In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.
The invitations have been sent. The table is set. The dinner is prepared. All that remains is for the guests to arrive. But this is a party for which guests are required to prepare. This is no ordinary event. It is the heavenly and eternal banquet! All that is necessary for our salvation has been accomplished, except one: we must accept or refuse the invitation. The last, necessary element is our decision.
In today's Gospel reading many of the invited guests make excuses and send their regrets. One had to investigate a new piece of land he had just bought claiming he had not yet investigated it. Strange! Who would do that? The second bought oxen without examining them. Strange again! Who would do that? The third said that he had just gotten married and therefore could not come. That excuse at least makes some sense. But what Jesus seems to be getting at is that all these are simply excuses. For what? For laziness and apathy I wager. Maybe, knowing the host of the feast and the preparation that would be expected of them, they just weren't willing to put out the effort. What kind of effort? What exactly would be expected of them?
The text takes an interesting turn when the host sends his servants out to the hedges and highways to ask whoever they find to come and fill the seats left open by the guests who decided not to come. How could they have been prepared? What's happening here?
Invited guests have time to prepare. Usually invitations to a big party are not issued at the last minute. "To those to whom much is given much is expected." The invited guests had more than enough time to get ready. The last minute invitees had no time at all! Remember the parable of the workers who came at the eleventh hour receiving the same wages as those who came at the first? That is just how God is. Compassionate and loving to a fault.
Today let's talk about the invited guests. Since everyone here has received an invitation we have no excuse. We need to know what to do to be prepared.
In today's Epistle St. Paul spells it out pretty clearly.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. In these you once walked...But now put them all away; anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk...Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
In other words, the Lord calls us to cleanse our minds and our hearts. Paul calls it "putting to death in us what is earthly." By "earthly" he means all the things that lead us away from God. It is no coincidence that modern neuroscience has shown that some of the very things St. Paul lists literally cause damage to the brain. Anger, for example, contemplated over time, and has been shown to damage the anterior cingulate. Belief in an angry god actually causes people to exhibit symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder, that terrible disease that affects soldiers in wartime and people who have suffered trauma. Paranoia and stress especially. Extremism is born out of the same kind of fear that debilitates sufferers of abuse! Dwelling on sinful thoughts, or on bad theology, causes real suffering and can result in chemical changes and physiological damage. St. Paul warns that unhealthy thoughts must be, as he says, "put to death" before we act out on them and hurt not only ourselves, but our neighbors. Again modern science bears out and elucidates what the Bible teaches.
The truth is that peace, joy, and happiness are impossible if the mind is distracted by unhealthy passionate thoughts. If we want we can exchange those thoughts for good and healthy ones and actually heal the damage that has already been done. Meditation on God, the prayer of Jesus, becoming acquainted and friendly with interior silence, sacramental living and the conscious practice of virtue and compassion towards others are the antidotes proscribed by Holy Scripture and the Holy Fathers. In these ways the inherent gifts and powers that have been freely given to all by the Creator buried under the refuse of unhealthy, sinful thoughts and behaviors are released. This is how we actively cooperate with the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. As we "put these thoughts to death" the moment they arise by letting them go without engaging them or dialoging with them we awaken the image of God within and set free the living waters of the soul. As Jesus says, "Out of their bellies shall flow rivers of living water."
What kind of water is flowing from us? What is the fruit of the kind of life we are living? St. Paul and Jesus invite us to check it out and have the courage to repent if need be.
Within us resides the ability to obey God's commandments. The seeds of kingdom of heaven are within us along with the seeds of hell. We choose which seeds we water and which ones we do not. Following the teaching and example of Christ we come to know the difference; which seeds lead to life and which to death. Choosing the narrow path we learn how to remove those that cause suffering with gentleness and compassion and nurture those that lead to life until they come to fruition.
It is a work to be done moment by moment as each thought arises. With practice we can learn to see the advent of even the tiniest thoughts, stop sin before it begins to take root and grow, and nurture the healthy ones to fruition. We must stop these unhealthy thoughts, these temptations, when they first arise if we want to be consistently successful. This is what St. Paul alludes to and the kind of preparation Jesus calls his guests, that is us, to undertake.
Let me end with a quote from St. Maximos the Confessor from the Philokalia to close.
If, as St. Paul says, Christ dwells in our hearts through faith (Eph. 3:17), and all the treasures of wisdom and spiritual knowledge are hidden in him (Col. 2:3), then all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in our hearts. They are revealed to the heart in proportion to our purification by means of the commandments.
They shall see him and the riches that are in him when they have purified themselves through love and self-control, and the greater the purity, the more they will see.


Author: Benes, O.; Seidova, A.
Household survey on "Health behavior, attitudes towards paid health care and expenditures on health" was carried out by UNICEF jointly with the Ministry of Health with an intention to elaborate the strategies for health intervention in one or two districts. The survey was carried out in three districts, Elbasan, Pogradec and Vlora, which were selected as potential sites for primary health care project.
The purpose of the survey was to obtain information from the households on current health care, specifically on their health-seeking behavior, attitudes towards changes and their expenditures on health and, based on the finding, elaborate the strategies for intervention in one of these districts.
Though several surveys have been carried out by the Ministry of Health and international organizations, most of them were looking at health care delivery from the provider side. This study was almost the first attempt to look at the health care situation in Albania from the consumer's perspective.
2,014 households were interviewed in three districts, which represented 9,778 individual family members, out of which 30.4% were children under 15 years of age (1% children under one [0.7-1.2], 6.6% [5.7-6.9] children of 1-under 5 years of age), which is close to the national average (33% under 15 in 1998, source - INSTAT). The survey was carried out in Elbasan, Pogradec and Vlora, with a total number of population at 535,630. The districts were suggested by the Ministry of Health and agreed with UNICEF.
Socio-economic questions and attitudes towards paid health care and participation were asked in all households, while the medical part was filled only for each sick member of the household who experienced a case of illness during the month prior to the interview. The delivery part was considered if there was a delivery in the household one year prior to the interview.
The average monthly declared income of households was 15,788 new leks. Salary contributes 33% to the household budget; mainly, the source of income comes from other than salary sources. Food accounts for less than half of the households' expenditures and, surprisingly, paying debts is the next biggest item of declared expenditures. In majority of cases, the declared income was less than expenditures.
Overall, the accessibility of the population to health care is quite good and 87.5% of the population lives at a distance of less than 5 km to the nearest health facility. On the other hand, this is not always the case for the population of rural far areas where this proportion decreases to 55.6%. There is also good coverage of the population by a GP. The majority of households (78%) need less than one hour to find a GP, but this again differs from strata to strata. 47.5% of people from rural far areas need to travel for more than two hours to reach a GP.
