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Policies of Catholic run hospitals put reproductive access off-limits for many Wisconsin women
Posted by Wisconsin Watch | Feb 25, 2020 | Syndicated |
A retired obstetrician says Catholic restrictions kept her from providing the best care to patients: 'When you have a moral conflict like that, it eats away at you.'
When Ascension's St. Joseph Hospital in Milwaukee announced it would cut back services in 2018, residents of the surrounding Sherman Park area balked. The predominantly black, low-income neighborhood already faced its share of challenges. Nearly a third of residents in the ZIP code live in poverty, and black infants born there are more than twice as likely to die as white infants. Residents feared that reducing services would exacerbate these disparities, and even pave the way for the hospital to be shuttered completely.
They protested fiercely to keep services in place, and St. Joseph's parent company, Ascension Wisconsin, eventually put the cuts on hold. St. Joseph Hospital works to maintain the community's trust and fulfill the unmet social needs of patients, through programs such as Blanket of Love, which educates families about prenatal health, nutrition and exercise.
"It's an anchor institution there," said Reggie Newson, chief advocacy officer at Ascension Wisconsin.
But St. Joseph remains the target of a different kind of protest. The hospital is Catholic, which means it follows Ethical and Religious Directives, a set of rules written by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The rules prohibit Catholic hospitals, except in extreme situations, from providing procedures the church deems immoral — including abortions, contraception and sterilization. In-vitro fertilization is banned, as is physician-assisted suicide which is legal in nine states and the District of Columbia, although not in Wisconsin.
Asma Kadri Keeler, a staff attorney at the ACLU of Wisconsin, recently met with members of the St. Joe's Accountability Coalition, a community group formed after Ascension announced its cutbacks. After she informed them about Catholic hospital policy, "Light bulbs went off in the room," Keeler said.
Although the majority of people surveyed by the community group had positive views of St. Joseph, some residents told Keeler they were worried and hesitant to send their pregnant loved ones to the hospital. Keeler said while the ACLU works to safeguard religious liberty, it also has sued when patients were denied care based on religious restrictions.
"We take the position that it (religious liberty) can't be used to harm other people," she said.
Reproductive rights advocates say the restrictions impose religious doctrine on patients and violate medical standards of care in ways that disproportionately affect communities like Sherman Park. Catholic health systems argue that they serve as safety nets in impoverished communities and provide the same quality of care as secular hospitals. According to the Catholic Health Association (CHA), which represents and advocates for the more than 600 Catholic hospitals in the United States, patients who received care at Catholic hospitals are more likely to recommend those hospitals than patients who receive care elsewhere.
That St. Joseph is both desperately needed and criticized reflects an increasingly common tension facing communities. An analysis by the Cap Times and the Fuller Project, a nonprofit news organization focusing on women's issues, shows that in Wisconsin, the number of Catholic hospitals grew by 13 percent, while the number of non-Catholic hospitals fell by the same percentage, between 2001 and 2018.
Wisconsin hospitals can make these moves with little oversight — or regard for how business decisions might limit access to health care services. Wisconsin is one of 15 states that does not have a process for controlling hospital expansions or mergers, often called a Certificate of Need.
In most ways, these Catholic hospitals, which treat one in every seven patients in the United States, differ from secular ones in name only. Yet, critics say, in a small but important corner of reproductive care, Catholic ethics can trump medical best practice, bishops can wield more influence than physicians, and patients can be denied care they desire or need.
Catholic hospitals common
In Wisconsin, where Catholic Germans and Irish dominated immigration in the mid- to late- 1800s, one-third of hospitals are governed by Catholic religious principles — more than twice the national average. Hospitals are not always transparent about the services they will and will not provide, and patients often lack a choice of where they seek care — or what care they will receive, the Cap Times and the Fuller Project found.
Wisconsin is more heavily reliant on Catholic health care than almost any other state in the country. It is the only state where black women are more likely to deliver their babies in a Catholic institution than a non-Catholic one, Columbia Law School researchers found. And in 12 of Wisconsin's 72 counties, the only hospitals within the borders are Catholic.
These hospitals are governed by 77 directives, which fuse Catholic theology with medicine and technology. They lay out the Catholic Church's vision of health care in modern times, including a commitment to serve those on the margins of society and rules for how Catholic hospitals should merge with non-Catholic ones.
Several directives cover reproductive care that the church said can undermine the "biological, psychological and moral bonds" undergirding marriage and family. For example, Catholic-affiliated hospitals will not provide sterilization if the sole purpose is to prevent a woman from becoming pregnant. And abortion is not permitted, unless it is an "unavoidable" consequence of an action taken to save the mother's life, according to Brian Reardon, vice president of communications and marketing for CHA.
Hospitals can differ on what the directives mean, with some using workarounds, such as a Madison, Wisconsin, hospital that refers patients seeking a common form of sterilization to undergo the procedure at a nearby eye clinic that does surgeries. In other instances, adherence to Catholic directives has led to denials and delays that physicians say put women's health at risk.
How Catholic law is interpreted varies by hospital and which doctor you have. Some physicians provide referrals for abortions and other restricted services or find workarounds to the Catholic rules, such as prescribing contraception for menstrual pain rather than birth control. Others adhere strictly to the directives.
Out of dozens of former and current medical residents, physicians, nurses and midwives in Wisconsin contacted by the Cap Times and the Fuller Project, only one currently practicing physician agreed to speak on the record for this story. Other currently practicing providers agreed to speak only anonymously because of concerns about negatively affecting their careers or because they had been instructed not to by their employer.
Commenting on the variation in implementation of the Catholic principles, one Milwaukee obstetrician who asked not to be named said: "It's very difficult because you don't know what you're dealing with at different hospitals with different policies. As ridiculous as it sounds, it's almost like they have different religious values."
To clarify how Wisconsin's Catholic hospitals interpret, apply and communicate the directives, the Cap Times and the Fuller Project sent a series of questions to six such hospital systems: Ascension, SSM Health, Hospital Sisters Health System, Divine Savior Healthcare, Essentia Health, and Holy Family Memorial. Questions were also sent to Aspirus and Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare, two non-Catholic health systems that own hospitals that adhere to the ERDs.
None responded individually. However, Nathaniel Blanton Hibner, CHA's director of ethics, sent a statement on behalf of the organization and Ascension, SSM and Hospital Sisters Health System:
"Physicians working in Catholic facilities can and do prescribe contraceptives to treat a variety of underlying medical conditions," Hibner wrote. "Catholic hospitals also provide emergency contraception to victims of rape or sexual assault. … Catholic hospitals also do not provide elective procedures where the sole intention is to cause the sterilization of the patient."
Doctor recalls potential 'time bomb'
Dr. Kathy Hartke worked in Catholic hospitals for 27 years. She recalls one patient from several years ago whom she said was negatively affected by the directives. A young woman pregnant with twins arrived at the Catholic hospital in Brookfield, now known as Ascension SE Wisconsin Hospital-Elmbrook Campus. Her water broke, and she began having labor contractions. At about 21 weeks, the fetuses had virtually zero chance of survival.
The longer they waited to terminate the pregnancy and her cervix remained dilated, the greater the risk the woman's uterus would become infected, Hartke said. But at Elmbrook, medical personnel were told they could not terminate the pregnancy as long as the fetuses had heartbeats. Hartke recommended the patient be transferred to the secular Waukesha Memorial Hospital, where they could induce labor. But nurses gave the patient the opposite advice, insisting the Catholic hospital would safely take care of her.
"Meanwhile, we're sitting on a possible time bomb of somebody who is going to get very, very sick … and potentially die," said Hartke, who has retired from practice.
Receiving mixed messages and not knowing whom to trust, the patient remained in Hartke's care. In the ensuing days, the patient grew sicker and sicker. She eventually developed sepsis, a life-threatening condition that is the body's extreme response to infection, Hartke recalls.
Fortunately, the patient did not die. Hartke said she eventually went into spontaneous labor and was provided antibiotics, which prevented her from growing sicker. The fetuses did not survive. If a mother is suffering from a life-threatening condition, Catholic hospitals will provide all medically indicated care — even if it results in the death of the child, CHA's Hibner said.
"I've had calls where a doctor will say, 'Well, we think there's a good chance of infection but we're going to wait,' " adds the Rev. Charles Bouchard, senior director of theology at CHA. "And I'd say, 'Look, don't wait until this infection starts. You need to be proactive about this because you know where it's going.' "
But in her experience, Hartke said, "they push it to the last possible second. How is any physician supposed to be able to predict when it's too late and a woman is going to die?"
Such late-pregnancy complications, while rare, can create dilemmas for some women seeking care in Catholic hospitals, said Dr. Jessika Ralph, a former resident of the Medical College of Wisconsin who rotated through two of Milwaukee's Catholic hospitals. An obstetrician/gynecologist, Ralph now works at University of Minnesota Health.
