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The Key to John Adams' Political Principles
By John Paynter|2017-11-25T12:39:22-06:00August 6th, 2017|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Featured, John Adams, Liberty, Political Philosophy, Political Science Reviewer, Politics, Timeless Essays|
Of all John Adams' published writings, two works provide an especially fruitful resource for an inquiry into his deepest political reflection…
Today's offering in our Timeless Essay series affords readers the opportunity to join John Paynter as he unlocks the key to understanding John Adams' political principles, including those concerning liberty. —W. Winston Elliott III, Publisher
As a political writer, John Adams is most remembered today for the constitutional prescriptions by which he helped to solidify the American Revolution. His Thoughts on Government was widely circulated in 1776 and helped hasten and shape the formation of independent states out of former British colonies. His Report of a Constitution… for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was adopted with few changes, by that state, in 1780 and became the model for movements toward constitutional revision in other states.[1] Both writings—the first in outline and the second in detail—indicate Adams' view of the arrangement of political power which would best secure liberty. Neither work, however, elaborates Adams' understanding of why a certain arrangement of power is necessary to the securing of liberty. To uncover this reasoning, the student of Adams' thought must turn to his last published and least studied writings, the three-volume Defence of American Constitutions and one volume of Discourses on Davila.[2] In these works, which Adams later grouped together as his "four volumes of 'Defence and Discourses on Davila,'" he set before his audience "fairly, fully and impartially" the true principles of republican government as he had come to understand them from careful study of "human nature, society, and universal history." The Defence and Davila are concerned less with detailed prescription than with a "rational theory" of republican politics out of which prescriptions can be drawn.[3] Of all of Adams' published writings, then, these last works provide an especially fruitful resource for an inquiry into his deepest political reflection.
The nascent order of the Defence and Davila[4] can be grasped most readily by reflecting on Adams' immediate purpose in these books. The particular occasion which spurred both works was the attack on American constitutions launched by French encyclopedists and economists, and especially by Ann Robert Jacques Turgot and Marquis de Condorcet.[5] Adams wrote to defend those American constitutions which most nearly embodied right principles of political construction.[6] Turgot and Condorcet had argued that free government is possible only when the English model of balanced government is eschewed and all political authority is collected in a unicameral representative assembly; they had denied that distinct social orders exist naturally and that any effective government must involve some mixture of social orders. Adams countered by showing his readers that free government will endure only when political power is constituted as a "triple equipoise"; free government must consist of three equal, independent branches exactly balanced against one another, and those branches must correspond to social distinctions which arise naturally among men. The dispute between Adams and the French party thus proceeded on the basis of a basic agreement: all antagonists were friends of liberty; all agreed that free government is the only legitimate government. But the partisans of liberty disagreed on how best to secure liberty; they disputed the form of government best adapted to their shared purpose. As Adams put the dispute in a 1790 letter to his cousin, Samuel, the antagonists agreed on the principles of liberty but disagreed on the principles of political architecture. It is not surprising, then, that principles of liberty were taken up in the Defence and Davila only as a subordinate theme and occasionally; Adams considered them only when the means of government required illumination from the ends. His major subject in the two works was political architecture and especially its principles.
The rod which allows the reader to divine the order of the Defence and Davila is provided by Adams' intention to elaborate the subject of political architecture in terms of principles. Adams wanted to show his readers the "rational theory" of political construction rather than simply to indicate "the imperfection of M. Turgot's idea" of all authority in one center.[8] This latter, narrower, and merely polemical purpose he could easily have achieved, he said, by recording the disastrous consequences for freedom which have invariably followed from actual efforts to collect all political authority into a unicameral representative assembly. But the historical analysis which would have disproved his French antagonists could not have established the necessity of three political orders and a balance between them. To accomplish this positive purpose of showing his readers the true and only reliable principles of political architecture, Adams had to engage in a more ambitious investigation: He had to take "the most extensive views of men and societies." For Adams, an extensive view entailed an examination of all "writers of reputation" in the art of political construction and of the most celebrated actual political structures, "whether they remain entire or in ruins." Adams' intention was to see "how far both the theories and the [actual] models were founded in nature or created infancy."[10] Only when he had shown that the triple equipoise is the one republican form solidly founded in nature, not "fancy," would he have adequately accomplished his larger task of setting forth invariable laws of political construction.
The Defence and Davila proceed in two ways to discover which political arrangements are "founded in nature." The two ways are separable but ultimately compatible. In fact, the distinction between the two methods indicates the major difference between the two works; the relation between the methods indicates the deepest unity of the books. In both ways, Adams proceeded as a modern scientist: He attempted to discern the invariable operation of efficient causes and their effects. For nearly all of the Defence, he examined political constitutions as proximate causes. He hoped to show that all governments which have lacked a perfect balance among three orders have resulted in either tyranny or anarchy, while all governments which have achieved such a balance have preserved the principles of liberty for their people.[11] Adams' review of constitutions showed to his satisfaction the dangerous effects of all unbalanced or imperfectly balanced governments. Moreover, he saw the historic short-lived triumphs of liberty as having occurred in many cases because of a government's approximation of balance. But his search for unequivocal positive evidence on the side of the triple equipoise encountered a difficulty: Only one government outside the United States had reduced the requirements of balance to practice and that government could not stand as conclusive evidence for Adams' position. The government of England had embodied all of the components of a free constitution for fewer than two hundred years; it therefore could not be used to demonstrate the power of balance to preserve liberty for "thousands of years." Moreover, aside from the recently created American constitutions, England stood alone in its commitment to balance; it therefore did not provide Adams with the comparative material needed to separate reliably the effects of political form from the effects of peculiarly English circumstances.[12] The first way of demonstrating the principles of political architecture was consequently useful but insufficient for Adams' highest aim. Adams' other way of assessing the utility of various constitutions for liberty was to discover the human "elements" on which any political form must work in order to endure. He likened the systems of legislators to "philosophers making experiments on the elements;" systems of government are "experiments" made on Adams' other way of assessing the utility of various constitutions for liberty was to discover the human "elements" on which any political form must work in order to endure. He likened the systems of legislators to "philosophers making experiments on the elements"; systems of government are "experiments made on human life and manners."[13] Accordingly, history can be read for what it reveals not only about political constitutions as proximate causes, but also about human nature as a cause. The best historians help their readers "unravel the secret springs" of human action; they disclose the operation of those passions which move men in all times and places.[14] Once identified and measured in terms of their natural tendency, these springs of action comprise a standard by which to predict the efficacy of any political proposal. For this reason, the most decisive inquiry for a science of political architecture concerns the question of "what kind of beings men are."[15] Inattention to this inquiry had led the French party to faulty political prescriptions. Specifically, Adams' antagonists had ignored the spring of human action: the natural human passion for distinction. Consequently, they had failed to take into account the problem of the social orders which inevitably result from the workings of that passion and to consider how government could incorporate those orders so as to make the passion for distinction support the principles of liberty.
It is concerning the springs of human action that the Davila plays a special role in Adams' "four volumes." In the three volumes of the Defence, Adams devoted occasional brief passages to the inquiry regarding the natural foundation of government, but he did so only as his treatments of particular aspects of political construction required deeper illumination. While inquiry into human nature provides the final measure for his teaching on political forms, Adams wrote the Defence as if he could settle the issue of the proper political form without giving extended attention to the nature of the human elements. By the time he resumed the task of political teaching in Davila, however, he had clearly concluded that the inquiry into human nature requires its own exposition. He, therefore, ended his first Davila discourse by observing to his readers that "before we proceed…it will assist us, in comprehending (Davila's) narration, as well as in making useful reflections in morals and policy, to turn our thoughts for a few moments to the constitution of the human mind."[16] In Discourses II–XIII he then explicated the standard to which he had made only occasional references in the Defence.[17] The Davila can thus be viewed, not simply as the last of four volumes, but as a statement of the groundwork on which the political teaching of the other three volumes rests and in terms of which the soundness of that teaching must be judged. The Davila completes the Defence theoretically, and, therefore, will receive special emphasis in the following exposition of Adams' political teaching.
The Principles of Liberty
In the Defence and Davila, as in all of Adams' writings, the reasoning for the principles of liberty received only brief attention. The principles and their natural source, Adams believed, had been adequately investigated as early as 1556, when John Poynet had published his Shorte Treatise of Politicke Power. That work had contained "all the essential principles of liberty" which "were afterwards dilated on" by "writers on the side of liberty" during the two periods marked by the Interregnum and the Revolution of 1688. Those writers, especially Locke, had taught Voltaire, Rousseau, and "their disciples" what they knew about liberty, so that the principles of liberty were "becoming universal" and needed no further defense.[18]
Adam's sense of satisfaction with the English theorists of liberty, however, did not prevent him from suggesting his own understanding of the source and substance of the principles of liberty. The principles of liberty have their foundation in natural law, which human reason is in principle capable of discerning and which ought to govern all men.[19] Following his English predecessors, Adams identified the natural laws as two: the law of self–preservation and the law of respecting "the rights of others as much as [one's] own." As these statements of the law indicate, Adams' understanding of natural law was thoroughly modern.[20] The good which reason discerns is primarily the existence of rights in each individual, possessed by him by virtue of his constitution as a human being. The two natural laws are inferences or "reflections" about the proper ordering of human conduct entailed by those rights. Since the rights concern the things or goods which are proper to an individual as a solitary being, the first law simply states the necessity that each man preserve himself. Since each man is equal to every other with respect to his natural rights, however, the second law indicates the implication of natural rights for human relationships: Each man should treat every other human being as equally a rights-bearing individual.[21]
