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Perry Talks Water, Tax Relief in State of the State
In his seventh State of the State address, Gov. Rick Perry ignored controversial issues and urged state lawmakers to do the nitty gritty work of government: fund water projects, build more roads and improve education.
by Aman Batheja and Elena Schneider Jan. 29, 2013 1 PM Central
In his Jan. 29, 2013, State of the State speech, Gov. Rick Perry avoided hot-topic issues like abortion, immigration and gun control and focused instead on infrastructure, budget reform and education. Credit: Bob Daemmrich
Twelve years after first becoming governor and one year after a failed bid for president, Rick Perry delivered a State of the State speech Tuesday that was long on large-scale spending proposals and short on red meat for his conservative base.
"Our bank balance is healthy. Our economy is growing. Our future is limitless," Perry told a joint session of the Legislature from the floor of the Texas House.
Over 35 minutes, Perry laid out an ambitious agenda for the remaining four months of the legislative session. He avoided hot-topic issues like abortion, immigration and gun control and focused instead on infrastructure, budget reform and education.
After a presidential campaign in which he touted the notion of getting the government out of the way of families and businesses, Perry spent a large portion of Tuesday's speech touting the ability of government programs and spending to transform its people's lives for the better. He spoke about the power of better roads and a reliable water supply in boosting economic development. He raved about how recent public expenditures have transformed South Texas. He criticized the federal government only briefly, when he vowed to not expand Medicaid under federal health reform.
"From these great chambers to the governor's office, to local offices in small towns across our state, we are all privileged to do our part to make a better Texas for all," Perry said.
Perry called for budget writers to tap more than $3.7 billion from the Rainy Day Fund for onetime infrastructure projects. Lawmakers have recently proposed tapping as much as $2 billion from the fund for water projects and an additional amount for road projects. The fund is projected to have $11.8 billion by the end of the next biennium.
Additionally, on transportation, Perry proposed ending $1.3 billion in diversions of the state's highway fund away from road construction and maintenance, much of which currently goes to fund the Department of Public Safety.
"It's the decisions made here, in this chamber, in this building, that will determine what Texas will look like 50 years from now," Perry said solemnly near the end of his address.
The governor also proposed $1.8 billion in tax relief but said he wanted a discussion on what form that relief would take, asking Texans to have their say on a new page on his website. Lawmakers have recently discussed providing relief from either the property tax or the state's business tax. Perry urged lawmakers to make the franchise tax exemption for small businesses permanent.
Perry devoted most of the second half of his speech to education, where he called for creating more public charter schools, launching a scholarship program that gives students in low-performing schools the option to attend a different one, and giving students more flexibility in the classes they take to prepare for adulthood.
On higher education, Perry pushed lawmakers to implement a four-year tuition freeze for incoming freshmen and to tie at least 10 percent of state funding to the number of degrees and certificates colleges and universities award. He also urged both chambers to muster the two-thirds vote necessary to amend the state's Constitution to allow South Texas access to the state's Permanent University Fund
Two years earlier in the same speech, Perry challenged Texas colleges to develop $10,000 degree programs. On Tuesday, he bragged that such programs are now available in 13 schools and noted with a smile that "Florida is developing its own $10,000 degree program, and even California — yes, that California — is taking a stab at making these programs commonplace."
One of Perry's most expensive proposals may also be the ones that Texans will have the most trouble grasping: making the state budget more transparent.
"We're in a position today to put our financial house in order, and it's time to do so," Perry said.
He called for the Legislature to "true up our budget" — unwinding a litany of accounting gimmicks used in the past to bypass shortfalls without finding more revenue. States routinely employ such gimmicks during recessions and undo them when the economy rebounds. Some gimmicks, such as billions of dollars sitting in dedicated accounts that aren't being used for their intended purpose, have been part of the Texas budget process for more than a decade.
Perry appeared to be proposing a measure that would make it tougher for future legislatures to use such budgetary sleights of hand.
"If we don't need taxpayer money for that purpose, let's not collect it at all," Perry said.
Perry also called for a constitutional amendment that gives lawmakers a direct way to return tax money to Texans if the state collects more than it needs.
The speech was briefly interrupted by about a dozen protesters in the House galley from the Texas Organizing Project, a group focused on the needs of low-income Texans. As the group chanted in protest of the number of uninsured Texans, lawmakers on the House floor applauded to drown them out and then cheered as security escorted them out.
"I didn't know there would be that much excitement about tax relief," Perry quipped.
The governor briefly played defense during his address when he chose to tackle a common criticism of the state's recent economic prowess: the notion that most of the state's employment gains have been in low-paying jobs.
"The truth is that we are creating all kinds of jobs — low-paying jobs, medium-paying jobs and high-paying jobs," Perry said. "We've created jobs in all three categories faster than the national rate over the last 10 years."
Responding to Perry's State of the State address, the Democratic Caucus accused the Republican governor of veiled language to obscure the financial needs of public education and health care.
"The governor used the word 'scholarship'; who can be against scholarships? But I guess that's the new word for vouchers," said Rep. Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont. "'Choice' is a bad word when it comes to women's health care, but it's a good word when it comes to charter schools. We must not let nomenclature and fancy words mislead what is actually being done."
Democrats said they were encouraged by Perry's newfound willingness to dip into the Rainy Day Fund, but disappointed that the money would only go to infrastructure.
"I was actually surprised that he is willing to invest in our state, but the thing that kind of bothered me [was] ... I heard a lot about infrastructure, roads, water, but not nearly enough about investing in our people," said Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston. "If we expect great things, we need to invest in our people."
Perry delivered his speech just hours after the release of a poll that suggested his standing in the state is still reeling from his disastrous presidential bid. North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling's latest automated telephone poll of Texas voters shows Perry struggling if he were to run for re-election in 2014. Among Republican primary voters, the poll found Attorney General Greg Abbott beating Perry 41 percent to 38 percent, within the 4.9 percent margin of error for that portion of the poll. Abbott performs better than Perry in head-to-head matchups against four prominent Democrats: former Houston Mayor Bill White, current Houston Mayor Annise Parker, San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro and state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth. Perry actually trails White by 3 points.
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Why the fall of statues is a moment of opportunity
June 18, 2020 June 17, 2020 by Ian Paul
Rod Symmons writes: The citizens of Bristol have a long history of letting the establishment know when they are not happy. In 1793 the question of tolls on Bristol Bridge provoked a riot that cost 11 lives. In 1831 the populace took to the streets again to protest against the fact that only 6% of the population had the vote—and a riot ensued that lasted for three days and led to a slaughter conducted by the 3rd Dragoon Guards that left up to 500 people dead.
By those standards, the Black Lives Matter protest last week was rather tame. There were no casualties and no arrests, but there were two iconic moments, both of which involved the statue of Edward Colston.
The first was the image of members of the crowd dragging the statue to the ground in scenes that were reminiscent of the fate that befell the statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square in Baghdad in 2003. The second was seeing him sink to the bottom of the river to the same watery grave to which his merchant endeavours consigned 19,000 of his victims.
It has been suggested that comparisons cannot be drawn with the fall of dictatorships, but for those residents of the city whose ancestors had been on the receiving end of the business activities of the man who was commemorated on the plinth as "one of the most virtuous and wise sons" of Bristol it was just such a cathartic moment.
Would it have been better if a plaque had been added to give a bit more context to Colston's 'virtue' and 'wisdom'? Possibly. Would it have been better if the statue had been removed through a legal process? Yes, of course it would. But I have lived in Bristol for more than 20 years, and there was no progress at all on either front. Those who saw themselves as custodians of Colston's legacy have exercised sufficient influence to ensure that the status quo has remained. The powerful Merchant Venturers, in alliance with a right wing councillor called Richard Eddy, made sure that any attempt to reinterpret the myth of Colston that had been created by his Victorian admirers was blocked.
After years of obfuscation, Bristol (and the wider UK) is now being forced to look properly at the legacy of slavery. There is a fresh urgency about looking at the plethora of streets, buildings and institutions whose names are associated with the 'heroes' of the slave trade—and rightly so.
I have to confess I have been on a journey with this. Some years ago the Bristol events magazine Venue (now discontinued) published an opinion piece that used a series of obscenities and profanities to lay waste all things Colston. The following month I wrote a response—not defending Colston, but pointing out the danger of hypocrisy. Carrying all the anger of a white middle-class liberal, the piece was laden with the assumption that had the writer lived in the eighteenth century he would have behaved differently. How can any of us know that? Surely the test is how we respond to the errors in our own day—such as the way we largely turn a blind eye to modern slavery (or at the least don't devote a great deal of energy to addressing it)? I recall that I quoted the words of Jesus about specks and planks.
What changed my view was the belated realisation that while for me the transatlantic slave trade was an ancient wrong that heroes like Wilberforce and Newton had consigned to history, for many others it was a reality that could not so easily be brushed away. For friends whose ancestors were slaves, the sight of Colston standing erect at the centre of the city and commemorated in annual rituals where school children are given Colston buns and urged to recall with reverence his example of benevolence was an intolerable affront.
Some argue that to remove statues is to forget history. I beg to differ. To remove statues like that of Edward Colston is precisely the opposite – it is to remember and properly understand history and to distance ourselves from some of the actions of our forebears.