Only 15.7% of households admitted that the price for treatment never prevented them from applying for health services. Though, in general, there are no formal charges for health services, the practice of informal payments (by cash or in kind) is widespread. The highest proportion of people for whom the price of health service was always an obstacle was in rural far area (61.1%). This was also the case for 61.2% of poor people with significant difference from other socio-economic groups (49.0% in medium and 33.6% in high groups). 43.4% had to borrow money to cover health expenses and this is more applicable to rural rather than urban areas.
It is interesting to observe how the acceptability of paid health care changes from question to question. When the respondents were given only two options of whether they agree or do not agree to pay for health services, almost half of the respondents (49.2%) stated that in no way could they accept paying for health care (significantly lower in high socio-economic group than in medium and low groups). When they are given the opportunity to select the conditions under which they would pay, the proportion of people who refused to accept paying for care decreases to 27.7%, and this even goes further down to 24.4% when they are given a choice to select the item of payment.
Improvement of the performance of health personnel is the primary condition for the majority of people who agree to pay (33.6%). People are less concerned about availability of drugs in the nearest facility and this is the next preferred condition in rural areas (15%-18%).
In total sample, 27.8% of households prefer to pay only for drugs and 29.7% of households agree to pay for all items - drugs, doctor's consultation and examination and, here again, we can observe the differences in responses between areas and socio-economic groups. In rural areas, people are more prone to pay only for drugs, while in urban areas more people expressed their readiness to pay for everything. Similarly, in the high socio-economic group, more people agree to pay for everything, while in the low and medium groups the most preferred item is payment for drugs.
The interviewed households were ready to contribute monthly the average amount of 252 new leks though with significant difference in the amount of monthly contribution among strata and socio-economic groups (higher in urban and high socio-economic groups, and lower in rural and low-score groups).
72% of households preferred to pay once a month (as a kind of insurance) rather than to pay for health services when they are ill. At the same time, one third of interviewed households (33.7%) didn't know what health insurance is and this was found mainly in rural than in urban areas. 89% of people who are aware about health insurance considers that health insurance is helpful and 11% thinks that it is not. When asked why it is not helpful, the most frequently selected reason was that they have to pay for drugs anyway, and also that they do not know their rights and regulations.
Only 28.5% of households declared that they receive a salary and, consequently, make a contribution to the health insurance fund.
In general, 52.5% of people expressed their willingness to participate in the development of health care and, mainly, they want to take part in health education activities and assist in water and sanitation activities.
Only 1% of patients didn't need drugs. All others were either prescribed drugs or they bought without consultation with doctor. The accessibility to drugs is also very high and 95.7% of patients found all needed drugs in the pharmacy, with no difference by strata.
Only 2.9% of ill persons had no expenditures on health. The amount of expenditures did not depend on the socio-economic status and strata. If we look at the portion of health expenditures in the total budget of households (presented in the first part) who had the case/s of illness during previous month, we can see that it accounts for 20.5% of total household expenditures.
Expenditures on drugs account for the biggest proportion of expenditures (36.4%); personnel is the second biggest item of expenditures (21.2%). Expenditures on food and transport account for 18% and 14.6%, respectively. 6.3% from total expenditures were spent on medical examinations.
Because of the few number of cases (101 deliveries), it was difficult to make definite conclusions. 10 women (6.5%) delivered at home, and 60.4% of them (all from rural area) delivered at home because there was no facility providing maternal care close to their place of residence. 19.1% of women traveled more than two hours to reach the facility for delivery (37.2% in rural far area). There was only one case of unattended delivery but, speaking in proportional terms, this makes 9.7% from those who delivered at home. It is still difficult to make any conclusions but there is a clear indication that the problem of unattended deliveries exists.
Health insurance is going to play an important role in the health system of Albania. The introduction of user fees should be carefully examined. There is a still a big group of the population who think twice before applying for care because of price (though informal). In general, the population prefer monthly contributions rather than payments during illness.
There is also heavy reliance on hospitalization. This not only has a certain impact on the health system in general, but also puts an unnecessary financial burden on the population who uses an inappropriate level of care as their first provider.
More attention should be given for raising the participation of the community to the development of health care delivery. It is encouraging that the community is willing to participate and they especially like to be involved in health education and water and sanitation activities. Certain activities should be undertaken in order to transfer this readiness into reality. Local health authorities, jointly with the municipalities, should take a lead in this process.
At national level, UNICEF, not necessarily being involved in the major reorganization and restructuring of the health sector, should ensure that the rights of child, adolescent and woman to essential health services are preserved despite of the direction of the reform. To this end, a number of round table meetings, with the involvement of all major partners in the health sector reform, should be organized, where the potential impact (threats and benefits) of the current direction of the health reform process on the provision of basic health services (in terms of equity, accessibility, coverage and quality) is discussed.


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The Cardinals are leaving room to either sign a player or trade for a player. They aren't concerned about the Rule V draft, which may never take place in the event of a long lockout.
Why did the Cubbies dismantle their core both in arms and bats? And why did they do it when the season was possibly still in their grasp?
by Colorado Birds 11/29/2021 8:53:51 PM
The Cubs waited longer than they expected to because they were in first place. But, once they started falling, it was back to Plan A.
Now that the Cardinals appear to have Matz, Do you believe they will add another SP this offseason?
by Rick 11/29/2021 8:54:58 PM
One more, but at a lower cost.
Why do you think the 4 pitchers brought in later in the season did so much better here?
by Ngakpa 11/29/2021 8:56:01 PM
They had the league's best defense for one thing. They saw the value of throwing strikes.
Who will the Cardinals non-tender? Is Hicks one of them?
by Nolan 11/29/2021 8:56:29 PM
I don't think anybody will be non-tendered, especially Hicks.
How much did Matz's signing with the Birds impact the amount the Mets gave Max?
Not at all.
Mad Max for a cool 43.33 million per year..raises the ceiling a lot! Bet Stroman's agent is smiling today. Mr. Hummel, you've been around as long as i have-did you ever think you would see salaries like this for someone to pitch or hit a baseball? Where does it all come crashing down? It cant continue to go up and up, can it??
by Jim S 11/29/2021 9:14:35 PM
Commish,
I can't see a return of Big Al happening.
He'd have to accept soo little in both playing time/at bats.
Why not a Voit return? Yanks may be open to moving him.
Thank you Commish
by Hopeful 11/29/2021 9:17:36 PM
I don't see either one here. Cardinals need a lefthanded hitter. Pujols did not do well against righthanders this season. Nelson Cruz might cost too much and he probably isn't eager to change leagues after playing so long in the AL. Voit will land somewhere, but not with Yankees.
Why does Zach Greinke not want to be a St. Louis Cardinal? Why the ill will?
I was unaware there was ill will.
Looks like the power is shifting from the N.L. West to the N.L. East, you think?
We thought that last year when the Dodgers and Padres seemed well ahead of the field until the Giants came along and the Mets and Phillies both disappointed.
