanistan reached a draft bilateral security agreement in November, laying out the terms for keeping U.S. troops in the country past 2014, when all combat troops are to be withdrawn.
Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, is proposing a plan that would keep around 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan until the end of 2015, with 5,000 NATO and other international troops based in the north and west of the country as part of a NATO mission, officials said.
Most of the troops would be limited to training and advising Afghan units, though a portion of the U.S. forces would be designated for counter-terrorism operations against the remnants of Al Qaeda and its affiliates. White House officials have been exploring the possibility of a smaller troop presence but no decisions have been made, officials said.
david.cloud@latimes.com
Twitter: @DavidCloudLAT


Fast-Growing Law Firm Expands in Downtown Baltimore
Offit Kurman is closing its Owings Mills offices and moving its Baltimore-area team of attorneys into a single location in downtown Charm City.
Adrian Maties
300 East Lombard St.
Offit Kurman, one of the fastest-growing law firms in the Mid-Atlantic, is closing its Owings Mills offices and moving its Baltimore-area team of attorneys into a single location in downtown Charm City.
Offit Kurman’s new home will occupy the entire 20th floor of the Class A office tower located at 300 East Lombard St. The location offers 16,650 square feet of renovated space and will house 28 attorney offices, eight paralegal offices, 12 administrative stations, and five conference rooms. Twenty-two of the company’s attorneys will work there.
This is Offit Kurman’s second expansion in the Baltimore area. The law firm posted a video of its new home on its Youtube account.
The office building changed owners at the start of the year, just a few months after hitting the market. PWA Real Estate LLC, a Pittsburgh private equity firm, purchased the property for $38.3 million, from Ireland-based CMC Investments. The rapid sale was a direct result of the former owner’s management strategy. CMC acquired the 237,000-square-foot office building in 2004 for $40 million, and invested an additional $2 million to renovate the asset. In 2014, the company signed leases with new and old tenants for about 100,000 square feet of space, bringing the tower’s occupancy to 91 percent.
Photo & video credits: Offit Kurman
CMC Investments
Offit Kurman
PWA Real Estate LLC
Baltimore Luxury Community Nabs Refi Loan
Luxury MD Senior Housing Welcomes Residents


City ›
Well past the strike of midnight, Austin City Council votes to decrease housing occupancy limit
Photo Credit: Caleb Kuntz | Daily Texan Staff
Austin City Council
councilman
Published on February 14, 2014 at 4:09 am Last update on March 22, 2014 at 2:43 pm
By Amanda Voeller
At approximately 2:30 a.m. Friday, Austin City Council approved an initial vote to limit the number of adults who are not related to each other allowed to live in a residence built on single-family zoned property.
In a 6-1 vote, council members voted to amend city code to limit “stealth dorms” — groups of six or more adults, often students, living together in a single-family house. If the council makes the same decision over two more rounds of votes in the coming weeks, the legal limit of unrelated adults living together will be reduced to four.
According to The Austin-American Statesman, the measure would only affect homes built in the future, while homes that currently house six unrelated people would be unaffected.
In November, councilman Chris Riley said the council has received various complaints from residents in areas near stealth dorms, which mainly exist north of campus. Those in favor of decreasing the occupancy limit say stealth dorms result in overfull trash cans and a lack of street parking, which can have detrimental effects on other residents’ lives.
Opponents of the measure have cited affordability problems and lack of student housing options as reasons not to limit students’ living options. Councilman Bill Spelman, who also serves as a professor in the LBJ School of Public Affairs, was the only councilman who voted against the ordinance.


Chirac says he opposes NATO force in Lebanon
French President Jacques Chirac said Monday that NATO should not lead a proposed international force in Lebanon, saying the alliance is seen in the region as a "the armed wing of the West." "As far as France is concerned, it is not NATO's mission to put together such a force," Chirac was quoted as telling Le Monde newspaper in an interview, adding, "Whether we like it or not, NATO is perceived as the armed wing of the West in these regions, and as a result, in terms of image, NATO is not intended for this."


Danny Boyle's 'Yesterday' Gets First Trailer; Here's Everything We Know
February 12th 2019, 1:38 pm
Danny Boyle's music-themed comedy has nabbed a title, Yesterday. Its rather startling premise has also come into focus with the release of its first trailer. Read onward for all we know about the movie.
After an automobile accident during a "mysterious global blackout," a struggling musician discovers that he is the only person on the planet who remembers The Beatles. His "original" songs then cause a worldwide sensation, straining his longtime friendship with a young woman.
Who stars?
