text:
Liven up your holidays!
State your preferences
Holiday insurance
Cheap weekend
Unusual weekend
Find my position
Tourism labels
Themed itineraries
Custom itineraries
Tourism quiz
Tourism, holidays & weekends guide in the Aisne
49.4269020 (N 49° 25' 37")
From 52m to 98m
138 inhabitants
16 inhabitants/km²
Laon (18 mi, 33 min)
Insee code
CC de la Champagne Picarde
Nearest cities & towns
2 mi (6 min)
2.5 mi (7 min)
4.1 mi (10 min)
Berry-au-Bac
Cormicy
6 mi (10 min)
French lessons online
A French course with a difference! Learn by email with Victor Hugo on this fun personalised, daily course. Get 7 days free with no obligation to buy!
Your free week
a vacation rental
a bed & breakfast
a campsite
a leisure activity
a rental car
a plane flight
Find a hotelFind a vacation rentalFind a bed & breakfastFind a campsiteFind a leisure activityFind a restaurantFind a rental carFind a plane flight
Near this destinationTown centre of La Ville-aux-Bois-lès-PontavertLocality - Former locality Gernicourt (Cormicy)Locality - Former locality Glennes (Les Septvallons)Locality - Former locality Guignicourt (Villeneuve-sur-Aisne)Locality - Former locality Longueval-Barbonval (Les Septvallons)Locality - Former locality Menneville (Villeneuve-sur-Aisne)Locality - Former locality Merval (Les Septvallons)Locality - Former locality Révillon (Les Septvallons)Locality - Former locality Villers-en-Prayères (Les Septvallons)Transport - Train station of Aguilcourt-Variscourt (Variscourt)Transport - Train station of Amifontaine (Amifontaine)Transport - Train station of Breuil-Romain (Breuil-sur-Vesle)Transport - Train station of Coucy-lès-Eppes (Coucy-lès-Eppes)Transport - Train station of Courcy-Brimont (Courcy)Transport - Train station of Guignicourt (Villeneuve-sur-Aisne)Transport - Train station of Jonchery-sur-Vesle (Jonchery-sur-Vesle)Transport - Train station of Loivre (Loivre)Transport - Train station of Magneux-Courlandon (Magneux)Transport - Train station of Saint-Erme (Saint-Erme-Outre-et-Ramecourt)Leisure centre - Golf Course of L'Ailette (Cerny-en-Laonnois)Leisure centre - Golf Course of Menneville (Villeneuve-sur-Aisne)Leisure centre - Museum Espace muséographique de la Caverne du Dragon (Oulches-la-Vallée-Foulon)Monument - Abbey of Cuissy (Cuissy-et-Geny)Monument - Abbey of Vauclair (Bouconville-Vauclair)Monument - Castle of Arrancy (Arrancy)Monument - Church Saint-Georges (Les Septvallons)Monument - Church Saint-Jean-Baptiste (Chaudardes)Monument - Church Saint-Martin (Bourg-et-Comin)Monument - Church Saint-Martin (Martigny-Courpierre)Monument - Church Saint-Rémi (Beaurieux)
Hotels in La Ville-aux-Bois-lès-Pontavert
Bed & breakfasts in La Ville-aux-Bois-lès-Pontavert
Rentals in La Ville-aux-Bois-lès-Pontavert
Campsites in La Ville-aux-Bois-lès-Pontavert
Le Grand Hotel
Situated in the city centre, within walking distance of the train station, Le Grand Hotel offers a privileged location from which you can explore and enjoy Saint-Quentin. Free WiFi is provided in public areas. Le…
Visits, leisure and activities nearby
Bike hire near your holiday accommodation Sports sensations 35 € La Neuville-aux-Larris (19.5 mi)
Cellar tour and tasting with Champagne Charles Mignon Local flavours 9 € to 16 € Épernay (26 mi)
Guided buggy or quad tour of the Champagne vineyards Nature and the great outdoors 65 € to 720 € Festigny (27 mi)
Tour of a craft brewery and beer tasting Local flavours 5 € Trélou-sur-Marne (27 mi)
Carthorse-drawn carriage ride Nature and the great outdoors 10 € to 15 € Pierry (28 mi)
All leisure activities around La Ville-aux-Bois-lès-Pontavert
Outing type
Departure municipality
From Epernay to Châlons-en-Champagne - The Marne Valley All-terrain bike itinerary Easy 2h30 Épernay (27 mi)
Epernay and edges of Marne Hike Easy 1h55 Épernay (27 mi)
Moslins and hillsides south of Epernay Hike Intermediate 3h00 Moslins (32 mi)
The domain of the Princes de Condé Hike Intermediate 3h30 Condé-en-Brie (32 mi)
Hidden Treasures Hike Easy 1h30 Château-Thierry (33 mi)
All outings around La Ville-aux-Bois-lès-Pontavert
Restaurant de la Mairie
French cuisine restaurant in Berry-au-Bac
28 € per person
Situé à 15 minutes de Laon, à proximité du Chemin des Dames, le Restaurant de la Mairie à Berry au Bac vous ouvre ses portes pour vous faire partager sa passion de la cuisine française. Ce restaurant traditionnel vient d'être racheté et vous…
Located 2.7 mi from La Ville-aux-Bois-lès-Pontavert
Piccolo Pizza
Italian restaurant in Hermonville
Mets Envies
French cuisine restaurant in Hermonville
MAISON DE FAMILLE – Au cœur du massif de Saint Thierry à Hermonville, village champenois charmant, le restaurant Mets Envies cultive l'art du bien recevoir dans un intérieur cosy à souhait. Esprit bistrot dans la décoration, tons doux, pierres…
All restaurants around La Ville-aux-Bois-lès-Pontavert
La Besace Bed and Breakfast and table
House with 4 bedrooms in Sainte-Croix
55 € per double room
La Besace opened since 1985, prides itself in delivering good homemade food in a relaxed and friendly environment. La Besace bed and breakfast is located in Sainte-Croix, an old renovated farmhouse with a capacity of accommodating 12 people.…
Located 5 mi from La Ville-aux-Bois-lès-Pontavert
Saurele mill
Mill with 3 bedrooms in Mont-Notre-Dame
Moulin Saurele - Bed & Breakfast in - Cavaliers Home-Hikers - In the historical triangle Laon, Soissons, Reims, south of the Aisne, in Picardy, near the Champagne and Ile-de-France you will enjoy a cozy house ideal for discovering a region of…
Located 15.4 mi from La Ville-aux-Bois-lès-Pontavert
Trichet-didier
Farm with 5 bedrooms in Trois-Puits
Pierre and Mireille trichet offer five spacious new rooms for 2 and up to 4 people in the countryside, yet minutes from the center of Reims.
All bed & breakfasts around La Ville-aux-Bois-lès-Pontavert
Furnished Reims Saint Rémi
Apartment for 6 people in Reims
400 € per week
Ideally located, facing the Saint Rémi Basilica, near many champagne cellars, All shops facing the residence.
Au cherubin
House for 8 people in Rilly-la-Montagne
To spend a weekend with family, with friends at a winemaker. For you, we propose our guest rooms in the form of lodging (this formula is with the 4 rooms). You will find our vineyard - Closed and secure parking - A separate entrance - 4 bedrooms…
Located 20 mi from La Ville-aux-Bois-lès-Pontavert
Gîte Millésime et une nuit
House for 8 people in Villers-sous-Châtillon
At the heart of Champagne, in the town of Villers in Chatillon, the Champagne house rc lemaire. Offers this charming champagne eighteenth century with all modern comforts. Its large garden allows families to flourish. You can use the barbecue,…
All vacation rentals around La Ville-aux-Bois-lès-Pontavert
Hotel Le Relais De Fleurette
Hotel in Pontavert
Room from 70 €
Situated in Pontavert, Hotel Le Relais De Fleurette has a bar, terrace and free WiFi. Featuring a restaurant, the property also has a garden, as well as an indoor pool and a spa centre. Guests at the hotel can enjoy a continental breakfast.…
Logis Des Nations
Hotel in Berry-au-Bac
Located in Berry-au-Bac, Hotel des Nations is a 30-minute drive from Reims. Free WiFi and free private parking are available on site. Each room comes with a TV, a desk and a private bathroom fitted with a shower, a hairdryer and toilet. Breakfast…
Logis Hotel du Chemin des Dames
Hotel in Corbeny
Located in Corbeny, Hotel du Chemin des dames offers a traditional restaurant specialising in local cuisine, a terrace and rooms with a TV and free toiletries. Free WiFi access is provided in the hotel. The rooms at Hotel du Chemin des dames…
All hotels around La Ville-aux-Bois-lès-Pontavert
Guide of the Aisne
Unmissable places and recommendations in the Aisne
Guide to the territory - Tourism and staying here
Outings in the Aisne
Ideas for walks and hikes in the Aisne
Photos of the Aisne
Photos of the Aisne to view and download
Hotels in the Aisne
A wide choice of hotels with reductions of up to 70%.
Vacation rentals in the Aisne
Self-catering holiday homes, gîtes and apartments
Bed & breakfasts in the Aisne
Rooms from local hosts offering a personal welcome.
Campsites in the Aisne
Open-air accommodation.
Restaurants in the Aisne
Regional and international cuisine, style of restaurant and menus.
Leisure activities in the Aisne
A great selection of activities including sports, well-being, gourmet food and entertainment.
19 000 holiday ideas
52 000 establishments listed
5 million customer reviews
21 million holidaymakers each year
Your holidays
A plane ticket
By continuing to browse our site, you are agreeing to the use of cookies to improve your experience and make targeted offers.
Find out more and make settings


text:
Home / Historical / 2020 October 15 - 16 Rare Books Signature Auction Featuring Otto Penzler Mystery Fiction Part III - Dallas Auction #6230 / Lot #45035
Maurice Sendak. Where the Wild Things Are. New York: Harper & Row, 1963. First edition, first printing, first issue,...
Offers to date:
$5,500 on November 29, 2020
Maurice Sendak. Where the Wild Things Are. New York: Harper & Row, 1963. First edition, first printing, first issue, complete with first printing dust jacket. Quarto (9 x 10 inches; 229 x 254 mm). Unpaginated (18 leaves in addition to title page). Illustrated throughout by Sendak. Publisher's pictorial paper covered boards over grey cloth spine; front and back cover slightly toned. Scarce first printing dust jacket, with all first printing points, including no mention of Caldecott award or award sticker on the front, which was added by publisher after recalling the edition to reflect the achievement shortly after publication; the $3.50 price on the front flap of jacket, along with the code "40-80" and "1163" indicating the publishing date of November 1963; and the original three paragraph blurbs on the front and back jacket flaps. The book itself shows the Library of Congress number "63-21253" on the title page and has no ISBN number on the rear board. A very good copy, with colorful pictorial endpapers. A "Books Are Fun" sticker, with child's signature, appears on front pastedown, and a child's signature appears on half-title page. Small tear at bottom of front free endpaper, a few spots on rear endpapers, and light shelf wear. The front flap is clipped at the lower corner, typical of all copies, and light chipping to jacket, with a discreet closed tear at top center. Overall, the copy is in very good condition.
A rare first edition, first printing, and first issue of Sendak's most famous children's book.
15th-16th Thursday-Friday
Heritage Auctions and Mr. Chad Reingold were...professional and courteous in all transactions and provided outstanding service in answering my many emails. I recommend them at the highest level.
Killy M.,