Hi Commish, when a player has a salary escalation clause or contract extension tied to innings pitched, games appeared, plate attempts, etc., do managers try to make sure players meet those milestones? Is there ever interference from the front office to keep a player on the bench or in the bullpen so they don't make them?
by Dan 11/29/2021 9:22:02 PM
There has been interference many times. In fact, all you have to do is watch the box scores to see who isn't being used when healthy, and you might have your answer.
I understand why the team is satisfied with their starting outfield. But dont you think that they need at least one more outfielder besides Nootbar? Some veteran with playoff experience?
by Rich 11/29/2021 9:23:06 PM
I concur with that assessment.
Commish, I am a bit fearful that the Cards will decide not to go after a veteran bat, which I think they need to get over the top. Any word on who they could be looking at? Chris Taylor would be a great Swiss Army knife who can hit and play all over the diamond.
by Kevin in DC 11/29/2021 9:23:57 PM
They already have Tommy Edman who can do that and minor leaguer Brendan Donovan, too. The Cardinals do not need Taylor.
Could the Cards make a swing for a shortstop? Another starter?
by Ryan 11/29/2021 9:26:02 PM
They aren't in the shortstop market. They could try for another back-end starter.
I am very happy Mo did not try to sign Scherzer for that! Signing a pitcher that will pitch maybe 35 games out of 162 for over 41 million a year. That is just insane. Mr Hummel what is your take on this?.
by Bryan 11/29/2021 9:26:33 PM
Insane is a strong word. Imprudent could be the one here.
Hi Commish, thank you for taking the time to chat on what's sure to be a busy day. How should we take it if the Cardinals don't make another move today? What do you feel like the market will be like once the new CBA is complete?
by Taguchi99 11/29/2021 9:27:52 PM
No need to move today when the non-tender list doesn't come out until tomorrow.
Are you concerned that Luis Garcia hasn't signed? If Kim is interested in staying in MLB and being a reliever would he be a good option? He is a known entity and seemed like was effective at least once through the lineup.
by TimCoM0 11/29/2021 9:28:34 PM
Kim is a known entity when healthy. But he wasn't--very often.
I thought I read somewhere that Nolan Gorman played SS in high school. I know he has been getting in a lot of time at 2B, but is there any thought to moving him to short? Thanks as always for your time!
I have heard no talk of Gorman being moved to shortstop. The Cardinals will be all right there, I predict. I didn't say great but I did say "all right."
Just saying - the money the players and the league are making these days is INSANE. To think that there is a possibility of a work stoppage is maddening. Sherzer getting $130 mil for 3 years. Harper with his $330 mil over 13 years rivals the city's cut of the NFL settlement. To put it in perspective - with the ~$500 million the STL team netted in the settlement, the city could build viable public transportation for all, provide funding for the city's public school system in perpetuity, or sign two top end MLB free agents for about 5-7 years a piece. I'll have no sympathy for the rich boy penny pinchers if games are cancelled in 2022.
We have a long way to go before any games are canceled. That's three months into next year and this year isn't even over yet.
Hey Commish. Does the Matz signing push Woodford out of the 26 man roster and/or would he be considered for a trade.?
by Jeremy 11/29/2021 9:31:37 PM
Woodford could be a valuable piece if the Cardinals want to use more than one starter in a particular game, which could happen once in a while. It seems to happen every game in the postseason with varying success.
Thanks as always for the chat. Is there any chance the Cards would bring Matt Carpenter back as a non-roster invitee to ST, assuming he isn't already signed by another club?
I think Carp would like more of a guarantee than that and likely would go somewhere else but I would have no issue with him showing up in Jupiter, Fla., as a non-roster player. There is no obligation involved.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Moldovan President Igor Dodon does not support the demand of parliamentary spokesman Andrian Candu that Russian forces should withdraw from Transnistria. In an interview with RIA Novosti, the Moldovan president called this demand an attempt to curry good PR ahead of parliamentary elections.
"This is being done ahead of parliamentary elections and concerns the internal political situation. It is an attempt to gain additional support from the pro-Europe aligned Moldovan citizens. I hope that everything will be perceived as such by Russia, not as Moldova's position as a whole, but as the positions of independent political figures who are preparing for elections," Dodon said.
He added that Moldova's parliamentary elections will take place on the 18th or the 25th of November 2018.
Earlier Candu said that Moldova has enlisted the support of the US, Germany and other countries in the consideration of a UN resolution on the withdrawal of Russian soldiers from Transnistria.
A Russian task force is stationed in the unrecognized Transnistrian Republic.


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FutureNet Review – Is this really the future?
FutureNet calls themselves a multimedia Network club. But what does that mean? How do you make money with them, and could it work for you?
My Recommendation: FutureNet says you can make money by using their social sharing platform and recruiting people in to join as well. It's OK, but it's not going to change the world. If you are not into recruiting and want to find a way to build a REAL home business, check out my top recommendation.
Essentially, they have created a social media platform which you get paid to use and which you can use to either chat with friends, or upload multimedia content, amongst other things.
You get paid for doing all the activities you would have done otherwise on all the portals mentioned above, although you are not being paid to use existing social media channels but to USE and RECRUIT people into their own media channels. They talk about the likes of Facebook not giving you anything for the time you spend using it, and this is where FutureNet is different.
They have been running since 2014, so they have been around for a while, well that is a while in the world of internet marketing!
Have you heard of them before? I hadn't so they can't be next big thing then can they?
Take a look at this video which is supposed to sum it up. Well you would hope it would. But really, it's 6 minutes of talking about the internet.
Still no idea what FutureNet is about? They don't make it easy to find out!
But why? You have to give out your email address to find out more. To get access to information on these products, by downloading their magazine. Why hide it? Why not tell people upfront what your products are?
To save you downloading it and giving in your email address I did it for you and here is an outline of the content.
Very poor English from the off 'Welcome at FutureNet'. Some parts I had to re-read again to understand. Not a good start.
This is a 33 page booklet, which is made up of mostly glossy cheesy pictures and things I'm sure you already know!
It says you only need to invest ONCE. Anything between $1 and $1685. The more you invest, the more you earn in the form of media points which allows you to purchase more products. And there are no monthly charges.
You have two choices you can either join and recruit people into the program and make money that way, OR you can use the platform to promote your own multimedia products and use it as a social media platform and earn while you use it or both.
What I found most annoying about this magazine, is it goes on an on about the internet. Did you know the internet is big? Did you know lots of people use the internet? Did you know you could make money on the internet. Really!? Who are they talking to, 4 year olds? And it goes on and on. Enough already!
They attempt to explain their compensation plan, which they call a marketing plan, in the magazine, but I have to say, it's confusing, so I hope to simplify it here.
If you are interested in this business, I would suggest that you take a more long detailed look at the compensation plan and download this magazine.
Are you interested in starting a REAL home business in something that really works.
