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Download a victim of circumstantial evidence 1903 full hd
Deflategate evidence is circumstantial, but that doesnt. These options are all featured in this diverse library. Evidence may also prove to be dissociative, showing a lack of association between crime scenes, victims, and so forth. A victim of circumstantial evidence 1903 release info. As a result, the jury may have only circumstantial evidence to consider in determining whether to convict or acquit a person charged with a crime. Information and testimony presented by a party in a civil or criminal action that permit conclusions that indirectly establish the existence or nonexistence of a fact or event that the party seeks to prove. Circumstantial evidence, which can be derived from a variety of sources, can be used to lay a foundation of belief, and backed up by witness testimony and direct evidence for credibility. For example, circumstantial evidenceof a murder is not based on firsthand eyewitness accounts, but may consist of threats made, fingerprints at the crime scene, or the presence of the.
As such, most retaliation and employment law cases rely on circumstantial evidence to prove a causal connection. Provided to youtube by redeye worldwide circumstantial evidence stiv bators l. Kraft believes circumstantial evidence is too weak to support penalties like suspensions, fines and docked draft picks, though legally, this premise is kind of ridiculous. Like direct evidence, there are several types of circumstantial evidence. Direct evidence is evidence that means what it means. From the initial hamhandedness of the noida police to cbi changing its. Many nevada residents have found themselves in your position. This is but a recognition of the reality that in certain instances, due to the inherent attempt to conceal a crime, it is not always possible to obtain direct evidence.
This contrasts with direct evidence, which directly proves the fact in question. If youve been charged with a crime in nevada, theres one thing you probably already know. Circumstantial evidence law and legal definition uslegal, inc. Criminal d may introduce evidence of victim s violent character to prove victim s conduct in conformity, i. Circumstantial evidence is evidence of a fact or set of facts from which one could infer the fact in question. Direct and circumstantial evidence distribute and reasonably. Where the only evidence available is circumstantial, the question for the investigator is whether the fact in issue can be inferred from this.
Examples of circumstantial evidence vary from the behavior of the accused person during the time of an alleged offense to their behavior during trial. What are the different types of circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence lawyers in the philippines. A victim of circumstantial evidence 1903 plot summary. Circumstantial evidence is so full of hackneyed and incredible plot turns that one can never get even slightly interested in the involved set of circumstances which almost send a quite innocent, if belligerent, michael oshea to the electric chair. Circumstantial evidence definition, examples, defense.
The court of appeal highlighted the following five principles. Circumstantial evidence definition, examples, cases, processes. Feb 12, 2018 this is a lyric video to help the palmer 4th and 5th grade practice for their upcoming spring musical auditions and performances. Circumstantial evidence by shalamar on amazon music. Circumstantial evidence is especially important in civil and criminal cases where direct evidence is lacking. Various police officials and investigators aim for circumstantial evidence.
Circumstantial evidence is sometimes referred to as indirect evidence. A victim of circumstantial evidence 1903 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Prior threats to the victim, fingerprints found at the scene of the crime, ownership of the murder weapon, and the accused being seen in the neighborhood, certainly point to the suspect as being the killer, but each bit of evidence is circumstantial. An old gentleman happening along picks up the slingshot and stops to examine it. A lady bakes a blueberry pie and leaves it on the kitchen counter to cool. Because circumstantial evidence requires the drawing of inferences, i will explain the process involved in analyzing that evidence and what you must do before you may return a verdict of guilty based solely on circumstantial evidence. Jury decisionmaking circumstantial evidence of ability to commit the crime. Click here and start watching the full episode in seconds. A victim of circumstantial evidence 1903 full cast.
This is a lyric video to help the palmer 4th and 5th grade practice for their upcoming spring musical auditions and performances. The prosecutions evidence or lack thereof will make or break your case. The proper method is for cw to testify to victims reputation for violence and give opinion. The legal definition of direct and circumstantial evidence can be found in the utah model jury instructions, civil instruction 120 though we are talking about criminal law, the definition of direct and circumstantial evidence applies equally to both civil and criminal cases. What are some examples of circumstantial evidence in. Circumstantial evidence of an inference of consciousness of guilt and of guilt. Explore circumstantial evidence profile at times of india for photos, videos and latest news of circumstantial. The album is better than anything out there on the street today. Although detectives have been working on the case of an indianapolis infant allegedly abducted in august, the filing of charges this week was just day one for prosecutors who have witnesses. Rules of criminal evidence midterm flashcards quizlet. Circumstantial evidence, its elements and application. The more circumstantial evidence employees have, the stronger their case will be. All of physics is demonstrated by circumstantial evidence.
Circumstantial evidence is evidence that is presented in a civil or criminal trial that suggests a fact is true but may not prove it directly. Initially, you must d ecide, on the basis of all of the evidence, what facts, if any, have been proven. Most genealogists learn very quickly that its a rare family where direct evidence supplies all the proof needed to connect one generation to another and tie brothers and sisters to each other. Provided to youtube by the orchard enterprises circumstantial evidence jerry lee lewis honky tonk rock n roll piano man.
Overwhelming circumstantial evidence clearly linked claus. On the other hand, the additional circumstantial evidence of the defendants fingerprint on the trigger would dovetail with this piece to provide corroborating evidence. If a witness testifies that he saw a defendant fire a bullet into the body of a person who then died, this is direct testimony of material facts in murder, and the only question is whether the witness. Evidence relevancecharacter evidence flashcards quizlet. A contemporaneous complaint is also persuasive circumstantial evidence that the sexual harassment occurred. Criminal evidence and procedure direct and circumstantial evidence 4 43 c physical capacity if fact shows only a very tall person could have committed the crime crimes required someone running very fast, yet suspect is disabled 43 d mental capacity may need to establish that the defendant has minimal mental capacity and therefore something that was obvious to everyone else, was not obvious. The fact that the accused had an intense dislike of the victim. A reporter sets out to provide how unreliable circumstantial evidence is by faking a murder and then taking the rap for it.
As he does the owner of the house appears, and after accusing the old gentleman of inflicting the damage calls the police and has him carried away, protesting against the indignity. A persons guilt of a charged crime may be proven by. Circumstantial evidence definition, examples, cases. By had not been involved in physically hitting or taking the victims. Two youngsters who are shooting at birds with slingshots break the front window of a house and run away. The easiest way to define circumstantial evidence is by what it is not it is not evidence that comes directly from an eyewitness or a participant. In many cases, circumstantial evidence is the only evidence linking an accused to a crime. Circumstantial evidence is normally used in science only to support other forms of evidence, so that you can figure out what happened. In fact, forensic evidence is usually circumstantial evidence. Sep 28, 2016 it is a settled rule that circumstantial evidence is sufficient to support a conviction, and that direct evidence is not always necessary. Circumstantial evidence, its elements and application neetij rai. To download a quick reference to the types of evidence outlined in this. Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of.
Direct evidence this often consists of eyewitness testimony in which a witness provides a first hand account of the events. Examples of circumstantial evidence in murder cases include. Introduction men may tell a lie, women may a tell lie. Threatening comments and differential treatment prior to a crime are typically considered to be circumstantial evidence, along with a suspects behavior after a. Jun 27, 20 cbs news legal analyst jack ford says circumstantial evidence is often perceived as a negative aspect of a case, but, in fact, circumstantial cases can hold water and often do in court. In reality, circumstantial evidence is an important tool used by prosecutors to convict people. Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of factsuch as a fingerprint at the scene of a crime. The distinction between direct and circumstantial evidence does not relate to the nature or content of the evidence given e. In this blog post, nalini chandrakar, student, hidayatullah national law university, and vineet kumar, student, national law university of odisha, write about whether circumstantial evidence can be taken as the sole basis of conviction or notproving the statement with few landmark cases. Circumstantial evidence definition, examples, defense strategies. Circumstantial evidence was an album i kept in my truck for everyday use. Such cases are very difficult to defend because irrespective of the rules of evidence, the jury is going to convict the defendant unless they are provided with some evidence explaining why the alleged victim would concoct. Although the 2 examples i give here are not part of a criminal case, i believe they are great examples of circumstantial evidence.
Evaluating the circumstantial murder casenorth carolina criminal. The prosecutor and the defense team can both present. On its own, circumstantial evidence allows for more than one explanation. The solution offered by william perkins was to allow circumstantial evidence as a lowerstatus proof, insufficient for conviction but warranting further investigation.
Aug 17, 2017 theyre not necessarily mutually exclusive. A victim of circumstantial evidence 1903 quotes on imdb. The proper method is for cw to testify to victim s reputation for violence and give opinion. He then stormed into the pool house, and i immediately heard a commotion of stabbing and screaming noises.
Direct evidence is evidence of a fact based on a witnesss personal knowledge or observation of that fact. Circumstantial evidence forensics and the criminal mind. By contrast, direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion directlyi. For example, that a suspect is seen running away from a murder scene with a weapon in hand is circumstantial evidence he committed the murder. Latest and breaking news on circumstantial evidence. Evidence can also be obtained from a social worker, psychologist, coworker, friend or family member that the victim confided in regarding the sexual harassment. Apr 25, 2020 eye witness accounts are sometimes considered to be circumstantial evidence as well. An eyewitness who testifies to seeing the suspect shoot the.
On its own, circumstantial evidence allows for more than. Indirect circumstantial evidence, either economic evidence or communication evidence, has been used in cartel cases in many countries such as united states. Circumstantial evidence, in law, evidence not drawn from direct observation of a fact in issue. Circumstantial evidence is especially important in civil and criminal cases where direct. Circumstantial evidence sole basis for conviction or not. Also known as indirect evidence, this type of evidence is used to infer. The suspect could have merely stumbled upon the scene and accidentally picked up the weapon. Circumstantial evidence plays a crucial role in delivering justice. Circumstantial evidence that an individual is the victim of rape. Generally character evidence is not admissible for purposes to. R v by 2019 nzyc 33 the district court of new zealand.
Examples of circumstantial evidence could be a pattern of adverse actions toward other employees who made similar complaints or evidence that employees. For example, in a battery case the prosecutor may present direct and circumstantial evidence of the crime. However it is to be taken in great care that such evidence must fulfill the basic elements so as to admit it as evidence. In recent years there has been a spate of cases assessing the sufficiency of the evidence in murder prosecutions where the states case is built. Nov 15, 2014 provided to youtube by the orchard enterprises circumstantial evidence jerry lee lewis honky tonk rock n roll piano man. Criminal d may introduce evidence of victims violent character to prove victims conduct in conformity, i. Circumstantial evidence is not credited to its full validity in comparison to direct evidence.
In most cases, its necessary to build the case for family relationships from bits and pieces and hints and clues gathered from a wide variety of sources. Watch full length feature films, classic shorts, world culture documentaries, world war ii propaganda, movie trailers, and films created in just ten hours. Circumstantial evidence law and legal definition circumstantial evidence is indirect evidence which creates an inference from which a main fact may be inferred. This evidence often just strongly suggests a certain fact, but does not completely prove it. According to the definition of circumstantial evidence presented by wikipedia. Circumstantial evidence definition is evidence that tends to prove a fact by proving other events or circumstances which afford a basis for a reasonable inference of the occurrence of the fact at issue. A witness who sees a suspect standing over a victim with a murder weapon, although seemingly damning evidence, is considered to be circumstantial evidence, for example. Apr 09, 2020 circumstantial evidence is evidence of a fact or set of facts from which one could infer the fact in question. The problem with the prosecutions circumstantial case is it wasnt true. In case of absence of direct evidence then circumstantial evidence can be resorted to. If you have been sexually harassed, please contact us to discuss your case.
Direct evidence may thus be described as requiring a single inference from the evidence to the material fact, while circumstantial evidence requires at least two. Memorable quotes and exchanges from movies, tv series and more. I saw dave furiously grab a knife from the kitchen, muttering how was gonna kill that bitch. Circumstantial evidence requires the use of an inference but direct evidence does not. However, the fake murder victim turns out to be really dead. Many of these videos are available for free download. Now the remainder of the songs on the album arent all that good but overall it is an ok album. Synonyms for circumstantial evidence in free thesaurus. The importance of circumstantial evidence in sex cases. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full text. An eyewitness who testifies to seeing the suspect shoot the victim is.
A victim of circumstantial evidence 1903 quotes imdb. Their treatment of circumstantial evidence was another variation of the struggle in proving this crime. Investigators use many types of evidence in their investigations, including some. Direct evidence in sex crimes cases can be filled with lies. Evidence that can be used to make links between crimes, crime scenes, victims, suspects, and tools or instruments.
Circumstantial evidenceentire case 1 there are two. Circumstantial evidence is a part of a case where prosecutors get to take liberties, weave unproven and misplaced theories into a story filled with innuendos and built on inferences with no evidence to back them up. The wrongful conviction of jason payne circumstantial case. Perkins evaluated 18 signs for the discovery of witches. A victim of circumstantial evidence 1903 release info imdb. Circumstantial evidence direct evidence in a criminal case.
Mar 12, 2015 whether the evidence against you should be direct or circumstantial, the experienced defense lawyers at weiner law group will use every means at their disposal to not only refute it but also potentially turn it to your advantage. Evidence circumstantial in case of missing baby delano. Circumstantial evidence definition of circumstantial. For example, a witness saying that she saw a defendant stab a victim is providing direct evidence. The aarushihemraj double murder case is perhaps the most intriguing murder case that caught the attention of a nation. Circumstantial evidence synonyms, circumstantial evidence.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


