When the Twins signed Phil Hughes to a three-year, $24 million contract this offseason the idea was that getting him away from homer-inflating Yankee Stadium would fix his biggest problem of serving up long balls. That's played out exactly as hoped, with Hughes allowing just nine homers in 122 first-half innings after averaging 19 homers per 122 innings from 2010-2013. Beyond that there was also another big but unexpected change: He stopped walking anyone.
Hughes has always had mediocre control, averaging nearly 3.0 walks per nine innings for his Yankees career, but this season under Rick Anderson's coaching his walk rate is a miniscule 0.8 per nine innings. Not only is that the second-lowest rate in all of baseball--sandwiched between Hisashi Iwakuma and Clayton Kershaw--it's the second-lowest walk rate in Twins history behind only Carlos Silva's ridiculous 0.4 per nine innings in 2004.
Hughes' velocity and strikeout rate remain nearly identical to his Yankees days and he's still one of MLB's most extreme fly-ball pitchers, but switching home ballparks has made those fly balls less of a weakness and refusing to walk anyone has turned him into a different pitcher. He walked zero or one batter in 17 of 19 first-half starts (89 percent) after doing so in 61 of 132 starts (46 percent) for the Yankees. He's been a souped-up version of the Twins' long-preferred pitching mold.
Kevin Correia got off to a horrendous start, put together a nice stretch heading into the All-Star break, and just like last year finished the first half as one of baseball's worst starters. Offensive levels dropping across MLB have kept his numbers from being as gag-inducing as bad pitchers from 5-10 years ago, but among the 93 qualified starters this season Correia ranks dead last in strikeout rate, second-to-last in xFIP, and 84th in ERA. He also leads MLB with 11 losses.
Signed to a four-year, $49 million deal this offseason to front the Twins' rotation, Ricky Nolasco was the worst starter in the league for three months and then revealed that he'd been pitching through an elbow injury since spring training. Within his terrible performance was some poor luck on balls in play, even by Nolasco's often "unlucky" standards, but his velocity, strikeout rate, and walk rate were also all worse than the 31-year-old's career norms.
Based on secondary numbers Nolasco performed more like a 4.50 ERA pitcher than a 5.90 ERA pitcher, but that's still awful in a year when the average starter has a 4.05 ERA. Justin Morneau hit .321/.375/.559 in his MVP-winning 2006 season. This year opponents have hit .330/.368/.538 off Nolasco. Thankfully for the Twins adding Hughes to the rotation has worked out well, because the decisions to sign Nolasco and re-sign Mike Pelfrey have gone about as poorly as possible.
Kyle Gibson returned from Tommy John elbow surgery without bat-missing raw stuff, generating just 4.7 strikeouts per nine innings since going under the knife. That limits his upside and means he'll always be in danger of a rapid collapse, but his ability to induce grounders has remained with the rebuilt elbow and his ground-ball rate of 54.6 percent ranks seventh among all MLB starters. And after some early control problems he issued just nine walks in his final 10 first-half starts.
Throwing strikes and keeping the ball on the ground is a recipe for success, but without strikeouts that success likely tops out in the middle of the rotation. Which is fine, of course. The last Twins starter to log 150 innings with a higher ground-ball rate than Gibson's current mark was ... no one, at least not since 2002 when the data begins. Still, fewer than 5.0 strikeouts per nine innings is Silva, Nick Blackburn, and Scott Diamond territory, which is a dangerous place to be.
Once presumed to be a member of the rotation, Sam Deduno began the season in the bullpen before shifting into starter mode to replace the injured Pelfrey in May. After an ugly June 14 start he moved back to the bullpen, where he finished the first half by throwing 13 scoreless innings. His sample size of relief work is too small to draw any conclusions, but with a 4.51 ERA and 4.5 walks per nine innings in 41 career starts there's no need to see more of Deduno in the rotation.
Nearly all of the gains Anthony Swarzak made last season have vanished this year, as his strikeout and walk rates have regressed to the pre-2013 levels that made him look like a marginal big leaguer. His durability has value in a bullpen-saving role, but Swarzak is now 28 years old with a 3.69 ERA and just 5.8 strikeouts per nine innings in 132 career relief appearances. He doesn't miss enough bats or throw enough strikes.
I'm not sure people fully appreciate just how good Glen Perkins has been since moving to the bullpen full time in 2011. During that four-year span he's posted a 2.54 ERA in 235 appearances, compiling 269 strikeouts compared to 49 non-intentional walks in 234 innings. And since taking over for Matt Capps as closer in mid-2012 he's converted 74 saves at an 89 percent success rate. By comparison, Mariano Rivera converted 89 percent of his career save chances.
Among all MLB relievers with at least 200 innings since 2011 he ranks seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio, eighth in average fastball velocity, and ninth in Win Probability Added and xFIP. He's been one of the 10 best relievers in baseball since becoming a reliever and Perkins is actually getting better, as this year's 49/7 K/BB ratio in 39 innings represents the best strikeout and walk rates of his career. He's the third-best reliever in Twins history behind Joe Nathan and Rick Aguilera.
It'd be easy to point to his 3.34 ERA in 35 appearances since back-to-back ugly April outings as proof that Jared Burton has been his old self of late, but the truth is that a 3.34 ERA isn't even much better than this season's MLB average of 3.60 for relievers and his 24/10 K/BB ratio in 32 innings during that span is hardly vintage Burton. His velocity and strikeouts are down, his walks and fly-ball rate are up, and after a helluva run for the Twins he's in decline mode at age 33.
Extreme fly-ball pitchers always make for tricky late-inning relievers and Casey Fien has had a few home run-based blowups, but he's also got a 2.95 ERA and fantastic 137/27 K/BB ratio in 137 innings since the Twins signed him as a minor-league free agent in 2012 and then called him up with zero expectations that July. During that three-year span Fien has been superior to Burton in strikeout rate, walk rate, opponents' average, ERA, and xFIP. He's the Twins' best setup man.
Compared to last season his ERA looks much better, but Brian Duensing's secondary numbers are actually much worse and in particular he's managed a poor 21/13 K/BB ratio in 36 innings. Duensing continues to be decent versus left-handed hitters, but he's walked more righties (10) than he's struck out (9). For his career righties have hit .297/.356/.462 off Duensing and he's not nearly dominant enough against lefties to make up for it.
Pelfrey was terrible in 2013, going 5-13 with a 5.19 ERA in 29 starts, but for some reason the Twins felt compelled to give him a two-year, $11 million contract. He went 0-3 with a 7.99 ERA in five starts, got shut down with a dubious groin injury, and later underwent elbow surgery. He's probably done for the season, but Pelfrey will be back in the mix for a rotation spot next season because he's still owed another $5.5 million.
Last season Caleb Thielbar came out of nowhere to emerge as the Twins' secondary left-handed setup man and he's filled the same role relatively well this year. At age 27 the former independent leaguer lacks long-term upside, but through 76 innings as a big leaguer he's got a 2.23 ERA and 60/22 K/BB ratio without extreme platoon splits. He's been used in low-leverage situations, but that could change in the second half if the Twins start auditioning him for Duensing's gig.
Signed to a minor-league deal and then promoted to Minnesota one day before the mid-May opt-out clause in his contract, Matt Guerrier has posted a nice-looking 2.67 ERA with just one homer allowed in 20 appearances. He hasn't quite been his old self, however, with just 12 strikeouts in 27 innings and an average fastball velocity of 89 miles per hour. At age 35 he's a low-leverage reliever, which is exactly how the Twins have used the former setup man.
Signed to a two-year, $10 million contract that didn't make much sense this offseason, Kevin Correia posted a 2.23 ERA in April that had people coming up with all sorts of theories about why he'd turned a corner at age 32. Since the calendar flipped to May he's made 15 starts with a 5.21 ERA, allowing opponents to hit .321 with 15 homers in 74 innings. Since completing at least seven innings in each of his five April starts Correia has done so just once in his last 15 outings.
Overall he has a 4.23 ERA compared to the AL average of 4.08 and across baseball Correia ranks 85th among 89 qualified starters in both strikeout rate and swinging strike percentage, which is some serious pitching to contact. He's been slightly less ineffective than expected thanks to the fast start, but Correia has shown why the multi-year commitment was misguided and if the Twins can trade him before the ERA rises any further they should.
Scott Diamond's miniscule strikeout rate suggested that last year's success would be short-lived and sure enough he unraveled in the first half. His strikeout rate fell even further to 4.2 per nine innings, which is the worst in baseball, and his walk and ground-ball rates declined from excellent to merely good. Toss in a 30-point uptick in Diamond's batting average on balls in play and you end up with an ERA that jumps from 3.54 to 5.32.
Diamond wasn't as good as he looked last season and isn't as bad as he's looked this season, but overall he's a whole lot closer to a left-handed Nick Blackburn than a long-term building block. In fact, through three seasons the comparison between Diamond and Blackburn is eerily close. Diamond has a 4.27 ERA and rates of 4.5 strikeouts, 2.1 walks, and 1.0 homers per nine innings. Blackburn had a 4.14 ERA and rates of 4.4 strikeouts, 1.8 walks, and 1.1 homers per nine innings.
All the offseason and early spring training talk of Mike Pelfrey being vastly ahead of schedule in his recovery from Tommy John elbow surgery gave way to his actually having to pitch and it was ugly. Pelfrey had a 6.66 ERA through 11 starts, including a .332 opponents' batting average and 26-to-19 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 51 innings. He then likely saved his rotation spot with a decent five-start stretch to finish the first half, with a two-week disabled list stint mixed in.
Pelfrey wasn't particularly effective before the surgery, serving mostly as an innings-eater for the Mets, and going under the knife didn't fix his inability to miss bats. He relies almost exclusively on a low-90s fastball, which is why Pelfrey is averaging fewer than 6.0 strikeouts per nine innings for the eighth time in eight seasons. That pitch used to at least generate lots of ground balls, but his current rate of 43.8 percent is a career-low and actually qualifies Pelfrey as a fly-ball pitcher.
