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San Diego Zoo Global Celebrates 50 Years of Cocha Cashu
San Diego, California - For 50 years, the staff at Cocha Cashu Biological Station in Peru has been working to protect an irreplaceable ecosystem in the heart of Peru's Manu National Park, a landscape critical for sustaining global biodiversity and preventing mass extinction.
The 4.2 million-acre national park in the southeastern Peruvian Amazon encompasses the entire Manu River watershed from the Andes mountains to the lowland Amazonian rain forest. Considered to be one of the most pristine ecosystems on the planet, Cocha Cashu is recognized as a World Heritage Site and is protected as one of the most biodiverse lowland tropical forests in the world. The national park is home to more than 1,000 bird species, 1,300 butterfly species, 150 species of amphibians, 130 species of reptiles, 228 species of mammals and over 210 species of fish. The only human inhabitants of the region are members of the indigenous Machiguenga tribe and five other tribes.
"San Diego Zoo Global is honored to be entrusted by the Peruvian Service for Protected Natural Areas (SERNANP) to manage and carry forward the legacy of Cocha Cashu," stated Ron Swaisgood, Ph.D., Brown endowed director of Recovery Ecology at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, who serves as general scientific director of Cocha Cashu Biological Station. "This year, we welcome the local and international communities to join us in celebrating the past 50 years of invaluable tropical research and capacity building, and helping us to envision an even more successful next half century. In a world rapidly changing due to human impact, it is a unique opportunity to have a place like Cocha Cashu, where we can come and understand nature as it should be."
For over three decades, the field station was operated under the auspices of the Peruvian government by John Terborgh, professor of environmental science at Duke University, an eminent authority on tropical ecology. Today, Cocha Cashu is jointly managed by SERNANP and San Diego Zoo Global, with the shared goal of maintaining the station's legacy as a premier site for tropical research, while also expanding the station's mission to build conservation capacity in Peru, better integrate local communities and wider society, and address Manu Park management objectives and conservation priorities.
Throughout 2019, Cocha Cashu and San Diego Zoo Global will be celebrating the station's 50th anniversary at the local, national and international level with a series of events to recognize the achievements of the Cocha Cashu community while highlighting current activities, planning for the future and encouraging further research at the station.
Cocha Cashu offers unrivaled opportunities to study the workings of nature largely undisturbed by humans, providing critical insights into the biodiversity and processes of an intact rain forest with healthy populations of ecologically important or endangered species, such as spider monkeys, white-lipped peccaries, giant otters, tapirs and jaguars.
In the past five decades, Cocha Cashu has hosted more than 200 researchers; and since 2013, more than 60 students have come to train in tropical ecology. Several generations of Peruvian academics and conservationists have been educated along its trails and wetlands, sharing a unique life experience with leading researchers and their assistants.
A key mission of SERNANP and San Diego Zoo Global at Cocha Cashu is not only to conduct high-level scientific research, but also to serve as a model for research stations in engagement and integration with local people, the academic community, governmental institutions and the wider society.
For more information on the work being done at Cocha Cashu, visit cochacashu.sandiegozooglobal.org.
As an international nonprofit organization, San Diego Zoo Global works to fight extinction through conservation efforts for plants and animals worldwide. With a history of leadership in species recovery and animal care, San Diego Zoo Global works with partners in science-based field programs on six continents, and maintains sanctuaries and public education facilities in many places. Inspiring a passion for nature is critical to saving species, and San Diego Zoo Global's outreach efforts share the wonder of wildlife with millions of people every year. Current major conservation initiatives include fighting wildlife trafficking and the impacts of climate change on wildlife species; broad-spectrum species and habitat protection efforts in Kenya, in Peru and on islands worldwide; preventing extinction in our own backyard; and expanding efforts to bank critical genetic resources and apply them to the conservation of critically endangered species. To learn more, visit sandiegozooglobal.org


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Artist: John Edginton
Title: Interview
Author: Lisa Torem
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"Look through any window/Yeah, what do you see?", a memorable line from a catchy pop tune by the Hollies, succinctly sums up the aching curiosity felt after viewing UK director and documentary maker John Edginton's film screening of 'I Often Dream of Trains in New York'.
The second annual Chicago International Movies and Music Festival, March 5 (Cimmfest.org) sponsored the event and the featured subject of this film, UK's indie singer -songwriter Robyn Hitchcock, along with Edginton, fielded questions regarding the making of the film, from an enthused crowd. But, though the Q & A resulted in answers to some fundamental questions, a host of back-story details remained unexamined.
The kind Mr. Edginton offered me an interview immediately – something rare in today's society – but I declined, assuming he had already put in a full-day of hobnobbing and networking. But, we spoke early the following week. Then, he cracked open that creaking window and shed rare light on the fascinating mind of the visual artist.
Though he has also probed a variety of controversial non-artistic topics, Edginton (Otmooorproductions.com) is not a fledgling in the field of music documentaries. In 2001 he directed 'The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story' providing an in-depth look at the psychedelia and genius of the world famous band and founding member, Syd Barrett, whose unfortunate brush with drugs and mental illness, left a permanent and heart-breaking stain on the fabric of this classic, cutting-edge band.
Edginton went on to chronicle Hitchcock's muse in both 'Trains' and 2007's 'Sex Food Death…and Insects' (which explored Hitchcock's whimsical tracks from the album 'Ole! Tarantula.')
Peter Buck (REM), Scott McCaughey (REM, Minus 5), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and Nick Lowe, are among the closely- knit group of performers who attempt to define Hitchcock's unprecedented lyricism. This work, in addition, features Hitchcock's song: 'NY Doll', a tribute to the New York Dolls' late bassist Arthur Kane, and a riveting rooftop performance.
John Edginton's perseverance shines through during our phone conversation from New York (He shuttles back and forth between the UK and the States frequently). What he captures during each of his films is magical and introspective – he chooses his themes and subjects with great care – but, what's more intriguing is how, through extensive research and open-minded enthusiasm, he wipes clean the soot and inpenetrable fog that obscures our vision, to serve- up startling clarity to our lives.
PB: How long have you been working in film?
JE: 25 years.
PB: Where are you originally from?
JE: I'm from England. I was born in Derbyshire, which is sort of in the middle of England. I've lived most of my life around the south of London. I'm basically from Oxford at the moment.
PB: What prompted you to first get involved in film?
JE: It was a complete accident. I was a journalist. I got involved in film through developing stories which became a television series for Channel 4 in the early 80s. It turned out the television series was going to be a series of documentaries. I didn't know anything about film at all. I was teamed up with a director and a producer and I learned pretty fast. It was a sort of ordeal by fire.
PB: One thing that struck me while looking through your body of work was the documentary 'Jewish Law.' I was intrigued by that because, sometimes I think people think Americans speak very freely about religion, but I don't find that to be true. I've actually witnessed people in other countries speaking more candidly and freely about it. Were you hoping that this doc would create a dialogue amongst people of different faiths and that they would discover some kind of universality?
JE: Yes. Actually, I made another film about Jewish divorce which is quite a controversial film, but it's getting accepted into quite a number of film festivals and I expect it will encourage quite a bit of debate.
(You can watch it on-line at http://www.channel4.com/programmes/revelations/episode-guide/series-6/episode-1-Ed)
I made a number of films about Martin Luther King many years ago. One was about the assassination of Martin Luther King. I had sort of an interest in religion and ethics, and 'Jewish Law' came about.
If you make documentaries, it's about how to get yourself funded from one year to the next. One of the ways to get funding through the UK is obviously through television.It's the primary way of funding. Virtually, everything I do is funded, either partially or fully, by television.The Robyn Hitchcock films were funded by the Sundance Channel in the US.