o Contact your child's principal and request a face-to-face meeting.
o Review the school's anti-bullying policy. Be prepared to discuss how the policy was broken or challenges with the policy.
o Explain the situation fully. Be prepared, and bring organized printouts. Share what happened and how it has impacted your child.
o Listen carefully to the school's response, and ask questions. Request specific information on how the school will handle the situation.
o Take detailed notes of the conversation, and summarize your understanding of the meeting and next steps.
o Follow up with the principal to ensure steps are carried out, and inform the school of additional incidents.
o Obtain copies of all documentation and reports.
o Follow up with your child to see if the cyberbullying has stopped.
o If the cyberbullying continues, consider contacting the school board, superintendent of schools, board of education, state or federal authorities, or law enforcement.
"Take Action When Your Child Experiences Cyberbullying" was originally published on Patch — Across New York on June 6, 2018.


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I've been watching the unfolding saga of Julian Assange of Wikileaks, the sexual assault allegations against him, and the ensuing discussions over the juxtaposition of the two.
Naomi Wolf, Keith Olbermann, and Michael Moore, in particular, have made controversial statements. I leave it to you to google and twitter--no link love from me.
A few thoughts have coalesced for me as I reflect on what I've read:
1. I need to learn to speak for myself only.
2. I need to reflect deeply, and with nuance, about sexual consent, including my own habits of acquiescence.
3. I need to critically examine, as a feminist, what it is I want from men, personally, sexually, politically, socially.
4. Sometimes I assert my right to bodily autonomy rather harshly and severely because I barely believe it is true myself.
Now back to my wine.
For Christmas (In Case I Don't Get To It)
I'm pressed for time between too many things. And if I get caught up before Christmas, I have a date with a bottle of red. So in case I don't get around to blogging much before the new year, here is a quote for Christmas, taken from Marcella Althaus-Reid and Lisa Isherwood in a book they edited called The Sexual Theologian: Essays on Sex, God and Politics.
Dedicated to my friend, Gideon Addington, who took his own life December 12, 2009. I miss you, brother. And the rest of you, call me, dammit. I'm around.
This world is queer indeed, and those who wish to play it straight are failing to see that new horizons are declared holy and we are propelled on in courage not certainty. Where are those who will sit with the fear and uncertainty and not flee in the face of a queer god -- the early followers fled in the face of a crucified god, very queer in the Jewish world! They fled to 'life as normal' but it didn't work--it can never work because life if fully engaged is far from normal. Norms are easy conveniences for those who like surveys and statistics, they are not for those who live. Life can never be normal for those who embrace the flesh as divine, those who are lovers of god through that flesh in all its diverse glory.
Theology that has incarnation at its heart is queer indeed. What else so fundamentally challenges the nature of human and divine identity? That the divine immersed itself in flesh, and that flesh is now divine, is queer theology at its peak. There can be no sanitation here, or something of the divine essence will be lost--it is not the genetically modified, metaphysical Son of God that declares the divine-human conjunction, but the screaming baby born amidst the cow shit and fleas, covered in his birthing blood and received into the uncertain arms of his child/mother, who declares salvation for all. Male theologians have preferred to distance themselves from these all too earthy moments and in doing so have missed the point--the divine is earthy, messy and partial and is to be found there in all its glory, not in splendid doctrine stripped of all humanness.
Marcella Althaus-Reid and Lisa Isherwood, eds., The Sexual Theologian: Essays On Sex, God and Politics (New York: T&T Clark, 2004), 7.
This Never Gets Tired
From Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail:
...I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advised the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
I spent some time tonight reflecting on intersections of identity, which actually is a fairly usual past time for me. Today those thoughts were prompted by a blogpost written by Dr. Yolanda Pierce, one of my professors while I was at Princeton Theological Seminary. Her post, "When It Happens to Me" is a discussion of the "new" TSA security procedures, in particular pat-downs and body searches. Dr. Pierce juxtaposes the current outrage over increased bodily scrutiny with the indifference most of us show toward the increased surveillance and bodily violation experienced by persons of color: surveillance, questioning, and frisking for "walking while black."
I say "new" TSA security procedures, because they aren't really that new. TSA has been conducting pat-downs and body searches for all kinds of reasons prior to November 1. At the end of October, I was pulled aside for additional screening and patted down. The reason? Because I was wearing a long skirt. The skirt was cut up to my thighs in 6 places and swirled around loosely exposing plenty of leg, but apparently it fit the criteria for "voluminous clothing." As I sat shaking at the airport bar, it occurred to me that this category had probably been invented for women who cover themselves in traditional garb, so that the issue of "voluminous clothing" becomes a racial, ethnic, and religious issue, allowing us once again to conduct more intense surveillance of people of color.
I thought then of the men I worked with at Bellevue, the summer I was a chaplain there. I was assigned to the prison floor--most of the guys were from Rikers Island. A few were from "The Tombs" or "The Boat", two city jails for short term offenders. The Boat is literally a barge in the harbor and is otherwise knows as the Vernon C. Bain Center. The guys told me The Boat is cold and drafty; most of the inmates are housed in dormitories with little privacy or personal safety. They told me stories--a lot of stories--about where they came from and how they got there. Everyone had a story about how they didn't do whatever they supposedly did and a dream about how they were going to live differently when they got out. I sort of expected that. But what was new to me was this:
-Almost all of the men were people of color.
-The men had grown up with a level of police surveillance I didn't even know existed.
-Many of them were serving or facing long prison sentences for things that white
people I know did much less time or none at all.
-Additional charges for loitering, spitting, public urination, resisting arrest, etc.
were piled on top of the original violation.
-None of them had access to adequate representation; that requires money.
-Most of them were afraid, and had lived in fear their entire lives.
-They knew I couldn't do a thing to help them.
One man explained to me that he had completed vocational training and earned a certificate that he could use in a job search when he got out. I was excited for him until he told me about the certificate. In big bold letters across the top of the certificate it read: Department of Corrections. He said to me, "Chaplain, I know I'll have to tell them about my record at some point, but the first thing a new boss is going to see is Department of Corrections. They're never going to hire me."
I was thinking about intersectionality today because my own experiences living in fear as a girl and as a woman are deeply connected to the stories those men told me of their own lives. My stories are deeply connected to those of women who cover themselves from head to toe--and not because I judge their choice of attire. No. Because each of us has the right to choose our attire, to show or not show our bodies, as we desire for our own selves.
And I was thinking about intersectionality because it was Dr. Pierce writing. Two years ago when I was a student in her class I had the opportunity to start off one of our discussion sessions. I came prepared with a quote from Marcella Althaus-Reid's Indecent Theology about Santa Librada, a crucified Mary who is the patron saint of thieves and prostitutes. I had some remarks on queer theory and lesbian feminism to add to the mix, and Dr. Pierce not only made space for my remarks, but incorporated them into that day's class. She legitimized both me and my words and granted me dignity.
Later that day I discoverd that a few students had published a satirical newsletter that was racist and sexist. Dr. Pierce was featured in the newsletter, and not in flattering way. The newsletter had been distributed that morning before class. Dr. Pierce had already seen it by the time I arrived at class. Yet without thinking twice she granted me time and authority to speak in her class. It was a gift, and I will not forget the kindness.
Our struggles are connected, and we must pay attention to what is happening to women and men of color. Because if feminist or queer concerns are addressed at the expense of racial concerns--or if we think for a second that feminists and queer folk are not also often persons of color--we have sold ourselves out while betraying brothers and sisters. Ida B. Wells called out Jane Addams in 1901. Audrey Lorde called out Mary Daly in 1979. The Combahee River Collective called out white feminists in 1986. Dr. Pierce is calling us out now. Go read her post and think about it.
Pierre Bourdieu wrote in his book Masculine Domination:
I have always been astonished...that the established order, with its relations of domination, its rights and prerogatives, privileges and injustices, ultimately perpetuates itself so easily...and that the most intolerable conditions of existence can so often be perceived as acceptable and even natural.
We have a rare moment when collectively we suddenly see the established order that has been so easily perpetuated. Startled outside of our usual perspective we have the opportunity, each of us, to remain cognizant of injustice around us or to put back the blinders and pretend that we don't see it. Either way, we are inescapably connected to one another. We intersect.
Posted by Katie Mulligan at 1:00 AM 0 comments
From "Ode to Broken Things"
by Pablo Neruda
Life goes on grinding up
glass, wearing out clothes
making fragments
and what lasts through time
is like an island on a ship in the sea,
surrounded by dangerous fragility
by merciless waters and threats.
For the first time since moving to New Jersey, I am looking forward to winter. I have been always a fan of late summer and late autumn. Blazing hot sun where I can read in the shade, the warmth of October sun, the muted colors of November before it gets nasty cold. Those seasons suit my spirit well, spinning, somewhat directionless, landing where I do.
