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Un-American Activities: 'The Wire' and 'Heaven's Gate'
Posted on November 4, 2011 | 2 Comments
I came late to 'The Wire', something fairly typical of me in the way that I 'consume' television series. I've written before about this in pieces on 'The Sopranos', 'Twin Peaks' and 'This Life'. My preferred strategy is to wait until all the fuss dies down and then borrow or buy a few box sets of DVD's and watch these series at my leisure, either one episode at a time or in multi-episode binges. All of which makes me possibly the last person in the known universe to blog about 'The Wire' but at least it gives me a chance to think through what it is I want to say about it.
Just in case there is anyone reading this who has recently returned from 10 years of exile on a tropical island without cable tv, 'The Wire' was made by HBO with a star-free cast and across its five seasons (2002-2008) aimed to take a cold, hard look at the life of a strictly non-hip US city – Baltimore – through the eyes of its police, its politicians, its journalists, its drug gangs, its dock-workers and so on. Though many of the ensemble cast appeared in all five seasons, each season took a slightly different focus; thus Season 1 was largely about the interaction between the police and the drug gangs, Season 2 focused on the plight of Baltimore's shrinking docks and those working there, Season 3 concerned itself with City Hall politics, Season 4 with the school system and the final season with the print media.
Much has been written and said about 'The Wire' and most of what has been written and said – in this country at least – has been extremely positive. Most fans feel that it offers an unflinchingly accurate portrayal of black urban street life, of City Hall ducking & diving, of the slow death of print newspapers and of the travails of a city police department, to name but a few of the areas singled out for praise. Across all these different facets of city life, 'The Wire' is, above all, feted for its apparent 'authenticity'. This is a drama that seeks to portray the harsh realities of life in a modern American city and spends much of its time concentrating on the choices and compromises that people make to get them through their daily round. There are good guys and bad guys, mavericks and team players, there is friendship, even love, but then there is corruption and disillusionment, squalor and death as well.
There is hope, too. 'The Wire' is a long way from being just a nihilistic hatchet-job on the life and body politic of Baltimore (or the USA). Through the five series, characters are redeemed, either by circumstance or by their own efforts. Junkies clean up, gangsters go straight, failed cops find themselves having far greater success in other walks of life. The milk of human kindness does flow through the veins of 'The Wire' and the only characters with whom the writers appear to have little or no sympathy are the politicians.
Among many of my friends, 'The Wire' has been lauded as the greatest piece of extended television drama of all time. The socio-political insights, the finely-drawn characters, the shrewd and effective plotting – all of these factors are cited as reasons why 'The Wire' is so good. It lacks the obvious Liberal/Democrat wish-fulfillment of 'The West Wing', it lacks the sentimental clichés of Italian – American life littered across 'The Sopranos', but offers us instead what seems like a non-idealised view of Baltimore life at the sharp end. The story arcs remain credible throughout, whilst the characters generally develop in ways that seem consistent and realistic.
For all that, I am sure that there are many middle -class people living in Baltimore who barely recognised their own city from 'The Wire' and who probably have a very different take on how it is to live in that city. At the very end of Season Five, Dominic West's (ex-)Detective McNulty pulls over to the side of a road and looks out over the city. Through his eyes we see snippets of a possible future; characters move up or move on or sink into the mire, either regaining or losing their integrity along the way. But we also see a Baltimore that we never really see in the other 59 episodes – we see long-shots of a city with broad avenues and grand buildings, we see bustling streets with a ticking heartbeat that is a long way from the 'corners' of the West Side or the grim post-industrial landscapes of the old docks.
I've never been to Baltimore so can't really comment on the veracity of 'The Wire's portrait of a city in virtual meltdown. However, I find it hard to believe that there aren't other Baltimores where people lead lives that are quite different from McNulty and Omar, from Lester and Bubbles, from Daniels and Marlo. The fact is that Baltimore is really just a shop window for the themes of 'The Wire', themes that could probably apply to any large American city with a substantial black population and a fading blue-collar tradition – Washington DC or Cincinnati for example. Those themes – racial tension, political corruption, drugs, economic downturns, education, media manipulation of facts, broken homes and broken dreams are universal to all such cities.
McNulty, Bunk and Lester; allegedly the 'Good Guys'
The status of 'The Wire' as a favourite of critics and huge numbers of fans across the world cannot, however, disguise the fact that it was some way from being a mainstream hit in America. Many people who didn't subscribe to HBO wouldn't have seen it anyway and many others were in all probability put off by what creator David Simon has itemised as "the complexity of the plot; a poor time slot; heavy use of esoteric slang, particularly among the gangster characters; and a predominantly black cast." (Wikipedia). 'The Wire' would often find itself up against NFL games on the Sports channels and other more mainstream series such as 'Desperate Housewives'. Ratings were increasingly poor on a season-by-season basis, though HBO apparently accepted that many fans were picking up illegal postings of the series via the Net, watching it online via HBO On Demand or simply waiting for the box set to come out.
For me, there's something else about 'The Wire' that would explain why it nearly got cancelled twice and why it was consistently overlooked by the people who dish out TV awards. In my view, many Americans would have a problem with 'The Wire' because it paints the urban society of – in this case – Baltimore, but by inference most major American cities in such an unflattering light.
If we backtrack to 1980, we can see another example of this phenomenon with Michael Cimino's 'Heaven's Gate' – a movie that became almost a watchword for the excesses of the post-'Easy Rider' crop of 'auteurist' Hollywood directors. Anyone who has read Steven Bach's book about the movie ('Final Cut') will quickly have gained an appreciation of all the errors of judgement that Cimino made in making 'Heaven's Gate' and there is no doubt that there were many of them.
Cimino's arrogance and his cavalier attitude to cost and budget over-runs ensured that his reputation took a pounding even before 'Heaven's Gate' was 'in the can'. His hubris was probably the last straw for the studios, ensuring that the era of the Hollywood auteurs was effectively over. From that point onwards, studios exercised far closer control over budgetary issues and prima donna directors.
However, what that left us with was 'Heaven's Gate' itself. Despite being drastically cut in its initial 149-minute cinematic release, what was clear was that this was what David Thomson has referred to as a 'wounded monster' of a film and even expanded and revised versions continue to divide opinion – many people think it's the worst movie ever, others that it's a great film.
I definitely fall into the latter camp; for me, the cinematography (by Vilmos Szigmond), the music (by Bob Dylan alumnus David Mansfield) and many of the performances are masterful. It's a long way from being the perfect movie but it is pretty damn good on many levels . Most significantly, the fact that Cimino chose to plant a bomb under some of the most cherished myths of the American West was a brave and adventurous strategy that would have gone down a storm just a few years earlier. Ralph Nelson's 'Soldier Blue' from 1970, an infinitely less accomplished piece of work in almost every respect, had drawn a favourable response in its depiction of how Native Americans got well and truly shafted by the American 'establishment' – as I recall, it's a depressing and not particularly well-made movie. 'Heaven's Gate' – a much better movie on every level – did a similar job for the plight of the poor European migrants who flooded west and began to set up homesteads on the massive ranges that had previously been the exclusive province of rich cattle farmers. Even so, it got completely trashed by most critics.
