by new Endowment Ministry (Awqaf) regulations so as to allow them to continue performing their traditional zikr rituals.

"We want to make sure these rituals don't violate the sanctity of our mosques," said Endowments Minister Hamdy Zaqzouq.

The ministry set down nine conditions that Sufis must abide by in order to perform the ritual, including a ban on the use of megaphones and loudspeakers so as not to disturb others.

Supreme Sheikh of the Sufi Orders Abdel Hady el-Qasby said that the ministry's conditions were in line with Sufi ideology. "Those who violated the regulations in the past did not belong to acknowledged Sufi orders in the first place," he said.

The Sufi zikr ritual is performed to remind worshipers of God's benevolence towards man.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

By Suanshu Kurana, *Songs ofthe Mystics* - Indian Express -IndiaTuesday, June 8, 2010

Earlier this year film-maker and music composer Muzaffar Ali wowed the Delhi audience with his brainchild, Jahan-e-Khusrau — a three-day sufi music festival to commemorate the death anniversary of Sufi saint Hazrat Amir Khusrau.

Now, two more musical events in the city are set to acquaint the audience with the works of sufi stalwarts like Amir Khusrau, Rumi, Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti and Baba Bulleshah, on the occasion of World Music Day on June 19.

The first is Shaam-e-Sukoon, a festival being organised by the city-based Swar Dharohar. The two-day festival will open on June 19 with a performance by Delhi-based Niyaz Sabri, a third generation sufi singer.

“Sufi music is more like world music today. Everybody likes and appreciates it. Since Khwaja Moinuddin


Chisti was one of the greatest sufi mystics of the country, most of my performance will have qalams by him,” says Sabri.

This will be followed by a session of sufiana qalams by Zafar Hayat Niyaz.

The second day of Shaam-e-Sukoon will feature ghazal singers Zulfi Khan and Yateesh Acharya.

The other event, the Sada-e-Sufi, organised by Husan Ara Trust at India Habitat Centre is scheduled for June 20. It will celebrate the life and works of the 13th century Muslim poet Mawlana Jalal-ud-Din Balkhi-Rumi with a performance by renowned Hyderabad-based qawwal Adil Hussain and his troupe.

Friday, June 11, 2010

The magic of legendary Sufi singers of Punjab — Wadali Brothers (Puranchand Wadali and Pyarelal Wadali) — left the audience spellbound at the International Summer Festival at The Ridge in Shimla thaton 25 manuscripts and after the work was finished I realized that some 205 of his quatrains had not been published so far,” Mirafzali told Mehr News Agency.

The 41-year-old editor claims his edition to be the most complete and accurate compared to the ones published so far. “The new edition is composed of 740 quatrains, including the newly found compositions, which make it more complete than the one edited by Mohammad-Taqi Modarres-Razavi and known as the most complete edition published so far,” he explained.

Mirafzali said the new quatrains were edited in consultation with Iranian poet and literary critic Mohammad-Reza Shafiei Kadkani and will be published along with the rest of the quatrains in the near future.

Sanai is best-known for using various verse forms including ode, sonnet and rhymed


understand both the strains and understand the factors which gave rise to these ideologies among Muslims. It is certainly not easy to reconcile the two but understanding the underlying factors can probably pave the way for better appreciation of both the schools of thought.

The Sufi Islam

Before we understand the origin of Wahabi or Salafi Islam we must first understand the origins of Sufi Islam and its need for Muslims. One also has to understand why the Sufi Islam acquired tremendous popularity in the Islamic world and remained dominant for centuries. The Salafi Islam originated in Najd area of Hijaz now named after the Saudi dynasty Saudi Arabia as an ideology as late as 18th century.

What are reasons of tremendous popularity of Sufi Islam? Let us remember religion, andemotional appeal. The Mathnavi was even called Qur’an in Pehlavi language (i.e. Persian).

It is also important to note that Jalaluddin Rumi was as great a scholar of Arabic as of Persian. Arabic was language of Islamic learning whereas Persian was language of culture and administration and Maulana Rum chose Persian for writing his Mathnavi precisely because it was language of the people and their cultural expressions were in that language and it was this powerful cultural tool that made Mathnavi popular over ages.

The Indian Sufis, on the other hand, also wrote either in Persian or even in regional languages like Brij, Avadhi, Khari Boli, Bengali, Marathi and in Urdu and used symbolism of local culture. Also, since they spoke language of love there was no rejection of the


school. This school was founded by Muhiyuddin Ibn Arabi, a Spanish Sufi of great eminence.

This school which believes in One Real Being and that all others are His manifestations, was most open and liberal and hence became very popular in India and attracted maximum number of following. It produced great Sufi saints who were highly revered by Hindus and Muslims alike. They were truly spiritual and role models for many. Among Arab countries too, Muhiyuddin Ibn Arabi and Sufis of his school were quite popular.

However, after decline of power and onslaught of western colonialism, Sufism lost its original thrust and vigour and degenerated into superstitious practices, amulets and charms and Sufis also encouraged that. Such degeneration resulted in inaction and total submission to whosoever was in authority. Massesflocked to Sufis or their graves not for any spiritual inspiration but for mere solace and seeking solution to their problems through charms and amulets or mere invocation of sufi saints.

This degeneration created its own reaction. This reaction came in its strongest form from Najd which was predominantly Bedouin area with simple style of life with no complex cultural traditions like in Iran or India. Salafi movement was founded by Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab (1703-1792) of Najd. The name Wahabi movement draws from his name. He was educated in Madina. He was quite studious and acquired his expertise in hadith from well known Muhaddith (scholar of hadith) Sheikh Muhammad Hayat Sindhi.

It is said once Abdul Wahhab was standing near the chamber of the Prophet and people were


can appeal more to desert Arabs which lacked rich and complex cultural traditions. It mainly spread only in these areas and could not attract followers in Iran, Central Asia, India and other parts which had such traditions.

One more factor is important in this respect and that is political. As we all know the colonial period had begun and the Arabs were under domination of Turks and the British had established its foothold over Egypt. There was power struggle in the air. Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Wahhab was acquiring popularity in the Najd region and could influence the local ruler of the region Amir Muhammad bin Saud and this gave political power to the movement. Thus religious appeal of Sheikh Abdul Wahhab and political power of the Saudi family madestory. The best was a movie produced by Khawaja Khurshid Anwar.

Sufi saints have used the love of Heer and Ranjha symbolically or as a metaphor of love between man and God.

Muzaffar says that due to the lack of media in the past, this story had limited reach, relying on the oral tradition of transmission only, but with the present day improvement in literacy and media modes of transmission available at large, it has become the subject of an excellent research project and it was Muzaffar A Ghaffar who took it upon himself to carry out this magnanimous work; hence this voluminous and detailed magnum opus.

This work has appeared in four volumes, wherein the story of Heer Damodar has been written in different scripts by Muzaffar A Ghaffar.

It is


Heer Damodar due to his regular attendance of Najam Hussain Syed’s Sangat since 1989.

Muzaffar says that the editing of the texts, exploration of meanings and discussions in the Sangat are the foundation of his efforts made towards the Within Reach series of masterpieces of Sufi poetry; the latest among it being presenting the text in Nastaliq, Gurmukhi and Roman with an extensive glossary, poetic translation and line-by-line discourse.

This mammoth work must be commended.

The reviewer is based in Lahore and can be reached at doc_amjad@hotmail.com

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

By Nicholas Birch, *Sufism in Turkey: The Next Big Thing?* - Eurasia Net - New York, USATuesday, June 22, 2010

A pretty garden and a table laden with cheese, ham and good bread: a typical summer evening scene on the Prince's Islands, apopular haunt for wealthy Istanbul residents.

But the dozen or so people sitting around the table haven't come to exchange polite gossip. For the past four hours, they have been listening intently to a popular Sufi mystic discoursing on the love of God.

"Bring unity to your heart and you create a temple of Allah, do that and you feel an irrepressible desire to dance," says the man, holding up his arms like a whirling dervish, clicking his fingers.

The past five years have seen a huge surge in interest in Sufism among urban, secular-minded Turks. Almost every television channel now has a program about Islamic mysticism. In bookshops, only books peddling conspiracy theories outsell the primers in Islamic mysticism and the new translations of Ibn-i Arabi.

Interest in Sufism surged last


year, when novelist Elif Safak, best known in the West for being put on trial in 2006 because one of her fictional characters allegedly "insulted Turkishness," published her new book about an American Jewish woman's discovery of Rumi, the 13th century founder of the Mevlevi order of whirling dervishes.

Rumi, who was born in 1207 in what is now part of Tajikistan, spent most of his life in present-day Turkey. His teachings offer some of the best insight into Sufi practices ever written.

Brought out in the United States this spring, The 40 Rules of Love is one of the best selling novels in Turkey's history. With sales mounting above half a million, publishers even brought out a grey-jacketed version for male buyers too embarrassed to be seen holding thebright pink original edition.

In some ways, the wave of interest is surprising. In Turkey, since the founding of the Turkish Republic, official propaganda has presented mystical orders, or tarikat, as the main "reactionary" force opposed to secularism. Even today, many secular Turks respond to the word tarikat with a grimace of distaste.

Since the 1990s, however, secular fears have increasingly centered on political Islam. More and more, analysts argue, some strands of mysticism, including Sufism, are seen as a moderate alternative.

"For years, faced with Islamists telling them that people who did not pray five times a day were not Muslims, secular Turks would defend themselves by saying that the important thing was 'a clean heart,’" says journalist Murat Yalniz. "They find a similar message in Sufism."

A researcher on Sufism,


Seyit Erkal says the new interest among the secular, urban group, often described as 'White Turks,' is a matter of image. "Islam in Turkey has long been presented as malign, dirty and primitive, and turning to religion is no easy affair for such [urbanized] people," he says. "What would you prefer? Beards, skull caps and dogmatism, or Rumi's slogan 'come, whoever you are?’"

Outlawed by the secular leaders of the Republic in 1925, mystical Islam never disappeared from Turkey. Arguably, it was the powerful, orthodox Nakshibendi mystical order that did most to turn Islam into the political force it is in Turkey today. From the 1960s on, though, Sufism faced increasing opposition from radical Islam, nourished by puritanical Salafi beliefs imported mainly from Egypt.