Himesh Patel plays Jack Malik, the musician who can't believe he is suddenly the only person who remembers The Beatles. Lily James portrays Ellie, Jack's childhood best friend, a school teacher who fears she may be left behind in the wake of his unexpected fame. Kate McKinnon stars as a crafty music industry agent who swoops in to capitalize on Jack's "original" songs. Ed Sheeran also stars.
Who wrote the screenplay?
Richard Curtis, probably best known for Love, Actually. His other credits include Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, About Time and many others.
Who directed?
Danny Boyle. He won an Oscar for directing Slumdog Millionaire and has also earned Academy Award nominations for writing and producing 127 Hours. More recently, he directed Steve Jobs and T2 Trainspotting. He previously tackled unexpected fortune in his delightful family film Millions.
When can we see it?
The film is set for release on June 28, 2019.
Watch the first trailer below.
Next Article by Fandango Staff
Watch 'A Madea Family Funeral' Clip: Why Is This Man Smiling?


Aaron Burr
3rd Vice President of the United States
March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1805
from New York
Philip Schuyler
3rd Attorney General of New York
Richard Varick
Aaron Burr Jr.
(1756-02-06)February 6, 1756
Newark, New Jersey, British America
Staten Island, New York, U.S.
Princeton Cemetery
Democratic-Republican
Theodosia Bartow Prevost
Eliza Jumel (m. 1833)
7 or more including:
Aaron Burr Sr. (Father)
Esther Edwards (Mother)
Princeton University (BA)
Continental Army
• Battle of Quebec
• Battle of Monmouth
Aaron Burr, Jr. (February 6, 1751, – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, Revolutionary War hero and the third Vice President of the United States (1801 – 1805). He was born in Newark, province of New Jersey. Burr fought in the American Revolutionary War, reaching the rank of Colonel. After the war, Burr was a leader of the Democratic-Republican Party and served in the New York State Assembly, as New York State Attorney General, and as a United States Senator before serving as Vice President.
Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804, when Burr was still Vice President.
Burr conspired to form a new country in Mexico. He wanted to be present if and when Spain and Mexico went to war. Some people, including President Thomas Jefferson, who had picked a different Vice President for his second term, saw Burr's actions as treason. However, in 1807 Burr was found innocent of the charges. He was often thought of by his enemies as unreliable. Burr died in 1836.
Vice Presidents of the United States
John Adams · Thomas Jefferson · Aaron Burr · George Clinton · Elbridge Gerry · Daniel D. Tompkins · John C. Calhoun · Martin Van Buren · Richard Mentor Johnson · John Tyler · George M. Dallas · Millard Fillmore · William R. King · John C. Breckinridge · Hannibal Hamlin · Andrew Johnson · Schuyler Colfax · Henry Wilson · William A. Wheeler · Chester A. Arthur · Thomas A. Hendricks · Levi P. Morton · Adlai E. Stevenson · Garret Hobart · Theodore Roosevelt · Charles W. Fairbanks · James S. Sherman · Thomas R. Marshall · Calvin Coolidge · Charles G. Dawes · Charles Curtis · John Nance Garner · Henry A. Wallace · Harry S. Truman · Alben W. Barkley · Richard Nixon · Lyndon B. Johnson · Hubert Humphrey · Spiro Agnew · Gerald Ford · Nelson Rockefeller · Walter Mondale · George H. W. Bush · Dan Quayle · Al Gore · Dick Cheney · Joe Biden · Mike Pence
Cabinet of President Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809)
Aaron Burr (1801–1805) • George Clinton (1805–1809)
James Madison (1801–1809)
Secretary of the Treasury
Samuel Dexter (1801) • Albert Gallatin (1801–1809)
Secretary of War
Henry Dearborn (1801–1809)
Levi Lincoln, Sr. (1801–1804) • Robert Smith (1805) • John Breckinridge (1805–1806) • Caesar A. Rodney (1807–1809)
Secretary of the Navy
Benjamin Stoddert (1801) • Robert Smith (1801–1809)
Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aaron_Burr&oldid=6581472"
American revolutionaries
Politicians from New York


Jason Openo
It's NOT all relative!
by Jason Openo
Last night’s presenter is conducting her research from a relativist ontology. I believe a relativist ontology is an illogical, self-refuting orientation. The proof: no one lives as a relativist.
Once upon a time, I was facilitating an Instructional Skills Workshop. One of the new instructors going through the course was a long-term paramedic (an expert), and their 10-minute mini-lesson was on making triage decisions in emergency situations. When her lesson began, she explained: “You are at a crash site. You have to find, diagnose, and determine who is going to get medical attention. There are four index cards in this room. You have to find them. On the back of each index card are indicators that will tell you how to determine (a) whether they have a chance to live with immediate attention, (b) if they have a chance to live with moderate attention (1-2 hours), or (c) if they are likely to die no matter what you do. You need to make these decisions quickly and you should direct your attention to those who have the best chance of survival. In the next three minutes, I will tell you what to look for, and you will have five minutes to find the casualties and make your decisions. Then we will have a short debrief.”