What is the FutureNet Compensation Plan?
Level 3: People who those is level two have recruited.
So the payments above are based on recruiting affiliates. Next you have the matrix commission structure which is based all around the commission from sales of the products.
They operate a 3 x 10 matrix and within this are 6 upgrade levels to take your earnings further. These upgrades cost $10, $25, $50, $100, $500 and $1000. Note these are ONE off payments, there is no monthly ongoing payments. THIS IS HOW MUCH IT COSTS TO START EARNING.
The higher you upgrade the more you will get out of the business, as the level of upgrade you choose will effect your commission payments.
FutureNet has been around for a little while and so it has some history there. Not a bad thing.
It's intention is to take on the likes of Facebook and other social media platforms but to share money back with its users, but have you ever heard of it? This would suggest that they are no where near their target.
Can you earn money with them? Yes, and people have, but you need to think whether this business is for you. Are you interested in trying to get friends to join a new social media platform that they have never heard of, how many friends would you have to recruit to make it a place to connect? Are you interested in buying into any of their products, which, let's be honest, they don't share a lot of information about. Even in the magazine.
I am not a huge fan of this business. I really don't like the MLM business model anyway, but that is personal choice. This one to me is one of the hardest things to do, to recruit friends and family into a business, and it's a dangerous ground to get into, if you want to keep your friendships that is. And FutureNet has a really strong emphasis on focussing on friends and family particularly.
It's not a bad business, but I wouldn't recommend it. I hope this FutureNet Review has helped you to understand a but more about this business.
If you are still looking for a way to earn money online and have your own home business and the freedom that gives, then try my no 1 recommendation which has 13 years of history behind it and countless success stories. It's free to join and you can try the whole system first.
Your review of FutureNet was informative on just what this program is and is not. As I got to the section on commissions, I was surprised at just how little compensation there is.
I did click on your recommended source for making money online, Wealthy Affiliate, and it seems to offer a lot more value and potential.
As far as affiliate programs go for promoting a product, the percentage on sales here is one of the worst I've seen. I'm not much for promoting projects for such a low commission rate.
I did see your review for Wealthy Affiliate though. Great place. That's where I got my start.
Hi Benjamin. Thanks for your comments. I am pleased you have found Wealthy Affiliate. It's such a big network now.
Thanks for the round up on FutureNet. I reckoned they are hiding behind the screen by promoting themselves as a multimedia club to gain attention. As you have pointed correctly, their compensation plan payout is a web of matrix and the upgrading cost is steep. It would take a lot of hard work recruiting members in order to recover the $1000 paid. I for one will stay away from any MLM even if it looks promising. You would often have to sell to family members and friends. Your family members may bear with you but your friends that you are trying to recruit will try to avoid you.
Thanks for your comments. You are right, as with a lot of MLM's there is hard work involved in recruiting, and for such a complex compensation plan which doesn't look particularly lucrative, even more complex! And I have seen so many times people lose friends because of being so persistent in getting them to join their opportunity. No one ever does and then that person is just being avoided!
I'm back and going to give you my critique about your review on FutureNet. Just like in my feedback on your Is Too Damn Easy, FutureNet, to me, falls in the same category as Too Damn Easy as being a "pyramid scheme": first recruit some members, and make sure they recruit members, then that's how the money comes in.
Once again, I would like to thank you for your review on this MLM company, and keep fighting the good fight.
Technically a scheme is only a pyramid if there is NO product to promote, Recruitment for the sake of recruitment. The product here is their multimedia platforms and this is where I think it falls down. It's not a strong enough product to stand on it's own and to become the next Facebook.
I wouldn't get involved either, so thank you for your comments and coming back to look at more reviews.


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A Return to the Five Points [FP1]
Recent mob outbreaks in Times Square have people concerned about rising levels of violence in the city. For some it evokes the city's reputation from the 1970s. But New York City has always held a bit of a reputation:
In small clusters, the world began coming to North America via this island nestled in its inviting harbor. And while the West India Company had a firm Calvinist stamp to it, which it tried to impress on its colony, the makeup of the settlement—itself a result of the mix of peoples welcomed to its parent city of Amsterdam—helped to ensure a raggedness, a social looseness ... Days got livelier; with nightfall, the soft slap of waves along the shore was drowned out by drinking songs and angry curses (Shorto 2005: 61).
My suspicion is that the concerns about New York City today echo sentiments about New York City in the 1970s, which echo the sentiments expressed about New York City in the 1830s—when New York City was home to one of the most notorious slums in the world, the Five Points.
In other words, the time of present memory is almost always the most dire circumstance. I invite you to journey back in time with me to walk the streets of the Five Points, and draw your own conclusions about the intersection of the city's past and present. But before you secure your valuables and venture into the alleys and tenements of the area, let's look a bit at the history.
Also known as New York City's Sixth Ward (in terms of voting districts), the Five Points was marked by the boundaries of present day Canal, Centre, and Chatham Streets, and the Bowery (which today loosely marks the boundaries of Chinatown). It was so named by a newspaper in 1829 in reference to the intersection of the five corners at Anthony, Orange, and Cross Streets—all of which were later renamed in an effort to stamp out all traces of the neighborhood, which was viewed as a veritable den of iniquity. Today, a playground sits at the intersection of this once notorious address, where bandits and prostitutes once roamed freely. [Map from the 1850s showing the intersection of Anthony [Worth], Orange [Baxter], and Cross [Park] Streets. Due to changes in the grid, today all that remains of the namesake of the Five Points is the intersection of Worth and Baxter Streets.]
The history of the Five Points is tied closely to industrialization and immigration. The neighborhood was situated at the site of the Collect Pond—once a beautiful body of water, it was quickly soured by the tanneries that set up along its banks. The city filled in the pond, changing the landscape, with the intention of providing additional housing for the growing burg. However, the marshy land never really settled properly and as a result, the buildings constructed on the site would tilt and tended to sink. The remaining businesses in the area fled as a result. Floods were common in the area and because diseases were often linked to dampness, very few New Yorkers wanted to live in the area.
That left the space available to African Americans and immigrants, two groups that faced prejudice in terms of the occupations available to them and as a result had little savings, so the low rents of the Five Points were particularly appealing. The neighborhood would become home to the large Irish population that fled the the potato famine seeking opportunities for advancement in America. And as the Irish Catholics moved in, the native-born Protestants living in the area moved away—a pattern that is repeated in neighborhood shifts with one group replacing another.
According to Five Points historian Tyler Anbinder, what sealed the reputation of the neighborhood was the proliferation of prostitutes and brothels. The trade shifted from nearby Water Street in the 1830s to Anthony Street (between Centre and Orange). Anbinder speculates that location was likely the draw for prostitutes looking to ply their trade—the Five Points was strategically positioned within walking distance (25 minutes) from most populated areas on the island. The large population of unfettered immigrant men also increased the customer base for this business.