Ralph tried to facilitate an abortion for a patient who became ill after going into premature labor with twins at St. Joseph in 2017. Ralph said she was forced to wait until the woman hemorrhaged or showed signs of infection to help end the doomed pregnancy.
The first fetus miscarried, and for hours, the patient bled heavily and drained of color. When the woman's temperature soared after 10 hours, Ralph said she was given medication to induce labor — but not the standard abortion drug mifepristone, which the hospital did not stock. The second fetus was born 24 hours after the woman was admitted, Ralph said, and did not survive.
"While overall I believe these hospitals do provide good obstetric and gynecologic care for women, this unfortunately is a really big gap, and it's a gap that patients don't know about," said Ralph, who also told her story to Rewire.News. "I wanted patients to be aware that this is a real occurrence that sometimes the hospital can't provide the care that you feel you need."
Tubal ligations raise thorny issues
At one Catholic hospital in Milwaukee, physicians "constantly" run into these restrictions while providing care to their patients, said the obstetrician who wished to remain anonymous. The doctor said some Catholic-prohibited procedures, such as tying a woman's tubes after she delivers via C-section to prevent additional pregnancies, are so frequently requested that doctors have lost track of how many times they have had to deny them.
This type of sterilization is a common form of contraception, with half of all such procedures performed soon after a woman delivers, according to a study by Nan O'Connell, an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.
Women delivering by C-section at a secular hospital can ask physicians to tie their fallopian tubes, cut them and cauterize the ends while the abdomen is still open — a procedure that might last just a few minutes. But at a Catholic hospital, the same woman must schedule a second surgery at a different hospital, the Milwaukee obstetrician said. By the time the woman is ready to go under the knife, she may already be pregnant again. In fact, researchers have found that nearly half of women who requested to be sterilized but were denied became pregnant within a year.
"They're done (having kids) but they lack the ability to come back and set up another surgery," the physician said.
Hospitals also charge nearly three times more for postpartum tubal ligations than they do for the same procedure done during a C-section, according to a list of procedure costs covering 13 of the 15 Aurora hospitals in Wisconsin. The median charge for a C-section tubal is $515, while the charge for a postpartum tubal is $1,390.
Although it is a one-day procedure typically performed in an outpatient setting, postpartum tubals involve risks common to any surgery, including infection, bleeding and negative effects of anesthesia. For women with serious health problems, such as heart valve disease or diabetes complications, getting pregnant again could prove fatal. Although death is relatively rare, Wisconsin's black women are five times more likely to die because of pregnancy than white women, and the state has the highest infant mortality rate for black babies in the nation.
Doctors at Catholic hospitals face a dilemma: Refer patients to a different hospital and undercut their practice, do the tubal ligation and risk violating hospital rules, or make the patient go through two surgeries, at two different facilities.
"When you have a moral conflict like that, it eats away at you," said Hartke, the retired obstetrician.
The Milwaukee obstetrician now advises patients not to deliver at a Catholic hospital if they want a tubal ligation. The doctor said it's not worth the risk.
Religious affiliation not always clear
And many people who receive care at a Catholic hospital are not aware of its religious affiliation. In a national survey, one-third of women aged 18 to 45 who named a Catholic facility as their primary hospital for reproductive care did not know it was Catholic.
"There's no transparency," Hartke said.
One woman said it was decades later when she discovered the directives had impacted her. After delivering her daughter at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire in 1990, Melissa Davies wanted a tubal ligation.
"I said this would be my only child and asked to get my tubes tied," recalls Davies, who was 24 at the time.
She said hospital staff denied her request, telling her she was too young and that the procedure was illegal.
"Then I come to find out it was Catholic law, not actual law," she said.
Sister Mary Haddad, president and CEO of the CHA, rejects the notion that these hospitals are trying to hide their Catholic affiliation.
"If anything, we're constantly looking for how to be able to communicate that in a very public way," she said.
Practice, policies appear to diverge
Compounding the ambiguity is the fact that practice does not always appear to match stated policy. For example, physicians at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital in Madison perform tubal ligations at SSM's Davis Duehr Dean Eye Care, a nearby clinic formerly operated by the secular Dean Health Systems.
According to a nurse who worked for Dean, the clinic is set up for eye surgery but not for tubals, and it sometimes lacked necessary supplies. She recalls a physician telling her he had to walk between the eye clinic and hospital to get needed equipment.
The nurse, who asked not to be named, said other clinic staff wondered why they could not perform tubals in St. Mary's nearby surgery and care center, where other day surgeries are performed. St. Mary's did not respond to a request for comment.
But Dr. Doug Laube, former president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and a retired professor and practitioner at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, confirmed that tubals are performed there. He calls the arrangement "irrational."
It is unclear whether similar arrangements will be allowed going forward, according to attorneys at the National Health Law Program, which works to protect the health care rights of underserved people. In 2018, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops updated the directives to provide guidance on hospital mergers, writing that such arrangements "must be operated in full accord with the moral teaching of the Catholic Church."
St. Mary's physicians also may perform tubal ligations at the time of C-section, a former resident said — in contrast to many other Catholic hospitals, which do not offer that service.
According to the former UW-Madison obstetrics/gynecology resident, physicians at St. Mary's could write a letter to the administration arguing it was safer for the mother not to have any more babies, such as in cases in which having a repeat C-section put them at higher risk of complications. The letter felt like a formality and was approved every time, the former resident recalls.
Contraception policies vary widely
A more pressing restriction was the forms of birth control they could provide, the former resident said. Secular hospitals commonly implant long-acting reversible forms of contraception such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) after a woman gives birth. Physicians interviewed by the Cap Times and the Fuller Project who worked at Catholic hospitals say they were not allowed to implant IUDs, which provide contraception that can last for years.
Data from the Wisconsin Hospital Association suggest this is largely true. Ascension's St. Joseph Hospital, for example, billed for an IUD just nine times for the fiscal year ending June 2019, whereas the non-Catholic Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, less than 5 miles away, did the same more than 1,500 times.
There are some significant exceptions. Essentia Health St. Mary's Hospital-Superior billed for 135 IUDs in fiscal year 2019; Ascension All Saints Hospital in Racine, which has two campuses, billed for 666 IUDs, Wisconsin Hospital Association data show.
The time immediately following delivery can be crucial to eliminate gaps in contraception for those who desire it. Forty percent of women do not return for a postpartum visit, while as many as 75 percent of women who plan on obtaining a long-acting contraceptive after giving birth do not follow through.
"It's a missed opportunity for sure," said the former Dean nurse.
Cami Thomas compares such religious refusals of care to the nation's shameful history of people of color sterilized against their will that continued late into the past century. Thomas is a leader of Maroon Calabash, which describes itself as a black radical reproductive justice organization run by doulas who provide support and guidance to pregnant women.
Other research has shown that women of color more often feel pressured by physicians into using contraception than white women. Reproductive health care, she said, should be about "dignity and consent."
Thomas recounts going to a Catholic hospital about a decade ago when she was on the brink of death, having lost two-thirds of her blood after her menstrual cycle went on for six months.
To stop her period and bring her blood count up, her doctor wanted to give her Depo-Provera, an injectable contraceptive, she said. But the hospital's rules on contraception prohibited it, the doctor told her. Furious at the hospital's policies, he found a loophole.
"Not all doctors are like that," she said. "Thank goodness I had that doctor."
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The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Television, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by the Center do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.
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The Seminary continues to play, with renewed awareness, a pivotal role in the life of our Church. Beyond its structural manifestations it remains essentially a MISSION sustained by faith, hope and vision. We believe that this mission is God's mission carried on humbly and faithfully through our Seminary to our people. This could be accomplished with the active and tangible participation of our people in the life and mission of the Theological Seminary.


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Archives For leverage
The Amazing Race: Haiti
Support Amical Et Meilleures Offres. Intimité Absolue. Absolument Anonyme. Meilleure Qualité. Médicaments Les Moins Chers En Ligne. Il Veut Commander De L'authentique Dans La Pharmacie Locale à Reims De Chez Lui Ici comparaison de prix propecia france Facilement. Oui, Vous Avez Le Droit De Continuer à Bénéficier De L'achat. Vous Pouvez Le Faire Aussi Si Vous N'avez Pas De Prescription Médicale.
My husband and I lead missions trips to Haiti. As I was observing (and serving) in the poorest country in the western hemisphere, I began to think about how there are some leadership lessons inherent in the environment in Haiti that most of us could stand to think about more often. You may think to yourself, "what can I learn from a country that has 90% unemployment and a 70% illiteracy rate?" These statistics are correct… and there are some important reminders (lessons) that impact how we interact with people as leaders and how far people are willing to go to serve you.