Let us take a modern parallel. At the time of his death in 2011, Sir Jimmy Savile was a national icon. His fund raising on behalf of various hospitals, and his stints working as a hospital porter, were the stuff of legends. A year later, however, the truth about his lifestyle began to come out and within a month places and organisations that were connected with Savile were renamed and a statue of him in Glasgow was removed. Respect for his victims meant that his legacy was radically reinterpreted.
People outside Bristol may not understand how toxic Colston's brand is. His victims may seem very remote, but for many in Bristol they are their family members – or could have been. The failure to recognise the inappropriateness of honouring him in the way that Bristol has done for so many years is a mark of the fact that black lives have not sufficiently mattered to enough of us.
The question of whether the people who tore down the statue should be prosecuted is a delicate one. Yes, they committed an offence—but while what they did was illegal, was it unjust? On a more pragmatic level, if they are prosecuted that will become the story rather than Colston's absence from his former place of veneration. My guess is that the Council, who it appears have been established to be the legal owners of the statue, will not press for a prosecution for that reason.
Perhaps the most significant thing to show the change that has happened in Bristol since the removal of the statue was the statement issued by the Merchant Venturers on Friday. In it they acknowledge that the fact that the statue has gone 'is right for Bristol' and that
It was inappropriate for the Society of Merchant Venturers to get involved in the rewording of the Colston statue plaque in 2018 and we have listened to the constructive comments put to us over this past week.
The statement also says:
To build a city where racism and inequality no longer exist, we must start by acknowledging Bristol's dark past and removing statues, portraits and names that memorialise a man who benefitted from trading in human lives.
It is hard to overestimate how important this statement is. I cannot imagine any circumstances in which the Society would have suggested the removal of the statue in the past, but now that it has gone they have unequivocally renounced his legacy.
For Christians in Bristol, the removal of Colston offers a kairos moment. Black people in Bristol suffer the greatest discrimination and have the poorest outcomes of any or the 11 Core Cities in the UK. Getting rid of a statue won't immediately change that, but properly coming to terms with the history of the city, its role in the transatlantic slave trade and the enduring legacy of that dark chapter will be a start. And the Christian community has a chance to take a lead on this.
Over the last couple of weeks I have had a number of extended and moving conversations with friends who have told me of the extraordinary experiences of racism that they have been through and the painful memories that recent events have brought back for them. I have known some of these people for many years and never had this level of conversation. This is a kairos moment to begin to listen to one another's stories—and to sense the grief that these stories of racism must bring to our Father's heart.
A few years ago church leaders in Bristol had a vision for Bristol to be a City of Hope. Since the election of Marvin Rees as mayor, Christians have been at the heart of partnerships being created between local government, commerce, education and the charitable sector to work together on issues like housing, homelessness, child hunger and period poverty. This is a kairos moment for churches within the city to build on those partnerships and to be part of the coming together that will define what the next chapter of Bristol's history will look like for all of its citizens. What will it take for the outcomes of the next generation of black Bristolians to look more like their white neighbours? What part can we play in making sure that happens?
Working collaboratively with others who share the same vision, Christians have particular perspectives to bring to the table.
First, we come in humility. I believe I was not entirely wrong in my original response in Venue. The speck and plank image still holds good. Moral outrage about the past is an easy game; what is more challenging is to allow the spotlight to fall on ourselves. How are we colluding in the sins of today? It is not enough to claim that I am not a racist, what am I doing to actively confront the racism in myself and in my society and to support and empower those who are currently disadvantaged? And how seriously do I take the campaign against modern slavery and people trafficking here and elsewhere in the world?
Secondly, we come in grace. There has been a plethora of comments on social media in recent weeks proclaiming that 'All Lives Matter'. That truism deflects from the gospel message that for all lives to be seen to matter decisive action needs to be taken in favour of the most endangered. The parables of the lost and found in Luke 15 do not suggest that the shepherd had no concern for the 99, but at that critical moment it was the life of the one who was lost that was at the forefront of his mind. The father emphatically loved his older son, but at that point in time securing his relationship with his younger son was the task in hand. To use 'all lives matter' as a qualification for 'black lives matter' is to miss the point. It is a cry for equality, when what is needed is equity. It takes grace to realise that if you give up the box you are standing on, someone else will be able to see.
Thirdly, we come in hope. We believe not only that all of humanity is created in the image of God, equally loved and equally welcomed to salvation through the death of Christ for the whole world, we also anticipate a day which John, the author of Revelation, foresaw when he wrote:
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb (Rev 7.9).
We are destined to spend eternity with a redeemed humanity drawn from every race and nation and this eschatological vision has been foreshadowed, inaugurated, in the miracle of Pentecost as people from the whole known world heard the might acts of God described in their own languages. A reconciled humanity is what the kingdom looks like, and we want to live as if the kingdom is near (to coin the vision statement of Bristol's great theological college).
Finally, we come in determination. We need to guard the agenda—to keep the main thing the main thing. The individuals who actually came with the gear to remove the statue were not just motivated by support for George Floyd, they are believed to have been white, middle-class anarchists. One of the reasons for keeping them out of court is to avoid giving oxygen to a divisive agenda. Many people have pointed out that the political agenda of the Black Lives Matter organisation goes beyond the sentiment expressed in its title. By seeking to facilitate the most inclusive and gracious conversation about the city's past, present and future we can build help to build unity.
Revd Dr Rod Symmons has lived with his family in Bristol since 1999, having previously served an extended curacy at St Aldate's Oxford, completed a Doctor of Ministry at Fuller Seminary and been Rector of Ardingly in West Sussex. He was Vicar of Redland for 20 years and is currently Area Dean of City Deanery in Bristol, Adviser for Curacy for the Diocese of Bristol and Tutor for Part-Time Students at Trinity College.
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Remembering Michael Green
Third Festival of Theology: Tuesday 8th October 2019
Is there 'systemic racism' in Britain? Two views (ii)
Facing death with courage and hope
Categories Life & Ministry Tags black lives matter, Book of Revelation, Bristol, Edward Colston, racism, Rod Symmons, slavery, statues Post navigation
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28 thoughts on "Why the fall of statues is a moment of opportunity"
One lesson to learn from this is to avoid the impulse to put up statues of specific individuals who, even the best of them, will always be a mix of good and not-so-good and thus a focus of dispute. We should have followed the Old Testament injunction against graven images. My personal feeling is one of dislike of all political statuary. They are, however, interesting from an archaeological and historical point of view in communicating what people thought at a certain time.
I understand the impulse of communities to commemorate the war dead, and to that end public statuary of representative soldiers etc generally commands support. But even the Cenotaph has been defiled by ignorant anarchists, to the outrage of all who see this as a national shrine.
Herodotus records Solon of Athens admonishing Croesus (then at the height of his powers) 'Call no man happy (oblios) until he is dead' – but even then there is no certainty. If Jimmy Savile was temporarily a secular saint (personally, even before his death I thought he was a weirdo over-promoted by the BBC for its own purposes), something similar happened with Jean Vanier, touted by Catholics and others as a saint of our times. And no doubt he did do a lot of good. But a lot of schools in Canada and elsewhere are now thinking of changing their names.
But it cuts the other way as well. Look at the disgraceful way the Church of England traduced the memory of Bishop George Bell, rushing to obliterate his name from buildings and a school – on the basis of a single uncorroborated and highly doubtful allegation, as an extensive enquiry has shown. Yet even Justin Welby opined 'George Bell stands under a cloud.' Where is the justice in the way George Bell's memory was maligned?
Rod asks: "How are we colluding in the sins of today?"
Aye, there's the rub – because many of "the sins of today" are not recognised as sins.
Is abortion a sin? Nearly every orthodox Christian teacher throughout history has understood this to be so. So why did most of the Lord Bishops in the Church of England abstain when the Lords imposed Abortion on Demand on Northern Ireland the other day? Why did none of the women bishops – most of them mothers – speak out against this? Because they think abortion is not taking a human life?
Or the promotion of drugs: how long before marijuana is being openly sold with VAT in shops in England? What Church of England figures are speaking out against this?
I fear that just as with slavery in the 17th and 18th centuries, we are told that what we 'moralists' say is evil isn't evil at all – or, as London's Bishop Sarah Mullally (an ex-midwife no less!) asserts (I paraphrase), 'I wouldn't do it myself but I certainly wouldn't stop others.' In other words, exactly where sensitive and refined Anglican conscience was on slavery in the 18th century. And we presume to judge the past! What do we think the future will say about this age in which 210,000 unborn children a year are aborted in the UK?
your comment prompts me to describe a moment of grief I encountered a week ago. I'm learning Biblical Hebrew and, prior to a test, was trying to learn verb using cards. For each verb I had put a verse where that verb is to be found with the intent of learning it in context. I then noticed that two successive cards had the same verse: Deuteronomy 12.31:
"You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods."
I have put in italics the two verbs, and my source states that the second means 'burn (completely)'.
It then struck me that medical waste is burned completely, and that aborted babies are treated as medical waste. This so grieves the Lord that he hates it. My heart was broken and I wept.
