ROGarticles

Andy Rooney by Steve Webb

2011-11-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

In late 1983, in a funk for a lot of reasons, my anti-authoritarian streak kicked in when assigned as the Knick's TV person to get Albany Christmas memories from famous people. I truly hated that kind of story back then when others did them, and stupidly considered myself too good to do one myself. The obvious celebrities were Ted Knight, William DeVane and possibly Tim Hutton if he ever Christmasted with his grandparents. I started calling around, but thought more about taking aanother direction. I called Andy Rooney.

I wasn't really a fan. When CBS replaced Point / Counterpoint as the tag for 60 minutes, I pretty much agreed it had run its course. Jack Kilpatrick and Shana Alexander just flat weren't as interesting as Kilpatrick and Nick von Hoffman had been, and to say it had become a parody of itself ignores that Saturday Night Live beat it to the punch. The last one, if I remember, involved the "issue" of trial marriage and the two forcedly taking the opposite positions you would have expected them to. I digress. When Rooney's short essays began as its replacement, I had roughly the same attitude I had when Hee Haw replaced the Smothers Brothers comedy Hour. Carlin did the schtick better. Rooney seemed to just whine about trivialities. Another case of television news replacing content with a kind of ambiance.

Over time I realized I liked Rooney's voice because I'd known it as Harry Reasoner's voice. That when my dad was a faithful viewer of Reasoner's stint anchoring CBS's star-crossed morning newscast in the early 60s, that the persona he (and be extension I) was buying into was the affinity Reasoner had with his writer, Rooney. This made me more likely to watch Rooney's bits and read his newspaper column, but it was still way outside what I tended to enjoy in either television or op-ed commentary.

But Andy Rooney was a celebrity only because his name was identifiable. He didn’t have anything to sell and had no real stake in what I’d write. If he cared about his image, I wasn’t really aware of it. The ex-Albany person, of course, I really wanted as a Watergate junkie was E. Howard Hunt, but I’d turned up dry getting a phone number in the city I’d figured out he lived in at the time. I called Rooney at his office in CBS, calling a news dept flak first to make sure I wasn’t violating some protocoly thing.

He was perfect. No, he said. “I get asked all the time to remember something about Christmas. What was your favorite Christmas? What do you like to eat for dessert for Christmas? What’s the perfect Christmas present? I never answer any of those things.” A year earlier, I had roughly the same conversation only not about Christmas with Steve Ditko, making an obligatory attempt to see if he would break a 20-year-andd-counting silence on co-creating and drawing and writing Spider-Man for an article I was doing for the Fantaco Chronicles. Rooney was more pleasant. Ditko was more polite. This time, I pressed on. I mentioned it was Bill Dowd’s assignment, and that I wanted to fulfill it differently than simply having network TV stars. It was my impression that Bill had arranged for the edit page to run Rooney’s column, both because Bill truly loved television and because – yes – Rooney was a local made good. Mind you, I wanted to include the rejection. This was Andy Rooney being Andy Rooney, a curmugeon, a guy intent on keeping himself private except of course when he parades his junk mail and various drug store purchases in front of the camera speaking to a camera at his working desk.

He relented a little. I have no memory of what he remembered about Christmas in Albany. I would imagine, if I had had the sense at 30 to have thought to bring the possibility up, that he was telling me that for the time when his parents were living and maybe for a few years after that, Christmas in Albany was going home. I don’t think he specifically mentioned 1946, when he returned from WW2, but he might have.

I thanked him. Out of the blue, he asked, “You talking to Hunt?” Man, I’d love to, but I’ve had no luck finding him. I mentioned calling the south Florida city’s directory assistance. The conversation ended.

About 20 minutes later, someone at the city desk called across the room – entertainment was at the opposite corner of the newsroom – “Webb? You at 5488? Call for you.” I said I was. A few seconds later my extension rang. The voice didn’t identify itself, but it was clearly Andy Rooney. “There’s as an ear, nose and throat specialist named Theodore Brandow with an office on Madison. If you call him in five minutes, he will give you Hunt’s unlisted number.” Click.

It turns out that Andy Rooney, Teddy Brandow and Howard Hunt were pretty much like James, Sirius and Remus as students at the Albany Academy. Thick as thieves, a touch on the mischievous side. Brandow described some of this, and told me a trick: Get your unlisted number in your wife’s maiden name and the operator won’t even confirm you have an unlisted number. Good trick for keeping people unaware of even what city you live in. Spies, and of course Hunt had spent 22 years in the CIA before going to work for Nixon, do this all the time.

Anyway, Hunt was great too. It was one of my favorite interviews from doing personality features. He very much focused on 1946, on spending the previous two years doing OSS work on the China mainland when Christmas meant nothing and dinner meant some rice and if you were lucky a shoe. And what a pleasure it was to see the pristine snow. He said pristine, yes. And to put on black tie and have dinner at the Fort Orange club. He described a couple of aromas as a novelist would, and of course Hunt wrote a bunch of novels.

Anyway, Rooney brought that about and it was a nice thing to do. He clearly guarded that he was a very nice person, and I’m sure he wasn’t always very nice. He clearly had the same capacity for being rude to strangers as his one-time colleague in CBS’s record division, Bob Dylan, had when he interrupted someone who said “You don’t know me but” to him with “Let’s keep it that way.” Not only, though, was that a nice thing to do, but it also spawned two stories – the one that ran Christmas eve 1983 in the Knick and this one.

The Electric Norseman by J.A. Fludd

2011-05-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

‘Cross the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard,
Where the blooming heavens roar,
You’ll behold in breathless wonder
The God of Thunder, Mighty Thor!
-Theme lyrics from The Mighty Thor on The Marvel Super-Heroes, 1967.

In my fan life, one of the comic books that has brought me the greatest inspiration and pleasure is The Mighty Thor, created in 1962 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and originally running in Journey Into Mystery until that book was retitled for its starring character. Thor is a character with whom some of the best stories you’ll ever read in comics have been done. I get the same flush of excitement remembering them as I get from Stan and Jack’s Fantastic Four.

The length of issues #114 to #136 (in the middle of which the title switch from Journey Into Mystery to Thor took place) is collectively one of my all-time favorite stories. A long narrative made up of many individual adventures, it is about how mighty Thor wants nothing more than to be with Jane Foster, the nurse who works for his mortal alter ego, Dr. Don Blake, and pretty much everything in the universe comes between them, starting with Thor’s father, Odin. (“No son of mine is going to be sleeping with any mortal women. Maybe the Greek gods carry on like that...”) Thor and Jane must get through the Absorbing Man, Loki, the Trial of the Gods, the Norn Stone-empowered Demon, Hercules, Pluto and the Netherworld, Tana Nile and the Colonizers of Rigel, Ego the Living Planet, the High Evolutionary and the New-Men, and the maddening menace of the Man-Beast before Odin finally says, “Okay, son, bring the chick home and let’s see what kind of goddess she’ll make.” (Not in those words, of course.) Thor brings Jane to Asgard, and Jane, being a pre-feminist comic book woman, can’t handle godhood at all and must be sent back to Earth with amnesia, to marry a mortal doctor not unlike Don Blake. Thor is anguished, but Odin says, “Listen, son, suck it up. We’ve got the Trolls about to invade us, so think with your other hammer for a change and go out and defend the Realm.” He does, and along the way meets up with his boyhood sweetheart, the stunning Sif (Stan, who liked wordplay, adjectives, and alliteration, would sometimes use the epithet “stunning” in reference to Sif)--a fearless warrior goddess who was not only easy on the eyes but could probably have beaten up Xena herself. Sif, a much more suitable mate for Thor, became the “official” girlfriend of the book and has mostly remained so ever since.

It wasn’t so long ago that Thor, who had been the pride of Marvel Comics, fell on hard times. Fans were ignoring him. His stories grew tedious. His book was cancelled and revived. Fans ignored him again and his book was cancelled again. In Avengers/JLA, the breathtaking miniseries in which the Avengers met, battled, and teamed up with DC’s Justice League of America, Superman--who is known to be unable to overcome magic--was permitted to push back Thor’s hammer (which is enchanted by no less than a mythological godhead)--and punch him out! And when the US Post Office issued a set of stamps commemorating the heroes of Marvel Comics, Thor was not among them. Spider-Woman and Elektra were immortalized on stamps, but not the immortal of Asgard who is among the characters who built the company! The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Sub-Mariner, the Hulk, even the damn Wolverine got stamps, but not the God of Thunder! I found that insulting: Spider-Woman and Elektra, for crying out loud, but not Thor! What a burn! What a rip-off!

Lately, no doubt because of the movie just released a couple of days ago, Thor has experienced one of the biggest turnarounds ever seen in comics. Not long ago I went on my weekly trip to the comic shop and counted off every comic book I could see that either starred or featured old Goldilocks. My tally came to about a dozen; Thor is everywhere! His current series--in which the hammer tosser and his entire cast have been redesigned and Asgard now floats over a plain in Oklahoma instead of lying at the far end of Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge--is a best-seller. Thor books are all over the shelves. The God of Thunder, so recently ignored and disrespected in spite of his place in comics history, is getting back what’s his, and it’s a gratifying thing to see.

Which brings us to the movie. Wow--what a movie. Thor is just about everything that all the Superman movies should have been. Seriously.

Director Kenneth Branagh may have a background in Shakespeare, but you’d think he was channeling the spirit of Jack Kirby himself to make this picture. Not that it’s a direct adaptation of the original comics (that was never going to happen, so I’m not even going to bother kvetching about it), but the pure feeling of what Jack did with Stan is there. Much has been changed. This did not occur to me until I was actually sitting in the cinema watching the first act of the film, but a key character is completely missing and not even mentioned at all. Where in the heck is Balder? I can’t believe they would leave him out; Balder is Thor’s best friend, the person or god that Thor trusts the most. The handsomest and most noble of the gods after the Son of Odin (Jack Kirby made him so sexy that evil Karnilla, Queen of the Norns, spent a years-long subplot trying to get Balder into bed), Balder is one of Marvel’s most stalwart supporting players. He doesn’t seem to exist in this movie. It wound up not detracting from the film overall, but I missed him. A lot.

Other things are different too. Jane Foster here is not a nurse and is no part of the medical profession at all, though her ex-lover who figures tangentially into the story turns out to be (wait for it) a physician named Donald Blake. (In the comics, Jane eventually grew a backbone and became an MD. At one time she was even the on-call physician for the Avengers!) This Jane is an astrophysicist who studies wormholes and is thus better prepared to deal with hunks who come falling off Rainbow Bridges than Stan and Jack’s character was. Though we’re missing Balder, Thor’s entourage of other gods is present. The stunning Sif and Fandral the Dashing are much as we know them from the comic books. The voluminous Volstagg has most of the mirth but not quite as much girth as in the source material. But in what I’m sure is a nod to multiculturalism and marketing, Heimdall, the Guardian of Bifrost, is black and Hogun the Grim is a beardless Asian! Yes, a race of gods worshipped by the thoroughly white Vikings somehow includes an African and an Asian! (You could probably argue that these are not the gods that the Vikings worshipped but the beings whom the Vikings apprehended as gods, so they didn’t really all have to be white. Being a classic Marvel Comics purist, I could go into a rant about this, but some of you have heard or read my rants and I won’t put you through another; besides, I like this movie too much to get angry about it. It bothers me, but not to the point of anger.)

Bifrost in the movie is pretty dazzling, but is not exactly a “Rainbow” Bridge. On close inspection it seems to be made up of billions of little rainbows, laid out like gleaming brick and mortar, which was an interesting choice, to say the least. As for the way this Rainbow Bridge works, it’s a part of the movie that seems pretty familiar if you’ve ever seen a certain science fiction movie and TV franchise. Let’s just say that whenever they were using Bifrost I kept expecting Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks to show up. They didn’t, but I would not have been surprised.

Oh, and you have to pay close attention to the scenes in the New Mexico town where much of the terrestrial business of the film takes place. There’s a travel billboard that carries the slogan, “Journey Into Mystery.” No kidding, watch for this.

Now, as for the principals of our story, there’s Jane, played by lovely Natalie Portman, making her second claim on a big-budget imaginative movie franchise. (To Star Wars fans she is, of course, the dauntless but doomed Padme Amidala, beloved of Anakin Skywalker and mother of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa.) And then there are the big three: Odin, Loki, and mighty Thor himself. I’ve seldom seen a more eminently watchable trio in any film. This is especially true of Chris Hemsworth as Thor, but I’ll come to him in a moment.

The film’s Loki is very different from the character that Stan and Jack originated in the comics. For one thing, as played by Tom Hiddleston, he is vastly better looking than the actual comics character. You know the old saying, from another mythology, that “the Devil has the power to assume a pleasing shape?” That’s Hiddleston as Loki. He’s also not as demonstratively evil as the comics character. He’s much more subtle and manipulative, maneuvering people (starting with his brother Thor) into doing what he wants by speaking softly and saying exactly the right thing at the right time, not unlike the mythical Serpent in Eden. That makes it much more effective when his true evil does come exploding out, when he discovers the truth about his parentage (parents, always level with your adopted children) and he turns on Odin, steals the throne, and becomes a physical adversary for Thor. In the comic books I never really felt any sympathy for Loki, who seemed driven purely by envy (“Dad likes you best!”) and the desire for power. In the film, I actually did pick up on his feelings of hurt and betrayal by his loved ones. This is written, and Hiddleston plays it, with great skill, and helps make Loki one of the most satisfying comics-to-movies bad guys.

Anthony Hopkins plays Odin the All-Father, and makes the perfect regal presence (there’s that Shakespearean background working.) He juggles Odin’s three roles--father, king, and omnipotent deity--pretty much effortlessly and is convincing at all of them. HIs love of his two boys, his wrath and disappointment when Thor screws up and Odin de-powers him and exiles him on Earth (right out of the comics), his heartbreak over Loki, all are spot-on. And in yet another nod to the comics, his sorrow about Loki even sends him into the Odinsleep! (Every so often, the comic-book Odin has to take a long, deep nap to replenish his power. The Odinsleep is never, ever good news; you just know that whenever the All-Father goes for his forty winks, Loki will take over Asgard, someone will turn on the Destroyer, someone will let Mangog out, or some other calamity will befall. One story I’ve always wanted to see in the comics is Odin going to sleep and nothing happening! But I’m not holding my breath.)

And finally, there’s the star of our show. Ye gods, is Chris Hemsworth perfect in this role or what? My brother has expressed skepticism about the incredibly hot and strapping young Aussie playing Goldliocks, but I expect Chris Hemsworth to win him over the way Robert Downey Jr. did as Iron Man. You know, Marvel spotted Hemsworth a couple of years ago playing James T. Kirk’s father in the rebooted J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie and immediately collared him for the role of Thor, which was one of their smartest moves. He inhabits this character as Christopher Reeve did Superman. To this point I counted Chris Evans playing the Human Torch in The Fantastic Four as the all-time sexiest movie super-hero, but this summer he has some major competition from Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Ryan Reynolds as the Green Lantern. (Of course, in couple of months we’ll see the formerly “Fantastic” Evans as his second Marvel hero, Captain America, for which this film has a trailer. I’m looking forward to that.)

And it’s not just that young Hemsworth has the right look; his actual performance serves the story to great effect. He is as subtle in his own way as Hiddleston at taking Thor from a brash and conceited character whose actions threaten the realm with war, to someone just as proud but more thoughtful and capable of nobility and sacrifice. He captures Thor’s godly appetites for food, drink, and battle, his gullibility with Loki, his arrogance with the Frost Giants, his remorse over what he thinks is Odin’s death and his part in it, and his growing compassion for mortals and tenderness for Jane, hitting just the right note with each one. Hemsworth’s Thor is every bit the equal of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man, Chris Evans’s Torch, and Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. The hammer hits true.

While the cinematography in some parts of the movie is a bit too dark and makes the action slightly difficult to follow (especially in the sequences in Jotunheim, the land of the Frost Giants), the set designs and costuming are Oscar-worthy. The Academy will probably snub them, but they’re that good.

One more impressive thing about the film is the menace of the Destroyer, set loose on Earth by Loki to seal the doom of Thor and his friends. For non-comic-book or non-Marvel readers, do you remember the original movie The Day the Earth Stood Still from 1951? The Destroyer is a kind of “Gort” that Odin built to defend Earth against an unnamed future menace. After Stan and Jack parted ways, some years later other talents revealed that the Destroyer was meant to battle the planet-judging Fourth Host of the Celestials from a later Kirby creation, The Eternals. See how all Marvel stories link up? The Destroyer is as awesome and as fearsome as we’d like him to be. I’ll never forget the first time Goldilocks mixed it up with this armored golem; the Destroyer sliced Mjolnir the hammer in two and almost disintegrated Thor! (Issues #119 and #120. This was also the first Odinsleep story--see what I mean?) Odin’s metal monster brings that same deadliness to our film. However, I do have to agree with my friend Martin in Scotland, who points out that the showdown between Thor and the Destroyer is over far too quickly and Thor’s victory is far too facile. I remember another story in which the Destroyer actually lived up to its name and sent our Thunder God to Hela, Goddess of Death! (Thor Vol. 2, #1-3.) The studio may have thought a proper battle with the Destroyer would make the picture too long, but how long is too long with a threat of this magnitude?
Anyway, the absence of Balder and a too-facile smackdown with the Destroyer are the only things holding this picture back from shooting past the first Iron Man film on the Super-Hero Movie Scale. As it is, Thor is probably better than Iron Man 2 and almost as good as Iron Man 1, which makes it one of the very best super-hero movies. And it is in fact the only super-hero movie to date that has left me with the feeling of absolute awe and wonder that so moved and inspired me as a young fan reading the original, classic Marvel comics, which puts it in a class by itself. I look forward to seeing Thor again in The Avengers, but I’m also “breathless,” as the old theme song put it, for another movie just about Thor. I propose an adaptation of the “Thor vs. Hercules” saga from issues #125 to #128! I’d love to see whom they’d cast as Marvel’s Hercules!
I’m still fuming over the whole postage-stamp thing, but I’m so proud of Thor’s mighty comeback and what’s been accomplished with the God of Thunder. Definitely sign me up for the next trip over the Rainbow Bridge. Thor rules!
***
Don't know why I didn't see this coming...

PBS Grimm

2011-04-20T07:35:00.000-07:00

And on another topic

Speed Bump Cartoon

2011-04-20T07:29:00.000-07:00

How to be gracious

2011-03-03T15:42:00.000-08:00

Jennifer's wedding day was fast approaching. Nothing could dampen her excitement - not even her parent's nasty divorce.

Her mother had found the PERFECT dress to wear, and would be the best-dressed mother-of-the-bride ever!

A week later, Jennifer was horrified to learn that her father's new, young wife had bought the exact same dress as her mother! Jennifer asked her father's new young wife to exchange it, but she refused. "Absolutely not! I look like a million bucks in this dress, and I'm wearing it," she replied.

Jennifer told her mother who graciously said, "Never mind sweetheart. I'll get another dress. After all, it's your special day."

A few days later, they went shopping, and did find another gorgeous dress for her mother. When they stopped for lunch, Jennifer asked her mother, "Aren't you going to return the other dress? You really don't have another occasion where you could wear it."

Her mother just smiled and replied, "Of course I do, dear.....I'm wearing it to the rehearsal dinner the night BEFORE the wedding."