In Adams' analysis, natural law has two direct implications for political legitimacy. First, since each man is equal to every other with respect to his right of disposing of "his own," only a man's consent can legitimately place him under the power or rule of another. It was just this understanding which made Marchmont Nedham's book, in spite of its faults, "so ancient a monument of liberty and political knowledge in England." Nedham had asserted the "most excellent maxim" which later Englishmen had "englarged on, with great success": that "the original and fountain of all just power and government is in the people." A hallmark of the American Revolution was its success in fully demonstrating and exemplifying among men this maxim, for in the Revolution Americans had exhibited to the world for the first time in human history an example of governments "founded on the natural authority of the people without a pretense of miracle or mystery."[22]
One of the weaknesses of Nedham's reasoning about the political implications of the principle of consent was his mistaken inference that only simple democracy could satisfy its requirements. Adams readily agreed with Nedham that "a free government is most natural, and only suitable to the reason of mankind," but he disputed Nedham's contention that only a democracy can be accurately denoted free. As Adams understood the principle of consent, it means two things about the forms which governments can legitimately take. First, since the origin of all just power is in the people, they have a right to erect whatever form of government they consider best suited "for their liberty, happiness, and prosperity." The people may choose to retain power in their own hands, in which case they have constituted themselves as a simple democracy, in which the vote of the greater number is decisive. But simple monarchy or aristocracy or some mixture of the three simple forms of government is no less compatible with the principle of consent than is simple democracy, since that principle merely specifies that the people are the origin of just government, not that they must exercise government themselves. The people must constitute government; they need not actually run government.[23]
In an important respect, however, the principle of consent does alter the traditional meaning of the non-democratic forms of government. By deriving government from the consent of men who are by nature equal in rights, Adams identified a power in the people which they can never fully relinquish. As he later said to John Taylor, "the summa potestatis, the supreme, sovereign, absolute, and uncontrollable power, is placed by God and nature in the people, and they can never divest themselves of it."[24] Under any form of government, the people retain a legitimate power of judging whether the governors are in fact securing their liberty, happiness, and property. The same people who erect a particular government "have at all times a right to interpose, and to depose for maladministration—to appoint anew." This right, in fact, exists even under the traditional form of hereditary monarchy, for while the people have "a right to appoint a first magistrate…for perpetuity in his descendants," no appointment of a king "can be, in the nature of things, for a longer period than quam diu se bene gesserit, the whole nation being judge." The clear implication of the people's power is that all legitimate forms of government other than simple democracy are representative government, in which the governors, even if appointed for life or perpetuity, hold office only "until further order" as that order is given by the nation. Even a hereditary monarch, to be legitimate, must be viewed as "the representative of the whole nation," and his possession of office is finally subject to the judgment of those he represents regarding the adequacy of his performance.[25]
While the people possess ultimate sovereignty, however, legitimate government is not simply identical with popularly willed government, but has a second requirement imposed by natural law. The very equality which yields consent as one of the principles of political legitimacy also specifies the ends that government is to serve. Men are equal, not in all ways, but only with respect to certain natural rights of private possession. Adams generally adopted the traditional English formulation of those rights as "life, liberty, and property" or "liberty, property, and safety."[26] The only cause which could have "prevailed upon reasonable creatures" to consent to government was the discovery by experience that government is necessary "to the preservation of their lives, liberties, and properties, from the injustice of another." Again, Nedham was correct in asserting that "the end of all government is the good and ease of the people, in a secure enjoyment of their rights, without oppression." The proper standard for good government is the Golden Rule transformed by the theorists of modern natural law: government should ensure that we "do to others as we would have others do to us" in the sense that each man should be made to respect the rights of others as much as his own. Thus formulated so as to accord with nature, the Golden Rule forms a perfect statement of the principle of justice, "applicable at all times, in all places, among all persons, in all circumstances." just government is characterized by "a constant and perpetual disposition and determination to render to everyone his right," which it does by compelling each man to respect the legitimate private possessions of others. In other words, justice is the proper end of government, and justice was understood by Adams to mean securing to each man those things to which he has a right by nature.[27]
This essay in our series of "Timeless Essays" was first published here in August 2016. Books on the topic of this essay may be found in The Imaginative Conservative Bookstore. The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politics—we approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now.
[*] I wish to thank the Earhart Foundation for financial support to complete this article and Professors Daniel Klenbort, Paula Wolff, and M. Richard Zinman for their helpful comments on an earlier draft.
[1] All of Adams' public writing can be found in The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States 10 vols., edited by Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1850-56), hereafter cited as Adams, Works and relevant volume. For Thoughts, see Adams, Works, IV, 189-200 and for Report, see ibid., IV, 219-267. For the judgment of a leading student of the period regarding the influence of these writings, see Gordon S. Wood, The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1969), pp. 203 and 435.
[2] For these two works, see A Defence of the Constitutions of Governments of the United States of America, Against the Attack of M. Turgot, in his Letter to Dr. Price, Dated the Twenty–second Day of March, 1778…in three volumes, in Adams, Works, IV, 283-588, V, and VI, pp. 3-220; and Discourses on Davila; A Series of Papers on Political History by an American Citizen, in ibid., VI, 223-399. The three volumes of the Defence were published in 1787-88. The Davila papers were published serially as newspaper articles in 1790-91 and were collected into one volume fifteen years later.
[3] Ibid., X, 96 and VI, 482; letters to John Taylor, April 1814; VI, 416-17; IX, 573: letter to John Trumbull, 23 January 1791.
[4] The reader who turns to the Defence and Davila for the first time is likely to react with dismay. These four volumes appear to be poorly organized compendia of historical and theoretical writings on politics by other authors, sometimes, dissected and analyzed by Adams but snore often quoted verbatim without comment. All clearly touch on politics, but they do not form a treatise on the theory of republican government. This is a defect for which Adams apologized to his readers at the end of the Defence. But it is a defect of "style" and "method" brought about by the circumstances of writing, not a defect in Adams' understanding of his subject. Our aim in this essay is to sketch that understanding systematically.
[5] While Adams' immediate antagonists in the Defence and Davila were Turgot and Condorcet, his most important audience was American. There had been, "from the beginning of the revolution in America, a party in every State, who have entertained sentiments similar to those of M. Turgot." In two of the states, that party had managed to establish governments "upon his principle" of all authority in one centre. More recently, Shay's Rebellion and similar movements elsewhere in Massachusetts had threatened to depose the Governor and Senate "as expensive, useless, and pernicious" branches of the constitution; See ibid., IV, 299-300 and IX, 623: letter to Samuel Perley, 19 June 1809. Adams intended to correct "the mistakes of great men" so that those mistakes could no longer "countenance the prejudices of numbers of people, especially in a young country and under new governments" (ibid., IV, 299-302).
[6] The worst of the state constitutions, in Adams' view, were those of Pennsylvania and Georgia (ibid., IV, 300 and VI, 274). The others all contained sufficient ingredients of balance to be defensible, although the best and most defensible was "my Constitution" of Massachusetts (ibid., IX, 623: letter to Samuel Perley, 19 June 1809).
[7] Ibid., VI, 411-12: letter to Samuel Adams, 18 October 1790.
[8] Ibid., IV, 435.
[10] Ibid., IV, 293.
[11] I have given a more extensive discussion of Adams' use of history in chapter II of my doctoral dissertation, "The Ethics of John Adams: Prolegomenon to a Science of Politics" (University of Chicago, 1974). The rigor of Adams' method is one reason for the initially confusing wealth of material in the Defence and Davila, for he examines all countries "where the governments may be called in any reasonable construction of the word, republican" (Adams, Works, IV, 379)
[12] For Adams' statement of the "discoveries in the constitution of a free government" which England had reduced to practice, see ibid., IV, 284. He also suggested two lines of criticism of the English constitution, one at ibid., IV, 284-85 and VI, 183 and the other at IV, 359 and 440.
[14] Ibid., VI, 365.
[17] See especially ibid., IV, 387, 391-98, 406-10; V, 40, 488; VI, 8-9, 57, 94-5, 114-15, 141, 182 and 205-211.
[18] Ibid., VI, 4-5, 412 and 160.
[19] Adams seems to have accepted the existence of a separate moral faculty without having been concerned to identify precisely the nature of that faculty. Compare note 46 below.
[20] Ibid., VI, 234. I mean the term "modern" here as do such diverse scholars as C.B. MacPherson and Leo Strauss when they interpret the turn in political theory which occurred at least as early as Thomas Hobbes and achieved its "liberal" form with John Locke. The older tradition had made the duties of human beings its primary concern and had understood those duties in terms of the proper ends of human life. The new view emphasized the claims which each man could legitimately make for himself against others and justified those claims in terms of the natural beginnings of human action in the passions. Under the modern view, then, natural law does not state positive obligations to benefit others but only the limits to which self-claims can go; we are bound not to hurt others, at least when our own preservation is not at stake.
[22] Ibid., VI, 160, 116, 292-93. Adams devoted the last half of volume III of the Defence to a critique of Nedham's book, The Excellency of a Free Government, published in 1656.
[23] Adams, Works, VI, 114 and 117 (italics mine).
[24] Ibid., VI, 469: letter to John Taylor of Caroline, April 1814 (italics mine). Adams' series of thirty-two letters to Taylor, all written during April of 1814, are his only extended response to criticisms of the Defence. They were induced by Taylor's attack on the Defence in his An Inquiry into the Principles and Policy of the Government of the United States (Fredericksburg,Va.: Green and Cady, 1814).
[25] Adams, Works, VI, 117. See also ibid., VI, 469: letter to John Taylor of Caroline, April, 1814. Adams' use of "the people" in this context was made possible by that same shift in political theory which had transformed the meaning of natural law. The modern meaning of "the people" is directly linked to the emergence of the distinction between sovereign people and representative government. In the above discussion, "the people" designates the fundamental unity of the political community as consisting of the will of equal individuals to live together; the government which they bring into being merely implements—in this sense "represents" in action—the intention of each individual to have a cooperative existence. Traditionally, however, "the people" referred, not to the whole, but only to the many or majority (and usually the poor majority) and the problem of political unity was treated, not in terms of "sovereignty" and "representation," but with sole attention to "ruling" the city. Aristotle, for instance, viewed the city as a composite of qualitatively diverse classes, of which "the people" was only one ("demos" or "plethos"). The several classes, on their own terms, had nothing in common; each made an exclusive claim to rule based on its own vision of justice absolutized. The only semblance of unity which could be attained between such conflicting classes occurred when one class successfully imposed its rule on the others and thereby determined the direction which the life of the composite would take. In this older view, then, the assertion that "the people" had constituted a government could only have the restricted meaning that the many had successfully established their rule over other classes. Such an assertion had no necessary connection with legitimate or good government.
