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Home / The Origins of Modern Leftism - Richard Gombin
4a. The theory of council communism: The Heritage
Criticisms of present-day organized communism and of traditional working-class organizations have turned into a renewed critique of the exploitative society (i.e. of all existing socio-economic régimes). This critique has appreciably widened the classical perspective of Marxist analysis. To paraphrase the language of strategy, it may be said that a multiplicity of new fronts have been opened. Economic alienation is not denied : the situation of the producer separated from his product is still seen as absolute alienation. At the same time, however, this critique pointed out that the worker was the victim of a multitude of different kinds of alienation in the course of his everyday life, in his daily behaviour and activities. According to this view, the family is a primary alienating structure to the extent that it reproduces the authoritarian and hierarchical model of world society; family socialization already moulds the child's psyche so that he will adapt to the role of operative reserved for him. School and the entire pedagogic tradition continue the work of adapting the child, draining him of his spontaneity, his curiosity, his natural desire to create. All of sexual morality, taboos and prohibitions also tend towards the annihilation of the free individual personality. Once the child grows up, he will have imposed on him the role of consumer, worker, pensioner, etc. In every aspect of his life he will be separated both from his desires and their true satisfaction.
In order for him to recover his essential humanity, the individual must not simply become conscious of the economic and political reality of alienation; he must abolish separation in every sphere of life by becoming his own master. On the collective level, this means assuming control of every sector of social life. The revolutionary aspirations of leftism quite naturally flow out into universal workers' control.
How are these aspirations to be realized ? What mode of organization will, or ought, to permit workers' control at every level ?
Marxism was embodied by the Party, even in Marx's own lifetime. Marx and Engels did not contest either the need for a party or the need for leadership (even the Communist League had a Central Committee). However, neither Marx nor Engels produced a theory of organization. It was Lenin's theory (set out in its purest form in his What is to be Done ? of 1902) which provided the most complete version of the Marxist viewpoint on the question of organization. The whole of Lenin's conception is founded on the assertion that the only consciousness acquired spontaneously by the working class is awareness of its economic and corporate interests. In order to acquire a socialist consciousness (i.e. an awareness of the need for revolution), it must rely on those who have a clear awareness of historical evolution. According to this notion, the Party thus represents the suitable organism for imparting to that class the consciousness of its own class situation and leading it in the assault on the bourgeois State.
This analysis is the one more or less accepted by all the extremists, such differences as there are concerning merely the organization of that organism (flexible or rigid leadership principle, hierarchy, discipline, prohibition or tolerance of factions, etc.) and the question of its relationship with the working class.
Leftism, in contrast, sees the consciousness of the proletariat as itself the factor affecting historical evolution. There is thus no question of a revolutionary party that is the repository of class consciousness. Far from providing the fount of knowledge with which to impregnate the masses, the party organization can only come into being as the expression of the spontaneous consciousness of the workers. Leftism confronts party communism with council communism.
In May-June 1968, the watchword of councils spilled over out of the small circle of theoretical discussion groups. Action committees sprang up like mushrooms : the precise assessment of their actual and potential role gave rise to discussion which still continues to this day. Had the reality overtaken the theory ? Council communism, at all events, lies at the heart of leftist theory : the question now is to grasp its real significance through the multifarious conceptions which have been expressed in recent years. For they reflect the doubts and the limitations of the whole movement; beyond the mere matter of organization, the whole idea of socialism is called in question.
The theory of workers' councils may mean one of several different things : historically, it emerged out of reflection on the Soviet revolution and on the failure of the councillist movement in Germany. At that time it was still a tributary of Marxism, and regarded itself as the correct interpretation thereof. It is also concerned with the type of management appropriate to the emancipated society : on this level, it is intended to provide the content of socialism (economic, social and political life managed by the organization of councils). Finally, in a more restricted sense, the theory of councils suggests a model for the revolutionary organization of the proletariat. But two apparently unrelated questions immediately arise here : does this mean the spontaneous organization of the proletariat once the revolutionary process has been set in motion, or the organization of the revolutionary movement as it is supposed to emerge from the day-to-day struggle in a pre-revolutionary situation ? Clearly the two questions are closely linked and partisan analysis rarely separates them. The boundary between workers' councils as the content of socialism and workers' councils as organization is itself extremely blurred, and the present separation of the various levels of discussion is completely arbitrary. However, it is through problems of organization that leftism attempts to assert itself, since these are the problems which seem the most urgent and immediate.
It should also be noted that the believers in council communism do not share all the conceptions set out earlier on the critique of everyday life. Council theory is very much older, for a start, than situationist theory. Those who first propagated it in France tended to cling to a critique which was basically economic, if not exclusively so. By contrast, the younger generation adopted the watchword of councils from the start. What is important for our purpose is, in the last analysis, to disentangle the various strands which converge to form a single vision of society and the revolution, to the extent that that vision runs counter to Marxism-Leninism. Before finding a balance that is both coherent and stable (if it ever does), leftist theory has juxtaposed various elements which are frequently apparently heterogeneous. Did not Marx himself postulate the synthesis of the 'three sources' : English political economy, French utopian socialism and German philosophy ?
In order to understand the meaning of the discussion which surrounds the concept of the 'workers' council', it is necessary to recall the historical tradition, which French leftism has both adopted and overtaken. This tradition has sprung from several different sources. Firstly anarchism, which began in the nineteenth century to systematize the experiments in self-management tried out in the workshops of 'free and independent' craftsmem and projected the vision of these experiences into an idealized future reproducing a past that was irretrievably lost. Then the revolution of 1905 inspired in Rosa Luxemburg a train of thought which, contrasting with her ultra-orthodox Marxism and her militancy, did not fail to have a profound influence on three social-democratic parties. She observed that the revolution, through the length and breadth of the Russian Empire (of that time), was unleashed spontaneously, without any coordination or prior decision being taken, and she deduced from this that it is not in the power of a party either to launch or to prevent a revolution. [1] This obviously immediately poses the problem of the avant-garde role of the Party. Rosa Luxemburg goes further still by asserting that not only does the revolutionary organization not provoke the event (in the present instance a general strike), but that the organization is itself the product of the struggle. [2] Certainly in writing this she was not necessarily referring to workers' councils (of which she had, in fact, had experience) but to all forms of organization which the proletariat might set up, whether trade unions, parties or works councils. Here in embryo was the hard core of the councillist viewpoint : in the course of its struggle, the proletariat spontaneously creates the organization it needs. To the leftists, this can only be a non-centralized form like the works committee or the workers' council. To Rosa Luxemburg, it was not a question of the masses rejecting the Party. In her there was a clear contradiction between the orthodox militant, firmly rooted in her own time and place, and the lucid analyst able to draw conclusions of universal validity from an isolated event. These two aspects always coexisted in her : her quarrel with Lenin on the subject of the Party, then her critique of the Russian Revolution and finally her lack of enthusiasm for joining the Third International, are all strands of the same thread. Towards the end of her life, she placed all her confidence in the revolutionary instinct of the masses, in particular as manifested in workers' councils such as had appeared in Germany in 1918. [3]
It is true that she continued to work within the framework of the Party, that her works on political economy were scrupulously Marxist and that she participated in all the Party's 'internal' disputes. There is a wealth of material for historical polemic which I shall not go into here. The significant fact is that the first aspect of the thought of Rosa Luxemburg was taken up by some leftists; for some years there has been a myth of 'Luxemburgism' as a doctrine in its own right. It is certainly the case that Rosa Luxemburg was the initiator of a new tradition, and that the new leftism lies within the scope of that tradition.
Georg Lukács also exhibited something of the same ambiguity : he was at one and the same time a Party man and a theoretician of the spontaneity of the masses. It has been shown that he saw class consciousness as the driving force of history, the decisive factor in the self-liberation of the proletariat. Both an actor and passionately concerned observer in the Russian and Hungarian revolutions of 1919, he did not fail to draw conclusions on the historic role of the proletariat, conscious of the part it had to play and of the tasks before it. When, in March 1920, he considered the problem of how class consciousness could assume concrete form to become a real and effective force, his immediate answer was : by workers' councils. Moreover, his conception was very far-reaching, since the workers' council in his view is a kind of quasi-essence in which all contradictions are resolved, the form in which class consciousness has pursued its struggle ever since its birth. [4] Once again, one could conduct a closely reasoned historical exegesis, and demonstrate that the Party organization against which Lukács sets the workers' council is in fact the old reformist social democracy. Nevertheless, his conception was to find in modern leftism a very favourable soil for transplantation.
I have already mentioned the anarchist tradition as one possible medium for the transmission of the councillist tradition. There was no shortage of talk, after the 'events' of May-June 1968, about 'libertarian revolt', a renewal of anarchism, etc. Historians of the labour movement have taken pains to demonstrate the perennial reappearance of anarchist ideas and even the direct influence of anarchy on these events. [5]
The fact that some anarchist ideas were enshrined in the leftist demands, the 'prise de parole' of spring 1968, is undeniable. They may be found in every period of social unrest, revolt and upheaval. The problem of the perenniality of the anarchist tradition and its influence on leftist theory, however, occurs in quite another form. It is closely dependent on the existence of a libertarian movement, on its liveliness and popularity among the theoreticians of the new revolution.
The anarchist movement itself has been moribund in France since the end of the First World War. The anarchist tradition, for its part, has been kept alive by a small number of talented writers (the most remarkable of them being Sébastien Faure) who have generally been content to nurse the flame, to preserve the memory of illustrious forebears : Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin. The main body of anarchist ideas has hardly undergone any renewal or addition, except possibly among colonies of émigrés, principally Russians, who brought up new problems in the light of their experience of the Russian, Hungarian or German revolution. [6]
After the war, the Federation of Anarchists (FA) and the Federation of Libertarian Communists (FCL) continued to preach the classic themes in the pages of their newspaper (Le Libertaire and later the Monde libertaire) : in the manner of the orthodox communists, they defended an ideology which they regarded as inviolable, a finished system to be rejected or accepted as a whole. Anarchism was a theorization of a number of rejection symptoms of the budding industrial society. Even taking account of the exaggerations he makes, Marx's critique was far from untrue : in many respects, nineteenth-century anarchism represented a reactionary tendency, a utopian desire to return to a vanished society of free and equal artisans. In the face of the concentration of capital and the burgeoning growth of factories, the craftsman and small manufacturer was doomed to disappear.
It remains true, however, that nineteenth-century anarchist thought handed down a number of ideas which were not necessarily dated, such as the frequently clairvoyant critique of Marxism, of the phenomenon of bureaucracy (which Bakunin foresaw with great clarity), of the party and of authority in general, whether exercised by the State, the trade unions or by political parties. But to the extent that the French anarchist movement of the period after the Liberation was unable to renew its theory in the light of the great wealth of experience of the previous fifty years, it had become an organization of commemoration (of its great predecessors, great historic dates, the Spanish legend, etc).
A second possible explanation for the dissatisfaction of the leftist young may be found in the organizational authoritarianism of the Federation, reinforced by the 'Leninist' experience of Georges Fontenis.
The anarchists' 'shutting out' of the contemporary world was thus balanced by a kind of preservation of the sacred tradition, combined with an attitude of extreme hostility towards Marxism in all its forms. [7] It would seem that the deliberate ignorance of the whole theoretical heritage of Marx, Lukács, Korsch further accentuated the isolation of the French anarchist movement and gave it a certain anachronistic air.
