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Home | Learn | Meet our Facilitators
Aaron W. Jackson
Aaron W. Jackson is passionate about financial inclusion through entrepreneurship, employee ownership, and professional development. He brings over nine years of experience in community and economic development through providing resources to existing and startup businesses, training qualified job candidates, and connecting the two to support sustainable organizations. Currently, Aaron is the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project (DNEP) program manager at the University of Michigan. In his role, he brings together Detroit small businesses with faculty-managed student teams to solve their legal, financial, marketing, operational, and design challenges. Aaron serves as the business development manager at the Center for Community-Based Enterprise (C2BE) outside of his full-time role. He helps business owners with succession planning by selling businesses to employees to retain existing businesses, create locally rooted jobs, and build community wealth. Aaron also serves on the Oakland County Revolving Loan Fund Advisory Committee. He manages a 4 million dollar loan fund that provides access to capital to minorities, women, and others underserved in mainstream financing. Finally, he is the founder and principal consultant of The CorpVantage. This professional development company brings individuals' interpersonal skills to technical excellence through its self-designed real-world etiquette and facilitates courses for startups and existing businesses. In his previous role as Senior Business Consultant, Aaron negotiated and executed partnerships with Michigan Rehabilitation Services and the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons. He designed and implemented a state-wide small business program that supports disabled youth and adults to become self-sufficient through entrepreneurship.
Aaron remains active in his professional community through membership and leadership roles – e.g., Board Member for The BAR – Brothers Also Read, event planner for the National Microloan Conference, and member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. Aaron's education includes a Bachelor of Science in International Business, Master of Business Administration in International Business, and Jurist Doctor in Law.
April Anderson
April is the founded and opened Good Cakes and Bakes on Livernois in September 2013. April knew at the early age of 9 that she wanted to be a baker and started making treats for her family on a regular basis. As April's curiosity grew and she began exploring more sophisticated recipes and started a home based baking business in 2008; this is also when April took her first Wilton's Cake Decorating Class. In 2011 she attended Macomb Community College, Warren, MI to pursue her A.A.S in Pastry Arts. It was during this time that April knew that she wanted to open a bakery in the Detroit area and later became one of the graduates of the February 2013 D:hive BUILD class.
Delphia Simmons
Delphia Simmons is the founder of Thrive Detroit, L3C, and publisher of Thrive Detroit Street Newspaper. Thrive's mission is to develop and facilitate micro-enterprise ownership for low-income individuals. She is on the administrative staff of Coalition on Temporary Shelter (COTS) serving as Director of Quality Assurance and also serves as chair of the Kiva Detroit advisory board. Delphia enjoys reading and travel; and is a big proponent of both entrepreneurship and micro-enterprise as vehicles to economic empowerment of households, communities, and cities.
Erin Bonahoom
Erin Bonahoom is the founding member of Canvas Legal, PLC, a Detroit-based law practice that focuses on serving startups, small business, and non-profits. Inspired by the energy an hard work of so many supporting the small business community, Erin took a leap of faith, leaving her corporate law firm to start her own practice and has not looked back. As a sort of accidental entrepreneur, Erin understands the realities of running a small business – good and bad – but remains passionate in her belief that small businesses are the foundation of strong communities and the economic redevelopment of cities like Detroit and Flint, where she is originally from.
Jacquise Purifoy
Jacquise A. Purifoy, Esq. is the Entrepreneur in Residence and Build Institute Facilitator. She was sworn into the State Bar of Michigan in November 2010. Prior to private practice, on April 1, 2011 she was hired by U.S. House of Representative Hansen Clarke (MI-13) as his Chief Correspondent. In this role, she was solely responsible for orchestrating policy positions and legislative responses to constituents. Then as Clarke's Community Grants Coordinator she worked directly with key federal and state business and civic leaders to identify small business and economic development initiatives in Southeastern Michigan. Jacquise wrote over 200 letters of support for businesses and non-profits in Metro Detroit securing over $9 million in funding. She also initiated a partnership with the Michigan Community Action Agency providing $84,000 in home weatherization upgrades to close the energy affordability gap for low-income households. Jacquise is a zealous advocate for people in her community and was profiled in Dbusiness Magazine's 2014 Top Lawyers Edition. She was featured in Legal News' Motion Magazine as a young lawyer with a sharp, energetic mind, and burgeoning talent committed to Detroit's rejuvenation. B.L.A.C. Magazine recognized Jacquise as a local Hometown Hero. Jacquise's most memorable professional moment is having the opportunity to visit the White House on behalf of the citizens of Detroit and to personally meet President Barack Obama twice!
Marcus D. Harris
Marcus D. Harris' professional mission is to help urban-based non-profit organizations, small businesses, and social venture enterprises succeed and reach their full potential in order to maximize community sustainability. A life-long resident of Detroit, Harris holds both BBA and MBA degrees from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Currently, Harris is a doctoral student in the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program in the College of Management at Lawrence Technological University. His research interests include social innovation and entrepreneurship, microenterprise development and urban entrepreneurship, and nonprofit management and leadership.
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Karyuudo was standing atop a tall building, staring off into the distance. He was having a flashback: reliving the nightmare he had experienced when he was just a young child. The only thing he was the tormenting of his parents and yet there was more...so much more, but he couldn't remember it . The PTSD had destroyed his memory. Then there was the Schizophrenia, living in almost another reality. At least no one could hear his screams up here. Suddenly the nightmare was over and Karyuudo collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.
"Okay then... I'll be right back." A dark haired girl said as she stepped out from between two buildings. She looked left and right on the empty street and smiled to herself but the smile froze as she sensed someone above her. She disappeared as she ran up the wall of the building, making sure not let herself, or her shadow cross a window. As she jumped onto the top of the building she saw a young man collapsing onto the roof.
"Hello? Are you alright?!" She asked and knelt down over him to check for his pulse. The second she touched his neck she froze. Something must have made him fall... or possibly someone.. She quickly scanned the surrounding area but didn't see anyone in sight that could have attacked him and it didn't feel like anyone was here other than him.. so what happened?
Karyuudo snapped when someone touched him. He threw her off him and jumped back. "Don't touch me." he said nervously. She looked horrific; covered in blood and deep gashes. It even looked like a limb was partially missing. Suddenly the image changed to what she really looked like. He relaxed slightly once he saw her clearly. She was several years younger than he and didn't seem like a threat, but he already had his three puppets released; in the event that she did choose to fight. "Sorry." The schizophrenia had made him have the vision and it made him jumpy. Almost no noise could be heard atop the building. It was a very peaceful place which almost made things worse. Being alone was scarier than being around others, even if they were hideous beasts. Why did everyone switch from being hideous to looking normal?
Music could be heard from down below, in the streets of the Sound. Long purple hair flowed in pig-tails behind a purple kimono figure of a girl that looked a bit younger then she was. A flute was held up to her lips as she played the music. It was nothing special, just simply notes playing; not a song at all, just notes and music. Setsuko was walking, still playing her flute. Chains hidden in her sleeve clinked together, almost as if in time. Setsuko stopped and looked behind her, putting the flute down and opening her eyes. "Amaya."
Light pink hair bounced up and down on a black and pink flowered kimono. The girl following the flute player tried to listen to any other noises other then the sound coming from the flute. Amaya's katana rested easily were the big ribbon was tied. The bells in her ribbon hair jingled, and the sound from them soon creased as Setsuko stopped and said her name. Amaya blinked and looked at her companion. "What, Setsuko? Is some thing wrong? Don't tell me you need to kill some one now...."
Setsuko looked around and then back at Amaya. "Well of course i need to kill some one. The lust for blood never stops for me, Amaya... But..... i feel like some thing bad is going to happen to us..." Setsuko shrugged. "Its just a feeling...." she said then she walked backwards, keeping her eyes (that where a pale purple) on the blood user. She then closed her eyes, lifting the flute to her lips again as more notes where played.
Tsume finally arrived at the sound village and saw the two who were described for his mission. He move through the crowd slowly inching forward toward the criminal pair. He didn't want to get civilians involved so he just sat back waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Unlike what everyone thought about him Tsume was a brilliant tactician. I'll just hang back in the crowd and hope they don't find me.
Suddenly Karyuudo turned around and looked over the building. He was able to spot two young girls far below. They appeared to be talking. Suddenly they changed; they got louder, they looked up at him, and they began to do something. Karyuudo took it as a threat. Kutsuu would be first to fight. Standing next to Karyuudo, Kutsuu sprayed needles down towards the two below him. Karyuudo's expression was that of fear; he was convinced they were going to attack him.
Amaya had looked up sighingm, walking while the flute player decided to walk backwards. Setsuko seemed to be more aware of their surroundings more then she.. Sometimes. She instantly stopped, seeing some one looked down upon them, the look in his reminded her of some thing. She ran towards Setsuko and pulled her away, barely missing being hit by the raining needles. "What the heck are you doing?!" She shouted to the boy on the building.
Setsuko blinked as she was pulled away from her current spot, her flute almost flying out of her hands. She looked at Amaya as they stopped, a look of anger on her face. "Amaya! I could have dropped my flute!" she stopped and looked at the needles that laid on the ground, then she looked up seeing the puppet and the boy. "Looks like some one wants to die, Amaya, seems like he's volunteering. Wait.. I KNOW he's volunteering." She let loose her chains in her sleeves some what, a sharp hook was at the end. She lifted her flute near her mouth. "Amaya, you might wanna plug your ears soon..."
Tsume was startled when a rain of needles come down from the sky. I didn't factor this. I was just going to do a quick assination and get home. Tsume thought. [i] Lets see the needles came from that direction down towards the target. Who is now bring a flute to her mouth. Wait a flute?! Is she going to use a genjutsu or something? Tsume quickly threw a knife across the flute users feet with a high tension wire to try and trip her to stop her from using the flute.
