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What does the DSM-IV define as: A. A pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives are interpreted as malevolent, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following: (1) suspects, without sufficient basis, that others are exploiting, harming, or deceiving him (2) is preoccupied with unjustified doubts about the loyalty or trustworthiness of friends or associates (3) is reluctant to confide in others because of unwarranted fear that the information will be used maliciously against him (4) reads hidden demeaning or threatening meanings into benign remarks or events (5) persistently bears grudges, i.e., is unforgiving of insults, injuries, or slights (6) perceives attacks on his character or reputation that are not apparent to others and is quick to react angrily or to counterattack (7) has recurrent suspicions, without justification, regarding fidelity of spouse or sexual partner B. Does not occur exclusively during the course of Schizophrenia, a Mood Disorder With Psychotic Features, or another Psychotic Disorder and is not due to the direct physiological effects of a general medical condition.	adoption abuse \| Parental Rights Parental Rights Add to My Stories Winona was told her mother didn’t love her – and was handed to another family. Nine years later, they were reunited via Facebook. But forced adoption is happening on a scandalously regular basis. On a sunny station platform in a pretty Cornish town this summer, holidaymakers may have witnessed a touching, but at first glance unremarkable, scene. A mother and teenage son were nervously watching a train pull onto the platform, scanning the emerging crowd for the face of a loved one. Had she missed her train? Had they got the right time? And finally, there she was: a pretty, petite 16-year-old, peering furtively through her fringe. Suddenly the boy broke away with a whoop. ‘It’s her!’ The three immediately became tangled in a hug, babbling, crying, their words tripping over each other. ‘You’ve grown so much!’ ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe you are here!’ Forced apart: Winona has been reunited with Tracey – the mother who gave her away A very unusual emotional reunion had just taken place. For Tracey Lucas, a 38-year-old mother from Truro, had just kissed her 16-year-old daughter Winona for the first time in nine years. What took place on that station platform was a scene that the State had worked very hard for years to ensure didn’t happen. In fact, there is still a question mark over whether Tracey could face prosecution, even prison, for what happened that day. For nine years previously, Winona and her little sister, now 12, were taken from their mother and adopted by another family, given new names and told to forget their natural mother. All contact between them was prevented. Yet in a story that raises profound questions both about British social services and the power of the internet to challenge their secretive workings, Winona traced her birth mother through the Facebook social networking site and the pair are now determined never again to be parted. More… Why being Formerly Hot isn’t the end of the world Tracey, Winona and her sister were subjects of a forced adoption, which critics — including family solicitors, MPs and wronged families — say are happening on a scandalously regular basis, on the flimsiest of evidence, in order to meet government targets to raise the number of adoptions by 50 per cent. There have been cases cited of babies taken from women considered too young or not clever enough to look after them. One boy was removed on the grounds that his mother might shout at him in the future. In Tracey’s case, her children were sent for adoption because they were deemed ‘at risk of emotional abuse’. No one can really know the truth, and doubtless social services would argue they acted in good faith and in the children’s best interests, but Tracey is adamant she never abused, neglected nor abandoned them. Yet because she was a young single mother, who by her own admission sometimes struggled to cope, she was forced to surrender the most precious things she had. Worse, she says the children believed that she had simply stopped loving them. ‘For years the girls believed I was a bad mother, a horrible person who didn’t love them, while I was told the girls didn’t want to see me and were settled into a new life with new parents they loved. All lies,’ says Tracey. ‘The birthday and Christmas cards I wrote were never passed on. The letters Winona wrote to me never reached me. That’s real emotional abuse.’ Ripped from her home: Winona aged six, a year before a court ordered that she be taken away from her mother permanently ‘Yet my son, who’d refused to be adopted, was returned to me after a year, and I went on to have another two children with a new partner, neither of whom has come to any harm. How could I have been a danger to my girls?’ Winona is just as angry as her mother about the stolen years: ‘Everyone told me what a terrible person she was, but all my memories of her were good: making Christmas decorations, reading Roald Dahl’s James And The Giant Peach in bed. I never felt anything but love from her.’ Today, that love is palpable. The pair cannot stop sneaking looks at each other as they hold hands on the sofa of their modest but cosy home. The question is: are they victims of a heavy-handed State as they claim, or does their reunion set a troubling precedent that other adopted children may be tempted to follow? The nightmare began the day Ben was born, shortly before Tracey’s 19th birthday, in June 1992. The children’s father, another 18-year-old, who Tracey admits was a ‘tricky character’ who’d spent a lot of his childhood in care, had a deep suspicion of social workers. ‘Once they knew who Ben’s father was, I was visited in hospital by a social worker and we were told to sign a document saying we would work with them,’ she recalls. ‘I trusted the system and thought once we’d proved ourselves, they’d leave us alone.’ Tracey is the first to admit that to many people, her family may have seemed less than perfect: young, unmarried and living on benefits in rented, frequently changing, council accommodation as they struggled to find a decent home. When Winona was born 18 months later, Cornwall Social Services were a frequent presence in their lives. ‘We didn’t do drugs and my partner was never violent towards me or the children. Money was tight, but we were doing our best. We loved our little family.’ But they felt persecuted. ‘They were constantly putting us down, accusing us of being bad parents,’ says Tracey. ‘I remember one social worker telling me to take the children to a bird sanctuary nearby, as that was what “good” parents did. I wanted to shout that I already had plans that day and what business was it of theirs? But I couldn’t win any argument.’ The crunch came in 1997 during Tracey’s pregnancy with Winona’s younger sister, when her partner assaulted a social worker, a crime for which he was rightly prosecuted. I didn’t really understand that I wouldn’t see Mum again. I’d been seduced with tales of this new home, with ponies and cats, but I thought it was just temporary and that I’d go home eventually Realising she could lose her children, Tracey left her partner, for nothing was more important to her than being a mother. Yet even with him off the scene, the children remained on the ‘at risk’ list. ‘It felt like they’d made up their minds about me and nothing I did could convince them otherwise. ‘I did everything they asked of me: assessments, IQ tests, drug tests, a spell in a mother-and-baby unit (a specialist home for mothers and young children where both can be monitored). Nothing worked.’ In May 1998, Tracey suffered a nervous breakdown due to stress. She spent two months in a psychiatric unit, during which time the children were, quite properly, placed in temporary foster care. ‘I refused to see them. I couldn’t let them see me in that state, in that place,’ she says. But when Tracey returned home, social services was already looking into a permanent new home for the three youngsters. Ben, by now a feisty seven-year-old, refused flatly to be considered for adoption and was returned to Tracey after a year. The girls remained in care, however, and Tracey was told an adoptive family had been found for them: a housing manager and his wife, a police clerical worker. In doing so, Cornwall Social Services had taken a step towards fulfilling former PM Tony Blair’s target, announced by New Labour in 2000, to raise the number of UK adoptions annually by 50 per cent. Blair, whose own father was adopted, promised millions of pounds to councils that succeeded in getting more vulnerable children out of foster care and into permanent, loving homes. Although introduced for the right reasons, critics say the reforms didn’t work and meant younger, ‘cuter’ children were fast-tracked — with councils spurred on by the promise of extra money — while more difficult, older children were left behind. Tracey fought the adoption every step of the way, arguing that even if she was deemed an unfit parent, then her mother or other relatives would gladly look after the girls. But in October 2001, a judge at Truro County Court ordered the adoption should go ahead. Tracey was given an hour to say goodbye. When Winona was 16, she discovered a tool powerful enough to prise open any legal gagging order: Facebook ‘Winona, then seven, reeled off this rehearsed speech, obviously prepared for her, saying: “I know you will always be my birth mother and I will always love you,” ’ recalls Tracey. ‘Her sister, aged just three, grabbed hold of my legs and wouldn’t let go. They had to prise her off. And all the time a social worker was in the corner with a camcorder, filming it all. It was the worst moment of my life.’ Winona remembers that day, too. ‘I didn’t really understand that I wouldn’t see Mum again. I’d been seduced with tales of this new home, with ponies and cats, but I thought it was just temporary and that I’d go home eventually. ‘They [the girls’ adoptive parents] told us they loved us, but it was not an affectionate, cuddly relationship. We looked the part, with a three-bedroom semi-detached house and family holidays in Spain, but there were a lot of rows and tension. I felt more like a pet than their daughter. I wanted my mum and my real family. ‘Every Christmas and birthday I’d sift through the mail to see whether Mum had sent a card. I devised childish plots to get a message to her, and tried writing my telephone number in invisible ink on letters. ‘I’d ask my adopted parents to drive around Truro, saying I wanted to see the parks from my early memories, but really I was looking for Mum.’ Her younger sister, however, refused to discuss their mother, believing she was a bad person who’d given her away. ‘When I tried to talk about her, she’d clam up,’ says Winona. ‘She was too young to remember Mum as she really was.’ Meanwhile, Tracey had formed a relationship with a new partner, construction worker Ian Yendle, 29, and they had two daughters: Teegan, now seven, and Talia, five. Banned from making any contact with her older girls, she had given up hope she would ever see them again, though she continued to send birthday and Christmas cards through social services in the hope they would be passed on. They never were. Then, when Winona turned 16, she discovered a tool powerful enough to prise open any legal gagging order: Facebook. ‘It took only a couple of hours,’ she says. ‘I knew Ben had my old surname, and it was easy to find Mum through his profile. I sent them a message: “Hi, I think I might be your sister/daughter.” ’ Tracey wept with happiness when she read the message, but her elation immediately gave way to terror that she could be hauled before a court and the children whisked away when she replied. I’d ask my adopted parents to drive around Truro, saying I wanted to see the parks from my early memories, but really I was looking for Mum So Tracey, Ben and Winona arranged to meet in secret at Truro Station days later. Numerous clandestine meetings were subsequently set up with Tracey’s sisters and extended family. Eventually, after seeking advice from a forced adoption support group, they decided to let Winona’s younger sister into the secret, and she spoke to Tracey on the phone. ‘After my sister hung up, she said she couldn’t believe how nice Mum was,’ Winona recalls. Winona eventually came clean to their adopted parents. ‘My adoptive father called while I was with Mum and asked where I was. I told him I was with my mother, and he was confused, saying: “But your mum’s here.” When I explained I was with my real mother, he told me I was in terrible danger and that he’d come and pick me up immediately.’ Tension in the house became unbearable after that. It is hard to imagine the pain the adoptive couple must have suffered, having been rejected by two children they’d raised as their own for nine years. Yet Winona’s emotions are still too raw for her to feel sympathy. ‘I couldn’t feel sorry for them. No one forced them into this situation. If everyone had been honest, it wouldn’t have happened. I didn’t love them; I couldn’t. I loved my mum,’ she says bitterly. That was a month ago. Both girls have now left their adopted home — they packed a bag and went without saying goodbye. Winona’s sister is with Tracey, while Winona herself is staying minutes away at her aunt’s, due to lack of bed space. ‘For the first time in years I feel I’m where I belong,’ says Winona. She has since opened a page on Facebook entitled Anti Social Services Forced Adoption — We Can Help! to assist other children in the same plight. She is being supported by Oxford University law graduate and businessman Ian Josephs, who has championed the cause of parents whose children were forcibly removed by social workers, ever since he was a Tory county councillor in the 1960s. Tracey has been visited by a social worker about Winona’s younger sister and still doesn’t know what will happen long-term. Yet she is still acutely aware of their power — a fact that hasn’t escaped her daughters from her new relationship. ‘Talia asked me recently whether I would still be able to love her when she gets older, or would she have to go away like her sisters,’ says Tracey. ‘I told her no, she would always live with Mummy and Daddy.’ Pondering her own future, Winona says: ‘I used to want to work in childcare, but I’m not so sure now. One thing’s for certain, though, I won’t be a social worker. I have seen what they can do.’ A spokesman for Cornwall Council said she was unable to comment specifically on Winona’s case, but said: ‘Social services do not unnecessarily take children into care to be adopted. It is dangerous to suggest that this is happening and that the care system is not the right place for children who are at risk. ‘Children are only adopted when it can be shown that it is in their best interest, and this decision is scrutinised by an independent guardian, as well as an adoption panel with a majority of members independent of the local authority, and by the court.’ Parenting House Divided: Hate Thy Father In an era of bitter divorce battles, parents often use children as hammers to bash each other, manipulating not only the legal system but also their children’s affections. Can a broken parent-child bond be restored? By Mark Teich , published on May 01, 2007 – last reviewed on July 24, 2007 In 1978, after Cathy Mannis and her future husband moved into the same cooperative at U.C. Berkeley, they ran into each other often. She was not immediately smitten. “I detested him at first, and I should have stayed with that feeling,” recalls Cathy Mannis of her now ex-husband. “He was overweight and always very critical. Then he lost weight, became cuter, and started paying attention to me. He was going to be a doctor and he seemed so trustworthy; he said he would never desert his family as his own father had done to him.” They started dating , and she ultimately cared for him enough to marry him. “I thought he’d be a good father, and I was dying to be a mother. I thought we’d have a good life.” She worked full-time as a legal secretary to put him through medical school. She also bought the two of them a town house with money she’d saved before marriage . When she gave birth to a boy, Matt (not his real name), she was as happy as she’d ever been. Over time, she saw signs that her husband was cheating on her, but she always forgave him. Their second son, Robby, was born autistic, and things went downhill fast. The boy had speech and learning problems and was frequently out of control. Her husband was appalled. “He’s dumber than a fish,” he said. Still, they had one more child, Harry (the name has been changed), hoping to give Matt a sibling without Robby’s problems. Harry turned out normal, but he bonded most closely with Robby; they became inseparable. When Cathy once again became convinced her husband was cheating—he inexplicably never came home one night—she finally threw him out. He filed for divorce before she could forgive him again. Cathy was granted primary custody of the kids, and her ex soon married the woman he’d been seeing on the side. Because of all she had to do to help Robby as well as her other two kids, Cathy could no longer hold a full-time job. Meanwhile, her ex declared two bankruptcies and, at one point, even mental disability, all of which kept alimony payments to a trickle. Eventually Cathy was so broke that her electricity was turned off; she and the boys ate dinner by candlelight. Then she became so ill she had to be hospitalized for life-threatening surgery. She had no choice but to leave the kids with her ex. “He promised to return them when my health and finances improved,” she says. That was almost seven years ago. Her health has long since returned and she has a good job she can do from home, but the only child ever restored to her, despite nonstop court battles, was Robby. In fact, her ex got the courts to rule that the children should be permanently separated, leaving the other two children with him, since Robby was a “threat” to his younger brother’s well-being. Through all those years, Cathy says she faced a campaign of systematic alienation from Matt and Harry. “When I called to speak to them, I was usually greeted with coldness or anger , and often the boys weren’t brought to the phone. Then my ex sent letters warning me not to call them at home at all. Whenever the kids came to stay with me, they’d report, ‘Dad says you’re evil . He says you wrecked the marriage.’ ” Then he moved thousands of miles away, making it vastly more difficult for her to see her children. As time has passed, the boys have increasingly pulled away. Matt, now grown and serving in the military, never speaks to Cathy. Thirteen-year-old Harry used to say, “Mommy, why can’t I stay with you? All the other kids I know live with their moms,” before leaving visits with her. Now he often appears detached from her and uninterested in Robby, whom he once adored. His friends at his new home think his stepmother is his mom, because that’s how she introduces herself. “She told me she would take my kids, and she did. The alienation is complete,” rues Cathy. “All I ever wanted was to be a mom.” Divorcing parents have long bashed each other in hopes of winning points with kids. But today, the strategy of blame encompasses a psychological concept of parental alienation that is increasingly used—and misused—in the courts. On the one hand, with so many contentious divorces, parents like Cathy Mannis have been tragically alienated from the children they love. On the other hand, parental alienation has been seized as a strategic tool in custody fights, its effects exploited in the courtroom, often to the detriment of loving parents protecting children from true neglect or abuse. With the impact of alienation so devastating—and false accusations so prevalent—it may take a judge with the wisdom of Solomon to differentiate between the two faces of alienation: a truly toxic parent and his or her victimized children versus manipulation of the legal system to claim damage where none exists. A Symptom Of Our Time? Disturbed by the potential for alienation, many divorce courts have today instituted aggressive steps to intervene where they once just stood by. And with good reason: Alienation is ruinous to all involved. “In pathological or irrational alienation, the parent has done nothing to deserve that level of hatred or rejection from the child,” explains University of Texas psychologist Richard Warshak, author of Divorce Poison: Protecting the Parent-Child Bond from a Vindictive Ex. “It often seems to happen almost overnight, and neither the rejected parent nor even the rejecting child understands why.” Often, in fact, it’s the emotionally healthier parent who gets rejected, Warshak adds. That parent tends to understand that it’s not in the child’s best interests to lose the other parent. In contrast, the alienating parent craves revenge against the ex—then uses the child to exact that punishment. “It’s a form of abuse,” Warshak says. “Both parent and child are victims.” Does DSM-IV Have Equivalents for the Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) Diagnosis? Richard A. Gardner. M.D. Department of Child Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University, New York, New York, USA Child custody evaluators commonly find themselves confronted with resistance when they attempt to use the term parental alienation syndrome (PAS) in courts of law. Although convinced that the patient being evaluated suffers with the disorder, they often find that the attorneys who represent alienated parents, although agreeing with the diagnosis, will discourage use of the term in the evaluators’ reports and testimony. Most often, they will request that the evaluator merely use the term parental alienation (PA). On occasion they will ask whether other DSM-IV diagnoses may be applicable. The purpose of this article is to elucidate the reasons for the reluctance to use the PAS diagnosis and the applicability of PA as well as current DSM-IV substitute diagnoses. Mental health professionals, family law attorneys, and judges are generally in agreement that in recent years we have seen a disorder in which one parent alienates the child against the other parent. This problem is especially common in the context of child-custody disputes where such programming enables the indoctrinating parent to gain leverage in the court of law. There is significant controversy, however, regarding the term to use for this phenomenon. In 1985 I introduced the term parental alienation syndrome to describe this phenomenon ( Gardner, 1985a ). The Parental Alienation Syndrome In association with this burgeoning of child-custody litigation, we have witnessed a dramatic increase in the frequency of a disorder rarely seen previously, a disorder that I refer to as the parental alienation syndrome (PAS). In this disorder we see not only programming (“brainwashing”) of the child by one parent to denigrate the other parent, but self-created contributions by the child in support of the alienating parent’s campaign of denigration against the alienated parent. Because of the child’s contribution I did not consider the terms brainwashing, programming, or other equivalent words to be sufficient. Furthermore, I observed a cluster of symptoms that typically appear together, a cluster that warranted the designation syndrome. Accordingly, I introduced the term parental alienation syndrome to encompass the combination of these two contributing factors that contributed to the development of the syndrome (Gardner, 1985a). In accordance with this use of the term I suggest this definition of the parental alienation syndrome: The parental alienation syndrome (PAS) is a childhood disorder that arises almost exclusively in the context of child-custody disputes. Its primary manifestation is the child’s campaign of denigration against a parent, a campaign that has no justification. It results from the combination of a programming (brainwashing) parent’s indoctrinations and the child’s own contributions to the vilification of the target parent. When true parental abuse and/or neglect is present, the child’s animosity may be justified and so the parental alienation syndrome explanation for the child’s hostility is not applicable. It is important to note that indoctrinating a PAS into a child is a form of abuse—emotional abuse—because it can reasonably result in progressive attenuation of the psychological bond between the child and a loving parent. In many cases it can result in total destruction of that bond, with lifelong alienation. In some cases, then, it may be even worse than other forms of abuse, e.g., physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. A parent who demonstrates such reprehensible behavior has a serious parenting defect, their professions of exemplary parenting notwithstanding. Typically, they are so intent on destroying the bond between the child and the alienated parent that they blind themselves to the formidable psychological consequences on the child of their PAS indoctrinations, both at the time of the indoctrinations and in the future. Most evaluators, family law attorneys, and judges recognize that such programming and child alienation is common in the context of child-custody disputes. They agree, also, that there are situations in which the child’s alienation is the result of parental programming. Some object to the use of the term syndrome and claim that it is not a syndrome, but that the term parental alienation (PA) should be used. The problem with the use of the term PA is that there are many reasons why a child might be alienated from parents, reasons having nothing to do with programming. A child might be alienated from a parent because of parental abuse of the child, e.g., physical, emotional, or sexual. A child might be alienated because of parental neglect. Children with conduct disorders are often alienated from their parents, and adolescents commonly go through phases of alienation. The PAS is well viewed as one subtype of parental alienation. Accordingly, substituting the term PA for PAS cannot but cause confusion. Is the PAS a True Syndrome? Some who prefer to use the term parental alienation (PA) claim that the PAS is not really a syndrome. This position is especially seen in courts of law in the context of child-custody disputes. A syndrome, by medical definition, is a cluster of symptoms, occurring together, that characterize a specific disease. The symptoms, although seemingly disparate, warrant being grouped together because of a common etiology or basic underlying cause. Furthermore, there is a consistency with regard to such a cluster in that most (if not all) of the symptoms appear together. The term syndrome is more specific than the related term disease. A disease is usually a more general term, because there can be many causes of a particular disease. For example, pneumonia is a disease, but there are many types of pneumonia—e.g., pneumococcal pneumonia and bronchopneumonia—each of which has more specific symptoms, and each of which could reasonably be considered a syndrome (although common usage may not utilize the term). The syndrome has a purity because most (if not all) of the symptoms in the cluster predictably manifest themselves together as a group. Often, the symptoms appear to be unrelated, but they actually are because they usually have a common etiology. An example would be Down’s Syndrome, which includes a host of seemingly disparate symptoms that do not appear to have a common link. These include mental retardation, Mongoloid faces, drooping lips, slanting eyes, short fifth finger, and atypical creases in the palms of the hands. Down’s Syndrome patients often look very much alike and most typically exhibit all these symptoms. The common etiology of these disparate symptoms relates to a specific chromosomal abnormality. It is this genetic factor that is responsible for linking together these seemingly disparate symptoms. There is then a primary, basic cause of Down’s Syndrome: a genetic abnormality. Similarly, the PAS is characterized by a cluster of symptoms that usually appear together in the child, especially in the moderate and severe types. These include: Reflexive support of the alienating parent in the parental conflict Absence of guilt over cruelty to and/or exploitation of the alienated parent The presence of borrowed scenarios Spread of the animosity to the friends and/or extended family of the alienated parent Typically, children who suffer with PAS will exhibit most (if not all) of these symptoms. However, in the mild cases one might not see all eight symptoms. When mild cases progress to moderate or severe, it is highly likely that most (if not all) of the symptoms will be present. This consistency results in PAS children resembling one another. It is because of these considerations that the PAS is a relatively “pure” diagnosis that can easily be made. Because of this purity, the PAS lends itself well to research studies because the population to be studied can usually be easily identified. Furthermore, I am confident that this purity will be verified by future interrater reliability studies. In contrast, children subsumed under the rubric PA are not likely to lend themselves well to research studies because of the wide variety of disorders to which it can refer, e.g., physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and defective parenting. As is true of other syndromes, there is in the PAS a specific underlying cause: programming by an alienating parent in conjunction with additional contributions by the programmed child. It is for these reasons that PAS is indeed a syndrome, and it is a syndrome by the best medical definition of the term. In contrast, PA is not a syndrome and has no specific underlying cause. Nor do the proponents of the term PA claim that it is a syndrome. Actually, PA can be viewed as a group of syndromes, which share in common the phenomenon of the child’s alienation from a parent. To refer to PA as a group of syndromes would, by necessity, lead to the conclusion that the PAS is one of the syndromes subsumed under the PA rubric and would thereby weaken the argument of those who claim that PAS is not a syndrome. The PAS and DSM-IV There are some, especially adversaries in child-custody disputes, who claim that there is no such entity as the PAS. This position is especially likely to be taken by legal and mental health professionals who are supporting the position of someone who is clearly a PAS programmer. The main argument given to justify this position is that the PAS does not appear in DSM-IV. To say that PAS does not exist because it is not listed in DSM-IV is like saying in 1980 that AIDS (Autoimmune Deficiency Syndrome) did not exist because it was not then listed in standard diagnostic medical textbooks. DSM-IV was published in 1994. From 1991 to 1993, when DSM committees were meeting to consider the inclusion of additional disorders, there were too few articles in the literature to warrant submission of the PAS for consideration. That is no longer the case. It is my understanding that committees will begin to meet for the next edition of the DSM (probably to be called DSM-V) in 2002 or 2003. Considering the fact that there are now at least 133 articles in peer-review journals on the PAS, it is highly likely that by that time there will be even more articles. (A list of peer-reviewed PAS articles is to be found on my website, www.rgardner.com/refs , a list that is continually being updated.) It is important to note that DSM-IV does not frivolously accept every new proposal. Their requirements are very stringent with regard to the inclusion of newly described clinical entities. The committees require many years of research and numerous publications in peer-review scientific journals before considering the inclusion of a disorder, and justifiably so. Gille de La Tourette first described his syndrome in 1885. It was not until 1980, 95 years later, that the disorder found its way into the DSM. It is important to note that at that point, Tourette’s Syndrome became Tourette’s Disorder. Asperger first described his syndrome in 1957. It was not until 1994, 37 years later, that it was accepted into DSM-IV and Asperger’s Syndrome became Asperger’s Disorder. DSM-IV states specifically that all disorders contained in the volume are “syndromes or patterns” (p. xxi), and they would not be there if they were not syndromes (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Once accepted, the name syndrome is changed to disorder. However, this is not automatically the pattern for nonpsychiatric disorders. Often the term syndrome becomes locked into the name and becomes so well known that changing the word syndrome to disorder would seem awkward. For example, Down’s syndrome, although well recognized, has never become Down’s disorder. Similarly, AIDS (Autoimmune Deficiency Syndrome) is a well-recognized disease but still retains the syndrome term. One of the most important (if not the most important) determinants as to whether a newly described disorder will be accepted into the DSM is the quantity and quality of research articles on the clinical entity, especially articles that have been published in peer-review journals. The committees are particularly interested in interrater reliability studies that will validate the relative “purity” of the disease entity being described. PAS lends itself well to such studies; PA does not. One of the first steps one must take when setting up a scientific study is to define and circumscribe the group(s) being studied. PAS lends itself well to such circumscription. PA is so diffuse and all-encompassing that no competent researcher would consider such a group to be a viable object of study. Whether one is going to study etiology, symptomatic manifestations, pathogenesis, treatment modalities, treatment efficacy, or conduct follow-up studies, one is more likely to obtain meaningful results if one starts with a discrete group (such as PAS) than if one starts with an amorphous group (such as PA). One of the major criticisms directed against many research projects is that the authors’ study group was not “pure” enough and/or well-selected enough to warrant the professed conclusions. Studies of PAS children are far less likely to justify this criticism than studies of PA children. Whereas the PAS may ultimately be recognized in DSM-V, it is extremely unlikely that DSM committees will consider an entity referred to as parental alienation. It is too vague a term and covers such a wide variety of clinical phenomena that they could not justifiably be clumped together to warrant inclusion in DSM as a specific disorder. Because listing in the DSM ensures admissibility in courts of law, those who use the term PA instead of PAS are lessening the likelihood that PAS will be listed in DSM-V. The result will be that many PAS families will be deprived of the proper recognition they deserve in courts of law, which often depend heavily on the DSM. Recognition of the PAS in Courts of Law Some who hesitate to use the term PAS claim that it has not been accepted in courts of law. This is not so. Although there are certainly judges who have not recognized the PAS, there is no question that courts of law with increasing rapidity are recognizing the disorder. My website ( www.rgardner.com/refs ) currently cites 66 cases in which the PAS has been recognized. By the time this article is published, the number of citations will certainly be greater. Furthermore, I am certain that there are other citations that have not been brought to my attention. It is important to note that on January 30, 2001, after a two-day hearing devoted to whether the PAS satisfied Frye Test criteria for admissibility in a court of law, a Tampa, Florida court ruled that the PAS had gained enough acceptance in the scientific community to be admissible in a court of law ( Kilgore v. Boyd, 2001 ). This ruling was subsequently affirmed by the District Court of Appeals ( February 6, 2001 ). In the course of my testimony, I brought to the court’s attention the more than 100 peer-reviewed articles (there are 133 at the time of this writing) by approximately 150 other authors and over 40 court rulings (there are 66 at the time of this writing) in which the PAS had been recognized. These lists of the PAS peer-reviewed articles and legal citations are frequently updated on my website (www.rgardner.com). I am certain that these publications played an important role in the judge’s decision. This case will clearly serve as a precedent and facilitate the admission of the PAS in other cases—not only in Florida, but elsewhere. Whereas there are some courts of law that have not recognized PAS, there are far fewer courts that have not recognized PA. This is one of the important arguments given by those who prefer the term PA. They do not risk an opposing attorney claiming that PA does not exist or that courts of law have not recognized it. There are some evaluators who recognize that children are indeed suffering with a PAS, but studiously avoid using the term in their reports and courtroom, because they fear that their testimony will not be admissible. Accordingly, they use PA, which is much safer, because they are protected from the criticisms so commonly directed at those who use PAS. Later in this article I will detail the reasons why I consider this position injudicious. Many of those who espouse PA claim not to be concerned with the fact that their more general construct will be less useful in courts of law. Their primary interest, they profess, is the expansion of knowledge about children’s alienation from parents. Considering the fact that the PAS is primarily (if not exclusively) a product of the adversary system, and considering the fact that PAS symptoms are directly proportionate to the intensity of the parental litigation, and considering the fact that the court that has more power than the therapist to alleviate and even cure the disorder, PA proponents who claim no concern for the long-term legal implications of their position are injudicious and, I suspect, their claims of unconcern are specious. Sources of the Controversy Over the Parental Alienation Syndrome There are some who claim that because there is such controversy swirling around the PAS, there must be something specious about the existence of the disorder. Those who discount the PAS entirely because it is “controversial” sidestep the real issues, namely, what specifically has engendered the controversy, and, more importantly, is the PAS formulation reasonable and valid? The fact that something is controversial does not invalidate it. But why do we have such controversy over the PAS? With regard to whether PAS exists, we generally do not see such controversy regarding most other clinical entities in psychiatry. Examiners may have different opinions regarding the etiology and treatment of a particular psychiatric disorder, but there is usually some consensus about its existence. And this should especially be the case for a relatively “pure” disorder such as the PAS, a disorder that is easily diagnosable because of the similarity of the children’s symptoms when one compares one family with another. Why, then, should there be such controversy over whether or not PAS exists? The PAS and the Adversary System The PAS is very much a product of the adversary system ( Gardner, 1985a , 1986 , 1987a , 1987b , 1989 , 1992 , 1998 ). Furthermore, a court of law is generally the place where clients attempt to resolve the PAS. Most newly developed scientific principles inevitably become controversial when they are dealt with in the courtroom. It behooves the attorneys — when working within the adversary system — to take an adversarial stand and create controversy where it may not exist. In that setting, it behooves one side to take just the opposite position from the other if one is to prevail. Furthermore, it behooves each attorney to attempt to discredit the experts of the opposing counsel. A good example of this phenomenon is the way in which DNA testing was dealt with in the OJ Simpson trial. DNA testing is one of the most scientifically valid procedures for identifying perpetrators. Yet the jury saw fit to question the validity of such evidence, and DNA became, for that trial, controversial. I strongly suspect that those jury members who concluded that DNA evidence was not scientifically valid for OJ Simpson would have vehemently fought for its admissibility if they themselves were being tried for a crime, which they did not commit. I am certain, as well, that any man in that jury who found himself falsely accused of paternity would be quite eager to accept DNA proof of his innocence. The Denial of the PAS is the Primary Defense of the Alienator A parent accused of inducing a PAS in a child is likely to engage the services of a lawyer who may invoke the argument that there is no such thing as a PAS. The reasoning goes like this: “If there is no such thing as the PAS, then there is no programmer, and therefore my client cannot be accused of brainwashing the children.” This is an extremely important point, and I cannot emphasize it strongly enough. It is a central element in the controversy over the PAS, a controversy that has been played out in courtrooms not only in the United States but in various other countries as well. And if the allegedly dubious lawyer can demonstrate that the PAS is not listed in DSM-IV, then the position is considered “proven” (I say “allegedly” because the lawyer may well recognize the PAS but is only serving his client by his deceitfulness). The only thing this proves is that in 1994 DSM-IV did not list the PAS. The lawyers hope, however, that the judge will be taken in by this specious argument and will then conclude that if there is no PAS, there is no programming, and so the client is thereby exonerated. Substituting the term PA circumvents this problem. No alienator is identified, the sources are vaguer, and the causes could lie with the mother, the father, or both. The drawback here is that the evaluator may not provide the court with proper information about the cause of the children’s alienation. It lessens the likelihood, then, that the court will have the proper data with which to make its recommendations. Which Term to Use in the Courtroom: PA or PAS? Many examiners, then, even those who recognize the existence of the PAS, may consciously and deliberately choose to use the term parental alienation in the courtroom. Their argument may go along these lines: “I fully recognize that there is such a disease as the PAS. I have seen many such cases and it is a widespread phenomenon. However, if I mention PAS in my report, I expose myself to criticism in the courtroom such as, ‘It doesn’t exist,’ ‘It’s not in DSM-IV’ etc. Therefore, I just use PA, and no one denies that.” I can recognize the attractiveness of this argument, but I have serious reservations about this way of dealing with the controversy—especially in a court of law. Using PA is basically a terrible disservice to the PAS family because the cause of the children’s alienation is not properly identified. It is also a compromise in one’s obligation to the court, which is to provide accurate and useful information so that the court will be in the best position to make a proper ruling. Using PA is an abrogation of this responsibility; using PAS is in the service of fulfilling this obligation. Furthermore, evaluators who use PA instead of PAS are losing sight of the fact that they are impeding the general acceptance of the term in the courtroom. This is a disservice to the legal system, because it deprives the legal network of the more specific PAS diagnosis that could be more helpful to courts for dealing with such families. Moreover, using the PA term is shortsighted because it lessens the likelihood that some future edition of DSM will recognize the subtype of PA that we call PAS. This not only has diagnostic implications, but even more importantly, therapeutic implications. The diagnoses included in the DSM serve as a foundation for treatment. The symptoms listed therein serve as guidelines for therapeutic interventions and goals. Insurance companies (who are always quick to look for reasons to deny coverage) strictly refrain from providing coverage for any disorder not listed in the DSM. Accordingly, PAS families cannot expect to be covered for treatment. I describe below additional diagnoses that are applicable to the PAS, diagnoses that justify requests for insurance coverage. Examiners in both the mental health and legal professions who genuinely recognize the PAS, but who refrain from using the term until it appears in DSM, are lessening the likelihood that it will ultimately be included, because widespread utilization is one of the criteria that DSM committees consider. Such restraint, therefore, is an abrogation of their responsibility to contribute to the enhancement of knowledge in their professions. There is, however, a compromise. I use PAS in all those reports in which I consider the diagnosis justified. I also use the PAS term throughout my testimony. However, I sometimes make comments along these lines, both in my reports and in my testimony: Although I have used the term PAS, the important questions for the court are: Are these children alienated? What is the cause of the alienation? and What can we then do about it? So if one wants to just use the term PA, one has learned something. But we haven’t really learned very much, because everyone involved in this case knows well that the children have been alienated. The question is what is the cause of the children’s alienation? In this case the alienation is caused by the mother’s (father’s) programming and something must be done about protecting the children from the programming. That is the central issue for this court in this case, and it is more important than whether one is going to call the disorder PA or PAS, even though I strongly prefer the PAS term for the reasons already given. In addition, if the court does not wish to recognize the PAS diagnosis there are other DSM-IV diagnoses that are very much applicable in this case. For the alienating father (mother) the following diagnoses are warranted: (the examiner can select from the list provided in the next section of this article). For the PAS child the following DSM-IV diagnoses are warranted: (the examiner can select from the list provided in the next section of this article). With regard to the alienated parent, the mother (father), no DSM-IV diagnosis is warranted. (However, a DSM-IV diagnosis may be warranted, but generally it is not related to the PAS as the symptoms have not played a role in contributing to the disorder). I wish to emphasize that I do not routinely include this compromise, because whenever I do so, I recognize that I am providing support for those who are injudiciously eschewing the term and compromising thereby their professional obligations to their clients and the court. Warshak (1999 , 2001 ), has also addressed the PA vs. PAS controversy. He emphasizes the point that espousers of both PA and PAS agree that in the severe cases the only hope for the victimized children is significant restriction of the programmer’s access to the children and, in many cases, custodial transfer—sometimes via a transitional site. Warshak concludes that the arguments for the utilization for PAS outweigh the arguments for the utilization of PA, although he has more sympathy for the PA position than do I. Elsewhere, I have also addressed myself to this issue ( Gardner, 2002 ). DSM-IV Diagnoses Related to the Parental Alienation Syndrome Examiners writing reports for and testifying in courts of law can generally find diagnoses in DSM-IV that are immune to the argument, “It doesn’t exist because it’s not in DSM-IV.” These diagnoses are not identical to the PAS, but they have common elements that can justify their utilization. None of them, however, are identical to the PAS and cannot be used as substitutes for it. I present here those that are most applicable and potentially useful in courts of law. Diagnoses Applicable to Both Alienating Parents and PAS Childrem 297.3 Shared Psychotic Disorder A delusion develops in an individual in the context of a close relationship with another person(s) who has an already-established delusion. The delusion is similar in content to that of the person who already has the established delusion. This DSM-IV diagnosis is warranted in some of the severe PAS cases in which the programmer is paranoid, and the child’s campaign of denigration incorporates the same paranoid ideation. In a sense, most of the moderate, and even some of the mild cases of PAS, are examples of the folie à deux phenomenon. However, one cannot justifiably consider the mild and moderate cases of PAS to warrant the label psychotic with the implication of complete break with reality. In severe cases we do see bona fide delusions of persecution that can justifiably be considered paranoid. Most often, the delusional system is circumscribed to the alienated parent. It is important to note that this single diagnosis can be applied to both the alienator and the alienated child. V61.20 Parent-Child Relational Problem This category should be used when the focus of clinical attention is a pattern of interaction between parent and child (e.g., impaired communication, overprotection, inadequate discipline) that is associated with clinically significant impairment in individual or family functioning or the development of clinically significant symptoms in parent or child. This diagnosis generally applies to a dyad. Obviously, there are a wide variety of parent-child relational problems that have nothing to do with PAS. In fact, it is reasonable to state that parent-child relational problems probably began with the first families that existed. This diagnosis is an excellent example of the aforementioned principle that none of the DSM-IV diagnoses described here can be reasonably substituted for the PAS. Rather, they are best viewed as disorders that have some symptoms in common with the PAS and may therefore justify being listed as additional diagnoses. In the PAS situation there is a pathological dyad between the alienating parent and the child and another pathological dyad between the alienated parent and the child. The pathological dyad between the alienated parent and the child is one in which the child is being programmed into a campaign of denigration against the previously loving parent. The child is being programmed to exhibit any and all of the primary symptomatic manifestations of the PAS. With regard to the relationship between the child and the alienated parent, the child exhibits inordinate hostility, denigration, and fear of the target parent to the point where that parent is viewed as noxious and loathsome. Examiners using this criterion do well to emphasize that two separate parent-child relational problems are manifested. Diagnoses Applicable to Alienating Parents 297.71 Delusional Disorder Nonbizarre delusions (i.e., involving situations that occur in real life, such as being followed, poisoned, infected, loved at a distance, or deceived by spouse or lover, or having a disease) of at least 1 month’s duration. Of the various subtypes of delusional disorder, the one that is most applicable to the PAS: Persecutory Type: delusions that the person (or someone to whom the person is close) is being malevolently treated in some way This diagnosis is generally applicable to the PAS indoctrinator who may initially recognize that the complaints about the behavior of the alienated parent are conscious and deliberate fabrications. However, over time, the fabrications may become delusions, actually believed by the programming parent. And the same process may ultimately be applicable to the child. Specifically, at first the child may recognize that the professions of hatred are feigned and serve to ingratiate the child to the programmer. However, over time the child may come to actually believe what were originally conscious and deliberate fabrications. When that point is reached the delusional disorder diagnosis is applicable to the child. Generally, this diagnosis is applicable to relentless programmers who are obsessed with their hatred of the victim parent, by which time the child will have probably entered the severe level of PAS. It is to be noted that when the PAS is present, most often one observes a circumscribed delusional system, confined almost exclusively to the alienated parent. This diagnosis may also be applicable to the PAS child, especially the child who is in the severe category. 301.0 Paranoid Personality Disorder A pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives are interpreted as malevolent, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following: suspects, without sufficient basis, that others are exploiting, harming, or deceiving him or her is preoccupied with unjustified doubts about the loyalty or trustworthiness of friends or associates is reluctant to confide in others because of unwarranted fear that the information will be used maliciously against him or her reads hidden demeaning or threatening meanings into benign remarks or events persistently bears grudges, i.e., is unforgiving of insults, injuries, or slights perceives attacks on his or her character or reputation that are not apparent to others and is quick to react angrily or to counterattack has recurrent suspicions, without justification, regarding fidelity of spouse or sexual partner PAS programmers who warrant this diagnosis would often satisfy these criteria before the marital separation. A detailed history from the victim parent as well as collaterals may be important because the programming parent is not likely to directly reveal such symptoms. They may, however, reveal them in the course of the evaluation, because they are such deep-seated traits, and are so deeply embedded in their personality structure, that they cannot be hidden. Most people involved in protracted child-custody litigation become “a little paranoid,” and this is often revealed by elevations on the paranoid scale of the MMPI. After all, there are indeed people who are speaking behind the patient’s back, are plotting against them, and are developing schemes and strategies with opposing lawyers. This reality results in an elevation of the paranoid scale in people who would not have manifested such elevations prior to the onset of the litigation. We see here how adversarial proceedings intensify psychopathology in general (Gardner, 1986), and in this case, paranoid psychopathology especially. The PAS child is less likely to warrant this diagnosis. When the severe level is reached PAS children may warrant the aforementioned Shared Psychotic Disorder diagnosis. On occasion, the diagnosis Schizophrenia, Paranoid Type (295.30) is warranted for the programming parent, but such patients generally exhibited other manifestations of schizophrenia, especially prior to the separation. It goes beyond the purposes of this paper to detail the marital symptoms of schizophrenia which should be investigated if the examiner has reason to believe that this diagnosis may be applicable. It is important for the examiner to appreciate that there is a continuum from delusional disorder, to paranoid personality disorder, to paranoid schizophrenia. Furthermore, in the course of protracted litigation, a patient may move along the track from the milder to a more severe disorder on this continuum. 301.83 Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following: frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. Note:Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5. a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating). Note Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5. recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g. intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days) chronic feelings of emptiness inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights) transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms Some alienators may exhibit some of these symptoms prior to the separation. However, as a result of the stresses of the separation, the symptoms may progress to the point where the diagnosis is applicable. Criterion (1) is likely to be exhibited soon after the separation because the marital dissolution is generally associated with real feelings of abandonment. Criterion (2) is often seen when there is a dramatic shift from idealization of the spouse to extreme devaluation. The campaign of denigration is the best example of this manifestation of BPD. Criterion (4) may manifest itself by excessive spending, especially when such spending causes significant stress and grief to the alienated parent. Following the separation, alienating parents may satisfy Criterion (6) with affect instability, irritability, and intense episodic dysphoria. Although such reactions are common among most people involved in a divorce, especially when litigating the divorce, patients with BPD exhibit these symptoms to an even greater degree. Chronic feelings of emptiness (Criterion [7]) go beyond those that are generally felt by people following a separation. Criterion (8) is extremely common among PAS programmers. The tirades of anger against the alienated parent serve as a model for the child and contribute to the development of the campaign of denigration. The stress-related paranoia, an intensification of the usual suspiciousness exhibited by people involved in litigation, may reach the point that Criterion (9) is satisfied. The examiner should note which of the symptoms are present and comment: “Five criteria need to be satisfied for the BPD diagnosis. Ms. X satisfies four. Although she does not qualify for the diagnosis at this point, she is at high risk for its development. Furthermore, when one lists diagnoses at the end of the report one might note the DSM-IV diagnosis and add in parenthesis “incipient.” 301.81 Narcissistic Personality Disorder A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following: has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions) requires excessive admiration has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes My experience has been that most PAS indoctrinators do not satisfy enough criteria (five) to warrant this diagnosis. However, many do exhibit three or four of them, which is worthy of the examiner’s attention and should be noted in the report. Criterion (5) is especially common in PAS indoctrinators. They act as if court orders have absolutely nothing to do with them, even though their names may be specifically spelled out in the ruling. Unfortunately, they often violate these orders with impunity because courts are typically lax with regard to implementing punitive measures for PAS contemnors. As mentioned in other publications of mine (Gardner, 1998; 2001), the failure of courts to take action against PAS programmers is one of the most common reasons why the symptoms become entrenched in the children. Criterion (6) is often frequently satisfied by the programmer’s ongoing attempts to extract ever more money from the victim parent, but feels little need to allow access to the children. There is no sense of shame or guilt over this common form of exploitation. The programmer’s lack of empathy and sympathy for the victim parent is quite common and easily satisfies Criterion (7). The PAS, by definition, is a disorder in which a programmer tries to destroy the bond between the children and a good, loving parent. In order to accomplish the goal, the alienator must have a serious deficiency in the ability to empathize with the target parent. Criterion (9) is often seen in that PAS indoctrinators are often haughty and arrogant and this symptom goes along with their sense of entitlement. Again, if warranted, the diagnosis can be listed as “incipient.” DSM-IV Diagnoses Applicable to PAS Children 312.8 Conduct Disorder A repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate societal norms or rules are violated, as manifested by the presence of three (or more) of the following criteria in the past 12 months, with at least one criterion present in the past 6 months: This diagnosis is often applicable to the PAS child, especially in situations when the conduct disturbances are the most salient manifestation. Under such circumstances, an examiner who is not familiar with the PAS may erroneously conclude that this is the only diagnosis. Such a conclusion necessitates selective inattention to the programming process, which is the hallmark of the PAS. Once again, we see here how a diagnosis, although in DSM-IV, cannot be used as a substitute for the PAS, but may be used as an additional diagnosis. I will not list here all 15 of the DSM-IV criteria, but only those that are most applicable to the PAS: Aggression to people and animals often bullies, threatens, or intimidates others often initiates physical fights has used a weapon that can cause serious physical harm to others (e.g., a bat, brick, broken bottle, knife, gun) has been physically cruel to animals has stolen while confronting a victim (e.g., mugging, purse snatching, extortion, armed robbery) Destruction of property has deliberately engaged in fire setting with the intention of causing serious damage has deliberately destroyed others’ property (other than by fire setting)Deceitfulness or theft often lies to obtain goods or favors or to avoid obligations (i.e., “cons” others) has stolen items of nontrivial value without confronting a victim (e.g., shoplifting, but without breaking and entering; forgery)Serious violations of rules has run away from home overnight at least twice while living in parental or parental surrogate home (or once without returning for a lengthy period As can be seen, most of the 15 criteria for the conduct disorder diagnosis can be satisfied by PAS children, especially those in the severe category. The target parent is very much scapegoated and victimized by PAS children. In severe cases they are screamed at, intimidated, and sometimes physically assaulted with objects such as bats, bottles, and knives. The child may perpetrate acts of sabotage in the home of the victim parent. Destruction of property in that person’s home is common and, on rare occasion, even fire setting. Deceitfulness is common, especially fabrications facilitated and supported by the alienator. Stealing things, such as legal documents and important records, and bringing them to the home of the alienator is common. Running away from the home of the target parent and returning to the home of the alienator is common, especially in moderate and severe cases. 309.21 Separation Anxiety Disorder Developmentally inappropriate and excessive anxiety concerning separation from home or from those to whom the individual is attached, as evidenced by three (or more) of the following: I reproduce here those of the eight criteria that are applicable to the PAS: 1) recurrent excessive distress when separation from home or major attachment figures occurs or is anticipated 4) persistent reluctance or refusal to go to school or elsewhere because of fear of separation 8) repeated complaints of physical symptoms (such as headaches, stomachaches, nausea, or vomiting) when separation from major attachment figures occurs or is anticipated It is important for the reader to appreciate that the original diagnosis for separation anxiety disorder was school phobia. The term separation anxiety disorder is a relatively recent development emerging from the recognition that the child’s fear was less that of the school per se and much more related to the fear of separation from a parent, commonly an overprotective mother (Gardner, 1985b). DSM-IV recognizes this and doesn’t necessarily require the school to be the object of fear, but rather separation from the home, especially from someone with whom the child is pathologically attached. It is important to note that the PAS child’s hatred of the victim parent has less to do with actual dislike of that parent and has much more to do with fear that if affection is displayed toward the target parent, the alienating parent will be angry at and rejecting of the child. At the prospect of going with the victim parent, the child may exhibit a wide variety of psychosomatic symptoms, all manifestations of the tension associated with the visit. The distress may be especially apparent when the alienating parent is at the site of the transfer. The child recognizes that expression of willingness or happiness to go off with the alienated parent might result in rejection by the alienator. The separation anxiety disorder diagnosis is most often applicable to the mild and moderate cases of PAS. In the severe cases, the anxiety element is less operative than the anger element. When applying these criteria to the PAS child, one does well to substitute the PAS indoctrinating parent for the parent with whom the child is pathologically attached. At the same time one should substitute the alienated parent for the school or other place outside the child’s home. When one does this, one can see how most of the aforementioned criteria apply. When the child with a separation anxiety disorder is fearful of leaving the home to go to many destinations, the school is the destination the child most fears. It is there that the child feels imprisoned. In contrast, PAS children generally fear only the target parent and are not afraid to leave the programming parent and go elsewhere, such as to the homes of friends and relatives. In short, the PAS child’s fear is focused on the alienated parent. In contrast, the child with a separation anxiety disorder has fears that focus on school but which have spread to many other situations and destinations. 300.15 Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified This category is included for disorders in which the predominant feature is a dissociative symptom (i.e., a disruption in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception of the environment) that does not meet the criteria for any specific Dissociative Disorder. Examples include: States of dissociation that occur in individuals who have been subjected to periods of prolonged and coercive persuasion (e.g., brainwashing, thought reform, or indoctrination while captive). Of the four categories of dissociative disorder (NOS), only Category 3 is applicable to the PAS. This criterion was designed for people who have been subjected to cult indoctrinations or for military prisoners subjected to brainwashing designed to convert their loyalty from their homeland to the enemy that has imprisoned them. It is very applicable to PAS children, especially those in the severe category. Such children have been programmed to convert their loyalty from a loving parent to the brainwashing parent exclusively. Cult victims and those subjected to prisoner indoctrinations often appear to be in a trance-like state in which they profess their indoctrinations in litany-like fashion. PAS children as well (especially those in the severe category) are often like robots or automatons in the way in which they profess the campaign of denigration in litany-like fashion. They seem to be in an altered state of consciousness when doing so. Adjustment Disorders The following subtypes of adjustment disorders are sometimes applicable to PAS children: 309.0 With Depressed Mood. 309.28 With Mixed Anxiety and Depressed Mood. 309.3 With Disturbance of Conduct. 309.4 With Mixed Disturbance of Emotions and Conduct Each of these types of adjustment disorders may be applicable to the PAS child. The child is indeed adjusting to a situation in which one parent is trying to convince the youngster that a previously loving, dedicated, and loyal parent has really been noxious, loathsome, and dangerous. The programmed data does not seem to coincide with what the child has experienced. This produces confusion. The child fears that any expression of affection for the target parent will result in rejection by the alienator. Under such circumstances, the child may respond with anxiety, depression, and disturbances of conduct. 313.9 Disorder of Infancy, Childhood or Adolescence Not Otherwise Specified This category is a residual category for disorders with onset in infancy, childhood, or adolescence that do not meet criteria for any specific order in the Classification. This would be a “last resort” diagnosis for the PAS child, the child who, although suffering with a PAS, does not have symptoms that warrant other DSM-IV childhood diagnoses. However, if one still feels the need to use a DSM-IV diagnosis, especially if the report will be compromised without one, then this last-resort diagnosis can justifiably be utilized. However, it is so vague that it says absolutely nothing other than that the person who is suffering with this disorder is a child. I do not recommend its utilization because of its weakness and because it provides practically no new information to the court. DSM-IV Diagnoses Applicable to Alienated Parents In most PAS cases, a diagnosis is not warranted for the alienated parent. On occasion that parent does warrant a DSM-IV diagnosis, but its applicability usually antedated the separation and usually has not played a role in the PAS development or promulgation. As mentioned elsewhere (Gardner, 2001), the primary problem I have seen with alienated parents is their passivity. They are afraid to implement traditional disciplinary and punitive measures with their children, lest they alienate them even further. And they are afraid to criticize the alienator because of the risk that such criticism will be reported to the court and compromise even further their position in the child-custody litigation. Generally, their passivity is not so deep-seated that they would warrant DSM-IV diagnoses such as avoidant personality disorder (301.82) or dependent personality disorder (301.6), because such passivity does not extend into other areas of life and did not antedate the marital separation. One could argue that they have an adjustment disorder, but there is no DSM diagnosis called “adjustment disorder, with passivity.” Accordingly, I will often state for alienated parents, “No Axis 1 diagnosis.” If, indeed, the alienated parent did suffer with a psychiatric disorder that contributed to the alienation, then this should be noted. Certainly, there are situations in which the alienated parent’s psychiatric disorder is so profound that it is the primary cause of the children’s alienation. In such cases, the PAS diagnosis is not warranted. Under such circumstances, this disorder should be described instead as the cause of the children’s alienation. Final Comments About Alternative DSM-IV Diagnoses for the PAS As mentioned, the primary reason for using these diagnoses is that the PAS, at this point, is not recognized in some courts of law. They cannot be used as substitute diagnoses for the PAS, but sometimes share in common some of the symptoms. Accordingly, they can be used as additional diagnoses. It is too early to expect widespread recognition because it was not feasible for the PAS to have been placed in the 1994 edition, so few were the publications on the disorder when the preparatory committees were meeting. This will certainly not be the case when the committees meet in the next few years for the preparation of DSM-V, which is scheduled for publication in 2010. None of the aforementioned substitute diagnoses are fully applicable to the PAS; however, as mentioned, each one has certain characteristics which overlap the PAS diagnosis. Because no combination of these alternative diagnoses can properly replace the PAS, they should be used in addition to rather than instead of the PAS. There is hardly a diagnosis in DSM-IV that does not share symptoms in common with other diagnoses. There is significant overlap and often fluidity in DSM diagnoses. None are “pure,” but some are purer than others, and the PAS is one of the purer ones. At this point, examiners who conclude that PAS is an applicable diagnosis do well to list it in the appropriate place(s) in their reports (especially at the end). At the same time, they do well to list any DSM-IV diagnoses that are applicable for the alienator, the alienated child, and (if warranted) for the alienated parent. Accordingly, even if the court will not recognize the PAS diagnosis, it will have a more difficult time ignoring these alternative DSM diagnoses. Conclusions Controversies are likely when a new disorder is first described. This is predictable. The PAS, however, has probably generated more controversy than most new diagnostic contributions. The primary reason for this is that the PAS is very much a product of the adversary legal system that adjudicates child-custody disputes. Under such circumstances, it behooves opposing attorneys to discredit the contribution and to find every argument possible for obstructing its admission into courts of law. And this is what happened with the PAS. The purpose of this article has been to help evaluators involved in such disputes understand better the nature of the controversy and to deal with it in the context of the present legal situation. Like all compromises, the solution is not perfect. None of the additional diagnoses are identical to the PAS, but they do serve a purpose in a court of law in that they are established psychiatric diagnoses that are applicable to PAS alienators, PAS children, and (on occasion) the alienated parent. Ultimately, if PAS is admitted into DSM-V, the main argument for its inadmissibility in courts of law will no longer be applicable and the need for listing these additional diagnoses in courts of law will be reduced. References American Psychiatric Association (1994) , Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised (DSM-IV). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association. Boyd v. Kilgore , 773 So. 2d 546 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000) (Prohibition Denied) Kilgore v. Boyd , 13th Circuit Court, Hillsborough County, FL., Case No. 94-7573, 733 So. 2d 546 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) Jan 30, 2001 Based on data from 34 States. Perpetrator Relationships of Child Fatalities, 2005 This table first lists perpetrator relationships including mother only, mother and father, father only, mother and other, father and other, female daycare staff, more than one nonparental perpetrator, unknown, etc. In the next column is listed the number of child fatalities from the specified perpetrator. The third column lists the percentage. 28.5 percent of child fatalities were perpetrated by a mother acting alone. “According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ new report Child Maltreatment 2004, when one parent is acting without the involvement of the other parent, mothers are almost three times as likely to kill their children as fathers are, and are more than twice as likely to abuse them.” Source: Child Maltreatment 2004 , U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. According to Figure 4-2 “Perpetrator Relationships of Fatalities, 2004 Child Maltreatment 2004” here , child fatalities perpetrated by mothers or by “mother and other [not father]” comprise 40.6% of all child fatalities. Figure 4-2 also shows that fatalities perpetrated by fathers or by “father and other [not mother]” comprise 15.6% of all child fatalities. According to Figure 3-6 “Victims by Perpetrator Relationship, 2004 Child Maltreatment 2004,” here child abuse perpetrated by mothers or by “mother and other [not father]” comprise 45.6% of all child abuse. Figure 3-6 also shows that abuse perpetrated by fathers or by “father and other [not mother]” comprise 19.5% of all child abuse. // Parental Alienation – Brainwashing a child to hate a parent About Parental Alienation The parental alienation is a disorder that arises primarily in the context of child-custody disputes. Its primary manifestation is the child’s campaign of denigration against a parent, a campaign that has no justification. It results from the combination of a programming (brainwashing) parents indoctrinations and the child’s own contributions to the vilification of the target parent. The alienation usually extends to the non-custodial parent’s family and friends as well. Many children involved in divorce and custody litigation undergo thought reform or mild brainwashing by their parents. This disturbing fact is a product of the nature of divorce and the disintegration of the spousal relationship in our culture. Inevitably, children receive subtly transmitted messages that both parents have serious criticisms of each other. Parental Alienation, however, is much more serious. It involves the systematic vilification by one parent of the other parent and brainwashing of the child, with the intent of alienating the child from the other parent What happens when children are denied access to a parent and are victims of Parental Alienation? Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 1988 A child who was separated from his or her father for a period of three months or longer while between the ages of 6 months to 5 years old, suffered a 2.5 to 5 times higher risk of conduct disorder, emotional disorders and hysteria than a child that did not go through the same period of separation. Bron, Strack & Rudolph, Univ. of Gottingen, Germany, 1991 Drastically increased suicidal tendencies were found in people who had experienced the loss of the father. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 1990 Children showed the most behaviour problems if their parents were in a legal conflict and the visitation was not frequent or regular with both parents. Acta Psychiatrica, Scandinavia, 1990, 1993 Scandinavian research found a significantly higher number of attempted adult suicides for people who, in childhood, had lost a parent through parental separation or divorce. British Journal of Psychiatry, 1989 British researchers found that adults who suffered the loss of a parent because of separation or divorce have a significantly higher risk of developing agoraphobia with panic attacks and panic disorder. <!–An Irish Equal-Parenting Parenting Equality has collection of , t http://homepages.iol.ie/~pe/ for other interesting information.–> Canadian Children’s Rights Council – See our whole section regarding fatherlessness and single parent families for increased rates of teen pregnancy, increased suicide rates and more. According to STATSCAN, the Government of Canada statistics agency, single parent families headed by men were 20% of single parent households in October 2007. Our position is that this growing trend will produce similar negative results for motherless children. More.. Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS): Sixteen Years Later Academy Forum, 2001, 45(1):10-12 ( A Publication of The American Academy of Psychoanalysis ), by RICHARD A. GARDNER, M.D. In 1985, the Academy Forum published my article, “Recent Trends in Divorce and Custody Litigation.” This was the first article in which I described the parental alienation syndrome (PAS), a disorder that I began seeing in the early 1980s. The Forum article is generally considered to be the seminal publication on the PAS, parent to at least 100 peer-reviewed articles. Although this is certainly a source of gratification for me, the sixteen years that have ensued cannot be viewed as a straight path to glory, especially because of controversies that have swirled around the diagnosis. I address here the reasons for the controversies and provide suggested solutions. More.. Newspaper Articles by Forensic Psychologist, Deirdre Conway Rand, PhD AMERICAN JOURNAL OF FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY, VOLUME 15, NUMBER 3, 1997 The Parental Alienation Syndrome, so named by Dr. Richard Gardner, is a distinctive family response to divorce in which the child becomes aligned with one parent and preoccupied with unjustified and/or exaggerated denigration of the other target parent. In severe cases, the child’s once love-bonded relationship with relected/target parent is destroyed. Testimony on Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) in legal proceedings has sparked debate. This two-part article seeks to shed light on the debate by reviewing Gardner’s work and that of others on PAS, integrating the concept of PAS with research on high conflict divorce and other related literature. The material is organized under topic headings such as parents who induce alienation, the child in PAS, the target/alienated parent. attorneys on PAS, and evaluation and intervention. Part II begins with the child in PAS. Case vignettes of moderate to severe PAS are presented in both parts, some of which illustrate the consequences for children and families when the system is successfully manipulated by the alienating parent, as well as some difficult but effective interventions implemented by the author, her husband Randy Rand, Ed.D., and other colleagues. Dr. Richard Gardner was an experienced child and forensic psychiatrist conducting evaluations when, in 1985, he introduced the concept of Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) in an article entitled “Recent Trends in Divorce and Custody Litigation” (1). His work with children and families during the 1970s led him to write such books as Boys and Girls Book of Divorce, The Parents Book About Divorce and Psychotherapy with Children of Divorce. He knew from experience that the norm for children of divorce was to continue to love and long for both parents, in spite of the divorce and the passage of years, a finding replicated by one of the first large scale studies of divorce (2). With this background, Gardner became concerned in the early 1980s about the increasing number of divorce children he was seeing who, especially in the course of custody evaluations, presented as preoccupied with denigrating one parent, sometimes to the point of expressing hatred toward a once loved parent. He used the term Parental Alienation Syndrome to refer to the child’s symptoms of denigrating and rejecting a previously loved parent in the context of divorce. Gardner’s focus on PAS as a disturbance of children in divorce is unique, although from the mid-1980s on there has been a proliferation of professional literature on disturbing trends in divorce/custody disputes, including false allegations of abuse to influence the outcome. At least three other divorce syndromes have been identified. In 1986, two psychologists in Michigan, who were as yet unaware of Gardner’s work, published the first of several papers on the SAID syndrome, Blush and Ross’s acronym for sex abuse allegations in divorce (3). Drawing on their experience doing evaluations for the family court, and the experience of their colleagues at the clinic there, these authors delineated typologies for the falsely accusing parent, the child involved and the accused parent. Two of the divorce syndromes named in the literature focus on the rage and pathology of the alienating or falsely accusing parent. Jacobs in New York and Wallerstein in California published case reports of what they called Medea Syndrome (4, 5). Jacobs discussed Gardner’s work on PAS in his 1988 study of a Medea Syndrome mother, as did Turkat when he described Divorce Related Malicious Mother Syndrome in 1994 (6). Fathers, too, can be found with this disorder, as one of the case vignettes below indicates, but for some reason Turkat has not encountered any. In addition to articles specifically on PAS and literature which refers to it, there is a body of divorce research and clinical writings which, without a name, describe the phenomenon. The literature reviewed here comes from a number of sources including: practitioners who like Gardner are seeking to improve the diagnostic skills and intervention strategies of the courts and other professionals who deal with high conflict divorce; attorneys and judges who come in contact with PAS cases; researchers like Clawar and Rivlin who reference Gardner’s work on PAS in their large scale study of parental programming in divorce (7) and Johnston whose work on high conflict divorce (8) led her to study the problem of children who refuse visitation, including a discussion of PAS (9). When PAS is viewed from the standpoint of parts and subprocesses which create the whole, the literature which pertains increases exponentially, for example: psychological characteristics of parents who falsely accuse in divorce/custody disputes; cults who help divorcing parents alienate their children from the other parent; and psychological abuse of children in severe PAS including Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy type abuse. The trends identified by Gardner and others are the result of important social changes which began to take root and flower around the mid 1970s. The legal treatment of divorce and child custody shifted from the preference for mothers to have sole custody and the “tender years presumption” to the preference for joint custody and “best interests of the child.” This gave divorce fathers more legal options for parenting their children and increased the quantity and intensity of divorce disputes as parents vehemently disagreed over the numerous custodial arrangements now possible. By the late 1970s, rising concern about parental programming of children to influence the outcome of disputes led the American Bar Association Section of Family Law to commission a large scale study of the problem. The results of this 12 year study were published in 1991 in a book called Children Held Hostage (7). Clawar and Rivlin found that parental programming was practiced to varying degrees by 80 percent of divorcing parents, with 20 percent of engaging in such behaviors with their children at least once a day. Further discussion of this book appears below. At the same time as new divorce trends have been emerging, sweeping social changes have been occurring in society’s treatment of child abuse. Mandated reporting became the law of the land in the 1970s and the procedures for making reports were simplified such that anonymous reports are now accepted and acted upon in some states. As the number of suspected abuse reports practically doubled, so did the number of false and unsubstantiated reports, according to statistics compiled by the National Center for Child Abuse and Neglect in 1988 which showed that non-valid reports outnumbered cases of bona fide abuse by a ratio of two to one ( 10). According to some observers, false allegations of abuse in contested divorce/custody cases have become the ultimate weapon. Judge Stewart wrote that “Family Courts nationwide are feeling the effects of a new fad being used by parties to a custody dispute-the charge that the other parent is molesting the child…The impact of such an allegation on the custody litigation is swift and major…The Family Court judge is apt to cut off the accused’s access to the child pending completion of the investigation” (11, p. 329). In response to concerns such as these, the Research Unit of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts obtained funding for a study on sex abuse accusations in divorce/custody disputes (12). Data for 1985-1986 were gathered from family court sites across the country. At that time, the incidence of sex abuse allegations in divorce was found to average two percent, but varied from one percent to eight percent depending on the court site. Results of this study suggest that sex abuse allegations in divorce may be valid only about 50 percent of the time. Many of the court counselors and administrators interviewed believed they were seeing a greater proportion of such cases than in previous decades. Ten years later in 1996, Congress amended the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to eliminate blanket immunity for persons who knowingly make false reports, based on information that 2,000,000 children were involved that year in non-valid reports, as opposed to 1,000,000 children who were genuinely abused (13). In addition, many states have already enacted laws against willfully making a false child abuse report. In California where the author and her husband practice, the Office of Child Abuse Prevention revised their manual for mandated reporters several years ago to include a section on false allegations in which the coaching of children during custody disputes is described as a major problem and Gardner’s work on PAS is referenced (14). In the meantime, the 1980s saw a massive campaign to train social workers, police, judges and mental health professionals in such concepts as “children don’t lie about abuse.” To make up for society’s blind eye to child abuse in the past, professionals are encouraged to unquestioningly ” believe the child ” and to reflexively accept all allegations of child abuse as true. Widespread media attention and a proliferation of popular books and movies on child abuse continues to suggest that the problem is widespread and insidious. Parents and professionals alike are enjoined to be vigilant for what are touted as “behavioral indicators” of sex abuse. These include the common but vague symptom of poor self esteem, conflicting “indicators” such as aggressive behavior and social withdrawal, and child behaviors which may be developmentally normal such as sexual curiosity and nightmares. Little attention is paid to the fact that children may develop the same symptoms in response to other stressors, including divorce and father absence. Children, too, are being sensitized to abuse, taught about “good touch/bad touch.” At the end of such a lesson in school, they may be asked to report anyone who they think may have touched them in a bad way. Although some instances of legitimate abuse are detected in this manner, children sometimes misunderstand the lesson such that a kindly grandfather going to scoop up his young grandson in his arms, as he had done many times before, may find the child pulling back from him in horror and accusing him of “bad touch.” Adults conducting these classes are sometimes so eager to find abuse that in one Southern state, the parents of over half the class were arrested. The foregoing outline of recent social changes is not meant to imply that Parental Alienation Syndrome and false allegations of sex abuse in divorce are synonymous. PAS can occur with or without such abuse accusations. Although false allegations of sex abuse are a common spin-off of severe PAS, other derivative false allegations may include physical abuse, neglect, emotional abuse, or a fabricated history of spousal abuse. In addition, there seems to be an increase in PAS type cases of accusations by the alienating parent that it is the alienated parent who is practicing PAS, a tactic which tends to confuse and neutralize interveners. PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME According to Gardner, PAS is a disturbance in the child who, in the context of divorce, becomes preoccupied with deprecation and criticism of one parent, which denigration is either unjustified and/or exaggerated. Gardner sees PAS as arising primarily from a combination of parental influence and the child’s active contributions to the campaign of denigration, factors which may mutually reinforce one another. Gardner distinguishes between Parental Alienation Syndrome and the term “parental alienation.” There are a wide variety of causes for parental alienation, including bonafide parental abuse and/or neglect, as well as significant deficits in a rejected parent’s functioning which may not rise to the level of abuse. From Gardner’s perspective, a diagnosis of PAS only applies where abuse, neglect and other conduct by the alienated parent which would reasonably justify the alienation are relatively minimal. Thus Gardner conceives of PAS as a specialized subcategory of generic parental alienation. Since introducing the concept of PAS in 1985, Gardner has written two books on the subject (15, 16), and included a chapter on it in his book entitled Family Evaluation, in Child Custody Mediation, Arbitration and Litigation(17). Depending on the severity of the PAS, a child may exhibit all or only some of the following behaviors. It is the cluster of these symptoms which prompted Gardner to consider them as a syndrome. 1. The child is aligned with the alienating parent in a campaign of denigration against the target parent, with the child making active contributions; 2. Rationalizations for deprecating the target parent are often weak, frivolous or absurd; 3. Animosity toward the rejected parent lacks the ambivalence normal to human relationships; 4. The child asserts that the decision to reject the target parent is his or her own, what Gardner calls the “independent thinker” phenomenon; 5. The child reflexively supports the parent with whom he or she is aligned; 6.The child expresses guiltless disregard for the feelings of the target or hated parent; 7. Borrowed scenarios are present, i.e., the child’s statements reflect themes and terminology of the alienating parent; 8. Animosity is spread to the extended family and others associated with the hated parent. In Gardner’s experience, born out by the clinical and research literature reviewed below, mothers are more frequently found to engage in PAS, which is likened by Clawar and Rivlin to psychological kidnapping (7). Where PAS with physical child abduction occurs, however, Huntington reports that fathers are in the majority (18). Gardner recognizes that fathers, too, may engage in PAS and gives examples in his books. For consistency and simplicity, though, he refers to the alienating parent as “mother” and target parent as “father.” According to Gardner, the brainwashing component in PAS can be more or less conscious on the part of the programming parent and may be systematic or subtle. The child’s active contributions to the campaign of denigration may help to create and maintain a mutually reinforcing feedback loop between the child and the programming parent. The child’s contributions notwithstanding, Gardner views the alienating parent as the responsible adult who elicits or transmits a negative set of beliefs about the target parent. The child’s loving experiences with the target parent in the past are replaced with a new reality, the negative scenario shared by the programming parent and child which justifies their rejection of the alienated parent. In light of these observations, Gardner warned that children’s statements in divorce/custody about rejecting one parent should not be taken at face value and should be evaluated for PAS dynamics. According to psychologist Mary Lund, this insight is one of Gardner’s most important contributions because it alerted the legal system, parents and mental health professionals dealing with divorce to an important possibility which can have disastrous effects if unrecognized (19). Gardner emphasizes the importance of differentiating between mild, moderate and severe PAS in determining what court orders and therapeutic interventions to apply. In mild cases, there is some parental programming but visitation is not seriously effected and the child manages to negotiate the transitions without too much difficulty. The child has a reasonably healthy relationship with the programming parent and is usually participating in the campaign of denigration to maintain the primary emotional bond with the preferred parent, usually the mother. PAS in this category can usually be alleviated by the court’s affirming that the preferred or primary parent will retain primary custody. In moderate PAS, there is a significant degree of parental programming, along with significant struggles around visitation. The child often displays difficulties around the transition between homes but is eventually able to settle down and become benevolently involved with the parent he or she is visiting. The bond between the aligned parent and child is still reasonably healthy, despite their shared conviction that the target parent is somehow despicable. At this level, stronger legal interventions are required and a court ordered PAS therapist is recommended who can monitor visits, make their office available as a visit exchange site, and report to the court regarding failures to implement visitation. The threat of sanctions against the alienating parent may be needed to gain compliance. Failure of the system to apply the appropriate level of court orders and therapeutic interventions in moderate PAS may put the child at risk for developing severe PAS. In some moderate cases, after court-ordered special therapy and sanctions have failed, Gardner states that it may be necessary to seriously consider transferring custody to the allegedly hated parent, assuming that parent is fit. In some situations, this is the only hope of protecting the child from progression to the severe category. The child in severe PAS is fanatic in his or her hatred of the target parent. The child may refuse to visit, personally make false allegations of abuse, and threaten to run away, commit suicide or homicide if forced to see the father. Mother and child have a pathological bond, often based on shared paranoid fantasies about the father, sometimes to the point of folie a deux. In severe PAS, Gardner has found that if the child is allowed to stay with the mother the relationship with the father is doomed and the child develops long-standing psychopathology and even paranoia. Assuming the target parent is fit, Gardner believes that the only effective remedy in severe PAS is to give custody to the alienated parent. In 1992 he suggested that courts might be more receptive to the change of custody option if the child was provided with a therapeutic transitional placement such as hospitalization, an intervention employed with success by the author and her husband (see case vignette in Part II). Gardner’s original conception of PAS was based on the child’s preoccupation with denigration of the target parent. It was not until two years later when he published his first book on PAS that he addressed the problem of PAS with false allegations of abuse. Gardner prefers to view such allegations as derivative of the PAS, observing that they often emerge after other efforts to exclude the target parent have failed. Some of the literature reviewed below, however, indicates that false allegations of abuse may also surface prior to the marital separation, symptomatic of a pre-existing psychiatric disorder of the alienating parent which may not be diagnosed until there is further mental deterioration after the divorce. Gardner was among the first to recognize that involving a child in false allegations of abuse is a form of abuse in itself and indicative of serious problems somewhere in the divorce family system. Insofar as PAS with false allegations of abuse can result in permanent destruction of the child’s relationship with the alienated parent, it can be more harmful to the child than if the alleged abuse had actually occurred. Gardner supports joint custody for those parents who can sincerely agree on it and have the ability to fulfill this ideal. Research by Maccoby and Mnookin suggests that about 29 percent of divorced parents are successfully co-parenting three to four years after filing (20). Gardner opposes imposing joint custody on parents in dispute and between whom there is significant animosity. For these families, Gardner recommends that a thorough evaluation be conducted to develop a case specific plan with the right combination of court orders, mediation, therapeutic interventions, and arbitration. HIGH CONFLICT DIVORCE AND PAS High conflict divorce is characterized by intense and/or protracted post separation conflict and hostility between the parents which may be expressed overtly or covertly through ongoing litigation, verbal and physical aggression, and tactics of sabotage and deception. Clinical and research literature suggest that Parental Alienation Syndrome is a distinctive type of high conflict divorce which may require PAS specific interventions, just as the problems of divorced families have been found to respond to divorce specific interventions rather than to traditional therapies. In their book on children caught in the middle of high conflict divorce, Garrity and Baris treat PAS as a distinctive divorce family dynamic, devoting two chapters to PAS, one on understanding it and the other on a comprehensive intervention model (#21). In high conflict divorce without significant PAS, the parents do most of the fighting while the children manage to go back and forth between homes, maintain their own views and preserve their affection for both parents. They cope by developing active skills for maneuvering the situation or by adopting a survival strategy of treating both parents with equal fairness and distance (8). Periodically, children may exacerbate parental conflicts by embellishing age appropriate separation anxieties, telling each parent things the parent wants to hear and shifting their allegiance back and forth between the parents. Nevertheless, they avoid consistent alignment with one parent against the other and are able to enjoy their time with each parent once the often difficult transition between homes has been accomplished. In high conflict divorce with significant PAS, the children are personally involved in the parental conflict. Unable to manage the situation so as to preserve an affectionate relationship with both parents, the child takes the side of one parent against the other and participates in the battle as an ally of the alienating parent who is defined as good against the other parent who is viewed as despicable. In a study of 175 children from high conflict families, Johnston found that chronic hostility and protracted litigation between the parents contributed to the development of PAS among older children (9). In other words, where the system is unable to settle and contain parental divorce conflicts, the children may be at increasing risk for developing PAS as they get older. Johnston acknowledges that her findings support Gardner’s contention that as many as 90 percent of children involved in protracted custody show symptoms of PAS. A large scale study of patterns of legal conflict between divorce parents three to four years after filing contained them significant finding that the most hostile divorce couples were not necessarily those engaged in the most contentious legal battles (20). This suggests that PAS may occur not only in the context of litigation but may develop after litigation has ceased, or proceed a new round of litigation after many years, supporting what Dunne and Hedrick found in their clinical study of severe PAS families (22). According to Johnston, high conflict divorce is the product of a multilayered divorce impasse between the parents (8). Often, the impasse has its roots in one or both parents’ extreme vulnerability to issues of narcissistic injury, loss, anger and control. These vulnerabilities prevent a satisfactory divorce adjustment and feed an endless, sometimes escalating cycle of action and reaction which promotes and maintains parental conflict. The parents are frozen in transition, psychologically neither married, separated or divorced, a pattern which may pertain even when only one parent is significantly disturbed. Using Johnston’s model, PAS can be viewed as an effort by one parent, with the help of the children, to “resolve” the divorce impasse with a clear-cut understanding of who is good, who is to blame and how the parent to blame should be punished. The following vignette illustrates this. Like the other case examples interspersed throughout this article, it is a composite scenario synthesized from real cases encountered by the author and her colleagues. Mr. L had adopted his wife’s child from her previous marriage and he and Mrs. L. had a child of their own, a girl who was six years old when Mr. L. moved out of the family home. During the six months leading up to this precipitous event, Mrs. L. was living in one part of the house with the older child while Mr. L. and his daughter had rooms together in a separate part of the house. The parents hardly spoke to one another but the children visited back and forth freely with each other and with both parents. Under the circumstances, Mr. L. did not think his wife would object to his leaving, but just in case there was a scene he decided to move out first and then work out the practical issues with Mrs. L. He left a letter for her and another one for the children, explaining his decision and affirming his desire to make arrangements for visitation and child support. Mrs. L. was furious. She immediately had the locks changed and successfully blocked her husband’s efforts to contact the children by phone or to see them. Both children probably felt betrayed by father and Mrs. L. amplified such feelings by telling the children their father had abandoned them and did not- care about them at all. She also alleged that he had had numerous affairs during the marriage although Mr. L. always denied that. These allegations may have sprung from the fact that Mrs. L. found out six weeks after her husband left that he was dating someone. Outraged, she told Mr. L. that he would never see the children again. She and the children began calling Mr. L. and his girl- friend at all hours, screaming accusations and obscenities over the phone until a restraining order was obtained. When efforts by father’s attorney to arrange for mediation between Mr. and Mrs. L. were stonewalled, Mr. L. got a court order for visitation. Three months had passed when his first opportunity to see his children since moving out was scheduled. On the eve of this visit, Mrs. L. called child protective services and accused Mr. L. of sexually molesting their daughter. According to the social worker’s notes which were obtained during subsequent litigation, Mrs. L. told the social worker that she “knew” while she and her husband were still living together that he was molesting their daughter. The family law judge ordered a custody evaluation which was very thorough and took months to complete. The evaluator documented a number of instances in which the girl’s statements about abuse and hat mg. her father seemed to be strongly influenced by mother’s overwhelming anger and that of the older half sibling, who was strongly aligned with the mother. Mrs. L. was diagnosed with a severe narcissistic personality disorder with antisocial features, while Mr. L. was seen by the evaluator as rather passive by comparison and as ambivalent and conflict avoidant. The evaluator was able to hold one meeting with father and daughter together, during which their loving attachment to one another was apparent. This was the little girl’s first opportunity to talk to her father about the feelings engendered by his leaving. As it turned out, it was also her last opportunity. The PAS intensified such that efforts to convene further father/daughter sessions failed when the child threw tantrums in the waiting room and ran screaming into the parking lot where her mother was waiting. Seven months after the marital separation, the custody evaluator’s report was released. It stated that the alleged abuse had in all probability not occurred but failed to diagnose severe PAS with false allegations of abuse. The evaluator recommended that the mother retain primary custody and that the girl and her parents each become involved in individual therapy to facilitate father/daughter reunification. Not surprisingly, Mrs. L. arranged for the child to see a therapist/intern who never saw the custody evaluator’s report. Based on input from the mother alone, the therapist treated the girl for abuse by her father instead of providing divorce specific therapy aimed at helping the little girl to adjust to her parent’s divorce and to establish a post divorce relationship with her father. The girl’s anger at her father became more extreme with each passing month and defeated the visitations planned by the family mediation center. Finally, a year after the separation, the custody evaluator was prepared to testify as to the PAS and to make the strong recommendations needed to remedy the situation. By that time, the father was convinced that nobody could do anything about his daughter’s continued expressions of hatred toward him. He also felt daunted by the prospect of further litigation and an even greater financial drain. He decided to let go, hoping that one day when his daughter was older she would understand and seek him out. CHILDREN HELD HOSTAGE: DEALING WITH PROGRAMMED AND BRAINWASHED CHILDREN By the late 1970s, judges, parents, and mental health professionals involved with divorce were so concerned about parental programming that the American Bar Association Section on Family Law commissioned this 12 year study of 700 divorce families (7). Clawar and Rivlin found that the problem of parental programming was indeed widespread and that even at low levels it had significant impact on children. Data from multiple sources was analyzed including: written records such as court transcripts, forensic reports, therapy notes and children’s diaries; audio and video tapes of interactions between children, their parents and others related to the case; direct observations, such as children with parents and clients with attorneys; and interviews with children, relatives, family friends, mental health professionals, school personnel, judges and conciliators. Gardner’s work on PAS is referenced at the beginning of Clawar and Rivlin’s book (7), but the authors take issue with what they represent as his position, that less severe cases need not be a cause of great concern. They found that PAS can result from a variety of complex processes, whether or not one parent engages in a systematic programming campaign and whether or not alienation is the programming parent’s goal. Parental alienation is only one of a number of detrimental effects. According to this study, even well meaning parents often at tempt to influence what their children say in the custody and visitation proceedings. Mild levels of parental programming and brainwashing seem to have significant effects. Clawar and Rivlin anchor their work in 30 years of literature on social psychology and the processes of social influence, variously referred to in the literature as thought reform, brainwashing, indoctrination, modeling, mimicking, mind control, re-education, and coercive persuasion. These terms describe a variety of psychological methods for ridding people of ideas which authorities do not want them to have and for replacing old ways of thinking and behavior with new ones. For the purposes of research, Clawar and Rivlin ascertained the need for more precisely defined terminology. They selected the words “programming” and “brainwashing.” They defined “program” as the content, themes, and beliefs transmitted by the programming parent to the child regarding the other parent. “Brainwashing” was defined as the interactional process by which the child was persuaded to accept and elaborate on the program. Brainwashing occurs over time and involves repetition of the program, or code words referring to the program, until the subject responds with attitudinal and behavioral compliance. According to Clawar and Rivlin, the influence of a programming parent can be conscious and willful or unconscious and unintentional. It can be obvious or subtle, with rewards for compliance that were material, social or psychological. Noncompliance may be met with subtle psychological punishment such as withdrawal of love or direct corporal punishment, as illustrated in the case vignette of S in Part II. The author encountered another case in which the alienating mother handcuffed her son to the bedpost when he was 12 years old and the boy asserted he was not willing tocontinue saying his father had physically abused him. The Clawar and Rivlin study found that children may be active or passive participants in the alienation process. As the case of the 12- year-old boy suggests, the nature and degree of the child’s involvement in the PAS may change over time. This study identifies the influential role of other people in the child’s life, such as relatives and professionals aligned with the alienating parent, whose endorsement of the program advances the brainwashing process. In a general way, these findings appear to replicate Johnston’s research on high conflict divorce which identified the importance of third party participants in parental conflicts (8). Rand noted the influence of so-called “professional participants in Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy type abuse which in divorce can overlap with PAS “(23). Clawar and Rivlin identify eight stages of the programming/brainwashing process which culminates in severe Parental Alienation Syndrome (7). Recognizing the power imbalance between parent and child, they view the process as driven by the alienating parent who induces the child’s compliance on step by step basis: 1. A thematic focus to be shared by the programming parent and child emerges or is chosen. This may be tied to a more or less formal ideology relating to the family, religion, or ethnicity; 2. A sense of support and connection to the programming parent is created; 3. Feeling of sympathy for the programming parent is induced; 4. The child begins to show signs of compliance, such as expressing fear of visiting the target parent or refusing to talk to that parent on the phone; 5. The programming parent tests the child’s compliance, for example, asking the child questions after a visit and rewarding the child for ” correct ” answers; 6. The programming parent tests the child’s loyalty by having the child express views and attitudes which suggest a preference for one parent over the other; 7. Escalation/intensification/generalization occurs, for example, broadening the program with embellished or new allegations; the child rejects the target parent in a global, unambivalent fashion; 8. The program is maintained along with the child’s compliance, which may range from minor reminders and suggestions to intense pressure, depending on court activity and the child’s frame of mind. CLINICAL STUDIES OF PAS According to Gardner and seconded by Cartwright, Parental Alienation Syndrome is a developing concept which clinical and forensic practitioners will refine and redefine as new cases with different features become better understood (24). This section reviews the work of practitioners who, like Cartwright, seek to elaborate on Gardner’s work by contributing their own knowledge and experience from work with moderate to severe PAS cases. Dunne and Hedrick Practicing in Seattle, Washington, Dunne and Hedrick analyzed sixteen families who met Gardner’s criteria for severe PAS (22). Although the cases show a wide diversity of characteristics, the authors found Gardner’s criteria useful in differentiating these cases from other post-divorce difficulties, lending support for the idea that PAS has distinctive features which differentiate it from other forms of high conflict divorce. Among the severe PAS cases examined, some involved false allegations of abuse and some did not. Children in the same family sometimes responded to the divorce with opposing adjustments. For example, the oldest child in one family, a 16-year-old girl, aligned with her alienating mother while her 12-year-old brother’s desire for a relationship with his father led to the mother finally rejecting the boy. May 4, 2008 by Stephen Baskerville Family fragmentation costs taxpayers at least $112 billion annually in antipoverty programs, justice and education systems, and lost revenue, according to a report released last week. Astonishingly, the report’s publisher, Institute for American Values, is using these findings to advocate even higher costs, through more federal programs. As welfare and child support enforcement programs show, there is zero proof that further government intervention into families would be a good investment for taxpayers. After more than a decade of welfare reform, out-of-wedlock births remain at record highs, and married couples now comprise less than half the nation’s households. “The impact of welfare reform is now virtually zero,” says Robert Rector of Heritage Foundation. Welfare reform, as currently conceived, cannot possibly make a difference. Out-of-wedlock births no longer proceed only from low-income teenagers. Increasingly, middle-class, middle-aged women are bearing the fatherless children. This excludes children of divorce, which almost doubles the 1.5 million out-of-wedlock births. The problem is driven not only by culture, but by federal programs not addressed by welfare reform—such as child support enforcement, domestic violence, and child abuse prevention—which subsidize single-parent homes through their quasi-welfare entitlements for the affluent. It’s not called the welfare “state” for nothing. Even more serious than the economic effects has been the quiet metamorphosis of welfare from a system of public assistance into a miniature penal apparatus, replete with its own tribunals, prosecutors, police, and jails. The subsidy on single-mother homes was never really curtailed. Reformers largely replaced welfare with child support. The consequences were profound: this change transformed welfare from public assistance into law enforcement, creating yet another federal plainclothes police force without constitutional justification. Like any bureaucracy, this one found rationalizations to expand. During the 1980s and 1990s—without explanation or public debate—enforcement machinery created for children in poverty was dramatically expanded to cover all child-support cases, including those not receiving welfare. This vastly expanded the program by bringing in millions of middle-class divorce cases. The system was intended for welfare—but other cases now account for 83% of its cases and 92% of the money collected. Contrary to what was promised, the cost to taxpayers increased sharply. By padding their rolls with millions of middle-class parents, state governments could collect a windfall of federal incentive payments. State officials may spend this revenue however they wish. Federal taxpayers subsidize state government operations through child support. They also subsidize family dissolution, for every fatherless child is another source of revenue for states. To collect, states must channel not just delinquent but current payments through their criminal enforcement machinery, subjecting law-abiding parents to criminal measures. While officials claim their crackdowns on “deadbeat dads” increase collections, the “increase” is achieved not by collecting arrearages of low-income fathers already in the system, but simply by pulling in more middle-class fathers—and creating more fatherless children. These fathers haven’t abandoned their children. Most were actively involved, and, following what is usually involuntary divorce, desire more time with them. Yet for the state to collect funding, fathers willing to care for them must be designated as “absent.” Divorce courts are pressured to cut children off from their fathers to conform to the welfare model of “custodial” and “noncustodial.” These perverse incentives further criminalize fathers, by impelling states to make child-support levels as onerous as possible and to squeeze every dollar from every parent available. Beyond the subsidy expense are costs of diverting the criminal justice system from protecting society to criminalizing parents and keeping them from their children. The entitlement state must then devise additional programs—far more expensive—to deal with the social costs of fatherless children. Former Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary Wade Horn contends that most of the $47 billion spent by his department is necessitated by broken homes and fatherless children. One might extend his point to most of the half-trillion dollar HHS budget. Given the social ills attributed to fatherless homes—crime, truancy, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, suicide—it is reasonable to see a huge proportion of domestic spending among the costs. These developments offer a preview of where our entire system of welfare taxation is headed: expropriating citizens to pay for destructive programs that create the need for more spending and taxation. It cannot end anywhere but in the criminalization of more and more of the population. Stephen Baskerville is Research Fellow at the Independent Institute, Associate Professor of Government at Patrick Henry College, and author of Taken Into Custody: The War Against Fathers, Marriage, and the Family (Cumberland House, 2007). The original article can be found here: http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2184 http://www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/bowlby.html “Although Bowlby may not dispute that young children form multiple attachments, he still contends that the attachment to the mother is unique in that it is the first to appear and remains the strongest of all. However, on both of these counts, the evidence seems to suggest otherwise. * Schaffer & Emerson (1964) noted that specific attachments started at about 8 months and, very shortly thereafter, the infants became attached to other people. By 18 months very few (13%) were attached to only one person; some had five or more attachments. * Rutter (1981) points out that several indicators of attachment (such as protest or distress when attached person leaves) has been shown for a variety of attachment figures – fathers, siblings, peers and even inanimate objects. Critics such as Rutter have also accused Bowlby of not distinguishing between deprivation and privation – the complete lack of an attachment bond, rather than its loss. Rutter stresses that the quality of the attachment bond is the most important factor, rather than just deprivation in the critical period. Another criticism of 44 Thieves Study as that it concluded that affectionless psychopathy was caused by maternal deprivation. This is correlational data and as such only shows a relationship between these two variables. Indeed, other external variables, such as diet, parental income, education etc. may have affected the behaviour of the 44 thieves, and not, as concluded, the disruption of the attachment bond.” There are implications arising from Bowlby’s work. As he believed the mother to be the most central care giver and that this care should be given on a continuous basis an obvious implication is that mothers should not go out to work. There have been many attacks on this claim: * Mothers are the exclusive carers in only a very small percentage of human societies; often there are a number of people involved in the care of children, such as relations and friends (Weisner & Gallimore, 1977). * Ijzendoorn & Tavecchio (1987) argue that a stable network of adults can provide adequate care and that this care may even have advantages over a system where a mother has to meet all a child’s needs. * There is evidence that children develop better with a mother who is happy in her work, than a mother who is frustrated by staying at home (Schaffer, 1990). There are many articles relating to this nonsense, and how it has been refuted. The original theory was promulgated by John Bowlby. Bowlby grew up mother-fixated because he did not have a relationship with his father. See why here . Psychological research includes a shocking history and continuation of maternal deprivation experiments on animals. While maternal deprivation experiments have been conducted far more frequently on rhesus macaques and other monkeys, chimpanzees were not spared as victims of this unnecessary research. By Dr. Richard A. Warshak, Ph.D. 16970 Dallas Parkway, #202, Dallas, TX 75248 Nineteen ninety-three marked the thirtieth anniversary of the publication of The Feminine Mystique, the book that spearheaded the drive to unlace the cultural straitjacket of rigid sex-role prescriptions. As we expanded the conventional image of women to include roles beyond those of wife, housekeeper, and mother, we encouraged men to think of themselves as more than just husbands and bread-winners. We invited them to become active partners in the delivery room . . . and they accepted. We required their participation in Indian Guides . . . and they complied. We extolled the importance of father-child bonding, trumpeted statistics linking a father’s absence to juvenile delinquency. . . and they listened. The problem, for some divorcing women, is that their husbands listened too well, and took seriously the call to parenthood. They became emotionally attached to their offspring, and, when the marriage ended, they were unwilling to be demoted to the second string; unwilling to sit on the sidelines of their children’s lives. Although lacking in hard data to prove the point, we have at least the perception that more men are seeking and gaining custody of their children after divorce. Why is this a problem? Because women do not enjoy living apart from their children any more than do men. Also, most women do not want to relinquish the power that goes with custody. This has led to the ironic situation in which some of the same feminists who, in the early 70s, denounced motherhood as “enslavement” now lead a campaign to protect motherhood from divorced fathers who want more involvement with their children. But they face a crucial dilemma: They need to resurrect the belief that women are uniquely suited to rear children and therefore the natural choice for sole custody without appearing to endorse the notions that biology is destiny and that the sexes merit unequal treatment before the law. The solution to this dilemma is the linguistic sleight of hand known as the “primary parent presumption.” This guideline would give preference to the parent who is designated “primary” in the child’s life, variously defined as the parent who spends the most time with the child, is more responsible for the child’s day-to-day care, or performs more of the daily repetitive maintenance tasks such as chauffeuring, shopping for clothes, preparing meals, and bathing. Although touted as a gender-neutral standard, everyone agrees that the primary parent presumption would give mothers the same advantage that they enjoyed with the tender years presumption. In fact, law professor Mary Becker advocates dropping the pretense of gender-neutrality and renaming the primary parent presumption the “maternal deference standard.” Briefly, the argument goes that since women are more involved in primary caregiving, they deserve custody. Fathers’-rights advocates respond that it is unfair to penalize men for reduced involvement with their children, since they are only fulfilling society’s notions of the man’s role as the family’s breadwinner. Neither side’s arguments are compelling. Both are blinded by the pre-19th century premise that children are property to be “awarded” to the rightful owner. Both sides miss the point that a custody decision should be guided by the needs of the child not the parents’ sense of entitlement. Some of my colleagues offer arguments in support of the primary parent presumption. They point out that a woman who has been most involved in her children’s daily care already possesses the requisite skills. She has less to learn than the father and, by virtue of her experience, is probably more competent to assume the duties of sole custody. Also, because the primary parent standard appears less ambiguous than the best interests standard, parents would be less likely to litigate over custody — a distinct advantage to the family. But that may be its only advantage. Under critical appraisal, this proposal suffers many serious drawbacks. Unless we regard custody as a reward for past deeds, the decision about the children’s living arrangements should reflect a judgment about what situation will best meet their needs now and in the future. Differences in past performance are relevant only if they predict future parental competence and child adjustment. But they do not. The primary parent presumption overlooks the fact that being a single parent is a very different challenge than being one of two parents in the same home. A consensus of research reveals a predictable deterioration in the single mother’s relationship with her children. After divorce, the average mother has less time and energy for her children and more problems managing their behavior, particularly that of her sons. Research has also demonstrated that despite mother’s greater experience in daily child care, fathers who would not be considered primary caretakers during the marriage are as capable as divorced mothers in managing the responsibilities of custody. And, most important, their children fare as well as children do in mother-custody homes. A more basic problem with the proposed standard: How do we determine who is the primary parent? Before divorce parents think of themselves as partners in rearing their children. Whether or not they spend equal time with the children, both parents are important, and mountains of psychological research support this. Before divorce, we do not rank order parents. Only in the heat of a custody battle do Mom and Dad begin vying for the designation “primary parent.” On what basis do we award this coveted title? We cannot simply measure the amount of time each parent spends with the child. Research has established that, beyond a certain minimum, the amount of time a parent spends with a child is a poor index of that parent’s importance to the child, of the quality of their relationship, or of the parent’s competence in childrearing. In fact, we all know of parents who are too involved with their children, so-called “smothering” parents who squelch any signs of independence. If more extensive contact does not make a primary parent, what does? Most definitions provide a list of responsibilities: The primary parent shops for food and clothes, prepares meals, changes diapers, bathes and dresses the child, takes the child to the doctor, and drives the child to school and recreational activities. Such criteria, though, ignore the overriding importance of the quality of parent-child relationships. Furthermore, critics have argued that this list reflects gender bias. Shopping for food and clothes is included, but not earning the money which funds the shopping trips. Also conspicuously absent are responsibilities typically shared by fathers and in which fathers often predominate, activities such as playing, discipline, moral guidance, encouragement and assistance with school work, gender socialization, coaching team sports, and — something whose significance to children is often overlooked — providing a sense of physical protection and security. Is the primary caretaker the one who does the most to foster the child’s sense of emotional security, the person to whom the child turns in times of stress — the role we most often associate with mothers? Or is it the parent who does the most to promote the child’s ability to meet the demands of the world outside the family — the role we most often associate with fathers? We really have no basis for preferring one contribution over the other. Both are necessary for healthy psychological functioning. We can say that both parents contribute distinctively to their child’s welfare. And during different developmental stages a child may relate better to one parent than the other, or rely on one parent more than the other. But most children form strong attachments to both parents in the first year of life and maintain important ties to both parents throughout their lives. By rank ordering the importance of parents, we dismiss children’s own experiences of their parents’ value, reinforce gender stereotypes, and perhaps discourage fathers from assuming more parenting responsibilities. In sum, the primary parent presumption is misinformed, misguided, misleading, and primarily meaningless. Copyright © 1996 by Richard A. Warshak, Ph.D. 16970 Dallas Parkway, #202, Dallas, TX 75248 Dr. Richard A. Warshak is a clinical, research, and consulting psychologist, clinical professor of psychology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and author of The Custody Revolution and Divorce Poison: Protecting the Parent-Child Bond From a Vindictive Ex. He has published extensively in the area of divorce and custody and consults with attorneys, mental health professionals, and families. Additional custody resources, including material on relocation, overnight access, and parental alienation syndrome, can be found at http://www.warshak.com . [A version of this essay was published as Chapter 28 (pages 101-103) in 101+ Practical Solutions for the Family Lawyer, Gregg M. Herman, Editor, American Bar Association (1996).] The original article can be found here . United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child (UNCRC) would have on Parental Rights and Children’s Rights in the United States. Here is that continuing analysis: Giving the State a Grasp on Your Kids Part II of an in-depth look at Article 18 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child When Kevin and Peggy Lewis volunteered their child for special education services, they never dreamed they would need a lawyer if they wanted to change their minds. After their son developed several learning issues, including an inability to focus in class and difficulty processing and understanding oral and written communication, the Lewis’s turned to the Cohasset Middle School in Massachusetts for help.1 But after a year in the school’s special education program, their son was not improving academically, and felt harassed by school officials who were closely monitoring and reporting on his behavior – everything from chewing gum in class to forgetting his pencil.2 Initially, the Lewis’s requested that the school pay for private tutoring, but as their relationship with the administration continued to decline, the exasperated parents finally decided to withdraw their son from the school’s program and to pay for private tutoring out of their own pockets.3 Apparently, that option wasn’t good enough for the school. In December 2007, Cohasset hauled Kevin and Peggy into court, claiming that the parents were interfering with their son’s “constitutional right to a free and appropriate education.”4 After a day-and-a-half of argument, the judge sided with the school in an unwritten opinion.5 “This is truly devastating to all parents who have children on an IEP,” Peggy said, referring to the individual education plans for special education students. “What it means in fact when you sign an IEP for your child, you sign away your parental rights. . . . Now Cohasset has their grasp on my kid.”6 “Help” for Parents At first glance, it seems odd that a school would take parents to court to compel them to accept state services. After all, as observers of the case commented, schools usually objects when parents demand more aid for their children, not when the parents try to withdraw their child from the program.7 But according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, once parents have asked the state for assistance in raising their children, the state has both the responsibility and the authority to see the job through – even if the parents no longer support the state’s solution. In addition to imposing legally-enforceable “responsibilities” on parents, Article 18 of the Convention also requires states to “render appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities,” and to establish “institutions, facilities and services for the care of children.”8 At first glance, the offer of “assistance” to parents may appear harmless, and even generous, but appearances are often deceiving. While the government may claim to offer services to parents on a purely “voluntary” basis, parents soon discover that government “assistance” isn’t always free. When “voluntary” doesn’t mean “voluntary” For examples of this dangerous trend, one need look no further than the nation of Sweden, the first western nation to ratify the Convention. In addition to mandatory sex-education, free child care for working parents, and a national ban on corporal punishment, Sweden’s local municipalities are also required by law to offer parents a broad array of “voluntary” services that promote “the favourable development of children and young persons.”9 Unfortunately, according to Swedish attorney and activist Ruby Harrold-Claesson, voluntary care “in no way is voluntary since the social workers threaten the parents to either give up their child voluntarily or the child will be taken into compulsory care.”10 If the state determines at a later date that the “voluntary” services are not helping, the municipality has both the responsibility and the authority to physically “take a child into care and place him in a foster home, a children’s home or another suitable institution.”11 According to Harrold-Claesson, since the emergence of such programs, “children are being taken from their parents on a more routine basis.”12 Unfortunately, these disturbing trends are not confined to Sweden. Even here in the United States, “voluntary” services for parents are often the first step toward state control of families. Holding Children Hostage As a young mother of three, “Katianne H.” faced tremendous difficulties in making ends meet.13 Although she was never unemployed, Katianne had difficulty putting her job ahead of the needs of her young family. So when her three-month-old son Xavier developed severe allergies to milk and soy protein, her pediatrician recommended that she relieve some of the pressure placed upon her by requesting that her son be placed in “temporary out-of-home care.”14 Thinking such a placement was truly “voluntary,” Katianne agreed. Within a few months, Xavier was weaned from the feeding tube to a bottle, but when Katianne sought to bring him home, the state refused. It would take more than two-and-a-half years – and a decision from the Nebraska Supreme Court – before Katianne would win her baby boy back. 15 In a unanimous ruling, the court said the child should have been returned to his mother as soon as his medical condition was resolved. Instead, state authorities drew up a detailed plan requiring the mother to maintain steady employment, attend therapy and parenting classes, pay her bills on time, keep her house clean, improve her time management, and be cooperative with social workers. When she failed to fully comply with all these obligations within fifteen months, her parental rights were terminated.16 The Court condemned the state for keeping Xavier “out of the home once the reasons for his removal had been resolved,” and warned that a child should never be “held hostage to compel a parent’s compliance with a case plan” when the child could safely be returned home.17 A familiar pattern According to studies, scholars, lawyers, and advocates, voluntary placement in the United States – like “voluntary” placement in Sweden – is often the first step toward the state getting a grasp on children. Here are just a few examples from within our own borders: · A 1994 study in New Jersey found that “parents often report signing placement agreements under the threat that court action against them will be taken if they do not sign,” particularly parents who have “language or other barriers making it difficult or impossible for them to read and understand the agreement they were signing.”18 There are also no “clear legal standards to protect a family once it has entered the system,” even if it enters voluntarily: “existing legislation grants judges and caseworkers virtually unrestricted dispositional authority.”19 · In 1998, Melville D. Miller, President and General Counsel of Legal Services of New Jersey, warned that when parents sign voluntary placement agreements, parents give the state “custody of their children without any decision by the court that they have abused or neglected them.”20 In addition, voluntary placement often waives a family’s opportunity for free legal representation in court, leaving families – particularly poor families – with “no assistance in advocating for what they need” when disputes with the state arise.21 · In 1999, Dr. Frank J. Dyer, author and member of the American Board of Professional Psychology, warned that parents can be “intimidated into “voluntarily” signing placement agreements out of a fear that they will lose their children,” and that in his professional counseling experience, birth parents frequently complain that “if they had known from the outset that the document that they were signing for temporary placement of their children into foster care gave the state such enormous power over them, they would have refused to sign and would have sought to resist the placement legally.”22 · The Child Welfare League of America, in its 2004 Family’s Guide to the Child Welfare System, reassures parents that the state “do[es] not have to pursue termination of parental rights,” as long as the state feels that “there is a compelling reason why terminating parental rights would not be in the best interest of the child.”23 If parents and social workers disagree about the fate of a child in “voluntary placement,” the CWLA simply states that “if you decide to bring your child home, and the agency believes that this would interfere with your child’s safety, it has the right to ask the court to intervene. You also have the right to explain to the court why your child’s safety would not be in jeopardy if he came home.”24 · The National Crittenton Foundation, in a web booklet published for young, expectant mothers who are currently in the foster care system, warns in large, bold print that by signing a voluntary placement agreement, “you will most likely lose all custody of your baby, even if you want to regain custody of your baby after you turn 18.”25 Never Too Late If one can learn anything from the stories of the Lewises, Katianne, and the plight of Swedish parents, it is that the government wields incredible power over parents who have “voluntarily” accepted its aid when caring for their children. These parents are often poor, struggling, and searching for the means to keep their families together, but instead of helping them, the open hand of the state can easily become a clenched fist, either bullying parents into submission or forcibly taking their children from them. Thankfully, it is not too late to protect children and their families by protecting the fundamental right of parents to raise their children, and to reject government programs that are unneeded or unwanted. The state should only interfere with the family for the most compelling reasons – not because loving parents were misled about the true nature of “voluntary” care. Please consider sending this message to your friends and urging them to sign the Petition to Protect Parental Rights. This article was written for ParentalRights.org by Peter Kamakawiwoole, Jan. 29, 2009. Notes 1. James Vazniz, “Cohasset schools win case v. parents,” The Boston Herald (December 15, 2007) (accessed January 28, 2009). 2. James Vazniz, “Parents want son out of special ed,” The Boston Herald (December 13, 2007) (accessed January 28, 2009). 3. Vazniz, “Cohasset schools win case v. parents.” 4. Vazniz, “Parents want son out of special ed.” 5. Vazniz, “Cohasset schools win case v. parents.” 6. Vazniz, “Cohasset schools win case v. parents.” 7. Vazniz, “Cohasset schools win case v. parents.” 8. UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 18.2. 9. Ruby Harrold-Claesson, “Confiscating Children: When Parents Become Victims,” The Nordic Committee on Human Rights (2005) (accessed January 17, 2009) 10. Harrold-Claesson, “Confiscating Children: When Parents Become Victims” 11. Harrold-Claesson, “Confiscating Children: When Parents Become Victims” 12. Harrold-Claesson, “Confiscating Children: When Parents Become Victims” 13. “Katianne” is the name given to the mother by the Nebraska Supreme Court, which decided her case in In Re Xavier H., 740 N.W.2d 13 (Neb. 2007). 14. In re Xavier H., 740 N.W.2d at 21. 15. “Nebraska Supreme Court returns boy to mother,” Omaha World Herald (October 19, 2007) (accessed January 29, 2009). 16. “Nebraska Supreme Court returns boy to mother.” 17. In re Xavier H., 740 N.W.2d at 26. 18. Emerich Thoma, “If you lived here, you’d be home now: The business of foster care,” Issues in Child Abuse Accusations, Vol. 10 (1998) (accessed January 27, 2009). 19. Thoma, “If you lived here, you’d be home now.” 20. Melville D. Miller, “You and the Law in New Jersey ” (Rutgers University Press, 1998): 200. 21. Miller, You and the Law in New Jersey,” 200. 22. Frank J. Dyer, “Psychological Consultation in Parental Rights Cases” (The Guilford Press, 1999): 26. 23. Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), “Placements to Obtain Treatment and Services for Children,” A Family’s Guide to the Child Welfare System (2004): 5 (accessed January 27, 2009). 24. CWLA, “Placements to Obtain Treatment and Services for Children,” p. 5. 25. The National Crittenton Foundation, “Crittenton Booklet for Web,” pp. 11-12. (accessed January 28, 2009) United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child (UNCRC) would have on Parental Rights and Children’s Rights in the United States. Here is that continuing analysis: Article 18, Part 1: Government-Supervised Parenting During our series on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, most of the articles we have considered have focused on the relationship between the state and the child. Article 18 is therefore unique in its emphasis on the responsibilities of parents, and the supervised relationship that these parents have with the state. Article 18 is also one of the more complex articles in the Convention, divided into three sections that address distinct facets of the relationship between parents and the state. This week, we will focus on the first section, which says that “States Parties shall use their best efforts to ensure recognition of the principle that both parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing and development of the child,” and that parents are primarily responsible for their children. As parents, “the best interests of the child will be their basic concern.” The danger of Article 18 is that it places an enforceable responsibility upon parents to make child-rearing decisions based on the “best interests of the child,” subjecting parental decisions to second-guessing at the discretion of government agents. Obligations on Parents? Article 18 stands out because it affects not only the relationship between the UN and the nation that ratifies the Convention, but also the relationship between private individuals and their government: a relationship that is usually changed through legislation at a local level. In fact, the UN’s Implementation Handbook for the CRC explains that “when article 18 was being drafted, the delegate from the United States of America commented that it was rather strange to set down responsibilities for private individuals, since the Convention could only be binding on ratifying governments.” But instead of paying heed to this objection, the drafters of the CRC rejected it, making the Convention enforceable against private individuals and requiring that “parental rights be translated into principles of parental responsibilities.” The Handbook itself notes that if the actions of parents could be shown to impair the child’s physical, psychological, or intellectual development, “the parents” – not the state – “can be found to be failing in their responsibilities.” (emphasis added). The end result is parental involvement under state supervision. According to Chris Revaz, Article 18 “recognizes that parents and legal guardians have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child, with the best interest of the child as their basic concern,” but also invests in the state “a secondary responsibility to provide appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in meeting their responsibilities.” Roger Levesque opines that such supervision attempts to “regulate the relationship between child and state,” essentially relegating the role of parental and familial involvement to a position of “secondary importance.” Enforcing the “Best Interest” Standard As a previous article in our series has already discussed, the “best interests of the child” is a significant theme in the Convention, providing “decision and policy makers with the authority to substitute their own decisions for either the child’s or the parents’.” The inevitable result, according to Levesque, is that “by placing the burden on the State to take affirmative steps toward ensuring the fulfillment of children’s rights, the Convention assumes responsibility and invokes the State as the ensurer and protector of rights.” This point is echoed by Law Professor Bruce Hafen, who warns that the Convention’s emphasis on the “best interests of the child” creates “an arguably new standard for state intervention in intact families.” According to Hafen, legal authors in Australia have already suggested that “under the CRC, parental childrearing rights are ’subject to external scrutiny’ and ‘may be overridden’ when ‘the parents are not acting in the best interests of the child.’” Hafen warns that this conclusion – though in opposite to America’s cultural and legal heritage – is “consistent with the CRC’s apparent intent to place children and parents on the same plane as co-autonomous persons in their relationship with the state.” This is a far cry from America’s legal heritage, which has long held that parents have a fundamental right to oversee the upbringing and education of their children, free from government control. Article 18 makes it plain, however, that under the Convention, it is the state that is ultimately responsible for the fate of its children, and has authority to supervise its parents. Article written for ParentalRights.org by Peter Kamakawiwoole, June 24, 2008. Sources United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child (UNCRC) would have on Parental Rights and Children’s Rights in the United States. Here is that continuing analysis: Article 16: Privacy From Parents During our series on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a constant theme has been the recurring intervention of government power in the relationship between children and their parents. Broad discretion for the state is particularly prevalent in the Convention’s “freedom” provisions, which guarantee choices to children when it comes to expression, information, religion, and association. Perhaps the most troubling of these “freedom” provisions is article 16, which stipulates that “no child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence.” More so than any other section of the Convention, article 16 invokes the power of the government in ways previously unseen and untested in America’s legal and political history. Paradigm Shift The key to understanding article 16 is found in its absolute language: no child is to have his or her right to privacy violated. According to American law professor Cynthia Price Cohen, article 16 “uses the strongest obligatory language in the human rights lexicon to protect the child’s privacy rights.” This is a strong break from American law. According to Catherine Ross, writing in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, the concept of a “right to privacy” has been used within the American context to support limited reproductive freedom for children, including the right to receive information, counseling, and contraceptives without parental consent or notification. But even in such cases, the Supreme Court has attempted to draw some sort of balance between the privacy rights of the child and the role of parents in raising and directing their children: never has the Court stated that children have an absolute right to privacy even from their parents. Displacing Parents In contrast, the “right to privacy” within the Convention is far broader than anything contemplated in American law or jurisprudence, bestowing an absolute right to privacy which, according to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in their 2004 report on Japan, includes privacy in “personal correspondence and searching of personal affects.” This includes more than just a child’s diary or letters to a pen pal: it includes e-mails composed, websites visited, and a growing plethora of other means of communication with the outside world. Law professor Bruce Hafen notes that this strong language makes little allowance for the role of adults who are unavoidably involved in a child’s private world – namely, the child’s parents. Scholar Barbara Nauck adds that when the responsibility of parents to “guide and direct” their children comes into conflict with the right of children to have privacy, it is highly questionable whether parents will have the lawful authority to interfere with the child’s privacy. Only the First Step On this basis alone, law professor Richard Wilkins has warned that Article 16 has the potential to place the basic ability to discipline and monitor children – activities necessary for effective parenting – into serious doubt. In addition, the provision’s absolute guarantees could also be extended through state laws or the decisions of judges to include other “rights” guaranteed by the Convention – such as the freedom of religion, expression, or information – with devastating consequences to the authority and effectiveness of parents. It is the absolute, all-encompassing nature of article 16 that poses the real danger to both children and parents. Please forward this message on to your friends and urge them to sign the Petition to Protect Parental Rights at http://www.parentalrights.org/join-the-fight . Article written for ParentalRights.org by Peter Kamakawiwoole, May 12, 2008. Sources Cynthia Price Cohen, The Role of the United States in Drafting the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1998): 34. Catherine Ross, An Emerging Right for Mature Minors to Receive Information (1999): 261. UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Japan, CRC/C/15/Add.231 (2004) Bruce Hafen and Jonathan Hafen, Abandoning Children to their Autonomy (1996): 472. Barbara Nauck, Implications of the United States Ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1994): 700. Richard Wilkins, et. al., Why the United States Should Not Ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child (2003): 421.	Paranoid personality disorder
Who was the first US president to be assassinated?	adoption abuse \| Parental Rights Parental Rights Add to My Stories Winona was told her mother didn’t love her – and was handed to another family. Nine years later, they were reunited via Facebook. But forced adoption is happening on a scandalously regular basis. On a sunny station platform in a pretty Cornish town this summer, holidaymakers may have witnessed a touching, but at first glance unremarkable, scene. A mother and teenage son were nervously watching a train pull onto the platform, scanning the emerging crowd for the face of a loved one. Had she missed her train? Had they got the right time? And finally, there she was: a pretty, petite 16-year-old, peering furtively through her fringe. Suddenly the boy broke away with a whoop. ‘It’s her!’ The three immediately became tangled in a hug, babbling, crying, their words tripping over each other. ‘You’ve grown so much!’ ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe you are here!’ Forced apart: Winona has been reunited with Tracey – the mother who gave her away A very unusual emotional reunion had just taken place. For Tracey Lucas, a 38-year-old mother from Truro, had just kissed her 16-year-old daughter Winona for the first time in nine years. What took place on that station platform was a scene that the State had worked very hard for years to ensure didn’t happen. In fact, there is still a question mark over whether Tracey could face prosecution, even prison, for what happened that day. For nine years previously, Winona and her little sister, now 12, were taken from their mother and adopted by another family, given new names and told to forget their natural mother. All contact between them was prevented. Yet in a story that raises profound questions both about British social services and the power of the internet to challenge their secretive workings, Winona traced her birth mother through the Facebook social networking site and the pair are now determined never again to be parted. More… Why being Formerly Hot isn’t the end of the world Tracey, Winona and her sister were subjects of a forced adoption, which critics — including family solicitors, MPs and wronged families — say are happening on a scandalously regular basis, on the flimsiest of evidence, in order to meet government targets to raise the number of adoptions by 50 per cent. There have been cases cited of babies taken from women considered too young or not clever enough to look after them. One boy was removed on the grounds that his mother might shout at him in the future. In Tracey’s case, her children were sent for adoption because they were deemed ‘at risk of emotional abuse’. No one can really know the truth, and doubtless social services would argue they acted in good faith and in the children’s best interests, but Tracey is adamant she never abused, neglected nor abandoned them. Yet because she was a young single mother, who by her own admission sometimes struggled to cope, she was forced to surrender the most precious things she had. Worse, she says the children believed that she had simply stopped loving them. ‘For years the girls believed I was a bad mother, a horrible person who didn’t love them, while I was told the girls didn’t want to see me and were settled into a new life with new parents they loved. All lies,’ says Tracey. ‘The birthday and Christmas cards I wrote were never passed on. The letters Winona wrote to me never reached me. That’s real emotional abuse.’ Ripped from her home: Winona aged six, a year before a court ordered that she be taken away from her mother permanently ‘Yet my son, who’d refused to be adopted, was returned to me after a year, and I went on to have another two children with a new partner, neither of whom has come to any harm. How could I have been a danger to my girls?’ Winona is just as angry as her mother about the stolen years: ‘Everyone told me what a terrible person she was, but all my memories of her were good: making Christmas decorations, reading Roald Dahl’s James And The Giant Peach in bed. I never felt anything but love from her.’ Today, that love is palpable. The pair cannot stop sneaking looks at each other as they hold hands on the sofa of their modest but cosy home. The question is: are they victims of a heavy-handed State as they claim, or does their reunion set a troubling precedent that other adopted children may be tempted to follow? The nightmare began the day Ben was born, shortly before Tracey’s 19th birthday, in June 1992. The children’s father, another 18-year-old, who Tracey admits was a ‘tricky character’ who’d spent a lot of his childhood in care, had a deep suspicion of social workers. ‘Once they knew who Ben’s father was, I was visited in hospital by a social worker and we were told to sign a document saying we would work with them,’ she recalls. ‘I trusted the system and thought once we’d proved ourselves, they’d leave us alone.’ Tracey is the first to admit that to many people, her family may have seemed less than perfect: young, unmarried and living on benefits in rented, frequently changing, council accommodation as they struggled to find a decent home. When Winona was born 18 months later, Cornwall Social Services were a frequent presence in their lives. ‘We didn’t do drugs and my partner was never violent towards me or the children. Money was tight, but we were doing our best. We loved our little family.’ But they felt persecuted. ‘They were constantly putting us down, accusing us of being bad parents,’ says Tracey. ‘I remember one social worker telling me to take the children to a bird sanctuary nearby, as that was what “good” parents did. I wanted to shout that I already had plans that day and what business was it of theirs? But I couldn’t win any argument.’ The crunch came in 1997 during Tracey’s pregnancy with Winona’s younger sister, when her partner assaulted a social worker, a crime for which he was rightly prosecuted. I didn’t really understand that I wouldn’t see Mum again. I’d been seduced with tales of this new home, with ponies and cats, but I thought it was just temporary and that I’d go home eventually Realising she could lose her children, Tracey left her partner, for nothing was more important to her than being a mother. Yet even with him off the scene, the children remained on the ‘at risk’ list. ‘It felt like they’d made up their minds about me and nothing I did could convince them otherwise. ‘I did everything they asked of me: assessments, IQ tests, drug tests, a spell in a mother-and-baby unit (a specialist home for mothers and young children where both can be monitored). Nothing worked.’ In May 1998, Tracey suffered a nervous breakdown due to stress. She spent two months in a psychiatric unit, during which time the children were, quite properly, placed in temporary foster care. ‘I refused to see them. I couldn’t let them see me in that state, in that place,’ she says. But when Tracey returned home, social services was already looking into a permanent new home for the three youngsters. Ben, by now a feisty seven-year-old, refused flatly to be considered for adoption and was returned to Tracey after a year. The girls remained in care, however, and Tracey was told an adoptive family had been found for them: a housing manager and his wife, a police clerical worker. In doing so, Cornwall Social Services had taken a step towards fulfilling former PM Tony Blair’s target, announced by New Labour in 2000, to raise the number of UK adoptions annually by 50 per cent. Blair, whose own father was adopted, promised millions of pounds to councils that succeeded in getting more vulnerable children out of foster care and into permanent, loving homes. Although introduced for the right reasons, critics say the reforms didn’t work and meant younger, ‘cuter’ children were fast-tracked — with councils spurred on by the promise of extra money — while more difficult, older children were left behind. Tracey fought the adoption every step of the way, arguing that even if she was deemed an unfit parent, then her mother or other relatives would gladly look after the girls. But in October 2001, a judge at Truro County Court ordered the adoption should go ahead. Tracey was given an hour to say goodbye. When Winona was 16, she discovered a tool powerful enough to prise open any legal gagging order: Facebook ‘Winona, then seven, reeled off this rehearsed speech, obviously prepared for her, saying: “I know you will always be my birth mother and I will always love you,” ’ recalls Tracey. ‘Her sister, aged just three, grabbed hold of my legs and wouldn’t let go. They had to prise her off. And all the time a social worker was in the corner with a camcorder, filming it all. It was the worst moment of my life.’ Winona remembers that day, too. ‘I didn’t really understand that I wouldn’t see Mum again. I’d been seduced with tales of this new home, with ponies and cats, but I thought it was just temporary and that I’d go home eventually. ‘They [the girls’ adoptive parents] told us they loved us, but it was not an affectionate, cuddly relationship. We looked the part, with a three-bedroom semi-detached house and family holidays in Spain, but there were a lot of rows and tension. I felt more like a pet than their daughter. I wanted my mum and my real family. ‘Every Christmas and birthday I’d sift through the mail to see whether Mum had sent a card. I devised childish plots to get a message to her, and tried writing my telephone number in invisible ink on letters. ‘I’d ask my adopted parents to drive around Truro, saying I wanted to see the parks from my early memories, but really I was looking for Mum.’ Her younger sister, however, refused to discuss their mother, believing she was a bad person who’d given her away. ‘When I tried to talk about her, she’d clam up,’ says Winona. ‘She was too young to remember Mum as she really was.’ Meanwhile, Tracey had formed a relationship with a new partner, construction worker Ian Yendle, 29, and they had two daughters: Teegan, now seven, and Talia, five. Banned from making any contact with her older girls, she had given up hope she would ever see them again, though she continued to send birthday and Christmas cards through social services in the hope they would be passed on. They never were. Then, when Winona turned 16, she discovered a tool powerful enough to prise open any legal gagging order: Facebook. ‘It took only a couple of hours,’ she says. ‘I knew Ben had my old surname, and it was easy to find Mum through his profile. I sent them a message: “Hi, I think I might be your sister/daughter.” ’ Tracey wept with happiness when she read the message, but her elation immediately gave way to terror that she could be hauled before a court and the children whisked away when she replied. I’d ask my adopted parents to drive around Truro, saying I wanted to see the parks from my early memories, but really I was looking for Mum So Tracey, Ben and Winona arranged to meet in secret at Truro Station days later. Numerous clandestine meetings were subsequently set up with Tracey’s sisters and extended family. Eventually, after seeking advice from a forced adoption support group, they decided to let Winona’s younger sister into the secret, and she spoke to Tracey on the phone. ‘After my sister hung up, she said she couldn’t believe how nice Mum was,’ Winona recalls. Winona eventually came clean to their adopted parents. ‘My adoptive father called while I was with Mum and asked where I was. I told him I was with my mother, and he was confused, saying: “But your mum’s here.” When I explained I was with my real mother, he told me I was in terrible danger and that he’d come and pick me up immediately.’ Tension in the house became unbearable after that. It is hard to imagine the pain the adoptive couple must have suffered, having been rejected by two children they’d raised as their own for nine years. Yet Winona’s emotions are still too raw for her to feel sympathy. ‘I couldn’t feel sorry for them. No one forced them into this situation. If everyone had been honest, it wouldn’t have happened. I didn’t love them; I couldn’t. I loved my mum,’ she says bitterly. That was a month ago. Both girls have now left their adopted home — they packed a bag and went without saying goodbye. Winona’s sister is with Tracey, while Winona herself is staying minutes away at her aunt’s, due to lack of bed space. ‘For the first time in years I feel I’m where I belong,’ says Winona. She has since opened a page on Facebook entitled Anti Social Services Forced Adoption — We Can Help! to assist other children in the same plight. She is being supported by Oxford University law graduate and businessman Ian Josephs, who has championed the cause of parents whose children were forcibly removed by social workers, ever since he was a Tory county councillor in the 1960s. Tracey has been visited by a social worker about Winona’s younger sister and still doesn’t know what will happen long-term. Yet she is still acutely aware of their power — a fact that hasn’t escaped her daughters from her new relationship. ‘Talia asked me recently whether I would still be able to love her when she gets older, or would she have to go away like her sisters,’ says Tracey. ‘I told her no, she would always live with Mummy and Daddy.’ Pondering her own future, Winona says: ‘I used to want to work in childcare, but I’m not so sure now. One thing’s for certain, though, I won’t be a social worker. I have seen what they can do.’ A spokesman for Cornwall Council said she was unable to comment specifically on Winona’s case, but said: ‘Social services do not unnecessarily take children into care to be adopted. It is dangerous to suggest that this is happening and that the care system is not the right place for children who are at risk. ‘Children are only adopted when it can be shown that it is in their best interest, and this decision is scrutinised by an independent guardian, as well as an adoption panel with a majority of members independent of the local authority, and by the court.’ Parenting House Divided: Hate Thy Father In an era of bitter divorce battles, parents often use children as hammers to bash each other, manipulating not only the legal system but also their children’s affections. Can a broken parent-child bond be restored? By Mark Teich , published on May 01, 2007 – last reviewed on July 24, 2007 In 1978, after Cathy Mannis and her future husband moved into the same cooperative at U.C. Berkeley, they ran into each other often. She was not immediately smitten. “I detested him at first, and I should have stayed with that feeling,” recalls Cathy Mannis of her now ex-husband. “He was overweight and always very critical. Then he lost weight, became cuter, and started paying attention to me. He was going to be a doctor and he seemed so trustworthy; he said he would never desert his family as his own father had done to him.” They started dating , and she ultimately cared for him enough to marry him. “I thought he’d be a good father, and I was dying to be a mother. I thought we’d have a good life.” She worked full-time as a legal secretary to put him through medical school. She also bought the two of them a town house with money she’d saved before marriage . When she gave birth to a boy, Matt (not his real name), she was as happy as she’d ever been. Over time, she saw signs that her husband was cheating on her, but she always forgave him. Their second son, Robby, was born autistic, and things went downhill fast. The boy had speech and learning problems and was frequently out of control. Her husband was appalled. “He’s dumber than a fish,” he said. Still, they had one more child, Harry (the name has been changed), hoping to give Matt a sibling without Robby’s problems. Harry turned out normal, but he bonded most closely with Robby; they became inseparable. When Cathy once again became convinced her husband was cheating—he inexplicably never came home one night—she finally threw him out. He filed for divorce before she could forgive him again. Cathy was granted primary custody of the kids, and her ex soon married the woman he’d been seeing on the side. Because of all she had to do to help Robby as well as her other two kids, Cathy could no longer hold a full-time job. Meanwhile, her ex declared two bankruptcies and, at one point, even mental disability, all of which kept alimony payments to a trickle. Eventually Cathy was so broke that her electricity was turned off; she and the boys ate dinner by candlelight. Then she became so ill she had to be hospitalized for life-threatening surgery. She had no choice but to leave the kids with her ex. “He promised to return them when my health and finances improved,” she says. That was almost seven years ago. Her health has long since returned and she has a good job she can do from home, but the only child ever restored to her, despite nonstop court battles, was Robby. In fact, her ex got the courts to rule that the children should be permanently separated, leaving the other two children with him, since Robby was a “threat” to his younger brother’s well-being. Through all those years, Cathy says she faced a campaign of systematic alienation from Matt and Harry. “When I called to speak to them, I was usually greeted with coldness or anger , and often the boys weren’t brought to the phone. Then my ex sent letters warning me not to call them at home at all. Whenever the kids came to stay with me, they’d report, ‘Dad says you’re evil . He says you wrecked the marriage.’ ” Then he moved thousands of miles away, making it vastly more difficult for her to see her children. As time has passed, the boys have increasingly pulled away. Matt, now grown and serving in the military, never speaks to Cathy. Thirteen-year-old Harry used to say, “Mommy, why can’t I stay with you? All the other kids I know live with their moms,” before leaving visits with her. Now he often appears detached from her and uninterested in Robby, whom he once adored. His friends at his new home think his stepmother is his mom, because that’s how she introduces herself. “She told me she would take my kids, and she did. The alienation is complete,” rues Cathy. “All I ever wanted was to be a mom.” Divorcing parents have long bashed each other in hopes of winning points with kids. But today, the strategy of blame encompasses a psychological concept of parental alienation that is increasingly used—and misused—in the courts. On the one hand, with so many contentious divorces, parents like Cathy Mannis have been tragically alienated from the children they love. On the other hand, parental alienation has been seized as a strategic tool in custody fights, its effects exploited in the courtroom, often to the detriment of loving parents protecting children from true neglect or abuse. With the impact of alienation so devastating—and false accusations so prevalent—it may take a judge with the wisdom of Solomon to differentiate between the two faces of alienation: a truly toxic parent and his or her victimized children versus manipulation of the legal system to claim damage where none exists. A Symptom Of Our Time? Disturbed by the potential for alienation, many divorce courts have today instituted aggressive steps to intervene where they once just stood by. And with good reason: Alienation is ruinous to all involved. “In pathological or irrational alienation, the parent has done nothing to deserve that level of hatred or rejection from the child,” explains University of Texas psychologist Richard Warshak, author of Divorce Poison: Protecting the Parent-Child Bond from a Vindictive Ex. “It often seems to happen almost overnight, and neither the rejected parent nor even the rejecting child understands why.” Often, in fact, it’s the emotionally healthier parent who gets rejected, Warshak adds. That parent tends to understand that it’s not in the child’s best interests to lose the other parent. In contrast, the alienating parent craves revenge against the ex—then uses the child to exact that punishment. “It’s a form of abuse,” Warshak says. “Both parent and child are victims.” Does DSM-IV Have Equivalents for the Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) Diagnosis? Richard A. Gardner. M.D. Department of Child Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University, New York, New York, USA Child custody evaluators commonly find themselves confronted with resistance when they attempt to use the term parental alienation syndrome (PAS) in courts of law. Although convinced that the patient being evaluated suffers with the disorder, they often find that the attorneys who represent alienated parents, although agreeing with the diagnosis, will discourage use of the term in the evaluators’ reports and testimony. Most often, they will request that the evaluator merely use the term parental alienation (PA). On occasion they will ask whether other DSM-IV diagnoses may be applicable. The purpose of this article is to elucidate the reasons for the reluctance to use the PAS diagnosis and the applicability of PA as well as current DSM-IV substitute diagnoses. Mental health professionals, family law attorneys, and judges are generally in agreement that in recent years we have seen a disorder in which one parent alienates the child against the other parent. This problem is especially common in the context of child-custody disputes where such programming enables the indoctrinating parent to gain leverage in the court of law. There is significant controversy, however, regarding the term to use for this phenomenon. In 1985 I introduced the term parental alienation syndrome to describe this phenomenon ( Gardner, 1985a ). The Parental Alienation Syndrome In association with this burgeoning of child-custody litigation, we have witnessed a dramatic increase in the frequency of a disorder rarely seen previously, a disorder that I refer to as the parental alienation syndrome (PAS). In this disorder we see not only programming (“brainwashing”) of the child by one parent to denigrate the other parent, but self-created contributions by the child in support of the alienating parent’s campaign of denigration against the alienated parent. Because of the child’s contribution I did not consider the terms brainwashing, programming, or other equivalent words to be sufficient. Furthermore, I observed a cluster of symptoms that typically appear together, a cluster that warranted the designation syndrome. Accordingly, I introduced the term parental alienation syndrome to encompass the combination of these two contributing factors that contributed to the development of the syndrome (Gardner, 1985a). In accordance with this use of the term I suggest this definition of the parental alienation syndrome: The parental alienation syndrome (PAS) is a childhood disorder that arises almost exclusively in the context of child-custody disputes. Its primary manifestation is the child’s campaign of denigration against a parent, a campaign that has no justification. It results from the combination of a programming (brainwashing) parent’s indoctrinations and the child’s own contributions to the vilification of the target parent. When true parental abuse and/or neglect is present, the child’s animosity may be justified and so the parental alienation syndrome explanation for the child’s hostility is not applicable. It is important to note that indoctrinating a PAS into a child is a form of abuse—emotional abuse—because it can reasonably result in progressive attenuation of the psychological bond between the child and a loving parent. In many cases it can result in total destruction of that bond, with lifelong alienation. In some cases, then, it may be even worse than other forms of abuse, e.g., physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. A parent who demonstrates such reprehensible behavior has a serious parenting defect, their professions of exemplary parenting notwithstanding. Typically, they are so intent on destroying the bond between the child and the alienated parent that they blind themselves to the formidable psychological consequences on the child of their PAS indoctrinations, both at the time of the indoctrinations and in the future. Most evaluators, family law attorneys, and judges recognize that such programming and child alienation is common in the context of child-custody disputes. They agree, also, that there are situations in which the child’s alienation is the result of parental programming. Some object to the use of the term syndrome and claim that it is not a syndrome, but that the term parental alienation (PA) should be used. The problem with the use of the term PA is that there are many reasons why a child might be alienated from parents, reasons having nothing to do with programming. A child might be alienated from a parent because of parental abuse of the child, e.g., physical, emotional, or sexual. A child might be alienated because of parental neglect. Children with conduct disorders are often alienated from their parents, and adolescents commonly go through phases of alienation. The PAS is well viewed as one subtype of parental alienation. Accordingly, substituting the term PA for PAS cannot but cause confusion. Is the PAS a True Syndrome? Some who prefer to use the term parental alienation (PA) claim that the PAS is not really a syndrome. This position is especially seen in courts of law in the context of child-custody disputes. A syndrome, by medical definition, is a cluster of symptoms, occurring together, that characterize a specific disease. The symptoms, although seemingly disparate, warrant being grouped together because of a common etiology or basic underlying cause. Furthermore, there is a consistency with regard to such a cluster in that most (if not all) of the symptoms appear together. The term syndrome is more specific than the related term disease. A disease is usually a more general term, because there can be many causes of a particular disease. For example, pneumonia is a disease, but there are many types of pneumonia—e.g., pneumococcal pneumonia and bronchopneumonia—each of which has more specific symptoms, and each of which could reasonably be considered a syndrome (although common usage may not utilize the term). The syndrome has a purity because most (if not all) of the symptoms in the cluster predictably manifest themselves together as a group. Often, the symptoms appear to be unrelated, but they actually are because they usually have a common etiology. An example would be Down’s Syndrome, which includes a host of seemingly disparate symptoms that do not appear to have a common link. These include mental retardation, Mongoloid faces, drooping lips, slanting eyes, short fifth finger, and atypical creases in the palms of the hands. Down’s Syndrome patients often look very much alike and most typically exhibit all these symptoms. The common etiology of these disparate symptoms relates to a specific chromosomal abnormality. It is this genetic factor that is responsible for linking together these seemingly disparate symptoms. There is then a primary, basic cause of Down’s Syndrome: a genetic abnormality. Similarly, the PAS is characterized by a cluster of symptoms that usually appear together in the child, especially in the moderate and severe types. These include: Reflexive support of the alienating parent in the parental conflict Absence of guilt over cruelty to and/or exploitation of the alienated parent The presence of borrowed scenarios Spread of the animosity to the friends and/or extended family of the alienated parent Typically, children who suffer with PAS will exhibit most (if not all) of these symptoms. However, in the mild cases one might not see all eight symptoms. When mild cases progress to moderate or severe, it is highly likely that most (if not all) of the symptoms will be present. This consistency results in PAS children resembling one another. It is because of these considerations that the PAS is a relatively “pure” diagnosis that can easily be made. Because of this purity, the PAS lends itself well to research studies because the population to be studied can usually be easily identified. Furthermore, I am confident that this purity will be verified by future interrater reliability studies. In contrast, children subsumed under the rubric PA are not likely to lend themselves well to research studies because of the wide variety of disorders to which it can refer, e.g., physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and defective parenting. As is true of other syndromes, there is in the PAS a specific underlying cause: programming by an alienating parent in conjunction with additional contributions by the programmed child. It is for these reasons that PAS is indeed a syndrome, and it is a syndrome by the best medical definition of the term. In contrast, PA is not a syndrome and has no specific underlying cause. Nor do the proponents of the term PA claim that it is a syndrome. Actually, PA can be viewed as a group of syndromes, which share in common the phenomenon of the child’s alienation from a parent. To refer to PA as a group of syndromes would, by necessity, lead to the conclusion that the PAS is one of the syndromes subsumed under the PA rubric and would thereby weaken the argument of those who claim that PAS is not a syndrome. The PAS and DSM-IV There are some, especially adversaries in child-custody disputes, who claim that there is no such entity as the PAS. This position is especially likely to be taken by legal and mental health professionals who are supporting the position of someone who is clearly a PAS programmer. The main argument given to justify this position is that the PAS does not appear in DSM-IV. To say that PAS does not exist because it is not listed in DSM-IV is like saying in 1980 that AIDS (Autoimmune Deficiency Syndrome) did not exist because it was not then listed in standard diagnostic medical textbooks. DSM-IV was published in 1994. From 1991 to 1993, when DSM committees were meeting to consider the inclusion of additional disorders, there were too few articles in the literature to warrant submission of the PAS for consideration. That is no longer the case. It is my understanding that committees will begin to meet for the next edition of the DSM (probably to be called DSM-V) in 2002 or 2003. Considering the fact that there are now at least 133 articles in peer-review journals on the PAS, it is highly likely that by that time there will be even more articles. (A list of peer-reviewed PAS articles is to be found on my website, www.rgardner.com/refs , a list that is continually being updated.) It is important to note that DSM-IV does not frivolously accept every new proposal. Their requirements are very stringent with regard to the inclusion of newly described clinical entities. The committees require many years of research and numerous publications in peer-review scientific journals before considering the inclusion of a disorder, and justifiably so. Gille de La Tourette first described his syndrome in 1885. It was not until 1980, 95 years later, that the disorder found its way into the DSM. It is important to note that at that point, Tourette’s Syndrome became Tourette’s Disorder. Asperger first described his syndrome in 1957. It was not until 1994, 37 years later, that it was accepted into DSM-IV and Asperger’s Syndrome became Asperger’s Disorder. DSM-IV states specifically that all disorders contained in the volume are “syndromes or patterns” (p. xxi), and they would not be there if they were not syndromes (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Once accepted, the name syndrome is changed to disorder. However, this is not automatically the pattern for nonpsychiatric disorders. Often the term syndrome becomes locked into the name and becomes so well known that changing the word syndrome to disorder would seem awkward. For example, Down’s syndrome, although well recognized, has never become Down’s disorder. Similarly, AIDS (Autoimmune Deficiency Syndrome) is a well-recognized disease but still retains the syndrome term. One of the most important (if not the most important) determinants as to whether a newly described disorder will be accepted into the DSM is the quantity and quality of research articles on the clinical entity, especially articles that have been published in peer-review journals. The committees are particularly interested in interrater reliability studies that will validate the relative “purity” of the disease entity being described. PAS lends itself well to such studies; PA does not. One of the first steps one must take when setting up a scientific study is to define and circumscribe the group(s) being studied. PAS lends itself well to such circumscription. PA is so diffuse and all-encompassing that no competent researcher would consider such a group to be a viable object of study. Whether one is going to study etiology, symptomatic manifestations, pathogenesis, treatment modalities, treatment efficacy, or conduct follow-up studies, one is more likely to obtain meaningful results if one starts with a discrete group (such as PAS) than if one starts with an amorphous group (such as PA). One of the major criticisms directed against many research projects is that the authors’ study group was not “pure” enough and/or well-selected enough to warrant the professed conclusions. Studies of PAS children are far less likely to justify this criticism than studies of PA children. Whereas the PAS may ultimately be recognized in DSM-V, it is extremely unlikely that DSM committees will consider an entity referred to as parental alienation. It is too vague a term and covers such a wide variety of clinical phenomena that they could not justifiably be clumped together to warrant inclusion in DSM as a specific disorder. Because listing in the DSM ensures admissibility in courts of law, those who use the term PA instead of PAS are lessening the likelihood that PAS will be listed in DSM-V. The result will be that many PAS families will be deprived of the proper recognition they deserve in courts of law, which often depend heavily on the DSM. Recognition of the PAS in Courts of Law Some who hesitate to use the term PAS claim that it has not been accepted in courts of law. This is not so. Although there are certainly judges who have not recognized the PAS, there is no question that courts of law with increasing rapidity are recognizing the disorder. My website ( www.rgardner.com/refs ) currently cites 66 cases in which the PAS has been recognized. By the time this article is published, the number of citations will certainly be greater. Furthermore, I am certain that there are other citations that have not been brought to my attention. It is important to note that on January 30, 2001, after a two-day hearing devoted to whether the PAS satisfied Frye Test criteria for admissibility in a court of law, a Tampa, Florida court ruled that the PAS had gained enough acceptance in the scientific community to be admissible in a court of law ( Kilgore v. Boyd, 2001 ). This ruling was subsequently affirmed by the District Court of Appeals ( February 6, 2001 ). In the course of my testimony, I brought to the court’s attention the more than 100 peer-reviewed articles (there are 133 at the time of this writing) by approximately 150 other authors and over 40 court rulings (there are 66 at the time of this writing) in which the PAS had been recognized. These lists of the PAS peer-reviewed articles and legal citations are frequently updated on my website (www.rgardner.com). I am certain that these publications played an important role in the judge’s decision. This case will clearly serve as a precedent and facilitate the admission of the PAS in other cases—not only in Florida, but elsewhere. Whereas there are some courts of law that have not recognized PAS, there are far fewer courts that have not recognized PA. This is one of the important arguments given by those who prefer the term PA. They do not risk an opposing attorney claiming that PA does not exist or that courts of law have not recognized it. There are some evaluators who recognize that children are indeed suffering with a PAS, but studiously avoid using the term in their reports and courtroom, because they fear that their testimony will not be admissible. Accordingly, they use PA, which is much safer, because they are protected from the criticisms so commonly directed at those who use PAS. Later in this article I will detail the reasons why I consider this position injudicious. Many of those who espouse PA claim not to be concerned with the fact that their more general construct will be less useful in courts of law. Their primary interest, they profess, is the expansion of knowledge about children’s alienation from parents. Considering the fact that the PAS is primarily (if not exclusively) a product of the adversary system, and considering the fact that PAS symptoms are directly proportionate to the intensity of the parental litigation, and considering the fact that the court that has more power than the therapist to alleviate and even cure the disorder, PA proponents who claim no concern for the long-term legal implications of their position are injudicious and, I suspect, their claims of unconcern are specious. Sources of the Controversy Over the Parental Alienation Syndrome There are some who claim that because there is such controversy swirling around the PAS, there must be something specious about the existence of the disorder. Those who discount the PAS entirely because it is “controversial” sidestep the real issues, namely, what specifically has engendered the controversy, and, more importantly, is the PAS formulation reasonable and valid? The fact that something is controversial does not invalidate it. But why do we have such controversy over the PAS? With regard to whether PAS exists, we generally do not see such controversy regarding most other clinical entities in psychiatry. Examiners may have different opinions regarding the etiology and treatment of a particular psychiatric disorder, but there is usually some consensus about its existence. And this should especially be the case for a relatively “pure” disorder such as the PAS, a disorder that is easily diagnosable because of the similarity of the children’s symptoms when one compares one family with another. Why, then, should there be such controversy over whether or not PAS exists? The PAS and the Adversary System The PAS is very much a product of the adversary system ( Gardner, 1985a , 1986 , 1987a , 1987b , 1989 , 1992 , 1998 ). Furthermore, a court of law is generally the place where clients attempt to resolve the PAS. Most newly developed scientific principles inevitably become controversial when they are dealt with in the courtroom. It behooves the attorneys — when working within the adversary system — to take an adversarial stand and create controversy where it may not exist. In that setting, it behooves one side to take just the opposite position from the other if one is to prevail. Furthermore, it behooves each attorney to attempt to discredit the experts of the opposing counsel. A good example of this phenomenon is the way in which DNA testing was dealt with in the OJ Simpson trial. DNA testing is one of the most scientifically valid procedures for identifying perpetrators. Yet the jury saw fit to question the validity of such evidence, and DNA became, for that trial, controversial. I strongly suspect that those jury members who concluded that DNA evidence was not scientifically valid for OJ Simpson would have vehemently fought for its admissibility if they themselves were being tried for a crime, which they did not commit. I am certain, as well, that any man in that jury who found himself falsely accused of paternity would be quite eager to accept DNA proof of his innocence. The Denial of the PAS is the Primary Defense of the Alienator A parent accused of inducing a PAS in a child is likely to engage the services of a lawyer who may invoke the argument that there is no such thing as a PAS. The reasoning goes like this: “If there is no such thing as the PAS, then there is no programmer, and therefore my client cannot be accused of brainwashing the children.” This is an extremely important point, and I cannot emphasize it strongly enough. It is a central element in the controversy over the PAS, a controversy that has been played out in courtrooms not only in the United States but in various other countries as well. And if the allegedly dubious lawyer can demonstrate that the PAS is not listed in DSM-IV, then the position is considered “proven” (I say “allegedly” because the lawyer may well recognize the PAS but is only serving his client by his deceitfulness). The only thing this proves is that in 1994 DSM-IV did not list the PAS. The lawyers hope, however, that the judge will be taken in by this specious argument and will then conclude that if there is no PAS, there is no programming, and so the client is thereby exonerated. Substituting the term PA circumvents this problem. No alienator is identified, the sources are vaguer, and the causes could lie with the mother, the father, or both. The drawback here is that the evaluator may not provide the court with proper information about the cause of the children’s alienation. It lessens the likelihood, then, that the court will have the proper data with which to make its recommendations. Which Term to Use in the Courtroom: PA or PAS? Many examiners, then, even those who recognize the existence of the PAS, may consciously and deliberately choose to use the term parental alienation in the courtroom. Their argument may go along these lines: “I fully recognize that there is such a disease as the PAS. I have seen many such cases and it is a widespread phenomenon. However, if I mention PAS in my report, I expose myself to criticism in the courtroom such as, ‘It doesn’t exist,’ ‘It’s not in DSM-IV’ etc. Therefore, I just use PA, and no one denies that.” I can recognize the attractiveness of this argument, but I have serious reservations about this way of dealing with the controversy—especially in a court of law. Using PA is basically a terrible disservice to the PAS family because the cause of the children’s alienation is not properly identified. It is also a compromise in one’s obligation to the court, which is to provide accurate and useful information so that the court will be in the best position to make a proper ruling. Using PA is an abrogation of this responsibility; using PAS is in the service of fulfilling this obligation. Furthermore, evaluators who use PA instead of PAS are losing sight of the fact that they are impeding the general acceptance of the term in the courtroom. This is a disservice to the legal system, because it deprives the legal network of the more specific PAS diagnosis that could be more helpful to courts for dealing with such families. Moreover, using the PA term is shortsighted because it lessens the likelihood that some future edition of DSM will recognize the subtype of PA that we call PAS. This not only has diagnostic implications, but even more importantly, therapeutic implications. The diagnoses included in the DSM serve as a foundation for treatment. The symptoms listed therein serve as guidelines for therapeutic interventions and goals. Insurance companies (who are always quick to look for reasons to deny coverage) strictly refrain from providing coverage for any disorder not listed in the DSM. Accordingly, PAS families cannot expect to be covered for treatment. I describe below additional diagnoses that are applicable to the PAS, diagnoses that justify requests for insurance coverage. Examiners in both the mental health and legal professions who genuinely recognize the PAS, but who refrain from using the term until it appears in DSM, are lessening the likelihood that it will ultimately be included, because widespread utilization is one of the criteria that DSM committees consider. Such restraint, therefore, is an abrogation of their responsibility to contribute to the enhancement of knowledge in their professions. There is, however, a compromise. I use PAS in all those reports in which I consider the diagnosis justified. I also use the PAS term throughout my testimony. However, I sometimes make comments along these lines, both in my reports and in my testimony: Although I have used the term PAS, the important questions for the court are: Are these children alienated? What is the cause of the alienation? and What can we then do about it? So if one wants to just use the term PA, one has learned something. But we haven’t really learned very much, because everyone involved in this case knows well that the children have been alienated. The question is what is the cause of the children’s alienation? In this case the alienation is caused by the mother’s (father’s) programming and something must be done about protecting the children from the programming. That is the central issue for this court in this case, and it is more important than whether one is going to call the disorder PA or PAS, even though I strongly prefer the PAS term for the reasons already given. In addition, if the court does not wish to recognize the PAS diagnosis there are other DSM-IV diagnoses that are very much applicable in this case. For the alienating father (mother) the following diagnoses are warranted: (the examiner can select from the list provided in the next section of this article). For the PAS child the following DSM-IV diagnoses are warranted: (the examiner can select from the list provided in the next section of this article). With regard to the alienated parent, the mother (father), no DSM-IV diagnosis is warranted. (However, a DSM-IV diagnosis may be warranted, but generally it is not related to the PAS as the symptoms have not played a role in contributing to the disorder). I wish to emphasize that I do not routinely include this compromise, because whenever I do so, I recognize that I am providing support for those who are injudiciously eschewing the term and compromising thereby their professional obligations to their clients and the court. Warshak (1999 , 2001 ), has also addressed the PA vs. PAS controversy. He emphasizes the point that espousers of both PA and PAS agree that in the severe cases the only hope for the victimized children is significant restriction of the programmer’s access to the children and, in many cases, custodial transfer—sometimes via a transitional site. Warshak concludes that the arguments for the utilization for PAS outweigh the arguments for the utilization of PA, although he has more sympathy for the PA position than do I. Elsewhere, I have also addressed myself to this issue ( Gardner, 2002 ). DSM-IV Diagnoses Related to the Parental Alienation Syndrome Examiners writing reports for and testifying in courts of law can generally find diagnoses in DSM-IV that are immune to the argument, “It doesn’t exist because it’s not in DSM-IV.” These diagnoses are not identical to the PAS, but they have common elements that can justify their utilization. None of them, however, are identical to the PAS and cannot be used as substitutes for it. I present here those that are most applicable and potentially useful in courts of law. Diagnoses Applicable to Both Alienating Parents and PAS Childrem 297.3 Shared Psychotic Disorder A delusion develops in an individual in the context of a close relationship with another person(s) who has an already-established delusion. The delusion is similar in content to that of the person who already has the established delusion. This DSM-IV diagnosis is warranted in some of the severe PAS cases in which the programmer is paranoid, and the child’s campaign of denigration incorporates the same paranoid ideation. In a sense, most of the moderate, and even some of the mild cases of PAS, are examples of the folie à deux phenomenon. However, one cannot justifiably consider the mild and moderate cases of PAS to warrant the label psychotic with the implication of complete break with reality. In severe cases we do see bona fide delusions of persecution that can justifiably be considered paranoid. Most often, the delusional system is circumscribed to the alienated parent. It is important to note that this single diagnosis can be applied to both the alienator and the alienated child. V61.20 Parent-Child Relational Problem This category should be used when the focus of clinical attention is a pattern of interaction between parent and child (e.g., impaired communication, overprotection, inadequate discipline) that is associated with clinically significant impairment in individual or family functioning or the development of clinically significant symptoms in parent or child. This diagnosis generally applies to a dyad. Obviously, there are a wide variety of parent-child relational problems that have nothing to do with PAS. In fact, it is reasonable to state that parent-child relational problems probably began with the first families that existed. This diagnosis is an excellent example of the aforementioned principle that none of the DSM-IV diagnoses described here can be reasonably substituted for the PAS. Rather, they are best viewed as disorders that have some symptoms in common with the PAS and may therefore justify being listed as additional diagnoses. In the PAS situation there is a pathological dyad between the alienating parent and the child and another pathological dyad between the alienated parent and the child. The pathological dyad between the alienated parent and the child is one in which the child is being programmed into a campaign of denigration against the previously loving parent. The child is being programmed to exhibit any and all of the primary symptomatic manifestations of the PAS. With regard to the relationship between the child and the alienated parent, the child exhibits inordinate hostility, denigration, and fear of the target parent to the point where that parent is viewed as noxious and loathsome. Examiners using this criterion do well to emphasize that two separate parent-child relational problems are manifested. Diagnoses Applicable to Alienating Parents 297.71 Delusional Disorder Nonbizarre delusions (i.e., involving situations that occur in real life, such as being followed, poisoned, infected, loved at a distance, or deceived by spouse or lover, or having a disease) of at least 1 month’s duration. Of the various subtypes of delusional disorder, the one that is most applicable to the PAS: Persecutory Type: delusions that the person (or someone to whom the person is close) is being malevolently treated in some way This diagnosis is generally applicable to the PAS indoctrinator who may initially recognize that the complaints about the behavior of the alienated parent are conscious and deliberate fabrications. However, over time, the fabrications may become delusions, actually believed by the programming parent. And the same process may ultimately be applicable to the child. Specifically, at first the child may recognize that the professions of hatred are feigned and serve to ingratiate the child to the programmer. However, over time the child may come to actually believe what were originally conscious and deliberate fabrications. When that point is reached the delusional disorder diagnosis is applicable to the child. Generally, this diagnosis is applicable to relentless programmers who are obsessed with their hatred of the victim parent, by which time the child will have probably entered the severe level of PAS. It is to be noted that when the PAS is present, most often one observes a circumscribed delusional system, confined almost exclusively to the alienated parent. This diagnosis may also be applicable to the PAS child, especially the child who is in the severe category. 301.0 Paranoid Personality Disorder A pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives are interpreted as malevolent, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following: suspects, without sufficient basis, that others are exploiting, harming, or deceiving him or her is preoccupied with unjustified doubts about the loyalty or trustworthiness of friends or associates is reluctant to confide in others because of unwarranted fear that the information will be used maliciously against him or her reads hidden demeaning or threatening meanings into benign remarks or events persistently bears grudges, i.e., is unforgiving of insults, injuries, or slights perceives attacks on his or her character or reputation that are not apparent to others and is quick to react angrily or to counterattack has recurrent suspicions, without justification, regarding fidelity of spouse or sexual partner PAS programmers who warrant this diagnosis would often satisfy these criteria before the marital separation. A detailed history from the victim parent as well as collaterals may be important because the programming parent is not likely to directly reveal such symptoms. They may, however, reveal them in the course of the evaluation, because they are such deep-seated traits, and are so deeply embedded in their personality structure, that they cannot be hidden. Most people involved in protracted child-custody litigation become “a little paranoid,” and this is often revealed by elevations on the paranoid scale of the MMPI. After all, there are indeed people who are speaking behind the patient’s back, are plotting against them, and are developing schemes and strategies with opposing lawyers. This reality results in an elevation of the paranoid scale in people who would not have manifested such elevations prior to the onset of the litigation. We see here how adversarial proceedings intensify psychopathology in general (Gardner, 1986), and in this case, paranoid psychopathology especially. The PAS child is less likely to warrant this diagnosis. When the severe level is reached PAS children may warrant the aforementioned Shared Psychotic Disorder diagnosis. On occasion, the diagnosis Schizophrenia, Paranoid Type (295.30) is warranted for the programming parent, but such patients generally exhibited other manifestations of schizophrenia, especially prior to the separation. It goes beyond the purposes of this paper to detail the marital symptoms of schizophrenia which should be investigated if the examiner has reason to believe that this diagnosis may be applicable. It is important for the examiner to appreciate that there is a continuum from delusional disorder, to paranoid personality disorder, to paranoid schizophrenia. Furthermore, in the course of protracted litigation, a patient may move along the track from the milder to a more severe disorder on this continuum. 301.83 Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following: frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. Note:Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5. a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating). Note Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5. recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g. intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days) chronic feelings of emptiness inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights) transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms Some alienators may exhibit some of these symptoms prior to the separation. However, as a result of the stresses of the separation, the symptoms may progress to the point where the diagnosis is applicable. Criterion (1) is likely to be exhibited soon after the separation because the marital dissolution is generally associated with real feelings of abandonment. Criterion (2) is often seen when there is a dramatic shift from idealization of the spouse to extreme devaluation. The campaign of denigration is the best example of this manifestation of BPD. Criterion (4) may manifest itself by excessive spending, especially when such spending causes significant stress and grief to the alienated parent. Following the separation, alienating parents may satisfy Criterion (6) with affect instability, irritability, and intense episodic dysphoria. Although such reactions are common among most people involved in a divorce, especially when litigating the divorce, patients with BPD exhibit these symptoms to an even greater degree. Chronic feelings of emptiness (Criterion [7]) go beyond those that are generally felt by people following a separation. Criterion (8) is extremely common among PAS programmers. The tirades of anger against the alienated parent serve as a model for the child and contribute to the development of the campaign of denigration. The stress-related paranoia, an intensification of the usual suspiciousness exhibited by people involved in litigation, may reach the point that Criterion (9) is satisfied. The examiner should note which of the symptoms are present and comment: “Five criteria need to be satisfied for the BPD diagnosis. Ms. X satisfies four. Although she does not qualify for the diagnosis at this point, she is at high risk for its development. Furthermore, when one lists diagnoses at the end of the report one might note the DSM-IV diagnosis and add in parenthesis “incipient.” 301.81 Narcissistic Personality Disorder A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following: has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions) requires excessive admiration has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes My experience has been that most PAS indoctrinators do not satisfy enough criteria (five) to warrant this diagnosis. However, many do exhibit three or four of them, which is worthy of the examiner’s attention and should be noted in the report. Criterion (5) is especially common in PAS indoctrinators. They act as if court orders have absolutely nothing to do with them, even though their names may be specifically spelled out in the ruling. Unfortunately, they often violate these orders with impunity because courts are typically lax with regard to implementing punitive measures for PAS contemnors. As mentioned in other publications of mine (Gardner, 1998; 2001), the failure of courts to take action against PAS programmers is one of the most common reasons why the symptoms become entrenched in the children. Criterion (6) is often frequently satisfied by the programmer’s ongoing attempts to extract ever more money from the victim parent, but feels little need to allow access to the children. There is no sense of shame or guilt over this common form of exploitation. The programmer’s lack of empathy and sympathy for the victim parent is quite common and easily satisfies Criterion (7). The PAS, by definition, is a disorder in which a programmer tries to destroy the bond between the children and a good, loving parent. In order to accomplish the goal, the alienator must have a serious deficiency in the ability to empathize with the target parent. Criterion (9) is often seen in that PAS indoctrinators are often haughty and arrogant and this symptom goes along with their sense of entitlement. Again, if warranted, the diagnosis can be listed as “incipient.” DSM-IV Diagnoses Applicable to PAS Children 312.8 Conduct Disorder A repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate societal norms or rules are violated, as manifested by the presence of three (or more) of the following criteria in the past 12 months, with at least one criterion present in the past 6 months: This diagnosis is often applicable to the PAS child, especially in situations when the conduct disturbances are the most salient manifestation. Under such circumstances, an examiner who is not familiar with the PAS may erroneously conclude that this is the only diagnosis. Such a conclusion necessitates selective inattention to the programming process, which is the hallmark of the PAS. Once again, we see here how a diagnosis, although in DSM-IV, cannot be used as a substitute for the PAS, but may be used as an additional diagnosis. I will not list here all 15 of the DSM-IV criteria, but only those that are most applicable to the PAS: Aggression to people and animals often bullies, threatens, or intimidates others often initiates physical fights has used a weapon that can cause serious physical harm to others (e.g., a bat, brick, broken bottle, knife, gun) has been physically cruel to animals has stolen while confronting a victim (e.g., mugging, purse snatching, extortion, armed robbery) Destruction of property has deliberately engaged in fire setting with the intention of causing serious damage has deliberately destroyed others’ property (other than by fire setting)Deceitfulness or theft often lies to obtain goods or favors or to avoid obligations (i.e., “cons” others) has stolen items of nontrivial value without confronting a victim (e.g., shoplifting, but without breaking and entering; forgery)Serious violations of rules has run away from home overnight at least twice while living in parental or parental surrogate home (or once without returning for a lengthy period As can be seen, most of the 15 criteria for the conduct disorder diagnosis can be satisfied by PAS children, especially those in the severe category. The target parent is very much scapegoated and victimized by PAS children. In severe cases they are screamed at, intimidated, and sometimes physically assaulted with objects such as bats, bottles, and knives. The child may perpetrate acts of sabotage in the home of the victim parent. Destruction of property in that person’s home is common and, on rare occasion, even fire setting. Deceitfulness is common, especially fabrications facilitated and supported by the alienator. Stealing things, such as legal documents and important records, and bringing them to the home of the alienator is common. Running away from the home of the target parent and returning to the home of the alienator is common, especially in moderate and severe cases. 309.21 Separation Anxiety Disorder Developmentally inappropriate and excessive anxiety concerning separation from home or from those to whom the individual is attached, as evidenced by three (or more) of the following: I reproduce here those of the eight criteria that are applicable to the PAS: 1) recurrent excessive distress when separation from home or major attachment figures occurs or is anticipated 4) persistent reluctance or refusal to go to school or elsewhere because of fear of separation 8) repeated complaints of physical symptoms (such as headaches, stomachaches, nausea, or vomiting) when separation from major attachment figures occurs or is anticipated It is important for the reader to appreciate that the original diagnosis for separation anxiety disorder was school phobia. The term separation anxiety disorder is a relatively recent development emerging from the recognition that the child’s fear was less that of the school per se and much more related to the fear of separation from a parent, commonly an overprotective mother (Gardner, 1985b). DSM-IV recognizes this and doesn’t necessarily require the school to be the object of fear, but rather separation from the home, especially from someone with whom the child is pathologically attached. It is important to note that the PAS child’s hatred of the victim parent has less to do with actual dislike of that parent and has much more to do with fear that if affection is displayed toward the target parent, the alienating parent will be angry at and rejecting of the child. At the prospect of going with the victim parent, the child may exhibit a wide variety of psychosomatic symptoms, all manifestations of the tension associated with the visit. The distress may be especially apparent when the alienating parent is at the site of the transfer. The child recognizes that expression of willingness or happiness to go off with the alienated parent might result in rejection by the alienator. The separation anxiety disorder diagnosis is most often applicable to the mild and moderate cases of PAS. In the severe cases, the anxiety element is less operative than the anger element. When applying these criteria to the PAS child, one does well to substitute the PAS indoctrinating parent for the parent with whom the child is pathologically attached. At the same time one should substitute the alienated parent for the school or other place outside the child’s home. When one does this, one can see how most of the aforementioned criteria apply. When the child with a separation anxiety disorder is fearful of leaving the home to go to many destinations, the school is the destination the child most fears. It is there that the child feels imprisoned. In contrast, PAS children generally fear only the target parent and are not afraid to leave the programming parent and go elsewhere, such as to the homes of friends and relatives. In short, the PAS child’s fear is focused on the alienated parent. In contrast, the child with a separation anxiety disorder has fears that focus on school but which have spread to many other situations and destinations. 300.15 Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified This category is included for disorders in which the predominant feature is a dissociative symptom (i.e., a disruption in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception of the environment) that does not meet the criteria for any specific Dissociative Disorder. Examples include: States of dissociation that occur in individuals who have been subjected to periods of prolonged and coercive persuasion (e.g., brainwashing, thought reform, or indoctrination while captive). Of the four categories of dissociative disorder (NOS), only Category 3 is applicable to the PAS. This criterion was designed for people who have been subjected to cult indoctrinations or for military prisoners subjected to brainwashing designed to convert their loyalty from their homeland to the enemy that has imprisoned them. It is very applicable to PAS children, especially those in the severe category. Such children have been programmed to convert their loyalty from a loving parent to the brainwashing parent exclusively. Cult victims and those subjected to prisoner indoctrinations often appear to be in a trance-like state in which they profess their indoctrinations in litany-like fashion. PAS children as well (especially those in the severe category) are often like robots or automatons in the way in which they profess the campaign of denigration in litany-like fashion. They seem to be in an altered state of consciousness when doing so. Adjustment Disorders The following subtypes of adjustment disorders are sometimes applicable to PAS children: 309.0 With Depressed Mood. 309.28 With Mixed Anxiety and Depressed Mood. 309.3 With Disturbance of Conduct. 309.4 With Mixed Disturbance of Emotions and Conduct Each of these types of adjustment disorders may be applicable to the PAS child. The child is indeed adjusting to a situation in which one parent is trying to convince the youngster that a previously loving, dedicated, and loyal parent has really been noxious, loathsome, and dangerous. The programmed data does not seem to coincide with what the child has experienced. This produces confusion. The child fears that any expression of affection for the target parent will result in rejection by the alienator. Under such circumstances, the child may respond with anxiety, depression, and disturbances of conduct. 313.9 Disorder of Infancy, Childhood or Adolescence Not Otherwise Specified This category is a residual category for disorders with onset in infancy, childhood, or adolescence that do not meet criteria for any specific order in the Classification. This would be a “last resort” diagnosis for the PAS child, the child who, although suffering with a PAS, does not have symptoms that warrant other DSM-IV childhood diagnoses. However, if one still feels the need to use a DSM-IV diagnosis, especially if the report will be compromised without one, then this last-resort diagnosis can justifiably be utilized. However, it is so vague that it says absolutely nothing other than that the person who is suffering with this disorder is a child. I do not recommend its utilization because of its weakness and because it provides practically no new information to the court. DSM-IV Diagnoses Applicable to Alienated Parents In most PAS cases, a diagnosis is not warranted for the alienated parent. On occasion that parent does warrant a DSM-IV diagnosis, but its applicability usually antedated the separation and usually has not played a role in the PAS development or promulgation. As mentioned elsewhere (Gardner, 2001), the primary problem I have seen with alienated parents is their passivity. They are afraid to implement traditional disciplinary and punitive measures with their children, lest they alienate them even further. And they are afraid to criticize the alienator because of the risk that such criticism will be reported to the court and compromise even further their position in the child-custody litigation. Generally, their passivity is not so deep-seated that they would warrant DSM-IV diagnoses such as avoidant personality disorder (301.82) or dependent personality disorder (301.6), because such passivity does not extend into other areas of life and did not antedate the marital separation. One could argue that they have an adjustment disorder, but there is no DSM diagnosis called “adjustment disorder, with passivity.” Accordingly, I will often state for alienated parents, “No Axis 1 diagnosis.” If, indeed, the alienated parent did suffer with a psychiatric disorder that contributed to the alienation, then this should be noted. Certainly, there are situations in which the alienated parent’s psychiatric disorder is so profound that it is the primary cause of the children’s alienation. In such cases, the PAS diagnosis is not warranted. Under such circumstances, this disorder should be described instead as the cause of the children’s alienation. Final Comments About Alternative DSM-IV Diagnoses for the PAS As mentioned, the primary reason for using these diagnoses is that the PAS, at this point, is not recognized in some courts of law. They cannot be used as substitute diagnoses for the PAS, but sometimes share in common some of the symptoms. Accordingly, they can be used as additional diagnoses. It is too early to expect widespread recognition because it was not feasible for the PAS to have been placed in the 1994 edition, so few were the publications on the disorder when the preparatory committees were meeting. This will certainly not be the case when the committees meet in the next few years for the preparation of DSM-V, which is scheduled for publication in 2010. None of the aforementioned substitute diagnoses are fully applicable to the PAS; however, as mentioned, each one has certain characteristics which overlap the PAS diagnosis. Because no combination of these alternative diagnoses can properly replace the PAS, they should be used in addition to rather than instead of the PAS. There is hardly a diagnosis in DSM-IV that does not share symptoms in common with other diagnoses. There is significant overlap and often fluidity in DSM diagnoses. None are “pure,” but some are purer than others, and the PAS is one of the purer ones. At this point, examiners who conclude that PAS is an applicable diagnosis do well to list it in the appropriate place(s) in their reports (especially at the end). At the same time, they do well to list any DSM-IV diagnoses that are applicable for the alienator, the alienated child, and (if warranted) for the alienated parent. Accordingly, even if the court will not recognize the PAS diagnosis, it will have a more difficult time ignoring these alternative DSM diagnoses. Conclusions Controversies are likely when a new disorder is first described. This is predictable. The PAS, however, has probably generated more controversy than most new diagnostic contributions. The primary reason for this is that the PAS is very much a product of the adversary legal system that adjudicates child-custody disputes. Under such circumstances, it behooves opposing attorneys to discredit the contribution and to find every argument possible for obstructing its admission into courts of law. And this is what happened with the PAS. The purpose of this article has been to help evaluators involved in such disputes understand better the nature of the controversy and to deal with it in the context of the present legal situation. Like all compromises, the solution is not perfect. None of the additional diagnoses are identical to the PAS, but they do serve a purpose in a court of law in that they are established psychiatric diagnoses that are applicable to PAS alienators, PAS children, and (on occasion) the alienated parent. Ultimately, if PAS is admitted into DSM-V, the main argument for its inadmissibility in courts of law will no longer be applicable and the need for listing these additional diagnoses in courts of law will be reduced. References American Psychiatric Association (1994) , Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised (DSM-IV). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association. Boyd v. Kilgore , 773 So. 2d 546 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000) (Prohibition Denied) Kilgore v. Boyd , 13th Circuit Court, Hillsborough County, FL., Case No. 94-7573, 733 So. 2d 546 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) Jan 30, 2001 Based on data from 34 States. Perpetrator Relationships of Child Fatalities, 2005 This table first lists perpetrator relationships including mother only, mother and father, father only, mother and other, father and other, female daycare staff, more than one nonparental perpetrator, unknown, etc. In the next column is listed the number of child fatalities from the specified perpetrator. The third column lists the percentage. 28.5 percent of child fatalities were perpetrated by a mother acting alone. “According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ new report Child Maltreatment 2004, when one parent is acting without the involvement of the other parent, mothers are almost three times as likely to kill their children as fathers are, and are more than twice as likely to abuse them.” Source: Child Maltreatment 2004 , U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. According to Figure 4-2 “Perpetrator Relationships of Fatalities, 2004 Child Maltreatment 2004” here , child fatalities perpetrated by mothers or by “mother and other [not father]” comprise 40.6% of all child fatalities. Figure 4-2 also shows that fatalities perpetrated by fathers or by “father and other [not mother]” comprise 15.6% of all child fatalities. According to Figure 3-6 “Victims by Perpetrator Relationship, 2004 Child Maltreatment 2004,” here child abuse perpetrated by mothers or by “mother and other [not father]” comprise 45.6% of all child abuse. Figure 3-6 also shows that abuse perpetrated by fathers or by “father and other [not mother]” comprise 19.5% of all child abuse. // Parental Alienation – Brainwashing a child to hate a parent About Parental Alienation The parental alienation is a disorder that arises primarily in the context of child-custody disputes. Its primary manifestation is the child’s campaign of denigration against a parent, a campaign that has no justification. It results from the combination of a programming (brainwashing) parents indoctrinations and the child’s own contributions to the vilification of the target parent. The alienation usually extends to the non-custodial parent’s family and friends as well. Many children involved in divorce and custody litigation undergo thought reform or mild brainwashing by their parents. This disturbing fact is a product of the nature of divorce and the disintegration of the spousal relationship in our culture. Inevitably, children receive subtly transmitted messages that both parents have serious criticisms of each other. Parental Alienation, however, is much more serious. It involves the systematic vilification by one parent of the other parent and brainwashing of the child, with the intent of alienating the child from the other parent What happens when children are denied access to a parent and are victims of Parental Alienation? Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 1988 A child who was separated from his or her father for a period of three months or longer while between the ages of 6 months to 5 years old, suffered a 2.5 to 5 times higher risk of conduct disorder, emotional disorders and hysteria than a child that did not go through the same period of separation. Bron, Strack & Rudolph, Univ. of Gottingen, Germany, 1991 Drastically increased suicidal tendencies were found in people who had experienced the loss of the father. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 1990 Children showed the most behaviour problems if their parents were in a legal conflict and the visitation was not frequent or regular with both parents. Acta Psychiatrica, Scandinavia, 1990, 1993 Scandinavian research found a significantly higher number of attempted adult suicides for people who, in childhood, had lost a parent through parental separation or divorce. British Journal of Psychiatry, 1989 British researchers found that adults who suffered the loss of a parent because of separation or divorce have a significantly higher risk of developing agoraphobia with panic attacks and panic disorder. <!–An Irish Equal-Parenting Parenting Equality has collection of , t http://homepages.iol.ie/~pe/ for other interesting information.–> Canadian Children’s Rights Council – See our whole section regarding fatherlessness and single parent families for increased rates of teen pregnancy, increased suicide rates and more. According to STATSCAN, the Government of Canada statistics agency, single parent families headed by men were 20% of single parent households in October 2007. Our position is that this growing trend will produce similar negative results for motherless children. More.. Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS): Sixteen Years Later Academy Forum, 2001, 45(1):10-12 ( A Publication of The American Academy of Psychoanalysis ), by RICHARD A. GARDNER, M.D. In 1985, the Academy Forum published my article, “Recent Trends in Divorce and Custody Litigation.” This was the first article in which I described the parental alienation syndrome (PAS), a disorder that I began seeing in the early 1980s. The Forum article is generally considered to be the seminal publication on the PAS, parent to at least 100 peer-reviewed articles. Although this is certainly a source of gratification for me, the sixteen years that have ensued cannot be viewed as a straight path to glory, especially because of controversies that have swirled around the diagnosis. I address here the reasons for the controversies and provide suggested solutions. More.. Newspaper Articles by Forensic Psychologist, Deirdre Conway Rand, PhD AMERICAN JOURNAL OF FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY, VOLUME 15, NUMBER 3, 1997 The Parental Alienation Syndrome, so named by Dr. Richard Gardner, is a distinctive family response to divorce in which the child becomes aligned with one parent and preoccupied with unjustified and/or exaggerated denigration of the other target parent. In severe cases, the child’s once love-bonded relationship with relected/target parent is destroyed. Testimony on Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) in legal proceedings has sparked debate. This two-part article seeks to shed light on the debate by reviewing Gardner’s work and that of others on PAS, integrating the concept of PAS with research on high conflict divorce and other related literature. The material is organized under topic headings such as parents who induce alienation, the child in PAS, the target/alienated parent. attorneys on PAS, and evaluation and intervention. Part II begins with the child in PAS. Case vignettes of moderate to severe PAS are presented in both parts, some of which illustrate the consequences for children and families when the system is successfully manipulated by the alienating parent, as well as some difficult but effective interventions implemented by the author, her husband Randy Rand, Ed.D., and other colleagues. Dr. Richard Gardner was an experienced child and forensic psychiatrist conducting evaluations when, in 1985, he introduced the concept of Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) in an article entitled “Recent Trends in Divorce and Custody Litigation” (1). His work with children and families during the 1970s led him to write such books as Boys and Girls Book of Divorce, The Parents Book About Divorce and Psychotherapy with Children of Divorce. He knew from experience that the norm for children of divorce was to continue to love and long for both parents, in spite of the divorce and the passage of years, a finding replicated by one of the first large scale studies of divorce (2). With this background, Gardner became concerned in the early 1980s about the increasing number of divorce children he was seeing who, especially in the course of custody evaluations, presented as preoccupied with denigrating one parent, sometimes to the point of expressing hatred toward a once loved parent. He used the term Parental Alienation Syndrome to refer to the child’s symptoms of denigrating and rejecting a previously loved parent in the context of divorce. Gardner’s focus on PAS as a disturbance of children in divorce is unique, although from the mid-1980s on there has been a proliferation of professional literature on disturbing trends in divorce/custody disputes, including false allegations of abuse to influence the outcome. At least three other divorce syndromes have been identified. In 1986, two psychologists in Michigan, who were as yet unaware of Gardner’s work, published the first of several papers on the SAID syndrome, Blush and Ross’s acronym for sex abuse allegations in divorce (3). Drawing on their experience doing evaluations for the family court, and the experience of their colleagues at the clinic there, these authors delineated typologies for the falsely accusing parent, the child involved and the accused parent. Two of the divorce syndromes named in the literature focus on the rage and pathology of the alienating or falsely accusing parent. Jacobs in New York and Wallerstein in California published case reports of what they called Medea Syndrome (4, 5). Jacobs discussed Gardner’s work on PAS in his 1988 study of a Medea Syndrome mother, as did Turkat when he described Divorce Related Malicious Mother Syndrome in 1994 (6). Fathers, too, can be found with this disorder, as one of the case vignettes below indicates, but for some reason Turkat has not encountered any. In addition to articles specifically on PAS and literature which refers to it, there is a body of divorce research and clinical writings which, without a name, describe the phenomenon. The literature reviewed here comes from a number of sources including: practitioners who like Gardner are seeking to improve the diagnostic skills and intervention strategies of the courts and other professionals who deal with high conflict divorce; attorneys and judges who come in contact with PAS cases; researchers like Clawar and Rivlin who reference Gardner’s work on PAS in their large scale study of parental programming in divorce (7) and Johnston whose work on high conflict divorce (8) led her to study the problem of children who refuse visitation, including a discussion of PAS (9). When PAS is viewed from the standpoint of parts and subprocesses which create the whole, the literature which pertains increases exponentially, for example: psychological characteristics of parents who falsely accuse in divorce/custody disputes; cults who help divorcing parents alienate their children from the other parent; and psychological abuse of children in severe PAS including Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy type abuse. The trends identified by Gardner and others are the result of important social changes which began to take root and flower around the mid 1970s. The legal treatment of divorce and child custody shifted from the preference for mothers to have sole custody and the “tender years presumption” to the preference for joint custody and “best interests of the child.” This gave divorce fathers more legal options for parenting their children and increased the quantity and intensity of divorce disputes as parents vehemently disagreed over the numerous custodial arrangements now possible. By the late 1970s, rising concern about parental programming of children to influence the outcome of disputes led the American Bar Association Section of Family Law to commission a large scale study of the problem. The results of this 12 year study were published in 1991 in a book called Children Held Hostage (7). Clawar and Rivlin found that parental programming was practiced to varying degrees by 80 percent of divorcing parents, with 20 percent of engaging in such behaviors with their children at least once a day. Further discussion of this book appears below. At the same time as new divorce trends have been emerging, sweeping social changes have been occurring in society’s treatment of child abuse. Mandated reporting became the law of the land in the 1970s and the procedures for making reports were simplified such that anonymous reports are now accepted and acted upon in some states. As the number of suspected abuse reports practically doubled, so did the number of false and unsubstantiated reports, according to statistics compiled by the National Center for Child Abuse and Neglect in 1988 which showed that non-valid reports outnumbered cases of bona fide abuse by a ratio of two to one ( 10). According to some observers, false allegations of abuse in contested divorce/custody cases have become the ultimate weapon. Judge Stewart wrote that “Family Courts nationwide are feeling the effects of a new fad being used by parties to a custody dispute-the charge that the other parent is molesting the child…The impact of such an allegation on the custody litigation is swift and major…The Family Court judge is apt to cut off the accused’s access to the child pending completion of the investigation” (11, p. 329). In response to concerns such as these, the Research Unit of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts obtained funding for a study on sex abuse accusations in divorce/custody disputes (12). Data for 1985-1986 were gathered from family court sites across the country. At that time, the incidence of sex abuse allegations in divorce was found to average two percent, but varied from one percent to eight percent depending on the court site. Results of this study suggest that sex abuse allegations in divorce may be valid only about 50 percent of the time. Many of the court counselors and administrators interviewed believed they were seeing a greater proportion of such cases than in previous decades. Ten years later in 1996, Congress amended the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to eliminate blanket immunity for persons who knowingly make false reports, based on information that 2,000,000 children were involved that year in non-valid reports, as opposed to 1,000,000 children who were genuinely abused (13). In addition, many states have already enacted laws against willfully making a false child abuse report. In California where the author and her husband practice, the Office of Child Abuse Prevention revised their manual for mandated reporters several years ago to include a section on false allegations in which the coaching of children during custody disputes is described as a major problem and Gardner’s work on PAS is referenced (14). In the meantime, the 1980s saw a massive campaign to train social workers, police, judges and mental health professionals in such concepts as “children don’t lie about abuse.” To make up for society’s blind eye to child abuse in the past, professionals are encouraged to unquestioningly ” believe the child ” and to reflexively accept all allegations of child abuse as true. Widespread media attention and a proliferation of popular books and movies on child abuse continues to suggest that the problem is widespread and insidious. Parents and professionals alike are enjoined to be vigilant for what are touted as “behavioral indicators” of sex abuse. These include the common but vague symptom of poor self esteem, conflicting “indicators” such as aggressive behavior and social withdrawal, and child behaviors which may be developmentally normal such as sexual curiosity and nightmares. Little attention is paid to the fact that children may develop the same symptoms in response to other stressors, including divorce and father absence. Children, too, are being sensitized to abuse, taught about “good touch/bad touch.” At the end of such a lesson in school, they may be asked to report anyone who they think may have touched them in a bad way. Although some instances of legitimate abuse are detected in this manner, children sometimes misunderstand the lesson such that a kindly grandfather going to scoop up his young grandson in his arms, as he had done many times before, may find the child pulling back from him in horror and accusing him of “bad touch.” Adults conducting these classes are sometimes so eager to find abuse that in one Southern state, the parents of over half the class were arrested. The foregoing outline of recent social changes is not meant to imply that Parental Alienation Syndrome and false allegations of sex abuse in divorce are synonymous. PAS can occur with or without such abuse accusations. Although false allegations of sex abuse are a common spin-off of severe PAS, other derivative false allegations may include physical abuse, neglect, emotional abuse, or a fabricated history of spousal abuse. In addition, there seems to be an increase in PAS type cases of accusations by the alienating parent that it is the alienated parent who is practicing PAS, a tactic which tends to confuse and neutralize interveners. PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME According to Gardner, PAS is a disturbance in the child who, in the context of divorce, becomes preoccupied with deprecation and criticism of one parent, which denigration is either unjustified and/or exaggerated. Gardner sees PAS as arising primarily from a combination of parental influence and the child’s active contributions to the campaign of denigration, factors which may mutually reinforce one another. Gardner distinguishes between Parental Alienation Syndrome and the term “parental alienation.” There are a wide variety of causes for parental alienation, including bonafide parental abuse and/or neglect, as well as significant deficits in a rejected parent’s functioning which may not rise to the level of abuse. From Gardner’s perspective, a diagnosis of PAS only applies where abuse, neglect and other conduct by the alienated parent which would reasonably justify the alienation are relatively minimal. Thus Gardner conceives of PAS as a specialized subcategory of generic parental alienation. Since introducing the concept of PAS in 1985, Gardner has written two books on the subject (15, 16), and included a chapter on it in his book entitled Family Evaluation, in Child Custody Mediation, Arbitration and Litigation(17). Depending on the severity of the PAS, a child may exhibit all or only some of the following behaviors. It is the cluster of these symptoms which prompted Gardner to consider them as a syndrome. 1. The child is aligned with the alienating parent in a campaign of denigration against the target parent, with the child making active contributions; 2. Rationalizations for deprecating the target parent are often weak, frivolous or absurd; 3. Animosity toward the rejected parent lacks the ambivalence normal to human relationships; 4. The child asserts that the decision to reject the target parent is his or her own, what Gardner calls the “independent thinker” phenomenon; 5. The child reflexively supports the parent with whom he or she is aligned; 6.The child expresses guiltless disregard for the feelings of the target or hated parent; 7. Borrowed scenarios are present, i.e., the child’s statements reflect themes and terminology of the alienating parent; 8. Animosity is spread to the extended family and others associated with the hated parent. In Gardner’s experience, born out by the clinical and research literature reviewed below, mothers are more frequently found to engage in PAS, which is likened by Clawar and Rivlin to psychological kidnapping (7). Where PAS with physical child abduction occurs, however, Huntington reports that fathers are in the majority (18). Gardner recognizes that fathers, too, may engage in PAS and gives examples in his books. For consistency and simplicity, though, he refers to the alienating parent as “mother” and target parent as “father.” According to Gardner, the brainwashing component in PAS can be more or less conscious on the part of the programming parent and may be systematic or subtle. The child’s active contributions to the campaign of denigration may help to create and maintain a mutually reinforcing feedback loop between the child and the programming parent. The child’s contributions notwithstanding, Gardner views the alienating parent as the responsible adult who elicits or transmits a negative set of beliefs about the target parent. The child’s loving experiences with the target parent in the past are replaced with a new reality, the negative scenario shared by the programming parent and child which justifies their rejection of the alienated parent. In light of these observations, Gardner warned that children’s statements in divorce/custody about rejecting one parent should not be taken at face value and should be evaluated for PAS dynamics. According to psychologist Mary Lund, this insight is one of Gardner’s most important contributions because it alerted the legal system, parents and mental health professionals dealing with divorce to an important possibility which can have disastrous effects if unrecognized (19). Gardner emphasizes the importance of differentiating between mild, moderate and severe PAS in determining what court orders and therapeutic interventions to apply. In mild cases, there is some parental programming but visitation is not seriously effected and the child manages to negotiate the transitions without too much difficulty. The child has a reasonably healthy relationship with the programming parent and is usually participating in the campaign of denigration to maintain the primary emotional bond with the preferred parent, usually the mother. PAS in this category can usually be alleviated by the court’s affirming that the preferred or primary parent will retain primary custody. In moderate PAS, there is a significant degree of parental programming, along with significant struggles around visitation. The child often displays difficulties around the transition between homes but is eventually able to settle down and become benevolently involved with the parent he or she is visiting. The bond between the aligned parent and child is still reasonably healthy, despite their shared conviction that the target parent is somehow despicable. At this level, stronger legal interventions are required and a court ordered PAS therapist is recommended who can monitor visits, make their office available as a visit exchange site, and report to the court regarding failures to implement visitation. The threat of sanctions against the alienating parent may be needed to gain compliance. Failure of the system to apply the appropriate level of court orders and therapeutic interventions in moderate PAS may put the child at risk for developing severe PAS. In some moderate cases, after court-ordered special therapy and sanctions have failed, Gardner states that it may be necessary to seriously consider transferring custody to the allegedly hated parent, assuming that parent is fit. In some situations, this is the only hope of protecting the child from progression to the severe category. The child in severe PAS is fanatic in his or her hatred of the target parent. The child may refuse to visit, personally make false allegations of abuse, and threaten to run away, commit suicide or homicide if forced to see the father. Mother and child have a pathological bond, often based on shared paranoid fantasies about the father, sometimes to the point of folie a deux. In severe PAS, Gardner has found that if the child is allowed to stay with the mother the relationship with the father is doomed and the child develops long-standing psychopathology and even paranoia. Assuming the target parent is fit, Gardner believes that the only effective remedy in severe PAS is to give custody to the alienated parent. In 1992 he suggested that courts might be more receptive to the change of custody option if the child was provided with a therapeutic transitional placement such as hospitalization, an intervention employed with success by the author and her husband (see case vignette in Part II). Gardner’s original conception of PAS was based on the child’s preoccupation with denigration of the target parent. It was not until two years later when he published his first book on PAS that he addressed the problem of PAS with false allegations of abuse. Gardner prefers to view such allegations as derivative of the PAS, observing that they often emerge after other efforts to exclude the target parent have failed. Some of the literature reviewed below, however, indicates that false allegations of abuse may also surface prior to the marital separation, symptomatic of a pre-existing psychiatric disorder of the alienating parent which may not be diagnosed until there is further mental deterioration after the divorce. Gardner was among the first to recognize that involving a child in false allegations of abuse is a form of abuse in itself and indicative of serious problems somewhere in the divorce family system. Insofar as PAS with false allegations of abuse can result in permanent destruction of the child’s relationship with the alienated parent, it can be more harmful to the child than if the alleged abuse had actually occurred. Gardner supports joint custody for those parents who can sincerely agree on it and have the ability to fulfill this ideal. Research by Maccoby and Mnookin suggests that about 29 percent of divorced parents are successfully co-parenting three to four years after filing (20). Gardner opposes imposing joint custody on parents in dispute and between whom there is significant animosity. For these families, Gardner recommends that a thorough evaluation be conducted to develop a case specific plan with the right combination of court orders, mediation, therapeutic interventions, and arbitration. HIGH CONFLICT DIVORCE AND PAS High conflict divorce is characterized by intense and/or protracted post separation conflict and hostility between the parents which may be expressed overtly or covertly through ongoing litigation, verbal and physical aggression, and tactics of sabotage and deception. Clinical and research literature suggest that Parental Alienation Syndrome is a distinctive type of high conflict divorce which may require PAS specific interventions, just as the problems of divorced families have been found to respond to divorce specific interventions rather than to traditional therapies. In their book on children caught in the middle of high conflict divorce, Garrity and Baris treat PAS as a distinctive divorce family dynamic, devoting two chapters to PAS, one on understanding it and the other on a comprehensive intervention model (#21). In high conflict divorce without significant PAS, the parents do most of the fighting while the children manage to go back and forth between homes, maintain their own views and preserve their affection for both parents. They cope by developing active skills for maneuvering the situation or by adopting a survival strategy of treating both parents with equal fairness and distance (8). Periodically, children may exacerbate parental conflicts by embellishing age appropriate separation anxieties, telling each parent things the parent wants to hear and shifting their allegiance back and forth between the parents. Nevertheless, they avoid consistent alignment with one parent against the other and are able to enjoy their time with each parent once the often difficult transition between homes has been accomplished. In high conflict divorce with significant PAS, the children are personally involved in the parental conflict. Unable to manage the situation so as to preserve an affectionate relationship with both parents, the child takes the side of one parent against the other and participates in the battle as an ally of the alienating parent who is defined as good against the other parent who is viewed as despicable. In a study of 175 children from high conflict families, Johnston found that chronic hostility and protracted litigation between the parents contributed to the development of PAS among older children (9). In other words, where the system is unable to settle and contain parental divorce conflicts, the children may be at increasing risk for developing PAS as they get older. Johnston acknowledges that her findings support Gardner’s contention that as many as 90 percent of children involved in protracted custody show symptoms of PAS. A large scale study of patterns of legal conflict between divorce parents three to four years after filing contained them significant finding that the most hostile divorce couples were not necessarily those engaged in the most contentious legal battles (20). This suggests that PAS may occur not only in the context of litigation but may develop after litigation has ceased, or proceed a new round of litigation after many years, supporting what Dunne and Hedrick found in their clinical study of severe PAS families (22). According to Johnston, high conflict divorce is the product of a multilayered divorce impasse between the parents (8). Often, the impasse has its roots in one or both parents’ extreme vulnerability to issues of narcissistic injury, loss, anger and control. These vulnerabilities prevent a satisfactory divorce adjustment and feed an endless, sometimes escalating cycle of action and reaction which promotes and maintains parental conflict. The parents are frozen in transition, psychologically neither married, separated or divorced, a pattern which may pertain even when only one parent is significantly disturbed. Using Johnston’s model, PAS can be viewed as an effort by one parent, with the help of the children, to “resolve” the divorce impasse with a clear-cut understanding of who is good, who is to blame and how the parent to blame should be punished. The following vignette illustrates this. Like the other case examples interspersed throughout this article, it is a composite scenario synthesized from real cases encountered by the author and her colleagues. Mr. L had adopted his wife’s child from her previous marriage and he and Mrs. L. had a child of their own, a girl who was six years old when Mr. L. moved out of the family home. During the six months leading up to this precipitous event, Mrs. L. was living in one part of the house with the older child while Mr. L. and his daughter had rooms together in a separate part of the house. The parents hardly spoke to one another but the children visited back and forth freely with each other and with both parents. Under the circumstances, Mr. L. did not think his wife would object to his leaving, but just in case there was a scene he decided to move out first and then work out the practical issues with Mrs. L. He left a letter for her and another one for the children, explaining his decision and affirming his desire to make arrangements for visitation and child support. Mrs. L. was furious. She immediately had the locks changed and successfully blocked her husband’s efforts to contact the children by phone or to see them. Both children probably felt betrayed by father and Mrs. L. amplified such feelings by telling the children their father had abandoned them and did not- care about them at all. She also alleged that he had had numerous affairs during the marriage although Mr. L. always denied that. These allegations may have sprung from the fact that Mrs. L. found out six weeks after her husband left that he was dating someone. Outraged, she told Mr. L. that he would never see the children again. She and the children began calling Mr. L. and his girl- friend at all hours, screaming accusations and obscenities over the phone until a restraining order was obtained. When efforts by father’s attorney to arrange for mediation between Mr. and Mrs. L. were stonewalled, Mr. L. got a court order for visitation. Three months had passed when his first opportunity to see his children since moving out was scheduled. On the eve of this visit, Mrs. L. called child protective services and accused Mr. L. of sexually molesting their daughter. According to the social worker’s notes which were obtained during subsequent litigation, Mrs. L. told the social worker that she “knew” while she and her husband were still living together that he was molesting their daughter. The family law judge ordered a custody evaluation which was very thorough and took months to complete. The evaluator documented a number of instances in which the girl’s statements about abuse and hat mg. her father seemed to be strongly influenced by mother’s overwhelming anger and that of the older half sibling, who was strongly aligned with the mother. Mrs. L. was diagnosed with a severe narcissistic personality disorder with antisocial features, while Mr. L. was seen by the evaluator as rather passive by comparison and as ambivalent and conflict avoidant. The evaluator was able to hold one meeting with father and daughter together, during which their loving attachment to one another was apparent. This was the little girl’s first opportunity to talk to her father about the feelings engendered by his leaving. As it turned out, it was also her last opportunity. The PAS intensified such that efforts to convene further father/daughter sessions failed when the child threw tantrums in the waiting room and ran screaming into the parking lot where her mother was waiting. Seven months after the marital separation, the custody evaluator’s report was released. It stated that the alleged abuse had in all probability not occurred but failed to diagnose severe PAS with false allegations of abuse. The evaluator recommended that the mother retain primary custody and that the girl and her parents each become involved in individual therapy to facilitate father/daughter reunification. Not surprisingly, Mrs. L. arranged for the child to see a therapist/intern who never saw the custody evaluator’s report. Based on input from the mother alone, the therapist treated the girl for abuse by her father instead of providing divorce specific therapy aimed at helping the little girl to adjust to her parent’s divorce and to establish a post divorce relationship with her father. The girl’s anger at her father became more extreme with each passing month and defeated the visitations planned by the family mediation center. Finally, a year after the separation, the custody evaluator was prepared to testify as to the PAS and to make the strong recommendations needed to remedy the situation. By that time, the father was convinced that nobody could do anything about his daughter’s continued expressions of hatred toward him. He also felt daunted by the prospect of further litigation and an even greater financial drain. He decided to let go, hoping that one day when his daughter was older she would understand and seek him out. CHILDREN HELD HOSTAGE: DEALING WITH PROGRAMMED AND BRAINWASHED CHILDREN By the late 1970s, judges, parents, and mental health professionals involved with divorce were so concerned about parental programming that the American Bar Association Section on Family Law commissioned this 12 year study of 700 divorce families (7). Clawar and Rivlin found that the problem of parental programming was indeed widespread and that even at low levels it had significant impact on children. Data from multiple sources was analyzed including: written records such as court transcripts, forensic reports, therapy notes and children’s diaries; audio and video tapes of interactions between children, their parents and others related to the case; direct observations, such as children with parents and clients with attorneys; and interviews with children, relatives, family friends, mental health professionals, school personnel, judges and conciliators. Gardner’s work on PAS is referenced at the beginning of Clawar and Rivlin’s book (7), but the authors take issue with what they represent as his position, that less severe cases need not be a cause of great concern. They found that PAS can result from a variety of complex processes, whether or not one parent engages in a systematic programming campaign and whether or not alienation is the programming parent’s goal. Parental alienation is only one of a number of detrimental effects. According to this study, even well meaning parents often at tempt to influence what their children say in the custody and visitation proceedings. Mild levels of parental programming and brainwashing seem to have significant effects. Clawar and Rivlin anchor their work in 30 years of literature on social psychology and the processes of social influence, variously referred to in the literature as thought reform, brainwashing, indoctrination, modeling, mimicking, mind control, re-education, and coercive persuasion. These terms describe a variety of psychological methods for ridding people of ideas which authorities do not want them to have and for replacing old ways of thinking and behavior with new ones. For the purposes of research, Clawar and Rivlin ascertained the need for more precisely defined terminology. They selected the words “programming” and “brainwashing.” They defined “program” as the content, themes, and beliefs transmitted by the programming parent to the child regarding the other parent. “Brainwashing” was defined as the interactional process by which the child was persuaded to accept and elaborate on the program. Brainwashing occurs over time and involves repetition of the program, or code words referring to the program, until the subject responds with attitudinal and behavioral compliance. According to Clawar and Rivlin, the influence of a programming parent can be conscious and willful or unconscious and unintentional. It can be obvious or subtle, with rewards for compliance that were material, social or psychological. Noncompliance may be met with subtle psychological punishment such as withdrawal of love or direct corporal punishment, as illustrated in the case vignette of S in Part II. The author encountered another case in which the alienating mother handcuffed her son to the bedpost when he was 12 years old and the boy asserted he was not willing tocontinue saying his father had physically abused him. The Clawar and Rivlin study found that children may be active or passive participants in the alienation process. As the case of the 12- year-old boy suggests, the nature and degree of the child’s involvement in the PAS may change over time. This study identifies the influential role of other people in the child’s life, such as relatives and professionals aligned with the alienating parent, whose endorsement of the program advances the brainwashing process. In a general way, these findings appear to replicate Johnston’s research on high conflict divorce which identified the importance of third party participants in parental conflicts (8). Rand noted the influence of so-called “professional participants in Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy type abuse which in divorce can overlap with PAS “(23). Clawar and Rivlin identify eight stages of the programming/brainwashing process which culminates in severe Parental Alienation Syndrome (7). Recognizing the power imbalance between parent and child, they view the process as driven by the alienating parent who induces the child’s compliance on step by step basis: 1. A thematic focus to be shared by the programming parent and child emerges or is chosen. This may be tied to a more or less formal ideology relating to the family, religion, or ethnicity; 2. A sense of support and connection to the programming parent is created; 3. Feeling of sympathy for the programming parent is induced; 4. The child begins to show signs of compliance, such as expressing fear of visiting the target parent or refusing to talk to that parent on the phone; 5. The programming parent tests the child’s compliance, for example, asking the child questions after a visit and rewarding the child for ” correct ” answers; 6. The programming parent tests the child’s loyalty by having the child express views and attitudes which suggest a preference for one parent over the other; 7. Escalation/intensification/generalization occurs, for example, broadening the program with embellished or new allegations; the child rejects the target parent in a global, unambivalent fashion; 8. The program is maintained along with the child’s compliance, which may range from minor reminders and suggestions to intense pressure, depending on court activity and the child’s frame of mind. CLINICAL STUDIES OF PAS According to Gardner and seconded by Cartwright, Parental Alienation Syndrome is a developing concept which clinical and forensic practitioners will refine and redefine as new cases with different features become better understood (24). This section reviews the work of practitioners who, like Cartwright, seek to elaborate on Gardner’s work by contributing their own knowledge and experience from work with moderate to severe PAS cases. Dunne and Hedrick Practicing in Seattle, Washington, Dunne and Hedrick analyzed sixteen families who met Gardner’s criteria for severe PAS (22). Although the cases show a wide diversity of characteristics, the authors found Gardner’s criteria useful in differentiating these cases from other post-divorce difficulties, lending support for the idea that PAS has distinctive features which differentiate it from other forms of high conflict divorce. Among the severe PAS cases examined, some involved false allegations of abuse and some did not. Children in the same family sometimes responded to the divorce with opposing adjustments. For example, the oldest child in one family, a 16-year-old girl, aligned with her alienating mother while her 12-year-old brother’s desire for a relationship with his father led to the mother finally rejecting the boy. May 4, 2008 by Stephen Baskerville Family fragmentation costs taxpayers at least $112 billion annually in antipoverty programs, justice and education systems, and lost revenue, according to a report released last week. Astonishingly, the report’s publisher, Institute for American Values, is using these findings to advocate even higher costs, through more federal programs. As welfare and child support enforcement programs show, there is zero proof that further government intervention into families would be a good investment for taxpayers. After more than a decade of welfare reform, out-of-wedlock births remain at record highs, and married couples now comprise less than half the nation’s households. “The impact of welfare reform is now virtually zero,” says Robert Rector of Heritage Foundation. Welfare reform, as currently conceived, cannot possibly make a difference. Out-of-wedlock births no longer proceed only from low-income teenagers. Increasingly, middle-class, middle-aged women are bearing the fatherless children. This excludes children of divorce, which almost doubles the 1.5 million out-of-wedlock births. The problem is driven not only by culture, but by federal programs not addressed by welfare reform—such as child support enforcement, domestic violence, and child abuse prevention—which subsidize single-parent homes through their quasi-welfare entitlements for the affluent. It’s not called the welfare “state” for nothing. Even more serious than the economic effects has been the quiet metamorphosis of welfare from a system of public assistance into a miniature penal apparatus, replete with its own tribunals, prosecutors, police, and jails. The subsidy on single-mother homes was never really curtailed. Reformers largely replaced welfare with child support. The consequences were profound: this change transformed welfare from public assistance into law enforcement, creating yet another federal plainclothes police force without constitutional justification. Like any bureaucracy, this one found rationalizations to expand. During the 1980s and 1990s—without explanation or public debate—enforcement machinery created for children in poverty was dramatically expanded to cover all child-support cases, including those not receiving welfare. This vastly expanded the program by bringing in millions of middle-class divorce cases. The system was intended for welfare—but other cases now account for 83% of its cases and 92% of the money collected. Contrary to what was promised, the cost to taxpayers increased sharply. By padding their rolls with millions of middle-class parents, state governments could collect a windfall of federal incentive payments. State officials may spend this revenue however they wish. Federal taxpayers subsidize state government operations through child support. They also subsidize family dissolution, for every fatherless child is another source of revenue for states. To collect, states must channel not just delinquent but current payments through their criminal enforcement machinery, subjecting law-abiding parents to criminal measures. While officials claim their crackdowns on “deadbeat dads” increase collections, the “increase” is achieved not by collecting arrearages of low-income fathers already in the system, but simply by pulling in more middle-class fathers—and creating more fatherless children. These fathers haven’t abandoned their children. Most were actively involved, and, following what is usually involuntary divorce, desire more time with them. Yet for the state to collect funding, fathers willing to care for them must be designated as “absent.” Divorce courts are pressured to cut children off from their fathers to conform to the welfare model of “custodial” and “noncustodial.” These perverse incentives further criminalize fathers, by impelling states to make child-support levels as onerous as possible and to squeeze every dollar from every parent available. Beyond the subsidy expense are costs of diverting the criminal justice system from protecting society to criminalizing parents and keeping them from their children. The entitlement state must then devise additional programs—far more expensive—to deal with the social costs of fatherless children. Former Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary Wade Horn contends that most of the $47 billion spent by his department is necessitated by broken homes and fatherless children. One might extend his point to most of the half-trillion dollar HHS budget. Given the social ills attributed to fatherless homes—crime, truancy, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, suicide—it is reasonable to see a huge proportion of domestic spending among the costs. These developments offer a preview of where our entire system of welfare taxation is headed: expropriating citizens to pay for destructive programs that create the need for more spending and taxation. It cannot end anywhere but in the criminalization of more and more of the population. Stephen Baskerville is Research Fellow at the Independent Institute, Associate Professor of Government at Patrick Henry College, and author of Taken Into Custody: The War Against Fathers, Marriage, and the Family (Cumberland House, 2007). The original article can be found here: http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2184 http://www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/bowlby.html “Although Bowlby may not dispute that young children form multiple attachments, he still contends that the attachment to the mother is unique in that it is the first to appear and remains the strongest of all. However, on both of these counts, the evidence seems to suggest otherwise. * Schaffer & Emerson (1964) noted that specific attachments started at about 8 months and, very shortly thereafter, the infants became attached to other people. By 18 months very few (13%) were attached to only one person; some had five or more attachments. * Rutter (1981) points out that several indicators of attachment (such as protest or distress when attached person leaves) has been shown for a variety of attachment figures – fathers, siblings, peers and even inanimate objects. Critics such as Rutter have also accused Bowlby of not distinguishing between deprivation and privation – the complete lack of an attachment bond, rather than its loss. Rutter stresses that the quality of the attachment bond is the most important factor, rather than just deprivation in the critical period. Another criticism of 44 Thieves Study as that it concluded that affectionless psychopathy was caused by maternal deprivation. This is correlational data and as such only shows a relationship between these two variables. Indeed, other external variables, such as diet, parental income, education etc. may have affected the behaviour of the 44 thieves, and not, as concluded, the disruption of the attachment bond.” There are implications arising from Bowlby’s work. As he believed the mother to be the most central care giver and that this care should be given on a continuous basis an obvious implication is that mothers should not go out to work. There have been many attacks on this claim: * Mothers are the exclusive carers in only a very small percentage of human societies; often there are a number of people involved in the care of children, such as relations and friends (Weisner & Gallimore, 1977). * Ijzendoorn & Tavecchio (1987) argue that a stable network of adults can provide adequate care and that this care may even have advantages over a system where a mother has to meet all a child’s needs. * There is evidence that children develop better with a mother who is happy in her work, than a mother who is frustrated by staying at home (Schaffer, 1990). There are many articles relating to this nonsense, and how it has been refuted. The original theory was promulgated by John Bowlby. Bowlby grew up mother-fixated because he did not have a relationship with his father. See why here . Psychological research includes a shocking history and continuation of maternal deprivation experiments on animals. While maternal deprivation experiments have been conducted far more frequently on rhesus macaques and other monkeys, chimpanzees were not spared as victims of this unnecessary research. By Dr. Richard A. Warshak, Ph.D. 16970 Dallas Parkway, #202, Dallas, TX 75248 Nineteen ninety-three marked the thirtieth anniversary of the publication of The Feminine Mystique, the book that spearheaded the drive to unlace the cultural straitjacket of rigid sex-role prescriptions. As we expanded the conventional image of women to include roles beyond those of wife, housekeeper, and mother, we encouraged men to think of themselves as more than just husbands and bread-winners. We invited them to become active partners in the delivery room . . . and they accepted. We required their participation in Indian Guides . . . and they complied. We extolled the importance of father-child bonding, trumpeted statistics linking a father’s absence to juvenile delinquency. . . and they listened. The problem, for some divorcing women, is that their husbands listened too well, and took seriously the call to parenthood. They became emotionally attached to their offspring, and, when the marriage ended, they were unwilling to be demoted to the second string; unwilling to sit on the sidelines of their children’s lives. Although lacking in hard data to prove the point, we have at least the perception that more men are seeking and gaining custody of their children after divorce. Why is this a problem? Because women do not enjoy living apart from their children any more than do men. Also, most women do not want to relinquish the power that goes with custody. This has led to the ironic situation in which some of the same feminists who, in the early 70s, denounced motherhood as “enslavement” now lead a campaign to protect motherhood from divorced fathers who want more involvement with their children. But they face a crucial dilemma: They need to resurrect the belief that women are uniquely suited to rear children and therefore the natural choice for sole custody without appearing to endorse the notions that biology is destiny and that the sexes merit unequal treatment before the law. The solution to this dilemma is the linguistic sleight of hand known as the “primary parent presumption.” This guideline would give preference to the parent who is designated “primary” in the child’s life, variously defined as the parent who spends the most time with the child, is more responsible for the child’s day-to-day care, or performs more of the daily repetitive maintenance tasks such as chauffeuring, shopping for clothes, preparing meals, and bathing. Although touted as a gender-neutral standard, everyone agrees that the primary parent presumption would give mothers the same advantage that they enjoyed with the tender years presumption. In fact, law professor Mary Becker advocates dropping the pretense of gender-neutrality and renaming the primary parent presumption the “maternal deference standard.” Briefly, the argument goes that since women are more involved in primary caregiving, they deserve custody. Fathers’-rights advocates respond that it is unfair to penalize men for reduced involvement with their children, since they are only fulfilling society’s notions of the man’s role as the family’s breadwinner. Neither side’s arguments are compelling. Both are blinded by the pre-19th century premise that children are property to be “awarded” to the rightful owner. Both sides miss the point that a custody decision should be guided by the needs of the child not the parents’ sense of entitlement. Some of my colleagues offer arguments in support of the primary parent presumption. They point out that a woman who has been most involved in her children’s daily care already possesses the requisite skills. She has less to learn than the father and, by virtue of her experience, is probably more competent to assume the duties of sole custody. Also, because the primary parent standard appears less ambiguous than the best interests standard, parents would be less likely to litigate over custody — a distinct advantage to the family. But that may be its only advantage. Under critical appraisal, this proposal suffers many serious drawbacks. Unless we regard custody as a reward for past deeds, the decision about the children’s living arrangements should reflect a judgment about what situation will best meet their needs now and in the future. Differences in past performance are relevant only if they predict future parental competence and child adjustment. But they do not. The primary parent presumption overlooks the fact that being a single parent is a very different challenge than being one of two parents in the same home. A consensus of research reveals a predictable deterioration in the single mother’s relationship with her children. After divorce, the average mother has less time and energy for her children and more problems managing their behavior, particularly that of her sons. Research has also demonstrated that despite mother’s greater experience in daily child care, fathers who would not be considered primary caretakers during the marriage are as capable as divorced mothers in managing the responsibilities of custody. And, most important, their children fare as well as children do in mother-custody homes. A more basic problem with the proposed standard: How do we determine who is the primary parent? Before divorce parents think of themselves as partners in rearing their children. Whether or not they spend equal time with the children, both parents are important, and mountains of psychological research support this. Before divorce, we do not rank order parents. Only in the heat of a custody battle do Mom and Dad begin vying for the designation “primary parent.” On what basis do we award this coveted title? We cannot simply measure the amount of time each parent spends with the child. Research has established that, beyond a certain minimum, the amount of time a parent spends with a child is a poor index of that parent’s importance to the child, of the quality of their relationship, or of the parent’s competence in childrearing. In fact, we all know of parents who are too involved with their children, so-called “smothering” parents who squelch any signs of independence. If more extensive contact does not make a primary parent, what does? Most definitions provide a list of responsibilities: The primary parent shops for food and clothes, prepares meals, changes diapers, bathes and dresses the child, takes the child to the doctor, and drives the child to school and recreational activities. Such criteria, though, ignore the overriding importance of the quality of parent-child relationships. Furthermore, critics have argued that this list reflects gender bias. Shopping for food and clothes is included, but not earning the money which funds the shopping trips. Also conspicuously absent are responsibilities typically shared by fathers and in which fathers often predominate, activities such as playing, discipline, moral guidance, encouragement and assistance with school work, gender socialization, coaching team sports, and — something whose significance to children is often overlooked — providing a sense of physical protection and security. Is the primary caretaker the one who does the most to foster the child’s sense of emotional security, the person to whom the child turns in times of stress — the role we most often associate with mothers? Or is it the parent who does the most to promote the child’s ability to meet the demands of the world outside the family — the role we most often associate with fathers? We really have no basis for preferring one contribution over the other. Both are necessary for healthy psychological functioning. We can say that both parents contribute distinctively to their child’s welfare. And during different developmental stages a child may relate better to one parent than the other, or rely on one parent more than the other. But most children form strong attachments to both parents in the first year of life and maintain important ties to both parents throughout their lives. By rank ordering the importance of parents, we dismiss children’s own experiences of their parents’ value, reinforce gender stereotypes, and perhaps discourage fathers from assuming more parenting responsibilities. In sum, the primary parent presumption is misinformed, misguided, misleading, and primarily meaningless. Copyright © 1996 by Richard A. Warshak, Ph.D. 16970 Dallas Parkway, #202, Dallas, TX 75248 Dr. Richard A. Warshak is a clinical, research, and consulting psychologist, clinical professor of psychology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and author of The Custody Revolution and Divorce Poison: Protecting the Parent-Child Bond From a Vindictive Ex. He has published extensively in the area of divorce and custody and consults with attorneys, mental health professionals, and families. Additional custody resources, including material on relocation, overnight access, and parental alienation syndrome, can be found at http://www.warshak.com . [A version of this essay was published as Chapter 28 (pages 101-103) in 101+ Practical Solutions for the Family Lawyer, Gregg M. Herman, Editor, American Bar Association (1996).] The original article can be found here . United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child (UNCRC) would have on Parental Rights and Children’s Rights in the United States. Here is that continuing analysis: Giving the State a Grasp on Your Kids Part II of an in-depth look at Article 18 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child When Kevin and Peggy Lewis volunteered their child for special education services, they never dreamed they would need a lawyer if they wanted to change their minds. After their son developed several learning issues, including an inability to focus in class and difficulty processing and understanding oral and written communication, the Lewis’s turned to the Cohasset Middle School in Massachusetts for help.1 But after a year in the school’s special education program, their son was not improving academically, and felt harassed by school officials who were closely monitoring and reporting on his behavior – everything from chewing gum in class to forgetting his pencil.2 Initially, the Lewis’s requested that the school pay for private tutoring, but as their relationship with the administration continued to decline, the exasperated parents finally decided to withdraw their son from the school’s program and to pay for private tutoring out of their own pockets.3 Apparently, that option wasn’t good enough for the school. In December 2007, Cohasset hauled Kevin and Peggy into court, claiming that the parents were interfering with their son’s “constitutional right to a free and appropriate education.”4 After a day-and-a-half of argument, the judge sided with the school in an unwritten opinion.5 “This is truly devastating to all parents who have children on an IEP,” Peggy said, referring to the individual education plans for special education students. “What it means in fact when you sign an IEP for your child, you sign away your parental rights. . . . Now Cohasset has their grasp on my kid.”6 “Help” for Parents At first glance, it seems odd that a school would take parents to court to compel them to accept state services. After all, as observers of the case commented, schools usually objects when parents demand more aid for their children, not when the parents try to withdraw their child from the program.7 But according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, once parents have asked the state for assistance in raising their children, the state has both the responsibility and the authority to see the job through – even if the parents no longer support the state’s solution. In addition to imposing legally-enforceable “responsibilities” on parents, Article 18 of the Convention also requires states to “render appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities,” and to establish “institutions, facilities and services for the care of children.”8 At first glance, the offer of “assistance” to parents may appear harmless, and even generous, but appearances are often deceiving. While the government may claim to offer services to parents on a purely “voluntary” basis, parents soon discover that government “assistance” isn’t always free. When “voluntary” doesn’t mean “voluntary” For examples of this dangerous trend, one need look no further than the nation of Sweden, the first western nation to ratify the Convention. In addition to mandatory sex-education, free child care for working parents, and a national ban on corporal punishment, Sweden’s local municipalities are also required by law to offer parents a broad array of “voluntary” services that promote “the favourable development of children and young persons.”9 Unfortunately, according to Swedish attorney and activist Ruby Harrold-Claesson, voluntary care “in no way is voluntary since the social workers threaten the parents to either give up their child voluntarily or the child will be taken into compulsory care.”10 If the state determines at a later date that the “voluntary” services are not helping, the municipality has both the responsibility and the authority to physically “take a child into care and place him in a foster home, a children’s home or another suitable institution.”11 According to Harrold-Claesson, since the emergence of such programs, “children are being taken from their parents on a more routine basis.”12 Unfortunately, these disturbing trends are not confined to Sweden. Even here in the United States, “voluntary” services for parents are often the first step toward state control of families. Holding Children Hostage As a young mother of three, “Katianne H.” faced tremendous difficulties in making ends meet.13 Although she was never unemployed, Katianne had difficulty putting her job ahead of the needs of her young family. So when her three-month-old son Xavier developed severe allergies to milk and soy protein, her pediatrician recommended that she relieve some of the pressure placed upon her by requesting that her son be placed in “temporary out-of-home care.”14 Thinking such a placement was truly “voluntary,” Katianne agreed. Within a few months, Xavier was weaned from the feeding tube to a bottle, but when Katianne sought to bring him home, the state refused. It would take more than two-and-a-half years – and a decision from the Nebraska Supreme Court – before Katianne would win her baby boy back. 15 In a unanimous ruling, the court said the child should have been returned to his mother as soon as his medical condition was resolved. Instead, state authorities drew up a detailed plan requiring the mother to maintain steady employment, attend therapy and parenting classes, pay her bills on time, keep her house clean, improve her time management, and be cooperative with social workers. When she failed to fully comply with all these obligations within fifteen months, her parental rights were terminated.16 The Court condemned the state for keeping Xavier “out of the home once the reasons for his removal had been resolved,” and warned that a child should never be “held hostage to compel a parent’s compliance with a case plan” when the child could safely be returned home.17 A familiar pattern According to studies, scholars, lawyers, and advocates, voluntary placement in the United States – like “voluntary” placement in Sweden – is often the first step toward the state getting a grasp on children. Here are just a few examples from within our own borders: · A 1994 study in New Jersey found that “parents often report signing placement agreements under the threat that court action against them will be taken if they do not sign,” particularly parents who have “language or other barriers making it difficult or impossible for them to read and understand the agreement they were signing.”18 There are also no “clear legal standards to protect a family once it has entered the system,” even if it enters voluntarily: “existing legislation grants judges and caseworkers virtually unrestricted dispositional authority.”19 · In 1998, Melville D. Miller, President and General Counsel of Legal Services of New Jersey, warned that when parents sign voluntary placement agreements, parents give the state “custody of their children without any decision by the court that they have abused or neglected them.”20 In addition, voluntary placement often waives a family’s opportunity for free legal representation in court, leaving families – particularly poor families – with “no assistance in advocating for what they need” when disputes with the state arise.21 · In 1999, Dr. Frank J. Dyer, author and member of the American Board of Professional Psychology, warned that parents can be “intimidated into “voluntarily” signing placement agreements out of a fear that they will lose their children,” and that in his professional counseling experience, birth parents frequently complain that “if they had known from the outset that the document that they were signing for temporary placement of their children into foster care gave the state such enormous power over them, they would have refused to sign and would have sought to resist the placement legally.”22 · The Child Welfare League of America, in its 2004 Family’s Guide to the Child Welfare System, reassures parents that the state “do[es] not have to pursue termination of parental rights,” as long as the state feels that “there is a compelling reason why terminating parental rights would not be in the best interest of the child.”23 If parents and social workers disagree about the fate of a child in “voluntary placement,” the CWLA simply states that “if you decide to bring your child home, and the agency believes that this would interfere with your child’s safety, it has the right to ask the court to intervene. You also have the right to explain to the court why your child’s safety would not be in jeopardy if he came home.”24 · The National Crittenton Foundation, in a web booklet published for young, expectant mothers who are currently in the foster care system, warns in large, bold print that by signing a voluntary placement agreement, “you will most likely lose all custody of your baby, even if you want to regain custody of your baby after you turn 18.”25 Never Too Late If one can learn anything from the stories of the Lewises, Katianne, and the plight of Swedish parents, it is that the government wields incredible power over parents who have “voluntarily” accepted its aid when caring for their children. These parents are often poor, struggling, and searching for the means to keep their families together, but instead of helping them, the open hand of the state can easily become a clenched fist, either bullying parents into submission or forcibly taking their children from them. Thankfully, it is not too late to protect children and their families by protecting the fundamental right of parents to raise their children, and to reject government programs that are unneeded or unwanted. The state should only interfere with the family for the most compelling reasons – not because loving parents were misled about the true nature of “voluntary” care. Please consider sending this message to your friends and urging them to sign the Petition to Protect Parental Rights. This article was written for ParentalRights.org by Peter Kamakawiwoole, Jan. 29, 2009. Notes 1. James Vazniz, “Cohasset schools win case v. parents,” The Boston Herald (December 15, 2007) (accessed January 28, 2009). 2. James Vazniz, “Parents want son out of special ed,” The Boston Herald (December 13, 2007) (accessed January 28, 2009). 3. Vazniz, “Cohasset schools win case v. parents.” 4. Vazniz, “Parents want son out of special ed.” 5. Vazniz, “Cohasset schools win case v. parents.” 6. Vazniz, “Cohasset schools win case v. parents.” 7. Vazniz, “Cohasset schools win case v. parents.” 8. UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 18.2. 9. Ruby Harrold-Claesson, “Confiscating Children: When Parents Become Victims,” The Nordic Committee on Human Rights (2005) (accessed January 17, 2009) 10. Harrold-Claesson, “Confiscating Children: When Parents Become Victims” 11. Harrold-Claesson, “Confiscating Children: When Parents Become Victims” 12. Harrold-Claesson, “Confiscating Children: When Parents Become Victims” 13. “Katianne” is the name given to the mother by the Nebraska Supreme Court, which decided her case in In Re Xavier H., 740 N.W.2d 13 (Neb. 2007). 14. In re Xavier H., 740 N.W.2d at 21. 15. “Nebraska Supreme Court returns boy to mother,” Omaha World Herald (October 19, 2007) (accessed January 29, 2009). 16. “Nebraska Supreme Court returns boy to mother.” 17. In re Xavier H., 740 N.W.2d at 26. 18. Emerich Thoma, “If you lived here, you’d be home now: The business of foster care,” Issues in Child Abuse Accusations, Vol. 10 (1998) (accessed January 27, 2009). 19. Thoma, “If you lived here, you’d be home now.” 20. Melville D. Miller, “You and the Law in New Jersey ” (Rutgers University Press, 1998): 200. 21. Miller, You and the Law in New Jersey,” 200. 22. Frank J. Dyer, “Psychological Consultation in Parental Rights Cases” (The Guilford Press, 1999): 26. 23. Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), “Placements to Obtain Treatment and Services for Children,” A Family’s Guide to the Child Welfare System (2004): 5 (accessed January 27, 2009). 24. CWLA, “Placements to Obtain Treatment and Services for Children,” p. 5. 25. The National Crittenton Foundation, “Crittenton Booklet for Web,” pp. 11-12. (accessed January 28, 2009) United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child (UNCRC) would have on Parental Rights and Children’s Rights in the United States. Here is that continuing analysis: Article 18, Part 1: Government-Supervised Parenting During our series on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, most of the articles we have considered have focused on the relationship between the state and the child. Article 18 is therefore unique in its emphasis on the responsibilities of parents, and the supervised relationship that these parents have with the state. Article 18 is also one of the more complex articles in the Convention, divided into three sections that address distinct facets of the relationship between parents and the state. This week, we will focus on the first section, which says that “States Parties shall use their best efforts to ensure recognition of the principle that both parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing and development of the child,” and that parents are primarily responsible for their children. As parents, “the best interests of the child will be their basic concern.” The danger of Article 18 is that it places an enforceable responsibility upon parents to make child-rearing decisions based on the “best interests of the child,” subjecting parental decisions to second-guessing at the discretion of government agents. Obligations on Parents? Article 18 stands out because it affects not only the relationship between the UN and the nation that ratifies the Convention, but also the relationship between private individuals and their government: a relationship that is usually changed through legislation at a local level. In fact, the UN’s Implementation Handbook for the CRC explains that “when article 18 was being drafted, the delegate from the United States of America commented that it was rather strange to set down responsibilities for private individuals, since the Convention could only be binding on ratifying governments.” But instead of paying heed to this objection, the drafters of the CRC rejected it, making the Convention enforceable against private individuals and requiring that “parental rights be translated into principles of parental responsibilities.” The Handbook itself notes that if the actions of parents could be shown to impair the child’s physical, psychological, or intellectual development, “the parents” – not the state – “can be found to be failing in their responsibilities.” (emphasis added). The end result is parental involvement under state supervision. According to Chris Revaz, Article 18 “recognizes that parents and legal guardians have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child, with the best interest of the child as their basic concern,” but also invests in the state “a secondary responsibility to provide appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in meeting their responsibilities.” Roger Levesque opines that such supervision attempts to “regulate the relationship between child and state,” essentially relegating the role of parental and familial involvement to a position of “secondary importance.” Enforcing the “Best Interest” Standard As a previous article in our series has already discussed, the “best interests of the child” is a significant theme in the Convention, providing “decision and policy makers with the authority to substitute their own decisions for either the child’s or the parents’.” The inevitable result, according to Levesque, is that “by placing the burden on the State to take affirmative steps toward ensuring the fulfillment of children’s rights, the Convention assumes responsibility and invokes the State as the ensurer and protector of rights.” This point is echoed by Law Professor Bruce Hafen, who warns that the Convention’s emphasis on the “best interests of the child” creates “an arguably new standard for state intervention in intact families.” According to Hafen, legal authors in Australia have already suggested that “under the CRC, parental childrearing rights are ’subject to external scrutiny’ and ‘may be overridden’ when ‘the parents are not acting in the best interests of the child.’” Hafen warns that this conclusion – though in opposite to America’s cultural and legal heritage – is “consistent with the CRC’s apparent intent to place children and parents on the same plane as co-autonomous persons in their relationship with the state.” This is a far cry from America’s legal heritage, which has long held that parents have a fundamental right to oversee the upbringing and education of their children, free from government control. Article 18 makes it plain, however, that under the Convention, it is the state that is ultimately responsible for the fate of its children, and has authority to supervise its parents. Article written for ParentalRights.org by Peter Kamakawiwoole, June 24, 2008. Sources United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child (UNCRC) would have on Parental Rights and Children’s Rights in the United States. Here is that continuing analysis: Article 16: Privacy From Parents During our series on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a constant theme has been the recurring intervention of government power in the relationship between children and their parents. Broad discretion for the state is particularly prevalent in the Convention’s “freedom” provisions, which guarantee choices to children when it comes to expression, information, religion, and association. Perhaps the most troubling of these “freedom” provisions is article 16, which stipulates that “no child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence.” More so than any other section of the Convention, article 16 invokes the power of the government in ways previously unseen and untested in America’s legal and political history. Paradigm Shift The key to understanding article 16 is found in its absolute language: no child is to have his or her right to privacy violated. According to American law professor Cynthia Price Cohen, article 16 “uses the strongest obligatory language in the human rights lexicon to protect the child’s privacy rights.” This is a strong break from American law. According to Catherine Ross, writing in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, the concept of a “right to privacy” has been used within the American context to support limited reproductive freedom for children, including the right to receive information, counseling, and contraceptives without parental consent or notification. But even in such cases, the Supreme Court has attempted to draw some sort of balance between the privacy rights of the child and the role of parents in raising and directing their children: never has the Court stated that children have an absolute right to privacy even from their parents. Displacing Parents In contrast, the “right to privacy” within the Convention is far broader than anything contemplated in American law or jurisprudence, bestowing an absolute right to privacy which, according to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in their 2004 report on Japan, includes privacy in “personal correspondence and searching of personal affects.” This includes more than just a child’s diary or letters to a pen pal: it includes e-mails composed, websites visited, and a growing plethora of other means of communication with the outside world. Law professor Bruce Hafen notes that this strong language makes little allowance for the role of adults who are unavoidably involved in a child’s private world – namely, the child’s parents. Scholar Barbara Nauck adds that when the responsibility of parents to “guide and direct” their children comes into conflict with the right of children to have privacy, it is highly questionable whether parents will have the lawful authority to interfere with the child’s privacy. Only the First Step On this basis alone, law professor Richard Wilkins has warned that Article 16 has the potential to place the basic ability to discipline and monitor children – activities necessary for effective parenting – into serious doubt. In addition, the provision’s absolute guarantees could also be extended through state laws or the decisions of judges to include other “rights” guaranteed by the Convention – such as the freedom of religion, expression, or information – with devastating consequences to the authority and effectiveness of parents. It is the absolute, all-encompassing nature of article 16 that poses the real danger to both children and parents. Please forward this message on to your friends and urge them to sign the Petition to Protect Parental Rights at http://www.parentalrights.org/join-the-fight . Article written for ParentalRights.org by Peter Kamakawiwoole, May 12, 2008. Sources Cynthia Price Cohen, The Role of the United States in Drafting the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1998): 34. Catherine Ross, An Emerging Right for Mature Minors to Receive Information (1999): 261. UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Japan, CRC/C/15/Add.231 (2004) Bruce Hafen and Jonathan Hafen, Abandoning Children to their Autonomy (1996): 472. Barbara Nauck, Implications of the United States Ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1994): 700. Richard Wilkins, et. al., Why the United States Should Not Ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child (2003): 421.	i don't know
According to the song, Davy Crockett was Born on a mountain top where(Greenest state in the land of the free.)?	Davy Crockett Lyrics - Theme Song Lyrics Davy Crockett Lyrics Born on a mountain top in Tennessee, Greenest state in the land of the free. Raised in the woods so's he knew every tree, Killed him a bear when he was only three. Davy, Davy Crockett King of the Wild Frontier. Fought single handed through the Injun war, Till the Creeks was whipped and peace was restored. And while he was handling this risky chore, Made himself a legend, forevermore. Davy, Davy Crockett the man who don't know fear. He went of to Congress and served a spell Fixin' up the government and laws as well. Took over Washington, I heard tell, And patched up the crack in the Liberty Bell. Davy, Davy Crockett, seein' his duty clear. When he come home, his politickin' was done, While the western march had just begun. So he packed his gear, and his trusty gun And let out a grinnin' to follow the sun. Davy, Davy Crockett, Leadin the Pioneer. Full version: Born on a mountain top in Tennessee, Greenest state in the land of the free. Raised in the woods so's he knew every tree, Killed him a bear when he was only three. Davy, Davy Crockett King of the Wild Frontier. He fought single handed through the Injun war, Till the Creeks was whipped and peace was restored. And while he was handling this risky chore, Made himself a legend, forevermore. Davy, Davy Crockett the man who don't know fear. When he lost his love, and his grief was gall, In his heart he wanted to leave it all, And lose himself in the forest tall, But he answered instead, his country's call. Davy, Davy Crockett, the choice of the whole frontier He went off to Congress and served a spell Fixin' up the government and laws as well. Took over Washington, so we hear tell, And patched up the crack in the Liberty Bell. Davy, Davy Crockett, seein' his duty clear. (Serving his country well) When he come home, his politickin' done, The western march had just begun. So he packed his gear, and his trusty gun And lit out a grinnin' to follow the sun. Davy, Davy Crockett, Leadin the Pioneers. His land is biggest, and his land is best From grassy plains to the mountain crest He's ahead of us all in meeting the test Followin' his legend right into the West Davy, Davy Crockett, King of the Wide Frontier King of the Wild Frontier.	Tennessee