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Working around reductionism in Afghanistan
Photojournalist Andrew Quilty reflects on his place as an outsider in Afghanistan, exploring themes of reality versus role-playing, clichés, and the importance of photographer-editor relationships.
Andrew Quilty
Mar 29, 2018 · 13 min read
Young boys climb a broken-down ferris wheel on April 28, 2016, in order to give a friend a quarter-revolution-ride in a dilapidated playground in the capital of Afghanistan's Helmand Province, Lashkar Gah. The ferris wheel is long-defunct, with little incentive for local investors to spend money in the provincial capital, which was threatened by a determined push to take the city by the Taliban in late 2015, through 2016. Photo by Andrew Quilty, @andrewquilty
Early last summer, I was riding on the back of a colorfully decorated jingle truck on the way to the Afghan city of Jalalabad. I was traveling as a photographer with members of a family who had been forced to leave their homes in Pakistan, where they'd lived since fleeing Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan war.
Barely halfway to Jalalabad from the Pakistani border, with little warning, we pulled over to the side of the highway. The patriarch of the family, who had permitted me to photograph him since crossing the border hours prior, was clearly upset — his previously gentle disposition was gone. He wanted me off the truck. I followed his command and climbed down.
Having a male, non-family member focus such close attention on his family, especially his wife and daughters, had been an affront to his sense of honor — the most vital of Afghan male virtues. A day later, I asked an Afghan colleague to contact the man to apologize on my behalf. Still, he could barely accept my apology.
I've covered the forced displacement of families like this one for the past three years, and have photographed numerous families migrating in open trucks. Men often decline my request to photograph their families because it would be improper for me to be so close to female family members, let alone photograph them. When people do give me consent, aware of the cultural sensitivities, I try to work quickly and unobtrusively.
From left: 1) On March 27, 2018, photojournalist Andrew Quilty takes pictures on a jingle truck in Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of Andrew Quilty, @andrewquilty 2) On Sept. 30, 2016, a family on the road between the Pakistani border and Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. Pakistani authorities oversaw the removal of 600,000 Afghan refugees like them in 2016 alone. Photo by Andrew Quilty, @andrewquilty
But this incident shook me. I think I'm realistic about what my work can achieve, but I always believe, regardless of their ability to create change, that my photographs at least won't hurt the people that they portray. I try — as the mantra goes — to "do no harm." But, in this instance, I had failed.
As signs of the man's irritation grew, I had played ignorant in order to complete my assignment. I had prioritized fulfilling my assignment over the people who had allowed me in.
Reductionism: Telling oversimplified stories
I have little doubt that missteps like my own occur in Afghanistan — as they must everywhere, with greater or lesser consequences — frequently. But to what extent are the missteps understood but overlooked? Does the desire to feed a system that rewards speed and sensationalism impinge on our moral and ethical obligations as journalists?
Experiences like mine made me wonder how often foreign journalists, because of ignorance, language barriers, and cultural illiteracy, stumble in spite of good intentions. It also made me question to what extent the expectations of some editors, and the professional pragmatism that journalists require to maintain a career, are to blame when one chooses to continue working on a story even if it means doing so at the expense of their subjects.
But to criticize foreign journalists and photographers for bumbling their way through their adopted reporting grounds — treading on local customs, botching translations, and offending the people they photograph — is to acknowledge only a superficial element of a wider problem. By comparison, the deep-rooted and inaccurate conventions that are often applied to reporting from, in this case Afghanistan, are far more damaging.
It was my assumption that those who lacked cultural, historical, and contextual understanding of their reporting grounds were the ones who failed their subjects, readers, and viewers the most.
What I discovered through interviews with several reporters and photographers who work or have worked in Afghanistan, however, was that it's not only those of us who are unfamiliar with the country and its culture that are guilty of simplistic representations and cultural infringements against the country and its people.
What's most damaging are the standardized concepts of Afghanistan that are often presented by journalists — both foreign and local — that provide editors and readers alike with seductive conventions they can latch on to, regardless of how little resemblance they bear to contemporary reality.
What is even more alarming, but by no means confined to what is produced by foreign or local media in Afghanistan, is that audiences worldwide — whose views are reinforced by whichever side of an increasingly partisan media landscape they choose to follow — are often viewing stories through outdated, reductive lenses that transform complex issues into familiar stereotypes.
This is particularly apparent when it comes to narratives as protracted and capricious as those found in Afghanistan. There are a host of predictable tropes that editorial departments and photographers call upon to portray these narratives. Such reductionism, whether intentionally deceptive or simply lazy, serves the photographer alone — the same stereotypes are often rewarded with photo contest results, which encourage further deception.
Breaking those conventions, not just in Afghanistan, but worldwide, requires a shift not only from journalists and their editors, but also from their audience, who, especially in this age where online analytics rule, can dictate the standards expected of their storytellers.
The driver of this shift, however, needs to come from journalists who are willing to think critically and independently and deliver what is accurate rather than what is expected.
On March 29, 2016, young students in a classroom without a teacher at the Sayedabad-area school in Helmand's Nad-i Ali District. The school was operating with Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers positioned on its roof, with a diminished number of students and teachers and with the sound of fighting nearby. At the time, Taliban-controlled villages were only a couple of hundred meters away. After years of relative calm in the Nad-i Ali, the Afghan Local Police, with the support of the ANA, were maintaining the tenuous frontline against the ever-encroaching Taliban who had pushed closer than ever to the nearby provincial capital, Lashkar Gah. Now, Nad-i Ali was overrun by the Taliban three months after this photo was taken and has remained under their control since. Photo by Andrew Quilty, @andrewquilty
Photographer and media critic Asim Rafiqui told me that many photographers "only think of the European audience, so the stories completely cater to the existing European prejudices about a place." In the context of Afghanistan, he said, these include "things like: women are universally oppressed, only white women can save them, and Afghan culture values revenge."
Photographers are quick to document armed Afghans, and editors are just as eager to publish those images, said Rafiqui, who was also critical of journalists and photojournalists who adopt "the arguments of political power" for what the United States is doing in Afghanistan without ever questioning it.
Rafiqui offered one explanation for the ingrained Eurocentric viewpoint of some photojournalists in places like Afghanistan: a "feedback loop," or a self-perpetuating cycle of misinformation that simultaneously embroils the audience, the editor, the journalist, and even the subject, in a trap of reductionism.
Local journalists are just as prone to the temptations of reductionism, Rafiqui told me. The influence of international media organizations that sit at the apex of the feedback loop is most pervasive on young media institutions trying to establish themselves. This is especially evident with respect to young journalists trying to stand out from the crowd. Or, more accurately, conform to it.
This isn't about "the color of your skin or your passport," Rafiqui said. "It's about how you understand and approach and question the situation that you're in." And he criticized the notion that simply being from Pakistan gives him the right to cover stories in the country as he sees fit: "It's just not good enough for me."
The relationship between photographer and picture editor is critical
Last year, I was working on a separate story about Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan. While the journalist I was working with interviewed male family members in a courtyard outside Jalalabad City, I asked one of the men if I could enter the house to photograph the women and children. He disappeared inside to instruct his wife and another woman to don their burqas.
I photographed the women and a handful of young children for a few minutes as her husband watched from the doorway.
Women are difficult to represent faithfully for Afghan and foreign photojournalists alike. With some exceptions, for example if they're unmarried or widowed, photographing adult women is widely forbidden. Interviews might not be permitted without the presence of the husband or brother. Photographs might only be allowed if the woman can obscure her face with a scarf or burqa — a skewed representation for all intents and purposes, but a compromise made by both parties that is rarely questioned.
For this reason, foreign women working in Afghanistan have greater access not only to Afghan women, but also to men, who often attempt to accommodate foreign women's customs in spite of their own. To a slightly lesser extent, the same can apply to non-Afghan male journalists. Hamid, the Afghan reporter, believes this is because compromises are made for the foreigner's own customs.
A Kandahari man would know that a Western male's "concept of interacting with women is different" from that of a local male journalist, said Hamid. "They think that my concept of interacting with women is the same as theirs." (The sanctity of an Afghan woman in her home is such that night raids conducted by foreign soldiers were one of the main reasons former President Hamid Karzai refused to sign an agreement allowing American forces to remain in the country after 2014. It was signed by his successor, Ashraf Ghani).
On Feb. 19, 2014, a mother waits with her daughter in the emergency waiting room of the regional hospital in the capital of Helmand Province, Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan. Photo by Andrew Quilty, @andrewquilty
Because Afghan women typically don't wear burqas inside their own houses unless a male, non-family member is present — which is almost unheard of — in the caption of my pictures I wrote that the woman pictured "donned her burqa prior to the photographer entering the room." However, I knew that space constraints wouldn't allow it to be included in the published caption.
(Although they declined to be quoted for this article, I spoke with my editors, who agreed to discuss an appropriate course of action if similar circumstances arose in the future.)
It's hard to deny that I have contributed, however minimally, to an inaccurate portrayal of women in Afghanistan, but is the alternative — not photographing women inside their homes at all — any better? At a minimum we should be careful about the ways we include burqas, and any other over-used symbolic objects or scenes, in our photographs.
Balancing the desires of a commissioning editor and the subtleties of accurate cultural representation is difficult. Photographers want to publish their work. And so, Rafiqui conceded: "It's hard not to get caught in that trap if you're a young photographer and you want to be working with those publications."
This is where the relationship between photographer and picture editor is critical. In most cases, photographers have a stronger understanding of the people and places in their images than their editors do. While tight deadlines and time differences can promote expediency, it is incumbent on the photographer and editor to discuss the subtleties that even accurate captions can't express.
Reality Versus Role Playing for the Camera
Another common but rarely acknowledged player in reductive journalism is the person in front of the camera. Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Kiana Hayeri told me about a family she was photographing for a project on single mothers in Afghanistan. "I actually had to drop [them from the project] because I felt they weren't genuine and were only giving me access because they expected to be compensated."
Afghan photojournalist Farzana Wahidy has also been confronted by people who demand money in return for being photographed. On one occasion, when Wahidy explained how giving money compromises ethics, they told her, "Well, the other photographer paid us."
In both instances, had the relationship become transactional, the people being photographed would no longer have been subjects, but actors.
But a transaction doesn't necessarily have to take place for a subject to become an actor. In Afghanistan, members of the security forces are often complicit in falsely promoting their own reputations. It's rare to arrive at a government frontline position without soldiers offering to fire their weapons for the camera. Often, they'll just go ahead and do it, assuming that's what's expected of them. Just because a photographer isn't directing a falsehood — and in this case propagating a stereotype — doesn't mean he or she isn't complicit in it. It is the responsibility of the photographer, not the soldier, to refuse to play a role in the deceit.
From top, left to right: 1) For the past decade, widows have built mud hovels by hand on a slope above a cemetery in an eastern neighborhood of Kabul. There are now thousands of hovels on the hill and its surroundings. The first squatter homes have since morphed into a crowded community that has a private drinking water supply and, at times, electricity. Most of the women have not been able to escape from abject poverty, but they have created something far more unusual in a country dominated by men. Sept. 12, 2016. 2) On Aug. 26, 2016, Aziza, 52, who works at the National TV and Radio of Afghanistan, puts on make up as she gets ready to go out. Aziza lost her husband to cancer in 2006 and brought up her four children on her own with the support of her brother-in-law, a prominent Afghan-Australian musician. She was never forced to remarry, but temporarily lived with her brother-in-law's family in the same apartment, which she recalls as being extremely difficult. 3) On Sept. 10, 2016, children put a photo of their father back on the wall. Their memories of him are blurred and shaped by the only photo that exists of him. Shakar, 29, lost her husband to a suicide attack while he was on his way to work. Shakir works as a cleaner but had to pull her oldest daughter out of school so she can afford to provide her children with basic needs. The family, which belongs to the Ismaeili shia minority, fears the return of the Taliban. "If [the Taliban] comes back, how am I going to feed my children?" 4) There are currently 57 children living with their mothers inside the female ward of Herat Prison located in western Afghanistan. These mothers are often abandoned or disowned by their families for crimes they may or may have not committed. Many women's biggest fear is raising their children alone once they complete their sentence. The prison has a kindergarten and a small playground for children. Sept. 4, 2016. Photos by Kiana Hayeri, @kianahayeri, from "Single Mothers of Afghanistan"
In southern Afghanistan, I once watched an Afghan cameraman direct a dozen policemen, who had been sitting idle at a checkpoint, to patrol through picturesque, waist-high grass in an orderly line, with rifles at the ready as if an ambush was imminent. He told them to stop and start so he could reposition himself for a variety of shots. The officer overseeing the frontline junket offered to raid a house for the benefit of our cameras. The local journalists didn't hesitate to record the set-up scene.
Frustrated, my colleague and I asked to be driven back to the city. The local reporter we'd employed as a fixer asked us not to show our anger. He explained that the commander at the checkpoint could kill him if he believed he was being ridiculed. Even if he was exaggerating, it was a reminder of how privileged our position as foreign journalists was in comparison to Afghans.
It was unlikely that my colleague or I would be harmed, but while notional progress has been made in protections for the media in Afghanistan, it rarely amounts to more than lip service for local journalists and fixers who are virtually unprotected from powerful men who consider themselves above the law.
Wahidy sympathizes with Afghanistan's young photojournalists. "There is no work for Afghan photographers in Afghanistan," she said. "Unfortunately even agencies are not taking pictures as they used to." This dilemma might result in more images that satisfy the international news wire services' appetite for the violence and poverty that's expected from Afghanistan, but it leaves Afghan photojournalists little room to explore more nuanced concepts.
The Trap of Clichés
Examples of photographic deception are countless, but what receives less attention, and what is arguably more nefarious, is what gets manipulated, and why.
Ali Latifi, an Afghan journalist who grew up in the United States, worries about the clichés people working for foreign media organizations are prone to propagate. He believes clichés are used because they're easy and something editors love. "Like saying Afghanistan is a male-dominated society. Well, yeah, of course it is, but women in the United States get paid 70 cents on the dollar," Latifi said. "It's like saying Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban. It's also the birthplace of kings, it's also the birthplace of the country. I mean, so what? It's also the birthplace of Hamid Karzai."
From top, left to right: 1) Afghan child laborers sit in the trunk of a taxi as they go home after work in Mazare sharif, Afghanistan. 2) Children play on the streets of Mazar-i-sharif, Afghanistan, during the first snowfall of winter. 3) A young man rides a boat on a lake in the Band-e Amir National Park in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. 4) A doctor plays pool during his break in Mazar-i-sharif, Afghanistan. 5) Afghan bodybuilders compete during a local bodybuilding championship in Mazar-i-sharif, Afghanistan. 6) An Afghan girl looks out from her father's TV repair shop in Mazar-i-sharif, Afghanistan. Photos by Farshad Usyan
British-based landscape photographer Simon Norfolk, who first traveled to Afghanistan after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, produced the book Afghanistan: Chronotopia. In a 2015 interview with Middle East Monitor, he spoke of the reaction a New York Times editor had to his images after that first trip. "'Wow, I didn't know that's what [Afghanistan] looked like,' she said. I was thinking, 'What have you been looking at if you didn't know what it looked like?' What she had been looking at was a very narrow number of clichés: hundreds of pictures of kiddies in hospital, a Muslim woman crying by a grave, a guy with a turban and Kalashnikov — and that was Afghanistan."
Since 9/11, international media outlets and their collective audience have been interested in Afghanistan only insofar as their own countrymen and women, or those of the U.S.-led international military conglomerate, have been involved. Furthermore, the vast majority of that reporting has been facilitated by official military embeds, the granting of which requires journalists to stay in favor with public affairs departments who can restrict future access without reason.
Since the international combat mission ostensibly ended at the end of 2014, and with it combat embeds, it's easy for me, having only worked in Afghanistan thereafter, to be critical on this score. My concern is that while undertaking official military embeds isn't in itself ethically precarious, not accounting for the deliberately unilateral point of view they provide is.
It wasn't until I'd spent time in Afghanistan and had become aware of how oversimplified the notion of the battle between "good" (The United States and the Afghan government) and "evil" (the Taliban) was, that I realized how little subtlety there'd been in much of what I'd consumed via international media prior to arriving in the country.
Farshad Usyan, one of Afghanistan's best young photojournalists, believes that many photographers he's worked for as a fixer have unreasonable expectations of what they can achieve. Some photographers might come to Afghanistan for "just one month and want to do something very big," he said. "They try to do it very fast."
In Afghanistan, there's a checklist of scenes that many photographers feel they need to include in a body of work: the burqa-clad woman and the Afghan warrior among them. The lure of blunt symbols are symptoms of the feedback loop Rafiqui points to — clichés called upon to bolster inadequate reporting or representations that fit ill-conceived notions of Afghan-ness.
Hamid says that eschewing clichés and stereotypes and being attuned to cultural nuances are matters that should be respected for the sake of accurate storytelling, not for the politically correct notion of respecting one's subjects.
"If someone tells a bad story because of laziness," Hamid says, "they're just a bad journalist. I don't give a shit whether you respect Afghans or not, you disrespect your own profession."
The popular past-time of kaftar bazi, or "play of pigeons," in which people fly their flocks from purpose-built rooftop keeps in the late hours of the day, mostly during the spring, in Kabul and throughout Afghanistan. Jan. 29, 2014. Photo by Andrew Quilty, @andrewquilty
Andrew Quilty has been based in Kabul, Afghanistan since 2013. His work there has garnered awards including the Gold Walkley — the highest prize in Australian journalism, the George Polk Award for photojournalism, and three recognitions from Picture of the Year International. In 2016, a selection of Quilty's work from Afghanistan, "After Enduring Freedom," was exhibited at Visa Pour L'Image, in Perpignan, France. Follow Andrew on Instagram.
Next in our series "Truth-Telling": Ricci Shryock on supporting local media in sub-Saharan Africa. And don't miss our previous article, "Blind spots: The dangers of unchecked social bias in race and media" by Shaminder Dulai.
Thanks to Danielle Villasana and Austin Merrill.
Originally from Sydney, more recently his photography and writing have focussed on Afghanistan, where he has been based since 2013.