'Heaven's Gate' – the Harvard Waltz Sequence; the ruling class at play
'Heaven's Gate' is based on events that happened during the so-called 'Johnson County War', which took place in Wyoming in April 1892. The Wyoming Stock Growers Association (WSGA) – an organisation of rich cattle farmers with links to the Republican Party – hired gunmen to stop the sporadic outbreaks of rustling carried out by starving migrant farmers. These gunmen often dispensed summary justice, killing suspected rustlers without recourse to the mechanisms of the law. The WSGA gunmen were eventually pinned down in farm buildings near Fort McKinney by a Sheriff's posse of about 200 men , but were saved from annihilation when Wyoming's Acting Governor sent an urgent telegram to President Benjamin Harrison who ordered the Sixth Cavalry, based at Fort McKinney, to intervene. The WSGA 'enforcers' were close to being routed but the Army's intervention meant that they were instead spirited away and held at an army fort near Cheyenne. Documents taken from their leader implicated many of the leading lights of the WSGA in a plan to systematically murder up to 70 suspected 'rustlers'. Despite all this, the 'enforcers' were eventually freed on bail and many fled south to Texas. In any event, the case was dropped when the Johnson County authorities refused to pay for the upkeep of the 'prisoners' or the costs involved in bringing them to court. The whole affair swiftly fizzled out, though feelings in Johnson County ran high for many years.
Many of these events form the basis of the action in 'Heaven's Gate'. Kris Kristofferson's sheriff attempts to mediate in the disputes but he is very much of the same social background as the WSGA and though he tries to do his job honestly, he clearly does not relish being seen as a 'class traitor'. Cimino depicts the WSGA leaders and vigilantes as the bad guys and the huddled masses of the incomers as the good guys. It's an almost Marxist take on the mythology of the West with the proletarian migrants taking on the fat cat WSGA and almost winning, but for the intervention of the Army at the 11th hour. In a coda at the movie's end, we see an older, disillusioned Kristofferson aboard his steam yacht off Rhode Island. He has returned to the East and re-assumed his position of privilege within the ruling elite.
'Heaven's Gate' – the Roller Rink sequence; the huddled masses take to the floor
'Heaven's Gate' was released in 1980 and it could be argued that a kind of Marxist Western was never going to play too well in an America where an old school ex-Hollywood cowboy was riding the range in the White House. In 1980, Ronald Reagan's popularity as President was probably approaching its zenith and for that reason alone, 'Heaven's Gate' was doomed as far as 'middle America' was concerned. It portrayed some unsavoury truths about the American West, truths that many Americans saw as 'unpatriotic' at a time when gung-ho was the name of the game and pinko liberals were lying low. No wonder it bombed at the Box Office, though predictably, the movie fared much better in Europe. However, in all likelihood, had the movie been released 5 years earlier, it might well have been received more sympathetically in a country still just about clinging to the tail-end of 60's ideologies. By 1980, the USA had changed and become much more conservative, Hollywood had changed and the studios were sick of all these bratty directors and their grand narratives of American dysfunction. It was time for Rocky and Rambo and all those rugged American heroes; no-one had much time for class warfare in 1890's Wyoming.
Returning (finally) to 'The Wire', it seems to me that there are strong parallels with 'Heaven's Gate' in this specific area. Like 'Heaven's Gate', 'The Wire' asks ordinary Americans to face some unpalatable truths about their history (in the case of 'Heaven's Gate') or about their cities (in 'The Wire') and it seems to me that some conservative-minded Americans aren't always that good at acknowledging the Elephant in the Room – same with the Tories in this country. For some Yankee chauvinists (particularly those of the Rush Limbaugh school of twisted thinking), everything has to be wonderful from sea to shining sea and anyone that doesn't think so is probably some kind of dangerous subversive commie terrorist (or similar) and should relocate to Pakistan or Eye-Rak. Like Frank Zappa said all those years ago, 'It can't happen here.'
The fact is that for many middle-class Americans, the inner cities of their country have become no-go areas. Drugs, violence, homelessness, life in 'the Projects' – all these issues are something that many Americans have just blanked out. They'll deal with as much of it as they have to and hope the cops can keep the lid on the rest of it. Same story here, really; the recent Tottenham Riots showed a side of London life that many Londoners knew nothing of and didn't really want to engage with.
The Wire: Michael Kenneth Williams as Omar; ruthless, driven, gay, feared, a loner with his own sense of morality and – allegedly – a favourite of Barack Obama
In some respects, 'The Wire' – particularly in its final season – is even more damning of American society than 'Heaven's Gate'. Season 5 is built around the idea of a lie that just gets bigger and bigger; there's an element of black comedy in here somewhere. The Baltimore Police Department is suffering from budget cutbacks and overtime bans, so Detective McNulty effectively 'invents' a serial killer preying on the homeless, knowing that City Hall will be compelled to loosen the purse strings as this is such an emotive issue. McNulty then surreptitiously diverts the resources and manpower he is given to continue the pursuit of drug lord Marlo Stansfield. However, the lie just gets bigger and bigger; Mayor Carcetti picks up on the 'serial killer' case to use as a weapon against the State Governor's lack of action on homelessness and promote his own claims to replace him. The local 'Baltimore Sun' newspaper also gets involved, with an unscrupulous reporter further embroidering the story in order to advance his own career. In the end, only a very few of those who are supposed to be on the side of truth and justice are free from the taint of this lie and by the time the truth emerges, it's too late for anyone to unravel the multiple layers of deceit in which so many have become complicit.
Comparing 'The Wire' to 'Heaven's Gate' is – of course – an idea that you can only push so far. I have a lot of time for both, but there's no doubt that 'Heaven's Gate' is deeply flawed on many levels whilst retaining an indefinable 'je ne sais quoi' that makes it a far more interesting proposition than many other movies of its type. At the time of its release, the smokescreen of outrage at Cimino's perceived excesses tended to legislate against any genuine appraisal of the film , but many contemporary analyses take a less polemical stance. Sure, 'Heaven's Gate' has many flaws , but at times it's an interesting and beautifully-staged movie and if you haven't yet seen it, I urge you to do so.
By contrast, 'The Wire' – for me – offers a far sharper critique of American society – then again, it has a much broader canvas on which to tell its tale. Across 60 episodes, it illustrated – often graphically – the crushing realities of life in the inner city, the bureaucratic minefields of police work and the institutionalised corruption of local politics. 'The Wire' told a story that often exposes aspects of American life with which few establishment figures could be comfortable. It also laid down a new standard of excellence for television drama and I think it could be a long time before we see anything that combines such a compelling story-line with so many insights into American society.
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2 responses to "Un-American Activities: 'The Wire' and 'Heaven's Gate'"
Dewayne Auber | November 19, 2011 at 1:44 pm | Reply
When I initially commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a remark is added I get 4 emails with the same comment. Is there any manner you may remove me from that service? Thanks!
agentcoop | November 19, 2011 at 7:59 pm | Reply
Hi Dewayne – Not sure about this; would suggest you check with WordPress. Either that or 'unfollow', then sign up again and see if that does the trick.