She quickly outlined the criteria to look for, and we listened intently and took notes. Then she said, “Go save some people,” and we launched into action. We matched the likelihood of survival indicators to the four patients, and we sorted them accordingly. We followed the instructions perfectly. Person 1 needed immediate attention – without it, they were likely to die. Person 2 could wait a couple of hours (broken bones). Person 3 showed weak vital signs, meaning they were unlikely to survive. Person 4 showed signs they were near death and no intervention was possible.
And then the instructor revealed:
Person 1 was a drunk driver who was seriously injured, but with the right attention would likely survive.
Person 2 was the drunk driver’s passenger. They had broken bones and potential internal injuries, but based on their vital signs would likely survive without immediate attention.
Person 3 was an in utero child near term. Even with an emergency C-section, they were unlikely to live.
Person 4 was a pregnant mother with a serious head injury.
The lesson, as the instructor revealed at the debrief, was not actually about identifying vital signs. It was about making professional judgments. It was applied ethics for paramedics. It was about making the moral judgment to save the life of a person you might hate. The point of the lesson was that paramedics have to transcend habitually inherited value systems and just see the body, not the person. They needed to be able to look past their instinctual inclinations about who should be saved. As we sat in a state of shock, the instructor said she believed saving people you didn’t want to save is an unexplored part of post-traumatic stress disorder in paramedics, but there was no way to prove this.
It was the best ISW lesson plan I have ever seen, and it proves no one lives as a relativist.
Foucault, in The Order of Things, said that truth was an “arbitrary play of power and convention.” The argument that all truth is arbitrary and relative has been a powerful argument. The eminent historian Paul Johnson believes relativism was misappropriated from science but is the dominant ideology of modernity. Einstein saw moral relativism as a disease and social pandemic that led him to say towards the end of his life that he sometimes wished he had been a simple watchmaker (Johnson, 1992, p.4).
Relativism is powerful until you dare to ask Foucault: “You say all truth is arbitrary. Is your presentation itself true?” (Wilber, 1995, p. 29). Relativists exempt themselves from the very criteria they apply to other value systems. They make truth claims that deny all truth claims, except the privileged stance of relativism, itself a truth claim. It is worth listening to Ken Wilber at length on this point.
Nobody is denying that many aspects of culture are indeed different and equally valuable. The point is that that stance itself is universal and rejects theories that merely and arbitrarily rank cultures on an ethnocentric bias (which is fine). But because it claims that all ranking is either bad or arbitrary, it cannot explain its own stance and the process of its own (unacknowledged) ranking system. And if nothing else, unconscious ranking is bad ranking, by any other name. And the relativists are very bad rankers.
In short, extreme cultural relativity and merely heterarchical value systems are about as dead as any movement can become. The word is out that qualitative distinctions are inescapable in the human condition, and further that there are better and worse ways to make our qualitative distinctions.
In many ways, we want to agree with the broad conclusions of the cultural diversity movements: we do want to cherish all cultures in an equal light. But that universal pluralism is not a stance that all cultures agree with; that universal pluralism is a very special type or ranking that most ethnocentric and sociocentric cultures do not even acknowledge; that universal pluralism is the result of a very long history hard-fought against dominator hierarchies of one sort or another. (pp. 29-30)
Only when we admit that universal pluralism is a value stance can judgment systems such as nursing ethics, Cultural Safety and Human Flourishing make any sense. They are not all relative. The values of tolerance and appreciation for diversity are not values simply relative to our particular cultural circumstance. They represent some of the most highly evolved ideas of humankind, ideas that are still evolving and not universally shared across the globe. The individual human being, no matter who they are or where they are, matters. From the relativist perspective, however, if all value systems are equally valid, then all value-based decisions are equally worthless.
"Someone once remarked that the two great errors in moral philosophy are the belief that we know the truth and the belief that there is no truth to be known" (Wilson, 1993, p. 12). Without pretending to know the truth or be in possession of a dogmatic truth, we can affirm that we know quite a bit about what contributes to human flourishing and what does not. There should never come another day or time when the idea of Residential Schools makes sense or can be justified. It was wrong and will always be wrong. It’s NOT all relative. What if we encountered, as Wilson absurdly suggests as a philosophical counter-example, a society that believed torturing babies produced better crops?