What is the California Cigarette Tax Stamp Program?
The California Cigarette Tax Stamp Program was developed by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) to implement the new California tax stamp mandated under Senate Bill (SB) 1701, enacted September 26, 2002. SB 1701 required the CDTFA to replace the old heat-applied decal tax stamp with a new tax stamp that can be read by a scanning device or similar device and encrypted with specific information after January 1, 2005. The CDTFA has entered into a contract with SICPA Products Security to sell the new cigarette tax stamps and related application equipment.
If I am already registered as a California cigarette distributor, are there other registration requirements to be able to purchase cigarette stamps?
Yes. If you wish to purchase stamps, you will need to register as an authorized purchaser using online registration. Online Registration is the convenient way to register and is available 24 hours a day. This will allow you to authorize certain personnel to make stamp purchases for your account.
Also, by providing a valid e-mail address when registering, you will be eligible to order stamps via the Internet.
How do I place a cigarette tax stamp order?
To place a cigarette tax stamp order, you must first be registered as an authorized cigarette tax stamp purchaser. Once registered, you may order stamps by faxing Form CDTFA-663-ACTS, "California Cigarette Tax Stamp Purchase Order," to the Stamp Desk at 1-916-327-6935. You may also order stamps via the Internet.
You will make payments to Bank of America for your cigarette tax stamp purchases. Distributors making deferred payments will also make payments to the Bank of America.
If you are a newly registered distributor, please make payment arrangements by contacting Bank of America, Commercial Client Support, at 1-888-841-8159, Option 4.
Can I make payment by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)?
Yes. You can make a payment by EFT. Please contact Bank of America, Commercial Client Support at 1-888-841-8159, Option 4 to make arrangements for EFT payments.
How do I order a stamping machine?
You can contact United Silicone at 1-800-639-3799, to order a stamping machine.
How much do the stamping machines cost?
United Silicone, the CDTFA stamping machine vendor, has set the price. If you have questions about the stamp application machines, you may call 1-800-639-3799.
What if I can't afford to purchase a stamping machine?
High volume stamping machines may also be leased from United Silicone, the stamping machine vendor. In addition, a less costly hand-held stamping machine intended for low volume application is available for purchase or lease.
Can I buy or lease machines from another source?
No. The stamping machines contain proprietary technology that can only be obtained from United Silicone.
Do the stamps allow for manual application?
Yes. These are adhesive pressure-sensitive stamps that can be applied with a less costly hand-held stamping machine. If you have questions about the hand held stamping machine, please contact Form 10 Group at info@form10.com or 1-408-988-0110.
From the time I place a stamp order, how long will it take to get my stamps?
Standard delivery will take 2-5 business days depending on when the order was placed and the method of payment.
Can Meyercord expedite the shipment of my order?
Yes. If you need the stamps sooner than standard delivery, you may select expedited delivery on your order form. Meyercord will bill you for the expedited shipping charge. Do not include the shipping charges with payment to CDTFA. Please contact Meyercord for details at 1-630-682-6200.
How many stamps are on a roll?
Can I buy stamps on credit?
Yes. If you would like to purchase stamps on a deferred payment option, please complete form CDTFA-356, Cigarette Distributor's Application for Deferred Payment Option. If your application is approved, you will be notified in writing of the credit limit and effective start date for your deferred payments. If your application is not approved, you will also be notified in writing.
What deferred payment options are available and when are payments due?
There are four options to defer payments for stamps.
Your average per-month purchase in the previous 12 months must not have exceeded 72,000 stamps or meter register settings.
You must have been licensed with CDTFA for at least five years and in good standing for three consecutive years, with no delinquent filing of any reports or returns or delinquent payments for any tax or fee we administer or collect.
You must have a valid e-mail address on file so we can send you payment information, notify you of the amount due, and send any other critical information regarding your account.
Payment is due by Wednesday of the week after stamps were purchased.
Requires a security deposit of at least 25 percent of your approved credit limit.
You must have a valid e-mail address on file with CDTFA so we can send you payment information, notify you of the amount due, and send any other critical information regarding your account.
Payment is due by Wednesday of the week after the stamps were purchased.
Requires a security deposit of at least 50 percent of your approved credit limit.
The first payment is due by the 5th of the following month in the amount of either one-half of the total prior month's purchase, or the total amount of the prior month's purchases made between the 1st and 15th of the prior month, whichever is greater.
The second monthly payment (any balance remaining after first payment) is due by the 25th of the following month.
Requires a security deposit of at least 70 percent of your approved credit limit.
Payment is due by the 25th of the following month.
What types of security does CDTFA accept?
Deposits accounts in banks, savings banks, and savings and loans including insured accounts, fully paid investment certificates, bonus investment certificates, and accumulative investment certificates.
State and federal credit union shares.
Letters of credit (To use a letter of credit as security, a licensed cigarette distributor must have their bank or financial institution complete and sign a form CDTFA-487-DCB, Irrevocable Letter of Credit).
How do I make a payment for cash purchases?
All payments must be made directly to Bank of America. Please contact Bank of America, Commercial Client Support, at 1-916-326-3155 to make payment arrangements. Payments must be received by Bank of America before the order is released for processing.
How do I make payment towards credit purchases?
Payments for purchases on the deferred payment basis must be sent directly to Bank of America.
Is there a way to check the status of an order?
Currently, you may inquire on the status of your order by calling the Stamp Desk at 1-916-341-6923. If you have a valid e-mail account, user Id, and password, you may check the status of your order by logging on to the CDTFA Electronic Services Menu.
Is there any way for a manufacturer, retailer or wholesaler to verify that the stamp is authentic?
Yes. A retail scanner is available for purchase that will authenticate the stamp. This device is available from Form 10 Group. Please contact them at 1-408-988-0110.
If I have problems with my stamping machine, who should I call?
Any problems with your high-volume stamping equipment should be reported to United Silicone National Support Center at 1-800-639-3799. For parts and glue orders, please contact United Silicone at 1-716-681-8222 x 135.
Problems with your low volume stamping equipment should be reported to Form 10 Group at 1-408-988-0110.
What if I have old, heat-applied stamps after my new stamping equipment is in place?
As of January 1, 2009, refund claims for heat-applied cigarette tax stamps will not be allowed.