Wipeout - Food Fight

2011-01-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

Aired on Tuesday, Sep 07, 2010

Transcript
00:00:00 The hang of it.
00:00:02 U're doing gr--i mean, you're terrible at it.
00:00:05 Keep talking.
00:00:07 ..
00:00:07 today 24 men and women will b tackle the biggest obstacle course ever assembled, and one of them will walk away $50,000 richer.
00:00:16 And the first step in the journey to the cash is the "wipeout" qualifier.
00:00:19 This week they begin by facing the hoop run.
00:00:20 Welcome to our 4-ring circus.
00:00:23 They will spar with the sucker punch wall.
00:00:24 " and it wouldn't be a qualifier without the big balls and the motivar.
00:00:30 They're moving, john, now with 100% more unfairness.
00:00:33 Then they'll shimmy on to our shake-a-lator.
00:00:35 Get over those velvet ropes or get bounced, my friend.
00:00:38 And finally there's the shape-shifter.
00:00:38 Circles, squares and triangles-- it's educational.
00:00:42 Of our 24 competitors, only the top 12 times will move past the qualifier and into the second round.
00:00:47 All right, let's get down to the action.
00:00:49 ♪ Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, ♪
00:00:52 hey, who's the fourth member of the lollipop guild?
00:00:53 That's eli gurian, and jill wagner's on the story.
00:00:57 What do you do, eli?
00:00:58 I study geology and seismology.
00:01:01 Oh, so you like-- you like dirt and rocks.
00:01:03 Mostly rocks.
00:01:03 This year we don't have the big balls.
00:01:06 We have four big rocks.
00:01:07 Are you serious?
00:01:08 Yep.
00:01:09 Dude, this is, like, the greatest thing I've ever seen ever.
00:01:11 (laughs) (voice speeds up) I don't even know what to do.
00:01:13 And there's also alligators.
00:01:16 (normal voice) That's not good.
00:01:18 (air horn blows) (John H.) WOW. (laughs) He believed we had rocks for big balls.
00:01:21 Whoo!
00:01:22 can't wait until he gets to the alligators.
00:01:25 (John A.) OUR ROCK STAR IS UP TO The first obstacle--the hoops.
00:01:27 All he has to do is jump through a few hoops without faing into the mud.
00:01:30 (grunts) AAH!
00:01:32 Oh, eli going for a quick spin, but makes it back to his feet.
00:01:33 Aah!
00:01:36 Ooh!
00:01:36 H!
00:01:37 Eli, you're rockin' this course.
00:01:38 (bell dings) Geology puns? I wanna play!
00:01:40 I wanna play!
00:01:41 Hey, let's see if eli gets rocked on the sucker punch.
00:01:42 That's the exact same pun.
00:01:46 So?
00:01:46 Ooh!
00:01:48 Ooh!
00:01:48 eli just got rocked by the exact same glove. look.
00:01:51 ..
00:01:51 Ooh!
00:01:53 In 3-d.
00:01:53 Nice, johnny.
00:01:55 Eli's coming to the big balls.
00:01:55 You know what they say.
00:01:59 The bigger they are, the harder they fall!
00:02:01 (grunts) AAH!
00:02:01 Ooh!
00:02:03 And the quicker they sink.
00:02:05 Don't they say "rolling stones gather no moss"?
00:02:07 Ooh! yeah.
00:02:07 yeah, but it looks like this one's picking up some algae.
00:02:10 Well, our rock star, making his way to the shake-a-lator.
00:02:13 This is gonna suck.
00:02:14 It's not gonna suck.
00:02:14 It's gonna be awesome.
00:02:16 And we've added these velvet ropes that you jump over as you cross to the other side.
00:02:20 (grunts) Ah!
00:02:22 yeah, you were totally right. that sucked.
00:02:25 Aah!
00:02:25 the shake-a-lator getting the rock star and the stones.
00:02:28 (grunts) Let's see if he gets any better on the shape-shifter.
00:02:32 He'll have to jumpff that diving board, through one of the shapes and on to the final platform.
00:02:36 If he wipes out, it's a cold swim to this secondary finish spot.
00:02:39 I love diving boards.
00:02:41 Oh! diving boards love you.
00:02:43 And I love giant spinning wheels with geometrical shapes cut in them.
00:02:46 Eli's made it into the triangle and now just sort of needs to wheel back around and jump on to the-- aah!
00:02:53 Oh!
00:02:53 Oh! so close.
00:02:54 Rockin' it! just rockin'.
00:02:55 Rock star clashes with the shape-shifter, and it rocks his casbah.
00:02:58 Aah!
00:02:59 But our rock star does have a very nice opening time.
00:03:00 (panting) ..
00:03:05 Let's go back to the first obstacle, where fresh as a muddy spring morning is 21-year-old amber bronder.
00:03:09 Oh!
00:03:10 Aah!
00:03:11 she tries the sit-and-spin approach. surpse!
00:03:12 Aah!
00:03:13 Oh!
00:03:13 John, amber definitely did not see that coming.
00:03:17 Amber actually had a surprise for jill as well earlier.
00:03:19 And I did not see that coming.
00:03:20 So do you think rthis is intimidating the other competitors?
00:03:23 Absolutely.
00:03:25 Are you hurting right now?
00:03:25 No.
00:03:26 You're making me hurt.
00:03:27 (chuckles) I'M SORRY.
00:03:29 (John H.) IT'S MAKING You hurt, jill?
00:03:30 I pulled my groin just watching it.
00:03:31 Oh, my god! are you serious?
00:03:33 (grunts) Oh, I'm serious.
00:03:34 It's club henson this week.
00:03:36 Our shake-a-lator is the bouncer, and you gotta get over the velvet ropes if you wanna get in.
00:03:40 Aah!
00:03:42 But trust me, it's worth it, ..
00:03:43 Ooh!
00:03:45 Ladies drink free.
00:03:45 Aah! aah! aah!
00:03:48 I sure hope ..
00:03:50 Aah!
00:03:50 Because that hit was hard.
00:03:52 Now coming up on the shape-sifter, that's kimberly dreher.
00:03:54 Hey, you know what, john?
00:03:54 It looks like she's a vegan.
00:03:56 Really? how can you tell?
00:03:57 Oh, I can spot a vegan from anywhere.
00:03:59 Wow. good eyes.
00:03:59 I think it's all the carrots I eat.
00:04:03 Aah! this is scary.
00:04:05 Come on. it's not scary.
00:04:07 Fakin' bacon is scary.
00:04:07 This is just mildly amusing.
00:04:11 (sighs) Come on, vegan, don't be a chicken.
00:04:14 Johnny, don't egg her on.
00:04:14 Hey, that was a good yolk.
00:04:17 Oh!
00:04:17 Oh!
00:04:18 That was even better.
00:04:18 Luckily for our vegan, our padding is made out of soy and tofu.
00:04:23 It looks like real padding, but it tastes like real beef.
00:04:27 (grunts) Now let's go back to the top of the course.
00:04:28 Aah!
00:04:32 Aah!
00:04:34 Is it over yet?
00:04:34 (air horn blows) Is it over yet? heck, no.
00:04:36 We're just getting started.
00:04:36 Check out lifeguard tiffany garcia, heading towards the hoops.
00:04:40 Aah!
00:04:41 (John A. and John H.) OOH!
00:04:42 Ooh!ay,chihuahua.
00:04:44 Let's see how tiffany fares on the second half of the hoops.
00:04:46 Here she goes.
00:04:46 Aah!
00:04:47 Oh! she's back.
00:04:48 (laughs) YEAH, SHE MUST Really be having fun if she wants to do it again.
00:04:51 These hoops are no day at the beach.
00:04:54 Aah!
00:04:55 Ooh!
00:04:55 Let's see our lifeguard wipeout in "baywatch" super slo-mo.
00:04:56 Take a look.
00:04:56 Vit's a big hit here, and even bigger in repeats.
00:05:01 People have been taking shots at our hoops all day, johnny.
00:05:04 Aah!
00:05:05 (woman grunts) Ooh! ridonkulous!
00:05:08 Aah!
00:05:08 Not in my house.
00:05:10 Aah!
00:05:10 Yes!
00:05:12 Aah! oh!
00:05:12 Air ball!
00:05:15 Alley-oops!
00:05:15 Aah!
00:05:16 Yes! and it counts!
00:05:17 (grunts) AAH!
00:05:20 Aah!
00:05:20 Dipsy-doo dunkaroo, baby!
00:05:23 Jill, who's next?
00:05:24 I'm down here with jesse carrion.
00:05:26 You're a dad, right?
00:05:26 That's correct.
00:05:27 I have four children, and my fiancée also has ..
00:05:30 Oh, wow.
00:05:32 "Therady bunch" plus what, one, two?
00:05:34 (John H.) "BRADY BUNCH"?
00:05:34 " anderson, I've got this one.
00:05:38 brady, here's a story about a wall named sucker punch who's been bringing down some very lovely contestants.
00:05:42 Ooh!
00:05:43 jesse gets brady-punched, but keeps on going.
00:05:44 Oh! his nose!
00:05:48 Jesse takes a glove to the face like marcia took a football to the nose.
00:05:51 somebody's watched " founding father of the florence henderson fan club, my friend. oh!
00:05:56 jesse's made it onto the second big ball.
00:06:00 And he's off the second big ball.
00:06:02 And just like greg in hawaii, jesse surfs the second ball and wipes out.
00:06:06 I'm telling ya, never should have taken that evil tiki idol from bobby.
00:06:10 (voice cracking) AND IT'S Time to change obstacles.
00:06:11 Oh!
00:06:12 your voice is cracking like peter brady's.
00:06:16 My voice is cracking?
00:06:17 Oh! cracka-lacka!
00:06:19 Jesse getting manhandled by the shake-a-lator, but he crawls to that second set of ropes.
00:06:23 Aah!
00:06:25 Hey! brady crunched!
00:06:25 (voice continues cracking) Another hard hit on jesse.
00:06:29 Maybe it's time to change tactics.
00:06:31 I think that's a good idea, john, and he's doing it now, going over on his back instead of his stomach.
00:06:36 That's--that's interesting.
00:06:39 Let's see how jesse handles the end of the shake-a-lator.
00:06:40 Oh!
00:06:41 Oh!
00:06:42 (normal voice) OH!
00:06:42 A very brady wipeout indeed!
00:06:44 I love the shake-a-lator.
00:06:46 Mm, mike brady himself couldn't have designed it any better.
00:06:49 And poor jesse still has to get through the shape-shifter.
00:06:50 (grunts) circle takes the square uncomfortably.
00:06:54 Aah!
00:06:56 Curse you, evil tiki god!
00:06:58 Jesse wedged in there upside down and-- oh! upended into the water.
00:07:04 Jesse finishing with a disappointing time of 9:21.
00:07:07 "The brady bunch" is in danger of being canceled.
00:07:10 I watch it every day at 4:30.
00:07:13 Yeah, it was canceled BACK IN THE '70s.
00:07:15 You're watching reruns.
00:07:15 well, that would explain the hair.
00:07:18 Mm-hmm.
00:07:18 Stick around, america.
00:07:20 Yep, when we return, a boatload more wipeouts coming your way.
00:08:26 ]At loved deal so we've madeeven bigger changes.
00:08:29 We've lowered the priceof every pizza on our menu.
00:08:31 Now a large pizza with up tothree of your favorite toppings is just ten bucks.
00:08:34 Or any medium specialty pizzais just ten bucks, too.
00:08:38 Only at your pizza hut.
00:08:40 is list.
00:08:41 The cost always makes mom freak.
00:08:43 Mommy.
00:08:45 Mom, the back to school list is here.
00:08:47 Looks expensive.
00:08:48 Graphing calculator, flash drive -- that was easy.
00:08:50 [ Male Announcer ] GET BACKTO SCHOOL AND Back to savings on everything on your listat staples.
00:08:56 me realized I could do the weight watchers plan entirely online.
00:08:59 My gosh, I was a total couch potato; I think I shared a blood supply with the couch.
00:09:02 One of the benefits of weight watchers online is that it's not only dealing with the food that I eat but it also deals with the exercise.
00:09:07 With the iphone app, you can keep track of points.
00:09:10 I can also journal my exercise while I'm out so that I can see what my budget for the day is.
00:09:14 I never thought I would look like this.
00:09:17 P[ Female Announcer ] JOIN NOWrAND GET ONE Month free.
00:09:20 Weight watchers online.
00:09:21 Finally, losing weight clicks.
00:09:23 ♪ ♪
00:10:27 ♪
00:10:30 " yeah, tonight we have a big surprise ending for you, people.
00:10:32 Mm-hmm.
00:10:35 Spoiler alert-- somebody is gonna walk away with $50,000.
00:10:39 Somebody wins $50,000 ery week.
00:10:42 Yeah, but this week it's somebody new.
00:10:44 Oh, well, in that case, let's get back to our qualifier.
00:10:47 Jill's down with our next contestant.
00:10:49 All right, guys, I'm down here with rob dickey.
00:10:51 Rob, welcome to our show.
00:10:52 Thank you.
00:10:53 So what special skills do you have?
00:10:53 Uh, numbers.
00:10:54 I'm really good at numbers.
00:10:57 Basically almost like a picture memory of--of numbers.
00:11:01 Really?
00:11:01 25, 6, 7, 4, 2, 1, 1, 1, 5.
00:11:03 15, 28, 1, 1, 8, 9, 2.
00:11:03 (John H.) HEY, IIAL SKILL. JOHN, WATCH.
00:11:09 (air horn blows) 6, 2, 7, 8, pi, "f," semicolon, ampersand.
00:11:12 So, uh, what is this guy's actual deal with numbers anyway?
00:11:15 He just likes 'em, john, thinks he's good with 'em.
00:11:16 (grunts) Oh!
00:11:18 slapstick comedy and a math whiz-- truly the lowest common denominator.
00:11:24 Well, let's see if he can count the number of jabs the sucker punch delivers.
00:11:26 One, two, three, four.
00:11:27 One, two, three, four.
00:11:29 (grunts) Oh!
00:11:31 Five.
00:11:31 Yeah, that wall is really kicking some math.
00:11:34 Our math is no doubt calculating his probability of getting over the big balls here.
00:11:39 Ow your work. oh!
00:11:40 Aah!
00:11:41 rob getting his numbers crunched.
00:11:42 Ooh! ow.
00:11:43 Now rob dickey's about to face a very simple problem-- it's the shake-a-lator.
00:11:46 On one side, off the other.
00:11:46 ! (grunts) and he's divided by that velvet rope.
00:11:52 ..
00:11:53 Oh!
00:11:53 But the shake-a-lator carries this remainder into the water.
00:11:55 (laughs) Our math whiz is up to the final obstacle--the shape-shifter.
00:12:00 Let's see how he is with geometry.
00:12:00 (grunts) Oh!
00:12:03 and it rings his bell curve.
00:12:06 A true math whiz knows you can take the hypotenuse of a triangle, divide it by a 10-mile-an-hour wind resistance, add a 15-degree jump angle and get the perfect trajectory to land on the final platform.
00:12:16 Rob's miscalculation-- he jumps straight down.
00:12:18 Still, ..
00:12:19 Ah. whoo!
00:12:21 A very coefficient run for our math wz.
00:12:23 Now back at the shake-a-lator, we have 23-year-old catherine thoma, who looks thrilled to be here.
00:12:28 !
00:12:29 Okay, maybe not, but she is excited to be representin'.
00:12:32 ♪ Single ladies ♪
00:12:32 catherine, basically, can I say that you want a boyfriend today?
00:12:36 Yeah, and if he's, like, 6-foot, tall, dark and handsome, if he likes to cook, ..
00:12:44 (John H.) WELL, AT LEAST SHE'S let's see if she goes for something mechanical, shaky and with ropes on it.
00:12:48 runts) AAH!
00:12:50 Oh!
00:12:50 Shake-a-lator immediately sweeps her off her feet.
00:12:53 And just like that, she's showg her clingy side.
00:12:54 Well, at least she's made a connection.
00:12:57 She's definitely heels over head.
00:12:58 Aah!
00:12:59 oh, the shake-a-lator wants to see other people.
00:13:02 It didn't take the shake-a-lator long to figure out it's just not th into her.
00:13:07 Catherine has one final shot at love, though, johnny-- it's the shape-shifter.
00:13:10 (boing) Aah!
00:13:12 Oh!
00:13:13 she gets denied one last time.
00:13:14 The shape-shifter tried ..
00:13:15 (ding) But uh-uh-oh, uh-uh-uh-oh.
00:13:17 Now approaching the shake-a-lator is david damiani.
00:13:22 Jill found out why he's a little gaga earlier.
00:13:24 David, what's something that no one knows about you?
00:13:27 um, my mother, for some reason, kept me sleeping in a crib since I was, like, 7 years old.
00:13:33 Yeah.
00:13:33 Wait a minute.
00:13:34 ..
00:13:36 Yeah.
00:13:37 Until you were 7?
00:13:39 Yeah. yeah.
00:13:39 (John H.) You think that's weird?
00:13:42 David wore diapers until he was 21.
00:13:42 Really?
00:13:44 No, but he's not up here to defend himself.
00:13:47 (grunts) Oh!
00:13:48 Let's see holong it takes big baby david to walk.
00:13:51 he's calling out for his mom, and he's only halfway through the shake-a-lator.
00:13:53 Maybe the shake-a-lator's rocking will lull him to sleep.
00:13:57 Or maybe that rope will give him diaper rash.
00:13:59 Oh!
00:14:00 Either way, our bouncing baby boy is getting burped by the shake-a-lator.
00:14:03 John, it looks like big baby david is hanging on to his childhood for as long as he can.
00:14:06 Oh! oh!
00:14:09 Sometimes you just gotta cut the cord, david.
00:14:10 Good advice.
00:14:13 Who else do we have on this john, who's that and where did he get that awesome t-shirt?
00:14:17 That's jahed khan, and he told jill all about that fancy shirt.
00:14:21 (bird chirps) Why isn't he moving?
00:14:24 I have no idea.
00:14:25 Where did you get that nice t-shirt you have ?
00:14:26 abc.com.
00:14:29 abc.com, RIGHT.
00:14:30 So let me guess-- you wore this t-shirt, thinking that our big balls would be nice to you, huh?
00:14:33 I think soyes.
00:14:36 That's why they gave it to me.
00:14:36 abc.com, YOU KNOW?
00:14:39 I'm the o-- SO LET'S PLUG abc.com ONE MORE TIME. (laughs) I'm--i'm the only one who got IT. SO abc.com, YOU KNOW?
00:14:43 abc.com. abc.com.
00:14:47 abc.com.
00:14:47 abc.com.
00:14:48 OH, abc.com.
00:14:49 (laughs) (John A.) JAHED Up to our big balls.
00:14:52 Well, let's see if he gets HALF AS MANY HITS AS abc.com.
00:14:53 OH! (grunts) Oh!
00:14:56 we have to see that again.
00:14:59 OH! (grunts) Oh!
00:15:01 Oh! commercial break.
00:15:03 You know, john, he's not the only one advertising how hard the big balls are.
00:15:06 Aah!
00:15:08 Ooh! magically ball-icious.
00:15:09 Aah!
00:15:10 AAH! (grunts) WHOA!
00:15:11 Mm!
00:15:12 Oh!
00:15:12 He's cuckoo for big balls.
00:15:14 Aah!
00:15:15 (laughs) Whew!
00:15:16 The big balls give ..
00:15:17 AAH! (grunts) And keep on ticking.
00:15:21 Piece of cake.
00:15:21 I'll tell you what's not a piece of cake-- the shake-a-lator.
00:15:25 And rico curtis is about to find out why.
00:15:27 It says here he calls himself " ah, he's getting thunderstruck by the shake-a-lator.
00:15:31 Aah!
00:15:34 Ah.
00:15:35 Valiant effort.
00:15:35 Valiant effort indeed, jill, but "rolling thunder" rico curtis is gonna need more than that if he's gonna get by the toughest obstacle on the qualifier today.
00:15:44 Let's enjoy his effort on the shape-shifter.
00:15:47 (grunts) (boing) OH! (laughs) Oh! spectacular!
00:15:51 Oh! that is how you do it.
00:15:54 No kidding, jill.
00:15:55 Rolling thunder jumps right through that circle and lands on the final platform. unreal.
00:16:01 A remarkable ending to a very competitive run by rico, inspired and possibly because, as he told us, he has to beat our last ..
00:16:07 (grunts) Who also happens to be his wife rebecca.
00:16:12 Just between us, who do you think's gonna win?
00:16:15 I mean, i-i gotta hide the guns, you know what I mean?
00:16:18 But I think it's gonna, you know, it's gonna be me.
00:16:19 I want to know your special skill.
00:16:22 What sets you apart from the other contestants?
00:16:23 You're not even gonna see me.
00:16:24 I'm gonna go right through it.
00:16:27 I'm gonna win this thing, baby.
00:16:28 Rebecca's calling her shot, tjohn.
00:16:30 She's not only beating her husband, at this point, she's got one of the fastest runs of the day.
00:16:33 Aah!
00:16:35 Oh!
00:16:35 now that's gonna be a hit to the time, but she's still looking lightning quick.
00:16:39 Oof!
00:16:41 "Oof" is a good word, ..
00:16:43 Aah!
00:16:43 " "lightning" curtis amping it up here.
00:16:47 Aah!
00:16:47 Makes it over the second set she's sure taking the shake-a-lator to school, johnny.
00:16:51 Her husband was the only person to make it through the shape-shifter.
00:16:57 I thinkshe'sgot what it takes to be the only person to get across the shake-a-lator.
00:17:00 There's only one way to find out, john.
00:17:03 Here she goes.
00:17:04 Aah!
00:17:05 Oh!
00:17:05 well, I also thought my first marriage was gonna make it.
00:17:07 Aah!
00:17:09 Lightning's up to the shape-shifter.
00:17:11 Let's see if the curtises can strike twice.
00:17:13 (boing) Oh, she made it into the square, john.
00:17:17 If she can just right herself ..
00:17:18 Aah!
00:17:20 (John A. and John H.) OHH!
00:17:20 Oh! that was so close.
00:17:23 Rebecca with a good jump, but the square grounds this lightning bolt to the short circuit.
00:17:27 But rebecca still finishes ..
00:17:28 Whoo!
00:17:31 28, Which is third fastest of the day, so both she and her husband will be moving on.
00:17:35 Also advancing-- rock star eli gurian, lifeguard tiffany garcia and math whiz rob dickey.
00:17:41 Also joining them will be single lady catherine thoma, big baby david damiani and jahed "abc-dot" khan.
00:17:47 Stick arou, america, ..
00:17:49 Aah!
00:17:49 Our contestants better watch their backs.
00:17:52 It's the double cross.
00:17:57 spade?
00:17:57 ..
00:17:58 Wait,are you the baby?
00:18:00 Ha, ha, ha!
00:18:01 7Up's new crisp, clean taste can make anyone feel ridiculously bubbly. whoa, ha, ha.
00:18:06 Hey, where do you want me to stick these?
00:18:08 By the fire place, of course!
00:18:09 What a great backyard, huh?
00:18:12 Why yes, perfect for barbecues.
00:18:14 7Up, a new taste so crisp andclean, it's ridiculous.
00:18:19 You want me to shove it?
00:18:19 Ok, let's wrap this up guys, it's wearing off.
00:18:24 It's our honeymoon.
00:18:25 But we've parted ways with our old airline credit card that promised flights for 25,000 miles.
00:18:29 IT WAS ALWAYS... [ laughing ] That seat's not happening without a big miles upcharge.
00:18:34 A miles upcharge wasn't part of the deal.
00:18:36 Was I supposed to go without my wife?
00:18:38 [ elevator bell dings ] [ grunting ] Haha, that was awkward.
00:18:41 SO WE UPGRADED TO THE Venture Card FROM Capital One.
00:18:44 We've had it with the games.
00:18:45 [ Male Announcer ] DON'T PAY MILES UPCHARGES.
00:18:47 Don't play games.
00:18:48 Get the flight you want WITH THE Venture Card AT Capitalone.com.
00:18:51 What's in your wallet?
00:19:25 this.
00:19:25 ♪
00:19:46 it's a pretty big deal.
00:20:10 ♪♪
00:20:11 I thought it was over here...
00:20:18 ♪♪
00:21:08 ct be curD AFTER THE QUALIFIER, We're down to 12.
00:21:24 Who's left, john?
00:21:26 Allow me to tell you.
00:21:27 We have the human pretzel, amber bronder, vegan kimberly dreher and the math whiz, rob dickey.
00:21:33 We also have single lady catherine thoma, and our married couple-- thunder and lightning, rico and rebecca curtis.
00:21:38 Johnny, be quiet for a second.
00:21:39 I'm not talking.
00:21:41 Do you hear that?
00:21:41 No.
00:21:43 It's the calm before the storm, the drumroll before fonzie jumps the shark, the beating of my heart before I fall in love with the double cross all over again.
00:21:51 And you know how love hurts.
00:21:53 Here's how the double cross works.
00:21:55 Our 12 contestants begin on a 10-foot-high platform as four planks move around and around.
00:22:00 Contestants must jump on to one of the green planks to start, then use the one rlank to get to the unstable table on the other side.
00:22:06 But look out, because in their ..
00:22:09 Aah!
00:22:09 Swinging around in the opposite direction.
00:22:11 If contestants wipeout, they have to start the whole thing all over again.
00:22:14 they are ready to get crossways.
00:22:17 So let's get started.
00:22:18 (cheering) Let's do this.
00:22:19 Single lady hitting on rico "thunder" curtis, who's married.
00:22:23 Hey, single lady, maybe you'd have a better chance with single guys.
00:22:28 Well, the double cross is underway, and here they go.
00:22:31 Oh!
00:22:31 two get crossed off immediately.
00:22:34 Big baby david gets spanked.
00:22:34 Oh!
00:22:36 Ooh!
00:22:36 And then sent to his room.
00:22:37 (grunts) That'll stunt your growth.
00:22:39 (grunts) (woman) GO, ELI!
00:22:41 Eli's on, and our rock star seems to have his own cheeng section.
00:22:43 Well, that's what happens when you're a rock star.
00:22:47 Now the fans rush the stage after him and then take stage dives.
00:22:50 Aah!
00:22:51 But our rock star's off to that finish spot.
00:22:52 Aah!
00:22:54 Oh!
00:22:54 eli's a rolling stone who can't get no satisfaction.
00:22:58 Jumping jack splash.
00:22:58 Oh!
00:22:59 Oh!
00:22:59 Our double cross getting cross with the contestants.
00:23:02 Aah!
00:23:02 The lifeguard goes in the deep end, and our single lady gets dumped.
00:23:06 Rob the math whiz travels the radius of our circle.
00:23:09 Ooh!
00:23:09 Ooh! our vegan gets squashed.
00:23:12 Math whiz is up,ooking to take that number one spot.
00:23:15 Computes the proper vector and, yes!
00:23:17 Yeah! whoo!
00:23:18 His calculations are correct, and our math whiz is the first contestant moving on.
00:23:20 That leaves five spots.
00:23:23 Big baby david leaves the training wheels behind as he makes it to the center and straight to the finish.
00:23:27 (Jill) WAY TO GO!
00:23:29 He's moving on as well.
00:23:29 They grow up so quickly, john.
00:23:32 With big baby david claiming ..
00:23:33 Aah!
00:23:35 Only four remain.
00:23:35 But lightning rebecca and the rock star are on, and our rock star has definite staying power ..
00:23:41 (grunts) Down the red plank and--oh!
00:23:43 Oh, no!
00:23:44 Our rock star has no sense of rhythm.
00:23:46 (grunts) That platform tips every nine seconds, and you gotta time iright.
00:23:49 We still have the four spots open.
00:23:52 I see you, babe.
00:23:52 !
00:23:53 Thunder rumbling some cheers for his wife, ..
00:23:56 Oh!
00:23:57 But no good.
00:23:57 Vegan gets hit by the sweeper arm, but is holding on like bacon wrapped around a filet.
00:24:00 Not that she would know what that deliciousness is like.
00:24:03 And our rock star has once again made it to center stage.
00:24:08 (Kimberly) AAH!
00:24:08 What was that?
00:24:09 Jahed "abc-dot" khan jumps our vegan and scares her off faster than you can say "haggis," just as the bar sends "abc-dot" khan into the water-backslash- starting platform.
00:24:20 Still four spots left, and our rock star's a stone's throw away from the finish platform, and eli advances.
00:24:25 Come on!
00:24:26 And he will, he will rock us in the next round.
00:24:29 (Jill) ALL RIGHT, LADIES.
00:24:30 (woman) WE'RE TRYING.
00:24:31 (woman) I'M TRYING HERE.
00:24:31 I'm trying.
00:24:32 (John H.) GOOD POINT, JILL. ALL The guys are moving on so far.
00:24:35 The girls need to step it up.
00:24:35 Hi.
00:24:36 And our single lady has made it to the middle.
00:24:37 How you doin'?
00:24:40 And there she goes again, just hitting on the married man.
00:24:42 it never works out for the other woman.
00:24:45 ..
00:24:45 Mm-hmm.
00:24:47 So she's on her way to break up the affair.
00:24:48 Then again, lightning always follows thunder.
00:24:49 Other way around, john, but thunder's up and rumbling down that red plank.
00:24:52 Aah!
00:24:54 double cross stole his thunder.
00:24:54 Our single lady finally coming ..
00:24:58 Aah!
00:24:58 And--ooh! rejected.
00:25:00 Oh!
00:25:00 Ooh.
00:25:02 Amber, the human pretzel, wraps herself around the bar and making her way to the middle.
00:25:06 Now the lifeguard is on the bar.
00:25:06 What is it with these ladies riding the pole?
00:25:09 (filtered voice) ALL LADIES To the center stage.
00:25:10 Rebecca's lining up that red plank.
00:25:13 Oh!
00:25:14 (normal voice) OH! WOWIE!
00:25:15 The platform catches lightning in a bottle.
00:25:16 (grunts) Well, we still have three spots open.
00:25:21 Human pretzel headed for that finish.
00:25:21 Oh!
00:25:23 Oh! gets hit by the bar.
00:25:24 Whoa!
00:25:24 Oh!
00:25:25 Sh--my god!
00:25:26 "Sh--my god" is right.
00:25:26 With one fell swoop, the sweeper arm takes out the lifeguard and the human pretzel.
00:25:30 Have I mentioned three spots open? lightning at it again.
00:25:35 Oh, bit of a st-- she's made it to the middle.
00:25:37 Lifeguard right behind her.
00:25:39 Single lady's made it again as well.
00:25:41 Lightning is up, and the lifeguard is trailing behind.
00:25:43 (Rebecca) Got it! got it! got it!
00:25:45 lightning has made it to the finish spot.
00:25:48 Lifeguard's gotta get off that table before it tips.
00:25:49 Aah!
00:25:51 Oh!
00:25:51 Oh, my god.
00:25:52 Oh! amazing!
00:25:52 That fills two of our spots, leaving one question left unanswered-- who will be the last contestant moving on?
00:25:57 Thunder makes a move and rendezvous with our single lady.
00:26:00 Come on, baby.
00:26:01 His better half either trying to help him remember his marriage vows or trying to get him to the next round.
00:26:04 But single lady ending the affair.
00:26:07 Oh! she needs to hurry.
00:26:08 Please don't tip me. aah!
00:26:09 And she has made it to the finish and claims that final spot.
00:26:11 You're definitely gonna get a boyfriend now.
00:26:15 I hope so!
00:26:15 And with that, we have our final six.
00:26:18 Among them are math whiz rob dickey, big baby david damiani, rock star eli gurian, rebecca "lightning" curtis, lifeguard tiffany garcia and single lady catherine thoma.
00:26:28 I hope they're hungry, because we are about ..
00:26:30 Aah!
00:26:32 That is sure to end with a lot of heartburn.
00:26:36 ♪
00:26:37 ♪ look like an angel ♪
00:26:38 [ grunting ] ♪ WALK LIKE AN ANGEL ♪
00:26:40 ♪ Walk like an angel ♪
00:26:42 [ laughs ] ♪ Talk like an angel ♪
00:26:45 ♪ but I got wise ♪
00:26:48 [ grunting ] ♪ YOU'RE THE DEVIL IN DISGUISE ♪
00:26:50 [ Male Announcer ] WE PUT IT THROUGH ..
00:26:54 So it'll stand up to just about anything.
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00:30:07 Welcome back.
00:30:07 We are pleased to have you ..
00:30:09 Providing you with your rommended daily dose of calcium, iron, vitamin d and wipeouts.
00:30:15 After double crossing six contestants off our list, we are left with 6 stalwarts gunning for our $50,000 prize.
00:30:21 ..
00:30:22 Math whiz rob dickey, big baby david damiani, rock star eli gurian, rebecca "lightning" curtis, lifeguard tiffany garcia and single lady catherine thoma.
00:30:33 Of those six, only four can move on to the wipeout zone.
00:30:36 What you got there, johnny?
00:30:36 Oh, uh, this is a brand-new "wipeout" cookbook.
00:30:39 I thought I'd whip up something at lunch, you know, in our brand-new "wipeout" cafeteria.
00:30:42 You mean cafeteria spinner?
00:30:44 Yeah, it's more of a lazy susan thing, huh?
00:30:47 Okay, well, they'll have to stay on this "lazy susan" as long as possible.
00:30:51 Contestants must jump over this bar every time it swings around.
00:30:55 If they go under the bar ..
00:30:56 Aah!
00:30:57 They're out of the round.
00:30:58 In addition, contestants can grab for this brass ring, and earn a $1,000 bonus.
00:31:01 (bell tinkles, cash register dings) But, john, it won't be easy, because serving lunch today are my personal chefs, and they specialize in a low-fat, high-impact diet.
00:31:09 Four rounds.
00:31:11 The last person standing in each round moves on to the wipeout zone.
00:31:13 Hey, you know, I got a nice dessert recipe right here.
00:31:17 It's a, uh, pound cake " see, I thought " oh, I didn't even think of that.
00:31:23 Mm-hmm.
00:31:23 Well, let's grab a tray.
00:31:25 The line has formed at the cafeteria.
00:31:27 Math whiz trying hard to calculate his odds of making it to the wipeout zone, and big baby david looks ready to be fed like a baby bird.
00:31:32 John, I think he has his eye on that $1,000 ring.
00:31:37 (ding) Well, we'll find out if he's able to buy a warmer for his baby wipes, because here we go!
00:31:41 (bell rings) Aah!
00:31:43 ..
00:31:45 Whoo-hoo!
00:31:46 Whoa!
00:31:46 ..
00:31:47 Big baby david straight for that 100 bucks, but he sacrificed his chances of winning this round.
00:31:49 Yeah, john, it's like he was ptrying to jump out of his crib.
00:31:54 Wah!
00:31:55 Snagged the ring, but then the spinner puts him in time-out.
00:31:57 Whoo-hoo!
00:31:59 John, that leaves our five grown-up contestants to battle it out under a hailstorm of italian delights.
00:32:02 (Tiffany grunts) ..
00:32:05 Terribly.
00:32:06 No!
00:32:08 The trifecta-- the lifeguard in the pool, rock star down in the quarry, and our single lady just following a man. this is sad.
00:32:14 Oh. nice.
00:32:16 ..
00:32:17 Oh!
00:32:18 Of getting pummeled.
00:32:18 Ohh! was that a watermelon?
00:32:21 Not sure, jill, but the math whiz is feeling it, and here comes a pizza projectile.
00:32:25 Aah!
00:32:27 Yuck!
00:32:27 Finally math whiz gets pied, but it's lightning rebecca curtis who's down and out.
00:32:32 That means our math whiz wins a free trip to the wipeout zone, and all the cabbage and sausage he can eat.
00:32:35 Yeah!
00:32:37 This is not the most sanitary event.
00:32:38 one of our chefs isn't even wearing pants, which as you know, is the way I like to cook at home.
00:32:46 I'm telling ya, you gotta come over.
00:32:47 All right, guys, we're serving up round two. yummy!
00:32:50 Well, jill, round one was culinary chaos, but now that our contestants have a taste of the event and there's no $1,000 distraction, this is gonna be an all-out food fight, to see which of these five stays on the longest.
00:33:00 (bell rings) Here they go.
00:33:05 (woman) AAH!
00:33:06 Gadzooks!
00:33:06 Wow!
00:33:08 Oh!
00:33:09 (Jill) OH! OH!
00:33:09 Oh!
00:33:10 Oh, my god. what happened?
00:33:11 Our chef serving up mean cuisine.
00:33:13 (Tiffany) WAIT. WHO MADE IT?
00:33:14 ..
00:33:16 What was that?
00:33:16 Or what hit 'em.
00:33:19 Let's take a look.
00:33:20 The big love came from the most beautiful dollop of ketchup I have ever seen.
00:33:27 (choir) ♪ AH ♪
00:33:31 ♪ Ah ♪
00:33:33 (man) OH!
00:33:33 Now that's an attack of a killer tomato.
00:33:36 (video rewinds) I have gotta see that again.
00:33:40 (man) OH!
00:33:41 5-Contestant wipeout, and a closer look shows rebecca "lightning" curtis still strong without her thunder.
00:33:47 She'll be the second to advance to the wipeout zone.
00:33:50 All righ guys, we're cooking up round three.
00:33:52 Yeah, that sauce is just rancid.
00:33:53 Aw, no one likes to see the single lady suffer like this.
00:33:58 Well, maybe the woman whose husband she hit on.
00:33:59 (bell rings) Oh, god!
00:34:00 Singleady getting treated to a ltle fast-food date, ..
00:34:05 Head of lettuce.
00:34:07 Not anymore.
00:34:08 (spits) Lifeguard submarined by a wad of dough, sliding in a sea of spaghetti.
00:34:13 Oh! aah!
00:34:15 Arrivederci.
00:34:15 Ciao,bella.
00:34:17 Rock star getting stoned with globs of dough, but he's making it over the bar, and he'll win it .. can't.
00:34:22 Oh!
00:34:24 (Catherine) AAH! OH, MY GOD!
00:34:25 Sayonara, single lady.
00:34:26 And big baby david is diaper-creamed, and that sends eli the rock star swimming his way into the wipeout zone.
00:34:32 Well, john, with one spot left, big baby david might be kicking himself for going after that $1,000 ring.
00:34:37 He's in the last round with a better chance of getting out of his crib than making it to the wipeout zone.
00:34:43 All right, guys, the food's getting cold, so round four has begun.
00:34:47 (Jill) You guys like seafood?
00:34:49 No, I hate seafood.
00:34:51 Too bad.
00:34:51 (John A. laughs) (John H.) WOW.
00:34:53 Holy mackerel.
00:34:54 Is there fish?
00:34:54 Yeah, a huge one.
00:34:55 Are you kidding?
00:34:56 Oh, johnny, are they in for a surprise.
00:34:59 (bell rings) This is the final round.
00:35:01 And wait till you see what drops in.
00:35:04 The lunch lady.
00:35:04 Ah.
00:35:05 John, that's our "wipeout" cafeteria lady, and she--he's brought some very slippery clam chowder to serve up.
00:35:10 Aah!
00:35:11 That fish must have been a red herring, because I did not see her--him showing up.
00:35:13 Well, obviously the lunch lady is more skilled ..
00:35:18 Oh, my god! oh!
00:35:19 But she--he's got tiffany the lifeguard in trouble.
00:35:21 Tiffany back up now, but it is raining pizzas again.
00:35:24 Big baby david confidently taking a bite.
00:35:26 (laughs) He's paying the price.
00:35:27 and now the fish are flying.
00:35:28 (contestants scream) Fish? no!
00:35:32 Oh!
00:35:34 (laughing) Big baby david is down.
00:35:36 He's definitely not getting pampered.
00:35:37 (woman shouts indiinctly) Oh, and the lunch lady's back, and she--he's got a handful of spaghetti.
00:35:41 Oh! oh, no!
00:35:43 Tiffany the lifeguard ..
00:35:44 No!
00:35:46 And she's beached.
00:35:47 Carpe diem-- either big baby david or our single lady need to seize the one spot left in the wipeout zone.
00:35:53 That's just gotta be one overtired baby, but he's made it over the bar.
00:35:56 Aah!
00:35:57 Single lady's down-- not just desperate, but desperately trying to hang on.
00:36:01 (contestants cheering) Oh!
00:36:03 Not gonna save it.
00:36:04 Single's out.
00:36:04 That's good news for lightning, and even better for big baby david.
00:36:08 He's one baby step closer to $50,000.
00:36:11 Get him to the changing table.
00:36:13 (contestants laughing) Johnny, I got my eye on a little surf and turf action.
00:36:17 I'm gonna leave it up to you to do the leaderboard.
00:36:18 Oh! all right! yay!
00:36:20 And with that, we are down to our final four.
00:36:23 They are rebecca "lightning" curtis, big baby david damiani, math whiz rob dickey and rock star eli gurian.
00:36:29 Stick around, because they'll all be staring down the wipeout zone soon, and a shot of winning $50,000.
00:36:33 Oh!
00:36:36 Oh! ooh!
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00:38:04 [ Vonetta ] IT IS COUNTDOWNTO MARSHMALLOW Time.
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00:41:57 She,0 no it begins here at the dreadmill launch, where contestants free-fall 40 feet and bounce into arctic-like waters.
00:42:05 Then it's a short swim over to the gut busters, where they'll have to crawl up these blocks, through the hoop and across to the other side.
00:42:10 After enduring that pounding, our contestants move on to our flight of sinistairs.
00:42:16 They have to climb to the top of a spinning spiral staircase of trouble without being taken down by two ruthless sweeper arms finally, our finest four will have to make their way through the gauntlet.
00:42:26 The crankshaft winds it up, followed by the fearsome looking blades of fury, then across the bruising beater totter and through the hoop to the finish platform.
00:42:33 Four contestants remain, and the one with the best time goes home $50,000 richer.
00:42:37 Up first, rebecca curtis, who's hoping to storm through the wipeout zone.
00:42:40 Rebecca "lightning" curtis struck twice in the qualifier and the double cross, but left her thunder behind when she went on to the food fight.
00:42:49 We'll see if one curtis in the zone is enough to bring home the money.
00:42:51 Rebecca is up top, the dreadmill launch sequence ..
00:42:54 (whirring) ..
00:42:57 (clock beeps) ..
00:43:00 Oh!
00:43:00 Crashing ..
00:43:01 (screams and grunts) And dropping 40 feet into the waters of the wipeout zone.
00:43:04 Yeah, it's key to get a lot of ..
00:43:05 Oh!
00:43:07 And rebecca gets good distance off the bounce.
00:43:08 Oh!
00:43:10 She's now up to the gut busters.
00:43:11 These take speed and daring, john.
00:43:12 That hoop tonight xis gonna make it even more difficult.
00:43:16 the hoop almost making her fall right there.
00:43:19 does she have the strength here? oh!
00:43:23 Oh!
00:43:23 She grabs on to that hoop, but that block drops out from beneath her.
00:43:26 Oh!
00:43:28 Lightning crashes down into that water below.
00:43:30 Rebecca returning to the gut busters now for her second opportunity.
00:43:33 (grunts) Right through the hoop.
00:43:35 No problem.
00:43:35 Oh!
00:43:37 Oh, a slip backwards.
00:43:37 Oh! yeah.
00:43:39 She's going down again.
00:43:40 John, she just didn't have her balance on the block, fell backwards and didn't have the arm strength to hang on.
00:43:46 Back for a third run on these gut busters.
00:43:48 She's quickly getting back up for a face-off with that dreaded hoop.
00:43:51 Diving through, though.
00:43:53 Mm.
00:43:53 No fear.
00:43:55 Braced on the block.
00:43:55 Aah!
00:43:56 took a punishi hit, but managed to hang on and avoid another disaster there.
00:44:01 And she's across.
00:44:03 Now she is finally off to confront the sinistairs.
00:44:06 She's gonna need to be clean the rest of the way to set a strong time to beat.
00:44:10 and our only woman manning up for the sistair run.
00:44:11 (grunts) I love it.
00:44:14 Avoids that sweeper arm.
00:44:15 Rebecca going into overdrive, pushing her way to the top.
00:44:19 A stellar run up those stairs.
00:44:21 (laughs) YEAH, THEY CALL HER Lightning for a reason.
00:44:23 Hits that platform at 5:45.
00:44:24 Great shape now at the gauntlet.
00:44:27 First up is that crankshaft.
00:44:28 It's an easy pattern, but really tricky to negotiate.
00:44:31 She sprints.
00:44:31 Aah!
00:44:33 Oh!
00:44:33 Ohh.
00:44:33 We'll look at that again, john.
00:44:34 Yeah, the crankshaft takes ttiming and patience.
00:44:38 Speed is not the answer.
00:44:38 Oh!
00:44:40 And that is a hard-learned lesson for rebecca.
00:44:42 Her second shot at the crankshaft.
00:44:44 She crosses.
00:44:44 Now faces the blades of fury.
00:44:48 Slashing through both sets with ease.
00:44:50 And now on to that brutal beater totter.
00:44:51 Not easy.
00:44:54 Oh, another hoop.
00:44:54 45, fighting exhaustion ..
00:44:55 Ohh!
00:44:58 Holding on to that ring, the totteradding to the difficulty.
00:45:01 Wo she is showing a lot of grit and determination.
00:45:02 (grunts) She wants that $50,000, john.
00:45:07 Oh!, a perfect flip through.
00:45:09 That's really impressive.
00:45:09 Oh!
00:45:11 So close to the edge, but so far from finishing.
00:45:13 Pulling herself ever closer to the end.
00:45:16 Setting up, and a powerful leap across.
00:45:18 (grunts) She's on and she is up.
00:45:21 Yeah!
00:45:22 "Wipeout," I got you!
00:45:24 11 seconds, rebecca sets a great time to beat.
00:45:27 And now david damiani is hoping to take her down.
00:45:31 Big baby david damiani ..
00:45:32 Aah!
00:45:34 On the qualifier, it his stride in the double cross.
00:45:38 The food fight made him cranky, and it took him all four rounds, but he made it to the wipeout zone.
00:45:43 David is up on the dreadmill.
00:45:44 The launch sequence a go.
00:45:46 Dreadmill armed,
00:00:00 To join us next week, when we will have 24 new contestants taking on even crazier new obstacles, and, of course, to of wipeouts.
00:00:07 and for our colleague jill wagner, I'm john henson, saying goodnight and big balls ♪
00:00:15 aah!
00:00:15 Captioned byClos Captioning Services, Inc.
00:00:19 ♪
00:00:21 aah!
00:00:23 (thud) (thud, squeak) AAH! (boing) (grunts) (boing, thud) (crunch) (smack) (woman) AAH!
00:00:38 (thud, smack) Ah!
00:00:41 (boing) Aah!
00:00:43 Ooh! aah! whoa!
00:00:46 (mutters) (John H.) It's that time, america!
00:00:57 (man and woman) AAH!
00:00:57 What goes up must wipeout.
00:00:59 (grunts) OH!
00:00:59 OH! (laughs) (John A.) And wipeout they will, as 12 families--

Matthew A. Staccone obit

2011-01-12T05:57:00.000-08:00

Staccone, Matthew A. SCHENECTADY
Matthew A. Staccone died suddenly on Monday, December 27, 2010. Matt was born in Rochester, N.Y. to Rose Ingutti Staccone and Anthony Staccone. He attended Bishop Kearney High School and graduated from SUNY Albany with a degree in economics. He was employed as a senior business advisor for the Small Business and Development Center at SUNY Albany. Although tempted by retirement, Matt loved his job for he was a social man who truly liked people. Matt also enjoyed giving back to the community. He happily served as president of the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity in Schenectady County. An active member of the Schenectady Curling Club; he rarely passed up an opportunity to volunteer: ever willing to lend a hand wherever he was needed. Matt was diverse in his interests: Nascar, vegetable gardening, biking and golf - at all of which he "excelled", of course. Matt is survived by his wife of 25 years, Mary Printsky and his beloved children, Anthony and Caroline Staccone. Matt was immensely proud of their accomplishments. Friends and acquaintances were often treated to many details of their lives. Matt is also survived by his mother, Rose Staccone; his beloved twin brother, Thomas (Barbara) Staccone and his sister, Mary Beth (Jim) Mateer, all of Rochester, N.Y. Erik, Sam, Chris and Tim will miss his constant advice. Matt was predeceased by his father, Tony Staccone, the man who taught Matt the true meaning of fatherhood. Funeral service Friday morning 8:15 from the Daly Funeral Home, Inc., 242 McClellan St., Schenectady and 9:00 at St. Helen's Church where a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated. Calling hours Thursday afternoon 4:00 to 8:00 in the evening at the funeral home. Interment St. Mary's Cemetery, Ft. Johnson. If desired, donations may be made to Habitat for Humanity, PO Box 9043, Schenectady, NY 12309. The family requests your prayers. Online condolences may be expressed at www.dalyfuneralhome.com [] Published in Albany Times Union on December 30, 2010

Atheists Don't Have No Songs-Steve Martin With The Steep Canyon Rangers

2010-11-23T06:18:00.000-08:00

Christians have their hymns and pages, Hava Nagila’s for the Jews,
Baptists have the rock of ages, Atheists just sing the blues.
Romantics play Claire de Lune, Born agains sing He is risen,
But no one ever wrote a tune, For godless existentialism.

For Atheists, There’s no good news, They’ll never sing a song of faith.
In their songs For atheists, They have a rule, The “he” is always lowercase. (The “he” is always lowercase.)

Some folks sing a Bach cantata, Lutherans get Christmas trees,
Atheist songs add up to nada, But they do have Sundays free.

Pentecostalists sing they sing to heaven, Coptics have the books of scrolls,
Numerologists can count to seven, Atheists have rock and roll.

CHORUS

Catholics dress up for Mass, And listen to Gregorian chants.
Atheists just take a pass, Watch football in their underpants (Watch football in their underpants.)

Atheists, Atheists, Atheists, Don’t have no songs!