Karyuudo was surprised to find another man in the fight. He didn't look like a threat and he was helping fight the two young woman, but he might just attack him later for the fun of it. The flute was something to be concerned about. Karyuudo began to laugh in an insane manner at Kutsuu. A barrage of kunai were released from Kutsuu's joints. They flew through the air, bouncing off the walls of the surrounding buildings; all heading for Setsuko.
Ningeku suddenly appeared next to Karyuudo. He jumped off the building, extending the blades from his palms. He landed right next to Setsuko, slashing at her with both blades.
Amaya watched every thing that was going on. Like Setsuko suggested, she had covered her ears. When she saw the kunia falling and her companion moving the flute away from her mouth, she uncovered her ears, pulled out her katana, and poked her self with the sharpest end, making a shallow, but big wound. She used the blood and formed a dome over Setsuko, hardening the blood. She had to use a lot of concentration to do this. With every strike on the harden dome of blood that Ningeku did made her flinch and almost give in. She never used her Blood Dome jutsu at all. Her katana was still in her hand.
Anger pierced through Karyuudo as the other lady attempted to protect her friend. Once he saw the blood, he immediately knew how he would punish them. "Electric Assault Jutsu." A third puppet appeared next to Karyuudo; this one named Totan. An electrical current could also be seen moving along the chakra strings attached to the three puppets. The electric current reached the puppets momentarily. Once electrically charged, Kutsuu immediately launched a barrage kunai, but these were launched in different directions; each heading straight for an electrical conductor. The entire street below became a massive superconductor of electricity. Ningeku also began a barrage of slashes at the blood wall; sending current after current into the blood. Totan continued to stand next to Karyuudo, waiting till the right time to attack.
The electrical current that had entered the blood traveled to several places; it jumped to the flute, it jumped to Setsuko, and it shot through the blood current straight towards Amaya. The other electric currents were also jumping from place to place in the street below; some had gone towards Amaya, some towards the blood wall, and even Tsume was not safe where he was. Karyuudo was forced to move back some in order to prevent himself from being shocked.
His maniacal laughter seemed to echo down the street; he was enjoying this now. The fear was long gone from his face, replaced by a twisted excitement.
The current of the electricity went though the blood. There was a small string of blood, barely hidden connected to the dome to the wound. The electricity went up the string, coursing though the body of Amaya. The blood dome instantly dropped, her concentration broken. She dropped to her knees, her katana to the ground, feeling the shock. She tried to keep from passing out from the pain, she tried to endure it. She looked at the katana almost and let out a growl, the metal looked like it was going to break.
He could tell someone in this village was using something like his eyes lightning he hated anyone who used it but himself. Gazing from one of the alleys nearby watching their movements the electricity wouldn't affect him but he would pay attention for any possible recruits that might appear but he doubted it the village of sound never had sane strong ninja's they were all corrupted in the past. Pulling his hood down further just so his eyes could be easily seen he waited and watched the events unfold he hadn't been in the sound village and had been laying low for now so the chance of them finding there would be near impossible. Whispering to himself "Shimayto why did you come here in the first place?" Not remembering bothered him it rarely happened but soon all would be in his favor but for now he'd be in the shadows only his eyes to be seen. The battle was going to be won soon by the one with puppets but it was still undecided in the end maybe events would allow him to recruit someone but he doubted it.
The purple girl sighed in relief as a dome of blood. Setsuko's eyes widen as electricity moved towards her, she flinched and bit her lip to keep herself from screaming in pain, she had to be strong. As the blood feel on top of her, not only did she get upset that Amaya was in pain too, she felt more pain as the electricity that was in the blood hit her too. Also that her flute was deemed useless now. She finally screamed, both in pain and anger. What was she going to do know?! Her chain was breaking too... but it might serve one last purpose.... but how..?
Karyuudo's laughter became more and more insane as the battle raged on. His puppets had performed beyond expectations. Suddenly his eye's grew wide and he began to see things. Setsuko and Amaya had both gotten up and were preparing another assault. Totan's move was next. He leaped off the building, dropping right next to Setsuko. A nearly invisible needle extended from his palm and he thrust it forward's towards her arm. Ningeku switched his assault towards Amaya and started to attack with his electrically charged blades.
There was another scream from the girl, and the chain, with great force it hit totan. It was just enough to push the puppet away from her so she could weakly stand and move away.The blade on the chaing broke, but the chain still survived. She moved the chain weakly closer to her and flinching. She had to survive. Her and Amaya must survive...she waited to see of the puppet had moved father then just in inch.
Walking straight into the battle he kept his head down and moved a rock off of a flower which now was spotted on it's pink petals with blood this flower he had been looking for a while was now ruined he could feel what was left of the electricity that had once gone threw it. Not being able to see in color didn't stop him much he could still tell colors slightly but often got them mixed up since they were all shades of gray, black or white. He had been planning to add this flower to the collection of flowers he had found but it was ruined now and there was no hope of saving it either. It was enough that this person was using lightning but he had searched for this one flower for almost a week they only bloomed once a week too so that made it ever hard. Jumping up on the rock he twirled the flower in his hand with two fingers thinking over what his next action would be to join in or leave.
Amaya was still on her knees trying to keep from calling out. She heard Setsuko still screaming and she wanted to yell at the puppeteer. What if.... no..... she is made up of blood as well as her butterfly, she wouldn't work.... If only there was a way to get out of the area of the electricity.... She suddenly opened her eyes in time to see a puppet coming at her. She picked up her katana that was close to her hand and she blocked the attacks. She could feel her blade almost snap. She saw some one behind the puppet and she was going to regret what she was going to do. "Help.... I'll pay what ever debt if you simply help....." I will survive this and i will not give up! My clan are not people who give up!
Looking up from the flower to hear someone ask for his help they'd pay anything too that seemed to be enough to convince him this opponent other then being possibly insane wouldn't be much compared to him but he would hide most of his strength and just show off his speed. Putting the blood stained flower in his hair behind his ear taking a step forward he then used a burst of small chakra to his feet to speed up he grabbed a kunai from his pouch on his hip and charged at the puppet Ningeku going at a high speed that jounin could catch but not much lower level he was still keeping his strength in reserve in case he needed to make a quick escape.
Amaya's plea for help fueled Karyuudo even more. They were both suffering now and Karyuudo's joy was increased by their suffering. Much to his surprise, the other man did not hesitate to help, although he had seemed reluctant to join the fight earlier. All of the puppets immediately dropped their assault and focused on the newcomer. "Fire Assault Jutsu." The lightning which had previously been moving through the chakra was replace by a flame. All three puppets were soon engulfed in flames, but they did not burn. All three faced the newcomer and released a massive breath of flame; shooting at their new enemy.
Heiwateki had been walking down the street when he noticed what appeared to be an intense fight a little ways down. Some guy standing atop a building had randomly attacked a few young woman. Both were quick to react, but the guy had a clear advantage. Heiwateki had been watching most of the fight, but he couldn't decide whose side to be on. The guy on top had clearly attacked first, but the other two clearly weren't incapable of defending himself. Then another man joined the fight, this one meant trouble. Heiwateki decided to step in. He made sure he was hidden from sight and then he pulled off one of the many scrolls. He opened it and thought for a moment about what to write. It hit him moments later and the words were immediately written; writing with chakra was much faster than writing with an actual pen. The words read: "Suddenly a gust of piercing wind blew down the street, blowing over carts and shaking the buildings. The wind grew stronger and stronger until even the people were being blown about. A tornado was forming in the middle of the street. The funnel could be seen, slowing descending to the street below. It would be there in moments." Heiwateki was only using the wind element for the moment. This way he could change his strategy depending on the situation. The wind began to mimic Heiwateki's writing and in a few moments he too could see the tornado's funnel as it slowly descended.


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About Nigel Savage
Nigel is the President & CEO of Hazon.
Author Archive | Nigel Savage
Jews in the Woods
By Nigel Savage on February 20, 2000 in Education, Nigel, Reflections
In the summer of 1998, I led a group of Jewish teenagers on a two week hiking trip in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This is the story of how awful it was – the miserable weather, the arguments, the religious problems, the midpoint mutiny – and why, nevertheless, I think we should all get out in the woods a lot more often… This is the group: nine Jewish teenagers: seven girls and only two boys. Religiously most are observant, but not all: of those who are there is some difference between the strictly halachic and the conservadox. At the other end of the spectrum is a girl who attends a Conservative dayschool but has a Turkish Moslem father and and is proud of her Turkish heritage. Most are from the Boston area, but one is from the Midwest. The strongest character is a sixteen year old girl; the youngest, a thirteen year old boy who is big for his age and who seems to be present in consequence of familial "encouragement" – his cousin really wants the trip to happen and says that without him there'll be too few people. (more…)
The Queen and the Messenger
By Nigel Savage on July 20, 1999 in Nigel, Reflections
Once there was a Queen. She was a wise and kindly Queen, and she loved her subjects. Saddened at the pain and suffering of her people she decided to send messengers to help them in their lives. To each messenger she said: "You are my chosen messenger and the message I shall give to you is a special message. The future peace and happiness of my land and its people depends upon you. My message is simple and complex; timely and timeless; personal and universal. Guard my message; never forget it; teach it to your children, lest anything happen to you and my message be lost." The Queen gave roughly the same message to each messenger; but she met with each messenger individually, and inevitably the Queen would vary the message slightly each time. To be honest, we don't know whether this was deliberate or accidental. Perhaps she felt that it would be dangerous to entrust the entirety of his message to just one person. Perhaps she really wanted to transmit messages that were slightly different from each other, thinking from the very beginning that each messenger and each message would contribute something unique to the welfare of her people. […]
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The Kientzler family has been growing vines for more than 5 generations in Ribeauvillé and the surrounding area. As early as 1866, Dominique Alphonse Kientzler had inherited vines from his father and grandfather and in 1895 was involved in the creation of France's first winemaking cooperative in Ribeauvillé, in addition to running the local grocery shop. His son Alphonse carried on the grocery business while also tending to the vines; he eventually became the Mayor of Ribeauvillé either side of World War II.