Kristin Hettermann was lost and out of gas when she spotted Dennis Kaaihue alongside the road in Ke'anae. She was visiting from Charleston, South Carolina, and had underestimated the spectacular remoteness of the Hana Highway, the circuitous route that leads ever deeper into the East Maui rainforest. She asked Kaaihue directions to the nearest filling station. The Hawaiian farmer smiled. In his unhurried, generous way, he produced a gascan and filled her tank.
Back home Hettermann sent her roadside angel a thank-you gift. The two began a regular correspondence. Kaaihue wrote of his dream to cultivate a farm and cultural center on his family land, where visitors could experience authentic Hawai'i. He invited Hettermann back, adopting her as his hanai daughter. The 30-year-old Charleston socialite loved her action-packed city life, but as Kaaihue described the peaceful, healing powers of his land, she felt a magnet in her chest tugging her back to the Islands.
Exactly one year from the day she ran out of gas, Hettermann returned to Ke'anae with two suitcases and an empty day-planner. She'd left behind a dynamic marketing career and real estate investments. How would she make a living here? Tradewinds blew unimpeded through the glassless windows in Kaaihue's house, her temporary shelter. Lying in her small bed that night, listening to geckos' territorial clicks as they snapped up moths, Hettermann wondered whether she had made a terrible mistake.
Hawai'i's first residents —Kaaihue's ancestors — sailed here at least a thousand years ago, most likely from the Marquesas. Upon making landfall on the planet's most isolated archipelago, they adapted to its unique parameters. Many hundreds of years later European and American ships arrived carrying whalers, traders, botanists and missionaries. Next came waves of hardworking immigrants from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Portugal and Puerto Rico. They each came with their baggage—good and bad—and transformed Hawai'i as it transformed them.
Nowadays the dream of moving to Hawai'i is nearly universal. But the adventurous few who do are in fact outnumbered by those who move away. According to the US Census, in 2011 57,542 people migrated from the Mainland to Hawai'i, while 61,940 packed up and left. That's a net loss of 4,398 residents—and it's not an anomaly. In the 1990s Hawai'i led the nation in per capita loss due to migration. Why do people leave paradise? Ask those exiting and you'll get an earful: $9 gallons of milk, pterodactyl-size cockroaches, poorly rated public schools, volcanic smog, insanely priced beach shacks. Often it boils down to two simple facts: They can't find a job and they miss family elsewhere.
Everybody's heard horror stories of failed attempts. One poor fellow didn't make it past Honolulu Airport: Thieves at baggage claim relieved him of his worldly possessions. Without cash or identification, he couldn't even retrieve his dog from quarantine. The Hollands' tale is especially unfortunate. They built their dream home on Baldwin Beach on Maui, only to have it condemned before they could move in. It seems that the county improperly authorized building permits and later rescinded them. The Hollands endured years of litigation before surrendering their property for half of its market value. Would you blame these would-be residents for interpreting "aloha" as "goodbye"?
The Hawaiian Islands, still molten and rife with temperamental deities, seem to accept some people and spit others out. If you're f.o.b. (fresh off the boat), locals are hesitant to hire you, rent to you or date you until you've survived six months, preferably more. It's too risky; you probably won't stick around. So who makes the cut and why? How does a malahini (newcomer) become a kama'aina (child of the land)? A survey of a few longtime residents reveals that it has little to do with luck.
Delorese Gregoire is the spring-loaded, vivacious founder of Winner's Camp, a leadership academy for teens on O'ahu. Her cellphone ringtone, "Celebration" by Kool & the Gang, gives little hint of her hard-knock background. Born in 1946 in Salem, Massachusetts, she boomeranged from one abusive foster home to another—thirteen, all told. The first time she saw television, she was in a hospital: eight years old and mesmerized by images of Hawaiian landscapes flashing on the screen.
From that moment she had a mission. "I told myself, 'I'm getting out of this hellhole and going to Hawai'i,'" she says. She took every available job, from janitor to secretary to soda jerk. "When you grow up in the ghetto on the East Coast," she says, summoning a New Englander's nasal accent, "everybody is like, 'Yeah, right. Hawai'i? Are you kidding?'" But by her eighteenth birthday, Gregoire had socked away $900, enough for a one-way ticket on American Airlines.
The teen boarded the plane with no connections and no plan—only chutzpah and a desire to finally be the author of her life's script. When the wheels touched down in Honolulu, she says, "I felt chicken skin. I felt like I had finally come home." Concerned that she had no place to go upon arrival, the flight attendants adopted her. She stayed at their hotel for a few days before finding her own place.
With brown hair down to her hips and a newly acquired tan, the petite East Coaster fit right in amid the Waikiki throngs. It was 1964. Hawai'i had recently become a state, and large new aircraft had shortened the travel time between the Islands and the West Coast from eleven hours to six. This made the Islands more attractive to many Mainlanders. Gregoire landed a cocktail shift at the Tahitian Lanai. The swanky restaurant catered to servicemen on R&R and vacationing celebrities, including Marlon Brando and Prince Charles. The owner took an instant liking to his unflappable new recruit, who kept her cool even when a customer knocked her and a full tray of food into the pool.
In the midst of the psychedelic '60s, a young waitress with plenty of cash and no supervision could've disappeared down a path of debauchery. Instead Gregoire dived into the local culture: paddling outrigger canoes with the Waikiki beach boys and enrolling in ocean science and Hawaiiana classes at the University of Hawai'i. At the college she taught Japanese nationals conversational English. Her innovative, confidence-building methods became the basis for the Hawai'i English Language Program and the university's first English as a Second Language degree.
In 1985 Gregoire launched Winner's Camp, a week-long motivational retreat for teens. Campers tackle ropes courses and attend workshops in etiquette and public speaking—skills Gregoire worked hard to develop as an adult. The nonprofit program has received national recognition and produced fourteen thousand graduates. Thirteen years ago Winner's Camp found a permanent home on Kamehame Ridge. The abandoned Army barracks overlooking Hawai'i Kai were a disaster. Graffiti covered every surface that wasn't smashed or rusted through. The challenge of renovating the dilapidated kitchen and dorms didn't dissuade Gregoire in the slightest. Today they're clean, cozy and wallpapered with inspirational quotes of her own invention.
Jim Loomis was slightly more prepared than Gregoire when he relocated from Connecticut to O'ahu in 1962. In his pocket the 25-year-old had enough money for three months and a local's phone number. He also had a wife and baby in tow—that much more pressure to swim, not sink, in these new waters. Like so many émigrés Loomis wanted to put some distance between himself and his family back East. His wife didn't get along with them. But by day two he realized with a jolt just how far away he was from home. Everything felt foreign.
He dialed up his only Hawai'i contact: a former Connecticut resident named Frank Fasi. At the time Fasi had a salvage business on Sand Island. But he would soon become one of Honolulu's most influential mayors, a three-term leader who spearheaded the city's transformation from an exotic stopover to a dynamic metropolis. Loomis asked him for a recommendation. "Absolutely not," was Fasi's response. "I don't know you." But he invited Loomis and his wife over for dinner the following night. The two families became friends.
For two weeks afterward Loomis' phone rang with job offers — good ones — simply on the strength of Fasi's recommendation. Loomis took a position at 'Iolani High School, which afforded him a salary and entry into local social circles. In Hawai'i conversations often start with the critical question "Where you wen' grad?" The answer gives a clue to where a person comes from and how he or she was raised. It's a modern incarnation of the ancient Hawaiian custom of reciting one's genealogy. At 'Iolani Loomis got a backdoor introduction to this and another idiosyncrasy of Island life: graduation parties that rival royal coronations.
His education continued at City Hall, where he joined Mayor Fasi's team as director of the Office of Information and Complaints. His first complaint call came at 8 p.m., at home. Mrs. Mary Treby was on the line to report that there was a dead dog in her yard.
Fasi insisted that city employees list their numbers in the phonebook—and a local radio personality took full advantage of this accessibility. J. Akuhead Pupule (a.k.a. Hal Lewis) let discontented city dwellers rant on the airwaves about broken streetlamps, unfair meter maids and the like. Then he'd broadcast Loomis' direct line. Loomis didn't mind; he enjoyed solving Honolulu's problems. But when the city's garbage collectors went on a wildcat strike, things got a little hot. Fasi refused to capitulate to the workers' demands and fired all four hundred strikers. During a two-week standoff, Loomis fielded phone calls so threatening that police officers patrolled his house at night.
During Loomis' nine years of running interference for the city, he facilitated a few touchdowns of which he's humbly proud. One was the "beach bus." After a kid complained that drivers wouldn't let surfers bring their boards on the bus, Loomis conscripted a "stubby," or short bus, removed its back seats to accommodate surfboards and scheduled it to run between Waikiki and East O'ahu's beaches.
Another of Loomis' coups involved legendary Hawaiian slack key guitarist Gabby Pahinui. Loomis discovered that the talented musician worked on the city's road crew, laboriously filling potholes in the blazing sun. The problem-solver arranged to have Pahinui transferred to the Parks Department, where he could teach children to play music. "Gabby came into my office with tears in his eyes to thank me," remembers Loomis.
When the Emperor of Japan visited Honolulu, Loomis suggested that Mayor Fasi invite every tenth city resident with a driver's license to the honorary lü'au. Hirohito experienced a cultural event that truly was by and for the people.
While some people choose to migrate from their birthplace, others are uprooted. When the Vietnam War came to a sudden end in 1975 Americans evacuated the country en masse, airlifting Southern Vietnamese refugees out along with soldiers. "Operation New Life" brought 125,000 Vietnamese citizens to US bases, including one in Hawai'i.
Jennifer Nguyen, a shy 14-year-old, was in Saigon visiting her sister in April 1975. She was alone in the house when her American brother-in-law burst in looking for family members to evacuate. Nguyen, who didn't speak English, couldn't tell him that they'd gone to see a movie. He drove her to the airport, stopping two hundred feet outside the gate to put her in the trunk. She wasn't scared; she'd already seen enough during the war to numb her feelings.
Amid a mass of evacuees, Nguyen boarded a military transport. "We changed planes in Honolulu," she says. "I remember seeing a lot of people with black hair." That vision stuck with her long after she reached her final destination: Thornville, Ohio, where her sister and brother-in-law lived. Nine months passed before her family in Vietnam learned of her whereabouts; communication within the communist country was restricted and travel forbidden. Nguyen had fun in Ohio, she says, but hated the cold and the unfamiliar food. She was the only Asian student at Sheridan High School, where she made the honor roll despite language and cultural barriers. Her sister wanted to throw her a graduation party. Instead, Nguyen requested a ticket to the place where people had her color hair.
Nguyen was 18 years old when she arrived in Honolulu. She worked as a waitress and then as a bank teller. A diligent employee, she came in early, stayed late and was then quickly promoted to consumer loans. She dated a local fellow who left her a baby girl and little else. Nguyen named her daughter Kaiulani, after the Hawaiian princess. The Vietnamese expat felt more at home in Hawai'i's cultural melting pot than she had in Ohio, but her real investment in the Islands came when she bought a restaurant on Maui.
After Nguyen took over a small restaurant on Wailuku's Lower Main Street in 1994 she discovered that it wasn't as lucrative as the previous owner had promised. One dismal day she counted four customers and rang in $62.75. "I locked the door that night and cried," she says. The despairing entrepreneur called her mother. Mom happened to be a cooking instructor back in Vietnam. She supplied her daughter with all new recipes and a surefire secret to success: Peel the garlic fresh every day.
As instructed Nguyen bought produce from the market each morning, cooked all day, cleaned up at night and went home exhausted. On Sundays she'd cruise Wailuku Heights with her daughter and fantasize about living in the posh neighborhood. On the way home they would pass by the beach where the homeless occupied tent cities. Nguyen promised herself that if she "made it" one day, she would share her wealth with those less fortunate.
Within a year business was brisk enough for Nguyen to expand. She moved to a shiny new kitchen beneath Wailuku's Main Street bridge. Her new restaurant, A Saigon Café, became the haunt of local politicians, police officers, actors and artists. She treated her employees like family, and they repaid her by cracking jokes with guests and making them feel like insiders. Nguyen finally traveled back to Vietnam to visit her relatives and collect more recipes. Before long her Buddha rolls, shrimp pops and spicy soups were the toast of local and national food critics. She bought the house in Wailuku Heights and the property her restaurant sits on.
That second purchase didn't come easy. The owner—an old Japanese man— refused to even hear her offer. She was afraid he'd pass the restaurant on to someone else. "He wouldn't talk to me," she says. "Japanese men are like samurai." But she too had a warrior's spirit. She had the property appraised and a bill of sale drawn up. Three or four times a week, she'd bring it by his house, along with dinner and his favorite beer. She'd hang around, watch TV with him and chat with his wife, who loved her. This went on for eight months. She bought him a bigger TV and comfier chair. Still he refused to sign. Finally she played her trump card. Knowing how much he loved gambling, she scraped together $100,000 in twenties. She laid the cash out in front of him. "Don't you want to go to Vegas?" she asked. He signed.
Today Nguyen can still be found at her restaurant, radiating aloha with a dash of Vietnamese spice. She made good on her promise; for the last sixteen years she has prepared Thanksgiving dinners for Maui's homeless, personally delivering them to the beach.
Of the foreign nations supplying Hawai'i with new residents, the Philippines is by far the largest donor. Over the last five years an average of four thousand Filipinos immigrated to the Aloha State each year. By comparison the influx of Tongans is tiny: around fifty per year.
The Kingdom of Tonga sits well below the equator, and most university-bound Tongans travel to neighboring New Zealand or Australia for school. But in 1978, 18- year-old Tivoli Faaumu jumped at the chance to study in the United States. His aunt worked at Brigham Young University on O'ahu, so he had an entry and a safety net in Hawai'i.
You might expect that assimilation would be easy for someone swapping one Pacific island for another, but Faaumu experienced much of the same culture shock that a European might. Tonga has a strong British influence, while Hawai'i leans heavily toward Asia. Faaumu found mealtimes especially puzzling. Rice with everything? Where were the biscuits and milky tea? "At my first lü'au I saw these bowls of pudding and thought: At last, something I will enjoy," he says. "Of course, it was poi." Over time he grew to love the sour Hawaiian staple.
Like many BYU students, Faaumu paid for his tuition by performing at the school's Polynesian Cultural Center. He played the French horn and danced—the former skill he had mastered in secondary school, the latter he learned in Hawai'i. A business management major, he dreamt of owning his own company. But in his sophomore year he and his new Hawaiian girlfriend discovered they were expecting a child. This presented a problem at school. BYU is governed by the Mormon Church and has a strict code of conduct; Faaumu's studies there came to an end. He and his girlfriend married and moved to Maui, where her family lived. "Our families did not quite agree with our decision," says Faaumu, "but they supported us." Strong family orientation is something Tongan and Hawaiian cultures share.
Dropping out of college devastated Faaumu. He assuaged some of his frustration by forming Maui's first rugby team and found work at a Kapalua golf course. His boss soon recognized that the ambitious, athletic young man was overqualified for yanking weeds. "Go back to school," the elder told him. But Faaumu couldn't afford college while supporting his young family. "Become a weekend warrior. Join the Army Reserve," prodded his boss.
Faaumu took the advice; he's now a master sergeant. He trained alongside Maui Police Department recruits and in 1985 surprised himself by joining them. He thought he'd had his fill of crew cuts growing up; his father worked for the police force back home. But Maui's Tongan community was growing, and Faaumu saw that he could be an asset, someone who could negotiate with his fellow countrymen who found themselves afoul of the law.
Once an officer, Faaumu regularly consulted with the patriarchs of Maui's largest Tongan families and met with first-generation parents who didn't understand the American school or justice systems— things he'd had to parse for himself. He'd only recently obtained citizenship, after all. "I didn't know the background to the laws I was enforcing," he says. "Giving someone their Miranda's rights didn't make sense to me." Plus, he struggled with report writing. English is his second language—British English—and convoluted American legalese confounded him.
So back to school he went, this time obtaining a bachelor's in business management, the same degree he'd sought years before. When his wife left he became responsible for raising their three kids. He sent them all to college. His youngest played football for the University of Hawai'i—which in itself probably earned the family local hero status.
Faaumu's twenty-eight years in the Maui Police Department have been marked by steady achievements. He was a highly effective vice narcotics investigator and helicopter rappel master who spearheaded numerous marijuana eradication missions. He lobbied the County Council to ban drinking at Kalama Park, effectively snuffing out criminal activity in the area. When a teen cheerleader fell to her death at a local resort in 2004, Faaumu represented his department on national television. In 2011 he was promoted to captain of the Kihei station. Last year he helped launch a mentor program for at-risk youth.
Back in Ke'anae, Kristin Hettermann survived that first fateful night. She moved a little closer to civilization—twenty-five miles down the road—and passed the sixmonth mark with flying colors. She and Dennis Kaaihue recorded the story of their chance meeting for the Library of Congress' Storycorps. Her hanai father taught her how to pick the ripest mountain apples and rappel down a seventy-five-foot sea cliff to an idyllic pool on his property. In return she launched a crowdfunding campaign to help him take the first steps toward his goal of establishing a cultural gathering place.
"In Hawai'i I experienced a spiritual sense of place that was pretty foreign and radical to me," says Hettermann. "Before I moved here I had accomplished many of my goals, but I felt like a little part of my spirit was missing. five years later I can say that I feel peace and balance." She has created a new marketing agency, Grace Delivers Communications, that helps people to manifest their dreams—something she knows a little about.