James C. Russell in his own words

2010-09-22T06:53:00.000-07:00

The controversial 2001 Occidental Quarterly article by 2010 Republican candidate for Congress, Jim Russell (NY -18th CD), pulled by OQ

The Western Contribution to World History
James C. Russell
The Occidental Quarterly, Volume 1, Number 2

“I shall begin by speaking about our ancestors, since it is only right and proper on such an occasion to pay them the honor of recalling what they did.” Thus wrote Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War1 and so it is fitting to pay tribute to those whose deeds contributed toward the creation and defense of our Western Civilization. The deeds of our ancestors, which we have chosen to commemorate today, include those of a military, cultural and scientific nature.
In his book entitled The Birth of Europe, medieval historian Robert Lopez posed the question: “What enabled Europe to emerge finally on top?” His answer was “the absence of great invasions for a thousand years.”2 Hence we begin our survey of Western contributions by paying tribute to those who, throughout the history of the West, courageously repulsed alien invading forces.
The first great battle for the survival of the West occurred nearly 2,500 years ago, in 480 B.C. in Greece. Herodotus, the first great Western historian, describes this legendary battle in his History of the Persian War. When the Persians invaded Greece, the Greeks realized that they were outnumbered and needed time to reorganize their forces. They sought to delay the approaching Persians at a narrow mountain pass. The following selection describes a scenario not unlike that which confronts us today: the fear and resignation of the many, the outright treason of some, and the sacrifice of the few who fight valiantly against insurmountable odds. Herodotus wrote:
[7.207] The Greek forces at Thermopylae, when the Persian army drew near to the entrance of the pass, were seized with fear; and a council was held to consider a retreat. It was the wish of the Greeks generally that the army should fall back. But Leonidas, the Spartan King, gave his voice for remaining where they were.
[7.210] Four whole days went by, and Xerxes, the Persian king, expected that the Greeks would run away. When, however, he found on the fifth day that they were not gone, thinking that their firm stand was mere impudence and recklessness, he grew angry, and sent against them the Medes and Cissians, with orders to take them alive and bring them into his presence. Then the Medes rushed forward and charged the Greeks, but fell in vast numbers.
[7.212] During these assaults, it is said that Xerxes, who was watching the battle, thrice leaped from the throne on which he sat, in terror for his army. Next day the combat was renewed, but with no better success on the part of the Persians.
[7.213] Now, as the Persian king was in great distress, and knew not how he should deal with the emergency, Ephialtes, the son of Eurydemus, a Greek, came to him and was admitted to a conference. Hoping to receive a rich reward at the king’s hands, he had come to tell him of a pathway which led across the mountain to Thermopylae. By this disclosure he brought destruction on the band of his fellow Greeks who had previously withstood the Persians.
[7.219] The news came that the Persians were marching round by the hills: it was still night when these men arrived. Then the Greeks held a council to consider what they should do, and here opinions were divided: some were strong against quitting their post, while others contended to the contrary. So when the council had broken up, part of the troops departed and went their ways homeward to their several states; part however resolved to remain, and to stand by Leonidas to the last.
[7.223] The Persians under Xerxes began to draw near; and the Greeks under Leonidas, as they now went forth determined to die, advanced much further than on previous days. . . . Now they took the battle beyond the wall, and carried slaughter among the Persians, who fell in heaps.
[7.224] Leonidas himself fell fighting bravely, together with many other famous Spartans, whose names I have taken care to learn on account of their great worthiness, as indeed I have the names of all the three hundred.
[7.225] Drawing back into the narrowest part of the pass, and retreating even behind the wall, they posted themselves upon a hill, where they stood all drawn up together in one close body. . . . The hill whereof I speak is at the entrance of the pass, where the stone lion now stands which was set up in honour of Leonidas. Here the Greeks defended themselves to the last, such as still had swords using them, and the others resisting with their hands and teeth; till the Persians, who . . . now encircled them upon every side, overwhelmed and buried the remnant . . . beneath showers of arrows.
This inspirational sacrifice of our ancient ancestors at Thermopylae led to a Greek victory over the Persians and permitted Hellenic culture to flourish. The seminal cultural and intellectual contribution of the Greeks to world history was an objective, logical world-view as embodied in the Aristotelean syllogism. As Revilo Oliver has noted:
The Occidental mind, which appears fully formed in the earliest Greek philosophers and has not since changed, is the mind of conceptual thought-of thought directed from the mind toward an object. The Oriental mind . . . does not think conceptually; its thought is never directed away from itself. The Oriental mind cannot separate what it is thinking about from itself. The capacity for objective thought is peculiar to the philosophical mind of the West. . . . [T]he unique civilization of the West [is] a unity-a single continuity that runs, with fluctuations but no break, from the ancient Greeks to ourselves.3
The objective Greek world-view was expressed in the cosmological speculation of the pre-Socratic philosophers of the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. Thales, who may have been the world’s first astronomer, is reported to have predicted an eclipse that occurred in 585 B.C.4 His speculation that water is the source of all things was made in such a way that has led him to be considered “the first man in history to suggest that there is an order in nature which the mind can comprehend.”5 Later, in the fifth century, by abstract reasoning, Democritus anticipated some of the basic concepts of contemporary atomic theory.
The philosophy of this era also contributed the notion of areté, which is sometimes translated as virtue, but might better be described as a career-specific drive for excellence and its fulfillment. It is from this ancient Greek ideal that the modern exhortations of: “Be the best you can be” and “Reach your highest potential” are derived. In Homeric literature the areté of the warrior was bravery coupled with victory. The areté of the philosopher was knowledge, and optimally abstract knowledge about the process of obtaining knowledge itself or “contemplation.”
Greek philosophy was complemented by literature, sculpture and architecture. The comedic and tragic works of the early Greek dramatists from Euripides to Æschylus served as models for literature throughout the history of the West and the surviving amphitheaters serve as reminders of the active participation of the ancient Greek populace in their local culture.
Greek sculpture followed the general cultural dictum of Protagoras that “Man is the measure of all things.” It depicted ideal human forms such as Myron’s Discus Thrower6 andPraxiteles’ Aphrodite whose ethnic characteristics serve as a reminder of a more homogeneous past. The inspiring architecture of the Acropolis, and particularly the Parthenon, remains a standard for public buildings to this day. The mathematical contributions of the Greeks go beyond the Pythagorean theorem and include Euclidean geometry and the application of mathematics to physics and military technology by Archimedes.
Unfortunately for the ancient Greeks, Alexander the Great, who died in 323 B.C., despite being an astute tactician, unwittingly became the first apostle of multiculturalism and demonstrated the ethnocultural dangers of empire-building. After conquering Persia, in an apparent effort to consolidate his rule, Alexander married a Persian princess, dressed as a Persian nobleman and encouraged his officers to marry Persian women. Alexander “declared that all men were alike sons of one Father and . . . he prayed that Macedonians and Persians might be partners in the commonwealth and that the peoples of his world might live in harmony and in unity of heart and mind.”7
Predictably, Alexander’s goal of imposing Hellenic civilization upon his newly-conquered subjects was not accomplished. Instead, many immigrants from the conquered Eastern territories made their way to Greece with the result being cultural and genetic dissonance, as well as religious syncretism and a condition of social confusion sometimes referred to as anomie. These Eastern immigrants contributed toward the de-Hellenization of Greece by importing their world-rejecting escapist mystery cults which began to appeal to the native Greek population due to the sociocultural stress they were experiencing. The individual anxiety and depression associated with anomie also contributed toward what has been described as a “failure of nerve” which had political and military consequences as well.
Later, in the Hellenistic era, as Greece became immersed in the cultural diversity of its Eastern subject peoples, Greek philosophy reflected the Eastern orientation toward the interior life of the mystical and supernatural. While Plato’s view of a separation between a transcendent and immutable world of ideas and earthly world of corresponding inferior forms may be a reflection of Middle Eastern dualism, in his Republic, Plato defends the fundamental unit of Greek life, the polis or city-state. In his famous allegory of the cave, Plato conveys his belief that the ruling class should be drawn from those philosophers, who upon attaining knowledge, leave behind the shadowy distortions of the cave but feel compelled to return and risk their lives attempting to enlighten their countrymen who languish in ignorance.
It might be noted that the model of the Greek city-states and the medieval model of a conglomeration of local European ethnostates both correspond closely to the optimal model for human evolution by encouraging the development of a variety of competing population groups within the boundaries of Europe. Ancient efforts at empire-building and contemporary trends toward globalization thwart the operation of this fundamental life process.
Commenting on the impending end of human evolution in the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution, British geneticist Steve Jones, one of the Encyclopedia’s three editors, has noted that a “pattern of small, isolated and partially inbred populations has characterized humanity for most of our evolutionary history.” However, “no longer will the human species be made up of a network of small and isolated populations, each evolving more or less independently. Instead future generations of humanity will behave much more like a single genetic unit.” Jones concludes:
Many geneticists believe that evolution is particularly rapid in groups of small populations that exchange occasional migrants. . . . The rapidity of human evolution may be partly due to our tribal structure, whose genetic effects were increased by repeated bottlenecks experienced as human populations spread into new parts of the world. Increased mobility means that this phase of history is now at an end, and perhaps, that human evolution is now almost over.8 [Emphasis added.]
The decrease in reproductive isolation resulting from increased mobility may not be without dire consequences. Although an immediate effect may be a reduction in genetic diseases, Jones aloofly concedes, that apparently “this phase cannot last: sooner or later the harmful genes will again reappear in double dose, so that future generations may have to pay the price. . . .”9
After the decline of Greece, Rome followed a similar pattern of initial homogeneous cultural achievement followed by empire-building and consequent alien immigration. In order to increase tax revenues, aliens were granted citizenship with its attendant tax obligations. The heterogenization of the Roman Empire contributed to social, psychological and religious destabilization resulting in the increased appeal of religious cults which offered an artificial, non-biological sense of community in this world and the hope of salvation in the next. In a study entitled, Enemies of the Roman Order, historian Ramsay MacMullen has remarked that by the fourth century A.D.:
The civilization called Roman, . . . yields to another, compounded of heterogeneous elements formerly suppressed. . . .eliefs about the supernatural, once illegal or contemptuously relegated to ploughboys and servant girls, after the first century began to infect even the educated, and were ultimately embodied as a principal element in late antique philosophy. . . . In the end [the fourth century A.D.] . . . . [t]here was little “Roman” left in the Roman empire. Rather, the “un-Roman” elements had come to the fore, and now controlled the world in which they lived.10
As Rome grew weak, its enemies saw an opportunity to overrun the West. In 452, Attila the Hun and his Asiatic hordes proceeded Westward as far as Chalôns in central Gaul. Fortunately, the Roman general Aetius and the Visigothic leader Theodoric put aside their historic rivalry and united to face Atilla. Unfortunately, then as well as today, there were those of the West who allied themselves with the enemy. At the battle of Chalôns it was the Ostrogoths. Nevertheless, the combined Roman and Visigothic forces succeeded in repelling the Huns.11
In the beginning of the eighth century the integrity of the West was once again threatened. The Moors, led by Abd-er-Rahman had crossed the Pyrenees and fought their way north toward the city of Tours. But on October 10, 732 at the Battle of Tours their fortune changed. According to the medieval Chronicle of St. Denis:
The Muslims planned to go to Tours to destroy the Church of St. Martin, the city, and the whole country. Then came against them the glorious Prince Charles, at the head of his whole force. . . . [H]e fought as fiercely as the hungry wolf falls upon the stag. By the grace of Our Lord, he wrought a great slaughter upon the enemies of the Christian faith, so that-as history bears witness-he slew in that battle 300,000 men, including their king by the name Abd-er-Rahman. Then was [Charles] first called “Martel,” for as a hammer of iron, of steel, and of every other metal, . . . he dashed and smote in the battle all of his enemies. And what was the greatest marvel of all, he lost in that battle only 1500 men.12
Early Christianity had found fertile ground for its message of individual salvation among the alienated, heterogeneous, urban inhabitants of the declining Roman Empire. Later, in the Early Middle Ages when Christian missionaries sought to convert the Germanic and Celtic peoples, it became apparent that for Christianity to be accepted by a more cohesive, homogeneous, pastoral-warrior society, it needed to appeal to the different concerns of that society. Hence, Early Medieval Christianity appealed to matters of group survival such as victory in battle, healthy families, and abundant crops and livestock. Germanic Christianity addressed these pre-Christian folk-religious concerns through local patron saints and clergy and their holy relics. In an apparent attempt to convert the Saxons who had been persecuted by Charlemagne, an adaptation of the New Testament known as the Heliand was composed in Old Saxon. It portrayed Christ and his apostles as a Germanic warrior-band. Eventually a Middle Eastern salvation religion was transformed into a European folk religion and Christianity became more closely identified with Europe, especially with the emergence of the notion of “Christendom.”
Early Medieval Christianity provided a spiritual impetus and a source of solidarity that are likely to have contributed toward European victories over invading forces. The bond between religious and temporal spheres increased under Charles Martel’s Carolingian descendants. They tended to view Christianity as the religion of a Roman Empire which they admired and sought to reconstruct. The application of religious fervor toward Western military exploits is perhaps nowhere better illustrated than in a twelfth-century treatise of St. Bernard of Clairveaux entitled, In Praise of the New Knighthood. Written as an exhortation to the Knights Templar and other Crusaders, it distinguishes between fighting for “empty glory” or “earthly possessions” and fighting to assert Euro-Christian dominance in the Holy Land where Euro-Christian pilgrims and shrines had been attacked.
Recalling the existing medieval nexus between European self-identity and Christendom the following words of St. Bernard may be interpreted as a religious rationalization, if not an encouragement to assertively defend Western interests. Bernard writes:
The knights of Christ may safely fight the battles of their Lord, fearing neither sin if they smite the enemy, nor danger at their own death; since to inflict death or to die for Christ is no sin, but rather, an abundant claim to glory. . . . The knight of Christ, I say, may strike with confidence and die yet more confidently, for he serves Christ when he strikes, and serves himself when he falls.13
The religious themes of medieval art and literature appear to have been complemented by the subliminal appeal of the racial features of the subjects portrayed. Persons of European descent, regardless of their religious orientation, are likely to find representations of religious figures appealing. The many excellent Madonnas painted during this period may also indicate a racially healthy celebration of fertility.
The Renaissance artists and sculptors, including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael, resurrected the Classical ideal of the human form and created works of incomparable beauty. The subject matter of art and sculpture began to once again include the Classical deities, royalty, and other members of the secular elite. In the Romantic period, positive portrayals of the common folk, as well as idealized and legendary depictions of the heritages of the European nations became popular in art and literature. The literature of this period likewise drew upon the West’s Classical heritage as well as European legends and history, as is evidenced by William Shakespeare’s choice of subjects for his plays exemplified by Julius Caesar, Hamlet, and Henry IV.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, southeastern Europe became the target of Muslim aggression. Turks and Tartars plundered the countryside, taking captives and holding them for ransom, or worse, selling them as slaves. In 1682, Poland and Austria formed an alliance against a possible large-scale Turkish invasion. In March of 1683, a Turkish army of over 140,000 soldiers started marching northward and laid siege to Vienna. As the Turks were about to break through the walls of Vienna, the Polish warrior-king, Jan Sobieski arrived with 30,000 troops. On September 12, 1683 the Battle of Vienna ensued, and according to the following contemporary account:
The battle . . . lasted fourteen or fifteen hours; the slaughter was horrible, and the loss of the Turks inestimable, for they left upon the field of battle, besides the dead and prisoners, all their cannon, equipment, tents and infinite riches that they had been six years gathering together throughout the whole Ottoman Empire. The battle ended by the infantry in the trenches, and on the Isle of the Danube, where the Turks had an artillery battery. The night was spent in slaughter, and the unhappy remnant of the Turkish army saved their lives by flight, having abandoned all to the victors. 14
The Age of Exploration actually began with the heroic expeditions of our Viking ancestors to Iceland, Greenland and North America, or Vinland, as they referred to it. The Vikings also contributed to the development of trade routes throughout Europe and to the creation of Russia. The accomplishments of Christopher Columbus have recently come under criticism by contemporary opponents of the West. In 1992, American Indian groups protested a parade in Denver to commemorate the 500th anniversary of his discovery of America, which was promptly canceled as a result. Public recognition of the contribution of Columbus’ sponsor, Queen Isabella of Spain, has fared even worse. She was denied even the minimal recognition of a stamp being issued in her honor, apparently due to her expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal in 1492, the same year not only of Columbus’ discovery, but also of the Spanish victory over the Moors in Grenada and the subsequent Euro-Christian re-conquest of the entire Iberian Peninsula.
More recent exploratory contributions of the West include the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the exploration of the polar regions by Roald Amundsen, Richard Byrd, Robert Peary and Sir Edward Shackleton. Just before Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance reached Antarctica in 1915, it became trapped in ice-flows and was eventually destroyed by icebergs. Shackleton and a few off his men began a search for help. After an 850-mile journey in a 20-foot craft through some of the worst weather and seas on record, Shackleton reached a small outpost of civilization from where he called for help. He then returned to the men he had stranded. Remarkably, throughout the entire ordeal, not a single man died.
Copernicus, Galileo, Newton and Kepler developed the mathematical and astronomical foundations of space exploration, which in this century was accelerated by the work of Robert Goddard, Werner von Braun and Arthur Rudolph. Rudolph’s service to the United States space program was rewarded by essentially being hounded out of the country after the government, at the behest of a shrill minority of ingrates, threatened to revoke his pension.
The most sublime contribution of the West has been its music. The works of Handel, Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Brahms are revered the world over. Special respect is due to those composers who incorporated a national consciousness into their compositions, including Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt, Edvard Grieg, Antonin Dvorak, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Jan Sibelius, Giuseppe Verdi and John Philip Sousa. From Rienzi and the Ring cycle, to Parsifal, Wagner captured the Western ethos and developed what he termed Gesamtkunstwerke or “total art productions” in which he not only composed the music, but also wrote the lyrics, designed the stage sets and costumes, and eventually built his own opera house. One of the greatest tragedies of our time is the deliberate alienation of our youth from their classical musical heritage.
In the field of medicine, from Hippocrates to Galen and from William Harvey to Louis Pasteur, Marie Curie and Alexander Fleming, who discovered the powerful antibiotic effect of penicillin, and Christian Barnard, who performed the first heart transplant, Western medicine has distinguished itself without parallel. One of the effects of the accomplishments of Western medicine had been a global increase in longevity and consequent population increase in so-called “under-developed nations” at the same time that the population of European nations is contracting. Similarly, the Western advances in transportation to which Henry Ford, the Wright Brothers, and Charles Lindbergh contributed, have inadvertently, all but obliterated the West’s geographic isolation. As a result we must develop a heightened awareness of alternate social isolating mechanisms, such as physical appearance, if we wish to enhance our prospects for survival.
The authors of the great epic literature of the West, from Homer and Virgil to the authors of Beowulf, the Norse sagas, the Song of Roland and the Nibelungenlied have provided our People with inspiration for future noble deeds. A modern epic that is now being re-enacted in Australia’s recent confrontation with a boatload of refugees, is Jean Raspail’s Camp of the Saints, which should be required reading for all persons of European descent who labor under the pseudo-morality of self-destruction. Friedrich Nietzsche also provides a critique of misdirected altruism which he describes as the “morality of decadence.” In his Twilight of the Idols, Nietzsche wrote that:
[A] morality in which self-interest wilts away-remains a bad sign under all circumstances. This is true of individuals; it is particularly true of nations. The best is lacking when self-interest begins to be lacking. Instinctively to choose what is harmful for oneself, to feel attracted by “disinterested” motives, that is virtually the formula of decadence.
No discussion of morality, religion and science would be complete without acknowledging Raymond Cattell’s important works, A New Morality from Science: Beyondism (Pergamon, 1972), and Beyondism: Religion from Science (Praeger, 1987) Cattell’s accomplishments in personality assessment, psychometric testing, and other fields resulted in his being nominated for a life-time achievement award by the American Psychological Foundation. However, two interlopers’ protestations which were graciously amplified by a New York Times report, succeeded in postponing the award until an investigation could be made into Cattell’s personal beliefs on race. In the meantime, Cattell withdrew his name from consideration for the award and died.15
Most advances in communication from Gutenberg’s printing press to the telegraph and television were Western contributions. From Samuel Morse, Nikola Tesla and Guglielmo Marconi to Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell and Philo Farnsworth came great inventions with the potential to enlighten and fortify our People. Yet this potential was never realized. Instead these inventions were hijacked by Mayer, Thalberg, Warner, and Cohn et al who sought to utilize our media for their financial gain, or worse, to manipulate our opinions and behavior.
Philo Farnsworth was a fourteen year-old Mormon farm boy in Idaho when he first conceived the design of the television. He later not only invented the cathode-ray tubes used for the first television, but also the first simple electron microscope. During the 1960s he worked on a nuclear fusion process to produce clean energy. At the time of his death in 1971 he held more than 300 U.S. and foreign patents, but to this day Farnsworth’s contributions are virtually unknown.
When Radio Corporation of America’s president, David Sarnoff, learned of Farnsworth’s independent progress, he sent a spy to observe Farnsworth’s research so that RCA could register patents for the new invention before Farnsworth. Even though after a protracted legal battle, Farnsworth won the patent rights, television production was halted during the war years, and by the war’s end the patents began to expire. Depressed, Farnsworth retired to Maine where he began to drink heavily, suffered a nervous breakdown and received shock therapy. Finally, his home burned to the ground. Meanwhile Sarnoff basked in glory, promoting himself and the spy he had sent to steal Farnsworth’s research, as the “father of television.”
Before his death in 1971, Farnsworth noted with dismay the direction which television had taken. His son Kent recalls that his father “felt he had created kind of a monster, a way for people to waste a lot of their lives.” The elder Farnsworth’s advice to his son regarding television was: “There’s nothing on it worthwhile, and we’re not going to watch it in this household, and I don’t want it in your intellectual diet.”16
Two other virtually unknown Western inventors whose contributions have shaped the modern world were Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce who developed the microchip. They found a way to mass-produce entire networks of miniature electronic components on a single crystal or “chip.” Kilby used chips made of germanium and while Noyce used chips made of silicon, hence the name for that area of California farmland that has become known as “Silicon Valley.” Kilby, a former associate of William Shockley, founded Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation in 1957, while Noyce founded INTEL in 1968. Robert Noyce died in 1990, while Jack Kilby was finally awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics last year for “basic work on information and communication technology.”
Ten years ago, a new communications medium was introduced in the West. From 1991 to 1995 the number of World Wide Web users jumped from 600,000 to 40 million. Today it stands at over 500 million. The man responsible for creating the World Wide Web from the pre-existing less user-friendly basic Internet structure was Tim Berners-Lee. He created the Hyper-Text Mark-up Language, which is used to post text and graphics to a website, and the protocol language used to communicate between users and websites, as well as a web-browser prototype. Unlike so many others who hopped on the dot-com bandwagon to make a quick fortune, Berners-Lee has been content to work quietly behind the scenes from M.I.T. directing a non-profit consortium that seeks to maintain Internet software compatibility and hence ensure open access to the World Wide Web. Let us be ever vigilant against those who seek to restrict freedom of expression via this new and vital medium.
During the first half of the twentieth century, some Western poets exhibited a concern for the preservation of our cultural and genetic heritage. Ezra Pound was tortured by U.S. troops for his radio broadcasts advocating peace during the West’s fratricidal Second World War. Pound was a mentor of T. S. Eliot, and helped Eliot edit The Wasteland, a critique of Western decadence. Eliot described some conditions for an optimal society:
The population should be homogeneous. . . . What is still more important is unity of religious background; and reasons of race and culture combine to make any large number of free-thinking Jews undesirable. There must be a proper balance between urban and rural, industrial and agricultural development. And a spirit of excessive tolerance is to be deprecated.17
A major contribution of the West has been its concern for the protection of the global environment. In 1847, George Marsh, a Vermont Congressman became the first public advocate of environmental conservation when he called attention to the destructive impact of deforestation and proposed a land management plan. In 1864, Marsh published an influential analysis of conservation issues entitled Man and Nature. The naturalist writings of Henry David Thoreau also contributed toward the public awareness of conservation issues in America. Rachel Carson initiated the modern environmental movement with the publication of Silent Spring in 1964. She astutely observed that “Man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself.”18
Garrett Hardin has applied environmental ideals to the problem of human over-population in his 1993 book Living Within Limits. Even more perceptive is his 1999 book entitled The Ostrich Factor: Our Population Myopia. The recent works of the “father of sociobiology,” E. O. Wilson, on Biodiversity and Consilience are also important in this regard. In Concilience, Wilson warns us:
Homo sapiens, the first truly free species, is about to decommission natural selection, the force that made us. . . . Soon we must look deep within ourselves and decide what we wish to become.19
Perhaps the greatest contributions of the West to world history have been Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and Gregor Mendel’s discovery of the fundamental laws of genetics as well as their eugenic application. Francis Galton, Darwin’s cousin made such important eugenic observations in his founding work, Hereditary Genius, that Darwin himself included references to them in his Descent of Man. The pioneers of the eugenics movement included Harvard geneticist Charles Davenport, who founded the Carnegie Institute’s genetics and evolution laboratories at Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island. Davenport convinced the widow of railroad magnate Edward Henry Harriman to endow a Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring Harbor. Harry Laughlin was the Superintendent of the Eugenics Record Office at the Carnegie Institute from its inception in 1910 until 1921 and its Director from 1921 until 1940.
One of the earliest American adherents of eugenics was Henry Fairfield Osborn, the president from 1908 to 1933 of the American Museum of Natural History and a respected paleontologist and geologist who taught at both Princeton and Columbia Universities. He is credited with significantly expanding the staffing and funding of the scientific department at the Museum. In 1921, Osborn hosted the Second International Congress of Eugenics at the Museum. By that time, eugenics had become a worldwide phenomenon and the exhibition reflected that, with exhibits from 22 states and the District of Columbia and 16 foreign countries, including Australia, China, Cuba, India, Norway, and Peru. The Conference was attended by future President Herbert Hoover and Charles Darwin’s son, Leonard, who was the Chairman of the International Eugenics Commission. In 1932, the Third International Eugenics Congress was also held in New York at the American Museum of Natural History. Mrs. Harriman was among the sponsors, as was Mrs. DuPont and Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the homeopathic physician and cereal company executive, who also founded the Race Betterment Foundation.
In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA. Commenting on the Human Genome Program, Watson has stated: “We used to think our fate was in the stars. Now we know, in large measure, our fate is in our genes.”20 William Shockley not only received the Nobel Prize for his contribution to the development of the transistor, but also led a one-man crusade against dysgenic American policies. Despite threats on his life, Arthur Jensen persevered in studying the relationship between IQ and race. In Canada, neither state-sponsored censorship nor private harassment has deterred J. Philippe Rushton’s inquiries into Race, Evolution and Behavior. The importance of applying eugenic measures in the West becomes evident from Richard Lynn’s recent work on Dysgenics and his just-released seminal work Eugenics: A Reassessment.
Sociobiology has been applied to religion by Walter Burkert in his interdisciplinary study entitled Creation of the Sacred: Tracks of Biology in Early Religion (Harvard, 1996). In an earlier work, Burkert wrote “Religious ritual is advantageous in the process of selection, if not for the individual, then at least for the continuance of group identity.”21 Burkert’s view is echoed in the following paragraph from the Seattle Times summary of the paper, “The Neural Basis of Religious Experience” by V. S. Ramachandran, et al, at the University of California, San Diego:
“It is not clear why such dedicated neural machinery . . . for religion may have evolved,” the team reported yesterday at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in New Orleans. One possibility, the scientists said, was to encourage tribe loyalty or reinforce kinship ties or the stability of a closely knit clan.22
While Judaism has functioned to sustain the Jewish People, contemporary Western Christianity has, on the contrary, deliberately dissociated itself from its European ethnocultural heritage, and has focused on “universal social justice.” There is now afoot a conscious effort to de-Europeanize and to re-Judaize Christianity, through scriptural revision, internal treachery and external pressure. One possible strategy to counter these efforts is to encourage a re-Europeanization of Christianity into a European folk religion. Such a strategy might be bolstered by the argument that Euro-Christians should only accept the folk-affirming form of Christianity accepted by our ancestors and not accept the specious “bait and switch” arguments of liberal Christians who try to indoctrinate us with universalist propaganda. Thought-provoking discussions of past, present, and future religious and ethnocultural encounters may be found in Samuel Huntington’s timely Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (Simon & Schuster, 1996), and Matthew Connelly and Paul Kennedy’s December 1994 Atlantic Monthly article “Must it be the Rest Against the West?” The study of the rise and fall of civilizations has captivated many Western minds, from the racial speculations of Arthur de Gobineau, Houston Stewart Chamberlain, and Madison Grant to the organic model of Oswald Spengler and the challenge-response model of Arnold Toynbee. More recent works on this perplexing subject have been written by Francis Parker Yockey, Carroll Quigley, Lawrence Brown, James Burnham, William Gayley Simpson, and Elmer Pendell, who, in his excellent inquiry into Why Civilizations Self-Destruct observed that:
In our own civilization we see a lessening of the struggle for survival. Welfare does away with natural selection. Nothing in our present environment can serve as an adequate substitute for the harsh means evolution adopted to prevent the weaker elements of civilizations from playing a major part in the formation of subsequent generations. Compassion, unfortunately, is the enemy of biological progress.23
Pendell therefore proposed a marriage law that would limit the number of children permitted in a family based upon the intelligence of the parents.
Due to the relaxation of selective pressures as a civilization matures, in most instances the genetic quality of the founders of a civilization is greater than the quality of those who inhabit it during its decline. One may be led to wonder that since the net result of a few hundred years of civilization, without some form of eugenic mechanism, is usually the undoing of millennia of genetic evolution, whether it might be better for a formal civilization never to emerge, hence preserving and perhaps increasing the genetic quality of a more rural, more independent population, within which selective pressures could operate more freely.
In addition to his work on I.Q., Rushton’s Genetic Similarity Theory provides a biological basis for understanding the enduring preference of genetically similar individuals for each other. It also provides insights for resolving many of the ethnic conflicts which exist in the world today.24 Kevin MacDonald’s work on religion, and particularly Judaism, as a group evolutionary strategy, is essential for a thorough understanding of our current predicament.25
While liberals and universalists constantly yammer about “bringing us all together”, and how “diversity is our strength,” it may be suggested that the biological function of human language and culture is just the opposite, that is, to keep discrete groups apart. In my own view, culture in humans is analogous to instinct in other species. Species with more complex brains tend to rely less on instinct and more on learned behavior, which in humans, includes culture. For culture in human societies to accomplish that which instinct accomplishes in non-human societies, it must establish a sense of group identity so that the individual knows whom to act altruistically toward and whom to mate with. In short, among humans, culture functions sociobiologically as an isolating mechanism.
The organized anti-Western media of today seem to scour the gutters of the ghetto for the most vile filth imaginable and then serve it up to our children as “their culture.” Perhaps Konrad Lorenz’s animal behavior research might provide us with some clues as to how MTV has succeeded in contriving the acceptance, if not preference of white adolescents for “rap music” and its attendant so-called “hip-hop culture” of fashion and language. Lorenz gained some popularity for his theories of imprinting when he acted as a substitute for a mother goose soon after her eggs had hatched. Since goslings imprint upon the first moving object they see after they are born as if it were their mother, the little goslings began following Lorenz.
The time during which imprinting occurs is called the “critical period” or “sensitive period.”26 This initial form of imprinting shortly after birth is known as “filial imprinting.” Among humans, it is believed that there is a period of linguistic imprinting during which a baby imprints upon a particular language. There is another form of imprinting that is believed to take place during sexual maturation. This “sexual imprinting” is a process by which animals identify what traits suitable mates should possess.27 Females are usually more deeply influenced by sexual imprinting. Animals tend to imprint upon the traits of their parents and siblings, since they have the most social contact with them.
It has been demonstrated that finches raised by foster parents of a different species of finch will later exhibit a lifelong sexual attraction toward the alien species. One wonders how a child’s sexual imprinting mechanism is affected by forcible racial integration and near continual exposure to media stimuli promoting interracial contact.
The most serious implication of human sexual imprinting for our genetic future is that it would establish the destructiveness of school integration, especially in the middle and high-school years. One can only wonder to what degree the advocates of school integration, such as former NAACP attorney Jack Greenberg, were conscious of this scientific concept. It also compounds the culpability of media moguls who deliberately popularize miscegenation in films directed toward adolescents and pre-adolescents. In the midst of this onslaught against our youth, parents need to be reminded that they have a natural obligation, as essential as providing food and shelter, to instill in their children an acceptance of appropriate ethnic boundaries for socialization and for marriage.
The sociobiological warfare that our youth is subjected to is likely to be even more diabolical since it appears to deliberately exploit a biological theory of sexual imprinting at the critical period of sexual maturity. Movies like this past year’s spate of miscegenationist titles, Save the Last Dance, Crazy / Beautiful and O, a parody of Othello, appear deliberately designed to exploit the critical period of sexual imprinting in their target audiences of white pre-adolescent girls and adolescent young women.
The current of misdirected altruism that permeates contemporary Western society is dangerous when it is divorced from biological reality. It would be better to ignorantly adhere to the laws of human evolution, as do most primitive peoples, than to understand these laws and yet deliberately disobey them. It would be most tragic if the people who discovered the theory of evolution were to perish due to a failure of will to apply it to their own destiny.
It is our duty to maintain and advance the Western continuum that originated in ancient Greece and earlier. To falter at this critical juncture is to allow our people to approach extinction. The greatest achievement of the West will be our extrication from our current dilemma. If we succeed in our efforts, the chroniclers of this age will celebrate our valiant struggle in the epic literature of the future – if we fail, there will be no such literature and our beleaguered descendants will mock us in our graves.
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James C. Russell, Ph.D., is the author of The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity: A Sociohistorical Approach to Religious Transformation Oxford University Press, 1994)
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Endnotes
1. Rex Warner ii. trans. Thucydides: the Peloponnesian War 4, (London: Bodley Head, 1954), p. 116.
2. Robert S. Lopez, The Birth of Europe (New York: M. Evans and Co., 1967), pp. 120-21.
3. Revilo P. Oliver, America’s Decline: The Education of a Conservative (London: Londinium Press, 1987), pp. 216-17.
4. Greek Philosophy: Thales to Aristotle Reginald E. Allen, ed. & intro. (New York: Free Press, 1967), p. 1.
5. Ibid., p. 2.
6. Detailed photographs of this marvelous work are available at:
[link to www.phil.uni-erlangen.de]
7. W. W. Tarn, Alexander the Great (1948; reprint, Boston: Beacon Press, 1956), p. 147.
8. Steve Jones, et al, Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
9. Ibid.
10. Ramsay MacMulllen, Enemies of the Roman Order (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1981), pp. viii-ix.
11. The Gothic historian Jordanes describes the battle in Chapter 38 of his History of the Goths, which is translated in William Stearns Davis, ed., Readings in Ancient History: Illustrative Extracts from the Sources, 2 Vols. (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1912-13), Vol. II: Rome and the West, pp. 322-25.
12. William Stearns Davis, ed., Readings in Ancient History: Illustrative Extracts from the Sources, 2 vols. (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1912-13), vol. II: Rome and the West, pp. 362-364.
13. Bernard of Clairveaux, Liber ad milites Templi: De laude novae militae, trans. Conrad Greenia in The Works of Bernard of Clairvaux, Vol. 7, Cistercian Fathers Series: 19, (Cistercian Publications, Kalamazoo, Mich., 1977).
14 The Secret History of the Reign of John Sobieski, The III of that Name, King of Poland, containing a particular account of the siege of Vienna. . . . trans. François-Paulin Dalairac (London: Rhodes, Bennet, Bell, Leigh & Midwinter, 1700), pp. 355-364.
15.An excellent detailed account of this outrage may be found in Glayde Whitney, “Raymond B. Cattell and The Fourth Inquisition” Mankind Quarterly , vol. 38, no. 1 & 2, Fall/Winter 1997, pp. 99-124.
16. Neil Postman, “Philo Farnsworth” in Time: 100 Scientists
[link to www.time.com]
17. T. S. Eliot, After Strange Gods: A Primer in Modern Heresy (London: Faber, 1934), p. 20.
18. Rachel Carson, in a CBS television interview in 1963:
[link to www.sover.net]
19.E. O. Wilson, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (New York: Knopf, 1998), p. ?.
20.James D. Watson, quoted by Leon Jaroff in Time 20 March 1989.
21. Walter Burkert, Homo Necans: The Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983).
22. Seattle Times, Oct. 29, 1997.
23. Elmer Pendell, Why Civilizations Self-Destruct (Cape Canaveral, Florida: Howard Allen), p. 126.
24. J. Philippe Rushton, “Genetic Similarity Theory and the Roots of Ethnic Conflict” Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies 23:4 (Winter 1998): 477-86.
25. Kevin MacDonald, A People that Shall Dwell Alone: Judaism as a Group Evolutionary Strategy (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1994); Separation and Its Discontents: Toward an Evolutionary Theory of Anti-Semitism (1998); The Culture of Critique: An Evolutionary Analysis of Jewish Involvement in Twentieth-Century Intellectual and Political Movements (1998).
26. John Archer, Ethology and Human Development (Hemel Hempstead, UK: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1992).
27.Todd, P.M., and Miller, G.F. “Parental guidance suggested: How parental imprinting evolves through sexual selection as an adaptive learning mechanism” Adaptive Behavior,2(1), 5-47. See also David T Lykken and Auke Tellegen, “Is Human Mating Adventitious or the Result of Lawful Choice? A Twin Study of Mate Selection” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1993: vol. 65. no. I, 56-68

Ozone warning

2010-09-02T08:16:00.001-07:00

Air quality alert in effect from 11 am to 11 PM EDT Thursday...

The New York state department of environmental conservation has issued an air quality health advisory for the following counties...

Dutchess... Ulster... Columbia... Greene... Schoharie... Albany...
Rensselaer... Saratoga... Schenectady... Washington... Fulton... Montgomery.

Air quality levels in outdoor air are predicted to be greater than an air quality index value of 100 for the pollutant of ozone. The air quality index... or aqi... was created as an easy way to correlate levels of different pollutants to one scale.
The higher the aqi value... the greater the health concern.

When pollution levels are elevated... the New York state department of health recommends that individuals consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects. People who may be especially
sensitive to the effects of elevated levels of pollutants include the very Young, and those with pre-existing respiratory problems such as asthma or heart disease. Those with symptoms should consider consulting their personal physician.

A toll free air quality hotline has been established so New York residents can stay informed on the air quality situation. The toll free number is: 1 800 5 3 5, 1 3 4 5.

