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Fathers and Sons at the Heart of New Musical Take on 'A Bronx Tale'
Hedy Weiss | March 15, 2019 4:53 pm
Front, from left: Haley Hannah, Joseph Sammour, Joshua Michael Burrage, Giovanni DiGabriele, Sean Bell and Kyli Rae. Background, from left: Robert Pieranunzi, Michael Barra, Paul Salvatoriello and Mike Backes. (Photo: Joan Marcus)
On Wednesday night, just moments after seeing "A Bronx Tale" – the musical version of Chazz Palminteri's autobiographical work that has already been a one-man show, a movie and a Broadway play – a news flash popped up on my phone reporting that the reputed boss of a notorious New York crime family had been shot and killed outside his home.
Was it a case of life imitating art, or art imitating life? A bit of both as it happens, though more than a run-of-the-mill mob story. Rather, this unapologetically old-fashioned coming-of-age story – with a book by Palminteri, doo-wop-meets-rock music by Alan Menken (the composer responsible for "Little Shop of Horrors" and such Disney hits as "The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin"), lyrics by Glenn Slater, and direction by Robert De Niro and Jerry Zaks – is above all a poignant and insightful look at the complex relationship between fathers (whether real or "surrogate") and sons.
Joe Barbara, left, Frankie Leoni and company of "A Bronx Tale." (Photo: Joan Marcus)
To be sure, when it comes to urban racial issues it is no "West Side Story" (though it includes a mini rumble), or "Hairspray" (with its playful teenage awakening scenario). But as a case study in how moral values root themselves in an impressionable boy – in this case, Calogero or "C," the child of a working class Italian family in the Bronx (portrayed by the wonderfully sharp and confident Frankie Leoni as a 9-year-old in 1960, and by the sweet, believably impressionable Joey Barreiro, as he moves into manhood in 1968) – it has its charms as it explores the tension between a life governed by love or by fear.
Framed as a memoir, it begins with a doo-wop quartet singing beneath a lamppost in Calogero's Bronx neighborhood. It's a place with welcoming stone stoops outside apartments, and the aroma of grandmothers' pasta sauce, but it also can be interrupted by a spray of bullets from members of the local criminal syndicate, in this case overseen by Sonny (Joe Barbara), an always impeccably dressed mobster, who surrounds himself with a bunch of fiercely loyal losers over whom he has total control. These guys bear the colorful, cartoonish nicknames of Rudy the Voice (John Gardiner), Eddie Mush (Mike Backes), JoJo the Whale (Michael Barra), Frankie Coffeecake (Robert Pieranunzi) and Tony 10 to 2 (Paul Salvatoriello). And they both fear and respect Sonny.
Joe Barbara, left, and Joey Barreiro (Photo: Joan Marcus)
Calogero is a smart, curious kid – the beloved child of Lorenzo (a warm and believable Richard H. Blake), a decent, hard-working bus driver who abandoned his dream of being a jazz musician to support his wife, Rosina (a lovely turn by Michelle Aravena) and son. But things take a life-altering turn after he witnesses a murder committed on the street in front of his house.
When he is called to identify the perpetrator in a police lineup, Calogero obeys his dad and lies, saving Sonny from prison, or worse. In doing so he gains the eternal (if not entirely altruistic) gratitude of Sonny, who turns him into something of a personal mascot, and mentors him in all the dark but seemingly glamorous ways of his criminal life. He also makes Calogero begin to think of his money-strapped dad as something of a sucker. (Sonny gets to sing the show's smartest song, "Nicky Machiavelli," which plays on that Renaissance Italian politician's philosophy of using and maintaining power.)
Brianna-Marie Bell and Joey Barreiro (Photo: Joan Marcus)
Calogero's is seduced by Sonny yet never entirely loses sight of his father's goodness. Along the way, he also falls for pretty, self-possessed Jane (the easily beguiling Brianna-Marie Bell). The problem is that she is black, and neither Calogero's Italian neighbors, nor Jane's brother and girlfriends, want any crossing of the color line. Too dangerous. Yet the pair defy warnings, and trouble ensues, with unexpected consequences that also reveal the surprising potential for good and evil in every person.
In many ways this musical feels more like a show ideally tuned to a young adult audience with a story that can inspire some basic discussion about parents and children, the lure of "gangs" as surrogate families, and the barriers facing those in cross-racial relationships. And while it's a bit simplistic, it's full of heart.
Brianna-Marie Bell, center, in "A Bronx Tale." Also pictured, from left: Antonio Beverly, Ashley McManus, Brandi Porter and Jason Williams. (Photo: Joan Marcus)
"A Bronx Tale" runs through March 24 at the James M. Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St. For tickets ($27-$98) call (800) 775-2000 or visit BroadwayinChicago.com. Running time is two hours and 5 minutes with one intermission.
Note: This is something of an unofficial Alan Menken month in Chicago. Along with "A Bronx Tale," there is a rip-roaring production of his first big hit, "Little Shop of Horrors, which will run through April 28 at Mercury Theatre Chicago. And the composer-pianist himself will perform his one- man show, "A Whole New World of Alan Menken" for one night only (March 30 at 7:30 p.m.) at the Auditorium Theatre.
Irishmen Bring Music, Meditation to Chicago Stages in 'Choir of Man,' 'Two Pints'
Theo Ubique Unleashes the Italian Opera Soul in 'Bridges of Madison County'