Islamist radicals consider the Sufi relationshipbetween sheik and believer to be idolatrous, according to Ismail Kara, professor of Islamic thought at Marmara University in Istanbul. Like earlier generations of Islamist modernizers, they also saw mystical brotherhoods as one of the chief reasons why the Islamic world could not keep pace with the West.

"Islamism was a critique of Islamic history," Kara explains. "Islamists made a deliberate attempt to cut themselves off from traditions and the past. They saw tarikat [mystical orders] as obstructing their efforts to go back to the sources and start again."

Today, Islamist animosity is waning as younger Turkish Muslims increasingly question the correctness of reducing religion to a political ideology. "People have begun to ask what happened to the profound Islam of the Middle Ages," says Mahmut Erol Kilic, an expert


on Sufism as Marmara University. "People have begun to ask how a culture which produced Avicenna, Ibn-i Arabi, Mevlana and Yunus Emre could have become so narrow."

Sufi leaders say that tolerance of the more heterodox sects has extended even to the Justice and Development Party [AKP] government, whose leaders, when young, were influenced by radical Islamism.

Even a decade ago, discussing the culture of tarikat on Turkish television was almost impossible, says Cemalnur Sargur, head of one branch of the Rifa'i sect, and Turkey's only female sheik. Today, she hosts two weekly television programs, including one on state television.

"Some say they are bigots, but mysticism is something that this government understands, and has opened the way for," she says.

But not everybody is happy about the increasing visibility of Sufism.literature is New Age ... kitsch."

Researcher Seyit Erkal thinks Cundioglu has a point. Secular Turks' interest in Sufism, he points out, really only took off after UNESCO proclaimed the Mevlevi sema, or whirling ceremony, a World Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2005. In honor of Rumi's 800th birthday, UNESCO also declared 2007 the Year of Mevlana and Tolerance.

"This is Sufism that comes from the West," Erkal says. "It is like a Turk drinking his first Turkish coffee in America."

Traditional Sufis would doubtless be horrified at what is going on in the garden on the Prince's Islands. At least two of those in attendance, Turks who studied in the United States, openly admit to being atheists. As the sun drops below the Marmara Sea, the host comes to the table


carrying a bottle of Doluca Moskado, a pricey local white wine.

The man at the head of the table calls a halt to intricate discussions of the qualities of different Sufi saints, and holds up a wine glass. "The squalid life is not for the Sufi," he says. "The Sufi is a gourmet, a master of the art of living."

Adamant that there can be no Islamic mysticism without an acceptance of the foundations of Islam, the Koran, the Sunnah and religious law, or sharia, Cemalnur Sargur nonetheless shrugs her shoulders at such heterodoxy.

"There are a lot of wrong roads on the road to the Truth, and those who realize they are on the wrong road quickly find the right one," she says.

After Elif Safak's book came out, she adds,she received hundreds of telephone calls from people saying that they wanted to know more about Rumi's companion, Shems-e Tabrizi, one of the main figures in the novel.

"The mere fact of mentioning Shems' name in this world is an act of grace," she says.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Ustad Shujaat Hussain Khan, celebrated sitar maestro, talks about his debut as a film music composer

Referred to as the greatest North Indian classical musician of his generation, Ustad Shujaat Hussain Khan is indeed a master of folk music and poetry.

Belonging to the Imdad Khan gharana of the sitar, he belongs to the seventh generation of musicians in family that boasts some of the greatest names in Hindustani music.

He is, without a doubt, a celebrated personality in the foreign arena with almost 50


of the music business for three decades.

In one of the most gently persuasive voices of the peace/love generation, the singer recalls a pair of random meetings with lingering wonder.

''She was a tall lady, 60 years old. Her name was Hestia Lovejoy and she turned me on to numerology. My next record was Numbers, as a direct result of that,'' he says. ''Another interesting thing was a book with a velvet cover that was given to me, a book of Rumi's poems. That was my first introduction to Sufism and that was quite important.''

Yusuf's retirement from music in 1976 was a sudden departure to fans, but the London-born Steven Georgiou maintains that his conversion to Islam was the culmination of a gradual discovery.

The assertion is borne out in thelyrics of old songs such as The Road to Find Out, from his landmark Tea for the Tillerman album of 1970, one of many classics he has enjoyed rediscovering since picking up his discarded guitar in 2002.

''It's amazing how seamless the process has been,'' he says. ''But you know, life is continuous. Each album represents a stage in my pathway of life.''

Yusuf weathered controversies after the fatwa against the British author Salman Rushdie in 1989. He also found himself briefly barred from the US in 2004 in a case of mistaken identity. Today he largely distances himself from a media seeking to cast him in the role of a political spokesman for Islam.

''I've been asked many questions in the past and to be honest, I'm not very successful


at being a politician,'' he says. ''However, as a poet, as a singer, and as a spiritual person, I find lots of ways, I think, of fixing things.''

Yusuf is touring Australia for the first time in 36 years with his son, Yoriyos, whose '60s-style blues-rock band, Noxshi, is supporting on all dates. They perform tonight and on Wednesday at Sydney Entertainment Centre.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Indian choir Malhaar will perform a musical combining Sufi music, theatre and art this weekend.

Residents of Dubai with an ear for the unusual are in for a treat this Dubai Summer Surprises with Rooh-e-Ishq, a musical that combines Sufi music, theatre and art being held this weekend.

It is being performed by Malhaar, an Indian music choir in the UAE in association with Theatrewallas, alocal theatre group, and Indian celebrity musicians - Gulam Ali and Shailesh Bhagawat also taking to the stage.

Rooh-e-Ishq, which roughly translates as "in love with the soul", will follow the birth of Sufism and its journey across the world through the ages.

For the uninitiated, Sufism is the mystical dimension of Islam in which Muslims seek to find divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God. They generally do this by shunning all worldly pleasures and devoting themselves to God. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a Sufi. The Sufi movement has spanned several continents and cultures over a millennium and sufis composed songs in devotion to God in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu and a dozen other languages.

Rooh-e-Ishq brings together the region's dancing dervishes


and the qawwals (group singers) of Punjab. It features the life and works of four master Sufis of all time, Jalaluddin Rumi, Amir Khusro, Bulleh Shah and Kabir.

Jogiraj Sikidar, founder director of Malhaar, told Emirates Business: "I was exposed to Sufi music right from my childhood when I was living in Silchar, in Assam, as on many mornings I would be woken up by the sounds of a wandering minstrel singing Sufi songs.

"Then when I went to Delhi to do my graduation my interest in Sufi music deepened further as there I was exposed to Sufi music at the tomb of Amir Khusro.

"That's the time when I realised the depth of Sufi music and how it is still relevant. I decided that I would one day do ashow that would present Sufi music in a contemporary form so that today's generation can connect with it. So when I set up Malhaar I decided that this was the time to do it and this show is the result of months of research and hard work."

The musical will unravel the mystical world of Sufism through three powerful media – music, theatre and poetry – and is divided into five segments.

The first four segments are a theatrical life sketch followed by a musical performance based on the four master Sufis. In the final segment, Malhaar will perform contemporary Sufi music from Indian film and pop albums. Each segment will be introduced by an anchor, who will also recite popular Sufi couplets.

Talking about the paintings that will be prominently


displayed in the theatre during the show, Sikidar said: "We asked artists from the UAE and India to make paintings based on their understanding and representation of the Sufi masters and their music."

He said the paintings would be displayed in the theatre and form part of the backdrop on the stage.

"Later, in true Sufi tradition of charity, two of the paintings that have been made by Shrabani Brahmachary, a well-known artist from Delhi, will be auctioned and the proceeds from it will go to Manzil, the school for children with special needs."

The show will be held at 6.30pm tomorrow [today, Friday, June 25] at the Centrepoint Auditorium, Ductac, Mall of the Emirates. Tickets are priced at Dh50 and are available at the box-office and Gazebo and Kamat restaurants.but which, I understand, is heard quite rarely these days.

The performance will last for three hours. Patience is clearly a prerequisite.

[Picture: Shams of Tabriz as portrayed in a 1500 painting in a page of a copy of Rumi's poem dedicated to Shams. BNF Paris. Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi]

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Novelist Elif Shafak grew up with two very different models of Turkish motherhood – her modern, working, educated mother and her traditional, religious grandmother

Three months before her first child was born, Elif Shafak, Turkey's leading female novelist, found herself facing prosecution and a potential three-year prison sentence. Her crime? She was accused of insulting "Turkishness" in her novel, The Bastard of Istanbul, through a fictional character whose ancestors had been murdered in the Armenian genocide.

On the day of the trial,


protesters inside and outside the courtroom jostled and slapped at the defendants – dozens of Turkish writers and intellectuals – shouting and throwing objects at them. "More disturbing than the actual trial," Shafak said at the time. "Very aggressive, very provocative."

The case was eventually dropped, only to be taken to a higher court. The trial took place a few months later. Shafak had just given birth and was not present. After a 40-minute hearing, she was acquitted.

After the case, Shafak fell into a postnatal depression that lasted for several months. Were the two linked, the legal ordeal and the postnatal depression? "I don't want to make too much of it," is all she will say, four years on. "The book was very well received, sold well and wasread by a wide range of people – people who wouldn't normally break bread together. I gave readings, talks, book signings all over Turkey. People in England see only a very small part of the picture. Turkey is a complex, diverse society."

Shafak, 38, is clearly more comfortable finding other explanations for her postnatal depression. Her heart-shaped face, with its planed cheekbones and startling green eyes, becomes more animated as we move away from the topic of the trial. "I had led a very nomadic life before having children. I hadn't lived in the same house for more than a year, 18 months, my whole life. I'd lived out of suitcases. I lived an unconventional life. If I was writing a novel, it would become the most important thing


perfect. There is no room for ups and downs."

But she also thinks that the experience is different for each generation, and that perhaps the adjustment to motherhood is harder for women with intellectual and professional aspirations.

"I grew up with two different models of womanhood: that of my mother, who was an educated working woman, very cultured and modern, and that of my grandmother, who was much more traditional, superstitious, religious. Women like my grandmother were, perhaps, better prepared for motherhood in some ways. Her generation would protect new mothers from jinn [a spirit in Muslim belief who could assume animal or human form] by not leaving them alone for a moment in the first month. For my mother's generation, it was harder. There was no room in theirmental framework for the ups and downs. For my generation, too, motherhood has to be perfect."

