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Such A Paine
Thomas Paine, a renaissance man, achieved a great many, varied and remarkable things in the course of his 72 year life/career. I think it may be important to remember that he was born into a time and place in which whatever one's father's occupation was became the defining perimeter of the son's universe. Joseph Paine made corsets. Thomas Paine is famous for saying that government (like the corset) is a necessary evil.
Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon; all three of these people were alive and kicking when this week began, and dead when the sun set last evening. June 25, 1876 is the day that saw the end of the meteoric rise of Generalissimo George Armstrong Custer. Exactly 123 years later, yesterday, three other stars had expired. (Not quite as simple as ABC.)
There's something (for me) that's profoundly confusing in that the most celebrated and eulogized of these three newfound corpses belongs to a music man from (Gary, Indiana³) whose
1. distaste for his self-image resulted in multiple corrective race-disguising cosmetic surgeries
2. was repeatedly accused and permanently suspected of molesting or endangering children.
Farrah rode the breaking wave of 70s jiggle into the TV heroic-victim's hall of fame: Dead from anal cancer. There are just too many obscene and irreverent associations to explain.
Ed spent three decades warming Johnny's bench, like a permanent vice-president whose ancestors claimed nobility:
Several of his ancestors, including the Marquis d'Equilly, also had long and distinguished military careers.
Patrice MacMahon, duc de Magenta was a Marshal of armies in France, serving under Napoleon III, and later President.
McMahon once asserted to Johnny Carson that mayonnaise was originally named MacMahonnaise in honor of this ancestor, referring to him as the Comte de MacMahon.
In his autobiography, McMahon said that it was his father who told him of this relationship and he went on to suggest that he was not certain of the truth of the story.
— Thank you, Wikipedia.
There's a governing corset of order, somewhere, into which my chaotic observations fit. They feel to me as though they relate to Paine's deist belief that constraints on the destiny of persons (and nations) may be discussed by Divinity, but aren't the result of intervention. I plan on reading some Paine, but I'd really like a look at the document that spells out governance in the nation of Iran.
President Ahmadinijad and its supreme leader continue to claim knowledge of liberty and freedom that's superior to the way we practice them here. When President Obama discusses Iranian governmental violence against dissenting citizens the Iranian leaders claim he's intervening in their affairs, and liken him to Bush — while the American neoconservatives chastise him for not intervening enough — in behalf of inate human rights they roundly ignored while crushing suspected terrorist-infidels beneath the heel of 911.
Current events are bewildering. These must be interesting times.
26 Jun 09 Posted by Scott Ellington | Uncategorized | 2 Comments
I just read an online article by Barbara Slavin in this morning's Washington Times; EXCLUSIVE; U.S. contacted Iran's ayatolla before election
At one level, it's an interesting story about Obama's letter of outreach to Khamenei, (conveyed by the Swiss ambassador — because formal diplomatic relations between Iran and the United States don't officially exist –) in which the Supreme Leader of Iran found doubletalk.
The intent of the mid-May letter (according to an Iranian with knowledge of the overture) was to present the prospect of "cooperation in regional and bilateral relations" and a resolution of the dispute over Iran's nuclear program.
The letter was delivered about a month in advance of the disputed June 12th re-election of President Ahmadinejad; an election result that has led to massive, widespread Iranian citizen protest in the streets, the deaths of at least 17 protestors, and "a violent crackdown on demonstrators by Iranian security forces."
The letter isn't quoted in the article, but Ayatollah Khamenei found both an Obama invitation to significant improvement in Iranian/American relations AND a threat that American agents in Iran would use the election-event as a pretext to incite the Iranian people to riot. From his recent sermon:
"On the one hand, they [the Obama administration] write a letter to us to express their respect for the Islamic Republic and for re-establishment of ties, and on the other hand they make these remarks. Which one of these remarks are we supposed to believe? Inside the country, their agents were activated. Vandalism started. Sabotaging and setting fires on the streets started. Some shops were looted. They wanted to create chaos. Public security was violated. The violators are not the public or the supporters of the candidates. They are the ill-wishers, mercenaries and agents of the Western intelligence services and the Zionists."
The primary story reads like a communications clusterfuck, but additionally, nearly all of the people Barbara Slavin interviewed wished to remain anonymous.
Something (I don't understand) must motivate "a senior Obama administration official" to confirm the existence of the midMay letter, while refusing to confirm the possibility of a letter in response.
"Past U.S. efforts to engage Iran have foundered, in part because the overture was addressed to Iran's president rather than the supreme leader. This was the case in the late 1990s when then-President Clinton wrote a letter to then-President Mohammed Khatami seeking cooperation against terrorism in the aftermath of a bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 Americans. The 1996 bombing at Khobar Towers, thought to have been committed by Iran-backed Saudi Shi'ites, took place before Mr. Khatami took office."
The history of Iran/U.S. failures to communicate seem to suggest special effort be invested in doing better. While it may not be entirely relevant, I think there also needs to be a dialing-down of the number of anonymous sources, unconfirmed reports and unaccountable, semi-transparent leaks of meaningful information that dribbles out of journalism.
If the press can still perform its function (as the fourth [and most citizen-informative] branch of government) the transparency and accountability of news stories seems in desperate need of profound refurbishment.
For starters, I'd really like the Obama administration to invite the press to hold their anonymous sources to a significantly higher standard of responsibility for information leaked to journalists. If the information imparted is valuable, then the reasons to obscure identities, protect careers and cover vulnerable butts suggest that a fundamental improvement in the laws governing the exchange of inside information have to be Target One enroute to a meaningful exercise in governmental transparency and accountability. Unscrupulous journalism and coercive interrogation very vaguely define similar practices. I think the restoration of the American democracy requires important repairs to the ways we gather and distribute information necessary to properly-informed voters.
Just to drop the other shoe (in a well that might be bottomless):
Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said the Obama administration would do better to "avoid any talk of engagement" with Iran until the outcome of the current political ferment is clearer. The fact is, we will by necessity engage, but not at the moment," he said. "I don't think we want to suggest it will be business as usual, regardless of the outcome" of the political struggle in Iran."
Patrick Clawson, an Iran specialist at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Mr. Obama's tougher remarks on Tuesday showed that he understands that "the prospects for a successful engagement are declining."
The article ends with the portentous remarks of people who went on record. I think that's a nifty step in an appropriate direction.
The thing is, that I have no proof that the Ayatollah is definitively incorrect in his professed belief that American covert agents initiated these protests.
We've entered an age in which faith in the lowest, meanest, most-unethical practices of adversaries is to be expected. Likewise, my faith in government functionaries and the journalists who interview them needs to be refreshed.
Woh Play
There's a powerful point of resolution that comes late in Dead Again that dropped my jaw and drew from me the heartfelt and totally appropriate exclamation, "Whoa!" You'll know the climax I'm talking about if and when you see the film. The urge to discuss this film to death, though extremely tempting, would be sinful. It's sufficient to say that the exclamation I made took my thoughts in a new direction — to a form of theatrical presentation with which I'm utterly unfamiliar; the Noh play.
Wikipedia hasn't been particularly helpful to me in knitting conjectural threads together, but my sense of wonderful resonanace persists in the performances of a largely classically-trained British cast in interpreting and rendering an obviously-traditional American noir (reboot), set in LA, re-envisioned via the magnifying glass of a deeply alien theatrical culture. The result is downright stunning.
Branagh's commentary illuminates in-jokes, conceits and allusions to previous noir practitioners; Welles, Hitchcock, Wilder…but failed to mention Preston Sturges, whose Unfaithfully Yours it nearly mirrors in a number of interesting particulars. Neither does he mention the reincarnation of the Strauss mansion in the form of St. Audrey's, nor the prevalence of music in driving action forward as though Dead Again were a curious kind of musical horror/noir/romance with veins of brutal and subtle humor that curdle the blood while delighting the mind. The anklet in Double Indemnity. Authentic LA geography. Andy Garcia, Robin Williams, Campbell Scott stealing scenes in two-bit parts from some of the most-accomplished yespian transplants who ever learned to talk like 'mericans with the aid of a dialect coach and tapes. Vertical bars on the gate to melody, and the muffled screams of disharmony link Bird to Agincourt and Lush Life to To Be…or not. It's the moments rather than the moves that matter, and this film brings a ton of fascinating moments, choices and visual mapestry to moments from before it and since, sealed with the curse of a (writer's block) kiss. Woh!