What diet, developed by Dr. Arthur Agatston at the Mount Sinai Medical Center & Miami Heart Institute, focus on foods with a low glycemic index and foods rich in unsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids?	Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier - The Ballad Of Davy Crockett (tradução) - Disney - VAGALUME Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier - The Ballad Of Davy Crockett Playlist Email Encontrou algum erro na letra ou tradução? Colabore com a gente clicando nas frases abaixo ou enviando uma correção completa » Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier - The Ballad Of Davy Crockett Born on a mountain top in Tennessee Greenest state in the land of the free Raised in the woods so's he knew every tree Killed him a bear when he was only three Davy, Davy Crockett King of the Wild Frontier Fought single handed through the Injun war Till the Creeks was whipped and peace was restored And while he was handling this risky chore Made himself a legend, forevermore Davy, Davy Crockett the man who don't know fear He went of to Congress and served a spell Fixin' up the government and laws as well Took over Washington, I heard tell And patched up the crack in the Liberty Bell Davy, Davy Crockett, seein' his duty clear When he come home, his politickin' was done While the western march had just begun So he packed his gear, and his trusty gun And let out a grinnin' to follow the sun Davy, Davy Crockett, Leadin the Pioneer Full Lyrics Born on a mountain top in Tennessee Greenest state in the land of the free Raised in the woods so's he knew every tree Killed him a bear when he was only three Davy, Davy Crockett King of the Wild Frontier He fought single handed through the Injun war Till the Creeks was whipped and peace was restored And while he was handling this risky chore Made himself a legend, forevermore Davy, Davy Crockett the man who don't know fear When he lost his love, and his grief was gall In his heart he wanted to leave it all And lose himself in the forest tall But he answered instead, his country's call Davy, Davy Crockett, the choice of the whole frontier He went off to Congress and served a spell Fixin' up the government and laws as well Took over Washington, so we hear tell And patched up the crack in the Liberty Bell Davy, Davy Crockett, seein' his duty clear. (Serving his country well) When he come home, his politickin' done The western march had just begun So he packed his gear, and his trusty gun And lit out a grinnin' to follow the sun Davy, Davy Crockett, Leadin the Pioneers His land is biggest, and his land is best From grassy plains to the mountain crest He's ahead of us all in meeting the test Followin' his legend right into the West Davy, Davy Crockett, King of the Wide Frontier King of the Wild Frontier Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier - The Ballad Of Davy Crockett Nascido no topo de uma montanha no Tennessee estado mais verde na terra da liberdade Cresceu em um bosque, para que ele conhecia cada árvore Matou um urso quando ele tinha apenas três anos Davy, Davy Crockett King of the Wild Frontier Lutou único entregue durante a guerra Injun Até os Gregos foram chicoteados e a paz foi restaurada E enquanto ele estava lidando com esta tarefa arriscada fez-se uma lenda, para sempre Davy, Davy Crockett o homem que não conhece o medo Ele foi de ao Congresso e servido um feitiço Fixin 'o governo e as leis, bem Assumiu Washington, ouvi dizer Nascido no topo de uma montanha no Tennessee estado mais verde na terra da liberdade Cresceu em um bosque, para que ele conhecia cada árvore Matou um urso quando ele tinha apenas três anos Davy, Davy Crockett King of the Wild Frontier Ele lutou única entregue por meio da guerra Injun Até os Gregos foram chicoteados e a paz foi restaurada E enquanto ele estava lidando com esta tarefa arriscada fez-se uma lenda, para sempre Davy, Davy Crockett o homem que não conhece o medo Quando perdeu seu amor, e sua dor era fel Em seu coração, ele queria deixar tudo isso E perder-se na floresta de altura Mas ele respondeu, em vez disso, o chamado de seu país Davy, Davy Crockett, a escolha de toda a fronteira Ele saiu para o Congresso e serviu um feitiço Fixin 'o governo e as leis, bem Assumiu Washington, assim que ouvimos dizer E remendou o crack no Liberty Bell Davy, Davy Crockett, vendo 'seu dever claro. (Servindo o seu país também) Quando ele chega em casa, sua politicagem feita A marcha ocidental tinha apenas começado Então ele arrumou suas coisas, e sua arma fiel e acendeu um grinnin para seguir o sol Davy, Davy Crockett, Leadin os pioneiros Sua terra é maior, ea sua terra é o melhor De planícies à crista da montanha Ele está à frente de todos nós no cumprimento da prova Followin 'sua legenda para a direita no Ocidente Davy, Davy Crockett, Rei da Fronteira Grande King of the Wild Frontier Aviso Esta tradução ainda não está completamente revisada pelos fãs e equipe do Vagalume. Colabore conosco enviando uma correção completa » 629.399º	i don't know
April 25, 1939 saw DC comics introduce what major super hero, their second major, who debuted in issue 27 of Detective Comics.	DC Comics \| The Joker Wiki \| Fandom powered by Wikia Edit Entrepreneur Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson 's National Allied Publications debuted with the tabloid-sized New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1 in February 1935. The company's second title, New Comics #1 (December 1935), appeared in a size close to what would become comic books' standard during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books , with slightly larger dimensions than today's. That title evolved into Adventure Comics , which continued through issue #503 in 1983, becoming one of the longest-running comic book series. Wheeler-Nicholson's third and final title, Detective Comics, advertised with a cover illustration dated December 1936, eventually premiering three months late with a March 1937 cover date. The themed anthology series would become a sensation with the introduction of Batman in issue #27 (May 1939). By then, however, Wheeler-Nicholson had gone. In 1937, in debt to printing-plant owner and magazine distributor Harry Donenfeld — who was as well a pulp-magazine publisher and a principal in the magazine distributorship Independent News — Wheeler-Nicholson was compelled to take Donenfeld on as a partner in order to publish Detective #1. Detective Comics, Inc. was formed, with Wheeler-Nicholson and Jack S. Liebowitz , Donenfeld's accountant, listed as owners. Major Wheeler-Nicholson remained for a year, but cash-flow problems continued, and he was forced out. Shortly afterward, Detective Comics Inc. purchased the remains of National Allied, also known as Nicholson Publishing, at a bankruptcy auction. Detective Comics Inc. shortly launched a fourth title, Action Comics , the premiere of which introduced Superman (a character with which Wheeler-Nicholson had no direct involvement; editor Vin Sullivan chose to run the feature after Sheldon Mayer rescued it from the slush pile ). Action Comics #1 (June 1938), the first comic book to feature the new character archetype — soon known as " superheroes " — proved a major sales hit . The company quickly introduced such other popular characters as the Sandman and Batman . The Golden Age Edit National Allied Publications soon merged with Detective Comics, Inc. to form National Comics, which in 1944 absorbed an affiliated concern, Max Gaines ' and Liebowitz's All-American Publications . That year, Gaines let Liebowitz buy him out, and kept only Picture Stories from the Bible as the foundation of his own new company, EC Comics . At that point, "Liebowitz promptly orchestrated the merger of All-American and Detective Comics into National Comics.... Next he took charge of organizing National Comics, [the self-distributorship] Independent News, and their affiliated firms into a single corporate entity, National Periodical Publications". National Periodical Publications became publicly traded on the stock market in 1961. Despite the official names "National Comics" and "National Periodical Publications", the line used the logo "Superman-DC" throughout, and the company became known colloquially as DC Comics for years before the official adoption of that name. The company began to move aggressively against imitators for copyright violations by other companies, such as Fox Comics ' Wonder Man , which according to court testimony Fox created as a copy of Superman. This extended to DC suing Fawcett Comics for Captain Marvel , at the time comics' top-selling character. Despite the fact that parallels between Captain Marvel and Superman were more tenuous, the courts ruled that there had been substantial and deliberate copying of copyrighted material. Faced with declining sales and the prospect of bankruptcy if they lost, Fawcett capitulated in 1955 and ceased comics publication. Years later, Fawcett ironically sold the rights to Captain Marvel to DC — which in 1973 revived Captain Marvel in the new title Shazam!. featuring artwork by his creator, C. C. Beck . In the meantime, the abandoned trademark had been seized by Marvel Comics in 1967, disallowing the DC comic itself to be called that. While Captain Marvel did not recapture his old popularity, he later appeared in a Saturday morning live action TV adaptation and gained a prominent place in the mainstream continuity DC calls the DC Universe . When the popularity of superheroes faded in the late 1940s, the company focused on such genres as science fiction , Westerns , humor and romance . DC also published crime and horror titles, but relatively tame ones, and thus avoided the mid-1950s backlash against such comics. A handful of the most popular superhero-titles (most notably Action Comics and Detective Comics, the medium's two longest-running titles) continued publication. The Silver Age Edit In the mid-1950s, editorial director Irwin Donenfeld and publisher Liebowitz directed editor Julius Schwartz (whose roots lay in the Science Fiction book market) to produce a one-shot Flash story in the try-out title Showcase . Instead of reviving the old character, Schwartz had writer Robert Kanigher and John Broome ,penciller Carmine Infantino and inker Joe Kubert create an entirely new super-speedster, updating and modernizing the Flash's civilian identity, costume, and origin with a science-fiction bent. The Flash's reimagining in Showcase #4 (October 1956) proved sufficiently popular that it soon led to a similar revamping of the Green Lantern character, the introduction of the modern all-star team Justice League of America , and many more superheroes, heralding what historians and fans call the Silver Age of comic books . National did not re-imagine its continuing characters (primarily Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman) but radically overhauled them. The Superman family of titles, under editor Mort Weisinger , introduced such enduring characters as Supergirl , Bizarro , and Brainiac . The Batman titles, under editor Jordan Stewart , introduced the successful Batwoman , Bat-Girl and Bat-Mite in an attempt to modernize the strip with non-science-fiction elements. Schiff's successor, Schwartz, together with artist Infantino, then revitalized Batman in what the company promoted as the "New Look", reemphasizing Batman as a detective. Meanwhile, editor Kanigher successfully introduced a whole family of Wonder Woman characters having fantastic adventures in a mythological context. DC's introduction of the reimagined superheroes did not go unnoticed by other comics companies. In 1961, with DC's superhero team the Justice League of America as the specific spur, Marvel Comics writer-editor Stan Lee and the legendary Jack Kirby ushered in the sub-Silver Age "Marvel Age" of comics with the debut issue of The Fantastic Four . Since the 1940s, when Superman, Batman, and many of the company's other heroes began appearing in stories together, DC's characters inhabited a shared continuity that, decades later, was dubbed the DC Universe . With the story " Flash of Two Worlds ", in Flash #123 (September 1961), editor Schwartz (with writer Gardner Fox and artists Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella ) introduced a concept that allowed slotting the 1930s and 1940s Golden Age heroes into this continuity via the explanation that they lived on an otherdimensional "Earth 2", as opposed to the modern heroes' Earth 1 — in the process creating the foundation for what would later be called the DC Multiverse . A 1966 Batman TV show on the ABC network sparked a temporary spike in comic book sales, and a brief fad for superheroes in Saturday morning animation ( Filmation created most of DC's initial cartoons) and other media. The tone of many DC comics - and particularly Batman and Detective Comics was significantly lightened to better complement the "camp" tone of the TV series. This tone coincided with the famous "Go-Go Checks" checkerboard cover-dress which featured a black-and-white checkerboard strip at the top of each comic, a misguided attempt by then-managing editor Irwin Donenfeld to make DC's output "stand out on the newsracks." In 1967, Batman artist Infantino (who designed popular Silver Age characters Batgirl and Phantom Stranger) rose from art director to become DC's editorial director. With the growing popularity of upstart rival Marvel Comics threatening to topple DC from its longtime number-one industry position, he attempted to infuse the company with new titles and characters, also recruiting major talents such as ex-Marvel artist and Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko and promising newcomer Neal Adams . He also replaced some existing DC editors with artist-editors, including Joe Kubert and Dick Giordano , to give DC's output a more artistic critical eye. These new editors recruited youthful new creators, in part in an effort to capture a market which had grown from being dominated by children, to include older teens and even college students. Some new talent, such as Dennis O'Neil , who had worked for both Marvel and Charlton , gained critical and popular acclaim on titles including Batman and Green Lantern (his Green Lantern run with artist Neal Adams became a key title in the burgeoning 1970s Bronze Age, and the move away from the Comics Code Authority ). Nevertheless, the period was plagued by short-lived series that started out strong but petered out rapidly. The Fourth World Edit In 1969, National Comics merged with Warner Bros/7 Arts. The following year, Infantino convinced Jack Kirby to defect from Marvel Comics to DC, at the end of the Silver Age of Comics , in which Kirby's contributions to Marvel played a large, integral role. Given carte blanche to write and illustrate his own stories, he created a handful of thematically linked series he called collectively The Fourth World . In the existing series Jimmy Olsen and in his own, newly launched series New Gods , Mister Miracle , and The Forever People , Kirby introduced such enduring characters and concepts as archvillain Darkseid and the otherdimensional realm Apokolips . While sales did not meet management's expectations, Kirby's conceptions would become integral to the broadening of the DC Universe. Kirby went on to create the series Kamandi , about a teenaged boy in a post-apocalyptic world of militaristic talking animals, when directed by the publisher to come up with something resembling Planet of the Apes . The Bronze Age Edit Following the science-fiction innovations of the Silver Age , the comics of the 1970s and 1980s would come to be known as the Bronze Age, as fantasy gave way to more naturalistic and sometimes darker themes. Illegal drug use, banned by the Comics Code Authority , explicitly appeared in comics for the first time in Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man in early 1971, and after the Code's updating in response, DC offered a drug-fueled storyline in writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams ' Green Lantern , beginning with the story "Snowbirds Don't Fly" in the retitled Green Lantern / Green Arrow #85 (September 1971), which depicted Speedy , the teen sidekick of superhero archer Green Arrow , as having become a heroin addict. Jenette Kahn , a former children's magazine publisher, replaced Infantino as editorial director in January 1976. DC had been attempting to compete with the now-surging Marvel by dramatically increasing its output and attempting to win the market by flooding it. This included launching series featuring such new characters as Firestorm and Shade, the Changing Man , as well as an increasing array of non-superhero titles, in an attempt to recapture the pre- Wertham days of post-War comicdom. In June 1978, five months before the release of the first Superman movie , Kahn expanded the line further, increasing the number of titles, story pages and raising the price from 35 cents to 50 cents. Most series received eight-page back-up features while some had full-length twenty-five page stories. This was a move the company called the "DC Explosion". The move was not successful, however, and corporate partner Warner dramatically cut back on these largely unsuccessful titles, firing many staffers in what industry watchers dubbed "the DC Implosion ". In September 1978, the line was dramatically reduced and standard-size books returned to 17 story pages but for a still-increased 40 cents. By 1980, the books returned to 50 cents with a 25-page story count but the story pages replaced house ads in the books. Seeking new ways to boost market share, the new management of publisher Kahn, vice-president Paul Levitz , and managing editor Giordano addressed the issue of talent instability. To that end — and following the example of Atlas/Seaboard Comics and such independent companies as Eclipse Comics — DC began to offer royalties in place of the industry-standard work-for-hire agreement in which creators worked for a flat fee and signed away all rights. In addition, emulating the era's new television form, the mini-series, DC created the industry concept of the comic book limited series, allowing for the deliberate creation of finite storylines within a more flexible publishing format. These changes in policy shaped the future of the medium as a whole, and in the short term allowed DC to entice creators away from rival Marvel, and encourage stability on individual titles. The November 1980 launch of the ongoing series The New Teen Titans , was by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez , two popular talents with a history of success. Their superhero-team comic, superficially similar to Marvel's ensemble series X-Men , but rooted in DC history, earned significant sales in part due to the stability of the creative team, who both continued with the title for six full years. In addition, Wolfman and Pérez took advantage of the limited-series option to create a spin-off title, Tales of the New Teen Titans, to present origin stories of their original characters without having to break the narrative flow of the main series or oblige them to double their work load with another ongoing title. Later 1980s Edit This successful revitalization of a minor title led DC's editors to seek the same for the entire line and wider DC Universe . The result was the Wolfman/Pérez 12-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths , which gave the company an opportunity to realign and jettison some of the "baggage" of its history, address "errors" in the characters' long histories and - particularly - revise, update and streamline major characters such as Superman and Wonder Woman. A companion two issues in the new prestige format entitled The History of the DC Universe set out briefly the revised history of the major DC characters, and set the scene for an effective reboot of all titles, while still rooted in the long tradition and history of the DC Universe. Effectively moving from the realism of the Bronze Age towards the era sometimes called the "Dark Age," Crisis featured many key and resonant deaths which would shape the DC Universe for the following decades, and separate the timeline of DC publications into pre- and post-"Crisis". Meanwhile, a parallel revolution was afoot in the Non-superhero and Horror titles. Since the start of 1984 , British writer Alan Moore had re-energized the horror series The Saga of the Swamp Thing , and his acclaimed work sparked the comic-book equivalent of rock music's British Invasion . Building on the dark naturalism of the Bronze Age, numerous British writers, including Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison , subsequently began freelancing for the company. The resulting influx of sophisticated horror/fantasy material led not only to DC abandoning the Comics Code for particular titles scripted by those talents, but also to establishing in 1993 the Vertigo mature-readers imprint. Key titles in the subtle shift towards the Modern Age are the two landmark DC-published limited series Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller and Watchmen by Moore and artist Dave Gibbons . These eye-opening titles drew attention to changes at DC for dark psychological complexity, and promotion of the antihero. The new creative freedom and attendant publicity that allowed Miller to produce a dark, future Batman and Moore to create a similarly dystopian future filled with pessimism allowed DC to challenge Marvel's industry lead, and also paved the way for comics to both be more widely accepted in literary-criticism circles as more than just for children, and to start making in-roads into the book industry, with collected editions of these key series selling particularly well as trade paperbacks. Conversely, while the mainstream DCU got a shade darker, the mid-1980s also saw the end of many long-running DC war comics , including venerable series that had been in print since the 1960s. These titles, all with over 100 issues, included Sgt. Rock , G.I. Combat , The Unknown Soldier , and Weird War Tales . In 1989, with the release of the first Batman movie , DC began publishing its hardcover series of DC Archive Editions , collections of many of their early, key comics series, featuring rare and expensive stories unseen by many modern fans. Restoration for many of the Archives was handled by Rick Keene with color restoration by DC's long-time resident colorist, Bob LeRose . These collections attempted to retroactively credit many of the writers and artists who had worked without much recognition for DC during the early period of comics, when individual credits were few and far between. 1990s Edit The comics industry experienced a brief boom in the early 1990s, thanks to a combination of speculative purchasing (mass purchase of the books as collectible items, with intent to resell at a higher value as the rising value of older issues was thought to imply that all comics would rise dramatically in price) and several storylines which gained attention from the mainstream media. DC's extended storylines in which Superman was killed , Batman was crippled and super-hero Green Lantern Hal Jordan turned into the super villain Parallax , resulted in dramatically increased sales, but the increases were as temporary as the substitutes, and sales dropped off as industry sales went into a major slump as manufactured "collectibles" numbering in their millions replaced quality with quantity until fans and speculators alike deserted the medium in droves. DC's Piranha Press and other imprints (including Vertigo , the mature readers line pioneered in the British Horror work of the 1980s and Helix , a short-lived Science Fiction imprint) in the 1990s were introduced to facilitate compartmentalized diversification, and allow for specialized marketing of individual product lines. They increased the use of non-traditional contractual arrangements, including the dramatic rise of creator-owned contracts leading to a significant increase in critically lauded work (much of it for Vertigo) and the licensing of material from other companies. DC also increased publication of book-friendly formats, including trade paperback collections of individual serial comics, and original graphic novels . DC entered into a publishing agreement with Milestone Media that gave DC a line of comics featuring a culturally and racially diverse range of superhero characters; although the Milestone line ceased publication after a few short years, it yielded the popular animated series Static Shock . Paradox Press was established to publish material ranging from the large-format Big Book of... series of multi-artist interpretations on individual themes, and such crime fiction as the graphic novel Road to Perdition . In 1998, DC purchased Wildstorm Comics , Jim Lee 's imprint under the Image Comics banner, and absorbed it while continuing it for many years as a wholly separate imprint - and Universe - with its own style and audience. As part of this purchase, DC also began to publish titles under the fledgling WildStorm sub-imprint America's Best Comics (ABC), a series of titles from the mind of Alan Moore, including The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen , Tom Strong and Promethea . Moore strongly contested this situation, and DC no longer publishes ABC. 2000s Edit In March 2003, DC acquired publishing and merchandising rights to the long-running fantasy series Elfquest , previously self-published by creators Wendy and Richard Pini under their WaRP Graphics publication banner. This series then followed the Tower Comics series T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents in becoming non-DC titles published in the "DC Archives" format. In 2004, DC temporarily acquired the North American publishing rights to graphic novels from European publishers 2000 AD and Humanoids . It also rebranded its younger-audience titles with the mascot Johnny DC , and established the CMX imprint to reprint translated manga . In 2006, CMX took over from Dark Horse Comics publication of the webcomic Megatokyo in print form. DC also took advantage of the demise of Kitchen Sink Press and acquired the rights to much of the work of Will Eisner , such as his The Spirit series and his graphic novels. Starting in 2004, DC began laying groundwork for a full continuity-reshuffling sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, promising substantial changes to the DC Universe (and side-stepping the 1994 Zero Hour event which similarly tried to ret-con the history of the DCU). In 2005, with the release of Batman Begins , the company published several limited series establishing increasingly escalated conflicts among DC's heroes, with events climaxing in the Infinite Crisis limited series. Immediately after this event, DC's ongoing series jumped forward a full year in their in-story continuity, as DC launched a weekly series, 52 , to gradually fill in the missing time. Concurrently, DC lost the copyright to "Superboy" (while retaining the trademark) when the heirs of Jerry Seigel used a provision of the 1976 revision to the copyright law to regain ownership. In 2005, DC launched a new " All-Star " line (evoking the title of the 1940s publication ), designed to feature some of the company's best-known characters in stories that eschewed the long and convoluted continuity of the DC Universe, produced by "all star" creative teams. All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder launched in July 2005, with All-Star Superman beginning in November 2005. All-Star Wonder Woman and All Star Batgirl were announced in 2006, with the release of Superman Returns in movie theaters, but neither have been released or scheduled as of the end of 2009. DC Entertainment Edit In September 2009, Warner Bros. announced that DC Comics would become a subsidiary of DC Entertainment Inc., with Diane Nelson, president of Warner Premiere , becoming president of the new company. DC Comics publisher Paul Levitz will step down and serve as a contributing editor and overall consultant. Logo Edit DC's first logo appeared on the April 1940 issues of its titles. The letters "DC" stood for Detective Comics, the name of Batman's flagship title. The small logo, with no background, read simply, "A DC Publication". The November 1941 DC titles introduced an updated logo. This version was almost twice the size of the previous one, and was the first version with a white background. The name "Superman" was added to "A DC Publication", effectively acknowledging both Superman and Batman. This logo was the first to occupy the top-left corner of the cover, where the logo has usually resided since. The company now referred to itself in its advertising as "Superman-DC". In November 1949, the logo was modified to incorporate the company's formal name, National Comics Publications. This logo would also serve as the round body of Johnny DC, DC's mascot in the 1960s. In October 1970, the circular logo was briefly retired in favor of a simple "DC" in a rectangle with the name of the title, or the star of the book; the logo on many issues of Action Comics, for example, read "DC Superman". An image of the lead character either appeared above or below the rectangle. For books that did not have a single star, such as anthologies like House of Mystery or team series such as Justice League of America, the title and "DC" appeared in a stylized logo, such as a bat for House of Mystery. This use of characters as logos helped to establish the likenesses as trademarks , and was similar to Marvel's contemporaneous use of characters as part of its cover branding. DC's "100 Page Super-Spectacular" titles and later 100-page and "Giant" issues published from 1972 to 1974 featured a logo exclusive to these editions: the letters "DC" in a simple sans-serif typeface within a circle. A variant had the letters in a square. The July 1972 DC titles featured a new circular logo. The letters "DC" were rendered in a block-like typeface that would remain through later logo revisions until 2005. The title of the book usually appeared inside the circle, either above or below the letters. In December 1973, this logo was modified with the addition of the words "The Line of DC Super-Stars" and the star motif that would continue in later logos. This logo was placed in the top center of the cover from August 1975 to October 1976.When Jenette Kahn became DC's publisher in late 1976, she commissioned graphic designer Milton Glaser to design a new logo. Popularly referred to as the "DC bullet", this logo premiered on the February 1977 titles. Although it varied in size and color and was at times cropped by the edges of the cover, or briefly rotated 4 degrees, it remained essentially unchanged for nearly three decades. In July 1987, DC released variant editions of Justice League #3 and The Fury of Firestorm #61 with a new DC logo. It featured a picture of Superman in a circle surrounded by the words "SUPERMAN COMICS". These variant covers were released to newsstands in certain markets as a marketing test. On , a new logo was unveiled, debuting on DC titles starting in June 2005 with DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy #1 and the rest of the titles the following week. In addition to comics, it was designed for DC properties in other media, such as the movies Batman Begins and Superman Returns as well as the new Batman film The Dark Knight and the TV series Smallville , Justice League Unlimited and The Batman , as well as for collectibles and other merchandise. The logo was designed by Josh Beatman of Brainchild Studios and DC executive Richard Bruning . Imprints	Batman
What jewelry firm is perhaps best remembered for the exquisite jeweled eggs that were popular Easter time gifts at the turn of the 20th century?	List of DC Comics characters: B \| Hey Kids Comics Wiki \| Fandom powered by Wikia List of DC Comics characters: B Green Lantern , Vol. 3, #4 2005 Green Lantern , Vol. 2, #203 1986 Green Lantern 80-Page Giant, #3 2000 Action Comics , Vol. 1, #1 1938 Action Comics , Vol. 1, #281 1961 Sensation Comics , Vol. 1, #14 1943 Captain Atom , Vol. 3, #1 1987 Action Comics , Vol. 1, 4 1938 Action Comics , Vol. 1, #756 1999 Detective Comics , Vol. 1, #543 1984 Suicide Squad , Vol. 1, #17 1988 Adventures of Superman , Vol. 1, #569 1999 Detective Comics . 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Capable of flattening mountains with a single blow, who wields a hammer known as Mjollnir?	Mjolnir \| Marvel Database \| Fandom powered by Wikia Dwarves forging "Mjolnir" Mjölnir (literally, "that which smashes") is the hammer wielded by Thor , the Norse god of thunder. [1] Ages ago, an unimaginably powerful cosmic storm called the God Tempest approached Asgard. Called the "Mother of Thunder," the storm possessed the power to knock planets out of their orbit and make black holes shake. Odin , chief of the Norse gods, battled the storm for many days when it threatened Asgard . Once the storm was weakened enough, Odin defeated the God Tempest by trapping it into a chunk of Uru that was given to him by the Dwarves of Nidavellir as a gift. [2] From the Uru, Odin ordered the Dwarves of Nidavellir to forge Mjölnir. [3] The blacksmiths Eitri , Brokk , [4] and Buri [3] needed to use the tremendous heat of a star to get the forge hot enough to smelt the Uru. The hammer was completed in seventeen weeks. [2] In the process the star exploded and almost took Midgard with it; that event may explain the extinction of the dinosaurs , about 65 million years ago. [3] When Odin first tried to wield Mjölnir, he couldn't control it due to the God Tempest still retaining its power. The hammer devastated Asgard as it flew out of control. Out of spite, Odin cast an enchantment on the hammer to prevent anyone else from wielding the hammer. The hammer was stored away where it sat for untold ages where the God Tempest would eventually die, but its power would remain inside Mjölnir. [2] Although powerful in and of itself, the hammer also received several potent spells from Odin , who slew the Frost Giant Laufey with it. [5] Much later, Mjölnir was bequeathed to Thor, after he proved himself worthy through several trials. [6] With few exceptions, Thor has carried Mjölnir throughout his adventures. Thus, the history of Mjölnir follow the history of Thor. Although Asgard was destroyed in Ragnarök , Thor, and thus the hammer, survived. [7] After Nick Fury told him an undisclosed secret, he lost his ability of wielding Mjölnir. [8] Later, a woman became Mjölnir's new wielder and the new Thor. [9] She was eventually revealed to be Thor's ex-lover Jane Foster . [10] Properties Mjölnir itself is already extremely durable and nigh invulnerable like the Earth metal adamantium or the Olympian metal adamantine , and combined with the various enchantments placed upon it by Odin, is for all intents and purposes, indestructible. It has survived heat as extreme as the heart of suns, blasts powerful enough to destroy planets, and it has contained energy sufficient enough to destroy an entire galaxy and even energy sufficient enough to destroy one fifth of the universe . Mjölnir also grants its user, such as Thor, countless mystical attributes and powers such as manipulation of the fundamental forces of the universe such as the electromagnetic spectrum [11] , gravity [12] etc. Mjölnir can be used both offensively and defensively. Thor often uses the hammer as a physical weapon, with almost nothing being capable of withstanding a hammer blow or throw. It has been described as impacting with sufficient force to "destroy mountains" [13] and has proven capable of shattering the armor of a Celestial . [14] A rare exception is primary adamantium . [15] Mjölnir was classified by the Initiative as an Omega Class Weapon , at the level of the Tactigon . [16] A few other examples of the countless abilities Thor has shown with Mjölnir are: Worthiness Enchantment: This enchantment surrounding Mjölnir prevents it from being wielded by anyone save those who have been found worthy. Thus far, this includes Thor, the Red Norvell , Buri , Bor , Odin, Beta Ray Bill , and Captain America . To anyone else, Mjölnir cannot be lifted from the ground nor wrested from Thor’s grip. [17] Those who are deemed worthy are able to wield Thor's powers. Captain America said "I've never wielded such limitless power before!" [18] "It's almost intoxicating!" [19] As the true master of Mjölnir, Thor can also will unto others the ability to wield the mystical hammer, bypassing the worthiness enchantment, and also empower them with his own godly abilities. As long as he is alive, no one but himself is able to wield the hammer. [20] The enchantment is so powerful that even with the hammer cut in half, it's still in effect. [21] However, after Nick Fury whispered an unspecified secret to Thor during a fight, [22] Thor not only lost the ability to wield Mjölnir, but the very nature of the enchantment was changed to prevent Thor, the Warriors Three, or Odin himself from lifting it, while allowing the new Thor to pick it up as the inscription changed to "if she be worthy". Although Loki was found to be worthy to wield it for a short period of time after being hit by the reversion spell of Scarlet Witch and Doctor Doom which turned him good [23] , he later lost that ability after another reversion spell was cast that returned him to his normal self. [24] Mystical Link: Mjölnir obeys Thor’s commands as though it were alive [25] (it was later revealed that the hammer does indeed have its own sentience) [26] , and if Thor’s will is strong enough, the hammer can pass through nearly any barrier to reach him should he so choose; Mjölnir will even carve its way through the very center of entire planets to get back to Thor. [25] Mjölnir can also transform Thor into his civilian guises. When Thor is a civilian, the hammer most often becomes an old wooden cane. While employing a mortal guise, Thor would transform back into his mortal form if he was separated from Mjölnir for more than 60 seconds. [27] A variation of this power was revealed when Mjölnir temporarily transformed into Jane Foster's human persona to fool S.H.I.E.L.D. agents into thinking that Jane and Thor were two separate people. However, Mjölnir explained that this power required a great deal of energy and would likely be at least 100 years before it could be done again. [26] Weather Manipulation : Wielding Mjölnir grants Thor the ability to control the base elements of a storm , i.e. rain, wind, thunder, lightning and more (although Thor can control them by himself, it seems that Mjolnir boosts his ability of controlling the base elements of a storm). He can create giant raging electrical storms complete with thunder, lightning, hurricane-force winds, tornadoes, blizzards, tidal waves, exploding volcanoes, earthquakes and torrential rains across entire planets at a moment's notice. He can also create any of these phenomena individually. Another aspect of this power allows him to stop any of these weather conditions instantly as well. Thor can create storms on a planetary wide scale or larger if needed, and is not limited to the normal limits of Mother Nature and can go beyond and defy what natural weather can do such as creating rain in space where there is no atmosphere. Thor's ability to control and create storms extends to any and all storms as he has been shown to control and create raging temporal storms in time, create Solar Flares, powerful stellar winds in space and so on. Flight: Thor is capable of hurling Mjölnir with great force and, by holding onto the leather thong, is capable of flying through the air at tremendous speeds. While in an Earth-like atmosphere, Thor generally flies at roughly the Speed of Sound, roughly 770 miles per hour. Thor can fly so fast that he is invisible to the naked eye. [28] He has been clocked flying at three times the speed of light, [29] and is capable of achieving speeds far greater than that. In fact, Thor can throw Mjolnir at several times the speed of light [30] [31] , and also swing Mjolnir at several times the speed of light while his strength was reduced in half. [32] It has been established that the speed of Thor's hammer transcends both time and space. [33] Mjolnir can also perform complicated maneuvers in the air, [34] and change course in mid-flight at the speed of thought. [35] By spinning Mjölnir at high speeds over his head, Thor is able to hover in midair, and has even shown the ability to fly without the aid of Mjolnir. Energy Projection: With Mjölnir, Thor can project powerful mystical blasts of energy. He can even channel energies for stronger energy attacks. God Blast: Thor is capable of channeling different amounts of his godly energies in combination with the mystical properties of Mjölnir can be channeled through his hammer for a single massive blast known as the God Blast. [14] [36] His godly energy is so vast and powerful, that even when reinforced with the Belt of Strength , which should double Mjölnir's fortification and durability, when Thor channeled his godly energies into Mjölnir to destroy the Brain Dome of the mighty Celestial Exitar , [14] the hammer shattered from the amount of power Thor channeled. The God Blast is so immensely powerful and destructive that it has proven capable of destroying beings as large and as powerful as the being Galactus , who was forced to flee for his life. [37] Thor can send the God Blast to the core of Ego the Living Planet and Alter Ego and render both comatose. [38] He has also used the God Blast to defeat Surtur , Ymir , Juggernaut , and Zelia . Anti-Force: Thor is capable of producing an indescribably powerful blast known as the Anti-Force which is capable of annihilating entire planets. [39] This blast is so powerful that with just a single emission, Thor was capable of putting down and seemingly killing the powerful entity Mangog himself. Thermo-blast: Thor has the ability to produce a universe shaking thermo-blast capable of decimating even entire planets and beings as powerful as Ego the Living Planet. [40] Barriers: With Mjölnir, Thor is capable of creating powerful barriers, force fields and vortexes that are impenetrable. Not even Earth's most advanced weapons could weaken Thor's barrier field that shielded the U.N. headquarters . [41] Thor stated that he could have contained a cosmic flash attack from Stellaris , this blast was strong enough to destroy the planet Earth. [42] These vortexes and barriers are so immensely durable that Thor was able to completely contain the explosion generated by a life bomb, which is so powerful it would have completely destroyed a fifth of the Marvel Universe , without the vortex even faltering, meaning that Thor literally contained a blast that is capable of annihilating millions upon millions of galaxies. [43] Energy Sensing: Mjölnir can detect practically all types of energy. [44] [45] [46] It reacts particularly strongly to evil psychic energy, [47] and supernatural energy. [48] . Mjölnir can also track down the energy pattern of someone in hiding, [49] detect any Asgardian 's aura by their electrons discharge, [50] and can sense and track the energy radiating from mystical objects. [51] Energy Absorption and Redirection: Thor is able to use Mjölnir to absorb any energy blasts directed towards him as means of attack. Once the energy is absorbed, Thor can redirect it back amplified many times over towards the source and/or use it as a weapon of his own. Thor has used Mjölnir to reflect the vast and hazardous amounts of energy being emitted by the biological weapon implanted within the Wasp 's body by the Skrulls back at her while all of Earth's other super humans were helpless. Thor used Mjölnir to absorb Ultron's entire energy source, the Silver Surfer 's Power Cosmic , [52] Sky-Walker 's Cosmic Tempest, [53] radio active energy, [54] magnetism [55] such as Magneto 's personal magnetic field [56] and a portion of Pangoria 's planetary magnetic field. Mjölnir's ability to absorb energy is so powerful he managed to absorb, contain and redirect the entire energy of the Null Bomb , which was powerful enough to destroy the entire galaxy, [57] absorb mystical energies, such as Pluto 's mystic flame . [58] He was even able to absorb a portion of the mystical energies from every god pantheon on Earth, [59] and absorbed the electromagnetic energies of the Celestial Mother-ship. [60] Teleportation : By grasping Mjölnir by the leather thong and rapidly swirling it, Thor can channel energies for the purpose of Wormholes through means of a vortex [61] and in this vortex time has no meaning, which means he and others can pass through it to their destinations instantaneously. [62] He can open gateways which allow him to travel across locations no matter how great the distance within moments or even across entire dimensions , as he does when he travels from Asgard to Earth and vice-versa. [63] [64] Thor has used Mjölnir to rip the fabric of the universe to send Surtur and Ymir to the Death Dimension [65] and send an entire population to Limbo, [66] Thor can also use Mjölnir to travel through portals anywhere within the same dimension. [67] Matter Manipulation: By spinning Mjölnir in a precise manner at cyclotronic speeds, Thor can manipulate matter from a molecular level to a vast scale, which allows him to create other configurations and even allows him to transmute the elements themselves. This ability was evident when he transmuted the Absorbing Man 's wood and iron body to the gas helium. [48] Resurrection: While channeling his power through Mjölnir, Thor was able to resurrect a man he had wrongly killed. [68] Alpha Particles: Thor's hammer can harness Alpha Particles from the atmosphere and could use it to atomize any weaponry. [69] Negation of Mystic Energy: He used this ability on the Juggernaut himself to negate the mystical energies that grant him his mystical invulnerability, allowing him to defeat Juggernaut in combat. He was able to stop Mephisto from taking human souls to the Dark Dimension . [70] Nether World Power: Thor can use Mjölnir to tap into the power of the Nether Worlds (dark dimensions). [71] Cosmic Energy: Mjölnir allows Thor to produce and control Cosmic Energy to an unknown limit for a variety of purposes. [72] Electromagnetic Spectrum Manipulation: Thor was able to absorb and manipulate the electromagnetic energies of the Celestial Mothership. [60] Invisibility and Intangibility: Thor can turn himself or others, using Mjölnir, completely intangible and/or invisible. [73] An offshoot of this ability is that Thor can use Mjölnir to completely disrupt the phasing abilities of super humans such as the Vision , Shadowcat etc. [74] Event Recall: Thor can use Mjölnir to recall past events. [75] Transmigration of Souls: Thor's hammer has the ability to manipulate souls. [76] Life Force Absorption: Thor used this ability on the super villain the Presence , who was forced to surrender to prevent himself from being reduced to a lifeless husk. [77] Illusion Detection: Mjölnir can distinguish images, holograms, and different illusions from reality: Thor once commanded the hammer to strike the demon lord Mephisto, who was hiding among false images of himself. [70] Interdimensional Messaging: Thor can used Mjölnir to send psychic messages between the nine realms. Holy Object: As a former religious relic, Mjölnir is lethal to vampires. Thor once threw Mjölnir at a vampire, with contact causing the vampire to burst into flame and crumble to dust. [78] Transformation: When Thor was living on Earth under his mortal guise , he could use Mjölnir to transfer from his Donald Blake persona into Thor and vice versa. Thor loses this ability when Odin permanently separates the two personas. The transformation returns after Odin's death and Ragnarök restore Donald Blake to existence, allowing him to draw Thor back to Earth from the void once he finds the hammer, but for a time the two share an existence where they are distinct individuals who nevertheless have a similar memory. Immunity to Other Forces: Even without activating the powers of Mjölnir, Thor's hammer, enchanted by Odin, is impervious to nearly all forms of change, as he himself claimed that no power in the universe but the All-Father's could affect Mjölnir, shown when Amora 's magical efforts during her first confrontation with Thor to change it into a deadly serpent availed her naught. Time Travel / Chronokinesis : Mjölnir can bend space and time and allow itself and its holder to travel through time. [79] [80] Mjölnir lost this ability when Thor was convinced by Immortus to remove it to help the planet Phantus , which was trapped in Limbo . [81] This was later revealed to be a hoax by Immortus to deprive the Avengers of their main means of time travel. [82] In spite of this, Mjölnir is still capable of manipulating time [73] , to the extent that Mister Gryphon attempted to use it as part of his plan to return home [83] only to be defeated by the temporal paradox of two different versions of the hammer striking each other. [84] Allspeak : Thanks to the Allspeak, the wielder of Mjölnir can communicate with and be understood by all races. Alternate Reality Versions	Thor
Monterey Jack, Manchego, and Wensleydale are all types of what?	Superhuman Fight Club Chapter 23: Thunder War and Pride, a DC Superheroes + Marvel Crossover fanfic \| FanFiction Thanks to S&D for doing his Beta job. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Chapter 23: Thunder, War, and Pride God. Such an interesting word. It has referred to literally hundreds of beings since the dawn of mankind, some of which people have passed into myth while others are still worshiped to this day. There exists a massive range of gods, some with powers that barely exceed that of a human, and others that are literally everywhere, everything, always. Right now though, you shouldn't be caring about any of those gods. The beings we are looking at today are a fair bit more recent and there is no debate whether they are real or not. Instead, there is only a debate on who is the strongest. Thor Odinson, the Thunderer. Marvel's most famous God, based on the Norse Mythology and wielder of the mighty Mjolnir. Diana Prince, Wonder Woman. Demigod Daughter of Zeus, newly made God of War. Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans. The second Super Saiyan God of Modern Times. Three mind bogglingly powerful characters, each with the ability to destroy planets with ease. But who is the strongest of these godly beings? I'm going to be going a bit more in depth with this than usual, because there is a lot more to factor in here compared to most of the previous matchups. I'll start with a bit of background for each of the characters, then compare and contrast the skills and abilities of all three. First up, the Prince of Asgard. Thor Odinson is the second strongest Asgardian behind only his father. He has fought everyone from Doctor Doom to Thanos, from Galactus to his own brother Loki. He is no leader and no tactician, but there is nothing that Thor wouldn't do to defend his home and his friends. For this fight we will be looking at Thor up until the FemThor became a thing a while back. Still not entirely sure why they did that but it's proven to be a decent concept. FemThor won't be making an appearance here though, she just can't hang with the original God of Thunder. Thor is not the most skilled fighter on the Avengers. Honestly, he isn't even really close. He doesn't need to be. Instead he is a brawler, a fighter who lashes out with all of their power and commits fully to every strike. The logic behind this method of fighting is simple. Why waste time with fancy techniques when you can just smash your opponent into the dirt with a single hit? Thor is without a doubt a dangerous opponent to face off against. However, the true danger of facing the God of Thunder comes from Mjolnir. Without the hammer Thor's powers would just put him at a mid-level metahuman, but with it he ranks as a high level Herald in terms of power. Normally Thor is fairly slow, struggling to tag opponents like Spider-Man and Wolverine in unarmed combat. But then he can swing Mjolnir around at twice the speed of light to attack his foes, and it is able to launch him through air and space at the same speed. He also possesses durability to match his fighting style, it would take a character in the Hulk's weight class to do any serious damage while he can pound away at them all day. Captain America may be more skilled in unarmed combat, but with Mjolnir in hand he can defeat almost any incarnation of the Avengers by himself. Mjolnir also gives the Thunder God a slew of extra powers beyond just his speed and strength. You know the classic weather manipulation and control over lightning. Mjolnir is also capable of creating earthquakes that can devastate nations. If swung at full strength it can produce shockwaves capable of shattering planets. It can manipulate energy, meaning that as long as Thor can react to it quickly enough he can negate any energy based attack aimed his way. This ability could prove particularly useful against a certain Saiyan Prince. But of course, the greatest ability he wields is the God Blast. Channeling a far greater amount of lightning than any normal attack, Thor puts the entirety of his Godly might into a single blow. This attack is so powerful that destroying a planet would be a low end feat for it. This blow was actually able to stagger Galactus, who under normal circumstances wouldn't even feel anything Thor could do to him. In terms of raw striking power and physical durability, Thor is likely to take first place for this battle. But raw power isn't all there is to a fight. It is important to note that Thor is a very prideful and straightforward combatant. He is by no means a tactical fighter, in fact he is rather poor at strategy. He has never needed to be a tactician, he has always been the muscles behind the Avengers instead of the leader. Thor is also somewhat quick to anger and isn't known for quick thinking any more than he is for tactics. Moving on. The Amazons of the new 52 are, to be frank, completely F'ed up. Wanna know how they make sure they are always able to have women warriors on the island? They sail out off the island, find any passing ships, hop on, rape all of the men in the hopes of getting pregnant, and then kill all of the people on the ship and throw their bodies into the sea. Then the female children are raised as Amazons while the males are traded off to Hephaestus as indentured servants for their entire lives in exchange for weapons. Charming. Wonder Woman, known in Man's world as Diana Prince, has a slightly different backstory. No I'm not talking about the gods breathing life into clay or anything like that, that's been retconned. What's her new mysterious secret origin now? Her mom and Zeus banged and created the strongest Demigod to ever exist. A founding member of the Justice League, Wonder Woman has proved to be one of the most interesting characters of the New 52, bringing in a slew of new powers and side characters that gave her some of the best character development of recent DC history. One of the more interesting facts about this Wonder Woman is that while she is the champion of peace, her father figure was the God of War. Ares took an active role in training and mentoring the Demigod, helping her earn her place as one of the most skilled fighters on planet Earth. Then when he was about to be killed by a powerful villain to absorb the power of the God of War, Diana pulled a Kratos and killed Ares instead, taking his place. Wielding this new power she has very few people capable of matching up with her even on the Justice League. Wonder Woman is the quite possibly the single most skilled member of the Justice League in terms of hand to hand combat, with Batman being her only real competitor. Her strength is also impressive, she has been shown to be able to carry aircraft carriers on her back and fly around like that. She is capable of hanging with and even defeating Kryptonians in a straight up fight, the most notable being Supergirl. Thanks to the blessings of Hermes she is shown to be at the very least hyper sonic, and some believe her to be easily faster than light. Her reflexes are not even questioned in that regard, as in that category she has surpassed even Superman. Her movement speed might not be quite on that level, but that hardly matters when you can block everything thrown at you. However she does have one important weakness. Wonder Woman is particularly vulnerable to piercing damage, bullets are capable of actually wounding her if she for some reason fails to block them. On top of her impressive physical abilities, Wonder Woman also brings her own array of magical equipment to the table. To start we have her most iconic equipment, the Lasso of Truth. The lasso is a magical item that cannot be broken and can extend to any length. Any person restrained by the lasso is compelled to only speak the truth. Supergirl has proven that it is possible to escape if one can utilize enough explosive energy, however the force of the move drained her of a large portion of her strength. This is not an easy feat to replicate. On top of that, certain versions of the lasso are also able to conduct Zeus' lightning. Anyone trapped within can be fried. Her next bit of equipment is in my opinion, far superior to the lasso. Her twin magical bracelets are such a powerful defense that not even Captain America's shield can compare. She can block any projectile attack with it, no matter what degree of power is being used. This includes any sort of bullet or energy attack or anything similar. Not even Darkseid's Omega Beams have been able to breach this defense. They are capable of the same with physical attacks, as long as she can get her wrists to where they are needed she can take any blow. They also have been recently upgraded to serve as her own personal pocket dimension, allowing her to summon any of her weapons to her at any given point. However, Wonder Woman is at her most powerful when her bracelets come off. The First Born attacked Ares with everything he had, bringing him to deaths door. Out of time Ares instead allowed Wonder Woman to deliver the final blow and those she became the new God of War. By taking off the bracelets Diana is able to access the full might of her godly powers, signified by glowing blue eyes. While she lacks the defensive abilities of the bracelets like this, her power supposedly increases roughly tenfold. She also becomes more violent like this, taking on the more dangerous aspects of a god of conflict. And finally: Prince of the Saiyans, remnant of a fallen warrior race, the only DBZ character capable of challenging Piccolo for the title of biggest badass, enter Vegeta. As a child Vegeta grew up as a ruthless killer under the rule of the tyrant Frieza. He flew around from planet to planet, committing acts of genocide until he eventually ended up on Earth. You know what happened next. Vegeta has now settled down as one of the Z-Fighters, sometimes even acting as their leader. Practically the living embodiment of pride, Vegeta's greatest desire is to finally surpass his rival Goku. It has been everything he strived for more than a decade, and apparently right before Goku became a God he succeeded. Having achieved the power of the Super Saiyan God himself, Vegeta now stands shoulder to shoulder with his fellow Saiyan. As Vegeta hasn't gotten much screen time yet in Dragon Ball Super, we have to look at the fights we've seen with Goku and Beerus to get a sense of his powers. In Resurrection of F Whis says that the two Saiyans are roughly equal in power so the feats should be applicable. Beerus is proven to be far faster than light and by a wide margin and is capable of busting planets with literally a poke. With the power of a Super Saiyan God we have seen a minor healing factor that was able to completely regenerate a puncture wound straight through Goku's gut. We have also seen a degree of energy manipulation when Goku caught a planet busting attack in his hands and bear hugged it into nothing. Vegeta himself is one of the more intelligent Z Fighters and has developed an impressive number of original attacks. These attacks come in three varieties, beam, explosive and piercing. The Galick Gun and the Final Flash are his most notable beam attacks. The first is a quick fire attack that he can charge and fire almost instantly (outside of the first Goku vs Vegeta fight anyways) while the Final Flash requires a far slower charge for a far more powerful attack. The Big Bang Attack is his most famous explosive attack while the Atomic Smash is a piercing attack that he used to blow a ton of holes (futilely) into Buu. Vegeta's power requires no special equipment, instead it relies on his natural energy called Ki. Both his durability and his physical strength depend on how much energy he is channeling. Now, let me clarify two misconceptions. First, Saiyan base strength being around 40 tons. Tell me, if that was truly the extent of his strength then how did Goku punch Frieza through two mountains? 40 tons of force would barely dent a mountain of that size, let alone punch through two of them. Instead it is likely that the planet had an unknown amount of gravity greater than that of Earth. We know there are planets like that in their universe, it makes sense. Then, the instance of Vegeta dying in Resurrection of F. It was stated that he was killed by the lack of oxygen, NOT by the actual planet exploding. Whis even said that he thought that Frieza had survived the blast when he was far worse off than Vegeta. Then for the bit with Goku being pierced by the ring, it was stated that Goku was overconfident and powered down. Otherwise that attack would not have worked. We've seen Super Saiyan God overwhelm several dozen planet busting attacks at once, so as long as he uses his abilities normally then he won't have an issue here. Vegeta's biggest disadvantage in this fight is his pride. On no less than six different occasions since his appearance in DBZ Vegeta has gotten overconfident in his fights and has gotten badly wounded or even killed as a result. He is even liable to let his opponent power up if he thinks that it will give him a more interesting battle. He has gradually gotten better with this as the series progressed into the Super arc, however I would argue that he is likely to do the same thing if he ever gets a solid advantage in a fight. After becoming a Super Saiyan God Vegeta has absorbed the forms power, taking the majority of it and using it to power up his base form to a level beyond even a Super Saiyan 3. This is just the first stage of his godly powers though as he can use the moronically named Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan, also known as the Blue Super Saiyan. This is a massive increase to all of his stats and abilities and has the added bonus of being slightly less ridiculous looking than Super Saiyan 3. Finally, Vegeta is prone to fits of anger. As seen in his battle with Beerus, if something sets Vegeta off his power increases even more, it made his SSJ 2 form even stronger than Goku's full power SSJ 3. If he loses his cool like that, someone's going to feel it. So which God will stand supreme in the end? Here we go. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "So we are agreed then? Both of you pick a champion to face off against each other and my son in order to settle our bet?" Odin grumbled. "Of course, this is just a lovely way to settle our bet. Oh, I just can't wait to taste all of your exquisite cuisine once my fighter wins!" cheered Whis. "We will see about that! My daughter shall prove to be a greater challenge than either of you will believe!" Said Zeus. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Thor was the first to arrive to the designated battleground, crashing to the ground of the foreign planet with the force of a lightning bolt. He noted the mostly barren mountainous area before he began scanning the skies for his opponents. Diana joined him moments later, fly through the sky gracefully before coming to a gentle landing besides the Thunderer. She gave him a short nod before she too settled in to wait. Minutes later a pair of men materialized into the air before them. "Alright Vegeta, here you go! Give it your best shot buddy!" "Of course clown. Just head back to that old Kai friend of yours and watch the show. You can pick me up when I'm done." "Alright, have fun!" "Hmph. Entering a battle with a pair of unknown gods and he tells me to have fun. Sounds about right. Alright then, whenever you two are ready." Wonder Woman sunk into a combat stance but Thor was looking at Vegeta with a measure of confusion. "Tell me dwarf, are you sure that you should take part in this battle? You are of far smaller stature than your ally and seen like you may also lack his power. Perhaps you and he should trade places so that you are not unduly injured?" The Goddess of War had to use much of her godly strength to hold back the snicker that threatened to escape at the sight of the massive vein that throbbed into sight on the little man's head. "Alright then blondie, I was going to go after the woman first to make up for an incident I had a few years back. But thank you for volunteering, I'd be more than happy to let you go first." Wonder Woman smirked at the Saiyan and threw out a challenge of her own. "It's probably safer for you anyways, you are unlikely to pose any threat to me." "Oh we'll see about that. After I shove the pretty boy's hammer up his ass then you can show me just how good with that rope you are." "Do not fret fair lady, I shall protect your honor from this miniature brute." "Protect my honor? You should be far more worried about yourself, make sure you don't knock yourself with that pitiful weapon barbarian." "My lady, I was merely-" "Atomic Smash!" Thor was cut off when a burst of ki smashed into his face and blasted him into the distance. Wonder Woman whipped around to see the Saiyan Prince charging at her and threw a straight punch towards his nose. Vegeta ducked under the blow and returned with an uppercut that made her stumble backwards. Growling the Amazon flicked her wrists and materialized a pair of short swords into her hands. Vegeta was forced to dodge back out of the way as the Princess charged at him in a whirlwind of spinning blades. The two came to a halt with a few meters between them, looking for any sort of opening. Vegeta was about to move in when a massive shockwave from the side knocked both fighters off balance. The moment Thor had reoriented himself from the surprise attack he had slammed Mjolnir into the ground, unleashing an earthquake so mighty that dozens of volcanoes around the planet simultaneously erupted. The god chucked his hammer and caught the short man in the side and sent him sailing into a nearby mountain. Diana turned to face him as the Thunderer calmly held out his hand to recall his weapon. The hilt hit the palm of his hand just as Wonder Woman began her swing and the Asgardian swung his own weapon out to meet it. The sword, forged by Hephaestus himself, shattered the instant it made contact with the legendary hammer. Diana's warrior instinct crushed down her surprise and she quickly threw up an arm to block the incoming counterstrike. The hammer smashed into the bracelet, stunning the Goddess but leaving her otherwise unharmed. Thor's next attack was interrupted by a sharp jab to the nose that snapped his head back in a spurt of blood. "BIG BANG ATTACK!" Thor's flicked his wrist and Mjolnir started rotating so quickly in front of him it appeared as one solid mass. The glowing orb was sucked up into the vortex and with a grunt Thor sent the blast sailing straight back towards its source. The Saiyan's eyes widened in shock as the blast detonated against his chest. He tumbled through the air for a moment before he managed to regain control and blasted back towards the battle. Firing off a half dozen smaller blasts towards the Princess as he moved in he dodged out of the way of the Thunderer's next strike and buried his fist into the god's gut. Thor let out a grunt and took a pained step back when Diana moved in, catching each fighter by the throat. Her arms were still smoking slightly from blocking Vegeta's attack she allowed the two men to maneuver one another into a vulnerable position. Now she slammed both into the ground and delivered a pair of earth shaking kicks that sent them sailing off into opposite directions. The woman chucked a pair of knives after the blonde god and then took off in pursuit of the black haired one. Vegeta didn't bother trying to catch the next sword slash, instead he threw both arms forward and caught the blade between them. Wonder Woman didn't hesitate and shot her leg out to catch the shorter man in the gut before stabbing forwards a second time. Vegeta's grip on the blade weakened the moment the kick connected and he was forced to spin out of the way to avoid being impaled. Snarling the Prince snagged the warrior by the hair and took off at top speed straight towards the nearest mountain. With a flick of his wrist he threw her in front of him and then unleashed a punch straight to her gut. The rock formation behind her cracked from the shockwave before it was shattered completely as Diana was sent flying through it as well as the next half dozen mountains behind it. With a grin of satisfaction Vegeta made to charge after her when he sensed a growing power nearby. Juking to the side he managed to dodge the bolt of lightning that came tearing out of the sky towards him. Above him the massive storm clouds seemed to form from nothing and typhoon level winds and rain began pelting that battlefield. "Is this the best you can do? Some flashy lights and parlor tricks? I've withstood such storms since I was a child, do you really think that the Prince of the Saiyans would fall so easily?" Vegeta yelled up into the sky. In response the lightning intensified, dozens, then hundreds of bolts flashing around the land as Vegeta bobbed and weaved with supersonic speed. As he moved he casually scanned the area, searching for any sign of the blonde god. A whirling sound behind him alerted him at the last possible moment and in a burst of speed he left an Afterimage behind to take the hammer throw in his place. The hammer sped through with no effect and Vegeta phased back into sight a few meters away. With a roar Thor leapt at Vegeta and caught him with a haymaker straight to the nose. Grinning at the audible crack of breaking cartilage the Thunder God followed through with a few more hard hits that staggered the Saiyan backwards. Vegeta's eyes snapped up suddenly and he tilted his head just enough for the next punch to miss. With a smirk he drilled his opponent in the gut and then kicked the god's legs out from under him. Thor fell down onto all fours with a groan before looking up right into Vegeta's glowing palm. "Well, that's it for you Goldilocks. I'll give this one chance because I know Kakarot won't spot harassing me if I don't; give up right now or I'll kill you." Thor rose up on his knees and met the Saiyan Prince's gaze with a hard glare. "You'd ask the Prince of Asgard to bow out of such a mighty battle? You'd ask me to forsake my honor? I TELL THEE NAY!" Vegeta never saw Mjolnir coming as it returned to its Master. The hammer clipped the Saiyan's outstretched arm as it flew in with enough force to shatter bone. Catching and attacking in a single movement, Thor spun Mjolnir a single time as it came in before jabbing Vegeta straight in the sternum with it. The shorter man was blasted backwards- straight onto Diana's sword. Vegeta's eyes widened in pain as the blade pierced his back. He looked down to see the tip protruding from his stomach, a small trail of blood dripping down his front and into the stone surface below. Thor held off his attack as the Amazon leaned in and whispered into the Saiyan's ear. "Athena has told me about you, Prince of a fallen race of genocidal monsters who took pleasure in slaughtering entire planets. Prince of a single other pure blooded member of your species, the only one of your kind who shows any degree of honor or compassion in the slightest. A Prince who held a petty grudge for decades because his insecurities and his pride cannot handle the mere thought that someone might actually be better than him. You are a sad, pathetic being with no redeeming qualities that I can see. I have no doubt that your world would be a better place without you." Diana punctuate her rant with a twist of her blade, opening up the already deadly wound, spurting blood out of either side of the Prince's body. With a flick of the wrist Wonder Woman flung Vegeta from her blade, sending his dying body sailing off into the distance. Without any warning Diana snatched her lasso from her wrist and flung it onto the Prince of Thunder, entangling his arms to his side. She watched dispassionately as he struggled fruitlessly against the enchanted rope. "Tell me Asgardian, is your hammer truly your source of power." Thor was surprised by the 'yes' that ripped itself from his lips and he renewed his escape attempts with increased strength. "As I thought. Once again Athena proves her knowledge, the Asgardians are on a far lower level than the Olympians. Odin might be Zeus's equal, but the rest of your pantheon is nothing compared to the might of my own. Without your toy you wouldn't even pose a threat." "That is quite the claim Olympian. Tis true, your Olympians are quite powerful. But to claim that you are more powerful than the might of Asgard is something else. Your arrogance shall be your undoing." "We shall see." With no visible prompting the lasso suddenly crackled with electric energy, bombarding the Asgardian with all of the power of Zeus. The Son of Odin did not falter under this attack though, instead he grabbed onto the lasso and pulled removing any slack. As the lightning coursed through his body he brought Mjolnir up against the lasso and smirked. "FOR ASGARD!" Zeus's lightning was overwhelmed by the sheer power of the Thunderer's weapon, the lasso's magic was beaten back as Thor's own was sent racing through its length. Wonder Woman never saw the sudden burst of power, one moment she was unleashing Olympian might on her opponent and the next her entire body was alight with pain. Diana screamed as the lightning ripped through her body and her grip on the lasso slackened. The instant Thor felt his restraints begin to fall away he was moving. He closed the distance between the two in a second a delivered a titanic blow that sent her hurtling into the air. Wonder Woman turned to orient herself in time to see Thor spinning his hammer at such a high speed that he was whipping up a hurricane. The entire country side was lit up with the pale blue light that was coming off of the weapon, bolts of energy were literally splitting the mountains around him. With a yell that shook the heavens the God of Thunder unleashed his most powerful blast. Diana threw her bracelets in front of her right as the attack reached her, blocked its power and stopped it from killing her. But even the power of the bracelets were not enough to completely block the pain of the blow, or enough to cushion its force. Her entire nervous system was nothing but agony as she was propelled off into space along with the most brilliant bolt of lightning the solar system had ever seen. The blast faded on Thor stared up into the sky with a smile, seeing no trace left of his adversary. "That is the might of an Asgardian." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Vegeta with his face in the ground racked in pain as the blood oozed out of his body. "Pathetic…caught off guard and left to die in the dirt. The bitch couldn't even face me head on…" The Saiyan Prince pushed himself onto all fours with a groan, coughing up globs of blood and spit as he moved. "But her words. Insulting me, my heritage and my people… I can't let that stand. I will not let it stand…" A cyan glow engulfed his wounds, flickering like fire, filling him with power as he rose to his feet. The dust began to kick up around his feet as he stood, allowing the blue light to envelop his entire body. Galaxies away Goku smiled. "I WILL NOT LET HER INSULT THE NAME OF THE SAIYANS!" At the exact moment that Thor's blast lit up the sky, Vegeta lit up the planet. The transformation into a Super Saiyan God leveled the entire mountain side from where he stood, changing his hair to match his aura in the process. BATTLE MUSIC: You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)-Bullet for My Valentine The sonic boom of Vegeta's takeoff obliterated what was left of the surrounding landscape. More than a mile away his fist landed on Thor's face at the exact moment he took off. Thor was drilled down into the ground, leaving a trench in the ground over a thousand feet long by the unexpected blow. He came to a stop just in time for an uppercut that sent him into a nearby mountain peak and was met at the top with a kick that sent him straight through the entire thing. A dozen ki blasts followed him into the mountain, each erupting with the force of a dozen nuclear bombs. Mjolnir burst from the rubble and burst towards the Saiyan at max speed. The Prince dodged to the side, only for the weapon to curve after him. Seeing this the Prince smirked and vanished in a blur of speed, the hammer close behind him. A blue ring formed around the planet, then another and another. Each ring was punctuated with an explosion, each at a different spot than the last. Vegeta circled the planet with the hammer in pursuit, smashing a fist into its master at each pass. The atmosphere was ignited with his speed, the ozone burned around him as he moved. The Thunderer couldn't react, he could only take each hit as it came. Finally on one rotation he caught the hammer as it came to him and threw up a wall of lightning in front of him. Vegeta easily avoided it and appeared at the Thunder God's side. "You have to power to match me, maybe even beat me, however you lack the speed necessary to fight on my level. You're finished. Where is the woman?" Thor's entire body was a massive bruise, his power was completely spent. Only sheer willpower was keeping him on his feet yet he still smiled at the angry warrior. "A truly impressive performance friend, it his been a long time since I have battled someone of your level. I should enjoy another match with you in the future. I believe that you are the victor here, I blasted the woman into space while you were removed from the battle." "No…I can sense her now. Hmph. Take a rest there blondie, the next round is about to start." A quick chop to the back of the neck sent the Thunderer into the realm of dreams, leaving it two on two. Diana landed across from Vegeta moments later, the two fighters squaring off angrily. "I see you have defeated Thor. He was a greater opponent than I gave him credit for, if it wasn't for my bracelets then the victor would be decided already. Now though, I can make sure that scum like you does not succeed." "Let me tell you something woman. I am aware of what I've done, what my people have done. I know most would view us as monsters, probably rightly so. But as time has passed I've found a new home on my realms Earth. I've gotten family and friends there, people I care for and fight to protect. I have become an Earthling…AN EARTHLING WITH A SAIYANS PRIDE!" "Muster up all the Pride you want, it still will not atone for the millions of deaths that can be placed squarely on your head! For their sake I shall kill you here so that you may be judged in the next world!" "Been there, done that. Twice now actually, or maybe three if we count time travel. Regardless, death does not scare me. Even if it did though, you are incapable of granting it. You were a decent match for me powered down, but as a Super Saiyan God I'm in a completely different dimension. Your power isn't enough to defeat me." "Then I'll merely have to unleash the power of a god myself!" Vegeta quirked an eyebrow as the bracelets fell from Diana's wrists. The result was instantaneous, her eyes lit up with blue energy and her skin made the slightest change of hues. But even the Saiyan Prince couldn't deny, the jump in power was impressive. "Now there is a fight. Let's begin!" Vegeta opened with a small ki blast that Wonder Woman dodged as she charged in. Vegeta took note of her movements as he avoided the first punch and matched the second with a blow of his own. The planet itself shook from the impact as the two stalemated. The smile on the Saiyan's face grew as Wonder Woman failed to back down an inch and instead pressed her attack. He deflected a kick aimed at his head and dodged another aimed for his knees. Diana dashed forwards and grabbed onto his armor, holding him in place to land a few solid hits that had Vegeta gasping for air. He fired off another energy blast that she dodged and had to leap away to avoid taking another hit. Wonder Woman pressed her attack, throwing out a combo with the power to demolish a small nation. Hard-pressed, Vegeta was forced to give more and more ground as the Amazon closed in on him. The smirk on her face matched his and soon both warriors were trading blows across the entire planet. Tectonic plates were shattered, volcanoes erupted, and mountains crumbled as the landscape was ravaged by the clash of the two fighters. "You know, this is the second time I've been both disappointed and surprised at the same time today." Vegeta said as he drilled a kick into Diana's kidney. "What's that supposed to mean?" She responded, deflecting a kick and attempting to respond with her own "Well," he knocked the kick away, "The big guy had the power to compete with me but not the speed. At first you weren't really an issue but taking those bracelets off gave you a pretty good boost. But you've fallen for the same trap my son did years ago." "A trap?" "Your god powers have boosted your strength, but not any other of your abilities. On top of that… you've given up the only thing that was stopping me from beating you." "What are you talking about?" "With the bracelets out of my way, you simply cannot survive one of my attacks. Just like my idiot son forcing a transformation to gain power, at the cost of most of his speed." "If you think that I need my bracelets to fight then you are sorely mistaken!" Diana grabbed the rope from her side and launched it at the Saiyan Prince. Vegeta dashed in himself, allowing the rope to begin to wrap around him as he brought his hands directly up to her face. "GALICK GUN: FIRE!" A purple beam encompassed the planet, blasting out into space where it punch through a moon before disappearing into the void. When the glow faded away Vegeta stood next to the pulverized, barely conscious form of the Amazon Princess. "Just to let you know, the only reason I didn't kill you was because Kakarot said he wouldn't teleport me home if I murdered anyone." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX And that's it. I'll be completely honest, I was planning on a different winner when I first announced this fight. But after seeing what the gods are capable of in Super now, the characters are just ridiculous. Beerus flew through a nebula and then part of a solar system in two minutes. A nebula can be anywhere between 1 and 300 lightyears long. This blows both Mjolnir and Wonder Woman out of the water, heck this is better than anything I've even seen from Superman. Then we have the fact that God mode can apparently overwhelm literally dozens of planet busting attacks at once, it's insane. Thor can match Vegeta for damage output but is completely dominated in speed to the point that he cannot compete while Wonder Woman can only keep up without her bracelets, leaving her completely vulnerable to the most dangerous attacks in Vegeta's arsenal. In the end, the newest of the God characters is simply the strongest. The win goes to the Prince of the Saiyans. Just to let you guys know, this is the last of these I'll be doing for a while. I've really lost my interest in writing this compared to Escalation, to the point that this fight and the Luke vs Eragon fight felt like they were chores. I'll probably write more here eventually, but for now I'm just not interested. Thanks for everything here, have a good one. < Prev Next >	i don't know
In most modern operating systems ctrl (or on a mac the mac key) x is cut, ctrl c is copy and ctrl z is undo. What is the letter for paste?	command line - Console Text Editor with Windows-like keyboard shortcuts (ctrl-z, x, c, v) - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange Console Text Editor with Windows-like keyboard shortcuts (ctrl-z, x, c, v) up vote 17 down vote favorite 10 Ok, I realise that I risk a religious war asking a question about text editors, but here goes. Requirements Mostly used for config file edits Text based not GUI Available for Raspian flavour of Debian No learning required for a Windows/Mac GUI user (no vi/vim) Makes full use of keys found on modern keyboards, i.e. home, end, pgup, pgdn, del Use keyboard shortcuts found in pretty much all GUI apps, e.g. Undo ( Ctrl-Z Optional: mouse support for changing cursor position and selecting text Surely this isn't a big ask in this day and age? 2 "No learning required" sounds like an unusually restrictive (and possibly unrealistic) criterion especially as you are asking for a CLI tool... – jasonwryan Oct 3 '12 at 20:02 nano would be close. It wont have the exact same shortcuts but similar shortcuts to do the same operation. or you can create .nanorc and have custom shortcuts – h3rrmiller Oct 3 '12 at 20:02 1 @jasonwryan As an experienced Windows (or Mac) user, I already have the learning required to use a modern text editor using only the keyboard. I'd like to use that same experience in a Linux CLI tool. – Greg Woods Oct 3 '12 at 20:10 3 The shortcuts you're expecting are Microsoft's modifications on IBM's CUA guidelines. Neither CUA nor MS's modifications are traditional in the unix world. – Gilles Oct 3 '12 at 22:56 3 @Gilles I'm not entirely sure I agree with calling those shortcuts "Windows" shortcuts. Every common GUI application that does text editing uses those shortcuts on all the major platforms. Many of those shortcuts predate Windows as well. – jw013 Oct 4 '12 at 14:25 up vote 9 down vote joe is, IMO, the best of the editors-that-aren't-vi. It's a decent full-featured editor in its own right, rather than a stripped down featureless minimal editor like nano. If invoked as jstar or joe, the default key-bindings are WordStar -like which have also been used in many other programs over the years, including the editor in the Borland Turbo Pascal & Turbo C IDEs, so should be familiar to many users. If invoked as jmac the key-bindings are emacs-like. The key-bindings are configurable and if you can't find a configuration that exactly suits you, you can add one yourself or copy-and-modify an existing one. I'm too much of a vi user to use it myself, but I frequently recommend it to people who don't like or want to learn a modal editor like vi, with good results. Here's the description in the debian package: Joe, or Joe's Own Editor, has the feel of most PC text editors: the key sequences are reminiscent of WordStar and Turbo C editors, but the feature set is much larger than of those. Joe has all of the features a Unix user should expect: full use of termcap/terminfo, complete VI-style Unix integration, a powerful configuration file, and regular expression search system. It also has six help reference cards which are always available, and an intuitive, simple, and well thought-out user interface. Joe has a great screen update optimization algorithm, multiple windows (through/between which you can scroll) and lacks the confusing notion of named buffers. It has command history, TAB expansion in file selection menus, undo and redo functions, (un)indenting and paragraph formatting, filtering highlighted blocks through any external Unix command, editing a pipe into or out of a command, and block move, copy, delete or filter. Through simple QEdit-style configuration files, Joe can be set up to emulate editors such as Pico and Emacs, along with a complete imitation of WordStar, and a restricted mode version (lets you edit only the files specified on the command line). Joe also has a deferred screen update to handle typeahead, and it ensures that deferral is not bypassed by tty buffering. It's usable even at 2400 baud, and it will work on any kind of sane terminal. It is, AFAIK, packaged for all distros, and source is available at http://joe-editor.sourceforge.net/ - the debianised source should compile on Raspian if there isn't already a binary package. with M- ("Meta"). Unfortunately, there seems to be no way to bind combinations containing the Shift key. The nano defaults to skip wordwise are Ctrl+Space and Meta+Space . And as if that wasn't enough, you can't bind arrow keys neither. But maybe you can live with these drawbacks. Because take a look at the bright side: As a matter of fact, there is a package on github , mostly containing improved syntax highlighting, but also coming with almost all of your desired keybindings. Install it by calling make, but be aware that your current ~/.nanorc will be overwritten during the process. I think you should give it a try, even though that Shift+Arrow selecting seems to be one of your highest priorities. In nano, you would use Ctrl+A to initiate selection mode, so you don't even have to keep Shift pushed down all the time! And you can always use the Ctrl+Shift+X etc. shortcuts that your terminal provides. As you might have recognized, I am quite happy with nano, possibly partly due to being a former Windows user. Edit: Here's a screenshot showing some of the pertinent key bindings in the bottom help bar. up vote 6 down vote I have tried all of the above solutions (except the ones that are obviously stupid, like emacs or vi configurations). The best overall is tilde. Truly made to order to answer the original question posed by Greg Woods. It should be added to all the standard linux repositories. As a long time nano user, who found his way here looking for something equally simple with a real undo/redo buffer and standard GUI editor key bindings, I heartily recommend the Sanos editor. It is tiny and does just what the original query demands. Its sole defect is there is no mouse support for placing the cursor. It is my new favorite minimal editor, and nano is going into the dustbin. You do have to compile it, but it is a trivial program to compile - a single C language source file. I compiled it to "sane" for "sanos editor" (sanos is actually a mini-os). And now, to reiterate the question, which most replies and votes seem to ignore: the request is for a dead simple basic editor that just works and uses the standard GUI bindings (which, by the way, do not belong to Windows). The two I recommend, and fte, are the only ones that fill the bill, and fte is too quirky in an xterm. up vote 4 down vote Cream is a configuration of vim that is modeless and which uses all the keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl+X, Ctrl+V that you might expect. Unlike Vim it isn't alien to people used to Windows GUI applications like Notepad. If you can use Notepad you can use Cream. Can be used for config file edits Text based as well as GUI Available for Raspian flavour of Debian No learning required for a Windows/Mac GUI user Makes full use of keys found on modern keyboards, i.e. home, end, pgup, pgdn, del Use keyboard shortcuts found in pretty much all GUI apps, e.g. Undo (Ctrl-Z), Redo (Shift-Ctrl-Z), Select All (Ctrl-A), Cut (Ctrl-X), Copy (Ctrl-C), Paste (Ctrl-V), Expand selection (Shift-Arrow), Skip word (Ctrl-Arrow), Delete selection (Del) etc Mouse support for changing cursor position and selecting text I have tried Nano, Joe, Pico etc. While they are easier than Emacs or Vi[m], they all have weird, idiosyncratic UIs unlike any other program since the 1980s. But there are modern, CUA-compliant editors for Linux out there! Someone recommended FTE. It is long-unmaintained, but there is a current fork called eFTE: http://sourceforge.net/projects/efte/ It's pretty good; for instance, it is able to trap the Alt key for menu access even when running in an X terminal-emulator window. There is another one that I rather like as well, called Tilde, which is currently maintained and has recent packages available. http://os.ghalkes.nl/tilde/ up vote 0 down vote Le is another solution. It is like Norton Commander ( of Midnight Commander fame ) but perhaps more intuitive. In MC you press F3 to begin and end region selection, then use F5 or F6 to copy or move it. On le F5 begins selection and if you move forward, F6 will end it. If you move forward past a previous selection, F6 will add everything up to it, or if you move backward and press F5 everything up to it will be added. So you can use F5 or F6 as it if it were F3 in MC. If you press F5 and move backwards and press it again it selects that region. If you press F6 and move forward and press it again it selects that region. To install use:	ctrl v
Which film director, who died today in 1980, directed the films “Marnie”, “Rear Window”, “The Trouble With Harry”, and “Frenzy”, among many others?	command line - Console Text Editor with Windows-like keyboard shortcuts (ctrl-z, x, c, v) - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange Console Text Editor with Windows-like keyboard shortcuts (ctrl-z, x, c, v) up vote 17 down vote favorite 10 Ok, I realise that I risk a religious war asking a question about text editors, but here goes. Requirements Mostly used for config file edits Text based not GUI Available for Raspian flavour of Debian No learning required for a Windows/Mac GUI user (no vi/vim) Makes full use of keys found on modern keyboards, i.e. home, end, pgup, pgdn, del Use keyboard shortcuts found in pretty much all GUI apps, e.g. Undo ( Ctrl-Z Optional: mouse support for changing cursor position and selecting text Surely this isn't a big ask in this day and age? 2 "No learning required" sounds like an unusually restrictive (and possibly unrealistic) criterion especially as you are asking for a CLI tool... – jasonwryan Oct 3 '12 at 20:02 nano would be close. It wont have the exact same shortcuts but similar shortcuts to do the same operation. or you can create .nanorc and have custom shortcuts – h3rrmiller Oct 3 '12 at 20:02 1 @jasonwryan As an experienced Windows (or Mac) user, I already have the learning required to use a modern text editor using only the keyboard. I'd like to use that same experience in a Linux CLI tool. – Greg Woods Oct 3 '12 at 20:10 3 The shortcuts you're expecting are Microsoft's modifications on IBM's CUA guidelines. Neither CUA nor MS's modifications are traditional in the unix world. – Gilles Oct 3 '12 at 22:56 3 @Gilles I'm not entirely sure I agree with calling those shortcuts "Windows" shortcuts. Every common GUI application that does text editing uses those shortcuts on all the major platforms. Many of those shortcuts predate Windows as well. – jw013 Oct 4 '12 at 14:25 up vote 9 down vote joe is, IMO, the best of the editors-that-aren't-vi. It's a decent full-featured editor in its own right, rather than a stripped down featureless minimal editor like nano. If invoked as jstar or joe, the default key-bindings are WordStar -like which have also been used in many other programs over the years, including the editor in the Borland Turbo Pascal & Turbo C IDEs, so should be familiar to many users. If invoked as jmac the key-bindings are emacs-like. The key-bindings are configurable and if you can't find a configuration that exactly suits you, you can add one yourself or copy-and-modify an existing one. I'm too much of a vi user to use it myself, but I frequently recommend it to people who don't like or want to learn a modal editor like vi, with good results. Here's the description in the debian package: Joe, or Joe's Own Editor, has the feel of most PC text editors: the key sequences are reminiscent of WordStar and Turbo C editors, but the feature set is much larger than of those. Joe has all of the features a Unix user should expect: full use of termcap/terminfo, complete VI-style Unix integration, a powerful configuration file, and regular expression search system. It also has six help reference cards which are always available, and an intuitive, simple, and well thought-out user interface. Joe has a great screen update optimization algorithm, multiple windows (through/between which you can scroll) and lacks the confusing notion of named buffers. It has command history, TAB expansion in file selection menus, undo and redo functions, (un)indenting and paragraph formatting, filtering highlighted blocks through any external Unix command, editing a pipe into or out of a command, and block move, copy, delete or filter. Through simple QEdit-style configuration files, Joe can be set up to emulate editors such as Pico and Emacs, along with a complete imitation of WordStar, and a restricted mode version (lets you edit only the files specified on the command line). Joe also has a deferred screen update to handle typeahead, and it ensures that deferral is not bypassed by tty buffering. It's usable even at 2400 baud, and it will work on any kind of sane terminal. It is, AFAIK, packaged for all distros, and source is available at http://joe-editor.sourceforge.net/ - the debianised source should compile on Raspian if there isn't already a binary package. with M- ("Meta"). Unfortunately, there seems to be no way to bind combinations containing the Shift key. The nano defaults to skip wordwise are Ctrl+Space and Meta+Space . And as if that wasn't enough, you can't bind arrow keys neither. But maybe you can live with these drawbacks. Because take a look at the bright side: As a matter of fact, there is a package on github , mostly containing improved syntax highlighting, but also coming with almost all of your desired keybindings. Install it by calling make, but be aware that your current ~/.nanorc will be overwritten during the process. I think you should give it a try, even though that Shift+Arrow selecting seems to be one of your highest priorities. In nano, you would use Ctrl+A to initiate selection mode, so you don't even have to keep Shift pushed down all the time! And you can always use the Ctrl+Shift+X etc. shortcuts that your terminal provides. As you might have recognized, I am quite happy with nano, possibly partly due to being a former Windows user. Edit: Here's a screenshot showing some of the pertinent key bindings in the bottom help bar. up vote 6 down vote I have tried all of the above solutions (except the ones that are obviously stupid, like emacs or vi configurations). The best overall is tilde. Truly made to order to answer the original question posed by Greg Woods. It should be added to all the standard linux repositories. As a long time nano user, who found his way here looking for something equally simple with a real undo/redo buffer and standard GUI editor key bindings, I heartily recommend the Sanos editor. It is tiny and does just what the original query demands. Its sole defect is there is no mouse support for placing the cursor. It is my new favorite minimal editor, and nano is going into the dustbin. You do have to compile it, but it is a trivial program to compile - a single C language source file. I compiled it to "sane" for "sanos editor" (sanos is actually a mini-os). And now, to reiterate the question, which most replies and votes seem to ignore: the request is for a dead simple basic editor that just works and uses the standard GUI bindings (which, by the way, do not belong to Windows). The two I recommend, and fte, are the only ones that fill the bill, and fte is too quirky in an xterm. up vote 4 down vote Cream is a configuration of vim that is modeless and which uses all the keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl+X, Ctrl+V that you might expect. Unlike Vim it isn't alien to people used to Windows GUI applications like Notepad. If you can use Notepad you can use Cream. Can be used for config file edits Text based as well as GUI Available for Raspian flavour of Debian No learning required for a Windows/Mac GUI user Makes full use of keys found on modern keyboards, i.e. home, end, pgup, pgdn, del Use keyboard shortcuts found in pretty much all GUI apps, e.g. Undo (Ctrl-Z), Redo (Shift-Ctrl-Z), Select All (Ctrl-A), Cut (Ctrl-X), Copy (Ctrl-C), Paste (Ctrl-V), Expand selection (Shift-Arrow), Skip word (Ctrl-Arrow), Delete selection (Del) etc Mouse support for changing cursor position and selecting text I have tried Nano, Joe, Pico etc. While they are easier than Emacs or Vi[m], they all have weird, idiosyncratic UIs unlike any other program since the 1980s. But there are modern, CUA-compliant editors for Linux out there! Someone recommended FTE. It is long-unmaintained, but there is a current fork called eFTE: http://sourceforge.net/projects/efte/ It's pretty good; for instance, it is able to trap the Alt key for menu access even when running in an X terminal-emulator window. There is another one that I rather like as well, called Tilde, which is currently maintained and has recent packages available. http://os.ghalkes.nl/tilde/ up vote 0 down vote Le is another solution. It is like Norton Commander ( of Midnight Commander fame ) but perhaps more intuitive. In MC you press F3 to begin and end region selection, then use F5 or F6 to copy or move it. On le F5 begins selection and if you move forward, F6 will end it. If you move forward past a previous selection, F6 will add everything up to it, or if you move backward and press F5 everything up to it will be added. So you can use F5 or F6 as it if it were F3 in MC. If you press F5 and move backwards and press it again it selects that region. If you press F6 and move forward and press it again it selects that region. To install use:	i don't know
What state, known as The Volunteer State, was the 16th state to join the Union on June 1, 1796?	June 1, 1796 ï¿½ Tennessee is admitted as the 16th state of the United States. - Democratic Underground June 1, 1796 ï¿½ Tennessee is admitted as the 16th state of the United States. Tennessee (i/tɛnɨˈsiː/) (Cherokee: ᏔᎾᏏ is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. Tennessee is the 36th most extensive and the 17th most populous of the 50 United States. Tennessee is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. The Appalachian Mountains dominate the eastern part of the state, and the Mississippi River forms the state's western border. Tennessee's capital and second largest city is Nashville, which has a population of 609,644. Memphis is the state's largest city, with a population of 652,050. The state of Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians. What is now Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later part of the Southwest Territory. Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. Tennessee was the last state to leave the Union and join the Confederacy at the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War in 1861, and the first state to be readmitted to the Union at the end of the war. Tennessee furnished more soldiers for the Confederate Army than any other state, and more soldiers for the Union Army than any other Southern state. In the 20th century, Tennessee transitioned from an agrarian economy to a more diversified economy, aided at times by federal entities such as the Tennessee Valley Authority. In the early 1940s, the city of Oak Ridge was established to house the Manhattan Project's uranium enrichment facilities, helping to build the world's first atomic bomb.	Tennessee
The Louisiana Purchase was signed today in 1803. Which country sold the land to the USA?	Tennessee - Essay by Jbou11 Below is an essay on "Tennessee" from Anti Essays, your source for research papers, essays, and term paper examples. Tennessee Tennessee became a state on June 1, 1796, becoming the 16th state to join the union. Before becoming a state, the area had been part of North Carolina. In the 1760s, long hunters had begun to explore the area as they moved further west to hunt. In 1790, North Carolina ceded this area to the federal government where it became the Southwest Territory. As the Southwest Territory, William Blount was named the governor and Knoxville became the capital. At this time population grew as families moved into the area and towns were created. By 1795, the population was 70,000. At this time, a petition was given to Congress to change Tennessee from a territory to a state. There was a lively debate between the Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists. While the Federalists were opposed to giving Tennessee statehood, the Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans were successful and President George Washington signed a bill on June 1, 1796 that gave statehood to Tennessee, the 16th state of the union. There are tons of random facts about Tennessee that you would never guess.such as the name "Tennessee" originated from the old Yuchi Indian word, "Tana-see," meaning "The Meeting Place." Have you ever wondered how Tennessee got its nickname as The Volunteer State? Well, Tennessee won its nickname as The Volunteer State during the War of 1812 when volunteer soldiers from Tennessee displayed marked valor in the Battle of New Orleans. Tennessee was the last state to secede the union, but the first to rejoin the union after the Civil War. Another fact is that the city of Murfreesboro lies in the exact geographical center of the state. It is not an important state but that is something that not many people know. Some say that Davy Crocket was born on a mountain top in Tennessee like the song says, but that’s not true. Davy Crocket was born on the banks of Limestone Creek near Greeneville, where a replica of the Crockett's log cabin stands today. There are many...	i don't know
On April 29, 1789, Lt William Bligh and 18 others were set adrift in a lifeboat as Fletcher Christian mutinied and took control of what famous ship?	Mutiny on the Bounty Leaves Remains of Perilous Voyage \| National Underwater and Marine Agency National Underwater and Marine Agency Posted on June 1, 2012 by Ellsworth Boyd HMS Bounty Countless books and films have featured Mutiny on the Bounty, the provocative 18th century saga of a harsh captain and his rebellious crew aboard an English ship. Based on a novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Hall, the story follows the real-life mutiny led by Lt. Fletcher Christian against Capt. William Bligh on the HMS Bounty. After setting Bligh and some of the men who remained loyal to him adrift in a 23-foot “longboat,” Christian and his followers returned to Tahiti where they had stopped to load breadfruit saplings. Their orders—signed by an admiral of the English Royal Navy—were to deliver the breadfruit to the British colony of Jamaica where it would be grown as a cheap source of food for the slaves. After sailing for 10 months across 27,000 miles of open sea, Tahiti was indeed a pleasurable paradise. When it was time to shove off, the men reluctantly left their lush environs and free love with the Tahitian women. The Bounty departed Tahiti with a cargo of 1,000 saplings, but three weeks later near the island of Tonga, the mutiny transpired. Conflict between the men stemmed from class differences between the aristocratic Christian and his ambitious ship’s master. Bligh wanted to impress his naval superiors and gain career advancement, while Christian was concerned about the well-being of the men who were subject to “inhumane treatment.” The crew had never dealt with such an ill-tempered, cynical leader with a cock-of-the-walk demeanor. These were hardy sailors, used to being at sea for months and sometimes a year or more. But the overbearing Bligh, in an effort to reach Tahiti sooner by trying to skirt the islands off Cape Horn, South America, lost time instead. In an effort to make it up, Bligh worked the crew harder and cut their rations. Led by Christian, the mutiny succeeded with the departure of Bligh and his loyalists. After returning to Tahiti, Christian and eight of his men took some Tahitian women and set sail in search of a hideout from the British Navy. The fugitives scoured the Pacific, sailing through 8,000 miles of perilous seas before settling on Pitcairn Island. They set fire to the ship and sank it close to shore in what is now Bounty Bay. It’s been more than 10 years since the United Kingdom gave permission for tourism development on Pitcairn Island. This includes arrangements made through local officials to dive the remains of the HMS Bounty. There’s not a lot to see, but divers who have visited the site describe it as “an epic adventure.” There are some coral-encrusted timbers, ballast stones, an anchor and a cannon scattered in shallow water. As one diver put it: “Diving the Bounty is like putting the final piece together in a puzzle that chronicles one of the most exciting seafaring tales of all time.” Pitcairn Island, located in the South Pacific halfway between New Zealand and Peru, has been called “one of the most isolated places on earth.” It’s 3,000 miles from any continent and too small for an airport. Yachts and cruise ships stop there, but only for a short time due to the lack of a safe anchorage. Ocean Voyages, Inc., Sausalito, California, is one of several travel agencies that arrange charters from French Polynesia to Pitcairn Island. About Ellsworth Boyd Ellsworth Boyd, Professor Emeritus, College of Education, Towson University, Towson, Maryland, pursues an avocation of diving and writing. He has published articles and photo's in every major dive magazine in the US., Canada, and half a dozen foreign countries. An authority on shipwrecks, Ellsworth has received thousands of letters and e-mails from divers throughout the world who responded to his Wreck Facts column in Sport Diver Magazine. When he's not writing, or diving, Ellsworth appears as a featured speaker at maritime symposiums in Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale, New York and Philadelphia. "Romance & Mystery: Sunken Treasures of the Lost Galleons," is one of his most popular talks. 38 Responses to Mutiny on the Bounty Leaves Remains of Perilous Voyage Maurice Bligh June 3, 2012 at 9:04 am Prof. Boyd, With respect, clearly you are NOT a maritime historian. Your article is a classic case of something written by someone who somewhere along the road from a bookshop or library has read a few novels, and has rehashed this fiction and presented it as if it was a true story. I’m not blaming you for being a victim, for that’s what you are. Millions have been duped by those copy-cat novelists and what I call the Hollywood brainwashed brigade whose unashamed prejudices have completely distorted British maritime history into a legend of their own making. And you’re doing them a favor by slavishly perpetuating the myths and misconceptions they have manufactured for commercial reasons. May I take this opportunity to turn the coin over to the other face of a true story that’s taken me over forty years to research? And may I re-introduce my great-great-great-grandfather as one-and-the same man who, at the age of 32, once commanded (among fifteen ships in a long and distinguished career) the one-and-only His Majesty’s Armed Vessel (not ‘HMS’) Bounty. He was Vice-Admiral WILLIAM BLIGH, RN (Royal Navy) FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society). I’m sure you’ll agree that FRS means he was an acknowledged scientist and a celebrated, brilliant navigator/surveyor/cartographer or map-maker. And this was only one of his talents among many that earned him the respect and admiration of his friend Lord Horatio Nelson whose bacon Bligh saved in one of the bloodiest battles (Battle of Copenhagen) that Britain ever fought during the 18th and 19th centuries. So, what actually happened in the South Seas to or aboard HMAV Bounty? It’s all accounted for in manuscript material, logs, journals, letters, the vast majority held in national archives in Britain and Australia. In nutshell, on the 28th of April, 1789, at around 5-30 in the morning, most of the crew were sound asleep as usual. The on-duty crewmen as members of the Third Watch (from 4-8 am) had control of the ship, as usual, during the months of the outward-bound and homeward-bound voyage to and from Tahiti. Notably they also had the keys to the Arms chest. And when the ship had already passed the point of no return en route to the Straits of Torres, across virtually uncharted seas, this small gang of trusted men turned into armed pirates or ‘piratical villains’ (there’s a host of historic references to this) and they very simply and bloodlessly seized the Bounty. They were not heroic ‘mutineers’ or by dictionary definition the equivalent of civilian strikers, but opportunistic thieves intent on cutting themselves out a new life in the South Seas, with an armed ship worth several millions of dollars, stocked with the latest navigational equipment and basic supplies, plus booze, and drugs (laudanum or raw opium) to boot. As one piratical able seaman John Adams said many years later on Pitcairn Island, ‘We had no real grievance against Captain Bligh. We just wanted to return to our loved ones on Otaheite.’ Oh well, that’s alright then, is it? In other words: ‘Look, judge, the only reason we robbed the bank was because we wanted to live the lives of millionaire playboys and go cruising around the South Seas for plenty of women and sex in ‘paradise’. The price paid for these luxuries, however, was by the majority of the ship crew members, some of whom who were held as prisoners aboard the Bounty; and not forgetting almost half of the ship’s crew and 19 men who were dumped overboard and cast adrift in an open boat just 23 foot-long. This was left near sinking at a spot over 4000 miles away from the nearest known outpost of civilization. Consequently, some shipmates paid with their lives. Then, Professor, there’s something you never mentioned about the pirates who firstly visited the island of Tubaii. There they tried to set up a base, and slaughtered over 60 Polynesian men, women and children. Then they returned to Tahiti to kidnap, rape, before setting sail and leaving more bloodshed in their wake, and more bloodshed after arriving on Pitcairn Island. Of course, you’re not alone in you omission because Hollywood and their novelist support group forgot to mention this little detail too. Your readers might ask why, one of these days? By the way, there’s no need go scuba-diving in the shallows of ‘Bounty Bay’ off Pitcairn Island. Many have already discovered that there’s nothing there to see — despite the romantic legend that ‘the wreck of HMS Bounty can seen beneath the waves’. For in the opinion of marine archaeologist I’ve encountered en route to Pitcairn; whatever remains of an unaccounted and estimated 80% of HMAV Bounty is most likely down the depths of a mile and more of water, possibly two miles away from that rocky outcrop. It’s ironic that Pitcairn Island floats on a legend the descendants of the Bounty pirates had never heard of before the outside world arrived to rewrite their own ‘history’ into the fable they’ve become. Marks out of ten, Prof? You must try harder! Maurice Bligh June 4, 2012 at 12:21 am Maurice: This is absolutely astounding, hearng from an actual Bligh descendant. Thank you for writing. You must have the real scoop then, all the things that the history books left out and as you say, dstorted. You must have visited the archives in Britian and Australia. Tell us more please. What else is in these archives? Are there actual logs similar to the ones Capt. Fizmer and I found while searching for pirate ships in Washingtn’s National Archives? (See my NUMA article about Searching for Pirate Ships in the National Acrchives. Are these archives in Britian and Australia, (including records of the Bounty) open for everyone to see? Or do you need a special pass or permit? Please tell us more about the details you have discovered in your research. I find this quite fascinating. I’m always interested, and so are many NUMA viewers, in the inside story of historical epics such as this. Tell us more. Thanks again. Best regards, Ellsworth Boyd Wreckmaster David Townsend June 4, 2012 at 4:20 am Professor Boyd, I really wanted to educate you to the real Vice-Admiral William Bligh (Captain of the HMAV Bounty) but I see Mr. Bligh has mentioned what needed to be stated. I will not say anything more along those lines other than to say that ‘then’ Captain Bligh’s main concern was the health of his crew. Fletcher Christian certainly was far from that. My great great great uncle, Dr. Thomas Denman Ledward estoled his Captain in a letter home (June 6, 1788) from the Cape of Good Hope regarding how much the Captain’s concerns would be credited regarding the health of his crew by his resolution and perseverance. With a ship of only 46 men, and a two year voyage at stake, he could not afford to loose any men if he was to succeed in completing his mission. The crews health would be paramount to successfully bring the Bounty back to Jamaica and England. As a former NAUI asst.diving instructor, there is nothing to see at Pitcairn Island in ways of the remnants of the HMAV Bounty in Bounty Bay except ‘ballast stones.” and no, I’ve not dived on the Bounty. Rather, I’ve viewed many photographs that have been taken of what there is to see. I’ve done my share of wreck diving here in Southern California and to view ballast stones is nothing to get excited about. Most of what there had been to see of the Bounty was back in the 1950’s when Luis Marsden (see National Geographic Magazine ‘I found the bones of the Bounty’ 1956) recovered the Bounty’s anchor. Since a short time after that, a few of her cannons had been found. Her rudder was found by Parkin Christian back in the 1930’s, which what is left of it is in the Fiji Museum. And as Mr. Bligh mentioned, most of the ship had slid off into deeper waters at Pitcairn which explains “why” neither of the Bounty’s two stoves have ever been found or recovered as they were on the HMS Pandora in Australia. Anchors from the Bounty are all over the world. One of which is on Pitcairn Island, the one discovered by Luis Marsden. A few of the Bounty’s cannon are in the Pitcairn Island Museum. Other artifacts from the Bounty are still under preservation treatments at the Queensland Museum in Townsville, Australia along with those of the HMS Pandora today. There is the National Archives in Kew, England which have the Bounty’s Log book (formerly known as the Public Records Office) http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/ And, yes, anyone can ‘walk in’ and research all of the Admiralty records there which include the Log of the Bounty as well as theState Library (Mitchell Library) in Australia. Both of these places hold the ‘official documents’ pertaining the the HMAV Bounty and Admiral Bligh. No permits are required. But you must ‘register’ at Kew to research and view these documents. Photographs are permitted “by permit” of any of the ‘original documents’ at Kew. You can also check out: if one is not so inclined to go and visit the National Archives in Kew or the State Library in Australia where the related documents are to be found. David Townsend June 4, 2012 at 9:08 am Ellsworth, Thanks for your response. You can’t imagine what flak I’ve had to endure over the decades from some folks who cannot conceive that things they’ve been told about what happened on the ‘Bounty’ was as wrong as the Flat Earth legend of previous centuries. Indeed, I’ve often thought that I was born too soon in the 20th century (1943) to benefit from the technologies that have been developed to date, for example our PC’s that the young ‘un’s imagine must have been around forever. And now, at a click, we can tap into a mass of digital scan archived manuscript material on the Bligh/Bounty subject from where the original documents are held, primarily in the New South Wales State Library, Sydney, Australia, and in the UK National Archives, Kew, Surry, England. These doorways to the truths of history are open for anyone to see, and it’s all ‘for free’ if you go there, or if you visit via the internet sometimes for a small fee. However, in my youth, I had to travel to Australia and study first-hand the contents of the NSW library during a year-and-half voyage of discovery made ‘In the wake of the Bounty’. My journey to and from the South Seas turned out to be a seafaring adventure of some 36,000 nautical miles and a west-to-east circumnavigation voyage from London to London; the port where HMAV Bounty began her fateful journey. She was originally a two-year old merchant ship named ‘Berthia’ that once sat in St. Katherine’s Dock, London, on the River Thames and close to Tower Bridge that is sometimes erroneously called ‘London Bridge’. Returning to the ‘Bounty’ expedition, for that’s what it was in reality, I would just like to add that as far as the Royal Navy and the some politicians were concerned, the humanitarian aspects of transplanting the Breadfruit trees from Tahiti to the West Indies colonies came second to the objectives behind the surveying and charting of the terrible Straits of Torres. The British Admiralty wanted a commercial sea passage opened up between the East Indies islands and the NSW colony. Whereas others –like the Wilberforce anti-slavery movement— were fundamentally opposed the West Indies having the Breadfruit trees (and various valuable plants from the South Pacific islands) because they thought that this would perpetuate slavery. That’s why I’ve always suspected there was some undercover skulduggery afoot to sabotage the ‘Bounty’ expedition for political reasons, and never mind the intended poor people recipitants who went hungry in the West Indies meanwhile. Notwithstanding, it was my ancestor who completed successfully both the surveying and charting of the Torres Straits, and the transplanting of the Breadfruit and other ‘produce’, in his two-ship expedition (1791-1794) as the ‘Commodore’ of HMS ‘Providence’* with the ‘Assistant’ in company, and for which he received a coveted gold medal. But that re-run of the ‘Bounty’ expedition was ignored by the supporters of the ‘Bounty’ pirates* because it proved everything they didn’t want to know; namely that William Bligh was a praised commander who did everything in his power to make the lives of his crews as safe, healthy and happy as was possible in those times of unimaginable hardships for sailors at sea. But novelists and the movie-makers had to turn him into a ‘brutal flogging tyrant’, which the archives prove he never was, and blame him for all ills of his era because how else could they ‘justify’ the brutality of what their ‘heroes’ portrayed as ‘mutineers’/strikers did to their own shipmates and the Polynesians? [Footnote:* HMS ‘Providence’ on her next voyage under a different captain was lost in the Far East. It’s a sunken wreck that to my knowledge has never been explored. It lies intact (if it’s still in the same spot where it went down) in only 120 foot of water. It’s wasn’t a pirate ship full golden doubloons, but it did have aboard the same chronometers and instruments that admiral WB himself had used. But that’s another story to be dug out of the archives. Could make a good TV documentary though?] [Footnote: ** the real Fletcher Christian, whose family was bankrupt, had sailed under Bligh’s command among others on previous voyages before the ‘Bounty’, and like the entire ship’s crew had volunteered to sail aboard her.] Maurice Bligh. June 4, 2012 at 3:07 pm Ellsworth, An afterthought: – there’s something that might come in handy if or when you’re researching documents pertaining to British Royal Navy ships. Perhaps some readers here may have already wondered WHY the ‘Bounty’ (contrary to hundred of books that all refer to ‘HMS Bounty’) was prefixed HMAV, as I mentioned previously. Can all those books be wrong? In essence, yes, dead wrong because in the 18th century not all RN ships were entitled to carry the prefix of His Majesty’s Ship/HMS. This was only given to vessels that were commanded by ranked Captains, as opposed to the job of captain. There are those who refer to ‘Lieutenant William Bligh’ aboard the ‘Bounty’, and that was his naval rank. But when he was aboard ship as ‘Master and Lieutenant’, he held the authority of a modern-day Lt. Commander and was always addressed as ‘Captain Bligh’. The same applies today to all ship’s commanders who can be of any rank from Warrant Officer to Admiral. Proof of this can be found, for example, in the voyages of Captain James Cook when he took his first vessel ‘Endeavour’ to the South Seas. Like Bligh he was a ranked Lieutenant, so the ship he commanded was ‘His Majesty’s Bark’ not HMS Endeavour’. But when he returned to the South Seas on his second expedition, he had been promoted to the rank of Captain and therefore his next ship ‘Resolution’ was prefixed HMS. It can be very confusing to see ships with same given name and prefixed HMS on one voyage, and the next voyage –if listed under a different commander– prefixed ‘His Majesty’s Sloop’, ‘His Majesty’s Frigate’ etc. etc. It throws doubt on whether or not it’s a different ship entirely and because the same given name can apply to half-a-dozen ships over the centuries. Only the ship’s Muster Books and Logs will tell you who was in command and their ranks at any given time. Maurice Bligh June 5, 2012 at 2:24 pm Added footnote: I believe there may still exist in Bounty Bay, 8 of the Bounty’s 10 swivel guns. One of the swivel guns is in the Pitcairn Island Museum and the other is still undergoing preservation treatment at the Queensland Museum in Australia. Here’s why. All four of her 4lb’er’s have been recovered and accounted for along with 2 of her swivel guns. No underwater archeological survey had ever been conducted on what remnants of the Bounty had been found. Luis Marsden was a diver and not an underwater archeologist unfortunately. And like many divers of his day and ours, this is the fartherest thing from ones mind when ‘discovering’ underwater artifacts. This holds true with the Pitcairn Islanders, for they were able to recover a ‘sizeable portion’ of the Bounty’s copper sheathing of which they used to ‘pay’ for their transportation in relocating to Tahiti when they first left Pitcairn Island in the 1840’s (not sure of the date, but before they resettled on Norfolk Island in 1858). My theory is this: When the Bounty was driven up on the rocks near the shore at Pitcairn Island by Fletcher Christian and his band of pirates, they threw overboard all of the Bounty’s cannon to ‘lighten’ the ship so as to get her as close to shore as possible to unload all that remained of value to use in establishing their new settlement. Her cannon would have been ‘left astern’ of where she actually was floundered on the rocks near the shore ( I have watched video, both underwater and above of the Bounty’s resting spot as well as studying various underwater photos, both recent and from the 1950’s). 20th Century: Her rudder was found with a portion of the sternpost back in the 1930’s by Parkin Christian (a local Pitcairn Islander at the time). This suggest that the Bounty with the remants of her burnt hull was pounded in a back and forth motion and over a short period of time, her rudder and sternpost had broken off the hull from the pounding of the surf and the strong currents that are experienced near the shore of the Island. I feel the Bounty broke up in three sections due to the pounding surf and currents. The stern section was the first section of the ship to break up and slip back out into the depths of the outer area as the depths increase dramatically off shore. With the stern section went one of the stoves the Bounty had in the Great Cabin which was to help keep the Breadfruit plants warm or in a sub tropical condition when sailing into northern waters and over to the Atlantic from Cape Hope. The ‘mid-section’ of the hull (20% of the total ship) which remained grounded pretty much stayed stationary throughout what remains today, with that portion of her ‘ballast stones’ scatter about. The bow of the ship which contained the main Brodie Stove used for cooking, broke off from the mid-section of the hull, driven back over the mid-section and it too then slid off into the depths, most likely not far off from the stern of the ship there in deep waters. If ‘anything’ of the 80% of the remains of the HMAV Bounty possibly exist, they will have to be discovered by professional organizations such as those who discovered and dived the Titanic in the Northern Atlantic. A shame we can only speculate on such things without actual proof. The seas all around Pitcairn Island are pretty rough most of the time. The ‘underwater surge’ where rest the ballast stones of what remains of the HMAV Bounty is very strong. Tough, but ‘divable’ conditions. Eight swivel guns still lay out there somewhere in Bounty Bay and have yet to be discovered and recovered. David Townsend Mr. Bligh, Mr. Townsend, I do think that someone should start getting this information out into the public eye so that we may all understand what truly happened on the Bounty all those years ago. I have never really known what to believe as far as the exact events go, and the two conflicting accounts do make it hard to lend credence to either story. I have to tell you Mr. Bligh that not everybody is going to even think twice about believing your story, even I was not ready to put any thought into what you have ritten at first glance but now it does make sense that the mutineers would tell such a story to discredit the persons they stole from. Sincerly, Ethan Allen June 8, 2012 at 6:00 am Mr. Allen, Your thoughts are much appreciated from my perspective (and I also believe from that of Mr. Bligh’s) ! I work very closely with Mr. Bligh in trying to educate the public in these matters such as when I ran across Prof. Boyd’s article here when he first published it. It can be and is a very difficult thing to do at times in educating the public. The ‘windows of opportunity’ only come from such initial postings as this one as they ‘appear’ on the Internet using a program provided by Google called “Google Alerts.” By this method we are able to respond to Internet Postings regarding the Bounty Saga when they first appear. Until such times or ‘ways’ that make it both feasible and accessible to the general public or the ‘world-at-large’, it’s virtually impossible to get to the “truth” of the Bounty Saga, when as Mr. Bligh correctly pointed out, Hollywood, Calif. distorts and twist the “truth” to sell films/movies. “Truth” does not attract movie goers nor do the “actual documents” that have been written, thus the Novelist like Nordoff and Hall write up their fictionalized versions of what occurred to make such books and films “salable” and profit making. The ‘Bounty Saga’ is not wildly known world-wide but there are many interest groups of this ‘important subject.’ Groups such as ship model builders who love building wooden models of the HMAV Bounty. There are Internet chat groups ( I run two of them) such as https://www.facebook.com/groups/hmavbounty/ (closed group, but photos can be viewed by ‘anyone’ on the Internet and anyone is invited to join, no monies involved, just free knowledge) and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EchosOfTheBounty There are several other Yahoo Groups that also cover this subject of interest to the International Community and many Blog’s as well. Once the ‘waters have been ‘muddied’ it’s not an easy thing to ‘clear them up’ so that mankind can actually see through to the depths of the truth to appreciate the beauty of history as it “was originally written.” Mr. Bligh and myself do our part in trying to help ‘clear up’ the muddied waters. Controversy exist on this famous subject and individual perspectives are tainted in their understandings of this subject. Most people “do not study” either the original documentation or the same documentation that has been ‘transcribed’ on fatefulvoyage.com as they mainly “just take the time” to read one book and base their opinions/judgements on that one account. There are hundreds of books that deal with the “Mutiny on The Bounty” and many of them are out of print. “If only” people would “research” and take the time to study the full spectrum that surrounds the Bounty Saga, their minds would be clear on the subject and confusion and distorted facts would be put to rest. Caroline Alexander has written a fairly new book titled ” The Bounty” which is pretty accurate and up-to-date in the presentation of the Bounty saga. Hollywood, Calif. could greatly contribute to this “if only” they wanted people to understand the “truth”. But they would not make any money in the process because the “truth” would be boring to people. I have been trying to get a few small television film companies interested here in Southern California for some time, but it’s been an ‘up-hill’ battle. My ancestor, Thomas Denman Ledward, surgeon of the HMAV Bounty was one of the few of Captain Bligh’s crew that remained both faithful to his Captain and his country throughout this ordeal. He too was forced into the Bounty’s 23′ launch to take his chances with Captain Bligh and the 17 other loyalist on that 4300 mile survival voyage to Timor, Indonesia. But, like most of the officers of the HMAV Bounty, he too had let his Captain down at that crucial moment when Fletcher Christian and his band of pirates seized the Bounty from His Majesty’s Navy and turned it into a pirate ship, raping, pillaging and murdering men women and children both at Tubuai and Tahiti and finally each other on Pitcairn Island. Due to politics at the then period of time that this occurred, it is difficult to interest other ‘Loyalist descendants’ that we know, such as those of the surname of Fryer (John Fryer, master of the Bounty), Purcell (William Purcell, carpenter of the Bounty), Peckover ( William Peckover, gunner of the Bounty) and many others as their ancestors had falling outs with Captain Bligh during the voyage of the Bounty’s 23′ launch to Timor and Batavia. And though I’m in contact with these descendants, they too hold their ancestors in high esteem but do little to help correct the myths and distortions of the “actual facts” in educating the World Community as to the “truths” of this important historical saga. Such is life and the way of the world at present. And because Hollywood has distorted the “truth” of the Bounty saga by making Fletcher Christian a hero and Captain Bligh a villain, people want to believe that Fletcher Christian was always the “good-guy”. Everyone loves a hero! No one loves a villain! When in “reality” Captain Bligh was the true hero and Fletcher Christian was the true villain!! As Mr. Bligh pointed out above, many here are the “victims” of knowing the “truth” as it really happened. In quoting the televised series of the X Files, “The Truth Is Out There.” May you discover it for yourself sir with all others here and world-wide. I humbly remain at your service. Sincerest Regards, correction: As Mr. Bligh pointed out above, many here are the “victims” of ‘not’ knowing the “truth” as it really happened. Maurice Bligh June 8, 2012 at 7:46 am Dear Mr Allen, Appreciate your comments, but it’s not just a case of needing to get information out into the public eye… it’s already in the public domain. Remember though the old saying – there are none as blind as those who don’t want to see? Generations have been weaned on images that bear no resemblance to what many history books, articles, scans of historic documents can prove are the irrefutable facts and some of which I’ve illustrated previously. These can easily blow all that fictionalized Hollywood stuff, and more, out of the water. Yet long vested biased political and commercial interests would rather the truths be buried beneath a mountain of myths and misconceptions turning victims into criminals and criminals into victims. Even Marlon Brando who played Fletcher Christian in the 1962 movie ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ knew that the rehashed story from the 1930’s novels by Nordhoff & Hall was rubbish. For in his auto-biography ‘Songs My Mother Taught Me’ (page 270) he wrote about the movie’s first director, Carol Reed, “A talented Englishman whom I admired…” “When MGM replaced him with Lewis Milestone, we were told that Carol had had an argument with the studio and quit. Later, I learned that he’d been sacked because he wanted to make Captain Bligh a hero. In reality, Bligh was a hero, but Charles Laughton hadn’t played him that way. Since Laughton was the definitive Bligh, the studio didn’t want to revise history in the new version, which wasn’t a remake of the original but a kind of sequel that picked up where the other one left off. I had seen the 1935 version of Mutiny on the Bounty and was impressed with the performance of Charles Laughton, but not with that of Clark Gable as Fletcher Christian. He hadn’t even bothered to speak with an English accent; nor had Franchot Tone, the co-star. They made no concessions whatsoever to the fact that they were portraying British seamen and it seemed absurd. As always, Clark Gable played Clark Gable. If I had been Trevor Howard, I would never have accepted the responsibility of playing Bligh in the remake because there was only one Bligh right or wrong, historically correct or not. Laughton’s characterization renders anybody elses useless. Carol Reed wanted to be historically accurate and to depict the mutineers as pathetic as they were in life. But the studio didn’t want it that way, and I’ve never met a studio that had the integrity to stick to the truth if it was able to make more money by distorting it, and so Reed was dumped.” Ethan W Allen June 10, 2012 at 9:38 pm Thank you Mr. Townsend, Mr. Bligh, I will have to look at those forums you both talked about and do some more research regarding the story. I also read about someone finding the remains of a planting pot in the area of Hiva Oa that dates to the time of the mutiny. Is it possible that one of the Breadfruit plants drifted that far Northeast? Only time will tell. Sincerly, Ethan Allen June 11, 2012 at 4:39 pm Mr Allen, You may have gathered from previous comments that the subject of alleged ‘relics from the Bounty’ is one that occurs with monotonous regularity. I hadn’t heard of the ‘breadfruit pot’ being allegedly washed up on Hiva Oa, one of the Marquesas Islands. But if you think about it, the breadfruit saplings or small trees were growing in soil, soaked continuously with water, and in heavy earthenware pots (also some wooden tubs). They were dumped overboard by Christian’s pirates, and most likely they went straight down to the bottom of the sea, wouldn’t you say? Perhaps more significantly the ‘Bounty’s position at that time was off the Friendly Islands or Kingdom of Tonga, a long, long way eastwards from the Marquesas. Also the seasonal prevailing winds and sea-currents were headings in the opposite direction and along the route that the ‘Bounty’ was taking towards to the uncharted Straits of Torres. If I were you, I wouldn’t trust any 18th century looking pot or tub that someone said somebody else said came from the ‘Bounty’! Ethan W Allen June 11, 2012 at 8:13 pm Mr. Bligh, I do indeed agree about the pot and I have read about the ”suposed relics of the Bounty”. On a different note however, I am doing some research on the many ships that have gone down off the coast of Washington state ( I live in Tacoma) and one of them was the ”HMS Condor” which sank without a trace on December 3, 1901 while on passage from Esquimalt BC to Hawaii. The ship was top-heavy and leaky even though she had just had a refit and barley three years after she was launched. A few pieces were draged up in the 1940’s but nothing else. Do you happen to have any information on the ship? Sincerly, Ethan Allen June 12, 2012 at 2:04 am Mr Allen. Alas, no info on that ill-fated ship. You’ll need to explore the National Archives at Kew and dig out whatever relevant stuff is there, I imagine, such as Board of inquest findings as to the ship’s loss, etc. Good hunting. Ethan W Allen June 12, 2012 at 8:12 pm Mr. Bligh, Thank you for the information. This is a website that I am not familiar with and I look forward to exploring it. I am doing a report on the shipwrecks of the DuPont WA area and I am also gathering information on the sinking of the SS Pacific off Cape Flattery for a potential expedition by NUMA. But the wreck of the Condor would make an even more interesting find. Sincerly, Ethan Allen Dear Mr M.Bligh, I became in touch with the Bounty story because of the film the Mutiny of the Bounty. the Marlon Brando version. I saw the Bounty exhibition at Greenwich. Then, I bought some facsimile-logs but The log of H.M.S. Bounty was -a pity for me- sold out. Because of internet I received last friday finely after so many years this facsimile ( Genesis ) edition. Again in the middle of this story I found this website. What is fascinating me is this: After so many years the story is still living en many questions left open. Mr. Bligh, sooner or later the truth shall /will come out. The world has become very narrow through internet. And if someone is really interested in the real story, they will find your story like I did. I am looking forward to receive further information about this. Hopefully this project shall/ will (sorry my English is not so good) wipe out the false blame which came upon your family shoulders. I am looking forward to the loyalist descendants for their contribution. A movie film is nice to see but to get knowledge from involved people is fantastic! Thank You Mr. Bligh. And of course, Thank You Mr. Townsend. Ellsworth Boyd July 22, 2012 at 1:50 am To: Ethan, David, Kuye, Victor: Many thanks for your interest in The Bounty story. And a special thanks to to Mr. Bligh who has sent in so much more info, answerng more questions, and telling the story from a different point of view than Hollywood. May the story continue and more facts revealed. Best regards, Ellsworth Boyd Wreckmaster August 2, 2012 at 6:30 pm I would like to thank Prof. Boyd for his article which, after much searching on the Internet, gave me a clear and concise summary (in layman’s language) of the tale of the “Bounty”. I was not interested in hair-splitting details of whether the Bounty was “HMS” or “HMAV”, but of different viewpoints of what actually happened before during and after the Mutiny. I was pleased to read the opinion of Captian Bligh’s descendant who vigorously defended his ancestor and of Mr. Townsend who shed some light on his ancestor who was the Doctor on the ship. I know how facts are always shaded when history is transcribed to movies, and I am glad to hear more of the “history” of the Mutiny. However, I am reminded that we are hearing one side of the story in this case, although documents etc, are offered. I have found during my long life that “truth” usually lies somewhere in the middle and sometimes, as may be in this case, a little to the right or to the left. We may never know exactly what happened on that fateful voyage. But it is interesting in any case, to hear from all sides and to spur history buffs to continue in their search. In my case, I would not have been exposed to Mr. Bligh and Mr. Townsend’s interesting information had not Prof. Boyd written his article. Ellsworth Boyd August 4, 2012 at 2:09 am Lois: Thank you so much for your comments. They are very insightful! “….somewhere in the middle or a little to the right or left” is a very good way to put it. You are right–it does encourage history buffs to continue to research the story. Thanks again! Best regards, Ellsworth Bob Smiley August 29, 2012 at 12:32 am Fascinating! Thank you for all this information on the history. If only we all had the time to explore all the facts that are now available. We hope that the saga will continue to be explored. Thankfully, we have Dr. Cussler to thank for helping us sort it out in his books. We love his history lessons and always come away knowing more. And thank you, Mr. Bligh and Mr. Boyd, and all those who commented. Bob Smiley September 30, 2012 at 9:24 am My 2 cents worth! I think we have to remember that Hollywood has A LOT to answer for. Hollywood screen writers can be blamed for a lot of these cases. The movie U 571 for instance! People will always rememeber the “FACTS” of the stories if put to them in a film that they remember. After that they arent interested in looking into the storey because they already “know” what happened! Even thou its a screen writers storey of what really happened! Hell, look what happened with both of Clive Cusslers books that have made it to film, screen writers again! September 30, 2012 at 11:32 pm I agree. And Clive has some stories to tell that will confirm what you said. It seems to me that the writers always have to “Hollywood” it up when they draft their stories. Exaggerations often abound! And they don’t seem to have much of a conscience about it. So I think there is a warning here: Don’t believe everything you see and hear on the screen. If you’re truly interested in the storyline, do some of your own research on the subject. Thanks for your “two cents.” Good point made! Charles Van Heyden March 11, 2013 at 3:02 pm In the ’62 movie, a keel-hauling was depicted, and a laying on of the cat-o-nine tail ten strokes to a sailor who had taken some cheese without authorization from the ship’s stores. How accurate was that depiction, and how often was keel-hauling utilized in the Royal Navy during that time period are my two questions. March 15, 2013 at 12:24 am Thanks for writing. It is believed that the Greeks carried out keelhauling, but some of the first written accounts are about the Dutch Navy using in the 1500s. There is one reference of it beng used in the British Royal Navy in the early 1700s. The practice was not officially condoned in the British Royal Navy. That’s not to say it wasn’t used after that, but lashes with a whip (cat ‘0 nine tails) was the preferred means of punishment ordered by the ship’s captain and/or his officers. The French Navy abolished keelhauling in the mid-1800s. English writers (& writers from other countries) used keelhauling in their fictional plots, thus giving it further publicity. So did film productions throughout the years. Charles Van Heyden March 18, 2013 at 1:24 am Thank you Prof. Boyd (Emeritus), the cause for my question is to ascertain how callous Captain Bligh truly was if there is any truth in the depiction of the movie. That is my question now. I’ve begun studying the websites related to this blog, and reading the Bounty trilogy, but would like an answer now, a reference to logs etc., as it may take me weeks or months before I come to a resolution if I do the research. Do you know the answer? April 20, 2013 at 3:43 pm I seem to have answered adequately for myself my question: How callous was Captain Bligh? Don’t people have two sides? Doesn’t a German father both love and harshly discipline his children? Doesn’t a person have a mean streak in him at times, a cruel impulse we could call it? If a captain of a sailing vessel in the days of sheeted frigates wanted to get rid of a “bad” sailor all he had to do is put him ashore on a island where there were cannibals. Bill August 14, 2013 at 11:22 pm I fully understand the urge of descendents of controversial historic figures to correct a simplified, cartoonish version of their relation. After much reading and research, my theory is that Lt. Bligh was one of history’s finest sailors, but may at times have had personality flaws … and combined with the other personalities of the Bounty, its unique circumstances and the civilian-military nature of the mission, things turned out poorly for all involved. My feeling is there are not pure heroes in this story, certainly not the black/white hat Hollywood variety. Human beings are complex characters. Bligh may have been, on occasion, a petty tyrant under strain. We will never know the truth. Historic records are useful, but they are one side of a story with endless sides. In the end, it’s one of humankind’s most fascinating tales. August 15, 2013 at 2:48 pm I agree with you. I think there was a lot more to this story than what was portrayed in all of the Hollywood movies. Also, a captain should be able to spot the ring leader and get rid of him. Hollywood always loves the theme of the “bad guys” versus the “good guys” and thus made the mutineers the heroes. When personalities clash, resolutions are made on both sides, some okay, others not so good. When the mutineers made their decision, it totally changed their lives and environment: Civilization versus a small island in the middle of the ocean! I wonder how many of them regretted it as the years passed? Thanks for writing. E.B. Chris Cowley February 1, 2014 at 2:29 am Dear Prof Boyd Some very interesting responses to what did not appear to be such an inflammatory article! Whilst I sympathize with Mr Bligh and Mr Townsends direct descendants I think it is is clear from the documents I have researched, yes both in Australia and Kew, having lived in Oz for 14 years and being a WW1 buff (researching at Kew) that Bligh was indeed a Master Navigator with some advanced ideas on crew well-being, three watches and exercise programmes. It must also be acknowledged that a great deal of evidence also exists from the testimony, journals and logs of both mutineers and loyalists that Mr Bligh had severe temper problems. One instance of this was when he accused all his officers and Christian directly of theft of coconuts from the on-deck store. To a Gentleman this was tantamount to a challenge to dual and I have no doubt had they been on land and not in the Navy one could easily have resulted . It must also be remembered that accusations of his temper dogged his whole career both prior to and post the mutiny and he has the unwanted accolade of being probably the most mutinied officer in the Navy having been involved in 3, if you include the Rum Mutiny, when he was the Governor General of NSW Australia . Reading Mr Blighs account of the mutiny is fascinating,as is his log,but as much for what according to the others, he chooses to leave out. Selective reading and quoting will distort the story, calling the mutineers pirates when even Bligh refers to them as mutineers is emotive and unhelpful. We can never really know the truth and we choose to believe what we choose to believe. I feel very content that through my own unbiased research I believe that Mr Bligh was a magnificent navigator, cartographer and learned fellow with a very bad and sometimes diabolical temper that got him into trouble on more than one occasion. Thank you for prompting this fascinating debate Yours sincerely March 19, 2014 at 9:36 pm You made some excellent points. Yes, there’s always two sides to every story. Your point about Capt. Bligh being involved in three mutinies is provocative. He seems to have had a bad temper, but was a great navigator. It was a tough decision the mutineers made–they knew they were giving up everything back home. Continue your research. It is quite interesting. E. Capt Brian Fulford /retired August 30, 2014 at 4:32 pm I have read many stories /yarns about the Bounty mutiny but my interest now is getting the line drawings and rig of the 23ft open boat that Bligh an his crew were cast a drift on …any info will help me I am sure Thank you God Bless the Queen/king 954 463 2474 Florida USA Capt Brian Fulford /retired September 14, 2014 at 2:12 pm I have read many books and articles about the mutiny and the trip to Timor in the 23ft boat. Friends and I have talked about this subject for years .. does anyone consider that Christian and Bligh were in a homosexual relationship and fell out with each other ..when Christian had a affair with a female island lady?? you know what they say ..a women scorned………………. Nicholas ten Kleij April 18, 2015 at 3:41 pm I have just read the article and all the replies with a great deal of interest and I agree that it is high time that the true character of my great-great-great-great-uncle William Bligh became more public knowlege. If he had indeed been the cause of the infamous mutiny the Admiralty would {probably} never have seen fit to promote him to Captain, and eventually to Rear-Admiral. Nick ten Kleij	HMS Bounty
Representing the province of Sarangani, Philippines, what is the more famous day job of Filipino congressman Manny Pacquiao?	The Mutiny on H.M.S. Bounty by William Bligh: Archived Book Discussion Discussion Leader: < FONT COLOR="#000080">Marni marni0308 September 11, 2006 - 08:54 pm Aaarrghhhhh! Welcome, me hearties, to sign up for our discussion of The Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty! It begins officially on November 1. There's plenty of grog, salt pork, and duff aboard ship waiting for you! You may be one of many who have seen a film about the mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty. The thrilling story has attracted a number of famous actors such as Charles Laughton and Anthony Hopkins to portray Captain Bligh as a villain. Handsome leading men including Erroll Flynn, Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, and Mel Gibson have played the romantic leading role of Fletcher Christian. This book is different. It's Captain Bligh's own written account of what happened. Maybe he wasn't such a villain, after all! Find the paperback at Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Mutiny-Board-H-M-S-Bounty-Captains/dp/1589762282 or the audio at Barnes and Noble: Audio Version online version: Click on ONLINE VERSION OF THE BOOK above. So climb aboard, you sea dogs, and find your copy of the book. Aaarrghhhhh! Marni KleoP September 12, 2006 - 11:39 am Okay, put me before this mast. I'll be the botanist for the journey, after all, after all, we'll want to know it really is Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg when we start collecting. Kleo September 12, 2006 - 01:08 pm Having just read Two Years before the Mast by Dana I'm not sure I'm up to shipping out as a common sea man/woman ... Are midshipmen/woman positions open? I promise to climb the virtual rigging and to supervise the common sailors, as a good m'shipman does. Anyway, count me in, Marni! (may I bring my Latin book along?) marni0308 September 12, 2006 - 01:38 pm Yay! Kleo, I'm signing you up. Would the botanist be before the mast? Well, it won't be for 2 years anyway. You won't have to do rough duties. We'll rely on your knowledge of plants on our journey. What's Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg? marni0308 September 12, 2006 - 01:39 pm Yay, Mippy! Yes, we need some midshipmen. You're signed on. Please bring your Latin book. Maybe you can help me. I need it! I'll bring mine, too. We can study up in the crow's nest. BaBi September 12, 2006 - 03:54 pm I have no expertise at all to offer, but I'll sign on anyway. First-hand history is always interesting, ..assuming, of course, you're not reading some self-serving edited version of the truth. Actually, I have read before that Bligh was a top-notch seaman, whatever else he was. Babi KleoP September 12, 2006 - 04:55 pm Nah, botanist is a cushie position, although they're sometimes set ashore and made to walk the continent. Kleo Harold Arnold September 12, 2006 - 06:41 pm I'll plan on participating too. I may get the Audio tape and and try that media for the first time. I've read most of the published works and led an overly broad discussion about 4-years ago. I say overly broad because we used no single books and included the three movies and the novels in the discussion. I look forward to this discussion centered on Bligh's own work.. marni0308 September 12, 2006 - 08:38 pm Avast and welcome, BaBi and Harold! We don't require any particular expertise - just an interest in reading the Bligh and joining our discussion. I'm happily adding your names to our crew list. Harold: I hope the audio version is a good one. It's quite a bit more expensive than the paperback. I'm hoping this book and the discussion will be completely different from that of 4 years ago. I missed that discussion. You're right. We will be focused. Kleo: Your botany expertise will be so helpful when we get to some exotic islands. I know we'll be interested in some features of plants there when we arrive in November. Mippy September 13, 2006 - 06:52 am Yeh, Capn Marni, we'll be up in the vitual crow's nest, doing our hic, haec, hoc There's a wonderful scene in at least one of the Patrick O'Brien books, where the Captain, Jack Aubrey, is trying to teach Latin to his group of midshipmen, and of course the boys don't see the point of studying Latin. Have the rest of you hardy crew read any of the O'Brien books? IMO, his physician on shipboard, Stephen Maturin, is one of the most interesting characters in fiction. Love him! Capn Marni ~ is off subject ok this early? Don't let me drift off course too far IN edit: Capn, my Capn, you have been all over the book boards, recruiting crew! Way to go! Some experienced seamen/women, at least experienced readers, are likely to see your messages and jump aboard ship! Well done! hats September 13, 2006 - 07:01 am Marni, ahoy! I would like to come along, please. marni0308 September 13, 2006 - 09:16 am Yay, Hats, ahoy! Climb aboard. We won't sail without you! We have our quorum, everyone, so we're on for November 1! Midshipman Mippy: Those O'Brian novels about Aubrey and Maturin were some of my very books of all time. I read them from start to finish as fast as I could get my hands on them after I finished the Horatio Hornblower series. Both series were so much fun. I may go back and read them again. I noticed in Barnes & Noble that the O'Brian books are being sold now in packages where you can buy the whole set quite cheaply. I don't own them all. I had gotten as many as possible from the library and had bought just the ones the library didn't have so I could read them in order. BaBi September 14, 2006 - 03:39 pm MIPPY, I loved the Hornblower books. Thanks for the ref. to Patrick O' Brian. I'll look him up. Babi marni0308 September 14, 2006 - 08:52 pm Good luck getting your books, everyone. Be sure you get the William Bligh book The Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty. There are many other books about the mutiny and info entitled "Mutiny on the Bounty." But that's not our book. We want the William Bligh version. I first read it when I got it from the library - the hardback. It is different from the paperback I subsequently bought from Amazon.com only in that it had notes by the editor which are not in my paperback. Everything else was the same. The online edition is the same as my paperback except that dates are included in each chapter. They're missing from my paperback. Marni September 26, 2006 - 07:02 am I'd like to read the book with you;the subject interests me. I, too, am a Patrick O'Brian fan. Did you know that both Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower are modeled after the same real-life character--Thomas Cochrane. Some of Aubrey's exploits are pretty much taken straight from Cochrane's life, and in some cases the true story is even more improbable than the fiction, for instance, the battle between the Sophie and the Cacafuego (really Speedy and Gamo) and the way Cochrane essentially achieved naval control of the whole western coast of South America with one ship and a lot of bluff and luck. marni0308 September 26, 2006 - 07:39 am Ahoy, Pat H! Welcome aboard! We saved you some grog. Yay! Another O'Brian fan. That's interesting that both Aubrey and Hornblower were modeled after the same person. Must have been the exploits rather than the personality, though, because Jack and Horatio were so different except in their nautical and leadership skills. I was so surprised to find out that Admiral Nelson's first name was Horatio. I suppose that's where Horatio Hornblower's name came from. You're right about the true story being even more improbable than the fiction. I've been reading about the Barbary War and it is absolutely unbelievable the things that happened. It's like reading an O'Brian novel except that it was real. I hope we read exploits like that with our Bligh book, too! I just had an interesting experience this weekend. We climbed up the Stonington, CT lighthouse/museum. It's the first time I've ever been to the top of a lighthouse. It was pretty cool. There was a big cistern and a well that we could look down into below. And to climb up, we had to climb a narrow metal circular staircase that wound up and around up and up and up and up until finally we had to climb up a small ladder to get to the top. We saw lights that warned the ships back in the day. With our tickets we were also able to get a guided tour of the Nathaniel Palmer house in Stonington. His claim to fame is that he was a sea captain who supposedly was the man who discovered Antarctica in 1820. I can't believe it, though, because last year at Yale we saw an Xray of what is supposed to be the first painting of Antarctica (underneath another painting) by William Hodges, a draftsman on one of Captain Cook's voyages in the 1700's. Captain Cook had already been to Antarctica in the 18th century. Glad to have you aboard, Pat! Marni hats September 26, 2006 - 08:41 am Marni, did Captain Cook discover Antarctica? I bet his life is interesting too. I am not familiar with ship language like aft, bosun, etc. Is that important? I guess you and others will guide me along. I have my William Bligh book too. marni0308 September 26, 2006 - 09:21 am Hi, Hats! No, you don't have to know a thing about nautical terms! I don't know them myself except for a few terms I've heard in pirate movies and in reading. I grew up in the port of New London, CT where the US Coast Guard Academy and a US Submarine Base are located. Growing up, I sailed small sailboats with my friends; so I know the difference between starboard and port, but not much else! It doesn't matter at all! Here's a glossary of some nautical terms, if you're interested: http://www.tcmall.com/nauticalknowhow/GLOSSARY.htm I think people knew Antarctica was there even before Cook. I just read something on the internet that a Greek geographer wrote about Antarctica in 150 A.D. He called it a place of evil. It is not known how the Greek might have learned about it. I just read that Cook was known to have gotten only within 150 miles of Antarctica. I wonder if that's true? I also read that Nathaniel Palmer circumnavigated Antarctica. We always seem to be finding out new information about past events. It makes history exciting. Did anyone read the book 1421 - The Year the Chinese Discovered the World - about Admiral Zheng He's fleet and its journeys? I found out about it on this site. What a fascinating story! Marni September 26, 2006 - 11:20 am Marni, thanks for the glossary. It will come in handy. gumtree September 27, 2006 - 02:12 am 1421 The Year the Chinese Discovered the World This is a very interesting and even entertaining read but I understand that the author is unable to substantiate most of his assertions and many of his claims have now been debunked by others in the field. - A friend who happens to be a cartographer has expressed concern over matters he considers to be spurious in regard to several of the maps used in this book and says one should take everything the author says with a large grain of salt.Nonetheless the author has already made a zillion pounds from sales. patwest September 27, 2006 - 07:15 am gumtree -- I've read most of it, some time ago.. It is interesting and his premises sound real or possible, but I am always skeptical about "new" discoveries like this author presents. I'll go look and see what "they" say about the book now. Mippy September 27, 2006 - 07:51 am Yes, I agree. Somewhere, a while ago, I read a book review which said the Chinese Discovered... facts were unsubstantiated. Perhaps for this group, there are other more worthwhile books to buy. marni0308 September 27, 2006 - 08:46 am Re 1421 - the author did not substantiate most of his theories in his book re the exploration of the new world. Some ideas seemed pretty far out. But it was interesting to read his theories. The most interesting thing to me was to read about Zheng He and the Chinese fleet and the times of the Ming dynasty. It does seem that they really did have a very thriving trade business with the section of the world including southeast Asia, Indonesia, India, and part of Africa. gumtree September 28, 2006 - 03:49 am Marni - I agree that it is always good to hear of new theories and as you say the book itself gives an insight into 15th century China and its civilisation at that time - but I think we should remain aware that this book is not grounded in historical fact so far as the exploration is concerned - or the size of the fleet and length of individual boats etc. marni0308 September 28, 2006 - 08:34 am Gumtree: I just realized I haven't welcomed you aboard to our discussion yet! Are you joining us in reading the Bligh account of the mutiny? I hope so!! Marni gumtree September 28, 2006 - 07:07 pm Marni - Thanks for your welcome. I'm not sure whether I'll be able to participate - every time I try to become involved in the discussions something gets in my way.- For the moment can we take it that I will probably be lurking around whenever I can? Bligh is a very interesting character and if nothing else was a great navigator. His own account of the Mutiny should be quite revealing. He has his place in Australian history. marni0308 September 28, 2006 - 08:37 pm Lurk away, Gumtree. If you don't have the book, it's available online by clicking the "ONLINE VERSION OF THE BOOK" link above. When we begin our discussion of the book in October, it will be interesting to hear your perspective of Bligh's abilities and about his place in Australian history. Marni September 29, 2006 - 11:11 am Gumtree, Wasn't he governor of New South Wales for a while? Kleo gumtree September 30, 2006 - 09:58 am Kleo Yes indeed, Bligh certainly had a turbulent career. He was appointed Governor of New South Wales Colony early 1800s when the colony was somewhat in disarray. Bligh tried to put things right but when he attempted to prohibit the paying of workers in rum he was arrested and deposed by a conspiracy of profiteers (military and civilian) The events leading up to the 'Rum Rebellion' were quite a saga. KleoP October 2, 2006 - 09:17 am Ah, yes, that's right, gumtree, Bligh's second encounter with mutineers. I was researching Norfolk Island Pines (Araucaria heterophylla) a while ago and learned all the connections among Bligh, mutineers, New South Wales, Norfolk Island, Pitcairn Island, the mutineers, and all. Rather obnoxiously fun. Thanks, gumtree. hats October 3, 2006 - 05:59 am Marni, can we start talking about ship language? With my lack of knowledge about seafaring journeys, I am afraid of becoming lost, swallowed up by the waves of the ocean. hats October 3, 2006 - 06:33 am Marni,</B. don't worry. You have already given a glossary of terms. Thanks again. marni0308 October 3, 2006 - 08:31 am Ahoy, Hats! Don't worry about nautical language. There are certainly nautical terms that Bligh uses in the book, so just bring any questions you have to our discussion. If we come across anything we don't understand, we can help each other out. There is approx. 1 month to go before our discussion officially begins. I don't want to begin too early a discussion of the book or Bligh, or the story of the mutiny, what led to it, and the aftermath. It's not fair to those who haven't read the book and who don't want it spoiled. Some folks, with reason, get irritated when too much is discussed before the official start date. In the last discussion I led, one member dropped out because she was upset that we started ahead of time without her. I couldn't blame her for being upset. Some folks are anxious to begin early because they read the book early and really want to talk about it, or because they have knowledge of an aspect of the book, or because they have questions. I think the most important thing is that we simply have respect for each other and make sure we don't spoil the book for others. Personally, I enjoy pre-discussions about related topics, as long as we're careful to steer clear (HAH! "steer clear"!) of the book, the mutiny, William Bligh, etc. How do the rest of you feel about beginning a pre-discussion? If anyone is interested in discussing nautical terms before November, I have an idea for a topic related to Hats' question: Many nautical terms have come to be used in everyday language today - like "steer clear." Can you think of any others? Do you know their derivations? Marni October 3, 2006 - 08:50 am Lower the anchor, is that a nautical term? Bow and stern of the ship? judywolfs October 3, 2006 - 09:26 am Hi everybody - Sounds like an interesting discussion. I vaguely remember the movie with Marlon Brando, And I think I'll enjoy the book. I always enjoy Sr Net book discussions, even if I disliked the book. Sign me up! ~JudyS marni0308 October 3, 2006 - 09:54 am Ahoy, JudyS! Welcome aboard! Hope you found the book OK. Plenty of time to get ahold of it. To read the book online, click the link above that says: ONLINE VERSION OF THE BOOK. Marni marni0308 October 3, 2006 - 10:10 am Hats: Re "Lower the anchor, is that a nautical term?" It is surely a nautical term. A boat's crew lowers or casts out its anchor, a heavily-weighted object attached to a rope or chain or cable, until the anchor grips the land below water to keep the boat from moving any further. The anchor holds the ship in place so it doesn't float off. I have never heard the term "lower the anchor" used except as a nautical term. How would you use it in everyday language? I've heard the word "anchor" used as a term for something used to hold things securely in place. My dad had a small steel anchor for his teeny motor boat when I was young. Dad could just pick it up and throw it overboard. It had flukes on it for gripping. He'd throw it in the water by the rope attached to it and the anchor would sink from its weight. He'd then pull on the rope until he felt the anchor firmly grab the sand below. Larger boats need larger anchors. Ship anchors can be so large that the crew have to raise and lower them with special leverage devices. Some ships have multiple anchors. Last weekend I saw an old anchor in a nautical museum in Stonington, CT. It was made out of a rock attached to a chain. Here is some interesting info plus pictures of anchors: http://www.answers.com/topic/anchor Hats: Re "Bow and stern of the ship" - The bow (pronounced as in a dog barks "bow wow," not as in a bowtie) is the front of a boat; the stern is the back. My husband's dad was in the Merchant Marine. He had to memorize the names of every sail and every rope on a ship. They all have different names. marni0308 October 3, 2006 - 10:10 am Below are some links to terrific sites where you can see the parts of a ship and see what it might have been like aboard an 18th century sailing ship. Parts of a ship: http://www.wanttaja.com/navlinks/SHIPVIEW.HTM Decks of USS Constitution. Click on "Virtual Tour": http://www.ussconstitution.navy.mil/ 360 degree tour of USS Constitution: http://www.ussconstitution.navy.mil/360degreeGallery.htm Marni October 3, 2006 - 10:29 am Marni, Good stuff. KleoP October 3, 2006 - 11:18 am Would folks like to learn about some of the plants or ecology in the pre-discussion? Like the whys and whatfors of the breadfruit? Let me know. I haven't reread the Bligh book yet, though, so if this is in his book, let me know, and I'll save it. Kleo October 3, 2006 - 12:51 pm Kleo, I would love to learn about plants and ecology. What is Breadfruit? judywolfs October 3, 2006 - 01:16 pm I've been curious about breadfruit ever since I saw the Movie! And I've never seen it for sale anyplace. Mippy October 3, 2006 - 01:33 pm Batten down the hatches! Is that spelled right? I think we use the expression to mean get ready to go, get set for an event, but it sure is taken from the days of sailing ships, with their hatches to be closed in "heavy" weather. I'd love to participate in any prediscussion that you designate, O Capt'n Marnie! Pat H October 3, 2006 - 01:58 pm You batten down the hatches (fasten them closed) to prepare for bad weather, hence you "batten down the hatches" to prepare for something difficult or dangerous. You might even "clear the decks" in the process. marni0308 October 3, 2006 - 08:15 pm "Batten down the hatches" and "clear the decks." Good ones, Midshipman Mippy and Pat H! I thought of another one: "Know the Ropes" or "Learn the Ropes" - I use this one myself when I mean I know how to do something. There were miles of ropes in the rigging of sailing ships. Experienced seamen had to know the functions of all of these lines and know where they were located, which was which - and they all had names. Anybody have another one? marni0308 October 3, 2006 - 08:21 pm Kleo: I can hardly wait to find out about breadfruit. Darn - I think we'd better wait til the formal discussion on breadfruit since it's such key part of the story. Some participants don't read through all the pre-discussion and will just join in where our posts begin on Nov. 1. Hold that thought!!!! I have an idea, though. There are/were other important foods that were important in the Society Islands. Kleo: Can you tell us about some of the other important plants that were important foods on Pacific islands in that area? Thanks! Marni October 5, 2006 - 07:27 am Permission to come aboard! I think this is going to be a very interesting discussion. Bit of history involved where I live! Capt William Bligh was married here while Fletcher Christian had relatives living here. Also Midshipman Heywood's family lived here. Bodie marni0308 October 5, 2006 - 10:08 am Bodie: Ahoy! Welcome aboard! This is very exciting! You'll be able to give us such interesting information! Where do you live? judywolfs October 5, 2006 - 11:47 am Anchors Aweigh - or is it "Away?" - I think means that the anchors are taken up, and now the ship can get underway. Or is it underweigh? ~JudyS marni0308 October 6, 2006 - 09:53 am Anchors Aweigh or Away - Good question. I have no idea. Let me see if it's in the nautical glossary..... I found that "AWEIGH" means "The position of anchor as it is raised clear of the bottom." So that's probably how you spell it. Here again is the nautical glossary I found on the web. I'll see if we can put it in the Heading above. I found this, too: "UNDERWAY - Vessel in motion, i.e., when not moored, at anchor, or aground." Marni October 6, 2006 - 10:02 am I found a couple of fun nautical expressions used commonly today: "Three Sheets to the Wind" - A sheet is a rope line which controls the tension on the downwind side of a square sail. If, on a three masted fully rigged ship, the sheets of the three lower course sails are loose, the sails will flap and flutter and are said to be "in the wind". A ship in this condition would stagger and wander aimlessly downwind. I've been "three sheets to the wind" a couple of times in my life!! Here's a related term: "Groggy" - In 1740, British Admiral Vernon (whose nickname was "Old Grogram" for the cloak of grogram which he wore) ordered that the sailors' daily ration of rum be diluted with water. The men called the mixture "grog." A sailor who drank too much grog was "groggy." I often feel groggy when I wake up in the morning. Here's an interesting one.... "Let the Cat Out of the Bag" - In the Royal Navy the punishment prescribed for most serious crimes was flogging. This was administered by the Bosun's Mate using a whip called a cat o' nine tails. The "cat" was kept in a leather or baize bag. It was considered bad news indeed when the cat was let out of the bag. Other sources attribute the expression to the old english market scam of selling someone a pig in a poke (bag) when the pig turned out to be a cat instead. We "let the cat out of the bag" when we tell something that is supposed to be a secret, or reveal something too soon. Marni October 6, 2006 - 10:05 am Bodie: Do you live on the Isle of Man? judywolfs October 6, 2006 - 10:42 am Marni, that nautical word list is interesting. I wonder if all those words were specifically invented for life at sea, or they had other meanings before being used on board. ~JudyS marni0308 October 6, 2006 - 11:40 am Judy: That's a good question. I have no idea. I wonder if Harold can give us his opinions on that. He was in the Navy. My guess would be that the language evolved from life at sea. Men had gone "down to the sea in ships" for so very long. I imagine the tasks required, specific to the naval jobs, resulted in a whole new language. Those who went to sea lived in their own world, often for an extremely long time, even years sometimes. Sailors probably brought their special language home with them. They probably talked like that around home and around their friends. It makes sense that others would pick up the expressions. Here's an expression my dad used all the time when I was growing up. (He was in the Navy during WWII.) "Pipe Down" - Means stop talking and be quiet. "Pipe Down" was the last signal from the Bosun's pipe each day which meant "lights out" and "silence." Marni October 6, 2006 - 11:47 am Here's a picture of a Bosun's (also spelled Boatswain's) pipe: October 6, 2006 - 04:18 pm marni0308 Sorry not to have replied before now! I do live in the Isle of Man- does everyone know where it is! Bodie October 6, 2006 - 04:40 pm Bodie: I'm so excited that you are joining us from the Isle of Man! Personally, I don't know about the Isle except what you mentioned in your earlier post. I believe the Isle of Man is somewhere off the western coast of England. Can you tell us about your Isle? Were you born there? Thanks! Pat H October 6, 2006 - 04:51 pm Yes, I know where the Isle of Man is--nestled between England and Ireland, with Scotland to the north, but I don't know much about it. What is it like, and what is it like to live there? gumtree October 7, 2006 - 12:28 am I have a friend here who comes from the Isle of Man. She emigrated in the 1960s and is very interesting when she talks about her birthplace - the people and some of the old customs - would enjoy to hear more about it from you. Bodie October 7, 2006 - 05:57 am Marni0308-Pat H-gumtree Thanks The Isle of Man is situated between the United Kingdom mainland and Ireland. The nearest point to the Island is near Galloway in Scotland which is 16 miles from a place called the Point of Ayre in the north of the Island. The Island is approximately 32.5 miles long and 13 miles wide. In recent months a census was taken and although the full figures have not been released, a provisional total of 80,000 people live here. However, it is thought the total will be nearer 83,000. We are a self-governing Island and our parliament known as �Tynwald�, is thought to be the oldest parliament in the world. We have our own �Manx language�, which thankfully has seen a revival in recent years and is taught in the schools. We host annually the TT (Tourist Trophy) races. This being road racing over a thirty seven and three quarter mile circuit around parts of the Island. The races will have their centenary in 2007. Yes, I have lived all my life here, in the capital called Douglas. I mentioned Midshipman Heywood who was on the �Bounty�, the family home is or was about 4 miles away from where I live. If you would like to know any thing else, be glad to tell you. Bodie gumtree October 7, 2006 - 10:01 am Bodie - Thanks - tell us all you wish- The Manx races are well known here - at least among aficionados... marni0308 October 7, 2006 - 09:33 pm Bodie: Thanks for the information about your isle. I have heard of Manx cats and have read that men from the Isle of Man are referred to as "Manxmen." Where does the word "Manx" come from? (Why the X?) Is your language a Gaelic language? Do the residents generally ferry to England or Scotland or Wales? You mentioned 16 miles to Scotland. How long would that trip take? Are there many towns on the Isle of Man? Important participants in the incident of the Bounty mutiny and the aftermath were from the Isle of Man. I imagine they are an important part of the Isle's history for tourists today. I would like to hold off on the particulars of this til we get into our discussion of the Bligh book in November. But I very much look forward to your insights in this then. So exciting!!!! Thanks for your information, Bodie! Bodie October 8, 2006 - 06:17 am marni0308 Will answer your questions later in the day as family due. Agree that the link between the Bounty and the Island best heldover until the disussion starts in November. Bodie October 8, 2006 - 11:56 am marni0308 Yes spot on with Manx Cats, who have no tails at all! Also Manxmen we are called! The word Manx is not as easy to explain. Going back 500 years it has been spelled as 'Mankse',Manske and Manks. As our history has a Norse connection from about 800 AD,a lot of Manx placenames have a Norse origin. Probably with the passage of time it has changed from some of the above to its present form. And Yes it is a Gaelic language. The shortest point between the Island and Galloway in Scotland is not a sea going route, it is used to show how near or far we are from the United Kingdom mainland. The ferry routes are from Douglas (capital) to mainly the ports of Liverpool( ferry 3.5 and Sea-Cat 2.5 hours) and Heysham (ferry 4hrs and Seat cat 2.5 hrs)with other sailings to Befast and Dublin. We have one passenger airport at Ronaldway, flying to the main UK towns and cities. There are towns and villages on the Island. Many in fact,however, as the Island is small so are the towns and villages. About 30,000 live in Douglas. Bodie October 8, 2006 - 12:38 pm Thanks, Bodie! October 8, 2006 - 12:42 pm Here's info and a picture of a manx cat: http://www.fanciers.com/breed-faqs/manx-faq.html I found this part very interesting: "Many stories of the origin of the Manx are found in cat and mythology books. In many of these tales the Manx are descended from ship's cats who were shipwrecked on the Isle of Man when their ships were sunk off the coast. A commonly told story is the legend from the early 1600s of two ships from the Spanish Armada that were sunk off Spanish Point near Port Erin. The Isle of Man was the refuge for the tailless cats from these two ships. Another legend has it that the cat came from a ship wrecked in 1806 off Jurby Point, while another says it was a Baltic ship wrecked off Castle Rushen and Calf Island. Early speculation considered the Annamite cats to be the beginning of the Manx, these cats having short tails. They were introduced into Burma. Others felt the Manx may be descended from Siam and Malaya. The Malaya Archipelago cats have kinked, knotted and short tails. The Welsh also lay claim to the Manx in their legends and the people considered them sacred animals in early times. British folklore has it that mom cats bit off their kittens' tails to keep humans from snatching them away." Bodie October 8, 2006 - 01:41 pm marni0308 Some great information you have there, excellent links as well. Thank you. Try this link to Isle of Man Guide, it has so many other links that gives a lot of history about the Island. October 8, 2006 - 07:34 pm Thank you, Brodie! October 9, 2006 - 05:36 am marni0308 With me being new to the discussion! Could I ask when it starts in what form will the discussion take? Bodie marni0308 October 9, 2006 - 08:40 am Brodie: I'm following a basic format used by some other Discussion Leaders. The format seems to work well, so I'm continuing with the same basic format. We divide the book up into segments to be read each week. (See the Schedule above to see how our book is divided up.) Participants read that section and we discuss it throughout the week allotted for that section. The length of time for the discussion usually depends on the length of the book. In this case, the book is very small, but is meaty. We'll be taking one month for our discussion. On the first day of each new week I will provide weekly discussion questions that will appear in the Header above. The questions are simply to stimulate discussion and are not meant to stifle any other discussion. Anyone can ask questions at any time. Anyone who is able or who is interested can answer any question or bring up any points. We can follow the questions, or not. Some folks, as they read, make a list of questions or notes or points that they want to bring up. We discuss the particular section of the book for that week, along with related information that anyone in the group knows. For example, Kleo knows a great deal about plants and has information about breadfruit. Gum knows about Bligh's role in Australia and has information to share about that period of his life. You have information about the Isle of Man and its relation to The Bounty story. Some people read ahead. Others don't. We try hard not to give away, or "spoil," information about future sections that some people have not yet read. People often provide links to information on the internet to provide additional insights or to support an idea. We try to substantiate our information by providing sources. Many of us enjoy related information that may not be strictly pertaining to the book, but enriches our knowledge of the subject matter or of the times. We try not to veer too far off course. Hah! "Veer off course!" Another nautical term! Often, participants join for awhile in a "Pre-discussion" during the month preceding the formal book discussion. That's what this is. People bring up what they wish. I just ask that we respect each other and don't "spoil" the book for anyone by starting too soon. Some people cannot begin until the official start date. I hope this helps! October 9, 2006 - 08:50 am Marni0308 That seems a very well tried and trusted format to me. Roll on November 1st! As learning curve for me! Bodie but Brodie. marni0308 October 9, 2006 - 08:52 am I think I should add one more thing about our book discussions. People in the group are from all over the world. We have no set timeframe for discussions. People join in whenever they can. I use Eastern Standard Time because I live in New England - Windsor, Connecticut. I get up late and "attend" our online Latin class at about 10:30 a.m. or so weekdays. After that I usually check into book discussions. On weekends, I may be off now and then; but I'm always able to check in. I try to answer questions that arise if I can. I know you all will be helping me to do this. I will be adding new weekly questions the night before each new week begins, in this case on Wednesdays after 12:00 a.m. Our wonderful technical staff, including PatW and Marjorie and Jane, help us out. PatW created our wonderful Header above and will help me add questions and links. Thank you, Pat!!!! Marni marni0308 October 9, 2006 - 08:53 am Oh, I'm sorry about misspelling your name, Bodie! My next door neighbor's son is named Brodie. I can see I am mixing up the names. So sorry!!!! Bodie October 9, 2006 - 08:55 am Marni0308 It often happens with names that we get mixed up! Bodie marni0308 October 9, 2006 - 09:04 am I am just horrible remembering names! Actually, I am getting to be forgetful about many things. It's very frustrating! If I mess up anyone's names, please forgive me and let me know! Years ago I bought a book about a method to remember names of people you meet. You are supposed to look directly at the person's face, at a particular identifying feature of the face, and imagine something happening on that facial feature that is related to the sound of the person's name. For example, if a person's last name is "Wells," you might imagine someone hauling up well-water on the person's nose. As you imagine this, you pronounce the person's name aloud as you are saying Hello. For example, someone introduces you and says the person's name. You shake hands with the person and repeat the name aloud while you imagine the well-water. You repeat the name again. I found this method difficult. I tried it for awhile. It took me too long to imagine a scene on the face. It actually worked, but I took too long. Has anyone ever tried it? Mippy October 9, 2006 - 09:14 am Yes, Marnie, I've tried that, and it only works a little bit of the time. At least here we can open all our books and references in front of us. There's no test! Right? marni0308 October 9, 2006 - 09:28 am Definitely not tests, Mippy! Hahaha!!! Plus, we don't have to be dressed up! We can be in our bathrobes! Who would know??? Bodie October 9, 2006 - 09:40 am marni0308 I tend to write a list when shopping, so I do not forget anything. Trouble is I usually forget the list!! Bodie marni0308 October 9, 2006 - 11:42 am At least you're on the right track, Bodie. I'm a bit casual when it comes to shopping lists, but I try. Often I leave mine on the kitchen counter. But when I remember them, I feel very efficient. Pat H October 9, 2006 - 01:28 pm If I have more than 3 things to buy and don't make a list, I'll forget one of them. marni0308 October 9, 2006 - 09:14 pm I feel the same way, Pat H! Did anyone see "The Worst Jobs in History" tonight on the History International channel? It was about maritime occupations - quite interesting. I learned a few things. In the 17th century, when England was building up its navy and cutting down forests to make ships, shipyard workers had the job of sawing wooden planks from tree trunks with a 2-man saw. Irons used to hold the logs were called "dogs." The junior man would stand in a sawpit holding the lower end of the saw. The senior man would stand above holding the other end standing on the log. The log would hang over the sawpit and they'd cut up and down. The man on top was called "top dog" and the man below was called "under dog." The under dog had the less desireable job because sawdust fell in his face. Young midshipmen were called "snotties." A sailing ship's speed was measured in "knots" because they used to measure a ship's speed with a rope knotted at fixed intervals. They'd throw the lightly weighted rope overboard at the stern and count a fixed period of time. (Some used a 28 second hourglass to time the operation.) Then they'd haul in the rope and measure the number of knots in the length of rope let out. Today 1 knot = 1 nautical mile/hour = 1.852 km/h exactly. This is based on the internationally agreed length of the nautical mile. 1 in 5 deaths at sea were from shipwrecks. marni0308 October 10, 2006 - 09:50 am Oh, I forgot to mention another thing I learned on "The Worst Jobs in History": Apparently, it was tradition in the British Navy that the first person caught lying each week was given the job of cleaning the "head" - the toilet. ("Head" in a nautical sense refers to the bow or fore part of a ship. The ship's toilet was typically placed at the head of the ship near the base of the bowsprit, where splashing water served to naturally clean the toilet area.) When a ship was in port, the sea water didn't wash away the mess, so the sailors had to do it. They were lowered down to the dirty area in a "boatswain's chair." Info about a boatswain's, or bosun's, chair: judywolfs October 10, 2006 - 01:05 pm ?The first person caught lying? I wonder if lying was sort of a normal, expected behavior in the old sailing days. ~JudyS marni0308 October 10, 2006 - 02:37 pm It seems as though there must have been plenty of it, JudyS. The British Navy was really into clean ships. On the TV program they said that in the British Navy the sailors had to wash the ship every day with saltwater. If the ship was thought to be unhealthy, for example, if there was disease aboard, they washed the ship with vinegar. Vinegar must have acted as a disinfectant, although I don't think they knew about that until later in the 18th century.?? But they must have figured out that it helped. Now that I think about it, didn't Abigail Adams clean her house with vinegar - in Founding Mothers wasn't there something about that? judywolfs October 11, 2006 - 09:00 am White vinegar is one of my normal, everyday cleaning products. It's surprising what a good job it does. I would think even if they didn't know about disinfecting, they'd probably notice that if there's a disease aboard two ships, the one cleaned with vinegar would have a healthier crew. ~JudyS Bodie October 11, 2006 - 09:32 am Decided to look on the Net about vinegar, It does get a good write-up from many people in relation to its medicinal and household usage. I see for sore throats it is recommended as a gargle. Good for using in a vaporiser if congestion is a problem. They reckon good to use if too much sun, as it brings cool relief to the skin. Also good for relieving itching with bee stings. It says great in the home as a glass cleaner and polishing chrome on the car. Many others uses as well Bodie October 11, 2006 - 10:29 am Wow, I had no idea vinegar did all that! Do you know what the difference between white vinegar and other vinegar is? marni0308 October 11, 2006 - 10:34 am If anyone has started reading the book and has trouble with Bligh's use of nautical terms, PatW put our Nautical Glossary up in the Header above for us to use as a reference tool. It's under the Schedule. Marni October 11, 2006 - 12:31 pm marni0308 No idea what the difference is between white vinegar and the other vinegar is. Bodie Pat H October 11, 2006 - 06:40 pm The important ingredient of vinegar is acetic acid, which is the sour part. It is obtained from the fermenting of ethanol (alcohol). So if you leave your open bottle of wine sitting around, it turns sour, and you get wine vinegar (if you are lucky and it doesn�t end up tasting like varnish). If you ferment apple juice long enough, you get cider vinegar. These have many flavors from their starting materials. If you ferment plain ethanol, or ferment almost anything and then purify it by some means such as distilling, you get white vinegar. It has the sourness, but not the extra tastes from grapes or apples or whatever. You would want to use white vinegar for anything like cleaning where all you wanted was the acidity, and the other vinegars where taste was important. I�m sorry if I sound pedantic here; I�m a chemist, and talk this way normally. Bodie October 11, 2006 - 07:30 pm Pat H Thank you fror the information,very interesting indeed. Bodie marni0308 October 11, 2006 - 09:05 pm Thanks, Pat H. Interesting. I think the only thing I've ever used white vinegar for is dying Easter eggs. I have no idea why you are supposed to put the white vinegar in with the water and dye. I suppose the saltwater would have had its cleansing value, too, for cleaning ships. Is salt an antisceptic? I know my doctor told me to rinse my mouth with saltwater when I had a sore gum. Another way sailors had to clean a ship was to scour the deck with holystones. I read somewhere that they did that to get rid of slippery stuff that could cause the men to slip, but I'm not sure if that's the real reason. I didn't have any idea what a holystone was, so I looked it up. Answers.com says: "Holystone is a soft and brittle sandstone that was formerly used for scouring and whitening the wooden decks of ships. It was used in the British and American Navy for scrubbing the decks of sailing ships (e.g. it was done on the deck of the USS Brandywine before taking General La Fayette home to France.....The term may have come from the fact that 'holystoning the deck' was traditionally done on one's knees, as in prayer." marni0308 October 11, 2006 - 09:09 pm Golly, I just found something interesting reading about nautical terms. The term mayday "is the internationally recognized voice radio signal for ships and people in serious trouble at sea. Made official in 1948, it is an anglicizing of the French m'aidez, "help me." Here are some more..... http://www.navy.mil/navydata/traditions/html/navyterm.html hats October 12, 2006 - 05:16 am Marni, I am reading all the clickables and information about nautical terms. This is really interesting. I thought "chewing the fat" meant men were spending time talking about anything they felt like talking about. Did anybody else think that? hats October 12, 2006 - 05:20 am I love the definition for why the holystone became known as holystone. That is funny. Mippy October 12, 2006 - 09:41 am Just another note on vinegar: I think we use white vinegar for cleaning because it is the least expensive. I use it occasionally to clean out my coffee machine. marni0308 October 12, 2006 - 10:42 am Hats: I agree with your understanding of what "chewing the fat" means today. It's interesting to see the derivation. Maybe it evolved into today's usage because the men gabbed at the table when they were chewing for so long. It's amazing to see how many terms we use so commonly today started out as nautical terms. marni0308 October 12, 2006 - 10:46 am Mippy: I totally forgot about how we use vinegar to clean today. I wonder if we use the distilled to clean so it doesn't stain? Maybe vinegar such as wine vinegar, which is red, stains. jbmillican October 13, 2006 - 09:42 am I so often long to hear both sides of an issue. Sign me up. Juanita Millican marni0308 October 13, 2006 - 10:37 am Ahoy, Juanita! Welcome aboard! We have plenty of grog, salted meat, and sauerkraut for our journey. I'm carefully doling it out so it lasts through November! We have such an excellent crew for William Bligh's story. Yes, we'll hear his side of what happened. It may be different from stories that have come down through history. Grab your book, The Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty, and take a look at our Schedule above. Marni marni0308 October 13, 2006 - 10:53 am I'm so excited that we have such a great group for our discussion that I'm making a duff to celebrate! "Duff" is how British sailors pronounced "dough." A duff is a Navy pudding. Plum duff is plum pudding, a steamed suet pudding with raisins. I found this recipe for duff on the internet. It's not at all like my suet-based plum pudding that I sometimes make for Christmas. Sailor's Duff Pudding 1_ cup pastry flour 1 teaspoon baking powder Dissolve soda in boiling water. Sift flour with baking powder. Beat egg, sugar and sorghum with mixer and add remaining ingredients. Put in a ten inch angel food cake pan and steam one hour. Sauce: In a double boiler, cook one cup sugar and one cup butter. Remove from heat and cool till you can touch it with your finger. Stir in one egg and return to double boiler until it thickens (about three or four minutes). Add 1 tablespoon vinegar and serve over bread pudding. ------------------------------------------ Ooohh!! I just found a recipe for another pudding popular in the British Navy - "spotted dick." This sounds good. It sounds more like a steamed suet pudding. Maybe I'll try this instead: Spotted Dick 1 oz white or brown sugar 4 oz currants 1 egg, beaten 4-5 tbsp milk Butter a 1.5 pint pudding basin. Sift the flour, baking powder, spice and salt into a mixing bowl and mix in the suet, sugar, fruit and bread- crumbs. Stir in the egg and sufficient milk to produce a soft consistency that drops off the spoon in 5 seconds. Turn the mixture into the pudding basin, which should be two-thirds full. Cover with greased foil or a snap-on lid (the plastic container from a 2 lb Christmas pudding is worth saving for this purpose.) Steam for 2 to 2.5 hours. When cooked, remove the cover and allow the pudding to shrink slightly, then cover the basin with a hot serving plate, hold it firmly and invert. Lift off the basin to leave the pudding on the plate. Serve hot with custard. 1/2 pint milk 1/4 tsp vanilla essence Whisk the yolks and sugar together in a bowl. Heat the milk in a saucepan until it is nearly boiling. Whisk the hot milk gradually into the egg mixture. Put the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir the mixture over the indirect heat until it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. (Direct heat will make the custard curdle.) Stir in the vanilla essence and more sugar, according to taste. Strain and serve hot. Marni marni0308 October 13, 2006 - 11:12 am I just read that "Spotted Dick" was also called "Spotted Dog" and it was Jack Aubrey's favorite dessert, for you Patrick O'Brian fans. Ugh! I just remembered the name of another favorite pudding in the O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin novels: Boiled Baby. I found a recipe: Boiled Baby: serves four a handful of lexia raisins (the really big ones you can get in Waitrose) enough milk to bind Mix the lot and put it in a pudding bowl. Put a cloth over the top and tie it tightly with string around the lip of the bowl. Boil for two hours - and voila! Your baby! Pat H October 13, 2006 - 04:02 pm There is a cookbook called "Lobscouse and Spotted Dog", by Anne Chotzinoff Grossman and Lisa Grossman Thomas, in which the authors have supplied recipes for many of the dishes mentioned in Patrick O'Brian's books, along with some background recipes of the time and quotes from the books. It's full of cardiac disaster type recipes like the puddings made with suet. The authors, in an interview I read, said that unfortunately they found the recipes to be delicious: one particularly fatty pudding was especially tasty as leftovers, sliced and fried in lots of butter. marni0308 October 13, 2006 - 06:04 pm Pat H: I saw the names Anne Chotzinoff Grossman and Lisa Grossman Thomas and the title "Lobscouse and Spotted Dog" when I was looking up the recipes on the web. I'm going to check again and see if their recipes are there, or if it's just an ad for their book..... I found a site which appears to be an ad for the book and a place to buy it along with info about Patrick O'Brian and his books. It's a fun site. Lots of info about naval food mentioned in the Aubrey/Maturin books. JoanK October 14, 2006 - 12:04 am I'm planning to be a stowaway on your voyage. I've ordered the book, but won't post much (at least at first) as I'll be traveling the first week in November. But this looks like the perfect book to take with me. Great facts about terminology. I have a book of nautical terms (thanks to PatH) but seem unable to remember them. When I read the O'Brian books (another addict -- I've read them all) I found myself looking up the same terms over and over. Maybe this discussion will do it. Did those of you students of both Latin and O'Brien notice the passage where Aubrey says that until a seaman knows his "hic hoc huec" he's not a gentleman? Presumably that means I'm not a lady, since I've forgotten it already. Mippy October 14, 2006 - 09:31 am Oh Cap'n Marnie, our cap'n ~ Great nautical food! Aren't there so many books taking off from the O'Brien series! There used to be a web site (cannot find it today) where fans discussed the series of novels. They even talked about the music that Jack and Steven played, showing how it was correct for the period. Does anyone remember the sailors dances and the hornpipe dances they enjoyed? Here's a link: GingerWright October 14, 2006 - 09:45 am If I could would go on this trip just for the food but I will just observe. marni0308 October 14, 2006 - 03:00 pm Ahoy! JoanK, our stowaway and O'Brian aficionado, and Ginger, here to observe! Welcome aboard and Huzzah! Plenty of grog to go around! Mippy: How interesting to read that info about the hornpipe. I loved reading that Henry Purcell wrote a hornpipe. I played some of his baroque music when I took piano lessons way back when. Dancing is important in the Bounty mutiny. And to read about the book The Dancing Master! Do you believe how many editions were published!! Guess what? You can still buy it: October 14, 2006 - 03:58 pm OOOOOH!!! I lisened to all, Thanks Loved them. The observer here JoanK October 14, 2006 - 06:28 pm Loved them. I've known the Sailors hornpipe all my life and never knew what it was. If they'd played it more often on the Bounty, maybe they wouldn't have been a mutiny. GingerWright October 14, 2006 - 06:38 pm JoanK, LOL, kidsal October 15, 2006 - 11:47 pm Will try -- think I need a course in speed reading. Having trouble keeping up with A Fine Balance. marni0308 October 16, 2006 - 08:01 am Avast, Kidsal, and ahoy! Climb aboard and join us! I feel the same way about the speed reading. Ever since I had to get biphocals (sp?)(progressives), I've been such a slow reader. I was told that with the progressive lenses, you have to read by moving your eyes left to right, and that seems to be what I have to do. It certainly slows down one's reading. Good luck with reading the Bligh narrative. It's not a long book. Glad you can join us! Marni marni0308 October 16, 2006 - 08:08 am I found a video of the sailor's hornpipe. It looks a lot like my friend's Irish step dancing. http://youtube.com/watch?v=1-hNjYCJws0&search=Highland%20Hornpipe I found this out about the hornpipe dancing on the site below: "Rennaissance courtiers attributed several dances as being performed to the rustic instument known as the hornpipe - an insturment of great antiquity consisting of a single reed pipe with a cow horn bell (sometimes with 2 parallel pipes) At various times it meant a jig, a reel or even a country dance. Country dances were often stepped to the distinctive 3/2 syncopated hornpipe tunes and these are sometimes called "maggots" from the Italian maggioletta meaining a whim or delight. Later in the mid 18th century the 4/4 or 2/4 common time hornpipe appeared, now refered to as the "Jacky Tar". This Irish, Scottish or English solo dance is a very old Celtic solo dance that is very much based on the sailor's abilities during the dancing with the sailors originally performing it with folded arms. The steps are clearly shipwise such as hauling in the anchor, climbing or rigging ropes etc. The Sailor's Hornpipe was most popular during the 16th to 18th Centuries but the original (Hornpipe) goes much farther back and was originally done by men only." October 16, 2006 - 09:41 am I couldn't help it...had to get out my fiddle and play along! I wonder if I can just sit next to Ginger and come for the ride. Promise I will be quiet, of course, unless there is a jig, reel, strathspey or hornpipe happening. Then, there's no tellin' what I might do because I know all the dances as well. GingerWright October 16, 2006 - 09:52 am Hey Prancer I am the quite one in here but your on there good list, come sit next to me and we will do the jig when they play it:). Prancer October 16, 2006 - 09:57 am Ginger Love to!! Speaking of doing jigs...that's exactly how - I got the name "Prancer" - constantly dancing around. I can hear the adults yet "Will you STOP that prancing!" marni0308 October 16, 2006 - 01:01 pm Ahoy, Prancer! Come aboard! We absolutely HAVE to have a fiddler!! I should have thought of it before!! Lots of dancing going on aboard ship. We need our exercise! I figured your name had something to do with Christmas. Thanks for explaining! Marni October 16, 2006 - 02:38 pm Ahoy, Cap'n Marnie ~ How terrific! The hornpipe dancers were amazing! Now I must admit I have no idea how to find things on YouTube. Prancer October 16, 2006 - 06:39 pm Thanks Marni for the welcome. I'm sure Ginger will keep me in line! ( I might wear my kilt) marni0308 October 16, 2006 - 08:23 pm Ho, Midshipman Mippy: I've never seen You Tube before. I was searching for a video of a sailor's hornpipe - it took me quite awhile to find one - and there it was. Prancer: Do you really have a kilt? I'm curious because I just found out last year that my family has a plaid. I'm a wee bit Scottish (Ferguson). marni0308 October 16, 2006 - 09:14 pm If you have started reading Bligh's The Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty, you've noticed how Bligh so very frequently gives the ship's position. For example, Bligh describes the position of 2 rocks on northern Tenerife, in the Canary Islands in the Atlantic, as latitude 28� 44' N and longitude 16� 5' W. Personally, not knowing anything about nautical reckoning, I found this to be extremely distracting until I did a couple of things: - I looked up information about longitude and latitude so I wasn't at a total loss as to what Bligh was talking about. - I got out my Atlas and hunted for the places Bligh referred to, searching for the latitude and longitude he stated. - I often glossed over the directions unless it seemed that I needed to know more about the position Bligh was pointing out. I didn't want to get bogged down in his directions. Here's some information about latitude and longitude that may help a bit: Latitude gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the Equator. It is expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds. Each degree of latitude is sub-divided into 60 minutes. One minute of latitude can be further divided into 60 seconds. One minute of latitude is one nautical mile, defined exactly as 1852 metres. Longitude is also expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds, and whether East or West or Greenwich, England. Explanation of Bligh's example stated above: The position of 2 rocks on northern Tenerife, in the Canary Islands in the Atlantic, latitude 28� 44' N (meaning: 28 degrees, 44 minutes North of the equator), and longitude 16� 5' W (meaning: 16 degrees, 5 minutes West of Greenwich). You can find this position in an Atlas because some lines of latitude and longitude are drawn giving the degrees. Here's Tenerife on an atlas: October 17, 2006 - 05:18 am Marni0308 Yes, I have a kilt. My ancestors are from Scotland and Ireland and they settled in Nova Scotia very close to Cape Breton, so I have lots of Celtic influence. Here's a place to look at your tartan. click here Hope this link works. judywolfs October 17, 2006 - 08:14 am When I got to the longitude/latitude measurement of the position of the rocks, I more or less skipped over it. I think its enough to be able to say the ship was within sight of them, and of the church tower also, I think. However, reading that made me think that a sea captain needs to be a precise and detailed man. ~JudyS marni0308 October 17, 2006 - 08:17 am Yup, that's our plaid. It worked. Thanks, Prancer! Don't get chilly with your kilt on! marni0308 October 17, 2006 - 08:25 am Judy: I just added a link to an atlas on that longitude/latitude post #123 I think it was. You're doing the same thing I did for the most part - basically skipping over most of Bligh's positionings. Just once in awhile I'd want to look more carefully at them. And yes, you hit the nail on the head. A captain would really have to know how to determine his bearings. I just wanted to be sure no one is getting too hung up on all of the nautical bearings in Bligh's account. Marni marni0308 October 17, 2006 - 11:47 am Here's an interesting and brief animation showing how sailors navigated down through time. Just click on the "Launch the Animation" button to begin. October 17, 2006 - 12:22 pm marni, Thank you that was very interesting. Pat H October 17, 2006 - 01:28 pm Yes, that was very interesting, and shows the sort of problems the sailors faced. I haven't started the book yet, but I'm guessing that anyone who wants to can just skim the navigation bits and take Bligh's word for his position. I could wish that the presentation had not said the Pole Star is part of the Great Bear, though. It isn't; it's part of the Little Bear. Mippy October 17, 2006 - 04:52 pm Marnie ~ That link was outstanding! Thanks! marni0308 October 17, 2006 - 08:01 pm marni0308 October 17, 2006 - 08:16 pm Pat H - Good for you for noticing that about the error in the BBC animation on navigation. I looked at it again. They say in the wording that the Pole Star (North Star) is part of the "Great Bear" but in the picture they show it in "Ursa Minor." The North Pole is in the Small Bear, or Little Dipper. I hope they didn't make any other errors. judywolfs October 18, 2006 - 07:32 am Marni, what a very interesting link. I'm surprised to have learned so much from such a simple presentation. For instance, who could have imagined how important an accurate watch would be in finding one's way across the sea. ~JudyS marni0308 October 18, 2006 - 09:35 am The National Maritime Museum and Greenwich Royal Observatory have a wonderful website. Here's some info: "The foundation of the Royal Observatory, in 1675, was expressly to discover a method for finding longitude, and this astronomical research required the use of very accurate clocks. As it turned out, the solution to the longitude problem, found in the 18th century, proved to be a highly accurate portable clock, later to be termed a Marine Chronometer. The Observatory then took on the role of testing and issuing these instruments to the Royal Navy. Owing to the rapidly developing railway and electric telegraph systems in 19th century Britain, the need for an accurate and comprehensive distribution of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) for the nation became a priority for the Observatory. Thus, the fundamental horological connection with maritime studies can be summarised as Precision Timekeeping." http://www.nmm.ac.uk/ This museum/observatory has a large online exhibit of their collection. The museum has about 400 chronometers and other nautical time pieces. Here's a picture and info about chronometer H1, "the first experimental marine timekeeper made by John Harrison in Barrow-on-Humber between 1730 and 1735 as a first step towards solving the longitude problem and winning the great �20,000 prize offered by the British Government. Now known as 'H1', the timekeeper is unaffected by the motion of a ship owing to its two interconnected swinging balances. It compensates for changes in temperature and thanks to extensive anti-friction devices, runs without any lubrication. It was the first relatively successful marine timekeeper of any kind and was the toast of London when Harrison unveiled it in 1735. It is one of the great milestones in clock-making history." marni0308 October 18, 2006 - 10:57 am Those of you who participated in the Ambrose "Undaunted Courage" discussion about the Lewis and Clark expedition may remember that Lewis brought along a chronometer on the journey to help him and Clark determine their position and chart maps. The chronometer, purchased for $250 from Philadelphia clockmaker Thomas Parker, was the most expensive item bought for the journey. The chronometer lost 14 seconds per day. Imagine how you'd have to figure that out and make up for lost time in order to create accurate maps. Here's a picture of a chronometer like the one Lewis purchased. You can enlarge it by clicking on it. I saw a chronometer very much like it in a nautical museum in New Bedford recently. It was screwed on 2 sides inside a mahogany box and hung suspended from the box so it could sway freely and stay stable despite motion of a ship. October 19, 2006 - 09:16 am Hi everyone ...I'm just back from holiday and catching up with all the posts. The story of John Harrison and his 40 year quest to build the perfect timekeeping piece is told in Longitude by Dava Sobel. It's a very interesting read and Sobel explains a lot about the problems of navigation before Harrison's breakthough - together with a brief outline of astronomy, navigation and clockmaking. She combines all this with politics, intrigue, feuding clockmakers and sheer skullduggery. marni0308 October 19, 2006 - 08:37 pm Gumtree: Longitude sounds excellent. This Spring I read Dava Sobel's Galileo's Daughter and it was wonderful. I'm off to Newport, Rhode Island, tomorrow for the weekend - a mini vacation and a friend's wedding. I hope to have a chance to go to the Newport history museum while we're there. I'll check in Sunday evening when we get back. Marni gumtree October 20, 2006 - 11:59 pm Marni - Ive had Galileo's Daughter on the shelf for a few years but haven't read it yet...soon maybe. Enjoy your break away. hats October 21, 2006 - 01:17 pm Marni, I hope you are having a really grand time. You work very hard for us here in any discussion. I can tell you do it with fun and love. It's not taken for granted. marni0308 October 23, 2006 - 10:31 am Thanks, Gumtree and Hats. We're back from Newport and we had a terrific time. The wedding was in the beautiful town of Narragansett right on Narragansett Bay just across from Newport and the reception was on the island of Jamestown which is between Narragansett and Newport. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and crisp, and we did a lot of hiking in a national wildlife preserve on the ocean and in a bird sanctuary nearby. Fun weekend! Rhode Island is a very beautiful state. I knew almost nothing about Rhode Island even though I live next door in Connecticut. I've been reading about RI on the internet and found out some interesting RI "firsts": Rhode Island enacted the first law prohibiting slavery in North America on May 18, 1652. The first Baptist Church in America was founded in Providence, Rhode Island in 1671. Anne Franklin of the Newport Mercury was the first woman newspaper editor in America (Aug. 22, 1762) The first Synagogue in America was founded in Newport, Rhode Island in 1763. The first armed act of rebellion in America against the British Crown was the boarding and burning of the Revenue Schooner Gaspee in Narragansett Bay on June 10, 1772. The idea of a Continental Congress was first proposed at a town meeting in Providence, Rhode Island on May 17, 1774. Rhode Island elected the first delegates (Stephen Hopkins and Samuel Ward) to the Continental Congress on June 15, 1774. The Rhode Island General Assembly created the first standing army in the colonies (1,500 men) on April 22, 1775. On June 15, 1775, the first naval engagement of the Revolution occurred between a Colonial Sloop commanded by Capt. Abraham Whipple and an armed tender of the British Frigate Rose. The tender was chased aground and captured. Later in June, the General Assembly created the first American Navy when it commissioned the Sloops Katy and Washington, armed with 24 guns and commanded by Abraham Whipple, who was promoted to Commodore. Rhode Island was the first Colony to declare independence from Britain on May 4, 1776. Pelham Street in Newport was the first in America to be illuminated by gaslight in 1806. The first strike in the United States in which women participated occurred in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1824. Watch Hill, Rhode Island has the nation�s oldest carousel that has been in continuous operation (1850). The motion picture machine (a machine showing animated pictures) was patented in Providence on April 23, 1867. The first lunch wagon in America was introduced in Providence in 1872. The first nine hole golf course in America was completed in Newport in 1890. The first state health laboratory was established in Providence on Sept. 1, 1894. The Rhode Island State House was the first building with an all-marble dome to be built in the United States (1895-1901). The first automobile race on a track was held in Cranston, Rhode Island on Sept. 7, 1896. The first automobile parade was held in Newport, Rhode Island on Sept. 7, 1899. More interesting information about Rhode Island: http://www.sec.state.ri.us/library/riinfo/riinfo/knowrhode Marni October 23, 2006 - 11:58 am Avast, all sailors and readers! I just returned from the SeniorNet conference! There's a post in the Book Nook, so I won't repeat here. But email me if you want to hear any specific details! (please put SeniorNet in the title line). Ahoy, mates! October 23, 2006 - 02:40 pm Ahoy, Midshipman Mippy! Sounds like you guys had a blast! Welcome back! marni0308 October 23, 2006 - 03:00 pm Pat H: Someone mentioned in the Book Nook that you had an accident. Are you OK? Pat H October 23, 2006 - 03:49 pm I'm fine; it won't get me out of standing my watch. marni0308 October 23, 2006 - 08:22 pm Whew! October 25, 2006 - 09:18 am Are we almost ready to make sail, oh Cap'n? Just one more week? marni0308 October 25, 2006 - 02:07 pm Ahoy, Midshipman Mippy! I just saw your photo, Pat H's, and JoanK's photo in the Latin lounge! That was fun! Very neat! You all look like you are having such a great time! It's wonderful being able to see faces of friends here on this site!! Yes, we're setting sail in one week - next Wednesday, Nov. 1. I'm betting our weather will be fair and calm. Everyone: Stow your gear and meet us aboard in one week with books in hand! You're all invited to the captain's table. We can drink grog, Madeira, or coffee, munch on hard tack, and talk about the HMS Bounty. We'll begin with the first 5 chapters. Huzzah!!! October 25, 2006 - 04:51 pm Take a look at this link; if hardtack breaks teeth someone else can have my share! October 25, 2006 - 08:00 pm I have enough broken teeth as it is -- I don't need any more. I vote for madiera and some kind of cheese. What about all the puddings that Jack Aubrey ate? Pat H October 25, 2006 - 08:16 pm Sounds unappetizing--maybe I can get my hard tack to take a walk away from me. marni0308 October 25, 2006 - 09:30 pm Mippy: I love that article about hardtack! Can you just see those weevils, Pat H??!! When I read about the weevils in the O'Brian books, I pictured some sort of beetle, but wasn't sure what it was exactly. I'm going to check. Be right back..... Ahah! Found an article in Wikipedia. A weevil IS a beetle. Hey, the weevil in the picture looks very familiar. I've seen weevils! I wonder if our hardtack (ship biscuit) weevils are the wheat weevils mentioned here?....No, the ship "weevils" aren't even really weevils, according to this! This article says they are "Stegobium paniceum (Anobiidae)." Here's info/picture of weevils: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weevil Here's info/picture about hardtack "weevils" provided by The Historical Maritime Society, in London, I believe. It says, "It would appear that any small beetles at the time [on ships] were called 'weevils' and all large ones 'cockroaches'. The basic pest found in ships biscuit is incorrectly termed the 'weevil'. In fact it is not a true weevil but a relative of woodworm called the 'Bread Beetle' - Stegobium paniceum.: "The issue is as to when they changed from a small nuisance into an infestation that resulted in condemned food. The bread room of a ship was especially designed and located to keep bread cool and dry and this gives us a clue to those circumstances when problems could arise. The rate of reproduction and lifecycle of storage pests considerably increases with humidity and temperature. Hard tack was thrice baked to completely dry it out and hence preserve it (for up to five years by the victualling board standard). The baking would also make it extremely hard for any insects to penetrate the grains to the softer centre on which they feed. Dampness makes the bread soft again. So if bread gets damp in hot climates then any insects present will proliferate very quickly." http://www.hms.org.uk/nelsonsnavymaggot.htm Ick! Large white maggots in hardtack, too! Master and Commander fans: Remember Jack Aubrey getting such a chuckle from the joke about "the lesser of two weevils"? JoanK: I'm liking your idea about cheese and madeira more and more. How about some Spanish manchego cheese that a few of us tried during the Don Quixote discussion? It is delicious! Oh, I'm getting excited! This Historical Maritime Society article links us to a fabulous page called "Nelson and His Navy" [about Admiral Horatio Nelson]. It has terrific links to articles that explain things such as "the Duties of the Master" and "the duties of the Surgeon" - even "Cheese and the Royal Navy"! Hmmmmm. According to this cheese article, we should be eating Cheshire or Gloucester cheese. "The Navy had always issued Suffolk Cheese, a thin, hard and durable variety, but practically inedible. There were frequent complaints against it, and in 1758 the decision was taken to switch to Cheshire and Gloucester Cheese, even though they were considerably more expensive and probably did not keep so well." JoanK October 28, 2006 - 06:50 am AAKKK! I thought I was all set -- I threw Bligh into my suitcase for my trip to see my grandkids, figuring I could get most of it read on the five hour plane trip. When I pulled it out, it wasn't Bligh at all. but another book that looks a lot like it. My SIL says he owns the book, if he can find it. If not, I'll be behind til I get back on the fifth. Meanwhile, SIL (a history buff) also says there is an account by the mutineers. Did you know that? Seems a whaler visited the island 18 years later. Only one mutineer was still alive, but he talked. GingerWright October 28, 2006 - 07:00 am JoanK, Only one mutineer was still alive, but he talked. You have sparked my interest but won't be on the list to join you all but will sure watch the post more carefully Thank you. BaBi October 28, 2006 - 03:09 pm MARNI, I've encountered a problem. I knew from a catalaog check that my library had a copy of Mutiny on the Bounty by William Bligh, so I hadn't worried about that. Yesterday I went to check it out, and discovered the book was actually a fictionized version rewritten for juveniles. The library did a check of the 'libraries' database for me, and we found the book written by Wm. Bligh was only available at University libraries. They have put in a request for me, and hopefully one of the Universities will make their copy available. That, however, may be soon, or it may be six weeks! Where, O where, did you and the rest of the prospective participants find this book? Babi marni0308 October 28, 2006 - 03:55 pm BaBi and JoanK: Don't worry about not having the book immediately. If you can stand it, you can read it online. Click on the link above in our Heading where it says "ONLINE VERSION OF THE BOOK." BaBi: I got my book on Amazon. It's paperback entitled "The mutiny on Board HMS Bounty," written by William Bligh, published by The Narrative Press, copyright 2003. ISBN: 1-58976-228-2 Golly, I hope you both can get the book. Try the online version to see if you can read it there meanwhile. Marni marni0308 October 28, 2006 - 04:00 pm There is an interesting sounding program on the History Channel tonight at 8:00 p.m. EST. It's the narrative of a true story of a ship's crew that was shipwrecked in 1815 off the coast of Africa. They were captured and enslaved by Arabs and eventually freed. "Skeletons on the Sahara" Here's info about the show: "In 1815, a Connecticut merchant ship is run aground off the west coast of Africa. Captured by Arab nomads, Captain James Riley and his crew are sold into brutal slavery and marched across the Sahara Desert, where skin boils, lips blacken and men shrivel to less than 90 pounds. Along the way the Americans will encounter everything that could possibly test them, but Riley and his men will also discover ancient cities, secret oases and a culture largely unknown to the modern world. We'll take viewers inside the adventure, with realistic recreations shot on location and compelling interviews with descendants of Riley, his crew and the Arabs who held them captive. Includes expert commentary from Dean King, author of the bestselling book of the same name." I believe it repeats at 12:00 a.m. tomorrow. It lasts 2 hours. Pat H October 28, 2006 - 04:02 pm The bookstores here only had a version which was a part of Bligh's account plus some of the trial procedings, plus some other stuff, and I had to order the book from Amazon. Border's had filed it under "Transportation". marni0308 October 28, 2006 - 09:56 pm Transportation?! Interesting! I tried to find it at first at Barnes & Noble online and they didn't have it at all that I could see. kidsal October 29, 2006 - 02:38 am I read Skeletons on the Sahara -- an extremely interesting look into desert life. Riley and his men were treated as slaves and the women were the most violent toward them. Some of the crew died, others were left behind as slaves with tribes, Riley and another man were purchased by the British embassy and returned to the U.S. Mippy October 29, 2006 - 09:09 am Tomorrow I have jury duty, so I'm glad we are not starting our discussion on Monday. That reminds me of some parts late in the Patrick O'Brien series. Wasn't Cap't Jack a court official because of his land-owner status? Was he a justice of the peace? And didn't you have to be a land-owner to serve on an English jury. Also, needless to say, in those years women did not serve or vote. marni0308 October 29, 2006 - 02:02 pm Jury duty, Mippy! I wonder if you'll be picked for a jury. I don't recall that about Jack Aubrey. I think I'm going to have read the series again. marni0308 October 29, 2006 - 02:08 pm Here's a wonderful BBC site with information about sailing in the Pacific before Captain Cook's voyages. You can see the whole article rather than just one page at a time by scrolling down to "Print entire article." Click it to show whole article. You don't have to print it. Then to read some terrific articles about Cook's voyages, click on the articles listed in the right-hand column. There's also information about Sir Joseph Banks, Bligh's patron. Marni October 29, 2006 - 02:17 pm I thought this info in the article was very important: How advances in ship design helped exploration "Ships of the 16th century were 'square rigged', like Magellan's, with high sides for their size. The high wind resistance, especially of those towering sides, made the ships ungainly and only really able to sail well with the wind behind them. A major step forward in ship design happened in the early 18th century, when the high sides began to be cut down, decreasing wind resistance and giving a vastly improved sailing performance. 'Technological advances had an enormous impact on exploration in the Pacific in the 18th century...' Neither did the earlier ships have the triangular sails at the front that are now so familiar on modern sailing boats. These foresails, invented about 50 years before the Cook voyages, improved manoeuvrability and enabled ships to sail more effectively into the wind. The impact that these technological advances had on exploration in the Pacific in the 18th century was enormous - it meant that ships could go where they wanted rather than where the winds and currents took them." How improvements in navigation helped exploration "Captain Cook's voyages to the Pacific coincided with important scientific advances that made navigating a ship to a known point, and more importantly finding the way back again, a more reliable business. Up to that point, navigation had been a chancy affair, relying heavily on what navigators themselves called the three 'Ls': lead, lookout and latitude. We determine geographical position through latitude and longitude, which are imaginary lines of measurement drawn around the world from east to west and from north to south. A position anywhere in the world can be plotted at the intersection of its latitude and longitude. That was the theory. Navigators could work out a ship's latitude with reasonable accuracy by measuring the distance of the sun or a star above the horizon with a backstaff or quadrant. Longitude was more difficult. A line of longitude is a measurement of time, and in order to plot where a ship was on that line, a navigator had to be able to measure the distance between the local time and the time at the ship's point of departure from a known meridian. It proved impossible at sea to make the calculations with the necessary accuracy, and as a result establishing a position depended on Dead Reckoning - knowing your latitude and compass course and calculating the effect of the wind and currents on the ship. Errors of hundreds if not thousands of miles were common, and many lands were 'discovered' by early European navigators - only to be effectively lost again. John Harrison's famous chronometer, H4, built in 1759 after years of experimentation, was the first marine timekeeper accurate enough to be used with confidence when plotting longitude at sea. But it was only one of several scientific advances that made navigation safer and more reliable in the 18th century, and made possible the systematic exploration of the world's oceans and lands that had been heralded by the Cook voyages." marni0308 October 29, 2006 - 02:25 pm Don't miss the BBC article about Life in the British Navy. It includes information about life at sea and combatting scurvy: JoanK October 30, 2006 - 09:19 am Great links. I've so far resisted reading the book online, but am keeping my hand in by rewatching "Master and Commandar" and reading a book called "Nathanial's Nutmeg" about the entry of Britain and Holland into the spice trade, about 170 years before Bligh. Very interesting. Surprisingly, according to this book, mutinies were not that uncommon. Perhaps that was no longer true when Bligh sailed. But I had forgotten that many of the sailors were "pressed", and were there against there will. Not so surprising if they rebelled. Pat H October 30, 2006 - 09:44 am The British Navy ships had Marines (soldiers) on board. They were used as fighters in boarding parties, but one of their functions was to prevent mutinies. gumtree October 30, 2006 - 10:50 am I picked up the Bligh book at my library today just in time to start. It's a lovely Large Print edition, very easy on the eyes with a clear, black, bold print. Lucky me! marni0308 October 30, 2006 - 11:35 am JoanK: I love the movie "Master and Commander"! One of my favorites. I bought it, too, and have watched it 5 times already. My husband thinks I'm nuts! I am surprised to hear that about mutinies being common. We'll have to discuss what was so uncommon about the mutiny on the Bounty. Let's all consider that. What was it about the story of the Bounty that made it so notorious? (Let's wait til we officially begin our book discussion, though, before we get into this. Yay! Almost time!) Gumtree: I'm so glad you found the book! Pat H: That's really important in Bligh's narrative!!! Please bring that up again later this week when we begin our book discussion!!!! marni0308 October 30, 2006 - 03:30 pm Tonight on Public TV is a program about the history of Yellow Fever. My newspaper said it was on at 9:00 p.m. EST and I put a reminder out for myself. But I just noticed that the time has changed to 10:00 p.m. EST on my online TV Guide. It says that a history of influenza is on at 9:00. So, the yellow fever history is on at either 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. EST. Yellow Fever was one of the diseases that killed large numbers of the British Navy as they ventured out more around the world. Malaria was another of the endemic diseases they encountered that killed so many ships' crew and soldiers and explorers. marni0308 October 31, 2006 - 08:34 am HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE! October 31, 2006 - 01:45 pm Great graphic! I'm looking forward to trick-or-treating with my grandkids. I love holloween. Pat H October 31, 2006 - 05:00 pm My book finally came yesterday, I've read the first 5 chapters, and am eager to weigh anchor tomorrow. I won't say smooth sailing, since Bligh certainly didn't have it. Mippy October 31, 2006 - 05:47 pm Happy Halloween, to all! I've given away a lot of candy this evening! Well, Capt'n Marni, I'll be on the virtual ship But not, no, not in posts, as Jury Duty continues for another day. At least it's a civil, not criminal case. Perhaps at the end of our discussion we can talk about what the British navy did when captains lost their ships. However, Bligh was not regular Navy, so procedures were possibly different. I think a court martial occurred in the regular British navy, right? That detail is not in this book, by the way, in case this post tempts anyone to look at the end. We'll have to use other sources, which is fun. marni0308 October 31, 2006 - 09:37 pm JoanK: Are you on your vacation now? Are you in California with your grandchildren? I know you said you'd be away for the first week of our discussion. I hope you have chances to peek in and join us even though you don't have your book. PatH: That's great news about your book! Mippy: I hope your jury duty case is an interesting one and not too long. I had visions of you getting sequestered in a motel with the other jury members during a long murder trial! I'm going to raise your question about Bligh in my first post to begin our discussion. marni0308 October 31, 2006 - 11:26 pm Our book discussion is now open for William Bligh's The Mutiny on Board HMS Bounty. Come aboard, stow your gear, and join us in a gill of grog and some tasty salt pork, hardtack, and sauerkraut as we talk about Captain's Bligh's version of the voyage and mutiny of the Bounty. We even have a steaming Spotted Dog (pudding) for dessert! If you don't yet have your book, it is available online from a link in our Header. Our Schedule is there, too; we are covering the first five chapters this week. Check out the links to Supplemental Information. We have an exciting group here with lots of pertinent information. Kleo has botanical information for us about breadfruit. Gumtree, who lives in Australia, knows about William Bligh's experience there as governor. Bodie lives on the Isle of Man where Bligh was married and where Fletcher Christian and Midshipman Heywood lived. Many of us are fans of popular novels about the British Navy such as the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin series. "Midshipman" Mippy and JoanK are not with us temporarily - Mippy is on jury duty and JoanK is on vacation. We look forward to their return! Take a look at this week's set of Questions to Consider. Mippy raised an interesting question for us to consider as we move forward: What did the British navy do when captains lost their ships?....Bligh was not "regular Navy," so procedures were possibly different......"I think a court martial occurred in the regular British navy, right?" Mippy: I've added your question to our growing list of questions to consider during our last week. But anyone can jump in to discuss it at any time. Bligh's narrative is specifically about the Bounty's voyage, the mutiny, and the harrowing voyage in the launch after the mutiny occurred. It is all his own version of what happened. There was a lot more to the story. Please feel free to provide supplemental information to add to our knowledge. I'll refer once in awhile to a book I just finished - The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty by Caroline Alexander, a wonderful well-documented follow-up to Bligh's story. So, let's weigh anchor. I lift my glass of grog to you with a hearty "HUZZAH!" Marni gumtree November 1, 2006 - 01:57 am Well Marni, here I am but certainly not as an expert on Bligh in Aust. I got the book a couple of days ago and have only just looked into it having a browse which is my usual custom with a book. I'm very impressed with the links in the heading - it will take me some time to check them all out - thanks for making them available - I've no doubt everyone will benefit from them. Just a quickie about Captain Cook's Endeavour. A replica was built right here at Fremantle Harbour in 1980s. A beautiful job - one could visit the boatbuilder's during construction and view the progress - we went several times - after launching and sea trials etc it eventually sailed back to England to be shown off. When it came back again it had lost all its gloss and perhaps looked a bit more authentic.- a tough sea-going vessel but oh, so small. I believe the replica is now in Sydney as a tourist attraction. I saw Mippy's post about Bligh not being in the Regular Navy and her query on the court martial or lack of it. My impression is that Bligh was Regular Navy and had been from the beginning of his career as Ship's Boy right through to the end. He did however transfer from Royal Navy to the Merchant Navy for a couple of years just before he took command of the Bounty. I believe this was due to the Royal Navy standing men down or reducing them to half pay - which was their usual practice when there was no war to be fought, or the Royal coffers were low. Bligh returned to active service to take command of the Bounty. Any commanding officer who lost his ship would have to account for the circumstances. Please set me straight if this is all wrong. BaBi November 1, 2006 - 07:13 am I found an intriguing bit in the opening "Advertisement" for the book. "and, being drawn up in a hasty manner, it required many corrections. Some circumstances likewise were omitted" It appears this final version of Captain Bligh's story contains many 'corrections' and some 'circumstances' that were previously omitted. His explanation is reasonable. I'll be curious, tho', to see whether his story appears to have been altered or padded to bolster his own position and defend his actions. Babi Pat H November 1, 2006 - 07:31 am Gumtree, you are absolutely correct. In a timetable in one of Marni's links, it says that Bligh was in the Merchant Service from 1783-1787, and returned to Royal Navy active service in 1787. The Bounty had been a commercial vessel, but was Commissioned Jun. 8, 1787, and Bligh was made her Commanding Lieutenant Aug. 16, 1787. A court martial was automatic whenever a Royal Navy ship was lost, whether or not there was any suspicion of wrongdoing or incompetence. marni0308 November 1, 2006 - 09:12 am Our questions will be posted in the Header shortly. I'll post them here for now so you have a chance to think about them. Here goes.... 1. Regarding the �Author�s Advertisement� in the book�s beginning: Why and for whom was William Bligh "advertising" this account? 2. What was the mission of HMS Bounty? Whose plan was followed in preparation for the voyage? 3. Describe HMS Bounty. Was there anything unusual in how the ship was fitted out? Describe the Captain�s quarters. Did Bligh have a role in fitting out the ship? 4. Describe the Bounty's crew. Were any additional passengers aboard? Who kept the key to the arms? How competent was the surgeon? Were important crew missing? 5. What route was the Bounty to take to Otaheite (Tahiti) in the Society Islands and when was she to leave England? How long was she to be gone? Why didn�t she leave as scheduled and what problem did this create? 6. What sort of �mischief� and suffering did storms create for the Bounty and her crew? 7. Regarding Captain Bligh�s management of his ship: How did he divide the ship�s watches? How did he manage food and water? When and why did he order men to be flogged? What seemed to motivate the captain the most in the decisions he made? What is your impression of him as captain of a ship? Did he have skills important in a good captain? Faults? 8. Describe some of the crew�s tasks. Was their life at sea treacherous? 9. Why didn�t Captain Bligh sail to Otaheite by way of Cape Horn? What effect did route via the Cape of Good Hope have on the length of the voyage? 10. Why did Captain Bligh have every person aboard examined by the surgeon when the Bounty reached Otaheite? 11. How did the natives on Otaheite differ, in Bligh�s narrative, from the natives in Van Diemen�s Land? Why did Bligh give his men �particular� directions not to reveal the cause of Captain Cook�s death to the people of Otaheite? 12. Describe Bligh�s narrative style. What does he focus on? Do you think he leaves anything important out? Do you think his style changes when he describes the Bounty�s visits to land? marni0308 November 1, 2006 - 09:27 am Gumtree: That must have been fascinating to see the Endeavor. I didn't realize til recently how very important an explorer and navigator Captain Cook had been. He went on 3 very important voyages of discovery, was a brilliant navigator, and created charts/maps for those who followed him. Much of the world's oceans were unknown to most men of his time. He and his crew were extraordinarily brave and daring. It was interesting to read in the BBC links about how the change in ship design enabled Cook and others to venture farther and faster in the age when the British came to "rule the seas." William Bligh sailed with Captain Cook on Cook's 3rd and last voyage, the voyage when he was killed by natives in Hawaii. Imagine seeing that event - your captain being stoned to death in the distant Pacific! Cook had taken Bligh under his wing and taught him much of what he knew about navigation and charting maps. Bligh became an expert himself as he shows us in our book. Gumtree: I read the same thing - that Bligh was regular Navy as captain of the Bounty. He was a commissioned lieutenant with acting role as captain at the point of our story. I read something interesting about Bligh's commission in The Bounty by Alexander - Bligh had been promised a promotion to the position of Post Captain. He had expected that when he took on the job on the Bounty. But it didn't happen and Bligh was extremely disappointed because he had taken a cut in pay to do the job. As Post Captain he would have had a much higher salary, even on half-pay during peacetime. Marni marni0308 November 1, 2006 - 09:34 am BaBi: What an interesting line you pointed out in the "Advertisement." It sounds like he meant to clarify the way he described navigating. (He is really into that!) And it sounds like he wanted to add more detail. I thought it was interesting how his story was published for the public. marni0308 November 1, 2006 - 09:39 am PatH: Thanks for the clarification about Bligh's commissions. I found that interesting about how Bligh worked in the Merchant Marine during peacetime. When the Navy wasn't at war, often the seamen lost their jobs. My understanding is that commissioned officers maintained their positions, but went on half pay. Considering that many made very small salaries in the Navy to begin, half pay would have been difficult for raising a family. Bligh had been fortunate to be able to find a good-paying position in the Merchant Marine. He seems to have been a respected officer. marni0308 November 1, 2006 - 09:42 am Here's an illustration called "The Death of Captain Cook" by Francesco Bartolozzi and William Byrne after a drawing by John Webber. November 1, 2006 - 09:45 am PatW: Thanks for our questions!! Pat H November 1, 2006 - 10:21 am Marni, that's a really important point about Post Captain. The date of this appointment determined your place on the seniority list for promotions. From this point on, promotions went in order of the list, although assignments could be more or less desirable. So when you got on the list would determine, for instance, your chance of becoming an Admiral. It would be a huge disappointment not to get such an appointment, once promised. marni0308 November 1, 2006 - 12:48 pm I found a "simplified" explanation of the various ranks of commissioned and non-commissioned officers in the British Navy. It seems that non-commissioned officers did not receive the half pay that commissioned officers received when not employed on ship. "Captain" Bligh was actually a lieutenant (commissioned officer) when he commanded the Bounty. Pat H: Didn't an officer's rank determine how much of a percent he received of the prize money paid to the men when they captured an enemy ship during wartime? Pat H November 1, 2006 - 06:27 pm Yes, prize money was divided according to rank, and everybody got something, down to the most junior crew. I think Bligh would have gotten the same percentage commanding the ship as a lieutenant or a post captain. I doubt this was important, since the ship was rather lightly armed, not set up for capturing prizes, and that wasn't it's mission. Pat H November 1, 2006 - 06:45 pm Question 3: Bounty was a smallish ship. The most unusual thing of her fitting out was the fact that a large area that would normally be the Captain's turf was turned over to a sort of greenhouse, leaving the Captain with small areas for sleeping and dining. Bligh himself drastically reduced the amount of ballast and shortened the masts, which shows his concern for the theory of sailing. I have no idea whether these were good or bad decisions, but since the ship didn't turn turtle or have handling problems, I guess they weren't stupid ones. She was armed, but more lightly than a ship that was going to do serious battle. Harold Arnold November 1, 2006 - 09:13 pm I found this an Interesting read, particularly Chapter 2 with its almost day-to-day account of the voyage from England to Cape Horn and the unsuccessful attempt to reach the Pacific around the Horn. I thought it interesting how the Bounty was able to replenish its fresh water supply by catching rain water. Also in the South Atlantic there were several accounts of catching fish and small sea mammals. I noted also they still had a live hog on which they dined as they began the attempt to round the horn. I think Bligh had anticipated the impossibility of rounding the horn as his original orders required. He had applied for and received permission to use his judgment to go the other way around the Cape of Good Hope should the Horn transit prove impossible. This was the course he was forced to follow. I want to say right at the start that I am a Bligh partisan. I deplore the libelous fiction of modern opportunistic authors such as the Northrop and Hall team that made him out a sadistic madman. He was very much an 18th Century navigator; he was very much Royal Navy officer later commanding a frigates of the line at the Battle of Copenhagen where he earned the praise of Admiral Nelson Harold Arnold November 1, 2006 - 09:26 pm The Mission of the Bounty was to obtain breadfruit plants from the South Pacific for introduction int the British West Indies. Planters from these Islands, inspired the expedition hoping the breadfruit would prove a cheap nutritious food to feed black Afro slaves working the West Indies plantations, Later after Bligh�s second voyage succeeded in introducing the fruit, the Slaves found they didn�t like it and refused to eat it. Apparently the breadfruit experiment in the end was a failure. marni0308 November 1, 2006 - 09:41 pm Thanks for the info about the ship, Pat H. The Bounty was a very small ship. Bligh gave us some of her statistics on page 1. Much of the room on the ship was fitted out to transport breadfruit plants from the Society Islands in the Pacific to the West Indies. An attempt would be made to grow them in the British West Indies. Bligh doesn't mention it, but the purpose was to find a cheaper way to feed the slaves on British plantations in the West Indies. Sir Joseph Banks, mentioned by Bligh in the first paragraph, coordinated the mission. The entire ship was refitted to carry the breadfruit plants safely. They needed light, water, protection from the saltwater and elements, etc. Most of all, they needed room. They had to be stored. The captain's facilities with the large skylights was the best storage place. Did you notice the deck was covered with lead and pipes were installed for draining and reclaiming plant water? Interesting to hear about this type of task that the British Navy was called upon to tackle - transporting plants from one location on the globe to a far distant spot. Here's a picture of a side view of the Bounty, refitted to hold the breadfruit plants. On the left side you can see what may be the false floor created to hold garden pots: marni0308 November 1, 2006 - 09:47 pm Harold, welcome! We were posting at the same time. All that happened and the experiment was a failure! Wasn't that something about what the Bounty had to go through trying to get around Cape Horn! I think I read somewhere that they had to toss most of the live animals (their fresh meat) overboard during the terrible storms because the animals were thrown around and got in the way. Pat H November 1, 2006 - 10:20 pm Harold, thanks for the info on slaves refusing to eat breadfruit. I wonder what the alternative was? Something dirt cheap and nasty, no doubt. Pat H November 1, 2006 - 10:33 pm Harold, I think that for me, one of the pleasures of this discussion will be deciding what I think of Bligh. I doubt that "sadistic madman" will be the answer. For a start, I can see that he was concerned for the physical well-being of his crew and was not much given to brutal punishments like flogging. My first guess is that I will decide that he was somewhat dense in seeing what people were thinking and in the skills necessary for jollying people along to get them to do what you want. I'm pretty sure we won't be able to fault his seamanship. hats November 2, 2006 - 06:34 am Marni, you read my thoughts. I have never seen breadfruit. Thank you for the painting. I wonder is that an unripe or ripe breadfruit in the painting. It looks a bit smaller than a cantaloupe. Do you think so? Mippy November 2, 2006 - 08:01 am Does anyone know if breadfruit plants are common today? Does any know whether the fruit was actually nutritional, or did the Royal Navy just assume so? Hi, this post is done during a coffee break (10 a.m. EST) on the laptop of a friend. I hope to be back at my own, and to participate later today, if our jury reaches a decision. We are not sequestered, as it is a minor civil case. hats November 2, 2006 - 09:21 am On page seven I see a full description of breadfruit. I should have read further. gumtree November 2, 2006 - 09:28 am I always thought breadfruit to be a relative of the fig - but starchy and very nutritious. I read somewhere that it doesn't taste like bread and doesn't taste like fruit either. It has other names I think. Doesn't it grow in Hawaii? Kleo will tell us all - Where is Kleo? hats November 2, 2006 - 09:36 am Good question. Kleo, would know. marni0308 November 2, 2006 - 09:46 am Yes, Kleo, help!! What can you tell us about breadfruit? Hi, Hats! Glad you're here and I'm glad you mentioned the info about breadfruit was on page 7. I had to read it again. I think one of the most interesting things Bligh writes about breadfruit is "It must be eaten new; for, if it is kept above twenty-four hours, it grows harsh and choaky; but it is very pleasant before it is too stale." The sailors and botanists who visited the South Sea islands and ate breadfruit probably ate it while it was very fresh and delicious. What do you bet that when they fed it to the West Indies' slaves, it wasn't always fresh! The masters probably wanted to use it up til it was gone and it probably went bad. It probably tasted terrible and so the experiment failed. I wonder why breadfruit would have been cheaper than regular bread for feeding slaves? ----------------------------------- Pat H: RE "My first guess is that I will decide that he was somewhat dense in seeing what people were thinking and in the skills necessary for jollying people along to get them to do what you want." I think you hit the nail on the head. I was surprised as I read Bligh's narrative at how seldom he mentioned his men. He went on and on about other things, the ship, the weather, and especially the ship's position, but he rarely mentioned his men who must have surrounded him every single day and interracted with him constantly. Wasn't that so strange? Bligh strikes me as an extreme introvert for some reason - very into his books and charts and scientific instruments etc. But not into people. I can see that someone like that could totally miss the non-verbal messages given off by the crew. marni0308 November 2, 2006 - 09:48 am I have to travel down to New London today to check on my parents. I'll be back tonight. gumtree November 2, 2006 - 10:07 am I agree Bligh doesn't come over as a 'people person' but I think we have to remember that only major cases of insubordination, punishments, illness and the like would be entered into the ship's log. As commander he would be expected to deal with everyday matters without mentioning them. His focus on navigation was necessary to ensure they arrived at their destination and his observations when in port were expected - he was His Majesty's eyes and ears and had to note down what he saw and experienced. Apart from all that - I don't think that in this part of the journey there was any suggestion of mutiny - Christian Fletcher is being given more responsibility and they appear to have a good working relationship (so far as we can tell from Bligh's account). The only causes for complaint seem to have been the bad weather and Bligh persisting in trying to round Cape Horn against the wind for so long and the fact that twice he does not take the opportunity to land and take on fresh supplies even though by that time the victuals are mainly spoiled or lost. He is obviously relieved to land at Cape Town and see his 'people' restored to vigour. BaBi November 2, 2006 - 12:24 pm We need to remember that in the British Navy of those days, discipline was highly prized, and a 'firm' disciplinarian was considered the best captain. Insubordination of any kind was dealt with promptly and firmly. On board a ship at sea, the Captain was God, and that is not much of an exaggeration. A question was asked about courts martial; if it was answered I missed it. From other reading, I gather that there was always a court martial when a captain lost a ship, but in the great majority of cases the captain was exonerated. It was only where a captain was found to be negligent in his duty, or rash to the point of foolishness, that they were found guilty. Ships were bound to be lost, in spite of the best efforts of the best of captains, and every officer on the review board was well aware of it. On the percent allotment of prizes taken at sea, don't forget that the admiral sitting at his desk on land, giving orders to the captains, also got a portion of the prize. Babi Harold Arnold November 2, 2006 - 04:10 pm 4. Describe the Bounty's crew. Were any additional passengers aboard? Who kept the key to the arms? How competent was the surgeon? Were important crew missing? I count a total of 46 Men departing on the Bounty. Of these 9 might be considered of officer or Warrant Officer rank. In addition there were 4 young gentlemen who were Midshipmen. The majority came from all parts of the British Isles. One non-English crewman was Henry Hillbrandt who came from Hanover that is now Germany and then was a part of the domain of the English King George III. Also, one of the crew was an American from Philadelphia PA. This was Isaac Martin who was a mutineer who was killed by natives when the bounty briefly returned to Tahiti after the mutiny before departing for Pitcairn. Two important passengers were David Nelson the botanist and his assistant William Brown. Their duty was to look after th the cargo of breadfruit plants to assure their alive arrival in the West Indies. Nelson I believe had been a Botanist on the last voyage of Captain Cook. The Surgeon, Thomas Huggan was an alcoholic hardly competent even when judged by the standards of his day. I remember reading in Chapter 2 that the Master kept the keys to the arms chest. This would be Christian whose possession of the keys gave the mutineers quick access to firearms. Previously I had not realized that Christian had the keys by virtue of his position as Master. I would have thought that the Officer of the Watch would have had the keys . This would have been Christian who was Officer of the Watch the night the mutiny occurred. In the 18th century Royal Navy discipline was maintained by a small detachment of marines. These elite sea-soldier were much relied upon to keep a disgruntled crew in check. For some reason the mission planners at the Admiralty neglected to include a marine contingent in the Bounty crew leaving Bligh defenseless and an easy victim when the mutiny occurred. Harold Arnold November 2, 2006 - 04:27 pm Click Here for Breadfruit from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Possibly marni has already linked this site, but I like it because it does go into some detail about how it is prepared and used. Apparently in the 18th century this fruit was the basis for the diet of the South Pacific Island people. Click Here for another site with additional Information including some data on the fruit�s food value and many recipies. Again I apologize if these sites have already been linked. Regarding Bligh�s character and his place in history, I agree that all of you should formulate your judgment over the course of the course of the discussion. I would, suggest, however, that we today should not judge him against today�s social standards: rather we should judge him against the backdrop of his 18th century world. In particular we should not forget the fact that the bounty was a single ship alone on a distant sea. We should judge Blighs command decision agains those of the likes of Lord Nelson, Captain Cook, Captain John Paul Jones, and even Meriweather Lewis. The latter too in command of a similar sized isolated military contingent did not hesitate to flog disobedient members of his crew. Pat H November 2, 2006 - 05:54 pm Bligh doesn't seem to be a brutal captain. On March 10, he punished Matthew Quintal with 2 dozen lashes for insolence and mutinous behavior, and remarks that this is the first time he had had to punish anyone. Since they sailed on Dec. 23, that's 2 1/2 months without a flogging, surely pretty mild for the time. I gather from some of Marni's other sources that he had a pretty rough tongue. gumtree November 2, 2006 - 09:00 pm I understand that the reason for not having a detachment of marines on board Bounty was that so much room had been made available to carry the breadfruit plants (which was, after all the purpose of the expedition). There simply wasn't space enough for them. But it left Bligh exposed and without a back up when trouble came. We should probably also note that there was no other commissioned officer on board which no doubt added to his vulnerability. marni0308 November 2, 2006 - 10:08 pm Such interesting posts! Thank you for your great insights here! Gumtree: You made some very important points including: "he [Bligh} was His Majesty's eyes and ears and had to note down what he saw and experienced." You've got me thinking that in his narrative after making it back to England, Bligh represented the British Navy and the king in his published narrative, also. I think your statement here is extremely important: "The only causes for complaint seem to have been the bad weather and Bligh persisting in trying to round Cape Horn against the wind for so long and the fact that twice he does not take the opportunity to land and take on fresh supplies even though by that time the victuals are mainly spoiled or lost." Captain Bligh was determined to fulfill his mission despite many odds. Time was already against him because he got started late and hit winter weather at Cape Horn. His ship couldn't make it around the Cape despite a whole month of desperate attempts. Bligh was aware of certain weather and sea conditions at specific times of the year, and of breadfruit growing periods. He knew he would be adding many additional miles onto his journey by heading east to Otaheite rather than west. So he sacrificed ship and crew and himself to a certain extent and he gambled by skipping stops for taking on water and supplies. This probably was to save time and the mission in the long run. Bligh wrote that their trip from England to Otaheite was 27,086 miles. I read that 10,000 miles were added onto their journey because they had to travel east around the Cape of Good Hope instead of west around Cape Horn. marni0308 November 2, 2006 - 10:10 pm BaBi: You made a key point - in the British Navy the captain was king. His word was law. Pat H: It does seem that Bligh was almost soft with discipline compared to some captains we read about. Bligh did not relish flogging. He seemed, on the other hand, extremely concerned about the health and welfare of his crew, taking steps to ensure this - such as enforcing a diet that included sauerkraut (Captain Cook had done this), mandating rigorous cleaning of the ship with vinegar, nightly enforced exercise (dancing). I read something interesting. Bligh specifically took on a nearly blind sailor because he could fiddle. Bligh required a fiddler who could play things like sea shanties so the men would dance (such dances as the sailor's hornpipe) and get daily exercise. (Captain Cook had done this, also.) Apparently, the men got very tired of the sauerkraut and the dancing. marni0308 November 2, 2006 - 10:21 pm Harold: Thank you for the info about the crew and the links to breadfruit info. Yes, Bligh mentioned it was the Master (Sailing Master) who had the key to the arms. Wasn't the Master Fryer? I'll have to check to see if we read yet about Christian taking on the role. At the onset of the voyage, Christian was Master's Mate. Bligh did continue to ask Christian to handle various important tasks. Harold and Gumtree: You both pointed out a vital problem - no marines. Pat H had told us previously how important the marines were on board to maintaining discipline. To have no marines was asking for trouble. And Bligh was concerned about it. The marines' major roles were to protect the ship's officers, helping them to maintain control, and to be charge of the weapons. The marines were trained to fight, guarded and protected the ship and men, and fought on land as needed. They acted as an amphibious force. Bligh listed the ship's crew in chapter 1. If you're interested in finding out some more about who they were, click on this link. It lists the crew, includes the names, and you can click on each name to find out biographical info about each crew member. Barbara St. Aubrey November 3, 2006 - 10:55 am This link tells us that Breadfruit is also known as Jackfruit - I have helped many Chinese Indonesians who often serve Jackfruit sliced and rolled in a coconut mixture - you can buy it in the Asian markets in your town - this link tells us a bit more about the taste of Breadfruit. I am thinking as we cringe at all the beatings and rough treatment of the sailors - that was the way of things for many during this time in history - I would think the biggest issue the men would have is the drinking water required to keep the breadfruit saplings alive - this is water they would not be able to drink and since they were caught in the tropics without drinking water they probably went mad with rage. They certainly would have more desire to save themselves than to save these saplings for the King. I have not read yet, what Bleigh says about his rationing the drinking water - but that to me is probably the key to what happened. Barbara St. Aubrey November 3, 2006 - 11:21 am Here is an aerial photo of a modern day 90-foot schooner in trouble last year off the coast of California. The picture helps me get a better grip on the size of the Bounty. Sounds to me if he lessened the iron than he had to shorten the masts - there was not enough ballast to handle that much sail. Vaguely I am remembering from my sailing days that the best way around the Horn was from east to west - but this short site gives a map and a bit about rounding the Horn which is Drake's Passage. marni0308 November 3, 2006 - 11:33 am Barbara: How very nice to see you here! Welcome aboard! Fascinating that you actually were in Indonesia and know about breadfruit. Did you taste it yourself? What did you think of the flavor and consistency? Unfortunately, I could not get your link to work. Could you re-post the link? Thanks! Yes, drinking water must always have been a problem for sailors on long voyages. Reminds me of the line "Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink." I wonder what that comes from? We know that huge casks of water had to be loaded onto ships before they shipped out, and they had to make period stops to replenish their supplies. Often the water supply got old and slimy and green, probably filled with germs and bugs. Isn't that why they preferred to drink wine and grog - water mixed with rum? To kill the taste? Maybe the alcohol helped to kill whatever was in the old water, too? Bligh mentioned the special lead deck and water pipes that had been installed in the Bounty to help conserve fresh water - so they could keep re-using the same water for the plants. Also, the sailors made a huge effort to catch rainwater in sails to use for drinking water. I believe they charted where fresh water supplies could be found on their maps for future sailors. They would want to know what islands they could stop at to find water. I believe, too, that one of the reason the British Navy transplanted many trees and plants to various islands around the world was so that they could replenish their ships when they made stops around the world. Barbara: You've raised an interesting point about the mission and its effect on the men. Just what would the crew have thought about their mission of transporting plants? Would they have recognized the importance of their job as Bligh perceived its importance? Perhaps they thought their captain considered the plants more important than his men? At this point in our narrative, they haven't yet begun to load up with any breadfruit. And yet they have had concerns about drinking water simply due to the length of their journey and the captain not stopping at planned stations. However, they made it safely to Tahiti. Marni Barbara St. Aubrey November 3, 2006 - 11:59 am I was not in Indonesia - I have worked with over 30 families from Indonesia and several of them have had me to their home for various celebrations that were mostly bring a dish kind of events although the one women Lily, was a wonderful cook and liked to introduce me to various foods that I would never have known about... It has been years since I read the Pitcairn Island version of this tale and to me that would be interesting to compare the two voyages from the sailor's point of view and the captain's point of view - I remember reading this book back when I was a young teen - maybe eight grade age... in my mind's eye, I am sorry Bleigh is Charles Laughton climbing into that row boat. Barbara St. Aubrey November 3, 2006 - 12:13 pm In a long article found this photo of a reenactment of the Revolution with men using a Swivel gun - The explanation is -- "The swivel gun was a small cannon named for it's mechanism of attachment. It was about the only 18th century gun that was not a "crew-served" weapon, although it's effectiveness was multiplied when manned by more than the gunner. Once mounted, almost always on a fixed base (as the block of wood shown below) it may be pointed quickly to any quarter. But the swivel mechanism cannot stand heavy recoil, so the size, and hence effectiveness, of a swivel gun is severely limited." artillery And here is an article showing a photo all about Bleigh and his Kendal Timepiece that was first used on Captain Cook's voyage. Barbara St. Aubrey November 3, 2006 - 12:33 pm OK what I wonder is - why did Bleigh proceed to try to sail around the Horn when he received the message it was already too late in the season - I did look it up and the safest time is between October and March and I was incorrect the winds blow making the trip the easiest from West to East. - So why did he choose to go by way of the Horn where he was buffeted by storms...? And my second query is - there is no mention of a sextant - they were used since just before Bleigh was born and successfully can measure both Longitude and Latitude - their invention took place at the same time by men in England and in America - is this again an issue over funds since this was not a private venture but a government venture subject to government approved funds - it sounded like Bleigh was lucky just to get a watch to help locate the Longitude where he was sailing. Granted the sextant would not have helped him in a storm because you do need the sun but it would have helped him in the South Pacific but more why did he go ahead towards to Horn after he was told it was too late in the season? He did not seem a stupid man so I can only guess he was a belligerent man who would do his thing and drive everyone to accomplish what he wanted. marni0308 November 3, 2006 - 12:40 pm Barbara: I was able to read the breadfruit article. Thank you! Fascinating! And the story of the 90-foot ship really makes one think about the dangers of life at sea in a vessel. What a life! Here is a photo of a descendent of the breadfruit tree Bligh planted on St. Vincent. It's in the St. Vincent Botanic Gardens mentioned in Barbara's link: marni0308 November 3, 2006 - 01:01 pm Re Barbara's question: "Why did Bleigh proceed to try to sail around the Horn when he received the message it was already too late in the season?" Bligh provided his orders in chapter 1. Bligh said "In the foregoing orders it is to be observed, that I was particularly directed to proceed round Cape Horn; but, as the season was so far advanced, and we were so long detained by contrary winds, I made application to the Admiralty for discretional orders on that point;" Bligh received the reply: "The season of the year being now so far advanced as to render it probable, that your arrival, with the vessel you command, on the southwern coast of America, will be too late for your passing round Cape Horn without much difficulty and hazard; you are, in that case, at liberty (notwithstanding former orders) to proceed in her to Otaheite, round the Cape of Good Hope." Perhaps Bligh felt obliged, due to his orders, to attempt to round Cape Horn first. He would have saved himself 10,000 miles by succeeding at this. He wrote how seaworthy his ship was. But it was not to be. Barbara St. Aubrey November 3, 2006 - 01:07 pm oohhhwww great photos - the breadfruit reminds me of Osage Oranges although I think the Breadfruit is probably softer and certainly greener. The photos of the Bounty are a treat and the one from Pitcairn Island gives a me a real feel for the ship - it was sorta tubby wasn't it as compared to a schooner that came along later in history. Marni do you think Bleigh was such the stickler for command even after he was given permission to ditch the early orders? This to me is telling of his character if we could fathom out why he chose to go ahead to the Horn... marni0308 November 3, 2006 - 01:16 pm Barbara: Re "why Bligh didn't have a sextant?" I did not find much in the first 5 chapters about the specific nautical instruments Bligh used to navigate. I skipped a bit farther into the book and Bligh mentioned that the following were on the Bounty: quadrant November 3, 2006 - 01:24 pm Oh, lovely photos of Osage Oranges! I've never heard of them. I don't know about Bligh being a stickler for command. Interesting question. He certainly tried with everything he, the men, and the ship had to get around Cape Horn. I suppose orders were everything to a ship's captain. A captain may have been the king aboard ship, but he still had to follow orders. Wasn't it a courtmartial offense to disobey orders? Maybe he just wanted to see if he could do it? When you think of it, though, Bligh came up through the naval ranks starting when he was a boy. I don't think he had a lot of influential wealthy relatives who could get him places. He earned what he got and maybe didn't want to jeopardize his position? marni0308 November 3, 2006 - 01:24 pm I'm off to shop. Be back tonight. Barbara St. Aubrey November 3, 2006 - 01:41 pm OH I hope you are OK with my being fascinated as I read and need to know what the references are - I am just sharing as I read what I want to know about - here is a link showing The Needles GingerWright November 3, 2006 - 01:45 pm OH! marni, The bounty rebuit for the movie of Mutiny on board the bounty is just gorgious with the blue of blue water around it, thanks for showing us it. Barbara, It is such a joy to read your posts in any discussion you are in as you are so informative and descriptive of what interest you, Glad you are here. Pat H November 3, 2006 - 02:45 pm Barbara, It's great to have you on board. I think your references and attention to the details are great, along with all those nifty links. The more we learn the more fun it is. Barbara St. Aubrey November 3, 2006 - 03:08 pm Oh great I think we will have fun... Marni you did find where he had a sextant - and so now I am confused because someplace I read he used reckoning - with a sextant in use there is no reckoning - the other confusing thing is that the clock started at noon - aboard ship that I know about the clock starts at midnight breaking the 24 hours into 3 sections that would match his later talking about 3 watches - each watch has an increase in the number of bells from one to finally 8 - one bell is rung for each hour of that watch - 8 hours in all - And so that bit in the beginning maybe is saying something a bit different because of when it was written - I do not think that ships that sail below the equator change their time to start a day at noon - I know - such a little detail - but the only way I can see of getting inside the head of this man is in these details - he shows he is experienced and where the comfort of his crew was not upper most, like anyone in business cares for his equipment he cared for the health of his crew in order to achieve success. He certainly was not alone in trying to go round the Horn during the bad time of year was he... but with all his caring for the health of his crew it still puzzles me why he would take on a risky route when he was given permission to ignore his earlier orders. OK gotta finally leave the sailing of the Bounty for awhile - I am still on chapter 3 so I have more to read - this is the last day for early voting and I need to vote since I work the polls all day Tuesday... I just remembered - need to look it up - Tenerife was famous for its lace - and maybe other embroidery...? I do not know but worth a look see... later... Pat H November 3, 2006 - 05:18 pm Barbara--I peeked ahead and saw that Bligh was not given the ship's sextant when the mutineers cast him off, so he would have had to use reckoning from then on. I think I remember him mentioning using reckoning already (I'll have to check where), but presumably that was only for a day or two in bad weather. For non-sailors or non-fans of Patrick O'Brian, reckoning is guessing the ship's position by knowing what direction you sailed, the ship's speed, how long you have been sailing at that speed, and guessing how much the currents moved you differently. You can imagine how inaccurate it was. It was even worse when you were tacking (zigzagging) which you have to do when you have the wind against you. marni0308 November 3, 2006 - 06:31 pm Reckoning Barbara and Pat H: I found that Bligh wrote that he used "reckoning" throughout his journey. It seemed he used that navigational method along with such things as his chronometer. He compares the results to each other. He found that his "timepiece" was off by using reckoning. Bligh uses the term "reckoning" as well as the term "dead reckoning" and I was wondering what the difference was. Answers.com says "reckoning" is "The act or process of calculating the position of a ship or an aircraft." That's pretty brief. Here's a description of "dead reckoning." It makes my head swim!! http://www.auxetrain.org/Nav1.html Nautical Time Bligh's use of nautical time does seem confusing. He himself said in his "Advertisement" in the beginning of our book: "...the notation of time used in the Narrative being according to sea reckoning, in which the days begin and end at noon, must have produced a degree of obscurity and confusion to readers accustomed only to the civil mode." Here's a chart and description of ship time and how the ship's bell was struck to tell time: http://www.twogreens.com/wakeup/lifeatsea/watches.htm The time of day is very important when considering the men's watches. Bligh assigned men to be in charge of the ship at certain times. Bligh says: "I now divided the people into three watches, and gave the charge of the third watch to Mr. Fletcher Christian, one of the mates. I have always considered this as a desirable regulation when circumstances will admit of it on many accounts; and am persuaded that unbroken rest not only contributes much towards the health of a ship's company but enables them more readily to exert themselves in cases of sudden emergency." Does anyone know just what this means - creating 3 watches? (I read that the usual schedule was 4 watches, not 3.) Is a watch on the Bounty 1/3 of a 24-hour day - 8 hours? JoanK November 3, 2006 - 06:48 pm why did Bleigh proceed to try to sail around the Horn when he received the message it was already too late in the season" Don't forget that sailing ships traveling to the tip of Africa (Cape Hope) did so by sailing EAST across the Atlantic to South America, and catching the winds to carry them back WEST across the Atlantic to the south of Africa. So it may not have added that much mileage to his journey to try the Horn. Given the potential savings, it may have been standard procedure. marni0308 November 3, 2006 - 06:53 pm Oh, cool! If you click on the bell picture in the watches link above, where it says "The bell of HMS Victory" you hear the bell of HMS Victory (replica of Admiral Nelson's ship) ring 8 bells. Harold: You were in the Navy. Did you use this kind of nautical time in the Navy? marni0308 November 3, 2006 - 06:55 pm Ahoy, JoanK: How's your vacation going? marni0308 November 3, 2006 - 06:58 pm Oh, dear. JoanK: I think you just lost me on the directions. I don't think I'm much of a sailor tonight. Pat H November 3, 2006 - 07:22 pm JoanK, you said very nicely what I was going to say. I don't think the decision to try sailing around Cape Horn was unreasonable or remarkable. He almost hit the window of opportunity that would have made it possible. A little bit of good luck rather than bad would have done it. And the saving of time once in the Pacific would have been significant. As you point out, the time lost in trying wasn't as great as we might think. And when he couldn't do it, he wasn't pig-headed about persisting. It seems crazy that the shortest way from England to South Africa would be by way of South America, but if you factor in the winds it's so. Pat H November 3, 2006 - 08:02 pm I'd appreciate correction from someone more knowledgeable, but here is my understanding. Tours of duty on deck were divided into watches,5 4 hour watches and 2 2 hour watches. (The reason for not having 6 4 hour watches was to prevent people from always being on duty at the same time, day or night.) I think that if you have 2 watches everyone is on duty every other watch, and if you have 3 watches, you would only be on duty every 3rd watch. I don't think the length of the watches changed. Bligh had a small crew, so I'm surprised that he could divide it in thirds, but it would surely be a popular measure. Please, anyone who knows better, correct me. Harold Arnold November 3, 2006 - 08:44 pm Click Here for Information on the sextant from the Wikipedia, free encyclopedia. According to this article it had been described by Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th century and was rediscovered to come into general use replacing the astrolabe after 1730. The Sextant could be quite accurate even for determining Longitude if an accurate chronometer was available. Click Here for the story of the Bounty�s Chronometer. It was a somewhat inaccurate cheaper 200 pound version of the better 500 pound instrument used by Captain Cook. After an interesting history the instrument today is back in England at the Greenwitch Observatory. Harold Arnold November 3, 2006 - 09:29 pm Though I spent 2 years in the WWII Navy I, I have forgotten the details but I think there were 3 watches each with 4 hours on followed by 8- hours off. During the off time the men might be employed in other duties repairing, servicing or cleaning the ship; sleep time too would come during the off periods.. As an example the first watch might be on 8:00 AM to 12:00 noon and return at 8:00PM until 12:00 midnight. The second watch would serve 12:00 noon until 4:00 PM, then be off until 12:00 midnight to serve until 4:00 AM. The third watch would serve 4:00 PM until 8:00PM and again 4:00 AM until 8:00 AM. There was a complicated system called a �dog watch� the details of which are now completely erased from my memory through which the three watches would switch their time period . Though I was in the South Pacific from July 1944 to June 1946 I was always shore based in the Philippines, Ulithi, and Guam. Even so I was transported on various craft and aircraft. The closest one of these came to the Bounty in size was an LCI (Landing Craft Infantry) from Ulithi to Guam a two night one day voyage. The LCI however was about 150 feet in length, some 60 feet longer than the Bounty. Its flat bottom designed to discharge its troops on the beach cause it to roll terribly in even moderate seas. It�s the only time I have ever been really seasick. They gave me a sleeping pill and I slept 10 hours waking feeling fine. I remember that afternoon we each got two beers from a supply our Ulithi skipper had given the ship. After that I got seasick again. On the Bounty I don�t doubt I would not have been worth much rounding the horn! Click Here for my Ulithi pictures Barbara St. Aubrey November 3, 2006 - 10:27 pm Harold looks like we are posting about the same time - I do not plan on adjusting this post however it says about the time of watches what you are saying... Whew you are right that link that explains Dead Reckoning navigation is overwhelming - as I understand Dead Reckoning, like all plotting of a course - you need a chart or map that shows were you were and where you are going - during the time of sailing I understand they usually used pins to chart each day where they think they are - The stars at night are a help for direction and then you have to estimate the distance traveled based on your speed and time - this does not take into account things like wind and drift and tides or currents that can affect the calculations - This was done before a watch/chronometer was available with an hour glass which again proved inaccurate since every turn of the glass there were seconds lost. Bleigh had his chronometer - if he used reckoning [I understand on his journey after the mutiny he would have had to sail by dead reckoning] there are two ways I know about that distance was measured - One the ship had two marks on it that when a piece of wood tied to a line was thrown overboard as it passed the marks it was called out and the time noted so an estimate of distance was measured. The sailors calling this out had a chant that helped to measure the time as well. The other a line was tied every 6 feet which in nautical terms was called a knot - the line had a piece of some old log or floatsum from the sea tied to the end and it was thrown aft with the line feeding out as the timer measured a half hour and then pulled back in with the knots counted to again measure distance within a period of time like measuring a vehicle that is moving a 60 miles an hour to figure out how far you can expect to be in an hour - The distance traveled in an hour by car is seldom 60 miles because of slowing for bumps or red lights or weather or whatever - same with a ship. Some ships measured their distance every hour and others measured every change of watch and still others morning and evening. This measurement was plotted along the direction line - The Moon, Jupiter, or the navigational star Spica were used to measure the distance between one of them and the horizon by sight or with a sextant the distance between the horizon and the sun is measured. There is math involved that I have forgotten [during my young teens my best friend's father was a fishermen and on Saturday and Sunday evening in summer he took couples out for a sunset to moonlight [or whatever the moon] sail - we helped him chart the weekend cruises] As I understand the watches - at sea there are three watches 4�8, 8�12 and the 12�4. Your work aboard ship is dependent on your watch. If you are on the 12�4, you are on watch from noon until 4 PM and then again from midnight until 4 AM. In between its your time, unless it is "All Hands," which means all the crew is on deck. Each Watch has chores specific to the watch: The 4�8 lights the stove - washes down the deck with saltwater - gets the ship clean and makes sure all lines are coiled and stowed after tightening braces and halyards that may have gone slack overnight and usually sees to re-nipping the buntlines. The buntlines are the middle lines on a sail - the lines attached to the end of a sail is attached to a double patch like triangle called the clew and those lines are called the clewlines - and so re-nipping the buntlines is adjusting the sail - where as the halyards are the lines that lift the spar the sail is attached to - During the afternoon 4 - 8 watch this group cleans up at the end of the workday. The 8�12 cleans the ship below decks, including living quarters and heads every day. This group begins the day's projects: sanding, painting, tarring, rigging, sailmaking and so forth. The 12�4 carries on with the ship's work under the supervision of the Bosun. There must be variations on the division of the watches since Pat has found some that say they use 4 and 5 watches - as far as I know at sea the time is divided into the three watches and if they further divide the time that still does not affect how time is rung out by the bell - as to the 2 watches of 2 hours each - I had heard of this and when I questioned it years ago the answer seemed unfair since it was the 4 to 8 watch in the afternoon that was split into 2 hour watches so that the ship could take turns eating dinner - but that meant the other two watches still had their 8 hours split into 4 hours shifts in addition to the extra 2 hours that allowed the one watch to eat dinner. I was told the 4-8 watch had so much heavy sea duty that the others didn't mind taking on some of their time since they only had to be available to adjust sails if called upon. JoanK November 4, 2006 - 07:18 am MARNI: I'm the one that confused directions. That's what I get for posting in the middle of the night. Of course, they sailed from England. WEST (actually SW) to South America, and then EAST to Africa. This enabled them to use the prevailing winds and was actually easier than sailing down the African coast, where you would get no help from the wind. Barbara St. Aubrey November 4, 2006 - 09:17 am Joan I found it - yes that had to be the answer - this site explains how the Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484�425 B.C.) reports on a fascinating voyage Within the article is this -- In recent years most classicists have come to accept the voyage as one of the great sailing feats of antiquity. Once the Canaanite galleys reached the Horn of Africa, in present-day Somali, prevailing winds and currents would have pushed the ships all the way round the South African Cape where Atlantic winds and currents continue up the coast to northwest Africa. The galleys would have had hard rowing north along the present-day coast of Morocco, but once at Gibraltar, prevailing westerlies would carry the ships back to Egypt. Nevertheless, later attempts by Greeks and others to circumnavigate Africa from west to east invariably failed because of the winds and currents. The account by Herodotus does not mention the Benguela Current off West Africa, which sweeps across the Atlantic where it is known as the South Equatorial. This current could easily carry a disabled galley to the Brazilian coast past the Paraiba River, the place where the Canaanite inscription was reported to have been found in 1872. " OK so I now see Bleigh as an experienced and careful seaman - who used precaution to assure the success of his voyage which included a pragmatic concern for the health of his crew. BaBi November 4, 2006 - 11:55 am I noted that Cmdr. Bligh's equipment included a Kendall timekeeper. Just for fun, I went looking. Here is a Kendall timekeeper: Barbara St. Aubrey November 4, 2006 - 01:55 pm Wow Babi - I bet in its day that was considered quite the time piece - and I bet collectors still look upon it as a wonderful looking piece of equipment - the scrolls on all four sides are what I would think of as Victorian and here we are talking the later part of the sixteenth century. marni0308 November 4, 2006 - 02:15 pm Thank you, Pat H, JoanK, Harold, Barbara, and BaBi for the interesting information about the winds and navigating east, and about the nautical time and watch system and choronometer. Harold: Those are such wonderful pictures of you in the navy in the south seas. Did you ever have a chance to enjoy the beauty of the islands? Barbara: I am so impressed with your knowledge of nautical watches and the duties performed on different watches. How did you happen to learn so much about that? It sounds as though you have had a lot of experience sailing. I must say, I'm still somewhat confused about nautical hours and watches, though. My head still whirls with that kind of information!!! How fascinating about the Canaanite galleys! I'm amazed they could travel that far - and possibly across the Atlantic!!?? I didn't think they were built to do it. Aren't they flatter-bottomed than other ships so they can travel into shallower water? Well, maybe that doesn't matter. When you think of something like a raft crossing the Pacific - like the Kon-Tiki. Amazing things have been done by brave sailors! JoanK: No wonder I was confused about directions! I still think I'm not much of a sailor, though! However, I just love reading about the history of navies and naval heroes, though. BaBi: Isn't that chronometer a gorgeous thing! I visited a little museum at Mystic Seaport where there was a collection of old brass chronometers. They are things of beauty. We saw an especially wonderful one, similar to the Kendall, at the New Bedford Historical Museum. The chronometer was set by 2 screws into a mahogany box so it could hang carefully and remain stable despite the knocking about of the ship. Barbara St. Aubrey November 4, 2006 - 02:52 pm It was a big interest when I was a young teen - not only did I have friends whose father's sailed for a living but the boys were always spending their summers arranging berths for themselves to earn money or, a group of us would be stretching canvas on ribs to make anything from a dinghy to a bay fishing boat. And of course for me, the reader, I read most of the sea stories that talked about life aboard the tall ships. I knew the difference between a clipper ship, a schooner, a bark, a brig and a sloop plus a few others - knew the sails by name and how they were sewn - on and on... it was for a short time one of the many interests in my life that I amerced myself. My hero at the time was Nathaniel Bowditch - from a New England family of 13 - mother dies when he is young - he is apprenticed out at I think it was age 8 - teaches himself 3 languages by using the Bible of each language - taught himself math and advanced math - worked for a Ship Chandlery and invested his money in the cargo of a ship - finally goes to sea in his teens as an officer - he was the master of a ship during his last journey - became an investment manager for individuals making them a fortune - wrote "the" book on navigation that was still "the" tool for navigation used by Annapolis till the twentieth century - his statue is Cambridge Mass. I was enthralled reading his biography when I was in the eighth grade. antlerlady November 4, 2006 - 05:14 pm I've been getting annoyed trying to picture the route of the voyage without a map in the book. Then I saw the link and printed it up. Much better! Such a long voyage with the extra trip down to Cape Horn and then the change to Cape of Good Hope! I've seen the movie (and TV?) versions of the mutiny but didn't remember what the actual purpose of the voyage was. Breadfruit, huh? How did that work out in the end? Did the trees survive? Were they ever used for feeding slaves as in the plan? Maybe we'll find out later. Pat H November 4, 2006 - 05:27 pm Barbara, I think Bowditch is a great childhood hero. My own interest in sailing was the result of reading Arthur Ransome�s books as a child. Has anyone else read them? He was an Englishman, and the books mostly describe some children sailing in the Lake Country in the 1930s. I always wanted to try sailing, but never got the chance until 3 years ago, when I spent a few days on a friend�s catboat, then took a Coast Guard course, then took a few lessons on small boats (16-19 feet). At that point my arthritis got worse, and now I have to figure out if my shiny new hip and my decrepit old knees are seaworthy. My feeble knowledge of sailing conditions in Bligh�s time comes from reading Patrick O�Brian�s books, and 2 companion books (see further post). If you haven�t read them, I think you would like them. Pat H November 4, 2006 - 05:36 pm Antlerlady, good to see another voyager. Since we are only considering Bligh's side of the story here, I think that it will be good to have people who have seen other takes feed in different perspectives. Pat H November 4, 2006 - 05:55 pm Some of us are Patrick O'Brian fans, and maybe some more will try him after this discussion. I have read the whole "Master and Commander" series. A book that makes it much more intelligible, and is also very useful in this discussion, is "A Sea of Words" by Dean King. The main part of the book is a lexicon of terms--naval, medical, botanical, quotations in other languages from the books, parts of ships, etc. It also has articles on the history of the time, the organization of the navy, the state of medicine then, and lots of other good stuff. Another useful book is "Harbors and High Seas", also by King, which gives maps for everything that happens in the books. Be warned, that he gives plot synopses that give away plot points, so you don't want to read ahead. marni0308 November 4, 2006 - 10:04 pm Ahoy, antlerlady! Welcome aboard! I'm glad you discovered the map in our Header. It's small, but it does help. We will be finding out about what happened to the breadfruit plants. Nathaniel Bowditch was a new name for me. Here's info about him from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Bowditch It's fun to hear people's stories about how they became interested in nautical literature. I became interested because of my dad. He was in the Navy during WWII. Now that he's blind and an invalid and can't get around, he likes to tell stories about his Navy experiences. He recommended that I read the Horatio Hornblower series, which I loved. Then he recommended the Patrick O'Brian books, which I loved even more. Then I started reading biographies about people like John Paul Jones and Steven Decatur, and about the early American Navy and the Barbary Pirates, etc. Now I can't wait to try to find some of the books Pat H mentioned. I've loaded a bunch of sea shanties and other songs of the sea onto my iPod. I play them for my dad with portable iPod speakers when I visit him. He likes to sing along. I heard about a new CD - "Rogues Gallery" - produced by Johnny Depp. It's a 2-CD album of sea shanties, pirate songs, etc. and some of it is quite wonderful. You can find it in B&N and in Amazon. Click on samples of some of the song tracks in this link to get a taste of the music. A few songs are terrible, but most are interesting. A good one is "Mingulay Boat Song" by Richard Thompson. BaBi November 5, 2006 - 07:36 am MARNI, my sympathies. Whenever I find myself inundated with more info than I can absorb, I console myself with the words of Sherlock Holmes. On one occasion, Watson was surprised to find that Holmes was unacquainted with astronomy, and explained to him all about the planets, stars and solar system. Holmes listened with great interest, but then said he would erase it all from his mind! He said that his mind could only hold so much, and he preferred to store the kinds of information that would be useful to him as a detective. Shucks, if Holmes' brain can't hold it all, why should I be bothered? Barbara, thank you for that synopsis re. Bowditch. I had come across the name before, but only as a place. I didn't realize it had been a person, and a fascinating, brilliant person as well. My copy of the book has arrived, courtesy of the Univ. of Texas at El Paso. It is so much easier for me to read the hard copy than the on- line book. This issue contains a Preface by Laurence Irving that was not on-line. It is the 1936 re-issue, so some of you may not have it. The opening paragraph (beautifully written) strongly set out his defense of Bligh. "It is our misfortune that we live at a time when the story of man's vices is found to be more acceptable to the reading public than that of his virtues. Shoddy historians, tumbling over one another in their eagerness to nose out the peccadilloes of a popular hero or the frailties of a recognized saint, portray, with prurient relish, the object of their researches as a groundling no better than themselves." Wow! Babi Pat H November 5, 2006 - 11:35 am Marni, Arthur Ransome's books are definitely for children, and also somewhat dated. I'm not sure an adult would enjoy them much, except as a reminder of happy memories. A biography you might enjoy, if you haven't already read it, is that of Thomas Cochrane. Both Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey are based on him, and some of his real life exploits were even more improbable than Aubrey's. The bio I read was by Robert Harvey, but there are others too. Barbara St. Aubrey November 5, 2006 - 01:52 pm Huh so Osnaburg Island is part of the Society Islands - All about the Society Islands need to scroll down a bit to find the beginning... Barbara St. Aubrey November 5, 2006 - 02:07 pm My guess is the only reason this book became an interesting read is because of who the author is - so far all we have is the copying of his ships log - seems to me there are several books of this caliber from this time in history - oh how we have moved on expecting so much more from non-fiction unless the remaining chapters improve we could be reading a police blotter or the notes of a science project or as it is the log of a ship at sea... even a detective story has more ummph than this read. Thank goodness you included the link to the map Marni - from just reading the locations are not sinking in where they are. Sounds like they made pretty good time - the wind must have been strong pushing them along with the number of times we read they had to reef the sails in. marni0308 November 5, 2006 - 04:39 pm BaBi: Thanks for the quote from the editor from your edition. It seems to me sometimes that today's times are like that, too, with people bending over backward trying to point out faults of heroes. In the edition that I had borrowed from the library earlier this year, there was a good Introduction. The book I bought has none. If you find anything else to pass on from your edition, and you don't mind typing it, please let us know. Pat H: I definitely will have to find a biography of Cochrane. I have never read anything about him except in a brief online bio. Barbara: Thanks for the drawings and info of some Society Islands. Very nice. Interesting to read, "All voyagers agree that for varied beauty of form and colour the Society Islands are unsurpassed in the Pacific." Yes, it did surprise me, too, that this book seemed to be a regurgitation of Bligh's log. Yet, it was a HUGE best seller when it was published and has been published periodically since. I found it picked up a great deal in next week's reading. I would not call Bligh a great writer, however! I think one important thing about it is that it is from the horse's mouth. It is a prime source of information about the mutiny and voyages. When I saw the drawings you provided, Barbara, it reminded me that Captain Bligh was quite an artist. Here are some of his beautiful paintings: November 5, 2006 - 04:42 pm Marni, thank you. The paintings are beautiful. Pat H November 5, 2006 - 05:21 pm Marni, thanks for the link to the paintings. Probably when JoanK unpacks (she gets home late tonight) she will have some comment about the birds. Pat H November 5, 2006 - 05:43 pm Discipline was crucial on board a ship. For one thing, with so many men crowded into such small quarters, living a difficult and dangerous life, some of them there unwillingly, tempers could easily explode. Everything had to be run strictly by rule. Also, the sailing of a ship such as the Bounty was an immensely complicated matter. There were hundreds of little details that had to be gotten exactly right or lives might be lost. If you reach for a rope and it won't uncoil because someone has coiled it up wrong, or if the expected tool isn't ready at hand where it should be, the whole ship could be in jeopardy. You had to be able to count on everyone doing his duty exactly as he should. And sometimes this meant the men putting themselves in considerable danger. Maintaining discipline is an art that comes easily to some men and not to others. I think a crucial point will turn out to be how good Bligh was at this. Pat H November 5, 2006 - 05:56 pm Would someone kindly remind me how to post a web address in a shortened form? I have been told, but forgot how, and couldn't find it easily in the help section. Barbara St. Aubrey November 5, 2006 - 07:22 pm Pat there are two ways to do it - the one since I do not want it to become a link I will use [ ] in place of <> Lets make this post the link - again remember the first would be a < but I am going to use [ [a href="http://discussions.seniornet.org/[email protected]@.862525dd/255"] post number 255 [/a] and so it is the symbol < followed by the letter a then a space followed by href= followed by without a break " followed by the URL - all those words, letters and numbers followed by " followed by the other symbol > then you give your link a title followed by the symbol again < followed by /a and the matching symbol > Or you can take the URL and paste it on to the window in this link and it will automatically shorten the URL giving you a new one that you can copy and paste here. Barbara St. Aubrey November 5, 2006 - 10:45 pm Bleigh did a very respectable job sketching birds and fish didn't he - funny his art work looks just like him - his wife seems a fine looking rather jolly looking women with her rosy checks. The other two - Hodges and Weber were very good weren't they - especially Hodges - such full colors - easy to see why Gaugan was entranced with Tahiti. Seems to me I read someplace at one time that an education even into the nineteenth century included learning to sketch and paint. While reading this it occurs to me that it isn't really all that long ago when this part of the world was new and the Americas were only being explored in the interior away from the coasts - the Lewis and Clark expedition was a full 15 years after the Mutiny although the Amazon had been explored 45 years earlier than the Mutiny. As astonishing as the first lift off into space had been, for the shear volume of new knowledge and products the explorations during this time in history was a wonder... GingerWright November 5, 2006 - 11:00 pm Beautiful painting. gumtree November 5, 2006 - 11:22 pm I'm fascinated by Bligh's book. Right from the start I found it so compelling a read that I am reading it aloud to husband who is also caught up in this amazing story. - he helps me out by explaining some of the technical aspects of sailing ships Marni - Thanks for the links to Bligh's watercolours - the sketches are wonderful (watercolour defeats me - give me oils any day)- though his depiction of an echidna leaves lots to be desired...even so, when he writes about the flora and fauna here he is pretty spot on - but maybe that's because they are familiar to me. I was very interested to read his observation that the trees cut down when he visited Van Deiman's Land (now Tasmania) with Captain Cook some years previously, had sprouted again - I found no signs of the natives having lately frequented this bay, or of any European vessels having been here since the Resolution and Discovery in 1777. From some of the old trunks of trees, then cut down, I saw Shoots about twentyfive feet high, and fourteen inches in circumference This is a very accurate observation. He is undoubtedly referring to the Tasmanian Blue Gum, Eucalyptus Globulus which grows in the wild on average to around 200 feet with a girth of 30-40 feet.- some reach 300 feet It's Tasmania's floral emblem -the world's 6th tallest tree and they grow in abundance around Adventure Bay where Bligh landed. This tree coppices well, so Bligh's observation that the old trunks had 25' shoots was accurate - the gums will shoot again provided the tuber beneath the soil is left intact - which is why they can survive bushfire. BaBi November 6, 2006 - 06:56 am I was interested to read that the 'life' of Jack Aubrey was based was based on an actual seaman. I noted, with some surprise, some interesting parallels between Aubrey and Bligh. Wasn't Aubrey's wife Bessie? Bligh's was called Betsey. Irving describes him as "a man of simple courage", "passionate in his devotion tot he Service to which he belonged, passionately devoted to his wife and family whom he adored, passionate in the pursuit of the secrets of nature.." Remember Aubrey's close friend, the naturalist/surgeon? Bligh's friends were Nelson, the botanist in charge of the breadfruit trees, and Ledward, his surgeon. At Tenerife, Bligh got permission from the governor for Mr. Nelson to "range the hills, and examine the country in search of plants and natural curiosities", just as Aubrey's friend did. Babi marni0308 November 6, 2006 - 09:47 am Ginger found a terrific link about sea shanties. Click hear to listen to a whole bunch of them and to read the lyrics, too. How interesting to read that originally they were CHANTED while the sailors worked. That must be why I've seen sea "shanties" spelled "chanteys." http://www.contemplator.com/sea/index.html Gumtree: I'm so glad you are enjoying the book so much. So am I! It is an amazing incredible story!!! How lucky your husband can explain some of the technical aspects. My husband listens when I get excited about something in the story, but he can barely keep his eyes open. I guess he's used to me reading lines from books to him! How fascinating about the Tasmanian Blue Gum. I was wondering about it. What a huge tree! Bligh really did remind me of a naturalist because he was so interested in the animals, flora, and fauna, wrote about them in such a detailed manner, and drew such lovely pictures of them. Golly, BaBi, I can't remember the name of Jack Aubrey's wife at all! I just remember him as a womanizer. There do seem to be similarities between characters in those books and Bligh and several crew/passengers. I wonder if Bligh's surgeon Ledward used opium? Well, his first surgeon certainly drank a lot! Barbara: The Bounty expedition does seem particularly fascinating when you think of how very few ships had voyaged this far into the practically unknown at the time of Cook and then Bligh. These men were very courageous and bold. The sea is unforgiving. Bligh's painting the birds reminds me of John James Audubon boldly tramping off alone into the wilderness painting his birds for the world to see. Barbara St. Aubrey November 6, 2006 - 09:51 am aha someone came aboard that knows about the trees in that part of the world - welcome Gumtree - tell us a bit more about what these trees are used for - do they produce a fruit...? Blue Gum and the Eucalyptus Globulus - we use Eucalyptus branches in dried flower arrangements - small rounded leaf on a stalk with a wonderful scent - is the tree Eucalytus Globulus the same as our decorative branches? Is Tasmania a temperate island or is it a tropical island? Babi as an adult I never did keep up with the wonderful seafaring authors - However I am enjoying and wonder if you have been seeing the PBS Masterpiece Theatre about a young man's voyage on a sailing vassal - I think it is called "To the Ends of the Earth." A lot of life experiences packed into the small space of a ship at sea... it makes the perfect stage to tell a story. marni0308 November 6, 2006 - 10:29 am Hi, Barbara! I watched the whole trilogy of "To the Ends of the Earth." It was based on a story by William Golding. He wrote "Lord of the Flies" so I was wondering what Golding would be saying about human nature with people tightly packed together on a very long voyage from England to Australia, I think it was. Wonderfully done, didn't you think? marni0308 November 6, 2006 - 10:52 am When I was watching "To the Ends of the Earth," I was thinking about the size of the ship. It was supposed to be an old British "ship of the line," the largest type of warship built for the British Navy during the 18th century. (The ship on the program didn't look like a ship of the line.) A ship of the line was 3-masted, approx. 