But I find myself in a time when it is necessary to narrow down my options, to make things stark so I can see better, to cut out superfluous things, in order to get by. I'm working on a PhD, and I'm working on some kids, and I'm working on a church, and there's still dishes and laundry and Goddess help me a pile of paperwork taller than you. So winter suits me just fine, stripping the leaves until nothing but bare branches remain, life held in reserve for the spring.
And you might pray for me, those of you who do that sort of thing. And if prayer isn't your thing, you might just think a fond thought of me here and there when it gets cold. Because this is a mourning process, to embrace winter. It's just a little too stark and naked for my taste.
Today we had a beautiful worship service at school, officiated by those of us in the trans and lgb group at Drew Theological School. We made some elbow room with our queer stoles and collars (which look a lot like straight and cis stoles and collars, I'm just saying). It was good to be there. So that's the thing about winter, the trees are still wick.
Eila Mahima Jaiupal is one of my favorite love poets. As far as I know she only publishes Poemhunter.com.
"Memory Coffee"
by Eila Mahima Jaipaul
will you share a cup of memory coffee
and let me for a while
sip my past days;
when there was none
but two swaying shadows
and a whole universe in my hand.
There was simplicity, and dreams
as I lay my sleepy head on you.
I often wonder, when the innocence of remembering will revolt.
I imagine its when you, and the steam disappear.
PresbyMEME: Why I am voting yes on Amendment 10a
So I'm Presbyterian, a pastor in the PC(U.S.A.), and for a very many years now we have been wrangling over questions of ordination and queer folk. As it stands right now, any person who is ordained as an elder, deacon, or minister of the word and sacrament (pastor) must meet several requirements including "fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness." What this means is that ordained officers of the church are prohibited from having sex outside of marriage. Although "sex" is not defined, marriage is defined by our polity as "between one man and one woman." This clause is used to keep queer folk out of ordained positions as the church does not recognize same gender marriages or civil unions.
Actually, I could write for hours on this topic, but let me focus. A friend started this meme on Facebook and challenged a few of us to write on the following questions. You are welcome to cut and paste and do it too. Link back to me here or to Bruce Reyes-Chow's original post.
New language has been proposed to replace the "chastity & fidelity" clause. I've placed the language from Amendment 10a at the bottom for those who wish to read the specifics. But essentially the new language shifts the focus to the individual's call to ministry and willingness to follow Christ. Frankly, this may cause most of us as many problems as fidelity and chastity, but at least it would apply to queer and straight alike (on paper).
Amendment 10a was approved by our General Assembly in the summer of 2010. Over the next year, presbyteries will vote on whether to ratify it. 2/3 A majority of the presbyteries must ratify the amendment in order for it to pass. Ministers of the word and sacrament and elder commissioners to presbytery have the right to vote.
All right then, the meme.
1. Name, City, State Rev. Katie Mulligan, Lawrenceville, NJ
2. Twitter and Facebook profiles @grammercie (Twitter) jakeisacat (Facebook)
3. Presbytery and 10a voting date West Jersey, tba
4. Reason ONE that you are voting "yes" on 10a is..
I identify as queer.
5. Reason TWO that you are voting "yes" on 10a is...
Sexual standards are very difficult to define, enforce, or investigate. To do so requires a certain voyeurism that is sexual and exploitative itself. We could have a long and painful discussion about what is sex, what is gender, is anyone actually really straight, and are we born or do we choose to be straight/queer. Or we could focus on the person identified for ordination and see if they fit the call. Hmm. (Sexual assault and abuse of power are covered in other sections of our book of discipline, and should not be mistaken for consensual, adult sexual activity.)
6. Reason THREE that you are voting "yes" on 10a is...
The chastity and fidelity ordination standard has caused us to sin grievously as we interact on both sides of this argument. The level of contempt, distaste, disgust, and outright nastiness within our denomination on this subject churns my stomach. Not because I'm queer (although there's that too), but because it's mean. It's beneath us. We are better than this. If I walked up to any straight colleague and told her or him that what they do with their spouse in the bedroom is disgusting and unholy, and that in order to follow God they should leave their spouse and repent, that colleague would object strongly. And rightly so.
7. What are your greatest hopes for the 10a debate that will take place on the floor of your Presbytery?
I hope for kindness to prevail. That people will think "what if this was my life being dissected?" before they speak.
8. How would you respond to those that say that if we pass 10a individuals and congregations will leave the PC(USA)?
Individuals and congregations will leave the PC(USA) regardless of whether this amendment passes. While this is a lightning rod issue, there are many other reasons why more "conservative" churches are leaving the denomination for the EPC and PCA. I believe that like marriage, we are sometimes called by God into relationship and sometimes we are called by God out of relationship. Leaving the PC(USA) may be the most faithful response for individuals and congregations on either side. Our own polity calls us to take risks for what is right and not to fear the death of the church.
9. What should the Presbyterian Church focus on after Amendment 10a passes?
A general direction for the entire church? I know I'm not qualified to answer that. Regardless of whether Amendment 10a passes, there are many initiatives and ways of serving the world the PC(USA) is already involved in. Saying that homosexuality is our big issue and everything is on hold until we solve that is a straw man argument designed to create fear and frustration. For the little church where I pastor? We'll focus on keeping our doors open and figuring out what God is calling us to next.
10. How does your understanding of Scripture frame your position on 10a?
Like many of us in the PC(USA) I understand Scripture to be the unique and authoritative witness to God, written by (mostly) men in different times and places (see Confession of 1967 for exact wording). I do not ascribe to a "literal" understanding of Scripture for reasons too many to list. In five minutes a more conservative minister could give you a Scriptural argument for why homosexuality is evil. In the same time I could pull up Hosea 2 and make a creative argument that Gomer taught Hosea and God that punishing bodies and souls for perceived sexual transgressions is not the way to foster love and care. We could then go back and forth for weeks with our proof texts. I fully acknowledge the flexibility of Scripture and the possibility of multiple readings. Those who don't, there are many other denominations where a more rigid interpretation is encouraged. And for myself, if 10a does not pass, I will have to think carefully about my own options as well. Neither the Spirit, nor the Scriptures, nor our polity call us to a monolithic belief (and no, that is not a replacement Trinity).
AMENDMENT LANGUAGE IS AS FOLLOWS:
Shall G-6.0106b be amended by striking the current text and inserting new text in its place as follows:
STRIKING: "Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.
AND INSERTING: Standards for ordained service reflect the church's desire to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life (G-1.0000). The governing body responsible for ordination and/or installation (G.14.0240; G-14.0450) shall examine each candidate's calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office. The examination shall include, but not be limited to, a determination of the candidate's ability and commitment to fulfill all requirements as expressed in the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003). Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates."
Labels: Amendment 10a, PCUSA
Autism Spectrum Quotient. *blank stare*
Updated links:
Oasis @ MAAP, a joint project with individuals with Asperger's and autism, parents, and professionals.
UCSB Koegel Autism Center. Our family found Pivotal Response Treatment to be helpful.
The last few days a new quiz made the rounds on facebook: the Autism Spectrum Quotient Test. This little quiz can be found by searching on facebook or by going to this website: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html.
On the facebook version, this quiz is prefaced with a quick description:
The Autism Spectrum Quotient, or AQ, is a questionnaire published in 2001 by Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues at the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge, UK. Consisting of fifty questions, it aims to investigate whether adults of normal intelligence have symptoms of autism or one of the other autism spectrum conditions.
After taking the test, the quiz calculates your AQ, a number between 1 and 50, and on the facebook version you can post your result to your wall for all your friends to see.
According to the Wired article linked above, the average score in a control group of adults was 16.4; 80% of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher. The article is quick to point out that this test is not a diagnostic tool and that "many who score above 32 and even meet the diagnostic criteria for mild autism or Asperger's report no difficulty functioning in their everyday lives."
I am the mother of a child with autism. I am familiar with screening tools used to identify individuals who might be somewhere on the autism spectrum. When my son was two I started scouring the internet, looking for this kind of "test." I found one and it was helpful. So what's the problem, you ask?
Here are some thoughts.
1. This quiz was presented on facebook in the same way as the quiz "Which Pokemon Are You?" as if there is something socially amusing about being "more or less autistic." Autism has serious life consequences for many of the people diagnosed with it--not the least of which is the social stigma the rest of the world attaches (in addition to overprotective parents who write blogs).
2. The original quiz comes from the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge. Their terms and conditions for using the tests are very clear: "Tests developed at the Autism Research Centre (ARC) may only be used strictly for professional, scientific or clinical purposes, and are not for commercial use. Use of these Tests for commercial purposes may violate copyright legislation." I do not think a facebook quiz qualifies.
3. The facebook description of the quiz is misleading. Many adults with autism also have "normal intelligence." People with autism may or may not have developmental delays or difficulties functioning, just like people without autism.