Charles Laughton's direction of Night of the Hunter brings Robert Mitchum's left and right hands together in the rapidly-escalating Dead Again narrative in the form of two gloves that seem to be intent on delivering Emma Thompson from the mystery-resolution revealed through the mesmerizing grip of a kindly benevolence whose BBC remake of The Epic That Never Was echoes in the immensity of Dead Again's transAtlantic and transcontinental, interdisciplinary remix of LA noir splendor-bending. It's a moment in which the viewer comes THIS CLOSE to losing all hope of a satisfying denouement.
This film is a far more remarkably adventurous achievement than The Lady in the Lake, specifically because it successfully integrates (with uncommon clarity) a vastly wider spectrum of human entertainment-experience(s) into a 107minute romp through challenging material that results in a film that's bent on delighting and astonishing an audience that yawns at special effects, yet cannot anticipate where Dead Again's headed. I suspect it will bear up under repeated scrutinies in the same way that Chandler reads and re-reads; fruitfully, every time. Toland collaborated with Welles in making a film that Welles didn't know was impossible to make without breaking a number of rules (with which Welles was unfamiliar). Toland came for the impossible eggs and stayed on to rewrite the rulebook.
I wish the dolly-camera 360° oner had culminated (in Emma's hypnotic regression scene) by climbing through her left cornea in the same way that Sturges stepped into Rex Harrison's retinal reality in Unfaithfully Yours. Dead Again (1991) is a fascinating film that I look eagerly forward to studying a third time while engaging with the second commentary. I suspect this film was profoundly influential in inspiring and greenlighting a wealth of derivative productions (most of which I missed) like The Sixth Sense and Raines, along with the fifth and sixth seasons of Angel. It's another shining example of the stuff we're calling New Media; synergizing entertainments founded on gigantic nuggets of cultural wealth that litter the paths-not-traveled-by in literature, theater, cinema and television. If Branagh undertook Chandler, I'd wear bells.
Woh!
The second commentary intensifies my sense of loss for the many missing elements that would have made the theatrical release of this film a significantly crappier movie. I ran through a number of IMDb reviews, noticing that many people hated or loved the film largely because of Branagh or Tompson, and that apart from that kind of preconception/bias, the remaining pans revolved around the expectation of a noir — which this film absolutely is and yet very often isn't. The film that was planned, shot and edited mercilessly into the final cut were three very different movies. The commentaries note the sites of beautifully edited stumps where interesting sidebars and backstory limbs formerly hung, which puts Scott Frank high on my list of screenwriters whose work I'm going to explore gleefully.
07 Jun 09 Posted by Scott Ellington | Uncategorized | review | 2 Comments
Does this make my universe look big?
Max Tegmark was one of the eminent cosmologists interviewed on a show I caught in fragments yesterday morning. The topic of the program concerned the size of the universe. In that Tegmark was speaking from his office at MIT, he illustrated the evolution of popular conceptions about the immensity of the universe by starting with a brief description of the primitive worldview of Massachusetts Indians*, then ancient Greek, medieval, Age of Reason…eventually hitting Einstein's worldview (circa 1905) and concluded with the blizzard of theories that vie for attention now. Affable, engaging and down-to-earth, Max Tegmark and his capsule summary still managed to piss me off. I think the Massachusetts Indians' worldview was probably greatly underserved in the rush to discuss ever-greater physical and conceptual distances.
Tegmark and the other cosmologists seemed to me to be indicating that their work to determine the size of the universe is hampered by the limitations of cosmologist's instruments; which can only observe the observable. The void of space may be infinite, but stuff exploding into that emptiness is all the information observers are able to use to determine the immensity of the room in which stuff is flying outward. Not until stuff hits a wall of the room (and starts coming back toward the observer) will it be clear that there are walls in a room.
That perception prevented me from paying much attention to the allusive descriptions of inflationary theory, multiverse explanation, parallel universe, alternate timeline…That stuff is about as interesting as JJ Abrams' device of having Nero fiddle with vengeance on Spock while Romulus was consumed in its sun's supernova: An event that Spock probably prevented, in the biggest temporal pardox dilemma (in the Star Trek storyworld) since Shatner sacrificed Collins.
So the void may be infinite! That's where Tegmark, et. al., lost my interest. And I found myself wondering whether the information-gathering instruments have any effect on the void. What If massive radiotelescope arrays and powerful observatory instruments aimed at the heavens and seeking data do something interesting like…increase Earth's gravity, intensify its Presence in the infinite Absence of the void? And if mass and gravity identify the existence of Presence, perhaps intelligent Presence modifies mass and density in ways of which we'd be unaware (simply because we can't look outward to find evidence of inquisitive cosmologists anywhere else in the observable universe).
If gravity is an earmark of the existence of mass in the void, then the Presence of intelligence in or on some of that mass confers a slightly greater measure of respect on mass in the void, as a possible location where intelligence is (or may someday be) found. I don't know dick about the worldview of the Massachusetts Indians, but what little I know of the so-called animism of the Plains Indians suggests that their cosmology might be WAY-more interesting than contemporary doublegobbledy oozing out of MIT at the moment.
I come at this set of odd ideas from the singular experience of standing in a lonely, boggy wetlands with the intent of photographing birds, striving to be a concentrated point of ideal stillness in the midst of landscaped, teeming life; and marvelling at the extent to which my Presence in that environment perturbs the natural flow of events.
What If a singularity is a center of information-gathering, where profoundly evolved cosmologists are so busily observing the known universe, that their pursuit of knowledge warps the very fabric of time and space? I think that notion's pretty cool because contemporary parlance dwells on phrases like "Information Economy", "monetizing" this&that, and hasn't yet focused on Attention, itself, as an invaluable phenomenon.
Getting butts in seats and eyeballs on screens is only the rudimentary beginning of science that goes as far beyond the physics of perception as animism goes beyond Inflationary Theory. I've always hoped that the newest/softest science (psychology) would eventually find a way to accelerate exponentially the maturation of the hardest and oldest (astrophysics) beyond anthropocentric provincialism. This just might be the means to that radical new beginning.
*from quaqua.org:
Native American tribes, some of whom were suffering from the onslaught of European diseases, also developed a hostile, violent, and deeply distrustful relationship with the Puritans. The Puritans abducted some of the Native Americans to ship to England. In 1633 a law was passed to require that Native Americans would only receive "allotments" and "plantations" if they "civilized" themselves by becoming Puritans and accepting English customs of agriculture and living:
For the settling of Indian title to lands in this jurisdiction is declared and ordered by this Court and authority thereof, that all the lands any of the Indians have in this jurisdiction have improved by subduing the same, they have a just right unto, according to that in Gen. I, 28, and Chapter IX, I, and Psalms CXV and 16, and for the civilizing and helping them forward to Christianity, if any of the Indians shall be brought to civility and shall come among the English and shall inhabit their plantations and shall there live civilly and orderly, that such Indians shall have allotments among the English, according to the custom of the English in like cases. Laws of Massachusetts, Edition of 1672, at 74.
Unfortunately, this Puritan legal concept later inspired Captain Richard Henry Pratt to instigate a devasting nationwide ethnic cleansing program against Native Americans from 1874-1904, which was designed to civilize the tribes and remove them from their lands. Richard Henry Pratt, Battlefield & Classroom 272 (Ed. Robert M. Utley 1964).
Pratt forced Native Americans all over the United States to attend and participate in Christian church services in the Massachusetts tradition. Id. at 158-59, 163-64, 181.
Pratt's ethnic cleansing movement would rely heavily upon Puritans in New England and New York for essential funding, logistical support, and political endorsement. Id. at 194-95, 197, 200, 202, 214-15, 221, 231, 237, 252, 283, 285.
See also Removing Classrooms from the Battlefield: Liberty, Paternalism, and the Redemptive Promise of Educational Choice, 2008 BYU Law Review 377
Wampanoag may be a more fruitful starting point for further (Wikipedia) research than "Massachusetts Indians".
I stand corrected.
June Swoon Bride Pride Killer Tiller's Killer
It's a start. I guess waterboarding selected members of the previous administration and rotted planks in the conservative-media cabinet will have to wait, and if the flying car is an ultra-tall order, how about censuring FOX News for hate-speech?