It was Alphonse's son François though, who was the first to fully concentrate on wine production, taking himself off to Switzerland to study viticulture. By the 1970s, he was joined by his son André in the wine business and the pair undertook a massive replanting program to replace much of the old Chasselas with the noble Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer varieties.
Today, the Kientzlers farm almost 14ha of vines in Ribeauvillé, Bergheim, Hunawihr and Riquewihr, including significant parcels in the Grand Crus of Geisberg, Osterberg and Kirchberg. And in turn André handed over the reins to his sons in 2009; Thierry looks after the winemaking and Eric the commercial side of the business.
'One of the most talented Winemakers in Alsace…..he has Riesling and Gewürztraminer growing in prime sites and it is what he manages to do with these that ranks his wines among the very best in Alsace. Although his generic Riesling has great class and finesse, his Grand Cru Geisberg and Grand Cru Osterberg are very much finer. The Geisberg is the riper and more opulent, with a wisp of smokiness to the fruit, the Osterberg is more classic and flinty, requiring longer in bottle.'The Wines of Alsace, Tom Stevenson.
'The Geisberg is immense and rivals with the greatest wines of the world.'Les Meilleurs Vins de France 2011.
2013 Pinot Blanc (Stelvin) From 100% Auxerrois. Shows the fine floral perfume and fresh acidity so typical of this variety and village. Finishing dry with length and persistence. 13.7% Alc/Vol; 1.5 g/l RS; 7.2 g/l TA.
2013 Riesling (Stelvin)Classic lime and citrus zest aromas backed by discrete minerality. Wonderfully pure and intense for this level. Fine, precise and beautifully balanced. 12.5% Alc/Vol; 0.6 g/l RS; 8.9 g/l TA.
2013 Pinot Gris (Stelvin) Ripe and exotic with a hint of honeyed sweetness with restraint and finesse. Fine citric and stone fruit flavours with hints of smoke and ample acidity. Richly textured, yet fresh and vibrant. 13.8% Alc/Vol; 2.2 g/l RS; 7.3 g/l TA.
2012 Gewurztraminer (Stelvin) A fine and fresh and delicately perfumed Gewurztraminer with restraint and lovely fine acidity buffering its richness. Fine, elegant and restrained.
2016 Kientzler Riesling Ribeauvillé'Sourced from a selection massale on shell limestone, the 2016 Muehlforst Riesling opens very pure and highly aromatic on the nose, but also precise and mineral, with chalky flavors. This is a very tight and salty Riesling that is dry, but intense, with a certain creaminess in the finish. The tannins are fine and the wine develops good length and grip. Drink 2019-2025.' 90+ points, Ian D'Agata, Vinous, April 2018.
2016 Kientzler Riesling Muhlforst'Sourced from a selection massale on shell limestone, the 2016 Muehlforst Riesling opens very pure and highly aromatic on the nose, but also precise and mineral, with chalky flavors. This is a very tight and salty Riesling that is dry, but intense, with a certain creaminess in the finish. The tannins are fine and the wine develops good length and grip. Drink 2020-2030.'90 points, Stephan Reinhardt, RobertParker.com, July 2017.
2016 Kientzler Gewürztraminer Haguenau'From deep clay soils, the 2016 Gewurztraminer Haguenau offers an intense and aromatic bouquet of tropical fruits along with earthy/stony and even smoky aromas. Full-bodied, intense and rich, with a tight structure, fine tannins and well-integrated sweetness, this is a clear, enormously salty and tension-filled Gewurz with grip, elegance and power. It should age very well over a decade, or maybe two, but it should be cellared for another three to five years first. Drink 2021-2032.'91 points, Stephan Reinhardt, RobertParker.com, July 2017.
2016 Kientzler Riesling Grand Cru Osterberg'The 2016 Riesling Grand Cru Osterberg opens with a beautiful nose that combines precise, bright Riesling flavors with the cool flavors of the marly, east-facing Osterberg terroir. The acidity is fresh and piquant, really prominent but well integrated into the mineral texture of this pure and classic Riesling. There is great grip and precision here. The finish is pure and salty, but it also shows firm white stone fruit aromas and a stimulating phenolic grip. This is a cool-climate classic from a classic Alsatian terroir defined as a mixture of marl, limestone and sandstone. Highly recommended. Tasted at the domaine in April, just one week after the bottling. Drink 2018-2035.'93 points, Stephan Reinhardt, RobertParker.com, July 2017.
2016 Kientzler Riesling Grand Cru Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé'The 2016 Riesling Grand Cru Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé is still pretty reductive and shows a prominent sulphur note on the nose at this early stage. Full-bodied, fresh and mineral, with ripe fruit and good balance, this is a firmly structured wine with grip, tension and great aging potential. Like always at Kientzler, the wine did not undergo malolactic fermentation. The addition of sulfur is around 90 milligrams, so readers have to be patient with this Kirchberg. Tasted at the domaine in April, just one week after the bottling. Drink 2025-2040.'92+ points, Stephan Reinhardt, RobertParker.com, July 2017.
2016 Kientzler Riesling Grand Cru Schoenenbourg'The 2016 Riesling Grand Cru Schoenenbourg is the sixth vintage Kientzler produced here. The wine opens discreet but fine and with some smoky, flinty aromas. Very pure and mineral on the palate, this is a very aromatic but clear, intense, very fine and densely textured Riesling from a south-facing but cool terroir that produces fascinating Rieslings with some exotic flavors. Drink 2018-2040.'92+ points, Stephan Reinhardt, RobertParker.com, July 2017.
2016 Kientzler Pinot Gris Grand Cru Geisberg'The 2016 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Geisberg is the first vintage produced in this Riesling-dominated cru since 2012. Coming from a tiny plot of 0.6 acres (which gave just 400 bottles in 2016) the wine opens very clear, precise and fresh on the nose, with some ripe tropical fruit aromas and very nice concentration. Although made with 50% or more of "perfect botrytis grapes," this is a pale, round, piquant and lush wine with remarkable finesse, elegant texture and a stimulatingly salty finish. The wine finished fermentation in the medium-sweet corridor, but the mineral grip and salinity lift this full-bodied Geisberg Pinot into stunning heights. Excellent! Drink 2020-2035.'92 points, Stephan Reinhardt, RobertParker.com, July 2017.
2016 Kientzler Gewürztraminer Grand Cru Osterberg'The 2016 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Osterberg opens very clear, bright and elegant on the nose, with precise fruit and a lovely mineral freshness. On the palate this is a pretty finessed, linear and almost light Gewurz Osterberg with a highly delicate architecture. It finishes pure and mineral, with great definition and salinity that make this an outstanding aromatic wine of great elegance and subtle complexity. Medium-sweet in taste, but enormously piquant and mineral, this is a great and super elegant Gewurz with food. Highly recommended! Drink 2020-2030.'93 points, Stephan Reinhardt, RobertParker.com, July 2017.
2015 Riesling Grand Cru Geisberg'The 2015 Riesling Grand Cru Geisberg opens with an aromatic and intense bouquet of ripe yellow apples and some smoky/dusty flavors. Fresh and piquant on the palate, this is a rich and elegant, seriously structured Riesling with a very long and complex, enormously salty finish. I'd keep the 2015 at least for six or seven years before I pull the cork. The finish is enormously complex and long. Pure and fresh, really stunning for 2015. To Eric Kientzler, this is the best of the warm vintage of the past 10 years. Drink 2021-2040'93+ points, Stephan Reinhardt, RobertParker.com, July 2017.
2015 Riesling Grand Cru Osterberg From an east facing vineyard located just above the great Geisberg site. '..the Osterberg is more classic and flinty, requiring longer in bottle.' Tom Stevenson – The Wines of Alsace.
2015 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé'The 2015 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Kirchberg de Ribeauville has a clear, deep and slightly smoky nose of crushed stones intermixed with lemon flavors. Full-bodied, fresh and complex, this cru is not fully dry, but elegant, well structured and finessed with good balance. The finish is clear, fresh and pretty aromatic. I'd keep the wine in the cellar for two or three years to drink more Kirchberg and less Pinot. Drink 2020-2028.'91 points, Stephan Reinhardt, RobertParker.com, July 2017.
2015 Muscat Grand Cru Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé'The 2015 Muscat Grand Cru Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé is based on 60-year-old Muscat Ottonel and opens deep, pure and spicy/mineral on the aromatic nose. Mouth-filling, piquant and fresh, this is a full-bodied, gorgeously aromatic and precise Muscat with salt, grip and tension. The acidity is really remarkable and the finish stimulatingly salty. Drink 2018-2030.'92 points, Stephan Reinhardt, RobertParker.com, July 2017.
2008 Riesling Grand Cru Geisberg - very limited From a steep rocky vineyard behind the village of Ribeauville comes this stunning wine, one of the most classic and long-lived dry Rieslings in Alsace.
2004 Riesling Grand Cru Geisberg Cuvee Exceptionelle - very limited This remarkable wine sports residual sugar of about 20 gms/ltr to balance its superb acidity and fruit intensity. This will cellar magnificently.