Here are just a few of the things that come to mind:
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Dear KTFC Members & Friends:
The financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic reared its head this week as the PA Turnpike Commission announced it would lay off about 500 toll workers, accelerating the switch to cash-free tolling.
The commission had planned to implement the cash-free system in two years, but temporarily stopped accepting cash in March as the coronavirus forced a significant portion of the country to shelter in place, and toll workers were sent home. The toll road collected money using E-ZPass or its toll-by-plate system, which generated invoices that are mailed to vehicle owners.
The Turnpike accelerated the permanent switch as it took a considerable financial hit when tolling revenue dropped due to decreased traffic volume.
We wish the employees well and hope the commission is able to help them make as smooth a transition as possible.
The Turnpike Commission accelerated the transition to cash-free tolling, laying off about 500 employees as tolling revenue fell.
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NJCAA Division II Men's Soccer Athletic Scholarships.
Do you know how much financial aid NJCAA Division II schools give to players on college soccer teams? Last year NCAA Division I and II schools alone awarded $2 billion in undergraduate athletic scholarships. For many student athletes, a scholarship from a NJCAA Division II school can mean the differencebetween getting a college degree and having to put that goal on hold.
If you wish to be a competitor for one of the many NJCAA Division II men's soccer scholarships that are available you need to know which colleges to get in touch with, who the coaches are and the best way to get in front of them. AthleticScholarships.com was made to supply student athletes with the information they need to improve their chances of being recruited by a NJCAA Division II school and receiving a men's soccer scholarship.
Use the NJCAA Division II men's soccer statistics above to decide whether this division offers you the best athletic scholarship opportunities. The table below shows how NJCAA Division II schools compare with the national averages.
Total Number of Athletes and Average Athletes Per Team: This lets you know about the total number of male athletes are on NJCAA Division II men's soccer teams in the United States, which will help you figure out how competitive the recruiting process is, particularly if you compare and contrast it to the national average. Currently there are 1,117 men involved in soccer at NJCAA Division II schools.
Average Operating Expenses Per Player: This indicates just how much a NJCAA Division II college is paying for each player on their men's soccer team for things that are important such as equipment and uniforms. How much a NJCAA Division II school spends on you as a player will help determine how beneficial they feel that you are to the soccer team and the overall sports program as well as the degree of support they offer each player.
Average Operating Expenses Per Team: This is exactly what it cost on average for a NJCAA Division II college to run the day-to-day operations that keep the soccer program operational. This can give student athletes a good idea of the quality of men's soccer programs, facilities and training personnel at NJCAA Division II schools across the nation. The more NJCAA Division II colleges spend the better quality you may expect.
Total Full and Part Time Coaches: Coaches are vital to helping you sharpen your talent and help you stay on track athletically and academically so you can keep your soccer scholarship each year. The more NJCAA Division II men's soccer coaches there are, the more likely you are to get one-on-one instruction and attention you need to reach your primary goal of graduating from a college.
Average Total Revenue: The more money NJCAA Division II colleges can earn off their men's soccer programs the more likely it is that they will broaden them. When men's soccer programs are more profitable and popular NJCAA Division II colleges will commit more in their existing programs and other NJCAA Division II colleges will create new soccer teams of their own. More NJCAA Division II soccer teams means more athletic scholarship opportunities at this type of school.
Average Total Expenses: Is there a growing affinity for promoting and expanding men's soccer teams at NJCAA Division II schools? Are NJCAA Division II colleges aggressively recruiting men's soccer players? The total expenses stat includes operating and recruiting expenses. This will give you a good indication of just how much NJCAA Division II colleges all around the country are spending on men's soccer programs, thus if soccer scholarship opportunities are likely to grow, keep pace or weaken in this division.
If you would like to be a contender for one of the many NJCAA Division II men's soccer scholarships that are available it will take persistence and lots of research and planning. See how NJCAA Division II schools in your state compare to NJCAA Division II schools in the U.S. Choose a state below to get detailed sports program and athletic scholarship statistics.


Murketts Vauxhall is teaming up with Cambridge and Peterborough Road Safety Partnership to help young motorists stay safe on the road by hosting a special vehicle safety workshop at the second annual Young Driver Event on 29th and 30th June.
From tyre, lights and fluid checks to preparing for different weather conditions, safety experts from Murketts Vauxhall on Stukeley Road will be on hand to show young drivers what to look out for when they are buying a new or used car and demonstrating essential car maintenance for keeping a vehicle in tip top condition.
After the success of last year's inaugural event, around 1000 young people who are learning to drive or have recently passed their test will visit Huntington Racecourse in Brampton to brush up on their motoring skills with the aim of reducing accidents on the county's roads.
Commenting on their involvement, Mark Smith, Group Sales Manager at Murketts Vauxhall, said: "This is such an important event and we were very keen to get involved. It is important for young drivers to be equipped with as much knowledge as possible about staying safe on the road – not only does it protect them, but also other road users. There are so many aspects to road safety and we are delighted to be able to share our expertise on safety checks when purchasing a vehicle and the importance of regular car maintenance.
Ensure you are purchasing your vehicle from a reputable source.
Take someone with you when you go to look at the vehicle, preferably someone with mechanical knowledge. But, two heads are always better than one when it comes to inspecting a vehicle.
Do a thorough check of all the body work and internals to get a gut feel about the condition of the vehicle.
Check all the electrics work from the lights through to the radio and window mechanism.
Examine the tyre tread to ensure it is well within the legal limit.
Check the fluid levels – oil, water and brake.
Check servicing schedule For detailed information about the Vauxhall range available at Murketts at Vauxhall, please visit www.murketts.co.uk.


text:
Archives index.
Why America's Gift?
The first hard rock riffs.
by Paul Merry | Mar 17, 2018 | blogs, stories | 5 comments
Updated: Oct 17 2018
Once rock music was simple. We had hard rock and not-so-hard rock, otherwise called pop. Soft rock was yet to evolve.
So, when a certain rock 'n' roll themed restaurant first opened its doors in London in 1971, its owners named it "Hard Rock", cos that's what the music press in Britain called contemporary music that rocked harder and was much grittier than conventional pop.
Hard rock, the music genre, not the restaurant, was earlier called blues rock in the mid-1960s, in the UK. Before that, it was rhythm & blues, aka 'R&B', which the Stones and Pretty Things played. The synthesised and electronic version that is today's R&B, to my mind, has devalued the term completely, but I would say that, wouldn't I?
In the north of England, they played what they called beat music (which included Chuck Berry-style rock 'n' roll), hence the Beatles and the Merseybeats (the band), and the famous musical genre known as Merseybeat.
The original Hard Rock cafe in London was a unique music industry hangout when I used to eat there, usually about 1am, in 1971. Then it didn't serve beer so I drank Southern Comfort. One of the very first restaurants in-tune with the rock music lifestyle, now, of course, Hard Rock is a bit cheesy, with branches all over the world.
I well remember the names of those pop genres and sequence in which they occurred because I wrote about them in a newspaper, no doubt taking my lead from Britain's music papers which, in those halcyon of English beat music and R&B, were in their heyday. Later, everyone started calling all hardish, bluesy music, 'rock'.
So, when did 'rock' evolve out of rock n' roll? And when did the era of the great rock riff begin? Let's go back to 1964, when I was 14. With my friend, Keith (16), we'd attend on Saturday nights, what we in England called dances. That's because people danced to the music then – music coming from live musicians, playing hardcore R&B – rather than just standing and watching. Such dances were held in towns and villages throughout the land.
Perhaps we were lucky because we had groups (not bands) like the Beat Preachers in our village hall, and Sam Spade and the Gravediggers, dubbed R&B Kings of the Midlands. I believe they were managed by Stones manager, Andrew Oog Oldham. Typical sets included Howlin' Wolf's 'Smokestack Lightening' and Willie Dixon's 'Hoochie Coochie Man' from the 1950s and Rufus Thomas's then recent 1963 release, 'Walking the Dog'. The legal drinking age in Britain is 18, but even 14-year olds could get a couple of pints down them in those days, so long as you smoked, shaved and looked 16.
Blast from the past. Sam Spade and the Gravediggers circa 1964. At one stage, I believe, they were managed by Andrew Oog Oldham
As the evening wore on, the 14 and 16-year-olds would get tipsy and witness the inevitable bloodbaths that always broke out on such stimulating occasions as the Saturday night dance – usually over girls with bee-hive hair, short skirts and white lipstick. (This was the provinces, after all.)
The blood on the dance floor, diluted by spilt beer, would be caused by noses 'nutted' by Liverpool kisses (head-buts), or countenances slashed by thick pricks smashing beer glasses into faces that had offended them. There wasn't much 'peace & love' in provincial England, in the sixties. That said, it was nearly always older men (in their twenties) who'd cause such trouble, rather than us teenagers.
