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Results tagged ' Mike Trout '
Thoughts on a few hot topics of the day:
Peter Bourjos vs. Mike Trout
Who's faster? And where will they play when they're in the same outfield?
These are questions I get all the time. There is no definitive answer to the matter of speed. My guess is Trout is more explosive in the first 20 to 30 yards, but Bourjos would catch him and nip him at the wire at 100 yards. Everyone would like to see them race, but it's actually better this way, keeping the debate alive as we watch these two phenomenal athletes grow into whatever they become.
My guess is that Bourjos, with great reads and a better arm, will remain in center field and win close to as many Rawlings Gold Gloves as his mentor, Torii Hunter, who owns nine. Bourjos is already the best, in my view, and can only get better.
Bourjos has the ability to be a highly productive offensive player, hitting in the .280 to .320 range consistently with 50 to 70 steals. He has the hand and bat speed and the willingness to put in the necessary work to make it happen.
Trout's ceiling is Sistine Chapel-esque: colorful and enormous. I'm not sure he'll ever be quite as good as Bourjos defensively, but he'll be close. And he has the talent to be one of the game's best total hitters. Still not quite 20, he won't come into his power for a few more years, at which time I think you'll see him land in the 25-30 homer range with triple digits in runs scored and RBIs. He has the tools to contend for batting titles.
With Hunter, Vernon Wells and Bobby Abreu coming back, there's no need to rush Trout. But he might force his way into the outfield rotation next season. If he does, I see him in left. And that's where I see him for a long time, giving the Angels the best left fielder in the game to go along with the premier center fielder, Bourjos.
Something else to ponder: Bourjos, Erick Aybar and Trout forming the fastest, most electric top third of a batting order anyone has seen in a long time. Maybe ever. Aybar is almost as swift as Bourjos and Trout.
Oh, and the guy hitting behind them, cleaning up by driving in loads of runs? Mark Trumbo. This guy is on his way to becoming one of the game's most feared power hitters. He has the skill and the will and, the most underrated part of the formula, rare common-sense intelligence.
The best is coming for Angels fans. Patience is no virtue, I understand, when it's all about winning RIGHT NOW. But there's a whole lot of gold here waiting to be mined in the future.
Mike Napoli vs. Jeff Mathis
The collision of the front-running Rangers, with Napoli fitting in beautifully behind the plate and in the lineup, and the pursuing Angels, with Mathis doing his customary solid defensive work while scuffling offensively, has touched off an old debate among the so-called faithful.
A small segment of fandom seems to appreciate what Mathis has done for a pitching staff that has been the foundation of the Angels' success. A much larger segment preferred, and still prefers, Napoli's booming bat. Now that Nap also is putting together an impressive catcher's ERA with a superb Texas staff, his supporters – and those who just don't like Mathis – are coming unglued on web sites attacking Mathis, manager Mike Scioscia for playing him, and yours truly for defending him.
The venom is totally out of proportion to the reality, but when emotion gets involved, all logic goes out the proverbial window. I'm an idiot, and so is Scioscia, evidently, for continuing to defend and, in Mike's case, play a guy WHO CAN'T HIT .200.
Numbers, thrown out to defend any position, now hold the game hostage. It's all about all these categories I can't even define. Watching and enjoying the game is secondary now. Sometimes it's as if the stat people would be thrilled if they just stopped playing the game altogether and let them give us the results through their computers. Everything is so cut and dried, preordained statistically, they might as well do that.
In response to all those who insist I am biased toward Mathis, I would ask you to please, if you get a chance, ask Napoli our relationship when he was with the Angels. I'm pretty sure he'd tell you he had no bigger supporter, in or out of the media.
I'm thrilled to see Napoli with a big smile on his face, having a great time. He's a good guy. So is his best buddy, Mathis. Their relationship has remained rock solid through their years of competing for playing time, which tells you a lot about both of them.
They used to joke that if you combined their talents, you'd have Johnny Bench. And that wasn't far from the truth. Given the relative popularity of the two, it's obvious about 95 percent of fandom would take Bench's power over his defense.
Mathis knows he needs to hit. That's his problem. He has to relax and let his natural athletic ability flow. He's one of the five best athletes in the clubhouse, and if that ever happens, if he ever unlocks himself, he can be a decent offensive player.
The Mathis haters, of course, will laugh, as always. Go ahead. It's your prerogative. Just please try not to be so hostile in expressing yourself. It cheapens your position.
Howard Kendrick vs. Howie Kendrick
Most everyone calls him Howie, but I'm sticking with Howard for one reason: Jody, his wife, calls him Howard, and so do other family members, from what I understand. If that's who he is to those closest to him, I'll go with that. Mike Scioscia calls him Howie because he believes there should be a separation between the athlete and the private person. Mike and I sometimes disagree.
At Spring Training a few years ago, another person close to Kendrick told me "there's nothing Howie about him," adding that he's just too nice a guy to even care what people call him.
Kendrick once told me that Howie first surfaced next to his name early in his career when a bubble-gum company put that on his card. I remembered seeing (and hating) Bob Clemente, not Roberto, on a card when I was a kid. So I guess that's another reason why I write Howard Kendrick, not Howie.
No big deal. Just setting the record straight from my perspective. – Lyle Spencer
Filed in: Uncategorized
Tags: Bobby Abreu, Erick Aybar, Howard Kendrick, Jeff Mathis, Mark Trumbo, Mike Napoli, Mike Trout, Peter Bourjos, Torii Hunter, Vernon Wells
Trumbo in mix for playing time
TEMPE, Ariz. – Young slugger Mark Trumbo could thrust himself into the picture for the Angels with a strong spring, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said on Sunday in his daily session with the media.
"Mark's got an opportunity to win a lot of playing time," Scioscia said. "We're going to get him acclimated to first base to begin with and get him some work in the outfield."
A pitcher and all-around athlete when he was drafted in 2004 out of Villa Park High School, about 15 minutes from Angel Stadium, Trumbo has been primarily a first baseman in six Minor League seasons.
He has played some corner outfield the past two seasons but was not given any starts there in the Venezuelan Winter League, where he put up more big numbers after leading Minor League baseball with his 36 homers for Triple-A Salt Lake last year. A number of fans would like to see the Angels give him a look at third base.
"They tried him as a third baseman [after he signed], and we've talked about revisiting it," Scioscia said. "He's still a work in progress at first base. His tool set lends itself to the outfield."
Trumbo, who goes 6-foot-4 and about 220 pounds, gets great leverage and drives the ball with tremendous power. His ongoing challenge involves pitch recognition and not putting himself in bad counts. He launched mammoth shots in the Pacific Coast League that his Bees teammates are still talking about.
Scioscia's daily Kendry Morales report after an impressive hitting exhibition on Saturday: "There's some work he needs to do. From the offensive side, that's the least of his concerns. His first round of fielding drills was very encouraging. From the offensive side, I don't think there's any question he could swing the bat on Opening Day. Whether [or not] he can get through Spring Training with flying colors, there are definitely going to be some DH days for him to get a little different look."
Scioscia's daily Scott Kazmir report: "We're seeing him throw the ball with better velocity and less effort, which should theoretically help his command. We're seeing arm speed creating better spin on his slider. His changeup is a really good pitch. It's early, but he never threw the ball last spring as well as he is now."
Scioscia on Maicer Izturis' durability issues: "He played 114 games two years ago and probably could have played 130. This guy works out as hard as anybody in the clubhouse. He's experimented with trying to back off, with different routines. He's had a little issue with durability. If we get anywhere from 90 to 110 games from him, we're going to be very happy. If we get more, we've got to consider it a bonus."
Scioscia on Mike Trout's ETA with the Angels: "This guy's as far advanced as anybody the past few generations we've seen. He's got a great head. We're excited to see him as a player, but we're not expecting him to run routes in center like Torii Hunter did or run the bases like Chone Figgins did. There's growth he needs before he's a Major League baseball player. This guy's got a plan every day. This guy's going to be a very good player very soon. What his numbers are going to be in 10 years, nobody knows."
The second full day of workouts on Sunday was cut short by heavy rains that cleared the fields soon after the players had gone out to work. Brandon Wood began to swing on soft toss for the first time after experiencing some back stiffness.
The following Angels games will be broadcast over MLB Network this spring: Feb. 27, at Dodgers, noon PT; March 1, Reds, noon; March 3, Royals, 6 p.m.; March 4, White Sox, noon; March 6, Diamondbacks, 4 p.m.; March 8, Rangers, 8 p.m.; March 21, Cubs, 1 p.m. —Lyle Spencer
Tags: Angels, Brandon Wood, Kendry Morales, Maicer Izturis, Mark Trumbo, Mike Scioscia, Mike Trout, Scott Kazmir
Trout leads 25 non-roster invitees
Outfielder Mike Trout, the No. 1 prospect in the Major Leagues according to a survey of industry executives and scouts by MLB.com, heads a list of 25 non-roster invitees to big-league camp in Spring Training at Tempe, Ariz. Angels general manager Tony Reagins made the announcement.
The list includes nine pitchers, five catchers, seven infielders and four outfielders.
"This is a great opportunity for our young prospects to get a feel for what we do in the spring, our philosophies about how to play the game the right way," manager Mike Scioscia said. "It's been invaluable to our young players through the years."
The pitchers are right-handers Ryan Brasier, Ryan Braun, Ryan Chaffee, Tyler Chatwood, Eric Junge, Garrett Richards and southpaws Matt Meyer, Trevor Reckling and Andrew Taylor.
Catchers Anel de los Santos, Jose Jimenez, Carlos Ramirez, Kevin Richardson and Alberto Rosario will enroll in Camp Scioscia. Infielders Alexi Amarista, Gabe Jacobo, Kevin Melillo, Efren Navarro, Darwin Perez, Jean Segura and Gil Velasquez and outfielders Trout, Tyson Auer, Angel Castillo and Travis Witherspoon round out the group of 25 invitees with dreams of reaching The Show. – Lyle Spencer
Tags: Alberto Rosario, Alexi Amarista, Andrew Taylor, Anel de los Santos, Angel Castillo, Carlos Ramirez, Darwin Perez, Efren Navarro, Eric Junge, Gabe Jacobo, Garrett Richards, Gil Velasquez, Jean Segura, Jose Jimenez, Kevin Melillo, Kevin Richardson, Matt Meyer, Mike Scioscia, Mike Trout, Ryan Brasier, Ryan Braun, Ryan Chaffee, Tony Reagins, Travis Witherspoon, Trevor Reckling, Tyler Chatwood, Tyson Auer
Draft looks good, but time will tell
Day one of the First-Year Player Draft, from a casual fan's point of view, couldn't have gone much better for the Angels.
In the first round, they landed a couple of high school kids who can mash. Randal Grichuk, from deep in the heart of Texas, and Mike Trout, a Jersey kid, could be the Tim Salmon (that would be Trout, naturally) and Garret Anderson of the next generation.
In conference calls, these fresh-faced youngsters sounded optimistic and upbeat and thrilled on one of the biggest days of their lives. Ah, to be a teen with a whole world of possibilities.
Nobody knows where their destinies will take them. That's the thing about the MLB Draft — it takes years to get the final word. But it certainly will be a lot of fun following the paths of these kids.
Trout is a center fielder and an athlete, a basketball and football player. Grichuk — pronounced Gri-chick — is a born hitter. Here's to good health and long, productive careers for both.
As a proud Santa Monica High School alum, I was thrilled with the Angels' first compensation pick, southpaw Tyler Skaggs. A fellow Viking, he's tall and gifted and I will chart his progress closely.
After right-hander Garrett Richards from Oklahoma — he'll be buddies with Reggie Willits in no time — the Angels went on a run of southpaws, loading up in an area of need. Of course, I have to be a little partial to third-round pick Joshua Spence, an native of the wonderful land of Australia. You never can have too many Spences on the scene.
Eddie Bane, the Angels' scouting director, is immensely respected in the game for his ability to not only identify talent but to believe in the judgments of his area scouts.
Nobody can look into the future, but something tells me this someday will be remembered as one of the greatest drafts in franchise history. If I'm wrong, you'll have to look me up in four or five years to find me and tell me how dead wrong I was..
Tags: Angels, Eddie Bane, Garret Anderson, Garrett Richards, Joshua Spence, Mike Trout, Randal Grichuk, Reggie Willits, Tim Salmon, Tyler Skaggs