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Q: Duplictate openSUSE Linux installation I am looking for a solution how to duplicate a Linux installation for multiple systems. The Linux installation is based on openSUSE 12.2. All systems use the absolute identical hardware.
The official solution would be to use AutoYaST (see http://doc.opensuse.org/projects/autoyast/). But since all systems use the same hardware I was thinking about taking an disk-image from an installation and "dd" to all new systems? What do you think, any best practices?

A: try using the parted or gparted applications.  gparted is the GUI for parted.
http://www.gnu.org/software/parted/manual/html_chapter/parted_8.html

A: I am sure there are better ways to do this than dd. I tried that some ten years ago on identical machines and it did work, but was slow. I believe nowadays it makes more sense to be using tools like:

*

*Partimage. I tried this a while ago and it was quite good.

*Clonezilla. I've only heard it does the job, but have no observations of my own.
For more info, check this link.

A: dd will work, but is very slow because you'll have to copy over the whole disk, not just the data. I install hundreds of systems all the time and use SALI and System Imager. I use SALI to actually install the images and System Imager to manage variations of hardware and images. There's several ways to do it in SALI, but the standard method is via a pxeboot loader. But that's not required.

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February 01, 2017 Outside » Natural World
Natural World: The Oregon rock crawler
By Jim Anderson
Back in 1954 I was living in Bend and doing a lot of underground exploring with my dear caving partner, Phil Coyner. I can't recall how he and I got to going into lava caves, but we were good at it. In fact, he and I were the first known human beings to go all the way to the very end of Lavacicle Cave near Pine Mountain in the Fort Rock District.
A firefighter who was working on the Aspen Butte Fire in the mid-'50s discovered the cave. He took us to the opening and on the way to the end, I found the skeleton of a river otter, probably left over from the times when there was a sprawling lake in the Fort Rock Basin.
The name "Lavacicle" was given to the lava tube (cave) in homage to the basalt stalactites and stalagmites found midway through the cave. Nothing like it had ever been found before to anyone's knowledge.
One warm summer day Coyner and I were exploring South Ice Cave, south of Lavacicle, when a peculiar-looking insect went scurrying by. I had never seen anything like it in any of the caves. It looked like it should have wings but there were none. I thought it was a beetle, but it lacked the necessary physical elements. It had six legs—not eight—so it wasn't a spider.
I have to say I DO NOT enjoy collecting anything, always afraid of collecting the last of something, so I prefer to take photos. That day, however, I forgot to bring along my trusty 35mm Pentax.
I cut off and stuffed a part of my handkerchief in a vial, and with a pair of forceps I carefully captured the insect and placed it in the vial. The next day I placed the whole shebang in a box and shipped it off to Prof. Jack Lattin, who headed up the Entomology department at Oregon State.
I got a note back from Dr. Lattin thanking me profusely for the insect. It turned out to be a Grylloblattid, aka the rockcrawler or ice cricket, and the first Oregon species he'd ever seen. He sent it off to an entomologist friend in France, and from there I lost track of it. About five years later I received a note indicating that a man named Joseph Mark from the University of British Columbia wanted to know the whereabouts of the South Ice Cave to study the insect I'd found. Somehow, I was left out of the loop, but Coyner took Mark to the cave, told him all about the geology and history of it and gave him all the past weather records for that area.
Mark said he was going to try to reclassify the insect and returned with a pickup full of scientific instruments to record data inside the cave. He also intended to capture several more rock crawlers. Unfortunately, vandals entered the cave and swiped equipment from time to time.
Eventually, Mark had enough data and specimens to make his move, which was to use the findings of the scientific instruments to describe the insect's South Ice Cave habitat, and to prove his thesis for his doctorate. Not long ago, OPB's Oregon Field Guide had a program on Grylloblatids, but there was no mention of the South Ice Cave Ice crawler population, or of Joseph Mark.
If you go into South Ice looking for rock crawlers and you find one or two, please leave them be. Take photos until the cows come home, but don't collect them for a "pet."
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Q: how load local module before egg during unit test? I am writing unit test. and Found there's one problem, my unit test will load module from the egg before my local module. if I change some code, I need to run setup.py install again to make the unit test work.
I print sys.path and found the egg is before my local module.I guess it's the root cause.
I use Pycharm and is there solution for this?

A: You should be able to install the egg in develop mode, which will install it as a link.  This should allow you to make updates to the source without having to relink/install/uninstall.
http://setuptools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/setuptools.html#development-mode