It can be asserted without fear of contradiction that 'official' anarchism played no part either in recent events or in the emergence of leftist theory. [8] On the other hand, it is none the less true that some isolated groups, cells and individual writers were the vehicles and media for the transmission of those elements of classic anarchism which were susceptible to being absorbed by a more modern theory. These were able to play a role to the extent that they ranged themselves as much against the 'family' of organized anarchism as against Stalinism. The case of the review Noir et Rouge is a good example of this. It was read and discussed outside anarchist circles precisely because it refused, in its own words, to engage in the futile exercise of outbidding others in its protestations of anti-Marxism, and declared itself ready to receive and study the revolutionary experience of the twentieth century in order to draw such lessons as might be learned from it. The case of Noir et Rouge is also exemplary in that the creation of the journal corresponded to the departure of a number of young anarchists from the FCL on the eve of the 'electoralist' experiment of 1956. The FCL itself already constituted an attempt at renewal of the old anarchist Federation; some of the young people who came into the movement after the war were disillusioned by the experiment and founded, in November 1955, the Anarchist Revolutionary Action Groups (GAAR), with Noir et Rouge as their mouthpiece from March 1956. [9] The line taken by Noir et Rouge was to place it outside the existing families, since to this journal the breach was not between Marxism and anarchism but between a bureaucratic and a libertarian view of socialism. [10] The journal had certainly come a long way since its foundation, when the avowed aim of its supporters was simply to prepare 'the basis of a rejuvenated anarchism'; [11] but by taking a very open-minded attitude, they were immediately impressed by the modern experiments in workers' councils, notably in Hungary. From Marxism, Noir et Rouge borrowed the theory of class and the class struggle, and accepted the importance of its analysis of production relationships. [12]
The positive contribution made by Noir et Rouge consisted in its deliberate policy of not restricting itself to the study of economic mechanisms, and of adding to the aim of social transformation the task of revolutionizing the consciousness; in short, they extended the revolutionary battlefield, culminating in the assertion that 'The revolution must be total, or not at all.' [13] But it is clearly the anarchist tradition with regard to organization that constituted the principal contribution of Noir et Rouge to the development of a leftist theory. Initially, the paper took up the old anarchist maxim that the means determine the end, in other words that the form of organization in a pre-revolutionary period cannot fail to have an effect on the method of running the socialist society (and hence on the content of socialism), so propagating the classic pattern of organization in small, autonomous groups loosely linked in a voluntary federation. The idea of workers' councils was not altogether absent, but was still referred to only in the abstract. [14] Then, after 1964-5, Noir et Rouge brought up and discussed the modern experience of workers' councils, examining the concrete content of this idea as a revolutionary mode of organization and as a method of economic management. [15]
This aspect of the activity of Noir et Rouge seems to me extremely important, since it brought to the notice of the reader a whole revolutionary tradition that was practically unknown until the nineteen-sixties, because deliberately ignored by most of the movements that owed allegiance to Marxism.
The image of Spanish anarchism propagated by the Party had been one of a counter-revolutionary movement, contrasting sharply with the efficiency of the Marxist parties, the government and the regular Republican Army. In this way, many young militants discovered eye-witness account and other texts (for the most part unpublished in France) on the day-today operation of agricultural collectives, enterprises run by workers' control, and anarchist bands before they became incorporated in the militias. Similarly, Noir et Rouge brought up previously unknown libertarian experiments in self-management : the struggles of the Ukrainian anarchists between 1917 and 1920 (the uprising known under the name of 'Makhnovchtchina', from the name of Nestor Makhno, a Ukrainian peasant converted to anarchism), and the Kronstadt rising; it also discussed the revolutionary validity of the attempts at workers' control exercised in Yugoslavia and Algeria. In short, without attempting to elaborate a new theory (in which respect it resembled the Situationist International), Noir et Rouge was able to break out of the vicious circle of anarchism-Marxism and move on to the road towards possibly superseding this sterile conflict, the road in fact supposedly opened up by council communism. [16]
The historical experience of workers' councils had given rise to some theoretical reflection which, while it was not swallowed whole by French leftism, was the starting point of theoretical research. If journals such as Noir et Rouge contributed to our knowledge of the historical experiments in workers' councils, they also facilitated the assimilation of 'councillist' doctrines and their analysis. The most complete of the organizational theories relating to workers' councils is, in fact, based primarily on Soviet and German experience between 1918 and 1921. Leftism, as will be shown later, was to take account of the historical nature of this theory in order to expand it to fit the dimensions of the modern world.
There can be no doubt that it was the German and Dutch far left which drew the most extreme conclusions from the effect of the Russian and German revolutions. Anton Pannekoek (1873-1960) is the most representative thinker of councillist circles. His theory is based on over half a century's experience of militancy. It contained practically all the ideas of the councillists, past and present. It is important to present it here, for all the theoretical discussions and practical activities of the leftist movement were constructed around or stemmed directly from it.
All of Pannekoek's thought is based on three intellectual theses and one historical experience. These theses were formulated before the First World War and they remained central to his thought right up to the end of his life :
1. The materialist view of history. This he clearly derived from Marxism : in studying history and social development, Pannekoek bases his ideas on the relationships between the system of production and the class struggle. In man, the struggle for existence has led to increasingly sophisticated developments in tools. Technical progress, advances in the process of production are crucial to the evolution of the social order. This development itself obeys laws, just like the evolutionary process in the animal kingdom. The agent of this evolution is the class struggle. [17]
2. But this struggle, while it may correspond to changes in the material environment of society (machinery, production, material standard of living), is actually a struggle of consciousness. This is the very antithesis of the mechanistic interpretations of a man like Kautsky : the development of material conditions of production cannot hasten the revolution unless they change the workers' consciousness of their material environment. Men have to think change before they can accomplish it. The revolutionary process depends both on the development of class consciousness and on the organization of production. It even seems that the subjective element assumed increasing importance in Pannekoek's mind as the years passed : some time before his death he repeated that the aims of this struggle are achieved in the daily experience of the proletarian, by that which is 'alive' in his thought, and also by continual discussion and clarification. [18]
The proletariat has all the more need for a clear awareness of the tasks it faces because the strength of the bourgeoisie is, today, primarily spiritual. What Pannekoek calls the 'spiritual power of the bourgeoisie is just as dangerous as its power of material exploitation : [19] bourgeois ideas penetrate the mind of the worker by the logic of the system of production, by education, propaganda, the Church, the press, etc. The proletariat is totally dependent intellectually on the bourgeoisie, and acquiesces in its own enslavement. For it to conquer, it must therefore rid itself of this dependence : capitalism must first be defeated theoretically before being suppressed in practice. 'The road towards liberty will remain closed till the day the working class realizes the importance of independent action and of workers' control.' [20]
3. It is up to the workers as a body to liberate humanity. Pannekoek's view of the revolution and of revolutionary organization flowed from the importance attached to mass action in the revolutionary process (a view he had held since before the First World War). It is up to the masses to accomplish 'The Task' : [21] they must make themselves masters of their own work, control the means of production. It is therefore also up to them to create the forms of struggle and of organization. Since before 1914 Pannekoek aligned himself with Rosa Luxemburg and other 'radical socialists' in their attempts to develop a theory of the organizational process, in opposition to the practice (and indeed the theory) of social democracy, which had 'institutionalized' the Party once and for all by imposing on it a complex system of central committees, executive bodies, etc. But his 'system' of workers' councils was only to take its final shape after the experience of the revolutions of 1917-20 (Russia, Germany, Austria, Hungary). [22] This experience enabled him (negatively) to develop his critique of party socialism and (positively) to formulate his concept of council socialism.
As early as 1921, Pannekoek was condemning the Russian Revolution as a bourgeois revolution. [23] The régime to which it gave birth, he says, was a State-capitalist régime, to the extent that the bureaucratic class was the exclusive (and collective) owner of the means of production. Like the middle class of the Western countries, it lived from exploitation and from surplus value. But Pannekoek also calls the régime State socialism, because the State is the only employer and it also has absolute control of production. [24] Whether State capitalism or State socialism (two aspects of the same reality), the important thing, the reality of the case, is that the proletariat does not control the means of production directly. He concludes from this that party socialism represents a new theory and practice of domination which corresponds to modern capitalism's need for efficiency. Socialism, as a nineteenth-century idea of liberation, was nothing more than the slogan of an imperfect liberation, which proposed to place in power those leaders which the working class had chosen. Its objectives, the nationalization of the economy and the conquest of the State, correspond exactly to the needs of capitalism. 'The[proletariat's] expression of the modest hope for liberation has become the instrument of its voluntary submission to an even worse form of slavery.' [25]
All organizations inspired by party communism have, consequently, become the means either of increasing the power of Russian capitalism, or of taking over the running of free-enterprise capitalism, or again of accommodating itself to the latter. Hence the trade unions now appear as outside the working class; they are the intermediaries through which the labour force is put on to the market. They have become an integral part of the 'apparatus of domination', establishment institutions. [26]
Anton Pannekoek contrasts party socialism with council socialism, which represents the true liberating factor. Pannekoek had the advantage of witnessing such councils in action at the time of the German revolution of 1918-20. But even during the war he had observed the spontaneous formation of works committees with members elected outside (or even in opposition to) the framework of trade-union organization. After 1919, he discussed in various extreme-left-wing journals the merits of the 'Rätesystem'; in it he sensed a possible method of management or even organization of socialist society. Production was to be based on the decisions of a general meeting of the workers on the shop floor. In a large factory, the unit of management would be the shop stewards' committee. Their mandate would be binding, it could be revoked at any time, accounts would be open to universal inspection, wages would be calculated on the basis of the number of hours worked.
Such councils, however, would not be restricted to economic management; they would also provide the political structures to replace present forms of government. Within them, the division between the political and the economic would disappear, as would the division between specialists and producers. The workers' councils would be fully coordinated with one another, horizontally and vertically. [27]
This leads naturally on to a definition of the workers' council in the revolutionary and pre-revolutionary period, and hence to a discussion of revolutionary organization. Once again, Pannekoek exhibits here that concern for the concrete so characteristic of him, basing himself entirely on historical examples. The workers' council makes its appearance during a period of revolution; more precisely, it represents the 'new form' of organization forged by the proletariat as a function of the stage of evolution reached by capitalism. Just as the middle class gradually rid itself, in the course of its history, of the masters it had itself set up (municipalities, corporations, princes, monarchs), the working class provides itself with ruling bodies which correspond to the stage of development it has reached. In the workers' council, the proletariat expresses for the first time its rejection of all new masters : instead of changing its leadership, it abolishes the very function of leadership. [28]
To summarize Pannekoek's thought, it may be said that workers' councils represent, in the first place, a method of political and economic management applied by a socialist society, and in the second place the organ of revolutionary struggle belonging to a given historical phase, namely that in which the working class has progressed to a realization of the tasks facing it. It is difficult to pinpoint the emergence of workers' councils; Pannekoek thinks that the present period brings them into being the moment the struggle reaches a given degree of intensity - which evidently poses the question of the revolutionary process, for councils can only arise in the course of such a process. It is at such moments that the workers become radicalized; a strike committee already contains the seeds of a workers' council . [29] But the revolutionary process itself covers an entire period; this extensive concept clearly contrasts with the notion of revolution as insurrection. What this means is that it is not enough to seize power; the proletariat must, during the preceding period, establish the (spiritual) groundwork for its own accession.