The Five Points, as depicted by George Catlin, 1827. From Anbinder: Note the prostitute hanging out of the window in the upper right. She is more visible in the black and white print below.
As the area filled beyond capacity, newspaper accounts paint a dismal picture, with drunkenness, thievery, rioting, and disease as characteristics of the neighborhood. And while Anbinder cautions against the sensationalized view presented in newspapers of the time, he himself writes:
Even if one considers only the statements of Five Pointers themselves, rather than the biased views of outsiders, one finds a neighborhood rife with vice, crime, and misery. Brothels were everywhere. Alcoholism was omnipresent. Habitually drunkard men beat their wives and children. The neighborhood's many female alcoholics neglected their sons and daughters, producing some of the Five Points' most heart-rending tales of abuse and suffering. Upwards of 1,000 Five Pointers at any given time lived in filthy, overcrowded, disease-ridden, tumbledown tenements whose conditions are unimaginable to modern Americans (2001: 4).
The Five Points managed to both attract and repel sensibilities. Notable figures, including Davey Crockett and Charles Dickens toured the neighborhood, and helped spread word of its reputation first throughout the nation and then throughout the world. Dickens compared the area to St. Giles, a notorious English slum:
Here, too, are lanes and alleys paved with mud knee deep, underground chambers, where they dance and game ... hideous tenements which take their name from robbery and murder; all that is loathsome, drooping, and decayed is here (Anbinder 2001: 33)
The practice of "slumming," in the company of a police escort, soon became a means of entertainment for the wealthier classes interested in seeing what life was like on the other side of the poverty line. By the way, it seems the practice has been dressed up a bit but still alive: San Francisco is encouraging visitors to visit the Tenderloin district, known for its grittiness, to experience, well, a different side of life:
The Tenderloin is one of the mostly densely populated areas west of the Mississippi, officials say, with some 30,000 people in 60 square blocks, almost all of which have at least one residential hotel. The district's drug trade is so widespread, and so wide open, that the police recently asked for special powers to disperse crowds on certain streets. Deranged residents are a constant presence, and after dark the neighborhood can seem downright sinister, with drunken people collapsed on streets and others furtively smoking pipes in doorways.
Sound familiar? It's a helpful notation to bear in mind when considering that even as New Yorkers called for reforming the Five Points, it played a vital role in helping to "otherize" particular groups of people.
"Doing the Slums," Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1885.
As terrifying a portrait of the Five Points as is depicted, the area was a major force in the political landscape—its residents were, after all, the first working class New Yorkers. And major cultural markers also emerged from the area, including tap dancing (a mix of the Irish jig and African shuffle). Widely publicized and immensely popular bare knuckle prize fights also had a home here. What often gets lost in the cloud of misery that hangs over the Five Points is the story of how these residents shaped their lives. The Irish who settled here worked hard to establish themselves amidst their drunken neighbors, and eventually moved out, to be replaced by the Chinese who were also initially viewed in a very similar light.
Today, remnants of the Five Points haunts Chinatown, which contains some of the flavor of the original neighborhood. In the coming posts, we'll explore some infamous sites looking at the past and present of the neighborhood and delve into the tenements.
Anbinder, Tyler. (2001) Five Points. New York: Penguin Group.
Shorto, Russell. (2005) Island at the Center of the World. New York: Doubleday.
© Krystal D'Costa
Labels: colony, history, neighborhoods, New York City
Esther Rimer April 21, 2010 at 12:53 PM
unrelated to the 5 points but thought you might like to know about this art project on ettiquette in the NY subways
http://animalnewyork.com/2010/04/artist-promotes-subway-etiquette-with-guerrilla-campaign/
Krystal D'Costa April 21, 2010 at 5:33 PM
Thanks for the link - actually fits nicely with some disturbing LIRR behavior I was planning to write about.
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At Hauge Associates, our Sioux Falls-based staff is experienced, trained and committed to the ACA Code of Ethics. Our collectors are PPMS certified and our leadership is dedicated to producing results for our clients.
A successful key-staff team builder, Chris is responsible for finding and retaining industry-leading talent as well as creating long-term relationships with clients. He has been in the accounts receivables management industry for more than 15 years and spent seven years in the financial services industry where he developed excellent analytical, communication and management skills. Chris is a results-oriented strategic planner with a practical approach to business. He is an active member of ACA International and the South Dakota Collectors Association where he served on the board of directors.
Charlie is responsible for developing and maintaining client-driven accounts receivable processes and applications. He has 25 years of collection industry experience, 20 at Hauge Associates. He brings past and present board of director experience within health systems, non-profit organizations, community associations and volunteer groups to our organization.
A self-proclaimed Employee of the Year, Ruth enjoys spoiling her clients and in turn, making their jobs easier. She started working at the company at age 15 and has been an important part of the Hauge Associates team for more than 26 years. Ruth began developing her people skills at a young age, growing up and negotiating under the watchful eye of three big brothers. From that point forward, Ruth loved the opportunity to meet new people and learn more about them. But never once did she ever think she'd be employed at a collection agency. However, with a few twists, she began her career at Hauge Associates. Every day Ruth comes to work thinking everyone should be so lucky.
Robin is an experienced collections and operations executive who has demonstrated the ability to build and lead diverse teams of professionals to new levels of success in highly competitive industries, cutting-edge markets, and fast-paced environments, while cultivating the type of relationships that build strong teams and developing a loyal customer base. She has strong communication skills and an impressive track record of more than 20 years of hands-on experience in customer care, training, communication, strategic planning, business development, and project management. She joined Hauge Associates two years ago and has since that time proven her ability to successfully analyze a client's critical business requirements, identify deficiencies and potential opportunities, and develop innovative and cost-effective solutions for enhancing competitiveness, increasing revenues, and improving customer service offerings.
With more than 24 years of tenure at The Hauge Group, Sue has a thorough understanding of the organization, its history and its mission. Sue has held various positions at the company allowing her to ensure the day-to-day operations run smoothly. Her organizational skills, eye for details and flexibility make her a huge asset to The Hauge Group and an important and dependable member of the team.
Coral is one of the newest team members at The Hauge Group, and brings great credentials and experience to the position of Compliance Coordinator. A lifelong South Dakotan, she served the SD Depart of Commerce and Regulation under three governors, served as the executive director of the SD Chiropractors Association, and coordinated multi-state project development for one of South Dakota's largest healthcare organizations. Coral is also a performing member of the South Dakota Symphony Chorus and an unofficial cat cuddler at the Humane Society.