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Al Blumstein: 40 Years of Contributions to Criminal Justice
"He brings reason and practicality to scientific discussions—and an ability to examine evidence that is the envy of prosecutors."
This is how a former director of the National Institute of Justice described Alfred Blumstein, Ph.D. From crime trends to sentencing guidelines, the impact of Blumstein's work is evident in the criminal justice policies and practices of 21st century America. His research has covered a stunning range of criminal justice phenomena and policy: crime measurement, criminal careers, sentencing, deterrence and incapacitation, prison populations, demographic trends, juvenile violence, and drug-enforcement policy. Put simply, few in the Nation possess Blumstein's understanding of the links between violence, public health, and criminology. In the mid-1960's, Blumstein was asked to lead a task force on science and technology for a presidential commission that produced The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society, a 1967 report that shaped criminal justice agendas in this country for years. Now, on the 40th anniversary of that landmark report, Blumstein is receiving the 2007 Stockholm Prize in Criminology, given for significant contributions to criminological research or practices that combat crime and promote human rights. He shares this award with Terri E. Moffitt, Ph.D., currently at the University of London, whose social, psychological, and biological studies of crime and human development have had international impact.
Blumstein has been instrumental to our understanding of violence as both a criminological and a public health concern. His epidemiological research, for example, demonstrated how the growth of illegal drug markets and the prevalence of illegal weapons among youth influenced violent crime in the 1980's and 1990's. Here are a few highlights of his work:
Carnegie Mellon University. For more than 35 years, he has been the J. Erik Jonsson University Professor of Urban Systems and Operations Research and the director of the National Consortium on Violence Research at Carnegie Mellon's H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management. He was dean of the Heinz School from 1986 to 1993.
President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice. He led the Commission's Task Force on Science and Technology, working with some of the best criminal justice minds in the country. Out of the Commission's work came The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society. (See related story, "The 40th Anniversary of the Crime Report.")
National Consortium on Violence Research (NCOVR). Under Blumstein's leadership, NCOVR created a unique framework for research on violence. He pulled together a remarkable group of scholars and policymakers to serve on NCOVR's advisory committee.
Awards and honors. A page of Blumstein's résumé could be devoted to leadership positions he has held and awards and honors he has received. Here are three: the American Society of Criminology's Sutherland Award (1987), the President's Award from the Operations Research Society of America (1993), and the Wolfgang Award for Distinguished Achievement in Criminology (1998).
Body of written work. Blumstein has coauthored and edited many notable works, including The Crime Drop in America (2006); Exploring Recent Trends in U.S. Homicide Rates (1998); and Youth Violence, Guns, and the Illicit-Drug Industry (1995). He is regularly published in journals, such as Law and Society Review, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Journal of Criminal Justice, and Criminology.
This is just a glimpse of Blumstein's résumé. Behind it, of course, are the lives he has touched. Countless people have been affected by Blumstein's work on youth violence, for example. Then there are the hundreds of students, coworkers, policymakers, researchers, and in-the-trenches law enforcement professionals who call him advisor and friend. To offer Journal readers a flavor of the man behind the accomplishments, we asked a few of these people, "How has Al Blumstein enriched or influenced your life?" Here are their responses.
Al's international recognition for contributions to research on criminal justice comes as no surprise to those of us who have benefited from his insights over his long and productive career. During my service as governor of Pennsylvania, Al served as chairman of the Commission on Crime and Delinquency. His wisdom on sensitive issues involving police, courts, and corrections contributed greatly to a safer Pennsylvania. Al was always inquisitive, respectful of the views of others, but true to his core beliefs in equal justice under the law—a true champion of the value of solid research in the development of sound policy.
Dick Thornburgh
Former U.S. Attorney General
Former Governor of Pennsylvania
Attorney, K&L Gates LLP
I first met Al within weeks of my arrival at graduate school in 1974. I poked my head into his office and asked, 'How much can age explain the crime rise during the 1960's?' His response was not a bunch of intimidating queries about whether I had read this or that paper or considered how hard a question this was or, even worse, how badly I framed the research question. Instead, he said, 'Don't know. Why don't we work on it?' That's how my career in crime began. It typifies Al's enthusiasm for plowing ahead, unafraid, with youthful optimism and enthusiasm.
Daniel S. Nagin
Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
In 1966, Al brought 'systems analysis' to the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice. For better or worse, he is the person most responsible for the widespread use of the term 'system of justice.' I remember telling him the data that were needed to put numbers to his justice system flowchart simply did not exist. Not to be deterred, Al and his staff produced a chart without numbers that has been so useful as a teaching tool that it has been printed in every major criminology text since 1970. He is one of our country's most influential and productive criminologists.
Roland Chilton
Professor, University of Massachusetts
(See chart, "Systems Analysis Flowchart.")
He's 5'9" yet the NIJ staff referred to Blumstein, the dean of criminologists, as 'Big Al.' When he grudgingly welcomed me to the NIJ directorship, he said it was a strange irony, indeed, when the Nation's most important crime research portfolio is handed over to a police officer without a Ph.D. or a long list of juried publications. Big Al's sarcastic welcome was tongue-in-cheek—he has an engineering background and is not a traditional social scientist by education or training. That was 25 years ago. Al continues to challenge policymakers and researchers to be more serious about understanding the causes and correlates of crime in America. With a magic marker and an overhead projector, Al can be very persuasive in using data analysis to demonstrate how misinformed, wrong, and dangerous the conventional wisdom about crime rates can be.
James K. (Chips) Stewart
Former Director, NIJ
Senior Fellow, CNA Corporation
Today, a mathematician helping police to solve crime—like in the hit TV series Numb3rs—seems ordinary. But in 1966, finding a scientist within the criminal justice system was rare. By some stroke of luck, Al Blumstein, a Ph.D. in operations research, was chosen to be the director of the first national-level criminal justice Science and Technology Task Force. Al's systemic view of the interactions between the courts, police, and corrections has proven to be a seminal and lasting contribution. This came about not by theoretical musing in the office, but by Al's scientific philosophy: learning and assimilating everything he could of the system ... short of getting arrested, prosecuted, and tried.
Saul I. Gass
Professor, University of Maryland
Serving simultaneously as the U.S. Attorney for Western Pennsylvania and in national posts for the U.S. Department of Justice has required me to travel frequently between Pittsburgh and Washington, DC. An unexpected joy in this aerial commute has been the opportunity for ongoing, onboard collaborative discussions with Al Blumstein, who also travels frequently between the two cities. Just as a window seat affords a view of the big picture that can never be gleaned from ground level, Al's leading-edge scholarship has lifted criminology issues to the perspective of public policy solutions.
Mary Beth Buchanan
U.S. Attorney for Western Pennsylvania
Acting Director,
Office on Violence Against Women,
In 1966, Al hired me as the youngest fulltime member of the Science and Technology Task Force of the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice. I was 23 years old and had just completed my first year in graduate school at MIT. In other words, I was wet behind the ears—with virtually no professional experience in applying operations research to crime. Al was my mentor. He showed me how to think, how to structure problems, even how to write. He encouraged me to continue this as a doctoral research topic—I did, and it changed my career. His encouragement, patience and support were remarkable, given all the other responsibilities he had at the time.
Richard C. Larson
Director, Center for Engineering Systems Fundamentals,
At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we looked to Al as a member of the Research Agenda Steering Committee for the CDC Injury Center, a group that has helped define priorities for CDC research on public health and violence prevention since 1999. I also recall—with much gratefulness—Al's wise counsel during the preparation of the Surgeon General's report on youth violence in 2001. I asked for his help in identifying a scientist of sufficient stature (Al was too busy to take the job himself) to serve as editor of this report, which had a tremendous impact on U.S. public health research and program polices on youth violence.
W. Rodney Hammond
Director, Division of Violence Prevention,
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control,
When Al asked me to join the National Consortium on Violence Research (NCOVR) Advisory Board, I did not realize how important a role NCOVR would play in this country's criminal justice system. Al has a knack of sitting at a table—sleeves rolled up and scratching at his left elbow—while imparting pearls of wisdom and challenging everyone present to think a little broader and deeper about the problem. He has made me a better judge by challenging me to think dispassionately about very serious issues within the criminal justice system. Without Al, neither Carnegie Mellon University nor NCOVR would have attained the high level of respect that is now taken for granted.
Justin M. Johnson
Judge, Pennsylvania Superior Court
Systems Analysis Flowchart
As director of the Science and Technology Task Force (part of the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice), Al Blumstein was instrumental in creating a "systems analysis" portrayal of criminal justice in the United States. In 1997, the Bureau of Justice Statistics published the flowchart, which gives a simplified view of caseflow through the criminal justice system.
Return to text
National Institute of Justice, "Al Blumstein: 40 Years of Contributions to Criminal Justice," June 1, 2007, nij.ojp.gov:
https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/al-blumstein-40-years-contributions-criminal-justice
Research Offenses Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Justice system Crime Violent crime Criminal justice systems
Date Created: June 1, 2007