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HomeIssuesTrain StationsRandstadRail Station Beatrixlaan
Previous Dialogue 6 14 Next
Architype Dialogue presents
Rein Jansma, Reinald Top, Rob Torsing
What was the most difficult issue about working within this building type or the most unexpected challenge that may have influenced new thought in your project?
The most common building type for a highline train tube and station exists of two pieces: the main structure that actually carries the construction and the roof that's added as a separate structure. In case of the Beatrixlaan Station the iconic transparent tube and substructure were constructed as a one integrated structure. We choose for this solution because it enabled us to make a more advanced and open structure that's uses less material. The more common not integrated structures usually have a more massive effect and less transparent effect.
When we came up with this iconic transparent structure, the stakeholders of the project became very enthusiastic. They expected apparently a less present piece of infrastructure but in the end they saw in the powerful structure an identity carrier for the area! In contrast, the maintenance service of the municipality reacted more reserved. They thought our solution to be risky, as they only had experience in maintaining more common constructions. The stakeholders started to defense "their" iconic tube. In complex assignments like trains stations it's mostly hard to convince politics to choose for a more innovative, iconic construction instead of an average solution. With the help of the stakeholders of the Beatrixlaan project we succeeded.
Did this project expand or evolve your role as an architect in any way? In general, do you feel that the role of the architect is changing on current projects?
Infrastructure used to be an engineers job. Nowadays infrastructure is used as a city-marketing tool. Designers are given an important role in the process. The project of RandstadRail contributed in the development to put infrastructure on the map as an object for design.
How is your building possible today in a way that it may not have been before and how have trends in technology and society inspired new thought and solutions?
In the days of Henry Ford you were only able to design a cheap piece of technology when it was inelaborate. Every car had to be the same. Working with advanced computer systems allows us in the 21st century to develop all kind of construction variants. The prices of the variants won't rise as the computer can calculate variants rapidly. Changes can be made easily throw principles like 'File to Factory' or even 'File to Site'
Also the way the building process was designed, a public-private construction, made it possible to develop a whole area on high quality standards. The Train Station was not only seen as a station, but as the heart of a highly dense hub with offices and other functions. The stakeholders wanted the hub to be visible attractive.
In the context of this project, how is your office and design process being influenced by current trends in academic curricula and incoming young architects? In turn, how are current projects and processes guiding the ongoing reformulation and development of academic curricula?
We work with international PhD researchers to develop more advanced constructions. But we also go past conventional academic institutes. We support open-source sharing of ideas, as we believe that sharing information will help the technology to improve more rapidly.
Our firm is advanced in form finding. As data in the open-source society is interchangeable it allows us to apply state of the art technology and to develop it. We developed the same language as the producers of the technology, so we're able to work quickly. Also we can calculate with the help of computer systems the most limited material use, we're able to design sustainable solutions.
Architype Review thanks Rein Jansma, Reinald Top, and Rob Torsing for their interview and for contributing to this collection of Architype Dialogue.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Addressing accountability in NGO advocacy: Practice, principles and prospects of self-regulation
All IDRC / CRDI Research Outputs
IDRC Research Results / Résultats de recherches du CRDI
Hammer, Michael; Rooney, Charlotte; Warren, Shana
Based on a world-wide survey of civil society self-regulatory initiatives, this paper examines how non-governmental organizations (NGO) have begun to address the accountability challenges they face when engaging in advocacy, and explains some of the strengths and weaknesses of existing self-regulation. The briefing identifies a set of initial good practice principles for advocacy organisations for each major dimension of accountability. Questions and concerns about whether an organisation indeed contributes to the public benefit have often been confused with the issue of how to assess and measure the impact of particular policy advocacy activities.
Briefing paper number 125
Name: IDL-49891.pdf
2010-2019 / Années 2010-2019
Accountability Principles for Research Organizations / Principes de responsabilité pour des organismes de recherche
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk/
Contact Us | Send Feedback | Copyright | Open Access | Privacy | Website Usage
idrc.ca


"Kto jedzie dziś z nami?"
Translation:Who is going with us today?
Why not: "who goes with us yoday?"?
Okay, I think that in this particular sentence it makes sense, although it kinda violates the Simple/Continuous rule used with Polish Verbs of Motion. Anyway, added.
that really doesnt sound like a k at the start of kto in the recording, more like an f.
I would like to ask about the pronunciation of z here. It sounds like zed here.
In slow speech (reading word by word), the computer voice reads one-letter prepositions as if it was saying the alphabet.
It's not what a person would say ;) Unless the person would be saying the alphabet.
"Mój tata jedzie na wakacje."
Dziś skończyłem moje polskie drzewo pierwszy raz!


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Matthew Brenner
Digital Communications Specialist
mbrenner@chapinhall.org
Matthew Brenner is a Digital Communications Specialist at Chapin Hall. He edits and proofreads reports, executive summaries, proposals, and press releases. He writes news stories and summaries of publications for Chapin Hall's public and internal websites. In his editing work, Brenner strives to make research findings accessible to readers. Brenner also manages content on Chapin Hall's websites, including publications and research. He creates social media postings to promote Chapin Hall's publications. He also manages Chapin Hall's access to journals and publications and fosters the relationship between Chapin Hall and the University of Chicago library.
Brenner has spent his career at Chapin Hall. He previously managed the Chapin Hall Information Center, which provided researchers with journals and reports. He has extensive editing and proofreading experience and has reviewed hundreds of Chapin Hall research reports, issue briefs, and the organization's Guide to Projects and Publications. Brenner also supports special projects for the Executive Director.
Brenner has a certificate in Editing from the University of Chicago Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Kenyon College.
Certificate in Editing, University of Chicago Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies
Bachelor of Arts in English, Kenyon College


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April 21, 2015 Agriculture and Food Production Articles In the Media Our Writing
Monsanto's Spin Machine Grinds On
by Anna Lappé
In the fall of 1962, a group of chemical companies including Monsanto – at the time the largest producer of the cancer-causing chemical compound, PCB – launched a full-throttle public relations campaign against Silent Spring and its author, biologist Rachel Carson.
In Silent Spring, Carson dared to take on the world's biggest chemical companies, explaining that their products were not only harmful to birds and bees, but to humans, too. In the wake of its publication, the chemical industry PR machine kicked into gear. "Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent attempting to discredit not only the book but the 'hysterical' woman who wrote it," says Kaiulani Lee, the playwright and actor who wrote and performs the definitive play about Carson, A Sense of Wonder.
In addition to paying spokespeople to tarnish Carson's reputation, Monsanto also sent a parody to newspapers around the country. In "The Desolate Year," Monsanto painted a frightening picture of a world without chemicals. It was a bleak place. "Genus by genus, species by species, sub-species by innumerable sub-species, the insects emerged," the article warned. "Creeping and flying and crawling. … They were chewers, and piercer-suckers, spongers, siphoners and chewer-lappers, and all their vast progeny were chewers – rasping, sawing biting maggots and worms and caterpillars." It goes on and on like this for five pages. (As we now know, that diatribe was fear-mongering, not fact-marshalling. Organic and low-chemical farmers across the United States are proving that you can eliminate, or greatly reduce, toxic chemical use on the farm without having to worry about being overrun by pests, weeds, or diseases.)
I can't help but notice that in its recent PR missives against anti-GMO activists, Monsanto, which is today the world's largest manufacturer of genetically modified seeds, is using the same fear tactics. Only this time, it's stirring up fear of a world without biotech crops.
In a recent debate on NPR, Monsanto's Chief Technology Officer, Robert Fraley, sounded remarkably like "The Desolate Year." "What I'd like to do is [describe] what it would be like to live in a world without GMO crops," Fraley said in his closing statement. "Without GMOs, farmers would need to dramatically increase their use of herbicides and insecticides. [T]he pressure … will drain more wetlands, will cut down more forests. We [will] have to take tractors and run up and down the fields … and release more greenhouse gas emissions. Banning GMO crops is equivalent to putting 26 million new cars on the road. … I hope, for the sake of all the people … that you vote to … support GM food."
Despite Fraley's dire warnings, feeding the future doesn't depend on GMOs. In fact, the spread of GMOs is actively undermining our ability to feed future generations by locking farmers into dependence on expensive seeds and inputs, by undermining soil health, by reducing biodiversity, and more.
Keep in mind that the main GM traits that have been commercialized convey just two qualities, or a combination of them: pest- and weed-resistance. Industry promises for big nutrition or yield improvements have not borne fruit. Studies show that non-GM corn and soybean yields in Europe, for example, are similar to the yields achieved with GMOs here in the US.
What's more, we know that the ecologists who warned that GMOs would spur weed and pest resistance were right. As Jonathan Foley, the head of the California Academy of Scientists, has said: "You can't put out a weed-resistant crop and expect the weeds to sit still. They will evolve." They will, and they have. Today, we have Roundup-resistant weeds, some with stalks so thick that they can damage farm equipment. And we have Bt-resistant bugs so defiant they've got corn growers in our Midwest worried. "Every ecologist predicted that," Foley says.
As with the chemicals Carson raised the alarm about, when it comes to genetic engineering, the risks are too great, the rewards too minimal, the alternatives too ample to do anything but to stand up to this latest wave of industry fear-mongering.
Originally published in Earth Island Journal
Photo by Mike Mozart/Flickr
organic farming (45)
agrochemicals (41)
GMOs (30)
Earth Island Journal (6)