So, I was exploring ideas with the commissioning editor at Channel 4. That series idea came about because of…I always thought it was interesting to look at communities and subjects – they're not always easily accessible – the kind of world which you don't normally see. The best kinds of documentaries take you into a world that you have no idea exists.
And so, 'Jewish Law' was kind of going into the Orthodox Jewish world and opening up and showing that it's an amazing, rich fascinating world.
PB: Let's talk about the project you did with Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett. Did you have a hypothesis about how you thought the members of the band would feel about discussing Syd Barrett? Were you initially completely open-minded about the outcome or did you change your outlook during the process?
JE: Most people originally told me that I would never get information from Pink Floyd about Syd Barrett. The time that I started to do this – which was about ten years ago – the two main protagonists of Pink Floyd – Roger Waters and David Gilmour – weren't talking to each other and hadn't been for fifteen years or so. They were at loggerheads and they never did anything together.
So, I went into it with considerable intrepidity. But, it was a challenge, you know. This is their kind of legacy in a way. Syd Barrett wrote the first album completely. He was the leader of Pink Floyd, and when he left the band, he became their conscience. They felt guilty about him. They were troubled about what happened to him and he became the subject of their subsequent albums like 'Wish You Were Here', 'The Dark Side of the Moon' and 'The Wall.' They were all about his break-down; the themes of the songs.
Anyway, I set about it not knowing what would happen. But, I thought the way to approach it was, honestly, to approach Syd and his family. He was alive at that point and so I met his sister who probably was the only family member who saw him on a regular basis.
She went to see him every day. She was sort of a carer in a way. She was very nice, but extremely determined that I shouldn't make the film.
Initially, it took a lot of persuading, a lot of confidence in me. She didn't trust journalists. They'd also been sniffing around his garbage cans. Paparazzi would take photographs of him and this sort of thing. They didn't trust journalists, especially didn't trust me.
After a lot of discussion and talk about it, she finally came through to the realization that the film could be a celebration of Syd's life.
PB: Did you feel like it was as well?
JE: Absolutely, that was my intention. It wasn't an attempt to get into an investigation or anything like that. I didn't want to show him as he is now. I wanted to celebrate his work and his legacy. Just to be an artist's project – not an investigative film. When she came on board, that immediately triggered the thought of David Gilmour, because I then approached him and he contacted her and she said, "We're behind this."
So, he said he would do an interview, and, then, it turned out, Roger Waters wanted to do one, too. It may have been that he didn't want to be left out. But, the result was, in the end, they all took part.
PB: At that time, did you know Robyn Hitchcock, fairly well? I know he sang some tributes…
JE: No, I didn't know him at all, actually. Personally, I knew his work. No, that was the first time I met him. You know, Robyn Hitchcock being heavily influenced by Syd? In fact, he said, at one point, that he thought he was Syd.
Robyn was wandering around Cambridge. I think he was knocking on Syd's door, and identified with him very strongly. The thing is, Robyn's songs – they kind of do similar things that Syd's songs do.
They're very close to the bone sometimes. They're sort of emotionally fragile.
PB: When you consider a subject for a documentary, John, it's a huge leap of faith: financially, personally and emotionally, as opposed to a scripted work. So, do you deal with each project with some intrepidity?
JE: Well, the element of unpredictability is what makes it exciting.
PB: Ah, I see.
JE: The old-fashioned school of documentary making was all about getting something planned and almost scripted. They would set up scenes and they would do them over and over again. They would try to make sure they knew what people were going to say before they said it. Do you know what I mean?
PB: I believe so.
JE: They were scripted and they were almost coaxed into saying what they wanted them to say. It exists still in the BBC. But the thing that excites me about it is when you get into the situation in which you have – you start out at the beginning of the day and you say, this is what people will say and you're constantly surprised and sometimes it's a disaster - and sometimes it's absolutely brilliant.
PB: And you like that?
JE: Yeah. A little bit. The thing about it now is that it's not quite as risk-taking. Twenty years ago everything was filmed on 16mm film. People didn't shoot documentaries on video tapes. So, twenty years ago, you set out with a number of rolls of expensive film – every roll of film lasted ten minutes and it cost at least 100 dollars, more like 200 dollars, just to shoot ten minutes of film, just for the actual film stock. It was a risk – it was unpredictable. But great music documentaries like Dylan's 'Don't Look Back' and 'Gimme Shelter' – they were shot like that. They were filmed by people with little 16mm cameras shooting yards and yards of film (laughs). They had no idea what was going to happen.
That's why they made such great films, I think. But, now, it's safer, because tape is cheap. Now, it really doesn't matter, the cost.
PB: Would you consider doing an updated film on Pink Floyd's reaction to Syd Barrett?
JE: I'm certainly considering updating that film for a new DVD release at some point. The DVD's gone through somewhat checkered periods. The original distributors went bankrupt. It's now been taken over by a company called Eagle Rock. I've been talking to them about possibly updating it, including some new material, because it was made before Syd died.
So, I think it's important to bring that up to date. There was a lot of stuff that could have come into the documentary that didn't. We were restricted into making it into a one-hour slot for the BBC at that time. Now, it can be any length really. I don't know about interviewing members of Pink Floyd – maybe. Richard Wright is dead too.
PB: I know you've been drawn to the subject of mental illness; the scandal at Chelmsford, was one example. Do you have any theories regarding genius and mental illness?
(Twenty-six patients died at Australia's Chelmsford Private Hospital during the 1960s and 1970s 'Deep Sleep Therapy' refers to subjecting mental patients to long periods of barbiturate –induced comas)
JE: I'm interested in mental illness partly because of experience in my family. I'm kind of interested in it as a subject; the causes and what the treatments are. 'Deep Sleep' was about the arrogance of a psychiatrist who caused the deaths of a lot of people through an untried therapy. I made a film 'Hearing Voices' which was about the experience of people who hear voices.
The 'Syd' story? I actually started thinking about doing a film about LSD and mental illness.
PB: That would be fascinating.
JE: I thought about it. I thought, maybe do it and tell it through the experience of someone like Syd Barrett, and that way, try to bring out the issues and the tragedy of it.
PB: So do you think that's what happened to Syd, the LSD?
JE: I think so, yeah. There's a story in the film that he changed completely over one weekend. I am not sure if it all happened in one weekend, but he was expected for a BBC radio recording and he didn't turn up. At the end of the weekend, he was in a catatonic state. He was living in a house full of people taking LSD and he took it all the time, without really recognizing there could be consequences.
PB: I know you worked with Robyn on two documentaries; he played with the Venus 3 and with Terry and Tim. Did you forsee a different dynamic for each of those films?
JE: The first one – talking about taking a risk and plunging in – I'd been talking to the Sundance Channel and BBC about making the music documentary and they kept saying, "Maybe maybe."
I had various ideas and various names. Nothing was coming off and I had lunch with Robyn one day, in London. He told me that in about a week's time, his house was going to be full of musicians, for a week or so; he was going to have a recording unit set up in the kitchen. They were going to make a record in his house and it's a very small cottage-y west London house.
And I thought, this could be fascinating. And, then he told me who was going to come: half of REM, John Paul Jones was going to drop in and that sort of thing and I said, "I think I'm just going to have to film this" and he said, "Yeah, I think you probably are," not knowing what this would lead to.
So, I filmed it for five days and it did trigger the Sundance Channel and BBC kind of saying: "Ooh, yeah. This is great, you know?"
Sundance Channel funded it in the end and what I wanted to do was then go on tour with them, which we did, in the States, about a month later. That was really when the money had to start flowing. But, they backed it. That was very fortunate. BBC4 then came in as well.
(The full documentary with extras, 'Robyn Hitchcock :Sex Food Death…and Insects', is now on DVD).
My intention was to get into Robyn's world, the process of songwriting. He was just making up songs on a daily basis, sort of developing them with a band as he went along.
He said, "I don't even know what some of this stuff is. I just started singing it" – very much off the cuff.