Although this was 1964, our local groups would never cover Beatles songs, not even Stones songs. They covered rocking American R&B, such as the Coasters' 1959 hit, 'Poison Ivy' and its B-side, 'I'm A Hog For You (Baby)', and the Clovers' US top thirty hit, 'Love Potion No. 9', also from 1959 – classic pop songs by one of the best song-writing teams of all time – the Americans Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
Leiber and Stoller also wrote Hound Dog for Big Mama Thornton in 1953, as you may know, later recorded with spectacular worldwide success by Elvis Presley, plus a shed load of other massive hits far too numerous to mention.
Music's first great hard rock riffs.
These groups around Rugby and Coventry would also perform 'Louie, Louie', an R&B song written in 1955 by Richard Berry, a black LA doo-wop singer. This was based on a Latin American riff taken from an instrumental, originally by the Cuban bandleader, Rene Touzet, that Berry had heard covered in East LA. Touzet's instrumental was called 'El Loco Cha Cha'.
A cover of a cha-cha, believe it or not, Richard Berry's 'Louie, Louie', was then covered in 1959 by an American rock band from Tacoma, Washington State, called The Wailers aka The Fabulous Wailers. The Wailers' version was then covered by Paul Revere and The Raiders in 1963 but didn't even make the Billboard's Hot 100. Also in 1963, The Wailers version of 'Louie Louis' was then covered by The KIngsmen, a 'beat' group from Portland, Oregon. Their teenage bass player, Jack Ely, sang the vocals which he completely stuffed up, mumbling made-up words, completely different from Berry's original. That he was wearing dental braces and stretching his neck to reach a microphone positioned way to high for him didn't help.
Because the lyrics were unintelligible, kids being kids thought they were filthy, meaning The Kingsmen's version 'Louie Louie' took off like a rocket throughout America, reaching number two on the Billboard pop chart. Said lyrics were then investigated for obscenity for two years by the FBI, who failed to make any sense of them. The Kingsmen's version charted in England, too, just outside the Top Twenty, and was one of the few pop covers our local groups allowed themselves. It's since been covered, complete with imagined dirty lyrics, by the likes of Iggy and the Stooges and Black Flag.
Portland's The Kingsmen. The FBI's investigation into their 'Louie Louie' lyrics cemented the myth of 'Louie Louie's' dirty lyrics into the history of American music.
That 'Louie, Louie' riff, first pumped out, rock-style in 1963, is in my opinion, the first of rock music's great riffs, the forerunner for the great hard rock riffs that popularised by bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and AC/DC. It's since been covered by the likes of Iggy and the Stooges and Black Flag.
Next, in 1964, we had The Kinks' mighty riff in You Really Got Me. The track's fabulous distorted power chords evolved due to lead guitarist, Dave Davies, slashing his amp's speaker cone with a razor. Dave's brother, Kinks' lead singer and main songwriter, Ray Davies, said he wrote You Really Got Me while trying to work out the chords to Louie, Louie. As they say, one great thing leads to another. In 1965, the human riff, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, penned Satisfaction (with its classic hard rock opening), although Bill Wyman always said he came up with that famous riff.
Incidentally, though record labels always refer to Louie, Louie, with the comma, composer Berry titled it Louie Louie, with no comma. The later Kingsmen's track, however, remains the best known of some 150 covers, including by the Beatles, Beach Boys, Black Flag, Clash, Doors, Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, Iggy and the Stooges, Led Zeppelin, Otis Redding, Motorhead, Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention (said to have fired their guitarist because she couldn't play it), the Trogs (whose "Wild Thing" uses a similar chord progression), and so on.
Below is The Kinks performing Louie, Louie, live in Paris in 1965, the year they were banned from the USA, by the American Federation of Musicians. Ray Davies later explained: "The reason we got banned was a mixture of bad agency, bad management, bad luck, and bad behaviour. So we deserved everything we got."
Until the American ban took the wind out of their sails, The Kinks were up there with the Beatles and the Stones, at the pinnacle of English pop/rock, recording other riff-driven hits like Tired of Waiting, All Day and All of the Night and Till The End of The Day. While many critics say Ray Davies went on the create The Kinks' finest songs and albums during the U.S. exile, I've always felt the ban took the sting out of their tail, at least rock-wise.
As it happens, just six years after jigging around to Sam Spade and the Gravediggers near Rugby, I was working on The Kinks public relations, alongside (I should say guided) by the delightful Marion Rainford in London. It was 1970 and The Kinks (or Ray Davies) had started putting whimsy and/or comic twists into his pop songs, ie: Ape Man and Lola. I much preferred Dave's power chords.
On a personal note, just before I joined Marion, I'd inadvertently bumped into Dave Davies at a Kinks gig at a hotel near Warwick. Being 1970, England's traditional snobbery was in full flight, with long-haired 20-year-olds like me barred from drinking in the hotel's comfortable lounge.
As we argued the point at the door, a voice boomed,
"I'm in here. Why can't they be?"
Out strode Dave Davies who proceeded to ball-out the muscle on the door. "They're dressed the same as me. You can't stop them coming in".
"You're a guest. They're not."
"Well, they can come in as my guests," said Dave, inviting our long-haired group of scruffs into the plush lounge, where he chatted amiably with us until it was time to go on stage. He may have fought with brother, and now knight of the realm, Sir Ray, but Dave Davies was a complete gentleman back then. I presume he still is.
The Kinks in 1970, the year I worked on their PR. That's Dave Davies in the middle and Ray on the right.
Marion Rainford, was a delightful woman to work for, kind and helpful, so a few years ago I thought I'd check to see if she was still around. Would you believe, I found her retirement in a local London newspaper. Apparently Marion gave up rock to teach ballroom dancing. Have a read, if only to find out how rock PRs can have a very un-rock-chick life, after rock & roll.
http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/suttonnews/4748485._Sixth_Kink_and_fifth_Monkee__Marion_Rainford_tells_of_life_in_limelight/
The Chuck Berry-style guitarist six years before Chuck Berry
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Realising I'd never be a top guitarist.
Rocking blues from 1948
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Bill Wyman, me and the 1971 Citroën Maserati SM
Keith Emery	on 14/04/2018 at 12:29 pm
WOW Paul that takes me back. Nights at the British Legion you, Sam Spade and the Gravediggers! We even used to join with the band and play instruments to accompany them, you I think were tambourine and I was always maracas! Great days!
Paul Merry	on 14/04/2018 at 1:04 pm
Great days, indeed, Mama! Instant karma's gonna get you.
Andy Hayward	on 15/10/2018 at 4:59 pm
Do I remember days at the Legion-I was one of the guitarists in Sam Spade and The Gravediggers-I put the band together and even named them- one of our highlights was auditioning for Larry Parnes at the famous 2is club in Soho-went on to form The Tea Set playing for Reg Calvert then finished with Fagin Quill a mighty 3 piece with our own lightshow-happy days indeed
Paul Merry	on 16/10/2018 at 4:02 am
Great to hear from you, Andy. That was a fabulous band you put together. Unfortunately, I can't remember The Tea Set but do remember the name Fagin Quill – a template for Cream? Your band mate, Dave Varnish, once kindly put a new engine into my old mini in the 60s, as I was mates with his brother. I also used to write the Advertiser's music page so knew Jigsaw well and managed blues rock band West Bank Avenue. You must be proud of local bands like Spaceman 3 and Spiritualized keeping Rugby's musical reputation alive.
Keith Emery	on 18/10/2018 at 9:10 am
Great to hear from Andy Paul, I always wondered what happened to the band after I left Rugby in 1967. I met Geoff Antill (Drummer) when he attended my father's funeral several years ago. We talked about Sam Spade and the Gravediggers days.
Rock 'n' roll myths debunked.
Book Pink Floyd – £250 ($334) a pop.
AC/DC's unsung older Young brothers.
My tribute to Jeff Beck.
CRUISIN' FOR A BLUESIN'
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EMI starts at ₹ 66,427 /Month.
Mitsubishi has launched the updated Outlander in India with a price tag of Rs. 31.54 lakh (ex-showroom, Mumbai). The all-new SUV is powered by a 2.4-litre MIVEC petrol engine that produces 165 bhp and there's 222 Nm of torque on offer. It's available with a 6-speed CVT with Multi Select 4WD system. The company says that the Outlander can do a 0-100 kmph sprint in just 11.1 seconds. Sadly, there's no diesel engine on offer. The Mitsubishi Outlander comes to India as a CBU and on the pricing front will take on the likes of the VW Tiguan, Skoda Kodiaq, Ford Endeavour, Toyota Fortuner, and Isuzu MU-X.


Most Bengali contemporary school students are familiar with Ranur Prothom Bhaag, a short storythat is part of school curriculum. When asked about the author's name, most tend to say 'Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay' instead of Mukhopadhyay, though Bibhuti Bhushan Mukhopadhyay was one of the most widely-read humorists of the 20th century. A chronological history of Bengali literature would be incomplete without a detailed discussion on Mukhopadhyay. But alas! It is our misfortune that we no longer explore the vast treasure trove of literary works he has left behind for future generations.