We then see the reason: it is for the worship of 'their gods'. What are the 'gods' whose worship led to the slave trade? What are the 'gods' that led to the holocaust? What are the 'gods' which lead to the juggernaut of abortion in our society? What other atrocities do the 'gods' of our western society require of us?
One last point: removing a statue is child's play compared to the 18 other remaining things (schools, streets etc) in Bristol named after Colston, including a window in Bristol Cathedral.
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/rename-colston-hall-heres-20-37728
Two serious questions for Christian theologians:
How much time must elapse before the sins of the past are forgiven by the blood of Christ?
If moderate-to-large slavers like Colston have to suffer the 'damnatio memoriae', what must be done about George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, both of whom owned large numbers of slaves? Must Washington DC and Washington State be renamed? That is a serious question but nobody faces it. Why? And why cannot humans be consistent about this?
Jon Bartlett
Thanks, Rod, for an excellent and balanced article.
I was especially struck by the parallel with the lost sheep and the lost son. To concentrate on justice in racial areas at the moment does not mean that we are not unconcerned elsewhere in our society. The danger is that we (especially as white evangelicals) shy away from confronting one evil by diluting and diverting our comments and efforts into our other pet – even if correct – concerns.
Let's concentrate on a clear Christian voice into this current move for equality and justice – it needs it.
My heart leapt when I saw pictures of this particularly odious graven image being pulled down. Sometimes, as with Boniface's taking an axe to the pagan sacred oak, Gideon tearing down his father's altar to Baal and Asherah pole, or Josiah burning down the high places, monuments can be an affront to God, and it is an act of prophetic rectitude to remove them.
In more recent times, such as dismantling the Berlin Wall and toppling that statue of Saddam Hussein referenced in the article the vandalism may be illegal but who cares? Black people have suffered long enough from the mealy mouthed justification of monstrosity.
Boniface's statue in Crediton has recently been defaced by modern Pagans. I think the contemporary Green mood would be pretty hostile to him imposing his patriarchal religion on nature-loving Germans who maintained the harmony of nature by child sacrifice (as we do today in our clinics).
Wasn't Codrington College in the Barbados named after a slave trader? Where does the drive for purity end? Maybe George Orwell has written something on this. We have, in any case, reached a point where the majority of black people in Britain are not from the West Indies but from recent emigration from West and East Africa. They were never slaves – although perhaps some of their ancestors were slave traders with westerners or Arabs on the Indian Ocean side. But we will never know because they didn't keep records then. It must be remembered that the slave trade was long before colonialism in Africa, and in part colonialism grew out of David Livingstone's campaign against the Arab slave trade. Professor Nigel Biggar in Oxford has made this point (which was once familiar to every educated person) and he was ferociously attacked for saying this.
Perhaps there is no end point, but a gradual review and removal as required of inappropriate 'icons' from the public place. Of course the question is, what is inappropriate? But I think most people would view Colston's involvement in the business of buying and selling other human beings as pretty repulsive. One can certainly understand the revulsion by many of a man who is effectively being revered by continuing to have a statue of him.
Don Benson
I don't know if anyone 'reveres' a historical figure simply on the basis of seeing a statue in the street; presumably you would have to find out at least something about what that person had done before you could have any view at all.
I would suggest there's a useful educational benefit in leaving the statue of a historical figure to stimulate curiosity and therefore open the door to knowledge about the past and the lessons that it offers. But of course airbrushing the past is an essential tactic of people like the organisers of BLM who intend revolution.
As Alexander Solzhenitsyn said: "To destroy a people you must first sever their roots." We're seeing a frenzy of severing right now, and it's certainly not being driven by the general public. The fruits of the long march through the institutions here in Britain (including the Church of England) are on rather obvious display are they not?
Penelope Cowell Doe
There's a really effective way of teaching history – books.
Which is why people who had learned history took down Colston's statue.
Public statues honour the legacies of figures who have contributed to the public good. Tearing them down and throwing them into the sea says loud and clear that our generation repudiates the sins of our forefathers in revering utter wickedness.
The reason the statue was erected in the first place was because he was revered, at least by those in power. That reverence continues to this day, at least by some. As for stimulating curiosity, i could just imagine the conversation between a parent and child on looking at the Colston statue – mummy, who was that man? Oh he was a business man who made quite a lot of his money by buying and selling black people, you know like some of your friends, and keeping them in terrible conditions so they could be slaves to white people like you and me. Oh ok. So, mummy, why is his statue still there? Silence.
Barrie Jackson
Thank you for your reference to BLM. The sadness of this is the apparent unwillingness of those christians who should know better to look at the political agenda which underscores all this current unrest. It's organisers have done their research and marketing well. All too reminiscent of the Pharisees and Sadducees of Judea 200 years ago.
Penelope:
Yes, books are probably the foremost way of getting to know our history but I think our inherited physical environment has something to tell us as well. Buildings, transport links and the rural landscape all have their own story which helps bring history to life. I'm not actually a big fan of statues (now he tells me!); it's the mob violence implicit in the way they are brought down which I find dangerous.
In the case of Colston and his involvement with slavery, would it not be rather more constructive (and effective) to erect a sculpture of a black slave being beaten right there in the line of his sight? Forever more the figure would have to gaze on the reality of what he had done – for every passer by to see.
John:
Yes, statues do honour the legacy of public figures, but only for the generation who lived at that time. Thereafter such monuments attest merely to the historical fact of that person's notoriety in the past. Succeeding generations are not bound to share the views of their forebears. They should surely be capable of holding both thoughts in their minds at the same time: it educates them about their roots, and (hopefully) gives them food for thought about what might be imitated and what might be avoided in present times.
Yes, there's nothing like a child for going straight to the heart of the matter. But, depending on the age of the child, I hope 'mummy' could be a bit more nuanced than that!
As a more general point:
I see that Macron is having none of this 'erasing of the past' malarkey in France. Perhaps that's a surprise; but maybe not. The French have a rather stark experience when it comes to revolutions – the brutal reality may be more than uncomfortable but that makes it of greater important that it's not erased from people's memories.
Hi Don
I don't disagree with you. Though I would rather the statues were taken down from their pedestals and placed somewhere in context, as Prof Olusoga has suggested.
I also sympathise with people taking the law into their own hands in the case of the Colston statue, since all the democratic attempts to have it removed had failed.
Ben Hudd
Really useful, especially your comments on 'All Lives Matter'; of course they do but my white middle class life doesn't require advocacy, nor is it captive to injustice. Thank you.
J. Savile's statue was removed for the very good reasons mentioned above. It was an afront to his victims still living. Coltson and Rhodes represent the love capitalism has for money and should go. They are an afront civic morality. But what if every monument dating back to William 1 was torn down? A statute of limitation needs to be set up.
John Darch
And the in the 1831 riots the mob burned down the Bishop of Bristol's palace….
Did they have marsh mallows back then? or just sticks to toast them with? not much of a party.
Yes, it is not just about Colston's statue.
Part of the problem may be putting statues of men [sic] on pedestals. Colston was, of course, memorialised for his philanthropy, but he could afford to be philanthropic only because he made money from the exploitation and suffering of others. It was never put up by popular choice and popular choice failed to bring it down against the power and partisanship of the Merchant Venturers.
Savile is, perhaps, a little like Colston in that his undoubted philanthropy is irrevocably tainted by his evil.
For some Mandela is still seen as a terrorist, others see him as a freedom fighter whose fight was against the evil forces of apartheid.
Gandhi may have slept with young girls, so did King David.
Some men are too evil to be memorialised. Others, like Churchill, Mandela and Gandhi have more nuanced records.
Perhaps we should ideally be an aniconic culture, like Judaism and Islam.
Grahame Wells
Stalin's statues are toppled because they were only put up to celebrate his role in establishing an ideology that many Russians now recognise as evil. Saddam too. Savile's was removed because we recognise he perpetrated hidden criminal acts that were criminal in his lifetime and the victims are still alive.
Colston's wasn't put up to celebrate slaving but his beneficence to the city. If it was, tear it down. Surely he's honoured for that? Reverence? Really?! An exaggeration for effect. Otherwise a plaque would do.
Every figure has a dark side, Mandela, a terrorist, tear the statue down, Gandhi a 'racist' who slept naked with young girls, erase his memory. Does the evil obliterate any good? Or is it just dead White guys, betraying the impulse as being the belief in the apparent original White sin of Systemic Racism and erasure of Western culture? I can easily find Black intellectuals who scorn the very notion of it yet White allies treat the idea as gospel.
The rage is selective but spreading. All provoked by a sickening murder by a multicultural (yes!) group of 4 cops.
Were all democratic channels really explored ie asking the people of Bristol or just a few activists badgering the council? It looks like the rule of a revolutionary mob to me, wholly undemocratic. Where does it stop? Darwin the racist, tear him down then and criticise his theory as it gave rise to aspects if scientific racism. Tear up the US Constitution because it was drawn up by slave holders, one of whom, Pres Jefferson, prob had a coercive sexual relationship with a slave girl. If everything is tainted by association with wrongdoing there's no end to it.
Tear down everything it seems to me is the purpose and the result. Revolution under the guise of righting some wrongs. Year 0. Now where have we heard that before? Pandora's box has been opened up with the police kneeling to those who claim moral superiority through victimhood and their allies who may use violence to get their way. It's not just about Colston's statue.
