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50 Shades of Grey: A Dangerous Love Letter To Abusive Relationships?
Very rarely do I ever feel it's necessary to preface what I write in this blog with any kind of excuse, warning or apology. This is, after all, my little corner of the Internet, in which to say whatever I wish, completely uninhibited. However, today I would like to take a moment to say this: The things you are about to read are my opinions, based on actual, factual events. The issues I will discuss could be triggering to those of you who have experienced abuse in its many forms and for that reason, I feel a gentle warning is required. Before I go on, I would finally like to add that yes, I am very much aware that 50 Shades of Grey is a work of fiction and not something to be taken personally, if any number of criticisms of what I am about to say are to be believed. I would however, point out that fiction is not something that has no effect on those who read or watch it, which is why, whilst I passionately believe that fiction shouldn't be censored, I also feel that there is no place for the argument that all books and films are "pure escapism" and that they are somehow incapable of encouraging real life events. With all of that in mind, here we go...
Unless you've been living in a cave for the last few months, you've probably heard of EL James' "erotic" novel, 50 Shades of Grey. There are also two subsequent sequels available (yippee!) - 50 Shades Darker and 50 Shades Freed. The book has been dubbed "mommy porn" and has become a best-seller, with talk of a movie (yippee yet again!) in the pipeline.
Now, I am a writer and I am painfully aware that when one - pretty much unknown - writer elects to openly criticise a much more successful writer's work, that it can come across as sour grapes. Trust me, I know from personal experience (after all, I'm a children's writer who doesn't think the Harry Potter books live up to their hype) that people are all-too-quick to dismiss the views of a struggling writer dishing out criticism of one more famous. It's for that reason that I will be wearing two hats whilst writing this blog (and that's quite a challenge for someone who really doesn't suit headgear): That of a writer, which fits rather snugly and in which I feel incredibly comfortable. The other is that of a survivor (I will NOT say "victim") of an emotionally abusive relationship. That hat does not sit well upon my head at all, but nevertheless, I find myself in a position to wear it.
So let's start with the writer's hat, shall we?
50 Shades of Grey is not a well written book. It is strewn with so many errors, I almost felt offended on behalf of the writers of fan fiction everywhere when I read it. Because of course, that is what this book (or rather, these books - I find it hard to believe it wasn't just one long story, chopped up into three in order to make as much money as possible from the hype) began life as - a Twilight fan fiction. Now I openly admit that I have never read Twilight, nor have I seen any of the films. But a little digging around on the Internet was all it took to realise how many characters and scenes were basically plagiarised without second thought. Now okay, as a fan fiction story, of course the characters would be the same, or at least similar. But when a publisher takes the story on and puts it out there for the world to see, shouldn't something be altered to make it less bloody obvious that so much of the characterisation and background to the story is another writer's work?!
Blatant plagiarism aside, the book is technically bad too. Here's a fun little game for those of you with a copy to play: Try seeing how many times a character (usually Christian, but occasionally it'll fall to someone else) "presses their lips into a hard line." Go on, have a look. I haven't counted myself (because I worry that if I pick the book up ever again, I might lose the will to live), but I would estimate it happens at least 45-50 times. In 26 chapters. That might not sound like a lot, but when you think that boils down to a probable minimum of twice a chapter, it soon starts to grate. It's as though EL James thought to herself: "Hang on, I must prove how wonderful a writer I am by never using simple, one word phrases like "frown," when I can dress it up with several words instead!"
She also writes "erotica" that is laced with so much childish stupidity that it subtly detracts from the "erotic" bits. For example, the lead female character, Ana, refers to "down there," so as to avoid any actual wording of her sexual organs. Yes, EL James uses that hideous term "my sex" as well ("his tongue traces the length of my sex"), but far too often, Ana reverts to the childlike use of "down there," which, far from being sexy, actually made my toes curl. Whether with disgust, or simply because Ana herself is a dreadful, deeply unpleasant character (seriously, I have never read a book where I hated the lead characters more than I did in this excuse for literature) and I generally curled my toes at everything she said and did, I do not know.
The book also focuses on utterly trivial matters, such as what music Christian has on his iPod, or listing literally EVERY PART of the "contract" Ana has to consider signing before she can enjoy sexy times in Christian's "Red Room of Pain," whilst stubbornly refusing to give any characters beyond Ana and Christian a real chance to develop. We know almost nothing of Kate, Ana's roommate and supposed best friend, beyond the fact that Ana seems to hate her for being pretty. Oh and for being supportive to her. And for showing any kind of interest in her relationship with Christian. See what I mean about Ana being a bit of a shitty character?! Even her best friend is painted as some kind of pretty monster for simply doing things a best friend would usually do.
I could go on and on (don't worry, I won't) about EL James' confusing tendency to attach one character's speech to another character's actions, or the utterly infuriating presence of Ana's "Subconcious" and "Inner Goddess," both of whom I ended up hating even more than Ana herself, which I didn't actually think was humanly possible. I could tear my hair out over EL James' insistence that American heroines use words and phrases like "jeez," "double crap," and "oh my!" at every given moment of their waking lives. But my real issue with this book lies in its portrayal of Christian Grey as a romantic hero and of his relationship with Ana as some kind of passionate ideal that we women should all be searching for. Not to mention the fact that Christian's personality and his treatment of Ana (more on that later), is excused by his past, seemingly making it all okay.
Christian Grey, I make NO apology for saying, is an emotionally abusive man. When I say this to friends and colleagues who think this book (and the sequels to it) are the best thing since The Rampant Rabbit, I get reactions ranging from confused disagreement to actual anger. But let me say this loud and clear: CHRISTIAN GREY IS AN EMOTIONALLY ABUSIVE MAN.
How do I know this? How can I state this so clearly in shout-y capitals?
Because I knew a man just like him.
When I first met my ex, I had every feeling described in this book and more. He was gorgeous. He was witty. He was fiercely intelligent. In every way I could possibly imagine, I was inferior to him. Much like Ana spends most of the first book (at least the early chapters) going on (and on and on and on...) about the fact that she simply isn't good enough for Christian Grey - about the fact that she doesn't think she's pretty or clever enough for a man like him - I could barely believe that a man like my ex had taken more than a passing glance at me. He was totally and utterly out of my league. And the problem was, I am pretty sure he was intelligent enough to know that I was having those exact thoughts. Far more dangerously, I am utterly certain that he used my lack of self esteem (destroyed by years of bullying, as documented here in an earlier blog) to his advantage.
Ana has nagging doubts about Christian Grey from the moment she meets him. She describes him as "autocratic and cold, at least on the surface..." and immediately she begins to wonder what makes him the way he is. Christian, for his part, warns her off in no uncertain terms: "I don't do hearts and flowers, Ana..." He tells her he'd be "bad" for her.
And my ex? You got it in one. I had the "I'm a bad man" speech, too. I had the "warning."
Women everywhere have been reading 50 Shades... and getting their knickers in a knot over this: "Ooh, he's a bit dangerous; I should stay away, but damnit, I don't want to, cos this is so FREAKIN' HOT!!"
I'm not going to criticise EL James here (don't worry, I'll more than make up for it later), because you know what? It IS hot. When my ex told me he was "fucked up," and "a bad man," I reacted with intrigue. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know why. So I can't rubbish the idea that a female character would be turned on by a man trying to warn her of how dangerous he is, because I know from experience that it DOES get you all hot and bothered, with a side-order of immense compassion thrown in for good measure. All of that is shown in the book and all of it is correct.
But very early on in the story, I began to see how potentially dangerous this book and its depiction of what is an emotionally abusive relationship, could really be.
Ana's "relationship" with Christian Grey immediately raises some disturbing questions as to what is healthy and what is just plain wrong. Shortly after their initial meeting and the beginning of their flirtation, not to mention the start of much musing over what kind of man Christian really is, Ana goes to a club and, in a drunken haze, calls him. He can tell she has been drinking and tells her "I'm coming to get you." Ana hangs up before - and this is crucial - she can tell him where she is. Later on, Christian arrives as Ana is being ill outside the club. Oh, swoon! What a saviour! But hang on... How did he know where to find her? That's right, he traced her mobile phone and STALKED her. He then takes her home. Aw, bless, how sweet! But hang on... By the time he takes her home, Ana is extremely drunk and not far off passing out. She is not in a position to say "yes" to being taken to a virtual stranger's house several miles away, WITHOUT the knowledge of her friends, who are still inside the club. If this happened in real life, it would not be hot or sexy. It would be hugely disturbing. But hey, because Christian Grey is so good looking, stalking a woman and manipulating her into going home with him without having the decency to tell her worried friends where he's taking her is just fine.
Except of course it isn't. It is, as I have said, extremely manipulative and controlling - let's not forget, at this point in the book, although there is an attraction between them, there is no real "relationship" between Ana and Christian. He had no reason to suspect that she was in danger when she called him, yet he took it upon himself to trace her call, turn up unannounced and take her back to his house, miles away from all of her friends, whilst ignoring her request to tell them where she was going. Alarm bells should have been ringing so loudly, it would have been audible above the music in the club.
But Christian is in no way painted as being at all out of order for what he does. Indeed, Ana gushes about him "saving" her. When thinking about the fact that he has stalked her by tracing her phone, she tells herself "somehow, because it's him, I don't mind."
Again, I have to take a break here and say "you know what? I used to say that." The number of times my ex made comments about my weight (I'm a UK size 10, but he used to call me "chubby" at best, "fat" at worst), subtly controlled who I saw by telling me in no uncertain terms that so and so was "violent," or "a bad friend" and that he wouldn't accompany me to see them, thus ensuring that, because I was so under his spell, I ditched them instead of him, or the number of times he manipulated me into putting up with shit I would never have tolerated from anyone else (such as his sleeping with other women and telling me I had no right to complain), simply because it was him probably runs into hundreds, if not thousands. It's a hallmark of the abusive relationship. A woman who has been drawn under a man's spell and who has started the process of being manipulated, will excuse any number of insulting, or even dangerous behaviours. To display that in a book is fine. In fact, it's a good thing - why should we hide the fact that abuse can and does happen in relationships?! But the dangerous thing here is that this is not a book that discusses abuse and sensibly and sensitively portrays the effects it has on the victim. It is a book that holds up this man - this man Who by only chapter four, has stalked a woman and shown himself to have a dangerously controlling nature as well as a questionable temper - as a romantic hero. Someone we should all aspire to being with.
Christian's controlling nature only becomes more evident from here on in. Upon waking up in a strange bed, Ana is told "if you were mine, you wouldn't be able to sit down for a week after the stunt you pulled yesterday."