Her husband, Eyüp Can, a journalist, has been a vital support. They share a commitment to an egalitarian marriage, and his involvement with the children is essential to her ability to maintain a balance between writing and bringing up children. Next year, she and Eyüp will be moving to the UK for several months while she works on her new book. They will share the childcare and her husband will commute between London and Istanbul. "If there were any competition between us, it wouldn't work. He is very unusual for a Turkish man."

Shafak's childhood was similarly peripatetic and international. Due to the demands of her mother's job, they were often physically apart, in


different cities and different countries. Much of her childhood was spent living with her grandmother in Ankara. She was born in Strasbourg in 1971; her father was a philosopher and her mother a diplomat. Her parents separated soon after the birth and she was brought up by her mother.

"It took me a long time to overcome my anger towards my father for his absence. A very long time. Fury is a stimulating force, but in the long run, it is a destructive one. It's not good for the soul. I had a lot of fears in relation to my father, but the thing about fear is that if you exaggerate it, you start to believe it."

She is now on good terms with her father and her half-brothers byhis second marriage. Her relationship with her mother is very close. "To be a woman diplomat and a single parent was not easy for my mother, but she is a very independent woman, very determined. The mother-daughter relationship is not composed of one colour only, but we are very good friends. There is huge love between us."

Already something of a celebrity in Turkey, Shafak is having an increasing impact on the international literary scene. She has a reputation for blending western and eastern elements in her fiction, and in her journalism she is a bold and outspoken critic of her country's politics. She is seen by many critics and readers as an exciting, innovative, politically challenging writer. Besides having won many literary awards in Turkey and abroad, she


has a large and devoted readership.

"If people like your novels in Turkey, they take you into their hearts," she says. "My readers write to me about their personal lives: they invite me to their weddings; to share their most intimate joys and sorrows. I have a very strong connection with my readers. It is rewarding and very humbling."

Perhaps, too, her readers love her because she writes about things that touch so directly on their lives. Her new novel, The Forty Rules of Love, already a bestseller in Turkey, is concerned with questions of motherhood and selfhood. Ella Rubenstein, the middle-aged American housewife and mother at the heart of the novel, is unhappily married to an unfaithful and neglectful husband, and in thrall to the needs of her children.copy for £9.99 (including UK mainland p&p), go to guardian.co.uk/bookshop or call 0330 333 6846

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The labyrinthine Arab-style medina of Fez, Morocco’s historical capital of trade, culture and religious life, was a remarkable space for the 16th Annual World Sacred Music Festival June 4-13.

The expansive and diverse event, with about 60 performances, took place in the walled city's public spaces, traditional palaces and places of worship.

The festival, originally started by Moroccan anthropologist Faouzi Skalli in 1994, seems to have spawned a growing worldwide trend of sacred music festivals, including the World Festival of Sacred Music in Los Angeles every three years.

Performers included Amadou and Mariam, a blind couple from Mali who have become international stars, and Jordi Savall, a Catalan composer who is a major figure


polyphonic a cappella style; an Iranian sitar mixing with Christian Renaissance-style voices.

Parvathy Baul (pictured), a North Indian mystic, held an audience transfixed with her “meditation in motion” of chanting, whirling, stepping and drumming. “The highest order of art and human expression is through music, and the body is the flute, and the wind is blowing, and He is the one who is playing through me,” she said.

For the Bauls Order, who are inspired by Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, the sacred is found through the act of performance.

The highly varied pricing of the concerts dramatically affected the type of crowd in attendance. The most expensive concerts were those in the evening at Bab Makina — the monumental gateway of the Royal Palace. With ticket prices of up to $55,these concerts were prohibitively expensive for many, resulting in empty sections on several nights. On Sunday night, the lively and athletic Drum Masters of Burundi played to a low-energy audience of tourists and Moroccan elites at Bab Makina.

Two blocks from the Palace gate, the plaza in front of Bab Boujloud (a major gate to the old walled city) teemed with crowds at free concerts every night.

On Sunday, Moroccan popular singer Najat Atabou had a young and boisterous crowd of about 5,000 dancing at the free concert. About half of the concerts were free, including Sufi music performances each night.

For many attendees Jordi Savall’s musical epic presenting the history of Jerusalem epitomized the message of harmony at the festival. The full orchestra included Israeli, Palestinian, Armenian and Greek musicians


playing traditional instruments. The stunning and elaborate piece included poetry and religious texts from the many groups who have inhabited Jerusalem.

Chris Colucci, a sound designer and composer from Philadelphia, called this concert the “spirit of the festival,” which emphasized the “profound ways in which we’re all the same.”

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Jews, Christians and Muslims prayed together as regional Sufi leader, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari was laid to rest in his home in Old City Jerusalem.

On June 1 he passed away at the age of 61, after a long struggle with heart disease. Rabbis, Muslim and Druze sheiks, Christian clerics and lay people of diverse faiths paid respects at the mourning tent, which received visitors for three days.

Sheikh Bukhari was the head of the mystical Naqshabandi Holy Land SufiOrder and Uzbek community. In his lifetime, he became deeply engaged in interfaith peace activities, including co-founding Jerusalem Peacemakers, and participating in the Interfaith Coordinating Council in Israel, Interfaith Encounter Association and the Sulha Peace Project.

Some have said Sheikh Bukhari’s heart disease was due to the stresses of peace work. His teachings and practices had put him in danger on several occasions.

The Sufi leader believed in interfaith unity and nonviolent approaches to resolving conflicts. When faced with the reality of violence in the Middle East, he found inspiration in Islamic law and tradition, as well as in the writings of Gandhi, King and Mandela.

When asked when his interfaith peace work began, he recalled a phone call he received in 1999 from the Vatican. A Cardinal requested his participation


time for the one who’s dead, he becomes just bones, so we move the bones aside and we lay next to it…

Sheikh Bukhari was thus wrapped in a white shroud, and buried in same grave as that of his grandfather, great-grandfather and the line of family sheikhs dating back to the 17th century.

His family had first migrated from Bukhara to Jerusalem in 1616 to establish a center to teach Sufism. Their home was built on the Via Dolorosa, the road that Jesus walked from the place of Pontius Pilate’s sentencing to his crucifixion.

He was a direct descendent of the Sunni scholar Imam Muhammad Ismail al-Bukhari of Bukhara, the ninth-century author of the hadith al-bukhari a collecter oral tradition that contains guidance about Islamic tradition and religious law andpractice.

Bukhari’s family played a role in the political history of Jerusalem during the Ottoman era, when they were charged with overseeing the Islamic holy places in the Holy Land, including in Lebanon.

In his interview with Rachel Kohn, he had spoken of the many holy places in Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount for Christians, and the Wailing Wall of the Jews. Such sites are sources of contention in Israel, however Bukhari once said:

The place is not relevant to the worshipping, because God says ‘I gave you the whole earth to worship me on it.’ So any place, if I pray here in my house or anybody prays anywhere else, if I go to the church or the synagogue and I pray there, God will not say ‘No, you step


stage the premiere of the play ‘Dara’ here from June 17 to 19.

Based on the life and times of Mughal Prince Dara Shikoh, Ajoka’s new play is about the less-known but extremely dramatic and moving story of Dara Shikoh, eldest son of Emperor Shahjahan, who was imprisoned and executed by his younger brother Aurangzeb.

Dara was not only a crown prince, but also a poet, a painter and a Sufi. He wanted to build on the vision of Akbar the Great and bring the ruling Muslim elite closer to the local religions.

His search for the truth and shared teachings of all major religions is reflected in his scholarly works such as ‘Sakeena-tul-Aulia’, ‘Safina-tul-Aulia’ and ‘Majma-ul-Bahrain.’

The play also explores the existential conflict between Dara the crown prince, the Sufi andman. Her husband challenges Majnu but as soon as his sword pierces Majnu's heart, it is Laila who dies.

The tomb of Laila and Majnu is a major attraction in these parts, therefore it's not surprising that even one of the BSF [Border Security Force] posts on this border is called the Majnu post.

New York and London have been treated in recent seasons to major exhibitions of Chola bronzes. A thousand years ago, sculptors in southern India began creating exquisite devotional figures—most often depictions of the Hindu god Shiva and his consort Parvati.

The bronzes are palpably sensuous and, even now, undimmed by centuries of worship that involves draping the figures in silks and garlands; anointing them in butter, curds, milk and sandalwood paste; and parading them through villages and


towns to show the gods their domain.

Among the most sublime art that the hand of man has produced, the bronzes remain part of a living religious tradition.

It turns out that they are part of still-living artistic tradition, too. In "Nine Lives," William Dalrymple introduces us to Srikanda Stpathy, a 35th-generation bronze caster directly descended from the stone carvers who first learned the art of bronze casting in the region of India called Tamil Nadu. The casting tradition has kept his family busy for 700 years, and his workshop has "a backlog of orders that would take at least a year to clear."

Such are the joys of "Nine Lives," in which Mr. Dalrymple profiles nine Indians and through them the variety of religions that thrive in our reportedly homogenizedworld. His subjects include a Jain nun, a Theyyam dancer, a sacred prostitute, a singer of ancient epics, a Sufi "lady fakir," a Tibetan monk who renounced his vows to fight the Chinese invaders and now lives in exile, a Tantric worshipper of the ferocious goddess Tara, and a blind Baul (wandering singer).

Mr. Dalrymple lets them all speak directly about their lives and beliefs, and he sketches along the way both their individual narratives and the history and literature of their faiths.

Discussing the meaning of Srikanda's work, Mr. Dalrymple ends up musing on the place of sex in Hinduism—noting that the Judeo- Christian Scriptures begin with the creation of light while Hinduism "begins its myth with the creation of Skama—sexual desire: in the beginning was desire, and desire


was with God, and desire was God."

He cites a fourth-century poet-prince who tried to discern whether asceticism or sensuality was the true path to God: "Tell us decisively which we ought to attend upon," the poet says in one of his verses. "The sloping sides of the mountain in the wilderness? Or the buttocks of a woman abounding in passion?" In a later chapter in "Nine Lives," the Baul singer, part of a mystical Hindu tradition, seems to offer an answer: "Never plunge into the river of lust / For you will not reach the shore. / It is a river without banks, / Where typhoons rage, / And the current is strong."