Last season Samuel Deduno was relatively successful with a 4.44 ERA in 15 starts despite nearly as many walks (57) as strikeouts (53) in 79 innings. Even that modest success won't work long term with those secondary numbers and somewhere along the way pitching coach Rick Anderson appears to have hammered that point home to Deduno. Prior to this year Deduno had walk rates of 6.1 per nine innings in the majors and 5.0 per nine innings at Triple-A. This year he's at 2.9.
It's a sample size of 10 starts, but Deduno has three or fewer walks in all 10 of them after doing so just half the time last year. His strikeout rate has actually fallen to 4.5 per nine innings, which is among MLB's worst, but he's made up for the lack of missed bats by nibbling less and letting the movement of his pitches induce an AL-high 61 percent ground balls. Or, put another way: Pitching to contact actually works for Deduno. There's more reason to believe in him now than last year.
After three sub par years split between the rotation and bullpen Anthony Swarzak has taken a step forward as full-time long reliever. Compared to his first three seasons Swarzak has upped his strikeouts by 28 percent, reduced his walks by 26 percent, and become less fly-ball prone. He's been one of the most effective pitchers on the entire staff, although that's admittedly not saying much and because most of his work comes in long-relief spots his impact has been minimal.
In fact, the Twins are 6-21 when Swarzak pitches. That should be blamed on his role rather than his performance, which includes a 3.55 ERA and 41-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 58 innings. So far they've resisted the urge to put Swarzak back into the rotation and they've also yet to really move him up the bullpen hierarchy. Considering the overall state of the pitching staff if Swarzak keeps pitching this well in the second half he'd warrant some kind of higher-leverage gig.
When the Twins acquired 25-year-old Vance Worley from the Phillies in the Ben Revere trade he was supposed to step in as a long-term mid-rotation starter. Worley had thrown 278 innings with a 3.50 ERA for the Phillies and while there were questions about his many called strikeouts being sustainable there was little reason to expect a collapse. And then he went from Opening Day starter to Triple-A in less than two months, allowing 43 runs in 49 innings.
He generated just 15 strikeouts in 10 starts, got a swinging strike on an abysmal 4.5 percent of his pitches, and allowed a .381 opponents' batting average. Worley has been much better since the demotion to Rochester, but it's hard to be very encouraged by a 3.88 ERA at Triple-A when it comes with 34 strikeouts in 58 innings. He'll be back with the Twins at some point, but Worley hasn't been right since last year's elbow issues and was never a high-upside arm to begin with.
As far as Rule 5 picks go Ryan Pressly has been a big success. Used mostly for mopping up and long relief, he threw 44 innings with a 3.09 ERA and averaged 93 miles per hour with his fastball. Far less impressive than the shiny ERA is a 30-to-17 strikeout-to-walk ratio and Pressly is unlikely to be as stingy with homers going forward considering his high fly-ball rate, but he's been a useful member of the bullpen and has definitely shown some long-term upside.
Jared Burton picked up right where he left off following a fantastic 2012 season with a 2.10 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 26 innings through the end of May. Then he went through a rough patch while dealing with a groin injury, allowing 12 runs in 10 appearances as his ERA ballooned to 4.29 and he was removed from setup duties. Burton recovered to end the first half with six shutout outings in a row, although his usual swing-and-miss stuff still wasn't there.
Last year's .220 batting average on balls in play was always unsustainable and his overall stats remain decent with a 3.67 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 42 innings, but Burton has already walked more batters than all of last year and both his velocity and swinging strike rate are down slightly. Hopefully it's just a blip on the radar, because a healthy Burton can be light outs and he's signed through 2015 at salaries that make him a reasonably priced setup man or good trade bait.
For the second time in two seasons the Twins called up P.J. Walters when their rotation was a mess, got a handful of decent outings from him before things fell apart, and then passed him through waivers unclaimed to keep the 28-year-old right-hander in the organization as Triple-A depth. Meanwhile, he has a 5.79 ERA in 20 starts for the Twins after posting a 4.60 ERA in 133 starts at Triple-A, making Walters the epitome of a replacement-level starter.
Acquired from the White Sox in the Francisco Liriano trade, Pedro Hernandez is a soft-tossing, strike-throwing lefty who struggled against right-handed hitters in the minors and not surprisingly big-league righties have crushed him to the tune of .353/.423/.639 with eight homers in 137 plate appearances. He had two first-half stints with the Twins as a rotation fill-in, posting a 6.17 ERA in seven starts, and it's tough to see Hernandez having long-term success as a starter.
When the Twins claimed Josh Roenicke off waivers in November the story of his career was a big fastball and not much else, including a modest strikeout rate and poor control. His average fastball dipped to 91.2 miles per hour in the first half, but the rest of the story stayed the same with an awful 25-to-21 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 38 innings. And after some initial success he gave up 14 runs in his final 24 innings with as many walks (15) as strikeouts (15).
Brian Duensing flopped as a starter, but has yet to rediscover his previous success as a reliever. Slated to be the primary left-handed setup man, Duensing struggled against lefties and righties while posting a 4.67 ERA and 30-to-16 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 35 innings and spent the final month or so of the first half working mostly in a mop-up role. His inability to handle righties will forever limit Duensing, but the good news is that his trouble with lefties looks like a fluke.
Lefties hit .307 off Duensing in the first half, but that was due to a ridiculously high .408 batting average on balls in play. Delving a little deeper, he posted a great 20-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio versus lefties and held them to just one homer in 82 plate appearances. Despite the rough first half not much has really changed with Duensing, but unfortunately that just means he's still a decent middle reliever who's a bad bet facing righties and a good bet facing lefties.
Burton and Duensing struggling as the main setup men pushed Casey Fien into a more prominent late-inning role and he responded by continuing to thrive. Not only did he have a 3.03 ERA and 42-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 39 first-half innings, dating back to his debut with the Twins last season Fien has a 2.57 ERA and 74-to-16 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 74 frames. Not bad for a guy who joined the Twins as a minor-league free agent last offseason at age 28.
He's probably due to come back down to earth at least a little bit and if that does happen it'll likely stem from serving up too many homers, as Fien was an extreme fly-ball pitcher in the minors and has one of the 10 lowest ground-ball rates in the majors since last season. However, his overall track record in the minors showed someone capable of being a quality middle reliever and so far he's allowed just seven homers in 287 plate appearances.
Glen Perkins' first full season as the Twins' closer has been an overwhelming success except for the part about the team failing to find him consistent work. Perkins converted 21 of 23 saves with a 1.82 ERA and 47-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 34.2 innings, holding opponents to a .172 batting average. That's about as dominant as a pitcher can be and Perkins was rewarded with his first All-Star selection, yet the Twins used their All-Star closer for just 131 batters in 92 games.
Some of that stems from their lack of late leads, but Ron Gardenhire's refusal to use Perkins in non-save situations is the real culprit. Not only have 100 different relievers thrown more innings than Perkins, six Twins relievers have worked more. It's gotten so bad that Perkins requested more action, but Gardenhire continues to manage the bullpen around the save statistic while calling on lesser relievers in game-changing spots. Perkins is great, but his usage is terrible.
In his first full season back from Tommy John surgery Kyle Gibson entered spring training in the mix for a rotation spot, but pitched his way out of the immediate plans and then the Twins decided to keep him at Triple-A for three months. He was one of the International League's best pitchers, posting a 3.01 ERA with tons of ground balls and a 79-to-28 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 93 innings, and after going through eight other starters the Twins finally called him up three weeks ago.
Gibson had a very nice debut followed by three mostly poor outings, but looking beyond the ugly 6.45 ERA he induced 51 percent ground balls, generated a decent number of swinging strikes, and averaged 92.3 miles per hour with his fastball. Ultimately the key for Gibson is whether he can get enough strikeouts to be more than a mid-rotation starter who throws strikes and kills worms. At this point the jury is still very much out and his second-half workload may be limited.
Twenty straight scoreless innings is an amazing start to anyone's career, let alone a 26-year-old rookie signed out of independent ball in 2011. Caleb Thielbar turned what looked likely to be a short-term call-up into a two-month gig, and while his secondary numbers and inherited runners allowed paint a much less impressive picture than his sparkling ERA he's shown more than enough to stick around with 21 strikeouts in 21 innings and 11 percent swinging strikes.
Note: For a similar first-half review of the Twins' hitters, click here.
Four of the eight managers who kept their jobs after three consecutive 90-loss seasons were from expansion teams, so tons of losing was expected/accepted. And five of the eight managers who stuck around after three straight 90-loss seasons were fired by the middle of the next year. Kelly managed the Twins to four 90-loss seasons in a row from 1997-2000 and then went 85-77 in 2001, at which point he stepped down from the job at age 50 and was replaced by Gardenhire.
• After a solid debut Kyle Gibson has struggled in back-to-back starts, leaving him with a 7.27 ERA and 10-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 17 innings. Among all pitchers in Twins history through three career starts Gibson allowed the most hits (23) and second-most earned runs (14). LaTroy Hawkins is the only Twins pitcher to allow more earned runs in his first three starts and he's had a 19-year career, although all of his success came after shifting to the bullpen.
It's silly to analyze three starts too much, but Gibson has been done in by a .377 batting average on balls in play and nearly half the runners he's put on base coming around to score. Fortunately neither of those rates are sustainable and the good news is that he's averaged 92.5 miles per hour with his fastball while inducing 54 percent ground balls and has yet to allow a homer. And despite a modest strikeout total his swinging strike percentage is slightly above average.
• Caleb Thielbar going on bereavement leave means Michael Tonkin will be getting his first taste of the majors at age 23. Early on Tonkin's biggest claim to fame was being Jason Kubel's brother-in-law, but since shifting to the bullpen in 2011 the 6-foot-7 right-hander has emerged as a high-upside reliever with dominant numbers to match his mid-90s fastball. Dating back to last season Tonkin has a 2.17 ERA and 143 strikeouts in 99 innings.
That includes a 1.85 ERA with zero homers allowed and a 46-to-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 39 innings between Double-A and Triple-A this year, so if Tonkin makes a good first impression the Twins may decide to keep him around at the expense of someone else in the bullpen. Either way, Tonkin is one of the most promising reliever prospects the Twins have had in a long time and it's easy to imagine him setting up for Glen Perkins at some point next season.