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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/ Vancouver
Simon Fraser University Bookstore
Simon Fraser University Bookstore Vancouver
555 West Hastings St., Vancouver, V6B 4N4
About Simon Fraser University Bookstore
School BookstoreBookstore
Simon Fraser University Vancouver bookstore is at 555 West Hastings St. at Seymour St. in Vancouver, BC.
As well as textbooks, school apparel, gifts and merchandise, they carry kids and fiction books. They offer a Buyback service at certain times during the year, check the website for more information.
Listing last verified: 26-Jun-2013
See more Simon Fraser University locations in Vancouver
Kids BooksStationery
10:00am - 6:00pm 10:00am - 6:00pm 10:00am - 6:00pm 10:00am - 6:00pm 10:00am - 6:00pm 10:00am - 5:00pm Closed
http://sfu.collegestoreonline.com/
555 West Hastings St., Vancouver
http://sfu.collegestor...
MacLeod's Books
455 W. Pender St.
Albion Books
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RX Comics
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2505 Granville St.


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Senator Whitehouse: Do as I say, Not as I do
January 17, 2017 January 17, 2017 Erika Sanzi
It's nothing new that Sheldon Whitehouse oozes hypocrisy but I am most rankled by his comments, actions, and over the top rhetoric when it comes to education because that's where my focus lies. He is currently engaged in a war on Betsy DeVos, President Elect Trump's nominee for Education Secretary who begins confirmation hearings today. And while there are legitimate and substantive reasons for folks to oppose her nomination, Senator Whitehouse just couldn't hold his fire and as a result, has fallen into a deep hole of hypocrisy and his usual, "Do as I say, not as I do."
According to the Daily Caller, Whitehouse is in a credibility free zone when it comes to two different but related education issues: school choice and for profit charter schools.
A Daily Caller investigation reveals that Whitehouse — who has repeatedly criticized Devos, even suggesting she has never set foot in a public school — is a former stockholder in a for-profit charter school company. What's more, Whitehouse sent his own children to private schools because, in his words, the public schools wouldn't have given his kids "the best education." (Daily Caller, 1/6/17)
In Senator Whitehouse's world, his children are entitled to the best education even when that education is a more than $50,000 a year and private. The rest of us? Not so much. And the poorest among those he claims to serve? The ones forced by law to send their children to schools that have under-performed for decades? Sorry. Not Sheldon's problem.
Whitehouse acts as though he's aghast over DeVos' decisions regarding private schools for her own family. Strange coming from someone who grew up attending private and exclusive boarding schools himself and then, like DeVos, chose the same path for his children.
A Sentator's Echo Chamber
In Providence on December 14th, Whitehouse held a round table to talk about education and the nomination of Betsy DeVos. It was billed as a meeting of "stakeholders." But photos and first hand accounts of those at the meeting confirm that almost everyone in the room was white, not a single attendee supported DeVos, and no parents were invited.
It's tough to not notice that the vast majority of people in this room are white.
— Dan McGowan (@DanMcGowan) December 14, 2016
That's right. A round-table of education stakeholders and there was not a single person there to represent Rhode Island parents, thousands of of whom are clamoring for more choices and better schools. Senator Whitehouse's office did not respond to my repeated requests for a copy of the invite list via email or Twitter but here are the names of those in attendance according to his website.
Rhode Islanders who took part in the discussion at the University of Rhode Island's Feinstein Providence Campus included teachers, administrators, charter school advocates, and representatives from organizations, including the RI Middle Level Educators, Providence Student Union, College Crusade, RI Kids Count, RIFTHP, NEARI, and the Providence After School Alliance.
Senator Whitehouse's Dec 14th round-table with education 'stakeholders.'
Group think is never good and whether or not Betsy DeVos is worthy of confirmation is beside the point; we can't move the state forward in any way if we refuse to invite opposing viewpoints into the room. Based on our academic performance as a state, it would be folly to even imply that those in that room on December 14th have all the answers. Parents must be heard.
On the issue of for-profit charter schools — which are illegal in the state of Rhode Island — Senator Whitehouse has another problem. Despite his feigned outrage over them with DeVos as his primary target, according to a 2001 financial disclosure report, Whitehouse has had a financial stake in a for-profit charter schools company since the year 2000.
Rhode Island State Ethics filings show that Whitehouse held a 10% or greater ownership interest, or a $5,000 or greater ownership investment interest in Edison Schools a for-profit company that was launched by Christopher Whittle and whose leadership included Benno Schmidt – the former President of Yale. Whitehouse is a Yale grad.
"After four roller-coaster years as a publicly traded company, Edison Schools, the nation's largest for-profit manager of public schools, announced yesterday that its board had accepted a bid of about $174 million by its founder and chief executive, H. Christopher Whittle, to take the company private," the New York Times reported in 2003.
His office has, again, refused to comment or provide information, so we are left wondering about the details of his involvement as a stockholder.
If there is one thing I admire about true leaders, it's their ability to be up front, answer questions, and even admit mistakes. There are some in both parties who do that but sadly, our junior Senator from Rhode Island isn't one of them. He runs and hides. He preaches transparency but doesn't practice it. He rails on about how much he values parents and then doesn't invite a single one to an education round-table. He avoids engaging with those who oppose his views, even when they are his own constituents who have supported him at the polls.
If Senator Whitehouse wants to have a fair and substantive debate about Betsy DeVos, he should do that. And he should probably invite some parents who want the same thing he says he wants: "the best education" for their children.
In the meantime, Senator, tell your office to start answering some very basic questions from those he claims to serve.
Betsy DeVos charter schools education round-table financial disclosure For profit charters private school Senator Whitehouse Sheldon Whitehouse
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Home Business Main JKH 1Q succumbs to pandemic-related biz disruptions
JKH 1Q succumbs to pandemic-related biz disruptions
June quarter revenue slumps 32% to Rs.21.6bn with earnings turning to negative to Rs.1.7bn
Leisure sector remains a drag on group; others seen recovering to near pre-pandemic levels
Pent-up demand seen in leisure sector as forward bookings exceed previous year levels
Group declares a dividend of 50 cents a share considering faster recovery in business
John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) succumbed to the pandemic-induced business disruptions during the April-June 2020 quarter (1Q21), as the lockdowns, which remained for half of the quarter, erased nearly a third of its revenues, plunging the group deep into red.
But the premier blue chip closed the quarter with business activity reaching near pre-pandemic levels, barring its leisure sector.
JKH, which has its business interest in transportation, consumer foods, retail, leisure, property and financial services, recorded revenues of Rs.21.6 billion for the three months under review, over Rs.10 billion short of the revenues recorded a year earlier, as the diversified entity had only limited defensive business units, which could shield it from the economic shocks brought in by the pandemic.
The group's leisure sector became the immediate casualty of the lockdowns, as its hotels and resorts, both in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, were left with no business at all for nearly three months, until the local resorts reopened for local visitors from June. This sector delivered the group with the biggest blow in terms of bottom line impact compared to others, as the leisure sector net loss more than doubled to Rs.2.5 billion during the quarter, from a loss of Rs.1 billion in the year earlier period, due to massive fixed costs.
JKH said it took several proactive measures to conserve cash and maintain liquidity such as freezing of non-essential capital expenditure, cost containment initiatives such as reduction in executive staff remuneration and productivity
improvement measures.
JKH however reported a net loss of Rs.1.66 billion or a loss of Rs.1.26 a share for the quarter under review, compared to a profit of Rs.994.3 million or earnings of 75 cents a share in the comparable period in 2019.
Despite the losses, the company declared a dividend of 50 cents a share, which comes to a payout of Rs.659 million to be paid on or before August 28, as the group is witnessing a "faster than anticipated recovery momentum in business activity and the generation of cash profits by the group", JKH said in an earnings release.
Although the bookings for the next few weeks are low, the company's hospitality sector is now seeing encouraging forward bookings for the peak season of January to April 2021, exceeding the bookings it had for the same period last fiscal year, "demonstrating the 'pent-up' demand for leisure travel should restrictions on travel ease," JKH Chairman Krishan Balendra said.
Meanwhile, the group's retail business saw a faster recovery with the easing of the lockdowns with a steady increase in customer footfall close to
pre-pandemic levels. Same store sales growth for the month of June has also recovered to negative single-digit levels, compared to the decline of 45 percent on average during April and May.
However, the operator of 'Keells'-branded supermarket chain is observing some change in the shopping patterns of customers in the aftermath of the pandemic, where there is a change in the frequency and purchase patterns due to consolidation of baskets.
Retail sector revenues however declined to Rs.12.4 billion in the quarter, from Rs.15.7 billion in the year earlier period, as store visits were restricted for nearly one and half months while the e-commerce could not fully offset the in-store sales, which the company had to forgo during lockdowns. This sector made a net loss of Rs.273.4 million, compared to Rs.141.6 million in the year earlier period.
Meanwhile, the consumer foods segment, which produced processed foods, frozen foods, confectioneries and beverages, recorded a revenue of Rs.3.2 billion for the quarter, compared to Rs.4.5 billion a year ago.
The company's frozen confectionary and convenience foods have seen a positive volume growth in June but its beverage business recorded a low single-digit decline.
This segment recorded a net profit of Rs.140.8 million, compared to Rs.406.6 million in the year earlier period.
Meanwhile, the group's transportation segment revenues dropped to Rs.3.14 billion, from Rs.5.5 billion in the year earlier period while the earnings of the segment slumped to Rs.293.2 million, from Rs.961.7 million in the year earlier period.
The financial services segment of the group, which predominantly captures the performance of Nations Trust Bank PLC and Union Assurance PLC, reported revenues of Rs.2.3 billion, little down from Rs.2.5 billion while the earnings rose to Rs.399.5 million, from Rs.314.9 million a year ago.
Commenting on the group's flagship mixed development project, Cinnamon Life, JKH said its construction work resumed in mid-May after two months and added that "the finishing work of the apartment and office towers are being re-sequenced to be completed within the financial year to
enable handover".
Being the main local buyer during the quarter, the Life Fund of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Limited accumulated 10.5 million shares of JKH, increasing its stake to 1.1 percent, from 0.3 percent of the conglomerate. SLIC remains its eighteenth largest shareholder.
Speaker to decide on Ranjan's seat within three weeks


I have remastered iso image of TinyCore (base Core system plus X/GUI extensions for a dynamic FLTK/FLWM graphical desktop environment).
How can I use this on H3 boards (ARM single board computers) basically for remote desktop functionality (rdesktop)?
I have Orange Pi PC, Raspberry-Pi and planning to buy NanoPi-M1 (Allwinner H3 based ARM board)?
Which is best way to connect VGA monitor to ARM single board computers?


text:
Ljubljanska ulica je naziv več ulic v Sloveniji:
 Ljubljanska ulica, Izola
 Ljubljanska ulica, Maribor

Bivše ulice
 Ljubljanska ulica, Ljubljana

Glej tudi
 Ljubljanska cesta

Zunanje povezave
surs.si Ljubljanska ulica

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The Women Divers Hall of Fame is proud to announce the newest Members of the Women Divers Hall of Fame, Class of 2018, who will be inducted at Beneath the Sea in New Jersey in March. Many of these ladies will be joining the diving world at DEMA Show 2017. Show-goers can catch up with the new inductees at the Women Divers Hall of Fame booth #852 and at the WDHOF signature event, Tropical Dreams and Paradise Sunsets on Wednesday Nov 1, 2017 (7:30-10:30 pm) at the Rosen Hotel after the first day of the DEMA Show.
The very large field of extremely talented, accomplished nominees made the decision process a difficult one for the WDHOF Selection Panel. Sincere thanks to the Panel members and Panel Chair who worked so diligently and respectfully to make these selections. Those who were not chosen have every reason to be proud of their accomplishments, and will be warmly welcomed into the growing community of WDHOF Associates.
It is not easy to get into the WDHOF: yet the WDHOF nomination process has affirmed t at women throughout the world are doing great things to make a difference in the diving community and the marine environment. The Women Divers Hall of Fame extends its heartfelt thanks to those who nominated and wrote letters of support, and participated in this most important mission of the Women Divers Hall of Fame.
To attend the (Diving Equipment and Marketing Assocation) DEMA Show to be held Nov 1-4 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando Florida, trade can register here.
Diving pioneer Dr. Phil Nuytten to host Hall of Fame event to support marine conservation, diving scholarships.