Two sentenced on weapons charges in Herkimer Co.
Two men were sentenced in Herkimer County Court Friday on felony weapons charges, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Jayson Pulluaim, 37, was sentenced to three years in state prison with five years' post -release supervision after his conviction of second-degree possession of a weapon, officials said.
Terrence Hines, 36, was sentenced to one to three years after his conviction of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, officials said.


text:
Q: Is there any possible way to generate a notication from BroadcastReceiver I need to generate a titlbar notification from a broadcast receiver.
or
an alert dialogue with a notification sound

A: Yes you can, an example from my latest project:
public class AlarmReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {

private static final int MY_NOTIFICATION_ID=1;
NotificationManager notificationManager;
Notification myNotification;

@Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {

    Toast.makeText(context, "Alarm received!", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

    Intent myIntent = new Intent();

    PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context, MY_NOTIFICATION_ID,
            myIntent, PendingIntent.FLAG_ONE_SHOT);

    myNotification = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
            .setContentTitle("Game Time!")
            .setContentText("Where Amazing happens")
            .setTicker("Hello !")
            .setWhen(System.currentTimeMillis())
            .setContentIntent(pendingIntent)
            .setDefaults(Notification.DEFAULT_SOUND)
            .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_launcher)
            .build();

    notificationManager =
            (NotificationManager)context.getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);

    notificationManager.notify(MY_NOTIFICATION_ID, myNotification);

}

you can also call another activity from your BroadcastReceiver.
Hope this help!

A: Notification can be generated in an Activity or a Service. Modify your broadcast receiver and use its Context to generate it. Better post your code :)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Scientists have pinpointed for the first time the genetic cause in some people of an incurable muscle-wasting disease, Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD).
The international team, led by Dr Sue Shackleton from our Department of Biochemistry, say the finding of two target genes opens the possibility of developing drugs to tackle the disease in these patients.
The research, funded by The Wellcome Trust, has been published in the journal PLOS Genetics.
To date, only six genes have been linked to EDMD. Despite rigorous screening, at least 50% of patients with EDMD have no detectable mutation in the 6 known genes.
Now the breakthrough study has discovered two more genes linked to the disease.


Almost all of the other vampire sites appear to be dealing with fictional vampires, the type of vampire that can be found in vampire films and vampire novels and stories. Or they may find their inspiration in the fairly recent phenomenon of people who call themselves vampires, who are playing at being vampires, and who - in certain cases - even consider themselves to be genuine vampires. Interesting as all that may seem to some, it is definitely not "our kind of vampire".
Our main interest is in the old traditional undead corpse of the European mainland. Unlike fictional vampires like Dracula or Lestat, there is nothing glamorous or romantic about these vampires. Our kind of vampire is indeed a corpse. In most cases - according to the descriptions - it is reasonably well preserved, considering the fact that it has been dead for some time.
This corpse then is suspected and accused of draining the blood, health, or vital energy from the living. Its victims usually are friends or relatives that were known to the vampire during its life. In the end it is tracked down to its grave where its existence is ended by impalement or cremation. This (with the odd exception) is the kind of vampire that you will find on our site.
It is our hope that these pages will help to stimulate a new interest in an old kind of vampire that seems to have been largely forgotten by most members of the present vampire scene. We would be delighted if we could manage to inspire maybe one or two others to get an interest and start doing their own little bits of research into this fascinating subject. It is always interesting to read about vampires. But it is infinitely more rewarding to pick out one particular case and then - by doing your own research - try to learn as much about it as you possibly can.
As to myself, I have been doing that kind of thing for more than four decades now. My fascination with the subject has taken me to weird and far off places that otherwise I would never have seen. It has brought me into contact with lots of wonderful (and even a few less wonderful) people that otherwise I would never have met. I would not have missed it for the world.
Come on now, why don't you do your own bit of Vampire Research ?
As stated, it is our hope that we will manage to stimulate new interest in vampire research. We want to encourage others to pick up a case and do their own bit of research. Therefore, the cases that you will find on our site are far from completed. In most cases all that we have done is try to give you sufficient information to help you get started. For every case that you can find mentioned here, there is much more information to be found elsewhere. You are not going to get it from us, at least not on this site. Just have a look through the cases that are here. And if you find a case that seems interesting, or perhaps a case that has happened close to where you live, why don't you go do your own bit of vampire research ?