Bibhutibhusan Mukhopadhyay was a brilliant short story writer. Though he has penned novels and plays as well, yet his trademark benign humour dazzles most in his short stories. At the time when he shot into the literary scene, most of his contemporaries were trying to come to terms with the new social and political order of the day. Gloominess surround edthe environment and whatever they wrote was a stark reflection of the bleak times. Mukhopadhyay was an exception. He did not follow existing literary trends, rather created a new one.
It was humour without any malice. Take for instance, his most-read story, Ranur Prothom Bhaag. The autobiographical story centres around Mejo-Kaka (uncle) and his little niece, Ranu. She is tired of being "too young" and wants to grow up fast and take up household responsibilities like her mother and grandmother. She apes them and pretends to be a grown-up who instructs and admonishes all members of the family, including her uncle, and the domestic help. While others enjoy her childish games, her uncle is very worried about his adorable niece's bleak future because she hates books and studies. Every time he tries to be stern with her and ask her to study, she slips away under some pretext or the other. Once, her uncle asks her to get her First Reader, but she returns after some time with a long face saying she has misplaced the book. Her exasperated uncle gives up on her.
A short while later, her wedding is fixed despite strong protests from her uncle. On the day Ranu sets off for her in-laws' house, she sneaks in to her uncle's room with the First Reader bundled in her hand and confesses her crime repentantly. This simple story ends with a note of pathos. This was made into a film in 1974 where renowned actor Ajitesh Bandopadhyay essayed the role of Mejo Kaka.
Mukhopadhyay later wrote three sequelsof Ranur Prothom Bhag named Ranur Dwitiyo Bhag, Ranur Tritiyo Bhag, and Ranur Kathamala. He wrote a very funny and interesting book for children Ponur Chithi.
Again take Sriman Prithviraj(1972), another hilarious story that was made into a hit feature film by Tarun Majumdar. it is the story of the transformation of a young boy's innocent but naughty childhood to an adult who helps in Swadeshi movement.
Borjatri is another of his famous work that was later made into a celluloid masterpiece by Satyen Bose in 1951. Mukhopadhyay wrote a couple of brilliant travelogues. Kushi Panganer Chithi, Duar Hote Adure and Ajatar Joyjatra shows his myriad interests and his fine style of writing detailed descriptions of the places. He had a rare distinction of devising plots and characters from everyday situations and places. His characters are ordinary men and women, boys and girls who go about their daily routine, but it is the author's eyes that screens for the gem and weans it from the ordinary humdrum of life.
His vast collections of short stories are an example of his beautiful amalgamation of benevolent humour and pathos that attracts readers to his works. A probashi Bangali, Mukhopadhyay lived life to the full, writing at his own pace for his own joy. He never ran after fame, but his works were recognized and awared on their own merit. He died at his ancestral home at Darbhanga in 1987.


Ready for another day of My Creative Time Sneak Peeks? I'm so excited about today's stamp/die set! It's called My Thoughts are With You, and it's just gorgeous! The beautiful flowers and jar have both stamps and dies. I colored mine with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens. I only used the die for the jar, and then I wrapped some twine around it and added one of the sweet little buttons from the Stitched Button Dies. The sentiment is just one of many thoughtful sentiments in this set. It is a great set for sympathy, thank you, or just hello cards. I'm sure I will be getting a lot of use out of this one!
Love the vibrant colors you have used with this new stamp and die set! Lovely!
Awesome card. Looks like water in the jar. Love all the colors.
Beatiful. Another stunning card using the stamps and dies.
OMG Miss Katie What a Beautiful bouquet of flowers you so created a gorgeous card!! Love how you did your jar totally adorable and your flowers are gorge & love the touch of white on them!! You so did an outstanding coloring job. I so can't wait to get today's goodies.
What a beautiful card. I really really like this set!!!
So beautiful,Katie!! I just love the colors...so pretty!!!
Such a beautiful card! I love the colors and the jar die is adorable.
Adorable card Katie! Just beautiful, really love the colors!
This is simply stunning! I love the CAS design with your fabulously colored flowers.
Gorgeous design Katie...LOVE those water colour pens!!
My daughters and I think your card is very pretty!! I like how you cut the jar out for dimension. The font of this set is nice!
Such a pretty card! I love the bright, beautiful colors you used for the flowers.
Such a pretty card. This set is at the top of my list.
What a wonderful card. This is such a great set and you did a fantastic job with it.
Love your card---very pretty. Love this set can't wait until friday!!
I love mason jars and this set looks like it has some good sentiments too.
Pretty card! Love that jar of flowers! Very versatile new set... can't wait!
Love your card and the 3-dimensional effect that you gave it. Beautiful! Great colouring too! Love the pristine look of your card.
Very pretty card. Love the coloring. Great set.
Such a pretty bouquet of flowers and I like the heart/twine around the neck of the jar.
As usual, your colors and emblishments are striking.
This is so pretty, gr8t job!
Beautiful card! I like how you popped up the jar and added the button. I am sure I will get a lot of use out of this one too. We needed more sympathy type items. These are beautiful.
Beautiful card! The flowers are so pretty and colored wonderfully too!
The flowers are colored so nicely.
Your CAS card is so pretty!
What a great idea with stamping the stems in the jar and the flowers on the card! I also love the touch of twine and the button on the jar.
Such a beautiful card! Love the vibrant bouquet of flowers and how you tied the mason jar with a piece of twine, it gives it an extra sweet touch.
katie, your card is really pretty, the heart on the jar is perfect too! looks like you're having fun with the zig pens.
Very pretty! This set is a musthabe, Thanks for sharing Katie!
You did a great job, I love the clean and simple cards, tfs.
Your flowers are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Very nice card and I like the heart on the rim of the jar.
Katie ` this is just GORGEOUS! LOVE how you colored those flowers ~ you really are mastering those pens! Then how you tied the heart around the mason jar ~ just BEAUTIFULLY done!


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Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2022) Featured Review of The Seventh Raven by David Elliott
The Seventh Raven by David Elliott
HMH Books for Young Readers/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Once upon a time, there were seven brothers. Six of them were named Jack, like their father. They were rowdy, bold, and brash, like their father. But the seventh son was unlike his brothers. He was quiet and thoughtful, and his name was Robyn. Jack and his wife loved their sons, but they wished for a daughter, and when their dream came true, they were happy. But April was sickly and dying, and Jack cursed his sons in anger, turning them into birds. The six brothers were sad and confused and wanted to return to their lives. But Robyn was not like his brothers. As a raven he felt like he was finally free. When April grows up, she learns about her brother's curse and sets off on an adventure to bring them home.
This eerie and powerful novel in verse takes on the lesser known Grimm's tale "The Seven Ravens." With alternating narrators and haunting verse, Elliott builds a strong sense of place and is really able to capture the essence of the original fairy tale. The use of different types of poetry lends each character their own voice, and the author's note at the end is a nice addition about poetry and tone. There are also slightly eerie illustrations by Rovina Cai (Elatsoe) that add an extra element to the story.
The Seventh Raven is great for fantasy and novel-in-verse fans alike. It's an easy sell to fans of other David Elliott books like Bull and Voices, and fairy tale retellings like The Broken Wish by Julie C. Dao and Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly.
— Shelbie Marks
Other Nominated Titles
The Electric Kingdom by David Arnold (February 9, 2021)
The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling by Wai Chim (November 10, 2020)
Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year's end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten. The previous years' lists are available on The Hub.
Posted on April 12, 2021 April 3, 2021 Author Best Fiction for Young AdultsCategories Awards and Selected ListsTags Best Fiction for Young Adults, BFYA2022, david arnold, david elliott, Jennifer Donnelly, julie c. dao, Wai Chim
Previous Previous post: Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2022) Nominations Round-Up, Spring
Next Next post: Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2022) Featured Review of Nubia: The Real One by L.L. McKinney and Illustrated by Robyn Smith


Charlottesville: Police have identified the woman killed on Saturday when a vehicle ploughed into a group of counter-protesters in Charlottesville as 32-year-old Heather Heyer.
Authorities said 19 other pedestrians suffered injuries ranging from serious to minor.
As a girl, Ms Heyer stood up for people being picked on while riding on the school bus.
On Saturday, she was killed standing up for her country, according to a childhood friend.
Ms Heyer was among those gathered in Charlottesville to oppose neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and other white nationalists who were protesting against the removal of a Confederate statue.
"People will remember her name and remember what she died for," said the friend, Felicia Correa.
An Ohio man was charged with second-degree murder after police said the Dodge Challenger he was driving "at a high rate of speed" rear-ended another car and pushed vehicles into a crowd of pedestrians.