Stevie Wonder Music CD Appearances

2010-05-12T06:28:00.000-07:00

Paula Abdul Spellbound (1991) Harmonica
King Sunny Ade Aura (1984) Harmonica
Babyface Day (1996) Harmonica, Vocals (bckgr)
Babyface MTV Unplugged NYC 1997 (1997) Performer
Babyface Collection of His Greatest Hits (2000) Harmonica, Vocals (bckgr)
Babyface Essential Babyface (2003) Harmonica, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
Burt Bacharach Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach... (1998) Performer
Burt Bacharach Very Best of Burt Bacharach (2001) Performer
The Beach Boys Beach Boys (1985) Bass, Harmonica, Drums, Keyboards
Jeff Beck Blow by Blow (1975) Keyboards
Tony Bennett Playin' with My Friends: Bennett... (2001) Performer
Blackstreet Finally (1999) Harmonica
John Ellington Blair Master Creed (2000) Assistant Producer
Mikki Bleu Gimme the Keys (1991) Composer
Mary J. Blige Ballads (2001) Arranger, Producer
Rory Block I've Got a Rock in My Sock (1986) Harmonica
Rory Block Best Blues & Originals (1987) Harmonica
Blue Guilty (2003) Keyboards, Vocals, Guest Appearance
Blue Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm... Keyboards, Vocals, Guest Appearance
Paul Bollenback Soul Grooves (1999) Performer
Lloyd Brown Against the Grain (2003) Arranger
Norman Brown Just Between Us (1992) Harmonica, Arranger, Vocals
Joe Claussell Music Is...A Reason to Celebrate (2002) Arranger, Producer
Dalida Annees Orlando l'Integrale 1970... (1997) Composer
Dalida Pour Te Dire Je T'Aime (1999) Composer
The Dandy Warhols Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia... (2001) Sampling
DeBarge 20th Century Masters - The... (2000) Harmonica
El DeBarge Heart Mind & Soul (1994) Harmonica
John Denver Dreamland Express (1985) Harmonica
Neil Diamond Headed for the Future (1986) Synthesizer, Piano, Drums, Vocals (bckgr)
Neil Diamond In My Lifetime (1996) Musician
Djavan Flor de Lis (1986) Harmonica
Will Downing Love's the Place to Be (1993) Harmonica
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert (1993) Harmonica, Piano, Vocals, Performer
Gloria Estefan Unwrapped (2003) Harmonica, Vocal Ad-Libs
Eurythmics Be Yourself Tonight (1985) Harmonica
Roberta Flack & Donnie... Roberta Flack Featuring Donnie... (1980) Vocals
The Flying Burrito... Airborne (1976) Keyboards
Ronnie Foster Love Satellite (1978) Drums
The Four Tops Fourever (2001) Percussion
Peter Frampton I'm in You (1977) Harmonica
The Gap Band Gap Band V: Jammin' (1983) Harmonica, Vocals (bckgr)
Amos Garrett I Make My Home in My Shoes (1989) Liner Notes
Johnny Gill Let's Get the Mood Right (1996) Performer
Dizzy Gillespie Closer to the Source (1984) Synthesizer, Harmonica
Berry Gordy Music, The Magic, The Memories of... (1995) Arranger, Vocals, Producer
Angel Grant Album (1998) Harmonica
Lionel Hampton For the Love of Music (1994) Harmonica, Producer, Performer
Herbie Hancock Man-Child (1976) Harmonica
Herbie Hancock Gershwin's World (1998) Harmonica, Arranger, Vocals
Grady Harrell Come Play with Me (1989) Guitar, Percussion, Piano, Strings, Arranger, Drums, Producer, Executive Producer, Keyboard Bass, Keyboard Horns
Dan Hartman Images (1976) Harmonica
Jimi Hendrix Magic Fingers (1979) Drums
Jimi Hendrix BBC Sessions (1998) Drums
Don Henley Inside Job (2000) Keyboards, Vocals (bckgr), Musician
Marva Hicks Marva Hicks (1991) Producer
Allen Hoist Just Before Spring (2000) Performer
Whitney Houston I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990) Arranger, Vocals, Multi Instruments, Producer, Performer, Vocal Arrangement
Bobbi Humphrey No Way Harmonica
Julio Iglesias Non Stop (1988) Harmonica, Vocals, Producer
Julio Iglesias My Life: Greatest Hits (1998) Producer, Performer
Incognito Best of Incognito (2000) Performer
The Isley Brothers 3 + 3 (2003) Quotes Researched & Compiled
The Jackson 5 Anthology (1976) Producer
Janet Jackson janet. (1993)
Jermaine Jackson Let's Get Serious (1979) Guitar, Drums, Keyboards, Producer
Jermaine Jackson Greatest Hits & Rare Classics (1991) Producer
Jermaine Jackson Heritage Collection (2000) Producer
Jermaine Jackson Ultimate Collection (2001) Arranger, Producer
La Toya Jackson LaToya Jackson (1980) Harmonica
Michael Jackson Bad (1987) Synthesizer, Performer
Rick James Street Songs(2001) Harmonica
Joey & Norman Jay Good Times (2000) Arranger, Producer
Elton John Too Low for Zero (1983) Harmonica
Elton John To Be Continued... (1990) Harmonica
Elton John Greatest Hits, 1976-1986 (1992) Harmonica
Elton John Duets (1993) Arranger, Programming, Vocals (bckgr), Multi Instruments, Producer
Elton John Songs from the West Coast (2001) Harmonica, Clavinet
Quincy Jones I Heard That! (1969) Harmonica, Keyboards
Quincy Jones Superdisc (1979) Keyboards
Quincy Jones Dude (1980) Synthesizer, Keyboards
Quincy Jones Q's Jook Joint (1994) Vocals, Performer
Quincy Jones Q: The Musical Biography of Quincy (2001) Vocals (bckgr)
Quincy Jones Ultimate Collection (2002) Synthesizer, Rhythm Arrangements, CS-80
Junior Best of Junior (1995) Drums
Kassav' Dife (1997) Harmonica, Programming
John P. Kee Color Blind (1994) Vocal Arrangement
Chaka Khan I Feel for You (1984) Harmonica
Chaka Khan C.K. (1988) Harmonica
B.B. King To Know You Is to Love You (1973) Piano, Keyboards
B.B. King King of the Blues (Box) (1992) Keyboards
B.B. King Greatest Hits (1998) Keyboards
B.B. King Anthology (2000) Keyboards
Cyndi Lauper At Last (2003) Harmonica
John Lennon Shaved Fish (1975) Vocals
Ramsey Lewis Love Notes (1977) Synthesizer, Keyboards
Henry Mancini/Monica... Ultimate Mancini (2004) Harmonica
Manhattan Transfer Bodies and Souls (1983) Harmonica
Manhattan Transfer Anthology: Down in Birdland (1992) Harmonica
George Martin Produced by George Martin (2001) Performer
Dave Mason It's Like You Never Left (1973) Harmonica
Johnny Mathis & Deniece... That's What Friends Are For (1978) Harmonica
Johnny Mathis That's What Friends Are For/You... (1997) Harmonica
Judith Christie McAllister Raise the Praise (2003) Harmonica
Paul McCartney Tug of War (1982) Synthesizer, Percussion, Drums, Keyboards, Piano (Electric), Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
Sergio Mendes & Brasil '77 Sergio Mendes & the New Brasil '77 (1977) Piano, Keyboards, Clavinet
Sergio Mendez and Brasil... Sergio Mendes & the New Brasil '77 (2000) Piano, Keyboards, Clavinet
Amos Milburn Motown Sessions, 1962-1964 (1996) Harmonica
Buddy Miles More Miles Per Gallon (1975) Keyboards, Clavinet
Mr. Phenix Bomb Hitz (1999) Performer
Hugo Montenegro Hugo in Wonder-Land (2000) Liner Notes
Maria Muldaur Open Your Eyes (1979) Harmonica
Maria Muldaur Sweet Harmony/Open Your Eyes (2003) Chromatic Harmonica
Eddie Murphy How Could It Be (1985) Harmonica, Keyboards
Eddie Murphy Love's Alright (1993) Harmonica
Musical Youth Anthology (1994) Arranger
*NSYNC Celebrity (2001) Harmonica
98° 98° and Rising (1998) Vocals (bckgr), Performer
98° Heat It Up (1999) Performer
98° Collection (2002) Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
The Originals Very Best of the Originals (1999) Producer
Luciano Pavarotti/Celine... For the Children of Liberia (1998) Performer
The Pointer Sisters Steppin' (1975) Keyboards, Piano (Electric)
The Pointer Sisters Having a Party (1977) Synthesizer, Keyboards
Prefab Sprout From Langley Park to Memphis (1988) Harmonica
Billy Preston It's My Pleasure (1975) Harmonica
Eivets Rednow Alfie (1995) Producer
Cliff Richard Cliff Richard Collection (1976... (1994) Producer
Cliff Richard Cliff Richard 40th Anniversary,... (1998) Arranger, Producer, Musician
Cliff Richard 40th Anniversary Complete (1999) Arranger, Producer, Musician
Cliff Richard Singles (2002) Producer
Minnie Riperton Perfect Angel (1974) Harmonica, Percussion, Drums, Keyboards
Minnie Riperton Minnie (1979)
Minnie Riperton Love Lives Forever (1980) Harmonica, Percussion, Drums, Keyboards
Smokey Robinson Warm Thoughts (1980) Producer
Smokey Robinson Smoke Signals (1986) Arranger
Smokey Robinson & the... Our Very Best Christmas (1999) Producer
Smokey Robinson & the... 20th Century Masters - The... (2003) Producer
Diana Ross Diana's Duets (1982) Performer
Diana Ross Force Behind the Power (1991) Arranger, Multi Instruments, Producer, Choir Arrangement
Diane Schuur Friends for Schuur (2000) Harmonica, Vocals
Sesame Street Songs from the Street: 35 Years of (2003) Guest Appearance
Carly Simon Coming Around Again (1987) Harmonica
Tommy Sims Peace and Love (2000) Harmonica
Frank Sinatra Duets II (1994) Harmonica, Piano, Vocals, Performer
The Spinners Best of the Spinners (Atlantic I) (1978) Producer
The Spinners One of a Kind Love Affair (1991) Producer
The Spinners At Their Best (1999) Harmonica, Liner Notes
The Spinners Chrome Collection (2003) Producer
Steel Pulse Victims (1991) Harmonica
Sting Brand New Day (1999) Harmonica
Barbra Streisand Broadway Album (1985) Harmonica
Donna Summer Donna Summer (1982) Choir, Chorus
Donna Summer Donna Summer Anthology... (1993) Vocals
Diana Ross & the Supremes Anthology (1986) (1986) Producer
The Supremes 70's Greatest Hits & Rare Classics (1991) Producer
The Supremes Supremes (Box Set) (2000) Producer
The Supremes '70s Anthology (2002) Producer
Diana Ross & The Supremes... Merry Christmas/Someday at... Harmonica, Piano, Keyboards, Vocals
Syreeta Syreeta (1972) (1972) Harmonica, Arranger, Drums, Keyboards, Producer
Syreeta Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta (1974) Harmonica, Arranger, Drums, Keyboards, Producer
Syreeta One to One (1977) Producer
Syreeta Essential Syreeta (2001) Synthesizer, Arranger, Producer
Take 6 Join the Band (1994) Performer
Take 6 Greatest Hits (1999) Vocals, Performer
James Taylor In the Pocket (1976) Harmonica
James Taylor Hourglass (1997) Harmonica
James Taylor Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (2000) Harmonica
The Temptations Emperors of Soul (1994) Harmonica
The Temptations For Lovers Only (1995) Harmonica
Third World You've Got the Power (1982) Synthesizer, Piano, Arranger, Producer, Fender Rhodes, Editing
Third World Reggae Ambassadors: 20th... (1993) Piano, Arranger, Producer
Third World Best of Third World (1993) Synthesizer, Piano, Producer, Fender Rhodes
Third World Super Hits (1998) Arranger, Producer
B.J. Thomas Billy Joe Thomas (1972) Vocals (bckgr)
B.J. Thomas Rock'n'Roll Lullaby (1972) Harmonica
The Trammps Whole World's Dancing (1979) Harmonia
The Trammps This Is Where the Happy People Go: (1994) Harmonica
Stanley Turrentine Wonderland (1986) Harmonica
Luther Vandross I Know (1998) Harmonica, Performer
Luther Vandross Dance With My Father (2003) Harmonica, Soloist
Vinx Storyteller (1993) Piano
Dionne Warwick Friends (1985) Arranger, Vocals, Producer, Performer
Dionne Warwick Greatest Hits (1979-1990) (1989) Vocals, Performer
Dionne Warwick Definitive Collection (1999) Performer
Dionne Warwick Best of Dionne Warwick (2001) Performer
The Williams Brothers Still Standing (1997) Harmonica, Vocals, Multi Instruments, Producer, Performer, Sequencing
Roger Williams Phantom of the Opera (1980) Composer
Nancy Wilson Friends Arranger, Producer
Nancy Wilson Friends in Love Piano
The Winans Return (1990) Harmonica, Vocals
The Winans Very Best of the Winans (2002) Harmonica, Vocals
Bebe Winans Love & Freedom (2000) Harmonica
Bill Wolfer Call Me (2002) Harmonica
X-Clan Xodus (1992)
Paul Young Other Voices (1990) Harmonica

From http://www.prex.com/biography/Stevie-Wonder-discography.htm, last updated Jun 14, 2007; no longer on Internet, except as retrieved via http://www.archive.org/ archive.org on May 12, 2010

ACHA Black History Month Program

2010-02-01T14:12:00.000-08:00

The Albany County Historical Association (ACHA) announces a special program in celebration of Black History Month. ACHA is pleased to host Sherrill D.
Wilson, Ph. D., Saturday, February 20 at 1:00 pm, at Ten Broeck Mansion, 9 Ten Broeck Place, Albany. This Speakers in the Humanities event is free and open to the public, and made possible through the support of the New York Council
for the Humanities’ Speakers in the Humanities program. Dr. Wilson’s
topic is “Celebrating Freedom”.

For questions or information call 436-9826 during regular business hours.

If..., you live in New England

2009-12-18T13:11:00.000-08:00

Forget Rednecks ... here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about New Englanders. I think a lot of this pertains to people that live in upstate New York, too!

*If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in New England.*

*If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in New England.*

*If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in New England.*

*If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of New York City for the weekend, you live in New England.*

*If you measure distance in hours, you live in New England.*

*If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in New England.*

*If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' in the same day and back again, you live in New England.*

*If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in New England.*

*If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you live in New England.*

*If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you live in New England.*

*If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in New England.*

*If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph you're going 80 and everybody is passing you, you live in New England.*

*If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in New England.*

*If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you live in New England.*

*If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in New England.*

*If you find 10 degrees 'a little chilly', you live in New England.*

*If there's a Dunkin Donuts on every corner, you live in New England.*

*If you actually understand these jokes, and forward them to all your New England friends & others, you live or have lived in New England.*

Anthony J. "Nic" Morrison obit

2009-10-05T18:35:00.000-07:00

ALBANY Anthony J. "Nic" Morrison entered into eternal life on his 47th birthday, October 1, 2009, at the Hospice Inn at St. Peter's Hospital, ten days after suffering a devastating stroke. Nic was employed at the NYS Center for Employment and Economic Support in Albany at the time of his death, a position he held for the past 12 years. Nic previously worked at the Paper Cutter and FantaCo Comics in Albany. Some knew him as Anthony, some as Nic and others even knew him as "The Geek" but all who knew him called him friend. He enjoyed his comics, movies, music and frequent shopping trips to Best Buy. He loved to debate politics and religion but, most of all, he could laugh. An intelligent man, he was quick witted with a dark sense of humor that constantly amused those around him. Nic was a kindhearted man who loved life and, most of all, loved his God. A deeply spiritual man, there is no doubt he is in Heaven now with his Lord. Nic was the beloved godfather of Christian, Keegan and Lily and the companion of Imelda the cat. He leaves a family of dear friends who will cherish his memory and miss him dearly. Words cannot begin to express how thankful we are for the care Nic received from the staff of the St. Peter's ICU, who did all that they could for Nic, and for the comfort and care received from the staff at the St. Peter's Hospice Inn during Nic's final days. Friends may call on Sunday, October 4 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Applebee Funeral Home, 403 Kenwood Avenue, Delmar. A service to remember Nic and celebrate his life will be held on Monday, October 5 at 2 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial will follow in Albany Rural Cemetery, Menands. Those who wish may send a remembrance in his name to the Community Hospice of Albany, 445 New Karner Rd., Albany, NY 12205.

Nic Morrison's Obit

2009-10-05T18:28:00.000-07:00

ALBANY Anthony J. "Nic" Morrison entered into eternal life on his 47th birthday, October 1, 2009, at the Hospice Inn at St. Peter's Hospital, ten days after suffering a devastating stroke. Nic was employed at the NYS Center for Employ-ment and Economic Support in Albany at the time of his death, a position he held for the past 12 years. Nic previously worked at the Paper Cutter and Fantaco Comics in Albany. Some knew him as Anthony, some as Nic and others even knew him as "The Geek" but all who knew him called him friend. He enjoyed his comics, movies, music and frequent shopping trips to Best Buy. He loved to debate politics and religion but, most of all, he could laugh. An intelligent man, he was quick witted with a dark sense of humor that constantly amused those around him. Nic was a kind hearted man who loved life and, most of all, loved his God. A deeply spiritual man, there is no doubt he is in Heaven now with his Lord. Nic was the beloved godfather of Christian, Keegan and Lily and the companion of Imelda the cat. He leaves a family of dear friends who will cherish his memory and miss him dearly. Words cannot begin to express how thankful we are for the care Nic received from the staff of the St. Peter's ICU, who did all that they could for Nic, and for the comfort and care received from the staff at the St. Peter's Hospice Inn during Nic's final days. Friends may call on Sunday, October 4 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Applebee Funeral Home, 403 Kenwood Avenue, Delmar. A service to remember Nic and celebrate his life will be held on Monday, October 5 at 2 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial will follow in Albany Rural Cemetery, Menands. Those who wish may send a remembrance in his name to the Community Hospice of Albany, 445 New Karner Rd., Albany, NY 12205.

The Lord's Prayer in the Cherokee tradition

2009-06-15T03:02:00.000-07:00

Our father, heaven dweller,
My loving will be to Thy name.
Your Lordship: let it make its appearance.
Here upon earth let happen what you think
The same as in heaven is done.
Daily our food give to us this day.
Forgive us our debts, the same as we forgive our debtors.
And do not temptation being lead us into,
Deliver us from evil existing.
For thine your Lordship is,
And the power is,
And the glory is forever.
Amen

Incidentally, the Lord's Prayer in Cherokee (and English) was one of the items that appeared in the first issue—28 February 1828—of the Cherokee Phoenix (Tsalagi Tsulehisanunhi), the first newspaper written by and for Indians as well as being printed in both English and the Cherokee language (using Sequoya's syllabary).

Beautifully stated insults

2009-06-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

There was a time when words were used beautifully. These glorious insults are from an era when cleverness with words was still valued.

The exchange between Churchill and Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband, I'd give you poison," and he said, "If you were my wife, I'd take it."

Gladstone, a member of Parliament, to Benjamin Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." "That depends, sir," said Disraeli, "On whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."

"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill

"A modest little person, with much to be modest about." - Winston Churchill

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).

"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas

"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." - Oscar Wilde

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill.

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one!" - Winston Churchill, in response.

"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop

“He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb

"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson

"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." - Jack E. Leonard

"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." - Robert Redford

"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." - Thomas Brackett Reed

"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand

"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker

"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go."- Oscar Wilde

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support, rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx

History Test

2009-06-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

NO Cheating - don't look at the answers until you take the test!!!!

Everyone over 40 should have a pretty easy time at this exam. If you are under 40 you can claim a handicap.
This is a History Exam for those who don't mind seeing how much they really remember about what went on in their life.

*** Get paper & pencil & number from 1 to 20.
****Write the letter of each answer & score at the end.

1. In the 1940s/50s, where were automobile headlight dimmer switches
located?
a. On the floor shift knob.
b. On the floor board, to the left of the clutch.
c. Next to the horn.

2. The bottle top of a Royal Crown Cola bottle had holes in it. For what
was it used?
a. Capture lightning bugs.
b. To sprinkle clothes before ironing.
c. Large salt shaker.

3. Why was having milk delivered a problem in northern winters?
a. Cows got cold and wouldn't produce milk.
b. Ice on highways forced delivery by dog sled.
c. Milkmen left deliveries outside of front doors and milk would freeze,
expanding and pushing up the cardboard bottle top.

4. What was the popular chewing gum named for a game of chance?
a. Blackjack
b. Gin
c. Craps

5.. What method did women use to look as if they were wearing stockings when none were available due to rationing dur ing WW II.
a. Suntan
b. Leg painting
c. Wearing slacks

6. What postwar car turned automotive design on its ear when you couldn't tell whether it was coming or going?
a. Studebaker
b. Nash Metro
c. Tucker

7. Which was a popular candy when you were a kid?
a. Strips of dried peanut butter.
b. Chocolate licorice bars.
c. Wax coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside.

8. How was Butch wax used?
a. To stiffen a flat-top haircut so it stood up.
b. To make floors shiny and prevent scuffing.
c. On the wheels of roller skates to pre vent rust.

9. Before inline skates, how did you keep your roller skates attached to your shoes?
a. With clamps, tightened by a skate key.
b. Woven straps that crossed the foot.
c. Long pieces of twine.

10. As a kid, what was considered the best way to reach a decision?
a. Consider all the facts.
b. Ask Mom.
c. Eeny-meeny-miney-MO.

11. What wa s the most dreaded disease in the 1940s and 1950s?
a. Smallpox
b. AIDS
c. Polio

12. 'I'll be down to get you in a ________, Honey'
a. SUV
b. Taxi
c. Streetcar

13. W hat was the name of Caroline Kennedy's pony?
a. Old Blue
b. Paint
c. Macaroni

14. What was a Duck-and-Cover Drill?
a. Part of the game of hide and seek.
b. What you did when your Mom called you in to do chores.
c. Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an
A-bomb drill.

15. What was the name of the Indian Princess on the Howdy Doody show?
a. Princess Summerfallwinterspring
b. Princess Sacajawea
c. Princess Moonshadow

16. What did all the really savvy students do when mimeographed tests were handed out in school?
a. Immediately sniffed the purple ink, as this was believed to get you high.
b. Made paper airplanes to see who could sail theirs out the window.
c. Wrote another pupil's name on the top, to avoid their failure.

17. Why did your Mom shop in stores that gave Green Stamps with purchases?
a. To keep you out of mischief by licking the backs, which tasted like bubble gum.
b. They could be put in special books and redeemed for various household items.
c. They were given to the kids to be used as stick-on tattoos.

18. Praise the Lord, & pass the _________?
a. Meatballs
b. Dames
c. Ammunition

19. What was the name of the singing group that made the song 'Cabdriver' a hit?
a. The Ink Spots
b. The Supremes
c. The Esquires

20. Who left his heart in San Francisco ?
a. Tony Bennett
b. Xavier Cugat
c. George Gershwin

***
ANSWERS
1. (b) On the floor, to the left of the clutch. Hand controls, popular
in Europe , took till the late '60's& nbsp;to catch on.
2. (b) To sprinkle clothes before ironing. Who had a steam iron?
3. (c) Cold weather caused the milk to freeze and expand, popping the
bottle top.
4 . (a) Blackjack Gum.
5. (b) Special makeup was applied, followed by drawing a seam down the
back of the leg with eyebrow pencil.
6. (a) 1946 Stud ebaker.
7. (c) Wax coke bottles containing super-sweet colored water.
8. (a) Wax for your flat top (butch) haircut.
9. (a) With clamps , tightened by a skate key, which you wore on a
shoestring around your neck.
10. (c) Eeny-mee ny-miney-mo.
11. (c) Polio. In beginning of August, swimming pools were closed,
movies and other public gathering places were closed to try to prevent
spread of the disease.
12. (b) Taxi , Better be ready by half-past eight!
13. (c) Macaroni.
14. (c) Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in
an A-bomb drill.
15. (a) Princess Summerfallwinterspring. She was another puppet.
16. (a) Immediately sniffed the purple ink to get a high.
17. (b) Put in a special stamp book, they could be traded for household
items at the Green Stamp store.
18. (c) Ammunition, and we'll all be free.
19. (a) The widely famous 50's group: The Inkspots.
20. (a) Tony Bennett, and he sounds just as good today.

SCORING
17- 20 correct: You are older than dirt, and obviously gifted with
mental abilities. Now if you could only find your glasses. Definitely
someone who should shar e your wisdom!
12 -16 correct: Not quite dirt yet, but you're getting there.
0 -11 correct: You are not old enough to share the wisdom of your
experiences.

I got 13 right, including 10 out the last 11.

"Holocaust survivors have moral obligation to tell who rescued them"

2009-06-10T16:42:00.000-07:00

The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation

Jun. 10, 2009
Etgar Lefkovits , THE JERUSALEM POST. Printed edition

People who were saved from death during the Holocaust have a moral obligation to identify their rescuers, despite the trauma such recollections can cause, the founder of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation said on Tuesday.

The comments comes amid an eleventh-hour effort by the New York-based non-profit organization to identify more heroes at a time when the number of survivors continues to dwindle.

"We talk a lot about the Holocaust, but we do not talk enough about those non-Jews who saved Jews during the war," Baruch Tenembaum, founder of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.

The Argentinean-born Tenembaum said Holocaust survivors who were saved by others had a moral obligation to tell their stories before it was too late, despite the suffering it might cause them in reliving tortuous experiences from six and seven decades ago.

"The freedom they have now to speak or not to speak is the freedom granted to them by the person who saved them," he said. "In my opinion, they do not have such an option because it belongs to the person who saved them. They do not have the right to remain silent."

The Wallenberg Foundation, which has located scores of rescuers, recently encountered four survivors - grandmothers now living in Israel, Argentina, Hungary and France - who do not want to recount the story of their rescues because it is too painful for them.

Tenembaum concedes that he can never feel their pain, noting that they have not even told their children about their experiences, but said that these people - and many others like them - need to go public with their stories before time runs out.

"The Jewish nation has a moral obligation to be grateful to those who saved lives," he said.

About 250,000 Holocaust survivors live in Israel.

The organization, named after the Swedish diplomat who went missing in January 1945, after saving tens of thousands of Jews and other persecuted by the Nazis, develops educational programs based on the values of solidarity and civic courage, ethical cornerstones of Holocaust rescuers.

Irena Steinfeld, the head of the Righteous Department at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, concurred Tuesday that survivors had a duty to speak out, but cautioned against self-righteousness.

"Certainly it is the moral obligation of survivors to tell the story of their rescuers, but I am very cautious because it is very easy to open old wounds and hard to close them again," she said.

"We can only try to ask them in every way possible."

More than 22,000 people have been recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations.

We are coming down to the wire on the issue of Health care reform.

2009-06-10T16:11:00.000-07:00

The first part is an excerpt from a letter from an old friend of mine whose been working in the health care field over 50 years.

When the Congress gets these bills in motion in the next few weeks, the health care committees in this nation, who have fought so long and so hard, will be analyzing them and needing us folks to get to our representatives to express our opinions...and we will need to do it RAPIDLY.

Therefore, I have promised my colleagues that I would make a serious attempt to put a "Rapid Response team" together.
I would ask you to contact your representatives as quickly as possible (either phone OR e-mail...or Twitter or Facebook...or any new-fangled way you know about)

Then to call 10 friends, and get them to do the same (if you only have 5 friends..that will do!)

If you click on the following sites, you will get all the contact info you need for your Senators/& Congressional representatives
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml United States House of Reps Member Listing (by State)
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm U.S. Senate: Senators Home

I am enclosing the Principles (see below)that I am supporting, along with Our President....so you know exactly where I stand

If you do not believe that our health care system is broken, please come and visit me...I will take you to the FREE Clinic, where 2 nights a week, the WORKING POOR go for their health care, supplied by VOLUNTEERS and DONATIONS.

This is AMERICA folks...All of our people have a RIGHT to decent health care!
I send you all love and Thanks for your listening!
Praying you will all respond!

Live simply. Love generously
Care deeply. Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God.

President Obama has 3 core principles that will guide health care reform.
They are:
1. To reduce rising healthcare costs for families, business, and government.
• American families and small businesses are being crushed by sky-rocketing health
care costs and they are losing the choices they value most. Every day in America
families are forced to choose a different doctor because their employer can no
longer afford the old plan. No longer should people have to decide to skip a
doctor’s visit or medication that they know they need because they can’t afford
the payment.
2. To allow all patients choice in their own coverage and their own doctor.
• President Obama is committed to health care reform that guarantees Americans
their health care choice. He has consistently said that if a family likes what they
have, they will be able to keep it under health care reform. The president will
support health care reform that builds on the existing employer-based system but
also supports providing Americans with the option for public health insurance
operating alongside private plans. This would provide a better range of choices,
make the health care market more competitive, and keep insurance companies
honest.
3. To ensure that quality, affordable healthcare is available to all Americans.
• Any successful reform will emphasize quality care over quantity. President Obama
has called for reform that would; provide technology to doctors for medical
research boost prevention and wellness so that Americans are healthier and
everyone saves money, rapidly expand computerized medical records with strong
privacy protections, that would reduce needless and costly paperwork, and
provide doctors with the best, most up-to-date information to reduce medical
errors, saving lives and money.

What did the Romans ever Do For US?

2009-05-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

My favorite Monty Python, from Life with Brian:

Reg: They've bled us white, the bastards. They've taken everything we had, and not just from us, from our fathers, and from our fathers' fathers.
Loretta: And from our fathers' fathers' fathers.
Reg: Yeah.
Loretta: And from our fathers' fathers' fathers' fathers.
Reg: Yeah. All right, Stan. Don't labour the point. And what have they ever given us in return?!
Xerxes: The aqueduct?
Reg: What?
Xerxes: The aqueduct.
Reg: Oh. Yeah, yeah. They did give us that. Uh, that's true. Yeah.
Commando 3: And the sanitation.
Loretta: Oh, yeah, the sanitation, Reg. Remember what the city used to be like?
Reg: Yeah. All right. I'll grant you the aqueduct and the sanitation are two things that the Romans have done.
Matthias: And the roads.
Reg: Well, yeah. Obviously the roads. I mean, the roads go without saying, don't they? But apart from the sanitation, the aqueduct, and the roads--
Commando: Irrigation.
Xerxes: Medicine.
Commandos: Huh? Heh? Huh...
Commando 2: Education.
Commandos: Ohh...
Reg: Yeah, yeah. All right. Fair enough.
Commando 1: And the wine.
Commandos: Oh, yes. Yeah...
Francis: Yeah. Yeah, that's something we'd really miss, Reg, if the Romans left. Huh.
Commando: Public baths.
Loretta: And it's safe to walk in the streets at night now, Reg.
Francis: Yeah, they certainly know how to keep order. Let's face it. They're the only ones who could in a place like this.
Commandos: Hehh, heh. Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh.
Reg: But apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
Xerxes: Brought peace?
Reg: Oh, peace? Shut up!

THE TWELVE STEPS OF REPUBLICANS ANONYMOUS Hotlist

2009-04-28T17:34:00.000-07:00

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Republicans Anonymous is a fellowship of Republican and Ex-Republican men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem of political irrelevancy and ideological bankruptcy. The only requirement for membership is that you have contributed to the destruction of the US economy, our infrastructure, our judical system, and to the US reputation around the world. There are no dues or fees for RA membership; we are supported by contributions from our numerous Fortune 500 donors. RA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution (wink wink); does not wish to engage in any controversy (wink wink wink), neither endorses nor opposes any causes (HA! ooops...). Our primary purpose is to get back to our rightful position as upholders of family values and plunderers of the Treasury and the US Constitution as soon as humanly possible.

The following are our 12 steps of recovery:

THE TWELVE STEPS OF REPUBLICANS ANONYMOUS

1. We admitted we were powerless over the decisions we had made the past eight yearsbut that our pollster has now told us it is probably impossible to get re-elected as a Republican - like, maybe for the next several decades at least.
2. Came to believe that no Power could ever restore the Glenn Beck to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of Michael Steele, but, god, this is depressing...
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of everyone else except ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of everyone else’s wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove the 2006 and 2008 election results from our consciousness.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove Rush Limbaugh from the airwaves.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and asked them to apologize to us, or else we would waterboard them.
9. Made direct amends to our biggest Wall Street donors whenever possible, and reminded them we are up for reelection in 2010.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly blamed it on the Jews and George Soros.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with Ronald Reagan, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and his 1986 poll numbers.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message through fair and balanced news outlets such as Fox News and other media outlets owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Why We Must Talk About Race Now -- More Than Ever Before

2009-01-30T16:29:00.000-08:00

By Carmen Van Kerckhove

Just one day after Barack Obama's historic victory, a giddy New York Times declared that his success at the polls was "sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease."

With ease? This statement contradicts the tightrope Obama had to walk throughout the election. If he didn't overtly address race, people of color would have distrusted him and felt he didn't have their best interests at heart. But had he aligned himself too closely with the race issue, he ran the risk of emphasizing his "otherness" and alienating white voters. There was nothing easy about the delicate balancing act Obama had to perform to win the election.

In the wake of President Obama's inauguration, more people are starting to question why we still need to talk about race and diversity. After all, our president is black. Isn't that sufficient proof that racism in America has met its match?

If you find yourself facing this question at work, here are a few talking points you can use to demonstrate that race is not yet an issue we can afford to ignore.

1, There will always be "stand-outs" like Obama who carve a niche for themselves despite institutionalized discrimination.

For example, a black woman named Madame CJ Walker, the daughter of two former slaves, became the first self-made woman millionaire in the United States (black or white) by creating a line of cosmetics and hair care products for black women. She accomplished this feat at a time when blacks were subjected to extreme poverty, segregation, violence, and oppression. Her success during the Jim Crow era did not indicate that discrimination against blacks was nonexistent during this time. Instead, she became successful despite the odds.

Obama, too, is an exception to well-entrenched racism, rather than a symbol of the end of it. Thousands of voters told pollsters outright that they would never vote for a black man. (How many other voters felt the same way but would not go on the record and verbalize it?) Obama won the presidency in spite of racism, not because of its absence.

2. Racial disparities still exist in nearly every aspect of American life.

David Thomas, Harvard Business School professor and author of Breaking Through:The Making of Minority Executives in Corporate America, recently told Human Resources Executive magazine that "although the glass ceiling is "no longer impenetrable, talent being equal, the probability of making it to the C-suite is still less if you are a person of color than if you are a white male."

Indeed, the Working Group on Extreme Inequality has confirmed that the racial economic divide between whites and blacks is a quantifiable reality:

* In 2006, black individuals made 54% less annually than their white counterparts.
* In the same year, black families made 58% less than whites.
* In 2004, the median household wealth for whites was $118,300 as compared to just $11,800 for black families.
* In 2006, 75.8% of whites owned a home; only 47.9% of blacks did,
* And when it comes to unemployment, in 2007 4.1% of whites were without work as compared to 8.3% of blacks.
* In 2006, 91% of white students graduated from high school, while just 81% of blacks did. And in college, the disparity is even greater: in 2004, 31% of whites graduated, against just 10% of blacks.

3. The civil right movement began just 50 years ago.

There are hundreds of years of oppression to undo, thousands of laws and unspoken hiring biases to uncover and bring into the light. Fifty years is just the beginning of a protracted struggle to level the playing field.

While no one can deny that progress is being made (pat yourselves on the back for that!), until people of all backgrounds are allowed the opportunity to make a decent living, to buy a home, to send children to college, to receive adequate health care, and to live as equals among all others, we must continue to challenge the powers-that-be which still block equal opportunity.

While it's wonderful to breathe a sigh of relief as a new administration takes office - one that "gets it" - this is no time to let up.

© 2004-2009 New Demographic.

Carmen Van Kerckhove, president of the diversity education firm New Demographic, specializes in working with corporations to facilitate relaxed, authentic, and productive conversations about race. She has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and has visited as a guest lecturer at Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, among many other colleges and universities across the country. If you want to learn how to boost your career by mastering the changing dynamics of race in today's workplace, get your FREE TIPS now at www.NewDemographic.com.

Reflections on a True Democracy

2009-01-21T00:50:00.000-08:00

from United We Stand: Reflections on a True Democracy, copyright 2000,
by Sue Kidd Shipe, Ph.D.

In a true democracy all people listen.
all people care.
all people's needs are important.
all people feel cared for.
all people experience respect.
all people serve.
all people are equal.
all people are free.

In a true democracy there are no demagogues.
there is no violence.
all people are entitled to equal representation.
all systems serve people.
all people are responsible for their actions.
all systems are adequate to meet people's needs.
there are no judgments based upon characteristics.
all people are free.

In a true democracy all people are open to learning.
religion is spiritual, not political.
minds are not controlled by fear and guilt.
all minds are open to explore.
paradigms can be challenged.
children learn by example.
adults model the behavior they want from their children.
all children and adults are free.

In a true democracy all elected officials serve from a position of caring.
all elected officials lead by following.
all people may trust their leadership.
all people are in control of their lives.
all people are free of self-limiting beliefs.
all people contribute that which they are uniquely designed to contribute.
all people give their lives in service to the principles of democracy.
all people are truly free.

In a true democracy all wisdom is preserved.
all people are known by their true motives.
motives are that which allow relationship.
motives are for the highest good.
there is trust.
there is no fear.
all people can trust their leaders.
all people are truly free.

In a true democracy all people know their purpose and calling.
all people contribute their calling.
all needs are met through people.
all who take also give.
giving and taking are an unbroken circle.
all people believe.
all people are empowered.
all people are truly free.

In a true democracy all people are free to heal.
healing is a birthright.
people know how to access healing power.
power is free.
power is in the people.
power is used only for the highest good.
power flows from the top.
all people are truly free.

In a true democracy all people return to their Source.
the Source is free.
the Source is available to all.
one is not assessed for access to the Source.
all races, genders, ethnicities, and spiritual expressions are equal.
all people value their heritage and that of all others.
differences are regarded as enriching.
all people are truly free.

In a true democracy our acceptance creates unity.
our unity is our strength.
our unity is our power.
all people are empowered.
all people are empowered to serve.
all people also receive.
all people care and are cared for.
all people are truly free.

Sue Kidd Shipe, Ph.D.
Executive Director

The entire book, United We Stand: Reflections on a True Democracy, by Sue Kidd Shipe, Ph.D., can be purchased on www.amazon.com, or through the website: www.humanempowerment.org.

The International Institute For Human Empowerment, Inc., a 501C3 charity registered in New York State, is not a member of any religion in order that it may serve all.