• As a follow-up to Perkins encouraging the Twins to use him more often in non-save situations, just 40 percent of his batters faced this season have come in "high leverage" situations compared to 43 percent in "low leverage" situations. By holding him back for save situations that often never materialize the Twins limit Perkins' overall workload, forcing lesser relievers into crucial spots, and end up using him in unimportant spots just to keep him from getting rusty.
But apparently they haven't started listening to Perkins yet. Last night the Twins lost a 13-inning game to the Rays in which they used six different relievers, but not their All-Star closer. Rule 5 pick Ryan Pressly, who's served as a mop-up man for most of the season, took the loss while Perkins went unused because it wasn't a so-called "save situation." Of the seven relievers who've been with the Twins all season Perkins has thrown the fewest innings. Saves are a helluva drug.
• Justin Morneau has finally started to show a little power with four homers in 11 games after totaling six homers in his previous 115 games dating back to last year, but his overall production hasn't improved. It's hard to imagine there being much of a trade market for the impending free agent, but getting a compensatory draft pick if he signs elsewhere this winter is also no longer really an option for the Twins because he'd probably just accept the $15 million qualifying offer.
It's possible that Morneau would be willing to take a major pay cut to remain in Minnesota beyond this season, but do the Twins really want to block various young, cheap hitters with a 32-year-old first baseman who's hit just .259 with a .321 on-base percentage and .405 slugging percentage in 285 games since 2011? That's a harsh reality considering his decline began with a concussion, but even at half of his current $14 million salary Morneau just doesn't make much sense to retain.
• If the Twins do trade Morneau before he walks as a free agent Chris Colabello deserves a long look in his place. After a so-so season at Double-A last year Colabello has crushed Triple-A this season, hitting .357/.435/.656 with 23 homers, 22 doubles, and 41 walks in 81 games. Colabello is 29 years old and was signed out of an independent league, so he's hardly a top prospect, but he leads the International League in batting average, slugging percentage, OPS, and homers.
Maybe that won't translate to the big leagues, but one of the only benefits to being a bad team is that the Twins are in a position to find out. At worst Colabello struggles and gets written off as a Triple-A player as the Twins continue their march toward another 90-loss season, but he might also prove to be a decent stop-gap first baseman while making just $500,000. And if nothing else he'd give them a right-handed bat to help balance a very left-handed lineup.
• Josh Willingham limped around on a bum knee for a month before finally being placed on the disabled list amid reports that he planned to avoid surgery and return after the minimum 15 days. Instead literally the next day it was announced that he'd undergo surgery and miss 4-6 weeks, which is definitely on the optimistic side for a torn meniscus. And sadly all of that has become a pretty standard injury progression for the Twins during the past three seasons.
Willingham hit just .250/.337/.325 in June with even worse defense than usual, making him one of the worst all-around players in baseball. Allowing him to play at what was clearly less than full strength hurt the team, hurt Willingham, and now leaves the Twins with little chance to trade him. We may never know what they could have gotten in exchange for him last July or this offseason, but as someone who implored the Twins to shop Willingham around it's a question that looms.
• Aaron Hicks' season totals still look awful, but that's what happens when you start 2-for-48. Since then he's hit .249/.301/.462 with seven homers in 50 games, which is actually pretty damn impressive for a 23-year-old center fielder. He continues to strike out a ton and Hicks has stopped walking, but here's a list of all the 23-year-old center fielders to slug .450 or higher in the last 10 years: Colby Rasmus, Adam Jones, Matt Kemp, Chris Young, Grady Sizemore.
I still think it was a mistake to hand Hicks the Opening Day job without any experience at Triple-A and it's a shame that he's going to burn through an entire season of service time when that wasn't necessary, but that shouldn't take away from the fact that he's turned things around following one of the most brutal starts to a career you'll ever see. Even his defense has graded out much better recently and he's done some nice work as a baserunner.
• P.J. Walters is a 28-year-old with a 6.28 ERA in the big leagues and a 4.45 ERA at Triple-A, so he predictably passed through waivers unclaimed after being designated for assignment to make room for Gibson's arrival and Mike Pelfrey's return. Walters accepted the assignment, so he'll stay with the Twins at Triple-A while no longer being on the 40-man roster. This is the second time in two years none of the other 29 teams claimed Walters off waivers.
• Since being called up from Triple-A in July of last year Casey Fien has thrown 71 innings with a 2.67 ERA and 71-to-16 strikeout-to-walk ratio while holding opponents to a .187 batting average. Last offseason the Twins signed Fien to a minor-league deal and based on his track record in the minors he looked like a potentially useful middle reliever, but the 29-year-old right-hander been a whole lot more than that so far.
• After last night's loss the Twins are 37-51, which puts them on pace to go 68-94. At this same point in the season they were 36-52 in 2012 and 40-48 in 2011, so not much has changed.
• Brian Dozier since June 1: .264/.386/.500 with six homers, eight doubles and as many walks (19) as strikeouts (19) in 35 games. Six weeks are six weeks, but it's a sign of life.
• Twins Daily blogger and "Gleeman and The Geek" regular Parker Hageman wrote a good guest column for Baseball Prospectus about how the Twins develop their prospects.
• For a lot more about Willingham's injury situation, Walters' exit, Dozier's nice run, and the many former Twins on the All-Star team check out this week's "Gleeman and The Geek" episode.


Regardless of the corporate health of your law firm, you will certainly find your staff falling prey to office politics. It should go without saying that office politics can be toxic and contribute to the attrition of valuable associates/talent. To combat the toxic nature of office politics, however, you must understand it. This three-part series will explore the root of office politics; how law firms can minimize its negative impact, and how new hires can navigate its treacherous terrain.
Usually, office politics are the excuses of some to cover up their incompetence, their dishonesty, or laziness (Collins, E. 2015. The dark roots of office politics). Ms. Collins continues to state that there is no way to [positively] use office politics and that no matter how you look at it or use it, office politics are extremely damaging to employee morale, the firm's effectiveness, and the workforce.
Office politics affect those who truly came to work. Associates performing the same jobs and tasks, are in the same year, yet have very different income levels points to favoritism. Operating under the assumption that knowing the right people will deliver more financial rewards (as opposed to delivering quality work) causes people to engage in toxic office politics instead of being productive.
Cronyism and backbiting. If anyone perceives that certain people or one group get all the [best] assignments, the assumption is because those associates have a "special" relationship with partners or higher-ups. This can cause others to play office politics by disparaging the favored employee and/or brownnosing with the person/people in power instead of focusing on delivering their best work.
Decreased morale and increased attrition. If the staff feels that anyone can be fired for any reason or even no reason at all, that the firm continuously fires "good" attorneys while keeping "bad" increases the toxicity of the work environment thus encouraging the remaining staff to constantly seek other work opportunities. "Why stay here, if I am not valued?" is what will be top of mind for any good law firm employee.
A dynamic where the perception is that are incentives to participate in office politics will contribute to a toxic work environment. Teamwork will be a thing of the past and backstabbing and sucking up to power will be the most important task of the day.
The next part of this series will explore what law firms can do to minimize office politics. Subscribe to the Leopard Blog for discussions about law office management, diversity, law firm insights, and other relevant topics.
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text:
Senate permits gov't to borrow $1.9T more
Business_Finance
By - The Washington Times - Thursday, January 28, 2010
WASHINGTON (AP) — Majority Democrats in the U.S. Senate muscled through legislation Thursday that would allow the government to go $1.9 trillion deeper in debt.
Democratic leaders were able to prevail on the politically volatile 60-39 vote only because Republican Sen.-elect Scott Brown of Massachusetts has yet to be seated. Republicans had insisted on a 60-vote, supermajority threshold to pass the measure. An earlier test vote succeeded on a 60-40 vote.
The measure would put the government on track for a national debt of $14.3 trillion, or about $45,000 for every American, and it served as a vivid reminder of the United States' dire fiscal straits.
D.C. cop says group saved his life during Capitol beating: 'Thank you, but f--k you for being there'
The massive increase in the debt limit would allow the Democrats to avoid another vote until after the congressional elections in November. New estimates released by the Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday showed that the United States could run a deficit this year to match last year's record $1.4 trillion shortfall.
To win the votes of moderate Democrats, President Barack Obama promised to appoint a special task force to come up with a plan for dealing with the spiraling debt.
To get the support of more conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats in a House of Representatives vote next week, the measure includes tough new "pay-as-you-go" budget rules to make it harder to run up the deficit with new tax cuts or federal benefit programs. Senate Democrats had been reluctant to approve the new deficit curbs but relented and approved them by a 60-40 vote.
Several Republicans who had earlier voted for the new rules, which would make it more difficult to extend some tax cuts permanently when they expire at the end of this year, switched their positions and opposed it.
They include John McCain of Arizona, who is facing a primary battle with former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, who is winning support from conservative activists.
The current $12.4 trillion debt ceiling is expected to be reached in mid-February.
Congress never has allowed the United States to default on its obligations, which would roil markets and probably cause the government to lose its AAA credit rating.
"We have gone to the restaurant, we have eaten the meal. Now the only question is whether the government will … pay the bill," said Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Democrat.
Democrats and Republicans alike share responsibility for running up the debt, but it fell upon Democrats to pass the measure since they control the government. It makes no difference that Republicans routinely backed increases in the debt when former President George W. Bush was in office.
Republicans blame recent generous spending bills enacted by the Democratic-controlled Congress for driving up the debt. Those measures, however, are just one relatively small part of the problem. The far bigger element is a sharp drop-off in tax revenues because of the recession and the economy's slow recovery, as well as higher costs, since more people are taking unemployment benefits and government-issued food stamps to help the poor with meals in tough times.
"Why $1.9 trillion?" said Republican Sen. Judd Gregg. "So that Congress doesn't have to face up to the debt ceiling until after the next election. We ought to face up to it before the next election because the people in this country have a right to know whether or not this Congress is going to do something about controlling … the debt.