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Reclaiming the Spirit … Wholly and Unsurpassed
Regis Martin
"The Holy Spirit is fire; whoever does not want to be burned should not come near him." ∼ Pope Benedict XVI
From the earliest moments of Christian existence, organized and sustained by a Church born from the side of Christ as he hung upon the Cross, there appeared a body of catechesis containing everything we need to know about faith and life, belief and behavior. Think of it as a kind of owner's manual, about which the Church was not prepared to compromise. Does one throw up walls about a castle of straw? Not these structures—they were meant to endure. Most especially the two bookends, between which everything else fell into place; these two overarching realities, as it were, on which our lives depend. First is the truth of God the Father, who fashioned the world out of nothing. Second is the truth of God the Son, whom he sent into the world to suffer and to die.
Blessed John Henry Newman, for example, in a widely acclaimed poem that Sir Edward Elgar would later set to music, i.e., The Dream of Gerontius, identifies these two pivotal elements in a series of stunning and lyric-strewn affirmations that harness both the mind and will of his saintly protagonist. "Firmly I believe and truly," declares the old man, whose soul, poised on the very cusp of eternity, is about to embark with resolute confidence upon its final journey:
God is Three and God is One;
And I next acknowledge duly
Manhood taken by the Son.
And I trust and hope most fully
In that Manhood crucified…
It is a compilation both lovely and lucid, in which both truths are given pride of place in the great symphony of the Church's faith. And on their acceptance hangs not only the salvation of Newman's old man—who, professing them in the last moments of his life, is thus fortified by God's mercy to walk serenely through the door of death—but Everyman. The Scriptures are very clear about this. "Now this is eternal life," we are told in John 17:3: "that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." There is no other way to obtain salvation save through the portal that leads from the Son of God to his Father in heaven.
"You know where I am going," Jesus tells his disciples in John 14:4, "and you know the way there." This at once strikes not a few of them as passing strange, since they clearly haven't a clue about the way. But let it pass. St. Thomas Aquinas, in commenting on this text, tells us that, "the entire knowledge of the faith refers to these two objects." That is to say, both the divine and eternal Godhead, which is the place where we hope ultimately to go; and the humanity of Christ, who is the way we hope to get there. Our prayer, of course, is that the way to the Father will not prove roundabout. Yet how can we be misled on the matter when it is Jesus himself who reveals the Father, even as he remains eternally rooted in the Father? Just as we know nothing of Christ apart from God, who is the deepest secret of his life, so too we really cannot know anything finally important about God unless Jesus chooses to reveal it to us.
"The God-Christ is the home where we are going," says St. Augustine in a splendid bullet point taken from one of his sermons; "the Man-Christ is the way by which we are going. We go to him, we go by him; why then do we fear that we should go astray?"
So where does that leave the Holy Spirit? Isn't he supposed to be the Third Person of this Blessed Company? Not any sort of Junior Partner, either, but one who equally and eternally shares the same divine substance. It is surely heretical to suppose that, quoting the language of Nicaea, "the one who proceeds from the Father and the Son," is somehow deficient in divinity.
Besides, wasn't it the Holy Spirit whose blazing Pentecostal descent so inflamed the early Church that not even the powers of pagan Rome could succeed in putting out the fire Christ had come to set? When St. Paul, traveling through Ephesus as Luke tells us in the Acts of the Apostles (19:1-7), comes across certain disciples, he puts the question to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" And when they announce that they'd never even heard of the Holy Spirit, he at once lays hands on them, releasing the gift of prophesy and tongues, of which this heretofore unheard Spirit remains the indisputable source.
And not only back in the first century, amid those first blooms planted by the Apostolic Church. Even today, at this moment, in a Church that, for all it may appear institutionally sclerotic, has not lost a single layer of its original Pentecostal sheen. One does not need to be a Super-Catholic, armed with the most advanced charismatic credentials, to qualify for possession of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Unless, of course, one wishes to fall into "ultra-supernaturalism," to borrow a coinage used by Msgr. Ronald Knox, which he applies with ample pejorative effect to people of highly spiritualized persuasion, for whom regular sacramental practice is never enough to slake the ethereal hungers on which their souls feed. They require far loftier gifts than the mere Body and Blood of Christ.
This is all bosh, of course. The rite of Baptism and Confirmation will endow the soul with quite enough holiness to conquer not only the weaknesses of the self, but the wickedness of the universe as well. Yes, even when one is blessedly unaware of the explosion of grace taking place under the hood. Certainly that is true for us Cradle Catholics, for whom there is no recollection whatsoever of the transmutations wrought by the grace of Baptism. "We had the experience," to quote T.S. Eliot, "but missed the meaning."
Wasn't it Pope Benedict who, in an arresting phrase, described the event of becoming a Christian as nothing less than "the final mutation in the evolution of the human species"? He was not being hyperbolic. When one puts on Christ for the first time, one's very ontology undergoes a change no greater than which can be imagined. It simply does not get any better this side of the Beatific Vision. Indeed, the grace of baptism provides the launching pad for all the promised glory to come. So how can we possibly leave out the Holy Spirit? God knows, there are enough unholy spirits roaming about that need to be put to flight.
Nor is it possible to overdo the homage and praise we owe him. Who, as the poet Hopkins put it, "over the bent / World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings."
But where exactly does he fit? I mean in the architecture of the Absolute? The short answer is that he belongs to the whole mystery of spiration, whereby the Father who gives, and the Son to whom all is given, unite in their mutual love to breathe forth the Spirit, who is the Gift given. Regarding whose movements in time, incidentally, which is the only evidence we have on which to reference the eternal processions, one can scarcely improve on these imperishable lines from Eliot. In Four Quartets, we read:
The dove descending breaks the air
With flame of incandescent terror
Of which the tongues declare
The one discharge from sin and error.
The only hope, or else despair
Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre—
To be redeemed from fire by fire.
Who then devised the torment? Love.
Love is the unfamiliar Name
Behind the hands that wove
The intolerable shirt of flame
Which human power cannot remove.
We only live, only suspire
Consumed by either fire or fire.
Here is poetry of the first intensity, designed for a size fifteen shoe while most of us are shaped more or less like pigmies. But such is the nature of that refining fire we call the Holy Spirit. Charged with purifying the hearts of men, it is he who will renew the face of the earth. So be careful. The Holy Spirit is fire and while Christ came to cast it upon the earth ("…and would that it were already kindled!" he exclaims), no one will be set on fire without giving assent. But refusal comes at a cost. "Faith is a tongue of fire that burns us and melts us," Pope Benedict has said, "so that ever more it is true: I am no longer I…. When we yield to the burning fire of the Holy Spirit, being Christian becomes comfortable only at first glance…. Only when we do not fear the tongue of fire and storm it brings with it does the Church become the icon of the Holy Spirit. And only then does she open the world to the light of God."
If all life is to be given away—freely and recklessly lavished upon others—here is where it starts. With the Gift of that Wholly Unsurpassed Spirit, who just keeps on giving.
Editor's note: The image above is a detail from Corrado Giaquinto's "The Holy Spirit" painted in the 1750s.
Tagged as Four Quartets, Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, Pentecost
By Regis Martin
Regis Martin is Professor of Theology and Faculty Associate with the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. He earned a licentiate and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Martin is the author of a number of books, including Still Point: Loss, Longing, and Our Search for God (2012) and The Beggar's Banquet (Emmaus Road). His most recent book, also published by Emmaus Road, is called Witness to Wonder: The World of Catholic Sacrament. He resides in Steubenville, Ohio, with his wife and ten children.


Directions: I-15 west on Hwy 434, 3.2 miles , take left on Little Wolf Creek Rd., go approx. 8.1 mi., left on Bear Track Rd., go thru switch back for appx 1.1 mi. go right, at 1.5 mi go right, and then go straight at 1.6, road ends at building site.
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Strategic research themes
ZBSA Projects
Projects Man and Artefact
Projects Man and Society
Mosfell and the Landing Site of Leivogur, Iceland
Projects Man and Environment
Completed dissertations
Project Cluster
SPP harbours
Continuity of research and research of continuity
DFG-project Poprad: The Early Migration Period Chambergrave from Poprad-Matejovce
Interreg4a Project: Bones4Culture
The Leiruvogur Harbour Research Project
— filed under: Mensch und Gesellschaft, Maritime Kommunikation
Prof. J. Byock, Prof. C. von Carnap-Bornheim, Dr. S. Kalmring und Dr. D. Zori
Interdisciplinary Archaeological Examination of a Viking Harbour and its Hinterland in Iceland
Since 2010 there has been a close cooperation between the "Mosfell Archaeological Project (MAP)" from Iceland, the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology of the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology. In collaboration with Dr Davide Zori and Sigrid Hansen M.A. (both MAP), the basis of an application to localise and investigate the harbour of Mosfell has been created which completes the investigation of the settlement cluster in the valley. It was worked out by Prof. Jesse Byock (UCLA/MAP) and Prof. Claus von Carnap-Bornheim under the title of "The Leiruvogur Harbour Research Project: Interdisciplinary Archaeological Examination of a Viking Harbour and its Hinterland in Iceland" in the context of Priority Program 1630 "Harbours from the Roman Iron Age to the Middle Ages: Archaeology and History of regional and supraregional traffic systems", handed in to the German Research Foundation (DFG) on November 1st 2011.
The aim of the research project about the harbour of Leiruvogur is to give archaeological evidence for one of the harbours which is mentioned most often in the Icelandic Family Sagas. The harbour of Leiruvogur was controlled by the chieftains of Mosfell Valley. Archaeological field research within the valley as direct hinterland of this important harbour provided evidence for residence and power structure of the chieftains of Mosfell. Against this background, the investigation at Leiruvogur will shed light particularly on the socio-economic aspects of the harbour and in a wider context also unique information for understanding infrastructure and organisation of harbours which served as supraregional nodal points of the North Atlantic.