200 feet long and had 3 gun decks and at least 60 to 110 guns, and sailed with 400 to 600 men. The Bounty was small, a brig, I think it was, 3-masted, but 90 feet long, sailing with 45 men to handle her. Just for comparison, the USS Constitution is 204 feet long, over 43 feet wide. On my tour of Constitution, we were told she had sailed with a crew of 475 to 500 men. Imagine cramming all of them into one ship and managing everyone! It took 2000 trees to build the Constitution. England was practically stripped naked of trees when the country built her great fleets. They cut down trees of America and Canada when they denuded their home country. I wonder how many islands and lands such as Van Diemen's Land, etc. were denuded as the British cut down trees for building masts, etc. and for firewood during their stops to replenish and refit during their years of great exploration and colonization? I wonder what types of trees growing in the Pacific could be used for things such as masts? Not everything would be appropriate, of course, because it would have to be extremely hard wood. I wonder how hard the eucalyptus wood is. The tree seems to grow rapidly. Barbara St. Aubrey November 6, 2006 - 10:53 am Yes, I did like it - never could figure out what was the matter with the guy- oh never can remember character names - but the one who at the end was snoozing in the garden - it was smelly and yet for a bit I thought it was a hip out of it's socket - could you figure it out? And then I wonder what did happen after his godfather died - did he have a position there that I missed or was he independently wealthy - just some tail ends that may have been explained in part one and I didn't register them... I guess they were showing that if you cannot take a dressing down from a captain than you must be unstable - because when the ship was afire he did nothing to save himself and seemed to be more about proving that he was right in his madness. Yes, I agree it was well done - the camera work was wonderful. marni0308 November 6, 2006 - 11:12 am I wasn't exactly sure what the medical problem was, either. Seems like his hip out of socket caused muscles to pull taut, so maybe there was a blockage of the intestines which caused his stomach to swell up? That was pretty gross. We never did find out certain things - you didn't miss anything in the first 2 parts that explained. I suppose the young man would have inherited something from his godfather. People called the young man "Lord" so he was titled. He godfather seemed to have been extremely important. His friend, the 1st lieutenant, (Somers?) was a strange duck! He had made his way up through the ranks and seemed so very competent until he had competition from the other young lieutenant. Somers almost would rather have seen the ship burn just to prove the other man wrong. It was like he gleefully went down with his ship just knowing he had been right when the ship burned. Quite a bunch of interesting people on board in the program! Barbara St. Aubrey November 6, 2006 - 11:42 am Whoops we are posting at the same time - thanks for the update on the show - so I really didn't miss anything - and yes there was a lot of gross parts shown that were probably true to life as compared to the romantic version we typically see. Marni the Constitution was a totally different kind of a ship - it was a Frigate - long and built low - they carried maximum sail on a mainmast, foremast and a mizzenmast with a gaff fore and aft rig on the missenmast and it carries topgallant mast and sail - its cannons reloaded faster than any at the time and where war ships were slow and heavy in the water because of the ability of disability of the cannon fire they had to get fairly close to their target where as the Constitution with its superior and quick reload could fire from a greater distance. In contrast the Bounty was a cutter with less sail and the missenmast is short on a cutter although it also carries a gaff rigged fore and aft sail - however the total sail area is much less. No topgallant mast. It is easier to see the difference on these models - this is the Bounty Model along the side you can click on the Constitution and see that model to get an idea of the difference between the two ships. Barbara St. Aubrey November 6, 2006 - 11:48 am Oh yes one more on Masterpiece Theater's production - what was that all about when all the women were going into the cabin to see him after they thought he was so injured he would die? I thought maybe at that point he was dead and they were preparing the body but they just kept filing in one after the other - what was all that about do you know...? hmmm just thought - since they were the lower class - forgot what they called them - steerage maybe - well maybe there was a blockage that they were cleaning up bit by bit - yuck it was so gross that I guess our imagination can go on and on... Pat H November 6, 2006 - 11:51 am Aubrey's wife was Sophie. Mippy November 6, 2006 - 01:21 pm There are only vague similarities between the fictional Jack Aubrey, IMHO, and the very real Captain Bligh. British ship captains were not expected or allowed to mix and make friends with the other regular officers. That would explain the possibility for friendship with a naturalist, who was not a "regular" officer. For a parallel in history, Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin is more vivid. Darwin, himself, got off the ship and "naturalized" as much as possible. The Beagle was small and had limited space to store Darwin's collections. And his friendship with the ship captain, FitzRoy, did have lots of ups and downs, but that again was possible only because young Darwin was not a naval officer, climbing up through the ranks. Sometimes we get so involved with fictional characters that we almost forget they are fiction, such as Sherlock Holmes. But I do like to think of Jack Aubrey as a captain who would never, ever have let ill feeling in his ship evolve into a mutiny, don't you? marni0308 November 6, 2006 - 02:42 pm Mippy, welcome back! That about Jack Aubrey reminds me - Russell Crowe was interviewed on 60 Minutes last night. Crowe always makes me think of Jack Aubrey and "Master and Commander." I thought he was quite a spectacular Jack Aubrey, extra weight and all. He showed how Aubrey as captain kept his distance from the men and always maintained control, but simultaneously gained the men's great respect and admiration. It seemed Aubrey did little things like praise men for their good work. Praise can go a long way. I wonder if Captain Bligh praised his men? He certainly seems to have wanted everyone healthy and happy. But, as someone mentioned, was that so the mission would be successful or because he was really concerned about the men, or both? Hard to tell. To me, Bligh seems like a scientist, so concerned about things working properly, so involved in the naval instruments and in the botany, etc. He doesn't strike me as a people person, for some reason. Perhaps it is because he has been, to me, very distant in his writing about the voyage. Perhaps because we are reading an account that was written AFTER such a long harrowing experience in which he was so extremely humiliated by a number of his men, some of whom he apparently felt close to, so close to death for so long - perhaps he found it difficult to write about the human side of the events and people involved. Pat H November 6, 2006 - 02:51 pm BaBi and Mippy,you have brought up a very important point. Once a man became Captain of a ship, he led a socially isolated life. Although he ate with others, they were not supposed to initiate conversations. His word was law, and no one could directly contradict him. It would be very easy to lose track of the currents of feeling on board and not realize when things weren't going well. Some men had the knack of seeing what the men were thinking, leading them effectively, and keeping their loyalty and some did not. I agree about Aubrey--he is pictured as having a good feeling for the pulse of the ship, and being able to lead the men well. His real life counterpart, Cochrane, was this way also--popular and well-liked and respected by his men. Pat H November 6, 2006 - 02:55 pm Marni--we were posting at the same time. I agree that Bligh doesn't seem to be good with people. marni0308 November 6, 2006 - 03:06 pm Barbara: Thanks for the info about the Constitution. Those American frigates were quite spectacular, weren't they. The Bounty certainly was no American frigate and no ship of the line. I was thinking, though, that she was basically 50% that size and she had only 9% of the men (and no marines). Of course, she wasn't at war and didn't need all the men required to man the guns in battle. You know, I was thinking of the 2000 trees it took to build a ship like the Constitution - such a huge use of an important resource. Six large frigates were built at about the time the Constitution was built. The Philadelphia was one of them. The Philadelphia served less than 1 year before it was sent to the Mediterranean where it promptly ran aground and surrendered to Tripoli. Then Steven Decatur and some men burned the ship to prevent the Tripolitans from using it. Wow, what a waste of a ship! All those trees and everything else used to build it! I guess that kind of thing happened a lot - the loss of expensive ships at sea either due to war or natural elements or whatever. My father told me tha in the 18th century one ship in 5 was lost at sea. I can't find any statistics on this. Does have any statistics of ships lost at sea? marni0308 November 6, 2006 - 03:13 pm Pat H: It's almost hard to imagine how Bligh could not have had a good feeling for the pulse of the Bounty when you think of the size of the ship and how much of it was taken up with stuff for the breadfruit plants. You'd think they would have practically been tripping over each other, including the captain. KleoP November 6, 2006 - 04:33 pm Hi, been busy, caught up with posts, most of reading, a few comments. "To me, Bligh seems like a scientist, so concerned about things working properly, so involved in the naval instruments and in the botany, etc. He doesn't strike me as a people person, for some reason. Perhaps it is because he has been, to me, very distant in his writing about the voyage." Part of the job of every sailing vessel at this time was to return useful navigational and scientific information back home. Bligh was obligated to check the coordinates of all places he visited, to confirm their locations by various means, to draw maps, do illustrations (not paintings, but scientific illustrations) of organisms, and islands, and lands, and to further knowledge of the British Empire for protecting, expanding and profiting off of their holdings. He probably spent some time conversing with the main botanist, although not his assistant, maybe dining with the former, as this was typical on ships, as both would be in charge of gathering scientific information for the King. He probably spent very little time with the crew because he had no time to spare. He was completely in charge of the ship and its crew, their supplies, the mission, and charting their journey. In addition he was responsible for a large part of the science the journey would be expected to return, and had to write up everything that happened every day, on top of doing illustrations, charts, exploring, checking water, planning. He probably simply had no time to hang out and get to know the crew, so I can't fault him too much for this, even if it is not particularly flattering toward him. "Perhaps because we are reading an account that was written AFTER such a long harrowing experience in which he was so extremely humiliated by a number of his men, some of whom he apparently felt close to, so close to death for so long - perhaps he found it difficult to write about the human side of the events and people involved." Or he simply can't humanize his inferiors, making him a man of his times. I've heard a handful of folks here express a strong preference for Bligh's version of the events--well, the British of the time did so, also. And for quite some time afterwards, as the lower classes did not necessarily have a voice. Bligh had everything in his favor for presenting a retroactive and attractive view of events, and no incentive whatsoever to cloud his view with an unbiased eye. This does not mean I disfavor Bligh's version, in particular, but do want to point out that it's only his word, he has no reason whatsoever for including negative information about himself, and much incentive to not do so (his and his family's future, for example), and the times were greatly in favor of his viewpoint as an officer, and against that of the mutineers, even before they mutineed Reading from the other side also would give us a more balanced look. Jackfruit and breadfruit are not the same plant, but rather they are different species, Artocarpus heterophyllus is jackfruit, and Artocarpus communis, or Artocarpus altilis is breadfruit. More on that later. The slaves had no incentive to like breadfruit, as it would not increase their diet or ease their harsh life in anyway, and sometimes change itself is abhorrent, especially when all of life is as dreadful as being a slave on a sugar plantation in the Caribbean in the 18th century. Whoever commented about it being served rotten, guessed well, imo, as this would have been typical behavior of the plantation system, get a new plant that has to be served fresh, don't pay attention to directions, then whine about the failure and blame it on the slaves. Bread required a lot of work, flour had to be imported at great cost, time spent preparing the bread, the ovens required wood to burn, and their temperature had to be fairly well maintained, and more wood was necessary than for cooking breadfruit. I suspect, though, they were fed some sort of corn bread, rather than a wheat flour bread. The term "corn", as it is used in the book, by the way, is the British use for grain, not maize, as Americans use the word "corn." Great comments everyone, you answered most of my questions, except this burning one: Why was the deck covered with lead? Kleo Pat H November 6, 2006 - 05:09 pm It was the deck of the great cabin (Captain's quarters, but extended forward) that was covered with lead. As I understand it, this was a sort of drip pan to carry off the water from the pots of breadfruit trees, which were set in holes in a false floor over the lead pan. Pipes at the forward corners of the drip pan carried the water off into tubs for recycling. Incidentally, this meant that Bligh had given up the large quarters due a Captain. He had "a small cabin on one side to sleep in" and "a place near the middle of the ship to eat in". marni0308 November 6, 2006 - 09:44 pm Welcome, Kleo! Glad you made it and thank you for your insights and answers. Speaking of the lead lining reminded me of the copper lining the bottom of the Bounty. I read that this was one of the early successful uses of lining the bottom of a ship with copper to prevent "the worm" from boring through the wood. I had wondered what "the worm" was - thought maybe it was barnacles, but it is not - I had to look it up. The worm was the Teredos (Teredo navalis- family: Teredinidae), a marine worm. "Teredos are worm-like wood boring bivalves with small somewhat T-shaped shells at the front end and a pair of calcerous projections called pallets at the rear. The whole worm is several inches long. The file-like end of its valve are used for boring; the pallets seals the open end of the burrow. Shipworms are one of the few marine creatures that exist mainly on digested cellulose. They are a menace to untreated pilings and wooden boats." marni0308 November 6, 2006 - 10:01 pm Pat H: It seems Captain Bligh not only gave up a good portion of his private space, but took on tasks not usually assigned to the captain. For example, he had no purser. Bligh had to act as purser, a large job. Here's what Wikipedia says the purser was responsible for: The purser was "a warrant officer in charge of supplies such as food ("victuals"), clothing, bedding, candles, and so forth. The purser was not actually in charge of pay, but of necessity had to track it closely, since the crew had to pay for all their supplies, and it was the purser's job to deduct those expenses from their wages. The purser bought everything (except victuals) on credit, acting almost as a private merchant. In addition to his official responsibilities, it was customary for the purser to act as a literal private merchant for luxuries such as tobacco, and to be the crew's banker. As a result, the purser was always at risk of losing money and being thrown into debtor's prison; conversely, the crew and officers habitually suspected the purser of making an illicit profit out of his complex dealings. However, very few pursers became wealthy from their dealings; although there were wealthy pursers, it was due to side businesses facilitated by their ships' travels." I read in the Alexander book about the mutiny that after Bligh returned to England, he got a lot of flack about his role as purser, with people suggesting he cheated to make a profit for himself. From Bligh's letters, it appears he actually lost money personally as a result of his purchases for the Bounty. Poor Bligh had a lot to contend with as captain of the Bounty. No large private cabin. No marines. No purser. No other commissioned officers. He had taken a cut in pay when he took on the job - plus didn't get the promotion promised to him. And what a difficult job he had! marni0308 November 6, 2006 - 10:54 pm Pat H: Thanks for the explanation of the lead. It reminded me of the metal (lead?) lining in my antique oak refrigerator. Have you folks seen those old things? Mine is quite a good size. I use it to store my liquor. It has shelves and space for a block of ice. At the bottom of the ice shelf lies what looks like a lead liner with ridges that funnel the melting water to a pipe that goes down a hole in the bottom of the frig. The water pours down the pipe into a tray. I picture the lead and pipes in the Bounty as something like that except much larger. I wonder if the metal in my old frig is lead?? My brother almost died of lead poisoning when he was 2 years old. He chewed the old paint on our porch railing. We had an old house. gumtree November 6, 2006 - 10:56 pm Barbara : Here is a link to the Tasmanian Blue Gum - though this poor captive tree is not very tall - more pictures as you scroll down gumtree November 6, 2006 - 11:42 pm Barbara - Tasmania is certainly not a tropical island - it's part of Australia and lies off the southern coast of Victoria. This link is the most comprehensive I could find and will tell you more than you ever wanted to know. kidsal November 7, 2006 - 04:20 am I have been reading the book online as my copy hasn't arrived. Either I missed it or Bligh didn't describe what punishment he gave to the three deserters that eventually were caught and returned to the ship. He did discuss flogging other sailors???????? BaBi November 7, 2006 - 07:40 am Thanks, PAT. My memory failed me there. Aubrey's wife was 'Sophie', not Bessie. I was impressed by the action taken by the governor of Teneriffe to alleviate the poverty and 'wretchedness' of the lower classes. He established a home, or 'hospicio' for indigent girls, men and boys. The girls were taught to spin and weave, dye and produce saleable goods. After five years, they were at liberty to leave and marry, with a dowry given them of their wheel and loom, with a sum of money from the fund produced by their labor. The men and boys were employed in making blankets and common woolens, and if they became ill or infirm they were able to remain there and be cared for. This all sounds like a surprisingly advanced outlook for those days. Babi marni0308 November 7, 2006 - 10:00 am Gumtree: Thanks for the fabulous images and info of the gum tree and Tasmania. Beautiful tree. I loved the picture with the kookaburras! The leaves of the tree do look like the eucalyptus leaves in dried wreathes. The only thing I had heard about Tasmania before reading about it here was the Looney Tunes Tasmanian devil (above). He does look quite ferocious in his photo. Babi: Bligh, too, was impressed by the establishment for the poor children in Teneriffe. It reminded me of "poor houses" and indentured servants. I felt very sorry for the children being forced to work like that to pay their way. However, it was better than starving and being on the street. I suppose it was a system ahead of its time when you think of stories like "The Little Match Girl." And they did end up with something to take away with them as a result of all their labors. But it made me sad. KleoP November 7, 2006 - 10:17 am But remember, he was the only one who had any personal space, and he had two, his tiny cabin and his dining quarters. Generally he would have had a much larger cabin, but the crew got by with no personal space. Modern military ships are the same, the captain gets big quarters, officers, except the top few, share quarters, NCOs get large shared rooms with some personal space, and lower enlisted men get a locker attached to a bunk above or below another bunk in a huge room full of bunks. Ah, okay, lead for the potted plants, that makes sense. Teredo is a mollusk, it does not belong to one of the marine worm phyla. The indigenous inhabitants of the Canary Islands were a stone age culture when Europeans started settling there in the late 14th century. They probably were most closely related to the European stone age cultures, but their language indicates some pre-Islamic Berbers origins, also, and some others. Yes, nobody loves a purser. I can't put too much interest into any complaints that the captain of a ship, forced to act as the purser on top of everything else, cheated anyone. It would have required too much effort and time, imo, that Bligh simply could not have had. Kleo marni0308 November 7, 2006 - 10:23 am Kidsal: Very good point. You're a bit ahead of us in reading - in the Week 2 chapters. Some of us haven't quite reached that point yet. Let's definitely discuss that further when everyone has caught up. And catching up soon we shall! Tomorrow begins our discussion of Week 2 - Chapters 6 thru 10. The Bounty has arrived at Otaheite!! Here is an interactive map of the Society Islands. You can click on areas such as Tahiti to enlarge them. http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/oceania/society.htm Tahiti is "about half way between South America and Australia in the central South Pacific. It is the largest island of the Windward Group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. Area: 402 square miles." More about Tahiti with some wonderful photos: marni0308 November 7, 2006 - 10:33 am Kleo: If the Teredo is a mollusk, not a marine worm phyla, what was "the worm" that Bligh mentioned, the worm that plagued wooden ships? Everything I've read calls it teredo, but I don't know anything about it except what I've seen on some websites. Was "the worm" the teredo, and just not a worm? Pat H November 7, 2006 - 10:55 am Teredo is a mollusk, but another name for it is shipworm. I'm sure that is what the copper bottom was protecting against, as it was such a common problem (still is). marni0308 November 7, 2006 - 11:05 am Thanks, Pat H! November 7, 2006 - 11:08 am I did it! I shortened a URL. Thanks to Barbara StAubrey hats November 7, 2006 - 02:03 pm judywolfs November 7, 2006 - 02:36 pm Captain Bligh seems like a nice enough person to me. He mentions very early in the book about how the crew had a nice christmas, and he says later on that he had made sure to tell them all to dress warmer when they began sailing into colder waters. It's interesting to notice that he refers to them as "the people" rather than the crew or the men or the sailors. It somehow makes him seem kind. Also he seems to be pleased about catching fish and rain water, and he's very concerned about keeping their clothes dry. He's trying to make the best of a hard life. ~JudyS KleoP November 7, 2006 - 04:10 pm Hi, Hats, and everyone. Ramadan was early this year, so I've been very busy getting through the Muslim holidays--the few Christians in my family are heavily outnumbered by the Muslims in California at about 150-1. Yes, Pat, well-stated. Sorry, Marni, should have clarified that although it is commonly called a worm (shipworm), it is not a worm, but a mollusk. Yes, Judy, he seems nice enough telling his story. Still, I simply can't imagine being flogged--20 lashes? or was it 14? It hardly matters when 1 seems subhuman to implement. And you can bet that noblemen and ship's captains didn't have floggable offenses they had to worry about. His overall concern for his crew is from shipping with Captain Cook, who had excellent discipline and great response and loyalty from his crew because he made sure they were shipshape in health and clothing and all details he could attend to before he demanded they make his ship shipshape--he had very clean ships, too. Speaking of which, what did they do for a head on these old ships? Must have been pretty foul, whatever it was. Kleo November 7, 2006 - 06:02 pm Wow, was that interesting about shipworms! Yes, Pat, your shortened URL worked! I wonder if the USS Constitution has a copper bottom? It was built approx 1798 so it was somewhat later. I'm going to check....Yes! The copper bottom was restored along with other extensive repairs from 1992 to 1996. You can see the copper on the keel being restored in this photo: http://www.hazegray.org/features/constitution/ I get all excited about tall ships. They are so beautiful. I grew up in New London, CT, home of the US Coast Guard Academy and the USS Eagle. They periodically have parades of tall ships in the Thames River. The beauty of the ships on parade brings tears to my eyes. The USS Nautilus is located permanently at the submarine museum across the river in Groton. Boy, you think it must have been tight quarters in the Bounty. Go for a tour of an old submarine. I can't imagine how they could not have gotten claustrophobia! Pat H November 7, 2006 - 08:38 pm Those are great pictures of the restoration of USS Constitution. I went on board her a year or so ago, and my SIL had trouble prying me loose. She is magnificent to see. Pat H November 7, 2006 - 08:59 pm So now, after 10 months, we have finally reached Otaheite. I'll try to gather up some remaining thoughts in a couple of posts before going on to read the next chapters. There is a typo in my book at the end of chapter 5: it says that the ship had run 27,086 miles, making an average of 10 miles every 24 hours. That is obviously wrong, and the online version says 108 miles. I think that's a pretty good speed for the times, given weather variations. Does anyone know for sure? I notice that after they had spent a month failing to round Cape Horn, it only took them another month to reach the Cape of Good Hope. (But they then stopped for 38 days of repairs, etc.) marni0308 November 7, 2006 - 09:45 pm My version says "10 miles" also. Unfortunately, I know nothing about speed at sea. Barbara or Harold or anyone? Meanwhile, have we covered all of the questions? I just realized I put one question in that is not covered until Week 2's reading - part 2 of Question 11. But we'll cover that this coming week. 6. What sort of �mischief� and suffering did storms create for the Bounty and her crew? The terrible storms at Cape Horn and several others in the Atlantic did severe damage to the ship and opened her seams. It created havoc with sails and lines. Everything was soaked and had to be dried. I can't imagine living through an experience like that. I get sea sick sailing in the Thames River on a nice day. There must have been many days when a sailor in the 18th century thought he was living his last day. What courage they had to have! And sometimes, what luck. Remember when the Bounty first sailed, a sailor fell and was nearly killed? He was lucky. I was wondering if the men thought that was an omen? On the other hand, maybe it was too common an occurrence to be considered an omen. How about Questions 10 and 11, part 1? Anyone want to give them a go before we move on? 10. Why did Captain Bligh have every person aboard examined by the surgeon when the Bounty reached Otaheite? 11. How did the natives on Otaheite differ, in Bligh�s narrative, from the natives in Van Diemen�s Land? kidsal November 8, 2006 - 12:45 am Captain Bligh had the crew checked for venerial desease as he didn't want it transmitted to the natives on the island. kidsal November 8, 2006 - 12:48 am The natives on Otaheite were more sophisticated?? -- apparently a better government as not as much stealing. Also Bligh seemed confortable visiting and dining with them for long periods of time. hats November 8, 2006 - 05:56 am Maybe I can catch up with Capt. Bligh. I have been in the country of India. hats November 8, 2006 - 06:37 am I love reading the descriptions of land and birds and flora during the journey. I haven't caught up on post. I will try to catch up on posts tonight. I don't recognize the birds mentioned. I know there is a poem about the albatross. 1.pintada 2.albatross--I picture this bird as big and heavy. 3.blue petterels There is a mention of seeing whales too. -- Are whales as dangerous as sharks? I say no. My father loved to go fishing. Often, he would go deep sea fishing. A few times he took me along. I remember one time becoming seasick. I ended up in the "hole." Seasickness is the worse feeling in the world. I will never forget that awful, awful feeling. The next time I went with my father he took along seasick pills. I stayed up on deck, caught fish and loved the roll of the ocean. He liked to go to Cape May, Wildwood. The names are escaping me. Too bad I didn't keep a journal of my boring life because now my memories are flying away from me. Are the Hottentots the Dutch? hats November 8, 2006 - 07:01 am Capt. Bligh describes the natives. One part of the description I can't understand. "their skin is scarified about their shoulders and breast." What is the meaning of "scarified?" Barbara St. Aubrey November 8, 2006 - 07:27 am Thanks for the great links gumtree - need to catch up and be back later - I am exhausted - worked the polls yesterday from 6: in the morning when we set up till 8:30 last night when we finally delivered our packets - there were 7 of us and we handled over 1400 as well the computer went down for about 45 minutes during the evening rush so that we were writing by hand information without even the benefit of the old books we used when so much was done by hand. Every part of my aches today and without being able to take brakes I did not drink enough water and so my legs are cramping up - I just loaded myself up with potassium - I need to get myself functional - have meetings starting late morning till this evening - I know I sound like one big complaint - but I am zonked - be back tonight. Pat H November 8, 2006 - 08:51 am Question 10--I wonder if Bligh was really concerned about giving venereal diseases to the natives, or if he was more concerned about disease spreading more widely among his own men; the men infect the natives, who then infect more of the men. Of course, since the medical treatments of the time for venereal disease were pretty useless, There was no practical defense. Did anyone notice the death from doctoring? Toward the end of chapter 5, James Valentine gets slightly sick. He is bled (standard treatment of the time). "Sometime afterwards, the arm in which he had been bled became painful and inflamed: the inflammation increased, with a hollow cough, and extreme difficulty in breathing, to his death." He died of infection from the bleeding. hats November 8, 2006 - 09:05 am PatH, I did notice the part about James Valentine. He had athsma. Wasn't it awfully extreme to bleed a man for an athsma attack? The bleeding seemed to cause him more problems. hats November 8, 2006 - 09:15 am At first the Otaheitians seem very friendly. Some tell about remembering Captain Cook. The Otaheitians, so far, seem hospitable. They don't have much breadfruit to share with Bligh. The islanders do share cocoanuts and plantain trees. Their willingness to board the ship, I suppose, is because of their acquaintance with Captain Cook and his crew. KleoP November 8, 2006 - 09:53 am The Hottentots are the Khoikhoi, one of the indigenous peoples of South Africa, closely related linguistically and ethnically to the Bushmen. They were called the Hottentots for some reason related to the sound of their language, one of the south African languages with the elaborate clicks. Kleo hats November 8, 2006 - 09:55 am Kleo, thank you. That's interesting. I did find some information. I hope it's the right information to go along with what we are reading. Kleo, everything you wrote is in the article. So, I guess this link is alright. Pat H November 8, 2006 - 10:43 am Why didn't Bligh want the Tahitians to know how Captain Cook died? Captain Cook was killed by previously friendly Hawaiian natives during a dispute. Presumably Bligh didn't want to give the Tahitians any ideas. marni0308 November 8, 2006 - 12:33 pm Wow, so many great posts today! I've been looking at election results on the news and working on my Latin. Kidsal and Pat H re venereal disease - I wonder, too, if Bligh wanted to find out who had it and see if his men caught it from the natives. Cook's men had already been there. Bligh must have been very familiar with venereal disease, having been at sea for so long. I read somewhere that it was not known where venereal disease came from. Some thought the British caught it from natives of America or from islands and then passed it on. I also read that the Tahitians were devastated with venereal disease shortly after the British ships began stopping there. This all reminds me of the Lewis and Clark expedition where apparently nearly all of their men came down with venereal disease after sleeping with indian women of various tribes. Itmay may have been passed from French traders and then amongst the tribes. What terrible contagious diseases! Pat H: With all of the venereal disease being passed back and forth, and being treated (unsuccessfully?) with mercury, do you think the wives back home (and their children born after) got it? I've never heard about that. But, wouldn't you think their husbands passed it along? Hats: Welcome back from India! Hope you had a safe journey with no sea sickness. I think by "scarified" Bligh meant "scarred." He also uses the word "tattooed" and "painted" a number of times, so I think there is a distinction between these words. I wonder if the Otaheitians as a culture cut themselves to make ritual scars as did some African tribes? They certainly did a lot of tattooing. I read in the Alexander book that many of Bigh's men had themselves tattooed in the manner of the Tahitians during their long stay. The tattooes were extensive. Some of the crew, including Peter Heywood and Fletcher Christian, had their entire buttocks and lower back tattooed. Here is an article with photographs and illustrations of the tattooes, including illustrations made by a man on one of Captain Cook's voyages. "The artists of the Captain Cook voyages can again be credited with the first illustrations of Tahitian tattooing. In a sketch by Parkinson, we see the typical women's tattoo as described by so many of the early explorers." http://www.janeresture.com/oceania_tattoos/tahiti.htm Pat: I did notice that about the man dying from being bled. Don't they think that is what happened to George Washington? Kleo and Hats: Thanks for the info about the Hottentots. I have heard of them before and, for the life of me, I can't remember where. Pat: Re "Captain Cook was killed by previously friendly Hawaiian natives during a dispute. Presumably Bligh didn't want to give the Tahitians any ideas." I read that Cook was stoned to death by Hawaiian islanders en masse. Reading about the ongoing warfare among the various Tahitians made me nervous for Bligh and the Bounty crew. I felt sometimes like Bigh had to walk on eggs. Bligh described the natives as such a very delightful, friendly, happy people; yet they certainly had a dark side! Golly, I just heard Rumsfeldt resigned. I have to go watch the news! Barbara: Good for you for working the polls! You are such a good volunteer! I'll check in later. Mippy November 8, 2006 - 12:52 pm Re: miles per day, and the figure given at the end of Chapter 5: 27,086 miles: If they had been out sailing for 10 months, using 30 days/month, that is an average of approximately 90 miles per 24 hour-day. The three deserters were Charles Churchill, William Musprat and John Millward. Bligh writes that although they took weapons with them, he could not figure out what their plan was (p. 71, paperback). After a few days, Tepahoo told the captain that the deserters had been spotted (p. 73) and subsequently the three returned of their own free will, saying that they had intended all along to return (p. 74). We can only speculate that the deserters were looking for a chance to live among the natives, and gave up on the idea when it wasn't as easy as they had hoped. At one point (p. 75) the natives had seized and bound the deserters. So "going native" wasn't any fun! GingerWright November 8, 2006 - 01:11 pm Thought this might interest some of you: origin of tattoos GingerWright November 8, 2006 - 01:13 pm A better to read copy : A Brief History of Tattoos:Tattoo You The word tattoo comes from the Tahitian "tatu" which means "to mark something." It is arguably claimed that tattooing has existed since 12,000 years BC. The purpose of tattooing has varies from culture to culture and its place on the time line. But there are commonalties that prevail form the earliest known tattoos to those being done on college students on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley. Tattoos have always had an important role in ritual and tradition. In Borneo, women tattooed their symbols on their forearm indicating their particular skill. If a woman wore a symbol indicating she was a skilled weaver, her status as prime marriageable material was increased. Tattoos around the wrist and fingers were believed to ward away illness. Throughout history tattoos have signified membership in a clan or society. Even today groups like the Hells Angels tattoo their particular group symbol. TV and movies have used the idea of a tattoo indication membership in a secret society numerous times. It has been believed that the wearer of an image calls the spirit of that image. The ferocity of a tiger would belong to the tattooed person. That tradition holds true today shown by the proliferation of images of tigers, snakes, and bird of prey. In recorded history, the earliest tattoos can be found in Egypt during the time of the construction of the great pyramids (It undoubtedly started much earlier). When the Egyptians expanded their empire, the art of tattooing spread as well. The civilizations of Crete, Greece, Persia, and Arabia picked up and expanded the art form. Around 2000 BC tattooing spread to China. The Greeks used tattooing for communication among spies. Markings identified the spies and showed their rank. Romans marked criminals and slaves. This practice is still carried on today. The Ainu people of western Asia used tattooing to show social status. Girls coming of age were marked to announce their place in society, as were the married women. The Ainu are noted for introducing tattoos to Japan where it developed into a religious and ceremonial rite. In Borneo, women were the tattooists. It was a cultural tradition. They produced designs indicating the owners station in life and the tribe he belonged to. Kayan women had delicate arm tattoos which looked like lacy gloves. Dayak warriors who had "taken a head" had tattoos on their hands. The tattoos garnered respect and assured the owners status for life. Polynesians developed tattoos to mark tribal communities, families, and rank. They brought their art to New Zealand and developed a facial style of tattooing called Moko which is still being used today. There is evidence that the Mayan, Incas, and Aztecs used tattooing in the rituals. Even the isolated tribes in Alaska practiced tattooing, their style indicating it was learned from the Ainu. In the west, early Britons used tattoos in ceremonies. The Danes, Norse, and Saxons tattooed family crests (a tradition still practiced today). In 787 AD, Pope Hadrian banned tattooing. It still thrived in Britain until the Norman Invasion of 1066. The Normans disdained tattooing. It disappeared from Western culture from the 12th to the 16th centuries. While tattooing diminished in the west, it thrived in Japan. At first, tattoos were used to mark criminals. First offenses were marked with a line across the forehead. A second crime was marked by adding an arch. A third offense was marked by another line. Together these marks formed the Japanese character for "dog". It appears this was the original "Three strikes your out" law. In time, the Japanese escalated the tattoo to an aesthetic art form. The Japanese body suit originated around 1700 as a reaction to strict laws concerning conspicuous consumption. Only royalty were allowed to wear ornate clothing. As a result of this, the middle class adorned themselves with elaborate full body tattoos. A highly tattooed person wearing only a loin cloth was considered well dressed, but only in the privacy of their own home. William Dampher is responsible for re-introducing tattooing to the west. He was a sailor and explorer who traveled the South Seas. In 1691 he brought to London a heavily tattooed Polynesian named Prince Giolo, Known as the Painted Prince. He was put on exhibition , a money making attraction, and became the rage of London. It had been 600 years since tattoos had been seen in Europe and it would be another 100 years before tattooing would make it mark in the West. In the late 1700s, Captain Cook made several trips to the South Pacific. The people of London welcomed his stories and were anxious to see the art and artifacts he brought back. Returning form one of this trips, he brought a heavily tattooed Polynesian named Omai. He was a sensation in London. Soon, the upper- class were getting small tattoos in discreet places. For a short time tattooing became a fad. What kept tattooing from becoming more widespread was its slow and painstaking procedure. Each puncture of the skin was done by hand the ink was applied. In 1891, Samuel O'Rtiely patented the first electric tattooing machine. It was based on Edison's electric pen which punctured paper with a needle point. The basic design with moving coils, a tube and a needle bar, are the components of today's tattoo gun. The electric tattoo machine allowed anyone to obtain a reasonably priced, and readily available tattoo. As the average person could easily get a tattoo, the upper classes turned away from it. By the turn of the century, tattooing had lost a great deal of credibility. Tattooists worked the sleazier sections of town. Heavily tattooed people traveled with circuses and "freak Shows." Betty Brodbent traveled with Ringling Brothers Circus in the 1930s and was a star attraction for years. The cultural view of tattooing was so poor for most of the century that tattooing went underground. Few were accepted into the secret society of artists and there were no schools to study the craft. There were no magazines or associations. Tattoo suppliers rarely advertised their products. One had to learn through the scuttlebutt where to go and who to see for quality tattoos. The birthplace of the American style tattoo was Chatham Square in New York City. At the turn of the century it was a seaport and entertainment center attracting working-class people with money. Samuel O'Riely cam from Boston and set up shop there. He took on an apprentice named Charlie Wagner. After O'Reily's death in 1908, Wagner opened a supply business with Lew Alberts. Alberts had trained as a wallpaper designer and he transferred those skills to the design of tattoos. He is noted for redesigning a large portion of early tattoo flash art. While tattooing was declining in popularity across the country, in Chatham Square in flourished. Husbands tattooed their wives with examples of their best work. They played the role of walking advertisements for their husbands' work. At this time, cosmetic tattooing became popular, blush for cheeks, coloured lips, and eyeliner. With world war I, the flash art images changed to those of bravery and wartime icons. In the 1920s, with prohibition and then the depression, Chathma Square lost its appeal. The center for tattoo art moved to Coney Island. Across the country, tattooists opened shops in areas that would support them, namely cities with military bases close by, particularly naval bases. Tattoos were know as travel markers. You could tell where a person had been by their tattoos. After world war II, tattoos became further denigrated by their associations with Marlon Brando type bikers and Juvenile delinquents. Tattooing had little respect in American culture. Then, in 1961 there was an outbreak of hepatitis and tattooing was sent reeling on its heels. Though most tattoo shops had sterilization machines, few used them. Newspapers reported stories of blood poisoning, hepatitis, and other diseases. The general population held tattoo parlors in disrepute. At first, the New York City government gave the tattoos an opportunity to form an association and self- regulate, but tattooists are independent and they were not able to organize themselves. A health code violation went into effect and the tattoo shops at Times Square and Coney Island were shut down. For a time, it was difficult to get a tattoo in New York. It was illegal and tattoos had a terrible reputation. Few people wanted a tattoo. The better shops moved to Philadelphia and New Jersey where it was still legal. In the late 1960s, the attitude towards tattooing changed. Much credit can be given to Lyle Tuttle. He is a handsome, charming, interesting and knows how to use the media. He tattooed celebrities, particularly women. Magazines and television went to Lyle to get information about this ancient art form. Toady, tattooing is making a strong comeback. It is more popular and accepted than it has ever been. All classes of people seek the best tattoo artists. This rise in popularity has placed tattoists in the category of "fine artist". The tattooist has garnered a respect not seen for over 100 years. Current artists combine the tr5adition of tattooing with their personal style creating unique and phenomenal body art. With the addition of new inks, tattooing has certainly reached a new plateau. marni0308 November 8, 2006 - 02:45 pm Mippy: What was your reaction to how Tynah got the Tahitians to find the deserters and also the pilfered articles? It seemed to me that some of the natives helped the sailors get away and others, on instructions from Bligh and Tynah, helped get them back. Did anyone find out what happened to the deserters once they were back on the ship? Desertion was a hanging offense, but I didn't see anything about them after that. Ginger: What an interesting article about tattooing! Tattooes are certainly back in the U.S. Just look at basketball players. Some men are tattooed to represent a gang. Women have tattooes all over. My sister-in-law has a butterfly tattoo on her right breast. My husband, who works for a large insurance company (usually extremely conservative), says casual clothing at work has become so casual that young women wear low-waisted pants and cropped tops to work so you can see their bare midriffs and their tattoos there. My next door neighbor told me that her daughter-in-law, who lives in St. Thomas, got a tattoo, got hepatitis, and is dying as a result of infection from getting the tattoo. Apparently, you have to be extremely careful and clean, not share needles among clients, or diseases can be transmitted. I heard that even if tattoo artists use a different needle with each client, if they dip in the same ink they can transmit disease. I wonder why the Normans disdained tattooes? GingerWright November 8, 2006 - 02:53 pm Marni, Thank you for not scolding me for my post but it was interesting to me so thought to share even though it was quite long. marni0308 November 8, 2006 - 03:59 pm I wouldn't scold you, Ginger!! And the article was long, but interesting. Tattooes fascinate me, for some reason. Has anyone seen the TV show "Miami Ink" on the Discovery Channel? It's a weekly program, I believe, and shows the various tattoo artists at work. They are incredible artists. Such a variety of people go in to get tattooes - and for the most interesting reasons. For example, someone's friend died, so to remember his friend, he brought in his photograph and had a tattoo created on his back to commemorate his friend. See info here: http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/miami-ink/slideshow/miami_ink_gallery_index.html I remember the days when I grew up in New London, where the sub base is located and so many ships come in. There were always lots of sailors around. They were the only ones I ever knew who had tattooes. And lots of sailors had tattooes. How times have changed. I personally would be uncomfortable getting a tattoo, though. I'd be the one to get a disease, with my luck! Plus, they're basically permanent. I know they have machines today that "remove" them, but I've seen results and there is scarring. Pat H November 8, 2006 - 04:28 pm Tattoos also change with changing body shape. Someone I know said her brother had gotten tattood with a dashing unicorn as a young man, and as he got older and flabby, the unicorn looked more like a pregnant horse. kidsal November 9, 2006 - 01:36 am Bligh was shocked when the women laughed at the death of a child. Children were killed to control the population -- much as was done in other countries. Children weren't needed to work so was no need for large numbers. hats November 9, 2006 - 02:23 am I went to a wedding. The girl had a tattoo on her shoulder. You could see the tattoo because the gown was off her shoulders. I have forgotten the shape. It might have been a bird. Instead of looking at the gown, I kept looking at the tattoo. Ginger, thank you. I thought Shaddocks might have been fish. Now, after reading on, I find out Shaddocks are trees. Bligh describes the Shaddock trees as "full of fruit." I thought the breadfruit very pretty with the lime color. What do the Shaddock trees and their fruit look like? I am enjoying Bligh's description of the appearance of the people, their actions at dinner and how they treat him and each other. Bligh seems to like social gatherings. Still, I don't know him well enough to make a decision about his complete character. Did he act differently with his crew? hats November 9, 2006 - 04:22 am Kidsal, it is very disturbing to read about the killing of babies. One family had eight children, all eight were murdered. GingerWright November 9, 2006 - 05:26 am Hats, Your welcome my friend. BaBi November 9, 2006 - 07:02 am Ah, I was going to investigate the shaddock. Now I know it was a forerunner of grapefruit, a favorite of mine. I was also curious about the fish with the glowing spots, the 'blubber'. I found this: "June 27th, evening The great blubber fish that ws left in a large tub of water on deck last night was not to be seen as a fish this morning, but as atoms of one, floating about in the water. Several of these species of fish possess this wonderful power of falling to pieces in the water, or violently exploding themselves, & each separate atom has life & motion, & I believe eventually developes into a perfect fish again." The creature is identified in the "Scientific's" reports as the fire salp, Pyrosoma spinosum, a bioluminescent planktonic organism formed of a sock-shaped colony up to 60 feet long and made up of millions of individuals. Tattooing certainly is popular today. All my grandchildren have at least one tattoo, and some of the older generation are sporting them as wel We hear about Fletcher Christian from time to time, and always he is shown as being promoted and trusted. He is first given a watch, then made a lieutenant. Bligh was drastically short of officers, and needed to promote someone into that role. Christian was put in charge of one of the 'wood and water' parties at Adventure Bay, and was delegated to escort one of the chiefs on board ship. The Preface in my edition notes that Bligh knew Fletcher Christian before the Bounty. In his last command with the West India trade, Christian was "a resentable young man who, in order to learn his trade, was serving as a seaman before the mast while messing with the midshipmen. Finding this young man an apt pupil, Bligh tutored him in the arts of navigation..." When given the command of the Bounty, Bligh apppointed his young pupil as master's mate. There is a personal relationship here that one would think would inspire loyalty.Is there more to it than we know? I have read nothing so far that would suggest an explanation. Babi November 9, 2006 - 08:38 am Babi, Thanks for the information of the blubber fish I found it "very" interesting, marni0308 November 9, 2006 - 09:35 am Pat H: I've heard that about tattoos changing as bodies get heavier. It really is very interesting how people are drawn to have them done. Something about them permanently changing the body must make them extremely significant. I wonder, though, today do young people think of how very permanent they are when they are such a fad? Kidsal and Hats: I was shocked about the murder of the children as a means of controlling the population in a small land. The example of the 8 children in one family - you'd think that they would have created some sort of birth control in the society. Well, maybe they did and we just didn't hear about it. I can perhaps understand better the situation where a child was fathered by royalty and they killed the child because they didn't want competition for a kingship mucking up the line of succession. What did you think of Bligh's idea about moving some of the Tahitian people to Australia where there was so much land without people? Hats and Ginger: What a surprise to find out the shaddock was a form of grapefruit! Thank you for the link, Ginger. I love grapefruit, but can't eat it anymore because of all the warnings about not mixing it with medications. I just stay away from it now. Babi: I was so sure the "blubber" was a jellyfish! Bligh described the long tendrils. Now to find out it was something else! Do you suppose the fire salp, Pyrosoma spinosum, is related to the jellyfish or a form of jellyfish? Now I'm wondering if it was bits of the fire salp floating on the water that created the luminescence described in the Aubrey novels? A few years ago, the Boston science museum had a huge exhibit of jellyfish. Did anyone see it? It was fascinating! There are so many different kinds. Some are so beautiful! We learned to stay away from them where I grew up on the water. They'd come floating in during August when the water got warmer. The sting from the tentacles is terrible. Now they say you can put....meat tenderizer, I think it is....on the sting to take away the pain. I just found this about the fire salp. Nope, not jellyfish. "CHAIN-JELLY or COMMON SALP: Although described as a jelly, this organism is quite unrelated to the common jellyfish. Indeed, it belongs to a much more advanced place in the evolutionary scale, where it almost became a vertebrate, but for some unknown reason retreated and became more primitive in appearance. The long double chains are really only one phase in its life history, the colonial phase, and are formed asexually from a solitary parent by a budding process somewhat like that of certain plants. Each of the new individuals is able to produce eggs and sperms, and the eggs once fertilised hatch into tiny tadpole-like larvae which eventually grow into solitary individuals similar to the colonial form, but still clearly distinguishable. The solitary individuals then become parents of the new colonial generation. The commonest New Zealand salp, Thalia, often occurs in enormous numbers in open waters particularly in summer months, and their presence in the water is quite unmistakable even to the casual observer. They seem to be a favourite diet of the snapper, particularly about spawning time, though being largely water they would not seem to be particularly nutritious and are often passed right through the alimentary canal without any sign of their being digested. A close relation of the chain-jelly is the fire salp." http://www.mar-eco.no/mareco_news/2004/the_pyrosome_story ------------------------------------------------------- Babi: Bligh certainly seems to be rewarding Fletcher Christian with promotions and assignments. Bligh says very little about his relationships with his men, including Christian. We are all probably aware that Christian becomes the leader of the mutiny, so everything we read about him, however little, is important. Christian came from the Isle of Man, where Bodie is from. His family had important connections. I wonder if this had anything to do with his promotion? From everything I've read about Christian, he seems to be popular, attractive, bright, a good seaman, and connected. One thing that is important, but not very clear, in Bligh's account is that Christian was one of the men assigned to be in charge of the breadfruit in the tents on land. Christian and some others stayed on the island while some of the other men stayed on the ship. This must have made a difference in relationships with the Tahitians. I read that Christian married a Tahitian woman during this stay. marni0308 November 9, 2006 - 09:40 am I'm off to New London to check on my parents. I'll be back tonight. hats November 9, 2006 - 02:01 pm Ginger, that is a great article about the Shaddock tree. I never would have thought of the grapefruit. Thank you. marni0308 November 9, 2006 - 03:50 pm I just found out something interesting about boats from my dad down at the nursing home. I told him about our discussion about the copper on the bottom of ships to protect against shipworm. He knew just what I was talking about. We always had a small boat when I grew up - a wooden motor boat that my dad used for fishing and motoring around the Thames River in New London. It was all wood. I asked him why it didn't get wrecked by shipworm since it had a wooden bottom - no copper coating - just paint. Listen to this! THE PAINT HAD COPPER IN IT. He painted the bottom once a year and the copper in the paint protected it against shipworm! GingerWright November 9, 2006 - 06:06 pm marni, WOW that is very" interesting. Please tell your dad I said thank you for sharing his knowledge with us. marni0308 November 9, 2006 - 06:45 pm Is anybody watching the TV show "Survivor"? I'm just watching it now. It takes place in the Cook Islands (named after Captain Cook). They are in the South Pacific just west of the Society Islands. To win immunity, the teams just had to answer the question "What was the name of the ship on which occurred the most famous mutiny in history?" And of course the answer was the "Bounty"!!! GingerWright November 9, 2006 - 06:52 pm Nuts I just switched to dish and don't see it listed. That'll learm me durn me marni0308 November 9, 2006 - 06:59 pm Oh, sorry, Ginger. It's on CBS 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. EST on Thursday nights. It will be on for a number of weeks more! GingerWright November 9, 2006 - 07:02 pm marni, I can get CBS so guess I just missed it. marni0308 November 9, 2006 - 09:25 pm I stumbled across a portrait that you might be interested in. When Captain Bligh first arrives at Tahiti, he is chagrined to find that his friend, Omai, from a prior visit on Captain Cook's 3rd voyage, had died. Here is a portrait of Sir Joseph Banks and Omai and someone named Daniel Charles Solander (2nd portrait down), along with some other portraits of Sir Joseph Banks. Click on a portrait to enlarge: November 9, 2006 - 10:50 pm Daniel Charles (Carlsson) Solander Just for anyone who wants to know - Solander was a Swedish botanist who studied under Linnaeus -and was a Librarian and Keeper at the British Museum - He came from a family devoted to science. He accompanied Cook on his first voyage as an assistant to Joseph Banks - he probably did the hard yards for Banks, who although genuine and influential (and nowadays revered) was more of an adventurous dilettante in his younger days. Solander invented a box to carry specimens which has developed into the Archival Box we all know and love - known as the Solander Box. He was an honoured and respected member of the Royal Society who commemorated him in Wedgewood's plaque. There are many portraits, engravings and lithographs of him and also a portrait medallion in jasper by Josiah Wedgewood which is housed in the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. An area in the Sydney Botanical Gardens is named for him - the Solander Garden - as is the plant, solanum solanum one of the nightshades. hats November 10, 2006 - 03:47 am Marni, that is fascinating! "The paint had copper in it." thank you for sharing. Gumtree, I would love to see that plant. Marni, I did think Bligh's solution for the islanders was interesting. He thought if the islanders with so many children would join with the people in New Holland, these people had land and not enough people, then, the problem of destroying children would end. Do you think the islanders had more than one reason for killing their children? I see where Bligh says it was a way of population control. Could there also have been religious reasons, some ritualistic reasons for killing the children? When children are murdered, is this called infanticide? marni0308 November 10, 2006 - 10:25 am Gumtree: That is so interesting about Daniel Charles Solander. I have never heard of him before and to think of all those things named after him! We're coming upon very interesting information reading this book! I'll see if I can find any pictures of items named after him. Hats: I thought Bligh's thoughts about moving people around were interesting, too. It's almost hard to imagine someone considering that. After all, the native people had lived there for.....who knows how long? That was their country, small though it may have been. This made me think that Bligh was forgetting the human element and thinking more in terms of scientific. But, then again, he was appalled at the sacrifice of so many children. You've got me thinking now about Michener's novel Hawaii Didn't he have a section about warfare among Polynesian islanders and how one group decided to leave in order to save themselves and find a new land? They took off in canoes and settled.....where? Or were they the original settlers of the Hawaiian islands? Golly, it's been a zillion years since I read that book. But it does appear the islanders did leave areas to seek out new lands. The Polynesian people were extremely talented seamen and could travel amazing distances in their canoes. Now I'm thinking of Thor Hyderhahl's book Kon Tiki. Was it a raft/boat of Polynesian people that he was copying when he made that famous voyage? That's another one I read a zillion years ago. As for killing their children, I know I read 2 reasons, per Bligh - The Tahitians killed their children for population control because they had only so much food and space on the islands. And they killed them to get rid of any competition for the throne. I don't think I read about any religious ritualistic killling. Yes, I do believe that would be called infanticide. Did anyone find other reasons that they killed their children? What did you all think about the warfare among the various tribal groups? marni0308 November 10, 2006 - 11:07 am Well, I'm not having good luck finding photos of the Solander items. I did find many articles about Daniel Solander. Botany Bay was apparently named after him and Dr. Herman Spring, both hired by Sir Joseph Banks, and botanists on Cook's 1st voyage. It was originally called "Botanist Bay." November 10, 2006 - 11:48 am Here are a couple of links to the Solander Box Scroll down on this one for the phtos of the boxes and on the very bottom the price of various size boxes conservation by Design Solander Box Barbara St. Aubrey November 10, 2006 - 11:59 am Here are a few more Marni - don't you love finding out about this stuff - who would have guessed that there was so much to uncover reading this story. there is a trail in Botany Bay National Park called Banks-Solander Track -- 1 km, 30 minutes, easy This short nature trail, which branches off from the Yena Trail, starts a short distance from the Discovery Centre. It's a self-guided track which gives you a fascinating insight into the species that Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, Cook's botanists, collected in 1770. KleoP November 10, 2006 - 12:34 pm Well, infanticide was a reality for a number of groups of people with limited means as a method to population control. Most pre-modern birth control methods were not reliable. Most cultures that practice infanticide also practice abortion of some sort, so it is likely many women tried to kill the child before he or she was born. And it is generally infanticide, the child is killed right away as an infant, rather than any attachment allowed to be form. Unfortunately it is only in the modern society that euthanasia is not a necessity, so it's a bit weird that societies all over the world today are advocating for it (mostly, of course, of inconvenient old women, not of rich men for sure, don't think for a moment that as many women as men are killed for being old or inconvenient in the Netherlands and other places). Generally life in even the best "primitive" societies requires a great deal of adherence to cultural norms for the society to be able to live within its means, and they cultural norms often include horrific practices for population control, distribution of resources and other needs. I don't understand why it is more understandable to kill an infant of the future king than to kill any infant? "I can perhaps understand better the situation where a child was fathered by royalty and they killed the child because they didn't want competition for a kingship mucking up the line of succession." You can just simply say that the child isn't eligible. Maybe I'm missing something? Anyway, other societies, in the Americas for example, practiced the ritualistic killing of adults. Some practiced the ritualistic killing of elders, some Siberian cultures, for example, and some North American Indian cultures--again, where Oregon State is moving towards and other Western Cultures (and, no, it's not always about an incurable disease regardless of age, it is in practice a convenient way to do away with old people). I'm not sure which is more humane or less abhorrent, killing adults or infants? I think Bligh was right on the money suggesting the relocation rather than the murder of infants. Even if it is the cultural norm and the people practice it, humans are genetically predisposed to bond with their children--I can't imagine it was ever easy. Then there is the old human stand-by to population control: warfare to kill young and sexually reproductive males, and now females in the modern scheme. Blech. KleoP November 10, 2006 - 12:38 pm The fire salps are, indeed, primitive chordates, in the phylum Chordata, because they are closely related to the vertebrates, rather than the phylum Cnidaria, the taxonomic home of the jellyfish, sea anemones and related invertebrates. Kleo BaBi November 10, 2006 - 03:03 pm MARNI, as far as relationships with the Island women, I don't think it mattered whether the men were stationed on shore or not. I noticed a line early on in which Bligh noted, after a large gathering of the natives on board ship, that all the male vistors left at sunset. The specification of gender leads me to believe that the women visitors did not. There was acknowledged intimacy between the women and the sailors of the Bounty. The South Seas natives were quite free in that respect. We already know Fletcher Christian took a wife there, tho' we haven't reached that point in the reading of the log. I wonder if any of the other men thought of their native consorts as 'wife'? Historically, I would think not. Babi gumtree November 10, 2006 - 10:15 pm Marni and Barbara- thanks for the Solander links - we learned about him at school along with Cook and Banks - (Bligh too!). I didn't really expect anyone to be very interested in him as he doesn't come into the Bligh story but he was the driving force behind the real botanical work done on Cook's voyages. We go to Sydney next month so will check out the Solander walktrails in the Botany Bay Park- The coastal scenery there is spectacular -haven't been there for years! marni0308 November 10, 2006 - 10:27 pm Barbara: Great Solander links! The photos and illustrations are wonderful. I found it fascinating to read about the intention of Banks to have the botanists' illustrations printed. The project went so far that the copper plates were engraved. But Solander died and Banks never finished the project. You folks who read the Audubon bio last year - Does this remind you of Audubon's project making the folios of The Birds of America? Engraving and print production back then was such a huge and expensive, time-consuming effort. Didn't it take at least 10 years for Audubon's elephant folios to be completed? Gumtree: Those botanical walks look lovely! What a wonderful place to be able to meander! Kleo: Thank you for your thoughts on infanticide. I have not been aware of societies' ritualistic killing of the elderly. Can you tell us more about this? The Tahitians did use "the old human stand-by" of warfare. There were a number of instances cited by Bligh of warfare between the island people where it seems many of them were killed. I found Tinah's situation to be somewhat pathetic. He had been chief, but, if I understood this correctly, the role was passed on to a royal child who was kept very protected while young (was he adopted? I'll have to look back and check). Tinah and his wife were still very important and they worked actively with the British to maintain relationships that benefitted each party. Tinah begged Bigh to take him and his wife to England when the Bounty left. It seemed Tinah was expecting to be killed by competition for the throne as soon as the British left. I wonder if he was killed? Babi: You're right. The Tahitian women did stay aboard. I read something in the Alexander book that suggested those who stayed on shore had greater freedom and time to intermingle and socialize with the natives and the culture, develop close - even marital - relationships with some island women, were perhaps able to become more a part of the island life style than those who stayed on the ship, suggesting some found reason to stay on Tahiti and, in that state, were willing to leave their homeland of England behind forever. Acting Midshipman Peter Heywood, Fletcher Christian's friend, also from the Isle of Man, was married to and had a child with a Tahitian woman, and was tattooed extensively, according to the Alexander book. This became important later on because Heywood was one of the mutineers captured and brought back to England for trial. This part of the story is not covered by Bligh in his account. Harold Arnold November 11, 2006 - 10:21 am In the late 1780�s when the Bounty visited Tahiti, its culture had already changed quite drastically as the result of Cook�s visit and other earlier European intrusions. Bligh�s precaution of having the doctor examine the men to check for active venereal infections was quite like a futile precaution since venereal infections were already in the native population. Later European intrusion and collonization continued to corrupt the native culture. For an account of Tahitian culture a century later read �Noa Noa�, Paul Gauguin�s verbal picture of Tahiti in the 1890�s. This short book is inprint today at either B&N or Amazon. Also a French version is available on-line fro the Project Guttenberg Web Page. I could not find an English version on-line. Harold Arnold November 11, 2006 - 10:24 am I found the linked site with examples of Tahitian Tattoos interesting because I can not recall seeing modern American tattoos in the style of the illustrations on the link. In contrast I can count on seeing examples of our East Texas Caddo Indian body art during the course of watching most NBA televised games. Hats based on my observation largely from the Tonight Show�s �Jaywalking� segment, I would guess at least 50 % of American Females between 20 and 30 carry some sort of body art today. KleoP November 11, 2006 - 10:57 am Marni, I read a lot about it as a teenager when I started reading my grandfather's works. He studied Siberian culture during his explorations of the area, and it was a practice in at least one of the Siberian tribes he studied. I read about it in some North American Indian cultures and studied paleoanthropological evidence of cultures that did not practice this, who obviously allowed their elderly to live long beyond their ability to provide for themselves. It was a very unpleasant topic and has forever clouded my thinking against "mercy killings" of the terminally ill and suffering, in particular by starving people to death in medical surroundings--it's just too similar. I couldn't possibly provide any unbiased or useful information. Kleo KleoP November 11, 2006 - 11:00 am Harold, I'd guess you're right about that, my son's friends are a more tattooed than usual crowd and the women run over 80%, but watching other women in his age-range, I'd guess at 50%. There are certain groups that never tattoo, some of the immigrant groups from the Middle East and South Asia probably have low tattoo percentages with a few making up for the many un-tattooed, as some of these cultures have intense tribal tattooing histories. Kleo hats November 11, 2006 - 12:48 pm Harold, that is a very large group of women. I remember when only men would wear body art. Thank you for listing the book "Noa Noa" by Paul Gauguin. I would like to read it. hats November 11, 2006 - 02:00 pm When writing about ourselves in a journal, it is easy to see and write our good points. Will we truthfully tell about our flaws? In other words, can we trust William Bligh's journal as the total truth? In his journal, how will he handle the coming mutiny? The people on the islands seem very hospitable and open. They willingly tell about their religion, share their foods, and help out when the crew is in trouble. For example, Teenah and two other people travel to the boat during the storm to see if everything is alright. One lady is so upset about catastrophe coming to their ship she scratches herself with a shark tooth to show her pain. The islanders have been at war with one another at one point. What did they use for weapons? What is a cloth plant? hats November 11, 2006 - 02:02 pm I am finding it hard to see the man William Bligh through his words. His writing is interesting. I just feel like there are facts about the islanders, some about the crew but nothing about himself, his private feelings. The book reads like a "log." marni0308 November 11, 2006 - 04:30 pm I checked back in the Alexander book for info about Tynah, after the Bounty left. When the HMS Pandora landed at Tahiti in 1791, hunting for the Bounty mutineers, Tynah was still alive and "the stately king," 6' 4" tall, approx. 40 years old. Harold: I think it is fascinating and sad to see how very quickly the Tahitians were affected from cultural and physical contact with Europeans, considering how few ships apparently had stopped there since Cook had arrived in the islands. I read that the men of the Pandora were surprised when they did not find the idyllic paradise which had been described to them by sailors from the Bounty. I read an interesting article about the impact of European culture on the South Pacific island culture. One theory about this impact is called the "fatal impact thesis." "The fatal impact thesis is a variety of historical idealism embracing the following propositions: contact between Pacific Islanders and Europeans was an epistemological shock to the former, who classified the latter as supernatural; contact was also a psychological shock, in which the islanders questioned their own identities and lost their sense of mastery of their own situations; contact was a cultural shock in which role expectations became confused and normal responses became inappropriate. Altogether, the European encounter was such a severe cultural and psychological shock as to have fatal consequences for populations and cultures alike. The introduction of exotic diseases and tobacco and alcohol use were both biologically and socially destructive; while the introduction of values such as materialism, practices such as prostitution, and a new religion that was not rooted in the existing cultural fabric caused demoralization and anomie. The "fatal impact" thesis thus holds that the effects of contact on a pristine society were wholly deleterious. The interpretation is perfectly congruent with the eighteenth-century "noble savage, civilized decadence" dualism. While a good deal of the destruction was caused by material agents (microbes, alcohol, industrial products), the "fatal impact" thesis is distinguished by its emphasis on the intellectual and emotional consequences of contact." marni0308 November 11, 2006 - 04:37 pm Kleo: Your words made me think back to my mother-in-law a few years ago. She lived in an assisted living apartment in CT. Her good friend, right across the corridor, had multiple schlerosis. They visited every day. One day the friend left to visit family and she never returned. My MIL found out later that her friend had committed suicide with the aid of Dr. Kervorkian, the first person in CT to do so. She was surrounded by her immediate family when it happened. My MIL was so shocked and never had an inkling of what was to happen. I have very mixed feelings about this. Obviously, so does our society. marni0308 November 11, 2006 - 04:48 pm Hats: You raised some very important questions. "Can we trust William Bligh's journal as the total truth? In his journal, how will he handle the coming mutiny? Bligh certainly was writing for the public and he had to protect himself, his reputation, his family. He did seem to be taking his words directly from his journal. I get the feeling that what he says really did happen, at least from his perspective. I don't get the feeling he is lying. But he certainly leaves out a lot. We will be reading all of his own words of this account; but even when we have finished, we will not know the whole story by any stretch of the imagination. We can read from other sources to find out more and find different perspectives. I certainly recommend, again, Caroline Alexander's The Bounty as a fantastic, carefully documented history of the mutiny for anyone who is interested in reading more about this famous event. It provides many perspectives which are backed up by exerpts from letters, logs, journals, court transcriptions, etc. hats November 12, 2006 - 12:11 am Marni, I definitely feel like William Bligh is telling the truth. This is one reason I am glad to read his account. I had missed your earlier recommendation of Caroline Alexander's book. Thanks for posting it again and also the link telling about interaction between Pacific Islanders and Europeans. I bet reading another book would fill in other details. I am glad to read Bligh's account too, even with the gaps in information. I don't read the reason for the men just leaving from the ship. I suppose Bligh couldn't lose any of his men. He wanted those men back as quickly as possible. Why did the men take off and leave the ship? I guess the men are beginning to feel discontent. BaBi November 12, 2006 - 08:11 am HATS & MARNI, it is always a question in reading someone's own journal or autobiography, to wonder how self-serving the documentation may be. Laurence Irving (admittedly a strong Bligh partisan) addressed this issue in his Preface. Since what he has to say can be readily checked, I would accept it. Irving writes: "Anyone who cares to compare his full day-to-day Log with this Narrative will find that the various details which are omitted in this necessarily condensed version, the majority are incidents which are creditable to Bligh himself." The advent of the Europeans, with their advanced science and technology, their iron tools, their great ships, was bound to have an unsettling impact on the natives of the Islands. These early contacts with men like Cook and Bligh at least treated fairly and honestly with the natives. I thought Moannah, in making a ceremonial speech on behalf of Bligh, expressed clearly what was important to the natives and why they were friendly to these early British seamen. "..that we were good friends; and therefore he exhorted them to commit no thefts: he told them to bring their pigs, coconuts, and bread-fruit, and they would receive good things in return; that we took nothing without their consent". Babi November 12, 2006 - 08:40 am Babi, thank you for the Laurence Irving quote. Harold Arnold November 12, 2006 - 09:51 am I have been trying to find detailed information on the history of this book such as when did Bligh write it? When and by whom was it published.? Yet I can find nothing about it!. It is not in the B& N catalog and the Amazon listing of the in-print paperback gives no real information on its origin or history. Also the Project Guttenberg site that gives the complete on-line text tells us nothing about its origin and it is never listed in the bibliographies of my several secondary sources including the 1982 Bligh Biography, �Captain Bligh and His Mutinies� by Gavin Kennedy that I used in the earlier Seniorsnet Bounty discussion. I know that after Bligh�s return to England and his acquittal at the mandatory Court Martial that all RN Captains are subject to after the loss of their ship, he wrote several published documents in defense of criticism that had been published by several people principally Christian�s Brother and Peter Heywood. In these his purpose was clearly the defense of his reputation. That does not mean they are false, but they must be judged with that fact in mind. Bligh�s critics too had their own agenda to which Bligh is entitled to make his reply. I have a facsimile copy of Bligh�s handwritten log kept on his open boat voyage to Timor after the mutiny. In this he tells of the Mutiny and names the names of both participants and loyalists but does not touch the complete story as this book does. I am not critical of this book, yet the question of Blighs purpose in this writing and its authenticity has been raised in previous posts and I cannot find answers that would be helpful in formulating Judgment of its value.Has anyone further information on this books history that has aluded my search? Pat H November 12, 2006 - 10:30 am I agree that Bligh is not lying. What is left out is mostly what he didn't notice. For instance, it doesn't occur to him until after the mutiny that the most likely persons to have tried to cut the cable were some of the seamen. We hear very little of what the men are doing all this time. marni0308 November 12, 2006 - 11:36 am Harold: I hunted for information about when Bligh wrote his narrative about the voyage and mutiny. In the Pacific Union College Pitcairn Islands Study Center, which has a large collection of books and historical papers about the incident, I found in their bibliography that a narrative by Bligh was published in 1790: William A. Bligh, A Narrative of the Mutiny on Board His Majesty's Ship Bounty (London: G Nichol, 1790) http://library.puc.edu/pitcairn/studycenter/books-papers.shtml In the bibliography of Carolyn Alexander's book The Bounty, the following two items are cited among others: Bligh, William. A Narrative of the Mutiny, on Board His Majesty's Ship Bounty; and the Subsequent Voyage of Part of the Crew, in the Ship's Boat, From Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East Indies, London: G. Nichol, 1790. Bligh, William. A Voyage to the South Sea, Undertaken by Command of His Majesty, for the Purpose of Conveying the Bread-Fruit Tree to the West Indies in His Majesty's Ship the Bounty commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh. Including an Account of the Mutiny on Board the Said Ship and the Subsequent Voyage of Part of the Crew, in the Ship's Boat, From Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East Indies, London: G. Nichol, 1792. So, it looks to me as if Bligh wrote his first narrative in 1790 and the revised version in 1792. Hats: I agree that it seems probable that the men are beginning to feel discontent. It seems to me that an important factor leading to the mutiny must have been the length of time the crew had to remain in the islands - to collect enough breadfruit plants and ensure their survival, and to wait til the weather was appropriate to sail back west to deliver the breadfruit to the West Indies - and the people and lifestyle they learned to love while staying in the islands. Life on the island must certainly have been easier than life on the ocean. It sounds like Bligh took off periodically to visit sights and to attend island affairs. His men, without the close guard of posted marines, must have been living, to a certain extent, a life of leisure and enjoyment even though they had been assigned tasks to attend to. Babi: Thank you so much for sharing exerpts from Irving and Moannah's speech. I'm glad you pointed out how the islanders were sharing their food with the British crew. They shared so much food that at times they were even short of some items. We already know that the islanders practiced infanticide in order to control the population. It must have been a burden on them to have an additional 45 or so people there for 6 months eating their fill. They shared and expected the British to share in return, which they did. However, there was a lot of "pilfering" going on. You pointed out that Bligh had expected the islanders to take nothing without the consent of the British. Bligh indicated that when pilfering did occur, the island leaders were extremely helpful and diligent in getting the stolen items back to the Bounty. As Pat H pointed out, the ship's cable was cut. This seems to have been the most important crime described by Bligh. As Pat H mentioned, Bligh assumes it was done by the islanders and it dawned on him only later that it had been done by his own crew. I agree with you, Pat, that Bligh seems to have left out mostly what he didn't notice and that we hear very little of what the men are doing all this time. Although some have pointed out that the captain's log may not have contained Bligh's observations about the men, his narrative is not his log. He could certainly have written more about what he had noticed on board leading up to the mutiny if, in fact, he had noticed anything. I'm not sure he did. Perhaps one reason was, as Kleo mentioned earlier, Bligh was simply extremely busy. KleoP November 12, 2006 - 04:18 pm This is also a caste society, the British of the 18th century. Bligh would be given all the benefits of a bit of doubt, and he would not have been raised to consider that a lower class person could possibly be righter than a ship's captain. He also probably had a blind eye to any and all inconveniences his crew suffered under him. For example, he puts the men on limited rations. The captain of a ship has a completely different stock of rations for his dining pleasure. While the men were being given less water than they needed it's highly unlikely than Bligh ever did without wine with his meals. Again, he has no reason to offer any evidence that supports the mutineers, as it will cost him his career, and it could cost his family their livelihood. Still, I suspect many events are just as he saw them, although filtered greatly by the fact that he was raised to think he was a better sort of human being than those raised with so much less, where every meal was a matter of doubt. The seamen are weighing not just their life on the island versus their life on the ship, but also versus what they will return to in England: a caste society in which they are darn close to the bottom rung, and even if they're not, the least turn of bad luck can promptly dump them there. Poor in Tahiti in the 18th century versus poor in England? At least one could not be hanged for stealing food to live in 18th century Tahiti. But again, the captain's duties were immense. My husband is a retired Marine. Sometimes before an extended tour of duty on board ship, the military takes the families out for a cruise on the battleship or whatever. During one such cruise the captain's voice came over the intercom. Every sailor and marine on the ship froze to hear what he had to say--it was clear how important this voice was. It's a very directional sort of command, the captain watches what his crew does by how well his ship is run, the crew obeys the captain via their direct superiors. Not a lot of direct contact. Kleo marni0308 November 12, 2006 - 04:58 pm Kleo: Thanks for sharing the info about your husband's career and the experience on the ship. Did you have to travel often being a marine's wife? I first became interested in the marines when I read about the Barbary Wars and the 8 marines who were assigned to William Eaton to help organize the army of the ex-pasha of Tripoli and take Tripoli after the USS Philadelphia surrendered. It's interesting to look at the role of the marines then and now. I guess they've always been an amphibious military organization with duties on land and sea and now, of course, in the air. It's interesting to think of Bligh, as captain, having plenty of food and drink while rationing supplies to his men. I was thinking of the other side of the story considering Bligh's reduced quarters and dining/work space, no promotion, additional responsibilities, no marines, etc. I was imagining Bligh feeling somewhat put upon, although he doesn't really indicate those feelings in his narrative. I suppose all of these factors added to the state of affairs on the Bounty. BaBi November 13, 2006 - 06:58 am HAL, it is my understanding that the first narrative account written by Bligh was in the nature of a report for the purposes of his Court-martial. It would have been a fairly succinct summary of events. It occurs to me, that he would have felt no necessity to justify himself in the matter of the mutiny, as their is no justification in the Royal Navy for mutiny against the Captain of the ship. Bligh would have needed only to show that he did all in his power to save his ship. The copy I am reading is an unabridged re-edition of the 1792 book. In his 'Advertisement', Bligh explains that he is writing this more inclusive version "for the purpose of communicating early information concerning an event which had attracted the public notice: and being drawnup in a hasty manner, it required many corrections." The earlier 'hasty' narrative being, I suppose, the one prepared for the court-martial. MARNI, I thought the speech Manooah made, on Bligh's behalf, said that the British did not take things without the consent of the natives, which is why they considered them friends. I don't think the phrasing suggests the opposite, that the natives did not take things w/o the consent of the British. KLEO, it is evident that some of the men liked life on the islands, and wanted to remain there. I think it was not uncommon for a seaman to 'jump ship' if they wanted to stay where they were. It was more difficult, however, on an island. There was a limit to how far they could run, and they definitely could not 'lose themselves' in a populous city. To mutiny and take a ship,however, was a dangerous prospect. If it failed, every mutineer would most certainly hang. Babi hats November 13, 2006 - 09:51 am The man named Isaac Martin strikes one of the natives. Bligh gives Isaac Martin nineteen lashes. Bligh's log, so far, does not tell why Isaac Martin lashed out at the native. On ships, are cases tried and given a hearing? Do captains have the right to make immediate decisions without any input from other officers on the ship? I can not judge Bligh nor Isaac Martin as wrong or right. I do not have all the facts. hats November 13, 2006 - 10:08 am The cable of the ship is cut. Is it possible the men were ready to head back to England, had grown tired of remaining on the island? Is this why the cable is cut? I find it hard to believe that men would so quickly forget their native home and want to live on a foreign island. If they were convicts, I could see their not wanting to go back home and cutting the cable to remain longer on the island. Were any men on the ship wanted for crimes? Also, all of the islanders might not have liked the presence of Bligh and his crew on the island. Perhaps, one of the islanders cut the cable. marni0308 November 13, 2006 - 11:11 am Babi: Re "I thought the speech Manooah made, on Bligh's behalf, said that the British did not take things without the consent of the natives, which is why they considered them friends." I guess I got that backwards. I thought it was that the British did not want the islanders to take things. Hats: Re "On ships, are cases tried and given a hearing?" I was wondering this very thing. I've read about situations where a sailor had to be tried and the captain had to wait for a....quorum? of officers to convene for a courtmartial, sometimes held at sea. But in what types of cases, I don't know. And what if the ship is all alone in the vast sea like the Bounty is alone in the Pacific? We know that Bligh could assign punishment for certain offenses by flogging to non-officers. We've seen it in his narrative. (I read that commissioned officers were not flogged.) I read that certain of the captured Bounty mutineers were hanged, but that they had to be transported to England first where they were tried in a courtmartial. I also read about a near-mutiny on board the HMS Narcissus 9 years before the mutiny on the Bounty, where 5 of the would-be mutineers had been hanged and 2 more sentenced to floggings of 200 and 500 lashes respectively, and the leader of the mutiny had been hanged in chains. But I don't know if a courtmartial was held. When I first read about the cable being cut, I assumed an islander had cut the cable in order to take part of it away to use - a pilfering. But, then it seemed that a would-be mutineer did it in order to cause the ship to float away. Wouldn't you think, though, that there would always be men assigned to keep watch on the ship and figure out that it was floating away and then do something about it? So what was the point? A threat? marni0308 November 13, 2006 - 11:19 am I thought it was very interesting how the Tahitians could practice medicine. Bligh described several instances of how illness/injury was treated in a sophisticated manner. An amputation had been performed with the stump neatly taken care of. It was almost as if the islanders were more advanced medically than the British when you think of the disaster of the man with asthma who was bled and got an infection. marni0308 November 13, 2006 - 11:41 am I loved Bligh's description of Iddeah, Tinah's wife. She seemed so strong, powerful, and proud. Bligh said she was one of the most intelligent persons he met with in Otaheite. Bligh wrote, "It is not common for women in this country to go to war, but Iddeah is a very resolute woman, of a large make, and has great bodily strength." Apparently, Iddeah had a lover (Bligh mentioned a "gallant") who was Tinah's servant; Tinah knew about it and encouraged it, according to Tinah's brother. I was amused to read how Iddeah also had a "hoard" in the captain's cabin which she "enriched" periodically from her husband's hoard. She and Tinah kept gifts on the Bounty as "being more secure." The women wrestled in the island's wrestling matches and seemed as good as the men. They even wrestled with men. I thought Tinah, on the other hand, was described by Bligh as somewhat cowardly and weak. It seemed he drank a lot of Ava and got drunk. Bligh wrote, "...but courage is not the most conspicuous of his virtues. When I promised to leave with him a pair of pistols....he told me, that Iddeah would fight with one, and Oediddee with the other." I enjoyed the way Bligh described how Tinah had to be fed by others. He would not feed himself. When no one else was around to feed him, Bligh had to feed Tinah. marni0308 November 13, 2006 - 11:55 am Hats asked earlier about the cloth tree or plant. It was quite fascinating to see how cloth was very valuable to the Tahitians. They gave it as gifts and used it in religious ceremonies. I wondered, too, what plant it was made from. I read in an article about Sir Joseph Banks that the plant used for the cloth was the Broussonetia papyrifera. In another article I read that this is also called the paper mulberry tree. The United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842, looked for this when they visited Tahiti. They had heard the natives made "tapa cloth" from this plant. But by the time this expedition got to Tahiti, they found none of the trees; the natives were no longer using the paper mulberry tree to make their cloth. They now preferred cotton for which they traded when ships arrived. Photo of Broussonetia papyrifera leaves: http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/MM/MX1-4/4P053_Brou-papy_RR_GM1_MX.jpg Here's an article/photos that says cloth is made from the bark of the plant: http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/collections/ecbot/BarkCloth.htm I read that when some of the Bounty mutineers went to Pitcairn Island, taking some of the Tahitian men and women, the women used their skills and made the tapa cloth there. hats November 13, 2006 - 12:05 pm Marni, thank you for the links. I also remember a woman dying cloth red. Did red have a special significance for the islanders? marni0308 November 13, 2006 - 12:06 pm Hats: I just added a couple more links/photos to that post. I didnt' see anything about red cloth in Tahiti, though. marni0308 November 13, 2006 - 12:55 pm HATS! I'm so excited! I found something about Tahitian red cloth! It just popped up when I did a search on "Tahiti red cloth." It's an article by someone named Hawkesworth. I have to find out who he was. Maybe a botanist with Banks on a Cook voyage. Here's a bit about the red dye process: "The colours with which they die this cloth are principally red and yellow. The red is exceedingly beautiful, and I may venture to say, a brighter and more delicate colour than any we have in Europe; that which approaches nearest is our full scarlet, and the best imitation which Mr. Banks's natural history painter could produce, was by a mixture of vermilion and carmine. The yellow is also a bright colour, but we have many as good. The red colour is produced by the mixture of the juices of two vegetables, neither of which separately has the least tendency to that hue. One is a species of fig, called here Matte, and the other the Cordia Sebestina, or Etou; of the fig the fruit is used, and of the Cordia the leaves. The fruit of the fig is about as big as a rounceval pea, or very small gooseberry and each of them, upon breaking off the stalk very close, produces one drop of a milky liquor, resembling the juice of our figs, of which the tree is indeed a species. This liquor the women collect into a small quantity of cocoa-nut water: to prepare a gill of cocoa-nut water will require between three and four quarts of these little figs. When a sufficient quantity is prepared, the leaves of the Etou are well wetted in it, and then laid upon a plantain leaf, where they are turned about till they become more and more flaccid, and then they are gently squeezed, gradually increasing the pressure, but so as not to break them; as the flaccidity increases, and they become spungy, they are supplied with more of the liquor; in about five minutes the colour begins to appear upon the veins of the leaves, and in about ten or a little more, they are perfectly saturated with it: they are then squeezed, with as much force as can be applied, and the liquor strained at the same time that it is expressed." Here's the article: http://coombs.anu.edu.au/~cookproj/archive/gen_rem_tahiti/ht020.html Pat H November 13, 2006 - 12:57 pm I have to laugh, thinking of Bligh, stuffy and dignified, having to feed Tinah. You can bet he hated it, but he had to put up with the protocol. Iddeah sounds like she's twice the man that Tinah is. It's interesting that Bligh can appreciate these qualities in a woman. marni0308 November 13, 2006 - 01:06 pm That IS quite a picture of Bligh, Pat H! Speaking of pictures, here is a lithograph of Matavai Bay in Otaheite done on one of Captain Cook's voyages, "the site from which Captain Cook observed the transit of Venus in 1769." I wonder what kind of tree is the lone tree on One Tree Hill?: marni0308 November 13, 2006 - 01:15 pm Oh, I found some interesting info and paintings about Captain Cook on a UCLA site when I hunted for info about Hawkesworth. Scroll down to #5 to read about who Hawkesworth was. I thought it was interesting how Tinah kept Captain Cook's picture and showed it to Bligh. Cook had been very important to the Tahitians. judywolfs November 13, 2006 - 01:20 pm Gumtree wrote (11/9) about Solander's invention of the Archival Box "we all know and love" Well...If I ever have occasion to get to know a Solander box, I'll try to join the rest of the crowd by learning to love it. Marni, you mentioned the 2 possible reasons for the killing of new born babies � control overpopulation and remove threats to the throne. I agree that they were the only two mentioned by Bligh. Except that he did say there might be some kind of superstition that he wasn�t aware of. But what is so shocking about the Tahitians killing newborns, when you think of the current rate of abortions in the US? Bligh�s idea of transplanting some of the people to Holland, as if they were anonymous breadfruit plants, is kind of ridiculous, if you ask me. ~JudyS marni0308 November 13, 2006 - 01:34 pm For goodness' sake! I found something different - "The Life, Times, and Travels of the Extraordinary Vice-Admiral William Bigh," an "interactive graphic novel" about Bligh. "...this project taps into the definitive collection of Bligh materials housed at the State Library of New South Wales." marni0308 November 13, 2006 - 01:39 pm Hi, Judy! Re: "But what is so shocking about the Tahitians killing newborns, when you think of the current rate of abortions in the US?" I imagine you would get a variety of answers to that question depending on one's interpretation of when human life begins. That has long been an important question in our society and in our courts. I think when Bligh wrote about transporting people, he meant to "New Holland" in what is now Australia. I believe the Dutch had colonized a section of Australia before the British, and they had also colonized some of Indonesia. This is important in future chapters of our book. Gumtree: Can you help us out here on the various settlements in Australia and the part where the Dutch were in 1789? Thanks! Barbara St. Aubrey November 13, 2006 - 02:11 pm hmmm makes you wonder what babies were killed -- I wonder if they controlled inbreeding this way?? Bligh wouldn't have been aware of the history of these folks but there were a finite number of people to choose from to marry or whatever was the way they coupled... and they may have come up years back with their primitive way to preserve the strength and health of the population. marni0308 November 13, 2006 - 02:30 pm Folks: I just went through part of the interactive graphic story of Bligh. It's fun! I had to download an Adobe Shockwave Active X program (I think that was what it was called) to run it. But I just had to click several buttons to do it. The "automated" version goes very fast - too fast for me to read everything - so I just clicked the right arrow to move the story along. Barbara St. Aubrey November 13, 2006 - 02:35 pm I tried and where I do have broadband it closed down my internet connection. hats November 13, 2006 - 02:42 pm Marni, I am very excited about all of the information. I am especially interested in the islanders use of the color red. There are so many good links and good posts. I need to go and catch up before dinner. Thank you for doing so much research. Mippy November 13, 2006 - 02:45 pm Marni, after trying twice, and having high-speed, I could not see that interactive link, sorry. All your other links have worked just great! Thanks! hats November 13, 2006 - 02:56 pm From what I can understand the red color is made from two types of figs. "Of this Indian red I shall only add, that the women who have been employed in preparing or using it, carefully preserve the colour upon their fingers and nails, where it appears in its utmost beauty, as a great ornament." hats November 13, 2006 - 03:02 pm I was struck by so many children in one family being destroyed. I have never heard of so many abortions done in one family here in the United States. hats November 13, 2006 - 03:21 pm I always think of the islands as peaceful and serene. That is not true. When the islanders went out in their canoes, their canoes could become surrounded by sharks and barracudas. What is the difference between a barracuda and a shark? Which is more dangerous? Barbara St. Aubrey November 13, 2006 - 03:48 pm Reading various books it seems to me the barracuda is formidable in size - the shark is silent as compared to the barracuda and the shark will strike many times to finish off their prey - I think the barracuda is so large with such big teeth it does the job in one swipe. Certainly it has always been written as the most feared of sea creatures. marni0308 November 13, 2006 - 05:02 pm Oh, dear. Sounds like some cannot access the "interactive graphic novel" about Bligh. You may have a security program blocking it. Well, we certainly don't need it. It was just kind of fun. Sorry about that. Hats: It does sound like 2 plants were required to make the red dye: one was a "species of fig, called here Matte, and the other the Cordia Sebestina, or Etou." I don't know what the Etou is. But how interesting to read the detail of combining the two to create that amazing-sounding brilliant red. I'm so glad you and Barbara are discussing the shark and barracuda. I shuddered when I read about them because I knew that the mutiny was going to be coming up in our next readings! How frightening to think of what was in those waters! Thank you, Barbara for the information about sharks and barracudas. I'll see if I can find a picture of a barracuda - Sphyraenidae (order Perciformes)..... Oh, gad, here's a Discovery article that begins "Take one look at a great barracuda's toothy grin and you'll understand why it has earned the nickname "Tiger of the Sea." With its sleek, torpedo-like body, dagger-like teeth, and ferocious appetite, the barracuda is built to hunt in the ocean...." They call it "the great eating machine." Barbara: You're right! Barracudas can be up to 6 feet long! From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barracuda Here's an article about sharks in Tahiti. It includes "To a diver, Tahiti means sharks � tons of sharks that can be observed and enjoyed by both scuba divers and snorkelers alike. With an estimated population of 240,000 residents, Tahiti (more correctly known as French Polynesia) is literally outnumbered by the sharks that inhabit the surrounding reefs and seas. While no one knows the exact number, the shark population is estimated in the millions." gumtree November 13, 2006 - 11:35 pm Hats: you say, all of the islanders might not have liked the presence of Bligh and his crew on the island. Perhaps one of the islanders cut the cable I think you are quite right so far as Bligh's presence on the island being somewhat of a problem for the islanders. They are generous and hospitable people and at first showered Bligh and his men with gifts of food. They did the same with Captain Cook - but their food resources were very limited and only really sufficient for themselves. As we've read they killed many infants in order to keep the population down. I guess we will never know who actually did cut the cable but it's fun to conjecture. gumtree November 14, 2006 - 12:19 am What Dutch settlement? As far as I'm aware the Dutch did not actually settle in 'New Holland' but many Dutch ships used the west coast of Aust as a navigational aid - They would come by way of the Cape of Good Hope - catch the 'roaring forties' trade winds and when they saw the coast of New Holland they turned north for Batavia - several landed here but soon realised there was no money to be made from spices or trade with the indigenous inhabitants. Several Dutch ships foundered on the reefs along the western coast - some never to be found again -just think of all those 'pieces of eight' 'Duyfken' was the first Dutch ship to touch on Aust.in 1606- at Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost tip of the continent which Bligh has to pass on his way to Timor. A replica of 'Duyfken' (Little Dove) was built at Fremantle Harbour in the late 1990s gumtree November 14, 2006 - 12:50 am The first settlement of Australia was at what is now Sydney when the First Fleet arrived in 1788. The fleet was a convoy of ships transporting convicts, many "for the term of his natural life'.Apart from the ships officers and crews, the guards (and their families) there were only the convicts. Bligh's notion of transporting the Tahitians to New Holland would have arisen from his knowledge that Britain was already transporting convicts - he probably just thought it would be a good idea for the Tahitians though they would probably have starved here without knowledge of the 'bush tucker' of the Aborigines. hats November 14, 2006 - 02:00 am Gumtree, thank you for that information about Bligh's idea. I didn't know whether it was a good idea or a bad idea. Also, thank you for the New Holland information. Marni and Barbara, now I know the difference between a barracuda and a shark. Neither one is friendly. Really interesting that there are so many in the waters of Tahita. I bet those black pearls in the Tahitian waters are beautiful. Not easy to get to with the presence of so many sharks. BaBi November 14, 2006 - 07:07 am Another comment on the cable: if, as suspected, a sailor cut the cable, I would think it more likely that it was with the hope that the ship would swing around and be damaged. It could not have drifted away, as other anchors were still in place. Iddeah's shifting of presents from her husband's horde to her own, was to prevent his locker from becoming full. Bligh believed that she thought Tinah would receive no more presents if his locker was full. She was simply keeping space available. I have been attempting to find out more about why the Chief's children were isolated, but so far have had no luck. The eldest, in particular, is regarded with reverence. The heir to the chiefdom appears to be sacred to the tribe. I suppose his brothers and sisters were kept with him partly for the companionship, and partly to assure that if something happened to the eldest, the next in line would be 'in place'. Too many guesses, here. I'll keep looking. It would also be interesting to know why the Tutuee tree was taboo; or at least, breaking a branch from it and taking it into a house was taboo. So many intriguing questions keep popping up. Babi hats November 14, 2006 - 07:25 am Babi, I am glad you brought up the cable. I had related the work of the cable to the anchor. Is the cable attached to the anchor? Is the cable very important? I see in your post that the ship could turn around and become damaged. Do you mean by hitting up against a big tree trunk sticking out of the water? The tree trunk than punching a hole in the ship side. I don't remember reading about the cable being repaired. hats November 14, 2006 - 07:32 am Is it possible the chief's children were kept separate to protect them from Veneral disease. I have always thought Veneral disease contagious. judywolfs November 14, 2006 - 10:32 am Sharks and barracudas would certainly be unwelcome in my swimming hole! Poor Captain Bligh being put out to sea... Yes, Babi, I�m also very curious about the taboo regarding that Tutuee branch in the house. Hats mentioned 8 babies in one family being killed � I seem to recall that the family was an important one and somehow the nephew became the adopted heir. Captain Bligh said �The most remarkable instance related to me of the barbarity of this institution was of Teppahoo, the Earee of the district of Tettaha, and his wife, Tetteehowdeeah, who is sister to Otow and considered as a person of the first consequence. I was told that they have had eight children, every one of which was destroyed as soon as born.� Here is where Bligh conjectures that the killings could be attributed to some superstition, but I wonder if (since those children were all the nieces and nephews of �a person of the first consequence�) if their murders were motivated more by a practice of maintaining the status quo as to politics and leadership. ~Judy Pat H November 14, 2006 - 12:34 pm Cable The cable is the heavy rope tied to the anchor, the other end being secured on board the ship. Bligh refers to the incident as an attempt to set the ship adrift, so if there were other anchors, they weren't strong enough to hold the ship. If it had been adrift, it would have been quite likely to drift ashore, run aground, and be damaged, or to hit a rock, which might punch a hole in the hull. jbmillican November 14, 2006 - 02:28 pm I thought there was a change in Lt.Bligh between the voyage out and the stay at the island. On the way out, he did show concern for the crew in making sure their clothing was dried out as soon as possible after the storms, and noticing. He showed concern for the sailor with asthma who was bled, It seems to me that the islanders began to distract him from his duty to take care of the crew. The ship's surgeon drank himself to death and Bligh did not notice until the man was almost gone. Bligh goes into great detail about the practices of the natives and pays less attention to the crew. Could he have begun to 'drink the king's health' with the natives more than he should have? marni0308 November 14, 2006 - 04:12 pm Oh, great posts today! I've been going through closets pulling out old clothes for a charity that is swinging by to pick up tomorrow. Gumtree: Thank you so much for the info about Australia! Interesting to hear that Australia was called New Holland but there wasn't a Dutch settlement there. I just took it for granted that there was. The "Duyfken" site is FASCINATING! I'm especially interested because my husband's is of Dutch descent and we have been reading histories of the colonial Dutch in New Netherlands. I'm going to pore through this site more carefully later. Hats: I would like to see a black pearl. I don't believe I ever have. I wonder how they compare to white pearls? Babi: I hope you are able to find something about the isolation of the royal children. I was thinking it was for their safekeeping, but didnt' know either. Even Captain Bligh could only talk to them from across the river. Good luck finding info about the tutuee tree and the taboo, also. It would be so interesting to find out more. Hats: It didn't seem that the islanders thought venereal disease was a big threat at that time, from what Bligh said. I'm thinking it was a bigger threat than they thought, if that was the case. Bligh said some islanders who had venereal disease went off and came back seemingly cured. He was wondering what their medical technique was. But, I don't imagine they were really cured. Maybe the symptoms had been relieved. Judy: I had forgotten that the family which killed 8 children had been a family of consequence. Pat H: Thanks for explaining what the cable is. I thought it was attached to the anchor. Whatever the case, Bligh was extremely concerned about what happened and he doesn't show his emotions or concern often! jbmillican: Good point about Bligh being distracted. Hmmmmm. Was he imbibing Ava with Tinah? I don't see any indication in his narrative of his drinking. However, I read in other accounts that the captain was a big drinker and sometimes got roaring drunk. Some have suggested he was completely drunk shortly before the mutiny. I wonder????? kidsal November 14, 2006 - 07:56 pm I believe I read that the Chief's first boy became Chief when he was born and the Chief became his protector. The boy was taken from the family and placed under guardianship until he came of age or the Chief died. Does anyone know what became of the child selected to be the next Dalai Lama -- think he was living in Northwest of U.S. marni0308 November 14, 2006 - 10:05 pm Week 3 is here! We've reached the exciting chapters in which Captain Bligh describes the mutiny on the Bounty when he and some of his men are set adrift in a 23-foot launch in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The boat was designed for a maximum of fifteen men and for short distances. They have enough food and water for five days. Their voyage is one of the most famous voyages in history. We are able to read the details of the captain's experience because he is one of the greatest navigators in history. Patwest has done a wonderful job posting this week's questions and a map showing the launch's route across the Pacific from the point where Bligh and his men were set adrift. Here is a model of the open boat that Bligh navigated 3600 miles across the Pacific. It was crafted by Prof. James Norton, Department of Physiology, New England University College of Osteopathic Medicine. BaBi November 15, 2006 - 06:31 am JB, a good relationship with the Island natives was important to Britain, as their ships were able to anchor their safely and find food, wood and water in ample supply. The Islands also had the breadfruit which was the purpose of the Bounty's voyage. They were to collect breadfruit trees and convey them to the West Indies. Someone else commented on Bligh's scientific interests, and I also see evidence of a strong interest in agriculture and gardening. He introduces new plants and establishes gardens wherever he goes. He is very pleased whenever anything introduced to the Islands flourishes and is found helpful to the natives. It seems reasonable, since they are not at sea, that his journal would be filled with the activities on land. His crew seem to be doing fine. The surgeon had been drinking and refusing to exercise from the beginning, and it was only a matter of time before he drank himself to death. I have had not luck so far finding anything more about the isolation of the Chief's heir. I found a reference to island chiefs bearing the same title as Tinah, but their children were not isolated. If this was a custom peculiar to Otaheite, I may never find an explanation. Did you notice that particular importance seemed to be placed on a person's hair? If a native of the Island died while away from the Island,it was sufficient if some clippings of his hair could be returned to his family. And wouldn't I love to know what an 'avee' is; "one of the finest flavored fruits in the world". Babi marni0308 November 15, 2006 - 09:51 am Kidsal: The Dalai Lama has his own official web page which includes all kinds of up-to-date info about what he is currently involved with: http://www.dalailama.com/ Babi: That was interesting to read that about the hair being important. I think many societies find a person's hair to be important after death. In 18th and 19th-century America it was popular to braid the hair of a loved one into a bracelet or place a snip of hair in a locket for remembrance. I found out what the avee is. On the web it appears in Sidney Parkinson's "Descriptive catalogue of plants, medical, culinary, &c. found on that island," in his Journal of a Voyage to South Seas, p. 69. An edition of the Journal was published in London in 1773, edited and published by Stanfield Parkinson. "avee. Spondias-dulcis. This is a large stately tree, and often grows to the height of forty and fifty feet: the fruit, which, I believe, is peculiar to these isles, is of an oval shape, yellow when ripe, and grows in bunches of three or four, and is about the size of a middling apple, with a large stringy core: It is a very wholsome and palatable fruit, improving on the taste, which is nearest that of a mangoe; it is strongly impregnated with turpentine, and makes excellent pies when green. The wood serves for building canoes, and for several other purposes." I also looked up ava in the catalog: "ava. Piper-inebrians. The expressed juice of this plant they drink to intoxicate themselves." There are some neat engraving plates from the Journal on this site, such as: A native of Otaheite: http://southseas.nla.gov.au/journals/parkinson/036.html Venus Fort at Otaheite: http://southseas.nla.gov.au/journals/parkinson/039.html A Woman & a Boy, Natives of Otaheite: http://southseas.nla.gov.au/journals/parkinson/049.html House and Plantation of a Chief of the Island of Otaheite: http://southseas.nla.gov.au/journals/parkinson/052.html Natives of Otaheite: http://southseas.nla.gov.au/journals/parkinson/056.html Tools and utensils of Otaheite: http://southseas.nla.gov.au/journals/parkinson/109.html I found, too, when looking up "ava" that "Manuia" (pronounced MAH-noo-yah) means �cheers� in Tahitian. So, manuia, everyone! November 15, 2006 - 10:07 am Photo of avee, called "Ambarella" (Spondias dulcis) or "Otaheite apple": http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/MM/MX1-4/4P257_Spon-dulc_RR_GM2_MXa.jpg I found out more about ava, also called kava. It's interesting! Maybe this is what the Otaheitians used to cure venereal disease: "Kava kava has been used for centuries by pacific islanders in cultural and religious ceremonies to achieve a higher level of consciousness. Kava's narcotic and stimulant effects made it highly popular and it has been drunk only before important religious ceremonies. Kava's cultural role in the South Pacific is beeing compared to with that of wine in Europe. Islanders have used dried kava roots made into a tea to obtain a mild stimulating tonic. Kava can be found on Tahiti, Hawaii, Fiji, the Micronesian Islands, Samoa and other islands of South Pacific. It grows as a bush and its roots look like bundles of woody, hairy branches. Kava roots contain chemicals called kavapyrones that cause reactions similar to that of pharmaceutical drugs used for depression and anxiety and they are responsible for kava's effects..... "Kava has been used for thousands of years to produce a wealth of psychological and physical effects. According to studies and observation, kava kava has a stimulating effect on the mind that causes a calming, relaxed feeling of contentment and serenity. It allows the human mind to reach levels of consciousness beyond normal and give a feeling of happiness and sensory enhancement. Studies suggest that kava directly influences the limbic system, one of the oldest developed parts of the brain associated with emotions and other various brain activities. Further research reported in Journal of Medicinal Plant Research shows found that kava reduces muscle tension and relieves stress. Kava has played a central role in the cultural, economical, political and religious aspects of native South Pacific societies as a social relaxant and ceremonial means to achieve a higher level of consciousness. As a medicinal botanical, kava is reported to reduce anxiety, relax muscle tension, produce analgesic effects, act as a local anesthetic, and have a potential antibacterial benefit. Kava has been used for more than a century as a treatment for gonorrhea, vaginitis, leucorrhoea, nocturnal incontinence and other aliments of the genitourinary tract. Kava also is said to be a diuretic, useful in the treatment of gout, bronchial congestion and rheumatism. Its primary uses in the United States and Europe, however, are as a stress reliever and muscle relaxant. Kava also is gaining popularity as a sleep aid. Several European countries have approved kava for the treatment of anxiety, insomnia and restlessness on the basis of extensive pharmacological data and positive results in clinical trials." marni0308 November 15, 2006 - 10:19 am The Tongan story about the origin of kava was interesting. Showed a couple killing their child - in the Wikipedia article, if you didn't read the whole thing - here it is: "In the place of Fā'imata on the island of 'Eueiki, close to Tongatapu, there lived a man and his wife. Fevanga and Fefafa were their names. They had a baby daughter called Kava'onau, who had a scaly skin disease (possibly leprosy). Then once upon a time it happened that an important envoy of the Tu'i Tonga king, Lo'au, came to 'Eueiki, and landed his canoe at the house of Fevanga and Fefafa. Customs required that such a high chief was to be received with an abundant meal. But a famine was over the land, and only a kape (Alocasia macrorrhiza) plant was available with no meat at all. In despair the parents killed their little daughter and baked her as a pig in the same oven as the kape. Lo'au was impressed by the sacrifice the poor people had made for him. He said that he could not eat from their daughter, and that instead she was to be buried as a chief. He ordered her head to be buried on one place, and her body on another place. And then he left. After a time two new, unknown plants grew from the parts. Fevanga tended them until they were mature. Then a rat came and chewed from the plant which was growing from the head, and was as scaly as the skin of Kava'onau had been. The rat became partly paralysed. Next it chewed from the other plant, growing from the girl's intestines, and the animal recovered and ran away. Fevanga harvested the plants and brought them to Lo'au's residence in Ha'amea on Tongatapu. There Lo'au announced that the first plant was to be called kava, being the daughter of Fevanga and Fefafa, and that it would be the beverage of chiefs from now on. But like the rat, they would also consume in conjunction the second plant, which was to be called sugar cane, to balance the influence of the kava." Barbara St. Aubrey November 15, 2006 - 10:27 am huh I often take a capsule of Kava when I cannot sleep at night - hmmm interesting stuff - and Marni the links to the art work showing the native people are just wonderful to look at - thanks... Pat H November 15, 2006 - 11:36 am Thank you, Barbara. Do the kava tablets really help you sleep? Pat H: I'm practically falling off my chair laughing as I look at the picture of Queen Elizabeth drinking kava. The line "Consumption of a significant amount of Kava is said to result in "a state of paralysis of the lower limbs and musculature" - Makes me think of Tinah!!!! I think I'm ready for some kava! MANUIA! Mippy November 15, 2006 - 02:49 pm Thanks for the links, showing the boat, Marni. Bligh and (originally) 18 seamen had to fit into that constricted space. The provisions on board the small boat, listed by Captain Bligh (p. 109), were 150 lb. bread, 3 bottles of wine, 5 quarts of rum, 20 lb. pork, and water. Since they expected to collect additional water at islands or from rain, water was perhaps not their primary worry. Bligh estimated that he would have to make the food last for 8 weeks. Obviously they hoped to find additional food on islands where they stopped. But after John Norton was killed by some natives, stopping was correctly considered to be more dangerous. marni0308 November 15, 2006 - 04:16 pm Oh, Mippy, wasn't that scene in Chapter 14 so frightening when Norton was killed. Even with Bligh's unemotional writing style, I got so tense as I read the section leading up to the attack. The natives arrived and their numbers began to increase. "Soon after other natives came to us; and by noon there were thirty about us....the natives came about us as I expected, and in greater numbers; two canoes also came in from round the north side of the island.....the natives began to increase in number and I observed some symptoms of a design against us.....The beach was lined with the natives and we heard nothing but the knocking of stones together, which they had in each hand. I knew very well this was the sign of an attack..... ".....we began by little and little to get our things into the boat......I carefully watched the motions of the natives, who continued to increase in number.....we all got into the boat except one man who, while I was getting on board, quitted it and ran up the beach to cast the stern fast off.....I was no sooner in the boat than the attack began by about 200 men; the unfortunate poor man who had run up the beach was knocked down, and the stones flew like a shower of shot. Many Indians got hold of the stern rope and were near hauling the boat on shore, which they would certainly have effected if I had not had a knife in my pocket with which I cut the rope. We then hauled off to the grapnel, everyone being more or less hurt. At this time I saw five of the natives about the poor man they had killed, and two of them were beating him about the head with stones in their hands....." Oh, my gosh! The natives followed the launch quickly in their canoes with a supply of stones and surrounded Bligh and his men. "I had not an idea that the power of a man's arm could throw stones from two to eight pounds weight with such force and exactness as these people did." How did Bligh and his men manage to get away from the natives? Why did the natives attack the British? hats November 16, 2006 - 03:33 am Marni, I am not that far along. I need to catch up. The men have taken over the ship. So far, everything seems to be going so orderly. It's like the men have been planning this mutiny for quite awhile. Did Bligh not have any inkling of what was going on under his nose? How long had they been planning for this mutiny? I wonder if any of the natives were aware that Bligh was headed for danger when he boarded the ship that last time. Is abuse the reason for the mutiny? What kind of abuse? What will the men on the ship do with all of that Breadfruit? Nowadays a captain could communicate with officers on shore to get help. Back then, after boarding the ship, how did you communicate with officers not on your ship? I really want to know, when did the last big mutiny happen? Is this the one, the Mutiny on the Bounty? hats November 16, 2006 - 03:37 am Those words are so sad. At that moment all of your control is gone. Your future is up to other people, people not wanting to shake your hand and drink wine. hats November 16, 2006 - 03:40 am Marni, the other book you read, did it go in to further detail about the abuses suffered by the crew on board from the hands of William Bligh? hats November 16, 2006 - 03:59 am William Bligh gives reasons why he thinks the men revolted. Bligh feels they have made relationships with women among the Otaheiteans. These men are possibly feeling they could lead a better life away from England while living on these islands. That seems like such an immature reason to mutiny. What did they hate to face back in England? Debts?? What?? Then, Christian, I feel, is already feeling guilt for placing Bligh in such a predicament, for revolting against him. Christian says, "I am in hell-I am in hell." At that point, did he regret his choices? Christian knew Bligh well. He had sailed with him three times. Bligh mentions past kindnesses done for Christian. Usually, I try to see the side of the underdog. This time I find it hard to sympathize with the mutineers. May be I am missing some information. I just feel like there is a big gap in the picture. It's like I am reading a mystery novel. When men stage a mutiny, how many are caught and punished? hats November 16, 2006 - 04:08 am "Christian, in particular, I was on the most friendly terms with: that very day he was engaged to have dined with me: and the preceding night, he excused himself from supping with me, on pretence of being unwell; for which I felt concerned, having no suspicions of his integrity and honour." BaBi November 16, 2006 - 07:14 am MARNI, Thank you, thank you. You found answers to three of my questions! The Avee, the Ava, and the cure of veneral diseases in the Islands. Bligh obviously attributes a desire to remain in the Islands as the motive for the mutiny. "..for to the friendly and endearing behavior of these people, may be ascribed the motives for that event which effected the ruin of an expedition.." Bligh himself had become very fond of the Islanders, considered them dear friends, and hated to leave them. Still, the mariners could expect to return again, in other voyages. So the attachments, for some at least, must have been much stronger. Laurence Irving wrote, "It is in the character of Fletcher Christian that the clue to the mystery of the Mutiny lies. No one can fail to have a certain sympathy for this incalculable man." ".....Christian was a gay, handsome and sensitive young man with a growing reputation for philandering, full of zest for his work, his recreation and for adventure." He also reports that when they left the Islands, Christian's native wife was soon to have a child, which he might never see again. However, another significant (to me) piece of information is that when Fletcher Christian's wife, who had followed him to Pitcairn Island, died, he seized another of the Tahitan women. The woman's husband shot him in the back as he worked on his plantation. The picture I am seeing is of an intemperate man, unable to control his emotions or his appetites. I'd be interested to know how some of you see it. Babi marni0308 November 16, 2006 - 10:41 am Hats: Thank you for all of your insights! Yes, this is the big one -THE Mutiny on the Bounty - probably the most famous mutiny in history. We're seeing it only through the captain's eyes, so it's an interesting picture how the mutiny suddenly occurred without warning - Bam! Bligh was totally unprepared, unaware. Re: Is abuse the reason for the mutiny? What kind of abuse? Bligh indicates nothing about any abuse towards the men - in fact, just the opposite. In other readings, it came out at courtmartials that Bligh could be emotional and get angry quickly. When he got angry, he used a lot of strong language with his men (swore a lot and yelled, etc.) which got them angry. However, it was also clear that Bligh's anger was very short-lived and he got over things very quickly. He had short bursts of anger. He did not seem to have good people skills. The officers investigating the mutiny did not appear to consider Bligh's outbursts a big deal at all. Apparently, it was common for captains to use a lot of foul language and have bursts of anger. Another thing I read was that Bligh may have been drinking more as the time went on, but I don't think there was proof of this - just conjecture. Also, apparently he could knit-pick over little things that occurred on the ship. Apparently, he got on Christian Fletcher's case about it. Apparently, the day before the mutiny there was a pile of coconuts on board that no one was supposed to touch on Bligh's orders - he was going to dole them out to the crew in a certain manner. Some of them disappeared and Bligh accused Fletcher of taking them. He got Fletcher really angry and that may have been the reason Fletcher didn't show up at dinner that night. It may have been the straw that broke the camel's back. It sounds like Fletcher was depressed about leaving his native wife and the lifestyle of the islands, and he was totally irritated with the captain. I read that right before the mutiny, Fletcher prepared a raft and was going to leave the Bounty by himself, not mutiny but desertion; but he was talked out of it by friends. Fletcher had a lot of friends on board - he was so personable. Perhaps on shore they had spent time imagining a future of ease and happiness in the islands. At any rate, Christian led a group of the men to take over the ship. It may have been discussed earlier, but it sounds to me like when it happened, it just suddenly happened. Fletcher Christian was the leader. He had the third watch. He had access to the weapons. They took over the ship and forced those not with them off the Bounty - except for some men they needed for their skills, like Coleman, who begged the captain to remember he had not wanted to mutiny. Mutiny was a hanging offense. marni0308 November 16, 2006 - 11:12 am Hats: Re: What will the men on the ship do with all of that Breadfruit? The mutineers threw it overboard! After all that work! They were sick of it, I guess. It must have represented Bligh, their chores, and everything they were rebelling against. Nothing about the mutineers and the Bounty and their aftermath is in Bligh's narrative. I read in the Alexander book that Christian took the Bounty back to Tahiti - had to lie to the natives about what happened. They couldn't stay there because they figured if the word got out, they'd be captured and hanged. They left and sailed around trying to find a place to live. They went back to Tahiti again once and at that point 16 of Christian's crew decided to stay on Tahiti. Peter Heywood was one of these men. These were the mutineers who were captured later by the HMS Pandora crew. Apparently, the 8 mutineers who remained with Christian on the Bounty took some native women and men with them who wanted to go, but actually kidnapped a group of women, too, so they'd have enough women with them. Eventually, Christian took the ship to Pitcairn Island, an uninhabited remote pleasant Pacific island southeast of Tahiti - it had been mis-charted on the map. Christian found it and figured no one would find them there. At Pitcairn Island someone burned the Bounty. Then the mutineers there had no way to leave. I read there were fights, particularly over women, and they killed each other off. Many years later when the island was found, only one Brit remained, John Adams. Children had been born on the island and some of their descendents live there today. Here again is the Pitcairn Island Study Center site. There is tons of info about the mutiny here: marni0308 November 16, 2006 - 11:22 am Babi: Re The picture I am seeing is of an intemperate man, unable to control his emotions or his appetites. I agree. He certainly was an intriguing character. He captured the imagination of generations of people. So many leading Hollywood men have wanted to play his role in movies. He has become the hero of the story down through time. I was not even aware of the role Captain Bligh played in the harrowing voyage in the open boat until I read his narrative and the Alexander book. I had no idea Bligh was such a brave and talented navigator. To me, now, Bligh is a hero. Hats: Re: Back then, after boarding the ship, how did you communicate with officers not on your ship? The only way I know they could communicate from a distance was by using flags and signalling. They'd have to be within sight. And who was there to communicate with? The crew was all on board the Bounty, far off in the middle of the Pacific. hats November 16, 2006 - 11:36 am Marni, great posts!! Thank you. jbmillican November 16, 2006 - 06:20 pm These last chapters have convinced me of Captain Bligh's courage and expertise as a navigator. I don't think he abused the men to a degree to cause them to mutiny. When the three deserters turned themselves in, he did not punish them. But he did order a lashing for the man who struck one of the natives. He was a wonderful leader as well as a genius of a navigator. He was able to keep discipline among the men with him in the open boat, even though they were on very short rations. I looked up quadrant and found it is a very simple instrument, calling for extensive manual calculations. Yet with only the quadrant and compass, he was able to accurately arrive at Timor. We may never know just why the mutiny, but I don't think the fault lies with Bligh. He did deserve to rank to the rank of Admiral. kidsal November 17, 2006 - 02:36 am Capt Bligh writes that mutinies were common, but usually the Captains could rely on the natives to bring them back to the ship which is what happened when the three left the ship earlier. hats November 17, 2006 - 07:11 am I didn't understand why the islanders attacked Bligh and his men with stones. John Norton died from the stoning. Did the islanders stone the men just for their provisions? In my mind, I didn't think Christian had given many provisions to Bligh and his men. Pat H November 17, 2006 - 08:15 am Hats, I agree they didn't give many provisions to Bligh. They gave him enough to reach nearby islands. I think that by doing that, they could tell themselves that Bligh and his men had a chance to survive, so they wouldn't feel that they had the death of these men on their hands. Christian probably hoped Bligh would never get back to civilization so he couldn't send a search party after the mutineers. marni0308 November 17, 2006 - 10:25 am Juanita: It really was amazing how Bligh was able to navigate with just the quadrant and compass through those waters with no charts or maps at all, just his memory, having been through that area once? before? Bligh had done much of the charting on his trip with Captain Cook, although Bligh wasn't given credit for it when the maps were published. He must have remembered what he had drawn. It astounds me how Bligh was able to maintain such order and cohesion on board the small launch when everyone must have been so terrified, starving, thirsty and, eventually, sick. After Norton died, there were 19 people aboard the tiny boat. You have seen the model. There was barely room to sneeze. As Pat H mentioned, they had been allowed to bring only a few possessions. Yet they had to throw some of them overboard so there was room for the people and the food and water. No room to lie down. Imagine the fear of rocking the boat. They knew about the sharks and barracudas in the waters there. And this went on week after week after week...... kidsal: I think it was desertions that Bligh was referring to rather than mutinies. Desertions were very common, but mutinies less so. Juanita: Bligh does not mention what happened to the deserters after they were brought back. I was very surprised. Desertion is a big offense. I wonder if something really did happen to the deserters and he just didn't mention it because of all that was going on. Or did he just forgive them? I find it hard to believe they were not punished. Hats: Wasn't the stone attack so frightening?! Bligh said he knew what was coming when the islanders began congregating and cracking the stones together because the same thing happened in Hawaii when Captain Cook was killed. Cook was stoned and bludgeoned to death by Hawaiian natives when he held captive their chief in order to get the natives to return some things stolen. And Cook was killed for it! Bligh was right there at the time and saw the whole thing. Then Bligh did the same thing in Otaheite! I was shocked when Bligh wrote he held some chiefs on board the Bounty in order to force the natives to return stolen items. Interesting how natives from a variety of islands had some of the same war tactics. marni0308 November 17, 2006 - 10:37 am Pat H: I was wondering about what the mutineers thought about what would happen to Bligh and the other 19 men in the launch. I was thinking for awhile that really that must have thought they would die. Originally, they were going to force them into a smaller, less sea-worthy boat. Someone persuaded them to allow the men into the launch instead. The launch was a little bigger and in better shape. I suppose you're right - that they thought maybe there was a chance the launch would make it to an island. Otherwise, why was Christian so intent on finding a remote place like Pitcairn Island if he didn't think there was a chance someone would come hunting for him? They must have all realized, though, that chances were slim. The crowded boat in the huge sea.... Apparently, some men who remained on the Bounty were not really mutineers, but they were afraid to climb into the launch because there was no more room. I believe this was part of the defense Peter Heywood used later in the trial for mutiny back in England, although from what I've read, Heywood really was with the mutineers. He was so young, though, I think only 15 when the mutiny occurred. Imagine how easily a boy could be pursuaded by a charismatic man in a situation like this. judywolfs November 17, 2006 - 12:53 pm The description of the stoning was dreadful, especially before they actually attacked, and were knocking stone upon stone. But, like Hats, I really don't understand the reason for the attack. I wonder also, why the natives didn't attack immediately, why they waited until all but one unfortunate man had escaped back into the boat. Then they brought stones into their own boats and chased the sailors out to sea. Had they been harmed by other sailors at some point? Or were they normally warrior-like and unfriendly? Or were they afraid of Bligh and his starving men? It's also amazing how the men cast adrift could survive on such tiny bits of rations, and sips of water - and how desperate they must have been to eat rotten bread and raw birds. ~JudyS Pat H November 17, 2006 - 01:33 pm It isn't in Bligh's book, but the mutineers sailed back to Tahiti, picked up their women and some other natives, willing and unwilling, and dropped off some of the mutineers and the loyal crewmen before looking for Pitcairn Island. So they knew the story would eventually reach the British. marni0308 November 17, 2006 - 02:00 pm Kidsal: You brought up the important point about other mutinies occurring. One attempted mutiny had a great impact on the story of the HMS Bounty. It was the attempted mutiny in 1782 on board the HMS Narcissus whose captain was Edward Edwards. The mutiny was stopped. (Edwards had marines aboard.) But Edwards never forgot his experience. He was the captain of the HMS Pandora, the ship sent to capture the men who mutineed on the Bounty. marni0308 November 17, 2006 - 02:11 pm Judy: Good questions about the natives. Why didn't they attack immediately? Had they been harmed by other sailors at some point? Or were they normally warrior-like and unfriendly? Or were they afraid of Bligh and his starving men? The only thing I can think of has to do with a comment Bligh wrote - the natives discovered the crew didn't have guns. The natives must have been quite flabbergasted to see the boat and crew land as they did. Maybe it took the natives awhile to realize that not only did the crew lose their ship, they lost the weapons that had made them more powerful than the natives. It did seem that the people fought amongst their own tribes. They had very limited space on the islands. I would think they might have fought for food and territory, at least. I wonder if some of the tribes on different islands are less friendly towards strangers than others? Or, like Judy asked, did they have bad experiences with the white strangers? One thing that really disturbed me was how both Cook and Bligh "detained" chiefs in order to get back stolen property. Yikes. Kidnapping a chief? That's probably about as awful a thing as could be done to a people. What did the captains think the natives were going to do about something like?! Imagine strangers coming to the US and kidnapping the president. marni0308 November 17, 2006 - 02:19 pm Pat H: That's right. The mutineers did come back to Tahiti. They lied to the natives about what happened, but word would get back whether Bligh and loyal crew were killed or not. I read something sad about the mutiny and the fiddler, Michael Bryne. Remember he was nearly blind? Apparently, he climbed into the small boat that was going to be used to set Bligh and men adrift. Bryne wanted to go with them. But they switched from that boat to the launch. Apparently, Bryne, who couldn't see what was going on, got confused, and was just left sitting there in the wrong boat. He ended up staying on board the Bounty. He was one of the crew who was let out when Christian sailed the Bounty back to Tahiti. Eventually, Bryne was captured by the Pandora crew and taken back to England to go on trial for mutiny. BaBi November 17, 2006 - 02:25 pm Bligh did hold the chiefs while demanding the return of the grapnel, but he did not follow through. When it began to grow dark, and the chiefs were greatly upset, he changed his mind and permitted them to leave. I think this may have been one of those instances of his flares of anger, quickly cooled. It was evident the crew had a high opinion of Blighs abilities as a mariner. He was allowed to take only a quadrant and a compass on the boat. Even so, some among the crew felt that was too much. "I'll be damned if he does not find his way home, if he gets anything with him., was the comment of one. And when the carpenters chest was also allowed, another said: "Damn my eyes, he will have a vessel built in a month!" High praise, indeed. Christian's parting words were emotional and revealing, don't you think? Bligh reproached him, asking him if 'this treatment was a proper return for the many instances he had received of my friendship'. He records Christian's reply as: "That,--Captain Bligh,---that is the thing;--I am in hell--I am in hell." This sounds to me like a man who has rashly acted, and now must follow through. Babi judywolfs November 17, 2006 - 02:41 pm As you pointed out, Marni, It does seem quite bold and presumptuous that Bligh would feel free to kidnap the chiefs until he got what he wanted. You know what, Marni � he felt kind of free to boss everybody around. It seems to me that he looked upon the Tahiti people as if they were children, and that somehow he was their powerful Dad. When I read Fletcher Christian's final words to Bligh, I felt sorry for him, as well as for the captain. ~JudyS marni0308 November 17, 2006 - 03:13 pm Babi: That was pretty cool when the crew said those words about Bligh! He certainly must have had a great reputation as a seaman! Oh, Judy, I felt sorry for Fletcher Christian, too, when he said those words Babi pointed out. What a big mistake! He ruined his life and lives of others. Those words, "I am in hell - I am in hell," have been made famous in movies of Mutiny on the Bounty. I remember Mel Gibson saying those exact words. I wonder if Clark Gable said them? I'm thinking back to seeing those movies. I remember they made Captain Bligh such a villain when Charles Laughton played him. But, in the Mel Gibson version when Anthony Hopkins played Bligh, I thought he was much more human and less of a villain. It's been awhile..... Judy: Re Bligh being bold and presumptious and looking on the Tahitians as children - doesn't this seem like something that white explorers have done throughout history? Maybe I'm really over-generalizing. marni0308 November 17, 2006 - 03:17 pm What did you think of the way Bligh carefully doles out the food, even making a little scale to measure so everyone got as equal a share as possible? And what about how Bligh was determined not to touch some of the boat provisions for as long as possible during the period when he thought they could get food/water on shore? And then how he reduced the men's share, thinking they might get to Timor in so many weeks, but making the food last for 2 weeks longer than that in case it took them longer to get there? What do you think you would have done? Pat H November 17, 2006 - 04:34 pm Something that impressed me almost as much as Bligh's abilities as a mariner, was the way he handled the short rations. They realized that, without weapons, it would be unsafe to land on islands without a European population, which meant going all the way to Timor. The crew was eager to get home. Bligh did some calculations of supplies and distances, and made the men pledge to live on a slice of bread and a cup of water a day (for 8 weeks!). The impressive thing is, he managed to make them stick to it. People under these conditions eventually start squabbling over food, fighting over it, sneaking it and hiding it, etc. Bligh seems to have remained in control at all times, his authority not questioned. He was totally vulnerable to revolt against his authority--one man, with no force behind him. Anyone could have tipped him over the side of the boat. Of course he was their best chance to get to Timor, but some of the others would have been reasonable navigators, and might flatter themselves that they could do the job. I'm still trying to figure out what he was like, but for starters, I think he was at his best under desperate situations, where your life depended on your actions and there was no chance to be petty. Harold Arnold November 17, 2006 - 06:39 pm So far as the enlisted men were concern, I think the several months spent in the seemed paradise of Tahiti and the bleak prospects of returning to the rigorous work of sea duty triggered the mutiny. Also the men had no prospects comparable to their experience at Tahiti awaiting them on their final return to England. To them their spur of the moment decision to join the mutiny must have been easy. I think Christian�s decision to lead the mutiny was also resulted from his Tahitians experience but he had much brighter prospects awaiting him on his return to England. For him there must have been more complex reasons involved. We have not had much comment here on Christian�s character and his basic emotional and mental state. Bligh as an 18th century actor failed to recognize Christian�s psychological state as a cause, but recent authorities such as Gavin Kennedy, in his biography of Bligh, cites Christian�s weak character and metal conditions as a cause leading to his sudden decision to mutiny. . What are your thoughts concerning Christian�s character and mental state? Did Bligh describe a confrontation just before the mutiny broke out between Bligh and some of the crew over their private stash of coconuts brought from Tahiti and Christians reaction to it? Tomorrow I will see if I can post more information from the Kennedy on Christian�s mental state as a cause marni0308 November 17, 2006 - 06:48 pm Pat H: I think you've brought up something really important: I think he was at his best under desperate situations, where your life depended on your actions and there was no chance to be petty. Sometimes a crisis can bring out the best in a person. Doesn't it seem that happened here? Maybe you've discovered a key to the mutiny. Maybe life was too easy on Otaheite compared to what they had gone through on the sea - for the men and for Bligh, too. Yes, there were moments of crises. But maybe the good life brought out the worst in some? We do see a new Bligh in the open boat, Bligh the hero. marni0308 November 17, 2006 - 06:49 pm Hi, Harold! We just posted together. I have to go back and read your post. gumtree November 17, 2006 - 09:24 pm I agree that the reason for the stoning attack was that the native folk saw Bligh as being powerless without the Bounty and without its guns - and they saw the opportunity to acquire the launch which was no doubt superior to their canoes. Bligh certainly seems to be a man who was able to rise to the occasion during this long voyage to Timor. His strength of mind in rationing the victuals, using the worst first and never deviating from his plan is staggering. I think that despite there being others on board who were skilled navigators and seamen (Fryer for example) they all knew that Bligh was their best chance of survival gumtree November 18, 2006 - 03:13 am My library obtained for me a copy of 'The Blight NOTEBOOK' which from the transcription is "this account was kept in my bosom as a common memorandum of our time and transposed into my fair Journal every day when the Weather would admit with every material circumstance which passed - Wm Bligh. It happened that a Mr. Hayward had this Book with some Signals set down in it which appear is two Pages and I appropriated the blank leaves for this use" The reference to the Journal is explained in the annotation which says 'A reference to the official log of the Bounty which he had managed to rescue. It (the Journal) is the original from which the official Admiralty version was probably copied. I must say I get confused between 'logbook/ notebook/ journal / fair copy / exact copy' etc. but you might like to look at these links Click on corner to turn page - obviously this is a work in progress. hats November 18, 2006 - 03:54 am Gumtree, thank you for the Bligh sites. I remember years ago all the talk about the movie "Mutiny on the Bounty." I have not seen the movie. When we finish the book, I am definitely going to look at the movie. Bodie November 18, 2006 - 08:32 am Hi Everyone Not sure if you remember me! I joined the site prior to the discussion starting on November 1st. Really was looking forward to the discussion starting. Unfortunately, due to a fall at home and a resultant knee injury that required surgery; I have been unable to take part. Expect to be able to post regularly in a day or so, as I rely on Voice recognition for my computer which needs to be loaded on to the new tower. A must for me as I have a dual hand disability. Thanks to my friend for typing this for me. Bodie BaBi November 18, 2006 - 05:00 pm Of course we remember you, Bodie. I just wish we had know about your injury. I'm glad you are back, and I'll add my thanks to your friend for helping you rejoin us. The thing about being dependent on the wind to get across the sea, is that you can never predict with any certainty how long it's going to take you to get there. I assume that is why Bligh was so strict with the rations. They might make it to Timor without the necessity of rationing, but it's not something you would want to bet your life on. I was impressed with the efforts Bligh continued to do all he could for his men. Just so simple a thing as arranging watches so half the men at a time could have more room to lie down and rest. When the wet and cold were at their worst, that was when he would serve out the tots of rum. Eating damp, moldy bread sounds terrible, but many ship's crews ate worse routinely. Babi Harold Arnold November 18, 2006 - 08:57 pm In the early morning of April 27th Bligh made his morning inspection of the decks and noted that a pile of ship�s coconuts had to his view diminished during the night. He was furious and verbally lashed the assembled ship�s company. There are four preserved accounts of the incident, by Freyer, Morrison�s, Edward Christian, and Bligh. Freyers account written in 1791, just 2-years after the incident does not mention Christian as being singled out for Bligh�s censure.. In fact he only mentions Edward Young. Freyer suggests that the pile of coconuts was not actually diminished; only its height was trod down by crewmembers at work during the night watch. Apparently he considered Christian�s involvement, if at all, insignificant. Morrison�s account written in late 1792, on the other hand, has Bligh singling out Christian for his particular acid tongue verbal abuse. Christian is directly accused of the theft of the coconuts. Interestingly another memorandum written by Morrison just a few months earlier does not mention Christian�s involvement in the incident. Edward Christian, Fletcher Christian�s brother was a law professor at Cambridge who defended Fletcher Christian in a 1792 pamphlet based on interviews with survivors. His account has Christian when confronted by Bligh as a thief, as considering the incident as being without consequence. This account has Christian saying he was dry and refreshed himself with one of the nuts, an admission that he had taken one, but considered it a matter of no importance. Regarding Bligh�s version he apparently made no mention of the alleged theft of the Coconuts in the log or in his published accounts. (Was the incident mentioned in your book?) Apparently Bilgh did make reference to it in a 1793 written note to Sir Joseph Banks, in which he declares that the crime of theft occurred in the night. Though Christian is not mentioned by name Bligh declares it was the responsibility of the watch officer to prevent the theft. Kennedy in his book sees Christian as greatly affected by Bligh�s acquisition creating a mental state of suicidal depression. From several primary accounts, Kennedy describes a wild and crazy night (April 27th �28th) during which Christian was behaving irrationally and suicidal. According to this view supported by the testimony of several contemporary principals, he decided to quit the ship in a makeshift raft intending to try to escape to a nearby island. To make the raft he obtained planks and nails from Purcell, the ships carpenter. Christian also stowed away beads for native barter and some food items. During the course of the night of April 27th �28th Christian involved at least 4 of the bounty crew to put together his confused plan and did not get to sleep until 3:30 only to be awakened and 4:00 for his watch after which he abandoned his escape plan to plan and stage the mutiny. At the early stage as Christian was recruiting support for the mutiny among the crew, Kennedy states that Christian had tied a heavy weight concealed under his shirt by a rope around his neck intending to jump overboard and drown if the mutiny failed. Though Captain Bligh failed to recognize the significance of Christian�s final words spoken to him, �I�m in Hell, I�m in Hell,� the fact is these words are further evidence that Fletcher Christian was a deeply disturbed man as he uttered them and Bligh�s public accusation that this key officer was a thief had triggered the occurrence of a mental state of depression that brought Fletcher Christian to mutiny. . kidsal November 19, 2006 - 02:28 am In the Appendix of my Penquin copy of the Bounty Mutiny I found the following letter which was placed in evidence at the trial: Deserter's Letter, dated on Board the Bounty, at Otaheite, Jan 26, 1789. Sir, We should think ourselves wholly inexcusable, if we omitted taking this earliest opportunity of returning our thanks for your goodness in delivering us from a trail by Court-Martial, the fatal consequences of which are obvious; and although we cannot possibly lay any claim to so great a favour, yet we hunmbly beg you will be pleased to remit any farther punishment; and we trust our future conduct will fully demonstrate our deep sense of your clemence, and one stedfast resolution to behave better hereafter. We are Sir, Your most obedient, most humble servants C CHURCHILL, WM. MUSPRAT, JOHN MILLWARD Captain Bligh let these three off and they rewarded him by being among those involved in the mutiny. BaBi November 19, 2006 - 07:52 am Thanks for quoting the letter, KIDSAL. My book doesn't have this appendix. I found the language of the letter surprisingly courteous and literate. Two of the men were simply able seamen, tho' Churchill was a Master at Arms. I wonder if they composed the letter themselves, or had assistance. In any case, their composition was superior to their characters. HAL, I wonder if Kennedy had any firm evidence of Christian's mental state, or was deriving it his impression of events. I noticed an iteresting comment on his physical condition in Irving's Preface. It seems Christian suffered from excessive sweating, the kind that requires frequent changes of clothing, and leaves wet blotches on everything one touches. This is a problem awkward and embarassing in most circumstances, but would be much less so at sea, I would think. Not to mention Island living, where clothing is kept at a minimum in any case. Back to Bligh, I continue to be impressed with his foresight and sense of responsibility towards his 'people'. He instructed them, as best he was able, on how to find New Guinea and New Holland, and any other information that might help them to survive should anything happen to him. The idea of dragging their wet, cold clothes through sea water to make them warmer was an eye-opener! I would never have thought of such a thing, yet the sea water was much warmer than the wind-chilled rain water. And just when I was thinking how unfortunate it was that they had to make this trip in such stormy, wet weather, I read Bligh's observation that it was a blessing of Providence. In hot weather they would have died of thirst. The "Barringtonia of Forster", I find, is an evergreen tree or shrub, whose fruit is "an indehiscent berry or operculate capsule", if anyone has any idea what that means. I gather it is not an edible fruit, as the men on the boat made no effort to fish any of it out of the water. Babi Barbara St. Aubrey November 19, 2006 - 08:21 am Sorry I have not been a regular after starting - just a couple of comments if I can inject - years ago when I read this in some class that for the life of me I cannot remember what the class - a couple of things were decided since we read this with the Mutiny and another journal - there were 3 books we were reading - the conclusions were that Bligh had a different notion of ownership and the journal that was written by a women archiologist explained the natives of most of the South Pacific did not understand personal ownership and therefore, the taking of their leaders to them was an act of war. Since this was an act of war there is much ritual that the natives carry out before they attack an enemy - again the journal went into some of that ritual - there was observed in some locations in the South Pacific something that involved a man hanging upside down by a rope from a high tree limb and then let go so that most often he hit the ground on his head but the swift were able alter their fall. I think that practice may have been in Borneo rather than on the Solomans. Also, Christian was supposed to be beaten for taking something - I do not remember what - I thought I remembered it was the fresh water for the plants - it was not so much the beating as the humiliation of an officer being beaten in front of the crew and then never being able to give the crew orders that he could expect would be followed. Ships were not democratic - they were very autocratic. I remember at the time being shocked that the beatings were not given out immediately but rather there was an appointment so to speak for a certain time on a certain day. Reading this again after so many years there are many things I forgot but most of all I realize this is one man's view and like any happening there are as many views as there are people present - that is why in a court room both views along with witnesses are part of the proceedings to get closer to a truth. Barbara St. Aubrey November 19, 2006 - 08:26 am Babi I know what an indehiscent berry is - it is a plant or fruit that does not naturally release its seed. here is a link that talks about dry Indehiscent fruit Harold Arnold November 19, 2006 - 09:49 am In Message #453 BaBi asked: HAL, I wonder if Kennedy had any firm evidence of Christian's mental state, or was deriving it his impression of events. I think the evidence of Christians irrational behavior on the night of April 27th � 28th 1789 that I summarized in my message #452 is well documented from contemporary sources including the sworn testimony at the several Court Martial trials. Also many modern researchers other than Kennedy have discussed this factor in their published books and articles. I would not expect Bligh or other pre- Freud 18th century principals to recognize the subtle signs of a bi-polar mental disorder. Yet several of the contemporary principals noted Christians disordered behavior, and as I noted previously Christians final words to Bligh as the launch cast away from the Bounty, �I�m in Hell, I�m in Hell,� tell us best of all his irrational state of mind as he led the mutiny. While Bligh�s book gives us a wonderful view of the Bounty and is ill-fated mission we must remember that Bligh wrote it to support his position on the question, Did his command decisions contribute to the mutiny? His future navy career depended on the way this question would be answered by his own mandatory Court Martial. We cannot expect him to include material (such as the Coconut theft incident on April 27th) that might question his command decisions. For that we must look to other information from either primary (contemporary) or secondary sources (Modern research and published books there from). I have said before I tend to be Bligh partisans based on the fact that I consider him among the greatest navigators. Also his ability and courage as a naval commander was later proven by his command of Ships of the Line in battle that brought the praise of Nelson and Bligh�s promotion to flag rank. I think his problems stemmed from the 18th century concept of leadership that required the leader to lead through the use of actual or implied physical force. Accordingly Bligh led by the threats of physical force either from the Royal Marines (The Master at arms on the Bounty) and the frequent reading of the Articles of War governing the Navy. Also he had a violent temper that figured prominently in the Coconut theft confrontation the day before the mutiny. He was my no means a modal commander particularly in the modern sense. marni0308 November 19, 2006 - 04:46 pm Hi, everyone! Hope you all have had a pleasant weekend. Bodie: Nice to hear from you! I'm so sorry about your fall and surgery and hope you are feeling better. We look forward to hearing more from you. Harold: Thank you for the information about Fletcher Christian and his state of mind and the info about the coconuts and its impact on Christian. Bligh did not discuss this in his narrative. And thanks for telling us how Edward Christian was an attorney who later defended his brother. Edward and others in Fletcher Christian's family played a large role in besmirching Bligh's name, even possibly bribing some of the mutineers at courtmartial to lie, from what I have read. I still ask myself why did the other men so readily join in, knowing that mutiny was forever to ruin their lives, no turning back. Might it be so easy for some to say farewell to their homeland forever or to feel they might always be hunted by the law? Perhaps in the heat of the moment and the excitement and titillation, they were simply caught up in the mutiny. Fletcher Christian has been described as charismatic. Perhaps the force of his personality had strong sway with they men that terrible night. Perhaps ill will had built over some time to such an extent that a small thing could push them over the limit of endurance. Whatever it was that really happened, the life of every single man aboard the Bounty was changed forever that night, and many lives were ruined. Gumtree: Thank you for the great links to the interesting info about Bligh's notebook and logbook. It seems Bligh documented a new log aboard the launch using materials he could find, such as Midshipman Heywood's notebook. Our narrative certainly sounds much like his log. He also made illustrations and observations. Fun to be able to read the log! Babi: Good point about how the unpredictable weather/winds would have made the length of the voyage unknown. Once again we see Bligh thinking ahead to what might happen and planning the meager food allowance acordingly. Kidsal: Thanks for the deserters' letter from your Appendix. I do not have this in my book, either. My book is bare bones! Babi: Yay! You clarified for me what Bligh was describing regarding wringing out clothes in the salt water. I had no idea what Bligh was talking about. How the clothes wrung in salt water would make them fell warmer! I thought it had something to do with the salt. OK, now I get it - sea water was warmer! Never occurred to me. And what an important point you mentioned - how it was a good thing they had such terrible weather. I couldn't get over what awful weather they had nearly constantly on their Pacific voyage - always rain, lightning, cold, dark, huge waves sweeping over the sides of the small boat. They were so cold! On and on like that! But if it had been beautiful and sunny, they would have been hot and more thirsty and sunburned. Barbara: I think you're right - about Bligh saying Christian should be beaten or something to that effect in front of the men regarding the theft of coconuts. I read about that in the Alexander book. I don't think it was carried out - just Bligh threatening in a fit of anger. But, yes, how humiliating for Christian to be yelled at and threatened with punishment in front of the men since he was now acting Lieutenant. kidsal November 20, 2006 - 01:32 am I remember it being in the news (60s or 70s) about a flogging of two sailors in the Canadian Navy. The last flogging apparently. The two young sailors had stolen a part from the engine which prevented the ship from sailing because they had dates for the next night. Probably wasn't the type of flogging given in the 1700s. BaBi November 20, 2006 - 06:51 am BARBARA, thanks for the explanation of 'dehiscent'. See, I learn something new every day! On the topic of flogging, I don't believe that punishment was ever used on officers, probably because of the necessity for them to be seen as figures of authority. HAROLD, thank you for the fuller info. on Christian's mental state. That does fit what took place, doesn't it? We now have learned a new 18th century game! "Who Gets This?" I may pass this on to parents whose kids are arguing over the distribution of the goodies. More and more I see the importance of those well-kept logs, giving latitude, longitude, and major landmarks. Captains sailing to a particular area for the first time would certainly give them diligent study. Sailing along a strange coast, they could know that at a given lat/long., with one landmark to their NW and another landmark to the NE, they would find a channel and a safe harbor. And weren't you all impressed when Bligh arrived at his destination, and found he had been off his reckoning by no more than 1 o,9' WOW! Babi marni0308 November 20, 2006 - 10:03 am Babi: Not only was William Bligh a brilliant navigator, but he was brilliant at cartography. I simply can't imagine being able to look at a coastline and drawing a map from it. It must take training, experience, and special skill, all of which Bligh had. Starvation, thirst, cold, and suffering did not keep the captain from his task of charting the Pacific islands and waterways the launch passed through. He always kept it in mind of bringing back this information to pass on to others. Perhaps the jobs of charting and maintaining the journal were things that kept Bligh going on the terrible trip. It amazed me at how long he and his men kept their spirits up despite such adversity. Their will to survive was so strong. Maybe their belief in the captain's skill kept them going. They were so very weak and sick as they neared their goal, but they kept rowing and bailing, rowing and bailing. Not one of the men died on their boat journey to Indonesia (Dutch East Indies). hats November 20, 2006 - 10:05 am During the mutiny, I am glad Bligh's journal was not destroyed. His writing style is very readable. marni0308 November 20, 2006 - 10:11 am Babi: I had never heard of "Who Gets This" before in any books of the sea I had read. All of the men with Bligh seemed familiar with it. It worked! It didn't seem like there were complaints of who got what part. Maybe they were all just so glad to get something, anything. They ate every single scrap of those birds they caught. Wasn't that an amazing scene to visualize? The men grabbing for birds that flew near or landed on the boat? And they actually caught some finally. The meat/moisture must have saved them. I see Bligh following the rules of the game, cutting apart the birds, carefully weighing sections on his scales, doling out portions, giving more moisture to the sickest of the men. I think Bligh's care with doling out food on the Bounty was very irritating to the men there. Maybe that part of Bligh's nature contributed to the men hating him. But that strict attention and adherence to detail and fairness, as well as preparing for the unknown future, probably saved the men's lives on the launch. marni0308 November 20, 2006 - 10:20 am Hats: I have to admit I was really glad when we got to the part in our book where the Bounty reached Tasmania and Tahiti. I was getting irritated with Bligh's explanations of the ship's position. Then the book really picked up for me. This part of the story about the open boat I found totally fascinating! Re Questions - #1. Besides the breadfruit plants, what gift did Tinah intend for Britain�s King George? Remember Tinah had the mourning clothes made for King George? He said that the king, by wearing the clothing when he died, would always remember his friends from Otaheite. I thought that was very meaningful, very sweet. hats November 20, 2006 - 11:04 am Are we still following the schedule? I have not read pass chapter sixteen. marni0308 November 20, 2006 - 11:11 am Yes, we're staying on schedule. We'll begin discussion of chpt. 16-20 + Wrapup on Wednesday. Right now, with our reading, the men are still in the launch on their way to Timor, getting weaker and weaker, but beginning to catch birds to eat. Bligh seems to know where they are. Bodie November 20, 2006 - 01:29 pm Hi Everyone Thank you for the kind welcome back. Question Five Having read about the mutiny itself a couple of times, I can not understand why Captain Bligh had no idea why the mutiny took place. It would be understandable if the Chapters leading up to Chapter 13 contained stories of rough or inhumane treatment towards the crew of the Bounty, but this does not seem to be the case This begs the question, was there a breakdown of relations with the majority of the crew in the days leading up to the mutiny? If so, had Captain Bligh omitted this in his report or ships log for a reason? Was it perhaps that he thought the Admiralty would take a dim view of his leadership qualities if actions on his part had been the main cause of the Mutiny aboard the Bounty? There have been different accounts of the disappearance of a number of coconuts from the Bounty and the Captain�s accusations against several crew members and Fletcher Christian. Furthermore, there have been different theories regarding Fletcher Christian taking water, though not we are led to believe for his own consumption. He was supposed have opened the water casket to give water to an able seaman who was in poor health through drinking sea water. The seaman had taken this course of action in drinking sea water, because it is thought Captain Bligh had rationed the water to ensure the bread fruit plants had enough water so they remained in a healthy condition on the passage home. However, we are asked to make a judgement about the mutiny from Captains Bligh�s own account, therefore the above questions have to be asked. I find it hard to believe the Captain of a ship whose crew mutiny against him would not have inkling anything was wrong!! Looking at the list of those who sailed in the open boat with Captain Bligh, it seems the list is mainly made up of officers, tradesmen and professional people like the botanist and cooks. Also some men still loyal to Captain Bligh had to remain on the Bounty because of a lack of space in the open boat. This left in the main the able seaman from the Bounty. A seaman�s point of view on harsh treatment of course would differ from the Captain�s. At this time the Navy could never fully man their ships, this meant able seaman were �press ganged� in to service aboard ship. Therefore, if they were taken on board against their will in the first place then it is probable they might not have a great deal of allegiance towards their Captain if victuals or water had been rationed. The two lists detailed in chapter 13 intrigues me, as nearly every able seaman mutinied against their Captain. With that in mind, officers and sailor�s life on board ship depends on every one working together; whether when at war to stop the ship being seized by the enemy or peace time to stop it foundering in rough weather. Now as we know on the �passage out�, Captain Bligh decided to take the more hazardous route, being around Cape Horn instead of around the Cape of Good Hope. In the end he was forced to abandon Cape Horn because of severe weather and return to the route around the Cape of Good Hope. During this attempted passage around Cape Horn, the ship would have had to function as a team to survive the awful conditions they faced. Any dissension could have proved costly to any man on board and the Captain Bligh would have been aware of any such discord or dissent. Therefore, was there disharmony in the days before the mutiny that Captain Bligh failed to mention that caused this team spirit to ebb away to the point the men mutinied against him? Bodie marni0308 November 20, 2006 - 08:32 pm Hi, Bodie! Glad you're back with us! You raise some interesting questions. Good point about how the crew would have had to work as a team to survive, particularly going around the Horn. Did Bligh just not mention the disharmony which may have begun later or did he not notice it? You pointed out something that I had not noticed before - the men listed as Able Seaman all remained on the Bounty. I hadn't really examined the lists carefully. I think what I noticed the most was that several of the midshipmen mutineed. Bodie: You probably know more about Midshipman Peter Heywood and Christian Fletcher than any of us because they were from the Isle of Man. They are two of the most interesting of the crew to me, although Bligh does not say much about them in his narrative. Can you tell us what you know about Heywood and Fletcher and families? Bodie November 21, 2006 - 09:13 am Marni Be pleased to let you know about Captain Bligh, Fletcher Christian and Peter Heywood. May be it is known already. I live about a mile away from the village of Onchan, where on the 4th February 1781 William Bligh married as we know Elizabeth Bentham at the local parish church. Elizabeth�s family lived at Bemahague Onchan about half a mile from me. . William Bligh had been a frequent visitor to Douglas, as he served on HMS Ranger as a midshipman which made many trips to the Island. Douglas by the way is where I live and is the capital of the Isle of Man, hence why HMS Ranger would dock in Douglas port. I am not sure if it was a family friendship that saw William Bligh being introduced to Elizabeth, but both her father and William�s father were Customs officers. After their marriage William and Elizabeth lived in Douglas, for how long I am not certain. However, their daughter Mary was christened on July 7th 1784 at St Matthew�s Church Douglas. Probably within a few years they moved off the Island to Lambeth in London, perhaps because of Williams�s naval career. It was thought through Elizabeth�s family connections, that she was a tremendous help to William during his career. We know William Bligh served in merchant ships, where he had been employed by Elizabeth�s uncle Duncan Campbell. In relation to the breadfruit plants, we know it was Sir John Banks who helped arrange the Bounty expedition. An associate whether business or socially of Sir John Banks, was Duncan Fletcher. It is probable that the uncle recommended or put William�s name forward for the Captaincy of the breadfruit expedition. Back later about Fletcher Christian and Peter Heywood. Physiotherapy first!! Bodie judywolfs November 21, 2006 - 10:09 am Bodie, I'm so glad you joined this discussion! Looks like there's a lot more to the story of the mutiny than meets the eye; especially the eye of Captain Bligh. ~JudyS Bodie November 21, 2006 - 01:44 pm judywolfs Thanks for the kind words. Now some informaton about Peter Heywood. Peter Heywood came from a very well-known family living at the Nunnery on the Isle of Man. He was the son of a Deemster which is Manx for a Judge. His father being a Steward to the Duke of Atholl. For a considerable time the Atholl family owned the Island, until in 1806 when the sovereignty of the Island was sold by the fourth Duke of Athol to the British Government. But it was not until 1826, when a further payment from the Crown saw the Duke surrender privileges of which he had possession. Peter was heavily tattooed, having the Three Legs of Mann tattooed on his right leg. The Three Leg of Mann is the National symbol of the Island and is on our coinage. A frequent visitor to the Nunnery was William Bligh. Both the Heywood�s and Mrs Bligh�s family the Bentham�s were very good friends. It was said that a letter from William Bligh�s father in law urged him to take Peter as a member of the Bounty crew. Peter joined the Navy in 1787 when he was 15, being appointed as a junior midshipman. After the Mutiny trial he returned to the Nunnery and his family where they nursed him back to health. He returned to the Navy in 1793 aboard his Uncle�s flagship the �Bellerphon�, but only for a short time before he joined the �Niger� as Master�s mate. For the next few years he served on several ships, one being the �Glorious First� where he served under three Captains, who had been members of his court martial. He did command his own vessel, in 1803 the �Leopard 50� and the �Cirencester� in 1805, with many more vessels under his command until he was put out of commission in 1816. A couple of months later Peter married Francis Simpson from Stirlingshire, he was forty three. They did not have any children of their own. His step daughter married towards the end of 1830, by now he was not a well man. He died in February the following year and was buried in St Michael�s Church, Highgate in London. Bodie marni0308 November 21, 2006 - 02:21 pm Bodie: Thank you so much for the info about William Bligh and Peter Heywood. I hope your physiotherapy is helping you to feel better. I'm looking forward to your info about Fletcher Christian. You certainly are right in the middle of Bounty country! You have added much to our discussion by providing info about Bligh's personal life. He shares almost none of it in his narrative. It's hard to tell from what we are reading that Bligh was a loving family man and kind husband who dearly loved his wife and wrote her many loving letters while on his voyages. It was fascinating to read what you said about the relationships between Blighs and Heywoods. No wonder Bligh was so shocked when young Peter Heywood mutineed. Thank you for providing insight into his life after he returned home. I have more info about Heywood that I'll post later in the week. His was quite a story. I was interested in Peter Heywood's Isle of Man tattoo and curious as to what it looked liked. Here's a picture of the 'Three Legs of Mann' in a distinctive sculptural panel on the Manx Museum: http://www.gov.im/mnh/heritage/about/Image.gov?id=3780 Here is the national flag of Man with the "trinacria" emblem in the centre. The article here says, "The triskell is also often said to represent the three dynamics elements: water, air, and fire, or the wave of sea, the breath of wind, and the flame of fire." http://www.allstates-flag.com/fotw/flags/im.html "The Latin motto, "Quocunque Jeceris Stabit", meaning "Whichever way you throw, it will stand", is a later addition to the Manx Three Legs and the earliest use of the motto appears to be on Manx coinage of 1668." marni0308 November 21, 2006 - 02:47 pm Tomorrow we begin the last week of our discussion, right on schedule. PatW will be putting up a new set of questions for you to peruse along with a new map. This is a busy week with the Thanksgiving holiday for us in America. I know I'll be baking pecan pies and cooking the mashed potatoes for our family gathering at my sister's - luckily not far. (Can't wait!) But it's not going to stop me from participating in our discussion. I'll be dashing to the computer every now and then during the next couple of days. I have some fabulous pictures, letters, and info related to the Bounty story that I want to show you. I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Marni November 21, 2006 - 03:08 pm Marni Another web site with some more Manx 'flags'in relation to the Isle of Man. The second flag listed as you will read is the Parliament day. Flown our National Day July 5th. The third one listed is the Isle of Man Ship flag. For ships registered on the Island whose residents are Manx residents. Fifth one listed is the one the Lieutenant Governor's Flag, he is the Queen's representative on the Island. The Queen is also Lord of Mann and chooses the Lieutenant Governor. November 21, 2006 - 03:54 pm Marni Fletcher Christian was born in 1764 at a farmstead in Moorland Close which is near to Cockermouth in Cumbria United Kingdom. Some think he was very distantly related to William Wordsworth. Besides their property at Moorland Close, the family owned other properties. It was in Douglas on the Island that they owned land. The Christian family had lived on the Island from about 1380. The ancestral home is being located at Milntown near to Ramsey which is in the north of the Island. Fletcher Christian went to sea it is thought when he was either 17 or 18. He signed up as the �ships boy� on the �Cambridge� where William Bligh was the sixth Lieutenant. Later he was to take two trips aboard the �Britannia� again with William Bligh in the ships company. The name Christian is of Scandinavian origin, originally thought to be MacCristens or Christins. Perhaps it would be better to view the web page link below to read about Fletcher Christians ancestors. Click on the ninth link in contents titled 'Christian�s of Milntown, Isle of Man and Ewanrigg Hall'. Bodie November 21, 2006 - 04:17 pm I forgot to post earlier that Captain Bligh's remarkable journey to Timor in Bounty's launch, was such a brilliant act of seamanship. Truly it was remarkable. Bodie Harold Arnold November 21, 2006 - 05:21 pm Thank you for your detailed account of the Peter Heywood, Fletcher Christian, and William Bligh connections to the Isle of Mann. It is great to have your participation and your local knowledge of the roots of these Bounty principles in the Isle of Mann Seniorsnet Books needs greater UK and other international participation. Thanks again for joining here. Bodie November 21, 2006 - 07:36 pm Harold Thank you. Only pleased I can contribute to the William Bligh discussion. Look forward to participating more in future. Bodie marni0308 November 21, 2006 - 10:02 pm Bodie: Thank you for the information about Fletcher Christian and the family. They were well-connected. I saw in your post with flags of Man that your national holiday is July 5th. What occurred on that day that was so important? marni0308 November 21, 2006 - 10:11 pm PatW: Thanks so much for putting up our final set of questions and the map, making it so we can enlarge it! I noticed on the map above that we can't see "Coupang" on it. It is "Kupang" today. Here's a map showing where it is on the island of Timor, in West Timor: Per Wikipedia, Kupang is the main port city of West Timor, which is the Indonesian part of the island of Timor. "European colonization of Timor started in the 16th century. Although the Portuguese claimed the island of Timor in 1520, the Dutch (in the form of the Dutch East India Company) settled West Timor in 1640, forcing the Portuguese out to East Timor. The subsequent collapse of the company meant that in 1799 the area returned to official Dutch rule. Finally, in 1914 the border between East and West Timor was finalized by a treaty between Holland and Portugal that was originally signed in 1859 and modified in 1893. Japan conquered the island as part of World War II in early 1942. August 17, 1945 saw Indonesian Independence declared, just three days after the Japanese surrender. The Dutch returned but faced a war with republican guerrillas, the eventual outcome of which was the proclamation of Republic of Indonesia in 1950, which made West Timor a part of Nusa Tenggarra Timur province." marni0308 November 21, 2006 - 10:23 pm View looking up Coupang River, Timor: http://www.brunias.com/images/a153.jpg Young Malay Girl at Timor, carrying water bags from stick on shoulder: http://www.brunias.com/images/a154.jpg Half portrait of King Solor at Timor, head-dress and cloak 1807: http://www.brunias.com/images/a155.jpg Young Slave Girl carrying Tea on tray, island of Rotti, Timor: http://www.brunias.com/images/a156.jpg Timor native in full dress: http://www.brunias.com/images/a165.jpg Another Timor native in full dress: http://www.brunias.com/images/a166.jpg Engraving of various trades, blacksmith, forge etc in Coupang 1807: http://www.brunias.com/images/a157.jpg Implements, for use with Betel Nut: http://www.brunias.com/images/a158.jpg Various Timor musical instruments and weapons: http://www.brunias.com/images/a159.jpg Various Timor cooking utensils: http://www.brunias.com/images/a160.jpg Bligh and his Crew of Ship Bounty received by Governor of Timor. Copper engraving: http://www.brunias.com/images/a152.jpg marni0308 November 21, 2006 - 10:28 pm Here is something I was excited to find and read, a letter from Bligh to his wife written while he was staying in Coupang: Does it add to your picture of Captain Bligh? of the mutiny? Important letters to others are included, as well. BaBi November 22, 2006 - 07:13 am MARNI & BODIE, thanks for answering all my question about the three legs of Manx before I asked. The letter from Bligh to his wife I found especially moving. One statement in the letter I though esp. pertinent: The Secrisy of this Mutiny is beyond all conception so that I cannot discover that any who are with me had the least knowledge of it. We have wondered how Bligh could have had no suspicion of the plot. Apparently, he was not alone in this. There were many instances during this voyage when they were saved by circumstances which Bligh considered no less than Providential. I had to agree with him. It is incredible that these men survived all they did, with only one man lost to attacking natives. Alas, no matter how stalwart the men were in their support of, and obedience to, the Captain while there lives were at risk, they were noticeably less so as soon as they had dry land under their feet. The seaman who belligerantly informed Bligh that he was 'as good a man' as Bligh, really aroused my ire and scorn. Bligh had saved his life, and this was his thanks! I cannot blame Bligh for his action to preserve his authority, which was still so necessary to them all. Pulling his cutlass and challenging the man to fight put an end to that churlish rebellion. Bligh then says the "did not allow this to interfere further with the harmony of the boat's crew, and everything became quiet." The decision to let the matter end there was a wise one, IMO. Babi Harold Arnold November 22, 2006 - 10:20 am I have an interesting facsimile copy of Bligh�s log kept after the mutiny. In a Title page it is described as follows: The following pages here reproduced in facsimile form a portion of the Admiralty copy of Bligh�s Log, reference ADM 55/151. The original is housed at the Public Records Office, Kew. I take this to mean it is a hand written copy of the Bligh original made by an 18th century Admiralty clerk. It is on a two-column ledger paper in an extremely neat easily readable handwriting. My first suspicion was that it was the result of setting the type with a computer using a script font. However, this suspicion appears disproved by obvious subtle differences in particular letters as they appear on different pages. There are some 190, 8 _ X 12 _ inch pages. The first entry dated April 29, 1789 gives a detailed account of the mutiny and a list of names of both the mutineers and loyalist. After that it is a typical ships log of day-to-day events ending August 20th at the Dutch Settlements. This book was published in 1981 by the Pageminster Press,, Guilford, Surry, England in association with Argot Press, Melbourne, Australia. Its new price was marked at 13.95 English Pounds, I purchased my copy in new condition in the late 1980�s at our Texas Half Priced Books chain for $9,98 marni0308 November 22, 2006 - 02:15 pm Babi: I found Bligh's letter to his wife moving, too. I've read other letters that he wrote to her. It sounds as though they were really in love and very close. I read somewhere that Betsy was supposed to have been very intelligent and very well educated. I thought one thing particularly interesting about the letters was this line Bligh wrote: "Besides this Villain [Fletcher Christian] see young Heywood one of the ringleaders, & besides him see Stewart joined with him." Bligh specifically points Heywood out as a leader of the mutiny. Also, this line was important: "Should it please God not to give me' life to return let it be remembered there is no one here that is deserving of any attention from their country but my Clerk [Mr. Samuels] who has shewn much resolution & behaved well-also a Young Man a Mr. Hayward, but let this remain among ourselves until I return or not." Hayward was one of the midshipman who was in the open boat. Harold: That's an interesting book to have. You must have really been interested in reading about the mutiny story. Was there anything in the log that Bligh has not told us about? Bodie November 22, 2006 - 02:23 pm Marni Our National day July 5th goes back along way in history, so best to give you some information about it and a web page link to assist as well. The Island was ruled by the Vikings for over four hundred years, from when I am not certain, but about 800 AD to 1200AD. Besides settlements on the Island there was one in Ireland and the North West of England Again, I am unsure of the date but one of the Norse leaders Gored Crovan successfully fought for power on the Island and ruled for about 15 years. At about this time our �Tynwald Parliament� was established; by the way Tynwald comes from the Norse �thingvalla� meaning assembly place. Godred Crovan�s image is set in one of the stained glass windows of the Tynwald chamber in our capital Douglas. The Isle of Man�s parliament is supposed to be the longest unbroken parliament in the world. The outdoor Tynwald ceremony has continued to take place for over 1,000 years, only the details changing in that time. Originally it was held on June 24th, as the first recorded occasion was in 1417, however, then it was held on June 24th. It moved to its July 5th date later when the Island replaced the �Julian Calendar with the Gregorian Calendar�, several years after the United Kingdom had done so. If the Tynwald Day ceremony occurs on either a Saturday or Sunday, usually it is commemorated on the next Monday. The Tynwald chamber in Douglas hosts the Islands Parliament building. There are two houses of Tynwald, the House of Keys and the Legislative Council. As it happens tomorrow November 23rd is General Election day on the Island to elect 24 members to the House of Keys. Now on July 5th our National day both the House of Keys and Legislative Council meet at St. Johns for the open air sitting of Tynwald. This is the only day Tynwald meets in the open air and always on �Tynwald Day�. The Lieutenant Governor usually presides at Tynwald Day representing the Queen, except on the occasions a member of the Royal Family is present. The Tynwald ceremony takes place begins when the legislators and the Queen�s representative assemble in the Chapel of St. John the Baptist and then in open air on the three tier mound on Tynwald Hill. The hill is an artificially made one, made up of four circular platforms. The base is approximately 80 foot (24.5 metres) and the height from base to the top of the mound is about 12 foot (or nearly 3.75 metres). Any bills that have received the Royal Assent are promulgated on Tynwald Day. Also members of the public are allowed to walk up to the Tynwald Hill and present petitions for the legislators to look into on their behalf. Most of the ceremony is conducted in English and our own Manx language. There is a lot more to tell, but I think the link below will give a lot of information. Also I have found a link with several short video clips showing Queen Elizabeth 11 arriving on the Island, arriving at St Johns, part of the Tynwald Church service and part of the Tynwald ceremony. However, to view these clips you will need Windows Media player 8 or higher. There are a few older clips on this link as well. Marni marni0308 November 22, 2006 - 02:28 pm Hi, Bodie. I was posting at the same time you were. I'll go back and read your message. marni0308 November 22, 2006 - 02:36 pm Bodie: I saw your note about Media Player and the video clips. I think many of us, if not all, have a version of Media Player. I have no idea what version mine is. Go ahead and provide the link. We will either be able to see it or not. I'd like to try it. This is so interesting to read about Isle of Man! Thanks, Bodie! Marni marni0308 November 22, 2006 - 02:41 pm Gumtree: Do you have any additional information about the section of Australia/nearby islands where the open boat navigated on their way to Timor? What is it like today? Bodie November 22, 2006 - 04:11 pm Marni I to found Bligh's letter to his wife so moving, as it showed his deep love for Elizabeth and the children. However, I am still not sure whether Captain Bligh was unaware of the Mutiny that occurred on the Bounty. I found the letters after the one to his wife very interesting. I want to read them a few times to see the importance they had in relation to Captain Bligh. Both letters to Elizabeth's Uncle Desmond Campbell and Sir Joseph Banks were relevant in that they were conveying the bad news about the mutiny. These were more on a business level and I want to study them to see as I said the relevance of these letters. On the link to the Queens visit to the Island and Tynwald Ceremony, there is a short clip of the Queen Mothers visit in 1949. Plus clips of other Royal family members visits to Tynwald. marni0308 November 22, 2006 - 07:11 pm Bodie: The link worked for me. How interesting it was. I even heard a wee bit of the Manx language. It was very serious and somber, but I saw in the article that traditionally there is also a fair and dancing and music, plus a finale of fireworks. That part sounds more like our national day, July 4th. We celebrate the signing of our Declaration of Independence from England with parades, picnics, music (which usually includes the 1812 Overture for some reason), with a finale of fireworks. Thank you for an interesting tidbit of your culture! Marni JoanK November 22, 2006 - 07:45 pm BODIE: how interesting the you have the oldest existing Parliament, and that it first met on (by the new calendar) July 5. ?Our Independence Day SHOULD also be July 5 -- that was the day our Declaration of Independence was signed, but it somehow got remembered on July 4. JoanK November 22, 2006 - 07:50 pm I've finally found my book -- it disappeared while I was in California, fallen behind something. I've been reading madly (and skipping some) to catch up, and have them om Timor. I don't understand why they felt they couldn't risk landing until a certain point, and then felt that they could land, if they kept watch for natives. It's probably in something I skipped. Can someone explain it? BaBi November 23, 2006 - 07:14 am JOAN, after being attacked by natives, and one crewman killed, on their first stop on the voyage, they were careful to avoid the natives thereafter. Where they did stop, there was no obvious signs of natives about, but they kept a watch in case any appeared. Having Nelson, a botanist, with them was another blessing. On more than one occasion he was able to identify plants that were edible and safe. If you've been living mostly on bread and water, such supplements to the diet as beans were most welcome. Bligh is careful to explain the apparent variations between some of his sightings and those recorded by Capt. Cook. "I ascribe this to the various forms in which land appears, when seen from the different heights of a ship and a boat." He also noted that Cook had more instruments at hand for accuracy. He evidently had the greatest respect for Cook, and did not wish to appear to be contradicting his findings. I did get a smile when after documenting the weakness and miserable appearance of the crew, Bligh writes that "The boatswain very innocently told me, that he really thought I looked worse than any one in the boat. The simplicity with which he uttered such an opinion amused me, and I returned him a better compliment." Babi November 23, 2006 - 10:09 am Marni Glad the link worked, as I was not sure if it would work if posters had Apple Mac software. Yes a bit of Manx spoken as well, therefore will greet you and fellow posters with a good morning in Manx. So, �Moghery Mie�. Only to pleased to give an insight to our way of life. I forgot to mention yesterday when I read Captain Bligh�s letter to Elizabeth, this sentence when he spoke about Fletcher Christian and Peter Heywood. �I have now reason to curse the day I ever knew a Christian or a Heywood or indeed a Manks man�. I had forgot that Manx was written as Manks in the 18th century. I did forget to add that Tynwald day always has its fairs, stalls, traditional dancing and a fireworks display. It does sound like your National Day with parades, picnics and music is similar to our National day. JoanK Yes both National days nearly on the same day. Bodie Pat H November 23, 2006 - 07:47 pm Well, I'm on the other side of the country from home, at my daughter's house, having just finished a magnificent feast of turkey with many side dishes and a nice wine, and I give thanks that it is not 1/18 of a pigeon-sized bird, 1/25 pound of rotten bread and a teaspoon of rum. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I'll be back in the serious discussion soon, probably tomorrow. BaBi November 24, 2006 - 07:10 am AARGH!!! After typing a long post, with links, I accidentally exited! I'm not going to try to repeat the whole thing, just the last part. You may be interested to know that Bligh was present during another famous mutiny, the Nore Mutiny, by the fleet at the Thames River. Bligh's ship was one of many present during this uprising, and tried to calm his crew during the whole affair. He was eventually sent ashore. There was also a Capt. John Bligh, who was one of the first to be jettisoned by his crew, which caused some confusion among later 'detractors' (per Irving) of Wm. Bligh. Harold Arnold November 24, 2006 - 10:08 am I watched your links and found the ceremonies quite interesting. Do many of the present population speak the ancient language? Is it a Celtic language and do you understand it? Would the 18th century Bounty personnel from the Isle of Man have understood the language? Last Sunday I watched the C-SPAN rerun of the opening of the new London Parliament that included the Queens speech to Parliament outlining the Governments coming legislative program. One of the programs included reference to the further devolution to greater local Government for Scotland and Wales. What changes does this current policy of devolution offer for the Isle of Man�s connection to the UK? Normally this C-SPAN Sunday night program is a re-run of Tony Blair�s weekly question from MP�s. I frequently watch it as I enjoy Blair�s performance. Hollywood could not stage a better interest arousing performance! As I remember the geography, the Isle of Man is in the Irish channel between England and Ireland. I presume this western location spared it German occupation during WW II as some of the English Channel Islands. Bodie November 24, 2006 - 11:29 am Harold Such an intersting post from you, I will answer it hopefully tomorrow. Been out for most of the day, plus out to dinner this evening with family. Bodie marni0308 November 25, 2006 - 09:33 am Oh, some good posts are here! I'm checking in again after a couple of days of feasting and family visits. We had a wonderful time. Now I have to exercise and lose a few pounds! JoanK: Hurrah! You found your book and have caught up! I see Babi has answered your good question. Babi: That remark by Bligh about the boatswain commentng that Bligh's appearance was the worst of anyone - I detected a bit of a sense of humor there. I think it's really important for the readers to think about that Bligh was going through the same ordeals as everyone on the boat and still was able to lead and navigate and maintain control, getting his men to safety. The starvation, thirst, and battering by the elements took their toll on all of the men. Do you suppose that the men's rundown condition may have contributed to any of the deaths in Batavia? Batavia was supposed to have been a real rathole back then, a place where many caught disease such as malaria and died. I imagine if your immune system were already compromised, it would be easier to fall victim to disease. And Bligh was one who became terribly ill in Batavia, although he did not die. What did you think when Bigh put himself, his servant, and an aide on the first boat available home instead of others of the crew? What did you think when Bligh was not able to arrange for them all to go home together? Babi: Bligh certainly did revere Captain Cook. It sounds like many people did. I wonder what Cook would have been able to accomplish if he had not been killed in Hawaii? Thank you so much for the links to the Nore mutiny and Richard Parker - very interesting. I had never heard of them. I wonder how much rebellion in the ranks went on over the years. Something eventually came of it, obviously, because things have changed. For example, there is no more flogging in the navy. PatH: We certainly were able to feast better than the poor crew of the open boat!!! I'm so glad you're enjoying your holiday. Bodie: I was wondering if you noticed that sentence in the letter when Bligh said he cursed the day he ever knew a Manks man! Speaking of the queen....I heard on the news that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip will visit Jamestown in the state of Virginia in May to mark the 400th anniversary of the first permanent English settlement in America. marni0308 November 25, 2006 - 10:47 am Babi provided us with interesting info about the Nore mutiny. I read about a near mutiny related in a way to our story of the Bounty mutiny. Bligh got back home 11 months after the mutiny on the Bounty and he published his narrative just months afterwards. A courtmartial (routine when captains lose their ships) found him innocent and Bligh was hailed as a hero. In 1790 the Admiralty arranged to send a 24-gun frigate, HMS Pandora, out to hunt down the Bounty mutineers and bring them back to England for trial. The captain was Edward Edwards. Edwards had already put down a near mutiny 9 years earlier when he commanded the Narcissus off the coast of northeast America. According to Caroline Alexander in The Bounty, "Eventually, five of the would-be mutineers in this thwarted plot had been hanged, and two more sentenced to floggings of two hundred and five hundred lashes, respectively, while the leader of the mutiny had been hanged in chains. As events would show, Captain Edwards never forgot that he, the near victim of a mutiny, was now in pursuit of actual mutineers." A lieutenant aboard the Pandora was recently-promoted Thomas Hayward who had been a midshipman on the Bounty. Hayward knew all the mutineers, the mutiny and the islanders. The saga of the Pandora was a most incredible story. Bodie November 25, 2006 - 10:54 am Harold I must admit I have not visited the Tynwald ceremony for a few years! One thing I forgot to mention is that those who take part and those watching the ceremony wear the Manx national flower, in Manx �Bollan Bane�. Otherwise it is known as Mugwort. Now, as I am a gardener I know it by several other names. Such as Felon herb, St Johns plant and Chrysanthemum weed; should not say it but in certain places in the world it is regarded as a weed. I am including a link below with some facts and figures about the Manx Language. Yes it is spoken on the Island now, however, it usage started to decline by the late 19th century and had nearly vanished by the mid 20th century; being replaced by English. By the 1970�s it saw a revival with some Manx speakers producing Manx in written form and with some programmes being broadcast on our local Radio station. It is on some of the school�s curriculum and children from a young age can learn Manx and take exams regarding the Manx language. That to me is the best time to learn the language, at school as it will ensure the language remains part of our culture and heritage. Manx is a Gaelic language and has close links to Irish Gaelic. I would think Fletcher Christian and Peter Heywood would have spoken the language while they were on the Island. I wonder were they allowed to talk in Manx to each other in private while aboard the Bounty. Furthermore, I would think English would have been widely used Island at this time. Probably Captain Bligh would have spoken some Manx as Elizabeth his wife and her family, would have spoken Manx in the home. The Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom, but is a crown dependency. Hence we have our own Government and the Queens representative here is known as the Lieutenant Governor. I don�t think legislation going through Westminster will mean much in the way of change to the Island; as the Bill going through Westminster is more for devolution regarding Scotland and Wales. Prime Minister�s question time at Westminster is always good viewing. Tony Blair is not very popular in the United Kingdom at present, neither is he with a small minority of his own party! On the other hand, he is a very good orator and his performances at question time are always good viewing. We are situated as you say between England and Ireland, the nearest point being about 18 miles from Ramsey in the north of the Island, to I think the Mull of Galloway in Scotland. By the way the Island is 33 miles long and 13.5 miles wide with a population approximately 80,000, but it might be more than that now as we had our 10 year census taken a few months ago. You were right about our western location sparing us occupation during the World War 11, though enlistment to the armed forces happened in the Island as well. The Island also had many prisoner of war camps located in around the Island. Bodie marni0308 November 25, 2006 - 11:52 am 16 of the men who had remained on the Bounty decided to stay on Otaheite. The men who stayed with Fletcher Christian on the Bounty eventually made their way to Pitcairn Island where the ship was burned and the men and natives with them made their home, had children, fought, killed each other, until only 1 Bounty crew member, John Adams, remained. In Tahiti, Charles Churchill was murdered by Matthew Thompson who, in turn, was killed by Tahitians friendly to Churchill. The following men were captured by the crew of the Pandora: Josiah Coleman, Peter Heywood, George Stewart, Richard Skinner, Michael Byrne, James Morrison, Charles Norman, Thomas Ellison, William Muspratt, Thomas Burkit, John Millward, Henry Hillbrant, John Sumner, and Thomas McIntosh. Captain Bligh had specifically told the admiralty that 3 of the men were innocent and detained against their will: Coleman, Norman, and McIntosh. All of the captured crewmen, even those claimed innocent by Bligh, were clapped in irons and placed in a specially built cramped 11'x18' cage to the rear of the quarterdeck. The prisoners called it "Pandora's Box." This was where they remained chained in anguish for their trip home west across the Pacific, following Bligh's path. The Pandora left Tahiti May 8, 1791, met with terrible weather, lost several of their small boats and men, and reached the Great Barrier Reef between Australia and New Guinea. On Aug. 29, the Pandora struck a reef violently and began to sink. The prisoners were still chained in Pandora's Box. Coleman, Norman, and McIntosh were released to help bail. Four small boats were there with a small amount of supplies and weapons for evacuation. A crewman began to unchain the prisoners. Pandora's Box began to fill with water. Peter Heywood was the last prisoner to get out of the box. Richard Skinner, John Sumner, and George Stewart got out, but drowned. Henry Hilbrant never made it out of the box, and drowned. Edwards group sailed for Coupang in the Dutch East Indies, the same port Bligh had made it to. As Alexander put it, "The irony that the Pandora's boats were to replicate part of Bligh's famous voyage is unlikely to have escaped anyone - least of all poor Thomas Hayward, who had been with Bligh and was thus about to embark on his second Pacific open-boat journey in a little more than two years. A voyage of some eleven hundred miles lay ahead." They made it to Coupang on Sept. 16. No men were lost. All remaining prisoners were put in stocks in the fort placed in leg irons nearly naked. The group all made it to Batavia by Oct. 30, remaining there for 7 weeks. All were divided up among 4 ships bound for Holland. The remaining 10 mutineers sailed on Christmas Day 1791 with Edwards on the Vreedenburg, commanded by Captain Christiaan. 15 of Edwards' men had died of "Batavian fever." The mutineers were released from their irons and allowed to walk on deck. They were transferred to the Gorgon and eventually made it to England on June 19. The 10 mutineers were secured in the gunroom aboard the guardship Hector. JoanK November 25, 2006 - 09:00 pm It's good to be back in the discussion. I read the last six chapters to keep up with the discussion, now am going back to read the chapters I missed. I didn't phrase my question clearly enough. It's clear why Bligh was afraid to land after losing a man to the natives. But his behavior changes. At first, he stays away from islands completely, even though all his men are practically starving. But after he reaches a certain group of islands (I forget the name, he clearly relaxes (from the tone of the narrative), and is willing to come close to see if it looks safe to land. There has obviously been some change. Maybe something obvious -- perhaps the first group was so heavily populated that it was obvious even from a distance that they couldn't land. Or he knew from other explorers that the second group was lightly populated. But if he tells us what the difference was, I didn't catch it. kidsal November 26, 2006 - 01:35 am I believe he was willing to go ashore on those islands where he knew there where European settlements hoping the natives would be friendly. hats November 26, 2006 - 02:16 am Bligh writes about seeing high mountains on some of the islands. Is it possible some of these mountains could have been volcanoes? I think earlier in the book Bligh mentioned a volcano. I can't remember for sure. Bligh also talks about mangrove bushes. I have heard of mangrove trees not bushes. Do mangroves grow with their roots in the water? May be I am thinking of another tree. hats November 26, 2006 - 02:23 am Bodie, are you saying some places think of our beautiful chrysanthemum as a weed? I heard a famous lady on tv, before Thanksgiving, talking about chrysanthemums. She didn't have many good words for the chrysanthemum. For the autumn, she preferred the aster. hats November 26, 2006 - 02:35 am William Bligh wrote about "the Malay fashion." He describes their clothing as "richly ornamented with jewels." Their clothing must have been very beautiful, maybe richly embroidered too. Bodie November 26, 2006 - 08:29 am Hats Here on the Island, like many other locations in the world we have chrysanthemums and yes it is a lovely plant; one of my favourites. However, the chrysanthemum is a close cousin of the mugwort weed, as its leaves in some ways resemble the chrysanthemum, which is why mugwort it is sometimes called wild chrysanthemum or chrysanthemum weed. If mugwort is sometimes called chrysanthemum weed, it means mugwort is thought as a weed to some people not chrysanthemums. I prefer chrysanthemums to many plants, as they are ideal for the garden as they do give a lovely splash of colour to late summer and autumn borders. In addition, they are often still going strong up to within a few weeks of Christmas as long as there are no hard frosts. Bodie hats November 26, 2006 - 08:34 am Hi Bodie, thank you for writing more about the chrysanthemum. By the way, I have enjoyed all of your posts. I love hearing about where you live the Isle of Man. I hope my spelling is correct. Bodie November 26, 2006 - 11:53 am Hats Thanks for kind words, I love all flowers, shrubs and everything to do with gardening. My job for years and because of hand disability I had to give it up a few years ago. Miss it so much! Got the spelling spot on. The Isle of Man in Manx is 'Ellan Vannin'. Bodie marni0308 November 26, 2006 - 01:01 pm Hats and Bodie: This is really fun and exciting sharing botanical information and culture between countries! I can't seem to find a photo of Artemisia vulgaris (mugwort - reminds me of Harry Potter!). Bodie: Do you have one you can show us? Kidsal: Thanks for taking a crack at JoanK's question. I don't have any other answers for you, Joan. It was a good question. Maybe, too, they were so thirsty and starving by that point that they were willing to be a bit more risky and go on land if it did not appear that natives were nearby. I know when they saw natives in islands off Australia, they did not go ashore. Hats: I was wondering about the volcanoes, too. Indonesia, which is part of the Asia-Pacific "Ring of Fire," has at least 129 active volcanoes. Mt. Merapi, an active volcano, is on Java where Coupang and Batavia were. In 1994 a gas cloud from Mt. Merapi killed 60 people. People were evacuated from the area this spring because Mt. Merapi was erupting again. Here are some pictures of some Indonesian volcanoes: November 26, 2006 - 06:34 pm Does anyone want to take a turn answering a question above? Bodie November 26, 2006 - 07:38 pm Marni This link gives a lot of information on Mugwort. Bodie marni0308 November 26, 2006 - 10:06 pm Bodie: Thanks for the mugwort info. The section called "Mugshots of mugwort" was a cute idea. I just thought of why it reminded me of Harry Potter. Regular humans are called "muggles" in the books. gumtree November 27, 2006 - 12:26 am Glad to see you all back from your Thanksgiving jaunts- we don't have it here but all this talk about turkeys and pecan pies reminds me that Christmas will be with us all too soon and we'll be indulging then - DIL does most of the cooking these days - and loves it -for which I am truly grateful! In regard to question 5: I believe the reason Bligh did not stop at Eastern Timor was because he was unsure of his reception by the native Timorese and that he knew that he and his men were in too weakened a state to be able to defend themselves - he simply could not risk it. His uncertainty about the islanders intentions was also why he did not stop at the islands earlier. As for Batavian Fever - this was a real killer - I don't know the cause but we have a distant family connection, a Scot who was an orientalist - had worked in India etc - went to Batavia with Stamford Raffles in 1816? and was struck down within 24 hours of arriving - lingered a few weeks and then died. - maybe caused by an airborne virus or mosquitoes - does anyone know? If caused by gas - why weren't others taken ill as well? gumtree November 27, 2006 - 12:45 am Question 4 asks - Do you think Bligh held back too much food and water? I think Bligh is to be admired for his strength of mind in sticking to his rationing despite the distress he could see in his men. His decision to use up the salt pork when pilfering became a problem was also a good idea - firstly it gave the men a little more sustenance and then shared it out fairly. Bligh's decision to ration the bread even further to make it last a little longer would not have been taken lightly - but Bligh knew he could face longer at sea than he was expecting - even a little bread would be better than none if the journey had taken longer. I was impressed by the way Bligh housed his men in the quarters allocated to himself rather than have them split up unnecessarily after they arrived. I think psychologically it would have been the right thing to keep the men together for a time after the trials and deprivation they had endured. Although we are reading only one side of the story there is much in Bligh's favour - even allowing for his reticence on some matters. kidsal November 27, 2006 - 02:02 am Blight probably wanted to keep the men together and near him. He wasn't sure of why the other men committed mutiny and didn't want the men with him to change their version of the events. JoanK November 27, 2006 - 02:55 am NOTE: The Story of Civilization is taking a short break, and will start reading about the Renaissance on Sunday, December 3. This is a great chance to join the discussion. You don't have to buy the book, since Robby posts it bit by bit online, and we respond to his posts. This should be a great discussion. Whatever we discus, we always post many links -- this should be a great opportunity to see much of the great art of the period, and discuss it. We have a lot of fun in that discussion. Some are knowledgeable about history or art; others, like me, are complete novices. But it's amazing how often we see parallels to our own lives in the lives of people in the past. As Durant says "This is about YOU". Durant says it better than I can: �"It is a mistake to think that the past is dead. Nothing that has ever happened is quite without influence at this moment. The present is merely the past rolled up and concentrated in this second of time. You, too, are your past; often your face is your autobiography; you are what you are because of what you have been; � Just as you can only be understood by understanding your past, � So with a city, a country, and a race; it is its past, and cannot be understood without it." BaBi November 27, 2006 - 07:20 am That sketch of the Pandora sinking is beautifully drawn. Peter Heywood was quite a good artist. Q. 7. Batavia was a horror. With rotting animals poisoning the air, the heat, and the houses in town jammed together as tho' this was the Netherlands instead of Java....it's no wonder diseases flourished. And then the merchants of the town, overcharging the sailors. And if that auction of the boat was not rigged by the buyer ahead of time, I'd be greatly surprised. It is most fortunate for Bligh and his crew that the Governor and the 'gentlemen' of the settlement were friendly and generous. And then the rate of exchange on the money! These people were sharks! Babi November 27, 2006 - 11:25 am I was reading about the court-martial of the Bounty prisoners. I think Captain Bligh had informed prior to the court martial that Coleman, Norman, McIntosh, and Byrn were not part of the mutiny. However, it said that under the law in England it mattered not whether a man actively participated in seizing command of the ship or took no action to oppose the mutiny. Seems a harsh law, as the men in question might have been restrained from offering assitance to Captain Bligh. And by all reports Michael Bryn was nearly blind. It Must have been a terrible ordeal for him! As it happened the four men were acquiited Bodie marni0308 November 27, 2006 - 11:34 am Ginger was interested in the national flower of Isle of Man that Bodie shared with us. Ginger sent us this link. Thanks, Ginger. http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/mugwor61.html Gumtree: You're right. Christmas is right around the corner. It follows so quickly on the heels of Thanksgiving here in the US. I roasted my turkey yesterday and we had another nice dinner. I like to roast my own turkey because we go to my sister's for Thanksgiving. We enjoy leftovers and my dad in the nursing home is looking forward to a turkey sandwich that I'll bring down on Wednesday. Thanks for sharing the story about your relative struck down with Batavian Fever. Wow, 24 hours. What is that fever, anyway? So many men just from the Bounty and the Pandora were struck down with it. I'm going to hunt..... On one site, I found "Most people died young in Batavia due to 'the fever' - malaria. It was most unhealthy, tropical with a high rainfall and poor drainage. The city drains were always loaded with breeding mosquitoes." http://farrer.csu.edu.au/ASGAP/APOL26/jun02-6.html But I also found info about another mosquito-born illness, Dengue fever: "Although first reports of major epidemics of an illness thought to possibly be dengue occurred on three continents (Asia, Africa, and North America) in 1779 and 1780.....It is uncertain whether the epidemics in Batavia (Jakarta), Indonesia, and Cairo, Egypt, in 1779 were dengue, but it is quite likely that the Philadelphia epidemic of 1780 was dengue..." Hmmmmm marni0308 November 27, 2006 - 11:45 am Gum and Kidsal: I, too, was thinking Bligh housed his men in his house together so they would be more comfortable and be cared for. The house seemed roomy with plenty of space for all and they would be together for a recovery period, which they certainly all needed. Babi: I was shocked to read the description of Batavia and the disease. When I think of the Dutch, I think of cleanliness. Did anyone see the film "Girl With the Pearl Earring"? Remember how the women were always scrubbing the floors and stairs, etc.? That's what I've always read about the Dutch women. Wouldn't you think they'd carry these habits to the Dutch East Indies? Of course, the climate was completely different. Did you notice on our map above how close to the Equator Batavia is? It must have been so dreadfully hot and humid. There was so much water around and, apparently, plenty of mosquitos. Bodie: I thought that was so horrible that Captain Edwards of the Pandora treated those men the same as the others when Bligh had made it clear they were innocent. To be chained in irons and caged up nearly naked, treated like an animal really, for such a long terrible trip - and then the disaster of the Pandora sinking and their long trip in open boats to Batavia etc. What a horror. They were not freed until they were found innocent at their courtmartial. Marni November 27, 2006 - 12:18 pm Marni This link on Manx Wild Flowers I think is interesting. Bodie marni0308 November 27, 2006 - 01:00 pm Bodie: You have so many flowers there, even though the article says you don't have many compared to other countries. In the US, our individual states have state flowers. I live in Connecticut in New England and our state flower is mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia). It's very beautiful, comes in a variety of colors, and is evergreen. It's a flowering bush and can get quite large. Clumps of flowers grow in puffs all over the bush. Here's a picture: In 1986, Congress designated the rose as the national flower of the United States. (I just found that out.) judywolfs November 27, 2006 - 01:19 pm The drawing of the foundering of Pandora was impressive - I couldn't help but imagine though, how terrible it would have been in that ship to be locked in the cage. ~JudyS marni0308 November 27, 2006 - 01:32 pm Judy: Wasn't that so terrible!??! Pandora's Box. Chained up, knowing the boat is sinking, hearing the sounds of the crew running around salvaging things, the cage filling with water..... Here's the story of the HMS Pandora for anyone interested: http://www.maritimehistory.info/mutiny/shipwreck.html Peter Heywood brought this up at his courtmartial. I wonder if it had anything to do with finding him innocent. Of course, his influential family had a great deal to do with getting him off, plus words of others being courtmartialed. Also, he was very young when the mutiny occurred. Heywood was freed after the courtmartial. He went back into the service and eventually was promoted to post captain. Not everyone courtmartial was found innocent, though. Does anyone know who was found guilty and hanged? Pat H November 27, 2006 - 02:49 pm Perhaps one reason Bligh didn't stop at the native settlements on Timor is that they were so small and poor looking. He needed food and medical attention for 18 men, the sooner the better, and this could only be obtained in the big settlement. He didn't seem to be afraid of the natives; when he got close to the settlement, hecontacted them. Bodie November 27, 2006 - 04:09 pm Marni Thank you for the link about the Mountain Laurel. Would I be right that it is also known as the Calico Bush? It shows you learn something new every day! I never knew that individual states had state flowers. My eldest sister, husband and son holidayed in New England in early September and they really enjoyed their time there. I think the son is hoping to return next year. Bodie marni0308 November 27, 2006 - 04:21 pm Pat H: Wasn't that section something to consider - Bligh's decision to continue on rather than stop "for refreshment" at a more easterly location on Timor? They were in such dire straits, but he made the decision to sail/row on to Coupang. He had already been through the area with Captain Cook and knew a bit about the area. As you said, Bligh needed food and medical attention for his men which could only be obtained in the big settlement. I can imagine his decision to continue on must have caused some dissention on the boat. Bodie: I've never heard of the term Calico Bush used for mountain laurel. I'm glad your relatives enjoyed their stay in New England. I love it here. Bodie November 27, 2006 - 05:27 pm Marni Just looked again at the link you gave me for the Mountain Laurel and it does say it is known as the Calico Bush which I thought it was. I see it is also called sometimes Spoonwood, which again is something new learned today.If I remember it is a distant relation to the Rhododendron. Bodie antlerlady November 27, 2006 - 06:05 pm I was just wondering if the Captain kept some type of journal during the trip on the small boat. There was so much detail as to latitude and longitude, the type and amount of food eaten on each day, etc. I certainly couldn't remember all that. Also he kept up his interest in the types of flora and fauna found along the way and still kept us informed about the customs and living conditions of all the different people he came across on the trip. Didn't he have enough to think about just trying to keep everyone alive? Do you suppose he did any embellishment of his observations after he got home? Pat H November 27, 2006 - 07:54 pm When Bligh and his men were put into the boat, his clerk managed to bring the ship's papers, Bligh's commission (a very important piece of paper), and his journal. It would be a matter of course for Bligh to continue to keep a log, with navigational and other observations, just part of sailing the boat to him. Bodie November 27, 2006 - 09:24 pm Court Martial The court martial began on the morning of September 12th 1792 on board H.M.S. Duke and continued by adjournment from day to day (Sunday excepted) until the 18th of the same month. The Court Martial was conducted by the following: Vice Admiral Lord Hood - President Sir Andrew Snape Hamond - Captain Bart John Colpoys - Captain marni0308 November 27, 2006 - 09:39 pm Bodie: I didn't realize that the mountain laurel was a relative of the rhododendron. I have both in my back yard and they both have year-round leaves and clumps of flowers in the spring. They do have some things in common, now that I think about it. Here's what the small-leafed rhododendron looks like in the spring. (It's next to the weeping cherry tree.) http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l253/marni_04/WeepingCherryTree.jpg antlerlady: If I remember correctly, Bligh wrote that Midshipman Heywood had a book of some sort or a ledger and Bligh used some blank pages from it to write his journal in the open boat. Pat H: What do you suppose would have been problems for Bligh if he had not been able to bring his commission along? marni0308 November 27, 2006 - 09:44 pm Bodie: Thank you for the list of courtmartial judges. Did they need some sort of quorum to proceed? I've been making a list also - a list of what happened to the mutineers brought to courtmartial: 1. Thomas Ellison � found guilty at the court-martial and hanged on HMS Brunswick at Spithead on October 29, 1792, age 17 2. John Millward - found guilty at the court-martial and hanged on HMS Brunswick at Spithead on October 29, 1792 3. Thomas Burkett - found guilty at the court-martial and hanged on HMS Brunswick at Spithead on October 29, 1792 4. James Morrison - found guilty at the court-martial and condemned to death; received the King�s pardon and was freed 5. Peter Heywood - found guilty at the court-martial and condemned to death; received the King�s pardon and was freed 6. William Muspratt - found guilty at the court-martial and sentenced to be hanged; appealed and was freed 7. Michael Burn - acquitted at the court-martial 8. Joshua Coleman - acquitted at the court-martial 9. Thomas McIntosh - acquitted at the court-martial 10. Charles Norman � acquitted at the court-martial Did I miss anyone who was brought home as prisoner? I found the info here: http://library.puc.edu/pitcairn/bounty/crew.shtml By the way, William Bligh was not at the courtmartial of the men above. He was not there to speak his piece. He was already on a 2nd breadfruit voyage to go to Otaheite and collect breadfruit plants to bring to the West Indies. marni0308 November 27, 2006 - 09:55 pm Re #8: Bligh wrote that he notified the authorities of the mutineers in the various stops on the way home and in letters to England. It seems that wherever the Bounty would have sailed in areas of European civilization, if Fletcher Christian and crew had done so, they would eventually have been captured. I read in the Alexander book The Bounty that the crew of the Resolution, which had been parted for months from the Pandora (since before it sank), was held up by authorities in Coupang because it was thought they might have had a part in the mutiny. Finally they were allowed to sail to Batavia where they were able to meet up again with the rest of the Pandora crew. The world definitely was on the lookout for the mutineers. hats November 28, 2006 - 03:04 am I love the name Calico Bush. I think of pretty fabric in pastel colors. I have never heard of a Calico Bush. We do learn something everyday. Marni the photo is beautiful. I love Rhododendrons especially the deep pink you have shown. I love, love that Weeping Cherry Willow. I have never seen one. The Weeping Cherry is just too gorgeous. "He was already on a 2nd breadfruit voyage to go to Otaheite and collect breadfruit plants to bring to the West Indies." Marni, this is your quote. Obviously, William Bligh didn't allow the mutineers to kill his spirit. He didn't lose his courage. He went on another voyage. I wonder did William Bligh lose his trust. Sometimes betrayal by other people can cause us to become frightened of starting deep relationships. Bligh was very, very close to Fletcher Christian, and no matter the reasons, he betrayed Bligh's friendship. When a mutiny happens on a captain's ship, does he keep his courage and lose his trust? Earlier, I think it was mentioned some men were hung. I can't remember. Were all of the mutineers penalized in a different way? Did some get away with the rebellion? BaBi November 28, 2006 - 07:06 am MARNI, thanks for your info. on what happened to the mutineers who were captured. I had seen a briefer account, but it did not note that Morrison and Heywood were found guilty, but were pardoned by the King. Family influence likely came to the fore there. I did wince to see that a 17 yr.-old boy was hanged. Boys as young as 10-12 were going to sea as cabin boys in those days, so I suppose a 17 yr.-old was considered an experienced adult. The Pandora's 'box' was a horrible contrivance. I can only suppose that Capt. Edwards' own experience with an attempted mutiny left him harsh and angry. He knew, however, that Capt. Bligh had specifically said three of the men had not stayed by their own choice, and he could have made an exception there. Babi marni0308 November 28, 2006 - 10:13 am Hats: Re "When a mutiny happens on a captain's ship, does he keep his courage and lose his trust?" That's a good question. I would think that surely mutiny would have an impact. As Babi said, "I can only suppose that Capt. Edwards' own experience with an attempted mutiny left him harsh and angry." That seems to be for sure. I am amazed at how the navy men could get themselves right up again and go back to the sea. I can't imagine being that brave. I guess Bligh was used to the terrors of the sea because he had been working at sea since he was a boy and kept going back. Maybe some people are just meant for it. Maybe some like Bligh thrive in adversity. It seemed the best came out when he was in terrible conditions. He was very ill at times during the voyage back, but he carried on. Look at young Midshipman Hayward. He headed out as a newly promoted lieutenant with Captain Edwards to catch the mutineers. Maybe he had revenge on his mind. But, maybe, too, he had career on his mind. This is what they did, how they earned a living. Here's the testimony of Midshipman Hayward at the courtmartial. It's interesting because you can see the kinds of questions he was asked and you see another's version of the events: November 28, 2006 - 11:01 am Marni Thank you for the picture from your garden, a lovely show of colour and I think both the weeping Cherry and Rhododendron are beautiful. Hats Yes the name Calico Bush does make me think of fabric with lovely pastel shades also. Bodie November 28, 2006 - 11:28 am Marni I think regarding a Court-Martial that there would be a set number of Judges appointed. Perhaps for crimes such as mutiny a set number was required by Naval law. I wonder why Captain Bligh was not present at the trial. Surely the highest ranking officer on board a ship that had suffered a mutiny would be most important witness to give evidence. A written submission to the court obviously was allowed and deemed enough by the presiding judges. However, regarding the men who were being prosecuted, this would have been their chance to put their side of the events that took place on the Bounty and through their �legal representative� they could have directed questions to Captain Bligh for answer. Even if they were found guilty of mutiny, not having the facility to cross-examine their Captain would have damaged their chances at the Court-Martial surely? Bodie antlerlady November 28, 2006 - 01:12 pm Thanks. I must have missed that part. Going back I see that the ship's papers and the journals were taken along. Good for that clerk! hats November 28, 2006 - 01:18 pm Marni, thank you for the link. I will spend time reading it. Bodie November 28, 2006 - 09:37 pm Marni Thank you for the link to the testimony of Lt. Thomas Hayward at the Bounty Court-Martial. It was certainly a very thorough cross examination and it shows that two of the men who stood excused were allowed to question the Lieutenant. Though I wonder why only two of the accused asked questions? James Morrison and William Musspratt were at first found guilty, but one was given a Kings pardon and the other freed on appeal. I wonder why the other accused men did not take the chance to cross examine the Lieutenant, especially those who were eventually hanged. It is possible they cross-examined other witnesses, however, why did they not take the chance to question such an important witness as Lt. Thomas Hayward. Again, I still cannot understand why Captain Bligh was not involved in the trial on a personal level. He is the most important man aboard ship at any time of a ships voyage, more so when there is a breakdown in relations between the Captain and some of his ships company. Was his absence at his request or the Admiralty? Does anyone know why Captain Bligh was not involved personally at the trial? Bodie gumtree November 29, 2006 - 02:50 am Bodie: I thought Bligh was not at the trial because he was already at sea on the second Breadfruit expedition and I assume that at the time he left England on that voyage the mutineers either had not yet been apprehended or were still on their way back to England. Presumably there was no way of knowing for certain that they would ever arrive - the country had a navy to run and Bligh could not just sit around indefinitely. I agree that it would have been better had he been present not only to hear the grievances but also to put his case if necessary - although he had already been cleared and had no case to answer. I think that personally he would have preferred to hear the courts martial hats November 29, 2006 - 03:20 am I find the story of the Pandora as interesting as the Bounty in some small way. The Pandora had its share of troubles: fevers, storms, etc. The name Pandora gives me a creepy feeling. I remember hearing about Pandora all my life. Didn't someone open a trunk, may be Pandora, and all these filthy things came out of the trunk. I think she was told not to go near the trunk. hats November 29, 2006 - 03:32 am Marni, thank you. This is a quote of yours I missed earlier. "According to Caroline Alexander in The Bounty, "Eventually, five of the would-be mutineers in this thwarted plot had been hanged, and two more sentenced to floggings of two hundred and five hundred lashes, respectively, while the leader of the mutiny had been hanged in chains. As events would show, Captain Edwards never forgot that he, the near victim of a mutiny, was now in pursuit of actual mutineers." I have heard of men being hung by a rope. I have never heard of men being hung by a chain. hats November 29, 2006 - 04:08 am Bodie, I really enjoyed reading about the Plant Life on the Isle of Man. Thanks for the link. BaBi November 29, 2006 - 06:52 am I was surprised to read Hayward's testimony identifying three of the mutineers as 'prisoners'. I don't recall any mention of Bligh having imprisoned any of his crew. I wonder if that was a reference to those men currently on trial at the time of this testimony. I remember the story of Pandora's box, too. Pandora opened the box out of curiosity, despite knowing she should not. According to the myth, the box contained the spirit of all the evils of the world, which she released by opening the box. The story goes on that she slammed the box shut with one thing left inside. The remaining spirit called out to her and persuaded her that it was the one good thing in the box. She re-opened the box to release Hope. (Typical, right, to blame it all on a woman?) Babi hats November 29, 2006 - 07:19 am Babi, thank you. I am so glad you remembered the story. I am trying to fit the name of the ship to the story. Of course, the ship could have just been named after a woman. gumtree November 29, 2006 - 08:12 am Hats: Hanged in chains I take this expression to mean being hanged with a rope but having the feet and hands manacled with chains. Pat H November 29, 2006 - 08:30 am Bligh's commission was the order by which he took command of the ship. (O'Brian fans, please correct any details I have wrong here.) When an officer took command of his ship, the ceremony included reading his orders to the crew. You can see why it would be personally important to Bligh; it was his identity. But it surely also had practical importance. When he got to civilization, his commission and the ship's papers were a proof that he was who he said he was, if there was no one in port who knew him. At Coupang, he had instructions sent out in His Majesty's name to all Dutch settlements to stop the mutineers if they appeared. He also bought and provisioned a ship. He says nothing about where the money came from, but I'm sure he wasn't hustled into the launch with the price of a ship in his back pocket. It must have been advanced to him officially, as a representative of the British Navy. With better documentation, he would be in a stronger position to demand such favors. I'd love to know how this sort of financing worked--where the money came from and how it got paid back. I bet it was a mess getting reimbursed. Pat H November 29, 2006 - 08:36 am Gumtree, you're right about "hanged in chains". Ironically (oops, no pun intended) I suspect it was more merciful. When hanging someone, they did not then use a sufficient drop to cause instant death, and the weight of the chains might give you a better chance of dying at once. hats November 29, 2006 - 08:46 am Gumtree, thank you. That makes more sense. PatH, thank you too. marni0308 November 29, 2006 - 10:07 am Bodie: I wonder if there was anymore testimony by Lt. Hayward later - other mutineers questioned him? There was quite a bit about the courtmartials in Alexander's book The Bounty, but I have forgotten so much already. Each man on trial was allowed to speak up on his defense and to question witnesses, including men who had been on the ship. Those with money had lawyers to help them. Not everyone could afford this, to their disadvantage. Some, as we know, had influential contacts. Gumtree: Thanks for explaining why Bligh wasn't there. You're right - we have to keep the timeline in mind. A long time had passed since the mutiny. The mutineers who had stayed on Tahiti had stayed there for approx. 1 1/2 years? before they were picked up, I believe. The mutiny was in 1789 and the courtmartials of the mutineers was in 1792. Bligh had arrived in England way before the mutineers. You're right - who knew if and when the mutineers would ever be found? Hats: I thought that story of the Pandora was so amazing, too. I had never heard of it in my life until I read the Alexander book after I finished Bligh's narrative. How could I not have heard of it??!!! There was another FASCINATING mutiny story that I just last week heard about here on this site- the story of the ship Batavia that sank in the 1600's off the coast of Australia on its way to the Dutch East Indies. Did anyone ever hear of it? It's another incredible story of shipwreck, sinking, mutiny, death, and survival. AMAZING STORY. Here's a rundown of the story: http://www.voc.iinet.net.au/batavia.html Gumtree: I pictured the man being hung by chains, too, until I read your explanation, which makes much more sense. Speaking of ways of hanging the mutineers - there's something about that in the story of the Batavia mutiny. Many of the mutineer murderers had their hand or hands cut off first before they were hanged! Ouch! Babi: Yes, I believe Hayward was referring to the captured mutineers who definitely were prisoners. Pat H: Thanks for the explanation about the use of the commission. I didn't see anything either about how Bligh got the money. Weren't the Dutch really good bankers and financiers at that time? I remember the Americans got a huge loan from the Dutch to help finance the American Revolution. Bligh said that the governors of both Coupang and Batavia were extremely helpful. They probably helped arranged a loan. Bligh mentions the specific dollar amount (1000 rix-dollars) that he used to buy and fit out the schooner Resource. He must have used credit. There must have been a system between the British and Dutch for this type of thing. I did read, though, that captains who lost their ships didn't just have free reign to spend. They had to account for every penny when they returned home. In some cases they were liable for the expenses. judywolfs November 29, 2006 - 10:28 am Well, I must say - that account of the mutiny on the Batavia was gruesome. It reported that the mutiny came about because some of the crew wanted to become pirates. Imagine that - planning a mutiny to carry out a major career change. ~JudyS marni0308 November 29, 2006 - 10:33 am Judy - Too funny! I suppose the life of a pirate could look romantic. They were going to steal the treasure aboard the Batavia. Has anyone ever read any of the Rafael Sabatini books of the sea - such as Captain Blood. That's a fun read about pirates. His books are really good! Bodie November 29, 2006 - 11:14 am gumtree-Marni Thanks for pointing out why Captain Bligh could not be present at the Court Martial. Completely forgot he was on another breadfruit expedition. Bodie November 29, 2006 - 07:06 pm Marni When Captain Bligh's account of the mutiny and his 3,600 mile voyage in the open boat concludes today, are there any further in-depth reviews planned? Bodie Pat H November 29, 2006 - 08:23 pm I think tomorrow is the last day, as listed in the heading. If it isn't, someone please tell me, so I can put in some final comments tonight. Bodie November 29, 2006 - 08:49 pm Pat H Might have misled you with my post. The 30th here in United Kingdom, in fact 3.45am, while I think it is still 7.45pm Wednesday for you. Bodie November 29, 2006 - 08:49 pm antlerlady in message 534 wrote: I was just wondering if the Captain kept some type of journal during the trip on the small boat. See my post 483 telling of my facsimile copy of the Journal kept by Bligh in the small boat voyage to the Dutch settlements. Pat H November 29, 2006 - 08:56 pm Oops, Bodie, I should have thought of that. marni0308 November 29, 2006 - 09:29 pm Tomorrow is the final day of our most interesting discussion of William Bligh's narrative of the mutiny on the Bounty. I've enjoyed this so very much. Thank you so much for your probing questions and for sharing your insights. And it was especially excellent having Bodie and Gumtree with us to share their knowledge of Isle of Man and Australia. Does anyone have any final thoughts about Bligh's book? Does anyone have any more answers to the questions above? I just remembered one thing I forgot to mention. Remember Thomas Ledward, the surgeon's mate who took over when the surgeon died? When Bligh's men were separated and took different ships home, Ledward sailed on the ship Welfare. It sank on the voyage home with all hands presumably lost. Some historical events are so sad. There were so many sad and tragic things associated to the saga of the mutiny on the Bounty. But, then, there were the amazing individual stories of human endurance, strength, teamwork, hope, survival, and, perhaps, as William Bligh said, providence. Learning about the men of the Bounty and their stories has been a fascinating experience for me. I hope it has been for all of you, as well. Bodie: Re your question about further in-depth reviews planned? There seems to be a non-fiction in-depth book review every couple of months - sometimes every month for awhile. I think it depends on people's proposed ideas and volunteers who lead the discussions. There are a number of non-fiction discussions being planned. You can check our Coming Individual Book Discussions and Proposed and Suggested Discussions to see what's in the works here: Does anyone have suggestions for an in-depth book discussion? This was certainly a wonderful enjoyable group. It would be fun if we could do this again!! Marni November 29, 2006 - 10:28 pm Marni Yes I must say I have enjoyed this discussion over the past month very much indeed. Well on my part, the last fortnight with having had knee surgery. Thanks for the kind words regarding my input about the Isle of Man. It has been a pleasure to be able to tell a little bit about the Island. I have gained a lot of knowledge about the Bounty and the mutiny these past weeks. In fact some related to the Island, which I intend to look into more in the coming weeks. I did read that on Bligh�s passing (6th December 1817), that he was buried in the family plot at St Mary�s Lambeth. The church became the Museum of Garden history. His tomb was topped by a breadfruit! Pat H Perhaps I did not say about the time difference! Am I right in saying that we are 8 hrs ahead in time, now being 5.25am here and it is 9.25pm there? Bodie hats November 30, 2006 - 03:02 am Marni, I have saved your last link about the Batavia. Marni, you have again, been a wonderful Discussion Leader. I have also gained so much new knowledge from all of the posters. This was an exciting adventure. I hope to meet all of you in another discussion very soon. A big thanks to each person. Pat H November 30, 2006 - 06:03 am Bodie, you're right for the west coast; the time posted is Pacific Time. I am on the east coast, Eastern Time, which is 3 hours earlier than Pacific Time, so I am 5 hours earlier than you. However, for 7 months of the year, April-October, the whole country goes on Daylight Saving Time, and sets the clocks one hour later. Then you would be 4 hours ahead of me, and 7 hours ahead of the West Coast, unless you also go on Daylight Saving Time. I've enjoyed having you in this discussion, and hope to see you in many more. And don't forget the Book Nook, where you can post any random thoughts about books. I hope the knee is working well again. BaBi November 30, 2006 - 06:26 am MARNI, I greatly enjoyed Rafael Sabatini's swashbuckling books,..and well as Errol Flynn's swashbuckling portrayal or Capt. Blood. And I have greatly enjoyed this discussion. I'm so glad you recommended Bligh's account of the Mutiny on the Bounty. I learned so much, and found a remarkable sea captain that I had totally misunderstood, thanks to Hollywood! (imagine musical notes here) You'd think I'd know better, wouldn't you? Gratefully, ...Babi November 30, 2006 - 07:54 am Capt'n Marni ~ Thanks for leading a terrific discussion and posting all the great background material! And thanks to everyone for posting all the interesting comments and links. Prancer November 30, 2006 - 08:27 am As a lurker, I've enjoyed this discussion. I was in the other discussion a few years ago and mentioned that my Cousin (who was an Oceanographer) was the Captain on the Bounty replica used in the movie (with Marlon Brando). That replica was built in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, my Cousin was lost at sea himself, along with his Son and (Mariner) his dog. The boat was never found, nor was the Son. It took 9 days before my Cousin and dog washed up on beach on the shores of Nova Scotia. He had built his own boat, and intended to sail around the world. The Bounty is carved on the back of my Cousin's headstone; the details of himself and his Son on the front. His name is spelled in Gaelic, on the headstone. There is a lot of Gaelic where we came from on the East Coast of Canada and they are trying to keep the language alive. gumtree November 30, 2006 - 08:28 am Marni Thanks for the Batavia story - this dreadful event occurred on the Western Australian coast about 300 miles north of Perth.(my home). The Abrolhos islands are beautiful - they look desolate but are home to much wildlife - sparkling seas and gorgeous coral but dangerous reefs everywhere - I think about 19 ships were wrecked in that vicinity during the 19th century. Probably more to be discovered. The Batavia crew is believed to be the first European group to land on the mainland of Australia. What caused the Batavia tragedy will probably never be known - the atrocities were unspeakable - and yet we have operas and plays based on the events and schoolchildren have to write essays about it - my own view is that heat and thirst and isolation deranged some of the men so that they could contemplate the murder of their fellows - maybe that's an easy out for them. The search for the Batavia is a story in itself - everyone was looking too far north but it was eventually located - after some sleuthing by a WOMAN as to its actual position.- a crayfisherman took a dive where she suggested and voila the Batavia! Some of the treasure (coins) and timbers, guns too? AND a stone archway! were raised - Part of the hull has been reassembled and is on display at Fremantle together with some of the coins and other artefacts found. I understand that the work done at our Maritime Museum to treat the timbers so they wouldn't disintegrate when dried out was a scientific first. I have spent some time googling for some images to post but am not having any luck tonight. Will try again later. gumtree November 30, 2006 - 09:10 am Marni - This discussion has been very stimulating for me - I would have liked to post more information especially about the Torres Straits Islanders whom Bligh encountered but avoided around Cape York Peninsula as they are racially different from mainland tribes. Torres folk are of Melanesian origin and at that time Bligh was right to be wary of them. He avoided the New Guinea coast for similar reasons - even now there are headhunters in the New Guinea Highlands. I've always had mixed ideas about Bligh and Christian and the others - never knowing who was guilty of what or quite what to make of the whole story. Reading this account in Bligh's words has not resolved everything for me but I must say that Bligh has grown in my estimation. Whatever the causes of the mutiny and wherever the real fault lies (no doubt on both sides)this journey in the open boat was a feat of human endurance and shows how strong a will to survive Bligh himself had and that he tried to instil the same into those of his men who were flagging. His perserverance in adversity was just amazing which is to say nothing of his extraordinary feat of seamanship and navigation in bringing the boat in to port at Coupang Overall I learned much - not only from the book but from everyone's contributions to the forum. Oddly enough I was quite surprised at how much I already knew about Bligh and this episode in history - but then, here we learn about him during schooldays. One thing that saddened me was that Bligh's chest containing all his observations, notes and many drawings made during the 17 years of voyages were left on the Bounty - does anyone know whether these were recovered from Pitcairn or Norfolk Islands or were they burnt and scuttled with the Bounty? Thanks to everyone - The posts and links were just great - I hope to enjoy your company again soon Marni - Again, I can't thank you enough for leading this discussion I'll look forward to your next offering. judywolfs November 30, 2006 - 12:34 pm This discussion has been so worthwhile. Thank you Marni. To be honest, I found the book itself somewhat dry and tedious in parts, but not the discussion, I think every member of the group posted interesting observations, opinions and questions. I always enjoy our book discussions. Looking forward to the next one, ~JudyS marni0308 November 30, 2006 - 12:51 pm Thank you all for your kind words. Gumtree: How interesting to hear about the Torres natives and about the search for the Batavia - and found by a woman! I'd love to hear more about it. Prancer: What a sad story about your cousin lost at sea. He must have been a very brave man. Thank you for sharing that. Bodie: My goodness, Bligh's tombstone topped by a breadfruit! How very appropriate! I hunted for a picture and found that he is buried next to John Tradescant on the grounds of the Museum of Garden History. Wasn't John Tradescant a famous English gardner of the 16th or 17th century? I think I read a book about him awhile back. Here are pictures of Bligh's grave. Click on each to enlarge: Pat H November 30, 2006 - 05:45 pm When I got the book, I thought "How are we going to make this last 4 weeks?" Little did I know how much we could make of it. We have gone into every aspect in depth, with many mini-courses along the way in such diverse topics as navigation, naval etiquette, botany of the south seas, the Isle of Man (about which I previously knew almost nothing), the history of the times, mutinies in general, etc. Many thanks are due to Marni, who made things such a success by her remarkable skill at finding interesting and relevant links, her knowledgeable filling in of gaps in the story, and her ability to get us back on track when we wandered too much, and also to a particularly lively group of fellow discussers, with much knowledge, and a lot of good ideas. Now I want to read something else, probably Alexander, to get the other side of the story, but I think we did well to concentrate on just one book and do it in depth. What a good discussion! November 30, 2006 - 06:03 pm Marni I did not know that St Mary�s Church, Lambeth where Captain Bligh was buried in the family plot, became the Museum of Garden History. Also Capt Bligh�s house is located a very short distance from the museum. Please find a link below with information about St Mary�s Church, a further picture of Capt Bligh�s headstone and his residence in Lambeth Road. In addition, information regarding the Tradescant family. Interesting reading about the Tradescant family tomb, with a �ghostly� tale to tell! This Bounty review certainly has updated my knowledge on topics other than the mutiny aboard the Bounty. While I knew that John Tradescant was a famous gardener and garden designer, as was his brother. I never knew that he and his brother (another John) were employed by royalty, King Charles the first! He also was employed by the first Lord Salisbury one of the leading ministers to Queen Elizabeth the first. Pat H Thank you for the information on the time differences between the East Coast and the Isle of Man. Very interesting that Pacific time is three hours earlier than Eastern time. I am very pleased I joined the discussion and yes I will join further discussions, hopefully might look in on the Book Nook! Regarding the knee, thanks for good wishes for a speedy recovery. Actually was up 5.0 am yesterday Thursday (Friday here now) to catch flight (and post on Senior Net) to the United Kingdom to attend orthopaedic consultant on routine check up after surgery a month ago. However, not a good diagnosis as knee not healing properly, due to this progressive soft tissue problem I have. It has affected both hands and now I am told my knee, which will need further constructive surgery early in the New year. marni0308 November 30, 2006 - 09:23 pm Bodie: Thank you for the link to the museum info and pictures. Yes, that is the Tradescant I read about, the famous gardner - he and his son. I'm so sorry you're having such trouble with your knee. What an awful situation for you. We wish you well with the surgery and recovery next year. Pat H: Thank you, Pat. You will love the Alexander book! I've just today started a book you recommended - Cochrane by Harvey about Thomas Cochrane. I am just loving it already! I just read Cochrane's description of the parrot "Poll" aboard one of the ships he served on when he was young. The parrot learned to mimic some of the ship's pipe signals. (Remember we listened to some pipe signals in the pre-discussion?) One day some ladies were being lowered from the ship to a launch by boatswain's chair. Before one of the ladies had been lowered all the way down, the parrot "piped" the signal "Let Go." Immediately, the sailor lowering the chair down let go. The lady fell into the sea! I hope all of you enjoy your next books immensely! Marni November 30, 2006 - 09:51 pm Marni Thank you for your good wishes. The review over the past month has been brilliant. Your input as Discussion Leader has been so important to us and thank you. As I missed the first couple of weeks, I am unsure who provided the grahics for us - thanks! Bodie JoanK December 1, 2006 - 02:33 am MARNIE: thank you for the absolutely marvelous job you did as a discussion leader. And all you brilliant participants. I'm sorry I haven't been able to participate more: my upcoming move is gobbling up more and more of my time and energy. Good luck with your knees, Bodie. I look forward to joining you all in future discussions. Pat H December 1, 2006 - 11:02 am This was made in 1984, starring Anthony Hopkins as Bligh and a rather young looking Mel Gibson as Ghristian. I had watched it a few years ago, and watched it again last night (it's available from Netflix). It's a pretty good job; it sticks pretty close to the real story as we have just learned it, with good photography (Tahiti and New Zealand) and good acting. Bligh's story is framed by his court martial, and we also follow the mutineers to Pitcairn Island, leaving Christian with a bleak look on his face as he realizes he is cut off forever from his previous life. Hopkins is just right for Bligh, even looks a bit like him, and Gibson is good as Christian. Daniel Day-Lewis gives an amusing performance as Fryer, Bligh's second in command, who is presented as a smooth, insinuating type who sucks up to power. There are lots of little touches that are in there because they really happened rather than because they are necessary, and these are fun to spot. There were also a number of irritating Hollywood-type changes designed to increase dramatic tension. The crew argues with Bligh's decisions, which wouldn't happen, the court martial questions Bligh about matters that wouldn't be relevant. After leaving Tahiti, Bligh is pictured as becoming increasingly irrational, and the last straw leading to the mutiny is supposedly a decision by Bligh to go back by Cape Horn in order to have circumnavigated the globe. That's just silly, since his orders were to go the other way, with specific tasks en route. (The coconuts are in there, though.) And I got a little tired of too many scenes of native dances. Plus they always feel they have to have a flogging scene in a sea movie, and I loathe flogging scenes. In spite of my quibbles (there are many more) it was fun to watch and I recommend it. BaBi December 1, 2006 - 02:05 pm When you think that Bligh planted gardens everywhere he stopped, and was very interested in how earlier gardens had prospered, or not, I think it appropriate that his gravesite is now a garden museum. BODIE, I really enjoyed the Graden Museum link. I like that portrait of Bligh better than others we saw, and the photo of his home made him seem so real to me. Then the Tradescant tomb, with all the carving to commemorate the 'antiquarian collectors' side of their history. It's been such an interesting discussion, MARNI. I enjoyed every minute of it. UNTIL NEXT TIME....... Babi marni0308 December 1, 2006 - 10:04 pm JoanK: The best of luck in your move. What a huge job! I know you'll enjoy your new place. We did miss you in our discussion - you always add so much, but we're looking forward to joining you in the next one after you're settled in. Pat H: I'm going to have to re-view that film. From what I remember, Anthony Hopkins was marvelous as Bligh - so human, I thought. He's so wonderful. Thanks again, everyone! See you next time! This discussion will be READ ONLY shortly. Pat H December 2, 2006 - 06:09 am I can hardly wait for next time. Harold Arnold December 2, 2006 - 09:56 am I too enjoyed this indepth discussion of the Bounty Mutiny, and regret my necessary inactivity. Another great book for further reading is the Bligh Biographyy by Gavin Kennedy, Captain Bligh, The Man and his Mutinies . This biography is published in England by Duckworth. It is out of stock by B & N but apparently available in the U.S. per the link at Amazon.com. Also Click Here for A Brief Bounty Biliography That I prepared in connection with the previous Books discussion of the Bounty mutiny. Bodie December 2, 2006 - 10:54 am BaBi Yes I found the information and picture regarding Capt Bligh' home in Lambeth Road informative. His wife Elizabeth died in 1812, he moved the same year to Farningham in Kent. Bodie	i don't know
April 30 saw George Washington sworn in as the very first US President on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York. What year was his inauguration?	First Inaugural Address \| National Archives First Inaugural Address George Washington's First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789 Records of the United States Senate View images of the first inaugural address Presidential inaugurations are important civic rituals in our nation's political life. The Constitution requires that presidential electoral votes be opened and counted by the Senate and House of Representatives meeting together, that the candidate with a majority of electoral votes be declared the victor, and that the president-elect, before taking charge of the office, swear an oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." In 1788, the Confederation Congress scheduled the first presidential inauguration for the first Wednesday in March of the following year. However, the early months of 1789 proved to be unseasonably cold and snowy and bad weather delayed many members of the First Federal Congress from arriving promptly in New York City, the temporary seat of government. Until a quorum could be established in both the House and the Senate, no official business could be conducted. Finally, on April 6, 1789 - over a month late - enough members had reached New York to tally the electoral ballots. The ballots were counted on April 6 and George Washington won unanimously with 69 electoral votes. Washington was then notified of his victory and traveled to New York City from his home in Virginia. On April 30, 1789, George Washington took the oath as the first president of the United States. The oath was administered by Robert R. Livingston, the Chancellor of New York, on a second floor balcony of Federal Hall, above a crowd assembled in the streets to witness this historic event. President Washington and the members of Congress then retired to the Senate Chamber, where Washington delivered the first inaugural address to a joint session of Congress. Washington humbly noted the power of the nations' call for him to serve as president and the shared responsibility of the president and Congress to preserve "the sacred fire of liberty" and a republican form of government. At that auspicious moment marking the birth of the federal government under the Constitution, Senator William Maclay of Pennsylvania observed that even the great Washington trembled when he faced the assembled representatives and senators. "This great man was agitated and embarrassed," Maclay added, "more than ever he was by the levelled Cannon or pointed Musket." After concluding his remarks, the President and Congress proceeded through crowds lined up on Broadway to St. Paul's Church, where a service was conducted. Social gatherings and festivities closed the nation's first inaugural day. Subsequent presidential inaugurations took place on March 4th (or March 5th when the fourth fell on a Sunday), until the Twentieth Amendment changed the date to January 20th beginning in 1937.	1789
April 25 is celebrated as Anzac day in many parts of the world, a day to honor soldiers from what nations?	George Washington: First Inaugural Address. U.S. Inaugural Addresses. 1989 In the City of New York Thursday, April 30, 1789 The Nation's first chief executive took his oath of office in April in New York City on the balcony of the Senate Chamber at Federal Hall on Wall Street. General Washington had been unanimously elected President by the first electoral college, and John Adams was elected Vice President because he received the second greatest number of votes. Under the rules, each elector cast two votes. The Chancellor of New York and fellow Freemason, Robert R. Livingston administered the oath of office. The Bible on which the oath was sworn belonged to New York's St. John's Masonic Lodge. The new President gave his inaugural address before a joint session of the two Houses of Congress assembled inside the Senate Chamber. Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: AMONG the vicissitudes incident to life no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which the notification was transmitted by your order, and received on the 14th day of the present month. On the one hand, I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the asylum of my declining yearsa retreat which was rendered every day more necessary as well as more dear to me by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions in my health to the gradual waste committed on it by time. On the other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country called me, being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most experienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his qualifications, could not but overwhelm with despondence one who (inheriting inferior endowments from nature and unpracticed in the duties of civil administration) ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies. In this conflict of emotions all I dare aver is that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be affected. All I dare hope is that if, in executing this task, I have been too much swayed by a grateful remembrance of former instances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this transcendent proof of the confidence of my fellow-citizens, and have thence too little consulted my incapacity as well as disinclination for the weighty and untried cares before me, my error will be palliated by the motives which mislead me, and its consequences be judged by my country with some share of the partiality in which they originated. 1 Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow-citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted can not be compared with the means by which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence. 2 By the article establishing the executive department it is made the duty of the President "to recommend to your consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." The circumstances under which I now meet you will acquit me from entering into that subject further than to refer to the great constitutional charter under which you are assembled, and which, in defining your powers, designates the objects to which your attention is to be given. It will be more consistent with those circumstances, and far more congenial with the feelings which actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommendation of particular measures, the tribute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism which adorn the characters selected to devise and adopt them. In these honorable qualifications I behold the surest pledges that as on one side no local prejudices or attachments, no separate views nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests, so, on another, that the foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality, and the preeminence of free government be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its citizens and command the respect of the world. I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country can inspire, since there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people. 3 Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it will remain with your judgment to decide how far an exercise of the occasional power delegated by the fifth article of the Constitution is rendered expedient at the present juncture by the nature of objections which have been urged against the system, or by the degree of inquietude which has given birth to them. Instead of undertaking particular recommendations on this subject, in which I could be guided by no lights derived from official opportunities, I shall again give way to my entire confidence in your discernment and pursuit of the public good; for I assure myself that whilst you carefully avoid every alteration which might endanger the benefits of an united and effective government, or which ought to await the future lessons of experience, a reverence for the characteristic rights of freemen and a regard for the public harmony will sufficiently influence your deliberations on the question how far the former can be impregnably fortified or the latter be safely and advantageously promoted. 4 To the foregoing observations I have one to add, which will be most properly addressed to the House of Representatives. It concerns myself, and will therefore be as brief as possible. When I was first honored with a call into the service of my country, then on the eve of an arduous struggle for its liberties, the light in which I contemplated my duty required that I should renounce every pecuniary compensation. From this resolution I have in no instance departed; and being still under the impressions which produced it, I must decline as inapplicable to myself any share in the personal emoluments which may be indispensably included in a permanent provision for the executive department, and must accordingly pray that the pecuniary estimates for the station in which I am placed may during my continuance in it be limited to such actual expenditures as the public good may be thought to require. 5 Having thus imparted to you my sentiments as they have been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, I shall take my present leave; but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of the Human Race in humble supplication that, since He has been pleased to favor the American people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquillity, and dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity on a form of government for the security of their union and the advancement of their happiness, so His divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the wise measures on which the success of this Government must depend.	i don't know
April 24, 1800 saw the founding what institution when President John Adams sign an act of congress appropriating $5,000 “for the purchase of such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress …, and for fitting up a suitable apartment for containing them….”	Library of Congress Library of Congress Flag of the Library of Congress Established April 24, 1800; 216 years ago Location Collection Size 23,892,068 catalogued books in the Library of Congress Classification system; 5,711 incunabula (books printed before 1500), 14,067,260 monographs and serials, music, bound newspapers, pamphlets, technical reports, and other printed material; and 122,810,430 items in the nonclassified (special) collections: 160,775,469 total Items [1] Library does not publicly circulate Population served 535 members of the United States Congress , their staff, and members of the public Other information www.loc.gov The Library of Congress (“LOC”) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the de facto national library of the United States . It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. The Library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. ; it also maintains the Packard Campus in Culpeper, Virginia , which houses the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center . [2] The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world. Its “collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 450 languages. Two-thirds of the books it acquires each year are in languages other than English.” [2] The Library of Congress moved to Washington in 1800, after sitting for eleven years in the temporary national capitals of New York ( New York City ) and Philadelphia . John J. Beckley , who became the first Librarian of Congress , was paid two dollars per day and was required to also serve as the Clerk of the House of Representatives . [3] The small Congressional Library was housed in the United States Capitol for most of the 19th century until the early 1890s. Most of the original collection had been destroyed by the British in 1814, during the War of 1812 . To restore its collection in 1815, the library bought from former president Thomas Jefferson his entire personal collection of 6,487 books. After a period of slow growth, another fire struck the Library in its Capitol chambers in 1851, again destroying a large amount of the collection, including many of Jefferson’s books. The Library of Congress then began to grow rapidly in both size and importance after the American Civil War and a campaign to purchase replacement copies for volumes that had been burned from other sources, collections and libraries (which had started to appear throughout the burgeoning United States). The Library received the right of transference of all copyrighted works to have two copies deposited of books, maps, illustrations and diagrams printed in the United States. It also began to build its collections of British and other European works and then of works published throughout the English-speaking world . This development culminated in the construction between 1888 and 1894 of a separate, extensive library building across the street from the Capitol, in the Beaux Arts style with fine decorations, murals, paintings, marble halls, columns and steps, carved hardwoods and a stained glass dome. It included several stories built underground of steel and cast iron stacks. The Library’s primary mission of researching inquiries made by members of Congress is carried out through the Congressional Research Service , traces its origin to 1914, and was first permanently authorized (as the Legislative Reference Service) with the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 . Although the Library is open to the public, only high-ranking government officials may check out books and materials (except through Inter-Library Loan, which is available to the public). The Library promotes literacy and American literature through projects such as the American Folklife Center , American Memory , Center for the Book , and Poet Laureate . Contents Construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building , from July 8, 1888, to May 15, 1894. 1800–51: Origins and Jefferson’s contribution James Madison is credited with the idea for creating a congressional library, first making such a proposition in 1783. [4] The Library of Congress was established April 24, 1800, when President John Adams signed an act of Congress providing for the transfer of the seat of government from Philadelphia to the new capital city of Washington. Part of the legislation appropriated $5,000 “for the purchase of such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress …, and for fitting up a suitable apartment for containing them….” Books were ordered from London and the collection, consisting of 740 books and 3 maps, was housed in the new Capitol . [5] As president, Thomas Jefferson played an important role in establishing the structure of the Library of Congress. On January 26, 1802, he signed a bill that allowed the president to appoint an overseer of the Library of Congress and for the establishment of a Joint Committee on the Library to regulate and oversee the Library. The new law also extended to the president and vice president the ability to borrow books. In the midst of the War of 1812 , invading British Regulars led a Burning of Washington in August 1814, including the Capitol , and destroyed the Library of Congress and its collection of 3,000 volumes. [5] One of the only congressional volumes to have survived was a government account book of receipts and expenditures for the year 1810. [6] It was taken as a souvenir by a British Commander whose family later returned it to the United States government. Within a month, former president Jefferson offered to sell his personal library [7] [8] as a replacement. Jefferson had spent 50 years accumulating a wide variety of books, in several languages, in many subjects (philosophy, science, literature, architecture, law, religion, and mathematics) and other topics not normally viewed as part of a legislative library, such as cookbooks, writing that: “I do not know that it contains any branch of science which Congress would wish to exclude from their collection; there is, in fact, no subject to which a Member of Congress may not have occasion to refer”. In January 1815, Congress accepted Jefferson’s offer, appropriating $23,950 to purchase his 6,487 books. [5] Jefferson’s collection was unique in that it was a working collection of a scholar, not a gentleman’s collection for display. Jefferson’s original collection was organized into a scheme based on Francis Bacon ‘s organization of knowledge . Specifically, he grouped his books into Memory, Reason, and Imagination, which broke down into 44 more subdivisions. The Library followed Jefferson’s organization scheme until the late 19th century, when librarian Herbert Putnam began work on a more flexible Library of Congress Classification structure that now applies to more than 138 million items. In 1851, a fire destroyed two thirds of the Jefferson collection, with only 2,000 books remaining. In 2008, after working for ten years, the librarians at the Library of Congress had found replacements for all but 300 of the works that were in Jefferson’s original collection. [9] 1851–65: Weakening The antebellum period was difficult for the Library. During the 1850s the Smithsonian Institution ‘s librarian Charles Coffin Jewett aggressively tried to move that organization towards becoming the United States’ national library. His efforts were blocked by the Smithsonian secretary Joseph Henry , who advocated a focus on scientific research and publication and favored the Library of Congress’ development into the national library. Henry’s dismissal of Jewett in July 1854 ended the Smithsonian’s attempts to become the national library, and in 1866 Henry transferred the Smithsonian Institution’s library of forty thousand volumes to the Library of Congress. [5] December 24, 1851, the largest fire in the Library’s history destroyed 35,000 books, about two–thirds of the Library’s 55,000 book collection, including two-thirds of Jefferson’s original transfer. Congress in 1852 quickly appropriated $168,700 to replace the lost books, but not for the acquisition of new materials. This marked the start of a conservative period in the Library’s administration by librarian John Silva Meehan and joint committee chairman James A. Pearce , who worked to restrict the Library’s activities. In 1857, Congress transferred the Library’s public document distribution activities to the Department of the Interior and its international book exchange program to the Department of State . Abraham Lincoln ‘s political appointment of John G. Stephenson as librarian of Congress in 1861 further weakened the Library; Stephenson’s focus was on non-library affairs, including service as a volunteer aide-de-camp at the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg during the American Civil War . By the conclusion of the war, the Library of Congress had a staff of seven for a collection of 80,000 volumes. [5] The centralization of copyright offices into the United States Patent Office in 1859 ended the Library’s thirteen-year role as a depository of all copyrighted books and pamphlets. 1865–97: Spofford’s expansion The West façade of the Library of Congress in 1898 The Library of Congress inside the U.S. Capitol Building c. 1890 The Library of Congress reasserted itself during the latter half of the 19th century under Librarian Ainsworth Rand Spofford , who directed the Library from 1865 to 1897. Aided by an overall expansion of the federal government and a favorable political climate, Spofford built broad bipartisan support for the Library as a national library and a legislative resource, began comprehensively collecting Americana and American literature , and led the construction of a new building to house the Library, and transformed the Librarian of Congress position into one of strength and independence. Between 1865 and 1870, Congress appropriated funds for the construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building, placed all copyright registration and deposit activities under the Library’s control, and restored the Library’s international book exchange. The Library also acquired the vast libraries of both the Smithsonian and historian Peter Force , strengthening its scientific and Americana collections significantly. By 1876, the Library of Congress had 300,000 volumes and was tied with the Boston Public Library as the nation’s largest library. When the Library moved from the Capitol building to its new headquarters in 1897, it had over 840,000 volumes, 40% of which had been acquired through copyright deposit. [5] Some of the Library of Congress’ holdings awaiting shelving inside the newly opened Thomas Jefferson Building A year before the Library’s move to its new location, the Joint Library Committee held a session of hearings to assess the condition of the Library and plan for its future growth and possible reorganization. Spofford and six experts sent by the American Library Association , including future Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam and Melvil Dewey of the New York State Library , testified before the committee that the Library should continue its expansion towards becoming a true national library. Based on the hearings and with the assistance of Senators Justin Morrill of Vermont and Daniel Voorhees of Indiana, Congress more than doubled the Library’s staff from 42 to 108 and established new administrative units for all aspects of the Library’s collection. Congress also strengthened the office of Librarian of Congress to govern the Library and make staff appointments, as well as requiring Senate approval for presidential appointees to the position. [5] 1897–1939: Post-reorganization The Library of Congress in 1898 The Library of Congress, spurred by the 1897 reorganization, began to grow and develop more rapidly. Spofford’s successor John Russell Young , though only in office for two years, overhauled the Library’s bureaucracy, used his connections as a former diplomat to acquire more materials from around the world, and established the Library’s first assistance programs for the blind and physically disabled. Young’s successor Herbert Putnam held the office for forty years from 1899 to 1939, entering into the position two years before the Library became the first in the United States to hold one million volumes. [5] Putnam focused his efforts on making the Library more accessible and useful for the public and for other libraries. He instituted the interlibrary loan service, transforming the Library of Congress into what he referred to as a “library of last resort”. [10] Putnam also expanded Library access to “scientific investigators and duly qualified individuals” and began publishing primary sources for the benefit of scholars. [5] Putnam’s tenure also saw increasing diversity in the Library’s acquisitions. In 1903, he persuaded President Theodore Roosevelt to transfer by executive order the papers of the Founding Fathers from the State Department to the Library of Congress. Putnam expanded foreign acquisitions as well, including the 1904 purchase of a four-thousand volume library of Indica , the 1906 purchase of G. V. Yudin’s eighty-thousand volume Russian library, the 1908 Schatz collection of early opera librettos , and the early 1930s purchase of the Russian Imperial Collection, consisting of 2,600 volumes from the library of the Romanov family on a variety of topics. Collections of Hebraica and Chinese and Japanese works were also acquired. Congress even took the initiative to acquire materials for the Library in one occasion, when in 1929 Congressman Ross Collins of Mississippi successfully proposed the $1.5 million purchase of Otto Vollbehr’s collection of incunabula , including one of three remaining perfect vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible . [5] A copy of the Gutenberg Bible on display at the Library of Congress In 1914, Putnam established the Legislative Reference Service as a separative administrative unit of the Library. Based in the Progressive era ‘s philosophy of science as a problem-solver, and modeled after successful research branches of state legislatures, the LRS would provide informed answers to Congressional research inquiries on almost any topic. In 1965, Congress passed an act allowing the Library of Congress to establish a trust fund board to accept donations and endowments, giving the Library a role as a patron of the arts. The Library received the donations and endowments of prominent individuals such as John D. Rockefeller , James B. Wilbur and Archer M. Huntington . Gertrude Clarke Whittall donated five Stradivarius violins to the Library and Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge ‘s donations paid for a concert hall within the Library of Congress building and the establishment of an honorarium for the Music Division. A number of chairs and consultantships were established from the donations, the most well-known of which is the Poet Laureate Consultant . [5] The Library’s expansion eventually filled the Library’s Main Building, despite shelving expansions in 1910 and 1927, forcing the Library to expand into a new structure. Congress acquired nearby land in 1928 and approved construction of the Annex Building (later the John Adams Building) in 1930. Although delayed during the Depression years, it was completed in 1938 and opened to the public in 1939. [5] 1939–present: Modern history Erotica, mural painting by George Randolph Barse (1861–1938) in the Library of Congress Elihu Vedder ‘s Minerva of Peace mosaic When Putnam retired in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Archibald MacLeish as his successor. Occupying the post from 1939 to 1944 during the height of World War II, MacLeish became the most visible Librarian of Congress in the Library’s history. MacLeish encouraged librarians to oppose totalitarianism on behalf of democracy; dedicated the South Reading Room of the Adams Building to Thomas Jefferson, commissioning artist Ezra Winter to paint four themed murals for the room; and established a “democracy alcove” in the Main Reading Room of the Jefferson Building for important documents such as the Declaration, Constitution and The Federalist Papers . The Library of Congress even assisted during the war effort, ranging from the storage of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution in Fort Knox for safekeeping to researching weather data on the Himalayas for Air Force pilots. MacLeish resigned in 1944 to become Assistant Secretary of State, and President Harry Truman appointed Luther H. Evans as Librarian of Congress. Evans, who served until 1953, expanded the Library’s acquisitions, cataloging and bibliographic services as much as the fiscal-minded Congress would allow, but his primary achievement was the creation of Library of Congress Missions around the world. Missions played a variety of roles in the postwar world: the mission in San Francisco assisted participants in the meeting that established the United Nations , the mission in Europe acquired European publications for the Library of Congress and other American libraries, and the mission in Japan aided in the creation of the National Diet Library . [5] Evans’ successor L. Quincy Mumford took over in 1953. Mumford’s tenure, lasting until 1974, saw the initiation of the construction of the James Madison Memorial Building, the third Library of Congress building. Mumford directed the Library during a period of increased educational spending, the windfall of which allowed the Library to devote energies towards establishing new acquisition centers abroad, including in Cairo and New Delhi. In 1967, the Library began experimenting with book preservation techniques through a Preservation Office, which grew to become the largest library research and conservation effort in the United States. Mumford’s administration also saw the last major public debate about the Library of Congress’ role as both a legislative library and a national library. A 1962 memorandum by Douglas Bryant of the Harvard University Library , compiled at the request of Joint Library Committee chairman Claiborne Pell , proposed a number of institutional reforms, including expansion of national activities and services and various organizational changes, all of which would shift the Library more towards its national role over its legislative role. Bryant even suggested possibly changing the name of the Library of Congress, which was rebuked by Mumford as “unspeakable violence to tradition”. Debate continued within the library community until the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 shifted the Library back towards its legislative roles, placing greater focus on research for Congress and congressional committees and renaming the Legislative Reference Service to the Congressional Research Service . [5] After Mumford retired in 1974, Gerald Ford appointed Daniel J. Boorstin as Librarian. Boorstin’s first challenge was the move to the new Madison Building, which took place between 1980 and 1982. The move released pressures on staff and shelf space, allowing Boorstin to focus on other areas of Library administration such as acquisitions and collections. Taking advantage of steady budgetary growth, from $116 million in 1975 to over $250 million by 1987, Boorstin actively participated in enhancing ties with scholars, authors, publishers, cultural leaders, and the business community. His active and prolific role changed the post of Librarian of Congress so that by the time he retired in 1987, The New York Times called it “perhaps the leading intellectual public position in the nation”. President Ronald Reagan nominated James H. Billington as the 13th Librarian of Congress in 1987, and the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed the appointment. [11] Under Billington’s leadership, the Library doubled the size of its analog collections from 85.5 million items in 1987 to more than 160 million items in 2014. At the same time, it established new programs and employed new technologies to, “get the champagne out of the bottle.” These included: American Memory created in 1990, which became The National Digital Library in 1994, providing free access online to digitized American history and culture resources with curatorial explanations for K-12 education . [12] THOMAS .gov website launched in 1994 to provide free public access to U.S. federal legislative information with ongoing updates; and CONGRESS.gov website to provide a state-of-the-art framework for both Congress and the public in 2012; [13] The National Book Festival, founded in 2000 with Laura Bush , has brought over 1000 authors and a million guests to the National Mall and the Washington Convention Center to celebrate reading. With a major gift from David Rubenstein in 2013, the Library also established the Library of Congress Literacy Awards to recognize and support achievements in improving literacy in the U.S. and abroad; [14] The Kluge Center, started with a grant of $60 million from John W. Kluge in 2000 to bring scholars and researchers from around the world to use Library resources and to interact with policymakers and the public. It hosts public lectures and scholarly events, provides endowed Kluge fellowships, and awards The Kluge Prize for the Study of Humanity (now worth $1.5 million), the first Nobel-level international prize for lifetime achievement in the humanities and social sciences (subjects not included in the Nobel awards); [15] Open World Leadership Center, established in 2000, administered 23,000 professional exchanges for emerging post-Soviet leaders in Russia, Ukraine and the other successor states of the former USSR by 2015. Open World began as a Library of Congress project, and later became an independent agency in the legislative branch. [16] The Veterans History Project, congressionally mandated in 2000 to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans from WWI to the present day; [17] The National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, which opened in 2007 at a 45-acre site in Culpeper, Virginia with the largest private gift ever made to the Library (more than $150 million by the Packard Humanities Institute) and $82.1 million additional support from Congress. In 1988, The Library also established the National Film Preservation Board, a congressionally mandated National Film Preservation Board to select American films annually for preservation and inclusion in the new National Registry. The Librarian named 650 films to the Registry by 2015; [18] The Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, [19] launched in 2007 to honor the work of an artist whose career reflects lifetime achievement in song composition. Winners have included Paul Simon , Stevie Wonder , Paul McCartney , Burt Bacharach and Hal David , Carole King , Billy Joel , and just-named Willie Nelson for November 2015. The Library also launched the Living Legend Awards in 2000 to honor artists, activists, filmmakers, and others who have contributed to America’s diverse cultural, scientific, and social heritage; The Fiction Prize (now the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction ) started in 2008 to recognize distinguished lifetime achievement in the writing of fiction. [20] The World Digital Library, established in association with UNESCO and 181 partners in 81 countries in 2009, to make online copies of professionally curated primary materials of the world’s varied cultures freely available in multiple languages. [21] [21] National Jukebox launched in 2011 to provide streaming free online access to more than 10,000 out-of-print music and spoken word recordings. [22] BARD in 2013, digital talking books mobile app for Braille and Audio Reading Downloads in partnership with the Library’s National Library Service for the blind and physically handicapped, that enables free downloads of audio and Braille books to mobile devices via the Apple App Store . [23] During Billington’s tenure as the 13th Librarian of Congress, the Library acquired Lafayette’s previously inaccessible papers in 1996 from a castle at La Grange, France; and the only copy of the 1507 Waldseemüller world map (“America’s birth certificate”) in 2003 for permanent display in the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building. Using privately raised funds, the Library of Congress reconstructed Thomas Jefferson’s original library, which was placed on permanent display in the Jefferson building in 2008. [24] Billington also enlarged and technologically enhanced public spaces of the Jefferson Building into a national exhibition venue, and hosted over 100 exhibitions. [25] These included exhibits on the Vatican Library and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France , several on the Civil War and Lincoln, on African-American culture, on Religion and the founding of the American Republic, the Early Americas (the Kislak Collection became a permanent display), on the global celebration commemorating the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta , and on early American printing featuring the Rubenstein Bay Psalm Book . Onsite access to the Library of Congress was also increased when Billington advocated successfully for an underground connection between the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center and the Library in 2008 to increase congressional usage and public tours of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building. [11] Under Billington, the Library launched a mass deacidification program in 2001, which has extended the lifespan of almost 4 million volumes and 12 million manuscript sheets; and new collection storage modules at Fort Meade, the first opening in 2002, to preserve and make accessible more than 4 million items from the Library’s analog collections. Billington established the Library Collections Security Oversight Committee in 1992 to improve protection of collections, and also the Library of Congress Congressional Caucus in 2008 to draw attention to the Library’s curators and collections. He created the Library’s first Young Readers Center in the Jefferson Building in 2009, and the first large-scale summer intern (Junior Fellows) program for university students in 1991. [26] Under Billington, the Library also sponsored the Gateway to Knowledge in 2010-2011, a mobile exhibition to 90 sites covering all states east of the Mississippi in a specially designed 18-wheel truck, increasing public access to Library collections off-site, particularly for rural populations. [27] Billington raised more than half a billion dollars of private support to supplement Congressional appropriations for Library collections, programs, and digital outreach. These private funds helped the Library to continue its growth and outreach in the face of a 30% decrease in staffing caused mainly by legislative appropriations cutbacks. He created the Library’s first development office for private fundraising in 1987, and, in 1990, established the James Madison Council, the Library’s first national private sector donor-support group. In 1987, Billington also asked the GAO to conduct the first Library-wide audit, and he created the first Office of the Inspector General at the Library to provide regular independent review of library operations. This precedent led to regular annual financial audits, leading to unmodified (“clean”) opinions from 1995 onwards. [11] In April 2010, it announced plans to archive all public communication on Twitter, including all communication since Twitter’s launch in March 2006. [28] As of 2015, the Twitter archive remains unfinished. [29] When Billington announced his plans to retire in 2015, commentator George Weigel described the Library of Congress as “one of the last refuges in Washington of serious bipartisanship and calm, considered conversation,” and “one of the world’s greatest cultural centers.” [30] Carla Hayden was sworn in as the 14th Librarian of Congress on September 14, 2016, to become the first woman and first African-American to hold the position. [31] [32] Holdings Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building The Great Hall interior The collections of the Library of Congress include more than 32 million cataloged books and other print materials in 470 languages; more than 61 million manuscripts ; the largest rare book collection [33] in North America, including the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence , a Gutenberg Bible (originating from the St. Blaise Abbey, Black Forest ) (one of only three perfect vellum copies known to exist); [34] [35] [36] over 1 million U.S. government publications; 1 million issues of world newspapers spanning the past three centuries; 33,000 bound newspaper volumes; 500,000 microfilm reels; over 6,000 titles in all, totaling more than 120,000 issues comic book [37] titles; films; 5.3 million maps ; 6 million works of sheet music ; 3 million sound recordings ; more than 14.7 million prints and photographic images including fine and popular art pieces and architectural drawings; [38] the Betts Stradivarius ; and the Cassavetti Stradivarius . The Library developed a system of book classification called Library of Congress Classification (LCC), which is used by most US research and university libraries . The Library serves as a legal repository for copyright protection and copyright registration , and as the base for the United States Copyright Office . Regardless of whether they register their copyright, all publishers are required to submit two complete copies of their published works to the Library—this requirement is known as mandatory deposit. [39] Nearly 22,000 new items published in the U.S. arrive every business day at the Library. Contrary to popular belief, however, the Library does not retain all of these works in its permanent collection, although it does add an average of 10,000 items per day. Rejected items are used in trades with other libraries around the world, distributed to federal agencies, or donated to schools, communities, and other organizations within the United States. [40] As is true of many similar libraries , the Library of Congress retains copies of every publication in the English language that is deemed significant. The Library of Congress states that its collection fills about 838 miles (1,349 km) of bookshelves, while the British Library reports about 388 miles (624 km) of shelves. [41] [42] The Library of Congress holds more than 155.3 million items with more than 35 million books and other print materials, against approximately 150 million items with 25 million books for the British Library. [41] [42] A 2000 study by information scientists Peter Lyman and Hal Varian suggested that the amount of uncompressed textual data represented by the 26 million books then in the collection was 10 terabytes . [43] The Library also administers the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped , an audio book and braille library program provided to more than 766,000 Americans. Digitization The Library’s first digitization project was called “ American Memory .” Launched in 1990, it initially planned to choose 160 million objects from its collection to make digitally available on laserdiscs and CDs that would be distributed to schools and libraries. After realizing that this plan would be too expensive and inefficient, and with the rise of the Internet, the Library decided to instead make digitized material available over the Internet. This project was made official in the National Digital Library Program (NDLP), created in October 1994. By 1999, the NDLP had succeeded in digitizing over 5 million objects and had a budget of $12 million. The Library has kept the “American Memory” name for its public domain website, which today contains 15 million digital objects, comprising over 7 petabytes . [44] American Memory is a source for public domain image resources, as well as audio, video, and archived Web content. Nearly all of the lists of holdings, the catalogs of the library, can be consulted directly on its web site. Librarians all over the world consult these catalogs, through the Web or through other media better suited to their needs, when they need to catalog for their collection a book published in the United States. They use the Library of Congress Control Number to make sure of the exact identity of the book. Digital images are also available at Snapshots of the Past , which provides archival prints. [45] The Library has a budget of between $6–8 million each year for digitization, meaning that not all works can be digitized. It makes determinations about what objects to prioritize based on what is especially important to Congress or potentially interesting for the public. The 15 million digitized items represent less than 10% of the Library’s total 160-million item collection. The Library has chosen not to participate in other digital library projects such as Google Books and the Digital Public Library of America , although it has supported the Internet Archive project. [44] The Library of Congress also provides an online archive of the proceedings of the U.S. Congress at THOMAS , including bill text, Congressional Record text, bill summary and status, the Congressional Record Index, and the United States Constitution . Buildings of the Library Packard Campus (Culpeper, Virginia) The Library of Congress is physically housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill and a conservation center in rural Virginia . The Library’s Capitol Hill buildings are all connected by underground passageways, so that a library user need pass through security only once in a single visit. The library also has off-site storage facilities for less commonly requested materials. Thomas Jefferson Building The Thomas Jefferson Building is located between Independence Avenue and East Capitol Street on First Street SE. It first opened in 1897 as the main building of the Library and is the oldest of the three buildings. Known originally as the Library of Congress Building or Main Building, it took its present name on June 13, 1980. John Adams Building The John Adams Building is located between Independence Avenue and East Capitol Street on 2nd Street SE, the block adjacent to the Jefferson Building. The building was originally built simply as an annex to the Jefferson Building. It opened its doors to the public January 3, 1939. James Madison Memorial Building The James Madison Memorial Building is located between First and Second Streets on Independence Avenue SE. The building was constructed from 1971 to 1976, and serves as the official memorial to President James Madison. The Madison Building is also home to the Mary Pickford Theater, the “motion picture and television reading room” of the Library of Congress. The theater hosts regular free screenings of classic and contemporary movies and television shows. Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation The Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation is the Library of Congress’s newest building, opened in 2007 and located in Culpeper, Virginia . [46] It was constructed out of a former Federal Reserve storage center and Cold War bunker. The campus is designed to act as a single site to store all of the library’s movie, television, and sound collections. It is named to honor David Woodley Packard , whose Packard Humanities Institute oversaw design and construction of the facility. The centerpiece of the complex is a reproduction Art Deco movie theater that presents free movie screenings to the public on a semi-weekly basis. [47] Digital Millennium Copyright Act The Library of Congress, through both the Librarian of Congress and the Register of Copyrights, is responsible for authorizing exceptions to Section 1201 of Title 17 of the United States Code as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This process is done every three years, with the Register receiving proposals from the public and acting as an advisor to the Librarian, who issues a ruling on what is exempt. After three years have passed, the ruling is no longer valid and a new ruling on exemptions must be made. [48] [49] Access The library is open for academic research to anyone with a Reader Identification Card. One may not remove library items from the reading rooms or the library buildings. Most of the Library’s general collection of books and journals is in the closed stacks of the Jefferson and Adams Buildings; specialized collections of books and other materials are in closed stacks in all three main Library buildings, or are stored off-site. Access to the closed stacks is not permitted under any circumstances, except to authorized Library staff. Only the reading room reference collections are on open shelves. Since 1902, American libraries have been able to request books and other items through interlibrary loan from the Library of Congress if these items are not readily available elsewhere. Through this system, the Library of Congress has served as a “library of last resort”, according to former Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam . [10] The Library of Congress lends books to other libraries with the stipulation that they be used only inside the borrowing library. [50] Standards In addition to its library services, the Library of Congress is also actively involved in various standard activities in areas related to bibliographical and search and retrieve standards. Areas of work include MARC standards , Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS), Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS), Z39.50 and Search/Retrieve Web Service (SRW), and Search/Retrieve via URL (SRU). [51] The Law Library of Congress seeks to further legal scholarship by providing opportunities for scholars and practitioners to conduct significant legal research. Individuals are invited to apply for projects which would further the multi-faceted mission of the Law Library in serving the U.S. Congress, other governmental agencies, and the public. [52] Annual events ^ http://www.loc.gov/law/opportunities/ Research & Educational Opportunities Further reading Aikin, Jane (2010). “Histories of the Library of Congress”. Libraries & the Cultural Record. 45 (1): 5–24. doi : 10.1353/lac.0.0113 . Anderson, Gillian B. (1989), “Putting the Experience of the World at the Nation’s Command: Music at the Library of Congress, 1800-1917″, Journal of the American Musicological Society, 42 (1): 108–49, doi : 10.2307/831419 Bisbort, Alan, and Linda Barrett Osborne. The Nation’s Library: The Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. (Library of Congress, 2000) Cole, John Young. Jefferson’s legacy: a brief history of the Library of Congress (Library of Congress, 1993) Cole, John Young. “The library of congress becomes a world library, 1815-2005.” Libraries & culture (2005) 40#3: 385-398. in Project MUSE Cope, R. L. “Management Review of the Library of Congress: The 1996 Booz Allen & Hamilton Report,” Australian Academic & Research Libraries (1997) 28#1 online Mearns, David Chambers. The Story Up To Now: The Library Of Congress, 1800-1946 (1947), detailed narrative Ostrowski, Carl. Books, Maps, and Politics: A Cultural History of the Library of Congress, 1783-1861 (2004) online Rosenberg, Jane Aiken. The Nation’s Great Library: Herbert Putnam and the Library of Congress, 1899–1939 (University of Illinois Press, 1993) Shevlin, Eleanor F.; Lindquist, Eric N. (2010). “The Center for the Book and the History of the Book”. Libraries & the Cultural Record. 45 (1): 56–69. doi : 10.1353/lac.0.0112 . Tabb, Winston; et al. (2003). “Library of Congress”. Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science. 3: 1593–1612. Architecture Cole, John Y. and Henry Hope Reed. The Library of Congress: The Art and Architecture of the Thomas Jefferson Building (1998) excerpt and text search Small, Herbert, and Henry Hope Reed. The Library of Congress: Its Architecture and Decoration (1983) External links	Library of Congress