Mr. Dalrymple calls "Nine Lives" a travel book, but it is more an episodic look atreligion in the age of globalization. Turning away from the country's most pressing religious story—the battles between Hindus and Muslims that have shaped Indian politics for the past two decades as the secularism into which the country was born in 1947 has eroded—Mr. Dalrymple conveys the details of everyday worship and fulfills that hoary cliché of giving voice to the voiceless. Each of the figures he profiles exults in his faith, but most also fear the future.

As a child, Lal Peri twice escaped the violence engendered by the birth of Bangladesh and has since found sanctuary in the temple of Lal Shabhaz Qalander, a Sufi saint who preached religious tolerance in the 13th century. But she knows that this syncretic worship, and Sufism in general, is threatened by


the exponential rise of fundamentalist Islam, supported by the Gulf states and the madrassa school system they have built throughout Pakistan.

Mr. Dalrymple goes to see the head of a new madrassa in the town, who speaks quite openly of his desire to destroy the Sufi temple and any variant type of Islam.

As close as Mr. Dalrymple comes to anger is in describing the dynamiting by Pakistani Taliban of a small shrine to the 17th-century Pashto poet-saint Rahman Baba at the foot of the Khyber Pass. Mr. Dalrymple had visited it often in the late 1980s while covering the war in Afghanistan and reveled in the way refugees gathered there to take solace in the poetry and music of the Sufis.

Modernity is another threat. The Theyyam dancer, Hari Das,works as both a well digger and a jail guard to make ends meet. The high point of his year is the two months when he travels to festivals incarnating deities and monsters as part of the Theyyam rites.

In an intense ritualist dance, the actors—dressed in fantastic and weighty costumes—are possessed by the Hindu deities they are incarnating. Yet as much as Hari Das wants his sons to master the physically demanding art, he knows that they can find better jobs through education.

It is the same for the sculptor Srikanda, whose son is interested in computers. As pained as he is by the thought of sundering a 700-year tradition, he acknowledges: "Our work here is very hard. Computer work is not so difficult, and it pays much more.


. . . After all, as my son says, this is the age of computers. And as much as I might want otherwise, I can hardly tell him this is the age of the bronze caster."

It is, though, the age for writers like Mr. Dalrymple who fall in with the rhythms and languages of foreign lands. "Nine Lives" shows us lives hidden almost entirely from Western readers.

Another recent book, Alice Albinia's "Empires of the Indus," presents the cultural richness of the still fought-over lands around the Indus River—which flows from Tibet through India and Pakistan to the Arabian Sea—and manages to humanize Pakistan.

New Delhi/Ajmer: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday sent a 'chaddar' to the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moin-ud-din Chishti in Rajasthan's Ajmer city.

The cloth isto be offered at the shrine by Congress party leaders on the occasion of Urs.

'Urs' marks the death anniversary of Moin-ud-din Chishti, who is popularly referred to as 'Gharib Nawaz', or the 'messiah of the poor'.

Scores of devotees from all over India converge the shrine on the occasion.

Chishti, who is believed to have been born in 1142 AD, preached tolerance and unity of all religions. In 1236 AD, the saint entered his cell to pray in seclusion for six days, at the end of which he died. Since then Urs has been celebrated for six days every year.

It is believed that praying at the tomb of the saint fulfils a person's wishes. Devotees visiting the shrine offer fresh flowers as a symbol of their devotion. Some even go


up to the extent of offering large amounts of money and expensive jewels.

Devotional music and recitations from Chishti's own works and other Sufi saints are presented in traditional Qawwali (chorus singing) style.

The annual event culminates with readings from the holy Quran and special prayers.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

As I wait in a crowded square at one of the entrances into the old town of Fes in Morocco for musicians to take the stage after evening prayers, the scene before me is as far removed as it can be from quarrels of the world beyond the Atlas Mountains.

I have come to Fes to take in the sights and sounds of the most fascinating city in Morocco, likely in all of Africa.

The Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, held annually atthis time, is unique as musicians and poets from around the globe gather here to celebrate the language of the heart that transcends any and all divisions among the children of Adam.

Fes was founded by Moulay Idris, a descendant of Muhammad, around 789. His son Moulay Idris II extended the town during his reign from 807 to 828, and he is buried in the centre of Fes inside a mosque remarkable for its interior art work and exquisite calligraphy in marble.

The old town of Fes is a labyrinth of narrow streets, shops and homes where, except for electricity and its working facilities, one is immediately transported back to the times of Maimonides, the revered Jewish sage from the 12th century, and earlier.

Maimonides and his family found refuge in


Fes after leaving behind trouble-infested Cordoba, as did generations of families later — Arabs, Berbers and Jews, from al-Andalus (Spain). They came to Fes and added to its fame and fortune.

Commerce and philosophy were joined together in Fes. Here stands one of the grandest mosques in Africa, al-Quaraouiyine, and it houses one of the oldest universities in the world, opened in 859, where Ibn Rushd (Averroes) lectured.

Fes is also the centre of Sufism — the path of mystics in Islam that connects with all faith traditions through the language of the heart — and the gateway to Islam in sub-Saharan Africa.

The mosque and shrine of Shaykh Ahmed Tijani is a short walking distance from al-Quaraouiyine, and this is traditionally the first stop for pilgrims to Mecca from Senegal,an oasis of tranquility into a snake-pit of bigotry and violence.

The musicians return and a singer from Mali fills the air with his love song to Abraham and Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, and the people around me respond in rhythm to the music while the starry night unfolds above me in an absolutely enchanting Fes.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The old woman is whirling into a blur. Qawwals are singing. It’s a joyous mood. Tonight, the sufi shrine of Hazrat Shah Farhad in Bageecha Pirji, near Sadar Bazaar, is lit up with lamps. It is Shah Farhad’s Urs, his 286th death anniversary. He died in 1723 AD.

In Sufism, the death of a saint is celebrated as the occasion when his soul gets united with that of his beloved, the God.


Urs means ‘wedding’ in Arabic.

Shah Farhad was born in Delhi but grew up in Burhanpur in central India where his father was a governor. As a child, he got attached to a mystic who initiated him into an offshoot of the Chishti order. Shah Farhad later settled in Delhi where he acquired a following. This evening’s crowd is a proof of his popularity.

Every morning before opening their stores, the traders in the neighbourhood come to the dargah to get their shop keys blessed by Shah Farhad. Childless women come asking for children. Students come to get their books blessed.

The shrine is also a place where you come to get rid of djinns, the mysterious beings who, according to Islamic beliefs, are made of smokeless fire. These creatures trapvulnerable people in their spell and make their life miserable. The ‘possessed’ men and women then visit fakeers and shrines to become normal again.

Some come to the dargah of Shah Farhad, also known as the master of djinns. Clinging to the grills, the tormented scream and shiver in agony, asking the djinns to leave. If they become free, they become life long followers of the saint.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

For the last week, al Shabaab has launched daily attacks in Mogadishu, using gunmen and mortars. As a result there are 50-100 casualties on some days, most of them civilians caught in the crossfire.

In the last three years, since al Shabaab, and other Islamic radical groups began their attempts to conquer the country, over 20,000 have died and 1.5 million


(TG) soldiers (five of whom died).

June 8, 2010: In central Somalia, 320 kilometers north of Mogadishu, hundreds of al Shabaab gunmen were defeated after they attacked the Sufi controlled villages of Dhusamareb and Marergur. The al Shabaab fighters were forced to retreat, abandoning many weapons, vehicles and large quantities of ammunition. The Sufi militias, who are allied with the TG, were seen celebrating.

Three ministers of the Transitional Government have resigned, further paralyzing the fragile coalition. Cooperation is not a popular practice in Somalia.

A Somali militant group allied with the country's weak U.N.-backed transitional federal government says it has killed and captured fighters from the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militia during clashes in central Somalia.

Analysts say the casualties, reportedly inflicted by the Sufi group Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jamma'a, could signal the start ofa series of significant clashes in the region.

Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jamma'a spokesman Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Abu Yusuf said the group had attacked al-Shabab fighters in and around the central town of Dhusamareb. He said in this operation, four al-Shabab militia troops were killed, and one captured. He said his group reports no casualties.

Located on a major highway linking Somalia's capital Mogadishu with the northern autonomous region of Puntland, Dhusamareb is seen as a strategically important town in the battle for central Somalia.

In January, al Shabab said it had retreated from Dhusamareb just days after its forces had seized control of the town. Ahlu-Sunna has been attacking al-Shabab positions since taking up arms against the group in 2008. In March, Ahlu-Sunna signed an agreement with Somalia's transitional federal government to provide


the Mystics* - Indian Express -IndiaTuesday, June 8, 2010

Earlier this year film-maker and music composer Muzaffar Ali wowed the Delhi audience with his brainchild, Jahan-e-Khusrau — a three-day sufi music festival to commemorate the death anniversary of Sufi saint Hazrat Amir Khusrau.

Now, two more musical events in the city are set to acquaint the audience with the works of sufi stalwarts like Amir Khusrau, Rumi, Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti and Baba Bulleshah, on the occasion of World Music Day on June 19.

The first is Shaam-e-Sukoon, a festival being organised by the city-based Swar Dharohar. The two-day festival will open on June 19 with a performance by Delhi-based Niyaz Sabri, a third generation sufi singer.

“Sufi music is more like world music today. Everybody likes and appreciates it. Since Khwaja MoinuddinChisti was one of the greatest sufi mystics of the country, most of my performance will have qalams by him,” says Sabri.

This will be followed by a session of sufiana qalams by Zafar Hayat Niyaz.

The second day of Shaam-e-Sukoon will feature ghazal singers Zulfi Khan and Yateesh Acharya.

The other event, the Sada-e-Sufi, organised by Husan Ara Trust at India Habitat Centre is scheduled for June 20. It will celebrate the life and works of the 13th century Muslim poet Mawlana Jalal-ud-Din Balkhi-Rumi with a performance by renowned Hyderabad-based qawwal Adil Hussain and his troupe.