While Adams occasionally used "the people" in other contexts to designate the social order of the many, this more restricted usage was for him governed by the modern doctrine of popular sovereignty: The acts of the many can be legitimate only as they aid the intention of the people as a whole to live together securely.
[26] Ibid., IV, p. 300. For typical enumerations of the natural rights in the Defence and Davila, see also ibid., IV, pp. 304, 407, 415, 444, 462-63, 466-68, 557 and 579; V, pp. 115, 288, 453f, 457, 494-96; VI, pp. 65-6, 88-9, 96, 117, 158 (where Adams adds honor and reputation to the list), 242 (where he adds fame), 277-78, 280, 300 (where he adds tranquillity), 395 (where he adds our conveniences, com- forts and pleasures) and 399.
[27] Ibid., VI, 65 (italics mine) and 475. Adams' understanding of justice as the end of government is of a piece with his adoption of the modern view of politics in other respects. The sovereign people do not simply will to live together, but will to cooperate for the purpose of making their equal natural rights secure against outsiders and each other. On this one purpose they can unanimously agree, but on no other, for they do not all naturally or necessarily have any other purpose in common. The end of government, then, is to ensure that no man's rights are invaded, and to achieve this purpose, government must treat all men under its jurisdiction as equally entitled to protection.
In contrast, Aristotle viewed political justice as the distribution of equal things to equals, and unequal things to unequals. The determination of who is equal and who unequal depends, he said, on the contribution which each makes to the proper end of politics. That end is not solely or primarily security; it is preeminently a good quality of life. To this end, the contributions from the several classes will by nature be unequal and the classes should be treated accordingly, with their benefit from politics being determined by the degree of importance of their contribution. Since "the people" (the many), for instance, can contribute necessary conditions for the good life, they must be recognized as having some legitimate claims on politics. But since the people can contribute only necessary and not sufficient conditions for such a life, their claim is not the preeminent one in the best city and the members of that class ought not be treated by government as equal to those whose contribution to a good way of life is greater.
Adams did not deny that human excellence is a proper concern of government, but he treated excellence as a necessary means to just government in the modern sense, not as the primary end of government.
All comments are moderated and must be civil, concise, and constructive to the conversation. Comments that are critical of an essay may be approved, but comments containing ad hominem criticism of the author will not be published. Also, comments containing web links or block quotations are unlikely to be approved. Keep in mind that essays represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Imaginative Conservative or its editor or publisher.
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About the Author: John Paynter
John Paynter (1938-2005) was a professor at Michigan State University and the University of Dallas where he served as provost. He taught a wide range of courses and was especially interested in the American Revolution, the American Founding, and John Adams.
Humanism as Realism
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Impeachment, the End of an Era, and the Conservative Challenge
The Last Speech: "A Thing Called Civilization"
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Christian Democracy and the Future of Europe
January 11th, 2020 | 1 Comment
john trainor Aug 8, 2017 at 9:58 am - Reply
Adams was a brilliant thinker but seems to have been brushed aside by history, he deserves better. I do refer back to him in my readings. And his not so nice nickname, His Rotundity.
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Age of Sail (30)
American West (1)
Autobiography/Biography (1)
Children and Teen Books (7)
Cookbooks, Food, Gastronomy (1)
Film & Theater (1)
Science Fiction /Fantasy (3)
Rigging Period Ship Models: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Intracacies of Square-Rig
Lennarth Peterson
Hardcover. Annapolis, MD, Naval Institute Press, 2001, first edition, second printing. Clean, tight 4to, 119pp. The author's intention was to limit the book to the classification of the rigging of the ship Melampus with no mention of the numerous alternative aspects of 18th century square-riggers. The illustrations are phenomenal in..... More
Two Sailors and Their Voyage Around Cape Horn
Tompkins, Warwick M.
Hardcover. Scarce in this great shape. New York, Viking Press, 1939, first edition. Clean tight tall 8vo, 192pp. Tan buchram cover has a couple of tiny bumps to the tips. The incredible journey of two kids, 4 and 6, their parents and five other adults who sailed the famous schooner..... More
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The Sacred Harp
Hugh McGraw, et al.
Hardcover. Scarce. Sacred Harp Publishing Company, Inc., 1991 Revised edition. Aside from very mild shelf wear and one small, 1" neatly repaired closed tear to the topo spine edge of the ffe, the book is in near fine condition. The most comprehensive and best collection of sacred songs, hymns, odes..... More
Sea, Sails and Shipwreck: Career of the Four-Masted Schooner Purnell T. White
Robert H Burgess
1970. Hardcover. Cambridge, MD., Tidewater Publishers, 1970, first edition. Clean tight 4to, 132pp. Some tiny chips and one very small closed tear to top edge of dust jacket. From laying the keel to her final days, this is the biography of the four-masted schooner Purnell T. White. Contains a list..... More
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Albert Cook Church (photographer) and James B. Connolly (text)
Hardcover. New York, W.W. Norton Co., 1940, reissued edition 1961. Clean, tight 4to, 192pp and appendix of boat plans. Book has minor bumping to the spine ends, and a couple of very light scuffs to the tips on the front cover. Dust jacket is in mylar and has small chips.....	More
Stevenson's Silver Ship
Rather, Lois
Hardcover. Rare book. Oakland, CA., The Rather Press, 1973, limited edition. This is number 35 of 100 copies. Collectible. Rather Press "printed for pleasure. These books were written, designed, hand-set printed, usually case-bound by them." This is the biography of Robert Lewis Stevenson's beautiful little Schooner Casco. It was best..... More
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Tod, Giles M. S.
Hardcover. Barre, Massachusettes, Barre Publishers, 1965, first edition. Clean tight 8vo, 271pp, copious photos. Dust jacket has one small open tear to the top edge of the spine and one small open V-shape tear on the front bottom tip. There are a few small chips on the bottom edge. This..... More
Coasting Schooner: the Four-Masted Albert F Paul (Flora & Fauna Handbook)
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Hardcover. Newport News, VA, University Of Virginia Press, 1978, first edition, Museum Publication 35. Head and tail of spine are lightly bumped, minor scuffs to tips. The dust jacket has a couple of very small chips on the edges. The very interesting and detailed biography of one of the colorful..... More
The Built-up Ship Model
Davis, Charles G.
Hardcover. Salem, Massachusettes, Marine Researchc Society, 1933 first edition. Dust jacket in Mylar is somewhat faded and has some chips top and bottom edges. One V-shaped open tear near the back spine tip, one closed tear to back edge. Book is lightly faded with som tiny ink splatters on the.....	More
Seventeeth Century Rigging
Anderson, R. C.
Hardcover. London, Percival Marshall & Co., Ltd. 1955, revised first edition. Clean, tight 8vo, 146pp plus a fold-out of the full rigged "St. George, a second rate 96 guns, 1701 spar and rigging plan." Book has light toning in a small strip on the ffe, otherwise no flaws. Dust jacket.....	More
Steel's Elements of Mastmaking, Sailmaking and rigging
Gill, Claude S.
Hardcover. Scarce. New York, Edward Sweetman, ca. 1970 reprint of the 1932 second edition, from the 1794 first edition. Clean tight 8vo, 300pp and includes a complete set of drawings attached to the rear board in an envelope. There are 59 fold-out and other plates, drawn to scale, illustrating masts..... More
The Ship Model Builder's Assistant
Charles G Davis
New York, Dover Publications, 1968 reprint of the 1926 original edition. Clean, tight 8vo, 275pp. No apparent flaws except for a special stamp on the ffe from Karl Kortum, the Director of the San Francisco Maritime museum "This book" he says, "is the finest introduction to sailing ships -- let.....	More
Softcover. New York, Dover Publications, 1988, reprint of the 1926 and 1968 hardcover editions. Clean, tight 8vo, 275pp. Old price sticker on the back, otherwise no flaws except for a tiny dog-ear to the bottom of the front right tip. Indispensable for the serious model builder, this book offers hobbyists..... More
The Art of Rigging
Biddlecombe, Capt. George
Hardcover. New York, Edward Sweetman Co., 1974 reprint from the 1969 edition. Clean, tight, 8vo, 155pp. An explanation of terms and phrases and the progressive method of rigging expressly adapted for sailing ships. Has tables of the quantities and dimensions of the standing and running rigging of ships, and much..... More
Sailing Ship Rigs and Rigging
Underhill, Harold A.
Harold Underhill masting rigging square-riggers sailing ships schooners. Hardcover. Clean, tight, faded 4to, 128pp, second edition, reprinting. Green cloth boards are lightly faded and have a couple of small, white smudges on the front. Spine ends and tips are moderately bumped. Authentic plans of famous vessels of the nineteenth and..... More
Frederic Remington Selected Writings
New Jersey: Castle, 1981. Later printing. Hardcover. Clean tight 8to, 484pp. Dust jacket has several closed tears and a few very small chips out of the edges. The book is good with only a neatly penned f.o. name. Fine, authentic western writing. One sees a lot of Remington's fabulous paintings..... More
The Enchanted Broccoli Forest: And Other Timeless Delicacies
Mollie Katzen
Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1982. Later printing. Softcover. Clean, tight 4to, 307pp. It it weren't for the small chocolate smudge on the cover, it would be near fine. The very best of Katzen's simple but delicous recipes made from whole ingredients and fresh stuff.	More
Collected Writings of Frederic Remington
Samuels, Peggy.
Castle Books, 1986. First edition thus. Hardcover. Heavy, clean, tight 4to, 649pp. All of the writings of Frederick Remington, one of the most famous painters and sculptors of the American West. He was equally celebrated for his stories, articles and novels, much of it now out of print...	More
The Convict Ships 1788- 1858
Bateson, Charles
British history Australian History convict transportation. Hardcover. Glasgow, Scotland. Brown, Son & Ferguson, Ltd., first edition,1959. Clean, tight 8vo. The First Fleet saw the first convict ships arrive in Australia in January 1788, and the last convict ship, Hugoumont, arrived in Western Australia in 1868. Over the 80 years of..... More
Talking Like the Rain A Read-to-Me Book of Poems
X. J. Kennedy and Dorothy M. Kennedy
Jane Dyer. Hardcover. New York, Little, Brown Young Readers, 1992, later printing. Clean, tight children's picture book, 96pp, 4to. Alively collection of more than 100 poems for children by authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Edward Lear, Christina Rossetti, Nikki Giovanni, Jack Prelutsky, and many others. Rhymes, songs, poems, fun..... More
The Little Engine That Could
Watty Piper (author) Loren Long (illustrations)
Hardback. New York, Philomel Books, 2005, later printing. Clean, tight children's picture book, 4to, unpaginated. One small taped tear to a back tip. The happy little blue train engine that huffed and puffed until he brought the circus to town. A classic and inspiring kid's favorite since 1930! A lesson..... More
The Monster Princess
D.J MacHale
Hardcover. New York, Simon and Schuster Children's Books, 2010, first edition. Clean, tight children's picture book, tall 4to, unpaginated. Dust jacket shows some shelf wear with very small scuffs and tiny chips on the head and tail of spine. The bottom third of the dust jacket has been glued to.....	More
Caleb Beldragon's Chronicle of the Three Counties
Paul Warren
1996. Hardcover. Atlanta, George; Turner Publishing, 1995, first edition. Clean tight tall 4to, 42pp + a fold-out map in the back. Edges of the dust jacket and lightly curled on top and there is a small, taped closed tear to the top head of the spine. This would be an..... More
Edward Lear, author Owen Wood (illustrator)
1979. Owen Wood. Hardcover. New York, Viking Press/Studio Book, 1979, probable first thus. Clean, tight 4to, unpaginated. The dust jacket has very minimal shelf wear, but does have one neatly repaired closed tear to the back cover. The book has a book plate on the front pastedown that has been.....	More