Oops, I replied above.
Ian Webb
An excellent and thoughtful article, thank you Rod. I agree with the vast majority of this but I do think there is an important perspective missing. Outside of the middle class intellectual mileiu of Stoke Bishop (where Trinity College is located (built by slave trader Robert Cann)), and away from affluent Redland where Rod ministered for many years (many fine Georgian house no doubt built on the back of slavery), up in the poorer white working class areas of Bristol, and up here in rural Nottinghamshire where I now live, there is a different view of these events. It is read by many here as another assault on "British culture", provoking the same sort of reflexes as delivered Brexit and the toppling of Labour's red wall. People who feel forgotten and that their cultural heritage is being constantly eroded by foreign forces. I do not agree with them but I am beginning to understand their perspective. I think they would broadly have supported Colston's democratic removal but the anarchic rage and subsequent moral panic has sadly pushed back by years the liberal cause of stamping out rascism and bigotry in these areas.
One final thought, if Colston was such an important emblem of our institutional racism, why did Bristol's mayor Marvin Rees nor his rival Tory mayoral candidate (& Trinity College former ordinand) not put this at the top of their reform programmes? If it is because the role lacks the power to bring such things about, then the spotlight should now be shone on those who do hold it (and who no doubt live in the fine houses of Clifton, Stoke Bishop and Redland).
The present focus on colour equality, though vital, should not distract us from the deeper currents of inequality which Scripture calls us to address.
Yes for you Mandela's violence weighs less in the scales, you're willing to forgive him his faults, but it's still something right thinking people should see as nothing to celebrate, rather to abhor, with a statue. Well, of course, his violence isn't what is being celebrated, but his other deeds. Not sure I'd defend King David's actions, one of his wives could've warmed the bed instead, but I think a statue would still be in order due to his other deeds! David didn't seek to project an aura of spiritual authority, saint-like, as Gandhi did, so there us something of the Savile hypocrisy about it. Unlike Savile Colston wasn't doing anything illegal then. A man of his time. Slavery was ubiquitous throughout history till then. How many donations to charities from the rich are tainted by association?
We could be having the same discussion re Churchill's imperialism and racism. Who gets to decide what's too evil? I'm still unsure what truly democratic process was undertaken previously, just representations to the suspect Venturers who of course are party with a 'right wing' councillor (read bigot) not just people who can recognise the good without swallowing the evil. But let the people decide what they're happy with, not the mob or PC authorities. I can't see why anyone would defend mobs taking the law into their own hands. What happens when they start burning the Bible and calling for a ban for its perceived stance on slavery or homophobia etc? The Q is the trajectory and I think it's dangerously short-sighted not to see where it's going.
Where is the line to be drawn in history from the freedom of the present.
Do we look a the the beliefs of the founders of the Guardian newspaper, of Mohammed in relation to slavery?
Do we look at the present day funding of Universities?
Of Arsenal Football club? Highlighted by Metzil Ozil's "race"?
And why would n't those responsible for at the minimum crime of criminal damage be prosecuted, (possible a high ranking offence of riot) when someone is sentenced to two weeks imprisonment for urinating in a public place, reputedly after drinking 14 pints of beer.
Why not look into the deep political agenda of BLM which extends far beyond skin colour, race, with all its social entanglements at the heart of it politics and without any or little public accountability?
The ManchesterGuardian was established in 1821 to serve the Liberal interest in the wake of the Peterloo Massacre.
In the words of its greatest owner 'comment is free, but facts are sacred'.
Who did it support in the American Civil War?
Is this correct, in relation to the Guardian newspaper?
"Its founder made a fortune in the cotton trade, supported the Confederacy in the Civil War and attacked Lincoln for freeing the slaves. Should the Guardian be cancelled too?"
From the blog of David Robertson.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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On 26 January 1950 the Constitution of India came into force and India declared itself a Republic.
That brightly coloured lump just below the plaque is one of a few hundred elephants that have recently invaded central London (2010).
Councillor and Lord Mayor of Westminster in 1995-6.


text:
The Poetry of W.H. Auden: A Critical Review
Introduction: The Early Work
What happened? Throughout the nineteen thirties, W.H. Auden was the most exciting, talented and prolific of poets writing in English. Eliot had the unrivalled authority, but his views were backward-looking, indeed reactionary: high church in religion and a royalist in politics. Auden, in contrast, was wholly contemporary, at home in the everyday fears, interests and fashions of thirties England, with an overt sympathy for left-wing causes, which he approached through a formidable reading in psychoanalysis, Marxism, existentialism and much else. Everything seemed grist to his wheel. Poems in the most challenging forms were dashed off effortlessly: indeed he would rather write a new poem than bother improving an old one. {1}
As a school-teacher in Scotland and then England, Auden produced a continuous steam of poetry collections, plays, critical reviews and essays: nine books of poetry in ten years. As a young man barely turned 30, when most poets are struggling to find their voice, Auden had astonished the literary world with a range of voices, each his own, and was editing the Oxford Book of Light Verse. When, in the following year, he moved to America, again teaching in schools and colleges, the flood of publications continued: poetry collections, choral works, literary criticism and essays on matters from Greek literature and Icelandic sagas to modern poetry, folklore, children's literature, history, biography and anything that attracted his fluent pen and mind. He won the Bollingen Prize in 1954, and the Feltrinelli in 1957. From 1956 to 1961 he served as Professor of Poetry at Oxford. The sixties, indeed right up to his sudden death in Vienna in 1973, saw essays, librettos and introductions to his collected works. The contrast with the abstemious Eliot or the monomaniacal Pound could not be starker. Auden accurately sensed the changing moods of the times, and adroitly adapted to its needs. {1}
Auden's move to America was not a run for cover, from the war everyone knew was coming, but escape from a restricting and depressing period in British social life. {2} Strikes, business collapses, unemployment, breadlines, political agitation in the face of ineffective government, and the threatening rise of Fascism in Germany and Italy — all stared out daily from newspapers and contributed to a deepening sense of helplessness. {3} Auden saw himself as lonely, ineffectual and miserable. His visits to China and Spain left him only the more discouraged, and the brave hopes featuring in the poetry also seemed half-hearted and unconvincing, as though detached from any personal commitment, from what their author really thought. Critics called the poetry over-clever, supercilious even: the glittering aphorisms of a 'permanent undergraduate'. But Auden's espousals of Freud and Marxism were not merely fashionable: they were the echo-soundings that warned of the depths surrounding our everyday lives. Whatever the personal failings, Auden was a moralist at heart, and the identifications allowed him to probe the doom and guilt that afflicted Europe, {4} either its relatively privileged classes, contemporary society, or man himself.
the poets exploding like bombs
The walks by the lake, the winter of perfect communion;
Tomorrow the bicycle races
Through the suburbs on summer evenings. {5}
In the nightmare of the dark
All the dogs of Europe bark,
And the living nations wait,
Each sequestered in its hate. {6}
One rational voice is dumb.
Over his grave
the household of Impulse mourns one dearly loved:
sad is Eros, builder of cities,
and weeping anarchic Aphrodite. {7}
But what was Auden's position exactly? It was hard to know: the poetry could be contradictory or somewhat incoherent as the dark and bright were twisted together, no doubt reflecting Auden's own shifting hopes and despairs, which were those of anyone thinking beyond the distractions of a 'low, dishonest decade.'
Some of the more successful poems were those that simply took an animal delight in being alive — 'Look Stranger'.
Look, stranger, on this island now
The leaping light for your delight discovers,
Stand stable here
And silent be, {8}
Yet even these have not lasted, perhaps because their lyric quality was only good in parts, a common criticism of Auden. They were good, or good enough, but lacked that blood-chilling frisson of exact expression. That last point is worth stressing because so overlooked by historians of Modernism. Good poets steal, i.e. wholly take over and improve on predecessor's work, but Auden's copies were generally half-hearted affairs, lacking the sustained verse craft that really makes the difference. 'May with its light behaving':
May with its light behaving
Stirs vessel, eye and limb,
The singular and sad
Are willing to recover,
And to each swan-delighting river
The careless picnics come
In living white and red. {9}
Has echoes of Yeats, though the symbols were Auden's and more unsettling. He developed his own style or styles, where there was a good deal of wit, compression, ambiguity and syntactic liberty, but the poetry had a provisional air, more work in progress than completed. He adopted Anglo-Saxon forms, with intriguing but rather baffling perspectives:
"O where are you going?" said reader to rider,
"That valley is fatal when furnaces burn,
Yonder's the midden whose odors will madden,
That gap is the grave where the tall return." {10}
And Byron's Don Juan stanzas, but with little of the original's polish, brio or sheer good fun:
I hope this reaches you in your abode,
This letter that's already far too long,
Just like the Prelude or the Great North Road;
But here I end my conversational song.
I hope you don't think mail from strangers wrong.
As to its length, I tell myself you'll need it,
You've all eternity in which to read it. {11}
Poems on social themes could be strikingly original in their imagery — everything was pressed into service — but also somewhat haphazardly put together, with a looseness of phrasing that belongs more to prose:
Seekers after happiness, all who follow
The convolutions of your simple wish,
It is later than you think; nearer that day
Far other than that distant afternoon
Amid rustle of frocks and stamping feet
They gave the prizes to the ruined boys.