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Grenfell Tower victims told to stay put for 2 hours after first emergency call
The building's policy of 'staying put' sealed the fate of residents trapped inside the devastating inferno. - by that's life!
The residents inside Grenfell Tower were told to 'stay put' for two hours after emergency services were contacted about the fire before being told to evacuate the building.
The apartment building was destroyed in a fatal inferno last month, claiming the lives of at least 80 people and leaving hundreds homeless.
The BBC reports that the initial instruction to the residents of the tower was to stay where they were, in accordance with the buildings safety procedures.
RELATED: Onlooker catches baby dropped out the window by desperate mum trapped in Grenfell Tower blaze
London Fire Brigade overruled that decision almost two hours later, when it became clear that the building would be overwhelmed by flames.
The devastating fire tore through the building.
The safety policy in the building is claimed to have been based on the assumption that the building would be able to withstand a fire.
RELATED: Firefighter's photo from inside Grenfell Tower flat reveals true ferocity of the inferno
However reports of substandard build qualities have revealed that the building was encased in a flammable cladding, helping the devastating blaze take hold.


This file contains suggested resources by department as well as general instructional and classroom management resources.
Here is a quick reference to the District's current focus standards.
This website is a fantastic resource for previous PD focus as well as helpful hints for things that we continue to work on.
have something specific that you're looking for?
Please use this link to request resources or information.


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in Archaeology
Site-Seeing: Petra's Temple of the Winged Lions
Petra, the 2,000-year-old capital city and trade emporium of the ancient Nabateans nestled amid the rugged mountain landscape of southern Jordan, is a marvel to behold. Visitors to the expansive site meander through narrow passageways and hike up secluded trails to take in the spectacular rock-cut architecture and enigmatic monuments built during the time the city was flourishing, when the Nabateans controlled the lucrative Arabian incense trade and laid claim to a powerful kingdom stretching from Damascus to the Hejaz.
While a visit to Petra is certainly awe-inspiring, the site's impressive
monuments can, in many ways, overwhelm the touristic experience, with visitors so focused on snapping pictures and hurrying from one dramatic façade to another that they lose out on getting any dee
per sense of the place, its history or its people. (I know this was certainly my experience when I first visited Petra nearly 20 years ago.) Now, a new program led by the American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR) is, for the first time, allowing visitors to go beyond the monuments to actually discover and experience Petra's past and present.
ACOR's Experience Petra program takes place at the site of the Temple of the Winged Lions, an opulent colonnaded temple built to honor al-Uzza, the supreme goddess of the Nabateans. Built on a promontory overlooking the city center, the temple was a majestic sacred complex that featured a massive ascending staircase, a monumental entrance flanked by gigantic columns and an inner cultic chamber with a raised podium set amid a forest of columns. While most of the columns had beautiful Corinthian-style capitals, the dozen columns surrounding the main podium were adorned with the unique "winged lion" capitals that give the monument its name.
First excavated more than 40 years ago the temple's fragile sandstone walls and columns have suffered severe deterioration from both natural and human elements, and the temple is now in desperate need of conservation and repair. What is more, the temple's excavation had a decidedly negative effect on the surrounding landscape, producing deep excavation trenches and intrusive spoil heaps that transformed the site into an inaccessible and even hazardous ruin that, for decades, was best avoided by tourists and locals alike.
Since 2009, ACOR, in cooperation with the Department of Antiquities of Jordan and the Petra Archaeological Park, has directed the Temple of the Winged Lions Cultural Resource Management (TWLCRM) Initiative (www.facebook.com/twlcrm), assembling a team of world-class scholars and professionals to document, conserve and ultimately bring new life to this remarkable monument of one of the world's great wonders. At the same time, the project has developed an innovative social engagement strategy that directly involves members of Petra's host communities in the project through year-round employment, training and educational opportunities in archaeology and cultural resource management. The TWLCRM's path-breaking efforts have been funded through the U.S. State Department and USAID and have even earned the project the Archaeological Institute of America's 2015 award for Best Practices in Site Preservation.
Now, through the Experience Petra program, the TWLCRM is inviting casual tourists to work alongside our specialists and trained local technicians to preserve this important monument of Petra's past. In addition to participating in hands-on demonstrations of stone conservation methods and architectural documentation techniques, tourists experience archaeology firsthand by helping sift the site's excavation spoil heaps in search of pottery, coins, lamps, figurines and other small objects that were discarded at the temple thousands of years ago but missed during the original excavation. Tourists also learn about the types, dates and function of pottery and other objects recovered during the sifting process. At the same time, in learning directly from local technicians and trainees, visitors gain a deeper appreciation of Petra's vibrant local communities, as they hear the amazing personal stories of the project team, learn a little of the local Arabic dialect and even join the team in a glass of traditional Bedouin tea.
The Experience Petra tourism program is offered free of charge every Sunday at 11 a.m. to all visitors to the Temple of the Winged Lions site, with an activity program that takes a little more than an hour. In addition, fee-based customized programs can be designed with the TWLCRM upon request, while free site tours explaining the temple and the project are given at 11 a.m., Sunday through Thursday. The site is located within a 5-minute walk of the restaurants, museums and bathrooms found in the center of the Petra Archaeological Park, and it is especially convenient for those not interested in the more strenuous hikes to major Petra monuments, such as the Monastery or the High Place of Sacrifice.
Petra is certainly a marvel to behold, but without responsible archaeology and conservation of what has already been excavated, the site's long-term preservation is in serious jeopardy. If you plan to visit Petra, be sure to join us at the TWLCRM Initiative, so that you, too, can be part of ensuring a sustainable future for this amazing archaeological site.
From May/June 2017 issue of BAR - Glenn J. Corbett • 05/16/2017 - see more at this link
Tags: antiquities, archaeology, first-century, flavius josephus, jewish historian, josephus, lions, palestine, petra, roman army, rome, nabateans


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Urban Living - Kirkwood speaks the language of learning
By Douglas L. Wood	Wednesday April 2, 2008 12:04 am EDT
Mandarin is the world's most spoken language, and by the time Kirkwood's Toomer Elementary children graduate from college, China will be the No. 2 economy in the world. And since Chinese is a character-based language, learning it develops a different portion of the brain than a Romance-based language such as Spanish, and test scores tend to increase.
Members of the Kirkwood Neighborhood Organization, Principal Tonya Saunders at Toomer and Principal Andre Williams at Coan Middle School wrote a grant to the Georgia Department of Education requesting funds for a study on successful K-12 models of Chinese language instruction. A portion of the funding was used to conduct workshops for the Toomer PTA on what a Chinese curriculum would mean. From fall 2006 to spring 2007, a small team of parents, educators and community members visited programs in Chicago, the Washington, D.C. area, and Portland, Ore., and reported back to the community and other key players on the programs' successes and struggles.
At first there were concerns about whether Chinese should replace Spanish as the language of study. Some parents and teachers felt that since Spanish is so prevalent in our society, children would need it to interact. That is true, but an anecdote from the Chicago visit revealed what really gives a child a competitive advantage. A CEO of a Fortune 100 company at a roundtable was asked the last time he saw a Spanish requirement for a job. He hadn't since the early '90s because the skill was so prevalent within his company. Mandarin Chinese, on the other hand, would be immediately recognized as a desirable skill.
This issue and others were addressed in the workshops for the PTA and the teachers over the course of the year. Additionally, the PTA and teachers voted on the change.
At the same time the trips and presentations were taking place, the Kirkwood community, APS, and the Department of Russian and East Asian Languages and Cultures of Emory University began talking about forming a cooperation to support the language program once it started. The Hanban, a Chinese government agency, presented an opportunity to fund a language institute, and a partnership between APS, Emory and their partner Nanjing University – with Kirkwood steering the way – led to the first Confucius Institute in the Southeast outside of a university. The Confucius Institute opened March 19 and is based at Coan Middle School in Kirkwood. It is administered by the three partners, and serves as a resource center for teacher training, curriculum design and Chinese classes for the community.
APS hired three native-speaking teachers this past fall. Spanish was replaced with Chinese at Toomer and French was discontinued at Coan. With two teachers at Toomer, the kindergarten class receives 30 minutes a day of language instruction. A gradual phase-in program will eventually have all students taking Chinese daily. At Coan Middle School, one teacher provides 45 minutes of instruction four times a week to students in the sixth and seventh grades, with eighth grade being added next year.
The Chinese language program is only one of many efforts over six years – from school volunteer days to teacher appreciation breakfasts – that the Kirkwood Neighborhood Organization has developed to support our schools. And Atlanta Public Schools has welcomed the community's interaction – all to build stronger schools, and a strong Atlanta.
urban.living@creativeloafing.com
Douglas L. Wood has lived in Kirkwood for more than eight years with his wife and two children. He serves as president of the KNO and has two children who will attend Toomer Elementary School in fall 2008.
Search for more by Douglas L. Wood
[Admin link: Urban Living - Kirkwood speaks the language of learning]


text:
Summit League Basketball Tournament Predictions 2014
By Tyler Smith 3/8/2014
No. 7 IUPUI vs. No. 2 Fort Wayne
No. 5 South Dakota vs. No. 4 Denver
No. 6 Western Illinois vs. No. 3 South Dakota State
No. 4 Denver vs. No. 1 North Dakota State
No. 2 Fort Wayne vs. No. 3 South Dakota State
Championship at 9 p.m., ESPN2
No. 1 North Dakota State vs. No. 3 South Dakota State
Winner: North Dakota State