4. The simplistic way this quiz is presented, as a sort of personality questionaire, seems to equate introversion with autism. "Oh, hey! I don't like parties, I'm autistic hehe." The individual personalities of people with autism are as varied as people without autism. There are clusters of characteristics that tend to be present in people with autism, but being uncomfortable with crowded rooms or making eye contact is not the same thing as being introverted. Speech and language difficulties are not the same thing as preferring to spend time with people or books.
5. The autism spectrum includes a large number of diagnoses, including autism, asperger's syndrome, and PDD-NOS. This quiz does not help raise awareness of the complexity of the autistm spectrum or the people on it.
I think what troubles me most is the way the quiz is being used on facebook. Comments like "I got an AQ of 36, that sure explains a lot!" are a way of mocking individuals who do have autism. The FAQ section of the quiz claims that this isn't just "another trivial facebook quiz" and points to the original description of the test as a scientific tool. But the people taking the quiz on facebook aren't mostly people who are considering they might have autism. There is no scientific rigor or determination of who is taking this quiz--the developers of this application have no professional, scientific, or clinical purpose stated in their information.
What do you think it feels like to people who are on the autism spectrum to watch facebook friends dance around this quiz with idle curiosity, making wisecracks and comparing their introverted/extroverted natures to the challenges people with autism face? I don't know, but I don't think this quiz is cute or funny or helpful. And that's all mama bear has got to say on this.
Posted by Katie Mulligan at 8:29 PM 11 comments
Won't You Come In?
I'm blogging in one other place now over at http://www.lettersfrominsideout.com with three other friends. Two of the guys started the blog a while back, and I think the name must have stuck in my head, because I was quite surprised to realize how close the name of my blog was to theirs:
"Letters From Inside Out" and "InsideOuted"
Graciously the guys thought it was funny, so I'm keeping my blog name. But credit where it is due: Jamie and Quincy created a space over there on that blog that helped give me courage.
Anyhoo, I wrote a post over there called "Won't You Come In?" Pop over and read it, would you?
Blame the Mosquito
I'm taking a class on Augustine this semester, and one of the requirements of the reading is to chase down a footnote or two from our required readings and expand our reading. I tracked down a book called Porneia: On Desire and the Body in Antiquity by Aline Rousselle and brought it home, only to realize I had checked out the original written in French (which reminded me that I need to study in earnest for language exams starting yesterday). Back at the library today, I traded for the English translation and was enchanted in seconds by the opening paragraph, which I now share with you:
When Palladius' Lausiac History was being translated from Greek into Latin an error crept into one of the episodes of Macarius' life. The Greek text relates that Macarius was weaving a basket and praying when a mosquito bit his leg. He crushed the mosquito angrily with his hand and then to punish himself for this violent outburst in the midst of his meditation he dived naked into a swamp infested with insects and emerged six months later quite unrecognizable. The Latin text read by western monks makes no mention of a mosquito, but says instead that it was a thought of porneia, or fornicatio, a surge of sexual desire, which drove Macarius into the swamp.
Maybe everybody has already heard that story and I am late to the party. But I giggled for an hour at the idea that we have been agonizing over sexual desire for centuries when perhaps Macarius was really upset about his murderous rage at the bite of a skeeter.
Love, sex, desire, marriage, children--we've conflated them to the point that they are interchangeable in our thoughts. We can scarcely think of one without the other, and the process of untangling what is true about sexuality takes great risk and effort. The video below "When Did You Choose to be Straight?" has been making the rounds on my twitter stream. It's a serious question--how, why, when, where did any of us choose our sexuality? And on what basis, with whose influence? I do think biology has a lot to do with our sexuality--but how many of us do the hard work of deconstructing the social influences that numb us to our own desires? As those of us who identify as Christians seek after God's desire for our bodies, how do we separate truth from convention--even while understanding that sometimes convention is truth?
Inevitably, when there is discussion over choosing sexuality, there is pushback about whether or not it's a choice to "be gay". I'm not sure how to answer that. The other day I heard someone refer to sexual desire for another person as "The Chemistry" as in "We have The Chemistry." And it certainly does seem like The Chemistry has basis in biology--some people just do it for you--I get that. But aren't you interested in figuring out how and why and when the social part of The Chemistry was formed? I know I am.
Arise My Fair One
I often post my sermons on my pastor's blog. Here's the beginning of today's sermon and link to get you to the rest. It was a sermon on the Song of Songs, one of my favorite parts of scripture.
Sermon, Sunday October 24, 2010
by Katie Mulligan
Scripture Readings: Song of Songs 2:8-14 and Matthew 11:28-30
So, a love poem and a few words from Jesus. Our theme this morning is love and desire, passion, and finding peace in the arms of a beloved other. I wish I could tell you that today's texts come from the lectionary, that I am not responsible for their selection, for to speak of love and desire is always risky. In our Prayer of Confession this morning we prayed these words: "Almighty and merciful God, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against your holy laws." It may be that we too often follow the devices and desires of our own hearts, but I wonder sometimes if we Presbyterians might be more guilty of following our rational heads too much. So I must admit that I chose these texts this morning, for in the midst of a hard and busy schedule, I am longing for the playfulness of falling in love.
Click here to read the rest
Love to you all!
Praise Where It's Due
Ahem. A quick shoutout to my parents who read my blog and called a day later saying, "Huh. Well, okay. So, how's things?"
So anyone who asks me how they should react to their child coming out as trans or queer or both, that's the advice I'm gonna give you.
Because that was pretty cool.
Scattered Pea(ie)ces
The peace of my Saturday morning has been shattered by the inexplicable early rising of my children. With the aid of Cocopuffs and Paper Mario, and I am fiercely defending the scattered pieces of my peace.
Sacred Scribblings
This week Stacey Blahnik, a trans woman of color, was murdered. And so few people have noticed. In September, Tyler Clementi and several other young white gay boys and men committed suicide. And national movements were born. Two good friends, Darnell Moore and Larry Lyons, wrote about the way race intersects to silence and erase the bodies of trans and lgb people of color. With their permission I am posting their "scribblings" here. Pull up a chair.
"Brief Remarks From a Talk Today...
Reflection on the Tyler Clementi Tragedy"
Darnell Moore
Remarks that I gave at the American Studies and Women's and Gender Studies Program (Rutgers-Newark) "Politics, Culture, and Media in the Tyler Clementi Tragedy: An Open Conversation"
Stuart Hall, noted cultural theorist, comes to mind at this moment.
As I seriously consider how certain bodies are coded and commoditized, the ways in which particular identities are reified, reconstructed and reconstituted, how various knowledges are designed, delineated, designated and duplicated….I can't help but to reconsider the workings of what Hall aptly named "regimes of representation" and the "practices of representation" (which are utilized to further the labor of such regimes). But, why a reconsideration of these notions now, in this moment, after having been awakened, once again, by the nightmarish reality of suicidality among LGBT, queer youth?
Here are some questions that have prompted my reconsideration:
1. Whose names, of the many youth who have committed suicide within the past month, are most familiar to us?
2. Whose face, or what faces, has been posted on the covers of popular magazines? What images are we left to reimagine?
3. Which, of all the horrific stories, serves as the master narrative in this moment? And, which story is being told by ABC, CBS, NY Times, The Daily News, and People Magazine?
4. And, why?
I am distressed and horrified–not solely by the death of Rutgers's student, our student–Tyler Clementi, but by the literal snatching away, dis-remembering of the names, the stories, the faces, the smiles, the tears, the legacies of those for whom suicide became the only option prior to and during the moment of Clementi's tragic death. What made this particular suicide usher in a resurgent spirit of concern, compassion and curiosity regarding LGBT youth suicidality when it has been an occurrence that many youth has had to face daily? [I was one of those youth.] I argue that we are at our "social-justice-best" [pun-absolutely-intended] when mere "notions" (i.e. LGBT youth suicidality) are made "real" in our lives, when we are faced with the practicalities of what are often bullet points on liberal, discursive agendas.
We exist in a culture of consumption: a culture that is driven by our consumption of particularized desires and bodies….a culture that, itself, seeks to consume, do away with, particularized desires and bodies that we don't attend to or have use for. Our hands pushed Tyler Clementi…even while our eyes resist Raymond Chase. Represent!
"Preventable Nooses:
Tyler Clementi, Raymond Chase and My Black Feminist Beef"
Larry Lyons
When the news about Tyler hit the press, I was en route to Curacao. I spent much of my time on the island with LGBT press from the states that were guests of the board of tourism. Even as we enjoyed all of the luxury and decadence that the Dutch Caribbean had to offer, our televisions and twitter accounts held us responsible to the tragedy that was unfolding back home. Being a Rutgers professor, I was called upon repeatedly to field questions about how the university community was managing the suicide and (in equal measures) how I felt about the purportedly "bad PR" for ole RU.
I spoke about the Safe Spaces conference that the Newark Pride Alliance conducts annually during Newark-Essex Pride Week, noting how the 2010 convening's focus on public health moved us to prioritize the issue of teen suicide by commissioning a presentation from the Trevor Project, which runs a national 24-hour, toll free confidential suicide hotline for gay and questioning youth. I mentioned that the conference has been hosted at and supported by Rutgers - Newark for the past three years. I touched upon the collaborative work I've done with Rutgers Newark's queer groups RUPride and the LGBTIQ Caucus at the Rutgers School of Law, which have succeeded in creating dynamic, engaging programs that address a broad range of social and legal issues facing queer youth and young adults within the academy as well as in Greater Newark. I also mentioned how many challenges we faced in getting folks (from medical practitioners to community organizers and youth advocates) to show up and discuss strategies for combating teen suicide and identifying viable heath care options for trans folks. Too often, it's back-breaking labor to get folks to come to the table, blog, donate, organize, petition, stand up or speak out when there's not a martyr to lament and rally behind.