Earlier Thursday, Obama's Democratic allies in the Senate rejected a plan attempting to adopt a modified version of the president's proposal to freeze spending on domestic spending passed by Congress in annual spending bills.
But a 56-strong majority of senators supported the plan, which failed only because 60 votes were required. It serves as a marker for later this year when Congress passes its budget.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Adventist church in Cairo
Photo courtesy of Myron Iseminger.
Egypt, Arab Republic of
By Shawna Vyhmeister, and Melanie Riches Wixwat
Shawna Vyhmeister holds a Ph.D. in education, and is a professor and research director at Middle East University where she works with her husband. Vyhmeister and her husband, Ronald Vyhmeister, have lived and worked in Africa, Asia, South America, and the United States. Their two adult sons and their wives live in the United States. Her hobbies include music, writing, travel, birding, diving, reading, cooking, learning languages, and playing games. Her greatest joy is working for the Lord, especially if it involves young people.
Meeting with President Morsi and religious leaders, July 2012.
Photo courtesy of Lewellyn Edwards.
Egypt-Sudan Field office
Ramses Center
Neil Wilson at Zeitoun School.
Egypt-Sudan Field Officers and Elder Ted Wilson meeting with president Ahmad al-Tayyeb, October 2012.
Authored By Shawna Vyhmeister From Middle East and North Africa Union Mission From Egypt Country (Based on SDA membership)
Egypt is a republic situated on the northeast corner of Africa and the southwest corner of Asia.1 It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea on the north and the Red Sea on the east. Egypt shares long land borders with Sudan to the south and Libya to the west and also connects to the Gaza Strip and Israel in the northeast. It has an area of 386,650 square miles (1 million square kilometers). Egypt is the most populated country in the Middle East, with 101,104,408 inhabitants (June 17, 2019).2 The vast majority live along the Nile River.
The racial groups that through many centuries entered Egypt have been assimilated to produce an Arabic-speaking indigenous, Mediterranean-type Egyptian people, with Arab elements. Many Armenian and Greek colonies are found in the cities and large towns.3
Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country in the world, with history that goes back thousands of years before Christ. The pyramids were already old in the days of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses. Ancient Egypt saw the last of its pharaohs in the closing period of the Old Testament; yet, it still exists as a nation, outliving all the empires that successively ruled it: Persia, Macedonia, Rome, Byzantium, Arabia, and the Ottoman Turks. Tourists can still catch a glimpse of the splendor that was ancient Egypt when they visit the Giza pyramids, archaeological treasures in the Cairo museum, and marvel at the tombs and architecture of Luxor and Abu Simbel.
Alexandria, a center of Hellenistic culture, blended Greek and Eastern thought. Jewish scholars produced the Septuagint—the Greek translation of the Old Testament that was used by the apostles. Alexandrian astronomers gave to Rome—and thence to the world—the ancient Egyptian 365-day year. The early Alexandrian Church Fathers blended Greek philosophy with Christianity and developed their own brand of theology. Egypt gave monasticism to the church. One of the oldest universities in the world is the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo, founded in 975 A.D.4
In the seventh century Egyptian Christians, oppressed by the Byzantines as heretics, welcomed the invading Arabs as liberators. Egypt accepted Islam and the Arabic language and became a stronghold of Muslim orthodoxy. However, a Christian minority held out. Their present descendants in the Coptic Orthodox Church still use in their liturgy the old Coptic dialects, derived from the ancient Egyptian language. (The terms Copt and Coptic, now ordinarily applied specifically to indigenous Egyptian Christians, originally meant merely "Egyptian.").5
Early in the nineteenth century the country began to move toward modernization. In 1882, after a massacre of foreigners in Alexandria, Britain stepped in, though Egypt remained a part of the Turkish Empire. During World War I Egypt became a British protectorate. In 1922 it became a kingdom under Fuad I and in 1953 a republic.6
Around 85-90 percent of Egyptians are Muslims (mostly Sunni), though the exact percentages are uncertain, as religion has been removed from the census. An estimated 10-15 percent is Coptic Christian, with "other Christians" representing only 1 percent.7
The Coptic Orthodox Church, the largest religious minority, is a Monophysite Christian community that dates from before the Muslim period.
The Roman Catholic Church began missionary work in Egypt around the turn of the thirteenth century. It was not until the nineteenth century that Protestants took an active interest in Egypt. In 2018 there were about seven hundred fifty thousand Protestants in Egypt, representing 17 denominations.8
Early Adventist Work
Egypt was where the Adventist work in the Middle East first began. Around 1877 Italian Adventists in Naples, Italy, sent the French paper Signes des Temps to their Italian friends in Alexandria and corresponded with them about the church's teachings.
In the spring of 1878 Romualdo Bartola, an Italian commercial traveler and self-supporting missionary, visited the northern city of Alexandria on business and formed a group there, baptizing seven among the expatriates.
Dr. Herbert Panmure Ribton, a graduate of Dublin University, was one of the first Adventists to be baptized in Italy, and he pioneered the work in southern Italy. In 1879 he moved to Alexandria, then the largest commercial port on the Mediterranean, and began gospel work. Ribton opened a school and had some tracts translated into Arabic. However, two years later, on June 11, 1882, he and two Italian converts, Giuseppe Rupp and brother Alligretti, were killed in Alexandria during a riot against foreigners. They left behind widows and children, who fled to other countries, and the few remaining church members were scattered.
About fifteen years later, several Armenian Adventist families from Turkey settled in Cairo and Alexandria and went about spreading the Adventist faith. About the same time, J. Leuzinger from Italy sailed to Port Said to share the gospel aboard the ships.
In 1899 trained nurses, Louis F. Passebois and his wife, and Ida Schlegel, left Europe to open a health home and a restaurant in Cairo. Their efforts resulted in several converts. Two years later, in 1901, L. R. Conradi of the European Division organized the first Seventh-day Adventist church in Egypt, transitioning from the era of the lay members (1877--1901) to that of the organized work.9
In 1902 the Oriental Union Mission, with headquarters in Cairo, was formed and placed under the direction of W. H. Wakeham, a Canadian-born missionary from the United States. Sometime before 1906 the publishing work began with the printing of a small book in Arabic on the prophecies of Daniel.
Between 1906 and 1908 the first Egyptian Adventist pastor, Awaida Abd el-Shahid, was ordained. Apostasy among the Armenian members developed about that time and depleted the membership, so the work had to be rebuilt. The Oriental Union Mission was renamed the Syrian-Egyptian Mission of the newly formed Levant Union Mission. George Dorkin Keough, originally of Ireland, who had mastered the Arabic language, took charge in 1908.
Progress was slow. In 1912 there were only 18 members, with two ordained pastors, one Bible instructor, four colporteurs (based in Cairo), and two nurses. In the same year, a group of upper Egyptian Christians, led by former Presbyterian Yacoub Beshai Yacoub, from the village of Beni Adi, near Asyut, heard about Keough, a white man who kept the Sabbath. As a result of studying the Bible, this group had been keeping the seventh-day Sabbath for about six years. They invited him for a visit.
When Keough visited them, he found a worshiping community of Sabbath observers. He baptized 17 men and 7 women and organized them into the first indigenous Seventh-day Adventist church in the country in 1913, nearly four decades after the arrival of the first Adventists in Egypt in 1877.
The history of the indigenous Egyptian leadership began with the first ordained national Adventist pastor, the late Pastor Yacoub Nashed (1896 ̶ 1992), the eldest son of Yacoub Beshai Yacoub. For a number of years, Pastor Nashed was in charge of the Adventist work in Upper Egypt, visiting each and every Adventist Christian ̶ by foot or by donkey.10
Shortly before World War I the country was divided into two missions: Lower Egypt, with headquarters in Cairo, led by W. K. Ising; and Upper Egypt, with headquarters in Beni Adi, with George Keough in charge. There were about forty Adventists in Egypt, mainly coming from the Greek, Armenian, and Coptic communities.
During the war, Ising, a German national, was interned in Malta for several years, but Keough carried on, organizing churches in El-Tataliah and Deirut (Dayrout). When the Levant Union was dissolved in 1923 and the Egypto-Syrian Mission of the European Division was organized, with Keough in charge, there were 70 members in Egypt.
In 1923 plans were laid to reach out to the Arabs. The publishing work was launched that year at Matariah, near Cairo, under the leadership of C. H. Rieckman, who had been sent earlier to learn Arabic and had spent many years interned during the war. A total of 7,500 copies of The Sure Word of Prophecy was printed in Arabic, as well as smaller books. Five colporteurs worked in Cairo, Beni Adi, El-Tataliah, and Deirut. There were church members also in Masra, Sohag, and Luxor.
In 1927 the Arabic Union Training School was opened in Matariah. V. E. Toppenberg was the director, and Ibrahim Khalil was a teacher.
In 1938, before the Second World War broke out, most of the missionaries were evacuated; however, there were a few who remained. Prominent workers during this time included nurses such as Erna Kruger from Germany, educators such as Ibrahim El Khalil, and translators Youssef Berbawy and Selim Moujie.
Church Structure Changes
Egypt was included in the territory of the Arabic Union Mission, which was organized in November 1927 as part of the European Division (from 1928, of the Central European Division). In the 1930s work was resumed in Alexandria by M. C. Grin. Twelve persons were baptized.
When the events leading up to World War II separated the work in Egypt from the Central European Division headquarters, American missionaries were sent in by the General Conference, and E. L. Branson directed the work of the Egyptian Mission. Northern Sudan was linked to the Egyptian Mission, an arrangement that continued until 1950.
At the time of the organization of the Middle East Division in 1950, the Egypt Mission became part of the Nile Union Mission (to which was assigned the territory of Egypt, Libya, northern Sudan, The Hejaz, that part of Arabia bordering on the Red Sea, and Aden).
In 1955 the Egypt Mission was divided: The Lower (Northern) Egypt Mission came under the direction of Hilal Doss, and the Upper Egypt Mission was directed by C. V. Brauer. The area was further divided in January 1957, when Hilal Doss was placed in charge of the Central Egypt Section, with Hilmy Berbawy as president of the Upper Egypt Section and W. R. Lesher in charge of the Delta Section.