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Corporate Communication Office
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Grant agreement for expansion of the LNG Terminal in Świnoujście signed
On 24 April 2019, Polskie LNG, a member company of the GAZ-SYSTEM capital group, signed an agreement on for EU grant for the project of Expansion of the Functionality of President Lech Kaczynski's LNG Terminal. The maximum amount...
The agreement regarding EU support for the Baltic Pipe signed
GAZ-SYSTEM signed the agreement on co-financing the Baltic Pipe construction works under the Connecting Europe Facility with the Innovation and Network Executive Agency of the EU. The ceremony of signing the agreement for the...
Polish Power Engineering Amber Award (Bursztyn Polskiej Energetyki) for GAZ-SYSTEM
President Tomasz Stępień was granted the Polish Power Engineering Amber Award as a recognition of consistent and effective efforts to improve Poland's energy security and independence through the implementation of the Baltic Pipe...
Baltic Pipe: Environmental Impact Assessment reports filed
GAZ-SYSTEM has submitted the Environmental Impact Assessment reports for the investment in all three countries the territorial seas of which the offshore gas pipeline on the Baltic Sea bed will go through. It happened, according...
Change of the period for submission of request under procedure of providing capacity
A new version of the Transmission Network Code (TNC) approved by the President of the Energy Regulatory Office in decision No. DRR.WRG.4322.1.2019.AK1 from 26th March 2019 became applicable on 1st April 2019. Hence, in accordance...
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Saturn, The Christmas Tree, Santa Claus, Flying Reindeer and December 25
Posted by Bennett Ross | Dec 12, 2016 | History, myth/religion |
Who is this old guy with a white beard living in the North Pole? Who imparts gifts once a year riding in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer? How did this belief transpire? Whence came the notion of flying reindeer? And dwarfs who seem to have no other purpose then to help make the gifts and toys. And why the North Pole? And why are gods such as Krishna, Mithra and Jesus said to have been born on the same day as this annual gift giving?
The name Santa Claus is derived from Nicholas of Myra who was a very popular bishop living in what is now Turkey during the time of the Roman Emperor Diocletian A.D. 245-313. Which in the correct timetable means he died a little over 700 years ago.
Nicholas was persecuted and even tortured for his Christian beliefs and eventually thrown in jail. When Constantine converted to the Christian faith he released the imprisoned Christians.
After his death he was honored by the Greeks and Romans at an annual feast on December 6. On the Eve of this feast day, December 5, they would give gifts secretly to each other because Nicholas secretly bestowed the dowry of 3 daughters of a poor citizen. He did so in order that they could obtain a decent marriage partner and not be given over to a house of prostitution by the father.
When Christian Catholicism spread North the Dutch started to celebrate the event. The Dutch pronunciation of Saint Nicholas is Sinter Klaas. When the Dutch emigrated to New Amsterdam which is now New York City the tradition was introduced to America and the English version of Sinter Klaas became Santa Claus.
But Saint Nicholas never lived in the North Pole. So how did that belief originate? And how did the December 25 date come about? And what is the connection with the Christmas Tree?
To embrace the sympathies of everyone the Romans moved the date from December 6 to December 25 which was the birthday and thus the feast and festival of Mithra. The religion of Mithra and the newer Jesus religion had much in common. Both gods were born of a virgin. Both died and rose again after 3 days. Both had a sacred foundation stone – Mithra had Petra and Jesus had Peter. The religions of Mithra and Jesus had become competitive and so this was a way to bring them together.
The celebration of Sol Invictus (the victory or coming forth of Saturn) on December 25 had been already amalgamated with the Mithra feast. And so had the traditions of Apollo and Helios. All these beliefs had much in common. They were just different versions of the same celestial events.
All these gods including Jesus were pictured on mosaics being surrounded by a ring with the 12 constellations of the zodiac on them. Mithra had 12 satellites. Jesus had 12 disciples. Mithra is depicted as a sun disc drawn by a white horse as was Jesus and who according to the book of Revelation is supposed to return on a white horse. This was Saturn being surrounded by 12 visible moons.
The original festival of Saturnalia celebrating the Birth of Saturn was also December 25. The Greek version was The Kronia dedicated to Kronos/Saturn and took place on the same date. This festival commemorated the reign of Saturn – Saturnia Regna. Saturnia Dei was Saturday – the holy day and no work was to be done because Saturn rested after his birth and creation. In the book of Exodus a person was stoned to death because he was picking up sticks on the Sabbath which is the day of rest for Elohim (Saturn).
So the festivals and/or birthdays of Saint Nicholas, Saturn, Kronos, Mithra, Jesus, Apollo, Helios and Sol Invictus have been amalgamated. But what really was this birthday? Jesus is known not to have been born on this date and this birthdate for him was not celebrated until around 354 A.D.
The tradition of a former polar god or polar sun has been chronicled by many. And the recognition that this former polar sun god was Saturn has also been demonstrated. But the next step is not taken. They just wonder what possible relationship Saturn could actually have with the North Pole and remain perplexed.
The traditions of an immovable Saturn as the North Star positioned in the North Pole made little sense after the age of Kronos/Saturn had come to an end.
Early traditions of Christmas has Saturn as the old man at the North Pole bringing sprigs of evergreen to children. In myth Saturn resides on top of his Holy Mountain which was also portrayed as a Holy Tree. This Tree of Life or Evergreen Sprig of Saturn was actually a plasma discharge. It was a brilliant white and thus was called the Milky Way. Which is now the name for our fictitious galaxy. Sometimes the swirling helical currents were visible and seen as a serpent such as in Genesis. And the befuddled account of Moses' staff turning into serpents illustrates this point. The scepter or cane of Kings frequently had serpents carved on them. I have in my possession a cane from Mali in Africa with a serpent carved in it.
At times sparkles of light were observable on this cosmic tree – the mythical axis mundi. These were concentrated areas of energy or plasmoids. This is the origin of the Christmas tree. In the Old Testament and elsewhere they are depicted as angels or departed souls coming and going on a ladder to heaven. Saturn as well as Santa is depicted with a long flowing white beard which is also reminiscent of the white plasma discharge.
And what about Santa's red apparel? Red and purple is associated with Saturn. Saturn casted a primordial red glow and is responsible for the purple dawn of creation. Eventually turning into a more yellow radiance. This is the reason for red to be the color of royalty. Kings and popes wore robes of purple or red. So did bishops such as Nicholas of Myra. They also wore the crown of Venus who along with Mars was positioned in front of Saturn making up the Holy Trinity. Mars the Son of God would periodically come down the Northern Axis to save the world. He is the one who drove his Father's chariot which was depicted as a sleigh in northern regions.
Saturn is the God whose birth heralded creation. Saturn flared-up and became a bright star in the Northern Hemisphere. He is frequently pictured riding his flying steeds or flying dragons or flying reindeer depending on the location of the people describing it. These were high energy plasma emanations that took place when Saturn was first born. Actually this flare-up or eruption was the last in a series of turbulent outpourings as Saturn adjusted to it's new environment on the celestial axis. And this is why the Maya believe there were many creations.
The Norse Saturn God Odin also had dwarves as helpers. He is pictured flying in his chariot pulled by goats. The dwarfs were master craftsman and forged gifts for the gods (planets). The dwarfs are personifications of Saturn's moons who were also depicted as his children.
Being at relatively close proximity to the Earth the family of Saturn was also referred to as the circumpolar stars. In the pyramid texts Atum-Ra (Saturn) has a northern location and surrounds himself with the circumpolar stars. As does the Babylonian Anu and the Persian Kevan. Brahma has an epithet of Dhruva which in Sanskrit means Pole Star. Shang-Ti is the Chinese Saturn called the Genie of the Pivot. And in the Book of Ezekiel, Elohim (Saturn) appears to Ezekiel from the North.
And that is why Saturn Gods such as Mithra, Helios and Apollo are pictured in ancient mosaics with constellations. The constellations of the zodiac were originally the positions or groupings of Saturn's 62 or more moons.
Saturn is the star on top of the Christmas Tree! And the original Santa Claus! And the God whose birthday is December 25!
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Bennett Lee Ross Quote of the Day 12-16-20 #351


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PM Yıldırım postpones Iraq visit
BAGHDAD – Doğan News Agency
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım's planned official visit to Baghdad has been postponed, Iraqi Foreign Ministry sources stated on Oct. 14.
The visit was postponed due to "heavy schedule" and he will visit Baghdad at a later date, they said.
Yıldırım was expected to travel to Baghdad over the weekend to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi and other senior officials, according to reports.
He was expected to be accompanied by the foreign, energy and trade ministers along with other officials, discussing with Iraqi officials key issues including joint steps against the independence bid of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Al-Abadi invited Yıldırım to visit Baghdad in the wake of the Sept. 25 KRG referendum in northern Iraq.
The undersecretary of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Ümit Yalçın, paid a snap visit to meet his counterparts in Baghdad last week.
Turkey has told the KRG it could suspend its oil trade and close the Habur border gate. But diplomatic sources underlined the need to consult with the Iraqi government before implementing such measures. All potential actions need to be discussed through their conformity with constitutional and legal obligations, the sources said.
Turkish PM, baghdad visit,
Türkiye marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Türkiye summons Danish ambassador over Quran-burning
Türkiye condemns Israeli raids in West Bank
Türkiye postpones NATO talks with Sweden, Finland
Türkiye condemns Dutch politician tearing apart Quran
EU to hold Ukraine event on Feb 22 in Istanbul