I spoke about my work with the Rashawn Brazell Memorial Fund, and how the discovery of his dismembered remains failed to register a Clementi-sized blip on the social justice radar back in 2005. I spoke about the confluence of outright failures that made such a silence possible: irresponsible and callously sensational reporting topping the list. I spoke TO the press ABOUT the press and its role in enabling and normalizing these types of violence. How their latent elitism, racism and homophobia made it impossible for the body of a murdered black gay 19-year old from Bushwick to matter or accrue the kind of social capitol and visibility lavished upon other murder victims whose identity categories made it much easier to convince editors that their stories would matter to the American reader.
Victims in the media orbit of Rashawn's case include Mathew Shephard (the 21-year old gay white University of Wyoming student whose 1998 murder brought national and international attention to the issue of hate crime legislation at the state and federal levels), Nicole duFresne (the Minnesota-born playwright and actress murdered in Manhattan in 2005) and Imette St. Guillen, the 24 year-old grad student that was tortured, raped and murdered in the Soho in 2006).
The commonality shared by these three "high-profile" cases (beyond the gruesome nature of their murders) is clear. The victims are white enough, educated enough and upwardly mobile enough to garner sympathetic identification amongst white middle-class readers. These are the stories that sell papers. Oh, and one more thing they have in common? They've all gone to trial and all have ended in convictions. (In case anyone was wondering, Rashawn Brazell's murder remains unsolved.)
During a few conversations with the press, it became clear that the narrative expected of me was that of the queer professor who could defend the university's commitment to queer issues and lament about how unfortunate this PR blunder was for Rutgers -or- confirm that the institution's homophobia somehow contributed to the event. What I actually offered was an intersectional analysis of race, class and sexuality that highlighted the ways in which the media habitual mis-management of tragedies like Tyler's ultimately leads to the obscuring and perpetual silencing of tragedies like Rashawn Brazell's and Raymond Chase's. My talking point was intentionally simple: things happen faster, louder and longer when there's a white, upwardly mobile martyr to rally behind.
My fear in all of this was that I'd sound like the bitter activist that harbored resentment for all of the suicide and murder victims whose cases enjoyed the visibility his poor little case(s) did not. And there's the rub. At what point are we allowed to speak our truths without seeming bitter, divisive or insensitive? It is the perpetual wrestling that my compatriots in social justice work and I do with this question that makes me appreciate the Black Feminist tradition so deeply. Black Feminism constitutes the wellspring, the invaluable reservoir of critical resistance that helps me say: eff yall. I refuse to remain silent at another meeting, provide a sanitized sound byte or play second fiddle in another movement while I watch people who look like me, love like me, sashay like me and struggle like me lay dead in the streets, murdered by unprosecuted bigots and hanging from preventable nooses, only to have their names curtly erased from history. Eff that. I won't do it.
I wont because I was in the midst when Brick City's best activists and organizers (many of whom are tagged in this note) came together to organize around the few Gay/Straight Alliances in Newark schools coming under attack and being unceremoniously disbanded by principals and superintendents whose short-sightedness won't let them see how these programs provide the support and community that obliterate suicide as an option. We bear witness not only to one anther's stories of literally and figurative fighting for our own lives and identities from Camden to Kentucky, from Brooklyn to New Brunswick, and now in Newark, but to the DAILY fight for injustice that simply won't wait for the right white martyr before it takes to the streets and demands action. We face hostility (and polite resistance) in various forms, from my beloved Muslim bruthas that damned us and our Pride march down Halsey Street to the attendees at academic talks that don't get why we are so terribly angry. But with each talk, with each meeting, with each teleconference and each email, we're creating a Newark, a Rutgers and a world that is forced to inquire about (and reckon with) our reasons for being so damned black, queer, angry and impatient.
And this is why we have our answers ready.
Stacey Blahnik, Another Sister Gone
As of 10/20, I have found no new information about Stacey Blahnik Lee's murder.
But Monica at Transgriot posted this lovely tribute with photos.
A few of us went on Saturday to the vigil, but when we arrived nobody was there. I'll be calling to figure out what happened. But we grabbed some wine and pizza and honored Stacey with fellowship and food.
Update on Friday, 10/15: A good article Philadelphia Gay News
Updated links below
Yesterday I received word on Twitter that Stacey Blahnik was found dead in her home in Philadelphia. After the last month of young gay men committing suicide hitting the news, you would think that the news would have hit harder in our queer communities. But it didn't. Stacey was a trans woman of color. This article in the Philadelphia Daily News (Trigger warning for misgendering) broke my heart--not just her death, but also the way the author portrayed her. I am linking to other blogs who have written eloquently about Stacey's life and the problems with the news coverage. Please take some time to read them.
And to the trans women and men in my life, you are deeply loved, beautiful, smart, funny, and I enjoy every bit of time we spend together. Love and peace and comfort and safety and joy be yours today. I am grateful to know you.
There is a candlelight vigil in Philadelphia on Saturday, October 16. Shoot me an email if you'd like company there.
Helen at Questioning Transphobia
R. Keith Burns at House of Blahnik
Lil at The Prophet Lilith
Monica Roberts at Transgriot and a second article here
Grace at Are Women Human?
Rachel McCarthy James at Deeply Problematic
Vanessa at Feministing
Letters to the author of the original news article
Drew at Notes From Off Center (Drew also posted the letter he received in return)
Sarah at Never Perfect. Always Real.
GLAAD's response
Philadelphia Daily News' Updated article w/improved language
I Am a Rose of Sharon
I have always been fond of Gomer from the book of Hosea. This month is Domestic Violence Awareness month, and Gomer stands as one of Scripture's countless examples of intimate/sexual violence. She is my favorite because she refuses to submit to Hosea's authority over her body and thought. Despite his best efforts at punishment, Gomer holds herself back, refusing to be defined by his words and actions. By the end of chapter 2, Hosea has re-thought his position and offers reparations (the return of her garden). His vision of hope that she will return to love him in the way young lovers do is met with silence from Gomer--we are left as readers to wonder if she ever did choose to love Hosea again.
The book of Hosea is filled with powerful, but troubled, metaphors for Israel and her God. One of those metaphors is the Gomer and the prophet Hosea, joined as husband and wife in a troubled marriage. Go read Hosea 1-3. Every time I do, I come away disturbed by the images of violence. Many of us might justifiably say we want no part of a God who behaves like Hosea--and it's easy to find stories of God behaving violently in our scriptures. And yet, if the metaphor holds, we find at the end of Hosea 2 that Hosea and God have learned that love cannot be forced, and a body cannot be owned. I have much respect for any god or man or woman who learns that lesson, repents, and dares to risk loving again without violence.
(Really important note: know the cycles of abuse--there is a difference between the hard work an abuser must do to rework him or her self, and the honeymoon period that precedes further violence.)
Differentiating Naked
My friend, the Rev. George R. Pasley, writes poetry. With his permission I share this with you:
"Differentiating Naked"
In these days, these trying times,
These times which seem so filled
With rude and lewd behavior,
It will be helpful to know
A few basic definitions,
And the difference between:
Nude is a philosophical idea,
which a person may choose to realize.
Naked is a necessary phase of dressing and undressing.
Nekkid has passion and purpose.
Some Partial Thoughts
A few people yesterday had some questions for me: "How did this happen?" "How long have you been hiding this?" "Whaaaaat?" Just like anybody else's sexuality, how mine developed is deeply personal and complex and way too much for one blogpost. But here's a few thoughts about how I began to think consciously about sexuality--not just accepting what has become the "norm" of man and woman paired in Holy Matrimony and Eternal Romantic Love (nothing wrong with either, just questioning whether we are all called to such things).
Years ago I read a book called The Survivor's Guide to Sex: How To Have An Empowered Sex Life After Child Sexual Abuse by Staci Haines. It was the only book I ever read on the subject of healing from childhood abuse that suggested that not only is it okay to say NO to sex, it is also okay to say YES to sex. For me, where I was at, this was a helpful message, and I devoured the book cover to cover. Making a reference to an essay by Marilyn Frye, Haines writes,
Labels: lgbtq
Inside Outed
There is a moment when you are pulling your shirt over your head at the end of a day. The shirt is half off and your arms are twisted in the sleeves. You can't see a thing, eyes momentarily veiled by cloth, torso bared. You're inside outed, as my kids would say. To be in the church and be out as queer, it's the same moment: inside outed.
I've been wary for a long time of being out publicly. Y'all know why--everything's at risk for queer folk in the church. The fight over sexual and gender expression is inscribed on queer bodies and queer souls, and I don't like to be used like that. A thousand reasons to hide, to get through, to pass, to duck and cover, to straighten up and toe the line. It's called survival. It's called none of your business. Like many others I've avoided being out, especially in the church, where who and how I love might be used for someone else's righteous satisfaction--as if who and how I love is any different than you.
Posted by Katie Mulligan at 9:02 AM 34 comments
Labels: lgbtq, religion