Our window treatment and wallpaper showroom is conveniently located at 5528 Drake Road in West Bloomfield, MI.
We look forward to serving you. Please call us at 248-661-3840. Please fill out our contact form to contact us by email.


text:
Betting Tips and Sport Discussion
Champo, L1 & L2, 2018/19 0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. « previous next »
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Gamesmaster
Re: Champo, L1 & L2, 2018/19
Reading and Stoke managed zero shots on target yesterday, seven years since that last happened in the Championship. I can see both of us doing the same again in L1 next season.
« Reply #226 on: March 26, 2020, 11:02:15 PM »
What's going to happen to the football? Non League has apparently been cancelled and it must set a precedent.
This non-existing season would be Wednesday's best in recent year. Sheffield United missing out on Europe, Liverpool on the league and Leeds on promotion
youthnkzR
Quote from: aaron1867 on March 26, 2020, 11:02:15 PM
Under National league right?
Posh getting relegated from the Championship with a record points total was bad enough. What's about to happen in L1 though is genuine what the absolute fk.
The best squad, with the best goal difference, best record against the other top teams, the momentum pre-Covid and an easy run-in, is about to get kicked out of the top six. A different way of finishing each of the three EFL leagues. Joke.
Wycombe could end up getting promoted if they can't stage playoffs having been outside the playoff positions. Because they had a game in hand, away at runaway leaders Coventry. Which they'd have been odds-on to lose. Had Coventry not gone so deep in the FA Cup and that match not been postponed...pfft.
Tough times all round though.
"Luke Prosser PFA rep at Colchester on Radio 5 saying that feeling amongst him and the 1000 or so free agents in EFL this summer is very few will get contracts in EFL, as they believe many clubs with no crowds and limited revenue will make do with the squads they have,16-20 players.
His case and 4 other senior pros at Colchester was they were offered contract extensions that they were due to sign, then the postponement came and the contracts were torn up. He said at 31 he has a young family and cant uproot from area so will almost certainly be forced to retire. Gone from captaining Colchester away at Old Trafford in Cup to a few months later unemployed. Been told even if Colchester go up they will not be in a position to offer any new contracts."
« Last Edit: May 22, 2020, 12:02:02 AM by Chompy » Logged
"I know we must all worship at the Church of Chomps, but statements like this are just plain ridic. He says he can't get a bet on, but we all know he can."
Just two cases of Covid in the Championship today and both play for Hull. I mean, what are the odds?
Marky147
Have they jogged the season on, or they got ongoing meetings?
Burning $$$ in Vegas 2021
http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=68840.0
Stevef31
Quote from: Marky147 on May 24, 2020, 11:12:38 PM
Season will restart 20th June. Play off final is July 30th. Gonna be a tight squeeze.
That's in the Championship.
There's now no excuse for L1 and L2 not to come back tbh.
Quote from: Chompy on May 31, 2020, 11:11:49 PM
Chance at grimming Tikay is still live!
Not a chance anything happens in tomorrow's L1 vote other than the season gets pulled bar play-offs. Maybe two-thirds will vote that way, meaning Posh miss out on the top six and Tranmere go down.
The EFL are a fking joke.
There was no point delaying it. Literally everything that's happened in the past couple of weeks has been conducive towards a resumption, but it's still not going to happen. Mid-table clubs see no point in continuing, so we're left in a position whereby Wycombe will vote to stop the season, so they can then move third on PPG (worst system possible) and then start playing again. Total bullshit.
Quote from: Chompy on June 08, 2020, 09:28:02 AM
I can't fathom how they can come to a different conclusion from one league/tier to the next. Play on in the Championship but call the two leagues below? It surely makes their position indefensible when individual clubs raise their legitimate concerns.
My biggest sympathy is for those who find themselves relegated without the opportunity to play their way to safety.
Alverton
Others will be a lot better informed than me, but In regards to league 1/2.
With no fans, therefore very little income, yet still having to pay players straight way. Isn't this a straight road to bustville? Can imagine a lot of clubs books on a knife edge.
Also contracts are more commonly year to year, one of the teams(the team slipped my mind Right now) has only a handful of players after end of June.
Anyone who backed Ivan Toney top L1 scorer, or Eion Doyle top L2 scorer with the green clowns ain't getting paid.
Hills settle Posh Promo as a loser, too.
Quote from: Marky147 on June 13, 2020, 05:51:21 PM
They've all done this. Would have been an obvious spot for a bit of good PR bet voidance.
Top six, to make the playoffs, to win the playoffs, EW for the league, promotion all up in smoke here thanks to the twats of the EFL.


I was born and raised in Wisconsin and had a lovely childhood. I attended Madison's Robert M. La Follette high school but am embarrassed to admit that at the time, I had nary a clue as to who he was. I knew his nickname was "Fighting Bob" and maybe I could have told you he was a Senator, maybe, but that was it. Here's a refresher for those who need it.
La Follette began his speech with the formalities of the day... Then, suddenly, La Follette pounded the lectern…. Stretching a clenched fist into the air, La Follette bellowed: "I do not want the vote of a single citizen under any misapprehension of where I stand: I would not change my record on the war for that of any man, living or dead."
So now it pains me to think that, almost 100 years after this great legacy La Follette left behind, we are today seeing the current Governor of Wisconsin sign into law one of the most destructive and divisive means to limit workers' voices. I am confident La Follette would be loudly rolling over in his grave (and clenching his fist) to hear of this dismantling of the already-emaciated worker rights in his state.
This deceptively-named "right-to-work" law makes the payment of union dues optional for union-represented workers. It also means that if a non-paying union member is illegally fired, the union must use its time and money to defend that worker. It has been shown that workers in states with "right-to-work" laws have lower wages on average and are less likely to have employer-sponsored health insurance or pensions. These laws are not meant to grant workers any rights; on the contrary, they are written with the purpose of keeping workers divided and powerless, to weaken unions and thereby stifle the voice of working families.


text:
package org.apache.continuum.notification.mail;

import org.springframework.mail.MailException;
import org.springframework.mail.javamail.JavaMailSender;
import org.springframework.mail.javamail.JavaMailSenderImpl;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import javax.mail.internet.MimeMessage;

/**
 * @author olamy
 * @since 26 sept. 2008
 */
public class MockJavaMailSender
    extends JavaMailSenderImpl
    implements JavaMailSender
{
    private final List<MimeMessage> receivedEmails = new ArrayList<MimeMessage>();

    /**
     *
     */
    public MockJavaMailSender()
    {

    }

    @Override
    public void send( MimeMessage mimeMessage )
        throws MailException
    {
        receivedEmails.add( mimeMessage );
    }

    public List<MimeMessage> getReceivedEmails()
    {
        return receivedEmails;
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Fairly made from sustainable mango wood Noughts and Crosses set. Beautiful oversized noughts and crosses board, perfect for a study or a coffee table in a lounge. Fairly made by artisans each set is beautiful to display in a room, ready for a game of noughts of crosses.
Indented set means pieces cant get knocked off. Set has 5 crosses and 4 noughts. All made from mango wood and completely plastic free.
A great gift for any age, perfect for birthdays and Father's Day. A Nostalgic game which also looks stunning on display.
Arrives in a box and carefully wrapped in ethically sourced tissue paper.
Provenance: Fairly made by artisans.


A family vacation is always a lovely opportunity to spend time with your loved ones. There are lots of different options available when travelling with your family, including renting a villa. These are a fantastic way to take a larger group away for a vacation without the expense of seperate hotel rooms. Villas are often well equipped like a home away from home, with many different facilities, such as private swimming pools, or short walks to the beach!
Nothing saying family vacation like taking the kids away for a fun time on the beach. There are lots of villas available which are either a short walk from a beach, or directly on the beach itself! This means you get the chance to spend your days enjoying the sun, sea and sand whilst having your holiday home nearby.


AOHARU has just released the Rose Lace Wedding Dress in fantastic Spring colors! There's White, for those who are traditional and Blue, Pink and Yellow too! These are the first sculpted train and fully sculpted veil that I've ever seen, and they look amazing in-world.
The lace detail is amazing and sculpted roses are cleverly placed all over the dress.
Take a taxi to AOHARU for the Rose Lace Wedding Dress & more!
i love the yellow dress !! i am looking for one that is exactly like that one !! how could i get that one??