The stunt she pulled? Oh yes, she went out with her friends on a largely empty stomach (because she was in knots, thinking about HIM and how "dangerous" he is and therefore felt unable to eat) and got herself drunk. For those that don't know, Ana is supposed to be a college student. Show me a college student who has never gone out and gotten drunk with their mates and I would say "grab me a camera," because we'd be looking at a pretty rare example. So here, Christian Grey is not only telling her she doesn't have the right to go out and do as she pleases, even though he acknowledges that she doesn't belong to him, he's also suggesting that he would cause her physical harm if she WERE his and she went out and did something that normal students do all the time.
Let me remind you once again, that this is a man being held up as a ROMANTIC HERO.
Of course EL James makes it all okay, by suggesting that Christian is only upset because Ana put herself at risk. Aw, he's worried about her! He only said what he did because he cares!
You know what my ex used to say to me? "I act this way because I care, Emsy." It's not an excuse.
Speaking of excuses, I mentioned earlier that Christian Grey's warnings to Ana that he was messed up and she should walk away were actually pretty hot, having experienced the same thing. I stand by that. But why IS Christian Grey the controlling, manipulative, not-really-sexy bastard that he is? Because he was abused as a child.
Now, not for one second am I going to trivialise child abuse. Not for a fleeting moment would I ever dream of suggesting that a child experiencing sexual abuse, physical pain or emotional neglect is anything but utterly tragic. Is it an excuse for growing up and becoming an abuser though? Can all the bad things an abuser does be excused by his/her terrible childhood? I don't believe so.
My ex told me he was abused by his parents. Physically beaten. Emotionally neglected. My heart broke into pieces as he, over time, told me stories about his loveless upbringing. I wanted to love him in the way he had missed out on and more. I wanted to close the wounds his childhood had caused and "love him better." To this day, for all he did to me, if as a child, he really did experience half of what he told me, then I sympathise with that little boy with all my heart and soul.
But that innocent little boy grew into a manipulative, controlling, emotionally abusive man. And no matter how much sympathy I have for his childhood plight, I cannot and will not allow it to excuse the way he behaved towards me. This is a man who allowed me to believe for 5 months that we were in a relationship, before coldly telling me I was "just a friend I happen to have been fucking." This is a man who, just five days later, told me he hadn't meant those words and blamed (for the first time, but in no way the last) his bad childhood on the fact that he had said such hurtful things and pushed me away. This is a man who told me he "didn't know how to be in a "normal" relationship" and told me he "needed" me. This is a man I believed wholeheartedly. Because why would he lie?
Well obviously he lied so he could continue to use me. Not just sexually, but emotionally too. So I would continue to pick him up from work and drive him back home. So I would help him to move house not once, but three times, with very little thanks and absolutely no petrol money for my trouble. So he would always have dependable "Emsy," when there was nobody else around. Of course I was never good enough to be referred to as a "girlfriend." I was always "just a friend." But a friend he would hold, kiss and whisper "I love you" to in the darkness. A "friend" he would plead with to stay, telling me I was "abandoning" him when I left to return home. A "friend" he dangled the prospect of a proper relationship with so many times I lost count.
In her "erotic" novel, EL James describes the way that Christian messes with Ana's head, causing her to question what she does and doesn't want, before being manipulated into a BDSM relationship she is not entirely certain she is ready for. Of course those hoodwinked into thinking Christian is some form of loveable sex God will pick me up here by saying that Ana agrees to the relationship herself. I point you in the direction of the line in which Ana asks what will happen if she says no to his conditions and he replies: "Then I will find ways of making you change your mind."
Aw, how loveable and jokey. Except that no, it's not. He's essentially putting pressure on her to do exactly as he wants, which, if you remove your blinkers and read the book with clear eyes, you'll see is something he does CONSTANTLY. And pressurising someone, manipulating them into thinking you're right and they should do whatever you ask of them, is just another sign of abuse.
In my own relationship, I was told that I would only be a "fuck buddy" and that my ex would be free to sleep around with whoever he wanted, without any comeback from me. Now I may not be the toughest girl in the world, but I do know what I will and won't accept and that's just a massive no-no. I told him so. I told him I had real, very strong feelings for him and couldn't agree to being a meaningless shag, a nameless notch on his bedpost. And every time I tried to walk away? He found "ways of making me change my mind." I would get the "I was abused as a child, you're getting too close and I don't know how to deal with my feelings for you..." treatment. Or, far, far worse, he would tell me he loved me and couldn't live without me, but that I had to be "patient" with him, because of what he had been through and that my requests for a normal level of respect were "clingy and desperate" and showing I didn't understand him, when he was TRYING SO HARD. So it was ME at fault for wanting respect and normality in our relationship and it was ME who had to change and do as he asked in order to eventually gain the things I wanted.
And lo, a carrot was dangled in front of my nose. He DOES love me, he doesn't REALLY want me as just a "fuck buddy," he wants REAL relationship, he just doesn't know how to go about it! Poor baby!
In 50 Shades, Christian frequently tells Ana that nobody has ever affected him the way she has. What EL James wants us to see, is a damaged man, slowly learning to love again, perhaps fighting against it as it's such an unknown emotion, but in the end, becoming "cured" of his demons. And what is truly terrifying, is knowing that it's working. That is EXACTLY the way women all over the UK and America (and presumably the wider world) are seeing this book. Except it's really not like that. Read the words, they're there in black and white!
Christian tells Ana he is affected by her in a way that no other woman has ever affected him, that's true. But he also frequently manipulates and controls her, refusing to listen to her when she protests about expensive gifts, or certain "rules" of their relationship "contract." Even when Christian offers to follow her wishes and have a "vanilla relationship," without the BDSM aspects that Ana is uncomfortable with, his subtle manipulation and controlling tendencies don't fade. He's just telling her what she wants to hear. The pretence of trying hard to give her what he wants is there, but the undertones of pressurising, manipulating and intimidating her don't go away. You only have to read the book carefully to see between the lines. Ana is often portrayed as confused and not knowing what to do for the best. She is intimidated by Christian, she doesn't know how to react to him. Is that love? Really?!
My ex used to tell me: "No woman has ever gotten as close to me as you. Nobody has ever affected me the way you do. It scares me." That could be a line straight out of 50 Shades. I stayed because I believed him, which is exactly how Ana feels. When she thinks of leaving him, she is tortured by thoughts that she will be "abandoning" this "poor man." When I told my ex, not just once, but many times, that I couldn't do it anymore, that it was too painful to hear about other women and be expected to put up and shut up about it, he would wail "don't leave me Emsy. Please don't abandon me like everyone else has." That is NOT sexy. It's not hot. It's not "erotica." It's emotional manipulation, pure and simple. And to my shame, it worked. I stayed. And I stayed silent.
In the book, Ana never feels able to open up to her closest friends and family members about what Christian is really like. She keeps his controlling nature, the conditions he imposes on their relationship and the confusion he causes her almost exclusively to herself. Yet another sign of an abusive relationship! Even now, to this day, my parents - unless they read this blog - don't know the extent of what I went through. And of course I have only shared the tip of the iceberg here. And why do they not know? Because I felt too ashamed, too confused, too full of the belief that it was all my fault to tell them. To tell anybody. When I DID talk to people, I made dozens of excuses for his behaviour, blamed his "messed up past" (much like Ana does in the book) and the rest of the time, I went through the whole experience entirely alone. Isolated. Thus making him the only person I could talk to. And therefore handing him more power.
And let me say this as an aside - emotional abuse is something too few people are able to understand, which is why so many people continue to remain silent both during their experiences and afterwards. When I did begin to tentatively open up, I had questions such as "oh why didn't you just walk away?!" tossed at me as though they were accusations. I had one person, who was until this point, one of my closest friends and a woman in her 40's who claims to be compassionate, read a full account of what I had gone through, coupled with an apology (which I now see I really didn't have to give) for any "distant" behaviour I may have exhibited during the relationship and respond with a single line email: "That's right Emma. Make it all about YOU." And the girl who actually introduced me to my ex and who was also once one of my best friends? She has been telling people I am a liar and that I'm making all this up. And the worst thing is, I have no way of proving her wrong. Emotional abuse leaves only invisible scars. There is nothing tangible. My "wounds" are not something you can physically see, but that does not make them any less real. And with her glorification of abuse as romance, EL James has reopened several of them.
I understand that this book is more often than not being read by women who haven't been through what I experienced and perhaps I am more alert to the warning signs now. Perhaps the women reading this and loving Christian Grey are glossing over the stalker-tendencies and the emotional manipulation. But I can't. Because I do see those signs and I know where they lead.
They lead to a place where your self-worth is eroded through barbed comments. If I ate my dinner with any gusto, I would get "haha, you greedy fat bitch." And then a warm smile,because he couldn't possibly have MEANT it to upset me.
They lead to a place where everything you do is wrong. When we went to see a musical together at the theatre, I cried and reached out for his hand during an emotional moment, only to be told I had "fucking ruined the whole thing" by "being a spoilt little drama queen." He went on and on at me for so long after we had left the theatre that I actually ended up begging for forgiveness, in spite of having done nothing wrong.
They lead to a place where you can never win, because the rules constantly change. I wore a dress once and he told me I was so sexy he could barely keep his hands off me. The next time I wore it, he told me I looked like a slut and it was obvious I was only wearing it to seduce him and he found me "fucking disgusting."
They lead to a place where he controls everything. He would get me all worked up, then encourage me to satisfy his sexual needs before rolling over and going to sleep, warning me not to cuddle or touch him, because if I did, it was "clingy and horrible." I would go to sleep completely unsatisfied, but feeling as though I deserved to feel that way because I had done something horribly wrong to this poor man who had already suffered enough in his life, without having to deal with such a needy, unsympathetic bitch as me.
It was like living on a yoyo string. One minute he pulled me close, telling me loved me, that I had saved his life. The next, I'd receive a text about him sleeping with some random girl and he would expect me to listen "as a mate, because that's all you fucking are, why don't you understand, are you fucking stupid or something?!"
And why did I stay? Why did I put up with such abuse? Because I was manipulated into thinking I deserved it. That I WAS being clingy. That I was asking too much of him, that I didn't understand him and that I was treating HIM unfairly. Because he would beg me, whenever I said I had had enough, not to go, because he DID love me. Because he manipulated me into believing that if I played by his rules, if I did what he asked of me, eventually, we would be okay. We'd have the relationship I so desperately wanted from him. Because I believed - thanks to him - that it was entirely my fault that we didn't have it yet.
And how does the 50 Shades trilogy end? Ana's love "cures" Christian. He tells her he loves her and they get married and have children.