Absurd, yes, but it is a variation of this absurdity that explains why feminists and those fighting for social justice have completely given up on relativist ontologies. Bloland (1995) describes the inevitable endpoint of relativist ontology very well:
If there are no legitimate bases for rewarding the privileged in our society, there are also no foundational standards for rewarding marginal groups. There are no grounded assumptions or moral grounds from which marginal groups can claim privilege. From this postmodern perspective, there is no compelling reasons for controlling groups to give grounds to others. (p. 529)
An uninformed opinion becomes as valuable as an enlightened opinion, and who needs nurses at that point? The death of values also means the death of expertise, and so let’s bring back leeches and bloodletting!
Bloland suggests that the only course of action left is to "listen and listen very hard and long to the 'other'” (p. 553), and in listening, create space for dialogue. I listened hard to the presentation last night and offer this in the spirit of dialogue. I hope the last night’s presenter will give up relativist ontology and choose instead to stand on these values of tolerance, diversity, and universal pluralism.
Done. Axe ground. I am stepping off the soap box.
Bloland, H. (1995). Postmodernism and higher education. Journal of Higher Education, 66(5).
Johnson, P. (1992). Modern times: The world from the Twenties to the Nineties. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Wilber, K. (1995). Sex, ecology, spirituality: The spirit of evolution. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Wilson, J. Q. (1993). The moral sense. New York, NY: The Free Press.


Home / Articles / New Orleans Promotions / New Orleans Events
Jazz Fest 2019: Top Picks for Friday, April 26
HEADLINER DECISION:
Santana vs. The Revivalists
This is a particularly tough choice, at least for me. The Revivalists are hometown heroes, whom I first saw open the Gentilly Stage years ago. The funk-infused rock band has gradually built a name for themselves far outside of our city, but it's hard to easily pick them over the other option here. Santana is a legend and a guitar god that can mix Latin rock, voodoo elements, and great jams. He's also been at the game for decades, which means he absolutely knows what he's doing.
VERDICT: The Revivalists are great and will be around for years to come, but Santana is a legend in the music world, whose time performing is finite. Go with Santana. -Landon Murray
REMAINING PICKS:
The Subdudes
Gentilly Stage, 1:50 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.
This New Orleans rock group, formed in 1987, is prepared to take the stage with an abundance of hits off their 11 albums. Swampy jazz combines with New Orleans rock to create The Subdudes' unique sound. The band has taken several hiatuses throughout their career, so don't miss out on this chance to see them!
Haitian Rara Parade with DjaRARA
This traditional Haitian festival music makes its way to Jazz Fest and features DjaRARA, a band dedicated to preserving Haitian culture and inspiring Haitian Americans with rich, traditional folklore music. Don't miss the bamboo trumpets and metal drums parading around the Fair Grounds.
Before the release of their upcoming fourth album, The Head and The Heart prepares to blow away Jazz Fest-goers. This indie-folk band, formed in 2011, is best known for their songs "Down in the Valley," "Rivers and Roads," and their new single "Missed Connection." Don't miss this six-person band hitting the stage with their beautifully catchy tunes.
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Congo Square Stage, 4:05 p.m. - 5:05 p.m.
After 40 years and 12 studio albums, countless tours, and several collaborations, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band makes its way to the Congo Square Stage with its blend of jazz, funk, soul, and R&B. The seven-member brass band started cookin' up their "musical gumbo" in 1977 and have been dominating the New Orleans jazz scene since. In other words, don't miss the chance to see them perform!
Darlingside
Sheraton New Orleans Fais Do-Do Stage, 4:40 p.m. - 5:40 p.m.
What band has a mascot? Darlingside, best known for their indie sound and hailing from Boston, is proud to claim the Unicorn of Friendship as their mascot. The four-person band is bound to add a layer of calmness and unity to the sure-to-be hectic Jazz Fest. If you need a break from the craziness or if you're dying to listen to a different kind of sound, check them out.
Congo Square Stage, 5:45 p.m. - 7 p.m.
"The Man" is another act that you'd be crazy to miss! After coming alive with his timeless hit "Wake Me Up," featuring Avicii, Aloe Blacc has released his third album and has proven that he is able to capture the complexities of human emotion in his songwriting. His upbeat, fun, and meaningful songs are sure to leave you in a good mood.
Old-Fashioned Hand-Made Ice Cream Sandwiches by Francofonte on Wheels
If you need some time away from the sweaty crowds and loud bands, head on over to Heritage Square to cool off with a hand-made ice cream sandwich, guaranteed to put a smile on your face. This delicious ice cream sandwiched between two cookies is unlike any other Jazz Fest dessert and is perfect for a refreshing snack.
Crawfish Strudel by Cottage Catering
Food Area II
This Jazz Fest favorite is an absolute must-try! Who doesn't love crawfish or strudel? Cottage Catering combines them both in a simple and delicious pastry. Craving a dessert? Their white chocolate bread pudding is a perfect end to this quick and delicious Jazz Fest meal.