The magic of legendary Sufi singers of Punjab — Wadali Brothers (Puranchand Wadali and Pyarelal Wadali) — left the audience spellbound at the International Summer Festival at The Ridge in Shimla that came to an


and after the work was finished I realized that some 205 of his quatrains had not been published so far,” Mirafzali told Mehr News Agency.

The 41-year-old editor claims his edition to be the most complete and accurate compared to the ones published so far. “The new edition is composed of 740 quatrains, including the newly found compositions, which make it more complete than the one edited by Mohammad-Taqi Modarres-Razavi and known as the most complete edition published so far,” he explained.

Mirafzali said the new quatrains were edited in consultation with Iranian poet and literary critic Mohammad-Reza Shafiei Kadkani and will be published along with the rest of the quatrains in the near future.

Sanai is best-known for using various verse forms including ode, sonnet and rhymed couplet to expresscalled Qur’an in Pehlavi language (i.e. Persian).

It is also important to note that Jalaluddin Rumi was as great a scholar of Arabic as of Persian. Arabic was language of Islamic learning whereas Persian was language of culture and administration and Maulana Rum chose Persian for writing his Mathnavi precisely because it was language of the people and their cultural expressions were in that language and it was this powerful cultural tool that made Mathnavi popular over ages.

The Indian Sufis, on the other hand, also wrote either in Persian or even in regional languages like Brij, Avadhi, Khari Boli, Bengali, Marathi and in Urdu and used symbolism of local culture. Also, since they spoke language of love there was no rejection of the other, only acceptance. But ideological puritans,


(the divine musical session) became an important institution in the sufi Islam. The ulama opposed it saying music is haram (prohibited) in Islam. However, for masses it was important means to be drawn towards Sufis. Amir Khusro, Nizamuddin Awliya’s disciple made very rich contributions to the world of sufi music.

Salafi Islam

The Sufi Islam began, according to some scholars right from the Prophet’s (PBUH) time as some of his companions, drawing inspiration from him, indulged in rigorous spiritual practices and ahl-e-suffa (those who sat on a place outside the Prophet’s house and used to practice very simple life). Some people consider them as the first Sufis. Sufis were subsequently divided in several schools of thought one of which is known as Wahdat al-Wujud school. This school was founded byMuhiyuddin Ibn Arabi, a Spanish Sufi of great eminence.

This school which believes in One Real Being and that all others are His manifestations, was most open and liberal and hence became very popular in India and attracted maximum number of following. It produced great Sufi saints who were highly revered by Hindus and Muslims alike. They were truly spiritual and role models for many. Among Arab countries too, Muhiyuddin Ibn Arabi and Sufis of his school were quite popular.

However, after decline of power and onslaught of western colonialism, Sufism lost its original thrust and vigour and degenerated into superstitious practices, amulets and charms and Sufis also encouraged that. Such degeneration resulted in inaction and total submission to whosoever was in authority. Masses flocked to Sufis or their graves


not for any spiritual inspiration but for mere solace and seeking solution to their problems through charms and amulets or mere invocation of sufi saints.

This degeneration created its own reaction. This reaction came in its strongest form from Najd which was predominantly Bedouin area with simple style of life with no complex cultural traditions like in Iran or India. Salafi movement was founded by Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab (1703-1792) of Najd. The name Wahabi movement draws from his name. He was educated in Madina. He was quite studious and acquired his expertise in hadith from well known Muhaddith (scholar of hadith) Sheikh Muhammad Hayat Sindhi.

It is said once Abdul Wahhab was standing near the chamber of the Prophet and people were indulging in what according to Sheikhwhich lacked rich and complex cultural traditions. It mainly spread only in these areas and could not attract followers in Iran, Central Asia, India and other parts which had such traditions.

One more factor is important in this respect and that is political. As we all know the colonial period had begun and the Arabs were under domination of Turks and the British had established its foothold over Egypt. There was power struggle in the air. Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Wahhab was acquiring popularity in the Najd region and could influence the local ruler of the region Amir Muhammad bin Saud and this gave political power to the movement. Thus religious appeal of Sheikh Abdul Wahhab and political power of the Saudi family made the Salafi movement a power to


flow from the bottle until the water level in the chamber again reaches the mouth of the bottle.
Although conventional domestic water dispensers are widely used, they are deficient in a number of respects. First, water bottles used in the conventional domestic water dispensers usually contain a large quantity of sterilized water, typically on the order of about five (5) gallons. A gallon of water weighs about 8.39 pounds, and thus a full five gallon bottle weighs well in excess of forty (40) pounds. Due to the weight and size of a bottle holding that amount of water, it is often difficult to invert and properly locate the mouth of the bottle in the chamber without spilling a quantity of the water.
Second, to prevent water from continuously flowing fromfor thirty minutes. While in Art class children not only produce pieces of their own art, but they learn many different art concepts and explore the works of famous artists. Each spring, pieces of art created by Monclova students are displayed at our District Art Show and Music Festival. You can also find selected pieces of student art on display throughout the building and in our Monclova Gallery as you enter the building.

Music:

Students in grades 1-4 attend Music class two times each week for thirty minutes at a time. Kindergarten students attend Music once each week for thirty minutes. While in Music class students sing, study and play music, dance, move, and explore many musical concepts. Students in grades 1-4 also have the opportunity to present a music


program to their fellow students during the school day and to parents and family members in the evening. Students in third and fourth grade also have the extra opportunity to participate in ensemble after school if interested.

Monclova Media Center:

Students in all grades visit the media center once each week for thirty minutes. During this time they have an opportunity to check out books, hear stories, work on computers available in the media center and READ!!News

Aleppo residents struggle as currency tumbles

Prices of basic goods - such as food and fuel - have been rapidly increasing in Syria, as the local currency continues to depreciate amid the civil war. The Syrian pound has lost 80 per cent of its value since the conflict began more than two years ago. Local businesses and traders have been forced to find new ways to get by.


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* The following Swift APIs have been deprecated in favor of newer or preferred versions:

| Deprecated API                                | New API   Archive for July 17th, 2015

Sir Edward Coke was born in 1552. He was regarded as a great lawyer. He was twice married, his domestic life being full of quarrels. Coke was one of the most truculent of English lawyers, and an arch-rival of Francis Bacon. “He was a potent element in Francis Bacon’s ruin,” says Dean Church. On the […]


standoffs that led to partial
government shutdowns.

She would replace acting director Jeffrey Zients, who has
been running the budget office on an interim basis since January
2012 when then-director Jack Lew, now Treasury secretary,
stepped down to become White House chief of staff.

Burwell, born in 1965 in Hinton, West Virginia, is the
daughter of an optometrist. She graduated from Harvard
University cum laude in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in
government and earned a second bachelor’s in philosophy,
politics and economics from Oxford University, where she was a
Rhodes Scholar.

Administration Connections

At Oxford, she overlapped with Susan Rice, the U.S.
ambassador to the United Nations, and Michael Froman, who is
Obama’s adviser on international economics.

From 1990 to 1992, Mathews was an associate at McKinsey &
Co. She worked for Clinton’s presidential transition team in
Little Rock after the 1992 election and laterhelped Rubin set
up the National Economic Council in 1993.

“She was a young star,” said Alice Rivlin, former
director of the Congressional Budget Office.

When Rubin became Treasury secretary in 1995, Burwell
“became an extremely skilled negotiator,” said John Podesta,
another former Clinton chief of staff.

Burwell was named executive vice president of the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000, rising to chief operating
officer on Aug. 1, 2002, according to a company press release.

In January 2012 she was named president of the Wal-Mart
Foundation, which gave $959 million in cash and in-kind
contributions worldwide in 2011, according to its website.

Pay Cut

If confirmed by the Senate, Burwell would be taking a pay
cut to $196,000. In 2011, her last year at the Gates foundation,
she earned $661,000, according to tax documents. She also
received $259,000 as a board director at


nation’s largest Hispanic markets, does better. Candidates and supporters spend about 31 percent of their ad dollars on Spanish-language media trying to woo the largely Cuban, Puerto Rican and Colombian electorate.

Democrats spent nearly twice as much, or more, than Republicans on Spanish-language ads in Florida, Colorado and Texas. Of the 10 states studied, Republicans outspent Democrats only in New York and spent the same amount, which was nothing, in Illinois and Virginia. The advertising markets studied in Virginia did not include the Washington metro area.

The gap in political spending is particularly stark in California, where less than 3 percent of spending is on Spanish-language ads despite Latinos making up nearly 20 percent of registered voters, and in Texas, where less than 6 percent of spending is on Spanish-languageon Spanish-language ads. The numbers include spending both by parties and so-called “Super” PACs.

Romney released his latest Spanish-language ad, titled “Nuestra Comunidad,” last week featuring the former Massachusetts governor clasping hands with Hispanic supporters and posing for photos with Hispanic children. Republican Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno, who narrates the video, pledges that Romney can “revive the American dream” for Latino families.

The Romney campaign plans to “spend more on Spanish-language advertising” than either John McCain or George W. Bush did in their 2008 and 2000 and 2004 presidential races, according to Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul. The Obama campaign said its Hispanic outreach efforts are more about substance than spending and boasted the campaign has been running Spanish-language radio and TV ads since April. The campaign uses many forms


Flexibility urged over North Korea

Powell told more incentives needed

October 27, 2004|By William Neikirk, Tribune senior correspondent.

SEOUL — Secretary of State Colin Powell wound up his whirlwind Asian journey Tuesday after hearing key American allies call on the U.S. to sweeten its plan to lure North Korea back to six-party negotiations aimed at dismantling its nuclear program.

While he found agreement in Tokyo, Beijing and Seoul over the need to resume six-party talks with North Korea as soon as possible, Powell ran into resistance about the way the U.S. is trying to get Pyongyang to rejoin the negotiations.

On Powell's last stop, in Seoul, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon said the U.S., his own country and other allies involved in the talks "must come up with more creative andpatience," implying that the U.S. should rethink its bargaining stance. But even before he came to Asia, Powell said the U.S. would consider assistance only if Pyongyang agreed to come to the table, and not before. And he gave no indication during his trip that he is prepared to soften that position.

The American stance is that all the issues related to North Korea's nuclear program should be incorporated in the six-party negotiations and not be dealt with in separate negotiations with the U.S. If assistance is to be extended, he said, it has to be worked out with the other partners--Japan, China, Russia and South Korea.