Quebec (/k(w)ɪˈbɛk/ (listen); French: Québec [kebɛk] (listen)) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is bordered to the west by the province of Ontario and the bodies of water James Bay and Hudson Bay; to the north by Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay; to the east by the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador; and to the south by the province of New Brunswick and the U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. It also shares maritime borders with Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Quebec is Canada's largest province by area and its second-largest administrative division; only the territory of Nunavut is larger. It is historically and politically considered to be part of Central Canada (with Ontario).
In the 2016 census, Quebec had a population of 8,164,361 living in 3,531,663 of its 3,858,943 total dwellings, a 3.3% change from its 2011 population of 7,903,001. With a land area of 1,356,625.27 km2 (523,795.95 sq mi), it had a population density of 6.0/km2 (15.6/sq mi) in 2016. In 2013, Statistics Canada estimated the province's population to be 8,155,334.
Quebec has an advanced, market-based, and open economy. In 2009, its gross domestic product (GDP) of US$32,408 per capita at purchasing power parity puts the province at par with Japan, Italy and Spain, but remains lower than the Canadian average of US$37,830 per capita. The economy of Quebec is ranked the 37th largest economy in the world just behind Greece and 28th for the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.
In 1977, the Quebec Parliament declared June 24 to be Quebec's National Holiday. Historically June 24 was a holiday honouring French Canada's patron saint, St. John the Baptist, which is why it is commonly known as La Saint-Jean-Baptiste (often shortened to La St-Jean). On this day, the song "Gens du pays" by Gilles Vigneault is often heard and commonly regarded as Quebec's unofficial anthem. The festivities occur on June 23 and 24 and are celebrated all over Quebec. In cities like Québec and Montréal, great shows are organized in the main public places (such as the Abraham plains, Québec, or Maisonneuve Park, Montréal) where several of the most popular Quebec artists relay each others until late at night.
^ SWiSH v2.0. "Les Patriotes de 1837@1838". Cgi2.cvm.qc.ca. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
^ Bingham, Russell. "Culture > Awards > National Order of Québec (L'ordre national du Québec)". In Marsh, James H. (ed.). The Canadian Encyclopedia. Toronto: Historica Foundation of Canada. Archived from the original on June 23, 2009. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
^ "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations, 2011 and 2006 censuses". Canada 2011 Census. Statistics Canada. February 8, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
French Canadians (also referred to as Franco-Canadians or Canadiens; French: Canadien(ne)s français(es)) are an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to French colonists who settled in Canada from the 17th century onward. Today, people of French heritage make up the majority of native speakers of French in Canada, who in turn account for about 22 per cent of the country's total population. The majority of French Canadians reside in Quebec, where they constitute the majority of the province's population, although French-Canadian and francophone minority communities exist in all other Canadian provinces and territories as well. Besides the Québécois, distinct French speaking ethnic groups in Canada include the Acadians of the Maritime Provinces, the Brayons of New Brunswick, and the Métis of the Prairie Provinces, among other smaller groups.During the mid-18th century, Canadian colonists born in French Canada expanded across North America and colonized various regions, cities, and towns; the French Canadian settlers originated primarily from districts in the west of France, such as Normandy, Perche, Beauce, Maine, Anjou, Touraine, Poitou, Aunis, Angoumois, Saintonge and Gascony.Today, French Canadians live across North America. Most French Canadians reside in Quebec, and are more commonly referred to as Quebecers or Québécois, although smaller communities exist throughout Canada and in the United States. Between 1840 and 1930, roughly 900,000 French Canadians emigrated to the United States, mostly to the New England region. Acadians (Acadiens), who reside in the Maritimes, may be included among the French Canadian group in linguistic contexts, but are considered a separate group from the French Canadians in a cultural sense due to their distinct history, much of which predates the admission of the Maritime Provinces to Canadian Confederation in 1867.
French Canadians (including those who are no longer French-speaking) constitute the second largest ethnic group in Canada, behind those of English ancestry, and ahead of those of Scottish and Irish heritage; there is nevertheless a distinction between those identifying as French Canadians and those simply identifying as French. In total, those whose ethnic origins are French Canadian, French, Québécois and Acadian number up to 11.9 million people or comprising 33.78% of the Canadian population.Not all francophone Canadians are of French-Canadian descent or heritage, as the body of French language speakers in Canada also includes significant immigrant communities from other francophone countries such as Haiti, Cameroon, Algeria, Tunisia or Vietnam — and not all French Canadians are francophone, as a significant number of people who have French Canadian ethnic roots are native English speakers.
Gatineau (; French: [ɡatino]) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is the fourth-largest city in the province after Montreal, Quebec City, and Laval. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, together with which it forms Canada's National Capital Region. As of 2016, Gatineau had a population of 276,245, and a metropolitan population of 332,057. The Ottawa–Gatineau census metropolitan area had a population of 1,323,783.Gatineau is coextensive with a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and census division (CD) of the same name, whose geographical code is 81. It is the seat of the judicial district of Hull.
HuffPost (formerly The Huffington Post and sometimes abbreviated HuffPo) is an American news and opinion website and blog, with localized and international editions. The magazine is edited from a liberal political perspective. It was founded in 2005 by Andrew Breitbart, Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer and Jonah Peretti. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content and covers politics, business, entertainment, environment, technology, popular media, lifestyle, culture, comedy, healthy living, women's interests, and local news.
The Huffington Post was launched on May 9, 2005, as a commentary outlet, blog, and an alternative to news aggregators such as the Drudge Report. On February 7, 2011, AOL acquired The Huffington Post for US$315 million, making Arianna Huffington editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group. The site later became part of Verizon Communications, which purchased AOL on May 12, 2015 for US$4.4 billion.In July 2012, The Huffington Post was ranked No. 1 on the 15 Most Popular Political Sites list by eBizMBA Rank, which bases its list on each site's Alexa Global Traffic Rank and U.S. Traffic Rank from both Compete and Quantcast. In 2012, The Huffington Post became the first commercially run United States digital media enterprise to win a Pulitzer Prize.
The list of regions of Canada is a summary of geographical areas on a hierarchy that ranges from national (groups of provinces and territories) at the top to local regions and sub-regions of provinces at the bottom. Administrative regions that rank below a province and above a municipality are also included if they have a comprehensive range of functions compared to the limited functions of specialized government agencies. Some provinces and groups of provinces are also quasi-administrative regions at the federal level for purposes such as representation in the Senate of Canada. However regional municipalities (or regional districts in British Columbia) are included with local municipalities in the article List of municipalities in Canada.
The province of Quebec, Canada, is officially divided into 17 administrative regions. Traditionally (and unofficially), it is divided into around twenty regions. As of the 2011 Canadian Census, the population of Quebec was 7,903,001, the land area was 1,356,547.02 km2 (523,765.73 sq mi) and the population density was 5.8 inhabitants per square kilometre (15/sq mi).
Montreal ( (listen) MUN-tree-AWL; French pronunciation: [mɔ̃ʁeal] (listen); officially Montréal) is the most populous municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec and the second-most populous municipality in Canada. Originally called Ville-Marie, or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill in the heart of the city. The city is centred on the Island of Montreal, which took its name from the same source as the city, and a few much smaller peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard. It has a distinct four-season continental climate with warm to hot summers and cold, snowy winters.In 2016, the city had a population of 1,704,694, with a population of 1,942,044 in the urban agglomeration, including all of the other municipalities on the Island of Montreal. The broader metropolitan area had a population of 4,098,927. French is the city's official language and is the language spoken at home by 49.8% of the population of the city, followed by English at 22.8% and 18.3% other languages (in the 2016 census, not including multi-language responses). In the larger Montreal Census Metropolitan Area, 65.8% of the population speaks French at home, compared to 15.3% who speak English. The agglomeration Montreal is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada, with over 59% of the population able to speak both English and French. Montreal is the second largest primarily French-speaking city in the world, after Paris. It is situated 258 kilometres (160 mi) south-west of Quebec City.
Historically the commercial capital of Canada, Montreal was surpassed in population and in economic strength by Toronto in the 1970s. It remains an important centre of commerce, aerospace, transport, finance, pharmaceuticals, technology, design, education, art, culture, tourism, food, fashion, gaming, film, and world affairs. Montreal has the second-highest number of consulates in North America, serves as the location of the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization, and was named a UNESCO City of Design in 2006. In 2017, Montreal was ranked the 12th most liveable city in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit in its annual Global Liveability Ranking, and the best city in the world to be a university student in the QS World University Rankings.Montreal has hosted multiple international conferences and events, including the 1967 International and Universal Exposition and the 1976 Summer Olympics. It is the only Canadian city to have held the Summer Olympics. In 2018, Montreal was ranked as an Alpha− world city. As of 2016 the city hosts the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula One, the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Just for Laughs festival.
Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (IATA: YUL, ICAO: CYUL) (French: Aéroport international Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau de Montréal) or Montréal–Trudeau, formerly known as Montréal–Dorval International Airport (Aéroport international Montréal-Dorval), is an international airport serving Montreal, Quebec, Canada, located on the Island of Montreal, 20 km (12 mi) from Downtown Montreal. The airport terminals are located entirely in the suburb of Dorval, while one runway is located in the Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent. Air Canada, the country's flag carrier, also has its corporate headquarters complex on the Saint-Laurent side of the airport. It also serves Greater Montreal and adjacent regions in Quebec and eastern Ontario, as well as the states of Vermont and northern New York in the United States. The airport is named in honour of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the 15th Prime Minister of Canada and father of current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The airport is one of two managed and operated by Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), a not-for-profit corporation without share capital; the other being Montréal–Mirabel northwest of Montreal, which was initially intended to replace the one in Dorval but now deals almost solely with cargo. Montréal–Trudeau is owned by Transport Canada which has a 60-year lease with Aéroports de Montréal, as per Canada's National Airport Policy of 1994.Trudeau is the busiest airport in the province of Quebec and the third-busiest airport in Canada by both passenger traffic and aircraft movements, with 19.42 million passengers and 240,159 movements in 2018. It is one of eight Canadian airports with United States border preclearance and is one of the main gateways into Canada with 12.2 million or 63% of its passengers being on non-domestic flights, the highest proportion amongst Canada's airports during 2018. It is one of four Air Canada hubs and, in that capacity, serves mainly Quebec, the Atlantic Provinces and Eastern Ontario. On an average day, 53,000 passengers transit through Montréal-Trudeau.