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Overbury
Office refurbishment
Higher education fit out
Retail banking fit out
Office Design and Build
Office Fit Out
Our work & clients
Music Night charity gig is top of the props
Generous property professionals from across the Midlands raised thousands of pounds for young carers at a popular annual charity music event in Birmingham.
Overbury's Fit Out Charity Music Night saw 250 guests including surveyors, architects and planners, dance the night away to hits performed by the company's house band, Ohio, and 18 budding musicians from the property sector.
The event, which took place at Saint Pauls House in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, raised £3,500 for Solihull Young Carers, a charity dedicated to empowering children and young people whose lives are affected by looking after a loved one who requires care. The donation will help young carers to enjoy a positive childhood and support them through to adulthood.
It was the sixth annual charity fundraiser for office fit out and refurbishment specialist, Overbury, whose team has raised more than £20,000 for causes in the past five years, including Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorns Children's Hospice.
Overbury business development manager, Danny Parmar, said: "It was a great night and so much fun to be a part of. With such a good turn out from across the commercial property sector and a large amount raised for charity, it was possibly our best music event yet.
"Huge thanks must go to my Overbury colleague Amanda Franks who organised the event, our house band and all of the musicians who joined them on stage and to everyone who donated. Solihull Young Carers is a great local cause which does such terrific work in making sure young people aren't left feeling alone while they provide important care for their loved ones. It is a pleasure to raise funds on their behalf."
Overbury's company band, Ohio, was joined on stage by guitarists and vocalists from companies including Cundall, Fellows, RLB and MACE.
The event was sponsored by The Commercial Flooring Company, Torsion Engineering, Central Electricity Services, Umberslade, Sudlows, Woodcraft Joinery, Airmaster, Direct Cooling Systems, Universal Business Installations, Pinfold Projects, HCIP Interior Specialist and The Senator Group.
For more information please contact Solihull Carers Centre on 0121 788 1143 or visit www.solihullcarers.org
Overbury also hosts annual charity music events in London and Manchester, raising over £20,000 each year for worthy charities.
Highlights from Overbury's 2018 Birmingham and Manchester events.
"Thank you to the Overbury team for its ongoing support, not only in fundraising but in raising awareness of young people who are caring for loved ones in our community. "
Gina Ward, team manager at Solihull Young Carers
Danny Parmar
Email Danny
Thank you for contacting Overbury
One of our team will be in touch regarding your query shortly. While you wait for us to respond you can find out more about Overbury through the links below:
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Velký Betlém (Nativity scene)Alexander Forýtka
Used with permission of the photographer, Pavel Konecny
Dřevohostice, 751 14, Czechia
started 2001
The work is erected in early December in the town's main square and remains on view until Epiphany, January 6.
Alexander Forýtek was born in 1953 in the city of Zlín in the Czech Republic. After completing his primary education, he studied pedagogy and obtained a position as an educator. He then moved to Turovice, a small community of some 200 inhabitants located just outside the city of Dřevohostice, a larger town of approximately 1600 inhabitants.
Even as a young man, Forýtek was quite interested in visual art. He liked to paint, often choosing subjects such as landscapes, portraits, and still lifes, but he also tried sculpting and carving. In the 1970s a selection of his illustrations were published in various Czech magazines.
The story of the nativity scene begins in 2001. That year, for the first time, Forýtek, as a respected person in the community and well known as a self-taught artist, was given the opportunity to create the nativity scene that is annually installed on Dřevohostice's main square. It was a traditional arrangement of the manger scene with the holy family, three kings and a couple of lambs.
But in the following years this arrangement was gradually supplemented by a number of new sculptures depicting many ordinary people from the city. The municipal website says this was the idea of Ladislava Sigmunda, the mayor of the city. The characters depicted include a village band and other musicians, a horse pulling a car, a miller carrying a sack of flour, a mother and her son walking and carrying a milk can, various small animals, and so on: in general, a selection of scenes from daily life in the community during the 1930s. Forýtek's sculptures are so realistic that some residents of the community recognized themselves in the depicted characters.
The sculptures are built over an infrastructure of wood to which blocks of polystyrene are attached. These are subsequently cut into the shape desired and finished with a special paint with added glue within, which slows the negative effects of the weather. The sculptures are so solidly built that, for example, children can sit on top of the horse pulling the car.
Since its beginning in 2001, the site has grown in size, with Forýtek making a number of new sculptures to enlarge the scene each year. By 2017 it reached its maximum size, with about forty sculptures covering an area of 200 square meters. Unfortunately, Forýtek fell ill and now lives in a retirement home in Radkov Lhota, and is no longer adding new sculptures.
Each year the community looks forward to viewing this extensive nativity scene that depicts the neighbors and ambiance of old Dřevohostice. It is erected in early December in the town's main square and remains on view until Epiphany, January 6.
~Henk van Es
, 751 14 cz
Latitude/Longitude: 49.425943 / 17.592053
Fairytale Garden
Biskupice-Pulkov
Kostnice Sedlec (Sedlec Ossuary)
Vojtech Kopic, Kopicova skalni galerie (Kopic's sculpted rocks)
Kacanovy, Liberec Region
Can you provide SPACES with images of this art environment?
Various artists, The Painted Village
Zalipie, Lesser Poland Voivodeship
Interior with Wooden Sculptures
Brzeźnica, Podkarpackie Voivodeship


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Q: Reading skipped children in Jackson Custom Deserializer I have a deserializer for a specific class which needs some ordering while reading fields.
Let's say I have two fields in my class (field1 and field2) and in order to read field2, it first needs field1.
For example for the following json data it works because when the deserializer parses field2, field1 is already set:
{"field1": 3, "field2": 4}

However if we reverse the fields:
{"field2": 4, "field1": 3}

I need to skip field2 via jp.skipChildren because field1 is not set. When field1 is parsed, Jackson should re-read and parse field2.
One option is to parse field2 instead of skipping and hold it in a variable so that when field1 is set, it can use the variable that holds data in field2. However; based on the value of field1, I may not need to parse field2 so I'm looking for a better solution since performance is critical in this part of the code.
I'm using Mapper.readValue(byte[], MyClass.class) method and it seems Jackson uses ReaderBasedJsonParser for parsing. Even though it's possible to get token position, I couldn't find a way to set token position.

A: Finally I found a way to do it. It's actually a workaround but it passes the tests that I wrote.
When you pass byte array to mapper.readValue it uses ReaderBasedJsonParser which iterates through the array and parse the JSON tree.
public static class SaveableReaderBasedJsonParser extends ReaderBasedJsonParser {
    private int savedInputPtr = -1;

    public SaveableReaderBasedJsonParser(IOContext ctxt, int features, Reader r, ObjectCodec codec, CharsToNameCanonicalizer st, char[] inputBuffer, int start, int end, boolean bufferRecyclable) {
        super(ctxt, features, r, codec, st, inputBuffer, start, end, bufferRecyclable);
    }

    public void save() {
        savedInputPtr = _inputPtr;
    }

    public boolean isSaved() {
        return savedInputPtr>-1;
    }

    public void load() {
        _currToken = JsonToken.START_OBJECT;
        _inputPtr = savedInputPtr;
        _parsingContext = _parsingContext.createChildObjectContext(0, 0);
    }
}

When you use this JsonParser, the JsonParser instance that will be passed to your deserializer EventDeserializer.deserialize(JsonParser, DeserializationContext) will be a SaveableReaderBasedJsonParser so you can safely cast it.
When you want to save the position, call jp.save() so that when you need to go back, you can call just call jp.load().
As I said, it's actually a workaround but when you need this kind of feature and don't want to parse the tree twice for performance reasons, you may give it a try.

A: A custom deserializer needs uses the streaming API. There is no way to go back, reparse, etc.
Did you register the custom deserializer for the field type or for the class, that contains the fields, that need this special treatment?
If you register the deserializer for the class that contains those fields, you can just use the streaming API, read in all the fields of an instance,  store them temporarily, e.g. in a HashMap, and then assign the values.
BTW: Your question smells like the XYProblem. Maybe you should post another question about the reason, you need to solve this problem here and see whether there is a better approach for it.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Diosig (în ) este satul de reședință al comunei cu același nume din județul Bihor, Crișana, România.