Police say the driver of the Challenger, James Alex Fields jnr, 20, fled the scene. He also was charged with three counts of malicious wounding and one count of hit-and-run.
Charlottesville city officials said in a statement on Sunday that Ms Heyer "was struck down by a vehicle while exercising her peaceful first-amendment right to speech. This senseless act of violence rips a hole in our collective hearts."
Ms Correa said she recently was swamped with medical bills after complications related to her multiple sclerosis, so she went to a Charlottesville law firm. When Ms Heyer, who was working as a paralegal there, walked out to meet her she was ecstatic to see the friend she had known growing up in Greene County, Virginia. Ms Heyer jumped in and guided Ms Correa, who was uninsured and is a mother of six, through the daunting financial process.
Ms Heyer was a "young white woman who died standing up not just for people of colour in general but, also the people of colour that I love, that I worry about," said Ms Correa, who is biracial.
"She died for a reason. I don't see any difference in her or a soldier who died in war. She, in a sense, died for her country. She was there standing up for what was right.
"I just want to make sure that it wasn't in vain."
US President Donald Trump was under fire on Sunday for what critics said was his weak response to the protests.
Mr Trump refused to single out the white nationalist movement at the centre of the protests, instead criticising violence "on may sides."
The picture emerging of Ms Heyer contrasted to that of the man allegedly responsible for her death.
The accused driver, James Alex Fields jnr, was reportedly well known for his Nazi sympathies, according to Derek Weimer, who taught Fields history at Randall K. Cooper High School in Kentucky.
"It was obvious that he had this fascination with Nazism and a big idolatry of Adolf Hitler," Mr Weimer said. "He had white supremacist views. He really believed in that stuff."
"When you're a teacher and you see one of your former students do this, it's a nightmare scenario.
"This was something that was growing in him. I admit I failed. I tried my best. But this is definitely a teachable moment and something we need to be vigilant about because this stuff is tearing up our country."
Video recorded at the scene of the crash shows the 2010 Dodge Challenger accelerating into crowds on a pedestrian mall, sending bodies flying – and then reversing at high speed, hitting more people.
Witnesses said the street was filled with people opposed to the white nationalists, who had come to town bearing Confederate flags and anti-Semitic epithets.
Brian Moran, Virginia secretary of public safety, described the incident as a terrorist attack.
The FBI field office in Richmond and the US Attorney's Office in the Western District of Virginia said late on Saturday that they had opened a civil rights investigation into the deadly crash.
"The violence and deaths in Charlottesville strike at the heart of American law and justice," US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.
"When such actions arise from racial bigotry and hatred, they betray our core values and cannot be tolerated."
Records show Fields last lived in Maumee, Ohio, south-west of Toledo.
His father was killed by a drunk driver a few months before the boy's birth, according to an uncle who spoke on the condition of anonymity. His father left him money that the uncle kept in a trust until Fields reached adulthood.
"When he turned 18, he demanded his money, and that was the last I had any contact with him," the uncle said.
Fields, he said, grew up mostly in Northern Kentucky, where he'd been raised by a single mother who was a paraplegic.
Richard Spencer, a leader in the white supremacist movement who coined the term "alt-right," said he didn't know Fields but had been told he was a member of Vanguard America, which bills itself as the "Face of American Fascism."
In a statement tweeted on Saturday night, the group denied any connection to Fields.
In several images that circulated online, he was photographed with the group while wearing its unofficial uniform. Like members, he was dressed in a white polo, baggy khakis and sunglasses, while holding a black shield that features a common Vanguard symbol.
"The shields seen do not denote membership, nor does the white shirt," the group said in its statement. "The shields were freely handed out to anyone in attendance."
Vanguard members did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday.
Also on Saturday, two state police officers died when their helicopter crashed on the outskirts of town. Berke M.M. Bates, 40, of Quinton, Virginia, was the pilot, and H. Jay Cullen, 48, of Midlothian, Virginia, was a passenger, according to officials.
On Sunday morning, one day after Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency, he and Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam attended a service at Mount Zion First African Baptist Church.
The Governor brought the predominantly African American congregation to its feet as he stood at the pulpit and condemned "the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who came to our state yesterday."
"You pretend you're patriots. You are not patriots. You are dividers," he said, then later, his voice roaring: "Shame on you!"
At the church service, Gov. McAuliffe said he was close to both of the officers who had died.
Their deaths, he said, had enraged him, but he'd tried to move beyond that emotion and asked the congregation to do the same.
"Let us use today to reach out to our fellow citizens, put your hand out to help them," he said. "Let us show these people that we are bigger than them, we are stronger than them."
Naundi Cook, 23, who is black, said that she came to Saturday's counter-protests to "support my people" but that she had never seen something like this before.
When violence broke out, she started shaking and got goose bumps.
"I've seen people walking around with tear gas all over their face, all over their clothes. People getting Maced, fighting," she said. "I didn't want to be next."
Ms Cook said she couldn't sit back and watch white nationalists descend on her town. She has a three-year-old daughter to stand up for, she said.
"Right now, I'm not sad," she said once the protests dispersed. "I'm a little more empowered. All these people and support, I feel like we're on top right now because of all the support that we have."


We've come to Ferrari's Fiorano test circuit, near the factory in Maranello, to drive the F12 Berlinetta, the company's new two-seat, front-engine, 12-cylinder GT.
At the moment I'm reorganizing my own viscera with some high-energy cornering and braking so hard at the famous hairpin I'm making myself sneeze. A suction-mounted GoPro camera I had stuck to the driver's door has been spun off into Albania.
Ferrari says the F12 is its quickest, most powerful and most dynamic street car to date: 740 horsepower, a top speed of 212 miles per hour, and zero to 124 mph in 8.5 seconds, which is about as quick as an all-wheel-drive Bugatti Veyron.


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Keeping Invasive Species Out
Keeping Invasive Species Out of the Lakes
Invasive species—like zebra mussels and round gobies—have forever damaged the Great Lakes. We're working to keep new ones out.
Once invasive species are established in the Great Lakes, it is nearly impossible to remove them. Preventing them from ever entering is the best way to protect the Great Lakes. We work on two fronts to keep new invasive species out of the lakes:
Cleaning up ship ballast tanks
Separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins
In 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway opened the Great Lakes to direct ocean-going shipping. Unfortunately, the ships brought new, non-native critters along for the ride in their ballast tanks.
Ships need ballast water tanks to stabilize them on long ocean journeys and when loading and unloading cargo. Sixty-five percent of invasive species were released in the Great Lakes when these ships dumped their ballast water.
Cleaning up ballast water is the most effective way to prevent new invasive species in the Great Lakes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard teamed up in 2013 to develop new rules for cleaning up ship ballast tanks.
We are keeping a close eye on the two agencies and the U.S. Congress to make sure the laws are implemented as promised.
Separating the Great Lakes, Mississippi River basins
More than a century ago, Chicago undertook a massive engineering feat: the reversal of the Chicago River. But it had unintended consequences that are being felt today.
The man-made Chicago canal connects the Mississippi River to the Great Lakes. It allows invasive species—like invasive carp—to move between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basin.
Invasive silver and bighead carp are voracious filter feeders, eating between 20-40% of their body weight in a day. Invasive carp spawn multiple times per year, making them a threat to native species.
The carp are steadily spreading up waterways in Illinois, toward Chicago and Lake Michigan. Invasive carp DNA has been found in the Chicago River in downtown Chicago. Currently the last line of defense is an electric barrier, which according to lab tests, may not be effective at deterring small invasive carp. Barges can also pull fish through the electric barrier.
We're pushing for a long-term permanent solution to prevent the movement of aquatic invasive species between the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River basin. And, we're also advocating for improved short term solutions.
Protect the Great Lakes
Join us to learn how you can help protect our region's most precious resource.