The project is to be carried out for three years at first and its focus is on survey, targeted investigative excavation, material analyses, studies of historical source, as well as reconstruction of the coastal landscape around the harbour of Leiruvogur. These investigations shall form the basis of a second phase of the project which will focus on excavations. The project will contribute to an understanding of the expansion of European trading networks into the North Atlantic.
The harbour of Leiruvogur with its farmsteads in the hinterland provides a unique possibility to critically analyse the concepts of centre and periphery which are applied to 9th- and 10th-century Europe. From this starting point the relation between the peripheral North Atlantic colonies, the Scandinavian emporia and the European trading centres can be studied from a new perspective.
The Leiruvogur 2014 field campaign and the Ship Mound
Dr. Sven Kalmring and Assoc. Prof. Davide Zori
The analysis of the results of the 2013 fieldwork showed consistently that the Inner Leiruvogur bay indeed once formed a sheltered lagoon-harbour well-protected by the "Outer Skiphóll" peninsular. With a reconstructed water depth of approximately two to three meters it was not only suited for beaching minor vessels of the local water traffic, but also for large high-sea going cargo-vessels to anchor in the roadstead. However at the same time it became obvious that an actual archaeological verification by means of material evidence would be severely hindered. Since no large artificially erected harbour facilities can be expected a confirmation would rely on a beach occupation in terms of booths. Yet it turned out that the modern embankment for a stud and its racecourses at the margins of the bay in fact already were covering most parts of the former Viking-age shoreline with landfill of three to six meters thickness.
Since the Viking-age beach proved to be inaccessible the current field campaign focused on two secondary objectives in the immediate vicinity of the bay which were archaeologically promising. While the suspicious double stone circle some 250 meters east of "Inner Skiphóll" (cf. Jahresbericht 2013) fell victim to recent road building the whole focus was given to the "Inner Skiphóll" knoll itself. While last year's geophysical surveys could demonstrate that the mound once was situated on the tip of second peninsular not totally unlike the one of "Outer Skiphóll" drillings on the knoll itself could dispel any doubts on allegedly modern origins by proving Katla-1500 tephra right underneath its modern surface. This year's surveys started with a 12 x 1.5 meters long trial trench slightly offset from the centre of the mound. Already in the profiles a series of ditches cutting into the natural ground became observable. The trail trench was then enlarged another 3 x 6.5 meters towards the centre of the present knoll in effect revealing a grave monument of extraordinary complexity hitherto unknown in Icelandic archaeology. Within the margins of the trench a c. 4.5 meters in diameter measuring burial mound was partially uncovered. It was erected right upon the landnám tephra that is to say shortly after AD 871±2. The mound was surround by each a circular and a pointed-oval, almost shipshaped ditch merging at the foot of it. In a distance of c. 8 meters from its centre an additional circular ditch was drawn around the monument.
Given the singularity of the Leiruvogur "ship hill" the burial itself was not opened, but the trench was backfilled in order to find an optimal way for a concerted action. An application for the second funding period within the Priority Programme is not intended.
http://www.viking.ucla.edu/mosfell_project/index.html
http://www.spp-haefen.de/de/die-projekte/das-leiruvogur-hafen-forschungsprojekt/
►Mosfell Archaeological Project
►Homepage von Prof. J. Byock an der University of California Los Angeles
Man and Society – Society and Man
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sven Kalmring


A title history is the publication historical past of a journal and includes a itemizing of the family of related journals. Though many analysts have levels in accounting, business, economics, or finance, companies that think about biotechnology, engineering, mining, data technology, or other technical industries typically select to hire individuals who have a associated technical degree.
They will need to have the talents and abilities to research, manage, and analyze large amounts of knowledge to realize perception into the efficiency of varied potential investments, and perceive how both macro and micro-circumstances might have an effect on the monetary health of these investments.
This sort of analysis can embrace IPOs or mergers and acquisitions Analysts assess present monetary circumstances in addition to rely heavily on modeling and forecasting to make suggestions to senior companions as as to if or not a sure merger is suitable for that funding bank's consumer or whether one other client of the funding bank ought to invest enterprise capital in a particular firm.
As advisors to investors, monetary analysts not solely want to grasp the complexities of the markets, merchandise, and recommendation they're providing, but also tips on how to successfully talk this advice to a broad range of people with various levels of financial literacy.
Whereas a bachelor's degree is the minimum requirement for an entry-stage monetary analyst position, data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that a grasp's diploma is usually required for permanent and advanced positions in the subject.


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Identity of Sunoco LP's Commission Agent Revealed
Retail veteran Jack Whitney is CEO of CAL's Convenience Inc.
DALLAS — Sunoco LP stayed local when selecting the commission agent for 207 retail locations in west Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.
CAL's Convenience Inc. acquired the stores from Sunoco in a deal that closed in early April. The two sides reached the agreement in December, as CSNews Online previously reported.
Jack Whitney, president and CEO of CAL's Convenience told the Press-Reporter in an e-mail that his company has entered into a commission agent agreement "to own and operate the business of the Stripes convenience store locations."
He added that the stores will continue operating under the Stripes and Laredo Taco Co. brands, and no changes are expected.
CAL's Convenience is located in Frisco, part of the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area.
Whitney is familiar with the c-store landscape in the region. He served as vice president of retail operations at Sunoco LP and Stripes LLC since July 2015. He was previously vice president of store operations at CEFCO Convenience Stores from January 2013 to July 2015, and a regional vice president at The Pantry Inc. — former parent company of Kangaroo Express — from March 1999 to December 2012.
Under the commission agent model, Sunoco owns, prices and sells fuel at the sites, paying the agent a fixed cents-per-gallon commission.
In addition, Sunoco continues to own approximately two-thirds of this portfolio in fees and will receive rental income from the commission agent, who will conduct all operations related to the convenience store and any related restaurant locations, according to the company.
In April 2017, Sunoco announced it was all but exiting the retail operations business as it switched its focus to fuel distribution. As part of the move, Sunoco sold more than 1,000 c-stores to 7-Eleven Inc. That transaction became official in late January. The c-stores in west Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico were not part of the 7-Eleven agreement.
Dallas-based Sunoco is a master limited partnership that distributes motor fuel to approximately 9,200 convenience stores, independent dealers, commercial customers and distributors located in more than 30 states. Its general partner is owned by Energy Transfer Equity LP.
Sunoco LP Completes Substantial Transition Out of Convenience Store Operations
A single commission agent takes 207 locations in west Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.
7-Eleven Closes Biggest Acquisition in Its History
Convenience store chain takes ownership of 1,030 sites from Sunoco LP.
Industry Roundup: The Top 10 Most-Read Stories of April 2018
Sunoco Acquires BRENCO Fuel Distribution Business
Sunoco Ready to Grow as 'Premier Fuel Logistics Company'
Sunoco to Acquire Upstate N.Y. Wholesale Fuels Business
FTC Mandates Divestitures as Condition of 7-Eleven's Sunoco Acquisition
Sunoco Shifts Focus From Transformation to Execution
An Exceptionally Active Year in M&A
Sunoco LP Executes Two Deals to Grow Wholesale Fuels Business


text:
Author: mhasegawa
November 26, 2018 by mhasegawa
Tempered Optimism
I was seriously contemplating not renewing my subscription to WordPress. I hadn't written a word in months mostly because of a combination of writer's block and not wanting to endlessly complain about the current occupant of the Oval Office. I buried myself in binging West Wing, posting on Facebook, and giving money to candidates.
But after the election, I feel a bit more optimistic about the future. Plus the Boston Red Sox won the World Series!
Democratic women are the primary reason for my cautious optimism. If there was a "Blue Wave", it was women. Meredith Conroy wrote in FiveThirtyEight a week or so after the election:
Democratic women did really well last Tuesday. And many broke new ground: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who won a New York U.S. House seat, is the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. Rashida Tlaib, who won in Michigan's 13th Congressional District, and Ilhan Omar, of the Minnesota 5th, will be the first Muslim women to serve in Congress. Women also flipped districts blue in competitive races — Navy veteran Elaine Luria won in the Virginia 2nd, and former CIA analyst Elissa Slotkin, who served in the Obama administration, won in the Michigan 8th.
What cheers me is the diversity of the women elected. Young, not so young; white, black, Latino, and Asian; Lesbian, Trans, and straight; liberal and moderate. In short, a mix that comes closer to representing American women than ever before. I'm waiting for the stories about conflict among them, but I firmly believe that they will find a way to work together. And work with their male colleagues.
Yes, the House needs to resume oversight of both agencies and the White House, but to continue success in 2020, legislation must be passed. We know almost none of it will pass the Senate or be signed by the President to become law, but Democrats must have a track record of doing positive things for future success. One thing that struck me in the fall election was the failure of the Republicans to talk about anything much except for the so-called Caravan of migrants coming to invade us.
So I am cautiously optimistic that the new House led by women will start leading us out of our dark times and back toward democracy.
Posted in 2018 Election, Congress	| Tagged Democrats, Diversity, Women, Women elected officials | 2 Comments
Thinking about Prequels
I just finished reading Charles Finch's newest book in his Lennox series, The Woman in the Water, which is a prequel to the series. It got me started thinking about the nature of prequels. When I bought the book at my local bookstore, Mystery on Main, the owner remarked that it seemed a bit strange to have a prequel to a well established series. Then in this morning's New York Times Book Review Marilyn Stasio wrote, "Prequels are fun because you get an intimate glimpse of your favorite detectives while they're still wet behind the ears and not so full of themselves."