One of the biggest reasons women - and indeed men - stay in abusive relationships is because they believe that they will one day get that "happy ever after" moment. THIS is why these books are so utterly dangerous. Not only does EL James provide us with a manipulative, controlling and potentially violent man (I have no issue with BDSM, but in the first book alone, Christian mentions wanting to "beat" or "spank" Ana as punishment, rather than for sexual gratification on more than one occasion) and holds him up as some kind of romantic ideal, she also uses his own abusive past as an excuse for his abusive present. We are supposed to feel so sorry for Christian, so sad that he is "fifty shades of fucked up," that we conveniently overlook all the warning signs that prove that he is NOT a nice guy. And then to cap it all off? She suggests that with time and patience, Ana's love "fixes" him. Way to send out a positive message to women in abusive relationships, EL James. Congratulations.
Had I read this book whilst I was still with my ex, I might well have been tempted to stay for even longer than the 18+ months I did. Because whatever you say about fiction, it can and does influence real life.
Had I stayed with my ex any longer, I am not even sure I would be around now to GET so mad at EL James. I was suicidally depressed. I hated my "clingy," "slutty," "fat" self. I hated myself for not being able to "save" him. I hated myself for "abandoning" him. A couple of months before the end, I found myself outside my best friend's house in the early hours of the morning, practically lying in the street, howling hysterically because he had told me he was going on a date with another woman and would never, EVER love me. This is after telling me he loved me more than he had ever loved any woman, remember. This is after him begging me never to leave him, because I had changed his whole world. I was back on the yoyo string and not on the nice end. I was so rarely on the nice end...
Yet here is this best selling book, suggesting that if you stay with a man, even after you've tried to walk away, even when you have huge doubts about the kind of relationship he wants... Everything will be rosy in the end.
Do you want to know how my relationship ended? With him staring me in the eyes and admitting "of course I fucking used you. Of course I don't give a shit how much pain I've caused you. You deserve it, because you let me do it to you, because you're pathetic and weak."
I walked out of his house and resolved to seek help. I had counselling and now I am receiving help from a centre for abused women. It's only through that help that I am even able to admit that he abused me; I was so manipulated that for months after I finally walked away for good, I honestly believed I WAS at fault and that he had done no wrong. Everything that had happened, I had entirely brought on myself and I thoroughly deserved it for not being good enough to "fix" the situation.
And now, as I am finally beginning to recover and move forward, a book comes along. A book with a male character EXACTLY like my ex. A situation HORRIBLY similar and a girl equally as confused and unsure as I felt. And what does the writer do? She holds up this man as a romantic ideal and suggests that staying with an abusive man can magically cure him.
At the end of the first book in the trilogy, Ana leaves Christian. If you ask me, she should never have gone back. At least, had she walked away and stayed away, the writer might have correctly put across that a man who controls, manipulates, stalks, confuses and intimidates a woman is no hero. Instead, this book series is, in my eyes, at best offensive. At worst, downright dangerous in the way it glorifies abuse.
There DOES need to be a place in literature for abusive relationships to be shown. But they need to be shown for the hugely damaging, potentially life-destroying relationships that they are, not displayed as some kind of passionate example of what "real" love is. Real love involves respect, mutual equality and understanding. None of which is evident in an abusive relationship - they certainly weren't features of mine - and none of which is truly displayed in this book.
My recommendation, should anyone wish to read a book that describes an abusive relationship responsibly - ie truthfully, without glorification and with an ending appropriate to the situation - is Roddy Doyle's The Woman Who Walked Into Doors, in which the abuser is painted as anything but a romantic hero. Abuse is not romantic and Christian Grey is no hero.
I would like to dedicate this blog post to my family for supporting me through my own experience, to my best friend Lydia, without whom I am not even sure I would have survived it, to my closest friends, the aforementioned Lydia, plus Kate, Kirstie and Lizzie, for always being there for me, to my amazing support worker, for the help she has given me so far and the help I know she will continue to give for as long as I need it and to every woman or man going through an abusive relationship. Please don't let this book hurt or upset you the way it has me. Please don't believe that you can "love someone better." Walk away and be the person you were born to be. Know that there are people out there who will understand and help you.
And to those who still think Christian Grey is the epitome of all that's hot, I beg you to re-read what I have written, because to all intents and purposes, I WAS in a relationship with Christian Grey, just without the whips and with a different name. And it wasn't hot. It was abuse.
If you want to read something sexy, cast your literary net a little wider. Besides, there's better erotica on the Internet. And most of it is better written, too.
Ingvild Mostad 27 July 2012 at 12:03
Just...wow - well analysed and written, I'm just so sorry you can relate all this bullshit to your own experience, Emma. I've not dared to imagine what you must have been through, and although I knew it was horrid, I found myself thoroughly shocked and upset reading this - I'm so sorry this happened to you.
I've not actually read the book, because the "best seller" sticker makes it almost as unappealing as the plot, but I had no idea how uncritical and misogynist it seems to be. Dangerous too, if emotional abuse is taken so lightly.
mrsmanics 27 July 2012 at 18:45
Thanks sweetheart. Yeah, I kept a lot of what happened to myself; I just didn't know what to say and whether I was to blame for it or not.
These books annoy the hell out of me, because so much pain is caused by men like Christian Grey; they're the last type of men who should be made out to be sexy heroes!
Lydia O'Neill 27 July 2012 at 20:58
So proud of you for writing this x
Thank you, sweetheart. Love ya. Xxx
Claire Jones 1 August 2012 at 21:04
Emma hold your head high. You've done nothing wrong. Real friends realise when you go through something like you did it's not easy to walk away or take advice despite what people tell you to do. I know. I've been there and still am to some degree. Also, you are more than entitled to 'make things about you' least of all when you're crying out for help and feeling so low that you think taking your life is the only way out. Your real friends will understand, be there for you and still be there whether you take their advice or not. I personally don't see this blog as attacking anyone, merely stating the feelings of a lovely creative young women. You're a lovely person Emma and are doing so well. Keep you're chin up and say fluff you to anyone who brings you down x x
Aw Claire, that made my eyes well up! Thank you for being so wonderfully supportive, sweetie. It really means an awful lot and it makes me glad I wrote this blog (and it wasn't easy!), which is something I have doubted a little bit in the last few days. The support of friends is so, so important and I appreciate it more than you know. :-) xx
Brenda Morgan 3 January 2013 at 03:27
I know there are many mixed emotions about this book, i have audio and have listened to the book a couple of times. The first time i was a little thrown by the sex scenes, but the second time i heard it i found myself being able to find the true love story. It doesnt promote bad things like bdsm or child sex abuse. It tells the story of what one person has done to forget the abuse of being neglected by his mother and abused by her pimp. Everyone handles pain differently.
Ana's love was strong enough to take a very broken man and help him heal. For those who put a bad name out for this book, i feel sorry for you. Apparently you cant see the good in people because your blinded only seeing the bad. Your loss.THE BOOK 50 SHADES OF GREY WAS THE BEST WRITTEN LOVE STORY I HAVE EVER HEARD.
THANK YOU E.L.JAMES!!!!
Alex 29 May 2013 at 10:15
Ignorance of the abuse portrayed in these books are bad enough on their own. But to actually insist that "Everyone handles pain differently" when Emma's already stated that being abused is no excuse for becoming an abuser (and I will second that, having been abused as a child myself)? To insist that "Ana's love was strong enough to take a very broken man and help him heal" on a post where an abuse survivor says that very trope is dangerous? That makes you a rather insensitive person.
"50 SHADES OF GREY WAS THE BEST WRITTEN LOVE STORY I HAVE EVER HEARD"
You're either a troll, or you need to read more books.
Stagewhisper 5 September 2013 at 13:25
Hahaha not just the best love story you've ever heard, but the best-written one? No wonder you love the audiobook, you really haven't read many books without pictures in, have you kiddo? (And trust me, any protestations that you're old enough not to be called a kid will only make me think less of your intelligence).
I'd agree with you that the book doesn't promote BDSM, but not for the laughable reason that it is a 'bad thing'. If the book wanted to truly represent the BDSM lifestyle, a) Christian would respect Ana's boundaries rather than attempting to manipulate his way past them, b) he would actually engage in a responsible discussion of the nature and future of their relationship, rather than resorting to sex and sleep to avoid the conversation, c) he would actually put her needs before his own, rather than insisting on his way at all times, and d) he would spank/whip/whatever her for actual infractions of an agreed-upon code (or pure MUTUAL desire), not out of anger whenever she exhibits a mind of her own.
And nobody's saying the book promotes child sex abuse, only that it habitually uses one's past to make excuses for inexcusable behaviour (and given Grey's interest in whether or not his children enjoy sex or being suckled, one must wonder what behaviour Grey may attempt to excuse in the future).
Diana 5 February 2013 at 02:26
"Everything that had happened, I had entirely brought on myself and I thoroughly deserved it for not being good enough to "fix" the situation."
A million times yes! I was there for five long years. It's such a miserable cycle of guilt, walking on eggshells to not "set him off," constant apologies for your feelings, and "working" on the relationship.
I wouldn't have a problem with 50 Shades if it wasn't held up as a manual, or Grey as an ideal. There's a difference between a sexy, assertive daddy figure and an abusive, stalkery, domineering asshole.
There's better, sexier romance literature out there. Way better. If the relationship in the book is similar to yours, you need to GET OUT NOW.
callmebecks 5 February 2013 at 03:37
This was such a brave and eye-opening post, and I thank you for writing it. It takes guts to lay this all out on a forum like the Internet; it takes even more guts to walk away from the kind of manipulation you endured. Good on you, hon.
Katje van Loon 8 February 2013 at 16:43
You are so brave, Emma, and I'm honored to know you. I felt myself welling up several times reading your post because it was like looking into a mirror to my past. My exes all did similar things, and I believed for the longest time it was all my fault. Even when I admitted the abuse, I believed it was my fault -- that because I'd been raised with abuse, I could only attract an abusive mate. That I was broken; fundamentally flawed. (I'm so glad I got proved wrong.)
*hugs* You're amazing.
I've been reading your blogs anonymously for a while now, keeping up with your articles about Fifty Shades. I have to say it's so upsetting to know abusive situations happen to so many people, in very much the same way nearly every time. I've been in several abusive relationships beginning with my father and grandmother and ending six years ago when I met my current girlfriend. The book series makes us both foam at the mouth partly because of the horrible portrayal of BDSM (her) and the glorification of abuse (me). I never knew how bad it was until reading several other blogs discussing the finer points of this.
What bothers me the most is how people try to excuse it all away by saying "it's just a book." I may defend my favorite movies and books and fanfiction to the death, but if there is a problem someone points out within it, I have to shrug and accept it. They're putting their own opinions out there and I'd be a twat if I said their opinion has no logical basis (the oxymoron of the decade).
I'm very glad you finally got out of that relationship, and I hope you continue to do well in the future. I'm not sure why I wanted to post here, if only to say thank you for having a brain (juvenile thought) and thank you for speaking out about something other people are afraid of, or refuse to acknowledge (adult thought). I've lived through so much of this and yet I doubt there'd be anything I could do to make other people realize how upsetting the dynamics in the series actually are, because when we get right down to it, the real problem is with other people refusing to listen to voices outside of their beliefs, because in their own subconscious philosophy, theirs are the only ones with merit.
50 Shades of Grey: A Dangerous Love Letter To Abus...