You cannot be away, then, no
Not though you pack to leave within an hour,
Escaping humming down arterial roads : {12}
'Humming' is excellent, of course, but what does the reader make of 'stamping' or 'ruined', and do not the para-rhymes come a bit too easily in this earlier section of the poem, even glibly so?
Your shutting up the house and taking prow
To go into the wilderness to pray,
Means that I wish to leave and to pass on,
Select another form, perhaps your son ;
The Consolidating Reputation
Auden's four long poems in the forties consolidated his reputation — New Year Letter (1941), The Sea and the Mirror (1944), For the Time Being (1944), and The Age of Anxiety (1947). Each aimed to clarify Auden's views and make him more accessible to readers. The first was a didactic, argumentative poem in tetrameter couplets that ranged across politics, ethics, aesthetics and religion. The second, subtitled 'A Commentary on Shakespeare's the Tempest', has the characters of Shakespeare's play say something of the relation of art and imagination (mirror) to reality (sea). Each character speaks in a different verse form, a technical tour de force by Auden. {13-15} For the Time Being was written as a Christmas oratorio, later being set to music as an abridgement. The last, subtitled A Baroque Eclogue, has four characters emblematic of the lonely crowd, who meet in a bar and discuss where mankind is going, a quest overshadowed by contemporary rootlessness and anxiety.
The Sea and the Mirror has probably survived best, and two of its poems are much anthologized. The Song of the Master and Boatswain {16} is a simple and accomplished piece, pleasingly rounded off. It starts:
At Dirty Dick's and Sloppy Joe's
We drank our liquor straight,
Some went upstairs with Margery,
And some, alas, with Kate;
And two by two like cat and mouse
The homeless played at keeping house.
The popular but enigmatic villanelle of Miranda to Ferdinand is another matter: {17}
1. My dear one is mine as mirrors are lonely,
2. As the poor and sad are real to the good king,
3. And the high green hill sits always by the sea.
4. Up jumped the Black Man behind the elder tree,
5. Turned a somersault and ran away waving;
6. My Dear One is mine as mirrors are lonely.
7. The Witch gave a squawk; her venomous body
8. Melted into light as water leaves a spring,
10. At his crossroads, too, the Ancient prayed for me,
11. Down his wasted cheeks tears of joy were running:
12. My dear one is mine as mirrors are lonely.
13. He kissed me awake, and no one was sorry;
14. The sun shone on sails, eyes, pebbles, anything,
15. And the high green hill sits always by the sea.
16. So to remember our changing garden, we
17. Are linked as children in a circle dancing:
18. My dear one is mine as mirrors are lonely,
19. And the high, green hill sits always by the sea.
The villanelle is a limiting form — 19 lines , five triplets, and a quatrain, employing only two rhymes throughout — and is generally used to convey mood, as it is here, with some contrivance. But what does the haunting first line really say? On one level, as 'Gaby' points out: {18}
The repeating lines "My dear one is mine as mirrors are lonely/And the high, green hills sits always by the sea" shows her happiness at finding her "dear one" and the eternity of their union compared to the mirrors constant loneliness. These ideas relate to the metaphor of the mirror always winning against the sea because it can become the sea by reflecting it. However, the mirror is a euphemism of loneliness because it only reflects the image of something and can never be eternally bonded, like Miranda is singing of with her impending union.
That's plausible, and mirror is central to the whole piece, serving as evocative imagination, of something that is both there and not there. But the effect is distinctly odd. Mirrors are eternally lonely, while Miranda is only so at the moment, anticipating union with Ferdinand — a union that will be eternal in the sense that mirrors are eternally lonely. Yes, but that's disconcerting, carrying the overtone that Miranda's longing will be eternal. Line 2 underlines that eternity — the good king always has responsibilities to his needy subjects — but also introduces the sense of justice and good will. Eternity is again the subject of line 3.
Lines 4 and 5 may well be the nightmares of childhood, to be banished by Miranda's union with Ferdinand, but 'Black Man' is capitalized and a little incongruous in the setting, almost surrealist. Then we have the Witch (lines 7-8) whose venomous body melts into light, just as water leaves a spring, i.e. thins away. Again the effect is anomalous. Springs are associated with purity and life-giving powers, but here the association is reversed, with venom being dispersed into the air or sunlight. In lines 10-11 we are introduced to the Ancient, whose tears of joy echo the spring earlier. What the Ancient is doing at the crossroads isn't clear. The 'He' in line 13 is presumably Ferdinand, though it could be the Ancient (again disturbing), but it's apparently a happy occasion, with the sun shining on everything. Finally, in lines 16-17, an unspecified 'we' are to remember a garden where we are linked as children dancing in a circle — a celebration, or a throw-back to the 'innocence' of childhood?
Many of these images, vivid no doubt, are also discordant, unconvincing and not properly thought through. Equally unsatisfactory is the verse. The first line is a beauty:
My dear one is mine as mirr ors are lone ly,
And the second just about gets by, though the line is stretched out in monosyllables:
As the poor and sad are real to the good king,
The third line is an oddity: why wrong-foot the line by adding 'green'?
And the high green hill sits al ways by the sea.
It would be so much more pleasing, in metrical structure and assonance, as:
And the high hill sits al ways by the sea.
Line 4 could be scanned several ways but if we want to preserve the quatrain, four stresses to the line structure, we'd write something like (though el der should strictly take a stress):
Up jumped the Black Man be hind the elder tree,
Ditto line 5.
Turned a som er sault and ran a way wav ing;
By line 7, the metrical structure has broken down, and line 8 is prose. The rhyming is casual, indeed rather wretched, falling on the unstressed syllable very often. In short, it's not very good verse, the test of which is that it cannot easily be improved upon. This, unfortunately, can. If we keep the good lines, retain the rhyme schemes, continue the four stress rather loose metre of the opening line, but make a few diversions, we can write:
My dear one is mine as mirrors are lonely,
As sadness is real to the good king,
And the high hill sits always by the sea.
Up jumped the Black Man from the elder tree,
Turned head to heel and ran away laughing;
My Dear One is mine as mirrors are lonely.
All that is venomous in the Witch's body
Broke into sunlight in the bubbling spring,
The Wise in their fortune will pray for me;
His tears of great joy wet the wedding ring.
He kissed me awake, and no one was sorry,
Alive was the sunlight on everything,
The garden is changing in memory,
And the circlet of children link arms and sing:
And so on. Once the key lines are established it's not that difficult a measure, and Auden could have done more with it.
In other work of the forties, Auden developed a jaunty, and, later, a chatty style with which to confront the demons of the modern world: anxiety, guilt, defeat, purposeless of living. The phrasing can be very casual, not far from the happy approximations of amateur poetry, though knowingly so, and with a wider range of allusion and example. Auden was unusually alert to influences, particularly those of other poets, which he could easily mimic and make his own. Inevitably, because a feature of Modernism, those features included the accumulation of instances, a collage of matters only vaguely connected.
Auden's own life became somewhat similar: spasmodic and untidy, held together by the steady writing through a quotidian of drugs, alcohol and ménages a deux, trois and purchased. {19} Yet it was one that kept him cheerfully and campishly alive to the age of 66. Auden accepted his homosexuality, and there was none of the self-loathing of Hart Crane, or the brooding destructiveness in Robert Lowell's attachments. Auden's commitment to poetry ended with poetry.
The Later Auden
After the earlier communism and psychoanalysis, there were no social issues or religious messages compelling Auden to write to the late hours. He reverted to what he had been before, the precocious schoolboy, indifferent to convention and community standards, but now even more well-read, pugnacious and diverting. For that range of observation, Auden developed a flexible syllabic verse, where words are used in their prose sense, without depth as Perkins puts it, {1} but intelligently. Because verse writing came so easily to Auden — he could slot in sentences largely as he wanted — there is little of that search to get words that won't be shifted to do unexpected things. The earlier, spasmodic but real, flashes of genius came less often. Auden was more settled and content in himself, and so was the poetry. Auden left the doom-ridden vexations of British life and became interested in music, opera, Christianity, the influences of weather and the landscape.
Critics are therefore divided over the later work. Many admire its range, poise and urbane good sense. To others, something is missing. It's not dull exactly, but nor does it quicken the blood. What Auden says could have been said by any accomplished writer of book reviews, not perhaps so fluently and concisely, but the poems do not differ in essence from the better Christmas letter we get from friends keeping us up to date with their pondered thoughts and doings. Auden's poetry belongs to its time, but is not news that stays news, as Pound put it. Gradually the content assumed more importance than its expression, and those exacting forms that Auden handled so easily became handy containers, a 'see what I can pour into these shapes' rather than 'through these forms what I'm trying to say may perhaps shift into focus'.
Sometimes the verse was not really verse at all, but a sort of smooth, homogenized mixture of verse and prose.
He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be
One against whom there was no official complaint,
And all the reports on his conduct agree
That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint,
For in everything he did he served the Greater Community.
Except for the War till the day he retired
He worked in a factory and never got fired,
But satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc.