So what is a prequel all about? I'm thinking mainly about some television series like Tennison, the prequel to the great Helen Mirren series, Prime Suspect and Endeavor about the young John Morse as well as The Woman in the Water. When there are great characters we always want more. We want to know more about them. Who exactly are they? What makes them tick? Where did they come from? These three prequels attempt to answer these questions.
I have to say that I could never get into Tennison. Maybe because there was no Helen Mirren, but I think it is because it tried too hard. Perhaps too much focus on Jane Tennison and not enough on the stories. But I have to admit I only watched the first two episodes. The character seemed to be much like the older Tennison without much indication of how she got there. The same tensions with her family and her same predilection for sleeping with the wrong men exist without much explanation.
Fred Thursday and Endeavor Morse. Photo copyright by ITV,
Endeavor is another story. I've read a number, although not all, of the Colin Dexter books featuring Morse and I totally missed the original Inspector Morse television series with John Thaw. (One can purchase only the European DVDs that won't play in U.S. machines.) So perhaps I love Endeavor because I never saw the original series, but more likely it is because they are great stories on their own plus they have the great Fred Thursday character. We learn a great deal about the young Morse including that he was raised as a Quaker. Through the first four seasons, one can see him mature, but also glimpse the seeds of the irascible man he becomes, at least in the books. But he is at the core always the intuitive detective. One does get a glimpse of the mature Endeavor Morse through the eyes of Inspector Robbie Lewis in the wonderful TV series, Inspector Lewis as Lewis recalls his old boss in several of the early episodes. Morse even helps solve a murder from his grave.
After I finished reading The Woman in the Water I went back and re-read the first book in the series, A Beautiful Blue Death. I first bought the book for my mother who, like me was a voracious consumer of mysteries. I remember her saying that Finch was trying too hard to made Charles Lennox into a Peter Wimsey like character. On my re-reading, I find that somewhat true, but also that it is not as well written as the later books including Woman. We do learn a great deal about the 23 year old Lennox including his love for Elizabeth (Jane) and how he and his brother lost their father. In Beautiful Blue Lennox is described as being close to 40. I wonder if there will be other books filling in that gap. In the meanwhile, I'm like Marilyn Staiso and just enjoying the the series.
Posted in Books, Fiction, Mysteries, Television and Movies	| Tagged Books, Charles Finch, Charles Lennox, Colin Dexter, Endeavor Morse, Helen Mirren, Jane Tennison, Television | Leave a comment
These are troubled and troubling times but one distraction for me is music. Last week I went to three concerts: two young musicians at the Yellow Barn; the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and our local Windham Orchestra. Three distinct venues and three kinds of players.
The Windham Orchestra is a community enterprise that has been going for 65 years. I've been attending their concerts for many years and have seen them get better and play more challenging music. Made up of a mix of music teachers, retired professionals, and talented amateurs they have really made progress under their relatively new director, Hugh Keelan. (I should note that my sister has been principle flute for a number of years.) Last Sunday they did a stunning Scheherazade.
I was privileged to hear two works making their premieres. There is something magical about knowing that you are listening to a piece of music that no one has ever heard before. The first was a Yellow Barn residency concert; the second, a BSO commissioned work.
The Yellow Barn in Putney, VT is primarily a summer music festival but in the last few years they have expanded to occasional winter residency concerts. Musicians come for a week to develop a new work or to polish working as an ensemble. In this case a pianist and violinist, Lee Dionne and Brigid Coleridge put together a new work consisting of music and recitation. Based on an interpretation of Homer's Iliad by poet Christopher Logue titled War Music, Dionne and Coleridge recited excerpts and then matched them to music. The music included works by Bach, Gyorgy Kurtag, John Cage, Manuel de Falla, and Richard Strauss. What we saw and heard was a first performance, not without flaws, but fascinating. They had to play music, do dramatic recitation and sing – quite a stretch for classical musicians! I had never heard of War Music and immediately ordered a copy.
The BSO work, Express Abstractionism, by Sean Shepherd is a work in four movements. Each expresses emotions illustrated by an artist or artists. My husband loved it, but I was taken only with the first and last movements. That might be because I was familiar with the artists. Movement I is titled "dense bubbles, or: Calder, or: the origin of life on earth. Movement IV. the sun, or: the moon, or: Mondrian.
I'd like to hear both of the new works again. I love hearing music no one has heard before. Listening intensely takes me away from the troubles for just a little while.
Posted in Culture, Music	| Tagged Boston Symphony Orchestra, Brigid Coleridge, Christopher Logue, Hugh Keelan, Lee Dionne, Music, Sean Sheppard, Windham Orchestra, Yellow Barn | 1 Comment
The future of American democracy
I'm married to a pessimist. He's been reading Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and is convinced we are now well into the decline. While I'm not quite so pessimistic, I admit I have my own moments of despair. Sometimes it feels as though we have no control over the future. Almost certainly, the Republican party has already caved in. But events like the recent election in Alabama and the generic polling that consistently shows a preference for electing Democrats to Congress this year give me a ray of hope. If Virginia can almost completely flip the state legislature, why can't we do the same for Congress?
I can think of at least three roadblocks: Money (think the Koch's), voter suppression (gerrymandered districts and new voter rules), and, last but not least, the age of the Democratic leadership.
A lot has been written about the first two roadblocks on my list but not so much about the third. I love the members of the Vermont delegation but, let's face it, the youngest is Representative Peter Welch who is exactly my age – 70. I'm pretty sure that I am will vote for his reelection – and for Bernie's – but there are a number of younger folks who will be ready to take their places next time around. For right now, we need their seniority.
Moving from Vermont to national politics we have Nancy Pelosi (77) and Chuck Schumer (67). If the Democrats retake the House, and even if they don't, it is time for Nancy to retire gracefully. She has served us well as both majority and minority leader, but it is time for the next generation.
Howard Dean, another Vermont politician I supported for President, is one of the few of my generation speaking out about this. In a recent NPR interview with Rachel Martin, Dean said
The most important age group for us is people under 35. They elected Barack Obama in 2008. But now it's time to let them take over. And they're going to have to take over on their own terms. We have tons of talent in our party. We do not need to rely on my generation anymore. And these kids think differently. They're more respectful of each other. They're willing to listen to each other's ideas and work things out. They're entrepreneurial. They're more conservative than we are economically than the left wing of the Democratic Party. They're mostly libertarian.
I just think this is the future of America. They are diverse. They value immigration. They value different kinds of people. They believe that gay rights is the civil rights issue of their time. They care deeply about the environment. We need a real change in this country and the only way to do it is for us to get out.
Dean goes on to say that the party has to change because the world is changing and is no longer so dependent on institutions. There are all sorts of interesting people running for Congress this year filed as Democrats. I believe I read that most of the House seats in red districts have a Democratic challenger. At this point, I think the most important role the Democratic Party as an institution can play is to help raise money as the elections will be won by grassroots workers who will not necessarily be Democrats.
So what about 2020. The word here is that Bernie is gearing up for another run. Yes, I know that Bernie's base was young people in 2016, but by 2020 he and they will be four years older. And even though there is likely nothing there, the Jane Sanders financial stuff is going to haunt any campaign.
My pessimistic husband sees no one who can run, but remember in 2007 no one thought that Barak Obama known only to Democratic activists for his speech at the 2004 Convention, could run, much less win. So let's look at some new faces: Seth Moulton (age 40, ex-Marine Congressman from Massachusetts); Cory Booker (Senator from New Jersey, age 49); Kamala Harris (Senator from California, age 55); Kirsten Gillibrand (Senator from New York, age 55); Amy Klobuchar (Senator from Minnesota, age 58); and Chris Murphy (Senator from Connecticut, age 45). Look them up. And I'm sure that there are some Mayors out there who would be interesting candidates.
I still think our democracy can be saved, but we each have to play the proper role and for Democrats of my generation, that means following Howard Dean's example and moving ourselves to a supporting role.
Posted in 2018 Election, Aging, Congress, Politics, Vermont Politics	| Tagged 2018 Election, 2020 Election, Age, Democracy, Democrats, Howard Dean, Politics, rachel martin | 4 Comments
December 2, 2017 by mhasegawa
The consequence of sexism
I'm writing this the morning after the Republicans in the Senate passed a massive tax reform bill that I doubt many of them, or their staff members, or maybe even leadership had read. The bill wasn't even printed but evidently photocopies with handwritten insertions and changes were passed out in the hours just before the vote. There were no hearings. And now we get to watch Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell try to reconcile the House and Senate bills. I wish them no success.
So how is this bill a consequence of sexism? I hadn't thought about it either until I read this piece by Jill Filipovic in the New York Times. She writes
Many of the male journalists who stand accused of sexual harassment were on the forefront of covering the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Matt Lauer interviewed Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump in an official "commander-in-chief forum" for NBC. He notoriously peppered and interrupted Mrs. Clinton with cold, aggressive, condescending questions hyper-focused on her emails, only to pitch softballs at Mr. Trump and treat him with gentle collegiality a half-hour later. Mark Halperin and Charlie Rose set much of the televised political discourse on the race, interviewing other pundits, opining themselves and obsessing over the electoral play-by-play. Mr. Rose, after the election, took a tone similar to Mr. Lauer's with Mrs. Clinton — talking down to her, interrupting her, portraying her as untrustworthy. Mr. Halperin was a harsh critic of Mrs. Clinton, painting her as ruthless and corrupt, while going surprisingly easy on Mr. Trump. The reporter Glenn Thrush, currently on leave from The New York Times because of sexual harassment allegations, covered Mrs. Clinton's 2008 campaign when he was at Newsday and continued to write about her over the next eight years for Politico.