Some extraordinary music developed from that. It's all on his new record 'Propeller Time.' All those tracks were tracks from that first film: 'Sex, Food Death…and Insects,' and the second one, 'I Often Dream of Trains.'
PB: Where was 'Trains' filmed?
JE: Robyn had been on a tour of the States and he was on the train from Boston to New York. He had been in Boston the night before.
PB: I liked how you approached those scenes on the train. They flowed so well.
JE: Thank you.
PB: Who will be most affected by 'Trains?' The die-hard fans; the fanatics that I see everywhere he plays?
JE: I would like to attract people who don't know who he is. This is interesting. The film was shown in a festival in London: 'The Raindance Festival' in October, in a West End Cinema. It was sold out. Then, they had the second screening and what was interesting about it was, a number of people came who didn't know who he was, but they had passes for the festival.
So, they were discovering Robyn for the first time and people seemed to really, really enjoy it. "Oh, my goodness me, this guy's been around for 30 years and I've never heard about him." He's one of those people who has been a cult figure that nobody's heard of in the UK. He's a bigger name here in the US than in the UK.
PB: Interesting, isn't it? Do you notice any cultural differences between how British and American audiences react to Robyn's humour?
JE: Americans might react more to the Englishness and a kind of whimsy, whereas the British are more used to that maybe. In terms of his stage shows, you either love it or hate it. (Laughs). Some people just can't take it at all.
PB: Why?
JE: Ramblings.
PB: They can't take the ramblings?
JE: You have to have a sort of kind of sense of humour yourself in the audience, don't you? To get it? Otherwise, you just think this guy's rambling off his head.
Some nights people are absolutely hysterical. Other nights, they're just sitting there not laughing, and you say, what is it? Some sort of atmosphere in the audience? They either get it or they don't. I don't know.
PB: Even in the States you would get those differences – maybe club to club.
JE: I think it's the songs.I'm always amazed that there are so many young people. You can go to a concert and see Robyn in Brooklyn and half the people are under 30. They know his songs. They know them.
PB: Are you both mavericks in the way that you're not going for the most commercially viable product? You go for the real depth of what you're looking for?
JE: Robyn and I don't set out to make money, though, we hope we do on this one. I think we both kind of – our work is really to get satisfaction from creating something good. We enjoy the responses when it gives something to the audience, and as for the commercial side?
The funny thing I found in filmmaking is that the films that you least expect to make any money at all are the ones that sometimes do. If you set out to make money, it never works.
PB: Who are your favourite filmmakers?
JE: Well, I love documentaries, obviously. Those films I mentioned and the D.A .Pennebaker films of the 60s like 'Don't Look Back,' the Maysles Brothers – those great American documentary makers that kind of pioneered that kind of "fly on the wall" – not just someone sitting someone in front of the camera, but traveling into their world.
The whole thing about 'Don't Look Back' is that it's really probably the first film documentray that ever attempted to get behind the scenes and inside the head of somebody, into traveling around on tour and the performances are almost secondary.
It's what goes on in hotel rooms that's much more interesting, that kind of approach in a way. I tried to adopt that approach with Robyn.
PB: How did you make choices about the shots in terms of who is telling the story, or do you determine that during the editing?
JE: You carry it in your head; the sense of what the look and feel of a film is. You have to start out with the style of the approach. What I tend to do is combine observing what's going on without intervening and mixing that with attempting to go deeper by interviewing.
So, Robyn will be creating and making songs and I will spend hours filming what's going on between the groups of people, and then at a later time, I'll sit down and look at all that material and think about it. Well, what is it behind all this? What's motivating him?
One of the things I'm interested in is; what was the thought behind his humour? What makes him, shall we say, whimsical? And I began to think that it's maybe a kind of defense against revealing too much of his inner world, because there's a lot of darkness in his songs, as well.
I decided that I wanted to get to the heart of that and bring it out. At one point, I sat him down and had an interview about it. At that time, we hadn't been that close, but he is somebody who – he kind of jokes about things - but it's a very dark place.
PB: Last question. Do you think you'll film Robyn again?
JE: I should never say never, should I? I would probably say, probably not, because one has to move on, and we made two films about him.
There are a lot of other people in the world, a lot of wonderful subjects. He's such an irrepressible person, and I continue to see him. He's a friend, you know (Laughs). Who knows?
PB: Thank you, John.
Special thanks to Pennyblackmusic writer Jon Rogers for help and information on Syd Barrett.
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Kentucky Downs to Offer $8.4 Million, Two New Graded Stakes
There are two new graded-stakes races and a record $8.4 million in purses and supplemental Kentucky-bred monies to be offered at Kentucky Downs during its five-day, all-turf season Sept. 2 – 14.
With the $400,000 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint and $350,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf enjoying grade III status for the first time, three of the track's 13 stakes are now graded. The stakes duo joins the Grade III, $600,000 Calumet Farm Kentucky Turf Cup.
This year, Kentucky Downs and Belmont Park were the only tracks to gain more than one newly-graded stakes race.
Purses will average in excess of $1.68 million a day — tops in the country. Even horses that aren't registered Kentucky-breds will compete for some of the biggest pots in the country.
Kentucky Downs 2017 condition book
The mushrooming of purses is fueled by what horsemen earn through historical horse racing, an innovative pari-mutuel technology that allows patrons to bet on previously-run races for a different type of wagering experience.
"By working with our horsemen and embracing historical horse racing, Kentucky Downs is able to offer unprecedented purses. The owners and trainers have responded and now we're getting over the hump to attract graded status for our stakes," said Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs' senior vice president and general manager. "Success will breed success, we believe exponentially. Additional graded stakes are so important, because that provides trainers from across the country more reasons to come for a short meet. And as they make plans for their Kentucky Downs' contingent, we encourage them to put additional horses on the flight or van to go after our $130,000 maiden races, with allowance races $140,000 and $145,000 offered for Kentucky-breds, which comprise the vast majority of our horses.
"We want to be the prototype, to demonstrate how historical horse racing can be a game-changer for the good as an alternative gambling opportunity based on horse racing and which intrinsically is our product."
The 1 1/2-mile Calumet Farm Kentucky Turf Cup, for which Skychai Racing's Da Big Hoss is the two-time defending champion, will be conducted on the same card on Sept. 9, as the 6 1/2-furlong Turf Sprint, one-mile Ladies Turf and $350,000 Ladies Sprint at 6 1/2 furlongs. The Turf Sprint received a $50,000 purse hike over 2016.
Kentucky Downs added a 3-year-old stakes: the $250,000 Franklin-Simpson to be held at seven-eighths of a mile on Thursday, Sept. 14, which is closing day.
Two stakes have new names paying tribute to past winners. The $400,000 Tourist Mile, formerly the More Than Ready Mile, honors WinStar Farm's winner of the 2016 Breeders' Cup Mile, Eclipse Award finalist and current WinStar stallion. Tourist won the stakes now bearing his name in 2015 off a 10-month layoff.
The 1 5/16-mile stakes for fillies and mares formerly known as the Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon now is the $350,000 Ramsey Farm Stakes, recognizing the track and Kentucky's all-time winningest owner in Ken and Sarah Ramsey's Nicholasville farm. The Ramseys won the stakes last year with Al's Gal, who in her next start captured Woodbine's Grade 1 E.P. Taylor. The Ramsey Farm also is on the closing card.
The Tourist Mile has been moved to Saturday, Sept. 2, which features a stakes quartet on the opening card. Also that day: The $350,000 Kentucky Downs Juvenile, $350,000 Exacta Systems Juvenile Fillies and $150,000 One Dreamer for fillies and mares.
Kentucky Downs is staging two additional $75,000 starter-allowance races for a total of four on Sunday, Sept. 10 that will serve as automatic qualifying races for the Claiming Crown in December at Gulfstream.