Yet he wasn't a scab or odd in his views,
For his Union reports that he paid his dues,
(Our report on his Union shows it was sound)
And our Social Psychology workers found
That he was popular with his mates and liked a drink.
Some was simply doggerel.
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return? {22}
And much, as always, was over-facile. Auden came to hate the closing lines of In Memory of W.B. Yeats, and the uses to which they were put, but perhaps should not have written such platitudes in the first place. Yet throughout the flood of work, at least in snatches, there were glimpses of the Auden that could have been: {23}
Warm are the still and lucky miles,
White shores of longing stretch away,
A light of recognition fills
The whole great day, and bright
The tiny world of lovers' arms.
And: {24}
Taller to-day, we remember similar evenings,
Walking together in a windless orchard
Where the brook runs over the gravel, far from the glacier.
Too often, however, Auden was simply the poster child of a Modernism where anything went. The Stop All the Clocks, made well-known by Four Weddings and a Funeral film, is a typically indifferent piece of verse, with a flat last line: {25}
The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
Poem endings were often a problem for Auden, and many have self-satisfied, over-obvious character, as though after leading the reader over intellectual obstacle courses, the poet can end with something about which we can all agree.
In fact, Auden was a disciplined writer who, whatever the private difficulties, sat down and conscientiously applied himself, generally from early morning to early afternoon. {19} That routine became his life, opening a window on the world in which he could become a leading spokesman for a Modernism now going about its business in contemporary dress. Much of the prose written in those hectic years is still readable: disarmingly modest, intelligent and to the point. {26} Auden's mind was unusually lively, capacious and well-informed, and he knew personally many of his important contemporaries, keeping abreast of their writing, and staying alert to new schools and tendencies. He was popular and prolific, and if only a handful of lines or poems are now remembered, it is an extraordinary achievement to have anything give delight to busy men long after we are dead.
But the unconscionable fact remains that the best and most popular poems — As I Walked Out One Evening {27}, The Fall of Rome {28}, Lullaby {29}, In Memory of W.B. Yeats {4}, The Shield of Achilles {30} — owed little or nothing to Modernism. Make it new, insisted Modernist theory, and Auden's creative mind turned out poems that were singularly and arrestingly different, firstly by taking old forms into new realms and later by developing his own urbane, balanced and many-layered styles. Pack the poem with fresh images, said theory, and Auden's poems teem with contemporary images drawn in their particularity from all walks of life. Yet neither approach was vindicated by results, or — to put it another way — created the most successful poems, as these are still traditional, or seem so to us now.
The flag-wavers for Modernism {1} find the early poems the more exciting, as they indeed are: experimental, innovative, unconventional. But Auden also rounded the circle of his gifts, and the school intellectual turned himself into avuncular after-dinner guest who kept the conversation ball spinning in the air with a self-delighting display of charm, wit and sophistication as each theme was picked up, deftly treated and dissolved in another. Clever, engaging, truly delightful, said his more thoughtful contemporaries, but not the real thing: nothing to touch the imaginative faculty or the deep well-pools of the heart. {31} But under its chain-smoking, unconventional poster child, Modernism had become something different, a more intellectual art, which Auden's careless facility made entertaining. Modernism, or Auden's particular take on Modernism, gave the enfant terrible his spell-bound audience, though it also greatly limited what Modernism could say, providing the common reader with unexpected displays of fireworks rather than the careful illumination of their inner or larger natures.
If only Auden had not been so clever, or so keen to show off that cleverness, we might think, but Modernism, to be accessible and entertaining, needed its unabashed, often failing performer who charmingly refused to be other than himself.
As the hawk sees it or the helmeted airman:
The clouds rift suddenly — look there
At cigarette-end smouldering on a border
At the first garden party of the year.
Pass on, admire the view of the massif
Through plate-glass windows of the Sport hotel;
Join there the insufficient units
Dangerous, easy, in furs, in uniform
And constellated at reserved tables
Supplied with feelings by an efficient band
Relayed elsewhere to farmers and their dogs
Sitting in kitchens in the stormy fens. {32}
We can claim that the poetry comes out as byproduct in that social reportage because its writer was a poet, but it's probably more helpful to call it an extension of the objective correlate discussed under Ezra Pound, {3} here extended into the sociological realm. In retrospect, to the degree it works at all, its success seems only to be as the individual phrases are successful — notably 'the stormy fens' — which, of course, only defers the question of what poetry is, and how it should be written for the common reader. That was a matter neither Auden or later schools of poetry could quite agree on, beyond complex generalities, which have come to serve academic critics more than poets.
References can now be found in a free pdf compilation of Ocaso Press's modern poets.


text:
Santiago #30
Subject: Santiago #30 - Pisco Potation Punch-Up
(Posted on Feb 7, 2015 at 11:21AM ) Tags:
Tags: Wedding Chronicles novelfunny debut novelsoffbeat eclectic funny novelsfunny wedding books amazonwedding novels humor
So, Bob finds himself at a wedding In Santiago just before Christmas 1996, and one of the reception hour beverages being plied is that classic cocktail, the Pisco Sour. It's pushed proudly as being Chilean in origin, when out of the crowd, some cat jumps out to have a say on that matter.
"Actually, there is some debate on this matter of the pisco sour and where
it comes from," said a dark-haired fellow with black-rimmed glasses in a
blue suit beside us. "I don't mean to curtail your enjoyment, so please excuse
me, but Peru believes it is the originator of the cocktail."
Antonio Diaz Villamil introduced himself. Bolivian, he lived here in Santiago, and
was a friend of the Gluschitz family. "Both Peru and Chile consider it their national
drink and there are two competing tales of its origin."
The Peruvian story behind the cocktail was that it was invented in Lima by a
Salt Lake City expat, Victor "Gringo" Morris, in the early 1920s at the bar he
ran called Morris Bar. The cocktail was essentially an alternative to the whiskey
sour. The challenging Chilean version of the tale attributed the concoction to an
Englishman, Elliott Stubb, a ship steward who disembarked at the port of Iquique
in 1872 to open a bar where he supposedly unveiled the drink.
So what's up with all that, and who's right? There is some debate between Chile and Peru about the origin of the drink; both countries have their own version and claim ownership rights, it can even be a source of friction between the two nations as explained some more here. Wars have probably been started for less. Another little thing to note and factor into all of this, is that back in 1872, Iquique was actually part of Peru at the time, and after the War of the Pacific in 1879, it became part of Chile.
The history of the base alcoholic spirit, pisco, dates from 16th century Spain and more details can be found here.
There's a lot more on the drink's dueling origins here, as well as some differences in the ingredients and preparation therein. And if limes may not be around on some occasions, folks substitute in lemon instead. Reminds one of that whole gin and tonic lemon versus lime debate which got covered here.
No matter whether you want to make the cocktail the Chilean or Peruvian way, you may also elect to try it a la Anna Kendrick style. There is deffo some "different" ad-lib recipe action going down.
Unless our gal was confused and thinking salad dressing with the yolk, she was probably just having some fun on porpoise [sic]. Either that or trying to be some pisco sour experimentalist cum crazy cocktail scientist. Go on and get creative with your own version.
Some recipes out there use lemons, and state that Pisco is from Peru, but hey, we know it also comes from Chile. Oh well, we'll let that slide. It's all kinda like the stuff they tell you on the news and getting the real truth on what's going down out there in the world. You gotta go and dig for the real deal yourself from multiple sources, and ones that are out of the mainstream media.
Bob's seen a bunch of different variations as regards the ingredient quantities as well, so you may want to fiddle around a bit if you try making this puppy at home. Here are two variations alone. Maybe more booze per serving is better. I mean, it 's not like you ever really typically see a recommended serving size on a bottle label of any spirit out there generally, right?
On another note, Chile produces WAY more of the base spirit than Peru does, almost 14x according to 2013 figures, but it's made a little differently. Peru seemingly goes to a little extra trouble to manufacture it in smaller artisanal batches and classify it a little more painstakingly by denomination, quality and strength as well.
There's even a National Pisco Sour Day in Peru (or Día Nacional del Pisco Sour), held on the first Saturday of February since 2007 per this current Forbes piece, and as this ad below from a few years ago plugs.
Uhhmm, yeah, that happens to be today actually, by pure coink-e-dink. Naturally! One would never time the writing of this post so as to tee up with this annual cocktail celebration. Regardless, it's a damn good excuse to take down one or two of these puppies.
And just when you think the origin battle was solved, something like this creeps into the mix, and introduces some added doubt and mystery, as seen below, and elaborated on in more detail here and here about the origins going back to at least 1903 in a regional cookbook.
Despite what the evidence may show, and whichever side you want to pick, Adal Ramones, Mexican television show host and comedian, found some politcal pisco punch here, as linked to the 2009 Chile-Peru espionage scandal:
"What do the Chileans want to spy from Peru?
How to make a good Pisco Sour?"
Will we ever know the cocktail's real origins? Maybe not. And which version is better? It seems many prefer the Peruvian version to its Chilean counterpart. Best you decide for yourself. This piece navigates the middle ground, basically saying both are different. Our world-wise wanderer, Anthony Bourdain, throws out his two cents on the Chilean variant in a 2009 episode (5 - 11 to be exact) from his No Reservations series.Caveat potator, as one may say in Latin.