On the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, a diamond is at the hardest end of the scale with a value of 10. What substance is the softest with a value of 1?	Learn one topic daily Learn one topic daily Library of Congress The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress , de facto national library of the United States of America , and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in four buildings in Washington, D.C., as well as the Packard Campus [2] in Culpeper, Virginia , it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and number of books. The head of the Library is the Librarian of Congress , currently James H. Billington . The Library of Congress was instituted for Congress in 1800, and was housed in the United States Capitol for most of the 19th century. After much of the original collection had been destroyed during the War of 1812 , Thomas Jefferson sold 6,487 books, his entire personal collection, to the library in 1815. [3] [4] After a period of decline during the mid-19th century the Library of Congress began to grow rapidly in both size and importance after the American Civil War , culminating in the construction of a separate library building and the transference of all copyright deposit holdings to the Library. During the rapid expansion of the 20th century the Library of Congress assumed a preeminent public role, becoming a "library of last resort" and expanding its mission for the benefit of scholars and the American people. The Library's primary mission is researching inquiries made by members of Congress through the Congressional Research Service . Although it is open to the public, only Library employees, Members of Congress, Supreme Court justices and other high-ranking government officials may check out books. As the de facto national library, the Library of Congress promotes literacy and American literature through projects such as the American Folklife Center , American Memory , Center for the Book and Poet Laureate . Library of Congress Library of Congress reading room Established Collection Size 22,765,967 cataloged books in the Library of Congress classification system 5,600 incunabula (books printed before 1500), monographs and serials, music, bound newspapers, pamphlets, technical reports, and other printed material, and 109,029,796 items in the nonclassified (special) collections 151,785,778 total Items [1] Library does not publicly circulate Population served 541 members of the United States Congress , their staff, and members of the public Other information James H. Billington (Librarian of Congress) Staff Construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building , from July 8, 1888, to May 15, 1894. [edit]Origins and Jefferson's contribution (1800–1851) The Library of Congress was established on April 24, 1800, when President John Adams signed an Act of Congress providing for the transfer of the seat of government from Philadelphia to the new capital city of Washington. Part of the legislation appropriated $5,000 "for the purchase of such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress ..., and for fitting up a suitable apartment for containing them...." Books were ordered from London and the collection, consisting of 740 books and 3 maps, was housed in the new Capitol . [5] The collection covered a variety of topics but the bulk of the materials were legal in nature, reflecting Congress' role as a maker of laws.[ citation needed ] Thomas Jefferson played an important role in the Library's early formation, signing into law on January 26, 1802, the first law establishing the structure of the Library of Congress. The law established the presidentially appointed post of Librarian of Congress and a Joint Committee on the Library to regulate and oversee the Library, as well as giving the president and vice president the ability to borrow books. [5] The Library of Congress was destroyed in August 1814, when invading British troops set fire to the Capitol building and the small library of 3,000 volumes within. [5] Within a month, former President Jefferson offered his personal library [6] [7] as a replacement. Jefferson had spent 50 years accumulating a wide variety of books, including ones in foreign languages and volumes of philosophy, science, literature, and other topics not normally viewed as part of a legislative library, such as cookbooks, writing that, "I do not know that it contains any branch of science which Congress would wish to exclude from their collection; there is, in fact, no subject to which a Member of Congress may not have occasion to refer." In January 1815, Congress accepted Jefferson's offer, appropriating $23,950 to purchase his 6,487 books. [5] [edit]Weakening (1851–1865) The antebellum period was difficult for the Library. During the 1850s the Smithsonian Institution 's librarian Charles Coffin Jewett aggressively tried to move that organization towards becoming the United States' national library. His efforts were blocked by the Smithsonian's Secretary Joseph Henry , who advocated a focus on scientific research and publication and favored the Library of Congress' development into the national library. Henry's dismissal of Jewett in July 1854 ended the Smithsonian's attempts to become the national library, and in 1866 Henry transferred the Smithsonian's forty thousand-volume library to the Library of Congress. [5] On December 24, 1851 the largest fire in the Library's history destroyed 35,000 books, about two–thirds of the Library's 55,000 book collection, including two–thirds of Jefferson's original transfer. [5] Congress in 1852 quickly appropriated $168,700 to replace the lost books, but not for the acquisition of new materials. This marked the start of a conservative period in the Library's administration under Librarian John Silva Meehan and Joint Committee Chairman James A. Pearce , who worked to restrict the Library's activities. [5] In 1857, Congress transferred the Library's public document distribution activities to the Department of the Interior and its international book exchange program to the Department of State . Abraham Lincoln 's political appointment of John G. Stephenson as Librarian of Congress in 1861 further weakened the Library; Stephenson's focus was on non-library affairs, including service as a volunteer aide-de-camp at the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg during the American Civil War . By the conclusion of the war, the Library of Congress had a staff of seven for a collection of 80,000 volumes. [5] The centralization of copyright offices into the United States Patent Office in 1859 ended the Library's thirteen year role as a depository of all copyrighted books and pamphlets. [edit]Spofford's expansion (1865–1897) The Library of Congress inside the U.S. Capitol Building c. 1890 The Library of Congress reasserted itself during the latter half of the 19th century under Librarian Ainsworth Rand Spofford , who directed the Library from 1865 to 1897. Aided by an overall expansion of the federal government and a favorable political climate, Spofford built broad bipartisan support for the Library as a national library and a legislative resource, began comprehensively collecting Americana and American literature , and led the construction of a new building to house the Library, and transformed the Librarian of Congress position into one of strength and independence. [5] Between 1865 and 1870, Congress appropriated funds for the construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building, placed all copyright registration and deposit activities under the Library's control, and restored the Library's international book exchange. The Library also acquired the vast libraries of both the Smithsonian and historian Peter Force , strengthening its scientific and Americana collections significantly. By 1876, the Library of Congress had 300,000 volumes and was tied with Boston Public Library as the nation's largest library. When the Library moved from the Capitol building to its new headquarters in 1897, it had over 840,000 volumes, 40% of which had been acquired through copyright deposit. [5] Some of the Library of Congress' holdings awaiting shelving inside the newly opened Thomas Jefferson Building A year before the Library's move to its new location, the Joint Library Committee held a session of hearings to assess the condition of the Library and plan for its future growth and possible reorganization. Spofford and six experts sent by the American Library Association , including future Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam and Melvil Dewey of the New York State Library , testified before the committee that the Library should continue its expansion towards becoming a true national library. [5] Based on the hearings and with the assistance of Senators Justin Morrill of Vermont and Daniel Voorhees of Indiana, Congress more than doubled the Library's staff from 42 to 108 and established new administrative units for all aspects of the Library's collection. Congress also strengthened the office of Librarian of Congress to govern the Library and make staff appointments, as well as requiring Senate approval for presidential appointees to the position. [5] [edit]Post-reorganization (1897–1939) Main Library of Congress building at the start of the 20th century The Library of Congress, spurred by the 1897 reorganization, began to grow and develop more rapidly. Spofford's successor John Russell Young , though only in office for two years, overhauled the Library's bureaucracy, used his connections as a former diplomat to acquire more materials from around the world, and established the Library's first assistance programs for the blind and physically disabled. [5] Young's successor Herbert Putnam held the office for forty years from 1899 to 1939, entering into the position two years before the Library became the first in the United States to hold one million volumes. [5] Putnam focused his efforts on making the Library more accessible and useful for the public and for other libraries. He instituted the interlibrary loan service, transforming the Library of Congress into what he referred to as a "library of last resort". [8] Putnam also expanded Library access to "scientific investigators and duly qualified individuals" and began publishing primary sources for the benefit of scholars. [5] Putnam's tenure also saw increasing diversity in the Library's acquisitions. In 1903 he persuaded President Theodore Roosevelt to transfer by executive order the papers of the Founding Fathers from the State Department to the Library of Congress. Putnam expanded foreign acquisitions as well, including the 1904 purchase of a four-thousand volume library of Indica , the 1906 purchase of G. V. Yudin's eighty-thousand volume Russian library, the 1908 Schatz collection of early opera librettos , and the early 1930s purchase of the Russian Imperial Collection, consisting of 2,600 volumes from the library of the Romanov family on a variety of topics. Collections of Hebraica and Chinese and Japanese works were also acquired. [5] Congress even took the initiative to acquire materials for the Library in one occasion, when in 1929 Congressman Ross Collins of Mississippi successfully proposed the $1.5 million purchase of Otto Vollbehr's collection of incunabula , including one of four remaining perfect vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible . [5] A copy of the Gutenberg Bible on display at the Library of Congress In 1914 Putnam established the Legislative Reference Service as a separative administrative unit of the Library. Based in the Progressive era 's philosophy of science as a problem-solver, and modeled after successful research branches of state legislatures, the LRS would provide informed answers to Congressional research inquiries on almost any topic. [5] In 1965 Congress passed an act allowing the Library of Congress to establish a trust fund board to accept donations and endowments, giving the Library a role as a patron of the arts. The Library received the donations and endowments of prominent individuals such as John D. Rockefeller , James B. Wilbur and Archer M. Huntington . Gertrude Clarke Whittall donated five Stradivarius violins to the Library and Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge 's donations paid for a concert hall within the Library of Congress building and the establishment of an honorarium for the Music Division. A number of chairs and consultantships were established from the donations, the most well-known of which is the Poet Laureate Consultant . [5] The Library's expansion eventually filled the Library's Main Building, despite shelving expansions in 1910 and 1927, forcing the Library to expand into a new structure. Congress acquired nearby land in 1928 and approved construction of the Annex Building (later the John Adams Building) in 1930. Although delayed during the Depression years, it was completed in 1938 and opened to the public in 1939. [5] [edit]Modern history (1939–Present) Erotica , mural painting by George Randolph Barse (1861–1938) in the Library of Congress Elihu Vedder 's Minerva of Peace mosaic When Putnam retired in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Archibald MacLeish as his successor. Occupying the post from 1939 to 1944 during the height of World War II, MacLeish became the most visible Librarian of Congress in the Library's history. MacLeish encouraged librarians to oppose totalitarianism on behalf of democracy; dedicated the South Reading Room of the Adams Building to Thomas Jefferson, commissioning artist Ezra Winter to paint four themed murals for the room; and established a "democracy alcove" in the Main Reading Room of the Jefferson Building for important documents such as the Declaration, Constitution and Federalist Papers . [5] Even the Library of Congress assisted during the war effort, ranging from the storage of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution in Fort Knox for safekeeping to researching weather data on the Himalayas for Air Force pilots. [5] MacLeish resigned in 1944 to become Assistant Secretary of State, and President Harry Truman appointed Luther H. Evans as Librarian of Congress. Evans, who served until 1953, expanded the Library's acquisitions, cataloging and bibliographic services as much as the fiscal-minded Congress would allow, but his primary achievement was the creation of Library of Congress Missions around the world. Missions played a variety of roles in the postwar world: the mission in San Francisco assisted participants in the meeting that established the United Nations, the mission in Europe acquired European publications for the Library of Congress and other American libraries, and the mission in Japan aided in the creation of the National Diet Library . [5] Evans' successor L. Quincy Mumford took over in 1953. Mumford's tenure, lasting until 1974, saw the initiation of the construction of the James Madison Memorial Building, the third Library of Congress building. Mumford directed the Library during a period of increased educational spending, the windfall of which allowed the Library to devote energies towards establishing new acquisition centers abroad, including in Cairo and New Delhi. In 1967 the Library began experimenting with book preservation techniques through a Preservation Office, which grew to become the largest library research and conservation effort in the United States. [5] Mumford's administration also saw the last major public debate about the Library of Congress' role as both a legislative library and a national library. A 1962 memorandum by Douglas Bryant of the Harvard University Library , compiled at the request of Joint Library Committee chairman Claiborne Pell , proposed a number of institutional reforms, including expansion of national activities and services and various organizational changes, all of which would shift the Library more towards its national role over its legislative role. Bryant even suggested possibly changing the name of the Library of Congress, which was rebuked by Mumford as "unspeakable violence to tradition". [5] Debate continued within the library community until the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 shifted the Library back towards its legislative roles, placing greater focus on research for Congress and congressional committees and renaming the Legislative Reference Service to the Congressional Research Service . [5] After Mumford retired in 1974, Gerald Ford appointed Daniel J. Boorstin as Librarian. Boorstin's first challenge was the move to the new Madison Building, which took place between 1980 and 1982. The move released pressures on staff and shelf space, allowing Boorstin to focus on other areas of Library administration such as acquisitions and collections. Taking advantage of steady budgetary growth, from $116 million in 1975 to over $250 million by 1987, Boorstin actively participated in enhancing ties with scholars, authors, publishers, cultural leaders, and the business community. His active and prolific role changed the post of Librarian of Congress so that by the time he retired in 1987, the New York Times called it "perhaps the leading intellectual public position in the nation." [5] Ronald Reagan appointed James H. Billington as the thirteenth Librarian of Congress in 1987, a post he holds as of 2011. Billington took advantage of new technological advancements and the Internet to link the Library to educational institutions around the country in 1991. The end of the Cold War also enabled the Library to develop relationships with newly open Eastern European nations, helping them to establish parliamentary libraries of their own. [5] In the mid-1990s, under Billington's leadership, the Library of Congress began to pursue the development of what it called a "National Digital Library," part of an overall strategic direction that has been somewhat controversial within the library profession. [9] In late November 2005, the Library announced intentions to launch the World Digital Library , digitally preserving books and other objects from all world cultures. In April 2010, it announced plans to archive all public communication on Twitter, including all communication since Twitter's launch in March 2006. [10] [edit]Holdings Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building The Great Hall interior The collections of the Library of Congress include more than 32 million cataloged books and other print materials in 470 languages; more than 61 million manuscripts ; the largest rare book collection in North America, including the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence , a Gutenberg Bible (one of only four perfect vellum copies known to exist); [11] over 1 million US government publications; 1 million issues of world newspapers spanning the past three centuries; 33,000 bound newspaper volumes; 500,000 microfilm reels; over 6,000 comic book [12] titles; films; 5.3 million maps ; 6 million works of sheet music ; 3 million sound recordings ; more than 14.7 million prints and photographic images including fine and popular art pieces and architectural drawings; [13] the Betts Stradivarius ; and the Cassavetti Stradivarius . The Library developed a system of book classification called Library of Congress Classification (LCC), which is used by most US research and university libraries . The Library serves as a legal repository for copyright protection and copyright registration , and as the base for the United States Copyright Office . Regardless of whether they register their copyright, all publishers are required to submit two complete copies of their published works to the Library—this requirement is known as mandatory deposit. [14] Nearly 22,000 new items published in the U.S. arrive every business day at the Library. Contrary to popular belief, however, the Library does not retain all of these works in its permanent collection, although it does add an average of 10,000 items per day. Rejected items are used in trades with other libraries around the world, distributed to federal agencies, or donated to schools, communities, and other organizations within the United States. [15] As is true of many similar libraries , the Library of Congress retains copies of every publication in the English language that is deemed significant. The Library of Congress states that its collection fills about 838 miles (1,349 km) of bookshelves, [16] while the British Library reports about 625 kilometers (388 mi) of shelves. [17] The Library of Congress holds about 147 million items with 33 million books against approximately 150 million items with 25 million books for the British Library. [16] [17] The Library makes millions of digital objects, comprising tens of petabytes, available at its American Memory site. American Memory is a source for public domain image resources, as well as audio, video, and archived Web content. Nearly all of the lists of holdings, thecatalogs of the library, can be consulted directly on its web site. Librarians all over the world consult these catalogs, through the Web or through other media better suited to their needs, when they need to catalog for their collection a book published in the United States. They use the Library of Congress Control Number to make sure of the exact identity of the book. The Library of Congress also provides an online archive of the proceedings of the U.S. Congress at THOMAS , including bill text, Congressional Record text, bill summary and status, the Congressional Record Index, and the United States Constitution . The Library also administers the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped , an audio book and braille library program provided to more than 766,000 Americans. [edit]Buildings of the Library Jefferson Building Packard Campus (Culpeper, Virginia) The Library of Congress is physically housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill and a conservation center in rural Virginia . The Library's Capitol Hill buildings are all connected by underground passageways, so that a library user need pass through security only once in a single visit. The library also has off-site storage facilities for less commonly-requested materials. [ edit ]Thomas Jefferson Building Main article: Thomas Jefferson Building The Thomas Jefferson Building is located between Independence Avenue and East Capitol Street on First Street SE. It first opened in 1897 as the main building of the Library and is the oldest of the three buildings. Known originally as the Library of Congress Building or Main Building, it took its present name on June 13, 1980. [ edit ]John Adams Building Main article: John Adams Building The John Adams Building is located between Independence Avenue and East Capitol Street on 2nd Street SE, the block adjacent to the Jefferson Building. The building was originally built simply as an annex to the Jefferson Building. It opened its doors to the public on January 3, 1939. [ edit ]James Madison Memorial Building Main article: James Madison Memorial Building The James Madison Memorial Building is located between First and Second Streets on Independence Avenue SE. The building was constructed from 1971 to 1976, and serves as the official memorial to President James Madison. The Madison Building is also home to the Mary Pickford Theater, the "motion picture and television reading room" of the Library of Congress. The theater hosts regular free screenings of classic and contemporary movies and television shows. [edit]Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation Main article: National Audio-Visual Conservation Center The Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation is the Library of Congress's newest building, opened in 2007 and located in Culpeper, Virginia . It was constructed out of a former Federal Reserve storage center and Cold War bunker. The campus is designed to act as a single site to store all of the library's movie, television, and sound collections. It is named to honor David Woodley Packard , whose Packard Humanities Institute oversaw design and construction of the facility. The centerpiece of the complex is a reproduction Art Deco movie theater that presents free movie screenings to the public on a semi-weekly basis. [18] [edit]Using the Library The library is open to the general public for academic research and tourists. Only those who are issued a Reader Identification Card may enter the reading rooms and access the collection. The Reader Identification Card is available in the Madison building to persons who are at least 16 years of age upon presentation of a government issued picture identification (e.g. driver's license, state ID card or passport). [19] However, only members of Congress, Supreme Court Justices, their staff, Library of Congress staff and certain other government officials may actually remove items from the library buildings. Members of the general public with Reader Identification Cards must use items from the library collection inside the reading rooms only; they are not allowed to remove library items from the reading rooms or the library buildings.[ citation needed ] Since 1902, libraries in the United States have been able to request books and other items through interlibrary loan from the Library of Congress if these items are not readily available elsewhere. Through this, the Library of Congress has served as a "library of last resort", according to former Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam . [8] The Library of Congress lends books to other libraries with the stipulation that they be used only inside the borrowing library. [20] The Library of Congress is sometimes used as an unusual unit of measurement to represent an impressively large quantity of data when discussing digital storage or networking technologies. [edit]Standards In addition to its library services, the Library of Congress is also actively involved in various standard activities in areas related to bibliographical and search and retrieve standards. Areas of work include METS , Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS), Z39.50 and Search/Retrieve Web Service (SRW), and Search/Retrieve via URL (SRU). [edit]Librarians of Congress The Librarian of Congress is the head of the Library of Congress, appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the Senate , and serves as the chief librarian of all the sections of the Library of Congress. One of the responsibilities of the Librarian of Congress is to appoint the U.S. Poet Laureate .	i don't know
This year's honor goes to Tim Toone of Weber State, who earned what coveted title by being the last person chosen in the NFL draft?	Apr. 30, 2010 \| The Miami Student by The Miami Student - issuu issuu The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826 VOLUME 137 NO. 57 Friday, April 30, 2010 MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO In 1965, The Miami Student reported on a faculty teach-in posed to discuss views on involvement in Vietnam. Three faculty members joined a moderator to debate the foreign policy of the United States and the conflict itself. The event was similar to others held at universities across the country. COMMUNITY Fraternities violate Student Code of Conduct New uptown restaurant plans summer opening The Ohio Tau chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) has been found in violation of the Miami University Code of Conduct for disorderly conduct. The SAE house patio reportedly caught fire from a bale of straw and smoking materials in April. The Oxford fire chief investigated the scene of the incident and found the fraternity had violated several other city fire codes. SAE accepted responsibility for the incident and will be required to obtain a signed statement from the Oxford fire chief that the house is in compliance with the city fire codes. By Lauren Karch For The Miami Student The latest in a slew of new High Street eateries, SoHi Grilled Sandwiches will open in mid-May, taking the place previously occupied by the Great Steak & Potato Co., which closed last year. Nick Lanni, owner of the new restaurant, said it will serve grilled sandwiches made from premium ingredients including certified Angus beef and bread baked in-house. “It’s basically going to be a newage, fresh-grilled food concept,” he said. Lanni’s son Joe, an assistant with the project, said the menu at SoHi will consist mostly of grilled sandwiches. “It’s going to be build-your-own cheese steak, build-your-own burger and fresh-cut French fries,” he said. “We’re trying to make it simple and make it really good food, make it a little bit better than other quick-food locations.” The Lanni’s are not new to the SCOTT ALLISON The Miami Student Sophomores Adam Carey, Patrick Lipka, Patrick Maney and Lee Cardinal (clockwise from front left) enjoy dinner Thursday at Fiesta Charra. The restaurant is planning to move and get a liquor license. Fiesta goes ‘loco’ The Ohio Lambda chapter of Phi Kappa Psi (Phi Psi) was found in violation of the Code of Conduct for restricted use of alcohol. While on a canoe trip in April in Brookville, Ind., members of Phi Psi were arrested and charged with underage drinking. Phi Psi accepted responsibility for the incident and was placed on disciplinary probation. They are not permitted to participate in social functions involving alcohol until December 20, 2010 and are required to complete an alcohol education course. They must present the Cliff Alexander Office of Fraternal Life with a revised off-campus social and risk management plan. Mexican joint to move, obtain liquor license By Vanessa Feigen For The Miami Student Not only is Fiesta Charra looking to change its location in the next three months, but the restaurant is also planning to acquire a liquor license. Fiesta Charra will still keep its prime location uptown, but the restaurant plans to move into a newer and bigger building at 26 W. High St. Jesus Memedes, owner of Fiesta Charra, said the new location will benefit both the restaurant and its business. “Right now our building is really small and quite old,” Memedes said. “The newer building will not only be a lot more attractive and a lot nicer on the interior, but it will also provide us with a lot more space than what we have now.” Memedes also expects the selling of alcohol to attract more customers to Fiesta Charra. “I think it will definitely attract more students as well as the local residents here in Oxford,” Memedes said. “People will be able to come and get margaritas along with their food.” Memedes said customers often ask servers what alcoholic drinks the restaurant provides and this new addition will help Fiesta Charra keep its customers satisfied. Miami University junior Jennifer Coviello believes these new changes will enhance the atmosphere at Fiesta Charra. “Right now, the atmosphere is a lot of wSee SANDWICHES, page 15 Female reports uptown rape wSee FIESTA, page 15 At 1 a.m. Wednesday, a 24-year-old female was reported missing by her friends starting at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to police. The female reportedly went to hear Luke Bryan perform at Brick Street Bar Tuesday evening from out of town. When the woman was located, she reportedly went to the Oxford Police Department and told police she had been sexually assaulted. The woman reported she was at The Elms Hotel and was raped by a person or multiple people unknown at this time. The woman reportedly said her friends had taken her to McCullough-Hyde Hospital for a rape kit and examination. Police are continuing to investigate the case. COMMUNITY DuBois prepares to rebuild, add apartments By Catherine Couretas Editor in Chief SAMANTHA LUDINGTON The Miami Student DuBois Bookstore will close its uptown store while a new building, which will include student apartments, is built in its place. Thirty-six more students will have the opportunity to live in the heart of uptown beginning with the 2011-12 academic year as Dubois Bookstore rebuilds with the addition of apartments. According to owner John DuBois, he did not want to lose the uptown location and knew the market is there for premium housing. “They’ll be very nice apartments with the amenities that make it a cool hot place to live and a super location,” DuBois said. THE Miami plans to sell bonds in order to cover current outstanding expenses. CAMPUS, page 2 WALKING THE STREETS wSee DUBOIS, page 15 MIDDLETOWN STUDENT DIES Jacob K. Wells, 39, of Middletown, Ohio died the weekend of April 24 at his home due to illness. Wells was an integrative studies major. SHATTERING THE STEREOTYPE Miami students address the “J. Crew U” culture in Oxford. FEATURE, page 6 H AV E A G R E AT S U M M E R ! Oxford Police are more strictly enforcing pedestrian laws after a recent accident. Sat In early July, DuBois will close the doors to its uptown building and re-open in Stewart Square on South College Avenue, its temporary location. There will also be a smaller version of the store located on West Park Place uptown that DuBois described as a souvenir and clothing shop. He does not think, however, the temporary move will be detrimental to business. “The long term benefits will weigh out the short term pains of moving out and putting the building up,” DuBois said. “It’s going to be quite an expenditure, 73 q 51 p SO LONG, SCHUTTE Senior Director of Recreational Auxillaries heads to Bowling Green State University. NEED MORE SPACE? IT Services provides a tip on migrating your e-mail to unlock six gigabytes of space. 2 Editors Courtney Day [email protected] Hope Holmberg [email protected] Amanda Seitz [email protected] News Parking to change, costs rise BRIEFS By Amanda Seitz event Students hold ceremony for bird blind construct A dedication ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. Friday, April 30 to honor five Miami University architecture students who have started a bird-watching club. Josh Carson, Max Streeter, Alex Fritz, Nick Irmen and Jared White built a bird blind together in areas of Miami’s natural areas. The five students created the bird blind from scratch by securing funding and materials. The bird blind is created in the form of a question mark and is surrounded by feeders, birdhouses and plants. The students spent the semester constructing and designing the bird blind. Grants were made available by the Oxford Community Foundation and Elizabeth Wakemen Henderson Chartiable Foundation. George Steel Fabricating Inc. provided an estimated $3,500 in steel plates and the Gillman Home Center allowed big discounts on lumber and bolts. To reach the bird blind’s location, students, faculty and staff may take State Route 73 and drive to the Dewitt Cabin and park. workshop Groups raise funds for China earthquake In response to the earthquake that occurred in YuShu, Qinghai, China on April 14, the Chinese American Culture Association (CACA) and Chinese Student & Scholar Friendship Association (CSSFA) have organized the “Help YuShu: Donate to Tibetan People Aftershocks” event to call out for students’ help to the Yushu people. As of Wednesday, April 28, their efforts had raised more than $2,500. The event is currently taking place and will continue through Friday, April 30. The CACA and CSSFA encourage the Miami community to show their support. Donation tables are set up at both Shriver Center and Bell Tower Place. fyi Football tickets available for staff and faculty Miami University staff and faculty can now purchase discounted tickets for the RedHawks’ 2010 home football schedule. The home games include four Saturday games and one weeknight game. Miami faculty and staff can save $15 by purchasing RedHawk season tickets for $75. If season tickets are ordered prior to May 3, fans can pay for tickets in four monthly payments. Season tickets ordered by May 12 can be purchased on a three-month payment plan. Faculty and staff also have the option of paying with payroll deduction. Single-game prices for games at home at Yager Stadium remain the same as last year. The prices are $20 for adults, $15 for youth and $15 for the Hawk’s Nest (end zone reserved). Tickets can be ordered in person at the Millett Hall Box Office or by phone 1-866-MUHAWKS (1-866-684-2957) or (513)-529-HAWK. More information can be given by the Athletic Development Office at (513) 529-8097 or [email protected]. Campus Editor Several changes will be made to Miami University Parking Services before the 2010-2011 school year begins. The director of parking and transportation services position has been eliminated entirely due to budget constraints at the university, according to current Director of Parking and Transportation Services Perry Gordon. Gordon said the notification of the elimination came at the end of January from his wife, who works in the human resources department at Miami. Gordon said he was surprised to learn of the position’s discontinuation. “You learn that you’re basically being terminated after 18 years at the university,” Gordon said. Gordon said he was told the salary of his job out pays his value at the university. With this cut in position, the organizational side of things dealing with parking services will be handed over to the Miami University Police Department (MUPD). Gordon said the two assistant directors of parking and transportation will report to Cpt. Jason G. Willis beginning June 20. Cpt. Willis said the parking and transportation services will not necessarily undergo major changes when they report to MUPD. “Everything will stay the same, nothing’s changed as far as location, the way permits are distributed, the policy is the same,” Willis said. Willis said he appreciates the work Gordon has done for parking services. “Perry, he really did an excellent job during his tenure as the director,” Willis said. “He’s leaving the parking department in excellent shape.” More apparent changes to students at Miami will deal with the cost in Miami Metro and parking permits. SAMANTHA LUDINGTON The Miami Student The board of trustees voted on Friday, April 23 to increase the costs for yellow, blue and purple wSee PARKING, page 10 ASG implements senatorial position standards By Dylan Tussel Senior Staff Writer During their celebratory year-end banquet Tuesday, Miami University Associated Student Government (ASG) got down to work, wrapping up the academic year by unanimously passing one final piece of legislation: a resolution to develop senatorial standards. While members of the executive cabinet have always been held to certain academic and disciplinary standards, the only requirement for someone to hold a senatorial position was that they be a full-time student, said Adam Clampitt-Dietrich, outgoing president of student senate and an author of the resolution. Clampitt-Dietrich said the reason cabinet members were held to higher standards before senators is that cabinet members are paid for the work they do with ASG. “They receive pay and we wanted to make sure that they were meeting certain standards and also weren’t over-committing themselves,” Clampitt-Dietrich said. Mark Shanley, adviser for ASG, said he has worked at several other universities, most of which had already established similar requirements for their elected student representatives. “I’ve worked at seven different universities throughout the course of my career,” Shanley said. “At virtually every campus that I’ve worked at it has been a requirement of those elected officials that represent the universities to be in good standing with the institution academically and behaviorally.” Clampitt-Dietrich thought the universities that had such requirements for student-elected officials benefited from those requirements and he stressed the importance of ASG members maintaining a high level of achievement inside and outside the classroom. “The fact that other schools have it is important, but we also think that as student leaders it’s important to hold ourselves to a higher standard,” Clampitt-Dietrich said. “Keeping with that higher standard and mission of putting academics as well as conduct at a high level, we’re making sure we’re bringing in the best representatives to make sure we do what the student body wants.” Although it is important for members of ASG to hold themselves to a higher standard, the resolution is not implying that a higher GPA signifies a greater ability to be an effective senator, Clampitt-Dietrich said. “We have senators now that probably have like a point and a half difference in their GPAs and they contribute and represent students well in their own individual ways,” ClampittDietrich said. “We’re not in any way trying to weed people out — we’re just trying to make sure the people who are committing to a big commitment have the time and the ability to do such.” The resolution passed by student senate stipulated that senators “be in good academic and disciplinary standing with the university at the time of their election.” This requirement will take effect Aug. 1, 2010. Clampitt-Dietrich said the exact requirements are a 2.0 GPA and one or two Code One offenses. “It’s a 2.0 (GPA), but there is some leniency with that,” Clampitt-Dietrich said. “Conduct standards are set by the Office of Student Ethics and Conflict Resolution — typically two Code One offenses will put you in bad standing, but it depends on the severity of the offense.” There are 24 positions for off-campus senators, and exactly that many students ran for the position for the next academic year. ClampittDietrich said ASG has planned ahead in case this were to occur in the future and one or more of the candidates did not meet the new requirements. “What we would do is after we identify that the people didn’t meet the requirements, we would do another ad campaign looking for people to take the position, extend the position deadline for another number of days and really work hard to make sure we had enough people to fill the number of seats in the fall,” Clampitt-Dietrich said. “I don’t believe we’ll have any issues with senators fulfilling the requirements.” Matthew Herbst, Tappan Hall senator, was initially opposed to the idea of setting a GPA and disciplinary requirement for senators, but has since given his support to the resolution. “When they were initially proposing it, I didn’t like it because it was going to stop people I didn’t think should be stopped from joining senate,” Herbst said. “I felt like they were going to set an arbitrary GPA requirement that had nothing to do with university policy, but based on how it’s worded right now, the people who it’s stopping probably are suspended or (in trouble) with the university already.” MU approves bond issuing as result of debt By Dylan Tussel Senior Staff Writer The Miami University Board of Trustees approved Friday, April 23, a resolution signifying the intent of Miami University to issue bonds to fund on-campus construction and renovation projects. The terms “bonds” and “debt” are used interchangeably, as they have the same meaning in regard to this resolution, said Beverly Thomas, associate vice president for finance. “Bonds are a form of debt that are issued in the public bond market,” Thomas said. “Investors would buy our debt and we would receive that money — that cash — from the investors and then there would be a schedule we would have to follow to repay our debt over that period of time.” Thomas said the resolution only approved the issuance of bonds to fund construction and renovation projects, but did not approve the projects themselves. “The resolution does not authorize any actual construction projects,” Thomas said. “What the resolution says is that if the board of trustees does authorize construction to begin in any of those projects, then we can start incurring expenses first, issue bonds later and then use bond proceeds to pay off those expenses.” The resolution also does not authorize any new debt, but is required should the university elect to issue debt in the future, said David Creamer, vice president for finance and business services. “There are certain rules with tax-exempt debt that restrict how you can use those funds,” Creamer said. “They have to be for capital purchase — that is, equipment, building, renovation and other purchases of that nature — and they have to occur within a certain timeframe.” Creamer said the resolution gives Miami more authority to issue bonds in the future to pay back expenses already incurred. He said the resolution would also help to ensure Miami stays within the parameters required to issue tax-exempt bonds. “They are tax-exempt bonds, so the bondholders do not pay taxes on the income they receive from those bonds,” Creamer said. “We want to make sure we don’t do anything to jeopardize the tax-exempt status of the bonds.” Issuing tax-exempt bonds gives the university a lower rate of borrowing, Creamer said. “Since the bondholders don’t have to pay taxes on their income (from the bonds), they’re willing to accept less in regards to interest,” Creamer said. This means that if the bondholders had to pay taxes on the income they receive from their bonds, they would expect Miami to pay higher rates of interest to offset the tax expenses; but since the bonds are tax-exempt, the bondholders will allow Miami to pay lower rates of interest on the debt. Creamer said the plans for residence hall construction and renovation were the primary reason for the passage of the resolution, but the board was considering the Bicentennial Student Center (BSC) as well. “The primary purpose we passed it was the residence hall projects because we weren’t sure when we would start the projects and the timeframe of the issuance of debt,” Creamer said. “So there may be some expenses we will incur that we might want to use some of the proceeds from the debt to fund.” Thomas said Miami’s revenue, rather than the actual buildings under construction, backs the bonds. “We don’t pledge the buildings against the bonds, we pledge our revenues,” Thomas said. “So if it’s an academic building or the BSC, they would have a claim against our revenues, and if it was a residence hall then they would have a claim against our room and board.” Thomas Hall, economics professor, said the issuance of bonds is the most practical way Miami could fund these large-scale projects. “The only other way to do this would be to have all the money upfront, but when you’re talking about a project of this magnitude, that can be difficult to do,” Hall said. “It’s a good way to do it because the interest rates are very low right now, so it’s a good, cost-effective, reasonable way to fund these projects.” THE MIAMI STUDENT FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2010 ♦ 3 Massive coal pile on hand may pose threat to environment By Sam Kay Editorial Editor Most students have never visited the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). Located off of OH-73 just past the rugby fields, it is where plastic bottles, glass, paper and aluminum cans are sent to be given new purpose in a new form. But not everything that arrives at the MRF moves on to new use. Some materials, such as a 4,000-ton pile of coal that has been on the site for at least 34 years, could be harmful to the environment, according to the Southwest District Office of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Cody Powell, director of building maintenance, said the pile was initially three times its current size and was intended to be a hedge against unanticipated interruptions of the coal supply to Miami’s steam plant used to provide building heat, water heat and support food cooking. “The university is trying to protect its best interest to make sure it has a quantity of coal on hand to handle any situation to protect the campus and its operations,” Powell said. Powell said the pile has gradually been allowed to shrink because new fuel options — such as natural gas or fuel oil — could allow operations to continue at the steam plant in an emergency. Powell said the university may use the pile again sometime within the next several months to avoid paying premium coal prices while negotiations for a new coal contract take place. Powell is not sure precisely how long the coal has been at the MRF. “My longest tenured employee in utilities started in 1976 and the storage pile was here at that time,” Powell said. “The last time he recalled using any quantity from this pile was in the 1980’s.” The pile’s original 12,000 tons would have sustained the university for a year when it was initially created. Powell said the university now uses 22,000 tons of coal a year; the 4,000-ton pile could now only sustain the university for a month or two. Much else has changed since the coal pile first appeared at the MRF. If the pile were formed prior to 1970, for instance, it would predate the EPA. It predates the most recent version of Ohio law dealing with water pollution control — which took effect in March 2000 — by at least 24 years. With the pile now being prepared for use by the university, new attention is being paid to what the university is, could or should be doing to minimize air and water pollution from the pile. Bonnie Pray, a compliance specialist with the Hamilton County Environmental Services, said Miami has the necessary air related permit for the pile. Pray said inherent moisture — such as humidity and rain — keeps static piles like Miami’s from causing significant air pollution. But Pray explained the same factors could cause water pollution. “Runoff is probably the bigger issue,” Pray said. “It gets into surface waters.” Mike Proffitt of the Groundwater Division of the Southwest District of the Ohio EPA said poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have the potential to leech out of coal and accumulate in stream sediments. It is possible the coal pile is polluting surface waters, groundwater or both. In either case, Proffitt said testing is needed to determine whether a water permit is necessary. SAMANTHA LUDINGTON The Miami Student A pile of coal located off OH-73 sits at the Materials Recover Facility and may be harmful. “If the coal pile was not running off to surface water but was reaching the aquifer, it would be a violation and they would have to do something about it,” Proffitt said. “You cannot have an unpermitted discharge to a water of the state.” Powell said he is not sure what is under the pile. The pile is also mostly uncovered; an attempt several years ago to cover the pile with wooden pallets and carts was never carried out to completion. The less containment there is around the pile, the greater the potential there is for runoff infiltrating the surrounding environment. Chris Cotton of the Water Quality Division of the Southwest District of the Ohio EPA said Miami should consider taking steps to better contain the pile. All wired up “The university would be smart to pay attention to it,” Cotton said. “If there is a potentially usable aquifer underneath where the coal is stored, they’d be setting themselves up for some major problems.” Powell said the coal — which comes from the ground — won’t pollute the ground. Cotton said rainwater, which is naturally slightly acidic, could leech certain components out of the unprotected coal, including dangerous heavy metals. “I think it’s probably wishful thinking to think there’s no impact,” Cotton said. “It would be a matter of taking samples. They might be surprised to find out what’s happened given all the time its been sitting wSee COAL, page 10 Comparative media studies major to start in fall By Brittany Chojnowski For The Miami Student SCOTT ALLISON The Miami Student CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Above: Seniors Amanda Triplett and Kiri Boonyadate present their capstone project to Midas International. Below: Champions, Team A of Highwire Brand Studios capstone, pose with Midas International. In fall 2010, the journalism and communication departments will be offering a new major called comparative media studies. This major, which will begin accepting students in the fall, will function as a way for students to create their own media studies program. “This major will allow students to look at media from a variety of different perspectives,” said Ron Becker, a professor in the mass communication department. “They can look at media from a historian’s perspective, or an anthropologist’s perspective or a political scientist’s perspective.” According to Richard Campbell, chair of the journalism department, this major was created, in large part, to accommodate a growing interest in the media by not only students, but faculty as well. “There are a variety of people interested in this initiative,” Campbell said. “Faculty from all sorts of departments; sociology, anthropology, journalism, interactive media studies, English, film studies.” Campbell also said this major will serve the copious amount of students who find themselves unable to get into a journalism or communications class. “Students are always getting closed out of COM (communication) classes,” Campbell said. “This major will accommodate students’ growing interest in media.” The comparative media studies major will function like interdisciplinary studies. “Students will work on different tracks,” Campbell said. “They will sculpt their major around the areas of media they are interested in.” As of now, the major is not available for declaring, but a comparative media studies course, CMS 201, is open for registration for the fall semester. A committee chaired by Keith Tuma, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences consisting of faculty from the College ofArts and Science (CAS) and one IMS professor has been working on this new media major for over a year. The course work for CMS 201, as explained in the syllabus, will dabble in a vast array of media issues. Some topics covered will include the definition of and history of the media, globalization and internationalization of media and media power and ideology. Along with new courses, Miami has also introduced two new professors to work in comparative media studies; Nicole Starosielski, who is finishing up her PhD in film and media studies at UC-Santa Barbara, and Braxton Soderman, who is finishing his PhD in modern culture and media at Brown University. The course was posted on BannerWeb in the past week and currently has five students enrolled out of the 30 spots being held for the class. “We expect that most of the students (that will participate in this class) will be incoming, first-year freshman,” Becker said. Bus drivers finalize, ratify contract with First Transit employer By Clint Reinbolt For The Miami Student Last week, Miami University Metro bus drivers reached a labor agreement with their employer, First Transit. The agreement was finalized after a lengthy period of negotiations. According to Ron Sixt, president of AFSCME local 464, the new contract will significantly improve the working conditions for Miami Metro drivers. Sixt said benefits as a result of the new contract include “a five percent raise next year, an extra personal day, improved medical benefits, the company paying 25 percent of workers’ healthcare and better job security.” That better job security, he said, will come in the form of a “progressive discipline” system, as well as employees having better access to management. “Under the new contract,” Sixt said, “if management is trying to institute a new type of program, the union will have a voice in the matter.” According to a Miami Metro driver who wished to remain anonymous, the lack of job security was a serious issue under the drivers’ old contract. “First off, it was very hard to even contact our management,” the driver said. “It felt like bringing up complaints put your job at risk.” Other issues under the old contracts, according to the driver, included low pay, poor healthcare coverage and a generally tense, high-stress working environment. Sixt said the new contracts between Metro drivers and First Transit address many of the problems with the old and go a long way toward providing drivers with a more secure, fair and comfortable work environment. According to Sixt, the union is very pleased with the outcome of the contract negotiations. He said the vote to ratify the new contracts passed overwhelmingly, by a margin of 26 to 4. The new contract between drivers and First Transit will come into effect soon. According to Sixt, this will bring “an overall and significant improvement of working conditions” for Miami Metro drivers. “Students probably won’t notice much of a difference in the Metro once the new contract comes in,” said the anonymous Miami Metro driver. “But trust me, all of the bus drivers definitely will.” 4 Editor Kelsey Bishop [email protected] OPD enforces pedestrian laws By Tom Segell Senior Staff Writer Student passes out in front of Oxford Press At 3 a.m. Tuesday, police were dispatched to The Oxford Press regarding a 20-year-old male who was reportedly passed out leaning against a door in the parking lot. The man, identified as Miami University sophomore Matthew Greenwood, was reportedly talking with an Oxford Press employee. When officers arrived, Greenwood reportedly smelled strongly of alcohol and had glassy eyes and dilated pupils. According to police reports, the officer said he could tell Greenwood was heavily intoxicated because Greenwood was not making sense. Greenwood reportedly said he lived on “Illinois Street, Illinois Street, Illinois Street,” repeatedly. Greenwood reportedly told police he had been drinking and was taking pain medication because he broke his nose. An Oxford Press employee reportedly told police Greenwood told the employee he worked for The Oxford Press. Greenwood was cited for underage intoxication and driven back to his residence hall. Senior receives false identification charges At 9:15 p.m. Monday, 20-year-old Miami University senior Brett Rolf was arrested after a fake identification was reportedly found in his wallet. According to police, the wallet was found in a vehicle belonging to someone else that was stopped for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. While Rolf was not in the vehicle at the time, police said they took the wallet to OPD for safekeeping. Inside the wallet there were reportedly two identifications for Rolf, one from Maryland and another from New York. Police reportedly called Rolf, who went to OPD and admitted to possessing fake identification, but Rolf told police he had not used it in a “really long time.” Rolf was charged with certain acts prohibited for possessing a fake identification. Male leaves Burrito Loco without payment twice At 3:15 p.m. Monday, Burrito Loco reported a customer had walked out of the restaurant without paying his bill on at least two occasions as of March 17. According to police reports, a male accompanied by two females went to the restaurant and walked out without paying their bill one night. Later, the two women reportedly returned with the man, said they were under the impression that the man had paid the bill and then paid the restaurant for their previous visit. On March 17, the man reportedly returned with a different woman and left without paying their $41.23 bill. According to police, the original two girls returned, and the owner approached them about the man again. The women reportedly told the owner they no longer hung out with the man and didn’t pay the bill for him this time. The repeat offender was found to be a 24-year-old from Spring Valley, Ohio. When you’re finished reading The Miami Student, please recycle! A recent accident involving a young mother and her baby at the four-way intersection on Chestnut has highlighted some of the issues involving the relationship between pedestrians and motorists in Oxford. Lindsay Swift was attempting to cross the street with her one-year-old, Makalya, when a vehicle driven by a Miami University student struck her. “I was probably three or four steps when the guy that was sitting at the red light decided he would make a right on red,” Swift said via e-mail. “But he forgot to look both ways. My friend who was with me saw this happening and tried to push me out of the way.” Fortunately, the impact only resulted in minor injuries and rattled emotions for both victims. “After it happened, I just looked at her and (by) mother’s instinct knew she was okay,” Swift said. “The stroller did a good job of protecting her; the stroller frame and my body absorbed all the impact.” Swift said the close call has made her more wary of traffic in Oxford. “We have to be very careful as drivers and pedestrians,” Swift said. “Oxford is a town that has a lot of foot traffic on and away from campus. I know now is such a busy time for everyone, people SAMANTHA LUDINGTON The Miami Student The Oxford Police Department has been cracking down on pedestrian offenses after recent accidents have brought attention to the issue. Officers have reportedly written most of the citations during night duty. are pulling all-nighters, getting ready for finals, saying good-bye to the friends they have made and celebrating the end of the school year. It’s so important, though, to stay in the present moment when you’re driving.” The Oxford Police Department (OPD) is trying to minimize incidents like these by issuing jaywalking tickets when the situation is warranted, Sgt. Jim Squance said. “I think some officers in nights have been cracking down on the jaywalking issue,” Squance said. “We have issued a few. Most of the tickets I’ve seen have been flagrant violations where the person stepped out in front of a car or there’s jeopardy of causing harm.” Squance also said the drivers are responsible and held accountable for yielding to the right-ofway when appropriate. Justin Reddington, a Miami junior who transferred this year from University of Cincinnati, acknowledged some stark differences between how pedestrians function here as opposed to Cincinnati. “When I first came to Oxford I was surprised when I was walking to class to see how everyone walks out in front of cars and all over the street,” Reddington said. “Students and pedestrians at UC respect the cross signs and the crosswalks.” Oxford pedestrians are riskier than most people Reddington knows. “Even when my friends come visit from other universities, they’re surprised how we walk and cross the street here at Miami,” Reddington said. “I can get to places a lot quicker because I’m not waiting to cross the street. It might be riskier, but it saves time when walking to class.” Stereotyping results in increase of homeless assaults By Leslie Scott Staff Writer The number of assaults in Ohio that have occurred against the homeless population have been increasing. If these crimes are not put to a stop soon, the reported beatings may eventually evolve into murders, according to Josh Spring, executive director for the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. Spring said assaults increase as people forget history and stereotypes about the homeless arise, such as believing people become homeless due to lack of affordable housing. “Common stereotypes of the homeless include laziness and that they are dangerous,” Spring said. “Many people believe the idea that the homeless are bad and in some way less human than others. They view abusing them as a way to ‘clean up the streets.’” According to Spring, a woman shot a homeless man in the head at an Ohio gas station after he had asked her for a quarter. Spring believed the woman shot the man out of fear, which he said is a perfect example of a person who believed the stereotype that the homeless are dangerous. Another incident in the Cincinnati area, according to Spring, included a bar frequenter who verbally harassed a diabetic homeless man. When confronted by a police officer, the attacker said, “What does it matter? He’s just a bum.” “Normally the attackers are young white males who are about high school and college-aged,” Spring said. “They are generally suburbanites who have not been in direct contact with these people and are unable to realize that homeless people are just like everyone else.” Many recent offenders have fallen into this category. The most recent incident occurred when four men beat John Johnson, a homeless man in the Cincinnati area, with metal pipes and baseball bats. Spring said legislation to increase punishment for crimes committed against the homeless is being considered. He said crimes committed against the homeless should be viewed as hate crimes. “The four men who were responsible for Johnson’s assault will probably be charged with felonious assault, which would be up to eight years in prison,” he said. “However, we would really like to see these crimes being taken more seriously with more severe consequences.” According to Sgt. Jim Squance of the Oxford Police Department, this does not seem to be a large issue within Oxford. “There is not a large homeless population in Oxford,” Squance said. “People from Hamilton have come to Oxford and looked at potential areas certain homeless people might look for shelter, but we really don’t see many people like this in Oxford.” According to Spring, prevention is very important in this issue. “The homeless population is one of the final groups that it is still OK to hate on, unlike race and religion,” Spring said. “When a person talks negatively about the homeless, these comments should not be ignored. People need to call others out on these negative beliefs and question them.” According to Spring, the most common assaults are verbal harassment and beatings. “I definitely think these assaults should be viewed as hate crimes,” Miami University first-year Ryan Provost said. “These people are looked down upon for no reason and they are discriminated against.” According to Spring, a lot of these crimes go unreported, and if reported, they are not listed as hate crimes, making it difficult to determine how often these crimes are occurring. “Everyone can get involved with this,” Spring said. “This issue is based on morals. We can all recognize that these acts are wrong. Things are only going to get worse if nothing is done.” Police dog dies, officers fundraise for replacement By Bethany Bruner Staff Writer The Oxford Police Department (OPD) is mourning the loss of a team member after the recent passing of Simon, one of the department’s police dogs. Simon was a German shepherd who had worked with the department for the past eight years. He was 9 years-old and had been trained for a year to do multiple tasks including drug searching and search and rescue. Oxford Police Chief Stephan Schwein described Simon as a social dog. “He was very passive around people,” Schwein said. “He loved children, and we used him in schools for our drug talks.” Sgt. Jim Squance said Simon was owned by OPD and was a great working dog. “He was very gentle when he needed to be, but he was aggressive when he needed to be too,” he said. Simon was one of three dogs on the Oxford police force. Schwein said Simon was going to be retired at the end of 2010. Squance said OPD has another German shepherd patrol dog and a bloodhound that is used only for tracking. Squance said Simon was used as a patrol dog, meaning he went with an officer on regular patrols. Simon also worked at a lot of community events. “He was one of the most popular attractions at the community pig roast,” Squance said. Simon worked regular shifts with his handler along with all of his community obligations. Squance said some of Simon’s extracurricular activities included going to middle and high schools for routine drug sweeps, doing demonstrations, working at the Respect for Law camp and going to elementary schools for educational purposes. “He was a gentle show dog on one hand, but when the bell rang and he needed to be a police dog, he excelled at that too,” Squance said. First-year Jeff Bennett said he figured OPD had dogs since a lot of police departments do, but was not sure since he had never seen an officer with a dog. “It’s unfortunate though that they lost a member of their force,” Bennett said. Squance said OPD is looking into replacing Simon in the future. There is currently a fund set up at the Oxford Community Foundation where donations can be made for the purchase and training of a new dog. THE MIAMI STUDENT FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2010 ♦ 5 Congratulations to our interns and thank you for all your contributions. • Maddy Aman: Marketing • Megan Becker: Dietary/Administration • Rachel Duerksen: Program Services/Activities • Brooke Schneider: Administration • Hannah Welsh: Dietary • Melissa Young: Marketing Special thanks to Ross Farnsworth: Administrator in Training (AIT) 6727 Contreras Road, Oxford, OH 45056 513.542.7990 \| knollsofoxford.org 6 J. Crew Editor Amelia Carpenter [email protected] After years of being known as “that school that has kids who wear a lot of J. Crew,” Miami students and faculty are speaking out to address the stereotype. By Alyssa Kozlow, Whitney McConney, Bridget McKenna, Lissa Renner and Hannah Rush For The Miami Student A pair of crisply pressed jeans, a pink Oxford shirt and a pair of tan Sperry Top-Siders. Nike workout shorts, a half-zip monogrammed with Greek letters and a pair of blue Sperry Top-Siders. Khaki slacks, a white polo shirt, a pair of tan Sperry Top-Siders. Sit anywhere on campus and observe a rainbow of Sperry Top-Siders, Polo’s, button up shirts and Greek letters. In the wintertime, one can’t walk five feet without spotting a pair of UGG boots or a North Face jacket. These Miami staples are part of the reason our school has earned the nickname “J. Crew U.” College Prowler, an online college review site, says the J. Crew U nickname “aptly describes the unofficial dress code of the school. Even when girls go to class in T-shirts and sweatpants, they somehow pull it off with style. Miami students take their wardrobe very seriously.” In a student-conducted survey, 85 percent of Miami students admitted getting e-mails from J. Crew. First-year Grace Herbert said she was frustrated with the J. Crew U stereotype. “It’s not fair that we are all labeled as stuck-up rich white kids because in reality, not all of us are,” Herbert said. Students are used to battling this image on a day-to-day basis. “As you spend more time as a student at Miami, J. Crew U is just something that you deal with,” first-year Jenny Besman said. “Miami University is highly recognized for its preppy nature and overall ‘attractive’ student body … Some people say the guys and girls at Miami can have a snobby streak brought on by their good looks, nice clothes and high family incomes,” College Prowler said. First-year Julia Marvel, a Boston native, said the J. Crew U stereotype was not something she was familiar with before arriving on campus. “I could see that the school was really preppy,” Marvel said. “The majority of the students were dressed up, whether they were going to class or just hanging out.” Students agreed that while some obviously fit the seeming stereotype, there are plenty of students who do not. “There are a lot of students who fit the ‘mold’ and there are a lot that don’t,” senior Matt Hoffman said. Alumni said the stereotype existed, but not all Miami students applied. “There was always the stereotype of Miami students being preppy while I was there,” said Sumita Lindsey, a 1978 graduate. Dennis Matejka, a 1980 graduate, disagreed. Matejka said he thought it was unfair to place that stereotype on a student body that had nothing to do with the stereotype’s birth. “There was some of every type of person,” Matejka said. “You know, there were hippie types and preppy types and the jocks, the athletes…so there was a good mix.” Another part of Miami culture often associated with this lingering stereotype is Greek life. “When they ask about Greek community, I say, ‘Yeah, a third of our campus is Greek but I’m not Greek and I have friends and I have a lot of fun here,’” Hoffman said. “I try to qualify a lot of what I have to say with my own stories.” Oxford’s Greek community gift shop, Alpha House, is home to many employees affiliated with the Greek community. Junior Selena DeGirolamo, Alpha House employee and member of Delta Zeta sorority, said the Greek community is home to a powerful microcosm of the stereotypical image. “There’s always the typical sorority girl,” DeGirolamo said. “Miami does have that reputation, but I feel like it’s played up way more than what it really is. People are a lot more diverse than what Miami gets credit for I think.” Miami has recently hired a re-branding crew to fix Miami’s misunderstood image. Target X is a college recruitment company that works with universities to target the next generation: incoming freshman, according to the website. Target X has attempted to begin the Miami stereotype facelift by changing tour guide protocol. Hoffman said the company hopes to stop the stereotype in its tracks by advising tour guides to tell their own stories as opposed to rattling off facts and statistics. Before Target X, tour guides were given some “offlimits” topics like preppy fashion, drinking and snobby attitudes associated with Miami. “We didn’t have to lie, but we used to have to skirt around certain topics,” Hoffman said. Hoffman has worked as a Miami tour guide for three years. Tour guides are encouraged to be very honest, making the campus as real to the prospective students as possible. Hoffman said relaying his own experiences while highlighting the positive beauty of Miami is the way to go. Miami carries another detrimental stereotype; middle to upper class and mostly white population. Miami’s admissions website said 91.2 percent of 2009-2010 students classify themselves as Caucasian. In 2008, The Princeton Review ranked Miami as the fourth most homogeneous university. First-year John Malloy didn’t categorize diversity as purely racial, though. “Although Miami may not be as racially diverse as one would hope, I do still believe Miami is diverse, just in other ways,” Malloy said. In another student survey, the majority of students agreed Miami University is more diverse than their respective high schools. “No matter where you went to high school, this university is more diverse than that in different ways” said firstyear Michael Cole. Students acknowledge there is a stereotype, but argue Miami students are diverse and separate from the J. Crew mindset. Miami’s effort in creating an image that expunges the name of J. Crew U is currently in progress. According to Unigo, another college review website, “Miami is reaching out to different socioeconomic and geographic groups to bring some different faces to Miami.” Meredith Smith, counselor and assistant director of tour guides, knows the challenges as well as the limitations caused by this lingering stereotype. Smith attended Miami for her four undergraduate years. She was a tour guide during her time in Oxford, but didn’t want to stop there. Following graduation, Smith returned to Miami to work with the admissions department. Smith said students shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. “If you look around, you’re going to find people that fit that stereotype, but that may only be for that one day,” Smith said. “I really encourage people to get to know others below the surface and ask really intentional questions about their experiences they have had in life. I’m a firm believer that everyone has a story. Everyone has experiences that has shaped who they are.” Dionn Tron, associate vice president for university communications, holds the ideal that Miami students are defined not only by how they dress or how they’re perceived, but also by the relationships they have with each other. “There are many things that are important,” Tron said. “The close relationship our students have with their professors, the high academic standards, the different way that students learn and the total experience we give students. It’s a very immersive environment and very engaged, students control their own experience.” University communications and public relations efforts aim to overcome the negative picture painted by the J. Crew U mantra. “It’s an image we’ve had for a while, probably because of the demographics of our students, but we’re working hard to change that as we diversify our student body in all regards,” Tron said. The percentage of multicultural students and students with different socioeconomic backgrounds have grown astronomically, according to Tron. She said Miami hopes to see these numbers increase in the next few years. While the university strives for diversity, Smith said it would be good to see a change in the J. Crew U stamp. “There does need to be a change of mindset,” Smith said. Students change through their years at Miami, but not just through their taste in clothing. “When you come in your freshman year and leave your senior year, there are four years of incredible growth, and I think that finding your fit is the most important part,” Smith said. Sophomore Jordan Winterman said he changed since his arrival at Miami two years ago. “I’ve become more independent and responsible,” Winterman said. “I’ve taken a more proactive approach to my job and in my fraternity. I’ve had that ‘style’ my whole life. I like to look fashionable. I mean, come on. How else am I going to get girls to talk to me?” For Winterman, humor is the key to overcoming an overbearing nuisance of a stereotype. For other students, like sophomore Molly Sackett, working toward individuality is the way to overcome the shadow of J.Crew U. “I’ve learned to be an independent thinker despite the way some students may conform,” Sackett said. “I find that I can still look nice, have my own style and make my own decisions.” Smith said while there is a prevalent stereotype around Miami’s campus, what’s more important and what resonates more is everything else students have to offer. “We’re not just a bunch of preppy kids, we’re so much more,” Smith said. HANNAH MILLER The Miami Student THE MIAMI STUDENT FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2010 ♦ 7 8 April 30, 2010 Editor Anna Turner [email protected] Assistant Editor Liz Caskey [email protected] SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Amusement is intended to be humorous and satirical. If you don’t have a sense of humor, read something else. ANNA TURNER The Miami Student music The best of Bonnaroo’s 2010 lineup Erich Schrader Senior Staff Writer For the better part of the last decade, Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tenn., has rocked the living sh!t out of jam-obsessed Americans in a part of the country that is largely uneventful the other 360-some days of the year. This is due in large part to the beautifully eclectic group of bands and performers who get their names on the bill from year to year. I could spend all day talking about how awesome Weezer is and why you should fork over whatever seemingly insurmountable sum of cash it costs to witness one of their shows; and yes, I know how much you love Kings of Leon and how you have been listening to Jay-Z since you were studying phonics in grade school. I could also spend an equally superfluous chunk of my day reciting the cavalcade of reasons why I would avoid watching Dave Matthews. One might postulate that because I’m surrounded by Dave fans on the goddamned “reg” that I would have built up some form of jam band inoculation, but this is little more than a pipe dream. But alas, I digress. That all being said, the real gems of this year’s lineup are buried deep in the cornucopia-like list of artists that make the proverbial cup runneth over. To elaborate, here are the top 10 artists that are an absolute must-see for the 2010 Bonnaroo Music Festival. Against Me!: Hands down one of the most underrated rock/punk bands in the biz, Against Me! quite simply kicks @$$. I recently got the opportunity to see them live for the first time, and somewhere between dodging flying Bud Heavy bottles and being oddly infatuated with some of the punk chicks present, I found myself in one of the coolest concerts I’ve ever seen. Their upcoming album, White Crosses, was recently leaked on a rather grandiose scale, so rather than trying to fight the infinite power of Al Gore’s World Wide Web, they chose to simply perform well over half of the new album during the concert. Very cool indeed. Phoenix: The French alternative alt rock band Phoenix has been around for a decade, but they only really gained the fame to match their critical appeal with last year’s release of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, headed by the hit single “1901.” The European pop rockers are more than just a one trick pony, though. One need only listen to the other three underappreciated albums that came out before people even knew who they were or before they won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album. Tenacious D: I’m confident that you need no reminder that the seminal duo of hard-hitting comedic rock is the epitome of entertainment. I have never seen Jack Black live, although I have been told that his onstage antics are even more outlandish than what you see onscreen. You would be a bold-faced liar if you tried to tell me that you would not like to listen to Black and wonder-twin Kyle Gass as the two elegantly, sweetly serenade the crow to “Fck Her Gently,” arguably the most romantic song ever written. J.B. Smoove: This guy is hilarious. Destined to be one of the funniest comedians of the year, Smoove is best known for his role as Leon Black in TV’s funniest show, Curb Your Enthusiasm. His unique brand of slapstick humor is what Aziz Ansari would be like if he were less annoying and about a foot and a half taller. Without a doubt one of the funniest men on the planet, JB Smoove is only just beginning to take off. The Gaslight Anthem: Rather than being the next evolutionary stage of punk rock, the boys from New Brunswick sound like the bands punk lore upon which the genre was built. Vaguely reminiscent of bands like the Stiff Little Fingers and The Clash, The Gaslight Anthem is heartfelt regional music that sounds familiar and unthreatening, but the kicker is that it comes with an abundance of attitude. They epitomize the Jersey Shore sound; as soon as I write that I realize that I should probably clarify: that’s a Jersey-style punk rock movement, and requires neither Ciroc nor Ed Hardy Water. The National: Another tragically underrated band, The National has a dark and brooding sound that is an artwork of emotion and song. Yes, it is true that this type of slow, city rock is not the typical dirty hippy jam band that traditionally frequents music festivals, but their performance should be awesome anyway. They played Bonnaroo for the first time in 2007 when they were touring for their album Boxer and were met with much fan favor. Regina Spektor: The Russian-American queen of anti-folk music is one of the performances about which I’m extremely excited. Few artists can claim to be half the songwriter this girl is, and even fewer can claim to have even a fraction of her attitude. Every song feels like a story, every performance an intimate serenade. Think of an intelligent, attractive, talented version of Courtney Love without the guitar case full of emotional baggage and you’re still not quite there yet. Nick Kroll: One name is all you need: Bobby Bottleservice. If you haven’t ever seen arguably the most quotable video on the web, check it out at Funny or Die immediately. Everyone else should probably recognize him from FX’s “The League,” which has been picked up for a second season. Kroll has several hilarious videos on Funny or Die and is undoubtedly one of the funniest new comedians around today. The Flaming Lips & Stardeath and White Dwarfs perform Dark Side of the Moon: This is something that may never again be able to be witnessed a year or so from now. The unique pairing formed up last year to perform their own rendition of the Pink Floyd classic and put forth their own unique take on it. The result is a masterful reinterpretation of one of rock and roll’s most ambitious concept albums ever produced. You think you were tripping listening to the original? Just wait until you hear this one; you have never hallucinated quite like this before. Conan O’Brien: I hate Jay Leno. I really do. But now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, the real king of late night television over the last two decades has always been the comedic savant Conan O’Brien. Unjustly robbed of his Tonight Show spot by the 60-something-yearold cartoon character that is Leno, Conan is a genius. As every other funny person SNL accidentally hires, he eventually left to pursue some face time. His standup is the stuff of legend, only surpassed in the realm of glory by his scientifically unexplained haircut. Co-Co for life. feature Liz says thanks to the randos who make college awesome By Liz Caskey Amusement Assistant Editor With graduation literally around the corner, I’ve decided that it is finally time to air my dirty laundry; to say the things I’ve always wanted to say but was too afraid. As this is my last ever article for Amusement, it’s time for me to speak my peace. So, here we go. Dear King Library exam week dwellers, Who are you? You roll up here with your pillows and your blankets, swiping away at the Starbucks. I’ve been here all year, and now, in the last week of school, you have the 7 the I N FA M O U S list top audacity to show up and steal my cubicle. Yes, you heard me, my cubicle, the one down by the Law books. I’ve paid my dues to that cubicle. It was there for me during my mid-term, my first paper freshman year, my capstone project. Where were you when the plugs weren’t working? Huh? Well I was there. Still showing my love to the powerless cubicle. And now you roll up and camp out in my seat. This is just unacceptable. Go back to wherever you used to be because my loyal King-ers and I don’t want you here. Love, Liz Dear spring 2009 awkward couple in the lounge area of Shriver, Did you know that every Tuesday and Thursday I watched you? Not in a creepy stalker way, but in a “you drew so much attention to yourselves that everyone else in the chair area also couldn’t help but stare at you” way. Do you need to make out for the 50 minutes between class? No. Do you need to sit on his lap? No. Did I watch every one of your awkward encounters and then text my friends descriptions about it — texts that they looked forward to every Tuesday and Thursday? Probably. If you two are reading this, I would like to thank you for making my breaks enjoyable and providing me with hours of giggling entertainment. Hope you’re still together wSee THANKS, page 9 Headlines we SHOULD HAVE seen this year ... 7. Miami plan discontinued due to pointlessness 6. All classes cancelled March 4, 2010 5. Business school collapses under weight of douche-baggery 4. The Odyssey single-handedly causes downfall of journalism 3. Ben Roethlisberger finally thrown in jail 2. Now illegal for Miami girls to wear leggings as pants 1. Valentine’s Day Whore-oscopes: Part II THE MIAMI STUDENT FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2010 ♦ 9 film Summer 2010 movie rundown: Who should see what By Curtis Waugh For The Miami Student If you’re anything like me, you have been waiting for this season since last September. No more Christmas films, no more awards bait, no more Daniel Day-Lewis and hopefully no rerelease or ultimate cut of Avatar. This is the time of year when a majority of audiences’ brains die and take in the newest Michael Bay and/or Will Smith film. If you’re lucky, you might not have to sacrifice too many brain cells for true summer film entertainment. No matter what kind of filmgoer you consider yourself, summer 2010 will have something that can scratch your popcorn itch. For the socially un-presentable action geek … Like me, you would rather throw this article down and use it as perfectly flammable wrapping paper for your wagon full of firecrackers. You’re in luck, though, because Aug. 13 is giving you the mother of all ‘80s action films in The Expendables. Sylvester Stallone directs and stars alongside (deep inhale of breath) Jason Statham, Jet Li, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Danny Trejo and two unknowns named Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. What’s it about, you ask? Forget it, you don’t care. Stuff goes boom, people get shot, Stallone snarls, I cheer. Other titles of nearly equal muscle-ripping mention include: Iron Man 2 (you knew about this one months ago), Robin Hood, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, The A-Team, Jonah Hex, Predators (YES), Valhalla Rising (limited release) and Centurion (also limited, but very worthy). For the rom-com (romantic comedy, you idiot) princess with overactive tear ducts … You either bring equally emotional friends with them, or your boyfriend who can’t hear anything under 120 decibels because they just got out of The Expendables. Let’s face it, no matter thanks continued from page 8 and awkwardly touching now. Love, Liz Dear 2007-2008 Cold Scott smoothie maker, I came to you everyday with hope of a delicious smoothie, and every day you failed me. Why are there ice chunks in this? Why is it so thick that I cannot suck it up my straw? Why??? Everyday I wanted to just lean over and say, “Please add some more juice so that my smoothie becomes a smoothie and not a glacier-filled beverage.” I did not understand how you did not grasp this. It pained me, but I was loyal to you. Despite your inability to produce a delicious beverage, I hope that what others say, you will love these movies even if they are usually just formulaic plug-n-plays. Sometimes we get lucky with a (500) Days of Summer, but that’s not often. Anyway, May 27 brings Sex and the City 2 and from the looks of the trailer, the girls sing … a lot. Other than that and Kim Cattrall’s soul-sucking creepiness, that’s all an audience knows about the film. There’s also this little film you may have heard of being unleashed on June 30: Twilight: Eclipse. Look, we all know of the love from “Twi-hards” and the backlash from sane people, but just face it, the films are not good. And for those who think the films don’t do the books justice, look at Eclipse’s surprisingly excellent pedigree: David Slade, director (30 Days of Night), Melissa Rosenberg, writer (Dexter writer and producer) and Howard Shore, composer (The Lord of the Rings trilogy), and the film will still suck. It’s not the filmmakers, it’s the source material. Anyway… Honorable mentions here include: Letters to Juliet and Eat, Pray, Love starring your rom-com-queen, Julia Roberts. For the guy who is still quoting Anchorman … There is nothing wrong with still quoting Anchorman, by the way. You’re the person that doesn’t have a good time unless you’re laughing. Luckily for you, there are plenty of coms-sans-rom this summer. My feature here is Get Him to the Greek, the pseudo-sequel to 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The only relationship between the two is the out-of-control rocker Aldous Snow (played by also socially unacceptable Russell Brand). Sarah Marshall is a comedy gem that is continuously overlooked in the modern comedy pantheon. If you need your raunch meter filled, this one will do it. A film of equal mention here is The Other Guys, starring Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, coming in August. I’m betting this film will surprise you. Of course Will Ferrell gets to act his manic best, but I also think his turn here will be something wholly different than we have seen from him before. Get excited. One movie here I have immediate problems with is Grown Ups. The film should be gold with Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, Kevin James, David Spade and Chris Rock poking fun at the lame men-children they became famous for playing. Looking at the trailer gives me doubts because instead of smart comedy, they seem to go for the typical slapstick. Here’s hoping I’m wrong and it’s just a shrewd marketing ploy. Honorable mentions worth a view: MacGruber and Dinner For Schmucks. For the obscure horror nerd … This is my kind of thing. A few of these happy-fests have been making the festival circuits and are finally being released either wide or limited this summer. Most notably here is Splice, about a genetic experiment gone horribly awry. Trust me, it’s smarter than it sounds. Falling just shy of summer movie season is the remake of Nightmare on Elm Street. The original is a masterpiece and this only warrants a view because of Jackie Earle Haley’s (Rorschach in Watchmen) portrayal of Freddy Krueger. No matter what the film is like, his Freddy is sure to be iconic. Others worthy of the blood-letting: Romero’s Survival of the Dead, Piranha 3D, and if you can get your hands on The Human Centipede, do it. It is exactly what it sounds like. Films literally everyone will love … I don’t have a category for these films other than that every human should see them. First is Christopher Nolan’s first film since The Dark Knight, Inception. Watch the trailer and be amazed. Toy Story 3 also lands to give us our Pixar fix and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World will be something no one will see coming and no one will forget. Look, just buy your tickets already. OK, snarky comments aside, if you do one thing this summer, go outside your comfort zone. See something you normally wouldn’t and above all else, support quality filmmaking. Who knows, something may surprise you for the better. you make it far in life … far away from the food industry, that is. Love, Liz Dear fall 2008 girl that tried to fight me in Bagel and Deli because I greeted you at the door and told you that I hope you have a wonderful Bagel and Deli experience and you thought that I was being “disrespectful” so you got up in my face and told me that you were going to “kick my ass” even though you were 5 feet nothing tall and realistically I would have kicked your ass, but then your 400 pound Samoan cousin came in the shop and carried you out and then handed me $10 and apologized for your drunkenness, Thank you for the money you crazy nugget. Love, Liz Finally, thank you to The Miami Student and especially Amusement for an amazing four years together, you’ve meant the world to me. ANNA TURNER The Miami Student other amusing shiz Sexperts stunned By Anna Turner Amusement Editor 2 Medium, 1 Topping Pizzas for $5.99 Each Order Online Coupon Code 9151 He’s what the ladies want, what the fellows wish they were, what the moms want their sons to be, what their fathers want their daughters to marry and he’s the guy you’ve always dreamed about. That’s right, he’s Miami’s Sexiest Man Alive 2010. This too-good-to-be-true sex machine goes by the name Chris Gutschenritter, nickname Gutsch, rap name Gutschin’ Ain’t Easy. You might have seen him on the baseball field, or maybe cruisin’ around in his minivan, getting parking tickets left and right. What are the parking tickets for, you might ask? Easy: Being too sexy. While a sex appeal like Gutsch’s is too much of a burden for some, the junior accounting major from Atlanta, Ga. shoulders that load with style. Being the quality reporter that I am, I decided to do some investigative work to see what really goes on inside the mind of the sexiest man alive. After formulating highly scientific, important and intelligent questions that would not make me look like an idiot, I sat down with Gutsch and got a glimpse into the mind of a sex icon. Amusement: If you could say one thing to the guy who invented balloons, what would it be? Gutsch: You’ve made a lot of birthdays go. Thank you. A: Where would be your first destination upon getting a magic carpet? G: I wouldn’t be concerned with where I was going. I would be more attentive to having a magic carpet, and I would be friends with it like Aladdin. We’d play chess. A: What board game do you cheat on most often? G: Stratego. I lie and say I have a different piece than is actually there. (Note: If I knew how to count, I would do this too, just so I could say I had cheating strategies in common with the sexiest man alive.) A: What would you name your pet dragon and why? G: Leroy because I feel like dragons are normal if you give them a chance, so you should give them a normal name and not some weird magical name like Slayer or Zor. Yeah, I’d name him Leroy and we would just fly around the neighborhood. A: What hurts you the most about the fact that you will never get to be a teen mom on 16 and Pregnant? G: That I won’t get to give birth. A: For you personally, what is the devil? G: Foreign language. A: If you could say one thing to all the children of the world, what would it be? G: There is no … No … It would be don’t grow up … No … I would say … There’s no Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy … No, I would say just enjoy yourself, be a little kid, stay young at heart. A: So, I’m asking you this totally for the article and not at all for my own personal reasons because, I mean, it doesn’t matter to me, you know … but, and this is for the sake of the article, what’s your relationship status right now? G: Like, am I single? A: Yes. And, again, this isn’t for me to know, like, I could care less if you’re single. It’s not like I’m looking to, you know … But the readers will probably want to know … It’s all relevant, you see … I’m not asking for me … G: Uh, yes, I’m single. A: And ready to mingle? G: Single and ready to mingle. A: Oh my gosh, what a coincidence! Because I’m totally singl — THE MIAMI STUDENT 10 ♦ FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2010 PARKING continued from page 2 permits by $5. The Miami Metro student fee will also be increased from the current $60 to $66. Parking permits for faculty and staff will be adjusted to $30 per academic calendar year instead of $20 per fiscal year. “Basically because we’re still in a freeze on salaries and we didn’t think it’d be appropriate to raise the price of employee permits while salaries are still locked in,” Gordon said. “The permits here for faculty and staff are still relatively low. That comes out to pennies per day, or pennies per hour.” Gordon said parking citation costs will remain the same. “You generate more of your revenue for the people that are using (parking permits),” Gordon said. “We’d rather sell more permits up front and get more people registered.” Gordon said it was important to the university not to change the costs of parking citations. “When someone gets a parking ticket, it creates a very negative view of parking services and the university,” Gordon said. “Parking services needs to be financially self- sustaining,” Gordon said. “(Revenue goes to) debt payment on garage services, salaries and benefits, it goes toward the cost with Metro fees. We’re looking at providing shuttle services to Wal-Mart. We’re putting another bus on the road and maintaining the services we have.” COAL continued from page 3 out there.” Cotton said the coal pile, located several hundred feet from Harker’s Run — and uphill from it — could very well be polluting surface or ground waters. Sophomore Alyssa Ferraro, who visited the MRF with a class and saw the coal pile, said she would like the university to pay more attention to potential problems stemming from the pile. “Nobody seems to have thought about it in a long time,” Ferraro said. “I feel like it could rain and dissolve and run off into things it shouldn’t run off into or get absorbed into groundwater because it’s just sitting there with no protection at all.” Powell said Miami is eager to be environmentally proactive. “We’ve got nothing to hide,” Powell said. “We’re a state institution and we do our very best to protect the environment.” You want to like this. friend us become a fan of The Miami Student THE MIAMI STUDENT FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2010 ♦ 11 Papa John’s partners with HeroBox to support troops By Grace Lerner For The Miami Student Papa John’s in Oxford is participating in an effort with other franchises in Southwest Ohio to raise money for care packages to be sent to soldiers who are fighting overseas. Papa Johns has partnered with HeroBox to send personalized packages to American soldiers. Michelle Stachura, general manager of the Oxford Papa John’s, said the franchise has been involved in the project for the last seven or eight months. The last few months, the branch has collected around $100. They turn in the money from their collection box to headquarters every week. Assistant Manager Courtney Depew said the store has a box next to the register for monetary donations. “We take the money and send care packages to soldiers,” Depew said. The organization, originally launched by a soldier’s family to support all deployed soldiers, will celebrate its second anniversary in May. The manager of an area Papa John’s location decided to support HeroBox after hearing about them while watching the Major League Baseball AllStar game last year. His support has grown and initiated a collective effort on the part of area Papa John’s locations. “All 28 stores from north of Dayton all the way down to Fairfield are involved,” Stachura said. “We are united company-wide.” Soldiers are able to sign up with HeroBox during basic training and can designate particular items that they want. The idea of the program is to send small tokens. Requests from soldiers can range from socks to Slim Jims to guitar strings, mainly whatever the soldier needs to remind them of home. “(It’s nice to) keep connected and let (the soldiers) know people are thinking of them,” Stachura said. Community members can get involved by donating items requested by soldiers, money or adopting their own soldier. It’s possible to become pen pals with adopted soldiers as well. In addition, there is a large event sponsored by area Papa John’s stores at the Centerville, Ohio location on May 8. Firefighters, mayors from different towns, military personnel from Wright Patterson Air Force Base and state representatives will be on hand lending their support to Papa John’s and HeroBox. There will be a silent auction and pizza sales among other activities at the event. Stachura said Hero Day in Centerville is mainly to get people involved and excited. Junior Emily Strand liked the idea of the project. “It’s a great idea and a good way to show that they support our troops,” Strand said. “They can help people feel like they’re helping others by making a donation … I know a lot of people in the army and soldiers fighting abroad. It feels like a great way to support them.” Stachura said it is easy for people to become involved if they want to. “Whether or not you want to come here to donate, you can easily go to the website,” Stachura said. To get involved, visit http://www.herobox.org. Standing at attention SAMANTHA LUDINGTON The Miami Student Sophomore Nicole Gilmore (left) and first-year Deante Smith (right) observe a 24-hour vigil for POW and MIA soldiers Wednesday at Uptown Park. 12 Editors Thomasina Johnson [email protected] Sam Kay [email protected] ➤ EDITORIALS The following pieces, written by the editorial editors, reflect the majority opinion of the editorial board. ASG requirements must be raised M iami University’s Associated Student Government (ASG) has passed a resolution to require all senators to meet academic and disciplinary standards. Starting Aug. 2, all ASG senators must have at least a 2.0 GPA and one or two Code One offenses. The editorial board of The Miami Student believes these requirements will not impact the future of ASG. The board recognizes the importance of finding hardworking, dedicated senators, but the requirements created by ASG are not substantial enough to accomplish the goal of keeping academics and conduct at a high level. These academic and disciplinary standards are equal to those needed to attend Miami University. The board believes these standards are easily attainable for students who are dedicated and hardworking. Most students who want to run and hold a senatorial position are already very involved and high achievers. Because the board views most senators are students who strive to keep high academic and disciplinary standards, these requirements will not insure that the best people become ASG senators Although the board recognizes that ASG does not want to turn away any potential senators, the board recommends ASG raise the academic and disciplinary standards for senators to fulfill their goal of keeping a higher standard for senators. The board believes ASG should use similar requirements that many Greek organizations implement in order to make certain senators can balance their ASG duties. To further insure that students are not falling behind on their studies while serving as senators, the board also encourages ASG to incorporate a GPA requirement while the student is fulfilling his or her duties. The board understands the need for flexibility while students are running and serving for ASG senate and encourages senators to communicate with other senators, the cabinet and the president if they have any problems meeting the ASG academic or disciplinary standards. Rule of thumb Love, love to Miami Tennis! Women’s Tennis wins its second straight Mid-American Conference championship title. All dogs go to heaven Simon, one of the Oxford Police dogs, has passed away. You will be missed! Thanks for the memories Decibel was the perfect capstone to a great year. More money, more problems Tuition raises have us down in the dumps. Better ingredients, better pizza, better charity Papa John’s is creating a drive to collect items to send to the troops. Big Ben’s poor choices Ben Roethlisberger’s actions are an embarrassment to his alma mater. Muy borracho at Fiesta Charra The uptown Mexican restaurant will serve liquor. The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826 EDITORIAL BOARD Catherine Couretas Editor in Chief Erin Fischesser News Editor Erin Maher Managing Editor Scott Allison Online Editor Thomasina Johnson Editorial Editor Sam Kay Editorial Editor Courtney Day Campus Editor Hope Holmberg Campus Editor Amanda Seitz Campus Editor Kelsey Bishop Community Editor Katie Giovinale Sports Editor Amelia Carpenter Features Editor Anna Turner Amusement Editor Samantha Ludington Photo Editor Hannah Miller Art Director JINGHANG HUANG The Miami Student ➤ LETTERS Miami Community must be more inclusive, respectful While waiting to get in Brick Street with my boyfriend, a man in line behind us pointed to someone inside and said, “He is a faggot.” As a gay man standing with my boyfriend, I didn’t say anything. I wanted to kiss my boyfriend as a way to show this person that I, in fact, am gay. However, I passed. Not as a safety mechanism, but because I just did not feel like dealing with another drunk, ignorant person. Around 2 p.m. the very next day, my boyfriend and I were headed toward a flower shop to pick up our boutonnieres for Cincinnati’s Gay Prom. Just before we entered the uptown shop, someone drove by and yelled, “faggot.” I did not recognize the car, the individual or even the direction it was coming from. What I did notice was my boyfriend, the epitome of masculinity, beginning to cry. Immediately I regretted not running to the street, getting their license plate and filing legal charges. These events occurred just one day after the “No Hate” protest on Miami’s campus. And yet, here we are again. I am disgusted and disappointed not only with the Oxford community, but with Miami’s campus as well. While critics will say that Miami has no responsibility in educating students on topics such as diversity, morals or basic etiquette, I disagree. Regardless of Miami’s attempt to institutionalize diversity, I have all too often witnessed its failure. This is particularly prevalent when professors allow, and sometimes foster, a classroom where noninclusive rhetoric is the norm. Most recently, I had a guest presentation in my class on “How to Manage your Boss,” where a Miami professor asked a female student how she would react to a male hitting on her at a bar. When she did not answer the way he hoped, he asked the same question of a male student. The professor made the assumption that he was straight and was right; the male student said he would not be interested. Instead of stopping there, the professor prefaced his next sentence by saying, “aside from the obvious,” and, in my opinion, strongly dismissed the reality of gay existence. In fact, another gay student in the class looked at me in frustration as the class laughed at this comment. It made me feel like I didn’t belong. Truth be told, I wanted him to have called on me. I wanted to wake him up to the reality that I am gay and he offended me. For a professor who is so widely respected by the university, he lost my respect the moment he resorted to mocking same-sex individuals and using it to better his analogy. If only he had called on the gay student one seat over. It is time for solutions on this campus. I have absolutely no reason to donate any money back to an institution that would allow this to continue in their classroom. Not only is this unprofessional from a top school, it is unacceptable. Aside from losing my donations, the institution has also lost credibility, preaching the importance of diversity and failing to implement this standard in the classroom. However, I feel the biggest loss to this university occurred when my boyfriend was called a “faggot,” labeling this institution and community as an area inclusive of hate. I challenge everyone to take action and stand up to hate. When you hear someone saying, “faggot,” “retard” or “cunt,” tell him or her it is not acceptable. When people are telling racially motivated jokes or throwing Ghetto fest theme parties, explain why it is not okay. Stand up and make a difference. Write a letter that you know will start controversy and confront those in positions of authority. Ask “why?” Engage in dialogue and turn theory into activism. With one more semester left, I am not done with Miami. I pay too much money to feel unwelcome. By coming together as one group, respect can be created and change can be accomplished. I will leave Miami in December knowing I personally made a difference. How will you leave Miami? Tommy Marzella [email protected] Greek community needs to clean up reputation As a senior, I have kept pretty silent in the four years I have attended Miami. However, with the previous encounter I had recently and the attention Miami is receiving for its Greek community, I find that it is finally my time to say something. I am ashamed of the Miami Greek life and the reputation they have currently given themselves and the university. Last Tuesday, my friends and I were at CJ’s. We were the only people in the bar at the time, until a hoard of sorority seniors entered for their “bar crawl.” Now, I will not sit here and condemn them for that, because if I could gather all my friends for a bar crawl at a time we could all participate, I definitely would. What I have a problem with was their attitude and they way they carried themselves. One senior from Kappa Kappa Gamma kept constantly blowing a whistle in the middle of CJ’s to gather her sorority flock (and if anyone knows the layout of CJ’s, they would know how annoying that would be in such a small space). When my friends and I confronted this senior about her whistle, she began to become hostile and yelled at us continually. I said something to her about how all we wanted was for her to stop, and then came the chaos. She proceeded to call me a “townie” and a few other names I’m pretty sure that Miami would not allow The Student to publish. She was then escorted out the door by two men in CJ’s, entered the bar again to yell at me some more, then finally left. After the article a few weeks ago concerning this SAME issue regarding respect for those who permanently live in Oxford, I was in shock. Aren’t Greek individuals supposed to be role models, especially the seniors? Don’t they pride themselves in having class, maturity and respect for others? I was ostracized my freshman year for not rushing and, for the most part, I regretted it. Until now, after the multiple reports of fraternities damaging thousands of dollars of hotel property, the allegations of underage drinking and the disgusting actions of the senior I had the privilege of meeting the other night, I personally feel I made the right choice. I refuse to stereotype every Miami Greek member, but I feel it is a time that change must occur. Greek authority leaders must step up and significantly change the perception of Greek life on campus. Maybe then individuals like myself will view them differently as well. Erin Kuhfuss [email protected] Write TMS Letters must be signed with first and last names to be printed. Please send letters via e-mail to: [email protected] or mail to: 17 MacMillan Hall Oxford, Ohio 45056 THE MIAMI STUDENT FRIDAY APRIL 30, 2010 ♦ 13 ➤ PERSPECTIVE Achieving diversity a test of courage AUSTIN FAST Nothing endures but change. cipal’s office, smacked on the wrist and returned to class with- based upon their multiple identities, whether it be race, gender, I typed those words on this page just more than eight out being allowed to eat lunch. socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, religion, educational months ago, announcing my goal as editor in chief The town hall meeting on April 22 was a reaction to level, age, physical ability or one of many others. of The Miami Student to leave Miami University bet- Ghetto Fest (and the assault at Stadium). Sophomore SiAn African-American woman may be systematically dister than I found it when I arrived as a nervous first-year in erra Hughes moderated discussion and cut off one attendee advantaged by gender and race, but benefits as a heterosexual August 2006. who asked, “What are we doing here? What’s the goal?” college-educated Christian. More than half of Miami students I am not sure I achieved my goal, but I sure tried She said the point of the town hall was to come together could be affected by sexism and the remainder has sisters, real hard. and say, “I’m frustrated. You’re frustrated too? Let’s talk mothers and girlfriends whose prospects in life are systemNothing endures but change. Terrifying, but necessary. about this.” atically limited by their immutable lack of a Y chromosome. Change is the only way we keep from going stale, stagnating Great. Discussion and reflection are important stages of Members of that other half may be atheist, physically disor backtracking. change, but the town hall meeting missed the paramount as- abled, a first-generation college student or any other sort of Unfortunately, the wheels driving that transformation some- pect: action. Or rather, proaction. Without crafting a strategy identity that does not represent the advantaged social group times spin uselessly, refusing to gain traction. Failing to obtain to tactfully challenge assumptions and stereotypes, you’re in the United States. Many of us either fall into at least one desired change can be even more maddening than resisting an just a bunch of people beldisadvantaged group, or intiinevitable one. mately know someone who lyaching to a group of Miami must be vigilant, starting with Let’s face it — Miami is not known for its diversity. It may similarly-minded others. does. The trick is to use this first-years, or even during the admisnever be, but its students and faculty can work toward creating understanding to grasp how One speaker at the town sions process, to ensure students appre- privilege affects people who an accepting environment. hall meeting reminded the auNow, don’t get me wrong — Miami does try to encourage dience that a major “offensive ciate difference ... and realize they can differ from us. Your experidiversity, but its progress sometimes falters. ence as a woman, as a gay event” comes up each year use their privilege to create change. Holding town hall meetings to discuss offensive events that gets everyone riled up man or as a Muslim in the like Ghetto Fest or last year’s noose incident are good and talking about acceptance United States can help you befirst steps toward raising awareness, but who comes and equality. However, he said, the adrenalized fervor dies gin to grasp the painful emotions racism, classism and ageism to these meetings? The people who already care about down within a week or two. He passionately told the room can invoke. encouraging diversity. Privilege isn’t inherently evil. Like many things, it is how that creating appreciation of diversity requires small daily efI’m no cultural expert, but personal experience tells me forts from a large number of people. the possessor uses it that counts, and privilege can be a powpointing fingers, calling people bigots or cramming diversity It is now a week later. Last week’s No Hate rally and march erful catalyst for change. Administrators cracking down on down students’ throats is not the way to foster an apprecia- created awareness that I do not want to die down. These large those whose privilege has never been challenged will only tion of diversity at Miami. A university staff member once e- reactionary events attract attention, but they sometimes fail create guilt-laden students, ashamed of their own privileged mailed me, calling me a “racially insensitive, troubling and to reach audiences who don’t already care about Miami’s status. A continuous stream of young people flows through the unethical editor in chief.” diverse student populations. halls of Miami’s red-bricked academic buildings. These probI had never met this man, What can attract their atten- lems will recur, simply because new, unchallenged minds fill Privilege isn’t inherently evil. Like many but he harangued me for tion are the small actions our campus each year. Miami must be vigilant, starting with paragraphs without once exthings, it is how the possessor uses it that each one of us can take on first-years, or even during the admission process, to ensure plaining why the newspaper counts, and privilege can be a powerful a daily basis. We can chal- students appreciate difference, understand the effect inadverhad so terribly ticked him off. lenge our friends who use the tent expression of privilege can have on others and realize they catalyst for change. Other meetings I had as ediword “gay” or “retarded” to can use their privilege to create change. I challenge Miami administrators to react levelheadtor in chief with administradescribe something they find tors in student affairs were confrontational, patronizing and stupid. We can challenge those who describe objects or people edly to students potentially unaware of their own privilege. always in harsh reaction to some purported offense. as “ghetto.” Most importantly, Miami administrators can react Instruct before incidents occur rather than reprimand after That’s the problem: Miami’s reactions to diversity cri- constructively to students perhaps inadvertently expressing the fact. I challenge Miami students to recognize your own privilege and strive to understand how small words can be so ses overshadow its efforts to prevent them (or in the case their privilege. of the Spectrum drag show assault, its reaction is quite Beverly Daniel Tatum’s book Why Are All the Black Kids hurtful to others. And I challenge all of Miami to leave this underwhelming), and this reaction often comes off as ac- Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? offers keen insight into how university better than you found it when you arrived. cusatory rather than instructional. My personal encounters to understand the effect simple words can have on others. She with Miami administration left me with the distinct feeling makes the point that many people in the United States (and at Fast is editor in chief emeritus for The Miami Student remorseful 6-year-old experiences after being sent to the prin- Miami especially) are born into some form of privileged status ➤ WALKIN’ MINE Relationships make college years memorable I mulled over the subject of this, my last column, for days. I probably spent more time deciding what to write about than actually writing about it. I could have taken up one of my favorite topics: Israel, Iran or China. Somehow though, instead of scouring Foreign Affairs or Foreign Policy, I ended up surfing UrbanDictionary. com. (What does this say Morgan about me, really?) Riedl It’s not that I don’t care about politics in the Middle East and East Asia. (In fact, I’ll admit I probably care a little more than anyone should.) But right now all I can think about is that I graduate in a week. Five finals (four of which are blessedly take-home) from now, it’ll all be over. I’m not really ready. I’m supposed to be, and I’ve lied countless times to appease people who expect me to be break into celebratory song and dance, by offering an indefinite I’m getting there. Maybe I am. I don’t really think so though. Don’t misunderstand, I’m so beyond ready for the end of 20-page research papers and group projects (which after four years I still think are torture). I won’t miss the stress of studying, but honestly I will miss studying. You see, I actually enjoy being a student (remember what I said about caring more than I should?). Maybe I don’t like being told to read a 300-page book by a certain deadline, but I like learning and when else in life do we have the opportunity to do nothing but? I’ll get to graduate school eventually (after a two-year stint with Teach for Amer- those random bites of information profesica —sorry, I’m ashamed of this plug. Not sors feed us are useful after all). I don’t know how important each indireally. Check it out!). But then, as a grad student I expect (or, in this economy, can only vidual class is (some certainly were meaningless … but, God, I hope not all of them). hope) I’ll have a job too. So, with my time at Miami drawing to a Still, it seems to me the sum total is almost close, I have to reflect on what college has too large to comprehend. I’m standing in that been. But how do you sum up four years in 800 proverbial forest, unable to see it through all words? This dilemma is how I ended up on the trees. For me, college was actually a lot about UrbanDictionary.com. classes. Not because after taking AmeriThere are numerous entries, comical in can Studies 101 I had an epiphany about their trademark cynicism: apparently colmy future profession (nope, just decided lege is “an expensive four-year waiting period for a paper called ‘degree.’” A little bit, this year what I want to do), but because in that classroom I found a yeah. They got the first mentor, one of the select part right for sure, but I The classes, jobs and few professors who, for don’t think being at Miclubs don’t matter in one reason or another, ami was the equivalent I elevated onto some of being stuck in Seuss’s and of themselves scholarly pedestal. All of Waiting Place. Otherthey’re specific to each my favorite classes have wise, I think I’d be more individual. It’s all been taught by my favorexcited to “escape.” And, about the people. ite professors, and that’s as is by now well-estabnot a coincidence. lished, I’m not. College was also about Still, the definition begs working at The Miami Student. I could have the question: what, in fact, have we been dodone without the grueling late nights that ing here? Learning, for at least a fraction of plagued my first semester on the job, and the time (and I’m guessing it’s a larger fracI don’t think it was the concept of learning tion than we think). Well then, what have from my mistakes that has left an indelwe learned? Facts? Definitely. But not only. ible impression on me. It was my friends This leads me to that overarching, inescapon staff, bonding during those evening able, and, to some degree, unanswerable question. What did it all mean? hours and through the occasional hailstorm First, will what we learned be applicable? of criticism. Then, there was the Miami University I don’t know yet. But I worry we get too Equestrian Team. I loved dying my hair hung up on this question. I agree with the pink, but I don’t think it’s something I’ll thinking of Zhou Enlai, who when asked ever do again. And as much as I adore our about the historical impact of the French furry partners in the sport, it is the team Revolution some 200 years after the fact, spirit I will miss most. That was the reason I responded, “Too soon to tell.” (See, maybe The Miami Student is looking for essayists. E-mail Jessica at [email protected]. dyed my hair pink, the reason I couldn’t not smile while at the stables. Do you get it? My time here has mattered because of the people in it. The classes, jobs, and clubs don’t matter in and of themselves — they’re specific to each individual. It’s all about the people. Maybe I’m telling you something you already know. I think it’s worth it though, just in case you don’t. I realized something this year, about why I love studying foreign affairs. Yes, I think international issues are fascinating in their complexity. But, really I think political science matters because it explains the systems we as people use to organize culture. Anthropology studies culture. Science equips with the knowledge and business provides us with the capital to make culture. Education spreads it. Language and the arts are culture. It’s a little more complicated than that (the system itself is a part of culture), but again it all comes down to people and how we relate to one another. The point in all this is I can’t stand the thought of leaving Miami because I can’t stand the thought of leaving the people who have meant so much to me. I am a little jealous of all of you who have another year or two or three, but then again me staying around longer wouldn’t prevent the onslaught of good-byes I see looming in the week ahead. I’m afraid Facebook will monopolize even more of my time soon. I’m still not ready to graduate, but ready or not, I will. And I’ll celebrate, even though not all the tears will be happy ones. Riedl is editorial editor emeritus for The Miami Student 14 ♦ FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2010 OpEd Page THE MIAMI STUDENT ➤ ESSAY Greek system must improve to survive On a rather sultry Wednesday after Labor Day, 1971, I arrived in Oxford to begin my academic career. I had no thought that 39 years later I would still be living here in Oxford. This coming December, I will officially end my tenure at Miami University, after having taught during 40 years spanning five decades and having engaged over 21,000 students in the classroom. This essay, though, is not about teaching; it concerns an important co-curricular activity, the Greek system, and, in particular, the fraternity system. During late March 1971 or 1972, I was teaching an upper-level economics seminar with 22 students. One of my students, Lanny Solomon, asked me a question after class, one that literally changed my life. Lanny, then-president of Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT) asked me if I would like to be the faculty advisor to his fraternity. At that point, I had had no exposure to Greek life, as Greek-letter fraternities were banned in the State University of New York system. I went to dinner, met some of the men, and I accepted the position. The enjoyment was short-lived, as my experience was not very positive. I left that group in December 1973. ZBT closed its door in 1975 and sold its house to Evans Scholars in 1976. When I began here, fraternities attracted men who were leaders on campus ... In the mid-90s, fraternity life began to take a downward spiral, one from which it has yet to return. I left ZBT and became the advisor to Sigma Alpha Mu (Sammy) on January 13, 1974. My experiences were memorable, pleasurable (most of the time) and quite exciting. I was initiated as a brother on November 13, 1976. Over the years, my responsibilities with the fraternity grew, including becoming chapter advisor and a member and officer of the house corporation. Later, I took on the additional role of national scholarship chairman, a position I still hold. Sadly, my chapter chose to close its doors, as its membership dropped from over 100 when it won the top Sammy chapter award (Founders’ Cup) in 2003 to 45 in 2008. Then, in June 2009, I was asked by Pi Kappa Alpha to become its faculty advisor. I accepted. When I began here, fraternities attracted men who were leaders on campus, including those in Associated Student Government (ASG), The Miami Student, the Miami University Student Foundation (MUSF) and several varsity sports. Each fraternity had a member of Miami’s faculty as an advisor, a chapter advisor and, until the late ‘70s, a housemother. Advisors’ meetings saw attendance of 80 percent or more of the fraternities. Unfortunately, hazing was fairly prevalent. In the mid-90s, fraternity life began to take a downward spiral, one from which it has yet to return. From 1995 to 2010, many fraternities received disciplinary sanctions, mostly from the Office of Judicial Affairs (now the Office of Student Ethics and Conflict Resolution). Many of these sanctions included suspension of the chapter for up to three years, with the reasons ranging from hazing, theft, drugs, vandalism and underage drinking — irresponsible and unacceptable behavior. More important, though, is the fact that fraternities strayed widely from their core values. They became near-sighted rather than farsighted — the present was more important than the future. “How can I satisfy my wants and desires today without being concerned about negative spillovers?” Many of the quality men previously attracted to the fraternity system began to reject it, and rightly so. The fraternities that used to see 300 men queuing up each night during formal recruitment to meet active members saw their numbers dwindle. Again, appropriately so. In 1995 to 1996, a group was formed to develop a document entitled The Model Greek Community. An extensive effort, the report — fruits of the labor of many — has lain idly on a shelf. Good in theory, not in fact. Also seen were fraternities coming and going. This list may not be complete: ZBT tried to come back, but failed. Currently, they are here. Beta Theta Pi was suspended and restarted in 1999. Sigma Alpha Epsilon was suspended and recolonized. Phi Delta Theta was suspended and reorganized. Chi Psi arrived. Chi Phi returned. Alpha Sigma Phi just had their activation. Acacia disappeared and came back. Alpha Tau Omega disappeared, reappeared and is now gone. Delta Chi was suspended. Theta Chi was suspended. Sigma Pi arrived and has flourished and Delta Sigma Phi has formed an interest group. Phew! What was most noticeable to me, though certainly sub rosa, was the increasing lack of interest and influence of advisors. Faculty would no longer become involved as the university did not reward volunteering. (Translation: For tenure and promotion purposes, the university disregarded advising a fraternity as a positive factor towards tenure and promotion; in fact, participation was discouraged.) Chapter advisors were almost always from out-of-town and rarely attended house meetings. Attendance at advisors’ meetings dropped precipitously. At last month’s meeting, only eight fraternities were represented. There has been a lack of role models for the men in fraternities. Some advisers have shirked their responsibilities. Where there is a strong, local advisory group, there is a strong fraternity. Vice President Barbara Jones, acknowledging the benefits to be derived from a strong fraternity system, wisely commissioned an outside group to come to Miami in 2009 to “analyze” the Greek system. She wanted Miami to have the pre-eminent Greek system. What spawned from that external review was a report and the establishment of the Blue Ribbon Committee to respond to the report. I was, and continue to be, a participant. The committee constructed one of the finest documents I have ever seen, enumerating what had to be done, how it would be accomplished, a timeline for implementation and with whom the responsibility lay. In place was a process to make certain the recommendations would reach fruition. The responsibility for all of this has fallen on a bright, creative individual, Katie Wilson, senior director of student engagement. I have reflected and asked myself, “What has happened to the fraternity system?” I am an economist, not a sociologist or psychologist; I can simply make observations and theorize. Here they are. (Please note these are generalizations, NOT applicable to everyone and every fraternity. They are, however, quite prevalent.) 1. Students have changed. They arrive with a strong sense of entitlement, “I deserve it because I am special. The rules of common decency and respect for others don’t apply to me.” This fact is reflected in their attitudes and actions, and often in their lack of commitment if or when they join fraternities. 2. There has been an increasing lack of respect for what belongs to others. Have you walked into a fraternity house recently? Have you read the reports about off-campus events after fraternity men leave? Recently graduated alumni return and destroy property. Off-duty police have had to be hired to protect some fraternity houses during alumni weekends. What has happened to respect and responsibility? 3. There has been a lack of role models for the men in fraternities. Some advisers have shirked their responsibilities. Where there is a strong, local advisory group, there is a strong fraternity. 4. Fraternity men responsible for inappropriate actions have not been held fully and consistently responsible. In certain fraternities, there has been an all-too-pervasive culture of immaturity with few or no consequences. 5. Fraternities no longer know the distinction between ritual and tradition; these terms have merged into one. 6. Helicopter parents try to externalize the blame for their sons’ transgressions and lack of cleanliness of the fraternity houses. 7. With the new second-year live-in requirement, fraternity houses are remaining half-filled, mainly with sophomores, as few juniors and seniors are willing to be live-in role models. 8. There is often a “code of silence” when it comes to discussions with the advisors. Within the past five years, the Office of Student Ethics and Conflict Resolution has been kept busy by immature, irresponsible actions of many fraternities: Phi Gamma Delta, Delta Chi, Sigma Nu, Lambda Chi Alpha, Theta Chi, Pi Kappa Alpha and, most recently, Sigma Chi. However, the results have not been consistent. Specifically, I want to address Sigma Chi. When I arrived in 1971, the Alpha chapter of Sigma Chi was among the most highly regarded fraternities on campus. It was known for working hard and playing twice as hard; its reputation was well-earned. However, things changed. In the past eight years, Sigma Chi, whose advisors have never participated in advisors’ meetings in the past eight years to the best of my recollection, has been cited and found responsible for several inappropriate activities. I asked for information, through a public records request, and I received the following: 1. In 2002, five members of Sigma Chi told another member to throw a cinderblock through a window at Phi Kappa Tau. The fraternity was held responsible. 2. In 2003, Sigma Chi was found responsible for trespassing and setting a fire in Peffer Park. 3. In 2008, Sigma Chi was found responsible for stealing over $5,000 worth of valuables from Sigma Alpha Epsilon. 4. In 2009, while a fraternity advisors’ meeting was being held on the morning of Recruitment Open House, Theta Chi and Sigma Chi had a party in direct violation of Interfraternity Council (IFC) rules. This violation was handled by IFC. 5. In 2010, events occurred in Columbus in which members of Sigma Chi did extensive damage to two rooms in a hotel. The penalties imposed by the Office of Student Ethics and Conflict Resolution included a suspension until August 2011. The fraternity appealed the length of the suspension to the University Appeals Board, chaired by my colleague Gerald Granderson. In what I view as an egregious error, the board decreased the ending point of the suspension from August 2011 to December 2010. In essence, this “penalty” was a slap on the wrist, as the only meaningful consequence is that the members of Sigma Chi will not be able to participate in Greek Week this year. (There is, of course, the housing situation. According to a new City of Oxford law, any fraternity not recognized by the university cannot obtain a permit to have its fraternity house more than four unrelated people. I am waiting to see what happens here.) The major point is that there is a pervasive culture in the fraternity system, especially with Sigma Chi, one in which there is an unwillingness to accept responsibility for the actions committed by members of the group. In the papers I obtained (and in The Miami Student), Michael Dunn, executive director of Sigma Chi, stated that, “The chapter did not go there (to Columbus) and plan to do some (emphasis added) damage at a hotel. It was only two or three members that evidently did the damage.” This point was repeated by other officials from Sigma Chi. The fraternity, in its appeal, stated the men who did the damage were not there to attend the conference; therefore, Sigma Chi was not responsible for their actions. I wholeheartedly disagree. When I was a child, my parents inculcated and instilled in me that whatever I do reflects back on them. In my in- Significant changes in the fraternity system must occur if we are to achieve our goal of being the pre-eminent Greek system. volvement with fraternities, I emphasized that you are your brothers’ keeper. What one member does, the fraternity must accept responsibility for his actions; actions by one member reflect upon the group as a whole. We emulate others; that is how we learn. If the role model is poor, so will be the actions of the younger members of the fraternity. There is a culture within any fraternity. If an imperfect culture is perpetuated, so is the irresponsibility that follows. Fraternities must prevent destructive behavior through swift self-regulation when any of its members goes astray. What the appeals committee missed was the culture that has been present in Sigma Chi for years (as enumerated, in part above), one that the advisors and its nationals are unwilling to address and make changes proactively rather than reactively. Unfortunately, the same attitude appears to be pervasive in many other fraternities as well. Significant changes in the fraternity system must occur if we are to achieve our goal of being the pre-eminent Greek system. That change must be led not only through the Cliff Alexander Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and IFC, but through strong, committed advisors who are willing to spend the time working with the executive council of the chapter and its members. This includes both faculty and chapter advisors. These individuals are not there as parents, in loco parentis disappeared from Miami in 1970. The optimal behavior for advisors is to help the men explore ways in which they can fulfill the core values of its fraternity and have fun, but not at the expense of others. Destruction of others’ property (including damage to your own fraternity house) and other irresponsible, immature behavior will continue to tarnish the reputation of the fraternity system. Change must occur, and it is the responsibility of the advisors and alumni to help the men to effect the necessary changes, not to protect the fraternities. I want to see our fraternity system improve and return to the status it once possessed. I have invested 38 years of my life in the fraternity system because I believe in the significant benefits that can be derived from fraternity life. It is time each fraternity returns to the values as stated in each of our rituals. We can accomplish it if we all choose the right path, one that involves responsibility (in all forms), advising and leadership. For me, I plan on continuing my efforts with the fraternity system. I will continue my role as a faculty advisor, I will be there to help my fraternity return to Miami and I will be part of an advisory group to IFC. This is called longterm commitment and dedication. I am hoping for the same from each of you who is involved with the fraternity system. jerry miller [email protected] ➤ THINKING OUTSIDE THE (b)OX Oilrigs must have stricter regulations (334): Not good on the oil front. Heading for the beaches. Environmental disaster in making. And now other states can share in this joy with new permission given to them to offshore drill. I was forwarded that text message earlier this week from a friend who Jensen had received it Henry from his father, a science professor in Alabama. And while it probably isn’t the most exemplary Texts From Last Night material, it does raise an enormously important question: how will the current oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico affect United States policy on offshore drilling, especially given President Obama’s recent decision to open many new areas of American coastline for oil and natural gas excavation? Initially after an oilrig located 50 miles off the Louisiana coast exploded on April 20, injuring 17 and killing 11, the consequences were unforeseeable. However, when it was discovered that one of the underwater pipes was leaking crude oil at a rate of 200,000 gallons per day, the tragedy turned into an environmental catastrophe. By Tuesday of this week, the oozed oil covered an area 48 miles long and 80 miles wide, which is larger than the state of Rhode Island. Marine scientists are fearful for the fates of sperm whales, endangered sea turtles and myriad other fish and bird species in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, officials at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) believe that, depending on weather conditions, the oil slick could hit American shores by Saturday. The timing of this could not be worse for Obama, who announced at the end of March his desire to open previously-untouched areas along the Eastern seaboard, Gulf of Mexico, and northern Alaska for exploration and drilling. If accepted, this proposal would open 167 million acres of Atlantic and 130 million acres of Alaskan coastline for oil well development. Three hundred million acres is a lot of acres. And now, given the deaths of the workers because of the explosion, the hazards to nature and the ominous approach of oil to beaches across the southeast, environmental activists and politicians now have a substantial weapon with which to fight the expansion of offshore drilling. In an interview with a Tampa Bay newspaper, Florida Governor Charlie Crist said this event should force politicians to rethink their eagerness to drill: “If this doesn’t give somebody pause, there’s something wrong.” Although it’s possible that Obama’s offshore drilling proposal was a cunning tactic to win over Republicans in big oil states (perhaps to get their swing votes on upcoming climate legislation) or even stave off rising gas prices, there is growing evidence that it was a strategic international move to stop nuclear proliferation. How is this possible? Currently, Iran is one of the big kids in the international oil production sandbox. If the U.S. wants to put a sanction on Iran because of their nuclear programs, the world will need to decrease its reliance on Iranian oil, possibly by expanding offshore drilling in other areas. Need further proof? According to Time magazine, Obama reportedly told the Chinese president “the U.S. would help China make up any shortfall in oil imports resulting from Iranian retaliation for any Chinese support for sanctions.” So, it becomes evident that this black gold problem has left us in a morally gray area. It is impossible to weigh the devastation of environmental disaster (remember the Exxon Valdez spill of 1989?) against the benefits of sanctioning a threatening nation. The only thing we can do in the meantime is advocate for the improvement of safety regulations on oilrigs. But even then, we’re still left with a giant spill that has caused an even greater mess. THE MIAMI STUDENT SANDWICHES continued from page 1 restaurant industry. Nick Lanni founded the Great Steak & Potato Co. franchise in Dayton in 1982. When he sold the franchise in 2004, it held over 260 restaurants serving Philadelphia cheese steak nationwide. His sons, Joe and John, own Currito: Burritos Without Borders. Currito is a national concept aimed at college campuses and airports. The company recently created 25 new burrito restaurants in college towns across the country and has signed agreements to sell in five new airports. Nick Lanni’s wife, Nancy Lanni, created the idea of the grilled sandwich restaurant. “The concept is really owned by my wife, Nancy,” Nick Lanni said. “I’m just helping her with it.” Nick Lanni did not own Oxford’s now-empty Great Steak & Potato Co. restaurant, but bought FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2010 ♦ 15 it from the former franchise owner. He hopes to test the SoHi concept in Oxford, and may build more SoHi restaurants in the future. SoHi, he said, is ideally marketed toward young people. “It’s really geared to a more college crowd with a healthier approach to grilled sandwiches,” he said. “College towns are a terrific market for this type of a concept. Young people really appreciate the freshness and more green approach.” Joe Lanni said the restaurant will work on fine-tuning the menu and ingredients with a slower crowd over the summer. “We decided to open in the middle of May,” he said. “We wanted to open at a slower time so we’d be ready to rock by fall.” First-year Jason Rembrandt said he looks forward to trying out the hamburger selection at SoHi. “There aren’t any true burger joints uptown and the burgers at on-campus dining halls are terrible,” he said. “So I’d look forward to trying it.” FIESTA continued from page 1 continued from page 1 fun,” she said. “The servers are always so friendly and welcoming. I think a liquor license would create an even more enjoyable environment and will provide students with another option of where to go uptown.” Coviello also said by keeping its convenient location, Fiesta Charra will be a new place for students and locals to visit whether they are on a date or out with a group of friends. “We still have the benefit of staying on High Street, which is a great place to be,” Memedes said. Junior Ryan Potkul said these new changes will make returning to Oxford in the fall more exciting. “I think it will be a fun place to go, especially for senior year,” Potkul said. Fiesta Charra is also thrilled about their new location and additions. “With newer facilities and more space, the restaurant will be 100 percent better than it already is,” Memedes said. but we feel that it makes sense.” Scott Webb, architect for the project, added that the upgrade will make the building handicap accessible. DuBois added that it’s not as though the building is deteriorating and requires rebuilding, but the upgrades will enhance the space. “It’s a nice store and it’s not like it’s falling apart or anything like that,” DuBois said. DuBois said the store is able to undergo this change because of recent changes to zoning rules in Oxford. The store can now build to the lot line and have more than three apartments in one building, among other rules. An example of construction before the change in rules is Bella Place, Webb said. The complex actually consists of three buildings each with three apartments. “It cuts up all the commercial space underneath,” Webb said. “It’s still not rented.” Webb has also been involved in the design of the properties at Stewart Square and 25 W. High St., the building that will soon house Fiesta Charra. 16 Joe Gioffre Asst. Business Manager Scott Allison Online Editor Courtney Day, Hope Holmberg, Amanda Seitz Campus Editors Mark Andrea, Joe Gioffre Advertising Layout Directors Derek Biesinger National Advertising Director Kelsey Bishop Community Editor Thomasina Johnson, Sam Kay Editorial Editors Marisa Grindle Advertising Representative Katie Giovinale Sports Editor Amelia Carpenter Features Editor Anna Turner Amusement Editor Samantha Ludington Photo Editor Hannah Miller Art Director Taylor Brinkman, Carolann Crittenden, Shuwei Jiao, Abigail Offenbaker, Colleen Yates Page Designers Erin Killinger Graphic Designer Nina Polson Advertising Representative Anna Romano Advertising Representative Lance Armstrong Classified Advertising Representative Cox Ohio Printer WDJ Inc. - Bill Dedden Distributor Sacha DeVroomen Bellman Adviser Jinghang Huang, Chad Stebbins, Bizzy Young Cartoonists Senior Staff Writers Taylor Dolven Kristen Grace Abbie Harper Mary Kate Linehan Tom Segell Jessica Sink Hunter Stenback Dylan Tussel Patrick Wolande Staff Writers Noelle Bernard Bethany Bruner Mandi Cardosi Jillian Dickman Ty Gilligan Natalie McKerjee Leslie Scott Jenni Weiner Editorial Columnists Amy Biolchini Blake Essig Abigail Haglage Jensen Henry Will Hoyt Brett Schneider Lawrence Uebel Roger Young Sports Staff Writers Nick Bonaventura Alex Butler Erika Hadley Hannah R. Miller J.M. Reiger Michael Soloman Testing Your Patience By Andrew Reynolds Across 1) Look forward to 6) And so on... (abbr.) 9) Stan, Kyle and Kenny’s pal 13) Safari sight 14) You ____ what you eat 15) Luxurious 16) Like some guards’ shots 18) Shampoo bottle instruction 19) Appease 20) Yupik or Aleut, commonly 22) Belonging to us 23) Fix a game 25) Nasal mucus, commonly 26) New Jersey shooter? 27) Doctrine, broadly 30) Person with many clean habits? 32) “Who _____ there?” (watchman’s words) 34) Makes wet, as a rag 37) Involuntary muscle contraction 41) Like the last week of the semester, and 16- & 67-Across and 15- & 24- Down 44) Follows Bob Barker’s advice 45) Opened for discussion 46) Traveler’s predictions 49) Alphabet segment 50) Thousands, to Caesar 51) Pod filler 54) Like some teas 56) “Oh! One more thing” (abbr.) 58) Aged 59) Closer to 61) Geometry class calculation 65) Soup server 67) Must-have for some take-home exams 69) Geography class book 70) Posses 71) Zeus’ shield 72) Pond protuberance 73) U.S. agency currently led by Martha N. Johnson 74) Shipping container Down 1) Lob shot paths 2) “Oh my gosh!” 3) “Am not,” Kathryn Anderson Scott Allison Michael Griggs E-mail for advertising information: [email protected] The Miami Student (Tuesday/Friday) and Amusement (Friday) are published during the school year by the students of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. The content of The Miami Student and Amusement is the sole responsibility of The Miami Student staff. Opinions expressed in The Miami Student are not necessarily those of Miami University, its students or staff. CORRECTIONS POLICY The Miami Student is committed to providing the Miami University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication. Notice For Rent Art Workshops--All Levels! Mixed Media Exploration April 29-30; Storytelling with a Paintbrush May 6-7 AND June 17-18; Stained Glass Basics May 20-21. Held at OCAC. Register at www.bohemianartcafe. com/classes.html. 513-226-9470 HOUSE FOR RENT 3 Bedroom House, 2 full Baths, 2 car garage, washer/dryer, full kitchen, cable and hi speed internet in every room, large closets, all electric utilities, landlord pays water, sewer, and trash. Less than 5 years old. Call Lou @ (513) 658-2590 Help Wanted HOUSE FOR RENT 4 Bedroom House, 2 full Baths, 2 car garage, washer/dryer, full kitchen, cable and hi speed internet in every room, large closets, all electric utilities, landlord pays water, sewer, and trash. Less than 4 years old. Call Lou @ (513) 658-2590 Earn $1000-$3200 a month to drive our brand new cars with ads placed on them. www. YouDriveAds.com General Oxford Presbyterian Church Stone Church on the corner of Church and N. Main Sreets. Worship at 10:00 a.m. Coffee and doughnuts before and after the service. 513-523-6364 Employment Opportunities Hooters Now Accepting Apps! Hooters of Springdale is now accepting applications for Hooters Girls, Hooters Girls at the Door and Cooks. So if you’re hard working with a great attitude and looking for a chance to make great money, then apply in person at Hooters of Springdale 12185 Springfield Pike Springdale, Ohio. Check us out on Facebook and www.hootersrmd.com! 513-671-2772 colloquially 4) Samuel Eto’o’s team, in short 5) One of an anatomical ten 6) Spends time at Haines food court 7) Long journeys 8) Giving up 9) Inventor Whitney 10) Like a sentence without pause 11) Publish (or what is published)? 12) Type of fossilcontaining rock 15) Reformation started in 1517 17) Transitioned smoothly 21) Barnyard sound 24) They’re large or small in the human body 27) Small demons 28) Opera without music? 29) Flakey mineral 31) Compass pt. 33) Built to _____ 35) Large Scottish isle 36) Bro, for one 38) U.S. tennis champ Arthur 39) Part of a plant or musical note 40) Chemical info form (abbr.) 42) Carson Daly’s show on MTV 43) Guy, in Guadalajara 47) Great service for 38-Down? 48) Veteran sailor 51) Well-camouflaged bear 52) Make joyful 53) Confuse 55) Pulls a gun in a duel 57) Word with “parks” or “works” 60) Explosive Sicilian summit 62) Common melodic pattern in Indian music 63) Give off 64) Semi-circular church recess 66) Young fellow 68) Cul de _____ Photography Staff for rent 2010-2011 ACROSS FROM REC CENTER Housemates Needed Share house on quiet street; short walk to center of campus; grad students preferred; 3 BR, 2 bath; deck; fencedin yard; $350/mo. plus utilities. Call 523-7264. Web site: www.miamistudent.net Earn Extra Money Students needed ASAP. Earn up to $150 per day being a Mystery Shopper. No Experience Required. Call 1-800-722-4791 ➤ For information on advertising, call 513-529-2210 or fax at 513-529-1893 Condo for Rent 2010/11 Two bedroom townhouse permit for 4, $1,125 per stu. per sem. & One bedroom flat permit for 2, $1,500 per stu. per sem. Fully Furnished, includes washer & dryer, Private bus service to Shriver Center. www.odcproperties.com 513-255-4100 Pimped Mile Square Housing!! The most Stylish living in Oxford at an affordable rate. See for yourself at www.cardinalprops.com or call: 800.575.9486 SINGLES AVAILABLE FOR RENT NEXT YEAR Contact Red Brick at 513.524.9340 for more information. www.redbrickoxford.com LIVE ABOVE CHIPOTLE! The Lofts at 1 W High have a recent opening for next year. 4 person unit. Be a part of Oxford’s most desirable building. Contact our office today for a tour 513-524-9340. www.redbrickoxford.com Hurry! One Room Left! 1 W High Three female students looking for a fourth. Only one more roommate opening for Fall 2010/Spring 2011 at the new 1 West High Street Apartments. The best location Uptown. Call Mary for a tour! 815-274-0059 House for rent Great opportunity for Grad students. Ten minute drive to campus. Peaceful setting. 4bd.2 bth. 1200.mthly. 513-770-1053 LIVE UPTOWN THIS SUMMER: $1000 Per Person. Contact 524.9340 for more info Great Properties available for the 2010-2011 school year. Contact OXRE at 513-523-4532 Furnished Rooms!!! Rooms for rent $675, $750 and $900 for the summer. occ. Groups of 1 to 5. May to Aug. 2010, 1027 Arrowhead. Like New, remodeled, 5 bedrooms. 2 baths, Washer/dryer, dish washer, central air, on-site parking. COMPLETELY FURNISHED WITH 40” LCD TV, Free hi speed internet and hi def. cable TV; very low utility cost, wooded yard with access to hiking trails, and lots more. Contact me and I will send pictures. Call 740-862-2043, 740-407-4114 cell, 614-692-0510 work. Email [email protected] 2010/2011 - 6 bedroom house with 2 baths, washer/dryer hookup, private yard and off street parking for 8 to 10 cars. Call Corso Realty at 523-3520 or 868-9700. 2010/2011 - 4 bedroom house with 2 baths, basement, washer/dryer and off street parking. Call Corso Realty at 523-3520 or 868-9700. 2010/2011 - Uptown apartment with permit for 2 or 4. Call Corso Realty at 523-3520 or 868-9700. Bacchanalia Campus & Vine New Construction Furnished Ready for this fall! www.muoh.net Rentals Apartments apartments available FOR 2010-2011. 108 South Main St. (behind “Pour House”). Permit for 3. $2000/person/semester. Large kitchen & living room. Really close to Uptown & Campus. Off-street Parking. Call Daniel 513-543-4470 www.miamiuniversityrentals.com CAMPUS COMMONS COMING THIS FALL - LOCATED ACROSS FROM THE REC CENTER. EXPERIENCE MODERN LIVING IN SOUTH CAMPUS QUARTER. FOR MORE INFO CALL (513) 523-1647 OR (513) 867-5522. Roberts Apartments 2010/11. Great Location! Close to Uptown/Campus. Laundry Facilities. Off-Street Parking. Well-Maintained. Pet Friendly Units! www.roberts-apts. com 513-839-1426 or 513-839-0400 Apartments and Houses for Rent CJ Management has a great place for you to live! Select units have Flat Screen TV, Off Street Parking, 1 to 8 tenants, Special includes Free Summer Rent! Call 513-523-3633 or 513-255-5222 Today! cjmgt.com 4 bed 3 bath Schmates Best location next to rec center, hockey rink, metro stop, SDS, RedOx. 5 bedrooms, 2 full baths, new roof, windows, flooring, central air, gas heat, wash/dryer. Great Deal only $1900 per person per semester call Doug no hassle landlord 513-289-5990 847-274-6600 the courtyards of miami Students only, we pay most utilities.2 bedroom apartments $2300.per person per seme. Located on the corner of Main and Central, several busses stop here and we are close to the Rec. off street parking, laundry, owner operated with excellent maintenance. Shelter, tables, and grills with some yard space. References available. flexible hours, on site office, Carolyn at 513-659-5671 also www.thecourtyardsofmiami.com FOR RENT TOWNHOUSE - 116 E. Withrow HOUSE - 820 S. Campus APTS - 215 N. Poplar, 802 S. Main All 2 bedroom, close to campus, reasonable rent. Please call 513-523-5164. Get a jump on 2011-2012. If you are a freshman interested in living off-campus as a Junior, you need to start looking now. We can help you get a head start on the rental rush. Call Red Brick at 513-524-9340 or visit our website at www.redbrickproperty.com Stewart Square Discount Price Two female roommates needed, furniture provided, wireless internet, parking, private gym, rent: $3,300/semester, call now and pay only $3,000/ semester! 330-283-0320 Houses Mile Square Upstairs of Duplex School year ’10-’11. Great location! Bishop and Withrow, 2 large bedrooms, 1 bath, open living and kitchen area, front porch, off street parking, permit for 4, $2995 per person per semester plus deposit and utilities. 812-350-4357 NEWER CONDO TRENDY 4 BEDRM~2 FULL BATH~EQUIPPED KITCHEN~LAUNDRY~ OFF STREET PARKING~GARAGE~CAN HELP WITH FURNISHING Mike 513 266-1685 [email protected] Roommate Needed AVAILABLE PROPERTIES LOOKING FOR ROOMMATES 2010-2011: You will have your own bedroom... 17 East Spring Street: Looking for 2 Female for 10-11 1 W High; Loft #201: Looking for 1 Female for 10-11 112.5 S Main Street: Looking for 1 or 2 Males for 10-11 109 Ardmore: Looking for 1 Female for Spring Sem 2011 219 N College: Looking for 1 Female to share Brand new house for 10-11 330 W Church: Looking for 1 Female for 10-11 112 S Main- All Bed No Breakfast: Looking for 1 or 2 Females for 10-11 119 N College - Looking for 1 Female for 10-11 We also have SINGLES available. FOR MORE INFO CALL 513-524-9340* One bedroom left Looking for fun, nice, female housemate; individual bedroom. TWO BATHROOM, four bedroom, laundry, recently built, house. SUPER CLOSE to campus, three other females, cheap utilities. 2010-11 school year. Call Katie 616-502-3315. Male roommate needed 4 bedrooms 2 full baths, kitchen, washer, dryer. On bus line, minutes to class. $800 dollars semester. I will give you one week free vacation in a condo. 513-821-0937 or 513-259-1374 two bedrooms available 321 N. Beech St. - Looking for two roommates to share a house with 2 to 3 guys, a very friendly dog and very friendly cat. Both are well house trained. 2 full bathrooms, huge fenced-in backyard, A/C central air, washer/dryer, one block from bus stop and only three blocks from Uptown! Basement is fully finished with pool table, fooseball table, dart board, beer pong table and bar. It’s a full-fledged man cave! Only $2,500/ semester. 513-720-5392 Sports FRIDAY APRIL 30, 2010 ♦ 17 baseball Red and White look to keep winning streak alive By Alex Butler Senior Staff Writer He is in his junior year and taking on business economics at the Farmer School of Business, but that is not the only thing Sam Dawes has to count on. On the outside, Dawes seems to be getting along pretty well — earning a 3.75 GPA and being a member of the Miami University Honors Program — but the one thing he really wants to stay on top of is the pitching mound. Dawes roams the hill as a relief pitcher for the RedHawk baseball team and in five MidAmerican Conference appearances his earned run average (ERA) is lower than that GPA at a stingy 2.79. “I’m doing pretty good,” Dawes said. “I’m getting into some tougher calculus pace economics classes, which is definitely a challenge. As long as you stay focused and stay organized, especially on the road, I can get everything done. I think I’m doing pretty well. I’m finishing up a pretty decent semester right now.” But the sailing hasn’t been easy for the WMSR continued from page 18 it’s over. EH: Can you talk about your relationship as broadcasters, WMSR co-board members and friends? PM: We’re friends first. That broadcast and board member part is a dimension of our friendship, but I think we’re going to be friends long past the time that we’re broadcasters or board members together or anything like that. It’s an interesting dynamic, and I think that you can tell when we’re on the air that we do have that connection. MC: One of the things that I think GALLAGHER continued from page 18 the “Lanterne Rouge,” naturally), which is reminiscent of the red lantern used on the caboose of trains. The point of the last place finisher or last draft pick is not to mock the person, though. Instead, it is to acknowledge the accomplishment the person has achieved. Although Ricky Bobby would disagree and say “If you ain’t first, you’re last,” sometimes just making the journey and finishing is enough. 6-foot southpaw as his class schedule often conflicts with his diamond time over at McKie Field at Hayden Park. “During our first home game against Northern Kentucky it was on a Wednesday and I was in class until 3:30,” Dawes said. “It’s just one of those kind of things where the coach was like, ‘go ahead and get to class and get here as soon as you can.’ Getting out of class at 3:30, heading to the locker room and I get changed. I come out and I’m lacing my cleats up in the dugout and the coach is telling me to head down to the bullpen to get stretched and by about four o’clock I’m in the game pitching.” Despite the time crunches, Dawes has made it work. In 2009, he set the RedHawk single appearances record and led the MAC with 34 relief showings. “Sam is certainly one of the better student athletes in our program,” Head Coach Dan Simonds said. “Not only is he getting it done on the baseball field, but he continues to get it done in the classroom semester after semester. He was recently just given the MAC Commissioner’s Award for academic success in the classroom. I don’t think it surprised the has really helped our broadcast is the fact that we’re friends, because that allows us to kind of suppress any ego that there would be. We rib each other, but that makes it comfortable. Every time we go into our broadcast, our goal is to put together the best broadcast we’ve ever done. We try to get better with every single game. We take Rico’s message to heart as well and try to get better everyday. Our friendship helps us get our system down because we genuinely enjoy working with each other. EH: Do either of you see any kind of a future in sports broadcasting after you leave Miami? PM: I hope for one, I’m not sure I foresee one. No, I’m going to pursue it. I’m looking at different coaching staff. He’s a very self-motivated kid. He doesn’t do what is just required. He’s going to go above and beyond to be the best that he can be.” This season he has claimed the hill 16 times, but his mound presence isn’t enough to keep his teammates off of his back on road trips, where Dawes has no time for games on the team bus. “I get a little ribbing about getting good grades here and there and having to study every now and then, especially on the road,” Dawes said. “I have to do homework instead of playing cards and things on the bus, but it’s all pretty good-natured.” Even without the card deck, Dawes has been able to deal pretty well as of late. The Red and White (20-20, 7-8 MAC) had an important MAC battle against the University of Akron Zips last Saturday and Simonds looked to Dawes in a tie game to carry his team. The lefty limited the Zips to a couple of runs and kept his team on top to set the stage for a dramatic walk-off victory to keep the home crowd happy. But Dawes’ highlight this season was the victory he picked up against the Indiana things right now and hoping that the right opportunity comes along. MC: If this is it, it’s sad and I’ll miss it, but I’ve had a great run. That said, I would love to pursue it, I would love to keep doing it and to be perfectly honest, if Pat had a job and said, “Hey Mike, come join me,” there’s no way I’d be able to turn that down. With us being seniors, we talk about collegedefining experiences. Broadcasting sports with Pat for WMSR has been a life-defining experience, as cheesy as that may sound. It’s just been so much fun. We’ve done scores of games together, so to be able to do that professionally would just be a dream come true, but if that’s not in the cards, we’ve had some amazing opportunities here. The Miami Student is looking for sports columnists. E-mail Katie at [email protected]. University Hoosiers. “I see him as a kid who believes in his abilities,” Simonds said. “He trusts his abilities and a lot of that can be attributed to he feels that he’s prepared. He’s going to do everything he can to get himself ready to fill his role. It does come out on the mound in the way he approaches pitching. The way he attacks hitters and his confidence in his pitches.” For now he just keeps juggling the load with the game he loves. “Generally speaking they sort of ask us to set a time block out so that we don’t have conflicts, but now that I’m getting into my upper level courses and the business school, sometimes it’s not really possible to handle those expectations,” Dawes said. “I have a couple classes in the middle of the week that run until about 3:30, so sometimes those kind of spill over. Being a reliever the coach is kind of understanding about me showing up a little bit later in the game as long as I’m ready to go.” Dawes and his teammates will stash the home white threads this weekend when they head up north to battle Bowling Green State University. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. Friday. 18 baseball, page 17 Editor Katie Giovinale [email protected] RedHawks repeat as MAC champions By Michael Solomon Staff Writer Back-to-back champions. That’s what the Miami University women’s tennis team is after earning victories last weekend over Eastern Michigan University (EMU) and University of Toledo. The women clinched a share of the title on Friday night and won the outright regular season championship Saturday, earning a No. 1 seed in the conference tournament this upcoming weekend at Western Michigan University (WMU). “It means a lot to us to win the title,” Head Coach Ricardo Rosas said. “It was really exciting and it was one of our goals for the season. Seeing these guys work hard and accomplish what they did, once again going undefeated in the MAC, was fun to watch. It feels pretty good and they are very excited with their accomplishment. They are pretty motivated to play this weekend.” After two 4-3 victories the previous weekend against Buffalo and Akron, the Red and White showed their depth both nights, defeating Eastern Michigan 6-1 and Toledo 7-0. The RedHawks have now won 16 straight league matches dating back to last season. On Friday night, the ’Hawks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead over EMU after sweeping the doubles matches. Sophomore Stephanie Danesis and junior Megan Martzolf won 9-7 at the No. 1 position, while teammates Anastasia Dracheva and Sydnee Bridger won at the No. 3 position with a score of 8-2. With the point already in hand for the Red and White, the pair of Riekie Honiball and Cara Wald won at the No. 2 position 8-7 to complete the sweep of the doubles matches. ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ not so irrelevant Brian Gallagher Gallagher’s Going for Two “With the 255 pick (last pick) in the NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions select…Tim Toone out of Weber State.” You might be asking yourself who Tim Toone is (I’m sure Lions fans did), but when Roger Goodell said these words, he bestowed the title of “Mr. Irrelevant” onto young Tim. There are perhaps better nicknames out there: “The Chosen One” (Lebron James), “The Golden Boy” (Oscar de la Hoya for you boxing fans), “The Toe” (Lou Groza) or even “Tractor” (if Cavs fans remember Robert Traylor). The difference is that these other nicknames were earned based on player’s attributes or skills. Toone was simply given the nickname because of the unlikelihood that he will make the Lions roster. He was a good player at Weber State, but only time will tell if he will be able to make the final cut. The nickname isn’t even original — he shares it with every other player that has been drafted last in the NFL — which in his case is 74 other people. Think of being bestowed with a good nickname but then finding out that there are already 74 people that already have that nickname. It has to be a bit of a let down. While the title of Mr. Irrelevant might not open too many doors, it does have at least one perk. Former NFL receiver Paul Salata started “Irrelevant Week” in 1976 and it is still run by his daughter, Melanie Salata-Fitch. During this week, the last player picked in the draft is invited to Newport Beach, Calif. for a golf tournament and other fun activities that NFL players do (Disneyland, arts and crafts, etc). The player is also awarded the Lowsman Trophy, which is similar to the Heisman trophy but shows a player fumbling a football. The other perk that the pick entails is quite obvious: the chance to make an NFL team. For football players of all ages this is a lifelong dream. The presentation of an award to the last place finisher is a tradition in sports. In British sports, there is a tradition of the last place team getting the wooden spoon. I’m not quite sure of the origin of the wooden spoon, but if the Brits came up with it you can be sure there’s a good reason behind it. The last place finisher in the Iditarod dog sled race is awarded the Red Lantern and the last rider in the Tour de France gets the same award (although the French call it wSee GALLAGHER page 17 The RedHawks continued their dominance in the singles matches, winning five out of the six matches to secure the match 6-1 over the Eagles. At the No. 3 position, Martzolf continued her undefeated season (20-0) with a 6-2, 7-5 win. The win moved the ’Hawks to 14-6 overall and 7-0 in the MAC. On Saturday, the RedHawks concluded their streak of six straight road MAC matches with a 7-0 win at Toledo. Miami won eight out of the nine matches played en route to sweeping Toledo on their senior night. After Toledo won the first doubles match at No. 2 by a score of 8-2, the RedHawks came back to win the next two matches and secure the 1-0 lead. Dracheva and Bridger won 8-5 at the No. 3 position, while the pair of Martzolf and Danesis earned the point for the RedHawks with a 9-8 (7-4) win at the No. 1 position. Miami went on to win all six of the singles matches. The 6-3, 6-0 victory at No. 3 singles improved the junior’s record to 21-0 this spring. Dracheva, Wald, Honiball, Danesis and Bridger all won in the singles matches for the RedHawks, who earned their second straight conference championship with the 7-0 win over the Rockets. “It means a lot to us because we have been through a lot this year,” Dracheva said. “It has been a really rough year for us, so winning the regular season title is very exciting and we are looking forward to playing in the tournament championship this weekend.” The Red and White clinched the No. 1 seed for the MAC tournament, which takes place this weekend at WMU. Their opening round game will be 10 a.m. Friday against the winner of the No. 9 and No. 8 match between Northern Illinois and Ball State. If the RedHawks win Friday, they play Saturday morning in the semi-finals with the finals on Sunday. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Junior Anastasia Dracheva returns a serve on April 17. softball ’Hawks aim to stay focused on road By JM Rieger Staff Writer Having won four of their last five games, including a two game sweep of Bowling Green State University last weekend, the Miami University softball team is set for their final four road games of the year. The Red and White hit the road Friday in a doubleheader against the Western Michigan University (WMU) Broncos followed by a two game set at the Northern Illinois University (NIU) Huskies on Saturday and Sunday. Miami enters the weekend with a 23-20 record overall and an 8-6 record in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). While the RedHawks are an outstanding 11-5 at home this year, they are only 12-15 on the road, and they will be looking to improve that mark this weekend against the third- (NIU) and fourth(WMU) place teams in the MAC West Division. “We are just focusing on our own team and what we can do,” sophomore third baseman Daniela Torres said. “We can’t control what other teams do; all we can do is control our own destiny and focus on playing good softball.” Torres is coming off a monster road trip where she went 7-12 at the plate with two runs batted in (RBI) and smacked her fourth home run of the year. Meanwhile, junior second baseman Meghan Mawn has also been a dominant offensive force for the RedHawks this year, and she continued her success over the weekend also going 7-12 with three RBIs of her own. “Torres and Mawn have been setting the pace for our team,” Head Coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly said. “It is great to have Torres at the top of the lineup because she has speed and power and is our best instinctive base runner, (while) Mawn is just clutch for us.” Defensively, senior starting pitcher Meredith Linch and sophomore starter Jessica Simpson have carried the load for Miami this year. Linch pitched 12.1 innings last weekend, only giving up four earned runs and picking up two wins, while Simpson went 1-1 over the weekend throwing 13.2 innings. “The defense starts on the pitching mound,” Torres said. “Our defense is our strong point, but at this point in the season we are trying to win games any way that we can. We need to stay aggressive offensively and just take everything one game at a time.” After fighting through rain last weekend, Miami should be prepared for this weekend as some rainfall is predicted. Miami has played well against NIU and WMU in the past, defeating both teams in the MAC tournament last year on their way to the conference title. NIU is a team with offensive weapons, and Miami will be counting on strong performances from Simpson and Linch this weekend. The Huskies have lost four of their last five games and will face off against second place Ball State in a doubleheader on Friday before hosting Miami on Saturday and Sunday. On the other hand, WMU has been playing very well lately and has won three of their last four games, including splitting their two game series with NIU last weekend, after getting off to a slow start this year. With the MAC tournament less than two weeks away, the RedHawks will be looking to win as many games as possible down the stretch to lock up a good seed in the tournament. “This is the time of year when certain players start getting hot,” Schoenly said. “So as we prepare, it is more about confidence. We talk about how your preparation gives you confidence and I see that daily at practice.” The first pitch against WMU is set for 1 p.m. Friday. features WMSR sports make memories on air By Erika Hadley Senior Staff Writer In 2007, seniors Mike Cohen and Patrick Murray began broadcasting Miami sporting events over WMSR with a vision. The two friends and co-board members wanted to increase the professionalism of the sports division at the station and make Miami sporting events more accessible to the community. Now on the verge of graduation, Cohen and Murray reflect on the successes they’ve shared, the countless games they’ve covered and the tremendous amount of growth that WMSR Sports has experienced over the last three years. Erika Hadley (EH): The last time we did a feature on WMSR sports broadcasting, you were just getting started with everything and it was your first season of really being serious about it and trying to cover all the games. Can you talk about those early beginnings and where it’s gone since then? Patrick Murray (PM): Things have definitely taken off since we were at that point. I think at that point we were happy just to be on the air regularly. Now it’s been more about establishing WMSR consistently as a brand and consistently improving the broadcast quality that we have on WMSR and I think we’ve been successful. Mike Cohen (MC): When we did the last article, I think we had done something like 28 broadcasts throughout the year, and for us that was huge. Then the next year and this year we’ve been doing 40 or 50 — every basketball game, every football game, every hockey home game and we’ve been traveling as well. We feel that we’re at a point where you can’t necessarily tell that we’re student broadcasters anymore. That was the ultimate goal and I think we reached that. EH: Can you talk about the listenership and how you’ve just made sports more available to the Miami community? MC: One of our big goals was to give the Miami community a free way to listen to a professional broadcast so they’d be able to keep up with the teams. We were able to do that, and our best listenership (for the station) has been during games. We had at least 1,000 listeners when Miami and Michigan played in Ft. Wayne, which shows how successful we’ve been, how much work we put into it and the professionalism that we’ve brought to it. PM: And the Miami community is more than just what’s here in Oxford. It’s the people who are recent graduates, who are living somewhere else in the United States. It’s people who are studying abroad. It’s worldwide. EH: What is your favorite part of your job in a nutshell? PM: It’s a combination of two things. One is the routine. Hockey is my favorite, and going into the Goggin on game night is a great feeling. The other thing is calling the last seconds of games. We had our last show in the studio yesterday, and we closed it out just by playing the highlight from the end of the double overtime game against Michigan where we just went crazy. That feeling is like nothing else. MC: I love getting to the press box at the Goggin when you can just smell the fresh ice, and you’re there before anybody else is and you just see the stadium in all its glory. I love being able to watch everything unfold. I think the greatest part is at the end of the game when you’re able to say, ‘Miami with another victory’ -– there’s nothing like it. Just that whole experience of being able to watch the team and how hard they work –- it gives you a sense of accomplishment when wSee WMSR page 17	Mr. Irrelevant
In April, 1967, what boxer was stripped of his title after refusing induction into the US Army?	Jacksonville Jaguars » OTB Sports 2010 NFL Draft Grades \| Sunday, April 25, 2010 The 2010 NFL Draft is in the books. While itÃ¢â¬â¢ll be three to four years before we really know how any of the teams did Ã¢â¬â it just takes that long for players, especially quarterbacks, to demonstrate their potential Ã¢â¬â we all want to know how our teams did. So, IÃ¢â¬â¢ll collect draft grades from the experts over the next couple of days in this space, updating as the report cards come out. Rick Gosselin , Dallas Morning News, Pro Football Hall of Fame member:ÃÂ Goose is the NFL writer whose opinions I trust most.ÃÂ He’s not only a veteran of the business and widely respected among his peers, but the professional scouts and GMs talk to him, so he can evaluate what they were thinking rather than just grading according to a generic list. ARIZONA CARDINALS GRADE: C Williams was a gift Ã¢â¬â a top-10 pick who slid deep into the first round. TCU’s Washington walks in as a starter, replacing free agent Karlos Dansby. But Schofield may not play this season and Skelton is a developmental project. ATLANTA FALCONS GRADE: C The Falcons started fast with Weatherspoon and Peters for the defense but finished slow. Franks provides some depth in coverage, but Hawley and Johnson were reaches to fill needs on the offensive front BALTIMORE RAVENS GRADE: B The Ravens lost two players when teams traded up directly in front of them Ã¢â¬â Dez Bryant to the Cowboys and Rob Gronkowski to the Patriots. But GM Ozzie Newsome always seems to make it work. Kindle and Cody were steals. BUFFALO BILLS GRADE: B The Bills claimed the draft’s most dynamic offensive weapon in Spiller, then went to work retooling the defensive front. Troup (314 pounds) and Carrington (285) give the Bills size, and sixth-rounders Moats and Batten give them speed. CAROLINA PANTHERS GRADE: C The Panthers did quite well considering they didn’t have a first-rounder. A team with quarterback problems no longer has any with the arrivals of Clausen and Pike. Carolina had the best sixth round of this draft. CHICAGO BEARS GRADE: C The Bears didn’t have a pick in the first two rounds, but GM Jerry Angelo was on his game in the third day, landing Wootton, Moore and LeFevour. Wright gives the Bears a playmaker in a division suddenly flush with quarterbacks. CINCINNATI BENGALS GRADE: C Anyone remember the last time the Bengals made a draft day deal? They stay put and take whoever falls to them. Tight end was a top priority, and Gresham fell to them in the first. Longhorns Shipley and Muckelroy also were sliders. CLEVELAND BROWNS GRADE: B If Mike Holmgren is right about McCoy, the Browns are finally headed in the right direction after years of floundering with Tim Couch, Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson. Haden, Ward and Hardesty all should start as rookies. DALLAS COWBOYS GRADE: C The Cowboys drafted the NFL offensive rookie of the year in Bryant. But one pick does not a draft make. Sean Lee is the only other draft pick likely to have an impact from this class. Owusu-Ansah is an interesting developmental project. DENVER BRONCOS GRADE: A The Broncos had the best third round of this draft. Walton can do at center for Josh McDaniels’ Broncos what Tom Nalen did for Mike Shanahan’s Broncos, and Decker will remind the Denver faithful of Ed McCaffrey. DETROIT LIONS GRADE: B The Lions had the best first round of the draft. The best player (Suh) fell into their laps at 2, then Detroit traded up to get a speedy offensive playmaker in Best. He’ll make Matthew Stafford a better quarterback. GREEN BAY PACKERS GRADE: C The Packers needed to get younger at offensive tackle and did so with the Bulaga selection. Neal provides some bulk for the run defense, and Burnett is a ball hawk at the back end. He intercepted 14 passes at Georgia Tech. HOUSTON TEXANS GRADE: C Jackson was the most physical cornerback in the draft, and Tate was the last of the four top-shelf running backs available. That was a definite need pick. Dickerson and Graham offer similar skills at the H-back position. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS GRADE: C Hughes is a perfect fit in Indy’s undersized speed pass-rush scheme, and he inexplicably fell to them at the end of the first round. Eldridge was the best-blocking tight end in this draft, and Angerer plays with anger against the run. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS GRADE: D The Jaguars wanted to get bigger and more aggressive in the defensive front seven and used the first four picks on linemen and linebackers. Alualu was a reach in the first, and that slowed the draft down for Jacksonville. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS GRADE: A+ The Chiefs drafted the NFL defensive rookie of the year in Berry Ã¢â¬â and a slew of other good players. Arenas was the best returner in the draft, and McCluster will give the AFC matchup problems at both running back and receiver. MIAMI DOLPHINS GRADE: B A typical Bill Parcells draft Ã¢â¬â even if he stays in the background and lets GM Jeff Ireland and coach Tony Sparano speak for the franchise. It’s apparent Parcells believes championships are won in the defensive front seven. MINNESOTA VIKINGS GRADE: C The Vikings didn’t have a first-rounder but rallied in the second with the biggest cornerback in the draft and college football’s best running back in 2009. Walker Award winner Gerhart will ease some of the pressure on Adrian Peterson. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS GRADE: A The Patriots had the best second round in this draft. Gronkowski is a walk-in starter at tight end, and Spikes provides a run-support presence next to Jerod Mayo. New England also took the best punter in the draft. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS GRADE: A Graham could be the home run of this draft. He played football only one season in college and has a huge upside. Robinson, Brown and Woods were multiyear starters for perennial bowl teams. Tennant could be a 10-year starter. NEW YORK GIANTS GRADE: B The Giants like to draft giants. Pierre-Paul goes 270 at end and Joseph 328 at tackle. Pierre-Paul has the best upside of any player in this draft. He started only seven college games but is a pass-rush terror. NEW YORK JETS GRADE: C The Jets have spent the off-season focusing on adding vets (Jason Taylor, Santonio Holmes, LaDainian Tomlinson). The draft has been an afterthought; the Jets only had four picks. Conner was the best fullback in the draft. OAKLAND RAIDERS GRADE: B The Raiders hit home runs in their draft slots in the first and second round, toughening themselves up on defense with the additions of McClain and Houston. Campbell (size) and Ford (speed) were typical Raider picks in the fourth. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES GRADE: C Graham was the most polished pass rusher in this draft. The Eagles also had the best fourth round. Harbor gives QB Kevin Kolb a move tight end in the Dallas Clark mold, and Kafka gives Andy Reid insurance at quarterback. PITTSBURGH STEELERS GRADE: C Pouncey is a huge upgrade on an offensive line that was more blue collar than talented. Worilds will sit for two years figuring out the Dick LeBeau defense, then become a Pro Bowl pass rusher in a 2012. SAN DIEGO CHARGERS GRADE: C The Chargers had one pressing need in this draft Ã¢â¬â a running back Ã¢â¬â and traded high into the first round to get him in Mathews. So kudos to GM A.J. Smith. Butler, Thomas and Epps make San Diego more physical up front. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS GRADE: B The 49ers made Frank Gore and Alex Smith better players by drafting a left side of the offensive line in Davis and Iupati. They will help San Francisco win the physical battles up front, and Mays will help win them on defense. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS GRADE: A Having coached at Southern Cal all those years, Pete Carroll gave the Seahawks the same edge at the draft table that a young Jimmy Johnson once gave the Cowboys. Surprisingly, he took only one of his former Trojans. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS GRADE: C The Bucs had the best seventh round with two special teams demons in Grimm and Watson and a potential steal in Lorig if he can shake a lingering groin injury. Lorig, McCoy and Price could comprise a dominating front. TENNESSEE TITANS GRADE: C The pass rush will get better with the arrival of Morgan, and Curran will give the Titans’ run defense additional backbone. Verner and Johnson are playmakers. Verner scored five college TDs and Johnson picked off 13 passes. WASHINGTON REDSKINS GRADE: D One pick in the first three rounds is the prescription for disaster on draft day. The Redskins got a good one in OT Williams but were left to pick up everyone else’s scraps when they returned to the fray in the fourth round. Mel Kiper , ESPN.ÃÂ He’s the biggest name in draft coverage, having made it his obsession for going on three decades. Seattle Seahawks Pete Carroll and the new Seahawks regime came out of the gates with a bang. Impact players early, value later, and some trades thrown in. And they were patient! Russell Okung lands in their laps at No. 6, Earl Thomas is there at No. 14. Golden Tate is still there at No. 60. All three can help the team not in a few years, but immediately. A swap netted the team LenDale White, who isn’t remarkable, but it cost them nothing. Then, Seattle parlayed a fifth-rounder into Leon Washington. No team outside of possibly Detroit added impact players the way Seattle has.ÃÂ Draft grade: A Baltimore Ravens For top grades, it’s a contrast in styles. Seattle had high picks and got great fits, then waited and got Golden Tate. Baltimore traded down and still loaded up on talent all over the place. In Round 2, they got both Sergio Kindle and Terrence Cody, a pair of guys who could have landed in the first round. They get a pair of fantastic tight end prospects in Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta, continuing a promise to both buy and draft options for Joe Flacco. Love the Arthur Jones pick, a one-time Big Board guy who fell to the fifth round, mostly because of health issues. Even in the sixth, the Ravens got Ramon Harewood, a small-college tackle prospect who has a chance to develop. Draft grade: A Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tampa had a great draft. They get arguably the best all-around talent in the draft in Gerald McCoy, then, in a move reminiscent of what San Francisco decided to do along the offensive line, they nabbed Brian Price early in the second round with the hope they could get the wide receiver they needed a little later. Price and McCoy should complement each other well. That receiver turned out to be Arrelious Benn with the No. 39 pick, and he can be a good one. By the fourth round, when Tampa landed Mike Williams with the 101st overall pick, they had four guys I’ve had on the Big Board at some point. Myron Lewis at corner is another solid pick. The story for Tampa is they drastically improved arguably their two weakest position groups. Productive draft. Draft grade: B+ Philadelphia Eagles The Eagles were positioned well to take advantage of a deep draft, and they did, piling up seven productive picks between the third and fifth rounds. But Philly started well too. In Brandon Graham they have a potential Rookie of the Year on defense. They filled a need at safety with Nate Allen, and I like Trevard Lindley in the fourth. He has second-round ability. Ricky Sapp may be a tweener, but getting a guy who can get to the quarterback like he can in the fifth round is good value. He could be a solid situational pass-rusher early in his career. Riley Cooper is quicker than many people think to go with above-average size.ÃÂ Draft grade: B+ Arizona Cardinals The Cardinals could have a good grade for their first round alone, patiently waiting as Dan Williams fell right to them. He’s a supreme nose tackle, and will be enjoyed both by his linemates and the linebackers running free behind him. Perfect pick at a late-first-round stage. Daryl Washington lacks size, but he’s a freak athlete who can get to the quarterback. Andre Roberts is a sleeper, and could’ve gone earlier than late-third. A pick I love is O’Brien Schofield. Coming off an injury, he’s essentially a redshirt as a rookie, but the kid can become a top-flight pass-rusher. Love the bet they made there. Draft grade: B+ Detroit Lions You can’t dock Detroit just because it had the biggest no-brainer pick in the whole draft. Ndamukong Suh, combined with Detroit’s offseason additions to the line, makes that a position of strength for Detroit. It’s hard to fathom that Detroit wouldn’t be markedly improved on defense in 2010. Jahvid Best is a game-changer, and should help Matthew Stafford. He’s also the kind of player who doesn’t need a huge hole to hit a home run for that offense. Amari Spievey is a nice addition in a secondary that needs help, and Jason Fox can help them. I like Detroit’s draft at least for the fact that you can see impact soon for a team that needs it.ÃÂ Draft grade: B+ Pittsburgh Steelers What the Steelers did had some subtlety, and you have to consider their system and needs when you evaluate it. Smart to take Maurkice Pouncey and shore up the interior of that offensive line. The Steelers targeted athletic OLB types like Jason Worilds, Thaddeus Gibson and Stevenson Sylvester. The Steelers like to develop these guys in their 3-4, but in the meantime, those are the guys who can help shore up what was a disastrous special teams unit in 2009. A trade with Arizona to reclaim Bryant McFadden probably pleased fans. Not an amazing draft, but Pittsburgh got the type of guys they like. Don’t sleep on Jonathan Dwyer, the last player taken in the draft who at one time cracked the Big Board. He’ll be coming to camp with a lot to prove. Draft grade: B Houston Texans Pick a position group and the Texans took a stab at finding a good player there. They got a solid corner to replace Dunta Robinson with Kareem Jackson at No. 19. A predictable, solid pick. Ben Tate looks even better as a value at No. 58 considering Minnesota traded up to get Toby Gerhart at No. 51, and given the struggles to hang onto the ball by Houston rushers last year, he figures to get a great look. Then there’s players with promise all over. Darryl Sharpton could get a look on the inside of the 3-4 at linebacker, and Trindon Holliday could be the next Dante Hall. Even Dorin Dickerson way down at No. 227 has promise at tight end if he can add strength. Nothing amazing, but plenty of promise.ÃÂ Draft grade: B San Diego Chargers San Diego definitely got their guy in Ryan Mathews. The question is whether they needed to get all the way up to No. 12 to get him. But again, you have to find someone to trade with, and Miami was a logical trading partner as a team trying hard to move down. They didn’t have a lot of picks, but I liked the Chargers getting a great value in Cam Thomas in the fifth, and Darrell Stuckey has a chance to be a good starter in this league. Donald Butler, an inside linebacker, has good athleticism for the position, and has a chance to become the starter eventually. Draft grade: B New York Jets We can at least say the Jets got better in their secondary. Kyle Wilson is a guy some people thought could crack the top 15 picks. Now you can intensify the blitz knowing Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie and Wilson are back there looking to pick off errant passes. The trade up for Joe McKnight adds a dimension to the backfield and also has familiarity with Mark Sanchez. McKnight’s durability is a question, but his pass-catching skills can help that offense. Vladimir Ducasse could become a starter and John Conner is the draft’s best fullback. Just four picks, but zero misses.ÃÂ Draft grade: B San Francisco 49ers Give San Francisco credit. Early on in the draft it had a chance to get better in a couple of places and decided to get a lot better in one. But consider the trickle-down effect: By taking Anthony Davis, the left tackle with the highest upside in the draft — emphasis on “upside” — and then a lock to be a good NFL guard in Mike Iupati, the Niners are a better running team right now. The passing game suddenly seems better as well. Taylor Mays at No. 49 is a good value selection, and the kid will be motivated, but I think we’re past pretending he was a steal because of his size-speed combination. His tape fell really flat. Navorro Bowman has size questions, but he’s better than No. 91 overall. Draft grade: B New York Giants Good draft. I like the bet they’re making on Jason Pierre-Paul. If you have a chance to take a star at that point, and it won’t kill you in the meantime because you have some depth, it’s a shot you can take. Beyond that, Linval Joseph could be a steal. A really active player at his size. Giants fans may not know Phillip Dillard, but as inside linebackers go, he has excellent range and could develop into a really good one. At No. 117 overall, that’s a nice get.ÃÂ Draft grade: B Carolina Panthers Carolina started late, but consistently got value. The debate on Jimmy Clausen started a long time ago and it won’t end just because the draft is complete, but to get a guy with his skill set and upside at No. 48 is exceptional value no matter where you stand on the debate. I liked Brandon LaFell at No. 78, and Eric Norwood and Greg Hardy in the fourth and sixth rounds, respectively, are both low on risk and extremely high on potential. Norwood is inconsistent, but he’s looked positively dominating in some games, and Hardy drops mostly because of injury questions. Tony Pike may even develop into a chip they can move down the line.ÃÂ Draft grade: B Chicago Bears Chicago was absent for two rounds, but tried to address needs when they entered the picture. The Bears neither reached nor got amazing value in Major Wright, the Florida safety. But they needed a safety, and Wright has a real chance to fill that void. Corey Wootton wasn’t 100 percent in 2009 after coming off a bad knee injury, and could be a camp surprise. A decent pick. Overall, like any team stuck outside the top two rounds, the Bears were hard-pressed to find impact talent, but they were resourceful given their limitations. (The late add of a local quarterback never hurts.) Draft grade: B New England Patriots New England once again took a surgical, long-range approach to the draft, getting some good talent, but also positioning themselves for a haul in 2011. You have to factor that into the analysis. But they made some picks I liked this year as well. Devin McCourty has the chance to be very good. They add a potential big-time talent in Rob Gronkowski, but his back issues pose a risk. Brandon Spikes is a guy whose tape is better than the measurements, but Bill Belichick has succeeded with those guys for years. Taylor Price should develop.ÃÂ Draft grade: B- Dallas Cowboys The question for Dallas fans shouldn’t be about the talent of the players the Cowboys picked up early. The Boys traded up for Dez Bryant — in that case they slipped in just ahead of Baltimore, where Bryant would have been a huge score — and did the same for Sean Lee, a likely replacement at some point for Keith Brooking. But unless they do something in the interim, the Cowboys will head into camp with Doug Free as the best left tackle on the roster, and while the team likes Free’s potential, Tony Romo’s blindside protection is still a concern. Getting Akwasi Owusu-Ansah in Round 4 I liked. He could make the transition to safety.ÃÂ Draft grade: B- Green Bay Packers Green Bay stuck to a good plan in the first round and got an ideal fit in Bryan Bulaga. In the second and third rounds, I think they may have reached a bit with Mike Neal and Morgan Burnett. Good players, but I think in both cases there were some better options. The grade goes up a notch with the addition of James Starks so late. If he’s healthy, and he should be when he arrives for camp, he could be one of those running backs whom everybody wonders how he fell so far. A really good size-speed package when he’s right. Draft grade: B- Kansas City Chiefs Say this for the Chiefs: They added players you’ll notice. Eric Berry is an impact safety and should become a star. Let’s make one last Ed Reed comparison before we close the book on this draft. Dexter McCluster early in Round 2 surprised some people — Jamaal Charles has impressed — but a lot of people don’t realize how versatile McCluster is. Aside from his obvious rush and return skills, he has great hands and can line up in the slot. He diversifies that offense. Still, the Chiefs are no better on either the offensive or defensive line, outside of Jon Asamoah, but I felt he played better as a junior. Javier Arenas is a good little player, but not a starter. Draft grade: B- Tennessee Titans Tennessee stayed patient in Round 1 and got rewarded. No other defensive end in the draft has the polish and versatility of Derrick Morgan at this stage. Morgan seamlessly balances the role of pass-rusher and run defender. The absence of a player like Kyle Vanden Bosch is no longer an issue. But Morgan is the real highlight. Damian Williams has a chance to help but speed is a question. Rennie Curran plays with a ton of heart, and I think he has a chance as a weakside backer, but he was still a slight reach. Alterraun Verner has the chance to add corner depth, and give the Titans this: between math whiz Verner and Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle, they’ll have the smartest secondary in football if both stick. Draft grade: C+ St. Louis Rams There’s no way around the fact that this draft will come down to whether Sam Bradford becomes a star. I certainly think he has that kind of talent, but there’s good reason to believe it shouldn’t be right away. Bradford has to convert to a pro style system, and as smart and accurate as he is, let’s just be realistic given the recent history of shotgun quarterbacks coming to the NFL. I don’t mind the Rodger Saffold pick, but he’s likely headed to the right side. Mardy Gilyard has some value, but the bigger issue with this draft is this: Every other team in the NFC West got better this weekend, and it’s hard to know if St. Louis really did.ÃÂ Draft grade: C+ Oakland Raiders There was a sense that Oakland may have reached slightly to take Rolando McClain, but framed against the backdrop of a draft in which they also got a physical talent like Bruce Campbell well into Round 4, Oakland improved upon last year. McClain fits a need — the team reinforced that by trading Kirk Morrison — and is ready to play. Oddly, speed has been a question (which doesn’t fit the Al Davis mantra) with McClain, but I love his instincts. The Raiders definitely fit their profile with Campbell and then wideout Jacoby Ford, the fastest player in the draft. The issue with Ford is it’s straight-line speed. Even Jared “Edwin” Veldheer is a workout warrior. The late addition of Jason Campbell via trade is a decent move, but this is the Raiders — a guy who failed elsewhere seems like a good upgrade. Something’s wrong with this picture. Draft grade: C+ Buffalo Bills Buffalo surprised me with its pick at No. 9. This is a team that has to get better up front, and it opted to go with C.J. Spiller instead. Spiller is, along with Jahvid Best, the best home run threat in the draft, and will undoubtedly help that offense. But the Bills reached on Torell Troup, who has to develop. Alex Carrington, who could get backup duty, is another slight reach in the third round. Then a wide receiver pick (Marcus Easley) left the Bills looking for a long shot breakthough at tackle. Edward Wang of Virginia Tech has a chance, but outside of Spiller, it’s hard to see where Buffalo got much better. Draft grade: C+ New Orleans Saints New Orleans made an attempt at need picks but didn’t get a lot. Blame a lot of that on where the Saints were picking from. Super Bowl winners rarely get high grades for drafts. Patrick Robinson is a tough corner who provides starts or depth immediately. Then the Saints got Charles Brown with the last pick in the second round, a fair value. Centers will never go high, but Matt Tennant is one of the best the draft had to offer. Jimmy Graham could be a good developmental tight end from a school that’s produced some good ones. Not a flashy draft, but the Saints didn’t have many options.ÃÂ Draft grade: C Cincinnati Bengals Everywhere you look on the Cincy draft board, you see players you assumed would go much higher. Maybe no team outside of Baltimore did so much given its position. At No. 21, the Bengals got the draft’s best tight end. At No. 60, they got a significant talent in Carlos Dunlap, a guy at one time considered a lock for the top 10. Problem is he rarely played like it, off-field issues aside. Poor Brandon Ghee was the last guy in the green room, which means most of us thought he could be at least a second-round pick. The Bengals nabbed him at No. 96. Roddrick Muckelroy is a decent pick at No. 131, and I also like the Dezmon Briscoe pick late in the sixth round.ÃÂ Draft grade: C Cleveland Browns The Browns addressed a pressing need with the selection of Joe Haden at No. 7, and his 40 time aside, Haden is a fluid, physical cover corner who should start immediately and addresses a weakness. Cleveland clearly liked T.J. Ward, but could have gotten him later than No. 37. Montario Hardesty could be a really good back, but he’s also been hurt, and again, it didn’t seem necessary to trade up for him. My other question is both he and later safety pick Larry Asante are box safeties. But let’s not forget to mention the big name and, yes, a great value pick, Colt McCoy at No. 85. Ironic that Cleveland got a guy that late who I thought they could have grabbed at No. 38. Carlton Mitchell can flat-out fly, and could be a late sleeper.ÃÂ Draft grade: C Indianapolis Colts The fun in this draft is seeing what great player Bill Polian will pull out of the 30 percent of his picks that fall after No. 238 overall. At the top, the Colts did well to land Jerry Hughes, a productive pass-rusher who will only refine his craft learning from two of the best. I thought Pat Angerer was a reach in Round 2 — I think he still could have been around even at that No. 94 slot where Indy picked Kevin Thomas. In Thomas, they take a risk because he’s simply never been healthy. In general, nothing flashy, just Hughes then depth picks on a roster with little room to add. But I’m never going to believe Polian won’t prove me wrong on at least one these guys.ÃÂ ÃÂ Draft grade: C Miami Dolphins This draft for me is really Jared Odrick and the rest. Odrick can be a really good player, another active, disruptive tackle in a draft full of them. Koa Misi could be good, but not right away because he’ll need to spend a little time transitioning from defensive end to outside linebacker. After that, I thought the Dolphins reached a couple of times. Perhaps Nolan Carroll can recover to become a pretty good player. Draft grade: C- Denver Broncos I liked the Demaryius Thomas pick, but the three picks (net two picks) for Tim Tebow was a serious leap of faith for a guy who’s not as ready to play in the NFL as several other quarterbacks drafted behind him. I respect Denver’s conviction, but its sense of draft board value has to be called into serious question. I think anybody can see that. Zane Beadles is a tackle who has to shift positions, J.D. Walton could start at center eventually, and Perrish Cox is a good value late if he stays focused on football, but Denver isn’t much better for next year with these additions after falling apart late. We can regrade this one in a few years, and I hope it’s better then for as much as I think about the quarterback they drafted.ÃÂ Draft grade: C- Washington Redskins I projected Washington to take Trent Williams with that No. 4 pick, but while I think Williams is likely the most talented offensive lineman in the draft, and should be able to go back to the left side effectively, I felt Okung was the safer pick. He was the guy most likely to take that left tackle position and solidify it from Day 1. Washington didn’t pick again until No. 103, and maybe picked up some linebacking and special teams depth. If Williams isn’t really good, and early, this could be an empty draft.ÃÂ Draft grade: C- Minnesota Vikings This draft just didn’t impress me. After trading down, the Vikings got a guy in Chris Cook who has the chance to help them, but he also is a guy who rose late, impressing at the Senior Bowl. Can he deliver that kind of performance every week? I think the trade to move up and grab Toby Gerhart was odd, partially because there were some other good backs on the board, and also because while most think Gerhart will be able to catch the ball, it was never really his game. He’s a true pounding running back. Everson Griffen looks like a value, but he is extremely inconsistent.ÃÂ Draft grade: C- Atlanta Falcons Sean Weatherspoon is a good outside linebacker and has the strength and size to start and be productive in this league, but after that, it’s a lot of wishful thinking. Corey Peters was a slight reach on my board even at 83 and has a ways to go to improve his skills. Joseph Hawley has a chance to develop, but a pair of guards and no tight end or even a shot at a defensive end surprises me. I don’t see an improved football team. Draft grade: C- Jacksonville Jaguars A disappointing draft. I don’t knock the pick of Tyson Alualu at No. 10 because Alualu doesn’t have promise. This is a draft — it’s not just about the player. To take a guy you could conceivably get 15 to 25 slots later, you’re cheating yourself not just out of sixth- and seventh-round guys, but potentially a late second- or third-rounder. You have to know not just the pick, but the relative value. D’Anthony Smith has some promise as a penetrating defensive tackle, but bottom line, the Jags have just one pick I had in my Top 100 players. That was Alualu. Draft grade: D Rob Rang , NFLDraftScout.com and CBS Sportsline, breaks the draft down division-by-division. AFC East Buffalo Bills: C+ The Bills might be lacking at the other offensive skill positions, but with the addition of running back C.J. Spiller, they boast one of the more talented and explosive backfields in all of the NFL. Spiller’s great speed and elusiveness make him a big-play threat, but there were other, bigger needs for this club. With their need for a playmaker filled, the Bills focused on adjusting their defensive line personnel. The Bills are moving to a 3-4 scheme and added two prototype players for the scheme in nose guard Torrell Troup and defensive end Alex Carrington. Both could become starters this season. The Bills might be too optimistic in thinking they can get immediate help from fifth- and seventh-round picks Ed Wang and Kyle Calloway at offensive tackle. Miami Dolphins: C+ By trading for Brandon Marshall, the Dolphins eliminated their primary need, but lost a second-round pick in 2010. They were able to get back into the second round in a deal with the Chargers. The Dolphins were still able to reinforce their defensive line with the selection of the steady and versatile Jared Odrick of Penn State, who some teams felt might go in the top 15. The Dolphins also might have landed one of the gems of the draft in pass rusher Koa Misi in the second round. Massive OL John Jerry is a mauler and fits the typical Bill Parcells prototype. Iowa OLB A.J. Edds could surprise as a third-day find. New England Patriots: B No one gets better value in the draft than the Patriots. They masterfully move back in the draft, pick up extra picks and then add players who should have been taken earlier. As the Patriots did last April with the selections of defensive backs Patrick Chung and Darius Butler, they traded down in the first round (twice) and found steady cornerback Devin McCourty still on the board. McCourty isn’t as flashy in man coverage as Kyle Wilson or Patrick Robinson, but he’s a sound overall defender and could be a force on special teams. The Patriots gave QB Tom Brady downfield targets with arguably the best all-around tight end in the 2010 draft in Rob Gronkowski and speedy Ohio WR Taylor Price in the third round. Gronkowski slipped due to questions about the health of his back, but he’ll provide the team with a quality security blanket in the middle and, unlike most tight ends in today’s NFL, is a physical blocker. The Patriots addressed their need for young linebackers with a pair of former Florida Gators in the second round — Brandon Spikes and Jermaine Cunningham. Spikes’ poor speed in workouts won’t matter as an inside linebacker in the Patriots’ 3-4 scheme. Cunningham might have a more difficult time adjusting. He’ll be making the transition from defensive end to rush linebacker and has only marginal overall agility. A pair of SEC defensive linemen, Brandon Deaderick and Kade Weston address the Patriots’ concern for depth. New York Jets: B The Jets M.O. has been aggressively chasing the talent they want. They dealt up to land QB Mark Sanchez and RB Shonn Greene in the 2009 draft. They traded for veterans Antonio Cromartie and Santonio Holmes in the offseason. But the Jets simply took the best available player in cornerback Kyle Wilson with the 29th overall selection of the first round. The Jets know that to get past Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in the playoffs, they need to be athletic in the secondary. With the addition of the big-play specialist Wilson, the Jets should be even better against the pass. That’s a scary thought, considering they led the league by a wide margin last year. Intriguing small-school talent Vladimir DuCasse could be pushed into immediate duty with the release of offensive guard Alan Faneca. RB Joe McKnight gives the team an explosive back who could take over Leon Washington’s role. The Jets’ surprising decision — despite signing Jason Taylor — to not add a young pass rusher might come back to haunt them later. AFC North Baltimore Ravens: B- The Ravens dropped out of the first round to allow Denver to pick Tim Tebow and in doing so, added second-, third- and fourth-round picks in a spectacularly deep draft. The Ravens lost valuable depth along the defensive line through free-agent defections, but added massive NT Terrence Cody (Alabama). Considering Todd Heap’s durability is a constant question, the third-round selection of Oregon TE Ed Dickson could pay the more immediate dividends. The Ravens could also win big on their fifth-round gamble on versatile defensive lineman Arthur Jones (Syracuse). Cincinnati Bengals: C+ The Bengals invested a third-round pick last April in tight end Chase Coffman but were disappointed with his inability to make an impact as a rookie. This year’s first-round pick, TE Jermaine Gresham, gives the club a big-play threat down the seam that Carson Palmer can exploit when defenses attempt to load up to stop the Bengals’ powerful running game. The Bengals were impressed enough with the toughness of former Texas’ receiver Quan Cosby, an undrafted free agent, that they drafted a faster version of him in another former Longhorn, Jordan Shipley. Shipley isn’t an elite athlete, but could develop quickly into a reliable slot receiver and returner for the Bengals. The Bengals gambled on athleticism with defensive end Carlos Dunlap and cornerback Brandon Ghee, two players with terrific upside, but only mediocre performances in the SEC. Of their third-day picks, Texas linebacker Rod Muckleroy and Kansas wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe fill needs. Cleveland Browns: B+ Mike Holmgren is known for his ability to build an offense, but he started the draft working on improving the defensive side of the ball, securing the draft’s best cornerback in Joe Haden (Florida) and following that with the hardest-hitting safety in the country in T.J. Ward. The pick that will get all of the attention — quarterback Colt McCoy, who has enough arm strength, accuracy and intelligence to perform well in the West Coast offense. Running back Montario Hardesty (Tennessee) could emerge as the team’s most impactful rookie on offense if he can duplicate his 2009 season and remain healthy. Shawn Lauvao (Arizona State) is a tough, versatile lineman who could become a valuable swingman in Cleveland. WR Carlton Mitchell (South Florida) and DE Clifton Geathers (South Carolina), who each left after their junior seasons, have the size and athleticism worthy of being development picks. Pittsburgh Steelers: C+ To compete against the physical defenses of the AFC North, the Steelers needed to repair their offensive line. The first step in becoming stout up from was drafting Florida’s Maurkice Pouncey in the first round. The reigning Rimington Award winner as the nation’s best center, Pouncey can step in as an immediate upgrade over Justin Hartwig or could slide outside to guard. OLB Jason Worilds has the burst as a pass rusher to play outside and some 3-4 teams viewed him as a potential inside ‘backer. That versatility has to intrigue the Pittsburgh coaching staff. Speedy receiver and return specialist Emmanuel Sanders (SMU) gives the team a big-play threat. Of Pittsburgh’s seven Day Three picks, pass rusher Thaddeus Gibson (Ohio State) is most likely to make an immediate impact. AFC South Houston Texas: B- Many forecasted that the Texans would take a cornerback in the first round to replace free-agent defection Dunta Robinson, but the team surprised by adding Alabama’s Kareem Jackson over other highly touted prospects. Jackson is a good fit for Houston’s scheme. He possesses similar physicality in coverage and against the run that made Robinson a franchise player. RB Ben Tate (Auburn) gives the club the big back they’ve been chasing. He possesses enough lateral agility and explosiveness to jump ahead of Steve Slaton as the team’s primary ball carrier. Defensive tackle Earl Mitchell (Arizona) was brought in to push former first-round pick Amobi Okoye. The Texans might be worried about Owen Daniels’ rehabilitation from a torn ACL, electing to invest in undersized tight ends — and pass-catching specialists — Garrett Graham and Dorin Dickerson after picking James Casey last year. Indianapolis Colts: C For all of the talk that the Colts might change their defensive style under Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis made a very Tony Dungy-like pick with TCU’s undersized pass rusher Jerry Hughes with the second-to-last pick of the first round. Hughes has an explosive first step as a pass rusher, but at only 6-2 is considered a bit of a tweener. The tweener label hasn’t seemed to hurt Dwight Freeney or Robert Mathis’ production. Instinctive middle linebacker Pat Angerer (Iowa) was a reach in the second round, but Polian’s ability to plug in middle-round picks at linebacker is well documented. Cornerback Kevin Thomas (Southern Cal) gives the team some much-needed size outside. Polian’s only picks on offense came in the middle rounds with reaches for offensive guard Jacques McClendon (Tennessee) and tight end Brody Eldridge (Oklahoma). Jacksonville Jaguars: C In terms of value, Tyson Alualu was a reach. The Cal defensive lineman likely would have been available at least 10-15 picks later. However, considering the number of first-round busts we’ve seen in recent years, spending a high pick on a versatile, blue-collar player that fits your scheme very well shouldn’t be questioned. Alualu might never go to the Pro Bowl, but he’ll earn a starting role immediately and won’t give it up for a decade. The Jaguars made a similar reach to draft considerably less consistent D’Anthony Smith (Louisiana Tech) a round later. Austen Lane (Murray State) is a quality developmental prospect. Running back Deji Karim (Southern Illinois) might not have many opportunities with the similarly built Maurice Jones-Drew starring in front of him, but he could surprise if given an opportunity. Tennessee Titans: B+ The Titans had to be pleased to see Georgia Tech defensive end Derrick Morgan, rated by many as the best end in this class, still on the board at No. 16 after three other pass rushers had already been selected. Tennessee needed to boost its pass rush after the loss of Kyle Vanden Bosch and Albert Haynesworth in successive years. The pro-ready Morgan is an ideal fit. The Titans also got excellent value in the second and third rounds, adding Southern Cal WR Damian Williams, one of the draft’s better route-runners, and ultra-productive linebacker Rennie Curran (Georgia) in the third. Curran, if two inches taller, might have been a first-round pick and addresses a key area of concern. The Titans took great advantage of their late-round picks, adding quality depth in the secondary with Alterraun Verner (UCLA) and Robert Johnson (Utah). Watch out for quarterback Rusty Smith (Florida Atlantic) and Montana wideout/returner Marc Mariani to at least make the practice squad. AFC West Denver Broncos: C+ The mystifying direction of the Denver Broncos under the guidance of head coach Josh McDaniels continues to baffle. The puzzling aspect about the Broncos’ selections is that they didn’t find players likely to make an immediate impact. Considering the many holes on the current team and the fact that the Broncos got very little out of two (Robert Ayers, Alphonso Smith) of their top three picks last year, finding players who could help this season was a must. That didn’t happen with either of the Broncos’ first-round picks, WR Demaryius Thomas and QB Tim Tebow. Both have starting NFL potential, with Thomas potentially becoming a star, but are considerable projects. To their credit, the Broncos were more conventional on the draft’s second and third days, addressing concerns along the offensive line with tough-guys Zane Beadles (Utah) and J.D Walton (Baylor) and in the secondary with talented CB Perrish Cox (Oklahoma State) and underrated zone corner Syd’Quan Thompson (California). Walton is likely to be the team’s starting center this season. The team might get more immediate dividends out of third-round receiver Eric Decker than they will their first-round picks. Kansas City Chiefs: B- Tennessee safety Eric Berry will be a star, but general manager Scott Pioli took a significant risk in not protecting the investment he made previously in quarterback Matt Cassel by ignoring the offensive tackle position. To make such an investment in a safety, Pioli must believe the team is set at offensive tackle. The Chiefs addressed other needs, notably adding potential Wes Welker clone WR-RB-RS Dexter McCluster (Ole Miss), underrated cornerback and spectacular returner Javier Arenas (Alabama), and arguably the most pro-ready guard in the draft in Jon Asamoah (Illinois). Iowa TE Tony Moeaki has an opportunity to be a star in this offense. Oakland Raiders: B+ The Raiders surprised many with their selection of Alabama inside linebacker Rolando McClain with the eighth pick because, quite simply, the perpetually irrational club made several stunningly logical additions. McClain has the bulk and speed the team is missing inside and will help to shore up a run defense that finished 30th in the NFL last season and has allowed more rushing touchdowns over the past seven years than any other team in the league. The team continued their reinforcements to the run defense with gutty defensive tackle Lamarr Houston in the second round. They filled one of their greatest needs with offensive tackle Jared Veldheer in the third round and workout warrior Bruce Campbell in the fourth. Campbell, along with fellow third day additions Jacoby Ford, Walter McFadden and Travis Goethel make Oakland’s draft one of the league’s best this year. San Diego Chargers: C+ In typical A.J. Smith fashion, the Chargers were hunters in the draft. They traded up 16 spots to land their replacement for LaDainian Tomlinson with Fresno State’s Ryan Mathews, who wore the number 21 at Fresno State in honor of the former Charger great. Mathews, who led the nation in rushing average with 150.67 yards per game last year, is an early Rookie of the Year candidate based on his fit in this offense. The Chargers made a surprising selection in the third round, taking inside linebacker Donald Butler (Washington), who is talented, but will be fighting an uphill battle considering San Diego’s depth at inside linebacker. Fifth-round pick Cam Thomas, a nose tackle from North Carolina, will likely make more of an immediate impact. NFC East Dallas Cowboys: B- Jerry Jones was known to be very high on Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant, and as suspected he traded up to get him when the talented wideout began to slip. Bryant is the playmaker the Cowboys thought they were getting when they traded for Roy Williams, but in trading up to get a weapon for Tony Romo, the team may have lost its chance at getting a tackle who could protect their Pro Bowl quarterback. The Cowboys relied on aging free agents Zach Thomas and Keith Brooking at inside linebacker the past few years, but did add the steady Sean Lee in the second round. Of the Cowboys’ third-day selections, small schoolers Akwasi Owusu-Ansah (cornerback) and Sean Lissemore (defensive tackle) have the athleticism worthy of developing. New York Giants: C+ No team believes in building through the defensive line like the New York Giants, and they reinforced this mantra with the selection of talented but raw defensive lineman Jason Pierre-Paul in the first round and massive defensive tackle Linval Joseph in the second. Pierre-Paul only started seven games at the D-I level, but has a tantalizing combination of size and explosiveness and can be developed slowly on a team that already features a strong rotation up front. Chad Jones in the third was another depth pick who won’t crack the starting lineup as a rookie, but has legitimate upside. The Giants’ one pick on offense came in the fifth round in strongman Mitch Petrus, a guard who led the combine with 44 repetitions of 225 pounds. Philadelphia Eagles: B An indication of just how active the Philadelphia Eagles were on draft day is that of the 13 picks they made, only the 121st overall, outside linebacker Keenan Clayton, was an original Eagles selection. A year after spending great resources on improving the playmaking ability of their offense, the Eagles spent their first two days of the draft re-stocking their defense. First, they aggressively traded up to land defensive end Brandon Graham with the 13th overall pick and added another try-hard pass rusher in Daniel Te’o-Nesheim in the third. The team landed one of the draft’s better cover safeties in Nate Allen in between. While the 6-2, 270-pound Graham is a proven pass rusher who led the country in tackles for loss and won the Senior Bowl Defensive MVP honors, his selection was a surprise for the Eagles, considering the team had previously traded for another undersized pass rusher in former Seattle Seahawk Daryl Tapp. The Eagles had 10 picks on Saturday, most prominently addressing the need for depth at quarterback (Mike Kafka), linebacker (Ricky Sapp, Jamar Chaney). For a team that some believe is as deep as any in the league, however, wouldn’t packaging some of those lower round picks for top-tier talent have been a better use of them? Washington Redskins: C Though there was plenty of speculation that the Redskins might go in another direction, in the end the team took offensive tackle Trent Williams. Williams’ athleticism makes him an ideal fit in Mike Shanahan’s zone blocking scheme. Williams will need to play with a greater sense of urgency in the NFC East, however, where he’ll be going up against the NFL’s best division of pass rushers in an attempt to protect the newly arrived Donovan McNabb, who, of course, has to be considered one of the Redskins’ “draft picks.” That fact should be some consolation to Redskins fans, as the team won’t likely get much from a ho-hum group of Day 3 selections. NFC North Chicago Bears: B With their picks already used in the trades for quarterback Jay Cutler and the late Gaines Adams, the Bears could only be spectators until the 75th pick, which they used on safety Major Wright. With only one interception from their safeties last year, finding a true center fielder was a primary concern. The Bears landed quality defensive line prospect Corey Wootton in the fourth round. While Wootton was a shadow of his former self in 2009 — his first season after tearing his ACL in the bowl game his junior season — he could reward the Bears for their gamble. Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour was quite the value selection in the sixth round, as well. Detroit Lions: A- The Lions made the easiest selection in the draft when the best player in the country, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, fell into their lap. He’ll provide an immediate difference up front for head coach Jim Schwartz, a man who knows the value of a dominating defensive tackle considering his background with Albert Haynesworth. The team filled a need at running back with Jahvid Best by trading back into the first round. Best offers an explosiveness that Detroit lacked with incumbent Kevin Smith and Maurice Morris. The club added an underrated cornerback in Amari Spievey in the third and offensive tackle Jason Fox in the fifth. Each could contribute immediately. The Lions finished with six picks, but no team did more with less. Green Bay Packers: B- The first round couldn’t have worked out better for Ted Thompson and the Packers, as the team needed help up front and got one of the safer offensive tackles in the draft in Iowa’s technically refined Bryan Bulaga to fall into their lap. Bulaga’s short arms might have scared off some, but he’ll provide immediate depth at all four exterior positions for the Packers and will eventually take over the starting role for either left tackle Chad Clifton or right tackle Mark Tauscher. The Packers continued the re-building of their defensive line into a true 3-4 unit with the addition of strongman Mike Neal in the second and added playmaking safety Morgan Burnett in the third. Versatile offensive lineman Marshall Newhouse was the highlight of an otherwise ho-hum third day of the draft. Minnesota Vikings: B- Just as the Baltimore Ravens were able to take advantage of the aggressive Denver Broncos and gain several valuable picks in a trade down, Minnesota added picks in the second, fourth and seventh rounds by letting Detroit move up to take running back Jahvid Best with the 30th overall selection. They used the Lions’ pick, the 34th overall, on cornerback Chris Cook, a player who fills a significant need for depth considering the injury to Cedric Griffin and age of Antoine Winfield. The more immediate impact will likely be made by running back Toby Gerhart, whose power and underrated lateral agility could make him an ideal short-yardage fill-in for star Adrian Peterson. Workout warrior Everson Griffen has a chance to wreak havoc on a team already blessed with great defensive line talent. NFC South Atlanta Falcons: B- The Atlanta Falcons struck gold a few years ago with the selection of undersized linebacker Curtis Lofton in the second round. They went back to the Big 12 for another speedy playmaker with Sean Weatherspoon in the first. Expected to take over the weak-side position, Weatherspoon is an ideal in Atlanta’s cover-two scheme, as is third-round pick Corey Peters, an underrated defensive tackle who several teams were targeting. Offensive guard Mike Johnson and center Joe Hawley provide solid depth. Cornerback Dominique Franks slipped to the fifth round, but has the length and straight-line speed to be effective in this scheme. Carolina Panthers: B Having traded their first-round pick of the 2010 draft away last April for the right to take defensive end Everette Brown in the second round, the Panthers had to just sit and observe until the 48th pick, but were fortunate that Jimmy Clausen was still on the board. Clausen doesn’t have elite physical traits, which is one of the reasons he slipped to where he did, but he is pro-ready and a good fit in offensive coordinator’s Jeff Davidson’s scheme, as Davidson had worked with Charlie Weis when both were with the New England Patriots. Regardless of who starts at quarterback, the Panthers added help for him in physical possession receiver Brandon LaFell in the second and versatile threat Armanti Edwards in the third. While neither is sure to duplicate his success from college, the Panthers could win big with their gambles on SEC pass rushers Eric Norwood and Greg Hardy on the draft’s third day. New Orleans Saints: B+ Tracy Porter may have made the Super Bowl winning interception, but the Saints aren’t about to limit the competition in their secondary. Patrick Robinson’s footwork and speed rival any cornerback in this class, though some teams were concerned that he’s not as interested in run support. Like Porter, who had similar knocks on him coming out of Indiana, Robinson’s best assets are being used in New Orleans — where opponents are often attempting to throw the ball to keep up with Drew Brees. The Saints added to Brees’ offense on the second day, stopping Charles Brown’s slide in the second round and adding an intriguing developmental tight end in Jimmy Graham. The Saints could get surprising help with each of their third-day selections. Defensive tackle Al Woods, in particular, offers size that the Saints have lacked up front. New Orleans clearly didn’t rest on its laurels after winning the Super Bowl; this was one of the league’s better all-around drafts. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: B+ The Bucs had an easy choice at No. 3 with Gerald McCoy, as he fits in nicely with their attacking scheme. The team wasn’t through at the position, pairing McCoy with UCLA tackle-for-loss specialist Brian Price. Young quarterback Josh Freeman got big-play wideout Arrelious Benn in the second and Mike Williams in the fourth round. If both are able to harness their unique athleticism, the Bucs may be able to ignore this position for years. Versatile defensive back Myron Lewis, a third-rounder, and underrated seventh-rounder Cody Grimm fill needs in the secondary. This group isn’t likely to earn the acclaim of other, flashier drafts, but this was an impressive haul for a young Tampa squad. Only the inconsistencies of Williams and Price drops the grade slightly. NFC West Arizona Cardinals: B With concerns about the development of recent picks Gabe Watson and Alan Branch, the Cardinals had to be pleased to see Tennessee’s Dan Williams still on the board at No. 26. Williams was the most dominant defensive tackle in the SEC this past season, but some teams were nervous that he only elevated his game to this level as a senior. If the Cardinals can keep him motivated, they will have found a true steal in Williams. The Cardinals found value and excellent scheme fits in the second and third rounds, as well, with athletic linebacker Daryl Washington (who some have compared to free agent defection Karlos Dansby) and underrated small school receiver Andre Roberts. If the Cardinals were worried about the transition from Kurt Warner to Matt Leinart (or Derek Anderson), they didn’t show it on draft day. John Skelton is an intriguing developmental prospect, but he’s a year or two – at least – from competing at this level. St. Louis Rams: B- The Rams were on the phones talking trade up until they made the pick, but in the end they filled the need for a franchise quarterback in Sam Bradford. The club has to be concerned with Bradford’s inability to stay healthy in 2009, but there is no denying his talent. When protected, he’s shown the accuracy of an All-Pro. The Rams got good depth along the offensive line and secondary in Day 2 picks Rodger Saffold and Jerome Murphy. Saffold, a collegiate tackle, likely steps in immediately at guard. The Rams found a Donnie Avery-clone in Mardy Gilyard and two Leonard Little-like pass rushers in Hall Davis and George Selvie on the draft’s third day. Electing not to address the defensive tackle position was a surprise considering they traded starter Adam Carriker only days before the draft. San Francisco 49ers: A- With an established star in Frank Gore, many casual fans might have thought the 49ers were among the best running teams in the league, but an inability to gain an inch on short-yardage plays made addressing the offensive line a huge concern for coach Mike Singletary. Trading up to No. 11 to get Anthony Davis might have been an unnecessary move, as he likely would have been available to the 49ers at their original No. 13 selection. He provides the 49ers with a quality athlete in tandem with current left tackle Joe Staley. Having athletic tackles will help in Mike Iupati’s adjustment to the NFL’s speedier pass rushers. Few, if any, prospects in this draft presented Iupati’s power as a drive blocker. The 49ers may as well have had a third-round pick by getting Taylor Mays in the mid second. The intimidating presence over the middle fills a big area of need. Third-round pick Navarro Bowman, on the other hand, was an odd choice, given that he lacks the size most teams are looking for in a traditional edge rusher. Sixth-round pick Anthony Dixon could surprise as a goal-line back to spell Frank Gore. Sticking to their philosophy of controlling the line of scrimmage, the 49ers may have emerged as the NFC West favorite with this draft. Seattle Seahawks: A The Seahawks entered the draft with a built-in advantage, as they, along with the 49ers, were the only team to enter Thursday with two first-round picks. They didn’t waste them, eliminating their biggest needs immediately with Russell Okung, NFLDraftScout.com’s top-rated offensive tackle, and ballhawk Earl Thomas only eight picks later. Notre Dame playmaking receiver and returner Golden Tate fell to them with the 60th pick. All three could start immediately. If possible, Seattle’s draft got even better on the third day, however, as the team found a potential fourth future starter in cornerback Walter Thurmond, as well as one of the better all-around tight ends in the class in former USC standout Anthony McCoy. The team also addressed concerns at running back in trading for the explosive Leon Washington and powerful LenDale White. White will be reunited with former Trojans coach Pete Carroll and will be plenty motivated, as he’s entering his contract year. In terms of immediate impact, as well as long-term potential, there wasn’t a better draft in 2010 than Seattle’s. Chris Burke , NFL Fanhouse: Arizona (Day 1: A-; Day 2: B): Started off very strong with Dan Williams and Darryl Washington — arguable one of the best picks, period, at No. 47. Then Arizona started reaching. Project WR Andre Roberts, injured DE O’Brien Schofield, some guy named Jorrick Calvin. QB John Skelton was a nice pick in Round 5. All in all, pretty solid. Final Grade: B Atlanta (Day 1: B; Day 2: C): Something went wrong for the Falcons after their first pick, Sean Weatherspoon at No. 19. Only one of six picks after that really stood out: CB Dominique Franks at 135. Everything else was mediocre — though you have to root for WR Kerry Meier (No. 165 overall), whose brother died earlier in the week. That story aside, an uneven draft for Atlanta that didn’t address the DE end position. Final Grade: C Baltimore (Day 1: B+; Day 2: A): What else can you say about Baltimore? There may not be a team in the league better at finding talent in the draft. Sergio Kindle, Terrence Cody, Ed Dickson, Dennis Pitta, David Reed, Art Jones and Ramon Harewood. Are there questions with a couple guys? Sure. But all seven should make contributions in 2010. Final Grade: A Buffalo (Day 1: D+; Day 2: B): The C.J. Spiller pick at No. 9 was a head-scratcher and Torrell Troup at 41 wasn’t exactly gold, but Buffalo’s work improved markedly after that. OTs Ed Wang (No. 140) and Kyle Calloway (No. 216) were value picks that add needed depth, while the Levi Brown selection at No. 209 will hopefully give Buffalo some hope at quarterback. Final Grade: B- Carolina (Day 1: Inc.; Day 2: D+): Day 3 certainly presented Carolina’s best work after an absence in Round 1 and a odd second day — Jimmy Clausen, Brandon LaFell and Armanti Edwards. OLB Eric Norwood (No. 124) and DE Greg Hardy (No. 175) are solid selections. QB Tony Pike at 204 was good value, but unnecessary with Clausen in tow. Final Grade: C- Chicago (Day 1: Inc.; Day 2: A-): Only five picks and none in Rounds 1 and 2. Chicago made three really solid picks: S Major Wright (No. 75), DE Corey Wootton (No. 109) and QB Dan LeFevour (No. 181). That said, the Bears only addressed their OL at No. 218 with J’Marcus Webb. Final Grade: B- Cincinnati (Day 1: B; Day 2: B+): It’s hard to find fault with much here — maybe the reach for OL Otis Hudson at No. 152, a virtual no-name. But the Bengals needed offensive weapons and added TE Jermaine Gresham (No. 21), WR Jordan Shipley (No. 84) and WR Dezmon Briscoe (No. 191), plus found some potential gems on defense like DE Carlos Dunlap (No. 54) and CB Brandon Ghee (No. 96). Final Grade: B Cleveland (Day 1: C+; Day 2: C-): There were a handful of great picks overshadowed by a couple weird ones. Joe Haden at No. 7 was a stellar start, but the T.J. Ward-Montario Hardesty combo on Day 2 was hard to comprehend. Colt McCoy could help down the line, and the Browns made three really strong picks on Day 3. Final Grade: C+ Dallas (Day 1: B+; Day 2: B+): Consistent, if nothing else, over the first two days with WR Dez Bryant (No. 24) and LB Sean Lee (No. 55). The Cowboys then stole CB Akwasi Owusu-Ansah (No. 126). We’ll have to wait and see after that. A lot of people are high on OT Sam Young (No. 179), but he was awful in pass protection at times for Notre Dame. Final Grade: B+ Denver (Day 1: A; Day 2: B): No matter what else happens, Round 1 will make or break this group — WR Demayrius Thomas and QB Tim Tebow, specifically the latter. C J.D. Walton (No. 80) could be a stalwart for years and CB Perrish Cox (No. 137) was a stroke of genius. Pretty strong draft, but Round 1′s picks will get all the attention. Final Grade: A- Detroit (Day 1: A; Day 2: A-): Find the weak link here. Go on. You can nitpick on RB Jahvid Best (No. 30), CB Amari Spievey (No. 66) or OT Jason Fox (No. 128), but they were all good picks at positions of need. Even DE Willie Young (No. 213) should get in the rotation. Oh yeah, and there’s that Suh guy. Final Grade: A Green Bay (Day 1: B; Day 2: B): OT Bryan Bulaga got the Pack rolling at No. 23. They’ll get mixed reviews on DL Mike Neal (No. 56), S Morgan Burnett (No. 71) and TE Andrew Quarless (No. 154), a really questionable pick. RB James Starks at No. 193 could bump this group up down the road. Final Grade: B Houston (Day 1: B; Day 2: B-): CB Kareem Jackson at No. 20 was a good pick at a position of huge need. RB Ben Tate (No. 58) could be a contributor, but he’s far from a sure thing. And everything after that — save for maybe value-pick TE Dorin Dickerson (No. 227) — was pretty dull. Final Grade: C+ Indianapolis (Day 1: B+; Day 2: B): Scored big with Jerry Hughes at No. 31. LB Pat Angerer (No. 63) and CB Kevin Thomas (No. 94) should both pan out. Day 3 was kind of a dud, however, with only LB Kavell Conner (No. 240) looking like a real sneaky-smart pick. Final Grade: B- Jacksonville (Day 1: F; Day 2: F): What a train wreck. The Tyson Alualu (No. 10) and D’Anthony Smith (No. 74) picks back-to-back made no sense. And DE Larry Hart (No. 143) was a reach as well. DE Austen Lane (No. 153) was a fine pick, but did the Jags really need RB Deji Karim at No. 180. This entire draft was hard to figure. Final Grade: D- Kansas City (Day 1: A; Day 2: C+): Only two Day 3 picks and neither’s an immediate impact player. S Eric Berry (No. 5) was an obvious call, then the Chiefs landed OL Jon Asamoah (No. 68) and TE Tony Moeaki (No. 93) to finish Day 2 strong. Taking Dexter McCluster at No. 36 and Javier Arenas at No. 50 drags this grade down. Final Grade: B Miami (Day 1: A; Day 2: A): Really strong work here, pretty much across the board. DT Jared Odrick got high marks at No. 28, as did DE Koa Misi (No. 40) and OT John Jerry (No. 73). The biggest haul may be S Reshad Jones, a top-50 talent to some, in Round 5. Final Grade: A Minnesota (Day 1: B+; Day 2: B+): Traded out of the first round, then scored with CB Chris Cook at No. 34, RB Toby Gerhart (No. 51) and DE Everson Griffen (No. 100). Nothing special happened on Day 3, but keep an eye on LB Nathan Triplett, a guy the Vikings need to compete. Final Grade: B New England (Day 1: B-; Day 2: A-): The Patriots did well early on with CB Devin McCourty (No. 27), TE Rob Gronkowski (No. 42) and OLB Jermaine Cunningham (No. 53). Not sure either LB Brandon Spikes (No. 62) or WR Taylor Price (No. 90) will pan out, though. Landed three blows between picks 247 and 250. Final Grade: B New Orleans (Day 1: C+; Day 2: B+): Took CB Patrick Robinson to close out Round 1, but the Saints’ best picks came at No. 64 (OT Charles Brown) and No. 158 (C Matt Tennant). Final Grade: C+ New York Giants (Day 1: C-; Day 2: A-): A pretty mixed bag here — DE Jason Pierre-Paul didn’t make the most sense at No. 15, but DT Linvall Joseph (No. 46) and S Chad Jones (No. 76) could both start. OL Mitch Petrus (No. 147) adds needed depth inside. Final Grade: B- New York Jets (Day 1: A-; Day 2: B): CB Kyle Wilson in Round 1 will help and OT Vladimir Ducasse might start immediately after the release of Alan Faneca. Running back Joe McKnight (No. 112) and FB John Conner (No. 139) were fine, but not sure either was a huge necessity. Final Grade: B+ Oakland (Day 1: A; Day 2: A): Basically went five-for-five to start: LB Rolando McClain, DT Lamarr Houston, OT Jared Veldheer, OT Bruce Campbell (No. 106!) and WR Jacoby Ford (No. 108). Went all Raiders with their final four picks, taking athletes over need. Final Grade: A- Philadelphia (Day 1: C-; Day 2: C+): Quantity over quality? Philly wound up making 13 selections, starting with Brandon Graham at No. 13 and ending with S Kurt Coleman at No. 244. In between was a mix of good and bad, but at least a few guys — like S Nate Allen (No. 37) — should play key roles. Final Grade: B- Pittsburgh (Day 1: A-; Day 2: B-): There are a lot of solid selections here — C Maurkice Pouncey (No. 18) was a much-needed pick in Round 1. Still not loving the Emmanuel Sanders pick (No. 82), but WR Antonio Brown (No. 195) is a sleeper. Also like the pick of RB Jonathan Dwyer (No. 188) Lots of needs filled in. Final Grade: B San Diego (Day 1: B; Day 2: B): Big leap up for RB Ryan Mathews (No. 12) in Round 1 and a steady pick of LB Donald Butler (No. 79). Big score with DT Cam Thomas (No. 146). QB Jonathan Crompton (No. 168) will get time to sit and develop. Final Grade: B+ San Francisco (Day 1: A; Day 2: A): Not sure that anything happened on Day 3 to change the Niners’ grade. RB Anthony Dixon (No. 173) and TE Nate Byham (No. 182) should just add to the haul that included Anthony Davis (No. 11), Mike Iupati (No. 17) and Taylor Mays (No. 49). Final Grade: A Seattle (Day 1: A+; Day 2: A): Russell Okung and Earl Thomas in the first round got Seattle off to a spectacular start. You have to take into account trades for RBs LenDale White and Leon Washington, which could remake the Seahawks’ offense. Seattle’s last few picks were only average. Final Grade: A- St. Louis (Day 1: A-; Day 2: B+): Sam Bradford started it, but the Rams had a very good start, including WR Mardy Gilyard at No. 99. There were a few average selections after that — until the Rams stole DE George Selvie at No. 226. Final Grade: B+ Tampa Bay (Day 1: A-; Day 2: C): Top marks for Gerald McCoy, but came back down to earth with DT Brian Price (No. 35), WR Arrelious Benn (No. 39) and CB Myron Lewis (No. 67). OLB Dekoda Watson (No. 217) was a steal — it almost offset the pick of WR Mike Williams (No. 101). Almost. Final Grade: B Tennessee (Day 1: B; Day 2: A+): DE Derrick Morgan made for a nice fit at No. 16, then Tennessee stole WR Damian Williams (No. 77) and LB Rennie Curran (No. 97). Day 3 was a mixed bag — safeties Robert Johnson (No. 148) and Myron Rolle (No. 207) should help the secondary, but the QB Rusty Smith pick (No. 176) was hard to figure. Final Grade: B+ Washington (Day 1: B+; Day 2: Inc.): Only had OT Trent Williams to show for the first two days, but he was a good selection at No. 4. The last few rounds were unsteady — LB Riley Cooper was not great at No. 103, but OT Selvish Capers made for a perfect pick at No. 231. Final Grade: B Somebody at Fox Sports without a byline : Arizona: Some thought the Cardinals would pursue a quarterback in this draft, but they passed on some big names and ended up taking strong-armed John Skeleton of Fordham in the fifth round. Tennessee DT Dan Williams fell into their lap in the first round and he should be the nose tackle this 3-4 defense needs. They traded with the Patriots to take TCU OLB Darrell Washington, who had 39 reps of 225 pounds at the Combine and was once considered a possible first-round pick by the Jets. Washington had a super senior season at TCU and maybe he replaces Karlos Dansby as a playmaker — great value with the 47th overall pick in Washington. Wisconsin pass rusher O’Brien Schofield will start training camp on the physically unable to perform list after tearing his ACL at the Senior Bowl, but he has tremendous upside when healthy. Not a need position, but Schofield, who was the MVP of the East-West game, was good value. Grade: B Atlanta: The Falcons concentrated on filling needs with Missouri OLB Sean Weatherspoon, possibly the most complete linebacker in the draft. He can cover and also rush the passer. To beef up the defensive line, Kentucky DT Corey Peters was taken with the 83rd overall pick and he should be a run stuffer. Alabama guard Mike Johnson is a physical run blocker and gives the Falcons some much needed depth at the position. Johnson started 41 consecutive games and played in a school-record 54 games. You have to remember, too, that the Falcons used a second-round pick on Tony Gonzalez, who paid huge dividends last season to Matt Ryan and the offense. Weatherspoon should be a starter. Guard Joe Hawley provided much-need depth. Oklahoma CB Dominique Franks knows how to play, but does he possess NFL speed and quickness? Grade: B Baltimore: GM Ozzie Newsome made all the right moves on the first two days of the draft, trading out of the first round and getting two quality defensive players with first-round grades in Texas linebacker Sergio Kindle of Texas and massive Alabama nose tackle Terrence Cody with the 57th overall pick. Kindle was downgraded by some teams out of the first round because of a knee injury, but he’s a fast, explosive outside linebacker and should fit well in Baltimore’s defensive scheme. Cody has struggled with his weight (he’s listed at 350 pounds), but Newsome feels that he has a relationship with the fellow Alabama grad and can get this guy under control. The addition of Cody means that few teams will be able to move the Baltimore middle. Syracuse DE Arthur Jones was a super value pick. Baltimore added to their receiving corps with Utah’s David Reed, who has excellent hands and is quick out of the break. Grade: B+ Buffalo: The Bills passed on their quarterback needs (maybe Trent Edwards is better than we think?), but they took the draft’s best running back, Clemson’s C.J. Spiller, who is a home-run hitter. To shore up their porous run defense, they grabbed 318-pound nose tackle Torrell Troup of Central Florida about 20 spots too high. Troup was a three-year starter and a team captain and ran a spectacular 5.1 40-yard dash. Arkansas State DE Alex Carrington should fit ideally into the 3-4 scheme. Surprisingly, the trade rumors were false on Marshawn Lynch, meaning that he and Spiller could be in the same backfield, which should pose problems for opposing defenses. Troy QB Levi Brown was an interesting pick late, but Coach Chan Gailey apparently likes ex-Packer Brian Brohm, too. Grade: C Panthers: On paper, if this is GM Marty Hurney’s final draft with the Panthers, it has a chance to be his best. Hurney didn’t have a first-round pick and he tried to trade up with the Rams in order to select Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen, but got him anyway with the 48th overall pick in the second round. Clausen should give Matt Moore a run for his money sometime this season as the starter. With Carolina’s great running game, Clausen has excellent deep-ball accuracy. Remember, the Panthers traded away their first-round pick last year to San Francisco in order to draft Everette Brown, who had 15 tackles and 2 1/2 sacks last season. To help Moore and Claussen, the Panthers got two potential playmakers in Armanti Edwards and Brandon LaFell. Edwards was the quarterback at Appalachian State where he won two national titles, but he projects as a receiver and maybe even a wildcat quarterback. LaFell had a rough senior season at LSU and ran a poor 4.62 at the Combine, but he finished with 175 receptions for 25 TDs. The only bad thing was that Hurney traded away next year’s second-round pick to the Patriots to get this done. OLB Eric Norwood was also good value in the fourth round. Cincinnati QB Tony Pike was an interesting pick. Grade: A+ Chicago: The Bears did pretty well, considering they didn’t select until the 75th pick when they got tremendous value in safety Major Wright. The former Florida Gator draws immediate comparisons to the once-great Mike Brown, who suffered too many injuries in his short Chicago career. The Bears have had 21 different safeties since Lovie Smith took over and the hope is that Wright will be a mainstay. Northwestern’s Corey Wooten had a chance to be a high pick this year until he had knee surgery, but he should develop into a great edge rusher. Considering their limited draft location, the Bears did well but GM Jerry Angelo made a critical mistake in not trading into the top of the round for an offensive tackle. Remember, the Bears have made so many personnel moves this off-season (Julius Peppers, Chester Taylor) to win this season. Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour has the smarts and feet to develop into a backup quarterback. He needs to improve his throwing accuracy. Grade: C Cincinnati: Bengals QB Carson Palmer will be excited with Oklahoma TE Jermaine Gresham who can stretch the field and has been given a clean bill of health after missing all of last season with a knee injury. Most mock drafts had Gresham landing here. The Bengals typically select some risky players, but they claim that Carlos Dunlap’s DUI conviction prior to the SEC championship game was an aberration. Dunlap was a great pass rusher at Florida and he has drawn comparisons to Julius Peppers because he’s 6-6 and 277 pounds and very athletic. His nickname was “Baby Freak” because he drew comparisons to former Gator Jevon Kearse. Dunlap had 26 tackles for losses and 19 1/2 sacks in his three-year career. Texas WR Jordan Shipley was very productive in college with at least six games with 10 or more catches. He’s a physical, deep-threat receiver. Wake Forest CB Brandon Ghee has been compared favorably to current Bengals starter Johnathan Joseph. Ghee started 33 games, but came up with only one interception. The steal of their draft could be WR Dezmon Briscoe of Kansas who ran poorly at the Combine and has some off-the-field issues but once was considered just a step behind Dez Bryant in the Big 12 Conference. Grade: B. Cleveland: For an offensive president, Mike Holmgren listened to his coaches and scouts and picked two secondary players with his first two picks. Cornerback Joe Haden started 40 games for Florida and finished with 157 tackles and 8 interceptions. They didn’t reach on him. T.J. Ward of Oregon is a hitter, but he didn’t have many interceptions in college and some had him rated as a fourth-round pick. Montario Hardesty was a great north-south runner at Tennessee, but can he juke and change direction in the lane? Hardesty is a banger and Holmgren thinks his running style will prove valuable in bad winter weather. But the key to the draft was the selection of Texas QB Colt McCoy with the 85th overall pick. McCoy won 45 games in 53 college starts. McCoy made perfect sense in the third round and he will be given every opportunity to be the future quarterback of this struggling franchise. Holmgren did say that he won’t be coaching McCoy, nor will the rookie play this season. It’s Jake Delhomme’s job in 2010. Grade: B+ Dallas: With the uneven play of Roy Williams, owner Jerry Jones wanted a playmaker opposite Miles Austin and he moved up in the draft to get Oklahoma State’s Dez Bryant, who will wear Michael Irvin’s No. 88 jersey. Bryant’s upbringing and the fact that he lied to NCAA investigators about his involvement with Deion Sanders got him suspended troubled some teams, but not the Cowboys, who will build a support system around him. Jones claims that he won’t trade Williams or Patrick Crayton to make Bryant’s transition easier. Penn State’s Sean Lee was the most instinctive linebacker in college football last season and the only concern about him is if he can keep himself healthy. Several teams wanted Lee, but the Eagles traded a pick with Jones in order for him to become a Cowboy. Akwasi Owusu-Ansah is a big, athletic cornerback from tiny Indiana (Pa.) State. He’s coming off an injury, but he’s expected to be ready for training camp. The Cowboys didn’t address their needs on the offensive line, but there are big hopes that either Doug Free or Robert Brewster, a third-round pick last year, will fill Flozell Adams’ spot at left tackle. Grade: B Denver: Yes, there have been many snickers around the NFL about coach Josh McDaniels being immature (Chargers incident last season) and still learning on game days. But he’s turned into one trading Jessie on draft day. He and GM Brian Xander left the first round with two selections and the two players they wanted in WR Demaryius Thomas and QB Tim Tebow, who should compete with Kyle Orton for the starting job. Unlike Brandon Marshall and Jay Cutler, these two players are saints and definitely hard-workers. Zane Beadles played left tackle at Utah, but is projected inside as a guard and was a solid pick in the middle of the second round. Minnesota receiver Eric Decker was a one-man show in college and a lot of teams loved him in the second round until a foot injury sidelined him. Decker played all four seasons at Minnesota and finished with 227 catches for 3,119 yards and 24 TDs. Cal CB Syd’quan Thompson projects to be a physical, tough zone player and should make the team despite being a seventh-rounder. McDaniels eventually took a risky pick in Oklahoma State CB Perrish Cox, who was suspended at the end of the season, but he could turn into a top-flight player and returner. Grade: B+ Detroit: GM Martin Mayhew learned under former boss Matt Millen and he’s responded by being more aggressive and also selecting quality. The Lions wanted Cal running back Jahvid Best in the second round, but got fearful and traded into the bottom of the first round to make sure they grabbed the complimentary runner to Kevin Smith. DT Ndamukong Suh was the top-rated player in the draft and he went second overall simply because the Rams had to take a quarterback. Iowa CB Amari Spievey was a ballhawk in college and the Lions need him to produce. Miami OT Jason Fox will be given every opportunity to make the lineup. Nate Burleson was a quality addition in the offseason, too, but he won’t have to contend with Mr. Irrelevant, Weber State receiver Tim Toone, the last player taken in the draft. Toone is 5-11 with 4.55 speed. Grade: B Green Bay: The Packers got great value with their first pick, Iowa OT Bryan Bulaga, who has a chance to start as a rookie at right tackle. Georgia Tech safety Morgan Burnett gives the Packers some depth at safety where Atari Bigby has had injury concerns. Mike Neal is really strong and spent five years at Purdue, starting as a defensive end and then switching to defensive tackle. His first love was basketball, but he will play end in the 3-4 defense. He had 26 tackles for a loss and 13 sacks at Purdue. The best news about the team’s top three picks is that all are solid citizens with no injury history. TE Andrew Quarless spent a lot of time in Joe Paterno’s doghouse at Penn State, but he did have 41 catches last season and could be a deep threat for Aaron Rodgers. RB James Stark missed his entire senior season at Buffalo, but if he plays to his old level could prove to be a valuable addition. Grade: C Houston: The Texans shocked most scouts by taking Alabama CB Kareem Jackson over Kyle Wilson, but they believe Jackson is more versatile and can play press and also fill the nickel role. Auburn RB Ben Tate (5-11, 220 pounds) is a powerful back with no durability issues, plus he ran 4.34 and had a spectacular workout at the Combine. They took a high motor defensive lineman in Earl Mitchell of Arizona who lacks size and may be a situational defender. Wisconsin TE Garrett Graham is solid insurance, considering Owen Daniels’ injury history. Miami (Fla.) LB Darryl Sharpton is an instinctive player and he should help on special teams right away and could force his way into the lineup. They added another tight end in Pitt’s Dorin Dickerson, who caught 10 touchdowns last season. Dickerson was ranked as a top-100 player, but he fell to the 227th pick for some reason. Maybe it’s because he’s not a good blocker and more of a receiver than a tight end? Grade: C Indianapolis: Bill Polian said he wanted defense in this draft and he went out and did exactly that. TCU pass rusher Jerry Hughes fits the Dwight Freeney mold and should help immediately in the rotation. Iowa MLB Pat Angerer has the right name for a football player and should back up Gary Brackett. He’s a very instinctive player and was highly productive in college. USC’s Kevin Thomas has played against some of the best in the Pac-10 and fits the Indy mold. Oklahoma’s Brody Elridge (6-5, 261) was the best blocking tight end in the draft and fills a short-yardage need. Tennessee OG Jacques McClendon gives the team some depth on what is a questionable offensive line. Grade: B Jacksonville: The Jaguars had only 14 sacks last season and that’s why they focused on defensive linemen and pass rushers in this draft. However, they should have traded down to get Cal’s Tyson Alualu instead of picking him with the 10th overall selection. Maybe the 49ers would have made that trade for their 17th overall pick? The draft consensus is that Alualu ranked between 25 and 40 on the majority of team’s draft boards. The Jaguars must be faulted for not knowing the value of their first pick. Larry Hart, a defensive end from Central Arkansas, has a chance to be special. Austen Lee and D’Anthony Smith are rangy, athletic pass rushers. Scotty McGee of Murray State has 4.37 speed and should upgrade the return game. One good move was adding linebacker Kirk Morrison, who has led the Raiders in tackles for five straight seasons. Grade: C- Kansas City: Former NFL coach Monte Kiffin says that Tennessee safety Eric Berry is ready to play right away on the pro level and destined to be a star. Berry likes to think of himself as the next Ronnie Lott. Dexter McCluster, Ole Miss, could be the slot receiver that Matt Cassel had in Wes Welker when with the Patriots. Many compare McCluster to Darren Sproles or former Giants Dave Meggett when gauging his versatility. And with the pick for Tony Gonzalez, the Chiefs took Javier Arenas of Alabama, who may be the best returner in the draft. He’s only 5-8, but he made a lot of plays for the Tide off the edge. The first three picks all came from the SEC. Free safety Kendrick Lewis plays better than he ran at the Combine and is a classic overachiever and high character player. Grade: B Miami: The Dolphins took advantage of their work at the Senior Bowl by drafting a lot of players they coached there, plus they moved down in the first round, saving some money in order to pay new receiver Brandon Marshall. First pick Jared Odrick of Penn State fits their defensive scheme in the 3-4 and Utah outside linebacker Koa Misi is a pass-rush specialist and a hard-nosed player. The Dolphins have already said that DE Randy Starks will be moved to nose tackle in order to make room for Odrick and Misi on the outside. Ole Miss OT John Jerry, whose brother Peria plays for the Falcons, will slide down to guard where his powerful leverage and quickness should be better suited. Grade: A Minnesota: The Vikings tried to trade back into the first round for Boise State CB Kyle Wilson because cornerback was a need. They ended up with Virginia’s Chris Cook, who ran a 4.49 at the combine. This position was a need because the Vikings probably won’t have Cedric Griffin for the start of the season, plus veteran Antoine Winfield missed six games last season and will be 33 this season. In a trade with the Texans, the Vikings took Stanford RB Toby Gearhart, who rushed for 1,871 yards and 28 touchdowns last season. He was Jimmy Johnson’s favorite college player. Gearhart should be able to spell Adrian Peterson and keep the offense moving. USC pass rusher Everson Griffin was a top-25 talent in the fourth round while Minnesota LB Nathan Triplett gives them some insurance in case E.J. Henderson doesn’t fully recover. Grade: C+ New England: No one understands the NFL trading game better than Bill Belichick, who moved around in this draft and left it with two first-round and two second-round picks for 2011. This is great news because those picks could be extremely valuable if the league institutes a rookie salary cap. New England’s first two picks, Rutgers CB Devin McCourty, and Arizona TE Rob Gronkowski, were need picks. The Pats really don’t have a tight end after losing Ben Watson. Gronkowski missed the entire 2009 season with a back injury, but Tom Brady should find him down the seam because he is 6-6, 265 pounds. He averaged 18.1 yards a catch. Florida LB Brandon Spikes is an old-school middle linebacker who has superior instincts and probably is a better all-around player than DE Jermaine Cunningham who was taken nine picks ahead of him. In the fifth round, the Pats took punter Zoltan Mesko of Michigan and he figures to make the team. Grade: B+ New Orleans: Starting offensive tackle Jamaal Brown, who will be an unrestricted free-agent in 2011, wasn’t happy with the selection of USC Charles Brown in the second round. Brown is a left tackle and he was value pickup late in the second round because he appeared in the first round on some mock drafts. LSU defensive tackle Al Woods needs to work his double-team moves, but he did have a 37-inch vertical jump for a huge man. Woods fills a defensive need. Miami TE Jimmy Graham is the perfect Sean Payton pick because he’s a project after playing only one season of college ball. First pick Patrick Robinson of Florida State suits the Saints’ style of defense; he can play zone coverage or press coverage on the outside. Robinson gives this team necessary depth, considering how much they love to blitz. Boston College center Matt Tennant adds depth while Oregon State QB Sean Canfield may push aging Mark Brunell. Grade: C New York Giants: The Giants wanted Alabama MLB Rolando McClain, but they might have lucked out with Phillip Dillard with the 115th pick. Dillard was a solid middle linebacker at Nebraska and played super at the end of the season for the Cornhuskers. Before that, the Giants risked their first-round pick on South Florida pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul, who is physically gifted but short on football experience. NT Linval Joseph battled weight issues (up to 370 pounds) at East Carolina, but he’s a powerful player who has a chance to anchor the defensive line. LSU safety Chad Jones played in the outfield for the Tigers’ national championship team and the Giants love his hands and 6-2, 220-pound frame. With 44-year-old Jeff Feagles entering his 23rd NFL season, the Giants took East Carolina punter Matt Dodge in the fifth round. Grade: B- New York Jets: They fell into one of the draft’s best cover cornerbacks in Kyle Wilson of Boise State at the bottom of the first round. Wilson could end up teaming with Darrelle Revis. OT Vladimir Ducasse moved here in 2002 from Haiti and only played two years of high school football, but he started three years at Massachusetts and was all-league twice. Ducasse is a great project because he’s 6-4, 332 pounds with 35-inch arms. USC running back Joe McKnight was great value in the fourth round. His style suits the pro game because he can catch and also return kicks. The key is whether McKnight is as productive as Leon Washington, who was traded to Seattle. They added a solid fullback blocker in Kentucky’s John Conner, a 246-pounder. They also unloaded veteran guard John Faneca because he was guaranteed more than $5 million this season. Grade: B Oakland: Owner Al Davis lit a bonfire under JaMarcus Russell with the acquisition of Redskins QB Jason Campbell for a 2012 fourth-round pick. Campbell is a deep-ball thrower that Davis has always loved. Russell is due over $9 million this season and I can see the Raiders asking him to take a $7 million pay reduction; if they release him, who would take him? Davis finally went against his size and speed measurements and simply took a quality football player in MLB Rolando McClain, the defensive leader of Alabama’s national championship team. Lamarr Houston was a high school running back who ballooned into a very good defensive tackle at Texas. He should be a great one-gap penetrator. Finally, the Raiders took Maryland OT Bruce Campbell, the athletic phenom (4.84 for 314-pounder) at the Combine, who simply needs to listen to head coach Tom Cable to learn how to play a little tougher and stronger. Campbell had a low second-round grade, so it was a great selection. Clemson WR Jacoby Ford has 4.28 speed and should be a playmaker. To get Ford, Davis traded starting MLB Kirk Morrison to the Jaguars, opening up the position for McClain. Grade: A+ Philadelphia: The Eagles gave up a lot to move up in the first round to take Michigan pass rusher Brandon Graham, who was a dominant performer in the Big Ten. Andy Reid is hoping that second-round pick Nate Allen of South Florida can shore up the safety position, but he’s not an intimidator like Brian Dawkins was for this franchise. Allen is also going to be remembered as the Donovan McNabb selection, too. A lot of pressure on this kid to produce. For all their ammunition prior to the draft, the Eagles kind of struck out. With the 122nd pick, the Eagles surprised many by taking Northwestern QB Mike Kafka over Tony Pike and Dan LeFevour. Obviously, Kafka is smart but his arm seemed limited. The Eagles did a lot better in the later rounds on value, getting Clemson OLB Ricky Sapp, who had second-round grades, Florida receiver Riley Cooper who should be a big target in the red zone and H-back Clay Harbor of Missouri State. Ohio State safety Kurt Coleman was a playmaker and has a shot to make the team from the seventh round. Grade: B- Pittsburgh: There were phony rumors out there that Ben Roethlisberger was on the trading block, so the Steelers focused on shoring up the offensive line with Florida center Maurkice Pouncey, who was their target from the outset. Virgina Tech OLB Jason Worilds ideally suits the Steelers’ 3-4 scheme as an edge rusher and may remind some of James Harrison. Former Ohio State standout Thaddeus Gibson is a great athlete who was only a one-year starter and he was something of tweener at OLB and defensive end. He’s a project. SMU WR Emmanuel Sanders will try to fill Santonio Holmes’ shoes. RB Johnathan Dwyer of Georgia Tech was considered a second-round pick, but fell to the sixth round because of a failed drug test for amphetamines for medical reasons at the Combine. Dwyer was off some teams’ draft boards. Grade: B+ San Diego: The entire draft for the Chargers will be based on what kind of impact Fresno State running back Ryan Mathews makes this season. The Chargers gave up their 40th pick to move up in the first round and take Mathews, who was considered the draft’s best all-around runner. Coach Norv Turner now has the big back to work with Darren Sproles. Washington linebacker Donald Butler can play inside and outside and is super smart. North Carolina’s Cam Thomas (330 pounds) will be given every chance to win the starting nose tackle spot while the Chargers actually took a quarterback in Jonathan Compton, who passed for 27 touchdowns and 13 INTs last season with Tennessee. Grade: C San Francisco: The 49ers bolstered their offensive line and didn’t take a quarterback, meaning they will stick with Alex Smith this season. Anthony Davis of Rutgers will be given every chance to start at right tackle this season while Idaho guard Mike Iupati is a tremendous run blocker with a nasty streak. These two players will allow the 49ers to pound the ball while also providing Smith with better pocket protection. Free safety Taylor Mays of USC was considered a top ten pick a year ago, but he slipped this season because he didn’t track the deep ball very well and missed so many interception opportunities. But Mays can run and tackle and should be a good fit. He is motivated to prove his worth, too. Mississippi State RB Anthony Dixon was a one-man offense in college and is a good fit behind Frank Gore. LB Navorro Bowman played well at Penn State, but his draft stock fell because of some off-the-field issues. Grade: A Seattle: Despite former player Taylor Mays taking a personal shot at his former coach, Pete Carroll, the former USC coach had a great three-day draft. The Seahawks got a great playmaker in Texas safety Earl Thomas, who was coveted by coordinator Gus Bradley. And OT Russell Okung was the top-rated tackle on the majority of teams’ boards and was available because the Redskins prefer a zone-blocking scheme and wanted a more athletic tackle in Trent Williams. They spent the 40th pick on Chargers QB Charlie Whitehurst. They needed a receiver and got Golden Tate, who had a great final season at Notre Dame with 93 catches for 1,496 yards and 15 touchdowns before going to play center field for the baseball team. They tried to trade for Marshawn Lynch, but ended up with ex-Trojan in LenDale White in a deal with the Titans. White gives them a power running back to go with Justin Forsett, considering how disappointing Julius Jones has been. But the best news was the acquisition of Leon Washington from the Jets, meaning that Jones might be an afterthought as a starter. Tate should be a return man. Carroll took a chance on his former player, Anthony McCoy, who tested positive for marijuana at the Combine. McCoy was hampered by an ankle injury last season. Grade: A+ St. Louis: This team, regardless of who the owner is, had no other choice but to draft a quarterback and hope that Sam Bradford does become the successful new face of the franchise. There should be no threat of a holdout because CEO Kevin Demoff has done four big contracts with agents Tom Condon/Ben Dogra over the past six seasons. Indiana OT Rodger Saffold, a three-year starter, had first-round grades by at least a dozen teams and this was another huge need. Marty Gilyard was an explosive receiver at Cincinnati and he should be the starting kick returner, too. DE George Selvie lost his starting job at South Florida to the Giants’ first-round pick, Pierre-Paul, but he did have an awesome sophomore season and Penn State linebacker Josh Hull was a solid pick in the seventh round. There seemed to be 30 tight ends taken in this draft and the Rams took two of them in Michael Hoomanawanui of Illinois (the blocker) and Fendi Onobun of Arizona (the vertical threat). Grade: B Tampa Bay: Maybe they had Ndamukong Suh rated higher than Gerald McCoy, but this Oklahoma tackle will be an instant starter and bring energy and pass-rush ability. The Bucs followed that with another DT in UCLA’s Brian Price, a great three-technique rusher while ignoring a chance to take a receiver. But they got quality at that position with Arrelious Benn of Illinois because he entered the 2009 season as a top ten pick but suffered an ankle injury and struggled because of the horrible Illinois quarterback situation. Syracuse WR Mike Williams got suspended last season, but most teams had a second-round grade on him, so he was a bargain in the fourth round. I don’t know if Cody Grimm can hold up in the NFL, but the Virginia Tech safety forced eight fumbles last season and is a high-energy guy. Grade: A Tennessee: Having lost Kyle Vanden Bosch to the Lions in free-agency, the Titans fell into one of the draft’s most complete defensive ends in Georgia Tech’s Derrick Morgan in the first round. Most teams had Morgan as a top ten pick. USC receiver Damian Williams returned two punts for touchdowns last season and the Titans have a definite need in that area. Williams was also a productive receiver with 70 catches for 1,010 yards and six touchdowns. He finished is career with 17 TDs. Rennie Curran was a tackling machine at Georgia with 130 tackles in his senior season. The only knock on the 235-pound Curran is that he’s only 5-10. Curran was also a team captain and started 25 games in his last two seasons. The Titans took the smartest player in the draft in former Florida State safety Myron Rolle, who spent last season as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. Rolle hopes to one day to become a surgeon. Grade: B Washington: The only way to look at their draft is that Mike Shanahan gave up a second-round pick for Donovan McNabb, a veteran QB that he loves. OT Trent Williams will be an instant starter and his athletic style suits Washington’s zone-blocking run scheme. LSU linebacker Perry Riley fills a need. The only bad thing is that the Redskins couldn’t get better compensation (2011 fourth-round pick) for Jason Campbell in the trade with the Raiders. Grade: C Scouts, Inc. and ESPN Stats have devised a new formula based on the idea that “getting value has a bigger impact on a draft class than addressing, and possibly reaching for, team needs. And unlike most draft reviews, we wanted to make sure we accounted for the year-round use of draft picks.” Unfortunately, they don’t assign actual letter grades. Jarrett Bell of USA Today breaks it down in grade order: A+ Ã¢â¬Â¢Seattle Seahawks: The top priority, Russell Okung, supplants retiring Walter Jones as the franchise left tackle. Playmaking safety Earl Thomas fell into the Seahawks’ lap in the 14th slot. Picked 60th overall, wideout-returner Golden Tate came with tremendous value. Exclamation points were added with trades that landed power runner Len Dale White, scatback Leon Washington and defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson. An impressive performance to mark Pete Carroll’s return to the NFL. A Ã¢â¬Â¢Oakland Raiders: The franchise broke tradition and didn’t spring bizarre moves from left field. A solid draft began with top-rated inside linebacker Rolando McClain, followed by underrated D-tackle Lamarr Houston. O-tackle needs were addressed with small-school wonder Jared Veldheer and sliding workout warrior Bruce Campbell. They still satisfied Al Davis’ thirst for speed. Fourth-round wideout Jacoby Ford had a combine-best 4.28 in the 40. Oakland was also shrewd in trading for QB Jason Campbell to unseat No. 1 flop Jamarcus Russell. Ã¢â¬Â¢Detroit Lions: The team got arguably the best player in the draft in difference-making D-tackle Ndamukong Suh, which left no need to trade for Albert Haynesworth. With Kevin Smith healing from a torn knee ligament, they traded to get back in the first round to select big-play running back Jahvid Best. A great start in trying to duplicate last year’s draft. Middle-round corner Amari Spievey and tackle Jason Fox were good value picks. B+ Ã¢â¬Â¢San Francisco 49ers: The club sent a clear message by using their two first-round picks (11th and 17th overall) to beef up the O-line with tackle Anthony Davis and guard-tackle Mike Iupati. This should boost Frank Gore’s effectiveness and help fix short-yardage woes. Hard-hitting safety Taylor Mays brings a bonus. Miffed that he was bypassed by his former college coach Carroll, May will have extra incentive for two games a year vs. Seattle. Ã¢â¬Â¢Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Some think D-tackle Gerald McCoy is a better prospect than Suh. There’s no debate McCoy, compared to Warren Sapp because of his quickness, is a great fit for the rebuilding Bucs defense. He’ll be joined in the middle by second-rounder Brian Price. Athletic wonder Arrelious Benn and fourth-rounder Mike Williams bolster the receiving corps. Ã¢â¬Â¢Baltimore Ravens: After trading out of the first round, the Ravens made good on two second-round picks, linebacker Sergio Kindle and 350-plus-pound nose tackle Terrence Cody. Kindle was considered a potential first-rounder. Cody is a huge run-stuffer. Baltimore addressed tight end needs with Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta. Ã¢â¬Â¢New England Patriots: Team officials were plenty busy with 12 picks, including six in the first 113. They went right to work on filling needs, from first-round corner Devin McCourty, big, stretch-the-field tight end Rob Gronkowski and two Florida linebackers Ã¢â¬â Jermaine Cunningham and Brandon Spikes. Coach Bill Belichick, close to Florida coach Urban Meyer, has made annual treks to Gainesville. Still, the jury’s out for whether Cunningham, who is moving from defensive end, will fill the Patriots’ need for an impact pass rusher. B Ã¢â¬Â¢St. Louis Rams: They have their franchise quarterback in Sam Bradford, but how they support the No. 1 pick will have much to do with his success. Underrated tackle Rodger Saffold, a nice pickup at the top of Round 2, is part of the equation. Fourth-round wide receiver Mardy Gilyard brings speed and could start as a rookie on a thin roster. Two tight ends were added with midround picks. But they didn’t replace D-tackle Adam Carriker. B- Ã¢â¬Â¢Philadelphia Eagles:ÃÂ They had an NFL-high 13 picks, and just one of the choices was an original selection. Not so typical: The Eagles didn’t pick an O-lineman, breaking an Andy Reid pattern and more stunning considering how the Dallas Cowboys manhandled the front at season’s end. But this was about a defense that slipped in 2009. The first five picks were used for the defense, including a first-round trade-up for end Brandon Graham and second-round pick of cover safety Nate Allen. Ã¢â¬Â¢Miami Dolphins: After dealing down in Round 1, the Dolphins went for two impact defenders: tackle Jared Odrick and linebacker Koa Misi, who fills a huge need with the departures of Joey Porter and Jason Taylor. The third-round pick, guard John Jerry, adds beef to the line. C+ Ã¢â¬Â¢San Diego Chargers: They paid a high price for Ryan Mathews, moving up 16 spots in the first round. But they had little choice in filling the most glaring need. LaDainian Tomlinson is gone, and they needed a big-back complement to third-down type Darren Sproles. Mathews led the nation by averaging more than 150 rushing yards a game in 2009. Another need is nose tackle, which means fifth-round Cam Thomas has a chance to make a name for himself. Ã¢â¬Â¢Cincinnati Bengals: Carson Palmer has a couple of new weapons in Jermaine Gresham, the draft’s top-rated tight end, and likely slot receiver Jordan Shipley. In between, the Bengals nabbed defensive end Carlos Dunlap. The three solid picks addressed three needs as the Bengals let the board fall their way. Ã¢â¬Â¢Kansas City Chiefs: So much for general manager Scott Pioli not believing in picking safeties high. Eric Berry was tabbed at No. 5. It might suggest the Chiefs are happy with their O-line, as they passed on Okung. It might also suggest they view Berry as the next Ronnie Lott. They claimed a big-play weapon in second-round running/slot back Dexter McCluster, a small-fast-tough package. Ã¢â¬Â¢Cleveland Browns: Offensive guru Mike Holmgren’s first Browns draft began with defense. He picked the top corner, Joe Haden, then went for hard-hitting safety T.J. Ward. Quarterback Colt McCoy fell to the Browns in the third round, who might ultimately define this class. Second-rounder Montario Hardesty fits the profile of a between-the-tackles, cold-weather back. C Ã¢â¬Â¢New Orleans Saints: Corner Patrick Robinson is a good fit for the press coverages needed for Gregg Williams’ schemes. While O-tackle Charles Brown offers good value in Round 2, they didn’t address the D-line until tackle Al Woods in the fourth. Ã¢â¬Â¢Dallas Cowboys: They hope they’ve landed the next Randy Moss after moving up three slots in the first round for Dez Bryant, considered the draft’s best receiver. Bryant, though, fell because of questions about his maturity. Inside linebacker Sean Lee might be a hit. But Dallas didn’t draft a left tackle, increasing the odds of Flozell Adams re-signing. Ã¢â¬Â¢Pittsburgh Steelers:ÃÂ They got the top-rated center, Maurkice Pouncey, early. If history is any indication, second-round linebacker Jason Worilds will learn Dick LeBeau’s zone-blitz scheme as an understudy, then blossom into a star. Trading for Bryant McFadden helped, too. Ã¢â¬Â¢New York Giants: With linebacker McClain off the board, the Giants added more talent to the D-line. This time it’s Jason Pierre-Paul, picked over Derrick Morgan. Pierre-Paul has a more athletic upside. Now he can develop gradually with spot duty. Five of the Giants’ first six picks were used on defense, including a couple of midround linebackers. Ã¢â¬Â¢Minnesota Vikings: After trading out of the first round, they nabbed one of the draft’s biggest corners in Chris Cook and college football’s most productive running back last year, Toby Gerhart, who can relieve Adrian Peterson. Fourth-round end Everson Griffen slid significantly. Ã¢â¬Â¢Indianapolis Colts: Defensive end Jerry Hughes should be a perfect fit in the Colts’ fast, undersized defense. And he can learn while adding relief for Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, rather than be counted on as an instant starter. Second-round linebacker Pat Angerer will do likewise behind Gary Brackett. Ã¢â¬Â¢Arizona Cardinals: They got a break when top-rated nose tackle Dan Williams fell to the bottom of the first round. They need him for their 3-4 scheme. With Karlos Dansby gone, they got good value with linebacker Darryl Washington. Third-round receiver Andre Roberts won’t replace Anquan Boldin. Ã¢â¬Â¢Green Bay Packers: Bryan Bulaga lacks the reach desired in a prototype tackle, but he’s technically sound and tough. That made him a solid pick late in the first round and a likely starter at right tackle. They bolstered the defense with lineman Mike Neal and safety Morgan Burnett. Ã¢â¬Â¢Atlanta Falcons: Needing linebacker help, they might have landed the most complete one in the draft in Sean Weatherspoon. They might have reached for third-round D-tackle Cory Peters before adding O-line depth with midround picks. Atlanta got value for the second-round pick it traded in Tony Gonzalez. C- Ã¢â¬Â¢Denver Broncos: Coach Josh McDaniels and GM Brian Xanders worked the trade market and settled on two No. 1′s near the bottom of the round: receiver Demaryius Thomas and quarterback Tim Tebow, whose track record as a winner did little to establish him as a can’t-miss prospect. Thomas, meanwhile, has raw tools. It’s boom or bust on these picks. Ã¢â¬Â¢New York Jets: They might have found a steal in cornerback Kyle Wilson, another fast cover man to team with Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie. Vladimir Ducasse is an intriguing prospect for the O-line. But some of the other moves are puzzling for a team that fielded the NFL’s No. 1 rushing attack: Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca was released before Ducasse has proved his worth. Southern Cal’s Joe McKnight was drafted, and running back Leon Washington was then traded. With fullback Jon Conner being nabbed with a fifth-round pick, is Tony Richardson next to leave? Ã¢â¬Â¢Buffalo Bills: The draft’s most explosive player, running back C.J. Spiller, now jockeys for touches with Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson. His big-play ability was undoubtedly too good to pass up. But Buffalo, with a 3-4 scheme, reached for nose tackle Torell Troupe rather than addressing its quarterback need. And the Bills didn’t tap a tackle until the fifth round. Ã¢â¬Â¢Carolina Panthers: Jimmy Clausen, considered the draft’s most NFL-ready quarterback, fell to them in the second round. Good value. And instant competition for Matt Moore, who figured to replace departed Jake Delhomme. Maybe Clausen will be a long-term answer, though it’s uncertain if GM Marty Hurney and coach John Fox Ã¢â¬â each in the final year of his contract Ã¢â¬â will be the beneficiaries. And why did Carolina trade a second-round pick in 2011? For a third-round choice used on Appalachian State receiver Armanti Edwards. Ã¢â¬Â¢Houston Texans:ÃÂ They passed on Kyle Wilson to take cornerback Kareem Jackson. He may be the draft’s most physical corner, similar to Dunta Robinson, whom the Texans lost in free agency. Maybe running back Ben Tate will ease tension at that critical position. With Owen Daniels recovering from a torn knee ligament, Houston picked two tight ends, Garett Graham and receiver-like Dorin Dickerson. Ã¢â¬Â¢Chicago Bears: Having traded away picks in trades for Jay Cutler and the late Gaines Adams, they didn’t select until the 75th slot. Their grade is skewed accordingly. Still, in safety Major Wright, they added a playmaker to a defense that has received significant offseason attention. Keep an eye on sixth-round quarterback Dan LeFevour. Ã¢â¬Â¢Tennessee Titans: The Titans scored in landing the rush end they needed with Derrick Morgan, considered the most complete defensive end in the draft. Third-round receiver Damion Williams represents value. But in dumping running back LenDale White and D-tackle Kevin Vickers, the Titans moved up seven and nine slots, respectively, in the fourth and sixth rounds for defensive back Alterraun Verner and quarterback Rusty Smith. Ã¢â¬Â¢Washington Redskins: Their second-round pick was Donovan McNabb, the veteran quarterback who can drive Mike Shanahan’s offense Ã¢â¬Â¦ if the line is working. Washington took its left tackle of the present and future in Trent Williams, whose athleticism gave him the nod over Okung and fits better with the Redskins’ zone-blocking schemes. They went 1-for-2 in dealing disgruntled players, finding a home for Campbell, the former starting quarterback, but not Haynesworth. D Ã¢â¬Â¢Jacksonville Jaguars: The draft’s first shocker came with the selection of defensive tackle Tyson Alualu in the 10th spot overall. A reach. At least he’s a trendsetter. The Jags used each of their first four picks on defensive linemen. Jacksonville had 14 sacks last season. Pat Kirwan of NFL.com and Sirius NFL Radio and one of my favorite analysts has a good team-by-team discussion but doesn’t actually hand out grades. NFL.com generally decided to drag out their draft grading much as the NFL has dragged out its drafting.ÃÂ Rather than releasing report cards the day after the draft, as is customary, they dripped out division-by-division analyses over the next week.ÃÂ Bucky Brooks does the honors: NFC EAST DallasÃÂ Cowboys: B+ Jerry Jones is a noted wheeler and dealer, and his aggressive ways resulted in the Cowboys landing a terrific draft class. The team traded up a handful of spots to land one of the most talented players in the draft in Dez Bryant, and used a similar ploy to get Sean Lee in the second round. Both players have the potential to be all-stars at their respective positions and will make contributions very early in their careers. Throw in the addition of draft sleeper Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, and the Cowboys’ draft class will play a major role in their Super Bowl run in 2010. PhiladelphiaÃÂ Eagles: B The Eagles continued to infuse the locker room with young talent by taking 13 players in the draft. Andy Reid cleverly moved up and down the board to pick up targeted players, while also adding a bevy of picks. Brandon Graham was nabbed after making an aggressive jump into the top half of the first round, and he gives the team a high-motor rusher to pair with Trent Cole . In Nate Allen, the Eagles address their pressing need at free safety by bringing in a natural ball hawk in the back end. Mike Kafka becomes the Eagles’ latest quarterback project to develop into a future contributor. New YorkÃÂ Giants: B- The Giants do an excellent job of stockpiling talent at critical positions, and that philosophy was reflected in their approach this year. The team added two young defensive linemen (Jason Pierre-Paul and Linval Joseph) to an already deep rotation, and third-round pick Chad Jones becomes the team’s third safety. While they were unable to get a middle linebacker in the early portion of the draft to fill their obvious hole at that spot, the addition of Phillip Dillard gives them a highly productive player to compete for time at the position. The Giants’ draft is short on pizzazz but provides the team the necessary depth to make a strong push for the NFC East title. WashingtonÃÂ Redskins: C+ The Redskins must be graded on a curve due to the addition of Donovan McNabb . The acquisition of the six-time Pro Bowler cost the team their second-round pick, but stabilized a quarterback situation that had been in flux for more than a decade. Additionally, the team solidified the left side of the line with the selection of Trent Williams. Although most teams had Russell Okung rated higher, the Redskins believe that Williams’ athleticism makes him a better fit for their scheme. With only mid- to late-round picks at their disposal, the Redskins are hoping to uncover a gem in Perry Riley and Terrence Austin. NFC North MinnesotaÃÂ Vikings: B+ The Vikings routinely draft well by sticking to their philosophy of taking the best available player regardless of position. In adhering to the premise this year, they came away with three players (Chris Cook, Toby Gerhart and Everson Griffen) that could be key contributors in 2010. The selection of Griffen, in particular, was a great pick because he carried borderline first-round grades on most draft boards across the league until character concerns led to an unexpected drop during the draft. Given their talent-rich haul at value prices, the Vikings deserve kudos for their management of draft. DetroitÃÂ Lions: B+ The Lions entered the draft needing to add impact players on both sides of the ball, and they came away with two difference-makers in the first round. Ndamukong Suh gives the team a dominant force in the middle of the defensive line, and Jim Schwartz will take advantage of his exceptional skills to rebuild the LionsÃ¢â¬â¢ porous defense. In Jahvid Best, the Lions nab a dangerous runner in the mold of Ã¢â¬ÅCJ2KÃ¢â¬Â to alleviate the pressure on QB Matthew Stafford . Though the Lions didnÃ¢â¬â¢t pick up an elite offensive tackle to provide Stafford with protection, the addition of Jason Fox gives them an intriguing developmental prospect at the position. Green BayÃÂ Packers: C+ The Packers rely extensively on the draft to bolster the talent on their roster, and the team addressed a few key positions this year. The addition of Bryan Bulaga provides depth at offensive tackle, and Morgan BurnettÃ¢â¬â¢s selection adds athleticism to their secondary at the safety position. Mike Neal gives the Packers another big body to use in their defensive line rotation, but the team failed to add a young corner to the roster, and the depth at the position remains a glaring weakness heading into the season. ChicagoÃÂ Bears: C The Bears entered the draft with little ammunition based on a series of trades in 2009. However, they still landed a solid draft class with immense potential. While the selection of Major Wright will stand out as the pick that nets an immediate starter, it is the additions of Corey Wootton and Dan LeFevour that could pay big dividends for the Bears down the road. Both were expected to be early-round selections, and their production could easily surpass their draft status. Wootton, in particular, could emerge as a key contributor on a BearsÃ¢â¬â¢ defensive line that needed to add another athletic player to the mix. NFC South Tampa BayÃÂ Buccaneers: B+ The Buccaneers needed to hit it out of the park during this draft due to their host of needs. By all accounts, the team fared well in filling voids on its roster. The team landed two starters along the defensive line in Gerald McCoy and Brian Price, and may have added a pair of starters at wide receiver with the selections of Arrelious Benn and Mike Williams. Throw in a trio of solid special teamers (Brent Bowden, Cody Grimm and Dekoda Watson), and the Bucs have significantly upgraded their roster. CarolinaÃÂ Panthers: B The Panthers were without a first-round pick after trading it away last season for Everette Brown , so they had to patiently wait for a top player to fall to them in the second round. Unexpectedly, the team landed a potential franchise quarterback in Jimmy Clausen after the top-10 talent fell out of the first round. In the subsequent rounds, the team added much-needed depth to their defensive line and receiving corps. While some would categorize Armanti Edwards as a reach in the third round, his ability to bring an explosive element as a receiver/returner prompted the team to move up to get him. The Panthers were expected to struggle adding talent due to a lack of picks, but the overall quality of their draft haul is worthy of solid marks across the board. AtlantaÃÂ Falcons: C+ The Falcons wanted to upgrade the speed and athleticism of their team at a few key areas, but fell short of their intentions. While Sean Weatherspoon adds a dynamic playmaker to their linebacker corps, the team was unable to add a pass rusher to alleviate some of the pressure on John Abraham . The Falcons landed a quality cover man in Dominique Franks in the fifth round, and he could play a pivotal role as a sub-defender in their dime packages. Overall, the team added a few talented players, but it still enters the summer with a some holes to address. New OrleansÃÂ Saints: C+ The Saints were limited in their ability to address some of their areas of weakness due to their low draft position after winning the Super Bowl. However, the team still added some quality pieces to its roster with the selections of Patrick Robinson and Charles Brown. They give the Saints much-needed depth at key positions and the duo’s presence gives the team the flexibility to reconfigure its personnel in some packages. Jimmy Graham is an athletic pass catcher who will undoubtedly benefit from serving an apprenticeship behind Jeremy Shockey . Although the Saints were unable to add a pass rusher or linebacker, their draft class is high on value and potential. NFC West SeattleÃÂ Seahawks: A+ Coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider knocked it out of the park in their first draft. The Seahawks meticulously addressed their biggest needs with the selections of OT Russell Okung, S Earl Thomas and WR Golden Tate in the draftÃ¢â¬â¢s first two rounds. And Seattle took care of its woeful running back situation by trading for LenDale White and Leon Washington . Although they were unable to land an explosive pass rusher, the Seahawks grabbed an underrated player in E.J. Wilson. With the team able to fill several holes without mortgaging the future, the Seahawks deserve a lot of credit for their efforts. San FranciscoÃÂ 49ers: A Coach Mike Singletary is intent on building a tough, hard-hitting team with an abundance of speed at all of the skill positions. Based on the teamÃ¢â¬â¢s draft haul, the philosophy is apparent in all of their selections. Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati add size and toughness to their offensive line, while Anthony Dixon gives them another sledgehammer to use in the running game. Defensively, the additions of safety Taylor Mays and linebacker Navorro Bowman bolster the athleticism of the unit. Given the depth of talent the 49ers acquired throughout the draft, they deserve kudos. ArizonaÃÂ Cardinals: B The Cardinals needed to retool their defense after losing several key players during the offseason. Their plan was executed flawlessly as they were able to land two impact players with their first two selections, and picked sleeper O’Brien Schofield, who could develop into a valuable pass rusher. In addition, the team found a quarterback to groom for the future in John Skelton. Although the competition is closing the gap in the NFC West, ArizonaÃ¢â¬â¢s strong draft could lead to a third straight division title. St. LouisÃÂ Rams: B- The Rams nabbed a franchise quarterback with the selection of Sam Bradford, and spent the rest of the draft adding weapons to allow him to thrive in the pocket. Rodger Saffold will provide protection as a tackle or guard, and Mardy Gilyard gives Bradford a dynamic receiving option as a slot receiver. Additionally, the team added two tight ends on Day 3 to give Bradford more options. Though the Rams needed to address their defense more, the offensive makeover should allow them to be more competitive in 2010. AFC East New EnglandÃÂ Patriots: B+ The Patriots are one of the most aggressive teams at maneuvering up and down the board while still picking up quality players along the way. This year’s draft was no different, as the team added several highly rated prospects at every stage of the event. Although Devin McCourty ranks as the team’s marquee player due to his draft status, it is the value selections of Rob Gronkowski, Brandon Spikes and Aaron Hernandez that makes the Patriots’ haul worthy of praise. Throw in the fact that the team picked up an additional pair of early selections in 2011, it’s hard to knock the Patriots for their clever draft strategies. MiamiÃÂ Dolphins: B The Dolphins entered the offseason hoping to turn over their roster to make it more athletic, and the draft has been instrumental in the transition. The team traded down in the first round to pick up the second-rounder lost in the Brandon Marshall trade. With the two selections, the Dolphins nabbed Jared Odrick, a big bodied interior defender, and picked a versatile pass rusher in Koa Misi. In addition, the team grabbed a late-round pass rusher (Chris McCoy) to add to their pass rush rotation. Although the Dolphins surely wanted to address their safety situation early, the selection of Reshad Jones could be the sleeper pick that pushes their draft over the top. New YorkÃÂ Jets: B- The Jets have earned kudos for their aggressive offseason moves, and the praise should continue after a solid draft. The Jets grabbed the top-rated corner on several boards with the selection of Kyle Wilson, and he will step right in as their nickel corner. In Vladimir Ducasse, the Jets get a young, physical interior blocker to develop for a big role along the line. With Leon Washington no longer in the mix, Joe McKnight becomes the team’s third-down back if LaDainian Tomlinson is unable to provide a spark to the running back rotation. The Jets didn’t have many picks to utilize, but their value and potential is immense, which makes this draft class worthy of solid marks. BuffaloÃÂ Bills: C+ The Bills land a dynamite runner in C.J. Spiller, but the early pick cost them a chance to fortify their woeful offensive line with an elite offensive tackle. In fact, the Bills didn’t address their offensive tackle need until the fifth-round when they selected Ed Wang. Defensively, the team found a few essential pieces along the defensive front with the additions of Torell Troup and Alex Carrington. Both should see immediate time in the rotation as the Bills move to a 3-4. The Bills took an unconventional route to upgrade their roster, and time will tell if the team plotted the right course for 2010. AFC North BaltimoreÃÂ Ravens: B+ The Ravens did a terrific job of grabbing highly rated players throughout the draft. Sergio Kindle and Terrence Cody carried first-round grades on several boards, but the Ravens were able to land both of them in the second round. Baltimore also picked up a pair of athletic tight ends — Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta — with outstanding potential. Both were viewed as top-50 talents, but unexpected free falls led to their availability in the third and fourth round, respectively. Throw in the addition of Anquan Boldin for a second-round pick and the Ravens significantly upgraded the talent on their roster by cleverly managing their draft picks. CincinnatiÃÂ Bengals: B Marvin Lewis has molded the Bengals into a division champion by successfully gambling on talented players with various issues. In looking at their most recent draft haul, the Bengals are continuing to hope that the reward outweighs the risks associated with taking various prospects. Jermaine Gresham and Carlos Dunlap were regarded as sure-fire first-round prospects based on their exceptional talent, but injuries (Gresham) and background issues (Dunlap) prevented teams from pulling the trigger earlier in the draft. If they perform to their potential, they could be difference-makers for the Bengals. Jordan Shipley and Brandon Ghee are good value picks with outstanding potential. ClevelandÃÂ Browns: B- The first draft of the Mike Holmgren era reflects his preference for substance over sizzle. The Browns diligently addressed concerns in their secondary by selecting Joe Haden and T.J. Ward with their early picks, and added Larry Asante as a value pick in the fifth round. With the weakest part of their roster solidified, the Browns were still able to land their quarterback of the future, Colt McCoy, in the third round. The team further bolstered their anemic offense with the selections of Montario Hardesty and Carlton Mitchell. The BrownsÃ¢â¬â¢ haul might be short on star power, but features a blue-collar bunch that upgrades the talent on the roster. PittsburghÃÂ Steelers: C+ The SteelersÃ¢â¬â¢ draft will not win any beauty contests on the surface, but they consistently plucked players who eventually emerge as difference-makers. Maurkice Pouncey gives them a versatile interior blocker with the skills to start immediately at guard or center. In grabbing Jason Worilds and Thaddeus Gibson, the Steelers continue their tradition of converting undersized college defensive ends into hybrid pass rushers. Emmanuel Sanders adds explosiveness to their receiving corps with his exceptional speed. The Steelers are one of the best teams in the league at developing their talent, so this yearÃ¢â¬â¢s draft will likely rate higher when the reviews come back in three years. AFC South HoustonÃÂ Texans: B The Texans entered the draft with two big needs (cornerback and running back), and they addressed both areas with their first two selections. The decision to opt for Kareem Jackson over Kyle Wilson came as a surprise to some, but the Alabama standout is an exceptional player with a solid overall game that fits the team’s scheme. In Ben Tate, the Texans pick up the rugged runner they desperately need to effectively run the ball between the tackles. If the Texans are able to get some production from a pair of intriguing sleepers (Trindon Holliday and Dorin Dickerson), this year’s draft class may provide the boost the team needs to finally get into the postseason. IndianapolisÃÂ Colts: B The Colts have a roster without any glaring weaknesses, so the team added several intriguing prospects who will be groomed for key roles down the line. First-round pick Jerry Hughes will work behind Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis as a situational pass rusher, and his classmates, Pat Angerer and Kevin Thomas, will also serve as apprentices at their respective positions. Given the team’s success hitting on late-round picks, it is quite possible that Kavell Conner or Ray Fisher will emerge as key contributors at some point, too. TennesseeÃÂ Titans: B- The Titans needed to identify players capable of providing instant production, and their early selections have that potential. Derrick Morgan is a Day 1 starter who will thrive in the Titans’ aggressive defensive system. While Damian Williams is unlikely to start at receiver, his ability to provide an impact as a punt returner made him a sensible selection in the third round. Rennie Curran, Alterraun Verner and Myron Rolle will add toughness to the team’s special teams, and one could emerge as a starter with a strong training camp. The Titans’ draft class doesn’t dazzle, but it provides the team with key contributors at every level. JacksonvilleÃÂ Jaguars: C+ The Jaguars suffered through 2009 without much of a pass rush upfront, and the team persistently attacked the weakness this offseason by committing most of their draft to the defensive line. While the pick of Tyson Alualu drew criticism in many circles, he was rated as a first-round talent by several teams, and his high-motor style is needed on a defensive line that generates little push. The additions of D’Anthony Smith, Larry Hart and Austen Lane reflect the commitment of the team to get younger and more athletic along the line. Although the Jaguars’ moves have increased the scrutiny on GM Gene Smith, the esteemed personnel man may enjoy the last laugh if his bold moves revitalize the team’s underperforming defense. AFC West San DiegoÃÂ Chargers: B+ The Chargers cleverly moved around the board to add to their talent-rich roster. San Diego traded up in the first round to nab a franchise running back in Ryan Mathews. The Chargers duplicated the aggressive tactics by moving up to take LB Donald Butler in the third round. After ignoring their glaring hole at nose tackle early, the Chargers addressed the need with the selection of Cam Thomas. General manager A.J. Smith entered the draft hoping to upgrade a few key positions, and executed his plan by getting the players he targeted. DenverÃÂ Broncos: B The Broncos have opened themselves up to criticism by opting to take Demaryius Thomas over Dez Bryant . The move was a little surprising given ThomasÃ¢â¬â¢ foot injury and limited experience in the passing game. Coach Josh McDaniels added to the controversy by trading back into the first round to take Tim Tebow despite concerns about the quarterbackÃ¢â¬â¢s mechanics. While the Broncos picked up good value in the later rounds with the selections of WR Eric Decker and CB Perrish Cox, this draft will ultimately be judged on whether the Tebow to Thomas connection surpasses the output of Jay Cutter and Brandon Marshall in Denver. Kansas CityÃÂ Chiefs: B The Chiefs desperately needed to add playmakers on both sides of the ball, and the early stages of the draft netted Kansas City two impact players. Eric Berry has the multi-faceted skill set to emerge as a star in his first season, while Dexter McCluster will play a huge role as a versatile weapon. Additionally, the Chiefs added a dynamic returner in Javier Arenas, who has the ability to flip the field. The selection of Jon Asamoah solidifies the interior of their offensive line. The Chiefs opted for substance over sizzle, which should result in more wins. OaklandÃÂ Raiders: B The Raiders have been roundly criticized for their recent drafts, but Oakland appeared to get it right this time. The selections of Rolando McClain and Lamarr Houston will help shore up the middle of the defense. However, the additions of Bruce Campbell and Jacoby Ford continued the RaidersÃ¢â¬â¢ tradition of taking the fastest and most athletic players in the draft. Finally, with the trade for Jason Campbell , the Raiders addressed all of their major needs without making questionable moves that have plagued the franchise of late. More to come as more are posted. Some publications are adhering to their old formula of publishing draft grades on Monday, even though the draft ended a day early this year. Bill Jempty \| Thursday, April 22, 2010 Alualu wasn’t projected to be picked this high. I think this is a risky selection. Tweeners have a nasty habit of being draft busts. Anyone remember Eric Kummerow? NFL.com writes - Alualu appears to be a bit of a tweener (combination of height and weight) for an NFL defensive lineman. He doesnÃ¢â¬â¢t have the great bulk as an interior lineman in a 4-3 front or the ideal height to play end in a 3-4 scheme. Alualu shows deceptive power for his size that can push the pocket as a pass rusher as well as penetrate the line of scrimmage as a run defender. He has quick hands to control and separate from blockers as well as solid instincts to feel pad pressure and maintain leverage in his gap responsibility. Alualu has enough tools and talent to contribute giving depth to an NFL defensive line. Bill Jempty \| Tuesday, March 23, 2010 Why is a playoff game subject to a different set of rules than a regular season game. From ESPN - The NFL owners voted to change an element in the overtime rule, giving the team that loses the coin toss at the start of overtime to get a possession if the coin-toss winning team scores a field goal with the first possession. The proposal passed 28-4. As it is written, the rules change applies just for the postseason, but the owners also decided to discuss adopting the changes for the regular season at their next meeting, in May in Dallas. The Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals voted against the proposal. The competition committee recommended the change in a vote of 6-2, and commissioner Roger Goodell supported the plan. He was able to secure enough votes to get the proposal passed on Tuesday, a day before the expected Wednesday vote. The reason for the change was the increased accuracy of kickers since 1993. In 1994, the NFL moved kickoffs from the 35 to the 30, which created better field position for the teams that won the coin toss and received the kickoffs. Statistics examined by the committee showed that since 1994, teams winning the coin toss win the game 59.8 percent of the time. The team that loses the toss wins the game 38.5 percent in that 15-year span. “We’ve had this discussion for a number of years,” competition committee co-chairman Rich McKay said. “We feel this year’s proposal gave us the opportunity to [install] a pretty good rule. Statistically we felt it needed to be changed. It wasn’t creating the fairest result as far as field goal accuracy, field goal distance and drive starts.” Under the new rules, both teams will get one possession whoever leads at the end of it is the winner. If both are tied, then whoever scores first wins. Then doesn’t that defeat the new rule, I mean the team that won the toss gets the first 2nd crack at scoring! The NFL has used the same rule for over 50 years to decide playoff games. No matter how you finesse matters, the stats are never going to come out 50-50. If teams don’t like it being decided by a coin toss, go for two points instead of playing it safe late in the game when the team kicks the tying extra point. Bill Jempty \| Sunday, February 28, 2010 No sudden death for sudden death? From AP - An NFL spokesman said Saturday the league could change its overtime format for playoff games at a meeting next month. Under the new format, both teams would get the ball at least once unless the first team to get the ball scores a touchdown, Greg Aiello said. If the first team to get the ball makes a field goal and the other team ties the game, action would continue until a team scores again. Under the current rules, the first team to score wins. “There have been various concepts that have been discussed in recent years, but this one has never been proposed,” Aiello said. The competition committee will discuss the new concept with teams and players at league meetings March 21-24 in Orlando, Fla., when it could come to a vote. At least two thirds of the teams would need to agree to the changes for new rules to be adopted. It is my prediction that the NFL does make some kind of change. Personally, I’m ambivalent on the issue. I believe the statistics show that the teams who lose the toss win slightly more often in regular season games. What the playoff record, I don’t know. Honestly, who says life or sports has to be fair? Bill Jempty \| Sunday, February 7, 2010 In a affidavit he accuses his girlfriend of attacking him. From AP - Officials say Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Tony McDaniel is out of jail after being arrested and accused of domestic violence. McDaniel was released Sunday on $3,500 bond. Authorities say the 25-year-old South Carolina native returned from a night out with friends and then got into a fight with his girlfriend early Saturday at his home in Davie, which is near Miami. McDaniel says in a police affidavit that his girlfriend attacked him. McDaniel is in his fourth season. He played for Jacksonville for three seasons and came to Miami in 2009. He had 16 tackles and 1.5 sacks this season. McDaniel is a marginal NFL player. Getting in trouble with law enforcement won’t help his career. Bill Jempty \| Sunday, January 24, 2010 The NBA has required this test for its players since 2006. From ESPN - Between the time of Bears defensive end Gaines Adams’ death last Sunday to his funeral Friday, the NFL’s Cardiovascular Committee began discussing the possibility of subjecting all players to a heart scan called an echocardiogram, starting with potential draft picks invited to the NFL scouting combine next month. NFLPA medical director Thomas Mayer told ESPN that the medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Adams stated the enlarged heart that led to his death could have been detected by an echocardiogram. But, as Mayer pointed out, the process is complicated. Is the fear of legal liability going to influence a doctor? Are cardiologists going to agree on whether a player has an enlarged heart or an athlete’s heart? Does that mean he’s systematically finished as a football player? More likely, a questionable echocardiogram could lead to more sensitive tests, such as a cardio catheter procedure. As a person who had major cardiac surgery less than 18 months ago, I see mandatory electrocardiograms as a good idea. Putting the policy into place will be complicated, but it shouldn’t be used as a reason not to do this. My heart condition, a bicuspid heart valve and ascending aortic aneurysm was very serious, and till as little as two weeks prior to my operation, nobody knew I had those conditions. Some heart problems in addition to a enlarged hearts, show few or little warning signs. I would also add that a large amount if not majority of NFL players, are grossly overweight. Heart testing is for their own good. Bill Jempty \| Sunday, January 3, 2010 The Browns won despite getting just 86 yards of passing offense. From AP - Eric Mangini’s first season — warts and all — with Cleveland is in the books. He can only hope it was good enough to get him a second. Jerome Harrison rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown and Josh Cribbs ran for a TD as the Browns beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 23-17 on Sunday, giving Cleveland its first four-game winning streak since 1994 to push Mangini into an uncertain offseason with momentum to fight for his job. While the Browns (5-11) ended their season on a high, they ended Jacksonville’s razor-thin AFC playoff hopes. The Jaguars (7-9), who had to win and needed four other teams to lose just to qualify, will have the months ahead to ponder what went wrong. They dropped their last four games. Playing on a slippery, snow-covered field, the Florida visitors were mostly out of their element and lost for the first time in six visits to Cleveland. The Jaguars close to the 2009 season was similar to the Miami Dolphins. A month ago each team looked like wild card teams. Today they both lost their final game to finish 7-9. I think Eric Mangini will be fired during the off season. The head coach always makes a easy scapegoat and Mangini’s tenure in Cleveland has been a controversial one. New Team President, Mike Holmgren, is also likely to want his own man calling the on the field shots. If Mangini is fired, he will join Ray Rhodes as the only NFL head coaches to be fired two consecutive full seasons in a row. Rhodes was with Philadelphia and Green Bay. Mangini was fired by the NY Jets at the end of the 2008 season. Bill Jempty \| Wednesday, December 30, 2009 A former 7th round pick out of Florida, McCray is currently in his second season playing for the Saints. From AP - New Orleans Saints defensive end Bobby McCray was arrested early Tuesday and charged with driving while intoxicated and other counts, police said. Police spokesman Gary Flot says McCray, 28, was stopped by an officer who saw him speeding about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday. He was booked into Orleans Parish Prison on charges of driving while intoxicated, speeding, careless operation of a motor vehicle and not having his vehicle registration with him. A jail spokesman said McCray was released on his own recognizance around 7 a.m. McCray refused to take a Breathalyzer test, police spokesman Janssen Valencia said. “You have the right to refuse the test, but it has consequences,” Valencia said. “Those include arrest and losing your license.” I’ve never understood how a country that has a constitutional ammendment protecting those accused of a crime from incriminating themselves, then penalizes those who refuse to incriminate themselves. Which is what a person refusing a Breathalyzer test is doing. Does anyone else see the paradox?	i don't know