The autonomous organizations which the proletariat tends to set up for itself also correspond to new forms of struggle, which are themselves indicative of the level of maturity of the proletariat in the industrialized countries. Henceforth, the struggle against capital takes place by direct action. Such action is taken outside the bourgeois forms of opposition (parliamentarianism, ministerialism) and outside the channels of party socialism (trade unionism, party politics). Pannekoek is convinced that as capitalism becomes increasingly brutal and as the proletariat matures, the wildcat strike and the occupation of factories will become its basic weapons : 'They[wildcat strikes] are the precursors of the great struggles of the future, those which will come about when the major social crises accompanying social pressures and increasingly violent disturbances drive the masses into ever more vigorous action.' [30]
The problem which Pannekoek poses and which most of the supporters of council communism continue to discuss is that of the existence, the role, indeed the very necessity of a revolutionary organization. In other words, the vexed question of the party arises once again. The author of Workers' Councils is far from clear and categorical on this point. He himself oscillates between acceptance of the necessity for organization and a contradictory belief in spontaneity.
Certainly the logic of his system, viz. the spontaneous creation of councils, excludes the possibility of any organization with the specific role of preparing for and, where necessary, sustaining the soviets. This is the idea he is expressing when he says that the proletariat has no need of 'think groups' for its own praxis, for when the time comes it will create its own organs : the councils. [31] It is not the party that creates the revolution, but the class as a whole.
On the other hand, however, it has been shown how insistent he is on the spiritual nature of the process, revolutionary effort being a question of will : men must think change before they can accomplish it. Consequently the period of liberation will be one of discussion within the labour movement directed towards choosing 'orientations' for the future. [32] The role of 'think groups' in such discussions would not be a negligible one : they would have to give expression to the ideas that emerged, present them in an acceptable form, and propagate them. In short, they would have the function of establishing the theoretical groundwork. [33]
Pannekoek has been known to be inconsistent on the precise functions of these 'groups'. But throughout his writings he insists on their existence, while specifying that he is not talking about a party in the Leninist sense. He even opposes parties of the type of the KAPD (of which he had been a member). Yet the word 'party' is not religiously excluded from Pannekoek's writings. He sees it as a federation of 'working groups', as 'the organ of collective thought', the 'spiritual form' of the proletariat. In 1947, he wrote :
It is[the function] of parties to diffuse ideas and experience,[to] study, discuss, formulate social ideas, and to enlighten the minds of the masses by propaganda. Workers' councils are the organs of practical action, of the struggle of the working class; it is the function of the parties to build up its spiritual strength. Their work is an indispensable part of the auto-emancipation of the working class. [34]
In his letter to P. Chaulieu, quoted above, Pannekoek reproduces almost word for word his idea of the revolutionary party which must enrich the consciousness of the masses so that they may acquire an 'increasingly wide' and clearer awareness of their tasks.
In point of fact, the problem of party organization is treated by Anton Pannekoekin a highly ambiguous manner, if he is to be taken literally : having said that the problem exists, he immediately empties it of all real significance, since it is the masses who, in the last resort, will decide on their own actions. At the same time, however, the 'spiritual' element is of the greatest importance, since the revolution is 'the accession of the mass of the people to the consciousness of their existence and their nature'. [35] In these circumstances the party, defined as the whole body of 'those who see furthest', [36] surely has a crucial part to play. And does this not imply a return to the notion of a party of leadership ? The communists, say Pannekoek, are the people with the clearest ideas, the most capable of putting them across, and of proposing the best practical measures. [37] But are those very people not the most powerfully motivated to lead and direct the masses ? From 'proposing' measures to 'imposing' them is but a short step.
Certainly the ambiguity is there. However, it is not necessarily essential to take Pannekoek literally. The kind of revolutionary organization he is talking about is the type in which he himself was a militant : a working group dedicated to theoretical study and development, with no fixed, immutable structure, which could indeed easily be mistaken for a body like the Groep van Internationale Communisten (GIC) that contained a number of Dutch 'councillists'.In fact, names are of little importance to him : it is the reality of the leadership-oriented revolutionary party that he rejects. [38] In order to understand his idea of organization, it is necessary to enter into the spirit of his system. To him, the proletarian revolution breaks out once the proletariat has become aware of its task : if a party takes over the workers' councils and imposes a line of action on them, it means that the class is not yet sufficiently mature. He points out that this is what happened in the Russian Revolution of 1917 : the soviets set themselves up spontaneously, and yet the Bolshevik Party took power. This meant, Pannekoek concludes, that it was really 'obliged' to take power, in the sense that the proletariat was incapable of doing so itself, since circumstances were not ripe for a 'true' proletarian revolution. [39]
If we now consider the legacy left by Pannekoek to the proponents of council communism, it must be recognized that some theoretical problems remained unsolved.
For one thing, Anton Pannekoek never lost the traces of his long sojourn in social democracy or of his militant's theoretical training. He remained a Marxist all his life. [40] Consequently his council communism retained the marks of these origins. In particular, he lays special emphasis on the economic aspects of the class struggle, on the development of economic forces and forms. His historical materialism sometimes spills over into evolutionism (cf. his book Marxismus and Darwinismus and also Lénine philosophe) and leads him to imagine socialist society as 'productivist' -- a society in which work will finally be carried out joyfully. As we have seen, these preoccupations are a considerable distance from more recent viewpoints, such as the analyses contained in the critique of everyday life. It is quite certain that Pannekoek's notions on work are diametrically opposed to those which had their origins in surrealism. His attitude borders on the moral notion of work as having some kind of regenerative power, on the lines sketched out by Marx (man in fashioning nature fashions himself), or even Proudhon (work is what confers dignity on man; only the productive worker is worthy of esteem). Similarly, his socialism is in parts quite close to the socialism of Lenin. In a socialist society, he says, the rate of growth and economic progress will reach levels unheard of in capitalist society. [41] His socialism remains impregnated with a positivism which many leftists reject. There is plenty of room for dispute here, and dispute has ensued, as will be seen. In addition, some present-day councillist groups vigorously reject the arguments of the critique of everyday life, exalting militancy at the 'point of production'. This brings us to the question of defining the proletariat : here again, Pannekoek remained a prisoner of his time, holding a very restrictive concept of the proletarian. His vision of the worker possibly excludes today's technician or worker in the tertiary sector.
It nevertheless remains true that in other areas he was able to put across astonishingly modern, even prophetic ideas. Mention has already been made of what he said, as long ago as 1947, about direct action, wildcat strikes, factory sit-ins. Likewise the importance he attaches to the subjective factor (consciousness, will, etc.) is in complete harmony with certain modern leftist attitudes.
Above all, Pannekoek is 'contemporary' because he tried to draft the best formula for putting into effect the maxim that 'the emancipation of the workers must be achieved by the workers themselves'. This is the reason why this theory is at the centre of the current debates on the left : the leftist movements of today are all endeavouring to define their respective positions in relation to it -- and also, be it said, in relation to its ambiguities.
[1] Rosa Luxemburg, Grève de masses, parti et syndicats (Paris : Petite collection Maspéro, 1969), pp. 134-5.
[2] ibid., p. 146.
[3] cf. her speech to the constituent congress of the German Communist Party (in A. and D. Prudhommeaux, Spartacus et la Commune de Berlin[published by Spartacus, Paris, 1949] , p. 55).
[4] History and Class Consciousness (Merlin Press, 1971), p. 80.
[5] cf., for example, D. Guérin : 'Mai, une continuité, un renouveau', in Le Fait public, 6 (May 1969); and J. Maitron : 'Anarchisme' in Le Mouvement social, 69 (October-December 1969).
[6] To be perfectly fair, it should be specified that it is collectivist anarchist thought which appears to have stagnated. The whole philosophical, ethnical and individualistic tradition continues with writers like Emile Armand, C. A. Bontemps, etc, In addition, a number of anarchists devoted themselves to spreading pacifist ideas during the interwar period, the best known of these being Louis Lecoin.
[7] Which led some to take sides with the Western powers against the Soviet bloc.
[8] This was in fact admitted by one of the moving spirits of the FA who declared that this organization had nothing to do with the initiation of the events of May-June 1968 nor played any part in them -- interview of Maurice Joyeux in Le Fait public, (14 January 1970). On a purely analytic level, an exception must be made of the 'peri-anarchists' such as B. Péret; cf. G. Munis, B. Péret, Les Syndicates contre la révolution (Paris, 1968).
[9] For the history of Noir et Rouge, see the 46th (and last) issue for an article by one of its founders, Ch. Lagant : 'Sur le néo-anarchisme'. After 1961 the group itself took the name of 'Noir et Rouge'.
[10] cf. the Editorial in Nos. 42-3 of Noir et Rouge (November 1968).
[11] Noir et Rouge, 3, p. 5.
[12] ibid., 3, 4 and 28. This very open kind of anarchism should not be confused with the 'libertarian Marxism' of D. Guérin (L'Anarchisme, Paris, 1965), since in contrast to the latter it refused to accept a complete synthesis of the two doctrines (cf. No. 28 : 'Faire le point').
[13] 'La Revolte de la jeunesse', Noir et Rouge, 13 (1959). Cf. also No. 11. After 1961, Noir et Rouge progressively abandoned the purely ethical preoccupations of anarchism and established contact with council-communist groups.
[14] cf., for example, Noir et Rouge, 4, p. 9, and 10, p. 52, in which the group demonstrated its acceptance of the notion of workers' councils, as then expressed by Socialisme ou Barbarie (1958).
[15] Noir et Rouge, 30 ('Témoignage sur trois collectivités en Espagne'), 31-2 ('L'Autogestion contemporaine' and 'L'Autogestion en Yougolavie'), 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 ('L'Autogestion en Algérie'), 41 ('Les Conseils en Russie'), etc.
[16] Daniel Cohn-Bendit a member of the group, is a good illustration of this 'eclecticism' : he defined himself as an anarchist 'negatively', by his rejection of dogmatism, but did not completely reject Marx, any more than he completely accepted Bakunin. When he was pressed to define his position, he placed himself in the general stream of 'council communism' (interview in Magazine littéraire, 8 May 1968). This state of mind was in fact shared by a number of leftists in May-June 1968. Cf. the author's Projet révolutionnaire. Éléments d'une sociologie des événements de mai-juin 1968 (Paris, 1969), Chapter 1,'Les Théoriciens de la spontanéité'.
[17] There is a continual recurrence of this theme in Pannekoek's writings : see the extracts quoted (in French) by Serge Bricianer in Pannekoek et les counseils ouvriers (EDI, Paris,1969), accompanied by some remarkable explanatory notes.
[18] cf. 'Anton Pannekoek's second letter to Pierre Chaulieu', reproduced in (Cahiers du communisme de conseils, 8 (May 1971).
[19] A. Pannekoek, Workers' Councils (Melbourne, 1950), p. 29 (published by the 'Southern Advocate for Workers' Councils'). (For a summary, see S. Bricianer, op. cit.)
[20] A. Pannekoek, op. cit.. p. 230.
[21] The title of the first chapter of Workers' Councils.
[22] In his letter to Chaulieu, quoted above, Pannekoek also says how impressed he was by the political strikes in Belgium in 1893 and in Russia in 1905.
[23] cf. S. Bricianer's article in Pannekoek et les conseils ouvriers, p. 220.
[24] Pannekoek, Workers' Councils, pp, 201-2 and p. 85.
[25] ibid., p. 225.
[27] Pannekoek, Workers' Councils, Chapter 1.
[28] 'The Failure of the Working Class', in Politics, III, 8 (September 1964), quoted by S. Bricianer, Pannekoek et les conseils ouvriers, p. 220.
[30] Pannekoek, Workers' Councils, p. 69.
[33] ibid., and 'Prinzip and Taktik' (Proletarier, 7 and 8, 1927), quoted by S. Bricianer, Pannekoek et les conseils ouvriers, pp. 231-2.
[34] 'Cinq thèses sur la lutte de classe', French version in Informations et correspondance ouvrières, supplement to No. 72 (June-July 1968).
[35] Letter written by Anton Pannekoek on 8 November 1953, addressed to Pierre Chaulieu and reproduced in Socialisme ou Barbarie, 14 (April-June 1954). (This was the first letter, the only one published in Socialisme ou Barbarie.)
[36] Quoted in S. Bricianer, Pannekoek et les conseils ouvriers, p. 232.
[38] He says as much himself, in fact : 'The name is unimportant, as long as these parties adopt a role completely different from that which present-day parties aspire to play.' (Quoted by S. Bricianer, loc. cit., p. 262. My italics.)
[39] A. Pannekoek's second letter to P. Chaulieu, Socialisme ou Barbarte, 14.
[40] A fact which is further emphasized by his disciple Paul Mattick in an article dedicated to Anton Pannekoek, written after the latter's death : 'Anton Pannekoek', La Révolution prolétarienne, 472 (1962).
[41] Pannekoek, Workers' Councils, pp, 58 and 59.
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The Origins of Modern Leftism - Richard Gombin
1.The vital question: The régime of the USSR and the phenomenon of bureaucracy
2. Philosophical Revisionism
3. A Critique of Everyday Life
4b. The theory of council communism: The Inheritors
5. Leftism and Active Dissent