A pervasive theme of all of these men's coverage of Mrs. Clinton was that she was dishonest and unlikable. These recent harassment allegations suggest that perhaps the problem wasn't that Mrs. Clinton was untruthful or inherently hard to connect with, but that these particular men hold deep biases against women who seek power instead of sticking to acquiescent sex-object status.
What these journalists did when they interviewed Mrs. Clinton has the same roots as their sexual harassment.
For arguing that gender shaped the election narrative and its result, feminists have been pooh-poohed, simultaneously told that it was Clinton, not her gender, that was the problem and that her female supporters were voting with their vaginas instead of their brains.
The latest harassment and assault allegations complicate that account and suggest that perhaps many of the high-profile media men covering Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump were the ones leading with their genitals. Mr. Trump was notoriously accused of multiple acts of sexual harassment and assault, and was caught on tape bragging about his proclivity for grabbing women. That several of the men covering the race — shaping the way American voters understood the candidates and what was at stake — were apparently behaving in similarly appalling ways off-camera calls into question not just their objectivity but also their ability to cover the story with the seriousness and urgency it demanded.
Filipovic continues
This moment isn't about a nation of confused men. It's about a minority of men who choose to treat women alternately as walking sex objects or bothersome and potentially devious nags. It's about a majority of Americans who give men a pass for all manner of bad behavior, because they assume men are entitled to behave badly but hold women to an entirely different standard.
That is why it's so egregious that sexual harassers set the tone of much of the coverage of the woman who hoped to be the first female president.
There are at least two other well known men accused of sexual harassment: Senator Al Franken and Garrison Keillor. It is true that both supported Clinton. Both are alleged to have committed an act or acts that, while harassment, are rather on a different scale than Matt Lauer's or Charlie Rose's multiple actions. I taught my first workshops about sexual harassment in the late 1970s to managers in Virginia state government and my staff began investigating complaints. The manager who put his hand down an employee's blouse was suspended; the manager who patted an employee on the rear was reprimanded. No act can be excused, but we need to maintain some perspective.
As Filipovic writes
The 2016 presidential race was so close that any of a half-dozen factors surely influenced the outcome: James Comey, racial politics, Clinton family baggage, the contentious Democratic primary, third-party spoilers, Russian interference, fake news. But when one of the best-qualified candidates for the presidency in American history and the first woman to get close to the Oval Office loses to an opponent who had not dedicated a nanosecond of his life to public service and ran a blatantly misogynist campaign, it's hard to conclude that gender didn't play a role.
And what we get is a tax reform bill that will only help the rich, destruction of the environment, alienated allies, and potential nuclear war. Thanks a lot, fellows.
Posted in 2016 Election, Congress, Economics, Economy, Politics, Women's Rights	| Tagged Charlie Rose, Donald Trump, Economics, Feminism, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Jill Filipovic, Matt Lauer, Politics, Taxes, US Senate | 1 Comment
April 25, 2017 by mhasegawa
Reading, thinking, and the state of things
Andy Borowitz from the New Yorker Magazine posted a few days ago something like "It has been hilarious, but can we have a real President now?" That is how I'm feeling these days as I'm bombarded with constant misspeaking, mismanagement, and simply ignorance. Some days I wonder if anyone in the administration ever learned any history, geography or simple arithmetic. As a defensive measure for my own psyche, I am mostly using social media to catch up on personal things posted by friends and have drastically cut the political stuff I post on Facebook and Twitter. My sanity demands more selectivity.
Charles Blow, in an April 17 New York Times column, expressed much better how I feel.
His failures so far, I suppose, should bring resisters like me some modicum of joy, but I must confess that they don't. Or, more precisely, if they do, that joy is outweighed by the rolling litany of daily horrors that Trump has inflicted.
The horrors are both consuming and exhausting. For me at this point they center on an erosion of equality. This by no means downplays Trump's incessant lying, the outrage of his draining the Treasury for his personal junkets, or his disturbing turn toward war. But somewhat below the radar, or at least with less fanfare, our access, inclusion and justice are being assailed by a man who lied on the campaign trail promising to promote them.
And the very sad thing is that even with his approval rating hovering around 40%, his core still supports him despite the knowledge that his actions hurt them the most.
I've been reading a lot to escape and have found some very interesting books to recommend. Rudolf Fisher was the first African-American to write a mystery. His book, "The Conjure-Man Dies", is set in a 1930s Harlem. Fisher (1897-1934) was a doctor, music arranger, and writer, which explains his interest in using science to solve the crime. Everyone in the book is black: The police detective, the medical examiner, the victim, and all of the suspects. "Conjure-Man" has just been reprinted and reissued. In some ways, "Conjure-Man" is clearly a first mystery. I've found that in many first mysteries the plotting is more complicated than needed, but the glimpse of life in Harlem is well worth the effort of getting though the twists and turns.
"Ordinary Grace" is a total opposite. Set in the summer of 1961 in rural Minnesota, it is narrated by a now middle-aged man recalling the summer. I think this is considered to be a mystery as it won an Edgar Award for William Kent Kruger, but I thought it was just a wonderfully written novel. I read this for my book group, Malice on Main, and I was not the only one who reported crying through much of it. "Ordinary Grace is an extraordinary book.
My final recommendation is "Writing to Save a Life" by John Edgar Wideman. I'm not sure how to characterize this book which tells the story of Louis, Emmett, and Mamie Till. The New York Times Book Review and the National Book Awards call it non fiction, but some of the almost stream of conscious speculation about Louis Till seemed to be excellent fiction writing. Louis Till, Emmett's father, was executed during World War II in Italy for the rape and murder of a young local woman. I have to say I still am not sure how I feel about this book, but it is fascinating reading.
Reading, baseball, and gardening this summer will save my sanity – I hope.
Posted in Books, Culture, Fiction, History, Mysteries, Non Fiction, Politics	| Tagged Andy Borowitz, Books, Charles M. Blow, Donald Trump, John Edgar Wideman, Rudolph Fisher, William Kent Kruger | Leave a comment
Life in baseball without Ortiz
Sorry, I'm not one of the fans that keeps begging David Ortiz to come out of retirement. He says his feet and his knees hurt all last season, but he kept on playing. I don't think we want him crippled by continuing to play. Besides, I just saw the Red Sox come from 5 down to win a spring training game against the Twins; I don't think we have a lot of worries if they keep not giving up. Yes, it is only spring training, and I kept not knowing who was playing for either team, but everyone was out there playing hard. And there were some lovely plays. So happy it is time for baseball again. But can I ask whose idea it was to have 38 – that is 38 – spring training games on top of a long season? Blame World Baseball, I guess.
But I really want to talk about the game itself. I have to say that I despise Rob Manfred, the Commissioner. I don't think he understands the game and the beauty of it. He wants time clocks and other things to speed up the game. I would speed up the game by doing away with that stupid instant replay. It generally shows the umpires to be pretty damn good and it takes a lot longer than an instant.
This is why I loved Nick Cafardo's column in the Boston Globe the other day. He begins
Oh, I hear the moaning about this and that and the slowness of the game. But I love baseball just the way it is. I hate that it is using artificial means to "improve" things.
I already hate instant replay because I think it adds to the interruption and extension of play more than anything. Oh yeah — we have the technology, so why not use it? Well, why don't we just ignore the technology?
I long for the days of umpire/manager disputes. That made the game exciting, whether the call was right or wrong. I'd rather see that than taking 2½ minutes for a replay decision to come down from New York. How boring.
I guess I can live with the pitcher throwing the ball for an intentional walk as there weren't very many instances of a misfire, but we can stop right there with the changes.
The game goes better for everyone when the pitcher gets the ball back and then pitches. None of this walking around between every pitch business. (I'm talking about you, David Price.) But this is something pitchers should be taught; they don't need a time clock.
And I love what Tony Clark, the current head of the Player's Association had to say to Cafardo. Clark is a former player himself, not a lawyer like previous heads.
While Clark indicated that the players were "OK" with instant replay — not a ringing endorsement — and the collision rules that protect fielders at second base and home plate, he also made a good point: Many players would like the game preserved. They were taught to slide hard into second. They were taught to try to dislodge the ball from the catcher.
"You grew up playing the game a particular way," Clark said. "You fall in love with the game a particular way. You appreciate and respect that history.
"You also are willing to have conversations on ways to improve, and that will continue with understanding and appreciating that you never want to get so far away from the game itself that those who love the game no longer recognize it."
I understand that people have short attention spans these days and that a baseball game that runs close to 3 hours seems like an eternity to many. But we all need to take a deep breath and learn to relax. Didn't someone once write a book on the Zen of baseball?
Clark continues
What about this seeming obsession to speed up the game?
"There's checkers and then there's chess," Clark said. "But again, I am a bit of romantic there. There's so much going on in our game that when it doesn't look like it, there's things going on.
I love watching live. Any game at any level. But baseball on TV can be difficult. The answer may lie in better announcers who notice things and tell us about them. Can the irrelevant chatter about what they had for dinner and tell us about where the third baseman is positioning himself. Stop talking about neckties and tell us about the outfield. I noticed that Jerry Remy and Dennis Eckersley were doing more of that last year: Do even more. I admit that I sometimes watch without sound and like the radio because they are forced to tell you exactly what is happening.
I'll let Cafardo have the last word
Baseball is one of the few games where you can sit down and watch and let things unfold in a natural way. If it takes a while, who cares? You watch because you love the game. So love the game.
Enjoy the season, baseball fans.
Photograph: Jeff Fannell
Posted in Baseball, Culture, Red Sox, Sports	| Tagged baseball, David Ortiz, Nick Cafardo, Red Sox, Rob Manfred, Tony Clark | Leave a comment
Belated Presidents' Day: Calvin Coolidge
Last year on July 4, a friend posted that she was at President Calvin Coolidge's grave site at the wreath laying ceremony for his birthday. I asked here where it was and she said "Plymouth Notch, Vermont." I looked it up and found that Plymouth is a tiny town in the center of the state; not quite in the middle, but close.