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Gallery Diet featured in Ocean Drive
By Hunter Braithewaite
Nina Johnson-Milewski's parents didn't share her early passion for contemporary art, but they nurtured it when she was a high school student by driving her from their Kendall home up to Wynwood so she could intern with veteran dealer Bernice Steinbaum. That was how, while still a teen- ager, Johnson-Milewski discovered the business side of art—"facilitating it rather than making it," she says. But it was a summer school trip to Paris that crystallized her idea of what an art gallery could be. During a visit to a gallery, a busy dealer took the time to give the group of high schoolers a tour. "As a kid, that kind of engagement really changes the way you perceive art in general," says Johnson-Milewski. "It was one of the first times I really felt that the art gallery wasn't just a commercial space; it was a community space, an educational space—a con- nective space."
After a few years in Boston, where she studied simultaneously at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University, Johnson-Milewski returned to Miami, this time with art- ist Daniel Milewski, whom she would later marry. (Today they have two sons: 1-year-old Lee and newborn Cy.)
Johnson-Milewski opened Gallery Diet in 2007. For the next eight years, it would remain on the corner of NW 23rd Street and Second Avenue in Wynwood, where it was known for its eye- blistering white floor and a program that gave both local and international art- ists a chance to experiment. "I've always built my pro- gram intuitively, responding to our local climate," says the gallerist, "but also listen- ing to the suggestions of the artists I've worked with in the past."
The resulting growth was organic and communal, with the gallery's curatorial choices shared by curators like Jarrett Earnest and James Cope as well as artists such as Joshua Abelow. And while the art is contemporary, it's often intergenerational. Take 85-year-old ceramicist Betty Woodman, whose brightly glazed work has been shown numerous times. Gallery Diet is also noted for its penchant for difficult installations, as in Nicolas Lobo's acclaimed 2014 show "Bad Soda/Soft Drunk." The artist (whom Johnson-Milewski represents) not only filled the gallery with a series of sculptures made of home- made napalm and Play-Doh, but he refloored the entire space with unopened pack- ages of an expired energy drink. When Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) acquired one of Lobo's sculptures, the energy drinks came with it.
During those years, Gallery Diet's programming was a bellwether for a changing Miami. A home to locals such as Bhakti Baxter and designer Emmett Moore, as well as transplants like Christy Gast, the gallery also showcased work by internationally known fig- ures, such as performance artist Clifford Owens and sculptor Ohad Meromi. For Johnson-Milewski, this dia- logue between locals and visitors is what defines Miami. "One of the really rewarding things about being here is this constant influx of new people," she says. "They bring a new way of thinking and a broadening of horizons."
In 2011, Johnson-Milewski's own horizons began to broaden. On the occasion of an exhibition of paintings by Nathlie Provosty, the artist's partner, Phong Bui, spoke at Daniel Milewski's popular Wynwood coffee shop/bar, Lester's. The subject was Bui's influential art publication, the_ brooklyn_rail. "Who knows?" he laughed. "Maybe one day there will be a miami_rail." Johnson- Milewski didn't think it was a joke and asked the Knight Foundation for seed money. The contemporary-art quar- terly was launched in June 2012.
Traditionally, a commercial gallerist wouldn't also publish an art magazine, but Miami
isn't a traditional town. It's a place of collaboration and blurred boundaries. Johnson- Milewski is a founding member of PAMM's Core Creative, a sustaining membership group, as well as ICA Miami's similarly minded NEXT Committee. "Overall, I see partnering with our local institutions as critical to everyone's success," she says. "Culture is a symbiotic network of individuals, institutions, and capital."
But as Miami's cultural stature skyrocketed, so did rents in Gallery Diet's longtime home. One by one, long-standing Wynwood galleries moved away—David Castillo to Lincoln Road, Fredric Snitzer to Downtown. Johnson-Milewski was one of the last to go, heading north to a building she pur- chased on the border of Little Haiti and Little River. She sees the move as inevitable, a necessary lesson in how Miami develops. "I'm not somebody who thinks that neighborhoods evolving to the point where galleries no longer belong there is a bad thing," she says. "It's part of the natural progress of a city…. If culture wants a place in a land- scape that evolves as rapidly as it does in Miami, we must be fully invested in the neighborhoods we helped create."
Her new space, designed by the New York architectural firm Charlap Hyman & Herrero, is spread over a four- building compound. The main gallery—which opened in November with the Nicolas Lobo exhibit "A Modulor Broth"—is an intimate, human- scaled white cube placed within the raw remains of a 1940s-era structure. There is also a garden, where additional programming will take place, as well as a residence for artists, which can also accommodate social events. The compound represents a new development not just for Gallery Diet but for art in Miami: a move toward the social, the immersive, the lived—a connective space.


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Syria: Five more starvation deaths in Madaya since humanitarian convoy arrival, bringing total starvation death toll to 35
MSF urgently calls for medical evacuations for 18 patients, including seven-month-old girl, whose lives are in the balance
Medics supported by the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/ Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the besieged town of Madaya have confirmed five deaths from starvation since the first UN/ICRC/SARC* humanitarian convoy arrived on the afternoon of 11 January. MSF calls in the strongest terms for an immediate medical evacuation to safe places of treatment for the most critically malnourished and sick, to avoid further loss of life.
In December, 23 patients died of starvation in Madaya. This was followed by five more deaths on Sunday 10 January and another two on Monday 11 January, as the first convoy was en-route. The latest five deaths bring the total deaths from starvation confirmed by the MSF-supported medics in Madaya to 35.
"This is shocking; patients are still dying despite the arrival of two big international humanitarian convoys," says Brice de le Vingne, Director of Operations for MSF. "Some of the current patients may not survive another day. Medical evacuations for the most critically sick and malnourished need to happen immediately, and it is hard to understand why patients clinging on to life have not already been evacuated. Nothing should be allowed to hold this up and everything possible should be done by the warring parties and the agencies involved in the convoys to expedite these evacuations as a life-saving humanitarian act."
The MSF-supported medics have identified eighteen critical patients that need to be medically evacuated or risk imminent death. The patients include nine males and nine females, ranging from a seven-month-old girl to a 70-year-old woman. A larger number will either need medical evacuation or expert malnutrition-experienced medical care in the following days.
Providing medical care to severely malnourished patients is technically complex, and just giving therapeutic food without experience of treating malnutrition could send a patient into oedema. The most critical patients need to be treated in a hospital environment with skilled medical staff and appropriate medical infrastructure. MSF also advises that pregnant and lactating women should be evacuated from this context.
"We raise the strongest possible alarm that some of the patients that need urgent hospitalisation are about to die if they are not medically evacuated immediately," says de le Vingne. "This is the current emergency, while other essential medical follow-up activities need to be pursued in the coming days."
MSF operates six medical facilities in the north of Syria and directly supports more than 150 health posts and field hospitals throughout the country, with a particular focus on the besieged areas. These are mostly makeshift facilities with no MSF staff present, where MSF provides both material support and distance training support to help the Syrian medics cope with the extreme medical needs. This support network has been built up over the past four years. MSF has been supporting a medical facilities and a food distribution point in Madaya since August 2015, when the siege started tightening around the town.


I'm in love with raw pasta lately. I cant get enough of it, and love to mix it up with different sauces. ..
So this recipe is care of The Tree of Life! Hamish was over there for a 21 day program. and he brought..


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Ships Ahoy! All the Ferries You Can Take to and From Lower Manhattan
More than a decade ago, Mayor Michael Bloomberg called New York City's waterways the "sixth borough." While that certainly was less controversial than all the times Philadelphia was saddled with that moniker, the designation still seemed ambitious. Bloomberg was trying to bring attention to New York's often-overlooked status as an archipelago, a city surrounded, and divided, by water — water, he said, that should be treated as part of the city, not just a boundary to cross.
Eleven years and two mayors later, the dream of the sixth borough is becoming a reality. As of February 2022, recent service expansions have made Lower Manhattan accessible via 18 different ferry routes. Waterfront access now outnumbers the area's robust share of subway service, making it the most-connected neighborhood by ferry in the city. The following is a list of all the ferry services you can take to and from Lower Manhattan, whether you're going to the Bronx, the Rockaways, New Jersey or just a little bit uptown.
The big ferry stop at Wall Street Pier 11 on the east side of the neighborhood is a hub for most ferry routes, meaning you can get just about anywhere along the East River and beyond, from as far north as Throgs Neck in the Bronx all the way out to the Rockaways; and from Bay Ridge in Brooklyn up to Astoria in Queens.
Governors Island is open year-round for the first time this year, and the NYC Ferry launched long-awaited, year-round service there in January.
On the West side of the neighborhood, the Battery Park City stop will get you to Staten Island, or up W. 39th Street. See the full routes and schedules here.
The Staten Island Ferry
The biggest passenger boat in the waters of New York City is also one of the city's finest free attractions. Regular service resumed in summer 2021, which means you can catch the free ride from Whitehall Terminal about every 30 minutes (or faster during rush hour), all day and night long. You'll get a great view of the Statue of Liberty too, and you can always hit up the onboard bar to help pass the 25-minute journey. See the full schedule here.
Governors Island Ferry
No longer just a summer treat, Governors Island and its ferry are now operating all year long! Boats operate out of the Battery Maritime Building (10 South Street) from 7 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Monday to Sunday; the last boat off the island leaves at 6 p.m. Tickets cost $3, see the full schedule here.
In addition, the newly added South Brooklyn route is now a permanent stop in between Sunset Park/Brooklyn Army Terminal and Red Hook/Atlantic Basin. Check out ferry.nyc for a full list of ferry schedules, and start planning your wintry Lower Manhattan skyline selfies.
NY Waterway
The neighborhood's multiverse of ferry options serve those coming from outside the city too. NY Waterway operates routes to Pier 11 from points in New Jersey, including Belford, Hoboken, Liberty Harbor, Jersey City, Weehawken and Edgewater; some of those routes go up the Hudson to Brookfield Place too. See the full schedule and routes here.
Seastreak
The Seastreak is an express boat to and from parts of New Jersey not easily serviced by NJ Transit or the PATH train. The ferry travels from Highlands and Atlantic Highlands to the Battery Maritime Building and E. 35th Street. See the full fares and schedules here.
Tags: evergreen, governors island ferry, ny waterway, nyc ferry, seastreak, staten island ferry
Women's Breakfast (for Dinner): The Power of the Romance Heroine
Romance novels have historically been written by women, for women and about women. The...
Downtown Connection Bus Route Update
A note for Downtown Connection riders: Due to the Wagner Park construction project, our...
New York on Film: "Man on Wire" Screening With Philippe Petit and Elizabeth Streb
The iconic image is seared into our brains: a man, dressed in black, carrying a...