text:
Home Impact Wrench Ingersoll Rand 2235TiMAX Drive Air Impact Wrench
Ingersoll Rand 2235TiMAX Drive Air Impact Wrench Review
The Ingersoll Rand 2235TiMAX Drive Air Impact Wrench delivers powerful torque output of up to 1,350 foot-pounds ideal for heavy-duty applications. Its twin-hammer mechanism provides maximum power and durability, while its lightweight design helps to minimize fatigue. Its composite housing and hammer case offers rugged durability and is backed by a two-year warranty.
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Ingersoll Rand 2235TiMAX Drive Air Impact Wrench
Our review of the Ingersoll Rand 2235TiMAX Drive Air Impact Wrench put this impact wrench through its paces. Let's take a look at some of the best features of the Ingersoll Rand 2235TiMAX Drive Air Impact Wrench…
Powerful, Yet Light:
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Top 5 Impact Wrench
Milwaukee 2767-20 M18 Fuel High Torque 1/2-Inch Impact Wrench
DEWALT 20V MAX XR Impact Wrench
Avid Power 20V MAX Cordless Impact Wrench
PORTER-CABLE Impact Wrench


text:
8 Best Spring Break Destinations in Vermont - Tripping.com
8 Best Spring Break Destinations in Vermont
The state of Vermont is tucked away in the middle of New England with the lovely Green Mountains and Lake Champlain on the west, while the Connecticut River is situated on the east. In the springtime, the state's sugarhouses produce a rich flow of maple syrup, filling the air with sweetness. Moreover, bright blossoms begin to bloom, farmers markets vend to the public, and skiers and snowboarders continue to hit the slopes. Near many vacation rentals in Vermont are abundant opportunities for outdoor recreation, sightseeing, shopping, and fine dining. Here are the best spring break destinations in the state.
1. Burlington
The beautiful city of Burlington is in the northwest corner of Vermont on the shore of Lake Champlain. Explore Church Street Marketplace, the hub of downtown Burlington, which has over 100 shops and restaurants. City Hall Park hosts the year-round Farmer's Market, where you can shop for fresh produce, tasty snacks, local cheeses, and handmade crafts. Don't miss the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center, with its interactive exhibits and fascinating displays of fish, amphibians, and reptiles. Rent a bicycle at Waterfront Bike Rentals, and pedal the famous Burlington Greenway, a dedicated bike path with 8 miles of trails through parks and along the shoreline. Alternatively, tour downtown and the waterfront in relaxed comfort with Burlington Segways. To satisfy your sweet tooth, join a factory tour and enjoy product tastings at Lake Champlain Chocolates.
Find vacation rentals in Burlington
2. Montpelier
Montpelier, the capital of Vermont, lies alongside the lovely Winooski River surrounded by emerald hills. Be sure to check out the majestic State House near the town center. Renowned for its local artists, Montpelier hosts several awe-inspiring galleries, including the Front Art Gallery, the T.W. Wood Art Gallery and Museum, and the Vermont Arts Council Gallery and Sculpture Garden. Visit the Bragg Farm Sugarhouse and Gift Shop to sample and purchase local maple sugar. For some excellent skiing and snowboarding, take a bus to nearby Sugarbush Resort in Warren or Mad River Glenn in Waitsfield.
Find vacation rentals in Montpelier
Find the perfect Vermont vacation rental on Tripping.com. Tripping.com is the world's #1 vacation rental search engine with over 10 million properties!
3. Rutland
Located between the Green Mountains and Taconic Mountains in south-central Vermont, the town of Rutland has a fascinating downtown area with over 100 buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Rent a bicycle at Col Cycling and explore the downtown area, or head for the 16 miles of mountain bike trails in 300 acre Pine Hill Park. The Vermont Marble Museum has beautiful exhibits that highlight the state's marble industry, and the New England Maple Museum in nearby Pittsford focuses on the history of maple syrup. Killington Peak, just a few miles to the east, provides several great ski slopes. For some fine dining, pair an excellent cut of meat with the perfect wine at Southside Steakhouse. Sample handcrafted ales and lagers at the Hop 'N Moose Brewing Company.
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4. Bennington
The charming town of Bennington lies in the southwestern corner of Vermont on the western side of the Green Mountains. The numerous historic covered bridges in the area look magnificent when surrounded by luxuriant spring blossoms. Visit Bennington Museum for an impressive collection of work by local Vermont artists. Take advantage of the Bennington Area Trail System on Mount Anthony, which provides multiple mountain bike trails of varying levels of difficulty, to explore Vermont's gorgeous wilderness. Enjoy a unique shopping experience in downtown Bennington, which has over 40 locally owned businesses. Slake your thirst with craft beers at local pubs and breweries, such as Madison Brewing, the Tap House, and JC's Tavern.
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5. Brattleboro
Located in the southeastern corner of Vermont on the bank of the Connecticut River, the lovely town of Brattleboro is famous for its artistic community, historic downtown area, and proximity to fine skiing. Visit the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center to view the work of local artists and the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum for a fascinating glimpse at the ecology of the area. Rent a bike, and receive help planning an itinerary of the numerous state and local parks in the area at Brattleboro Bicycle Shop. Hike the trails, and enjoy panoramic views of gorgeous spring foliage at Mount Wantastiquet, Mount Monadnock, and the Appalachian Trail. Head for the Vermont Canoe Touring Center to rent a canoe or kayak and explore the local rivers. Nearby Mount Snow offers great spring skiing.
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6. Newport
The town of Newport lies on the southern shore of beautiful Lake Memphremagog at the far northern edge of Vermont near the border with Canada. Stroll along historic Main Street, and browse through the plethora of unique shops and restaurants. Stop in at the Northeast Kingdom Tasting Center to sample sweet cider, maple treats, and other local delicacies. Take a cruise on the Northern Star, an elegant inland waterway steamer, to discover the beauty of the majestic lake, or rent a boat or kayak from Clyde River Recreation, and explore the lake on your own. Head for nearby Jay Peak Resort for spring skiing and snowboarding. Try the Eastside Restaurant and Pub, which overlooks the waterfront, for delicious and rib-sticking New England cuisine.
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7. Vergennes
Vergennes is in a beautiful region of western Vermont near Lake Champlain. Founded in 1788, it is the state's oldest town. Many historic buildings line downtown's Main Street, including the Opera House and the City Hall. Lovely, tree-lined City Park regularly hosts cultural programs, and Vergennes Falls Park features a 37-foot cascading waterfall. Rent a bicycle from Little City Cycles, and tour the downtown area, the banks of Otter Creek, and the cycling paths in nearby state and local parks. Fish for salmon and trout on Lake Champlain with Cloud Nine Charters. Play 18 holes amidst spectacular scenery at Basin Harbor Club. Learn about the area's nautical history and nearby shipwrecks at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.
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8. St. Johnsbury
The beautiful town of St. Johnsbury is in northeastern Vermont at the confluence of the Moose, Sleepers, and Passumpsic Rivers. Don't miss a visit to the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, an architecturally significant historic building that now houses an art gallery. Tour the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium for fascinating displays on local ecology and history. For amazing ATV or snowmobile tours of the breathtaking surrounding countryside, head to NEK Adventures. Have some delicious steak or succulent seafood paired with a fine wine at Bailiwicks on the Mill.
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Ready to go? Check out these amazing Vermont vacation rentals on Tripping.com.
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text:
Valley Advocate Staff Picks: Ona Canoa, Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez, Urinetown, and Trash Talks
by Advocate Staff | Jun 6, 2019
Ona Canoa's "Resonate" show at Pushkin Gallery // SATURDAY
Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center is starting a new "Resonate" series, which takes place in the three-story marble building at Pushkin Gallery in downtown Greenfield. Western Mass folk trio Ona Canoa is set to play the series this Saturday. Ahead of the show, the group sent me videos of a few of their songs at the gallery space and "resonate" is definitely the right word for the series. The trio's harmonized voices sound like a full chorus in the space with an etherealness that has to be heard to be believed. Pushkin Gallery, 4 Federal St., Greenfield. Doors open at 6 p.m. Music starts at 7 p.m. $10 advance/ $15 at the door.
Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez // SATURDAY
I saw Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez at 1794 Meetinghouse last June when they kicked off their summer concert series. I had never seen so many people dance in the pews of an old revived church before. Fun times, and a quaint spot to see some good 'ol rock 'n' roll with the Saturday Night Live music queen herself. Surely she will be wearing leopard print and sunglasses with her beehive. 7:30 p.m. – 10 p.m. $20. 1794 Meetinghouse, 26 South Main St., New Salem.
The Firefly Creative presents Urinetown // FRIDAY
When reading a name like Urinetown, I was unsure of what to expect from the Firefly Creative's upcoming play on June 7. But after reading the description, I was informed that this musical satire touches upon capitalism, the legal system, and many other subjects often associated with how we base our opinions on the United States. The plot of the play is based around a toilet ban in response to a 20-year drought that took place in a fictional city. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children, and all the humor is promised to be surprisingly clean. Evangel Assembly of God, 348 Stony Hill Road, Springfield. 7 p.m – 9 p.m.
— Jonathan Kermah
Trash Talks: Revelations in the Rubbish author talk // THURSDAY
Author and philosopher Elizabeth Spelman will discuss her book about humans as "Homo trasho," which she explains as "people as beings who are makers of waste, who have complex ethical, aesthetic and political relations to waste, who sometimes are treated as waste, and who, in fact, in some sense are the products of waste." Her talk is at Smith College Museum of Art, 20 Elm Street at Bedford Terrace, Northampton. 5 p.m. Free.