Așezare

Satul Diosig se află în partea de nord-vest a județului Bihor, având  caracteristicile zonei de deal, fiind parte a Câmpiei și Dealurilor de Vest. Este situată la frontaliera cu Ungaria, legătura fiind realizată prin punctul de trecere Létavértes - Săcuieni, oraș aflat la 12 km de Diosig.

Satul este străbătut de râul Ier, afluent al râului Barcău. În ceea ce privește clima, localitatea are un climat de câmpie moderat, cu o faună caracteristică silvostepei.

În sat există utilități: energie electrică, apă, canal, telefonie fixă - mobilă, furnizori servicii cablu, TV, internet precum și un serviciu de salubrizare.

Istoric

Numele așezării apare pentru prima dată între 1332-1337, în registrul papal. Primul proprietar a fost ramura Dorogi din familia Gutkeled. După 1800, proprietar a fost contele Zichy Ferenc. În 1870, cu colaborarea acestuia, a fost fondată școala regală maghiară de vieri.

După tradiția populară și explicația științifică a numelui, Diosig, înseamnă un colț cu nuci, fapt ce e susținut și prin ștampilele așezării din anii 1608 și 1691.

Prima dată Diosigul a fost menționat în înregistrările din 1278 (Gyozik), în legătură cu primii ei proprietari (familia Dorog din neamul Gutkeled) și în legătură cu mănăstirea Sfântul Egidiu. Localitatea era cunoscută ca și centru de proprietate împreună cu Săcuieni; astfel a devenit devreme un târgușor (și din cauza podgoriei sale care era celebră chiar din secolul XVI). Așezarea a primit numele de Bihar-Diószeg în 1910 ( denumirile mai vechi fiind Diószeg, Ér-Diószeg și Mező-Diószeg ). Denumirea română Diosig, există din anul 1925.

Diosig a devenit proprietatea lui Gavrilaș Movilă prin căsătorie, iar Constantin Șerban, voievod român refugiat, a primit-o ulterior ca și gaj. În 1551 Fráter György a discutat aici cu trimișii lui Ferdinand V despre predarea Transilvaniei; conform istoriei, Bocskay István a luptat victorios prima dată cu germanii în valea lui Nyúzó, la 15 octombrie 1604. Școala reformată vestită de aici a devenit mai târziu filiala Colegiului din Debrețin. În 1795 Diosigul avea și imprimerie.

După eliberarea orașului Oradea, proprietarii așezării au devenit pe rând: camera din Sepeș, Heisler Donath, contele Grünsfeld Franz Johann și Breuner Miksa. Din cauza numărului mare a curuților care s-au stabilit aici, mulți dintre locuitorii Diosigului au participat în răscoala de la Hegyalja și a devenit al doilea focar după Tarpa în timpul răscoalei condusă de Rákóczy. Secolul XVIII a fost caracterizat de o societate multicoloră: au apărut breslele (croitori și pantofari în 1714, blănari în 1733, asociația comercianților greci în 1735), neamul român se înmulțește, neamul maghiar crește prin colonizare, nobilimea și iobăgimea se despart (1740), conducerea podgoriei devine de sine stătătoare.

Promotoriumurile noastre au fost recunoscute deja, cultivarea tutunului era vestită prin țară, peștele nostru era servit și la Viena. Așezarea a devenit proprietatea familiei Sternberg după moștenire (1783), iar de la ei a cumpărat-o un membru al familiei Zichy din Bratislava (1810). Mulți oameni din împrejurimi au participat la revoluția din 1848-1849 (cei mai de seamă dintre ei amintim: Jankafalvi Csizmadia József, căpitanul Kiss Pál). După eliberarea iobagilor, a început dezvoltarea social-economică: producția modernizată a familiei Zichy (fermă model, struguri și pivnițerie, fabrică de coniac, etc.), evreii colonizați, Școala de vieri (1870), Corporația industrială formată din bresle, încetarea privilegiului nobililor, etc.

Furtunile istorice din secolul XX (cele 2 războaie mondiale, modificarea granițelor, colonizările, reforma agrară din 1945 și colectivizarea împreună cu regimul comunist precum și tranzacția care a durat până în 1989) au slăbit capacitatea de încărcare social-economică a așezării.

Economie
Din cele mai vechi timpuri Diosigul a fost renumit pentru cultivarea viței de vie. O mare contribuție la renumele comunității noastre o are Podgoria Diosig, având cele mai renumite soiuri de struguri de vin și de masă, cu vinuri recunoscute mai ales în zona de vest a țării, dar și in străinătate.

Anual, aici sunt organizate concursuri de degustări ale vinurilor produse de localnici, dar și de cultivatorii de viță de vie din împrejurimi. Ne mândrim de altfel cu o dezvoltare economico-socială, dar și cu o istorie tumultoasă.

Școala viticolă (1870)- prima școală de viță de vie din județ, galeria cu figurile oamenilor de seamă din istoria , Castelul Zichy sunt de asemenea motive de mândrie ale comunității din Diosig .

Informații sociale

Localitatea Diosig se caracterizează prin diversitatea socială cauzată de existența a 3 culturi reprezentative, română, maghiară și rromă, precum și de diversitate religioasă: există aici 2 biserici ortodoxe, o biserică reformată, una catolică, o biserică baptistă și una penticostală. Cea mai răspândită religie de aici este cea reformată.

Pe plan local și nu numai se face simțită emigrarea în străinătate, mai ales în rândul tinerilor mulți, dintre aceștia au ales în ultimul timp să plece la muncă în străinătate.

Educația

Pe raza localității își desfășoară activitatea Școala Generală cu Clasele I-VIII Diosig cu 8 corpuri.

În Diosig în clasele I-IV învață 378 de copii în 22 de clase, în clasele V-VIII avem 322 de elevi, în 14 clase, iar la grădiniță avem un număr de 197 de copii în 9 grupe, rezultând un total de 897 de copii.

În unitățile de învățământ își desfășoară activitatea cadre didactice tinere, proaspăt absolvenți ai unităților de învățământ superior, cadre calificate cu experiență în procesul educațional.

Cultură

Localitate are două biserici ortodoxe, o biserică reformată, una catolică, o biserică baptistă și una penticostală. Cea mai răspândită religie de aici e cea reformată cu biserica construită în 1604, iar forma actuală o are din anul 1864. Biserica baptistă există din 1888 (era una din cele trei centre misionare), capela fiind construită în anul 1906, la aceea vreme fiind cea mai mare capelă din Europa de Est.

De asemenea există 2 cămine culturale cu 450 de locuri, o bibliotecă cu un număr de 20.128 de volume.

Anual au loc festivități culturale menite să aducă viața în sat și anume: Zilele Diosigului, Festivalul vinului, Zilele studenților din Partium, serbările din cadrul școlii.
Zilele Diosigului este evenimentul cultural care adună atât localnici, cât și străini. Acest eveniment are un program care cuprinde prezentări din diferite domenii, expoziții de pictură, concursuri de șah, concursul de ceaune, întreceri sportive, concursul de atelaje, concerte, fiind o ocazie de relaționare și de dezvoltare a relațiilor interumane. La eveniment vin oameni de seamă din diferite locuri. Un exemplu în acest sens este faptul că în fiecare an, cu ocazia acestui eveniment vizitează Diosigul un grup de francezi, localitarea fiind înfrățită cu Fontenay Le Comte din Franța, dar și cu localitatea Diosig din Slovacia. Se realizează în acest fel un schimb de experiență, un grup de români plecând anual, la rândul lor, în Franța .