The African countries of Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged on April 26, 1964 to form what new country?	Tanzania: Beyond Sectarian Interests - allAfrica.com Tanzania: Beyond Sectarian Interests opinion By Haroub Othman No-one knows whether the 1964 union between Zanzibar and Tanganyika was dictated by cold war considerations first, with pan-African ideals of unity playing second fiddle to ideology and personal survival, writes Haroub Othman. But what is clear, Othman argues, is that despite Tanzania's controversial history, the union brought peace and stability to the region, in contrast with the secessionism and violence seen elsewhere. While corrective measures - supported by the people - are required to ensure that it is fit for purpose, the union is a better option than breaking into a federal structure with Kenya and Uganda, says Othman. Since the 1920s the countries of East Africa, namely Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda and Zanzibar, had developed common services and joint institutions. Matters such as posts and telecommunications, harbours, railways and currency were run jointly. There was also a body to coordinate the development of Kiswahili. This, no doubt, was easy in view of the fact that all the four countries were neighbours and under one colonial power. The white settlers in Kenya had at one time pressed the British government for a federation of the East African countries on the lines of that of Central Africa. But people in Tanganyika and Uganda feared that if that was to happen it would throw their countries into the hands of white supremacists in Kenya, in the same way that the peoples of Central Africa found themselves under the white supremacists of Southern Rhodesia at the time of the Central African Federation. And so this idea was opposed at the time. But as the countries were approaching independence and because of the close cooperation among the nationalist organisations, the idea of federation re-emerged. Nyerere, in a statement made in Addis Ababa when Tanganyika's independence was imminent, said that he was prepared to delay his country's independence if the four countries of East Africa could come to independence at the same time and form a federation. But with independence each country retreated into its own national shell, and what was agreed was the formation of the East African Common Services Organisation that later in December 1967 was transformed into the East African Community. When, therefore on 26 April, 1964, the People's Republic of Zanzibar and the Republic of Tanganyika announced that they had merged to form a union, the international community felt that Zanzibar and Tanganyika had succeeded where the four East African countries together had failed. But was it the ideals of Pan-Africanism that brought Zanzibar and Tanganyika together? Was the union the result of an African initiative or was it propelled by cold war rivalry? The circumstances in which the union was formed raised a lot of questions, many of which are still unanswered, and some have been at the centre of continuing debates and controversies in Tanzania in the last twenty years. Were the fears of ZNP (Zanzibar Nationalist Party) that Zanzibar would be 'taken over' by Tanganyika had been proven true? In later years, the union was to haunt the Zanzibar politicians for a long time, with each of them playing the 'union card' either for legitimacy on the mainland or for support at home. Nyerere stated that he casually proposed the idea of the union to Karume when the latter visited him to discuss the fate of John Okello. According to Nyerere, Karume immediately agreed to the idea and suggested that Nyerere should be the president of such a union. In a New Year message to the nation on 2 January 1965, Nyerere implied that even if the ASP (Afro-Shirazi Party) had come into power through constitutional means and not as a result of a revolution, the union would still have taken place. But Amrit Wilson's research has revealed that there was a very strong Western pressure, especially from the United States, for the Zanzibar revolution to be contained because it was felt that it held the threat of the spread of communism in the East African region. The Untied States, Britain and the then West Germany, which Tanganyika was heavily dependent on at the time, viewed the revolutionary government in Zanzibar as either a surrogate of the communist powers or dancing to their tune. The international press had already started to characterise Zanzibar as the 'Cuba of Africa', though to be fair to Duggan, he had referred to Zanzibar as 'Tanganyika's Cuba' far back in July 1963 when he had interviewed Nyerere in Washington during the latter's state visit to the US. In a cable message to US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Nairobi and Kampala, the US Secretary of State Dean Rusk instructed his diplomats to urge Nyerere, Kenyatta and Obote to explain to Karume the dangers involved in his dependence on Babu and: 'The danger Babu represents... to the security of Zanzibar and East Africa generally... they should recognise here that the big problem is that Karume himself has great confidence in and dependence on Babu... also that Nyerere has said that Karume needs Babu who, despite his background, can and must be worked with. Kenyatta and Joseph Murumbi on the other hand appear to regard Babu as undesirable and the chief threat to Karume. Would it be useful to raise with Nyerere, despite his previous objection, the idea of a Zanzibar-Tanganyika Federation as a possible way of strengthening Karume and reducing Babu's influence? Such action at this time may also help Nyerere's own position.' In an interview with Amrit Wilson in 1986, Frank Carlucci, the US consul in Zanzibar at the time of the union who was later thrown out of Zanzibar because of CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) activities (and who later rose to become the director of CIA and US secretary of state for defence), confessed that there was United States' pressure on Nyerere. Susan Crouch in her book Western Responses to Tanzanian Socialism 1967-1983 reveals that: 'To this end the American Central Intelligence Agency was active in trying to create the conditions for union, fanning antagonisms among Zanzibar's revolutionary leaders, and creating a fear of Zanzibar as a communist threat among East African leaders.' Was the union then, as is indicated in US state department papers, dictated by cold war considerations first and the questions of pan-African ideals of unity were secondary to ideological factors and questions of personal survival? It has also been suggested that Karume wanted a union with Tanganyika as a means of warding off his marxist and left wing colleagues. What seems to be the case is that after the electoral defeat of July 1963, Karume's leadership within the ASP parliamentary group was shaky. There was a schism in it, with Karume being challenged by Othman Shariff, and some of the party's MPs calling for a government of national unity that would bring together in government all the political parties in parliament. After the revolution, Umma Party radical elements in the government (Babu, Khamis Abdalla Ameir, Ali Sultan Issa, Ali Mahfoudh, Salim Rashid, Badawi Qullatein, etc) were forging links with the ASP leftists (Abdallah Kassim Hanga. Abdulazizi Ali Twala, Hassan Nassor Moyo, etc.), and this might have scared Karume and other moderate elements within the regime. At the same time, the radical way in which the revolution was surging ahead might have alarmed the regime in Dar es Salaam. It should not be forgotten that within days of the revolution in Zanzibar, an army mutiny took place in Tanganyika (later repeated in Kenya and Uganda); and even though we know now that there was no link between the revolution and those mutinies, it was difficult to see it that way at the time. As a result of the army mutiny in Dar es Salaam, Tabora and Nachingwea, there was virtually no government in Tanganyika for three days, anarchy prevailed, and Nyerere was forced to request British military intervention to bring the country back to normalcy. The West, particularly the Untied States, perceived developments in Zanzibar in the context of East-West rivalry, and given the leftist credentials of the Umma Party and some of the ASP leaders that were prominent in the revolutionary council, it was assumed that a Cuba-type situation was evolving. The best way of averting it, short of direct military intervention a la Playa Giron (though this was thought of and preparations made), was to try an 'African initiative'. And it worked. QUESTIONS OF LEGITIMACY Many questions continued to be raised regarding the legal basis of the union: Whether the two presidents on their own had the powers to sign such a union agreement; why the Zanzibar's attorney-general, as the principal legal advisor to the government, was not consulted; why there was no referendum; and whether in joining such a union, Zanzibar was not in fact 'swallowed' and 'annexed' by Tanganyika. Discussions on the union were conducted very secretively. From the archival materials and the statements of those who were in the 'corridors of power' at the time, it would appear that not many people in the Tanganyika government or the Zanzibar Revolutionary Council knew what was happening. Apart from Nyerere and Karume, the only other people who might have been privy to those discussions were Rashidi Kawawa, Oscar Kambona, Job Lusinde, Abdallah Kassim Hanga, Abdul-Aziz Ali Twala and Salim Rashidi. When these discussions were at an advanced stage, Nyerere is said to have called in his attorney-general at the time, British expert Roland Brown, and asked him to draft a union agreement without anybody knowing. In the case of Zanzibar, the attorney-general, Wolf Dourado, is said to have been sent on a one-week 'leave' and instead a Ugandan lawyer, Dan Nabudere (according to his own account which was corroborated by Babu), was brought in to advise Karume on the draft submitted by Tanganyika. Both Brown and Nabudere were present in the Karume-Nyerere discussions. One can speculate that one reason why Dourado was not involved was because he was 'inherited' from the previous ZNP/ZPPP (Zanzibar Nationalist Party-Zanzibar and Pemba People's Party) regime and the revolutionary government was hesitant to involve him in such a sensitive matter. Under both the 1962 Republic of Tanganyika constitution and the Zanzibar presidential decree No.5 quoted above, the two presidents had the powers to enter into international agreements on behalf of their governments. What is also important is that the union agreement was ratified by both the Tanganyika parliament and the Zanzibar Revolutionary Council. Contrary to what some writers have said, the Nyalali Commission was satisfied that the Revolutionary Council met to ratify the Articles of Union. Both Abdulrahman Babu and Khamis Abdallah Ameir, the two former Umma party leaders who were in the Revolutionary Council at the time, have confirmed that the matter was discussed in the council, and while there were reservations on the part of some members, these were 'quashed' by Abdallah Kassim Hanga who made an emotional intervention to support the union. Once the Articles of Union had been ratified by the two legislative bodies in Tanganyika and Zanzibar, there was no further requirement in law to make them enforceable. The question of referendum would not have arisen because under the Commonwealth legal tradition, in which the two countries were brought up, the notion of a referendum was unknown. The referendum was introduced as a legal requirement under British law in the 1970s during the heated debate in the United Kingdom on the question of its entry into the European Economic Community. To have also expected the Zanzibar revolutionary government to call a referendum on the union, four months after it came into power through unconstitutional means, was like expecting the French revolutionaries of 1789 to have invited King Louis XVI for dinner after they had overthrown him. Should ASP have conducted a referendum to ask Zanzibaris whether or not to stage a revolution? In law, therefore, the Union Agreement, as both Prof Issa Shivji and Dr Kabudi have pointed out, is valid. ARTICLES OF UNION: 1 + 1 = 3 The Union Agreement, signed by Karume and Nyerere in Zanzibar on 22 April 1964, is known as the Articles of Union. When this agreement was announced the following day, many people inside the two countries, and outside too, were taken by surprise. The strong feeling was that the West had won in their intention to containing the Zanzibar revolution; in fact there were military preparations by both Britain and the United States in case there was a violent reaction in Zanzibar against the union. What the Tanganyika leadership wanted at the time was to play down the whole event. In a cable message of 23 April 1964 to the US secretary of state, the US ambassador in Dar es Salaam, William Leonhart, informed: 'Mbwambo, chief protocol, has just telephoned a personal request... that, to the maximum extent, any US public statements on Tangovernment -Zanzibar union be avoided. Situation over the next few days in Zanzibar could be very critical and both the Soviet and Chinese reaction is undetermined.' In an address later to the National Assembly requesting the ratification of the Articles of Union, Nyerere insisted that the move was inspired by the ideals for an African unity. 'Unity in our continent does not have to come via Moscow or Washington', he insisted. The Articles of Union have been given different interpretations and characterised as federal, quasi-federal, an interim arrangement towards one government, etc. Some have seen the union as similar to the relationship between the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Those who were close to the scene at the time also differ as to what type of relationship it is. The US ambassador in Dar es Salaam, in a cable message to his government on 22 April 1964, the day the Articles of Union were signed by Karume and Nyerere, stated: 'Like the relationship between Northern Ireland and Britain, the union of Zanzibar and Tanganyika gave the island limited regional administrative autonomy... but ensured overall power... was held by the centre at Dar es Salaam'. But Frank Calucci, reporting from Zanzibar the next day, said that Karume was 'still under the impression that he is agreeing to a federation of two autonomous states, not a centralised union envisaged under the present articles'. Attwood, the U.S. Ambassador in Kenya at the time, says he was informed by Dustan Omari, Nyerere's permanent secretary then, 'that the major power would rest in the centre... but that Zanzibar would retain its own internal governmental affairs'. While I have difficulty in accepting some of the assertions of some of the writers on the character of the union for reasons that I will advance later, I would only want to agree with the notion that the Articles of Union are the Grundnorm, the fundamental law of the United Republic, on which the Constitutions of Tanzania and Zanzibar, and other laws, have to be based and from which they derive their legitimacy. Like any supreme law in any other legal system, no other law or constitutional act can be in conflict with it. Articles of Union provide for matters that would be under the union arrangement. From the original 11 items in 1964, the list has now expanded to 23. Some people question the validity of such an expansion, though one must admit that there was nothing that was added into the list unconstitutionally. The Articles of Union also provide for the existence of two governments: One for the whole United Republic for all union matters and for non-union matters in Tanganyika, which, under the 1977 Union Constitution is referred to as Tanzania mainland, and one for Zanzibar in all matters that are non-Union. According to Nyerere, Karume wanted a total union, but he (Nyerere) cautioned against it, saying that such a move might be construed by Zanzibaris and others as meaning that Zanzibar had been swallowed up, annexed, incorporated into or taken over by Tanganyika. He insisted that Zanzibar's identity must be maintained. There is no way one can construe the 'Article of Union' as a basis for a federal set-up. Nor can they be seen as an interim arrangement towards a one government. They intended to create a single state with two authorities, but with one of those authorities having a limited geographical jurisdiction. The intention was to retain the identity of the smaller unit. By this event, Tanganyika has not been lost; in fact it has been enlarged. Even if it is accepted that the union was a Western conspiracy against the Zanzibar revolution, the effect of the intention was to deny Zanzibar the capacity to be an international actor, not to interfere with what was happening inside the country. To be able to change the internal course of events would have entailed changing the regime. What might have confounded some of the law experts looking at the relationship between Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania was the fact that no such example existed in the Anglo-Saxon legal system. The closest they could think of then was that of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. CONSOLIDATING THE UNION: POPULAR APPROVAL At the time of the Union Zanzibar and Tanganyika were ruled by different political parties, ASP and TANU respectively. The Articles of Union did not require the formation of a single political party for the whole United Republic. Thus in the period 1964-1977 each party operated within its own geographical area, though at the approach of every general election, the two parties held a joint congress where they nominated a join presidential candidate for the elections. Only in 1977, after a national survey of members of both parties, did the two parties merge to form the Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) with authority over the whole country. But why did Zanzibaris agree to such a merger? Nyerere had always expressed surprise when recalling the radiant faces he saw and the jovial mood of the Zanzibaris the day CCM was proclaimed at the Amaan stadium in Zanzibar. The fact is that Zanzibaris were celebrating not only the birth of CCM but also the demise of ASP. By that time the general feeling in the islands was that the ASP had outlived its usefulness. The revolution which it had championed had stooped so low as to devour its own sons: Most of the leaders were busy amassing wealth; prison and death were the only options open to political dissent; and political thuggery was a virtue. One matter that was added in 1984 to the list of union items was that of national security. This happened at the time when Ali Hassan Mwinyi was president and Seif Shariff Hamad the chief minister of Zanzibar in 1984-85, commonly known as the Third Phase government. Not having much confidence in the security personnel they inherited, who might have had personal allegiance to Jumbe and Seif Bakari, the new administration sought the extension of the National Security Act of the mainland to Zanzibar. In that case it was possible to transfer the security personnel in Zanzibar to the mainland and vice versa. So from the above one can see the following: First, Zanzibaris wanted a merger of the parties, and for the united party to have authority all over the country, in the hope that it would rescue them from a regime that was no longer able to inspire confidence and instil enthusiasm; and second, a 'consolidation' of the union in this regard was necessary for one faction of the leadership to ward off any possible challenge by the other. The long-term effect of the parties' merger was to have matters that were entirely within Zanzibar's jurisdiction, and that were not union matters, decided by a pan-territorial political party where Zanzibari representation was not decisive. This became clear in 1984 when Aboud Jumbe was forced to resign as Zanzibar president: It was the party's NEC which appointed Ali Hassan Mwinyi as an interim president and later nominated him for election as the president of Zanzibar. Since NEC's Zanzibari membership is no more than a third of the total, this means therefore that a Zanzibar president could be chosen by a forum, which is predominantly non-Zanzibari. And this was further evidenced with the nomination by CCM's NEC of the present president of Zanzibar. A number of other measures were taken to consolidate the union, particularly in the constitutional realm. A permanent constitution was put in place in 1977 instead of an interim one that had been in existence since 1964. ZANZIBAR'S IDENTITY IN THE UNION In the Articles of Union, Zanzibar is allowed to retain its autonomy and pursue its own policies in all matters other than those stipulated as Union matters. In this case, the power to decide is left to the Zanzibar organs such as the house of representatives, the revolutionary council and the president of Zanzibar and chairman of the revolutionary council. The union constitution stipulates that constitutional amendments require the approval of two-thirds of Zanzibaris sitting in the union parliament and the same proportion of mainlanders. In order to avoid a clash in the legislative functions of the two sides of the union, it has been provided that if the house of representatives enacts any law which should be under the jurisdiction of the union parliament that law will be null and void, and also if the union parliament enacts a law on any matter under the jurisdiction of the house of representatives that law will be null and void. The constitution also provides for effective Zanzibari representation in the union parliament. It also guarantees a separate judiciary system for Zanzibar which has jurisdiction over Zanzibar alone. Even though the court of appeal of the United Republic is a union organ, it has no power to decide on a case involving a dispute between the union government and the Zanzibar revolutionary government. However one might view the circumstances that made Zanzibar merge with Tanganyika in 1964, the fact of the matter is that Zanzibar was not annexed or forcefully incorporated. It agreed on the union out of its own free will and as a result of decisions made by its own organs. The argument that within the union Tanganyika has lost its identity has no basis. If anything it has enlarged its territory. It is Zanzibar's autonomy and identity that must be maintained lest, as Nyerere himself has pointed out several times, an impression is created that the larger and more populous Tanganyika has swallowed Zanzibar. Such a situation is not new even in the most centralised states. In China, despite the fact that the country has a centralised authority and no federal traces of any kind, yet because of certain historical, political or cultural reasons, certain areas are conferred autonomy, and are constitutionally given the status of autonomous regions. As will be pointed out later there are entities in present-day Europe that enjoy full autonomy within one state. To entertain the thought that the Articles of Union are a temporary arrangement, and that ultimately the intention should be to create one government is to manifest 'big brother chauvinism' DEBATES ON THE UNION: A POLLUTED ATMOSPHERE In 1983/84 and 1990/92 extensive political and constitutional debates took place in the country that deeply probed the question of the union. The debates of 1983/84 resulted in major amendments to the 1977 union constitution and the formulation of a new Zanzibar constitution in 1984. But they also resulted in the forced resignation of Aboud Jumbe from all his state and party positions, the sacking of a Zanzibar chief minister and the serious warning given by the ruling party to a number of prominent Zanzibar figures. The debates of the 1990/92 period resulted in the Nyalali Commission making major recommendations on the structure of the Union. In between the two periods also another Zanzibar chief minister was sacked, and several leading Zanzibar politicians were dismissed form the ruling party. As stated above, the question of Zanzibar being 'sold' to the mainland was an issue in pre-revolutionary Zanzibar. And if one remembers that the political parties were almost evenly divided, then one can assume that almost half of the Zanzibar population was already biased against the mainland even before the union. The post-revolution politics in the islands did not help matters much. Karume went into a union to save himself from his marxist and left-wing colleagues; and since Jumbe was not considered to be the 'heir apparent' before Karume's assassination in 1972, he was not thought of as the natural successor when he took over. It has been speculated that the revolutionary council had Colonel Seif Bakari in mind, but Nyerere advised that since Karume was killed by an army officer, Seif Bakari taking over might be construed as a military coup. Jumbe, feeling that he had not much support within the revolutionary council, depended very much on Nyerere's and mainland's support. It is no wonder then that it was during his presidency that much of the consolidation of the union took place, with the most items added to the union list. It is significant too that the merger of the parties took place then. But this dependency on the mainland was costing him much popular support at home. Either as a way of outflanking his opponents or because of genuine problems he found in the union (after all he was for a long time a minister for union affairs before he became president of Zanzibar), he first raised the question of restructuring the union in a speech seven years before the 1983/84 debates. Other politicians in Zanzibar too have used the mainland as a trump card either to crush their opponents or to climb the political ladder. Seif Shariff Hamad, Khatib Hassan, Shaaban Mloo and others accused Jumbe in 1984 of planning to break up the union, and thus forced Jumbe to resign from his political posts then. They in turn faced the same accusation from their opponents in 1988 and were dismissed from the party. The issues that were raised in both the 1983/84 and 1990/92 debates centred on the following: 1. Whether the Articles of Union of 1964 provided for a federation, that is three governments (one of Tanganyika, the other of Zanzibar, and a third a federal one) or only two governments as presently existing; 2. As the union government is also the government for the mainland in non-union matters, does this not give the impression that mainland is the union? 3. Does Zanzibar get a fair share in the distribution of benefits coming form the union? 4. Is Zanzibar well represented in the diplomatic service? 5. Does it get a fair share of foreign aid coming to Tanzania? 6. Since the people of Zanzibar were not consulted at the time of the formation of the union, should there not be a referendum now to ascertain whether the people wanted the union or not? Most of these questions, as can be seen, were coming from Zanzibar, and what surprised many people at the time of the 1983/84 debate, was that they were being aired in the state-owned-and-controlled official mass media. No such strong feelings were voiced on the mainland during the debates. Many people who made submissions to the Nyalali Commission said hardly anything about the system of governments that the union should have. It was only after the opening up of the political system and the establishment of more political parties that one began hearing very strong views coming form the mainland on the question of the Union; some of those going even further than anybody in Zanzibar had ever contemplated. THE NYALALI COMMISSION: AGREED TO DISAGREE One of the major recommendations of the Nyalali Commission was for the replacement of the present union set-up with a federal one. This was one of the areas that bought about a very heated debate within the commission and which necessitated members of the commission having to vote. Later those who were opposed to the federal idea had to append their own dissenting opinion to the main report to explain their position. But the division in the commission on this issue almost came to a mainland/Zanzibar division. Of the 11 members from Zanzibar, seven wanted the present union set-up, with some major changes, to remain; three wanted a federal and one was undecided. Of the same number from the Mainland, nine wanted a federal set-up and two wanted the present arrangement to continue. What is important is that both sides agreed that there were problems within the union. Even though at the time the complaints form the mainland were not so loud compared to Zanzibar, it would have been wise if those complaints were addressed and resolved. The majority of members of the commission felt that in a federal set-up, both Tanganyika and Zanzibar would retain their identity, federal areas would be clearly defined and the responsibilities of each would be understood, and the federal entity would be distinct from the national ones. Those holding the minority opinion, on the other hand, were of the view that there was nothing in the Articles of Union to suggest that their framers had a federal set-up in mind; that a federation would be a step backward and might be a prelude to the dissolution of the union; that corrective measures could be taken, if there is political will, which would define union matters, list union institutions and apportion the responsibility of each side on those matters. Examples were provided from the two Scandinavian countries of Denmark and Finland where entities (Faroe Islands, Aaland Islands and Greenland) have full autonomy in a number of areas that they exercise within a non-federal state. The dissenting opinion in the Nyalali Report pointed out: 'Greenland and Faroe Islands, both of which are part of Denmark, have full autonomy in many matters. For example, a parliament that is not subject to interference form the central government of Denmark, and all political and economic matters agreed upon and even in international relations. The islands of Faroe have their own flag hoisted in all government buildings and on ships registered in Faroe islands. Also Faroe Islands authority issues passports; Denmark had agreed to join the European Economic Community. So did Greenland. But later, Greenland withdrew from the Community. Therefore, all EEC agreements and conditionality accepted in Denmark did not apply in Greenland. Similarly, the Islands of Faroe are not a member of the EU. In regard to Finland, the islands of Aaland have their own parliament and government. The islands of Aaland also have their own 'identity' for persons born in the islands and who have not lived abroad consecutively for five years or more. The islands have their own flag, issue their own stamps and its citizens are not subject to military service. The islands of Aaland are a demilitarised zone. The Central Bank of Finland must consult the government of Aaland before it takes measures that might harm the economy of Aaland. This, despite the fact that they share a common currency; The islands of Aaland, as is the case for Greenland and Faroe, are, on their own right, represented in the Nordic Council that consists of Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland.' WHITHER THE UNION? As pointed out above, there have been historical links between Zanzibar and Tanganyika long before the coming of the colonialists in East Africa; and colonialism did not in fact stop such interactions from continuing. During the struggle for national independence, the two main political parties in the two countries cooperated - though there is nothing to suggest that the two parties were thinking of merging into a union of this kind after they came into power. What they had in mind was to form a federation with Kenya and Uganda. Until the elections of July 1963, ASP still thought that it would win power through the electoral process; and it would appear that their main supporters, TANU (Tanganyika African National Union), thought likewise. Now the union is a fact. Despite a lot of problems, it has brought stability and peace in the region. It is difficult to speculate what would have happened to the Zanzibar revolution without the union: Whether Zanzibar would have advanced faster or whether a counter-revolutionary force would have taken over and embellished a dictatorship worse than anything the islands have actually experienced especially during the first phase government. What is clear though is that the union has brought the two peoples much closer together. I do not believe that the unity of the two peoples can be strengthened by restructuring the present set-up into a federation. I see movement from the present set-up to a federation as a step towards the dismemberment of the union; and I do not think that that is to the short or long term benefit of the people of Tanzania. The present problems can be resolved if there is a strong political will on the part of our political class and if the people are told the truth about those problems. Only when corrective measures are taken, would it be possible to sustain and strengthen the union. Otherwise if the difficulties inherent in the Articles of Union and the problems arising from implementation are only emphasised and not resolved, the tendency would be towards the withering away of the union. In this era of multi-parties and openness, it is even more important that matters are discussed and solutions founded on popular will. Of all the political parties that have been established since the abolition of the one-party system, only one, the Democratic Party led by Reverend Mtikila, has come out strongly against the union and called for its dissolution. Others are prevaricating between 'referendum', 'federation' and modifications within the present set-up. The CCM and its governments which seemed earlier on to strongly accept the dissenting opinion in the Nyalali Report, now seems to be torn apart, with a strong group calling for a federal set-up. The national language, the ethics of equality and human dignity, and the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar are what overcame the ethnic hatred, religious bigotry, regional parochialism and national differences and forged national cohesion and unity. It is these that have made Tanzania an example in a continent beset with secessionism, ethnic violence and religious pogroms. One hopes that there is capacity, honesty and patriotism within Tanzania that will look beyond the sectarian interests. The alternative is too horrendous to contemplate. A full version of this paper was published in 1993 by the Danish Centre for Development Research. It also appeared in the book Zanzibar and the Union Question, edited by Prof Chris Peter and Professor Haroub Othman and published by the Zanzibar Legal Services Centre. Haroub Othman is a professor in development studies at the University of Dar es Salaam. * Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/. Copyright © 2009 Fahamu. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media ( allAfrica.com ). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. AllAfrica publishes around 700 reports a day from more than 140 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals , representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica . To address comments or complaints, please Contact us .	Tanzania
In the Rocky film franchise, what town does Rocky Balboa call home?	Listing of Countries That No Longer Exist By Matt Rosenberg Updated July 25, 2016. Since many countries merge, split, or just decide to change their name, there are many "missing" countries that no longer exist. This list is far from comprehensive, but it's meant to serve as a guide to some of the most well-known missing countries of today. Abyssinia: The name of Ethiopia until the early 20th century. Austria-Hungary: A monarchy (also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire) that was established in 1867 and included not just Austria and Hungary, but also parts of the Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, Romania, and the Balkans. The empire collapsed at the end of World War I. Basutoland: Lesotho's name prior to 1966. Bengal: An independent kingdom from 1338-1539, now part of Bangladesh and India. Burma: Burma officially changed its name to Myanmar in 1989 but many countries still aren't recognizing the change, such as the United States. Catalonia: This autonomous region of Spain was independent from 1932-1934 and 1936-1939. Ceylon: Changed its name to Sri Lanka in 1972. continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance Champa: Located in south and central Vietnam from the 7th century through 1832. Corsica: This Mediterranean island was ruled by various nations over the course of history but had several brief periods of independence. Today, Corsica is a department of France. Czechoslovakia: Peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. East Germany and West Germany: Merged in 1989 to form a unified Germany. East Pakistan: This province of Pakistan from 1947-1971 became Bangladesh. Gran Colombia: A South American country that included what is now Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, and Ecuador from 1819-1830. Gran Colombia ceased to exist when Venezuela and Ecuador seceded. Hawaii: Though a kingdom for hundreds of years, Hawaii wasn't recognized as an independent country until the 1840s. The country was annexed to the U.S. in 1898. New Granada: This South American country was part of Gran Colombia (see above) from 1819-1830 and was independent from 1830-1858. In 1858, the country became known as the Grenadine Confederation, then the United States of New Granada in 1861, the United States of Colombia in 1863, and finally, the Republic of Colombia in 1886. Newfoundland: From 1907 to 1949, Newfoundland existed as the self-governing Dominion of Newfoundland. In 1949, Newfoundland joined Canada as a province. North Yemen and South Yemen: Yemen split in 1967 into two countries, North Yemen (a.k.a. Yemen Arab Republic) and South Yemen (a.k.a. People's Democratic Republic of Yemen). However, in 1990 the two rejoined to form a unified Yemen. Ottoman Empire: Also known as the Turkish Empire, this empire began around 1300 and expanded to include parts of contemporary Russia, Turkey, Hungary, the Balkans, northern Africa, and the Middle East. The Ottoman Empire ceased to exist in 1923 when Turkey declared independence from what remained of the empire. Persia: The Persian Empire extended from the Mediterranean Sea to India. Modern Persia was founded in the sixteenth century and later became known as Iran. Prussia: Became a Duchy in 1660 and a kingdom in the following century. At its greatest extent it included the northern two-thirds of Germany and western Poland. Prussia, by World War II a federal unit of Germany, was fully disbanded at the end of World War II. Rhodesia: Zimbabwe was known as Rhodesia (named after British diplomat Cecil Rhodes) prior to 1980. Scotland, Wales, and England: Despite recent advances in autonomy, part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, both Scotland and Wales were independent nations that were merged with England to form the U.K. Siam: Changed its name to Thailand in 1939. Sikkim: Now part of far northern India, Sikkim was an independent monarchy from the 17th century until 1975. South Vietnam: Now part of a unified Vietnam, South Vietnam existed from 1954 to 1976 as the anti-communist portion of Vietnam. Southwest Africa: Gained independence and became Namibia in 1990. Taiwan: While Taiwan still exists, it is not always considered an independent country . However, it did represent China in the United Nations until 1971. Tanganyika and Zanzibar: These two African countries united in 1964 to form Tanzania. Texas: The Republic of Texas gained independence from Mexico in 1836 and existed as an independent country until annexation to the United States in 1845. Tibet: A kingdom established in the 7th century, Tibet was invaded by China in 1950 and has since been known as the Xizang Autonomous Region of China. Transjordan: Became the independend kingdom of Jordan in 1946. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR): Broke into fifteen new countries in 1991: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldovia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. United Arab Republic: From 1958 to 1961, non-neighbors Syria and Egypt merged to become a unified country. In 1961 Syria abandoned the alliance but Egypt kept the name United Arab Republic itself for another decade. Urjanchai Republic: South-central Russia; independent from 1912 to 1914. Vermont: In 1777 Vermont declared independence and existed as an independent country until 1791, when it became the first state to enter the United States after the thirteen colonies. West Florida, Free Independent Republic of: Parts of Florida, MIssissippi, and Louisana were independent for ninety days in 1810. Western Samoa: Changed its name to Samoa in 1998. Yugoslavia: The original Yugoslavia divided up into Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Slovenia in the early 1990s. Zaire: Changed its name to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1997. Zanzibar and Tanganyika merged to form Tanzania in 1964.	i don't know
April 30, 1803 saw Robert R. Livingston sign a treaty in Paris that allowed the United States to spend $15 million for what?	Louisiana Purchase facts, information, pictures \| Encyclopedia.com articles about Louisiana Purchase COPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. LOUISIANA PURCHASE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. A watershed event in American history, the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803 nearly doubled the land mass of the young nation: for a purchase price of $15 million, the United States increased its size by some 828,000 square miles. The region included the Mississippi River and its tributaries westward to the Rocky Mountains, and extended from the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans up the Red River to the Canadian border. Natural and Political History of the Territory before the Purchase The central portion of North America was considered prime land for settlement in the early days of the republic. The Missouri and Red Rivers drained the region east of the Rocky Mountains into the massive Mississippi Valley, offering navigation and fertile farmlands, prairies, pastures and forests. The region also held large deposits of various minerals, which would come to be economic boons as well. Buffalo and other wild game were plentiful and offered an abundant food supply for the Native Americans who peopled the region as well as for later settlers. From the mid-fifteenth century, France had claimed the Louisiana Territory. Its people constituted a strong French presence in the middle of North America. Always adamant in its desire for land, France engaged the British in the Seven Years' War (1754–1763; also known as the French and Indian War because of the alliance of these two groups against British troops) over property disputes in the Ohio Valley. As part of the settlement of the Seven Years' War, the 1763 Treaty of Paris called for France to turn over control of the Louisiana Territory (including New Orleans) to Spain as compensation for Spanish assistance to the French during the war. By the early 1800s, Spain offered Americans free access to shipping on the Mississippi River and encouraged Americans to settle in the Louisiana Territory. President Thomas Jefferson officially frowned on this invitation, but privately hoped that many of his frontier-seeking citizens would indeed people the area owned by Spain. Like many Americans, Jefferson warily eyed the vast Louisiana Territory as a politically unstable place; he hoped that by increasing the American presence there, any potential war concerning the territory might be averted. The Purchase In 1802 it seemed that Jefferson's fears were well founded: the Spanish governor of New Orleans revoked Americans' privileges of shipping produce and other goods for export through his city. At the same time, American officials became aware of a secret treaty that had been negotiated and signed the previous year between Spain and France. This, the Treaty of San Ildefonso, provided a position of nobility for a minor Spanish royal in exchange for the return of the Louisiana Territory to the French. Based on France's history of engaging in hostilities for land, Jefferson and other leaders were alarmed at this potential threat on the U.S. western border. While some Congressmen had begun to talk of taking New Orleans, Spain's control over the territory as a whole generally had been weak. Accordingly, in April 1802 Jefferson and other leaders instructed Robert R. Livingston, the U.S. minister to France, to attempt to purchase New Orleans for $2 million, a sum Congress quickly appropriated for the purpose. In his initial approach to officials in Paris, Livingston was told that the French did not own New Orleans and thus could not sell it to the United States. However, Livingston quickly assured the negotiators that he had seen the Treaty of San Ildefonso and hinted that the United States might instead simply seize control of the city. With the two sides at an impasse, President Jefferson quickly sent Secretary of State James Monroe to Paris to join the negotiations. Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), who had come to power in France in 1799, planned in 1801 to use the fertile Mississippi Valley as a source of food and trade to supply a French empire in the New World. However, in 1801 Toussaint L'Ouverture led a slave revolt that eventually took control of Haiti and Hispaniola, the latter of which Napoleon had chosen as the seat of his Western empire. French armies under the leadership of Charles LeClerc attempted to regain control of Haiti in 1802; however, despite some successes, thousands of soldiers were lost in battle and to yellow fever. Realizing the futility of his plan, Napoleon abandoned his dreams for Hispaniola. As a result, he no longer had a need for the Louisiana Territory, and knew that his forces were insufficient to protect it from invasion. Furthermore, turning his attentions to European conquests, he recognized that his plans there would require an infusion of ready cash. Accordingly, Napoleon authorized his ministers to make a counteroffer to the Americans: instead of simply transferring the ownership of New Orleans, France would be willing to part with the entire Louisiana Territory. Livingston and Monroe were stunned at his proposal. Congress quickly approved the purchase and authorized a bond issue to raise the necessary $15 million to complete the transaction. Documents effecting the transfer were signed on 30 April 1803, and the United States formally took possession of the region in ceremonies at St. Louis, Missouri on 20 December. Consequences of the Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase has often been described as one of the greatest real estate deals in history. Despite this, there were some issues that concerned Americans of the day. First, many wondered how or if the United States could defend this massive addition to its land holdings. Many New Englanders worried about the effect the new addition might have on the balance of power in the nation. Further, Jefferson and Monroe struggled with the theoretical implications of the manner in which they carried out the purchase, particularly in light of Jefferson's previous heated battles with Alexander Hamilton concerning the interpretation of limits of constitutional and presidential powers. In the end, however, the desire to purchase the territory outweighed all of these practical and theoretical objections. The increases in population, commerce, mining, and agriculture the Louisiana Purchase allowed worked to strengthen the nation as a whole. The opportunity for individuals and families to strike out into unsettled territory and create lives for themselves helped to foster the frontier spirit of independence, curiosity, and cooperation that have come to be associated with the American character. BIBLIOGRAPHY Ellis, Joseph J. American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson. New York: Knopf, 1997. Kastor, Peter J., ed. The Louisiana Purchase: Emergence of an American Nation. Washington, D.C: Congressional Quarterly Books, 2002. Kennedy, Roger. Mr. Jefferson's Lost Cause: Land, Farmers, Slavery, and the Louisiana Purchase. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Labbé, Dolores Egger, ed. The Louisiana Purchase and Its Aftermath, 1800–1830. Lafayette: Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1998. Barbara SchwarzWachal Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. MLA West's Encyclopedia of American Law COPYRIGHT 2005 The Gale Group, Inc. LOUISIANA PURCHASE The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 doubled the size of the United States, gave the country complete control of the port of New Orleans, and provided territory for westward expansion. The 828,000 square miles purchased from France formed completely or in part thirteen states: Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming. President thomas jefferson was unsure if the Constitution authorized the acquisition of land, but he found a way to justify the purchase. France originally claimed the Louisiana Territory in the seventeenth century. In 1763 it ceded to Spain the province of Louisiana, which was about where the state of Louisiana is today. By the 1790s U.S. farmers who lived west of the Appalachian Mountains were shipping their surplus produce by boat down rivers that flowed into the Gulf of Mexico. In 1795 the United States negotiated a treaty with Spain that permitted U.S. merchants the right of deposit at New Orleans. This right allowed the merchants to store their goods in New Orleans without paying duty before they were exported. In 1800 France, under the leadership of Napoléon, negotiated a secret treaty with Spain that ceded the province of Louisiana back to France. President Jefferson became concerned that France had control of the strategic port of New Orleans, and sought to purchase the port and West Florida. When France revoked the right of deposit for U.S. merchants in 1802, Jefferson sent james monroe to Paris to help robert r. livingston convince the French government to complete the sale. These statesmen warned that the United States would ally itself with England against France if a plan were not devised that settled this issue. Monroe and Livingston were authorized by Congress to offer up to $2 million to purchase the east bank of the Mississippi; Jefferson secretly advised them to offer over $9 million for Florida and New Orleans. Napoléon initially resisted U.S. offers, but changed his mind in 1803. He knew that war with England was imminent, and realized that if France were tied down with a European war, the United States might annex the Louisiana Territory. He also took seriously the threat of a U.S.-English alliance. Therefore, in April 1803 he instructed his foreign minister, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, to negotiate with Monroe and Livingston for the United States' purchase of the entire Louisiana Territory. Acting on their own, the U.S. negotiators agreed to the price of $15 million, with $12 million paid to France and $3 million paid to U.S. citizens who had outstanding claims against France. The purchase agreement, dated April 30, was signed May 2 and reached Washington, D.C., in July. President Jefferson endorsed the purchase but believed that the Constitution did not provide the national government with the authority to make land acquisitions. He pondered whether a constitutional amendment might be needed to legalize the purchase. After consultations Jefferson concluded that the president's authority to make treaties could be used to justify the agreement. Therefore, the Louisiana Purchase was designated a treaty and submitted to the Senate for ratification. The Senate ratified the treaty October 20, 1803, and the United States took possession of the territory December 20, 1803. The U.S. government borrowed money from English and Dutch banks to pay for the acquisition. Interest payments for the fifteen-year loans brought the total price to over $27 million. The vast expanse of land, running from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border, is the largest ever added to the United States at one time. The settling of the territory played a large part in the debate over slavery preceding the Civil War, as Congress grappled with the question of whether to allow slavery in new states, such as Missouri and Kansas. further readings Levasseur, Alain A., and Roger K. Ward. 1998. "300 Years and Counting: the French Influence on the Louisiana Legal System." Louisiana Bar Journal 46 (December): 300. Ward, Roger K. 2003. "The Louisiana Purchase." Louisiana Bar Journal 50 (February): 330. cross-references The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright The Columbia University Press Louisiana Purchase, 1803, American acquisition from France of the formerly Spanish region of Louisiana. Reasons for the Purchase The revelation in 1801 of the secret agreement of 1800, whereby Spain retroceded Louisiana to France, aroused uneasiness in the United States both because Napoleonic France was an aggressive power and because Western settlers depended on the Mississippi River for commerce. In a letter to the American minister to France, Robert R. Livingston (1746–1813; see Livingston , family), President Jefferson stated that "The day that France takes possession of New Orleans … we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation." Late in 1802 the right of deposit at New Orleans, granted to Americans by the Pinckney treaty of 1795, was withdrawn by the Spanish intendant (Louisiana was still under Spanish control). Although Spain soon restored the right of deposit, the acquisition of New Orleans became of paramount national interest. Negotiations and Purchase Jefferson instructed Livingston to attempt to purchase the "Isle of Orleans" (i.e., New Orleans) and West Florida from France. He appointed James Monroe minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary to serve with Livingston. Congress granted the envoys $2 million to secure their object. The international situation favored the American diplomats. Louisiana was of diminishing importance to France. The costly revolt in Haiti forced the French emperor Napoleon I to reconsider his plan to make Hispaniola the keystone of his colonial empire, and impending war with Great Britain made him question the feasibility of holding Louisiana against that great naval power. He decided to sell Louisiana to the United States. On Apr. 11, 1803, the French foreign minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand opened negotiations by asking the surprised Livingston what the United States would give for all of Louisiana. Bargaining began in earnest the next day, on Monroe's arrival in Paris. On Apr. 29, the U.S. envoys agreed to pay a total of $15 million to France; about $3,750,000 of this sum covered claims of U.S. citizens against France, which the U.S. government agreed to discharge. The treaty, dated Apr. 30, 1803, was signed several days later. Jefferson's scruples about the constitutionality of the purchase were overcome by his fears that Napoleon might change his mind (as intimated in reports from Livingston) and by the overwhelming public approval of the Louisiana Purchase (although there was some objection from Federalists, especially in New England). The treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate in October, and the U.S. flag was raised over New Orleans on Dec. 20. The Louisiana Purchase, extending from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mts. and from the Gulf of Mexico to British North America, doubled the national domain, increasing it c.828,000 sq mi (c.2,144,500 sq km). The final boundaries of the territory were not settled for many years (see West Florida Controversy ), since the 1803 treaty did not set the limits of the region. Bibliography See J. K. Hosmer, The History of the Louisiana Purchase (1902); J. A. Robertson, Louisiana under the Rule of Spain, France, and the United States, 1785–1807 (2 vol., 1910–11, repr. 1969); E. S. Brown, The Constitutional History of the Louisiana Purchase (1920, repr. 1972), A. P. Whitaker, The Mississippi Question, 1795–1803 (1934, repr. 1962). Cite this article COPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION was organized to commemorate the centenary of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Civic leaders in Saint Louis, led by the former mayor and Missouri governor David R. Francis, planned a world's fair. They chose the city's largest park as the site and May to December 1904 as the time. (The ceremony of the transfer of Upper Louisiana Territory had taken place in Saint Louis in 1804.) All major nations except war-torn Russia took part, as did all U.S. states and territories, including the newly annexed Philippine Islands. Native Americans including the Sioux, Apaches, and Osages participated. While earlier fairs had stressed products, the fair in Saint Louis stressed methods of production. The participants compared techniques and exchanged experiences. Automobiles and trains shared attention. Fourteen palaces designed for such fields as education, agriculture, transportation, mining, and forestry provided 5 million square feet of exhibit space. Sunday closings typified the Victorian tone that dominated entertainment. Scholars and scientists sponsored conferences in conjunction with the fair, and the International Olympic Committee chose Saint Louis for the first games held in America. Close to 20 million visitors attended, among them in late November the newly reelected president Theodore Roosevelt, who invited the Apache warrior Geronimo to ride in his inaugural parade. BIBLIOGRAPHY Faherty, William Barnaby, and NiNi Harris. The St. Louis Portrait. Tulsa, Okla.: Continental Heritage Press, 1978. Fox, Timothy J., and Duane R. Sneddeker. From the Palaces to the Pike: Visions of the 1904 World's Fair. St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society Press, 1997. William B.Faherty World Encyclopedia © World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. Louisiana Purchase (1803) Transaction between the USA and France , in which the USA bought, for 60 million francs (US$15 million), 2,144,500sq km (828,000sq mi) of land between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains . With national security and the control of the Mississippi in mind, President Thomas Jefferson sent James Monroe to France to join US minister Robert Livingston. The two men negotiated the purchase from Napoleon, who had lost interest in a colonial empire in the New World. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the area of the USA, and 13 states were admitted from the territory. Cite this article Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History COPYRIGHT 2000 The Gale Group Inc. LOUISIANA PURCHASE In 1801 after a series of secret agreements, French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) recovered the territory of Louisiana from Spain , which France had lost in 1763. When the land was handed over, U.S. goods were refused storage at the important international port of New Orleans —a violation of the Pinckney Treaty. Since New Orleans was an integral port to U.S. international trade, unhappy U.S. farmers and merchants grumbled for war. President Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809) realized that this French acquisition challenged U.S. trade and presented a stumbling block to the United States , should it ever choose to expand its current borders westward. Believing that his decision was in his country's best interests, Jefferson sent Secretary of State James Monroe (1758–1831) to Paris to discuss the possibility of purchasing the Louisiana Territory from France. At the same time, Jefferson authorized a gathering of militiamen at home as a show of force against France. Napoleon, who was already on unfriendly terms with Britain , did not want to face a British-U.S. alliance. In 1803 he agreed to sell the Louisiana Territory (approximately 827,000 square miles) to the United States for a price of $15 million. The United States doubled its territorial size and extended public lands westward into the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains . Although the Louisiana Purchase extended U.S. boundaries and ensured protection of U.S. trade at the port of New Orleans, it presented a dilemma to Jefferson. He had a dream of seeing the United States stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. He also believed the government was invested with only those powers explicitly stated in the Constitution, and the authority to purchase new territory was not among those powers. In purchasing the Louisiana Territory, Jefferson used implied Constitutional powers, by which he strengthened the national government. His action, however, created a sense of uneasiness among those who feared a return to an authoritarian regime so soon after the American Revolution (1775–1783). A strong central government infringed on states' rights, which Jefferson also ardently supported. At the time he considered proposing a Constitutional amendment to allow explicitly the authority to purchase new territory. But, Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gelatin, advised Jefferson that the executive office had an inherent right to expand the nation, and Congress had the power to admit newly acquired land into the Union as a state or annex it as territory. Jefferson accepted this position and Congress ratified the land purchase. Regardless of the president's philosophical conflict, the public approved of the purchase. In 1804 Jefferson was reelected to a second term. Reaching from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, the Louisiana Purchase ensured that the U.S. would have ample room for expansion for years to come. Later four whole states (Arkansas, Iowa , Missouri and Nebraska ) and parts of nine others (Louisiana, Minnesota , Oklahoma , Kansas , Colorado , Wyoming, Montana , North Dakota , and South Dakota ) were made from this vast area. It increased the reach of the agricultural class by securing large amounts of land and transportation networks. With uninhibited access to the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, goods and services could now be transported over greater distances. The U.S. economy could not help but expand. Whatever its constitutional implications, the Louisiana Purchase was one of the most important presidential decisions in the nation's history. Through this purchase, the United States became a continental power, controlled the continent's main navigation routes, and became owner of vast new resources. These combined assets promised the young nation greater economic independence from Europe and set a precedent for future territorial expansion. In order to realize the full potential of this uncharted land, President Jefferson dispatched a 35-member expedition to explore it. Led by U.S. Army officers Meriweather Lewis and William Clark, the expedition was to determine the most direct practicable water communication across the continent for commerce purposes, map the land, gather plant and animal specimens, collect soil and weather data, and record the details of all they saw. It was a large task. Between May 1804 and September 1806, the expedition sighted the Pacific Ocean before returning to St. Louis. The explorers did not find the much sought-after Northwest Passage, but the information they did acquire spurred the nation towards further expansion and settlement. See also: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark Expedition, Napoleonic Wars (Economic Impact of) FURTHER READING Anderson, Michael. "The Public Lands." Constitution, Vol. 5, No. 2, Spring Summer 1993. Balleck, Barry. "When the Ends Justify the Means: Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase." Presidential Quarterly, Vol. XVII, No. 4, Fall 1992. Brown, Everett S. Constitutional History of the Louisiana Purchase 1803–1812. Berkley, CA: First University of California Press, 1920. Jefferson, Thomas. The Limits and Bounds of Louisiana in Documents Relating to the Purchase and Exploration of Louisiana. Boston: Houghton and Mifflin and American Philosophical Society, 1904. McDonald, Forest. The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 1976. every eye in the united states is now focused on the affairs of louisiana . thomas jefferson , in a letter to robert r. livingston, u.s. minister to paris , 1802 Cite this article	Louisiana Purchase
Known as the Gentle Giant, name the breed of dog that is recognized as the tallest of all dogs?	1803 Louisiana Purchase Free Essays 1803 Louisiana Purchase Christian Ruiz Mr. Kelley Period1 14 February 2013 Louisiana Purchase On April 30,1803 the Louisiana... territory, which was a third of the land for the new nation we call America, was purchased from France for fifteen million dollars. This helped fund Napoleon’s war against Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson made this decision because Jefferson did not want any other nation ruling in that territory, because Jefferson did not want to feel threatened with natives from the new land and France trying... Lewis and Clark Expedition, Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase 1368 Words \| 4 Pages Louisiana Purchase self. The United States did not develop geographically into the nation known today until the end of 1803 when the current president, Thomas... Jefferson, negotiated one of the most successful real estate purchases in United States history. This land purchase with France became known as the Louisiana Purchase, and is acknowledged as an enormous accomplishment for President Jefferson. The Louisiana Purchase is a significant event in United States history, not only by doubling the size of the United States... American Civil War, Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase 1497 Words \| 4 Pages The Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase in... 1803 is thought to be the greatest “real estate” deal in history. It was an experiment to incorporate different cultures to become one frontier. It changed what the United States had been at the time as well as what it could become. It was a territory between the Mississippi river and the Rocky Mountains. It was originally populated by the Native Americans in the South East until the Europeans. They... American Civil War, Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase 890 Words \| 3 Pages Louisiana Purchase Louisiana Purchase I believe that the Louisiana Purchase was one of the greatest impacts... on American society because of the large amount of land and how it helped our economy. In this report you will see how lucky that the United States is to have obtained this large piece of land from France. Their are many reasons why Napoleon had to sell this large piece of land. Napoleon thought that this land could be a great asset to the French if they knew what to do with it. He didn't... Colorado, Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase 1013 Words \| 3 Pages The Louisiana Purchase the acquisition of Louisiana by the United States, and the controversies and complications of assimilating this newly acquired territory in our... country. The President was Thomas Jefferson. He purchased Louisiana because it was a well coveted territory, mostly by the U.S. Not only was it a huge piece of land that could grow Americas size immensely, but commerce was huge there. Also tensions were high with France, who was seemed to be constantly at war. Jefferson purchased Louisiana to keep France from... Federal government of the United States, Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase 1126 Words \| 3 Pages Controversy in the Louisiana Purchase Every school child learns at an early age of the Louisiana Purchase. They learn simply of Thomas Jeffersons great real estate... deal that more than doubled the size of the young United States. What they do not learn, however, is of the intense debate in congress, which nearly put the brakes on Jeffersons plan; or of the underhanded financial deals the Jefferson made while congress bickered in order to come up with the funding for the purchase; or of the decisions Jefferson made that seemingly compromised... Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase, Mississippi River 1091 Words \| 3 Pages Louisiana Purchase and Exploration The Louisiana Purchase and Exploration Small, scattered settlements scan the face of the western lands. Beginning in the 1600’s,... the French explored this land west of the Mississippi River, planting these settlements over the face of the Louisiana Territory. The French ended up owning more of the present day United States than even the British by the middle of the 1700’s. During the French and Indian War, the French gave the territory to the Spanish, but in 1801 the Spanish gave the Louisiana Territory... Lewis and Clark Expedition, Louisiana Purchase, Meriwether Lewis 1054 Words \| 2 Pages Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark Expedition What did the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis & Clark Expedition accomplish? How did Aaron Burr and the Supreme Court interfere... with Jefferson’s otherwise successful first term? The inauguration of Thomas Jefferson as the nation's third president marked a turning point in America. While the Federalists were fading as a political force, he was able to complete the Louisiana Purchase and more than double the size of the United States, expanding west and broadening the horizons for the future of... Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, Lewis and Clark Expedition 920 Words \| 3 Pages Examining the Constitutionality of the Louisiana Purchase Scott Colon Professor Wilkerson American Federal Government 18 January 2013 Examining the Constitutionality of the Louisiana... Purchase The acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase caused a political debate of the constitution in the early United States government. There was a difference of opinions between politicians including Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine. Many believed that the provisions outlined in the United States Constitution should be strictly followed, but others believe that the... Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase, Thomas Jefferson 780 Words \| 3 Pages The Louisiana Purchase Posed Several Si The Louisiana Purchase posed several significant moral dilemmas for President Thomas Jefferson, among these were he believed... that federal government should not practice any powers those were not granted by the Constitution. On other hand he stepped up to buy Louisiana territory and he desperately tried to get the Louisiana territory for the new nation but he was not granted evidently to do so under the Constitution. Ultimately, Jefferson was able to make it happened to purchase the Louisiana territory... Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase, Thomas Jefferson 1168 Words \| 4 Pages The Louisiana Purchase and National Health Care Reform: Constitutional Challenges and Lessons The Louisiana Purchase and national health care legislation were two historic events in the history of the United States. Both... were huge steps forward for the county in different ways and both raised questions and controversy about the authority of the President of the United States or Congress. For the Louisiana Purchase, those opposed to the purchase and the treaty with France to make it possible for the United States to buy the land, claimed that the Constitution did give the President the authority... Health care, Louisiana Purchase, President of the United States 2485 Words \| 7 Pages In Considering the Process of the Settlement of the West over the Whole Period, How Far Can the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 Be Seen as the Key Turning Point? considering the process of the settlement of the West over the whole period, how far can the Louisiana Purchase of... 1803 be seen as the key turning point? The war of 1812 was followed by a period of exploration of the West which had been greatly expanded by the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The process of expansion was huge and resulted in the original 13 states being 45 states by 1906. As well as the Louisiana Purchase, the Mexican-American War and the Californian Gold Rush of 1848, the Homestead Act of... California, Colorado, James K. Polk 1188 Words \| 3 Pages Lewis and Clark: the Imperialist of America, 1803 - 1806 Lewis and Clark: the Imperialist of America, 1803 -1806 The Lewis and Clark expedition of 1803 to 1806, was a very important... adventure, which had significant bearings on the whole of the American nation; declaring American sovereignty in the West, advancing American trade, and promoting peace between Indian tribes, while attempting to establish a peaceful and profitable relationship with the Native Americans. Thus, Lewis and Clark are viewed as ¡§brave adventurers who went where no one had gone... Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Lewis and Clark Expedition, Louisiana Purchase 2517 Words \| 7 Pages The Louisiana Purchase By: joe The Louisiana Purchase was the purchase of the French province of Louisiana by the United... States in 1803. The province stretched from the Mississippi River westward to the Rocky Mountains and from the Gulf of Mexico northward to Canada, covering an area equal to that of the United States, prior to the purchase. Except for the Mississippi River on the east and Canada on the north, the boundaries were indefinite. The United States also claimed West Florida between the Mississippi and Perdido... American Civil War, Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase 394 Words \| 2 Pages The Louisiana Purchase 1. Describe the events leading to the purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803. Discuss the terms of the treaty... and how Jefferson reconciled his strict interpretation of the Constitution with the acquisition of the territory. Before the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the entire Louisiana territory covered what is today known as the Midwest. The purchase of the land was a monumental step in the expansion of the United States. Thomas Jefferson became the 2nd president of the United States... Caribbean, Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase 681 Words \| 2 Pages Louisiana purchase When the Ends Justify the Means: Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase Author(s): Barry J. Balleck Source: Presidential... Studies Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 4, America's Bill of Rights, Market Economies And Republican Governments (Fall, 1992), pp. 679-696 Published by: Wiley on behalf of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27551031 . Accessed: 04/12/2013 19:51 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms &... Aaron Burr, American Civil War, Democratic-Republican Party 9109 Words \| 118 Pages The Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase is one of the most remarkable events in American... history. The events leading up to the 1803 deal with France, as well as those occurring after, are vital in understanding what was happening in our country. These events also captivate the integrity of our people; the behavior of American citizens, the good, the bad, the ugly, is all very notable. The brave stepped up to explore the new lands, others allowed greed to influence their actions which were... Lewis and Clark Expedition, Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase 3962 Words \| 10 Pages The Treaty of Paris 1783 supply of cod. Adams-onis treaty The Adams-Onis Treaty was an agreement between the United States and Spain signed in 1819 which established the... southern border of the Louisiana Purchase. As part of the agreement, the United States obtained the territory of Florida. Following the acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase during the administration of Thomas Jefferson, the United States faced a problem, as it was not entirely clear where the border lay between the territory obtained from France... Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase, Mississippi River 559 Words \| 3 Pages Chapter 11 Outline American Pageant the last important laws passed by the expiring Federalist Congress 1.Aroused bitter resentment by Jeffersonians because it as seen as an attempt by the... ousted party to establish itself into 1 of the 3 powerful branches of gov B.Marbury v. Madison (1803) 1.William Marbury had been one of the “midnight judges” He had been named justice of peace for D.C., but when,Sec of State, James Madison decided to suspend the position, Marbury sued for its delivery 2.Marshall dismissed the case, but he said that... Aaron Burr, Alien and Sedition Acts, John Adams 968 Words \| 3 Pages vannah Southwest Louisiana into a safe refuge for violent criminals who flocked to it from all over the young nation. This is how it happened. In... 1803, the United States had paid France $15 million to abandon its claim to 828,00 square miles of land in the brand-new America. It was called the Louisiana purchase, but we didn’t actually buy the land. America and France both claimed the land, and we paid France $15 million to abandon its claim, leaving us as sole owners of the land. When the Louisiana Purchase... Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase 912 Words \| 2 Pages World War2 the elastic clause granted even more authority to congress and conceded Thomas Jefferson to invest and buy the Louisiana Territory. The... Louisiana Purchase was more than five-hundred and thirty million acres of land bought from the French in 1803. The loose construction further granted the constitution to be more malleable when the Congress needed to illuminate complications. The purchase was an essential juncture in the presidency of Thomas Jefferson because it was considered to be by most unconstitutional... Great Lakes, Louisiana Purchase, President of the United States 613 Words \| 4 Pages Marbury v. Madison: It's Role in American History and It's Long-Term and Short-Term Ramifications The case of Marbury v. Madison (1803) has been described as "epochal", and for good reason. The case of Marbury v. Madison established the... Supreme Court's power of judicial review. Judicial review is the ability of the Supreme Court to "review a law or an official act of government employee or agent for constitutionality or for the violation of basic principles of justice." This case directly shaped the future of the American public in a positive way: by making decisions that are lawfully correct... James Madison, Louisiana Purchase, Marbury v. Madison 762 Words \| 3 Pages Thomas Jefferson Outline millennial age. The Second Great Awakening stimulated the establishment of many reform movements designed to remedy the evils of society before the... anticipated Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Henry Shrapnel receives the patent for shell ammunition-1803 Marbury v. Madison- the case resulted from a petition to the Supreme Court by William Marbury, who had been appointed Justice of the Peace in the District of Columbia by President John Adams but whose commission was not subsequently delivered. Marbury... Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Adams 1103 Words \| 3 Pages fdwa 1801-1809 Democratic-Republic Principles of democratic capitalism and promise of equal opportunity for al “all men are created equal," His election... ‘the revolution of 1800’ The two major achievements of Jefferson's presidency were the Louisiana Purchase and the abolition of the slave trade," according to historian John Chester Miller. For now Jefferson had to go beyond rhetoric; he had to transfer ideals into action by turning his social and political philosophy into a concrete set of policies... Aaron Burr, James Madison, John Marshall 406 Words \| 3 Pages US History Chapter 11 Vocab deal was reached. Louisiana Purchase- Robert Livingston- along with James Monroe, negotiated in Paris for the... Louisiana land area; signed a treaty on April 30, 1803 ceding Louisiana to the United States for $15 million. The Americans had signed 3 treaties and gotten much land to the west of the Mississippi. 820,000 square miles at 3 cents/acre. Jefferson sent his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis, and William Clark to explore the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase. ... Aaron Burr, James Madison, John Marshall 678 Words \| 3 Pages thomas jefferson ap outline defeated Charles C. Pinckney .Jefferson won the1800 election by a majority of 73 electoral votes to 65. During his second term election in 1804, Jefferson... won with a margin of 162 electoral votes to 14 for his opponent.People were not ecstatic because in 1803, Napoleon had deliberately provoked Britain into renewing its war with France. V. Jefferson's proponents in his first terms were Aaron Burr a Democratic-Republican, John Adams,Charles C. Pinckney and John Jay, who were all Federalists. Hid opponent... Aaron Burr, James Madison, John Adams 1511 Words \| 4 Pages Andrew Jackson's Successful Foreign Policy Despite the faults during the Trade Embargo, American foreign policy was overall successful because the US, with the help of the French, defeated the British... in the revolutionary war, grew the country in the Louisiana Purchase, and signed the Convention of 1800. United States Foreign Policy was successful despite the Trade Embargo of 1807. In order to decrease the national debt, Thomas Jefferson imposed a tax on all trade entering the United States. Britain and France opposed the taxes and threatened... American Revolution, American Revolutionary War, Louisiana 947 Words \| 3 Pages Westward Expansion Print Cite... In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased the territory of Louisiana from the French government for $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to New Orleans, and it doubled the size of the United States. To Jefferson, westward expansion was the key... American Civil War, Compromise of 1850, Kansas 1166 Words \| 4 Pages Lewis and Clark Researh paper. Impacts on the american culture World History II C-Block 4/6/14 How Did the Louisiana Purchase, the Corps of Discovery, and Lewis and Clark Impact... American Culture? Lewis and Clark were two men, given a mission by President Thomas Jefferson in April of 1803 to chart all the lands, organisms, and cultures included within the Louisiana Purchase. The main purpose, however, was to find some sort of fabled Northwest passage that would speed up the land trade. Considered the most important expedition in American History... Great Plains, Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Lewis and Clark Expedition 2760 Words \| 7 Pages Territorial Expansion 1800-1850 This is true because of the Louisiana Purchase, the purchase of Oregon territory, and the Mexican War. The... Louisiana Purchase was the most important event of President Thomas Jefferson's first Administration. In this transaction, the United States bought 827,987 square miles of land from France for about $15 million. This vast area lay between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian Border. The purchase of this land greatly increased... Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase, Mexico 1092 Words \| 4 Pages The Expansion of America million square miles. The first four colonies that were added were: Vermont in 1791, Kentucky in 1792, Tennessee in 1796, and Ohio in 1803. The... land stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to British Canada and from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountain. The young nation added millions of square miles of new territory by a variety of means from the simple purchases to outright military invasions, diplomacy and war. The Territorial Expansion of America was not a debate issue; it was spurred by the... American Civil War, Louisiana Purchase, Mexico 893 Words \| 3 Pages Westward Expansion and the Effects on the United States Running Head: WESTWARD EXPANSION Westward Expansion and the Effects On the United States October 3, 2007 Abstract The Louisiana... Purchase was the largest land deal in our history. It doubled the size of the United States and gave us a strong face as an economic power. It brought immigrants from all over the world for the idea of owning land and making a living for themselves. We also had a second expansion with the Adams-Onis treaty in 1819 (Davidson, 2002, p.p. 246-247) where we... American Civil War, Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase 1048 Words \| 3 Pages New Orleans this uniqueness began from the city’s establishment by the French. This social identity was progressively built upon when the colony came under the control... of the Spanish, and then reverted to French power before being sold to America in the Louisiana Purchase. The presence of these different cultural groups influenced the development of New Orleans economically and culturally giving the city a diverse heritage that is uncommon amongst most American cities. In 1699, French explorers Pierre Le Moyne... Culture, Louisiana, Louisiana Creole people 777 Words \| 3 Pages America's Expansion in the 1800s America was growing rapidly from 1800-1850, with the Louisiana Purchase and Mexican cessions. These expansions had a large impact... on national unity. The question of slavery in new territories caused national disunity; however as the nation expanded in areas not suitable for slavery, unity was much stronger. The Louisiana Purchase, of 1803, had a positive effect on national unity. Acquiring this land was very important, because with the land came New Orleans and thus the mouth of the Mississippi... American Civil War, Arkansas, Compromise of 1850 705 Words \| 3 Pages Coming Together The Louisiana Purchase is arguably the greatest real estate deal in history. It more than doubled the size of the United States.... We gained approximately 530 million acres of land for 15 million dollars; about four cents an acre. Before the purchase, the French had control over the land west of the Mississippi River. Therefore, by gaining this land, America also gained control of the Mississippi River and correspondingly, access to the Gulf of Mexico and the port of New Orleans. Because of The Louisiana... Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase, Mississippi River 866 Words \| 3 Pages Western Expansion In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased the territory of Louisiana from the French government for $15 million. The... Louisiana Purchase stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to New Orleans, and it doubled the size of the United States. To Jefferson, westward expansion was the key to the nation’s health: He believed that a republic depended on an independent, virtuous citizenry for its survival, and that independence and virtue went hand in hand with land... American Civil War, Compromise of 1850, Louisiana Purchase 1473 Words \| 6 Pages Illegal Gun Purchases in the United States Stagliano 1 Laurene Stagliano Ms. Catherine Piela Comp 101 29 November 2010 Illegal Gun Purchases in the United States For years,... people in the United States of America have been allowed to own firearms. This was a right given to them by the constitution, and if the person met all the requirements for a gun. But, within the last couple of years people who are not legally allowed to own a gun in the United States have found different ways in which to obtain one. Some ways in which people... Firearm, Gun politics in the United States, Gun show 1276 Words \| 4 Pages Thomas Jefferson reduced The decision was supported by Democratic and Republican as they wanted a smaller government Federalist didn’t support his decision as they wanted a... larger and more stronger government Louisiana Purchase Allowed them to lighten their grip on the nation so they were not opposed. Strongly opposed the purchase, favoring close relations with Britain over closer lies to Napoleon, and were concerned that the US had paid a large sum of money just to declare war on Spain Lewis and Clark Expedition ... Democratic-Republican Party, James Madison, Louisiana Purchase 839 Words \| 3 Pages U.S. history DBQ States began growing, in order to compete with other world powers, Jefferson felt the need for expansion. In 1803, President Jefferson made a... purchase from France of the Louisiana Territory. This purchase only cost the United States sixty million frances(doc e). This purchase was known as the Louisiana Purchase. With this new addition, the size of the United States had nearly doubled. This purchase was the beginning of other countries starting to look at the United States as what soon could be a dominating... International relations, James Monroe, Louisiana Purchase 836 Words \| 3 Pages Outline and essay of Thomas Jefferson, did this for my ap american hsitory class. A. 1st term vice- Aaron Burr B. 2nd term vice- George Clinton VII. Political Party of Jefferson- Democratic-Republican VIII. Domestic Happenings A.... Louisiana Purchase (1803)- The Louisiana Territory was purchased for 15 million dollars from France. Doubled the size of U.S. secured navigation rights on the Mississippi River. Authorized purchase without making amendment, exercised the president's implied powers to protect the nation. B. 12th Amendment (1804)- Citizens are to vote for President... Aaron Burr, James Madison, John Adams 1970 Words \| 7 Pages Net and Gross Method of Recording Purchases of Recording Purchases Purchase Discounts It is a contra-expense account which is an offer from the supplier to the purchaser,... to reduce the selling price if the payment is made within a certain period of time. It is subtracted from the purchases on the income statement. Sellers frequently call them sales discounts. Methods of Recording In accounting, gross method and net method are used to record these kinds of transactions. Net Recording Method Under the net method, purchase discounts are... Accounts payable, Accounts receivable, Expense 527 Words \| 3 Pages Economic History of St. Louis by the United States under President Thomas Jefferson in 1803, as part of the Louisiana Purchase. It was founded by... the French in 1764 when Auguste Chouteau established a fur-trading post and Pierre Laclède Liguest, a New Orleans merchant, founded a town at the present site. They named it after King Louis XV of France and his patron saint, Louis IX. From 1770 to 1803, St. Louis was a Spanish possession, but it was ceded back to France in 1803 in accordance with the Treaty of San Ildefonso (1800), only... Louis XIV of France, Louis XVI of France, Louisiana Purchase 1845 Words \| 5 Pages Western Expansion One of the method the United States used to gain more territory, or to expand was by purchasing territory. The united stated actually made 2... purchase; one of those purchase was the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 which was bought from the French. You may be wondering what where the negative effect of buying these territory? When the United States bought Louisiana it gain full accuses to the Mississippi river which was a good thing for exporting goods actually because so it increased trade. It also doubled... Compromise of 1850, Indian removal, Louisiana 1121 Words \| 2 Pages Thomas Jefferson of the Louisiana territory, bought from France for $15 million. In January 1803, Jefferson named James Monroe as minister... plenipotentiary to France and sent him to Paris prepared to offer $10 million for New Orleans and West Florida. James Monroe was dispatched to Paris to supplement the American mission led by Robert Livingston. Just as Monroe was arriving in Paris, the French foreign minister Talleyrand shocked Livingston by offering to sell not only New Orleans but the whole of Louisiana to the... James Madison, Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase 999 Words \| 3 Pages Thomas Jefferson: Hero or Hypocrite (Davies). Jefferson recognized its success, and chose to preserve it, thus alluding to the fact that Jefferson imposed his authority with America’s interest... in mind. Upon Jefferson’s presidency, he purchased the Louisiana territory (Carnes 177). From the perspective of some historians, such a purchase would be outside the realm of presidential power, for the constitution does not grant the President direct power to increase the nation’s size. They would see this act as merely Jefferson forgoing his principles... Louisiana Purchase, Slavery in the United States, Thomas Jefferson 1215 Words \| 4 Pages The most Effective Presidents in US History be proud of. Thomas Jefferson was the most effective in the Economic issues. The most dramatic action was the Louisiana... Purchase of 1803, which added more than 2,100,000 sq km of land to the United States. Jefferson had no authority to buy the territory of France, though he saw landholding and farming as essential the future of the country. Jefferson called the purchase “an act beyond the Constitution,” but Congress eventually appropriated funds and approved the land deal. Jefferson’s vision... Abraham Lincoln, American Civil War, Democratic Party 724 Words \| 3 Pages James Monroe until 1803. In 1803 Monroe was named to the team that was to negotiate with France for the purchase of the... Louisiana Purchase, which was the largest real-estate transaction in history. When Monroe got to France, US Diplomat, Robert R. Livingston, was in deep negotiations with Napolean I, the Emperor of France about buying New Orleans and West Florida. Napolean wanted to sell the entire Louisiana Territory, instead of just New Orleans and West Florida. After the negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase... George Washington, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams 1570 Words \| 4 Pages Thomas Jefferson Paper scholar, writer, and lawyer that Thomas Jefferson was helped him to contribute greatly to the history of the United States of America by writing the... Declaration of Independence, becoming the third president of the United States, and making the Louisiana Purchase. Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 to Peter Jefferson and Jane Randolph in Shadwell (now known as Albemarle County), Virginia (Magill). Oddly enough, Thomas was not given a middle name. He was the third child, yet first son of the... American Revolution, George Washington, John Adams 2214 Words \| 6 Pages Thomas Jefferson Outline Ap Us History the West: (1806) Sent by Governor Wilkinson, of Louisiana, to explore the western territory that America had now gained. Spanish however,... sought the land to be theirs, and convinced the Pawnee Indians to not let Pike and his men pass to continue his journey. The Chief informed Pike, about the Spanish threat, but Pike insisted that he would still continue his journey. Consequently, Pike convinced the members of Indian camp that the land was Louisiana territory, and it would disallow the Spanish to... Aaron Burr, George Washington, James Madison 1242 Words \| 4 Pages lewis and clark venture the west of the United States. They departed May 1804 on the Mississippi river from St. Louis where they made their way west through the continental... divide to the coast of the pacific. After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the expedition. The Louisiana Purchase was one of the most significant land deals in history because you were basically getting land for cents of the acre. The expedition party consisted of US army volunteers who were under the command of... Great Plains, Lewis and Clark Expedition, Louisiana Purchase 1064 Words \| 3 Pages Ch 7 Apush clamor and tried to change the policy by force, he would run the risk of a major war with France. ii. The Louisiana Purchase... 1. Treaty signed on April 30, 1803 by Livingstone (Jefferson) and Monroe (Napoleon) a. US was to pay 80 mil to the French. b. US was to grant exclusive commercial privileges to France in the port of NO and was to incorporate the residents of Louisiana into the Union with the same rights and privileges as other citizens. c. Boundaries were not clearly... Age of Enlightenment, Jeffersonian democracy, Lewis and Clark Expedition 698 Words \| 5 Pages Jefferson Outfederalized the Federalists Jefferson did out-federalize the federalists by taking their arguments he felt were strong enough to be supported by the public and were best for the common... good. Jefferson's biggest action that stood out as a Federalist viewpoint was the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. When presented with the treaty, Jefferson feared that signing treaty was unconstitutional because it wasn't directly stated in constitution. However, after thinking it over, Jefferson signed the treaty and rationalized for it through... Aaron Burr, American Civil War, Federalism 721 Words \| 3 Pages Constitutional Characterizations of Federalists and Democratic Republicans revealed throughout specific circumstances during their presidencies, such as the issuing of the embargo act and the Louisiana... Purchase in Jefferson’s terms, and the issuing of a military draft and the Tariff of 1816 during Madison’s terms. Jefferson’s theories supported a strict interpretation of the Constitution, however, his issuing of the Embargo Act and his purchase of Louisiana from Napoleon demonstrated his support for lose interpretation of the Constitution as he saw fit for the nation.... Democratic-Republican Party, James Madison, James Monroe 792 Words \| 3 Pages Dbq Essay-Expansionism/Imperialism keeping up with the European powers in the imperialistic years. Humanitarian, we thought, reasons in the early expansion years was assimilating the Indians... and then years later, assimilating the Filipinos. Finally, geographic motives such as the Louisiana Purchase to double the size of America and annexing Hawaii and imperializing Cuba and the Philippines in the later years. The only major difference between these times was the expansion beyond America’s borders. Both in early expansion years and in... Caribbean, Cold War, Europe 1365 Words \| 4 Pages Jeffersonian Republicans - Summary which each party dealt with issues such as the Louisiana Purchase and the Embargo Act of 1807 contributed significantly to the... poor accuracy of this characterization during that time. Between 1801 and 1817 their primary beliefs on the military seemed to change completely. The Louisiana Purchase was handled very differently by each party; it helped contribute to decrease the accuracy of the portrayal of the two parties. During the time of the Louisiana Jefferson was the current president, Robert Livingston... Aaron Burr, Democratic-Republican Party, James Madison 1038 Words \| 3 Pages Lewis and Clark of Discovery was underway. http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Lewis-Clark-Expedition/dp/0060011599/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274196432&sr=8-1 -Journals... of Lewis and Clark -The expedition took 28 months and covered 8,000 miles between May of 1803 and September of 1806. -At its start, the expedition wasn't traveling light. The keelboat labored under 50 kegs of salt pork, seven barrels of salt, 600 pounds of grease and 3,400 pounds of flour. In addition, there were casks of whiskey, replacement... Lewis and Clark Expedition, Louisiana Purchase, Mandan 757 Words \| 3 Pages The Most Important Event in Us History History: The Louisiana Purchase The United States is not the most perfect country, but it is one of the most successful... countries of the modern world. Our country’s vast history contains an immense amount of significant and momentous events that have molded our country into the place we know today. As a country, we have had our fair share of triumph, crisis, and everything in between. But overall, the most important event in the history of the United States is the Louisiana Purchase, Thomas Jefferson’s... American Civil War, Appalachian Mountains, Louisiana 981 Words \| 3 Pages Thomas Jefferson Research Paper African. Barbary wars began when Jefferson opposed bribe payments and declared a fight with the pirates. In the midst of the wars of Napoleon in... 1803, between Britain and France, Jefferson authorized the purchase of Louisiana (Fleming 31). This chief acquisition of land from France augmented the doubling in size of the United States. The Louisiana Purchase manifested the end of ambitions of the French imperial in North America and the novel national security strategy expanded in the United States... American Revolution, American Revolutionary War, Louisiana Purchase 1203 Words \| 3 Pages Manifest Destiny Document Based Question borders of the thirteen original colonies up westward to the Mississippi River. The Treaty of Paris gave the U.S. twelve states which included: Wisconsin,... Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, etc. In 1803 Thomas Jefferson then made the Louisiana Purchase from France, approximately cost fifteen million dollars. The Louisiana Purchase not only doubled the size of the still growing U.S. it also carved out about another twelve states including Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, etc. The Oregon Territory; included Oregon... American Civil War, Louisiana Purchase, Mississippi River 1061 Words \| 3 Pages Important Accomplishments During the Presidencies of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe One of his most significant accomplishments as president was when, in 1803, Jefferson purchased the Louisiana territory from... France for $15 million. Ironically, Jefferson had to go against his strict views of the Constitution in order to purchase the territory, since there was no amendment stating that a president could buy land. After buying the territory, Jefferson began the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore the Louisiana territory and it was a success. Thomas Jefferson also signed the Embargo... James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams 872 Words \| 3 Pages	i don't know
What does the DSM-IV define as: A. Recurrent episodes of abrupt awakening from sleep, usually occurring during the first third of the major sleep episode and beginning with a panicky scream. B. Intense fear and signs of autonomic arousal, such as tachycardia, rapid breathing, and sweating, during each episode. C. Relative unresponsiveness to efforts of others to comfort the person during the episode. D. No detailed dream is recalled and there is amnesia for the episode. E. The episodes cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. F. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition.	sleep \| Nathen's Miraculous Escape Nathen's Miraculous Escape (In which I think & write about whatever strikes my fancy) sleep Archived Posts from this Category January 30, 2016 [2] Comments I get to think and talk about insomnia a lot, because it is such a common symptom in my therapy clients (at least three-quarters of them) and because I’ve had plenty of it myself over the years. ( Here is my advice for insomniacs.) Based on my experience, I’d like to propose a pattern of insomnia that I believe is the most common and hardest to overcome kind of insomnia: structural insomnia. Imagine you were held prisoner for an interrogation. Your captors might try to make you pliable by depriving you of sleep. Maybe they don’t let you lie down, or force you to do some kind of work instead of sleep, or force you to drink caffeine to keep you awake, or use lights, sounds, music, or movement to keep you from sleeping. The lack of sleep you experience would be structural insomnia: lack of sleep created by your waking or sleeping environment, or by bad scheduling. That would be a pretty cruel way to treat someone else, but when we do it to ourselves it seems pretty normal. Here are some of the most common ways we torture ourselves with structural insomnia: We create sleeping spaces that are not dark, quiet, still, and/or comfortable. We use caffeine less than 6 hours before wanting to fall asleep. It takes your liver 6 hours to process caffeine. You have to give it enough time to do it’s job. We expose ourselves to light right up to when we want to fall asleep. Light tells your brain it’s day, which keeps it from producing the hormone that pressures and allows you to fall asleep. We work up to the last minute, or stew on something provocative. You have to give yourself some mellow transition time between being on the ball and asleep. We do not allow ourselves enough time fall asleep and sleep adequately before we have to wake up in the morning. This is a big one! If you need to wake up at 6am, you must be lying down in the dark, doing nothing but trying to fall asleep by 9:30pm in order to get 8 hours of sleep. And that’s if you can fall asleep in 30 minutes. If you know it takes you two hours to fall asleep, you need to schedule ten hours in bed to get your eight. We wake up at night and shine light in our eyes. Phones, clocks, TV, refrigerator lights, etc. We set an object right by our head that will randomly light up, play music, buzz, or make other alarm-like sounds. Phones, of course. Turn them off. If you agree that it would be torture, or at least mistreatment, if you did this stuff to someone else, consider not doing it to yourself! 1 Comment In the vast majority of cases, sleeping is like peeing. You stop when you’re done. I say this to almost anyone I hear complain about oversleeping. I’m not a sleep expert, but I have read a fair amount of sleep research in my study of psychology and psychotherapy. That research suggests that except in conditions like severe depression or narcolepsy, “oversleeping” should be reserved to mean sleeping past an appointment, like “overpeeing” can really only mean overfilling your urine sample cup. It’s important to sleep until you are done sleeping and when you can’t avoid restricting sleep, to make up for it later. This is true for how your body functions, how your brain functions, and your overall well-being. If you don’t believe this, you are either ignorant of or ignoring the evidence. Try searching “sleep restriction” and “metabolism,” “cognition,” or “well-being.” There is a good-sized mountain of evidence. (If you don’t like reading academic writing, try searching “ sleep ” at TED.com or reading Sleep Thieves by Stanley Coren.) And yet, I wake up to an alarm every weekday, and have done so for many years. This is clearly incongruent with my beliefs about sleep. Waking up to an alarm clock is just another way of purposefully restricting sleep. So here’s the plan: I’m giving myself 10.5 hours in bed every night, from 9:30pm until my alarm goes off at 8am, until I start waking up naturally before my alarm. It means giving up an hour or two of socializing, exercising, reading or writing each evening, which feels like a lot. It feels like giving my life completely to work, getting ready for work, and sleep. On the other hand, I could end up feeling better and being healthier, and I could stop being such a hypocrite. My wife is on board with the project, so it has some chance of success. I’ll post again about it in a few weeks. [3] Comments Some of my oldest memories are of lying in bed, late at night, wishing I was asleep: sleep-onset insomnia. I’m happy to say that I have largely overcome this malady. I have a sizeable bag of tricks to help me out with it (read about them here ), the most important of which is having gotten over my fear of insomnia, which had become the primary source of sleeplessness. For the last several years I’ve had trouble getting to sleep just a few times a year. For the last couple months, though, I’ve been experiencing “terminal insomnia,” AKA waking up too early and failing to fall back asleep. Most of my tricks don’t apply here. It sometimes helps to stay in bed until my alarm goes off–occasionally I will fall back asleep. Sometimes cuddling helps, too, but I’ve found nothing consistent so far. It’s become a problem: I’m getting married next week and sleep debt tends to make me clumsy, grouchy, and stupid–not the way I’d like to show up for this event! So I complained about it to my therapist today and he gave me his hypothesis: I am chronically and habitually productive. Productivity is a way of life for me and it’s infiltrated my groggy, should-be-going-back-to-sleep mind. He is right. I am on the go all day. It never occurs to me to slow down, much less take a nap, and that was exactly his prescription: “I wonder what would happen if you cultivated a habit of trying, even to a ridiculous degree, whenever you noticed being really tired , just saying, ‘OK, I’m just going to lie down. I’m just going to quit what I’m doing and lie down.’ Even if it seems indulgent or incovnenient. Just ‘F* it. I’m lying down, I’m closing my eyes, I’m relaxing. If I sleep, I sleep–it doesn’t matter. I’m just going to relax.’ Look at your tiredness as a sort of enlightened messenger, giving you the gift of saying, “Stop it! Stop working so hard. Just lie down right now and be irresponsibly lazy. Just lay out.’ “And you’ll have to deal with the resistance in you too. The well-trained hard, hard worker in you will say “Now’s not a good time… maybe later,” and the challenge is to say “F* you. I’m not buying it. I’m lying down. For at least five minutes I’m going to lie down, deep breath, deep relax, and invite myself to doze if it happens. “It’s the next logical progression of getting over the fear of insomnia: The next step is getting over the fear of being tired. OK, I’m building into my lifestyle being tired and loving myself in my tiredness. If I’m tired, I lie down. Why the hell not? “I want you to take it on as a spiritual practice. Seriously. A spiritual practice of just interrupting productivity as often as possible in order to be lazy and relaxed and tired and just let the earth hold you up. When you lay down, experience the earth holding you up and receive that kind of support. You are a very diligent, principled and hard-working fellow, Nathen, and we have noticed. We got the message. You’ve got that covered. You’ve acheived that already and can let your pendulum swing back in the other direction.” He’s right that it won’t be easy. As I’ve been writing, I can feel the familiar tiredness in my face and arms, weighing me down, and I’m choosing to write instead of lie down. Well, maybe I will go lie down and finish this later… 1 Comment I bought Sleep Cycle for my iPod touch because it sounded right up my alley. It uses the accelerometer in i-devices to measure how much you move while asleep to track your sleep cycles. Then it wakes you up when you will be most alert. How cool is that? Well, it is pretty cool, but not because it tracks your sleep cycles, or because it wakes you up alert. First of all, sleep cycles are defined by brainwave patterns, not by movement. Perhaps it’s a decent analog–I’ve read that claim–but the charts that Sleep Cycle produces from my nights of sleep don’t look much like the examples of EEG readouts of sleepers. Where in this graph was I dreaming? It looks like I fell asleep and woke up pretty abruptly, and was awake for a short period just after 6 am, but that’s all I can tell. I can also say that the app does not always catch it when you wake up. I’ve gotten out of bed to pee and not made a spike out of the sleep zone. It is also not really useful for its primary purpose–to wake you up during the period that you will feel most rested. You set an alarm for the latest you want to wake up, and then a period of time during which it would be acceptable to wake up. The alarm is supposed to go off at the point in that period when you are moving enough to indicate that you are in shallow sleep. Supposedly, if it waited longer and let you go back into deep sleep, you would wake up groggy because of it. Perhaps it’s just me, and perhaps it’s just that I’ve been in grad school, but I found that I never preferred to be woken up before I really needed to be up. I did not notice any benefit from being woken up when I started to move instead of when I had just enough time to get ready for school. Luckily, you can set it for “normal alarm clock mode” with no “wake-up phase.” Still, Sleep Cycle is cool for a couple of reasons. First, It tracks how much time I give myself for sleeping. It starts counting when you set the alarm at night and stops when you wake up and keeps track. That’s how I know, for example, that I gave myself an average of 8 hours and 35 minutes to sleep in for the 155 nights before Reanna moved to Eugene. (It doesn’t work with two people in bed.) (And that included my last 125 days of grad school–not too bad!) That means I averaged fairly close to eight hours of sleep a night, with an estimated average sleep latency of 30 minutes. And that brings me to the coolest part. As a chronic, intermittent insomniac, I’ve always wanted to know how long it actually takes me to get to sleep. Now I have a pretty good idea, thanks to Sleep Cycle. Many of my graphs look something like this: I started trying to sleep just after 1 AM and drifted off around 1:45. I probably would have told you that I lay awake for at least an hour. Here’s another: That looks like about an hour of insomnia. Don’t be fooled by the little initial drop–that was me lying very still, trying to sleep, before starting to toss and turn. To finish off, here are a few other graphs, just so you can see some of the variety: 1 Comment We don’t really know but the DSM estimates between 1 and 6% of children and many fewer adults have this experience. You are more likely to have this happen if you are related to someone who has had this happen, but we have no idea why. It usually just goes away in adolescence. If my parents had been the type to take their kids to mental health professionals, I almost certainly would have gotten this diagnosis as a kid. If so, and if my parents had been the drug-giving kind, I might have been prescribed a benzodiazepine (like Valium) for it. Generally, though, it can be treated by comforting your child when they wake up like this, until it goes away. If you think there might have been a triggering event for the condition, therapy might be helpful. Here are the criteria, quoted word-for-word from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-TR, page 639: Diagnostic criteria for 307.46 Sleep Terror Disorder A. Recurrent episodes of abrupt awakening from sleep, usually occurring during the first third of the major sleep episode and beginning with a panicky scream. B. Intense fear and signs of autonomic arousal, such as tachycardia, rapid breathing, and sweating, during each episode. C. Relative unresponsiveness to efforts of others to comfort the person during the episode. D. No detailed dream is recalled and there is amnesia for the episode. E. The episodes cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. F. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition. Leave a Comment This video makes me want to get an EEG machine. It’s of Ken Wilber narrating footage of himself moving through a few different meditative states while hooked up to an EEG machine. (EEG machines show you a picture of the electrical activity from your brain from electrodes on your scalp.) He says what each state feels like, too. Pretty neat. (Minor correction: He makes it sound like dreaming sleep is mostly associated with theta waves, which is not quite true. Dreaming sleep does have some theta activity, but it’s mostly beta or “beta-like” waves. Theta is strongly associated with stage 1 sleep, that 5 or 10 minute transition between waking and sleep. It’s a minor point, but I so rarely find corrections to make in his work, I thought I’d take this chance.) [2] Comments I’m settling in for my second shift for my university’s crisis line, and my first overnight shift. It was a beautiful day, and it was difficult to drag myself into our underground lair, but here I am until 8 tomorrow morning. It’s a pretty nice little room, painted earth tones and with lots of nice nature photography framed on the walls. I have my own bathroom, TV, computer, fridge, microwave, bed, and, of course, coffee maker. I don’t plan on drinking any coffee. If no one calls, I’d like to be able to get to sleep tonight. I’m anticipating being able to sleep fine. It’s very quiet here, and the room gets very dark with the lights off. That is, unless someone calls–the phone rings very loudly. And it’s also possible that the possibility of getting a call will keep me up–I haven’t had a call yet. We’ll see! The first thing I do is make sure the phones are working. We have two, one for crisis calls, and one backup. I have a backup colleague and two supervisors that I can call or text if I get in over my head. I can also bring them in on a three-way call, if it seems the right thing to do. I don’t anticipate that, but it’s nice to know I can. They are all very experienced at this job. The next thing I do is look over the call sheets since my last shift. Every call gets its own sheet. It’s been pretty slow in the last week–only a few calls. It’s tempting to think that that means it’s unlikely I’ll get a call tonight, but I have no idea. I also looked back a couple months to see if there was any easily recognizable pattern for Friday shifts, but there wasn’t. Just in our current call sheet book we have calls going back about a year, and I believe that we have sheets for many years around somewhere. This line has been running for about 40 years. (And, unfortunately, the administration is shutting us down at the end of this term, for beaurocratic reasons.) I would love to enter all this info into a stats program and look for patterns! I don’t believe I would be allowed to do that, though. There would be no way to get consent from our past “research participants.” The line is totally anonymous. The next thing I do is look at our “regular caller” book. I didn’t know this about hotlines, but there are people who use them regularly, mostly very isolated individuals, taking advantage of a free, professinal listening service to help them deal with their troubles. Pretty smart thing to do, really. It had never occurred to me. We have extensive files on these folks, sometimes going back decades. They have “contracts,” too–agreements they’ve made with us about how often and what times they can call, because they don’t tend to be in crisis, just needing some listening. The regular caller book has all the regular caller call sheets, a record of their current contracts, and a list of their calls with how much time they have left until a certain date. Then I wait for someone in crisis to call. We define a crisis as a situation where a person’s stress overcomes their ability to cope. This can happen a lot of different ways. Our call sheets have the following categories, in addition to “other”: academic, alcohol/drugs, anxiety (popular one), bereavement/grief (another popular one), depression (popular), domestic violence, eating disorder, harassment/descrimination, homocide, information/referral, interpersonal/relationship (popular), loneliness, medical/somatic, psychosis, sexual abuse/rape, sexual concerns, sexually exploitive (this is where a caller tries to use us as a masterbation aid), sexual orientation/gender ID, and suicide (also popular). When someone calls, I am to go through a six-step process with them. 1) Assess for immidiate danger (“Are you in a safe place to talk?”), 2) establish communication and rapport, 3) assess the problem (keep it to one–the biggest problem–and make it specific, as vague problems are almost impossible to solve), 4) assess strengths and resources, 5) formulate a short-term (tonight) and long-term (tomorrow) plan, and 6) mobilize the client, obtaining commitment to the plan and contracting for safety if they have been thinking about suicide. Throughout the process I am to be assessing the potential for suicidality, listening for clues like “feeling overwhelmed,” “worthless”–any indication that they might be thinking about hurting themselves. If that comes up, I have another process to go to. Maybe I’ll write about that in another post. Well, wish me luck. I’m not sure what being lucky would be. It’s easy to hope for no calls–“no news is good news,” as my dad likes to say. On the other hand, if someone is out there in trouble, I really want them to call. I’d feel lucky to get to help someone out of a jam. That’s something to know. Crisis line workers want you to call if you need help. We’re not particularly doing this for the money. I make something like $85 per shift. Not a lot. If no one does call, I’m planning to study until I get tired and then go to bed. I’ll let you know what happens. I won’t be able to tell you the details, of course, but I can say if I got a call.	Night terror
The goal of what popular Nintendo game is to navigate through the Mushroom Kingdom on a quest to save Princess Toadstool?	sleep \| Nathen's Miraculous Escape Nathen's Miraculous Escape (In which I think & write about whatever strikes my fancy) sleep Archived Posts from this Category January 30, 2016 [2] Comments I get to think and talk about insomnia a lot, because it is such a common symptom in my therapy clients (at least three-quarters of them) and because I’ve had plenty of it myself over the years. ( Here is my advice for insomniacs.) Based on my experience, I’d like to propose a pattern of insomnia that I believe is the most common and hardest to overcome kind of insomnia: structural insomnia. Imagine you were held prisoner for an interrogation. Your captors might try to make you pliable by depriving you of sleep. Maybe they don’t let you lie down, or force you to do some kind of work instead of sleep, or force you to drink caffeine to keep you awake, or use lights, sounds, music, or movement to keep you from sleeping. The lack of sleep you experience would be structural insomnia: lack of sleep created by your waking or sleeping environment, or by bad scheduling. That would be a pretty cruel way to treat someone else, but when we do it to ourselves it seems pretty normal. Here are some of the most common ways we torture ourselves with structural insomnia: We create sleeping spaces that are not dark, quiet, still, and/or comfortable. We use caffeine less than 6 hours before wanting to fall asleep. It takes your liver 6 hours to process caffeine. You have to give it enough time to do it’s job. We expose ourselves to light right up to when we want to fall asleep. Light tells your brain it’s day, which keeps it from producing the hormone that pressures and allows you to fall asleep. We work up to the last minute, or stew on something provocative. You have to give yourself some mellow transition time between being on the ball and asleep. We do not allow ourselves enough time fall asleep and sleep adequately before we have to wake up in the morning. This is a big one! If you need to wake up at 6am, you must be lying down in the dark, doing nothing but trying to fall asleep by 9:30pm in order to get 8 hours of sleep. And that’s if you can fall asleep in 30 minutes. If you know it takes you two hours to fall asleep, you need to schedule ten hours in bed to get your eight. We wake up at night and shine light in our eyes. Phones, clocks, TV, refrigerator lights, etc. We set an object right by our head that will randomly light up, play music, buzz, or make other alarm-like sounds. Phones, of course. Turn them off. If you agree that it would be torture, or at least mistreatment, if you did this stuff to someone else, consider not doing it to yourself! 1 Comment In the vast majority of cases, sleeping is like peeing. You stop when you’re done. I say this to almost anyone I hear complain about oversleeping. I’m not a sleep expert, but I have read a fair amount of sleep research in my study of psychology and psychotherapy. That research suggests that except in conditions like severe depression or narcolepsy, “oversleeping” should be reserved to mean sleeping past an appointment, like “overpeeing” can really only mean overfilling your urine sample cup. It’s important to sleep until you are done sleeping and when you can’t avoid restricting sleep, to make up for it later. This is true for how your body functions, how your brain functions, and your overall well-being. If you don’t believe this, you are either ignorant of or ignoring the evidence. Try searching “sleep restriction” and “metabolism,” “cognition,” or “well-being.” There is a good-sized mountain of evidence. (If you don’t like reading academic writing, try searching “ sleep ” at TED.com or reading Sleep Thieves by Stanley Coren.) And yet, I wake up to an alarm every weekday, and have done so for many years. This is clearly incongruent with my beliefs about sleep. Waking up to an alarm clock is just another way of purposefully restricting sleep. So here’s the plan: I’m giving myself 10.5 hours in bed every night, from 9:30pm until my alarm goes off at 8am, until I start waking up naturally before my alarm. It means giving up an hour or two of socializing, exercising, reading or writing each evening, which feels like a lot. It feels like giving my life completely to work, getting ready for work, and sleep. On the other hand, I could end up feeling better and being healthier, and I could stop being such a hypocrite. My wife is on board with the project, so it has some chance of success. I’ll post again about it in a few weeks. [3] Comments Some of my oldest memories are of lying in bed, late at night, wishing I was asleep: sleep-onset insomnia. I’m happy to say that I have largely overcome this malady. I have a sizeable bag of tricks to help me out with it (read about them here ), the most important of which is having gotten over my fear of insomnia, which had become the primary source of sleeplessness. For the last several years I’ve had trouble getting to sleep just a few times a year. For the last couple months, though, I’ve been experiencing “terminal insomnia,” AKA waking up too early and failing to fall back asleep. Most of my tricks don’t apply here. It sometimes helps to stay in bed until my alarm goes off–occasionally I will fall back asleep. Sometimes cuddling helps, too, but I’ve found nothing consistent so far. It’s become a problem: I’m getting married next week and sleep debt tends to make me clumsy, grouchy, and stupid–not the way I’d like to show up for this event! So I complained about it to my therapist today and he gave me his hypothesis: I am chronically and habitually productive. Productivity is a way of life for me and it’s infiltrated my groggy, should-be-going-back-to-sleep mind. He is right. I am on the go all day. It never occurs to me to slow down, much less take a nap, and that was exactly his prescription: “I wonder what would happen if you cultivated a habit of trying, even to a ridiculous degree, whenever you noticed being really tired , just saying, ‘OK, I’m just going to lie down. I’m just going to quit what I’m doing and lie down.’ Even if it seems indulgent or incovnenient. Just ‘F* it. I’m lying down, I’m closing my eyes, I’m relaxing. If I sleep, I sleep–it doesn’t matter. I’m just going to relax.’ Look at your tiredness as a sort of enlightened messenger, giving you the gift of saying, “Stop it! Stop working so hard. Just lie down right now and be irresponsibly lazy. Just lay out.’ “And you’ll have to deal with the resistance in you too. The well-trained hard, hard worker in you will say “Now’s not a good time… maybe later,” and the challenge is to say “F* you. I’m not buying it. I’m lying down. For at least five minutes I’m going to lie down, deep breath, deep relax, and invite myself to doze if it happens. “It’s the next logical progression of getting over the fear of insomnia: The next step is getting over the fear of being tired. OK, I’m building into my lifestyle being tired and loving myself in my tiredness. If I’m tired, I lie down. Why the hell not? “I want you to take it on as a spiritual practice. Seriously. A spiritual practice of just interrupting productivity as often as possible in order to be lazy and relaxed and tired and just let the earth hold you up. When you lay down, experience the earth holding you up and receive that kind of support. You are a very diligent, principled and hard-working fellow, Nathen, and we have noticed. We got the message. You’ve got that covered. You’ve acheived that already and can let your pendulum swing back in the other direction.” He’s right that it won’t be easy. As I’ve been writing, I can feel the familiar tiredness in my face and arms, weighing me down, and I’m choosing to write instead of lie down. Well, maybe I will go lie down and finish this later… 1 Comment I bought Sleep Cycle for my iPod touch because it sounded right up my alley. It uses the accelerometer in i-devices to measure how much you move while asleep to track your sleep cycles. Then it wakes you up when you will be most alert. How cool is that? Well, it is pretty cool, but not because it tracks your sleep cycles, or because it wakes you up alert. First of all, sleep cycles are defined by brainwave patterns, not by movement. Perhaps it’s a decent analog–I’ve read that claim–but the charts that Sleep Cycle produces from my nights of sleep don’t look much like the examples of EEG readouts of sleepers. Where in this graph was I dreaming? It looks like I fell asleep and woke up pretty abruptly, and was awake for a short period just after 6 am, but that’s all I can tell. I can also say that the app does not always catch it when you wake up. I’ve gotten out of bed to pee and not made a spike out of the sleep zone. It is also not really useful for its primary purpose–to wake you up during the period that you will feel most rested. You set an alarm for the latest you want to wake up, and then a period of time during which it would be acceptable to wake up. The alarm is supposed to go off at the point in that period when you are moving enough to indicate that you are in shallow sleep. Supposedly, if it waited longer and let you go back into deep sleep, you would wake up groggy because of it. Perhaps it’s just me, and perhaps it’s just that I’ve been in grad school, but I found that I never preferred to be woken up before I really needed to be up. I did not notice any benefit from being woken up when I started to move instead of when I had just enough time to get ready for school. Luckily, you can set it for “normal alarm clock mode” with no “wake-up phase.” Still, Sleep Cycle is cool for a couple of reasons. First, It tracks how much time I give myself for sleeping. It starts counting when you set the alarm at night and stops when you wake up and keeps track. That’s how I know, for example, that I gave myself an average of 8 hours and 35 minutes to sleep in for the 155 nights before Reanna moved to Eugene. (It doesn’t work with two people in bed.) (And that included my last 125 days of grad school–not too bad!) That means I averaged fairly close to eight hours of sleep a night, with an estimated average sleep latency of 30 minutes. And that brings me to the coolest part. As a chronic, intermittent insomniac, I’ve always wanted to know how long it actually takes me to get to sleep. Now I have a pretty good idea, thanks to Sleep Cycle. Many of my graphs look something like this: I started trying to sleep just after 1 AM and drifted off around 1:45. I probably would have told you that I lay awake for at least an hour. Here’s another: That looks like about an hour of insomnia. Don’t be fooled by the little initial drop–that was me lying very still, trying to sleep, before starting to toss and turn. To finish off, here are a few other graphs, just so you can see some of the variety: 1 Comment We don’t really know but the DSM estimates between 1 and 6% of children and many fewer adults have this experience. You are more likely to have this happen if you are related to someone who has had this happen, but we have no idea why. It usually just goes away in adolescence. If my parents had been the type to take their kids to mental health professionals, I almost certainly would have gotten this diagnosis as a kid. If so, and if my parents had been the drug-giving kind, I might have been prescribed a benzodiazepine (like Valium) for it. Generally, though, it can be treated by comforting your child when they wake up like this, until it goes away. If you think there might have been a triggering event for the condition, therapy might be helpful. Here are the criteria, quoted word-for-word from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-TR, page 639: Diagnostic criteria for 307.46 Sleep Terror Disorder A. Recurrent episodes of abrupt awakening from sleep, usually occurring during the first third of the major sleep episode and beginning with a panicky scream. B. Intense fear and signs of autonomic arousal, such as tachycardia, rapid breathing, and sweating, during each episode. C. Relative unresponsiveness to efforts of others to comfort the person during the episode. D. No detailed dream is recalled and there is amnesia for the episode. E. The episodes cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. F. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition. Leave a Comment This video makes me want to get an EEG machine. It’s of Ken Wilber narrating footage of himself moving through a few different meditative states while hooked up to an EEG machine. (EEG machines show you a picture of the electrical activity from your brain from electrodes on your scalp.) He says what each state feels like, too. Pretty neat. (Minor correction: He makes it sound like dreaming sleep is mostly associated with theta waves, which is not quite true. Dreaming sleep does have some theta activity, but it’s mostly beta or “beta-like” waves. Theta is strongly associated with stage 1 sleep, that 5 or 10 minute transition between waking and sleep. It’s a minor point, but I so rarely find corrections to make in his work, I thought I’d take this chance.) [2] Comments I’m settling in for my second shift for my university’s crisis line, and my first overnight shift. It was a beautiful day, and it was difficult to drag myself into our underground lair, but here I am until 8 tomorrow morning. It’s a pretty nice little room, painted earth tones and with lots of nice nature photography framed on the walls. I have my own bathroom, TV, computer, fridge, microwave, bed, and, of course, coffee maker. I don’t plan on drinking any coffee. If no one calls, I’d like to be able to get to sleep tonight. I’m anticipating being able to sleep fine. It’s very quiet here, and the room gets very dark with the lights off. That is, unless someone calls–the phone rings very loudly. And it’s also possible that the possibility of getting a call will keep me up–I haven’t had a call yet. We’ll see! The first thing I do is make sure the phones are working. We have two, one for crisis calls, and one backup. I have a backup colleague and two supervisors that I can call or text if I get in over my head. I can also bring them in on a three-way call, if it seems the right thing to do. I don’t anticipate that, but it’s nice to know I can. They are all very experienced at this job. The next thing I do is look over the call sheets since my last shift. Every call gets its own sheet. It’s been pretty slow in the last week–only a few calls. It’s tempting to think that that means it’s unlikely I’ll get a call tonight, but I have no idea. I also looked back a couple months to see if there was any easily recognizable pattern for Friday shifts, but there wasn’t. Just in our current call sheet book we have calls going back about a year, and I believe that we have sheets for many years around somewhere. This line has been running for about 40 years. (And, unfortunately, the administration is shutting us down at the end of this term, for beaurocratic reasons.) I would love to enter all this info into a stats program and look for patterns! I don’t believe I would be allowed to do that, though. There would be no way to get consent from our past “research participants.” The line is totally anonymous. The next thing I do is look at our “regular caller” book. I didn’t know this about hotlines, but there are people who use them regularly, mostly very isolated individuals, taking advantage of a free, professinal listening service to help them deal with their troubles. Pretty smart thing to do, really. It had never occurred to me. We have extensive files on these folks, sometimes going back decades. They have “contracts,” too–agreements they’ve made with us about how often and what times they can call, because they don’t tend to be in crisis, just needing some listening. The regular caller book has all the regular caller call sheets, a record of their current contracts, and a list of their calls with how much time they have left until a certain date. Then I wait for someone in crisis to call. We define a crisis as a situation where a person’s stress overcomes their ability to cope. This can happen a lot of different ways. Our call sheets have the following categories, in addition to “other”: academic, alcohol/drugs, anxiety (popular one), bereavement/grief (another popular one), depression (popular), domestic violence, eating disorder, harassment/descrimination, homocide, information/referral, interpersonal/relationship (popular), loneliness, medical/somatic, psychosis, sexual abuse/rape, sexual concerns, sexually exploitive (this is where a caller tries to use us as a masterbation aid), sexual orientation/gender ID, and suicide (also popular). When someone calls, I am to go through a six-step process with them. 1) Assess for immidiate danger (“Are you in a safe place to talk?”), 2) establish communication and rapport, 3) assess the problem (keep it to one–the biggest problem–and make it specific, as vague problems are almost impossible to solve), 4) assess strengths and resources, 5) formulate a short-term (tonight) and long-term (tomorrow) plan, and 6) mobilize the client, obtaining commitment to the plan and contracting for safety if they have been thinking about suicide. Throughout the process I am to be assessing the potential for suicidality, listening for clues like “feeling overwhelmed,” “worthless”–any indication that they might be thinking about hurting themselves. If that comes up, I have another process to go to. Maybe I’ll write about that in another post. Well, wish me luck. I’m not sure what being lucky would be. It’s easy to hope for no calls–“no news is good news,” as my dad likes to say. On the other hand, if someone is out there in trouble, I really want them to call. I’d feel lucky to get to help someone out of a jam. That’s something to know. Crisis line workers want you to call if you need help. We’re not particularly doing this for the money. I make something like $85 per shift. Not a lot. If no one does call, I’m planning to study until I get tired and then go to bed. I’ll let you know what happens. I won’t be able to tell you the details, of course, but I can say if I got a call.	i don't know
Who's missing: Grant Imahara, Kari Byron, Tory Belleci, Adam Savage	MythBusters Stars Kari Byron, Tory Belleci and Grant Imahara Are Leaving the Show \| E! News MythBusters Stars Kari Byron, Tory Belleci and Grant Imahara Are Leaving the Show By Email Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic It's the end of an era for MythBusters: Kari Byron, Tory Belleci and Grant Imahara are leaving the series. Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman announced the fan-favorites would depart the show at the end of the Thursday, Aug. 21 episode of the hit Discovery program. Kari and Grant took to Twitter to share their feelings with fans after the announcement. "I guess you guys are finding out the news right about now. After a decade of the MythBusters, we are no longer with the show," Kari said in a series of tweets. "Thank you to all the fans who have supported us. The show is taking a new direction. It was an amazing run. I learned so much about myself and the world. I love you all @MythBusters. I am sad for an ending but there will be exciting new adventures for us." MORE: That time President Obama was on MythBusters Twitter "Thanks @MythBusters for allowing us to teach science in a whole new way," Grant shared . "Also, explosions. Now, on to the next adventure!" Adam shared the photo of the crew above and thanked his cohorts. ".@KariByron, @grantimahara & @ToryBelleci, it's been a pleasure to not only work with you but call you our friends," he tweeted . Adam and Jamie will return to being the sole hosts of the science series when it returns with new episodes. See the show's tribute to Kari, Tory and Grant below. We want to thank @KariByron @GrantImahara @ToryBelleci for their tireless work, and wish them all the best. https://t.co/pmMSqiRAH1 Brazil E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our US edition? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our Canadian edition? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our UK edition? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our Australian edition? E! ist überall Dieser Inhalt ist für internationale Besucher verfügbar. Möchtest du ihn in der deutschen Version anschauen? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our German edition? E! est partout Une version adaptée de ce contenu est disponible pour notre public international. Souhaitez-vous voir ça dans notre édition française ? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our French edition? Yes!	Jamie Hyneman
According to legend, who fell asleep in the Catskill Mountains for 20 years, following a game of 9-pins with the ghosts of Henry Hudson's crew?	Why Did Kari Byron Quit 'Mythbusters'? Cast Reveals 'New Direction' For Discovery Show Why Did Kari Byron Quit 'Mythbusters'? Cast Reveals 'New Direction' For Discovery Show 08/22/14 AT 12:24 PM Close Why are Grant Imahara, Kari Byron and Tory Belleci leaving the Discovery Channel series "MythBusters"? Photo: Discovery Channel/Benjamin Hanson Here's something we wish was just a myth. Kari Byron, Tory Belleci and Grant Imahara of the hit Discovery Channel series “MythBusters” will not be returning for a 2015 season. Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman made the heartbreaking announcement at the end of their episode on Thursday, Aug. 21, to confirm that the trio is leaving the science entertainment program. Viewers of the long-running series then looked to their fan favorites for an explanation: Did they leave “MythBusters” on their own terms? Was this a money issue? Did Discovery Channel force them out? That’s when the cast took to Twitter to put an end to the mystery: “It’s been an amazing ride for 10 years! We couldn’t have done it without you guys,” Belleci spoke of his decade solving mysteries on the Discovery program. “You’re the best fans anyone could wish for. Thank you.” While Belleci thanked the viewers, Imahara expressed gratitude to Discovery. “Thanks @MythBusters for allowing us to teach science in a whole new way. Also, explosions. Now, on to the next adventure," he wrote. Byron’s reaction, though, left viewers scratching their heads. "I guess you guys are finding out the news right about now. After a decade of the MythBusters, we are no longer with the show," she said in a slew of tweets. "Thank you to all the fans who have supported us. The show is taking a new direction. It was an amazing run. I learned so much about myself and the world. I love you all @MythBusters. I am sad for an ending, but there will be exciting new adventures for us." A new direction, huh? How could a show focused on using scientific methods to test the validity of rumors and myths find a fresh approach? Fans have theorized that “MythBusters” is following in the footsteps of another successful reality series, “Dancing With the Stars,” which ABC revamped in 2014 by firing Brooke Burke-Charvet weeks before the Season 18 premiere and replacing her with journalist Erin Andrews. But this isn't the first time the cast members of "MythBusters" have found themselves steeped in drama. Rumors previously swirled that they hate each other, but Hyneman addressed them during an interview with Access Hollywood in March, saying that the "MythBusters" team finds themselves more often than not stepping on one another's toes. “We get on each other’s nerves and everything all the time, but whenever that happens, we say so and we deal with it and move on,” he revealed. “There are times that we really dislike dealing with each other, but we make it work.” How did you react to the news of Byron, Belleci and Imahara’s departure from “MythBusters”? How do you think Discovery will revamp the show? And who do you think would make a good replacement for the beloved fan favorites? Sound off in the comments section below.	i don't know
On the steps of Federal Hall, George Washington took the first ever Oath of Office on the 30th of April, 1789 in what city?	Federal Hall Celebrates the 224th Anniversary of Washington’s Inauguration \| Untapped Cities Federal Hall Celebrates the 224th Anniversary of Washington’s Inauguration Share April 30th 2013, marked the 224th anniversary of the inauguration of our first president under the constitution. Federal Hall National Memorial , located on the site of this historic event, played host to a day of celebrations. Color guards, drum and fife corps, costumed reenactors, and Masons in their Masonic uniforms were all present to honor our first president. On April 30, 1789, George Washington arrived at Federal Hall (which housed the federal government) to take the oath of office. That Federal Hall building had originally been constructed between 1699 and 1702 as the third location of New York City’s City hall. After ratification of the Constitution, City Hall became Federal Hall, the first capitol building of the United States under the Constitution. The building was renovated and enlarged by Pierre Charles L’Enfant to serve this purpose. The first Congress convened here on March 4, 1789, and elected George Washington as president. On April 30, 1789, Washington ascended to the balcony where he was inaugurated. For the 224th anniversary, the ceremony took place in the rotunda of Federal Hall National Memorial. The current Federal Hall was constructed in 1842 as the first purposeful built Customs House in the country and is considered to be one of the best surviving examples of classical architecture in New York. It was constructed on the site of the original building which had been demolished in 1812 and sold for scrap. This year’s reenacment began with welcoming remarks by representatives from the National Park Service and the Masons , who were followed by an invocation from Bishop Samuel Provost. Then the festivities began. A costumed color guard marched through the rotunda followed by a drum and fife group which played Yankee Doodle Dandy. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited followed by the first stanza of the National Anthem, which was written by Francis Scott Key, a Mason. Another drum and fife group led representatives from the St. John’s Lodge No. 1, AYM, in their dressed in the Masonic regalia. Along with them came the inaugural bible. The Masons planned the ceremony in Federal Hall , and were out in such large numbers because George Washington was a mason. In fact, he is the only person to have simultaneously been both Grand Master and President of the United States. Additionally, the Washington inaugural bible is owned by the Masons, who loan it to Federal Hall National Memorial so the public are able to view it in its historic context. The Senate Secretary, Samuel Otis, was handed the bible, while Chancellor Robert Livingston administered the oath of office to George Washington. As happened 224 years ago, Washington veered from the constitutionally prescribed oath ever so slightly by adding in the words ” so help me god,” which set a precedent followed to this day. After he was sworn in the audience, as previously instructed, he cheered three times “huzzah, huzzah, huzzah” as happened spontaneously in 1789. After George Washington gave his inaugural address, he along with the other costumed reenactors mingled with those who came to watch the ceremony and those who happened into Federal Hall at the right time. Though the original Federal Hall was demolished, vestiges of it remain. The piece of the balcony on which Washington stood when he was inaugurated was saved and is now on display in Federal Hall National Memorial. It is pictured above with one of George Washington’s reenactors present at the day’s events. Additionally, Washington’s desk can be found in New York City Hall and pieces of the balcony railing can be found in the New-York Historical Society and Federal Hall National Memorial . The 224th Anniversary events concluded with readings of proclamations from Mayor Bloomberg, Speaker Quinn, and Councilwoman Chin, a wreath laying presentation, and a benediction. Once outside, the drum and fife corps played music for a crowd of onlookers who were surprised, but clearly enjoyed the performance. If you missed this year’s anniversary make sure you mark your calendar for next April 30th, the 225th anniversary, which is bound to be special. In the mean time, stop by Federal Hall National Memorial, to check out its exhibitions, ranger led tours, or just to marvel in its architecture. 26 Wall St New York, NY 10005 Hours: Monday through Friday 9:00-5:00 I would like to thanks the National Park Service Rangers, especially Kevin Daley for his photographs, the Masons from St. John’s Lodge No. 1 for their help and assistance. City Hall , federal hall , george washington , Masons , washington Read More	New York City
Who is “watching you” in George Orwell’s book 1984?	First Inaugural Address \| National Archives First Inaugural Address George Washington's First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789 Records of the United States Senate View images of the first inaugural address Presidential inaugurations are important civic rituals in our nation's political life. The Constitution requires that presidential electoral votes be opened and counted by the Senate and House of Representatives meeting together, that the candidate with a majority of electoral votes be declared the victor, and that the president-elect, before taking charge of the office, swear an oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." In 1788, the Confederation Congress scheduled the first presidential inauguration for the first Wednesday in March of the following year. However, the early months of 1789 proved to be unseasonably cold and snowy and bad weather delayed many members of the First Federal Congress from arriving promptly in New York City, the temporary seat of government. Until a quorum could be established in both the House and the Senate, no official business could be conducted. Finally, on April 6, 1789 - over a month late - enough members had reached New York to tally the electoral ballots. The ballots were counted on April 6 and George Washington won unanimously with 69 electoral votes. Washington was then notified of his victory and traveled to New York City from his home in Virginia. On April 30, 1789, George Washington took the oath as the first president of the United States. The oath was administered by Robert R. Livingston, the Chancellor of New York, on a second floor balcony of Federal Hall, above a crowd assembled in the streets to witness this historic event. President Washington and the members of Congress then retired to the Senate Chamber, where Washington delivered the first inaugural address to a joint session of Congress. Washington humbly noted the power of the nations' call for him to serve as president and the shared responsibility of the president and Congress to preserve "the sacred fire of liberty" and a republican form of government. At that auspicious moment marking the birth of the federal government under the Constitution, Senator William Maclay of Pennsylvania observed that even the great Washington trembled when he faced the assembled representatives and senators. "This great man was agitated and embarrassed," Maclay added, "more than ever he was by the levelled Cannon or pointed Musket." After concluding his remarks, the President and Congress proceeded through crowds lined up on Broadway to St. Paul's Church, where a service was conducted. Social gatherings and festivities closed the nation's first inaugural day. Subsequent presidential inaugurations took place on March 4th (or March 5th when the fourth fell on a Sunday), until the Twentieth Amendment changed the date to January 20th beginning in 1937.	i don't know
What comic strip, created by Mort Walker, tells the tale of a goldbricking US Army private?	Index to Comic Art Collection: "Chao" to "Chapuz�n" Back up the list ----------------------------------------------------- Chao, Allan. "The New Gods Portfolio" p. 4-5 in The Jack Kirby Collector, v. 2, no. 6 (July 1995) -- Background information supplied by Allan Chao. I. Kirby, Jack. II. Chao, Allan. Call no.: PN6727.K53J28v.2 no.6 ------------------------------------------------------ Chao, Fred. Johnny Hiro. -- Richmond, Va. : AdHouse Books, 2007- . -- ill. ; 26 cm. -- "Half Asian, all hero". -- By Fred Chao. -- Alternative genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-2 (2007). -- Call no.: PN6728.7.A33J6 ----------------------------------------------------- Chao, Hung-Pen. Monkey Subdues the White-Bone Demon / adapted by Wang Hsing-pei ; drawings by Chao Hung-pen, and Chien Hsiao-tai. 2nd ed. -- Peking : Foreign Languages Press, 1973. -- 110 p. : chiefly ill. ; 26 cm. -- A "picture story book ... based on an episode from The pilgrimage to the West ... by Wu Cheng-en." -- Translation of (title romanized) Sun Wu-k'ung san ta Pai-ku-ching. I. Wang, Hsing-pei. II. Wu, Ch'eng-en, ca. 1500-ca. 1582. III. Chao, Hung-Pen. IV. Ch'ien, Hsiao-tai. Call no.: PL2697.H7513 1973 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos Order ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos, Dr. B.A.B.E. Force Jurassic Trailer Park Prequel. Dr. Chaos' Comic Cornucopia. -- Guasti, Ca. : Forcewerks Productions, 2004. -- 32 p. : ill. ; 26 cm. -- (Free Comic Book Day ; 2004) -- Titles from respective indicia of back-to-back inverted stories. -- B.A.B.E. Force cover numbering: #0. -- Dr. Chaos cover numbering: #1. -- Spy genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.F63B2 2004 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos / by J.T.C. -- Chino, CA : Chick Publications, 1975. -- 32 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm.-- (The Crusaders ; v. 5) -- About Christian prophecy. -- Call no.: PN6728.4.C48C4735 1975 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos / Druillet. -- Paris : Albin Michel, 2000. -- 65 p. : col. ill. ; 32 cm. -- (Lone Sloane) -- Science fiction genre.-- Call no.: PN6747.D7C47 2000 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos Chaos / Jean "Moebius" Giraud, artist ; Jean-Marc Lofficier, Randy Lofficier, translators, editors (Starwatcher Graphics) ; Marie Javins, editor (Epic Comics). -- New York : Epic Comics, 1991. -- 91 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm. -- Indicia title: Epic Graphic Novel: Moebius--Chaos. -- "Originally printed by Les Humanoides Associates, Paris, France." -- Call no.: PN6747.G5C47 1991 Summary: Though this is called a "graphic novel" by Epic Comics, it is a sketchbook or scrapbook. It begins with a brief musing by the artist on the topic of aging. There is no overall narrative. Sources for the previously published drawings are given, and about a third of the drawings are from private sketchbooks. This is re-packaged with Metallic Memories as Virtual Meltdown in a signed limited edition (1500 copies). This summary is from European Comics in English Translation (Jefferson, NC : McFarland & Company, 2002). Used with permission. ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. "And Be a Bride of Chaos" (Vampirella) / Goodwin ; Gonzales. 20 p. in Vampirella, no. 16 (Apr. 1972) ; reprinted in Vampirella, no. 55 (Oct. 1976) ; edited to 13 p. in Vampirella, no. 81 (Sept. 1979). -- Data from Jerry Sinkovec. -- Call no.: PN6728.3.W3V3no.16 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. Angel of Chaos / story and art by Yukito Kishiro ; English adaptation by Fred Burke & Toshifumi Yoshida. -- San Francisco : Viz Communications, 1997. -- 224 p. : ill. ; 21 cm. -- (A Battle Angel Alita Graphic Novel) -- (Viz Graphic Novel) -- "This volume contains Battle Angel Alita part six in its entirety". -- Science fiction genre. -- Call no.: PN6790.J33 K5A47 1997 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. The Bathroom Girls Guide to Christmas Chaos / by Yvonne Mojica. -- Naragansett, RI : Modern Comics, 2000. -- 32 p. : ill. ; 26 cm. -- "Made by one of Santa's drunken elves." -- Cover title: Bathroom Girls Guide to Holiday Chaos! -- Women's and alternative genres. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.M572B3 2000 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. The Blank in the Comics strip collection includes a file of one or more daily comic strips related to this keyword or topic. Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. "Call it Chaos!" (Vampirella) / author, Archie Goodwin ; illustrator, Anton Caravana. p. 5-25 in Vampirella, no. 100 (Oct. 1981). -- "A mad god from a dimension of hatred and chaos slithers from its hellpit, forcing a showdown with Vampi!" -- Call no.: PN6728.3.W3V3no.100 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. "Carnival of Chaos"* (Auro, Lord of Jupiter) / art: Graham Ingels? 6 p. in Planet Comics, no. 59 (Mar. 1949). -- Villains Sala and Akim are introduced; introduction of Zarixa and Dr. Tor. -- Data from Lou Mougin via the Grand Comics Database Project. -- Call no.: PN6728.1.F5P55m no.59 --------------------------------------------------- Chaos. Chains of Chaos. -- New York : Harris Comics, 1994- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- To be complete in 3 nos. -- Horror. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.H29C47 1994 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. "The Command is Chaos" (Justice League of America) 18 p. in Justice League of America, no. 127 (Feb. 1976) -- Data from Gene Reed. -- Call no.: PN6728.3.N3J8no.127 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. "Constipated Chaos Consortium" / Spain, Bosirus Eerie, Moscoso, R. Crumb, S. Clay Wilson, & Robt. Williams. 1 p. in Zap Comix, no. 11 (1985). -- Call no.: PN6728.45.P7Z3no.11 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. "Countdown to Chaos!" (Spider-Man) 20 p. in Amazing Spider-Man, no. 118 (Mar. 1973) ; reprinted, changed and augmented from parts of "Lo, This Monster" in Spectacular Spider-Man, no. 1 (July 1968). -- Data from George Olshevsky. k. Chaos. Call no.: PN6728.3.M3A5no.118 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. Doc Chaos. -- Picton, Ont. : Vortex Comics, 1990. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- One issue published. -- "Issues 1-13 comprise one story entitled The Strange Attractor." -- Superhero genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6734.D57 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. Doctor Chaos. -- Farmingdale, N.Y. : Triumphant Comics, . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Superhero. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 4 (1994). -- Call no.: PN6728.6.T7D6 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. "Don't Eat Your Popcorn So Loud, Jeffy!"* (The Family Circus, Sept. 2, 2007) / Jeff and Bil Keane. -- Summary: A scene of chaos in a movie theater full of kids. -- Call no.: oversize PN6726.S79 Sept. 2, 2007 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. "I Don't Know Anything. It's Much Too Dangerous to Leave the Hotel"* (Doonesbury, July 5, 2004) / G.B. Trudeau. -- Summary: Roland Hedley reports live from the chaos of Baghdad. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "danger" ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. "Kissing Chaos" / Arthur Dela Cruz. 6 p. in Expo 2001 (Bethesda, Maryland : The Expo, 2001). -- Call no.: PN6705.U5S6 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. Kissing Chaos / by Arthur Dela Cruz. -- Oni Press, 2001- . -- ill. ; 23 cm. -- Complete in 8 nos. -- Alternative genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6728.7 .O5K48 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. Kissing Chaos / written & illustrated by Arthur Dela Cruz. -- Portland, OR : ONI Press, 2002- . -- ill. ; 23 cm. -- LIBRARY HAS: v. 1. -- Call no.: PN6727.D393K5 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. Kissing Chaos : Nine Lives / by Arthur Dela Cruz. -- Oni Press, 2003. -- 32 p. : ill. ; 26 cm. -- "December 2003". -- "To be continued." -- Alternative genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.7 .O5K5 2003 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. Kissing Chaos : Nonstop Beauty / by Arthur Dela Cruz. -- Oni Press, 2002- . -- ill. ; 23 cm. -- Complete in 4 nos. -- Alternative genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6728.7 .O5K52 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. "Lord of Chaos!" (Thongor) 18 p. in Creatures on the Loose, no. 29 (May 1974). -- Call no.: PN6728.3.M3T6no.29 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. Mistress of Chaos! / written by Steve Stern, from a story idea by Catania ; illustrations by Bill Maus. -- Chesapeake, VA : Entity Comics, 1994. -- 1 v. : ill. ; 26 cm. -- (A Zen Intergalactic Ninja Adventure) -- (Entity Illustrated Novella ; no. 1) 1. Superhero fiction. I. Stern, Steve. II. Catania. III. Maus, Bill. IV. Series (2) V. Entity Comics. k. Chaos. Call no.: PS3569.T415M5 1994 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. Narcissa / by Lance Tooks. -- New York : Doubleday Graphic Novels, 2002. -- 1 v. : ill. ; 21 x 28 cm. -- Cover blurb: "Narcissa, a talented and self-centered independent filmmaker, is collapsing under the strain of her critics, the 'enlightened' people who are trying to get her to compromise her integrity. The stress is killing her, literally. Warned that if she tries to complete her current project she'll be dead in a week, Narcissa decides to escape the chaos that surrounds her, and the fears that threaten to overwhelm her, by traveling to Spain. As she encounters new people, places, and experiences, Narcissa gradually comes to a deeper understanding of who she is and what she is doing with her life." -- Call no.: PN6727.T58N3 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. "Neighbourhood Party Chaos" / Julian Geek. p. 20-21 in SAV Sadness : Alive but Dead! How? (Fast Fiction ; 29) -- Call no.: PN6737.P5S35 1990 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. "Oh, Thank God! Here Comes a Border Collie!"* (Far Side, Mar. 14, 1990) / Larson. -- Summary: The party the sheep are having is "total chaos." -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "border collies" ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. "Power and Chaos" (Doom Patrol) / Erik Larsen & Al Gordon, artists ; Paul Kupperberg, writer ; Michele Wolfman, colorist ; John Workman, letterer. 22 p. in Doom Patrol, no. 13 (Oct. 1988). -- Data from Gene Reed & John Bullough, via Grand Comic-Book Database. -- Call no.: PN6728.5.D3D63no.13 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. "The Replacement!" (Superman) / Cary Bates, writer ; Curt Swan, penciller ; Dave Hunt, inker ; Agustin Mas, letterer ; Gene D'Angelo, colorist ; Julius Schwartz, editor. 24 p. in Superman, no. 418 (Apr. 1986). -- SUMMARY: Aliens Superman once met as Superboy ask for help in dealing with a threat to their civilization. He agrees and one alien stays to take over Superman's job. The news media name him "Superman-X." Guns turn to dust, kryptonite turns to sandstone, and people begin to think the replacement has surpassed Superman. Superman-X cures hopeless diseases, etc., but doesn't balance his deeds with self-restraint. Lois and Jimmy show Superman-X a news story in which a child with polio and leg braces is killed in the chaos of people trying to get to the "savior" at the hospital gates. Superman-X believes it and leaves in a wail of anguish, but the tape was a fake, nobody has died, although the chaos was real. The real Superman returns soon after (summary by Mary Walker). -- Call no.: PN6728.1.N3S8no.418 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. Seeds of Chaos / art, Hiroyuki Utatane ; story, Yo Morimoto ; translation, Dana Lewis and Adam Warren ; lettering and touch-up, Pat Duke and Amador Cisneros. -- Milwaukie, OR : Dark Horse Comics, 2002. -- 240 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. -- (Seraphic Feather ; v. 2) -- "This volume collects Seraphic Feather stories from issues ten through eighteen of the Dark Horse comic-book series Super Manga Blast!" -- Science fiction genre. -- Call no.: PN6790.J33 U8S4213 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. Silent M�bius : Love and Chaos / story and art by Kia Asamiya ; English adaptation by Fred Burke ; translation, Akiko Yagi ; touch-up art and lettering, Dan Nakrosis. -- San Francisco, CA : Viz Comics, 2000-2001. -- ill. ; 21 cm. -- Complete in 7 nos. -- Science fiction genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 2, 4 (2001). -- Call no.: PN6790.J33 A8S517 2000 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. Star Wars : River of Chaos. -- Milwaukie, OR : Dark Horse Comics, 1995- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-3. -- To be complete in 4 nos. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.D34S7426 1995 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos. "Who Serves the Cause of Chaos?" (Vampirella) / Tom Sutton, art ; Archie Goodwin, script. 21 p. in Vampirella, no. 8 (Nov. 1970). -- Introduction of Conrad Van Helsing, Adam Von Helsing ; first appearance of the Crimson Chronicles and the Cult of Chaos. -- Data from Martin O'Hearn, Bill Wormstedt via Grand Comic-Book Database. -- Call no.: PN6728.3.W3V3no.8 ----------------------------------------------------- Newspaper panel by B. Shuster ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos (Jan. 9, 1995) "Elvis! Where?" (Chaos, Jan. 9, 1995) / by B. Shuster. -- Summary: Rex has tricked his master and switched his dog food for table food. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "Presley" ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos (Apr. 19, 1995) "The Next Song is Called Somebody Get That Man Out of the Tiger Cage!" (Chaos, Apr. 19, 1995) / by B. Shuster. -- Summary: The band's vocalist has a cast, a crutch, and his face is covered with bandages. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "tiger cages" ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos (Apr. 27, 1995) "No Thanks, I'm Wearing the Patch" (Chaos, Apr. 27, 1995) / by B. Shuster. -- Summary: The man before the firing squad turns down the offer of a last cigarette. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "the patch" ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos (Apr. 28, 1995) "OK Punk, Put the Gun Down, Nice and Slow" (Chaos, Apr. 28, 1995) / by B. Shuster. -- Summary: A couple of snails are being mugged in an alley. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "snails" ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos (Apr. 29, 1995) "And His Last Entry Said, Look at the Size of That Thing"* (Chaos, Apr. 29, 1995) / by B. Shuster. -- Key words: Journals, monsters. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "monsters" ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos (May 10, 1995) "The News Isn't Good"* (Chaos, May 10, 1995) / by B. Shuster. -- Summary: From the symptoms, the rat's doctor guesses it's rat poison. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "poison" ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos (July 24, 1995) "Fastest...Snail...in...the...West"* (Chaos, July 24, 1995) / by B. Shuster. -- Situation: Gunslingers face off in a western bar. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "snails" ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos : Lone Sloane Chaos : Lone Sloane / Druillet. -- Rockville Centre, NY : Heavy Metal, 2000. -- 1 v. : col. ill. ; 32 cm. -- The author's dedication (to Jacques Lob) includes the information that this album "should have become a film," and uses an ending written with Benjamin Legrand for the film "Kazhann" (1987). -- Call no.: PN6747.D7C4713 2000 Summary: The ruling Blue Barons of the planet Kazhann are plunderers whose religion is art. The Superior Shaan orders the remains of the rebel Sloane uncovered and brought to him. A woman penetrates the train transporting the corpse, and revives Sloane. Sloane vows to vanquish the Emperor. The woman says her name is Legend, mistress of the "Guild of Voice," a singer. Legend saves Sloane from madness. She explains that the funeral train they are riding is the Emperor's mental projection of Mozart's Requiem, and that she got in by knowing codes and songs taught to her by her father. The Blue Barons learn that Sloane is alive, and determine to help him by rebelling against the Emperor Shaan. One of the Barons' warriors, named Vuzz, salutes Sloane and pledges his aid. Shaan attacks, and reveals that he is what Sloane himself will become after 300 years. Sloane denies this, and says there are alternate futures. Legend attacks, and the evil is defeated. The Blue Barons present Sloane with his reconstructed ship, O Siddharta. Sloane is reunited with Vuzz and Yearl. ----------------------------------------------------- "Chaos and the Pit!" (Captain Marvel) / Doug Moench, writer ; Pat Broderick, penciler ; Bruce Patterson, inker. 17 p. in Captain Marvel, no. 61 (Mar. 1979). -- Call no.: PN6728.3.M3C32no.61 ----------------------------------------------------- "Chaos! Artist Steven Hughes Dies" / Tom Spurgeon. p. 31 in The Comics Journal, no. 222 (Apr. 2000). -- (Newswatch) -- Hughes was an African American artist. -- Call no.: PN6700.C62no.222 ----------------------------------------------------- "Chaos at the Central Park Zoo"* (Great Hoaxes) 5 p. in True Comics, no. 45 (Fall 1945) -- SUMMARY: In the New York Herald of November 9, 1874, an imaginary story about chaos at the Central Park Zoo appeared, in order to warn of what might happen if conditions for the animals were not improved. 1. New York Herald. I. Great Hoaxes. k. Hoaxes. k. Central Park Zoo. k. Zoos. k. Conditions. k. Imaginary stories. Call no.: PN6728.1.P3T7no.45 ----------------------------------------------------- "Chaos at the Coffee Bean!" (Spider-Man) / Scott Edelman, scripter ; Johnny Romita Jr., penciller ; Al Milgrom, inks. 6 p. in Amazing Spider-Man Annual, no. 11 (1977). -- Call no.: PN6728.3.M3A52no.11 ----------------------------------------------------- "Chaos at the Earth's Core" (Spider-Man and Mr. Fantastic) 19 p. in Marvel Team-Up, no. 17 (Jan. 1974) k. Earth's core. k. Cores. I. Mr. Fantastic. Call no.: PN6728.4.M3M37no.17. ----------------------------------------------------- "Chaos! Bankrupt!" / Michael Dean. p. 33 in The Comics Journal, no. 247 (Oct. 2002). -- (Newswatch) -- On Chaos! Comics. -- Call no.: PN6700.C62no.247 ----------------------------------------------------- The Chaos! Bible. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1995. -- 40 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- "#1, November 1995". -- Includes character profiles and information about the publisher. -- Horror genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47C47 1995 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos City Comics. AIDS Awareness / story, Steve Lowis ; art, Dave Gibbons, et al. -- St. Albans, Herts : Chaos City Comics, 1993. -- 32 p. : ill. ; 26 cm. 1. AIDS (Disease)--Comic books, strips, etc. 2. British comics. I. Lowis, Steve. II. Gibbons, Dave. III. Chaos City Comics. k. Awareness. Call no.: PN6738.A35 1993 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics American comics publisher ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Bad Kitty : Reloaded. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2001- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 4 nos. -- Superheroine and horror genres. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 3 (2002). -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47B32 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. The Chaos! Bible. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1995. -- 40 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- "#1, November 1995". -- Includes character profiles and information about the publisher. -- Horror genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47C47 1995 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Chaos Presents! Jade. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2001. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 4 nos. -- Superheroine genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 3. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47C47 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Chaos Presents Jade : Redemption. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2001- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- To be complete in 4 nos. -- Superheroine genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47C472 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Chastity : Crazytown. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2002. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 3 nos. -- Superheroine and horror genres, with vampires. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 2. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47C477 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Chastity : Shattered / story, Len Kaminski, Brian Pulido ; pencils, Adriano Batista ; inks, Cleber Salles. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2001. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 3 nos. -- Vampire story. -- Superheroine and horror genres. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47C48 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Chastity : Theatre of Pain. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1997. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 3 nos. -- Horror genre, with vampires. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47C48 1997 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Detonator. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, Inc., 1994-1995. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Published no. 1 (Dec. 1994) - no. 2 (Jan. 1995). -- Superhero genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-2. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47D4 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Evil Ernie. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1998-1999. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Published no. 1 (July 1998) - no. 10 (Apr. 1999), cf. Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. -- Horror genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 9 (1999). -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47E87 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Evil Ernie : Revenge! -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1994- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- To be complete in 4 nos. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. 1. Horror comic books, strips, etc. I. Revenge! II. Chaos! Comics. k. Ernie. Call no.: PN6728.6.C47E9 1994 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Evil Ernie : Straight to Hell #1 : Prologue / creator/writer, Brian Pulido ; illustrator, Justiniano. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1995. -- 16 p. : col. ill. ; 22 cm. -- "Exclusive to Wizard, the guide to comics." -- Horror genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47E93 1995 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Evil Ernie : Youth Gone Wild! / created and written by Brian Pulido ; illustrated by Steven Hughes. -- Toluca Lake, Calif. : Chaos! Comics, 1992. -- 140 p. : ill. ; 26 cm. -- Originally published as Evil Ernie, no. 1-5 (1991-1992) by Eternity Comics. 1. Horror comic books, strips, etc. I. Pulido, Brian. II. Hughes, Steven. III. Youth Gone Wild. IV. Chaos! Comics. k. Ernie. Call no.: PN6727.P8E87 1992b ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Insane Clown Posse. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1999. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Published #1 (June 1999) - #1 vol. 3 (Oct. 1999). -- #2 (Aug. 1999) called "#1 vol. 2 (Sept. '99)" on cover. -- #1 vol. 3 (Oct. 1999) called #1 vol. 3 (Nov. '99) on cover. -- Issue #4 (Jan. 2000) is also "#1 (of 12)" of the limited series Insane Clown Posse : the Pendulum. -- Horror genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-3. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47 I45 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Insane Clown Posse : the Pendulum. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos Comics, 2000-2001. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 12 nos., each accompanied by a music CD. -- The first issue (#1 of 12) is also called #4, continuing the numbering of an earlier series. -- MSU Library does not own CDs. -- Horror genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-4. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47 I45 2000 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Lady Death. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1998-1999. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Published no. 01 (Feb. 1998) - no. 16 (May 1999). -- Horror and superheroine genres. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47L25 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Lady Death II : Between Heaven & Hell. -- Scotsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1995. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 4 nos. -- Horror genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 2-4. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47L28 1995 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Lady Death IV : the Crucible. -- Scotsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1996-1997. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 6 nos. -- Horror genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 3-5. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47L27 1996 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Lady Death : Dark Alliance. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2002- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 5 nos. -- Horror and superheroine genres. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 2-3. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47L3 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Lady Death : Re-imagined. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2002. -- 32 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- "#1, July 2002." -- Superheroine and horror genres. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47L33 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Lady Death and Jade. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2002. -- 32 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- "#1, April 2002." -- Horror and superheroine genres. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47L27 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Lady Death/Medieval Witchblade. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2001. -- 48 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- "#1 preview book July 2001"--indicia. -- "#1 (of 1), August 2001"--cover. -- Superheroine and horror genres. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47L32 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Lady Death/Medieval Witchblade Preview Edition. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2001. -- 24 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 26 cm. -- "#1 preview book July 2001"--indicia. -- "Preview edition August 2001"--cover. -- Includes brief interviews with Brian Pulido, Brian Augustyn and Romano Molenaar. -- Superheroine and horror genres. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47L319 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Lady Death, the Reckoning : a tale of dark destiny told in three parts / creator/writer, Brian Pulido ; artist, Steven Hughes ; colorist, Jason Jensen ; letterer, Patrick Owsley. -- Scottsdate, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1994. -- 78 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Horror genre. -- Call no.: PN6727.P8L3 1994 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Lady Death vs. Purgatori. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1999. -- 40 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- "December 1999." -- Horror and superheroine genres. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47L29 1999 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Lady Death vs. Vampirella. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1999-2000. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 2 nos. -- Horror genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 2. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47L3 1999 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Legend of the Sage. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2001- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- To be complete in 4 nos. -- Fantasy genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47L4 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Legend of the Sage Preview Book. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2001. -- 24 p. : ill. (part col.) ; 26 cm. -- Running title: Legends of the Sage. -- "Two worlds are about to collide. Only a chosen visionary can save Earth from evil sorcery. Our fate now lies in the hands of... a librarian?"--centerfold. -- Fantasy genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47L39 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. The Lost. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1997. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- To be complete in 4 nos., but complete in 3. -- Horror genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 2. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47L6 1997 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Lynch Mob. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1994. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 4 nos. -- Superhero genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-4. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47L9 1994 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Mankind. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1999. -- 32 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- "#1, Sept. 1999." -- Logo of the World Wrestling Federation. -- Horror genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47M3 1999 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. The Omen : Save the Chosen Preview / written by Drew Bittner, Philip Nutman & Brian Pulido ; illustrated by Justiano. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1997. -- 16 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Introduces characters of a forthcoming story. -- Superhero and horror genres. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47 O49 1997 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Previews Presents Queens of Halloween Ashcan. -- Diamond Comic Distributors, 1996. -- 16 p. : col. ill. ; 22 cm. -- "No. 1, Oct. '96". -- Advertising giveaway comic book for publications of Chaos! Comics, Harris Comics, and Top Cow Productions. -- Horror and superheroine genres. -- Call no.: PN6728.25.D47Q4 1996 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Purgatori. no. 1/2, Dec. 2000. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2000. -- 32 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Horror genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47P75 2000 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Purgatori : Darkest Hour / written by Joshua Dysart ; illustrated by Fabiano Neves ; inked by Emir Ribeiro, Chris Dreier, Alistar Vincent. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2001. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 2 nos. -- Horror genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47P76 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Purgatori : God Killer. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2002. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 2 nos. -- Horror genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-2. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47P77 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Purgatori : Re-Imagined. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2002. -- 32 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- "Issue one, July 2002". -- Horror genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47P79 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Purgatori : the Dracula Gambit / writer, David Quinn ; painted by Brian LeBlanc. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1997. -- 32 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- "#1, August 1997." -- Cover title: Purgatori Dracula Gambit. -- Horror genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47P8 1997 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Purgatori : the Hunted / written by Joshua Dysart ; illustrated by Fabiano Neves ; inked by Roland Paris. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2001. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 2 nos. -- Horror genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47P8 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Purgatori : the Vampires Myth. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1996- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Began with no. 1 (Aug. 1996), cf. Comics Buyer's Guide Comic Book Checklist and Price Guide (2009). -- Horror genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 2 (1996) -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47P82 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Purgatori Prelude. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1996. -- 16 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- "#-1, May 1996". -- Horror genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47P78 1996 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Purgatori v. Chastity / written by Steven Grant ; illustrated by Al Rio. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2000. -- 32 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Published in two versions with different endings. -- Cover title: Purgatori versus Chastity. -- Horror genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47P83 2000 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Rack & Pain : Killers. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1996-1997. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 4 nos. -- Superhero and horror genres. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-4. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47K5 1996 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Static-X Ashcan. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2002. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Published no. 1 (Aug. 2002) only. -- Other title: Static-X : Machine. -- Music CD by the band Static-X included. -- Superhero genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47S75 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Undertaker. #0. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics ; Congers, NY : Wizard Entertainment, 1999. -- 16 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- "Collector's issue". -- Superhero and horror genres, about wrestlers. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47U49 1999 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Undertaker. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1999-2000. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Published no. 1 (Apr. 1999) - no. 10 (Jan. 2000), cf. Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. -- World Wrestling Federation "official licensed product." -- Horror genre, about a wrestler. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-2 (1999). -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47U5 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Vandala. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2000- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Began with no. 1 (Aug. 2000). -- Fantasy genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47V3 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics. Vandala II. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2001. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Published no. 1 (Sept. 2001) only. -- Fantasy genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47V32 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics--Articles About. "Chaos!, CrossGen Conspire to Pay Creators" / by Michael Dean. p. 5-7 in The Comics Journal, no. 248 (Nov. 2002). -- (Newswatch) -- About the bankruptcy of Chaos! Comics. -- Call no.: PN6700.C62no.248 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics--Books About. The Chaos! Bible. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 1995. -- 40 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- "#1, November 1995". -- Includes character profiles and information about the publisher. -- Horror genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C47C47 1995 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics--Miscellanea. "Chaos! Artist Steven Hughes Dies" / Tom Spurgeon. p. 31 in The Comics Journal, no. 222 (Apr. 2000). -- (Newswatch) -- Hughes was an African American artist. -- Call no.: PN6700.C62no.222 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics--Miscellanea. "Chaos! Bankrupt!" / Michael Dean. p. 33 in The Comics Journal, no. 247 (Oct. 2002). -- (Newswatch) -- On Chaos! Comics. -- Call no.: PN6700.C62no.247 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics--Miscellanea. "Chaos Under Fire for Copyright Infringement" / Greg Stump. p. 11-13 in The Comics Journal, no. 194 (Mar. 1997) -- (News Watch) -- About Brian Pullido, Nancy Collins, and copyright. -- Call no.: PN6700.C62no.194 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics--Miscellanea. "Collins Files Suit, Expands Scope of Case Against Chaos! : Diamond Among the Defendants Named in Copyright Infringement Case" p. 19-20 in The Comics Journal, no. 196 (June 1997) -- (News Watch) k. Pulido, Brian--Miscellanea. k. Chaos! Comics--Miscellanea. k. Collins, Nancy. k. Copyright. k. Lawsuits. Call no.: PN6700.C62no.196 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics--Miscellanea. Entry (p. 106) in Das grosse Comic-Lexikon, by Marcel Feige (Berlin: Lexikon Imprint Verlag, 2001). -- Call no.: PN6707.F48 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics--Miscellanea. Index entry (p. 143, 205) in Des Comics et des Hommes : Histoire Culturelle des Comic Books aux Etats-Unis / Jean-Paul Gabilliet (Paris : Editions du Temps, 2005). -- Call no.: PN6725.G32D4 2005 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos! Comics--Miscellanea. Index entry (p. 169) in The Great Women Superheroes / Trina Robbins (Northampton, Mass. : Kitchen Sink Press, 1996) Call no.: PN6725.R59 1996 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos Comix. -- Ottawa, Ont. -- ill. ; 22 cm. -- New wave genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 28-29 (1995). -- Call no.: PN6734.C45 ----------------------------------------------------- "Chaos!, CrossGen Conspire to Pay Creators" / by Michael Dean. p. 5-7 in The Comics Journal, no. 248 (Nov. 2002). -- (Newswatch) -- About the bankruptcy of Chaos! Comics. -- Call no.: PN6700.C62no.248 ----------------------------------------------------- The Chaos Effect. -- New York : Valiant Communications, 1994-1995. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Published no. alpha (1994); omega (1994); epilogue pt. 1 (Dec. 1994) and epilogue pt. 2 (Jan. 1995), cf. Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. -- Superhero genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. alpha, omega. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.V6C47 1994 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos Effect ; pt. 3 (Beta) "The One" (Doctor Mirage) / Bob Layton, script ; Bernard Chang, pencils ; Ken Branch, inks ; Mark Csaszar, colors ; Santiago Vazquez, Rob Johnson, letters. 21 p. in The Second Life of Doctor Mirage, no. 11 (Oct. 1994). -- (Chaos Effect, pt 3 (Beta)) -- Villains are Master Darque, Sandria Darque ; appearances of Timewalker and Shadowman ; continuity is between Shadowman, no. 29 and Turok, no. 16. -- Data from Ken St. Andre, Jack Patton and Mike Nielsen via Grand Comic-Book Database. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.V6S4no.11 ----------------------------------------------------- The Chaos Effect--Miscellanea. Entry (p. 110) in The Slings and Arrows Comic Guide, Frank Plowright, ed. (London : Aurum Press, 1997). -- "Reviews and analyses." -- Call no.: PN6707.S55 1997 ----------------------------------------------------- The Chaos Gate. Quest one / Scott Behnke, writer ; Kent Burles & Peter Hsu, art. -- Newbury Park, CA : Malibu Graphics, 1990. -- 91 p. : ill. ; 26 cm. -- (An Adventurers Graphic Album) 1. Fantasy comics. I. Behnke, Scott. II. Burles, Kent. III. Hsu, Peter. IV. Series. Call no.: PN6727.B415C47 1990 ----------------------------------------------------- The Chaos Gate Saga. The Ways of the Worm. Quest three / Scott Behnke, writer ; Kent Burles, artist ; Ron Kasman, letterer ; Iain McCaig, cover painting. -- Newbury Park, Calif. : Malibu Graphics, 1990. -- 97 p. : ill. ; 26 cm. -- (An Adventurers Graphic Album) -- "The final chapter in the Chaos Gate saga." 1. Fantasy comics. I. Behnke, Scott. II. Burles, Kent. III. Kasman, Ron. IV. McCaig, Iain. V. The Chaos Gate Saga. VI. Series. Call no.: PN6727.B415W3 1990 ----------------------------------------------------- "Chaos in a Sleepy Suburb" (Vampirella) / Boudreau ; Mayo. 12 p. in Vampirella, no. 54 (Sept. 1976). -- Data from Jerome Sinkovec. -- Call no.: PN6728.3.W3V3no.54 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos in Calgary. The Amazing Spider-Man : Chaos in Calgary. -- New York : Marvel Comics, 1993. -- 32 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- "Vol. 1, no. 4, February 1993". -- Numbering continues that of The Amazing Spider-Man : Hit and Run. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.M3A3874 1993 ----------------------------------------------------- "Chaos in Castle Carnevon"* (Parachute Patrol) / art: Henry Kiefer. 7 p. in Wings Comics, no. 2 (Oct. 1940). -- Villain Sir Oswald Rosely is introduced; introduction of Gen. Gort. -- Data from Lou Mougin via The Grand Comics Database Project. -- Call no.: PN6728.1.F5W5m no.2 ----------------------------------------------------- "Chaos in King Solomon's Tomb!" "Race Against Time" (Black Panther) / edited, written and drawn by Jack Kirby ; inked by Mike Royer ; overseen by Archie Goodwin. 17 p. in Black Panther, no. 3 (May 1977). -- On cover: "Chaos in King Solomon's Tomb!" -- Call no.: PN6728.4.M3B57no.3 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos Magazine--Miscellanea. "Texas Retailer is Latest Victim of Obscenity Bust : CBLDF Funds Dwindle as First Amendment Cases Mount" p. 22-23 in The Comics Journal, no. 172 (Nov. 1994). -- (Newswatch) -- Ron Killingsworth of Hero's Comics near Fort Worth, Texas cited for displaying Chaos Magazine, v. 4, no. 1 ; item includes other news of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. -- Call no.: PN6700.C62no.172 ----------------------------------------------------- The Chaos-Maker. "Neverwas, the Chaos-Maker" (Justice League of America) 23 p. in Justice League of America, no. 68 (Dec. 1968) -- Data from Gene Reed. -- Call no.: PN6728.3.N3J8no.68 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos Mission / Lorenz Peter. -- Toronto : Pedlar Press, 2003. -- 141 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. -- Autobiographical. -- Call no.: PN6733.P4C47 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos Mission--Reviews. "Graphic Novels and Comics-Related Books" p. 49-54 in Broken Pencil, no. 22 ("The Comics Issue") (2003?). -- Reviews of: "A Penny Dreadful" ; "Artichoke Tales" ; "What's Wrong? Explicit Graphic Interpretations Against Censorship" ; "Poplmage v. 1: The Time of Change" ' "Cyclops: Aim for the Eye" ; "Out/Lines: Underground Gay Graphics from Before Stonewall" ; "Chaos Mission" ; "Can of Worms" ; "Wide Collar Crimes" ; "The Last Voyage of the Black Ship" ; "Paul Has a Summer Job" ; "Revolving Hammer."-- Call no.: Z1033.B7no.22 ----------------------------------------------------- "A Chaos of Kratophanies" p. 34-38 in The Comics Journal, no. 94 (Oct. 1984) -- Review of Super Powers, and discussion of the superhero genre. -- Data from Pete Coogan. -- Call no.: PN6700.C62no.94 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos Presents! Jade. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2001. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 4 nos. -- Superheroine genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 3. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47C47 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaos Presents Jade : Redemption. -- Scottsdale, AZ : Chaos! Comics, 2001- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- To be complete in 4 nos. -- Superheroine genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.C47C472 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- "Chaos Under Fire for Copyright Infringement" / Greg Stump. p. 11-13 in The Comics Journal, no. 194 (Mar. 1997) -- (News Watch) -- About Brian Pullido, Nancy Collins, and copyright. -- Call no.: PN6700.C62no.194 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaosium Inc. Wendy and Richard Pini's Elfquest : the Official Roleplaying game / game design: Steve Perrin ; world, characters, and inspiration: Wendy and Richard Pini ; edited by Yurek Chodak. -- 2nd ed. -- Albany, Calif. : Chaosium Inc., 1989. -- 160 p. : ill. ; 28 cm. + 1 map. -- Includes the Elfquest companion, originally published separately. -- "Approved by WaRP Graphics." -- Includes fold out map. -- Call no.: GV1202.F35P5 1989 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaosium Publication ; 2801 Prince Valiant the Storytelling Game / by Greg Stafford ; with William Dunn, Lynn Willis and Charlie Krank ; based on the works of Hal Foster. -- Albany, CA : Chaosium, 1989. -- 128 p. : ill. ; 28 cm. -- (Chaosium Publication ; 2801) 1. Fantasy games. 2. Arthurian romances--Comic books, strips, etc.--Miscellanea. I. Stafford, Greg. II. Foster, Harold, 1892- III. Series. Call no.: PN6728.P7S75 1989 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaotix. Knuckles' Chaotix. -- Mamaroneck, NY : Archie Comic Publications, 1996. -- 1 v. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- (Archie Adventure Series) -- "No. 1, Jan. 1996. Published once a year." -- Funny animal genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.A7K54 1996 ----------------------------------------------------- Cha'pa et Group-Group--Miscellanea. Entry (v. 1, p. 518) in Dictionnaire Encyclop�dique de H�ros et Auteurs de BD, by Henri Filippini (Grenoble : Gl�nat, 1998). -- Call no.: PN6707.F5 1998 v.1 ----------------------------------------------------- Cha'pa et Group-Group--Miscellanea. Entry (p. 128) in Dictionnaire Mondial de la Bande Dessin�e, by Patrick Gaumer, Claude Moliterni (Paris : Larousse, 1997). Call no.: PN6707.G39 1997 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapaleo. Index entry (p. 502-503, 507) in La Historieta Argentina : una Historia / Judith Gociol, Diego Rosemberg (Buenos Aires : Ediciones de la Flor, 2000). -- Call no.: PN6790.A7G6 2000 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapalupa el detective. Index entry (p. 378) in La Historieta Argentina : una Historia / Judith Gociol, Diego Rosemberg (Buenos Aires : Ediciones de la Flor, 2000). -- Call no.: PN6790.A7G6 2000 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapamirto. Index entry (ill. p. 170) in The World Encyclopedia of Comics, ed. by Maurice Horn (New York : Chelsea House, 1976). Call no.: PN6710.W6 1976 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaparral. Entry (v. 2, p. 36) in Dictionnaire Encyclop�dique de H�ros et Auteurs de BD, by Henri Filippini (Grenoble : Gl�nat, 1998). -- Call no.: PN6707.F5 1998 v.2 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapbooks. The Early Comic Strip : narrative strips and picture stories in the European broadsheet from c.1450 to 1825 / David Kunzle. -- Berkeley : University of California Press, 1973. -- 471 p. : ill. (part col.) ; 36 cm. -- (History of the Comic Strip ; v. 1) -- Based on the author's thesis, University of London. -- Bibliography: p. 463-466. 1. Chap-books. I. Kunzle, David. II. Series. Call no.: PN6710.K85v.1 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapeau, Pamela. Index entry (p. 84) in Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels, by Roger Sabin (London : Phaidon, 1996). Call no.: PN6710.S24 1996 ----------------------------------------------------- "Le Chapeau" (Nano et Nanette) p. 27 in Le Journal de Nano et Nanette, no. 192 (Oct. 18, 1960). -- Captioned photographs. -- Call no.: PN6748.J63no.192 ----------------------------------------------------- "Le Chapeau � b�bord!"* (Ce Petit D�mon de Betty) / Solveg. p. 16-17 in Lisette, no. 7 (Feb. 13, 1955) in Lisette Album, no. 25. -- Summary: The hat gets away down the river, and the girls find a boat and follow it. -- Call no.: PN6748.L562no.25 ----------------------------------------------------- "Le Chapeau de Melle Chardin"* (Ce Petit D�mon de Betty) / Solveg. p. 16-17 in Lisette, no. 6 (Feb. 6, 1955) in Lisette Album, no. 25. -- The girls use their sleeping chaperone's hat as a frisbee. -- "� suivre." -- Call no.: PN6748.L562no.25 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapeau Melon et Bottes de Cuir. Entry (v. 1, p. 34-35) in Dictionnaire Encyclop�dique de H�ros et Auteurs de BD, by Henri Filippini (Grenoble : Gl�nat, 1998). -- Call no.: PN6707.F5 1998 v.1 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapel, Doug. Blecch Kiss. -- Holden, Ma. : Doug Chapel Comics, . -- ill. ; 22 cm. -- Ceased with no. 6 (1989). -- New wave genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 6. -- Call no.: PN6728.55.D64B55 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapel, Doug. Scab. -- Holden, Ma. : Doug Chapel Comics, . -- ill. ; 22 cm. -- New wave genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 2 (1989). -- Call no.: PN6728.55.D64S35 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapel. -- Anaheim, CA : Image Comics, 1995- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Began with no. 1 (Feb. 1995). -- Genre: Superhero. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1; v. 2 no. 2 (1995). -- Call no.: PN6728.6.I45 C47 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapel. -- Los Angeles, CA : Awesome Entertainment, 1997. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Published v. 1, no. 1 (Sept. 1997) only. -- Superhero genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: v. 1, no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.A88C47 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapel--Miscellanea. Entry (p. 110) in The Slings and Arrows Comic Guide, Frank Plowright, ed. (London : Aurum Press, 1997). -- "Reviews and analyses." -- Call no.: PN6707.S55 1997 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapel Hill. "El Sombro, Mexico's Ghost of Chapel Hill" 8 p. in Rawhide Kid, no. 100 (June 1972) k. Ghosts. k. Chapel Hill. I. Mexico's Ghost of Chapel Hill. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3R3no.100 ----------------------------------------------------- "Le Chapelet Maritime" p. 27 in Gros et D�tail : album par Caran d'Ache (Paris : Plon, 1907). -- Call no.: NC1499.C25C37 1889 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapelle, Jean. Index entry (p. 214) to Principes des Litt�ratures Dessin�es / Harry Morgan (Angoul�me : Editions de l'An 2, 2003). -- Call no.: PN6710.M57 2003 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapelle, Maud. Le Pharaon / Christophe Simon ; Jacques Martin ; coloriages, Maud Chapelle ; avec une participation de Vincent Henin. -- Casterman, 2004. -- 48 p. : col. ill. ; 31 cm. -- (Les Aventures d'Orion) -- Historical adventure genre. -- Call no.: PN6747.M327 O703 2004 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapelle, Philippe, 1960- Les Capitaines Aveugles / sc�nario et dialogues, Christin; supervision graphique, M�zi�res ; dessin, Labiano, Chapelle, Aymond ; invit� sp�cial Bilal. -- Gen�ve : Les Humano�des Associ�s, 1990. -- 52 p. : col. ill. ; 29 cm. -- (Canal Choc ; 2) -- Genre: Adventure story. -- Call no.: PN6747.C45C3 1990 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapelle, Philippe, 1960- Les Corps Masqu�s / sc�nario et dialogues, Christin; supervision graphique, M�zi�res ; dessin, Aymond, Labiano, Chapelle ; encrage, Aymond ; couleur, Tranl� ; invit� sp�cial Druillet. -- Gen�ve : Humano�des Associ�s, 1991. -- 52 p. : col. ill. ; 29 cm. -- (Canal Choc ; 3) -- Call no.: PN6747.C45C6 1991 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapelle, Philippe, 1960- L'Image Disparu / sc�nario et dialogues, Christin ; supervision graphique, M�zi�res ; dessin, Labiano, Chapelle ; encrage, Aymond ; couleur, Tranle ; invit� especial Moebius. -- Gen�ve : Humano�des Associ�s, 1990. -- 52 p. : col. ill. ; 29 cm. -- (Canal Choc ; 1) -- Call no.: PN6747.C45 I5 1990 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapels. The Blank in the Comics strip collection includes a file of one or more daily comic strips related to this keyword or topic. Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapels. Wedding Peach / created by Sukehiro Tomita ; story and art by Nao Yazawa ; translation & English adaptation, Naoko Amemiya. -- San Francisco, CA : Viz, 2003- . -- ill. ; 19 cm. -- (Viz Graphic Novel) -- Summary (from OCLC): In a world where the wedding chapel has become a battlefield between good and evil, three young girls transform themselves into warriors of love. -- LIBRARY HAS: v. 1-4. -- Call no.: PN6790.J33 Y36W413 2003 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapels. "What Doth It Profit a Man?"* (Beetle Bailey, Sept. 8, 1992) / by Mort Walker. -- Summary: Beetle inquires about the job mowing the chapel lawn. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "lawns" ----------------------------------------------------- "The Chaperone" (Joe Palooka, Oct. 6, 1939) / by Ham Fisher. -- Summary: After dropping the women off, Joe falls asleep. Cuddles and Adelle discuss their respective roles as chaperone and sweet shy girl. -- Call no.: PN6728.J57F6 1939 v.1 ----------------------------------------------------- "The Chaperone" (Out Our Way, Dec. 3, 1949) / J. R. Williams. -- Summary: The Chinese cook makes good grub, but the thought of getting him back home ruins the appetite. -- Call no.: folio NC1429.W565F6 1924 v.10 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaperones ----------------------------------------------------- Chaperones. Angel Diary / YunHee Lee ; artist, Kara. -- Seoul : Ice Kunion, 2005- . -- ill. ; 21 cm. -- "Korean manhwa". -- "Danbi original." -- Summary: "Dong-Young is a royal daughter of heaven, betrothed to the King of Hell. Determined to escape her fate, she runs away before the wedding. The four guardians of heaven are ordered to find the angel princess. She's hiding out on planet Earth, disguised as a boy. This is a cute gender-bending tale, a romantic comedy/fantasy book about an angel, the King of Hell, and four super-powered chaperones." -- Fantasy genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: v. 1. -- Call no.: PN6790.K63 K34A5 2005 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaperones. The Blank in the Comics strip collection includes a file of one or more daily comic strips related to this keyword or topic. Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaperones. The Little Mermaid [videorecording] / Nina Saxon Film Design ; Silver Screen Partners IV ; Walt Disney Pictures ; writers, Roger Allers, Ron Clements, John Musker ; directors, Ron Clements, John Musker. -- Burbank, CA : Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 2006. -- 2 videodiscs (ca. 83 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. -- DVD, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. -- Closed-captioned. Includes French and Spanish dubbed versions. -- Originally produced as a motion picture in 1989. -- Summary (from OCLC): Ariel is a fun-loving and mischievous mermaid who is enchanted with all things human. Disregarding her father's order to stay away from the world above the sea, she swims to the surface and, in a raging storm, rescues Prince Eric, the man of her dreams. Determined to be human, she strikes a bargain with the devious seawitch, Ursula, and trades her fins and beautiful voice for legs. With her best friend Flounder, and her reluctant chaperone Sebastian at her side, Ariel must win the prince's love and save her father's kingdom. -- Call no.: PN1997.5.L5L577 2006 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaperones. "Mais c'est dans le Texte" / par A. Guillaume. 1 p. in Des Bonshommes : 1re s�rie (Paris : H. Simonis Empis, 1893?) -- Summary: A chaperone protests when an actress kisses an actor during rehearsal. -- Call no.: oversize NC1499.G8D4 1893 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaperoning. "Joe's Date" (Joe Palooka, Sept. 30, 1939) / by Ham Fisher. -- Summary: Joe objects to the date, but Knobby convinces him to think of it as chaperoning and not as cheating on Ann. -- Call no.: PN6728.J57F6 1939 v.1 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapian, Grieg. Entry (p. 31) in The Who's Who of American Comic Books, by Jerry Bails & Hames Ware (Detroit, Mich. : J. Bails, 1973-1976). -- Call no.: PN6725.B3v.1 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapin, Archibald B., 1875- --Miscellanea. Entry in Today's Cartoon (New Orleans : Hauser Press, 1962). -- Entries, alphabetically arranged, consist of two pages including biographical paragraphs, sample cartoons and a photographic portrait. -- Call no.: NC1426.C5 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapin, Will E. "Uncle Sam Carrying Liberty and Progress to Luzon"* / Will E. Chapin. p. 51 in The World of Comic Art, v. 2, no. 1 (Summer 1967). -- Full-page reprint of a cartoon from 1898 or 1899. -- Call no.: NC1426.W6v.2no.1 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapin, Will E.--Miscellanea. Index entry (p. 135) in A History of American Graphic Humor, v. 2 (1865-1938), by William Murrell (New York : Macmillan Company for the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1938). -- Call no.: NC1420.M8v.2 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapiron, Christian. Index entry (p. 131) in Fr�mion, Yves. Le Guide de la B�d� Francophone (Paris : Syros Alternatives, 1990) -- Call no.: PN6745.F69 1990 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapiron S.A. "Cr�a e Vende la Productica" / Chapiron S.A. p. 68-69 in Sp�cial Robot : M�tal Hurlant, no. 79 bis (Paris : Humano�des Associ�s, 1982) -- Call no.: PN6748.M4R27 1982 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapitre des M�moires du G�n�ral Marbot. "La Lettre de Napol�on � Murat (Chapitre des M�moires du G�n�ral Marbot)" / Caran D'Ache. p. 6-7 in C'est � Prendre ou � Laisser : album par Caran d'Ache (Paris : Plon, 1898) ; reprinted in Caran d'Ache : Histoires en Images (Paris : Pierre Horay, 1979). -- Call no.: NC1499.C25C37 1889. Call no.: NC1499.F34 1979 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplain, Frederick. Index entry (p. 593) in The World Encyclopedia of Comics, ed. by Maurice Horn (New York : Chelsea House, 1976). Call no.: PN6710.W6 1976 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplain America--Miscellanea. Entry (p. 395) in The Encyclopedia of Superheroes / Jeff Rovin (New York : Facts on File, 1985). -- Call no.: PN6707.R6 1985 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplains ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplains. The Blank in the Comics strip collection includes a file of one or more daily comic strips related to this keyword or topic. Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplains. "Catholics in Action" / illustrated by Lloyd Ostendorf. p. 3-8 in Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact, v. 8, no. 17 (Apr. 23, 1953). -- About William Gorman, chaplain of the Chicago Fire Department. -- This story supplies the wraparound cover of this issue. -- Begins: "So far this year we have seen Catholics in action in a great many fields." -- Call no.: PN6728.1.P43T7v.8no.17 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplains. "Dear God, Please Let Me Give Wise Counsel to Those Poor Sinners I Will Meet Today"* (Beetle Bailey, Nov. 24, 1995) / by Mort Walker. -- Summary: The chaplain prays before playing golf with the general. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "prayer" ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplains. "The Fighting Chaplain : Father Francis Patrick Duffy of the Fighting 69th" p. 1-9 in True Comics, no. 5 (Oct. 1941) 1. Duffy, Francis Patrick, 1871- --Comic books, strips, etc. I. Father Francis Patrick Duffy. k. Chaplains. Call no.: PN6728.1.P3T7no.5 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplains. "Fighting Parson" 1 p. in Joe Yank, no. 11 (Apr. 1953) -- SUMMARY: Biography of Silver Star winner, Chaplain Charles A. Meek. 1. Meek, Charles A.--Comic books, strips, etc. k. Parsons. k. Chaplains. k. Silver Star. Call no.: PN6728.2.S75J6no.11 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplains. "From Sing Sing to Alcatraz" / by Sister Lilliana Owens. p. 31-34 in Topix, v. 6, no. 5 (Feb. 1948). -- Begins: "Introducing Father Ralph Gallagher, S.J. He has served as chaplain in almost every prison in the country." -- Call no.: PN6728.1.C3T6v.6no.5 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplains. "I'm a Snowflake...I'm a Snowflake"* (Beetle Bailey, Jan. 3, 1991) / Mort Walker. -- Summary: The Chaplain tells Lt. Flap to think of himself as a snowflake, unique and beautiful. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "snowflakes" ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplains. "I'm Leaving to Meet the General Now"* (Beetle Bailey, Dec. 30, 1988) / Mort Walker. -- Summary: The chaplain says a prayer before playing golf. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "golf" ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplains. "It's Just Like Golf, We Go On Swinging"* (Beetle Bailey, Mar. 18, 2000) / by Mort Walker. -- Summary: The chaplain and the general talk about the meaning of life. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "golf" ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplains. "It's Nice to See So Many at Service Today"* (Beetle Bailey, July 19, 1984) / by Mort Walker. -- Summary: The chaplain moves church to the baseball diamond because of a playoff game. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "playoffs" ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplains. "Just a Pair of Innocent Tourists, Aren't You?"* (The Fighting Chaplain, #21) -- Summary: "Young Chaplain Tim Ahearn heads a mission to rescue nuclear scientist Dr. Eakins held in Red China. A submarine takes the young chaplain and his aide prisoner." -- Clipped from the Catholic Weekly, Jan. 15, 1956. -- "Copyright 1955, eric jon associates." -- An indistinct artist's signature appears on this 2-tier strip, which might read "Frank Stanton." -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "China" ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplains. "Victory of Faith" 2 p. in Real Heroes, no. 13 (Mar./Apr. 1946) -- Four chaplains die on the sinking ship Dorchester. k. Chaplains. k. Dorchester (Ship) k. Faith. Call no.: PN6728.1.P3R4no.13 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplik, Robin D. She-Hulk : Ceremony / Dwayne McDuffie, script ; Robin D. Chaplik & Dwayne McDuffie, plot ; June Brigman, pencils ; Stan Drake, inks. -- New York : Marvel Entertainment Group, 1989. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 2 nos. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-2. 1. Superheroine comics. 2. Indians of North America--Religion and mythology--Comic books, strips, etc. I. McDuffie, Dwayne. II. Chaplik, Robin D. III. Brigman, June. IV. Drake, Stan, 1921- V. Ceremony. VI. Marvel Entertainment Group. Call no.: PN6728.5.M3S417 1989 ----------------------------------------------------- See also Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. The Blank in the Comics strip collection includes a file of one or more daily comic strips related to this keyword or topic. Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. The Comic Art of Charlie Chaplin : a graphic celebration of Chaplin's centenary / conducted by Denis Gifford ; edited and designed by Mike Higgs. -- London : Hawk Books, 1989. -- 128 p. : ill. ; 36 cm. -- Dwells on the ephemeral side of Chaplin's image, with extensive selections from comic strips. 1. Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977--Comic books, strips, etc. I. Gifford, Denis. II. Higgs, Mike. Call no.: PN2287f.C5G52 1989 ------------------------------------------------------ Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Entry (p. 46) in Encyclopedia of Comic Characters, by Denis Gifford (Harlow : Longman, 1987). -- Call no.: PN6707.G5 1987 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. "Farewell to Charlie Chaplin" / Rick Geary. 3 p. in Snarf, no. 9 (Feb. 1981). -- Call no.: PN6728.45.K5S58no.9 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 95, 101) in All in Color for a Dime, edited by Dick Lupoff & Don Thompson (Iola, WI : Krause Publications, 1997). -- Call no.: NC1426.A43 1997 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 72, 122, ill. 123) in America's Great Comic-Strip Artists, by Richard Marschall (New York : Abbeville Press, 1989). Call no.: PN6725.M284A5 1989 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 9, 16) in Cartoon Cavalcade, edited by Thomas Craven (New York : Simon and Schuster, 1943). Call no.: NC1426.C7 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 27, 87, 96, 372) in Comic Art in America, by Stephen D. Becker (New York : Simon and Schuster, 1959). Call no.: NC1420.B4 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 50, 57, 163, 184) in The Comics, by Coulton Waugh (Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, 1991, originally published 1947). -- Call no.: PN6725.W36 1991 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 28, 383) in Des Comics et des Hommes : Histoire Culturelle des Comic Books aux Etats-Unis / Jean-Paul Gabilliet (Paris : Editions du Temps, 2005). -- Call no.: PN6725.G32D4 2005 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 258) in The Encyclopedia of American Comics, ed. by Ron Goulart (New York : Facts on File, 1990). Call no.: PN6725.E64 1990 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 16, 61, 127, 181, 231, 244) in Encyclop�die des bandes dessin�es / ed. Marjorie Alessandrini. Nouv. ed. (Paris : A. Michel, 1986) Call no.: PN6707.E5 1986 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 115) to The Fleischer Story / by Leslie Cabarga (New York : Nostalgia Press, 1976) -- Data from Don Markstein. Call no.: NC1766.U52F593 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 44) in The Great American Comic Strip, by Judith O'Sullivan (Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 1990). -- Call no.: folio PN6725 .O75 1990 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 206) in Histoire de la Bande Dessin�e / G�rard Blanchard. Nouv. �d. (Verviers : Marabout, 1974). Call no.: PN6710.B58 1974 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 141) in A History of American Graphic Humor, v. 2 (1865-1938), by William Murrell (New York : Macmillan Company for the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1938). -- Call no.: NC1420.M8v.2 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 169, 172) in A History of Komiks of the Philippines and Other Countries, by Cynthia Roxas & Joaquin Arevalo Jr. (Islas Filipinas Pub. Co., 1985). -- Call no.: PN6790.P47R6 1985 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 361) in History of the Comic Strip, v. 2 / by David Kunzle (Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press, 1990) Call no.: PN6710f.K85v.2 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 26) to Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics, by Paul Gravett (Laurence King, 2004). -- Call no.: PN6790.J3G7 2004 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 231) in Puros Cuentos I, 1874-1934 / Juan Manuel Aurrecoechea, Armando Bartra (M�xico, D.F. : Grijalbo, 1988) Call no.: PN6790.M4 A8 1988 t.1 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 49) in The Will Eisner Companion, by N.C. Christopher Couch & Stephen Weiner (New York : DC Comics, 2004). -- Call no.: PN6727.E35 Z5C6 2004 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Index entry (p. 455, 505) in The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons, ed. by Maurice Horn (Detroit : Gale Research, 1980). Call no.: NC1325.W67 1980 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. Saint Charlot and Mister Charles / Claude Jean-Philippe, Patrick Lesueur. -- Paris : Dargaud, 1983. -- 60 p. : col. ill. ; 33 cm. -- (Portraits Souvenirs) 1. Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977--Comic books, strips, etc. 2. Motion picture actors and actresses--Comic books, strips, etc. I. Jean-Philippe, Claude. II. Lesueur, Patrick. III. Series. Call no.: PN2287f.C5J4 1983 ------------------------------------------------------ Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. "The Sugar Daddy, the Stuttering Blonde, and the Silent Tramp" / Russ Heath. p. 115-121 in "Paranoia Potpourri" Chapter 4 of The Big Book of Conspiracies / by Doug Moench and 39 of the world's top comic artists (New York : Paradox Press, 1995). -- On William Randolph Hearst, Marion Davies, and Charlie Chaplin. -- Call no.: PN6727.M64B54 1995 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. "Too Bad For You, Dad. When You Were A Kid You Missed All This!"* (Hi and Lois, Apr. 25, 1976) / by Mort Walker and Dik Browne. p. 116 in Battered Husbands (Redondo Beach, CA : H. Gregory Associates, 1991). -- Summary: The twins are enjoying an old movie on television and talking about their favorite actors and actresses: Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Fred Astaire, Cary Grant, John Wayne, Greer Garson and Katharine Hepburn. -- Call no.: PN6231.H8G75 1991 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. The World of Li'l Abner / Al Capp ; with an introduction by John Steinbeck and a foreword by Charles Chaplin. -- New York : Farrar, Straus and Young, 1953. -- 175 p. : ill. 19 cm. -- Contents: Sadie Hawkins' day! ; The Injuns are comin'! ; "Zoot-suit" Yokum ; Dumpington Van Lump ; Salomey's narrow escape! [featuring Joe Btfsplk, the world's worst jinx, p. 89-94] ; El Passionato ; Jack Jawbreaker ; The Soshul leopards ; The Marriage of Li'l Abner. -- Call no.: PN6728.L5C3 1953a ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. The World of Li'l Abner / Al Capp ; with an introduction by John Steinbeck and a foreword by Charles Chaplin. -- New York : Ballantine, 1953. -- 175 p. : ill. ; 18 cm. -- (Ballantine Books ; 8) I. Capp, Al, 1909- II. Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968. III. Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977. IV. Li'l Abner. Call no.: PN6728.L5C3 1953 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Martin. Sugarvirus / Warren Ellis, Martin Chaplin, Garry Marshall. -- London : Tundra Publishing UK Ltd., 1993. -- 48 p. : ill. ; 26 cm. -- (Atomeka) -- Includes cover poster by John Bolton. -- Horror genre. -- Call no.: PN6737.E56S6 1993 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Ralph, 1887-1961. Wobblies! : a Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World / edited by Paul Buhle and Nicole Schulman. -- London : Verso, 2005. -- 305 p. : ill. ; 21 cm. -- Includes bibliographical references. -- Contents: Strike / Sue Coe ; The new century sang of freedom / Sabrian Jones ; Introduction / Paul Buhle ; Why 'wobblies"? ; Early days ; Miner / Dylan Miner ; A new kind of union / Jeffrey Lewis ; Mother Jones / Trina Robbins and Fly ; Big Bill Haywood / Josh MacPhee ; The miners / Tom Keough ; Lucy Parsons / Fly and Paul Buhle ; Solidarity forever / Mac McGill and Ralph Chaplin ; I object to anarchism in this boxcar / Nick Thorkelson ; Lawrence and Paterson ; Mujeres / Dylan Miner ; Strike! (Lawrence 1912) / Seth Tobocman ; To live and dye in Paterson / Ryan Inzana ; 1,000 red carnations / Sabrian Jones ; Elizabeth Gurley Flynn / Susan Willmarth ; It's all ours! / Carlos Cortez ; Carlo Tresca / Josh MacPhee ; Wobblies far and wide ; Hobo / Dylan Miner ; The free speech fights / Susan Simensky Bietila ; Sabo-cat / Jerome Neukirch ; I will win / Ralph Chaplin, a.k.a. "Bingo" ; Repression, martyrdom, general strikes ; Protesta / Dylan Miner ; Black Wobblies / Mac McGill and Tauno Biltsted ; "I stand for the solidarity of labor" / Nicole Schulman ; Frank Little: no war but class war / Nicole Schulman ; Ralph Chaplin / Josh MacPhee ; GEB statement against the war-1916 ; Solidarity / Peter Kuper ; Mourn not the dead / Nicole Schulman ; Centralia Mural / Mike Alewitz ; Class war in Centralia / Arthur Fonseca, art by Roy Germon ; We are in here for you / Ralph Chaplin ; Beyond martyrdom ; Harvester / Dylan Miner ; Sabo-cat / Jerome Neukirch ; Primo Tapia and the Mexican Agrarian Revolt / Christopher Cardinale and Giuliana Chamedes ; Ricardo Flores Magon / Carlos Cortez ; T-Bone Slim / Mike Konopacki ; Tom Scribner / Barbara Laurence, art by Clay Butler ; College of complexes / Jerome Neukirch and Harvey Pekar ; Wobblies in the '60s / Mike Konopacki and Franklin Rosemont ; The IWW lives! ; Nunca va a Morir: homage to Carlos Cortez / Dylan Miner ; What time is it? / Artist unknown ; Gary Snyder / Josh MacPhee ; Time to (dis)organize / Jay Kinney ; Utah Phillips / Jeffrey Lewis ; Who bombed Judi Bari! / Kevin Pyle ; Wobbly Wildcat 2001 / Terry Tapp ; No to the WATO / Carlos Cortez ; The art and music of the IWW ; Wobbly originals ; Artists' and writers' biographies ; Bibliography. -- Historical and political genres. -- Call no.: HD8055 .I4W63 2005 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaplin, Ralph, 1887-1961. "Wobbly" : 80 Years of Rebel Art. -- San Francisco, Calif. : Labor Archives and Research Center, 1987. -- 10 p. : ill. ; 21 cm. -- "IWW graphics." -- "On display at Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco, California January & February 1987." -- Includes bibliographical references. -- This catalog shows cartoons by Ralph Chaplin (as "Bingo"), Joe Hill, Ernst Riebe, William Henkelman, Taisto Luoma, Joe Troy, C.E. Setzer (as "X13"), White Matysik, Clif Bennett, Arthur Moyse, Leslie Fish, and Carlos Cortez. -- Call no.: NC1310.S36W56 1987 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Bill. Yarns of the Yellowstone / written and illustrated by Bill Chapman. -- Gardiner, Mont. : Juniper Studio, 1972. -- 1 v. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- "Specials: Yellowstone's Phantom ; The Cowan Incident." -- Stories about Yellowstone National Park in a western comics format. -- Call no.: F722.C47 1972 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Bob. Moebius 1/2 : The Early Moebius & Other Humorous Stories / Jean "Moebius" Giraud, story & art ; Jean-Marc Lofficier, Randy Lofficier, translators, editors ; Bob Chapman, Robbin Brosterman, designers. -- Anaheim, CA : Graphitti Designs Inc., 1991. -- 60 p. : ill. ; 28 cm. - (Graphitti Designs Graphic Novel) -- "The black & white work of Jean Giraud" 1. French comics. I. Moebius, 1938- II. [Each other creator] III. The Early Moebius & Other Humorous Stories. IV. The Black & White Work of Jean Giraud. V. Series. Call no.: PN6747.G5M6213 1991 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Bob. San Diego Comic-Con 1986 / Bob Chapman, John Koukoutsakis, editors. -- San Diego, CA : San Diego Comic Convention, 1986. -- 97 p. : ill. ; 28 cm. -- Called "San Diego Comic Con Program Book" on p. 4. 1. Comic books, strips, etc.--Congresses. I. Chapman, Bob. II. Koukoutsakis, John. III. San Diego Comic-Con (17th : 1986) IV. San Diego Comic Con Program Book. Call no.: PN6702.S3 1986 ------------------------------------------------------ Chapman, Bob--Miscellanea. Chapman, Bob (producer of Marvel/DC Comics related products) : interview (4 p.) in David Anthony Kraft's Comics Interview no. 24. 1. Licensing. Call no.: PN6725.D28no.24. ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Bob--Miscellanea. Index entry (p. 249-250) in Will Eisner, a Spirited Life, by Bob Andelman (Milwaukie, OR : M Press, 2005). -- Call no.: PN6727.E35 Z5A5 2005 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Brenda--Interviews. "The First Female Story Head at Disney : interview with Brenda Chapman" / by Nancy Beiman. p. 60-64 in Cartoonist Profiles, no. 104 (Dec. 1994). -- Chapman is story head for The Lion King. Includes photograph of Chapman, and sample thumbnails and storyboards. -- Call no.: NC1300.C35no.104 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Brenda--Miscellanea. Index entry (p. 150) in Disney's Art of Animation, by Bob Thomas (New York : Hyperion, 1991). Call no.: NC1766.U52D568 1991 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Charles Henry, 1879-1969--Miscellanea. Entry (p. 37-38) in Dictionary of British Comic Artists, Writers, and Editors, by Alan Clark (London : The British Library, 1998). -- Call no.: PN6735.C513 1998 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Charles Henry, 1879-1969--Miscellanea. Index entry (p. 113) in The World Encyclopedia of Comics, ed. by Maurice Horn (New York : Chelsea House, 1976). Call no.: PN6710.W6 1976 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Cindy. "Tusk" / characters created by Susumi Matsushita ; comic by Idea + Design Works ; story, Kris Oprisko ; art, Alex Garner ; color, Guy Major ; letters, Cindy Chapman. p. 22-29 in Heavy Metal Special ; v. 14, no. 2 (Summer 2000) -- (Heavy Metal CD Special) -- Call no.: PN6728.H43C2 2000 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Dan. Bakado, the Way of the Idiot. no. 2 / created, written and drawn by Dan Chapman. -- Preview copy. -- Oakland, CA : D. Chapman, 1998. -- 27 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. -- Boxing story. -- Call no.: PN6727.C428B32 1998 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Dan. Pablo's Inferno / art, Rhode Montijo ; story, Dan Chapman. -- Stockton, CA : ABISMO, 1999-2001. -- ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 5 nos. -- Issues after the first have author statement: Story and art by Rhode Montijo. -- Funny horror genre, takes place in Hell. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-5. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.A135P3 1999 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, George Herman, 1902- Your Witness! : An Album of 100 Legal Cartoons Suitable for Framing / edited by George H. Chapman. -- Rochester, N.Y. : Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company, 1963. -- 1 v. : ill. ; 21 x 28 cm. -- "From Case and Comment, the lawyers' magazine." -- Call no.: folio NC1428.C3 1963 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank American comics writer ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "Blood Transfusions"* (Combat Casey) / Robert Q. Sale ; story by Hank Chapman. 8 p. in Combat, no. 8 (Jan. 1953) I. Sale, Robert Q. II. Chapman, Hank. III. Combat Casey. k. Transfusions. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3C6no.8 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "C-Ration Can Grenades"* (Combat Casey) / Robert Q. Sale ; story by Hank Chapman. 6 p. in Combat Casey, no. 9 (Apr. 1953) I. Sale, Robert Q. II. Chapman, Hank. k. Ration Cans. k. Cans. k. Grenades. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3W3no.9 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "Combat Photog" / story by Hank Chapman ; Kida. 7 p. in War Adventures, no. 9 (Oct. 1952) I. Chapman, Hank. II. Kida, Fred. k. Photographers. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3W25no.9 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "Drowning Red Tanks"* (Battle Brady) / art, Norman Steinberg ; story by Hank Chapman. 5 p. in Battle Brady, no. 11 (Feb. 1953) I. Steinberg, Norman. II. Chapman, Hank. III. Battle Brady. k. Red Tanks. k. Tanks. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3M4no.11 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "Eager Beaver!" / story by Hank Chapman. 5 p. in Battle Action, no. 4 (Aug. 1952) -- Begins: Look at the drooly grin on that doggie's puss. k. Beavers. I. Chapman, Hank. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3B32no.4 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "Firedamp"* (Combat Casey) / story by Hank Chapman. 6 p. in Combat Casey, no. 9 (Apr. 1953) I. Chapman, Hank. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3W3no.9 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "Fury on Sniper Ridge!" (Battle Brady) / story by Hank Chapman. 7 p. in Battle Action, no. 11 (Apr. 1953) I. Chapman, Hank. II. Battle Brady. k. Sniper Ridge. k. Ridges. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3B32no.11 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "Grenade Burst" / story by Hank Chapman. 5 p. in War Action, no. 5 (Aug. 1952) I. Chapman, Hank. k. Bursts. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3W23no.5 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "Hand Grenades" (Sgt. Socko Swenski's Combat Course, lesson 2) / art, Norman Steinberg ; story by Hank Chapman. 5 p. in Battle Brady, no. 11 (Feb. 1953) I. Steinberg, Norman. II. Chapman, Hank. III. Sgt. Socko Swenski's Combat Course, lesson 2. k. Grenades. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3M4no.11 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "Home is the Eagle" / story by Henry P. Chapman. 5 p. in War Comics, no. 4 (June 1951) I. Chapman, Hank. k. Eagles. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3W32no.4 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "The Killer" / Robert Q. Sale ; story by Hank Chapman. 3 p. in War Action, no. 5 (Aug. 1952) I. Sale, Robert Q. II. Chapman, Hank. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3W23no.5 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "Manchuria Mary"* (Battle Brady) / art, Syd Shores ; story by Hank Chapman. 6 p. in Battle Brady, no. 11 (Feb. 1953) I. Shores, Syd. II. Chapman, Hank. III. Battle Brady. k. Mary. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3M4no.11 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "Poison Ivy"* (Combat Casey) / Robert Q. Sale ; story by Hank Chapman. 6 p. in Combat Casey, no. 9 (Apr. 1953) I. Sale, Robert Q. II. Chapman, Hank. k. Ivy. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3W3no.9 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "Poor Pvt. Penny P. Pennington" / Robert Q. Sale ; story by Hank Chapman. 5 p. in Combat Casey, no. 9 (Apr. 1953) I. Sale, Robert Q. II. Chapman, Hank. k. Pvt. Penny P. Pennington. k. Pennington, Penny P. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3W3no.9 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "The Sour Milk-Run!" / Joe Kubert, art ; Hank Chapman, story. 10 p. in Our Army at War, no. 148 (Nov. 1964). -- Call no.: PN6728.2.N3 O85no.148 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "Straw Pilot!" / Joe Kubert, art ; Hank Chapman, story. 10 p. in Our Army at War, no. 147 (Oct. 1964) ; reprinted in G.I. Combat, no. 144 (Nov. 1970). -- Call no.: PN6728.2.N3 O85no.147 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "Target Destroyed, Maybe!" / Hank Chapman, script ; Ross Andru, pencils ; Mike Esposito, inks. 6 p. in All American Men of War, no. 90 (Mar./Apr. 1962). -- Data from Bob Klein, via Grand Comics Database Project. -- Call no.: PN6728.2.N3A4no.90 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "24 Hours!" / Syd Shores ; story by Hank Chapman. 6 p. in War Comics, no. 14 (Dec. 1952) I. Shores, Syd. II. Chapman, Hank. k. Hours. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3W32no.14 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "Two Prisoners and a Mule"* (Battle Brady) / art, Syd Shores ; story by H. Chapman. 7 p. in Battle Brady, no. 11 (Feb. 1953) I. Shores, Syd. II. Chapman, Hank. III. Battle Brady. k. Prisoners. k. Mules. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3M4no.11 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank. "With Bayonet in Hand" / Hank Chapman, Russ Heath. 7 p. in Battle Action, no. 4 (Aug. 1952) I. Chapman, Hank. II. Heath, Russ. k. Bayonets. k. Hands. Call no.: PN6728.2.M3B32no.4 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank--Miscellanea. Entry (p. 31) in The Who's Who of American Comic Books, by Jerry Bails & Hames Ware (Detroit, Mich. : J. Bails, 1973-1976). -- Call no.: PN6725.B3v.1 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Hank--Miscellanea. Index entry (p. 33) in Marvel : Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics, by Les Daniels (New York : H.N. Abrams, 1991). Call no.: PN6725.D25 1991 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Henry P. "The Cowboy's Crown" / by Henry P. Chapman ; Jim Christiansen. p. 32-34 in Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact, v. 13, no. 10 (Jan. 16, 1958). -- About cowboy hats. -- Call no.: PN6728.1.P43T7v.13no.10 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Henry P. "Indians" / by Henry R. Chapman ; Jim Christiansen, art. p. 31-34 in Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact, v. 13, no. 11 (Jan. 30, 1958). -- History of the American Indians. -- Call no.: PN6728.1.P43T7v.13no.11 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Henry P. "Joe Foss, Ace of Aces" / by Henry P. Chapman ; Christiansen. p. 29-34 in Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact, v. 13, no. 19 (May 22, 1958). -- Foss later became governor of South Dakota. -- Call no.: PN6728.1.P43T7v.13no.19 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Henry P. "Round-Up and Rodeo" / by Henry P. Chapman. p. 28-34 in Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact, v. 13, no. 9 (Jan. 2, 1958). -- Call no.: PN6728.1.P43T7v.13no.9 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, J. G. Index entry (p. 200) in A History of American Graphic Humor, v. 1 (1747-1865), by William Murrell (New York : Whitney Museum of American Art, 1933). -- Call no.: NC1420.M8v.1 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Mark David. "June 2050" / art and story by John Workman. p. 76 in Heavy Metal, v. 6, no. 10 (Jan. 1983). -- About Mark David Chapman. -- Call no.: PN6728.H43v.6no.10 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Morris--Miscellanea. Entry (p. 38) in Dictionary of British Comic Artists, Writers, and Editors, by Alan Clark (London : The British Library, 1998). -- Call no.: PN6735.C513 1998 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Peter, 1925- Biographical entry (p. 114-115) in Bonzer : Australian Comics 1900-1990s (Melbourne : Elgua Media, 1998). -- Call no.: PN6790.A8S47 1998 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Peter, 1925- Index entry (p. 114-115, 143) in Bonzer : Australian Comics 1900-1990s, edited by Annette Kay Shiell (Melbourne : Elgua Media, 1998). -- Call no.: PN6790.A8 S47 1998 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Peter, 1925- Index entry (p. 128, 168, 188, 193, 195, 196, 200) in Panel by Panel : A History of Australian Comics, by John Ryan (Stanmore, NSW : Cassell Australia, 1979). -- Index by John Melloy. -- Call no.: PN6790.A8R9 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Richard. "Dear Uncle Creepy" p. 4-5 in Creepy, no. 52 (Apr. 1973). -- Letters to the editor from Michael Ambrose, K.D., Vernon Sundfors, John Patros, Richard Chapman, Gary Kimber, Robert Martinez, Harold Schmichelgruebar, Scott Schumack, and Iain Switzer. -- Call no.: PN6728.3.W3C7no.52 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Robyn American comics artist ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Robyn. "On the Clock" / Robyn Chapman. 6 p. in Expo 2001 (Bethesda, Maryland : The Expo, 2001). -- Call no.: PN6705.U5S6 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Robyn. Scheherazade : Comics about Love, Treachery, Mothers & Monsters / Megan Kelso, editor. -- New York : Soft Skull Press, 2004. -- 223 p. : ill. ; 26 cm. -- "Showcasing the work of 23 of the most interesting female cartoonists working today, both well-loved veterans and emerging artists." -- Contents: The fisherman and the genie / Andrice Arp ; Birthday present / J. Manix ; The best times / Shary Boyle ; Fanya needs to know / Leela Corman ; Untitled / Sara Varon ; Paragon / Lark Pien ; The bird eater / Eleanor Davis ; Joe Blow / Allison Cole ; Speed is fast, sound is loud / Sophie McMillan ; Shit / Ariel Schrag ; Berlinda's taste / Isabel Carvalho ; Timbits / Amy Lockhart ; Turtle pancakes / Robyn Chapman ; Truckin' it / Lauren Weinstein ; Bitchfest / Ariel Bordeaux ; Wednesday morning yoga / Ellen Forney ; Olivia / Kelley Seda ; The real Anna / Jennifer Daydreamer ; One afternoon / Gabrielle Bell ; Undertow / Ellen Lindner ; I wonder where the yellow went / Vanessa Davis ; The amazing Fox sisters / Gabrielle Gamboa ; The pickle fork / Megan Kelso. -- Women's genre. -- Call no.: PN6720.S34 2004 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Robyn. "A Talk with Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez" / Robyn Chapman. p. 40 in The Comics Journal, no. 271 (Oct. 2005). -- (Newswatch : Journal Datebook) -- The two spoke at Dartmouth College on June 27, in interview format with Ana Merino. -- Call no.: PN6700.C62no.271 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Robyn. Theater of the Meek / by Robyn Chapman. -- Wasilla, AK : Ice World Press, 2000. -- 31 p. : ill. ; 26 cm. -- "Xeric powered". -- Alternative genre. -- Call no.: PN6727.C429T47 2000 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Robyn. True Porn. 2 / edited by Robyn Chapman and Kelli Nelson. -- Gainesville, Fla. : Alternative Comics, 2005. -- 216 p. : ill. ; 26 cm. -- Sex-themed autobiographical comics. -- Call no.: PN6726.T702 2005 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Robyn--Miscellanea. "Our Cover Girls" p. 108-111 in The Comics Journal, no. 237 (Sept. 2001). -- Biobibliographical paragraphs on: Anne Timmons, Leslie Sternbergh, Linda Medley, Marie Severin, Roberta Gregory, Diane Noomin, Penny Van Horn, Alison Bechdel, Gabriella Gamboa, Molly Kiely, Julie Doucet, Marian Henley, Dame Darcy, Donna Barr, Phoebe Gloeckner, Ariel Bordeaux, Jill Thompson, Megan Kelso, M.K. Brown, Ellen Forney, Mary Fleener, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Carol Lay, Sarah Dyer, Jessica Abel, Laura Molina, Gabriella Bell, Catherine Doherty, Barb Rausch, Sabrina Jones, Fiona Smyth, Debbie Drechsler, Christine Shields, Jennifer Feinberg, Mari Schaal, Cathy Hill, Mary Wilshire, Joyce Chin, Fly, Krystine Kryttre, Robyn Chapman, Ren�e French, Jen Sorensen, Miran Kim, Isabella Bannerman, Jennifer Daydreamer, Carol Tyler, Trina Robbins, Kalah Allen, Eileen Arnow-Levine, Joyce Farmer, Diane DiMassa, Fawn Gehweiler, Lorna Miller, Lee Marrs, Amanda Padilla, Carla Speed McNeil, Ariel Schrag, Leela Corman, and Lea Hernandez. -- Each has a self-portrait on the front or back cover of the magazine. -- Call no.: PN6700.C62no.237 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Robyn--Miscellanea. "The (Relatively) Current Crop" / by Mary Fleener. p. 35-43 in The Comics Journal, no. 237 (Sept. 2001). -- (Reviews) -- Brief reviews of Scary Godmother (Jill Thompson) ; "Marbles in My Underpants" (Ren�e French) ; "J. Manix Sketch Book" (J. Manix) ; "Can of Worms" (Catherine Doherty) ; "Book of Sleep" (Gabriella Bell) ; "Bitch in Heat" (Giovanna Casotto) ; "Queen's Day" (Leela Corman) ; "Rare Creature" (Kelly Seda) ; "Lait Frappe" (Genevieve Castree) ; "GoGirl!" (Anne Timmons & Trina Robbins) ; "Queen of the Big Black" (Megan Kelso) ; "Katmandu #15 & 20" (ed. Carole Curtis) ; "Daddy's Girl" (Debbie Drechsler) ; "Cuckoo" (Madison Clell) ; "Slowpoke" (Jen Sorensen) ; "Castle Waiting" (Linda Medley) ; "The #%@! Coloring Book" (Krystine Kryttre) ; "Fuck the Shut Up!" & "Girl Gang" (K-9 and Fly) ; "Witch" (Lorna Miller) ; "Sheedeva" (Sandra Chang) ; "Theatre of the Meek" (Robyn Chapman) ; "Awkward" and "Definition" and "Potential" (Ariel Schrag) ; "Igasho and Other Stories" (Kalah Allen) ; "Bad Thoughts" (Amanda Padilla) ; "Little Scrowlie #2" and "Chi #1-2" (Jennifer Feinberg) ; and "XXXlivenudegirls" (Laurenn McCubbin & Nikki Coffman) -- Call no.: PN6700.C62no.237 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Robyn--Miscellanea. "Turtle Pancakes and Sour Pussies : Robyn Chapman" / by Daniel Holloway. p. 62 in The Comics Journal, no. 259 (Apr. 2004). -- (Youthquake) -- A young cartoonists section. -- Call no.: PN6700.C62no.259 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Ross. Index entry (p. 195) in Panel by Panel : A History of Australian Comics, by John Ryan (Stanmore, NSW : Cassell Australia, 1979). -- Index by John Melloy. -- Call no.: PN6790.A8R9 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, S. "By the Time I Get to Phoebus" / story, S. Chapman ; art, Boxell. 5 p. in Dope Comix, no. 4 (Feb. 1981). -- Call no.: PN6728.45.K5D6no.4 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Stepan. "Nausica� of the Manga of the Pillbugs : Nausica� of the Valley of Wind" / a review by Stepan Chapman. p. 59-60 in The Comics Journal, no. 170 (Aug. 1994) -- (Comics Library) 1. Nausica� of the Valley of Wind--Reviews. 2. Miyazaki, Hayao. 3. Japanese comics--History and criticism. I. Chapman, Stepan. II. Comics Library. Call no.: PN6700.C62no.170 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Steve--Miscellanea. Entry (p. 38) in Dictionary of British Comic Artists, Writers, and Editors, by Alan Clark (London : The British Library, 1998). -- Call no.: PN6735.C513 1998 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Steve--Miscellanea. Entry (v. 2, p. 727) in Dictionnaire Encyclop�dique de H�ros et Auteurs de BD, by Henri Filippini (Grenoble : Gl�nat, 1998). -- Call no.: PN6707.F5 1998 v.2 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Steve--Miscellanea. Index entry (p. 506, 507) in Historia de los Comics / J. Toutain, J. Coma (Barcelona : Toutain, 1982-1984?) -- Call no.: PN6710.H5 1982a ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman, Walter. Entry (p. 31) in The Who's Who of American Comic Books, by Jerry Bails & Hames Ware (Detroit, Mich. : J. Bails, 1973-1976). -- Call no.: PN6725.B3v.1 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman (publisher). Index entry (p. 89) to Principes des Litt�ratures Dessin�es / Harry Morgan (Angoul�me : Editions de l'An 2, 2003). -- Call no.: PN6710.M57 2003 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman & Hall Publisher ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman & Hall. Animals in Motion : an Electro-Photographic Investigation of Consecutive Phases of Animal Progressive Movements / by Eadweard Muybridge. -- London : Chapman & Hall, 1902. -- 264 p. : ill. ; 25 x 31 cm. -- Call no.: XX folio QP301.M83 1902 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman & Hall. Animals in Motion : an Electro-Photographic Investigation of Consecutive Phases of Muscular Actions. Commenced 1872. Completed 1885. / by Eadweard Muybridge. -- London : Chapman & Hall, 1899. -- 264 p. : chiefly ill. ; 25 x 32 cm. -- Call no.: XX folio QP301.M83 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman & Hall. The Human Figure in Motion : an Electro-Photographic Investigation of Consecutive Phases of Muscular Actions. Commenced 1872. Completed 1885. / by Eadweard Muybridge. -- London, Chapman & Hall, 1901. -- 277 p. : ill. ; 25 x 31 cm. -- Call no.: folio QP301.M85 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman & Hall. They Make Us Smile / by Percy V. Bradshaw. -- London : Chapman & Hall, 1942. -- 112 p. : ill. : 19 cm. -- Introductory pages and sample drawings for "cartoonists, caricaturists, and humorous artists." -- Contents: Bruce Bairnsfather ; George Belcher ; Walt Disney ; Fougasse ; Grimes ; Horrabin ; Illingworth ; David Langdon ; Lee ; Low ; Phipps ; Frank Reynolds ; Strube ; Bert Thomas ; Tom Webster ; George Whitelaw ; Gilbert Wilkinson ; Lawson Wood. -- Call no.: NC1476.B7 1942 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapman & Hall--Miscellanea. Index entry (p. 89) to Principes des Litt�ratures Dessin�es / Harry Morgan (Angoul�me : Editions de l'An 2, 2003). -- Call no.: PN6710.M57 2003 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapmans. The Best of Matt 1992. -- London : Chapmans, 1992. -- At head of title: Daily Telegraph. -- 80 p. : ill. ; 18 cm. -- Single panel cartoons. -- Call no.: NC1479.M29B4 1992 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapmans. The Best of Matt 1993. -- London : Chapmans, 1993. -- 74 p. : ill. ; 14 x 18 cm. -- Daily newspaper cartoon panels by Matthew Pritchett. -- At head of title: The Daily Telegraph. -- Call no.: NC1479.M29B4 1993 ----------------------------------------------------- "Chapo" 1/2 p. in El Halcon de Oro, no. 156 (Jan. 1, 1971); translated from Batman, no. 72 (Sept. 1952); also appears as "Shorty" in Action Comics, no. 301 (June 1963) Begins: !Fuera! !Que se vaya el arbitro!... (Boo! Boo! Throw the umpire out...) -- Call no.: PN6790.M44H3no.156 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaponoir. "Super Chiasse" (Chaponoir) / Y. Milon ; Lamorthe. p. 68 in Fluide Glacial, no. 163 (Jan. 1990). -- Superman parody. -- Back cover. -- Call no.: PN6748.F55no.163 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaponoir. "Toujours plus kong" (Chaponoir) / Lamorthe & Lerouge. p. 68 in Fluide Glacial, no. 284 (Feb. 2000). -- Depicts a sexual relationship between King Kong and the Statue of Liberty. -- Call no.: PN6748.F55no.284 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaponoir--Miscellanea. Entry (v. 1, p. 372) in Dictionnaire Encyclop�dique de H�ros et Auteurs de BD, by Henri Filippini (Grenoble : Gl�nat, 1998). -- Call no.: PN6707.F5 1998 v.1 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapparell, Sam. Index entry (p. 34, 68) in The Will Eisner Companion, by N.C. Christopher Couch & Stephen Weiner (New York : DC Comics, 2004). -- Call no.: PN6727.E35 Z5C6 2004 ----------------------------------------------------- Chappe, Kiyoko. Le Petit Dend� / Akira Toriyama ; traduction, Kiyoko Chappe ; lettrage, Fabrice Bras. -- Grenoble : Gl�nat, 1997. -- 187 p. : ill. ; 19 cm. -- (DragonBall ; 26) -- Call no.: PN6790.J33T6P414 1997 ----------------------------------------------------- Chappe, Kiyoko. Le Super Sa�yen / Akira Toriyama ; traduction, Kiyoko Chappe ; lettrage, Fabrice Bras. -- Grenoble : Gl�nat, 1997. -- 187 p. : ill. ; 19 cm. -- (DragonBall ; 27) -- Call no.: PN6790.J33T6S814 1997 ----------------------------------------------------- Chappe, Kiyoko. Trunks / Akira Toriyama ; traduction, Kiyoko Chappe ; lettrage, Fabrice Bras. -- Grenoble : Gl�nat, 1997. -- 183 p. : ill. ; 19 cm. -- (DragonBall ; 28) -- Call no.: PN6790.J33T6S814 1997 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapp� telegraph system. Index entry (p. 103) in History of the Comic Strip, v. 2 / by David Kunzle (Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press, 1990) Call no.: PN6710f.K85v.2 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapped. The Blank in the Comics strip collection includes a file of one or more daily comic strips related to this keyword or topic. Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 ----------------------------------------------------- Chappell, George Shepard, 1877- Through the Alimentary Canal with Gun and Camera : a fascinating trip to the interior / personally conducted by George S. Chappell ; with an introduction by Robert Benchley ; fully illustrated by O. Soglow. -- New ed. -- New York : Dover, 1963. -- 114 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. -- (Dover Books ; T376) I. Chappell, George Shepard, 1877- II. Soglow, Otto, 1900- III. Benchley, Robert. IV. Series. Call no.: PS3505.H44T5 1963 ----------------------------------------------------- Chappuis, Philippe, 1968- --Miscellanea. Entry (p. 106) in Das grosse Comic-Lexikon, by Marcel Feige (Berlin: Lexikon Imprint Verlag, 2001). -- Call no.: PN6707.F48 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- "Chapstick" / Terry Richards. 2 p. in Wimmen's Comix, no. 7 (1976). -- Call no.: PN6728.45.L3W5no.7 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapstick. The Blank in the Comics strip collection includes a file of one or more daily comic strips related to this keyword or topic. Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 ----------------------------------------------------- "Chapter One" / Dan O'Neill. 2 tiers in San Francisco Comic Book, no. 1 (Jan.-Feb. 1970). -- Begins: "Not all beauty is in the eye of the beholder" -- Call no.: PN6728.45.S3S3no.1 ----------------------------------------------------- "Chapter Three : Image Litigation, Cont." p. 17-19 in The Comics Journal, no. 192 (Dec. 1996) -- (News Watch) 1. Image Comics. 2. Liefeld, Rob. I. Image Litigation, Cont. k. Lawsuits. Call no.: PN6700.C62no.192 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapters ----------------------------------------------------- Chapters. -- Cambridge, MA : Devil's Trident Publications, 1980- . -- ill. ; 43 cm. folded to 30 cm. -- Began with no. 1 (June 1980) -- "Showcasing the finest in continuity comic strips." -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-6 (1980). -- Call no.: PN6726.C47 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapters. The Blank in the Comics strip collection includes a file of one or more daily comic strips related to this keyword or topic. Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapters. "Crime by the Chapter" (Star Spangled Kid) / Jerry Siegel, script ; Hal Sherman, art. 13 p. in Star Spangled Comics, no. 9 (June 1942). -- Villains Needle, Dr. Weerd, and Moonglow team up. -- Superhero genre. -- Data from Gene Reed and Jim Walls, via Grand Comics Database Project. -- Call no.: PN6728.1.N3S75m no.9 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapters. "The Final Chapter!" (Spider-Man) / Steve Ditko and Stan Lee, story ; Steve Ditko, art. 20 p. in Amazing Spider-Man, no. 33 (Feb. 1966) ; reprinted in Marvel Tales, no. 26 (May 1970) ; reprinted in Marvel Masterworks, v. 16 (1991). I. Ditko, Steve. II. Lee, Stan. k. Chapters. Call no.: PN6728.3.M3A5no.33. Call no.: PN6728.3.M3M32no.26. Call no.: PN6728.A5L383 1991 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapters. "This Chapter is About Driving the Little Cart" (Dilbert, July 17, 1995) / Scott Adams. reproduced on p. 146 of Golf in the Comic Strips, ed. by Howard Ziehm (General Publishing Group, 1997). -- Summary: Dilbert studies up on his new computer golf game. -- Call no.: PN6726.G595 1997 ----------------------------------------------------- Chapters. "Unfortunately I Forgot to Bring Home the Stupid Book"* (Luann, Sept. 1, 2007) / by Greg Evans. -- Summary: Luann was going to read the chapter she missed and retake the test. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55 "chapters" ----------------------------------------------------- Chaput, Beno�t. Melek : Photos Trouv�es & Gravures / de Julie Doucet ; �crits rassembl�s par Beno�t Chaput. -- Montr�al : L'Oie de Cravan, 2002. -- 1 v. : ill. (part col., part fold.) ; 22 cm. -- English translation (1 leaf) laid in. -- "425 exemplaires." -- Call no.: PN6733.D6M4 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Chaput, N. "Chain Mail" p. 40 in Heavy Metal, v. 3, no. 3 (July 1979). -- Letters to the editor from Martin W. Goeller, Douglas Orlowski, N. Chaput, and Rich Kaplan. -- Call no.: PN6728.H 43v.3no.3 ----------------------------------------------------- "Chapuz�n" (Mem�n) / Yolanda Vargas Dulc�. 32 p. in Mem�n, no. 2 (1983). -- SUMMARY: Since Ricardo wants to be part of the gang the other boys arrange an initiation. First Ricardo has to carry each of them on his back like a horse. Then he has to let them throw him in the school's rooftop cistern. This is accomplished, but Ricardo can't get himself out of the cistern, sinks to the bottom, and drowns. Carlos pulls him out, and he seems dead, but he's not, quite. The teacher hears the commotion, takes Ricardo to the school doctor, and covers for the boys with the administration. At home Ricardo's mother insists that they move him to a new school. In a private talk with his father Ricardo explains everything, says he deserved his punishment, and wants to stay in the public school. The father understands because he wasn't always rich, and makes up a story to calm his wife. Things go better at school among the boys, and after a few days Ricardo dismisses his chauffeur so he can play baseball in an alley. Since it's a dirty place Ricardo takes his shoes off, and Mem�n guards them. Some bigger boys come along and want to use the area for their own game, and a fistfight starts. During the confusion a thief picks up Ricardo's shoes. -- Call no.: PN6790.M44M433no.2 -----------------------------------------------------	Beetle Bailey
What circus billed itself as “The Greatest Show on Earth”?	Print Page - The Eyes of Beetle Bailey I recently got a new Archie comic collection I'm in the process of reading. Do you know of any exceptions where Jughead Jones did open his eyes? Maybe as rare as Beetle Bailey's eyes being seen? I'm trying to locate that comic boo, where Sarge chewed out Beetle for letting his eyes show. So far, prices are reasonable, but I dont't know the exact date and issue number, although I would recognize the cover drawing, which so far I haven't found it on my net searches. Prices I've found so far on Beetle Bailey comics are reasonable. In one web site I visited, it was claimed that only in before Beetle joined the army were his eyes shown, and those comic strips might have never been published. I'm now trying to get the first 50 years of Beetle Bailey comic collection from the library. It's possible that that one time I saw Beetle's eyes could have been "non-canonical," meaning it wasn't in the official Beetle Bailey story as told by Mort Walker. The comic books might have had another artist. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 02, 2012, 04:48:06 PM Finally located the issue of Beetle Bailey I'm looking for. It's 1953 Series, issue #27, June, 1960. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 03, 2012, 12:05:58 PM Here is the cover of Beetle Bailey #27, June-July, 1960. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on February 03, 2012, 05:51:09 PM I guess there's somebody for everything. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 04, 2012, 10:40:35 AM Quote from: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on February 03, 2012, 05:51:09 PM I guess there's somebody for everything. Charlie, if the price isn't too high, and it's available, I'm going to buy that issue of Beetle Bailey. Right now, I've got 50 years of Beetle Bailey, a 2000 collection by Mort Walker, on request at my local branch of the county library. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: parker on February 04, 2012, 03:47:04 PM Billy, to answer your question, I think Jughead's eyes were shown a handful of times, but rarely---usually when he was shocked by something. When are we going to start talking about Little Orphan Annie's eyes? Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on February 04, 2012, 04:45:37 PM I wannaz discuss The Heap's eyes, myself. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 06, 2012, 08:50:06 AM A lot of the time they look partially open. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: parker on February 06, 2012, 02:52:09 PM What about the eyes of Laura Mars? Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 06, 2012, 04:15:20 PM What about the eyes of Laura Mars? I didn't see that film, Parker, did you see it? The Eyes of Laura Mars and The Eyes of Beetle Bailey do sound similar, don't they? Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on February 06, 2012, 04:21:28 PM Then there's EYES OF FIRE. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: parker on February 08, 2012, 02:38:21 PM What about the Eyes of Charles Sand? Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 08, 2012, 04:01:04 PM What about the Eyes of Charles Sand? Parker, I was just going to mention that one, but glad that you beat me to it! "The eyes of . . . " is a saying that does have a poetic ring to it, dont you think? Another one, don't know if I'm the first on it, or I got it from someone else, but has anyone ever looked at you with "eyes of small-town evil?" I forget right now when I first gave that descripton of some local townspeoples' reactions to a stranger. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 12, 2012, 05:47:59 PM Well, I got the comic book at the post office yesterday, and, sorry to say, Beetle's eyes were not shown in any of the stories in it. Maybe it was in a Sunday version of the newspaper comic. I do know it was in color, and had more than the few small pics one would see in the Mon-Frid comic strip. So, now I dont't know exactly where it was that I saw the Eyes of Beetle Bailey: newspaper comic stip, or comic book. I do know that until find out where I saw Beetle's eyes, and can get a copy of it, my claim to have seen the Eyes of Beetle Bailey will be open to question and claims of "it ain't so," by some people who do not trust my memory. And,so far, my memory as been proven incorrect. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: RomanyX on February 13, 2012, 03:23:19 AM If it's any consolation, I believe you, billy. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 13, 2012, 02:53:20 PM Quote from: RomanyX on February 13, 2012, 03:23:19 AM If it's any consolation, I believe you, billy. Romany, it's nice that you believe me. For my own satisfaction of seeing the Eyes of Beetle Bailey One More Time Before I Die, I want to find that comic strip. Proving it to the naysayers is secondary. I'm hoping that some libraries in nearby counties in North & South Carolina might still have daily and Sunday newspapers on microfilm I can check, and hopefully find the newspaper comic strip in question, before ruling that it must be in the comic books. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 13, 2012, 02:54:25 PM All of these eyes of film titles, reminds me of the song title, "Eyes of Texas," which I'm now studying the lyrics of. Wonder if someone could write a really good song about "The Eyes of Beetle Bailey?" Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on February 13, 2012, 04:40:23 PM Or could it have been a MAD or CRACKED parody? Dim memory tells me I saw a parody in one of them and that a scene like that appeared in it. I'm not 100% certain, but it SEEMS that way. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 14, 2012, 01:20:13 PM Or could it have been a MAD or CRACKED parody? Dim memory tells me I saw a parody in one of them and that a scene like that appeared in it. I'm not 100% certain, but it SEEMS that way. Charlie, I am reasonably sure that it wasn't in Mad or Cracked, because it was in color. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on February 14, 2012, 05:12:58 PM No, I guess I didn't see the same one as you, then. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 15, 2012, 12:31:10 PM No, I guess I didn't see the same one as you, then. Charlie, I don't remember MAD or CRACKED ever doing parodies of beetle Bailey. 50 Years of Beetle Bailey, the book I requested from the library has been recieved at their main location. but so far it hasn't been sent to the branch near me. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on February 16, 2012, 04:41:44 PM I remember MAD once doing a satire of BEETLE BAILEY although long ago and I don't recall much other than it's existence about it. Stopped reading CRACKED in my early twenties so I can't really say much about that one. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 17, 2012, 03:53:39 PM Quote from: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on February 13, 2012, 04:40:23 PM Or could it have been a MAD or CRACKED parody? Dim memory tells me I saw a parody in one of them and that a scene like that appeared in it. I'm not 100% certain, but it SEEMS that way. Charlie, while I think that Mad and Cracked would be unlikely, you idea that it could have been in a Beetle Bailey parody and not in the official Mort Walker comic strips, or comic books, is good, and needs to be pursued. In the old Mad comic book sized format, when it was basically all comic strip parodies, the characters were, to best of my memory, grotesque portrayals of the characters parodied, although there were some exceptions. I might have possibly seen one of those in color in reprint form, although I can't remember ever seeing any of them in their original form. I'll ask Wild Bill about it when I write to him. I think if I live long enough, (DV) have enough friends, and money (probably unlikely on those last two), I will eventually find the comic I remember where Beetle's eyes are plainly seen. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 18, 2012, 09:35:49 AM Here's the view of Beetle's eyes from 50 Years of Beetle Bailey, which, as you can see, was just a joke by Mort Walker on the readers, and not what I have been looking for. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 18, 2012, 09:36:40 AM 50 years of Beetle Bailey has a lot of great stuff in it. Here's one example, below, as Beetle helps out a lady in distress with car trouble. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 20, 2012, 01:08:04 PM Does anyone remember seeing General Halftrack without his mustache? He did shave it off once, probably a one time only thing. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 21, 2012, 09:46:10 AM Before Beetle enlisted in the Army, he had a girlfriend named Buzz. Wonder how she got that name, and whatever happened to her? Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 21, 2012, 09:47:29 AM Another girl is out to get Beetle, and to escape from her, Beetle goes to the Army Recruting office, and enlists. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: parker on February 21, 2012, 02:52:42 PM Cartoonists have often changed characters in long-running strips. Even Charles Schulz, in the celebrated PEANUTS strip did so----anyone remember Shermy, Violet, and a character named Patty who was not Peppermint Patty? These charactyers appeared early on, but Schulz later dropped them. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 22, 2012, 10:08:22 AM Here's another sequence, of Beetle and Sarge. Why would Sarge be having fantasies of Beetle as a sailor? And, Beetle's final remark about being "eaten out," seems a bit off color to me. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: RomanyX on February 23, 2012, 01:51:26 AM :-X I think you're reading too much into that phrase, billy. Clearly, it means the same as "I expected him to chew me out" in this context. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 23, 2012, 12:57:34 PM Quote from: RomanyX on February 23, 2012, 01:51:26 AM :-X I think you're reading too much into that phrase, billy. Clearly, it means the same as "I expected him to chew me out" in this context. Thanks for the post, Romany. I had also wondered if "eat" might have been a substitute for "chew." Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: parker on February 23, 2012, 02:39:32 PM He was fantasizing about Beetle being in the Navy because then he wouldn't be in the Army and Sarge would be free of him. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 23, 2012, 03:02:59 PM Quote from: parker on February 23, 2012, 02:39:32 PM He was fantasizing about Beetle being in the Navy because then he wouldn't be in the Army and Sarge would be free of him. That's a good thought, Parker! I hadn't thought of it. My thoughts about Beetle as a sailor, were more along the idea of Jimmy Buffet's rather obvious song lyrics about sailors in "Cheesburger In Paradise," some really bawdy things coming to mind when hearing that song. I suppose that Jimmy and I are two like- minded bawdy guys. And, Romany, I think you are right, but, some people find "chew out," objectionable. We had one of Bobby's friends to write that in the Navy, he got chewed out one day, so I started using that term, and my father, who, along with my mother had strange ideas about bad words, as Dave has noted, said that he didnt' like "chew out," because it was a military term for chewing someone's rear end! Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 25, 2012, 10:52:34 AM The One and Only review now on IMDB of the 1963 Beetle Bailey animated TV cartoon show. Is it really as bad as this reviewer says? The Best Part of this Cartoon Series Was The Theme Song 30 June 2006 \| by Mitch-38 (Houston Texas) Painfully unfunny entry from King Features Syndicate. The same kind of very funny and striking observations from the Mort Walker strip we see everyday, at this writing from the newspaper, is greatly lacking in this blistering, shrieking and boring cartoon. Beetle is portrayed as a moron, not a rebellious soul. Sergeant Snorkel as a fascist tyrant, not an upholder of the proud traditions of the army. The characters Killer, Plato and Zero are neither fleshed out, or even bothered with. Captain Scabbard, Lieutenant Fuzz or even the beloved Chaplain are simply just nonentities to be recognized here. The cartoon artwork seems to come from some sweatshop in Shri Lanka, not from anywhere the near the type of "Termite Terrace," that's for sure. Pretty embarrassing stuff for those those involved. It's terribly ironic that for a theme song that boasts: "...From the General, Colonel, Major and the Captain; The Lieutenant, Sergeant and the Corporal...they would tell you with a shout, they would gladly live without, a certain Private by the name of Beetle Bailey..." They would all take a break and go to the mess hall. And, dear reader, a "mess" is what this cartoon series is. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 26, 2012, 05:01:00 PM I ordered 4 more early 1960s beetle bailey comic books, so I hope I'm getting closer to finding that one I remember seeing Beetle's eyes in. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: RomanyX on February 26, 2012, 05:46:10 PM All I remember about the cartoon was that it was so boring I never watched it. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on February 27, 2012, 04:51:27 PM Frankly, I think the same thing as Romany. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 28, 2012, 01:14:33 PM Here's another sequence from Beetle Bailey. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 28, 2012, 01:15:28 PM Sequence in previous post concluded. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on February 28, 2012, 04:16:11 PM Good imitation of Mort Walker, Billy. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on February 29, 2012, 12:49:20 PM Good imitation of Mort Walker, Billy. Well, Charlie are you implying that Mort Walker is "butt face," or some similar slang name? Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: Wild Bill on February 29, 2012, 02:04:57 PM Beetle Bailey 'eyes.' Yeah I remember it. I thought it meant the end of the character having 'revealed' himself. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: Jerry on February 29, 2012, 04:16:04 PM Beetle Bailey appeared in Eppo magazine in Holland and was re-named Flippie Flink. I always loved it when I was a kid. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: parker on March 01, 2012, 02:34:00 PM Bill! When you comin' back, Red Ryder? I saw the Beetle Bailey cartoons as a child in the early 70s---there were shown for a while on a locally famous kid's show out of Phoenix. After getting older, I learned that Howard Morris was one of the voices. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on March 01, 2012, 02:48:00 PM Jerry, thanks for posting that comic book cover! Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on March 06, 2012, 01:03:25 PM A rare view of Beetle without his cap, but eyes still not visible. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on March 07, 2012, 12:46:51 PM Here's today's Beetle Bailey. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on March 07, 2012, 12:47:53 PM The punchline to this one seems to be a bit of a possible anti-war message Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on March 07, 2012, 04:35:17 PM Quote from: Jerry on February 29, 2012, 04:16:04 PM Beetle Bailey appeared in Eppo magazine in Holland and was re-named Flippie Flink. I always loved it when I was a kid. I never liked BEETLE BAILEY all that well. When I was a kid, I actually liked DENNIS THE MENACE, a sentiment that I can't figure out today. Nowadays, I'm a PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, BORN LOSER and DRABBLE junkie. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: parker on March 07, 2012, 07:08:22 PM I never cared much for BEETLE BAILEY, but my mother always got a charge out of it. Like Dave, I used to like DENNIS THE MENACE too, but was because long ago it actually WAS quite good. It started going downhill by the late 70s, and then hit rock bottom in the 80s, in my opinion. It has never recovered. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on March 08, 2012, 02:59:32 PM Beatle's enlistment. The first time he went to the recruiting office, when he was trying to get away from his girlfriend Buzz and a rival of hers. However, this time, he did finaly enlist. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on March 08, 2012, 03:00:30 PM Beetle's enlistment continued Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: Greg Goodsell on April 25, 2012, 11:58:28 AM Jughead Jones showed his eyes plenty of times, especially when he was fleeing in terror from Big Ethyl! Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on April 25, 2012, 01:39:04 PM Jughead Jones showed his eyes plenty of times, especially when he was fleeing in terror from Big Ethyl! Right about that one, Greg! Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on June 01, 2012, 11:08:17 AM The Beetle Bailey Project is pretty much on the back burner, and on Hold for now. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: parker on June 04, 2012, 02:49:19 PM Quote from: Greg Goodsell on April 25, 2012, 11:58:28 AM Jughead Jones showed his eyes plenty of times, especially when he was fleeing in terror from Big Ethyl! Interestingly, the Archie comics have dropped the "Big" from both Ethel and Moose's names.....probably a nod to some kind of political correctness. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on June 07, 2012, 10:50:52 AM A bit of progress on the Beetle Bailey Project. In Beetle Bailey 1953 Series # 29, Oct.-Nov., 1960, Beetle & killer are dressed in civiliary clothes, and the hat Beetle is wearing flies off of his head. We don't see his eyes, tho. Beetle's head is flatened off after his nose, and supposedly his eyes are covered by his hair. He doesn't really have any forehead, so to have "Get Out of Vietnam," written across his forehead, in the Mad Magazine of April, 1969, his head would have to be a bit larger vertically. I've done a Net search, and that issue of Mad, in paperback book form, is fairly reasonably priced, as far as comic books go, although the original, full sized magazine, would likely be more expensive than most of us would want to pay. The Mad parody is lower priority for me. For the present, all I want to do, is find "Beetle Your Eyes are Showing!" Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on June 07, 2012, 05:48:57 PM To each his own. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on June 10, 2012, 04:49:39 PM THE BEETLE BAILEY PROJECT: A Tale of Memory, True or False? By Billy A Anderson Few are those who have seen . . . The Eyes of Beetle Bailey . . . As a youngster who read the Beetle Bailey comic strip in the early 1960s, I knew that Beetle (almost) always wore a cap or a helmet on his head, although on a few very rare occasions he was seen without cap or helmet, but his eyes were still not visible. It seems like Beetle's head was flattened out where his eyes should have been, with his hair possibly covering up what eyes he might have had. Or, did he even have eyes? Well, apparently, Beetle did have eyes, because, on one of those rare occasions when Beetle's cap had come off, I was startled to see his eyes. And, So was Sgt. Snorkel, who repremended him: "Beetle! Your eyes are showing!" After which Beetle put his cap back on, and since that one time, over 50 years ago, I had never again seen the Eyes of Beetle Bailey. Until recently. In all these years, knowlege of just about every unusual subject has been increasingly collected, and put onto: The Internet! Sometime within the past year, I became interested in again seeing the Eyes of Beetle Bailey, and I knew that such a rare, exotic, one-time only sight would be remembered by Comic Book Fans, and would be easy to find on the Net. Boy, was I wrong about that! It seems, so far, that no one, except myself remembers "Beetle, Your Eyes are Showing!" And, before I Depart the Physical Vehicle, I'd like to see the record set straight, and that one time that Beetle's Eyes Were Showing, put on the record for future generations to know about. MEMORIES, TRUE OR FALSE? No one has an absolutely Infalable Memory, and I'll put myself at the Top of the List. Many times I will remember something one way, and later find out it was a different way than I remembered it. So, how can I confirm, or disprove "Beetle! Your Eyes Are Showing?" By, first, telling you just what my memories of that rare sighting were. My memory, as best I can recall, is that the first Beetle Bailey comic book I ever saw, was on a spinner rack, in Columbus, Georgia, and the cover showed Beetle driving a motorcycle down a railroad, with Sgt. Snorkel in the sidecar, being bounced up and down. In fact, that was the only memory of any Beetle Bailey comic book that I did have. So, while a Net search of "Beetle, your Eyes are Showing," didn't turn up what I was looking for, I thought all I had to do was to locate that particular comic book, get a copy of it, and, violla, I've got my proof that I did see The Eyes of Beetle Bailey! I did a Net search of Beetle Bailey comic book covers, and, sure enough, I found one with Beetle driving a motorcycle down a railroad, with Sgt. Snorkel being bounced around in the side car. As far as comic book prices go, it was so low, that I couldn't make the minimum order price, even with the added postage. So, I had to add in another low priced comic book to make the grade. Easy as pie! A real piece of cake! I'd set the Historical Record straight about "Beetle! Your Eyes Are Showing! So, I ordered Beetle Bailey 1953 Series comic book, # 27, and, when I got it, I didn't find, "Beetle! Your Eyes Are Showing!" In fact, I didn't remember anything from Beetle Bailey 1953 Series # 27! Except for the front cover drawing, everything else in that issue was New to Me in 2012! WHERE DID I SEE IT? My memory is that "Beetle! Your Eyes Are Showing!" was in a comic book. As I remember that startling sight, of the Eyes of Beetle Bailey, it was in color, and was in an extended story, so it would not have been in the daily black & white newspaper comic strip. A comic book was most likely, but I do not rule out the possibility that it could have been in a Sunday, color newspaper comic strip, which of course, runs longer than the daily strip. Right now, my search for "Beetle! Your Eyes Are Showing!" is concentrated on the comic books, rather than the Sunday newspaper strip. It's possible that the one Beetle Bailey comic book that I remember seeing, and presumably bought, in Columbus, Georgia, was not the only one. Maybe I bought others after seeing that one in Columbus, and maybe I just saw that one in Columbus, and did not actually buy it. Another possibility, is that I could have seen "Beetle! Your Eyes Are Showing!" in one of Cousin David's comic books. Cousin Brian, R.I.P., had a very humongous collection of comic books, and his mother told me that after he left home, she discarded all of his old comic books. So, even if Cousin Brian were still living, and he did remember "Beetle! Your Eyes Are Showing!" he would no more be able to prove that he did see it than I am now able to do. CANONICAL VS. APOCRYPHAL? The two words above are used by both Bible students, and by Fan Fiction writers. In the case of fictional writings, or, comic strip characters, the Cannon is what the original author, in the case of Beetle Bailey, Mort Walker, wrote, or drew. And, the Apocrypha is the writings and drawings of the Fans of that Fiction, telling the fans' version of the story. Officially, in Mort Walker's Canonical writings about his character, Beetle Bailey, the only time Beetle's eyes were seen was during his college student days, when the Professor told all students wearing hats to take their hats off, and after seeing Beetle's eyes, he ordered the hats put back on. But, Mr. Walker decided not to submit that daily strip to the newspapers, and laid down a rule not show Beetle's eyes. Of course, there are exceptions to rules, and "Beetle! Your Eyes Are Showing!" could be a rare exception to the rule of Beetle's eyes never being shown, that Mr. Walker forgot about, when recounting Beetle's history. On the other hand, I may have seen "Beetle! Your Eyes are showing!' in an apocryphal source. For example, in the April, 1969 issue of Mad magazine, Beetle's cap was pulled off of his head, on which was written: "Get out of Viet Nam." That magazine is sold online for a reasonble price, in a paperback book reprint, although it's now low priority in my own Beetle Bailey Project. That's enough for now. If anyone reading this wants to join in my Beetle Bailey project, and possibly find "Beetle! Your Eyes Are Showing!" I'd graciously welcome your participation. You can always post it here if you find any results to report. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on June 11, 2012, 11:03:52 AM I was very disappointed to learn that the Beetle Bailey TV shows on U-Tube had been deleted due to complaints from the copyright holders. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on June 11, 2012, 06:59:54 PM WARS, POVERTY, GENOCIDE, VIOLENT CRIME and the things that upset SOME people! Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on June 12, 2012, 12:49:48 PM Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on June 12, 2012, 02:03:02 PM Does anyone else on CLCC buy comic books online, or by old fashioned mail order? So far, I've gotten good service from New Kaida and James Payette, but I'm really a very green rookie when it comes to finding reputable and reliable comic book dealers. Anyone know what other dealers in additon to the 2 I've mentioned above, are good and reliable? Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: parker on June 15, 2012, 01:20:43 PM Haven't bought actual comic books in a long time..... Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on June 30, 2012, 11:35:30 AM The project is still in progress, and I have found more stories where Beetle's cap flies off of his head, with good, closeup views, but so far none with his eyes showing, and Sgt. Snorkel, saying, "Beetle! your eyes are showing!" But, I'm sure I can eventually find it, if I live long enough. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on June 30, 2012, 02:11:27 PM Quote from: billy a anderson on June 12, 2012, 02:03:02 PM Does anyone else on CLCC buy comic books online, or by old fashioned mail order? So far, I've gotten good service from New Kaida and James Payette, but I'm really a very green rookie when it comes to finding reputable and reliable comic book dealers. Anyone know what other dealers in additon to the 2 I've mentioned above, are good and reliable? I haven't done so in a while, but I used to buy comics via mail. Like Parker, my comic book reading days are in the past. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on July 08, 2012, 04:44:13 PM I have learned that Beetle didn't spen all of his Army days at Camp Swampy. Ca 1962, he had a tour of duty in West Berlin. Also, some people describe Beetle as "never promoted," but I have seen comics where Beetle wears the single stripe, mosquito wings shoulder patch of a Private E-2. So, while Beetle never made it to Private First Class (as far as I know), he did receive the automatic promotion to Private E-2, along with a pay raise. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on July 11, 2012, 10:12:52 AM In 1988, Mort Walker collaborated with the Goulds, writing a Beetle Bailey musical stage play. I don't even know what the title was, but from the brief, rather negative review I could find, the play centered around Beetle being promoted to Corporal, by a computer, a promotion that Beetle didn't want. It seems that now, Beetle is not wearing his Mosquito Wings Private E-2 shoulder patch. Just wonder why? I'm doing a newspaper search of the comic strip to try to get the approximate date that he stopped wearing that shoulder patch, and hopefully a reason why. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on July 19, 2012, 12:08:41 PM Here are details on Beetle Bailey the Musical, from the New York Times. THEATER; Pvt. Beetle Bailey, Breaking Into Song - New York TimesHome Page Theater Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on July 28, 2012, 11:18:58 AM OK, Folks, here is what I have been looking for. From Beetle Bailey comic book # 13, 1953 series. My memory of this has now been confirmed as a True Memory. (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8141/7662651608_ea8d107ff6.jpg) Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on July 28, 2012, 03:21:53 PM A question asked for millenia by wise men sitting on a mountaintop has now been answered. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on August 21, 2012, 03:11:20 PM Now that I've accomplished my main goal of finding, "Beetle, Your Eyes Are Showing!" I have some other appendant projects relating to Beetle Bailey: Getting Mad Magazine #126, April, 1969, where Beetle's cap is pulled off and he has "Get Out of Vietnam" written on his head. And, geting the daily comic strip for 5/10/53, the first and only appearance of Mrs. Orville Snorkell, wife of Sgt. Orville Snorkell of the Beetle Bailey Comic Strip. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: parker on August 21, 2012, 08:15:34 PM Only is right. Through much of the strip, there have been references to him being single. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: RomanyX on August 22, 2012, 04:38:03 AM You mean, Snorkell might be--divorced?!! :o ;) Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on August 22, 2012, 12:00:13 PM Romany, maybe Sgt. Snorkel could be a widower? Parker, I got the impession you didn't read Beetle Bailey very much, or didn't read him now. If you could elaborate on that, I'd appreciate it. One commentator on Beetle Bailey said that Mort Walker might have just forgotten about Mrs. Orville Snorkel. I don't have enough of the comic books to claim that Mrs. Snorkel never appeared in that format of Beetle Bailey. Since the Beetle Bailey comic book series is called the 1953 series, because it started that year, and Mort did the first 3 comic books, after which he turned them over to an assistant, I suppose there is a possibility that Mrs. Snorkel might have appeared in the comic books before Mort forgot about Mrs. Snorkel, or Mort's assistatnt could have included her in the comic books. The comic books have a number of characters that rarely or never appear in the daily & Sunday newspaper comic strip: for example: Captain Scabbard's son, whose name I don't recall right now. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on August 22, 2012, 06:34:48 PM Or Snorkell might be gay. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: parker on August 22, 2012, 06:50:20 PM I never read Beetle Bailey that much, but interestingly, my mother was rather fond of the strip. I do know that from time to time, an abrasive female army character has shown up, showing a romantic interest in Sgt. Snorkel, indicating that he is supposed to be single (they wouldn't be doing an extra-marital thing in a comic strip, I don't think). Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: RomanyX on August 23, 2012, 07:34:00 PM Or Snorkell might be gay. If he went from married to single, he was either divorced or widowed. His preference/orientation is irrelevant. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on August 24, 2012, 01:00:21 PM I've made my next priority on the Beetle Bailey Project getting Mad Magazine, April, 1969, where Beetle's cap is pulled off and "Get Out Of Viet Nam" is written on his head. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: parker on August 24, 2012, 02:21:20 PM Or Snorkell might be gay. If he went from married to single, he was either divorced or widowed. His preference/orientation is irrelevant. Being a comic strip, I'm guessing the change was never addressed, especially if Mrs. Snorkel's only appearance was many years ago. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: Alan The Terrible on August 26, 2012, 12:42:32 PM What was/is the name of Sgt. Snorkel's newer love interest? I know she had a cat I believe named Attila, but I can't recall hers. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on August 27, 2012, 08:42:32 AM What was/is the name of Sgt. Snorkel's newer love interest? I know she had a cat I believe named Attila, but I can't recall hers. Alan, that's one I don't have the answer to! Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on September 12, 2012, 09:30:50 AM Quote from: GOOD TIME CHARLIE on August 22, 2012, 06:34:48 PM Or Snorkell might be gay. Charlie, a few years back, I got my fill of all this "gay" stuff, so, although I have seen some suggestive stuff in reading the Beetle Bailey comics, I have refrained from mentioning it on CLCC. However, since you brought up the subject, I will show you two suggestive examples. Top: Sarge complimenting Beetle on the "cute little mole" on Beetle's back. Could he have really been thinking of Beetle's cute little butt, instead, and been too timid to say what was really on his mind? Bottom: Is Sarge a Jealous gay, catching Beetle & Killer in an embrace? Notice that in this episode, Beetle and Killer are both so scared by Sarge that their caps fly off of their heads. Some people claim that the reason Beetle's eyes are not seen in such cases, is that they are covered up by his hair. But, not in this case. In this case, Beetle's hair is standing straight up. And, as you can see, Beetle just plain hasn't got any eyes. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on September 21, 2012, 03:01:15 PM On a semi related topic, involving a one-eyed cartoon character, rather than a no-eyed cartoon character, has anyone got a photo of picture of Bo, the Bohemian of National Bohemian beer, with both eyes visible? Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on September 22, 2012, 11:51:10 AM When Orson Welles did his recitation of Sir John Falstaff's "commercial" for Sherry Sack wine, on the Dean Martin show, he prefaced his performance as he put on his makeup, telling about Sir John. Among other things, he said that Sir John was a Bohemian. I did look up the dictionary definition of Bohemian, and among other things it said the term referred to a group within a church. I also saw in one writing that Sir John was a Lollard, and the Lollards were also called the Waldensians, and they mumbled their recitations of church liturgies. I also did a net search on National Bohemian Beer, and Bo's name was actually spelled Boh. He became the company's mascot in the 1930s. The only time I ever drank any National Beer was in late 1969, and It was called simply, National Beer, and Boh was not on the label at all. Maybe some objections from people and/or groups who considered Boh an insulting ethnic stereotype? I remember around that time, Dr. Billy Graham referring to the beatnicks (and the hippies?) as being called Bohemians in an earlier day but at that time the term was no longer appropriate. Also, on the Net search, it was stated that Boh only had one eye, I supposed a One Eyed Bohemian making the ethnic stereotype even more insulting. I always just assumed that Boh was winking, and his right eye was just closed rather than missing. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on September 29, 2012, 11:47:37 AM On the way to the library, stopped by the post office, and got a package with some more Beetle Bailey comics in it. Haven't opened it yet. Title: Re: The Eyes of Beetle Bailey Post by: billy a anderson on October 22, 2012, 12:55:24 PM Below is Mad Magazine's parody of Beetle Bailey, from their April, 1969 issue, #126.	i don't know