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Q: How do I make Rigidbody movements in a first person shooter in Unity? So I am making an FPS game in Unity, and I used to use transform.translate for movement, but that allows the player to move through walls if moving fast enough (diagonal movement) and it doesn't even matter how large the wall's hitbox is.
Here's my Player Controller code:
https://pastebin.com/6g7j8G6v
Here's the movement code:
void FixedUpdate()
{
    myBody.MovePosition(transform.position + (transform.forward *
    Time.deltaTime * speed));
}

void Update()
{

float axisX = Input.GetAxis ("Horizontal");
float axisY = Input.GetAxis ("Vertical");

More info: With this code, the player now moves in very specific directions, regardless of rotation. Also, W and S moves up and down rather than forwards & backwards.

A: I suggest you to checkout https://learn.unity.com/tutorial/environment-and-player?projectId=5c51479fedbc2a001fd5bb9f#5c7f8529edbc2a002053b786 unity official documentation
using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;

public class PlayerController : MonoBehaviour {

    public float speed;

    private Rigidbody rb;

    void Start ()
    {
        rb = GetComponent<Rigidbody>();
    }

    void FixedUpdate ()
    {
        float moveHorizontal = Input.GetAxis ("Horizontal");
        float moveVertical = Input.GetAxis ("Vertical");

        Vector3 movement = new Vector3 (moveHorizontal, 0.0f, moveVertical);

        rb.AddForce (movement * speed);
    }
}

They have a pretty straight forward sample code on how to do it, bear in mind that this solution still needs to normalize the vectorial movement, and for that, do this:
rb.AddForce (movement.normalized  * speed);

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Home Sports Body of football journalist Grant Wahl returned to US
Body of football journalist Grant Wahl returned to US
The body and belongings of soccer journalist Grant Wahl were repatriated to the United States on Monday following his death last week while covering the World Cup in Qatar, a senior State Department official said.
Wahl's remains and his belongings arrived at New York's John F Kennedy Airport around 8:30 a.m., the official said.
He was accompanied by a consular official from the US Embassy in Doha, where Wahl's remains had been placed since shortly after. he fell during friday's match and later died between Argentina and the Netherlands.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of privacy concerns, had no additional details, but said the embassy in Qatar was working with Wahl's family to ensure that the repatriation goes smoothly.
Wahl, an American journalist who helped increase the popularity of soccer in the United States and reported on some of the sport's biggest stories, was 48.
Tributes have been pouring in for Wahl since his death and on Monday US Secretary of State Antony Blinken added his voice to the chorus of praise.
"I greatly appreciate Grant Wahl, whose writing captured the essence of not only the beautiful game, but also the world around it," Blinken wrote on twitter About an hour after the repatriation is complete.
"I extend my deepest condolences to his family, and thank our embassy team and Qatari partners who worked effectively together to fulfill his wishes," Blinken wrote.
Wahl, who had complained of respiratory problems earlier in the week and was treated for a possible case of bronchitis, slumped back in his seat in a section of Lusail Stadium reserved for reporters during the game's overtime, and Journalists around him called for help.
Emergency services crews responded very quickly, treated him on site for 20 or 30 minutes, and then carried him out on a stretcher.
The World Cup organizing committee said he was taken to Doha's Hamad General Hospital, but did not give a cause of death.
Wahl wrote for Sports Illustrated for more than two decades and then started his own website.
He was a prominent voice informing soccer to an American public during a time of increased interest after the United States hosted the 1994 World Cup.
He also took a critical look at the international organizing bodies of the game.
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Aguero accuses Ibrahimovic of making fun of Argentina
Leadership shake-up continues as Ernie Stewart exits
James unveils jersey in association with club