The environmental design and brand for the 2015 General Assembly was conceived and produced by myself and my two colleagues. Together we developed a cohesive identity which was carried out in all mediums from web to large scale environmental design. Admit it, we made a conference for Jewish philanthropy look really fun.


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PPA Introduces Software To Check Bloated Budgets
Agyenim Boateng Adjei
In order to aid and enhance proper budgeting systems for infrastructural projects, the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) has come up with new software that will ensure genuine costs for projects.
The software, Unit Cost of Infrastructural Estimator and Budget Tool is also expected curb unrealistic and bloated budgets.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PPA, Agyenim Boateng Adjei who was speaking at the launch of the software in Accra yesterday said "This project has come at a time where there is a recurring problem of unrealistic and bloated budget estimation of infrastructural projects".
He attributed the unrealistic budgets of projects to the lack of reference pricing, which in turn causes huge strains on the country's financial resources and hampered the development of the nation as a whole.
Functions of the software
The CEO said, the database tool will support a benchmarking system which will ensure that the estimated total cost of the projects will deliver value for money by reflecting realistic prices.
According to him, "It will also allow the user to vary the major cost drivers in order to analyse how changing these factors affect the cost of delivering the project."
Mr Adjei added that, "It will inform the decision-making process of how much investment will be required for contingency arrangement in our budgeting process.
"It will also help control unforeseen cost overruns, allow additional verification of key cost items and support any justifications for project cost items where necessary."
The Project Director, Dr Mohammed Sani Abdullai noted that the when the contractors bring their estimates government will use the software to verify the estimates.
A Public Financial Management Project
The software which is the first ever in the West African Sub region is an initiative of the Public Financial Management Project and is funded by the World Bank under the auspices of the Government of Ghana.
The Infrastructural projects that this software is programmed to access include; Roads, Buildings, Water and Sewage and Power―power consisting of hydro, solar wind, thermal, combined cycle plants, power barges, gas and other fuel plants.
Meanwhile, the sensitisation workshop brought together procurement officers, district engineers and consultants from four regions―Greater Accra, Central, Eastern, Volta and Western Regions.
They were tutored on how to access and use the software.
The other five regions which constitute the northern sector will have their session later.
Source: Grace Ablewor Sogbey/ [email protected]
Ghana League Title Cost Us ¢2m- Aduana CEO
Agric Students Boycott School Over Unpaid 'Alawa'