Hand-built Acoustic Guitars by Steve Walden
Tent F
We're sure that all this Jazz Fest music has you itching to learn how to play an instrument yourself, just to see if you have the potential to be the next act on stage. Look no further than Steve Walden's hand-built acoustic guitars. With one of these carefully crafted instruments, you'll be sure to discover your hidden musical talent.
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Tales of the Cocktail 2019: 17 Years of Growth and Purpose
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Anderson .Paak and The Free Nationals are Coming to the Big Easy
June 8th, 2019 is going to be lit and here's why. Anderson .Paak and The Free Nationals will be in the Big Easy bringing their funky energetic-soulful sound to Champion Square. Led by Anderson .Paak, he announced the 2019 tour "Best Teef in the Game Tour," on his social media platform. The band is set to hit stages in 21 different cities across North America. The tour will include rapper Earl Sweatshirt, rapper Noname, and...


The Ecosystems Center was founded in 1975 as a year-round research center of the MBL. Its mission is to investigate the structure and functioning of ecological systems, predict their response to changing environmental conditions, apply the resulting knowledge to the preservation and management of natural resources and educate both future scientists and concerned citizens.
Because the complex nature of modern ecosystems research requires a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach, Ecosystems Center scientists work together on projects bringing expertise from a wide range of disciplines to bear on a variety of questions. Center scientists are currently conducting more than 50 research projects all over the world, many in collaboration with colleagues at other institutions.
Click the links below to learn more.
Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER)
The National Science Foundation established the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network in 1980 to support research on long-term ecological phenomena in the United States. There are 28 LTER sites that represent diverse ecosystems and research emphases. Two LTER projects are based at the Ecosystems Center: Arctic and Plum Island. In addition, researchers at the center are actively involved in research at the Harvard Forest LTER.
The long-term goal of Arctic LTER project is to understand and predict the effects of environmental change on arctic landscapes. To achieve this goal the Arctic LTER studies the ecology of the surrounding tundra, streams, and lakes. We hope to gain an understanding of the controls of ecosystem structure and function through long-term monitoring and surveys of natural variation of ecosystem characteristics, through experimental manipulation of ecosystems for years to decades and through synthesis of results and predictive modeling at ecosystem and watershed scales.
The Plum Island Ecosystems LTER (PIE LTER), located in northeastern Massachusetts, is an integrated research, education and outreach program with the goal of developing a predictive understanding of the long-term response of watershed and estuarine ecosystems to changes in climate, land use and sea level and to apply this knowledge to the wise management and development of policy to protect the natural resources of coastal zones.
Increases in soil temperatures associated with global warming have the potential to accelerate soil organic matter decay and alter nutrient cycling patterns in forested ecosystems. By increasing soil temperatures we can explore the effects of global warming in our forests, we can examine ecosystem responses to warming and the resulting feedbacks to the climate system. At the Harvard Forest LTER site we have established soil warming studies in a range of forest types and soil conditions on various spatial and temporal scales examining the implications of global warming on different ecosystem processes.
Other Research Projects
Ecosystem Modeling. The foundation of any science is an underpinning theoretical structure that ties together the components and processes that are addressed by the science. This foundation is particularly important in ecology because of the extraordinary complexity of ecological systems. At The Ecosystems Center, we use mathematical models both for formulating theories and for making quantitative predictions based on them. The models we have developed include the Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (TEM), the Multiple Element Limitation model (MEL), and models to address how microbial communities are structured by their use of energy and nutrients and how these environmental “microbiomes” and the ecosystem services they provide change subject to environmental pressures. We use these models to study how organisms optimize resource acquisition from their environment, how various ecosystems around the world are likely to respond to elevated CO2, climate warming, changes in precipitation, and disturbances like wildfire and clear cutting. We also use these models to assess the potential of the biosphere to mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration. To develop these models, we rely on field and laboratory data collected by Ecosystems Center scientists and our colleagues around the world. Our model results help guide future field and laboratory studies, and inform resource use and environmental policy.
Since 1978, the Oceanic Flux Program (OFP), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), has continuously measured particle fluxes in the deep Sargasso Sea. The OFP is the longest running time-series of its kind, and has produced a unique record of temporal variability in the “biological pump,” a term applied here to material transfer from the surface to the deep ocean resulting from the interplay between physical, biological and chemical processes.
Our Terrestrial Isotope Biogeochemistry research group has developed a compound specific biomarker technique utilizing ablated leaf wax particles in aerosols to directly measure terrestrial photosynthetic discrimination on large spatial scales.