The Claiming Crown, which totaled $1.1 million in purses last year, serves as a Breeders' Cup-style championship for claiming horses — the work horses of American racing.
The new Claiming Crown Canterbury Stakes Prep at Kentucky Downs, at 6 1/2 furlongs, will be for 3-year-olds and older horses that have raced for a claiming price of $25,000 or less since Jan. 1, 2016. The Claiming Crown Distaff Dash Stakes Prep at Kentucky Downs is the filly and mare counterpart. Also back for the second year are the Claiming Crown Emerald Stakes Prep at Kentucky Downs and Claiming Crown Tiara Prep at Kentucky Downs, both a mile and 70 yards.
Winners of the qualifying races are guaranteed a spot in the corresponding Claiming Crown race, with Kentucky Downs providing a shipping stipend of up to $1,000 and the $100 nomination fee.
"We are putting out our stakes schedule and condition book 4 1/2 months in advance to give horsemen plenty of time to chart out their summer and fall schedule," said racing secretary Tyler Picklesimer. "We constantly work to improve our entire racing program in order to attract horses and horsemen from across the country and even overseas. We also appreciate that our bread and butter is the Kentucky horsemen, who have consistently proven that their horses hold their own no matter who shows up.
"Our Claiming Crown qualifiers provide big-money steppingstones to the championship for our blue-collar horses, allowing those owners and trainers their own day in the spotlight."
Kentucky Downs 2017 stakes, including KTDF supplements for Kentucky-breds:
Saturday, Sept. 2 — $350,000 Exacta Systems Juvenile Fillies, 2yo fillies, 7 furlongs; $350,000 Kentucky Downs Juvenile, 2yos, 7 furlongs; $400,000 Tourist Mile, 3-year-olds & up, mile; $150,000 One Dreamer, fillies & mares 3 years old & up, mile and 70 yards.
Thursday, Sept. 7 — $150,000 The Old Friends Stakes, 3-year-olds & up, mile and 70 yards.
Saturday, Sept. 9 — $350,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf (G3), fillies & mares 3 years old & up, mile; $400,000 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint (G3), 3-year-olds & up, 6 1/2 furlongs; $600,000 Calumet Farm Kentucky Turf Cup (G3), 3-year-olds & up, 1 1/2 miles; $350,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint, fillies & mares 3 years old & up, 6 1/2 furlongs.
Sunday, Sept. 10 — $350,000 Exacta Systems Dueling Grounds Derby, 3-year-olds, 1 5/16 miles; $200,000 Dueling Grounds Oaks, 3-year-old fillies, 1 5/16 miles.
Thursday, Sept. 14 — $350,000 Ramsey Farm, fillies & mares 3 years old & up, 1 5/16 miles; $250,000 Franklin-Simpson, 3-year-olds, 7 furlongs.
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Kentucky Downs
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2021.01.09 What is working?
Populations differ very much on what they think work is all about.
It can be no surprise to anybody moving to another country that the labor market is different from what they have been used to.
It has to be: each country writes its own laws. Also those governing labor.
But differences in how the labor market works is about way more than laws. It is just as much about attitude.
This can be concluded based on the Meaning of Work Studies. These are bodies of research where lots of people from different countries have been asked a number of questions about what work means to them.
And populations differ tremendously in how they see their work roles. In some countries "a way to make money" is overwhelmingly the primary reason to work. In other countries "a way to contribute to society" comes first. Some look at work from the collaborative and social perspective: "to get results together" or "to make friends". Some are more negative - it's called work for a reason you know...
So where do you see yourself among all these different attitudes?
No, you don't have to answer.
But it is a good exercise; not only considering how one feels about working but especially how one feels about the work one's employees do.
Are they made to feel that they contribute to society? Or should they be grateful that they get paid at all?
When you look at many labor practices (even in the supposedly left leaning California) like lack of rights to paid vacation; lack of parental leave; excessive use of contractors; arbitration clauses in employment contracts; rampant gender, age, and racial discrimination; discretely coerced non-paid overtime; on and on and on... it is obvious that hired hands are more often considered a necessary nuisance than full partners in the company/employee relationship.
It is not all because of evil company executives: When German auto manufacturers wanted to copy their labor relations system to their American plants, they were in no uncertain terms told to forget about it by the local politicians and employer associations. No Betribsrats here, please.
And this is where I can't help wonder how America got to this almost hostile attitude towards its work force?
After witnessing Trump-supporters invade Congress, Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, said: "This is what happens when we subordinate our moral principles for what we perceive to be business interests...It is ultimately bad for business and bad for society."
I believe Walker talked about how business leaders, by kowtowing to the president for four years regardless of his immoral antics, left him thinking that he could get away with anything, including sedition.
But Walker could just as well have been talking about how some American workers - for 50 years subjects to outsourcing, hostile takeovers, phony leveraged buy-out bankruptcies, automation, increasing inequality - became susceptible to a fascist demagogue.
‹ 2020.08.12 Getting Profiled up
2018, other posts
2018.04.23 The US DK Culture Gap
2020.01.22 Getting involved
2020.02.09 Rattlesnake Tree
2020.03.05 Crisis Collaboration
2020.04.24 Sheltering in a thousand pieces.
2020.05.04 Homeland Security?
2020.07.27 Your place in BLM?
2020.08.12 Getting Profiled


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Elmer Wachtel was born in Baltimore, Maryland on January 21, 1864. When Elmer was quite young, the Wachtel family moved to Lanark, Illinois where he taught himself to play the violin. At age 18, he moved to San Gabriel, California where his brother had married a sister of artist Guy Rose and was managing the Rose ranch. He continued to play the violin and in 1888 became first violinist of the Philharmonic Orchestra. During this period his talent in drawing and painting began to emerge and in 1900 had saved enough money to study for one year at the Art Students League under William Merritt Chase and in London at the Lambeth School. Returning to California, he lived in Los Angeles where he continued to paint. By 1903 his reputation as a painter was such that artist William Keith sent him one of his young pupils. It was Marion Kavanagh, whom he married in 1904. They built their home in the Arroyo Seco of Pasadena. The Wachtels traveled all around Southern California in a specially designed motorcar built to accommodate their artistic needs. They painted and exhibited together until his sudden death on August 31, 1929. Elmer's early works were in dark and moody tones whereas, his palette later lightened and his works became more decorative. Today, Elmer Wachtel is considered one of Southern California's most important painters.
Biography courtesy of DeRu's Fine Arts, www.antiquesandfineart.com/derus
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The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was also a scientist, and could be considered the world's first natural historian.
Illustration by Universal History Archive/Getty Images
Aristotle Said Blondes Have Better Sex, New Book Reveals
The Greek philosopher and scientist wrote extensively about sex, both animal and human.
BySimon Worrallfor National Geographic
What is life? What is a soul? These are some of the questions Greek philosopher Aristotle asked. And we're still asking them today.
Aristotle also could be considered the world's first natural historian. Acclaimed biologist Armand Marie Leroi, in his new book, The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science, follows in Aristotle's footsteps to the Greek island of Lesbos, where Aristotle—the man Plato called "the foal"—did much of his hands-on research.
Speaking from his home in London, the author describes how a chance encounter in an Athens bookshop led him on a journey of discovery, why it's important to get your hands dirty if you want to understand the world, and why, among other things, Aristotle thought blondes have the best orgasms.
Your book begins with a childhood memory. Take us back there.
When I was 11 or so, I became interested in seashells. I was living in South Africa at the time, and I discovered in the garage an old flight bag full of seashells, which my parents had picked up. It became a nucleus of a shell collection. There was one shell in particular, which my parents had bought on their honeymoon in the Mediterranean. It was a trumpet shell, a very beautiful thing, and I pinched that too [Laughs]. I was going to be the world's most famous malacologist: a snail biologist. I never became a malacologist. But I did become a biologist. And that's where it began.