My Personal 'Faith Priorities' for this Election

2008-11-03T11:38:00.000-08:00

By Jim Wallis of Sojourner Magazine

In 2004, several conservative Catholic bishops and a few megachurch pastors like Rick Warren issued their list of "non-negotiables," which were intended to be a voter guide for their followers. All of them were relatively the same list of issues: abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research, etc. None of them even included the word "poverty," only one example of the missing issues which are found quite clearly in the Bible. All of them were also relatively the same as official Republican Party Web sites of "non-negotiables." The political connections and commitments of the religious non-negotiable writers were quite clear.
I want to suggest a different approach this year and share my personal list of "faith priorities" that will guide me in making the imperfect choices that always confront us in any election year — and suggest that each of you come up with your own list of "faith" or "moral" priorities for this election year and take them into the voting booth with you.
After the last election, I wrote a book titled God’s Politics. I was criticized by some for presuming to speak for God, but that wasn’t the point. I was trying to explore what issues might be closest to the heart of God and how they may be quite different from what many strident religious voices were then saying. I was also saying that "God’s Politics" will often turn our partisan politics upside down, transcend our ideological categories of Left and Right, and challenge the core values and priorities of our political culture. I was also trying to say that there is certainly no easy jump from God’s politics to either the Republicans or Democrats. God is neither. In any election we face imperfect choices, but our choices should reflect the things we believe God cares about if we are people of faith, and our own moral sensibilities if we are not people of faith. Therefore, people of faith, and all of us, should be "values voters" but vote all our values, not just a few that can be easily manipulated for the benefit of one party or another.
In 2008, the kingdom of God is not on the ballot in any of the 50 states as far as I can see. So we can’t vote for that this year. But there are important choices in this year’s election — very important choices — which will dramatically impact what many in the religious community and outside of it call "the common good," and the outcome could be very important, perhaps even more so than in many recent electoral contests.
I am in no position to tell anyone what is "non-negotiable," and neither is any bishop or megachurch pastor, but let me tell you the "faith priorities" and values I will be voting on this year:
1. With more than 2,000 verses in the Bible about how we treat the poor and oppressed, I will examine the record, plans, policies, and promises made by the candidates on what they will do to overcome the scandal of extreme global poverty and the shame of such unnecessary domestic poverty in the richest nation in the world. Such a central theme of the Bible simply cannot be ignored at election time, as too many Christians have done for years. And any solution to the economic crisis that simply bails out the rich, and even the middle class, but ignores those at the bottom should simply be unacceptable to people of faith.
2. From the biblical prophets to Jesus, there is, at least, a biblical presumption against war and the hope of beating our swords into instruments of peace. So I will choose the candidates who will be least likely to lead us into more disastrous wars and find better ways to resolve the inevitable conflicts in the world and make us all safer. I will choose the candidates who seem to best understand that our security depends upon other people’s security (everyone having "their own vine and fig tree, so no one can make them afraid," as the prophets say) more than upon how high we can build walls or a stockpile of weapons. Christians should never expect a pacifist president, but we can insist on one who views military force only as a very last resort, when all other diplomatic and economic measures have failed, and never as a preferred or habitual response to conflict.
3. "Choosing life" is a constant biblical theme, so I will choose candidates who have the most consistent ethic of life, addressing all the threats to human life and dignity that we face — not just one. Thirty-thousand children dying globally each day of preventable hunger and disease is a life issue. The genocide in Darfur is a life issue. Health care is a life issue. War is a life issue. The death penalty is a life issue. And on abortion, I will choose candidates who have the best chance to pursue the practical and proven policies which could dramatically reduce the number of abortions in America and therefore save precious unborn lives, rather than those who simply repeat the polarized legal debates and "pro-choice" and "pro-life" mantras from either side.
4. God’s fragile creation is clearly under assault, and I will choose the candidates who will likely be most faithful in our care of the environment. In particular, I will choose the candidates who will most clearly take on the growing threat of climate change, and who have the strongest commitment to the conversion of our economy and way of life to a cleaner, safer, and more renewable energy future. And that choice could accomplish other key moral priorities like the redemption of a dangerous foreign policy built on Middle East oil dependence, and the great prospects of job creation and economic renewal from a new "green" economy built on more spiritual values of conservation, stewardship, sustainability, respect, responsibility, co-dependence, modesty, and even humility.
5. Every human being is made in the image of God, so I will choose the candidates who are most likely to protect human rights and human dignity. Sexual and economic slavery is on the rise around the world, and an end to human trafficking must become a top priority. As many religious leaders have now said, torture is completely morally unacceptable, under any circumstances, and I will choose the candidates who are most committed to reversing American policy on the treatment of prisoners. And I will choose the candidates who understand that the immigration system is totally broken and needs comprehensive reform, but must be changed in ways that are compassionate, fair, just, and consistent with the biblical command to "welcome the stranger."
6. Healthy families are the foundation of our community life, and nothing is more important than how we are raising up the next generation. As the father of two young boys, I am deeply concerned about the values our leaders model in the midst of the cultural degeneracy assaulting our children. Which candidates will best exemplify and articulate strong family values, using the White House and other offices as bully pulpits to speak of sexual restraint and integrity, marital fidelity, strong parenting, and putting family values over economic values? And I will choose the candidates who promise to really deal with the enormous economic and cultural pressures that have made parenting such a "countercultural activity" in America today, rather than those who merely scapegoat gay people for the serious problems of heterosexual family breakdown.
That is my list of personal "faith priorities" for the election year of 2008, but they are not "non-negotiables" for anyone else. It’s time for each of us to make up our own list in these next 12 days. Make your list and send this on to your friends and family members, inviting them to do the same thing.

Alternative bailout plan

2008-10-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

(from an e-mail)
Dear Wall Street,
I'm speaking on behalf of a group called The Taxpayers of the United States. Now that we've rejected the first bailout plan, I'm sure that in the spirit of tough, free market capitalism and spirited negotiations, you'll consider our second offer. Here are some terms that we trust you'll find reasonable:

(1) We are willing to loan you money at a very low, introductory rate of 8.9%. If you are even one nanosecond late on your payment, your rate will go from 8.9% to 32.9% -- instantly. You will have no right to appeal this. The interest rate increase will be retroactive. And none of this 'but I mailed it out Friday' stuff. We must get it, and the check must clear, for your payment to count. Reminder: transactions that occur after 2pm are not credited until the next business day, so be sure to make your payments before then.
(2) If you are late on any of your other payments to your other creditors, your rate will also be spiked to 32.9%. I know it has nothing to do with us, but if you are late paying someone else, then obviously you are a bigger credit risk to us.
(3) We will send you onerous terms and conditions in 6 point font. Of course, those terms can change on a whim, at any time, so we'll be sending you hourly updates to the contract, which we expect you to read and keep up with. Sorry -- we will be the only ones that can amend the contract; you cannot.
(4) You will have a predetermined credit line, and if you go over it by even $1, your interest rate will spike to 54.9%. Sorry, it's in the contract on page 109,209,392.
(5) The bankruptcy laws have now changed. If you get into a bind, I'm afraid you won't find much sympathy. No more silly excuses will be accepted. We are going to have the titles to all of your buildings and physical assets put in our name, so when the inevitable time comes and you trip up, we'll simply take everything from you. There will be no court hearing.
(6) We'll be conducting a background check, driving records check, drug test, and disease risk check of all of the top executives of your firm. After all, you're a riskier loan if you have any of those afflictions, aren't you? Well, if we find anything wrong, your interest rate will skyrocket, and without notice.
(7) If your business is located in a bad neighborhood, a poor city, a hurricane zone or terrorist targeted city, as defined by us, we can raise your interest rates at any time, to any rate we choose.

For the last quarter century or so, you've imposed these terms, or some variation of them, upon us when loaning us money or insuring us, arguing every single time that it's 'necessary' and that these sorts of changes 'will result in more profitable companies that will pass the savings along to consumers.' Well, now that we're in the role of lender, and you're in the role of borrower, we're sure that you'll find these same terms fair.

Wall Street, prove the cynics wrong and accept our new plan. Prove to everyone that you're not the hypocrites that everyone thinks you are.

Regards,
Wallace Mangold, Attorney-at-Law, representing the Taxpayers of the U.S.A."

This is Your Nation on White Privilege / By Tim Wise / 9/13/08

2008-09-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

* White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
* White privilege is when you can call yourself a “f*****’ redneck,” like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll “kick their f*****' ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot s**t” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
* White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.
* White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re “untested.”
* White privilege is being able to say that you support the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance because “if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me,” and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the “under God” part wasn’t added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.
* White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was “Alaska first,” and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she’s being disrespectful.
* White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you’re being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you’re somehow being mean, or even sexist.
* White privilege is being able to convince white women who don’t even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a “second look.”
* White privilege is being able to fire people who didn’t support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.
* White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God’s punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you’re just a good church-going Christian, but if you’re black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you’re an extremist who probably hates America.
* White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a “trick question,” while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly means you’re dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.
* White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a “light” burden.
* And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren’t sure about that whole “change” thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.

White privilege is, in short, the problem.

Tim Wise is the author of White Like Me (Soft Skull, 2005, revised 2008), and of
Speaking Treason Fluently, publishing this month, also by Soft Skull.
For review copies or interview requests, please reply to publicity@softskull.com
www.softskull.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/archive/Soft_Skull_Media/newest/

UN Exam

2008-07-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

2009 UNITED NATIONS NATIONAL COMPETITIVE RECRUITMENT EXAMINATION
For U.S. citizens seeking junior professional posts.

EXAMINATION CRITERIA (all must be met)
1. Be no more than 32 years old as of December 31, 2009 (UN requirement).
2. Have at least an undergraduate degree (advanced degree is an advantage but is not required) in one of the following occupational fields or related areas:
· Administration
· Economics
· Finance
· Information Technology
· Public Information
· Social Affairs
· Statistics
3. Be fluent in English and/or French, the two working languages of the
Secretariat. Knowledge of additional official languages of the UN (Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Spanish) is a definite advantage.

NOTE: The exam may be limited to the 40 most qualified Americans per occupational group.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: October 31, 2008

Detailed information and application forms may be obtained at target=_new>www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/examin/ncrepage.htm
Examination will be held on February 24, 2009, in New York City and San Francisco.
Travel expenses to and from exam site will NOT be paid by the UN or U.S. Government.

Racist crap from the Hamptons

2008-01-24T06:33:00.000-08:00

From here, "The Independent has the highest distribution/circulation sites of any local newspaper on the East End, reaching both forks, from Wading River to Orient and from Manorville to Montauk. Every Wednesday, The Independent, chock full of local and regional news, sports, a huge classified section, is the first and only local newspaper you'll need to pick up."

LOW TIDINGS
Why I Should Be Our Next President

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Yo Mama Bin Barack

My name is YoMama Bin Barack, and I want to be your next president so together we can begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.

My opponents say I live in a dream world. That may well be true, for I believe in the dream of Doctor Martin Luther King, the dream that all men are created equal.

His words resonate in my very being: "Some day, you too can be a black man who makes a difference in this country, and you too can be called 'Doctor' even though you are not a doctor of any kind." I believe that, and someday I hope people will call me Doctor YoMama. In fact, I hope someday people will call me President Doctor YoMama (but please don't call me Luther, I hate that name).

I was telling this very thing to my wife AliBama the other night while we were in bed, umm, praying. I said, "AliBama, I want to be your next president so together we can begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today."

And she said, "YoMama, then why don't you cut out the president shit and get a real job and make some freakin' money?" But I explained I have plenty of money, because bleeding heart liberal Democrats from all across this vast country of ours have felt it in their hearts to send a contribution to my campaign so I can begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today and also because I need to buy my little daughter Bama Slamma a PlayStation so she will get off my back.

Why do I think I am the best candidate for the job? Look at my resume – it speaks for itself.

Educational background: Doctorate

Military background: I was the first black troop leader of the Boy Scouts Troop 43 in my home state of Illinois. Well, that's not quite true, because they didn't let black kids in the Boy Scouts, so I lied and said I was Hawaiian, which I kind of am, sort of. You see, part of my strategy of becoming our first black president is to deny I am black unless I am campaigning in Harlem. The truth is, I don't know many black people, but my advisors have drafted a strategy to reel in the black vote:

1) Call everyone "Brother." Blacks, I am told, do this, even if their real brothers are mostly in jail.

2) Talk Jive. Brothers want to hear jive. During my speech I told the crowd "We be, you know, sick of whitey supressin' and congestin' so, you know, we won't denigrate or sophisticate but emulate and populate, you know, the system is, like, broken, y'all!"

I have no idea what that means. The black folk loved it, though, so they all vowed to vote for me. The New York Times covered it, but they are so afraid of saying something racist they twisted my words around and reported:

"Yesterday in Harlem YoMama articulated his vision of a new America, an America with less congestion, a country free of drug use, a world without segregation or racism where citizens emulate the lives of great Americans like YoMama, John F. Kennedy and Doctor Martin Luther King."

So you see, there is my strategy. I get the black vote, I get the white vote, and then I go after the female vote by attacking that bitch Hillary for being the Nasty Witch from Hell.

Anyhow, girls think I'm cute. I'm kind of like Will Smith, except he's got those Dumbo ears and mine are normal. So, for the next six months, I am going to fly all over the country, and every place I speak I am going to tell the people:

"As Americans, we can take enormous pride in the fact that courage has been inspired by our own struggle for freedom, by the tradition of democratic law secured by our forefathers and enshrined in our Constitution. It is a tradition that says all men are created equal under the law and that no one is above it."

To be honest, I have no idea what that means. If you analyze it carefully, it really doesn't mean anything. But it sounds like something a president or a doctor would say. I can make that speech every day and no matter how many times I do the stupid newspapers will report it differently. They will make me sound like the smart, young, new voice of America, because most editors out there figure anything is better than having a cow like Hillary Clinton snorking around the White House making weasel deals again.

Ultimately, if she gets too close, one of my New York advisors has advised me to, "Bitch slap that ho." White women, I am told, like that. (Black women, on the other hand, do not. I tried that once on AliBama and she beat the living shit out of me.)

Of course, I also have to contend with John Edwards. My strategy is to ignore him until he actually manages to win a primary. Since he's, like, zero for 43 so far, that should be the end of him. You see, Mr. Edwards hasn't figured out that to win an election some people have to actually vote for you. (If he does make a run at me, I might consider bitch slapping him, as he is somewhat of a Pretty Boy if you get my jist.)

In closing, I humbly ask for your vote on Election Day, even if I did hang around the school yard and smoke pot when I was getting my Doctorate in Blackstuff. And, oh, by the way, I am in the process of finding out how I can also call myself "Reverend." I have a call in to Al Sharpton.

Thanks for visiting The Independent

DON'T BUY GASOLINE WITH ETHANOL IN IT.

2008-01-06T22:44:00.000-08:00

A personal note from a from a friend of mine in the Albany area:

First, let me assure you that this is NOT one of those obnoxious forwards - it is something I am writing out of my own frustration with the gasoline situation, and I'm doing it to give you information that you might find useful.

To save you time you may not want to spend reading this whole thing, here's the main point:

DON'T BUY GASOLINE WITH ETHANOL IN IT.

You'll get very poor mileage, stink up your interior and support the wrong idea about energy independence.

Now I'll give the longer version of my diatribe, based on direct experience, not on the input of other ravers (which I imagine is also readily available).

You may have noticed in recent weeks when you filled up that there are stickers on some pumps announcing that the gas is "maximum 10% ethanol." This is because a number of boneheaded politicians have allowed a very wealthy agribusiness lobby to convince them that this is the way toward energy independence (it's not - reduction in use would be a start, but no one in government seems to be advocating that idea). What amounts to a huge giveaway to corn farmers (poor they are not) is also threatening worse pollution of the Gulf of Mexico (through greater chemical runoffs) and a
grotesque misuse of farmland that should be producing food.

I've unwittingly used a few tankfuls of the evil stuff, before realizing that it was doing bad things to my car. The big head-scratcher was that I was suddenly getting the worst mileage I've ever gotten with this 14-year-old Acura Integra (it's like a gussied-up Honda Civic and averages well over 30 mpg). Was it the cold weather? tire pressure? age? oil leaks?

At first, I didn't connect the dots, but now I'm certain that the poorly burning veggie fuel is reducing my mileage by 10-15%. It has been confirmed to me by credible sources that ethanol is known to be cheaper (wholesale) and to give worse mileage. However, so far, it is not proving to be cheaper at the pump - so, with the worse mileage it is in fact a lot more expensive, not to mention more polluting (because you have to use more of it to go the same distance). And it adds to the profits of its sellers by causing unwitting customers to need to fill up more often.

It is also apparently giving off noxious fumes that make me feel lousy, but that's not been confirmed elsewhere.

Ethanol gas has become suddenly popular with area distributors because it is brought in through the Port of Albany for the whole Northeast, and therefore is especially cheap locally (wholesale) due to the short distance it must be trucked. But the distributors are not passing on these savings to the consumers, and they certainly aren't publicizing the fact that it is an inferior product. They are, however, trying to seem environmentally sensitive, which is a load.

I've seen this junk at Stewart's, Lukoil and Sunoco; also, I've heard that Cumberland Farms has it. So far, I know that Mobil still sells pure gasoline; I've also heard that Hess and Getty do, too - and the rest I don't know about one way or the other.

So, my advice to you is not to buy ethanol, and instead to find a station near you that sells the good stuff. I don't really care where the gasoline comes from - that's a rather complicated global political business that we can't do much about - but getting the best possible mileage and polluting less are definitely good things we can do by not using bad gas.

As for the politics - well, we can start by getting rid of the Republicans, but you already knew that.

Thanks for listening, and feel free to pass this on (but please don't overdo it!).

yours truly, D

United Methodist Bishops call for US/coalition withdrawal from Iraq.

2007-11-10T14:14:00.000-08:00

from the Council of Bishops

On Friday, November 9, 2007, the Bishops of The United Methodist Church called for the United States and its coalition partners to begin an immediate withdrawal of all troops from Iraq.

In addition to calling for the immediate safe and full withdrawal of troops and no additional deployment of troops to Iraq, their resolution urges the United States and its partners to:

Declare there will be no permanent military bases in Iraq.

Increase support for military veterans of the Iraq war and all wars.

Initiate and support a plan for reconstruction in Iraq, giving a high priority to humanitarian, social and educational needs of the Iraqi people.

The resolution is directed to U.S. President George W. Bush, the U.S. Congress, and leaders of the coalition.

“Every day that the war continues, more soldiers and innocent civilians are killed with no end in sight to the violence, bloodshed and carnage,” the bishops said in their resolution. They cited the deaths of more than 3,800 United States soldiers, 300 from other coalition countries, more than 28,000 wounded and the deaths of more than 76,000 Iraqi civilians.

The bishops made the call during their semi-annual meeting at a church retreat center in North Carolina’s Smoky Mountains. The bishops represent more than 11 million United Methodists in the United States, Africa, Europe, and the Philippines. About 125 active and retired bishops from around the globe attended the meeting.

In calling for the immediate withdrawal, the bishops said their position is based on the denomination’s position that “war is incompatible with the teachings and examples of Christ,” and Jesus Christ’s call for “his followers to be peacemakers.”

This is the latest in a series of steps the denomination’s leaders have taken to question the Iraq war. During their November 2005 meeting, the bishops approved a resolution urging President Bush, who is United Methodist, to create timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

The bishops called on United Methodists throughout the world to “be peacemakers by word and deed,” by conducting regular prayer vigils for congregations and communities; to care for all impacted by the war, including combatants and non-combatants by honoring the dead, healing the wounded, and calling for an end to the war.

The full text of the resolution

United Methodist Council of Bishops Resolution on the Iraq War

Whereas, the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church, meeting Nov. 9 at Lake Junaluska, N.C., is committed to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world; and

Whereas, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, calls his followers to be peacemakers (Matt. 5:9); and

Whereas, "We believe war is incompatible with the teachings and example of Christ" (Book of Discipline 2004, Par. 165.C); and

Whereas, the cost of the war in Iraq as of Nov. 7, 2007 has been the lives of 3,843 members of the U.S. military, 171 members of the United Kingdom military, 132 members of the other Coalition military, 28,385 U.S. military wounded, and the lives of at least 76,241 Iraqi civilians; and

Whereas the war in Iraq has displaced 2 million persons and forced another 2 million persons into refugee status;

Whereas, every day the war continues more soldiers and innocent civilians are killed with no end in sight to the violence, bloodshed and carnage;

Now, therefore, the Council of Bishops calls on the President and Congress of the United States and the leaders of all the nations in the Coalition Forces:

To begin immediately a safe and full withdrawal of all military personnel from Iraq, with no additional troops deployed;

To declare that there will be no permanent military bases in Iraq;

To increase support for veterans of the Iraq war and all wars;

To initiate and give strong support to a plan for the reconstruction of Iraq, with high priority given to the humanitarian and social needs of the Iraqi people, such as healthcare, education and housing;

Further the Council of Bishops calls United Methodist people throughout the world:

To pray for peace and to have regular prayer vigils for congregations and communities;

To care for all impacted by the war, including combatants and noncombatants by honoring the dead, healing the wounded and calling for the end of the war;

To be peacemakers by word and deed that we may be called the children of God.

Resources

United Methodist News Service story Council of Bishops calls for immediate Iraq withdrawal

General Board of Discipleship Resources

General Board of Church and Society Resources

United Methodist Social Principles on War and Peace

What the United Methodist Church says about Peace and War with Iraq

Let God Sort ’em Out

2007-11-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

Originally published in Metroland, Volume 29 - Number 26 - June 29, 2006

New video game could bring righteous bloodshed to a church near you

By Glenn Weiser

You’re a heavily armed 13-year-old boy patrolling the streets of Manhattan with a paramilitary group, ready to kill for Christ. Never mind that pesky commandment against murder—you’re exempt now. The Apocalypse has begun, and most of your fundamentalist brethren have been bodily whisked away to heaven in the Rapture to await the Second Coming, leaving behind on Earth only your militia, the Tribulation Forces, along with the civilians who haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior, such as Jews, gays, Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, and mainline Protestants, and your foes, the Antichrist’s Global Peacekeeping Forces (read: the United Nations). Your mission is to convert unsaved souls to born-again Christianity. If they don’t get religion, blow ’em away as you cry “Praise The Lord.” Converts become your fellow Christian soldiers fighting for an American theocracy.

This, the blog Talk to Action asserted last month, is the gist of Left Behind: Eternal Forces, a forthcoming video game slated for release this October from the Murrieta, Calif.-based Left Behind Games. Although some questions remain this week about the accuracy of the blog’s description, Eternal Forces already has drawn sharp criticism.

The slickly produced, real-time strategy game is based on the best-selling Left Behind series of books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, a fictional account of the Final Days derived from a fundamentalist interpretation of the Book of Revelation known as Dispensationalism. Created by Troy A. Lyndon and Jeffrey S. Frichner, the game will be marketed directly to evangelical congregations and advertised in secular gaming magazines. Violent video games are nothing new, but critics have branded Eternal Forces as an attempt to justify digital carnage with a veneer of religiosity. Even born-again Christians have objected.

Newsweek wrote about Left Behind: Eternal Forces in a brief March 6 article noting the game’s “top shelf design” and comparing its level of violence to that of Grand Theft Auto, but it wasn’t until May 1 that many details emerged. In a promotional interview published on the company’s Web site, Greg Bauman of Left Behind Games explained that the game is based on the first four of the 12 Left Behind novels and uses several of the books’ characters. The game comes with various options, he continued, including single- or multi-player modes for offline or online PCs respectively, levels of increasing difficulty, and the choice between fighting for Jesus or the Antichrist. As for the game’s depictions of killing, Bauman pointed out that the Bible narrates much violence, especially in the Old Testament.

On May 10, the Los Angeles Times covered Eternal Forces and gave a born-again critic his say. “We’re going to push this game at Christian kids to let them know there’s a cool shooter game out there,” the paper quoted attorney Jack Thompson, an author and opponent of violent video games. “Because of the Christian context, somehow it’s OK? It’s not OK. The context is irrelevant. It’s a mass-killing game.” And a mass-proselytizing one, too. Even though authors LaHaye and Jenkins are not directly involved with the project, they are, according to Greg Bauman, “supportive of this new means to reach people with the message in their books.” The Times also quoted Tim LaHaye, who said, “Our real goal is to have no one left behind.”

Later in May, a blogger, Jonathan Hutson, wrote about Eternal Forces on the left- leaning Talk to Action Web site, talk2action.org, stating that the game’s protagonists actively targeted groups such as Jews and gays. In describing scenes of “the bodies of New Yorkers piling up,” he also implied that civilians could become victims as well as opposing shooters. The Daily Kos (dailykos.com), recently credited by The New York Times as being the Net’s most influential progressive blog, quickly carried the story.

Hutson also discovered that Mark Carver, the executive director of megachurch pastor Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Ministries, was on the game company’s advisory board. He noted with concern that Warren, also author of the best-selling The Purpose Driven Life, is an adherent of Dominionism, an extremist belief that Old Testament law must be established worldwide in order for Christ to return. Imposing Mosaic law would, in theory, lead to mass executions by stoning of unrepentant gays, pagans, astrologers, and others, and also reinstate slavery. To achieve this, Warren, who also heads the 22,000-member Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., and a global network of 40,000 fundamentalist congregations, has said he needs a billion foot soldiers. (Fortunately, he’s nowhere close.)

But Warren has also publicly opposed shooter games, and Hutson’s article made him look hypocritical by exposing Carver’s involvement with Eternal Forces. On June 1, Mark Kelly, the press director of Purpose Driven Ministries, issued an e-mail statement denying any connection between Rick Warren and the game, adding, “I think the game’s developers will discover that Christian pastors and parents find the idea of such a game to be in extremely bad taste.” That didn’t quell the controversy, though, and on June 5, Purpose Driven Ministries again disavowed any ties between Warren and the game, and announced that Carver had resigned from the advisory board of Left Behind Games.

Troy Lyndon also has been bruised by the brouhaha. On June 15, the Left Behind Web site posted a statement by him disputing the blogs’ characterization of the game, saying, “The player does NOT target Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, or any other group.” The Web site Game Spy said in its review of Eternal Forces, “Players aren’t competing to kill the enemy army—rather, they’re trying to save them, and each person killed represents a failure rather than a success.”

In a June 27 phone interview with Metroland, Jeffrey Frichner denied that neutral civilians such as gays and Jews could also be snuffed for not coming to Jesus: “The people who wrote that have never seen or played the game.” Under persistent questioning, Frichner finally claimed not to know “that level of detail.”

He added, “I don’t know why that’s such an issue. Can you enlighten me?”

John Bach obituary from the Albany (NY) Times Union, October 2007

2007-10-29T18:16:00.000-07:00

Bach, John J. ALBANY John J. Bach, age 77, entered into eternal rest on October 25, 2007 at the Community Hospice Inn at St. Peter's Hospital in Albany, surrounded by his family. Mr. Bach was born in Albany to the late Myron J. and Katherine B. (Flood) Bach. He was a graduate of St. Teresa of Avila Parish School, Christian Brothers Academy and Siena College, earning a bachelor of science in pre-medicine and a master of science in education administration. He pursued further studies at Columbia University, Harvard University, New York University and the University at Albany. He served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1952 to 1954. In 1955, Mr. Bach began his career as a teacher of biology, chemistry and mathematics, first at Hackett Junior High School and subsequently at the Albany High School, then located on North Lake Ave.; he became guidance counselor at the high school in 1962. In 1966, he was appointed assistant principal of Albany High School and, in 1967, he became the youngest principal in the high school's history. He played a central role in planning the academic and physical design of the present-day Albany High School and was dedicated to the excellence of this program that combined Philip Schuyler High School and the old Albany High School. Mr. Bach served in and loved the role of principal for nearly 20 years. In 1986, Mr. Bach was appointed deputy superintendent for the Albany City School District, and, three years later, he became superintendent of schools. He continued to lead the district until his retirement in 1994. In these roles, he was the impetus behind the creation of magnet school programs in the district and oversaw the establishment of the Albany School of Humanities, the Montessori Magnet School and the Thomas O'Brien Academy of Science and Technology. He was also particularly proud of bringing Chinese language instruction to the high school and introducing preschool programs in the district. Mr. Bach's efforts to support and advance education in the city of Albany extended well beyond his work in the public schools. He served as president of the Center for Family and Youth (Project STRIVE), chairman of the board of trustees of Christian Brothers Academy, on which he served for 20 years, member of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany School Board, and as a member of the boards of trustees of the Academy of the Holy Names, St. Anne Institute, and the Capital Region Center for Arts in Education. Mr. Bach served on the board of trustees of the Albany Public Library from 1987 until his death. As president of the library from 2002 to 2007, he led the institution through its transition to independence from the city of Albany's government and budget, and then through the planning of the most comprehensive expansion and renovation of the library's branch system in its long history. Mr. Bach was a communicant at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Albany for 36 years. He was a voracious reader with an insatiable desire for knowledge. He was an avid gardener throughout his life. He had an encyclopaedic knowledge of Adirondack lakes and rivers, especially the quiet coves of Lake George that he fished in the company of family members and his dear friend, Bill Weber. He was a lifelong student of history and architecture, especially those of New York City and his beloved Albany. Mr. Bach's family was the center of his life. He is survived by his wife, Patricia Mulderry, who loved him and laughed with him for 46 years; five children who adored him, Ellen M. Bach of Albany, John J. Bach Jr. of New York City, Amy Bach DiLello of Providence, R.I., Erin Mulderry Bach of Washington, D.C., and Kathryn A. Bach of New York City; his sons-in-law, Robert V. Kelley III and Nicholas A. DiLello Jr.; five grandsons, for whom he was storyteller, boat captain and faithful fan, Hugh Robert, Brendan John, and William Patrick Bach Kelley of Albany and Ryan Nicholas and Kieran John DiLello of Providence; brother, Myron J. Bach and his wife Mary Ellyn of Albany, sister, Mary Allen and her husband Stanley of Venice, Fla.; brother-in-law, William J. D. Mulderry of Albany; and sisters-in-law Anne M. Mulderry of Kinderhook, N.Y. and Kathleen M. Smith of East Greenwich, R.I. He was the much-loved "Uncle Jack" to 19 nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his sister-in-law, Mary M. Smith, brother-in-law, Dennis C. Smith, and nephew, Stephen V. Mulderry. Relatives and friends are invited to call on Sunday from 4-8 p.m. at the Daniel Keenan Funeral Home, 490 Delaware Ave., Albany. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Catherine of Siena Church, Albany. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in memory of John J. Bach to the Albany Public Library Foundation, 161 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12210 or to the American Cancer Society, 260 Osborne Road, Loudonville 12211.

Elizabeth Oliphant Naismith obit from the Albany (NY) Times Union, October 2007

2007-10-28T02:08:00.000-07:00

Naismith, Elizabeth COLONIE Elizabeth Naismith died Tuesday, October 9, 2007 at the Albany County Nursing. Home. She was born January 1, 1924 in Edinburgh, Scotland, the daughter of James and Annie Naismith; also predeceased by her brother Robert. She worked in quality assurance in the dairy business and had her own Scottish book business. She was a member and deacon at First Presbyterian Church, Albany. Survived by sister-in-law, Cecelia; niece, Jacqueline; nephews, Harry and Peter; many great-nieces, nephews, cousins. Memorial service on Saturday, October 27 at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, Albany. Memorial contributions to the church or to FOCUS Breakfast program.

George F. Hasbrouck obit from the Binghamton (NY) Press, October 2007

2007-10-28T02:05:00.000-07:00

George F. Hasbrouck, 55, passed away on October 7, 2007 at his home in Morristown, N.J. He is the son of the late George M. Hasbrouck and Cora G. Hasbrouck of Binghamton, New York. He is survived by two sisters and brothers-in-law, Barbara and Michael Murphy, and Ellen and Kenneth Weissman and a niece, Katharine Murphy, all of New York City. George was born in Elmira, N.Y. and moved to Binghamton as a child. He graduated from Binghamton Central High School and was a Cum Laude graduate of Middlebury College. He was retired from AT&T where he worked for many years. Much of his life centered around the community of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Morristown. There he served as a Stephen Minister, providing end of life guidance and spiritual counseling. He was also a member of the vestry and sang in the parish choir. As a member of the St. Peter's Outreach Committee, he volunteered at the Morristown Soup Kitchen and other community organizations. He also loved the history and architecture of Morris County and served on the board of the Morristown Historical Preservation Committee.
A funeral will be held Friday, October 12, 2007, at 11 a.m. at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Morristown. For those who wish, contributions can be made to St. Peter's Episcopal Church or the Morristown Community Soup Kitchen, 36 South Street, Morristown, N.J. 07960

Four Metroland reviews of Dylan & Costello in Albany, printed October 11, 2007

2007-10-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

Taking It All In

By David Greenberger

Bob Dylan and His Band, Elvis Costello

Times Union Center, Oct. 6

Besides having created towering bodies of work as musical artists, Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello both understand the dynamics of show business. Though their public debuts were a decade and a half apart, they each found reason to jettison their given names in exchange for identities that would create a desired effect in the marketplace. The erstwhile misters Zimmerman and MacManus appeared on the same bill last Saturday at the Times Union Center (with Amos Lee in the unenviable position of having to play a short set of recently minted songs for an audience awaiting the confluence of memory and moment to goose them into a middle-aged high). Though they didn’t take the stage together at any point during the night, their adjacent sets allow for some thoughts on their similarities and differences.

Both men had powerful managers who succeeded in positioning them well from the outset, creating a base that allowed each of them to pursue their artistic inclinations, long after having parted ways (Dylan’s being Albert Grossman, Costello’s Jake Riviera). However, while generally faithful to their creative instincts, they each have made unsuccessful albums, failing because of their misguided attempts to either regain or enlarge their commercial standing. Dylan has had a handful of scattershot attempts (among them, Down in the Groove, Under the Red Sky, and Dylan and the Dead), while Costello needed to bottom out with Goodbye Cruel World before regaining his bearings. Other than a brief excursion over to David Geffen’s company in the ’70s, Dylan has spent the entirety of his career on Columbia Records, the same label on which Costello made his initial and largest splash (he left in 1986, after his 11th album).

Playing in an arena gave a certain regimentation to the night’s momentum. Costello’s 45-minute solo set was greeted with honest cheers that would have brought him back for an encore were it not for the lights coming up to quell the elation. His set included his earliest song (“Radio Sweetheart”) and a couple so new that they’ve not yet been released (“Down Among the Wines and Spirits” and “From Sulfur to Sugarcane,” co-written with T-Bone Burnett). This scribe’s favorite Costello number, “Blue Chair,” even made the list. Costello happily used the cavernous room’s acoustics, letting his voice linger on notes to bounce off the rafters. Though he was one man with a guitar, he presented himself not as a troubadour, but as a songwriter, inferring the songs’ larger arrangement possibilities and relishing the grooves. His outrage at the ongoing war in Iraq, as well as governmental failures at home, informed some of his choice of material as well as between-song anecdotes and observations. Songs such as “The River in Reverse” and “The Scarlet Tide” carry incredible power because he eschews sloganeering for poetic resonance or human-scaled narratives.

Dylan has done something that very few 60-plus artists achieve: He’s continued to replenish his audience with younger listeners. In his case this has been essential to the vitality of his ongoing tour, because it’s the audience members who are his own generational peers that grouse the most about the performances. Their complaints (“I didn’t recognize the song,” “His words were garbled,” etc.) simply describe their need for music to reassure, rather than challenge or surprise. Dylan has created songs so durable that they can disappear behind the engine of a great band. The songs become a means for six people to align themselves together in time and space and create an energy that would be different in any other configuration and in any other moment. Musical enrichment of that order is a rare commodity, and Dylan makes a case for it every time he takes the stage. No two nights are the same, and some are better than others, just like life itself. What we want from a Dylan concert is transcendence. It’s hard to pull that off in an arena, but he certainly hit his fall-back position: a great performance.

It’s a Wash

Bob Dylan and His Band, Elvis Costello

Times Union Center, Oct. 6

The following overheard ex change, between two college-age kids outside the bathroom at the Times Union Center, perfectly sums up my feelings on Saturday night’s Bob Dylan fiasco.

Kid No. 1: “I guess I expected his voice to not be all that great.”

Kid No. 2: “Dude, Dylan sucks.”

I’m not being irreverent just for irreverence’s sake; Dylan really does not have “it” anymore. Hasn’t in 20-some-odd years. Maybe it’s some character he’s playing (that might explain the weird pencil moustache), or maybe it’s just Dylan being Dylan—either way, it doesn’t click. I’m not looking for him to be the dust-bowl folkie of the early ’60s or even the Rolling Thunder minstrel boy of the mid-’70s, but just a glimmer of the Infidels-era fist-shaking would be nice. Instead, we’ve been fed the same semi-coherent freakshow for a quarter-century. We’re often told that we should appreciate what he is rather than what he was, that merely his appearance should warrant the utmost praise. That’s all bullshit: The only reason we’re still kissing Bob Dylan’s ass is because we’re afraid each record and/or live performance could be his last. (I’m looking at you, Rolling Stone—five-stars for Modern Times, my ass.)