Airlines servicing Trudeau offer year-round non-stop flights to five continents, namely Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America. It is one of only two airports in Canada with direct flights to five continents or more, the other being Toronto Pearson International Airport. Trudeau airport is the headquarters of and a large hub for Air Canada, the country's largest airline. It is also the headquarters of Air Inuit and Air Transat, and an operation base for Sunwing Airlines and Porter Airlines. It also plays a role in general aviation as home to the headquarters of Innotech-Execair, Starlink, ACASS and Maintenance Repair & Overhaul (MRO) facilities of Air Transat and Air Inuit. Transport Canada operates a Civil Aviation Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul facility on site, with a fleet of Government owned and operated civil aircraft. Bombardier Aerospace has an assembly facility on site where they build regional jets and Challenger business jets.
It is known that [the ICAO spelling alphabet] has been prepared only after the most exhaustive tests on a scientific basis by several nations. One of the firmest conclusions reached was that it was not practical to make an isolated change to clear confusion between one pair of letters. To change one word involves reconsideration of the whole alphabet to ensure that the change proposed to clear one confusion does not itself introduce others.
The same memo notes a potential confusion between ZERO and SIERRA is overcome when following the procedures in ACP 125, which specify the use of the procedure word FIGURES in many instances in which digits need to be read.
The National Assembly of Quebec (French: Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; French: députés). The Queen in Right of Quebec, represented by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec and the National Assembly compose the Legislature of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other Westminster-style parliamentary systems.
The National Assembly was formerly the lower house of Quebec's legislature and was then called the Legislative Assembly of Quebec. In 1968, the upper house, the Legislative Council, was abolished and the remaining house was renamed.
The office of President of the National Assembly is equivalent to speaker in other legislatures. The Coalition Avenir Québec currently has the most seats in the Assembly following the Quebec general election, 2018.
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (; French: [tʁydo]; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), often referred to by the initials PET, was a Canadian politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada (1968–1979 and 1980–1984). He was the third longest-serving prime minister in Canadian history (behind William Lyon Mackenzie King and John A. Macdonald), having served for 15 years, 164 days.
Poutine (; Quebec French: [put͡sɪn] (listen)) is a dish originating from the Canadian province of Quebec, consisting of French fries and cheese curds topped with a brown gravy. The dish emerged in the late 1950s in the Centre-du-Québec area and has long been associated with the cuisine of Quebec. For many years, it was negatively perceived and mocked, and even used as a means of stigmatization against Quebec society. Later, poutine became celebrated as a symbol of Québécois cultural pride, and its rise in prominence led to popularity outside the province, especially in the rest of Central Canada, in the Northeastern United States and even Japan.
Annual poutine celebrations occur in Montreal, Quebec City, and Drummondville, as well as Toronto, Ottawa, Chicago, and Manchester, New Hampshire. Today, it is often identified as quintessential Canadian cuisine and has been called "Canada's national dish", though some believe this labelling represents misappropriation of Québécois culture. Many variations on the original recipe are popular, leading some to suggest that poutine has emerged as a new dish classification in its own right, just like sandwiches, dumplings, soups, and flatbreads.
The provinces and territories of Canada are sub-national governments within the geographical areas of Canada under the authority of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North America—New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the Province of Canada (which upon Confederation was divided into Ontario and Quebec)—were united to form a federated colony, becoming a sovereign nation in the next century. Over its history, Canada's international borders have changed several times, and the country has grown from the original four provinces to the current ten provinces and three territories. Together, the provinces and territories make up the world's second-largest country by area.
Several of the provinces were former British colonies, and Quebec was originally a French colony, while others were added as Canada grew. The three territories govern the rest of the area of the former British North America.
The major difference between a Canadian province and a territory is that provinces receive their power and authority from the Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly called the British North America Act, 1867), whereas territorial governments have powers delegated to them by the Parliament of Canada. The powers flowing from the Constitution Act are divided between the Government of Canada (the federal government) and the provincial governments to exercise exclusively. A change to the division of powers between the federal government and the provinces requires a constitutional amendment, whereas a similar change affecting the territories can be performed unilaterally by the Parliament of Canada or government.
In modern Canadian constitutional theory, the provinces are considered to be sovereign within certain areas based on the divisions of responsibility between the provincial and federal government within the Constitution Act 1867, and each province thus has its own representative of the Canadian "Crown", the lieutenant governor. The territories are not sovereign, but instead their authorities and responsibilities come directly from the federal level, and as a result, have a commissioner instead of a lieutenant governor.
Quebec City (pronounced (listen) or ; French: Québec [kebɛk] (listen); French: Ville de Québec, Western Abnaki: Kephek), officially Québec, is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. The city had a population estimate of 531,902 in July 2016 (an increase of 3.0% from 2011), and the metropolitan area had a population of 800,296 in July 2016 (an increase of 4.3% from 2011), making it the second largest city in Quebec after Montreal, and the seventh largest metropolitan area and eleventh largest city in the country.
The Algonquian people had originally named the area Kébec, an Algonquin word meaning "where the river narrows", because the Saint Lawrence River narrows proximate to the promontory of Quebec and its Cape Diamant. Explorer Samuel de Champlain founded a French settlement here in 1608, and adopted the Algonquin name. Quebec City is one of the oldest European cities in North America. The ramparts surrounding Old Quebec (Vieux-Québec) are the only fortified city walls remaining in the Americas north of Mexico. This area was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985 as the "Historic District of Old Québec".The city's landmarks include the Château Frontenac hotel that dominates the skyline and the Citadelle of Quebec, an intact fortress that forms the centrepiece of the ramparts surrounding the old city and includes a secondary royal residence. The National Assembly of Quebec (provincial legislature), the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec), and the Musée de la civilisation (Museum of Civilization) are found within or near Vieux-Québec.
The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP, French: Parti libéral du Québec) is a federalist provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955.
The party has traditionally supported a form of Quebec federalism that supports Quebec remaining within the Canadian federation while also supporting reforms that would allow Quebec substantial autonomy. While the party has been described as centrist in the context of Canadian politics, the party believes in a strong role for government in the economy and supports socially liberal policies. The party has a social-democratic faction which was especially prominent during the Quiet Revolution.The Quebec Liberals have always been associated with the colour red; each of their main opponents in different eras have been generally associated with the colour blue.
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (French: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec, abbreviated QMJHL in English, LHJMQ in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league comprises teams across the provinces of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Since the departure of the Lewiston Maineiacs from Lewiston, Maine, the QMJHL is the only one of the three member leagues of the CHL that does not currently have teams located in the United States (the OHL has teams in Michigan and Pennsylvania while the WHL has teams in Washington and Oregon). The current president of the QMJHL is Gilles Courteau.
The President's Cup is the championship trophy of the league. The QMJHL champion then goes on to compete in the Memorial Cup against the OHL and WHL champions, and the CHL host team. The QMJHL had traditionally adopted a rapid and offensive style of hockey. Former QMJHL players hold many of the Canadian Hockey League's career and single season offensive records.
Hockey Hall of Fame alumni of the QMJHL include Mario Lemieux, Guy Lafleur, Ray Bourque, Pat LaFontaine, Mike Bossy, Denis Savard, Michel Goulet, Luc Robitaille, and goaltender Patrick Roy.
The Quebec Nordiques (French: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced [nɔʁdɪk] in Quebec French, in Canadian English; literally translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City, Quebec. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) and the National Hockey League (1979–1995). The franchise was relocated to Denver, Colorado in May 1995 and renamed the Colorado Avalanche.The Nordiques hold the distinction of being the only major professional sports team to have been based in Quebec City in the modern era, and one of only two ever; the other, the Quebec Bulldogs, played one season in the NHL in 1919–20.
The Quebec sovereignty movement (French: Mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a political movement as well as an ideology of values, concepts and ideas that advocates independence for the Canadian province of Quebec.
Several diverse political groups coalesced in the late 1960s in the formation of the Parti Québécois, a provincial political party. Since 1968 the party has appealed for constitutional negotiations on the matter of provincial sovereignty, in addition to holding two provincial referendums on the matter. The first, which occurred in 1980, asked whether Quebecers wished to open constitutional negotiations with the federal government (and other provinces) for the intended purpose of establishing a "sovereignty-association" pact between the province of Quebec and the rest of Canada. Approximately 60% of Quebec's voting public rejected the idea put forth by Parti Québécois leader René Lévesque. The matter was dropped by the party for most of the 1980s, especially after the patriation of the Canadian constitution without the consent of the Parti Québécois government, and the creation of the federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which enshrined the protection of the French language and French-Canadian culture in Canada. In 1995, after two failed attempts by the Mulroney government to secure Quebec's ratification of amendments to the constitution, the Parti Québécois held a second referendum, though on this occasion the question was whether one wished for the independence of the province of Quebec from the rest of Canada. The response was again in the negative, though this time by a far closer margin, with 50.58% against the proposal.
Though the Parti Québécois has long spearheaded the sovereignty movement, they are not alone. Other minority provincial political parties, such as Option nationale and Québec Solidaire, also support sovereignty, but are not always supportive of the Parti Québécois. The Quebec Liberal Party, Quebec's other primary political party, is opposed to increasing political sovereignty for the province, but has also been historically at odds, on occasion, with various Canadian federal governments. Thus, Quebec politics is effectively divided into two camps, principally opposed over the sovereignty issue. Quebec sovereignty is politically opposed to the competing ideology of Canadian federalism.
Most groups within this movement seek to gain independence through peaceful means, using negotiation-based diplomatic intervention, although fringe groups have advocated and used violent means. The overwhelming number of casualties came from attacks by the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ), a militant organization which perpetrated a bombing and armed robbery campaign from 1963 to 1970, culminating in the October Crisis and the death of Deputy Premier Pierre Laporte. Since this time all mainstream sovereignist groups have sworn off violence, while extremist nationalist groups, though in the minority, support violent actions in the name of liberating Quebec from Canadian sovereignty.
The primary mainstream political vehicle for the movement is the Parti Québécois, which has governed Quebec on multiple occasions. In 2012 it was elected to a minority government, in which its leader, Pauline Marois, became the first female Premier of Quebec. However, only eighteen months later, the PQ was defeated by the Liberal Party of Quebec in the 2014 election.
Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport, also known as Jean Lesage International Airport (French: Aéroport international Jean-Lesage de Québec, or Aéroport de Québec) (IATA: YQB, ICAO: CYQB) is the primary airport serving the Canadian city of Québec. Located 6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 mi) west southwest of the city, it is the eleventh-busiest airport in Canada, with 1,670,880 passengers and 121,680 aircraft movements in 2017. More than 10 airlines offer 360 weekly flights to destinations across Canada, the United States, Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe.