These divisions proved unwieldy, however, and by December 1958 the work was reunited in one Egypt section. This was administered by the officers of the Nile Union. At the Nile Union biennial council of 1961, it was decided to nationalize the church organization in Egypt. A new constitution was adopted that provided for a national church, called the Coptic Adventist Denomination in Egypt. Hilal Doss became its first national president.
In 1962 the Nile Union was discontinued, leaving the Middle East Division to deal directly with the Egyptian church. In the reorganization of 1970, the administration of Egypt was placed under the Egypt Field, which was a part of the Middle East Union (MEU), which was, in turn, part of the Afro-Mideast Division. In the early part of 2011, it was recommended to change the name of the MEU to the Greater Middle East Union Mission. However, at the Annual Council session of the General Conference, it was voted to change the name instead to Middle East and North Africa Union. The new union included the newly reorganized Egypt-Sudan Field (ESF), with headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.11
Adventist Work After the Wars
In 1941 there were two schools, one at Beni Adi and another at El-Tataliah. In the next decade and a half, the educational work grew to 12 schools. In 1946 the Egypt Training School opened, which later became Nile Union Academy. In English it was called the Adventist Theological Institute of Egypt and later Nile Union Academy. However, in Arabic the name translated literally to "Coptic Adventist Theological Seminary." This school, situated on a 65-acre farm in an oasis area in Fayoum (Seila), was mainly established for intermediate and secondary boys.12 In 1954 the school moved to Gabal el-Asfar, its current location, on the outskirts of Cairo. In the mid-1950s government curriculum requirements caused the church to close most of its schools. The school in Gabal el-Asfar, along with the Heliopolis Adventist School, remained open. The Heliopolis elementary school was moved to property at nearby Zeitoun and is currently registered by the government as the Adventist Private School, Zeitoun.
Welfare work of various types was developed. In 1947 the Egyptian government asked the church to assist in the care of underprivileged village children. Since orphanages were badly needed, it was decided to open a small orphanage in Matariah, Cairo, and was named the Matariah Mercy Home, with Erna Kruger as matron. During 1963 the orphanage was rebuilt and its capacity doubled. After the orphanage closed, the Matariah property was used as an educational facility.
Welfare centers were established by the major churches. Special government awards were given in 1963 to the Seventh-day Adventist Welfare Societies in Fayoum and Asyut for outstanding service.
A limited medical work was carried out. During the 1940s Erna Kruger did some medical missionary work in Cairo. Dr. Maher Bishai operated a small clinic in Heliopolis in 1953, and a small clinic was operated at Maghagha for a few months in 1956 by Dr. Youssiff Bishai.
Land was purchased in central Cairo, Ramses in 1953 under the leadership of Pastor Neal C. Wilson. A church center was built in 1962. The main auditorium and balcony had a seating capacity of 700-800 and was designed as a theater with the podium and pulpit at the bottom and two aisles for easy access for the audience. Through the years many capable speakers preached the gospel to a full or almost full auditorium including Villy Rasmussen from Denmark and Dalbert Elias from England in the 1990's.13
In the summer of 1968 an MV camp in Agami, Alexandria, resulted in the largest number of baptisms in the history of MV camps in Egypt when 19 youth were baptized. Nine of them were juniors from the Matariah Mercy Home. Gordon Pifher, a summer student missionary from Atlantic Union College, was camp pastor for the junior camp and had a big impact on the lives of the campers.14
Beginning in 1971 steps were taken to establish a health food factory in Cairo. Land was purchased and construction began in 1974 in Matariah, Cairo. By April of 1978, after having encountered and surmounted many difficulties, the factory began production. The main products developed were various flavored peanut butters, a variety of soya milk flavors, mayonnaise designed for special dietary needs, flavored mustards, salad dressings, sauces, vegetarian meat analogue products, flavored cheese sauces, as well as assorted flavors of juice powder.15
The Adventist Health Education Foundation (AHEF) is still operating today (2020) under the Adventist Egyptian leadership of Mokhtar Nashed. It has developed an excellent working relationship with the leaders of the Egyptian communities. AHEF products are available at monasteries, churches, and other Christian institutions throughout Egypt. They have also developed a good working relationship with the Egyptian Health Ministry.16
Literature evangelism continued to be an important part of sharing the Adventist message after the wars. Adventist literature in Arabic found fertile ground among some but also caused great opposition from others. It took people of a special caliber to meet others with our Advent message filled literature. One of these was Youssif Farag. He worked in his homeland as a student in order to earn his school fees then later as a calling. He was thrown into prison 28 times. His wife, Fadia, joined him in his ministry. Pastor Farag was called to be the publishing director in the East Mediterranean Field and eventually at the Middle East Union for twenty years, until 1995. He trained many young people in Egypt, as well as other territories of the Middle East.17
The 1980s witnessed the revival of camp meetings and evangelistic campaigns under the leadership of Field President Lester Rasmussen. At the beginning of 1980 a camp meeting was held at Nile Union Academy and was the first of its kind in twenty years. Attendance for the two Sabbaths was between three hundred and four hundred. Church members from the field's 14 churches gathered from miles around, each coming from varying backgrounds and separated by miles of desert sand. It ended with an ordination service for Michael Fahmi, Yacoub Ibrahim, and Nathan Hanna.18 Up through the 1990s and into the 21st century the yearly summer camp meetings at Nile Union Academy continued to be a rallying point for the church in Egypt, with spiritual meetings, baptisms, and from time to time the ordination of new pastors.
In the early 1980s Rasmussen also began an ambitious evangelistic campaign. At the Cairo Center a continuous series of outreach programs involved all 14 churches and companies, along with 15 evangelistic workers. In Alexandria at the Adventist church Middle East Union, President Manoug Nazirian and Pastor Fakhry Naguib conducted a six-week series for the 2.5 million inhabitants. There was an average attendance of 120 each night. Pastors Michael Fahmi and Faiz Tawfilis assisted in the crusade.19 Years later in the early 1990s, Pastor Sven H. Jensen, Union Evangelist, continued with a successful five-week campaign in the same church with the assistance of Pastor Abdel Messih. However, there was strong opposition from the local people in the neighborhood, and they tore down the advertising.20
During the 1990s the church operated in a particularly challenging environment. The population was nearly 90 percent Muslims, 8 percent Coptic Orthodox Christians, and 2 percent Protestants. Evangelism among Muslims was strictly prohibited. The minority Christian communities were protective of their people and fiercely opposed to Adventism. Growth was slow and mostly from the baptisms of Adventist youth.21
Soon after he arrived in Cairo in 1990, Field President Claude Lombart conducted the most extensive survey ever undertaken of the church. The results of the survey profiled a church that was valiantly struggling with internal and external issues. However, it excelled in hospitality and generosity.
In the summer of 1991, Egypt Field hosted a unionwide youth congress in Cairo. The venue was the El Salam Hotel. This was a boost to the youth work in Egypt, as well as a great encouragement to the Adventist youth around the Middle East. Guest speakers were Israel Leito, General Conference Church Ministries director, Michael Stevenson, General Conference Pathfinder leader, and Baraka Muganda, youth director of the East African Division. The congress also drew participants from parts of Europe.22
While the Adventist Church was organized in 1901 under L. R. Conradi and had a well-established presence in Egypt, it was not an autonomous legal body. When members wanted to get married, they had to seek the paid services of a Coptic or Protestant clergy to marry them as if they were members of those churches.
Through the efforts of Pastor Farouk Rizk's wife, a lawyer, the government finally granted the Adventist Church the same legal standing as the Coptic, Catholic, and Protestant churches. This legal status meant that Adventist members no longer had to pay to get married in a church that was not their own. In April 1993 Pastor Rizk married the first Adventist couple. After being organized in Egypt for 92 years, the Adventist Church finally obtained the prized marriage license book from the government.23
Adventist Work in the 21st Century
Under the leadership of Field President Llewellyn Edwards, the second decade of the millennium witnessed an improvement in the relationship between the Adventist Church and Egyptian leadership, both political and religious. In July 2012 Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi met with all religious group leaders, including Edwards. In July 2018 Ted N. C. Wilson, president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, along with a delegation from the Middle East and North Africa Union (MENAU) and the Egypt-Sudan Field (ESF), met with government officials from the prime minister's office.
Each year ESF administrators paid a visit to Ahmad Muhammad AL-Tayyeb, the current Grand Imam of al-Azhar and former president of al-Azhar University, known as "Islam's most prestigious university," to wish him well for the year. In October 2012 Ted Wilson accompanied the ESF administrators and was welcomed by Azhar.24
Edwards remembers during his years of leadership the faithfulness of the pastors and church members as they ran outreach campaigns resulting in a number of baptisms. Active preschools flourished in the towns of El-Tataliah (Rizk Saadalla), Zewak (Yassa Musa), and Heliopolis (Alia Khan).
Kleyton Feitosa became the president of ESF in 2014. This year also brought a significant change in the composition of the pastoral team. Three Egyptian pastors immigrated to the United States with their families. However, ESF received back from serving abroad Pastor Johnny Nasrallah and his family.
The students and staff at Nile Union Academy (NUA) were especially blessed with the launch of the Pathfinder club ministry when Pastor Marcos Lima and his wife Ana moved to Cairo as self-supporting missionaries. They made a significant contribution to the social and spiritual growth of the students. The Pathfinder ministry remains strong till today (2020) and has supported many of the youth in their decision to commit their lives to Jesus.25
During July 2014 ESF sponsored a successful youth retreat involving all churches of the Field. Young people from Upper to Lower Egypt gathered together for a time of spiritual revival and fellowship.
ESF embarked on a number of successful partnerships with Adventist institutions and lay-led ministries around the world such as UNASP, Colombia Adventist University, Southern University, Quiet Hour, Instituto Kaleo, et cetera. Each year ESF has benefited greatly from mission groups affiliated with these institutions and ministries. They provide meaningful health, education, and spiritual programs for our members and the community.26
Although Adventist Volunteer Students had been helping for over fifty years, 2015 was the year when the mission of the church was significantly strengthened with the arrival of volunteers from all over the world. They came as Waldensian students, tent makers, AVS workers, and COI directors. Together with the Egyptian members and current church workers, new ministries and initiatives took place in different regions of the field.