Thirty years later, long after I'd put away my shells, I walked into a bookshop in Athens and discovered a book called Historia Animalium, by Aristotle. I wasn't at all interested in Aristotle or philosophy. I was a biologist. But the title attracted me. So I took it down and started reading. There was Aristotle, this guy who had died 2,300 years ago, describing my shell. And I understood exactly what he was saying.
You imagine at one point Aristotle "breakfasting on figs and honey." What do we know about Aristotle, the man?
Remarkably little. Aristotle leaves behind several thousand pages of work, but none of it autobiographical. What we have in terms of autobiography is hearsay—stories related by later philosophers, typically written several centuries after his death. You can try to winnow out some truth from them but it's very hard because they often come from competing philosophical schools, and so they're notoriously unreliable.
We do have a description of him, and it's not a very attractive one. He's got bandy legs and small eyes. He also seems to have been a bit of a dandy, who fussed around with his hair. But once again it's not clear whether this is an accurate description—or a hostile one. It's certainly written by someone several centuries after Aristotle died, in 322 B.C.
The most immediate document we have is a reproduction of his will. Here we have a sense of Aristotle, the man. He speaks, for example, of how he'd like to be buried next to Pythias, his first wife, because that's what she would have wanted. She was young when Aristotle married her—he was around the age of 37. So we have a sense that he loved her very much.
Both Plato and Aristotle taught at an academy in Piraeus, the port area of Athens.
You give a wonderful description of the academy in ancient Athens where Aristotle and Plato lectured. Give us a virtual tour.
The academy was in Piraeus, the port area of Athens. There's not much left of it now, just some rocks and a dusty field with some trees. In its day it was something like a philosophical club. Not a university but a group of friends, with some sort of hierarchy. Clearly, Plato is at the top. There are other, young teachers sitting about, arguing and quarreling, but in a friendly spirit.
What makes Plato's academy special is that although it seems to be one of several different schools in Athens, Plato didn't charge for admission. He's reasonably well off, and it's clear that the academy is infused with his purpose, which is the pursuit of philosophical truth. The schools that the Sophists ran were all about teaching young men how to speak well, and get on in life. In modern parlance, you went to Plato for a Ph.D. and to the Sophists for an MBA.
There was lots of competition between Plato and Aristotle, wasn't there?
There's quite a bit of competition. Aristotle is 17 years old when he comes to the academy. It's clear he must be very bright because he quickly becomes known as "the reader." Sometimes he's also called the brains of the school.
Later on, as Aristotle gets older and more confident, Plato refers to him as the foal, by which he means Aristotle kicks his mother, as a foal kicks his dam. In other words, he's an ungrateful recipient of the good things his forebears were giving him.
Disputes were inevitable. We have two of the greatest thinkers of all time right next to each other, and they will turn out to have very different views of the world, even though their views are also deeply intertwined, as pupil and teacher must be. When Plato dies, Aristotle is 37, and right around then he leaves the academy and strikes out on his own.
This is a scholarly work. It's also a travelogue and a memoir. Tell us about the lagoon.
When we imagine a typical Greek island, like in the Cyclades, we think of a bare rock with some whitewashed houses on it. Lesbos is not like that. It's a large, ramshackle, agricultural island. Half of it is quite dry, half of it is wonderfully forested, with rivers and meadows and wildflowers. It's also a resting place for millions of migratory birds that go between Africa and the north every year. So there's lots of nature.
Bisecting this beautiful island is a lagoon 13 miles long, 6 miles wide, and 30 feet deep. It turns out to be one of the richest bodies of water in the Aegean, the nursery ground for the local fish. There are sardines and cuttlefish—all the creatures Aristotle describes. We have no definitive proof, but it seems likely that his descriptions of the lagoon are the oldest descriptions of any natural place in the world.
If you go down to the lagoon today, you'll see a series of little fishing villages. Some of them were bigger in Aristotle's time. They use little boats called trehantiri. In Aristotle's time they would have had sails instead of motors. But the designs aren't terribly different, and the techniques by which they fished aren't very different. For example, every year the fishermen throw bundles of branches into the water for the cuttlefish to lay their eggs on to ensure a good crop the following year. And this is exactly what Aristotle described 23 centuries ago!
Aristotle did much of his research about the natural world on the Greek island of Lesbos.
Aristotle described about 500 creatures in his immediate environment. He also described animals he could not have seen, like the elephant and the lion. How did he get his information?
Aristotle never left the Aegean, but he describes a lot of exotica, like African and Asian animals. How did he know all this? There's a wonderful story by Pliny—that Alexander the Great ordered all the commanders in his army, throughout Asia Minor, to send Aristotle specimens of the creatures they encountered. Why would he do this? Because Aristotle taught the young Macedon prince who would go on to become Alexander the Great. According to Pliny, this is the homage of the young general to his much-loved teacher.
It's a wonderful story. And I think it's almost certainly a myth, because so much of what Aristotle says about exotic creatures is dodgy. When he talks about Greek animals—a cuttlefish, for example—he speaks about them in such detail and with such accuracy that you get a sense that he actually saw the thing, and even cut it up. He did a lot of dissection.
But as soon as he starts talking about exotica, it all becomes much vaguer. He knows a lot about elephants, but he thinks they're semiaquatic. That's not entirely wrong. Elephants do like mucking about in water. But he's unsure as to how bendy their legs are. That later gave rise to a myth that elephants couldn't bend their legs and slept upright.
As well as following in Aristotle's footsteps, you did lots of hands-on research, observing and even dissecting the creatures Aristotle studied. Tell us about the soul of a cuttlefish.
[Laughs] So what is the soul of the cuttlefish? The first thing that's remarkable about Aristotle is that you can take a cuttlefish from the lagoon and pretty much dissect it following his instructions. I did this myself. It's the only way to see what he's doing.
If I've made any contribution toward the study of Aristotle, it's in doing things like this. Philosophers love to study these things in the privacy of their studies or libraries. Many of them don't even bother to go to Greece let alone look at the cuttlefish Aristotle describes. They know their Aristotle, they know their Greek—bless them. But you have to wonder: Don't you think you should go out and get your hands a bit dirty, in order to see what he was actually looking at?
You're an evolutionary biologist. Aristotle also explored evolution. To what extent did he prefigure Darwin?
He prefigures Darwin in many different ways, except the one way that really matters. That is to say, he doesn't get to evolution. I know that sounds paradoxical. Like Darwin, he looks at the world like an architect or an engineer. He looks at biological creatures and asks: What are they for, and what are their parts for? For example, he analyzes the diversity of birds—their beaks, their legs, and so on, in terms of their function and their fitness to the environment. What we would now call adaptations.
But Aristotle is not an evolutionist. He's not a creationist, either. He's something very much stranger: an eternalist. According to Aristotle, the world is a perfectly engineered system, in which creatures are fitted to their environment and fitted to each other. How did the system originate? Aristotle says that's the wrong question. It's always been there. It's a very strange idea for us today, because our entire worldview is conditioned by the opposition between creationism and evolutionism.
Aristotle described hundreds of animals, including those he could not have seen—such as the elephant and lion.
He also wrote extensively about sex, both animal and human, including the female orgasm. What was his view?
He doesn't have a technical word for orgasm. But it's very clear what he's talking about. And he's very clear that women have pleasure in intercourse. Extreme pleasure. Pleasure equivalent to that of a man's. Blondes get particularly aroused, he says. And Aristotle thinks this is a good thing.
The only question he's got is whether [intercourse] is absolutely necessary in order to conceive. He has this elaborate theory about female fluids and reproduction. He spent a lot of time trying to separate out female fluids: menstrual fluids from vaginal lubrication from urine from female ejaculation. It all gets terribly complicated.