text:
Whitey Bulger And The FBI: What Did Robert Mueller Know And When Did He Know It?
Part I of 2
Phil Gibbons
Earlier this year, the Justice Department appointed Robert Mueller to serve as special counsel to investigate connections between the Russian government and the campaign of Donald Trump. From both sides of the aisle came praise for Mueller, the former FBI director with an alabaster image.
The media was also nearly unanimous in its glowing coverage. Mostly ignored were Mueller's role in the post-9/11 roundup of thousands of Muslims (subjected to arbitrary detention, beatings, humiliation), his botching of the anthrax investigation by ignoring a solid lead and fingering an innocent man (government legal settlement: $5.8 million), his silence as the Bush administration lied about Iraq as a pretext for war, and his his accommodation to Bush's torture program (against protests by his own agents), which led one court to conclude that he and Attorney General John Ashcroft, "met regularly with a small group of government officials in Washington, D.C., and mapped out ways to exert maximum pressure on the individuals arrested in connection with the terrorism investigation."
To the extent that anyone, in hailing his bona fides, paid attention to Mueller's role in the notorious case of Boston criminal kingpin James "Whitey" Bulger, it was to describe Bulger's arrest in 2011 as a masterful job of FBI investigation. In fact, the case of Whitey Bulger, a fugitive eluding capture for 16 years, had been one of the biggest scandals in the history of the FBI, and the Bureau's official story of its resolution is so preposterous that it either casts a withering light on the competence of Mueller and his G men or reeks of something smellier in Mueller's domain.
From 1979 to 1995, Whitey Bulger engaged in a criminal reign of terror that eventually established him as the most powerful underworld boss in New England. As so often in the annals of organized crime, the outlaw and the law were partners in a dread dance, and in late 1994, tipped off by his FBI handler, one John Connolly, that indictments were imminent, Bulger went on the lam and disappeared.
Whitey' Bulger's former FBI handler, John Connolly.
Beyond putting Bulger on the Ten Most Wanted list (and then not until 1999), the FBI went nowhere with the case for six years. After ascending to the Bureau's leadership in 2001, Mueller likewise demonstrated indifference to apprehending Bulger until, a decade later and on the heels of his reappointment to the job, it was politically expedient both for himself and the U.S. government (of which more in a moment).
Questions about the FBI's relationship with Bulger while he dominated Boston's criminal underworld in the 1980s and '90s have never been fully resolved. That a corrupt relationship existed is undisputed. From the 1970s Bulger had been a confidential informant of the FBI, recruited to help the Bureau take down the Italian Mafia. It was a toxic combination, through which Bulger only gained power.
To give but a taste of the dirty work: H. Paul Rico, who'd had a long, tainted career with the Bureau in Boston, was indicted for helping Bulger and an associate plan a murder in 1981 while Rico was head of security for World Jai Alai, a company Bulger was skimming. (Rico died in 2004 before he could be tried.)
John Connolly, Bulger's handler beginning in the 1970s, is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence in Florida for the murder of a Bulger associate who was rumored to be cooperating with a criminal investigation.
Connolly's supervisor, John Morris, has admitted to tipping off Bulger about another cooperating witness – information that Bulger used to murder this man, a mobster desperately seeking witness protection – and an innocent bystander in 1982. Morris, who got immunity for his cooperation, additionally admitted to receiving $7,000 in cash bribes from Bulger.
John Morris, Connolly's supervisor.
When Connolly alerted Bulger that he was about to be arrested, it was not the first time the agent acted to protect the crime boss. Connolly had thwarted previous investigations of the Boston PD and the Massachusetts State Police by telling Bulger of specific wiretaps and surveillance; as a result, those agencies had long been wary of cooperating with the Boston FBI.
By numerous accounts, Bulger and his partner in crime Stephen Flemmi, who eventually turned state's evidence against Whitey, believed they were shielded from prosecution, if only because of the secrets they could spill. "If I'm going to jail, you're going to jail," Bulger once thundered to Morris, who soon after suffered a heart attack. Bulger's defense lawyer has argued that a senior official in the U.S. Attorney's office in Massachusetts, Jeremiah O'Sullivan, had offered Bulger immunity. O'Sullivan is dead and Connolly, who introduced the two, is disgraced, but the tangle of evidence suggesting systemic corruption or tacit accommodation has been richly documented in books and dramatized in film.
And where was the nation's future top cop in the 1980s as Bulger and Flemmi routinely engaged in murder, extortion and drug trafficking, and as FBI agents waded in the gore? In what is doubtless an inconvenient coincidence for a man now characterized as a bloodhound for truth and justice, Robert Mueller was a criminal prosecutor in the Boston office of the Justice Department in the early '80s and then acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts in 1986-87.
It is possible that prosecutor Mueller, having earlier lost an infamous racketeering case against the Hells Angels in San Francisco, decided that securities fraud, New Cold War skullduggery and more mundane corruption better suited his ambitions. It is possible that FBI director Mueller, beset with the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack and his duties as an apparatchik in the Global War on Terror, had more pressing matters than Bulger.
But it's at least as likely that Mueller was well aware from his time in Boston that the rot emanating from there went far beyond a few bad actors; that, as scandalous as the Bureau's failure to capture Bulger was, it would be more scandalous still if Bulger had a chance to reveal the full extent of the rot; thus, the best way to protect ugly secrets about Mueller's flailing agency and the Justice Department would be to let the crime boss run out his days in the shadows.
We may never know the reasons Mueller didn't seem to give a rat's ass for the Bulger investigation beyond the pro forma inquiry, when visiting the Boston Bureau as FBI director, "Where are we on Whitey Bulger?" And because Bulger, a high order rat, ultimately never did spill the secrets, preferring to hold to the fiction that he had never informed for the FBI, we still do not know the extent to which the government enabled racketeering and murder.
But if we don't have answers, there are questions — not least of those being: how, once Mueller's attentions were roused, did it take the Bureau a mere seven weeks to accomplish what had supposedly flummoxed it for 16 years? The official explanation for this amazing feat is absurd, involving, as we shall see in Part II, a PR agent inspired by the TV show "Alias," photos of the crime boss that even the mother of his child couldn't recognize, and a former Miss Iceland.
Anna Bjornsdottir, former Miss Iceland.
This part of the story begins in the aftermath of the U.S. government's assassination of Bulger's fellow mark on the Most Wanted list, Osama Bin Laden, in 2011. Much was being made of the fact that Bin Laden had lived so long untroubled in Pakistan, the implication being that Pakistani officials were wily Orientals and all-around friends of terror who also probably hated America for our freedoms.
Enter Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S., Husain Haqqani, who got on the phone with The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg to say: "If Whitey Bulger can live undetected by American police for so long, why can't Osama Bin Laden live undetected by Pakistani authorities?"
If the Pakistani ambassador was saying this to the press, one can only imagine what he was telling U.S. government officials behind closed doors. Haqqani may have said more than he intended, for it is as hard to believe that his country's intelligence agency knew nothing of Bin Laden's whereabouts as it is to believe that the FBI knew nothing of Bulger's. But in all events Haqqani had picked a scab.
That conversation was reported on May 2. Ten days later, Mueller had a sit-down with President Obama, who afterward proclaimed the director had "set the gold standard" and deserved another two years of public service. The extension had no precedent since Congress established a 10-year term limit for the FBI director in 1972, a reaction to the long, vicious reign of J. Edgar Hoover.
Still, if Mueller was smart, he might have felt some pressure. Congress would have to vote to reconfirm him. It did so almost exactly a month after the FBI stunningly captured Whitey Bulger, on June 22, 2011.
[End, Part 1]
Torture program
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text:
Against Facts
By Arianna Betti
An argument that the major metaphysical theories of facts give us no good reason to accept facts in our catalog of the world.
Hardcover $45.00 S £38.00
$45.00 | £38.00 Small Arrow Toggle Dropdown
ISBN: 9780262029216 328 pp. | 6 in x 9 in 5 b&w illus. July 2015
Endorsement Small Arrow
Everything you always wanted to know about 'facts,' the unity of the proposition, etc. A must-read for anyone interested in basic metaphysical or metaphilosophical issues.
François Recanati
Institut Jean-Nicod, Paris
In this book Arianna Betti argues that we have no good reason to accept facts in our catalog of the world, at least as they are described by the two major metaphysical theories of facts. She claims that neither of these theories is tenable—neither the theory according to which facts are special structured building blocks of reality nor the theory according to which facts are whatever is named by certain expressions of the form "the fact that such and such." There is reality, and there are entities in reality that we are able to name, but, Betti contends, among these entities there are no facts.
Drawing on metaphysics, the philosophy of language, and linguistics, Betti examines the main arguments in favor of and against facts of the two major sorts, which she distinguishes as compositional and propositional, giving special attention to methodological presuppositions. She criticizes compositional facts (facts as special structured building blocks of reality) and the central argument for them, Armstrong's truthmaker argument. She then criticizes propositional facts (facts as whatever is named in "the fact that" statements) and what she calls the argument from nominal reference, which draws on Quine's criterion of ontological commitment. Betti argues that metaphysicians should stop worrying about facts, and philosophers in general should stop arguing for or against entities on the basis of how we use language.
$45.00 S | £38.00 ISBN: 9780262029216 328 pp. | 6 in x 9 in 5 b&w illus. July 2015
Arianna Betti
Arianna Betti is Chair and Professor of Philosophy of Language at the University of Amsterdam.
In this book, Betti makes a thoroughly argued case against facts as entities playing a role in ontology, including the ontology apparently reflected in language. This challenging and brilliantly argued book needs to be taken seriously by anyone engaged in any of the many philosophical debates in which facts play a central role.
Friederike Moltmann
Research Director, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Visiting Researcher, Department of Philosophy, New York University
This is analytic metaphysics at its best. Contrary to much contemporary thinking, Against Facts argues that we have no good reasons to take facts seriously, let alone to think it a truism that the world contains such things. The starting point is the view that philosophers, more generally, should resist drawing ontological inferences from the way we use language, beginning with the inference that there must be facts because we sometimes speak truly. If you agree with the conclusion, this is the book you have been waiting for. If you are skeptical about the premise, this book will make you think twice.
Achille C. Varzi
Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University
https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/against-facts