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


If you live in Wheeling, you may wonder why you'd want to trek 10 miles down the Ohio River to Glen Dale, home of Wylie Dental. The answer depends on just how important your smile is to you. While it could be obvious why members of the Nailers would seek out Dr. Wylie and his staff for dental implants or bridges of the highest quality, we'd like to see everyone from Wheeling come through our door.
"The best dental office I have ever been to! Everyone is very friendly and you aren't just a patient, they know you. Dr. Wiley and staff always make sure that you are satisfied and comfortable with the days visit before you leave. Highly recommended!!" -Dedra P.
At Wylie Dental Care, we pride ourselves on not only offering the highest level of dental care, but we offer a wide range of dental services, keeping you from having to find different providers for different dental needs, such as orthodontics or root canals.
We'll see you for your twice-yearly exams and professional cleanings, but we can also handle everything from dental implants to solving your temporomandibular joint disorder pain.
Many people have anxiety about visiting the dentist, and that's a problem because it keeps people from getting the routine care they need to keep their teeth their healthiest.
At Wylie Dental Care, we provide minimal sedation to eliminate the anxiety for our patients. This allows you to get the oral care you need in ultimate comfort. Dr. Wylie is trained and licensed in Class 3B Sedation, so you can be assured that you'll be comfortable throughout your appointment. Plus, you probably won't remember much about it, despite being awake the whole time! We offer three types of dental sedation to suit the needs of our patients: nitrous oxide, IV conscious sedation, or oral sedation.
For over 30 years, Dr. Wylie has been caring for generations of West Virginians — you don't get that kind of longevity in a small town without delivering great results and by taking great care of your patients. From the latest training in implant dentistry in Europe with Dr. Hilt Tatum, founder of implant dentistry, to offering a wide range of services for the convenience of our patients, to membership in every relevant dental, orthodontic, and implant professional association — Dr. Wylie takes pride in having the best, friendliest staff in West Virginia and on keeping his practice on the cutting edge with the latest techniques and technologies in dentistry.
And he provides all of that in Glen Dale, just downriver from Wheeling.
No matter where you are in Wheeling — be it Heritage Port, Wheeling Island, the Kruger Toy and Train Museum, Oglebay Zoo, or even the Imperial Glass Museum — getting to Wylie Dental Care couldn't be easier.
Simply make your way to US-250 south and follow the Ohio River for about 10 miles. Once you pass John Marshall High School on your left, you're almost to Wylie! We look forward to seeing you and keeping your smile its most beautiful.


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Hà Nội seeks to boost investment, trade ties with Moscow
Officials of Ha Noi and Moscow are calling on enterprises from the two cities to promote investment between the two cities. — Photo vov.vn
MOSCOW – Officials of Hà Nội and Moscow are calling on enterprises from the two cities to promote investment between the two cities.
Enterprises from both sides are being encouraged to seize opportunities following the upcoming enforcement of the free trade agreement between Việt Nam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to which Russia is a member.
At an investment and trade promotion event held in Moscow on September 9, Nguyễn Ngọc Tú, deputy director of the Hà Nội People's Committee's Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Centre, said Hà Nội welcomed all Russian enterprises to invest in Hà Nội and said the city would wholeheartedly support the Russian enterprises.
On his part, Suren Vardanyan, vice chairman of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), said that with a population of nearly 20 million and the concentration of 80 per cent of the country's capital, Moscow was a market full of potential, especially for Việt Nam's high quality goods.
Vardanyan said Moscow had been implementing many infrastructure facilities, such as hi-tech and industrial parks, to attract small and medium-sized enterprises, which will enjoy preferential taxes.
He added that the city had also passed many laws on protecting foreign investors and foreign investment.
He encouraged Vietnamese enterprises to build hotels in Moscow as Russia is hosting the 2018 World Cup, the world's largest football event.
The RCCI said it planned to work with the Vietnamese side to hold a conference to review exchanges and contacts between businesses from the two countries and create plans for investment and trade promotion activities in 2017.
Hà Nội's best goods on show in Moscow
The best goods from Hà Nội are being showcased in Moscow with a view to benefiting both local consumers and Vietnamese businesses that want to seek partnerships with Russian enterprises.
The Hanoi Expo, which opened at the Hà Nội-Moscow Trade Centre on September 9, is part of a Hà Nội Goods Week in Moscow co-organised by Việt Nam's trade office in Russia, Hà Nội's Centre for Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion and Moscow's Chamber of Trade and Industry.
Fifty companies from Việt Nam have brought hundreds of tonnes of typical commodities, such as bamboo and rattan products, traditional toys, natural cosmetics and farm produce, as well as various food products, apparel and leather footwear.
Organisers said the expo is being held just before the Việt Nam-Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) free trade agreement comes into effect on October 5. The deal will open up a 175-million-strong market for Vietnamese goods.
At a press conference on the expo, Vietnamese Trade Counsellor Dương Hoàng Minh said Việt Nam's exports to Russia increased by 20 per cent while its imports from the country rose by 48 per cent in the first seven months of 2016.
Bilateral trade can reach US$10 billion or even $15-20 billion by 2020 thanks to the trade pact, he estimated.
After the Hanoi Expo concludes on September 18, a similar event will be held at the same venue from October 6 to 16 to introduce products from HCM City. — VNS
Hanoi expo in Moscow
Viettel posts profit of US$915 million (July, 20 2019)
Viettel posts profit of US$915 million


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Home » Odkrycia rzymskie » In England, remains of Roman production complex was found
In England, remains of Roman production complex was found
In Corby (central England), the remains of a larger Roman manufacturing complex were found, where many specialists worked 1,600 years ago, building villas and houses.
The excavation works lasted almost 6 months and were carried out before the planned construction of the housing estate. Stoves and other objects were discovered on-site, which prove that carpenters and other specialists used to work here. Scientists estimated that the site operated between the late 3rd and mid-4th century CE.
The complex had numerous warehouses for storing equipment and materials. More than 2,000 Roman villas have been discovered throughout Britain, proving the necessity of having a large number of such production centres.
All outdoor facilities will be on display at the Roman heritage centre in Irchester, which opens in 2021.
Jewish war
Battle of the Trebia
Conquest of Italy by Rome
Roman villa building site found at Corby housing estate, "BBC", 10.08.2020
We are all made for mutual assistance, as the feet, the hands, and the eyelids, as the rows of the upper and under teeth, from whence it follows that clashing and opposition is perfectly unnatural~Marcus Aurelius