Melissa Duncan has been a member of The Hauge Group Team since 1995. As MedPlan Manager, she acts as a liaison between our providers and MedPlan's Patient Services staff making sure that the lines of communication remain open. Melissa strives to build trust and strong long term relationships with MedPlan's clients. With over 20 years of healthcare experience, she fosters an environment in which clients and patients enjoy high levels of service and employees are motivated to deliver top performance. Melissa's role includes designing, developing and delivering new service offerings and work processes. With her hands-on style and enthusiastic commitment to detail, Melissa takes pride in ensuring each opportunity exceeds customer expectations.
Jason has 8 years of experience with the company as Information Technology Manager, and 19 years of experience in the computer industry. Some key roles involve systems management, data security and compliance, and data migration and automation. He is responsible for client data integration and setup, as well as daily operations data management, imaging, and archiving. He is also directly responsible for desktop and database management systems, and help desk architecture and data center management.


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Who's in Charge Here: The Province of the Trial Court in a Condemnation Case
New York is one of only three states in the nation that does not allow trial by jury in an eminent domain case. All claims against the State of New York and certain other state authorities have exclusive jurisdiction in the Court of Claims where, regardless of the nature of the claim, there are no jury trials. Appropriation claims in the Court of Claims are certainly included and are tried by a Court of Claims Judge. Other condemnation matters must be tried by a Justice of the Supreme Court.[i] This is an absolute requirement and there may not be a reference to a referee.[ii]
A trial court is surely charged with making all the legal determinations in an eminent domain case. But as the trier of the facts, it also has broad discretion to decide many critical issues which determine the amount of "just compensation."
This article will discuss a few of the areas that are said to be within the sound discretion of the trial court. Unless it appears that there has been an abuse of this discretion, the exercise of a court's discretion is generally not reviewable on appeal.
Condemnation cases require expert witnesses. Every case will have a real estate appraiser. Many cases will require more experts than a real estate appraiser. A land planner will be required, if there is an issue dealing with a reasonable probability of rezoning. A civil engineer may be required. Many cases require a trade fixture appraiser. Utilizing an expert is the norm in a condemnation case. Care must be given to comply with New York's appraisal rule which requires that there be a report filed and exchanged by every expert who is to give opinion evidence.[iii]
In New York, condemnation trials are limited by the information set forth in the parties' appraisals and reports. After the exchange of appraisals, each side may file a rebuttal report within sixty days after receipt of the document sought to be rebutted. The appraisal reports are required to contain a statement of the method of appraisal relied on and the conclusions as to value reached by the expert together with the facts, figures and calculations by which the conclusions were reached. The appraisers are also required to provide specific information regarding their comparable sales, leases and photographs of the property under review. Upon the trial, expert witnesses are limited in their proof of appraised value to information set forth in their reports.
The trial court has the discretion to limit the number of expert witnesses in a trial.[iv]
Is the Witness an Expert?
It is the trial court that determines if the witness is qualified as an expert to give opinion evidence. This determination is within the sound discretion of the trial court and will rarely be disturbed on appeal.
In Matter of City of New York (Darlington Avenue),[v] the condemnor objected to claimant's appraiser on the basis that he was not a licensed real estate appraiser, but a real estate broker. Justice Abraham Gerges held that for a witness to be qualified as an expert, the witness must possess the requisite skill, training, education, knowledge or experience from which it can be assumed that the opinion rendered is reliable. The Court held that the witness was properly qualified as an expert to value damages since he has been a real estate broker for 43 years and has been appraising properties for 35 years. The Court also noted that the expert has previously been qualified as an expert by the Court.
The trial court enjoys broad discretion in that it can reject expert testimony and arrive at a determination of value that is either within the range of expert testimony or supported by other evidence and adequately explained by the court.[vi] Where the trial court's explanation of its award is supported by the evidence, it is entitled to deference and will not be disturbed on appeal.[vii]
Comparable Sales
It is the rare appraisal that does not rely to some extent on comparable sales. An appraiser is required to adjust comparable sales to the subject property. An appraiser is also expected to set forth the explanation for the adjustments.
It is well settled that the "suitability of comparable sales, absent legal error, is a matter for resolution by the trial court."[viii] Further, "[d]ifferences between the subject property and alleged comparables are the proper subject of adjustment by expert witnesses, and the degree of comparability becomes a question of fact."[ix] Put another way, the differences between the subject property and alleged comparables are the proper subject of adjustment by expert witnesses, and the degree of comparability becomes a question of fact for the trial court.[x]
The court also has discretion to determine whether to consider a sale "beyond the immediate vicinity of the subject property." There is a profound reduction in evidentiary value for comparable properties requiring extensive adjustment for geographic remoteness from the subject.[xi]
In considering the selection of comparable rentals, it has been held that the degree of comparability of other rentals proposed by appraisers in seeking to assign an income for the income approach to value are within the discretion of the trial court.[xii]
Although the Appellate Division has the right to make any factual determination that the trial court could make, it will rarely change a trial court's determination with respect to credibility.[xiii] This is so because the trial court had the ability to watch the witness, testify and judged the witness' capacity to tell the truth. Credibility determinations pertaining to expert opinions offered by the party's appraiser are committed to the sound discretion of the court.[xiv]
Filing a New Appraisal
In general, the trial court will have complete discretion in allowing amendment of an appraisal, or filing an appraisal after a default. The key is the showing of a "good cause" to excuse the failure. But the trial court must consider all of the relevant circumstances, not merely the excuse or reason proffered for the delay.[xv] Certainly, when the trial court itself indicates dissatisfaction that the appraisal reports were inadequate, a trial court's allowance of amendment will be deemed a proper exercise of discretion.[xvi]
Granting an Extension to File Appraisal
A trial court determination to allow a party an extension to file an appraisal report is within the court's sound discretion.[xvii]
Imposition of Sanctions
Another area firmly within the trial court's discretion is the imposition of sanctions on an expert who destroys prior draft appraisals.
The Record Keeping Rule of Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) requires every appraiser to maintain a file for every appraisal assignment. The appraiser must retain true copies of all written reports for at least five years, or two years after all litigation is completed whichever is later.