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Zimbabwe's ex-health minister Parirenyatwa arrested ? reports
Zimbabwe's former minister of health David Parirenyatwa has reportedly been arrested on alleged criminal abuse of office charges.
According to New Zimbabwe.com, Parirenyatwa was arrested on Thursday and was being questioned by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID)'s Serious Fraud Squad.
It was not immediately clear what his offence, the report said.
Parirenyatwa was recently axed from his ministerial post after serving in the post for nearly 10 years.
He first came to the post in 2002 to 2009, and then was again appointed into the post from 2013 to 2018.
A report by the state-owned Herald newspaper said Parirenyatwa was expected to appear in court on a corruption charge.
Meanwhile, ZW News quoted an unnamed police official as saying the former minister's arrest was also linked to an "appointment of a relative to head a hospital, while that relative was still employed by the National Pharmaceutical Company of Zimbabwe (NatPharm)".
Another unnamed source said Parirenyatwa's arrest had to do with former president Robert Mugabe era factional wars between Mnangagwa and former first lady Grace Mugabe.
"Its Mnangagwa and (Vice President Constantino) Chiwenga's time to revenge and settle factional scores," the source was quoted as saying.


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Matthew Kindle's Discussions (38)
"There are a lot of ex-catholics with similar stories. But you must remember a few th…"
Matthew Kindle replied Apr 19, 2014 to Catholics.
18 Mar 7, 2015
Reply by Bean
"Matthew 7:21 applies to all churches with hypocritical Christians. Remember two vers…"
"His people, His elect can't be bamboozled by some corrupt clergymen (Matthew 24:24)."
"I wouldn't be suprised if many commit adultary. In fact I can site several cases tha…"
"What is a Catholic? Do Catholics have to follow the Pope's every word? Surely even C…"
"It's April 14th, and it's snowing here in Chicago. Even for us in Chicago who are us…"
Matthew Kindle replied Apr 14, 2014 to The Reality of Man Made Weather
41 Apr 14, 2014
Reply by Matthew Kindle
"It's no coincidence that modern wiccans are very "enviomentally aware" and green. Th…"
Matthew Kindle replied Oct 17, 2013 to The Green Religion
Reply by Tabitha
"It's amazing the coat of arms displays the pentacle and grape cluster of Dionysus. T…"
Matthew Kindle replied Mar 20, 2013 to Petrus Romanus?
10 May 11, 2015
""God laughs when fags die" - The Westboro Baptist Church "Therefore I will judge yo…"
Matthew Kindle replied Feb 16, 2013 to Requirements of the New Covenant, the teachings of the W.B.C, and more.
1 Feb 16, 2013
"The belief in a Purgatory is not a strictly Catholic idea, nor is it unbiblical. If…"
Matthew Kindle replied Aug 16, 2012 to The Afterlife
18 Sep 1, 2014
Reply by Sinclair


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text:
Californian band Mad Caddies have channelled their love of classic reggae, dub, ska, dancehall, two-tone and punk over the last twenty years into creating music that slips between genres. The band's last album, Punk Rocksteady, saw them transform punk classics into their own and they'll be bringing these tunes and more to London.
So you know, this show has been rescheduled from Sunday 16 August 2020 and Sunday 15 August 2021. If you've already got tickets, they'll still be valid, so hang on to them; your ticket agent will be in touch to tell you more.
Sunday 14 August 2022 - 7.00pm
O2 Academy Islington is the trading name of Academy Music Group Limited


By Robb Enslin, Duluth on Mar 13, 2018 at 10:09 a.m.
In a commentary March 5 at duluthnewstribune.com, the AgWeek Editorial Board described the debate over food stamps — more accurately the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP — as one of "government against free enterprise." This was because grocery stores would see a hit to their business if SNAP was ended, the piece argued.
The problem, of course, is that the taxpayer dollars that fund SNAP undermine the free market itself. The government literally is giving money to people that only can be spent at grocery stores. The money the grocery stores receive from this is not the result of the free market; it's government subsidy. So, yes, there would be a free-market correction if the subsidy was removed, and that may hurt some grocery stores.
But that is only because grocery stores receive the subsidy indirectly through SNAP.
Out of nowhere the commentary asked, "Would small businesses have to cut jobs while government jobs are added to fulfill the demands of the Harvest Box program?" There was no attempt to answer this. Considering the Trump administration's track record, albeit a short one, my guess would be no. All indications are this would mean a reduction in bureaucracy and cost. But the question seemed to be asked simply to plant the seed in the reader's mind.
This false "government vs. freedom" narrative continued with AgWeek stating how "ironic" it is that "people who normally favor family and individual choice" would instead support a program that preselects U.S.-grown food based on nutritional value. This also ignored that this is a taxpayer-funded program. Is it ironic that for the taxpayer request, taxpayers get some say in how their $70 billion are spent?
The narrative also ignored that we live in a country with an obesity epidemic. Perhaps people, when given the choice of everything in the grocery store, aren't always choosing responsibly. Would it be ironic if giving people free healthy food resulted in them being healthier?
The commentary expressed "concern" that SNAP will be removed from the Farm Bill. "Farm-state politicians have believed for decades that including SNAP in the Farm Bill encourages urban legislators to support federal funding for programs that farmers want," AgWeek's editorial board wrote. If the only way to get the Farm Bill passed is bribing "urban legislators" with $70 billion in taxpayer money, then perhaps there are major problems with the Farm Bill — and separating SNAP from the Farm Bill would allow those issues to come to light and be debated. That sounds like a good thing.
There's a big problem with this if you're an "urban legislator," of course. What the commentary didn't tell us is that the Farm Bill, which costs $956 billion over 10 years, would more aptly be named the Food Stamp Bill. Of that $956 billion, $756 billion will go toward food stamps and government nutrition programs. That's nearly 80 percent. In the 1970s, about one in 50 Americans was on food stamps. Today, it's about one in seven.
It does not appear that farm-state politicians need "urban legislators" to pass the Farm Bill. Instead, it appears food-stamp proponents are holding the Farm Bill hostage.
If getting $2 for farmers means we have to pay $8 to SNAP, I think we need to check our math. Separating the two issues results in proper debate on the merits of each program. That might mean aspects of each no longer make sense — or could be done more efficiently. We won't know unless we have the discussions.
Perhaps it's time we put down the Pop Tarts, plugged our noses, and ate our vegetables. They're better for us anyway. Just ask a farmer.
Robb Enslin of Duluth is a former lawyer and professional writer working in a regulatory field for a global manufacturer.


text:
Oxford Infirmary Plans Get Green Light
The first phase of a new project to be built at Oxford University in the UK has been given go-ahead by the city's council. The development will feature new student blocks, including the remodelling of three listed buildings. Niall McLaughlin Architects will create two building
The first phase of a new project to be built at Oxford University in the UK has been given go-ahead by the city's council.
The development will feature new student blocks, including the remodelling of three listed buildings.
Niall McLaughlin Architects will create two buildings featuring 68 rooms, a library and teaching room for Somerville College, as well as the redesigning of the Grade II listed outpatients wing that will become the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art.
The council's strategic development committee approved the plan despite objection from conservation groups.
The Grade II listed former infirmary will be converted into university office space, and the 144-year-old chapel will be remodelled as a performance and conference facility.
Purcell Miller Tritton will undertake the redevelopment of the infirmary and the chapel.
Green Fuel – Kondo Dam – Manicaland
Beulah ÔÇô Green Spine Mixed-Use Development ÔÇô Victoria
ACPT – St. Charles Model Green City Development – Maryland
Niall McLaughlin Architects
Somerville College


Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend, and for my Canadians I hope you are enjoying the long weekend! I am on my last day in LA and loving the warm sunshine. I don't think I am ready to come home tomorrow 🙁 But I am really excited about today's post! I never considered myself a foodie, I love food but I used to be super picky and I really preferred to make my own food at home. But one the past few years I have become more open to trying things. I started cooking and baking very young, so I thought I would start sharing some of my favourite recipes with you. My Mom and I always look for quick and easy recipes so I hope these might be helpful in your life! First up, egg muffin cups!
This is an amazing breakfast for people who don't have much time in the morning. I have always been a very scheduled person in the morning. But breakfast doesn't get a lot of time so I need fast and easy ideas. I really love trying to have eggs in the morning, they keep me feeling full and feeling energized. This recipe has been great, I can pop them in the oven and then go finish getting ready and come back to a great breakfast!
Are you a fan of egg muffin cups? What would your favourite toppings be! I hope this can help your morning's be a bit easier! Have a wonderful Monday!
I need these in my mouth now!! They'd be great for sandwiches!
Yum! These look so good, I'm definitely going to try them.
My mom made something like this for us when we had a fancy brunch party a while back! So easy and delicious.
These look soo good! I've never made them but I know if I did in advance, I'd be one happy girl every morning haha! I can't wait to try them!
I'm not a big egg fan myself BUT many of my friends are so I might be passing this recipe along! Love fun breakfast recipes!
I can not tell you how good this looks! I definitely have to make these!
These look so delicious! I definitely need to make them!
These look delish! And so easy!
These look so good! Totally need to try them.
This looks so good! I'm definitely going to be trying these!
Looks great sydney! eggs are my favourite breakfast since I got diabetes there not many options for a low carb for breakfast! So eggs are always my go to!!
These look so yummy! I'd love them!
Oh these look delish! I need to try these tomorrow!
Oh these look really yummy! I'll need to try for the holiday weekend.
YUUUUM! I'm a sucker for easy breakfast food.
Breakfast is my favorite meal!!! I love eggs and bacon! These look delicious!
These sound absolutely delicious, great for the work week too!
These are adorbs and look SO DANG GOOD!
need to try this recipe!