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Exchange Matters / December 15, 2022
Reflecting on Five Decades of International Exchange Experience: A Q&A with Renee Buisker
Editor's note: Renee Buisker is a volunteer with the Freeport Area International Visitors Council, a Global Ties U.S. Community-Based Members in Freeport, Illinois. Her family has been involved with hosting international visitors for more than 50 years and supporting international exchange programming in the local community. We spoke with Renee about her long history with exchange programming, building community in the U.S. and abroad, and why exchange matters.
Your family has been involved with hosting international visitors through the Freeport Area International Visitors Council for more than 50 years. Can you tell us how that started?
The first visitors we hosted were from Taiwan, and they came to our home in 1969. I was 14-years-old. Their names were Tony and Teresa Chang. They came through an International Fellowship Program through the University of Chicago, which placed international visitors with American families over the holiday period. Tony did not speak much English; I remember he carried an English dictionary with him. Their daughter was just two-years-old and I remember she would only eat potato chips and ice cream. That was how it started, and we have remained close with that family for over 50 years. We have developed lots of special relationships through all of these years, but Tony and Teresa were the first ones.
How did your family's involvement with international visitors continue over the years? Can you share any examples or stories of relationships that were built and the impact they had?
Hosting international visitors was really an eye-opening experience for our family, and my parents kept doing it after that first time. Once I grew up and married, I convinced my husband to try it, too, and we hosted many students and visitors through youth programs. Eventually, it expanded to government guests and diplomats, too, through the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). Some of the visitors came to us for a few days, some for a few weeks. I kept track until we got to 150 guests total, and then I lost count. I would say, all told, we hosted close to 170 people in our homes over those years, from all over the world.
My husband and I went to Europe three times over the years and each time stayed with people we had hosted through international exchange programs. When my son and daughter graduated from high school, we got them each a ticket to Europe for their graduation and they traveled around and stayed with people we had hosted.
As I said, we stayed in touch the whole time with Tony and Teresa Chang. I remember visiting Tony's office with my husband a few decades ago and Tony had a picture of my Dad on his wall, where other people had pictures of famous people; that's how special my Dad was to him. I visited Tony in Hawaii (where he lives now) and he met my kids for the first time. He called me as recently as a few weeks ago when my mom passed, and sent flowers for her funeral. Our families always remained so close, from that first visit to our home.
International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) participants take a group photo before lunch. Photo photos provided by Renee Buisker.
What happened with COVID, when in-person programs had to stop?
One of the big downsides over the past few years has been that this kind of interaction has not been possible in the same way. Zoom really takes away so much from the personal relationships that can develop. Sitting across the kitchen table from someone, and drinking a cup of coffee, that's how you get to know someone, and that's really how it happened with the relationships that developed. Now, some programs are coming back. I do stay involved with the Freeport Area International Visitors Council, but in a different way.
A group of international visitors pose in front of their hotel in Freeport, IL.
When you reflect on these experiences and these relationships, why do you think they matter?
The knowledge we have gained about people, and about the world, is tremendous. Ultimately, we all want the same thing. Families here or around the world, they all want health, and happiness, and peace; it's the same wish everywhere. I have done this for so long because I want people around the world to get to know real Americans; not the ones they see on TV or in the media. Real Americans, to me, are regular people who want peace and understanding, and who believe we can live together in harmony and prosperity.
This has been an opportunity for me to learn about and enjoy people from different places, and to learn about the world. My kids have had this experience and they have never been afraid to go out in the world. They were used to having different people in the house, and even if they didn't speak the same language, they could always find a way to communicate—they could draw pictures, they could find some way to laugh together. It sometimes took effort to communicate, but we figured it out; it can always be done. And it's really been worth it to have these people in our lives.


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InterviewsVelo Vrouwen
TRIPLE Exclusive: Leading Lady – Part II
Lenny B	9 years ago
Cycling can at times be a mixed bag, in that the growth of the sport is often met with startling declines. Women's Cycling, especially domestically, has taken some huge hits in recent years with a number of major team sponsors pulling out of the sport. Meredith Miller has seen and lived through both sides of the turnover spectrum.
In Part II of my conversation with the peloton's newest leading lady, we find out what changes she would make to the sport of cycling, whether women's cycling should take a tougher stance, and the plausibility of a women's only cycling league.
Lenny B (LB): What, if anything, would you change about the structure of Women's Cycling?
Meredith Miller (MM): The answer to this could be a book. There are so many different answers because there are so many areas in which women's cycling can improve. Of course the first thing that comes to mind is equal pay between men and women. I realize that there isn't the same number of women in the sport as there are men but where's the incentive? The number of women at the grassroots level has been steadily increasing and now we have to give those women something worthwhile to keep them in the sport, to keep them aiming to reach the "professional" level. Receiving a small stipend and having expenses paid isn't enough. Until women are paid a livable wage, the growth in the sport will never surpass current standards. Asking women to race full-time on a salary that can barely cover food expenses for a weekend on the road isn't fair or respectable. Nor is it fair to expect to see the same number of female participants as their male counterparts when most women have to remain at home to work the part-time of full-time job they need to stay afloat.
Besides pay, I'd love to see more stage races for women. I could get myself in trouble here but it's aggravating that when women raise their voice to ask that a women's race be run concurrently with a men's tour, promoters give us the obligatory criterium and we're suppose to be happy with that. We want stage races, too. It's a sticky situation because of course I'm happy that we have a race at all but it's just not enough. I think most women would agree that a schedule full of criteriums isn't all we want or all we deserve.
LB: Along those lines, sports like tennis finally came around on the issue of equal pay, but it took years of advocacy and diplomacy. From your experience, is the sport of women's cycling closer or further away from that goal?
MM: I think we are a long way off from reaching the same status that women hold in tennis. Because tennis is a higher profile sport among sports enthusiasts around the world, it was probably easier (not saying it was easy but easier) for them to obtain equal pay. Cycling is still so low on the sports totem pole that many men don't get paid a livable wage either so, I hate to say it, but I think it's still a long way off before women get paid the same as men.
LB: Do you think it's time for women to take a tougher stance on this issue, along with others that afflict the sport?
MM: For sure it's time that women take a tougher stand, but it can't just be one person here and there. It has to come from the women's peloton as a whole. It has to be a group initiative so that people take us seriously. The impact of what we are saying will be stronger and more valid if it comes from a unified voice.
LB: Do you think it's possible for the sport of cycling to pull off a women's only series or league, as they have with soccer, or do you feel the sport in the US still needs to be buttressed by coinciding men's events?
MM: Unfortunately we are not at a point where cycling could have a women's only league. It's hard enough for us to keep races on the calendar, much less have a league all to ourselves. Frankly I don't think there's a need for a women's only league.
There is, however, a women's series called the Women's Prestige Cycling Series. The series includes Redlands Bicycle Classic, Tour of the Gila, Nature Valley Grand Prix and the Cascade Cycling Classic and offers awards to the Best Overall Individual, Best Overall Team, Sprint Competition and Best Young Rider. It's good for women's cycling and I hope to see it continue.
Other than a series, the next best thing would be a women's only tour like we had back in the day with the HP Classic.
Part I – Ready For Her Closeup | Part III – Mud Bug
To follow Meredith as she dances with mud, visit her website or follow her on Twitter.
Photos: Leonard Basobas/LB Photos
Tags : Meredith Miller
Lenny B October 20, 2010
TRIPLE Exclusive: Leading Lady – Part I
TRIPLE Exclusive: Leading Lady – Part III
Leonard Basobas - Among my many and varied interests are cycling and writing. I am deeply passionate about both. Strangely enough, neither has come very easy to me.I had such a horrible crash as a small child that I did not attempt to ride again until the 6th grade. From that point forward, you could say that I have had a love affair with two-wheels. When I was not out on my bike, I could be found tearing apart or putting back together other bikes. The frames and parts found in my parents' basement today are a testament to that fact. Around the same time that I began riding again, a young rider named Greg Lemond had just won the U23 World Championships. Following his career was my entry point into the sport of cycling, but I never participated in organized racing until I was past my cycling prime. Today, a healthy curiosity about racing has me lining up on the road and in the nearest velodrome.In regard to writing, I am not a trained journalist. My writing, instead, strikes a creative bent in the form of short stories, at least when I not writing for my day job in clinical research. Although I have yet to be published for my creative writing, I have authored several abstracts and papers, and been published as the lead author for a paper in a well-known peer reviewed medical journal.I have covered the sport of cycling, as both writer and photographer, at such races as the Amgen Tour of California (2008 to 2019) and the US Pro Cycling Challenge. I was also the featured Guest Contributor for LIVESTRONG.com, commentating and moderating the site's live blogging feed during the 2009 Tour de France.
Allen Krughoff and Meredith Miller Sign Noosa Finest Yoghurt as Title Sponsor for Rider-Owned Professional Cyclocross Team
Asphalt & Pine July 29, 2014
SRAM Gold Rusch Tour Expands in 2012 with More Dates and Locations for Women Riders
Lenny B March 20, 2012
Nash and Powers Win Day One of The Exergy US Gran Prix of Cyclocross presented by Greenware – Deschutes Brewery Cup
Lenny B December 10, 2011