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


~TRANQUIL and PRIVATE 1.11 acre waterfront, ready to build lot, on a GATED peninsula in MELBOURNE BEACH~ With only 5 home sites total, this lush property is brimming with palm trees, water, fishing, and wildlife. Awaiting your dream home with water views from the front and the back, this stunning property is a quick golf cart ride to the beach and only 2.8 miles south of Publix shopping. Melbourne Beach has A rated schools and boasts casual coastal family living. Start enjoying your beach lifestyle and build your coastal home today! Civil engineering, soil tests, fill, well, and survey have all been completed.


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Wiscasset's Sunken Garden aglow
Historic restoration complete
SARAH WHITFIELD, News Contributor
The group raises a glass to the completion of the project. SARAH WHITFIELD/Wiscasset Newspaper
Terry Heller shows off one of the new arches. SARAH WHITFIELD/Wiscasset Newspaper
The lighted garden with the Nickels-Sortwell house in the background. SARAH WHITFIELD/Wiscasset Newspaper
Lighted roots in the Garden. SARAH WHITFIELD/Wiscasset Newspaper
A view from street level. SARAH WHITFIELD/Wiscasset Newspaper
Jars with lights line the Garden's perimeter. SARAH WHITFIELD/Wiscasset Newspaper
As the last of the sun disappeared and the moon started to rise Nov. 24, the Sunken Garden came alive with light. Jars full of twinkle lights lit the paths and arches lit up the path entrances. The lights celebrated a new era for the Garden as a small group gathered to mark the completion of the project to restore the historic landscape architecture of 1910.
In July, Wiscasset selectmen approved the construction of an open-air pergola and two arbor arches. The Sortwell family gave the town the garden in 1958.
The project was led by the Appearance of the Town Committee, Garden Club of Wiscasset and other volunteers, with resident Terry Heller taking on the primary leadership role. Heller said after she saw photos of the Garden in the early 1900s, she had hoped to restore it to its beauty then. She did extensive research, going to Sortwell family historian Seaver Leslie, other Wiscasset residents and a docent at Castle Tucker. Through that research, she learned of Frances Sortwell, who designed and built the Sunken Garden.
"Frances was an inspiration, and I knew I wanted to restore the Sortwell family Sunken Garden to its original state as she had designed and built it, with a pergola and arches. Inspiration is a filmy thing to most people. For me, it was a fire in the belly. Alongside all of this, I devoured the Fannie Chase book on the history of Wiscasset as the very essence of early Maine history. I was totally smitten with my new hometown. Taken altogether, I wanted more than anything to restore the Sunken Garden to its original magnificence as a jewel in the heart of Wiscasset," said Heller.
Heller said one reason she put in so much effort was "my own sense of belonging in this community – an extraordinary gift from the wonderful people here who have become dear friends in a very short period of time. Wiscasset is a special place. I wanted to give something back. Restoring the Sunken Garden became my passion."
Members of the Sortwell family, including residents Claudia and Dan Sortwell, attended the celebration, with Claudia expressing thanks for Heller, all of the volunteers, the builder, Steve Monroe, and the selectmen for approving the project.
As for what's next for the Garden, Heller said, "The future of the Sunken Garden is vested in its beauty and its historic value. People will drive for miles for both reasons. And it is a private treasure and a respite, as gardens always are, for the community. This year, we are trying out the idea of putting lights in the garden during the holiday season as a tiny version of the 'gardens aglow' idea for both visitors and townspeople alike. Next spring and summer, or as the pandemic allows, there may be opportunities for teas (which the Sortwells held in the sunken area) and small gatherings for fundraisers to support the garden as well."
The Sunken Garden is open to the public.
Gilpatrick & Sons - When Quality Counts...
Front Desk Assistant Wanted


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Richard Long (died 1986) was an American sound designer. He is known as the preeminent sound designer of the disco era, having installed systems at clubs including Paradise Garage, Dorian Gray, Studio 54, and Max's Kansas City.

Career
Richard Long initially worked for Alex Rosner, famous for his system installed at the Loft. Long's first nightclub was SoHo Place. In 1977, he designed the custom sound system for Paradise Garage. This system became his flagship. Long was known for his heavy bass sound. Paradise Garage had a custom speaker, the "Levan Horn", designed to increase bass in the club, and named after DJ Larry Levan.

Over the course of his career, Long installed more than 300 systems. Locations included Copacabana, Directoire, the Ginza, the Limelight, Max's Kansas City, Studio 54, Area, Bonds International Casino, Zanzibar (Newark), The Box (Chicago), Ware House, and Paradise Garage. In 1980, Long won the Billboard award for Best Disco Sound Design.

Long died of AIDS in 1986. The only surviving Richard Long soundsystem is at the Eldorado Bumper Car ride in Coney Island, NY. Long was invited to install the system by the Eldorado's owner, Scott Fitlin.

References

1986 deaths
Deaths from AIDS-related illness
American audio engineers

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Target/Movies, Music & Books/Music/All Music Genres/Classical
Alexander Melnikov - Shostakovich: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2, Violin Sonata Op. 134 (CD)
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Record label: The Orchard
Musical Artist: Alexander Melnikov
Software Format: CD
Street Date: February 14, 2012
Trending Classical
Journey - Greatest Hits Vol 1 (Vinyl)
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Unmasked: The Platinum Collection (CD)
Guardians of the Galaxy - Songs and Original Score (Vinyl)
Bernstein - Bernstein Favorites: Children's Classics (CD)
Bruno Walter - Bruno Walter: The Complete Album Collection (CD)
John (Film Composer) Williams - Greatest Hits 1969-1999 (OST) (CD)


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search filter Books & JournalsAll Journalsboundary 2
About boundary 2: an international journal of literature and culture
Research Article| November 01 2020
"Memorable Equinox": John Lilly, Dolphin Vocals, and the Tape Medium
John Durham Peters
John Durham Peters is María Rosa Menocal Professor of English and Film and Media Studies at Yale University and author of Speaking into the Air (1999), Courting the Abyss (2005), The Marvelous Clouds (2015), and, with the late Kenneth Cmiel, Promiscuous Knowledge: Information, Image, and Other Truth Games in History (2020).
boundary 2 (2020) 47 (4): 1–24.
John Durham Peters; "Memorable Equinox": John Lilly, Dolphin Vocals, and the Tape Medium. boundary 2 1 November 2020; 47 (4): 1–24. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/01903659-8677814
In the later 1950s and 1960s, the American neurologist John Cunningham Lilly (1915–2001) undertook an unorthodox set of experiments on bottlenose dolphins (tursiops truncatus). The centerpiece of this research was their bioacoustic practices, including hearing and phonation. Lilly's work sits at the crossroads of many vectors in postwar American culture: the birth of the counterculture from the spirit of Cold War militarized science; the cybernetic dream of flattening the differences between animal, human, machine, and alien intelligence; the exploration of otherness through drugs and madness; and the rise to cultural prominence of dolphins as archetypes of intelligent liberated beings. Sound technologies, especially tape, were the conditio sine qua non of Lilly's cetacean research. He used tape obsessively in his efforts to decrypt dolphin communications and later to liberate human consciousness from its tendency to get stuck in repeating loops. Remarkably, he failed to reflect on the media a priori of his interspecies imagination.
John C. Lilly, dolphins, tape recording, voice, media
Yesterday's Hadaly: On Voicing a Feminist Media Archaeology
Tom Pickard and the Voices of Postwar British Poetry
The Voice of Interpellation and Capitalist Crisis: Notes toward an Investigation of Postwar Japanese Ideology
Mersenne and the Art of Delivery
John C. Lilly
tape recording
Corregidora Corporeal Archaeology, Embodied Memory, Improvisation
A Listening Self Voice and the Ethos of Style
From the Studio to the Street


Dr. Cris Mayo will discuss of the history of the LBGTQ community in Morgantown, WV. This is part of Part II of the Diversity in Appalachia Lecture Series, "Search for Identity," which explores what the history, folklore, and cultural heritage of race, class, sexuality, and gender identity tell us about who we are. It is open to the public.