Now, this is one UNIQUE essay! Gross AND great.
Unique, gross, and great. I'll take all of them as compliments. Thanks!
You are currently reading A Treatise about Frogs: On the Boiling, Swallowing, Eating, and Metaphorizing of Such at Clearing Customs.


text:
The Outside Interview Jan 9, 2018
Susan Casey Might Have Gills
To write her three bestselling books on the ocean, Susan Casey went deep with great white sharks in California, big-wave surfing icon Laird Hamilton in Hawaii, and wild dolphins around the world. Her willingness to literally immerse herself in the topic of the ocean—she's a former competitive swimmer—has allowed her to craft captivating stories that chronicle our relationship with the sea. And yet she's a relative newcomer to the life aquatic. In the mid-nineties, she was Outside's creative director, helping guide the publication to an unprecedented three consecutive National Magazine Awards. She was later the editor in chief of O, the Oprah Magazine. It seems that every time she tries something new she becomes one of the best at it. Outside editor Chris Keyes sat down with her to ask: How does she do it? And why is she so concerned about the future of the sea?
Susan Casey Might Have Gills Podcast


They say that records are meant to be broken.
So it's fitting that the siblings who have done nothing but rewrite the history books since bursting onto the tennis stage two decades ago will script another chapter this weekend in Melbourne.
Serena and Venus, each former No. 1 players in the world with a combined 563 Grand Slam match wins and 29 major titles, will square off in the final of the 2017 Australian Open.
The sisters insist they're playing with house money and each say they have nothing to lose. Except both sisters hate losing more than they like winning, and the fact that it's a relative on the other baseline probably won't do anything to quell the inevitable nerves.
Venus' path to the final saw her drop just one set in six matches. The No. 13 seed faced only one seed – No. 24 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – on her way through the draw. ADVERTISEMENT Her potential third- and fourth-round opponents – No. 19 seed Kiki Bertens and fourth-seeded Simona Halep – each lost in the first round to other Americans, and Pavlyuchenkova upset No. 8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the round of 16.
The top seed in the draw was defending champion Angelique Kerber, but that semifinal showdown was scrapped at the hands of CoCo Vandeweghe, another American who posted a career-best run to the final four.
By contrast, 35-year-old Serena's road was considerably more difficult, starting with former world No. 7 Belinda Bencic in the first round, French Open runner-up Lucie Safarova in the second, rising American Nicole Gibbs in the third and No. 16 seed and two-time slam semifinalist Barbora Strycova in the fourth. Serena beat ninth-seeded Johanna Konta in the quarters and surprise star Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the semis.
As the underdog, Venus will surely have her work cut out on Saturday. Her serve and ground strokes don't have the same explosive power and penetration as those of her younger sister, and the fact that Serena has won seven of their past eight meetings indicates an uphill climb for the 36-year-old, who has caught a proverbial second wind in the twilight of a Hall of Fame career.
If you're looking for positive omens for Venus, each of her past three wins over Serena (pictured above) have been on hard courts – at the Canadian Open, in Dubai and at the year-end tour championships – and each featured strong serving performances on the second serve.
Venus has protected her serve well this tournament, but she's arguably returned even better. Both aspects of her game will be key if she hopes to hang with Serena, who can blast anyone off the court even with a subpar performance.
So now they're the last two standing, just what's at stake?
For Serena, the biggest thing on the line is the pursuit of her 23rd Grand Slam title. She's steadfastly refused to discuss the possibility of breaking the Open era record she shares with Steffi Graf, but you know that, internally if not publicly, it will be on her mind.
Questions constantly arise about the greatest of all time, so by moving to the top of the Open era list, that's just one more thing that will help separate Serena from the pack.
Of course, that's not all that's in play this weekend. A win would give Serena a seventh Australian Open title, which would be three more than any other player in the Open era and move her into second all-time behind only Margaret Court, whose 11 crowns Down Under will likely never be broken.
Serena would also become just the second woman ever to win two different Grand Slam singles titles seven times each – she also has seven at Wimbledon – and she'd also be the first player to claim at least one major under four different U.S. Presidents.
She would become the oldest player to sit atop the rankings, and, at 17 years, four months and 17 days, increase her own record for the longest span between first and last Grand Slam titles. Whichever sister wins, they automatically become the oldest player to win a Grand Slam singles title in the Open era.
For Venus, a win in Melbourne Park would give her an eighth Grand Slam title and her first in Melbourne. Those eight titles would equal Billie Jean King's mark and tie her for seventh in the Open era, one behind Monica Seles.
Also, with five titles at Wimbledon and back-to-back US Open championships, she would become the 15th woman in the Open era to win three of the four majors at least once. The last person to accomplish the feat was Maria Sharapova nine years ago. In what could be the last major final these pioneering sisters contest, don't count anything out.