The year began with the good news of the purchase of a potential meeting place for church members in Hurghada, one of the most visited cities in Egypt. Two apartments were purchased, but they were denied for the church to meet in them. As of 2020 ESF leaders are still working on purchasing other property for a meeting place. Another accomplishment was the beginning of a new congregation in Ain Shams.
One of the greatest highlights of 2015 was the opportunity to be present at the Cairo International Book Fair. This is the largest and oldest book fair in the Arab world. After being absent for 16 years, ESF organized a booth and sold hundreds of Adventist books to participants. Keys to Happiness distributed 25,000 books free of charge.
Another important ministry that was revived after many years was the Canvassing/Literature ministry. With the assistance of the MENAU Publishing Department, Pastor Ron and Theresa Clark moved to Egypt to lead this ministry. A group of students from NUA embraced the challenge to canvass for six weeks, becoming the first group to canvass in many years. After the summer students continued to take trips outside of the NUA campus to canvass. Two thousand books were sold that summer.
A strong partnership with the South Brazil Union resulted in major renovations at NUA and donations for future dorm, cafeteria, and meeting hall (church) renovations. For the first time in many years NUA sent students to study theology at MEU.27
Urban Centers of Influence in the 21st Century
Urban Centers of Influence providing health education, preschool care, and foreign language instruction have proven successful. Committed Adventist businesspersons, diplomats, and students moving to Egypt from other countries provide another avenue to interact with the population and strengthen the church.
Opened in 2018, the Ramses Cultural Center (RCC) is working to meet a variety of needs in the downtown area of Cairo. The building operates several services for the community, including a preschool for three- to five-year-old children, dental clinic, exercise gym, massage room, English language school, and private office for counseling. The center and Sudanese churches meet on Sabbaths in the main hall, which has seating for up to two hundred eighty people. A demonstration kitchen is available for healthy cooking classes. On July 31, 2018, G. C. President Ted Wilson inaugurated the RCC.28
First created in 2013 to be a healthy life center, the Hope Center is a project located in Maadi, a fairly upscale, middle-class neighborhood in Cairo. It currently offers English and computer classes that aim to expand its influence in the community. The workers at the center have built consistent relationships with middle-class families.
Also established in 2013 in Heliopolis, Cairo, is the Sunshine Preschool. It became a Global Mission funded project in 2015 when it was reorganized to become a center of influence. Since then several families of Christians and Muslims have benefited from an Adventist philosophy of education, healthy lifestyle programs, English classes, and Bible studies.
The Think Green project serves as a bridge between the Adventist Church and what is considered a hostile community in Gabal Asfar, a suburb of Greater Cairo. It was founded in 2015 as a recycling business, as well as an educational center for a healthy lifestyle. The project found favor with the people and local leaders but faced difficulties with the security forces that blocked the way for progress in the recycling program. Nevertheless, the leaders managed to keep the engagement with the community creating a preschool, soccer school, and English classes. In five years the project has changed the general opinion in the community about the Adventists from a distant and disconnected to a loving and caring people.29
The Seventh-day Adventist Health Care Assistance (SDAHCA, meaning friendship in Arabic: صداقة) was created in 2017 to be a support to the Syrian refugee community in Alexandria. The project screens refugee families with members that have chronic diseases or disabilities to assist them in getting medical treatment. The center has developed a network among the Egyptian hospitals and clinics for their support.
As of 2020 both Nile Union Academy and Adventist Private School, Zeitoun, commonly known as Zeitoun Elementary School, are still operational. A primary and secondary school for South Sudanese refugees is also functioning on the site of the old orphanage in Matariah where there are approximately three hundred thirty students attending classes.
Challenges for the 21st Century
Myron Iseminger, currently ESF president, attributes the slow growth of Adventism in Egypt to several factors, beginning with Christians of other denominations being extremely loyal to their respective churches and Muslims not being allowed to convert to Christianity.
Historically the Adventist Church in Egypt grew the most in southern villages, Upper Egypt. Egyptian youth from those villages gravitate toward Cairo to get their high-school education at Nile Union Academy. A large number of graduates choose to transition to Middle East University in Beirut, Lebanon, for their undergraduate studies. The few that return to Egypt are employed as pastors, teachers, and office workers. The majority emigrate to Western countries, with the most going to California, USA, where they thrive in well-paid jobs. A steady exodus of Egyptian Adventists and their families to other countries through the years has left the church in Egypt with a shortage of indigenous workers and national leadership in administration.30
In addition to more trained indigenous Adventist workers, the small Adventist to population ratio in Egypt will necessitate reliance on the world church and Egyptian Adventists living abroad for personnel and financial support for years to come.
Current members of the Adventist Church from Egypt and abroad have committed themselves to mingle with the people of modern Egypt, care for their needs, and will continue to do so as part of their world mission.31
Summary of Superintendents, Directors, and Presidents
W. H. Wakeham (1902-1906); Jay J. Nephery (1907, 1908); W. C. Ising (1909-1911); George Keough (1913, 1914); W. C. Ising (1915-1917); George Keough (1918-1929); Nils Zerne (1931-1937); E. L. Branson (1939-1943); G. M. Krick (1944, 1945); Neal C. Wilson (1945-1950); A. G. Zytkoskee (1951-1954); Neal C. Wilson (1955, 1956); Hilal Doss (1956-1958); C. V. Brauer (1956-1958); Hilmy Berbawy (1958-1960); W. Richard Lesher (1958, 1959); Hilal Doss (1961-1966); Habib Ghali (1967-1975); Lester Rasmussen (1975-1984); R. A. Thompson (1985-1988); Claude Lombart (1989-1995); Jim Neergaard (Act., 1995, 1996); Peter Zarka (1996-2003); Kjell Aune (2004-2006); Samir Berbawy (2006-2009); Llewellyn Edwards (2009-2013); Kleyton Feitosa (2013-2017); Myron Iseminger (2018-Present).
"Afro Mideast." ARH, September 6, 1979.
"Al-Azhar University in Few Lines." Al-Azhar University (Online). Accessed September 17, 2020. http://www.azhar.edu.eg/Portals/166/04%20----8--2017-1target.pdf.
"Egypt." Encyclopedia of Nations (Online). Accessed September 16, 2020. https://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Egypt.html.
"Egypt has a long history dating back millennia: Egypt Profile—Timeline." BBC News, January 7, 2019. Accessed September 16, 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13315719.
"Egypt Population 2019." World Population Review. Accessed June 17, 2019, http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/egypt-population/.
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Greater Middle East Union Oversight Committee. Silver Spring, MD: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 2012.
Hanna, Michael. "Excluded and Unequal: Copts on the Margins of the Egyptian Security State," The Century Foundation (Online), May 9, 2019. Accessed September 16, 2020. https://tcf.org/content/report/christian-exclusion-from-egypts-security-state/?agreed=1.
Lima, Ana Paula. "The Largest Adventist Community Center in Middle East Inaugurated on July 31st.," Adventist News Network (online), July 31, 2018. Accessed September 16, 2020. https://news.adventist.org/en/all-news/news/go/2018-07-31/the-largest-adventist-community-center-in-middle-east-inaugurated-on-july-31st/.
Lombart, Claude. "Towards the Financial Self-Support of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Egypt" [Doctor of Ministry Dissertation]. San Francisco Theological Seminary, May 1, 1994.
Middle East and North Union. "Executive Committee Minutes." Beirut, Lebanon, Middle East Union, August 26, 2013, 11.
Rebok, D. E. "Plans Laid for a New School in Egypt." ARH 130, no. 50 (December, 1953).
Scott, Sharlyn. "The History of Religion in Egypt: Ancient, Coptic Christianity and Islam" [PowerPoint Presentation]. N.d. https://cmes.arizona.edu/sites/cmes.arizona.edu/files/2c.%20History%20of%20Religion%20-%20powerpoint_0.pdf.
Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996. S.v. "United Arab Republic."
"The Christian Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt." Encyclopedia Coptica (Online), 2011. Accessed September 16, 2020. http://www.coptic.net/EncyclopediaCoptica/.
Thomas, Jean. "Egyptians Call Camp a 'Spiritual Feast'." ARH, September 25, 1980.