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Former President Jimmy Carter celebrates 95th birthday
by: BILL BARROW, Associated Press
Posted: Oct 1, 2019 / 05:35 AM PDT / Updated: Oct 1, 2019 / 12:03 PM PDT
FILE – In this June 9, 2019 file photo, former President Jimmy Carter smiles as he returns to Maranatha Baptist Church to teach Sunday School, less than a month after falling and breaking his hip, in Plains Ga. The 94-year-old former U.S. president said Friday, June 28, that he believes Russia's meddling "if fully investigated would show that Trump didn't actually win the election in 2016." Carter said he believes Trump "lost the election" and became president "because the Russians interfered on his behalf." (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)
ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter celebrated his 95th birthday on Tuesday, becoming the first U.S. president to reach that milestone as he continues his humanitarian work and occasionally weighs in on politics and policy.
Carter still lives in tiny Plains, Georgia, and planned no public celebrations on Tuesday. But he's had plenty to say recently, warning that re-electing President Donald Trump would be "a disaster" and expressing hopes that his Carter Center will become a more forceful advocate against armed conflicts in the future, including "wars by the United States."
"I just want to keep the whole world at peace," Carter said as he presented his annual Carter Center report last month.
"We have been at war more than 226 years. We have been at peace for about 16 years" since the Declaration of Independence in 1776, he said. And every U.S. military conflict from the Korean War onward has been a war of "choice," he said.
The 39th president survived a dire cancer diagnosis in 2015 and surpassed George H.W. Bush as the longest-lived U.S. president in history this spring. He's had some trouble walking after a hip replacement in May, but still teaches Sunday School in Plains, and with his wife of 73 years, Rosalynn, now 92, still plans an upcoming trip to help build houses with Habitat for Humanity in Nashville, Tennessee.
In his latest appearances at the Carter Center and in a town hall at Emory University, Carter blasted money in politics, urged action to combat the climate crisis, and celebrated the Carter Center's work on public health, election monitoring and conflict resolution. But he said the center can do more to constructively criticize U.S. military engagements. The Carter Center has "never voiced an opinion publicly" on individual wars, he said with some regret, adding: "This is primarily my fault."
"The United States is very deeply inclined to go to war," Carter said, partly to "implant American policies" in other countries, and partly to "make a hero" out of wartime commanders in chief. This has significant economic consequences, he said: China has "been at peace" since he normalized relations with Beijing in 1979, and while the U.S. has spent trillions on military conflict, China has invested similar amounts in high-speed rail, new college campuses and other infrastructure.
Carter talks with the realism of a nonagenarian, born in 1924 when the world population was quarter of what it is today and life expectancy for American males was 58 years. Saying he plans to start spending more time with his extended family, he told the Carter Center audience that "this may be our last conversation with you … we may or may not have one next year."
Carter has been accepting visits from several 2020 presidential candidate s, but he's held back on endorsing any of his fellow Democrats, offering only clues to his thinking.
Carter said he voted for Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton last time, but warns that embracing single-payer, government-run health insurance could cost the Democrats votes among moderates and independents. That could rule out Sanders and another progressive favorite, Elizabeth Warren. But Carter also said he'd like to see a woman as president. He said he couldn't have managed his presidential duties when he was 80, which would nix not only Sanders, at 78, but former Vice President Joe Biden, who is 76. Warren is 70, meaning she'd be nearly 80 at the end of a two-term presidency.
Carter said only that he'll be "voting Democratic" in the general election. By then, he'll be 96.
Follow Barrow on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BillBarrowAP .
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Governor Kate Brown is looking to real estate transfer taxes as a way to raise money for affordable housing programs with a new piece of legislation.
The move would reverse course on the decision made by Oregon voters eight years ago when the state's housing market was in turmoil. In 2012, voters decided the state should not impose taxes when real estate changes hands. Now, with property values skyrocketing--contributing to Oregon's homelessness crisis--Brown wants voters to reconsider, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.


This is Deputy Digby Pancake. Hours and days and weeks and months can go by without even blinking an eye, it seems like. Then a year goes by, or two. And you wonder where it went. Like when I look at that plate of pancakes that was right in front of me two minutes before. Then, where did it go?
When we first got here to the beach in Florida at the end of January, it was so exciting. We didn't know how long we were going to be here, so every night, Girl Person would pick up a shell to remember every single day that we spent on the beach. It might be a colorful shell, or just a white shell, or a gray shell, a big shell or a little shell. But every shell on every day was different and special. And the days kept going by. And our collection of shells grew. Oh, it's a pretty collection.
But lately, I noticed that Girl Person would forget to pick up a shell. I saw that she no longer was looking for shells as much because she was thinking too much. She was thinking about life and worries and where we were going to go after this. And I knew that every day she forgot to pick up a shell, she was going to be sorry. We were taking them for granted. And not in a good, Amy Grant sort of way.
You see, all of the shells out here were for our enjoyment, and should have been something that we were admiring and appreciating everyday. And I felt like every shell that I stepped on, or peed on, was just waiting to be picked up. And we weren't even giving them that chance.
How many times in your life has something been new and you saw every good thing about it? How many times has a person been in your life that at first you adored, but then noticed all of their imperfections, and the adoration wore off? Was it because they changed, or was it because you changed? Was it because you no longer thought they were important enough to notice their beauty? For every beat of our heart, we have a chance not to take something or someone for granted.
You see, just like the thousand million and five shells that I have looked at the past few months, there may be a lot of people in our life. But do we take the time to pick out their good qualities each and every day? I can't pick up every shell, I know that. But I certainly can remember each and every day that we have been here by having the same amount of shells.
Because no matter if we have to leave here, or what we do after this, I say thank you, shells. Thank you for your beauty that each of you holds differently. Thank you for being a house for who lived inside you for awhile. Because you were our house too. Our house of peace and reflection and fun. Also, thank you for washing up here on our beach so that we could pick you up. Just. Thank you.
Remember that we collect something each day that we are alive. We collect memories that we carry with us all of the rest of the days in our life. Make them worth picking up.
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And Steve and I will be there, in suite 203 which is the pottery showroom for Allen Kradlak and metalsmith Jeff Dube. We are excited for the evening… brought a limited supply of soap, and silk scarves. its from 5p to 9p – Stop out if you can.
AAAh Tremont, We always love you!


Discussion in 'NDS - Flashcarts and Accessories' started by hey_suburbia, Aug 10, 2006.
Is there a book reader for the DS that takes advantage of the two screens?
DSorganize doesnt use both screens when you open a txt file.
There isn't one as yet. I'm not sure why, I've seen tons of people request one.
Cool. Maybe I'll contact the guy who made BookReader for the GBA and see if he would undertake the project, I'd be willing to throw a couple bucks his way.
dsOrganize DOES open txt on both screens if you use Y to open it.
Looking for an internal card reader for a desktop.


Breakfast at your hotel in Cairo and then met by your personal guide who will accompany you to Giza Plateau to visit one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Great Pyramids of Cheops, Chefren and Mykerinus, famous Sphinx , varying between six-thousand and even thirteen-thousand years old ,and Valley temple facing the great statue. Lunch at good quality local restaurant. Then transfer to enjoy the Egyptian Museum, Treasures room for the child king Tutankhamen. Continue to Coptic Cairo to visit the Hanging Church and Ben Ezra Synagogue. Combining fascinating history with shopping in a lively Khan El Khalili Bazaar, this dates back to 1382. Back to your hotel. Overnight in Cairo.
Egypt Travel representative will pick you up from your hotel in Cairo, then drive to Alamein, about a 3 hour drive. At Al Alamein, you will enjoy the site where the great battle took place during WW II, and visit the WW II Museum and the Cemetery. Then drive on to the beautiful bay of Marsa Matrouh on the Mediterranean Coast then continue to Siwa. It is about a 6 hours drive from Alamein to Siwa. Dinner and overnight in Siwa.
Breakfast, enjoy your visits in Bahariya Oasis. Enjoy a tour around the old village and see the groves of palms and fruit trees.Then onto the "Golden Valley of Mummies" from the Graeco-Roman period, then visit the Tombs of the Nobles. Lunch in Bahariya. Head to the White Desert, passing through the Black Desert and the Valley of El Haize with its famous spring. Stop off to see the quartz crystal at Crystal Mountain, the petrified wood and volcanic rocks in the Valley of Agabat. Bedouin dinner and entertainment. Overnight camping in White Desert.
After breakfast, head to visit the royal cemetery for 62 Pharaohs, Valley of the Kings, then to mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, which was built by the architects of the New Kingdom Pharaoh Hatshepsut in the 15th century BC. Proceeding to the Colossi of Memnon. Lunch at a good quality restaurant. Then you will see the magnificent Karnak Temples and Luxor Temple. After that you will be driven to Luxor train station taking sleeper train to Cairo.
Breakfast aboard the train and then arrive Giza train station, meet & assist by Egypt Travel REP and transfer to your hotel. You will arrive at Giza station at about 06:00 am and I will do my best to do early check in for you. Optional tour in Cairo to visit Step Pyramids of King Zoser in Sakkara and Memphis. Overnight in Cairo.


It's been a while, a long time even, however I have returned to blogging! Yay I kind of stopped because I just couldn't find the time with my new job. I have been working as a Junior Designer since November and it's been great. The people there are very nice, I work with a great team of like-minded people and it's been good getting to know them. Besides the people I work closely with the rest of the company are just as great, a good mix of a variety of skills and experiences of people and I definitely look forward to getting to know them more. Besides my day to day tasks I recently found out it is possible to write blog posts for the company blog. So I got involved in it and here it is, my first blog post for theEword!
So go on have a read because I definitely enjoyed writing it! I think I will end this post here for now but expect more from me from now on!


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Santi Andrea e Bartolomeo ou Igreja dos Santos André e Bartolomeu é uma igreja de Roma, Itália, localizada na Via Santo Stefano Rotondo, no rione Monti e dedicada aos santos André e Bartolomeu.