Alte evenimente care marchează fiecare an sunt: Festivalul vinurilor, Balul Strugurilor, Zilele studenților din Partium precum și reproducerea bătăliei de pe Valea din Nyúzó, în memoria bătăliei din Diosig și Almosd din 15 octombrie 1604.

Monumente și statui

Statuia lui Kossuth: a fost făcută de Gerenday Béla în 1896 și reprezintă bustul din bronz al lui Kossuth Lajos din tinerețe pe un piedestal. A fost expus în anii: 1896, 1940, 2003 (primul bust de acest gen din Transilvania și Bihor)
Statuia lui Bocskay : a fost făcută de către un necunoscut în 2004, este bustul metalic al lui Bocskay István pe un piedestal și a fost expus în 2004
Stâlp funerar al eroilor din războiul pentru libertate în 1848-1849 : s-a făcut în anii 1990 și este un stâlp omagial cioplit din lemn.
Stâlp funerar în memoria bătăliei din Diosig și Álmosd : a fost expus în anul 2003
Piatră comemorativă în memoria bătăliei din Diosig și Álmosd, făcută în 2004, e o piatră din stâncă montată în beton aflată la locul bătăliei (valea din Nyúzó).
Monumentul soldaților români morți în bătălia din 4 septembrie 1940, făcut în 2004, din plăci de marmură montate în beton, în fața bisericii ortodoxe din Telep.
Placa de marmură făcută în memoria lui Bocskay István și a bătăliei din Diosig și Álmosd: s-a făcut în 1994, e din marmură albă cu inscripție aurită, pusă pe peretele interior în partea estică al bisericii reformate
Placa comemorativă a episcopului Diószegi Kiss István: a fost făcută în 1994, e din marmură albă cu inscripție aurită, pusă pe peretele interior, în partea estică a bisericii reformate
Placa comemorativă a lui Mikecs László  făcută în septembrie, 2003, este o placa de marmură și se găsește pe peretele parohiei romano-catolică.
Placa comemorativă în memoria lui Szecheny Istvan, căpitan al regimentului de cavalerie Hessen-Homburg, cel mai mare patriot maghiar, un militant înflăcărat al cauzelor comunitare, placă reamplasată în anul 2006 pe peretele exterior al primăriei din comună, în care a locuit timp de 5 ani, în perioada 1820-1825.
Placa comemorativă a lui Simonyi József:  făcută în august, 2005, se găsește pe peretele parohiei romano-catolice

Instituții de cultură

Cămin Cultural Diosig, Adresa: Str. Livezilor nr.146
Cămin Cultural Diosig Horea, Adresa: Str. Horea nr.120/A
Biblioteca publică Diosig, Adresa:str Argesului nr.13

Turism
Localitatea oferă vizitatorilor un peisaj cu locuri frumoase. Zona este una de deal și câmpie, cu păduri, pivnițe vechi pe deal, cu două baraje. Este de amintit Valea Ierului, un loc cu un potențial turistic ridicat, dar încă neexploatat.
Satul Diosig are de asemenea un castel vechi, "Castelul Zichy" care face parte din istoria bogată a așezării și de asemenea din Strategia de dezvoltare locala a zonei, reprezentând un potential turistic ridicat pentru localitate.
In ceea ce priveste infrastructura,  localitatea nu dispune în prezent de o structură adecvată dezvoltării turismului, aceasta fiind însă pe lista de priorități a strategiei de dezvoltare a localității.

Obiective turistice

Castelul Zichy. Castelul a primit numele după contele Zichy Ferenc, care a devenit proprietar al așezării în anul 1810. Contele a fost o figură de seamă în istoria comunei Diosig (în 1870 cu colaborarea acestuia a fost fondată Școala regală maghiară de vieri, prima scoală de acest fel din județ).
După revoluția din 1848-1849 producția familiei Zichy s-a dezvoltat; au avut o fermă model, struguri și pivniță la subsolul castelului, fabrică de coniac, etc. Astăzi grădina vechiului castel este locația de desfășurare a diferitelor evenimente culturale spre exemplu: Zilele Diosigului.

Baraje de acumulare. Pe raza localității există 2 lacuri de acumulare care reprezintă un loc frumos pentru relaxare, pentru pescuit sportiv și totodată oferă posibilitatea organizării unor concursuri de pescuit la care participă atât localnici, cât și pescari din zonele apropiate.

Tradiții
Balul strugurilor. În fiecare toamnă, odată cu terminarea procesului de cules al strugurilor, se organizează în sat un bal al strugurilor găzduit de Căminul Cultural. Pentru a anunța localnicii, tinerii umblă pe străzi în trăsuri, căruțe sau călare și anunță balul. Această tradiție are origini maghiare.

Zilele Diosigului. În fiecare an în ultimul sfârșit de săptămână a lunii august se sărbătoresc zilele satului. Evenimentul cuprinde concursuri, diferite prezentări, concerte la care participă atât localnici, cât și oamenii din împrejurimi sau chiar străini.

Bătălia din Valea din Nyúzó. Anual, aici se organizează  reproducerea unui eveniment istoric și anume Bătălia de pe Valea din Nyúzó, în memoria bătăliei din Diosig și Almosd din 15 octombrie 1604, ce are ca locație exact locul bătăliei aflat de altfel la graniță cu Ungaria. În anul 2010, acest eveniment s-a realizat al treilea an consecutiv devenind astfel o traditie locală care pune amprentă pe o filă de istorie însemnată din istoricul satului Diosig. Evenimentul adună numeroși localnici, dar și turiști din împrejurimi și de peste graniță, dornici și impresionați an de an de reproducerea acestui evenimeni istoric, hainele de epocă, cavalerii cu caii dresați, steagurile refăcute după cele din trecut.

Concursul de degustări de vinuri. În contextul în care satul Diosig este localizat într-o  zonă  viticolă cu relief specific culturilor de viță de vie și cu o veche tradiție în producerea vinului, anual, la sfârșitul lunii februarie, se organizează concursul de degustări de vinuri, eveniment la care participă concurenți din țară și de peste hotare.  Acest concurs este organizat de către Grupul gazdelor din localitate, cu sprijinul acordat de Primăria Comunei Diosig. În anul 2010, a avut loc cea de-a IX-a ediție a acestui eveniment, la care au participat concurenți din 19 localități, din județele Bihor, Satu Mare, Salaj, Arad, dar și localități din Ungaria, care s-au înscris în concurs cu un număr de 141 de vinuri.

Resurse locale
Principala resursă locală o reprezintă suprafața agricolă, care poate fi exploatată prin închirieri sau concesionări. Alte resurse locale pot fi considerate resursele bugetare ale localității și nu în ultimul rând resursele mediului de afaceri. Ca resurse, mai amintim cele 2 lacuri de acumulare cu fondul piscicol, râul care străbate localitatea, precum și apa termală. Această resursă prețioasă ar putea fi folosită în cadrul unui complex balneoturistic, pentru încălzirea locuințelor și a serelor de legume, după modelul altor localități din acest județ.