Closed Captioned / Drama / Family / Gay / Lesbian Interest
Out In The Dark
Out in the Dark is as much a political and societal commentary as it is an original romantic story. Compelling and intimate, Michael Mayer's taut first feature follows a border-crossing relationship between an Israeli lawyer and an increasingly desperate Palestinian student.
Nimer, an ambitious Palestinian student in the West Bank, dreams of a better life abroad. One fateful night in Tel Aviv, he meets Roy, an Israeli lawyer, and the two fall in love. As their relationship deepens, they are both confronted with the harsh realities of a Palestinian society that refuses to accept Nimer for his sexual identity, and an Israeli society that rejects him for his nationality. When Nimer?s close friend is caught hiding illegally in Tel Aviv and sent back to the West Bank where he is brutally murdered, Nimer is to choose between the life he thought he wanted and his love for Roy.
Director: Michael Mayer
Producer: Michael Mayer
Producer: Lihu Roter
Writer: Michael Mayer
Released: Nov 05 2013
Added: Oct 27 2015
Maysa Daw
Loai Noufi
Alon Pout
Jameel Khouri
Nicholas Jacob
Michael Aloni
4 Reviews for Out In The Dark
Review by Kelly Burkhardt
By: Kelly Burkhardt
In-House Review - Jul 30 2013
Out in the Dark, the debut feature from director Michael Mayer, is simply brilliant. The film, centering on race and sexuality, follows a young, affluent and ambitious Palestinian grad student and a Jewish lawyer who fall in love.
The ad... Read More
The adorable Nimr (Nicholas Jacob) crosses the border to study and occasionally to meet his friends at a gay nightclub in Tel Aviv. One night, he is introduced to the handsome and wealthy Roy (Michael Aloni) and an instant attraction ensues.
While Tel Aviv is ostensibly more accepting of Palestinians being present, Nimr's homeland is not. He struggles to keep the peace with his Muslim family - especially his brother, who is now a member of a radical, extremist anti-Palestinian organization. Despite being surrounded by all of these weighty (and sometimes dangerous) obstacles, the budding couple cannot help but fall immensely in love.
Everything soon comes to a gripping head. Nimr is to choose between the life he once dreamed of... or Roy, his true love.
From the opening scene to the final frame, Out in the Dark is a timely and poignant film that should not be missed!
Review by chromo_man
By: chromo_man
This film has so much for which to recommend it: a sweet romance developing between handsome strangers, mixed with political intrigue and several types of familial dramas, stirred into a tasty cocktail. Something for everyone.
Filmmakers t... Read More
Filmmakers take note: The fourth star I am giving is partially for having perhaps the best subtitles I have ever seen. While I cannot vouch for how well they translate the words actually being spoken onscreen, they were large and clear and readable throughout the film, and contained none of the painful grammatical errors found in far too many foreign films; nor did they disappear before they could be read. Note: the small subtitles in the trailer for the film are NOT the same great subtitles as those in the film itself
Review by NightTim
By: NightTim
This is one of the best gay films I've ever seen. It has a lot of moving parts: love story, social/political commentary, and thriller, all woven together in a poignant, complex drama. I thought it was touching, sexy and exciting, tragic, maddening,... Read More
This is one of the best gay films I've ever seen. It has a lot of moving parts: love story, social/political commentary, and thriller, all woven together in a poignant, complex drama. I thought it was touching, sexy and exciting, tragic, maddening, frightening, and tension-filled.
The basic storyline is not new: someone falls in love with a person from the wrong side of the tracks (in this case, something the families on both sides feel). But the Palestinian/Israeli divide makes it modern and relevant, and it brings to life the conflict we usually only read about in the papers.
Both Nimr (Nicholas Jacob - how did he get that name??) and Roy (Michael Aloni) are beautiful to look at, and it makes every minute of the film a viseral pleasure to watch. For some reason, though both characters are shirtless in plenty of scenes, Jacob's body is the only one we usually get to see. It would have been nice to see more of Aloni's - but Jacob is beautiful enough for the both of them.
The love scenes are some of the best I've seen in gay films - meaning not that the sex was scorching hot and animalistic, but that it was so tender and real and aching that it was hard to believe these were two actors. (They just have to be boyfriends in real life!) If it's sex you want, porn is cheap and plentiful. This, however, is rare on film.
It starts out as a fun, flirty, harmless love story but then turns dark as the political and social realities surface and become undeniable. Then this viewer found himself forgetting to breathe as the stakes became clear and danger and desperation took over as drivers of the story. The loose ends are not tied up neatly at the end, but it's enough to know that Nimr makes it.
Unforgettable, especially as we know this is not just a made-up story but reality in the Middle East, where being gay can literally be a life or death issue. Twenty bucks and two hours well-spent.
Hard-hitting and highly recommended.