The secretary of state repeated that position during a news conference with South Korea's Ban, saying the U.S. "has a good proposal on


Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said, "These moves only make the prospect of the negotiations dimmer as the days go by."

Passage in the U.S. of a human-rights law aimed at North Korea also could complicate the American effort to get the talks restarted. North Korea has sharply criticized this law, signed by President Bush last week, which calls on the U.S. to include human-rights issues in its negotiations with Pyongyang.

Asked whether the human-rights law would hinder resumption of the six-party talks, the South Korean foreign minister said human rights should be upheld everywhere but added, "The particular situation of that particular country has to be taken into account."

Election a complication

Powell came on his mission with another big handicap--the U.S. election. President Bush's opponent, Sen. John Kerry, hasa different policy toward North Korea. He would negotiate with Pyongyang directly and not insist that all the other parties be at the table.

The secretary said several times that North Korea may be awaiting the election results to see whether it can talk to the U.S. directly. But Powell said the other allies are firm in their belief that North Korea's nuclear program should be negotiated among the six parties no matter how the election comes out.

In Seoul, he reaffirmed that policy.

"We hope that in the very near future that North Korea will see it in their interests to have the talks begin again," Powell said. Emphasizing the need for speed, he said, "Let's get going." Three rounds of six-way talks have brought scant progress.

Meanwhile, South Korea said


that two mysterious holes found in a wire fence on the tense border with North Korea were probably used not by communist infiltrators but by a South Korean defector to the North. It ordered its troops to stand down from a high alert, The Associated Press reported.

About 60 miles north of Seoul, South Korean border guards found two holes in a wire fence at the buffer zone that has separated the two Koreas since 1953.rib surface, the first rib surface protruding outwardly from the primary surface and extending at least partially in a direction non-parallel with the first retention channel. In such a configuration the connection surface includes the primary surface and the first rib surface, with the first retention channel being formed into the first rib.
The engagement member may include a second rib, with the second rib having an elongated second rib surface protruding outwardly from the primary surface, in which the first retention channel is formed across both the first and second ribs. The first and second retention channels are advantageously tangent to the primary surface. The first and second ribs may be first and second embossments.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a circuit breaker, the general


nature of which can be stated as including a line conductor, a load conductor, an operating mechanism operatively interposed between the first and second conductors, and a terminal wire clamp structured to electrically conductively engage a wire with one of the line and load conductors, in which the terminal wire clamp includes a fastener and a connection plate that are cooperable with one another, and in which the connection plate has a connection surface including a first retention channel formed into the connection plate. The terminal wire clamp is structured to cooperate with a fastener to engage the wire with the conductor, and the connection surface is structured to engage the wire and at least partially receive the wire in the first retention channel, with the first retentionstated term of the United States Court of Appeals
 2       for the Second Circuit, held at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan
 3       United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, in the City of
 4       New York, on the 5th day of September, two thousand twelve.
 5
 6       PRESENT:
 7                REENA RAGGI,
 8                DEBRA ANN LIVINGSTON,
 9                CHRISTOPHER F. DRONEY,
10


claims were barred by the state Workmen's Compensation Act, and after a bench trial on the Title VII claims, the court awarded some, but not all, of the relief that the plaintiffs sought.  The plaintiffs then took this appeal, but we affirm.

I.

2
A. The following facts are either undisputed or were properly found by the district court.  Sherlyn Konstantopoulos (hereinafter "Konstantopoulos") began work at Westvaco in September 1987.  6/30/94 Dist. Op. at 3.   After initially working as a "helper" in the "Finishing Department," she was promoted in April 1989 to the position of "helper" in the "Web" Department.  Id. at 3-4.   The Web Department contained a single printing press that used large rolls of paper spliced together to create one continuous"web" of paper.  Id. at 4.   Workers in the Web Department were divided into four "tours," and Konstantopoulos was initially assigned to "D" tour under the supervision of foreman Ron Hurley.  Id. at 4-5.   Mike Marshall and Ed Peterman were also assigned to this tour.  Id. at 5-6.   At the time, Konstantopoulos was the only woman working in the Web Department, and she was given little training.  Id. at 6.   The district court found that Westvaco "did not in any way prepare its employees--male and female--to work in an environment where men were working for the first time with women and where women were working for the first time with machinery."  Id. at 32.

3
During her


that said:  "Sherry doesn't need help, she needs a babysitter."  Id. at 14.   On approximately July 19, her locker (and three others) were damaged, and shortly thereafter she found trash in her locker.  Id. at 14.   On July 21, she filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, charging that her locker had been damaged in retaliation for her complaints against Marshall and Peterman.  See id. at 20.   On July 24, she reported to Cahall that her locker had been damaged.  Id. at 14.   Cahall then advised his supervisor, who issued a warning that anyone found guilty of vandalism would be disciplined.  Id.

7
In August, someone wrote a sexually insulting remark concerning Konstantopoulos on However, she elected to take a layoff, and she did not return to work thereafter until she was recalled on April 16, 1990.  Id.  On December 21, 1989, while Konstantopolous was laid off, the EEOC issued two right-to-sue letters, and on March 27, 1990, she commenced this action by filing a complaint against Westvaco.  See id. at 21.   Her complaint asserted Title VII claims for sexual harassment and retaliation, as well as a state-law claim for tortious infliction of emotional distress.

12
When Konstantopoulos returned to work on April 16, 1990, she was again assigned to the Web Department, with Ron Hurley as her foreman.  6/30/94 Dist.Ct.Op. at 17.   During her first tour, she broke a piece of machinery and was


publicly chastised by Hurley.  Id. at 17.   During her next tour (April 23 and 24), she was temporarily transferred to the Finishing Department because there was not sufficient work in the Web Department.  Id. at 18.   None of her coworkers harassed her during this two-day period.  Id.

13
On April 25, Konstantopoulos was assigned as a helper in the Web Department on Larry Cahall's tour.  6/30/94 Dist.Ct.Op. at 18.   Konstantopoulos informed Cahall of her apprehension about the assignment, but Cahall was required by the collective bargaining agreement to transfer her to the Web Department "because she was the person in the Finishing Department with the most seniority who had worked in the Web Department previously."  Id.  Cahall, however,assured Konstantopoulos that he would be available in his office if she needed him, and he also warned the crew that he would not tolerate any harassment of her.  Id.  In addition, Cahall made frequent visits to the Web Department that day, "entering through a different door each time, and he spent more time than he normally would in the area."  Id.

14
Konstantopoulos made no complaints to Cahall that day, but she testified at trial concerning two incidents involving co-workers.  See id. at 18-19.   She stated that Mike Marshall and Ed Peterman "squinted their eyes ... and shook their fist[s]" at her and that another co-worker threw away her lunch.  Id.  The district court stated that it was not clear from


the record whether Konstantopoulos's name was on her lunch bag and that the co-worker who threw away the bag stated that he had done so accidentally.  See id. at 19.

15
After completing her shift on April 25, Konstantopoulos left without speaking to anyone from Westvaco.  Id. at 19.   The next day, she gave Cahall the following note:

To whom in may concern:

16
Ms. Konstantopoulos has been under my care for the past several months for the treatment of severe work related anxiety.  She has now been referred to a local psychiatrist to continue therapy and has also been advised to stay off work for an additional 6-8 weeks.

17
Sincerely,

18
Costas A. Terris, M.D.

19
Id.   Cahall told Konstantopoulos to go home and to call the personnel manager theafter leaving work for medical reasons in August 1989, Konstantopolous herself stated that she was ready, willing, and able to return to work by October 1989 "and continued to so affirm through April 25, 1990," when she eventually returned.  6/30/94 Dist.Ct.Op. at 35.   Thus, Konstantopolous's conduct suggests that, in her mind, the effects of the prior incidents had dissipated well before she actually returned to work.  Third, the nature of the incidents that took place when Konstantopolous returned is important.  Although we can well understand why Konstantopolous would be troubled by the mute gestures made by Marshall and Peterman--squinting their eyes and shaking their fists--this incident cannot in itself be characterized as particularly severe.  Moreover, the only other incident cited by Konstantopoulos--the


throwing away of her lunch--seems minor, since it is not clear that Konstantopolous's name was on the bag, and the offending co-worker stated that he had thrown it away accidentally.  Id. at 19.   Fourth, it is apparent that Westvaco sought to prevent any harassment of Konstantopoulos when she returned to work and provided procedures by which any improper conduct by co-workers could have been remedied.  As previously noted, foreman Larry Cahall warned the crew that he would not tolerate any harassment of Konstantopoulos and assured her that he would be available in his office if she needed him.  He also made frequent, unannounced visits to the Web Department and "spent more time than he normally would in the area."  6/30/94 Dist.Ct.Op. atconviction for operating while intoxicated (OWI),

second offense, Curtis Smith alleges the approximately eleven minutes between

the time of his arrival at the police station and the time he was allowed to make a

phone call was an unnecessary delay. On this basis, he alleges the trial court

erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence. Because the record shows

law enforcement complied with Iowa Code section 804.20 (2015), we affirm.

      I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

      Smith was suspected of OWI after two officers watched Smith drive his

vehicle into a police barricade. He continued driving until stopped by police. The

officers observed that Smith had a heavy odor of alcoholic beverage on his

breath, blood-shot eyes, and slurred speech.

      The


the former a well-known Anglican Benedictine monk and Anglo-Papalist, the latter the holder of various academic posts in Cambridge, Oxford and London, culminating as Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, and who was on the verge of entering the Orthodox Church at the time of his death — even if expressed in the most ambiguous of ways and in very “traditional,” that is, “Western-Catholic-looking” — forms. An EP of such an ambivalent, if not heretical, nature would certainly not be suitable for Catholic use. The 1549 EP is also, very clearly, an attempt at “reforming” the Roman Canon, the traditional and unique EP of the whole Western Church for centuries before the Sixteenth Century, save in the Mozarabic Rite, as well as (until the time of the post-Vaticanhermenuetic of disruption. One can use Latin and face eastward in the OF but essentialy what one is using has a tradition dating back to 1970.

Certainly the Scottish (1929 plus 1764, still superior in some respects) is the best. However, it is said that the long Canon (Prayer of Consecration, Prayer of Oblation and Prayer for the Church) proves soporific...