Vezi și
 Biserica reformată din Diosig
 Castelul Zichy din Diosig

Imagini

Note

Diosig, Diosig

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The Bankruptcy Court Gave and the District Court Hath Taken Away: A Commentary on the Southern District of New York's Lehman Bros. Decision
Publications / 01.9.2015
By Justin R. Alberto
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, in an opinion written by Judge Richard J. Sullivan, recently held that a plan of reorganization that provides for the payment of professional fees of the individual members of an official committee violates § 503(b) of the Bankruptcy Code.1 The decision, in an appeal from the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, reversed a 2013 ruling by Judge James M. Peck of the Southern District of New York Bankruptcy Court that the plan payment provision was permissible under § 1123(b)(6)'s catchall provision, as not inconsistent with § 503(b).2 The bankruptcy court's opinion provided added support to a growing trend of cases that followed a similar 2010 decision from the SDNY Bankruptcy Court in Adelphia,3 which seemed to bless the use of plan provisions to pay a creditor's professional fees solely on the basis of that creditor's committee membership and without demonstrating that the creditor's actions constituted a substantial contribution to the case. The district court's recent decision seems to discredit this practice, but all may not be lost for creditors seeking payment of their professional fees from the bankruptcy estate.
The Interplay of §§ 503(b)(3) and 503(b)(4)
A brief review of the statutory predicates is helpful in understanding the impact of the district court's decision. The opening clause of § 503(b)(3) indicates that certain favored post-petition expenses will be afforded administrative priority status and be paid in full from the debtor's estate.4 Achieving administrative expense status is critical for creditors because unsecured claims commonly receive less than 100 percent recovery in Chapter 11 plans. Section 503(b)(3) lists the types of allowable administrative expenses in subsections A through F. For instance, § 503(b)(3)(D) allows a creditor or indenture trustee to recoup its actual and necessary expenses upon a showing that it made a substantial contribution to the case.5 Similarly, § 503(b)(3)(F) allows reimbursement of expenses incurred by the members of an official committee as a result of those entities' participation on the committee.6
The opening sentence of § 503(b)(3), however, expressly excludes professional services from the administrative claims otherwise allowable under subsections A through F. Thus a creditor seeking reimbursement of legal fees incurred in the bankruptcy case must look to another section of the code. For its part, § 503(b)(4) accords administrative priority status to professional fees where the entity requesting the reimbursement holds an expense otherwise available for administrative expense status under subsections A through E of § 503(b)(3) and establishes a reasonableness standard for the court to employ in reviewing the requested fees. Notably, the category of expenses allowed by subsection 503(b)(3)(F)—committee member expenses—had been among those listed in § 503(b)(4) but was removed from the code as part of the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) amendments. In other words, while a creditor that demonstrates a substantial contribution to the case under § 503(b)(3)(D) can recoup its reasonable legal fees under § 503(b)(4), a creditor may not recoup legal fees incurred solely by virtue of its membership on a committee even though its nonprofessional, out-of-pocket expenses are otherwise allowable asadministrative expenses under subsection 503(b)(3)(F).
The Bankruptcy Court's Decision
The Lehman Brother's bankruptcy cases were the largest in history and among, if not the, most complex cases ever filed. The varying positions and holdings of the parties, coupled with complex issues that stretched across legal and political landscapes, underscored the unprecedented nature of the proceedings. Achieving a consensual Chapter 11 plan—a primary goal of every Chapter 11 case—was an unimaginable feat at the time the cases commenced. After three years of negotiations, however, the parties, including the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, resolved their disputes and developed Lehman's Third Amended Plan. Lehman's creditors overwhelmingly approved the plan and allowed the parties to avoid what would have been, as Judge Peck put it, an impossible confirmation battle.
The parties' success in formulating a consensual plan came at a high price, with professional fees totaling almost $2 billion. The debtors, presumably in recognition of the committee's plan-related efforts, agreed to pay the professional fees incurred by the committee's individual members. Section 6.7 of the plan memorialized the parties' agreement in that respect and provided for payment from the estates of all reasonable professional fees subject only to the bankruptcy court's entry of the confirmation order. Relying on § 6.7 of the plan, various applicants sought payment of $26.3 million collectively from the estates.
The Office of the U.S. Trustee opposed the request and argued that the payments are not permitted under § 503(b)(3), which it alleged is the exclusive pathway for a member of an official committee to receive compensation for legal fees. The plan, according to the U.S. Trustee, circumvented the standards and restrictions of § 503(b) by allowing reimbursement of professional fees on the basis of committee membership alone. Stated differently, the U.S. Trustee maintained that the omission of § 503(b)(3)(F) from § 503(b)(4) completely eliminates, under any circumstance, the possibility of recovery on account of professional fees incurred by individual members of a committee.
Judge Peck found the U.S. Trustee's reasoning to be too restrictive, as bankruptcy plans are living, breathing documents that must be flexible to adapt to the particular concerns of a case. According to Judge Peck, § 1123(b)(6) of the Bankruptcy Code serves as Congress' "invitation to the creativity of those who are engaged in drafting plan language" by allowing a plan to include any "appropriate provision not inconsistent with the applicable provisions of [the Bankruptcy Code.]"7 He therefore analyzed the plan's treatment of committee members' professional fees not under § 503(b), but under § 1123(b)(6)'s general endorsement of plan provisions that are not inconsistent with other applicable provisions of the Bankruptcy Code.
Applying this approach, the court found that § 6.7 of the plan was not inconsistent with § 503(b) because it provided for a consensual payment of professional fees, not for the payment of administrative priority expenses. According to Judge Peck, requests for administrative expenses under § 503(b) and the right to payments made consensually under a plan are distinct events, however subtly.8 "The fact that administrative claim status may not be allowed [under § 503(b)(3)] does not mean that an agreed payment under a fully consensual plan should not be permitted [under § 1123(b) (6)]."9 This decision meant that, in appropriate cases, § 503(b) would not be the only avenue for individual creditors' professional fees to be paid from a debtor's estate and also strengthened the marketplace's reliance on the Adelphia decision that had approved similar plan-based payments for professional fees incurred by members of an ad hoc committee.
The District Court Reverses
On appeal by the U.S. Trustee, the Southern District of New York reversed the Bankruptcy Court's decision. It found that while individual members of an official committee oftentimes hire their own professionals in complex cases, § 1123(b)(6) is not a tool to circumvent the prohibition against treating those fees as administrative expenses. According to the district court, the exclusive source of administrative expenses is § 503(b), which on its face does not permit the payment of professional fees to a creditor solely on the basis of committee membership, and that § 1126(b)(6) was not designed to allow parties to undermine that express statutory prohibition. The court therefore invalidated plan § 6.7 because it provided for the payment of expenses that §§ 503(b)(3) and 503(b)(4) forbid.
The district court found unpersuasive the committee's argument that the plan did not create a new category of administrative expenses, but embodied a consensual agreement overwhelmingly approved by Lehman's constituents to pay professional fees.10 Relying on the Adelphia decision, the appellees had argued that § 6.7 of the plan called only for permissive payments authorized by § 1123(b)(6)'s catchall language.11 The district court, however, disagreed. According to the district court, two types of creditors are paid under plans in a bankruptcy case—those that hold claims and those that are entitled to post-petition administrative expenses.12 Because professional fees incurred post-petition by a creditor can never fall into the category of a claim, they must fit the definition of an administrative expense under § 503(b) to receive a distribution pursuant to a Chapter 11 plan. Here, the court decided that § 503(b)'s facial omission of committee member professional fees was dispositive. Finally, the district court expressed concerns about allowing payment of anything other than claims or administrative expenses under a plan—whether pursuant to § 1123 or otherwise— because it "could lead to serious mischief" and potential infringement on the absolute priority rule.13 In that regard, the district court held that the need for flexibility in drafting plans does not outweigh established bankruptcy and distribution policies and rules.
The reversal of the bankruptcy court's decision would seem to close the door, at least in the Southern District, on the ability of parties to incorporate into a plan payment of professionals serving committee members.14 But has the prospect of plan-based estate reimbursement of professional fees incurred by committee members been completely eviscerated? Although Judge Peck's decision was reversed, the district court dismissed the U.S. Trustee's contention that § 503(b)(3) wholly prohibits reimbursement of committee members' professional fee expenses.15 Thus, if a member satisfies another subsection of 503(b)(3), such as substantial contribution to the case under § 503(b)(3)(D), its professionals fees would be reimbursable from the estate pursuant to § 503(b)(4) and the district court's decision. The substantial contribution standard, while obviously a tougher litigation burden to prove than mere committee membership, provides an alternative avenue for the Lehman committee members to recoup some, if not all, of their professional fees from the estates.
Significantly, the district court's decision does not address whether litigation is actually required to obtain a substantial contribution ruling. Creditors looking to streamline the process without filing an application could potentially use the plan confirmation process to obtain such a ruling. Plans and confirmation orders routinely include various and far-reaching findings and conclusions with respect to litigable issues such as notice, releases, settlements, and substantive consolidation. Strictly speaking, § 503(b) requires only "notice and hearing" before a court can make a substantial contribution finding. According to the rules of construction in § 102(a), the phrase "after notice and hearing" means only such notice and opportunity for a hearing that "is appropriate in the particular circumstances."16 Proposed plans and their corresponding disclosure statements are among the most detailed and widely noticed documents filed in a Chapter 11 case. Indeed, disclosure statements and plans are considered on no less than 28 days notice to all parties in interest, including the debtor's creditors and equity security holders.17 This is seven days more than the notice required when a substantial contribution request is presented by motion and would include a larger universe of notice parties, such as the debtor's equity security holders.18 There is clearly an argument that a proposed substantial contribution finding noticed as part of a plan and disclosure statement would satisfy the notice and hearing requirements of § 503(b) and allow professionals to avoid a separate application process.19 It remains to be seen, however, whether this approach will be utilized and, if so, approved as a means to have committee member professionals paid in connection with a plan.
1 Davis v. Elliot Mgmt. Corp. (In re Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc.), No. 13 Civ. 2211, 2014 WL 1327980 (S.D.N.Y. March 31, 2014).
2 In re Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc., 487 B.R. 181 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2013).
3 In re Adelphia Commc'ns Corp., 441 B.R. 6 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2010).
4 11 U.S.C. § 503(b)(3).
5 11 U.S.C. § 503(b)(3)(D).
6 11 U.S.C. § 503(b)(3)(F).
7 In re Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc., 487 B.R. at 190 (quoting 11 U.S.C. § 1123(b)(6)).
8 In re Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc., 487 B.R. at 191.
9 Id.
10 Davis v. Elliot Mgmt. Corp. (In re Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc.), No. 13 Civ. 2211, 2014 WL 1327980, at *5-7 (S.D.N.Y. March 31, 2014).
11 Id.
12 Id. at 6.
14 At the time this article was written, the district court's decision had not been appealed to the Second Circuit.
15 Elliot Mgmt. Corp., 2014 WL 1327980, at *7-8.
16 11 U.S.C. § 102(a) (emphasis added).
17 See Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2002 and 3017.
18 See Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2002.
19 Of course, if any objection is filed, counsel must be prepared to carry its burden at the confirmation hearing.
First published in The Federal Lawyer, July/August 2014. Link to article.
#Business Restructuring & Liquidations
#Justin R. Alberto
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This article has to do with the individual, his consciousness, and imagination.
Symbols are, for the most part, group-tactics—assigned meanings designed to achieve certain effects on a mass level.
We could be talking about the arcane symbols of a secret society or even consumer objects, which are given meanings to impart the sensation of status. The new car, the necklace, the ring, the dress, the house.
For a passive mind, the world takes on its shape as symbols mark out space.
A more active mind can analyze and reject the meanings of symbols.
But there is another level the individual never reaches or understands unless he is deploying his imagination. Why? Because imagination invents its own spaces and meanings, against which symbols pale by comparison. A creative person can even invent his own symbols, imbue them with meanings—and then turn around and give them new meanings or destroy them. He isn't only rejecting mass symbols; he's inventing realities that go light years beyond them.
Of course, his inventions may strike passive minds as strange, possibly incomprehensible, because passive people define their space and their lives through conventional signs. They view all incursions or exceptions with suspicion.
I'll take this further. Large numbers of people view the universe as something "extra-special," and therefore they consider certain symbols "embedded" in it as sacred, permanent, intrinsic, and cosmically authoritative. Let them do that. Sooner or later they may wake up to the fact that the universe is a work of art. No one would be tempted to say a symbol found in a painting by Chagall is, by virtue of its presence on the canvas, a forever-thing with a forever-meaning. In the same way, no object in the universe can lay legitimate claim to some sort of eternal authority.
Consider the following thought-experiment: a person draws hundreds of symbols. He makes them up by the truckload. For each one, he concocts a meaning out of thin air. If he keeps this up long enough, it will begin to dawn on him that symbols and their meanings are arbitrary.
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, this fact did, indeed, start to become obvious at the edge of consciousness. But then, with alarm at the implications ("I'm inventing my own realities, I can invent them"), there was a hasty retreat. People began to look for already-established symbols and their meanings. They opted to fit into one firm consensus or another. They went into hiding. They deserted their own imaginations. This was a crucial revisionism.
Orthodoxies which had been on their way out returned. Energy and conviction were pumped back into them. It was basically a show, a pretension, but the new adherents blinded themselves to that.
When it comes to the arcane symbols of secret societies, people are sucked into a trap. They buy these referents as inherently powerful—which is exactly what the "manufacturers" are hoping for. All the absurd trappings of the secret groups are concocted to achieve that effect.
In the 20th century, advertising agencies exploded with their brand of art. By associating products with feelings, sensations, and status, they made the products over into symbolic representations of "the good life." At the same time, PR agencies rose to a position of unprecedented power. They made certain people, groups, and institutions into symbols of authority, truth, and goodness.
It's easy to see that, in order for all these machinations to work, the individual and his consciousness of his own imagination needed to be downplayed. The very notion of the individual had to be minimized. The program was: mass symbols for a mass reality.
To the degree that people could be convinced to believe that symbols had inherent and permanent meaning, the program would establish itself as the prime mover in society.
Lessons were learned from the long-running show called organized religion. After all, the controllers of that game had been winning the war of symbols for centuries. They could invent, revise, and distort history to their hearts' delight, and substitute their own referential stories.
Initially scorned and derided, the profession of psychoanalysis formed itself into its own religion with its own pregnant symbols: the Oedipus complex, transference, and so on. Except it flew the new banner: science—itself a sign of unimpeachable accuracy.
On the political front, leaders discovered they could peddle a war quicker than a rabbit could run down its hole. With the aid of media, and a bedazzled public, foreign leaders could be transformed from nobodies into incarnations of evil overnight. Gear up the troops! Attack! These days, by manipulating a cluster of symbols all at once, the public will believe: a leader must be overthrown; the rebels and freedom-fighters who are trying to accomplish that must be supported; those rebels are evil and must be destroyed. Absurd contradictions? Senseless gibberish? Who cares?
A whole civilization can chew and swallow its own tail, turn upside down while singing a catchy tune, go to war, and juggle a few hundred trillion dollars of debt, and it all seems to "make sense," as long as the citizenry accepts designated symbolic references.
Against this insanity stands the individual, with his untapped power of imagination, his capacity to invent realities and futures of his own choosing—if he will wake up to that truth.
The truth has always been there, not in the jingle-jangle jigsaw crazy world, but inside himself.