Back in 1996 at the wedding, a younger Bob was just some happy-camper, single wedding guest, going with the flow, open to learning more about the matter and the country's history, and drinking in the scene.


Many current actions for damages for breach of Articles 101 and 102 rely, in whole or in part, on decisions of the European Commission that establish an infringement of those provisions by the addressees. These decisions are currently binding on the English courts.
It is tempting to suppose that, after Brexit, this will no longer be so. It is correct, in this regard, that, unless other provision is made by Parliament, the English courts will cease to be bound by Regulation 1/2003 (the Modernisation Regulation) and by the 'duty of sincere cooperation' with EU institutions. However, such a view overlooks the existence of section 58A of the Competition Act 1998.
Section 58A provides that "infringement decisions" (which include a decision of the European Commission "that the prohibition in Article 101(1) or the prohibition in Article 102 has been infringed"), once they become final, are binding before the High Court (as well as in actions for damages and in collective proceedings before Competition Appeal Tribunal). Commission Decisions become final when the time for appealing against that decision to the European Court expires without an appeal having been brought or when an appeal to the European Court has concluded.
Since s58A is part of Statute (and not merely an EU regulation) it follows that, regardless of U.K.'s withdrawal from the EU, the English High Court and Competition Appeal Tribunal will continue to be bound by that statutory provision even after the U.K. leaves the EU.
It is possible, of course, that Parliament will choose expressly to repeal s58A as part of the legislation relating to the implementation of Brexit. This might be on the ground that it would be inappropriate, after choosing to leave the EU, for the English courts to continue to be bound by any measures of the European Commission – even in matters relating to the application of EU law to conduct implemented in the EU (and not the U.K.).
However, it is not obvious what practical purpose would be served by such a repeal. After all, if s58A were repealed the effect would not be to liberate the addressees of Commission decisions from the binding effect of those decisions (or their consequences in follow on damages actions). Rather, the effect would be to encourage claims based upon those Commission decisions to be brought in Member States of the EU (where they would clearly continue to be binding) rather than in the U.K. It is unlikely to be to the advantage of UK businesses, whether they be claimants or defendants in such actions, to be forced to litigate such claims in the courts of EU Member States rather than in this jurisdiction.
 If the provision were to be repealed, Claimants would still be able to target with some confidence those defendants that had made admissions of liability to the Commission in the context of seeking immunity or leniency.
 It might be that defendants would not be liberated even if claims were brought in the English courts if it transpires that the binding effect of Commission decisions is (via Regulation 1/2003 and the Damages Directive) to be properly regarded as part of the applicable substantive (as opposed to procedural) foreign law.


I may rant about audio day and night, talking about super cool earphones or amazing bluetooth speakers, but nothing's quite as awesome as a designer who decided to just build his own speaker. The OBE speaker isn't off the shelf. It's a one-of-a-kind DIY speaker that's been custom designed to suit personal preferences. The relatively mid-sized casing houses 2 5W speakers and 2 rear facing passive radiators that churn out some sweet bass. The design is simple, owing to the bespoke quality of the speaker, and is made from wood panels, a great material choice for acoustic fidelity. I genuinely wonder what these sound like!
Welcome to the Glamourous Life of a Full-Time Professional Designer! Watch Yourself!
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The founding father of the anti-GMO movement reversed his opinions because science
By DeadState Staff
Mark Lynas gained fame for his environmental advocacy, and was also known for his fight against GMOs in food, practically founding the movement with a series of both academic and popular science articles.
Mark Lynas gained fame for his environmental advocacy, especially his book "Six Degrees: Our Life for a Hotter Planet." Lynas was also known for his fight against genetically modified organisms in food, practically founding the movement with a series of both academic and popular science articles.
Lynas recently announced that he has changed his position on GMOs. Lynas, a fellow at Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, revealed that his change in opinion was not inspired by peers, but by internet trolls, who harshly commented on an article he wrote for The Guardian.
"I was enjoying being celebrated as a trusted scientific authority. And the comments under my anti-GMO article said, 'This guy doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. He's clearly not familiar with the science on the issue.' That wounded me," said Lynas. "So, I actually learned something from Internet comments. I realized that I had to shut up. Then I had to educate myself and start right back to basics."
Inspired by the trolls, Lynas conducted new research and learned about the real motives of GMO producers. With the world population expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050, Lynas realized that it would be nearly impossible to feed the world without using technology. He called his previous anti-GMO views "quaint and idealistic," and blamed it on his youthful optimism.
Lynas was growing disillusioned by the anti-GMO movement a decade before his reversal, realizing that anti-GMO advocates were often close-minded and shut out new information that challenged their beliefs. Now, Lynas is reviled by the online anti-GMO movement for being a traitor to their cause.
In 2013, Lynas revealed his reversal to a shocked crowd at the Oxford Farming Conference. According to his account, the crowd reacted with stunned applause.
"It was a complete demolition, not just of anti-GMO but of the whole organic thing," Lynas said to The Guardian. "For a lot of people, it was an 'Oh f***' moment. They realized they'd been lied to, at a very profound level, by the very people they'd trusted."
Featured image via Flickr
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Governing Magazine
State Legislators Named as Top Government Officials
Governing Magazine announces their top list of 2010.
DENVER - Three state legislators have been honored as some of the top public officials of 2010.
This annual awards program by GOVERNING, now in its 17th year, recognizes leaders from state, city and county government for outstanding accomplishments in their department/agency, community or state, according to the company's press release.
Texas Representative Jerry A. Madden and Senator John Whitmire led efforts, as part of a budget package, to divert thousands of offenders from prison to rehabilitation facilities. The plan reduces reliance on incarceration, avoiding construction of costly new prisons, while also providing services to help these offenders more safely and successfully reenter communities. The strategy has received national attention and is one that other states are looking to as part of corrections reforms.
"I share this accomplishment with my colleague and friend in the Senate, Senator Whitmire. We are tough on crime, but smart on crime, as well as good stewards of your taxpayers' monies," said Representative Madden.
Representative Diana S. Urban of Connecticut was the architect and prime mover behind Results Based Accountability legislation, which requires all Connecticut state agencies to submit performance metrics along with budgets – the first legislation of its kind in the United States.
Representative Madden was the chair of the NCSL Law and Criminal Justice Committee in 2009-2010. In his work, he became very involved with NCSL's lobbying efforts to increase flexibility for state implementation of the sex offender registry provisions of the Adam Walsh Act, and worked in a bipartisan fashion with colleagues on the Law and Criminal Justice and Human Services Committees to spotlight the emerging issue of human trafficking in the states. Senator Whitmire currently sits on NCSL's Law & Criminal Justice Committee. Representative Urban is currently a member of NCSL's Ag and Energy Committee and has served on the Environment committee in the past.
Public Officials of the Year are selected from nominations submitted by readers, experts in the public and private sectors and the GOVERNING editorial team. Among the qualities recognized are leadership, courage, innovation, creativity and good management.
Award winners are profiled in the November issue of the magazine and will be honored at a dinner in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 18, 2010.


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On Sale Now –...
On Sale Now - Lost Boy (The Remix Project)
Silent Running has released their new digital EP 'Lost Boy (The Remix Project)' which contains 4 radically remixed versions of their 2019 single 'Lost Boy'.
The EP comprises:
Lost Boy (Cyberpunk mix) – a shorter, punchier, radio-friendly version of the original song.
Remixed by Gary Aiken.
Lost Boy (Chill Mix) – a stripped-down chill-out version of the original, draped in echo, reverb, and special effects.
Remixed by David Williams.
Lost Boy (House Belfast Mix) – when dance floors ever re-open this pounding, House influenced bass-heavy version will be a real crowd-pleaser.
Lost Boy (Reprise) – a string-laden, piano, keyboard, and vocal interpretation of the song – highlighting Peter Gamble's amazing vocal performance and the song's emotive lyrics.
Silent Running are currently recording their fourth studio album, the long-awaited follow up to 'Shades of Liberty', 'Walk on Fire' and 'Deep'.
"We had hoped to have the album released by this summer and had planned some high-profile gigs to promote it but sadly the pandemic put paid to that idea. We're over half way through recording it now and I think it's our best ever work. I can't wait until the fans hear it and we get to play it live" said Gamble.
Lost Boy (The Remix Project) in available to download from Bandcamp NOW and will be available on Spotify and all streaming platforms on June 4th.
admin, Davy McLarnon, Silent Running
Lost Boy (The Remix Project) by Silent Running


This trail is what Delaware singletrack is all about. It's just beautiful and very quiet. No bikes are allowed so it's just hikers and runners. It is not unusual to hike the whole thing and not see another person.
View from the trail of the creek below.
A 1950s car reminds visitors of a bygone era.
A section of pines along the trail.


Follow up can be used to check whether cancer treatment has worked, to identify if the cancer has come back (recurred), to manage side effects from treatment and monitor any long-term treatments. It also provides an opportunity for you to talk about how you're feeling and to receive practical and emotional support.
Regular follow-up means that if the cancer does come back or if a new cancer develops, it can be treated quickly.
Your follow-up schedule, the tests you have and the members of your treatment team involved, will be planned based on your individual circumstances. In some cases, your GP will be the primary clinician for your follow up. People who are involved in a clinical trial may have other tests as well.