Here is the most recent news about me and my book, as compared to what you'll find on the "Old News" tab, which goes up to the end of November 2011, but you might find still worth reading.
My website on creative writing and story theory, called How to Write a Book Now, has been named one of the 100 Best Websites for Writers for 2017 by Write Life.
Since 2012, I have been teaching Creative Writing in the Continuing Education program at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario.
"Dancing on the Inside," has won Honorable Mention in the 2013 IndieFab Awards.
The term "indie books," refers to all books not published by the big five publishers. The term includes university presses, privately owned presses, literary presses, and self-publishers.
You can read more about this award on the IndieFab site.
"Dancing on the Inside, an uplifting and insightful novel for tweens and teens.
stories. Materials are included in registration fee.
An elementary school teacher recently wrote about Dancing on the Inside on her blog. She sees the book as an inspiration for project based learning.
I was interviewed by a reporter for the Kingston Whig Standard in May 2012. Here is the link to the article... Daughter Inspires Author.
May 2, 2012. Today, I am most grateful to learn that Dancing on the Inside has received the Gold Medal in the juvenile fiction category in this year's Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPYs).
This is one of the largest award contests dedicated to the independent publishing industry and involves 2,000 authors competing in 75 categories.
Dancing on the Inside is featured in the April 30, 2012 edition of Reader Views newsletter (along with other award winning books.
March 7, 2012. I'm pleased to announce that Dancing on the Inside has just received a Reader Views Literary Award for 2011 in the Canada East regional category.
In addition, in the Specialized Awards category of the same competition, it received the Donna Kakonge Award for the Best Canadian Regional Book.
February 23, 2012. Today my book is being featured on Indie Spotlight, a blog that highlights independently published books.
December 20, 2011 If you're into indie books, you likely have heard of The LL Book Review, which serves to introduce readers to new independent books.
Blog Tour Stop at "Words by Webb"
"...I had doubts about a non-dancer's ability to capture the mood of the ballet studio but I feel Strathy did admirably, both in the technical aspects and in the emotions of the dancers.
"...this book will appeal to a wide range of readers: obviously dance lovers and those with social phobia but more importantly to any young girl having trouble finding her place in the world. And what young girl doesn't? It's an encouraging tale of combining your dreams and your reality to create your world."
December 13, 2011. A 4/5 "P" review of Dancing on the Inside appears today on this blog, written by a "Librarian by Day, Book Reviewer by Night."
According to the site, 4 "P"s means, "A great read that I guarantee everyone should give a go."
Interview at "Morgen Bailey's Writing Blog"
Glen: I find first person best if you want the main character to speak directly to the reader. It's handy if you have a main character who is difficult to sympathize with (for instance, if he's not a nice person), because then he can make his case directly to the reader. Of course, he can also lie, misinterpret, or twist the facts as well, which a third person narrator cannot. Second person works best in epistolary novels, where the main character is writing the whole thing as a letter to another character. But to be honest, I prefer a limited third-person narrator, especially for children's fiction. It lets you tell the story from the main character's point of view without being too restrictive.
Morgen: And I've often heard that children enjoy reading stories about other children a little older than themselves so third person would be better in that respect. Do you ever use prologues / epilogues?
Glen: I'm not keen on prologues in children's fiction because I think it's important for younger readers to latch onto the main character's viewpoint right away and prologues often concern events before the main character enters the story. That said, I cannot deny that it works sometimes. For example, the first chapter of the first Harry Potter book begins from the point of view of Harry's Uncle Vernon. As for epilogues, I think readers need to know what life is like for the characters after the climax – whether things are better or worse. Whether you do so in an epilogue or simply the last chapter doesn't really matter.
December 9, 2011. Today, my article "How Writers Can Benefit From Participating in Community Theatre" appears in this entertainment-focussed blog.
These days I think of myself as a writer. Commercial writing has been my main source of income for the past decade. I have co-authored two non-fiction books, one of which was a bestseller, and most recently I published a children's novel, Dancing on the Inside.
However, there was a time in my life when my primary interest in life was the theater. I won't bore you with the reasons I did not become a world famous actor or director (and there are several good reasons for that). However, as a young man I performed in a lot of plays – in community theater, university theater, and professional non-union companies. I also directed a few plays and spent a brief time in theater school. Overall, I managed to do around seven productions a year over the course of roughly fifteen years. So that's over 100 shows under my belt.
Looking back on that period, I have sometimes felt that I had made a huge detour in my life. Maybe I should have spent all those evenings and weekends writing instead of rehearsing and acting in shows. Maybe my writing career would be a lot further along by now and I'd have finished more some more books.
December 8, 2011. This literary blog from Hawaii showcases mostly romance fiction, so I'm rather honoured that Kim interviewed me.
Kim: Tell us about where you live in Canada - your favorite sight, smell, and sound.
Glen: I live in a small city called Kingston, which is on the north shore of Lake Ontario - one of the 5 Great Lakes. It's a historic city, full of grey limestone buildings and boasting three historic forts, two universities, and (sadly) a penitentiary. My favorite smell would have to be the freshly roasted coffee beans at Cooke's Fine Foods. My favorite sight: the new university students in September dressed in outrageous outfits and body paint for what they ironically call "orientation." My favorite sound: the cannons at Fort Henry being fired on a summer evening at the end of the Kingston Symphony's performance of the 1812 Overture.
Kim: You also wrote in your bio, "I believe the best thing about performing arts (and other arts too) is that they give people more freedom to be who they want to be." What do you want to be?
Glen: It may sound trite to say it, but I'd like to be more my authentic self. A lot of us grow up being told "just be yourself and everything will be fine, people will like you, etc." But our experience tells us that's not always true. Often when we are ourselves, people don't react positively. Good relationships and success don't always come from honesty or doing what we feel like moment to moment. So many of us learn to create a false self that is socially acceptable and brings us closer to our goals. Unfortunately, living behind a false self is not very satisfying. It's like wearing the same shirt every day. After a while, it stinks.
In the performing arts, you get to express a lot of different selves. For instance, if you're a musician you must express a wide range of emotions in your music. If you're an actor, you must portray many different characters.
chance to switch shirts or wear a wider wardrobe.
"The Children's and Teen's Book Connection"
I never really gave up my ambition to write fiction. It was just on hold for a long time. Then I had the idea for Dancing on the Inside and I felt I just had to write it. I didn't set out to write children's books. That's just what this particular book happened to be.
It's hard to write fiction for any audience. Every genre has its challenges. Even picture books, which everyone thinks are easy because they're short, are hard to write because they must be so concise while still telling a satisfying story.
You have to be passionate about whatever you are writing, otherwise it's just thankless work. There are still parts of Dancing on the Inside that I can't read without being emotionally affected – even though I wrote the book and have gone over the words many, many times.
But what's even better is finding out that other people were moved by your words. Hearing a positive comment by a reader or finding out that you inspired someone is the best possible reward.
Guest Appearance on "Literarily Speaking"
December 5, 2011. "A Day in the Life of A Middle-Grade Children's Author," is the title of my guest appearance on this literary blog.
In this post, I talk about what my working day is currently like.
Incidentally, this post also features a link to the Goodreads giveaway contest where you can win a FREE copy of my book, just in time for the Holidays.
And of course, you'll find a lot of other information about books and authors.