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Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 8-18 mm f/2.8-4 ASPH.
First let's check the vignetting performance for JPEG files; appropriate thumbnails, shot with the help of the Olympus O-MD E-M5 Mark II, are shown below.
E-M5 II, JPEG, 8 mm, f/2.8 E-M5 II, JPEG, 8 mm, f/4.0
E-M5 II, JPEG, 13 mm, f/3.5 E-M5 II, JPEG, 13 mm, f/4.0
In the case of a difficult combination of the 8 mm focal length and the f/2.8 aperture you have to take into account a loss of light in the corners of 34% (−1.21 EV). That value is only seemingly high. Many lenses dedicated for bigger sensors, being slower than the Panaleica tested by us, have had vignetting of 50-70%. Compared to that the tested lens fares really well.
On stopping down the aperture to f/4.0 the vignetting decreases to a not especially bothersome level of 18% (−0.56 EV), and on further stopping down it gets even lower, to 16% (−0.50 EV); after that the aberration doesn't react to stopping down at all.
In the middle of the focal range the problems are even fewer. By f/3.5 you deal with a brightness loss reaching 26% (−0.88 EV), which decreases to 17% (−0.53 EV) on stopping down the aperture to f/4.0. By f/5.6 the vignetting amounts to 14% (−0.42 EV) and, like in the previous case, further stopping down doesn't bring any measurable effects.
At the maximum focal length you see the lowest results. By f/4.0 the vignetting is 22% (−0.71 EV), and by f/5.6 it decreases to 13% (−0.42 EV); by f/8.0 and f/11.0 its values are similar.
At 13 and 18 mm we didn't notice any significant differences between RAW and JPEG files. The results we got differed by 1-2% at the maximum so they remained, within the margin of error, the same.
More differences you can spot at the 8 mm focal length; they stem mainly from cropping JPEG images, a procedure performed after distortion correction. At that place the vignetting is 40% (−1.47 EV) so by 6% higher than on JPEG files; by f/4.0 it decreases to 27% (−0.91 EV).
To sum up, this category shows very well how a small sensor can be used for fighting vignetting. It would be difficult to find any other ultra wide-angle lens with a similar aperture fastness which would correct this aberration as well as the Panaleica, tested here.
Olympus O-MD E-M5 Mark II, JPEG, 8 mm, f/2.8
Olympus O-MD E-M5 Mark II, JPEG, 13 mm, f/3.5


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Author: Batty, G. David
Resulting in 4 citations.
1. Batty, G. David
Der, Geoff
Deary, Ian J.
Effect of Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy on Offspring's Cognitive Ability: Empirical Evidence for Complete Confounding in the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
Pediatrics 118,3 (September 2006): 943-950.
Also: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/118/3/943
Publisher: American Academy of Pediatrics
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Cigarette Use (see Smoking); Cognitive Ability; I.Q.; Intelligence; Mothers, Education; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes; Variables, Independent - Covariate
BACKGROUND. Numerous studies have reported that maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy is related to lower IQ scores in the offspring. Confounding is a crucial issue in interpreting this association. METHODS. In the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, IQ was ascertained serially during childhood using the Peabody Individual Achievement Test, the total score for which comprises results on 3 subtests: mathematics, reading comprehension, and reading recognition. Maternal IQ was assessed by using the Armed Forces Qualification Test. There were 5578 offspring (born to 3145 mothers) with complete information for maternal smoking habits, total Peabody Individual Achievement Test score, and covariates. RESULTS. The offspring of mothers who smoked ≥1 pack of cigarettes per day during pregnancy had an IQ score (Peabody Individual Achievement Test total) that was, on average, 2.87 points lower than children born to nonsmoking mothers. Separate control for maternal education (0.27-IQ-point decrement) and, to a lesser degree, maternal IQ (1.51-1Q-point decrement) led to marked attenuation of the maternal-smoking-offspring-IQ relation. A similar pattern of results was seen when Peabody Individual Achievement Test subtest results were the outcomes of interest. The only exception was the Peabody Individual Achievement Test mathematics score, in which adjusting for maternal IQ essentially led to complete attenuation of the maternal-smoking-offspring-IQ gradient (0.66-IQ-point decrement). The impact of controlling for physical, behavioral, and other social indices was much less pronounced than for maternal education or IQ. CONCLUSIONS. These findings suggest that previous studies that did not adjust for maternal education and/or IQ may have overestimated the association of maternal smoking with offspring cognitive ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Batty, G. David, Geoff Der and Ian J. Deary. "Effect of Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy on Offspring's Cognitive Ability: Empirical Evidence for Complete Confounding in the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth." Pediatrics 118,3 (September 2006): 943-950.
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 46,3 (March 2007): 377-377.
Also: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=24194980&site=ehost-live
Keyword(s): Children; Cognitive Ability; I.Q.; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes; Smoking (see Cigarette Use)
The article presents a study to find the effect of maternal smoking during pregnancy on offspring's cognitive ability. In the U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, IQ was determined during childhood using the Peabody Individual Achievement Test, the total score for which comprises results on 3 subtests that is reading comprehension, mathematics and reading recognition.
Batty, G. David, Geoff Der and Ian J. Deary. "Effect of Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy on Offspring's Cognitive Ability: Empirical Evidence for Complete Confounding in the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth." Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 46,3 (March 2007): 377-377.
3. Der, Geoff
Batty, G. David
Effect of Breast Feeding on Intelligence in Children: Prospective Study, Sibling Pairs Analysis, and Meta-Analysis
British Medical Journal 333,7575 (4 November 2006): 945-948.
Also: http://www.bmj.com/content/333/7575/945.full
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group, Ltd. - British Medical Journal Publishing Group
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Breastfeeding; Cognitive Ability; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); I.Q.; Pairs (also see Siblings); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Siblings
Objective: To assess the importance of maternal intelligence, and the effect of controlling for it and other important confounders, in the link between breast feeding and children's intelligence.
Design: Examination of the effect of breast feeding on cognitive ability and the impact of a range of potential confounders, in particular maternal IQ, within a national database. Additional analyses compared pairs of siblings from the sample who were and were not breast fed. The results are considered in the context of other studies that have also controlled for parental intelligence via meta-analysis.
Setting: 1979 US national longitudinal survey of youth.
Subjects: Data on 5475 children, the offspring of 3161 mothers in the longitudinal survey.
Main outcome measure: IQ in children measured by Peabody individual achievement test.
Results: The mother's IQ was more highly predictive of breastfeeding status than were her race, education, age, poverty status, smoking, the home environment, or the child's birth weight or birth order. One standard deviation advantage in maternal IQ more than doubled the odds of breast feeding. Before adjustment, breast feeding was associated with an increase of around 4 points in mental ability. Adjustment for maternal intelligence accounted for most of this effect. When fully adjusted for a range of relevant confounders, the effect was small (0.52) and non-significant (95% confidence interval -0.19 to 1.23). The results of the sibling comparisons and meta-analysis corroborated these findings.
Conclusions: Breast feeding has little or no effect on intelligence in children. While breast feeding has many advantages for the child and mother, enhancement of the child's intelligence is unlikely to be among them.
Policy summary:
Breast feeding does not increase children's intelligence
Despite its many advantag es, breast feeding has little effect on children's intelligence. In a cohort study of 3161 mothers and 5475 children, Der and colleagues (p. 945) found that breast feeding was associated with higher IQ in children, but that this effect was almost entirely accounted for by maternal IQ. More intelligent mothers were more likely to breast feed, and maternal IQ was more predictive of feeding choice than mothers' age, education, home environment, and antenatal smoking status, or children's birth weight and birth order.
Der, Geoff, G. David Batty and Ian J. Deary. "Effect of Breast Feeding on Intelligence in Children: Prospective Study, Sibling Pairs Analysis, and Meta-Analysis." British Medical Journal 333,7575 (4 November 2006): 945-948.
The Association Between IQ in Adolescence and a Range of Health Outcomes at 40 in the 1979 US National Longitudinal Study of Youth
Intelligence 37,6 (November-December 2009): 573-580.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289608001669
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Keyword(s): CESD (Depression Scale); Cognitive Ability; Depression (see also CESD); Health, Mental; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; I.Q.; Intelligence; Intelligence Tests; Morbidity; Mortality
A link between pre-morbid intelligence and all cause mortality is becoming well established, but the aetiology of the association is not understood. Less is known about links with cause specific mortality and with morbidity. The aim of this study is to examine the association between intelligence measured in adolescence and a broad range of health outcomes ascertained at 40 years of age. We use data on 7476 participants in the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 who had their cognitive ability measured at baseline and completed the 'Health at 40' interview module between 1998 and 2004. The Health at 40 module includes assessments of general health and depression, nine medically diagnosed conditions, and 33 common health problems. Higher mental test scores were associated with lower depression scores, better general health, significantly lower odds of having five of the nine diagnosed conditions and 15 of the 33 health problems. A health disadvantage of higher cognitive ability was evident for only three of the 33 health problems.
Der, Geoff, G. David Batty and Ian J. Deary. "The Association Between IQ in Adolescence and a Range of Health Outcomes at 40 in the 1979 US National Longitudinal Study of Youth." Intelligence 37,6 (November-December 2009): 573-580.