The types of tests that are done during follow-up depends on the type of cancer you had and where it was in your body. Tests might include physical examination, blood tests, medical imaging (such as ultrasounds or X-rays) or other scans. Some of these tests will be done before your follow-up appointment so you can discuss the results with your doctor. Your doctor will ask about any symptoms since your last visit. You may also be referred to other allied health professionals such a specialist nurse, dietitian or social worker.
Follow up is also an opportunity to raise any psychological and emotional issues, including issues around sexuality and intimacy.
How often you have these appointments will depend on your individual situation and how long it is since you finished treatment. Many people have check-ups every 3–6•months after finishing treatment for the first few years, then less often after that.
Some people find it reassuring to have regular follow-up tests. Others feel anxious around the time of their appointments. Both reactions are normal.
For most people, no changes are found during follow-up appointments. However, if follow up tests show an abnormal area, or if the doctor finds something suspicious during a physical examination, or you have symptoms that might indicate that the cancer has come back, further tests will be recommended.
If you notice a change or any symptoms that concern you between follow-up appointments, don't wait until your next appointment. See your GP or specialist as soon as possible.
How often will I need follow-up tests?
What will my follow-up tests involve?
Where should I go for my follow-up tests?
Who will tell me the results?
Who should I contact if I have questions between follow-up appointments?
Who should I tell if I notice a new symptom?
Who can I talk to about how I'm feeling?
What will my follow-up care cost?


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Author: Writing for Change College Park
This website aims to counter false narratives about the Black Lives Matter movement and Hispanic communities in the United States by offering extensive information about both. You can find Yuliana and Cristian's website, The Truth.
College mentors: Taylor Gallihue and Jeevita Tharmarajah The video essay and artwork serve to bring awareness about the harmfulness of labelling and gendered social constructs in society, and its negative effects on identity acquisition and expression. Watch Laitla's video essay here: https://youtu.be/nWQkiLyoYj4 Artwork by Jennifer Gonzalez: "For this project, I created an art piece representing…
College mentor: Madeline Iazzetta The artwork and poem serve to bring awareness about sexual harassment in the workplace. Watch Kaylee recite her poem here: https://youtu.be/Z9PhaOHbO98 "I wanted to truly capture the pain and suffering of a woman dealing with trauma" – Kaylee Carcamo Artwork by Carla Reyes: Read a script based on William v. Saxbe,…
College mentor: Christina Alemayehu Titled "The Fear in Freedom," this project looks at how the lack of freedom can instill fear in individuals. Speaking on topics such as capitalism, individualism, and the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., it explores how so many still feel fearful in a country that prides itself as the Land…
College mentor: Anna Mayer This project highlights the contributions made by Ida B. Wells and Charlotte Hawkins Brown in the liberation from Jim Crow laws. "For the writing for change project I made two posters giving information about two women Ida B. Wells and Charlotte Hawkins Brown. I gave a short synopsis of their life…
College mentor: Amanda Vu This project is a compilation of short stories about the difficulties experienced by migrant workers and the importance of solidarity. "The Frontera Brothers" by Adrian Tejeda Encarnacion The name's Jose. I come from Oaxaca, a city in Mexico. The people around there are very vivid, kind hearted, passionate about each other…
College mentor: Julia Pavlick About the projects: "We chose to protest as our topic for our Writing for Change project. We wanted to show how protest is tied to freedom since thousands of people do it on a daily basis to obtain their liberties or rights. Trans people are entitled to the many freedoms and…
College Mentors: Andrea Vasquez and Shelby Malcolm Cooper's and Sheyla's project is about women's rights in school. Their project is a painting time-lapse video with a spoken word poem serving as voiceover. Sheyla created a painting that highlights the double standards that exist in school dress codes. Through her piece, she wanted to convey the…
Watch the full performance on Youtube: https://youtu.be/OJYhn70zDp8
Watch the full performance on Youtube: https://youtu.be/gVFYC9gwzMI


PCSUPT ATTY ARNEL B ESCOBAL, Regional Director, PRO5 together with Mrs Nelia Arejola Ziga signed the Absolute Deed of Donation with witnesses PCSUPT NOEL BARACEROS (Ret) and PSSUPT JEFFREY FERNANDEZ during the conduct of Traditional Monday Flag Raising Ceremony on December 10, 2018 at PRO5 Grandstand, Camp BGen Simeon A Ola, Legazpi City.
Likewise, plaque of appreciation was given to Ms. Nelia Ziga as a demonstration gratitude for her act of generosity and benevolence in donating a lot situated in Barbaya Balogo, Pasacao, Camarines Sur measuring FORTY-FIVE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY-NINE (45,289) square meters to the Philippine National Police. The lot will used to aid the police organization in the furtherance of its mission of maintaining peace and order and in ensuring the public's safety and security. Such as is an epitome of the strong police-community relationship vital in the pursuit of realizing the common aspiration of creating a safer and more peaceful community for all.


Saw this recipe on healthhomeandhappiness.com Tired it for a special night of the week and it was a hit!
Melt 1 tablespoon tallow in the bottom of a large skillet (cast iron is my preference) over medium heat.
Once tallow is melted, add onions and mushrooms and sauté, stirring every few minutes for a total of 20 minutes or until onions are caramelized.
As the mushrooms and onions cook, butterfly steak by laying it flat on a cutting board, and using a sharp, thin knife to open up the steak. by cutting it crosswise so that when you are done it is twice as wide and half as thick. This makes a nice rectangle for you to roll up.
Once opened up, sprinkle beef evenly with red wine, garlic, sea salt, and pepper, and allow to rest.
When onions are golden, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
Top beef with arugula evenly, and then with onion/mushroom mixture.
Starting from the bottom (narrow end of the beef), tightly roll up the beef/arugula/onion layers.
Once rolled, turn so the seam side is down and the weight of the beef holds it together.
Wrap and tie kitchen twine 3-4 times around the beef roll firmly to hold it together.
Wipe out cast iron pan and melt the remaining 1 tablespoon tallow over medium-high heat.
Sear beef roll on 3 sides for 2 minutes each once the skillet is hot again.
Remove from heat and cover with foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving.
To serve, snip string and gently remove.
Use a sharp knife to cut into 1-inch pinwheels.


I offer event photography for a wide range of happenings both private and public, including conferences, corporate PR, art openings, ground-breakings, performing arts, fund-raisers, wine tastings, launch parties, and car shows. The list includes weddings, family reunions, birthday, engagement, and anniversary parties. I cover events with a photojournalistic eye, capturing meaningful portraits, candids, and beautiful details.
For many years I've had the joy of photographing portraits, from newborns to large extended families to the family pet, I can capture it all, either on location or in the studio. My style is relaxed, and the experience for my clients is effortless.
I can provide images of your products, services, clientele interactions, place of business, school, church, interior design, real estate, or artwork in-situ. You can use the images for web content, social media, and printed materials. Every client is unique; we can work together to determine how you want your product to look, whether staged with props, displayed in flatlays, or rendered simply with a white background. I can supply you with clean, creatively composed product photography either on location (in-situ) or in the studio.
If you have an Etsy or Amazon shop or a shop within your site, I can photograph your e-commerce products so they'll look professional and fit into your website specs. You can ship the items to me (with a return label), and I'll photograph them in the studio according to your needs.


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Myolepta potens är en tvåvingeart som först beskrevs av Harris 1780.  Myolepta potens ingår i släktet parkblomflugor, och familjen blomflugor. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Parkblomflugor
potens

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


In light of recent power outages and failures in the electrical system around Penn, PECO has started to undertake a construction project to revamp the existing systems.
After several power outages and an underground explosion prompted two UPennAlerts last month, Philadelphia Electric Company has undertaken a construction project to replace some of the electrical lines on campus.
"If we weren't able to provide service to our customers, we need to look at the system performance and make sure it is operating efficiently and effectively," PECO's Senior Communications Specialist Greg Smore said.
On March 29, a slew of buildings on the eastern part of campus — including the Law School, Van Pelt Library and Kings Court English House — lost power around 11:30 a.m. Five days before, an electrical explosion on Walnut Street near 34th left a worker injured.
The power outages and the underground explosion were unrelated incidents, but there may be a connection between the two incidents.
Facilities and Real Estate Services was also involved in investigating the outages.
"Penn has been working with PECO to investigate the source of the recent power outages around campus," acting Executive Director of Operations & Maintenance at FRES Betsy Robinson said.
It is unclear what exactly happened to these cables, but there are a few possibilities.
"Multiple things can happen with underground lines. They are more susceptible to moisture or there might be some damage from excavation or construction. The line could be impacted but might not cause an outage until later on," Smore said.
The construction work started on April 13 and will last until early May. PECO will be replacing 3,400 feet of underground cable on Spruce Street between 34th and 37th streets, 34th Street between Spruce and Chestnut, Chestnut between 34th and 36th streets, 36th between Chestnut and Ludlow and Ludlow between 36th and 37th. All of the construction will take place overnight to avoid interfering with daytime traffic.
This project is also included in PECO's 20/20 plan which will take place over the next five years.