História
Esta igreja tem origem muito antiga e sua história está ligada à do Hospital San Giovanni Addolorata (Azienda Ospedaliera San Giovanni Addolorata). O edifício original foi construída na residência da família do papa Honório I (m. 638) como anexo de um mosteiro, como relata a biografia do papa Adriano I. Posteriormente, no século XIV, a igreja foi completamente restaurada e, entre 1630 e 1636, foi reconstruída por Giacomo Mola a pedido do papa Urbano VIII. Finalmente, ela adquiriu a aparência atual em 1728, quando ganhou sua nova fachada, que incorpora um portal do século XV.

A igreja tem um formato quase triangular, com seu piso cosmatesco realizado pelos guardiães da Arquiconfraria do Salvador, Diotaiuti and John Bonadies in 1462. Há apenas um altar no fundo, que conserva um afresco de estilo bizantino que ficava na capela de Santa Maria Imperatrice, já demolida, da basílica de Santi Quattro Coronati.

Bibliografia

 C. Rendina, Le Chiese di Roma, Newton & Compton Editori, Milão 2000, pp. 25 e 31
 A. Manodori, Rione I Monti, in AA.VV, I rioni di Roma, Newton & Compton Editori, Milão 2000, Vol. I, p. 52

Ligações externas

Igrejas de Roma
1634
Igrejas barrocas de Itália
Roma R. I Monti

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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The following is a timeline of the history of Charlotte, North Carolina, United States.

Prior to 19th century

 1763 – Mecklenburg County established.
 1768 – Charlotte Town incorporated.
 1770 – Queen's Museum chartered.
 1774 – Charlotte becomes capital of county.
 1775 – Mecklenburg Resolves signed.
 1777 – Liberty Hall Academy incorporated.
 1780 – Battle of Charlotte fought.

19th century
 1835 – Charlotte Journal newspaper begins publication.
 1837 – Charlotte Mint opens.
 1850 – William F. Davidson becomes mayor.
 1852
 Railway begins operating.
 Western Democrat newspaper begins publication.
 1857
 Charlotte Female Institute established.
 YMCA becomes active.
 Gas lighting in use.
 1858 – Charlotte Military Academy established.
 1867 – Biddle Memorial Institute founded.
 1875 – Charlotte public schools established.
 1880 – Population: 7,084.
 1886 – Charlotte Chronicle newspaper begins publication.
 1887
 Electric lighting in use.
 Charlotte Fire Department founded.
 1888 – The Charlotte News begins publication.
 1890 – Charlotte Post newspaper begins publication.
 1891
 City hall built.
 Charlotte Literary and Library Association organized.
 1897 – Elizabeth College established.

20th century
 1903 – Charlotte Carnegie Public Library opens.
 1905
 Brevard Street Library for Negroes opens.
 Southern Power Company incorporated.
 1908 – Union National Bank founded.
 1915 – Temple Israel built.
 1921 – WBT radio begins broadcasting.
 1924
 Hotel Charlotte opens.
 Radiator Specialty Company founded.
 1930 – Population: 82,675.
 1932 – Charlotte Symphony Orchestra formed.
 1933 – WSOC radio begins broadcasting.
 1935 – Charlotte Municipal Airport established.
 1936 – Mint Museum opens.
 1940 – Population: 100,899.
 1946 – Charlotte Center of the University of North Carolina opens.
 1947 – The Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte founded.
 1949 – WBTV (television) begins broadcasting.
 1950 – Population: 134,042.
 1955 – Ovens Auditorium opens.
 1957
 WSOC-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
 American Commercial Bank formed.
 1960 – Population: 201,564.
 1961 – Stan Brookshire becomes mayor.
 1966 – Charlotte Botanical Gardens established.
 1967 – WCNC-TV begins broadcasting.
 1968 – Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories Arboretum established.
 1970
 SouthPark Mall opens.
 Population: 241,178.
 1971 – U.S. Supreme Court decides Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, approving racial desegregation busing.
 1973 – Carowinds Monorail begins operating.
 1974 – Airplane accident.
 1976 – Afro-American Cultural Center established.
 1980 – Population: 314,447.
 1982 – Heroes Convention (comic books) begins.
 1983 – Harvey Gantt becomes mayor.
 1985 – Metrolina Theatre Association established.
 1986
 Opera Carolina formed.
 Airplane accident.
 1987 – WJZY begins broadcasting.
 1988
 Charlotte Hornets begins play.
 Charlotte Knights franchise established.
 1989 – Hurricane Hugo.
 1990 — Population: 395,934.
 1991
 Blockbuster Pavilion opens.
 Museum of the New South incorporated.
 1992
 North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center opens.
 Carolina Actors Studio Theatre and Carolinas Aviation Museum founded.
 1993
 City government computer network begins operating.
 Mel Watt becomes U.S. representative for North Carolina's 12th congressional district.
 1994
 WMYT-TV begins broadcasting.
 Airplane accident.
 Charlotte's Web Community Network online.
 1995
 Pat McCrory becomes mayor.
 Charlotte Convention Center and Tremont Music Hall open.
 City website online.
 Carolina Panthers began play as first NFL team in the Carolinas
 1997 – Loomis Fargo Bank Robbery.
 1998 – Bank of America formed.
 1999 – Federal court ends mandated racial integration in schools via busing.

21st century

2000s
 2000 – Population: 540,828.
 2002 – ConCarolinas begins.
 2003 – Airplane accident.
 2004
 Slow Food Charlotte founded.
 Street Soccer USA headquartered in city.
 2005 – Charlotte Bobcats Arena and ImaginOn open.
 2007
 Lynx Blue Line light rail begins operating.
 Billy Graham Library opens.
 2009 – Anthony Foxx becomes mayor.

2010s
 2010
 NASCAR Hall of Fame and Bechtler Museum of Modern Art open.
 Population: 731,424.
 2011 – Occupy Charlotte begins.
 2012
 Little Sugar Creek Greenway built.
 Democratic National Convention held in Charlotte.
 2013
 Robert Pittenger becomes U.S. representative for North Carolina's 9th congressional district.
 Population: 792,862.
 2014 – Alma Adams becomes U.S. representative for North Carolina's 12th congressional district.
 2015 – Population: 827,121 (estimate).
 2016 – September: Protests and unrest following the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott leave several police officers wounded, and a civilian shot.

See also
 History of Charlotte
 Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina (list)
 List of Charlotte neighborhoods
 National Register of Historic Places listings in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
 List of tallest buildings in Charlotte
 Timelines of other cities in North Carolina: Asheville, Durham, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Raleigh, Wilmington, Winston-Salem

References

Bibliography

Published in 19th century

Published in 20th century

  + Chronology
  (fulltext via Open Library)

Published in 21st century

External links

 Items related to Charlotte, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)

Charlotte


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Costume Drama
In ART & FASHION, Commentary, HOME by Esme Yates February 23, 2016
If you pay attention to any celebrity gossip site around early summer, it's hard to miss photos of celebrities adorned in what's become staple festival attire: bindis, ethnic headdresses and henna tattoos. Stars like Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez and the Jenner-Kardashian clan have documented their mashup of "exotic" Coachella accessories on Instagram, and our celebrity-obsessed society has diligently followed suit.
Vanessa Hudgens – Coachella, 2014
Dusted in a cloud of glitter, festival royalty have borrowed aspects from almost every alluring foreign culture and homogenised them into one very confused, westernised fashion concoction. Whether it's Kendall Jenner's oversized nose ring, usually worn at traditional Indian weddings, or Vanessa Hudgens' mishmash of war paint, bindi and headdress, there is little doubt that respect and sensitivity for other cultures is going out of the window. Hudgens' choice to "brave the dust storms" of the Californian desert sporting a glammed up shemagh and a bindi studded forehead is not, from the looks of things, an act of reverent celebration, or even an attempt to understand these Middle Eastern and South Asian customs. It seems she has simply pillaged ancient symbols from another culture on Western terms and worn them in a Western way, which, through her probable ignorance, totally negates their cultural value.
However, last month the organisers of Glastonbury festival responded positively to an online petition to ban the selling of headdresses at their 2015 event. Feathered headdresses will now be listed as prohibited vendor items at the festival, following the petition's claims that the wearing of headdresses by non-native Americans is disrespectful. This follows on from Canadian festival Bass Coast's request for festival goers to leave their feathered headgear at home out of respect for "the dignity of aboriginal people". Although the Glastonbury organisers have not yet commented on whether headdresses will be banned altogether, this decision is, at the very least, an attempt at eliminating cultural appropriation in the festival circuit.
A festival goer wearing a Native American headdress at Glastonbury.
Cultural appropriation by definition is the adoption of certain aspects of a minority culture by a dominant culture for aesthetic purposes, with invariably little understanding of the original meaning of these cultural aspects. It usually refers to music, language, religious and cultural symbols and clothing, ranging from the likes of headdresses at a festival to tattoos of Chinese characters and even the Harlem Shake. Cultural appropriation is deemed by many to be disrespectful because, however unintentional, it stereotypes the original culture, exploiting their meaningful traditions for entertainment or fashion.
Despite the controversy that surrounds cultural appropriation, it cannot be denied that Bass Coast's reason behind banning the headdress makes a lot of sense: the festival takes place on indigenous land and feathered headdresses are a sacred adornment to the indigenous people. They are worn on special ceremonial occasions and reserved solely for a male chief, who must earn his right to wear one. It's easy to understand why imitations of such sacred symbols are considered disrespectful, considering how stereotypical the imitations themselves are. In the US alone there are 564 federally recognised aboriginal tribes; playing "Red Indian" à la Khloe Kardashian is an insulting homogenisation of all 564 of these cultures. Bear Witness, a member of the Canadian music trio A Tribe Called Red, explains: "You'll see someone wearing a headdress in the same picture as a totem pole and a canoe when actually those are from three different cultures. The totem poles are from the northwest, headdresses are from the plains and the kinds of canoes you usually see are woodland canoes. So it's robbing us of our individual cultures."
A Tribe Called Red – Electric Pow Wow Drum
"Tribal chic" also treats natives as foreigners in their own land. This is an incredibly delicate subject for aboriginals in many countries who are still involved in ongoing civil rights movements. Bear Witness says he hopes "terms like "Redskin" and "Indian" will soon carry the same taboo as "nigger"" in North American society. Until this happens it's important not to undermine the struggles of aboriginal people with such casual, ignorant stereotyping. The sudden surge in popularity for the "exotic" exposes the harmful power of the Western world over these marginalised cultures. It becomes a case of the West deciding when – or if – a cultural symbol can be considered 'cool'. Cultural appropriation therefore intensifies existing cultural tensions by emphasising who holds the power. These cultural symbols hold long-established significance in their individual societies and should not be treated like any other disposable fashion accessory.
That being said, the sartorial choices of bindi-loving ex-Disney stars of Coachella are probably not intended to exercise western power over marginalised people – chances are they're more an attempt to snatch up the next cultural novelty and win at 'Who Wore it Best?'. Provided no-one believes these celebrities are paying homage to the cultures they are so eager to appropriate, the trend is not actively harming anyone. Unfortunately, their tragic effort at edginess has a great influence on popular culture. Wearing a bindi to a festival is not exactly active participation in oppressing an ethnic minority, but it is important that the popularity of westernised versions of "exotic" symbols never dominate their traditional meanings.
Esme Yates
This piece was originally published by: Savage.
We encourage all of our readers to donate to this season's organisation: Refugee Action.
(Images sourced from: here, here)
I read this article and found it very interesting, thought it might be something for you. The article is called Costume Drama and is located at http://prancingthroughlife.com/2016/02/23/costume-drama/.