We hear so much about the Israel/Palestine situation that we begin to think that the two peoples will never get along. We see here that this is not true. This is the story of a romantic relationship between an Israeli lawyer and a Palestinian graduat... Read More
We hear so much about the Israel/Palestine situation that we begin to think that the two peoples will never get along. We see here that this is not true. This is the story of a romantic relationship between an Israeli lawyer and a Palestinian graduate student who has a permit to study in Israel. (There are some in the pink washing camp who will claim that Israel does not allow Palestinians to study within her borders and that is simply not true). Each man has to deal not just with his sexuality but also with his family because of whom he loves. There are the personal issues like language, class, nationality, religion and culture and these are difficult enough without adding the broader problems of the political situations because the two men are involved with one-another despite the tensions between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. (I must admit that the word "occupied" bothers me a great deal because it seems to be something new-what were once the spoils of war are now considered occupied territories.
Nmir and Roy, our two lovers quite naturally are at the center of the film and they become the symbols of the two sides-each wanting peace and security but also were slow to understand that their futures are bound together. There is no blame on either side in the film nor is there examination of righteousness on either side. Each side is looked at honestly whether dealing with Palestinian fanaticism or the use of power by the Israel Defense and security services. (This is an achievement for director Michael Mayer who as an Israeli could easily have taken sides). There is even a hint here that each side may play into the hands of the other and this is something we have not seen much of. We do, however, feel a pervading sense of fear and we are surely aware of the toll fear can take.
For a love story this is both gritty and gorgeous. While the tension of the situation is felt throughout the film (keep in mind that we have all been tempered by Romeo and Juliet stories), so is the love that the men share. There is a figurative and literal darkness almost throughout the entire film but there is also love-not just between Nimr and Roy but between the men and their families.
Michael Aloni is Roy Shaefer, the young Israeli lawyer and his ability to show the entire range of emotions is brilliant. He lives in a state of hopelessness yet he thinks that Israel will eventually do right by coming to terms with her Palestine problem. Nicholas Jacob is stunning as Nimr and this is his first film role. Interesting that his parents are Arab/Italian and he grew up between Haifa and Nashville and is not gay. His role requires him to deal with demons, the kind of which we will never experience but which he does not let take him over. The other actors also do fine jobs-Alon Oleartchik (whom you may remember as a band member of Keveret and whose name came to prominence with the Poogy stories) is Roy's father who suffers from conflicting emotions about his son, Alon Pdut is excellent as an Israeli security officer who has become cold because he is worried about the future of his country, Jamil Khouri plays Nimr's brother who is caught up in the terror movement and Loai Nofi as a stereotypical yet Palestinian gay Arab gives a wonderful cameo.
I found myself so involved in the film that I am having difficulty writing about it. The love story of Nimr and Roy is super intense and we see this against the backdrop of the political situation. Roy and Nimr leads us to believe that they are living for themselves and for each other and this is in contrast to the sad picture of what is going on around them.
The real beauty of the film is that it is for everyone and sexuality and Israel/Palestine politics do not matter. This is first and foremost a love story. The ending is ambiguous and purposefully so. While there is no resolution there are signs of hope and let's face it, we all live for hope. Michael Meyer has united taboo with politics to give us a new way of looking at the Middle East. He examines if it is possible to remove the personal self from one's ideological background and political identity and does this though Palestinian psychology student Nimr who develops a romance with Jewish lawyer Roy.
At first the two guys flirt and it all seems okay but then Roy brings Nimr home and introduces him to his parents by telling them that this is new boyfriend. This horrifies Nimr as well since at home he is not out of the closet. Mayer sees the idea of self as a union and mixture o social and political environments that deal with both reality and love. I can continue writing all day about the film but whatever I say does not do justice to the film and I urge everyone who can to see it.


Watch Alicia Keys, Beyoncé and Other Celebrities Describe 23 Ways You Could be Killed If You’re Black
By Melissa Chan
Alicia Keys, Beyoncé and a group of other celebrities describe 23 ways a black person could be killed in the U.S. in a new video that urges Americans to sign a petition that calls on Congress for “radical transformation,” including funding for healthcare, education and criminal justice reform.
The nearly two-dozen musicians and actors, including Chris Rock, Rihanna, Taraji P. Henson and Pharrell Williams, use real-life incidents to highlight the various ways black people have died in the country.
The video, a collaboration between Mic.com and the We Are Here movement, begins with Keys saying, “failing to signal a lane change,” when referring to the death of Sandra Bland, who last summer was arrested during a routine traffic stop in Texas and later died in police custody. Her death was ruled a suicide.
The deaths mentioned in the video also include the recent fatal police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, alongside the other high-profile killings of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Tamir Rice and the nine black people shot dead inside a Charleston church last year.