text:
World church
LGBT inclusion causes a 'peaceful split' in a worldwide church
John Sandeman | January 7th, 2020 10:16 AM	| Add a Comment
In a world where church culture wars are depressingly common, it is a pleasant surprise to hear of one major group where it looks like a major conflagration will be avoided.
Key leaders in the United Methodist Church (UMC)– the third largest church in the US, with 12 million members worldwide – have agreed how the church will split over the issue of LGBT inclusion. The evangelical wing of the US part of the church will leave with their church properties, pensions and $25 million and establish a traditionalist Methodist Church, with a new name. In Australia the Methodist Church became part of the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) , although some Methodist churches have been planted since
By contrast to the US, all the major denominations (christian networks) in Australia have remained conservative on LGBT issues with the exception of the UCA which has adopted a "two rites" marriage policy, with both a traditional and a LGBT inclusive marriage service. The UMC, UCA's sibling in the World Methodist Council, has now decided that sort of co-existence is no longer possible.
Most of the non-evangelical part of the US church will stay in the United Methodist Church, which will become a progressive church like the Episcopal Church and the US Presbyterians, both of which have growing conservative breakaways. The overseas branches of the United Methodists in Africa, Europe and Asia will get to vote on how they will align themselves.
Until now a coalition of US evangelicals (who are a minority) and the rapidly-growing African Methodists have held the line, retaining a conservative stance. But every four years there has been a major fight at the United Methodist General Conference. Last year a special General Conference voted to toughen the rules against gay ministers, while the Western part of the United States elected a lesbian bishop, and churches (both progressive and conservative) headed for the exits. It looked like the Methodists were headed into years of rancorous debate and litigation.
But six months ago, John Yambasu, a bishop (regional leader) from Sierra Leone in West Africa, pulled together a group of key leaders from the factions that had formed in the Methodists to meet with a famous mediator, lawyer Kenneth Feinberg. Feinberg – with a track record of resolving complicated disputes including overseeing victim compensation funds after 9/11 and the BP Deepwater oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico – was key to a compromise, in which each group has had to give up part of what they wanted.
The US evangelicals are leaving, and the progressives are allowing them to go with their church property. Church trials of gay clergy will be halted, and a church can leave for the evangelical group with just a simple majority if the church council decides. And vulnerable groups – such as First Nations groups and Africa University get a $39m fund, a third of which comes from the traditionalists. $2m is also set aside for a possible 'liberationist" church on the left.
After six months of secret meetings (but with each lobby group able to discuss the proposals), Yambasu says: "We humbly offer to the delegates of the 2020 General Conference the work which we have accomplished in the hopes that it will help heal the harms and conflicts within the body of Christ and free us to be more effective witness to God's kingdom."
I'm looking forward to participating in a Methodist revival!
Most leaders in the United Methodists have reacted positively to the deal. Mark Tooley, President of the conservative think tank Institute for Religion and Democracy, makes this prediction: "General Conference will approve a version of this plan. During several subsequent years of sorting, United Methodism's current 6.7 million members in the USA will drop to about 6 million. About 2.5 million will join the conservative church, and about 3.5 million will be in the liberal church. Nearly all the 5.5 million overseas members, mostly in Africa, will join conservative church, so the conservative denomination will have about 8 million members globally.
"This process will be messy and often tragic. Many local congregations will divide and die. But United Methodism is already dying in America. This division will allow evangelistic-minded Methodism to plant new congregations and grow. American Christianity and society desperately need a theologically cohesive rejuvenated Methodism.
(An analysis by Tom Ferguson, a progressive and former ecumenical officer for the Episcopal Church gives predictions regarding numbers similar to to Tooley's. But there's a chance the Africans will stay in the UMC because as a region they can retain conservative rules on LGBT issues.)
JJ Warren, a young gay man who became the face of the LGBT lobby, in a passionate speech at the 2019 Special General Conference told Huffpost that that he was hoping the global church could remain united, but if that goal is unobtainable, "this protocol is the next best thing."
Hailing the announcement of the deal as "great news!" the progressive Mainstream UMC's Mark Holland comments that his group "continues to be committed to the Spirit at Pentecost breathing life into a theologically diverse denomination. We acknowledge that this diversity is not possible for some of our most conservative brothers and sisters. This protocol allows this group to fulfil their decades-long goal of spinning off a very conservative brand of Methodism. We grieve this loss and yet, in the spirit of Christian charity, we bless them in their new endeavour."
They will not have an easy time of it in this post-Christian culture, but they will have what it takes to endure.
Rod Dreher, author of The Benedict Option, a book about survival strategies for conservative Christianity, writes in the American Conservative, "I believe, with Mark Tooley, that the liberal UMC will wither away and die. The traditionalist Methodists will be smaller, but stronger and more vibrant. They will not have an easy time of it in this post-Christian culture, but they will have what it takes to endure."
David French, formerly of National Review and now at thedespatch.com believes the divide goes deeper than LGBT issues: "The secular media will cast the divide primarily in the terms it understands—as focused on "LGBT issues"—but that's incomplete. The true fracturing point between Mainline and Evangelical churches is over the authority and interpretation of scripture. The debate over LGBT issues is a consequence of the underlying dispute, not its primary cause. … There is a strain of Protestant Christianity that views the Bible as valuable but not infallible or inerrant. Evangelical Christians, by contrast, strongly dissent from that view.
"Thus, at heart, the disagreement between the Evangelical and Mainline branches of Christianity isn't over issues—even hot-button cultural and political issues—but rather over theology. Indeed, the very first clause of the United Methodist Church's nine-page separation plan states that church members "have fundamental differences regarding their understanding and interpretation of Scripture, theology and practice."If you were to draw a Venn diagram, the number of people who believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God—or in the words of the Barna Group's test of Evangelical orthodoxy—"accurate in all the principles it teaches" and who also believe that Christian pastors should sanction (much less officiate) same-sex weddings would be small. The number isn't zero, but it's small."
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The main brochure for the V6 production version of the XJ220. Try to find a mint copy still in its original heavy white mailer envelope. Copies of this brochure out of their envelopes are relatively common.
The real rarity (I've only ever seen two) is the original version that shows the V12 prototype car and engine - look for the picture of the V12 engine at the end of the brochure to recognise it quickly!


Juan Rodriguez: Graphic designer, creative contributor, maestro of logistics and of all the things that have brought the game to its final state.
Olly & Dan: The website designers, builders and internet consultants extraodinaire.
The Silver Birch Ltd. company in London UK.
Make people happy by providing them with value for money, great fun and the desire to play again and again.
Create a game that can be played around the world by anyone who can speak English or Spanish. Visiting friends in Australia? You can play it with them when you get there. Got Mexican friends coming to visit? You can play it with them while they're with you.


Today Blogging is not just about Writing, It is more like Managing a Startup.
The only difference is you are One man Army and you need tools which can make work easier.
Blogging is very Time Consuming and it is very hard managing a Blog.
You will have tasks like Managing Social Media Handles, Marketing, Website Performance and Security.
Without Automation it is very tough to run a Blog.
I will List 5 Very Important Productivity and Automation tools for your Blog.
Agora Plus is a Social Media Automation tool for managing multiple Social Networks.
Managing Multiple Social Media Profiles is a hard task and will consume a lot of time, Affecting your Efforts in Content Creation.
As a Blogger our focus should be creating Content.
Using Agora Plus you can Publish Content on Multiple Social Media accounts Instantly.
Agora Plus is Paid Tool and it quite Expensive. But trust me it's worth Investing if you are Serious about Blogging for Long term.
I personally use Agora Plus and I am very much Impressed by the Offering.
I currently use the Small Plan which costs me $39/mo.
Agora Plus has the free Trial option, You can try and decide.
I personally Recommend this Tool.
A Project Management Tool is a must to save time in Creating Work Flows and Planning.
As a Blogger it is very tough to Execute Creative Ideas.
I started using Wrike Project Management Tool in 2017 and it skyrocketed my Productivity.
The Best part it Wrike has Free Plan forever, You can Utilize it more Efficiently.
Board view – Prioritize tasks in columns or drag them between columns to change status, like using sticky notes on a whiteboard.
Task Management – Simply drag-and-drop tasks to rank them any way you want.
File sharing Connect all files and documents in one place. Edit and upload the most recent version online without downloading.
Spreadsheet View – A useful view for those who are most comfortable working in spreadsheets.
iPhone and Android apps Mobile apps ensure you never miss an update no matter where you are.
Convert Pro is a Lead Generation and E-mail Optin Tool.
You can easily build E-mail Subscription forms, Beautiful Opt-ins and Landing pages.
The best part is you have the option to pay for this tool One Time which most tools doesn't offer.
Pocket is an Incredible tool for Bloggers, I guess it is actually built for Bloggers, Journalists and Content Enthusiasts.
You can save any article on the Web and View it Offline.
Pocket has made my life so much easier in generating Content Ideas.
Pocket becomes very useful for me when I am Travelling or attending Conferences.
There will be times when you have no access to the Internet and as a Blogger it is very hard without the Internet.
Remembering Passwords is a hard task and forgetting it is a Nightmare.
Dashlane solves this problem. It helped me save a lot of time in managing passwords.
As a Blogger you are indulged in a lot of Accounts.
Remembering all of them is actually impossible and saving all of them in a doc file is not a secure step.
That's where Password Managers comes into Place. Password managers are the most secure and encrypted solution for storing passwords.
The best part I liked is you can actually share passwords with team members without showing them the actual password.


One of our new INTO Giving funded projects for 2015 involves both the School Club Zambia and the Kampasa Community School, Lusaka, Zambia. Over £10,000 will be donated to fund the E-learning and Community Development Centre (E-LCDC) at the Kampasa Community School. INTO Giving will provide the initial capital for the centre, and fund the first four months' running costs.
By 2017 the income generated from the E-LCDC should provide a sustainable income source to maintain the running costs of Kampasa Community School. The income generated will contribute to on-going funds for the school, particularly the teachers' salaries, ensuring its long-term sustainability.
The Kampasa Community School is located in the John Laing Compound, a slum area of Lusaka, with an estimated population of 82,000 – 120,000. The school was established in 2012 by Febian Watanuka, who converted his own nightclub into a school. Febian works closely with the local community, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and other local organisations. Many of the pupils attending the school are orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) and all are from extremely poor local families.
The Kampasa Community School has now teamed up with the School Club Zambia (SCZ), a registered charity, who have excellent record of setting up income generating schemes that provide sustainable incomes for its own schools in Zambia. SCZ is now working with the Kampasa Community School to set up the E-Learning and IT Centre for the use of local residents and the children who attend the school. SCZ will carefully monitor and evaluate the progress of the centre and provide clear reports for both INTO Giving and the Kampasa Community School.
Over 1000 pupils attended the vocational courses supported by the income generating schemes.
1,050 pupils benefitted from additional school resources purchased from their school's self-generated income.
3 School Enterprise Committees received training in market research, financial controls and record keeping as well as product development.
'The school Club Zambia's Mission is for a Zambia where every child has access to high quality, vocational, and relevant education. A Zambia where education leads to job security and life opportunities for the nation's youth' Lois Cochrane, Co-Founder and Country Director, School Club Zambia.