Britain has dropped to 25th place on a list of the best places in the world to live - behind countries such as the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Uruguay.
While France tops the poll for the fifth year running, the UK's climate, crime rate, cost of living, congested roads and overcrowded cities have pushed it even further down from last year's ranking at 20.
The Quality of Life Index, published by International Living magazine for the 30th year, says the French live life to the full, while Britons are over-worked.
In all, 194 countries are surveyed on nine criteria, including the cost of living, culture and leisure, environment, safety, culture and weather.
Australia is placed second after France, followed by Switzerland, Germany and New Zealand.
Even former communist countries where unemployment is still rife are considered better places to settle down in than Britain, with Lithuania and the Czech Republic coming in at 22nd and 24th place respectively.
Britain does not top a single category in the survey, which is compiled using official government statistics, data from the World Health Organisation and the views of the magazine's editors around the globe.
Germany is widely praised for its efficiency and leisure facilities, with the magazine noting that 'the Harz Mountains now has a specialist hiking trail for nudists. Germany is arguably the world's most naturist-friendly country'.
oomaha28 wrote: 'Romantic Paris offers the best of everything, but services don't fall away in Alsace's wine villages, in wild and lovely Corsica, in lavender-scented Provence.
Really interesting article, I enjoyed reading it.
I note from the above that not only was the capital of France in the survey but also the outlying regions including small villages far from the capital. Do you know if the survey took in Wales and Scotland or was it based on an English lifestyle?
I don't know how reliable or scientifically-based this survey is, but it would be interesting if a separate survey was done for the constituent countries within the UK.
Some of us like it here Sweltered, and there is a huge difference between living in Florida (have lived there) and living in western New York, San Antonio, Denver, Minneapolis, etc.
Bobbie En Tejas wrote: Some of us like it here Sweltered, and there is a huge difference between living in Florida (have lived there) and living in western New York, San Antonio, Denver, Minneapolis, etc.
lol.. touche actually, i really disliked living in florida because I hated living in a tourist trap.. lived down near fort lauderdale.
Easy..in one word..B E N E F I T S .
Exactly but my point is - surely that should be hugely taken into into account? Any one of us could need state help at some point and the fact that we could have that safety net is, to me, a defining feature of a good country in which to reside? It seems to me that the above list is for wealthy folks.
Hi GG ! Thanks to Emdee..., I've just "stumbled" over this post ! Sorry !
Living in Belgium for over 30 years, I can confirm that all my best friends have moved to the South of France. (not the North) Done for the ambiance, cuisine, markets, weather, health, wine, olive oil, cheeses, French-bread and the Mediterranean flagrancies of pine, lavender and exquisite perfumes..., not to mention all the imported whiskeys, some of which are even unavailable in Scotland.
Given the opportunity..., I'd do the same !