Also, the Scottish Liturgy is, well, unknown to all but liturgically-obsessed persons (mea culpa) outside the very small numbers who use it. That's not to say I don't hope to see it used in a Scottish Ordinariate, but it would be to most other Anglicans quite outside their experience.

Fr John Hunwicke

was for nearly three decades at Lancing College; where he taught Latin and Greek language and literature, was Head


of Theology, and Assistant Chaplain. He has served three curacies, been a Parish Priest, and Senior Research Fellow at Pusey House in Oxford. Since 2011, he has been in full communion with the See of S Peter. The opinions expressed on this Blog are not asserted as being those of the Magisterium of the Church, but as the writer's opinions as a private individual. Nevertheless, the writer strives, hopes, and prays that the views he expresses are conformable with and supportive of the Magisterium. In this blog, the letters PF stand for Pope Francis.a big event that night, Heavy Lies The Crown, which streamed live on IWTV. For the second straight year HLTC gave fans the opportunity to ring in the New Year with an outstanding night of wrestling action featuring a who's who of the indie wrestling scene. The card was newsworthy in several ways:

Eddie Kingston defeated Stokely Hathaway in a number one contendership match for the Independent Wrestling Championship. Hathaway had put together an unlikely winning streak in Beyond in recent months, but Kingston was able to end that run in a decisive fashion. After the match he called out then IWTV Champion Tracy Williams who had been doing commentary for the match and a title match was set for January 11 at St Louis Anarchy.

In a shocker, Chris


Dickinson demolished David Starr in just 16 seconds and made a definitive case that Beyond Wrestling is his house in the process.

MJF showed up unnannounced and issued an open challenge. Unfortunately for him the challenge was answered by Kris Stadtlander who continued her streak of impressive performances on Beyond events that started at September's Please Come Back. Stadtlander, who defeated Kylie Rae at the previous nights Women's Wrestling Revolution event, pinned MJF and remains undefeated in Beyond.

In the last match of 2018, Orange Cassidy ended the 300-plus day reign of "Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams and became the new Independent Wrestling Champion. The extremely unorthodox Cassidy has become a major fan favorite in recent months and had earned the title shot by defeating David Starr in November. The reignof Cassidy officially began just moments before the New Year began and his first defense will be against Eddie Kingston on January 11 at St Louis Anarchy's Gateway To Anarchy.

The first match of 2019 proved to be a wild affair that saw Josh Briggs best Nick Gage in a bloody Fans Bring The Weapons match. Briggs has been on a tear for months and has vowed to never lose in a Beyond ring again.

You can watch Heavy Lies The Crown in its entirety here and keep your eyes on IWTV News for more details on Uncharted Territory in the coming weeks.


Donald Trump has doubled down on his criticism of Sadiq Khan in the wake of Saturday's terror attack in central London.

The US President accused the capital's mayor of giving a "pathetic excuse" for how he reassured Londoners after seven people were killed on London Bridge and in Borough Market.

Mr Trump had written: "Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his "no reason to be alarmed" statement. MSM (mainstream media) is working hard to sell it!"

In response, a spokesman for Mr Khan said: "The mayor is focused on dealing with Saturday's horrific and cowardly attack and working with the police, the emergency services and the Government to keep London safe."

During a news conference on Monday, the mayor even said that some state visitswere "welcome, some less so" - a possible reference to Mr Trump's expected trip to the UK.

Sadiq Khan reacts to President Trump's tweets

After several repeated questions from journalists, Prime Minister Theresa May suggested at a campaign event that Trump had been wrong to criticise the mayor.

Mr Khan's former Labour colleague in the Commons, David Lammy, had a less subtle response to the President.

Mr Lammy wrote: "You are truly beneath contempt. You are just a troll. Show some bottle please PM. Cancel the state visit and tell Trump where to get off.

"You demean your office by misquoting and smearing the Mayor of a city that has just been attacked and is also the capital of your close ally.

"You besmirch the presidency, you taint previous Presidents with your behaviour &


injured."

This had been followed by Mr Trump firing off an incendiary barrage of tweets attacking Mr Khan for his plea for calm - and promoting his contentious travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries.

In numbers: How the UK terror threat has evolved

Mr Khan's spokesperson had described the first round of presidential tweets as "ill-informed" - and said they had deliberately taken his remarks out of context.

On Monday afternoon, the White House insisted Mr Trump was not picking a fight with the mayor - but just raising an issue of national security.

Tensions between Westminster and the White House have been fraught for several weeks after intelligence gathered by the UK security services on the Manchester Arena attack was leaked to US media.Drake has been confirmed to close this year’s Wireless Festival following days of speculation.

Announced moments ago, Drake’s appointment follows earlier news of DJ Khaled pulling out of the Finsbury Park event, citing ‘travel issues’; Wireless organisers had instead confirmed that they were “working on something special”.

Drake’s return to the Wireless Festival stage comes three years after his 2015 appearance, where he welcomed Skepta as a surprise guest to perform ‘Shutdown’. Meanwhile his appointment follows a hectic week which saw his fifth studio album ‘Scorpion’ break streaming records globally. Yesterday the Canadian rapper also continued to show his love for the UK, sharing his Behind Barz freestyle for LinkUp TV.

Throughout the day, particularly in the hour prior to him gracing the stage, backstage images started to circulate which added


POSTOUVIN - The Society of Conscious Thought has confirmed the official commissioning of the Kyonoke Inquest Center, which lies in close proximity to the quarantined RP4 Hemorphite processing facility in Postouvin.

Speaking to a selection of interstellar press whom were invited aboard the structure for the occasion, SoCT Elder Mentor Raish confirmed that the facility is now fully operational, and has been formally designated as the "H4-RP4 Kyonoke Inquest Center".

Adding to the announcement, he stated that the installation "represents the pinnacle of genetic research and development, with the most advanced genetic engineering and bio labs in the cluster".

Elder Raish then elaborated on plans for the future of the Center, including the impending arrival of science teams from the Empire, State, Federation and Republic, commenting that "in the coming weeks,In Caumont Castle King Persine and Queen Rapunzel are still reeling from the discovery of a mysterious spy in their midst. The loyal subjects of Caumont must be made aware of the sinister magical threat before it's too late! Meanwhile, having made her escape from Caumont via the River Esk, Rapa is still struggling to make sense of her situation. Can she really trust the amphibian girl who saved her life, or is she even more confused than Rapa herself?


Nebraska Man Takes His Terminally Ill Best Friend On One Final Epic Road Trip

When Robert Kugler of Nebraska found out that his best friend, Bella, was dying of cancer, he decided to take her on the road trip of a lifetime. Bella, his chocolate lab, has been with him for nine years, ever since he got her and raised her from a puppy. Bella has already lost a leg to cancer but the disease has spread to her lungs and the doctors have told the ex-marine that there is no hope left for her.

So, the former jarhead gathered up needed supplies and he and Bella headed for the Marine Corps Ball in Chicago. From there, they just traveled around and spent their last time together as best theyThe City of Vancouver is planning to turn a southbound lane on the Cambie Street bridge into a protected bike lane, similar to the Dunsmuir viaduct.

The city is calling the cycling improvements “interim,” and says further improvements will be considered in the future.

There will be no changes to the northbound lanes heading into downtown, but drivers will lose one lane of traffic heading south.

The eastbound protected bike lane on Nelson Street will be extended to continue southbound on the bridge, and will be separated by concrete barriers.

Cyclists using the new southbound lane will travel down the off-ramp to West 6th Avenue — the lane will not continue past this point.

The number of cyclists on the Cambie Street has increasing steadily since 2010. Approximately 38,000 cyclists crossed the bridge


click to enlarge

Gov. Phil Scott was sitting alone in his ceremonial Statehouse office when his top aide walked in and handed him a small stack of papers.

"You might want to take a few minutes to read this through," chief of staff Jason Gibbs told his boss.

It was late morning on Friday, February 16. Three days earlier, according to the Vermont State Police, 18-year-old Jack Sawyer had purchased a 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun at Dick's Sporting Goods in Rutland in order to kill "as many as I can get" at Fair Haven Union High School.

Gibbs had been briefing his boss since the Poultney teen's arrest the day before. Now he handed Scott a 13-page police affidavit filled with disturbing details and left the room to "give him some space."

Scott poredover the document, which detailed Sawyer's preparations for a Columbine-style massacre that would begin with the shooting of a Fair Haven police officer detailed to the school and end with his own suicide.

The affidavit revealed the methodical nature of Sawyer's planning and quoted from what he called his "Journal of an Active Shooter." At the same time, the police document painted a picture of a lost and alienated young man who had been hungry, homeless and hopeless.

View an interactive timeline of Vermont's gun politics shift.

"I remember some of the sensations as I was reading it," the governor recalled. "I remember the shock, the guilt, the relief ... and a bit of anger, as well." Guilt, he elaborated, "that I could be so naïve" as to think that Vermont


would escape America's epidemic of mass shootings. Anger that somebody "would take the lives of innocent kids."

It was then that a switch flipped in the governor's head.

For most of his 59 years, the blue-collar son of Barre had instinctively aligned with Vermont's traditional sportsman's culture. He grew up hunting and fishing and still owns nearly a dozen rifles and shotguns. Throughout his political career, Scott had opposed all forms of gun control, calling the issue a "distraction" in his 2016 gubernatorial campaign and earning an A rating from the National Rifle Association.

Just the day before, following a school shooting in Parkland, Fla., he'd told Seven Days that Vermont had "balanced" gun laws and needed no more of them.

But now, sitting with his back turned to a window overlookingthe Statehouse lawn, he was second-guessing the way he'd seen the world.

"I'm sure each and every one of us has had a close call in their lifetime ... and you just say, 'I'm never going to do that again,'" he explained. "This was one of those situations where I feel like I was given a second chance to help avoid a catastrophic event. And I was determined not to let it slip through my fingers."

Scott grabbed the papers in front of him, flipped them over and started writing. "I wanted to make sure I captured how I was feeling," he said.

That afternoon, Scott delivered the words he'd written, almost verbatim, to a room full of reporters.