“The time for change is now,” Keys says at the end of the video. “We demand radical transformation to heal the long history of systemic racism so that all Americans have the equal right to live and to pursue happiness.”
The petition specifically asks for the government to direct $150 billion toward education, healthcare, housing, employment and nutrition in “poor communities” over the next decade, as well as an “overhaul” of the criminal justice system.
[Mic]


The Ride to Creston Station
Jun 18, 2016 | People, South Napa County
By Marie Bowen
1876 Parcel Map
Tracing the California Pacific Railroad (later Southern Pacific) tracks across the 1876 and 1895 “Official Map of Napa County,” one often encounters railroad depots named for nearby residents, past or present: Buchli, Thompson, Trubody, Bale, and others, depending on which map you’re viewing. But names of other stations whose origins long since forgotten are worthy of research. One of those is Creston, a station located in the southeasterly portion of Napa County and found on both official maps. The station, in fact, lay along part of what we know as Jameson Canyon Road, with the next westerly stop being Napa Junction.
The 1876 and 1895 maps show the station to be near or within acreage owned by a R. A. Brownlie. After some digging I discovered him to be Robert A. Brownlee. Slocum & Bowen’s 1881 book History of Napa and Lake Counties devoted several pages to Mr. Brownlee, a Scottish stonemason born in 1813. He arrived in New York in 1836 and from there went to Arkansas, where he helped build what are now several historic landmarks in Pulaski County. After arriving in California during the Gold Rush, he mined for a time in Mariposa County and subsequently married Annie Lamont. By 1857 the family had settled “fourteen miles north of Vallejo” on an 1,100-acre wheat and barley farm. Slocum & Bowen also noted that “The line of railroad to Sacramento from South Vallejo passes his gate.” Could this be Creston Station? I did more research online and found a few references to Creston Station as an unincorporated area in Napa County and Creston Station Ranch along Jameson Canyon Road – over which the Land Trust received from the ranch’s owners an easement in 2003.
Brownlee family, courtesy California Historical Society
Referring back to Brownlee family trees at Ancestry.com, I learned that his home, described by Slocum & Bowen as a “magnificent two-storied building,” was called Sunnyside Farm and was, indeed, Creston. He and Annie’s seven children were born there. One of Robert and Annie’s sons-in-law, Thomas Urquhart, was a Southern Pacific dispatcher who was buried at Tulocay Cemetery after his death on November 19, 1897. Additionally, various mentions of the Brownlee family were found in the Napa Register, including one entry on August 31, 1937, which noted that the sister of George Brownlee was visiting the family home at Creston. And, foretelling Creston’s semi-anonymous future, a front-page article in the Register’s January 5, 1943, edition stated, “The Worswick Construction Company has stopped work on the state highway near Creston in the Jamison [sic] Canyon…until spring.”
I knew the property owners who had provided the 2003 Land Trust easement had names other than Brownlee. Could I find the link between those owners and the Brownlee family and thus feel sure that Creston Station Ranch was the former Sunnyside? Yes, and easily. Thanks to Napa County Recorder’s online Official Records-Public Index, I found the 1945 Deed from Robert Lamont Brownlee, surviving son of Robert and Annie, to one of the property owners named in the 2003 news article.
I have not, however, learned why California Pacific Railroad named the station “Creston” when its Vallejo-Suisun route was completed in June 1868. Ancestry.com records showed no families in the area with the surname Creston. The Brownlee family owned the surrounding land pre-railroad, and, had the station been named “Brownlee,” this entire search would have been considerably shorter. Bill Bryson’s book Made in America provides an entire chapter on sources of place names, noting that a vice president of Milwaukee Railroad had the task of naming communities to be built along the Milwaukee line, including Othello, Ralston, and Purina. It is possible that Creston was intended to become a community, which it did to a small extent, and that someone, somewhere, within the California Pacific Railroad hierarchy bestowed the name.
Bryson, Bill. MADE IN AMERICA. New York: Perennial/HarperCollins Publishers, 2001
Delaplane, Kristin. “Railroad brings Solano on track in 1860s.” Historical Articles of Solano County Online Database, January 7, 1996
Etter, Patricia A. “Robert Brownlee.” The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture (online), January 3, 2007
Napa Register, August 31, 1937, and January 5, 1943
Napa Valley Register, February 3, 2003, “Land Trust Holdings Spread,” and September 7, 2006, “Land Trust Donors are Neighbors”
Official Maps of the County of Napa, 1876 and 1895
Slocum, Bowen & Co. HISTORY OF NAPA & LAKE COUNTIES. San Francisco: Slocum, Bowen & Co., 1881