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The return of *NSYNC, Ben Affleck as Batman, Miley at the VMAs, and a book you need to read now
TWERKING IT Miley Cyrus at the VMAs
By: the Super staff Philippine Daily Inquirer / 01:21 AM August 31, 2013
*NSYNC is back.
WE REALLY shouldn't have been surprised. With the successful comebacks of NKOTB, Backstreet Boys and the reappearance of 98 Degrees, why shouldn't we expect Justin Timberlake and company to hit the stage once again?
Their VMA performance may have lasted only over a minute, but we have a feeling we'll be seeing more of Joey Fatone soon. The clue? The band signed up on Twitter. (Their first tweet? "Mic check, mic check one… two… is this thing on?!") You don't do that for just one awards show performance.
BATMAN-TO-BE Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck as Batman
When news spread that Ben Affleck would be replacing Christian Bale as Batman, there was anger among the superhero's fans, who complained about how Ben might ruin the movie franchise. We would have been among them, except that "Argo" has really softened us up.
And remember, when it was first announced that Heath Ledger would play Joker, people the world over reacted in the same way, too. But he ended up giving us an unforgettable Joker.
We say give Ben a chance. After all, he does have the right jaw for the role. And if the movie franchise survived Katie Holmes, we're sure it can withstand this new Batman.
Miley at the VMAs
Miley, Miley, Miley. What was that all about? We're no stranger to coming-of-age performances, as well as to shocking VMA numbers (remember the Britney and Madonna lip lock?), but yours was barely a performance.
It was like watching a toddler high on sugar stomping around the living room and shaking her diapered butt just to get attention.
Miley, dear Miley, give twerking a rest, put your tongue back in your mouth, put some clothes on and sing, really sing, the way we know you can. You have good pipes, you don't need the crazy furry stripper routine.
DOUBLE TROUBLE Robin Thicke with Miley Cyrus
And poor Robin Thicke, the collateral damage in this stuffed bear-infested insanity. We like your song, dude, we really do, but now all we can see are your striped pants and Miley rubbing her butt against your crotch. And, like your mother said, we can't make the image go away. (P.S. That "Miley twerks on famous paintings" meme is actually pretty funny.)
'Twerk' defined
In related news, "twerk" has made it to the Oxford Dictionaries along with "selfie," "cake pops," "emoji," "geek chic," "unlike" and "srsly."
The official definition of twerk: "Dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance."
Q&A QUEEN Joanlia Lising
Beauty queen of the week
"Ooh, a funny beauty contest Q&A! We love those!" we thought when we first saw the video on Huffington Post. Then we clicked play. "Uh-oh, she's Pinay?"
Yes, Joanlia Lising, who was competing in the 2013 Miss Philippines USA, has become a viral hit because of her answer to the question, "Among the five senses, what do you prefer to have if you could have only one and why?"
Joanlia said, "If I have to pick out of five senses, I'll pick seeing because seeing is the best sense that we can ever see because seeing is believing and believing into what you see is perfect. Out of all the senses, uh, seeing would really be wonderful because… thank you, that will be all." And then we all cringed.
MUST-READ Marisha Pessl's "Night Film"
Must-read book
We are still in the middle of reading it, but we just have to tell you: Buy this book, now. Warning: You might want to cancel your plans for the day because you wouldn't be able to put it down.
"Night Film," the second novel of the "Special Topics in Calamity Physics" author Marisha Pessl, is a suspenseful mystery thriller.
Marisha takes you on a journey with investigative journalist Scott McGrath as he looks into the death of 24-year-old Ashley Cordova and tries to uncover the truth about her father, the elusive and reclusive cult horror film director Stanislas Cordova.
The book comes packed with multimedia content—from notes, interview transcripts and newspaper clippings, to creepy pictures and web pages from the deepest recesses of the Internet. And if that's not enough, get the app.
You can find content online, too, including found footage and mysterious Cordova sightings.
You will get creeped out, guaranteed.
"Night Film" is available at National Book Store.
MUG SHOT Janet Napoles gets booked.
Napoles in custody
While we found the details of her surrender questionable (no handcuffs, really?), we're glad Janet Lim-Napoles is now in police custody. But this is only the beginning.
Now we want the whole truth—who were involved in the pork barrel scam? Who else has been stealing our money? How are they going to pay?
Like every other angry taxpaying citizen, we have our eyes on the proceedings. Don't mess this up, Philippine government, your bosses are watching.
98 DegreesBackstreet BoysBatmanBen AffleckChristian BaleJustin TimberlakeNKOTBSuper
ryanl
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Our driver Stan will pick you up from the airport. Stan speaks English and will help you with luggage as well as putting you at ease upon your arrival to Prague. Prior to your arrival to Prague you will be provided with Stan´s mobile number, so you can contact him directly in case of any delays. Stan will also provide you with information what time you will be picked-up the following day by our drivers for the pre-operative tests and surgery.
One journey from the airport is 30 GBP. Please pay to the driver for your both ways to and from the airport 60 GBP in cash – please have the exact amount as the driver will not have a change. The journey to the city center / your accommodation / clinic takes around 20-30 minutes depending on the traffic.
Please pack as little as possible as it is not advised to carry heavy items after the surgery.
There is only one airport in Prague. Previously called Prague Ruzyne Airport, now Vaclav Havel Airport. Currently there are two terminals.


Foreclosure filings rose in August as lenders in several states continued to work through a backlog of delinquencies and defaults, according to an industry group's report Thursday.
Foreclosure notices -- including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions -- were filed on 193,508 properties during the month, an increase of 1% compared with July, according to RealtyTrac, which markets foreclosed properties. But filings were still 15% lower than the year-earlier period.
"Bucking the national trend, deferred foreclosure activity boiled over in several states in August," said RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist.
The foreclosure hot spots have been shifting. Filings are rising in "judicial states" such as New Jersey, New York and Maryland, where the foreclosure process goes through the courts, and falling in "non-judicial states" such as California, Arizona, Nevada and the District of Columbia, where they're handled by a trustee, usually a title company.
The flood of foreclosures now coursing through the judicial states has swelled in the aftermath of the $25 billion foreclosure abuse settlement, signed off on this past April, that laid out a clear path of conduct for lenders when pursuing foreclosures. That caused many banks to push more cases though the foreclosure pipeline.
The judicial state of Illinois, where foreclosures were up 42% year over year, and Florida, where there was a 16% annual increase in August, respectively, now claim the two highest foreclosure rates. They dethroned states such as Arizona, California, Georgia and Nevada, according to RealtyTrac.
In Illinois, one in every 298 properties has been hit with a foreclosure filing reported.
Central California cities dominated the list of metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates led by Modesto, Merced and Bakersfield.
Chicago, in eighth place, was the worst hit metro area outside of California and the largest one in the top 20. Other major cities represented were Miami, at number 10, Phoenix at 18 and Atlanta at 19.
One silver lining of the report was that actual bank repossessions -- the end game for the foreclosure process when mortgage borrowers lose their homes -- fell 2% month over month and 19% compared with August 2011, marking the 22nd consecutive month of year-over-year declines.
Blomquist said he expected to see an increase in repossessions given the surge in foreclosure starts that occurred at this time last year. The average time between a foreclosure start and repossession is currently 378 days, he said.
However, a number of measures have been put in place to help struggling homeowners hang on to their homes. The federal government and the banks have stepped up their efforts, offering to reduce mortgage payments through principal reductions and lowering mortgage rates. More than 5 million borrowers have received some kind of mortgage aid since April 2009, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Home prices have also started to stabilize, and that has reduced the number of homeowners who are underwater, or owe more for their home than it is worth.
CoreLogic reported Wednesday that the number of underwater borrowers declined to 10.8 million during the three months ended June 30 from 11.4 million in the first quarter. Having that home equity makes it easier for a borrower to keep a property.
The report's other good news was that foreclosure starts fell 13% compared with August 2011 after three months of increases. There should be fewer bank repossessions this time next year.