text:
package convert

import (
	"errors"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"io/ioutil"
	"os"
	"path/filepath"
	"strings"

	"github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
)

const (
	// ConfigFile is the path to config file inside the bundle
	ConfigFile = "config.json"
	// RootfsDir is the path to rootfs directory inside the bundle
	RootfsDir = "rootfs"
)

var (
	// ErrNoRootFS ...
	ErrNoRootFS = errors.New("no rootfs found in bundle")
	// ErrNoConfig ...
	ErrNoConfig = errors.New("no config json file found in bundle")
)

type validateRes struct {
	cfgOK   bool
	rfsOK   bool
	config  io.Reader
}

func validateOCIProc(path string) bool {
	var bRes bool
	if err := validateBundle(path); err != nil {
		logrus.Debugf("%s: invalid oci bundle: %v.", path, err)
		bRes = false
	} else {
		logrus.Debugf("%s: valid oci bundle.", path)
		bRes = true
	}
	return bRes
}

func validateBundle(path string) error {
	fi, err := os.Stat(path)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("error accessing bundle: %v", err)
	}
	if !fi.IsDir() {
		return fmt.Errorf("given path %q is not a directory", path)
	}
	var flist []string
	var res validateRes
	walkBundle := func(fpath string, fi os.FileInfo, err error) error {
		rpath, err := filepath.Rel(path, fpath)
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		switch rpath {
		case ".":
		case ConfigFile:
			res.config, err = os.Open(fpath)
			if err != nil {
				return err
			}
			res.cfgOK = true
		case RootfsDir:
			if !fi.IsDir() {
				return errors.New("rootfs is not a directory")
			}
			res.rfsOK = true
		default:
			flist = append(flist, rpath)
		}
		return nil
	}
	if err := filepath.Walk(path, walkBundle); err != nil {
		return err
	}
	return checkBundle(res, flist)
}

func checkBundle(res validateRes, files []string) error {
	defer func() {
		if rc, ok := res.config.(io.Closer); ok {
			rc.Close()
		}
	}()
	if !res.cfgOK {
		return ErrNoConfig
	}
	if !res.rfsOK {
		return ErrNoRootFS
	}
	_, err := ioutil.ReadAll(res.config)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("error reading the bundle: %v", err)
	}

	for _, f := range files {
		if !strings.HasPrefix(f, "rootfs") {
			return fmt.Errorf("unrecognized file path in bundle: %q", f)
		}
	}
	return nil
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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What a Winter Wonderland Whirlwind of a Month! phew!
We got to test our capacity by providing entertainment to a handful of events on multiple dates. We brought a whole lot of dazzle & delight to Holiday Parties of all stripes & themes. Our Instagram is a great place to keep track of our events.
We had 48 events… too many to share, but some of the Highlights are below.
We got to bring some fun elements to an Around the World themed celebration in San Jose organized by Tied Together Marketing.
In addition to some Whisky Tasting hostesses & a Contortionist in a Bubble… we got to create a fun spin off our popular champagne skirts… a Geisha Sake Skirt!
Dec 6th we sent out 3 Champagne Skirts and for the annual Compass Family Services party hosted by Twitter we sent 3 Winter Woodland Princesses & 2 face painters & 2 balloon twisters.
Dec. 7th was a doosy of a night with 8 Events!
Dec. 12th we are very proud of the Deluxe Gatsby Package we produced at/for the Dorian SF with 12 performers & a vintage airstream trailer green room & 2 featured dance numbers & a Gatsby Glam station & a bevy of showgirls & a few mob bosses & a surprise Police Raid! See the Gallery here!
Dec. 13th the 20's Theme continued!
We sent 2 Champagne Skirt Hostesses and also gave a makeover to our Champagne Tower with a gorgeous Gold & Black Gatsby looking cover & sent it as a practical & delightful prop element.
December 31st NEW YEARS EVE we had a healthy mix of events that we helped to make special.
Our 9th year in a row we sent 4 Fabulous Giants (stilt walkers) to A List SF 'Passport to the World' at the Westin St Francis in Union Square.
This time we took the new metallic disco bella rosas that we debuted last month at Cirque du Soleil Volta premier & brought them to new heights… & also had an elegant dapper duo in white & black & LED lights. We also sent a few magical ladies to a very special Private NYE Party in Silicon Valley… Green Faeries that greeted & gave out drinks & Catalyst Cards & yummy treats/smells, a Tarot Card reader who later turned into a Mermaid to swim in the pool at midnight!
Also we sent some flapper showgirl beauties to The Dirty Habit at Viceroy Hotel to animate a Prohibition themed NYE Party.
Including this gorgeous Champagne Skirt hostess who made sure everyone had their bubbly for the midnight moment.
We had a fabulously busy holiday season- providing entertainers in December for over 40 events!!
Here are a handful of selected pics and highlights from December.
December 3rd, we sent 2 stilt walkers and a champagne skirt to an annual fundraising soiree called Holidazzle at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
Guests enjoyed hor d'ouevres & signature cocktails served by our Fire & Ice-themed living table models.
And on December 6th, we sent our gold and green festive Champagne Skirt to a corporate holiday party at the SF Exploratorium (Booked by Cast of Thousands Agency).
On December 11th we sent a dazzling silver & gold Champagne Skirt Showgirl to a corporate holiday party at the W Hotel.
On December 17th we brought a Contortionist in a bubble and our Snow Queen Champagne Skirt to the San Jose Marriott for a Chamber of Commerce Holiday Soiree.
On Dec. 18th we had a fabulous time with 2 of our Champagne Skirts at Benefit Cosmetics Holiday Party at City Club SF… Guests were thrilled to get their first glass of bubbly from this beauty in front of the tree and pose for pics with her.
And we had a super ambitious New Years Eve with 20 performers at 3 different parties in San Francisco!
We animated a Fantasy Themed party by Donovan & ThemeDream Productions with our fantastical variety entertainers including a ballerina, contortionist, wizard magician, mouse serving skirt with cheese, mermaid, and 3 elaborate stilt characters.