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Apple Increases Work Scheduling Commitments for Retail Store Employees
Monday April 2, 2012 7:47 am PDT by Eric Slivka
ifoAppleStore reports that Apple will be adjusting its scheduling practices for retail store employees as of April 15th, placing greater weekend demands on its full-time workers and requiring greater weekly commitments from its part-time staff. The moves come as traffic at Apple stores continues to rise and the company seeks to bolster staff presence during the busiest times.
According to the report, while Apple has been requiring many of its full-time staff to work one of the two weekend days per week, the company is now redefining Friday as a weekend day and requiring Specialists, Creatives, and Geniuses to work two out of the three weekend days per week.
Soon, Apple will add Friday to its official list of "weekend days," and full-timers must work two of those three days, or possibly a shift that includes both Saturday and Sunday. The changes will affect Family Room and Red Zone Specialists, Creatives and Geniuses, and seems to stem from a recognition of increased store traffic on Fridays.
For part-timers, Apple will be requiring a minimum weekly commitment of 24 hours, up from 16 hours. The change will potentially squeeze those workers who have multiple jobs or other commitments that led them to join the Apple store on a part-time basis in the first place.
The report suggests that Apple will be trying to do a better job of accommodating requests for time off, hoping to soften the blow of the increased commitments, but the company does realize that it may lose some of its staff, particularly part-time workers, due to the changes.
What about hiring more staff? Ain't that an option? After all it's the wealthiest company in the world... :)
ljmac
Think this has more to do with having knowledgeable staff around when store is busy.:)
OneMike
Would think hiring more people would've been a better choice.
dubprocess
Working Apple retail is horrific but it can lead to many other opportunities if you play your cards right. I worked as a "Genius" for years and thankfully escaped with my dignity remaining. I now work as an IT analyst for a private company and am never looking back. Yes its retail and it sucks, but you gotta be smart and work your way out with an intuitive exit plan.
Best of luck to the Apple employees who really love their jobs and who give their best everyday. I gotta admit Apple Retail work-life balance is the worst I have ever experienced out of any retail job. Because so many people want to work at Apple, the ball is in Apple's court.
BMNB1tch
they absolutely need to hire more staff
and fire the do nothing middle and store managers who hide in the back offices rather than sell things on the floor
aprofetto8
And I applied for a job and have heard nothing back. :(
That's rough. I'd send an email to Tim Cook.
Safari Bug Allows Websites to Track Your Recent Browsing Activity in Real Time [Updated]
Sunday January 16, 2022 3:37 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
A bug in WebKit's implementation of a JavaScript API called IndexedDB can reveal your recent browsing history and even your identity, according to a blog post shared on Friday by browser fingerprinting service FingerprintJS. In a nutshell, the bug allows any website that uses IndexedDB to access the names of IndexedDB databases generated by other websites during a user's browsing session....
iPhone SE With Larger 5.7-Inch Display May Launch in 2023, 'iPhone SE+ 5G' Also Rumored
Monday January 17, 2022 6:46 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is planning to release a fourth-generation iPhone SE with a larger 5.7-inch display as early as 2023, according to display industry consultant Ross Young, who has proven to be a reliable source of information for future Apple products. The fourth-generation iPhone SE has until now been rumored to launch in 2024, but Young now says a 2023 release is looking more likely....
Developer Showcases Apple CarPlay Workaround for Teslas
Monday January 17, 2022 7:24 am PST by Hartley Charlton
A Tesla Model 3 owner has resorted to a workaround to implement Apple CarPlay in his vehicle, amid no sign of official support from Tesla (via Tesla North). Apple CarPlay and Apple Music support are among the most-requested Tesla features, but with no indication that Tesla is willing to implement Apple CarPlay in its vehicles, Polish developer Michał Gapiński took matters into his own...
New iPad Air Rumored to Launch This Spring With A15 Chip, 5G, Center Stage Camera, and More
Saturday January 15, 2022 8:05 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is planning to release a fifth-generation iPad Air with similar features as the sixth-generation iPad mini, including an A15 Bionic chip, 12-megapixel Ultra Wide front camera with Center Stage support, 5G for cellular models, and Quad-LED True Tone flash, according to Japanese blog Mac Otakara. Citing reliables sources in China, the report claims that the new iPad Air could be...
Apple Inks Deal for Godzilla TV Show Based on Legendary's Monsterverse
'Total War: Medieval II' Coming to iOS and Android This Spring


An old man who plays chess in the evenings at Starbucks asked me if I knew how many moves to count until a match is considered to be a stalemate when one player has only his king remaining?
He had been playing for many years and was now having a friendly argument about this with his opponent.
"Ten, I think" I said to him, he replied that he thought it was 25 and he turned back to his table and the game. I told him to wait, I could look it up on the internet. Being an old man he hadn't thought of that and he liked the idea. What we discovered was that the correct and official answer is 50.
What did I learn from this experience other than a chess rule? Actually, many things. Let's see where this goes.
The stalemate rule is actually quite complex and specific. An interesting point is that a king may not capture or "Check" another king. Obviously this is due to the fact that the offending king would need to put itself in jeopardy in order to do this. Looked at a bit more deeply, since a king cannot be taken by another king, this means a king may only be taken by a superior (but there are none) or an inferior piece.
Imagine you are playing chess with a friend. You spot an opportunity to Checkmate his king with your knight. You reach out and attempt to move the little wooden horse but it won't budge! As hard as you try it just won't move. To your surprise the little eyes look up at you and in a trembling voice the knight says "I'm Scarred! I don't dare go after the king!".
Your friend begins to laugh maniacally. "You coward!" he thunders. He secretly knows that the only thing keeping you from winning the game is the "inferior" mentality of your knight. He continues this belittling in an effort to keep his power through intimidation. It seems to be working, the knight is petrified! Suddenly you have an idea.
You lean over and whisper something to the bishop, who seems to smile back at you.
The bishop looks at the knight and reminds him of what happened five moves ago. Just five moves ago the bishop took the queen!
The knight remembers this and seems to gain resolve. You look reassuringly at him, no words are necessary. The knight is still a bit scarred but he knows he can do this.
You reach for the knight again, but this time it moves. Up two, over one. Checkmate!
There are three types of relationships on a chess board and in life. Superior / Inferior, where a stronger force is influencing a weaker force. Peer to peer, where equivalent forces are in conflict. The third being weaker virus stronger, think David and Goliath.
It is totally logical and believable that a Superior could take down a Subordinate, or to put it another way, someone with greater ability or power can overcome someone of lesser strength or position. I think we can all agree on this.
The second scenario make sense as well. Two kings, both possessing equal power, ability and stature will likely end their confrontation in a stalemate. In life, if both people are reasonable then compromise or common ground may be found.
The third way, however, is by far the most interesting. The inferior chess piece taking down the superior. The fact is, every chess match that has ever been won in the history of the game was won by an "inferior" piece taking on the "Superior" king. Can you take this attitude from the chess board and apply it to your life?
In our daily lives, at work and in many social settings certain people are deemed to be our "Superiors", does that mean by default that we are their "Inferiors"? Think about it, there can't be one without the other.
No, you aren't. And, if you could ask the rook, the knight, the bishop or even the pawn after they took on the king if they are inferior, I know just what their answers would be.


text:
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Campus ClimateEquity & DiversityExperiencesIdentityIntersectionalityRepresentation
MLK National Conversations Pride
Claiming space
affinity graduation celebrations at the U
The University of Utah's interim director for the LGBT Resource Center, Gabriella Blanchard, explains, "The first Lavender Graduation happened over 20 years ago at the University of Michigan. It was intended as a complement, not a replacement, of larger graduation ceremonies." Lavender graduation started in 1995 after Ronni Sanlo, a Jewish Lesbian, was denied attendance to her children's graduation because of her sexual orientation. Physical exclusion and cultural marginalization of women, queer folx, people of color, and people with disabilities has been too common throughout the history of higher education.
How wonderful that we have so many different Office for Equity and Diversity graduation ceremonies to honor the truly breathtaking accomplishments of all of our students.
Affinity celebrations, like the Lavender Graduation, are responses to historical and ongoing exclusion and marginalization. Describing this reality, Blanchard continues, "Unfortunately, many of us know the experience of not feeling like we belong in functions, rituals, and rites of passage that are presumably made for everyone. How wonderful that we have so many different Office for Equity and Diversity graduation ceremonies to honor the truly breathtaking accomplishments of all of our students."
In addition to Lavender Graduation, the University of Utah community will celebrate numerous Affinity Celebrations including the Black Affair (Black Graduation), Somos Dreamers UndocuGraduation, Asian American Graduation Celebration, Pacific Islander Student Association Graduation, Year End Honoring & Graduation Ceremony (American Indian Resource Center Graduation), and the Raza Graduation Celebration (Latinx Graduation). The Office for Equity and Diversity and the School for Social and Cultural Transformation will also be hosting a graduation celebration.
Being surrounded by other queer folx that are graduating is going to empower me to keep reaching for my goals and to never stop pushing myself.
Chaise Edebiri discusses her anticipation of graduating with a B.S. in Sociology this May 2018, "Black graduation means a lot to her because I honestly would not care about walking across the stage if it weren't for my people cheering me on…in spite of the odds stacked against us, we look out for one another to ensure success." Edebiri said. "We show up and show out." Similarly, Ray Taylor, who will be graduating with his M.Ed. in Educational Leadership & Policy this May 2018, reflects, "As a first-generation, queer person, I believe partaking in Lavender Graduation is going to be something I remember for the rest of my life…being surrounded by other queer folx that are graduating is going to empower me to keep reaching for my goals and to never stop pushing myself." Edebiri and Taylor speak to the affirming effects of Affinity Celebrations and highlight the communal aspects of achieving their individual goals.
These events and spaces allowed me to be seen apart from the sea of whiteness I had been drowning in for most of my educational journey.
Affinity celebrations allow students to celebrate their persistence and resistance through college with their family, friends, and peers. Reflecting on graduating from the University of Utah with her B.S. in Sociology and B.S. in Political Science, Emilia Ataata said,
"I participated in the OED, PISA, and Raza Graduation Celebrations. These events and spaces allowed me to be seen apart from the sea of whiteness I had been drowning in for most of my educational journey. It was a time to celebrate resiliency with loved ones and my communities…it is much more than a celebration of me, but of the communities that have nurtured and supported me in this journey."
Ataata looks forward to participating in multiple Affinity Celebrations again when she graduates with her M.Ed. in Educational Leadership & Policy next year. Echoing Blanchard's sentiments, it is wonderful that students are increasingly claiming space to celebrate their achievements and their multiple identities.
By Vivian D'Andrade, University of Utah Alumna April 30, 2018