You write that Aristotle confronted the biggest of all questions: What is life? How did he answer?
Life is a thing that has a soul. All living things have souls. Dead things do not. Inanimate things do not. That sounds mystical because we're conditioned to think about the soul, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, as some immaterial entity that survives us when we die. Aristotle's predecessors, like Plato, had a conception of the soul not unlike that. They thought that the soul is something unique to humans, and immortal.
Aristotle says this is nonsense. The soul should be conceived of as the thing that animates all living things, all plants and animals. When a creature dies, its soul dies too. The soul is part of the system that maintains the creature's life.
That concept runs throughout the history of biology but in many ways is only now receiving its full fruition. Twentieth-century science was all about taking creatures apart, reducing them down to their cells, molecules, and genes. Twenty-first century science is all about putting them back together again.
That is Aristotle's great insight. He says it's fine to understand things in parts, and he devotes a lot of time doing so ... Sometimes he's right. Sometimes he's wrong. But his big idea is that you have to put it all together again.
That's why I say he's the very first systems biologist—and why finally, in the 21st century, when we ourselves have begun to put systems together, we can see more clearly what he was up to than ever before.
You end the book back at the lagoon with a declaration of love and admiration for Aristotle. What do you revere most?
His courage. Aristotle is the first person, as far as we can tell, to go down to the shore, pick up a snail, look inside, and ask what's there. He's the first person to take all this despised, squishy stuff—the stuff of the butcher, or the fishmonger, as well as our physiological processes, in all their grossness—and say: These things may disgust us, but they shouldn't, because there's something beautiful here too. And that takes courage. It's that boldness of conception to open up the study of a new world, but one that was in front of us all that time. That's what I love about him.


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Jaguar Reveals Details on North American Spec XE
The Jaguar lineup will significantly expand in 2016 with the addition of the brand's all new, aluminium intensive Jaguar XE compact sports sedan which will join the modern Jaguar sedan lineup alongside the all new Jaguar XF and Jaguar XJ sedans. A true driver's car, the Jaguar XE redefines the concept of the sports sedan thanks to its advanced lightweight construction, streamlined styling, luxurious interior, and outstanding ride and handling. The XE goes on sale in 2015 in global markets and in 2016 in the United States and Canada.
Manufacturing of the aluminium-intensive Jaguar XE occurs at Jaguar Land Rover's Solihull plant in an all-new facility. The Jaguar XE 35t model provides responsiveness and refinement from a supercharged 3.0-liter V6. Generating 340hp and 332 lb-ft of torque, this engine is linked to an eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shift controls. Accelerating from 0-60 mph in just 4.9 seconds, the XE 35t has an electronically-limited top speed of 155 mph. The fuel economy leader will be the Jaguar XE 20d powered by the company's new Ingenium 2.0 liter diesel powertrain delivering 180 hp and 318 lb-ft of torque. Mated with the eight-speed automatic transmission, the Jaguar XE 20d will be the brand's most fuel efficient model (EPA figures to be released at later date).
The Jaguar XE will be offered with a lighter version of the ZF 8-speed automatic used in the rest of the Jaguar range: this benchmark eight-speed transmission is controlled using the Jaguar rotary shifter and steering wheel shift paddles. The aluminium-intensive Jaguar XE is the first model developed from the new JLR modular vehicle architecture. The long wheelbase and low seating position enable perfect proportions and a streamlined, coupe-like profile. The R-Sport trim level models' large front air intakes, satin chrome side vents, gloss black side window surrounds, side sills, discreet rear spoiler and optional 20-inch forged alloy wheels reinforce its' performance potential. The cabin offers outstanding levels of comfort and spaciousness.
Exquisite materials and finishes, combined with traditional Jaguar craftsmanship make this an interior without compare. The Jaguar XE is equipped with electric power steering. This system is tuned to provide responsiveness and excellent feel, and offers improved efficiency over hydraulic systems. Compelling design The Jaguar XE was developed in parallel with the new modular architecture. The architecture unlocks design possibilities that did not exist before because the core dimensions were determined by design and engineering working together from the very beginning, under a philosophy of 'anything we can imagine, we can create. This makes it possible to realize perfect proportions: short front and rear overhangs and dynamic, cab-rearward stance.
The architecture also enables the XE to feature both a low, sporty driving position and a sleek, coupe-like profile. Front and rear seat occupants enjoy generous amounts of head and legroom – the XE proves that sleek, streamlined styling and interior space need not be mutually exclusive; fine-grain leathers and details such as contrasting twin-needle stitching give the cabin a bespoke quality. The choice of gloss black, textured aluminium, and contemporary wood veneers enhance the luxurious, hand-crafted feel. Available ambient lighting in a range of up to 10 colors adds to the sense of occasion. Jaguar is highly experienced in the use of aluminium construction. The expertise in working with this lightweight material has culminated in the revolutionary body structure of the new Jaguar XE. It is the first model designed around this all-new modular architecture.
Much of the aluminium is high-strength, 6000-series alloy. The body sides are a perfect example: these complex pressings are formed in one piece, and what would once have been 1.5mm gauge sheet has been reduced to just 1.1mm. The new Jaguar XE features a sophisticated double wishbone front suspension. The aluminium front spindles are light and stiff – forged from cast blanks using a patented production process while the rear suspension features an integral link system. This system delivers lateral and longitudinal stiffness for precise handling and a supple ride. Aluminium has been used extensively in the suspension, minimizing weight. For customers demanding ultimate performance and an exhilarating engine note from idle right up to the redline there's the Jaguar XE 35t model, which shares its supercharged 340hp 3.0-liter V6 with the acclaimed F-TYPE.
Direct injection and fully variable valve timing optimize power and torque throughout the rev range. The 90 degree cylinder bank angle provides space for the twin-vortex Roots-type supercharger, a balancer shaft ensures the engine runs smoothly. Developing 340hp and 332 lb-ft of torque, the V6 provides the Jaguar XE 35t with exceptional performance: 0-60 mph takes just 4.9 seconds, and top speed is electronically-limited to 155 mph. Jaguar is launching the new XE with an equally new engine family – Ingenium. The first Ingenium engine in the Jaguar XE in North America is the 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel with 180hp. Variable valve timing has been a feature on all Jaguar petrol engines for many years, and now the technology is making its way into the diesel too: the Ingenium units benefit from a cam phaser on the exhaust side. Variable exhaust valve timing enables more rapid catalyst heating, thereby minimizing harmful emissions during the critical warm-up phase.
Weighing only 138kg (304lb), this all-aluminium engine feature twin counter-rotating balancer shafts to cancel-out second order forces, offering the smoothness and power of a naturally aspirated six-cylinder but in a smaller, more efficient package. The new light and stiff body structure of the Jaguar XE has been engineered to meet demanding legislative and consumer crash test requirements. Complementing the outstanding levels of protection it offers is a suite of advanced driver assistance systems designed to help and support the driver. The Jaguar XE will be equipped with All Surface Progress Control (ASPC). This all-new system, developed with the input of decades of Jaguar Land Rover experience in off-road traction systems, works like a low-speed cruise control.
Functioning between 2 mph and 19 mph, ASPC is designed to precisely control the brake system and powertrain to deliver optimum traction in slippery conditions. Projecting high-contrast color images onto the windshield, the optional laser heads-up display (HUD) technology provides the driver with information such as speed and navigation instructions. Jaguar is one of the first manufacturers in the segment to use stereo camera technology. When fitted, this sensor is the 'eyes' of the optional autonomous emergency braking system for the Jaguar XE, providing measurements of speed and distance of objects ahead, and can initiate full braking to avoid or mitigate a collision. The stereo camera also performs traffic sign recognition and lane departure warning functions. The XE also offers systems such as adaptive cruise control, closing vehicle sensing, blind spot monitoring, semi-automated parallel and perpendicular parking, and reverse traffic detection. The all-new Jaguar InControl® infotainment system offered on the XE provides the latest technologies to connect the car, driver and the outside world. At its heart is an eight-inch capacitive touchscreen featuring a clear, intuitive interface and fast response times.