Which frequent Saturday Night Live guest talent created such memorable characters as half of the Festrunk Brothers and Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber?	Saturday Night Live : definition of Saturday Night Live and synonyms of Saturday Night Live (English) Website Saturday Night Live (abbreviated as SNL) is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol . [1] The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night. The show revolves around a series of sketches parodying American culture and politics , [2] performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. [2] [3] Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest who delivers an opening monologue and takes part in sketches with the cast, and features a musical guest who also performs. SNL normally begins with a cold open sketch that ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, " Live from New York, it's Saturday Night! ", beginning the show proper. [4] Michaels left the series in 1980 to explore other opportunities, and he was replaced by Jean Doumanian who led the show to disastrous reviews and was replaced by Ebersol after one season. Ebersol continued to run the show until 1985, when Michaels returned and where he has remained since. Many of SNL's cast found national stardom while appearing on the show and achieved success in film and television, both in front of and behind the camera. In particular, SNL has helped launch the careers of Dan Aykroyd , John Belushi , Chevy Chase , Jimmy Fallon , Will Ferrell , Tina Fey , Eddie Murphy , Bill Murray , Mike Myers , and Adam Sandler . Additionally others associated with the show such as writers have gone on to successful careers, including Conan O'Brien , Max Brooks , Stephen Colbert , Larry David , Al Franken , Bob Odenkirk , Sarah Silverman , and Robert Smigel . Broadcast from Studio 8H at NBC's headquarters in the GE Building , SNL has aired 724 episodes since its debut and ended its thirty-seventh season on May 19, 2012, making it one of the longest-running network television programs in the United States as of 2012. The show format has been developed and recreated in several countries including Spain, Italy, Brazil, Japan, and South Korea, each meeting with different levels of success. Successful sketches have seen life outside of the show as feature films although only two met with critical and financial success: The Blues Brothers (1980) and Wayne's World (1992). The show has been marketed in other ways including home media releases of seasons, books, and documentaries about the behind-the-scenes activities of running and developing the show. Throughout its more than three decades on air, Saturday Night Live has received a number of awards, including 21 Primetime Emmy Awards , a Peabody Award , and three Writers Guild of America Awards . In 2000, it was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame . It was ranked tenth on TV Guide 's " 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time " list, and in 2007 it was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME." In 2009, it received 13 Emmy nominations bringing the show to a total of 126, giving it the most Emmy nominations in television history. The live aspect of the show has resulted in several controversies and acts of censorship, with mistakes and intentional acts of sabotage by performers and guests alike. Contents Weekend Update From 1965 until September 1975, NBC ran The Best of Carson reruns of The Tonight Show, airing them on either Saturday or Sunday night, at local affiliates' discretion, (originally known as The Saturday/Sunday Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson). In 1974, Johnny Carson announced that he wanted the weekend shows pulled and saved so that they could be aired during weekdays, allowing him to take time off. [5] NBC president Herbert Schlosser approached his vice president of late night programming Dick Ebersol in 1974 and asked him to create a show to fill the Saturday night timeslot. Schlosser and Ebersol then approached Lorne Michaels , wanting to create a variety show that would push the boundaries with its edgy style of humor. Ebersol knew Michaels was capable of creating a show since he had worked on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In . The show was set, and Michaels searched for people to join the staff. He hired Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, George Coe , Jane Curtin , Garrett Morris , Laraine Newman , Michael O'Donoghue , and Gilda Radner to the cast. Originally, the show was called NBC's Saturday Night, as Saturday Night Live was in use by Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell on the rival network ABC . [6] NBC purchased the rights to the name in 1976 and officially adopted the new title on March 26, 1977. [7] The show was an instant hit following its debut, and as a result, the cast members became suddenly famous. Chase left the show during the second season and was replaced by a new and upcoming comic named Bill Murray . Aykroyd and Belushi left the show after season four. In 1980, after season five, Michaels, emotionally and physically exhausted, requested to put the show on hiatus for a year to give him time to pursue other ideas. [8] Concerned that the show would be cancelled without him, Michaels suggested writers Al Franken and Tom Davis take his place, but then-NBC president Fred Silverman disliked Franken, and after Franken performed "Limo for a Lame-O", a scathing critique of Silverman's presidency, Silverman was furious at Franken, and blamed Lorne for approving the sketch. [9] Unable to get the deal he wanted, Michaels chose to leave NBC for Paramount Pictures , intending to take his associate-producer Jean Doumanian with him. Michaels later learned that Doumanian had been given his position at SNL after being recommended by her friend, NBC vice-president Barbara Gallagher. [10] Michaels' departure led to most of the cast and writing staff leaving the show. [11] The reputation of the show as a springboard to fame meant many aspiring stars were eager to join the new series. Doumainan was tasked with hiring a full cast and writing staff in less than three months, and NBC immediately cut the show's budget from the previous $1 million per episode down to just $350,000. Doumainan faced resentment and sabotage from the remaining Michaels staff, particularly males who did not appreciate a woman believing she could take Michael's place. [12] The season was a disaster, ratings plummeted and audiences failed to connect to the original casts' replacements like Charles Rocket and Ann Risley , [13] but her fate was sealed when, during a sketch, Rocket said "fuck" on live television. [14] After only ten months Doumainan was dismissed. [13] [15] Although executives suggested SNL be left to die, Network chief Brandon Tartikoff wanted to keep the show going, believing the concept was more important to the network than money. Tartikoff turned to Ebersol, who had been previously fired by Silverman. [16] Ebersol gained Michaels' approval in an attempt to avoid the same staff sabotage that had blighted Doumanian's tenure. [17] "He [Lorne Michaels] put me on TV, and no one else would have done that. Lorne created a show that's impacted culture for over 35 years. No one has ever really successfully been able to replicate it." -- Tina Fey on Michaels' influence on comedy. [18] Ebersol's tenure saw commercial success but was considered lackluster compared to the Michaels era, apart from the breakout of cast member Eddie Murphy . [19] Murphy, the main draw of the cast, left in 1983 to pursue his already successful film career, and Ebersol decided to again rebuild the cast, breaking with history by hiring established comedians like Billy Crystal and Martin Short who could bring their already successful material to the show. [20] Ebersol's final year with this new cast is considered one of the funniest of the series, but had strayed far from the precedent-shattering show that Michaels had created. [21] After that season, Ebersol wanted a more significant revamp, including departing from the show's established "live" format.[ citation needed ] Following unsuccessful forays into film and television, in need of money, and eager not to see Tartikoff cancel the show, [22] Michaels finally returned in 1985 after Ebersol opted not to. The show was again recast, with Michaels borrowing Ebersol's idea, and seeking out established acts like Joan Cusack and Robert Downey, Jr. . [23] The cast and writers struggled creatively, and in April 1986, Tartikoff made the decision to cancel the show, until he was convinced by Bernie Brillstein to give it one more year. [24] The show was renewed but for the first time in its history, for only thirteen episodes instead of the usual twenty-two. [25] Michaels again fired most of the cast and, learning his lesson from the previous seasons, sought out unknown talent like Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman instead of known names. [25] The show ran successfully again until it lost two of its biggest stars, Carvey and Hartman, between 1992 and 1994. Wanting to increase SNL's profitability, then-NBC West Coast president Don Ohlmeyer and other executives began to actively interfere in the show, recommending that new stars like Chris Farley and Adam Sandler be fired, and the show faced increasing criticism from the press and cast, in part encouraged by the NBC executives hoping to weaken Michaels' position. [26] Michaels' return restored an association with NBC that has lasted nearly 30 years. As head of Broadway Video and SNL Studios , Michaels has profited from the talent he's helped introduce, producing the TV series Late Night (during the eras of Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon – both SNL alumni), 30 Rock (a comedy created by former SNL head writer Tina Fey, and loosely based on her experiences in that role), and Up All Night , starring fomer SNL cast member Maya Rudolph . Michaels also produced the TV film All You Need Is Cash , and a lengthy list of feature films based on SNL sketches; the most commercially and critically successful of these was Wayne's World . [27] Cast and crew Cast Main article: Saturday Night Live cast members The original 1975 cast of SNL, officially known on-air as "The Not Ready For Prime-Time Players", [28] a term coined by writer Herb Sargent , [29] included Laraine Newman, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Garrett Morris and Chevy Chase. Radner was the first person hired after Michaels himself. Although Chase became a performer, he was hired on a one-year writer contract, and refused to sign the performer contract that was repeatedly given to him, allowing him to leave the show after the first season in 1976. [30] Newman was brought aboard after having a prior working relationship with Michaels. [31] Morris was initially brought in as a writer, but attempts to have him fired by another writer led Michaels to have Morris audition for the cast, where he turned in a successful performance. [32] Curtin and Belushi were the last two cast to be hired. [31] Belushi held a disdain for television and had repeatedly turned down offers to appear on other shows, but decided to work with the show because of the involvement of Radner, and writers Anne Beatts and Michael O'Donoghue . [33] Michaels was still reluctant to hire Belushi, believing he would be a source of trouble for the show, but Beatts, O'Donoghue, and Ebersol successfully argued for his inclusion. [33] After Chase left the show, he was replaced by Bill Murray who Michaels had intended to hire for the first season cast, but was unable to due to budget restrictions. [34] When Chase returned to host in 1978, he found the remaining cast resentful at his departure and his success, particularly Belushi. Murray, goaded by the rest of the cast, and Chase came to blows shortly before the show. [35] Chase's departure for film made Michaels possessive of his talent; he threatened to fire Aykroyd if he took the role of D-Day in the 1978 comedy Animal House , and later refused to allow SNL musician Paul Shaffer to participate in The Blues Brothers (1980) with Aykroyd and Belushi after they left in 1979 to pursue film careers. [36] [37] Michaels began to struggle to hold the remaining cast together in the wake of Chase, Aykroyd, and Belushi's independent successes. Radner had a one-woman Broadway show and Murray starred in the 1979 comedy Meatballs . [38] In 1980, when Michaels chose to leave the series to pursue other interests, he was followed by the remaining original cast, Curtin, Newman, and Morris, Murray, and additional cast members. [37] The Doumainan era cast faced immediate comparison to the beloved former cast and were not received favorably. [13] Ebersol fired the majority of her hires, except for two unknown comedians; Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo . [39] Talent coordinator Neil Levy claimed Murphy contacted and pleaded with him for a role on the show, and after seeing him audition, Levy fought with Doumainan to cast him instead of Robert Townsend . Doumainan wanted only one black cast member and favored Townsend, but Levy convinced her to choose Murphy. Doumainan however also claimed credit for discovering Murphy and fighting with NBC executives to bring him onto the show. [40] Even so, Murphy would languish as a background character until Ebersol took charge, [41] after which Murphy was credited with much of that era's success. [42] Murphy's star exploded, and he quickly appeared in films like 48 Hrs. and Trading Places , before leaving for his film career in early 1984. Much of the Ebersol cast departed after the 1983-1984 season and were replaced with established comedians who could supply their own material, but at an inflated cost; Billy Crystal and Martin Short were paid $25,000 and $20,000 respectively, a far cry from earlier salaries. [20] Michaels' return in 1985 saw a cast reset that featured established talent like Robert Downey Jr., Jon Lovitz , and Dennis Miller . [43] The season was poorly received, and another reset followed in 1986. Learning his lesson from the previous season, Michaels avoided known talent in favor of actual ability. He spared Lovitz, Miller, and Nora Dunn , and brought in new, untested talent like Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, and Jan Hooks , who together would define a new era on the show into the early 1990s. [44] The cast continued on for the next decade with the addition of new talent like Mike Myers , Adam Sandler , and Chris Farley , but by 1995, Carvey, Hartman, and Myers had left, and increasing network pressure forced Michaels to fire Sandler and Farley. [45] The show saw its next major overhaul, bringing in a new cast including Will Ferrell , Tina Fey , and Jimmy Fallon . [45] As of 2012, SNL has featured more than 129 cast members including Rachel Dratch , Amy Poehler , Chris Rock , David Spade , Will Forte , Julia Louis-Dreyfus , Tracy Morgan , Chris Parnell , Maya Rudolph , and Kristen Wiig . Darrell Hammond is the longest serving cast member, having been a part of the cast for fourteen years between 1995 and 2009. [46] Those selected to join the cast of SNL are normally already accomplished performers, recruited from improvisational comedy groups such as The Groundlings (Ferrell, Hartman, [47] Lovitz, and Wiig [48] ) and The Second City (Aykroyd, Farley, Fey, [49] and Tim Meadows ), or established stand-up comedians (Carvey, Sandler, Rock, and Norm MacDonald ), who already possess the training or experience necessary for SNL. [50] Of the many roles available in the show, one of the longest running, and most coveted, is being the host of "Weekend Update", a segment which has alternated between having one or two hosts, and which allows the cast members involved to perform as themselves and be on camera for an extended period of time. [51] Many of the "Weekend Update" hosts have gone on to find greater success outside of the show, including: Chase, Murray, [51] Miller, MacDonald, [52] Fey, [51] Fallon, [53] and Poehler. Since 2008, Seth Meyers has been the solo host of "Weekend Update", having previously co-hosted with Poehler since 2006. [51] As of the 2011-2012 season, the cast is divided into two tiers: the more established group of repertory players; and newer, unproven cast members known as featured players, who may eventually be promoted to the repertory stable. The show's current cast is listed below: [54] Current Repertory players bold denotes Weekend Update anchor Cast were often contracted from anywhere between five and six years to the show, [55] [56] but starting with the 1999-2000 season, new hires were tied to a rewritten contract that allowed NBC to take a cast member in at least their second year and put them in a NBC sitcom. Cast are given the option of rejecting the first two sitcom offers but must accept the third offer, with the sitcom contract length dictated by NBC and potentially lasting up to six years. [56] The move drew criticism from talent agents and managers who believed that a cast member could be locked into a contract with NBC for twelve years; six on SNL and then six on a sitcom. The contract also optioned the cast member for three feature films produced by SNL Films, a company owned by NBC, Paramount Pictures , and Michaels. The new contracts were reportedly developed after many previously unknown cast, like Myers and Sandler, gained fame on SNL only to leave and make money for other studios. [56] In a 2010 interview, Wiig was reported to be contracted to SNL for a total of seven years. [57] The contracts also contain a network option which allows NBC to remove a cast member at any time. [58] In the first season of the show, cast were paid $750 per episode, rising to $2,000 by season 2, and $4,000 by season 4. [59] By the late 1990s, new cast members received a salary between $5,000 [56] and $5,500 per episode, [58] increasing to $6,000 in the second year and up to $12,500 for a cast member in their fifth year. [58] Performers could earn an additional $1,500 per episode for writing a sketch which made it to air. [58] In 2001, Ferrell became the highest paid cast member, being paid $350,000 per season (approximately $17,500 per episode). [60] Writers Main article: List of Saturday Night Live writers As of the 2011-2012 season, Meyers is the show's head writer, having been co-head writer since the 2005-2006 season and becoming the single head writer as of the 2008-2009 season. [61] The "Weekend Update" segment has its own dedicated team of writers led by head writer and producer Alex Baze as of the 2011-2012 season. [62] [63] Scenes on "Weekend Update" that involve members of the cast acting in-character alongside the host are often written by staff writers outside of the dedicated team who know those characters better. [63] SNL writers are often also performers or experienced in writing and improvisational comedy. Many are hired from similar backgrounds such as The Groundlings, Second City, Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre , and ImprovOlympic . [37] Experienced writers with backgrounds in television shows are also sometimes brought into the SNL writing room. Like the SNL cast that step before the cameras, many of the writers have been able to find their own success outside the show such as O'Brien, who was brought into SNL from The Groundlings, went on to writing for The Simpsons , and eventually began hosting his own show , [64] and former head writer Adam McKay who, along with performer Ferrell, founded the successful comedy website Funny or Die . [65] In 2000, Fey became the first female SNL head writer [66] [67] and successfully transitioned into starring on the show, [68] as well as writing and starring in feature films, [69] [70] [71] and ultimately creating and starring in her own show 30 Rock —partly based on her SNL experiences. [72] In 2005, Fey was being paid $1.5 million per season for her dual role as head writer and performer. [73] Announcer Don Pardo served as the announcer for the series when it first began, [74] and has continued in the role for all but season 7 between 1981–1982, when Michaels had left and Mel Brandt and Bill Hanrahan filled the announcing role. In 2004, Pardo announced that he would step down from his position, but then continued in the role before again announcing his retirement in 2009, but then continue into the 2009-2010 season. [74] In 2010, then 92-year old Pardo was reported to be again considering his retirement, but as of the 2011-2012 season he remains as the announcer. Apart from a brief period in 2006 in which Pardo pre-recorded his announcements at his home in Arizona, he has flown to New York City to perform his announcing duties live. [74] Cast member Darrell Hammond also periodically impersonated Pardo and fulfilled his announcing duties when Pardo was unavailable. [75] The SNL Band Main article: Saturday Night Live Band The Saturday Night Live Band (also known as "The Live Band") is the house band for SNL. Academy Award-winning composer Howard Shore served as the first musical director, from 1975 to 1980, appearing in many musical sketches, including Howard Shore and His All-Nurse Band and (backing a U. S. Coast Guard chorus) Howard Shore and the Shore Patrol. Over the years, the band has featured several New York studio musicians including Paul Shaffer (1975–1980), Lou Marini (1975–1983), David Sanborn (1975), Michael Brecker (early 1980s), Ray Chew (1980–1983), Alan Rubin (1975–1983), Georg Wadenius (1979–1985), Steve Ferrone (1985), David Johansen (performing as Buster Poindexter), Tom Malone (who took over as musical director from 1981 to 1985), and G. E. Smith (musical director from 1985 to 1995). The band is currently under the leadership of Tower of Power alumnus Lenny Pickett and keyboardists Leon Pendarvis and Katreese Barnes. The number of musicians has varied over the years, but the basic instrumentation has been three saxophones, one trombone, one trumpet, and a rhythm section featuring two keyboards, a guitar, bass, drums, and an extra percussionist, not a permanent part of the band until Valerie Naranjo's arrival in 1995. The 1983–1984 and 1984–1985 seasons featured the smallest band, a six-piece combo. The band plays instrumentals leading in and out of station breaks; affiliates who run no advertising during these interludes hear the band play complete songs behind a Saturday Night Live bumper graphic until the program resumes. [76] Hosts and musical guests Main article: List of Saturday Night Live guests A typical episode of SNL will feature a single host chosen for their popularity, novelty, or because they had a film, album or other work releasing near the time of their show appearance. [77] The host delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast. Traditionally the host of the show ends the opening monologue by introducing the musical guest for the night. Comedian George Carlin was the first to host SNL in the debut October 1975 episode; [78] three episodes later, Candice Bergen became the first female host [79] and the first to host more than once. [80] Hosts have been drawn from a wide spectrum of backgrounds, from actors, such as Danny DeVito , Buck Henry , and John Goodman , [77] to musicians, like George Harrison , [81] and Dolly Parton , [82] , politicians such as former-president Gerald Ford , president Barack Obama , and Hilary Clinton , [83] and political activist Ralph Nader . [77] Guests that have hosted five or more times are sometimes referred to as belonging to the Five-Timers Club , a term that originated on a sketch performed on Tom Hanks ' fifth episode. As of September 24, 2011, actor Alec Baldwin holds the record for most times hosting, having performed the duty on sixteen different occasions since 1990; Baldwin took the record from actor Steve Martin who has hosted fifteen times since 1976. [84] Each episode also features a musical guest, a solo act or a band, who perform two to three musical numbers. Occasionally, the musical guest has also simultaneously served as the host. As of May 19, 2012, Dave Grohl is the most frequent musical guest, performing on eleven shows since 1992. [85] Michaels does not allow musical guests to perform using lip-synching tracks, [86] believing it diminishes the live aspect of the show. Exceptions are only made when the musical act is focused on intense dance routines instead of vocals, where it is difficult to be both heavily physically active and sing simultaneously. [87] A 1975 performance by pop group ABBA was the first and only act to feature lip-synching, [86] until the controversial 2004 performance of Ashlee Simpson . Production GE Building (30 Rockefeller Plaza, or "30 Rock") where the show is filmed The studio Since the show's inception, SNL has aired from Studio 8H, located on floors 8 and 9 of the GE Building (30 Rockefeller Plaza, or "30 Rock"). The studio had previously been used as a radio soundstage for Arturo Toscanini and his NBC Symphony Orchestra . [88] Michaels was originally left aghast upon inspecting Studio 8H in 1975, finding it technically limited, outdated, and in need of repair, [89] lacking the capacity to host a live show. [88] Michaels demanded that NBC executives rebuild the studio and improve the acoustics to accommodate the intended musical acts, [88] at a cost of approximately $300,000. [88] During the summer 2005 shooting hiatus, crews began renovations on Studio 8H. With its thirty-first season premiere in October 2005, the show began broadcasting in high-definition television , appearing letterboxed on conventional television screens. Three of the first four shows of the 1976–77 season were shot at the former NBC Studios in Brooklyn, due to NBC News using Studio 8H for Presidential election coverage. [90] The offices of SNL writers, producers, and other staff can be found on the 17th floor of "30 Rock". [91] Creating an episode The production process of a typical episode has been documented in several sources including documentaries, interviews, and books. The common elements of the production process, as based on these documents, are as follows: Production on an SNL episode will normally start on a Monday with a free-form pitch meeting [92] [93] [94] between the cast, writers, producers including Michaels, and the guest host, in Michaels' office, over two hours. The host is invited to pitch ideas during this meeting. Although some sketch writing may occur on the day, the bulk of the work revolves around pitching ideas. Tuesday is the only day dedicated purely to writing the scripts, [93] a process which can extend through the night into the following Wednesday. Writing may not begin until 8pm on the Tuesday evening. [92] [94] At 5pm on Wednesday, the sketches are read during a round-table meeting in the writers room, [94] attended by the writers and producers present during the pitch meeting, technical experts such as make-up artists, who may be required to realize certain sketch ideas such as those using prosthetics, and other producers, resulting in an attendance of approximately fifty people. [95] At this point there may be at least 40 sketch ideas which are read-through in turn, lasting upwards of three hours. [95] After completion of the read-through, Michaels, the head writer, the guest host, and some of the show producers will move to Michaels' office to decide the layout of the show and decide which of the sketches will be developed for air. Once complete, the writers and cast are allowed into Michaels' office to view the show breakdown and learn whether or not their sketch has survived. [96] Sketches may be rewritten starting the same day, [93] but will certainly commence on Thursday, work focuses on developing and rewriting the remaining sketches, [92] and possibly rehearsals. [94] If a sketch is still scheduled beyond Thursday, it is rehearsed on Friday or Saturday [93] before moving to a rehearsal before a live audience at 8pm, again on Saturday before the live show. [92] [94] After the rehearsal, Michaels will review the show lineup to ensure it meets a 90-minute length, and sketches that have made it as far as the live rehearsal may be removed. [97] This often results in less than two days of rehearsal for the eight to twelve sketches that have made it to the stage that then may appear on the live broadcast. [92] The opening monologue, spoken by the guest host, is given low priority and can be written as late as Saturday afternoon. [98] According to an interview with Fey in 2004, the three to four member dedicated "Weekend Update" writing team will write jokes throughout the week. The host(s) of "Weekend Update" will normally not work with, or read the scripts from, the team until Thursday evening, after the main show sketches have been finalized. The host(s) will then work on contributing to the script where necessary. [99] [100] Post-production With onsite facilities housed on floors 8 and 17 of Rockefeller Plaza, post-production duties on live broadcasts of Saturday Night Live include the mixing of audio and video elements by the Senior Audio Mixer, coupled with additional audio feeds consisting of music, sound effects, music scoring and pre-recorded voiceovers. All sources are stored digitally, with shows captured and segregated into individual elements to reorganise for future repeats and syndication. The production tracking system was migrated from primarily analogue to digital in 1998, with live shows typically requiring 1.5 Terabytes of storage, consisting of audio elements and 5 cameras worth of visual elements. [101] Elements of Saturday Night Live that are pre-recorded, such as certain commercial parodies, SNL Digital Shorts , and show graphics are processed off-site in the post-production facilities of Broadway Video . [102] [103] Filming and photography Studio 8H production facilities are maintained by NBC Production Services. Video camera equipment includes four Sony BVP-700 CCD cameras, and two Sony BVP-750 CCD handheld cameras, both using Vinten pedestals. A GVG 4000-3 digital component production switcher, and GVG 7000 digital component routing switcher are used to route visual feeds to the control room, with multiple digital and analogue video recorders used to store footage. Graphics are provided by a Chyron Infinit! character generator and a Quantel PictureBox. Audio facilities consist of a Calrec T Series digitally controlled analogue mixing console, and a Yamaha digital mixing console used for tape playback support and utility audio work. [104] As of 2009, the opening title sequence and opening montage is shot using the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Canon EOS 7D digital SLR cameras. Typical elements are recorded at 30 fps , with slow-motion sequences shot at 60 fps, both in full 1080p high definition. [105] Edie Baskin was the original SNL photographer. She was hired after Michaels saw her photographs of Las Vegas and other work. Baskin helped create the opening title sequence for the show by taking photos of New York City at night. [106] The first episode used publicity photos of Carlin as transitional bumpers between the show and commercial breaks, the second episode used photos Baskin had already taken of then host Paul Simon . It was then that Michaels suggested that Baskin photograph the hosts for the bumpers instead of using publicity photos, beginning a tradition which continues today. [107] Since 1999, Mary Ellen Matthews has been the official photographer of SNL, responsible for devising distinctive photo layouts and aesthetics for still imagery used on the show. Matthews creates photo portraits of the hosts and musical guests of each episode which are used as commercial bumpers. The limited time frame between the host's involvement in the production process and the Live show requires Matthews to create makeshift photo studios on site at 30 Rock, with Matthews attempting to shoot the host on Tuesday and the musical guest on Thursday, although the availability of either can mean the photoshoot for both occurs as late as Thursday. [108] Matthews employs flattering portrait lighting with hard lights to achieve a Hollywood style. On the lighting, Matthews commented: "I think it just helps the image pop off the screen...If you use soft or flat lighting, it becomes not as dimensional...The [classic Hollywood lighting] gives a little more contrast, and if I use edge lights and then light the background, it goes farther and farther back. I try to achieve that depth as much as I can." [109] Matthews is also responsible for taking cast photos, behind the scenes images, documenting rehearsals, and promotional photos. As of 2010, she has also been involved in directing videos, including the show title sequence. [109] Broadcast See also: List of Saturday Night Live episodes The show usually begins at 11:29:30 p.m. Eastern Time (10:29:30 p.m. Central Time) [2] [ not in citation given ], unless a delay occurs. The show broadcasts for one and a half hours, ending at 1 a.m. For the Mountain (except for KSNG and KSNK because even though they are counties in Kansas in the Mountain time zone, they are in the Wichita Market, they air at 9:29:30 p.m. Mountain Time) and Pacific time zones, NBC airs the prerecorded live show usually unedited, mistakes notwithstanding. After the intro skit, the show always starts with the words: " Live from New York, it's Saturday Night! " NBC and Broadway Video both hold the underlying rights to the show, while the copyright to every episode lies solely with NBC. From 1990 until 2004, Comedy Central and its predecessor Ha! re-aired reruns of the series, after which E! Entertainment Television signed a deal to reruns. [110] Abbreviated thirty and sixty minute versions of the first five seasons aired as The Best of Saturday Night Live in syndication beginning in the 1980s and later on Nick at Nite in 1988. In September 2010, reruns of most episodes post-1998 began to air on VH1 . [111] Because SNL has been a huge success in America, other countries have created their own versions of the show, including Spain , Italy and Japan . [112] Spain's version of show was short lived, only lasting a few episodes which aired on Thursdays and not Saturdays as the title suggested. This version copied heavily from the American version, in that they did their own versions of sketches that were already done on the original series. [112] Unlike Spain's version, Italy's was a success. Saturday Night Live From Milan, as it is called, is currently airing its fourth season. SNLFM follows the original format, but uses new material not done already on the American version. [112] [113] The Japanese version Saturday Night Live JPN, which ran for six months in 2011, was created in part with Lorne Michaels' production company, Broadway Video and broadcast on Fuji TV networks. The show followed the same format with a few minor differences, being only 45 minutes long and hosted by a permanent host. The cast was made up of seasoned comedians who take center stage and newcomers who play the background roles. It was broadcast once a month, and ended after six episodes, as planned from the start. [112] [113] [114] [115] On December 3, 2011, South Korea's Saturday Night Live KOREA debuted on TVN . [116] [117] SNL Korea's season will last eight weeks. [118] SNLK follows the format of the original but it has new sketches. It has its own versions of SNL Digital Shorts and Weekend Update . The show features musical guests who appear once at the beginning and once near the end of each episode. SNL is aired in The Middle East and North Africa on OSN Comedy every Saturday night, one week after it airs in the U.S. [119] Delays The episode scheduled for October 25, 1986, hosted by Rosanna Arquette , was not aired until November 8 due to NBC broadcasting Game 6 of the 1986 World Series between the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox ; the game entered extra innings, causing that night's broadcast of SNL to be canceled. The show was recorded for the studio audience starting at 1:30 a.m. Eastern Time, and broadcast two weeks later with an "apology" by Mets pitcher Ron Darling . (He explained that the Mets players had all been happy and excited to win the World Series game, widely considered one of the most memorable in the event's 109-year history, but of course they all had become upset and glum when, in the locker room afterwards, they found out that they had caused the first-ever cancellation of SNL. Footage showed the depressed players sadly staring at the locker room floor in shame.) The episode scheduled for February 10, 2001, hosted by Jennifer Lopez , aired 45 minutes late due to an XFL game. Lopez and the cast were not told they were airing on a delay. [120] Michaels was so upset by the delay that the episode was re-run a mere three weeks later, and the fledgeling league actually changed the rules in order to speed up play so that no such incident would happen again. [121] During Murphy's last season, he negotiated to record a number of extra sketches in September 1983 that featured him and were broadcast in episodes for which he was not available. His last live show was with host Edwin Newman on February 25, 1984. [122] The January 9, 2010, show hosted by Charles Barkley was delayed for 36 minutes when NBC's coverage of an NFL Wild Card playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys ran late. The January 8, 2011, show hosted by Jim Carrey was delayed for 16 minutes when NBC's live broadcast of the NFL's AFC Wild Card playoff game between the New York Jets and the Indianapolis Colts ran late. The January 7, 2012, show hosted by Charles Barkley was delayed for 22 minutes when NBC's coverage of an NFL Wild Card Playoff Game between the New Orleans Saints and the Detroit Lions ran late. Reception In 2002, the show was ranked tenth on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time , [123] while in 2007 it was honored with inclusion on Time magazine's list of "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME." [2] [124] Accolades Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live has won numerous awards since its debut, including 21 Primetime Emmy Awards , [125] 2 Peabody Awards , [126] and 3 Writers Guild of America Awards . [127] In 2009, it received a total of 13 Emmy nominations for a lifetime total of 126, breaking the record for the most award nominated show in Emmy history, previously set with 124 by hospital drama ER . [128] [129] As of January 2012, it has received a total of 142 Emmy nominations. [2] Electoral impact SNL has also had an effect on elections. Voters had reported that political sketches that were shown on the show had influenced them in the voting booth. The media dubbed this as the The SNL Effect. The so-called SNL Effect was observed during the 2008 presidential campaign according to Mike Dabadie. Two-thirds of voters who responded to a poll said they had seen a broadcast of politically charged content on SNL, with ten percent saying that it had made a difference in their decision. Barack Obama was the beneficiary of the political content, with 59 percent saying they did in fact cast a vote for the then-Democratic nominee. [130] However in the Democratic presidential primary campaign, Hillary Clinton received more favorable treatment than Barack Obama. During the campaign Fey famously quipped about the then-Senator that "bitches get stuff done" and that "bitch is the new black." [131] Merchandise Main article: List of Saturday Night Live DVD releases Currently, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Lions Gate Entertainment hold video rights to the series. Universal has issued complete season DVD sets to the first few seasons, while Lionsgate's share of the rights are a result of prior contracts with NBC struck before the NBC Universal merger. A majority of Lionsgate's SNL DVDs are "Best Of..." compilations. Books Saturday Night Live ( ISBN 0-380-01801-2 ), the first authorized book about the series was published by Avon Books in 1977, and edited by Anne Beatts and John Head , with photography by Edie Baskin; [132] all three worked for SNL at the time the book was published. The oversized illustrated paperback included the scripts for several sketches by the 1975-1980 cast. [133] In 1989, Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad authored Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live ( ISBN 0-688-05099-9 ), a behind-the-scenes look at the first ten seasons. Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years ( ISBN 0-395-75284-1 ) by Michael Cader was released in 1994, and presented information about the cast, characters, and other memorable moments seen on the show from 1975 to 1994. [134] Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, as Told By Its Stars, Writers and Guests ( ISBN 0-316-73565-5 ) was released in 2002. The book, written by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller, consists of interviews from people who have worked on the show. The interviews reveal personal experiences from what happened back stage and the difficulty of getting the show on air each week. [135] In 2004, former cast member Jay Mohr released his memoir Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live ( ISBN 1-401-30801-5 ), about his struggles during his two seasons on the show between 1993 and 1995, dealing with getting sketches on air and the intense work schedule. Cast member Bobby Moynihan described the book as "a handbook on what NOT to do at SNL." [136] Films SNL has made several efforts to develop some of the more popular sketches into feature length films, with varying degrees of commercial and critical success. The first foray into film came with the successful Aykroyd and Belushi vehicle, The Blues Brothers (1980), which earned over $115 million on a $27 million budget. [137] However, it was the success of Wayne's World (1992) that encouraged Michaels to produce more film spin-offs , based on several popular sketch characters. Michaels revived 1970s characters for Coneheads (1993), followed by It's Pat (1994); Stuart Saves His Family (1995); A Night at the Roxbury (1998); Superstar (1999) and The Ladies Man (2000). Some did moderately well, though others did not—notably, It's Pat, which did so badly at the box office that the studio which made the film, Touchstone Pictures (owned by The Walt Disney Company , which also owns NBC's rival ABC ), pulled it only one week after releasing it, [138] and Stuart Saves His Family, with the latter losing $15 million. Many of these films were produced by Paramount Pictures . The films based on The Blues Brothers were produced by Universal Studios , which merged with NBC in 2004 to form NBC Universal (Universal also has a joint venture with Paramount for international distribution of the two studios' films). Film 009259314 !$9,259,314 Universal In addition, the 1999 comedy film Office Space originated from a series of Mike Judge animated short films that aired on SNL in 1993. [139] The character Bob Roberts from the Tim Robbins film of the same name , first appeared on SNL in a short film about the conservative folk singer. The group The Folksmen first appeared on SNL, performing the song "Old Joe's Place" before later appearing in the film A Mighty Wind . The three members of the Folksmen were the same three comedians: Harry Shearer , Michael McKean , and Christopher Guest , who also appeared on the same episode as the rock group Spinal Tap . At the time of the appearance (the 1984–85 season), Shearer and Guest were cast members. Music In 2005, the comedy troupe The Lonely Island , consisting of SNL members Andy Samberg , Akiva Schaffer , and Jorma Taccone , gained national exposure after joining the show and debuting their skit music video " Lazy Sunday ", written with fellow cast member Chris Parnell . The song became a surprise hit, [140] and convinced Michaels to encourage the troupe to develop more comedy songs. Further successes with songs including " Like A Boss , " Jizz in My Pants ," " I'm on a Boat ," " We Like Sportz ", "Boombox," and " Dick in a Box "—which won an Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics in 2007 [141] —saw The Lonely Island go on to release two albums, Incredibad (2009) [142] and Turtleneck & Chain (2011), containing SNL-developed songs and original works. The albums were released by Universal Republic Records who were provided with a license to the SNL songs by NBC and Broadway Video. A cast album was released in 1976 on the Arista label including the song "Chevy's Girls" and comedy bits from the show ("Weekend Update", "Emily Litella", "Gun Control"). Later re-issued on CD and mp3 download. Other Several programs have documented the behind-the-scenes events of the show. A 60 Minutes report taped in October 2004 depicted the intense writing frenzy that goes on during the week leading up to a show, with crowded meetings and long hours. The report particularly noted the involvement of the guest host(s) in developing and selecting the sketches in which they will appear. Similarly, there has been an A&E episode of Biography which covered the production process, as well as an episode of TV Tales in 2002 on E! . In 2010, Saturday Night, a 94-minute documentary by actor James Franco in his directorial debut, was released which follows the production process of the December 6, 2008, episode hosted by John Malkovich , from the concept stage to the episode actually airing live. Although it originated as a 5-minute short film for his New York University film class, Michaels granted Franco access to the process, allowing the project to be expanded. [94] In September 2011, ice-cream company Ben & Jerry's released a limited-edition ice cream called " Schweddy Balls ", inspired by a 1998 sketch of the same name starring Alec Baldwin, Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon . [143] The ice cream became the fastest-selling Ben & Jerry's limited-edition flavor. The ice cream was also subject to criticism and boycotts by the One Million Moms organization over the "vulgar" [144] name. Some retail chains chose not to sell the flavor, but declined to say if the decision was of their own discretion or based on the One Million Moms boycotts. [145] [144] Controversies Censorship In some cases, a sketch was censored in repeat broadcasts. On October 18, 1986, Sam Kinison delivered a stand-up routine which saw the broadcast sound and picture cut twice, replaced with an image of the previous seasons' cast. The first cutaway occurred when Kinison began asking for the legalization of cannabis and said: "You can't get any more pot. If you give us back the pot, we'll forget about the crack". [146] The joke violated NBC policy of the time that all references to drugs must be negative. The second, longer cutaway occurred when Kinison made a joke about the crucifixion , with viewers seeing the broadcast cut, returning at the end of Kinison's performance. Kinison had not performed the drug joke during rehearsals, but had performed and been asked to remove the crucifixion joke during the live broadcast, which he failed to do. Although the censorship was applied to the West Coast and later airings, the live show contained the unedited footage. [146] In a November 21, 1992, " Wayne's World " sketch, the characters Wayne and Garth (portrayed by Myers and Carvey, respectively) made fun of Chelsea Clinton (the then 12-year-old daughter of the then President-elect Bill Clinton ), implying that Chelsea was incapable of causing males to " Schwing! ". This joke was subsequently edited out of all repeats and syndication rebroadcasts of this sketch. [147] A portion of Martin Lawrence 's February 19, 1994, monologue concerning feminine hygiene has been removed from all repeats, replaced with a voice-over and intertitles stating that the excised portion "...was a frank and lively presentation, and nearly cost us all our jobs." [148] In 1995, an Irish Bartender sketch, written by Mohr, was aired. By April 15, 1995, during the Saturday rehearsal, Mohr was brought to Michaels, and shown a video of the Irish Bartender act as performed by its creator, Rick Shapiro . Mohr denied any knowledge of Shapiro or his act at the time, but later admitted in his memoir that he had stolen the sketch word for word from Shapiro's work. Shapiro and his manager sued the show and gained an undisclosed settlement which involved the sketch being removed from all reruns of the show. [149] In March 1998, a Robert Smigel animated short film, "Conspiracy Theory Rock", aired. The short is a scathing political sketch accusing corporations including Disney , FOX , and then-owners of NBC General Electric , of developing a media monopoly to manipulate public perception, and conceal questionable actions. The clip aired only once as part of the original SNL episode and was removed from syndicated repeats with Michaels explaining that it "wasn't funny". The clip was eventually released as part of the Saturday TV Funhouse compilation DVD in 2006. [150] A sketch involving "butt pregnancy" during the first broadcast of the November 12, 2005, episode was replaced with a musical sketch about cafeteria food during the repeat. [151] On September 27, 2009, Jenny Slate made her SNL debut in a biker babe sketch alongside Wiig and actress Megan Fox , where their characters repeatedly use the word "frickin'". During one instance Slate instead accidentally said "fuckin'", which was dubbed over with "freakin'" for subsequent airings. [152] The show was forced by the network to run on a five-second delay when controversial comedian Richard Pryor hosted. [153] Andrew Dice Clay Andrew Dice Clay was scheduled as host on the May 12, 1990, episode. Cast member Nora Dunn immediately announced to the press that she was boycotting the show in protest at Clay's perceived misogynistic, politically incorrect act, doing so without informing Michaels, the cast or most of the crew about her intent. [154] The backlash was immediate; casting Clay was compared to the Holocaust by an audience member during an interview with Michaels, [155] female members of the cast and crew were harassed by phone and mail for sticking with the show, and metal detectors were installed at the show to enhance security. NBC censors insisted that the episode be placed on a delay to compensate for anything Clay might say on air. [156] During the live show, some audience members heckled Clay and were immediately removed by the increased security detail. [157] Dunn's contract was already coming to an end, and with one episode left in the season, the staff voted against having her take part in the final episode or return. [158] Sinéad O'Connor was scheduled to be the musical guest for the episode, but she boycotted the show because of Clay's involvement, forcing the producers to find musical replacements. [159] Sinéad O'Connor Sinéad O'Connor tears a picture of Pope John Paul II apart. On October 3, 1992, O'Connor was scheduled to appear, performing an a cappella performance of Bob Marley 's " War ". During the dress rehearsal, O'Connor held up a photo of a Balkan child as a protest for child abuse in war before bowing and leaving the stage, which the episode's director Dave Wilson described as a "very tender moment". [160] However, during the live show, O'Connor altered the "War" lyric "fight racial injustice" to "fight child abuse" as a protest against the cases of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church . She presented a photo of Pope John Paul II while singing the word "evil", before tearing the image into pieces and saying "Fight the real enemy". [160] [161] NBC had no foreknowledge of O'Connor's plan, and Wilson purposely failed to use the "applause" button, leaving the audience to sit in silence. Michaels made the decision to allow O'Connor to take the stage with the rest of the cast at the end of the show, for which he was later punished.[ why? ] NBC received thousands of irate calls in the aftermath of the incident, and protests against O'Connor occurred outside of the 30 Rock building, where a steamroller crushed dozens of her tapes, CD's and LP's. [160] In the following weeks on SNL, guests Joe Pesci and Madonna both voiced their lack of support for O'Connor. [160] [161] As of 2012, NBC still declines to rebroadcast the sequence with the exception of an interview with O'Connor on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show , which aired on April 24, 2010, when the clip was aired in full. In reruns the incident is replaced with the dress rehearsal performance. The original episode was made available on volume four of the SNL DVD special Saturday Night Live - 25 Years of Music, with an introduction by Michaels about the incident. On February 20, 2011, the clip was aired on the SNL special "Backstage" showing footage of the dress rehearsal and live performance side by side. The footage cuts to interviewees during the moment the photo was ripped.[ citation needed ] The incident was mocked during an episode of the television show 30 Rock , in which a NBC page ( Kristen Schaal ) comes onto stage and tears a picture of O'Connor in half. [162] Rage Against the Machine On April 13, 1996, musical guests Rage Against the Machine (RATM) were scheduled to perform two songs. The show was hosted that night by ex- Republican presidential candidate and billionaire Steve Forbes . According to RATM guitarist Tom Morello , "RATM wanted to stand in sharp juxtaposition to a billionaire telling jokes and promoting his flat tax by making our own statement." [163] To this end, the band hung two upside-down American flags from their amplifiers. Seconds before they took the stage to perform " Bulls on Parade ", SNL and NBC sent stagehands in to pull the flags down. [164] Following the removal of the flags during the first performance, the band was approached by SNL and NBC officials and ordered to immediately leave the building. Upon hearing this, bassist Tim Commerford reportedly stormed Forbes' dressing room, throwing shreds from one of the torn down flags. Morello noted that members of the SNL cast and crew, whom he declined to name, "expressed solidarity with our actions, and a sense of shame that their show had censored the performance." [163] Ashlee Simpson Ashlee Simpson appeared as a musical guest on October 23, 2004. Her first performance, " Pieces of Me ," was performed without incident, but when she began her second song, " Autobiography ," the vocals for "Pieces of Me" were heard again—before she had even raised the microphone to her mouth. Simpson began to do an impromptu jig, and then left the stage. [165] During the closing of the show Simpson appeared with the guest host Jude Law and said: "I'm so sorry. My band started playing the wrong song, and I didn't know what to do, so I thought I'd do a hoedown ." [166] [167] On October 25, Simpson called in to the music video show Total Request Live and explained that due to complications arising from severe acid reflux disease, which had previously been seen bothering her in The Ashlee Simpson Show , she had completely lost her voice and her doctor had advised her not to sing. She said that because of the acid reflux, her father wanted her to use a vocal guide track for the performance after Simpson had suffered vocal issues during an earlier rehearsal. [87] Simpson stated of the incident, "I made a complete fool of myself." According to Simpson, the drummer hit the wrong button, which caused the wrong track to be played. [168] Michaels had been unaware of the plan to use lip synching, saying in an interview with 60 Minutes that he would not have allowed it. [87] Simpson is the only musical guest to ever walk off stage during a live performance. [87] References ^ Vineyard, Jennifer (October 25, 2004). "Ashlee Blames Gastric Distress For 'SNL' Lip-Synch Snafu" . MTV News. http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/1492993/10252004/simpson_ashlee.jhtml . Bibliography Mohr, Jay (2004). Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live. United States: Hyperion Books . ISBN 1-4013-0006-5 . Shales, Tom; Miller, James Andrew (2002). Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. United States: Hachette Book Group USA . ISBN 0-316-73565-5 . Further reading Cader, Michael (1994). Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-70895-8 . Hill, Doug, and Jeff Weingrad (1986). Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live. New York: Beech Tree Books. ISBN 0-688-05099-9 . Streeter, Michael (2005). Nothing Lost Forever: The Films of Tom Schiller. New York: BearManor Media. ISBN 1-59393-032-1 . External links	Steve Martin
What kind of animal does “The Ugly Duckling” turn out to be in Hans Christian Andersen’s children’s story?	Yovla - article database Search Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live (abbreviated as SNL) is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol . The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night. The show's comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest (who usually delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast) and features performances by a musical guest. An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", beginning the show proper. In 1980, Michaels left the series to explore other opportunities. He was replaced by Jean Doumanian , who was replaced by Ebersol after a season of bad reviews. Ebersol ran the show until 1985, when Michaels returned; Michaels has remained since then. Many of SNL‍ 's cast found national stardom while appearing on the show, and achieved success in film and television, both in front of and behind the camera. Others associated with the show, such as writers, have gone on to successful careers creating, writing, or starring in TV and film. Broadcast from Studio 8H at NBC's headquarters in the Comcast Building , SNL has aired 793 episodes since its debut, and began its forty-first season on October 3, 2015, making it one of the longest-running network television programs in the United States. The show format has been developed and recreated in several countries, including Canada , Spain , Italy , South Korea , Japan , and Brazil each meeting with different levels of success. Successful sketches have seen life outside of the show as feature films , although only two met with critical and financial success: The Blues Brothers (1980) and Wayne's World (1992). The show has been marketed in other ways, including home media releases of "best of" and whole seasons, and books and documentaries about behind-the-scenes activities of running and developing the show. Throughout four decades on air, Saturday Night Live has received a number of awards, including 36 Primetime Emmy Awards , two Peabody Awards , and three Writers Guild of America Awards. In 2000, it was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. It was ranked tenth in TV Guide ‍‍ '‍s "50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time" list, and in 2007 it was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME". As of 2012, it has received 156 Emmy nominations, the most received by any TV show. The live aspect of the show has resulted in several controversies and acts of censorship, with mistakes and intentional acts of sabotage by performers as well as guests. Development Weekend Update From 1965 until September 1975, NBC ran The Best of Carson reruns of The Tonight Show, airing them on either Saturday or Sunday night at local affiliates' discretion (originally known as The Saturday/Sunday Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson). In 1974, Johnny Carson announced that he wanted the weekend shows pulled and saved so that they could be aired during weeknights, allowing him to take time off. In 1974, NBC president Herbert Schlosser approached his vice president of late night programming, Dick Ebersol , and asked him to create a show to fill the Saturday night time slot. At the suggestion of Paramount Pictures executive Barry Diller , Schlosser and Ebersol then approached Lorne Michaels . Over the next three weeks, Ebersol and Michaels developed the latter's idea for a variety show featuring high-concept comedy sketches, political satire, and music performances. By 1975, Michaels had assembled a talented cast, including Dan Aykroyd , John Belushi , Chevy Chase , Jane Curtin , Garrett Morris , Laraine Newman , Michael O'Donoghue , Gilda Radner , and George Coe . The show was originally called NBC's Saturday Night, because Saturday Night Live was in use by Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell on the rival network ABC . NBC purchased the rights to the name in 1976 and officially adopted the new title on March 26, 1977.[] Debuting on October 11, 1975, the show became an instant hit, thrusting the cast into instant stardom. Chase left the show during the second season and was replaced by the new and upcoming comic Bill Murray . Aykroyd and Belushi left the show after season four. In 1980 (after season five), Michaels—emotionally and physically exhausted—requested to put the show on hiatus for a year to give him time to pursue other ideas. Concerned that the show would be cancelled without him, Michaels suggested writers Al Franken , Tom Davis, and Jim Downey as his replacements. However, NBC president Fred Silverman disliked Franken and—after Franken performed "Limo for a Lame-O", a scathing critique of Silverman's presidency—Silverman was furious at Franken and blamed Michaels for approving the sketch. Unable to get the deal he wanted, Michaels chose to leave NBC for Paramount Pictures , intending to take his associate producer, Jean Doumanian , with him. Michaels later learned that Doumanian had been given his position at SNL after being recommended by her friend, NBC vice-president Barbara Gallagher. Michaels' departure led to most of the cast and writing staff leaving the show. The reputation of the show as a springboard to fame meant that many aspiring stars were eager to join the new series. Doumanian was tasked with hiring a full cast and writing staff in less than three months, and NBC immediately cut the show's budget from the previous $1 million per episode down to just $350,000. Doumanian faced resentment and sabotage from the remaining Michaels staff, particularly males who did not appreciate a woman believing she could take Michaels' place. The season was a disaster; ratings plummeted, and audiences failed to connect to the original cast's replacements, such as Charles Rocket and Ann Risley . Doumanian's fate was sealed when, during a sketch, Rocket said "fuck" on live television. After only ten months, Doumanian was dismissed. Although executives suggested that SNL be left to die, network chief Brandon Tartikoff wanted to keep the show going, believing that the concept was more important to the network than money. Tartikoff turned to Ebersol, who previously had been fired by Silverman. Ebersol gained Michaels' approval in an attempt to avoid the same staff sabotage that had blighted Doumanian's tenure. "He [Lorne Michaels] put me on TV, and no one else would have done that. Lorne created a show that's impacted culture for over 35 years. No one has ever really successfully been able to replicate it." -- Tina Fey on Michaels' influence on comedy. Ebersol's tenure saw commercial success, but was considered lackluster compared to the Michaels era, except for the breakout of cast member Eddie Murphy . Murphy, the main draw of the cast, left in 1984 to pursue his already successful film career, and Ebersol decided to again rebuild the cast. He broke with history by hiring established comedians such as Billy Crystal and Martin Short who could bring their already successful material to the show. Ebersol's final year with this new cast is considered one of the series' funniest, but had strayed far from the precedent-shattering show that Michaels had created. After that season, Ebersol wanted a more significant revamp, including departing from the show's established "live" format.[] Following unsuccessful forays into film and television, in need of money, and eager not to see Tartikoff cancel the show, Michaels finally returned in 1985 after Ebersol opted not to. The show was again recast, with Michaels borrowing Ebersol's idea, and seeking out established actors such as Joan Cusack and Robert Downey, Jr. The cast and writers struggled creatively, and in April 1986, Tartikoff made the decision to cancel the show, until he was convinced by producer Bernie Brillstein to give it one more year. The show was renewed but for the first time in its history, for only thirteen episodes instead of the usual twenty-two. Michaels again fired most of the cast and, learning his lesson from the previous seasons, sought out unknown talent such as Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman instead of known names. The show ran successfully again until it lost Carvey and Hartman, two of its biggest stars, between 1992 and 1994. Wanting to increase SNL‍ 's ratings and profitability, then-NBC West Coast president Don Ohlmeyer and other executives began to actively interfere in the show, recommending that new stars such as Chris Farley and Adam Sandler be fired because Ohlmeyer did not "get" them, and critiquing the costly nature of performing the show live. The show faced increasing criticism from the press and cast, in part encouraged by the NBC executives hoping to weaken Michaels' position. Michaels received a lucrative offer to develop a Saturday night project for CBS during this time, but remained loyal to SNL. By 1995, Farley and Sandler were fired, and Mike Myers , another popular cast member, had left for a film career, but a new cast waited to replace them, featuring the likes of Will Ferrell , Jimmy Fallon , and Tina Fey . The show focused on performers, and writers were forced to supply material for the cast's existing characters before they could write original sketches. By 1997, Ohlmeyer renewed his focus on limiting Michaels' independence, forcing the removal of writer Jim Downey and cast member Norm MacDonald . Cast and crew Cast The original 1975 cast, from left to right: Laraine Newman , John Belushi , Jane Curtin , Gilda Radner , Dan Aykroyd , Garrett Morris , and Chevy Chase The original 1975 cast of SNL, officially known on-air as "The Not Ready For Prime-Time Players", a term coined by writer Herb Sargent , included Laraine Newman, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Garrett Morris and Chevy Chase. Radner was the first person hired after Michaels himself. Although Chase became a performer, he was hired on a one-year writer contract, and refused to sign the performer contract that was repeatedly given to him, allowing him to leave the show after the first season in 1976. Newman was brought aboard after having a prior working relationship with Michaels. Morris was initially brought in as a writer, but attempts to have him fired by another writer led Michaels to have Morris audition for the cast, where he turned in a successful performance. Curtin and Belushi were the last two cast members hired. Belushi had a disdain for television and had repeatedly turned down offers to appear on other shows, but decided to work with the show because of the involvement of Radner, and writers Anne Beatts and Michael O'Donoghue . Michaels was still reluctant to hire Belushi, believing he would be a source of trouble for the show, but Beatts, O'Donoghue and Ebersol successfully argued for his inclusion. After Chase left the show he was replaced by Bill Murray, whom Michaels had intended to hire for the first-season cast, but was unable to due to budget restrictions. When Chase returned to host in 1978, he found the remaining cast resentful at his departure and his success, particularly Belushi. Murray, goaded by the rest of the cast, and Chase came to blows shortly before the show. Chase's departure for film made Michaels possessive of his talent; he threatened to fire Aykroyd if he took the role of D-Day in the 1978 comedy Animal House, and later refused to allow SNL musician Paul Shaffer to participate in The Blues Brothers (1980) with Aykroyd and Belushi after they left in 1979 to pursue film careers. Michaels began to struggle to hold the remaining cast together in the wake of Chase, Aykroyd, and Belushi's independent successes. Radner had a one-woman Broadway show and Murray starred in the 1979 comedy Meatballs . In 1980, when Michaels chose to leave the series to pursue other interests, he was followed by the remaining original cast, Curtin, Newman, and Morris, Murray, and additional cast members. The Doumanian-era cast faced immediate comparison to the beloved former cast and were not received favorably. Ebersol fired the majority of her hires, except for two unknown comedians: Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo . Talent coordinator Neil Levy claimed Murphy contacted and pleaded with him for a role on the show, and after seeing him audition, Levy fought with Doumanian to cast him instead of Robert Townsend. Doumanian wanted only one black cast member and favored Townsend, but Levy convinced her to choose Murphy. Doumanian, however, also claimed credit for discovering Murphy and fighting with NBC executives to bring him onto the show. Even so, Murphy would languish as a background character until Ebersol took charge, after which Murphy was credited with much of that era's success. Murphy's star exploded, and he quickly appeared in films such as 48 Hrs. and Trading Places , before leaving for his film career in early 1984. Much of the Ebersol cast departed after the 1983–84 season and were replaced with established comedians who could supply their own material, but at an inflated cost; Billy Crystal and Martin Short were paid $25,000 and $20,000 per episode respectively, a far cry from earlier salaries. Michaels' return in 1985 saw a cast reset that featured established talent such as Robert Downey Jr., Jon Lovitz and Dennis Miller . The season was poorly received, and another reset followed in 1986. Learning his lesson from the previous season, Michaels avoided known talent in favor of actual ability. He kept Lovitz, Miller and Nora Dunn , and brought in new, untested talent such as Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman , and Jan Hooks , who together would define a new era on the show into the early 1990s. The cast continued on for the next decade with the addition of new talent such as Mike Myers , Adam Sandler , and Chris Farley . Afraid of cast members leaving for film careers, Michaels had overcrowded the cast, causing a divide between the veteran members and the new, younger talent, increasing competition for limited screen time. By 1995, Carvey and Hartman had left, taking with them a virtual army of characters, Myers quit for his movie career, and increasing network pressure forced Michaels to fire Sandler and Farley. The show saw its next major overhaul, bringing in a new cast including Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, and Jimmy Fallon. While cast members would leave over the following two decades, the show saw its next biggest transition in 2013, with the addition of 6 cast members to compensate for the departure of several longtime cast members like Bill Hader , Jason Sudeikis , and Fred Armisen . SNL has featured over 130 cast members including Rachel Dratch , Amy Poehler , Chris Rock , David Spade , Will Forte , Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tracy Morgan , Chris Parnell , Maya Rudolph , Andy Samberg , and Kristen Wiig . Darrell Hammond is the longest-serving cast member, having been a part of the cast for fourteen years between 1995 and 2009, and returned in 2014 as the show's announcer following the death of Don Pardo . Those selected to join the cast of SNL are normally already accomplished performers, recruited from improvisational comedy groups such as The Groundlings (Ferrell, Hartman, Lovitz, Wiig) and The Second City (Aykroyd, Farley, Fey, Tim Meadows ), or established stand-up comedians (Carvey, Sandler, Rock, Norm Macdonald ), who already possess the training or experience necessary for SNL. Of the many roles available in the show, one of the longest-running and most coveted is being the host of "Weekend Update", a segment which has alternated between having one or two hosts, and which allows the cast members involved to perform as themselves and be on camera for an extended period of time. Many of the "Weekend Update" hosts have gone on to find greater success outside of the show, including: Chase, Curtin, Murray, Miller, Macdonald, Fey, Fallon, and Poehler. From 2008, Seth Meyers was the solo host of "Weekend Update", before being partnered with Cecily Strong in 2013. After Meyers left for Late Night with Seth Meyers in February 2014, Strong was paired with head writer Colin Jost . The cast is divided into two tiers: the more established group of repertory players; and newer, unproven cast members known as featured players, who may eventually be promoted to the repertory stable. 2015–16 season cast denotes Weekend Update anchor The cast were often contracted from anywhere between five and six years to the show, but starting with the 1999–2000 season, new hires were tied to a rewritten contract that allowed NBC to take a cast member in at least their second year and put them in an NBC sitcom. Cast are given the option of rejecting the first two sitcom offers but must accept the third offer, with the sitcom contract length dictated by NBC and potentially lasting up to six years. The move drew criticism from talent agents and managers who believed that a cast member could be locked into a contract with NBC for twelve years; six on SNL and then six on a sitcom. The contract also optioned the cast member for three feature films produced by SNL Films, a company owned by NBC, Paramount Pictures , and Michaels. The new contracts were reportedly developed after many previously unknown cast, such as Myers and Sandler, gained fame on SNL only to leave and make money for other studios. In a 2010 interview, Wiig was reported to be contracted to SNL for a total of seven years. The contracts also contain a network option which allows NBC to remove a cast member at any time. In the first season of the show, cast were paid $750 per episode, rising to $2,000 by season two, and $4,000 by season four. By the late 1990s, new cast members received a salary between $5,000 and $5,500 per episode, increasing to $6,000 in the second year and up to $12,500 for a cast member in their fifth year. Performers could earn an additional $1,500 per episode for writing a sketch which made it to air. In 2001, Ferrell became the highest paid cast member, being paid $350,000 per season (approximately $17,500 per episode). In 2014, Sasheer Zamata was added as a cast member in mid-season after criticism about the show's lack of an African-American woman. Writers Creator Lorne Michaels . As of the 2013–14 season, Colin Jost and Rob Klein are the show's co-head writers. Meyers had been co-head writer since 2005 and became the single head writer from 2008 to 2012. The "Weekend Update" segment has its own dedicated team of writers led by head writer and producer Alex Baze as of the 2011–12 season. Scenes on "Weekend Update" that involve members of the cast acting in-character alongside the host are often written by staff writers outside of the dedicated "Weekend Update" team, who know those characters better. SNL writers are often also performers or experienced in writing and improvisational comedy. Many are hired from similar backgrounds such as The Groundlings, Second City, Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, and ImprovOlympic . Comedian Jim Downey was head writer for nine years beginning in 1985. Experienced writers with backgrounds in television shows are also sometimes brought into the SNL writing room. Like the SNL cast that step before the cameras, many of the writers have been able to find their own success outside the show such as Conan O'Brien, who was brought into SNL from The Groundlings, went on to writing for The Simpsons , and eventually began hosting his own show, and former head writer Adam McKay who, along with performer Ferrell, founded the successful comedy website Funny or Die . In 2000, Tina Fey became the first female SNL head writer and successfully made the transition to starring on the show, as well as writing and starring in feature films, and ultimately creating and starring in her own show 30 Rock —partly based on her SNL experiences. In 2005, Fey was being paid $1.5 million per season for her dual role as head writer and performer. Announcers Don Pardo served as the announcer for the series when it first began, and continued in the role for all but season seven between 1981 and 1982, when Michaels had left and Mel Brandt and Bill Hanrahan filled the announcing role. In 2004, Pardo announced that he would step down from his position, but then continued in the role until 2009 where he again announced his retirement, but then continued into the 2009–10 season. In 2010, then 92-year-old Pardo was reported to be again considering his retirement, but continued to serve as announcer until his death at age 96 on August 18, 2014, following the 39th season. Apart from a brief period in 2006 in which Pardo pre-recorded his announcements at his home in Arizona, he flew to New York City to perform his announcing duties live. Cast members Joe Piscopo and Darrell Hammond also periodically impersonated Pardo and fulfilled his announcing duties when Pardo was unavailable. Hammond took over as full-time announcer starting with season 40. Hosts and musical guests A typical episode of SNL will feature a single host chosen for their popularity, novelty, or because they have a film, album, or other work being released near the time of their appearance on the show. The host delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast. Traditionally the host of the show ends the opening monologue by introducing the musical guest for the night. Comedian George Carlin was the first to host SNL in the debut October 1975 episode; three episodes later, Candice Bergen became the first female host and subsequently the first to host more than once. Hosts have been drawn from a wide spectrum of backgrounds, from actors, such as Christopher Walken , Buck Henry , and John Goodman , to musicians like George Harrison and Dolly Parton , to political activist Ralph Nader . Guests who have hosted five or more times are sometimes referred to as belonging to the Five-Timers Club, a term that originated on a sketch performed on Tom Hanks ' fifth episode. As of September 24, 2011, actor Alec Baldwin holds the record for most times hosting, having performed the duty on sixteen different occasions since 1990; Baldwin took the record from actor Steve Martin who had hosted fifteen times since 1976. Each episode also features a musical guest, a solo act or a band, who perform two to three musical numbers. Occasionally, the musical guest has also simultaneously served as the host. As of May 19, 2012, Dave Grohl is the most frequent musical guest, performing on eleven shows since 1992. Michaels does not allow musical guests to perform using lip-synching tracks, believing it diminishes the live aspect of the show. Exceptions are only made when the musical act is focused on intense dance routines instead of vocals, where it is difficult to be both heavily physically active and sing simultaneously. A 1975 performance by pop group ABBA was the first and only act to feature lip-synching, until the controversial 2004 performance of Ashlee Simpson. The SNL Band The Saturday Night Live Band (also known as "The Live Band") is the house band for SNL. Academy Award-winning composer Howard Shore served as the first musical director, from 1975 to 1980, appearing in many musical sketches, including Howard Shore and His All-Nurse Band and (backing a U.S. Coast Guard chorus) Howard Shore and the Shore Patrol. Over the years, the band has featured several New York studio musicians including Paul Shaffer (1975–1980), Lou Marini (1975–1983), David Sanborn (1975), Michael Brecker (early 1980s), Ray Chew (1980–1983), Alan Rubin (1975–1983), Georg Wadenius (1979–1985), Steve Ferrone (1985), David Johansen (performing as Buster Poindexter), Tom Malone (who took over as musical director from 1981 to 1985), and G.E. Smith (musical director from 1985 to 1995). The band is currently under the leadership of Tower of Power alumnus Lenny Pickett , keyboardist Leon Pendarvis and Eli Bruegemann, who does not play in the band on the live show. The number of musicians has varied over the years, but the basic instrumentation has been three saxophones, one trombone, one trumpet, and a rhythm section featuring two keyboards, a guitar, bass, drums, and an extra percussionist, not a permanent part of the band until Valerie Naranjo's arrival in 1995. The 1983–1984 and 1984–1985 seasons featured the smallest band, a six-piece combo. The band plays instrumentals leading in and out of station breaks; affiliates who run no advertising during these interludes hear the band play complete songs behind a Saturday Night Live bumper graphic until the program resumes. Production Comcast Building (30 Rockefeller Plaza, or "30 Rock") from where the show is broadcast. The studio Since the show's inception, SNL has aired from Studio 8H, located on floors 8 and 9 of the Comcast Building (formerly the RCA Building and GE Building ) (30 Rockefeller Plaza, or "30 Rock"). The studio had originally been used as a radio soundstage for Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra . Michaels was dumbfounded when he originally inspected Studio 8H in 1975, and found it technically limited, outdated, in need of repair, and lacking the capacity to host a live show. Michaels demanded that NBC executives rebuild the studio and improve the acoustics to accommodate the intended musical acts, at a cost of approximately $300,000. Three of the first four shows of the 1976–77 season were shot at the former NBC Studios in Brooklyn, due to NBC News using Studio 8H for Presidential election coverage. During the summer 2005 shooting hiatus, crews began renovations on Studio 8H. With its thirty-first season premiere in October 2005, the show began broadcasting in high-definition television, appearing letterboxed on conventional television screens. The offices of SNL writers, producers, and other staff can be found on the 17th floor of "30 Rock". Creating an episode Production on an SNL episode will normally start on a Monday with a free-form pitch meeting between the cast, writers, producers including Michaels, and the guest host, in Michaels' office, over two hours. The host is invited to pitch ideas during this meeting. Although some sketch writing may occur on the day, the bulk of the work revolves around pitching ideas. Tuesday is the only day dedicated purely to writing the scripts, a process which usually extends through the night into the following morning. Writing may not begin until 8pm on the Tuesday evening. At 5pm on Wednesday, the sketches are read during a round-table meeting in the writers room, attended by the writers and producers present during the pitch meeting, technical experts such as make-up artists, who may be required to realize certain sketch ideas such as those using prosthetics, and other producers, resulting in an attendance of approximately fifty people. At this point there may be at least 40 sketch ideas which are read-through in turn, lasting upwards of three hours. After completion of the read-through, Michaels, the head writer, the guest host, and some of the show producers will move to Michaels' office to decide the layout of the show and decide which of the sketches will be developed for air. Once complete, the writers and cast are allowed into Michaels' office to view the show breakdown and learn whether or not their sketch has survived. Sketches may be rewritten starting the same day, but will certainly commence on Thursday, work focuses on developing and rewriting the remaining sketches, and possibly rehearsals. If a sketch is still scheduled beyond Thursday, it is rehearsed on Friday or Saturday before moving to a rehearsal before a live audience at 8pm, again on Saturday before the live show. After the rehearsal, Michaels will review the show lineup to ensure it meets a 90-minute length, and sketches that have made it as far as the live rehearsal may be removed. This often results in less than two days of rehearsal for the eight to twelve sketches that have made it to the stage that then may appear on the live broadcast. The opening monologue, spoken by the guest host, is given low priority and can be written as late as Saturday afternoon. According to an interview with Fey in 2004, the three- to four-member dedicated "Weekend Update" writing team will write jokes throughout the week. The host(s) of "Weekend Update" will normally not work with, or read the scripts from, the team until Thursday evening, after the main show sketches have been finalized. The host(s) will then work on contributing to the script where necessary. Post-production With onsite facilities housed on floors 8 and 17 of Rockefeller Plaza, post-production duties on live broadcasts of Saturday Night Live include the mixing of audio and video elements by the Senior Audio Mixer, coupled with additional audio feeds consisting of music, sound effects, music scoring and pre-recorded voiceovers. All sources are stored digitally, with shows captured and segregated into individual elements to reorganise for future repeats and syndication. The production tracking system was migrated from primarily analog to digital in 1998, with live shows typically requiring 1.5 terabytes of storage, consisting of audio elements and 5 cameras worth of visual elements. Elements of Saturday Night Live that are pre-recorded, such as certain commercial parodies, SNL Digital Shorts , and show graphics are processed off-site in the post-production facilities of Broadway Video . Filming and photography Studio 8H production facilities are maintained by NBC Production Services. Video camera equipment includes four Sony BVP-700 CCD cameras, and two Sony BVP-750 CCD handheld cameras, both using Vinten pedestals. A GVG 4000-3 digital component production switcher, and GVG 7000 digital component routing switcher are used to route visual feeds to the control room, with multiple digital and analogue video recorders used to store footage. Graphics are provided by a Chyron Infinit! character generator and a Quantel PictureBox. Audio facilities consist of a Calrec T Series digitally controlled analogue mixing console, and a Yamaha digital mixing console used for tape playback support and utility audio work. As of 2009, the opening title sequence and opening montage is shot using the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Canon EOS 7D digital SLR cameras. Typical elements are recorded at 30 fps , with slow-motion sequences shot at 60 fps, both in full 1080p high definition. Edie Baskin was the original SNL photographer. She was hired after Michaels saw her photographs of Las Vegas and other work. Baskin helped create the opening title sequence for the show by taking photos of New York City at night. The first episode used publicity photos of Carlin as transitional bumpers between the show and commercial breaks, the second episode used photos Baskin had already taken of host Paul Simon . It was then that Michaels suggested that Baskin photograph the hosts for the bumpers instead of using publicity photos, beginning a tradition which continues today. Since 1999, Mary Ellen Matthews has been the official photographer of SNL, responsible for devising distinctive photo layouts and aesthetics for still imagery used on the show. Matthews creates photo portraits of the hosts and musical guests of each episode which are used as commercial bumpers. The limited time frame between the host's involvement in the production process and the Live show requires Matthews to create makeshift photo studios on site at 30 Rock, with Matthews attempting to shoot the host on Tuesday and the musical guest on Thursday, although the availability of either can mean the photoshoot for both occurs as late as Thursday. Matthews employs flattering portrait lighting with hard lights to achieve a Hollywood style. On the lighting, Matthews commented: "I think it just helps the image pop off the screen...If you use soft or flat lighting, it becomes not as dimensional...The [classic Hollywood lighting] gives a little more contrast, and if I use edge lights and then light the background, it goes farther and farther back. I try to achieve that depth as much as I can." Matthews is also responsible for taking cast photos, behind the scenes images, documenting rehearsals, and promotional photos. As of 2010, she has also been involved in directing videos, including the show title sequence. Broadcast SNL‍ 's main stage, during rehearsal, 2008 The show usually begins at 11:29:30 p.m. ( Eastern Time ), unless a delay occurs (more commonly, due to sporting events that run past 11:00 p.m. Eastern, delaying local newscasts that lead into that week's SNL broadcast on most NBC stations). The show broadcasts for 92 minutes (counting commercial breaks), ending at 1:02 a.m. For the Mountain and Pacific time zones, NBC airs the prerecorded live show usually unedited, mistakes notwithstanding.[] Since the first opening in 1975 with Michael O'Donoghue, Chevy Chase, and John Belushi, the show has normally begun with a cold open sketch which ends with one or more cast members breaking character and proclaiming "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", segueing into the opening credits that start immediately after. In February 2013, NBC began airing shortened hour-long repeats on Saturday evenings at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time during the regular season; the episodes scheduled are sometimes rebroadcasts of the previous week's episode if it originally aired as a first-run broadcast. During the 2014–15 season, however, the prime time rebroadcasts consisted of a selection of 40 episodes from throughout the show's run to commemorate the program's 40th anniversary. This has continued into the 2015-2016 season, with episodes of varying time periods being shown. NBC and Broadway Video both hold the underlying rights to the show, while the copyright to every episode lies solely with NBC. From 1990 until 2004, and again since 2015, Comedy Central and its predecessor Ha! re-aired reruns of the series, after which E! Entertainment Television signed a deal to carry reruns. Abbreviated 30- and 60-minute versions of the first five seasons aired as The Best of Saturday Night Live in syndication beginning in the 1980s, and later on Nick at Nite in 1988. In September 2010, reruns of most episodes made from 1998 onward began airing on VH1 . International Because SNL has been a huge success in America, other countries have created their own versions of the show, including Germany , Spain , South Korea , Japan and Canada .SNL is aired in Israel on yes Comedy . SNL is also aired in the Middle East and North Africa on OSN Comedy every Saturday night, one week after it airs in the U.S. Germany's version of the show, RTL Samstag Nacht was a hit in the 1990s on the RTL channel. Spain's version of the show was short-lived, only lasting a few episodes which aired on Thursdays and not Saturdays as the title suggested. This version copied heavily from the American version, in that they did their own versions of sketches that were already done on the original series. Italy's Saturday Night Live From Milan aired for four seasons and used original material. On December 3, 2011, South Korea's SNL Korea premiered on cable channel tvN. As of July 20, 2013, it is in its fourth consecutive season, with 20 episodes. The Japanese version Saturday Night Live JPN, which ran for six months in 2011, was created in part with Lorne Michaels' production company, Coca-Cola, Broadway Video and broadcast on Fuji TV networks. The show followed the same format with a few minor differences, being only 45 minutes long and hosted by a permanent host. The cast was made up of seasoned comedians who take center stage and newcomers who play the background roles. It was broadcast once a month, and ended after six episodes, as planned from the start. In 2014, two 90-minute specials were broadcast in French on Télé-Québec in the Canadian province of Quebec under the title SNL Québec; the specials were broadcast on February 8 and March 22, 2014. hosted by Louis-José Houde and Stéphane Rousseau, and is the same format and length as the original SNL series. Certain sketches from the original program, such as Debbie Downer and Schweddy Balls , were adapted into French, while other sketches were original material written directly for the Quebec series. On May 13, 2014, SNL Quebec was renewed for another eight episodes to be broadcast monthly over the 2014-2015 season ending with a "Best Of" compilation. Télé-Québec announced in May 2015 that the series would not be renewed due to funding cutbacks, and Télévision de Radio-Canada subsequently signed the show's production team and cast to produce a new series, Le nouveau show, for that network. Delays The episode scheduled for October 25, 1986, hosted by Rosanna Arquette , was not aired until November 8 due to NBC broadcasting Game 6 of the 1986 World Series between the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox ; the game entered extra innings, causing that night's broadcast of SNL to be cancelled. The show was recorded for the studio audience starting at 1:30 a.m. Eastern Time, and broadcast two weeks later with an "apology" by Mets pitcher Ron Darling . (He explained that the Mets players had all been happy and excited to win the World Series game, widely considered one of the most memorable in the event's 109-year history, but of course they all had become upset and glum when, in the locker room afterwards, they found out that they had caused the first-ever cancellation of SNL. Footage showed the depressed players sadly staring at the locker room floor in shame.)[] The episode scheduled for February 10, 2001, hosted by Jennifer Lopez , aired 45 minutes late due to an XFL game. Lopez and the cast were not told they were airing on a delay. Michaels was so upset by the delay that the episode was re-run a mere three weeks later, and the fledgling league actually changed the rules in order to speed up play, and a deal was reached where the feed to future games would be cut off (whether the game had been decided or not) when SNL started so that no such incident would happen again. Reception In 2002, the show was ranked tenth on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, while in 2007 it was honored with inclusion on Time magazine's list of "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME." In June 2013, the show was placed at number 25 on the list of the 101 best written shows of all time by the Writers Guild of America, assessing series from the previous 70 years. In December 2013, TV Guide ranked it #18 on their list of the 60 Greatest Shows of All Time. It is currently is the 40th longest running TV show in the US. Accolades Saturday Night Live has won numerous awards since its debut, including 36 Primetime Emmy Awards , 2 Peabody Awards , and 4 Writers Guild of America Awards. In 2009, it received a total of 13 Emmy nominations for a lifetime total of 126, breaking the record for the most award nominated show in Emmy history, previously set with 124 by hospital drama ER. As of August 2012, it has received a record total of 156 Emmy nominations. Only 17 cast members have received individual Emmy nominations in the show's entire history. Of these only Chevy Chase and Gilda Radner have won, taking the award for Outstanding Individual Performance, in 1976 and 1978 respectively. In 1983, Eddie Murphy became the last male cast member to be nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Emmy until Bill Hader nearly thirty years later in 2012: Hader received a second nomination in 2013, making him the cast's only male multiple nominee. Electoral effect SNL has also had an effect on U.S. elections – most commonly presidential elections. Voters have reported that political sketches that were shown on the program influenced them in the voting booth. The so-called SNL Effect was observed during the 2008 presidential campaign, according to Mike Dabadie. Two-thirds of voters who responded to a poll said they had seen a broadcast of politically charged content on SNL, with ten percent saying that it had made a difference in their decision. Barack Obama was the beneficiary of the political content, with 59 percent saying they did in fact cast a vote for the then-Democratic nominee. Chevy Chase's bumbling impression of then-president Gerald Ford during the 1976 presidential election was cited as an influence on the election, and a quote commonly attributed to 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin stating "I can see Russia from my house" was actually spoken by SNL cast member Tina Fey while portraying Palin. Several politicians have appeared on SNL, including President Gerald Ford (in 1976, during the show's first season), Senator (at the time) Barack Obama (2007), Senator John McCain (2002 & 2008), Senator Hillary Clinton (2008 & 2015), and Governor Sarah Palin (2008), who appeared alongside Fey's Palin impression, resulting in the show's largest audience in 14 years with 14 million viewers. Senator Obama's appearance occurred in part because Hillary Clinton abandoned her scheduled appearance. The political content was abandoned briefly following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in New York, with Poehler saying that the writers did not want to produce politicized material; highly political content would be absent for the next 4 years. Controversies Sinéad O'Connor tears a picture of Pope John Paul II apart during a live SNL performance. Due to the show's live factor , a number of technical problems, performer mishaps, intentional acts of sabotage by performers, protests, and even random cuts to dead air have occurred throughout the show's run. One incident that garnered widespread media coverage was the October 3, 1992 appearance by singer Sinéad O'Connor, in which she ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II during her performance. On April 13, 1996, the alternative metal band Rage Against the Machine made a statement about the host, billionaire Steve Forbes , by hanging two upside-down American flags from their amplifiers. On October 23, 2004 Ashlee Simpson appeared as a musical guest and there was a lip synching mishap. Her first performance, " Pieces of Me ", was performed without incident, but when she began her second song, "Autobiography", the vocals for "Pieces of Me" were heard again through the speakers, even before she had raised the microphone to her mouth. Simpson began to do an impromptu jig, and then left the stage. In other media Home media Currently, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Lions Gate Entertainment hold video rights to the series. Universal has issued complete season DVD sets of the first few seasons, while Lionsgate's share of the rights are a result of prior contracts with NBC struck before the NBC Universal merger. A majority of Lionsgate's SNL DVDs are "Best Of..." compilations. Books Saturday Night Live (ISBN 0-380-01801-2), the first authorized book about the series, was published by Avon Books in 1977 and edited by Anne Beatts and John Head ,[] with photography by Edie Baskin; all three worked for SNL at the time the book was published. The oversized illustrated paperback included the scripts for several sketches by the 1975–1980 cast. In 1986, Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad authored Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live (ISBN 0-688-05099-9), a behind-the-scenes look at the first ten seasons. Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years (ISBN 0-395-75284-1), by Michael Cader, was released in 1994, and presented information about the cast, characters, and other memorable moments seen on the show from 1975 to 1994. Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, as Told By Its Stars, Writers and Guests (ISBN 0-316-73565-5) was released in 2002. The book, written by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller, consists of interviews from people who have worked on the show. The interviews reveal personal experiences from what happened backstage and the difficulty of getting the show on air each week. In 2004, former cast member Jay Mohr released his memoir Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live (ISBN 1-401-30801-5), about his struggles during his two seasons on the show between 1993 and 1995, dealing with getting sketches on air and the intense work schedule. Cast member Bobby Moynihan described the book as "a handbook on what NOT to do at SNL." Films SNL has made several efforts to develop some of the more popular sketches into feature-length films, with varying degrees of commercial and critical success. The first foray into film came with the successful Aykroyd and Belushi vehicle, The Blues Brothers (1980), which earned over $115 million on a $27 million budget. In 1990, Michaels oversaw the writing of a sketch anthology feature film titled The Saturday Night Live Movie with many of the show's then-current writing staff, including Al Franken , Tom Davis, Greg Daniels , Jim Downey, Conan O'Brien , Robert Smigel , and George Meyer , contributing. The screenplay only got as far as a Revised First Draft dated July 26, 1990 before being abandoned. However, it was the success of Wayne's World (1992) that encouraged Michaels to produce more film spin-offs, based on several popular sketch characters. Michaels revived 1970s characters for Coneheads (1993), followed by It's Pat (1994); Stuart Saves His Family (1995); A Night at the Roxbury (1998); Superstar (1999) and The Ladies Man (2000). Some did moderately well, though others did not—notably, It's Pat, which did so badly at the box office that the studio that made the film, Touchstone Pictures (owned by The Walt Disney Company, which also owns NBC's rival ABC ), pulled it only one week after releasing it, and Stuart Saves His Family, which lost $14 million. Many of these films were produced by Paramount Pictures . The films based on The Blues Brothers were produced by Universal Studios , which merged with NBC in 2004 to form NBC Universal (Universal also has a joint venture with Paramount for international distribution of the two studios' films). Film $797,295 009259314 !$9,259,314 The character Bob Roberts from the Tim Robbins film of the same name (1992), first appeared on SNL in a short film about the conservative folk singer. In addition, the 1999 comedy film Office Space originated from a series of animated short films by Mike Judge that aired on SNL in 1993. The fictitious American folk music trio The Folksmen first appeared on SNL, performing the song "Old Joe's Place" before later appearing in the film A Mighty Wind (2002). The three members of the Folksmen were the same three comedians: Harry Shearer , Michael McKean , and Christopher Guest , who also appeared on the same episode as the rock group Spinal Tap. At the time of the appearance (the 1984–85 season), Shearer and Guest were cast members. Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures is based off the Mr. Bill sketches from early seasons of SNL. Music In 2005, the comedy troupe The Lonely Island , consisting of SNL members Andy Samberg , Akiva Schaffer , and Jorma Taccone , gained national exposure after joining the show and debuting their skit music video "Lazy Sunday", written with fellow cast member Chris Parnell . The song became a surprise hit, and convinced Michaels to encourage the troupe to develop more comedy songs. Further successes with songs including " Like A Boss , "Jizz in My Pants", "I'm on a Boat", " We Like Sportz ", "Boombox", and "Dick in a Box"—which won an Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics in 2007—saw The Lonely Island go on to release two albums, Incredibad (2009) and Turtleneck & Chain (2011), containing SNL-developed songs and original works. The albums were released by Universal Republic Records who were provided with a license to the SNL songs by NBC and Broadway Video. A cast album was released in 1976 on the Arista label including the song "Chevy's Girls" and comedy bits from the show ("Weekend Update", "Emily Litella", "Gun Control"); it was later re-issued on CD and MP3 download. Other Several programs have documented the behind-the-scenes events of the show. A 60 Minutes report taped in October 2004 depicted the intense writing frenzy that goes on during the week leading up to a show, with crowded meetings and long hours. The report particularly noted the involvement of the guest host(s) in developing and selecting the sketches in which they will appear. Similarly, there has been an A&E episode of Biography which covered the production process, as well as an episode of TV Tales in 2002 on E! . In 2010, Saturday Night, a 94-minute documentary by actor James Franco in his directorial debut, was released; it follows the production process of the December 6, 2008, episode hosted by John Malkovich , from the concept stage to the episode actually airing live. Although it originated as a five-minute short film for Franco's New York University film class, Michaels granted Franco access to the process, allowing the project to be expanded. On Feb. 15, 2015, NBC aired a 3 1/2 hour special on Saturday Night Live's 40th anniversary. The program included a mix of clips, new performances of classic characters from previous cast members and special guest appearances from previous hosts. In September 2011, ice cream company Ben & Jerry's released a limited-edition ice cream called " Schweddy Balls ", inspired by a 1998 sketch of the same name starring Alec Baldwin, Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon . The ice cream became the fastest-selling Ben & Jerry's limited-edition flavor. The ice cream was also subject to criticism and boycotts by the One Million Moms organization over the "vulgar" name. Some retail chains chose not to sell the flavor, but declined to say if the decision was at their own discretion or based on the One Million Moms boycotts. In June 2014, two new flavours inspired by SNL sketches were introduced—Lazy Sunday, based on a sketch of the same name featuring Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell, and Gilly's Catastrophic Crunch based on the recurring Gilly sketches featuring Kristen Wiig.Two Wild and Crazy Pies, based on the catchphrase of the recurring Festrunk Brothers, was introduced in September 2014, followed by Wayne'Swirled inspired by the eponymous Wayne's World in February 2015. See also Saturday Night Live parodies of Sarah Palin Saturday Night Live parodies of Hillary Clinton References Bibliography Mohr, Jay (2004). Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live. New York: Hyperion Books . ISBN 1-4013-0006-5. Shales, Tom; Miller, James Andrew (2002). Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. New York: Hachette Book Group USA. ISBN 0-316-73565-5. Further reading Cader, Michael (1994). Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-70895-8. Davis, Tom (2009). Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss: The Early Days of SNL from Someome Who Was There. New York: Grove Press. ISBN 0-802-11880-1. Hill, Doug, and Jeff Weingrad (1986). Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live. New York: Beech Tree Books. ISBN 0-688-05099-9. Streeter, Michael (2005). Nothing Lost Forever: The Films of Tom Schiller. New York: BearManor Media. ISBN 1-59393-032-1. External links	i don't know
Doctor Who is back! Currently played by Matt Smith, how many different actors have portrayed the Doctor on the TV series (from 1963 to today)	11 Actors Who Have Played The Doctor \| Mental Floss 11 Actors Who Have Played The Doctor Image credit: Like us on Facebook There have been many actors who have portrayed the Doctor in various settings, but eleven have been the official Doctors. We'll look at all of them here. 1. William Hartnell Veteran character actor William Hartnell was born in 1908 to humble beginnings; his mother was unwed, he never knew his father, and his first career move was into petty crime. A boxing instructor got him started on horse racing, but he found his real passion when he got a job as a stagehand at the age of 18. He quickly got into acting, working constantly with only a break to serve in World War II in an armored regiment. He ended up typecast in comic tough-guy roles (you can see one of them in The Mouse That Roared), and when Verity Lambert offered him the part of a mysterious time traveler in an educational show aimed at children, he jumped at the part. He created a character who was highly intelligent but not always as wise as he thought himself, brilliant but forgetful, cantankerous but with a deep compassion under the surface. He enjoyed the role tremendously, but by 1966, his health was deteriorating due to arteriosclerosis and he had to quit. The producers came up with the idea of having his character transform into a new actor, and Hartnell suggested Patrick Troughton, who was approached and accepted the part. Hartnell reprised his role once more for the tenth anniversary special, "The Three Doctors," but his health had deteriorated more than the production crew realized and his part had to be rewritten to accommodate his capabilities; it was his final work as an actor, and he passed away in 1974 at the age of 67. 2. Patrick Troughton Born in 1920, Patrick Troughton went directly into an acting career and was undergoing formal training in New York City when World War II broke out. He returned to England and joined the Navy, where he had a decorated career before returning to the theater, gaining a reputation as a reliable and versatile character actor. In 1953, he became the first person to play Robin Hood on television and found a succession of television, film, and radio roles afterward before Innes Lloyd, the new producer of Doctor Who, approached him in 1966 about succeeding William Hartnell in the title role. He ended up playing the role as what series creator Sydney Newman called a "cosmic hobo," inspired partly by silent film star Charlie Chaplin — brilliant, a bit egotistical, and also a bit of a comedian. He'd sometimes play the recorder, a significant change from the First Doctor, who had no apparent musical talent, and it was during this era that the sonic screwdriver was first seen. After three years, he decided to move on, although he returned three more times to reprise the role, in "The Three Doctors," "The Five Doctors," and "The Two Doctors." He returned to his work as a character actor after his time on Doctor Who, working hard despite doctors' advice due to major heart problems. In 1987, he defied doctor's orders to stay in the country and recuperate and went on one more convention tour. He died on March 27, 1987, in Columbus, Georgia. (I actually saw him once, and got his autograph, earlier in the same U.S. tour. He seemed in good health, but, well, he was a very good actor.) Acting was in his blood; several of his children and grandchildren have gone into acting. The youngest of these is Harry Melling, whom Harry Potter fans know as Dudley Dursley. 3. Jon Pertwee Born in 1919, and thus actually a year older than the man he would replace, Jon Pertwee was born into a family that already had a lot of actors in it. Like the first two Doctors, he joined the military in World War II; although his service wasn't as distinguished as Troughton's, he did acquire an interesting souvenir: he woke up one morning after a drunken shore leave to find a tattoo on his arm, which made a brief appearance in his debut episode of Doctor Who. After the war, he became known as a comic actor on stage, television, and film. When he heard that the part of the Doctor had become available, he inquired and discovered he was already on the shortlist, and ultimately was cast. He played the character as an action hero with an almost James Bond flair, wearing opera capes and driving souped up cars (including the spaceship-like Whomobile, which actually belonged to Pertwee himself, built on commission by a custom car builder). After five seasons, he departed the role. His career didn't falter afterwards, and in 1979 he found his second children's TV role in Worzel Gummidge. He returned to the part of the Doctor for "The Five Doctors." Like Troughton before him, he kept up the convention circuit, meeting with his fans frequently, and he died of a heart attack in Connecticut on May 20, 1996. (One odd coincidence—Pertwee's godfather was the actor Henry Ainley, whose son Anthony later took on the part of the Master, originated by Roger Delgado during Pertwee's tenure.) 4. Tom Baker Born in 1934 to a Catholic working class family in Liverpool, Baker first tried a career as a monk, then joined the military, serving as an orderly in a military hospital, before settling on acting as his career. In the '60s, he was a part of the National Theatre company under Lawrence Olivier, and in 1971 broke into film as Rasputin in Nicholas and Alexandra. In 1974, producer Barry Letts cast him as the Doctor. His interpretation was as arrogant and egotistical as all his predecessors, and just as determined to do good, but more eccentric, often described as "bohemian." The Fourth Doctor is particularly famous for his ridiculously long scarf, which resulted from a miscommunication between costume designer James Acheson and the knitter hired to produce it; Acheson never specified a length, and bought far too much yarn, so the knitter just kept going until it was all used up. Baker performed the part for a record-breaking seven seasons before retiring from it. After leaving, he had a brief marriage to costar Lalla Ward (the Second Romana), but it fell apart when both realized they'd really fallen in love with the other one's character, not the actor—an occupational hazard, unfortunately—and they parted amicably. He continued working on stage and screen, and is still active. 5. Peter Davison Born Peter Moffett in 1951 (he chose the stage name "Davison" because there was already a Peter Moffatt on the English stage), Davison began work at Nottingham Playhouse and got into television in 1975 alongside the woman who would become his wife, Sandra Dickinson. (Sci-fi fans will remember her as Trillian in the BBC TV miniseries version of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; it was her idea to get Davison into a big rubber suit to play the Dish of the Day in the same series.) But his first really big break was the role of Tristan Farnon, a young country veterinarian, in All Creatures Great and Small. In 1981, he got his next big break when he was signed on to succeed Tom Baker as the Doctor. Only 29 at the time, he was the youngest to play the role until Matt Smith in 2010. His Doctor had his little quirks, but was much less eccentric than his predecessor, save for a stick of celery he wore on his lapel and a preference for cricket attire. He left after three seasons. He returned for non-canon productions and the very short charity special "Time Crash," opposite David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, the only "classic" Doctor to appear on the new series. After Doctor Who, he starred in A Very Peculiar Practice, Campion, and a revival of All Creatures Great and Small, as well as an assortment of other roles; he is still acting. His daughter from his first marriage, Georgia Moffett, later appeared on Doctor Who as well, the first child of a Doctor to appear on the show, in "The Doctor's Daughter" as, well, the Doctor's sort-of daughter. And that led, in a roundabout way, to Peter Davison becoming David Tennant's father-in-law, but more on that later... 6. Colin Baker Born in 1943 (and of no relation to Tom Baker), Colin Baker initially studied law with the intention of becoming a solicitor, but at 23, found a different calling and became an actor. He had a smattering of television roles before appearing on Doctor Who in 1983 as Commander Maxil, commander of the chancellory guards on Gallifrey in "The Arc of Infinity." This got him onto producer John Nathan-Turner's radar, and he was cast as the Sixth Doctor after Peter Davison's departure. His tenure as the Doctor was a difficult one, marred by the battle of the production team with BBC leadership who hoped to see the series die. His costume was wildly garish, and he even attempted to kill his own companion in a fit of madness. But Baker put everything into the part and, although fans are mixed in their opinion of his Doctor, it cannot be denied that he threw himself into it, creating a Doctor who underwent a substantial amount of character development in two seasons. Unfortunately, the BBC1 Controller, Michael Grade, had never been a fan of the program and, after the troubled season 23, "Trial of a Time Lord," Colin Baker was fired despite having a full series left in his contract. He remains enthusiastic about the series despite that, however, and has lent his talents to numerous fan-made and non-canon productions. Following his time on Doctor Who, he moved primarily into theater, but still does occasional film and television work as well. 7. Sylvester McCoy Born Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith in Dunoon, Scotland, in 1943, Sylvester McCoy would become the first non-English actor to play the part. (To date, there has been only one other: Scottish actor David Tennant.) He never knew his father, who died in World War II shortly before he was born, and he was raised in Dublin, Ireland. He tried a variety of careers before joining a comedy/vaudeville act called "The Ken Campbell Roadshow." One of the parts he played was a fictitious stuntman named Sylveste McCoy; confused reviewers thought it was his actual name, and he eventually adopted it as a stage name (adding an "r" to the first name to make it look better). In 1987, Doctor Who came out of a year-long hiatus following the firing of Colin Baker, and Sylvester McCoy was cast as the Seventh Doctor. His performance was evocative of the Second Doctor, and clearly informed by his comedy background, but in his second season became increasingly dark. The series was indefinitely suspended in 1989, ending the bulk of his tenure, although he returned for the American-produced Doctor Who movie in 1996, to film a regeneration scene to transition to Paul McGann. Following his work on Doctor Who, he worked extensively in theater and radio; he was nearly Governor Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean and even more nearly Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings. He recently traveled to New Zealand to film the part of Radagast the Brown for The Hobbit. 8. Paul McGann Born in Liverpool in 1959, Paul McGann would ultimately have the shortest tenure as Doctor. He was born to a large family, and all four of the McGann boys went into acting. He played a series of roles on television before landing one of the two title roles in Withnail and I, playing Peter Marwood, the "I" of the title who is never named in the movie itself. He performed in a number of films after that, including American films, and was cast as Richard Sharpe, but a football injury just after filming started meant the number two, Sean Bean, got the part instead, and McGann ultimately walked away with a two million pound insurance settlement to compensate for the lost work and career advancement. In 1996, he was cast in an attempted revival of Doctor Who, filmed largely in Vancouver, British Columbia, and set in San Francisco, which was intended as a "back door pilot." It received very good ratings in the UK, but failed to interest US studios. That was the end of that effort, but Paul McGann went on to pursue a respectable film and television career. Recently, he has recorded audio plays featuring the Eighth Doctor — the BBC does not consider these plays canon — including a "do-over" of "Shada," a story written and partially recorded for the Fourth Doctor's tenure, but that was left uncompleted due to industrial action. 9. Christopher Eccleston Born in 1964 to a working class family in Manchester, Eccleston pursued an acting career right out of school. He broke into film and television in the early '90s, keeping very busy and receiving multiple awards for his work in television before producer Russell T. Davies cast him as the Ninth Doctor in a newly revived Doctor Who. He played the part in more ordinary dress than his predecessors and with his natural Northern accent. Eccleston was the first Doctor younger than the series itself (by a few months) and the first other than Hartnell to have never seen it prior to being cast. He studied "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" (a Fourth Doctor serial), which was then newly released on DVD, as preparation, and came up with a Doctor who was every bit as egotistical as his predecessors, mischievous and impulsive, but also shadowed with massive grief—sometime in the untransmitted interim, his race had gone to war with the Daleks, and he was now the only Time Lord left. He was also in some way responsible for the fact that the Time Lords were now extinct. He was only contracted for one season, due to uncertainty whether the BBC would even be interested in commissioning a second season; miscommunications with the BBC marred his departure, as he was mistakenly reported to have quit due to issues with the crew when, in fact, it had been planned that way from the outset. He resumed his intense schedule after Doctor Who and, in 2011, earned the International Emmy Best Actor award for his role in Accursed. 10. David Tennant David McDonald was born in 1971 in West Lothian, Scotland, later taking the name David Tennant as his given name was already in use by another performer. He was a born Whovian, and at the age of three announced his intention to go into acting because of it. A precocious actor, he managed to enter the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama at 16. He performed a variety of roles, including many with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and began breaking into television in the 2000s. In 2005, he appeared in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as Barty Crouch, Jr., and appeased his inner Whovian by appearing in the Big Finish audio productions that sort of worked around the edges of Doctor Who continuity and in the abortive attempt at an online animated series, The Scream of the Shalka. He achieved his lifelong dream in 2005 when he was cast as the Tenth Doctor. He elected not to use his natural Scots accent for the part, affecting an Estuary accent, and played it a more confident and more vengeful Doctor than Eccleston. During his first season, he became the first Doctor to appear with someone from the classic series, when Elizabeth Sladen reprised her role as Sarah Jane Smith in "School Reunion." That prompted a spinoff series called The Sarah Jane Adventures, and he appeared in an episode of Season Three of that show. He also provided voice work for two animated series, The Infinite Quest and Dreamland (the latter of which was referenced twice on The Sarah Jane Adventures). After three full seasons and a series of one-off specials in 2009, Tennant left the series, saying that he had to leave while he still could; any later and he wouldn't be able to bring himself to quit. After leaving the series, he became engaged to actress Georgia Moffett, Peter Davison's daughter. The two have since married and have a daughter together. 11. Matt Smith Born in 1982 in Northhampton, Matt Smith initially dreamed of becoming a professional football player. ("Soccer" to us Yanks, of course.) A back injury put a stop to that, and his drama instructor at school pushed him into acting. He began to study drama and creative writing. He appeared in a variety of stage and television roles, but it was a complete surprise to most when he was cast as the Eleventh Doctor, the youngest ever to take the part. Producer Steven Moffatt had been going for someone in his mid-40s, but was particularly taken by Smith's oddball demeanor and ability to look very old indeed. His Doctor was played as an absent-minded professor, complete with tweed jacket and bowtie (which he obliviously insists is cool), with a sometimes mercurial disposition. He has also appeared on The Sarah Jane Adventures and has provided voice work for a series of video games. He has been signed for an additional 14 episodes, so will be the Doctor for at least three seasons. Like Eccleston, Smith was largely unfamiliar with the series before accepting the role, but he had an excuse—he was only seven when the series went on hiatus. (And now some of us can start feeling old!)	11
Who was the captain of the HMS Bounty, set adrift with 18 of his loyal officers by Fletcher Christian, on April 28, 1789?	Five emotional moments from 'Doctor Who' farewell - CNN.com Matt Smith portrayed the Doctor one final time on a special episode of 'Doctor Who' Peter Capaldi took over the role at the end of the episode Social media had a highly emotional response to the episode "And now it's time for one last bow, like all your other selves. Eleven's hour is over now, the clock is striking Twelve's." With those poetic words, Jenna Coleman's Clara Oswald summed up the stakes of Wednesday night's Christmas episode of "Doctor Who." Following a hugely successful, well-received 50th anniversary episode last month, it seemed fitting that the show would bid goodbye to Matt Smith for an encore. The episode certainly ran the gamut, at various times showing the Doctor bald, naked and growing very old. It was a bittersweet night for "Who" fans (or "Whovians"), to say the least. Of course, we've known for several months that this was coming, but the reactions on social media made clear that many in the audience weren't ready to say goodbye to Smith's Eleventh Doctor. "Oh gosh. I'm emotionally wrecked," tweeted Kyle Williams . "MY FEELINGS ARE NOT OK," is how Vera Raposo put it. So without further ado, here are five moments from the episode that had us feeling all of our feelings: 1. The Doctor leaves Clara (twice) Things started off smoothly enough, with the Doctor pretending to be Clara's boyfriend at Christmas dinner. A few sitcom-ish moments (and Daleks, weeping angels and Cybermen -- including one disembodied) later, and soon the Doctor learned that Gallifrey and the other Time Lords could soon return, using a crack in the wall, in a small town called Christmas -- a time field seen in the Eleventh Doctor's first episode. The Daleks, Cybermen and more were ready to take on the Time Lords, however, and the Doctor was prepared to literally save Christmas (not to mention the entire planet, Trenzalore). But he didn't think he could protect Clara and sent her back home without her knowledge. As centuries went by on Trenzalore, the Doctor started to show his age and finally, Clara returned with the TARDIS and the "feels" came along with her. Seeing the Doctor and his companion -- who had earlier unwittingly declared her feelings for him -- reunited was a hugely uplifting moment, though soon the Doctor sent her away again, after saying he wouldn't. (Sorry, Clara, the Doctor lies.) But she returned one last time... Looking back on 50 years of 'Doctor Who' 2. The last Doctor? Those who've followed "Doctor Who" for a while will remember there's a limit to the number of regenerations he gets, exactly 12. After Clara returned the first time, the aging Doctor told Clara that he had used them all up, counting John Hurt's War Doctor from the previous episode, and a time when the Tenth Doctor regenerated into himself. Could this be the end of the Doctor for good? After her second return, having read the aforementioned poem from a Christmas cracker, and as the Doctor began to die of old age, she pleaded with the time field to save him . As the Daleks prepared to attack, the time field appeared, granting the Doctor more regenerative energy, which he used to lay waste to all of the invading armies ("Love from Gallifrey, boys!") -- but it also meant that his time was up. 3. Goodbye, Eleven Clara returned to the TARDIS, finding the Doctor back to his old self again. But despite his reset youthful appearance, he was still dying. He had a lot to think about in his final moments in this body. "We all change. When you think about it, we're all different people all through our lives," he said. "And that's OK, that's good, as long as you keep moving, as long as you remember all the people that you used to be. I will not forget one line of this, not one day, I swear. I will always remember when the Doctor was me." Lump in the throat, anyone? 4. 'Raggedy man' Then the Doctor remembered his first companion, the first face he saw in this body: Amy Pond. In a surprise appearance, Karen Gillan returned for a cameo as Amy , to say, "Raggedy man, good night." Is it any wonder that "Raggedy man" trended worldwide for hours on Twitter? Eleven knew his time was up, and took off his trademark bowtie. And at this point, the Internet had a good cry. 5. Enter Twelve As Clara begged the Doctor not to go, he suddenly had a brand new face. Clara's "anime eyes" said it all. This was a brand new Doctor indeed. Peter Capaldi is now the Twelfth Doctor, and he just had one question for Clara: "Do you happen to know how to fly this thing?" (Oh, and apparently he's got new kidneys.) So that was enough of an emotional roller coaster for an entire season's worth of some shows. Perhaps Smith's final words to the fans will help a little: "To the Whoniverse, thanks a million," he said. "You're the best. I'll miss you. And I'll miss the madness."	i don't know
Accounting for approximately 84% of the earths mass, what is the layer that falls between the core and the crust?	What are the Earth's Layers? - Universe Today Universe Today What are the Earth’s Layers? Article Updated: 21 Sep , 2016 by Matt Williams There is more to the Earth than what we can see on the surface. In fact, if you were able to hold the Earth in your hand and slice it in half, you’d see that it has multiple layers. But of course, the interior of our world continues to hold some mysteries for us. Even as we intrepidly explore other worlds and deploy satellites into orbit, the inner recesses of our planet remains off limit from us. However, advances in seismology have allowed us to learn a great deal about the Earth and the many layers that make it up. Each layer has its own properties, composition, and characteristics that affects many of the key processes of our planet. They are, in order from the exterior to the interior – the crust, the mantle, the outer core, and the inner core. Let’s take a look at them and see what they have going on. Modern Theory: Like all terrestrial planets , the Earth’s interior is differentiated. This means that its internal structure consists of layers, arranged like the skin of an onion. Peel back one, and you find another, distinguished from the last by its chemical and geological properties, as well as vast differences in temperature and pressure. Our modern, scientific understanding of the Earth’s interior structure is based on inferences made with the help of seismic monitoring. In essence, this involves measuring sound waves generated by earthquakes, and examining how passing through the different layers of the Earth causes them to slow down. The changes in seismic velocity cause refraction which is calculated (in accordance with Snell’s Law ) to determine differences in density. Model of a flat Earth, with the continents modeled in a disk-shape and Antarctica as an ice wall. Credit: Wikipedia Commons These are used, along with measurements of the gravitational and magnetic fields of the Earth and experiments with crystalline solids that simulate pressures and temperatures in the Earth’s deep interior, to determine what Earth’s layers looks like. In addition, it is understood that the differences in temperature and pressure are due to leftover heat from the planet’s initial formation, the decay of radioactive elements, and the freezing of the inner core due to intense pressure. History of Study: Since ancient times, human beings have sought to understand the formation and composition of the Earth. The earliest known cases were unscientific in nature – taking the form of creation myths or religious fables involving the gods. However, between classical antiquity and the medieval period, several theories emerged about the origin of the Earth and its proper makeup. Most of the ancient theories about Earth tended towards the “Flat-Earth” view of our planet’s physical form. This was the view in Mesopotamian culture, where the world was portrayed as a flat disk afloat in an ocean. To the Mayans, the world was flat, and at it corners, four jaguars (known as bacabs) held up the sky. The ancient Persians speculated that the Earth was a seven-layered ziggurat (or cosmic mountain), while the Chinese viewed it as a four-side cube. By the 6th century BCE, Greek philosophers began to speculate that the Earth was in fact round, and by the 3rd century BCE, the idea of a spherical Earth began to become articulated as a scientific matter. During the same period, the development of a geological view of the Earth also began to emerge, with philosophers understanding that it consisted of minerals, metals, and that it was subject to a very slow process of change. Illustration of Edmond Halley’s model of a Hallow Earth, one that was made up of concentric spheres. Credit: Wikipedia Commons/Rick Manning However, it was not until the 16th and 17th centuries that a scientific understanding of planet Earth and its structure truly began to advance. In 1692, Edmond Halley (discoverer of Halley’s Comet ) proposed what is now known as the “Hollow-Earth” theory. In a paper submitted to Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society of London , he put forth the idea of Earth consisting of a hollow shell about 800 km thick (~500 miles). Between this and an inner sphere, he reasoned there was an air gap of the same distance. To avoid collision, he claimed that the inner sphere was held in place by the force of gravity. The model included two inner concentric shells around an innermost core, corresponding to the diameters of the planets Mercury , Venus , and Mars respectively. Halley’s construct was a method of accounting for the values of the relative density of Earth and the Moon that had been given by Sir Isaac Newton , in his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687) – which were later shown to be inaccurate. However, his work was instrumental to the development of geography and theories about the interior of the Earth during the 17th and 18th centuries. Another important factor was the debate during the 17th and 18th centuries about the authenticity of the Bible and the Deluge myth. This propelled scientists and theologians to debate the true age of the Earth, and compelled the search for evidence that the Great Flood had in fact happened. Combined with fossil evidence, which was found within the layers of the Earth, a systematic basis for identifying and dating the Earth’s strata began to emerge. The growing importance of mining in the 17th and 18th centuries, particularly for precious metals, led to further developments in geology and Earth sciences. Credit: minerals.usgs.gov The development of modern mining techniques and growing attention to the importance of minerals and their natural distribution also helped to spur the development of modern geology. In 1774, German geologist Abraham Gottlob Werner published Von den äusserlichen Kennzeichen der Fossilien (On the External Characters of Minerals) which presented a detailed system for identifying specific minerals based on external characteristics. In 1741, the National Museum of Natural History in France created the first teaching position designated specifically for geology. This was an important step in further promoting knowledge of geology as a science and in recognizing the value of widely disseminating such knowledge. And by 1751, with the publication of the Encyclopédie by Denis Diderot, the term “geology” became an accepted term. By the 1770s, chemistry was starting to play a pivotal role in the theoretical foundation of geology, and theories began to emerge about how the Earth’s layers were formed. One popular idea had it that liquid inundation, like the Biblical Deluge, was responsible for creating all the geological strata. Those who accepted this theory became known popularly as the Diluvianists or Neptunists. Another thesis slowly gained currency from the 1780s forward, which stated that instead of water, strata had been formed through heat (or fire). Those who followed this theory during the early 19th century referred to this view as Plutonism, which held that the Earth formed gradually through the solidification of molten masses at a slow rate. These theories together led to the conclusion that the Earth was immeasurably older than suggested by the Bible. HMS Beagle in the Galapagos Islands, painted by John Chancellor. Credit: hmsbeagleproject.otg In the early 19th century, the mining industry and Industrial Revolution stimulated the rapid development of the concept of the stratigraphic column – that rock formations were arranged according to their order of formation in time. Concurrently, geologists and natural scientists began to understand that the age of fossils could be determined geologically (i.e. that the deeper the layer they were found in was from the surface, the older they were). During the imperial period of the 19th century, European scientists also had the opportunity to conduct research in distant lands. One such individual was Charles Darwin, who had been recruited by Captain FitzRoy of the HMS Beagle to study the coastal land of South America and give geological advice. Darwin’s discovery of giant fossils during the voyage helped to establish his reputation as a geologist, and his theorizing about the causes of their extinction led to his theory of evolution by natural selection, published in On the Origin of Species in 1859. During the 19th century, the governments of several countries including Canada, Australia, Great Britain and the United States began funding geological surveys that would produce geological maps of vast areas of the countries. Thought largely motivated by territorial ambitions and resource exploitation, they did benefit the study of geology. The Earth’s Tectonic Plates. Credit: msnucleus.org By this time, the scientific consensus established the age of the Earth in terms of millions of years, and the increase in funding and the development of improved methods and technology helped geology to move farther away from dogmatic notions of the Earth’s age and structure. By the early 20th century, the development of radiometric dating (which is used to determine the age of minerals and rocks), provided the necessary the data to begin getting a sense of the Earth’s true age. By the turn of the century, geologists now believed the Earth to be 2 billion years old, which opened doors for theories of continental movement during this vast amount of time. In 1912, Alfred Wegener proposed the theory of Continental Drift , which suggested that the continents were joined together at a certain time in the past and formed a single landmass known as Pangaea . In accordance with this theory, the shapes of continents and matching coastline geology between some continents indicated they were once attached together. The super-continent Pangea during the Permian period (300 – 250 million years ago). Credit: NAU Geology/Ron Blakey Research into the ocean floor also led directly to the theory of Plate Tectonics, which provided the mechanism for Continental Drift. Geophysical evidence suggested lateral motion of continents and that oceanic crust is younger than continental crust. This geophysical evidence also spurred the hypothesis of paleomagnetism, the record of the orientation of the Earth’s magnetic field recorded in magnetic minerals. Then there was the development of seismology, the study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other planet-like bodies, in the early 20th century. By measuring the time of travel of refracted and reflected seismic waves, scientists were able to gradually infer how the Earth was layered and what lay deeper at its core. For example, in 1910, Harry Fielding Ried put forward the “elastic rebound theory”, based on his studies of the 1906 San Fransisco earthquake. This theory, which stated that earthquakes occur when accumulated energy is released along a fault line, was the first scientific explanation for why earthquakes happen, and remains the foundation for modern tectonic studies. Earth viewed from the Moon by the Apollo 11 spacecraft. Credit: NASA Then in 1926, English scientist Harold Jeffreys claimed that below the crust, the core of the Earth is liquid, based on his study of earthquake waves. And then in 1937, Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann went a step further and determined that within the earth’s liquid outer core, there is a solid inner core. By the latter half of the 20th century, scientists developed a comprehensive theory of the Earth’s structure and dynamics had formed. As the century played out, perspectives shifted to a more integrative approach, where geology and Earth sciences began to include the study of the Earth’s internal structure, atmosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere into one. This was assisted by the development of space flight, which allowed for Earth’s atmosphere to be studied in detail, as well as photographs taken of Earth from space. In 1972, the Landsat Program , a series of satellite missions jointly managed by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey , began supplying satellite images that provided geologically detailed maps, and have been used to predict natural disasters and plate shifts. Earth’s Layers: The Earth can be divided into one of two ways – mechanically or chemically. Mechanically – or rheologically, meaning the study of liquid states – it can be divided into the lithosphere, asthenosphere, mesospheric mantle, outer core, and the inner core. But chemically, which is the more popular of the two, it can be divided into the crust , the mantle (which can be subdivided into the upper and lower mantle), and the core – which can also be subdivided into the outer core , and inner core . The inner core is solid, the outer core is liquid, and the mantle is solid/plastic. This is due to the relative melting points of the different layers (nickel–iron core, silicate crust and mantle) and the increase in temperature and pressure as depth increases. At the surface, the nickel-iron alloys and silicates are cool enough to be solid. In the upper mantle, the silicates are generally solid but localized regions of melt exist, leading to limited viscosity. In contrast, the lower mantle is under tremendous pressure and therefore has a lower viscosity than the upper mantle. The metallic nickel–iron outer core is liquid because of the high temperature. However, the intense pressure, which increases towards the inner core, dramatically changes the melting point of the nickel–iron, making it solid. The differentiation between these layers is due to processes that took place during the early stages of Earth’s formation (ca. 4.5 billion years ago). At this time, melting would have caused denser substances to sink toward the center while less-dense materials would have migrated to the crust. The core is thus believed to largely be composed of iron, along with nickel and some lighter elements, whereas less dense elements migrated to the surface along with silicate rock. Earth’s Crust: The crust is the outermost layer of the planet, the cooled and hardened part of the Earth that ranges in depth from approximately 5-70 km (~3-44 miles). This layer makes up only 1% of the entire volume of the Earth, though it makes up the entire surface (the continents and the ocean floor). The Earth’s layers (strata) shown to scale. Credit: pubs.usgs.gov The thinner parts are the oceanic crust, which underlies the ocean basins at a depth of 5-10 km (~3-6 miles), while the thicker crust is the continental crust. Whereas the oceanic crust is composed of dense material such as iron magnesium silicate igneous rocks (like basalt), the continental crust is less dense and composed of sodium potassium aluminum silicate rocks, like granite. The uppermost section of the mantle (see below), together with the crust, constitutes the lithosphere – an irregular layer with a maximum thickness of perhaps 200 km (120 mi). Many rocks now making up Earth’s crust formed less than 100 million (1×108) years ago. However, the oldest known mineral grains are 4.4 billion (4.4×109) years old, indicating that Earth has had a solid crust for at least that long. Upper Mantle: The mantle, which makes up about 84% of Earth’s volume, is predominantly solid, but behaves as a very viscous fluid in geological time. The upper mantle, which starts at the “ Mohorovicic Discontinuity ” (aka. the “Moho” – the base of the crust) extends from a depth of 7 to 35 km (4.3 to 21.7 mi) downwards to a depth of 410 km (250 mi). The uppermost mantle and the overlying crust form the lithosphere, which is relatively rigid at the top but becomes noticeably more plastic beneath. Compared to other strata, much is known about the upper mantle, thanks to seismic studies and direct investigations using mineralogical and geological surveys. Movement in the mantle (i.e. convection) is expressed at the surface through the motions of tectonic plates. Driven by heat from deeper in the interior, this process is responsible for Continental Drift, earthquakes, the formation of mountain chains, and a number of other geological processes. Computer simulation of the Earth’s field in a period of normal polarity between reversals. Credit: science.nasa.gov The mantle is also chemically distinct from the crust, in addition to being different in terms of rock types and seismic characteristics. This is due in large part to the fact that the crust is made up of solidified products derived from the mantle, where the mantle material is partially melted and viscous. This causes incompatible elements to separate from the mantle, with less dense material floating upward and solidifying at the surface. The crystallized melt products near the surface, upon which we live, are typically known to have a lower magnesium to iron ratio and a higher proportion of silicon and aluminum. These changes in mineralogy may influence mantle convection, as they result in density changes and as they may absorb or release latent heat as well. In the upper mantle, temperatures range between 500 to 900 °C (932 to 1,652 °F). Between the upper and lower mantle, there is also what is known as the transition zone, which ranges in depth from 410-660 km (250-410 miles). Lower Mantle: The lower mantle lies between 660-2,891 km (410-1,796 miles) in depth. Temperatures in this region of the planet can reach over 4,000 °C (7,230 °F) at the boundary with the core, vastly exceeding the melting points of mantle rocks. However, due to the enormous pressure exerted on the mantle, viscosity and melting are very limited compared to the upper mantle. Very little is known about the lower mantle apart from that it appears to be relatively seismically homogeneous. The internal structure of Earth. Credit: Wikipedia Commons/Kelvinsong Outer Core: The outer core, which has been confirmed to be liquid (based on seismic investigations), is 2300 km thick, extending to a radius of ~3,400 km. In this region, the density is estimated to be much higher than the mantle or crust, ranging between 9,900 and 12,200 kg/m3. The outer core is believed to be composed of 80% iron, along with nickel and some other lighter elements. Denser elements, like lead and uranium, are either too rare to be significant or tend to bind to lighter elements and thus remain in the crust. The outer core is not under enough pressure to be solid, so it is liquid even though it has a composition similar to that of the inner core. The temperature of the outer core ranges from 4,300 K (4,030 °C; 7,280 °F) in the outer regions to 6,000 K (5,730 °C; 10,340 °F) closest to the inner core. Because of its high temperature, the outer core exists in a low viscosity fluid-state that undergoes turbulent convection and rotates faster than the rest of the planet. This causes eddy currents to form in the fluid core, which in turn creates a dynamo effect that is believed to influence Earth’s magnetic field. The average magnetic field strength in Earth’s outer core is estimated to be 25 Gauss (2.5 mT), which is 50 times the strength of the magnetic field measured on Earth’s surface. Inner Core: Like the outer core, the inner core is composed primarily of iron and nickel and has a radius of ~1,220 km. Density in the core ranges between 12,600-13,000 kg/m³, which suggests that there must also be a great deal of heavy elements there as well – such as gold, platinum, palladium, silver and tungsten. Artist’s illustration of Earth’s core, inner core, and inner-inner core. Credit: Huff Post Science The temperature of the inner core is estimated to be about 5,700 K (~5,400 °C; 9,800 °F). The only reason why iron and other heavy metals can be solid at such high temperatures is because their melting temperatures dramatically increase at the pressures present there, which ranges from about 330 to 360 gigapascals. Because the inner core is not rigidly connected to the Earth’s solid mantle, the possibility that it rotates slightly faster or slower than the rest of Earth has long been considered. By observing changes in seismic waves as they passed through the core over the course of many decades, scientists estimate that the inner core rotates at a rate of one degree faster than the surface. More recent geophysical estimates place the rate of rotation between 0.3 to 0.5 degrees per year relative to the surface. Recent discoveries also suggest that the solid inner core itself is composed of layers, separated by a transition zone about 250 to 400 km thick. This new view of the inner core, which contains an inner-inner core , posits that the innermost layer of the core measures 1,180 km (733 miles) in diameter, making it less than half the size of the inner core. It has been further speculated that while the core is composed of iron, it may be in a different crystalline structure that the rest of the inner core. What’s more, recent studies have led geologists to conjecture that the dynamics of deep interior is driving the Earth’s inner core to expand at the rate of about 1 millimeter a year. This occurs mostly because the inner core cannot dissolve the same amount of light elements as the outer core. The freezing of liquid iron into crystalline form at the inner core boundary produces residual liquid that contains more light elements than the overlying liquid. This in turn is believed to cause the liquid elements to become buoyant, helping to drive convection in the outer core. This growth is therefore likely to play an important role in the generation of Earth’s magnetic field by dynamo action in the liquid outer core. It also means that the Earth’s inner core, and the processes that drive it, are far more complex than previously thought! Yes indeed, the Earth is a strange and mysteries place, titanic in scale as well as the amount of heat and energy that went into making it many billions of years ago. And like all bodies in our universe, the Earth is not a finished product, but a dynamic entity that is subject to constant change. And what we know about our world is still subject to theory and guesswork, given that we can’t examine its interior up close. As the Earth’s tectonic plates continue to drift and collide, its interior continues to undergo convection, and its core continues to grow, who knows what it will look like eons from now? After all, the Earth was here long before we were, and will likely continue to be long after we are gone.	Mantle
April 25, 1939 saw the introduction by Bob Kane of what major comic book character, one of the most popular of all times, in issue #37 of Detective Comics?	NASA's Cosmicopia -- Ask Us -- Earth and Moon Earth and Moon Earth's Birth How was our planet born? The Earth was born about 4 and a half billion years ago, at the same time the whole solar system (the Sun, Earth, and other planets) formed. An enormous cloud of gas started to get smaller and smaller as the gas particles attracted each other with gravity. Most of the gas went to the center of the solar system and formed the Sun, but several other pieces spinning about the Sun solidified into the planets, including the Earth. Dr. Eric Christian How old is the Earth? Current scientific thinking puts the Earth at about 4.5 billion years old. Dr. Eric Christian Distribution of Elements on the Earth If the Earth formed from elements made in stars, with "dust" forming the Earth via gravity, how did elements settle with like elements? Why is there gold in one spot, silver in another, copper in another, etc.? The primary separation of the elements takes place when the rock is molten. Differences in melting and condensation temperatures and different densities cause the similar molecules to clump. There are other smaller effects, such as like molecules forming crystals (they fit together better). There is also some separation (due to differences in condensation temperature) in the proto-solar-system gas cloud. This is why there are different types of meteoroids. Dr. Eric Christian Mass of the Earth What is the mass of the planet Earth? The mass of Earth is 5.98 x 1024 kg, or 1.32 x 1025 lb. I was able to look up the mass of Earth at the Welcome to the Planets link and then converted the kilograms to pounds. Beth Barbier AOS vs. AU In a TV show it was noted that something was 1400 "AOS" away. What does this mean? There is an AU (Astronomical Unit) , which is defined as the average distance from the Earth to the Sun, but I have never heard of AO or AOS as a unit of measurement. AOS is used as an abreviation for "Acquisition of Signal" for spacecraft telemetry, however. Dr. Eric Christian Why is Earth Spherical? Why is the Earth spherical? The Earth (and other planets, and stars) is spherical because the spherical shape is the lowest energy state that a group of matter can be in. Small asteroids and moons can be non-spherical, but after they reach a certain size (when the force of their gravity can "break" the rock from which they are made), all the bumps are pulled down, and they become more spherical. There is a maximum size that mountains can attain that gets smaller as the planetoid gets more massive. So Mars can have larger mountains (Olympus Mons for example) than the Earth can, because it weighs less. As long as the maximum mountain size is small compared to the radius of the planetoid (true for objects considerably smaller than the Moon), the body will be spherical. Dr. Eric Christian How Far to the Center of the Earth? How many miles is it to the center of the Earth? The Earth is not a perfect sphere, so the distance to the center of the Earth varies from 6378 km (3963 miles) at the equator to 6357 km (3950 miles) at the poles. Dr. Eric Christian Earth's Core How does Earth's outer core reach the temperature of 5000 degrees and remain liquid, while inner core remains solid? The inner core may be hotter, but it is at a much higher pressure. At a fixed temperature (say 5000 degrees), high pressure can make a liquid into a solid. So, even though the temperature increases as you move into the inner core, the pressure increases faster and wins. Dr. Eric Christian Why is Earth's Center So Hot? Why is the center of the Earth so hot? It's a combination of radioactivity (the radioactive materials in the Earth generate heat) and the residual heat from the formation of the Earth. When all of the matter that created the Earth fell together, it picked up kinetic energy falling in. When it stopped at the proto-Earth, the kinetic energy was turned into heat. The Earth hasn't cooled yet. The Moon, being much smaller, has had time to cool and probably has a solid core. Dr. Eric Christian What about...? I'm an astrophysicist, not a geologist. I got my answer from long ago geology courses and research on the web. It's a standard part of geological theory that radioactivity is part of the heating process. See, for example, this Scientific American article . Why is there not an abundance of fission products observed in materials emitted from either volcanoes or sea-borne vents? Or why are there not more fission products as one penetrates the Earth's crust into deep mines? There IS increased radioactivity seen in volcanoes (see, for example this news article ). I don't know about undersea vents, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was increased activity coming from them as well. Your question implies that you think there should be lots and lots of radioactive gas, but you don't need that much radioactivity in the mantle and core. As for deep mines, local composition is far more important for how much radioactivity there is than depth. If you want more information, I suggest you contact a real geologist or go to your local college/university library to do some research. Dr. Eric Christian Was the Earth a Star? Why is the Earth's core so hot? Was the Earth once a star, before it became a planet? Earth's core temperature is about 6,000° C. By coincidence, this is about the same as the Sun's surface temperature (but much cooler than the Sun's core temperature, which is about 15,600,000° C). The Earth's core is cooling, but at a very slow rate. Over the past three billion years it has probably cooled by a few hundred degrees. Currently, the Earth's core temperature is not changing much because, through radioactive decay (nuclear fission - the breakup of the nuclei of heavy elements, like uranium), it is generating about as much heat as it is losing. To answer the second part of this question, some definitions are in order. A star is a self-luminous body that shines by generating energy internally through nuclear fusion (the combining of nuclei of light elements like hydrogen and helium). The Sun is a star. A planet shines by reflected light from the Sun. The solar system has nine "major" planets (of which Earth is one) and innumerable "minor" planets (asteroids and comets of various kinds). Star masses range from about 0.04 times, to 150 times, the mass of the Sun. The mass of the Earth is 0.000003 times that of the Sun (and the mass of Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, is 0.001 times that of the Sun). Although stars lose mass as they evolve, none lose enough to wind up anywhere near the mass of even the most massive planet. So, the bottom line is: Stars do not evolve into planets. For a great animated simulation showing the evolution of stars with masses between 0.1 and 120 times that of the Sun see the stellar evolution simulation created by Terry Herter for his Astronomy 101/103 course at Cornell University. You will need a JAVA enabled browser to view this simulation. Dr. Ed Tedesco Weight at Earth's Core Would your body weigh more or less if standing on the Earth's core? What about above sea level? As you go further inside the Earth, the force you feel due to gravity lessens, assuming the Earth is has a uniform density all the way throughout. Less force means you weigh less. The reason is that the mass attracting you is inside a sphere, and is given by M = (4/3) * pi * (radius)3 * density The force you feel is given by F = G * M * (your mass) / (radius)2 This means the net force is F = G * (4/3) * pi * radius * density * (your mass) (pi=3.14159 and G = Newton's gravitational constant) So as you go further inside the Earth, the radius is decreasing, so the force you feel is decreasing. The mass above you oddly enough doesn't contribute at all to any net force on your body. In reality, of course, the Earth is not of uniform density, and there is a slight increase in force as you go down from the surface, before it begins to decrease again. Still, you weigh less standing on the Earth's core. As far as what happens above sea level - you must realize that what happens outside the Earth is different from what happens inside the Earth. Inside, as you go deeper and deeper, the mass attracting you is less and less (as stated). Above sea level (the surface of the Earth, specifically) as you go further and further away, the mass remains constant (obviously), but the distance gets larger and larger, which makes the force (given by F = G * M(Earth) * M(you) / r2) smaller. Notice that the formula that applies inside the Earth is different from the one that applies outside. Dr. Louis Barbier Gravity at Earth's Core Gravity pulls us downward on all sides on the Earth. Does this mean that at the center of the Earth, there is no gravity? First, the most important thing to know is that gravity exists absolutely everywhere in the universe. Every bit of matter exerts a force on every other bit of matter. This means that you are attracted, and attract, everything in the universe! The force exerted depends on the distance of the object and the mass. The Earth exerts the most force on you because it is close (right here!) and very massive. Forces add like vectors, so their direction is very important. If you could be at the exact center, the forces that each bit of Earth matter exerted on you would cancel out (up cancelling down, east cancelling west, etc.). This only occurs for a single point, though, and you would still feel a gravitational force on the rest of your body. Remember, gravity is universal and exists everywhere. This is the fundamental law of physics. Angela Richard Earth as a Spherical Shell If I correctly understand Newton's law of gravitation, a mass located at the center of the Earth would tend to be pulled in many opposite directions. If this mass is a liquid without strong internal coherence forces, it will take the shape of a shell. Which parameters and values would be comparable with Earth having the shape of a thick shell? Gravitation is attractive, never repulsive, so, in the absence of other forces there, matter will always tend to move to the center of the sphere. Dr. Eric Christian How Do We Know About Earth's Layers? How do we know that the Earth is made up of three layers? I can guess that we have not yet explored the center of Earth, or even broken the crust, so how can I be certain that what I read in my textbooks about the standard three-layer theory is, in fact, reality? The major probe of the Earth's interior is seismic waves from earthquakes. Scientists can use an array of seismometers to track the speed of the waves as a function of depth, and from this can infer density, temperature, etc. The sharp discontinuities at the mantle-crust and mantle-core interfaces are especially noticible. Dr. Eric Christian Earth's Gravity Variation The gravity at the poles has been measured to be greater than at the equator. I would like to know which factor contributes more to this phenomenon, whether it is the lesser centrifugal force at the poles compared to the equator, or if it is more due to the proximity to Earth's center? Has any experiment been conducted to find the quantitative role of both of these causes separately and compared? These values are directly calculable and have been proven by measurements repeatedly. Radius at poles = 6,356,800 meters Radius at equator = 6,378,400 meters omega (angular velocity) = .00007292115 s-1 If you plug these numbers in you find: gravitational acceleration at poles = 9.8322 m s-2 no centrifugal acceleration at poles Total acceleration at poles = 9.8332 m s-2 gravitational acceleration at equator = 9.7805 m s-2 centrifugal acceleration at equator = -.0002 m s-2 Total acceleration at equator = 9.7803 m s-2 So it is obvious that the oblateness of the Earth is 250 times more important than the centrifugal acceleration. Dr. Eric Christian Why Aren't People on the "Bottom" of the Earth Upside Down? My six-year-old daughter asked me this question while looking at a globe of the Earth. Can you help me explain this to her? "Up" and "down" are different depending upon where you are. They come from gravity, which is the force that holds everyone and everything onto the Earth. "Down" points in the direction of gravity, which is toward the center of the Earth, and "up" is in the opposite direction. If you look at a globe, no matter where a person is standing, "up" is the direction away from the center of the Earth and points to the sky. Dr. Eric Christian What Keeps Us On the Earth? What keeps us on the planet? If the Earth stopped spinning, would we all fall off? Are there any planets that do not spin? We do not stay on the Earth because it is spinning, but because of the force of gravity. I am not aware of any planets that do not spin. Dr. Louis Barbier Speed of Earth's Rotation We have a book that takes us through a project to measure the speed of the Earth's rotation. The project stops prematurely however. It takes us through determining that the Earth rotates 360 degrees in 24 hours, or 15 degrees per hour, then that it goes through 0.5 degrees of rotation in two minutes. That's it. How can I turn this into the speed of the Earth's rotation? You already have half the answer! The speed of the Earth's rotation can be thought of in two ways - the angular speed (which you've calculated) and the linear speed (of a point on the surface). Express the angular speed (traditionally referred to by the Greek letter omega) in radians/sec: omega = 360 degrees / 24 hours = 2 * pi radians / (24 * 60 * 60) second (pi = 3.14159.....) = 7.272 x 10-5 radians/sec = 0.00007272 radians/second Now to convert the angular speed to the linear speed of a point on the Earth's surface, multiply omega by the radius of the Earth, R. To put it in familiar units, let's express R in miles: R = 3822 miles (roughly). So the linear velocity on the surface V is: V = omega * R = 0.00007272 * 3822 = 0.278 miles/second or V = about 1000 miles/hour (Surprisingly fast!) Dr. Louis Barbier Speed of Earth's Rotation Slowing? I heard that the rate of Earth's spin is decreasing. How much is the Earth slowing down? Has it always been slowing down? Ask an Astrophysicist said that the Earth spins like a figure skater, but they can only spin for so long! The Earth's spin is slowing down by about 1.5 - 2 milliseconds per century, and that angular momentum is moving into the Moon's orbit, which is getting larger. The reason for this, and the reason a figure skater can only spin for so long, is friction. In the case of the skater, it's air resistance and friction with the ice. In the case of the Earth, it's the friction due to tides moving around the Earth. Dr. Eric Christian Earth's Rotation Speed via Stellar Measurements? I am doing a physics science fair project, and I wanted to do something related to astronomy - in particular, the rotation of the Earth in relationship to other stars. I was thinking of setting up a camera and taking a picture of each star I am calculating for, leaving the lens open for approximately 5 seconds. I think if I do this, instead of seeing the star as a specific point of light I will see it as a streak. Do you think this will work? And is there any way that I can calculate the rotational velocity of the Earth by analyzing these streaks? It takes nearly four minutes for a star at the celestial equator to move one degree (about a finger's width held out at arm's length). Stars nearer to the poles will move even less (Polaris doesn't appear to move at all in the northern hemisphere). So in five seconds you won't get much of a streak. With longer exposures you could maybe do it, but you'll need to accurately measure the length of the track and know how far the star is from the pole (its celestial latitude) to know the total length of the circle it would make if you could photograph it for a full day. An easier way is to measure transit times. Measure the time that a star passes the same point (goes behind the roof of a building or crosses an overhead wire) on successive days and divide the time interval by the 360 degrees the star has traveled. If you miss a day or more because of clouds, it still works if you divide by 360 times the number of days. You have to keep your eyes in exactly the same spot for this to work, so a mounted telescope (that doesn't move) or just a cardboard tube will help. Dr. Eric Christian Earth's Orbit Since the Earth is constantly moving towards and away from the Sun, are there particular dates - that are constant each year - that the Earth is exactly 1 AU away from the Sun? If so, what are they? If not, what's the approximate cycle for the Earth to reach this point? Every 6 months? The Earth's orbit varies from 0.983 AU out to 1.067 AU. We are actually closer to the Sun in the winter than in the summer. The orbit crosses the 1 AU point two times a year - in spring and fall. Dr. Louis Barbier Foci of Earth's Elliptical Orbit I know that Earth's orbit is elliptical and that the Sun is at one of its focal points. What is at the other focus? It seems that there should be something that has a graviational effect on the Earth equal to that of the Sun to keep Earth from a circular orbit. Your question provides the opportunity to elaborate on the connection between Kepler's Laws of planetary motion and Newton's Law of Gravitation. The simple answer to your question is that there is nothing special at the other focal point. Here's the explanation. In the late 16th century, Tycho Brahe made the most accurate observations of the positions of the planets at that time, with his state-of-the-art observatory on the Danish island of Hven. In his attempt to model and explain Brahe's observations, Johnannes Kepler devised his laws of planetary motion. The first two are relevant here. Kepler's first law states that all planets move on ellipses, with the Sun in one of its two foci, as you mentioned, and this still holds. Looking at this statement as a purely mathematical description, it is not obvious whether the Sun should be in one or the other focus, or whether there is any special significance to the second focus. That is where a physical argument and/or an observation would have to come in, which would then define the correct initial condition to determine the correct focus. Brahe's observations also provided the handle to connect Kepler's laws with Newton's Law of Gravitation. The Sun is the source of the gravitation that pulls radially on the planets in our solar system and keeps them in orbit. It also slows them down on their way out to the furthest part of their orbits, and speeds them up on their way back in. If, in fact, there were another equal source of gravitation located in the other focus of the ellipse, there would be no reason for a planet to move faster near the one focus and slower near the other focus, as was observed. Let us explore this with an illustrative fictitious experiment, diagrammed in the figure below. Shown are three cases with different initial speed (arrows) and the respective elliptical orbits in color. In all cases, the satellite is closest to the planet and Focus 1 when it is moving with its fastest speed. We will launch a satelllite from a high tower on a planet that does not rotate (to make things simpler). This figure is obviously not to scale, but to orient you, in the diagram, the tower comes out of the planet on the top here, and the satellite launch goes straight to the right from its top. When the satellite is launched from the tower at its slowest speed, its orbit looks like the red (innermost) ellipse. It is so slow that after launch it starts to fall toward the planet - and thus speeds up and falls into this type of orbit. As explained, the satellite is fastest where it is closest to the planet: on the side of the orbit opposite the launch tower. We'll call the planet's center Focus 1 (black "plus sign"). Focus 2, for this orbit with the slowest speed, is at the red plus sign (which would not actually be on the tower if the diagram were to scale). Launching the satellite at a higher speed pushes the far side of the orbit further and further out. In the black (middle) orbit example, the speed is such that the ellipse turns into a circle. The planet is now in the center of the circle, and a circle is a special case of an ellipse. Because it's a circle, the locations of both foci are the same, at the black plus sign. Finally, in the green (outermost) orbit case, the launch speed is fast enough for the satellite to continue to increase its distance from the planet. It slows down as it reaches the maximum distance possible with this speed - on the opposite side from the launch point. Again Focus 1 (in the planet center) is close to the point in the orbit where the satellite is at its fastest speed, and Focus 2 for the green orbit (green plus sign) is on the side where the speed is slowest. Kepler's second law, derived solely from observations at the time of its discovery, states that on a planet's orbit around the Sun, the planet-Sun line sweeps out equal areas during equal time periods (fractions of a planet's orbital period). This quantifies the speed of an orbiting planet based on its distance from the Sun, and is in accordance with actual observations. A planet reaches its fastest speed at perihelion, its closest location to the Sun. This observational fact also provides a basis for the location of the Sun as one of the two foci. Again, it has to be the one on the side where the planet moves fastest. This web page at the University of Kentucky may be helpful. Dr. Eberhard Moebius What Happens if Earth Stops Rotating? What happens to all the earthlings, if Earth stops spinning? Will we be thrown off the Earth's surface, since Earth is spinning at ~1000 mph? Of course, this can't happen, but if it did, everything not attached would go flying off to the east, parallel to the surface of the Earth. The speed would depend upon your latitude. Only the people at the poles would be safe. You wouldn't go flying off into space because the 1000 mph maximum (at the equator) isn't enough to overcome gravity, which would still be present. If you survived, the resulting six month day and six month night would probably take care of you pretty quick. Dr. Eric Christian Weight Changes if Earth Stops Rotating I think that because Earth is rotating, objects on its surface are exposed to outward centrifugal force. If the Earth stopped rotating, wouldn't everything on Earth appear to weigh more due to the absence of competing centrifugal force? Does this make sense? Yes, your logic is correct. If the Earth stopped rotating on its axis everything on Earth, away from the poles, would appear to weigh more due to the absence of centrifugal force. Mathematically, F = mg, where g is the acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface (9.80 kg/m2), m is your mass, and F is the force (in this case, weight) resulting from mass m in gravitational field g. If you are very far from any massive body then g ~ 0 and so you are weightless (F = m x 0 = 0). However, for most places on a rotating Earth, we feel a centrifugal force that slightly decreases our weight. This is because for circular motion, the force (Fc) due to acceleration (a) is given by Fc = ma = m(v2/R) Cos(Theta), where v is the speed of the object (you, in this case), R is the radius of the circle it is moving in, and Theta is the angle between the rotation axis and your position on the Earth's surface. For the case of the Earth, R is its radius and Theta = 0 deg at the equator and 90 deg at the poles. So, since Cos (0) = 1 and Cos (90) = 0, the force on you, in a direction away from the rotation axis, is m(v2/R) at the equator and zero at either pole. Numerically, this means that if your mass is 70 kg, the force of gravity acting on you is F = mg = 70 x 9.8 = 686 (kg/m)2 (a unit called a "Newton"), or 154 pounds. If you are standing on the equator, the centrifugal force acting on you is Fc = m(v2/R) Cos(Theta) = 70(4632/ 6371000) Cos (0) = 2.4 Newtons = 0.54 pounds. So, you would weigh about a half-pound less at the equator than you would at the North or South Pole. (For the purists, the explanation above assumes the Earth is a sphere of uniform density and neglects relativistic forces.) Dr. Ed Tedesco Jump! What would happen if all of the people in the world decided to jump all at once, or all run in the same direction? Could this change the orbit or rotation of the Earth? The mass of all the people on Earth is miniscule compared to the mass of the Earth, so neither of these actions would have any effect on Earth's motion. Dr. Louis Barbier Night and Day, Seasons Why do we have night and day? Why are summer days longer than winter days? Why is summer weather hot and winter weather cold? Check out the Windows to the Universe , the Starchild Web site , the Science@NASA site , or the Bad Astronomy site , which talk about the Earth, seasons, etc. Check Imagine the Universe! for information on the "equation of time" -- the asymmetrical change in the amount of daylight between sunrise and sunset through the year. Dr. Louis Barbier and Beth Barbier I know that as we approach the summer solstice, we gain hours of daylight. Do we gain the same amount of daylight each day as we approach the longest day of the year? No, the day/night dividing line moves in a curve, not in a linear fashion. It's due to the interaction of several three-dimensional vectors, and so there are sines and cosines involved (and actually the product of sines and cosines). For a simple proof, near the poles, the gain of daylight goes to zero before the summer solstice is reached, because the day is already 24 hours long. Dr. Eric Christian Balance an Egg at the Equinox? On September 22, 2000, at exactly 1:27 p.m. EDT, I was able to balance two eggs on a perfectly flat table top. How long does the autumnal equinox last? I find it very hard to believe that the two eggs are still standing after three days. Why are they not tipping over? You can balance an egg any day of the year. The equinox is not special. See The Straight Dope web site, for example. This is a common misconception. Dr. Eric Christian Seasons and Sidereal Day I understand that the Earth's tilt and orbit around the Sun causes the seasons and the seasonal changes in the hours of daylight, but it appears to me when I look at a model of the Earth's orbit around the Sun, night and day should reverse from summer to winter. If the Earth rotates at a constant speed, and the tilt always faces the same direction in space, shouldn't the position of the Earth in the middle of the night in the winter be the same position of the Earth in the middle of the day in summer? Obviously, I am wrong, but I do not understand why? The thing that you've missed is that a "day" is not the length of time that the Earth takes to rotate through 360 degrees. Instead, the day is defined as the time it takes for the Sun to move from zenith to zenith. Because the Earth has travelled almost a degree through its orbit, it actually has rotated almost 361 degrees in 24 hours. Those extra degrees add up over a half year to keep the day synchonized. But the constellations do shift, so that what you see during the summer is overhead during the day in the winter and vice versa. The astronomical term for the time it takes the Earth to rotate 360 degrees is "sidereal day", which is 23 hours 56 minutes 4.09 seconds long. Dr. Eric Christian Why is Sunrise in a Different Place Each Day? Why does the position of the sunrise change along the eastern horizon during the year? The reason is that the axis of the Earth's rotation is tilted relative to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. So the circle on the Earth where the Sun is directly overhead moves north and south over the year, from the equator to the Tropic of Cancer, back to the equator, then to the Tropic of Capricorn and back to the equator. This causes sunrise and sunset to move north and south over the year as well. This effect also causes the seasons and the shortening and lengthening of the day. Dr. Eric Christian For more information on Sun and Moon rise and set times, Moon phases, eclipses, seasons, positions of solar system objects, common astronomical phenomena, calendars and time, and related topics, check out the Astronomical Applications Department of the U.S. Naval Observatory . Beth Barbier Why is the Sky Blue? Why is the sky blue? The Sun gives off all colors of light, but blue light is bounced around the atmosphere a lot more than red light is (it's called scattering). The sky is blue because of the blue light bouncing around "lights up" other parts of the sky. Dr. Eric Christian and Beth Barbier (April 2000) Why is the Sunset Red? Why does sunset look red? The Sun is always a little redder because of the scattering, but at sunrise and sunset the light has to pass through more atmosphere and loses much more blue light, so appears much redder. Dr. Eric Christian How Is Snow Formed? How is snow formed? Is it formed when it rains and the raindrop goes back up and hits the cold air? Hail can be formed by rain rising and freezing, but snow is directly formed in its solid, crystalline form. Dr. Eric Christian What Causes Wind? What causes wind? Is it due to gravity and the rotation of the Earth? Both the Earth moving (spinning) and gravity affect the wind. But the primary cause of the wind is temperature differences, not the moving of the Earth or gravity. Dr. Eric Christian Sun's Role in Global Warming? Isn't it possible that global warming and cooling could be caused by our Sun? Doesn't it ever change temperatures? Isn't it possible that the cycles of the ice ages may be caused by cycles of our Sun's temperature? Though not our area of expertise, this is an area of current scientific study. Check out the European Science Agency's (ESA) article from September 29, 2000, Climate change: New impressions from space . Beth Barbier Earth-Sun Distance and Temperature What would happen if the Sun moved closer to the Earth by 1 meter? How much would the temperature increase on Earth? There would be an increase in temperature if the Earth to Sun distance became much smaller, but 1 meter is insignificant. For example, the Earth is actually closer to the Sun during the northern hemisphere winter. Angela Richard Changes in the Earth-Sun Distance I read in an article that the Sun is currently closer to the Earth than it has been in a long time. Why should the Earth-Sun distance change over such a long time scale? The Earth's orbit changes on several time scales, each of which affect the intensity of radiation we observe at Earth. The first change is the winter and summer solstice, where the Sun-Earth distance varies between 91,400,000 miles and 94,400,000 miles. Now on longer time scales, the actual shape of the Earth's orbit changes every 100,000 years, vacillating between more circular and more elliptical. In this case, when the Earth is closest to the Sun it actually receives 20-30% more sunlight. In addition, the Earth wobbles on its axis every 26,000 years, changing the time at which winter and summer occur. Finally, the tilt of the Earth varies every 40,000 years by about 2 arc degrees, which affects the temperature difference between winter and summer. These changes are termed the "Milankovitch theory" after the geophysicist who first proposed it and are believed to operate together to produce dramatic temperature variations on Earth. You might want to read more about the Milankovitch theory and solar radiation variations at the U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department and the Encyclopedia of the Atmospheric Environment . Dr. Georgia de Nolfo Sidereal Day Could you please explain a sidereal day? A sidereal day is the length of time it takes the Earth to rotate 360 degrees. Since the Earth is revolving around the Sun, it actually has to rotate almost one degree (360 degrees/365.25 days) further until the Sun is in the same place in the sky, which is the definition of a day that everyone is used to. So a sidereal day is a little shorter, but the stars return to the same positions every sidereal day, so sidereal time is used sometimes in astronomy. Dr. Eric Christian If a sidereal day is 23 hours and 56 minutes, what happens to the remaining 4 minutes? There is a good explanation of sidereal time on the Imagine the Universe website . Beth Barbier Lines of Demarcation If our world turned on a vertical axis, would the equator and the Prime Meridian switch places? I assume you want to know what would happen if the axis of the Earth moved (it is already turning on an axis that is vertical at the poles). The position of the equator is determined by the spin axis of the Earth, so if the new axis were at the right point (0 degrees latitude, 90 degrees longitude) then the old Prime Meridian would become the new equator (or at least half of it, the equator is a circle, the prime meridan is a semi-circle). But the Prime Meridan is just a reference line picked by man, and could have been put anywhere. It goes through Greenwich, England, but the French were pushing hard for a French origin. If the axis moved, the new Prime Meridan could be put anywhere. Luckily, conservation of angular momentum insures that this drastic change in the Earth's axis is not going to happen. Dr. Eric Christian Tides Ever since junior high we were taught that it was the Sun's and Moon's gravity which were directly responsible for causing the tides on Earth. Now, out of blue, I am told, that that is not so. It's Moon's gradient of its gravity that is causing Earth's tides. Please, help. The statement that it is the Sun's and Moon's gravity that causes tides is not incorrect, just simplified. More accurately, it is the gradient of the gravity that causes it. What happens is that the water on the side closest to the Moon is closer to the Moon than the center of gravity of the Earth and so the Moon exerts more pull on that water and it bulges out (high tide). On the other side of the Earth, the Moon is pulling more on the center of mass of the Earth than on the water and so the Moon pulls the Earth out from under the water a little bit, causing another bulge or high tide. That is why there are two high tides per day. Hope this helps. Dr. Eric Christian Lunitidal Interval I'm trying to set my watch to predict the tides using the Lunitidal Interval. Can you explain what that is and how it works? Your question is well beyond our area of expertise or interest, and we cannot answer it. I did find a bit of information on a NOAA website that may get you started, at the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services FAQ . Beth Barbier (July 2003) Contributed by Konstantin Parchevsky, HEPL, Stanford University (May 2007): The Moon's gravity causes the appearance of two "bumps" of water on the Earth -- one on the Moon's side and one on the opposite side. Theoretically, in the ocean, neglecting the viscosity of water, the highest spot of the "bump" should be just below the Moon. In reality, near the coast there is a time lag between the moment when the Moon passes the meridian (the so-called culmination) and the moment of the highest tide. This time lag is called the "lunitidal interval". It depends on the viscosity of water and the shape of the coastline and the seabed, and it has to be taken from observations. If you want your watch to predict the tides correctly, you have to input the lunitidal interval. For some cities, you can take it from the table at the end of the watch's manual. Unfortunately, there were no data for Half Moon Bay, CA (near me). So I had to calculate the lunitidal interval by myself. This is a good time to remember a saying: "If you are stuck, read the manual!" Fortunately, there was enough information in the watch manual to do this: "When setting the lunitidal interval for this watch, use the time difference between the Moon's transit over the meridian until high tide." That's it! Just find the time difference between the moments of culmination of the Moon and the next high tide! First you have to calculate culmination of the Moon. Google gave me a lot of links for the phrase "Moon calculator". The second link is exactly what we are looking for. Just enter the date (such as 9 May 2007) and your position (Half Moon Bay, CA) and press 'Enter'. What we need here is the Moon transit (6:59 a.m.). Then we have to find the time of the next high tide in Half Moon Bay. This time, Google "tides Half Moon Bay". The first link [similar sites can be found -- ed.] gives us a graphic representation of the tides and the moment of the closest high tide (6:14 p.m.). Time difference is 11h 15m. This is the sought-after lunitidal interval. And it works! Now my watch predicts the tides correctly. For the record, I am an astrophysicist (solar physicist). I work at Stanford University and perform numerical simulations of propagation of the acoustic waves in the Sun. What's a good Web site on meteoroids and meteorites? You might want to check out the Views of the Solar System page on meteoroids and meteorites. Beth Barbier Impending Impacts? Are there any asteroids, comets, or other objects that are going to impact Earth? Your question about an asteroid impacting Earth is well covered by our sister site, Imagine the Universe!, in Is Earth in danger of being hit by an asteroid? . Beth Barbier A Close Call? My mother saw a news flash on Fox News on July 30, 2002, that there was a meteorite 1.5 miles wide on a collision course with Earth. I know what happens to "flying objects" from space that suddently collide with our atmosphere. I am trying to find out if there was any truth to this story. I think this will answer your questions well: Caveat Impactor (Don't believe everything you hear on Fox News!) Beth Barbier Meteorite Hit Increases Earth's Gravity? When a meteorite hits Earth, adding mass, does Earth's gravity increase, too? Yes, but unless the meteorite is really enormous (big enough to destroy life on Earth), the Earth's gravity changes by an amount that is too small to measure. The Earth is picking up several tons per day of dust and other stuff, not including the very uncommon meteorite. Dr. Eric Christian Earth's Magnetic Field I have seen many drawings of the Earth's magnetosphere , and there are two cusps that make an angle of about 154 degrees with each other. Do the axes of these cusps point to fixed directions in space as the Earth orbits the Sun? If so, what are the celestial coordinates of their radius vectors? The cusps are due to the interaction of the Earth's magnetic field and the magnetic field imbedded in the solar wind. They move around as the Earth moves around the Sun and as the tilt of the Earth's axis moves. They also move in position, as well as distance from the Earth, as the magnetic field of the Sun changes. So they don't point at any fixed direction. Dr. Eric Christian Solar Wind and Earth's Magnetosphere I am working on a paper on the interaction of the solar wind with the Earth's magnetosphere. Do you know of a source giving the magnitude of the magnetic field of the magnetosphere? Your question has a tremendous amount of latitude in it, both literally and figuratively. The magnitude of the Earth's magnetic field within the magnetosphere varies greatly with location within the magnetosphere. It is not a simple question to answer. The magnetosphere is formed when the flow of the solar wind impacts the Earth's magnetic field (a dipole field), compressing it, causing magnetic reconnection, causing complex currents to flow, etc. The dipole field changes greatly under the influence of the solar wind. Try to get a copy of "Physics of the Magnetopause" published by the AGU. That will help. The magnetic field in the solar wind near Earth is about 5 nT, or 5 x 10(-5) Gauss. The magnetic field on the surface of the Earth is about 0.5 Gauss - big difference. If you were to imagine a spacecraft passing from the solar wind and into the magnetosphere along the Earth-Sun line (at the sub- solar point) you would see the following: The 5 nT field changes by a factor of 4 as you pass through the Earth's bow shock. This is a compression wave (discontinuity) that results from a supersonic flow striking the Earth's magnetic field and being stopped). The magnetic field then climbs by another factor of 4 as the spacecraft passes through the magnetosheath, a turbulent region of flow behind the shock and still upstream of the magnetosphere. The spacecraft then encounters a region where the flow stops moving toward Earth and flows exclusively around the obstacle that is the Earth's magnetosphere. This is the magnetopause. Behind the magnetopause the magnetic field is about 40 nT. So the compression of the flow has picked up almost a factor of 10 in intensity of the magnetic field (and the plasma density with it). From this point on, it depends greatly on where you go. If you go Earthward, it is to leading order a dipole field (somewhat squashed, but the scaling is like that). If you go behind the planet, all kinds of things are happening and location is everything. I really can't go into much more detail than that without a more specific question, and to be honest I mostly work outside the magnetosphere, so my knowledge is limited. But basically if you go from the magnetopause to the Earth's surface, you see a magnetic field that grows ever stronger as you decend within the dipole. Dr. Charles Smith Earth's Magnetic Field Flip I know that both the Earth and the Sun undergo a regular shift in their magnetic poles. The Sun's cycle is 11 years and I believe the Earth's is around 26,000 years. Is it true that Earth's pole reversal is due and is going to occur at the same time (or near) to the Sun doing the same thing? When this happens would the Earth and the Sun not react in a similar manner to two identically charged magnets coming together and repel? It seems that our own North Pole tracking data shows that it is already beginning to migrate. When it completes it's reversal what consequences will there be for a civilisation, based on electrical devices? Is the closeness of the Sun not a major factor is global warming? The Sun shifts it's magnetic field every 11 years, and it has already happened for this solar cycle. The Earth's magnetic field flip is much more erratic and has happened approximately 25 times in the last 5 million years. It's been about 740,000 years since the last flip, however, so we're long overdue. There is evidence that we may be heading towards a reversal (the dipole magnetic field is weakening and the higher order terms are increasing), but we can't predict when it would happen. Depending upon how quickly the field reversal happens, it could cause problems for things like electric power lines and oil pipelines, and if the field goes to near zero, it might cause a higher background radiation at the ground, but there is no evidence that previous reversals have had any major biological effect. The forces due to the interaction of the solar and terrestrial magnetic fields are only very small perturbations. (October 2000) How do the magnetic poles reverse? Is it for the same reason that the Sun's poles reverse? Both the Sun and the Earth are electromagnets, not permanent magnets (despite the Earth's core being made up of iron and nickel). So it is electric currents moving through the plasma of the Sun and the molten rock of the Earth's interior that generate the magnetic fields. These currents have instabilities that build up until the field reverses to relieve stress. The fact that the magnetic pole moves is tied in with the same instabilities, but the flip probably happens pretty quickly on Earth (less than ~ 1000 years is all they can tell). Dr. Eric Christian Changes in Earth's Gravitation and Magnetic Field? Where can I find historical daily data on the Earth's gravitation and magnetic field? As far as I know, there is no significant change of Earth's gravitation with time, because this is only a function of the Earth's size and mass, both of which are not changing significantly over time. There is only one regular change of the gravitational acceleration over time at a fixed location, and that has to do with the reason for the tides. The gravitational forces of the Moon and the Sun at a specific location change with their relative position in the sky. The effect is of the order of a few 100,000ths of the gravity at the Earth's surface. However, I am not the instant expert on precision gravity related questions. As far as variations in the Earth's magnetic field at the surface are concerned, two different causes must be distinguished: The natural magnetic field of the Earth changes over time due to changes in the strength and configuration of its core, which are driven by the hot liquid interior of the Earth. The magnetic field changes because of gigantic currents that flow around the Earth in the magnetosphere . Depending on the space weather conditions, the currents in the magnetosphere change over time, and so does the Earth's magnetic field. Neither type of change is just a change in the strength of the field. The direction of the magnetic field also changes. Therefore, the knowledge of magnetic field strength over time at only one location would not be sufficient to track changes in the Earth's magnetic field. A detailed introduction into the Earth's magnetic field and related changes, with links to databases, may be found at the National Geophysical Data Center maintained by NOAA. On this page, General Information provides a very good introduction. Magnetic Declination On-Line allows computation of the magnetic declination (the direction a compass needle will point) for any location on Earth and for any date from 1900 to today (and even into the near future). The World Magnetic Model provides maps with magnetic parameters for specified locations or the entire globe. Dr. Eberhard Moebius Distance From Earth's Surface to Space What's the distance from sea level to the beginning of space? Earth's atmosphere reaches over 560 kilometers (348 miles) from the surface of the Earth. You can read more about it at the NASA homepage . Beth Barbier Earth's Atmosphere and Radiation A question arose in my astronomy class yesterday when we were discussing the electromagnetic spectrum and the telescopes that study different wavelengths of light. We put telescopes in orbit to study gamma rays, X-rays, and ultraviolet because those wavelengths cannot penetrate the atmosphere. But if these have so much energy, why don't they get through the atmosphere? Also, does the atmosphere absorb or reflect them? The question of whether light/photons reach the Earth's surface depends on several factors. Recall that light can get both absorbed and scattered by molecules in the atmosphere. The fate of a given photon as it enters the atmosphere depends on the chemical nature of our atmosphere. The Earth's atmosphere is primarily nitrogen and oxygen. The basic idea to keep in mind is that the atoms and molecules have discrete energy levels which are known to be quantized (from quantum mechanics). Photons also have quantized energy. Because atoms or molecules require discrete energy boosts in order to be excited (i.e. cause an electron to transition from a low energy level to a higher one), the arriving photon, in order to get absorbed, must carry at least the difference in energy between the low and high energy states of the atom. If the photon is of even greater energy, it may also get absorbed by kicking out the electron altogether (with the electron departing with some extra kinetic energy). So, photons will get absorbed depending on the chemical/atomic structure of the molecules in the atmosphere and on the energy of the incident photons. For instance, there are two compounds responsible for absorption in our atmosphere in particular: oxygen (O2) and water vapor (H2O). Molecular oxygen and ozone are the strongest absorbers in the ultraviolet and water vapor, while methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and carbon dioxide absorb in the infrared. X-rays can be absorbed in the atmosphere by individual nitrogen or oxygen atoms since they generally have enough energy to kick out an electron (and the chances of seeing an individual atom in a thick atmosphere such as Earth's are pretty high!). For more on how radiation interacts with matter, see the Interaction of Radiation with Matter at HyperPhysics. Dr. Georgia de Nolfo Earth's Atmosphere Over Time I have read that the Earth is shrinking at 5 feet per year. Working backwards, it would expand 5 feet per year at it current size. Considering the temperature of the Sun and the effect on the Earth, as we go back in time, how much effect would the Sun exert on the Earth's atmosphere each million years past (1 million, 10 million, 100 million, etc.)? I'm sure that this number (5 ft/year) is WAY too large. That would put the Earth 1000 miles larger a million years ago. 5 feet per million years is probably more like it. The effect on the atmosphere would be small, because it is the total amount of mass of the Earth that provides the gravity that holds the atmosphere in place, and that is only increasing (about 1 ton per hour from micrometeorites). Over the billions of years that the Earth has been around, it has lost its atmospheric hydrogen and some of its helium just by random diffusion. Dr. Eric Christian From the Earth to the Moon What is the distance from center of the Earth to center of the Moon ? The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) at NASA GSFC has a page on the Moon with the distance from Earth listed as 384,467 km. It would be standard practice to give center-to-center distances. What is the distance between the surface of the Earth and the surface of the Moon? With the center-to-center distance above and the diameters of the Earth and the Moon, you could figure out the distance from surface to surface. From The Nine Planets , the diameter of the Earth is 12,756 km, and the diameter of the Moon is 3,476 km. Just subtract half of the diameters (= the radius), from the center-to-center distance: Radius of Earth: 6,378 km Radius of the Moon: 1,738 km Surface-to-surface distance: 376,351 km Mountains on Earth and Moon If the Earth and Moon formed at about the same time, why are mountains on the Moon so smooth compared to the mountain peaks on Earth? The mountains on the Moon and on Earth, for the most part, formed in completely different ways. Because the Moon is so much smaller, it cooled most of the way through, and so is mostly rocky now, although it was molten at one time. Most lunar mountains are caused by impact craters. On the Earth, the upper rocky crust floats on the molten mantle, and mountains are caused by plate tectonics, when enormous plates of the crust bump up against each other. The deepest craters on the Moon are about the same size as Mt. Everest, however. Dr. Eric Christian Asteroids and the Atmosphere In photos, you can see that the Moon is battered from asteroids and meteors, but the Earth has been hit but isn't battered. Is this because of the Earth's atmosphere? Why does the Moon have no atmosphere? You are asking two related questions, so let me tackle them in sequence. First, you asked why the Moon is covered with impact craters from meteors and asteroids, while the Earth seems to be much luckier in that respect. You answered part of that question yourself: the Earth has an atmosphere, which protects its surface from meteors up to a moderate size. These meteors evaporate upon entry into the atmosphere and can be seen as "shooting stars." Larger meteors, though, reach the ground. There are quite a few famous meteor craters on Earth, for example, the Meteor Crater near Flagstaff, Arizona, or the Noerdlinger Ries, an almost perfectly circular valley in Germany. Admittedly, these are fewer craters than are found on the Moon, and most of the Earth's craters are much younger. In fact, the Earth was pelted with many impacts at the same time when the Moon was hit so badly, up to about 3.5 billion years ago. Why don't we find these craters anymore on Earth? The answer to this part of the question is that the Earth is geologically active and has a severe climate, which leads to hefty erosion by water, ice and wind over the long time scale of billions of years. In other words, the Earth's surface has been completely reshaped several times over by the ongoing plate tectonics, which moves the continents around and builds up mountain ranges. On the other hand, all these formations, including impact craters, are subject to severe weathering already on the scale of hundreds of millions of years. Let me come back to your second question: Why does the Earth have an atmosphere and not the Moon? The answer lies in the fact that the Moon features so much less mass than the Earth; it has only about 1/80 the mass of the Earth. As a consequence the strength of gravity on the Moon's surface is about 1/6 that on Earth, and the escape speed, i.e. the minimum speed that an object must have to escape the gravitational grip of the Moon, is much less (about 1/5) than that for Earth. (For the return trip from the Moon the Apollo lander had to achieve only a much lower speed than the Saturn rocket when leaving the Earth.) Therefore, atoms and molecules of a gas are much more likely to escape the Moon than the Earth. Being at the same distance from the Sun, the average temperatures on Earth and the Moon are very similar (not the extremes because of the differences in the atmosphere). Therefore, the average energy of the atoms and molecules in a gas, or their average speed, is the same on Earth and on the Moon. As a consequence the Moon has lost all of its gases in the distant past. To play with the idea of keeping or losing an atmosphere you may want to try out an in-class activity from my general astronomy class. You will find it at Why Does the Moon Stay? When using the Universal Gravitational Constant, it shows that the force between the Sun and our Moon is greater than the force between the Earth and our Moon. Why does the Sun not pull it away from the Earth? Because the Moon is in orbit around the Sun (as well as in orbit around the Earth). Another way of looking at it is that the center of gravity of the Earth-Moon system is revolving around the Sun, and the Earth and the Moon are revolving around their common center of gravity. The Sun is pulling on the Moon, but the Earth is "falling" right along with it, so they stay together. Dr. Eric Christian What's the difference between a solar and a lunar eclipse? You might want to look at the Sky and Telescope eclipse page . It addresses this question. Beth Barbier Moon Dog The other night I looked up into the sky and saw a large ring around the Moon. I was told it might be a "Moon Dog". Is that true? It's possible that you did see a "moon dog". Check out the Imagine the Universe! site's answer on this subject. Beth Barbier Position of Earth in Space There is probably a great deal of influential motion beyond our supercluster of galaxies. The local group moves to keep pace with the supercluster. Our Milky Way, with increased speed and a longer path to follow, races to maintain its position. Our Sun orbits the galactic center at a higher speed and covers a greater distance. Earth must travel a still greater distance and speed to orbit the Sun. Would it be wrong to assume that the Earth's position in space is determined by ALL this galactic motion? And why can't we assume that the boundaries of atoms are set by heavenly motion? Is it possible that what we call "the strong nuclear force" is nothing more than the result of small entities racing in acute paths, keeping pace with larger bodies? Although the Earth's position in space IS determined by the sum of various motions (Earth around Sun, Sun around Galaxy, Galaxy in supercluster, etc.), there is NO evidence that this has anything to do with atoms. Why should the boundaries of atoms be set by heavenly motion? The theory of General Relativity fits the motions of the Earth extremely well, and Quantum Chromodynamics explains ALL observations of the strong nuclear force. Your hypothesis would have the strong force be different at different places and velocities. The evidence (stars, etc. seem to "burn" the same throughout the Universe) is against you. Dr. Eric Christian Speed of the Earth I am curious to find the speed of the Earth around the Sun. A measurement in either km/h or mph would be most helpful. I believe the formula is something like distance traveled / time =3D kmh or mph (d/t=3Dkmh mph). The time is approx 365 days or approx 8760 hours. How do I find the distance and is my formula correct? The average radius of the Earth's orbit around the Sun is 93 million miles, so the distance is radius * 2 * PI = 584 million miles 584,000,000 miles / 8,764 hours = 66,660 mph Dr. Eric Christian Why Do We Always See the Same Side of the Moon? I'm a 5th grade science teacher, and my students have a hard time understanding the concept that the same side of the moon always faces Earth, even though the moon rotates on its axis. Do you have any suggestions that might help them? One good activity involves having students play the parts of the Earth and the Moon. There's a description on this Astronomical Society of the Pacific site . Beth Barbier Rotation of the Moon According to my science text book, the Moon rotates on its axis in 29 1/2 days. The Moon also revolves around the Earth in 29 1/2 days. Yet in one of the questions, the book said that the Moon spins on its axis in 27 1/3 days and the time from one full moon to the next was 29 1/2 days. I looked in the encyclopedia, and it said the Moon rotates on its axis and revolves around the Earth in 27 1/3 days. Which one is correct? The Moon rotates on it's axis and revolves around the Earth in 27 1/3 days. The time from one full moon to the next is 29 1/2 days. The reason they are not the same is that during the 27 1/3 days that it take the Moon to go around the Earth, the Earth has moved relative to the Sun, and it takes another 2 days or so before the Moon is directly on the other side of the Sun (which is what gives a full moon). It is similar to the reason why the Earth rotates on its axis once every 23 hours 56 minutes and 4.1 seconds, but its 24 hours from noon to noon. Dr. Eric Christian "Far Side" of the Moon My students are having trouble understanding that the same side of the Moon always faces Earth, even though the Moon rotates on its axis. Do you know of any good models or demonstrations that might help them understand this concept? One good activity involves having students play the parts of the Earth and the Moon. There's a description on this Astronomical Society of the Pacific site: The Moon: It's Just a Phase It's Going Through... Beth Barbier Origin of Moonlight What is the origin of the light on the Moon? Is it a reflection of the sunlight that hits the Earth or is it light that hits the Moon directly from the Sun? Most of the light from the Moon is direct reflection of sunlight. A lunar eclipse happens because the Earth's shadow crosses the Moon, preventing the Sun from directly illuminating the Moon. You can see some "earthlight", reflection of sunlight that hits the Earth, then hits the Moon and bounces back to the Earth. When there is a crescent moon, you can frequently (if the sky is dark) still see the "unlit" portion of the Moon. That light (much dimmer than normal moonlight) is from the Earth. Dr. Eric Christian Shadows on the Moon? Does an object on the Moon have a shadow? Shadows are caused by sunlight, and since the Sun shines on the Moon, there must be shadows. In fact you can determine the height of objects on the Moon by the length of their shadows (just like on Earth). Dr. Louis Barbier Always Night on the Moon? Why are all pictures of the Moon taken at night? I'm not certain what you're referring to here. If you mean that pictures on the Moon show a black sky, you should know that there isn't an atmosphere on the Moon to reflect sunlight, so its sky always looks black. The surface of the Moon, however, does reflect sunlight, so the surface facing the Sun is well-lit, and that side is experiencing daytime. (Think about the definition of day and night on Earth.) Beth Barbier Water on the Moon How much water was in the hole that the crater made that hit the Moon? Water was found to exist as very small, very spread out ice crystals in craters on the north and south poles of the Moon. Craters are the result of ancient meteorites that hit the Moon's surface. The amount of ice is very uncertain, but estimates are 10 - 300 million tons spread over the polar regions. Dr. Eric Christian Meteorites and the Moon What is the name of the force that causes meteorites to impact on the Moon? Is it gravity? The short answer is "no". Not directly at least. Meteoroids impact the Moon (the Earth, and other planets) because the trajectory of their orbits and that of the Moon intersect. Of course, gravity is responsible for the shape of the orbits themselves, so one might indirectly say gravity is responsible. But not in the way I think you are asking. Imagine, for example, when you fire a bullet from a gun at a target. While it is true that there is a gravitational attraction between the bullet and the target, the bullet would still hit the target if there were no gravity. Its trajectory will intersect the target location. Meteoroids are of two distinct classes. Some revolve around the Sun (like the planets do) and have orbits of small eccentricity (nearly circular) and those orbits are near the plane in which the planets orbit. The more common type is associated with debris streaming off comets as they approach the Sun. This debris ends up scattered along the (highly eccentric) orbit of the comet. As the Earth's orbit passes through these debris "clouds" we have meteor showers. Since the Moon is moving along with the Earth, it will often experience many of these meteoroids too, which will strike the Moon's surface. Dr. Louis Barbier Dust on the Moon I recently saw part of a religious television show explaining that when the Apollo mission landed on the Moon, they were expecting about 40 - 50 feet of dust, due to the Moon's gravitational field pulling in the dust and its lacking an atmosphere to burn it up. They proclaimed that because there was "...only ten thousand years worth of dust...", therefore the Universe is only 10,000 years old, and God must have created it. What's the scientific explanation? The first attempt to measure the amount of meteoritic dust falling onto Earth was made by Hans Pettersson in the 1950s. His measurement came up with a maximum infall rate across the entire Earth (what scientists call an upper limit) of about 15 million tons per year. His sample was contaminated by volcanic dust, etc., and the real number (measured out in space) is only about 20,000 - 40,000 tons per year. Creationists ignore the new measurements, and the fact that Pettersson's value was an upper limit, and misinform the public. Interestingly enough, there are plenty of places on the Moon where the dust is more than 100 feet deep, but most of the dust is from meteoric impacts on the Moon itself throwing up debris. NASA was NOT expecting a deep layer of dust where Apollo landed (in the highlands). Remember, we had already landed unmanned probes on the Moon before Apollo (Surveyor). For more information, you can check the Talk.Origins archive . Dr. Eric Christian Your Weight on the Moon If the Moon size is about 1\60 that of the Earth, then why do we only weigh 1\6 on the Moon of what we weigh on Earth? The mass of the Moon is less than 1/80 (0.0123) that of the Earth, and its diameter is a little more than a quarter (0.273). Gravitational acceleration is proportional to M / (R * R), so for the Moon (0.0123) / (.273 * .273) = 0.165 or about 1/6 that of the Earth. Dr. Eric Christian Moon's Gravity In my class, I am part of a team role-playing that we on the surface of the Moon and become lost. We must figure out how to launch a rescue beacon. How strong is the gravitational pull on the surface of the Moon? Specifically, what kind of force would be necessary to lift a rescue beacon satellite from the surface into the Moon's orbit? Would a weather ballon be able to lift the rescue beacon off the surface? The gravity on the Moon is about 1/6th that of Earth, which comes out to about 5.3 feet per second per second acceleration (32 * 0.165 = 5.28 feet/sec/sec). To get something off the surface of the Moon you'll need energy equal to the mass of the object times this acceleration times the height you want to achieve (M x G x H). A balloon gets its lift for the same reason a boat floats, it weighs less than what it's displacing. If there is no air to displace, you get no lift. Drs. Eric Christian and Louis Barbier Compass on the Moon On the Moon, would a compass point at the Earth? I though it might when the Moon is near enough in the magnetic field of the Earth. The magnetic field of the Earth only extends about a quarter of the way to the Moon. So the compass wouldn't point at the Earth, and since the Moon has nearly no magnetic field, it wouldn't be much good at all. Dr. Eric Christian Magnetism on the Moon The Moon doesn't have much of a magnetic field, so would a magnet stick to an iron bar on the Moon? Could the magnet induce magnetism in the iron bar? Definitely, a magnet would stick to an iron bar on the Moon. In fact, it will stick to an iron bar any place in the universe, provided the temperature is not excessively high. The effects of magnetism, such as a magnet and iron sticking together, are based on the presence of a magnet and have nothing to do with the question whether the environment is within a larger magnetic field or not. If astronauts bring a permanent magnet to the Moon they will observe that it will attract any piece made of iron. They only question may be whether the magnet keeps its magnetic quality or not. If a magnet is heated to more than about 700 degrees centigrade, it will lose its magnetism and behave like an ordinary hunk of iron. However, on the Moon it is not hot enough that this would happen. So the magnet will still work. Now to the second question: will the magnet induce magnetism on the iron? Yes, it will. Again, any permanent magnet will induce magnetism on a piece of iron on the Moon. The only difference between the Earth and the Moon is that the Earth's magnetic field can induce magnetism on a piece of iron by itself, similar to what a refrigerator magnet can do. This can't happen on the Moon, but any magnet still can induce magnetism there. Dr. Eberhard Moebius Flashlight on the Moon Will a flashlight work on the Moon? Nothing in the flashlight (basically just batteries, wires, switch, and bulb) requires air, so it would work fine. Dr. Eric Christian Wind on the Moon? In a picture the American flag on the Moon appears to be waving in the wind. How is this explained? There is no air on the Moon. NASA embedded stiff wire in the American flag so that it wouldn't just hang straight down, and adjusted the wire so that the flag appeared to be waving. They thought (probably rightly) that a flag as flat as a board wouldn't look right. Dr. Eric Christian Parachute on the Moon Would it be possible to use a parachute to descend to the Moon from a mile above the Moon's surface? I believe it wouldn't be as effective as on the Earth, but could you specify how effective, if at all? Parachutes use air resistance to slow down a descent. Since there is no air on the Moon, they would be completely ineffective. The parachute would fall at the same rate as a rock. Dr. Eric Christian Gunfire on the Moon Recently, I was involved in a debate about the usefulness of a gun on the Moon. Some people argued that it wouldn't fire because oxygen would be required for combustion. Others thought that it would fire, and possibly could be used as a propulsion device. Which is the correct answer? Actually, both arguments have some element of truth. You do need oxygen to ignite the firearm and space is for all intents and purposes a vacuum (with no available oxygen to take part in combustion). Now engineers have been able to get around this difficulty over the years with rocket fuel by mixing both a fuel and an oxidizer together in the rocket's combustion chamber. For example in solid rocket boosters (SRB) the typical mixture consists of an ammonium perchlorate (oxidizer, 69.6 percent by weight), aluminum (fuel, 16 percent), iron oxide (a catalyst, 0.4 percent), a polymer (a binder that holds the mixture together, 12.04 percent), and an epoxy curing agent (1.96 percent). You can read more about SRBs on the Kennedy Space Center site. Now as it turns out, guns are also self-igniting systems, where the mixture of fuel and oxidizer is usually located inside the bullet itself. So indeed, guns can be fired in space, although you won't hear the typical accompanying "boom"! Of course, a firearm could indeed be used as a method for propulsion, although there may be more efficient ways to acquire propulsion in space. See this site on rocket propulsion for more details on propulsion in space. Dr. Georgia de Nolfo Moon Survival Test When I was in high school, I was given a test about surviving on the Moon with a limited number of items. The test asked me to rank the items by importance. Do you know where I might obtain a copy? The StarChild website has such a test: Problems in Space . Beth Barbier Moon Leaves Earth's Gravity? Will the Moon leave the Earth's gravity? The Moon will not leave the Earth's gravity, even though the orbit of the Moon is increasing slightly. The Earth's rotation is slowing down (due to "tidal braking"), and to conserve angular momentum the Moon is accelerating. The Moon's orbit increases by about 3 cm/year. The Earth and the Moon eventually will be "locked" together with each only having one side constantly facing the other. (Right now the same side of the Moon faces the Earth, but all sides of the Earth see the Moon. In the future this will not be true!) Life on Earth will be quite different then, but this won't occur for billions of years yet. When it does occur, the Moon's orbit will be 50% larger than it is now, and a month will be about 50 days. Dr. Louis Barbier See Great Wall from the Moon? Can you see the Great Wall of China from the Moon? The Great Wall can barely be seen from the Shuttle, so it would not be possible to see it from the Moon with the naked eye. Beth Barbier The Name of the Moon Why does the Earth's moon not have a name (like Saturn's moons: Titan, Mimas, etc.)? The Moon was called Selene or Artemis by the Greeks and Luna by the Romans. I'm sure other cultures also had names for the Moon. But in English, Moon (from Mona and Moone in Old and Middle English) was used before anyone had any idea that the other planets had moons. So it was more a case that the specific name for the Moon was extended to mean small bodies revolving around planets elsewhere. The Moon's name is the Moon. Dr. Eric Christian	i don't know
According to the nursery rhyme, where did Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater put his wife?	8 Nursery Rhymes With Bizarre Hidden Meanings, Because Peter Pumpkin Eater Is A Murderer 8 Nursery Rhymes With Bizarre Hidden Meanings, Because Peter Pumpkin Eater Is A Murderer By JR Thorpe Apr 3 2015 Nursery rhymes help us learn the basics of language during our early childhood years — but now that you've outgrown your diapers, you may have noticed that a lot of nursery rhymes don't make sense to our modern ears. Pop goes the weasel? Since when do weasels pop?! This disconnect can be partially explained by history: many nursery rhymes are hundreds of years old , and so involve outdated turns of phrase. Popping the weasel, for example, was actually 18th century slang for pawning your coat, making that whole weaselly rhyme an irreverent song about selling your jacket in order to afford a night out on the town. Which still isn't exactly a traditional story to tell children . And the weirdness of traditional nursery rhymes doesn't end there: a few seemingly innocent rhymes actually contain sly references to political events of the day. "Georgie Porgie" (who kissed the girls and made them cry), for instance, isn't about an over-affectionate toddler, but rather George Villiers, a courtier of England's King James I who seduced a lot of women and ran away from their irate husbands. And "Mary, Mary, quite contrary" is actually Mary Queen Of Scots — and her silver bells, cockle shells and "pretty maids" were not implements of gardening, but rather torture devices she used while persecuting the Protestants during her reign. Whoops. For stories that are a key part of most of our childhoods, nursery rhymes are often blatantly weird once you start thinking about them. Here are 8 of the strangest ones, with their bizarre meanings revealed. Some are just silly, some are violent and inappropriate for kids; but you might want to think twice before reciting any of them the next time you babysit. 8. If You Sneeze On A Monday If you sneeze on Monday, you sneeze for danger; Sneeze on a Tuesday, kiss a stranger; Sneeze on a Wednesday, sneeze for a letter; Sneeze on a Thursday, something better. Sneeze on a Friday, sneeze for sorrow; Sneeze on a Saturday, joy tomorrow. What It's Really About: Luck. Sneezing is an act with a superstitious undercurrent in many cultures. Traditional Flemish belief dictates that a person who sneezes in a conversation will prove that he's telling the truth, while in northern India, it's bad luck to sneeze before undertaking a new task. Nursery rhymes that aim to "teach" us about superstition aren't all that uncommon, but this one is so out-there that it takes the cake (or the handkerchief.) 7. Little Jack Jelf Was put on a shelf Because he could not spell "pie"; When his aunt, Mrs. Grace, Saw his sorrowful face, She could not help saying, "Oh, fie!" What It's Really About: Corporal punishment at school. Jack Jelf actually got off pretty lightly — in the 17th and 18th centuries, British schoolchildren were often subjected to intense corporal punishment when they couldn't master their lessons. Aside from the famous dunce's cap (named after the Scottish intellectual John Duns Scotus , whose teachings were seen as such nonsense that his name became synonymous with stupidity), boys at schools could be "birched" (hit with birch twigs), hit with a hickory stick, or made to stand outside with placards around their necks . The "shelf", in this case, was the shelf behind the teacher's desk , where poor students could be exiled so that everybody would stare at them for the rest of the day. 6. A Carrion Crow Sat On An Oak [Embed] Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home Your house is on fire and your children are gone, All except one called Anne For she has crept under the frying pan. What It's Really About: People being burned at the stake (maybe). This one dates from at least 1744, and we still don't know what exactly it's about. Some theories hold that it might be about Catholics being burned at the stake if they were caught saying Mass in anti-Protestant England. It also might just be about how killing a ladybug (a.k.a. a ladybird) was considered to be bad luck . But either way, it's a singularly strange thing to recite when a hapless insect just happens to land on your cardigan. 4. Tell Tale Tit Had a wife and couldn't keep her; He put her in a pumpkin shell, And there he kept her very well. What It's Really About: Murder. The wife that "couldn't be kept" in this rhyme didn't keep running away or anything — rather, she was supposedly a prostitute. Historians believe that Peter the pumpkin-eater tired of his wife's extra-curricular activities, then murdered her and hid her body in a pumpkin. An even more outrageous interpretation is that it's about the 13th century English King John, who famously bricked a rebellious noble's wife into a wall to starve to death . Either way, this is a rhyme that everybody at the time would have understood was ripped from the headlines. 1. Who Killed Cock Robin? [Embed] I saw him die." What It's Really About: Pagan gods or Robin Hood. This one is so strange that nobody knows quite what to make of it. Some believe it was created in reference to an old pagan god of England, the Holly King , who was symbolically "killed" every winter. Or could it be about the death of the Norse god Balder , god of light and purity, who was shot with an arrow made of mistletoe? Could it be written in honor of the British Prime Minister Robert Walpole , who was also known as Robin? Or Robin Hood? Historians aren't certain — but the image of every bird around (plus, for no apparent reason, a bull) having an elaborate funeral for a murdered bird is a perfect combination of the weird, grotesque and violent imagery that is commonplace in nursery rhymes. Sleep tight, little ones!	in pumpkin shell
The Treaty of San Francisco, which came into effect on April 28, 1952, officially ended what?	Origin of Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater \| Originopedia Origin of Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater Posted in Society \| no responses Peter, peter pumpkin eater is one of the English nursery rhymes and it consists of round folk song index numbers-13497. This rhyme was first published in Britain and it has not been existed till the late 18th century or during the early 19th century. Then, during the year 1825, the rhyme was published in Boston, Massachusetts at mother gooses quarto or otherwise known as the complete melodies. However, some of the words which are collected from the place called Aberdeen, Scotland published during the year 1868 had some of the following words: Peter, my neeper And he couldnt keep her He pat her I the wa And lat a mice eat her Peter was been a poor man and he married an unfaithful women. It seems that his wife keep on cheating peter continuously and hence had a plan to stop all these from his wife. The solution for this comes with the chastity belt which is the pumpkin shell. Chastity belt can be said as the metal underwear (with pair) along with a lock as well as a key. Hence, no one can enter in to the womens private regions except the person who so ever has the key. So, that person will be peter (her husband). After this, it resulted that all the above included words have adapted in the rhyme and thought in America. All these verses can also be said as the older rhyme themes of Eeper weeper. Some of the popular versions include the words on the rhyme is as follows: Peter, peter pumpkin eater. Had a wife but could not keep her. He put her in a pumpkin shell And he kept her very well there Peter, peter pumpkin eater Had another wife and did not love her Peter learned to read and spell And then he loved her very well. From the above lyrics, it clearly says that the words refer to somebodys wifes murder. This rhyme has reached to British children only at a recent stage and only from this rhyme; childrens in the British places came to know what is meant by pumpkin. Even majority of the British populations have never tried eating pumpkin and even they are not aware of the vegetable pumpkin. Almost majority of the people would have grown up by saying rhymes such as twinkle, twinkle little star, jack and Jill, peter, peter pumpkin eater etc. All these rhymes have been started with some of the historical events along with the gossips. Hence, still rhymes are learned and even today small kids are learning all these rhymes. Be Sociable, Share!	i don't know
Who famously owned a bicycle shop at 22 South Williams Street, Dayton, Oh?	Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park 22 S Williams St Dayton, OH Federal Government-Conservation Depts - MapQuest Read more Read {{ review.expanded ? 'less' : 'more' }} Located in Dayton, Ohio , the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park contains five separate units dedicated to three of Dayton's most notable citizens: Orville and Wilbur Wright and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Visitors can tour the Wright and Dunbar homes as well as some of the Wright brothers' former businesses. Those interested in the Wright brothers, Ohio history, or aviation history will enjoy the park and all of its historic sites. Parking and Public Transportation at Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park For those who need to take public transportation to the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, the closest bus stop to The Wright Cycle Company Complex is located at the intersection of West Third and Williams Street. There is no public transportation available to take visitors to the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center. For those who drive to the park in their own car, the best places to park are at The Wright Cycle Company Complex/Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center or the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center. Once there, visitors will be able to get directions to the other sites in the park. Best and Worst Times to Visit Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park The best time to visit the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park is on the weekends because that is when all five park units are open. The worst time to visit the park is from November-February because several of the park units may be closed during periods of inclement weather. Admission to Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park The majority of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park is free to visit, but visitors do have to pay an entrance fee to visit the Paul Laurence Dunbar House or Dayton History at Carillon Park. Admission to these places ranges from $3-$8. Children five and under can visit the Paul Laurence Dunbar House for free. Must See/Do at Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park The Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park has two interpretive centers, the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center and the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center. These two interpretive centers are a good starting point for those who are visiting the park for the first time. Visitors should stop and see The Wright Cycle Company, a former bicycle shop owned by the Wright brothers. The Wright Cycle Company is also the shop where the Wright brothers started researching the mechanics of flight. Make sure to visit the Dunbar House, the former home of poet Paul Laurence Dunbar and his mother, Matilda. Dunbar spent his final years in the home before his death in 1906. Other Places to Visit near Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park Those who want to learn more about aviation history should stop by the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force , located within a 15 minute drive of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force houses over 360 aerospace vehicles and missiles. Another aviation-related location, the National Aviation Hall of Fame , is also located within a 15 minute drive from the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. Located within a 20 minute drive of the Dayton Aviation National Historical Park, The Wright "B" Flyer , Inc. is a museum where visitors can view a static model of the first production aircraft, the Wright B Flyer, and also have the chance to view pictures and artifacts relating to the Wright Brothers. Insider Tip for Visitors to Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park There is no food available for purchase within the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, nor are there any vending machines. There is a water fountain located in the visitor's center. Those who plan to stay in the park for a while may want to bring their own water and snacks if they don't want to leave park grounds. Author's bio: Miranda Roehler has lived in Northwest Ohio for her entire life. She studied Creative Writing and History at The University of Findlay and has been published in multiple international journals.	Wright brothers
What product claims “it’s everywhere you want to be”?	Wilbur and Orville - Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) Wilbur and Orville Wright brothers test 1900 glider at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Wright State University Special Collections and Archives Where did the Wrights test their gliders and airplanes? The Wrights tested their earliest kites near their home in west Dayton. However, by studying the data of German aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal, the Wrights found that they needed a headwind of fifteen to twenty miles per hour to launch their gliders. They also wanted privacy and sand dunes to cushion landings. They learned of Kitty Hawk, a remote community on the outer banks of North Carolina, by studying a table of average wind speeds compiled by the U.S. Weather Bureau. The Wrights tested their gliders and airplanes at Kitty Hawk from 1900 to 1903 and again in 1908. From 1904 to 1905, and again from 1910 to 1916, the Wrights tested their airplane designs at Huffman Prairie, a 100-acre (40 ha) pasture owned by Dayton banker, Torrence Huffman eight miles northeast of downtown Dayton. Orville and Wilbur wanted a testing ground that was closer to their home in Dayton than was Kitty Hawk. The Dayton-Springfield Pike and the Dayton, Springfield & Urbana Electric Railway bordered Huffman Prairie, and trolleys from Dayton arrived at nearby Simms Station every thirty minutes. The Wrights did not test their airplanes from 1906-1907 or during 1909. Orville's first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Wright State University Special Collections and Archives Where is the 1903 Wright airplane? You may see the airplane that the Wrights flew on December 17, 1903 at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Orville Wright gave the airplane to the Smithsonian in his will. From 1928 to 1948, the Science Museum in London displayed the airplane. Orville Wright refused to let the Smithsonian display the airplane since for many years a Smithsonian exhibit stated that Samuel Langley’s Aerodrome was the first craft capable of sustained, powered, controlled flight. Langley (1834-1906), the third Secretary of the Smithsonian, also tested his craft in December of 1903, but it failed its tests, falling from its launching craft into the Potomac River near Quantico, Virginia. In 1914, aviator Glenn Curtiss – against whom Orville filed lawsuits claiming patent infringements – flew a modified version of the Aerodrome, prompting the fourth Secretary of the Smithsonian, Charles Walcott, to assert Langley’s priority. The 1903 Wright airplane did not return to the United States until the Smithsonian withdrew its claim that the Aerodrome was the first airplane capable of flight. It made a statement that satisfied Orville in 1942, and the Smithsonian placed the 1903 airplane on exhibit on December 17, 1948 – after the end of the Second World War and after Orville’s death the previous January. Did inventing the airplane make the Wrights rich? Orville and Wilbur’s invention of the airplane brought them enough money to live comfortably. In 1912, Wilbur, Orville, and their sister Katharine together designed a large house in the Dayton suburb of Oakwood. Hawthorn Hill, as the house is known, cost $39,600 to build (equivalent to nearly $710,000 in 2002). Its construction ended in the spring of 1914, and Orville, Katharine, and their father Milton moved there from their longtime home in west Dayton (Wilbur died of typhoid fever in 1912). At his death in 1948, Orville left an estate worth $1,067,105.73, according to Montgomery County probate records. He left $300,000 to Oberlin College, where Katharine graduated in the class of 1898 and later served as a trustee; gave annuities to relatives and members of his household staff, and made small bequests to Berea College in Kentucky and Earlham College in Indiana. Dayton-based National Cash Register bought Hawthorn Hill and converted it into quarters for the company’s guests. In 2007, Hawthorn Hill was deeded back to the Wright family. How much did it cost to invent the airplane? Orville Wright recollected later in his life that inventing the airplane cost about $1,000 – or approximately $20,000 in 2002 dollars. He did not calculate the cost in time or personal energy invested. Interestingly, the U.S. War Department paid Smithsonian Institution Secretary Samuel Langley $50,000 in 1899 (nearly $1.07 million in 2002) to build one of his aerodromes for the military. Unfortunately, the aerodromes Langley delivered to the War Department never flew. What did Orville think about the military uses of airplanes, especially during the First (1914-1918) and Second (1939-1945) World Wars? Orville’s ideas on the military uses of airplanes evolved during his life. In October of 1917, six months after the United States entered the First World War on the side of the Allied Powers, Orville stated in Aerial Age that he believed that their capabilities for scouting made airplanes agents of peace. He wrote that the “nation with the most eyes will win the war and put an end to war.” Days before the armistice that ended the war in November of 1918, he wrote that the “aeroplane has made war so terrible that I do not believe any country will again care to start a war...” During the 1920s, Orville continued to assert that aviation’s potential for destruction made airplanes tools for peace. A 1923 address he wrote for radio broadcast stated that the “possibilities of the aeroplane for destruction by bomb and poison gas have been so increased since the last war that the mind is staggered in attempting to picture the horrors of the next one. The aeroplane, in forcing upon governments a realization of the possibilities for destruction, has actually become a powerful instrument for peace.” The Second World War changed Orville’s perception of the airplane as an instrument for peace. Shortly after two B-29 bombers dropped atomic weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Orville wrote in a letter that he “once thought the aeroplane would end wars. I now wonder whether the aeroplane and the atomic bomb can do it. It seems that ambitious rulers will sacrifice the lives and property of all their people to gain a little personal fame.” Replicas of bicycles in the Wright Cycle Company building. National Park Service Why did the Wrights have so many bicycle shops? From 1892 to 1908, the Wright Cycle Exchange/Wright Cycle Company operated in five different locations: 1005 West Third Street, 1034 West Third Street, 23 West Second Street, 22 South Williams Street, and 1127 West Third Street. Only the fourth shop (22 South Williams Street) is intact with its integrity in its original location. The Wrights did not own any of these buildings; instead, they leased space for their shop from building owners. Business conditions and lease expenses prompted their moves; they relocated as their need for additional sales and production space grew. Only the shop at 23 West Second Street was in downtown Dayton, and it failed because it was too close to three other bicycle shops. Fewer competing cycle shops were located in west Dayton. What would a Wright bicycle cost today? Wright-made bicycles, sold between 1896 and 1900, cost from $30 to $65, depending on the model purchased (the equivalent of roughly $650-$1,400 in 2002). Wright models included the Van Cleve, named for one of their ancestral families; the St. Clair, named for Revolutionary general, first governor of the Northwest Territory and founder of Dayton, Arthur St. Clair (1734-1818); and the Wright Special. Five known Wright bicycles exist today; all are owned by museums and are priceless. Why are the house where the Wrights grew up and their last cycle shop in Michigan? The fifth and final Wright Cycle Shop (1127 West Third Street) and the Wrights’ home at 7 Hawthorne Street no longer stand at their original Dayton locations. Instead, they are in Dearborn, Michigan, as part of Greenfield Village, a museum that contains an idealized community of buildings brought to Michigan from across the United States started by industrialist Henry Ford during the 1920s. The first efforts to honor the Wrights in Dayton concerned the construction of stone memorials, not the preservation of buildings connected with their lives (which was uncommon anywhere in the United States before the 1930s). Before 1948, the Science Museum in London displayed the 1903 Wright airplane. With his unresolved feud with the Smithsonian Institution over the recognition given Samuel Langley’s Aerodrome as the first airplane capable of sustained, powered, controlled flight, Orville Wright indicated to Ford and a group of pioneer airplane pilots known as the Early Birds that it was unlikely that the 1903 airplane would return to the United States in the near future. However, Orville was interested in preserving the Wright home and the fifth cycle shop. With preservation of the buildings at their original sites in Dayton uncertain, he worked with Edsel and Henry Ford to purchase the cycle shop building from its owner, Charles Webbert, for $13,000. The Fords purchased the house at 7 Hawthorne Street for $4,100. They then moved the buildings to Dearborn, Michigan, where their craftsmen painstakingly rebuilt them. Twenty tons of dirt from Dayton accompanied the two buildings to Michigan; Ford wanted them to still stand on Ohio soil. Where are the Wrights buried? Milton, Susan, Wilbur and Orville Wright and Katharine Wright Haskell are buried in Woodland Cemetery in Dayton. The family plot is at the base of three flagpoles erected in their honor. Did Wilbur or Orville ever marry or have children? Neither Orville nor Wilbur married or fathered children. However, their elder brothers Reuchlin and Lorin married and had children, and their sister Katharine married later in life. While Reuchlin’s family lived in Kansas, Lorin’s four children – who lived in Dayton – were favorites of Wilbur and Orville.	i don't know
May 7, 1915 saw German U-boat U-20 fired a single torpedo at what Cunard passenger liner, sinking it with the loss of 1,198 lives and helped turn public opinion against Germany and contributed to America's entry into WWI?	Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists See all 11 answers Marilee Yes… I'm about a third of the way through and it's absolutely enthralling. Larson has a rare talent for researching historical facts, digesting them …more Yes… I'm about a third of the way through and it's absolutely enthralling. Larson has a rare talent for researching historical facts, digesting them and then constructing a narrative that reads like a novel. He's focused on key characters, using various sources to bring them to life… and suspense is building, even though we history buffs know the basic facts… it's playing out in suspenseful fashion as the Lusitania prepares to sail from New York to the UK on May 1915. Not at all one sided, we are also introduced to the German U boat service and it's men. (less) Shelves: fiction-based-on-history , inhumanity When a new Erik Larson arrives, I drop everything and read it. In my book, he’s one of the few authors who can make history positively come alive. And his opening note held forth a big promise: “I give you now the saga of the Lusitania and the myriad forces, large and achingly small, that converged one lovely day in May 1915 to produce a tragedy of monumental scale, whose true character and import have long been obscured in the mists of history.” My first thought was: “WHAT true character and imp When a new Erik Larson arrives, I drop everything and read it. In my book, he’s one of the few authors who can make history positively come alive. And his opening note held forth a big promise: “I give you now the saga of the Lusitania and the myriad forces, large and achingly small, that converged one lovely day in May 1915 to produce a tragedy of monumental scale, whose true character and import have long been obscured in the mists of history.” My first thought was: “WHAT true character and import? Everyone knows about the Lusitania – sunk by a U-2 torpedo and finally propelling America head-first into WW I.” Well, after finishing, I stand corrected. The story of the Lusitania still offers up many secrets. Unlike Mr. Larson’s former books, this one is slow opening. The focus is not an individual (as it is in Isaac’s Storm, the Devil in the White City, Thunderstruck and In The Garden of Beasts, with history as a backdrop), but squarely on the story of the Lusitania. So the first 80 pages or so set the stage: the winds of war in Europe, the background of the Lusitania and its captain, William Thomas Turner. But when the Lusitania begins its voyage? Wow! Nearly 2,000 passengers were aboard and also, 170 tons of Remington rifle ammunition, making it a clear and attractive target to the Germans. The passengers were not unaware that U-2 boats were bringing terror to the North Atlantic seas. We meet several of them throughout these pages: the ones who will live, the ones who will die. And we also catch many glimpses of the U.S. president, Woodrow Wilson, a widower who is distracted by a new (and ultimately, enduring) love affair that diverts his attention from the world stage. The book is filled with questions worth asking: why did the Admiralty not provide an escort to the Lusitania, given that the ship carried a vital cargo of ammunition and artillery shells? Why did British intelligence obsessively protect the HMS Orion and provide no protection to the Lusitania? Why did they not divert he Lusitania to the newer and safer North Channel route? And most of all, “why was the ship left on its own, with a proven killer of men and ships dead ahead in its path?” Did the British deliberately set up the Lusitania to force America’s hand to enter the war? Hanging over the story of the Lusitania is its rendezvous with destiny. Had U-2 captain Schwieger not overestimated the ship’s speed, if the Lusitania had departed precisely on time, if Capt. Turner had not made a final turn to starboard, had the torpedo failed (60 percent of torpedoes DID fail), there would not be a Lusitania story. And one last question remains: did the Lusitania, in fact, cause the U.S. to enter the war or was there more to the story? Read Dead Wake and find out! Dead Wake is named a 2015 notable non fiction book by the Washington Post The track lingered on the surface like a long pale scar. In maritime vernacular, the trail of fading disturbance, whether from ship or torpedo, was called a “dead wake.” On May 7, 1914, only a few years after that most famous of ocean-liners had had an unfortunate encounter with an iceberg on its maiden voyage, RMS Lusitania, popularly referred to as “Lucy,” having already crossed the Atlantic dozens of times, this time Dead Wake is named a 2015 notable non fiction book by the Washington Post The track lingered on the surface like a long pale scar. In maritime vernacular, the trail of fading disturbance, whether from ship or torpedo, was called a “dead wake.” On May 7, 1914, only a few years after that most famous of ocean-liners had had an unfortunate encounter with an iceberg on its maiden voyage, RMS Lusitania, popularly referred to as “Lucy,” having already crossed the Atlantic dozens of times, this time carrying 1,962 souls, was sunk by a German U-boat off the Irish coast. Almost 1200 people perished. Erik Larson casts his perceptive eyes on the event, looking for explanations. Why was the ship sunk? Had it been possible for the ship to have avoided its fate? What were the global circumstances at the time and how did those effect the disaster? Who and what was on the ship? Why? What was the big deal about the Lusitania? Other ships had been sunk by U-boats during this conflict. How did the sinking of the Lusitania affect American entry into The Great War? The New York Times headline - From PBS We all have preconceptions, notions that hardly seem worth examining. I expect for most of us, the details of the sinking of the Lusitania are clouded by the fog of time. We might believe that, as with the sinking of the USS Maine in Cuba, the national response was immediate and violent. Turns out the reality was far different. Artist rendering of the sinking - from Cinewiki.wikispaces.com Larson looks at events in several threads. Mostly he follows the events on the Lusitania and on the German sub (U-20 - U-boat is an abbreviation of Unterseeboot, or undersea boat) that would bring it down. In parallel, he looks at the politics involved in, not so much the causes of World War I, but in the stages between the commencement of hostilities and the eventual drawing of the USA into the war. He looks at the milieu in which American president Woodrow Wilson existed, politically and personally. He looks at the people involved in making tactical decisions, and at a special, secret intelligence gathering location in the UK. He stops, also, for a look at the sad accumulation of the victims in Ireland. Larson offers a view of the Lusitania that might not be obvious to those of us looking back a hundred years. We might, for example, think of it as a relatively slow moving ocean liner, but it was the fastest civilian ship of its time. Its exceptional speed was a major selling point. There is plenty more detail about the ship, the different sorts of lifeboats, with their potential benefits and downsides, the unusual hull it used. Lucy carried a relatively inexperienced crew, due to so many able-bodied seamen having been drawn into the military. New, unusual life vests were used on the ship, and training in their use was lacking, as was training in using the lifeboats. The sinking was used for recruiting – in Britain and the USA On the other side, it is remarkable how fragile U-boats were, and the limitations they faced in pursuing their mission. Larson offers us a look aboard the sub that did the deed, captain’s log and all. How fast were these boats? What was their range? What was their mission, their command structure? What was the physical environment like for submariners? What could they not do? Where could they not go? How did they keep in touch with their land-based command? What were their orders? What was the mindset of the captain, of his crew? Lots to look at here, eye-opening stuff. Don’t sign me up for life on a sub. The wrecked U-20 after a failed attempt to scuttle - from Lusitania.net And of course there was the interaction between militaries. How did the allies cope with the very effective plague the U-boats presented? Could they track them? If so, how did they track them? What were the capabilities of the super-secret Room 40? What was the decision process the German command used in deciding how to use this powerful weapon? Room 40 - from Lusitania.net One thing Larson does is follow the narrative of several of the passengers aboard the big boat. This brings the disaster away from technical details to actual human experience. You will get to know some of the passengers, and learn their fates. There is a wealth of information in Dead Wake. For example, the biggest surprise for most readers, and perhaps the most controversial element in the book is the suggestion that Britain did not exactly do all it might have to protect Lucy from enemy attack, as there were some at the highest levels of government who believed that such an event might hasten the enlistment of the USA into the war. There were other factors for sure that contributed to why Lucy was where she was when she was, but most of those lack the bitter flavor of dark calculation. And maintaining the sour taste is a description of how shameless members of the admiralty sought to evade personal responsibility for the sinking by pointing fingers at a designated patsy. Despite the denials all around that the Lusitania was purely a civilian ship, the fact was that it was carrying a considerable supply of military materiel for use against Germany. Lucy would most definitely have had some ‘splaining to do’ had it been known that supposedly neutral America was using her as a military transport to support the Allies. Erik Larson - from New Hampshire Public Radio There is plenty of drama to go around here. Even though we know what will happen, Larson succeeds in instilling tension into the coming together of Lucy with her killer. The descriptions of life aboard the sub are compelling; information about the physical realities of the Lusitania is fascinating, and looking at the probable decision-making involved is enraging. This is not to say that there are no rents in the hull taking on a bit of the briny. While it seemed clear that tracking individual passengers was intended to take the story from an emotionally removed overview down a bit closer to sea level, I found that most of these passages were not all that engaging. It also seemed not entirely clear that Woodrow Wilson’s domestic situation was necessarily all that important in his reluctance to bring the USA into the war. On the other hand there are bits that are depressingly resonant with more contemporary outrages, as left hands not keeping right hands informed of their actions contributed to the ultimate catastrophe. Information that could have identified a sub in a shipping lane was available, but was not put together in time. Very reminiscent of 9/11. Our species certainly seems well practiced in learning nothing from history. One contributing factor was a corporate cost-cutting measure that kept Lucy from making her best time across the Atlantic. Had she been allowed to use all four of her boilers instead of only three, she would never have encountered U-20. The Deepwater Horizon disaster, and many more such incidents remind us that pursuit of the almighty dollar/pound/euro/(insert your currency here) will always be assigned a higher value than human life or the safety of the environment for many of the people making such decisions. President Wilson and First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill Germany actually posted newspaper notices in American newspapers, before the Lusitania set sail from New York City, that all ships entering what was considered a war zone were at risk of being sunk. It would not be the last time clear messages of intent from Germany would be ignored to our everlasting regret. Dead Wake is a wonderful piece of writing, not only diving down into details of what is probably a murky subject for most of us, offering a greater understanding of the physical event, but providing a context within which we can achieve a greater understanding of the causes and implications of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. As a bit of historical reporting is it definitely a case of “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.” Review posted – 7/3/15 Links to the author’s personal , Twitter and FB pages Lusitania Online is a wonderful source for all things Lucy Video from the National Archives of passengers arriving and Lucy embarking on its final voyage- the first 1:50 is mostly people getting out of cars, so feel free to skip ahead a bit A 1918 animation of the sinking Arthur Conan Doyle’s story Danger! was written about 18 months before the outbreak of WWI. It anticipated in considerable detail the submarine warfare to come. You can read it on Gutenberg. In the preface to the 1918 collection in which it appears, Doyle noted that he attempted to present his notions to the government, noting that he: …did indeed adopt every possible method, that he personally approached leading naval men and powerful editors, that he sent three separate minutes upon the danger to various public bodies, notably to the Committee for National Defence, and that he touched upon the matter in an article in The Fortnightly Review. In some unfortunate way subjects of national welfare are in this country continually subordinated to party politics, so that a self-evident proposition, such as the danger of a nation being fed from without, is waved aside and ignored, because it will not fit in with some general political shibboleth. If this reminds you at all of Bill Clinton and Richard Clarke trying to warn the incoming Bush administration of the danger presented by Osama bin Laden, it should. Nov 08, 2015 Diane S ☔ rated it really liked it Larson writes wonderful narrative non fiction, and in this book he has surpassed his own self. The amount of research that went into this book is staggering. It doesn't just cover the bombing of the Lusitania, it covers everything going once at the time and more. What it is like inside a submarine, the roles of the crew members, how it feels and even how it smells. president Wilson's grief at the death of his wife and his courting of his second wife. The career of the Captain of the Lusitania and Larson writes wonderful narrative non fiction, and in this book he has surpassed his own self. The amount of research that went into this book is staggering. It doesn't just cover the bombing of the Lusitania, it covers everything going once at the time and more. What it is like inside a submarine, the roles of the crew members, how it feels and even how it smells. president Wilson's grief at the death of his wife and his courting of his second wife. The career of the Captain of the Lusitania and the quirks in his personality. What the ship looked like, inside and out, the decorations, the food, the labor involved. The passengers, the famous and those not. The politics of the day, what secrets were known when and how. It is extraordinarily detailed but I was never bored, found it all fascinating. So much history set down for me to enjoy. There is only one Larson book I was not crazy about, that one remains half finished, but this is an author whose books I buy to reread and savor. By the end of the book, I had a clear and concise picture of so many things I had never knew before. Also had gotten to know some of the people on the ship and was devastated that some of them were the ones who died. A horrible tragedy bought to life, to be remembered and learned from, if only. Amazing. Shelves: history , world-war-i , maritime-history , lusitania When I came across a radio interview with Erik Larson, talking about his new Lusitania book, Dead Wake, I knew I had to have it. I was excited. Like, I’m going to buy this on my phone as soon as I park my car excited. As many of you know, I’m deep into a World War I reading project. I’ve collected so many new titles that my kids are never going to college. The Lusitania sinking was a moral turning point in the war. It turned American opinion inexorably against Germany. It also sowed no small amo When I came across a radio interview with Erik Larson, talking about his new Lusitania book, Dead Wake, I knew I had to have it. I was excited. Like, I’m going to buy this on my phone as soon as I park my car excited. As many of you know, I’m deep into a World War I reading project. I’ve collected so many new titles that my kids are never going to college. The Lusitania sinking was a moral turning point in the war. It turned American opinion inexorably against Germany. It also sowed no small amount of disarray in German submarine policy. It is not quite the Pearl Harbor it is made out to be, but it is immensely important. Thus, the Lusitania is a required topic in WWI studies. (Also, it should be noted, I am a Titanic buff, and the Lusitania sinking is a close cousin in the disaster family). So there was no doubt I’d read this book. That didn't mean I expected to love it. A couple things gave me pause. First, I am not an unabashed Larson admirer. I liked Isaac’s Storm, his book on the Galveston hurricane, but I liked it in the sense that I like the sandwich I eat for lunch every day. That is to say nourishing, but nothing to sing from the rooftops. I was also a bit worried by his guileless admission to knowing next to nothing about the Lusitania when he started researching the book. It’s foolish to expect a person to be an expert before he starts his research, but his lack of basic knowledge (such as the fact that the ship sank in 1915 and American did not enter the war until 1917) gave me pause. I didn't want to read some hasty work of dilettantism meant to capitalize on centenary interest of the lost liner. My worries were for naught. This is, in fact, an excellent book. It is not the definitive account of the Lusitania (I think Diana Preston’s book is more thorough), but it is far and away the best. Every book about a sinking ship is eventually compared to Walter Lord’s A Night to Remember. It is a natural law. Nothing can exceed Lord, of course, but Larson does a damn fine imitation. The Titanic sank at a stately 2 hours and 40 minutes after striking an iceberg on April 14, 1912. That lengthy time-period is part of the reason for the many dramatic retellings. Everyone on board that doomed vessel had time to take a breath, look hard into their own soul, and decide what kind of person they were. Managing Director J. Bruce Ismay stepped into a lifeboat. Isidor and Ida Strauss did not. Whatever else their decisions meant (life or death, chiefly), they are godsends to the dramatist interested in the human ability to flourish or crumble under duress. The Lusitania, on the other hand, was hit by a single torpedo fired by the German submarine U-20 on May 7, 1915. The impact caused incredible damage, heightened by mysterious sympathetic explosions (coal-dust or burst steam pipes, most likely; almost certainly not munitions) that destroyed the Lusitania's steering and power. The ship was locked into a turn with the propellers still churning forward. She sank in eighteen minutes while developing such a severe starboard list that her starboard boats swung far away from the decks, while the portside boats couldn’t be lowered because they were flush against the hull. The evacuation was a disaster, compounded by the loss of many trained crewmembers to the navy. There was no order, no law, no “women and children first.” The ship sank within sight of land, but in terms of help, they were so far from civilization they might as well have been on the Moon. 1,198 people died: 1,195 passengers and crew, plus 3 German stowaways. (There was a large percentage of kids on board, including infants. In terms of standing a chance at survival on that tilting, plunging deck... It might be best not to think about it). The chaotic nature of the sinking makes for a difficult narrative. Larson solves this problem by paring down his scope to focus on just a handful of people, chief among them the Boston bookseller Charles Lauriat, the female architect Theodate Pope, and crewmember Leslie Morton. He also chooses to mostly ignore the better-known personages. For instance, Alfred Vanderbilt, the ship’s most famous (and wealthy) passenger, rates only 6 mentions in the index. Larson also spends a great deal of time with Captain Turner, the Lusitania’s master – like Captain Smith, an old sea dog who never learned a new trick – and the U-20’s commander, Walter Schwieger. Oddly, Larson also devotes an inordinate amount of space to President Woodrow Wilson and his burgeoning love affair with Edith Bolling Galt. He quotes extensively from Wilson’s moony letters. In a different book, say, a biography of Wilson, this would make perfect sense. Here, it’s just a needless distraction. The space could have been better served by finding another passenger to follow. (Or with some freaking pictures! How does a major release like this not rate an inset?) Dead Wake is structured like a suspense thriller. Larson utilizes short, punchy chapters that cut between Wilson’s maudlin romance in Washington, D.C.; the intelligence operatives in Great Britain’s secret Room 40; the curmudgeonly Captain Turner and his wealthy passengers on the Lusitania (this is the second Lusitania title I've read in short order that ignores the very existence of steerage passengers); and Captain Schweiger and his crew of the small but formidable U-20. The scenes set aboard the U-20 are among the book’s best. Larson admits to enjoying this part the most during the writing and research process, and it shows. He fills these sections with pungent, tactile details about the cramped conditions, the myriad dangers, and the many horrible smells a WWI submariner faced. First there was the basal reek of three dozen men who never bathed, who wore leather clothes that did not breathe, and shared one small lavatory. The toilet from time to time imparted to the boat the scent of a cholera hospital and could be flushed only when the U-boat was on the surface or at shallow depths, lest the undersea pressure blow material back into the vessel. This tended to happen to novice officers and crew, and was called a “U-boat baptism.” The odor of diesel fuel infiltrated all corners of the boat, ensuring that every cup of cocoa and piece of bread tasted of oil. Then came the fragrances that emanated from the kitchen long after meals were cooked, most notably that close cousin to male body odor, day-old fried onions. The attack on the Lusitania and her sinking is told in vivid, lucid prose. That first turmoil, that first bubble of foam, was the expulsion of compressed air from the submarine’s launching tube as the torpedo exited. The torpedo itself was 20 feet long and 20 inches in diameter; its nose, shaped like the top of a corn silo, contained 350 pounds of TNT and an explosive called Hexanite…It moved at about 35 knots, or 40 miles an hour, powered by compressed air stored in a tank toward its nose, just behind the compartment that contained the explosives. The air rushed against the pistons in its engine, geared to spin two propellers, one clockwise, the other counterclockwise, to keep the torpedo from rolling and veering…As the torpedo advanced, the water rushing past its nose turned a small propeller, which unscrewed a safety device that prevented detonation during storage. This propeller slipped from the nose and fell to the sea bottom, thereby exposing a triggering mechanism that upon impact with a ship’s hull would fire a small charge into the larger body of explosives…The track lingered on the surface like a long pale scar. In maritime vernacular, this trail of fading disturbance, whether from ship or torpedo, was called a “dead wake.” I mentioned above that Larson focuses his narrative on a small number of passengers. Before the sinking he spends a great deal of time on their biographies; a lot of this detail feels mundane and misplaced. You might wonder why you have to learn so much about Charles Lauriat’s bookselling business. Well, the payoff comes when Larson shifts into the Lusitania’s final agony. You are very much invested in the stories of the passengers and crew struggling to survive because so much time has been devoted to them. (It’s strange, but I when I read, I generally feel a stronger emotional connection to fictional characters than to actual historical people, because fictional characters are given more detail, more life. Nonfiction personages often come across like the stone monuments that now memorialize them. Larson does a good job of making real people seem, well, real). I’ve now got several Lusitania books under my belt. I didn't learn anything new in Dead Wake. Indeed, there is more information to be found in other sources. However, this is by far the most compelling, the most riveting presentation of this story, and also one of the better works of history I’ve read in awhile. Whether you’re a World War I buff celebrating the centenary, or a casually interested reader laying beneath the sun while on the deck of a hopefully-non-sinking cruise ship, this is a great choice. Shelves: non-fiction , war , 2015 , disaster This reminded me a lot of the movie Titantic not just because it’s about a disaster at sea, but also it would have been a lot shorter and better without the romantic subplot. Only in this case it was U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and Edith Bolling Galt instead of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Although I gotta admit that the scene when ole Woody sketched Edith in the nude was pretty hot….. Wait. I might have mixed something up there. This is part of the continuing trend of Erik Larson’s books This reminded me a lot of the movie Titantic not just because it’s about a disaster at sea, but also it would have been a lot shorter and better without the romantic subplot. Only in this case it was U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and Edith Bolling Galt instead of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Although I gotta admit that the scene when ole Woody sketched Edith in the nude was pretty hot….. Wait. I might have mixed something up there. This is part of the continuing trend of Erik Larson’s books for me. He has this weird knack of being able to write something that is about 50% interesting, but the other 50% always seems like it’s him stretching to tie some other kind of element to give it a hook it doesn’t really need. He can’t just tell us the story behind the 1893 World’s Fair, he has to make half the book about a serial killer. (Some people would tell you that it’s vice versa as to what’s good about that one). Or instead of doing a non-fiction pop history novel about the invention of the wireless by Marconi, he had to tie it into the capture of a famous murderer of the day. Giving a day-to-day account of living in Nazi Germany wasn’t good enough so he had to put half the focus on a promiscuous American woman and her boring father in Berlin. So this time out we’ve got the sinking of the Lusitania, a fascinating historical event about which many intriguing questions remain to this day, and yet a good chunk of this book is spent detailing how President Wilson found love again after the death of his first wife. If this was a book about Wilson, or if it was some kind of deep dive into his response to the attack where knowing his mindset at the time is critical to the story, then I might understand why so much time is spent on detailing how the two of them met and how their courtship progressed. However since none of those things really matter I had that that same feeling while reading that I had when watching the aforementioned Titantic: Quit falling in love and hit the damn iceberg already. (Only it’s a German U-boat instead of a chunk of ice this time.) As usual with the parts I actually care about Larson does a pretty decent job of creating narrative history to give us a vivid account of what life was like for the passengers and crew of the ship as well as the Germans on the submarine. He also gives us a good idea of the touchy political situation that existed between the various nations involved because of World War I. He does seem to prefer doling out trivia and anecdotes rather than dealing in any meaningful way with the bigger questions of the event. The conspiracy theories about why England didn’t do more to protect the ship and speculation about the what caused a secondary explosion after the torpedo hit are barely touched on, but at the same time I know what kind of wallpaper was in the reading salon on board. Or I learned that Woody and Edith ate chicken salad on their wedding night, but nothing is said about the critical role she later played in his administration after he suffered a stroke later. It’s not bad, but it’s also a fairly shallow look that seems more interested in telling you what happened rather than really digging into the questions of how or why it did. It’s like the Hollywood screenplay version of history. With romance! ...more Shelves: war "The Devil is in the detail" and Erik Larson's Dead wake : The last crossing of the Lusitania is certainly packed full of detail but details that for me made this book such a worthwhile read. Living in Ireland I thought I was informed through history classes in school of the events surrounding the sinking of the Lusitania off the cost of Kinsale Head in Co. Cork however I was surprised by the information I gained by reading Dead Wake. Published to coincide with the 100th Anniversary in May of "The Devil is in the detail" and Erik Larson's Dead wake : The last crossing of the Lusitania is certainly packed full of detail but details that for me made this book such a worthwhile read. Living in Ireland I thought I was informed through history classes in school of the events surrounding the sinking of the Lusitania off the cost of Kinsale Head in Co. Cork however I was surprised by the information I gained by reading Dead Wake. Published to coincide with the 100th Anniversary in May of this great Maritime tragedy I think this book will inform a whole new generation about a tragedy about an important event in History. The book is extremely well researched and supported by extensive references and notes. I read this book on my kindle and was delighted to see that by clicking on a number I was taking to a link providing me with the source of a fact, statement or piece of information. I enjoyed reading about the luxury of the ship as opposed to the dreadful conditions of the Submarine and felt I really got a feel for how difficult life on board a sub could be in times of war. There is an air of suspense throughout the book even though we know the outcome the author manages to hold our attention and keep us engrossed. We also learn a little about the passengers on board the Lusitania but I never got emotionally attached to the characters and this worked well as the book was about facts and events and providing the reader with enough information to form an opinion as to how a ship like the Lusitania ended its voyage in such tragic circumstances. This is a book for readers who have an interest in books about war and events in history. It's well written and researched and I came away feeling I had learned something new. I will certainly check out some more reads by this author as this was an engrossing and informative read. Feb 21, 2016 Mona rated it liked it Excellent Retelling of the Sinking of the Lusitania I don't read a lot of nonfiction. But Erik Larson 's books read like novels. He's an excellent writer. He choses historical events that contain a compelling story. He fills the books with details that bring the time, place, and people to life. He does an enormous amount of research. I loved Larson's The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America , a story about the Chicago world's fair and the convergence of Excellent Retelling of the Sinking of the Lusitania I don't read a lot of nonfiction. But Erik Larson 's books read like novels. He's an excellent writer. He choses historical events that contain a compelling story. He fills the books with details that bring the time, place, and people to life. He does an enormous amount of research. I loved Larson's The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America , a story about the Chicago world's fair and the convergence of two men, one the fair's architect, the other a serial killer. So when I saw he'd come out with a new book, I got hold of the audio as soon as I could get it. The story was not quite as compelling as The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America . Perhaps in part this was because there were stories about many people instead of the focus on the two main characters as in The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America . Still, Larson did his usual excellent job. And of course, since I live in New York City, I am fascinated by NY City history. Larson covers the last voyage of the Lusitania from the beginning. He starts with the preparation of the ship for launch from Pier 54 at Little West 12th Street and the Hudson River (it's now used for concerts). The West Side Highway now adjacent to Pier 54 didn't yet exist in 1915, the year the Lusitania went down. It's fascinating and the reader feels like he or she is right there with the passengers as they board with their huge and unwieldy trunks and their elaborate travelling outfits. The German government placed a warning advertisement in fifty U.S. newspapers in April, warning that Germany was at war with Britain and that the safety of those travelling on trans-Atlantic crossings could not be guaranteed. However, no one took the German warnings entirely seriously. First of all, the previous rules of engagement had dictated that ships carrying civilians could not be attacked. Also, Cunard, the owner of the Lusitania, stood to lose a lot of money if it cancelled its trans-Atlantic voyages. Tragically, there were more children and babies on this voyage than usual. Also, in an ironic twist of fate, another ship, the SS Cameronia, which was supposed to embark at around the same time as the Lusitania, was commandeered by the British Navy for its war effort, so its 41 passengers were transferred to the Lusitania at the last minute. The ship launched (a bit late for various reasons) on May 1, 1915. Larson details the trans-Atlantic voyage, which was largely pleasant and uneventful until the fateful day of May 7, 1915, The ship was headed for Liverpool, England. Its captain, William Thomas Turner, was a capable and experienced sea captain. Larson also reconstructs the viewpoint of the Captain of the German U-boat, U-20, that sunk the Lusitania on May 7. This man, Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger, was a talented and dedicated captain, intent on sinking neutral or enemy ships, as this was his job. He was also, apparently, a good man. He was heartsick when he realized that women and children died in droves when the Lusitania sank. U-20 hit the Lusitania with a single torpedo on May 7 a little after 2 pm a few miles off the Irish coast. The ship sunk in about twenty minutes. There was also a second explosion onboard, presumably caused by steam pipes on the ship. More than a thousand lives were lost. Several famous people died in the wreck, including Alfred Vanderbilt, who reportedly gave his life jacket to a mother with a child, even though he couldn't swim; writer Elbert Hubbard , known for A Message to Garcia ; and theatrical producer Charles Frohman. Larson follows the stories of several lesser known passengers, some who survived, others who didn't. For example, he follows Richard "Preston" Pritchard, a handsome and popular medical student who apparently died in the sinking. Connecticut resident Theodate Pope survived. She was one of the first female architects in America. She was also involved in spiritualism and possibly in theosophy. Her companion on the voyage, Edwin Friend, was lost at sea. The Lusitania was sunk at a time of greater faith. I was amazed how many facing death were sustained by their spiritual faith and were able to be calm while dealing with disaster. Many survivors reported mystical experiences while waiting to be rescued. However, in other ways, things haven't changed much since 1915. I found it interesting that the authorities (in particular Winston Churchill) tried to pin the blame for the sinking on Captain Turner. However, there was an inquest in which Turner was exonerated. I don't think that brave man, who did survive, was in any way responsible. He stayed with the ship until its last moments. Here are some telling facts: The Lusitania's speed was limited to less than the 25 knots per hour of which she was capable because Cunard Lines required Captain Turner to cut costs by using only three of Lusitania's four smoke stacks. If the ship was running at top speed, perhaps she could have outrun the U-boat. Although the British knew that U-20 was quite close to the Lusitania, they never warned the ship because they were concerned about revealing their secret operations for decoding the German's encoded messages. By the time the Lusitania received a message about U-20 it was too late. Although the Lusitania had been promised British warships to escort it, those warships never showed up. The Brits had already lost some warships to an earlier torpedoing, and apparently they didn't want to risk losing any more battle ships. The designers of the collapsible boats did not test them to make sure they were easily deployed in an emergency. Apparently the boats were not well designed. Captain Turner did conduct at least one drill with the crew for deploying the boats, but Cunard did not focus on passenger safety in the event of an emergency. No one believed that the Germans would actually sink a passenger boat, as this went counter to previous rules of engagement. One wonders whether the British government deliberately allowed the Lusitania to be destroyed to force America to enter World War I. As it happened, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson did in fact bring the U.S. into the war shortly after the destruction of the Lusitania. In any case, Scott Brick is the ideal audio reader for this type of material. His expressive voice brings Larson's writing to life. Update.. I heard Larson speak live Update: I saw Erik Larson speak on February 2, 2016.. He was as engaging and interesting a speaker as he is a writer... But he was funnier and more charming in person. ...more Shelves: grcac-2016 , finished-2016 , non-fiction , sourceoverdrive 4 stars. Great book on the sinking of the Lusitania which brings people and events alive! I am going to keep this short, as over 6,600 others have reviewed this fabulous work on GR! Overview May 7, 1915 - The Lusitania was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland by a German submarine. It sank in 18 minutes. Of the known 1,960 people on board, 767 survived and 1,193 perished. The Lusitania was carrying a large number of Americans (including women and children). The sinking of the Lusitania and resulting 4 stars. Great book on the sinking of the Lusitania which brings people and events alive! I am going to keep this short, as over 6,600 others have reviewed this fabulous work on GR! Overview May 7, 1915 - The Lusitania was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland by a German submarine. It sank in 18 minutes. Of the known 1,960 people on board, 767 survived and 1,193 perished. The Lusitania was carrying a large number of Americans (including women and children). The sinking of the Lusitania and resulting deaths of civilians and citizens of neutral nations aboard the ship is considered one of the first modern examples of “total war” and a turning point in World War I. What I liked: * Tremendous depth and breadth of resource materials were cited. * Colorful details on the passengers (especially American). You got to know some of them and were heartbroken with how they were impacted by this event. * A chilling view into life on a U-boat (and especially the Captain and his utter disregard for human life). What I learned: * This event triggered a change in American mood surrounding involvement in WWI, but didn't result in the US entering the war (it happened 2 years later). * Many ways that this tragedy could have been avoided. * Passengers weren't shown basic life saving procedures -- even how to properly put on a life jacket. Many of the dead had life jackets on, but they were tragically upside down. * The Lusitania sunk so fast that only 6 of 22 lifeboats were launched. Of these, some were dropped onto people - and others were dropped upside down into the ocean. Chilling Quote: Winston Churchill on Germans attacking the Lusitania and leaving civilians and crew “to perish in open boats or drown amid the waves was in the eyes of all seafaring peoples a grisly act, which hitherto had never been practised except by pirates”. The following site includes significant amount of information on this event: Dec 15, 2015 Jeffrey Keeten rated it really liked it ”He saw the body of the torpedo moving well ahead of the wake, through water he described as being ‘a beautiful green.’ The torpedo ‘was covered with a silvery phosphorescence, you might term it, which was caused by the air escaping from the motors.’ He said, ‘It was a beautiful sight.’” The last known photo of the Lusitania. The term unsinkable had been obliterated from references regarding great ocean liners after the Titanic sunk in 1912. The impossible had already happened. In 1915 the Lusitan ”He saw the body of the torpedo moving well ahead of the wake, through water he described as being ‘a beautiful green.’ The torpedo ‘was covered with a silvery phosphorescence, you might term it, which was caused by the air escaping from the motors.’ He said, ‘It was a beautiful sight.’” The last known photo of the Lusitania. The term unsinkable had been obliterated from references regarding great ocean liners after the Titanic sunk in 1912. The impossible had already happened. In 1915 the Lusitania had made 202 voyages across the Atlantic. She was a floating beauty, spacious, luxurious, and fast. She was capable of 25 knots and could quickly leave behind any German U-boats who may have had thoughts of trying to sink her. Captain William Thomas Turner was not too worried about the Germans, despite the increase in the number of ships being sunk. He couldn’t fathom that they would be so bold or so cruel as to sink a ship filled with women and children. There had to be some niggling doubt though when the Germans sent a telegram warning people to reconsider taking trips across the Atlantic. Captain William Thomas Turner in that fateful year 1915. I was somewhat baffled at the number of people still choosing to travel through an aggressive war zone. We’ve all heard the adage all is fair in love and war, but in the past there had always been a few rules in war regarding innocent people. Walther Schwieger, the captain of the Unterseeboot-20, didn’t adhere to any rules except the rule of engagement. His country was at war with the British, and a ship owned by the British, whether it was transporting supplies for the war effort or transporting noncombatants, was of equal interest to him. He, after all, was competing with his fellow U-Boat captains to see who could sink the most tonnage. Well, the Lusitania, at 31,550 tons, would put him over the top. Walther Schwieger Some people had booked passage, but had decided at the last moment not to go. ”Alta Piper, the daughter of the famous medium, never made it aboard; neither did she refund her ticket. Unable to ignore the night’s voices, but also apparently unable to step forth and just cancel, she chose the path taken by indecisive people throughout history and spent the morning of departure packing and repacking her bags, over and over, letting the clock run out, until at last she heard the distant horn marking the ship’s departure.” I have a feeling she had an insistent tingle in the back of her neck. Erik Larson does a wonderful job introducing us to the passengers. My favorite was Charles Lauriat, an antiquarian bookseller, who talked a client into letting him borrow Charles Dicken’s very own copy of A Christmas Carol with notes from the great writer about a lawsuit he was fighting in the margins. He wanted to take it to London to allow another researcher to copy down Dicken’s notes. This might be the ultimate example, exhibit A, in NOT letting a friend borrow a book. There was also Theodate Pope, the famous pioneering architect, who managed to break into a profession completely dominated by men. Because they survived, Larson is able to share with us some very personal observations of what happened before, during, and after the torpedo struck the ship. Part of the problem is there was 1,959 passengers and crew on board, and the ship sank in 18 minutes. How much time is lost while you decide if the ship is actually going to sink? It was dumb luck that Schwieger happened to place the torpedo in the exact spot to insure that the ship would go down. Pandemonium ensued. 1,195 perished. Lots of questions were asked after the event. The picking up of extra, as it turned out very unlucky, passengers from another ship delayed their departure and increased the risk of U-Boats having time to get into position. The black smoke poured from only three of the four funnels, which cut the speed of the ship from 25 knots to 21 knots, but saved 1600 tons of coal, a money saving decision made by Cunard due to fewer people risking the trip than normal. This reduction in engines also added a day of travel. Turner did not use a zigzag motion once he reached U-Boat infested waters. The biggest question which didn’t receive enough attention or consideration was where was the Royal Navy? They should have been escorting the liner once it was this close to the Irish coast. Change one thing and the Lusitania would not have sunk on this trip. Turner came under heavy criticism, even from Winston Churchill himself, but was eventually cleared of all wrongdoings. Schwieger, if he felt any remorse for killing so many innocent people, never shared it. He did sink the most tonnage so bully for him. I hope he got a f*king plaque. I, for many years, like many Americans, thought that the sinking of the Lusitania was the impetus for getting America in the war. America did not enter the war for another two years. The reason given, other than the moral reasons for coming to the defense of our cousins in Britain, was the famous Zimmermann telegram. Larson also threads through the plot the trials and tribulations of Woodrow Wilson as he tries to convince Edith Bolling Galt to marry him. You would think the poor woman wore bacon underwear the way he convorted after her. So many things had to go wrong for the Lusitania to come under the cold, calculating eyes of Schwieger and the gunsights of U-Boat 20. All of them lined up, even the final blow when Turner shifted directions at the perfect moment to give Schwieger the angle he needed. It is a compelling story told by a veteran writer who knows how to pace and weave a story that, even when you know the outcome, you can’t help but throw your bag together, hop up the gangplank, and marvel at the devil in the details. The wreck of the Lusitania at the bottom of the ocean. If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com I also have a Facebook blogger page at: https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten Feb 23, 2016 Elyse rated it it was amazing Wow.... This is an all-embracing historical heartbreak story....a tragedy that could have been avoided. The seas were a war zone .. Right from the start, we learn that their were delays leaving New York...( America was not yet at war yet in May, 1915, against Germany). Red flag warnings were everywhere. They were suppose to run the ship on 4 engines, but got by with 3. The German government warned Americans that traveling on trans-Atlantic wasn't safe. Other safety conditions like respect for fog Wow.... This is an all-embracing historical heartbreak story....a tragedy that could have been avoided. The seas were a war zone .. Right from the start, we learn that their were delays leaving New York...( America was not yet at war yet in May, 1915, against Germany). Red flag warnings were everywhere. They were suppose to run the ship on 4 engines, but got by with 3. The German government warned Americans that traveling on trans-Atlantic wasn't safe. Other safety conditions like respect for fog were ignored. Nobody was taking warning signs serious....let alone be preventive- in - the areas of 'all' safety, to the level we would expect. It's painful to see ( now, in hindsight), all the many corrections that would have saved thousands of lives. (more babies onboard than usual, too)! .... This non-fiction book reads like fiction!!!! I WISH IT WAS! Unfortunately ...these are true events. All the events leading up to the ships final crossing was energizing. I found it absolutely fascinating reading the details about the ship - the submarine - William Thomas Turner, ( his professional growth to well respected and qualified Captain of the Lusitania), and his personal life at home. It was especially fascinating hearing from the people who survived..... and sad to learn which characters didn't. Eric Larrson's detail descriptions were extraordinary!!! - the ship- the crew- the submarine- the passengers- ...the suspense in which the story unfolded... Mostly I'm left with sadness at how many opportunities were missed... making this tale all the more tragic!!!! This story is powerful as "The Devil in the White City"....( both stories will be hard to ever forget) I also enjoyed "In the Garden of Beasts"....(3 for 3)... I guess I'm a fan of this author... and I didn't even know it! How'd that happen? lol Talented authors ... gotta love em!!! Stuffed with details. Are there too many? I continue. **************************************** I feel guilty giving this book only three stars, but that reflects my honest reaction. It is interesting. It is accurate. It is extensively researched. It is about an event, the torpedo sinking of the British steamship passenger liner, the Lusitania, in 1915 by a German submarine. The death toll came to 1,198 persons, including passengers, crew and 3 German stowaways. There were 1,962 on board. Only 764 Stuffed with details. Are there too many? I continue. **************************************** I feel guilty giving this book only three stars, but that reflects my honest reaction. It is interesting. It is accurate. It is extensively researched. It is about an event, the torpedo sinking of the British steamship passenger liner, the Lusitania, in 1915 by a German submarine. The death toll came to 1,198 persons, including passengers, crew and 3 German stowaways. There were 1,962 on board. Only 764 survived. It is less about the people involved in the catastrophe, even if many details are given. The only person I came close to understanding was the captain of the Lusitania, Captain William Thomas Turner, but not the U Boat captain. He did not survive the war, as Turner did, so what we learn about him is predominantly through his logbooks, wireless messages and a few words from acquaintances, one being his fiancée. I can in no way say that Larson's research is lacking. If anything I would have preferred that he edited out some of all the details presented. I don't need to know a passenger's ticket number or that Mr. X wore a pink vest or the dimensions of a book brought on board. I believe Larson was trying to recreate the atmosphere on the boat, and he certainly did, but the details were excessive. There are parts about President Wilson’s sorrow at his wife’s death and his subsequent love affair. I found this thread scarcely relevant and annoyingly told. This book is written in such a manner as to increase suspense and excitement. The story follows several threads. As suspense mounts in a thread you switch to another. Over and over again, with increasing rapidity and shorter and shorter episodes. Like all the ads to you get at you near the end of a film on TV. The second half of the book which describes the sinking is more engrossing. In this section there is also a discussion of blame. This too was fascinating. Who was most at fault? The captain because he didn't zigzag and didn't follow a course further from shore? Or did they simply need an easy scapegoat to divert suspicion? Or the British Admiralty? Why wasn’t the Lusitania given an escort? The Admiralty had thorough knowledge through secret decoding information. Or the Cunard Line? Should they be blamed? It was them that ordered Turner to only use three of the four boilers, thus lowering the liner's speed, making it more susceptible to submarine attack. Many passengers chose the Lusitania because of the boat’s speed. They were not informed that the speed had been lowered. Or was there a conspiracy plot to draw America into the war? Yes, the second half is much better than the first half. Maybe the book deserves four stars for the latter half. I liked the book but I didn't REALLY love it, so I stick with my three stars. The audiobook is narrated by Scott Brick. Everybody loves this guy, but I don’t. The tempo is slow, exaggeratedly slow. Why does Brick do this? To increase suspense, to keep the listener hanging. This is not to my taste, but you may love it. Shelves: lifetime-favorites , non-fiction , adreniline-adventure The Hook - Many years ago I read A Night to Remember by Walter Lord about the tragic sinking of the unsinkable Titanic. After this I’m certain I read a book about the Lusitania though for the life of me I can’t remember if it was fiction or not. When I heard that one of my favorite authors, Eric Larson was going to cover this subject in Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania I was in. My sincere thanks to the publisher, Crown, for trusting me with an e-galley of the pre-published work. Th The Hook - Many years ago I read A Night to Remember by Walter Lord about the tragic sinking of the unsinkable Titanic. After this I’m certain I read a book about the Lusitania though for the life of me I can’t remember if it was fiction or not. When I heard that one of my favorite authors, Eric Larson was going to cover this subject in Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania I was in. My sincere thanks to the publisher, Crown, for trusting me with an e-galley of the pre-published work. The Line – One passenger, Dorothy Conner, bored with the monotony of ship life made this remark during a meal in the first-class dining room. ”I can’t help hoping that we get some sort of thrill going up the Channel.” This seems an awful example of “be careful what you wish for”. The Sinker – There is so much detail in Dead Wake that it was hard to decide what to cover in this review. I found myself underlining passage after passage of fascinating facts and passenger memories. I won’t quote many here as I’m hoping you’ll decide to read the book. I knew some things about the ill-fated Lusitania but learned a great deal more in my reading of Dead Wake. His style is smooth, thoughts and ideas easily flowing from page to page, never boring me. The Lusitania, like the Titanic, was unsinkable and yet it did. Larson gives us just enough explanation of the ship and events that led to this incident that by book’s end I could hold my own in a conversation on the subject. I never felt I was being taught a history lesson. He sets the scene well in the opening pages with descriptions of the ship allowing the reader to see it in all its magnificence and gives one the feeling of being a part of the voyage. He often quotes references to its distinctive four tunnels that would allow no mistaking it with other ships. ”From the first the ship became an object of national pride and affection. In keeping with Cunard’s custom of naming its ships for ancient lands, the company selected Lusitania, after a Roman province on the Iberian peninsulas that occupied roughly the same ground as modern-day Portugal. “The inhabitants were war-like, and the Romans conquered them with great difficulty,” states a memorandum in Cunard’s files on the naming of the ship. “They lived generally upon plunder and were rude and unpolished in their manners.” In popular usage, the name was foreshortened to “Lucy”. There was nothing rude or unpolished about the ship itself. As the Lusitania departed Liverpool on its first transatlantic run in 1907, some one hundred-thousand spectators gathered at various points along the Mersey (pronounced Merzey) River to watch, many singing “Rule Britannia!” and waving handkerchiefs. Passenger C.R. Minnitt, in a letter he wrote aboard ship, told his wife how he climbed to the highest deck and stood near one of the ship’s four towering funnels to best capture the moment. “You do not get any idea of her size till you get right on top and then it is like being on Lincoln Cathedral,” Minnitt wrote. “I went over parts of the 1st class and it is really impossible to describe, it is so beautiful.” ”You could see the shape of the four funnels,” said the captain Thomas M. Taylor; “she was the only ship with four funnels.” From those first pages of this 1917 sailing of a grand ship to the very last of the actual torpedo that tragically hit its mark leaving 1,195 dead and 764 surviving, this is narrative non-fiction at its best. A minor criticism is that I wish Larson had included a list of websites separate from their inclusion in his notes. Shelves: non-fiction , ww1 , read-2015 , buddy-read-jean Informative: My first Erik Larson novel turned out to be quite the educational experience beginning with the significance of the title DEAD WAKE.....the disturbance (or track) a torpedo leaves behind on the water in route to its destination....and, I also now know that of the Lusitania's 1,959 passengers and crew on board May 7, 1915, (nearly 100 years ago) only 764 survived...600 were never found and 123 American's were among the dead. (three German stowaways also perished) Interesting: Larson's Informative: My first Erik Larson novel turned out to be quite the educational experience beginning with the significance of the title DEAD WAKE.....the disturbance (or track) a torpedo leaves behind on the water in route to its destination....and, I also now know that of the Lusitania's 1,959 passengers and crew on board May 7, 1915, (nearly 100 years ago) only 764 survived...600 were never found and 123 American's were among the dead. (three German stowaways also perished) Interesting: Larson's work of non-fiction captures the day-to-day activities of various passengers as well as the Lusitania's competent and brave Captain William Thomas Turner and the aggressive, villaneous German predator of the U-20 submarine, Captain Walther Schwieger who repeatedly targeted innocent passenger liners and merchant ships to destruction. Maddening: As you will see, there were many variables that could have changed history and averted this horrific disaster..... (view spoiler) [ departure delays....fog....orders for reduction in speed....lack of a naval escort thru known dangerous waters....the recalled rescue ship so close at hand, and....worst of all, the Room 40 cover-ups that could have saved so many lives. I found it maddening that Captain Turner ended up being the scapegoat when obviously the British Admiralty held a greater degree of fault. (hide spoiler) ] I was also left with a rather disappointing opinion of President Wilson (view spoiler) [ for waiting two long years to take evasive action against Germany even after numerous ships were attacked with American lives lost. (hide spoiler) ] While an extremely enlightening and educational read in many respects, I did not feel much of a connection to the characters or the distress and panic of the moment....there was almost a calmness in the telling. Anyway, still a GREAT historical read that I would highly recommend! 4.5 Stars Shelves: non-fiction , giveaways , united-kingdom , germany , war , history , travel , oceania , own , top-picks-read-in-2015 , catastrophic-events , award-winner “As I began reading into the subject, and digging into archives in America and Britain, I found myself intrigued . . . In short, I was hooked.” Most everything I knew about the Lusitania/WWI (gleaned from public school and collegian textbooks) has turned out to be watered down half-truths, at best. After reading “Dead Wake” I could almost hear Paul Harvey saying, with a nod of approval: “Now you know the rest of the story.” “Dead Wake,” is phenomenally superb! It’s captivating, insightful, atmos “As I began reading into the subject, and digging into archives in America and Britain, I found myself intrigued . . . In short, I was hooked.” Most everything I knew about the Lusitania/WWI (gleaned from public school and collegian textbooks) has turned out to be watered down half-truths, at best. After reading “Dead Wake” I could almost hear Paul Harvey saying, with a nod of approval: “Now you know the rest of the story.” “Dead Wake,” is phenomenally superb! It’s captivating, insightful, atmospheric riveting, objectively intelligent, easily digestible, and extremely well-written. And I love Larson’s inclusion of unique Who’s Who nuggets and investigative style: “The ships were full of cadets. Hook, one of them, was fifteen years old and assigned to the Hogue. The ships were old and slow, and so clearly at risk that within Britain’s Grand Fleet they bore the name “the live-bait squadron.” Hook – who in later life would indeed be promoted to Captain Hook – was in his bunk, asleep, when at 6:20 A. M. he was awakened by “a violent shaking” of his hammock.” Whose interests were best served by sinking the Lusitania? Which top official put as much (or more) effort into writing love letters as speeches? Did you know irreplaceable art and literary works were aboard the ship? How many torpedoes did it take to sink the massive luxury liner? Could the Lusitania have been fired upon by mistake based on size and silhouette? Have you ever heard of secreted room 40? Do you think a newspaper warning could have saved lives? Who knew, Christ was on the passenger’s manifest? Whether you’re an intense scholarly type or simply a “curious-minds-want-to-know” reader, this book delivers: Mystery-thriller – Investigative non-fiction – War games – Politics – Human interest stories – Drama – Espionage - Who’s Who of the early 1900’s and the headlines they made. A prominent passenger, Elbert Hubbard was “one of the most famous men in America – the soap salesman turned author.” He coined aphorisms still popular today. “A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” After reading this book, that’s quite a thought-provoking adage, in more ways than one. From stem to stern I was captivated by “Dead Wake” – a stellar five-star top pick for 2015. It took me longer than usual to read it, but only because of my personal time constraints this past week. Otherwise, I would have devoured it in three-days – it’s that captivating! I would like to thank Erik Larson, Crown Publishing, and Goodreads; I received this ARC directly from the publisher, free, through Goodreads First-Reads giveaways, with the expectation of writing a fair and honest review. And I would like to make note: the copy I read from was an uncorrected proof, and despite maps, charts, photographs being absent from this proof - it was extremely well formatted, documented, and flawless - not a single typo. I tip my hat to Larson and his Crown team - you've set set the bar of excellence high! ...more Shelves: non-fiction , plagues-and-disasters , war-world-war-1 , ebook From looking around at the ratings on Goodreads, I'd gotten the impression that Erik Larson's histories are excellent and read like novels. So I was bit disappointed at just how average and tedious I found a lot of his narrative about the final voyage of the Lusitania. As with James Cameron's Titanic, it didn't really get interesting until the boat started to sink. I guess there's a fine line between context and filler, and Larson tended to err on the latter. All in the interest of "setting the s From looking around at the ratings on Goodreads, I'd gotten the impression that Erik Larson's histories are excellent and read like novels. So I was bit disappointed at just how average and tedious I found a lot of his narrative about the final voyage of the Lusitania. As with James Cameron's Titanic, it didn't really get interesting until the boat started to sink. I guess there's a fine line between context and filler, and Larson tended to err on the latter. All in the interest of "setting the scene," of course. But tangents about the contemporary annual sales ritual over men exchanging winter hats for straw boaters is an example of how the actual point of the story got delayed unnecessarily. Oh, that's right. Suspense. No, it didn't really work for me, since a lot of the narrative delaying tactics read like it had been cribbed from a "events that happened in 1915" page on Wikipedia. More irritating than that, however, was the parallel narratives that ran alongside Lusitania's voyage. As the boat makes its way across the ocean and we get long and repeated glimpsed into the daily life of a passenger aboard ship, we switch back and forth between the UB-20 & its commander, Walther Schweiger (absolutely vital); Room 40, the secret British intel unit monitoring the German invasion of the seas (also pretty necessary, though some of the time the diversions didn't really illuminate much of note); and recently-widowed Woodrow Wilson harboring a needy, excruciatingly clingy case of chronic blue balls for the also-widowed Edith Galt. (WHUT.) Perhaps it was to contrast how Wilson was using the country's neutrality to spend more time on personal issues. Or his attention is emblematic of the entire nation's disassociation from the war abroad. I don't know. All I know is that whenever the story went back to Wilson and his pining courtship of Galt (interspersed with meditative car rides and daily rounds of golf), I rolled my eyes, immediately checked the "__ minutes left in chapter" gauge, and read as fast as I could. The device seemed to mimic the cross-cutting edit technique used by D.W. Griffith, especially in Intolerance, zipping back and forth between different players to ramp up the tension as the climax builds and unfolds, but I didn't find it as cinematically compelling on the page. There's a soapy, trashy novel by David Butler called, unsurprisingly enough, Lusitania . I read it well over 15 years ago, so I can't vouch that it was as awesome as my memory tells me it was. However, I've forgotten scores of books and authors I've read in that time, but that one has lingered. No doubt I'll re-read it to get my cruise liner disaster trash groove on. One memorable moment in Larson's recounting was that one female passenger (and two others) got sucked down into a funnel as the boat submerged and was ejected as pressure changed, covered in soot and nearly naked. Funnily enough, that is one detail from Butler's novel that has always stuck with me. I wondered if it was really true because it seemed so outlandish. Apparently so. I originally rounded up my 3.5 rating, but after letting it percolate for awhile, I'm rounding it down. It really wasn't anything overwhelmingly special. Shelves: disasters , voyages , world-war-i , wilson Book 1 for 2016. Erik Larson strikes again only this time with the speed and grace of a scythe. Tackling a not that well-known maritime incident, he takes us right into the cauldron of this major event of both United States and World History albeit looking at it from a myriad of different viewpoints in a sort of Rashomon-type retelling of the sinking of the Lusitania, the impetus for America's belated entry into the Great War. Taking place just three years after that other "night to remember" when Book 1 for 2016. Erik Larson strikes again only this time with the speed and grace of a scythe. Tackling a not that well-known maritime incident, he takes us right into the cauldron of this major event of both United States and World History albeit looking at it from a myriad of different viewpoints in a sort of Rashomon-type retelling of the sinking of the Lusitania, the impetus for America's belated entry into the Great War. Taking place just three years after that other "night to remember" when yet another great liner sunk quickly below the waves, our story begins in the last days of April, 1915 at the outset of what would turn out to be the 201st (and final) transatlantic crossing of the Cunard liner Lusitania. Setting the scene of actual world events as the ship leaves New York harbor, Larson delves deep into the complex back stories of not only the ship's captain but the German submarine commander who would ultimately end up being the person responsible for firing the torpedo that inflicted the fatal blow to the ship itself. Various passengers aboard the Lusitania are described (some at great lengths) and even the relationships of world leaders such as a very young Winston Churchill and United States President Woodrow Wilson are studied in depth as to their roles within the greater story itself. At times somewhat disjointed, the story itself is told at a brisk enough pace to keep the reader interested and the pages turning at a fast clip. Most chapters are three to four pages in length. Unlike the Titanic disaster, with the Lusitania my interest was never quite piqued enough to actually care/have feelings for the passengers and crew of the ship. Thus my reason for not a full five star rating. I went away certainly feeling bad for what they had to go through, but my heartstrings were not as pulled as much as when certain EdwardIan era individuals suddenly find themselves adjusting to the fact that life itself may be over and they may very well find themselves trying to stay both alive and afloat in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. Here the time from impact to sinking was a mere eighteen minutes. The Titanic's death rattles went on for a little over two hours. However, I found the exposition on the lead up and background to World War One and the detailed description of the German submarine leadership and it's role/part in the war absolutely fascinating. In conclusion, I strongly believe that this will be the book that will be the definitive one on this tragedy for years to come. Very well done Mr. Larson. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 2015. ...more Driving back from a vacation to Tampa Bay followed by having to mow my lawn after 10 days away allowed me to finish this 13 hour audiobook in about 24 hours. Also, it is a Scott Brick audio which is a huge bonus! Larson does it again with an intriguing look into a major event in history. It is well researched and he does a great job integrating other anecdotes of the time to create a picture of America before they joined WWI and the antagonism between England and Germany early on during the war. W Driving back from a vacation to Tampa Bay followed by having to mow my lawn after 10 days away allowed me to finish this 13 hour audiobook in about 24 hours. Also, it is a Scott Brick audio which is a huge bonus! Larson does it again with an intriguing look into a major event in history. It is well researched and he does a great job integrating other anecdotes of the time to create a picture of America before they joined WWI and the antagonism between England and Germany early on during the war. While I think this book would be best appreciated by someone with an interest in history, there is enough going on here that I think some may be surprised at how much they enjoy it. I will say that even though I did only listen to it, I think some may take in the historical details better listening than reading (kinda like watching and being fascinated by a show on the History channel about something you never thought would interest you) ...more Shelves: reviewed , groups-buddies , gr-a , non-fiction , history , 1-also-at-lt The spoilers below really are spoilers, so don’t read them if you haven’t read the book but think that you might someday read it and you dislike spoilers. I was interested in the topic (for decades I’ve been interested in the Titanic) and knew I’d previously enjoyed books by this author so I was excited to read the book as an informal buddy read in my favorite Goodreads group. I wasn’t disappointed. I could have assigned this book 5 stars, or maybe even 3, so I went with 4 stars. I love this aut The spoilers below really are spoilers, so don’t read them if you haven’t read the book but think that you might someday read it and you dislike spoilers. I was interested in the topic (for decades I’ve been interested in the Titanic) and knew I’d previously enjoyed books by this author so I was excited to read the book as an informal buddy read in my favorite Goodreads group. I wasn’t disappointed. I could have assigned this book 5 stars, or maybe even 3, so I went with 4 stars. I love this author’s writing style; his nonfiction books are great for readers who think they don’t enjoy nonfiction. I also appreciate how his nonfiction is 100% factual. For instance, what is in quotes was really said or written, and he does extensive research. I recommend if reading this book going in as ignorant as possible and resisting urges to do research until after finishing the book – even looking up maps, deck plans, and definitely people provided spoilers I’d rather have done without. I still really enjoyed the book. Re the non-fiction, I’d read a lot outside that book that didn’t make it into the book. I suspect that information didn’t pass muster with the author. He writes at the end how there is a lot of misinformation out there about the Lusitania. But the map provided is not at all sufficient. I would have appreciated more maps and images, including photographs. I got those in the other two books I’ve read so far by this author. If all this had been included I wouldn't have felt such a strong urge to do further research outside the book and wouldn’t have found out more than I wanted to know. At 39% through the book I stopped looking up information and just read the rest of the book. The book read quickly and easily and completely held my interest. I appreciated that so much general history of the era was covered. I got a much better sense of historical figures as people (President Wilson, Winston Churchill, etc.) and enjoyed the cameos (Hitler and Captain Von Trapp, etc.); it did give me insight into the time and the Lusitania’s place within that time and place(s). However, by the end of the book I wasn’t completely satisfied by how it all worked. For some people/events it felt as though there was not enough and for others too much. I did care a great deal about most of the people the reader gets to know. There was great suspense. I felt as though I got a good feel for how it must have felt to be involved. I liked all the details; it helped me understand everyone and everything. I was surprised at (view spoiler) [ how calm people seemed, how accepting, and also surprised that for several people this sinking was not their first shipwreck. I can’t imagine getting back on a ship if I’d gone through the trauma of surviving something like this, though some did even after this sinking. I knew that when the Titanic sunk there were new rules put in place about having enough lifeboats and life vests for all people on board. Well that sure didn’t work well. I’m assuming they learned even more from the Lusitania and future sinkings too. (hide spoiler) ] I felt infuriated by this event, as there were so many ways it could have been prevented, and I think that there was plenty of blame to go around. (view spoiler) [ Obviously, this particular U20 submarine commander and the German’s enthusiasm/willingness to kill women and children take the most blame. Churchill and English didn’t come across so well either, to me. The communication mishaps from Room 40 were also inexplicable to me. I don’t blame Captain Turner. It’s a miracle he survived given that he did stay with his ship. (hide spoiler) ] It’s a very sad story, but there is humor, and I didn’t find most of it depressing. One person who was depressed anyway, in a way I found those parts harder to read than reading about the actual tragedy. The kids were hard to read about, and because I got invested in the characters early on, I correctly guessed that it would be difficult to read about what happened after the ship was attacked. The book proper goes through only page 359. That’s all I’ve read so far and all I’d planned to read, until darn it re the author, the last line of page 359 has me about to read the notes, or at least skim and read them. They go from pages 361-410. (Pages 411-418 is the index.) For any reader interested in the Lusitania, this is the book I’d recommend, at least as the first book. ...more Shelves: history , international-book-club , read2016 I've kind of missed the boat so far (har harrrr, oh come on, I couldn't resist) but this is the first book I've read by Erik Larson. And I only ended up reading it because it is the final pick of the season for my in-person book club. I put it off for a while but ended up breezing through, using the approach I take with most histories - read the bits carefully that I'm interested in and skim those I am not. Those I am not: -transcripts of military commands -Woodrow Wilson's depression and dating I've kind of missed the boat so far (har harrrr, oh come on, I couldn't resist) but this is the first book I've read by Erik Larson. And I only ended up reading it because it is the final pick of the season for my in-person book club. I put it off for a while but ended up breezing through, using the approach I take with most histories - read the bits carefully that I'm interested in and skim those I am not. Those I am not: -transcripts of military commands -Woodrow Wilson's depression and dating life (if this were the focus of a novel, I'd probably be really into it, but since his actions and emotions have absolutely zero to do with what happens on or to the Lusitania, I don't know what the author was thinking.... if this was a World War I book, it might make more sense... but like Bryan A. says in his review, this is a book about a ship and its demise, a la Titanic) Those I am: -quotes and summaries of individual narratives the author found during his research. I wanted more of this. He had access to amazing materials and sometimes used only a part of a sentence. I will never see the Sound of Music the same, having read Captain von Trapp's views of killing people in war (and of course, he was on the other side! So long, hero.) -Stories of the people on the ship and all those fun happenstances... Alfred Vanderbilt not going on the Titanic despite having a ticket, and then dying on the Lusitania (by the way, the Vanderbilt Estate in Asheville, NC had an interesting exhibit about the Vanderbilts and the Titanic yet I do not remember them mentioning this key detail!) - this is one example of many, and as far as this book is almost like a gossip mag, these bits were the juiciest. Outside of the research, the writing has some great moments, where I can picture Larson typing a sentence and feeling proud of it. For me, this can be sustaining as a reader who more often reads fiction. The only one I marked is "When he came back to the surface, he found himself in an archipelago of destruction and death." This is likely going to be a good discussion in my book club, so I may have more to say at that point. ...more Shelves: 5-star-reads , history-and-biography , world-war-one , twenty-first-century I have sometimes found reading non-fiction to be a chore, even when I'm very interested in the subject. Reading Erik Larson is a pleasure. He has the ability to tell his story in a very smooth style - almost fiction-like - and he gave me a good understanding of the time period. There is plenty of detail, but I never felt it was in the least tedious. First we see the passengers preparing to board Lusitania in New York, where the departure was an event for both passengers and shore bound - even tho I have sometimes found reading non-fiction to be a chore, even when I'm very interested in the subject. Reading Erik Larson is a pleasure. He has the ability to tell his story in a very smooth style - almost fiction-like - and he gave me a good understanding of the time period. There is plenty of detail, but I never felt it was in the least tedious. First we see the passengers preparing to board Lusitania in New York, where the departure was an event for both passengers and shore bound - even those on shore who knew no one leaving. Steamship travel used to be the way of travel in and out of Ketchikan, so I knew from some of the old-timers that going to meet the steamer was part of life here - the same sort of event as the 1914 departure of this great ship. During the voyage itself, we get to know some of the passengers. We also get to know the captain of the U-20 submarine and intelligence operatives in a secret room at the British Admiralty. Additionally, we spend time with President Woodrow Wilson, both in his steadfast desire for the US to remain neutral, and in his wooing of Edith Galt. This is extensively researched, but we aren't troubled with footnotes. Still, there are over 40 pages of notes following the text, easily followed with page numbers for reference. Also included are 8 pages of bibliography, including personal papers from archives in the US and United Kingdom, as well as numerous periodicals and books. This is simply excellent! Shelves: history-historical , non-fiction , world-war-1 , arc , read-in-2015 , favorite-authors , ships-n-shit Once in a while I hear from readers who claim they do not like to read nonfiction. Often they claim that it is boring to read a story when you already know what will happen. Where is the suspense? With his latest work, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania , Erik Larson has proven that he is one of those few talented authors who can tell such a story, a story of tragedy and loss, and do it in such a way that for a few seconds the reader almost believes that it might end differently. His na Once in a while I hear from readers who claim they do not like to read nonfiction. Often they claim that it is boring to read a story when you already know what will happen. Where is the suspense? With his latest work, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania , Erik Larson has proven that he is one of those few talented authors who can tell such a story, a story of tragedy and loss, and do it in such a way that for a few seconds the reader almost believes that it might end differently. His narrative skill is such that the reader finds himself watching the magnificent liner approach through a periscope knowing that it must change direction and sail away at the last instant. Then we are up on the boat deck of the Lusitania, enjoying the warm blue sky and watching the coast of Ireland slide by in the distance. We stand with the passengers and watch a torpedo as it streaks through the crystal waters and disappears below the edge of the deck thinking, like the passengers, for a brief second that nothing bad could happen in such an idyllic setting. Then the second passes and reader and passenger are wrenched from that scene of pastoral beauty into a Boschian chaos of twisted metal and broken bodies. It is this great storyteller’s ability to take dry words from telegrams, court depositions and government reports and turn them into lenses that we can use to see, and even relive, the past that makes Larson one of the very few authors whose books I would preorder sight unseen. One scene towards the end was described in such poignant detail that it engaged all of my senses. As President Woodrow Wilson drove to the Capitol to ask Congress for a declaration or war, A spring rain fell, soft and fragrant; the streets gleamed from the ornate lamps along Pennsylvania Avenue. The dome of the Capitol was lit for the first time in the building’s history [and] stood in solemn splendor against the dark wet sky. Despite the rain, hundreds of men and women lines the avenue. They removed their hats and watched with somber expressions as the president passed slowly in his car, surrounded by soldiers on horseback, as clear a sign as any of what was to come. Larson’s other books, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America and Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History ; reside in a place of honor on my bookshelf. Now they will be joined by ‘Dead Wake’. Now all that remains is to wonder what historic gem will spark his curiosity next. *Quotations are cited from an advanced reading copy and may not be the same as appears in the final published edition. The review book was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no impact on the content of my review. Shelves: to-review , history , non-fiction Erik Larson is a master of narrative historical nonfiction. His new release, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, is slated to release March 2015 coinciding with the anniversary of the tragic sinking of the ship. The book examines the curious circumstances surrounding the luxury ocean liner’s fate. In the middle of World War I, the Lusitania, a British luxury ocean liner made its ill-fated voyage from New York City to waters near Ireland in 1915 despite warnings about German interferenc Erik Larson is a master of narrative historical nonfiction. His new release, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, is slated to release March 2015 coinciding with the anniversary of the tragic sinking of the ship. The book examines the curious circumstances surrounding the luxury ocean liner’s fate. In the middle of World War I, the Lusitania, a British luxury ocean liner made its ill-fated voyage from New York City to waters near Ireland in 1915 despite warnings about German interference. On board were American, Irish and British citizens, including many children. Its captain, Thomas Turner, confident in the ship’s speed and “gentlemanly strictures of warfare," sailed on. A German U-boat silently tracked the ship. The rest is history. Most of us think we know this story. After you read Dead Wake, you will learn secrets never before revealed. Larson’s book is a high-intensity page-turner, written not just as history, but also as mystery and several human-interest stories. How did US President Woodrow Wilson’s personal life affect his reaction to the tragedy? Was a conspiracy involved between Britain and Germany? How long did it take for the United States to decide that the deaths of Americans on-board called for US involvement in the war? Dead Wake is an important read, not just because of its content. Larson’s sensitive treatment of persons involved draws the reader into the emotion before and after the incident. The pace of the story is thrilling. Copious notes and references document the amount of research used for this book. Don’t miss this propulsive and compulsive contribution to World War I history. It comes highly recommended for all history and maritime lovers. LibraryThing supplied the advance reader’s copy for my unbiased review. Shelves: history-ww-i I found Mr. Larson’s latest book a very readable look at one of the seminal events of the First World War. In telling the story of the sinking of the Cunard Liner Lusitania, the author tells the story from many viewpoints, from the bridge of both the Lusitania herself and the U boat that fired the fatal torpedo, to various passengers and crew and even the British Admiralty and Washington DC. Mr. Larson even looks at the attitudes of the President Wilson and what he was preoccupied with at the ti I found Mr. Larson’s latest book a very readable look at one of the seminal events of the First World War. In telling the story of the sinking of the Cunard Liner Lusitania, the author tells the story from many viewpoints, from the bridge of both the Lusitania herself and the U boat that fired the fatal torpedo, to various passengers and crew and even the British Admiralty and Washington DC. Mr. Larson even looks at the attitudes of the President Wilson and what he was preoccupied with at the time. The author does an excellent job of telling just what it was like aboard a WW I submarine on patrol and the hardships the crew endured, both in just living and in fighting the boat. Between unreliable torpedoes, the difficulty in keeping the sub in trim, the lack of water, fuel oil in everything, and the very crowded conditions, I felt that these scenes were some of the best of the book. In telling the story of what was happening on the Lusitania herself, Mr. Larson focuses on her Captain, William Turner and first class passengers, Charles Lauriat – a book seller and Theodate Pope – one of the few female architects at the time and a spiritualist. In telling their stories, he makes them come alive. For example, Mr. Laureit had with him a first edition of Dickens’ ”A Christmas Carol” with hand written annotations by Dickens himself and several Thackeray illustrations. As to Capt Turner, he did not like the social aspect of his job and Cunard line appointed a “Staff Captain” to assume many of those responsibilities. Also, in spite of his being one of Cunard best Captains, his record was not spotless. He had been deemed responsible for a collision with another ship as a young master. In a separate incident, had run his ship aground. The treatment of Capt Turner after the sinking also foreshadows the fate of another Captain in a different war who had his ship torpedoed – Capt McVay of the USS Indianapolis. Mr. Larson subscribes to the theory that the British Gov’t actively attempted to make Capt Turner the scape goat for the disaster. I thought Mr. Larson did an admirable job of telling of the chaos that was happing on the Liner after she was struck. While there were more than enough lifeboats to accommodate all those on board, the story of problems with those boats is really well told. After she was struck, the Lusitania developed such a severe list, that the lifeboats were extremely difficult to enter and launch – the ones on the starboard side were as much as 8 feet from the side of the ship – almost impossible to load, while those of the port side were jammed up against her side and unable to be lowered, plus many of the crew who were supposed to man and lower them were most likely killed in the torpedo explosion. One other aspect that I found very interesting was the work of the Royal Navy’s code breaking team. In something the foretells the efforts of Benchley Park in WW II, the navy had broken the German Naval codes and were reading all the radio traffic between the U-Boats and their HQ. Thus, the Navy had a very good idea of where all the German U-Boats were and who their Captains were. In spite of this, the Lusitania was not given any specific warnings that the U-20 was operating in the area. Finally a couple of things I didn’t particularly care for – the first is the story of Pres Wilson’s courting of his second wife. Other than the fact it was going on during the same time frame, it really didn’t seem germane to the story and could have easily been omitted without any detriment to the story. The second is that Mr. Larson makes no effort to explain the cause of the secondary explosion the sealed the Lusitania’s fate or for that matter present different theories. He does mention it and even states it came approximately 30 seconds, one of the passengers was timing it, after the impact of the torpedo, but that’s it. All in all a very entertaining and engrossing read – 4 stars. Dec 14, 2016 Otis Chandler rated it really liked it Recommended to Otis by: Eric Franklin Another hard to put down nonfiction book from Erik Larson. I really enjoyed this book - mostly to learn more about submarine warfare in WWI, but also to learn about the history of the time. How America entered the war, the importance of shipping to England, the ruthlessness and autonomy of German u-boat commanders. Larson also did a great job of layering in interesting historical info (though he overdid it too a little bit). One of the dramas of the story of the Lusitania that Larson focuses on i Another hard to put down nonfiction book from Erik Larson. I really enjoyed this book - mostly to learn more about submarine warfare in WWI, but also to learn about the history of the time. How America entered the war, the importance of shipping to England, the ruthlessness and autonomy of German u-boat commanders. Larson also did a great job of layering in interesting historical info (though he overdid it too a little bit). One of the dramas of the story of the Lusitania that Larson focuses on is if the British wanted the Lusitania to be sunk, to help draw America into the war. His conclusion seems to be that was the case, though there isn't conclusive evidence. Before the Lusitania sank, very few Americans had died in the war, and there were hundreds of Americans on the boat when it sank, which definitely helped change America's attitude. And even then, it took 2 years after it sank for America's troops to arrive. "the most likely explanation is that there was indeed a plot, however imperfect, to endanger the Lusitania in order to involve the United States in the war." Some of my favorite details from the book were simply about what it took to navigate a u-boat in WW1. For instance: "In this day before sonar, a submarine traveled utterly blind, trusting entirely in the accuracy of sea charts. One great fear of all U-boat men was that a half-sunk derelict or an uncharted rock might lie in their path." Which is crazy! Plus, the torpedoes weigh 3 thousand pounds each, so a boat could only carry ~7, and their failure rate was something like 60%. Also, they had limited fuel and operated only on batteries when submerged so they could only stay underwater for limited amounts of time. Given all this, trying to operate a u-boat to sink other boats is a pretty dangerous sounding game of chess. But they certainly had an effect on the war - at one point Britain estimated it would have to surrender in 3 months if it didn't get more supplies. There were a lot of interesting details from the era that Larson wove in that was interesting as well. Stuff like the fact that Ouija boards were commonplace in American households , straw hat day . My main critique is that it had a few too many irrelevant details - about various passengers or what happened the day the boat left dock - and stuff like that - felt a bit padded in that respect. But overall, a great read. Shelves: history , non-fiction , military , ww1 , naval , library In Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania , Erik Larson accomplishes a rare feat, a suspenseful non-fiction history book. We all know what is to happen, Lusitania is sunk (sorry to spoil it for you). Larson leads us through a day-by-day account of the hunter, Unterseeboot-20, and the prey. There are so many potential alternative branches that would have negated the rendezvous and you find yourself wishing either Captain would take one. Alas, over 1,000 people will die off the coast of Irel In Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania , Erik Larson accomplishes a rare feat, a suspenseful non-fiction history book. We all know what is to happen, Lusitania is sunk (sorry to spoil it for you). Larson leads us through a day-by-day account of the hunter, Unterseeboot-20, and the prey. There are so many potential alternative branches that would have negated the rendezvous and you find yourself wishing either Captain would take one. Alas, over 1,000 people will die off the coast of Ireland on a beautiful day. The account of the actual sinking is spell-binding. Before we get to the end, you will meet all sorts of interesting people, some to survive and others not. Larson brings them to life with much detail, making the end all the more tragic to read. I found his explanation of the U-boat life very instructive. Life aboard a sub was no fun. But the weapon was so new, the submariners were heroes back home and that ensured a steady stream of volunteers. Larson does a fair job at explaining the rules of engagement, tactics and the evolution to unrestricted warfare. The military men understand that a weapon is going to be employed for maximum effect and not restrained. Even First Sea Lord Jackie Fisher did not blame the Germans for how they employed the subs. Others had different opinions on surprise torpedo attacks: (view spoiler) [The Admiralty received dozens of messages reporting submarine sightings, most false, but still unsettling. An Irish policeman claimed to have spotted three U-boats traveling together up the River Shannon, an unlikely scenario. Off England’s east coast a steamer picked up an unexploded torpedo floating in the sea, with markings that identified it as belonging to U-22, a sister to Schwieger’s submarine. Off the southeast tip of Italy a young Austrian U-boat commander named Georg von Trapp, later to gain eternal renown when played by Christopher Plummer in the film The Sound of Music, fired two torpedoes into a large French cruiser, the Leon Gambetta. The ship sank in nine minutes, killing 684 sailors “So that’s what war is like” von Trapp wrote in a later memoir. He told his chief officer, “We are like highway men, sneaking up on an unsuspecting ship in such a cowardly fashion.” Fighting in a trench or aboard a torpedo boat would have been better, he said. “There you hear shooting, hear your comrades fall, you hear the wounded groaning—you become filled with rage and can shoot men in self defense or fear, at an assault you can even yell! But we! Simply cold-blooded to drown a mass of men in an ambush!” (hide spoiler) ] The process of navigating, submerging, attacking, escaping and general operation is covered nicely. It is also enlightening to see how tough it was to make an attack. The attack on the Lusitania was pure luck in how it happens. It probably should not have happened if the intelligence had been better used. You will learn all about the forerunner of WWII’s Ultra operation. WWI had Room 40 where German messages were broken because the British had the code books. Very informative! Room 40 kept close watch on U-20. The boat’s frequent use of wireless provided rich detail about its course and speed. At 2:00 P M on Friday, April 30, the submarine reported its location. Two hours later, it did so again, and it continued making reports every hour until midnight, and every two hours thereafter until eight o’clock the next morning, Saturday, May 1. There are many conspiracy theories about the sinking of the Lusitania, that it was set up to bring America into the war, that aid was withheld after the ship was torpedoed to make the loss worse, etc. There were solid reasons for many of the actions although some come off as very callous (Churchill for one). Larson explains clearly some of the reasons and clears up gray areas. One thing is lacking, intentionally by Larson. There are no pictures or illustrations. I saw an interview and Larson stated he didn’t want to distract from the narrative by having readers flip back and forth to pictures. But he put a fair amount of detail in the end notes for each chapter and I flipped back and forth for that! I would have liked to have the pictorial details. The parts of the book that were puzzling were the accounts of Woodrow Wilson. We get Wilson’s depression over his wife’s death, his slightly creepy pursuit of Edith Galt and his golfing (almost every day). We learn he didn’t like the newspapers staying on the story of his screening the racist film The Clansman at the White House (the guy was a flaming racist.) Eventually the film is renamed Birth of a Nation because of the furor. But what did this have to do with Lusitania? Maybe Larson was trying to illustrate Wilson’s detachment or lack of focus on the war. Like most people, Larson says he thought the sinking was a proximate cause of the US entry into the war. But it clearly was not. In fact the Brits despair that after every attack on a non-military target, Wilson will send a strong note but nothing else. The Wilson passages were not very germane to the story. Overall a strong 4 Stars, you will not be able to put it down. Shelves: submarines There are some authors who, despite your best intentions, seem to linger upon the to-be-read shelf forever. For me, Erik Larson is one of those authors - I've had a trade paperback edition of The Devil in the White City sitting on that fateful shelf for far too many years now. When I came across the ARC of Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, I knew this would finally be our chance to connect, especially given my fascination with shipwrecks and submarines. This is a lengthy, detailed, i There are some authors who, despite your best intentions, seem to linger upon the to-be-read shelf forever. For me, Erik Larson is one of those authors - I've had a trade paperback edition of The Devil in the White City sitting on that fateful shelf for far too many years now. When I came across the ARC of Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, I knew this would finally be our chance to connect, especially given my fascination with shipwrecks and submarines. This is a lengthy, detailed, in-depth narrative exploration of historic events. As such, the pacing (at least at first glance) seems a little odd - it takes 140 pages for the Lusitania to leave port, and 250 pages for it to begin sinking. The story is almost Dickensian in the way Larson spends so many pages talking about minor characters and their stories, but that's part of its appeal. It's those passengers, crew, politicians, and more who bring the Lusitania to life, who humanize the tragedy, and who make us care about a ship that sank 100 years ago. If you thought you knew the story of the Lusitania - sunk by a German U-boat, propelling the US into WWII - then prepare to be surprised. There were so many circumstances and events on both sides of the Atlantic that set the stage for such a tragedy that it's sometimes hard to believe. If this were a fictional novel, few would ever buy into the sequence of coincidences, and even fewer would ever believe that officials could be so obtuse and callous in their decisions. If there's such a thing as destiny, then the Lusitania was certainly destined to sink. It's a story that casts an uncomfortable shadow on people like President Wilson and Winston Churchill, and an equally uncomfortable sort of light on the German U-boat commanders. It humanizes everyone, makes you regret the weaknesses and distractions of the 'good' guys, and makes you sympathize (at least a little) with some of the 'bad' guys. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania is a story that vindicates Captain William Thomas Turner, a man who was excessively demonized and portrayed as an incompetent coward in order to isolate officials from blame, and to protect state secrets. It all comes back to those callous decisions. Had they released just one piece of precious information, given Turner just one single line of advice or warning, nearly 1200 lives would unquestionably been saved. It's not just a matter of "what if?" but more a matter of "if only." It's also a story that casts some doubt on history's portrayal of Captain Walther Schwieger as a cold-blooded murder, letting us experience the tragedy from his unique perspective at the periscope. Larson is unquestionably fair in his portrayal of the German U-boat captain, putting blame squarely on his shoulders, but also allowing some cracks to show in his stoic exterior - especially as he watches the silent catastrophe from beneath the water, and then chooses to silently turn for home, rather than fire a second shot. While it's a long time coming, the actual sinking of the Lusitania is as chilling for the circumstances as for the behavior of the passengers. Larson shows us faces of unimaginable calm in the face of impending danger, with casual conversations and lazy movements contrasted against the speed with which the ship listed and sank. There's so much 'prim and proper' going on that it'd comical, were we not already aware of their fates. At the same time, he puts us right into the heart of chaos and confusion, with heartbreaking scenes of horror and tragedy - such as when a passenger forces a lifeboat to be prematurely launched, crushing the passenger and drowning those on board. It's an experience even darker than that of the Titanic sinking, with passengers worried not just about the cold and the water, but also terrified that the U-boat might still be within range to begin shooting survivors. Utterly fascinating, and more than a little sickening to realize how much could (and should) have been done to save so many lives Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania is a must-read for history buffs and literary fiction lovers alike. They say truth is stranger than fiction, and the sad tale of this great ocean liner proves that once again. Shelves: wwi , read-in-2015 , nonfiction Read anything by Erik Larson, and you know that he wants to not only give you a balanced, detailed historical account from many perspectives, but he wants to make it fascinating for the reader by recountingthe true experiences of the people who were there. From President Wilson to the ship captains down to the children on board, we learn their stories. Larson has a formulafor writing these books, and itworks. Here, for me at least, once I was past page 100, I was hooked--waiting for the German U Read anything by Erik Larson, and you know that he wants to not only give you a balanced, detailed historical account from many perspectives, but he wants to make it fascinating for the reader by recounting the true experiences of the people who were there. From President Wilson to the ship captains down to the children on board, we learn their stories. Larson has a formula for writing these books, and it works. Here, for me at least, once I was past page 100, I was hooked--waiting for the German U-boat to strike the passenger / munitions carrier, The Lusitania. Yes that's right, they put tons of ammo in the belly of a PASSENGER ship because it was a convenient, if not sly, way to get it to England where it was badly needed. As in his The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America , where a serial killer lurks in the background waiting to strike, the German sub is always on the watch for its next opportunity, for an enemy boat to sink. It's the same Hunter vs Hunted theme in a nutshell. In hindsight, of course, we see so many poor decisions made, so many questionable actions too. Why didn't the English give The Lusitania an escort as it approached amid knowledge that the Germans were in the area? Why didn't they warn them or divert them to a different route? Negligence, or conspiracy? A little long winded at times, it is packed with facts and entertainment value as well. ...more	RMS Lusitania