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Rent relief was needed 'well before a global health crisis': leaders
Cailin Crowe Editor
The image by Backbone Campaign is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Local officials from Seattle to Philadelphia are urging state and federal leaders to offer rent relief and protection for the country's tens of millions of renters during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The call to action comes as 30 million people have filed for unemployment in just six weeks, with some experts estimating that number is an undercount. During a recent Local Progress press conference, leaders called on Congress to cancel rent and mortgage payments, and invest in affordable housing, to help ease financial burdens for those millions of Americans.
"We are in the business of making sure people are sheltered and protected in this time of this public health crisis," said Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-MN, who recently proposed an emergency rent and mortgage cancellation bill. "We can't afford to have so many people be unsheltered and face this pandemic without the protection of being at home."
The urging of local leaders to cancel rent preceded May Day, on which millions of renters did not pay their landlords full payments or on time. And almost a third of the country's 13.4 million renters could not make their rent in early April, according to a report from the National Multifamily Housing Council.
"The crisis of COVID has laid bare the housing instability that our communities were already facing," Seattle Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda said. Some of the initial measures taken to protect Seattle renters during the pandemic include preventing evictions until June 4; prohibiting utilities from being shut off; prohibiting late fees on back rent and allowing a 12-month grace period to pay rent, according to Mosqueda.
But those efforts are "just not enough," she said. A universal approach to canceling rent and mortgage payments, and building more affordable housing, is still needed, according to Mosqueda.
In Philadelphia, over 550 evictions were scheduled to be heard the week before the city issued its stay-at-home order, Philadelphia Councilmember At-Large Helen Gym said, noting almost 70% of individuals facing default evictions are black mothers who are heads of their households.
"Well before a global health crisis shook our city, a local housing crisis has impacted ten of thousands of families here each and every day," she said.
Eviction moratoriums represent only a temporary solution, according to Local Progress. "Fears are already growing about the backlog of evictions and foreclosures that will inevitably lead to a rise in homelessness once measures are no longer in place to protect tenants," the group said in a statement.
An increase in homelessness could have devastating effects on U.S. cities as the rate of homelessness already jumped 2.7% nationwide last year, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A recent report found that $11.5 billion is required to protect people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic, and the vulnerable group is four times as likely to require critical care and twice as likely to be hospitalized.
"By suspending rent and mortgage payments across the country, we can reject the politics of divide and conquer and embrace a just solution that leaves no one behind," Gym said. "We can give renters, homeowners, and landlords the chance they need to get back on their feet without risking the homelessness or bankruptcy that could ruin that chance for years to come."
To keep up with all of our coverage on how the new coronavirus is impacting U.S. cities, visit our daily tracker.
Filed Under: Climate & Resilience, Governance
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CollectionMS 1381 - Papers on the Solomon Islands and other Pacific Islands
Item001 - Companion of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George
Item002 - Bundle of photographs and native story as told by native.
Item003 - Correspondence to Charlie and Harold Woodford from their father, C.M. Woodford, May 1910-Aug 1913
Item004 - Correspondence to and from C.M. Woodford, Jun 1910-Sep 1914
Item005 - Genealogies and documents relating to family history
Collection MS 1381 - Papers on the Solomon Islands and other Pacific Islands
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Papers on the Solomon Islands and other Pacific Islands
Woodford, Charles Morris
Charles Morris Woodford was born in 1852 and educated at Tonbridge School in England. He settled in Suva about 1882 and from Fiji visited Kiribati (the Gilbert Islands group), as Government agent on the ketch Patience. In 1886, as a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society he made the first of three successive explorations of the Solomon Islands, especially Guadalcanal, where he was the first white man to penetrate the interior to any distance, collecting natural history specimens for the British Museum. His experiences are described in his book A Naturalist Among Headhunters (1890). In 1895 Woodford became Acting Consul and Deputy Commissioner at Samoa, and in the following year, a part of the Solomon Group having been made a British Protectorate, he was appointed the first Resident Commissioner, a post which he retained until his retirement in 1914. His later years were spent in Sussex.
Woodford contributed an account of his visit to the Gilbert Islands to The Geographical Journal in 1895, and a note on Ontong Java in 1909. In 1916 he read a paper to the Royal Geographical Society on Polynesian settlements in the Solomon Islands, published in the Journal in 1926. Woodford helped elucidate the narratives of Mandaña's discovery of the Solomon Islands by identifying places visited by the Spaniards and taking photographs for inclusion in the Hakluyt Society publications. He also published papers in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, of which he was a Fellow.
From The Geographical Journal, 1928, pp.206-207.
Available for reference
http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/pambu/copyright.php
See individual items.
Pacific Research Archives, Australian National University Archives Program.
Access this title at PMB Member Libraries or by purchasing it directly from the Bureau: http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/pambu/accessing.php
See also: PMB 1021, PMB 1290
Woodford, Charles Morris (Creation)
Woodford, Charles Morris (Subject)
Digital_reference_image.pdf


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Marijuana companies are finding a new way to generate buzz beyond traditional advertising and marketing: They are snapping up properties that are historic buildings or were previously owned by an iconic brand such as chocolate maker Hershey.
Faced with major restrictions on their ability to advertise and market their goods and services, the purchases allow MJ companies to drum up free publicity and consumer interest by pointing to a property's former occupants – be it a winemaker or a bank.
These businesses are borrowing a page from mainstream companies ranging from Starbucks to outdoor retailer REI.
Denver's flagship REI store, for example, is located in a 1901 building that once housed the boilers and engines used to generate power for the Denver Tramway Co. rail system.
In addition to a Hershey candy factory in Canada, cannabis companies have acquired real estate previously owned by Pepsi, the Boston Beer Co. – the craft brewing powerhouse behind Samuel Adams beer – and winemaker Fetzer Vineyards.
MJ companies also are purchasing properties that have local historic interest.
New England Treatment Access, for example, decided to put one of its two Massachusetts dispensaries in the former Brookline Savings Bank, a 95-year-old Beaux Arts-style building in suburban Boston that was built with Italian marble.
The building boasts an impressive dome and is part the Brookline Village Commercial District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic of Places.
The dispensary also has an agreement with the Brookline Historical Society that it maintain the building according to the group's historical standards, Arbelaez said.
While some might see that as a needless expense, Albaraez said maintaining the historical integrity of a building that is so important to the town helps his company's relationship with local residents.
"This building gives us another way to communicate with Brookliners and introduce them to the concept of regulated medical cannabis," Arbelaez said.
To be sure, cannabis entrepreneurs seeking real estate must consider factors like price and proximity to major population centers and transportation hubs.
But MJ companies can benefit from buying a historic property or one formerly owned by a well-known brand – although how they do that varies.
Last year, AmeriCann, a Denver-based real estate company that caters to cannabis cultivators, bought a 52-acre Massachusetts property previously owned by the Boston Beer Co. that it is converting into a cultivation site it plans to lease to growers.
Tim Keogh, AmeriCann's CEO, sees the purchase as symbolic.
When AmeriCann closed on the property – in the southern Massachusetts town of Freetown – company executives noted in their announcement that Boston Beer was the previous owner.
The brewer had bought the land for $6 million and spent a few million dollars more on planning and designing the site, Keogh said. But it ultimately scrapped the plan in favor of an already built and less expensive brewery project in Pennsylvania. Boston Beer put the parcel on the market, and AmeriCann swooped in and bought it for $4.15 million.
"There was some symbolism there. It was interesting that the property was going from craft beer to cannabis. It was kind of a cool story," Keogh said, explaining why AmeriCann chose to highlight the property's former owners in announcing the land purchase.
AmeriCann executives also liked that the property was bought from a company that as recently as the 1980s wasn't too different from their own, Keogh noted, giving his business a legacy to inherit.
Both companies saw a market niche and were early movers in their respective industries, and then ramped up, Keogh said, pointing out what he said were the similarities between AmeriCann and Boston Beer.
"It's the idea that if it worked for them it could work for us," Keogh said.
While Keogh acknowledges tossing around the Boston Beer name to raise some extra interest, he also cautioned against overusing it.
"That was a fun story at the acquisition stage, and we'll tip the hat where appropriate. But it's not a big selling point for AmeriCann or the project that we're building," Keogh said.
Flow Kana – a company that partners with small growers and provides them with testing, processing, manufacturing and distribution services – prefers to play down the fact the 80-acre site it bought in February is where the Fetzer family started its famous wine business in Northern California's Mendocino County.
Flow Kana did drop the Fetzer name when it announced the creation of a cannabis institute in April, but the company generally doesn't cite it in marketing or news releases, Reiman said.
Still, the Fetzer connection resulted in an avalanche of publicity for Flow Kana, including articles in the Wine Spectator as well as local California newspapers.
Doyen Elements, a Colorado provider of ancillary grow and other services, also doesn't hide that the land and buildings it purchased this year in Pueblo for a cultivation project was once a Pepsi factory. The company is now renovating the property.
But don't expect Doyen to create a catchy connection between Pepsi and marijuana for marketing purposes.
Only possible b/c of the unprecedented and unsustainable manipulation of the cost of capital and accumulation of future financial obligations piled on the next generations. Enjoy it while it lasts, this type of movie has played out in different ways throughout history.