InControl Touch® supports Bluetooth®, audio streaming and USB connectivity. The Jaguar XE can also be fitted with an SD card-based navigation system which allows easy upgrades of map data, and voice control using plain speech gives access to any level of the system, without navigating through menus, so drivers can keep their eyes on the road. Both systems feature a user-friendly map which can be utilized by touch and directed by pinch-to-zoom. Smartphones are changing the way people interact with the world around them and the new Jaguar XE ensures that drivers can stay connected. Jaguar InControl Apps® allows users to seamlessly access and control smartphone apps through the vehicle's touchscreen.
Jaguar InControl Remote® functionality allows users of iOS® and Android™ smartphones to connect to the car remotely to control car functions. These include seven-day timed pre-setting of the vehicle's climate control system, locking or unlocking the doors, or remote heating or cooling the cabin through engine start. The new Jaguar XE will be available with two Meridian™ audio systems. These superb systems are the latest product of the long-standing partnership between Jaguar and British audio experts Meridian. Unique algorithms guarantee the best possible sound reproduction and tailor the experience to the interior's acoustics. Available systems range from 380 watt, 11-speaker systems to 825 watt, 14-speaker systems equipped with stereo and surround sound processors. Further details, pricing and specifications of the Jaguar XE North American model line will be announced closer to the vehicles launch in 2016.


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Building: Sanctuary of Aphlad (I CE) ║ Doura Europos - Mesopotamia
Doura Europos (Mesopotamia, Greater Syria and the East — Pleiades map),
Hopkins 1934, 98-130 = Nielson 2014, 144-145 (with figure 102) = AGRW ID# 23468
Relevant inscriptions on this site: Hopkins 1934, 112-120 (nos. 416 and 418).
Description: Located in the southwestern end of Doura Europos (adjacent to the city wall), the sanctuary of Aphlad (also spelled Apalados or Aphalados in Greek) was built by 54 CE at the latest and measured 38 x 34 metres. The sanctuary consists of a series of rooms (1-8) around an open courtyard, where a number of altars (9-10, 15-17) and two bases (perhaps for statues) stood (12-13). There were two main buildings, both facing east (1 and 2). One building which may have been the earlier of the two was divided in two, likely a forecourt (pronaos) and temple proper (2a-b); the interior of this building was also decorated with frescoes. There was a bowl built into the floor right at the doorway to this building, which may have been used for ritual purifications of some sort. The other building (1) had benches on three sides, an altar with an incense dish, and, on one of the walls, a somewhat basic painting of a cult-scene depicting a large bird on an altar. An inscription indicates that this building was dedicated (in 54 CE) as a "banqueting hall" (andrōn) by an "association" (hetaireia) consisting of eleven members (on this website, see Hopkins 1934, no. 418; this building is called the "shrine" in the archeological report). One of the members of this same association named Hadadiabos also set up a relief depicting the god Aphlad in Parthian garb on the right and a worshipper (likely Hadadiabos himself) offering sacrifice on the left (see Hopkins 1934, no. 416). So clearly associations like this one made use of the sanctuary. Two other rooms in this area (5 and 6) likewise had benches that may suggest use as banqueting rooms.
Plan of Dura Europos showing the sanctuary of Aphlad, the Christian Building, the Synagogue, and the Mithraeum.
Yale University Art Gallery. Public domain.
Plan of the area of the sanctuary of Aphlad from the archaeological report, showing the banqueting hall (andrōn = room 1), the temple (2 a + b), and other banqueting rooms (5-6).
Hopkins 1934, plate 1.
Photo of building 1 (the banqueting-hall or "shrine" in the report).
Hopkins 1934, plate 10.1.
The monument of Hadadiabos found in the sanctuary of Aphlad with a depiction of the god in Parthian style dress (right) alongside the dedicator sacrificing (left).
Yale University Art Gallery 1932.1213. Public domain.
Item modified: March 31, 2016
Category: 5) Greater Syria and the East, a) Building descriptions, a) View all excavated building descriptions, Aphlad, b) Building dedicated to a deity or deities, c) Ethnic / immigrant association, d) Building used by immigrants, e) 1st century CE, e) Mesopotamia and Parthia, Hadad, i) Images of monuments or buildings


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The Common Genius of Lincoln and Einstein
The president and the physicist teach us a lesson about moral genius.
By Andrew O'Hehir
Illustration by Steve Brodner
Abraham Lincoln would still be remembered today as a self-taught prairie prodigy and an astute political operator who crushed the Confederate uprising, even without the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the end of slavery. Albert Einstein would still be the most famous physicist of the 20th century, and the author of the most famous equation in history, had he not called on his fellow scientists to address the moral consequences of their discoveries, speaking out against war and nuclear weapons. But both men possessed a quality that went beyond their immense talents in politics and science and elevated them to world-historical stature: an ambiguous but distinctive quality that scientists, historians, and philosophers have begun to call moral genius. By suggesting that morality can, like math or chemistry or musical composition, admit of genius-level contributions, the phrase challenges us to reconsider the nature of genius itself.
Columbia University philosopher Elliot Paul observes that at first glance a great moral leader does not appear "creative" in the same sense as a revolutionary artist or a brilliant scientist. The ideas represented by Lincoln or Einstein or Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr., in their capacity as moral leaders, were not necessarily new. A great many 19th century Americans were deeply uncomfortable with slavery and understood that it conflicted with the nation's alleged ideals on a fundamental level. Einstein was hardly the only person, or the only physicist, to notice that the immense scientific advance of splitting the atom threatened the human race with extinction. King and Gandhi personally experienced racial discrimination and saw it as a corrosive moral wrong that sickened entire societies, but they were certainly not alone.
Like high-achieving individuals in science or the arts, moral geniuses are willing to stand against conventional opinion.
What these people did that was creative and distinctive was to seize the moment—to recognize a great moral wrong and embrace the idea that they had a unique responsibility, and ability, to do something about it. Psychological theory on the subject of unusual creativity has often focused on the idea that genius is a self-created phenomenon. In the words of the late psychologist Howard Gruber, genius is best understood as "an organization that was constructed by the person himself in the course of his life, in the course of his work, as needed in order to meet the tasks that he encountered." (Gruber's gendered pronouns reflected standard usage at the time, highlighting the fact that women have historically been excluded from the category.)
Like high-achieving individuals in science or the arts, Paul suggests, moral geniuses are willing to stand against conventional opinion, often within their own nation or community, and seek to overthrow it. That kind of individual courage, we might say, becomes the subject or the text of the moral genius's greatness. While the specifics vary greatly, we could describe a moral genius as someone who rejects the innate caution and the hypocritical compromises of normative social morality. (King's "Letter From Birmingham Jail," his most sustained accomplishment in rhetorical prose, addresses precisely this issue.) "To become a moral leader is a demanding and inherently risky thing to do," says William B. Irvine, a professor of philosophy at Wright State University and author of the forthcoming book Aha! The Moments of Insight That Shape Our World. "And moral leadership is most important in a situation where everybody is going to look down on you as a social traitor." Gandhi opposed not just British imperialism but also Hindu nationalism; Einstein was a lifelong Zionist who opposed the notion of Israel as a Jewish state; Lincoln's decision not to arrest or prosecute the Confederate leadership was derided by Northern radicals, and remains controversial among historians.