text:
#soccon
Asymetrically Expected
#trumpswindle | #WhatTheyVotedFor
Steve Benen brings both setup and punch line, which is what it is, and he is certainly fine talent―
Republican voters opposed bombing the Assad regime in Syria, until Donald Trump took office, at which point they changed their mind. GOP voters thought the American economy was awful, until a Republican became president, at which point they suddenly reversed course.
And Gallup reported late last week that Republican voters had deeply negative attitudes about the current U.S. tax system, right before they changed their minds in early 2017.
―but come on, Republicans are making it too easy. Or perhaps this is part of their faustian bargain, that such simplicity, daring to be stranger than fiction in a distinctive context akin to denigrating parody and pantomime, is the price of their desires. To say this is how Republicans or conservatives behave—to predict or expect such simplistic behavior—merely for the basis of political affiliation ought to be some manner of offensive stereotype.
Posted in #TrumpSwindle, #WhatTheyVotedFor, alt-Right, anti-Islam, Beltway, Bigotry, Christian supremacism, Civil Rights, Conservative, Culture, Democrats, Family, History, Homophobia, Human Rights, Journalism, Justice, Law, LGBTQ, Media (culture), Misogyny, Peace, People, Police/Law Enforcement (culture), Politics, Psychology, Purity/Family Values (culture), racism, Religion, Republicans, Terrorism, War, White House and tagged #bothsides, #soccon, #TrumpSwindle, #WhatTheyVotedFor, Affordable Care Act (ACA), anti-ACA candidate, asymmetric polarization, asymmetrical polarization, Brian Beutler, bud sex, business thesis, context, culture wars, Daily Intelligencer (blog), deaths of despair, Democratic voters, denigrating, distinctive, Donald Trump, economic thesis, economy, equal measure, expect, false equivalence, faustian bargain, Ferguson effect, fiscal conservatives, fiscal meltdown, Gallup, gay marriage, imperialism, intellectual conservatism, Jeffrey M. Jones, Jesse Singal, Jonathan Chait, Kentucky, Kentucky voters, law and order platform, marriage equality, might as right, MSNBC, New York Magazine, Norm Ornstein, Obamacare, offensive stereotype, opioid epidemic, pantomime, parody, petroleum, polarized electorate, political discourse, predict, public attitudes, quantifiably wrong, redefine sexuality, redefining marriage, Republican voters, same-sex heterosexuality, Science of Us (blog), simplicity, social conservatives, Steve Benen, Syria, tax fairness, tax rates, taxes, The Atlantic, The New Republic (TNR), traditional rules, Trump presidency, Trump voters, vulnerable population, welfare reform, wrecking the economy on 2017.04.17 by bd. Leave a comment
The Further Misadventures of Dinesh D'Souza (Blame Baby Blame)
"P.S. Obama turned out fine."
―Mary Elizabeth Williams
Salon is one of several newsish websites leading the field for overwritten headlines, for certain, but Mary Elizabeth Williams has a point in explaining, "Dinesh D'Souza, adulterous felon and disgraced academic, really embarrassed himself this time".
Dinesh D'Souza isn't just a convicted felon and adulterer. The filmmaker, right-wing pundit, defender of Donald Trump's right to access beauty pageant contestants' dressing rooms, and world's most racist amateur comedian is also generous in his praise toward those who are in his estimation great judges of character―in babies.
Posted in alt-Right, anti-Islam, Arts, Bigotry, Christian supremacism, Christianity, Comedy, Conservative, Crime, Culture, Ethics, Family, Feminism, Film, History, Homophobia, Islam, Journalism, LGBTQ, Misogyny, Parenthood, People, Politics, Psychology, Punditry, Purity/Family Values (culture), racism, Rape Culture, Religion, Republicans, Strange, Stupid, Writing and tagged #soccon, absent father, abuse, adopted children, adopted family, adoption, African-Americans, amateur comedian, anti-abortion, Barack Obama, beauty pageant contestant, Bill Clinton, blame baby, Dinesh D'Souza, Dinesh D'Souza adultery, Dinesh D'Souza felon, Dinesh D'Souza hack, Dinesh D'Souza racist, disgraced, Donald Trump, Donald Trump 2016, Donald Trump sexual harassment, dressing room, dumped, embarrassed, family values movement, Gaslighter in Chief, gaslighting, headline, JonesFoto, judge of character, late-term abortion, Mark Obenshain, Mary Elizabeth Williams, menstrual irregularity, Mexicans, miscarriage, Muslims, newsish, overwritten, right-wing pundit, Salon, shame, single mother, single parent, soccons, social conservatives, terminally ill, triggering on 2016.10.23 by bd. 1 Comment
A Note on Conservative Values
This is fun. Peter Montgomery, for Right Wing Watch, the day after Barack Obama was re-elected in 2012:
Not only did Obama win big, but voters in Maine and Maryland embraced marriage equality, and Washington seems likely to join them. Minnesota voters rejected a Religious Right-backed attempt to put anti-gay discrimination into the state's constitution. Tammy Baldwin was elected to the Senate, where she will be the first openly gay member.
Well before all those results were in, it was clear that the night was not going according to what Religious Right leaders had thought was God's plan. At 10 pm, Tony Perkins and Jim Garlow held a phone call briefing for pastors. It was a very subdued affair, with representatives of the state marriage campaigns trying to sound hopeful about the then-uncalled outcomes in their states. Perkins and Garlow also held a Wednesday webcast on the "aftermath and aftershocks" as the scope of their Election Day drubbing sank in. "The problem in America is sin," said Garlow. But, he said, "we have no problem that the next Great Awakening cannot solve."
The tendency after an election defeat to avoid blame by casting it elsewhere was in full flower the day after the election. Rep. Jim Jordan, a Religious Right favorite, described Mitt Romney as "the most liberal Republican nominee in history" who had "waffled" on abortion, had passed a health care bill as governor, and had a hard time convincing conservatives on his commitments on taxing and spending. Perkins criticized Romney for not campaigning on issues of life, marriage, and religious liberty, even though Obama used them to appeal to his base. Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway agreed, saying Republicans had not done enough to draw the contrast on social and "moral" issues. Regarding the marriage wins, Perkins blamed Obama in part, saying the president's policies have had "a shaping influence on the culture." He and others also blamed marriage equality proponents' financial advantage ....
.... Some Religious Right leaders sought solace in faith that God is ultimately in control. "America as we know it may have signed its death warrant tonight," said Garlow during the pastors' briefing. But not to worry, he said, nations come and go, but God's kingdom is forever. Perkins said FRC and its allies would continue to stand strong in the face of "an increasingly hostile culture."
Others looked forward to the next political fight. Pollster Conway predicted that 2014 would bring, like 2010's Tea Party wave, a conservative resurgence and called for candidate recruitment to begin now. Perkins agreed that conservatives have never had a stronger "farm team" and touted potential conservative candidates for 2016, including Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul, and Mike Pence.
Yes, indeed, a genuine Kellyanne Conway sighting, as the pollster reminded Republicans, as we hear every election, how things would go better if they would just become more misogynistic, homophobic, masculinist, Christianist, supremacist―you now, whatever counts among Republicans as family values and morality. It's also worth noting, in addition to the farm team standouts, the presence of Tony Perkins of Family Research Council.
It's just an interesting contrast. Kellyanne Conway, in her role as Donald Trump's campaign manager, has undoubtedly drawn a contrast on social and moral issues. Mr. Perkins, for his part, was last heard explaining, "My personal support for Donald Trump has never been based upon shared values".
Posted in alt-Right, Beltway, Bigotry, Business, Capitalism, Christian supremacism, Christianity, Communism, Conservative, Corporate/Business Culture, Crime, Culture, Democrats, Election, Ethics, Family, Feminism, History, Homophobia, Justice, Law, LGBTQ, Liberal, Misogyny, Parenthood, People, Politics, Psychology, Purity/Family Values (culture), Rape Culture, Religion, Republicans, Social Justice, Strange, Stupid, Tea Party, White House and tagged #soccon, 2010 midterm election, 2012 general election, Acts 4.32-35, Acts of the Apostles, anti-communist, anti-gay, Bobby Jindal, both parties, Buzzfeed, campaign manager, Christian hatred, Christianist, Cold War, conservative values, Donald Trump, Donald Trump 2016, Donald Trump lewd video, Donald Trump sexual assault, Donald Trump sexual harassment, equivalence, Family Research Council, family values, Gage Skidmore, God's Kingdom, hatemonger, homophobic, in thing, Jim Garland, Jim Garlow, Kellyanne Conway, liberal party, Marco Rubio, marriage equality, masculinist, Mike Pence, misogynistic, next Great Awakening, no difference, pejorative, Peter Montgomery, pollster, priorities, Rand Paul, reject Apostles, religious right, Right Wing Watch, Ronald Regan, Rosie Gray, Saint Ronald Magnus, secondary, shared values, soccons, social conservatives, supremacist, Tammy Baldwin, Tea Party wave, Tony Perkins, Tony Perkins betray Christ on 2016.10.14 by bd. 1 Comment
The Donald Trump Show (Sacrifice of the Intellect)
This is―
Has Donald J. Trump become a born-again Christian?
That is the suggestion of James C. Dobson, one of America's leading evangelicals, who said Mr. Trump had recently come "to accept a relationship with Christ" and was now "a baby Christian."
Dr. Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family and one of the country's most prominent social conservatives, gave his account at a meeting Mr. Trump had in New York on Tuesday with hundreds of Christian conservatives.
In an interview recorded at the event by a Pennsylvania pastor, the Rev. Michael Anthony, Dr. Dobson said he knew the person who had led Mr. Trump to Christ, though he did not name him.
"I don't know when it was, but it has not been long," Dr. Dobson said. "I believe he really made a commitment, but he's a baby Christian."
(Gabriel and Luo)
―you know, I don't know. It's fucking pathetic, is what it is.
Look, if this naïveté is the bounty of faith―no, really, pick your punch line. How about, I'm glad I called bullshit and walked away decades ago/ Maybe, Why would anybody want to be like them? Oh, hey, I got it: Why are we still paying attention?
I get that these people are desperate, but the capacity for self-delusion among conservative Christians is emblematic of self-inflicted human frailty.
And while "the dumbest thing James Dobson ever said" is kind of like trying to pick the best rock song ever recorded by surveying an 80s catalog, or the best movie ever made by scrolling through free cable on demand, the craven idiocy of trying to justify Donald Trump is itself a spectacle; "baby Christian", though, is an all-time great.