Granted, after singing “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” for more than four decades, pretty much anyone would seem less than enthusiastic about rolling it out on a nightly basis. But on Saturday, that was one of the few recognizable tunes, and only for its chord progression. The lion’s share of Dylan’s set found the old man pitching a sub-Tom Waits grumble at his most tuneful numbers: “Simple Twist of Fate,” for one, was completely unrecognizable until the turnaround at the very end of the verse. And the band, as strong as each player might have been, failed to generate any real heat—imagine if Letterman’s Late Show band decided to play only late-period Grateful Dead covers. Sounds good, sure, but the Dead still suck.

The get-up-and-go-home moment came during “Masters of War.” To paraphrase my companion that evening: If a song has eight verses, I’d better be able to understand every damn word. I sure as hell shouldn’t have to wonder “Is this ‘Highway 61’?” three minutes into a song. Maybe I just don’t dig the blues, but I’d rather listen to the Wallflowers. (Incidentally, opener Amos Lee did a pretty good Jakob Dylan impression.)

To provide contrast, or just because he could, Dylan asked Elvis Costello along on his current tour. Now here’s an example of growing old gracefully: At 53, Costello still displays the fiery passion of his early years, and his solo set showed that he’s not only his generation’s most versatile songwriter, but one of its best singers, too, evidenced by both his way-underutilized falsetto on “Either Side of the Same Town” and the triumphant closing fanfare of “Veronica.” He told stories, waxed political, quoted the Who and Lennon and Def Leppard, and fucked up the chords to “Oliver’s Army,” all with trademark showmanship and vigor.

Is it too late to trade in Dylan’s entire set for another 40 minutes of Elvis?

Damn.

—John Brodeur

Hot and Bothered

Bob Dylan and His Band, Elvis Costello

Times Union Center, Oct. 6

“Don’t expect anything of Bob Dylan, he has done enough!” wrote an indignant fan in the comments section of a local newspaper’s Web site recently, defending the artist from a review that was a bit one-sided in its trashing of Dylan’s recent show at the Times Union Center. The fan’s comment was overly defensive, sure, but held a grain of truth: To seek enjoyment from Dylan’s present work, rather than from his Newport Folk Festival-flouting distant past, you have to let go of your expectations.

If you lionize the guy for his history as an artist who defies expectations and always follows his own path, than maybe you should accept certain things. Such as his right to show up onstage in a mariachi outfit, barking out lyrics in an even gruffer voice than usual, while leading a purple-suited band through nearly unrecognizable versions of classic songs like “Simple Twist of Fate” and “Highway 61 Revisited.” Personally, I’m OK with all that. From where I sat, the crowd was fairly indulgent too, for a time, cheering whenever Dylan got anywhere near a familiar musical phrase. (A friend of mine, seated in a different section of the arena, afterward relayed a story about a concertgoer who was so enthusiastic, yet so alarmingly oblivious, that she yelled out “That Dylan sure can sing!” during Elvis Costello’s opening set.)

Other facets of the show that bothered people, such as Dylan’s near-total lack of interaction with the audience, weren’t a deal-breaker for me. Positioned sideways to the stage in front of his keyboard for much of the time, he acknowledged the crowd only once, with a scant “Thank you” late in the set. Hell, he barely even looked up from his keyboard. That’s fine, I’m sure it wasn’t personal. And the song choices, heavy on more recent material, were OK too, as the mature wisdom and rollicking roadhouse vibe of his last three albums have their own charms.

But, that said, there was little actual enjoyment to be found during this show. The arena setting didn’t help. To relieve boredom, I kept trying to imagine the same show in a roadhouse somewhere, where you wander in off the highway and stumble upon Dylan and his crack band jamming out to this unheard version of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.” Now that would be a surreal and mind-blowing experience. Instead, we were left to sweat in an unbearably hot arena, which had no air conditioning despite the unseasonably hot and humid weather, while the crowd grew increasingly squirrelly and restless, some walking out early.

And with no concessions made by Dylan and company to make the arena conditions more tolerable—such as screen monitors for those in the back to get a closer glimpse of the action—watching Dylan and his band jam out strictly to their own tune onstage, without feeding off or acknowledging the crowd at all, started to feel strangely like an off-putting, voyeuristic exercise. Nothing is more rousing these days than an acerbic antiwar song, and when you find yourself straining to hope that “Masters of War”—perhaps the best antiwar song ever written—will be more electrifying than it is, that’s not good.

—Kirsten Ferguson

I Was There

Bob Dylan and His Band, Elvis Costello

Times Union Center, Oct. 6

Bob Dylan has built a catalogue of lyrics that stand as rock music’s greatest contribution to literature, but his uncanniest achievement has always been his relentless self-invention (the forthcoming movie I’m Not There seems to be a long overdue meditation on this aspect of Dylanology). For the last 15 years or so, Dylan has become the grizzled bluesman he’s seemingly always wanted to be, the folkie in blue jeans just another legend lost to time. Ambling on stage, Stratocaster in hand, leading his fedora-topped gang of desperados into a jaunt through “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat,” Dylan seemed right at home, his fingers shaking out little blues licks to join the bent notes of steel guitarist Donnie Herron and lead player Denny Freeman. Dylan stayed out front for a textbook rendition of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” and a jammy “Watching the River Flow” before retreating to his electric keyboard for the remainder of the concert.

One of conventional wisdom’s biggest falsehoods is that Dylan could never sing—I direct the jury to the New Morning and Street Legal albums in an effort to refute this claim. The only thing is, conventional wisdom is now correct: Dylan’s voice has become monotonous and nearly tuneless, and is the biggest reason why I personally can find no use for his last two, near-universally acclaimed “comeback” albums. In concert, this can be overlooked, especially during the songs that don’t suffer from his declamatory cadence. Like many of Dylan’s newer tunes, Love and Theft’s “Summer Days” uses the blues trope of repeating the first line of each verse, making a song of eight-plus verses almost insufferable, especially when it is simply Dylan bellowing braggadocious shit to a woman half his age. Yet classics like “Masters of War” and “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” have only gained power and relevance over the long stumble of years since they were written, Dylan’s death rattle taking on the befitting tone of the accusatory prophet.

Ironically, as one who hardly ever listens to latter-day Dylan on record, the song that I found most effective this night was “Workingman’s Blues #2,” from last year’s Modern Times. It seemed to sum up Dylan’s current philosophy the best: “You can hang back/Or fight your best on the front line/Sing a little bit of these workingman’s blues.” The so-called Never Ending Tour seems to be a way for Dylan to make sure he’ll die with his boots on.

—Mike Hotter

Costello/Dylan in Albany, NY - 10/6/07

2007-10-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

Purloined from here

Alexander writes:

I saw the Costello/Dylan concert last night. Excellent! I can see how some might be put off by Dylan (he's hard to understand, even if you know all the words to his songs), but having seen him at his touring nadir in the late 80s, I found his show to be very entertaining. The Costello set was even better! Here are the set lists for both performers:

Costello Set List
October 6, 2007

1. (The Angels Wanna Wear) My Red Shoes
2. Blue Chair
3. Either Side of the Same Town
4. The River in Reverse
5. Oliver's Army
6. Down Among the Wines and Spirits (new song, debuted 9/19/07 in Nashville concert)
7. From Sulfur to Sugarcane (new song, written with T-Bone Burnett for the film “All The King’s Men,” but not used. Debuted at 9/27/07 concert in Charlottesville, Virginia)
8. Veronica
9. Radio Sweetheart/Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile)
10. (What's so Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding
11. The Scarlet Tide

Dylan Set List
October 6, 2007

1. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (Bob on electric guitar, Donnie on lap steel)
2. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
(Bob on electric guitar, Donnie on lap steel, Stu on acoustic guitar, Tony on standup bass)
3. Watching the River Flow (Bob on electric guitar, Donnie on lap steel)
4. Simple Twist of Fate
(Bob on electric keyboard and harp, Donnie on pedal steel, Stu on acoustic guitar)
5. Rollin' and Tumblin'
(Bob on electric keyboard, Donnie on electric mandolin, Stu on acoustic guitar)
6. When the Deal Goes Down (Bob on electric keyboard and harp,
Donnie on pedal steel, Stu on acoustic guitar, Tony on standup bass)
7. 'Til I Fell In Love With You
(Bob on electric keyboard and harp, Donnie on lap steel)
8. Workingman's Blues #2
(Bob on electric keyboard and harp, Donnie on pedal steel, Stu on acoustic guitar)
9. Things Have Changed (Bob on electric keyboard and harp, Donnie on violin)
10. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
(Bob on electric keyboard and harp, Donnie on electric mandolin, Stu on acoustic guitar)
11. Highway 61 Revisited (Bob on electric keyboard, Donnie on lap steel)
12. Ain't Talkin' (Bob on electric keyboard, Donnie on viola, Stu on acoustic guitar)
13. Summer Days (Bob on electric keyboard, Donnie on pedal steel, Tony on standup bass)
14. Masters of War
(Bob on electric keyboard, Donnie on lap steel, Stu on acoustic guitar, Tony on standup bass)
(encore)
15. Thunder on the Mountain
(Bob on electric keyboard, Donnie on lap steel, Stu on acoustic guitar)
16. All Along the Watchtower
(Bob on electric keyboard, Donnie on lap steel, Stu on acoustic guitar)

Band Members
Bob Dylan - electric guitar, keyboard, harp
Tony Garnier - bass
George Recile - drums
Stu Kimball - rhythm guitar
Denny Freeman - lead guitar
Donnie Herron - violin, viola, electric mandolin, pedal steel, lap steel

From Nepal

2007-09-20T12:44:00.000-07:00

God: Hello. Did you call me?

Me: Called you? No. Who is this?

God: This is GOD. I heard your prayers. So I thought I would chat.

Me: I do pray. Just makes me feel good. I am actually busy now. I am in the midst of something.

God: What are you busy at? Ants are busy too.

Me: Don't know. But I can't find free time. Life has become hectic. It's rush hour all the time.

God: Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.

Me: I understand. But I still can't figure out. By the way, I was not expecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.

God: Well I wanted to resolve your fight for time, by giving you some clarity. In this net era, I wanted to reach you through the medium you are comfortable with.

Me: Tell me, why has life become complicated now?

God: Stop analyzing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it complicated.

Me: Why are we then always unhappy?

God: Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because you are analyzing. Worrying has become your habit. That's why you are not happy.

Me: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty?

God: Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional.

Me: But there is so much pain due to uncertainty.

God: Pain is inevitable able, but suffering is optional.

Me: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer?

God: Diamonds cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials, but don't suffer. With that experience their life become better not bitter.

Me: You mean to say such experience is useful?

God: Yes. In everything, experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.

Me: But still, why should we go through such tests? Why cant we be free from problems?

God: Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering Beneficial Lessons (to) Enhance Mental Strength. Inner strength comes from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems.

Me: Frankly in the midst of so many problems, we don't know where we are heading.

God: If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight.

Me: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in the right direction. What should I do?

God: Success is a measure as decided by others. Satisfaction is a measure as decided by you. Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than knowing you rode ahead. You work with the compass. Let others
work with the clock.

Me: In tough times, how do you stay motivated?

God: Always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go. Always count your blessings, not what you are missing.

Me: What surprises you about people?

God: When they suffer they ask, "why me?" When they prosper, they never ask "Why me" Everyone wishes to have truth on their side, but few want to be on the side of the truth.

Me: Sometimes I ask, who am I, why am I here. I can't get the answer.

God: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is not a process of discovery but a process of creation.

Me: How can I get the best out of life?

God: Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.

Me: One last question. Sometimes I feel my prayers are not answered.

God: There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO.

Me: Thank you for this wonderful chat.

God: Be well. Keep the faith and drop the fear. Don't believe your doubts and doubt your beliefs. Life is a mystery to solve not a problem to resolve. Trust me. Life is wonderful if you know how to live.

NO on H.R. 811

2007-09-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

The Alliance for Democracy Alert--Tuesday, September 4, 2007
HR 811 comes to a House vote Wednesday, September 5--tell your Representative to vote NO!

This Wednesday the House of Representatives is expected to vote on H.R. 811.

The original purpose of the bill was to provide a paper trail for the 2008 election. However, the bill has been so rewritten that it is unrecognizable to the experts originally consulted.

Because it requires a computerized text conversion device in every polling place, H.R. 811 would effectively rule out handcounted paper ballots, or non-computerized voter assistive devices that are accessible, less costly, and that avoid computerized vote counting. These text conversion devices represent an under-funded mandate for states, and a windfall for the e-voting industry.

The bill also gives the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), composed of four White House appointees, responsibility for setting specifications for all voting equipment - DRE and paper ballots - in every state, as well as vote-counting and recount procedures. None of the states will be able to legislate their own security requirements if this bill passes, and progress on the state level barring the use of electronic voting machines will be undone.

Not surprisingly, H.R. 811 is opposed by the National Association of Counties, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the National Association of Secretaries of State.

For a more detailed description of the EAC's proposed powers, see this article written by Nancy Tobi, who has been following the EAC since it was set up in 2002. For additional info and talking points, see "This Week's Actions" at Election Defense Alliance's website.

Please Call!
Take a few moments and phone or fax your Representative in Congress and tell them to vote against H.R. 811. If you don't know your Representative's number, call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Imagine that your life is a busy airport, with you as the air traffic controller

2007-08-24T08:52:00.000-07:00

Now let's look at your control screen. On the best day, it's chaotic with departures and arrivals. But there are some planes that never seem to land. They circle and circle endlessly, taking up space and multiplying stress.

These planes are your unresolved grievances. They hover, but they refuse to land. With them buzzing in your personal space, you're forced to work harder. They distract you, exhaust your resources, and cause accidents. Unable to forgive or let go, you try to keep your grievances aloft, creating stress and risking burnout.

This is a scenario that Dr. Fred Luskin, director and cofounder of the Stanford University Forgiveness Project, uses in his latest book, Forgive for Good, to describe the toll that unresolved grievances take on our lives. As the analogy shows, harboring our injuries robs us of precious time, energy, and the ability to move forward in our lives.

And here's some interesting news: Research has shown that forgiveness is good for our mental and physical health. Having the ability to forgive seems to reduce depression, defuse anger, improve spirituality, enhance emotional self-confidence, and help people live with greater peace.

Forgiving does not mean being a doormat, simply condoning or forgetting injury. Nor does forgiving mean that it's wrong for you to feel hurt and angry. As Dr. Luskin says in his book Forgive for Good, "Forgiveness is the feeling of peace that emerges as you take your hurt less personally, take responsibility for how you feel, and become a hero instead of a victim in the story you tell."

This last point is the most important: When we forgive, we stop being a victim of our past. That includes forgiving ourselves. It means giving ourselves a break when we fail to meet a goal or come up short in being perfect. We choose to move forward with purpose, instead of looking back with resentment."

Dr. Bettye (Bettye H. Albritton, Ph.D.)
Life is Fragile - Handle With Prayer!

Machinery of death grinds ahead

2007-07-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

----This man may be innocent. Georgia wants him dead
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions /2007/07/ 01/2007-07-01_machinery_ of_death_grinds_ ahead.html

By NY Daily News Columnist Errol Louis, July 1, 2007

2 days ago, the state of Georgia issued a death warrant in the case of Troy Anthony Davis, requiring the state's Department of Corrections to execute him by lethal injection between July 17 and 24.

There's overwhelming evidence that Davis did not commit the murder for which he has been sentenced to die. But Georgia's machinery of death is grinding ahead anyway, despite pleas for mercy from a growing number of voices including Amnesty International and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu.

Late on the night of Aug. 19, 1989, Davis got into a fight with a man outside a Burger King next to the Greyhound bus station in Savannah. A 27-year-old cop named Mark Allen MacPhail, moonlighting at the station as a security guard, ran to the scene and was shot to death.

No murder weapon was ever found, and no physical evidence made it to trial. But Davis - a 20-year-old tough known on the streets as RAH, for "rough as hell," was convicted of the grisly killing and sentenced to death on the strength of nine witnesses who claimed they saw him do it or heard him confess to the crime after the fact.

Six of the nine witnesses have since recanted their testimony, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A witness named Antoine Williams, who originally testified that he saw Davis pull the trigger, signed a sworn statement in 2002 that he had "no idea what the person who shot the officer looks like," and now says he was pressured by cops to finger Davis.

Another witness, a woman on parole named Dorothy Ferrell, also signed a sworn recantation of her original testimony. "I don't know which of the guys did the shooting because I didn't see that part," she now says. "I was still scared that if I didn't cooperate with the detective, then he might find a way to have me locked up again."

A man named Jeffrey Sapp, who testified to hearing Davis brag about the shooting the day after the murder, also signed a recantation and says cops pressured him. "None of that was true," he now says of his original testimony.

Another man who claimed Davis confessed to him now says he made up the story out of spite because Davis once spat in his face while both were in jail.

Sensing a pattern?

Stephen Sanders, who was at the Burger King when the shots rang out, originally told cops he couldn't identify the shooter except by the color of his clothes - but ended up naming Davis as the shooter at the trial, and is now ducking requests for interviews.

And last but not least, one of the key witnesses, Sylvester (Red) Coles - who originally went to police and named Davis as the shooter - is probably the real killer, according to Davis' lawyers. Coles never told cops he owned a .38 revolver, the kind used in the murder, and three people have come forward to say they heard Coles take credit for the killing.

"Red said he killed a policeman and a guy named Troy took the fall for it," one of these witnesses says.

But none of these facts can change Davis' sentence, thanks to the federal Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which puts a time limit on when evidence can be admitted in state death penalty cases.

Davis didn't have the aggressive legal help needed to round up witnesses in time: Georgia is the only state in the union that doesn't guarantee death row prisoners a lawyer during crucial points in the appeals process.

Those who want to help save Davis' life - a commutation would still leave him in prison without parole - should write a short note to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles and send it to Amnesty International, 730 Peachtree St., Suite 1060, Atlanta, Ga. 30308. The letter can be faxed to (404) 876-2276.

Please send your note soon. Enough voices raised might just give Davis the room he needs to prove his innocence - and stop the mad rush to execution that stains American justice.
***
From David Kaczynski, New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty

The impending execution of Troy Davis in Georgia is weighing on my heart.

For one thing, most of the evidence used to convict Davis has been discredited.

Unfortunately, the presumption of innocence becomes a presumption of guilt as soon as someone has been convicted. Thus, Davis is expected not only to disprove the evidence that led to his conviction, but he must also prove his innocence - something that is very difficult to do in non-DNA cases. It ought to shock us that we execute people whose guilt is so questionable.

But this particular case also feels personal to me. First, I corresponded briefly with Mr. Davis in 1999 and 2000. He wrote with dignity and intelligence. He likes baseball. He was concerned about his mother.

I also know Troy's sister, Martina Correa, who has been fighting for her brother's life for many years. I identify with her completely. She loves her brother and has dedicated much of her life and energy to saving him. Not only is Georgia planning to execute a man who may be innocent, but they are subjecting his family to a torment that could not be more cruel. Davis' mother is a lovely women, struggling with grief,
searching for a slender ray of hope. She and Martina are often seen at NCADP conferences, like so many of us who seek an extended family within the movement, among the hopeful and the wounded.

There are moments when I wake up to all the reasons that bring me to this struggle: love of family, love of humanity, and utter disgust for this callous system. The Troy Davis case is a poignant reminder.

Please take a moment to write a brief note to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles. I imagine Mr. Davis' chances are slim. But we should not let Georgia carry out this execution without hearing from us. Please write a brief note asking that Davis' life be spared.

Mail your letter to: Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles and send it to Amnesty International, 730 Peachtree St., Suite 1060, Atlanta, Ga. 30308. The letter can be faxed to (404) 876-2276.

Thanks,
David

Is There Courage in This Generation?

2007-07-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

"I asked myself: What can I do to end this war if I'm willing to go to prison for it?"

I heard that statement this afternoon. But unfortunately it came from an old man remembering something he did a long time ago. In fact I was listening to three old men: Daniel Ellsberg, Mike Gravel, and Robert West. Thirty-five years ago they came together to publish The Pentagon Papers and puncture the public's illusions about the Vietnam War.

To understand what The Pentagon Papers were, imagine that Donald Rumsfeld had the true and secret history of the Iraq War locked in safe somewhere. Imagine what would happen if somebody opened that safe.

Well, replace Rumsfeld with McNamara and Iraq with Vietnam, and you pretty much have it. Daniel Ellsberg was a Rand Corporation analyst who had the clearances necessary to see the Papers. He funneled them to Gravel, a senator from Alaska, who made them virtually unsuppressible by reading them into the Congressional Record. And West ran Beacon Press, the 36th publisher that Ellsberg and Gravel went to, the one that said yes.

I heard them tell their story today at the General Assembly of Unitarian Universalists, the annual national meeting of my faith. We UUs have a certain amount to crow about in this story: Beacon is our house press and Gravel is a UU.

In a day or two you should be able to watch the video here:
http://uua.org/events/generalassembly/2007/27648.shtml

You should. It's a great story, full of cloak and dagger: Ellsberg handing off the Papers to an associate at a Cambridge motel, and watching on the motel TV as the FBI raided his home. The associate doing a midnight transfer of boxes of documents from his trunk to Gravel's out in front of the Mayflower Hotel in D.C. Gravel, a dyslexic, needing his staff to help him read the 7,000 pages so that he would know what he had. All Gravel told each staffer was to pack a bag and come over to his house. At the door he met them individually and said "I have the Pentagon Papers. You can go home now, but if you come in you're staying until I leave for the Senate."

They all came in.

Imagine that. One congressional staffer after another willing to face going to jail -- not for money and not to cover up some other wrong-doing, but to end a war.

Seventeen different newspapers published portions of The Pentagon Papers in what Ellsberg called "institutional civil disobedience".

Imagine that.

Beacon Press agreed to publish the Papers in book form only after their usual law firm washed its hands and left. There was a real chance that West might go to jail, or that Beacon or even the UUA might be ruined.

They published.

Where does courage like that come from? Ellsberg says it's contagious. That was his exact word. He says he caught his courage by talking to draft resistors, the ones who decided to go to prison rather than to Vietnam. Gravel says he caught it from Ellsberg. And Gravel's staff must have caught it from him.

But that outbreak has been under control for years now. They must have come up with a vaccine or something, because I haven't seen a whole lot of courage lately.

Hundreds of people, Ellsberg speculates, have documents in their safes that could do for Iraq what The Pentagon Papers did for Vietnam. Hundreds more, he thinks, have documents that could derail the onrushing war with Iran.

If one of those people would decide that he's willing to go to prison.

Prison? These days I'd be happy just to see somebody who was willing to lose an election if necessary. Or just bear up while Dick Cheney scowled and Rush and Sean and their ilk said nasty things. Somebody who was willing to be ridiculed if that's what it took to end a war.

That's what Ellsberg saw in Gravel, and why he was willing to risk giving him the Papers. "Here was a senator who was not afraid to look foolish," he said today. "That's the fear that keeps us in line."

Ellsberg, we know in hindsight, didn't go to prison. The Nixon administration used such outrageous tactics against him that the case was thrown out of court. Gravel and West didn't go to prison. Beacon thrived. But nobody knew that was how it would come out.

So what does Ellsberg recommend to those hundreds of people who have the goods on our wars and potential wars? Don't wait. He thinks that if he'd done in 1963 what he did in 1969-72, the Vietnam War might never have become the fiasco it turned into. An informed public might not have stood for it. "Don't wait until the bombs are falling," he said this afternoon.

But he's an old man now. What does he know? Things were different in his day.

Doug Muder
22 June 2007

As always, I appreciate anything that gets me more readers. Feel free to forward this text or reproduce it in any other non-commercial way.

2007-07-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

July 4, 1776
Declaration of Independence

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —

Quote from Election Fraud in America:" America is at a crossroads....But it takes more than good voting technology to make a democracy....Citizens need to raise our voices and confront the ignorance and corruption that has resulted in the use of DREs in our elections. ...It's time for everyone to know about the history of election fraud in our country. It's not the paper ballots we have to worry about-it's secret procedures and lack of observers. What to do? Know the issue, and raise our voices until we are heard!". Teresa Hommel.

www.wheresthepaper.org/ElectionFraud_DontWorryAboutPaperBallots.htm

Election Fraud in America:
Don't worry about Paper Ballots--
The Problem is Secret Procedures and Lack of Observers!

Teresa Hommel
www.WheresThePaper.org
June 28, 2007

As a citizen activist against electronic voting machines ("DREs") and an advocate of voter-marked paper ballots and precinct-based optical scanners, the most common argument I hear against paper ballots is that "they have always been subject to fraud."

To find out more, I read Deliver the Vote by Tracy Campbell, a history of American election fraud from 1742 to 2004, and the 68-page chapter on fraud in Election Administration in the United States, which details some cases that took place in the 1920s.[1] Here's what I learned.

Regardless of the technology used for voting, three characteristics of fraud have always been the same:

1. Fraud occurs when election procedures are conducted in secret. Secrecy has been supported by law makers, law enforcement, and the courts. People in positions of power have stayed in power by controlling the conduct of elections, and keeping what they do secret.

2. When fraud occurs, citizens are treated as outsiders to the election process, and are prevented, by the use of law or violence, from participating in or observing election procedures, and from investigating irregularities.

3. In order to control the real votes that are cast, certain would-be voters have been discouraged from voting by the use of law and violence.

It's a sorry history--observers kidnapped or beaten up, and courts refusing to open the ballot boxes to find out whether what's inside has any relationship to precinct tally sheets.

DREs, electronic voting machines, continue this tradition of fraud. Just when surveillance cameras could open our poll sites to continuous observation and prevent the hanky-panky, DREs establish a new barrier to citizen oversight. Citizens are shut out. We can't understand the procedures. We can't observe in a meaningful way sufficient to attest that procedures and counting were proper and honest. Voters can't even observe their own votes.

Just like the ballot boxes of old, DREs cannot be opened-their insides are concealed by trade secret and intellectual property claims of vendors, which have been consistently upheld by election administrators and courts. Courts today are playing the same role with DREs that courts of yesterday played with wooden ballot boxes. Our courts are protecting the secret software and any other secrets that might be inside, such as log files showing communications intrusions, alterations of tally files, and other evidence of fraud. This is the reason we sometimes hear "there's no evidence that DREs have ever been subject to fraud."

Despite talk about outside hackers, insider control of election outcomes has never been easier--just point and click, and after changing the tallies, remember to "save" before you "exit".

It is ironic that by allowing our votes to be concealed inside computers-and thereby facilitating fraud-we may actually prevent some of the violence historically associated with elections. Obviously, with computers handling the votes, with errors and fraud being invisible and undetectable, it doesn't matter who votes or who observes in the poll site. We no longer need violence to suppress the vote or scare off observers.

New Legislation in an old Model

After I read these works on election fraud, I then read two election reform bills that have been introduced in Congress. They are scary and outrageous. H.R. 811 and S. 1487 would create new legal bases for the secrecy related to computerized voting systems, and further prevent citizen oversight of our elections. It appears that S. 1487 would even make the Election Assistance Commission exempt from FOIL requests.[2]

Technology Can Serve Democracy

Technology can be useful in elections in the form of tactile, mechanical, robotic, or computerized devices to assist voters with disabilities, non-English languages, or illiteracy who want to make their voting selections without requiring another person to know for whom they are voting.

Technology can also help to secure our ballot boxes: surveillance cameras, heat and motion sensors for storage areas, and the many technologies used in warehouses to protect and keep track of inventory.

There are many ways that twenty-first century technology can be useful in elections, but computers should not be used to record, cast, store, handle, and count the votes because this prevents the citizen participation and observation that can keep these procedures honest.

Computers are not secure. Computers cannot be secured.

People argue over whether computers are secure. "Yes they are!" "No they aren't!" The arguments are not very meaningful, because here's the fact--no large computer system is secure, and no computer system is secure from the people who work with it.

Paper can be secure.

Is paper secure? Can it be? Banks, warehouses, and other businesses protect paper with minimum difficulty by the use of careful procedures, competent management, and surveillance cameras. But it needs to be said that nationwide, our election administration has an aggressive "can't do" attitude: "we can't protect paper," "we can't get people to volunteer to help with elections," "we can't audit computers to show that they are working properly because audits are too burdensome, time-consuming, and expensive, and also they are unnecessary because we trust the computers."[3]

Election Reform in America-2007

America is at a crossroads. If we are to continue to be a democracy, we need to get rid of DREs now and use surveillance cameras to secure our ballot boxes for paper ballots.

But it takes more than good voting technology to make a democracy.

We citizens need to inform ourselves about our government via the alternative news media. Just on the subject of elections, most people know about the lost 18,000 votes in the Christine Jennings race in Florida's 13th Congressional District. But our major media has not covered the thousands of other documented failures of computerized voting machines, and the voters who were disenfranchised as a result. We can learn much from various web sites: www.VotersUnite.org , www.WheresThePaper.org, etc.

We citizens also need to remember what democracy means-government of the people. We need to show up as poll workers and observers. "Get out the vote" efforts may have a negative effect in the long run, because we citizens need to participate in more ways than just voting. Minimizing the responsibilities of citizenship to the mere act of voting trivializes both citizenship and voting, and may contribute to the attitude that voting doesn't count.

Conclusion - What to do!

Citizens need to raise our voices and confront the ignorance and corruption that has resulted in the use of DREs in our elections. It's time for all our public servants to know why DREs are wrong, with or without a paper trail, and to take a public position against continued use of DREs.

It's time for everyone to know about the history of election fraud in our country. It's not the paper ballots we have to worry about-it's secret procedures and lack of observers. It's time to tell our U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators that the election reform bills in Congress are an outrage, and should be revised immediately.

Everyone concerned about our elections needs to stay informed by subscribing to the Daily Voting News from VotersUnite.org. This includes activists concerned with other issues and all our public servants.

What to do? Know the issue, and raise our voices until we are heard!

# # #

_________
[1] Deliver the Vote, 2005, by Tracy Campbell, Carroll and Graf Publishers.
Election Administration in the United States, 1934, by Joseph P. Harris, Ph.D., available at
http://vote.nist.gov/election_admin.htm
[2] Resources are available at http://www.wheresthepaper.org/HR811.html
Analysis of HR 811, http://www.wheresthepaper.org/HR811markupCmt.htm
Analysis of S1487, http://www.wheresthepaper.org/S1487withCmt.htm and
http://www.wheresthepaper.org/S1487WhyItIsWrong.htm
[3] See for example, Testimony of Doug Lewis of The Election Center, March 20, 2007
http://www.wheresthepaper.org/HouseAdminTestimonyDougLewis3_20_2007.pdf

A few days before the November 2004 election, Jimmy Carter was asked what would happen if, instead of flying to Zambia or Venezuela or East Timor, his widely respected international election monitoring team was invited to turn its attention to the United States. His answer was stunningly blunt. Not only would the voting system be regarded as a failure, he said, but the shortcomings were so egregious the Carter Center would never agree to monitor an election there in the first place. "We wouldn't think of it," the former president told a radio interviewer. "The American political system wouldn't measure up to any sort of international standards, for several reasons."

from Steal This Vote by Andrew Gumbel

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2007-06-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

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A Message from Tyler Perry - Forgiveness this Father's Day

2007-06-14T06:59:00.000-07:00

[After plugs for the TBS show HOUSE OF PAYNE and the DADDY'S LITTLE GIRLS release on DVD.will be out on DVD...]

Speaking of fathers and father's day. A few years ago I wrote an article for Essence magazine about forgiving my father for all he had done. For so many years I was angry with him. I do believe that when I was growing up this man hated me to my core. I don't remember any happy memories with him. And I'm sure there had to be some, but it's funny what a child will hang on to. Like the times when I would be in my room sitting, reading or playing and the hairs on the back of my neck would stand up. I would turn and look at the window in the door and there he would stand staring at me as if he could kill me. I used to pretend that I was somewhere else (I think that's where my imagination and story telling was born). He would call me profane names all of the time. He would beat me with anything that he could get his hands on. He would play terrible mind games with me all the while beating and abusing my mother-- especially when she tried to protect me.

Needless to say I had a lot to forgive. And I needed to because the first 28 years of my life were filled with so much torture and turmoil that I wanted to die. All I wanted were answers. I wanted to know why he hated me so much and what did I do as a child that was so wrong that it would warrant that kind of mistreatment. Although my answers never came I knew that I had to move on, because all of the things that happened to me as a boy were affecting and defeating the man that I was to be. So, at 28 years old, I prayed and asked God to help me to find the strength to forgive my father. He was sleeping peacefully at night while I was enraged. I knew that I had to forgive him, not for him but for me and my future. After a bitter argument with him one day I told him all that I'd wanted to say to him, then I forgave him with all my might. The moment I did that, my life changed. All that I had been trying to do started to come together. I knew that something had changed in me and I could see it outwardly.

Even though there were so many things that I had forgiven, there was still so much more that I needed to learn. I found myself getting angry again when I realized all of the things that he didn't teach me.
He didn't teach me the little things that fathers should teach their sons--things like how to ride a bike or how to tie a tie or even about sports. And what made me the most upset was when I realized that he didn't teach me how to be a man, or a husband or a father. In the midst of my complaining, frustration and feeling sorry for myself God spoke to me and said, "Your lessons were in reverse. If you do the opposite of what he did then you have your answers."

My question to you today is this--"What lessons have you learned in reverse? And is there anyone that you need to forgive?"

Forgive them, forgive yourself, and then God will forgive you.

God bless. Happy Fathers Day.

Tyler Perry

Abolish death penalty; prevent the state from making fatal error

2007-05-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

by Douglas Warney, Guest essayist

I witnessed the debate this month when the New York state Senate considered a bill to bring back the death penalty for cop killers.

For more than three hours, our elected representatives argued the pros and cons
of capital punishment. I listened as the senators talked about a subject that
has never personally affected them. At times, I really wished I could have put
in my two cents!

In early 1996, I became the first person charged capitally under New York's new
death penalty statute. The district attorney at the time said I was a monster
who deserved to die. Fortunately, the grand jury indicted me only for
second-degree murder. Otherwise, I could have easily received the death penalty.
I was sentenced to only 25 years to life for a murder I had nothing to do with.
In some ways, I was lucky.

The only evidence against me was a confession that I was forced to sign after
several hours of harsh interrogation. You might think that no innocent person
would confess to a crime he or she didn't commit. But if so, you have no idea
what it's like to be locked in a small room for many hours with cops who are
convinced you're guilty. I got to a point where I was willing to say anything
just to get out of there.

Fortunately, the Innocence Project got involved in my case. And when my DNA was
finally tested, it proved my innocence. But by then I had served more than nine
years in state prison.

To be honest with you, accountability means nothing to me if we fail to learn
any lessons from our mistakes. I would like to see our representatives in the
state Legislature do everything possible to prevent what happened to me from
happening to anyone else.

Recognizing that the system makes mistakes means that we can't have a death
penalty. There's just no way to correct a mistake after someone has been
executed. But it also means that we should take reasonable steps to prevent what
happened to me from happening to others.

I really perked up during the Senate debate when Sen. Eric Schneiderman,
D-Manhattan, offered an amendment to the death penalty bill to protect the
wrongly accused. His amendment would have required the videotaping of
interrogations, better preservation of DNA evidence and more careful handling of
eyewitness identifications. All of these are reasonable precautions given that
the vast majority of wrongful convictions occur because of eyewitness
misidentifications and because of coerced "confessions" like mine.

I couldn't believe it when the Senate voted to defeat Schneiderman's amendment.
Deep inside I was crying, "Why are they doing this?" Are they crazy?!"

Warney, of Rochester, was released from prison last year after serving more than
nine years for a murder he did not commit.

From the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, May 22, 2007

Cerebus #1 Counterfeit detection tips

2007-05-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

Appropriated from: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8580/counterf.html because the page has been down from time to time.

There are a number of slight differences between the real and counterfeit versions of Cerebus #1. Here is a listing of them, special thanks to Chuck Costas, Rory Root, John Tinkess and Margaret Liss.

Real: Has Silver staples.
Fake: Has Bronze staples.

Real: Inside cover is flat, outside cover is glossy.
Fake: Both sides of the cover are glossy.

Real: Cover background is pure red.
Fake: Cover background is red, but has a slight orange-ish tint.

Here is a big picture to better show the differences via the red covers.

Real: Cover is of variable print quality (sometimes "smudging" appears around the right horn on Cerebus' helmet and the hilt of his sword).
Fake: Cover is always crisp.

Fake: Sometimes a black outline can be seen at the bottom of the cover.