Irvine's book focuses on the moments of insight or clarity or special revelation that often seem to accompany history-shaping individual breakthroughs, whether in science, the arts, or the moral domain. Among numerous other examples, he considers the case of 18th-century British reformer Thomas Clarkson, who first adopted the anti-slavery position for strategic reasons, in an effort to win an essay contest as a Cambridge University student. Once he was rationally convinced of the rightness of the cause, Clarkson became consumed by the issue at a profoundly personal level, suffering from repeated nightmares about the horrors of slavery. "He tried to ignore it and push it off to one side, and it wouldn't let go of him," Irvine says. "The only way I can have peace in my life, he decided, is to become a moral warrior. Otherwise my conscience will never leave me alone."
In Lincoln and Einstein, we see both the striving, self-created individual that Gruber describes and some evidence of Irvine's "aha" moments. Years afterward, Einstein remembered the 1939 letter he wrote to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging the United States to consider developing nuclear weapons, as the worst mistake of his life. It was certainly defensible in the context of the time, faced with the evidence that Hitler's scientists were also pursuing the A-bomb. Einstein had been a pacifist and an activist for social justice throughout his life, but his sense of personal responsibility for Hiroshima and Nagasaki clearly drove him to become a leading spokesman on the dangers of nuclear war and a founder of the anti-nuclear movement, which would grow to a global scale decades after his death and ultimately compel the American and Soviet superpowers to step back from the brink of Armageddon.
Similarly, Lincoln had opposed slavery his entire life on moral and philosophical grounds. But well into the war years he continued to view the subject in pragmatic, political terms, repeatedly stating he was willing to tolerate the evils of slavery in order to preserve the Union. Tony Kushner's screenplay for the film Lincoln offers a fictionalized "aha!" moment for Lincoln as he witnesses the carnage on the battlefield at Gettysburg and holds conversations with African-American soldiers. It's a pretty good guess, insofar as Lincoln seems to have arrived, over a short period of time in 1863, at the understanding that the only way to make the dreadful slaughter of the Civil War bearable was to attach it to a great moral cause. What you might call the second "aha!" moment lay in his realization that "preserving the Union" without uprooting the moral evil that had poisoned the nation was not a goal worth pursuing, and perhaps not possible.
Highly creative people excel at "recognizing relationships, making associations and connections, and seeing things in an original way—seeing things that others cannot see."
In any event, the famously terse speech that Lincoln delivered at Gettysburg—quite likely the shortest speech ever delivered by an American president, and certainly the most far-reaching—was a work of immense moral and rhetorical genius. It recast the terrible, exhausting war as a purposeful struggle to redeem the promise of America, and it did more than that: It recast the entire history of the nation to that point as a revolutionary thought-experiment that had not quite reached its logical fulfillment. From that day forward Americans have thought of 1776 as the beginning of our nation's history (rather than the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783) and the high-flown philosophical language of the Declaration of Independence as central to our national identity. That speech was the work of someone with the peculiar ability to see history as if from the outside, seize its reins and change its course—and also someone willing to pay a grievous personal price for that historical role. It displayed intellect and openness in counterpoint, and a tremendously creative intelligence at work. We may attribute such an act of moral genius to unusual synaptic processing powers or to an invisible entity called the conscience. In either case it looks obvious and inevitable in hindsight, but required an extraordinary individual at the time.
Some researchers now suspect that this ability to stand outside of one's immediate context and take a longer historical view, like other forms of genius, may have physical correlates in the brain. Neuroscientist Nancy C. Andreasen recently wrote that her study of the brains of highly creative people suggests that they excel at "recognizing relationships, making associations and connections, and seeing things in an original way—seeing things that others cannot see." In objective terms, this shows up as much stronger activations (compared to a control group) in the association cortices, extensive regions on the outer surface of the brain that "interpret and make use of the specialized information collected by the primary visual, auditory, sensory, and motor regions."
Andreasen's initial research has primarily focused on prominent writers and other figures from the arts, but she supports the idea that unusual creativity is likely to be a similar neurological and biochemical phenomenon across fields and disciplines. Intriguingly, she also says that her research supports the age-old connection between exceptional creativity and certain varieties of mental illness, especially depression and other mood disorders. This cultural stereotype goes back at least as far as the Greeks, and it would seem to fit the examples of both Lincoln and Einstein. The former was well known for his melancholic disposition, and today would likely be diagnosed with clinical depression, while the latter had a family history of schizophrenia and (in Andreasen's judgment) appeared to manifest some mild or borderline symptoms. (Martin Luther King suffered from depressive episodes, and attempted suicide at least once, and some evidence suggests that Gandhi also suffered from depression). Whether this connection is also rooted in brain activation patterns and processing speed is an unanswered but fascinating question.
Mental illness aside, three of the four people I have mentioned were assassinated by political opponents. If Einstein looks like a universally revered figure in the rear-view mirror, it did not always seem so during his life: He was the subject of extensive FBI surveillance and harassment, and consistently depicted as a traitorous or unpatriotic Communist sympathizer by right-wing critics. In this and many other respects, the moral genius reminds us of other genius tropes, like the misunderstood artist or the persecuted astronomer—such a person faces fierce opposition, and is not unfamiliar with suffering.
Andrew O'Hehir is a senior writer at Salon.com.


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D.C. Mayor Bowser Tells People To Avoid Biden Inauguration
by Terry Ward
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has asked that Americans not come to the nation's capital for the inauguration of president-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday.
The Secret Service has begun its preparations early, and the National Guard has had a very visible, heavy presence.
More Security Being Brought In
Roughly 25,000 Guard Troops are assisting in beefing up security around the Capitol in the aftermath of protests and violent riots in Washing D.C. on Jan. 6 during Congress' certification of the 2020 presidential election.
Bowser has asked for and received a pre-disaster declaration for Washington D.C. by Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, and President Trump himself.
Bowser has also asked President Trump for public gathering permits to be cancelled between Jan. 10 and Jan. 24.
Today, I issued Mayor's Order 2021-004 to extend a pause of various activities in the District until Friday, January 22, 2021, at 5:00 a.m.
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) January 12, 2021
Secretary Wolf had also instructed the Secret Service to begin National Special Security Event Operations on Wednesday Jan. 13 instead of Jan. 19.
Government Claims Credible Threats
The increased security comes not only in response to last week's violence, but also because of FBI bulletins reporting that "Armed protests are being planned in all 50 state capitols from 16 January, through at least 20 January, and at the US Capitol from 17 January through 20 January."
According to a report from ABC News, the FBI has also received information about a group calling for "storming" state, local, and federal government courthouses and administrative buildings in the event President Donald Trump is removed from office prior to Inauguration Day.
The FBI also says that the same group is planning to "storm" government offices in every state the day President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated, regardless of whether or not the state certified electoral votes for Biden or Trump.
Currently, the FBI is attempting to identify the people who illegally entered the Capitol building and assaulted law enforcement officers. Approximately 29 of those individuals have been identified since Sunday.
The #FBI is still seeking information to help identify individuals who actively instigated violence on January 6 in Washington, D.C. Visit https://t.co/h36NpdxbEh to see images from current cases, and if you see someone you recognize, submit a tip at https://t.co/buMd8vYXzH. pic.twitter.com/cGgWNeywIc
— FBI (@FBI) January 10, 2021
President Trump Again Denounces Violence
Prior to being impeached, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) said that "Justice would be served."
Hours after he was impeached for a second time, President Trump put out a video where he once again condoned violence of any kind.
In the 5 minute video, Trump stated, "Mob violence goes against everything I believe in, and everything our movement stands for. No true supporter of mine could endorse political violence."
Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Bowser said she was afraid for our democracy. "We have very extreme factions in our country that are armed and dangerous. She went on to say that, "Trumpism won't die on January 20."
Rep. Omar's brand of justice may come in the form of making sure another outsider never steps foot inside the White House, because 'Trumpism' will not be dead on January 20.
Tags: 2nd AmendmentDCInaugurationMuriel BowserNational GuardNational SecurityPolitics
Terry Ward