text:
Q: Why do I get the wrong output? In this Scilab code, I am converting a state space system to a transfer function and the output should be G(s)= (s+3)/(s^3+6s^2+11s+6) but I got this output
G(s)=(1 +8.882D-16s)/(2 +3s +s² )  . I know there is a common factor (s+3) between a numerator and a denominator that had been cancelled but if I converted the same transfer function to a state space system again, I will get a different system with different matrices dimensions and values than the original system which does not happen in Matlab. Is there any way to avoid this problem and remove this term (8.882D-16s) from the transfer function?
clear
A=[-1 0 1; 1 -2 0;0 0 -3];
B=[0;0;1];
C=[1 1 0];
D=[0];
sys=syslin('c', A, B, C, D); // c....continuous time domain system
//linear system
G=ss2tf(sys)
disp(G)
ss=tf2ss(G)
[A,B,C,D]=abcd(ss) ```

A: Matlab does some implicit cleaning. You can do this explicitely in Scilab:
--> G=clean(ss2tf(sys))
 G  =

       1
   ---------
   2 +3s +s²

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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DHC-3 Otter Archive Master Index
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX click on arrows to navigate page by page
c/n 336
CF-MIQ with a rather new nose.
Photo: Robert S. Grant © January 1991 - Aird Archives
CF-MIQ between trips at her Nakina dock, new titles.
Photo: Unknown photographer © Date unknown - Ruben Husberg Collection
CF-MIQ it's still winter at Nakina - CYQN, Ontario.
Photo: Rich Hulina © 10 April 2013
CF-MIQ
• CF-MIQ Hudson Bay Air Transport Ltd., Flin Flon, MB. Delivered 21-Jun-1960.
• CF-MIQ Parsons Airways Northern Ltd., Flin Flon, MB. Regd Nov-1982. Canx 13-Dec-1982.
• CF-MIQ Donald Bourdignon, Nakina, ON. Regd 30-Jun-1983. Canx 30-Jun-1994. Operated by Nakina Outpost Camps and Air Service Ltd.
Note. Donald Bourdignon is CEO of Nakina Air Services.
• CF-MIQ Nakina Outpost Camps and Air Service Ltd. Regd 30-Jun-1994.
Power plant. Converted to Vazar turbine power. Date unknown.
• Current •
Otter 336 was delivered to Hudson Bay Air Transport Ltd., Flin Flon, Manitoba on 21 June 1960, registered CF-MIQ. It flew alongside the company's other Otters CF-JOR (212) and CF-KTI (269) and replaced Beaver CF-GYU. Disaster struck on 4 April 1963 when the company's hangar at Flin Flon burned down, destroying Otters JOR and KTI, which were inside the hangar at the time. MIQ had a lucky escape on that occasion. It had arrived back at base late the previous evening but had been left outside the hangar on the lake for the night. MIQ then continued in operation alongside replacement Otters CF-PEM (438) and CF-PEN (439). CF-MIQ thus became the longest serving HBAT Otter, flying from its delivery in June 1960 until sold in 1982, a remarkable 21 year career without incident.
During the 1960s the Otters were used in support of exploration and development. Operating on floats in summer and wheel-skis in winter, they were able to fly to lakes in remote regions of the north, flying in the equipment to establish drilling camps, and keeping the camps supplied and dealing with camp moves. There were usually between eight and ten active camps in the bush within a 150 mile radius of Flin Flon. The Otters also provided a year round link to the hydro-electric plant at Island Falls on the Churchill River, 65 miles north-west of Flin Flon and between Flin Flon and Snow Lake, Manitoba a mining complex 75 miles to the east. The 1960s were a very busy time for the three Otters. They operated alongside a Cessna, two helicopters and a Beechcraft, the fleet logging over 2,900 hours in the air during 1968, a high for the company.
In the 1970s things changed somewhat. Forest industry logging roads sprang up around the North, opening up areas which were once only accessible by bush plane. This led to the first major cutback in HBAT's operation in 1976. The three Otters remained in the fleet but with exploration activity at an all time low due to the economic climate, the Otters were only used sparingly to service the company's facility at Island Falls, for the odd trip to Snow Lake and to transport line cutters and stakers. As the years went by the operation became uneconomic and flying ceased in July 1983. The remaining aircraft were sold and the HBAT air operations closed down.
CF-MIQ had already been sold by then, having been sold in November 1982 to Parsons Airways Northern Ltd., also based at Flin Flon. Its registration to HBAT was cancelled on 22 November 1982. Parsons served the bush country of northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan and MIQ was one of nine Otters flown by the company over the years. Its service with Parsons was however brief, only a few weeks, and its registration to Parsons was cancelled on 23 December 1982. The Otter was in storage over the winter and was put up for sale.
The buyer of the Otter was Donald Bourdignon of Nakina, Ontario to whom CF-MIQ was registered on 30 June 1983 and repainted into a blue and white colour scheme. He was the owner of Nakina Outpost Camps, a fly-in fishing outfitter, with camps throughout north-western Ontario and the Otter was used to fly his fishing guests to the lodges. There was a change of registered owner on 30 June 1994 to Nakina Outpost Camps & Air Service Ltd., as Mr Bourdignon incorporated his business, and the Otter was converted to a Vazar DHC-3T turbine with a PT-6A-135 engine, the work being done by Recon Air at Geraldton, Ontario. CF-MIQ remained in its colour scheme of two shades of blue and acquired Nakina Air Service titles.
Nakina outpost Camps flew to twelve lakes in remote North-west Ontario, with many cabins on each lake. The Otter was used on floats during the summer to fly the guests and their equipment from Nakina to the lakes and back. It also flew hunters into the wilderness. Before and after the season, when snow was on the ground, the Otter was flown on wheel-skis to open up and close down the camps. Over the years the company expanded, adding a scheduled and charter service. In 2001 the camps were sold and the company became purely a flying service, although it continued to fly fishing guests for other outfitters.
As its website explained: "Nakina Air Service caters to a range of scheduled and charter operations, from commuters to cargo, from tourists to crew changes and much more". In 2004 MIQ was joined by turbine Otter C-FMPY (324) and also included in the fleet were a Twin Otter, four Cessna Caravans, two PC-12s and Cessna 185. Nakina Air Service has a base at the Nakina Airport and also a float-plane base at nearby Cordingley Lake. Scheduled services to local communities were flown with the Caravans and PC-12. Again as the website explained: "We operate our two Otters, one Caravan and a Cessna 185 on floats every day from dawn to dark, from ice-out to freeze up, generally May to November".
A report on CADORS for 21 April 2012 shows that the Otter's charter activities also take place in the pre-summer and extend far beyond Ontario: "The pilot of C-FMIQ failed to call the FSS at La Grande after landing at Kuujjuarapik (in remote northern Québec). The APM was advised at 20:06Z and confirmed the aircraft was on the ground". MIQ was still in service with Nakina Air Service early in 2018, remarkable 35 years after it first started flying out of Nakina.
Full history up to 2005 courtesy of Karl E Hayes © from DHC-3 Otter - A History (CD-ROM 2005), now with added and updated information which Karl has supplied for the benefit of the website.


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Шельфовый ледник Ла́рсена — шельфовый ледник у побережья Антарктического полуострова. Назван в честь норвежского капитана К. А. Ларсена, исследовавшего побережье Антарктического полуострова в 1893 году на судне «Ясон». Шельфовый ледник Ларсена состоял из трёх крупных ледников — Ларсен A, Ларсен B и Ларсен C, общей площадью со Словакию. Частично разрушен вследствие глобального потепления (к настоящему времени сохранился лишь ледник Ларсен C). Южнее находятся узкие ледники D, E, F и G.

За последние полвека температура на юго-западе Антарктики, на Антарктическом полуострове, возросла на 2,5 °C. В 1995 году полностью разрушился ледник Ларсена А площадью 4000 км². Площадь ледника Ларсена B начиная с 50-х годов XX века сократилась с 12 000 до 2500 км². В 2002 году от ледника Ларсена B откололся айсберг площадью свыше 3250 км² и толщиной 220 м. Процесс разрушения занял всего 35 дней. До этого ледник оставался стабильным в течение 10 тысяч лет, с конца последнего ледникового периода. На протяжении тысячелетий мощность ледника уменьшалась постепенно, но во второй половине XX века скорость его таяния существенно увеличилась. Таяние ледника привело к выбросу большого количества айсбергов (свыше тысячи) в море Уэдделла.