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Home LIFE STYLE Volunteering can give kids purpose in uncertain times — and there are...
Volunteering can give kids purpose in uncertain times — and there are still ways to do it
They're not alone. According to Laura Plato, chief solutions officer at VolunteerMatch, a platform that connects volunteers with nonprofit organizations, traditional in-person volunteering has dropped off precipitously since the pandemic began, while need has only grown. "Our nation's nonprofits are having to really get creative and reinvent what volunteering looks like," she says.
A wide body of research on teens and adults links volunteering to a host of benefits, including reduced rates of depression and anxiety and meaningful improvements in life expectancy. "But for children," says Akua Boateng, a psychotherapist based in Philadelphia who works with families, "volunteering can also be a positive component of their developmental process — helping them understand their place in the social fabric — and is associated with a higher sense of self-esteem." In the course of volunteering, children "develop the skills to think of the world outside of themselves," she says, which lays the foundation for empathy, compassion and engagement. Parents, too, experience mental and physical health benefits from volunteering with their children, and they report closer family connection.
When so much is out of our control, the act of volunteering puts some control back in our hands. And with the normal rhythms of life still very much disrupted, it's a good way to occupy and engage children who might otherwise feel stuck.
Peter Levine, a professor at Tufts University's Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, cautions that how parents frame volunteering is important. "It's crucial to talk about social inequity in the right way with children," he says, "to avoid communicating a sense of superiority that leads to, 'We have to help these people because there's something wrong with them.' " Even for a 4-year-old, "you can make it clear that the people you give food to, that that could be us, and there's nothing wrong with them. They've just had bad luck."
For families who want to volunteer in this new landscape, what options are there? Quite a few, says Karen Daniel, vice president of programs at Youth Service America. "We have a project ideas database on our website, where people can search by the issue area that they care about and by their spark, which is what they love to do. We really believe in helping kids start with something they love so that the project is fun for them, too."
Plato from VolunteerMatch says to "think about activities that you've traditionally done and organizations that you've traditionally done them with. A lot of these places — and new, smaller organizations, too — are embracing practices to make their programs more virtual, more safely distanced."
Volunteering that addresses the immediate needs created by the pandemic and employs children's natural creativity can often be done from home. For example, children can sew masks to donate to local hospitals and essential workers. Younger children, or those uncomfortable working with needles, can construct no-sew alternatives. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's tutorials and guidelines are a good place to start, but endless variations can also be found online.
A thoughtful note can go a long way toward cheering someone up. There are programs to help kids reach out to military personnel and their families, or write letters and cards to older people who are separated from their loved ones. But you don't need formal avenues to contribute; sending letters to family, friends or members of your immediate community helps strengthen ties in your own backyard.
Hunger is a long-standing problem that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Although churches and shelters have largely suspended big meal gatherings for now, grab-and-go meals and meal deliveries have filled some of the gap. Children can help prepare meals from home, decorate packages and tag along when parents deliver the food safely, adhering to social distancing regulations.
Virtual and asynchronous
Virtual volunteering, where activities are done using a computer or phone, and asynchronous volunteering, where they're completed independently without following a rigid schedule, have transformed the traditional fundraiser.
"For Global Youth Service Day this year, instead of doing a physical fun run — where the kids would get pledges for the miles they run — they did it virtually," Daniel says. In virtual run-walk events, participants run alone and then submit their results, often through social media platforms. But the shared experience of reaching mileage and fundraising goals together still fosters community building. In more team-driven events, family members and friends can buddy up to hit target distances collectively.
"Consider hosting a virtual toy or food drive and have your neighbors be a part of it," Plato suggests. To incorporate a social component to the drive, you can host a virtual movie-watching party and ask for donations in return for a "seat." Another popular mainstay of holiday volunteering is Adopt-a-Family, which can also be done virtually with friends and family.
Right now, the safest place to congregate is outdoors, provided social distancing rules and mask-wearing are observed. Therefore, outings to the park or beach to pick up trash are great ways for kids to get the wiggles out with friends while also learning about the importance of environmental stewardship. Even a walk around the neighborhood with a garbage bag emphasizes how important it is that everyone does their part to keep our world safe and clean.
According to Katie Stagliano of Katie's Krops, a nonprofit that helps children start gardens across the United States, community gardening can continue in the colder months with winter crops such as cabbage, carrots, kale, turnips and collard greens, which can then be distributed to families struggling with food insecurity. And other activities centered around garden hygiene and upkeep are good to tackle when it's colder out: tending to your compost pile, pruning back perennials and building new garden beds for spring.
With about 80 percent of the approximately 1.5 million nonprofits in the country using volunteers, according to Plato, "the help is needed and wanted," she says. "And the best way to get out there is to connect with folks and find out what they need, consider what you're passionate about and match those two things up as a family."
Lydia Elle, a writer in Los Angeles, and her 10-year-old daughter, London, have embraced this philosophy. Inspired by a love of reading and the realization that other kids may not have the same access to books, London started partnering up with organizations in 2019 to donate books to children in need. "During the summer, because we couldn't get out and distribute books in person like we normally would have, we made a huge donation of books to our local food bank instead," Elle says. The food bank matched books to packages they were assembling for the families they serve, and "it was just a nice way to ensure kids kept on reading during the summer months."
Connie Chang writes about the second-generation immigrant experience, including the challenges of raising children at the intersection of multiple cultures and traditions. She lives in Silicon Valley, is a mother of three and knits in her spare time. Find Connie on Twitter @changcon.
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Fleas have been mysterious insects. But scientists just found their living 'sisters.'
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Gandhiji had a vision to improve agriculture and livestock for the prosperity of rural communities in India. To gain more insight, he attended a training program on dairy farming for fifteen days in 1927 at Bangalore Centre of the ICAR - National Dairy Research Institute. He also visited and appreciated the 'Indore method' of composting at the Institute of Plant Industry, Indore in 1935.
The Gandhian philosophy included promotion of Swadeshi breeds, organic agriculture and goat milk for better health. In order to realize Gandhi's dream, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research is relentlessly working towards transforming the Indian Agriculture for ensuring livelihood security and higher income of our Annadata, the farmers. By developing and deploying the cutting edge science and technology, India has succeeded in achieving food self-sufficiency and remains the highest milk and cotton producer in the world.
The tableau will depict the importance of dairy farming, use of indigenous breeds and livestock based organic agriculture for rural prosperity. In the front, Bapu is shown with goats and a cow. Organic agriculture, revolution in cotton and milk production and food safety analysis for better health are shown in the middle. In the rear part, Kasturba Gandhi is engaged with Charkha and care of animals at Bapu Kuti at Wardha Ashram. The tableau symbolizes livestock based sustainable and climate resilient agriculture.


Cut from indigo cotton-linen denim, J.W.Anderson's miniskirt is detailed with a brown leather logo-stamped patch pocket. This style is accented with long top-stitched self-ties at the waist.
Bandless waist. Quarter-top pockets. Patch back pocket.
13.5" center back length (approximately).
Side button closure. Ties at waist.
70% cotton, 30% linen. Combo: 100% leather.


A single mystery can change the world. Every known human advancement has been made as the result of a passion to discover the unknown, to manifest the unreal. Have we ever taken the time to discover what personal mystery drives ourselves? In a 50 minute engagement, Jackson uses the tools of theatrical magic and the psychology of the unknown to combine equal parts "show" and "think" to create an experience of magic that truly begins after the curtain call. A mystery awaits us all, the only question is: when will we find it?


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Timothy Schmalz
For over 25 years, Timothy has been sculpting large scale sculptures. He is a figurative artist with his pieces installed worldwide. Some of his most reputed pieces are installed in historical churches in Rome and at the Vatican. Timothy describes his most important work as visual translations of the Bible. Although most of his work is based upon a spiritual theme, he also creates large, complex public sculptures in bronze. Some of these include monuments that honour veterans and firefighters. Timothy strives to create epic artwork that connects with viewers through design and details that not only touch the viewer on an emotional level, but also allow them to feel somewhat a 'part' of the piece.
Bio last updated November 7th, 2019.
Articles by Timothy Schmalz
The Visual Prayers of Timothy Schmalz
By Hannah Marazzi with Timothy Schmalz
For years, sculptor Timothy Schmalz has been turning the gazes of passersby towards visual representations of scripture, with his large-scale sculptures erected worldwide. Our own Hannah Marazzi sits down with Schmalz to discuss his art and the vision behind it.
I have this cynicism about what people think about artwork and Christianity, but I also have a faith that one can do a piece of artwork that can explain and show people how amazing Saint Thomas Aquinas is or how awesome Saint Padre Pio is TS: I think all artwork has to be something that communicates in a language people understand and that part of the idea of an artist is to communicate TS: On each piece I create, I kind of come on with the premise that people don't like artwork and that they're bored of artwork; that artwork is invisible to them It's the same size as Angels Unaware, a 20-foot sculpture on human trafficking I have to know how bored people are with artwork and how jaded they are with artwork and how much we're tantalizing the little iPhone as artwork And I think, "What better, and what more discreet but powerful way, to inspire people to care about their brothers and sisters that are in that community, than by having that sculpture just there?" You can turn away if you want, but it has silent, powerful presence in a community


"Health Care for All: How It Works and How We Can Win" Featuring Dr. Oli Fein, M.D.
Universal health care is an idea whose time has come. An unprecedented number of candidates are running on Medicare for All and the New York Health Act. Two studies released this summer confirm that universal single-payer health care will reduce healthcare spending while guaranteeing care. And each day, more people are realizing that a healthcare system organized around profits is morally bankrupt.
On Thursday, September 27 at the Tompkins County Public Library join the Fingerlakes Campaign for NY Health for a discussion featuring Dr. Oliver Fein, M.D., President of Physicians for a National Health Program NY Metro and practicing internist from Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Fein will discuss how the New York Health Act will guarantee comprehensive healthcare coverage for all New Yorkers and how grassroots activists can be part of growing a local and regional movement for healthcare for all.