Image note: Donald Trump speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference [CPAC], 6 March 2014, at National Harbor, Maryland. (Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Gabriel, Trip an Michael Luo. "A Born-Again Donald Trump? Believe It, Evangelical Leader Says". The New York Times. 25 June 2016.
Posted in 2016 GOP Primary, Beltway, Bigotry, Christian supremacism, Christianity, Conservative, Culture, Election, Family, Feminism, LGBTQ, People, Politics, Purity/Family Values (culture), Religion, Republicans, Strange, Stupid, White House and tagged #soccon, 2016 GOP presidential nomination, 2016 Republican presidential nomination, 80s songs, baby Christian, best movie, best rock song, Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call, born-again Christian, bounty of faith, Christian voters, conservatie Christian, craven, desperate, Donald Trump, Donald Trump 2016, Donald Trump born again, Donald Trump Show, evangelical conservatives, evangelical voters, Focus on the Family, free cable, GOP 2016, idiocy, James Dobson, lead to Christ, Michael Luo, naïveté, New York Times, on demand, pathetic, Rev. Michael Anthony, social conservative, Trip Gabriel on 2016.06.29 by bd. Leave a comment
A Reminder None of Us Needed
Because this is still going on:
Former Idaho Sen. Larry E. Craig must pay $242,533 to the Treasury Department for using campaign money on legal representation in the aftermath of his 2007 guilty plea after a Minnesota airport bathroom sex sting, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected the argument from Craig's lawyers that the legal costs are no longer personal expenses when an arrest becomes politicized and an opponent uses the arrest for political reasons.
Craig spent about $200,000 in campaign funds on legal fees to try to undo the plea.
(Ruger)
Or, rather, it was.
You know, it's like: Oh, for phucking phuckity-phuck phuck-all! We'd all like to forget!
I mean, really.
Damn it. I mean, please just tell me it's all over, now.
Ruger, Todd. "Ex-Sen. Craig Loses Appeal On Funds Use After Bathroom Incident". Roll Call. 4 March 2016.
Posted in Beltway, Bigotry, Congress, Conservative, Crime, Culture, Ethics, History, Justice, Law, LGBTQ, Middle America, People, Politics, Psychology, Purity/Family Values (culture), Republicans, Sexual Behavior, Stupid, US Senate and tagged #soccon, airport bathroom, anti-gay politician, appeals court, arrest, bathroom hookup, closet case, closet gay, closet homosexual, closeteer, Department of the Treasury, federal court, former senator, homophobic politician, Larry Craig, legal costs, men's room, personal expences, political scanal, Republican senator, sex scandal, social conservative, Treasury Department, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, unpleasant reminder, wide stance on 2016.03.06 by bd. Leave a comment
Serial Metaphorical Murderlust
"This budget and debt deal is being brokered by a lame duck speaker and a lame duck president. It represents the very worst of Washington―a last minute deal that increases spending and debt under the auspices of fiscal responsibility. If this deal moves forward, it will undermine efforts to unite the party by those promising to advance serious policy reforms."
―Michael A. Needham (Club for Growth)
There comes a point at which conservative true colors shine through. The Club for Growth, of course, is the organization that likes to use murder metaphors to describe government, and enjoys the fantasy of deliberately drowning someone in a bath tub. It is the organization Republicans kneel before, to which they offer up fealty. Just as social conservatives reject the supreme law of the land for their own ad hoc Biblical "doctrine", so do fiscal conservatives reject the fact that they are elected to government office in favor of murder fantasies and deliberately inflicting deprivation on their fellow human beings because they actually openly loathe and want to destroy the government they ask to serve.
Yeah. Republicans.
It's a free country.
And, you know, when they succeed in making the former sentence false, Republicans will just blame Democrats, because that's what they always do; and a significant number of people well enough educated to know better will pretend it's some manner of fair argument, and many of these will have employment in the press.
At the moment, we can see the rough outline emerging. John T. Bennett of Roll Call reported this morning:
GOP senators highlighted parts of the package meant to offset increased defense and domestic spending as their chief concerns. Their comments were followed by a blistering critique of the deal from the conservative groups Heritage Action for America and the Club for Growth.
The problem here is the problem with any Republican action; the underlying principle requires exclusion and deprivation. With the Cult of Grover muttering its incantations and instructions, we can expect its Republican minions to go forth and do the Club for Growth's bidding like the good little House servants they are. Going forward, we should remember that this is the proposed budget deal; it is exactly the sort of thing that leads to budget standoffs; it will not get President Obama's signature. The Club for Growth would like to extend this farce as long as possible, because, hey, bawling about who Republicans get to hurt is better than actually governing, and, you know, we should dump this mess onto the incoming Speaker of the House because that would give the Cult a way to inform Mr. Ryan of his proper place in the hierarchy beneath Grover Norquist.
Remember, for conservatives the whole point is to prevent the American government from functioning. This is the first principle of Grover: Government should be weak enough to drown in a bathtub.
No, really, is there a shutdown standoff Republicans can actually resist? This is such an intractable horde that they won't even let the Speaker of the House resign properly; this is just another opportunity for conservatives to attempt to plunge the government into crisis in order to show us all what it looks like when government just doesn't work.
Image note: The dome of the United States Capitol building, under repair, in 2015. (Detail of photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Bennett, John T. "GOP Senators Concerned by 'Gimmicks' in Budget Deal". #WGDB. Roll Call. 27 October 2015.
Posted in Beltway, Christian supremacism, Christianity, Congress, Conservative, Culture, Government, History, People, Politics, Religion, Republicans, Tea Party, US House of Representatives, US Senate, White House and tagged #soccon, #WGDB (blog), ad hoc Christianity, ad hoc doctrine, ad hoc faith, ad hoc religion, Biblical doctrine, budget deal, budget standoff, can't resign properly, Club for Growth, conservative cruelty, CQ Roll Call, Cult of Grover, deliberately inflicting deprivation, destroy the government, drown government, drown in a bathtub, fiscal responsibility, gimmicks, government doesn't work, government shutdown, Grover Norquist, Heritage Action for America, House servants, incoming Speaker, John Boehner, John Boehner resign, John T. Bennett, Mark Wilson/Getty Images, metaphorical murderlust, Michael A. Needham, murder fantasy, murderlust, OH08CD, Paul Ryan, Republican cruelty, Republican minions, Republicans anti-American, Roll Call, Senate GOP, Senate Majority Leadership, Senate Republican Leadership, Senate Republicans, social conservatives, Speaker Boehner resign, WI01CD, Worst Speaker Ever on 2015.10.27 by bd. 1 Comment
The Lindsey Graham Show (Establishment Avenger Sequel)
It is true that if This Is actually issued candidate endorsements, you know, pretending that our opinion actually meant anything significant, we would at this time seriously consider endorsing South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham for the Republican nomination.
Clowns to the left of him, jokers to the right – and presidential contender Sen. Lindsey Graham is wondering how the heck he's not doing better in the polls.
The hawkish Republican, who's spent nearly 13 years in the U.S. Senate, shared these gripes today on Morning Joe.
'On our side, you've got the No. 2 guy, tried to kill somebody at 14, and the No. 1 is high energy and crazy as hell,' Graham said of Ben Carson and Donald Trump, respectively.
'How am I losing to these guys?' Graham asked.
(Schwab)
The Daily Mail article really is near to hilarious, but that's the thing. For all the show Lindsey Graham is putting on, it is not as if his politics exactly―or, you know, remotely―match up with the issues and perspectives covered here, but once again the American right wing has become so ridiculous that, yes, the South Carolina Republican becomes so moderate by comparison that one might stand shoulder to shoulder. Mr. Graham seems to have some reasonable perspicacity about the magnitude of the spectacle we are witnessing in the 2016 GOP presidential nomination contest; he is enough of a Party stalwart to bear some caution in his heart toward the future. For now, unfortunately, the serious candidates are judged by popular ratings, not the content of their campaigns. Or, you know, maybe we're wrong about that. Maybe this really is about the content of their campaigns.
It is, after all, undeniable that Trump and Carson alike seem to prosper by bigotry and potsherd insanity. And as Republicans seem to be at least going through the motions of pretending to prepare themselves for resigning with heaving sigh to the reality of a Donald Trump nomination―over two months before voting begins and delegates gather―we might reasonably wonder at the power of such toxic content.
And all Lindsey Graham wants is to save the Republican Party from itself. And, yeah, you know, if we could get back to former valences of moral bankruptcy of what once counted for dignified conservative politicking in the Republican Party―you know, heartless capitalism and authoritarianism that rolled its eyes at having to occasionally accommodate the disdainful adventures of its rabid social conservative wing―we might at least call it some degree of progress.
Schwab, Nikki. "Lindsey Graham says he's shocked he's losing to 'crazy as hell' Trump and Ben Carson after retired neurosurgeon admits trying to stab someone when he was a teen". Daily Mail. 26 October 2015.
Posted in Beltway, Bigotry, Business, Capitalism, Christian supremacism, Congress, Conservative, Crime, Culture, History, People, Politics, Religion, Republicans, Strange, Tea Party, US Senate, White House and tagged #soccon, 2016 GOP presidential nomination, 2016 Republican presidential nomination, authoritarianism, Ben Carson, Ben Carson 2016, Ben Carson bigotry, Ben Carson tried to kill somebody, campaign content, campaign popularity, candidate endorsements, clowns, Daily Mail (UK), Donald Trum crazy as hell, Donald Trump, Donald Trump 2016, Donald Trump bigotry, establishment Republicans, GOP 2016, heartless capitalism, jokers, Lindsey Graham, Lindsey Graham 2016, Lindsey Graham Establishment Avenger, Lindsey Graham Show, moral bankruptcy, Morning Joe (TV), MSNBC, national polls, Nikki Schwab, polls, potsherds (political), Republican establishment, social conservative, South Carolina, spectacle, uncredited photo on 2015.10.26 by bd. 3 Comments