It is well established law in New York that a prior appraisal prepared by an expert witness testifying at trial may be introduced into evidence to impeach the credibility of that witness's testimony.[xviii]
The only limitation is that the workfile can only be discovered after the appraiser testifies. Until that time, the file enjoys "conditional immunity from disclosure which is conferred on material prepared for litigation" under CPLR § 3101.[xix]
But once the appraiser testifies, the prior reports must be produced. If the prior appraisals are not part of the workfile, it is appropriate to impose sanctions for the spoilation of evidence to the extent of according an adverse inference with respect to the destruction of the draft reports.[xx]
The Appellate Division has also held that a condemnor's witnesses may be precluded by the trial court when there is a failure to disclose or identify either witness until after the trial had begun and provided no explanation for that failure. The same court held that the trial court providently exercised its broad discretion in granting an adverse inference against the condemnor with respect to the destruction of draft appraisal reports prepared by its appraiser and draft feasibility studies prepared by its civil engineering firm.[xxi]
Additional Allowance
The Eminent Domain Procedure Law provides that the trial court has, in its discretion, the ability to award an additional allowance for actual and necessary costs, disbursements and expenses including reasonable attorneys, appraiser, and engineer fees.[xxii] The award follows a recovery after trial which is substantially higher than the condemnor's proof at trial. The award of fees in a condemnation case is not mandatory but left to the discretion of the trial court.[xxiii]
[i] EDPL Sec. 501 B
[ii] Accessocraft Prods. Corp. v City of New Rochelle, 7 AD3d 703 (2d Dept 2004)
[iii] 22 NYCRR Sec. 202.61. See Miriam Osborn Mem. Home Assoc. v Assessor of City of Rye, 4 Misc3d 1009(A) (Sup. Ct. Westchester Countuy 2004) where Justice Thomas A. Dickerson provides a remarkable history of the appraisal rule in New York
[iv] Sixth A.R. Co. v Metropolitan E.R. Co., 138 NY 548 (1893)
[v] 25 Misc3d 1240(A) (Sup. Ct. Kings County 2009)
[vi] Matter of City of New York (Reiss), 55 NY2d 885 (1982)
[vii] Matter of Rocky Point Realty, LLC v Town of Brookhaven, 126 AD3d 706 (2d Dept 2015)
[viii] Matter of City of New York, 98 AD2d 166, 190-191 (2d Dept 1983) (citations omitted)
[ix] Martin v State of New York, 33 AD2d 599, 600 (3d Dept 1969)
[x] Matter of City of New York (Sanitation Garage), 29Misc3d 1226(A) (Sup. Ct. Kings County 2010)
[xi] Matter of Rockland County Sewer Dist. No. 1 (Split Rock Partnership, 37 Misc3d 1222(A) (Rockland County 2012), afd. 120 AD3d 703 (2d Dept 2014)
[xii] CMRC, Ltd. v State of New York, 2 AD3d 303 (1st Dept 2003)
[xiii] Matter of Mazur Bros. Inc. v State of New York, 97 AD3d 826 (2d Dept 2012)
[xiv] Chemical Corp. v Town of East Hampton, 298 AD2d 419 (2d Dept 2002)
[xv] Matter of Town of Guilderland, 244 AD2d 604 (3d Dept 1997)
[xvi] Matter of City of New York (Bluebelt Phase 2), 108 AD3d 773 (2d Dept 2013)
[xvii] See Matter of City of New York, 18 Misc3d 945 (Sup. Ct. Kings County 2008) where, after a nine year delay, claimant was permitted to file an appraisal. The court suspended interest for that period of time.
[xviii] Hicksville Properties, Inc. v Bd. of Assessors, 116 AD2d 717, 718 (2d Dept 1986) ("where an unfiled appraisal report was prepared by a party's trial expert and is consistent with his trial testimony, the unfiled report may be introduced into evidence for impeachment purposes and used to cross-examine the witness") (citing Swartout v State of New York, 44 AD2d 766 (4th Dept 1974); Matter of City of New York (Brooklyn Bridge Southwest Urban Renewal Project), 50 Misc2d 478 (Sup. Ct. Spec. Term N.Y. County 1966))
[xix] CMRC Corp. v State of New York, 270 AD2d 27 (1st Dept 2000)
[xx] Matter of Vill. of Port Chester (Bologna), 95 AD3d 895 (2d Dept 2012)
[xxi] Matter of Western Ramapo Sewer Extension Project (Split Rock Partnership), 120 AD3d 703 (2d Dept 2014)
[xxii] EDPL Sec. 701
[xxiii] For an excellent discussion on EDPL Sec. 701 see Matter of City of New York (Paolella), 49 Misc3d 1217(A) (Justice Wayne Saitta, Sup. Ct. Richmond County 2015)
Posted in Decision by Jury, Trial, Uncategorized
Taking an Ancient Mound Access
Lawsuit Seeking Compensation for Mandatory Store Closures – Who's Going to Pay for My Loss?


It's a remarkable feat that Burr has held the position of overseeing the Senate's Russia investigation given what was known at the time he assumed the role. It was well understood that Burr did not remain on the sidelines during the 2016 presidential election. As chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Burr was a major catch for the Trump campaign when he joined as senior national security advisor on Oct. 7, 2016.
While Sessions' hands were tied, Burr's hands in the Senate were free. Burr's control over the investigation would be decided essentially by his own conscience and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's discretion.
Since January 2015, Burr had been a member of the Gang of Eight—a group that consists of the majority and minority leaders of the Senate and House and top Republicans and Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence committees. The U.S. intelligence community is able to share the nation's most sensitive secrets with this small group without anyone else outside the administration knowing.
As far back as summer 2015, the U.S. intelligence community reportedly informed the Gang of Eight that Russia's intelligence agencies were engaged in a hacking operation against the Democratic National Committee (DNC). That was many months before the DNC was aware of the breach, and months before the FBI reached out to the DNC to inform the organization.
By that point, however, not only did Burr know that the intelligence community had attributed the DNC hack to Russia, but the U.S. intelligence agencies even knew in summer 2015 the specific unit and agents within Russia's intelligence services who performed the hacking. Among other specific data, Dutch intelligence agencies had for months reportedly accessed security cameras in the hackers' Moscow offices and handed that information over to their American counterparts.
Most important, we now know that what Burr said in the interview was inconsistent with what the C.I.A had told him. Former C.I.A. Director John Brennan would later testify before Congress that he had kept Burr and the others in the Gang of Eight fully informed.
What's worse, we now know that DHS and the intelligence agencies secretly briefed Burr the previous month about their grave concerns of Russian threats to state voting systems. In early September 2016, President Obama had dispatched three senior U.S. officials including DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, Homeland Security Adviser Lisa Monaco, and FBI Director James Comey to brief the "Gang of Twelve," a group that includes the Gang of Eight plus the chairs and ranking members of the committees on homeland security.
Burr would later act like those sentences did not exist. It was a head-turning moment in a nationally-televised debate for the North Carolina Senate seat.
The moment came when the debate moderator, ABC's Jonathan Karl, asked Burr point blank whether he chose to believe President Trump or the U.S. intelligence community. Burr first appeared to stand behind the administration's statement but wasn't specific. Karl followed up, and Burr stammered. In a meandering answer, he said, "It's not limited to [Russia]. It's Iran, it's North Korea, it's China." Burr also said he doubted Karl's sources.
When Burr, as a member of the House of Representatives, ran for the Senate in 2004, there was a historical significance to his race that was not lost on the candidate. North Carolina's congressman was the 12th cousin of Aaron Burr, the man who had killed Alexander Hamilton and stood trial for treason for a plot to take military control over American territory. Aaron Burr's stain on American history was likely part of the reason it took nearly 200 years before a Burr returned to Congress. Richard Burr had accomplished that feat in 1994 as part of the so-called Newt Gingrich Revolution.