I feel if there are more people out here spreading positive thinking and showing some of these kids that while they are out here on the streets doing negative things, the streets won't and don't love you back! We must try to get thru to these youngsters that think the streets are a way out by selling drugs and gang banging that there is a better way! I am a close friend/family member to Rob.. grew up with him and knows his struggles! I am one of his biggest fans and believe if he made it out the streets,out of a life of drugs and gang banging,then we together can make a change! I would like to see this happen in Detroit,where so many of our black brothers and sisters are challenged each and everyday! I want to be apart of that change!


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Susan Stein ~ President
Susan Stein has been a Truth student since the early 1990's. From 2005-2012, she was a member of Unity of Kenosha. Throughout her tenure there, Susan was a Greeter, Usher, Platform Assistant, Choir Member, Sound Tech, and she served on the Board of Directors. She came to Unity on the North Shore in 2013 and became a member in 2014. She currently volunteers as a Choir Member and alternate Platform Assistant. Her vision for UNS is to continue developing the insights and ideas generated from our 'River of Power', 'Forging Our Vision' and the recent 'Vision, Mission, Core Values' workshops. Susan values the compassion, love and energy she feels at UNS. People genuinely care about each other and want the highest good for themselves, each other, and the world at-large. She is proud on the Board as another way of serving her church family.
Sherri Blix ~ Vice President
Sherri Blix has spent over 15 years working in Organization Development. She is currently an independent consultant and certified coach specializing in leadership development. Sherri grew up with Religious Science teachings from her grandparents, and Unity's beliefs felt very similar when she attended her first Sunday here. She and her husband John were looking for a diverse congregation for themselves and their daughter and they feel deeply enriched at Unity on the North Shore. At Unity, Sherri has served as a Platform Assistant Leader, a Projector Assistant, and in Fellowship. She has attended both Prosperity Plus I and II classes. As to Sherri's enthusiasm for our Center and for serving on our Board, she exclaims: "I love being part of this amazing church! I have made friends here who have enriched my life. Becoming a Board member would be an opportunity to share my perspectives and suggest creative ideas. I want to help lead our church into being an even more dynamic organization!"
Mike Maddux – Secretary
Mike Maddux has been a long-time, strengthening pillar of the UNS community. First attending Unity in Chicago, he and his family then moved to our Center, where he has spent a fulfilling and dedicated fifteen years, three of them as an official member. "UNS has been a spiritual and social anchor for both of my children." Recently retired from teaching and building sets for the Columbia College Theatre Department, a sample of Mike's handiwork can be seen in the beautiful puppet theatre on the Garden Room stage. Along with helping with various Center repairs and decorations, Mike has served as an inspiring Y.O.U. sponsor. "Y.O.U. has been, by far, the most rewarding and powerful work I have done ... watching our mature and express their thoughts and beliefs." He is enjoying helping us wisely use the resources of our Center.
June Lash - Treasurer
June Lash has devoted years of inspiring service to Unity in several locations: Unity in Chicago, Unity Northwest, and UNS, where she has been a member for six years. "The positivity and generosity of Truth principles first attracted me over 30 years ago to being a part of Unity." June has served as a Building and Grounds Liaison, Welcome Team Coordinator, Usher, Gala Committee, and in the Right and Perfect Home Team. She is also a devoted Chaplain and is on the path to becoming a Licensed Unity Teacher. June has loved learning about Affirmative Prayer and expanding her spiritual growth by practicing it with others. "Affirmative Prayer guides my life, and it guides me in my contribution to the UNS Board. She brings commitment, belief and responsibility to her many roles.
Olga LaLuz - Board Member
Olga is a retired high school administrator passionate about prayer, music, dance and spiritual social action. She has attended UNS for more than 14 years becoming a member about 7 years ago. Her most rewarding area of service, she says, is without doubt her work co-facilitating the Prayer Chaplain team, "It deepens my own prayer life," she explains. Her vision for our center is to provide a spiritually healthy and healing community, and her desire to serve arises from a deep caring about the church and a desire to share the gifts that will benefit our continuing evolution."
Debra Brown - Board Member
Debra started attending UNS in 2014 and became a member in 2016. She has been studying New Thought teachings for 23 years. Previously, she attended Trinity Church (which worshipped here at UNS on Sunday afternoons). With Trinity, I volunteered as an usher, with the audio-visual team, and as the Pastor's Assistant. She has served with with the Garden Chat team, the Gardening team, and represented Unity in the July 4th parade. As the owner of Debra's Home Daycare for over 20 years, she has cared for and nurtured over 100 children, ages 6 weeks – 12 years. She is good at planning events, and is an excellent cook! Her vision for Unity is to see it flourishing; the Youth growing to love God; and our Center becoming a positive force in the community.


The Housing Chairman is Director Ozie Roddy.
Reservation Guarantee: In order to guarantee a reservation, the hotel requires that attendees provide a deposit equal to one night's room and tax to be submitted at the time of reservation. The hotel will charge a deposit equal to one night's room and tax. This charge of one night's room and tax will be applied as a credit to the guest bill upon checkout. Should there be an invalid or declined credit card, the reservation will be canceled.
Refundable Deposit: Deposits are refunded in full if a reservation is cancelled by June 1, 2019.