text:
Rome Travelogue
by Yitzchok Adlerstein · Published March 7, 2016 · Updated March 8, 2016
They told me that Rome would be Jewishly disappointing. Friends who had been there said that Florence was the Jewish destination. Rome's charm was all in old churches, which hardly touch Jewish heartstrings. So I came preparing to be disappointed, not having any control over the itinerary. I am here with a tour sponsored by the Museum of the Bible (more on that later), as part of a minority Jewish contingent.
My friends were wrong, at least in my case. I have found Rome Jewishly fascinating, and will briefly explain why.
Our gifted and talented tour guide on Day One quickly demonstrated the different strata of history of what the locals call the Eternal City. The three most important are the ancient, the papal period (beginning with Emperor Constantine's conversion of the realm to Christianity), and the modern, beginning with Italian unification.
The second stage was a Jewish horror at times, especially when a papal bull in the 16th century stripped Jews of rights and herded them into a poverty-stricken tiny ghetto on the Tiber River. Unification quickly led to the razing of the ghetto – but also to rampant assimilation, as happened in other areas of Europe. Neither of these periods was overwhelmingly interesting to me.
Much more interesting was the ancient layer, where several gemaros came to life. My hotel is a block away from where Julius Caesar lost his life in an ancient theater, of which there are many in Rome. (He should have been in the Roman Forum, but it was closed for refurbishing, and the senators moved temporarily to a nearby theater. I guess that contractors taking more time than they originally announce was a problem already in antiquity.) Nearby is a statue of Marcus Aurelius Antonius, thought by some to be the Antoninus who befriended Rabbenu HaKadosh and bankrolled the Mishnah project. (I suspect that I will be called to task for bringing up that identification and perhaps a reader will have something definitive to say.)
Marcus Aurelius was in good – or rather bad – company. The various emperors were pretty full of themselves, and left monuments to their triumphs or just to themselves liberally around the ancient city. Even more ubiquitous are ruins of temples to more gods than one can easily catalogue. The remnant of the shrine of the Three Vestal Virgins, guardians of the sacred flame that the Romans thought guaranteed the safety of their city, stands near the Roman Forum. The contrast with the very prosaic and utilitarian approach to fire (and its creation by Adam after the first Shabbos) stands in sharp contrast.
Most striking to me was the Capitoline hill, the seat of Imperial power. We find frequent references to Tanaim who had to travel to Rome to propitiate the Romans on behalf of the Jewish community in Eretz Yisrael. The magnificent steps leading up, the huge statues of protective gods, are overwhelming even today. The buildings that stood on top spoke in ancient times of incredible power, and would have dwarfed anyone coming from a simpler, agrarian country as surely as many visitors from poor countries feel when deposited in Manhattan. My stomach knotted thinking of the Tanaim who had to walk up those steps, holding the fate of their people in their hands. The experience would have crushed anyone who did not have firm emunah that Roman power was a chimera, and that eyn od milvado.
Yet, my recollection is that the gemara's disdain for Rome did not focus primarily on the pridefulness of Rome, nor of the avodah zarah. To me, these would leave room for little else to complain about. But this is not the case. What jumped into my memory was the frequent references to the "batei teata'os ve-kirkasa'os" of the Romans. In other words, the officialdom of Rome was not always the chief threat to kedushas Yisrael. Roman pop culture was.
The theaters were many. I won't get into the halachic discussion as to whether Chazal meant all non-Jewish drama, or the Greek classics with their drunken, murderous gods going against each other, or the more salacious plays. I will point out that in a few minutes in Rome it becomes clear what the "kirkasa'os" were. They weren't Cirque du Soleil.
A Roman circus was an oval-shaped course, shaped like a modern horse track. It was here that the sometimes bloody and cruel spectacles took place, pitting men against tigers imported from Africa. Our guide explained that this was not the case in the Coliseum, despite the Church's assumption that Christians were thrown to the lions there, resulting in it becoming a Christian holy site. (While martyrdom was not on the Coliseum playlist, many still lost their lives there, since gladiatorial combat was part of the regular fare.)
Becoming snack food for wild beasts did occur, however – and presumably Jews as well – at the circuses. The most famous, Circus Maximus, was directly in front of the Emperor's magnificent palace, so that he could step out on his balcony and watch the gore.
Taking it all in, I relived, and appreciated more, several passages in Shas, including ones about avodah zarah icons installed in various places. References (as in the beginning of Avodah Zarah) to the "markets" established by the Romans also came alive, as we were shown the remnants of large areas designated as vegetable and meat markets in Roman times. Not a disappointing tour at all.
I am here at the behest of the Museum of the Bible, a 1 billion dollar project to open in DC in about 18 months. Conceived of and driven by evangelical Christians (of the decidedly pro-Israel variety), it will try to impress visitors with the long-time and lasting positive effects that the Bible brought to Christians, Jews, and the world. The folks behind it are smart enough to realize that they cannot proselytize the American public, but they can hope to rekindle interest in the centrality of the Bible to large parts of humanity. They hope, thereby, to offset some of the corrosive effects of a prevailing contemporary culture that dismisses the Bible as an important contributor to our values and morality. (Think of the Supreme Court in Obergefell, essentially dismissing the Bible not only as a dispositive source, but as any source at all. And think of the Rambam – no great admirer of Christianity, to be sure – who nonetheless noted with approval that, unlike Muslims, Christians believed in the sanctity of our kisvei kodesh.) A number of frum Jews are involved in advisory roles, including Dr Larry Schiffman, now a dean at YU, and one of America's preeminent authorities on the Dead Sea Scrolls.
You'll be hearing lots more about this venture in the future.
Meanwhile, I hope to find the time to report on other days of the tour.
Finding the Good in Unexpected Places
by Yitzchok Adlerstein · Published May 6, 2009
The Trump Opportunity Bubble
by Yitzchok Adlerstein · Published July 7, 2016
Dear Sean
by Avi Shafran · Published January 26, 2008
mycroft says:
For those interested in Rome and Jews there is a current Coursera course
Arch of Titus: Rome and the Menorah-from Yeshiva University and Practicing tolerance in a religious society.
The Church and Jews in Italy University of Maryland-Bernard Dov Cooperman is another course. If one does not wish a verified certificate the courses are free. I found them both interesting and worth the time.
Ben Bradley says:
I also found it really brought home the temporary and passing nature of a huge power which seemed unbeatable at the time. And now it's all ruins and lots of mopeds. I couldn't get enough of it.
Dani says:
Rabbi Adlerstein, your remark regarding Roman "pop culture" rings true particularly when you consider that the Gemara in Avoda Zara 2b singles out Rome's bacchanalian culture- not polytheism or pride- as the ultimate intent of Rome's civic projects.
R.Adlerstein, the travel writer! Delicious!
(Tigers from Africa? Hmmm)
Nachum says:
There is some debate whether the "Antoninus" mentioned in the Gemara is Marcus Aurelius himself, another emperor of the same dynasty, or a local governor in Judea either from the same family or just representing it.
You didn't mention that the Colliseum was built by spoils from the sack if Jerusalem, a fact confirmed by the research of Professor Louis Feldman of YU and actually acknowledged by a sign at the entrance today.
Ancient Rome was a very Jewish city- there were numerous synagogues even at the time of Julius Caesar, over a century before the Churban, and he was mourned in them- he seems to have been good to the Jews.
[YA – Yes! I should have mentioned that. And I saw that sign pointing to the sack of Yerushalayim myself.]
Next story A Troubling America for Jews…
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Gay Copenhagen
Cafes & Restos
› City Centre
Copenhagen Gay Travel Guide & Map 2021
Upcoming Events in Copenhagen
| 2 – 6 June 2021
Distortion 2021: annual festival for emerging dance music with street parties during the day, several club nights and a huge final rave party.
-› cphdistortion.dk
-› facebook.com/cphdistortion
| 12 – 22 August 2021
Copenhagen 2021 – WorldPride & EuroGames 2021: with a big LGBTQ culture festival in Copenhagen and its Swedish neighbouring city Malmö, a human rights conference and a massive WorldPride parade through the streets of Copenhagen.
At the same time, the EuroGames 2021 will take place in Copenhagen and Malmö with thousand of participants in more than 25 sports.
-› copenhagen2021.com
-› facebook.com/copenhagen2021
Human Rights Conference: a three-day conference during WorldPride 2021 focusing on the situation of the LGBTI+ community.
-› copenhagen2021.com/human-rights
| 15 October 2021
Kulturnatten – Culture Night 2021: more than 250 cultural institutions, including museums, theatres and libraries, open their doors again for some very special events.
-› kulturnatten.dk
-› facebook.com/Kulturnatten
Accommodation Tip
Wakeup Copenhagen-Borgergade
Hotel. **, 500–1700 DKK
Reviews, Photos & Reservation
Modern budget hotel close to the historical center of Copenhagen.
Small rooms, some with view over the city.
@ Borgergade 9
Metro: Kongens Nytorv, Nørreport
About Copenhagen and its gay life
Denmark has a population of 5.6 million people, of whom 0.5 million live in the capital Copenhagen (København) and about 1.2 million in the Greater Copenhagen area. Copenhagen is considered to be one of the most livable cities in the world – and therefore unfortunately also one of the most expensive by now –, not least because of its numerous green areas, an unpolluted harbor, where you can even go for a swim, and the lovely architecture. Among the most interesting sights in addition to Andersen's Little Mermaid are the Tivoli, one of the oldest still operating amusement parks in the world with numerous nostalgic rides, the town hall built in the style of Italian and Norman Renaissance, Christiansborg Palace (nowadays the seat of the Danish Parliament) and the Renaissance building of the former Copenhagen stock exchange with its aptly named dragon spire that resembles the tails of four dragons twined together.
Essential for the preservation of the green areas was the so-called Finger Plan, which regulated the urban growth along five major traffic arteries (the five fingers) that extend into the surroundings of Copenhagen, with the city center as ›palm‹. Thus, there remained enough space for green areas and local recreation areas between the fingers.
Most Danes speak English very well, so usually it is very easy to get along in Copenhagen. And the laid-back mentality of the Danes and their commitment to human rights have made the country and its capital Copenhagen a relaxed place for gays to live and visit.
Thus, it's not surprising that the official tourism site of Copenhagen promotes the gay life in Copenhagen, too. From one of their press releases: ›The National Association for Gays and Lesbians (LBL) was founded in 1948 as first of its kind. And in 1989, Denmark was the first country in the world to recognise marriage between two persons of the same sex. In 1999, it became possible for married gays to adopt the children of their partners. Copenhagen has long been a tolerant and relaxed capital for both gay Danes and tourists. Centralhjørnet, the first gay bar in Copenhagen, opened over 80 years ago, and is still going strong – along with a wealth of other newer gay bars and cafes.‹
As our Copenhagen Gay Map shows, almost all of the gay bars and clubs are located in the city center around the famous Strøget shopping street. They are all within walking distance of each other.
Annual gay highlight in Copenhagen is the Gay Pride weekend in August. After the Eurogames in 2003, Copenhagen also hosted the 2nd Gay World Outgames in summer 2009, the largest sports event Copenhagen has ever seen.
© 2021 | Friday, 15 January 2021