Both: Verticle black smudge line appears on the back cover where the "Collector's Edition" banner ends (because the book was printed "golden age size" when the artwork was intended to be modern age sized)

So if you have a very good-looking Cerebus #1 it may be a counterfeit. It's sad to say but there are counterfeit comics out there. Especially for high value independent comics. If you are thinking of buying one, check around to see if counterfeits were made (and how to detect them) before doing the purchase.

Find your birthday and then find your tree

2007-05-06T13:56:00.000-07:00

>>Dec 23 to Jan 01................ Apple Tree
>>Jan 01 to Jan 11.................. Fir Tree
>>Jan 12 to Jan 24.................Elm Tree
>>Jan 25 to Feb 03................ Cypress Tree
>>Feb 04 to Feb 08................Poplar Tree
>>Feb 09 to Feb 18................. Cedar Tree
>>Feb 19 to Feb 28.................Pine Tree
>>Mar 01 to Mar 10................ Weeping Willow Tree
>>Mar 11 to Mar 20................Lime Tree
>>Mar 21 (only)..................... Oak Tree
>>Mar 22 to Mar 31...............Hazelnut Tree
>>Apr 01 to Apr 10................ Rowan Tree
>>Apr 11 to Apr 20.................Maple Tree
>>Apr 21 to Apr 30................ Walnut Tree
>>May 01 to May 14...............Poplar Tree
>>May 15 to May 24............... Chestnut Tree
>>May 25 to Jun 03 .............Ash Tree
>>Jun 04 to Jun 13................ Hornbeam Tree
>>Jun 14 to Jun 23................ Fig Tree
>>Jun 24 (only)....................Birch Tree
>>Jun 25 to Jul 04................ Apple Tree
>>Jul 05 to Jul 14..................Fir Tree
>>Jul 15 to Jul 25.................. Elm Tree
>>Jul 26 to Aug 04...............Cypress Tree
>>Aug 05 to Aug 13.............. Poplar Tree
>>Aug 14 to Aug 23..............Cedar Tree
>>Aug 24 to Sep 02.............. Pine Tree
>>Sep 03 to Sep 12................ Weeping Willow Tree
>>Sep 13 to Sep 22.................Lime Tree
>>Sep 23 (only)..................... Olive Tree
>>Sep 24 to Oct 03...............Hazelnut Tree
>>Oct 04 to Oct 13............... Rowan Tree
>>Oct 14 to Oct 23...............Maple Tree
>>Oct 24 to Nov 11............... Walnut Tree
>>Nov 12 to Nov 21..............Chestnut Tree
>>Nov 22 to Dec 01............. Ash Tree
>>Dec 02 to Dec 11..............Hornbeam Tree
>>Dec 12 to Dec 21.............. Fig Tree
>>Dec 22 (only)................. Beech Tree
>>
YOUR TREE(in alphabetical order)

>>Apple Tree (the Love) -- quiet and shy at times, lots of charm, appeal, and attraction, pleasant attitude, flirtatious smile, adventurous, sensitive, loyal in love, wants to love and be loved, faithful and tender partner, very generous, many talents, loves children, needs affectionate partner.
>>Ash Tree (the Ambition) -- extremely attractive, vivacious, impulsive, demanding, does not care for criticism, ambitious, intelligent, talented, likes to play with fate, can be very egotistic, reliable, restless lover, sometimes money rules over the heart, demands attention, needs love and much emotional support.
Beech Tree (the Creative) -- has good taste, concerned about its looks, materialistic, good organization of life and career, economical, good leader, takes no unnecessary risks, reasonable, splendid lifetime companion, keen on keeping fit (diets, sports, etc.).
>>Birch Tree (the inspiration) -- vivacious, attractive, elegant, friendly, unpretentious, modest, does not like anything in excess, abhors the vulgar, loves life in nature and in calm, not very passionate, full of imagination, little ambition, creates a calm and content atmosphere.
>>Cedar Tree (the Confidence) -- of rare strength, knows how to adapt, likes unexpected presents, of good health, not in the least shy, tends to look down on others, self-confident, a great speaker, determined, often impatient, likes to impress others, has many talents, industrious, healthy optimism, waits for the one true love, able to make quick decisions.
>>Chestnut Tree (the Honesty ) -- of unusual stature, impressive, well-developed sense of justice, fun to be around, a planner, born diplomat, can be irritated easily, sensitive of others feelings, hard worker, sometimes acts superior, feels not understood at times, fiercely family oriented, very loyal in love, physically fit.
>>Cypress Tree (the Faithfulness) -- strong, muscular, adaptable, takes what life has to give but doesn't necessarily like it , strives to be content, optimistic, wants to be financially independent, wants love and affection, hates loneliness, passionate lover which cannot be satisfied, faithful, quick-tempered at times, can be unruly and careless, loves to gain knowledge, needs to be needed.
>>Elm Tree (the Noble-mindedness) -- pleasant shape, tasteful clothes, modest demands, tends not to forgive mistakes, cheerful, likes to lead but not to obey, honest and faithful partner, likes making decisions for others, noble-minded, generous, good sense of humor, practical.
>>Fig Tree (the Sensibility) -- very strong minded, a bit self-willed, honest, loyal, independent, hates contradiction or arguments, hard worker when wants to be, loves life and friends, enjoys children and animals, few sexual relationships, great sense of humor, has artistic talent and great intelligence.
>>Fir tree (the Mysterious) -- extraordinary taste, handles stress well, loves anything beautiful, stubborn, tends to care for those close to them, hard to trust others, yet a social butterfly, likes idleness and laziness after long demanding hours at work, rather modest, talented, unselfish, many friends, very reliable.
>>Hazelnut Tree (the Extraordinary ) -- charming, sense of humor, very demanding but can also be very understanding, knows how to make a lasting impression, active fighter for social causes and politics, popular, quite moody, sexually oriented, honest, a perfectionist, has a precise sense of judgment and expects complete fairness.
>>Hornbeam Tree (the Good Taste) -- of cool beauty, cares for its looks and condition, good taste, is not egoistic, makes life as comfortable as possible, leads a reasonable and disciplined life, looks for kindness and acknowledgment in an emotional partner, dreams of unusual lovers, is seldom happy with its feelings, mistrusts most people, is never sure of its decisions, very conscientious.
>>Lime Tree (the Doubt) -- intelligent, hard working, accepts what life dishes out, but not before trying to change bad circumstances into good ones, hates fighting and stress, enjoys getaway vacations, may appear tough, but is actually soft and relenting, always willing to make sacrifices for family and friends, has many talents but not always enough time to use them, can become a complainer, great leadership qualities, is jealous at times but extremely loyal.
>>Maple Tree (Independence of Mind) -- no ordinary person, full of imagination and originality, shy and reserved, ambitious, proud, self-confident, hungers for new experiences, sometimes nervous, has many complexities, good memory, learns easily, complicated love life, wants to impress.
>>Oak Tree (the Brave) -- robust nature, courageous, strong, unrelenting, independent, sensible, does not like change, keeps its feet on the ground, person of action.
>>Olive Tree (the Wisdom) -- loves sun, warmth and kind feelings,reasonable, balanced, avoids aggression and violence, tolerant, cheerful, calm, well-developed sense of justice, sensitive, empathetic, free of jealousy, loves to read and the company of sophisticated people.
>>Pine Tree (the Peacemaker) -- loves agreeable company, craves peace and harmony, loves to help others, active imagination, likes to write poetry, not fashion conscious, great compassion, friendly to all, falls strongly in love but will leave if betrayed or lied to, emotionally soft, low self esteem, needs affection and reassurance.
>>Poplar Tree (the Uncertainty) -- looks very decorative, talented, not very self-confident, extremely courageous if necessary, needs goodwill and pleasant surroundings, very choosy, often lonely, great animosity, great artistic nature, good organizer, tends to lean toward philosophy, reliable in any situation, takes partnership Seriously.
>>Rowan Tree (the Sensitivity) -- full of charm, cheerful, gifted without egoism, likes to draw attention, loves life, motion, unrest, and even complications, is both dependent and independent, good taste, artistic, passionate, emotional, good company, does not forgive.
>>Walnut Tree (the Passion) -- unrelenting, strange and full of contrasts, often egotistic, aggressive, noble, broad horizon, unexpected reactions, spontaneous, unlimited ambition, no flexibility, difficult and uncommon partner, not always liked but often admired, ingenious strategist, very jealous and passionate, no compromise.
>>Weeping Willow (the Melancholy) - - likes to be stress free, loves family life, full of hopes and dreams, attractive, very empathetic, loves anything beautiful, musically inclined, loves to travel to exotic places, restless, capricious, honest, can be influenced but is not easy to live with when pressured, sometimes demanding, good intuition, suffers in love until they find that one loyal, steadfast partner; loves to make others laugh.

The Declaration at the End of the Underground Railroad Conference, Albany, NY, 2/24/2007.

2007-03-07T17:58:00.000-08:00

Fugitives From Slavery Who Passed Through Albany

Miss Harriet Jacobs was repeatedly lied to and abused by her enslaver. She escaped and hid in a crawl space in a shed on her free grandmother’s property for seven years. She finally escaped north but continued to be pursued. She came to the Albany area while working as the caretaker of a wealthy woman’s child. Harriet Jacobs, we remember you as . . .

· All: one of the people of courage, people of hope, seekers of justice

William and Catherine Harris and their child escaped slavery in South Carolina. Their journey took them through Philadelphia, New York and Albany. They met tragedy along the Erie Canal with the death of their child, but continued on to Canada to find their freedom. William and Catherine Harris, we remember you as . . .

· All: one of the people of courage, people of hope, seekers of justice

Harriet Tubman, while a fugitive, assisted others to freedom despite having a bounty set for her capture. She did this work in spite of seizures that plagued her because of being struck in the head by a slave overseer as a child. She visited Troy and helped rescue Charles Nalle from capture in 1860. Harriet Tubman, we remember you as . . .

· All: one of the people of courage, people of hope, seekers of justice

John Williams and Martha Williams escaped enslavement and come as far north as Hudson. They found employment at the home of Charles Marriott in Hudson. After the “Prigg” decision of 1842 they considered it unsafe to stay in New York and went farther north to the Rokeby Farm in Ferrisburgh, Vermont. John and Martha Williams, we remember you as . . .

· All: one of the people of courage, people of hope, seekers of justice

Miss Leah Brown, fugitive from slave owner Mrs. Mc Donald who held the rest of her family in bondage, had a bounty of $100 set for her recapture. Miss Brown’s pursuit of her freedom brought her into Albany, and thence on to Canada. Miss Leah Brown, we remember you as . . .

· All: one of the people of courage, people of hope, seekers of justice

Mary Anne was a fugitive from Dr. Stewart, who sought her return to bondage. She was assisted by friends to escape her enslavement. Her passage to freedom took her through Albany. Mary Anne, we remember you as . . .
· All: one of the people of courage, people of hope, seekers of justice

Miss Sarah Smith escaped her violent and cruel enslavement in New Orleans, coming to Albany with her husband, daughter of 4 years and an unborn child. Sarah and your family, we remember you as . . .

· All: one of the people of courage, people of hope, seekers of justice

Elizabeth Castle, a dressmaker, along with Minerva Polly, Marianna, Marianna’s daughter and an unborn child, were fugitives from Baltimore, Maryland. They sought relief and assistance in Albany, but, being pursued by slave catchers, they were forced to go on to the Dawn Mills settlement in Canada where they could live a life of freedom. Elizabeth, Minerva, Marianna, and Marianna’s daughter, we remember you as . .

· All: one of the people of courage, people of hope, seekers of justice

Eliza Wilson came to Albany. She had been beaten with sticks, stripped and beaten with a cat of nine tails repeatedly and washed with salt brine to make the pain worse. She was badly scarred. She was kept illiterate and was made to work as a field hand. She escaped this treatment and fled north to Canada through Albany. Eliza, we remember you as . . .

· All: one of the people of courage, people of hope, seekers of justice

Joe and Rosa from the Shenandoah Valley, near Blue Ridge, in Virginia were slaves of Mr. Ridgley. They fled when they were to be sold to Georgia. They connected with Underground Railroad operators and traveled north through Albany. Joe and Rosa, we remember you as . . .

All: one of the people of courage, people of hope, seekers of justice

Essential vocabulary for the workplace

2007-02-09T12:59:00.000-08:00

1. BLAMESTORMING : Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.

2. SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager, who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.

3. ASSMOSIS: The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.

4. SALMON DAY : The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end.

5. CUBE FARM : An office filled with cubicles.

6. PRAIRIE DOGGING : When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on.

7. MOUSE POTATO : The on-line, wired generation's answer to the couch potato.

8. SITCOMs: Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. What Yuppies get into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids.

9. STRESS PUPPY : A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.

10. SWIPEOUT: An ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless because magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.

11. XEROX SUBSIDY : Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one's workplace.

12. IRRITAINMENT: Entertainment and media spectacles that are Annoying but you find yourself unable to stop watching them.

13. PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE : The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again. Often feel like doing this to my computer------

14. ADMINISPHERE : The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve.

15. 404 : Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error Message "404 Not Found," meaning that the requested site could not be located.

16. GENERICA : Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, and subdivisions.

17. OHNOSECOND : That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you've just made a BIG mistake. (Like after hitting send on an email by mistake).

18. WOOFS : Well-Off Older Folks.

19. CROP DUSTING : Surreptitiously passing gas while passing through a Cube Farm.

- Author Unknown

A Message from Tyler Perry in South Africa, 1/8/2007

2007-01-17T07:19:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday morning. I'm sitting here in South Africa watching the sun rise. I'm aware that the time is seven hours ahead of the east coast and that most of America is asleep, but I wish that I could wake you all up to see this. It is so peaceful here. In a few hours I will be heading home and I will take from these ten days a lifetime of memories.

It started with the invitation from Oprah to join her here for the opening of her school. I was a little reluctant to come and spend New Year's here because I have been in church every New Year's night since I can remember. Well, I can honestly say that this was truly more spiritual than being in any watch night service that I've ever been in. This entire trip has been unbelievable. From the time that I left, I have been having unforgettable memories. Like, getting to have several conversations with the most eloquent man that I have ever met--Mr. Sidney Poitier. He has so much class and grace. The wisdoms that he left me with on this trip were worth the trip alone.

Then getting to this continent and being greeted by African drums? WOW!
And the spirit of all the invited guests. It seemed that everybody
that I spoke with left me with something that I could use in my life.
I know that God was here.

The New Year's Eve bash was too much for your senses to take in. I can't even begin to explain how beautiful it was. It started with an African choir singing native songs and then ending with "Amazing Grace" and "Oh Happy Day". It was the clearest night that I had ever seen and with the biggest moon. It was as if God, Himself, wanted to show off the heavens to us. At midnight I stepped away and said a prayer. When I turned around Mary J Blige was taking the stage and she rocked the place. Then there were several impromptu performances--Patti Labelle then Baby Face. He sang "If I Could Change The World". This was all unsolicited mind you. Then India Arie sang, then Tina Turner closed the show with "Simply The Best". I danced until the sun came up.

The next day we left Sun City and headed to Johannesburg. We drove through some of the townships. The poverty was heartbreaking, but the
children were so happy. Someone said to me, "I wonder what they
dream about". It didn't take me long to find out.

As many of you know, after educating thousands of children in America, Oprah has opened a school here for girls. And when I saw these children, my God, you had to see their faces and hear their stories to understand. When we got to the school, these girls (12 and 13 years
old) talked about how they dreamed about not just becoming doctors and teachers, but discovering the cure for AIDS, or becoming President, or the Minister of Education. I have never in my life seen so much gratitude and so much hope.

Then the next day I got to meet Madiba Nelson Mandella! Life changing, life changing is all I can say. I also went to Robben Island and saw where he was in prison. I stood in his cell. I don't think that my life will ever be the same after that visit.

I know that this is a long email this time, but hear me when I say this--Let 2007 be the year that you follow your dream. Don't let anybody tell you what you can't do. With the help, grace and favor of God you can live your dream and bring it to pass. Believe in yourself. All of you who have stopped dreaming, go find it, dust it off, get back at it. It's never too late. That dream that has been
nagging you and won't let you rest will lead you to your destiny.
It's how God moves. Go for it! It is possible! Faith can take you to fruition?when you believe.

Tyler

Biblical Understanding of Marriage

2007-01-17T07:14:00.000-08:00

Dear President Bush:

The Presidential Prayer Team is currently urging us to: "Pray for the President as he seeks wisdom on how to legally codify the definition of marriage. Pray that it will be according to Biblical principles. With any forces insisting on variant definitions of marriage, pray that God's Word and His standards will be honored by our government."

Any religious person believes prayer should be balanced by action. So here, in support of the Prayer Team's admirable goals, is a proposed Constitutional Amendment to codify marriage on biblical principles:

A. Marriage in the United States shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5)

B. Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines, in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21)

C. A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deut 22:13-21)

D. Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Gen24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh10:30)

E. Since marriage is for life, neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any State, nor any state or federal law, shall be construed to permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9)

F. If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his brother's widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe. (Gen.38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10)

Theological Diversity - Reason vs. Metaphysics by Carlyle "Kirk" Herrick

2007-01-17T07:07:00.000-08:00

EXPLORING THE WORLD OF FAITH V
Theological Diversity - Reason vs. Metaphysics
1-15-2007

Today there is great concern in the United Methodist Church over theological
diversity within the Christian Faith; can it be accommodated within
permissible boundaries of faith, or is it heresy? Must we understand the
New Testament literally, or may we understand it metaphorically? A literal
understanding invokes 1st century metaphysics, while a metaphorical
understanding may deny metaphysics, but accommodates 21st century reasoning.
A majority of members of Troy Conference are sympathetic with the idea that
diversity should be explored, and in 2000 created a Critical Issue Team to
explore theological diversity. Explorations have not yet been described.

On the other hand, for more than three decades and with wide publicity, an
informal organization of Methodists known as the "Good News Movement" has
been accusing The United Methodist Church of deserting scriptural integrity
by embracing theological diversity. They vigorously defend scriptural
integrity, and define it to require a literal reading of the New Testament
portion of the Bible as inspired revelation - the actual written Word of
God, which does not allow diversity.

As far back as 1975 United Methodism was seen to be a sick denomination.
Membership had declined by one million in seven years, and worship
attendance had declined proportionately. At that time Good News claimed this
condition to result from weak, ineffective ministerial leadership. Since
most ministers personal theology can be largely determined by knowing which
seminary they graduated from, and the decade they graduated, Good News was
convinced that our seminaries bore a major portion of the responsibility.
Their mantra seemed to be - we have sick churches largely because we have
sick seminaries.

The membership slide has continued up to the present time, but,
philosophically and theologically, not much else has changed since then. In
2001 a prominent Methodist pastor, the Rev. Robert W. Thornburg, dean of
Marsh Chapel at the Methodist-founded Boston University said "The
denomination has a serious split in identity between a more liberal clergy
and a more conservative laity. Acknowledging the diversity (that difference
between clergy and laity) is not particularly courageous - it's realistic.
There is a serious identity problem in the denomination as a whole."

In this case I believe the word liberal intends to indicate that clergy has
some reservations about a literal reading of biblical scripture. Good News
avers that the reservations are taught in seminary, and that opinion seems
to be widely accepted in Methodist circles. In one example, students at
Candler theological seminary complained that one professor openly declared
his disbelief in physical resurrection. An additional corroboration of the
clergy-laity split comes from the voting records of the several recent
General Conferences which suggest that a majority of delegates have
consistently supported the Good News positions.

I am personally aware of a substantial dissatisfaction among Methodist
pastors with some details presented in the biblical scriptures. In part this
awareness arose from my contact with pastors while I was a lay member of
Troy Conference some time ago. During my service on conference boards and
agencies, I had private conversations with many pastors, and in more than
half of these contacts pastors unexpectedly confided to me that they no
longer believed the stories of Jesus' virgin birth or physical resurrection,
as they are recorded in the Gospels.

Those pastors were closet dissenters from a literal reading of those
scriptural details. They preferred to read those details as metaphors. A
public admission of those - probably heretical - views could deleteriously
affect their professional future, so they stayed in the closet. It seems
apparent that those pastors do not preach those views from the pulpit,
otherwise their laity would ultimately come into agreement and we would not
have the existing separation of theological views between the pastorate and
the laity. This raises two important questions. What happened to the
pastors/seminaries to change their theological outlook? And why didn't the
same change take place in the laity? Answers to these questions should help
us to understand the theological diversity problem more completely. As the
search for answers begins I recognize that biased treatment might sometimes
occur because I am a 21ST century person. By being aware of the
possibility, I hope to avoid bias and deliver an even-handed discussion.

The United Methodist Book of Discipline requires unity among members in
accepting a Confession of Faith which is derived from a literal reading of
the New Testament portion of the Bible. The Book of Discipline also embraces
Wesley's familiar dictum "as to all opinions which do not strike at the root
(core) of Christianity, we think and let think." In other words Methodists
are free to explore theological diversity which does not involve scripture
derived from a literal reading of the Bible. That freedom is manifestly not
broad enough to cover the views of the closet-dwelling pastors.

In addition the Book of Discipline embraces Wesley's process for engaging in
theological reflections; the well known Wesley Quadrilateral. Scripture is
the primary authority, but other theological authorities include tradition,
experience, and reason. The following quotation from the Book of Discipline
seems inconsistent with the earlier requirement of unity and the Wesley
dictum. "By reason we relate our witness to the full range of human
knowledge, experience, and service. Since all truth is from God, efforts to
discern the connections between revelation and reason, faith and science,
grace and nature, are useful endeavors in developing credible and
communicable doctrine."

By relating our witness, our beliefs, to the full range of human knowledge,
experience, and service, we broaden our theological outlook well beyond the
Wesley limitations, and we commit to recognizing and accepting additional
Word of God as it continues to be revealed with the passing of time. In
effect the two underlined sentences above outline a process for bringing
Methodism fully into the 21st century, a process which almost certainly must
involve a broader theological diversity than Wesley envisioned. However, to
my knowledge that process has yet to be implemented to any significant
degree.

This situation got me interested in the subject of theological diversity,
and as a result, and somewhat later, I entered into a season of theological
reflection with the goal of identifying the central core of the difficulty
obstructing implementation of the process, and with the hope of possibly
discovering a path to an acceptable resolution. My reflections began with
three assumptions; that God exists; that God is the creator of the Cosmos;
and that God is unchanging; only our perceptions of God change. I imposed
no scriptural restraints on the explorations, lest that restraint might
unintentionally obscure from view the real core of the problem.

After considerable thought it occurred to me that the central core of the
problem might lie in the nature of religions in general. All religions
appear to have originated when some persuasive and strong-willed person with
mystical tendencies, believes, and reports to the public, that they have had
a contact experience with the spirit world. The nature and content of that
contact experience generally gives shape and form to the details of the new
religion, including scriptures which may evolve afterward for the guidance
of the religion's practitioners. This is not a common experience; is not a
natural experience; hence it is considered to be supernatural.
Metaphysical - beyond physics - is another word for describing these
mystical events.

No matter how persuasive, and strong-willed a mystic may be, and how
convincing his encounter with the spirit world may be, a new religion will
not result unless these encounter events are reported in a social setting
where they are appealing and believable to other people. Contacts with the
spirit world have to be convincing to others, and they must remain
convincing afterward as time passes. For that reason, as well as to give
authority, the religious scriptures which they produce are usually cloaked
with an aura of divine origin (1).

To scriptures having this aura of divine origin, the idea of change is
unthinkable. In reality, however, change in the Cosmos is pervasive and
unavoidable, as I have written many times before, including that tiny corner
of the Cosmos were humans live out their daily lives. Unchangeable
scriptures do not keep up with the changes which are inevitable in the
cosmos and in human societies. Unchangeable scriptures fall behind the
inevitable increase in knowledge which means they lose transcendence, and
therefore the right to be called Holy. Ultimately, to aware and rational
minds, that loss of transcendence causes them to lose significance. As they
lose significance they lose rational practitioners; they tend to wither
away.

The names of the mystics who originated all of the major religions of the
world are readily available in the historical record. A partial list, from
my previous work (2), includes;

Saul/Paul of Tarsus (Christianity)

Mohammad (Islam)

Rumi Mevlani (Whirling Dervish Sufi)

Joseph Smith (Mormon)

Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science)

Charles Russell (Jehovah's Witnesses)

James Jones (Jonestown, Guyana commune)

David Koresh (Waco, Texas Commune)

The apostle Paul was the mystic who started the Christian religion as a
result of his encounter with the voice of Jesus as he, Paul, was traveling
on the Damascus Road. Paul's later writings suggest indirectly that he had
many additional mystical encounters as well. The Christian religion,
Christianity as it developed, appears to fit well with the descriptive
pattern of religions in general, as given in the preceding paragraphs,
particularly including the loss of Biblical transcendence and consequently
the right to be called Holy.

Paul was changed by that encounter on the Damascus Road, and that change
made his description of the encounter appealing to religious Gentiles. It
was also believable because, in Paul's time, in the first century A.D., it
was definitely a metaphysical world in which myth, magic, and miracles (the
3 M's) were readily accepted to be common every day events. Consequently
Christianity received a firm beginning from which it spread rapidly, and
from which a great wealth of 3M detail gradually emerged. To put it more
accurately, Christianity gradually adopted a great wealth of existing 3M
detail previously developed by other religions.

Beginning in the year 325 the Council of Nicaea selected, from a plethora of
candidate scriptural materials, a portion which contained that great wealth
of 3M detail, which was later canonized as the New Testament section of the
Holy Bible. The very end of that section quotes God as threatening to
deliver pestilence to anyone who makes additions to it, and damnation to
anyone who subtracts from it. That gives the Bible an aura of divine
protection and authority. Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is inspired by
God .," is another source which adds to the divine aura of the Bible.

I suggest that this aura of divine protection, authority, and authorship
surrounding the Bible is the core difficulty with theological diversity in
Christian churches, including the United Methodist Church. Therefore, to
deal with that difficulty, one must first deal with the aura. There is no
question about the full acceptance of the aura in the year 325, but there is
published opinion that a capitalist culture such as ours causes auras of all
kinds to decay (3). If that loss of reality is real it could generate the
degree of closet theological diversity that I encountered earlier. That
raises the question of how much reality that aura retains today in the 21st
century.

Perhaps dealing with the individual components of the aura will help to
assess that possible erosion of aural reality. The word aura can have either
a physical or a metaphysical content depending on the nature of the subject
under consideration. In this case the subject, the Bible, is metaphysical, -
meaning beyond physical reality - and its aura carries a heavy load of
metaphysical implications. It implies inerrant communication from God to
man; the possession of ultimate truth; the validity, the social
acceptability, of the 3M events; a sole source for God's Word, the Bible;
and an unchanging nature for God's Word. We will discuss with each of these
implications.

Because these implications arose long ago in a time when the world condition
was perceived to be static or unchanging, the aura carries that added
implication. Then one can summarize the present situation by saying that the
biblical aura is attempting to bring a set of metaphysical static world
understandings forward in time from the fourth century to the 21st century
where there now exists a physical explanation to match each metaphysical
implication, and where change is perceived to be pervasive; where stasis
does not exist. However before we undertake a detailed comparison of the
metaphysical and the physical we need to add one important item to the
nature of the physical.

The 21st century is illumined principally by science and the myriad new
physical facts about the nature and structure of the Cosmos which it is able
to reveal. It is important here to understand that all science depends
completely upon the steadfastness of God. Science depends absolutely upon
the unchanging character and the unwavering application of the laws which
God established to rule the Cosmos. They are the only feature of the Cosmos
which remains unchanging. That steadfastness permits science to unveil a
continuing stream of new physical facts about the Cosmos. Since God is the
creator of the Cosmos, and since God is known, in part, through actions and
achievements attributed to God, these new facts about the Cosmos become
additions to the Word of God (4). Then, as a consequence, science is
properly understood to be a conduit for revealing Word of God. Science
brings forth Word of God that was previously concealed from our view as it
comprehends new details of the Cosmos through inspiration, experience,
experiment, reason, and logic.

Are the metaphysical implications of the biblical aura a part of God's Word?
Perhaps not exactly, but so closely that most religious people regard them
to be the de facto Word of God. Now when we compare the implications of the
aura with the physical facts of today, we recognize in them the equality of
a common origin; both have come from God. We recognize that we are comparing
the Word of God from two different eras in time; eras separated by two
millennia. Since both are from God divine preferences should not enter into
the process of making choices between the two, only human personal
preferences should be involved. This overt comparison of the Word of God
generated in two different eras in time is a novel experience which I
believe has not occurred before. This is truly unexplored territory; is
truly transcendent. I feel the presence of holiness and figuratively I take
off my shoes.

The first implication is that of inerrant communication from God to man. The
inerrant nature arises because the Gospel Scriptures are delivered not as
possibilities or probabilities, but instead as actual events and
conversations which actually did occur. 21st Century parallels to those
Gospel events have not been reported. The conclusion is that parallels have
not occurred. That does not mean to me that the voice of God has gone
silent. It still speaks to us but we do not recognize it because today it
does not sound like a human voice. It speaks to us as
revelations/inspirations received in the human brain.

Quoting now from some of my previous work (5), "the Creator's unique design
for the human species included the implanting of a communications link in
the right half of the human brain. Because ideas arise there spontaneously
due to the design of the brain, they are of the Creator." It could be
fairly called a direct hot line from the Creator; we are wired for
revelation/inspiration. Most of us recognize communications as our
inspirational thoughts, but in a slightly earlier stage of brain development
these revelational/inspirational thoughts sounded like voices, usually
understood to be the voice of God. That is the good news."

The bad news is that the communication we receive has an informational
content that is something our subconscious mind wants to hear. The
information is greatly conditioned by our mental preconditioning, that is by
the thoughts that we think just before the message arrives. Our mental
preconditioning is partly determined by our humanity, partly by our world
view, by our past experiences, as well as by the task immediately at hand.
At this point it appears that the Creator's message is always the same; is
always an invitation to think any inspirational thought that pleases you,
any inspirational thought at all, good inspirations, or bad inspirations.
This communication link may provide revelational/inspirational thought, yes,
but inerrant dictated content, no.

The second implication claims ultimate truth for the scriptures. If ultimate
truth exists in reality, I believe it must have a dual nature, a nature that
involves both freedom from error, and infinite longevity. Otherwise it
cannot meet the definition of ultimate. Biblical scripture does not meet
either condition. As one example of many, the gospels abound with
contradictory assertions; with apparent error (6). Infinite longevity doesn't
exist in the present setting where the later Word of God often appears to
alter or amend the metaphysically based Word of God recorded in Scriptures.

The third implication asserts the validity, the social acceptability, of the
3M events included in the Scriptures. The first century worldview is
replete with myths; stories wherein gods stroll the earth passing out
impulsive dispensations to ease physical problems of human supplicants.
Christianity is no exception. In addition unusual or very powerful people
were often deified. Aside from Scripture, this kind of myth no longer occurs
at all in everyday life in the 21st century; it is not acceptable.

Magic appears in biblical scripture in several ways. First of all God is
portrayed as a magician who creates almost instantly; the entire creation
took only six days. Secondly God is portrayed as a magician, or miracle
worker, who periodically and temporarily changes or suspends one or more of
the laws governing the Cosmos in order to permit an event such as walking on
water, or changing water into wine for example. Neither kind of magic is
believable in the 21st century. God's Word about evolution tells us today
that humans have developed through a series of very tiny incremental steps
over a period of many millions of years (7). Furthermore we have no evidence
today than at any of the laws governing the universe have ever been
temporarily suspended. Indeed those laws bear certain inter-relationships
which would likely spell disaster for the Cosmos if one were to be suspended
even temporarily. In addition temporary suspension of even one law would be
incompatible with God's steadfastness.

Notice that in the matter of God's steadfastness, God's Word from the
21st-century agrees with God's Word from the first century. This translates
to the fact that it God's laws governing the Cosmos never change.

In addition to the scriptural miracles which would require suspending one of
the physical laws of the cosmos, there are also scriptural miracles of
healing by the physical intervention of a divine individual. Some people
today still use the word miracle in reference to unexpected healing events,
but these are rare events and they occur in the absence of any visible
divine presence. Healing refers to the restoring to proper function of a
human living system, a system so complicated that humans have only a very
limited understanding of its operational details. We do know however that
chance plays a very important part in those operational details (4). Chance
plays a part in stable maintenance of well-being, in the onset of illness,
and in the recovery from illness - in healing. The Biblical healing miracles
are not distinguishable from chance recovery from illness events.

In brief summary now, each one of the 3M categories, myth, magic, and
miracles, have been shown to be non participants in the 21st-century world
view.

The next element of implication in the Biblical aura is the claim that the
Bible is the only source for the Word of God. On the previous page I
explained how it comes about that science is actually a conduit for the Word
of God. So, now the Bible is no longer the sole source for the Word of God.

The last implication listed for the Biblical aura is the claim that God's
word is unchanging. That is true in the ultimate limit when it is fully
understood, but it is not true as it refers to Biblical scripture. The
arguments and explanations developed just previously indicate that Biblical
scripture is incomplete, and that God is continually augmenting and bringing
it closer to completion. So the science conduit helps bring us closer to
understanding God's (unchanging) intentions.

In final summary then, none of the Biblical aura which was accepted in the
first century worldview is accepted in the 21st century worldview. The
consequences are severe. In spite of the example set in the Old Testament,
the New Testament shut off the concept of continuing additions to God's
Word. In contradiction, other scriptures, rejected at Nicaea, have come to
light; have gained recognition as a part of the Word of God; and today
science is gaining recognition as a conduit for the Word of God. These
extra-Biblical sources for Words of God contest Biblical transcendence and
therefore the propriety of calling the Bible Holy. The Myth, Magic, and
Miracles, which are so prominent in the Gospels' are no longer a part of
life in a 21st century worldview. Similarly the concept of Ultimate Truth
has faded away, and with it faded the concept of inerrant communication
between God and man.

Those are the more recent Words of God, the hard facts of today. They do
contravene the fourth century aura of the Bible, and they do contravene the
metaphysical understanding of physical aspects of the natural world as
recorded in the Bible, and they do consequently contravene the propriety of
a literal reading of portions of the Bible, but they should not be
understood as contravening the significance of Christianity.

A few religious scholars have been able to fully embrace those new Words,
and propose a form of Christianity compatible with them (8). They create a
new aura for the Bible based on a metaphorical understanding of the Gospels;
an aura which restorers transcendence; an aura which restores the
designation of Holy. One should note here, however, that the future
continuing arrival of additional Word of God will likely require additional
changes in the understanding of Christianity.

Fully embracing those new Words, those hard facts, involves a great range of
theological diversity, and we have now discovered that to be a consequence
of the United Methodists Book of Discipline (UMBOD) where it requires us to
"relate our witness to the full range of human knowledge". Of course other
areas of the (UMBOD), which require a literal reading of the Bible, limit us
to a very, very, narrow range of theological diversity. Since I believe this
inconsistency to be unintended by any General Conference, I will not pursue
that subject further.

Based on the earlier allegations reported by the Good News Movement, I
conclude that many pastors, the ones called "liberal", evidently embrace
some portion of those more recent Words, while a majority of the laity,
those who read the Bible literally, must reject all of those newer Words. Is
that condition reasonable, or even rational, in 21st century America? How
is it explainable?

Now I have to admit that the aura of divine protection associated with the
Bible in the early centuries of Christianity was not the complete answer to
the problem with theological diversity that I had hoped for. However
working through the properties of that aura became the key that has led us
to the question which may itself complete the answer to the problem and is
now expressible in a form which we can recognize and which we can explain.

Restating the question: how is it explainable that pastors embrace some of
the more recent Words of God available in the 21st-century, but the majority
of the laity embrace none at all? I suggest that the major part of the
answer arises from the process by which we humans develop new knowledge, new
Word of God, in the 21st century.

It is the nature of scholarship and science never to claim absolute truth.
Science and scholarship deal only with present truth; that is truth which
represents our best current knowledge, but which is susceptible to later
modification by assimilating additional knowledge when it is later revealed.
It is the business of science and scholarship to be skeptical of present
truths, and to try to extend/improve them by a process usually beginning
with revelations/inspirations which lead to new discoveries.

That means that an initial discovery, after it is repeatedly confirmed by
other investigators, is often the basis for additional discoveries about the
same topic so that the body of information grows larger in repeated steps,
it evolves incrementally. At some point most of the investigators familiar
with the details of that topic will agree that the information that has been
uncovered is real; that the facts are truly real as they are presented. When
the investigators familiar with the details of the topic reach consensus
that the information is real, that is a crucial point, because that
consensus transforms that information into knowledge; at that point it
becomes Word of God.