Ларсен С

К началу июля 2017 года ледник имел площадь 44200 км².

В декабре 2016 года спутники НАСА зафиксировали новый разлом, который грозил полностью разрушить остатки ледника, он появился либо в 2015, либо в 2014 году. Трещина в леднике Ларсен C была на тот момент длиной 160 километров, шириной 3,2 километра и глубиной примерно в 500 метров. По прогнозу, после окончательного формирования разлома, должен был образоваться гигантский айсберг площадью около 6500 км², что и случилось спустя полгода.

Разлом быстро рос и с 10 по 12 июля 2017 года от ледника Ларсен С откололся айсберг, уменьшив его площадь на 12 процентов. Разлом, отделявший ледник от материковой части Антарктиды, достиг океана, сформировав айсберг толщиной до 200 м, площадью около 6 тысяч квадратных километров и массой около 1 трлн тонн.

По прогнозам, отделение этого айсберга ускорит движение береговых льдов. Сам шельфовый ледник Ларсена C находится на поверхности воды, и его разрушение не влияет на уровень мирового океана сразу, однако ускорение стока льда из наземных ледников позади Ларсена, до сих пор сдерживаемых им, может привести к повышению уровня воды на 10 см.

См. также
 Айсберг A-68

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Ледники Антарктиды


While the words Revolution, Dictatorship, and Democracy signify radically different meanings, they exist in close relation to one another in discourse about Latin America. How does one imagine and articulate this dangerous proximity between the terms Revolution, Dictatorship, and Democracy that has yielded intense social, political, and economic effects for the lives of real peoples: civil war, genocide, recessions, migrations, diasporas, all of which today must be thought in relation to globalization. Yet out of these situations there also emerges aesthetics, and in this course we will focus on narratives. In our readings of several prominent novels that re-cast specific historical events in Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Haiti, we will think through the complex allure of these terms, their menacing and contradictory intimacies with one another, which on today's strange political map, may be more entangled than ever. We may study the following writers: Carlos Fuentes, Rosario Castellanos, and Roberto Bolaño on Mexico; Miguel Angel Asturias and Rigoberta Menchú on Guatemala; Roque Dalton on El Salvador; Reinaldo Arenas and Ena Lucía Portela on Cuba; Alejo Carpentier and Edwidge Danticat on Haiti. We will also watch several films – Robert Rodriguez's Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Alfonso Cuarón's Y tu mamá también, among others– which show how the discourse of Revolution can come to merge with that of nationalism, development, and neoliberalism, since – as opposed to the terms rebellion or insurrection – they are fundamentally concerned with the measured "progress" of nation-states.
Final essays may be written in Spanish or English.


Big Pharma is not just whistling Dixie, as Southern, for-profit hospitals lead the nation in rolling out the welcome mat so doctors can take meals, consulting, and promotional payments from drug and medical device companies, an investigation shows.
Pro Publica, the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative site, has put up its latest findings from its multi-year tracking of which doctors at which hospitals across the country report, as they are legally required to, to federal authorities that they have taken the blandishments of Big Pharma or medical device-makers.
Docs scooped in the most green from these providers in the Garden State: Pro Publica found almost 8 in 10 MDs in New Jersey−where many in Big Pharma have their headquarters−took such pay in 2014. Almost 8 in 10 physicians in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, South Carolina and Alabama took the money.
In Virginia and Maryland, roughly 6 in 10 docs received Big Pharma or device-maker pay; that's about the U.S. average. Pro Publica also provides a nifty online option so patient-consumers can see how hospitals near them and their doctors rank on this shameful practice.
How gross has this ethically debasing influence gotten? Stat, the online health news site, takes a different look at the physician payments by Big Pharma and medical device-makers, finding a bloated sum totaling $6.5 billion going to MDs and teaching hospitals.
Physicians or their family members held $1 billion in ownership or investment interest in those [drug- or device-making] companies. Novartis topped the list with more than $539 million reported in payments to health care providers, a big jump from $302 million in 2014. … Next was Genentech, which reported $470.3 million. In 2014, Genentech led the pack at nearly $385 million. In third place was Pfizer, with more than $436 million, although the company filed the largest number of reports.
I've written recently about a jaw-dropping study that found, despite the comfortable salaries they make, doctors and their prescription pads, effectively, can be bought by drug company representatives for the cost of a pizza and a couple of sodas−$20 or so. Our docs may be so frailly human that they'll order you to take a more expensive drug that's not necessarily more effective, just so the hustling pharma rep seems to like them.
To its credit, Kaiser Permanente, an HMO that runs 38 hospitals in California, has banned industry reps and has made clear to physicians just how poorly it thinks of the practice of "food, friendship, and flattery." Fewer than 3 in 10 Kaiser docs reported receiving payments, and the organization's spokesman said those numbers may reflect physicians declaring in an abundance of caution−they may have been at seminars or conferences where free grub was available and so reported that they took it, even though they not have eaten it.
If you check out the payment databases online, particularly the really useful ProPublica tools, and you find your physicians on the craven end of these practices, what might you do? Ditch that doc, quick?
Maybe we all need to ensure our elected officials, many of them recipients of Big Pharma and medical device-makers' lobbying, hear from us, too, that we want this practice halted because it harms our care. Maybe, at a personal level, we all might go to a bad fast food outlet and get a double-double version of their worst, let it get cold and greasy, and leave it with our greedy docs. We could let them know that we'd be happy to donate to the hungry on their behalf, instead, if they give up their whopping, cheesy gift taking.


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We are currently in the 18-day period (October 21 to November 7) which occurs between the energetic seasons of Fall and Winter according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The element associated with this season in TCM is Earth.
In previous blog posts, we talked about best eating practices for this season and how the spleen is the yin organ of the pair of organs associated with the Earth element and the Earth energetic season. The yang organ of Earth is the stomach.
What is the spleen anyway and what role does it play in the body?
In moms-to-be, the spleen begins producing the embryo's blood cells gradually leaving the job to the mother's bone marrow.
It captures malfunctioning, abnormal or old red blood cells and expels them.
It recycles iron in red blood cells to create new healthy red blood cells.
The spleen controls digestion. It assimilates your food's nutrients (also known as food essence or jingwei in TCM) which are then conveyed throughout the body via lung, heart and blood vessels.
It absorbs water and then transports it through the body via lung, heart and urinary bladder to maintain normal water metabolism.
It helps to protect the body from infections by producing white blood cells (macrophages and lymphocytes) which travel to the infected parts of the body.
The spleen produced antibodies which help fight infections.
Lymph fluid* passes through the spleen where germs and other foreign bodies are captured by white blood cells.
Spleen is actually involved in mental activities. It affects intention which can be weakened by mental strain. Mental turmoil, poor memory, and irritability may be a result of an impaired spleen energy.
When the spleen or functioning normally, it is able to promote the energy required by muscles and limbs and the body exhibits vitality.
Spleen participates with the other energies of the body which it irrigate and moisten.
Assist your digestive process by chewing your food well.
Refrain from drinking fluids while having a meal.
Try not to drink cold beverages and if you must, have some warm tea first.
Eat lots of living whole foods.
Nourish the spleen with sweet grains, fruits and vegetables.
Exercise most especially the abdominals and thighs because the spleen meridian runs up the legs.
Source: Liu, Yanchi, Kathleen Vian, and Peter Eckman. The Essential Book of Traditional Chinese Medicine. New York: Columbia UP, 1988. Print.
Editors' Note: This blog post was originally published on October 26, 2016 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy and comprehensiveness.


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1958: The Other Chief & Other Quebec Curios
Part of "Shadows and Revolution", 1900-1960
Posted on June 7, 2018. Written by T. A. Wellington
John Diefenbaker and Maurice Duplessis have a friendly chat. Source: University of Saskatchewan, reference code: JGD/MG01/XVII/JGD 451.
John Diefenbaker's law practice that began in a shack that he had built on a vacant spot of land and ended with his competitor being run out of town. His political career began in the 1920s, resulting in his first contact with a fellow Liberal candidate, William Lyon Mackenzie King. Up against this giant of Canadian politics, Diefenbaker, then an unknown next to the Prime Minister of Canada, lost. Through the 1930s, Diefenbaker tried and failed to gain a seat in the House of Commons, only succeeding in 1940 in an election that had otherwise left the Conservatives obliterated at 39 seats out of the 245 seats then available.
Throughout Diefenbaker's over sixty year career in law and in politics, he had many liberating ideas. His law practice included defending eighteen people from the death penalty. As a Member of Parliament, he opposed Mackenzie King's internment of thousands of innocent Japanese Canadians in a time when racism towards this group of people was widespread and normalised and he also opposed a motion from his own home party, the Progressive Conservatives, to outlaw the Communist Party from politics. As Prime Minister, he appointed the first female Cabinet minister, appointed the first First Nations member to the Senate, and he passed the quasi-constitutional law, the Canadian Bill of Rights, which would serve as a precursor to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. His struggle to the very top of Canadian politics, ever branded as an outsider and what was seen as his authentic and strong connection with the people he met led him to be named "the Chief", much like Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis. With the 1958 federal election coming up, Duplessis, who did not like Mackenzie King much anyway (the feeling was mutual), threw his support behind Diefenbaker, and the Quebec population voted in consequence.
The Progressive Conservative party won 208 seats of the 265 seats that then composed the House of Commons (78% of the House) and roughly 54% of the popular vote, making John Diefenbaker's election remains the largest majority government in Canadian history, surpassed in number but not in percentages by Conservative Brian Mulroney's win in 1984. Once in power, he made clear that his vision was in direct opposition to Duplessis, and he expressed it with two words: One Canada.
As a young man growing up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Diefenbaker had been in contact with the minorities of the province, the Métis and the Francophone Canadians in particular. Diefenbaker's "One Canada" policy envisioned total equality for all and between all provinces, from coast to coast, and he believed that everybody should have an equal standing within the country. This equality was absolute, where exceptions were not given and the notion of two nations within Canada and the concept of Quebec as different from the other provinces were all but quashed out of a Canadian identity. For Diefenbaker, everyone was Canadian and Canada was a dream worth believing in—but Quebec in particular was being rather difficult in achieving this dream. For Quebec to have its own flag and its own taxes, seen as a refusal to be part of this "One Canada", was sacrilege.
Quebec's support for Diefenbaker and the Conservatives waned in consequence and the Quebec population turned instead towards Lester B. Pearson's Liberals. In the next federal election, Diefenbaker's Conservatives won a measly 14 seats in Quebec compared to the over thirty seats for Lester B. Pearson's Liberals.
& other quebec curios
and other Quebec curios
Dominion of Canada
duplessis
John Diefenbaker
province of Quebec
Quebec history
separatism
Shadows and Revolution
Canada Advances to Next Stage with Draw vs. Netherlands
Documentary Review: Tattoo Uprising
Metafiction for Fun: Kafka's Hat
Canadian Bluesman Matt Andersen is an Honest Man
State of Denial: Thought Provoking Reminder About Armenian Tragedy