Named for the developer of the steel plow, what Moline, Il. company is the largest producer of agricultural machinery in the world?	Business: THE GUNS OF AUGUST:THE FIRST WORLD WAR By the burnt unraftered mill And the relic of a bridge The warning read: "NOTICE! Travellers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or any of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that travellers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk. IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 22, 1915." Captain Dow, the Lusitania captain immediately before Captain Turner, resigned on March 8, 1915 because he was no longer willing "to carry the responsibility of mixing passengers with munitions or contraband."4 Captain Dow had a close call just two days earlier and was aware the rules of naval warfare changed in October 1914 when Churchill issued orders that British merchant ships with munitions or contraband must ram U-boats. Prior to this change by Churchill, both England and Germany adhered to Cruiser Rules. Cruiser Rules enabled crews and passengers to escape in lifeboats before being fired on. With the new Churchill ram rules, the German U-boats could no longer surface to issue a warning and fired while submerged. Churchill explained his ruthlessness with: "The first British countermove, made on my responsibility...was to deter the Germans from surface attack. The submerged U-boat had to rely increasingly on underwater attack and thus ran the greater risk of mistaking neutral for British ships and of drowning neutral crews and thus embroiling Germany with other Great Powers."5 The above combined with the next Churchill quote speaks volumes about what really happened and why. "There are many kinds of maneuvers in war...There are maneuvers in time, in diplomacy, in mechanics, in psychology; all of which are removed from the battlefield, but react often decisively upon it...The maneuver which brings an ally into the field is as serviceable as that which wins a great battle."6 Operation Lusitania On May 7, 1915, the Lusitania slowed to 75% speed hoping the English escort vessel the Juno would arrive. Unknown to Captain Turner of the Lusitania, Winston Churchill had ordered the Juno to return to port. Churchill’s order left the Lusitania alone and unprotected in a known area with U boats. To put this in perspective, England had deciphered the German communications code onDecember 14, 1914. The level of detail known by the British Admiralty was so precise that U boat names and general locations were known. For example, the British Admiralty knew U-30 left the area for Germany on May 4th and the U-27 left the area because of jammed blow planes.7 In a 1981 book, Seven Days to Disaster: The Sinking of the Lusitania by Des Hickey and Gus Smith, they reported that one of the crewmen on the U-20 responsible for passing the order to fire to the torpedo room was Charles Voegele. Voegele refused to kill civilians of a neutral country, and upon returning to Germany was court-martialed and imprisoned for three years. One torpedo was fired on May 7 and the warhead's 300 pounds of explosives detonated upon contact with the Lusitania. The Lusitania’s Captain Turner reported the first explosion sounded "like a heavy door being slammed shut" and was followed by a much larger explosion that rocked the ship. Turner wrote in the log "an unusually heavy detonation."8 The Lusitania sunk 15-18 minutes later. WWI German Soldier - 84th Foot Artillery The sentry in the previous group photo has removed his overcoat to reveal the beautiful uniform of a member of the German 84th Foot Artillery. He has discarded his shotgun and carries only a magnificent sword. As he is wearing leather leggings and spurs, it is obvious that he is a mounted member of the artillery. Perhaps he is a driver. He is wearing one glove and jauntily carries the other. His pill box shaped forage cap (Kratzchen) bears two enamelled metal cockades. If you view this photograph in the largest size, you will see that the sentry (like the Medic in the other pictures) is wearing delicate Pinz Nez glasses. This photograph is one of a set of three WWI photos taken at the same location in either Strassburg, Germany or somewhere in German-occupied Belgium. The photographer's stamp on the back reads, "Photogr. Dober, Strassburg, Dornengasse 4." However, the person who sold me this photograph believes that a German photographer took the picture in Belgium and later developed it in his studio in Strassburg. On May 28, 1915, Germany's official response to the U.S. government's protest states the German government has no intention to attack U.S. vessels which are not guilty of hostile acts.9 The Imperial German government wrote the Lusitania "was one of the largest and fastest English commerce steamers, constructed with government funds as auxiliary cruisers, and is expressly included in the navy list published by the British Admiralty. It is, moreover, known to the Imperial government from reliable information furnished by its officials and neutral passengers that for some time practically all the more valuable English merchant vessels have been provided with guns, ammunition and other weapons, and reinforced with a crew specially practiced in manning guns. According to reports at hand here, the Lusitania when she left New York undoubtedly had guns on board which were mounted under decks and masked." The official letter from the German government also spells out that the Lusitania had 5,400 cases of ammunition that would be used to kill German soldiers. An exceptionally noteworthy section of the letter states the British merchant marine ships received secret instruction in February by the British Admiralty to seek protection behind neutral flags and when so disguised attack German submarines by ramming them. The German official response that war contraband was on board explains the second explosion.10 Despite British denials, weapon are recovered The banking families involved and Britain's leaders, even a century later, still fear the negative repercussions from Americans when they learn they were tricked into World War I. For decades, the British and American governments have denied that there were weapons on the Lusitania. The site was declared a protective site, denying divers access. To further frustrate the ability to determine what the Lusitania carried, since 1946 the Royal Navy repeatedly dropped depth charges on top of the Lusitania as a site for target practice. In 1968, to keep the truth secret, the British Secret Service unsuccessfully attempted to buy the salvage rights to the Lusitania. In 1993 PBS Online visited the wreck and found previous visitors had tampered with the evidence.11 While the British government aggressively worked to distort the truth, weapons were confirmed in July 2006 when Victor Quirke of the Cork Sub Aqua Club found 15,000 rounds of .303 bullets in the bow section of the ship. On April 2, 2007, Cyber Diver News Network reported the American owner of the Lusitania, F. Gregg Bemis, Jr., won the case to conduct salvage operations almost a century after the sinking. The Arts and Heritage Ministry did not protest the use of the Lusitania as a target for British depth charges but did "help" respect the sanctity of of the site by opposing salvage operations. WWI German Medic and Armed German Sentry An armed German sentry looks sternly on as a German medic examines the papers of a young boy. This photograph is one of a set of three WWI photos taken at the same location in either Strassburg, Germany or somewhere in German-occupied Belgium. The photographer's stamp on the back reads, "Photogr. Dober, Strassburg, Dornengasse 4." However, the person who sold me this photograph believes that the boy's cap might be Belgian military and that a German photographer took the picture in Belgium and later developed it in his studio in Strassburg. The boy is wearing military-like leather leggings, and it is not know if he is an actual member of the military or perhaps a cadet at a military school. [NOTE: ART NAHPRO has solved the mystery as to the location. It is Strassburg. The sentry to the left is not only armed with a sword and wearing spurs, he is also armed with what appears to me might be a shotgun. This would seem to be a strange weapon for a soldier in the Imperial German Army to be carrying, but perhaps it was for riots or crowd control in close quarters. In another picture in this set of three photos, this soldier has taken off his overcoat, and the emblem on his epaulette reveals him to be a member of the German 84th Foot Artillery. The shoulder strap of the Medic on the right indicates that he is assigned to the German 16th Infantry. The medic wears the distinctive red cross armband and is carrying a canteen. The other picture of the medic reveals that he is armed with a holstered pistol on his right side, but it is not visible in this photograph because of the way he is turned. On yet another photograph of this Medic, he is identified as "Karl Rich" on the back of the picture. If this is a guard shack, it certainly is a fancy one. It is embellished with a decorative metal border at the edge of the roof and is topped by a delicate spire adorned with what appear to be metal flowers on wire stems. A pair of graceful planters flank the doorway, and vines from the planters grow up the sides and festoon the top of the doorway. Inside the structure, two graceful rattan chairs and a table can be seen. There is a mat on the floor. Perhaps this is not really a guard shack, but is instead a scenic observation structure from which the city can be viewed. All in all, this is a fascinating set of three WWI photographs, which poses a many, many interesting questions to which we may never know the answers. Mr Putney feels a connection to his ancestor. He is one year younger than Walter (pictured left and right with friends) was when he was conscripted into the war The albums and negatives have been preserved immaculately by Walter's family but they have only now been made public by his great-grandson Dean Putney Mr Putney said the images, such as this one of men carrying heavy artillery and a German soldier posing, are a 'real treasure' Others pictures in the vast collection show the heavy artillery at the disposal of the German Army The smiling early portraits, such as this one left, are gradually replaced by images of devastation and dead soldiers (right) 'Not only did lots of people need to see it, it was something that I needed to spread and share. 'I hope people can get in touch with that understanding - how different life was back then.' Mr Putney said he immediately felt a connection to the pictures of his great-grandfather. At 23, he is just one year younger than his ancestor was when he was conscripted into the war. But they also look strikingly similar. Mr Putney said the album is a 'real treasure' and especially important because it tells the personal story of a German, when most of the photographs that remain are from the Allies' side. The negatives have also been kept and among the collection is a box of more than 100 3D stereographs from the war. Mr Putney, who is currently sharing the images through the Walter Koessler Project Tumblr blog and on Boing Boing, has spent the past two years researching the images. He has even visited France so he can compare some of the photos with how the sites look today. World War One from the OTHER side: Hundreds of fascinating images taken by a GERMAN soldier reveal life in enemy's trenches Walter Koessler took almost 1,000 images while he served in the German Army during the war The images have been perfectly preserved by his descendants in America but were unseen by public Walter's great-grandson Dean Putney has shared them and hopes they 'humanize the war' Is fundraising to turn the unique collection into a photo book in time for next year's 100th anniversary Hundreds of rare images charting one German soldier's experiences of the First World War have been made public for the first time. The rare glimpse into life in the trenches reveals Walter Koessler's journey from the smiles and hopes of signing up to fight, to the stark the reality of war. The poignant album begins with Walter smiling and 'playing at war' with his friends to dead soldiers lying buried in muddy trenches. German officer Walter Koessler's rare collection of photos that have been preserved by his descendants show his devastation of the First World War The unique set of images provide a glimpse into what daily life in the trenches was like for a German officer Pictures such as this one of German soldiers playing cards together next to their trenches 'garden' give an insight into the reality of the boredom, as well as the violence, of warfare He also records for posterity the devastation that was wrought on Europe. Walter took almost 1,000 photos while serving in the Reserve Artillery Battalion and as an aerial photographer. While beautifully preserved by Walter's descendants, the unique window into the war has been hidden in a cupboard for almost a century. However, Walter's great grandson Dean Putney has now launched an ambitious project to share the images and hopes to turn them into a book. Software developer Mr Putney only discovered the album's existence during a Thanks Giving visit to his mother in 2011. He said the day before he was due to return to his home in San Francisco, California, she 'casually' pulled it out to show him. Mr Putney told Mail Online: 'I thought "this is incredible". 'There were hundreds of photos over a century old. 'I am in publishing and spend a lot of time looking at stuff like this. I immediately knew it was something really special that lots of people needed to see. Mr Putney now wants to turn the images into a photo book and is raising money to kickstart the project while sharing images of his great grandfather and friends online The software developer said early photos seem to show the men playing at war and the first sets in the album show them having fun. Pictured, two soldiers wrestle in the snow Towards the end of the album, Walter's images increasingly begin to show the stark realities of the First World War The relaxed early images in the album reflect the initial ease the German Army had in moving across Europe before the stalemate of the trenches Walter Koessler's early pictures show his friends relaxing together and posing for his photographs None of the pictures are annotated so Mr Putney said one of the only clues to the time of year is if there is snow on the ground Walter survived the war and went to have a hugely successful career in Hollywood as an art director. He moved to Los Angeles soon after the Armistice where he worked on the Charlie Chan films and worked for Universal Studios. The family believe he was also the set designer for the classic World War One film, All Quiet On The Western Front. Next year is the 100th anniversary of the start of the war and Mr Putney said the images are a crucial reminder of what life was like for soldiers on both sides of the devastating conflict. Walter had trained as an architect before being conscripted into the German Army. As an aerial photographer, he was one of the first to chart battlefields and help create maps from the air, in biplanes and hot-air balloons. At the beginning of the album, the photographs of him and his friends look like a picture postcard to be sent home. But with every page turned, the reality of the war kicks in and Mr Putney said by 1918 his great-grandfather was a staunch pacifist. Mr Putney has spent the past two years researching the images and has even travelled to France to compare them to the actual sites Because Walter was not an official photographer, his images show a different side to the First World War Mr Putney said the personal images 'humanize a terrible war' and how life was for those fighting on both sides He hopes the project will help people get in touch with First World War and is aptly timed as the 100 anniversary next year Mr Putney said: 'I think that his album and his photos are humazing of this really terrible war. 'He tells a brilliant story. The first pictures are of him and his friends going off to war. 'At the beginning of the album they are almost playing at war - they are swimming in lakes and taking photos. They are almost glamour shots. 'When you reach the middle of the album the aerial shots 'There are pictures of a crashed airplane 'Towards the end of the album you really see his understanding of what they are doing. 'He stops taking photos of his friends. It is pretty much taking photos of destroyed churches, of dead men in the trenches, blown up tanks. 'It's scary stuff. The smiling faces disappear.' Dean Putney is raising funds on Kickstarter to make a photo book. To pledge or for more information visit his page . The poignant images also put faces to just some of the hundreds of thousands of forgotten people who died in the war K-261 to K-301 French Occupation K-302 to K-306 Hitler Putsch and Rebuilding Authentic Karl Goetz productions often have a third side with K.GOETZ on the the edge of the medal. The popular Goetz’s medals were popular instilled national pride in Germany. The Churchhill reproduction of the Lusitania medal was accompanied by war propaganda cartoons, posters, post cards and postage stamps. The "Business Above All" condemns JP Morgan and his work as a frontman for the Rothschilds. Lessons like the French Revolution taught global banking families that a lasting presence requires an ongoing disinformation campaign to conceal their wealth and true nature of their operations. JP Morgan (1837 -1913) partnered with George Peabody who worked with city of London banks including Barings and Rothschilds. In 1845 George Peabody was personally involved in previously secret conspiracies including bribing the famous orator, Daniel Webster, to make speeches supporting debt repayment because Maryland, Pennsylvania and other states terminated interest payments to European banks.15 The expensive terminated interest payments resulted in the creation of American "fronts" for the great banking families of Europe. JP Morgan led what became the largest American banking dynasty. He profited greatly during the Civil War and one scandal involved selling government rifles that he bought from the government for $3.50 back at $22 per rifle. Another profitable trade was selling his personal yacht, the Corsair (shown in the picture to the left), to the U.S. during the Spanish-American War. JP Morgan did not need the Corsair as his interest grew to acquiring larger ships including the White Star Line. In 1934 the White Star Line merged with Cunard and was renamed Cunard White Star Line. In 1950, the company was renamed Cunard Line. JP Morgan's son, JP Morgan, Jr. (1867 - 1943) was a key owner of both the White Star Line and the Cunard White Star Line. JP Morgan, Jr. was a Rothschild frontman when he helped create the Federal Reserve and bring the U.S. into World War I. For example in 1914 he loaned $12,000,000 to Russia and in 1915 he loaned $50,000,000 to France. A key reason beyond preventing terminated interest payments that banking families want "fronts" and "bagmen" is war profiteering sometimes leads to revenge. In 1915, JP Morgan, Jr. was almost murdered by Frank Holt. Holt claimed he wanted to stop the war profiteering that fueled World War I. Holt's condemnation of JP Morgan war profiteering was correct as almost all weapons purchased by the U.S. and Britain were acquired through a JP Morgan company. JP Morgan loans to the Allies in World War I are estimated at $500,000,000.16 In 1857 the Peabody and Morgan American banking partnership was directly influenced by the Bank of England. The Bank of England provided an £800,000 bailout package in return for concessions to curtail competition.17 Over time the Rothschilds acquired stock and gained control. A similar strategy enabled the Rothschilds to take the helm of the Rockefeller flagship, Chase Manhattan. The Rothschilds signaled the Rockefellers were subordinate when in 2000 JP Morgan executives assumed the key management positions of JPMorgan Chase. Today, the lead Rothschild American front man is JPMorgan Chase's chief executive Jamie Dimon. Dimon is ultimately subordinate to N M Rothschild & Sons Limited chairman David de Rothschild. Winston Churchill and Nathan Mayer Rothschild Winston Churchill, when in charge of the Admiralty, worked closely with his benefactor Sir Nathan Mayer Rothschild. There are a few notable Nathan Mayer Rothschilds in history, so the following is provided to prevent confusion. Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1840-1915) was the nephew of Anthony Nathan de Rothschild (1810-1876) who had no sons but was the son of Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777-1836). Nathan Mayer Rothschild was the fourth child of Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812) who founded the Rothschild banking dynasty. Nathan Mayer Rothschild died before the Lusitania sunk and was part of a syndicate with J.P. Morgan working to buy up the North Atlantic shipping lines. His intelligence agents in the U.S. warned that Germany's émigrés to America, absent a Lusitania-like disaster, would be effective at keeping the U.S. out of World War.18 Before his death, "Lord" Nathan Mayer Rothschild had access to the admiralty reports on German naval operations. British Commander Joseph Kenworthy was present in the high-command map room as the Lusitania headed toward a known U-boat position. He had been previously asked by Churchill to write a paper on the political fallout of an ocean liner being sunk and killing American passengers. In 1927 he wrote, The Freedom of the Seas revealing "The Lusitania was sent at considerably reduced speed into an area where a U-boat was known to be waiting and with her escorts withdrawn." Colonel House, meeting with King George V just hours before the Lusitania was sunk, discussed the likely American reaction to the King's question "Suppose they should sink the Lusitania with American passengers on board...."19 The 1915 Lusitania leads to war being declared in 1917 Berlin announced on January 31, 1917 that its submarines would sink all ships aiding Britain. The Berlin announcement, combined with the previous Lusitaniasinking, was still not enough for America to enter the war. The British Intelligence service manufactured another bombshell in the form of a telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmerman to the German Minister to Mexico. The telegram, presented to Woodrow Wilson on February 24, 1917, offered Mexico money to attack the U.S. The numerous British propaganda campaigns ultimately proved successful and on April 6, 1917 the U.S. did declare war on Germany. This technique was used as recently as 2002, when a British intelligence report 20 helped fool Americans that Iraq had weapons of Mass Destruction. How does this relate to current wars? In the 1930s when the identities of the Federal Reserve designers began to surface. On May 23, 1933, Congressman Louis T. McFadden brought formal charges against the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank system, where he accused them of war profiteering. He said: "Some people who think that the Federal Reserve Banks are United States Government institutions. They are private monopolies which prey upon the people of these United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign customers; foreign and domestic speculators and swindlers; and rich and predatory money lender. In that dark crew of financial pirates there are those who would cut a man's throat to get a dollar out of his pocket; there are those who send money into states to buy votes to control our legislatures; there are those who maintain International propaganda for the purpose of deceiving us into granting of new concessions which will permit them to cover up their past misdeeds and set again in motion their gigantic train of crime. These twelve private credit monopolies were deceitfully and disloyally foisted upon this Country by the bankers who came here from Europe and repaid our hospitality by undermining our American institutions. Those bankers took money out of this Country to finance Japan in a war against Russia…Mr. Chairman, there should be no partisanship in matters concerning banking and currency affairs in this Country, and I do not speak with any.”21 On November 21, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt who had been President Woodrow Wilson’s assistant secretary of the Navy, wrote to Colonel House: "The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the Government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson, and I am not wholly excepting the administration of W.W. (Woodrow Wilson). The country is going through a repetition of Jackson's fight with the Bank of the United States -- only on a far bigger broader basis."22 Colonel House knew the truth of the matter because he and his father, Thomas William House, were confidential American agents of banking interests in London believed to be the Rothschilds. Colonel House is famous in history for being the person that selected Woodrow Wilson to be the 1913 Democratic party candidate for president.23 The Federal Reserve private banking cartel enforced by public law was replicated on a global scale with the creation of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).24 The BIS was established by the Hague agreements of 1930 and is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. The privately owned BIS coordinates with 55 member central banks include the Fed. The BIS owners facilitate global monetary control by helping manage Gresham’s Law that bad money drives out good.25 Bad money refers to fiat money that is not backed by assets with value such as money backed by gold or silver. In summary, the people who profit from war make a "killing" The Federal Reserve, evolved as a "front" for European banking families following failed past attempts to seize control of the Bank of the United States and the refusal in 1845 when several states elected to discontinue repaying debt to foreign banks. The European banking families needed their private banking cartel to be enforced by U.S. law and achieved this with their design of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.26 The cycle of debt often starts with selling weapons. Governments go in debt to buy weapons. The weapons manufacturers make money on the sale and the bankers make a financial "killing" on the interest from the weapons-generated debt. The weapon sales accelerate if a government is faced with a perceived or real threat. False reports are produced, often by the hidden hand of war profiteers, to trick the citizens of a country to support the call for war. The country in the world that buys the most weapons is the U.S. To understand how debt is driven up by war today, see the documentary Iraq for Sale .27 Not surprisingly, we are heading toward a cliff due to a privately owned central bank with owners that benefit from military spending. When people understand that without economic justice peace is not possible, a brighter future is possible. WWI Russian Soldiers 1915 The three handsome soldiers in this photograph are all wearing the WWI Imperial Belt Plate of Czarist Russia. There is nothing on Russian military uniforms in my local library, so I can't tell you anything about the units to which they belonged. Perhaps the key to that information is on the back of the photograph in the text written in pencil, which I believe also gives the soldiers' names. Hopefully someone will be able to translate it. It is of interest to note that after the Russian Revolution broke out during the latter part of WWI, many soldiers on the side of the Revolutionists kept their belt plates and continued to wear them, but sanded off or otherwise obliterated the Russian Imperial Eagle. Pre WWI British Soldier and Foxhound with Shamrock A dapper British soldier in tropical kit and holding a silver-headed swagger stick stands posed beside his unit's mascot - a well-fed foxhound sporting a large shamrock badge suspended from its collar. The soldier's pith helmet rests on a stand to the left. There is nothing to give us a clue as to the soldier's regiment except perhaps the shamrock worn by the dog, which might mean that it is an Irish unit. The soldier's shoulder titles are not visible, and he does not have on any collar badges. There is some sort of sleeve badge above his long service stripes, but it is impossible to tell what it is. His pith helmet is facing forward so that the identifying flash on the side of its pugaree band is not visible. A few other things that might possibly provide a clue are the beautiful sepia tones of the photograph and its almost pearly finish. Old photographs from India frequenly are done in these tones with this type of finish WWI British Nurse and Small Irish Wolfhound (?) The image of this c. WWI British nurse was captured in a beautiful English garden - far away from the killing fields of Belgium and France. She is possibly the daughter or wife of a wealthy or titled Englishman who is doing her patriotic duty by becoming a nurse to care for the vast numbers of sick and wounded British soldiers. On the other hand, perhaps she is a middle-class woman working as a nurse at a large English country estate, where the manor house has been converted into a military hospital. At her side is a beautiful dog with intelligent eyes. I am not real certain, but I think it is possibly an Irish Wolfhoud. Usually they are HUGE dogs, but perhaps this dog is a female that is on the small side. WWI Austro-Hungarian Officer Mounted on a Bosnian Mountain Pony This immaculately uniformed Austro-Hungarian officer sits astride a beautiful dark horse. He is armed with a sabre complete with a bullion portapee (sabre knot), and he carries a riding crop in his right hand. In the background to the left is some sort of summer house or gazebo, and the ground is sprinkled with tiny wildflowers. What a contrast this pleasant country estate presents to the battlefields of WWI! The language of the message on the back of the card is Czech. It is addressed to a student in "Pisek," which was a city in Bohemia (the present-day Czech Republic). Many, MANY thanks to Olmin, who translated the text and by so doing determined where the photograph was probably taken, to whom the postcard was addressed, and that the rank of the officer in photo was lieutenant. Olmin: It is definetely written in Czech language. I'm not sure but I think it was sent from K.u.k. military unit somewhere in Herzegovina (present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina) to town Písek, Bohemia (present-day Czech Republic) because in text is written "herzegovinian horse". I try to translate it but I apologize in advance for my English. WWI Austro-Hungarian Transport Wagon I can't tell you very much about this photograph other than the fact that it is of a WWI Austro-Hungarian transport wagon pulled by a very fine team of horses. I did a double take when I looked at the rank on the collar of the soldier seated in the wagon on high resolution - 6 stars!!! Upon further study, it appears that he moved slightly (his left ear is blurred) when the picture was taken, thus causing the extra stars. In reality, there are only 3, which means he was a Zugsführer (Sergeant). There is nothing to indicate the location where the photograph was taken, and the back has nothing written on it. It might have been taken on a farmstead as there is a dovecote or pigeon house to the right and what appears to be a large pile of straw or refuse mucked out of a stable to the right as well. On the left of the building is a small inset area containing a crucifix. "Such were the exploits of Ivar Krueger, Mr. Hoover's friend, and his rotten Wall Street bakers. Every dollar of the billions Kreuger and his gang drew out of this Country on acceptances was drawn from the government and the people of the United States through the Fed. The credit of the United States Government was peddled to him by the Fed for their own private gain. That is what the Fed has been doing for many years. "They have been peddling the credit of this Government and the [signature of this] Government to the swindlers and speculators of all nations. That is what happens when a Country forsakes its Constitution and gives its sovereignty over the public currency to private interests. Give them the flag and they will sell it. "The nature of Kreuger's organized swindle and the bankrupt condition of Kreuger's combine was known here last June when Hoover sought to exempt Krueger's loan to Germany of $125,000,000 from the operation of the Hoover Moratorium. The bankrupt condition of Krueger's swindle was known her last summer when $30,000,000 was taken from the American taxpayers by certain bankers in New York for the ostensible purpose of permitting Krueger to make a loan to Colombia. Colombia never saw that money. "The nature of Krueger's swindle was known here in January when he visited his friend, Mr. Hoover, at the White House. It was known here in March before he went to Paris and committed suicide. "Mr. Chairman, I think the people of the United States are entitled to know how many billions of dollars were placed at the disposal of Krueger and his gigantic combine by the Fed, and to know how much of our Government currency was issued and lost in the financing of that great swindle in the years during which the Fed took care of Krueger's requirements. "A few days ago, the President of the United States with a white face and shaking hands, went before the Senate of behalf of the moneyed interests and asked the Senate to levy a tax on the people so that foreigners might know that these United States would pay its debt to them. "Most Americans thought it was the other way around. What does these United States owe foreigners? When and by whom was the debt incurred? It was incurred by the Fed, when they peddled the signature of the Government to foreigners- for a Price. It is what the United States Government has to pay to redeem the obligations of the Fed. Thieves go scot free "Are you going to let these thieves get off scot free? Is there one law for the looter who drives up to the door of the United States Treasury in his limousine and another for the United States Veterans who are sleeping on the floor of a dilapidated house on the outskirts of Washington? "The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is here asking for a large loan from the people, and the wage earners and the taxpayers of these United States. It is begging for a handout from the Government. It is standing, cap in hand, at the door of the R.F.C. where all the jackals have gathered to the feast. It is asking for money that was raised from the people by taxation and wants this money of the poor for the benefit of Kuhn, Loeb and Co., the German International Bankers. "Is there one law for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and another for the hungry veterans it threw off its freight cars the other day? Is there one law for sleek and prosperous swindlers who call themselves bankers and another law for the soldiers who defended the flag? "The R.F.C. is taking over these worthless securities from the Investment Trusts with United States Treasury money at the expense of the American taxpayer and the wage earner. "It will take twenty years to redeem our Government. Twenty years of penal servitude to pay off the gambling debts of the traitorous Fed and to vast flood of American wages and savings, bank deposits, and the United States Government credit which the Fed exported out of this country to their foreign principals. "The Fed lately conducted an anti-hoarding campaign here. They they took that extra money which they had persuaded the American people to put into the banks- they sent it to Europe- along with the rest. In the last several months, they have sent $1,300,000,000 in gold to their foreign employers, their foreign masters, and every dollar of that gold belonged to the people of these United States and was unlawfully taken from them. Fiat money "Mr. Chairman, within the limits of the time allowed me, I cannot enter into a particularized discussion of the Fed. I have singled out the Fed currency for a few remarks because there has lately been some talk here of "fiat money". What kind of money is being pumped into the open discount market and through it into foreign channels and stock exchanges? Mr. Mills of the Treasury has spoken here of his horror of the printing presses and his horror of dishonest money. He has no horror of dishonest money. If he had, he would be no party to the present gambling of the Fed in the nefarious open discount market of New York, a market in which the sellers are represented by 10 discount corporations owned and organized by the very banks which own and control the Fed. "Fiat money, indeed! "What Mr. Mills is fighting for is the preservation, whole and entire, of the banker's monopoly of all the currency of the United States Government. "Mr. Chairman, last December, I introduced a resolution here asking for an examination and an audit of the Fed and all related matters. If the House sees fit to make such an investigation, the people of these United States will obtain information of great value. This is a Government of the people, by the people, for the people. Consequently, nothing should be concealed from the people. The man who deceives the people is a traitor to these United States. "The man who knows or suspects that a crime has been committed and who conceals and covers up that crime is an accessory to it. Mr. Speaker, it is a monstrous thing for this great nation of people to have its destinies presided over by a traitorous government board acting in secret concert with international usurers. "Every effort has been made by the Fed to conceal its powers- but the truth is- the Fed has usurped the Government. It controls everything here and it controls all of our foreign relations. It makes and breaks governments at will. "No man and no body of men is more entrenched in power than the arrogant credit monopoly which operated the Fed. What National Government has permitted the Fed to steal from the people should now be restored to the people. The people have a valid claim against the Fed. If that claim is enforced the Americans will not need to stand in the bread line, or to suffer and die of starvation in the streets. Women will be saved, families will be kept together, and American children will not be dispersed and abandoned. "Here is a Fed Note. Immense numbers of the notes are now held abroad. I am told that they amount to upwards of a billion dollars. They constitute a claim against our Government and likewise a claim against our peoples' money to the extent of $1,300,000,000 which has within the last few months been shipped abroad to redeem Fed Notes and to pay other gambling debts of the traitorous Fed. The greater part of our money stock has been shipped to other lands. "Why should we promise to pay the debts of foreigners to foreigners? Why should the Fed be permitted to finance our competitors in all parts of the world? Do you know why the tariff was raised? It was raised to shut out the flood of Fed Goods pouring in here from every quarter of the globe- cheap goods, produced by cheaply paid foreign labor, on unlimited supplies of money and credit sent out of this Country by the dishonest and unscrupulous Fed. "The Fed are spending $100,000,000 a week buying government securities in the open market and are making a great bid for foreign business. They are trying to make rates so attractive that the human hair merchants and the distillers and other business entities in foreign land will come her and hire more of the public credit of the United States Government to pay the Fed outfit for getting it for them. World enslavement planned "Mr. Chairman, when the Fed was passed, the people of these United States did not perceive that a world system was being set up here which would make the savings of the American school teacher available to a narcotic-drug vendor in Acapulco. They did not perceive that these United States was to be lowered to the position of a coolie country which has nothing but raw material and heart, that Russia was destined to supply the man power and that this country was to supply the financial power to an "international superstate". A superstate controlled by international bankers, and international industrialists acting together to enslave the world for their own pleasure? "The people of these United States are being greatly wronged. They have been driven from their employments. They have been dispossessed from their homes. They have been evicted from their rented quarters. They have lost their children. They have been left to suffer and die for lack of shelter, food, clothing and medicine. "The wealth of these United States and the working capital have been taken away from them and has either been locked in the vaults of certain banks and the great corporations or exported to foreign countries for the benefit of the foreign customers of these banks and corporations. So far as the people of the United States are concerned, the cupboard is bare. "It is true that the warehouses and coal yards and grain elevators are full, but these are padlocked, and the great banks and corporations hold the keys. "The sack of these United States by the Fed is the greatest crime in history. "Mr. Chairman, a serious situation confronts the House of Representatives today. We are trustees of the people and the rights of the people are being taken away from them. Through the Fed the people are losing the rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution. Their property has been taken from them without due process of law. Mr. Chairman, common decency requires us to examine the public accounts of the Government and see what crimes against the public welfare have been committed. "What is needed here is a return to the Constitution of these United States. "The old struggle that was fought out here in Jackson's time must be fought our over again. The independent United States Treasury should be reestablished and the Government should keep its own money under lock and key in the building the people provided for that purpose. "Asset currency, the devise of the swindler, should be done away with. The Fed should be abolished and the State boundaries should be respected. Bank reserves should be kept within the boundaries of the States whose people own them, and this reserve money of the people should be protected so that the International Bankers and acceptance bankers and discount dealers cannot draw it away from them. "The Fed should be repealed, and the Fed Banks, having violated their charters, should be liquidated immediately. Faithless Government officials who have violated their oaths of office should be impeached and brought to trial. "Unless this is done by us, I predict, that the American people, outraged, pillaged, insulted and betrayed as they are in their own land, will rise in their wrath, and will sweep the money changers out of the temple. "Mr. Chairman, the United States is bankrupt: It has been bankrupted by the corrupt and dishonest Fed. It has repudiated its debts to its own citizens. Its chief foreign creditor is Great Britain, and a British bailiff has been at the White House and the British Agents are in the United States Treasury making inventory arranging terms of liquidations! 12th Royal Lancers Pistol Team in Cairo, Egypt with the Duke of Connaught's Cup 1930s Quite some time after I acquired the 1929 photograph of the 12th Royal Lancers in India with the Duke of Connaught's Cup, the collector from whom I had purchased the original photo offered this one for sale. Of course I snapped it up! This photograph, which is somewhat larger than the 1929 photograph, measures 11" x 7 3/8" and bears the photographer's signature (K. Bolam Cairo) in the lower left corner. I asked the seller about the similarities of the buildings in the two photographs and if it were possible that the 1929 unsigned photograph was also taken in Egypt, but he said he thought it was taken in India. In this photograph, instead of being placed unceremoniously on the ground, the Duke of Connaught's Cup is resting on a table covered with a fringed cloth. A small oriental rug has been placed on the ground in front of the table. Additionally, the six individual awards won by the members of the pistol team are arranged in front of the cup on the table. These awards do not appear in the 1929 photo. What one immediately notices when comparing the two photographs is that the number of soldiers in this picture is now only 6, while 7 appear in the 1929 photo. Some soldiers are the same, but others are conspicuous by their absence. Two of the officers seated in front have disappeared. The only one who remains is the lieutenant who originally sat at the far right in 1929. He now sits on the left of the cup. He has the same ribbon bar, but now he sports a wrist watch on his left wrist. Wearing a Sam Browne belt, he also carries a swagger stick. A new man appears seated to the right of the cup - a handsome, tanned, steely-eyed sergeant. Another new man makes his appearance on the extreme left of the back row of standing troopers - a very confident-looking, young lance corporal, as can be seen by his chevrons. The second trooper from the left, also a lance corporal, is exactly the same as in the 1929 photo, and he occupies the same position. This time, however, his long service stripe is not visible as his arms are now behind his back. The third trooper from the left used to be the first trooper on the left in the 1929 picture, but he now has moved over to the right two spaces. His two long service stripes and metal Gunner First Class proficiency badge (a G half-encircled by a wreath) are just barely visible on the sleeve of his left arm. The fourth standing trooper on the extreme right is the same soldier as the one in the 1929 photo, and he occupies the same position. His metal farrier's trade badge is either not visible or it has disappeared for some reason. One last difference that is noticeable in this photograph - this time the Webley service revolvers of the troopers are holstered. In the 1929 photo, they rest on the arms of the soldiers. Mr. Chairman, the Fed has offered to collect the British claims in full from the American public by trickery and corruption, if Great Britain will help to conceal its crimes. The British are shielding their agents, the Fed, because they do not wish that system of robbery to be destroyed here. They wish it to continue for their benefit! By means of it, Great Britain has become the financial mistress of the world. She has regained the position she occupied before the World War. "For several years she has been a silent partner in the business of the Fed. Under threat of blackmail, or by their bribery, or by their native treachery to the people of the United States, the officials in charge of the Fed unwisely gave Great Britain immense gold loans running into hundreds of millions of dollars. They did this against the law! Those gold loans were not single transactions. They gave Great Britain a borrowing power in the United States of billions. She squeezed billions out of this Country by means of her control of the Fed. "As soon as the Hoover Moratorium was announced, Great Britain moved to consolidate her gains. After the treacherous signing away of American rights at the 7-power conference at London in July, 1931, which put the Fed under the control of the Bank of International Settlements, Great Britain began to tighten the hangman's noose around the neck of the United States. "She abandoned the gold standard and embarked on a campaign of buying up the claims of foreigners against the Fed in all parts of the world. She has now sent her bailiff, Ramsey MacDonald, here to get her war debt to this country canceled. But she has a club in her hands! She has title to the gambling debts which the corrupt and dishonest Fed incurred abroad. "Ramsey MacDonald, the labor party deserter, has come here to compel the President to sign on the dotted line, and that is what Roosevelt is about to do! Roosevelt will endeavor to conceal the nature of his action from the American people. But he will obey the International Bankers and transfer the war debt that Great Britain should pay to the American people, to the shoulders of the American taxpayers. "Mr. Chairman, the bank holiday in the several States was brought about by the corrupt and dishonest Fed. These institutions manipulated money and credit, and caused the States to order bank holidays. "These holidays were frame-ups! "They were dress rehearsals for the national bank holiday which Franklin D. Roosevelt promised Sir Ramsey MacDonald that he would declare. "There was no national emergency here when Franklin D. Roosevelt took office excepting the bankruptcy of the Fed- a bankruptcy which has been going on under cover for several years and which has been concealed from the people so that the people would continue to permit their bank deposits and their bank reserves and their gold and the funds of the United States Treasury to be impounded in these bankrupt institutions. "Under cover, the predatory International Bankers have been stealthily transferring the burden of the Fed debts to the people's Treasury and to the people themselves. They the farms and the homes of the United States to pay for their thievery! That is the only national emergency that there has been here since the depression began. "The week before the bank holiday we declared in New York State, the deposits in the New York savings banks were greater than the withdrawals. There were no runs on New York Banks. There was no need of a bank holiday in New York, or of a national holiday. Roosevelt and the International Bankers "Roosevelt did what the International Bankers ordered him to do! "Do not deceive yourself, Mr. Chairman, or permit yourself to be deceived by others into the belief that Roosevelt's dictatorship is in any way intended to benefit the people of the United States: he is preparing to sign on the dotted line! "He is preparing to cancel the war debts by fraud! "He is preparing to internationalize this Country and to destroy our Constitution itself in order to keep the Fed intact as a money institution for foreigners. "Mr. Chairman, I see no reason why citizens of the United States should be terrorized into surrendering their property to the International Bankers who own and control the Fed. The statement that gold would be taken from its lawful owners if they did not voluntarily surrender it, to private interests, show that there is an anarchist in our Government. "The statement that it is necessary for the people to give their gold- the only real money- to the banks in order to protect the currency, is a statement of calculated dishonesty! "By his unlawful usurpation of power on the night of March 5, 1933, and by his proclamation, which in my opinion was in violation of the Constitution of the United States, Roosevelt divorced the currency of the United States from gold, and the United States currency is no longer protected by gold. It is therefore sheer dishonesty to say that the people's gold is needed to protect the currency. "Roosevelt ordered the people to give their gold to private interests- that is, to banks, and he took control of the banks so that all the gold and gold values in them, or given into them, might be handed over to the predatory International Bankers who own and control the Fed. "Roosevelt cast his lot with the usurers. "He agreed to save the corrupt and dishonest at the expense of the people of the United States. "He took advantage of the people's confusion and weariness and spread the dragnet over the United States to capture everything of value that was left in it. He made a great haul for the International Bankers. "The Prime Minister of England came here for money! He came here to collect cash! "He came here with Fed Currency and other claims against the Fed which England had bought up in all parts of the world. And he has presented them for redemption in gold. "Mr. Chairman, I am in favor of compelling the Fed to pay their own debts. I see no reason why the general public should be forced to pay the gambling debts of the International Bankers. Roosevelt seizes the gold "By his action in closing the banks of the United States, Roosevelt seized the gold value of forty billions or more of bank deposits in the United States banks. Those deposits were deposits of gold values. By his action he has rendered them payable to the depositors in paper only, if payable at all, and the paper money he proposes to pay out to bank depositors and to the people generally in lieu of their hard earned gold values in itself, and being based on nothing into which the people can convert it the said paper money is of negligible value altogether. "It is the money of slaves, not of free men. If the people of the United States permit it to be imposed upon them at the will of their credit masters, the next step in their downward progress will be their acceptance of orders on company stores for what they eat and wear. Their case will be similar to that of starving coal miners. They, too, will be paid with orders on Company stores for food and clothing, both of indifferent quality and be forced to live in Company-owned houses from which they may be evicted at the drop of a hat. More of them will be forced into conscript labor camps under supervision. "At noon on the 4th of March, 1933, FDR with his hand on the Bible, took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the U.S. At midnight on the 5th of March, 1933, he confiscated the property of American citizens. He took the currency of the United States standard of value. He repudiated the internal debt of the Government to its own citizens. He destroyed the value of the American dollar. He released, or endeavored to release, the Fed from their contractual liability to redeem Fed currency in gold or lawful money on a parity with gold. He depreciated the value of the national currency. "The people of the U.S. are now using unredeemable paper slips for money. The Treasury cannot redeem that paper in gold or silver. The gold and silver of the Treasury has unlawfully been given to the corrupt and dishonest Fed. And the Administration has since had the effrontery to raid the country for more gold for the private interests by telling our patriotic citizens that their gold is needed to protect the currency. "It is not being used to protect the currency! It is being used to protect the corrupt and dishonest Fed. "The directors of these institutions have committed criminal offense against the United States Government, including the offense of making false entries on their books, and the still more serious offense of unlawfully abstracting funds from the United States Treasury! "Roosevelt's gold raid is intended to help them out of the pit they dug for themselves when they gambled away the wealth and savings of the American people. Dictatorship "The International Bankers set up a dictatorship here because they wanted a dictator who would protect them. They wanted a dictator who would protect them. They wanted a dictator who would issue a proclamation giving the Fed an absolute and unconditional release from their special currency in gold, or lawful money of any Fed Bank. "Has Roosevelt relieved any other class of debtors in this country from the necessity of paying their debts? Has he made a proclamation telling the farmers that they need not pay their mortgages? Has he made a proclamation to the effect that mothers of starving children need not pay their milk bills? Has he made a proclamation relieving householders from the necessity of paying rent? WWI Russian Military Field Hospital - RARE This is a rare photograph of a Russian military field hospital somewhere in Russia during WWI. Thjere is nothing on the back to identify the location or the soldiers. It is possible that the scene is "posed" because the soldiers on the right are standing in a straight line, and the "wounded" man on the stretcher is propped up on one elbow and staring at the photographer as if he is feeling no pain. Two-horse drawn ambulances are pulled up in front of a makeshift hospital from which steam rises into the frosty air. Although there is only a little snow on the ground, it is obiviously very cold. To the left, a soldier sits astride a stocky, shaggy horse without a saddle. The horse is most likely one used to pull the ambulances, which might explain why it has no saddle. Roosevelt's two kinds of laws "Not he! He has issued one kind of proclamation only, and that is a proclamation to relieve international bankers and the foreign debtors of the United States Government. "Mr. Chairman, the gold in the banks of this country belongs to the American people who have paper money contracts for it in the form of national currency. If the Fed cannot keep their contracts with United States citizens to redeem their paper money in gold, or lawful money, then the Fed must be taken over by the United States Government and their officers must be put on trial. "There must be a day of reckoning. If the Fed have looted the Treasury so that the Treasury cannot redeem the United States currency for which it is liable in gold, then the Fed must be driven out of the Treasury. "Mr. Chairman, a gold certificate is a warehouse receipt for gold in the Treasury, and the man who has a gold certificate is the actual owner of a corresponding amount of gold stacked in the Treasury subject to his order. "Now comes Roosevelt who seeks to render the money of the United States worthless by unlawfully declaring that it may No Longer be converted into gold at the will of the holder. "Roosevelt's next haul for the International Bankers was the reduction in the pay of all Federal employees. "Next in order are the veterans of all wars, many of whom are aged and inform, and other sick and disabled. These men had their lives adjusted for them by acts of Congress determining the amounts of the pensions, and, while it is meant that every citizen should sacrifice himself for the good of the United States, I see no reason why those poor people, these aged Civil War Veterans and war widows and half-starved veterans of the World War, should be compelled to give up their pensions for the financial benefit of the International vultures who have looted the Treasury, bankrupted the country and traitorously delivered the United States to a foreign foe. "There are many ways of raising revenue that are better than that barbaric act of injustice. "Why not collect from the Fed the amount they owe the U.S. Treasury in interest on all the Fed currency they have taken from the Government? That would put billions of dollars into the U.S. Treasury. "If FDR is as honest as he pretends to be, he will have that done immediately. And in addition, why not compel the Fed to disclose their profits and to pay the Government its share? "Until this is done, it is rank dishonesty to talk of maintaining the credit of the U.S. Government. "My own salary as a member of Congress has been reduced, and while I am willing to give my part of it that has been taken away from me to the U.S. Government, I regret that the U.S. has suffered itself to be brought so low by the vultures and crooks who are operating the roulette wheels and faro tables in the Fed, that is now obliged to throw itself on the mercy of its legislators and charwomen, its clerks, and it poor pensioners and to take money out of our pockets to make good the defalcations of the International Bankers who were placed in control of the Treasury and given the monopoly of U.S. Currency by the misbegotten Fed. "I am well aware that the International Bankers who drive up to the door of the United States Treasury in their limousines, look down with scorn upon members of Congress because we work for so little, while they draw millions a year. The difference is that we earn, or try to earn, what we get- and they steal the greater part of their takings. Enemies of the people they rob "I do not like to see vivisections performed on human beings. I do not like to see the American people used for experimental purposes by the credit masters of the United States. They predicted among themselves that they would be able to produce a condition here in which American citizens would be completely humbled and left starving and penniless in the streets. "The fact that they made that assertion while they were fomenting their conspiracy against the United States that they like to see a human being, especially an American, stumbling from hunger when he walks. "Something should be done about it, they say. Five-cent meals, or something! "But FDR will not permit the House of Representatives to investigate the condition of the Fed. FDR will not do that. He has certain International Bankers to serve. They not look to him as the man Higher Up who will protect them from the just wrath of an outraged people. "The International Bankers have always hated our pensioners. A man with a small pension is a ward of the Government. He is not dependent upon them for a salary or wages. They cannot control him. They do not like him. It gave them great pleasure, therefore, to slash the veterans. "But FDR will never do anything to embarrass his financial supporters. He will cover up the crimes of the Fed. "Before he was elected, Mr. Roosevelt advocated a return to the earlier practices of the Fed, thus admitting its corruptness. The Democratic platform advocated a change in the personnel of the Fed. These were campaign bait. As a prominent Democrat lately remarked to me; "There is no new deal. The same old crowd is in control." "The claims of foreign creditors of the Fed have no validity in law. The foreign creditors were the receivers- and the willing receivers- of stolen goods! They have received through their banking fences immense amounts of currency, and that currency was unlawfully taken from the United States Treasury by the Fed. "England discovered the irregularities of the Fed quite early in its operations and through fear, apparently, the Fed have for years suffered themselves to be blackmailed and dragooning England to share in the business of the Fed. "The Fed have unlawfully taken many millions of dollars of the public credit of the United States and have given it to foreign sellers on the security of the Debt paper of foreign buyers in purely foreign transactions, and when the foreign buyers refused to meet their obligations and the Fed saw no honest way of getting the stolen goods back into their possession, they decided by control of the executive to make the American people pay their losses! Conspiracy of war debts "They likewise entered into a conspiracy to deprive the people of the U.S. of their title to the war debts and not being able to do that in the way they intended, they are now engaged in an effort to debase the American dollar so that foreign governments will have their debts to this country cut in two, and then by means of other vicious underhanded arrangements, they propose to remit the remainder. "So far as the U.S. is concerned, the gambling counters have no legal standing. The U.S. Treasury cannot be compelled to make good the gambling ventures of the corrupt and dishonest Fed. Still less should the bank deposits of the U.S. be used for that purpose. Still less should the national currency have been made irredeemable in gold so that the gold which was massed and stored to redeem the currency for American citizens may be used to pay the gambling debts of the Fed for England's benefit. "The American people should have their gold in their own possession where it cannot be held under secret agreement for any foreign control bank, or world bank, or foreign nation. Our own citizens have the prior claim to it. The paper [money men] have in their possession deserves redemption far more than U.S. currency and credit which was stolen from the U.S. Treasury and bootlegged abroad. "Why should the foreigners be made preferred creditors of the bankrupt U.S.? Why should the U.S. be treated as bankrupt at all? This Government has immense sums due it from the Fed. The directors of these institutions are men of great wealth. Why should the guilty escape the consequences of their misdeeds? Why should the people of these U.S. surrender the value of their gold bank deposits to pay off the gambling debts of these bankers? Why should Roosevelt promise foreigners that the U.S. will play the part of a good neighbor, 'meeting its obligations'? "Let the Fed meet their own obligations. "Every member of the Fed should be compelled to disgorge, and every acceptance banker and every discount corporation which has made illegal profits by means of public credit unlawfully bootlegged out of the U.S. Treasury and hired out by the crooks and vultures of the Fed should be compelled to disgorge. Federal Reserve pays no taxes "Gambling debts due to foreign receivers of stolen goods should not be paid by sacrificing our title to our war debts, the assets of the U.S. Treasury- which belong to all the people of the U.S. and which it is our duty to preserve inviolate in the people's treasury. "The U.S. Treasury cannot be made liable for them. The Fed currency must be redeemed by the Fed banks or else these Fed banks must be liquidated. "We know from assertions made here by the Hon. John N. Garner, Vice-President of the U.S. that there is a condition in the [United States such] would cause American citizens, if they knew what it was, to lose all confidence in their government. "That is a condition that Roosevelt will not have investigated. He has brought with him from Wall Street, James Warburg, the son of Paul M. Warburg. Mr. Warburg, alien born, and the son of an alien who did not become naturalized here until several years after this Warburg's birth, is a son of a former partner of Kuhn, Loeb and Co., a grandson of another partner, a nephew of a former partner, and a nephew of a present partner. "He holds no office in our Government, but I am told that he is in daily attendance at the Treasury, and that he has private quarters there! In other words, Mr. Chairman, Kuhn, Loeb and Company now has control and occupy the U.S. Treasury. WWI Austro-Hungarian Military Bandsmen The double-headed eagles on the shako plates of these dapper bandsmen reveal them to be Austro-Hungarian. Their instruments consist of 4 snare drums, 3 trumpets, and a baritone horn. Note the leather drumsticks holders on the wide straps across the chests of the drummers. There is also what appears to be some sort of flaming bomb insignia on these straps. Perhaps this indicates that they are members of an artillery unit. There is nothing in my local library on WWI Austro-Hungarian uniforms, and I haven't found anything on the internet so far that would allow me to identify the insignia. "The text of the Executive order which seems to place an embargo on shipments of gold permits the Secretary of the Treasury, a former director of the corrupt, to issue licenses at his discretion for the export of gold coin, or bullion, earmarked or held in trust for a recognized foreign government or foreign central bank for international settlement. Now, Mr. Chairman, if gold held in trust for those foreign institutions may be sent to them, I see no reason why gold held in trust for American as evidenced by their gold certificates and other currency issued by the U.S. Government should not be paid to them. "I think that American citizens should be entitled to treatment at least as good as that which the person is extending to foreign governments, foreign central banks, and the bank of International Settlements. I think a veteran of the world war, with a $20.00 gold certificate, is at least as much entitled to receive his own gold for it, as any international banker in the city of New York or London. "By the terms of this executive order, gold may be exported if it is actually required, for the fulfillment of any contract entered into prior to the date of this order by an applicant who, in obedience to the executive order of April 5, 1933, has delivered gold coin, gold bullion, or gold certificates. "This means that gold may be exported to pay the obligations abroad of the Fed which were incurred prior to the date of the order, namely, April 20, 1933. "If a European Bank should send 100,000,000 dollars in Fed currency to a bank in this country for redemption, that bank could easily ship gold to Europe in exchange for that currency. Such Fed currency would represent "contracts" entered into prior to the date of the order. If the Bank of International Settlements or any other foreign bank holding any of the present gambling debt paper of the Fed should draw a draft for the settlement of such obligation, gold would be shopped to them because the debt contract would have been entered into prior to the date of order. Crimes and Criminals "Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of constitutional privilege. "Whereas, I charge. . .Eugene Meyer, Roy A. Young, Edmund Platt, Eugene B. Black, Adolph Casper Miller, Charles S. Hamlin, George R. James, Andrew W. Mellon, Ogden L. Mills, William H. Woo W. Poole, J.F.T. O'Connor, members of the Federal Reserve Board; F. H. Curtis, J.H. Chane, R.L. Austin, George De Camp, L.B. Williams, W.W. Hoxton, Oscar Newton, E.M. Stevens, J.S. Wood, J.N. Payton, M.L. McClure, C.C. Walsh, Isaac B. Newton, Federal Reserve Agents, jointly and severally, with violations of the Constitution and laws of the United States, and whereas I charge them with having taken funds from the U.S Treasury which were not appropriated by the Congress of the United States, and I charge them with having unlawfully taken over $80,000,000,000 from the U.S. Government in the year 1928, the said unlawful taking consisting of the unlawful creation of claims against the U.S. Treasury to the extent of over $80,000,000,000 in the year 1928; and I charge them with similar thefts committed in 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932 and 1933, and in years previous to 1928, amounting to billions of dollars; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally with having unlawfully created claims against the U.S. Treasury by unlawfully placing U.S. Government credit in specific amounts to the credit of foreign governments and foreign central banks of issue; private interests and commercial and private banks of the U.S. and foreign countries, and branches of foreign banks doing business in the U.S., to the extent of billions of dollars; and with having made unlawful contracts in the name of the U.S. Government and the U.S. Treasury; and with having made false entries on books of account; and "Whereas I charge them jointly and severally, with having taken Fed Notes from the U.S. Treasury and with having put Fed Notes into circulation without obeying the mandatory provision of the Fed Act which requires the Fed Board to fix an interest rate on all issues of Fed Notes supplied to Fed Banks, the interest resulting therefrom to be paid by the Fed Banks to the government of the U.S. for the use of the Fed Notes, and I charge them of having defrauded the U.S. Government and the people of the U.S. of billions of dollars by the commission of this crime, and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having purchased U.S. Government securities with U.S. Government credit unlawfully taken and with having sold the said U.S. Government securities back to the people of the U.S. for gold or gold values and with having again purchased U.S. Government securities with U.S. Government credit unlawfully taken and with having again sold the said U.S. Government security for gold or gold values, and I charge them with having defrauded the U.S. Government and the people of the U.S. by this rotary process; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having unlawfully negotiated U.S. Government securities, upon which the Government liability was extinguished, as collateral security for Fed Notes and with having substituted such securities for gold which was being held as collateral security for Fed Notes, and with having by the process defrauded the U.S. Government and the people of the U.S., and I charge them with the theft of all the gold and currency they obtained by this process; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having unlawfully issued Fed currency on false, worthless and fictitious acceptances and other circulating evidence of debt, and with having made unlawful advances of Fed currency, and with having unlawfully permitted renewals of acceptances and renewals of other circulating evidences of debt, and with having permitted acceptance bankers and discount dealer corporations and other private bankers to violate the banking laws of the U.S.; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having conspired to have evidences of debt to the extent of $1,000,000,000 artificially created at the end of February, 1933, and early in March 1933, and with having made unlawful issues and advances of Fed currency on the security of said artificially created evidences of debt for a sinister purpose, and with having assisted in the execution of said sinister purpose; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having brought about the repudiation of the currency obligations of the Fed Banks to the people of the U.S. and with having conspired to obtain a release for the Fed Board and the Fed Banks from their contractual liability to redeem all Fed currency in gold or lawful money at the Fed Bank and with having defrauded the holders of Fed currency, and with having conspired to have the debts and losses of the Fed Board and the Fed Banks unlawfully transferred to the Government and the people of the U.S., and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having unlawfully substituted Fed currency and other irredeemable paper currency for gold in the hands of the people after the decision to repudiate the Fed currency and the national currency was made known to them, and with thus having obtained money under false pretenses; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having brought about a repudiation of the notes of the U.S. in order that the gold value of the said currency might be given to private interests, foreign governments, foreign central banks of issues, and the Bank of International Settlements, and the people of the U.S. to be left without gold or lawful money and with no currency other that a paper currency irredeemable in gold, and I charge them with having done this for the benefit of private interests, foreign governments, foreign central banks of issue, and the bank of International Settlements; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with conniving with the Edge Law banks, and other Edge Law institutions, accepting banks, and discount corporations, foreign central banks of issue, foreign commercial banks, foreign corporations, and foreign individuals with funds unlawfully taken from the U.S. Treasury; and I charge them with having unlawfully permitted and made possible 'new financing' for foreigners at the expense of the U.S. Treasury to the extent of billions of dollars and with having unlawfully permitted and made possible the bringing into the United States of immense quantities of foreign securities, created in foreign countries for export to the U.S. and with having unlawfully permitted the said foreign securities to be imported into the U.S. instead of gold, which was lawfully due to the U.S. on trade balances and otherwise, and with having lawfully permitted and facilitated the sale of the said foreign securities in the U.S., and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having unlawfully exported U.S. coins and currency for a sinister purpose, and with having deprived the people of the U.S. of their lawful medium of exchange, and I charge them with having arbitrarily and unlawfully reduced the amount of money and currency in circulation in the U.S. to the lowest rate per capita in the history of the Government, so that the great mass of the people have been left without a sufficient medium of exchange, and I charge them with concealment and evasion in refusing to make known the amount of U.S. money in coins and paper currency exported and the amount remaining in the U.S. as a result of which refusal the Congress of the U.S. is unable to ascertain where the U.S. coins and issues of currency are at the present time, and what amount of U.S. currency is now held abroad; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having arbitrarily and unlawfully raised and lowered the rates of money and with having arbitrarily increased and diminished the volume of currency in circulation for the benefit of private interests at the expense of the Government and the people of the U.S. and with having unlawfully manipulated money rates, wages, salaries and property values both real and personal, in the U.S. by unlawful operations in the open discount market and by resale and repurchase agreements unsanctioned by law, and "Whereas I charge them jointly and severally, with having brought about the decline in prices on the New York Stock Exchange and other exchanges in October, 1929, by unlawful manipulation of money rates and the volume of U.S. money and currency in circulation: by theft of funds from the U.S. Treasury by gambling in acceptances and U.S. Government securities; by service rendered to foreign and domestic speculators and politicians, and by unlawful sale of U.S. gold reserves abroad, and "Whereas the unconstitutional inflation law imbedded in the so-called Farm Relief Act by which the Fed Banks are given permission to buy U.S. Government securities to the extent of $3,000,000,000 and to drew forth currency from the people's Treasury to the extent of $3,000,000,000 is likely to result in connivance on the part of said accused with others in the purchase by the Fed of the U.S. Government securities to the extent of $3,000,000,000 with U.S. Government's own credit unlawfully taken, it being obvious that the Fed do no not intend to pay anything of value to the U.S. Government for the said U.S. Government securities no provision for payment in gold or lawful money appearing in the so-called Farm Relief bill- and the U.S. Government will thus be placed in a position of conferring a gift of $3,000,000,000 in the U.S. Government securities on the Fed to enable them to pay more on their bad debts to foreign governments, foreign central banks of issue, private interests, and private and commercial banks, both foreign and domestic, and the Bank of International Settlements, and "Whereas the U.S. Government will thus go into debt to the extent of $3,000,000,000 and will then have an additional claim of $3,000,000,000 in currency unlawfully created against it and whereas no private interest should be permitted to buy U.S. Government securities with the Government's own credit unlawfully taken and whereas currency should not be issued for the benefit of said private interest or any interests on U.S. Government securities so acquired, and whereas it has been publicly stated and not denied that the inflation amendment of the Farm Relief Act is the matter of benefit which was secured by Ramsey MacDonald, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, upon the occasion of his latest visit to the U.S. Treasury, and whereas there is grave danger that the accused will employ the provision creating U.S. Government securities to the extent of $3,000,000,000 and three millions in currency to be issuable thereupon for the benefit of themselves and their foreign principals, and that they will convert the currency so obtained to the uses of Great Britain by secret arrangements with the Bank of England of which they are the agents, and for which they maintain an account and perform services at the expense of the U.S. Treasury, and that they will likewise confer benefits upon the Bank of International Settlements for which they maintain an account and perform services at the expense of the U.S. Treasury; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having concealed the insolvency of the Fed and with having failed to report the insolvency of the Fed to the Congress and with having conspired to have the said insolvent institutions continue in operation, and with having permitted the said insolvent institutions to receive U.S. Government funds and other deposits, and with having permitted them to exercise control over the gold reserves of the U.S. and with having permitted them to transfer upward of $100,000,000,000 of their debts and losses to the general public and the Government of the U.S., and with having permitted foreign debts of the Fed to be paid with the property, the savings, the wages, and the salaries of the people of the U.S. and with the farms and the homes of the American people, and whereas I charge them with forcing the bad debts of the Fed upon the general public covertly and dishonestly and and with taking the general wealth and savings of the people of the U.S. under false pretenses, to pay the debts of the Fed to foreigners; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with violations of the Fed Act and other laws; with maladministration of the h evasions of the Fed Law and other laws; and with having unlawfully failed to report violations of law on the part of the Fed Banks which, if known, would have caused the Fed Banks to lose their charters, and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with failure to protect and maintain the gold reserves and the gold stock and gold coinage of the U.S. and with having sold the gold reserves of the U.S to foreign Governments, foreign central banks of issue, foreign commercial and private banks, and other foreign institutions and individuals at a profit to themselves, and I charge them with having sold gold reserves of the U.S. so that between 1924 and 1928 the U.S. gained no gold on net account but suffered a decline in its percentage of central gold reserves from the 45.9 percent in 1924 to 37.5 percent in 1928 notwithstanding the fact that the U.S. had a favorable balance of trade throughout that period, and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having conspired to concentrate U.S. Government securities and thus the national debt of the U.S. in the hands of foreigners and international money lenders and with having conspired to transfer to foreigners and international money lenders title to and control of the financial resources of the U.S.; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having fictitiously paid installments on the national debt with Government credit unlawfully taken; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with the loss of the U.S. Government funds entrusted to their care; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having destroyed independent banks in the U.S. and with having thereby caused losses amounting to billions of dollars to the said banks, and to the general public of the U.S., and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with the failure to furnish true reports of the business operations and the true conditions of the Fed to the Congress and the people, and having furnished false and misleading reports to the congress of the U.S., and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having published false and misleading propaganda intended to deceive the American people and to cause the U.S. to lose its independence; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with unlawfully allowing Great Britain to share in the profits of the Fed at the expense of the Government and the people of the U.S.; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having entered into secret agreements and illegal transactions with Montague Norman, Governor of the Bank of England; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with swindling the U.S. Treasury and the people of the U.S. in pretending to have received payment from Great Britain of the amount due on the British war debt to the U.S. in December, 1932; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having conspired with their foreign principals and others to defraud the U.S. Government and to prevent the people of the U.S. from receiving payment of the war debts due to the U.S. from foreign nations; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having robbed the U.S Government and the people of the U.S. by their theft and sale of the gold reserves of the U.S. and other unlawful transactions created a deficit in the U.S. Treasury, which has necessitated to a large extent the destruction of our national defense and the reduction of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy and other branches of the national defense; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, of having reduced the U.S. from a first class power to one that is dependent, and with having reduced the U.S. from a rich and powerful nation to one that is internationally poor; and "Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with the crime of having treasonable conspired and acted against the peace and security of the U.S. and with having treasonable conspired to destroy constitutional Government in the U.S. "Resolve, That the Committee on the Judiciary is authorized and directed as a whole or by subcommittee, to investigate the official conduct of the Fed agents to determine whether, in the opinion of the said committee, they have been guilty of any high crime or misdemeanor which in the contemplation the Constitution requires the interposition of the Constitutional powers of the House. Such Committee shall report its finding to the House, together with such resolution or resolutions of impeachment or other recommendations as it deems proper. "For the purpose of this resolution the Committee is authorized to sit and act during the present Congress at such times and places in the District of Columbia or elsewhere, whether or not the House is sitting, has recessed or has adjourned, to hold such clerical, stenographic, and other assistants, to require of such witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents, to take such testimony, to have such printing and binding done, and to make such expenditures as it deems necessary." After some discussion and upon the motion of Mr. Byrns, the resolution and charge was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. WWI German Soldiers Celebrate Christmas 1916 This is a photograph from my personal collection. On the back, written in pencil, are the words: "Pa 1916." There is no indication which soldier is "Pa." There is also no indication as to where the photograph was taken A soldier to the right plays music on an old piano. He is accompanied by another soldier playing the violin. The soldiers are drinking dark beer and smoking cigars and cigarettes. The soldier on the left is holding a rag or perhaps it is an apron. It could be that he is the bartender for the group. A huge, elaborately decorated Christmas tree looms in the corner, and the walls are festooned with evergreen branches. No doubt about it; it's a Christmas scene. These soldiers are lucky. While they are not with their families, at least they are gathered with comrades and friends around a warming stove and not freezing in the trenches. The hand-lettered sign in the lower righthand corner of the photograph translates literally as "2nd War Christmas". It is possible that "2te Kriegs=" is an abbreviation for "2te Kriegs-Nummer," which might be German for "2nd Battalion." Once again, I owe a big thanks to my flickr friend, Zelle, for the translation. I'm guessing the soldiers are members of the German Ulan regiment Graf Haeseler (2. Brandenburgisches) Nr. 11 (Saarburg) I think Graf (Count) Haeseler means that they were associated somehow with Count Gottlieb Ferdinand Albert Alexis von Haeseler. (From 1879 he headed the military history department of the general staff, and from 1890 to 1903 he was General of the Cavalry and head of the 16th Army Corps in Metz. In 1905 he received the rank of a General Field Marshall.) I don't know if he commanded them or not. (He would have been in his 80s during WWI.) I think it means that they were named in his honor and/or perhaps he is the one who originally raised the outfit. The word Brandenburgisches I think refers to the German state of Brandenburg, where Von Haesler was from. Saarburg is a city in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany, and perhaps that is where this outfit was based. (I'm guessing at all this. My local library has very little material on German military history, and what information I have has been gleaned in little bits and pieces off the internet.) Here's how I arrived at who I think they are: By the style of their tunics (double-breasted with a plastron front), I'm pretty sure they are Ulans (light cavalry). Re-enforcing this supposition is the fact that the the fellow with his back to the piano player is wearing spurs, and the soldier on the extreme left has a leather lining on the inside of the legs of his breeches to prevent wear on his trousers from hours in the saddle. Additionally, the number 11 is visible on the shoulderboards of some of the soldiers. That was the final clue. Ulans (in Polish: "Ułan"; "Ulan" in German, from Turkish oğlan) were originally Polish light cavalry soldiers armed with lances, sabres, pistols, and rifles. Later, Ulan units were organized in Prussia and Austria. Similar troops also existed in other European armies, where they were instead known as "lancers." The German Ulans in WWI In 1914 the Imperial German Army included twenty-six Ulan regiments, three of which were Guard regiments, twenty-one line (sixteen Prussian, two Württemberg, and three Saxon), and two from the autonomous Royal Bavarian Army. The senior of these was Ulanen-Regiment Kaiser Alexander III. von Rußland which was first raised in 1745. All German Uhlan regiments wore Polish style "czapkas" (those "mortarboard" helmets, the original purpose of which was to deflect sabre blows to the head, also spelled as "tschapka") and tunics with plastron fronts, both in colored parade uniforms and the field grey service dress introduced in 1910. The lance carried by the ulans (and after 1889 the entire German cavalry branch) consisted of a ten foot and five inch long tube made of rolled steel-plate, weighing three pounds and nine ounces. The lance carried below its head a small pennant in differing colors according to the province or state from which the regiment was recruited. The four edged spear-like point of the shaft was 12 inches in length and made of tempered steel. The butt end of the shaft was also pointed so that (in theory) the lance could be wielded as a double-ended weapon. After seeing mounted action during the early weeks of World War I, the Ulan regiments were either dismounted to serve as "cavalry rifles" in the trenches of the Western Front, or transferred to the Eastern Front where more primitive conditions made it possible for horse cavalry to still play a useful role. Commenting on Former Congressman Louis T. McFaddens's "heart-failure sudden-death" on Oct. 3, 1936, after a "dose" of "intestinal flu," "Pelley's Weekly" of Oct. 14 said: Now that this sterling American patriot has made the Passing, it can be revealed that not long after his public utterance against the encroaching powers of Judah, it became known among his intimates that he had suffered two attacks against his life. The first attack came in the form of two revolver shots fired at him from ambush as he was alighting from a cab in front of one of the Capital hotels. Fortunately both shots missed him, the bullets burying themselves in the structure of the cab. "He became violently ill after partaking of food at a political banquet at Washington. His life was only saved from what was subsequently announced as a poisoning by the presence of a physician friend at the banquet, who at once procured a stomach pump and subjected the Congressman to emergency treatment." Robert Edward Edmondson (Publicist-Economist) President Andrew Jackson stated in reference to the bankers at the state of his administration: "You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the Eternal God, I will rout you out." Source Information The below text is from a booklet, entitled "Congressman Louis T. McFadden on the Federal Reserve Corporation: Remarks in Congress, 1934." It is a merger of two different speeches, one in 1932 and another, given after FDR became president. It was released by The Forum Publishing Company of Boston, Massachusetts. Click here for the original 1932 speech in the Congressional Record. The above is made available according to Fair Use Title 17 Section 107 non-profit educational use. See transcript source for more information. WWI Tank A British Mark IV Heavy Tank. This is the only surviving one still in its original colors. Seeing service from 1917 until the end of the war a year later, the Mark IV was designed to end the stalemate of trench warfare. The Belgian National Military Museum had loads of cool stuff in it, although with most of the captions in French and Dutch I didn't spend a lot of time reading the displays. Resources: The World War One wasteland: Haunting rare images show apocalyptic destruction on the Western Front It is could be the scene from a nuclear holocaust. A once-thriving city reduced to mere rubble, a 700-year-old cathedral barely left standing, trees that proudly lined an idyllic avenue torn to shreds. There's barely anyone in sight. But the devastation wrought in these rare, haunting images was caused long before the atomic bomb came into existence. It is the apocalyptic aftermath of dogged fighting along the Western Front during World War One when Allied and German forces tried to shell each other into submission with little success other than leaving a trail of utter carnage and killing millions. Apocalypse: This was all that remained of the Belgian town of Ypres in March 1919 after fierce fighting during World War One reduced it to mere rubble In rehab: An aerial view of Ypres under construction in 1930 which gives an idea of how the city looked before it was bombarded during the Great War Felled: Trees along an avenue in Locre, Belgium, lie torn to shreds. These images are from a series documenting the devastation caused along the Western Front Destroyed: The Hotel de Ville in Arras, Northern France, looks more like a medieval ruins after it was heavily shelled during World War One Shaping nature: A huge bomb crater at Messines Ridge in Northern France, photographed circa March 1919, soon after the end of World War One Reflected glory: A peaceful pond is what remains today of the craters made by massive mines on the Messines Ridge near Ypres. Their explosion was heard in London The strategically important Belgian city of Ypres, which stood in the way of Germany's planned sweep into France from the North, bore the brunt of the onslaught. At its height, the city was a prosperous centre of trade in the cloth industry known throughout the world. After the war, it was unrecognisable. The Cloth Hall, which was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages when it served as the city's main market for the industry, was left looking like a medieval ruin. Its stunning cathedral, St Martin's, fared little better. Outside of the towns and cities, the countryside also cut a sorry sight. Sorry sight: The Cloth Hall at Ypres, which was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages when it served as the main market for the city's cloth industry Standing proud: How the Cloth Hall looked just before before the 1st bombardment by the Germans during the first battle of Ypres in October 1914 Doomsday: St Martin's cathedral at Ypres, which was rebuilt using the original plans after the war. At 102 metres (335 ft), it is among the tallest buildings in Belgium Devastation: St Martin's Cathedral was the seat of the former diocese of Ypres from 1561 to 1801 and is still commonly referred to as such How it looked before: The cathedral was rebuilt to the original Gothic design, with a spire added, as seen here in 1937 War of attrition: The front wall of the Hotel de Ville at Bethune in Northern France (left) and St Martin's cathedral (right) are barely left standing after heavy shelling Clear-up effort: The East end of the Nave in the Basilique at Saint-Quentin in Northern France photographed soon after the end of World War One, circa March 1919 The moat and the ramparts at Ypres: The city was the centre of intense and sustained battles between the German and the Allied forces One tree-lined avenue in France was left looking like wasteland, while a huge bowl sunken into Messines ridge near Ypres is the legacy from the huge explosions of buried British mines that were heard 160 miles away in London in 1917. Some 7.5million men lost their lives on the Western Front during World War One. The front was opened when the German army invaded Luxembourg and Belgium in 1914 and then moved into the industrial regions in northern France. In September of that year, this advance was halted, and slightly reversed, at the Battle Of Marne. Wasteland: The canal at Diksmuide in Belgium. The Western Front was opened when the German army invaded Luxembourg and Belgium in 1914 Shot to pieces: The wreckage of a tank. Some 7.5million men lost their lives on the Western Front during World War One Forlorn: A little girl cuts a sorry figure surrounded by the ruined buildings in the French village of Neuve Eglise, which was heavily bombed In the line of fire: Two soldiers pose for the camera at a Franco-British frontier post in Northern France during the war It was then that both sides dug vast networks of trenches that ran all the way from the North Sea to the Swiss border with France. This line of tunnels remained unaltered, give or take a mile here and a mile there, for most of the four-year conflict. By 1917, after years of deadlock that saw millions of soldiers killed for zero gain on either side, new military technology including poison gas, tanks and planes was deployed on the front. Thanks to these techniques, the Allies slowly advanced throughout 1918 until the war's end in November. But the scars will forever remain. A Century Later One hundred years after the start of the Great War, none of the participants remain alive, and we are left with aging relics, fading photographs, scarred landscapes being reclaimed by nature, and memorials and graveyards across the globe. Alan Taylor JUNE 29, 2014 Yesterday, June 28, 2014, marked the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Assassin Gavrilo Princip fired the first shot in what was to become a horrific years-long bloodbath. However, after the sound of gunfire was silenced on Armistice Day, the deaths continued to mount. Revolutions spawned in Russia and Germany, arbitrary redrawing of national borders set the stage for decades of conflict, harsh reparation demands inspired the rise of Nazi Germany and the onset of World War II. The first World War continues to kill to this day - just this past March, two Belgian construction workers were killed when they encountered an unexploded shell buried for a century. Bomb disposal units in France and Belgium dispose of tons of discovered shells every year. Though the events of World War I have now fallen out of living memory, the remnants remain -- scarred landscapes, thousands of memorials, artifacts preserved in museums, photographs, and the stories passed down through the years -- stories of such tremendous loss. On this 100-year anniversary, I've gathered photographs of the Great War from dozens of collections, some digitized for the first time, to try to tell the story of the conflict, those caught up in it, and how much it affected the world. Today's entry is part 10 of a 10-part series on World War I . 5 A bomb-disposal expert displays unexploded British grenades recovered outside Courcelette, the scene of a WWI battlefield in the Somme, on March 12, 2014. Every year farmers unearth several tons of shells, shrapnel, gas shells, unexploded grenades, called "engins de mort" (weapons of death), that bomb-disposal experts of Amiens remove and destroy. (Reuters/Pascal Rossignol) # 6 A sculpture by German artist Kathe Kollwitz, titled "The Mourning Parents" at the World War I Vladslo German Cemetery in Vladslo, Belgium, on May 8, 2014. The cemetery contains the graves of over 25,000 German soldiers. The artists son, Peter Kollwitz, who was killed in the war when he was only 18 years old is buried in a grave in front of the statue. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) # 7 Members of German World War One historical association sit on the remains of a French 155mm long-range cannon at the wiped-out village of Bezonvaux, near Verdun, eastern France, March 29, 2014. Members of French and German historical associations, who gather annually, together visited the battlefield of Verdun in France, the site of a bloody World War One battle that dragged on for around 10 months in 1916, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives and destroying many villages. (Reuters/Charles Platiau) # 8 Lloyd Brown, a 104-year-old World War I veteran takes a moment to pause as he remembers being in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard with his ship the day WW I ended, at his home in Charlotte Hall, Maryland, on November 9, 2005. Brown remembered Armistice Day in 1918 as few, ever so few, veterans can. "For the servicemen there were lots of hugs and kisses," he recalls Brown, a teenage seaman aboard the battleship USS New Hampshire when the fighting stopped. "We were so happy that the war was over." Brown added, "There's not too many of us around any more." An estimated 2 million Americans served in Europe after the U.S. entered the war in 1917. Lloyd Brown passed away in April of 2007, at the age of 105. (AP Photo/Chris Gardner) # 9 The HMS Caroline rests in Alexandra Dock in Belfast, Northern Ireland on January 29, 2013. A National Heritage Memorial Fund grant will go towards urgent preventative work to secure the Caroline. Built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead in 1914 she was part of the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron which saw action in the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and is the last surviving Royal Navy ship from that period still afloat. At the time of her decommissioning in 2011, she was the second oldest ship still in Royal Navy service, HMS Victory Nelson's flagship preserved at Portsmouth, being the oldest. Caroline was converted into a depot and training ship for The Royal Navy Reserve in Alexandra Dock in Belfast in later years. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) # 11 A member Commonwealth War Graves Commission displays a maple leaf, an army jacket emblem, found on the remains of a Canadian soldier by archaeologists in the city of Sancourt near Cambrai in northern France, on June 9, 2008. The soldier, who participated in the battle of Cambrai, fought from September to October 1918, was part of the 78th Winnipeg Battalion of Manitoba, part of the 4th Canadian Division. (Reuters/Pascal Rossignol) # 12 Trees stand where the village of Fleury once stood, near Verdun, on March 5, 2014. A hundred years after the guns fell silent in World War One, nine villages wiped out by fighting on France's bloodiest battleground continue to lead a ghostly existence. Their names still appear on maps and in government records. Mayors representing them are designated by local authorities. But most of the streets, shops, houses and people who once lived around the French army stronghold of Verdun are gone. (Reuters/Vincent Kessler) # 13 Watches found with the remains of French WW1 soldiers, on June 3, 2013 in Verdun, France. At least 26 bodies of French soldiers were found in the cellar of a farm in the totally destroyed village of Fleury-devant-Douaumont. Seven were identified by their military identification plate. (Jean-Christophe Verhaegen/AFP/Getty Images) # 14 A man looks at the names of the missing on the Thiepval Memorial in Arras, France, on November 4, 2008. The Commonwealth War Grave Commission manages 956 cemeteries in Belguim and France, which bear witness to the heavy human sacrifice made on the Western Front during the First World War (1914-1918) and Second World War (1939-1945). (Matt Cardy/Getty Images) # 15 Archeological workers unearth a British WWI Mark IV tank in Flesquieres, near Cambrai in northern France, on November 19, 1998. British troops abandoned the tank on November 20, 1917, and German troops then buried it and used it as a bunker.(AP Photo/Michel Spingler) # 18 Red poppies bloom in a field in Peutie, Belgium, on June 3, 2014. The red poppy was one of the first flowers to bloom in the churned up soils of World War I, and was soon widely accepted throughout the allied nations as the flower of remembrance to be worn on Armistice Day. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) # 19 Unexploded shells are lined up along a wall awaiting removal by bomb-disposal experts after a French farmer found them while plowing his fields near the Courcelette British cemetery, the scene of a WWI battlefield in the Somme, on March 12, 2014.(Reuters/Pascal Rossignol) # 20 The casket of US Army Corporal Frank Buckles lies in honor at the Memorial Chapel at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, March 15, 2011. Buckles, the last American veteran of World War I, died February 27, 2011 at the age of 110. He served in the Army from 1917, at the age of 16, until being discharged in 1920. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images) # 21 A sculpture of a Caribou looks out over the trenches of the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial in Beaumont-Hamel, France, on March 27, 2014. The preserved battlefield park encompasses the grounds on which the Newfoundland Regiment made their unsuccessful attack on July 1, 1916 during the first day of the Battle of the Somme. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) # 22 A digital sonar image of the contours of a sunken German World War I submarine on the bottom of the North Sea. The sunken wreck of the U-106 has been discovered off the island of Terschelling, an island in the Wadden Sea off the northern Netherlands, and will become an official war grave, the Dutch Defense Ministry announced Wednesday, March 16, 2011. It sank in 1917 after hitting a mine with the loss of all 41 crew. (AP Photo/Dutch Defense Ministry) # 23 Members of the bomb disposal unit lower a large unexploded shell in a sand bed onto their truck, at a construction site in Ypres, Northwestern Belgium, on January 9, 2014. According to the Belgian Defense Department, two construction workers were killed on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, when they encountered the armament in a construction zone. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe, file) # 24 Inside view of a WWI trench at Massiges, northeastern France, on March 28, 2014. During the war, the battlefield between the Champagne and Argonne fronts was taken and lost several times by French and German troops between September 1914 and September 1915. During trench restoration works, in the last two years, the Main de Massiges Association has found seven bodies of WWI soldiers. (Reuters/Charles Platiau) # 25 At the Franco-Swiss Border in Pfetterhouse, rusting WWI barbed wire sits near the kilometer zero (zero mile marker) of the WWI front line, on September 5, 2013. The front started at the Swiss border and was 750 km long to the North sea.(Sebastien Bozon/AFP/Getty Images) # 26 Archeologists in the city of Arras in northern France discovered the intact remains of 24 British servicemen who were buried in 1917 during World War I. The discovery of the skeletons, which lay side by side with their army boots still intact had evidence they were from the same town. They were unearthed during the excavations for a new BMW plant at the end of May 2001. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission who took possession of the remains, identified 20 of the soldiers who were buried together to be from the 10th Lincoln Battalion. Three others, found in a nearby shell hole, were from the Marine Infantry and one other was found buried alone. (Reuters) # 27 A monument to local men who were killed during World War I, photographed on June 24, 2014 in Wildenroth, Germany. Villages across southern Germany usually have a small monument to men killed while serving in the German army during World War I, and the listed names often number into the dozens or even hundreds even in villages with small populations. (Philipp Guelland/Getty Images) # 28 A road sign that reads "main street" stands in what used to be the village of Bezonvaux near Verdun, on March 4, 2014. A hundred years after the guns fell silent in World War One, nine villages wiped out by fighting on France's bloodiest battleground continue to lead a ghostly existence. Their names still appear on maps and in government records. Mayors representing them are designated by local authorities. But most of the streets, shops, houses and people who once lived around the French army stronghold of Verdun are gone. (Reuters/Vincent Kessler) # 29 Vera Sandercock holds a picture of her father, Private Herbert Medlend, who served in the First World War in the 'doubly thankful' village of Herodsfoot, England, on April 4, 2014. There are 13 villages in England and Wales where everyone who left to fight in World War One and World War Two returned home safely. These fortuitous communities are known as 'doubly thankful' villages.(Reuters/Darren Staples) # 31 Divers explore inside a ship in Burra Sound, in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, on May 8, 2014. During both World Wars, Scapa Flow was an important British naval base, and the site of significant loss of life. Following the end of World War One, 74 German warships were interned there, and on June 21, 1919 most were deliberately sunk, or scuttled, at the orders of German Rear Admiral Ludwig Von Reuter, who mistakenly thought that the Armistice had broken down and wanted to prevent the British from using the ships. Now Scapa Flow is a popular site for divers, who explore the few wrecks that still remain at the bottom. (Reuters/Nigel Roddis) # 37 A foot of a German soldier killed in a French attack in the First World War lying in a Kilian underground shelter, at the Sundgaufront on the Lerchenberg in Carspach near Altkirch, France, uncovered by employees of the Alsatian archaeological service (PAIR), on October 12, 2011. Remains of German soldiers were found, who were buried alive after a huge Allied shell exploded above the tunnel in an attack on March 18, 1918. The men belonged to the 6th Company of the Reserve Infantry Regiment 94 and were until now considered missing in action. (AP Photo/dapd/Winfried Rothermel) # 38 An aerial view shows Canadian National Vimy Memorial on Vimy Ridge, northern France March 20, 2014, the scars of craters and trenches still visible. This memorial site is dedicated to the memory of Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War. (Reuters/Pascal Rossignol) # 39 A cross stands on the edge of the Lochnagar Crater on March 28, 2014 in La Boisselle, France. The crater was made when an enormous mine was detonated on the first day of the Somme offensive during World War One. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) # 41 An aerial view of the Franco-British memorial in Thiepval, northern France, on April 12, 2014. At 45 meters high, this is the largest British war memorial in the World, over 72,205 names of missing soldiers of the First World War, are engraved in the stone pillars.(Reuters/Pascal Rossignol) # 42 A man dressed in uniform holds an order of service during the funeral of Harry Patch, outside Wells Cathedral, in western England August 6, 2009. Thousands of people attended the funeral on Thursday of "Last Tommy", Briton Harry Patch, who was the last surviving veteran of the World War One trenches until his death at the age of 111. (Reuters/Stefan Wermuth) # 43 A member of the ONF (Office National des Forets) looks at an unexploded shell in a forest in Vaux-devant-Damloup, near Verdun, on March 24, 2014. In the forest of Verdun, full of this kind of vestiges of the First World War, the former battlefield attracts thieves, to the chagrin of the authorities and archaeologists. (Jean-Christophe Verhaegen/AFP/Getty Images) #	i don't know
May 4, 1970 saw 4 students killed and an additional 13 wounded when National Guard soldiers opened fire on unarmed students at what mid-western University?	Kent State Students Shot by the National Guard By Jennifer Rosenberg Updated March 30, 2016. On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen were on the Kent State college campus to maintain order during a student protest against the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia. For a still unknown reason, the National Guard suddenly fired upon the already dispersing crowd of student protesters, killing four and wounding nine others. Nixon Promises Peace in Vietnam During the 1968 U.S. presidential campaign, candidate Richard Nixon ran with a platform that promised "peace with honor" for the Vietnam War. Longing for an honorable end to the war, Americans voted Nixon into office and then watched and waited for Nixon to fulfill his campaign promise. Until the end of April 1970, Nixon seemed to be doing just that. However, on April 30, 1970, President Nixon announced during a television speech to the nation that American forces had invaded Cambodia. Although Nixon stated in his speech that the invasion was a defensive response to the aggression of North Vietnamese into Cambodia and that this action was meant to quicken the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam, many Americans saw this new invasion as an expansion or lengthening of the Vietnam War. continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance In response to Nixon's announcement of a new invasion, students across the United States began to protest. Students Begin a Protest Protests by students at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio began on May 1, 1970. At noon, students held a protest rally on campus and later that night rioters built a bonfire and threw beer bottles at police off campus. The mayor declared a state of emergency and asked the governor for help. The governor sent in the Ohio National Guard . On May 2, 1970, during a protest near the ROTC building on campus, someone set fire to the abandoned building. The National Guard entered the campus and used tear gas to control the crowd. During the evening of May 3, 1970, another protest rally was held on campus, which was again dispersed by the National Guard. All of these protests led up to the deadly interaction between Kent State students and the National Guard on May 4, 1970, which is known as the Kent State Shootings or the Kent State Massacre. The Kent State Shootings On May 4, 1970, another student rally was scheduled for noon at the Commons on the Kent State University campus. Before the rally began, the National Guard ordered those congregated to disperse. Since the students refused to leave, the National Guard attempted to use tear gas on the crowd. Because of the shifting wind, the tear gas was ineffective at moving the crowd of students. The National Guard then advanced upon the crowd, with bayonets attached to their rifles. This scattered the crowd. After dispersing the crowd, the National Guardsmen stood around for about ten minutes and then turned around and began to retrace their steps. For an unknown reason, during their retreat, nearly a dozen National Guardsmen suddenly turned around and began firing at the still scattered students. In 13 seconds, 67 bullets were fired. Some claim that there was a verbal order to fire. Aftermath of the Shooting Four students were killed and nine others were wounded. Some of the students who were shot were not even part of the rally, but were just walking to their next class. The Kent State massacre angered many and incited additional protests at schools across the country. The four students who were killed were Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer, and William Schroeder. The nine wounded students were Alan Canfora, John Cleary, Thomas Grace, Dean Kahler, Joseph Lewis, Donald MacKenzie, James Russell, Robert Stamps, and Douglas Wrentmore.	Kent State University
Located in Holyoke, Ma, the town in which the sport was created, what Hall of Fame is located at 444 Dwight St?	Today in counterculture history (05/04) - The Pub - Shroomery Message Board Last seen: 7 hours, 44 minutes Today in counterculture history (05/04) 2 #14398412 - 05/04/11 04:39 AM (5 years, 8 months ago) Edit 1970: Kent State shootings take place Quote: The Kent State shootings—also known as the May 4 massacre or Kent State massacre—occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970. The guardsmen fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis. Some of the students who were shot had been protesting against the American invasion of Cambodia, which President Richard Nixon announced in a television address on April 30. Other students who were shot had been walking nearby or observing the protest from a distance. There was a significant national response to the shootings: hundreds of universities, colleges, and high schools closed throughout the United States due to a student strike of four million students, and the event further affected the public opinion—at an already socially contentious time—over the role of the United States in the Vietnam War. Historical background Richard Nixon had been elected President in 1968, promising to end the Vietnam War. In November 1969, the My Lai Massacre was exposed, prompting widespread outrage around the world and leading to increased public opposition to the war. In addition, the following month saw the first draft lottery instituted since World War II. The war had appeared to be winding down throughout 1969, so the new invasion of Cambodia angered those who believed it only exacerbated the conflict. Many young people, including college students and teachers, were concerned about being drafted to fight in a war that they strongly opposed. The expansion of that war into another country appeared to them to have increased that risk, although the number of troops serving in Vietnam had peaked in 1967, well before that time. Across the country, campuses erupted in protests in what Time called "a nation-wide student strike", setting the stage for the events of early May 1970. Timeline Thursday, April 30 President Nixon announced to the nation that the "Cambodian Incursion" had been launched by United States combat forces. Friday, May 1 At Kent State University a demonstration with about 500 students was held on May 1 on the Commons (a grassy knoll in the center of campus traditionally used as a gathering place for rallies or protests). As the crowd dispersed to attend classes by 1 p.m., another rally was planned for May 4 to continue the protest of Nixon's expansion of the Vietnam war into Cambodia. There was widespread anger, and many protesters issued a call to "bring the war home." As a symbolic protest to Nixon's decision to send troops, a group of students watched a graduate student burning a copy of the U.S. Constitution while another student burned his draft card. Trouble exploded in town around midnight when people left a bar and began throwing beer bottles at cars and breaking downtown store fronts. In the process they broke a bank window, setting off an alarm. The news spread quickly and it resulted in several bars closing early to avoid trouble. Before long, more people had joined the vandalism and looting. By the time police arrived, a crowd of 120 had already gathered. Some people from the crowd had already lit a small bonfire in the street. The crowd appeared to be a mix of bikers, students, and transient people. A few members of the crowd began to throw beer bottles at the police, and then started yelling obscenities at them. The entire Kent police force was called to duty as well as officers from the county and surrounding communities. Kent Mayor Leroy Satrom declared a state of emergency, called Ohio Governor James Rhodes' office to seek assistance, and ordered all of the bars closed. The decision to close the bars early increased the size of the angry crowd. Police eventually succeeded in using tear gas to disperse the crowd from downtown, forcing them to move several blocks back to the campus. Saturday, May 2 City officials and downtown businesses received threats while rumors proliferated that radical revolutionaries were in Kent to destroy the city and university. Mayor Satrom met with Kent city officials and a representative of the Ohio Army National Guard. Following the meeting Satrom made the decision to call Governor Rhodes and request that the National Guard be sent to Kent, a request that was granted. Because of the rumors and threats, Satrom believed that local officials would not be able to handle future disturbances. The decision to call in the National Guard was made at 5:00 P.M., but the guard did not arrive into town that evening until around 10 P.M. A large demonstration was already under way on the campus, and the campus Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) building was burning. The arsonists were never apprehended and no one was injured in the fire. More than a thousand protesters surrounded the building and cheered its burning. Several Kent firemen and police officers were struck by rocks and other objects while attempting to extinguish the blaze. Several fire engine companies had to be called in because protesters carried the fire hose into the Commons and slashed it. The National Guard made numerous arrests and used tear gas; at least one student was slightly wounded with a bayonet. Sunday, May 3 During a press conference, Governor Rhodes called the student protesters un-American and referred to them as revolutionaries set on destroying higher education in Ohio. "We've seen here at the city of Kent especially, probably the most vicious form of campus oriented violence yet perpetrated by dissident groups. They make definite plans of burning, destroying, and throwing rocks at police, and at the National Guard and the Highway Patrol. This is when we're going to use every part of the law enforcement agency of Ohio to drive them out of Kent. We are going to eradicate the problem. We're not going to treat the symptoms. And these people just move from one campus to the other and terrorize the community. They're worse than the brown shirts and the communist element and also the night riders and the vigilantes," Rhodes said. "They're the worst type of people that we harbor in America. Now I want to say this. They are not going to take over campus. I think that we're up against the strongest, well-trained, militant, revolutionary group that has ever assembled in America." Rhodes can be heard in the recording of his speech yelling and pounding his fists on the desk. Rhodes also claimed he would obtain a court order declaring a state of emergency that would ban further demonstrations and gave the impression that a situation akin to martial law had been declared; however, he never attempted to obtain such an order. During the day some students came into downtown Kent to help with cleanup efforts after the rioting, which met with mixed reactions from local businessmen. Mayor Satrom, under pressure from frightened citizens, ordered a curfew until further notice. Around 8:00 p.m., another rally was held on the campus Commons. By 8:45 p.m. the Guardsmen used tear gas to disperse the crowd, and the students reassembled at the intersection of Lincoln and Main Streets, holding a sit-in with the hopes of gaining a meeting with Mayor Satrom and President White. At 11:00 p.m., the Guard announced that a curfew had gone into effect and began forcing the students back to their dorms. A few students were bayoneted by Guardsmen. Monday, May 4 On Monday, May 4, a protest was scheduled to be held at noon, as had been planned three days earlier. University officials attempted to ban the gathering, handing out 12,000 leaflets stating that the event was canceled. Despite this, an estimated 2,000 people gathered on the university's Commons, near Taylor Hall. The protest began with the ringing of the campus's iron Victory Bell (which had historically been used to signal victories in football games) to mark the beginning of the rally, and the first protester began to speak. Companies A and C, 1/145th Infantry and Troop G of the 2/107th Armored Cavalry, Ohio Army National Guard (ARNG), the units on the campus grounds, attempted to disperse the students. The legality of the dispersal was later debated at a subsequent wrongful death and injury trial. On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that authorities did indeed have the right to disperse the crowd. The dispersal process began late in the morning with campus patrolman Harold Rice, riding in a National Guard Jeep, approaching the students to read them an order to disperse or face arrest. The protesters responded by throwing rocks, striking one campus Patrolman and forcing the Jeep to retreat. Just before noon, the Guard returned and again ordered the crowd to disperse. When most of the crowd refused, the Guard used tear gas. Because of wind, the tear gas had little effect in dispersing the crowd, and some launched a second volley of rocks toward the Guard's line, too distant to have any effect, to chants of "Pigs off campus!" The students lobbed the tear gas canisters back at the National Guardsmen, who wore gas masks. When it was determined the crowd was not going to disperse, a group of 77 National Guard troops from A Company and Troop G, with bayonets fixed on their rifles, began to advance upon the hundreds of protesters. As the guardsmen advanced, the protesters retreated up and over Blanket Hill, heading out of The Commons area. Once over the hill, the students, in a loose group, moved northeast along the front of Taylor Hall, with some continuing toward a parking lot in front of Prentice Hall (slightly northeast of and perpendicular to Taylor Hall). The guardsmen pursued the protesters over the hill, but rather than veering left as the protesters had, they continued straight, heading down toward an athletic practice field enclosed by a chain link fence. Here they remained for about ten minutes, unsure of how to get out of the area short of retracing their entrance path (an action some guardsmen considered might be viewed as a retreat). During this time, the bulk of the students congregated off to the left and front of the guardsmen, approximately 150 ft (50m) to 225 ft (75m) away, on the veranda of Taylor Hall. Others were scattered between Taylor Hall and the Prentice Hall parking lot, while still others (perhaps 35 or 40) were standing in the parking lot, or dispersing through the lot as they had been previously ordered. While on the practice field, the guardsmen generally faced the parking lot which was about 100 yards away. At one point, some of the guardsmen knelt and aimed their weapons toward the parking lot, then stood up again. For a few moments, several guardsmen formed a loose huddle and appeared to be talking to one another. The guardsmen appeared to be unsure as to what to do next. They had cleared the protesters from the Commons area, and many students had left, but some stayed and were still angrily confronting the soldiers, some throwing rocks and tear gas canisters. About ten minutes later, the guardsmen began to retrace their steps back up the hill toward the Commons area. Some of the students on the Taylor Hall veranda began to move slowly toward the soldiers as the latter passed over the top of the hill and headed back down into the Commons. At this point, at 12:24 p.m., a Sgt. Taylor turned and began firing at the students with his .45 pistol. A number of guardsmen nearest the students also turned and fired their M1 Garand rifles at the students. In all, 29 of the 77 guardsmen claimed to have fired their weapons, using a final total of 67 rounds of ammunition. The shooting was determined to have lasted only 13 seconds, although John Kifner reported in the New York Times that "it appeared to go on, as a solid volley, for perhaps a full minute or a little longer." The question of why the shots were fired remains widely debated. Photo taken from the perspective of where the Ohio National Guard soldiers stood when they opened fire on the students Bullet hole in a sculpture by Don Drumm caused by a .30 caliber round fired by the Ohio National Guard at Kent State on May 4, 1970 A 2010 audio analysis of a tape recording of the incident by Stuart Allen and Tom Owen who were described by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as "nationally respected forensic audio experts" concluded that the guard were given an order to fire. The original 30-minute reel-to-reel tape was made by Terry Strubbe, a Kent State communications student who turned on his recorder and put its microphone in his dorm window overlooking the campus. It is the only known recording to capture the events leading up to the shootings. A copy was found in 2007 by Alan Canfora, one of the wounded, who located a copy of the tape in a library archive. According to the enhanced recording a male voice yells "Guard!". Several seconds pass. Then, "All right, prepare to fire!". "Get down!" someone shouts urgently, presumably in the crowd. Finally, "Guard! . . . " followed two seconds later by a long, booming volley of gunshots. The entire spoken sequence lasts 17 seconds. Strubbe himself disagrees with the experts findings saying "It was a really bad recording, It’s pure mud." Ronald Snyder who commanded a National Guard unit at Kent State not involved in shootings said "You would never see anything in training that would say 'Guard, do this.' It would be like saying, 'Army, do this.' It doesn't make sense." Further analysis of the audiotape revealed that four pistol shots and a violent confrontation occurred approximately 70 seconds before the National Guard opened fire. According to The Plain Dealer this new analysis raised questions about the role of Terry Norman, a Kent State student who was an FBI informant and known to be carrying a pistol during the disturbance. Alan Canfora said it was premature to reach any conclusions. The Adjutant General of the Ohio National Guard told reporters that a sniper had fired on the guardsmen, which itself remains a debated allegation. Many guardsmen later testified that they were in fear for their lives, which was questioned partly because of the distance between them and the students killed or wounded. Time magazine later concluded that "triggers were not pulled accidentally at Kent State". The President's Commission on Campus Unrest avoided probing the question regarding why the shootings happened. Instead, it harshly criticized both the protesters and the Guardsmen, but it concluded that "the indiscriminate firing of rifles into a crowd of students and the deaths that followed were unnecessary, unwarranted, and inexcusable." The shootings killed four students and wounded nine. Two of the four students killed, Allison Krause and Jeffrey Miller, had participated in the protest, and the other two, Sandra Scheuer and William Knox Schroeder, had been walking from one class to the next at the time of their deaths. Schroeder was also a member of the campus ROTC chapter. Of those wounded, none was closer than 71 feet to the guardsmen. Of those killed, the nearest (Miller) was 265 feet away, and their average distance from the guardsmen was 345 feet. Eyewitness accounts Two men who were present related what they saw. Unidentified speaker 1: "Suddenly, they turned around, got underneath, as if they were ordered to, they did it all together, aimed. And personally, I was standing there saying, they're not going to shoot, they can't do that. If they are going to shoot, it's going to be blank." Unidentified speaker 2: "The shots were definitely coming my way, because when a bullet passes your head, it makes a crack. I hit the ground behind the curve, looking over. I saw a student hit. He stumbled and fell, to where he was running towards the car. Another student tried to pull him behind the car, bullets were coming through the windows of the car. "As this student fell behind the car, I saw another student go down, next to the curb, on the far side of the automobile, maybe 25 or 30 yards from where I was lying. It was maybe 25, 30, 35 seconds of sporadic firing. "The firing stopped. I lay there maybe 10 or 15 seconds. I got up, I saw four or five students lying around the lot. By this time, it was like mass hysteria. Students were crying, they were screaming for ambulances. I heard some girl screaming, 'They didn't have blank, they didn't have blank,' no, they didn't." Casualties Killed (and approximate distance from the National Guard): Jeffrey Glenn Miller; age 20; 265 ft (81 m) shot through the mouth; killed instantly Allison B. Krause; age 19; 343 ft (105 m) fatal left chest wound; died later that day William Knox Schroeder; age 19; 382 ft (116 m) fatal chest wound; died almost an hour later in a hospital while waiting for surgery Sandra Lee Scheuer; age 20; 390 ft (120 m) fatal neck wound; died a few minutes later from loss of blood Wounded (and approximate distance from the National Guard): Joseph Lewis Jr.; 71 ft (22 m); hit twice in the right abdomen and left lower leg John R. Cleary; 110 ft (34 m); upper left chest wound Thomas Mark Grace; 225 ft (69 m); struck in left ankle Alan Michael Canfora; 225 ft (69 m); hit in his right wrist Dean R. Kahler; 300 ft (91 m); back wound fracturing the vertebrae, permanently paralyzed from the chest down Douglas Alan Wrentmore; 329 ft (100 m); hit in his right knee James Dennis Russell; 375 ft (114 m); hit in his right thigh from a bullet and in the right forehead by birdshot, both wounds minor Robert Follis Stamps; 495 ft (151 m); hit in his right buttock Donald Scott MacKenzie; 750 ft (230 m); neck wound In the "Presidents Commission on Campus Unrest" (pp.273-274) they mistakenly list Thomas V. Grace, who is Thomas Mark Grace's father, as the Thomas Grace injured. All those shot were students in good standing at the university. Immediately after the shootings, many angry students were ready to launch an all-out attack on the National Guard. Many faculty members, led by geology professor and faculty marshal Glenn Frank, pleaded with the students to leave the Commons and to not give in to violent escalation, saying: "I don't care whether you've never listened to anyone before in your lives. I am begging you right now. If you don't disperse right now, they're going to move in, and it can only be a slaughter. Would you please listen to me? Jesus Christ, I don't want to be a part of this...!" After 20 minutes of speaking, the students left the Commons, as ambulance personnel tended to the wounded, and the Guard left the area. Professor Frank's son, also present that day, said "He absolutely saved my life and hundreds of others". Although initial newspaper reports had inaccurately stated that a number of National Guard members had been killed or seriously injured, only one Guardsman, Sgt. Lawrence Shafer, was injured seriously enough to require medical treatment, approximately 10 to 15 minutes prior to the shootings. Shafer is also mentioned in a memo from November 15, 1973. The FBI memo was prepared by the Cleveland Office and is referred to by Field Office file # 44-703. It reads as follows: Upon contacting appropriate officers of the Ohio National Guard at Ravenna and Akron, Ohio, regarding ONG radio logs and the availability of service record books, the respective ONG officer advised that any inquiries concerning the Kent State University incident should be direct to the Adjutant General, ONG, Columbus, Ohio. Three persons interviewed regarding reported conversation by Sgt Lawrence Shafer, ONG, that Shafer had bragged about "taking a bead" on Jeffrey Miller at the time of the ONG shooting and each interviewee unable to substantiate such a conversation. In an interview broadcast in 1986 on the ABC News documentary series Our World, Shafer identified the person that he fired at as Joseph Lewis. Aftermath and long-term effects Photographs of the dead and wounded at Kent State that were distributed in newspapers and periodicals worldwide amplified sentiment against the United States' invasion of Cambodia and the Vietnam War in general. In particular, the camera of Kent State photojournalism student John Filo captured a fourteen-year old runaway, Mary Ann Vecchio, screaming over the body of the dead student, Jeffrey Miller, who had been shot in the mouth. The photograph, which won a Pulitzer Prize, became the most enduring image of the events, and one of the most enduring images of the anti-Vietnam War movement. The shootings led to protests on college campuses throughout the United States, and a student strike, causing more than 450 campuses across the country to close with both violent and non-violent demonstrations. A common sentiment was expressed by students at New York University with a banner hung out of a window which read "They Can't Kill Us All." On May 8, eleven people were bayonetted at the University of New Mexico by the New Mexico National Guard in a confrontation with student protesters. Also on May 8, an antiwar protest at New York's Federal Hall held at least partly in reaction to the Kent State killings was met with a counter-rally of pro-Nixon construction workers organized by Peter J. Brennan, later appointed U.S. Labor Secretary by President Nixon, resulting in the "Hard Hat Riot". Just five days after the shootings, 100,000 people demonstrated in Washington, D.C., against the war and the killing of unarmed student protesters. Ray Price, Nixon's chief speechwriter from 1969–1974, recalled the Washington demonstrations saying, "The city was an armed camp. The mobs were smashing windows, slashing tires, dragging parked cars into intersections, even throwing bedsprings off overpasses into the traffic down below. This was the quote, student protest. That's not student protest, that’s civil war." Not only was Nixon taken to Camp David for two days for his own protection, but Charles Colson (Counsel to President Nixon from 1969 to 1973) stated that the military was called up to protect the administration from the angry students; he recalled that "The 82nd Airborne was in the basement of the executive office building, so I went down just to talk to some of the guys and walk among them, and they're lying on the floor leaning on their packs and their helmets and their cartridge belts and their rifles cocked and you’re thinking, 'This can't be the United States of America. This is not the greatest free democracy in the world. This is a nation at war with itself.'" Shortly after the shootings took place, the Urban Institute conducted a national study that concluded the Kent State shooting was the single factor causing the only nationwide student strike in U.S. history; over 4 million students protested and over 900 American colleges and universities closed during the student strikes. The Kent State campus remained closed for six weeks. President Nixon and his administration's public reaction to the shootings was perceived by many in the anti-war movement as callous. Then National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger said the president was "pretending indifference." Stanley Karnow noted in his Vietnam: A History that "The [Nixon] administration initially reacted to this event with wanton insensitivity. Nixon's press secretary, Ron Ziegler, whose statements were carefully programmed, referred to the deaths as a reminder that 'when dissent turns to violence, it invites tragedy.'" Nixon himself had talked of "bums" destroying US campuses, to which the father of Allison Krause stated on national TV "My child was not a bum". A Gallup Poll taken immediately after the shootings showed that 58 percent of respondents blamed the students, 11 percent blamed the National Guard and 31 percent expressed no opinion. Karnow further documented that at 4:15 a.m. on May 9, 1970, the president met about 30 student dissidents conducting a vigil at the Lincoln Memorial, whereupon Nixon "treated them to a clumsy and condescending monologue, which he made public in an awkward attempt to display his benevolence." Nixon had been trailed by White House Deputy for Domestic Affairs Egil Krogh, who saw it differently than Karnow, saying, "I thought it was a very significant and major effort to reach out." In any regard, neither side could convince the other and after meeting with the students, Nixon expressed that those in the anti-war movement were the pawns of foreign communists. After the student protests, Nixon asked H. R. Haldeman to consider the Huston Plan, which would have used illegal procedures to gather information on the leaders of the anti-war movement. Only the resistance of J. Edgar Hoover stopped the plan. On May 14, ten days after the Kent State shootings, two students were killed (and 12 wounded) by police at Jackson State University under similar circumstances, but that event did not arouse the same nationwide attention as the Kent State shootings. There was wide discussion as to whether these were legally justified shootings of American citizens, and whether the protests or the decisions to ban them were constitutional. These debates served to further galvanize uncommitted opinion by the terms of the discourse. The term "massacre" was applied to the shootings by some individuals and media sources, as it had been used for the Boston Massacre of 1770, in which five were killed and several more wounded. On June 13, 1970, as a consequence of the killings of protesting students at Kent State and Jackson State, President Nixon established the President's Commission on Campus Unrest, known as the Scranton Commission, which he charged to study the dissent, disorder, and violence breaking out on college and university campuses across the nation, The Commission issued its findings in a September 1970 report that concluded that the Ohio National Guard shootings on May 4, 1970, were unjustified. The report said: Even if the guardsmen faced danger, it was not a danger that called for lethal force. The 61 shots by 28 guardsmen certainly cannot be justified. Apparently, no order to fire was given, and there was inadequate fire control discipline on Blanket Hill. The Kent State tragedy must mark the last time that, as a matter of course, loaded rifles are issued to guardsmen confronting student demonstrators. In September 1970, twenty-four students and one faculty member were indicted on charges connected with the May 4 demonstration at the ROTC building fire three days before. These individuals, who had been identified from photographs, became known as the "Kent 25." Five cases, all related to the burning of the ROTC building, went to trial; one non-student defendant was convicted on one charge and two other non-students pleaded guilty. One other defendant was acquitted, and charges were dismissed against the last. In December 1971, all charges against the remaining twenty were dismissed for lack of evidence. Legal action against the guardsmen and others Eight of the guardsmen were indicted by a grand jury. The guardsmen claimed to have fired in self-defense, a claim which was generally accepted by the criminal justice system. In 1974 U.S. District Judge Frank Battisti dismissed charges against all eight on the basis that the prosecution's case was too weak to warrant a trial. Larry Shafer, a guardsman who said he fired during the shootings and was one of those charged, told the Kent-Ravenna Record-Courier newspaper in May 2007: "I never heard any command to fire. That's all I can say on that." Shafer—a Ravenna city councilman and former fire chief—went on to say, "That's not to say there may not have been, but with all the racket and noise, I don't know how anyone could have heard anything that day." Shafer also went on to say that "point" would not have been part of a proper command to open fire. Civil actions were also attempted against the guardsmen, the State of Ohio, and the president of Kent State. The federal court civil action for wrongful death and injury, brought by the victims and their families against Governor Rhodes, the President of Kent State, and the National Guardsmen, resulted in unanimous verdicts for all defendants on all claims after an eleven week trial. The judgment on those verdicts was reversed by the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on the ground that the federal trial judge had mishandled an out-of-court threat against a juror. On remand, the civil case was settled in return for payment of a total of $675,000 to all plaintiffs by the State of Ohio (explained by the State as estimated cost of defense) and the defendants agreement to publicly state they regretted what had happened: "In retrospect, the tragedy of May 4, 1970 should not have occurred. The students may have believed that they were right in continuing their mass protest in response to the Cambodian invasion, even though this protest followed the posting and reading by the university of an order to ban rallies and an order to disperse. These orders have since been determined by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to have been lawful. Some of the Guardsmen on Blanket Hill, fearful and anxious from prior events, may have believed in their own minds that their lives were in danger. Hindsight suggests that another method would have resolved the confrontation. Better ways must be found to deal with such a confrontation. We devoutly wish that a means had been found to avoid the May 4th events culminating in the Guard shootings and the irreversible deaths and injuries. We deeply regret those events and are profoundly saddened by the deaths of four students and the wounding of nine others which resulted. We hope that the agreement to end the litigation will help to assuage the tragic memories regarding that sad day." It is uncertain whether the 2010 audio analysis of the tape that Canfora found—which concluded the guards were ordered to fire—will lead to further legal action. According to Sanford Rosen, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys in the civil case, the new revelations may prove more relevant to the historical record than to any legal findings. Because of the Double Jeopardy clause the guards can not be prosecuted again by the Federal Government although they could be by state and local authorities. Rosen noted guardsman could use the order as a defense. On May 10, Alan Canfora, who with others is considering launching new civil actions, said he will ask United States Attorney General Eric Holder and Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to review the tape. In the succeeding years, many in the anti-war movement have referred to the shootings as "murders", although no criminal convictions were obtained against any National Guardsman. Journalist I. F. Stone wrote To those who think murder is too strong a word, one may recall that even Agnew three days after the Kent State shootings used the word in an interview on the David Frost show in Los Angeles. Agnew admitted in response to a question that what happened at Kent State was murder, "but not first degree" since there was — as Agnew explained from his own training as a lawyer — "no premeditation but simply an over-response in the heat of anger that results in a killing; it's a murder. It's not premeditated and it certainly can't be condoned. The Kent State incident forced the National Guard to re-examine its methods of crowd control. The only equipment the guardsmen had to disperse demonstrators that day were M1 Garand rifles loaded with .30-06 FMJ ammunition, 12 Ga. pump shotguns, and bayonets, and CS gas grenades. In the years that followed, the U.S. Army began developing less lethal means of dispersing demonstrators (such as rubber bullets), and changed its crowd control and riot tactics to attempt to avoid casualties amongst the demonstrators. Many of the crowd-control changes brought on by the Kent State events are used today by police and military forces in the United States when facing similar situations, such as the 1992 Los Angeles Riots and civil disorder during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. One outgrowth of the events was the Center for Peaceful Change established at Kent State University in 1971 "as a living memorial to the events of May 4, 1970." Now known as The Center for Applied Conflict Management (CACM), it developed one of the earliest conflict resolution undergraduate degree programs in the United States. The Institute for the Study and Prevention of Violence, an interdisciplinary program dedicated to violence prevention, was established in 1998. According to recently released FBI reports, one part-time student, Terry Norman, was already noted by student protesters as an informant for both campus police and the Akron FBI branch. Norman was present during the May 4 protests, taking photographs to identify student leaders, while carrying a sidearm and wearing a gas mask. In 1970, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover responded to questions from then-Congressman John Ashbrook by denying that Norman had ever worked for the FBI, a statement Norman himself disputed. On August 13, 1973, Indiana Senator Birch Bayh sent a memo to then-governor of Ohio John J. Gilligan suggesting that Norman may have fired the first shot, based on testimony he [Bayh] received from guardsmen who claimed that a gunshot fired from the vicinity of the protesters instigated the Guard to open fire on the students. Throughout the forty years since the shootings, debate has continued on about the events of May 4, 1970. Two of the survivors have died: James Russell on June 23, 2007; and Robert Stamps in June 2008. Memorials and remembrances Kent State shootings is located in Ohio Location: .5 mi. SE of the intersection of E. Main St. and S. Lincoln St., Kent, Ohio Coordinates: 41.150181°N 81.343383°WCoordinates: 41.150181°N 81.343383°W Area: 17.24 acres (6.98 ha) Governing body: Private Added to NRHP: February 23, 2010 NRHP Reference#: 10000046 Each May 4 from 1971 to 1975 the Kent State University administration sponsored an official commemoration of the events. Upon the university's announcement in 1976 that it would no longer sponsor such commemorations, the May 4 Task Force, a group made up of students and community members, was formed for this purpose. The group has organized a commemoration on the university's campus each year since 1976; events generally include a silent march around the campus, a candlelight vigil, a ringing of the Victory Bell in memory of those killed and injured, speakers (always including eyewitnesses and family members), and music. In 1990, twenty years after the shootings, a memorial commemorating the events of May 4 was dedicated on the campus on a 2.5 acre (10,000 m²) site overlooking the University's Commons where the student protest took place. Even the construction of the monument became controversial and, in the end, only 7% of the design was constructed. The memorial itself does not contain the names of those killed or wounded in the shooting; under pressure, the university agreed to install a plaque near it with the names. In 1999, at the urging of relatives of the four students killed in 1970, the university constructed an individual memorial for each of the students in the parking lot between Taylor and Prentice halls. Each of the four memorials is located on the exact spot where the student fell, mortally wounded. They are surrounded by a raised rectangle of granite featuring six lightposts approximately four feet high, with the student's name engraved on a triangular marble plaque in one corner. George Segal's 1978 cast-from-life bronze sculpture, In Memory of May 4, 1970, Kent State: Abraham and Isaac was commissioned for the Kent State campus by a private fund for public art, but was refused by the university administration who deemed its subject matter (the biblical Abraham poised to sacrifice his son Isaac) too controversial. The sculpture was accepted in 1979 by Princeton University, and currently resides there between the university chapel and library. An earlier work of land art, Partially Buried Woodshed, was produced on the Kent State campus by Robert Smithson in January 1970. Shortly after the events, an inscription was added that recontextualized the work in such a way that it came to be associated by some with the event. In 2004, a simple stone memorial was erected at Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School in Plainview, New York, which Jeffrey Miller had attended. On May 3, 2007, just prior to the yearly commemoration, an Ohio Historical Society marker was dedicated by KSU president Lester Lefton. It is located between Taylor Hall and Prentice Hall between the parking lot and the 1990 memorial. Also in 2007, a memorial service was held at Kent State in honor of James Russell, one of the wounded, who died in 2007 of a heart attack. In 2008, Kent State University announced plans to construct a May 4 Visitors' Center in a room in Taylor Hall. A 17.24-acre (6.98 ha) area was listed as Kent State Shootings Site on the National Register of Historic Places on February 23, 2010. The listing was announced as the featured listing in the National Park Service's weekly list of March 5, 2010. Contributing resources in the site are: Taylor Hall, the Victory Bell, Lilac Lane and Boulder Marker, The Pagoda, Solar Totem, and the Prentice Hall Parking Lot. The National Park Service stated the site "is considered nationally significant given its broad effects in causing the largest student strike in the United States history, affecting public opinion about the Vietnam War, creating a legal precedent established by the trials subsequent to the shootings, and for the symbolic status the event has attained as a result of a government confronting protesting citizens with unreasonable deadly force." Every year on the anniversary of the shootings, notably on the 40th anniversary in 2010, students and others who were present share remembrances of the day and the impact it has had on their lives. Among them are Nick Saban, head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team who was a freshman in 1970; surviving student Tom Grace, who was shot in the foot; Kent State faculty member Jerry Lewis; photographer John Filo; and others. Cultural references Music The best known popular culture response to the deaths at Kent State was the protest song "Ohio", written by Neil Young for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The song was written, recorded, and preliminary pressings (acetates) were rushed to major radio stations, although the group already had a hit song, "Teach Your Children", on the charts at the time. Within two-and-a-half weeks of the Kent State shootings, "Ohio" was receiving national airplay. Crosby, Stills, and Nash visited the Kent State campus for the first time on May 4, 1997, where they performed the song for the May 4 Task Force's 27th annual commemoration. The B-Side of the single release was Stephen Stills' anti-Vietnam war anthem "Find the Cost of Freedom". There are a number of lesser known musical tributes, including the following: Harvey Andrews' 1970 song "Hey Sandy" was addressed to Sandra Scheuer.lyrics Pete Atkin and Clive James wrote "Driving Through Mythical America", recorded by Atkin on his 1971 album of the same name, about the shootings, relating them to a series of events and images from 20th-century American history. Steve Miller's "Jackson-Kent Blues,"[70] from The Steve Miller Band album Number 5 (released in November 1970), is another direct response. The Beach Boys released "Student Demonstration Time" in 1971 on Surf's Up. Mike Love wrote new lyrics for Leiber & Stoller’s "Riot in Cell Block Number Nine." Bruce Springsteen wrote a song called "Where Was Jesus in Ohio" in May or June 1970. The unreleased and uncirculating song is reported to be the artist's emotionally charged response to the Kent State shootings. Jon Anderson has said that the lyrics of "Long Distance Runaround" (on the album Fragile by Yes, also released in 1971) are also in part about the shootings, particularly the line "hot colour melting the anger to stone." In 1970-71 Halim El-Dabh, a Kent State University music professor who was on campus when the shootings occurred, composed Opera Flies, a full-length opera, in response to his experience. The work was first performed on the Kent State campus on May 8, 1971, and was revived for the 25th commemoration of the events in 1995. In 1971, the composer and pianist Bill Dobbins (who was a Kent State University graduate student at the time of the shootings), composed "The Balcony", an avant-garde work for jazz band inspired by the same event. First performed in May 1971 for the university's first commemoration, it was released on LP in 1973 and was performed again by the Kent State University Jazz Ensemble in 2000 for the 30th commemoration. Dave Brubeck's 1971 cantata Truth Is Fallen is dedicated to the slain students at Kent State University and Jackson State University; the work was premiered in Midland, Michigan on May 1, 1971, and released on LP in 1972. The All Saved Freak Band dedicated its 1973 album My Poor Generation to "Tom Miller of the Kent State 25." Tom Miller was a member of the band who had been featured in Life magazine as part of the Kent State protests and lost his life the next year in an automobile accident. Holly Near's "It Could Have Been Me" was released on A Live Album (1974). The song is Near's personal response to the incident. Jandek's song "Governor Rhodes" is presumably a meditation on the Kent State shootings, the title a reference to the Ohio governor who ordered the National Guard to confront protesters. The song was released on the LP Telegraph Melts in 1986, but is believed by some to have been recorded shortly after the shootings.[citation needed] The industrial band Skinny Puppy's 1989 song "Tin Omen" on the album Rabies refers to the event. Lamb of God's 2000 song "O.D.H.G.A.B.F.E." references Kent State, together with the Auschwitz concentration camp, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, the 1968 Democratic National Convention and the Waco siege. A commemorative 2-CD compilation featuring music and interviews was released by the May 4 Task Force in May 2005, in commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the shootings. Joe Walsh, who briefly attended Kent State, has said that he wrote "Turn to Stone" in response to the shootings.[citation needed] He also mentions the event in the song "Decades" (1992). Lodi, New Jersey-based horror punk band Mourning Noise mentions this event in its song "Radical" recorded live for the album "Death Trip Delivery". One of the students who participated in the protest was Chrissie Hynde, future leader of The Pretenders, who was a sophomore at the time. Her former bandmate, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Gerald Casale, founding members of Devo, also attended Kent State at the time of the shootings. Casale was reportedly "standing about 15 feet (4.6 m) away" from Allison Krause when she was shot, and was friends with her and another one of the students who were killed. The shootings were the transformative moment for him[79] and for the band, which became less of a pure joke and more a vehicle for social critique (albeit with a blackly humorous bent). Sage Francis references the Kent State shootings in his song "Slow Down Gandhi." Gwar references the Kent State shootings in the song "Slaughterama" saying "Good thing I was such an expert shot with the National Guard back at Kent State, I bagged four that day." Genesis recreates the events from the perspective of the Guards in the song "The Knife", on Trespass (October 1970). Against a backdrop of voices chanting "We are only wanting freedom," a male voice in the foreground calls "Things are getting out of control here today", then "OK men, fire over their heads!" followed by gunshots, screaming and crying. The song became a concert mainstay, and established Genesis on the prog-rock scene. Barbara Dane sings "The Kent State Massacre" written by Jack Warshaw on her 1973 album I Hate the Capitalist System. The Swedish rock band Gläns över Sjö & Strand made a song about the shootings, in the album Är du lönsam lilla vän?, called "Ohio 4 maj 1970". Experimental punk rock band At the Drive-In reference the shooting in their song "Alpha Centauri" singing, "students spray the kent state mist/wishing wills missing clientele/widows six legged lost and found" Literature Prose Harlan Ellison's 1971 story collection Alone Against Tomorrow is dedicated to the four students who were killed. Lesley Choyce's 1994 novel, The Republic of Nothing mentions how one character hates President Richard Nixon due in part to the students of Kent State. Gael Baudino's 1988-92 Dragonsword trilogy follows the story of a teaching assistant who narrowly missed being shot in the massacre. Frequent references are made to how the experience and its aftermath still traumatize the protagonist decades later when she herself is a soldier. Poetry The incident is mentioned in Allen Ginsberg's 1975 poem Hadda be Playin' on a Jukebox. The poem "Bullets and Flowers" by Yevgeny Yevtushenko is dedicated to Allison Krause.[83] Krause had participated in the previous days' protest during which she reportedly put a flower in the barrel of a Guardsman’s rifle,[83] as had been done at a war protest at the Pentagon in October 1967, and reportedly saying, "Flowers are better than bullets." Peter Makuck's poem "The Commons" is about the shootings. Makuck, a 1971 graduate of Kent State, was present on the Commons during the incident. Gary Geddes' poem Sandra Lee Scheuer remembers one of the victims of the Kent State shootings. Plays 1977 - Kent State: A Requiem by J. Gregory Payne. First performed in 1976. Told from the perspective of Bill Schoeder's mother, Florence, this play has been performed at over 150 college campuses in the U.S. and Europe in tours in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s; it was last performed at Emerson College in 2007. It is also the basis of NBC's award-winning 1981 docudrama Kent State. 1993 - Blanket Hill explores conversations of the National Guard hours before arriving at Kent State University...activities of students already on campus...the moment they meet face to face on May 4, 1970...framed in the trial four years later. The play originated as a classroom assignment, initially performed at the Pan-African Theater and was developed at the Organic Theater, Chicago, IL. Produced as part of The Student Theatre Festival 2010, Department of Theatre and Dance, Kent State University, it was again designed and performed by current theatre students as part of the 40th May 4 Commemoration. The play was written and directed by Kay Cosgriff. A DVD of the production is available for viewing from the May 4th Collection at Kent State University. 1995 - Nightwalking. Voices From Kent State by Sandra Perlman, Kent, Franklin Mills Press, first presented in Chicago April 20, 1995, (Director: Jenifer (Gwenne) Weber). Kent state is referenced in Nikki Giovanni's Beep Beep Poem (the). 2010- David Hassler, director of the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State and theatre professor Katherine Burke team up to write a play called May 4 Voices in honor of the incident's 40th anniversary. [edit] Photography In her 1996 still/moving photographic project Partially Buried in three parts, visual artist Renée Green aims to address the history of the shootings both historically and culturally. Documentary 1970 - Confrontation at Kent State (director Richard Myers) - documentary filmed by a Kent State University filmmaker in Kent, Ohio, directly following the shootings. 1971 - Allison (director Richard Myers) - a tribute to Allison Krause. 1979 - George Segal (director Michael Blackwood) - documentary about American sculptor George Segal; Segal discusses and is shown creating his bronze sculpture Abraham and Isaac, which was originally intended as a memorial for the Kent State University campus. 2000 - Kent State: The Day the War Came Home (director Chris Triffo, executive producer Mark Mori), the Emmy-Award-winning documentary featuring interviews with injured students, eyewitnesses, guardsmen, and relatives of students killed at Kent State. 2007 - 4 Tote in Ohio: Ein Amerikanisches Trauma ("4 dead in Ohio: an American trauma") (directors Klaus Bredenbrock and Pagonis Pagonakis) - documentary featuring interviews with injured students, eyewitnesses and a German journalist who was a U.S. correspondent. 2008 - How It Was: Kent State Shootings - National Geographic Channel documentary series episode. 2010 - Fire In the Heartland: Kent State, May 4, and Student Protest in America (director Daniel Lee Miller) - documentary featuring the build-up to, the events of, and the aftermath of the shootings, told by many of those who were present and in some cases wounded. Film and television 1970 - The Bold Ones: The Senator - a television program starring Hal Holbrook, aired a two-part episode titled "A Continual Roar of Musketry" which was based on a Kent-State-like shooting. Holbrook's Senator character is conducting an investigation into the incident. 1974 - The Trial of Billy Jack - The climactic scene of this film depicts National Guardsmen lethally firing on unarmed students, and the credits specifically mention Kent State and other student shootings 1981 - Kent State (director James Goldstone) - television docudrama 1995 - Nixon - Directed by Oliver Stone, the film features actual footage of the shootings; the event also plays an important role in the course of the film's narrative. 1998 - A passing reference is made in the film Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas (set in early 1971), when Duke overhears a police officer mention how he "took on them little peckerheads down there at Kent State". 2000 - The '70s starring Vinessa Shaw and Amy Smart, a mini-series depicting four Kent State students affected by the shootings, as they move through the decade 2002 - The Year That Trembled (written and directed by Jay Craven; based on a novel by Scott Lax), a coming-of-age movie set in 1970 Ohio, in the aftermath of the Kent State killings 2005 - Thank You for Smoking - Nick Naylor references the Kent State Shootings while describing the military enlistment motives of his friend Bobby Jay Bliss. 2009 - Watchmen - In the opening credits of Watchmen, a student at Kent State places a flower in the barrel of a National Guardsman's gun before being fired upon. (wikipedia) Quick Reply Quote: "Ohio" is a protest song written and composed by Neil Young in reaction to the Kent State shootings of May 4, 1970, and performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. It was released as a single, backed with Stephen Stills's "Find the Cost of Freedom," peaking at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Although a live version of the song was included on the group's 1971 double album Four Way Street, the studio versions of both songs did not appear on an LP until the group's compilation So Far was released in 1974. The song also appeared on the Neil Young compilation album Decade, released in 1977. It also appears on Young's Live at Massey Hall album, which he recorded in 1971 but did not release until 2007. Recording Young wrote the lyrics to "Ohio" after seeing the photos of the incident in Life Magazine. On the evening that CSN&Y entered Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles, the song had already been rehearsed, and the quartet with their regular rhythm section recorded it live in just a few takes. During the same session they recorded the single's equally direct B-side, Stephen Stills's ode to the war's dead, "Find the Cost of Freedom." The record was mastered with the participation of the four principals, rush-released by Atlantic and heard on the radio with only a few weeks delay. (This was despite the group already having their hit song "Teach Your Children" on the charts at the time.) In his liner notes for the song on the Decade retrospective, Young termed the Kent State incident as 'probably the biggest lesson ever learned at an American place of learning' and reported that "David Crosby cried when we finished this take." Indeed, Crosby can be heard keening "Four, why? Why did they die?" and "How many more?" in the fade. According to the notes to Neil Young Greatest Hits, released in 2004, it was recorded by Bill Halverson on May 21, 1970, at Record Plant Studio 3 in Hollywood. (wikipedia)	i don't know
A staple of the world's greatest sandwich, the Reuben, sauerkraut is made by fermenting what vegetable?	How To Make Sauerkraut In A Crock November 12, 2014 · 6 comments 3 Share Tweet When I was growing up, the only time I recall hearing or using the word “crock” was in reference to something that was seriously hard to believe. As in, the last word of the declaration, “Well, that’s just a crock of [fill in the blank]!” wasn’t sauerkraut. Well, Wolfgang, times have changed. Sauerkraut — aka fermented cabbage — once known mostly as a staple for Reuben sandwich and hot dog eaters, is also one of the most nutritious, easiest and delicious fermented food you can make. Plus, raw, lactic-acid processed (aka “fermented”) sauerkraut is darned good for you . In an era where “How much probiotics is needed daily?” is an emerging hot topic at everything from cocktail gatherings in Manhattan to the Metamucil queue in seniors’ homes, this ancient food’s star is on the rise again. Low in calories, easy and inexpensive to make, and reputedly able to tame cranky digestive tracts, cure canker sores, and even inhibit the growth of cancer cells… What’s not to love? This is especially great news when your resident Hunky Punkin is also a rabid fermenter. Here’s how Rick consistently produces sauerkraut to live for. The best sauerkraut recipe, straight up: Buy about 15 pounds of fresh white head cabbage, bring it home, and wash your hands. (That last instruction isn’t for you. It’s for those other people who sometimes forget to wash their hands before starting to cook. Not you.) Cut the cabbage into quarters and remove the tough core. Slice to about the thickness of a quarter either by hand ( grab a good big knife ), with a dedicated cabbage shredder , or with your handy dandy Cuisinart . This is the type of task for which your Cuisinart lives. You’re going to work in batches here, so place the first batch, about a third of the cabbage (5 pounds-ish) in your BIG mixing bowl. For those of you without a BIG mixing bowl, do yourself a favor. At well under $20 at the time of writing, this highly-rated 12-quart stainless steel mixing bowl is a no brainer, and within about 15 minutes of having one in your kitchen, you’ll find yourself wondering what you did without it. Add 3 tablespoons of pickling salt and thoroughly mix with your hands, then pack the salted cabbage firmly into a crock. Pickling salt is iodine free so it won’t darken foods or create a cloudy residue in the liquid. (BTW, if you want to buy your pickling salt at Amazon with other kraut-related supplies, pass on the Ball brand : apparently they have some serious shipping/packaging issues with the “convenient” pouch. Go with the Morton’s in the sturdy box instead.) Salt the remaining two batches of five pounds each the same way, adding each batch to the crock with a firm hand. Cabbage can be kinda pushy, so we must stress: be firm. If you’re using a smaller-necked crock or packing jar, you might need a specialized tamper tool . This is the crock we’ve used with great success. It’s the right size for the amount of kraut we like to make at a go, and not only does it do the job, but it’s solid, cute and shiny and looks like it should have starred alongside the singing and dancing tea pot and china cups in Disney’s Cinderella . Laugh if you will, but as your crock will be sitting in a corner of your home burping merrily away while it does its magic, life is better if you enjoy both its personality AND how it looks. The Boleslawiec (above) ships with right-sized weighing stones to keep the fermenting cabbage submerged in its brine and its mouth features a channel that’s filled with water to create a simple yet highly effective air lock when the lid is in place. The air lock prevents oxygen from entering the crock while letting carbon dioxide escape (burp!), which ensures the lovely anaerobic environment that promotes the healing bacteria and mouth-pleasuring tang you’re looking for. Also, you don’t want your fermentation vessel exploding from the build up of CO2, right? In theory, you can accomplish this system with something as simple as a mason jar with a layer of olive oil over the of the ferment or DIY contraptions that involve installing airlocks in the white lids of mason jars. However, we hate wasting our time and money (well, mostly time as cabbage is pretty darned cheap) on trying to develop some knowledge and skill in new areas with home-grown DIY tools that presume you know what “failure to thrive” looks like in case the tool doesn’t quite work out. Where was I? Ah, yes… a lovely crock pot full of salted cabbage. The cabbage begins releasing water very soon after the salt is introduced. Within an hour or so, the cabbage will have released enough liquid to provide enough brine to completely cover the cabbage (provided it’s packed tightly enough). Place the weighing stones on top of the whole shebang to ensure the cabbage stays submerged during fermentation. As I mentioned above, the crock we use came with stones right-sized for the crock. It’s such a simple yet effective design that enables the large stones to clear the bottleneck of the crock yet provide the maximum tamping/weighting effect. So simple, in fact, that it just screams “a couple of millenia on the draft board” elegance. You can buy the weighting stones independently if you already have a crock and just need some helping sitting on your cabbage for the fermentation period. Final five steps: Once the stones are in place, cover the crock with the lid and set in a room temperature location where the crock can live undisturbed for the duration. Add water to the channel to create an air lock. Check the water every day or two to make sure the water hasn’t evaporated from the airlock, adding more to keep the seal when needed. Wait a month. Yes, your cabbage will be safe at room temperature for that long, and yes, the fermentation process needs that long to give the various strains of friendly bacteria time to develop fully and mature. As long as you kept the seal on the airlock (aka, didn’t let it dry out) and didn’t expose the fermenting cabbage to oxygen, you shouldn’t have any spoilage, but… safety first! You will definitely want to check it anyway for any of the following: browned or pink cabbage, yeasty odor, slime, and mold. If any of the above show up, toss it, give your crock a good clean, check it for cracks, and start again. Seriously, it means the bad bacteria got the upper hand and you will definitely NOT be doing your gut any favor by taking a chance. And scraping off the mold isn’t a safe “cheat”: by the time you can see visible evidence of nasties, they’ve grown roots and invaded all the corners. Don’t do it. Ta-da! Delicious, crunchy, low-fat mountains of almost miracle food that you will pack into clean ball jars (just run them through your dishwasher on “sani” cycle), cover with the brine, slap on a lid, and hand them out to grateful friends and rellies with instructions to store in the fridge until devoured. Our favorite crock sauerkraut recipe (featured in this post) is the classic “Wine Kraut” from The Joy of Pickling . 6 teaspoons whole caraway seeds 1 1/2 cups dry white wine Proceed as above but simply add 2 teaspoons of whole caraway seeds with the 3 tablespoons of salt per 5 lbs of cabbage for the hand mixing batches. After 24 hours, remove the weights and add the wine. Replace the weights and lid, making sure there’s plenty of water to maintain the airlock seal, and find meaningful employment for four weeks while you wait for your miracle-in-a-crock to unfold. Cooks Illustrated on Sauerkraut In one of our go-to cookbooks, The Best International Recipe , the editors of Cook’s Illustrated notes “While making homemade sauerkraut from raw cabbage is a time-consuming endeavor, the sauerkraut you buy at the supermarket can taste lackluster served as is.” If time and/or motivation is short and you wish to limp along with the store-bought variety, Cooks Illustrated recommends rinsing the sauerkraut before cooking and adding Juniper berries for a subtle piney flavor. Fermentation Crocks Fermentation crocks come in many shapes, sizes, and prices. We’re huge fans of the 10L earthenware crock made in Poland described above, but here are some other choices to consider: For a smaller footprint or batch preference, the mini-me of our 10-liter baby is an elegant choice. Fermentation Books: In addition to The Joy of Pickling and The Best International Recipe , here are some other excellent books we’ve added to our cookbook library for a deeper understanding of of all things fermentation… Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods Sandor Katz’s “Wild Fermentation” was one of the first books Rick had read on the subject many years ago, and we still go back to it as both a wonderfully enjoyable, almost anarchistic primer on the subject, and for the chuckle we still get from the passage on how prisoners used to make “hooch” out of Donald Duck orange drink and free airborne yeasts and microbes. Cabbage Shredder Once you experience first-hand how easy it is to produce delicious, crunchy kraut in your own home, you’ll soon become curious about how to make other fermented delicacies. That’s what’s happened around here, so stay tuned for some additional wisdom about making pickles, wine, and more. The answer is tough to come up with as probiotics are really the good guys in the “War of Intestinal Bacteria.” Unless you know how many bad guys outnumber the good guys in your gut, it’s difficult to be precise. And precision in the realm of “several bajillions” is impossible to guarantee, especially if you’re on antibiotics or challenged with constipation, chronic yeast infections, diarrhea, gastrointestinal or urinary tract infections, or gum disease. (I’m kidding about the gum disease, but I wouldn’t be surprised…) The bottom line is this: if a health professional prescribes probiotics in a supplement, TAKE IT. If no one in a white coat has mentioned probiotics to you yet, EAT SAUERKRAUT, and maybe a little yogurt, dark chocolate, and miso soup every day or two. You’ll be scaring the crock out of the bad guys in your gut. How to Cook Canned Sauerkraut While we don’t recommend canned (literally) sauerkraut when there’s no time to make it yourself due to a faint metallic taste most of it comes with, Libby’s is reputed to be the best of the canned varieties. Tip: if you need to buy ready made, go for a bagged kraut instead, like Boar’s Head. To get close to the recipe we crafted above, here’s how to improve what comes out of something besides your own crock: Rinse kraut really well in cold water Place kraut in a heavy, non-reactive saucepan and pour about a cup of dry white wine to cover Add 1 clove minced garlic and 1 tbs caraway seeds Optional: 1 finely-chopped medium apple and/or some sliced onion Simmer uncovered for about an hour, stirring occasionally Enjoy the kraut, knowing that you’ll opt to make your own next time! More Kitchen Recommendations Reply Renee April 29, 2016 at 6:21 pm I am wondering if it will work to make a very small batch like with 1 or 2 medium cabbages in a 5 liter TSM fermentation crock I got. I know they say the airlock around the lid is important, so is it OK to have more open “air space” inside or will that cause a problem with the fermentation? I am just starting and don’t want to waste a bunch of cabbage on a batch I might have to toss at first as I am learning how. Daniel C June 27, 2015 at 6:17 pm “bacteria (“bacterii?”)” Thought I would clarify (credentials: I’m a biochemist). The plural is bacteria. The singular is bacterium. Thanks for the article. Reply Jane Fentiman November 13, 2014 at 1:51 pm Who knew it was so good for me? We have loved sauerkraut for years & eaten with great relish but thought of it more as a condiment. Happily, I know someone who makes delicious crocks & gives me some!	Cabbage
Although never seen in the comic book, which Peanuts character is in love with The Little Red-Haired Girl?	Got Cabbage? Try Homemade Sauerkraut! - Real Food - MOTHER EARTH NEWS Got Cabbage? Try Homemade Sauerkraut! Homemade sauerkraut is a fun fermented food that's easy to prepare and good for you. By Megan Phelps The homemade sauerkraut European immigrants brought with them to United States included a wider variety of ingredients than fermented cabbage and salt. Apples, turnips, juniper berries, wine, garlic — and Brussels sprouts — were all part of the mix. Photo by Rick Wetherbee Print Email If you’ve only eaten store-bought, canned sauerkraut, you owe it to yourself to try the homemade variety. Fresh sauerkraut has a crunchier texture, a delightfully tangy flavor and a much greater potential for interesting recipes. When European immigrants brought the technique for fermenting cabbage to the United States, many of their recipes included surprising ingredients such as apples, turnips, juniper berries, wine and garlic. In fact, traditional sauerkraut is very similar to the Korean dish kimchi, a food that’s also made with fermented cabbage but that contains additional vegetables, such as radishes and cucumbers, and is seasoned with ginger and other spices. There’s nothing wrong with the classic, just-plain-cabbage variety of sauerkraut usually eaten on a hot dog or pork chop. But homemade sauerkraut made with additional vegetables, herbs and spices is more than a condiment; it’s a delicious side dish all on its own — and a surprisingly healthy one. Superhealthy Sauerkraut Perhaps because it’s often paired with hot dogs, sauerkraut doesn’t have a reputation as an especially healthy food, but that’s been changing in the last few years. One reason is that sauerkraut is a live-culture “probiotic” food. Fresh sauerkraut contains lactobacilli, beneficial bacteria that improve the functioning of the digestive tract. Probiotic foods such as sauerkraut and yogurt are often recommended for people taking antibiotics, which kill both the beneficial and harmful bacteria in the body. Live-culture foods can help restore the beneficial bacteria. Sauerkraut also is a good source of fiber and essential nutrients, including iron, vitamin K and vitamin C. In fact, in the 18th century, sailors ate sauerkraut on long voyages to prevent scurvy, a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency. Another interesting health claim was made last fall by a group of Korean scientists. They reported that feeding an extract of kimchi to 13 chickens with avian flu led to a much lower mortality rate in the birds. More research is needed to support this claim, but the announcement fueled a spike in sauerkraut sales last year. Scientists also are studying cabbage and other vegetables in the brassica family for their potential to prevent breast cancer. In spite of its many health benefits, most sauerkraut is still loaded with salt. If you’re on a low-sodium diet, you may be better off avoiding sauerkraut entirely, or making your own at home with a low-salt recipe. Do Try This at Home Making your own sauerkraut is a terrific way to preserve an abundant harvest of cabbage, and it’s a remarkably simple process that requires just two basic ingredients — shredded cabbage and salt. A few simple tools can make the process even easier. You can shred the cabbage with a regular vegetable grater, but a full-sized cabbage slicer is easier and more fun. These large graters look like antiques, but you can purchase one through eBay for $15 or less. Once you’ve shredded the cabbage, you’ll need to pack it tightly in a suitable container. Many people use a large crock, but a food-grade plastic bucket also works. Next, you’ll need to put something heavy on top of the shredded cabbage, which will help it release water. The usual technique is to cover the cabbage with a plate, and then put a couple of clean rocks on top. If that seems a little too old-fashioned, a bag full of water also works as a weight. At this point, you can sit back and let the cabbage ferment. The shredded cabbage releases water, which combines with the salt to form vegetable brine. Bacteria on the cabbage create lactic acid, which acts as a preservative. As the cabbage ferments, scum floats to the top of the container. Don’t worry, scum is normal. Just remove it regularly so it doesn’t inhibit fermentation. Cabbage ferments quickly at room temperature and will be ready to eat in two or three weeks. At cooler temperatures, fermentation is slower, but the kraut stays crunchier and may have better flavor. Also, sauerkraut will spoil more quickly if you don’t keep it cool (if it turns dark brown, it’s spoiled) so keep it in a cool place, such as a refrigerator or root cellar, unless you plan to can it or eat it all within a few weeks. Information Resources Check out these books for more on food preservation techniques. Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods By Sandor Ellix Katz The Joy of Pickling: 200 Flavor-packed Recipes for all Kinds of Produce from Garden or Market By Linda Ziedrich Keeping Food Fresh: Old World Techniques and Recipes By The Gardeners and Farmers of Terre Vivante Megan E. Phelps is a freelance writer based in Kansas. She enjoys reading and writing about all things related to sustainable living including homesteading skills, green building and renewable energy. You can find her on Google+ .	i don't know
Prior to adopting the euro, what was the name of the currency shared by Germany and Finland?	Germany and the euro - European Commission European Commission Communicating on the euro Germany and the euro Germany is a founding member of the European Union and one of the first-wave countries to adopt the euro on 1 January 1999. Last update: 4 may 2009 Germany at a glance Surface area: 357 030 km2 Population: 82 062 249 (Eurostat 2009) Joined the European Union: Founding member (25 March 1957) Currency: Euro since 1 January 1999 (formerly German mark, DEM or DM) Euro information Status: Euro-area member since 1 January 1999 Fixed conversion rate: €1 = 1.95583 DEM Adoption of the euro: The euro banknotes and coins were introduced in Germany on 1 January 2002, after a transitional period of three years when the euro was the official currency but only existed as 'book money'. The legal tender status of the German mark banknotes and coins ended on 31 December 2001, but they were accepted as payment until 28 February 2002 by virtue of a joint declaration from retail and banking associations. Exchange of former national currency: The Deutsche Bundesbank (National Central Bank of Germany) will continue to exchange unlimited amounts of mark notes and coins for an unlimited period. Opinion polls and surveys	Mark
May 5, 1925 saw one John T. Scopes of Dayton, TN, charged with violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of what?	Spanish Currency - Spanish Money History: The Peseta \| don Quijote Read the Spanish version The euro was introduced as money in Spain in 2002. The majority of the European Union members adopted this new currency to make traveling between countries easier, since the currency for Spain is the same in most EU countries. The euro is the official currency of 16 (of 27) member states in the EU: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Estonia (due to join in 2011). The euro consists of 7 bank notes with values of: 500€, 200€, 100€, 50€, 20€, 10€ and 5€, and 8 coins with values of: 2€, 1€, 0.50€, 0.20€, 0.10€, 0.05€, 0.02€ and 0.01€. On the denomination side of the Spanish currency, the image is the same for all European countries, but the image on the face side of the coins vary according to which country the coin came from. Spanish Currency History Spain’s currency history prior to the euro consisted of the Spanish Real, the Spanish Escudo, and the Spanish Peseta. Most of the changes in Spanish money occurred due to conceptual shifts, when certain denominations of an old Spanish currency began to be mentioned with words that would later be used to describe what would eventually become the new currency in Spain . The Spanish real, meaning Royal, was the Spanish currency for several centuries from the mid-14th century until 1864, when the escudo replaced the real in the Spanish economy. The real was introduced by King Pedro I of Castile as a standardized coin with a value of 3 maravedíes (Iberian gold and silver coins). Eight reales was equivalent to one silver peso, or Spanish dollar, which would be introduced as Spanish money the same year. The Spanish dollar was used in American and Asia and Spanish coinage became popular during this period in international trade and commerce. The Spanish escudo referred to two different types of Spanish currency denominations: silver and gold. The first Spanish escudo was a gold coin and was introduced in 1566 which continued to be issued until 1833. The Silver escudo was used from 1864-1869 until it was replaced by the new Spanish currency called the peseta. Each escudo represented a certain value of reales, the previous currency of Spain. Before the euro became the main currency of Spain, the money in Spain was called pesetas. Pesetas were in use from 1869 until the implementation of the euro in 2002. The word peseta comes from the word peceta, a diminutive of the Catalan word peça, meaning “a small piece.” By the 15th century the word referred to a silver coin and by the Middle Ages the word was used to describe the value of two reales (previous Spanish currency). In an effort to unite the currency in Spain, a decree was issued in October of 1868 when Spain joined the Latin Monetary Union that stablished the peseta as the national Spanish currency with the intention of strengthening the economy, business and promoting a stable financial system. Spanish Economy When Spain was accepted into the EU, it generated increased foreign investment and market liberalization in the Spanish economy. Spain was the principal beneficiary of the EU’s “harmonization fund” which provided support to the poorer EU nations to reduced economic disparities. A number of EU-funded projects during this time propelled the economy in Spain, including: the construction of airports, highways, and high-speed rail lines. After a small economical downturn in the mid-1990s, the Spanish economy entered into a period of growth. The Spanish economy is one of the top 15 economies of the world and top 5 European economies. Spain’s economy had above average GDP growth for nearly 15 years, but began to slow in late 2007. By the second quarter of 2008, the economy in Spain had entered into recession (along with most of the world). The economic situation in Spain resulted in a decline in the construction sector, an oversupply of housing, falling consumer spending and less exports. In 2009, Spain had the highest unemployment rate in the EU. The most important agricultural products in the Spanish economy include: grains, vegetables, olives, wine, grapes, sugar beets, citrus, beef, pork, poultry, dairy products, and fish. The most important industries for the economy of Spain are: apparel and footwear, food and beverages, metals and metal manufacturing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machine tools, tourism, clay and refractory Contact us	i don't know
What Louisville, Ky track is home to the Kentucky Derby, the annual race known as “The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports”?	Home \| 2017 Kentucky Derby & Oaks \| May 5 and 6, 2017 \| Tickets, Events, News © 2017 Churchill Downs Incorporated . All Rights Reserved. Churchill Downs, Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks, the “twin spires design”, and Churchill Downs Incorporated related trademarks are registered trademarks of Churchill Downs Incorporated.	Churchill Downs
Which planet, which received its name on May 1, was named for the Roman god of the underworld, appropriate for such a presumably dark and cold world?	WAVE 3 Derby Programming - wave3.com-Louisville News, Weather & Sports WAVE 3 Derby Programming - wave3.com-Louisville News, Weather & Sports Member Center: Saturday, April 25, 7:00AM - 10:00AM "The Great Balloon Race and Marathon/mini-Marathon" (live) The Great Balloon Race is an aerial game of the "Hare and Hound" and one of Louisville's favorite family traditions. Thousands watch the colorful balloons lift off from the grounds of the Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center. The Marathon/mini-Marathon has become one of the Kentucky Derby Festival's premiere event. This 26.2 mile (13.1 mini) road race, starts at Southern Parkway near Iroquois Park and finishes downtown at 6th and Market. Hosted by Ray D'Alessio, Carrie Weil, and Kevin Harned. Monday, April 27 thru Friday, May 1, 5:00AM - 7:00AM "Sunrise at the Downs" (live) Sunrise at the Downs will highlight the festivities of Derby week from the backside of Churchill Downs. Carrie Weil and Ray D'Alessio will interview the trainers, jockeys and celebrities that make the Kentucky Derby the greatest two minutes in sports. Monday, April 27, 7:00PM - 8:00PM "The Great Bed Races (live) Live from Broadbent Arena, Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center. A variety of decked-out beds will take to the track competing for the fastest times. The five-person teams dress in wild and crazy costumes to compete in the wacky task. Great fun! Hosted by Kent Taylor, Connie Leonard and John Belski. Tuesday, April 28, 7:30PM - 8:00PM "Kentucky Derby Cooking" Local chef demonstrates tips and recipes to enhance any Derby party. Thursday, April 30, 5:30PM - 7:30PM "The Pegasus Parade" (live) WAVE has the exclusive coverage of the Kentucky Derby Festival's 54th annual Pegasus Parade. The Pegasus Parade is consistently voted one of Louisville's favorite events. The parade highlights local floats, marching bands, inflatable characters and equestrian units that will entertain both the young and young at heart. Hosted by WAVE's Dawne Gee, John Belski and Connie Leonard. Thursday, April 30, 7:30PM - 8:00PM "Derby 134 Revisited" A 30-minute sports special featuring highlights from the 2008 Derby with a feature on Eight Belles. Friday, May 1, 10:00AM - 6:30PM "WAVE 3's Kentucky Oaks Coverage" (live) Anchors Jackie Hays, Dawne Gee and Scott Reynolds along with the entire WAVE 3 Team provides exclusive local coverage of the Kentucky Oaks along with all the other races on Churchill Downs' race card. It is Louisville's day at the track and WAVE 3 will provide front row action as the excitement builds for the 135th running of the Kentucky Oaks. Saturday, May 2, 7:00AM - 8:00AM "Sunrise at the Downs" (live) Sunrise at the Downs will highlight the festivities of Derby Day from the backside of Churchill Downs. Carrie Weil and Ray D'Alessio will interview the trainers, jockeys and celebrities that makes the Kentucky Derby the greatest two minutes in sports. Saturday, May 2, 8:00AM - 8:30AM "Derby 134 Revisited " (Working Title) A 30-minute sports special featuring highlights from the 2008 Derby with a feature on Eight Belles. Saturday, May 2, 8:30AM - 5:00PM "WAVE 3's Kentucky Derby Day Coverage" (live) Anchors Jackie Hays, Dawne Gee and Scott Reynolds along with the entire WAVE 3 Team provides exclusive local coverage of all the races leading up to the 135th Kentucky Derby. WAVE 3 is the only local station live inside Churchill Downs to provide the excitement leading up to the greatest two minutes in sports. Saturday, May 2, 7:00PM - 8:00PM "WAVE 3's Derby Day Wrap-Up" Coverage of the last two races at Churchill Downs along with interviews with the winning Jockeys, Owners and Trainers. Can't Find Something?	i don't know
What American author, a founding influence on the school of transcendentalism, is perhaps best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings?	Movements and Reforms About Watch and Favorite Watch Watching this resources will notify you when proposed changes or new versions are created so you can keep track of improvements that have been made. Favorite Favoriting this resource allows you to save it in the “My Resources” tab of your account. There, you can easily access this resource later when you’re ready to customize it or assign it to your students. Movements and Reforms Transcendentalism was among the more radical social philosophies of the nineteenth century. Learning Objective Identify some of the key figures, writings, and institutions associated with the transcendentalist movement Key Points Originating in New England , transcendentalists were idealistic and focused on the value of insight over logic, as well as on the individual's relationship with God. Rooted in the transcendental philosophy of Immanuel Kant, the movement developed as a reaction against eighteenth-century rationalism , John Locke 's philosophy of sensualism , and the Manifest Destiny of New England Calvinism . Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were among the most prominent of the transcendentalists, and Emerson's 1836 essay "Nature" is considered the watershed moment of the movement. Individualism, which Emerson's work also emphasized, is the doctrine that stresses the moral worth and value of the individual. Terms transcendentalism A movement of writers and philosophers in New England in the nineteenth century whose members were loosely bound together by adherence to an idealistic system of thought based on the belief in the essential supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths. Full Text Transcendentalism of the Nineteenth Century Transcendentalism was America's first notable intellectual and philosophical movement. It developed in the 1830s and 1840s in the New England region of the United States as a protest against the general state of culture and society. In particular, transcendentalists criticized the state of intellectualism at Harvard University and the doctrine of the Unitarian church taught at Harvard Divinity School. Core Beliefs Transcendentalism became a movement of writers and philosophers who were loosely bound together by adherence to an idealistic system of thought based on the belief in the essential supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths. Among the transcendentalists' core beliefs was the inherent goodness of both man and nature. Transcendentalists believed that society and its institutions—particularly organized religion and political parties—ultimately corrupted the purity of the individual. They had faith that man is at his best when truly "self-reliant" and independent. It was believed that only from such real individuals could true community be formed. Rooted in the transcendental philosophy of Immanuel Kant (and of German idealism, more generally), the movement developed as a reaction against eighteenth-century rationalism, John Locke's philosophy of sensualism, and the Manifest Destiny of New England Calvinism. Its fundamental belief was in the unity and immanence of God in the world. The publication of Ralph Waldo Emerson's 1836 essay "Nature" is usually considered the watershed moment at which transcendentalism became a major cultural movement. Emerson closed the essay by calling for a revolution in human consciousness to emerge from the new idealist philosophy. In the same year, on September 8 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, transcendentalism became a coherent movement with the founding of the Transcendental Club by prominent New England intellectuals including Emerson, George Putnam, and Frederick Henry Hedge. From 1840, the group published frequently in its journal The Dial and other venues. Early in the movement's history, critics use the term "transcendentalist" as a pejorative, and suggested that the members' position was beyond sanity and reason. Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803–April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-nineteenth century. The transcendentalists varied in their interpretations of the practical aims of will. Some among the group linked it with utopian social change; Orestes Brownson connected it with early socialism , while others such as Emerson considered it an exclusively individualist and idealist project. In his 1842 lecture "The Transcendentalist," Emerson suggested that the goal of a purely transcendental outlook on life was impossible to attain in practice. The transcendentalists desired to ground their religion and philosophy in transcendental principles that were not based on, or falsifiable by, physical experience, but that were derived from the inner spiritual or mental essence of the human. In contrast, they were intimately familiar with the English romantics, and the transcendental movement may be partially described as an American outgrowth of romanticism . By the late 1840s, Emerson believed the movement was dying out, and even more so after the death of Margaret Fuller in 1850. Fuller was an American journalist, critic, and women's-rights advocate closely associated with the movement; according to Emerson, "she represents an interesting hour and group in American cultivation." A second wave of transcendentalists emerged, however, including Moncure Conway, Octavius Brooks Frothingham, Samuel Longfellow, and Franklin Benjamin Sanborn. Emerson's Influence Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society. He disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States. Emerson gradually moved away from the religious and social beliefs of his contemporaries, formulating and expressing the philosophy of transcendentalism in his 1836 essay "Nature." Following this groundbreaking work, he gave a speech entitled, "The American Scholar" in 1837. Emerson's first two collections of essays, published in 1841 and 1844, represent the core of his thinking. His work includes such well-known essays as "Self-Reliance," "The Over-Soul," "Circles," "The Poet," and "Experience." Together with "Nature," these essays made the decade from the mid-1830s to the mid-1840s Emerson's most fertile period. Emerson wrote on a number of subjects, never espousing fixed philosophical tenets but developing certain ideas and themes such as individuality, freedom, humankind's ability to realize almost anything, and the relationship between the soul and the surrounding world. While his writing style can be seen as somewhat impenetrable, Emerson's essays remain among the linchpins of American thinking and have greatly influenced the thinkers, writers, and poets who have followed him. Thoreau's Influence Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist , naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist. He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay "Civil Disobedience," an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state. Among Thoreau's lasting contributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, in which he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism. His literary style interweaves close natural observation, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore. He was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay. At the same time, he advocated abandoning waste and illusion in order to discover life's true essential needs. He was a lifelong abolitionist, delivering lectures that attacked the Fugitive Slave Law while praising the writings of Wendell Phillips and defending abolitionist John Brown. Thoreau's philosophy of civil disobedience later influenced the political thoughts and actions of such notable figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas Gandhi, and Martin Luther King , Jr. Focus on Individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses the moral worth and value of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing external interference upon one's own interests by society or institutions such as the government. Liberalism , existentialism , and anarchism are examples of movements that take the human individual as a central unit of analysis. Individualism is associated with artistic and bohemian interests and lifestyles in which there is a tendency towards self-creation and experimentation as opposed to tradition or popular mass opinions and behaviors, and also with humanist philosophical positions and ethics. Emerson championed individuality, freedom, and humankind's ability to realize almost anything. In his essay "Nature," Emerson asserted that because God's presence is inherent in both humanity and nature, all people contain seeds of divinity. His essay "Self-Reliance" thoroughly emphasizes the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency and to follow his or her own instincts and ideas.	Henry David Thoreau
Played by Paul Johansson in the recent movie, what is the name of the hero in Ayn Rand's seminal classic Atlas Shrugged?	Henry David Thoreau Marching to the Beat of a Different Drummer. - ppt download Similar presentations More Presentation on theme: "Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862 Marching to the Beat of a Different Drummer."— Presentation transcript: 1 Henry David Thoreau Marching to the Beat of a Different Drummer 2 On Thoreau “He [Thoreau] is a singular character — a young man with much wild original nature still remaining in him; and so far as he is sophisticated, it is in a way and method of his own. He is as ugly as sin, long- nosed, queer-mouthed, and with uncouth and somewhat rustic, although courteous manners, corresponding very well with such an exterior. But his ugliness is of an honest and agreeable fashion, and becomes him much better than beauty.” --- Nathaniel Hawthorne "He [Thoreau] had a great contempt for those who made no effort to gauge accurately their own powers and weaknesses, and by no means spared himself, of whom he said that a man gathers materials to erect a palace, and finally concludes to build a shantee with them." --Ralph Waldo Emerson 3 Henry David Thoreau  Essayist, poet, transcendentalist  Born to a pencil maker in Concord, Mass. July 12, 1817  Went to Concord Academy and then to Harvard  Once went to chapel in a green coat “because the rules required black”  Refused to pay his poll tax 4 Family and Childhood  Abolitionist family  Mother and sisters were founders of Women’s Anti- Slavery Society of Concord.  Born in 1817, one of his earliest childhood memories was of staying awake at night “looking through the stars to see if I could see God behind them.” 5 Early Life  Age 16, attended Harvard where he read Emerson’s Nature which had a tremendous impact.  Became protégé of Emerson  Taught school with brother who cut himself while shaving and died of lockjaw in Thoreau’s arms.  At 28, went to Walden Pond and built his cabin on land owned by Emerson.  Advocate of “simple life”  “Patron saint” of American environmental movement 6  Attended Harvard; became a teacher in Concord;  Resigned when he was expected to whip his pupils.  One of the most accomplished and deliberate writers in the country.  As a person, he had only one goal—to live as honestly and wisely as he could. Thoreau’s birthplace A Deliberate Life 7 Thoreau’s Jobs  Worked for time in family pencil company.  Invented the modern pencil: technique of baking graphite into cylinders, then inserting into hole drilled into wood  Also worked as a handyman and a farmer  Experimental educator  Founded school with brother  School closed at brother’s death 8  Emerson’s kindness toward and fondness for Thoreau led to the offer of various odd jobs around his Concord estate.  After his brother’s death, Thoreau lived with the Emersons.  Emerson introduced Thoreau to the Concord intellectual group and published Thoreau’s essays in his Transcendentalist magazine, The Dial. Emerson’s home Thoreau and Emerson 9  In 1843, Emerson secured a position for Thoreau as a tutor for his brother William Emerson in New York.  After only one year in Staten Island, Thoreau could no longer try to fit in to the mold of society.  In 1844, he returned to Concord where, on July 4, 1845, he began the 26-month experiment that made him famous.  On the banks of Walden Pond, on property owned by Emerson, Thoreau built a cabin. The Way to Walden 10 Went to Walden 1845  1 room cabin  Lived alone  Grew vegetables in 2 1/2 acre farm, lived mostly as vegetarian  Rowed boat on pond  Recorded life, particularly details of pond, woods, changes of season, his thoughts 11 At Walden - Thoreau  Did a lot of reading and writing.  Spent much time walking in nature.  Left once to give a lecture and was imprisoned for not paying his poll tax.  Wrote A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers as a memorial to his brother. 12 Not exactly wilderness, only a couple of miles from his family home… 13 An Experiment in Simple Living  Lived without many “creature comforts”  Ate very little meat  Paid great attention to his surroundings, environment  Focused his attention on the natural world, rather than affairs of men 14 Thoreau Recommends  Every community should have a park or a primitive forest where a stick should never be cut for fuel, a common possession forever.  Areas of nature left alone, but as a place for people to relax, recreate, and be “Instructed.” 15 16 17 Walden as Literature  Uses many aphorisms/ a terse saying embodying a general or “universal” truth or an astute observation or sentiment used to express ideas.  If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.  The physical act of living day by day at Walden Pond is what gives the book authority, while Thoreau's command of a clear, straightforward but elegant style helped raise it to the level of a literary classic. 18 American Style  Aphorisms makes Thoreau’s revolutionary ideas seem sensible and even “folksy”.  “I should not talk so much about myself were there anybody else whom I knew as well.”  “Time is but the stream I go a-fishin in. I drink at it, but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. It's thin current slides away, but eternity remains.”  “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”  An element of American style, to explain complex ideas using simple, down-to-earth language. 19 Reading Walden  Walden can be read as  Social criticism  Inspiration to self-reform  Observations of nature  Hymn to the possibilities of life  Different for each reader 20 After Walden Pond  Returned to Concord two years and two months later.  Few people interested in Walden.  Spent the next nine years rewriting, creating seven full drafts.  A vocal opponent of the government waging the Mexican-American War, especially in regards to extend slavery.  Wrote “Resistance to Civil Government” 21 On Civil Disobedience  Went to jail because he refused to pay a poll tax, as a protest against the Mexican War.  A relatively unnoticed text at the time, Civil Disobedience in 1848 proved to be of enormous significance in its impact.  Cited by Danish resistance movement during Nazi occupation  Inspiration for on Mohandas Gandhi.  Always carried copy in his luggage; read it in jail.  1950s, censored by Senator Joe McCarthy (removed from US Information Service Libraries)  Influenced Martin Luther King, Jr. 22 Civil Disobedience  The cornerstone of Thoreau’s vision is that we are all entrapped by the prison of our culture.  We are all slaves in society, in that we follow routines: “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”  Much like Emerson, Thoreau developed an antisocial philosophy: we are essentially wasting our time and ourselves when we are involved in society. 23 On Civil Disobedience 1.Thoreau prefers a laissez-faire government, but he does not call for abolishing government. Rather he wants a better government.  “That government is best which governs least”  “I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government.” 2.Most people serve the state mechanically and do not freely exercise moral judgment about their service. 24 On Civil Disobedience, II 3.Order, Civil Government, and the rule of the majority (i.e. democracy) sometimes prevents people from doing the right thing. 4.People may be more right than their neighbors and constitute a majority because they have God on their side, and they should act immediately to wash their hands of wrong. 5.One honest man can change the state by standing up to it. 25 On Civil Disobedience, III 6.A man can change an unjust system by refusing to be unjust, and by being entirely willing to make a sacrifice. 7.Blood spilt is lamentable, but wounding one’s conscience is worse. 26 A Different Drummer  When Thoreau left Walden, he passed the peak of his career, and his life lost much of its illumination.  Slowly his Transcendentalism drained away:  He became a surveyor in order to support himself.  He collected botanical and reptilian specimens  He spent more of his time in the family business; after his father's death he took it over entirely  As Thoreau became less of a Transcendentalist he became more of an activist.	i don't know
What letter is The Scarlet Letter in Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel of the same name?	The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne - The Atlantic The Atlantic The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Most Popular Print Text Size Between Hawthorne's earlier and his later productions there is no solution of literary continuity, but only increased growth and grasp. Rappaccini's Daughter, Young Goodman Brown, Peter Goldthwaite's Treasure, and The Artist of the Beautiful, on the one side, are the promise which is fulfilled in The Scarlet Letter and the House of The Seven Gables, on the other; though we should hardly have understood the promise had not the fulfillment explained it. The shorter pieces have a lyrical quality, but the longer romances express more than a mere combination of lyrics; they have a rich, multifarious life of their own. The material is so wrought as to become incidental to something loftier and greater, for which our previous analysis of the contents of the egg had not prepared us. The Scarlet Letter was the first, and the tendency of criticism is to pronounce it the most impressive, also, of these ampler productions. It has the charm of unconsciousness; the author did not realize while he worked, that this "most prolix among tales" was alive with the miraculous vitality of genius. It combines the strength and substance of an oak with the subtle organization of a rose, and is great, not of malice aforethought, but inevitably. It goes to the root of the matter, and reaches some unconventional conclusions, which, however, would scarce be apprehended by one reader in twenty. For the external or literal significance of the story, though in strict correspondence with the spirit, conceals that spirit from the literal eye. The reader may choose his depth according to his inches but only a tall man will touch the bottom. The punishment of the scarlet letter is a historical fact; and, apart from the symbol thus ready provided to the author's hand, such a book as The Scarlet Letter would doubtless never have existed. But the symbol gave the touch whereby Hawthorne's disconnected thoughts on the subject were united and crystallized in organic form. Evidently, likewise, it was a source of inspiration, suggesting new aspects and features of the truth,—a sort of witch-hazel to detect spiritual gold. Some such figurative emblem, introduced in a matter-of-fact way, but gradually invested with supernatural attributes, was one of Hawthorne's favorite devices in his stories. We may realize its value, in the present case, by imagining the book with the scarlet letter omitted. It is not practically essential to the plot. But the scarlet letter uplifts the theme from the material to the spiritual level. It is the concentration and type of the whole argument. It transmutes the prose into poetry. It serves as a formula for the conveyance of ideas otherwise too subtle for words, as well as to enhance the gloomy picturesqueness of the moral scenery. It burns upon its wearer's breast, it casts a lurid glow along her pathway, it isolates her among mankind, and is at the same time the mystic talisman to reveal to her the guilt hidden in other hearts. It is the Black Man's mark, and the first plaything of the infant Pearl. As the story develops, the scarlet letter becomes the dominant figure,—everything is tinged with its sinister glare. By a ghastly miracle its semblance is reproduced upon the breast of the minister, where "God's eye beheld it! the angels were forever pointing at it! the devil knew it well, and fretted it continually with the touch of his burning finger!"—and at last, to Dimmesdale's crazed imagination, its spectre appears even in the midnight sky as if heaven itself had caught the contagion of his so zealously hidden sin. So strongly is the scarlet letter rooted in every chapter and almost every sentence of the book that bears its name. And yet it would probably have incommoded the average novelist. The wand of Prospero, so far from aiding the uninititated, trips him up, and scorches his fingers. Between genius and every other attribute of the mind is a difference not of degree, but of kind. Every story may be viewed under two aspects: as the logical evolution of a conclusion from a premise, and as something colored and modified by the personal qualities of the author. If the latter have genius, his share in the product is comparable to nature's in a work of human art,—giving it everything except abstract form. But the majority of fiction-mongers are apt to impair rather than enhance the beauty of the abstract form of their conception, -- if, indeed, it possess any to begin with. At all events, there is no better method of determining the value of a writer's part in a given work than to consider the work in what may be termed its prenatal state. How much, for example, of The Scarlet Letter was ready made before Hawthorne touched it? The date is historically fixed at about the middle of the seventeenth century. The stage properties, so to speak, are well adapted to become the furniture and background of a romantic narrative. A gloomy and energetic religious sect, pioneers in a virgin land, with the wolf and the Indian at their doors, but with memories of England in their hearts and English traditions and prejudices in their minds; weak in numbers, but strong in spirit; with no cultivation save that of the Bible and the sword; victims, moreover of a dark and bloody superstition,—such a people and scene give admirable relief and color to a tale of human frailty and sorrow. Amidst such surroundings, then, the figure of a woman stands, with the scarlet letter on her bosom. But here we come to a pause, and must look to the author for the next step. For where shall the story begin? A "twenty-number" novel, of the Dickens or Thackeray type, would start with Hester's girlhood, and the bulk of the narrative would treat of the genesis and accomplishment of the crime. Nor are hints wanting that this phase of the theme had been canvassed in Hawthorne's mind. We have glimpses of the heroine in the antique gentility of her English home; we see the bald brow and reverend beard of her father, and her mother's expression of heedful and anxious love; we behold the girl's own face, glowing with youthful beauty. She meets the pale, elderly scholar, with his dim yet penetrating eyes, and the marriage, loveless on her part and folly on his, takes place; but they saw not the bale-fire of the scarlet letter blazing at the end of their path. The ill-assorted pair make their first home in Amsterdam; but at length, tidings of the Puritan colony in Massachusetts reaching them, they prepare to emigrate thither. But Prynne, himself delaying to adjust certain affairs, sends his young, beautiful, wealthy wife in advance to assume her station in the pioneer settlement. In the wild, free air of that new world her spirits kindled, and many unsuspected tendencies of her impulsive and passionate nature were revealed to her. The "rich, voluptuous, Oriental characteristics" of her temperament, her ardent love of beauty, her strong intellectual fibre, and her native energy and capacity,—such elements needed a strong and wise hand to curb and guide them, scarcely disguised as they were by the light and graceful foliage of her innocent, womanly charm. Being left, however, for two years "to her own misguidance," her husband had little cause to wonder, when, on emerging from the forest, the first object to meet his eyes was Hester Prynne, "standing up, a statue of ignominy, before the people." She "doubtless was strongly tempted to her fall;" and though the author leaves the matter there, so far as any explicit statement is concerned, it is manifest that, had he written out what was already pictured before his imagination, the few pregnant hints scattered through the volume would have been developed into as circumstantial and laborious a narrative as any the most deliberate English or French novelist could desire. For his forbearance he has received much praise from well-meaning critics, who seem to think that he was restrained by considerations of morality or propriety. This appears a little strained. As an artist and as a man of a certain temperament, Hawthorne treated that side of the subject which seemed to him the more powerful and interesting. But a writer who works with deep insight and truthful purpose can never be guilty of a lack of decency. Indecency is a creation, not of God or of nature, but of the indecent. And whoever takes it for granted that indecency is necessarily involved in telling the story of an illicit passion has studied human nature and good literature to poor purpose. The truth is that the situation selected by Hawthorne has more scope and depth than the one which he passed over. It is with the subjective consequences of a sinner's act that our understanding of him begins. The murderer's blow tells us nothing of his character; but in his remorse or exultation over his deed his secret is revealed to us. So Hawthorne fixes the starting-point of his romance at Hester's prison-door, rather than at any earlier epoch of her career, because the narrative can thence, as it were, move both ways at once; all essentials of the past can be gathered up as wanted, and the reminiscences and self-knowledge of the characters can supplement the author's analysis. The story rounds itself out at once, catching light and casting shadow; and Hester's previous life seems familiar to us the moment she takes her stand upon the scaffold,—for, in the case of an experience such as hers, a bare hint tells the whole sad story. So long as women are frail and men selfish, the prologue of The Scarlet Letter will not need to be written; it is known a thousand times already. But what is to follow is not known; no newspapers publish it, no whisper of it passes from mouth to mouth, nor is it cried on the housetops. Yet is there great need that it should be taught, for such teaching serves a practical moral use. All have felt the allurement of temptation, but few realize the sequel of yielding to it. This sequel is exhaustively analyzed in the romance, and hence the profound and permanent interest of the story. No sinner so eccentric but may find here the statement of his personal problem. Such an achievement avouches a lofty reach of art. The form has not the carpenter's symmetry of a French drama, but the spontaneous, living symmetry of a tree or flower, unfolding from the force within. We are drawn to regard, not the outline, but the substance, which claims affinity with the inmost recesses of our own nature; so that The Scarlet Letter is a self-revelation to whomsoever takes it up. In a story of this calibre a complex of incidents would be superfluous. The use of incidents in fiction is twofold,—to develop the characters and to keep awake the reader's attention. But the personages of this tale are not technically developed; they are gradually made transparent as they stand, until we see them through and through. And what we thus behold is less individual peculiarities than traits and devices of our general human nature, under the stress of the given conditions. The individuals are there, and could at need be particularlized sharply enough; but that part of them which we are concerned with lies so far beneath the surface as inevitably to exhibit more of general than of personal characteristics. The individual veils the general to the extent of his individuality; and since the effect of "incident" is to emphasize individuality, the best value of The Scarlet Letter had it been based on incident, would have been impaired. As to postponing the reader's drowsiness, -- victims of the Inquisition have slumbered upon the rack; and people who have been kept too long awake over the sprightly subtleties of Zola, or the Daedalian involutions of Mrs. Henry Wood, have doubtless yawned over the revelation of Dimmesdale's soul, and grown heavy-eyed at the spectacle of Pearl's elfish waywardness. Dimmesdale is, artistically, a corollary of Hester; and yet the average writer would not be apt to hit upon him as a probable seducer. The community in which he abides certainly shows a commendable lack of suspicion towards him: even old Mistress Hibbins whose scent for moral carrion was as keen as that of a modern society journal, can scarcely credit her own conviction. "What mortal imagination could conceive it!" whispers the old lady to Hester, as the minister passes in the procession. "Many a church member saw I, walking behind the music, who has danced in the same measure with me, when somebody was the fiddler! That is but a trifle, when a woman knows the world. But this minister!" It is, of course, this very refinement that makes him the more available for the ends of the story. A gross, sensual man would render the whole drama gross and obvious. But Dimmesdale's social position, as well as his personal character, seems to raise him above the possibility of such a lapse. This is essential to the scope of the treatment, which, dealing with the spiritual aspects of the crime, requires characters of spiritual proclivities. Hester's lover, then, shall be a minister, for the priest of that day "stood at the head of the social system;" and, moreover,—a main object of the story being to show that no sacred vows nor sublime aspirations can relieve mortal man from the common human liability to guilt,—Dimmesdale himself must commit the most fatal of the sins against which the priest is supposed to provide protection; nay, he is the actual spiritual adviser of her whom he ruins. Young and comely he must be, for the sake of the artistic harmony; but his physical organization is delicate, he is morbidly conscientious and "the Creator never made another being so sensitive as this." Highly intellectual he is, too, though, as the author finely discriminates, not too broadly so. "In no state of society would he have been what is called a man of liberal views; it would always be essential to his peace to feel the pressure of a faith about him." Nor has he ever "gone through an experience calculated to lead him beyond the scope of generally received laws, although, in a single instance, he had so fearfully transgressed one of the most sacred of them." It is by such subtle but important reservations that the author's mastery of the character is revealed: they would have escaped the average mind, which would thereby have been perplexed to show why Dimmesdale did not follow Hester's example, and seek relief by speculatively questioning the validity of all social institutions. Nor would this average mind have been likely to perceive the weak point in such a character,—"that violence of passion, which, intermixed with more shapes than one, with his higher, purer, softer qualities, was, in fact, the portion of him which the devil claimed, and through which he sought to win the rest." It is upon this flaw that Chillingworth puts his finger. "See now how passion takes hold upon this man, and hurrieth him out of himself! As with one passion, so with another! He hath done a wild thing ere now, this pious Master Dimmesdale, in the hot passion of his heart!" For the rest, save in one conspicuous instance, the minister plays Prometheus to the vulture Chillingworth. As Hester suffers public exposure and frank ignominy, so he is wrapped in secret torments; and either mode of punishment is shown to be powerless for good. "Nervous sensibility and a vast power of self-restraint" are leading features in the young man's character, and these, combined with his refined selfishness, are what render him defenseless against Chillingworth. Dimmesdale cares more for his social reputation than for anything else. His self-respect, his peace, his love, his soul,—all may go: only let his reputation remain! And yet it is that selfsame false reputation that daily causes him the keenest anguish of all. Pearl, however, is the true creation of the book: every touch upon her portrait is a touch of genius, and her very conception is an inspiration. Yet the average mind would have found her an encumbrance. Every pretext would have been improved to send her out of the room, as it were, and to restrict her utterances, when she must appear, to monosyllables or sentimental commonplaces. Not only is she free from repression of this kind, but she avouches herself the most vivid and active figure in the story. Instead of keeping pathetically in the background, as a guiltless unfortunate whose life was blighted before it began, this strange little being, with laughing defiance of precedent and propriety, takes the reins in her own childish hands, and dominates every one with whom she comes in contact. This is an idea which it was left to Hawthorne to originate: ancient nor modern fiction supplies a parallel to Pearl. "In giving her existence, a great law had been broken. . . . The mother's impassioned state had been the medium through which were transmitted to the unborn infant the rays of its moral life. . . . Above all, the warfare of Hester's spirit, at that epoch, was perpetuated in Pearl." The mother "felt like one who has evoked a spirit, but, by some irregularity in the process of conjuration, has failed to win the master-word that should control this new and incomprehensible intelligence." Pearl instinctively comprehends her position as a born outcast from the world of christened infants, and requites their scorn and contumely with the bitterest hatred,—a passion of enmity which she had "inherited by inalienable right, out of Hester's heart." In her childish plays, her ever-creative spirit communicated itself, with a wild energy and fertility of invention, to a thousand unlikeliest objects; but—and here again the mother felt in her own heart the cause—Pearl "never created a friend; she seemed always to be sowing broadcast the dragon's teeth, whence sprang a harvest of armed enemies, against whom she rushed to battle." And this strange genesis of hers, placing her in a sphere of her own, gave also a phantom-like quality to the impression she produced on Hester: just as a unique event, especially an unpremeditated crime, seems unreal and dream-like in the retrospect. Yet Pearl was, all the while, the most unrelentingly real fact of her mother's ruined life. Standing as the incarnation, instead of the victim, of a sin, Pearl affords a unique opportunity for throwing light upon the inner nature of the sin itself. In availing himself of it, Hawthorne touches ground which, perhaps, he would not have ventured on, had he not first safeguarded himself against exaggeration and impiety by making his analysis accord (so to speak) with the definition of a child's personality. Pearl, as we are frequently reminded, is the scarlet letter made alive, capable of being loved, and so endowed with a manifold power of retribution for sin. The principle of her being is the freedom of a broken law; she is developed, "a lovely and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion," yet, herself, as irresponsible and independent as if distinctions of right and wrong did not exist to her. Like nature and animals, she is anterior to moral law; but, unlike them, she is human, too. She exhibits an unfailing vigor and vivacity of spirits joined to a precocious and almost preternatural intelligence, especially with reference to her mother's shameful badge. To this her interest constantly reverts, and always with a "peculiar smile and odd expression of the eyes," they almost suggesting acquaintance on her part with "the secret spell of her existence." The wayward, mirthful mockery with which the small creature always approaches this hateful theme, as if she deemed it a species of ghastly jest, is a terribly significant touch, and would almost warrant a confirmation of the mother's fear that she had brought a fiend into the world. Yet, physically, Pearl is "worthy to have been left in Eden, to be the plaything of the angels," and her aspect—as must needs be the case with a child who symbolized a sin that finds its way into all regions of human society—"was imbued with the spell of infinite variety: in this one child there were many children, comprehending the full scope between the wild-flower prettiness of a peasant baby and the pomp, in little, of an infant princess." The plan of her nature, though possibly possessing an order of its own, was incompatible with the scheme of the rest of the universe; in other words, the child could never, apparently, come into harmony with her surroundings, unless the ruling destiny of the world should, from divine, become diabolic. "I have no Heavenly Father!" she exclaims, touching the scarlet letter on her mother's bosom with her small forefinger: and how, indeed, could the result of an evil deed be good? There is "fire in her and throughout her," as befits "the unpremeditated offshoot of a passionate moment," and it is a fire that seems to have in it at least as much of an infernal as of a heavenly ardor; and in her grim little philosophy, the scarlet emblem is the heritage of the maturity of all her sex. "Will it not come of its own accord, when I am a woman grown?" And yet she is a guiltless child, with all a child's freshness and spontaneity. This contrast, or, perhaps it is more correct to say, mingling, of the opposite poles of being, sin and innocence, in Pearl's nature is an extraordinary achievement; enabling us, as it does, to recognize the intrinsic ugliness of sin. Pearl is like a beautiful but poisonous flower, rejoicing in its poison, and receiving it as the vital element of life. But the beauty makes the ugliness only the more impressive, because we feel it to be a magical or phantasmal beauty, enticing like the apples of Sodom, but full of bitterness within. It is the beauty which sin wears to the eyes of the tempted,—a beauty, therefore, which has no real existence, but is attributed by the insanity of lust. Now, if Pearl were a woman, this strong external charm of hers would perplex the reader, in much the same way that the allurements of sin bewilder its votaries. The difficulty is to distinguish between what is really and permanently good and what only appears so while the spell lasts. Pearl being a child, however, no such uncertainty can occur. She has not, as yet, what can in strictness be termed a character; she is without experience, and therefore devoid of either good or evil principles; she possesses a nature, and nothing more. The affection which she excites, consequently, is immediately perceived to be due neither to her beauty not to her intellectual acuteness; still less to the evil effluence which exhales from these, and is characteristic of them. These things all stand on one side; and the innocent, irresponsible infant soul stands on the other. Each defines and emphasizes the other: so that so far from one being led to confuse them, so far from being in danger of loving evil because we love Pearl, we love her just in proportion to our abhorrence of the evil which empoisons her manifestations. The same discrimination could not be so sharply made (if, indeed, it could be made at all) in the case of a Pearl who, under unchanged conditions, had attained maturity. For her character would then be formed, and the evil which came to her by inheritance would so have tinged and moulded her natural traits that we should inevitably draw in the poison and the perfume at a single breath, -- ascribe to evil the charm which derives from good, and pollute good with the lurid hues of evil. The history of the race abundantly demonstrates that a chief cause of moral perversity and false principle has been our assumption of absolute proprietorship in either the good or the evil of our actions. Pearl, still in the instinctive stage of development, shows us the way out of this labyrinth. As the pure sunlight vivifies noxious as well as beneficent forms of existence, so the evil proclivities of the child's nature are energized, though not constituted, by the divine source of her being. It would be interesting (parenthetically) to draw a parallel between Pearl and Beatrice, in Rappaccini's Daughter. Both are studies in the same direction, though from different standpoints. Beatrice is nourished upon poisonous plants, until she becomes herself poisonous. Pearl, in the mysterious prenatal world, imbibes the poison of her parents' guilt. But, in either instance, behind this imported evil stands the personal soul: and the question is, Shall the soul become the victim of its involuntary circumstances? Hawthorne, in both cases, inclines to the brighter alternative. But the problem of Beatrice is more complicated than that of Pearl. She was not born in guilt; but she was brought up (to translate the symbolism) amidst guilty associations, so that they had come to be the very breath of her life. They turn out powerless, however, to vitiate her heart, and she is able to exclaim, at last, to her enraged lover, "Was there not, from the first, more poison in thy nature than in mine?" Although, for inscrutable purposes, God may see fit to incarnate us in evil, our souls shall not thereby suffer corruption; possibly, indeed, such evil incarnation may draw off harmlessly, because unconsciously, some deadlier evil lurking in the spirit, which would else have destroyed both soul and body. Pearl, on the other hand, has an unexceptionable moral environment: her evil is not, like Beatrice's, imbibed from without, but is manifested from within; and if "what cometh out of the mouth defileth a man," her predicament would seem hopeless. But, in truth, Pearl's demon was summoned into existence, not by her own acts, but by the act of others; and, unless with her own conscious consent, it cannot pollute her. Meanwhile, with that profound instinct of self-justification which antedates both reason and conscience in the human soul, the child is impelled on all occasions to assert and vindicate her cause, -- the cause of the scarlet letter. She will not consent to have it hidden or disavowed. She mocks and persecutes her mother, so long as the latter would disguise from her the true significance of the badge. When Hester casts it away, she stamps and cries with passion and will not be pacified till it is replaced. She distrusts the minister, save when, as in his plea for Hester in the governor's hall and his midnight vigil on the scaffold, he approaches an acknowledgment of his true position. His promise to appear with her mother and herself "at the great Judgment Day" excites her scorn. "Thou wast not bold, thou wast not true!" she cries. "Thou wouldst not promise to take my hand and mother's hand, to-morrow noontide!"—and she washes from her forehead the kiss he gives her during the interview in the forest. In a word, she will have truth in all things: without truth nothing is good; nor, with truth, can anything be evil. In the deepest sense, this is not only true, but it is the truth of the book. The perfectibility of man being infinite, the best man and the worst man alike must fall infinitely short of perfection: but every one can account honestly for such talents as he has; and it is always the motive, never the achievement, the sincerity, not the sound, that Divine Justice regards. A Thug, who should devoutly believe in the holiness of his mission, would fare better than an evangelist, who should lead a thousand souls to salvation, not for God's glory, but for his own. So when little Pearl would frankly unfold the banner of the scarlet letter, and openly fight beneath it, we feel that God will give her victory, not over her apparent enemies, but over herself. She is so much alive as to live independently of her actual appearances in the story. The imagination which there bodies her forth has done its work so well as to have imparted somewhat of its own power to the reader; and we can picture Pearl in other scenes and at other epochs in her career, and can even argue of her fate, had the conditions been different for her. Suppose, for example, that Hester and the minister had made good their escape from Boston, or that the latter's confession had been delayed until Pearl had passed the age of puberty. In either of these or a dozen other possible alternatives, the progress of her growth would have had a new and important interest, conducting to fresh regions of speculation. But Hawthorne never allows the claims of a part to override the whole; the artist in him would permit nothing out of its due proportion; and Pearl, for all her untamable vitality, is kept strictly to her place and function in the story. Where she speaks one word for her personal, she speaks two for her representative, character. There seems to be no partiality on the author's part; nor, on the other hand, is there any indifference. The same quiet light of charity irradiates each figure in the tale; and he neither makes a pet of Pearl, nor a scapegoat of Roger Chillingworth. Dramatically, the last-named personage plays perhaps the most important part of the four; he communicates to the plot whatever movement it exhibits. But what renders him chiefly remarkable is the fact that, although he stands as the injured husband, and therefore with the first claim to our sympathy and kindness, he in reality obtains neither, but appears more devoid of attraction than any other character in the tale. This would seem an unconventional and rather venturesome proceeding; for the average mind, in modern English fiction, finds itself under moral obligations to use every precaution, lest the reader fall into some mistake as to the legitimate objects of favor and of reprobation. Continental novelists, to be sure, have a sort of perverse pleasure in defying Anglo-Saxon taste in this particular, and do not shrink from making the lawful partner of the erring wife either odious or ridiculous. But it will be profitable to inquire in what respect the American romancer follows or diverges from these two methods of treatment. It is evident, of course, that the fact that a man has suffered injury has nothing to say, one way or the other, as to his personal character; and the only reason why a novelist should represent him as amiable rather than the reverse is (in an instance like the present) that the reader might otherwise, in disliking him, be led to regard too leniently the crime of which he is the victim. Hester Prynne and Dimmesdale, however, are not so presented as to invite such misplaced tenderness on the reader's part; while Chillingworth, on the other hand, though certainly not a lovable, is very far from being an absurd or contemptible, figure. The force, reserve, and dignity of his demeanor win our respect at the outset, and the touches of quiet pathos in his first interview with Hester prepare us to feel a more cordial sentiment. But the purpose of the author is more profound and radical than could be fulfilled by this obvious and superficial way of dealing with the situation. His attitude is not that of a sentimental advocate, but of an impartial investigator; he is studying the nature and effect of sinful passions, and is only incidentally concerned with the particular persons who are the exponents thereof. He therefore declines, as we are not long in finding out, to allow the course of events to be influenced by the supposed moral rights or wrongs of either party. He simply penetrates to the heart of each, and discloses the secrets hidden there,—secrets whose general and permanent vastly outweighs their personal and particular significance. The relation of Chillingworth to the lovers has been pronounced, by an able critic, the most original feature of the book. But it did not so appear to the author's mind. It was a necessary outcome of his plan, and seems more original than the rest only because the pervading originality of the whole happens to be more strikingly visible in Chillingworth than elsewhere. But given Hester and the minister, and the punishment inflicted upon the former, and Chillingworth becomes inevitable. For the controlling purpose of the story, underlying all other purposes, is to exhibit the various ways in which guilt is punished in this world,—whether by society, by the guilty persons themselves, or by interested individuals who take the law into their own hands. The method of society has been exemplified by the affixing of the scarlet letter on Hester's bosom. This is her punishment, the heaviest that man can afflict upon her. But, like all legal punishment, it aims much more at the protection of society than at the reformation of the culprit. Hester is to stand as a warning to others tempted as she was: if she recovers her own salvation in the process, so much the better for her; but, for better or worse, society has ceased to have any concern with her. "We trample you down," society says in effect to those who break its laws, "not by any means in order to save your soul,—for the welfare of that problematical adjunct to your civic personality is a matter of complete indifference to us,—but because, by some act, you have forfeited your claim to our protection, because you are a clog to our prosperity, and because the spectacle of your agony may discourage others of similar unlawful inclinations." But it is obvious, all the while, that the only crime which society recognizes is the crime of being found out, since a society composed of successful hypocrites would much more smoothly fulfill all social requirements than a society of such heterogeneous constituents as (human nature being what it is) necessarily enter into it now. In a word, society, as at present administered, presents the unhandsome spectacle of a majority of successful hypocrites, on one side, contending against a minority of discovered criminals, on the other; and we are reduced to this paradox,—that the salvation of humanity depends primarily on the victory of the criminals over the hypocrites. Of course, this is only another way of saying that hypocrisy is the most destructive to the soul of all sins; and meanwhile we may comfort ourselves with the old proverb that hypocrisy itself is the homage which vice pays to virtue, or, if the inward being of society were in harmony with its outward seeming, heaven would appear on earth. Hester, then, the social outcast, finds no invitation to repentance in the law that crushes her. The only alternative it offers her is abject self-extinction, or defiance. She chooses the latter: but at this point her course is swayed by a providential circumstance with which society had nothing to do. "Man had marked this woman's sin by a scarlet letter, which had such potent and disastrous efficacy that no human sympathy could reach her, save it were sinful like herself. God, as a direct consequence of the sin which man had thus punished, had given her a lovely child, whose place was on that same dishonored bosom, to connect her parent forever with the race and descent of mortals, and to be finally a blessed soul in heaven." The sacred obligation of maternity -- the more sacred to Hester because it seems the only sacred thing left to her -- restrains her from plunging recklessly into the abyss of sin, towards which her punishment would naturally impel her. "Make my excuse to him, so please you," she says, with a triumphant smile, to old Mistress Hibbins, in response to the latter's invitation to meet the Black Man in the forest. "I must tarry at home and keep watch over my little Pearl. Had they taken her from me, I would willingly have gone with thee into the forest, and signed my name in the Black Man's book too, and that with mine own blood!" But although she is thus saved from further overt degradation, she is as far from repentance as ever. Standing, as she did, alone with Pearl amidst a hostile world, her life turned, in a great measure, from passion and feeling to thought. She cast away the fragments of a broken chain. The world's law was no law for her mind. She assumed a freedom of speculation which her neighbors, had they known it, would have held to be a deadlier crime than that stigmatized by the scarlet letter. Shadowy guests entered her lonesome cottage that would have been as perilous as demons to their entertainer, could they have been seen so much as knocking at her door. "There was wild and ghastly scenery all around her, and a home and comfort nowhere. At times, a fearful doubt strove to possess her soul, whether it were not better to send Pearl at once to Heaven, and go herself to such futurity as Eternal Justice might provide. The scarlet letter had not done its office." Such being the result of society's management of the matter, let us see what success attended the efforts of an individual to take the law into his own hands. It is to exemplify this phase of the subject that Roger Chillingworth exists; and his operations are of course directed not against Hester ("I have left thee to the scarlet letter," he says to her. "If that have not avenged me, I can do no more!"), but against her accomplice. This accomplice is unknown; that is, society has not found him out. But he is known to himself, and consequently to Roger Chillingworth, who is a symbol of a morbid and remorseless conscience. Chillingworth has been robbed of his wife. But between that and other kinds of robbery there is this difference,—that he who is robbed wishes not to recover what is lost, but to punish the robber. And his object in inflicting this punishment is not the robber's good, nor the wife's good, nor even the public good; but revenge, pure and simple. The motive or passion which actuates him, is, in short, a wholly selfish one. It was deeply provoked, no doubt; but so, also, in another way, was the crime which it would requite. Unlike the latter, moreover, it involves no risk; on the contrary, it is enforced by the whole weight of social opinion. If the man had really or unselfishly loved his wife, he would not act thus. His wish would be to shield her,—to protect the sanctity of the marriage relation, as typified in her, from further pollution. His hostility to the seducer, even, would be more public than personal,—hatred of the sin, not of the individual; for men support with considerable equanimity the destruction of other men's married happiness. But, by bringing the matter to the personal level, Chillingworth confesses his indifference to any but personal considerations, not to mention his disbelief in God. As regards religion, indeed, he declares himself a fatalist. "My old faith," he says to Hester, "explains all that we do and all that we suffer. By thy first step awry thou didst plant the germ of evil; but since that moment it has all been a dark necessity. Ye that have wronged me are not sinful, save in a kind of typical illusion; neither am I fiend-like, who have snatched a fiend's office from his hands. It is our fate. Let the black flower blossom as it may!" Accordingly, Chillingworth is an image in little of society; and the external difference between his action and that of society is due to unlikeness not of inward motive, but of outward conditions. The revenge of society consists in publishing the sinner's ignominy. But this method would baffle Chillingworth's revenge just where he designed it to be most effective; for, by leaving the sinner with no load of secret guilt in his heart, it is inadvertently merciful in its very unmercifulness. The real agony of sin, as Chillingworth clearly perceived, lies not in its commission, which is always delightful, nor in its open punishment, which is a kind of relief, but in the dread of its discovery. The revenge which he plans, therefore, depends above all things upon keeping his victim's secret. By rejecting all brutal and obvious methods he gains entrance into a much more sensitive region of torture. He will not poison Hester's babe, because he knows that it will live to cause its mother the most poignant pangs she is capable of feeling. He will not sacrifice Hester, because "what could I do better for my object than to let thee live, than to give thee medicines against all harm and peril of life, so that this burning shame may still blaze upon thy bosom?" And, finally, he will not reveal the minister's guilt. "Think not," he says, "that I shall, to my own loss, betray him to the gripe of the law. . . . Let him live! Let him hide himself in outward honor, if he may! Not the less he shall be mine!" And afterwards, when years had vindicated the diabolical accuracy of his judgment, "Better he had died at once!" he exclaims, in horrible triumph. "He fancied himself given over to a fiend, to be tortured with frightful dreams and desperate thoughts, the sting of remorse and despair of pardon, as a foretaste of what awaits him beyond the grave. But it was the constant shadow of my presence, the closest propinquity of the man whom he had most vilely wronged, and who had grown to exist only by this perpetual poison of the direst revenge!" But this carnival of refined cruelty, as is abundantly evident, can be productive of nothing but evil to all concerned; evil to the victim, and still more evil, if possible, to the executioner, who, finding himself transformed by his own practices from a peaceful scholar to a fiend, makes Dimmesdale answerable for the calamity, and proposes to wreak fresh vengeance upon him on that account. And it demonstrates the truth that the only punishment which man is justified in inflicting upon his fellow is the punishment which is incidental to his being restrained from further indulgence in crime. Such restraint acts as a punishment, because the wicked impulse is thereby prevented from realizing itself; but it is intrinsically an act not of revenge, but of love, since the criminal is thereby preserved from increasing his sinful burden by accomplishing in fact what he had purposed in thought. The Puritan system was selfish and brutal, merely; Chillingworth's was satanically malignant; but both alike are impotent to do anything but inflame the evils they pretend to assuage. Thus it comes to pass that after "seven years," or any greater or less lapse of time, the culprits are just as remote from true repentance as they were at the moment of commiting their sin. Society and the individual have both demonstrated their incapacity to deal with the great problem of human error. Neither suppression nor torture is of any avail. The devil is always anxious to be enlisted against himself, but his reasons are tolerably transparent. When, at length, Hester and Dimmesdale meet again, they are ripe to fall more deeply and irrevocably than before. The woman faces the prospect boldly, thinking more of her lover than of herself; he trembles in his flesh, but is willing in his heart; but there is no sincere hesitation on either side. One hour of genuine remorse would have given them insight to perceive that no such shallow device as flight could bring them peace; for it would have shown them that the source of their misery was not the persecution suffered from without, but the inward violation committed by themselves. Chillingworth comprehends the situation perfectly, and quietly makes his preparations, not to obstruct their escape, but to accompany it. This is the most hideous episode in the story, and well represents the bottomless slough of iniquity which awaits the deliberate choice of evil. And it elevates Chillingworth into the bad eminence of chief criminal of the three. Not only is his actual wickedness greater, but the extenuation is less. The lovers might plead their love, but he only his hate. They can ask each other's forgiveness and implore God's mercy, when, in that final death scene of "triumphant ignoniminy," they make the utmost atonement in their power; but for Chillingworth, the merciless and unforgiving, there can be no forgiveness and no mercy. "When, in short, there was no more devil's work for him to do, it only remained for the unhumanized mortal to betake himself whither his master would find him tasks enough, and pay him his wages duly." This interpretation of his character may profitably be pondered by the student of the human soul. From the fate of Hester and Dimmesdale we may learn that it avails not the sinner to live a life of saintly deeds and aims, but to be true; not to scourge himself, to wear sackcloth, or to redeem other souls, but openly to accept his shame. The poison of sin is not so much in the sin itself as in the concealment; for all men are sinners, but he who conceals his sin pretends a superhuman holiness. To acknowledge our sins before God, in the ordinary sense of the phrase, is a phrase, and no more, unproductive of absolution. But to acknowledge our sins before men is, in very truth, to acknowledge them before God; for the appeal is made to the human conscience, and the human conscience is the miraculous presence of God in human nature, and from such acknowledgment absolution is not remote. The reason is that such acknowledgment surrenders all that is most dear to the unregenerate heart, and thereby involves a humiliation or annihilation of evil pride which eradicates sinful appetite. All sin is based on selfishness; but the supreme abdication of self, postulated by voluntary and unreserved self-revelation, leaves no further basis for sin to build on. The man who has never been guilty of actual sin is peculiar rather than fortunate; but in all events he has no cause to pride himself on the immunity, which indicates at best that he has been spared adequate temptation. The sins forbidden in the decalogue are fatal only after the sinner has deliberately said, "Evil, be thou my good!" or, in the sublime figure of the Scripture, has blasphemed the Holy Ghost. Hester and Dimmesdale, in the story, stop short of taking this step, but Chillingworth actually begins by taking it. It is the unpardonable sin, not because God is wanting in mercy towards it, but because its very nature is to cause its perpetrator to withdraw himself from all mercy. He hugs it to himself as a virtue, as the virtue of virtues; and the more lost he becomes, the more virtuous does he fancy himself to be. It consists, broadly speaking, in disowning one's human brotherhood and laying claim (on whatever pretext) to personal and peculiar favor at God's hands. Such a person will contemplate with complacency the damnation of all the rest of mankind, so that his own hold upon the divine approbation be secure. In his earlier pieces (notably in The Man of Adamant, and Ethan Brand), Hawthorne has more than once touched upon this subject, but in the story Roger Chillingworth he gives it a larger development. Chillingworth starts with the notion that he has a right to inflict vengeance. It is a very common notion; many respectable persons possess it; indeed, it is not only compatible with social respectability, but is favorable to it. But vengeance, when prosecuted with the deliberation and circumspection observed by Chillingworth, has this singular quality,—that it gives free indulgence to the most cruel and infernal passions of which the human heart is capable, unmodified by any fear of social odium; though here, and throughout, a marked distinction should be made between the idea of society as at present organized and that of mankind or humanity; the former being a purely artificial parody and perversion of the divinely beneficent order of which we already catch occasional glimpses in the latter. This peculiarity of vengeance first stupefies the voice of conscience in the perpetrator, and thereafter has him in complete subjection, and can lead him through the depths of the bottomless pit without his once suspecting that he is out of arm's reach of the archangels. Roger Chillingworth is a good citizen, his private and public reputation are spotless, he is on the best of terms with the governor and the clergy, and his intellectual ability and scientific attainments beget him general respect and admiration. No social test can be applied to him from which he will not emerge unscathed. His hypocrisy is without flaw; it deceives even himself. He is the complete type of the man of the world, the social ideal,—courteous, quiet, well informed, imperturbable. Nevertheless, his moral nature is a poisonous and irreclaimable wilderness, in which blooms not a single flower of heavenly parentage. For he has put his devilish lust of vengeance in the place of God, and day by day he worships it, and performs its bidding. Well might Dimmesdale exclaim, "There is one worse than even the polluted priest! That old man's revenge has been blacker than my sin. He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart." Yet society has no stigma to fix upon his breast. Hawthorne, however, with characteristic charity, forbears to claim a verdict even against his reprobate. "To all," he says, "we would fain be merciful;" and he goes so far as to put forth a speculation as to whether "hatred and love be not the same thing at bottom." But hatred grows from self-love; and if love and self-love be not opposites, then neither are light and darkness, or good and evil. It is doubtless true, on the other hand, that we can never be justified in treating the most iniquitous persons as identical with their iniquity, although, in discussing them, it may not always be possible to make the verbal discrimination. In real life there will always be saving clauses, mitigating circumstances, and special conditions whereby the naked crudity of the abstract presentment is modified, as soil and vegetation soften the hard contour of rocks, or as the atmosphere diffuses light and tempers darkness. Nor would I wish to appear as superserviceably detecting theories in the mellow substance of Hawthorne's artistic conceptions. He himself felt a repugnance to theories, and in general confined himself to suggestions and intimations; he knew how apt truth is to escape from the severity of a "logical deduction." Probably, moreover, he was uniformly innocent of any didactic purpose in sitting down to write. He imagined a moral situation, with characters to fit it, and then allowed the theme to grow in such form as its innate force directed, enriching its roots and decorating its boughs with the accumulated wealth of his experience and meditation. In an ordinary novel of episode this system might be an unsafe one to pursue, there being no essential law of development for such things: they are constructed, but do not grow; and if the constructive skill be deficient, there is nothing else to keep them symmetrical. The tree or the flower has only to be planted aright, and wisely watched and tended, and it will make good its own excuse for being; but the house or the ship depends absolutely on the builder. The reason is, of course, that the former, unlike the latter, have a life and a design in themselves. And this, it seems to me, is the difference between stories in Hawthorne's vein and other stories. He is the most modern of writers; he has divined the new birth of literature, which is still unsuspected by most of us, to judge by the present indications. Hitherto, in fiction, we have been content to imitate life, but such imitation has been carried as near to perfection as, perhaps, is profitable. The next step is a great one, but it cannot be shunned, unless we would return upon our tracks, and vamp up afresh the costumes of the past. And what is this new step? It is not easy to put the definition in words; and certainly it is not intended that we should turn to and write like Hawthorne. But what lies beyond or above an imitation of life? Nothing more nor less, it must be confessed, than life itself. This is a hard saying, but I know not how we are to escape giving ear to it; doubtless, however, a majority of persons will decline to believe, on any terms or in any sense, that a novel or story can ever be exalted from an imitation of life into life itself. And yet Shakespeare's plays are more than imitations of life; and so, it appears to me, is a story like The Scarlet Letter. The plays live, the story is alive. A soul is in it; it is conceived on the spiritual plane. The soul assumes a body, like other souls, and this body may be seen and handled; but the body exists because the soul, beforehand, is, and the latter is independent of the former. How this life may be imparted is another question; but, unquestionably, the process can be no easy one. He who gives life can have no life to give save his own. It is not a matter of note-books, of observation, of learning, of cleverness. The workshop from which issue works that live is a very interior chamber indeed; and only those who have entered it, perhaps not even they, can reveal its secrets. Discreet readers will not construe me too literally when I venture the opinion that the day of dead or galvanized fiction is coming to an end. Let the circulating libraries have no misgivings; nothing is more certain than that, for many a day and year to come, their shelves will groan, as of yore, with admirable examples of the class alluded to. Moreover, Shakespeare lived a long while ago, and Homer and Moses longer yet; so that it might seem as if the threatened danger were safely astern of us, not to mention that, just at present, there seems to be a more than ordinary quantity of cunningly wrought waxen images on hand. As against those arguments and indications, it can only be urged that the progress of the human race probably implies much more than electricity and steering-balloons would prepare us for; and that the true conquest of matter by mind, being a religious rather than a scientific transaction is likely to be felt, obscurely and vaguely, long before it can be definitely comprehended and acknowledged.	A