Statement: Historic Step Forward to Stop Invasive Carp
Alliance Applauds New Canadian Ballast Water Regulations
Statement: Alliance Applauds Actions by Illinois & Michigan to Protect the Great Lakes from Invasive Asian Carp
Statement on Passage of the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 by the US House of Representatives
Congressional Committees Advance Efforts to Stop Invasive Asian Carp
President Trump Reneges on Promise to Stop Invasive Asian Carp
Groups Call on Gov. Pritzker to Take Next Step to Block Invasive Asian Carp
Alliance for the Great Lakes Statement on Discovery of Invasive Asian Carp eDNA 5 Miles from Lake Michigan
The Invasives Attack
New Study Finds Asian Carp Threat to Lake Michigan Is Greater Than Previously Thought
Alliance for the Great Lakes Statement on Asian Carp Study
Statement: Alliance for the Great Lakes Applauds Illinois' Action on Asian Carp
Great Lakers Applaud Senate Action to Improve Bill on Aquatic Invasive Species
Statement from Alliance for the Great Lakes on the Discovery of Two New Non-Native Species in the Great Lakes
Great Lakes Need Protection from Ocean and Freshwater Ships
Statement: U.S. Senate votes to block bill rolling back Great Lakes protections
Senate Scheduled to Vote Next Week on Legislation to Weaken Rules Protecting the Great Lakes from Aquatic Invasive Species Introductions
Seaway Opens for 2018 Shipping Season, Risk of Aquatic Invasive Species Introductions Continues
City of Chicago Joins Michigan in Stepping Up to Stop Asian Carp
Statement on Discovery of Bloody Red Shrimp in Lake Superior
Statement: Alliance for the Great Lakes Applauds New Partnership to Stop Asian Carp
Alliance for the Great Lakes Statement on the Senate Confirmation of R.D. James as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works
Advocates set the record straight on Asian carp threat to Great Lakes
Standpoint Series
On Shipping: Stop Fighting and Start Doing
New Data Puts All Options on the Table to Protect Great Lakes from Asian Carp Threat
Groups applaud release of Asian carp study, urge swift action to move from study to construction
Wake-Up Call on Asian Carp Met with a Collective Yawn by Administration and Agencies
Asian carp found closer to Lake Michigan
Hard-Fought Great Lakes Protections Under Attack
New data show multiple hits of Asian carp DNA just yards from Lake Michigan
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An overview of the ideas, methods, and institutions that permit human society to manage risks and foster enterprise. Description of practices today and analysis of prospects for the future. Introduction to risk management and behavioral finance principles to understand the functioning of securities, insurance, and banking industries.
This Yale College course, taught on campus twice per week for 75 minutes, was recorded for Open Yale Courses in Spring 2011.
Fabozzi, Frank J., Franco Modigliani, Frank J. Jones, and Michael G. Ferri. Foundations of Financial Markets and Institutions, 4th ed. Prentice Hall, 2010.
Shiller, Robert J. Finance and the Good Society. Princeton University Press, 2012.
Brandeis, Louis D. Other People's Money and How the Bankers Use It. Augustus M. Kelley Publishers, Reprints of Economic Classics, 1971.
Brealey, Richard. Stuart C. Myers, and Franklin Allen. Principles of Corporate Finance, 8th edition. McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2005.
Douglas, William O. Democracy and Finance. Yale University Press, 1940.
Ellis, Charles. The Partnership: The Making of Goldman Sachs. Penguin, 2008.
Fraser, Steve. Wall Street: America's Dream Palace. Yale University Press, 2009.
Gorton, Gary. "Slapped in the Face by the Invisible Hand: Banking and the Panic of 2007." Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Financial Markets Conference, 2009.
Hawtrey, R. G. The Art of Central Banking. Longmans, Green and Co., 1932.
Johnson, Simon, Rafael La Porta, Florencio Lopez-di-Silanos, and Andrei Shleifer. "Tunneling." American Economic Review, 2000, 90(2).
Lehrer, Jonah. "The Truth Wears Off: Is there Something Wrong with the Scientific Method?" The New Yorker, December 13, 2010.
O'Barr, William M. and John M. Conley. Fortune & Folly: The Wealth & Power of Institutional Investing. Business-One Irwin, 1992.
Shiller, Robert J. Irrational Exuberance, 2nd edition. Doubleday, 2006.
Shiller, Robert J. The New Financial Order: Risk in the 21st Century. Princeton University Press, 2003.
Siegel, Jeremy J. Stocks for the Long Run: the definitive guide to financial market returns and long-term investment strategies, 4th edition. McGraw-Hill, 2008.
Sullivan, Teresa, Elizabeth Warren and Jay Lawrence Westbrook. The Fragile Middle Class: Americans in Debt. Yale University Press, 2000.
Swensen, David. Pioneering Portfolio Management. Free Press, 2000.
Thaler, Richard H. and Cass R. Sunstein. Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness. Yale University Press, 2008.
"The Gospel of Wealth" (Review) San Francisco Chronicle, February 9, 1890.
Unger, Peter. Living High and Letting Die: Our Illusion of Innocence. Oxford University Press, 1996.
Working, Holbrook, "Futures Trading and Hedging," American Economic Review, June 1953.
World Economic Forum. Partnering to Strengthen Public Governance. Geneva, 2008.
Some facility with elementary algebra and calculus required. Course exams consist of roughly 50% math and theory problems and 50% facts and general understanding questions about financial markets.
Yale University Press offers a 10% discount on the books used in ECON 252 that it publishes, as well as on other related titles. A portion of the proceeds from your purchases will be donated for the ongoing support and development of the Open Yale Courses program.
Robert J. Shiller is Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics at Yale University and a Fellow at the International Center for Finance at the Yale School of Management. Specializing in behavioral finance and real estate, Professor Shiller has published in Journal of Financial Economics, American Economic Review, Journal of Finance, Wall Street Journal, and Financial Times. His books include Market Volatility, Macro Markets (for which he won TIAA-CREF's Paul A. Samuelson Award), Irrational Exuberance, The New Financial Order: Risk in the Twenty-First Century, and Finance and the Good Society.


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Buangor - 3375
Djab Wurrung woman's fight to protect 'culturally significant' trees dismissed
ABC South West Vic
/ By Daniel Miles
Marjorie Thorpe's long-running legal battle for declarations to protect what she says are culturally significant trees has been dismissed after a state backdown in the Supreme Court.
Posted Tue 23 Nov at 8:21am Tuesday 23 Nov at 8:21am Tue 23 Nov 2021 at 8:21am / Updated Tue 23 Nov at 9:48am Tuesday 23 Nov at 9:48am Tue 23 Nov 2021 at 9:48am
Calls for 'shocking', 'deteriorated' Western Highway to be repaired
ABC Ballarat
/ By Jackson Peck and Caitlin Bewley
Kristine McMillan lost her husband and daughter to a crash on the Western Highway and doesn't want other families to suffer like she has.
Posted Tue 3 Aug at 10:25pm Tuesday 3 Aug at 10:25pm Tue 3 Aug 2021 at 10:25pm / Updated Tue 3 Aug at 10:27pm Tuesday 3 Aug at 10:27pm Tue 3 Aug 2021 at 10:27pm
Shooters, prospectors, trail bike riders rally against national park proposal
By Sian Johnson
Tensions over a plan to better protect bushland in central and western Victoria simmer as the state government misses its deadline by 14 months.
Posted Tue 27 Apr at 8:07pm Tuesday 27 Apr at 8:07pm Tue 27 Apr 2021 at 8:07pm / Updated Tue 27 Apr at 11:15pm Tuesday 27 Apr at 11:15pm Tue 27 Apr 2021 at 11:15pm
Two sheep farmers whose land was compulsorily acquired ordered to pay government court costs
/ By Matt Neal
Sisters MairiAnne and Iona Mackenzie's four-and-a-half year battle against a new highway route between Beaufort and Ararat has come to an end.
Posted Wed 21 Apr at 2:27am Wednesday 21 Apr at 2:27am Wed 21 Apr 2021 at 2:27am / Updated Thu 22 Apr at 5:31am Thursday 22 Apr at 5:31am Thu 22 Apr 2021 at 5:31am
Federal Court overturns Government's decision on sacred trees in path of highway upgrade
Justice John Griffiths orders that a new decision on the matter be made by someone other than the Environment Minister, and that the Government pay the appellants' costs.
Posted Thu 17 Dec 2020 at 5:52am Thursday 17 Dec 2020 at 5:52am Thu 17 Dec 2020 at 5:52am / Updated Thu 17 Dec 2020 at 2:23pm Thursday 17 Dec 2020 at 2:23pm Thu 17 Dec 2020 at 2:23pm
Supreme Court grants sacred tree injunction on controversial highway project
By Sarah Jane Bell and Sian Johnson
The court orders work be suspended on a section of the Western Highway duplication in Victoria that opponents say threatens culturally significant trees.
Posted Thu 3 Dec 2020 at 1:09am Thursday 3 Dec 2020 at 1:09am Thu 3 Dec 2020 at 1:09am / Updated Thu 3 Dec 2020 at 2:11am Thursday 3 Dec 2020 at 2:11am Thu 3 Dec 2020 at 2:11am
Supreme Court extends work ban on Western Highway in case that 'goes to the heart' of heritage issue
After a week of protests and scores of arrests the Djab Wurrung people have made up more ground in court, where their lawyer has accused the State of treating Indigenous heritage as a "museum object".
Posted Thu 29 Oct 2020 at 6:32am Thursday 29 Oct 2020 at 6:32am Thu 29 Oct 2020 at 6:32am / Updated Thu 29 Oct 2020 at 2:15pm Thursday 29 Oct 2020 at 2:15pm Thu 29 Oct 2020 at 2:15pm
Supreme Court order halts Western Highway upgrade
By Sian Johnson and Sarah Jane Bell
Work on widening part of the Western Highway is on hold, after the Supreme Court issued an order preventing works from going ahead. It follows the arrest of 60 people protesting over the removal of a tree they say is culturally significant.