text:
The biggest threat to democracy might be the loss of local newspapers
By Lata Nott
Inside the First Amendment
If you're reading this column in your local newspaper, congratulations! Just by skimming your eyeballs over this page, whether it's in print or online, you're doing a vital service for your hometown, and for democracy as a whole. (Go ahead and take the rest of the day off.)
It's no secret that local journalism is in trouble, and has been for quite some time. According to a 2017 report from the Pew Research Center, the weekday circulation for U.S. daily newspapers has been on the decline for twenty-eight consecutive years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that between 1990 and 2016, the number of newspaper employees in the U.S. declined from 456,300 to 183,000.
Despite the vitriol that publications like The New York Times and The Washington Post attract from the Trump administration, it's not the national news media outlets that we need to worry about. Their subscription numbers are on the rise. It's the smaller newspapers that serve local markets that are suffering. Many are chronically understaffed. Some have shuttered altogether. A map created by the Columbia Journalism Review reveals that communities all across the United States have been "left with no daily local news outlet at all."
What's the cause of all these news deserts? It's the internet (to paraphrase the Simpsons, "the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems"). Local newspapers lost print subscriptions when people started reading the news online (and came to expect it to be free). They lost another major source of revenue when their classified sections were supplanted by Craigslist. Their digital editions have to compete for eyeballs and advertising revenue with websites that traffic in national scandals, political commentary and cat videos.
This isn't just a financial hardship for your local newspaper. According to a new paper co-authored by three professors of finance, it's a financial hardship for your entire town. The researchers looked at cities that lost newspapers between 1996 and 2015, and found that within three years of a newspaper's closure, the costs for municipal bonds and revenue bonds increased for these cities. Here's how they explained the connection: "Revenue bonds are commonly issued to finance local projects such as schools and hospitals, and are backed by the revenues generated by those projects...[T]hese bonds are rarely regulated by the state government. A local newspaper provides an ideal monitoring agent for these revenue-generating projects, as mismanaged projects can be exposed by investigative reporters employed by the local newspaper. When a newspaper closes, this monitoring mechanism also ceases to exist, leading to a greater risk that the cash flows generated by these projects will be mismanaged."
In other words, local newspapers provide a public good, one that can be measured in dollars and cents. The problem is that today's marketplace doesn't really reward them for this. A listicle about amazing dogs will always generate more advertising revenue than coverage of a city finance committee meeting. (You know which one you're more likely to click on. Just admit it to yourself and move on.) But the latter article could actually prevent municipal corruption. Even if no one reads it, public officials are more likely to behave ethically when they know they're being monitored. As citizens, we tend to take this effect for granted. Maybe we need to stop thinking about our local newspapers as businesses that need to turn a profit and start thinking about them as utilities that we need to finance for our own good.
Lata Nott is executive director of the First Amendment Center of the Freedom Forum Institute. Contact her via email at lnott@freedomforum.org, or follow her on Twitter at @LataNott.


One of the strongest yet most audience admired character is Batman. The fictional character of DC Comics has stolen the heart of many of the youngster by his breath tasking outfits in the movies as well as along with his super powers and abilities. Fashion can be defined by the attire that he carries as Bruce Wayne who has been behind the secret identity of Batman. The character was originally played by Christian Bale in 'The Dark Knight' where Batman had all of us fallen for his character. Despite of Batman being a super hero, he doesn't possess any actual super powers. His super power is actually his intellect. He is one a genius mind that any one can come across. His physical powers and martial arts practice make him rule over the character. He has massively strong detective skills along with technology and wealth. Jacketism admires the Batman movie characters and therefore has a great collection of Batman, Batwoman, Robbin & Bane's Jackets, Coats & Costumes available for all the fans who want to imitate their favorite character's outfit to feel the power and strength that they posses.
Jacketism never compromises on the quality of the jackets. Our jackets compose of the material of lambskin, sheepskin, cowhide or buffalo. Either of nappa, nubuck, aniline, semi-aniline treated, distressed, striking or suede. We have a collection of jackets under the category of ready-to-wear for the customers who are short on time and prefer to grab the right jacket for themselves. You can avail Bruce Wayne Brown leather coat, Batman black leather jacket, Superman vs Batman Maroon leather jacket, Dark Knight Rises Bane Brown leather coat and many more! On the other hand, if you are not satisfied with the jackets already made, you can avail the iCustomize feature where you can be the creator of your own leather jacket. iCustomize is where you are the one who chooses and come up with the fabric, color and design that soothes your mind for the perfect leather jacket that you want to own. Jacketism is here to make your dream come true, because for us, customer satisfaction holds the first position. We ensure you to deliver the best quality of jackets so that you may own it.


JOHN ROBERT POWERS founded the modern day billion dollar modeling, talent, and corporate training industry. From his many writings and published books Mr. Powers created the curriculum that is the core of the personality development, modeling and other course offered at the worldwide network of John Robert Powers Schools.
Mr. Powers believed that there is no such thing as an unattractive person, just some people who do not know how to make the most of themselves. He dedicated his life to helping people to develop and take good advantage of their personalities.
Naturalness was his gospel. He encouraged his female students, "don't make up, make down." Our schools still believe and teach this philosophy. Be yourself. Be natural. That is what our courses are all about.
It was during the 1920's that Mr. Powers came to New York City with the hopes of becoming an actor. His business and entrepreneurial skills led him elsewhere. He overheard an associate say he wanted a group of attractive people to pose for magazine advertisements. Powers rounded up acting friends and trained them for these advertisements. The modern modeling industry was born. He founded the first modeling agency in 1923. Around the world the JOHN ROBERT POWERS SCHOOL SYSTEM celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2003.
Fame and fortune have come to many personalities who were trained in the methods originated by Mr. Powers. First Lady JACKIE KENNEDY, RAQUEL WELCH AND DIANA ROSS attended Powers' schools. PRINCESS GRACE OF MONACO was a Powers Model. Jennifer Jones, Ava Gardner, Barbara Stanwyck, Lucille Ball, Lee Remick, Ann Margaret, Henry Fonda, Tyrone Power were also Powers Models with the original John Robert Powers Agency in New York City from the 1920's through the 1940's.
The famous people of tomorrow are attending our schools today.
We hope you will take advantage of a Powers course for a better, happier, and more successful life.