This article was written with the research assistance of Claude Lombart, president of Egypt Field (1989-1995).↩
"Egypt Population 2019," World Population Review, accessed June 17, 2019, http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/egypt-population/.↩
"Ethnic groups of Eastern Hamitic stock make up about 99% of the population of Egypt; these include Egyptians, Bedouins, and Berbers. They are a product of the intermixture of ancient Egyptians with the invaders of many millennia from various parts of Asia and Africa. The remaining 1% of the population is made up of minorities, including mainly Nubians, Armenians, Greeks, and other Europeans, primarily Italian and French," quoted in "Egypt," Encyclopedia of Nations, accessed September 16, 2020, https://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Egypt.html.↩
"Al-Azhar University in Few Lines," Al-Azhar University, accessed September 17, 2020, http://www.azhar.edu.eg/Portals/166/04%20----8--2017-1target.pdf.↩
"The Christian Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt," Encyclopedia Coptica, 2011, accessed September 16, 2020, http://www.coptic.net/EncyclopediaCoptica/.↩
"Egypt has a long history dating back millennia: Egypt Profile—Timeline," BBC News, January 7, 2019, accessed September 16, 2020, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13315719.↩
Michael Hanna, "Excluded and Unequal: Copts on the Margins of the Egyptian Security State," The Century Foundation, May 9, 2019, accessed September 16, 2020, https://tcf.org/content/report/christian-exclusion-from-egypts-security-state/?agreed=1.↩
Sharlyn Scott, "The History of Religion in Egypt: Ancient, Coptic Christianity and Islam" [PowerPoint Presentation], accessed September 16, 2020, https://cmes.arizona.edu/sites/cmes.arizona.edu/files/2c.%20History%20of%20Religion%20-%20powerpoint_0.pdf.↩
Claude Lombart, "Towards the Financial Self-Support of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Egypt" (Doctor of Ministry Dissertation, San Francisco Theological Seminary, May 1, 1994), 101-103.↩
Chan, Bertram K.C. "Re: Article on Egypt, Arab Republic of." Received by Myron Iseminger, January 5, 2020. Email Interview. This is a different font style than the rest of the bibliography, which is locked, thus no comments allowed.↩
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, "Greater Middle East Union Oversight Committee Minutes" (Silver Spring, MD: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, October 3, 2012), 1.↩
Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, 1996 ed., s.v. "United Arab Republic"; D. E. Rebok, "Plans Laid for a New School in Egypt," ARH 130, no. 50 (December 1953): 24.↩
Sven H. Jensen, personal knowledge, President of Middle East Union Mission, 1995-2001.↩
John Hancock, "Youth Camp Held in Egypt Results in Record Baptism," ARH, September 5, 1968, 32.↩
Mokhtar Nashed, interviewed by Ranya Maher and Jihan Abdel Said, Cairo, Egypt, February 2019.↩
Sven H. Jensen, personal knowledge.↩
Jean Thomas, "Egyptians Call Camp a "Spiritual Feast," ARH, September 25, 1980, 22-23.↩
"Afro Mideast," ARH, September 6, 1979, 20.↩
Claude Lombart, ESF president 1989 to 1995, email correspondence with Melanie Wixwat, (June 23, 2020).↩
Llewellyn Edwards, ESF president 2009-2013, email correspondence with Melanie Wixwat, (June 22, 2020).↩
Kleyton Feitosa, ESF president 2013-2017, email correspondence with Melanie Wixwat, (June 25, 2020).↩
Candis Iseminger, Education director for ESF, email correspondence with Melanie Wixwat, (June 23, 2020).↩
Ana Paula Lima, "The Largest Adventist Community Center in Middle East Inaugurated on July 31st.," Adventist News Network, July 31, 2018, accessed September 16, 2020, https://news.adventist.org/en/all-news/news/go/2018-07-31/the-largest-adventist-community-center-in-middle-east-inaugurated-on-july-31st/.↩
Myron Iseminger, personal knowledge, President of Egypt-Sudan Field, 1918 to present; Secretary of Egypt-Sudan Field, 1996-2001.↩
Vyhmeister, Shawna, Melanie Riches Wixwat. "Egypt, Arab Republic of." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 09, 2021. Accessed January 15, 2021. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=DDYY.
Vyhmeister, Shawna, Melanie Riches Wixwat. "Egypt, Arab Republic of." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 09, 2021. Date of access January 15, 2021, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=DDYY.
Vyhmeister, Shawna, Melanie Riches Wixwat (2021, January 09). Egypt, Arab Republic of. Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved January 15, 2021, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=DDYY.


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Misnegation should not be overestimated, I mean underestimated
Misnegation is an obscure word for a common phenomenon. You won't find it in dictionaries, but you can probably figure out that it means some kind of 'incorrect negation' – not to be confused with double negatives ('multiple negation'), criticism of which tends to be dubious.
So what exactly are we talking about here?
Misnegation is where we say something with negatives in it that don't add up the way we intend. We lose track of the logic and reverse it inadvertently. For example, I might say that the likelihood of misnegation cannot be understated, when I mean it cannot be overstated – it is, in fact, easily understated.
Misnegation often occurs with overstate or understate, overestimate or underestimate, but it can take many, many forms. It pops up in all sorts of places, including large print on official signs, as this example from Helen Stevens shows. Even Hägar the Horrible once said, 'I miss not having' when he really meant 'I miss having':
9 Comments | editing, language, linguistics, semantics, syntax, typos | Tagged: editing, grammar, Hägar the Horrible, language, linguistics, Mark Liberman, misnegation, negation, proofreading, publishing, semantics, syntax, typos, writing | Permalink
Posted by Stan Carey
Margaret Atwood's Virago suffixes
Margaret Atwood has a short essay in A Virago Keepsake to Celebrate Twenty Years of Publishing, one of twenty contributions to this slim and enjoyable volume from 1993.
In the essay, 'Dump Bins and Shelf Strips', Atwood describes her introduction to Virago Press in the mid-1970s when it occupied 'a single room in a crumbling building on one of the grubbier streets in Soho'. To reach it you had to climb 'several flights of none-too-clean stairs', past 'a lot of men in raincoats hanging around'.
The following passage, completing the climb, is notable for several reasons, one of which is the variable suffixation:
2 Comments | books, gender, humour, language, morphology, wordplay, words | Tagged: affixation, affixes, books, Carmen Callil, Diana Athill, humour, language, London, Margaret Atwood, morphology, publishing, reading, suffixes, virago, Virago Press, wordplay, words, writing | Permalink
Steven Pinker on rewriting
When you want to improve a piece of writing, showing it to someone (such as a beta reader) is often a good idea. This doesn't apply to everything, obviously, but it's especially valuable for text intended for publication, or when you're concerned about how the audience will react to what you've written.
Steven Pinker, in The Sense of Style (2014), recommends that you also 'show a draft to yourself' – preferably having spent time away from it. This too is sound advice. It's not new, but I like the slant Pinker puts on it, that you should show it to yourself as though you were another person, which, in a sense proportionate to the time that has passed, you are. He says you may find yourself wondering, as he does:
'What did I mean by that?' or 'How does this follow?' or, all too often, 'Who wrote this crap?'
16 Comments | books, editing, writing | Tagged: books, Charles Darwin, editing, publishing, rewriting, Steven Pinker, The Sense of Style, writing, writing style | Permalink
When is a typo not a typo? In the wor(l)d of Ulysses
Thus the unfacts, did we possess them, are too imprecisely few to warrant our certitude —James Joyce, Finnegans Wake
As a copy-editor I try to abide by the typographic oath: First, do no harm. When you're making changes to a writer's text, whatever you do, don't introduce an error. But at the risk of undermining that solid principle, there is an occasional exception.
Enter James Joyce.
The length and complexity of Ulysses, and the difficulties of its publication, mean that many subtly different versions of the text exist. The first legal edition in the US, which became its standard edition for decades, was based on a pirated copy, for example.
Typographical errors arose inevitably from multiple sources; complicating things further is the fact that some 'errors' were deliberate but wrongly 'corrected' by printers or editors. And then there were all those rewrites and updates by the author while the thing was being serialised. And afterwards. Brenda Maddox, in Nora, notes that Joyce wrote 'as much as one third of the final text of Ulysses in the form of corrections or additions in the margins of the proof sheets'.
So there is no ideal, 'master' text; in fact Joyce scholars fight over the best way to decide what this even means.
16 Comments | books, editing, Ireland, language, literature, spelling, typos, writers, writing | Tagged: books, editing, Ireland, irish literature, James Joyce, Jeri Johnson, language, literary history, literature, love letters, publishing, reading, spelling, typos, Ulysses, words, writers, writing | Permalink
"We must write for our own time"
A few words from Sartre:
A book has its absolute truth in its own time. It is lived like a riot or a famine, with much less intensity of course, and by fewer people, but in the same way. It is an emanation of intersubjectivity, a living bond of rage, hatred, or love between those who have produced it and those who receive it. If it gains ground, thousands of people reject it and deny it: we all know very well that to read a book is to rewrite it. At the time it is first a panic, an escape, or a courageous affirmation; at the time it is a good or a bad action. Later, when the time has died, it will become relative; it will become a message. But the judgement of posterity will not invalidate the opinions men had of it during its lifetime. . . .
8 Comments | books, gender, literature, writing | Tagged: anthology, books, essays, gender, Jean-Paul Sartre, language and gender, literature, Paris, publishing, sexism, writing | Permalink
The Time Traveller: a rare-books magazine
Among the projects I worked on this winter was to copyedit a new, independent Irish magazine called The Time Traveller. It comes from the bookstore of the same name, which has three outlets in the west of Ireland: Westport, County Mayo; Skibbereen, County Cork; and Cork city.
The Time Traveller's bookshop specialises in rare books, and the magazine, a quarterly, does likewise, its topics reaching into art, philosophy, history, publishing, poetry, culture, music, education, and literature in general. As its editor Holger Smyth writes in his editorial:
There is no point in starting a shy publication that looks pretty and is full of words but has nothing to say. Would it be wise to pretend everything is fine when the whole world is on the run? This quarterly will try to shine a light on important and forgotten publications, political ideas that should have been implemented, philosophies that could have made a difference, authors who could have been honoured, voices that should have been heard.
2 Comments | books, editing, Ireland, literature, personal, writing | Tagged: books, bookshop, editing, history, Irish magazines, Irish writing, literary history, literary magazines, literature, magazines, publishing, rare books, reading, Time Traveller, writing | Permalink
Book review: But Can I Start a Sentence with "But"?
Editors are necessarily a fussy lot. We hunt typos, errant commas, and assorted orthographical aberrations and inconsistencies with the industry and pleasure of a bumblebee in a high-summer meadow. And if we're any good at it, we consult authorities – often. Because we know (oh, how we know) what assumption is the mother of.
For academic writers and editors, the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) is one of the biggest and best authorities, especially for US English. Even here in Ireland, I check CMOS often and with great regard. (After years of frequent use, editors become intimately familiar with style guides: our feelings for them are not always friendly.)
The team behind CMOS run a monthly Q&A for subs, proofreaders, writers and the stylistically uncertain. Many queries can be resolved by reference to the relevant section in CMOS, though at 1026 pages it can take some digging, while others are more esoteric puzzles that offer no obvious solution. The editors' answers are clear and helpful, as you'd expect, but they're also sometimes… sassy. Snarky, even.
And now there's a book, But Can I Start a Sentence with "But"?, a selection from the Q&A. (Its publishers, University of Chicago Press, kindly sent me a complimentary copy.) The foreword is by Carol Fisher Saller, who is responsible for many of the As in the Q&A and whose book The Subversive Copy Editor, 2nd edition, I reviewed recently.