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Tag Archives: guns
We'll have to pry away the gun nuts' ignorance and fear
Um, yeah, this is for illustrative purposes and is not anyone whom I know…
I recently was tempted to write a post, in jest, that Colorado's recent fairly devastating flooding obviously is God's punishment for Coloradans recently having recalled two state legislators over their support of gun control, but, alas, I let that idea go.
Wingnuts routinely claim that this or that is "God's punishment" for this or that — as a gay man, apparently, not only do I and my kind "deserve" "God's punishment" of AIDS, but we also are the cause of hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, terrorist attacks, etc., etc. — but whatever. I don't believe in God, and so I don't believe in "punishments" from "God," and even if there were such a thing as a "punishment" from "God," no mere human being truthfully could claim to be "God's" spokesperson who truthfully can pronounce such "punishments."
That said, the concept of karma makes sense to me, but again, who among us can be an arbiter of karma with any actual knowledge of its workings?
Guns, though, are, in a word, bad. For the very most part.
Those who love guns overwhelmingly are ignorant and thus fearful individuals. Therefore, as President Hopey Changey once put it (accurately), they cling to their guns. Their guns give them a false sense of safety and security, when, ironically, they cannot see that it's their own ignorance and fear that contributes to the violent environment of which they're terrified.
While I don't advocate that the guvmint attempt to take everyone's guns — a position that most of us on the left are accused of holding by the wingnuts — and while I generally support the Second Amendment, it's incredibly bad public policy for fearful, ignorant people to have such easy access to guns.
When you are drunk and/or drugged and angry and/or frightened, or even sober but angry and/or frightened, maybe having easy access to a gun isn't such a great idea.
Fucktards like wannabe cop George Zimmerman should not be allowed anywhere near firearms. Frankly, I suspect that he carried a gun while he played cop in that gated community in Florida because he wanted to shoot someone, and that Trayvon Martin was just the poor individual who was the victim of Zimmerman's quest for a "reason" to shoot someone.
While I can't see that Zimmerman, as the aggressor, was acting in actual self-defense, guns can be used for actual self-defense, but it troubles me than in the year 2013, when we have so many other technological achievements, cops and others deem a lethal firearm as the best or even the only way to practice actual self-defense in many if not most if not even all cases.
How many times do we read news stories about someone who was unarmed but who nonetheless was shot to death by cops, such as the unarmed 24-year-old black man Jonathon Ferrell, whom a young white cop shot 10 times in North Carolina this past weekend? From what I can surmise, Ferrell, who had just been in a car wreck, was in shock, and so he came in the direction of the cop, probably for help, but did the cop really have to shoot at him — 12 times (hitting him 10 times)?
How can any of us, with a straight face, claim that Trayvon Martin and Jonathon Ferrell were not the victims of racial profiling?
This isn't all abstract to me; gun violence recently hit close to home.
My 25-year-old nephew sits in a jail cell in Phoenix after he shot and killed another man earlier this month. Details of the incident, as they have reached me through relatives and as I have been able to find them on the Internet, still are sketchy; my nephew claims that he was ambushed or about to be ambushed, that two or more other males had set him up and were about to perpetrate physical violence upon him (to "jump" him, in the parlance).
My understanding is that thus far, there is no witness who is disputing my nephew's account, as the others who were present at the shooting have evaded the Phoenix police, who would love to question them.
From what details I've heard, if they are factually correct, my best guess is that my nephew at worst ultimately will be convicted of manslaughter, but conceivably could be acquitted for the reason of self-defense if he and his defense team can demonstrate that he used the gun in self-defense, which, I understand, Arizona law, like Florida law, allows.
My understanding is that my nephew owned and carried the gun entirely within Arizona law, and that before the shooting incident he had no violent criminal record.
I consider my nephew to be innocent of any crime until and unless he is found otherwise by a jury of his peers (and exhausts any and all appeals, should that happen), but would I choose to carry a gun in public like we're still living in the wild, wild West?
Do I want to even see people — those of the non-law-enforcement variety, I mean — carrying guns on their persons while I'm out and about in public?
No, absofuckinglutely not, and I'm thankful that I live in California, which is a "non-permissive open carry" state, and not in one of the "permissive open carry" (or otherwise more gun-permissive) states, such as Arizona and most of the red states.
Do you really fucking need to bring a gun into, say, a Starbucks?
It's in the news today that Starbucks' CEO has asked that Starbucks' patrons don't bring guns into Starbucks locations, but that in those states where it is not illegal to openly carry firearms, Starbucks won't ask those who are packing pistols to leave.
Where it comes to our rights, our rights end where others' rights begin.
We sane Americans — we non-gun nuts — have the right, when we're out and about in public, not to have to see fucktards who shouldn't be even allowed to own a gun openly carrying a gun as though we're still living in the wild West. We have the right not to have to fear for our own safety because some fearful idiot is carrying a gun in the name of his or her own "safety."
Americans have the right to protect ourselves, but, it seems to me, most shooting deaths in the United States of America are not the results of cases of actual self-defense, but are cases of murder, suicide and accidental shootings (and, I suppose I should add, cases of trigger-happy, jumpy cops, many if not most of whom are white cops who are racial profilers and who probably are too young and immature to be cops anyway).
When guns for the most part cease to be about actual self-defense, it seems to me, they have become a public menace, and no one has the right to pose a menace to the public.
At this point, I think it's fairly safe to say, the widespread ownership of and easy access to guns in the United States causes more harm than good. (I don't even need to mention the latest gun massacre on Monday that left 12 people dead at the Washington Navy Yard, because these gun massacres are so common in the U.S. these days.)
But gun control, as Colorado voters have just demonstrated, is an incredibly sticky political subject.
The ignorant and the fearful will cling to their guns, which, the late gun nut Charlton Heston famously declared, we'll have to pry from their "cold, dead hands." That's their way.
Trying to pry the fucktards' guns from their still-living hands, though, perhaps is the wrong approach.
It's the ignorance and the fear, I think, that we have to tackle first, because it's their ignorance and their fear that makes the gun nuts cling so steadfastly to their guns.
After all, ultimately, it's not guns that kill people. It's ignorant and fearful people who, using guns, kill people…
Tagged as Arizona, Charlton Heston, clinging to guns, Colorado, Colorado flooding, fear, Florida, George Zimmerman, God, gun control, gun deaths, gun lobby, gun massacres, gun nuts, gun rights, gun violence, guns, guns at Starbucks, ignorance, Jonathon Ferrell, karma, National Rifle Association, news, NRA, open carry, open-carry laws, Politics, punishment from God, punishments from God, racial profiling, Second Amendment, Starbucks, Trayvon Martin, violence
Freedom is impossible without reasonable gun control
I don't want a gun. I don't like guns.
But I'm OK with you having a gun — within reason.
When the Second Amendment was crafted and ratified way the fuck back in 1791, we didn't have the assault weapons, these weapons of mass destruction, that we have today. There weren't mass school or movie-theater shootings when the "founding fathers" were alive, and no sane and honest person would assert that in the Second Amendment the "founding fathers" meant to endorse the ability of any civilian to shoot up public spaces, killing as many victims as humanly possible with a firearm or firearms.
It's a long-standing principal in American law that the individual's rights end where others' rights — which includes, of course, the right to be safe in public — begin.
So: If you don't have a violent criminal history and you haven't been deemed by a court of law to be mentally ill with a propensity toward violence, I'm OK with you owning and safely storing a handgun for personal protection at home and/or owning and safely storing a rifle for hunting (even though I myself never could blow away a defenseless animal, which is not an act of manliness or courage, but is an act of cowardice).
Beyond that, however, yeah, I have a problem.
I don't want you owning the more destructive, more lethal weapons that the members of the military or the police are able to use.
You may not legally possess an over-the-shoulder rocket-propelled-grenade launcher, so why may you legally possess a military-style assault rifle?
No, the "guvmint" is not coming for your guns and going to impose martial law. The federal "guvmint," for the most part, doesn't give a flying fuck about you as long as you pay your federal income taxes and don't grievously violate federal law.
Wingnutty paranoia over such events that very, very most likely never will occur — um, Barack Obama is not going to round you up in his socialist concentration camps, since not only is he not a socialist, but is a center-right DINO, but he never would have the support of the right-wing U.S. military for such an act — is not justification for allowing every Jeb, Zeke, Cooter and Skeeter to own his own personal weapons of mass destruction.
The Second Amendment never was intended to allow such insanity.
All of our rights are subject to being curbed when our exercise of them begins to harm others. The welfare of the whole trumps the wishes and desires of the individual.
Without such safeguards and limitations and boundaries, it becomes a fucking free-for-all, and therefore there no longer is freedom for all, but only freedom for the few who don't give a fuck about others' rights, such as others' right to public safety.
I don't want a gun right now, but yes, I want the right to own one in the future, and so, within reason, I support the Second Amendment. But it's not the "guvmint" that I'm concerned about. It's the gun nuts.*
*Speaking of the gun nuts, the National Rifle Association's assertion that it's hypocritical and wrong that President Obama's two daughters have more protection than does the average American public school child is insane.
It's much, much more likely that a member of the presidential family would be targeted by some gun nut that the average American public school child would be. With Obama's daughters the actual threat is there, so the appropriate protection, naturally, is there. That makes fucking sense. Guns in all of our public schools — which is what the NRA explicitly advocates — does not.
I take the NRA's inability and/or refusal to make a rational argument as proof that it's becoming extinct, that it's a dinosaur whose days are numbered.