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BF Bolt
Mr. Schulke
Brady Kaczmarski and Jessica Kaye
Mr. Schulke is an 8th grade social studies teacher at Benjamin Franklin Middle School. The Bolt has some background information about him such as being a coach for the girls swimming team at Ridgewood High School in addition to his current teaching career. The Bolt is aware that he has been teaching for many years and plays a positive role in the staff but in order to learn more about him, we asked him multiple questions in an interview.
Q: What motivated you to become a teacher?
"I had a really good public speaking teacher in college who got everyone really excited about public speaking so it seemed like a good thing to do to get students excited about learning."
Q: Why did you choose to teach in Ridgewood and what was your decision based off of school wise?
"Because my wife teaches in Livingston and her commute is really long so I tried to get a job in North Jersey and this position was open and it seemed like a good place to teach. After interviewing with the administration I got the impression that BF was a school that would allow me to challenge myself as a teacher and find the best ways to help students expand their thinking."
Q: Why did you choose to teach social studies?
"Like I said I always liked history and always found it interesting, I like books and stuff and movies as a kid. "
Q: Was there anybody in your life at an early age that gave you motivation to do the things that you currently do?
"My grandfather was a photojournalist and he followed Martin Luther King Jr. throughout his career and he would always tell stories of his experiences documenting the Civil Rights movement, which sparked my interest and enthusiasm in learning about history.
Q: What is your favorite aspect of teaching?
"My favorite aspect of teaching is seeing kids get better and improve their writing and learning and stuff and growing."
Q: What made you want to coach swimming and how did it catch your attention in the first place?
"Being a swimmer myself and not really being good when I started and becoming really good in college made me want to impart that in other kids. I started swimming because I had a knee injury that prevented me from continuing playing soccer. Having the experience from being a beginner swimming to improve enough to swim in college led me to want to help other kids have the same experience"
Q: How long have you been teaching for and what is the biggest takeaway you've gotten from teaching?
"Boy…twelve or thirteen years. Biggest takeaway from teaching is that there are always new ways of teaching and helping students grow. A good teacher needs to be flexible and open to change."
Q: If you were able to work a different occupation for one day, what would it be and why?
"I've always wanted to be a lawyer. I thought that would be a lot of fun. I have always enjoyed arguing and being a lawyer seemed like a job where you are, in a sense, solving a puzzle. You take the evidence and make your strongest case to convince others"
Q: What is one thing everyone should know about you?
"Just how much I like to read I guess because I read books all the time and it's something that I think… once you find the right book you really enjoy it as well so it's a really good thing to get into."
In conclusion, interviewing Mr. Schulke gave a better insight on his career rather than just teaching. We have learned that he is a very influential member within BF staff and his commitments he has besides teaching social studies have made him a successful person. His background has given him opportunities to become great and his hard work and dedication has paid off. Having the option to teach gave Mr. Schulke a job where he can spend time with students and watch them learn and grow to have a better sense of history throughout the world. Overall, the actions that Mr. Schulke has been a part of in the past have been a beneficial factor in giving him the motivation into becoming the great teacher he is within Benjamin Franklin Middle School.
Which breakfast item do you prefer?
Waffles.
A 209 Experience
Mike Massenzio; A Motivated Coach
Ms. Krasinski
Mrs. Clarke Anderson Profile
Mrs. Dickinson Ready to Rock Into Retirement
Aidan Mccluskey: Mortgage Banker by Day, Influential Coach by Night
Coach Mixon: A Storied Career
Mr. Rogers, Cultural Icon
Benjamin Franklin Middle School news in a flash
The views, opinions, positions or commentary expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions of the BF Bolt and its Staff.
All BF Bolt Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest


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'Siobhan was a friend, perhaps the closest he'd ever had – despite the age gap and the fact she didn't like most of the music he played' (Saints of the Shadow Bible)
We first meet Detective Constable Siobhan Clarke in The Black Book. Accordingly to Ian: 'I had found Rebus's perfect working partner: someone who respected him but could still be infuriated by his reluctance to stick to the rules; someone confident enough in their own abilities to be able to give as good as they got. It was not in Siobhan's nature to remain 'just another colleague'; she seemed to have other ideas entirely'.
Siobhan is the polar opposite to Rebus: not only is she English, but she's much younger than Rebus, she comes from a middle-class left-wing background and she has a university degree. She fits in perfectly with the modern police force and through the series we see her rise up the ranks until by Saints of the Shadow Bible, she outranks Rebus. As the series develops so does their friendship and the grudging respect between the two: she is a worthy sidekick for Rebus.
Siobhan plays by the rules; she's young and ambitious and she embraces the new techniques of policing. She is the perfect foil to Rebus and has contrasting methods of investigation (Rebus takes the intuitive approach, Clarke follows strict police procedure). She appreciates his skills but she knows that he is a loose cannon and, particularly in the later books, it is Siobhan that tries to 'manage' Rebus so that his maverick tendencies don't upset the ongoing investigations.
As the series progresses, Siobhan gradually comes more to the fore until she fully emerges in The Falls, which is as much Siobhan's book as Rebus's; they share the limelight equally although working separately on different cases. Siobhan's case involves role-playing games in cyberspace – a place where Rebus feels utterly lost. As Ian wrote in an introduction: 'It was a way of allowing Siobhan to show her mettle. This would be her case, an opportunity for her to prove she's as capable a detective as her mentor, but with a different set of skills. Perhaps the point I was trying to make is that Siobhan doesn't need Rebus anymore. She's happy to work with him, but as equals.'
Although there were hints of romance between Rebus and Clarke in early books, including a cringe-making attempted kiss at the end of A Question of Blood, Ian has emphatically said, 'They will never jump into bed together'.
First Featured In: The Black Book
Saints of the Shadow Bible: Rebus and Siobhan
Ian talks about the characters' dynamic
Brilliant, funny, perfectly-judged speech from @JP_Books tonight at #TheakstonsCrime as he accepted Lifetime Achievement prize.about 23 hours ago


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River City Improv Keeps Moving
Anjelah Johnson: Comedy and Quarterbacks
Written by Jayson Bussa
With her trip to Gilda's LaughFest this month, Anjelah Johnson essentially returns to the venue that birthed her comedy career.
A church might not be the most common — or even ideal — venue for a comedy show, but Johnson is enthusiastic about her opportunity to perform at Fountain Street Church as a part of the second installment of the comedy festival.
"The funny thing is, I started comedy at a church," Johnson said. "I took a joke writing class at my church ...We had to perform at the church as a part of our graduation."
Johnson didn't just graduate into the ranks of professional comedy — she did so with honors.
After taking a less-than-conventional route in getting there, Johnson has since honed her craft on the silver screen in movies like Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel and Our Family Wedding. She has also landed a guest role on the TV show "Ugly Betty" in addition to a stint on "MADtv."
"My passion is in film, television and acting," Johnson said. "I love stand-up, as well. It's such a different creative outlet and it's cool to meet people on the road and enjoy their comedy. It's totally different. I love them both. Acting is definitely my passion, though."
The San Jose native's first gig in the entertainment world came on a far different stage. Fresh out of college, she moved to Los Angeles where she became a cheerleader for professional football's Oakland Raiders. She was named Rookie of the Year that season and even enjoyed the privilege of performing at Super Bowl XXXVII (Note: It didn't help. The Raiders got stomped by Tampa Bay).
Johnson then parlayed her cheerleading experience to a life of comedy, where the advent of video-sharing websites like YouTube ignited her career.
"People think [cheerleading and comedy] are on opposite ends, but the thing about cheering with the Oakland Raiders is that it's like job placement. It's easy to transition to other things. You spend time around the players and hear them telling jokes."
While YouTube was in its early stages, some of Johnson's material caught on among the growing community. A video of her portraying a Vietnamese nail salon employee eventually went viral, opening a lot of doors.
"Nowadays, there are videos everywhere," Johnson said. "Every website you go to has one and I rarely watch them or click on them. It was perfect timing for me."
Published in Comedy
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