"To be quite honest with you, in the aftermath of Florida, this situation


in Fair Haven has jolted me," Scott told them. It was time for "an honest, open and fact-based discussion about access to guns by those who shouldn't have them." Asked whether that meant he was suddenly open to gun-control legislation he had opposed just a day earlier, the governor said, "Everything should be on the table."

What he meant by that, even Scott himself didn't exactly know. "I had an idea that I wanted to do something," he later recalled.

But in saying those words, Scott did what no other Vermont governor in recent memory — Republican nor Democrat — had been willing to do. He had thrown open the door to meaningful action on one of the most divisive issues in the state. Now every politician in Vermont, Scottincluded, had to figure out and articulate where he or she stood on gun rights in the age of school shootings.

It was the start of a week that would radically transform the politics of firearms in Vermont.

'Jack Shit'

click to enlarge Jeb Wallace-brodeur

Montpelier High School juniors Nadia Scoppettone (center) and Emma Harter (right)

For years, Sen. Phil Baruth (D/P-Chittenden) felt like he was stuck on a raft and lost at sea. The University of Vermont English professor had tried to cajole his colleagues into debating gun control, but he'd succeeded only in alienating them.

In January 2013, a month after a gunman killed 26 students and teachers at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School, Baruth introduced legislation to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in Vermont. But within five days — after


a tremendous backlash from fellow Democratic senators — he withdrew the legislation.

"It is painfully clear to me that little support exists in the Vermont Statehouse for this sort of bill," Baruth explained at the time.

That dynamic was nothing new in Vermont, where Republicans, Democrats and even Progressives had long agreed that less was more when it came to gun regulation. Despite its liberal leanings, the Green Mountain State had — and still has — among the fewest gun laws in the nation.

A group founded in the wake of Sandy Hook, Gun Sense Vermont, tried to change that. But its quest for universal background checks was stymied, year after year, by two immovable obstacles: Democratic governor Peter Shumlin and Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick Sears (D-Bennington), both ardent gun-rightshe could find a path forward. "My goal has been to allow a full discussion and debate on universal background checks without forcing a committee to vote a bill out that it doesn't support," Ashe explained.

In recent weeks, according to all three, they'd reached a tentative deal to allow a vote on the Senate floor, though the bill's prospects of passage remained murky. Then, on Wednesday, February 14, a 19-year-old gunman burst into a Florida school and killed 17 people. The next day — just as police were arresting Sawyer in Fair Haven — Baruth exploded in an interview with Seven Days.

"We are doing jack shit about a problem that's every bit as pressing nationwide as the opioid epidemic," he said, nearly blowing up a deal he'd worked


the speaker noticed a text message from Gibbs, the governor's chief of staff. She asked Helm if she could make a call in his living room.

In their conversation, Gibbs told Johnson that police had arrested Sawyer and were just beginning to understand his plan for a mass shooting in the district Helm had represented for 27 years.

"[Gibbs] walked me through everything, and I'm just sitting in a 1970s easy chair listening to all the pieces of what unfolded," she said. "Bob's just sort of leaning up against the fridge, and the guys are cleaning up from dinner, and it was one of those things, like, 'Oh, God. I wonder if Bob knows this kid.'"

"I went back into the kitchen and said, 'Hey guys, you're going to want tohear this," she said.

Helm immediately texted the Fair Haven police chief to find out what he could. The longtime legislator didn't know Sawyer, but he was acquainted with the suspect's grandmother. Later, when he read the affidavit, Helm imagined the tragedy playing out in the halls of the high school from which he'd graduated decades earlier.

"It would have been a mess," he said, inhaling sharply. "Yeah, definitely they need some high security in that school and all schools in the state."

A life member of the NRA, Helm had previously opposed all forms of gun control. But now he was even considering supporting universal background checks.

"It's a different world than we had 20 years ago," he said. "And I guess guys like me have to start admitting to that


the moment came around 6 p.m. that Friday, nearly 24 hours after she'd heard the news from Gibbs. The speaker sat down on her couch and, for the first time, reviewed the pages of the affidavit the governor had studied that morning.

"I just read this young man's story, just crying," she said, tearing up again. "Because I saw all of these pieces of hunger, of being alone. You know, he talks about not having anything but crackers to eat."

Johnson took in Sawyer's tale, considered policy remedies, then emailed Krowinski and the rest of the House leadership team.

"Sobering does not begin to describe this affidavit. Hunger, poverty, mental illness, easy access to weapons, hopelessness, loneliness and anger conspired to create a narrowly avoided tragedy," Johnson wrote. "Hug the peopleHe urged his friends and his wife, Diana, to read the police document that had changed his mind so quickly.

"I wanted them to understand, and it always came back to, 'You need to read the affidavit,'" he said. "'You need to know how I'm feeling right now.'"

Not everyone in the governor's life saw it the way he did.

"I don't like to disappoint people, especially my friends and those who believe that they're doing the right thing — and I'm disappointing them," he said, noting that he's close to many gun-rights supporters. "And sometimes there's anger involved in those discussions."

At Scott's direction, Gibbs spent the weekend pulling together a list of policy options. "It was clear to me that he was going to not only welcome all ideas but


put some ideas on the table himself," Gibbs said.

Secretary of Human Services Al Gobeille had reacted skeptically to the governor's initial address. "When I heard 'do something' on Friday, I didn't know what that meant," he said. But when Scott convened his cabinet four days later, on Tuesday, February 20, it was clear that the governor was serious. "I knew something major was going to happen," Gobeille said.

Scott opened the discussion in his Statehouse office by asking his secretaries and commissioners what they thought he should do.

"I think he was using the cabinet as an opportunity to develop his thinking," said Secretary of Education Rebecca Holcombe. "There was a pretty diverse set of opinions. There are people who would have taken a more political approach, but the governorin that moment didn't take that path."

Unlike Gibbs and the rest of Scott's executive office staff — largely conservative politicos who worked on his campaign — the governor's cabinet is a heterogeneous mix of moderates, technocrats and even the occasional Democrat. Several have military backgrounds, some previously worked in law enforcement and most are parents.

"My kids are at U-32, and those events could have just as easily transpired at their school as at any other school in the state," Secretary of Natural Resources Julie Moore explained. "I think that just makes it much more real and raw for folks."

Moore, a Democrat, urged the governor to consider some of the bills the legislature was already debating, including ones that would mandate background checks and allow authorities to seize weapons


from those who pose a risk of violence.

Scott spent most of the meeting listening and asking questions, according to Secretary of Commerce Mike Schirling, but he did not appear interested in delaying action. "There was a clear sense of urgency," Schirling said.

When the meeting concluded, Scott asked Gibbs for a read on what the cabinet was prescribing. "I think they want us to be aggressive," his chief of staff responded.

"I agree," the governor said. "That's how I feel. Let's do all we can."

'Enough Is Enough'

click to enlarge Jeb Wallace-brodeur

Attorney General T.J. Donovan

As Scott's team pondered its options, Vermont Democrats were finding their footing in a changed landscape. The moment offered both risk and reward: Those who had long sought stricter gun laws suddenly had license from the governorsea on his metaphorical raft, Baruth said, it was like "having a wave come along and lift you to the shore."

Sears summoned his own nautical metaphor: "It's a sea change," he said. "This issue has roused the Vermont public in a way I haven't seen since civil unions."

Last Thursday — a week after Sawyer's arrest — middle and high school students flooded the Vermont Statehouse, some holding signs and many wearing black. Like their counterparts at the Florida school, whose advocacy had sparked a national debate over gun control, these young Vermonters had some demands for their elders.

But before holding their own press conference in the Cedar Creek Room, they listened attentively as the state's top Democrats and Progressives announced a unified strategy. Standing together at a podium,


allow for tragedies," Montpelier High School junior Nadia Scoppettone said.

Gabriel Groveman, an eighth grader at Twinfield Union School, told the crowd that, every month, he and his classmates had to practice "locking our doors, shutting off the lights and hiding silent in the corner" to evade a potential shooter. "I, for one, am tired of hiding silent in the corner," he said.

As the students spoke, Democratic and Republican legislative leaders filed into the governor's Statehouse office next door. There, Scott outlined his own policy plan, which Gibbs had prepared: a five-page memo that, in some ways, surpassed even what Democrats had offered.

In addition to supporting the two gun confiscation bills, the governor said he'd seek to ban bump stocks, which enable guns to fire faster, and raise thelegal age to buy firearms to 21. He requested $5 million for school security grants and said he'd directed his administration to conduct renewed security assessments at every Vermont school.

Scott's list, Ashe said, "was much broader than any of us had anticipated."

After briefing legislators, Scott held a press conference of his own to unveil the memo to the public. "I want to be clear: These are my recommendations," the governor said, as many of the students who'd just held their own press conference looked on. "But as I've said before ... I'm open to additional ideas and ongoing discussion."

He meant it. As Scott answered questions from the media, he appeared to sign on to two additional policies left unmentioned in the memo: He said he was "open" to


banning the sale of high-capacity magazines: "I don't know for myself personally that a 30-round magazine is something anyone needs." And he said he "would probably support" universal background checks if a bill such as Baruth's reached his desk.

"I've evolved on this," Scott explained. "Where I was a week or two ago has changed completely."

'We Will Remember in November'

click to enlarge Jeb Wallace-brodeur

President of Gun Owners of Vermont, Ed Cutler

As gun-control activists celebrated Scott's "evolution," gun-rights groups were preparing for war, by signing up new members and charting strategies to halt the legislation.

"When Phil was running for governor, he came out seeking our endorsement," said Gun Owners of Vermont president Ed Cutler. "Since he has been governor, he has completely ignored us — and we will remember inlife in this country is steadily falling in a lot of ways. The
things that people used to believe made this country great (e.g. the first
half of the 20th century) are today historical anomalies, completely foreign
to the ages that came before and after.

The age of American exceptionalism is over and it's turning into just another
place where everyone's backward and suffering.

~~~
eli_gottlieb
"The things that people used to believe made this country great" mostly took
place in the _second_ half of the 20th century, in the post-war boom period.

Look, all across Europe there are economic problems, but America (and to a
lesser extent the UK) is the only country that's actually just scrapping large
parts of its own landmass into Third World substates.

------
valdiorn
As a non-american I cannot understand why debt would hurt your job prospects.
Can