You can watch the NRA's latest wingnutty spot here and practically smell the desperate NRA's rotting decay.
Tagged as assault rifles, assault weapons, gun nuts, gun violence, guns, guns in schools, mass shootings, National Rifle Association, NRA, Politics, right to bear arms, right wing, right-wingers, rights, school shootings, Second Amendment, violence, weapons, wingnuts, wingnuttery
There goes the men's vote
While as president of the United States the "Christo"fascist Prick Santorum would be dangerous, Gallup's daily tracking polls show that the wingnut doesn't have even the support of a full one-third of the Repugnican Tea Party — thank God. (Prick is shown above "praying" in Puerto Rico, which he says should embrace English, despite the fact that the nation has been Spanish-speaking since shortly after Christopher Columbus claimed it for the Spanish crown way back in 1493…) [This reminds me of that wonderful saying of anthropologist Wade Davis: "The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you; they are unique manifestations of the human spirit."])
The more papal pronouncements that "Christo"fascist Repugnican Tea Party presidential wannabe Prick Santorum makes, the more obvious it is why he lost his last election — re-election to the U.S. Senate for Pennsylvania — by a whopping 18 percent.
Santorum's latest crusade for the Vatican is his promise that as president, he would instruct his attorney general — remember former wingnut Attorney General John Ashcroft putting giant drapes in front of a U.S. Justice Department statue with (gasp!) a bared boob? — to prosecute those accused of distributing pornographic material that the Santorum administration (shudder) deems "obscene."
Wow. It was one thing, I suppose, for Santorum to pick on women, opposing not just abortion but even birth control, but now he is threatening millions and millions of American men that he will cut off their steady supply of "obscene" pornography.
"Obscene" pornography — and I'm not sure what counts as "obscene" to Prick Santorum; would Playboy be "obscene"? (It very apparently would be to John Ashcroft, the kind of attorney general that Santorum would pick) — "can be very damaging," Santorum has decreed papally.
Emissions from fossil fuels are far more damaging than is pornography — I mean, no more Homo sapiens and pornography certainly will be a moot point — and alcohol and tobacco products demonstrably are "very damaging," as are sugary and fatty foods, but Santorum has yet to tackle any of those evils.
Corporations, which put obscene profiteering way above people and the planet and which crush the human spirit like something out of "The Matrix," are "very damaging," as is permanent bogus warfare for the war profiteering of the military-industrial complex (indeed, military overspending perhaps is the No. 1 factor in the collapse of the American empire). Is Prick Santorum going to take on the sacred cows that are the corporations and the military-industrial complex?
And how about guns — aren't guns more dangerous than is pornography? Don't guns kill far more people than does porn? Is Prick Santorum, who is so fucking eager to protect us all from ourselves, going to take on the gun lobby?
In the same year (1973) that the U.S. Supreme Court decided the issue of abortion in Roe vs. Wade, in Miller vs. California the court decided the issue of "obscenity" with what came to be called "the Miller test," which essentially leaves it to the states or other locales to determine what is and what is not "obscene." (And obviously, what is widely considered to be "obscene" in Salt Lake City, for instance, and what is considered to be "obscene" in such places as New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco are very different.)
The Miller ruling fairly explicitly prohibits the federal government from imposing a nationally uniform standard on "obscenity," yet this is exactly what Prick Santorum promises to do as president.
Apparently, all that "the Miller test" allows in all 50 states is mere nudity (without sexual activity, presumably — and I suppose that masturbation would be sexual activity, and perhaps even an erection is indicative of sexual activity) and, according to Wikipedia's entry on "obscenity," "male-to-female vaginal-only penetration that does not show the actual ejaculation of semen, sometimes referred to as 'soft-core' pornography wherein the sexual act and its fulfillment (orgasm) are merely implied to happen rather than explicitly shown." (So, if Prick Santorum's crusade against porn were taken to its extreme, apparently Playboy would be allowed, but not much else. [And indeed, Playboy is pretty tame by today's standards of porn, probably so that it can be distributed in all 50 states without Miller-related local interference.])
In my book, Miller vs. California is woefully outdated — indeed, the availability of wonderfully raunchy Internet porn in all 50 states, which probably could not have been foreseen in 1973, pretty much makes Miller moot — and thus deeply flawed. In my book, the First Amendment covers all forms of sexually oriented expression with the exception of such things as child pornography and other forms of sexually oriented activity in which the participants are not consenting but are forced. (It is legally recognized that minors, because of their young age, cannot consent, and that certain intellectually incompetent individuals cannot consent, either.) Other than that, willing, consenting participants who are of age should be able to have just about whatever they want to do sexually be visually recorded if they so wish.
I probably digress a little, but I know that millions and millions of men — and, of course, plenty of liberated women — of all sexual orientations are with me when we say collectively to Prick Santorum: You will have to pry our "obscene" porn from our cold, dead fingers.
This "freedom" that the wingnuts bloviate about so much, yet so many of them want to impose their own backasswards religious and "moral" beliefs on the rest of us just like the theofascists of the Taliban wish to impose their own backasswards "moral" code and religious beliefs upon other people. That's not fucking "freedom." That's theofascism. That's why I call these far-right-wing traitors "Christo"fascists (with the quotation marks because the one thing they most definitely are not is Christian.)
It is very simple, ridiculously simple: If you oppose abortion, then do not have an abortion. If you oppose contraception, then do not use contraception (although those who contribute to overpopulation are major fucking assholes). If you oppose same-sex marriage, then do not marry someone of your own sex. If you oppose pornography, then do not consume pornography.
As I pointed out, Americans' freedom allows them — us — to possess and/or to consume or use even things that demonstrably, and not even arguably, are harmful to us, such as firearms, cigarettes, booze, certain prescription drugs that easily are abused, and junk food.
Our personal "salvation" is our own to work out as individuals — it's not the job of Prick Santorum, acting as the puppet of Pope Palpatine, to "save" us against our will.
Tagged as "Christo"fascism, "Christo"fascists, "freedom", "obscenity", "the Miller test", abortion, alcohol, birth control, Catholic church, censorship, child pornography, contraception, corporations, fascism, fascists, firearms, First Amendment, fossil fuels, global warming, guns, Internet porn, Internet pornography, John Ashcroft, military-industr, Miller v. California, Miller versus California, Miller vs. California, nudity, Playboy, Politics, pope, Pope Palpatine, porn, pornography, Prick Santorum, Puerto Rico, Republican Party, Republican Tea Party, Rick Santorum, Roe v. Wade, Roe vs. Wade, Santorum, sex, theocracy, tobacco, Vatican, wingnuts, wingnuttery
Palin-Quayle on God, guns 'n' grizzlies
Associated Press and Reuters photos
The 46-year-old Sarah Palin-Quayle pontificates in front of the National Rifle Association's annual convention yesterday just before its cross-burning ceremony. Palin-Quayle's juvenile, Valley-girl-like word choice, intonation and body language should come as no surprise, given that her main means of political communication is Twitter.
I would say that the 2008 presidential election never ended for Repugnican Sarah Palin-Quayle, who refuses to go the fuck away, but it's more accurate, I think, to say that her 1984 beauty pageant never ended for her. Indeed, the former Miss Alaska pageant contestant (she lost that contest, too) reminds me of a former Miss California Carrie Prejean —
— who has gone on to become a right-wing politician two decades from now, replete with the cross pendants —
— that both Palin-Quayle and Prejean prominently publicly display as proof of their favor with God and Jesus.
Palin-Quayle is in the news yet again, telling the KKK-like National Rifle Association yesterday that surely President Barack Obama would ban guns if he could, and that it's up to God's warriors like she and the members of the NRA to prevent that God-awful scenario from happening.
Um, Jesus Christ probably would ban guns, but that's another blog post…
Actually, Obama The Great Centrist never would ban guns* — he's way too pussy to do anything radical — but the message that "President Sambo is a-gonna take away yer guns!" resonates well with the white-supremacist crowd that Grand Dragoness Palin-Quayle was addressing yesterday.
Probably even more ludicrous, though, than Palin-Quayle's lie that the black president is after whitey's arsenals is her assertion that she also made yesterday at another appearance that "mama grizzlies" — pissed-off Repugnican and other right-wing women, especially mothers, I'm guessing she means by "mama grizzlies" — are going to "rise up" and "take this country back."
Aside from the fact that there aren't enough far-right-wing women to hold a fucking Tupperware party, much less (much more?) take over the nation, I like the "mama grizzly" rhetoric, because this is what Palin-Quayle actually thinks should be done with grizzlies:
Yes, that is a photo of the wildlife-lovin' Palin-Quayle in the governor's office when she was governor of the Podunk State of the Great White North.
As Palin-Quayle is against women's right to choose what to do with their own uteri, and supports the right wing's subjugation of women in general, it is appropriate that she's now blathering about her support of "mama grizzlies" when we have photographic evidence of the fact that she likes to pal around with grizzlies that have been slaughtered.
Indeed, like Cruella de Vil loved her Dalmation puppies, planning to make them into fur coats, Palin-Quayle thinks that mama grizzlies make great sofa covers.
You betcha.
P.S. Here's a photo of Chatty Cathy Palin-Quayle at yet another event on Wednesday. I love the subtlety, don't you?
*Indeed, The Associated Press notes:
Gun enthusiasts [that's a nice, "professional" way of saying "gun nuts"] have trumpeted fears that their rights would erode under a Democrat-led White House and Congress, but President Barack Obama has largely been silent on issues such as reviving an assault weapons ban or strengthening background checks at gun shows. Obama also signed a law allowing people to carry loaded guns in national parks.
Tagged as "mama grizzlies", Barack Obama, beauty pageant, beauty queen, bigotry, Carrie Prejean, feminism, fucktardation, grizzlies, grizzly bears, gun nuts, gun rights, guns, ignorance, Jesus Christ, KKK, Ku Klux Klan, Misogyny, Miss Alaska, Miss California, National Rifle Association, NRA, Palin, Prejean, President Barack Obama, President Obama, Racism, Republican Party, right to choose, right wing, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin-Quayle, Second Amendment, white supremacism, wingnuts