Consensus is usually an imprecise diffuse process, drawn out over a
considerable period of time. There usually is no precise instant in time
when one can first declare, with certainty, that consensus has been
achieved. Because it is so nebulous to the people actually involved in
reaching consensus, the whole process is effectively concealed from public
view, not intentionally but simply for the lack of ombudsmen who can keep up
to date on the process for each topic under investigation and then alert the
media.

What little contact the public does have with science, generally comes
through the print media. When significant new information is to be
published the media generally reports it using a standard format. First the
information is sensationalized as much as possible, and then a contrary view
is presented followed by the opinion that much more work is required to make
it useful. The media tries to create as much controversy as possible because
controversy boosts the sale of newspapers, but the result generally is
public confusion.

In addition to science, many other fields of scholarly learning also
contribute to our knowledge of present truth, and hence to the increasing
store of Word of God once they reach consensus. The scenario just outlined
for recognizing consensus in science operates in the same way in other
fields of scholarly learning to produce the same level of public confusion
about those subjects.

Of course consensus is simply a form of voting, and humans have always voted
to choose their theological principles. Christological orthodoxy was not
taught by Jesus, nor by Paul. Orthodoxy is decided within the community of
faith by voting, although the voting is usually carried out by church
leaders or scholars, and not by the general public. Perhaps the earliest
voting was done with Urim and Thumim; devices used by priests early in the
Old Testament to discover the will of God in particular cases. Consensus
came into first conspicuous use at the Council of Nicaea.

Unfortunately that first occasion is not a good example to imitate because
Emperor Constantine coerced consensus there by simply sending all dissenting
voters into exile; both physical and theological exile.

Since theological principles chosen by coerced consensus are naturally of
questionable significance, it is important that participating voters arrive
at consensus with a free conscience. People not connected to the consensus
process have no assurance that it was in fact a free conscience consensus
unless the process is drawn out over a very long period of time, and
involves very many voters, as usually happens.

The practical consequence of the diffuse nature of consensus is a public
which occasionally hears about the arrival of new information, but which is
completely unaware of the conversion of new information into new knowledge.
Still further, Methodist faith communities are largely unaware of the
instruction in the Book of Discipline which requires that our faith keep up
with new knowledge, which is also called new Present Truth; new Word of God.
I believe that the lack of awareness on those two levels is the main reason
that the laity still adheres to the fourth century view of the Bible. Some
level of scholarship is necessary for those who want to be aware, but it is
very rarely present.

This rather complete lack of awareness does not extend to all of the
professors in Methodist seminaries however. For the most part, professors
are scholars. Normally scholars are familiar with the consensus process and
the time variability on which it depends. Even so it is still quite
difficult for a scholar in one field (theology) to keep up with advances in
another field (science) and to know when a consensus has been reached in
that other field. Nevertheless some seminary professors do keep up with
science in a modest way through the media, and do become familiar with some
of the New Word of God. This completes our understanding and explanation of
how the theological differences between the clergy and laity do occur.

One additional factor deserves mention before we move to a conclusion. On
occasion some people prefer to ignore certain unpalatable facts and to live
their lives as though and those facts did not exist. That condition
doubtless operates to some extent in the minds of many laity people. Some
laity may see that attitude as protecting their faith in the fourth century
word of God. In support of this approach evangelist Charles Swindoll wrote:
"Attitude, to me, is more important than facts." In the mental arena where
facts are rejected or accepted, people will naturally tend to select facts
that they like. Author Margaret Attwood believes that people prefer stories
in which God is nearby rather than stories where God may be remote or absent
(9).

In summary one can say that any substantial degree of theological diversity
is a direct challenge to that part of the biblical aura which claims
ultimate truth. This essay could have ended much earlier by simply disputing
the existence of ultimate truth, then stopping at that point. Instead we
have explored the many variables necessary to a more complete understanding
of the theological diversity problem. The results of this assessment call
attention to the fact that, in addition to the Bible, we have multiple
additional sources for Word of God. They have produced newer, more recent,
Word but the laity is mostly unaware of it.

Unhappily this newer Word of God describes the Creation to be much different
from the metaphysical explanations for the Creation that were imagined by
the writers of the Bible. Notice, however, that this newer Word of God deals
only with physical aspects of Creation, but does not challenge the morality
teachings of the Bible, which remain pre-eminent.

The existence of new Word of God plus the continuing flow of additional new
Word of God, raises the question of whether to leave Methodist theology
completely determined by a first century worldview and understanding of
God's Word derived only from the Bible, or whether Methodist theology should
be advanced into a 21st century world view. If the choice is to advance to
the 21st century, to evolve the Methodist faith base from a first century
metaphysical plus moral view to a 21st century rational plus moral view,
then the question arises about how to accomplish that change.

In an ideal world "Our understanding of theological truths comes through
reasoning with our brothers and sisters in constant dialogue and inquiry."
(10) In the practical world of today, the brothers and sisters are all
limited in their access to the new Word of God, so the results can hardly be
satisfactory at the present time.

To make them more satisfactory, scholarship is required to deal with the
ongoing task of discerning the arrival of consensus for each of the
theologically important items as they arrive almost daily. The general
church should undertake the task of identifying new knowledge as it is
established by consensus, as it becomes Word of God, so that church members,
the brothers and sisters, may be authoritatively informed, and then can have
opportunity to incorporate the new Word of God into their "constant dialogue
and inquiry".

Once the brothers and sisters of the faith have been provided access to the
full range of Word of God, they still need to take one additional
preparatory action, they need to adopt a theological diversity outlook broad
enough to encompass all of the new Word of God. Then they will be adequately
equipped for the task of discerning theological truths through the process
of reasoning in constant dialogue and inquiry. Still further in the future,
when the new Word of God is embodied in scripture, the need for theological
diversity will disappear.

As long as the definition for Word of God remains in its present form,
scholarship and science will continue to provide a flow of extra-biblical
Word of God; new/recent Word of God not contained in the Bible. It is the
existence of this new/recent Word of God that creates an interest in
theological diversity. The impact of reason on the present theological scene
is the element which produces the need to exercise theological diversity.

The conclusion of this exploratory effort is that the exercise of
theological diversity which is limited to including recent Word of God; is
theologically correct; is presently necessary; and cannot be viewed as
heresy.

References

(1) an aura is a general impression of the character of any particular
topic. It may be undesirable or desirable, repulsive or attractive, or any
degree between the two. In earlier centuries objects of religious veneration
usually had an aura of access to divine intervention.

(2) Carlyle "Kirk" Herrick, EXPLORING THE WORLD OF FAITH I, On The
Significance Of The Gospels, unpublished, 2/1/2006, pg 3.

(3) Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
1935/1936 essay, visit WIKIPEDIA for a summary.

(4) Carlyle "Kirk" Herrick, EXPLORING THE WORLD OF FAITH III The Quantum
Cosmos - God's Creation, unpublished 7/17/2006

(5) Carlyle Herrick, OBSERVATIONS ON UNITY IN UNITED METHODIST CONFERENCES

unpublished, 3/18/2000 pg 3.

(6) John Shelby Spong, RESCUING THE BIBLE FROM FUNDAMENTALISM, Harper,
San Francisco 1992

(7) Carlyle :Kirk" Herrick, EXPLORING THE WORLD OF FAITH IV The Impact of
Evolution, unpublished, 9/15/2006 pg. 7

(8) John Shelby Spong, Eric Elnes, and Marcus J. Borg are the only ones
known to me. They propose a Christianity based on love of God, love of
others, and love of self.

(9) Excerpt: PBS NOVA program Faith vs. Reason, June 2006 Discussion of
spiritual beliefs. MARGARET ATWOOD
(Author): : We like the story with God in it better then we like the story
without God in it. Because it's more like us, it's more understandable, it's
more human. " BILL MOYERS: "More human with God?"
MARGARET ATWOOD: "More human with God because the story without God is about
atoms. It's not about somebody we can talk with in theory, or that has any
interest in us. So the universe without an intelligence in it has got
nothing to say to us. Whereas the universe, with an intelligence in it, has
got something to say to us because it's a mirror of who we are. "

(10) Rev John Edward Nuessle, GBGM, New World Outlook Sept./Oct. 2006, pg 7

Copywrite January 2007 by Carlyle S. Herrick, Box 5, 12 Bath St., Alplaus
NY 12008

Permission is granted to reproduce this manuscript wholly or in part with
appropriate attribution.

SERMON: "The Binding of Isaac"

2006-11-07T20:01:00.000-08:00

by Rev. Stephen C. Butler
Sermon # 7 in the series ""Resident Aliens"
Genesis 22:1-19
McKownville United Methodist Church
November 5, 2006

The most famous highway in America may be the former Route 66, which ran from Chicago to Los Angeles. But for musicians it's Route 61, the "Blues Highway" that follows the Mississippi River up from New Orleans through Baton Rouge, Memphis and St. Louis, along past Illinois, up through Minneapolis towards Duluth, Lake Superior and the Canadian border. Several musicians have written tributes to Highway 61, including one of my favorites: Robert Allen Zimmerman, known to most of the world as Bob Dylan. "God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son." Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin'me on." God says, "No." Abe says, "What?" God says, "Do what you want but, next time you see me comin' you better run!" Abe says, "Where you want this killin' done?" God says, "Highway 61." (© 1965 "Highway 61 Revisited") Bob Dylan was born and raised in a Jewish home in Duluth, MN, just off Highway 61. His father's name was Abraham and he probably learned this story in the local synagogue, just like most of us first heard it in church. Is it familiar to you? This story of Abraham and Isaac on Mt. Moriah is the climax of the Abraham cycle of stories in Genesis. So, I've saved it for last in this sermon series called "Resident Aliens".

Everyone who considers this story has to wonder: Why is this in the Bible? Would God actually command something like this? Was it all a mistake, or what?" The Bible says, "God tested Abraham, saying, 'Take your son... and offer him as a burnt offering on the mountain that I will show you.'" Once upon a time, people actually used to do this kind of thing. The book of Exodus (22:29-30) says, "You shall not delay to make offerings from the fullness of your harvest. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me. You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep." But in another place (Exodus 13:12-13) it explains: "You shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your livestock that are
males shall be the Lord's. But every firstborn male among your children you shall redeem (with a sheep)." So by that time, Israel proclaimed that while other nations might still be sacrificing their first children, the people of Israel should instead substitute a sheep for their first-born sons. But at the time of Abraham, 500 years earlier, this was probably still a common and well-known practice. How would you like to be Isaac saying, "Dad, we've got the fire, the wood, the knife, and we're going up the mountain. Where's the sheep for the sacrifice?" And Dad says, "Don't worry, God will provide." Finally, he takes you by the hand, ties your arms behind you, and you understand. Not a pleasant thought, is it?

Artists and sculptors have depicted this scene for over 600 years from Donatello to Raphael and Rembrandt to Chagall. The French artist Laurent de LaHire painted "Abraham Sacrificing Isaac" in 1650 showing Isaac lying on his side with his hands tied in front of him. The angel calls Abraham to stop him, and we see the ram with its head caught in the nearby tree. Rembrandt's version focuses more closely on the action. Abraham has covered Isaac's face. His neck and chest are arched upward facing certain death. But the angel has grabbed Abraham's wrist and the knife is in mid-air, falling from his hand. It's a one of the most dramatic scenes in all of ancient literature.

And after all this God says, "Now I know that you fear me, for you have not withheld your only son." God didn't know that already? Apparently not, according to this story, anyway. And also it appears this story was used as an attempt to put an end to child sacrifice in Israel, because the Bible also says in Jeremiah (7:30-34) "The people of Judah have done evil in my sight... they burn their sons and daughters in the fire--which I did not command, nor did it (even) come into my mind." So it took a long time to put a stop to this kind of thing. And Christianity affirms that Jesus Christ was the last sacrifice for all time.

And yet, children are still killed unnecessarily, and needlessly, often violently. There are those who argue that all violence against children is a form of child sacrifice. People of good will can argue many sides of every social issue from food stamps to pre-natal care, to abortion laws, to funding for public housing, to handgun control laws, to national politics nd our pursuit of warfare. As you may know, personally I'm a pacifist and I believe that all intentional killing is murder and warfare is a form of child sacrifice, where nations offer up their children because, like Abraham, we believe that's what we're called to do. Whether our children serve in uniformed armies or strap hidden explosive vests around their
bodies, their fathers in government call it heroic sacrifice. The old terminology still continues. Nobody wants to die. Everyone says they hate war. But still on opposing sides of armed conflicts in many lands, we send our children off to battle, perhaps never to return alive. Next weekend, we'll honor everyone who's served their country in armed service: many in battle, many who have died, and many more wounded and disabled. I honor them. I thank them. I hope I will always respect what they and so many generations of others have done for all of us. Yet don't we all wonder, "Isn't there a better way? Can this really be God's will? Is God on anybody's side in this, or any war?" I just feel like we've all been here before, don't you? The rhetoric sounds so very familiar once again, doesn't it? And this time around, can't we do better than last time, and the time before, and the time before that?

"Abraham!" called God. "Don't harm the boy! I know you trust me. And I will bless you." So God provided another way. And maybe God has another way for us, too.

DNA Frees NY Man

2006-09-22T17:04:00.000-07:00

New York Times
September 21, 2006
Ex-Inmate Says Pirro Ignored DNA Evidence That Freed Him
By JONATHAN P. HICKS
Claims that Jeanine F. Pirro ignored pleas to review DNA evidence
that ultimately cleared a convicted murderer were the latest thorny
issue to dog her campaign for attorney general.
Those claims came on the same day that Ms. Pirro, a Republican who
is the former Westchester district attorney, abruptly canceled a
news conference at which she was to call for reinstating the death
penalty.
The man who was exonerated, Jeffrey Mark Deskovic, was convicted in
1991 of raping and killing a classmate at Peekskill High School. He
was cleared of the murder charges this week after Ms. Pirro's
successor, Janet DiFiore, reviewed the DNA evidence, which linked
the crime to another man. Mr. Deskovic was released.
Mr. Deskovic made his comments about Ms. Pirro yesterday at a news
conference organized by the Innocence Project, a legal service that
seeks to free wrongfully convicted people through DNA evidence. He
said that he wrote to Ms. Pirro from prison some years ago, telling
her that he had heard about her support of motions to free wrongly
convicted prisoners, and had asked her to look into his case.
"I told her, you know, there's an old case in your files in which
there's DNA evidence that shows that a man, in this case me, is
innocent," Mr. Deskovic said.
Someone in Ms. Pirro's office wrote back a "very rude letter," he
said, declining to review the case and saying that he should not
contact the office again except through a lawyer.
"She knew I had no money for a lawyer," Mr. Deskovic said. "So, in
other words, what she was telling me was: `I've got no time for you.
It's over. That's shut. That's it.' "
In an interview yesterday, Barry Scheck, a director of the Innocence
Project, said it was "cosmic irony" that Ms. Pirro "chose to hold a
press conference in support of the death penalty on the day that, by
sheer chance, another innocent man was exonerated."
Ms. Pirro had scheduled her news conference on the death penalty for
11 a.m., at the site of the World Trade Center, and her campaign
said the cancellation was not tied to the developments in the
Deskovic case.
Anne Marie Corbalis, a spokeswoman, said the event was canceled
because of gridlock in Manhattan caused by the meeting of the United
Nations General Assembly.
Ms. Corbalis said that Ms. Pirro was scheduled to appear at a noon
rally near the United Nations in support of Israel and realized that
the traffic would not enable her to appear at both events. When she
was asked whether Ms. Pirro had considered taking the subway to
Lower Manhattan, Ms. Corbalis said that was not practical because
Ms. Pirro had an afternoon appearance on Long Island.
Her campaign staff said she supported the actions by Ms. Pirro's
successor in the Deskovic case.
"This defendant was convicted by Jeanine's predecessor, and no new
evidence surfaced while she was the district attorney," John
Gallagher, a spokesman for the campaign, said in a statement.
"Based on this new evidence, Jeanine supports the district
attorney's decision to join in the application to overturn the
conviction. Jeanine has previously worked with the Innocence Project
to free wrongly convicted defendants and she supports their efforts."
At his news conference, Mr. Scheck looked at Mr. Deskovic, standing
beside him, and said, "This is the fifth man to be exonerated in a
murder case in New York State in the past 10 months, and for all
those who are thinking that it might be a good idea to reinstate
capital punishment in the state, please, please, please look at the
evidence in front of you."
*********************************************************************
September 21, 2006
DNA Evidence Frees a Man Imprisoned for Half His Life
By FERNANDA SANTOS
WHITE PLAINS, Sept. 20 — Jeffrey Mark Deskovic came of age in a
maximum-security prison, doing time for a crime he did not commit.
Sixteen years ago, Mr. Deskovic was convicted of raping, beating and
strangling a Peekskill High School classmate in a jealous fit of
rage. DNA evidence presented at his trial showed that semen in the
victim's body was not his, but the police testified that he had
confessed.
On Wednesday, after he fought exhaustive legal battles and wrote
dozens of pleading letters that led him nowhere, Mr. Deskovic, 32,
walked out of the Westchester County Courthouse an overjoyed if
embittered man.
"I was supposed to finish my education, to begin a career," he
said. "The time period to have a family, to spend time with my
family, is lost. I lost all my friends. My family has become
strangers to me.
"There was a woman who I wanted to marry at the time that I was
convicted, and I lost that too," Mr. Deskovic added. "Given all
that, I ask everybody: Would you be angry?"
Among the people who Mr. Deskovic said refused to review his case is
Jeanine F. Pirro, the former Westchester district attorney, who took
office after his trial; she is now the Republican nominee for state
attorney general. The freed inmate and his lawyer expressed outrage
that Ms. Pirro had scheduled a news conference to call for the
reinstatement of the death penalty in New York just as Mr. Deskovic
was being released Wednesday morning, but Ms. Pirro ended up
canceling the event.
Ms. Pirro's successor, Janet DiFiore, agreed to run the evidence
through a national DNA databank after she was approached in June by
Barry Scheck, a director of the Innocence Project, which works to
free the wrongly convicted.
The decision to release Mr. Deskovic came after the DNA matched that
of a man who is serving time for another Westchester murder. Ms.
DiFiore declined to identify him but said he recently confessed to
killing Angela Correa, 15, the girl Mr. Deskovic was convicted of
killing, on Nov. 15, 1989.
Mr. Scheck said that Mr. Deskovic was the 184th person nationwide to
be exonerated because of DNA evidence since 1989, and that his case
highlights the importance of having the authorities videotape
interviews with suspects, as many police departments nationwide have
begun to do.
"We've learned a lot about false confessions in the past decade,"
Mr. Scheck said at a news conference. "Videotaping of confessions
and training of police officers can definitely lead to different
results."
The case against Mr. Deskovic hinged largely on a confession he made
after six hours of questioning in a small interrogation room in
Brewster, where two Peekskill detectives took him for a polygraph
test, according to court documents.
Mr. Deskovic, a sophomore, and Ms. Correa, a freshman, were in two
classes together. Both were quiet and did not have a lot of friends,
according to his mother, Linda McGarr, and Ms. Correa's stepfather,
Pedro Rivera, who sat quietly in court to see Mr. Deskovic go free.
"I can't tell you why, but I've always had a feeling that the police
had the wrong guy," said Mr. Rivera.
Mr. Rivera met Mr. Deskovic for the first time at Ms. Correa's wake,
but saw him numerous times after that, he said. Mr. Deskovic went to
church with the family, dined at their home and took Ms. Correa's
younger sister to the movies, he recalled.
"Jeffrey cried a lot for Angela," Mr. Rivera said. "He was very
distraught."
The police in Peekskill said Mr. Deskovic's behavior seemed odd. At
his trial, investigators said they grew suspicious of Mr. Deskovic
because he was late for school the day after Ms. Correa's murder and
seemed "overly distraught" about the death of a girl who was not his
close friend.
For two months, Mr. Deskovic denied having anything to do with Ms.
Correa's death. Finally, in late January 1990, he agreed to the
polygraph test, which preceded the interrogation that led to his
confession.
"Believing in the criminal justice system and being fearful for
myself, I told them what they wanted to hear," Mr. Deskovic said, by
way of explanation. "I thought it was all going to be O.K. in the
end," because he was sure that the DNA testing would show his
innocence.
In convicting Mr. Deskovic, the jury effectively chose to give more
weight to his tearful confession than to the DNA and other
scientific evidence.
The conviction seemed to indicate that jurors believed the
prosecution theory that semen found in Ms. Correa's body was likely
from a consensual sexual relationship with someone else.
Many convicted criminals were compelled to give DNA samples in
recent years, and the source of the semen in the victim's body was
apparently identified that way. Until such database comparisons were
available, there was no way for Mr. Deskovic to disprove the
prosecution's theory, because there was no way to pinpoint whose
semen it was.
While in prison, Mr. Deskovic said, he lived "from appeal to
appeal," trying not to think of the 15-years-to-life sentence that
hung over him. He finished high school, and earned an associate's
degree.
He played a lot of chess and learned how to type, fix computers and
paint walls, he said. He also learned how to cook.
A year into his sentence, he converted to Islam. "It was a major
factor in surviving prison in terms of my mental sanity,'' he said.
After his release, Mr. Deskovic went with his mother, two aunts and
two uncles for lunch at an Italian restaurant here. He ate tomatoes,
mozzarella sticks, stuffed mushrooms, mussels and a dish of baked
ziti. And for the first time, he talked on a cellphone.
"That was pretty weird,'' he said afterward. "I was looking for the
little holes where you talk into, and couldn't find them.''

Letter to the Editor: Times Union (Albany), NY) 9/16/06

2006-09-19T01:48:00.000-07:00

As someone whose primary modes of transportation are the bicycle and the bus, I was pleased, no, thrilled to read the August 22 story about bicycle racks being placed on all of the CDTA full-size route buses.
I have, on occasion, taken advantage of the Catch a Bikeable Bus program since it was instituted six years ago, but often, I found it frustrating as well. The original program was supposed to have racks on every bus on certain designated routes, but the truth is, sometimes a #10 or #12 bus would arrive without one, and if one were counting on that particular bus, it was most maddenening.
Let me describe as typical workday now: I take the bikeable bus and my daughter to day care near New Scotland Avenue. I ride my bike to the YMCA and play racquetball. Take a bikeable bus to Corporate Woods, getting off at the first stop, then riding to my work destination. At the end of the day, I can either ride or bike home, depending on my energy level.
It used to be if rain were in the forecast, I would just take the bus. Now, unless rain is scheduled for all day, I'll take the bike on the bus and ride when possible.
So, thanks to CDTA for a civilized solution to my transportation issues.

Roger Green

Immigrant kids get language help

2006-08-20T06:46:00.000-07:00

Schenectady summer program gives children instruction on reading and writing in English

By JENNIFER PATTERSON, Staff writer Click byline for more stories by writer. First published: Tuesday, August 15, 2006
SCHENECTADY -- Nearly 50 immigrant students in the Schenectady City School District have been attending a new six-week literacy program at Lincoln Elementary School to improve their English language skills.
The American Summer Academy provides one-on-one and small-group instruction to students who need to improve their English reading and writing skills but were not eligible to take English as a Second Language classes during the school year. The program is supported by a $50,000 federal grant.
"With a 5-to-1 (teacher-student) ratio, we can really focus on individual needs," said site supervisor Carol Green. "All the students continue to make huge strides."
Students in kindergarten through fifth-grade attend the program daily from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and get breakfast, lunch and transportation for free. They work in grade-level groups on reading, writing and a variety of hands-on activities and have taken class trips to the Schenectady County Public Library, the Asian Food Market, Europa Beauty School and more.
Each classroom has at least one teacher, a para-professional and an AmeriCorps volunteer. Students have been reading about Greek mythology, writing their own fairy tales and reciting oral book reports, all to prepare them for this school year.
"This is a volunteer program, but the students have great attendance records and show up every day eager to learn," Green said. The parents have been cooperative and involved in the curriculum, she added.
The program was first offered to immigrant students new to the school district. Any openings were then offered to immigrant families with more than one student enrolled in the district and to regular English as a second language students who required additional attention.
This is the first year the district has offered the program, but Green hopes it will continue in the future.
"We really do see a difference," she said.

GUIDANCE FOR AIRLINE PASSENGERS from DHS

2006-08-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

FACT SHEET- August 10, 2006
Contact: 202-282-8010

Raised Threat Levels:
 The U.S. threat level is raised to Severe, or Red, for all commercial flights flying from the United Kingdom to the U.S.
 The U.S. threat level is raised to High, or Orange for all commercial aviation operating in the U.S., including international flights. Flights from the U.S. to the U.K. are also Orange.

Increased Aviation Screening Procedures:
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will be implementing a series of security measures – some visible and some not visible -- to ensure the security of the traveling public and the Nation's transportation system. TSA is immediately implementing following changes to airport screening procedures:

 NO LIQUIDS OR GELS OF ANY KIND WILL BE PERMITTED IN CARRY ON BAGGAGE. SUCH ITEMS MUST BE IN CHECKED BAGGAGE. This includes all beverages, shampoo, sun tan lotion, creams, tooth paste, hair gel, and other items of similar consistency.
Exception: Baby formula, breast milk, or juice if a baby or small child is traveling; prescription medicine with a name that matches the passenger’s ticket; and insulin and essential other non-prescription medicines, which all must be presented for inspection at the checkpoint.
 Beverages purchased in the boarding area (beyond the checkpoint) must be consumed before boarding because they will not be permitted on board the aircraft.
 Passengers traveling from the U.K. to the U.S. will be subject to a more extensive screening process.

These measures will be constantly evaluated and updated when circumstances warrant.

How every passenger can assist in security:
 Pack lightly, without clutter to facilitate easier screening
 Arrive earlier than usual at the airport
 Cooperate with TSA personnel at checkpoints and with airline personnel at all gates
 Be attentive and vigilant to any suspicious activity and report it to authorities

Increased Border Protection Procedures:
 U.S. Customs and Border Protection will increase enforcement efforts in international arrival areas including the use of advanced targeting tools, special response teams including baggage and aircraft search teams, baggage x-ray equipment, specially-trained canine units, and explosive detection technology.
 DHS has also mandated that all flights from the U.K. transmit passenger manifest information for intensive screening prior to departure from the gate. In addition, passengers on these flights and all other international flights will be subject to heightened inspection upon arrival in the U.S.

Underground Railroad Conference Call for Proposals

2006-08-02T14:06:00.000-07:00

Call for Proposals for Workshop and Panel Presentations
Sixth Annual Underground Railroad Conference
"Discovering the Underground Railroad: Uncovering the Voices of Women"
February 23-25, 2007, College of St, Rose, Albany, NY

The conference planning committee is pleased to announce that the Sixth Annual Underground Railroad Conference will focus on the voices of women – and on questions of women and gender more broadly – in relationship to the Underground Railroad, questions that have not been sufficiently addressed in the past.

We are soliciting brief proposals for workshop and panel presentations for this conference. Proposals should be made for either the shorter sessions (50 minutes), designed for one or two presenters, or the longer sessions (1 hour 50 minutes), designed for larger panels and more intensive workshops. We prefer proposals for entire sessions, but will accept proposals for individual presentations that the committee may combine with other similar presentations into session panels. We ask that all session proposals allow significant time for audience interaction. We also ask that proposals focus on the conference theme – this is the priority – although other important topics concerning Underground Railroad history will be considered.

Financial support will be available for presenters with particular needs. Unfortunately, we can no longer offer stipends to all presenters as we have in the past.

Proposals should be no more than two double-spaced pages in length, and should include information on the following:
Type of session (workshop, panel, media presentation, artistic or cultural performance, etc.) and length of session desired (50 minute or 1 hr 50 min)
Title and content, including topics of individual presentations, if any
Audience for whom the presentation(s) is (are) appropriate
Name(s), contact information (including work and home / cell phone), and brief biographical information on presenter(s)
Technological needs.

Proposals should be submitted to the planning committee by October 15, 2006 at:
Mail – URHPCR, PO Box 10851, Albany NY 12201
Email – urhpcr@localnet.com

For more information, please contact us at 518-432-4432 or at the above addresses.

Schuyler Flatts Burial Ground Committee PRESS RELEASE

2006-08-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

STATE MUSEUM TO HOST MEETING ON AFRICAN BURIAL GROUND

Albany- On Saturday August, 12, 2006, from 11:00-2:00, The Schuyler Flatts Burial Ground Committee, the New York State Museum and the Town of Colonie will host a public meeting at the State Museum to discuss the human remains of African descent uncovered during a Town of Colonie sewer project at 590-592 Broadway, Menands on June 5, 2005.

The meeting in the Museum auditorium will address several issues including the possible identities of the remains, how it was determined they are of African descent, what else has been learned thus far and what further studies might yield. Biochemical Analysis, including DNA and isotope testing, could provide additional information on who was buried at the site and where they came from. Artifact analysis, including botanical and soil testing, may provide insight into the lives and culture of these individuals.

The meeting agenda will include an explanation of the discovery and removal of the remains and how the study of these remains can impact our knowledge of the lives of African Americans during the colonial period. Information gathered may also be used to create exhibits. There will be opportunity for public comment and a question and answer period.

CONTACT: Joanne Guilmette (518) 474-8730

Voter fraud: An Expert's Thoughts on Post-Democracy America

2006-07-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

Once again I have been sucked into voting machine fraud issues.

Spent all day yesterday unpacking more information. Here is the summary.
In 2000 I knew THAT it would be done.
Then in 2002 it first became clear WHERE it was being used.
Then in 2004 uncovered several ways HOW it can be done.
Now, finally, in 2006 we have some idea of WHO is doing it. And if you have seen the editorial in the NY Times, or the lengthy cover story from Rolling Stone by RFK Jr., there are finally more powerful voices than mine getting involved who are equally stunned and frightened by what this means.
Diebold has built - at the very least - three back doors into the system to allow votes to be changed. A man named [name deleted] who works for Diebold in the Vancouver BC programming center is a
specialist in tunnels and alternate access systems. He put the
systems in place allowing the election to be stolen.
In the newer models of TSX there is even an IR port installed that allows "confirmation of status" to be beamed to and from the machines while in use. I love it. Diebold is selling as a feature the fact that you can check the votes, test the system, and update the machine in place and on the fly.
None of the poll workers I have interviewed even know what an IR port is, how to use it, or how to determine if it's turned on, or off.
(The default setting is ON.)
I was able to reset a machine to zero from the passenger seat of a car and I was able to crash a voting machine by confusing the IR port with odd instructions sent from my Treo handheld.
Ken Blackwell, then Sec. of State of Ohio, and Chairman of Bush's Ohio Election committee mandated that Diebold Machines be exclusively used in Ohio voting.
Now, the question is, who used the access systems to do the stealing?
And even more amusing, Ken Blackwell is now running for Governor of Ohio. He is trailing in the polls by over 20%. On election day, I bet he trails by a huge number in the exit polls, and the voters will elect Ted Strickland. However when the Diebold machines announce the winner, Ken Blackwell will get 51.8% of the vote from the Diebold Machines. How do I know that?
George W. Bush's backers stole Ohio in 2004. The Exit Polling: Kerry 53, Bush 48 was correct. That is how people voted. But the Diebold machines manufactured a Bush win with 51.6%
Saxby Chambliss backers stole GA in 2002. Exit Polling: Max Cleland 54, Chamblis 44. That is how people voted. But the Diebold machines manufactures a Chamblis win with 52.1%
Unfortunately, Congress refuses (except John Conyers and few others) to listen to the very real information brought to them that the election was stolen, and certified it, so we get a President who SUCCEEDED in stealing an election. And a Senate that probably has 3 stolen seats today (all GOP) and I predict will have another 5 stolen seats after the 2006.
It is even drilling down into House races now. The Bilbray-Busby special election to replace Cunningham was a highly unpredictable, off-cycle, off-season race, but still...the Diebold machines produced a 51.9% GOP win.
In Ukraine, when the people realized the exit polls were 8 points different from the announced results, they took to the streets, stormed Parliament and brought the actual vote winner Yushenko and the Orange Revolution to power.
I am utterly convinced no matter how many people I prove this too, that until people take the streets and demand the restoration of democracy in the country, the machine behind the GOP will keep stealing every election it wants to.

Shout the names of wrongly executed

2006-07-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

By THEODORE M. SHAW
First published: Wednesday, July 5, 2006

Late last month, the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty in
Kansas by a vote of 5 to 4 in the case of Kansas vs. Marsh. In
concurring with the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that the
decision was justified because, in recent American history, there
has not been "a single case -- not one -- in which it is clear that
a person was executed for a crime he did not commit. If such an
event had occurred in recent years, we would not have to hunt for
it; the innocent's name would be shouted from the rooftops."

Unfortunately, Scalia is wrong. Public concern about wrongful
convictions has been growing since DNA evidence started exonerating
death row inmates in recent years -- a fact most exemplified by the
decision of then-Illinois Gov. George Ryan to declare a moratorium
on executions in 2000. Over the past few years, major media outlets
and the Legal Defense Fund, which I lead, have investigated several
questionable executions, re-examining forensic evidence and
reinterviewing witnesses. In at least four of the cases, it is now
clear that the individuals executed almost certainly did not commit
the crimes for which they were convicted.

Although none has been officially exonerated, the evidence that has
come to light since they were put to death points overwhelmingly to
their innocence, and two of these cases are being reinvestigated.
The names of the executed may not have been "shouted from the
rooftops," but the turn in their cases has been reported by major
newspapers and television networks.

Cameron Willingham, a 36-year-old white father of three from
Corsicana, Texas, was executed in February 2004 for murder by arson.
In December 2004, the Chicago Tribune reported that new scientific
knowledge proves that the testimony by arson experts at Willingham's
trial was worthless, and that there is no evidence that the fire was
caused by arson. A panel of the nation's leading arson experts
confirmed that conclusion in March. In a strikingly similar case,
Ernest Willis, a white oil-field worker from New Mexico, was
convicted on the same sort of evidence and sentenced to death for
murder by arson in Pecos County, Texas, in 1987. Willis was
exonerated and freed in October 2004, eight months after Willingham
was put to death.

Ruben Cantu, a 26-year-old Hispanic man from San Antonio, was
executed in August 1993 for a robbery-murder committed in 1985 when
he was 17. The Houston Chronicle followed up on our initial
exploration and published the results of its own investigation last
November. The newspaper reported that another defendant, who pleaded
guilty to participating in the crime but did not testify at Cantu's
trial, has signed an affidavit swearing that Cantu was not with him
that night and had no role in the murder. More important, the only
witness who did testify -- a second victim, who was shot nine times
but survived -- now says that police pressured him to identify Cantu
as the shooter, and that he did so even though Cantu was innocent.

Larry Griffin, a 40-year-old black man from St. Louis, was executed
in Missouri in June 1995 for the drive-by shooting of a drug dealer
in 1980. The only evidence against him was a witness who claimed to
have seen Griffin at the crime scene. This witness was a white
career criminal with several felony charges pending against him. In
July 2005, our investigation revealed that the first police officer
on the scene and the victim's sister both agreed that this supposed
witness -- who would have stood out in the all-black neighborhood --
wasn't there when the shooting occurred. In addition, there was a
second victim who was injured in the shooting. He knew Griffin and
says that Griffin was not in the car from which the shots were
fired, but he was not called to testify at Griffin's trial.

Also last month, the Chicago Tribune (following up on initial
inquiries by the Legal Defense Fund) published a detailed re-
examination of yet another case, that of Carlos DeLuna, a young
Hispanic man from Corpus Christi, Texas, who was executed in
December 1989 for stabbing a convenience store clerk to death in
1983. DeLuna, who was convicted on the basis of a quick on-the-scene
witness identification, claimed that the killer was a man named
Carlos Hernandez.

The prosecution argued that Hernandez was a "phantom." The Tribune
found that Hernandez (who died in prison in 1999) was not only no
phantom, but also no stranger to law enforcement. In fact, one of
DeLuna's prosecutors knew Hernandez well from an earlier homicide
investigation. Hernandez and DeLuna were strikingly similar in
appearance but, unlike DeLuna, Hernandez had a long history of knife
attacks similar to the convenience store killing and repeatedly told
friends and relatives that he had committed the murder for which
DeLuna was executed.

The court's review of Kansas' death penalty statute seemed to stir
more emotion than almost any other case the justices considered this
term. In his dissent, Justice David Souter called the Kansas
law "morally absurd," especially in light of DNA exonerations.
Souter's words prompted Scalia's response, but Scalia and those who
joined him in upholding the death penalty would do well to consider
the cases of Cameron Willingham, Ruben Cantu, Larry Griffin or
Carlos DeLuna.

It's too late to save those men -- or the victims of other erroneous
executions that have not yet come to light. But it's time to
recognize that, regardless of our views on the death penalty, any
future debates must proceed with the knowledge that we have put
innocent people to death.

Theodore M. Shaw is president and director-counsel of the Legal
Defense Fund. He wrote this article for The Washington Post