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Emmys: Modern Family, Glee, Parenthood scoop, and more!
By Sandra Gonzalez Updated September 19, 2011 at 12:00 PM EDT
Streaming Options
And the winner is…ALL OF US.
As I teased on my Twitter account last night, the EW Army was out in full force this weekend gathering TV scoop from all the good-looking stars walking around, and as a result, we all walk away feeling like winners. (So this is what it feels like to be Kyle Chandler!) So enjoy yourself as you dig into some scooplets in this special edition of Spoiler Room, and if you missed any of EW's Emmy coverage this weekend, educate yourself.
And make sure to come back on Friday for your regularly scheduled edition of Spoiler Room (in its normal format). That reminds me! I'm still accepting your questions via e-mail: spoilerroom@ew.com.
GLEE–MERGENY!*
Sure, the kids from Glee know how to work a carpet, but show me the woman with the scoop and I'll show you the person I want to talk to. For EW, that was Dot Marie Jones, who we caught up with on Saturday night at the Performers Nominee Reception at Spectra by Wolfgang Puck. Jones, who, like a trooper, came out for the festivities despite her broken foot, dished that her injury is actually being worked into the show. "Yeah, Ryan [Murphy], the boys, wrote it into the third episode that I broke my foot," she said. "I don't want to say how they wrote it in because it's very funny." {C}And this wasn't the only hospital visit made by a member of the cast this season, according to Ashley Fink. At the EW party, Fink told us, "I can say that season 3 is going to be out of control. I keep reading the script and will be like, 'Whaaaatttt?' People have gone to the hospital! It's been out of control….A certain person has gone to the hospital after doing a certain number too hard. He was going real [sic] hard." We're looking at you, Chris Colfer.
Also coming to Glee-land this season: a new, power-hungry trio! Okay, that might be an overstatement. Jones says: "Jayma Mays and Kevin McHale and myself are the three co-directors of the school musical….It's hilarious. We're very serious about our selection and our audience process. We're methodical about our decisions."
*I recognize how stupid this pun is, and I hate myself for it. Also, I'm not changing it.
MODERN FAMILY: WOULD YOU LIKE A BABY WITH THOSE EMMYS?
Credit: Lewis Jacobs/NBC
What's left to do after you make the Emmy Awards your bitch dominate at the Emmy Awards? Well, if you're Modern Family, you squeeze together and make room for new blood in the cast. And, as teased last year, that could include a new baby for Cam (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson). "It's a story that will play out over the course of the year," Ferguson tells EW. "A lot of people have to look to alternate means to expand their family, straight and gay couples. There is a lot of ways to do that, whether it be with a surrogate or my partner's sperm in my sister's uterus, which could happen. I'm not saying it's a storyline, but it might be something they explore. Wouldn't that be hilarious?" Erm… "It's not a done deal [that we'll get a baby] but it's something they are exploring," he adds. "I think this season will be about their struggle how to do that and how my character is maybe not as comfortable as having a son because he's not the most masculine of people. He can't throw a football like his partner Cameron."
Emmy winner Julie Bowen also dished to EW about another addition: David Cross, who comes on board this season to go toe-to-toe with Claire. "We have a very caustic relationship. He plays a town councilman who Claire Dunphy is not fond of, and we face off in the small town political arena," she says. "He's very, very funny." Also sort of funny? Accidentally calling your new guest star by the wrong name! "I was maybe not at my very best at 5 a.m. I called him David Chase. I always call people mister and sir early on because otherwise, every other word out of my mouth is foul and disgusting. So I try to show a tiny bit of respect before I work with them. So when I said 'Mr. Chase,' he looked at me like, 'Are you joking? I love the respect with the wrong name.' I was like, 'I loved the Sopranos.'"
NEXT: SCOOPLETS on 'Parenthood,' 'The Big Bang Theory,' and 'Grey's Anatomy'
PARENTHOOD'S MICHAEL B. JORDAN: ALEX IS STILL A 'GOOD PERSON'
Tomorrow night on NBC's Parenthood, we'll see more about Alex's complicated criminal past — and according to Michael B. Jordan, it's going to get much worse before it gets better. "It's going to go on for the next four weeks. It's going to be drawn out a little bit. You get detail of Alex's past and why he is who he is. Over the next two weeks, it starts to unfold itself." But, he insists, "He has a good heart. He's a good person. Some things turn out cool. It's bittersweet but a catch-22." But as his past catches up with him, will Alex get the Bravermans' cold shoulder? Not necessarily, he says. "I think it's more of a concern, but they don't turn their backs on Alex — not as much as he expects them to. It's very satisfying."
Julia (Erika Christensen) also appears to have Alex's back, but has struggles of her own to deal with. But if you were counting on her getting the chance to adopt the coffee cart girl's bun (in the oven), you might be out of luck. "I am not sure," says Christensen. "There is a relationship that will develop. We're about to finish episodes 5 and 6. I'm hoping she will let Julia have the baby. I still don't know. [Showrunner] Jason Katims specifically said we could give her one or we may not. Interestingly, he is a writer who pays attention to the way the actors work and lets things evolve on their own. I spoke to him just before we started, and I'm interested to speak to him now that he's seen a few episodes of that relationship developing." (Well, Erika, he's an Emmy winner now. You might be out of luck. Kidding.) "The cool thing is that Julia's maternal instincts are being explored a lot more than they have in previous two seasons," she adds. "So it would be really satisfying to have her get what she wants. Otherwise, I think she could do something like throw herself into work entirely and embark upon some new part of her career. It would be painful if she never got a baby but pain is good too, it makes for good television."
THE BIG BANG THEORY: WEDDING IN EPISODE 100? PROBABLY NOT. FOR MANY REASONS.
The sound of wedding bells will soon be ringing through the air on The Big Bang Theory, or will they? Since Howard (Simon Helberg) and Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) got engaged, it's been teased that they might not make it to the altar. And now we know (one of the reasons) why: "Right now the biggest obstacle is going to be where are going to live. Getting Howard out of his mother's house is going to be an issue in their marriage. He's still there. I don't know if he'll ever leave, but Bernadette is definitely marrying his mother. She's getting a two for one deal." Terrifying. Helberg elaborates: "My mother has warmed up to Bernadette but it's a constant struggle. I keep trying to pull Bernadette into my lifestyle with my mother and Bernadette's not happy about that. I try to organize that we would move in after the wedding to my house so we give it a trial run. Bernadette gave it a shot and it didn't work out. So it's a constant battle. I think its going to be a long road before we actually get married." *That's if you get married, buddy. (Note: To avoid confusion, I will clarify that Helberg is married in real life. That's wife Jocelyn Towne above.)
*Let's be serious: They totally will, right? Normally, I'd say a wedding would even make an outstanding 100th episode, but based on what Bill Prady says, that's probably not the direction he's headed. "We're not inclined to do something gimmicky. I think it depends on the storytelling in the next group of episodes. It would be fun if it were a turning point episode in a story but right now we just don't see a turning point. That's not to say there won't be. I just don't know yet."
GREY'S ANATOMY: CALIZONA'S CALM BEFORE THE STORM?
Callie and Arizona had a pile of crap thrown on them last season — not to mention that musical! This season, peace has fallen over one of primetime's cutest pairs, and Jessica Capshaw couldn't be happier about it. "After last season, things will slow down for Arizona and Callie," she says. "Married life on the show is very boring bliss. We are on episode six right now. Callie and Arizona were such a huge focal point at the end of last season, and I think we got a little bit of a break at the beginning of the season. And I've always said this: With Grey's and the big cast we have, you carry a storyline and you run, run, run and then you hand it off to someone else. So I think right now we're in married bliss." (We'll see how long that lasts.)
Not so blissful? Poor Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) and his struggle with his sick wife Adele (Emmy winner Loretta Divine), which takes a major and surprising turn in Thursday's premiere. (If you've been following news, you know Kevin McKidd's Owen is named new chief this season. You do the math.) Unfortunately, Divine's not sure where it's headed after the events in the premiere, but she had her ideas on how to keep the couple in the mix. "I'd like them to take the camera straight to his house — follow him for a chance."
**CASTING EXTRA**
All aboard! Broadway actor Bill Heck will soon be taking flight on ABC's Pan Am, EW has learned. The actor, best known for his amazing run in the revival of Angels in America opposite Zachary Quinto, is scheduled to appear in at least two episodes of the freshman drama, playing a photographer for Life magazine who is assigned to follow Laura (Margot Robbie) for a follow-up article. According to casting intel, Heck's character helps Laura "relax and open up" when her reservations about being the face of Pan Am get in the way of his assignment. Take that how you will.
(Lynette Rice and Carrie Borzillo contributed to this column.)
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SeaTac father, daughter killed when pickup hits them head-on in Oklahoma
SeaTac father, daughter killed when pickup crosses centerline in Oklahoma
MANNFORD, Okla. -- A father and daughter from SeaTac, Washington were killed in a head-on crash earlier this month in Oklahoma.
The Teachman Family (GoFundMe)
According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Michael Teachman and his 19-year-old daughter Anna were hit by a pickup truck that crossed the centerline July 8 on Highway 51.
Michael was driving his daughter to orientation at Oklahoma State University. He died at the scene.
Anna, 19, was taken to the hospital and put on life support. Her family says she donated her organs, so many people could be helped.
The driver of the pickup truck was taken to the hospital in stable condition, according to KOKI-TV. The crash remains under investigation.
Anna was selected as the Washington State Dairy Ambassador in 2017.
"I feel so blessed to have spent the last year with this outstanding young lady," Scott Kinney, Dairy Farmers of Washington CEO, said in a statement. "Thank you, Anna. Even though you were with us for just a short time, you made an immeasurable difference to so many lives."
Q13 News verified a GoFundMe page has been set up to provide financial assistance to the surviving members of the teachman family, Lori and Kara, who had just flown home to Seattle when the crash happened.