Saller and her colleagues are a fount of level-headed sense, and it's manifest throughout this short book. On the very first page we read: 'In style matters, there are often competing options, all acceptable.' This, as you may imagine, is music to my ears. Page 2: 'When consistency gets silly, you can rebel.'
These are solid maxims of the editing trade, yet they are unknown to some professionals who assume there is always a Right Way and who sacrifice sense and compromise clarity to avoid deviating from a rule, however trivial. So it's reassuring and constructive to see editorial flexibility upheld and indeed stressed by so august an arbiter.
11 Comments | book reviews, books, editing, writing | Tagged: book review, books, But Can I Start a Sentence with "But"?, Carol Fisher Saller, Chicago Manual of Style, Chicago Style, CMOS, editing, proofreading, publishing, reading, University of Chicago Press, writing | Permalink


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Boaters Warned About Tropical Storm Erika
The Coast Guard is issuing a caution to mariners and recreational boaters in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico as Tropical Storm Erika nears.
"Recreational boaters and anyone conducting water-related activities should avoid areas of high surf and stay away from shoreline rocks, levees and river beds until the tropical storm passes and weather and surf conditions normalize throughout the area," San Juan Coast Guard commander Capt. Robert Warren said in a statement.
"Monitoring the weather and understanding the dangers associated with the high sea conditions and tropical storm force winds forecasted before, during, and after the storm could save your life and property," he said.
Predicted wind speed map.
Vessels and facility operators, recreational boaters, swimmers and people conducting activities in the ocean should pay close attention and monitor this situation through updated National Weather Service advisories and take appropriate action to minimize the risks associated with these predicted conditions.
The group issued a few tips to help mariners protect themselves, their families and their vessels:
Do not go out to sea in a recreational boat if you know a tropical storm is approaching.
Contact local marinas to ask for advice about securing your vessel. Marina operators are knowledgeable and can advise you on the best methods for securing your boat.
Take action now. The effects of a tropical storm can be felt well in advance of the storm itself and can prevent the safe completion of preparations.
The Mariners' 1-2-3 Rule, or "Danger area", is indicated by shading. The 1-2-3 Rule, commonly taught to mariners, refers to the rounded long-term NHC forecast errors of 100-200-300 nautical miles at 24-48-72 hours, respectively. The contour defining the shaded area is constructed by accounting for those errors and then broadened further to reflect the maximum tropical storm force (34 knot) wind radii forecast at each of those times by the NHC. The NHC does not warrant that avoiding these danger areas will eliminate the risk of harm from tropical cyclones.
This post originally appeared here.
weatherTropical StormStormstropicalstormErika
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A graduate from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration and INSEAD, France, Jan has spent most of his professional life in marketing and senior management, working for Norwegian as well as international companies and brands including Unilever, Carlsberg, Coca-Cola, Jordan, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and EAC-KiMS (Malaysia).
For the past decade, Jan has been Managing Director of the Norwegian Design Council (NDC). In his time, Jan has experienced considerable budget increases from the government, enabling the NDC to introduce major national design projects. In February 2005, the NDC opened Norway's first National Centre for Design and Architecture.
He is currently responsible for International Relations at the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture where he is responsible for international promotion of Norwegian design and architecture.
Jan was a Board Member of BEDA for a number of years and served as its President from 2009 to 2011. From 2001 to 2005, Jan was President of the Board of ERA 2005 – the World Design Congress, which took place in the Nordic countries in September 2005 with more than 1,500 participants from over 50 countries around the world.


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Home » Education » African Elephants
Elephants are the world's largest living land mammal.There are two sub-species of African elephant: the savannah elephant and the forest elephant. In 1979 there were just 1.3 million left. Today approximately 450,000 survive in the wild.
The single biggest threat to elephants is the illegal trade in ivory. A recent report - the Great Elephant Census published in 2016 - estimates that 30% (about 144,000 elephants) were killed for their ivory between 2007-2014. Although the trade in ivory has been illegal since 1989, one-off sales of stockpiled ivory have accelerated demand. Ivory, like human teeth, is made of dentine. It is carved into ornaments and trinkets and given as symbols of wealth. The rest of the elephant is usually left where it fell or used as bush meat. As a result of these elephant deaths there are an increasing number of orphaned elephants.
Up to 6,500kg
Herbivore - they eat for 20 hours a day
c.450,000
37 Sub-Saharan African countries
Elephants can be found across sub-Saharan Africa mainly in Western, Southern and Eastern Africa. They are migratory animals and use ancient routes travelling from country to country to find food and water. The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation supports elephant conservation and research in Zambia and Uganda.
The capital of Zambia is Lusaka.
Zambia is home to DSWF's longest standing project. We helped establish Zambia's first elephant orphanage and set up local NGO Game Rangers International (GRI) which supports park protection, education, community outreach and elephant rescue.
The capital of Uganda is Kampala.
Uganda's Queen Elizabeth Park and Ishasha Region, are home to nearly 1,000 elephants and used as a migratory corridor for many more. DSWF supports the Uganda Conservation Foundation (UCF) funding the Waterways Project, the first waterborne anti-poaching patrols of these vulnerable waterways.
There are two sub-species of African elephant: the Savannah elephant and the forest elephant. In 1979 there were 1.3 million left. Today only approximately 450,000 African elephants survive in the wild.
Females stay together for life with an older female (cow) called a "matriarch" in charge. Teenage males leave the herd and often form bachelor herds before fighting older bulls to gain control of a herd.
The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation founded the first elephant orphanage in Zambia which rescues, rehabilitates and safely returns these victims of ivory poaching and human conflict back to the wild. When you are 18 you can volunteer to help!
Physical contact is very important to elephants and these gentle giants help their sick and injured. Cows often watch over their dead calves, sometimes covering them with leaves and branches before moving on.
Discover more about African Elephants
You can help save the elephant by supporting the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation's work either by fundraising as a school or an individual, adopting Chamilandu or Nkala or entering our annual art and poetry competition. For more information you can download our animal fact sheets and posters too!
Down the Factsheet
Photography courtesy of Erica Wark, EOP, Andrew White, Martin Harvey
Donate Adopt Join


text:
StudyCorgi Law
Discontinuity of Care in the Criminal Justice System
Topic: Law Words: 556 Pages: 2 Dec 28th, 2022
The media and much of the general community believe that crime and mental illnesses are related to each other because of the numerous cases of crimes committed by the mentally ill, as well as the big number of imprisoned mentally ill persons. For example, such cases as Andrea Yates in 2001, the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, the Aurora, Colorado theatre shooting, and the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in 2012 demonstrate that mental illnesses and crime are interrelated (Schug & Fradella, 2015, p. 1). However, the problem is that many mental hospitals and clinics were closed, and their patients were placed in prisons and jails instead. For example, the largest psychiatric facility in the United States holds only 3,000 people, which is not enough for all patients (Schug & Fradella, 2015, p. 3). As a result, the media and the general public began to believe that mentally ill individuals commit crimes more often than other people.
Nevertheless, this information is not factual, and those with mental illnesses may commit the same crime as those without any illnesses. Thus, according to Schug and Fradella (2015), no more than 3% of violent crimes are committed by mentally ill individuals (p. 3). Moreover, the prevalence of such people in prisons is about 16%-30% (Schug & Fradella, 2015, p. 4). The authors argue that mental diseases or disorders have a small impact on violent tendencies. The main reasons for a crime are usually different stressors, family violence, peers, and substance abuse (Schug & Fradella, 2015). However, the media relates crime to mental illnesses to make the news about crime more representative and sensational. As a result, the public has a wrong understanding of mental illnesses and associates mentally ill people with violence.
The criminal justice system encounters different issues from the correctional system. The lack of mental health providers and law enforcement officers who can recognize a mental illness before a person's arrest is the first challenge the correctional system encounters. The shortage of mental health professionals prevents mentally ill persons from access to early intervention services. If law enforcement involved mental health training and crisis intervention teams in their practice, it would be easier to determine the symptoms of a mentally ill person.
The second issue is believing that a psychological disorder is either present or absent. For this reason, mentally ill persons will be perceived as sick chronically, even if their mental conditions exist on a continuum with normal behavior (Schug & Fradella, 2015, p. 30). In addition, mental illnesses are not easy to diagnose, and this issue is another challenge for the law enforcement system. If an individual is diagnosed with a psychological disorder, they will have a chance of diversion from imprisonment. Still, people with mental illnesses often cannot access mental health courts and diversion programs due to the shortage of such courts and programs and other reasons.
Moreover, the stigma related to mental health illnesses is closely associated with the stigma around the criminal justice system. A lack of safe-bed programs and community support is another issue encountered by law enforcement. Finally, health, mental health, corrections, and social services do not interact properly, and the lack of coordination between them leads to discontinuity of care in the criminal justice system. One can see that law enforcement faces many issues and challenges related to mental illnesses.
Schug, R. A., & Fradella, H. F. (2015). Mental illness and crime. Sage.
The Success of Denial and Deception Efforts
Why Corporations Should Participate in Preventing Crimes of Violence
StudyCorgi. (2022, December 28). Discontinuity of Care in the Criminal Justice System. Retrieved from https://studycorgi.com/discontinuity-of-care-in-the-criminal-justice-system/
StudyCorgi. (2022, December 28). Discontinuity of Care in the Criminal Justice System. https://studycorgi.com/discontinuity-of-care-in-the-criminal-justice-system/
"Discontinuity of Care in the Criminal Justice System." StudyCorgi, 28 Dec. 2022, studycorgi.com/discontinuity-of-care-in-the-criminal-justice-system/.
1. StudyCorgi. "Discontinuity of Care in the Criminal Justice System." December 28, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/discontinuity-of-care-in-the-criminal-justice-system/.
StudyCorgi. "Discontinuity of Care in the Criminal Justice System." December 28, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/discontinuity-of-care-in-the-criminal-justice-system/.
StudyCorgi. 2022. "Discontinuity of Care in the Criminal Justice System." December 28, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/discontinuity-of-care-in-the-criminal-justice-system/.
StudyCorgi. (2022) 'Discontinuity of Care in the Criminal Justice System'. 28 December.
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