Over the past two years, the Senate Intelligence Committee has produced reports in a bipartisan fashion that contrasts sharply with all other congressional investigations into Russian election interference to date. One report found that Russian government operatives "conducted an unprecedented, coordinated cyber campaign against state election infrastructure" during the presidential election. Another report confirmed the findings of the intelligence community that Russia had interfered in the election in support of Trump.
Burr announced that the committee would exclude possible collusion from the scope of the investigation, a move he made with no advance notice to Ranking Member Warner.
3. Caught in the act — working secretly on behalf of the White House.
Burr's conduct was criticized by both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Burr had been put "on notice," and that Burr's conduct "certainly gives the appearance, if not the reality, of a lack of impartiality." Warner said he had "grave concerns" about Burr's conduct. Republican Senators Susan Collins (R-Me.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), both members of the intelligence committee, also issued critical statements.
4. Credit where credit is not due.
"The [Senate Intelligence Committee] investigation does not have a single staffer dedicated to it full-time, and those staff members working on it part-time do not have significant investigative experience," the Daily Beast reported in April 2017. In a Feb. 2019 interview, Burr defended never hiring outside full-time professional investigators. Outside investigators, he said, "would've never had access to some of the documents that we were able to access from the intelligence community." But it's unclear why the committee could not use outside professional investigators or attorneys who have the required security clearances.
7. Statement on assessing the success of Russian interference.
8. Encouraging Trump's attempts to discredit former senior intelligence officials.
10. Defying his own rules on speaking to the press about the committee's work.
The true character and public understanding of Senator Richard Burr will be tested in the months ahead. Then history will be left to judge.


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Poetry Notes
Critical Conditions
Barbara Guest may finally be getting the level of recognition accorded her differently gendered New York School peers. She, too, began in 1950s New York, taking cues from modern abstract painters; she, too, pursued a modernist version of beauty through several decades of now-influential verse. Guest collects her challenging shorter essays, talks and even some poems about poetry in the long-awaited Forces of the Imagination: Writing on Writing. Some pieces remain provocatively abstract, advising us to "Respect your private language"; others return to the poet H.D. (whose biography, Herself Defined, Guest has written), pursue links between verse and visual art, or trace Guest's own development: "I grew up under the shadow of Surrealism." For Guest, "The person inside a literary creation can be both viewer and insider. The window is open and the bird flies in." (Kelsey Street [SPD, dist.], $12 paper 112p ISBN 0-932716-51-X; Dec.)
After three volumes of verse and three academic monographs, the formidable H.L. Hix (Surely As Birds Fly) collects his polished, earnest prose about poetry in As Easy As Lying. Hix admonishes fans of one kind of poetry to try and read all the others, and unpacks refreshing admiration for thinkers (Charles Bernstein, for example) whose tastes and positions seem far from his own. Discussion of how poets think and what young poets should read sit (sometimes uneasily) beside collections of Wittgenstein-esque aphorisms, short takes on new poets' work, and intelligent if now dated essays on the past and future of the New Formalist movement from which Hix's first admirers emerged. (Etruscan [SPD, dist.] $17.95 paper 148p ISBN 0-9718228-3-2; Dec.)
Despite his five collections of poetry, William Logan remains best-known as a strong-willed reviewer; his determined attacks—and his carefully crafted praise—turn up regularly in Parnassus, the New Criterion and the Washington Post. Logan's third collection of reviews and essays, Desperate Measures, finds his well-turned, sharpened sentences in fine form. Logan (a professor at the University of Florida) proffers careful appreciations of Frost, Geoffrey Hill, Robert Lowell and several minor masters of inherited forms (Edgar Bowers, J. V. Cunningham), but also blasts away at Ashbery, Bly, Merwin, Les Murray, Jorie Graham and other contemporary targets. (Univ. of Florida, $34.95 336p ISBN 0-8130-2562-1; Dec.)
Poet Gregory Orr (The Caged Owl) takes an altogether more personal, more speculative, tack in his first book of prose, Poetry as Survival. Orr, who teaches at the University of Virginia, begins by suggesting that "culture evolved the personal lyric as a means of helping individuals survive existential crises": "the personal lyric," he writes, "clings to embodied being." Orr traces that being through a series of essays on Wordsworth, Dickinson, Hardy, the Holocaust, Akhmatova, Amichai, anthropology, medicine and other major authors and subjects. Many of Orr's clear and inspiring chapters seem meant not only as poetry criticism, but also as encouragement for poetry students or other beginning writers. (Univ. of Georgia, $44.95 232p ISBN 0-8203-2427-2; $19.95 paper -2428-0; Dec.)
Showing how one can work from "Pulse and Impulse," "Shapes Merging and Emerging" and even "Against Your Beliefs," poet W.D. Snodgrass offers a series of well-tempered how-tos in To Sound Like Yourself: Essays on Poetry. Snodgrass, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning Hearts Needle (1960) remains influential, gives prosodic examples from Whitman, shows how to add just the right amount of acid to parody and gives sound advice on all sorts of syllabic manipulations. (BOA [Consortium, dist.], $18 paper 238p ISBN 1-929918-18-6; Dec.)


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Georgian Prime Minister reports about Saakashvili's plans to kill oppositionists
Mikhail Saakashvili and his associates planned to organize riots in Tbilisi on October 3, during which several oppositionists would be killed, and then demand the resignation of the government, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili claimed.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 1, former President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili was detained after he had returned to Georgia. He was placed in the Rustavi prison, where he went on a hunger strike. Political analysts note that the crossing of the Georgian border by Mikhail Saakashvili speaks of the ineffective protection of the country's borders.
On October 2, the police detained an owner of the apartment in Tbilisi where Mikhail Saakashvili was hiding after his return to Georgia. The man is suspected of concealing a crime. The defence found the accusation illogical.
After Mikhail Saakashvili's supporters gathered in Tbilisi, the former president of Georgia planned to suddenly appear at a rally and cause an explosion of emotions among its participants, Irakli Garibashvili said. "Their plan was as follows: during the culmination and mobilization of about 10,000 people ... the police would have to detain Mikhail Saakashvili and, possibly, use special equipment. And at that time, one of the versions of the possible events would include assassination of several opposition leaders," the RIA "Novosti" quotes Irakli Garibashvili as saying.
The scenario with the assassination of oppositionists was prevented by the arrest of Mikhail Saakashvili. If the above plan were implemented, the supporters of the former president would demand the resignation of the government and early elections, Irakli Garibashvili added.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency 'Caucasian Knot' on October 4, 2021 at 07:05 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
See earlier reports:
Saakashvili's return brings up issue of protecting Georgia's borders, Saakashvili goes on hunger strike in prison, Zurabishvili rules out Saakashvili's pardoning.
Source: CK correspondent
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