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Woking town centre
Woking's £460m Victoria Square plan: Why is the development set to cost TRIPLE the original quote?
When first proposed, the project carried a price tag of just £150m
Dimitri Kondonis
(Image: Blink Image Limited 2013; Trinity Mirror)
Woking Borough Council is set to debate the final approval stage for the town's glamorous new development on Thursday night (December 8).
The £460m "21st century Woking" proposals include a new Marks and Spencer and Boots store at the base of 391 residential apartments.
The proposal will also see Cawsey Way close completely, with the creation of a new square at the end of Commercial Way .
When first proposed to the borough council, plans for the square were set to cost £150m but the latest estimation is more than triple that account .
On November 24 Woking Borough Council chief executive Ray Morgan explained to the executive in part why the cost of the project increased threefold and admitted council officers "need to be more explicit" about increasing costs.
Woking town centre development
Woking station works
Old fire station demolished
M&S still part of plans
'34-storey skyscraper'
What is the difference in price?
Victoria Square was quoted to cost up to £150m in 2011 when the proposals were first raised .
It will now cost up to £460m. The council has said the project should be delivered "within" that number.
Which part of the proposal has changed?
In a supplementary paper to the Executive meeting, Woking Borough Council stated that the development team made "significant" changes once assessing how the project could meet the council's aims.
The council listed the following changes:
The number of apartments doubled
A basement store in the original plan could not be included because it was too expensive
The hotel capacity was increased to up to 200 rooms
The impact on Wolsey Place, Toys 'R' Us and Peacocks were fully evaluated and incorporated
The paper added: "It is effectively a substantially bigger scheme than first envisaged because the provisional outlined was not capable of securing planning consent. The current proposals have secured planning consent."
Artist's impression of Victoria Square plans in Woking
How has the council explained it?
Addressing the borough council's Executive in November, Morgan said: "I have been asked how much is it going to cost to build it.
"Well, the answer to building it is [it's] now £300m to build it but to develop it overall is £460m.
"For us going forward, there is definitely a learning point, that we need to be more explicit on the stages of feeding back to you after a planning state where we clearly do the construction cost estimates at that point.
"But those construction cost estimates are before any detailed design about how you keep it in the ground, how you stop it falling over."
Does this happen with other plans?
Marks and Spencer Woking still part of 'city-style' town centre transformation, despite store closures
Morgan added that a similar scenario has happened with the Goldsworth Road development.
He told the Executive: "I think you have had that recently with the Goldsworth Road planning application about expected construction, £130-150m .
"But the development of Goldsworth Road is going to cost Wilmott Dixon in the order of a quarter of a billion pounds.
"It's the rest of the cost in addition to construction."
Woking to be 'towered over' by 34-storey skyscraper
More than 600 new apartments could be built in Goldsworth Road, Woking
Will this be avoided in the future?
"In the future we need to be a little bit clearer on identifying in stages as we go along and in hindsight we should have brought something back after the planning stage to say: 'This is what it means.'" Mr Morgan added .
"In planning terms , all that information about construction was in there and growth value added about construction jobs but we did not talk about the development costs.
"For us going forward, there is definitely a learning point, that we need to be more explicit on the stages of feeding back to you after a planning state where we clearly do the construction cost estimates at that point."
First look at new development that will overlook Woking railway station
How does the money borrowed get repaid?
Woking Borough Council compared the loan to householders taking out a mortgage.
"The Loan will then be repaid, just as householders repay their mortgages, but over a 50 year 'annuity' as opposed to most householders doing so over 25 to 35 years depending on age," the report read.
"Attached as an appendix to this supplementary report are two schedules, both assume peak loan of £460m at January 1 2021 to be repaid over 50 years, one shows the interest rate at 2.5% the other at 2.75%.
"Just like a household mortgage, very little of the principal is repaid in the earlier years but this increases over time. Using the 2.5% table it shows that after ten years (2031) £53m is repaid, after 20 years (2041) £121m is repaid and that by 2071 it is all repaid."
Why will there be a hotel facility?
"The hotel and conference facilities are included in the scheme to address the medium to long term economic needs of the borough," the report stated.
"Removing it would leave a strategic cap in provision that may undermine the wider ambition to attract new office investors and occupiers.
"It is considered that to revisit whether or not the scheme should have an hotel and conference centre at this late stage could be unwise.
"It would delay implementation, risk the loss of Marks and Spencer and add another 12-18 months to the development period and consequential increases in development fees, interest costs and increase exposure to higher construction cost inflation risks."
Why is there a medical facility?
"A space was included in recognition that with an increased residential and working population in the town centre there may be the need for a general practitioner or similar services in the town centre. Currently there are none," the report said.
"The space is 'in between' other key spaces and if not used for such purposes could be used for any health related activity, such as a fitness centre.
"The space is not viable for other forms of accommodation."


Estate Tax: 26 U.S.C. §§ 2032A and 2056A specifically state who is liable for the tax.
FICA: 26 U.S.C. § 3102(b) specifically states who is liable for the tax.
Railroad Retirement Tax: 26 U.S.C. § 3202 specifically states who is liable for the tax.
Employment Taxes in General: 26 U.S.C. § 3505 specifically imposes liability.
Luxury Passenger Automobile Excise Tax: 26 U.S.C. §§ 4002 and 4003 specify who is primarily liable and who is secondarily liable.
Heavy Trucks and Trailers Excise Tax: 26 U.S.C. §§ 4051 and 4052 specifically impose liability for the tax.
Tire Manufacture Excise Tax: 26 U.S.C. § 4071 specifies who is liable for the tax.
Manufacturers Excise Tax: 26 U.S.C. § 4219 specifies who is liable for the tax.
Tax on Wagers: 26 U.S.C. § 4401 specifically states who is liable for the tax.
Wagering Occupational Tax: 26 U.S.C. § 4411.
Vehicle Use Tax: 26 U.S.C. § 4483.
Tax on Petroleum: 26 U.S.C. § 4611.
Tax on Chemicals: 26 U.S.C. § 4662.
Tax on Contributions to Qualified Employer Pension Plans: 26 U.S.C. § 4972.
Excise Tax on Failure to Satisfy Continuation Coverage Requirements of Group Health Plans: 26 U.S.C. § 4980B.
Excise Tax on Failure to Meet Certain Group Health Plan Requirements: 26 U.S.C. § 4980D.
Excise Tax on Failure of Applicable Plans Reducing Benefit Accruals to Satisfy Notice Requirements: 26 U.S.C. § 4980F.
Gallonage Tax on Distilled Spirits: 26 U.S.C. § 5005.
Gallonage Tax on Wines: 26 U.S.C. § 5043.
Storage Tax on Imported Distilled Spirits: 26 U.S.C. § 5232.
Tax on Wine Imported in Bulk: 26 U.S.C. § 5364.
Tax on Beer Imported in Bulk: 26 U.S.C. § 5418.
Excise Tax on Manufacture of Tobacco Products: 26 U.S.C. § 5703.
Tax on Purchase, Receipt, Possession or Sale of Tobacco Products: 26 U.S.C. § 5751.


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