Posted Tue 27 Oct 2020 at 11:11pm Tuesday 27 Oct 2020 at 11:11pm Tue 27 Oct 2020 at 11:11pm / Updated Wed 28 Oct 2020 at 2:30pm Wednesday 28 Oct 2020 at 2:30pm Wed 28 Oct 2020 at 2:30pm
Aboriginal elder denied entry to western Victorian protest sites she started
An Aboriginal elder who has led a fight to protect trees from a highway project in western Victoria says she is embarrassed by rubbish left at the camps.
Posted Wed 23 Sep 2020 at 12:45am Wednesday 23 Sep 2020 at 12:45am Wed 23 Sep 2020 at 12:45am / Updated Wed 23 Sep 2020 at 1:59am Wednesday 23 Sep 2020 at 1:59am Wed 23 Sep 2020 at 1:59am
Protection bid rejected for culturally significant trees threatened by Western Highway upgrade
/ By Charlotte King
The Commonwealth rejects an application to protect several trees deemed by Indigenous groups to be sacred at a contentious highway upgrade in Victoria's west.
Posted Mon 10 Aug 2020 at 2:18am Monday 10 Aug 2020 at 2:18am Mon 10 Aug 2020 at 2:18am / Updated Mon 10 Aug 2020 at 3:34am Monday 10 Aug 2020 at 3:34am Mon 10 Aug 2020 at 3:34am
Victorian Ombudsman backs road authorities' 'good faith' efforts on sacred tree project
By Sarah Jane Bell, Sian Johnson and Charlotte King
Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass finds the Government's response over protecting sacred trees on the Western Highway project were legally sound.
Posted Fri 31 Jul 2020 at 1:56am Friday 31 Jul 2020 at 1:56am Fri 31 Jul 2020 at 1:56am
Highway upgrade stalls again after court upholds appeal over sacred trees
/ By Sian Johnson and Sarah Jane Bell
The project to duplicate the Western Highway between Ballarat and Stawell has faced a string of delays, including those caused by protests focusing on a 12.5km stretch that would require cutting down thousands of trees.
Posted Fri 6 Dec 2019 at 7:59am Friday 6 Dec 2019 at 7:59am Fri 6 Dec 2019 at 7:59am / Updated Fri 6 Dec 2019 at 1:22pm Friday 6 Dec 2019 at 1:22pm Fri 6 Dec 2019 at 1:22pm
Documents expose $1 million land deal behind highway sacred trees dispute
By Charlotte King, Andy Burns and Sian Johnson
A contentious highway upgrade again comes under scrutiny after revelations a land deal was struck between Victoria's roads department and the former Aboriginal cultural heritage authority which approved the development.
Posted Thu 5 Sep 2019 at 12:07am Thursday 5 Sep 2019 at 12:07am Thu 5 Sep 2019 at 12:07am / Updated Thu 5 Sep 2019 at 5:16am Thursday 5 Sep 2019 at 5:16am Thu 5 Sep 2019 at 5:16am
Victorian Premier issues Western Hwy protesters ultimatum over sacred tree stalemate
/ By Sian Johnson
The clock is ticking on a final ultimatum given to protesters trying to block Victoria's $672 million Western Highway upgrade.
Posted Tue 20 Aug 2019 at 9:07pm Tuesday 20 Aug 2019 at 9:07pm Tue 20 Aug 2019 at 9:07pm
Federal Government rejects Indigenous group's bid to save sacred trees
A major highway project has been given the green light despite pleas to protect significant trees.
Posted Fri 25 Jan 2019 at 2:53am Friday 25 Jan 2019 at 2:53am Fri 25 Jan 2019 at 2:53am
Highway project held up as protesters dig in over 'sacred' trees
Protesters say a major highway upgrade in regional Victoria will destroy trees that have significant cultural significance.
Posted Wed 4 Jul 2018 at 12:07am Wednesday 4 Jul 2018 at 12:07am Wed 4 Jul 2018 at 12:07am
Fight brews over 'destructive' multi-million-dollar road project
By James Hancock
A group that has fought a long-running campaign against the next stage of work to duplicate the main road connecting Melbourne and Adelaide fears time is running out to halt the "unnecessarily destructive and expensive" project.
Posted Fri 9 Jun 2017 at 11:06pm Friday 9 Jun 2017 at 11:06pm Fri 9 Jun 2017 at 11:06pm
VicRoads slammed for Western Highway blunder
The Opposition demands to know what led to an error that has caused construction on the Western Highway duplication in the state's west to halt.
Posted Wed 22 Feb 2017 at 1:58am Wednesday 22 Feb 2017 at 1:58am Wed 22 Feb 2017 at 1:58am
VicRoads Western Highway project 'fly through' video
Supplied: VicRoads
VicRoads Western Highway project: 'fly through' showing approved highway route's environmental impact between Buangor and Ararat.
Posted Mon 19 Sep 2016 at 2:44am Monday 19 Sep 2016 at 2:44am Mon 19 Sep 2016 at 2:44am
Inquest into fatal quad bike crash finds brakes failed
By Bridget Judd
A coronial inquest has revealed the front brakes on a quad bike driven by an English backpacker were inoperative when it was struck by a truck in western Victoria.
Posted Fri 6 May 2016 at 1:14am Friday 6 May 2016 at 1:14am Fri 6 May 2016 at 1:14am / Updated Fri 6 May 2016 at 2:16am Friday 6 May 2016 at 2:16am Fri 6 May 2016 at 2:16am
No end date for Ballarat-Stawell Western Highway duplication
By Charlotte King
The Victorian Roads Minister says he cannot confirm when funding will be committed to finalise the Western Highway duplication between Ballarat and Stawell.
Posted Fri 22 Apr 2016 at 2:03am Friday 22 Apr 2016 at 2:03am Fri 22 Apr 2016 at 2:03am
Tiny Victorian town hosts military ceremony to honour 'forgotten' war hero
A tiny town in Victoria's west has hosted a full military ceremony to honour one of Australia's lesser known war heroes.
Posted Sun 27 Sep 2015 at 5:31am Sunday 27 Sep 2015 at 5:31am Sun 27 Sep 2015 at 5:31am / Updated Mon 28 Sep 2015 at 9:13pm Monday 28 Sep 2015 at 9:13pm Mon 28 Sep 2015 at 9:13pm
Police probe sheep duffing near Ararat
Ararat police are investigating the theft of a significant amount of livestock and equipment from two separate properties in western Victoria.
Posted Tue 21 Apr 2015 at 11:34pm Tuesday 21 Apr 2015 at 11:34pm Tue 21 Apr 2015 at 11:34pm
Coalition commits $60m to Western Highway duplication's next stage
The Victorian Coalition has announced the next stage of the Western Highway duplication - a 12 kilometre section between Buangor and Ararat.
Posted Thu 6 Nov 2014 at 10:42pm Thursday 6 Nov 2014 at 10:42pm Thu 6 Nov 2014 at 10:42pm
Shire pleads for highway duplication funds pledge
The Northern Grampians Shire says it hopes authorities can commit to funding the final stages of the Western Highway duplication as soon as possible.
Posted Mon 19 Nov 2012 at 1:53am Monday 19 Nov 2012 at 1:53am Mon 19 Nov 2012 at 1:53am
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This sale includes 4 platted lots and 1 metes and bounds which total 10.2692 acres. Great location for industrial, office, or retail development. Easy access to several major highways. High traffic area which is great for business exposure.
Listing courtesy of Susy Saldivar Real Estate.


CoventryCAN is a network of organisations, groups, clubs, teams and people based in and around Coventry. All of us participate in at least one action that helps promote sustainability.
From those of us that cycle instead of drive to those of that are vegetarian (or sort of!). From Conservation Groups and Friends of Parks to research groups to sports teams, school kids to FabLabs. You probably do something sustainable and don't even know it.
Through linking together we can do more sustainable things, we can learn from each other, we can meet new people, we can help each other and we can take action.
We can recycle more, we can use less! We can spend less, we can save money! We can all pledge to walk more, ride more, run more. We can encourage our employers, our employees, our neighbours, our family and our friends. We can work together. We can reduce pollution in Coventry.
We can make Coventry more awesome.
We can all be fitter, healthier, maybe even happier? We can eat better, we can have more fun. We can do this by taking easy, small actions or bigger more ambitous actions! Through taking action we can reduce our carbon foot prints and live more sustainable lives. We can help the UK meet its targets. We can smash Coventry's targets. We can make Coventry a greener, healthier, happier place to live and visit. We can help in the fight against human induced climate change.