In November, my husband and I were near by and went to visit. Although the museum and visitor center was closed, the grounds were open for walking and the Plymouth Cheese factory was in full operation. The views are lovely in all directions.
The Calvin Coolidge Homestead website begins the story this way
At 2:47am on August 3, 1923, Vice President Calvin Coolidge became the 30th president of the United States when he took the oath of office in the sitting room of this modest frame and clapboard farmhouse. President Harding had died only a few hours earlier. Coolidge's father, a notary public, administered the oath by the light of a kerosene lamp; he refused to install such modern conveniences as electricity. Located in the tiny community of Plymouth Notch in the beautiful hill country of Vermont, the house where he took the oath of office was also Calvin Coolidge's boyhood home.
Although he grew up in Plymouth, Coolidge left Vermont to study at Amherst College in Massachusetts and later settled in Northampton where he practiced law and got his start in politics. Coolidge was a Republican and notorious in Massachusetts for breaking up the Boston Police strike of 1919 when he was Governor. After he became President, he established the summer White House above the family store in Plymouth.
Cilley Store In 1924, President Coolidge established his Summer White House office above the store.
Coolidge served out Harding's term and one term of his own before retiring to Northampton where he died suddenly in in 1933 at age 60. He is buried in the cemetery at Plymouth.
Photographs: Town of Plymouth; Vermont Division for Historic Preservation; and Seth Mussleman on Find-A Grave.
Posted in Culture, Politics	| Tagged Calvin Coolidge, Plymouth Notch, Presidents, Travel, Vermont | Leave a comment
Civil Servants are the best
I estimate that 98% of my work life was spent either in government or with a nonprofit so I think I know a thing or two about both kinds of organizations. I have been thinking since the election in November that government workers, bureaucrats, civil servants and nonprofit organizations will be the ones to save our democracy. The two actions that have gotten the most attention thus far are the State Department's dissent memo with over 1000 signatures and the Alt National Parks websites. And employees in other agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and NASA are also acting by just doing their jobs and setting up alternate media sites through which they can release information. So I was interested to come across this story expressing a similar point of view.
One of our National Park Rangers.
I had just come home from Boston where I had picked up a print copy of the Globe and I started reading the Magazine and began laughing. In his Perspective essay, Dear civil servants: Keep it up. No, really., Scott Helman begs the nation's civil servants to keep doing their jobs.
Good day, Mr./Mrs./Ms. Servant.
I ask humbly: May I approach your coffee-splattered desk? I promise this won't take long. It's only the survival of the republic that we need to talk about. I'll speak quietly. I can even sing my plea lite-rock style, so it blends in with the tunes from your clock radio. Better not to arouse your supervisor's curiosity.
Let's clear the air first. Listen, it's true. For years you've been a punch line. Admit that sometimes you made it easy, with your interminable cigarette breaks, your surly manner, and your dawdling pace — unless there was only one glazed cruller left in the box.
Wait, wait, wait — come back! You're right. Sorry. Really sorry. Old habits, you know?
Seriously, though: You, my friend, are the most important person in America right now. A nation turns its jittery eyes to you.
Helman continues
As the political churn reaches your cubicle, I ask of you this: Smile, nod — hell, bake a Bundt cake if you need to. And then: Continue on your merry way. Keep doing your thing.
Please continue producing non-biased, fact-based reports and stats on global warming, federal deficits, health care coverage, and whatever else comes across your desk. Go where the science or the numbers lead you, not where someone above you wants them to go.
Please speak up if you're asked to do something unethical, and blow the whistle if you see something wrong.
Look, I know you can't buck every political decision. Elections have consequences. I get that. Maybe you even welcome the change, unlike those cheeky chums from the national parks who started shadow Twitter accounts.
But this is bigger than politics or party. We need you to protect that bedrock as if our lives depend on it. Because they might. You are but a cog in a massive machine, yes. But the machine cannot run without you. Exercise your judgment and talent and authority wisely.
I know it can't be easy. When I was working in Virginia state government, the Governor appointed a new agency head who was not all that competent. (I learned years later from him that much of what he did was at the direction of the Governor's Office.) At one point an employee moral survey was conducted, but the results were not released. A couple of us got hold of the results and leaked them to the Washington Post. To this day, I'm not sure any one except us leakers knew who the source was. We knew we were taking a risk, but in the end, some changes were made, changes that impacted all State employees. So I know that civil servants can act against the powers that be. Helman ends with
One more thing. Don't let anybody tell you that pushing back against a sinister agenda is somehow un-American. To the contrary. It's the most American thing you can do.
Photograph: Nick Adams / Reuters
Posted in Culture, Politics, The Trump Administration	| Tagged Civil Service, Democracy, Donald Trump, government, Politics, Scott Helman | Leave a comment
February 6, 2017 by mhasegawa
Beverly Gage had an interesting essay in Sunday's New York Times Magazine, "A 'Resistance' Stands Against Trump. But What Will It Stand For? In it Gage discusses the history of the word, resistance, and how it has transformed at various times from being against to finding what it is for. Right now, when we talk about resisting Trump, or perhaps I should say that when I use the term, I mean taking a stand against his proposed (and some implemented) actions that can remove my civil rights and civil liberties. I think each participant in the current Resistance stands for his or her own reasons. So how can we coalesce into a positive movement?
Before Trump's election, anyone who claimed to have been a member of "the resistance" was most likely over the age of 85, a veteran of anti-fascist struggles in France and other Nazi-occupied territories during World War II. That resistance involved armed conflict and personal risk of the bleakest sort, with guerrilla fighters hiding in the catacombs of Paris while Hitler's forces did their worst above ground. Under fascist rule, there were no plausible options for political engagement. It was a fight to the death, and in early 1940s Europe, before the arrival of Allied troops, the outcome was far from certain. Talking about resistance still evokes this sense of honorable struggle against an occupying power. It implies patience as well as militancy, the ability to say no over and over and over again, to refuse to cooperate until the whole system crumbles.
After the war, anticolonial movements from South Africa to Northern Ireland found their own strategies of resistance, settling in for long, sometimes bloody fights.
Of course, the American south had "massive resistance" to school integration. I remember well the year my hometown of Moorestown, New Jersey, hosted a group of young men and women from Prince Edward County, Virginia who were just trying to finish high school after "massive resistance" closed the schools.
The American left created a different language of resistance, much of it focused around the anti-conscription activities of groups like the War Resisters League. This anti-draft sensibility reached its peak in the late 1960s, during the Vietnam War, when student activists proclaimed a transition, per one slogan, "from Protest to Resistance." As the movement veterans Staughton Lynd and Michael Ferber pointed out in their 1971 book, "The Resistance," that shift grew out of a desire to embrace "a deeper and riskier commitment, a move that warranted a new term to replace 'dissent' and 'protest.' " The goal was no longer simply to object to the war; it was to throw a wrench into the war machine and make it stop. Antiwar activists continued to engage in peaceful protest — but now some also burned draft cards and firebombed R.O.T.C. centers. A small number, like the Weathermen, took up bona fide guerrilla activity, planting bombs at the Capitol, the Pentagon and other prominent buildings.
The Michigan Republican who tweeted that we needed another Kent State to put down the current protests hasn't read his history: Kent State stiffed the resistance to the Vietnam War rather than ending it. I remember the nonviolent movement being galvanized by Kent State.
As the war and its life-or-death stakes came to an end, so, too, did the embrace of resistance as a literal armed underground conspiracy. But while it faded as a political strategy, it began to gain prominence as a category of academic social analysis, the sort of thing that anthropologists and historians looked for in their studies of human societies. This was part of a broader trend toward "social history," with its insistence that ordinary people — not just generals and politicians — could be the agents of serious historical change. Sometimes this meant studying organized revolts, like slave rebellions or peasant uprisings. By the 1980s, though, "resistance" had come to encompass a much broader set of behaviors. Enslaved or oppressed people might resist by taking up arms, but they might also resist simply by refusing to do as they were told. The political theorist James Scott called these "everyday forms of resistance" — a category that could include giving a sullen look to an employer, deliberately misfiling forms or just living life, as much as possible, on terms of your own choosing.
As I wrote earlier, the current resistance movement allows each participant to participate for her or his own reasons. But can we become something bigger? Gage leaves us with some hope.
As a movement-building enterprise, designed to achieve the greatest possible participation, this mode of resistance makes sense. But despite its good cheer, it still emphasizes what is not possible: It says that Trump is about to take a sledgehammer to the nation's finest institutions and principles and that the only thing most citizens can do is shout "no" as loudly as possible.
Many organizers have vowed that this yawp of dissent represents a beginning rather than an end — and history suggests that they may well be right. Some of the most significant shifts in modern American law and political culture came out of efforts birthed in panic and despair. During World War I, for instance, the United States banned criticism of the government, interned thousands of German Americans and instituted widespread surveillance of immigrants and political radicals. Many Americans supported these policies; others feared that the country was abandoning cherished traditions of tolerance and free speech. In response, a small group of alarmed progressives founded an organization that came to be known as the American Civil Liberties Union. They lost many early courtroom battles, but their vision of a nation in which "civil liberties" were taken seriously eventually changed the face of American law and politics.
If I have any prediction about what the future holds, I think that the women's movement, the environmental movement, and civil liberties movement will all gain strength as we each decide where to put our energy, time, and money into positive actions. While we continue to resist it all.
Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Posted in Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Culture, History, The Trump Administration	| Tagged Beverly Gage, Donald Trump, history, Politics, Social Movements | 1 Comment