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Home » QinetiQ Signs Deal for Four Airbus H125 for Empire Test Pilots' School
QinetiQ Signs Deal for Four Airbus H125 for Empire Test Pilots' School
QinetiQ signed a deal for four Airbus H125 helicopters as part of its modernization of the Empire Test Pilots' School (ETPS) it manages with the UK's Ministry of Defence (MOD). The aircraft are expected to enter service in early 2019.
The approximately £15 million deal will see Airbus Helicopters' UK design team upgrade the Garmin G500-equipped aircraft that features a 3-axis autopilot, dedicated communications equipment and Traffic Awareness Systems. It also has a Flight Test Instrumentation suite used to test and evaluate aircraft design and performance – a critical part of a test pilot or flight test engineer's training.
The contract includes aircraft modification and a 10-year, full HCare support and service package.
John Anderson, Managing Director Air & Space, QinetiQ said: "We and the MOD are investing £85m in ETPS under our strategy to modernize the UK's Test Aircrew Training capability. Assembling a fleet that provides the very best value and performance is vital to this strategy and the H125 will play a leading role."
The acquisition of the H125s is part of QinetiQ's £1 billion deal with the MOD, signed in December 2016, to modernize the UK's test aircrew training and air range capabilities. As part of the agreement, QinetiQ is investing £85m in ETPS to reduce operating costs, enhance capabilities and drive future growth. This includes the purchase of eight new aircraft to comprehensively update and future-proof the fleet that delivers training.
Transformation of the UK Empire Test Pilots' School


Approximately 30% of what Minnesotans throw away is food waste. Columbia Heights residents now have the opportunity to recycle organics (food scraps and food-soiled paper) at their property in dual purpose carts for both yard waste and food waste. The cart cost is charged quarterly on the City utility bill.
Upon request, the City will provide your property with a large 90 gallon cart for comingled yard waste and organics. Small 30 gallon carts will be available as well, but note that yard waste and organics can be put in the same cart, so a large 90 gallon cart may be warranted. Apartment buildings and condos can also participate, but only the building owner and/or manager can order carts.
The carts will be emptied weekly on the same day as garbage during the yard waste season, and every other week during the winter. Collection will be conducted off the curb during the yard waste season and in the alley (if you have one) during the winter. Exceptions can be made for those properties whose front yard makes it impractical to bring carts to the curb.
Households will also receive a free kitchen starter kit with the required bags for organics disposal and a free bag of compost. Apartment and condo buildings can receive organic starter kits for tenants too.
The City Solid Waste Policy requires all food organic materials be securely contained in a BPI-Certified compostable bag and disposed of in the City provided containers without exception. Organics materials included as part of the City's organics recycling program will be consistent with the designated Organics Recycling Facility (i.e. the composter) requirements. Please contact the Public Works Department to order a Yard Waste/Organics cart.
City Solid Waste Policy requires for public health reasons that food organics must be disposed of in the City provided yard waste/organics cart.
Haulers' concern for worker safety. There are long-term effects on workers lifting odd-sized containers four feet off the ground and emptying them all day long.
The City wants to remove any public nuisance of taking organics out of the garbage cart by ensuring it still stored in a similar container, i.e. another cart. Again, the policy requires using the yard waste/organics cart if recycling organics.
Household containers that are damaged will not be replaced by the City. It is much easier and less expensive for the City to replace a standard cart.
A household can possibly save money by choosing to use the City provided cart rather than purchasing yard waste bags.
The State of MN requires that yard waste bags meet ASTM D6400 standards for compostability. Information about the logo and certified vendors is available at BPI World/Minnesota. Call Waste Management at 1-888-960-0008 with any questions concerning yard waste collection. Anoka County has two compost sites available to residents that accept tree waste (for those branches over 4"), yard waste, and Christmas trees. Please note that a fee may be charged.
If interested in composting, information is available on the Anoka County website. For those who have backyard composting, you can still utilize the City's organics collection service for those items not allowed in backyard composting, such as meat, bones, dairy and paper. *See City Code Chapter 8 Public Health and Safety; Article III: Garbage and Rubbish; § 8.301 Storage Containers (F) concerning requirements and restrictions for the City of Columbia Heights.


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As a useful resource, below are links to the contest pages of sites that feature New Brunswick Contests. These sites regularly feature multiple contests but restrict entry to residents of New Brunswick.
If you know of some New Brunswick sites that have regular contest pages, please let us know via our Contact Us Page so we can add them.


Who deserves the title of Top Data Center Manager of 2018? Santa Claus. After all, he did a fantastic job making sure little boys and girls all around the world received their gifts – and we know that wasn't easy, especially when you take into account all that data he had to store! While we'll never know for sure just how expansive his operation is, here's what we believe Santa's Data Center looks like – and how he's able to handle one of the world's most challenging (and important) data storage facilities. So, what exactly does Santa need?
First of all, he's going to need a massive data center with an enormous footprint to house the names of the billions of kids around the world – not to mention their designation as naughty or nice, what they want for Christmas (video submissions are a thing now!), addresses, etc. And it needs to be secure – we're talking high-tech, fully customizable, and nearly impenetrable. (Sounds like our SEAL® line of enclosures…just sayin'.) Depending on the gifts asked for, there are probably numerous regulatory requirements to comply with in addition to the storage size alone (FINRA? HIPAA? ISO 27001?). Impressed yet? Just remember that Santa probably is collocating on at least three other continents as well, just to be safe. What a boss!
Now, think about everyone who needs access to that data. We're talking elves, reindeer, manufacturing, purchasing, inventory, logistics, sleigh repair technicians, Mrs. Claus, you name it! Even if you have the world's most privately situated data center, it doesn't mean you can go casual with the security. That's where RFID, biometric, and pin pad access solutions come in. That way, Santa is always aware of the comings and goings, and who has access to what. Not that Santa needs any help knowing who's naughty or nice – but he does need to know who has access to his data center, when, and why.
Finally, we have to consider weather conditions. While the North Pole is cold, which will help with Santa's energy costs, our guess is the data center will be so big and so powerful that it still has significant needs related to managing air flow. That means keeping cold air in and pushing hot air out. Keeping the data center under wraps presents a different challenge – the North Pole may be remote but there's still a chance someone (likely from the naughty list) could find it. That's where Great Lakes' superior customization comes in. We pride ourselves on creating unique solutions for unique problems. And we think a powder coat color in Winter White is just what Santa needs to keep those naughty kids (and not to mention the Abominable Snowman) away.