“But wait, there’s more!” May 3, 1935 saw the birth of what prolific inventor and marketing personality, known for such products as Mr. Microphone, Showtime Rotisserie, and GLH-9 Hair in a Can spray, among many others?	Nathaniel Hawthorne (Author of The Scarlet Letter) edit data Nathaniel Hawthorne was a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. He is seen as a key figure in the development of American literature for his tales of the nation's colonial history. Shortly after graduating from Bowdoin College, Hathorne changed his name to Hawthorne. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe, in 1828. In 1837, he published Twice-Told Tales and became engaged to Sophia Peabody the next year. He worked at a Custom House and joined a Transcendentalist Utopian community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed Nathaniel Hawthorne was a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. He is seen as a key figure in the development of American literature for his tales of the nation's colonial history. Shortly after graduating from Bowdoin College, Hathorne changed his name to Hawthorne. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe, in 1828. In 1837, he published Twice-Told Tales and became engaged to Sophia Peabody the next year. He worked at a Custom House and joined a Transcendentalist Utopian community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. A political appointment took Hawthorne and family to Europe before returning to The Wayside in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, leaving behind his wife and their three children. Much of Hawthorne's writing centers around New England and many feature moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His work is considered part of the Romantic movement and includes novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend, the United States President Franklin Pierce.	i don't know
What radio station do you find at 770 on your local AM dial?	KTTH - Seattle, WA - Listen Online 64 kb MP3 48 kb AAC 32 kb HTML More information KTTH AM 770 is the Northwest’s home for Michael Medved, David Boze, Ben Shapiro, Rush Limbaugh and Dave Ramsey. This all-star line-up of remarkable, opinionated, story-tellers entertains, informs and enlightens every day. The big stories. The important issues. The best interviews. Count on KTTH AM 770 to serve up a daily dose of debate with the titans of talk radio.	KTTH
Which bruising 19th century American, the last of the bare knuckle boxing heavyweight champions, was the first athlete to earn over one million dollars?	Radio - KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, AM 770 KTTH, 710 ESPN Seattle Radio BONNEVILLE SEATTLE: HOME OF KIRO RADIO 97.3 FM, 710 ESPN SEATTLE AND AM 770 KTTH Radio For more information, click here Support If you are experiencing problems and cannot listen to the radio, please check the following elements. I use Internet Explorer and when I launch the player, I see "Connection in progress, backup connection in progress" but it never actually connects. The problem could be your Internet Explorer configuration. Here are a few steps you can take to try to rectify the situation: Make sure that you have the latest version of Internet Explorer (you can find it here ). Also make sure that you have the latest version of the Flash Player (you can get it here). If you still experience the problem you can try resetting your Internet Explorer options: Open Internet Explorer, click on "Tools" and select "Internet Options" in the drop down menu. In the window that opens, select the "Advanced" tab. At the bottom you will see "Reset Internet Explorer Settings;" click Reset.... Be aware that by doing this all your cookies, temporary files, and add-ons will be deleted and/or disabled. Close, and re-open Internet Explorer. When Internet Explorer re-opens you should be redirected to a welcome page. Do NOT turn on the automatic Phishing Filter! If you do turn it on you, need to start over and reset your settings again. Note that you can be asked if you want to turn on the Automatic Phishing Filter at any time during your browsing experience. Do NOT turn it on. Try to listen to the station again. Let us know if you still can't connect. When I log on the player page it says that I don't have the Flash Player installed on my computer. But I do have it. Try running the player in a different web browser, such as Firefox. ( Download Firefox ). If the player works in a different browser, then you need to check the settings on the browser that doesn't work. (See the Flash Player Help links, below.) If the player still doesn't work, then try re-installing the Flash Player. For more information, refer to Adobe's help pages: Flash Player Help for Mac When I launch the Player, it says that I need to upgrade my version of Flash Player. This means you are using an older version of Flash Player. Go here to update the Flash Player; that should solve the problem. I can't access the stream. All my configurations are up to date including my browser and my Flash Player. I can't connect at all. Are you listening from home or from your place of work? If you're at work, ask your network administrator if they have blocked the stream URL in the firewall office. If you're at home, are you using any kind of firewall, anti-virus, or parental control? If so, disable it and try again. If you can now listen to the stream, then you need to add the stream's URL to your firewall/anti-virus/parental control's "allow" list. Most Popular	i don't know
What NPR staple, set in a fictional Minnesota town "where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average", debuted in 1974?	Leaving Home by Garrison Keillor — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists Shelves: regional-and-ethnic , favorites , short-stories-and-novellas Leaving Home is Garrison Keillor’s first print collection of Lake Wobegon monologues from his A Prairie Home Companion radio show — collected from between 1984 – 1987. I say “first” like there are lots, but sadly there are only two — this one one and Life Among the Lutherans ; and four more appear in the Lake Wobegon section of The Keillor Reader . There are plenty of Lake Wobegon collections on CD, but I wish more were in print form. Keillor does a News from Lake Wobegon monologue each week on his Leaving Home is Garrison Keillor’s first print collection of Lake Wobegon monologues from his A Prairie Home Companion radio show — collected from between 1984 – 1987. I say “first” like there are lots, but sadly there are only two — this one one and Life Among the Lutherans ; and four more appear in the Lake Wobegon section of The Keillor Reader . There are plenty of Lake Wobegon collections on CD, but I wish more were in print form. Keillor does a News from Lake Wobegon monologue each week on his A Prairie Home Companion radio show. Lake Wobegon is a fictional small town in Minnesota populated by mostly Catholics (descedened from German immigrants) and Lutherans (descended from Norwegian and Swedish immigrants). He always begins each monologue with: “Well, it’s been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my home, town…” He mentions the weather and then brings us up-to-date on the lives of the Lake Wobegonians in all its boring and extraordinary glory. It’s truly amazing how these ordinary people with their ordinary lives living in this imaginary small town in Minnesota are so captivating and feel so real. The only quibble I have (and it’s minor, I have much ♥ for the Lake Wobegon monologues) is that some of the vignettes end a bit abruptly — it’s not that any there were any loose ends that needed to be tied up, it’s just that I want more. I’m sure the (sometimes) sudden endings are due to the time constraints of the live show and Keillor’s spontaneity on stage. “A Glass of Wendy” is my absolute favorite vignette, but I love them all. My favorite quote: “If you can’t trust your can opener, then what?” [page 35] “Well, that’s the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.” youtube video on The Origins of Lake Wobegon all my reveiws can be found at www.isniffbooks.wordpress.com ...more Shelves: classy-fiction , humor As always with Keillor, my thoughts on his fiction are colored by being from a place pretty similar to the Lake Wobegone of his books. I always think of the people he writes about as "my people" and am therefore prepossesed to liking his work. Still, I don't think I'm way off base by saying this book has a lot of humanity in it. If I have it right, all of the 30 or so chapters that make up Leaving Home are taken from Keillor's radio show and transcribed. As usual, they concern the small time goi As always with Keillor, my thoughts on his fiction are colored by being from a place pretty similar to the Lake Wobegone of his books. I always think of the people he writes about as "my people" and am therefore prepossesed to liking his work. Still, I don't think I'm way off base by saying this book has a lot of humanity in it. If I have it right, all of the 30 or so chapters that make up Leaving Home are taken from Keillor's radio show and transcribed. As usual, they concern the small time goings-on in a small Minnesota community. The characters feels true to life--both small-minded and sometimes generous. I was often touched by the writing, and though this book is less dark than some of Keillor's other published work that did not appear on the radio, there is still a surprisingly small amount of nostolgia. In my view, the Upper Plains states couldn't find a better chronicler of their collective experience than Keillor. Like the citizens themselves, Keillor's work is subdued, with gentle humor. Sometimes reactionary, sometimes seeking escape, sometimes reveling in the familiar and sometimes coming to terms with their own lives with a surprising honesty. ...more Jun 14, 2011 Sarah rated it it was amazing Garrison Keillor is my favorite storyteller. He has an amazing gift of calming and soothing and forcing you to think and remember and contemplate and enjoy – all in the half stupor of contentment. Most of these stories don’t even have a tangible point. There’s no moral. There’s no lesson to be learned or underlying archetypal subplot defining a genre and exploding with controversy. They’re just stories about a small town in Minnesota and the people’s lives who live there. And part of that is the Garrison Keillor is my favorite storyteller. He has an amazing gift of calming and soothing and forcing you to think and remember and contemplate and enjoy – all in the half stupor of contentment. Most of these stories don’t even have a tangible point. There’s no moral. There’s no lesson to be learned or underlying archetypal subplot defining a genre and exploding with controversy. They’re just stories about a small town in Minnesota and the people’s lives who live there. And part of that is the essence of what makes them so wonderful. The illustrations and allusions and quirky personality makes up 49% of it’s greatness – and their simplicity makes up another 49%. And the last two percent, is just pure Garrison Keillor magic. ...more Jun 04, 2013 Vishvapani rated it really liked it I love Garrison Keillor. It's racy stuff and there are big changes in Lake Woebegone in this volume. Darlene leaves the Chatterbox Cafe and ... well, that's about it really. In fact I am considering moving to Minnesota, becoming Norwegian and joining to the Church of the Sanctified Brethren. However, I am not sure of the process of converting to being Norwegian. The greatest compliment you could pay to Garrison Keillor is that he makes what he does seem so easy and effortless. Funny, charming, kn I love Garrison Keillor. It's racy stuff and there are big changes in Lake Woebegone in this volume. Darlene leaves the Chatterbox Cafe and ... well, that's about it really. In fact I am considering moving to Minnesota, becoming Norwegian and joining to the Church of the Sanctified Brethren. However, I am not sure of the process of converting to being Norwegian. The greatest compliment you could pay to Garrison Keillor is that he makes what he does seem so easy and effortless. Funny, charming, knowing, sad, insightful, and all done with such warm-hearted ease. Shelves: read-again , humor From my 1991 Journal: I am reading Leaving Home, only it is more like sitting up and paying attention to life. Garrison Keillor captures the beauty in the most mundane of moments. Here are some lines I like: Every summer I'm a little bigger, but riding the ferris wheel, I feel the same as ever, I feel eternal. . .The wheel carries us up high, high, high, and stops, and we sit swaying, creaking in the dark . . .[one year I had this vision]: little kids holding on to their daddy's hand, and he is me From my 1991 Journal: I am reading Leaving Home, only it is more like sitting up and paying attention to life. Garrison Keillor captures the beauty in the most mundane of moments. Here are some lines I like: Every summer I'm a little bigger, but riding the ferris wheel, I feel the same as ever, I feel eternal. . .The wheel carries us up high, high, high, and stops, and we sit swaying, creaking in the dark . . .[one year I had this vision]: little kids holding on to their daddy's hand, and he is me. He looks down on them with love and buys them another corn dog. They are worried they will lose him, they hang on to his leg with one hand, eat with the other. This vision is unbearably wonderful. Then the wheel brings me down to the ground. We get off and other people get on. Thank you, dear God, for this good life and forgive us if we do not love it enough." (p. 124) Old age is like birds in the winter. It's hard to keep going. But you still have your good days, and one good day makes you want to keep on. I use to get so upset if any little thing went wrong. Now everything goes wrong and it doesn't bother me, and some little thing is so wonderful--if my son writes me a letter, that's wonderful. And if he puts in a picture of my grandchildren, then that's just about everything." (p.146) Thank you Garrison Keillor for loving life and taking the time to know it. ...more Shelves: colin-read , colin-read-2013 'It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon'...I don't often re-read books as I've always got too many new ones waiting to be read, but I love Garrison Keillor's stories so much that I'm always happy to read them again. I first read Leaving Home back in the eighties, and, feeling the need for a warm, comforting sort of midwinter read, picked it off my bookshelf as I finished my last book and was soon lost in Keillor's wonderful stories of life among the Norwegian Lutherans of this forgotten corner o 'It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon'...I don't often re-read books as I've always got too many new ones waiting to be read, but I love Garrison Keillor's stories so much that I'm always happy to read them again. I first read Leaving Home back in the eighties, and, feeling the need for a warm, comforting sort of midwinter read, picked it off my bookshelf as I finished my last book and was soon lost in Keillor's wonderful stories of life among the Norwegian Lutherans of this forgotten corner of northern Minnesota. I admire his humour, his ability to make great stories out of the simplest and most ordinary of lives, and his love for his characters. There's a passage in 'Hansel', probably my favourite story in the collection, that sums this up very well: 'walking in the mysterious light of a warm snowy winter night in Lake Wobegon, it's not certain what year this is but it is certain that in this world that we think we know so well, and in our life that we're always talking about, there is a great mystery and powerful music playing that we don't hear and stories full of magic, so many stories that life isn't long enough to tell them all'. A quiet week in Lake Wobegon perhaps, but each of those quiet weeks has plenty of stories full of music and magic. C ...more A Return to Lake Wobegon (for me) Originally published in 1987. I stepped away from Garrison Keillor for a while. I don't know why, but I forgot about Lake Wobegon for about 15 years. But, I have returned for the occasional visit for a couple of years now and I find that I missed these stories. Having grown up Lutheran in rural Indiana I find quite a connection with these stories. Keillor melancholy yet heartwarming stories of the people in and around the fictional Minnesota town of Lake Wobegon ar A Return to Lake Wobegon (for me) Originally published in 1987. I stepped away from Garrison Keillor for a while. I don't know why, but I forgot about Lake Wobegon for about 15 years. But, I have returned for the occasional visit for a couple of years now and I find that I missed these stories. Having grown up Lutheran in rural Indiana I find quite a connection with these stories. Keillor melancholy yet heartwarming stories of the people in and around the fictional Minnesota town of Lake Wobegon are worth a re-visit if you have stayed away. Deft turns of the phrase like "Corinne doesn't believe in God, but there is some evidence to show that God believes in her. She has a gift to teach, a sacred gift. Fifteen years in dreary bluish-green classrooms, pacing as she talks, this solid woman carries a flame" (p. 23) make you nod your head in appreciation. Towards the end, a couple from Lake Wobegon is trying to take a trip to Hawaii. Keillor's extended discussion on why the glamour of "paradise" is wasted on Minnesotans and how heaven will be just as wasted is great sly understated humor with a sweet comment that starts with... Mar 29, 2010 Lawrence Kelley rated it really liked it Liberal-Minded Contraband @ Fort Knox, during Basic Training? I love Garrison, and even followed his example by traveling to Scandinavia in 1986. But heck, I was learning to kill Commies, after all, and practiced shooting at the Red-Star pop-up targets on the firing range. Fearing it would be taken away from me and getting into trouble, I tossed this book into a barrel, just before beginning my (4) months of Cavalry Scout (19-Delta) training, just to be safe. It was still Reagan's U.S. Army. How Liberal-Minded Contraband @ Fort Knox, during Basic Training? I love Garrison, and even followed his example by traveling to Scandinavia in 1986. But heck, I was learning to kill Commies, after all, and practiced shooting at the Red-Star pop-up targets on the firing range. Fearing it would be taken away from me and getting into trouble, I tossed this book into a barrel, just before beginning my (4) months of Cavalry Scout (19-Delta) training, just to be safe. It was still Reagan's U.S. Army. However, still was able to channel "subversive" liberal thoughts by quietly enjoying - in the dark of night in the dormatory I slept in - The Waterboy's Fisherman's Blues, New Order's Technique and PSB's Introspective, on my faux Walkman, underneath the scratchy green blankets, during my Cav-Scout training. :) ...more Shelves: humor I enjoyed the amusing and stirring vinettes about the fictional town of Lake Wobegone. I listen to the Prarie Home Companion News From Lake Wobegone podcast (oh technology, linking the lost art of live radio with my interweb surfing), and I heard Keillor's slow, flat voice in my head the whole time I was reading this book. I had a little trouble telling who the narrator was at first - was it Keillor, a non-specific townsperson, someone else? - until another character mentioned the narrator by na I enjoyed the amusing and stirring vinettes about the fictional town of Lake Wobegone. I listen to the Prarie Home Companion News From Lake Wobegone podcast (oh technology, linking the lost art of live radio with my interweb surfing), and I heard Keillor's slow, flat voice in my head the whole time I was reading this book. I had a little trouble telling who the narrator was at first - was it Keillor, a non-specific townsperson, someone else? - until another character mentioned the narrator by name (Gary, hehee). I'm excited to read his new LW novel, Pontoon, which I got at the bookstore yesterday. ...more Shelves: favorites , humor I grew up in the Midwest, and were always taught that theres nothing special about us. Were raised to be humble. As such, I didnt really appreciate Keillor until Id moved away. The reason I first read this book was that Id seen a dance performance based on one of the stories. Yep, a dance performance! It was so funny that I had to read the rest of the books, I havent stopped since, and it drew me to NPR. Moving to the East Coast, I discovered that yes, indeed there is something VERY special about I grew up in the Midwest, and we´re always taught that there´s nothing special about us. We´re raised to be humble. As such, I didn´t really appreciate Keillor until I´d moved away. The reason I first read this book was that I´d seen a dance performance based on one of the stories. Yep, a dance performance! It was so funny that I had to read the rest of the books, I haven´t stopped since, and it drew me to NPR. Moving to the East Coast, I discovered that yes, indeed there is something VERY special about the Midwest, something that you never truly appreciate until you´ve moved away. For those of you who have never lived there, and think it´s nothing special, give it a try. ...more Sep 14, 2013 Phillip rated it really liked it · review of another edition Garrison Keiller's take on rural life is a refreshing blend of modern sensibility and nostalgia. He pits the denizens of Lake Wobegon against all the vagaries of life that keep us wondering who we really have on our side. Whether maintaining a livelihood, managing a household, leading a congregation, or nursing a relationship, the Lake Wobegon way of doing things always seems to be a makeshift way. His tales are bright with humor and warm with empathy. Shelves: humour , fiction , favorites Leaving Home was the first Garrison Keillor I'd read, and it's my favourite of his books. The stories still make me smile, laugh, and even tear up a little. Bits of them read like poetry to me. My partner and I sometimes take our dog-eared copy camping with us, and we take turns reading the stories aloud while tucked up in our sleeping bags. Aug 11, 2011 Lisa Rathbun rated it really liked it · review of another edition Although we didn't have a TV when I was growing up, my parents did let us listen to a Prarie Home Companion. I loved listening to the Lake Woebegone stories, so I'm so glad to have them collected in a book where I can reread them and enjoy their humor and poignancy. My favorite of all time is "Truckstop." Shelves: 2016-highlights This is one of the best short story collections I have ever read. This is the kind of stuff that made me fall in love with reading. The sort of book I am always, always after. I knew nothing about it when I picked it up I don't know when, or where for that matter, and only later found that it is part of the celebrated A Prairie Home Companion radio show; the monologues from that show titled News From Lake Wobegon 'slightly revised for print publication.' It is what it sounds like - everyday stor This is one of the best short story collections I have ever read. This is the kind of stuff that made me fall in love with reading. The sort of book I am always, always after. I knew nothing about it when I picked it up I don't know when, or where for that matter, and only later found that it is part of the celebrated A Prairie Home Companion radio show; the monologues from that show titled News From Lake Wobegon 'slightly revised for print publication.' It is what it sounds like - everyday stories about everyday people in a small American town. There's beauty here and wisdom and compassion and more laughs than you can see coming and absurdity and irony and the whole spectrum of the human condition and it is all so breathlessly quiet and humble. There's 38 stories, about five or six pages each, and literally one or maybe two are less than what I would call perfect. It's that good. Of course, tastes vary and the author's stoicism and impassiveness may annoy some but the in the great tradition of American short stories, make that in the great tradition of storytelling, the stories are what matter the most and through them you come to appreciate the author's craftsmanship and yes, unobtrusiveness. ...more Mar 15, 2016 Vincent O'Neil rated it really liked it · review of another edition It seems to me I once heard someone say, “In every lie is a kernel of truth.” Or something like that. As a child, I would tell tall tales. I remember one time my mother chased me around with an electric cord because she was offended by something I said. She wasn't mad about a lie, but from something I forgot to tell her. She called me a “deceitful little bugger!” What's a bugger, anyway? I didn't learn my lesson. It was more fun to exaggerate and watch the eyes of the nuns roll around in their hea It seems to me I once heard someone say, “In every lie is a kernel of truth.” Or something like that. As a child, I would tell tall tales. I remember one time my mother chased me around with an electric cord because she was offended by something I said. She wasn't mad about a lie, but from something I forgot to tell her. She called me a “deceitful little bugger!” What's a bugger, anyway? I didn't learn my lesson. It was more fun to exaggerate and watch the eyes of the nuns roll around in their heads. As an adult, I told a couple of tall tales at the Comedy Club in Hollywood. Nobody laughed. Nobody insisted I get the hook. Everyone just sat their in stunned silence. That was the end of my comedy career. Of course, once you start down that path, you can't quit. My wife and I had a couple dozen children and I used to love telling them tall tales for bedtime stories. I think they were as bored as the people in the Comedy Club, but I had more fun than the time eight monkeys tickled me so much I died laughing. One of our sons was born in Minnesota, and although we moved around a great deal after that, he had some sort of umbilical cord attached to Minneapolis. He ended up graduating from the University of Minnesota. Then he became a techie VIP over night. He was such a pro fixing Internet Technology, he was called to join the team that fixed the Obamacare web site. That was a big deal. Just ask Mr. Obama. A few years ago that same son told me about this guy on National Public Radio who told tall tales in a really folksy style. I didn't get that program where I was living, so I never had the privilege of hearing his droll delivery. Oh, yeah, the guy's name is Garrison Keillor. Anyway, a week or so ago, I was in a rare book store when I saw this small little gem, LEAVING HOME, by said stylist. It only set me back $1,256.85 plus tax. Or was it a buck at Dollar Tree? Can't remember. The book is a collection of thirty-six of the author's "News from Lake Wobegon" monologues from his radio program A Prairie Home Companion, slightly revised for print publication. Try to find the exact match to the book bought – go ahead, I dare you – their must be a hundred variations! This picture is NOT what mine looks like! Yup, these tall tales HAVE TO have a kernel of truth to them. I could only read the book one chapter at a time, 'cause I laughed so much my next door neighbor started banging on the wall for quiet. Just last Saturday, I was laughing so hard I peed the bed. Of course, I had to wash my sheets and stuff in the laundry room of my apartment complex, Naturally, I ignored the sign on the public dryer “Out of order. Again.” So, I stupidly washed my clothes, then found no way to dry them. I took the soggy mess to a laundromat. Sure enough, the place was packed. Musta been a lot of people laughing at this same book. So they had to wash their sheets too. LEAVING HOME is rollicking good fun. No lie. an excerpt from the song by Garrison Keillor Now Frankie done said to her Johnnie Don't go near that door Underneath her silk kimono Oct 05, 2013 Sean rated it really liked it I'm a huge Garrison Keillor fan. So it's a bit funny that I didn't like this book more than I did. It's not a bad book and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's just that Garrison's monologues are so much part of my culture that it's difficult to read them, rather than to hear them. I found myself reading slower and actually hearing Garrison's voice in my head, reading the stories to me. This book is basically a collection of monologues that were originally aired on the Prairie Home Companion radio show I'm a huge Garrison Keillor fan. So it's a bit funny that I didn't like this book more than I did. It's not a bad book and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's just that Garrison's monologues are so much part of my culture that it's difficult to read them, rather than to hear them. I found myself reading slower and actually hearing Garrison's voice in my head, reading the stories to me. This book is basically a collection of monologues that were originally aired on the Prairie Home Companion radio show, as Garrison's "News from Lake Wobegon" segment. Listening to Garrison tell these stories on the air can be both riveting and hilarious. And the stories in this collection don't disappoint--from the monologues that I remember, these are nearly word for word copies of what was originally an oral story. The stories are about the residents of the mythical town of Lake Wobegon. If you haven't ever listened to the News from Lake Wobegon on his radio show, then this book is definitely worth reading, to get a taste for the very real and down to earth characters that inhabit Garrison's world. And if you're already a fan of the show, you'll love these stories because they're about people that you already know. Or you'll be distracted because you'll keep hearing Garrison's own voice in your head. Jan 13, 2010 Andrew rated it liked it · review of another edition It took me about a year and half to finish this book, because it was on the bookshelf at Potbelly's (sandwich place) near my work, where I'd read a few pages once a month or so. Nobody ever moved my straw-wrapper bookmark, so I guess it wasn't a popular item. At any rate, this book is very much like Garrison Keillor's radio program. VERY much. In fact, I happened to hear him on "A Prairie Home Companion" a few months ago telling one the same stories that is in the book--which was published more It took me about a year and half to finish this book, because it was on the bookshelf at Potbelly's (sandwich place) near my work, where I'd read a few pages once a month or so. Nobody ever moved my straw-wrapper bookmark, so I guess it wasn't a popular item. At any rate, this book is very much like Garrison Keillor's radio program. VERY much. In fact, I happened to hear him on "A Prairie Home Companion" a few months ago telling one the same stories that is in the book--which was published more than 20 years ago. I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I like Garrison Keillor and find his stories to have an engaging familiarity about them. Sometimes, though, his easy move from one topic to another is a little too much like the aimless wandering of one friend speaking to another. Yes, this gives the stories a more genuine feel, but it also comes across as incomplete at times. All said, though, I would definitely recommend this book to Garrison Keillor fans. If you don't like his radio program, though, this definitely won't be for you. ...more Shelves: fiction It's good. The book is just a bunch of stories from the show in 1987, so it doesn't read the same way as the author originally said it. There weren't the same emphasis on certain phrases. I've listened to Garrison many times before, so I can fill in a lot, but reading it straight through takes away from the experience. Additionally, the story about Carla at Homecoming I remember before. It was mentioned a few weeks ago on a show. I can understand reusing material, and it wasn't the whole story, It's good. The book is just a bunch of stories from the show in 1987, so it doesn't read the same way as the author originally said it. There weren't the same emphasis on certain phrases. I've listened to Garrison many times before, so I can fill in a lot, but reading it straight through takes away from the experience. Additionally, the story about Carla at Homecoming I remember before. It was mentioned a few weeks ago on a show. I can understand reusing material, and it wasn't the whole story, but it did take away from the experience. Still, if you haven't listened to the show before, this book would be good to get you interested. ...more Mar 23, 2013 Lola rated it liked it A book of short stories. Garrison Keillor writes interesting little bits about life in small town America which he calls Lake Wobegon (MN). "A Trip to Grand Rapids", one story in this book, is funny. Stopping at a restaurant, out of town, he leaves & forgets his wife there. He gets lost & takes forever finding his way back but she's gone--apparently she'd called their son & he picked her up. He begins stressing out, trying to find an excuse to give her for forgetting her. Finally he ar A book of short stories. Garrison Keillor writes interesting little bits about life in small town America which he calls Lake Wobegon (MN). "A Trip to Grand Rapids", one story in this book, is funny. Stopping at a restaurant, out of town, he leaves & forgets his wife there. He gets lost & takes forever finding his way back but she's gone--apparently she'd called their son & he picked her up. He begins stressing out, trying to find an excuse to give her for forgetting her. Finally he arrrives home after stalling as long as he can & is ready to "face the music." The story ending was not predictable to me & was very funny. ...more May 26, 2012 Zachary rated it liked it enjoyable. Heartfelt every once in a while. Classic Keillor descriptions much more often. "[the] starting lineup included boys who joined the team expecting they would never have to play. Tall shy boys who had come to feel comfortable on the bench, whispering, kidding around, making fun of the poor saps out on the floor: the team satirists - Tuesday, there they were, warming up, passing the ball gingerly around the circle, trying not to drop it, trying to look as dignified as possible under the c enjoyable. Heartfelt every once in a while. Classic Keillor descriptions much more often. "[the] starting lineup included boys who joined the team expecting they would never have to play. Tall shy boys who had come to feel comfortable on the bench, whispering, kidding around, making fun of the poor saps out on the floor: the team satirists - Tuesday, there they were, warming up, passing the ball gingerly around the circle, trying not to drop it, trying to look as dignified as possible under the circumstances, with [opposing team] kids yelling humorous things at them, knowing that the game was not theirs to win." Feb 18, 2013 Ian rated it it was amazing This is vintage Garrison Keillor. These stories of Lake Wobegon are all independent, but set sequentially. The two things I really enjoy about Keillor are his keen insights into people and his ability to weave multiple seemingly unrelated events into a single story. His characters are all fully human, with all the foibles and faults you could want. But, somehow, they are people we all grew up with and loved, from the pastors, neighbors, and interesting family members. It almost makes you wish yo This is vintage Garrison Keillor. These stories of Lake Wobegon are all independent, but set sequentially. The two things I really enjoy about Keillor are his keen insights into people and his ability to weave multiple seemingly unrelated events into a single story. His characters are all fully human, with all the foibles and faults you could want. But, somehow, they are people we all grew up with and loved, from the pastors, neighbors, and interesting family members. It almost makes you wish you could live in Lake Wobegon. ...more May 02, 2010 CarolAnn rated it it was ok I really tried to like this book because it was our literary club book for this month and because I gave a 2 star to the last book I read. Am I just to critical? This book consisted of small vignettes that started each chapter with "It has been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon." And it was. Every chapter was ramblings about the people of Lake Wobegon. I felt like I was watching grass grow. But occasionally there would be a funny chapter thrown in there just to see if I was awake. Thank goodness or I I really tried to like this book because it was our literary club book for this month and because I gave a 2 star to the last book I read. Am I just to critical? This book consisted of small vignettes that started each chapter with "It has been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon." And it was. Every chapter was ramblings about the people of Lake Wobegon. I felt like I was watching grass grow. But occasionally there would be a funny chapter thrown in there just to see if I was awake. Thank goodness or I'd give this a single star rating. ...more	A Prairie Home Companion
The first issue of what women's magazine, known for its seal of approval, first appeared on May 2, 1885?	Wow: After 42 Years (!) an American Cultural Institution Tapes His Last Show Here in L.A. — Read Who Will Replace Him and How His Program Will Evolve. Woe Be Us \| TVWeek Search AP, TVWeek, YouTube Wow: After 42 Years (!) an American Cultural Institution Tapes His Last Show Here in L.A. — Read Who Will Replace Him and How His Program Will Evolve. Woe Be Us Apr 12, 2016 • Post A Comment A program that has been a fixture of American culture for decades has come to a moment of transition. “No more ‘Guy Noir, Private Eye.’ No more tales of Dusty and Lefty, the luckless cowboys. And no more weekly ‘News From Lake Wobegon,’ the imaginary Minnesota town famous for strong women, good-looking men and above-average children,” the AP reports . “Those signature comedy sketches will vanish from the airwaves when humorist and best-selling author Garrison Keillor retires as host of his popular public radio show, ‘A Prairie Home Companion,’ this summer.” Keillor will hand over the reins of “A Prairie Home Companion” to Chris Thile, a mandolin master who is well-known in bluegrass circles and who currently tours as frontman for the progressive bluegrass outfit Punch Brothers. Keillor’s last show tapes July 1 at the Hollywood Bowl. A 2012 MacArthur Fellow, Thile first gained notice in the early 2000s as a member of the acoustic trio Nickel Creek, but quickly established himself as a mainstay of the bluegrass festival circuit, winning the International Bluegrass Music Association award for Mandolinist of the Year in 2001. He has gone on to numerous musical collaborations, including projects with Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Mike Marshall, Edgar Meyer and Michael Daves. Thile, 35, will take over as “A Prairie Home Companion’s” first full-time replacement host in October. Said Keillor, who launched the program way back in 1974: “I thought that the show should press the restart and not try to replicate what it has evolved into, but go back to the beginning and revive itself as a music show with comedy add-ons.” The AP adds: “The show’s name will remain ‘A Prairie Home Companion’ (for now), its home base will stay at the 1,000-seat, elegantly restored Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul, and the live show will keep its two-hour Saturday evening time slot. Keillor says he will remain as executive producer and ‘a remote, benevolent gray eminence who phones in his thoughts every so often.'” Here’s a sample of Chris Thile, on the right, jamming with Mike Marshall a few years ago. Hang onto your seat starting around the 4:56 mark …	i don't know
What Kentucky city plays host to the "fastest 2 minutes in sports", the Kentucky Derby?	ICYMI: The Kentucky Derby: The Fastest Two Minutes In Sports ICYMI: The Kentucky Derby: The Fastest Two Minutes In Sports Comment Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports On Saturday, May 3, the 140th Kentucky Derby will be run at the world famous Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY. And, as a native Louisvillian and Kentuckian, few things make me as proud as when all eyes are on my hometown and home state on the first Saturday in May. For all the things that the Commonwealth of Kentucky does wrong (and there are a lot), the Derby is one of the few events that the citizens and civic leaders in the Bluegrass State do very, very well. From its humble beginnings in 1875, the Kentucky Derby has been run, uninterrupted, every year since. Neither war, nor natural disaster, has prevented the thoroughbreds from running the 1 1/4 mile oval in the shadow of Churchill Downs’ iconic twin spires. The Derby is a cultural and sporting event by which Louisville and Kentucky define themselves. From the fancy hats that the ladies parade around in, to the gents in their seersucker suits sipping on their mint juleps, it’s truly a time when Kentucky can put its southern charm on full display. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports The Kentucky Derby Festival has grown to encompass the three weeks leading up to the Derby. Things kickoff with Thunder Over Louisville, a fireworks display that is held over the Ohio River, providing both the Kentucky and Indiana sides of the river with a spectacular view of the largest fireworks show in North America. Thunder just celebrated its 25th year of being part of the Festival and routinely draws crowds in excess of 600,000. While there are dozens of events throughout the three week period, the action really ramps up the last week, affectionately referred to as “Derby Week.” There’s the Steamboat race on Wednesday, which takes place on the Ohio River, and is between old style paddlewheel boats, The Belle of Louisville and the Belle of Cincinnati. On Thursday, there’s the Pegasus Parade. On Thursday, the Pegasus Parade makes its way down Broadway with all the pomp and circumstance of the entire city. The Kentucky Oaks, a race for fillies and just as long running as the Derby itself, takes place and is usually when most residents make their way to the Downs. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports Quite simply, there are very few sporting events worldwide that match the pageantry of the Kentucky Derby on that first Saturday in May. While there are other races that day, there’s only one that celebrities and stars flock to see. After a three week civic party, the horses are finally led out from the paddock to the track. The bugler blows the call to the post and the University of Louisville band plays the best state song in all the United States, “My Old Kentucky Home.” From the time the announcer bellow, “They’re off!” and hits the crowd with “Down the stretch they come!” until the horses cross the finish line, it’s as if everyone’s collective heart is beating in step the the strides of the of the horses. When the winning horse is draped with the blanket of red roses and the Governor of Kentucky awards the winning trainer and owner the Kentucky Derby trophy, it’s time for the state to take a breath, relax and get ready to it all again next year.	Louisville, Kentucky
May 4, 1970 saw 4 students killed and an additional 13 wounded when National Guard soldiers opened fired on unarmed students at what mid-western University?	Kentucky Derby by the numbers - Yahoo Sport Kentucky Derby by the numbers 6 May 2016 22:34   (Reuters) - The Kentucky Derby is the oldest, continuously held major sporting event in the United States, happening every year since 1875 at Churchill Downs in Louisville. When the 142nd Kentucky Derby is run Saturday, it will showcase top three-year-old thoroughbreds, as well as the traditions that are part of the race’s pageantry. Here’s a breakdown of “the fastest two minutes in sports” according to Kentucky Derby representatives: - - Horses have one chance to win the Kentucky Derby In horseracing, a “derby” is a race for horses who are three-years-old, meaning they only can compete in the event once in their lives. And getting there is not easy. Of the more than 22,000 registered thoroughbreds that are born each year in North America, only 20 horses can secure a coveted spot in the Kentucky Derby. To get there, horses compete in a series of qualifying races around the world in the months leading up to the Derby. Because these occur through part of April, the field of competitors in the Derby is not known until a few days before the race. - - It’s the “fastest two minutes in sports” Secretariat (1973) holds the record for the mile-and-a-quarter distance at 1:59 2/5. He went on to win the Triple Crown that year, a series that includes the Belmont Stakes and the Preakness Stakes. American Pharoah (2015) became only the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown, also achieving a new milestone by winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic, now known as the “Grand Slam” of racing. - - Longshots can win, but so do favourites Fifty-four favourites have won the Kentucky Derby, including the past three years with Orb (2013), California Chrome (2014) and American Pharoah (2015). However, when longshots win, the payoff can be big. $184.90 is the record $2 win payoff for a Kentucky Derby winner with Donerail (1913). The record low $2 win payoff was with Triple Crown winners Count Fleet (1943) and Citation at $2.80 (1948). - - It’s lilies for the fillies Throughout the years, 40 fillies (female horses) have competed in the Derby – three have won: Regret (1915), Genuine Risk (1980) and Winning Colors (1988). While the fillies are eligible to be entered in the Derby, most compete in the Kentucky Oaks on Friday. Oaks Day at Churchill Downs has its own traditions, including wearing pink, a winner’s garland of lilies, and a new signature drink called the Oaks Lily, comprised of vodka, cranberry juice, triple sec and sweet and sour. The Kentucky Derby’s signature drink is the Mint Julep, made with Kentucky bourbon, simple syrup, crushed ice, powered sugar and mint. - - “My Old Kentucky Home” When the song is sung beneath the Twin Spires as the horses enter the track, consider this – 107 of the 141 Kentucky Derby winners were born in Kentucky. According to The Jockey Club, Kentucky produces more thoroughbreds than any other state. - - Making the “Run for the Roses” on the first Saturday in May The Kentucky Derby has been run on the first Saturday in May every year since 1946. When the winning horse enters the winner's circle, a garland comprised of 400 “Freedom” roses will be draped over the horse. - - Lucky number five Of the 141 winners, 13 started the race from post position number five, including California Chrome (2014). None have won coming from No. 17. (Compiled by Lindsey Buhrmann. Editing by Steve Keating and Larry Fine) Sports & Recreation	i don't know
Which comic strip, created by Bil Keane, focuses on parents Bill and Thelma, and kids Billy, Dolly, Jeffy, and P.J.?	FAMILY CIRCUS Valentine's Day Comic POSTER Bil Keane FAMILY CIRCUS Valentine's Day Comic POSTER Bil Keane Price: £10.61 Shipping: United Kingdom: free (more destinations) Seller's Country: United States Condition: Brand new Payment Options: Money Order, Cashier's Check, Cash On delivery, Personal Check, This is an ORIGINAL Color PROMO Poster featuring the SUNDAY FUNNIES comic strip character, by Bil Keane,THE FAMILY CIRCUSThis Poster measuring 18” x 23” was put out in 1985 by MGM HomeVideo, to promote a VALENTINES DAY Special. It features the entire family inside a heart. Poster slight edgewear.A unique poster you do not see every day! Great for fans of these comics or the artist!MORE INFO ON FAMILY CIRCUS: The Family Circus (originally The Family Circle) is a syndicated comic strip created and written by cartoonist Bil Keane and inked/colored by his son, Jeff Keane. The strip generally uses a single captioned panel with a round border, hence the original name of the series, which was changed following objections from Family Circle, the magazine of the same name. The series has been in continuous production since 1960, and according to publisher King Features Syndicate, it is the most widely syndicated cartoon panel in the world, appearing in 1,500 newspapers. Compilations of Family Circus comic strips have sold over thirteen million copies worldwide.The central characters of the Family Circus are a family whose surname is rarely mentioned. The parents, Bill and Thelma (Thel), are modeled after the author and his wife, Thelma Carne Keane. Their four children, Billy, Dolly, Jeffy, and PJ, are fictionalized composites of the Keanes' five children. With the exception of PJ, the characters have not aged appreciably during the run of the strip.Bill (named Steve in the early years of the strip) works in an office, and he is believed to be a cartoonist, most likely based on the writer of the strip because he draws big circles on paper presumably a cartoon version of the Family Circus. Bill is also a veteran of World War II, though this reference seldom occurs now that the youngest World War II veterans are over 80 years of age.Thel is a college-educated homemaker. The Los Angeles Times ran a feature article on the Thelma character when Keane updated her hairstyle in 1996.The oldest child is seven-year-old Billy. A recurring theme involves Billy as a substitute cartoonist, generally filling in for a Sunday strip. The strips purportedly drawn by Billy are crudely rendered and reflect his understanding of the world and sense of humor. The first use of this gag by Keane was in This Week Magazine in 1962 in a cartoon titled "Life in Our House" which attributed the childish drawings to his six-year-old son, Chris. Keane also modeled Billy after his oldest son Glen, now a prominent Disney animator.Dolly is modeled after Keane's daughter and oldest child, Gayle. Dolly was Gayle's pet name as a child.Three-year-old Jeffy is named for Keane's son (and now assistant) Jeff Keane.Youngest child PJ was introduced to the strip on August 1, 1962, and is the only character to have aged appreciably over the course of the strip. PJ was introduced as an infant and gradually grew to be about eighteen months old. PJ rarely speaks.Bill's mother (Florence, but usually called Grandma) appears regularly in the strip and apparently lives near the family. Bill's father (Al, called Grandpa by the kids and Bill) is dead but occasionally appears in the strip as a spirit or watching from up in heaven. Bill's father (as a spirit) plays a prominent role in the TV special Family Circus Christmas.Thel's parents are both alive but apparently live several hundred miles away in a rural area. (Strips in the past have mentioned them living in Iowa, however, one 2007 strip mentioned Florida) The family occasionally visits them for vacation.The family pets are two dogs—a Labrador named Barfy and a shaggy-haired mutt named Sam—and an orange tabby cat named Kittycat.Morrie is a playmate of Billy's, and the only recurring African-American character in the strip. Mr. Horton is Bill's boss. The Family Circus takes place in Scottsdale, Arizona. They often visit a popular ice cream parlor named the Sugar Bowl, and Jeffy once went to St. Joseph's Hospital for a tonsillectomy. Thel was seen playing tennis with a racket marked "Scottsdale Racket," and Bill mentioned moving up to B class at Scottsdale Racket Club in a 1984 strip. Also, a sign for Paradise Valley, where Keane lives, is seen in one 1976 strip. However, the family has had snow in the strip. Bil Keane commented that he took scenes from his boyhood in Pennsylvania, such as snow, and added them to the strip.Winning buyder agrees in advance to pay an Mail postage (Foreign orders will require additional postage) and to remit full payment within 10 days after notification from the seller. PLEASE ALLOW 10 TO 14 DAYS FOR DELIVERY. California residents must add - state sales taxes. Be sure to click on "View Seller's Other products" for more great items like this! Powered by eCRATER . List your items fast and easy and manage your active items. Other Products from backlotmovie:	The Family Circus
On Star Trek, Mr. Spock's mother hailed from earth. From what planet did his father hail?	'Family Circus' artist Jeff Keane among cartoonists attending Memphis convention - Cable ONE Cable ONE 'Family Circus' artist Jeff Keane among cartoonists attending Memphis convention The Commercial Appeal - By John Beifuss The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn. May 23, 2016 1:02pm May 20--How can something in a circle be so square? That thought may have occurred to readers of "The Family Circus," a newspaper comic strip that for 56 years has presented the wholesome antics and sentimental observations of a clean-cut all-American family within a cartoon panel that is as round as a fresh-baked apple pie. The design distinguishes the strip from such rectangular single-panel competitors as "Dennis the Menace" and "Marmaduke." Its ring shape offers the promise that its cast of characters -- two traditional parents (a mother and father), four kids, two dogs and a cat -- are the star performers in a one-ring circus of fun. The comic strip's G-rated content has inspired a relentless cycle of Internet memes in which the gentle humor of the original captions is replaced by sarcasm, profanity and even existentialism. The "Dysfunctional Family Circus" transforms the kids into potty-mouthed delinquents. The "Cthulhu Family Circus" swaps punch lines with references to Lovecraftian horror. The "Nietzsche Family Circus" enables Jeffy to report, from his swing set: "If you gaze too long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." "We have art in order not to die from the truth." That's another Nietzsche quote, and the truth is the artistic enterprise known as "The Family Circus" remains -- along with "Peanuts," "Garfield," "Blondie" and a few others -- one of the most popular of all comic strips, appearing daily in The Commercial Appeal and another 1,500 newspapers worldwide, according to King Features Syndicate. Corny? Perhaps. But as a farmer will tell you, corn is good for you, and in a comics-related culture in which superheroes are "dark," Archie and Jughead battle zombies and even Ninja Turtles are depicted with gritty "realism," the easy-to-read line drawings and easy-to-digest messaging of "The Family Circus" offer stability and reassurance. "At different ages you enjoy it for different reasons," said Jeff Keane, writer and artist of "The Family Circus," which was created by Jeff's late father, Bil Keane, in 1960. "When you're a little kid, you might read it because you're just learning to read, and it's something you can understand. As a teenager, you might not enjoy it, because there's no edge to it. Then you get into your 30s and you have kids yourself, and you go, 'Oh, I get it now.'" Keane, 58, is one of close to 500 comic strip creators, comic book specialists, editorial cartoonists, greeting card illustrators, animators, designers and other artists who will be in town Thursday through May 29 for the annual convention of the National Cartoonists Society, a 70-year-old organization founded by such legends of the art form as Milton Caniff ("Terry and the Pirates") and Rube Goldberg (whose cartoon designs for absurdly complicated gadgets continue to be influential -- see the board game "Mouse Trap" or the opening minutes of "Pee-wee's Big Adventure"). Goldberg is the namesake of the "Oscars of Cartooning," the annual Reuben Awards, which are doled out during a black-tie dinner that is the centerpiece of the convention. (In Memphis, the awards ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 28, in the Grand Ballroom at The Peabody.) A more purposeful dinner will take place two nights earlier. As part of the society's "Cartooning for Kids" charity initiative, the cartoonists have partnered with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for a May 26 public fundraiser that will bring the artists together with supporters of an institution devoted to the funny pages' most uncritical readers, children. Earlier that day, many cartoonists will meet some of those children during a visit to the St. Jude campus. The event is a sequel to a 2015 "scouting trip" to Memphis that included a tour of St. Jude, which enabled several cartoonists to meet and draw pictures for patients and families. "I think we got more out of it than the kids did," said Steve McGarry, 63, an artist on the "Despicable Me" and "Minions" movies, who is president of the NCS Foundation, the organization's charitable arm. "After we drew something, the kids would draw for us," Keane said. "Actually, some of them draw better than we do." Joining Keane and McGarry in Memphis will be a Who's Who of star cartoonists, including Lynn Johnston ("For Better or Worse"), Patrick McDonnell ("Mutts"), Sergio Aragones (Mad magazine), Greg Evans ("Luann"), Greg Walker ("Beetle Bailey"), Robb Armstrong ("Jumpstart"), Rick Kirkman ("Baby Blues"), Jerry Scott ("Zits," "Baby Blues"), Paul Coker Jr. (character designer for Rankin-Bass holiday specials) and Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonists Mike Peters ("Mother Goose & Grimm") and Michael Ramirez (formerly of The Commercial Appeal). A former two-term NCS president, Keane was recruited to create the promotional image for the St. Jude event. He drew a picture of his "Family Circus" child alter ego, Jeffy, hoisting a "Cartoonists United for St. Jude Kids" banner and being trailed by one of those dotted lines that sometimes mark the paths of the "Family Circus" kids in the strip's elaborate Sunday cartoon panels. "I think we wanted something recognizable and simple. When you want 'recognizable and simple,' you immediately think of me," said Keane, who has a droll sense of humor. Keane said the St. Jude visit is not only appropriate (kids love comic strips, after all) but also in keeping with the society's traditions. He said the NCS was born in 1946 out of the camaraderie that developed when Caniff, Goldberg and others did "chalk talks" for the troops during international USO tours. Keane said he has drawn for soldiers during visits to Afghanistan and Iraq and in various military hospitals and burn units, while his father did the same in Vietnam. William Aloysius 'Bil' Keane was a Philadelphia-based illustrator known for the syndicated panel cartoon "Channel Chuckles" (created for what was then a new feature in newspapers, the TV page). He created what would be his claim to fame, "The Family Circus," after moving to Arizona in 1959, when he was pushing 40. The four kids in the cartoon "Family" (Billy, Dolly, Jeffy and P.J.) represented a downsizing of the actual Keane brood (Neale, Glen, Christopher, Gayle and young Jeff, who was 2 years old when the strip started). "We all kind of looked like the kids in the strip, with the round face and no neck," said Keane, who lives in Laguna, California, and has three grown children of his own. (While Jeffy in the strip still has red hair, "I don't have as much red now -- mostly a lot of gray," Keane added.) "The great thing about having a father who was a cartoonist is he was home all the time," Keane said. On the other hand, Bil Keane's studio on the side of the house had its own outside entrance, "so we couldn't just run through the house and right through his door." As a result, "Mom was the disciplinarian. Dad would go in the studio and close the door, and Mom would deal with whatever came up." (And yes, Mom's name was Thelma -- "Thel," in the strip.) If the family Keane took a vacation, "The Family Circus" typically would follow suit. "We thought Dad was following us around because he liked us," said Keane, being humorous again. "Instead, he was trying to get material." Like Dean Young (son of "Blondie" creator Chic Young), Greg Walker (son of "Beetle Bailey" creator Mort Walker) and Chris Browne (son of "Hagar the Horrible" creator Dik Browne), Jeff Keane has made his father's strip a family tradition. He didn't plan it that way, even if, as a child, he used to sometimes trace over his dad's Sunday comic strips, while also devouring Marvel superhero comics and Mad magazine. Jeff Keane majored in theater at the University of Southern California, but after graduation he agreed to help his dad. At first his duties were almost secretarial, but eventually he began to work on the strip. "It came gradually, until over time I was doing more and more," he said. "I enjoyed the interaction. I enjoyed being able to work with my dad." In 2000, Bil Keane added Jeff's name to the strip. Within the decade, Jeff was writing, drawing, inking and coloring the strip himself, not only because his father was aging but also because Bil was devoting more time to Thelma, who had Alzheimer's disease. Bil died in 2011, three years after his wife. Being a newspaper cartoonist responsible for 365 cartoons a year is a fulltime job, and then some. Keane works about six weeks in advance, scanning the original art -- the panels are about 8 { inches by 11 (for daily strips) or 12 by 20 (for Sundays) -- into a computer and sending them to the syndicate as digital files. He said his theater training has proved helpful. "'The Family Circus' sort of operates in a different area than most cartoons," he said. "There's a theatricality to it, as opposed to being just a gag cartoon. I can do cartoons that have more sentiment, that put a lump in the throat, and then I can do cartoons that have more humor. That's fulfilling to me." Keane said people tell him they get "a real joy" from the comic. He credits that response to the genius of his father, who developed a strip with a premise that remains timeless even in an era of rapid change. This makes updating old cartoons easy. "Now, I might draw a computer or cellphone, where before it might have been a gag about a typewriter," Keane said. "Things around families change, but families themselves don't really change." NATIONAL CARTOONISTS SOCIETY CONVENTION Thursday, May 26, through May 29. Cartoonists United for St. Jude Kids fundraiser (cocktails, dinner, auction, more): 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 26, Domino's Event Center, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. For tickets and more information, call 901-373-5051, or visitstjude.org/cartoonistsunited. Reuben Awards for cartoon excellence: 7 p.m. Saturday, May 28, Grand Ballroom, The Peabody. Visit reuben.org. 2016 The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.	i don't know
May 7, 1945 saw which Axis member nation sign a treaty of unconditional surrender, ending their participation in WWII?	World War II World War II Introduction World War II was the mightiest struggle humankind has ever seen. It killed more people, cost more money, damaged more property, affected more people, and caused more far-reaching changes in nearly every country than any other war in history. The number of people killed, wounded, or missing between September 1939 and September 1945 can never be calculated, but it is estimated that more than 55 million people perished. More than 50 countries took part in the war, and the whole world felt its effects. Men fought in almost every part of the world, on every continent except Antarctica. Chief battlegrounds included Asia, Europe, North Africa, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea. The United States hoped to stay out. Drawing on its experience from World War I, Congress passed a series of Neutrality Acts between 1935 and 1939, which were intended to prevent Americans becoming entangled with belligerents. Americans in general, however, while not wanting to fight the war, were definitely not neutral in their sympathies and the acts were manipulated, to the frustration of genuine isolationists, to lend more support to the Allies than the Axis. Historians do not agree on the exact date when World War II began. Most consider the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, to be the beginning of the war. Others say it started when the Japanese invaded Manchuria on September 18, 1931. Others even regard World War I , which culminated in the Peace with the Central Powers in 1921 and World War II as parts of the same conflict, with only a breathing spell in between. War officially began on September 1, 1939, when Germany attacked Poland. Germany then crushed six countries in three months ï¿½ Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, and France ï¿½ and proceeded to conquer Yugoslavia and Greece. Japan`s plans for expansion in the Far East led it to attack Pearl Harbor in December 1941, bringing the United States into the war. By early 1942, all major countries of the world were involved in the most destructive war in history. World War II would go down in the history books as bringing about the downfall of Western Europe as the center of world power, leading to the rise of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), setting up conditions leading to the Cold War , and opening up the nuclear age. Causes of the war The Great Depression crippled the economies of Europe and the United States. That, combined with the outcome of World War I , led to major repositioning of world power and influence. That was fertile ground for the emergence of various forms of totalitarian governments in the Soviet Union, Japan, Italy, and Germany, as well as other countries. Many countries had liberal democratic governments following World War I, but dictatorship developed during the 1920s and 1930s, which destroyed democratic rights. Many historians trace the roots of World War II to the Treaty of Versailles and other peace agreements that followed World War I. The Germans found it easy to blame the harsh Treaty of Versailles for their troubles. Germany set up a republican form of government in 1919. Many Germans blamed the new government for accepting the hated treaty. People who could not find jobs began to drift into the Communist and National Socialist parties. As the government lost power, Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist or Nazi party grew stronger. Prior to 1914, Britain, France, and Germany were the industrial and financial centers of the world. Following World War I, those countries lost their positions and the United States filled their place. America dominated the world market of food, minerals, and industry. When the stock market crashed on October 29, 1929, the financial crisis had worldwide consequences and the reaction of nations to the dire financial straits of the Depression had a huge impact. After World War I, Germany, Italy, and Japan ï¿½ all anxious to regain or increase their power ï¿½ adopted forms of dictatorship. The League of Nations was unable to promote disarmament. When Adolf Hitler came into power, he promised to end the humiliating conditions caused by German defeat in World War I. Economic problems were among the fundamental causes of World War II. Germany, Italy, and Japan considered themselves unjustly handicapped in trying to compete with other nations for markets, raw materials, and colonies. They believed that such countries as Belgium, France, Great Britian, the Netherlands, and the United States unfairly controlled most of the world`s wealth and people. So, Germany, Italy, and Japan began to look for lands to conquer in order to obtain what they considered to be their share of the world`s resources and markets. The Depression destroyed the market for imported silk from Japan, which had provided the country with two-fifths of its export income. Military leaders took control of the government, and in 1931, Japan invaded China, looking for more raw materials and bigger markets for her factories. The League of Nations called a conference of 60 nations in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1932. The conference was one in a long line of disarmament conferences that had been occuring since the end of World War I. Germany, whose military power had been severely limited by the Treaty of Versailles , announced that world disarmament had to be accomplished, or Germany would rearm and achieve military equality. France refused to disarm until an international police system could be established. The conference adjourned temporarily and by the time it was back in session, Hitler had become chancellor of Germany and was already preparing to rearm. Germany withdrew from the conference, which ended in failure, without any hope for disarmament. America prepares for war After the war began in Europe in 1939, people in the Americas were divided on whether their countries should take part or stay out. Most Americans hoped the Allies would win, but they also hoped to keep the United States out of war. The isolationists , wanted the country to stay out of the war at almost any cost. Another group, the interventionists, wanted the United States to do all in its power to aid the Allies. Canada declared war on Germany almost at once, while the United States shifted its policy from neutrality to preparedness. It began to expand its armed forces , build defense plants, and give the Allies all-out aid short of war. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called upon the United States to be "the great arsenal of democracy," and supply war materials to the Allies through sale, lease, or loan. The Lend-Lease bill became law on March 11, 1941. During the next four years , the U.S. sent more than $50 billion worth of war matï¿½riel to the Allies. In 1939, the United States had about 174,000 men in the Army ; 126,400 in the Navy; 26,000 in the Army Air Corps; 19,700 in the Marine Corps ; and 10,000 in the Coast Guard. At the height of its strength in 1945, the United States had six million in the Army; 3,400,000 in the Navy; 2,400,000 in the Army air forces; 484,000 in the Marine Corps; and 170,000 in the Coast Guard. In 1939, the United States had about 2,500 airplanes and 760 warships. By 1945, it had about 80,000 airplanes and 2,500 warships. The United States used draft laws to build their armed forces. The United States Selective Service Act became law on September 16, 1940. Thousands of women served in the Army`s Women`s Army Corps (WAC) and Navy equivalent WAVES , standing for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. Factories in the United States converted from civilian to war production with amazing speed. Firms that had made vacuum cleaners before the war began to produce machine guns. As men went into the armed forces, women took their places in war plants. By 1943, more than two million women were working in American war industries. In shipyards and aircraft plants, Rosie the riveter became a common sight. Officials discovered that women could perform the duties of eight of every 10 jobs normally done by men. Urgent requirements for war matï¿½riel caused many shortages in consumer goods. Most governments, both Allied and Axis, had to ration the amount of consumer goods each person could use. In the United States, rationed items included meats, butter, sugar, fats, oil, coffee, canned foods, shoes, and gasoline. Congress gave the president power to freeze prices, salaries, and wages at their levels of September 15, 1942. The United States imposed a special excise tax on such luxury items as jewelry and cosmetics. The government also set up a civil-defense system to protect the country from attack. Many cities practiced "blackouts" in which cities on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts dimmed their lights. Ordinarily, the glare from their lights made ships near the shore easy targets for submarines. Background of the Axis and Allied powers As in World War I, the United States, Great Britian, France, and the 47 countries siding with them were known as the Allies. Japan`s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 brought the United States into the war on the Allied side. Every country in the Americas eventually declared war on the Axis, but only Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the United States actually provided military forces. The heads of government of China, Great Britian, the Soviet Union, and the United States became known as the "Big Four." During the war, the Big Four leaders conferred several times. Great Britian and the United States worked out the broad strategic outlines of the war. President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill agreed to concentrate on Germany first, and then Japan. They considered Germany the greater and closer enemy. The Allies fought to perserve their countries and stabilize Europe, as well as destroy Nazism and establish democracy. The Soviet aim was to drive out the Nazis and emerge strong enough to continue communization of the world. Germany and its six allies were known as the Axis. The Allied and Axis countries circled the globe in World War II. The Allies mobilized about 62 million men and women, while the Axis mobilized about half that number. The goal of the Axis powers was simple. Germany intended to build up a powerful empire by occupying territory to the east and south. Then, after overrunning France, it would use air assaults to force Britian to make peace. German troops would then defeat the Soviet Union, capture the Caucasus oilfields, and implement Hitler`s plan for a European New Order. Hitler had two aims: the first to seize all of Europe and North Africa so he could dominate the Mediterranean, and the second to wipe out Communism and eliminate the Jews. His ally, Benito Mussolini, had his own aims: domination of both the Mediterranean and the Balkans. Italy hoped to take advantage of German successes to grab territory for itself. Japan intended to cripple the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, then quickly overrun Thailand, Malaya, the Philippines, and the Netherlands East Indies. It would then complete its conquest of China, and unite all East Asia under Japanese domination in a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Japan had no plans for invading the United States mainland. The European/North African Theater In 1935, Hitler established military conscription for all German men, created an air force, and began to build submarines. The Treaty of Versailles limited Germany to a 100,000-man army, but Hitler`s army soon numbered 600,000. Hitler`s plan to seize all of Europe was set into motion on March 7, 1936, when he sent troops into the demilitarized Rhineland. That was followed by moves into Austria and Czechoslovakia, and finally, on September 1, 1939, German forces invaded Poland. That brought a declaration of war from France and Britain. Some historians believe that the Soviet Union leadership knew in the spring or early summer of 1939 that Germany planned to invade Poland in September. Thus, the Soviet Union signed a nonaggression pact with Germany just two weeks before the attack. The U.S.S.R. promised to remain neutral in case Germany went to war. They also made a secret aggreement to divide Poland with the Germans after the conquest. Also, despite having signed a non-agression treaty with Joseph Stalin, Hitler turned on his ally and prepared to become the master of Europe. Germany and Italy declared war on the United States on December 11, 1941. The North African Campaign , also known as the Desert War, took place in the North African desert from 1940 to 1943. It was quite important in strategic terms, with the Mediterranean and the British African Empire at stake. It was the only theater in which the Western Allies engaged both German and Italian ground forces. Fighting in the region began when Germany`s ally, Italy, attacked British-occupied areas. Hitler did not want British planes within striking distance of his one major oil source, the Ploiesti fields in Romania, and in November 1940, he prepared his soldiers to join in the fight. A decisive battle held in the North African campaign was the Battle of Tunisia, or Tunisia Campaign, in which Germany and Italy fought against the Allied forces comprising primarily the United States and Britain. More than 275,000 German and Italian prisoners of war were taken. Following seesawing control of Libya and parts of Egypt, British Commonwealth forces succeeded in pushing the Axis back. The dispersion of the Axis forces throughout Europe during this time was an important reason why the Allies were able to gain the upper hand in North Africa. Hitler was preoccupied with the Russian front and many divisions of the German army were already committed to it. North Africa was essentially used as a springboard for the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and Italy in September of the same year. Along with worldwide domination, Hitler also aimed to rid the world of various ethnic, religious, national, and secular groups. The Holocaust began in 1941 and continued until 1945. The goal of the Nazis was to attempt, on an industrial scale, to assemble and exterminate as many people as possible. Concentration camps were established and mass executions carried out. The Jews of Europe were the main targets, but Hitler also targeted Poles, Slavs, gypsies, the disabled, and gay men. By the end of the war, approximately six million people had been killed by the German Gestapo or the SS. The Battle of Britain , which lasted from July 10 to October 31, 1940, was the first major battle of World War II. It was also one of the turning points in the war, because the British showed that they could defeat the Luftwaffe, or German air force. The battle was unique, in that it was the only battle ever fought entirely in the air, even to this day. The Battle of Normandy was fought between invading American, British, and Canadian forces, and German forces occupying Western Europe. Preparations for the invasion began early in 1943, when the Allies set up a planning staff. Roosevelt and Churchill selected General Dwight D. Eisenhower as supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force. On June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops and 30,000 vehicles landed along a 50-mile front of fortified French coastline and began fighting on the beaches of Normandy. It was to be known as D-Day . The invasion, code named Operation Overlord, remains the largest seaborne invasion in history. The Battle of the Bulge , which began in December 1944, was so named because of the bulging shape of the front on a map. The battle was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during World War II. It is the largest battle the United States Army has fought to date. In its entirety, the Battle of the Bulge was the worst ï¿½ in terms of losses ï¿½ for the American Forces during World War II, with more than 80,000 American casualties. Late in April 1945, the head of the German home guard and dreaded Gestapo, Heinrich Himmler, tried to negotiate a peace with Great Britain and the United States. Adolf Hitler committed suicide in Berlin on April 30. The Allies demanded that German troops on all fronts surrender. Early in the morning on May 7, Col. General Alfred Jodl of the German high command entered Allied headquarters in Reims, France, and signed the terms of unconditional surrender. Lt. General Walter B. Smith, Eisenhowerï¿½s chief of staff, signed for the Allies. After five years, eight months, and seven days, the European phase of World War II ended. The Pacific Theater The war in the Pacific essentially began on September 18, 1931, when Japan invaded Manchuria, which was known for its natural resources. The Japanese thought that from Manchuria, they could go on to control all of northern China. After Japan had established dominance in China, it could expand elsewhere. The Great Depression, Japan`s population explosion, and the need to find new resources and markets to continue as a first-rate power, were other causes of the invasion. The Japanese struck at a time when most countries were more concerned with the depression than with an invasion in far-off China. The United States introduced a policy of non-recognition , declaring that it would not recognize Japan`s conquest. The League of Nations did nothing but condemn Japan formally. Therefore, many consider the invasion of Manchuria as the real start of the war because aggression was not suppressed. Since 1937, Japan had been buying cotton, gasoline, scrap iron, and aircraft equipment from the United States. After the ï¿½undeclared war" between Japan and China began in 1937, most Americans sympathized with the Chinese. In 1938, this led the United States to place an embargo on exporting aircraft to Japan. The government also froze all Japanese assets in the United States. Relations between Japan and the United States became increasingly tense in the fall of 1941. The Japanese Army and Navy came up with a plan to bomb Pearl Harbor and invade Thailand, the Malay peninsula, and the Philippines. About 7:55 a.m. on December 7, 1941, while negotiations were taking place between Japanese and American diplomats, the Japanese air force and navy attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. More than 2,300 Americans were killed and the the U.S. Pacific Fleet was crippled. Roosevelt gave a speech to a stunned Congress, in which he said that December 7 was "a date which will live in infamy." The United States entered the war against Japan, and would now also have the opportunity to move against Hitler in Europe by aiding the British ï¿½ this time with forces. Within a few hours of attacking Pearl Harbor, Japanese bombers struck at American bases on the islands of Guam, Midway , and Wake. Japanese forces advanced through the thick jungles of the Malay Peninsula. They continued their expansion and soon overran Singapore, New Britain, the Admiralty and Solomon Islands, the Philippines, and Manilla. Just a few short months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a fleet of 16 B-25 army bombers, led by Lt. Colonel Jimmy Doolittle , took off from the carrier Hornet, about 650 miles from Honshu, Japan. The bombers hit Tokyo and other cities. The raid stunned the Japanese, because they had believed that Allied planes could never reach their homeland. Fifteen of Doolittleï¿½s planes crashed when they ran out of fuel and could not reach bases in China. The Chinese underground helped Doolittle and 63 of his fliers to escape. Throughout the war, Doolittle was known as the "Master of the Calculated Risk." The Doolittle raid helped convince the Japanese that they would have to expand their defense boundaries. Having conquered nearly all of Southeast Asia in just a few short months, Japan planned to seize Port Moresby in southeastern New Guinea. They hoped to cut Allied shipping lanes to Australia, and perhaps even invade that country. But a U.S. task force intercepted a Japanese fleet headed toward Port Moresby in the Coral Sea. The Battle of the Coral Sea ensued, and the two forces fought a four-day battle from May 4 to 8, in which aircraft did all the fighting. It was the first battle in which aircraft carriers attacked each other, and the first naval battle in which neither side`s ships sighted the other. The battle was an important Allied strategic victory, which blocked Japanï¿½s push south-eastward. The most important objectives in Japanï¿½s resumed offensive were the capture of Midway Island, which lies 1,000 miles northwest of Hawaii, and of the Aleutian Islands , west of the Alaska mainland. Japan hoped that by seizing Midway, they could draw the Pacific Fleet away from Hawaii. Before Pearl Harbor, the United States scored one of its greatest victories by cracking Japanï¿½s secret code. That enabled the Pacific Fleet to know in advance about Japanï¿½s plans for attack. On June 4, 1942, aircraft from the 100-ship Japanese fleet began blasting Midway Island, which was home to the closest remaining U.S. base to Japan. At the end of the two-day battle, Japan had lost four carriers and a major part of its air strength. Battle of Midway proved to be one of the decisive victories in history and was the turning point of the Pacific Campaign. It ended Japanese threats to Hawaii and to the United States, and also stopped the expansion of the Japanese Empire in the Pacific. The Allies` goal was to capture or neutralize Rabaul, an important enemy base on New Britain Island, north of Australia. They planned an invasion of the nearby Solomon Islands, while other Allied forces approached Rabaul by way of New Guinea. On August 7, 1942, the Allies began their first offensive action in the Pacific. The fighting was some of the most severe of the war, and control of the island seesawed for several months. During that time, the Allies perfected the technique of amphibious warfare - air, land, and sea forces working together as a team. In the Solomons, the Allies fought the first of many jungle campaigns. Allied strategists believed that the central Pacific fortress of Japan could be cracked. They did not intend to seize each island separately. This would be too costly and take too long. Instead, they decided on a plan of island hopping , or seizing key islands from which to attack the next target, bypassing other targets. The Gilbert Islands were selected as the first major objective in the island-hopping campaign. In many instances the Japanese had studded the islands with barricades, concrete pillboxes, gun emplacements, and bombproof underground shelters. They had been ordered to resist to the very end. Of the 3,000 enemy troops and 1,800 civilian laborers on the island, the marines captured only 147 Japanese and Koreans alive. The U.S. suffered 3,110 casualties in one of the warï¿½s most savage battles. The Battle for Leyte Gulf was the biggest naval engagement in history from the standpoint of naval tonnage involved. The battle was a decisive victory for the United States. At the end of the battle, on October 26, Japan had lost three battleships, four carriers, 10 cruisers, and nine destroyers. In desperation, the Japanese began to strike back with Kamikazes , or suicide planes. Enemy fliers deliberately crashed their aircraft on Allied warships, knowing that they would be killed. Allied soldiers also learned the fanatical code of bushido, which requires Japanese soldiers to fight to the death. The Japanese believed that surrender meant disgrace, and often preferred suicide to capture. China became isolated from most of the world when the Japanese cut the Burma Road, which was about 700 miles long and constructed through rough mountain country. It was a remarkable engineering achievement undertaken by the Chinese after the start of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, and completed in just one year. It was used to transport war supplies. Traffic increased in importance to China after the Japanese took control of the Chinese coast and Indochina. After the Japanese cut the road, supplies could come only through the air. The U.S. Air Transport Command flew the dangerous 500-mile route, known as the Hump , over the Himalayan Mountains. Allied strategy to end the war called for an invasion of Japan with the code name Operation Olympic. Allied warships would continue to raid Japanese shipping and coastal areas, and Allied bombers would increase their attacks. Air attacks by long-range B-29 bombers had begun on June 15, 1944, from bases in China. Throughout the summer of 1944, the U.S. 20th Air Force raided Japan, Formosa, and Japanese-held Manchuria, about once a week. The Army Air Force flew more than 15,000 missions against 66 major Japaneses cities, and dropped more than 100,000 tons of incendiary bombs. The Allies held such superiority in the air that early in July 1945, General Carl Spaatz, commander of the U.S. Army Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific, publicly announced in advance the names of cities to be bombed. In July 1945, the heads of government in Britain, Soviet Union and the United States conferred and were told that Japan was willing to negotiate a peace, but unwilling to accept unconditional surrender. An ultimatum was issued, calling for unconditional surrender and a just peace. When Japan ignored the ultimatum, the United States decided to use the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb helped to make an invasion of Japan unnecessary. On August 6, a B-29 called the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare, on the city of Hiroshima. More than 92,000 poeple were killed or ended up missing. Three days later, an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, which killed at least 40,000. Injuries from the two bombings were about equal to the deaths. Others would die later from radiation sickness. The Japanese realized that they were helpless if one atomic bomb could cause so much damage. On August 10, the Japanese government asked the Allies if uncondional surrender meant that Emperor Hirohito would have to give up his throne. The Allies replied that the Japanese people would decide his fate. On August 14, the Allies received a message from Japan accepting the surrender terms, and on September 2, aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay, the Allies and Japan signed the surrender agreement. President Harry S. Truman proclaimed September 2 as V-J Day (Victory over Japan). Three years, eight months, and 22 days after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, World War II ended. Representatives from 52 countries met in San Francisco in September 1951 to draw up a peace treaty with Japan. On September 8, diplomats from 49 of these countries signed the treaty. Only three countries ï¿½ Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Soviet Union ï¿½ opposed the terms of the pact and refused to sign. The treaty required Japan to give up its former possessions outside its four home islands. It also gave Japan the right to rearm itself for self-defense and trade agreements. Japan came under Allied occupation within two weeks after its surrender. General Douglas MacArthur , as supreme commander for the Allied Powers, ruled Japan during the occupation. The United States officially ended its war with Japan on April 28, 1952. With the end of the occupation, Japan signed treaties with the major Allies, allowing their troops to remain in Japan. Aftermath World War II brought an end to the Depression everywhere. Industries had been ignited for the production of arms and resources to equip fighting forces. "The man behind the man behind the gun" helped win World War II. People on the home front built weapons, produced food and supplies, and bought war bonds . Many historians believe that war production was the key to Allied victory. The Allies not only mobilized more men and women in their armed forces, but also outproduced the Axis in weapons and machinery. Scientific inventions and discoveries also helped shorten the war. The United States organized its scientific resources in the Office of Scientific Research and Development. That government agency invented or improved such commodities as radar, rocket launchers, jet engines, amphibious assault boats, long-range navigational aids, devices for detecting submarines , and more. Scientists also made it possible to produce large quantities of penicillin to fight a wide range of diseases, as well as DDT to fight jungle diseases caused by insects. The war solved some problems, but created many others. Germany had been the dominant power on the European continent, while Japan had held that role in Asia. Their defeat in World War II left open positions of leadership. The Soviet Union moved in quickly to replace Germany as the most powerful country in Europe and also aimed at taking Japan`s place as the dominant power in Asia. The Communists under Mao Zedong defeated the forces of Chiang Kai-shek and took over mainland China by the fall of 1949. With China, France, and Great Britain devastated and financially exhausted by the war, the United States and the Soviet Union became the two major powers of the world. The Allies were determined not to repeat the mistakes of World War I, in which Allies had failed to set up an organization to enforce the peace until after World War I ended. In June 1941, nine European governments-in-exile joined with Great Britain and the Commonwealth countries in signing the Inter-Allied Declaration, which called for nations to cooperate and work for lasting peace. In 1944, an idea emerged to create a postwar international organization. The United Nations was born on October 24, 1945. Its first sessions were held the following January in London. World War II took the lives of more people than any other war in history. Eastern Europe and East Asia suffered the heaviest losses. Germany and the Soviet Union, and the nations that had been ground between them, may have lost as much as a tenth of their populations. World War II was the most expensive war in history. It has been estimated that the cost of the war totaled between $1 and $2 trillion, and the property damage amounted to more than $239 billion. The United States spent about 10 times as much as it had spent in all its previous wars put together. The national debt rose from $42 billion in 1940 to $269 billion in 1946. In 1944, President Roosevelt asked the War Department to devise a plan for bringing war criminals to justice. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau proposed executing prominent Nazi leaders at the time of capture and banishing others to far-off corners of the world, while German POWs would be forced to rebuild Europe. Secretary of War Henry Stimson saw things differently, and proposed trying Nazi leaders in court. Roosevelt chose the latter. In early October 1945, the four prosecuting nations ï¿½ the United States, Great Britain, France, and Soviet Union ï¿½ issued an indictment against 24 men charged with the systematic murder of millions of people, and planning and carrying out the war in Europe. Twelve trials were conducted, involving more than a hundred defendants. In addition to the individual indictments, three organizations were tried and found guilty. They were the SS, the Gestapo, and the Corps of the Political Leaders of the Nazi Party. The Nuremberg War Trials took place from 1945 to 1949. The United States formally ended hostilities with Germany on October 19, 1951. West Germany would accept neither the division of Germany nor East Germany`s frontiers. Thus, Germany was the only Axis power that did not become a member of the United Nations. A cold war between the Soviets and the democracies ensued. In Asia, victory resulted in the takeover of China and Manchuria by the People`s Republic of China, chaos in Southeast Asia, and a division of Korea, with the Soviets in the North and American`s in the South. Another war already lay on the horizon. ---- Selected Quotes ---- By Harry S. Truman If we see that Germany is winning we ought to help Russia and if Russia is winning we ought to help Germany, and that way let them kill as many as possible, although I don't want to see Hitler victorious under any circumstances. Neither of them thinks anything of their pledged word. The New York Times (24 June 1941) - - - Books You May Like Include: ---- The Brooklyn Navy Yard by Thomas F. Berner. Not much larger than a few city blocks (219 acres, plus 72 acres of water), the Brooklyn Navy Yard is one of the most historically significant sites i... Philadelphia Naval Shipyard by Joseph-James Ahern. The first government-owned navy yard in Philadelphia, the birthplace of the nation and the largest city in the young republic, was started with two do... Lakehurst, Naval Air Station by Kevin Pace, Ronald Montgomery, Rick Zitarosa. The naval air station in Lakehurst, New Jersey, has a rich and bittersweet history steeped in success and tainted with tragedy. The area evolved from ... Florida in World War II Floating Fortress by Nick Wynne and Richard Moorhead. Few realize what a vital role World War II and Florida played in each otherï¿½s history. The war helped Florida move past its southern conservative ment... From the famous Civil War ironclads that clashed in its waters to the great battleships that gathered off Norfolkï¿½s Sewellï¿½s Point as part of Presiden... Fort Monroe by Paul S. Morando, David J. Johnson. Fort Monroe was once a powerful symbol of Americaï¿½s national defense system. From 1823 to 1945, its primary military mission was to protect Hampton Ro... Boeing Field by Cory Graff. Even before there were runways, the area south of the city of Seattle was Washingtonï¿½s aviation hub. Charles Hamilton, a daredevil dubbed ï¿½Crazy Man o...	Germany
Cinco de Mayo (the fifth of May), is heavily celebrated in the US as an excuse to drink Corona. In Mexico, however, it's receives a minor nod as a day to commemorate an unexpected Mexican victory at the Battle of Puebla over what European heavyweight?	WORLD WAR II ! - The Educational Forum of Omar Hameed The Educational Forum of Omar Hameed Sitemap WORLD WAR II ! World War II, or the Second World War [3] (often abbreviated as WWII or WW2), was a global military conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, which involved most of the world's nations , including all of the great powers : eventually forming two opposing military alliances, the Allies and the Axis . It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million military personnel mobilised. In a state of " total war ," the major participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by significant events involving the mass death of civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare , it was the deadliest conflict in human history , [4] resulting in 50 million to over 70 million fatalities . The war is generally accepted to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Germany and Slovakia , and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and most of the countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth . Germany set out to establish a large empire in Europe. From late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties , Germany conquered or subdued much of continental Europe; amid Nazi-Soviet agreements , the nominally neutral Soviet Union fully or partially occupied and annexed territories of its six European neighbours. Britain and the Commonwealth remained the only major force continuing the fight against the Axis in North Africa and in extensive naval warfare . In June 1941, the European Axis launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, giving a start to the largest land theatre of war in history , which, from this moment on, was tying down the major part of the Axis military power. In December 1941, Japan , which had been at war with China since 1937, [5] and aimed to dominate Asia , attacked the United States and European possessions in the Pacific Ocean , quickly conquering much of the region. The Axis advance was stopped in 1942 after the defeat of Japan in a series of naval battles and after defeats of European Axis troops in North Africa and, decisively , at Stalingrad . In 1943, with a series of German defeats in Eastern Europe , the Allied invasion of Fascist Italy , and American victories in the Pacific, the Axis lost the initiative and undertook strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded France , while the Soviet Union regained all territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. The war in Europe ended with the capture of Berlin by Soviet and Polish troops and the subsequent German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945 . The Japanese Navy was defeated by the United States , and invasion of the Japanese Archipelago ("Home Islands") became imminent. The war in Asia ended on 15 August 1945 when Japan agreed to surrender. The war ended with the total victory of the Allies over Germany and Japan in 1945. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world. The United Nations (UN) was established to foster international cooperation and prevent future conflicts. The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers , setting the stage for the Cold War , which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers started to decline, while the decolonisation of Asia and Africa began. Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery . Political integration, especially in Europe emerged as an effort to stabilise postwar relations. Chronology See also: Timeline of World War II The start of the war is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland ; Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. Other dates for the beginning of war include the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 13 September 1931, [6] and the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937. [7] [8] Others follow A. J. P. Taylor , who held that there was a simultaneous Sino-Japanese War in East Asia, and a Second European War in Europe and her colonies. The two wars merged in 1941, becoming a single global conflict, at which point the war continued until 1945. This article uses the conventional dating. [9] The exact date of the war's end is not universally agreed upon. It has been suggested that the war ended at the armistice of 14 August 1945 ( V-J Day ), rather than the formal surrender of Japan (2 September 1945); in some European histories, it ended on V-E Day (8 May 1945). The Treaty of Peace with Japan was not signed until 1951. [10] Background Main article: Causes of World War II World War I radically altered the diplomatic and political situations in Eurasia and Africa , with the defeat of the Central Powers , including Austria-Hungary , Germany and the Ottoman Empire ; and the 1917 Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia . Meanwhile, the success of the Allied Entente powers including the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Italy , Serbia , and Romania , and the creation of new states from the collapse of Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire , resulted in fundamental changes to the map of Eastern Europe. In the aftermath of the war , major unrest in Europe rose, especially irredentist and revanchist nationalism and class conflict . Irredentism and revanchism were strong in Germany because she was forced to accept significant territorial, colonial, and financial losses as part of the Treaty of Versailles . Under the treaty, Germany lost around 13 percent of its home territory and all of its overseas colonies , while German annexation of other states was prohibited, massive reparations were imposed, and limits were placed on the size and capability of Germany's armed forces. [11] Meanwhile, the Russian Civil War had led to the creation of the Soviet Union . After Lenin's death in 1924, Joseph Stalin seized power in the USSR and repudiated the New Economic Policy favouring the Five Year Plans instead. [12] The German Empire was dissolved in the German Revolution of 1918–19 , and a democratic government was formed which was known as the Weimar Republic . During the interwar period, domestic civil conflict occurred in Germany involving nationalists and reactionaries versus communists and moderate democratic political parties. A similar scenario occurred in Italy. Although Italy as an Entente ally made some territorial gains, Italian nationalists were angered that the terms of the Treaty of London upon which Italy had agreed to wage war on the Central Powers, were not fulfilled with the peace settlement. From 1922 to 1925, the Italian Fascist movement led by Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy with a nationalist, totalitarian, and class collaborationist agenda that abolished representative democracy, repressed political forces supporting class conflict or liberalism, and pursued an aggressive foreign policy aimed at forcefully forging Italy as a world power, and promising to create a " New Roman Empire ." [13] In Germany, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler pursued establishing such a fascist government in Germany. With the onset of the Great Depression , Nazi support rose and, in 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, and in the aftermath of the Reichstag fire , Hitler created a totalitarian single-party state led by the Nazis. [14] The Kuomintang (KMT) party in China launched a unification campaign against regional warlords and nominally unified China in the mid-1920s, but was soon embroiled in a civil war against its former Chinese communist allies. [15] In 1931, an increasingly militaristic Japanese Empire , which had long sought influence in China [16] as the first step of its right to rule Asia , used the Mukden Incident as justification to invade Manchuria and established the puppet state of Manchukuo . [17] Too weak to resist Japan, China appealed to the League of Nations for help. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations after being condemned for its incursion into Manchuria. The two nations then fought several minor conflicts, in Shanghai , Rehe and Hebei , until signing the Tanggu Truce in 1933. Thereafter, Chinese volunteer forces continued the resistance to Japanese aggression in Manchuria , and Chahar and Suiyuan . [18] Adolf Hitler, after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government in 1923, became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933 . He abolished democracy , espousing a radical, racially motivated revision of the world order , and soon began a massive rearmament campaign . [19] Meanwhile, France, to secure its alliance, allowed Italy a free hand in Ethiopia , which Italy desired as a colonial possession. The situation was aggravated in early 1935 when the Territory of the Saar Basin was legally reunited with Germany and Hitler repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, speeding up his rearmament programme and introducing conscription . [20] Hoping to contain Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy formed the Stresa Front . The Soviet Union, concerned due to Germany's goals of capturing vast areas of eastern Europe , wrote a treaty of mutual assistance with France. Before taking effect though, the Franco-Soviet pact was required to go through the bureaucracy of the League of Nations , which rendered it essentially toothless. [21] [22] However, in June 1935, the United Kingdom made an independent naval agreement with Germany, easing prior restrictions. The United States, concerned with events in Europe and Asia, passed the Neutrality Act in August. [23] In October, Italy invaded Ethiopia, with Germany the only major European nation supporting the invasion. Italy then revoked objections to Germany's goal of absorbing Austria . [24] Hitler defied the Versailles and Locarno treaties by remilitarizing the Rhineland in March 1936. He received little response from other European powers. [25] When the Spanish Civil War broke out in July, Hitler and Mussolini supported fascist Generalissimo Francisco Franco 's nationalist forces in his civil war against the Soviet-supported Spanish Republic . Both sides used the conflict to test new weapons and methods of warfare, [26] and the nationalists won the war in early 1939. Mounting tensions led to several efforts to strengthen or consolidate power. In October 1936, Germany and Italy formed the Rome-Berlin Axis . A month later, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact , which Italy would join in the following year. In China, after the Xi'an Incident the Kuomintang and communist forces agreed on a ceasefire in order to present a united front to oppose Japan. [27] Pre-war events Main article: Second Italo–Abyssinian War The Second Italo–Abyssinian War was a brief colonial war that began in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy (Regno d'Italia) and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia ). The war resulted in the military occupation of Ethiopia and its annexation into the newly created colony of Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana, or AOI); in addition, it exposed the weakness of the League of Nations as a force to preserve peace. Both Italy and Ethiopia were member nations, but the League did nothing when the former clearly violated the League's own Article X . [28] Spanish Civil War Main article: Spanish Civil War The ruins of Guernica after the bombing. Germany and Italy lent support to the Nationalist insurrection led by general Francisco Franco in Spain. The Soviet Union supported the existing government, the Spanish Republic which showed leftist tendencies. Both sides used this war as an opportunity to test improved weapons and tactics. The Bombing of Guernica , a city of 5000 - 7000 inhabitants, was considered a horrifying attack at the time, with a propaganda figure of 1,654 people killed widely circulated in the west, leading to charges of "terror bombing". [29] In reality the attack was tactical operation against a city with militarily important communications close to the front-line, and modern estimates yield no more than 300 - 400 dead at the high-end. [29] [30] Japanese invasion of China Main article: Second Sino-Japanese War A Chinese machine gun nest in the Battle of Shanghai , 1937. In July 1937, Japan captured the former Chinese imperial capital of Beiping after instigating the Marco Polo Bridge Incident , which culminated in the Japanese campaign to invade all of China . [31] The Soviets quickly signed a non-aggression pact with China to lend materiel support, effectively ending China's prior cooperation with Germany . Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek deployed his best army to defend Shanghai , but after three months of fighting, Shanghai fell. The Japanese continued to push the Chinese forces back, capturing the capital Nanjing in December 1937 and committed the Nanking Massacre . In June 1938, Chinese forces stalled the Japanese advance by flooding the Yellow River ; although this manoeuvre bought time for the Chinese to prepare their defences at Wuhan , the city was taken by October. [32] Japanese military victories, however, did not bring about the collapse of Chinese resistance that Japan had hoped to achieve, instead the Chinese government relocated inland to Chongqing to continue their resistance. [33] Japanese invasion of the Soviet Union and Mongolia See also: Nanshin-ron and Soviet-Japanese Border Wars Soviet troops fought the Japanese during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol in Mongolia, 1939. On 29 July 1938, the Japanese invaded the USSR and were checked at the Battle of Lake Khasan . Although the battle was a Soviet victory, the Japanese dismissed it as an inconclusive draw, and on 11 May 1939 decided to move the Japanese-Mongolian border up to the Khalkhin Gol River by force . After initial successes the Japanese assault on Mongolia was checked by the Red Army that inflicted the first major defeat on the Japanese Kwantung Army . [34] [35] These clashes convinced some factions in the Japanese government that they should focus on conciliating the Soviet government to avoid interference in the war against China and instead turn their military attention southward, towards the US and European holdings in the Pacific, and also prevented the sacking of experienced Soviet military leaders such as Georgy Zhukov , who would later play a vital role in the defence of Moscow . [36] European occupations and agreements Further information: Anschluss , Appeasement , Munich Agreement , German occupation of Czechoslovakia , and Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact From left to right (front): Chamberlain , Daladier , Hitler, Mussolini , and Ciano pictured before signing the Munich Agreement. In Europe, Germany and Italy were becoming bolder. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria , again provoking little response from other European powers. [37] Encouraged, Hitler began pressing German claims on the Sudetenland , an area of Czechoslovakia with a predominantly ethnic German population; and soon France and Britain conceded this territory to him , against the wishes of the Czechoslovak government, in exchange for a promise of no further territorial demands. [38] Soon after that, however, Germany and Italy forced Czechoslovakia to cede additional territory to Hungary and Poland . [39] In March 1939, Germany invaded the remainder of Czechoslovakia and subsequently split it into the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the pro-German client state , the Slovak Republic . [40] Alarmed, and with Hitler making further demands on Danzig , France and Britain guaranteed their support for Polish independence ; when Italy conquered Albania in April 1939, the same guarantee was extended to Romania and Greece . [41] Shortly after the Franco -British pledge to Poland, Germany and Italy formalised their own alliance with the Pact of Steel . [42] In August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , [43] a non-aggression treaty with a secret protocol. The parties gave each other rights, "in the event of a territorial and political rearrangement," to "spheres of influence" (western Poland and Lithuania for Germany, and eastern Poland , Finland , Estonia , Latvia and Bessarabia for the USSR). It also raised the question of continuing Polish independence. [44] Course of the war War breaks out in Europe Common parade of German Wehrmacht and Soviet Red Army on 23 September 1939 in Brest , Eastern Poland at the end of the Invasion of Poland. At centre is Major General Heinz Guderian and at right is Brigadier Semyon Krivoshein . On 1 September 1939, Germany and Slovakia —a client state in 1939— attacked Poland . On 3 September 1939 France and Britain, followed by the countries of the Commonwealth , declared war on Germany but provided little support to Poland other than a small French attack into the Saarland . [45] On 17 September 1939, after signing a nonaggression pact with Japan, the Soviets also invaded Poland . [46] Though Poland was divided by Germany , the Soviet Union , Lithuania and Slovakia ; the Poles didn't surrender and established a Polish Underground State and the insurgent Home Army , and continued to fight on Allied fronts outside Poland . [47] In the Romanian Bridgehead operation, some 120,000 Polish troops were evacuated to France, along with much of the Polish Air Force and Poland's Enigma codebreakers . [48] During this time, Japan launched its first attack against Changsha , a strategically important Chinese city, but was repulsed by late September. [49] Following the invasion of Poland and a German-Soviet treaty governing Lithuania , the Soviet Union forced the Baltic countries to allow it to station Soviet troops in their countries under pacts of "mutual assistance." [50] [51] [52] Finland rejected territorial demands and was invaded by the Soviet Union in November 1939. [53] The resulting conflict ended in March 1940 with Finnish concessions . [54] France and the United Kingdom, treating the Soviet attack on Finland as tantamount to entering the war on the side of the Germans, responded to the Soviet invasion by supporting the USSR's expulsion from the League of Nations. [52] German troops by the Arc de Triomphe , Paris , after the 1940 fall of France . In Western Europe, British troops deployed to the Continent, but in a phase nicknamed the Phoney War by the British and "Sitzkrieg" (sitting war) by the Germans, neither side launched major operations against the other until April 1940. [55] The Soviet Union and Germany entered a trade pact in February 1940 , pursuant to which the Soviets received German military and industrial equipment in exchange for supplying raw materials to Germany to help circumvent a British blockade. [56] In April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway to secure shipments of iron ore from Sweden , which the Allies were about to disrupt . [57] Denmark immediately capitulated, and despite Allied support , Norway was conquered within two months. [58] In May 1940 Britain invaded Iceland . [59] British discontent over the Norwegian campaign led to the replacement of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain by Winston Churchill on 10 May 1940. [60] Axis advances Germany invaded France , Belgium , the Netherlands , and Luxembourg on 10 May 1940, the same day Neville Chamberlain resigned as British Prime Minister . [61] The Netherlands and Belgium were overrun using blitzkrieg tactics in a few days and weeks, respectively. [62] The French fortified Maginot Line was circumvented by a flanking movement through the thickly wooded Ardennes region, [61] mistakenly perceived by French planners as an impenetrable natural barrier against armoured vehicles. [63] British troops were forced to evacuate the continent at Dunkirk , abandoning their heavy equipment by the end of the month. On 10 June, Italy invaded France , declaring war on both France and the United Kingdom; [64] twelve days later France surrendered and was soon divided into German and Italian occupation zones , [65] and an unoccupied rump state under the Vichy Regime . On 3 July, the British attacked the French fleet in Algeria to prevent its possible seizure by Germany. [66] In June, during the last days of the Battle of France, the Soviet Union initiated staged elections in the Baltic states and forcefully and illegally annexed them , [51] followed by the annexation of the region of Bessarabia in Romania . Whereas the increased cooperation between the USSR and Nazi Germany, which included broad economic cooperation, limited military assistance, population exchange and border agreements made the former a de facto German ally, [67] [68] Soviet takeover of the Baltic states, Bessarabia and North Bukovina had been seen with dismay and disquiet by Germany, [69] [70] This, as well as growing tensions over spheres of influence demonstrated the impossibility of further expansion of Nazi-Soviet cooperation , and both states had begun the countdown to war. [71] With France neutralized, Germany began an air superiority campaign over Britain (the Battle of Britain ) to prepare for an invasion . [72] The campaign failed, and the invasion plans were canceled by September. Using newly captured French ports, the German Navy enjoyed success against an over-extended Royal Navy , using U-boats against British shipping in the Atlantic . [73] Italy began operations in the Mediterranean, initiating a siege of Malta in June, conquering British Somaliland in August, and making an incursion into British-held Egypt in September 1940. Japan increased its blockade of China in September by seizing several bases in the northern part of the now-isolated French Indochina . [74] The Battle of Britain ended the German advance in Western Europe . Throughout this period, the neutral United States took measures to assist China and the Western Allies. In November 1939, the American Neutrality Act was amended to allow 'cash and carry' purchases by the Allies. [75] In 1940, following the German capture of Paris , the size of the United States Navy was significantly increased and, after the Japanese incursion into Indochina, the United States embargoed iron, steel and mechanical parts against Japan. [76] In September, the United States further agreed to a trade of American destroyers for British bases . [77] Still, a large majority of the American public continued to oppose any direct military intervention into the conflict well into 1941. [78] At the end of September 1940, the Tripartite Pact united Japan, Italy and Germany to formalize the Axis Powers . [79] The Tripartite Pact stipulated that any country, with the exception of the Soviet Union, not in the war which attacked any Axis Power would be forced to go to war against all three. [80] During this time, the United States continued to support the United Kingdom and China by introducing the Lend-Lease policy authorizing the provision of materiel and other items [81] and creating a security zone spanning roughly half of the Atlantic Ocean where the United States Navy protected British convoys. [82] As a result, Germany and the United States found themselves engaged in sustained naval warfare in the North and Central Atlantic by October 1941, even though the United States remained officially neutral. [83] [84] The Axis expanded in November 1940 when Hungary , Slovakia and Romania joined the Tripartite Pact. [85] These countries participated in the subsequent invasion of the USSR , with Romania making the largest contribution to recapture territory ceded to the USSR and pursue its leader Ion Antonescu 's desire to combat communism. [86] In October 1940, Italy invaded Greece but within days was repulsed and pushed back into Albania, where a stalemate soon occurred. [87] In December 1940, British Commonwealth forces began counter-offensives against Italian forces in Egypt and Italian East Africa . [88] By early 1941, with Italian forces having been pushed back into Libya by the Commonwealth, Churchill ordered a dispatch of troops from Africa to bolster the Greeks . [89] The Italian Navy also suffered significant defeats, with the Royal Navy putting three Italian battleships out of commission by carrier attack at Taranto , and neutralising several more warships at Cape Matapan . [90] German paratroopers invading the Greek island of Crete , May 1941. The Germans soon intervened to assist Italy. Hitler sent German forces to Libya in February, and by the end of March they had launched an offensive against the diminished Commonwealth forces. [91] In under a month, Commonwealth forces were pushed back into Egypt with the exception of the besieged port of Tobruk . [92] The Commonwealth attempted to dislodge Axis forces in May and again in June , but failed on both occasions. [93] In early April, following Bulgaria 's signing of the Tripartite Pact, the Germans intervened in the Balkans by invading Greece and Yugoslavia following a coup ; here too they made rapid progress, eventually forcing the Allies to evacuate after Germany conquered the Greek island of Crete by the end of May. [94] The Allies did have some successes during this time. In the Middle East , Commonwealth forces first quashed a coup in Iraq which had been supported by German aircraft from bases within Vichy-controlled Syria , [95] then, with the assistance of the Free French , invaded Syria and Lebanon to prevent further such occurrences. [96] In the Atlantic, the British scored a much-needed public morale boost by sinking the German flagship Bismarck . [97] Perhaps most importantly, during the Battle of Britain the Royal Air Force had successfully resisted the Luftwaffe's assault, and the German bombing campaign largely ended in May 1941. [98] In Asia, despite several offensives by both sides, the war between China and Japan was stalemated by 1940. In order to increase pressure on China by blocking supply routes, and to better position Japanese forces in the event of a war with the Western powers, Japan had seized military control of southern Indochina [99] In August of that year, Chinese communists launched an offensive in Central China ; in retaliation, Japan instituted harsh measures (the Three Alls Policy ) in occupied areas to reduce human and material resources for the communists. [100] Continued antipathy between Chinese communist and nationalist forces culminated in armed clashes in January 1941 , effectively ending their co-operation. [101] With the situation in Europe and Asia relatively stable, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union made preparations. With the Soviets wary of mounting tensions with Germany and the Japanese planning to take advantage of the European War by seizing resource-rich European possessions in Southeast Asia, the two powers signed the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941. [102] By contrast, the Germans were steadily making preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union, amassing forces on the Soviet border. [103] The war becomes global German infantry and armoured vehicles battle the Soviet defenders on the streets of Kharkov , October 1941. On 22 June 1941, Germany, along with other European Axis members and Finland, invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa . The primary targets of this surprise offensive [104] were the Baltic region , Moscow and Ukraine , with an ultimate goal of ending the 1941 campaign near the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line , connecting the Caspian and White Seas . Hitler's objectives were to eliminate the Soviet Union as a military power, exterminate Communism , generate Lebensraum ("living space") [105] by dispossessing the native population [106] and guarantee access to the strategic resources needed to defeat Germany's remaining rivals. [107] Although the Red Army was preparing for strategic counter-offensives before the war, [108] Barbarossa forced the Soviet supreme command to adopt a strategic defence . During the summer, the Axis made significant gains into Soviet territory, inflicting immense losses in both personnel and materiel. By the middle of August, however, the German Army High Command decided to suspend the offensive of a considerably depleted Army Group Centre , and to divert the Second Panzer Group to reinforce troops advancing towards central Ukraine and Leningrad. [109] The Kiev offensive was overwhelmingly successful, resulting in encirclement and elimination of four Soviet armies, and made further advance into Crimea and industrially developed Eastern Ukraine (the First Battle of Kharkov ) possible. [110] Soviet counter-attack during the battle of Moscow , December, 1941. The diversion of three quarters of the Axis troops and the majority of their air forces from France and the central Mediterranean to the Eastern Front [111] [112] prompted Britain to reconsider its grand strategy. [113] In July, the UK and the Soviet Union formed a military alliance against Germany [114] The British and Soviets invaded Iran to secure the Persian Corridor and Iran's oil fields . [115] In August, the United Kingdom and the United States jointly issued the Atlantic Charter . [116] By October, when Axis operational objectives in Ukraine and the Baltic region were achieved, with only the sieges of Leningrad [117] and Sevastopol continuing, [118] a major offensive against Moscow had been renewed. After two months of fierce battles, the German army almost reached the outer suburbs of Moscow, where the exhausted troops [119] were forced to suspend their offensive. [120] Large territorial gains were made by Axis forces, but their campaign had failed to achieve its main objectives: two key cities remained in Soviet hands, the Soviet capability to resist was not broken, and the Soviet Union retained a considerable part of its military potential. The blitzkrieg phase of the war in Europe had ended. [121] The Axis-controlled territory in Europe at the time of its maximal expansion (1941–42). By early December, freshly mobilised reserves [122] allowed the Soviets to achieve numerical parity with Axis troops. [123] This, as well as intelligence data that established a minimal number of Soviet troops in the East sufficient to prevent any attack by the Japanese Kwantung Army , [124] allowed the Soviets to begin a massive counter-offensive that started on 5 December along a 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) front and pushed German troops 100–250 kilometres (62–160 mi) west. [125] German successes in Europe encouraged Japan to increase pressure on European governments in south-east Asia. The Dutch government agreed to provide Japan oil supplies from the Dutch East Indies , while refusing to hand over political control of the colonies. Vichy France , by contrast, agreed to a Japanese occupation of French Indochina . [126] The United States, United Kingdom and other Western governments reacted to the seizure of Indochina with a freeze on Japanese assets, while the United States (which supplied 80 percent of Japan's oil [127] ) responded by placing a complete oil embargo. [128] That meant Japan was essentially forced to choose between abandoning its ambitions in Asia and the prosecution of the war against China, or seizing the natural resources it needed by force; the Japanese military did not consider the former an option, and many officers considered the oil embargo an unspoken declaration of war. [129] Japan planned to rapidly seize European colonies in Asia to create a large defensive perimeter stretching into the Central Pacific; the Japanese would then be free to exploit the resources of Southeast Asia while exhausting the over-stretched Allies by fighting a defensive war. [130] To prevent American intervention while securing the perimeter it was further planned to neutralise the United States Pacific Fleet from the outset. [131] On 7 December (8 December in Asian time zones), 1941, Japan attacked British and American holdings with near-simultaneous offensives against Southeast Asia and the Central Pacific . [132] These included an attack on the American fleet at Pearl Harbor , landings in Thailand and Malaya [132] and the battle of Hong Kong . The February 1942 Fall of Singapore saw 80,000 Allied soldiers captured and enslaved by the Japanese. These attacks led the U.S., Britain , Australia and other Allies to formally declare war on Japan. Germany and the other members of the Tripartite Pact responded by declaring war on the United States. In January, the United States, Britain, Soviet Union, China, and 22 smaller or exiled governments issued the Declaration by United Nations , which affirmed the Atlantic Charter . [133] The Soviet Union did not adhere to the declaration; it maintained a neutrality agreement with Japan, [134] [135] and exempted itself from the principle of self-determination. [116] From 1941, Stalin persistently asked Churchill, and then Roosevelt, to open a 'second front' in France. [136] The Eastern front became the major theatre of war in Europe and the many millions of Soviet casualties dwarfed the few hundred thousand of the Western Allies; Churchill and Roosevelt said they needed more preparation time, leading to claims they stalled to save Western lives at the expense of Soviet lives. [137] Meanwhile, by the end of April 1942, Japan and her ally Thailand had almost fully conquered Burma , Malaya , the Dutch East Indies , Singapore , [138] and Rabaul , inflicting severe losses on Allied troops and taking a large number of prisoners. Despite a stubborn resistance in Corregidor , the Philippines was eventually captured in May 1942, forcing the government of the Philippine Commonwealth into exile. [139] Japanese forces also achieved naval victories in the South China Sea , Java Sea and Indian Ocean , [140] and bombed the Allied naval base at Darwin , Australia . The only real Allied success against Japan was a Chinese victory at Changsha in early January 1942. [141] These easy victories over unprepared opponents left Japan overconfident, as well as overextended. [142] Germany retained the initiative as well. Exploiting dubious American naval command decisions, the German navy ravaged Allied shipping off the American Atlantic coast. [143] Despite considerable losses, European Axis members stopped a major Soviet offensive in Central and Southern Russia, keeping most territorial gains they achieved during the previous year. [144] In North Africa, the Germans launched an offensive in January, pushing the British back to positions at the Gazala Line by early February, [145] followed by a temporary lull in combat which Germany used to prepare for their upcoming offensives. [146] Axis advance stalls American dive bombers engage the Mikuma at the Battle of Midway , June 1942. In early May 1942, Japan initiated operations to capture Port Moresby by amphibious assault and thus sever communications and supply lines between the United States and Australia. The Allies, however, intercepted and turned back Japanese naval forces , successfully preventing the invasion. [147] Japan's next plan, motivated by the earlier bombing on Tokyo , was to seize Midway Atoll and lure American carriers into battle to be eliminated; as a diversion, Japan would also send forces to occupy the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. [148] In early June, Japan put its operations into action but the Americans, having broken Japanese naval codes in late May, were fully aware of the plans and force dispositions and used this knowledge to achieve a decisive victory at Midway over the Imperial Japanese Navy . [149] With its capacity for aggressive action greatly diminished as a result of the Midway battle, Japan chose to focus on a belated attempt to capture Port Moresby by an overland campaign in the Territory of Papua . [150] The Americans planned a counter-attack against Japanese positions in the southern Solomon Islands , primarily Guadalcanal , as a first step towards capturing Rabaul , the main Japanese base in Southeast Asia. [151] Both plans started in July, but by mid-September, the battle for Guadalcanal took priority for the Japanese, and troops in New Guinea were ordered to withdraw from the Port Moresby area to the northern part of the island , where they faced Australian and United States troops in the Battle of Buna-Gona . [152] Guadalcanal soon became a focal point for both sides with heavy commitments of troops and ships in the battle for Guadalcanal. By the start of 1943, the Japanese were defeated on the island and withdrew their troops . [153] In Burma, Commonwealth forces mounted two operations. The first, an offensive into the Arakan region in late 1942, went disastrously, forcing a retreat back to India by May 1943. [154] The second was the insertion of irregular forces behind Japanese front-lines in February which, by the end of April, had achieved dubious results. [155] A Soviet soldier waving the Red Banner over the central plaza in Stalingrad , 1943. On Germany's eastern front , the Axis defeated Soviet offensives in the Kerch Peninsula and at Kharkov , [156] and then launched their main summer offensive against southern Russia in June 1942, to seize the oil fields of the Caucasus and occupy Kuban steppe , while maintaining positions on the northern and central areas of the front. The Germans split the Army Group South into two groups: Army Group A struck lower Don River while Army Group B struck south-east to the Caucasus, towards Volga River . [157] The Soviets decided to make their stand at Stalingrad, which was in the path of the advancing German armies. By mid-November the Germans had nearly taken Stalingrad in bitter street fighting when the Soviets began their second winter counter-offensive, starting with an encirclement of German forces at Stalingrad [158] and an assault on the Rzhev salient near Moscow , though the latter failed disastrously. [159] By early February 1943, the German Army had taken tremendous losses; German troops at Stalingrad had been forced to surrender [160] and the front-line had been pushed back beyond its position before the summer offensive. In mid-February, after the Soviet push had tapered off, the Germans launched another attack on Kharkov , creating a salient in their front line around the Russian city of Kursk . [161] British Crusader tanks moving to forward positions during the North African Campaign . By November 1941, Commonwealth forces had launched a counter-offensive, Operation Crusader , in North Africa, and reclaimed all the gains the Germans and Italians had made. [162] In the West, concerns the Japanese might utilize bases in Vichy-held Madagascar caused the British to invade the island in early May 1942. [163] This success was offset soon after by an Axis offensive in Libya which pushed the Allies back into Egypt until Axis forces were stopped at El Alamein . [164] On the Continent, raids of Allied commandos on strategic targets, culminating in the disastrous Dieppe Raid , [165] demonstrated the Western Allies' inability to launch an invasion of continental Europe without much better preparation, equipment, and operational security. [166] In August 1942, the Allies succeeded in repelling a second attack against El Alamein and, at a high cost, managed to deliver desperately needed supplies to the besieged Malta . [167] A few months later, the Allies commenced an attack of their own in Egypt, dislodging the Axis forces and beginning a drive west across Libya. [168] This attack was followed up shortly after by an Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa , which resulted in the region joining the Allies. [169] Hitler responded to the French colony's defection by ordering the occupation of Vichy France ; [169] although Vichy forces did not resist this violation of the armistice, they managed to scuttle their fleet to prevent its capture by German forces. [170] The now pincered Axis forces in Africa withdrew into Tunisia , which was conquered by the Allies in May 1943. [171] Allies gain momentum Following the Guadalcanal Campaign, the Allies initiated several operations against Japan in the Pacific. In May 1943, Allied forces were sent to eliminate Japanese forces from the Aleutians , [172] and soon after began major operations to isolate Rabaul by capturing surrounding islands , and to breach the Japanese Central Pacific perimeter at the Gilbert and Marshall Islands . [173] By the end of March 1944, the Allies had completed both of these objectives, and additionally neutralised the major Japanese base at Truk in the Caroline Islands . In April, the Allies then launched an operation to retake Western New Guinea . [174] In the Soviet Union, both the Germans and the Soviets spent the spring and early summer of 1943 making preparations for large offensives in Central Russia. On 4 July 1943, Germany attacked Soviet forces around the Kursk Bulge . Within a week, German forces had exhausted themselves against the Soviets' deeply echeloned and well-constructed defences [175] [176] and, for the first time in the war, Hitler cancelled the operation before it had achieved tactical or operational success. [177] This decision was partially affected by the Western Allies' invasion of Sicily launched on 9 July which, combined with previous Italian failures, resulted in the ousting and arrest of Mussolini later that month. [178] On 12 July 1943, the Soviets launched their own counter-offensives , thereby dispelling any hopes of the German Army for victory or even stalemate in the east. The Soviet victory at Kursk heralded the downfall of German superiority, [179] giving the Soviet Union the initiative on the Eastern Front. [180] [181] The Germans attempted to stabilise their eastern front along the hastily fortified Panther-Wotan line , however, the Soviets broke through it at Smolensk and by the Lower Dnieper Offensives . [182] Soviet soldiers preparing the rafts to cross the Dnieper (the sign reads "Let's capture Kiev !")... In early September 1943, the Western Allies invaded the Italian mainland , following an Italian armistice with the Allies . [183] Germany responded by disarming Italian forces, seizing military control of Italian areas, [184] and creating a series of defensive lines. [185] German special forces then rescued Mussolini , who then soon established a new client state in German occupied Italy named the Italian Social Republic . [186] The Western Allies fought through several lines until reaching the main German defensive line in mid-November. [187] German operations in the Atlantic also suffered. By May 1943, as Allied counter-measures became increasingly effective , the resulting sizable German submarine losses forced a temporary halt of the German Atlantic naval campaign. [188] In November 1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill met with Chiang Kai-shek in Cairo [189] and then with Joseph Stalin in Tehran . [190] The former conference determined the post-war return of Japanese territory, [189] while the latter included agreement that the Western Allies would invade Europe in 1944 and that the Soviet Union would declare war on Japan within three months of Germany's defeat. [190] From November 1943, at the 7-week Battle of Changde , the Chinese forced Japan to fight a costly war of attrition, while awaiting Allied relief. [191] [192] [193] In January 1944, the Allies launched a series of attacks in Italy against the line at Monte Cassino and attempted to outflank it with landings at Anzio . [194] By the end of January, a major Soviet offensive expelled German forces from the Leningrad region , [195] ending the longest and most lethal siege in history . The following Soviet offensive was halted on the pre-war Estonian border by the German Army Group North aided by Estonians hoping to re-establish national independence . This delay slowed subsequent Soviet operations in the Baltic Sea region. [196] By late May 1944, the Soviets had liberated Crimea , largely expelled Axis forces from Ukraine, and made incursions into Romania , which were repulsed by the Axis troops. [197] The Allied offensives in Italy had succeeded and, at the expense of allowing several German divisions to retreat, on 4 June Rome was captured. [198] The Allies experienced mixed fortunes in mainland Asia. In March 1944, the Japanese launched the first of two invasions, an operation against British positions in Assam, India , [199] and soon besieged Commonwealth positions at Imphal and Kohima . [200] In May 1944, British forces mounted a counter-offensive that drove Japanese troops back to Burma, [200] and Chinese forces that had invaded northern Burma in late 1943 besieged Japanese troops in Myitkyina . [201] The second Japanese invasion attempted to destroy China's main fighting forces, secure railways between Japanese-held territory and capture Allied airfields. [202] By June, the Japanese had conquered the province of Henan and begun a renewed attack against Changsha in the Hunan province. [203] Allies close in Allied Invasion of Normandy , 6 June 1944 On 6 June 1944 (known as D-Day ), after three years of Soviet pressure, [204] the Western Allies invaded northern France . After reassigning several Allied divisions from Italy, they also attacked southern France . [205] These landings were successful, and led to the defeat of the German Army units in France. Paris was liberated by the local resistance assisted by the Free French Forces on 25 August [206] and the Western Allies continued to push back German forces in Western Europe during the latter part of the year. An attempt to advance into northern Germany spear-headed by a major airborne operation in the Netherlands ended with a failure. [207] The Allies also continued their advance in Italy until they ran into the last major German defensive line . On 22 June, the Soviets launched a strategic offensive in Belarus (known as " Operation Bagration ") that resulted in the almost complete destruction of the German Army Group Centre . [208] Soon after that, another Soviet strategic offensive forced German troops from Western Ukraine and Eastern Poland. The successful advance of Soviet troops prompted resistance forces in Poland to initiate several uprisings , though the largest of these, in Warsaw , as well as a Slovak Uprising in the south, were not assisted by the Soviets and were put down by German forces. [209] The Red Army's strategic offensive in eastern Romania cut off and destroyed the considerable German troops there and triggered a successful coup d'état in Romania and in Bulgaria , followed by those countries' shift to the Allied side. [210] Polish insurgents during the Warsaw Uprising . In September 1944, Soviet Red Army troops advanced into Yugoslavia and forced the rapid withdrawal of the German Army Groups E and F in Greece , Albania and Yugoslavia to rescue them from being cut off. [211] By this point, the Communist-led Partisans under Marshal Josip Broz Tito , who had led an increasingly successful guerrilla campaign against the occupation since 1941, controlled much of the territory of Yugoslavia and were engaged in delaying efforts against the German forces further south. In northern Serbia , the Red Army , with limited support from Bulgarian forces , assisted the Partisans in a joint liberation of the capital city of Belgrade on 20 October. A few days later, the Soviets launched a massive assault against German-occupied Hungary that lasted until the fall of Budapest in February 1945. [212] In contrast with impressive Soviet victories in the Balkans, the bitter Finnish resistance to the Soviet offensive in the Karelian Isthmus denied the Soviets occupation of Finland and led to the signing of Soviet-Finnish armistice on relatively mild conditions, [213] [214] with a subsequent shift to the Allied side by Finland. By the start of July, Commonwealth forces in Southeast Asia had repelled the Japanese sieges in Assam, pushing the Japanese back to the Chindwin River [215] while the Chinese captured Myitkyina. In China, the Japanese were having greater successes, having finally captured Changsha in mid-June and the city of Hengyang by early August. [216] Soon after, they further invaded the province of Guangxi, winning major engagements against Chinese forces at Guilin and Liuzhou by the end of November [217] and successfully linking up their forces in China and Indochina by the middle of December. [218] In the Pacific, American forces continued to press back the Japanese perimeter. In mid-June 1944 they began their offensive against the Mariana and Palau islands , scoring a decisive victory against Japanese forces in the Philippine Sea within a few days. These defeats led to the resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Tōjō and provided the United States with air bases to launch intensive heavy bomber attacks on the Japanese home islands. In late October, American forces invaded the Filipino island of Leyte ; soon after, Allied naval forces scored another large victory during the Battle of Leyte Gulf , one of the largest naval battles in history. [219] Axis collapse, Allied victory American and Soviet troops meet in April 1945 , east of the Elbe River . On 16 December 1944, Germany attempted its last desperate measure for success on the Western Front by marshalling German reserves to launch a massive counter-offensive in the Ardennes to attempt to split the Western Allies, encircle large portions of Western Allied troops and capture their primary supply port at Antwerp in order to prompt a political settlement. [220] By January, the offensive had been repulsed with no strategic objectives fulfilled. [220] In Italy, the Western Allies remained stalemated at the German defensive line. In mid-January 1945, the Soviets attacked in Poland, pushing from the Vistula to the Oder river in Germany, and overran East Prussia . [221] On 4 February, U.S., British, and Soviet leaders met in Yalta . They agreed on the occupation of post-war Germany, [222] and when the Soviet Union would join the war against Japan. [223] In February, the Soviets invaded Silesia and Pomerania , while Western Allied forces entered Western Germany and closed to the Rhine river. In March, the Western Allies crossed the Rhine north and south of the Ruhr , encircling a large number of German troops , [224] while the Soviets advanced to Vienna . In early April, the Western Allies finally pushed forward in Italy and swept across Western Germany, while Soviet forces stormed Berlin in late April; the two forces linked up on Elbe river on 25 April. On 30 April 1945, the Reichstag was captured, signalling the military defeat of Third Reich. [225] A devastated Berlin street in the city centre post Battle of Berlin , taken 3 July 1945. Several changes in leadership occurred during this period. On 12 April, U.S. President Roosevelt died and was succeeded by Harry Truman . Benito Mussolini was killed by Italian partisans on 28 April. [226] Two days later, Hitler committed suicide , and was succeeded by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz . [227] German forces surrendered in Italy on 29 April and in Western Europe on 7 May . [228] On the Eastern Front, Germany surrendered to the Soviets on 8 May . A German Army Group Centre resisted in Prague until 11 May. [229] In the Pacific theatre, American forces accompanied by the forces of the Philippine Commonwealth advanced in the Philippines , clearing Leyte by the end of April 1945. They landed on Luzon in January 1945 and seized Manila in March, leaving it in ruins. Fighting continued on Luzon, Mindanao and other islands of the Philippines until the end of the war. [230] Atomic explosion at Nagasaki , 9 August 1945. In May 1945, Australian troops landed on Borneo , overrunning the oilfields there. British, American and Chinese forces defeated the Japanese in northern Burma in March, and the British pushed on to reach Rangoon by 3 May. [231] Chinese forces started to counterattack in Battle of West Hunan that occurred between April 6 and June 7, 1945. American forces also moved towards Japan, taking Iwo Jima by March, and Okinawa by the end of June. [232] American bombers destroyed Japanese cities , and American submarines cut off Japanese imports. [233] On 11 July, the Allied leaders met in Potsdam, Germany . They confirmed earlier agreements about Germany, [234] and reiterated the demand for unconditional surrender of all Japanese forces by Japan, specifically stating that "the alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction". [235] During this conference the United Kingdom held its general election , and Clement Attlee replaced Churchill as Prime Minister. [236] When Japan continued to ignore the Potsdam terms, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in early August. Between the two bombs, the Soviets, pursuant to the Yalta agreement, invaded Japanese-held Manchuria , and quickly defeated the Kwantung Army , which was the primary Japanese fighting force. [237] [238] The Red Army also captured Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands . On 15 August 1945 Japan surrendered , with the surrender documents finally signed aboard the deck of the American battleship USS Missouri on 2 September 1945, ending the war. [228] Aftermath The Supreme Commanders on 5 June 1945 in Berlin: Bernard Montgomery , Dwight D. Eisenhower , Georgy Zhukov and Jean de Lattre de Tassigny The Allies established occupation administrations in Austria and Germany . The former became a neutral state, non-aligned with any political bloc. The latter was divided onto western and eastern occupation zones controlled by the Western Allies and the USSR, accordingly. A denazification program in Germany led to the prosecution of Nazi war criminals and the removal of ex-Nazis from power, although this policy moved towards amnesty and re-integration of ex-Nazis into West German society. [239] Germany lost a quarter of its pre-war (1937) territory, the eastern territories: Silesia , Neumark and most of Pomerania were taken over by Poland; East Prussia was divided between Poland and the USSR, followed by the expulsion of the 9 million Germans from these provinces, as well as of 3 million Germans from the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, to Germany. By the 1950s, every fifth West German was a refugee from the east. The USSR also took over the Polish provinces east of the Curzon line (from which 2 million Poles were expelled), [240] Eastern Romania, [241] [242] and part of eastern Finland [243] and three Baltic states . [244] [245] Prime Minister Winston Churchill gives the "Victory" sign to crowds in London on Victory in Europe Day . In an effort to maintain peace, [246] the Allies formed the United Nations , which officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, [247] and adopted The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, as a common standard for all member nations. [248] The alliance between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union had begun to deteriorate even before the war was over, [249] Germany had been de facto divided, and two independent states, Federal Republic of Germany and German Democratic Republic [250] were created within the borders of Allied and Soviet occupation zones, accordingly. The rest of Europe was also divided onto Western and Soviet spheres of influence . [251] Most eastern and central European countries fell into the Soviet sphere, which led to establishment of Communist led regimes, with full or partial support of the Soviet occupation authorities. As a result, Poland , Hungary , [252] Czechoslovakia , [253] Romania , Albania , [254] and East Germany became Soviet Satellite states. Communist Yugoslavia conducted a fully independent policy causing tension with the USSR. [255] Post-war division of the world was formalised by two international military alliances, the United States-led NATO and the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact ; [256] the long period of political tensions and military competition between them, the Cold War , would be accompanied by unprecedented arms race and proxy wars. [257] World map of colonization at the end of the Second World War in 1945. With the end of the war, the Wars of national liberation ensued, leading to the creation of Israel , the often bloody Decolonization of Asia and (somewhat later) of Africa. In Asia, the United States occupied Japan and administrated Japan's former islands in the Western Pacific , while the Soviets annexed Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands . [258] Korea , formerly under Japanese rule , was divided and occupied by the US in the South and the Soviet Union in the North between 1945 and 1948. Separate republics emerged on both sides of the 38th parallel in 1948, each claiming to be the legitimate government for all of Korea, which led ultimately to the Korean War . [259] In China, nationalist and communist forces resumed the civil war in June 1946. Communist forces were victorious and established the People's Republic of China on the mainland, while nationalist forces retreated to Taiwan in 1949. [260] In the Middle East , the Arab rejection of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine and the creation of Israel marked the escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict . While the European colonial powers attempted to retain some or all of their colonial empires , their losses of prestige and resources during the war rendered this unsuccessful, leading to decolonisation . [261] [262] The global economy suffered heavily from the war, although WWII participants were affected differently. The US emerged much richer than any other nation; it had a baby boom and by 1950 its gross domestic product per person was much higher than that of any of the other powers and it dominated the world economy. [263] [264] The UK and US pursued a policy of industrial disarmament in Western Germany in the years 1945–1948. [265] Due to international trade interdependencies this led to European economic stagnation and delayed European recovery for several years. [266] [267] Recovery began with the mid 1948 currency reform in Western Germany , and was sped up by the liberalization of European economic policy that the Marshall plan (1948–1951) both directly and indirectly caused. [268] [269] The post 1948 West German recovery has been called the German economic miracle . [270] Also the Italian [271] [272] and French economies rebounded. [273] By contrast, the United Kingdom was in a state of economic ruin, [274] and continued relative economic decline for decades. [275] The Soviet Union, despite enormous human and material losses, also experienced rapid increase in production in the immediate post-war era. [276] Japan experienced incredibly rapid economic growth, becoming one of the most powerful economies in the world by the 1980s. [277] China returned to its pre-war industrial production by 1952. [278] Impact Main articles: World War II casualties and War crimes during World War II Estimates for the total casualties of the war vary, because many deaths went unrecorded. Most suggest that some 60 million people died in the war, including about 20 million soldiers and 40 million civilians. [279] [280] [281] Many civilians died because of disease , starvation , massacres , bombing and deliberate genocide . The Soviet Union lost around 27 million people during the war, [282] almost half of all World War II deaths. [283] One of every four Soviet citizens was killed or wounded in that war. [284] Of the total deaths in World War II approximately 85 percent—mostly Soviet and Chinese—were on the Allied side and 15 percent on the Axis side. Many of these deaths were caused by war crimes committed by German and Japanese forces in occupied territories. An estimated 11 [285] to 17 [286] million civilians died as a direct or indirect result of Nazi ideological policies, including the systematic genocide of around six million Jews during The Holocaust along with a further five million Roma , Slavs , homosexuals and other ethnic and minority groups. [287] Roughly 7.5 million civilians died in China under Japanese occupation, [288] and the Serbs were targeted by the Axis-aligned Croatian Ustaše . [289] Chinese civilians to be buried alive by Japanese soldiers. The most well-known Japanese atrocity was the Nanking Massacre , in which several hundred thousand Chinese civilians were raped and murdered. [290] Between 3 million to more than 10 million civilians, mostly Chinese, were killed by the Japanese occupation forces. [291] Mitsuyoshi Himeta reported 2.7 million casualties occurred during the Sankō Sakusen . General Yasuji Okamura implemented the policy in Heipei and Shantung . [292] While many of the Axis's acts were brought to trial in the world's first international tribunals, [299] incidents caused by the Allies were not. Examples of such Allied actions include population transfer in the Soviet Union and Japanese American internment in the United States; the Operation Keelhaul , [300] expulsion of Germans after World War II , mass rape of German women by Soviet Red Army ; the Soviet Union's Katyn massacre , for which Germans faced counter-accusations of responsibility. Large numbers of famine deaths can also be partially attributed to the war, such as the Bengal famine of 1943 and the Vietnamese famine of 1944–45 . [301] It has also been suggested by some historians the mass-bombing of civilian areas in enemy territory, including Tokyo and most notably the German cities of Dresden , Hamburg , and Cologne by Western Allies, [302] which resulted in the destruction of more than 160 cities and killing a total of more than 600,000 German civilians [303] be considered war crimes. Concentration camps and slave work Further information: The Holocaust , Consequences of German Nazism , Japanese war crimes , and Allied war crimes during World War II The Nazis were responsible for The Holocaust, the killing of approximately six million Jews (overwhelmingly Ashkenazim ), as well as two million ethnic Poles and four million others who were deemed " unworthy of life " (including the disabled and mentally ill , Soviet POWs , homosexuals , Freemasons , Jehovah's Witnesses , and Romani ) as part of a programme of deliberate extermination. About 12 million, most of whom were Eastern Europeans , were employed in the German war economy as forced labourers . [304] Dead bodies in the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp after liberation, possibly political prisoners or Soviet POWs In addition to Nazi concentration camps , the Soviet gulags ( labour camps ) led to the death of citizens of occupied countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, as well as German prisoners of war (POWs) and even Soviet citizens who had been or were thought to be supporters of the Nazis. [305] Sixty percent of Soviet POWs of the Germans died during the war. [306] Richard Overy gives the number of 5.7 million Soviet POWs. Of those, 57 percent died or were killed, a total of 3.6 million. [307] Soviet ex-POWs and repatriated civilians were treated with great suspect as potential Nazi collaborators, and some of them were sent to GULAG upon check by NKVD. [308] Japanese prisoner-of-war camps , many of which were used as labour camps, also had high death rates. The International Military Tribunal for the Far East found the death rate of Western prisoners was 27.1 percent (for American POWs, 37 percent), [309] seven times that of POWs under the Germans and Italians. [310] While 37,583 prisoners from the UK, 28,500 from the Netherlands, and 14,473 from United States were released after the surrender of Japan , the number for the Chinese was only 56. [311] According to historian Zhifen Ju, at least five million Chinese civilians from northern China and Manchukuo were enslaved between 1935 and 1941 by the East Asia Development Board , or Kōain, for work in mines and war industries. After 1942, the number reached 10 million. [312] The U.S. Library of Congress estimates that in Java , between 4 and 10 million romusha (Japanese: "manual laborers"), were forced to work by the Japanese military. About 270,000 of these Javanese laborers were sent to other Japanese-held areas in South East Asia, and only 52,000 were repatriated to Java. [313] Mistreated and starved prisoners in the Mauthausen camp , Austria , 1945 On 19 February 1942, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 , interning thousands of Japanese, Italians , German Americans , and some emigrants from Hawaii who fled after the bombing of Pearl Harbor for the duration of the war. The U.S. and Canadian governments interned 150,000 Japanese-Americans, [314] [315] as well as nearly 11,000 German and Italian residents of the U.S. [314] In accordance with the Allied agreement made at the Yalta conference millions of POWs and civilians were used as forced labor by the Soviet Union . [316] In Hungary's case, Hungarians were forced to work for the Soviet Union until 1955. [317] Home fronts and production Main articles: Military production during World War II and Home front during World War II Allied to Axis GDP ratio In Europe, before the outbreak of the war, the Allies had significant advantages in both population and economics. In 1938, the Western Allies (United Kingdom, France, Poland and British Dominions) had a 30 percent larger population and a 30 percent higher gross domestic product than the European Axis (Germany and Italy); if colonies are included, it then gives the Allies more than a 5:1 advantage in population and nearly 2:1 advantage in GDP. [318] In Asia at the same time, China had roughly six times the population of Japan, but only an 89 percent higher GDP; this is reduced to three times the population and only a 38 percent higher GDP if Japanese colonies are included. [318] Though the Allies' economic and population advantages were largely mitigated during the initial rapid blitzkrieg attacks of Germany and Japan, they became the decisive factor by 1942, after the United States and Soviet Union joined the Allies, as the war largely settled into one of attrition. [319] While the Allies' ability to out-produce the Axis is often attributed to the Allies having more access to natural resources, other factors, such as Germany and Japan's reluctance to employ women in the labour force , [320] [321] Allied strategic bombing , [322] [323] and Germany's late shift to a war economy [324] contributed significantly. Additionally, neither Germany nor Japan planned to fight a protracted war, and were not equipped to do so. [325] [326] To improve their production, Germany and Japan used millions of slave labourers ; [327] Germany used about 12 million people, mostly from Eastern Europe , [304] while Japan pressed more than 18 million people in Far East Asia. [312] [313] Occupation Main articles: Collaboration with the Axis Powers during World War II , Resistance during World War II , and German-occupied Europe Soviet partisans hanged by German forces in January 1943 In Europe, occupation came under two very different forms. In Western, Northern and Central Europe (France, Norway, Denmark, the Low Countries, and the annexed portions of Czechoslovakia ) Germany established economic policies through which it collected roughly 69.5 billion reichmarks (27.8 billion US Dollars) by the end of the war; this figure does not include the sizable plunder of industrial products, military equipment, raw materials and other goods. [328] Thus, the income from occupied nations was over 40 percent of the income Germany collected from taxation, a figure which increased to nearly 40 percent of total German income as the war went on. [329] In the East, the much hoped for bounties of Lebensraum were never attained as fluctuating front-lines and Soviet scorched earth policies denied resources to the German invaders. [330] Unlike in the West, the Nazi racial policy encouraged excessive brutality against what it considered to be the " inferior people " of Slavic descent; most German advances were thus followed by mass executions . [331] Although resistance groups did form in most occupied territories, they did not significantly hamper German operations in either the East [332] or the West [333] until late 1943. In Asia, Japan termed nations under its occupation as being part of the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere , essentially a Japanese hegemony which it claimed was for purposes of liberating colonised peoples. [334] Although Japanese forces were originally welcomed as liberators from European domination in many territories, their excessive brutality turned local public opinions against them within weeks. [335] During Japan's initial conquest it captured 4,000,000 barrels (640,000 m3) of oil (~5.5×105 tonnes) left behind by retreating Allied forces, and by 1943 was able to get production in the Dutch East Indies up to 50 million barrels (~6.8×10 ^ 6 t), 76 percent of its 1940 output rate. [335] Advances in technology and warfare Main article: Technology during World War II Aircraft were used for reconnaissance, as fighters , bombers and ground-support, and each role was advanced considerably. Innovation included airlift (the capability to quickly move limited high-priority supplies, equipment and personnel); [336] and of strategic bombing (the bombing of civilian areas to destroy industry and morale). [337] Anti-aircraft weaponry also advanced, including defences such as radar and surface-to-air artillery, such as the German 88 mm gun . The use of the jet aircraft was pioneered, and though late introduction meant it had little impact, it led to jets becoming standard in worldwide air forces. [338] U-995 Type VIIC at the German navy memorial at Laboe . Between 1939 and 1945, 3,500 Allied merchant ships (gross tonnage 14.5 million) were sunk at a cost of 783 German U-boats. Advances were made in nearly every aspect of naval warfare, most notably with aircraft carriers and submarines. Although at the start of the war aeronautical warfare had relatively little success, actions at Taranto, Pearl Harbor, the South China Sea and the Coral Sea established the carrier as the dominant capital ship in place of the battleship. [339] [340] [341] In the Atlantic, escort carriers proved to be a vital part of Allied convoys, increasing the effective protection radius and helping to close the Mid-Atlantic gap . [342] Carriers were also more economical than battleships due to the relatively low cost of aircraft [343] and their not requiring to be as heavily armoured. [344] Submarines, which had proved to be an effective weapon during the First World War [345] were anticipated by all sides to be important in the second. The British focused development on anti-submarine weaponry and tactics, such as sonar and convoys, while Germany focused on improving its offensive capability, with designs such as the Type VII submarine and Wolf pack tactics. [346] Gradually, improving Allied technologies such as the Leigh light , hedgehog , squid , and homing torpedoes proved victorious. Land warfare changed from the static front lines of World War I to increased mobility and combined arms . The tank , which had been used predominantly for infantry support in the First World War, had evolved into the primary weapon. [347] In the late 1930s, tank design was considerably more advanced than it had been during World War I, [348] and advances continued throughout the war in increasing speed, armour and firepower. At the start of the war, most commanders thought enemy tanks should be met by tanks with superior specifications. [349] This idea was challenged by the poor performance of the relatively light early tank guns against armour, and German doctrine of avoiding tank-versus-tank combat. This, along with Germany's use of combined arms, were among the key elements of their highly successful blitzkrieg tactics across Poland and France. [347] Many means of destroying tanks , including indirect artillery , anti-tank guns (both towed and self-propelled ), mines , short-ranged infantry antitank weapons, and other tanks were utilised. [349] Even with large-scale mechanisation, infantry remained the backbone of all forces, [350] and throughout the war, most infantry were equipped similarly to World War I. [351] The portable machine gun spread, a notable example being the German MG42 , and various submachine guns which were suited to close combat in urban and jungle settings. [351] The assault rifle , a late war development incorporating many features of the rifle and submachine gun, became the standard postwar infantry weapon for most armed forces. [352] [353] Most major belligerents attempted to solve the problems of complexity and security presented by using large codebooks for cryptography with the use of ciphering machines, the most well known being the German Enigma machine . [354] SIGINT (signals intelligence) was the countering process of decryption, with the notable examples being the Allied breaking of Japanese naval codes [355] and British Ultra , which was derived from methodology given to Britain by the Polish Cipher Bureau , which had been decoding Enigma for seven years before the war. [356] Another aspect of military intelligence was the use of deception , which the Allies used to great effect, such as in operations Mincemeat and Bodyguard . [355] [357] Other technological and engineering feats achieved during, or as a result of, the war include the world's first programmable computers ( Z3 , Colossus , and ENIAC ), guided missiles and modern rockets , the Manhattan Project 's development of nuclear weapons , the development of artificial harbours and oil pipelines under the English Channel . [358] WORLD WAR 2 TIMELINE ! ! ! Germany incorporates Austria in the Anschluss. September 29, 1938 Germany, Italy, Great Britain, and France sign the Munich agreement which forces the Czechoslovak Republic to cede the Sudetenland, including the key Czechoslovak military defense positions, to Nazi Germany. March 14-15, 1939 Under German pressure, the Slovaks declare their independence and form a Slovak Republic. The Germans occupy the rump Czech lands in violation of the Munich agreement, forming a Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. March 31, 1939 France and Great Britain guarantee the integrity of the borders of the Polish state. April 7-15, 1939 Fascist Italy invades and annexes Albania. August 23, 1939 Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a nonaggression agreement and a secret codicil dividing eastern Europe into spheres of influence. September 1, 1939 Honoring their guarantee of Poland’s borders, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany. September 17, 1939 The Soviet Union invades Poland from the east. September 27-29, 1939 Warsaw surrenders on September 27. The Polish government flees into exile via Romania. Germany and the Soviet Union divide Poland between them. November 30, 1939-March 12, 1940 The Soviet Union invades Finland, initiating the so-called Winter War. The Finns sue for an armistice and have to cede the northern shores of Lake Lagoda and the small Finnish coastline on the Arctic Sea to the Soviet Union. April 9, 1940-June 9, 1940 Germany invades Denmark and Norway . Denmark surrenders on the day of the attack; Norway holds out until June 9. May 10, 1940-June 22, 1940 Germany attacks western Europe -- France and the neutral Low Countries. Luxembourg is occupied on May 10; the Netherlands surrenders on May 14; and Belgium surrenders on May 28. On June 22, France signs an armistice agreement by which the Germans occupy the northern half of the country and the entire Atlantic coastline. In southern France, a collaborationist regime with its capital in Vichy is established. June 10, 1940 Italy enters the war. Italy invades southern France on June 21. June 28, 1940 The Soviet Union forces Romania to cede the eastern province of Bessarabia and the northern half of Bukovina to the Soviet Ukraine. June 14, 1940-August 6, 1940 The Soviet Union occupies the Baltic States on June 14-18, engineering Communist coup d’états in each of them on July 14-15, and then annexing them as Soviet Republics on August 3-6. July 10, 1940-October 31, 1940 The air war known as the Battle of Britain ends in defeat for Nazi Germany. August 30, 1940 Second Vienna Award: Germany and Italy arbitrate a decision on the division of the disputed province of Transylvania between Romania and Hungary. The loss of northern Transylvania forces Romanian King Carol to abdicate in favor of his son, Michael, and brings to power a dictatorship under General Ion Antonescu. September 13, 1940 The Italians invade British-controlled Egypt from Italian-controlled Libya. September 27, 1940 Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact. October 1940 Italy invades Greece from Albania on October 28. November 1940 Slovakia (November 23), Hungary (November 20), and Romania (November 22) join the Axis. February 1941 The Germans send the Afrika Korps to North Africa to reinforce the faltering Italians. March 1, 1941 Bulgaria joins the Axis. April 6, 1941-June 1941 Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria invade and dismember Yugoslavia . Yugoslavia surrenders on April 17. Germany and Bulgaria invade Greece in support of the Italians. Resistance in Greece ceases in early June 1941. April 10, 1941 The leaders of the terrorist Ustasa movement proclaim the so-called Independent State of Croatia. Recognized immediately by Germany and Italy, the new state includes the province of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Croatia joins the Axis powers formally on June 15, 1941. June 22, 1941-November 1941 Nazi Germany and its Axis partners (except Bulgaria) invade the Soviet Union. Finland, seeking redress for the territorial losses in the armistice concluding the Winter War, joins the Axis just before the invasion. The Germans quickly overrun the Baltic States and, joined by the Finns, lay siege to Leningrad (St. Petersburg) by September. In the center, the Germans capture Smolensk in early August and drive on Moscow by October. In the south, German and Romanian troops capture Kiev (Kyiv) in September and capture Rostov on the Don River in November. December 6, 1941 A Soviet counteroffensive drives the Germans from the Moscow suburbs in chaotic retreat. December 7, 1941 Japan bombs Pearl Harbor. December 8, 1941 The United States declares war on Japan, entering World War II. Japanese troops land in the Philippines, French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), and British Singapore. By April 1942, the Philippines, Indochina, and Singapore are under Japanese occupation. December 11-13, 1941 Nazi Germany and its Axis partners declare war on the United States. May 30, 1942-May 1945 The British bomb Köln (Cologne), bringing the war home to Germany for the first time. Over the next three years Anglo-American bombing reduces urban Germany to rubble. June 1942 British and U.S. navies halt the Japanese naval advance in the central Pacific at Midway. June 28, 1942-September 1942 Germany and her Axis partners launch a new offensive in the Soviet Union. German troops fight their way into Stalingrad (Volgograd) on the Volga River by mid-September and penetrate deep into the Caucasus after securing the Crimean Peninsula. August-November 1942 U.S. troops halt the Japanese island-hopping advance towards Australia at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. October 23-24, 1942 British troops defeat the Germans and Italians at El Alamein in Egypt, sending the Axis forces in chaotic retreat across Libya to the eastern border of Tunisia. November 8, 1942 U.S. and British troops land at several points on the beaches of Algeria and Morocco in French North Africa. The failure of the Vichy French troops to defend against the invasion enables the Allies to move swiftly to the western border of Tunisia, and triggers the German occupation of southern France on November 11. November 23, 1942-February 2, 1943 Soviet troops counterattack, breaking through the Hungarian and Romanian lines northwest and southwest of Stalingrad and trapping the German Sixth Army in the city. Forbidden by Hitler to retreat or try to break out of the Soviet ring, the survivors of the Sixth Army surrender on January 30 and February 2, 1943. May 13, 1943 Axis forces in Tunisia surrender to the Allies, ending the North African campaign . July 10, 1943 U.S. and British troops land on Sicily. By mid-August, the Allies control Sicily. July 5, 1943 The Germans launch a massive tank offensive near Kursk in the Soviet Union. The Soviets blunt the attack within a week and begin an offensive initiative of their own. July 25, 1943 The Fascist Grand Council deposes Benito Mussolini, enabling Italian marshall Pietro Badoglio to form a new government. September 8, 1943 The Badoglio government surrenders unconditionally to the Allies. The Germans immediately seize control of Rome and northern Italy, establishing a puppet Fascist regime under Mussolini, who is freed from imprisonment by German commandos on September 12. September 9, 1943 Allied troops land on the beaches of Salerno near Naples. November 6, 1943 Allied troops land successfully near Anzio, just south of Rome. March 19, 1944 Fearing Hungary’s intention to desert the Axis partnership, the Germans occupy Hungary and compel the regent, Admiral Miklos Horthy, to appoint a pro-German minister president. June 4, 1944 Allied troops liberate Rome. Within six weeks, Anglo-American bombers could hit targets in eastern Germany for the first time. June 6, 1944 British and U.S. troops successfully land on the Normandy beaches of France, opening a “Second Front” against the Germans. June 22, 1944 The Soviets launch a massive offensive in eastern Byelorussia (Belarus), destroying the German Army Group Center and driving westward to the Vistula River across from Warsaw in central Poland by August 1. July 25, 1944 Anglo-American forces break out of the Normandy beachhead and race eastward towards Paris. August 1, 1944-October 5, 1944 The non-communist underground Home Army rises up against the Germans in an effort to liberate Warsaw before the arrival of Soviet troops. The Soviet advance halts on the east bank of the Vistula. On October 5, the Germans accept the surrender of the remnants of the Home Army forces fighting in Warsaw. August 15, 1944 Allied forces land in southern France near Nice and advance rapidly towards the Rhine River to the northeast. August 20-25, 1944 Allied troops reach Paris. On August 25, Free French forces, supported by Allied troops, enter the French capital. By September, the Allies reach the German border; by December, virtually all of France, most of Belgium, and part of the southern Netherlands are liberated. August 23, 1944 The appearance of Soviet troops on the Prut River induces the Romanian opposition to overthrow the Antonescu regime. The new government concludes an armistice and immediately switches sides in the war. The Romanian turnaround compels Bulgaria to surrender on September 8, and the Germans to evacuate Greece, Albania, and southern Yugoslavia in October. August 29, 1944-October 28, 1944 Under the leadership of the Slovak National Council, consisting of both Communists and non-Communists, underground Slovak resistance units rise against the Germans and the indigenous fascist Slovak regime. In late October, the Germans capture Banská Bystrica, the headquarters of the uprising, and put an end to organized resistance. September 12, 1944 Finland concludes an armistice with the Soviet Union, leaving the Axis partnership. October 20, 1944 U.S. troops land in the Philippines. October 15, 1944 The Hungarian fascist Arrow Cross movement carries out a coup d’état with German support to prevent the Hungarian government from pursuing negotiations for surrender to the Soviets. December 16, 1944 The Germans launch a final offensive in the west, known as the Battle of the Bulge , in an attempt to re-conquer Belgium and split the Allied forces along the German border. By January 1, 1945, the Germans are in retreat. January 12, 1945 The Soviets launch a new offensive, liberating Warsaw and Krakow in January, capturing Budapest after a two-month siege on February 13, driving the Germans and their Hungarian collaborators out of Hungary in early April, forcing the surrender of Slovakia with the capture of Bratislava on April 4, and capturing Vienna on April 13. March 7, 1945 U.S. troops cross the Rhine River at Remagen. April 16, 1945 The Soviets launch their final offensive, encircling Berlin. April 1945 Partisan units, led by Yugoslav Communist leader Josip Tito, capture Zagreb and topple the Ustasa regime. The top Ustasa leaders flee to Italy and Austria. April 30, 1945	i don't know
Steve Irwin, beloved Australian who died after a stingray mistook his chest for a dart board, was better known as whom?	The Sydney Morning Herald Blogs: The Daily Truth Posted by: GerardW on September 6, 2006 10:30 AM Saint Diana, Saint David Hookes, Saint Steve Irwin... Posted by: Oz_1788 on September 6, 2006 10:43 AM Let's face a fact here. Steve Irwin was a yobbo who made millions out of that image Every second Yank I meet, immediately on picking me for an Australian gushes "Oh, I LOVE the Crocodile Hunter." My standard response is "well, that would make you and idiot wouldn't it?" Still, I have to take my hat off to him in this respect: stupid and full of half baked ideas as he was, he really found a market for his faux heroics and animal molesting and milked it for all it's worth. He had it coming and the only thing I have difficulty with is the attention he received before and after his death. All the sycophants who thought he was so bloody cool should realise that their voyeuristic Colosseumesque reaction to stirring up dangerous animals is what killed him. They are responsible for his death. I spent several years jumping out of perfectly sound aircraft from 12,000'. I had 2 canopy malfunctions in several hundred jumps that scared the crap out of me. But if I made a splat I hoped that the only thing said at my funeral would be "stupid bastard." The press, including SMH are so afraid of going against this mass hysteria. Peter Beatty is the worst. A savvy reader of the polls as any who can exploit a situation in an instant. It all makes me sick. I'm having trouble feeling sorry for his wife who encouraged the melodrama on camera for all it was worth. Quite literally. But I do. And especially for his children who are now without a father. Posted by: Seppo on September 6, 2006 10:46 AM Hi Jack The media is in the business of firstly, making money, then secondly providing a news service. They smell stories, tributes and quite a few more "Current Affairs Special Editiions". It is overstated, but perhaps by not a lot. I think everyone I've had a conversation with, over the past couple of days has gone there. "What about Steve Irwin eh?" "Yeah amazing, who'd have thunk it?" "Yeah, a stingray" "yeah, I didn't think it'd be a stingray" This story does have significant penetration into our culture. Look at the number of comments it's created on the news sites. This is my first posting in your blog... on this topic. I daresay there will be others. It's sad that the media just overcooks it so, and that everyone from the Prime Minister to Idol contestants have had a microphone thrust in their faces. I reckon they feel compelled to ham-up their response to garner the public support - or face accusations of not showing the appropriate grief. I, for one, didn't quite understand the whole media frenzy over the "Baby Bob incident". Perhaps there should have been caption on every news item. "This man is a trained professional, do not try this with your own baby". I also can't help thinking there was some residual hysteria from the Michael Jackson incident. (What's that kid called? Prince Michael II, or "blanket" or something?) The media had discovered that they, combined with everyone who had an opinion were better parents than Jacko. And probably were. Then they tried it on Steve Irwin. Everyone was horrified at a primal level. They couldn't get it, that this guy was probably raised just the same - in the presence of crocodiles and dangerous animals all his life. Anyway - on to Ms Greer. Her rantings, as usual, speak much larger volumes about her own anger at everything than anything else. I can't recall a time whan Ms Greer has had anything positive to say. Possible because I show no interest in her activities at all, but more likely because she's just become loathsome, and the only way she can express herself is via unprovoked bitterness. I read her rubbish, and felt anger. It's the first time, I've tried to track down a person's email address and sned her MY opinion. (Then I got bored and calmed down atfer a fruitless 5 minute search). As far as I know, he's done nothing to Ms Greer, apart from operated from a set of values far separated from hers. This must be a terrible thing in her eyes. How much longer does she qualify an an ex-Australian? Can't we just disown the idiot? She's clearly lost touch with us. I just read all of this back. It's a rant. I'm not changing it. Make of it what you will. Nice column btw. Posted by: Days on September 6, 2006 10:49 AM Hey, I was impressed by the passion of the guy in everything he spoke about, and enjoyed watching the Denton interview on Monday night. But I drew the line when the Current Affairs shows were camped outside the zoo on Tuesday, and seven dragged out some unscheduled "tribute". And wasn't it Chennel Nine that went on a witch hunt several years ago when the Croc Hunter shows were first shown in Australia, about them being faked. Go figure. Posted by: Not quite sure on September 6, 2006 10:49 AM Great article. Don't know Steve Irwin but I do know he was a great conservationist purchasing land all over the world for habitat ensuring it couldn't be developed. It is a great great loss to our environment. But... HYPOCRITES. Anyone who doesn't know as much as he does about animals, in particular crocodiles, has no right to suggest he was endangering his child. Only Steve knows whether he did that or not. And anyone else as educated in the field. Posted by: Anmada on September 6, 2006 10:52 AM A voice of sanity amid the hoopla. Thank you. When I saw Naomi Robson standing outside Australia Zoo wearing khakis I knew things had gotten way out of hand. Posted by: AR on September 6, 2006 10:53 AM Seppo, You obviously haven't researched the topic have you. Forget his antics. Who cares!!! He was a great conservationist and that's how he should be remembered Posted by: Anmada on September 6, 2006 10:54 AM Steve Irwin exemplified the commodification of wildlife. They say there are more tigers in Texas than Asia. In the "Animal Planet" world wildlife only has value if it is dangerous or cuddly. He has been hailed as a great environmentalist and I'm sure he did some good things but we need to value the natural wildlife for its intrinsic rather than entertainment value. Steve's gladatorial approach to wildlife was successful because the lowest common denominator rules the ratings; see how sam and the city beats the daily truth. I agree with Greer, nature has had its revenge. Also I couldn't stand his fake aussie act - no-one talks like that, sure he kept it up in private, but that doesn't make it less fake. Posted by: greg on September 6, 2006 10:56 AM Germaine Greer's article has given her what she hungers as if it were oxygen, free publicity. Let us not forget who appeared a few years ago on the British Big Brother. Posted by: James on September 6, 2006 10:58 AM He was not a saint, not without his flaws and far from perfect, but from all accounts, he was truly a great Aussie and his death is a tragedy. Posted by: Rohan Harris on September 6, 2006 10:59 AM Praising Steve Irwin for his impressive work towards environmental education and conservation seems to be the latest bandwagon to jump aboard. Flavour of the month. Posted by: Cro54033 on September 6, 2006 10:59 AM The media is responsible for beating up this story and profiteering on what is a remarkably painful time for those who actually knew Steve Irwin. Greer has always been a terrible, angry old women, who has had the life sucked out of her and has only made her name by tearing into people who are more successful, and I daresay, more intelligent than her. She is the epitome of a sufferer of 'cultural cringe' and at every turn she feels the need to bash all things Australian to purge her colonial past to fit in with the colonisers. A nasty piece of work. Posted by: AC on September 6, 2006 11:03 AM Like him or not, the sad fact is that a little girl has lost the father she adored and a little boy will have little memory of his father. God Bless his wife and children. RIP Steve. Posted by: Wally on September 6, 2006 11:03 AM Well written, Jack, and right on the bullet. The media reaction has been over the top as is usual in these circumstances, and the shoving of microphones into the teary and haggard faces of Steve Irwin?s friends and colleagues asking ?how do you feel?? is just plain cringeworthy. The public outpouring of grief following his death is, I am sure, honest and well-meaning ? people feel sorrow for a young man cut down in his prime and in such tragic circumstances. And regardless of personal feelings, Steve Irwin did remind the world to respect and look after animals of all species, shapes and sizes and was much loved for it. One has to wonder, as journalists did after Diana-gate and then after the disappearance and murder in the UK of a young girl a few years ago, whether the laying of wreaths, flowers, candles and notes is genuine sorrow or the unconscious need to feel involved in the event, to feel a part of this huge sad experience. As for Germaine Greer, maybe some of her comments have a ring of truth to them about irritating animals etc, but I really do think that she could have waited a bit longer before rolling out her particular brand of vituperative carping.. Posted by: Cat-on-Toast on September 6, 2006 11:06 AM You make good points Jack. I do think that Germaine has the right to an opinion, although I think she should have at least left it until after the funeral and given the family a bit more time to grieve. But that is just the way I would have gone about any criticism. I have like Irwin for many years now. Always thought that he was crazy for sure, but he never said he wasn't. It was refreshing to see someone so into his work. I liked him more once I found out from the Head Vet at Aussie Zoo (friend of a close friend) that he was the same off camera as he is on. Anyway, I too thought it ironic that the same people who are now calling him a Hero were so quick pull him down just 2 years ago! Sunrise in particluar pissed me off. Mel's nearly smug look on her face turned me off even more (not sure why but Sunrise has been annoying me allot latley). But at the end of the say, in my mind, we have lost a Great Aussie. Posted by: Adrian on September 6, 2006 11:06 AM Hey Seppo, Crawl back into your septic tank and take the likes of Kochie & Mel with you !! Have some heart you w@nker ! Posted by: Mutley on September 6, 2006 11:08 AM It is only 2 days now after Steve Irwins death... Id say anyone that puts down a guy who has helped this country so much is a creep... Id also add that they are a disgrace! Show some respect. OK...if there's anyone else as dumb as Paul please don't bother posting. - Jack Posted by: Paul on September 6, 2006 11:10 AM You dont have to go back two years. Last week Paul Toohey in The Bulletin was bagging him as a self-promoter and for standing in the way of a croc safaris in the NT. This week, he (over)writes a loving obituary. Must mean that Channel Nine is going to lead the Irwin canonisation Posted by: Luke Hughes on September 6, 2006 11:10 AM On the contrary Anmada. Please explain to me the logic of feeding at close quarters a crocodile with a baby under your arms. Is it dangerous or not? You can't have it both ways. I agree, he was a great champion of conservation. But then why argue that covering Australia with cows and sheep is OK because the country has "evolved" and can now handle it. David Attenborough is by far the greater champion of conservation and does so without sticking his thumb up the arse of every crocodile he meets for the entertainment of the gasping, idiot consumer. Posted by: Seppo on September 6, 2006 11:10 AM Steve Irwin was a great ambassador for animal welfare and the environment. Nobody is perfect, but he came close raising awareness amongst us and our kids. Germaine Greer sounds like a bitter twisted woman who needs to get a life. Posted by: Giles on September 6, 2006 11:17 AM Why is eveyone so shocked. The man made a living by playing with deadly animals... It doesnt seem that suprising that "our steve" would be "snatched away from us" by a dangerous animal. Anyway, he was just as bad as Paul Hogan for perpetuating the oppinion overseas (read: in the US) that we (Aussies) are all a bunch of scrub-loving red-necks who ride kangaroos down the red-dirt roads to work on the sheering-station cooking shrimp on the barbie while we yell "crikey!" at one another over a few beers from the cooler. Posted by: dude on September 6, 2006 11:19 AM RIP Colin Thiele and Naguib Mahfouz. Both died on the same day as Steve Irwin and both deserve as many accolades as the Croc Hunter. Germaine - SHUT UP! Posted by: dan on September 6, 2006 11:21 AM Have Kochie & Mel be dissing our late hero Mutley? I'm sorry I missed that. Posted by: Seppo on September 6, 2006 11:21 AM Well done Jack! My thoughts exactly. Keep going the way you are though and you may be out of a job. Just let us know where you end up though so we can continue to read your refreshing opinions. Posted by: harry_goto on September 6, 2006 11:21 AM AS above, like him or not, he has done a great deal for Australia, and for the conservation of animals. He will be sorely missed and I wish his family the best. Your article was interesting, but I think you seem to be forgetting that the hard press that he recieved was exactly that, HARD PRESS. The press seem to have great difficulty in expressing what the average person thinks these days and is more focussed on trying to rev everyone up. I agree it's hypocritical that these same news agencies that bagged him are now running tributes, but hey, HE DESERVES THEM! R.I.P THE CROC HUNTER Posted by: Andrew Parnham on September 6, 2006 11:22 AM Thank you Jack Marx for putting this unfortunate incident into perspective. I think Greer's article is spot on, however, it's still way too soon to stick the boot in. The News Limited "press" is nothing more than tabloid trash with some sport thrown in for good measure. They have no credibility and therefore no right to attack Greer. Sting rays only attack when they are threatened. Steve Irwin is no wildlife warrior when compared to Jacques Cousteou or Attenborough who never encroached on the animals turf because they were far too respectful. Irwin was an idiot but as far as idiots go he was likeable enough. Posted by: Magoochos on September 6, 2006 11:23 AM Good article Jack, at least there is some balance about the guy and his life. Why on earth was GG trotted out for her opinion? Why is she deemed an "expert or cultural icon" on all matters Australian when she suffers from the worst cultural cringe of us all? Did we ask her what she thought about Cheryl Kernot's affair, Russell Crowes phone attack, Don Chipp's death etc? She is really starting to be more of an embarrassment that Irwin ever was. Posted by: DiR on September 6, 2006 11:23 AM Strains of that TISM song, "Been Caught Wankin'": We all saw the funeral for Lady Di And didn't you just want to barf? They've been caught wankin' The media all with their snouts in the sty Crocodile tears caught in their eyes You had to be heartless not to laugh They've been caught wankin' Posted by: Sparkle Motion on September 6, 2006 11:23 AM That's got to be the first time "experienced animal handlers" have been quizzed about Germaine Greer's literary aspirations. Truly Pythonesque. But really, why are quasi-respectable rags still mining this frothing old troglodyte for quotes? Fk's sake, she'd juggle her own turds if it she knew there was a camera nearby. By the way, I always thought Irwin was a git, too. Conservation my dog's ae, he had both buggly eyes fixed firmly on the cash registers. Posted by: Speckled Jim on September 6, 2006 11:24 AM Sure Steve Irwin did a lot to promote wildlife and make a lot of money along the way, put to some good uses. But as some one who is an ecologist I was embarrassed by his antics and overthe top treatment of wildlife as a play thing and little else. His contribution to conservation ia encouraging kids should be remembered. But in the global scheme of promting a deep respect for nature, he's no David Attenborough (to bring in another TV wildlfie personality). And his view on not eating kangaroos were widely promoted but entriely incongruous with his other conservation ideals. But what i really didn't like was that he made his name tormenting and harassing a lot of animals. Most of these victims were either reptiles or fish, and people loved him for it. If he did the same to our kangaroos, koalas or possums we'd have crucified him as being cruel to animals. I find i rarely agree with Germains Greers view on many things but on this issue she got it right. Posted by: fsquirter on September 6, 2006 11:24 AM The same points could have been made in a respectful way and not just after the guy died. To come out with that kind of rant putting down the guy, lampooning him and giving him no respect or sympathy says more in a negative way about her than anything she said of him, IMO. It seems like she can't even appreciate that he was a real human being who actually died - it seems like she's so caught up in the politics and social commentary that he's reduced to an opportunity to score a few cheap ideological points and attack the Australian male. Posted by: cupcakes on September 6, 2006 11:24 AM A man dying quicky and painlessly, doing a risky activity that he loved, is not what I consider a tragedy. A tragedy is a child abused by an adult when no-one tried to stop it; a patient dying in an under-funded hospital; millions dying every year from starvation and preventable diseases. I feel very sorry for Terri and the kids. But please can we keep this in perspective. Posted by: Sue on September 6, 2006 11:25 AM I thought Steve was a fool for working with the croc with a baby in one hand, but he had the grace to apologise. From what i saw through an interview, he had a dopey side but he also had a lack of pretension and a genuine enthusiasm for life. In the end, we all are flawed (hands up everyone who has driven their kids whilst using a mobile phone) but not many of us so what he did: lived life completely and passionately. I grieve for his family and his friends, but the truth is he had a life most of us will only envy, worked for conservation and other things he believed in and did his best to leave the world a better place. In that, i think he was a great example to follow. As for dying by stingray, it's interesting that people feel he must be to blame for it. For one thing, lots of people have been just as near stingrays and not been killed (only 3 other recorded deaths in australia!). I suspect it's the human desire to make a narrative out of the mostly random bad stuff that happens to us. In the end, we all die, no matter how cautious we are, and it's better to take risks and enjoy ourselves than to hide under the bed hoping death won't find us. Posted by: Brett Caton on September 6, 2006 11:27 AM He made me and the kids smile and he did come across as a good bloke who had great passion in his beliefs. He managed to get the point across to children who lets face it are the future and I much rather a future where conservation is important. I do not like the way the media are making kids feel guilty about NOT crying for him. I also am furious that the media are reporting children will need counseling, most kids will feel sad that such a funny big bloke has died. However they will get over it. We are turning WAY too American with over reactions,children do not need to be forced to cry all this mass hysteria media pushed is not sincerer at all. Let?s feel sad for the loss and send our best wishes to his family. Let?s encourage our kids to plant a tree quietly in our own backyards if it makes them feel better, away from the media. Most of all let?s just remember Steve for the amusing, and passionate man he was. Posted by: karen on September 6, 2006 11:27 AM AMEN! Posted by: georgia on September 6, 2006 11:27 AM FINALLY!!! I was starting to think my family and I were the only people in Australia who had this 'event' in perspective.I was totally amazed at the response from the media. Its just become another Beaconsfield. Why hasn't Eddie McGuire been up there yet? I've heard many people describe Steve Iriwin as a great conservationist but have not heard any actual examples of that (I will try and keep an open mind if there are examples). I don't equate keeping wildlife in enclosures and jumping on them and roping them in for entertainment with conservationism. I thought he was more of an entrepeuner. I didn't particularly like the guy, in fact I thought he was bit of a tool. I've also heard people say that he was quite intelligent. Well, crikey mate, I thought intelligent people could string a few words together that make sense, ya know mate. I don't recall Steve Irwin being articulate on any matter, passionate yes, but not articulate. After the 'Baby Bob' incident I recall him saying that his daughter was the most croc-savvy kid you could ever come across. I thought now there's a life skill every kid should have and I wasted my time teaching my daughter things like the importance of respecting other people and their values. My sympathy does go out to his wife and children though. Posted by: Maureen Chuck on September 6, 2006 11:28 AM Mutley (11.08am): 1. Seppo has the right to his opinion, even if it doesn't match yours. 2. Kochie and Mel have nothing to do with this, why raise them? 3. Guess what?... you are allowed to write "wanker" here, you don't have to resort to cheap devices. 4. You typify the comment that sometimes it's better to stay silent and let people wonder whether you're a fool than to open your mouth and let them know for certain that you are. Posted by: Oz_1788 on September 6, 2006 11:28 AM Most of us will go through life talking the talk but never walking the walk... sitting on our arses blogging haha.. In some ways Irwin did arguably represent the commodification of wildlife - he brought vast tracks of land in order to conserve it. Fight fire with fire? Whether his approach to conservation is the right one or not is debatable, but at least he had a go and put his money where his mouth was. Worse are people like Greer who has become irrelevant because she offers no solutions just bitter negativity. Agree with your comments on the media circus - his enemy one day, best mate the next.. Posted by: Nick on September 6, 2006 11:28 AM I have heard that Sting will be performing at the state funeral Posted by: Roy Munson on September 6, 2006 11:28 AM A very good article providing a bit of balanced opinion at a time when the media is once again displaying unbounded hypocrisy. They had no time for him before except when he did something that could be criticised. Now he's the greatest. Why are they only now telling us about his generosity and commitment towards conservation projects. To me that would have been good to hear about while he was alive. Posted by: AllanG on September 6, 2006 11:29 AM Jack, what you say is spot on. The media love nothing better than a feeding frenzy based around a death. As you say, it gets to the point of being completely sickening as friend after friend is interviewed breaking down, and marine wildlife experts are pestered to tell us all how rare this event was. I never thought much of Steve - a bit of a nong at times, but one with a heart of gold who truly cared about all animals. There aren't many people like that left on earth, which is why i feel the world is worse off for his having passed. As for Germaine, the poisonous old tart blithers on about the risk he took with his son in the enclosure... Steve was quick, apart from having a lifetime of experience jumping on crocodiles with his dad, he wanted to bring his children up with the same love for animals he had. whether that starts age 8 months with crocodiles is for steve to decide (terri didn't seem too put out by it), and germaine should learn to recognise when her opinions are purely bad taste and keep them to herself. The irony of the situation is that the public outrage the media is stirring up now is exactly as Germaine wants it - lest her 'queen of controversy' title be forgotten as, no doubt, she will be in three more days. Posted by: John Hotrox on September 6, 2006 11:30 AM The thing that gets me about all these tributes is that no one talks about how irresponsible he was to keep putting himself in dangerous situations when he had two small children to look after. Now his two kids have to grow up without a dad - How bloody selfish!! Posted by: JAJ on September 6, 2006 11:30 AM You can bag him out all you want. He was a man that lived his life how he wanted, good on him for giving people the opportunity to laugh with him or at him. It's sad for any family when they lose a loved one. Let the media say great things about him, the only people to care what was said in 10 years time is his kids, Let them read about what a fantastic man their father was and how much joy he brought to people! Let Terri, Bindi Sue and Bob share wonderful memories and stories about a man they loved more than life. Rest in Peace Steve "You can bag him out all you want" - who are you talking to, Marleine? - Jack Posted by: Marleine on September 6, 2006 11:31 AM Naomi Robson outside the zoo in khakis? Tell me it isn't so!! Let's hope Steve Irwin zaps her butt from wherever he is, or a freak lightning bolt, or whatever... Posted by: Cat-On-Toast on September 6, 2006 11:32 AM Why all the surprise at his death? The man courted danger for a living, harassing animals with little respect for their primal responses. I wasn't remotely surprised that he died in an accident with an animal, bizarre as it was.....probably more surprised to see the headlines didn't read "Steve Irwin chomped by a croc". He was a man. He died. Yes, that's a tragedy for his family, but let's get on with our lives. Surely there must be something more important for the media to report. Good on Germaine - gotta love independent thought in this world of overwrought media-inflamed emotion. Posted by: Nella on September 6, 2006 11:32 AM I am as shocked as anyone else by what has happened to Steve Irwin, but what is really starting to annoy me is the way this is all being portrayed in the media. All I hear are people saying things like "Gee. This is going to be SO HARD for his wife and kids" , "how are they going to cope?" Ok. Fair enough. But really, how hard will it be for them? They have the support of millions of people around the world and locally. They have more money at their disposal than any of us could even begin to imagine. With the money and support they will have, I am sure it will still be a very difficult thing to deal with, but they are in a much better position to do that than the majority of the population. I can understand that people would be concerned about his wife and kids, but all this is NO DIFFERENT to any other wife and kids who lose their father - no matter how old the father is or what the cause was. People die all the time - every day in fact. What happened to Steve was tragic and an unfortunate accident, but lets not play it up beyond what it really is. He was a human being like the rest of us. He lived and he died. This is what we do. We live and eventually we die. Sometimes sooner than what is expected, but, that's what happens sometimes. His wife and kids will do it no harder than the rest of us when people we know and love lose their life, either naturally or in a tragic accident such as this. So let's stop with the "how will they cope" mentality and move on from there. They will cope the same way we all do. Posted by: saddened on September 6, 2006 11:34 AM I still couldn't care less. Welcome Days! Just one point re your comment re; "The media is in the business of firstly, making money, then secondly providing a news service"; Just so we are all clear; According to the Book of Rantings (not revelations)of the Church of the Invisible GloveBox Turkey [IGBT]: The role of the media is to entertain! Period! Bergherk! Posted by: GerardW on September 6, 2006 11:39 AM "On the contrary Anmada. Please explain to me the logic of feeding at close quarters a crocodile with a baby under your arms. Is it dangerous or not? You can't have it both ways." I went to the zoo on Saurday. The whole point of the 'show' is that crocodiles pose no danger to a human over land - they are too slow. That is part of the conservation message at the zoo namely, there is no need to exterminate crocs - just keep 4m back fm the waterline and don't ever go in the water. Furthermore, that old story was beat up - based on a misleading camera angle. I used to think SI was a cock. Over time I realised that he puts his money where his mouth is for conservation causes (nearly 25000 ha of land bought for endangered animal habitats apparently). His zoo is clearly reinvesting its profits back and throughout it all, he is not taking himself too seriously. More positives there than Germaine Greer could lay claim too I suspect! Posted by: Ian on September 6, 2006 11:41 AM sorry, meant People can bag him out Gotcha. - Jack Posted by: Marleine on September 6, 2006 11:42 AM It's like that when an archetype dies young. You know archetypes--famous people who capture a stereotype, like the beautiful, jilted princess. Best to just keep low for the next week and borrow lots of DVDs--hope they don't televise the state funeral. Actually it's better than in NZ, where the mourning process for maori dignitaries lasts ages. I remember when Matiu Rata died that progress in his tangi made the news and headlines for about a week. And when Diana then died not long afterwards, they kept "crossing to Paris" "for updates" (such us, yup, she's still dead). This went on from the moment she died until she was buried, and the funeral was covered live by _both_ commercial stations. Thank heavens I'm not in NZ now - the Maori Queen's tangi will have dominated the news for ages. Mind you, they're a bit racist against Australians so they might actually be spared the Steve Irwin frenzy. Posted by: death-to-khaki on September 6, 2006 11:42 AM What a miserable lot you are, at least Steve Urwin was a ray of sunshine in the sea of cynicism. "Steve Urwin was a ray of sunshine..." - a most unfortunate choice of word, Sam. - Jack Posted by: Sam on September 6, 2006 11:43 AM Great bit of work Jack. I agree with the majority of sentiments expressed here and as shocked as I was to hear of his death I am surprised at the public outpouring of grief. The Americans have gone into meltdown. I always thought Irwin was a "good bloke" but a bit of dickhead really and I didn't think I was alone. What is it with Greer? She may make a valid point but her timing is lousy and it always seems so vitriolic. BTW Days I recall her being very positive about her love of 'young boys' not so long ago. In light of what happened to Steve Irwin it only goes to reinforce my own wildlife rule; stay away from the bitey stingy beasts. Posted by: j-bird on September 6, 2006 11:43 AM I read your article, and I agree, its all a bit hysterical, I always thought he would lose an arm or something, I mean the guy made a shit load of money by jumping on deadly animals, are we really suprised! However, saying that, I found myself feeling really sad reading it, the guy was a yob, but I liked him, and he had alot of enthusiasm for life, we can all learn alot from him there. As far as Germaine Greer goes, what the hell has she ever contributed to our society, she should hand in her passport. Her comments are, I loathe to say it, Un Australian! RIP Steve. Posted by: fitter on September 6, 2006 11:44 AM Hey Jack Don't be so jealous that you are not even 1/2 the man Steve was. He was passionate and had the courage to fight for what he believed. What have you ever donne mate? grow up! Yeah, thanks for that, Tig. Next time, however, read the article before posting, OK? - Jack Posted by: Tig on September 6, 2006 11:45 AM Seppo: Attenborough the greater champion of conservation? Whilst I admire the man - in fact, he was my childhood hero - he didn't have as much reach as Irwin, and Irwin has consequently been able to do more in his efforts to further his conservationist objective. For mine, Irwin's real triumph derived from the fact that he was able to interest the world in wild life. Attenborough's documentaries are, for mine, far more beautiful and engrossing. But for most people, Irwin's hands-on approach was just more exciting. With respect to Greer - my problem is not with her expressing an opinion, but in her speaking authoratatively about a subject on which I doubt she has any particularly profound knowledge. She further makes blanket statements without any particular justification - a large part of her article is propped up by the premise that the animals brandished about by Irwin frequently appeared discomforted, and I would be seriously surprised if, given her obvious animosity towards the man, she'd watched more than a couple of his shows. Posted by: Tywin on September 6, 2006 11:47 AM Having been in Oz for a decade, I didn't really have much of an idea of who Steve Irwin was besides the life-size posters of him at the airport, the cumstoms commercial, and oh yeah, that infamous event of baby Bob. It's sad that it was only after his death that I found out more about him in a day than I would have in a decade. The media has its fill of stories, and they promote whatever that sells. And for some reason, celebrity death sells far more than the daily deaths of an average 60, 70 people in the middle east. Then there's the frenzy over Shappelle Corby, the Bali Nine, and before them, Nguyen. They caused media frenzy because they were facing the death penalty. I personally do not have a particular like or dislike towards Steve Irwin. However, at times like these, I do believe it is only a matter of respect that we refrain our negative opinions and let those close to him time and space to mourn. Re Ms Greer, I read the article and my first reaction was anger, too. How could she be so insenstive and unsympathetic as to lash out at such a time? Sure she can have her opinions, but timing is an important factor. RIP Steve. Posted by: . on September 6, 2006 11:47 AM Hats off to Jack and to Seppo and to Germaine. The coverage so far, this article aside, has been making me retch. Posted by: Steve on September 6, 2006 11:49 AM Posted by: Oz_1788 at September 6, 2006 11:28 AM 3. Guess what?... you are allowed to write "wanker" here, you don't have to resort to cheap devices. Tee hee... Oz said "wanker"... Posted by: GerardW on September 6, 2006 11:49 AM Spot on, Jack. Even the beloved SMH put crap on Steve Irwin over that croc stunt. Now he is a saint. Hyprocites the lot of them. I have personally nothing for or against Steve Irwin, even watched a few croc hunter shows. But, i cannot believe the carry on, we are now witnessing. I feel for his family, friends and workers at his zoo. But state funerals etc are a bit much. But i have noticed this trend since that over-rated Princess died in 97. Media overkill has stalked all celeb deaths ever since eg Hookes. But it seems we are pressure to this point, by mass-media eg look at the World Cup just recently if you didnt follow it you were un-Australian. What!! Now the outporing over the death of TV croc hunter. Where is the sanity in all of this. Posted by: Garry S on September 6, 2006 11:49 AM Children thought I was the Crocodile Hunter About 5 years ago I set up a Steve Irwin Crocodile Hunter page and children would write to me thinking I was the actual Crocodile Hunter. I wrote back to many people from over the world to say I wasnt How sad I feel for Bindi and Bob as my father died when I was 4 1/2 and I know how sad it is RIP Steve Irwin Posted by: Kathryn Jones-Lucas on September 6, 2006 11:49 AM Nice post. And it highlights the general hypocrisy of the media. But what should we expect? They are only there to make as much momey out of Steve Irwin, and let's face it, it don't make much difference to any one in the media whether the guy is alive or dead. As long as he sells paperss, puts bums on seats, ears on headphones or speakers. Simple. And as for all the people who think that Steve Irwin was the greatest thing for wildlife and conservation, the ghandi of the wilds, the Christ of the animal kingdom. Get a bit of perspective. Contrast Irwin with David Attenborough. Now cast your mind back to "Life on Earth" when he did the piece with the Mountain Gorillas. Can't help the feeling that Irwin would have been wrestling the Silverback... Cheers... Posted by: Mick Strummer on September 6, 2006 11:53 AM Love him or hate him, no-one can deny that Steve Irwin got more people interested in conservation, then anyone else before. Millions of people around the world, especially children, learnt more about conservation from watching his shows then they would have learnt from books, school or boring documentaries. One thing he wasn't was boring. Germaine Greer is a quafid, dried up old cow. Yes, she has the right to an opinion but her timing proves that she is purely an attention seeker. As an Australian I "cringe" whenever she opens her bloody mouth! And Greg, I don't know where you come from but I have plenty of friends who sound just like Steve Irwin when they talk and none of them are fake, just geniune Aussies with a very strong Australian accent, as was Steve Irwin. Posted by: Jane on September 6, 2006 11:55 AM Good article Jack. I have to admit that I am not at all surprised with the sensationalist media beat up of this whole tragic event. What did we expect from these networks in light of previous tragic events: Sept 11, Bali, Tsunami, Diana, Beaconsfield...need I go on. I was disgusted when I saw on Sunrise (I think it was Sunrise) an animated reinactment of Steve Irwin's death. Hey - the family's grieving so lets give Australia a blow by blow re-enactment of how he died. Do you like that kids? Bit different from your normal morning cartoons hey? It made me sick and I switched off almost immediately. (if I'm wrong about the program or the content I apologise I just saw a cartoon stingy ray and a cartoon diver and changed the channel immediately.) This is a truly sad time and I feel for his family and hope that they do not turn on the TV for the next week or so. RIP Steve. Posted by: Danielle on September 6, 2006 11:55 AM Of course the media bag someone when they do something stupid. Most of us do. Doesn't mean we judge their entire life by that incident or that we're hypocrites. If a mate stuffs up, you tell them. Doesn't mean you're wrong to give them a good eulogy when they die. When someone dies you look back at their life as a whole to judge them, not isolated incidents. And from what I've seen, the baby Bob incident has had fair play in the past week too. As for Greer - what a surprise to see her try to get her name in print by taking a deliberately provocative stance on the issue of the day. Zzzz. Posted by: newieboy on September 6, 2006 11:55 AM Firstly- The National Media plumbed some new lows on Monday when broadcasting the news about Steve Irwin BEFORE his family had been informed. Any news editor who let this through should be sacked. This has been an unspoken rule of ethics for journalism since god knows when... one more crossed off by Australian news editors. Secondly- When people remember how great he was for conservation & what wonders he did for the country's flora & fauna; also remember that our Federal Government would have been mining the Barrier Reef for oil were it not for the conservation movement. Kakadu National Park has a Uranium mine not far from the crocodile habitat, & the Federal Governemt would have built a second mine there were it not for the conservation movement. So if you really believe in the Crocodile Hunter's legacy, take his memory to the polling booth next year. Any memory of an Aussie Icon is worth at least more than a few words... especially hollow words from politicians grasping for credibility in the environment... Posted by: ca va? on September 6, 2006 11:57 AM Bergherk Jack... once again great piece. I heard a bit of radio the other night that echoed these sentiments (Spoonman on Triple M) and was amazed at how many people were calling up having apopletic fits over the fact that someone would DARE to challenge the beatification of Steve. What is with that? Why is it that whenever someone reasonably well-known dies that we have to turn them into saints and martyrs? And the more famous, the more saintly, apparently. It just doesn't gel for me. Yes I feel sorry for Steve's family, but I'd feel equally sorry for the families of anyone who'd had an untimely death... if I knew about them. It happens every day people! Yes, that's right, we ALL die, one day. Many of us have untimely deaths. Many of us have meaningful and worthwhile lives and make major contributions to the world. And yet most of us don't even rate a mention, let alone the media storm that accompanies the death of someone FAMOUS. So for me, it's no wonder that you have people reacting to this hysteria by saying uncaring things like 'who cares' or 'hey, remember lots of us thought he was a bit of a dickhead'. To the people having apopletic fits I'd say, tone down the hysteria and you won't have to listen to the negatives! Here endeth the lesson. Posted by: SJ on September 6, 2006 11:58 AM Wow! Maybe he wasn't half the drongo some of you think he was. He only crash tackle wild animals. It he had been in the same room as some of you in this blog, he would have been torn appart, ripped to shreads and then stamped on. And the attack wouldn't have been because you were looking for your next meal or defending yourselves from potential danger. But just because you aren't able to accept someone who may be a bit out there and being a success doing it. Posted by: TK on September 6, 2006 11:59 AM Can anyone remember who the TV 'personality' was who was bitten on the crotch by a snake that Irwin hurled off the stage at the Logies (or some other fabulous event) Luckily the victim took it in good spirits but to me that epitomised what Irwin was about. All gob and never really in control. Posted by: j-bird on September 6, 2006 12:01 PM Seppo: You're a tosser. Your mate GerardW ain't too far behind you either. Love to shoot you down, but you're right; no one would give a shit when you hit the deck. Posted by: ekka on September 6, 2006 12:01 PM 1.Handling and annoying wild creatures is dangerous and frankly stupid. 2.Taking life threatening risks handling wild creatures is hardly good example. Posted by: anthony on September 6, 2006 12:01 PM I am so relieved to see I am not the only one not hoodwinked by the slavering media frenzy to eulogise the tall poppy. The only thing which astounds is that there are people genuinely upset and shedding real tears in response to it. What a nonsense - the only interest the media has in this is turnover and it is a gilt-edged opportunity. It is a sad reflection on the non-elite Australian that they fall for this three card trick time and again. I personally found him peurile and irritating, though I can see his appeal to the redneck convict fringe. My little boys were vagualy upset at his passing but even my five year old has enough sense to see through the cult of celbrity that seems to have infected and dumbed down this nation. Posted by: Andrew on September 6, 2006 12:03 PM Oohhh ... a bit of debate raging in here this morning ... how exciting! Jack ... I agree absolutely with everything in your article ... and have expressed similar thoughts myself over the past few days ... I was surprisingly surprised when I heard of his death. As someone has already pointed out ... it's not like I'd just heard my son's Maths teacher had had his heart pierced by a stingray ... Steve Irwin was in a risky line of work - despite people's protestations that he was a 'trained professional'. I too am sorry he's gone and am sad for his family ... but I didn't know him personally so that's as far as it goes. I'm not saying I'm only affected by deaths of people I know personally ... I've been moved to tears by the deaths of people I consider great writers, musicians or public figures ... so maybe it's just that I didn't consider Steve Irwin in that light that I have trouble understanding the media beat up. It's certainly sadder when someone dies quite suddenly at at a young age ... I noted with sadness the passing of Colin Thiele recently, as GerardW pointed out in his earlier post ... Colin Thiele was in his eighties ... so it was sad in a different way ... it did prompt me to dig out my copy of 'Storm Boy' and start reading it to my children ... I won't be watching endless re-runs of 'The Crocodile Hunter' on TV in the coming weeks. I had no great respect for Steve Irwin as a conservationist or a cultural ambassador ... I think there are plenty of others performing those jobs a lot better but without the high profile. He was an entertainer (though I didn't find him entertaining myself) ... a successful showman. I don't agree with Germaine's 'nature's revenge' theory ... and do think she might have kept her opinion to herself for a little while ... unless ofcourse her aim was indeed to hijack a bit of the publicity for herself ... but I do agree with some of her points. I know it's the media's business to profit out of this kind of event ... I just think that the people who genuinely knew and loved the man should be left to mourn in peace. Posted by: DD on September 6, 2006 12:04 PM "We" were lining up to crucify..... Please define "we" in your opening sentence, Mr Marx or are you speaking "in general" or "for all of us" or is it a bona-fide use of the Royal "we?" Would it have been better starting your personal comment along the lines of "The vocal, headline-seeking minority ........" Not all of "us" went troppo over the [non-] event of that day. Yeah, I'm sorry for that - I don't like other people who presume to think for me in their "we", but I made sure I posted a link to justify this particular "we". - Jack Posted by: Al on September 6, 2006 12:05 PM I am an American who was never really impressed by Mr. Irwins tactics. I found some of his work apalling and irresponsible. Many Americans feel this way also. While he may have been a help to the enviroment, his antics were cartoonish. I am sad for his family but please, a State Funeral? He pissed off crocs and snakes for christ sake. Did he bring peace to the Mideast? A tragedy yes, but I can think a hundred people who died in the last month who truly deserved this kind of outpouring. Let's give this much energy to the living who truly need our help. Perspective please!! Also, do we really have to see the death tape? God help us. Posted by: Verne Olmstead on September 6, 2006 12:05 PM Reading various blogs, I was staggered by the number of people that claimed they were shocked by his death. Oh come on, the guy wrestled crocodiles for Christ sake. It a dangerous thing to do and there?s a fair chance that a simple mistake would result in fatal consequences. This was my thought on the ?Baby Bob? incident. If something as simple as Irwin losing his footing resulted in the son being injured or worse what would have everyone said then? I would suggest that it would have been something like ?he took his new born baby into the enclosure while he was feeding the crocodiles? That?s unbelievable! How stupid is he?? I would also suggest that some form of criminal charges would have resulted. This public outpouring of grief over someone that they have never met is so over the top it?s unbelievable. I?ve seen footage of people in tears over some bloke they?ve only seen on the tele and know nothing about. Some goose was on TV last night talking about having children receiving counselling over the death. I can?t believe that some people are so easily manipulated by the media that their daily life falls apart when a minor celebrity carks it. I think these people seriously need to get a life of their own. The little thought that I ever had about Steve Irwin was that he was a bit of a bogon and slightly embarrassing. However he appeared mainly harmless and to his credit I had heard that he had done a number of things to help animals. Also I realised that he probably didn?t care one iota what I though so like most people I managed to get on with my life in a world that included Steve Irwin. Just as I will in a world without him. Posted by: Sherlock on September 6, 2006 12:05 PM ekka at September 6, 2006 12:01 PM I would. And stop picking on GerardW, he's all right. Posted by: Oz_1788 on September 6, 2006 12:06 PM Just because I'm not crying and wailing over Steve's death doesn't mean I don't think he did good things (although I'm STILL waiting on a clear breakdown of his emvironmental achievements, the media hasn't provided this yet). Sheesh, some people need to go back to school and learn some comprehension skills. It's not all black and white, kids. Posted by: AR on September 6, 2006 12:07 PM I was one of those people ridiculed for being distressed on hearing of Steve's very untimely death. Just as distressing was reading some of the nasty uniformed comments. Didn't your mothers teach you "if you can't say something nice about someone, say nothing at all"? The media (including you Jack!) are opportunists, that's the nature of the beast. His death has given you a "nice" controversial article for the day. As for you other wankers, Steve did what he had to, to get people to notice and hoepfully change what is happening to our animals. He was not Saint Steve but he had a go. What have you done lately to make the world a better place? Germaine, wonder why you are still here spewing hate; maybe the Devel's not ready for you yet, you are doing such a stirling job here! So if I don't agree with what I see, I best, as a journalist, shut up about it lest I be seen to be an "opportunist"? Don't be stupid. - Jack Posted by: Chezza on September 6, 2006 12:07 PM Well, well, well.... so much grief for Steve Irwin. I too send my condolences to his wife and children on the loss of their husband and father, but then, I also feel for other wives and children who have lost their husbands and dads. The fact that Steve Irwin constantly put his life in danger significantly increased the risk of his early demise and his family are probably lucky that he lived to 44. I agree that the media is whipping up a frenzy - again - but then, that is a given in these days of the overblown self importance they give themselves. Media presenters really should look hard at themselves and ask whether they would want all this intrusion in their lives if they were to suffer a loss. Most people are not really interested in watching another person's grief - they have a little more respect. Media presenters have no idea just how their insensitivity degrades them. Posted by: monique on September 6, 2006 12:09 PM While I respect people's opinions, I just can't seem to feel comfortable with those who are negative about someone who is no longer with us. The efforts of the media in portraying the events of Monday are only adding fuel to these people's fire. Why can't they give some of their stories and 'tributes' a rest and let people mourn and honour Steve in their own way. I watched Channel 7's tribute last night - it was so over the top that I felt I was in a way disrespecting Steve by watching such money-making trash. Posted by: melissa on September 6, 2006 12:09 PM A bit harsh TK. The point of the discussion was about the media hype. People only respond and form an opinion based on what they are allowed to see. The media lets us see what Steve and his publicist allows them to show us. So when people form opinions that the guy is a tool, or a drongo, then it's based on where they come from. You might know him better, in which case great. Just because an opinion is formed that he is a tool etc... doesn't mean we don't accept him or that he is a success. This is not about the Tall Poppy thingy (we've dispelled that myth)... The guy's dead. There's no-one attacking him that matters here, and if anyone steps into this space to attack him, the turkey will slap! Posted by: GerardW on September 6, 2006 12:09 PM Jack Marx is jumping on the bandwaggon just like all the other sickos. As you are, then, Blinky. - Jack Posted by: Blinky on September 6, 2006 12:10 PM Has anyone stopped for just one moment to consider the stingray and how he/she must be feeling? Posted by: Oz_1788 on September 6, 2006 12:11 PM Celebrity death is big business indeed and a fiercely competitive one it seems. By 3pm on Monday, News Ltd had an obituary, a gallery and a map link on their website to accompany the story on Irwin's death. SMH didn't have their map link up until some hours later. Perhaps they wasted precious time trying to go one-up with an interactive version. I'm not an Irwin knocker as such, he just wasn't my cup of tea. True, I found the whole Croc Hunter phenomenon a little embarrasing but there was Hogan and Howard before him to help dumb us all down by association. Excuse my cultural cringe but I can't help it. The real impact of Irwin's death and those of all celebrities who die relatively young is that it leaves the word "mortality" writ large. Like Irwin, I am in my early forties with a young family and it gives me cause for pause. No doubt this will have worn off in a few weeks but any pause in this day and age is welcome. So I do feel for his family, but no more than for those of any car accident or cancer victims who's lives are cut short in their prime. Also, it would be remiss of me not to pass on my sympathies to the likes of David Koch and Naomi Robson who have no doubt lost a "great mate". Posted by: Prawn on September 6, 2006 12:12 PM Hmm. You don't think that with Iraq slipping into civil war, interest rates rising, people being shafted by the new IR laws, and other people being put under house arrest after secret court hearings, that the government might be in need of a big distraction? You don't think that maybe the government put a call in to their mates at Mossad? They can make anything look accidental... Naah. They wouldn't do that. Would they? Oh, man! - Jack Posted by: L. Uminaty on September 6, 2006 12:12 PM I'm not sure of the statistics, but Steve Irwin was one of prosumably thousands of people who lost their lives on that particular day across the globe. Perhaps the only one of those thousands who was a household name in almost every country. Of course his death is going to be big news. Mainstream media were always going to do exactly what they do everyday, appeal to the largest possible market. In Australia and everywhere else the largest possible market are those people who are not cynical, blogging elitist's that seem to share the opinion that only highly educated and civilised persons are entitled to publicly voice opinion or showcase knowledge and talent. Take Steve Irwin at face value and recognise that he was a very smart individual who adapted what David Attenborough has been doing for years, entering the habitat of wild animals and bringing them into our living rooms. The fact that he did it diffently yet far more commercially successfully should be congratulated not scorned. Who cares if Naomi Robson wears khaki's and Mel and Kochie host an impromtu 'life and times' show. They have a job and a boss and are doing what they are told. If people don't like that brand of commercialism then pay the money, get foxtel and watch enlightening documentaries during prime time. Better yet go and be one of the few to purchase the Sunday Arts DVD series and stop being so negative. Posted by: essy on September 6, 2006 12:13 PM I like Steve Irwin. He was total dag and incredibly gauche, qualities I enjoy in people, probably because I can relate. I also liked his advocacy for conservation. Germaine, of course was right. He did stress out a lot of animals. To put things into context, a lot of us spend our time stressing out a lot of people too, but without Steve's interest in conserving them. But yes, the hypocrisy around the death of public figures is repulsive. But I can't complain. It's my fault that I keep making the mistake - every single day - of going back to a media that is so full of bile, one-eyed views, distortions and manipulations. So, while Steve was no brainbox, I feel like I'm making him look like Einstein for actually bothering with our media that is so full of BS. Posted by: Googla on September 6, 2006 12:13 PM It's really important that his death be shown on TV so that children can see what happens to jackasses when they clown with nature. His death wasn't an accident and wasn't freakish in nature. He cornered a wild animal and paid for it with his life. Children need to see his video so that they can realize this guy was a complete diservice to children everywhere. Hopefully the next time someone tries to imitate this jackass they will say, "Hey, didn't this jackass die fooling around with wild animals ?" Posted by: mike on September 6, 2006 12:13 PM Live by the sword die by the sword. Posted by: brain on September 6, 2006 12:13 PM Looks like the tall poppy syndrome is alive and well on this website. Speaking ill of the dead when the guy did so much to educate kids and adults alike about nature and conservation. Not to mention what he has achieved for wildlife around the world. You guys have just jumped on the hate bandwagon. PS - an American talking about glorifying celebrity and bringing peace to the middle east, please. Posted by: Gary on September 6, 2006 12:14 PM Thank god. A few more voices of reason about a man the vast majority of Australians knew little about, were dissimilar to and who pissed them off when they did see him - and yet who has been shoved down our throats as the quintessential Aussie bloke. He was a conservationist? Fantastic! Pity this didn't receive as much mainstream coverage prior to now as his dumbarse antics did or I may have thought differently of him. My heart goes out to Steve's family ... just as it does to the families of the 500-odd Australians killed each year in their workplace, to the families of those killed on the roads, to the families of those who have lived and died with dignity through immense suffering and pain due to disease... you get the picture. Though they felt empathy for Irwin's kids, my own two, aged 12 and 11, were much more upset about the death of Colin Thiele. SJ at 11:58 AM I didn't hear the Spoonman Monday night, but did catch a lot of last night's show when he gave people the chance to try and explain to him why they were reacting as they did. Can't say any of them changed my opinion of Irwin. The Spoonman also said he'd had about 1,000 emails - including death threats! - over that one show. Unbelievable. Posted by: Dragonfly on September 6, 2006 12:14 PM Hi Jack, I read Greer's article on-line yesterday and it's not as vicious as it sounds. People should read the whole thing before they start bagging her based on a few quotes pulled out by the News Ltd rags. I took it to be fairly tongue in cheek. ps - feel very sorry for Steve's wife and kids - even though I don't know them. Posted by: Joe on September 6, 2006 12:15 PM When Don Bradman died, the public showed their appreciation of his life with great dignity. Public responses to the death of public figures aren't inevitably over the top. Hopefully people will rediscover the virtues of emotionally restrained public mourning and honest appraisals of the lives of the deceased. Posted by: billk on September 6, 2006 12:15 PM Thanks Oz. Me too. Matter of fact, even if ekka fell over and shuffled off this mortal coil, I would give a sht. I'm interested though, ekka, why you would form an opinion of me in that light though you have never met me. I posted an opinion about an issue under discussion, and as a result am personally vilified in vitreol. Vilification here by me is limited to that done in jest, lest I offend someone, and if I have offended thee, then for that I repent. I must have said something that personally attacked you, although I am at a loss to see it...May the Invisible GloveBox Turkey descend and wreak beak uponst my deserving and unworthy hide. Anyone seen Larry? I think he's riding his scooter over to see sammie. Perhaps he fell under a bus in Leichardt... Posted by: GerardW on September 6, 2006 12:17 PM Marx, Wonderful piece of journalism yet again. But what were you thinking in reading the Herald Sun ? What next deriving inspiration from News of the World ? How could you possibly find the time to even get past the Andrew Bolt blogs. Surely his tit bits of Mensa scale wisdom would have you riveted even to an airline seat. As for Germaine. Well sheï¿½s just one reptile that even Steve Irwin would not wish to touch. Oh and by the way Steve Irwin had extensive experience with stingrays. I have found proof right hereï¿½.. Canï¿½t say I like stingrays that much. Penguins are more my go. They taste like chicken. Off for a swim now. Posted by: I am the Walrus on September 6, 2006 12:19 PM Jack Right or wrong - your article screems "Tall Poppy Syndrome". Freedom of speech is one thing but your timing is shameful - three days after Steve's death you choose to label him a 'drongo'. By writing this article, you have been sucked into your own debate and made Irwin newsworthy. You state that you can't be bothered with the rest of the news so clearly, newsworthy, it is. A journo only interested in one piece of news? You just lost me, Jack. You wrote "don't commit the error of thinking I'm kicking Irwin". I am not stupid (nor 'fickle' as you label me in your opening line) and neither are the rest of your readers. You not only kicked but you stomped on the memory of a man who never meant anyone nor anything, any harm. Show a little mercy and allow his family get their heads around their tragedy and to believe what is the truth ... Steve Irwin was left of centre, some might say a little mad and his death was, perhaps, predictable - but at the end of the day he did a lot of good for this country and gave us all a laugh at one point or another. Show a little respect for a grieving family who had the good grace to share their husband and father with the rest of the word because at the end of the day, most of us are happy he lived. Bronwyn...(yawn)...read the article. - Jack Posted by: Bronwyn Raymond on September 6, 2006 12:19 PM AR at September 6, 2006 12:07 PM You can probably find some conservation stuff on the Australia Zoo web site. I tried to look but the web site appears to be also in mourning Posted by: Not Quite Sure on September 6, 2006 12:19 PM We soon hear of the untimely death of man hating feminist Ms Greer at the hands of every man she badgered. "They were left with one reaction, to strike. The population has finally taken its revenge on Greer. She deserved a violent retribution.? Sympathy factor? ZERO!!! Posted by: Janine on September 6, 2006 12:19 PM I thought he was a bit of a joke 5 years back when my US friends started talking about this crazy croc dude. 2 years back I took my the 2 1/2 yold to his zoo. She loved it and him. I walked away realising how big he is (croc hunter movie wiggles dvd etc). And it was the best damm zoo I had ever seen! Whilst he might have pulled a few animals tails to make a buck, you can bet he saved the lives of many. The guy was a showman and a bit of a yobbo. BUT he loved his family and put his money where his heart and values were. The same values he was given from his mum and dad. I am sadder for his loss, my little girl sure is as is my wife. The world should be sadder, maybe not slit our wrists, but at least say thanks Steve, you were trying to help the way you knew how. HOW many of us have ever done as much for the world as he? Sure not me. Posted by: mike on September 6, 2006 12:20 PM Do not forget that John Howard had given Steve Irwin millions of our dalloars on the "conservation" projects, helping him to setup the Australian Zoo. We provide the fund for this guy to torture animals. Posted by: Alex Papas on September 6, 2006 12:21 PM Anyone remember Don Chipp? Yup, that guy who died last week. he stopped the Franklin River being dammed, which saved millions of animals and preserved this wilderness for all of us. He also stopped the censorship of books for grown adults. Where are the tears and plaudits for him? Posted by: Penny on September 6, 2006 12:22 PM I agree with TIG. You're article was self serving and poorly reseached,( as was the crap greer spouted if she is advocating that death is was self promoting media tarts desevrve then see ya germaine) if as you stated you don't know the man then there is plenty of other topics for you to go of half cocked about. Where was my research poorly done, Paul? - Jack Posted by: paul on September 6, 2006 12:23 PM Some peolple just can't resist the opportunity to cut down a tall poppy's reputation. They long for the opportunity. Well here it is. Cut Steve Irwin down you jealous feeble-minded people. Have your fun. But the facts are Steve did a lot of good for the environment, he is probably one of our best known characters internationally, and whether you like what he did or not the fact is the guy did it "HIS WAY". RIP Mr Steve Irwin, you will not be forgotten. Posted by: Michael on September 6, 2006 12:23 PM Tywin at 11:47 AM ... You wrote: "Attenborough the greater champion of conservation? Whilst I admire the man - in fact, he was my childhood hero - he didn't have as much reach as Irwin, and Irwin has consequently been able to do more in his efforts to further his conservationist objective." A few people have expressed that thought here this morning ... do you really think it's true? (Not challenging you personally ... just putting the question out because I've been pondering it myself.) ... Irwin's shows were certainly 'exciting' as you've stated and ... perhaps have a wider audience (and I say 'perhaps' because just saying it a lot doesn't make it true ... do we have some basis for that statement?) ... Did he actually teach more people about conservation? Or did he just have a popular zoo supported by an entertaining TV show? Posted by: DD on September 6, 2006 12:24 PM Why is there talk about if/when the footage of Steve Irwin's death will be released to the media? Please explain how watching ANYONE die could be considered "news"? What does that say about us? Posted by: fiona on September 6, 2006 12:24 PM I'm just wondering how long it will be before Derryn Hinch declares on radio that Steve actually died of AIDS, not a stingray barb! ... only joking people, only joking Posted by: Bill on September 6, 2006 12:26 PM Brain (12.13pm) It wasn't a Swordfish, fella. It was a Stingray.... Posted by: Mountjoy on September 6, 2006 12:27 PM If he could speak today, I'm convinced he'd agree that it was better the 'unexpected' happened when it did rather than when it simply might have. Sure, Jack. That fake croc looks dangerous! You might want to change the photo to a situation that might actually be dangerous. Unless of course you think the kid could get smothered by the croc's stuffing. I applaud you for commenting on the media circus and the hypocrisy, but it's not news to any of us. Why else do you think journalists are ranked with used car salesmen and pollies in the public eye? Also, that crazy old twit Germie should shut her irrelevant trap and keep her nose in the UK. Posted by: rooganism on September 6, 2006 12:28 PM There's always a few at every death of a celebrity. You never knew him! You were happy to bag them in the past! What about coverage for those who die in car crashes and Iraq! Utter muppets, the lot of them. Why do they have an issue with us paying tribute to a great conservationist. I would pay tributes to the unknowns- if I knew what they did. The critics are really made to look cynical. The contrast between Steve Irwin and Germaine Greer couldn't be greater. One is proud of who he was, passionate, had a great message to modern Australia and although having some flaws...wil be greatly missed. The other is stuck in a time-warp of cultural cringe, cynical and picking out irrelevancies, has an archaic message which you feel is not relevant to modern times, having many flaws...and to tell the truth, i don't think she would be missed. Steve Irwin>>>>>>>>Germaine Greer and all the cynical nitpickers with nothing better to do than upset people. Posted by: Uncle Kwame on September 6, 2006 12:28 PM Aaahh, the TPS debate rears it's ugly face. Let's just hope the blog doesn't fill up with the Australian Idol fans. Bergherk! Posted by: Cro54033 on September 6, 2006 12:28 PM Kill all stingrays! Isn't that what we are supposed to do? That's what some folk want after someone is killed by a shark. Why is this any different? I have been saying this for years, the stingrays are out to get us. They resent our land-loving legs, our eyes that face forwards, our arms that do army things and most of all, our ability to turn any death into a media circus. They must be eradicated before they kill again. The Government has to act! * that claim may have also been about pigeons, buskers, Essendon supporters and Alexander Downer. All of these things should be eradicated. Posted by: Smackdaddy on September 6, 2006 12:28 PM Cant believe all you sad little geeks getting stuck into steve irwin..sooo laughable, sending you sad little messages from you bedrooms @ your mums house! GO DO SOMETHING! Posted by: Gavin QLD on September 6, 2006 12:30 PM Germaine Greer continues to this day as what she has been for the last 40 years, a whiney bitch, who thinks she knows best and should tell the world what she thinks. For christ's sake woman, will you ever SHUT UP?! Australia has lost a favourite son and you have to respect the man for what he did even if you did not like the way he did it! Posted by: Jeremy on September 6, 2006 12:30 PM There may be some truth to what Germaine Greer wrote. However, the timing (a day after his death) shows how heartless Greer is. It's ok to criticise the media, but show some respect to a dead man and his grieving family. Posted by: Astroboy on September 6, 2006 12:31 PM Personally speaking,I have a great respect for stingrays having learnt of their barbed poisonous tail at school like many others of us, and may I comment that it would have made better sense for him to 'observe' but keep out of strike range ..wouldn't it?. Particularly in the water when you can't move as fast. Particularly when you have small children who need a father. Unfortunately for the Irwin family, Steve didn't think like me. He's pushed the old envelope right up to the pearly gates this time. Thanks for this opprtunity to make my humble comments in public. Posted by: Rosie O on September 6, 2006 12:31 PM Allow me Jack.... GAVIN - READ THE ARTICLE!!! Thankyou, Clover1. - Jack Posted by: Clover1 on September 6, 2006 12:32 PM Jack, you raise interesting points, but.... Whether the media makes a sickening fuss about it or not, I don't think the levels of grief that people genuinely feel for someone that they never met can be dismissed outright as invalid or manipulated. I'm no sentimentalist, but I was amazed at how saddened I was in learning about his death, despite not having any particular interest in him or his past work. But if you pardon the cliche, I thought he was a pretty good bloke from the interviews I saw of him, and was impressed by the fact that he was a committed conservationist. The reality is, which some might see as a sad fact, celebrity's lives have become part of our own by choice, not by some evil manipulation by the media. We're all free not to click on all the related stories about Steve Irwin's death and his life. Ultimately this sort of news probably strikes at our own mortality, illustrating how fragile it really is. Maybe that's what the grief is really all about. Posted by: Lachlan on September 6, 2006 12:33 PM Jack Marx, you are a low mongrel. Posted by: craig on September 6, 2006 12:33 PM your a knob. Posted by: bill on September 6, 2006 12:35 PM All together now.... READ THE ARTICLE craig Posted by: j-bird on September 6, 2006 12:36 PM The key ingredient in the media froth for the likes of Irwin, Hookes and Diana (did she have a last name?) is to suffer a relatively young death. The hysteria just doesn't work if you clock off at 70+ via natural or common causes. Still, this morning it was nice to see a bit of (inadvertent) reality on one of the commercial tv stations. A typically 'overcome by grief' reporter was doing a solemn piece in front of the floral tributes at Australia Zoo. He was commenting on the numerous people still arriving to pay their last respects. Meanwhile, in the background, a cameraman and sound recordist from a rival network were sparring and laughing right over the tributes. It was clear to me that they were psychopaths not suited to work in such a warm, caring industry like the media! Posted by: Mickey on September 6, 2006 12:36 PM I never met him and rarely if ever saw his shows. I was a fan of him mostly due to the Denton interview hich showed a genuine person who was really putting their money where their mouth was. He seemed to be living his life to the fullest and that he died as he did was not surprising but a shock nevertheless. He was to me a bit like Rolf Harris, he should have kept going on entertaining us for decades to come. We don't all have the same tastes so I won't knock those who did or didn't like how he presented himself. I have avoided most media commentary on the story unless it presented itself as factual information - this blog is probably the most in depth thing I've read! I don't need the media's spin and emotive handwringing to determine how I feel, and I don't like reading about all the sad friends and family because, as someone above wrote, everyone's family goes through stuff like this and they are just people like the rest of us. I'm sorry to see him go but I do wish the media would tone it down, a lot! Posted by: Dodge on September 6, 2006 12:36 PM Jack. Thanks for saying what I am thinking. The most insidious part of this whole complex is that most of the reading/viewing public is lapping this up. So much for teaching critical literacy! Posted by: Mark on September 6, 2006 12:36 PM God how stupid are some of your readers Jack?! People - Jack was not bagging out Steve Irwin in his article - he was having a much deserved go at the media! No need to get defensive, or even offensive - accusing him of having bad-mouthed the recently deceased. ANYWAY - Steve's over-the-top persona wasn't my cup of tea, but I will always respect him for his work as an environmentalist, and a conservationist. People who say he set a bad example to children need to remember survival of the fittest - if kids or adults are stupid enough to imitate him, then we don't really need them in the gene pool. If you can look past Steve's antics and actually listen to what he was saying, you'd find it to be very educational and passionate - and not at all reckless. As for the media - well! On Monday night I almost threw up watching Karl Stevanovavic (or whatever his name is) on A Current Affair interviewing the Medivac Dr who was first on the scene: Karl: So Dr, what did you think when you first arrived on the scence? Dr: well we assessed the situation and saw a male who had undergone cardiac arrest...etc... Karl: But Dr, what did you think when you found out it was Steve Irwin. How did you feel? Dr: Well I was assessing the situation as I would any such situation, and saw a male who had undergone cardiac arrest.... Karl: But Dr, did you know who it was? When did you find out it was Steve Irwin... ...and then, when he realised he wasn't going to get the drama he was fishing for, ended the interview with: Karl: Well Dr. thank you for your time. I'm sure you did all you could. UNBELIEVABLE!! What a dickhead! What was the good Dr supposed to say? That he tried harder when he knew it was Steve? not to mention all the crap that Robson and co were dishing out. Makes me sick! Rest In Peace Steve. We will miss you. (p.s. why do my posts not come up with spaces between paragraphs?) Posted by: ange on September 6, 2006 12:37 PM If you really want to read some ridiculous garbage go and have a look at the crap on the tribute blog. SMH's one I mean. Someone called him Superman and the stingray's tail had kryptonite in it. I kid you not. Someone else who didn't know him couldn't stop crying. The hypocrisy is mind blowing. Kochy was on the "irresponsible" band wagon after the Bob croc feeding thing. Last night I wanted to throw something at the television as he amd Mel cannonised him. Nice, well balanced article Jack. Now you must suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous sycophants. Has anyone called you "Un-Australian" yet? If not, it's coming. Posted by: Steveinpng on September 6, 2006 12:38 PM Well said Marxy. "Larrikinism is the name given to the Australian folk tradition of irreverence, mockery of authority and disregard for rigid norms of propriety." -- Wikipedia Who is being un-Australian? The columnists of course. Another Aussie tradition is to measure a bloke's worth by what he does, rather than the methods used in doing it. Stevo brought to the public focus conservation issues that desperately need attention. I've been around long enough to remember habitats along the NSW coast that are little more than weekender theme parks today. Sad. Posted by: Wayne from Pelaw Main on September 6, 2006 12:39 PM A freind of Germain's are you clover? Take you sensible shoes, earthen overalls, cropped hair and shuffle off an i dont know ...get a job! leve the adventuring the the likes of The Crocodile hunter! I did read the article Boooring! Posted by: Gavin QLD on September 6, 2006 12:40 PM It appears that Herald readers are also caught up in the overwhelming, and slightly creepy, outporing of sentiment for a nice man whom most of us only knew as a character on television. I had a quick look at the threads on the News Blog on this site. There are quite a few going all the way back to September last year. Most threads earned less than a hundred contributions. There were a fair number that made between one hundred and two hundred entries. A handful that broke two hundred. There is a Steve Irwin memorial thread at the top of the list. How many entries? Over 2,700 at last count! Is there a pattern for outpourings of grief or sympathy for people we barely know? Probably. Weighing in at Number 2 was "Send your best wishes to Sophie", the unfortunate youngster who was knocked over by a car recently. 723 entries. No other topic comes close. What does this say about us? Why do so many of us feel a need to display grief out of all proportion to the role the deceased played in our lives? Is there something we lack that we're trying to replace with pretended relationships? Personally, I find this behaviour baffling. I remember it occurred with John Lennon in 1980, and again with Princess Diana. Now we have our very own, with Steve Irwin. A nice chap by all accounts, but he never rang me up to ask me how I was getting on, and I don't remember ever being invited to come up and spend Christmas with him and the family at the Gold Coast. By the way, the number three thread in the News Blog was 471 entries on the 2006 Budget. On the emotional IQ scale we really are a wierd mob! Posted by: Steve on September 6, 2006 12:40 PM (from Wikipedia) Mongrel refers to mixed ancestry: Among pets, one whose parentage is of mixed breeds as opposed to purebred (Jack?) Among dogs, this is also called a mutt or a mixed-breed dog (is this a bad thing?) A mongrel cat is often referred to as a moggy (Marx the moggy... has a ring eh Jack?) For humans (often an insult) a description of a person's (genetic) heritage that is negative and meant as a demeaning label; someone of mixed ethnicities (what is the mix Jack? Has craig nailed you after all these years?) Arts/Culture Group that uses machines, software and other technology to explore motley culture (could be a link there...) In his book Global Me G. Pascal Zackary adds new meaning to the word Mongrel. "Mongrel" must take on a new meaning that conveys the idea of positive, purposeful mixing -- a mixing that expands freedom while honoring the origins and preferences of those who mix. "Mongrel" also should not convey deracination, but the possibility of a rich specifically -- too rich to fit existing categories. Thus, the mongrel is the category breaker and the source of innovation, daring and toleration. "Mongrel" is a defiant, unapologetic label. It signals a declaration of solidarity with all outsiders; with all those who intermarry, migrate to another country; learn another language; adopt a new religion; display a new public persona while maintaining former ones. By calling oneself a mongrel, one sides with the shunned, the neglected, the over-looked the underdog. In this sense, mongrels are heroic. They have more perspective than the one-dimensional person and are more willing to rebel against tradition or question habitual ways of thinking and doing. Creativity, in the broadest sense, is part of the human condition. But in a world where tribes are increasingly in collision, mongrels can be more creative than supposed pure breeds. And as a result, mongrels aren't underdogs anymore. -- G. Pascal Zackary Now we're talking. Good afternoon Jack, larry, oz, DD and of course ekka and everyone. I'm off to get lunch. Posted by: GerardW on September 6, 2006 12:40 PM Despite what you think about Steve Irwin, now is not the time to criticise him. I find it just revolting that people on this discussion board have decided to say things like 'he had it coming to him' and 'I couldn't care less' only a few days after his death. If you have negative opinions, then keep them under wraps for a few weeks at least....a little sensitivity guys! How would you feel if you lost your father or spouse, and only a couple of days later, people were criticising him? Think of his family.... Of course there is a price to fame, but nobody should be criticised that heavily straight after their death. His young children certainly don't deserve it. What a pack of insensitive people! Posted by: Martin Thomas on September 6, 2006 12:40 PM Most of the responses to Jack's piece illustrate his point, but in a much more shameful and bitter way than the GP press- quite frankly we have two choices here- read the vitriolic personal attacks on a man that probably not a single one of the people on this blog have met, or read the sugary sweet praise in the press for a man that probably not one of the writers have ever met. I choose the sweet praise- maybe not justified- I don't know- but certainly more apt for a response to man's death than any of the mean, bitter shit I am reading here (and I don't mean your piece Jack, I mean the cold hearted responses to it). L Posted by: Lou on September 6, 2006 12:42 PM To: Michael at September 6, 2006 12:23 PM Could you please specify the good things that Steve Irwin did for the environment. I've seen and heard this comment many time in the last few days but no one elaborates. I have heard some vague references to him buying hectares of land to stop them from being developed and provide a sanctuary for our flora and fauna. Could somebody please give specific examples. How can people keep saying he was a great environmentalist / conservationist when no one seems to know the specifics. Or are they all just parrots repeating what they have heard. Speaking of parrots what does Alan Jones have to say about this - actually don't bother I think I can guess. Posted by: Maureen Chuck on September 6, 2006 12:42 PM Good piece Jack. If I remember correctly, a while back you did something similar (during the Radar days maybe) about the sheer oversupply of bullshit grief expressed by those with nothing better to do with their spare time but mourn for whatevers happening at the time, to feel "involved" for some reason I will never understand. Add to this a rabid media with the prioritising skills of Manson, a few false sense of importance eggheads with NIL credibility like Greer, and its time yet again to switch it all off and watch the lawn grow with an ale or three. Maybe a link to the old piece might help put a bit of perspective back into the Groundhog Day sitcom so many people seem happy to live by time and time again. Posted by: Wayne on September 6, 2006 12:43 PM Germaine Greer is a has-been or maybe a never-been. Seriously who in their right mind would really consider her dribble. Shes a fraud. People - I've never met Steve Erwin, but his passion for life and the joy that he brought people was unmatchable. When you lot die - no one will give a damm, because quite frankly - no of you will have any effect on this planet. None of you will make a difference. He did - go back to your depressing lives, and pay respect where respect is due. Raiden Posted by: Raiden on September 6, 2006 12:43 PM Well done Jack - just what I was thinking too. As for Germaine - well, a little passing time would have made her comments more digestible - as it has come so soon after the poor guy's death it's just insensitive. I feel for the wife and kids - no-one wants to bring their kids up on their own, I found single parenthood quite lonely at times. However, Terri will have the benefit of a healthy bank balance and a business to run to help with everything. And, she also has a great deal of sympathy from those near and far - I think she'll cope quite well, but still they will miss their husband & father. I've stopped watching the news and current affairs programmes this week and only listen to CD's and ABC Classics FM as I really don't want to be a part of the endless, mindless carry on that is the media today. Can't believe they would be thinking of a State funeral/memorial service, do they do this for all deceased businessmen in Queensland? What about Colin Thiele - he's someone who has made a difference to generations of Aussies and, as said before, I too can't look at a Pelican without thinking Mr Percival. How about a State funeral for Our Colin??? Let's get on with life and let the Irwins get on with theirs. Posted by: Miss Ann on September 6, 2006 12:44 PM Good on you Jack for voicing your opinion in such a respectful manner that no one with half a brain can criticise you. Thankyou, it was a well thought out piece and allowed me to sit back and consider my reactions to the whole thing. It's always an interesting thing seeing how people react to such an occasion as a well known celebrity's death. I am sad that the crazy bastard is dead and feel for his two kids and wife, I can't imagine what they are going through - he certainly was a character (and yes he was an innacurate stereotype of Australia, but to me he seemed to be only the good parts of that stereotype), but I do fail to understand how adults who had never met him personally can be brought to tears. In some ways I am sorry that he was killed by a stingray in a harmless situation, I am sure even he would have preferred to be eaten by a croc that he was trying to wrestle to the ground! Greer is a nasty piece of work, and her vitriolic statements served nothing but to get her in the limelight (something, unfortunately which she has acheived - these sort of people are best ignored, but by publishing her statements - the media did exactly what she wanted). We are of course entitled to our opinions - and I have far more respect for someone who criticised Irwin in the past and stands by that statement today (although I think it's a complete lack of human compassion to not have any feelings of sympathy towards the family and friends - and what they must be going through), than someone who is now too chicken shit to not tow the common line (I particularly want channel nine to air their bit from 20 to 1 where they had various random celeberaties complain about his treatment of his son in the wake of croco-gate and compare it to their reactions from the last couple of days). Greers comments, however were a deliberate attempt to illicit a negative response, and to get her name up in neon. Posted by: Richard on September 6, 2006 12:45 PM The Guardian asking Greer to comment on the death of Steve Irwin on the basis that she is "australian" was just bizare. The woman has given a furry rats for the country or the australian public for eons. When was the last time she was here or actually said something that was relevant to our society? She strikes me as one of those trumped up, overtly 'sophisticated' expats who turn their nose down at Australia, and comment on us with the 'expertise' of someone that lived here for 18 months in the 1970's. Obviously as we're not London, we're just a pack of heathens! Piss off Germaine! If nothing else, Steve Irwin brough happiness to kids and families and made people aware of life beyond the big smoke. His passing is a tragedy on the most base level in that a young family losing it's father figure, and most decent humans would empathise with that. What have you ever done Ms Greer? except maybe sneer at people with your 'clever' words - making us all aware of the sad old bint you are. Posted by: AJ on September 6, 2006 12:48 PM Anagram of low mongrel = grow lemon or growl mole Posted by: Maureen Chuck on September 6, 2006 12:48 PM What absolutely fascinates me is the low-grade standard of reading comprehension in some Herald readers. Really, it's something I tend to expect over at the Terrorgraph. Jack, I like the way you've revealed the lens through which many in the media are presenting Irwin's death. Anybody who reads what you've written as an attack on Steve Irwin, and not the capricious vultures who've fallen in love with his corpse, needs to be thrown into a pool of vicious stingrays for their own comeuppance. Posted by: Flashman on September 6, 2006 12:49 PM Ooh, that's the first time Jack's written back to me :-) Hey great post Jack. I think one of the reasons that we're feeling so strange about Steve Irwin's death is that he was so full of life, so over exaggerated. All the dangerous things he did before and never got hurt - I ended up feeling like (love him or hate him) he was a bit immortal, and now sadly we find he was not. Just like September 11, and 7/7 London bombing, I found myself constantly refreshing the news websites to see if there's something new to read, I think we just want to talk about it, it makes it easier to deal with maybe? I work in a national call centre, and on Monday every caller we had had to talk about him, even to just mention his name. I think it's this hunger that makes us eager for even the tragic journalism. If there's not much quality out there we go for whatever there is. Any thoughts? Posted by: Clover on September 6, 2006 12:49 PM Jack Marx, you are a low mongrel. Posted by: craig at September 6, 2006 12:33 PM Dear Craig, Is this an affront at the article, or do you know the man personally? Again, read the article THEN post your words of wisdom. Posted by: jacqueline on September 6, 2006 12:50 PM As far as I'm concerned the Crocodile Hunter was a jerk. He was an embarrasing caricature of what Americans think an Australian should look and act like, and quite frankly made me cringe. Posted by: Dan on September 6, 2006 12:50 PM Jack. I think this piece is spot-on. The Dianaisation of grief is symptomatic of the age. No one cries about dozens of children killed by a US cluster bomb delivered by Israel, but celebrities are sold to us as our friends who understand us. So their death feels more personal. I don't often agree with Germaine Greer, but think the world needs more honest nutcases like her. By the way, Jill Singer went on to work for the National Australia Bank , getting top dollar. Steve Irwin's death is a tragedy, but the outpouring of "official grief" is disgusting. Thanks for the piece. Posted by: Marcus on September 6, 2006 12:51 PM Good Article! Not agreeing totally with Greer but I think we all new it was some sort of Animal Karma. Just lucky it was a Stingray instead of slipping on a Chicken or squashed by a Cow for media purposes, would've made it a lot less traumatic/hyperbolic. Posted by: Adz on September 6, 2006 12:52 PM Anyone interested in an opinion from someone from the US?? No, I didn't think so, but here goes. Yeah, I really liked the guy. He was larger than life. Passionate, full of life and crazier than hell! Maybe the fasination with him was that he took such risks that we would never take(but if we had the guts and we would like to)as we are watching safely in our comfortable eazy chair living vicariously through him for that hour. God, to be able to have such passion in your life!! and to to be able to make a living(wow, what a living) at what you love. He lived 10 lifetimes in his short one. He died doing what he loved. What a way to go, sure beats ending up as road kill on the highway like so many of us meet our end. God bless his family. Steve RIP. Posted by: Jeanne on September 6, 2006 12:53 PM I'm getting a bad taste in my gullet over the gushing sycophancy. He was a dangerous idiot who taught little kids exactly what not to do with snakes etc. I thought this as long ago as 2001, when I expressed it explicitly to a gushing American in Ireland, and I don't see why I should change my mind just because his stupidity finally caught up with him. Posted by: John May on September 6, 2006 12:53 PM GerardW: According to the Book of Rantings (not revelations)of the Church of the Invisible GloveBox Turkey [IGBT]: The role of the media is to entertain! Period! Surely that's as long as the media is making a whacking great profit. Craig: stop trying to butter up Jack, he'll just get a big head. I was wondering what that Bgherk noise was, when I was driving to work this morning. Posted by: Days on September 6, 2006 12:55 PM Where's Eddie McGuire? Shouldn't he be up at the Australian zoo patting Terri on the back and buying her beers? Posted by: dt3 on September 6, 2006 12:55 PM All you little geeks sitting around thinking of whitty posts, dreaming of litterary acolades that will never come...lol You continue watching life pass you by on you little screens and leave it to the Irwins of this world to live life for you!!! maybee to can pirate steves DVD.S on you little PC's and pretend you have lived!!! Posted by: Gavin QLD on September 6, 2006 12:55 PM Does anyone think maybe we have to many 'media' people in Australia and not enough stories??? Posted by: Steve on September 6, 2006 12:56 PM Just waiting for the CONservatives to say the stingray was a Muslim! Posted by: StingRay on September 6, 2006 12:57 PM Why can't you wankers see Steve's death for what it really is. He was a hero to kids all around world and now these poor kids have lost a hero. Crawl back under the rock you came from idiots! Posted by: Blair on September 6, 2006 12:58 PM His shows were more about ego tripping than about the animals,who merely served as props on which Irwin demonstrated his fearlessness.His stuff had more in common with circus lion-tamers,who didn't always remove their heads quickly enough either.That's part of the attraction for attention span challenged couch potato's who'd turn their noses up at more informative nature doco's. Posted by: Dave on September 6, 2006 12:58 PM Well the answer to the problem we have with the media is to stop supporting them and subscribing to them. Time to have a "lets ignore the media day". We know they lie and manipulate just like the pollies do. For as long as we support them, is as long as we are complicit. Don't believe the media, the pollies and all of the propaganda. Posted by: Dean on September 6, 2006 12:58 PM I don't really understand why things like this descend into a shit slinging match with comments like 'it was to be expected' or 'he got what he deserved'. I know it's an old saying but....'opinions are like arseholes....everybody's got one'. But it seems that this is one of those occasions that calls for tired old saying because that's what I'm hearing, reading and seeing all across the media. Tired old lines, tired old media tactics...like camping out in front of Steve Irwin's park etc. The guy died, lots of people feel more than they thought they would. It happens sometimes. Let it be. I think a lot of peoples interest is genuine and so are their feelings and a little restraint in the way these stories are handled might go some way to reducing the predictable embarrassing media circus that usually follow events like this. Like everything else....it will blow over.......what were those two miners names again? Posted by: Stuart on September 6, 2006 12:59 PM Clarification on my last post: " celebrity's " should've read " celebrities' ". Punctuation is everything. Posted by: Lachlan on September 6, 2006 1:01 PM Ooohh... low blow Gavin. Say what you like about Germaine Greer, but to insinuate that I'm wearing sensible shoes? Now that's just plain slander! Posted by: Clover on September 6, 2006 1:02 PM Gavin QLD. I'm impressed with your totally highbrow self delusion.. oh.. hang on a sec... no I'm not. Posted by: Days on September 6, 2006 1:02 PM I thought it was painfully obvious that the media will jump on any bandwagon that presents itself, if it means selling more advertising space. What a brilliant insight you have. Jack i know the media is somewhat a reflection of society but perhaps you should not be so quick to condemn when society uses a positive light to pay tribute to the death of Steve Irwin. He wasnt perfect but if your saying that people shouldnt honour his memory in a positive fashion unless he led a perfect existance then i would suggest that yours is a view that goes against the grain of humanity and compassion. Perhaps you should try a little self reflection instead of self gratification. Your in your element here Jack, this type of journalistic trash is right at home in a bum rag like smh. Yes, Scott, if I were saying that people shouldn't honour Steve's memory in a positive fashion unless he led a perfect existance then I'd reckon you'd be justified in suggesting that mine is a view that goes against the grain of humanity and compassion. Unhappily for your argument, I said no such thing, and if you'd like to have a read of what I did in fact write (it's just above the spot where you posted this comment), you'll see how completely pointless your entire post was. - Jack Posted by: scott on September 6, 2006 1:03 PM Excellent piece Jack. There can be no doubt that Terri Irwin and her family are enduring the worst of all their fears at this moment. In my own heart I feel for them as I would for any family going through the same experience. Fine, over and out. What is happening to people in the western world today? We seem to feel free to take on the role of agonised morners at the passing of people we never really knew. It is just plain unseemly. The queen got it in the neck for not being seen to throw herself on Dianna's gun carriage. I imagine the poor woman just felt that her feelings, regarding the life and death of a woman with whom she had a such a complex relationship, were her own to feel. Wrong Liz! She found out that the voyeuristic inclinations within all of us has been given affirmation by what passes for media these days and she had better shed a tear with the rest of us, or else. Here we go again with the charge being led by the likes of seven's saccharine duo, Mel & Koshie and a a brace of others of their ilk. The "what passes for news" producers must be rubbing their hands in glee. If they can milk this for long enough it will get them all the way through to next Monday when they can start showing endless reruns of the moment thousands of people lost their lives and asking anyone who cares to get their mush on TV how they feel about it 5 years on. We have to stop this now! For the more we allow ourselves to assume the roles of voyeuristic morners the more we detract from life that is actually being mourned and those who have a right mourn. In the process we devalue ourselves and our ability to feel real compassion when it is appropriate. Please lets not allow another 30 second time slot or a newspaper be sold on the back of the Irwin family's suffering. Posted by: Chris O on September 6, 2006 1:03 PM If I may Jack, I think we adults are missing a larger picture. Steve Irwin was adored by kids and many teens and young adults consider him a fixture of their lives; the man personally responsible for their introduction to environmental conservation. Kids here in the US are going back to school and this is all they're talking about. For those who grew-up with Steve this is a serious, sad and for some, their first introduction to the death of a person they know. It gives them comfort to know that adults respected him as well. While I don't want to see his funeral turned into another Dianarama, keep in mind many of the mourners are coming with children in tow. Let it go. It's just a funeral for someone people liked. I don't see any harm in it and I hope all this outpouring will offer some comfort to his family and friends. It's not a big deal in the long run and at least we're honoring a man who seemed genuinely guileless and only wanted to share his enthusiasm for this world with others. Given the state of the world, that's not half bad. Ms. Greer has damaged feminism more than any person who has carried that flag and she's an embarassment to any woman or man who believes in equal rights for the sexes. This latest tirade is not only pointless, it's astonishingly inconsiderate to mourners and particularly Mrs. Irwin- a woman who has done more for the image of women than Greer has ever accomplished. Not to worry about the American image of Australians. It's pretty obvious Steve was over the top no matter where he'd be from. He's no more representative of Australia to Americans than the image of fat people in stretchy pants waving a Bible in one hand, a gun in the other wearing, "Bush Rulz" T-shirts represent Americans to Australians. ;) Posted by: Jason on September 6, 2006 1:03 PM The really interesting thing to come out of this, particularly after reading the comments attached to the article, is the absolute stunning niavete people show towards the media. It reminds me of the viewer who wrote into 60 minutes and stated that she never saw a program with so much heart! Are people so naive that that can't appreciate that media businesses, (especially the tabloid kind), can't and won't exploit issues of the heart? However as Jack and some others have remarked, many male and female bogans have simply sniffed that the article is against the current status quo, and simply did not read or understand the article. Posted by: Dave on September 6, 2006 1:03 PM I do agree with Gerard W and Jack. This article isn't condemning Steve or his work, it's a comment on the hypocrisy of so many journalists and their not so gentle approach at forming what acceptable public opinion should be (which, if you're not careful not to keep up, can be as quick to change as the weather in spring time). And sadly, judging by the barrage of negative responses - they have succeeded yet again. And jeez - I didn't know Colin Thiele died. I loved his work as a kid too and itï¿½s such a shame that these things can get lost in the mire due to bad timing. Both are sad losses for the country in different ways. Posted by: Linda on September 6, 2006 1:04 PM Gettign onto something serious from these events - how do we stop the British press from thinking that GG has any relevance/ sympathy / identity with the Australian public (especially the women if comments I have had from female friends is representative). She obviously does not like anyone achieving anything that is not important to herself. Posted by: alude on September 6, 2006 1:04 PM Well said Jack. Regardless of how we feel about Steve Irwin (I wasn't a fan, but had nothing against the guy) the media has shown its usual hypocrisy. Posted by: Jaheira on September 6, 2006 1:05 PM The most interesting part of all this blogging is the number of people who reckon they "cringed" when they saw Irwin on TV. And what exactly did Irwin do that was so cringe-worthy? Well - he had a broad Australian accent and he said words like "Crikey". Apparently him doing this meant that people in that mythical land that we call "overseas" might get the impression that Australians might not all be wine-bibbing, restaurant-going, pine-nut-munching, SBS-watching urban sophisticates. The world ain't high school. It might be about time that we grew up and stopped fretting over what the big kids think of us. Posted by: Craig Garside on September 6, 2006 1:06 PM Can I just comment in passing that this topic has certainly increased your ratings today, Jack! When I just checked TDT had 119 posts. (Compared to AMAL which is running at 253 on the hot topic of silly names - you can't beat a good 'list' blog! - and SATC which was not far ahead of you on 152, with a topic on bumping into your ex.) I like the way "Tall Poppy Syndrome" has been drawn into this ... I didn't join TDT 'til after your article on that particular syndrome, but read it when looking through some of your old articles ... at the time I thought, "At last! Someone speaks some sense regarding the 'Australian Phenomenon' that is TPS!" ... I'm with you Cro54033 at 12:28 PM! Damn you, Jack ... For starting this fascinating and amusing debate ... on a day when I have a lot of work I should be doing. I hope John D's not going to call Puff'n'Stuff in on me again! Bergherk! I hope you're wearing your "bergherker", DD. - Jack Posted by: DD on September 6, 2006 1:06 PM Noone is a saint during their lifetime. Some get to be saints when they are dead. Most of us are just mere mortals. Jack Marx, you will never be a saint, and you will probably not be remembered at all. When did we ever put up a statue over a critic? Steve Irwin will be remembered for the good and the bad. There was good and there was bad, like in all of us. Yes, he did some pretty stupid things, but he also did some great stuff, which neither you or the rest of us will ever be able to come close to pulling off. While we are happy to follow and vote for some of the biggest polluters in modern history, here was a man who had the guts to stand up for animals, nature and conservation issues. Here was a man who was invited to the White House but thought etter of it an ddecided not to attend. Hail Steve Irwin! I won't be remembered as a saint? Blast! Maybe I better start believing in God! - Jack Posted by: kalabalik on September 6, 2006 1:10 PM Oh the hypocrisy. Jack, you have trundled out the same donkey to flog whilst condemning others for the same. You too are only too happy to get your milage out of the death of Irwin, so pull your head in. You are a part of the machine that perpetuates this garbage. The fact that the usual pseudo intelligentsia swarm about this page, posting near identical tripe with their "long word of the day" to differentiate themselves from the last "unique viewpoint" does not lend credence to your (or their) stance on the matter. It seems this particular readership niche you have carved yourself are the very same group who were embarressed by Irwins behviour before his death. Why, prey tell? Why would they be emabrressed by the actions of a person they didn't know? Because they are worried that their reputation as polished sophisticated urbanites amongst people in another country may be threatened? Oh, how sophisticated. The same shallow, dimwitted lot who care more of what other people think of them than whether they are making a difference. Your readership seems to consist of the type of people who select a bottle of wine not on whether it tastes good, but on whether being seen drinking it might improve their social status. The reason, as you well know, that the death of Steve Irwin has garnered such attention is simple: It has reminded us all of our tenuous grip on life and how it can be torn away in a viscious instant. Debate the mans life all you want. But consider this: He lived doing something he abolutely loved, got filthy rich doing it and had the opportunity, the ability and the resources to make lasting change to something he cared deeply about. An all the while, he never once give tinkers F--k what YOU thought of him. In his 44 years he probably achieved more and had more fun than most of us will in our entire lifetimes... and we know it. You may go back to your petty debate now. Tossers. Posted by: Brett on September 6, 2006 1:11 PM Theodore Roosevelt sums it up best for me, with one of the best quotes in the English languaga "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." Nice quote. Pity it came from a politician, a breed for whom critics (aka "voters") are a particular nuisance. - Jack Posted by: Mark on September 6, 2006 1:13 PM My comments are to those slinging the arrows at Australia's tresure S.I-If that's not you Dorris! you are excused!! Posted by: Gavin QLD on September 6, 2006 1:14 PM Howdy Jack As people we all see things differently. The outpouring surrounding Steve's death can polarise peoples opinion. One of the highest of human attributes is having the grace to allow people to be themselves whilst allowing these same people to reduce you by their critisism. Whilst I was always a bit uncomfortable with Steve Irwin's antics, I was non the less drawn into genuinely liking this man, albeit from a distance. Despite my reservations, I wept when I heard of his death. Posted by: Steve on September 6, 2006 1:14 PM Who really cares about the Iraq war, Iran testing missiles, hunger and poverty, car crashes, cancer, pain and suffering or that silly woman Greer? We all look after ourselves the best way we know. We are all selfish and big on talk. We perpetuate the media by participation. Thats the biggest problem with Australians, bitching and moaning and carrying on, with the weight of the world on our shoulders. Australians are yobbos full stop. Some are educated and work clean jobs, some don't. If you really want to do something constructive, get off your arse and do it! These are the sort of things that makes me embarressed to be an Aussie. I hope everyone leaves him alone and his family. And yes I am contributing to to the machine as well. Posted by: blowfly on September 6, 2006 1:15 PM This is a good article in a sea of sentiment. It is a very tragic end to a larger than life character - but the man did push the boundaries. What really irritates me is the media pushing the 8 year old daughter "Wildlife Warrior" - will carry on the work her Father started - has star quality blah blah blah. The man is hardly cold ! This child has been raised in a very unusual environment and of course, nearly every 8 yo kid wants to be like Dad. And if Dad just happens to spruike on a microphone singing the praises of a crocodile from it's back - the kid is likely to do the same. Bindi was doomed from the start. Let HER decide - when she is an adult - without the parental influences and the media hype - what she wants to do. Seems to me the child is a precocious brat (through no fault of her own, really) and made to dance in the circus which was the Australia Zoo - whether she wanted to or not. It's a sad thing when a man is cut down in his prime and leaving behind a wife and young children - but really - this is over the top. Let's get this into perspective. If only the pollies could move as quickly as they have on suggestions of a state funeral, and national parks being named after him - as they do on more national pressing matters - we'd be a lot better off. Vale Steve. Posted by: Lynne on September 6, 2006 1:16 PM Its sad when anyone dies, especially if they have young family. I hope that children who saw Steve Irwin being too close to dangerous creatures, dont copy him, or they may end up badly injured, or worse. Posted by: jo on September 6, 2006 1:16 PM re:Dave at September 6, 2006 12:58 PM Congratulations on the stupidest post ever! Dave you idiot, Steve Irwins target audience were children. Or as you call them "attention span challenged couch potato's who'd turn their noses up at more informative nature doco's." You fool! Posted by: scott on September 6, 2006 1:16 PM Show me one parent who has never done a foolish thing with their children (I slipped on a patch of oil and dropped the baby!) No matter what Steve Irwin did for a living, he still leaves a wife who is now a single parent - facing raising children without the husband she so obviously adored - a broken hearted little girl, and a bewildered toddler. The media suck, they are paid to be hypocrites. However save your derision for someone who has a far more toxic effect on the world. Give me back Steve Irwin, and take John Howard. Posted by: Manly Girl on September 6, 2006 1:17 PM Here here! Craig Stuffed shirts, probably all talk in Pseudo english accents after their 3 month oe's Pilocks!! Posted by: Gavin QLD on September 6, 2006 1:18 PM ange at 12:37 PM ... I watched that interview with the ambo too ... then I turned off the TV and haven't had it on since ... Wasn't it ridiculous? ... The ambo was being professional and sensitive ... but he just didn't giving the 'emotional response' that the interviewer wanted. I'd like to say "Unbelievable!" ... but sadly it's only too believable ... and even to be expected. Posted by: DD on September 6, 2006 1:19 PM Yeah well he was a good surfer, I saw him in the water. With regard to everything else, what did you expect? What did you expect Channels 9 and 7 to do? What did you expect the Daily Astonisher to produce? What did you expect the SMH to produce? What did you expect Germain Greer to write? And what did you expect Jack Marx would write? Predictable, its all so bloody predictable! But you get that if you live long enough to see it. Posted by: mark on September 6, 2006 1:23 PM Firstly I wish to pay tribute to Steve Irwin for the dedication and passion he showed towards his work with animals and conservation. The media should however let his family and friends grieve for him in peace. It is true there has just been saturation coverage on this topic. It is a tragedy, but life goes on. Onto the topic of Germaine Greer, I agree with a number of the comments I have read about her and her article. She comes across as a very bitter and angry person. I agree with the post from 'Days' that she never has anything positive to say. She made the comment in her article that she has no sympathy if he was grappling a sting ray. Please Germaine, are you that stupid? Obviously I havent seen the footage taken (and I hope it doesnt find its way onto the net) but we have been told he was swimming approx a metre above it, prob made the mistake of getting too close. But grappling a sting ray? Come on Germaine that is just plain silly, as the whole article was. She has just written this article on the basis of watching a couple of programs of him wrestling crocs or chasing after snakes. She doesn't have a clue about what he achieved in life. She has no shred of credibility on which to write about Steve Irwin, yet she still does have the right to write this garbage and thus make a fool of herself in the process. Steve was not in the business to make money, if you have seen interviews with him the money never mattered. He was never materialistic. His interest in money was only to the extent that he could pour it into more conservation projects and buying up areas of wilderness to preserve for wildlife and future generations. Posted by: Stuart Lindsay on September 6, 2006 1:24 PM Bring on that movie I say! Posted by: Steve on September 6, 2006 1:24 PM Can anyone remember who the TV 'personality' was who was bitten on the crotch by a snake that Irwin hurled off the stage at the Logies (or some other fabulous event) Luckily the victim took it in good spirits but to me that epitomised what Irwin was about. All gob and never really in control. Posted by: j-bird at September 6, 2006 12:01 PM hey j-bird, it was Ten's Tim Webster, and what a shame it wasn't poisonous. Posted by: jj on September 6, 2006 1:26 PM Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic. Speak for yourself when you say "we're a fickle mob". No we're not! Some of you journos aren't happy unless you're trying to beat something up and sensationalise things to the nth degree! I certainly don't recall ever criticising Steve Irwin for the baby/croc incident and certainly none of my friends or family commented on it either. The only people I heard going on about it were those in the media! So I'm not being hypocrytical in feeling sad that someone who has contributed so much has died at such a young age when he had so much more to contribute to the world. He certainly was the type of positive individual that a lot of us aspire to be, unlike certain negative individuals like yourself. Posted by: Proud Aussie on September 6, 2006 1:27 PM I am sorry for Steve's family. It must be terrible to lose someone so unexpectedly. But I am also sorry for all the other people who have lost someone dear to them. Why is it no-one gives a damn about them? I think everyone should take this opportunity and realise that life is beautiful but short and that things (like death) is inevitable and often happens unexpectedly. Phone your brother/sister/friend and say hi, smile or greet strangers even, and enjoy your life everyday, before unexpected things happen closer to home. Posted by: GAM on September 6, 2006 1:29 PM I don't get it. Here's a guy who seems to have never wanted anything more than to conserve wildlife and yet people are dumping on him. The fact that he did what some people would consider stupid things with dangerous animals makes his work no less worthwhile. People also need to realise 'stupid' is relative. He did what he did all his life so it was normal. People don't like the Australian image he portrayed, GET OVER YOURSELVES! There are things in life more important than what people think of you. Protecting wildlife that mankind is doing its best to wipe-out is one! The fact that so many people around the world loved him, what he did and how he did it is a positive thing. It's not about Australia, it's about protecting wildlife. He used his position to buy land and save wildlife. How many other celebrities can say they're doing anything as worthwhile. They still live in the same house his Dad built! He never claimed to be a genius. Just doing what he always did for the good of the animals. He was a great man and respect should be shown. I do however agree that the media come across as wankers as they grill someone one week and saint them the next. Guess it's just down to the fickle readers they write for. The sooner Germaine curls up and dies (or more horrifically if possible) the better. She's a nasty piece of work (and not just for the Irwin comment) Posted by: Cooper on September 6, 2006 1:29 PM Steve Irwin's death was a shock, That goofy environment jock. The whole thing is really a crock. Posted by: Oz on September 6, 2006 1:30 PM Brett at 1:11 PM ... You wrote: "Your readership seems to consist of the type of people who select a bottle of wine not on whether it tastes good, but on whether being seen drinking it might improve their social status." Have you been here before? Does anyone in here have a social status? Anyway ... I think I've had some pretty good times and done some reasonably good work in my time on this planet ... difference is I don't necessarily equate 'getting filthy rich doing it' with success. I notice also that you couldn't resist tossing your two cents worth in to this 'petty debate' (Quite a lenthy post, infact!) ... so hope you don't have any delusions of superiority. Posted by: DD on September 6, 2006 1:31 PM Shame on you! Who you talking to, Jordan? - Jack Posted by: Jordan on September 6, 2006 1:33 PM Okay - this is not a blog about Germaine Greer, but it seems all and sundry have had their thoughts posted on her, so here is a different one. No-one has to like anyone. But there are folk in this world who are actively working to improve the standards for the things in which they believe, from feminism to conservation. Unfortunately, Public Germaine doesn't have a sweet enough side to invite people en mass to listen to and understand what her point is. Luckily, Steve is excellent in his approach to activism and many, many people have access to him through his openness. Those who can't see HIS point fall into the same basket as those who can't see Germaines' point. Are they not open to growth? Are they afraid of their own potential and therefore threatened by others reaching, and using, theirs? One thing that each of Germaine and Steve have in common is their want to maintain habitat for native species. Germaine purchased 50 hectares of rainforest in Queensland - it represents the area of highest biodiversity in the entire Australian rainforest system. It is part of the Shield Volcano Group of the Central Eastern Rainforest World Heritage Area. Her section of the world is smaller in comparison to Steve's, but no less important. You don't have to like her, but neither do you have to adopt and perpetuate the behaviour in her which you hate. I don't subscribe to all of her beliefs, either, but she sure stretches my mind and invites me to question my beliefs. Steve's efforts for conservation and his environmental activism, his love of Australia - warts and all - and his depth of admiration for the people who raised him are all things i hope his children inherit. Posted by: ali on September 6, 2006 1:33 PM Isn't it as simple as we don't like to speak ill of the dead. There are the feelings of family and friends to consider here. The last thing they would want to be reading in the papers, and for the kids to look back on, are media reports of an uneducated yobbo who got close to a dangerous animal once to often and got what he had coming. If that requires a little hypocrisy then I'm comfortable with that. Posted by: Stephen on September 6, 2006 1:33 PM How come everyone except That Bitch Germs is allowed to express an opinion? Posted by: KN on September 6, 2006 1:34 PM About time Jack. I was beginning to think it was only me barfing out loud at the wall to wall blondes on TV earnestly reporting a "nations grief" and how "our hearts go out" to Steve. Well mine's not one of 'em. Who knows how many African juniors died in the time it took me to read your bit but do we grieve them? The truth is Steve Irwin was a media obsessive only too ready to do damn stupid things for a titillating grab. Talk shows, stupid risks - all the same. And now he's somehow transformed into one of the worlds great ecologists. How do you think all those crocodiles felt being reefed by the neck by bozo-boy for a funny bit of telly. And the footage. Ah the footage. Which his manager says today will "never, ever" see the light of day. Any money, any money at all, there's a different story being told right there. As if Steve's just floating by and Mr. Stingray just decides to fly over and stab him. Steve Irwin's irrelevance in my book is massive and now we'll have to endure yet more of it every time we look up. F. . k it, I'm looking for some Africans to donate to right now... C. Posted by: Clive Smith on September 6, 2006 1:35 PM Re:Stuart Lindsay at September 6, 2006 01:24 PM I agree with most of your comments about Germaine Greer and she should have checked her facts before writing her article. But in all reality, I don't think its drawing too long a bow to suppose that someone who wrestled crocodiles for a living might have grappled a stingray. Posted by: Maureen Chuck on September 6, 2006 1:35 PM Thanks JJ! Was it a bearded adder or a trouser snake? Or maybe that belongs in the 'Tockley post". Posted by: j-bird on September 6, 2006 1:37 PM Isn't that old fart, Greer dead yet? She must have a new book to promote - or perhaps she is just seeking another 15 minutes of fame??? However, I suppose she would have insight into the world of wildlife - being a reptile herself. Jack, I think the people who saw the "Baby Bob" incident for what it was (ie no big deal) - are the ones who are saddened by Steve's death. The ones who called "off with his head" should be hanging theirs in shame. I think Steve was a great human being. Sure he had that ?Occa? attitude that made most of us who live abroad cringe, but what he tried to do with preserving wildlife and heightening peoples awareness of our surroundings surpassed anything most of the celebrities who occupy our magazines do - I mean when was the last time Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie, Nicole Kidman et al tried to do something that didn't ultimately benefit them? If we could all be just 25% concerned with attempting to save our planet and its inhabitants as Steve was, we would all be in a much better place. Posted by: Kylie on September 6, 2006 1:38 PM Bugger! He's Dead. Who really bloody cares, Other than wife and family? Shortly the media vultures will move on to feed on some other poor bastard and he'll be forgotten. Posted by: shane on September 6, 2006 1:40 PM I agree with Brett (1.11pm). Indeed, when I received the news that Steve Irwin had been killed by a stingray, the very first thing I said was "Shit, that reminds me of my tenuous grip on life and how it can be torn away in a viscious instant." Posted by: Oz_1788 on September 6, 2006 1:42 PM "But in all reality, I don't think its drawing too long a bow to suppose that someone who wrestled crocodiles for a living might have grappled a stingray." Maureen - when you are impugning a bloke's reputation shortly after his death, "not drawing too long a bow to suppose" something is nowhere near good enough. Not good enough even in casual pub conversation, let alone in a newspaper article by a so-called "public intellectual". If Greer didn't have the facts to hand about the bloke's last minutes, then she should not have commented at all, let alone invented words for him that he never said. Shoddy stuff. Posted by: Craig Garside on September 6, 2006 1:42 PM It's certainly sad that Steve's death has been made into such a spectacle by the media, it seems as though they take advantage of anything, quite like this article (which I read several times). Because he is a man that deserves respect for what he has done in his short lifetime. Anyone that can have so much passion and enthusiasm for life should be congratulated. i find it really cruel that he has been criticised in any way,now after his death. Why would anyone even bother asking for Germaine Greer's opinion, any research into her history shows her simply as a woman that whinges and complains about everything, while contributing nothing to the world. An education obviously does not give a person compassion or understanding or tact. At least Steve brought entertainment and happiness to children worldwide. Plus, if all the people that commented on this article are tired of the 'outpouring of grief', why bother looking for articles about Steve at all. Why not spend your time doing something worthwhile with your time. I was saddened by the news because he always came across as someone who was genuine and had a heart of gold. So it seems very petty for Australians to feel ashamed of the way Americans percieve us because of his personality. Maybe Americans will think that we are all so enthusiastic and unpretentious... though judging by this cruel article and comments I guess they're wrong... Posted by: Kylie on September 6, 2006 1:42 PM The key thing to remember here is that Irwin's out-there persona was really a great vehicle for his first love, which was conservation. Despite the croc-wrestling and what not, he was a genuine lover of animals and trying to save them is a pretty worthy cause, I reckon, as they don't have too many voices of reason to vack them up. While people might not think that shouting "crikey" and "mate" all over the shop adds up to reason, he in fact lent his name, expertise and (here's the key) his money to help them. The only animals he wasn't keen on were (wait for it) ... PARROTS, although he tried hard. He was quoted as saying. "I'm getting better at 'em ... I really am." I didn't know him either, but he was certainly a fair-dinkum larrikin and a genuine, knock-about Aussie who remained unchanged by his fame and wealth. As for Germs, well no-one's unhappy that she a) hasn't added to the gene pool and b) lives in England. And you're right about the media. Our memories suddenly get the bad bits blanked out when something like this happens. The hysteria-meter was certainly on high during the "Bob and croc" episode. Posted by: STM on September 6, 2006 1:43 PM Anyone who honestly thinks that Germaine Greer is less of a cultural icon and has achieved less in life than Steve Irwin is just displaying their own ignorance. Germaine Greer is an extremely accomplished academic and social commentator. Steve Irwin appeared to have the intellectual depth of a cactus. While Greer has undeniably raised Australia's profile as a nation of intelligent, refined and cosmopolitan people, Steve Irwin won his fame by creating a cliched, simplistic and deeply unflattering image of Australians as red-neck bogans. Granted, Greer hasn't necessarily picked a good time for her comments - it's not very classy to so voiciferously denounce the dead before the funeral has even taken place- but her comments were spot on. Posted by: L on September 6, 2006 1:43 PM We really need to do something about our education skills. The level of comprehension of a number of posters is truly shocking. Posted by: Lee on September 6, 2006 1:46 PM I didn't really have time to read through all the posts so sorry if i'm labouring on a point someone already made, but basically, while I think you are right and the media ARE definitely hypocrites when it comes to someone's death ... still ... when people are dead, do you really think their relatives or people who liked them want to see on TV or in articles or blogs, such as this one, things bagging them out?? Sure, the media has is extremely two-faced when it comes to the way they treat a person in life and then in death, but hey ... death is death ... let the guy go without bagging out what he's done in his life, we bag out people enough in life without continuing it once they're dead. Posted by: Mig on September 6, 2006 1:46 PM Its time to move on now. There is a photo of Tom and Katie's baby on the front page! Posted by: Maureen Chuck on September 6, 2006 1:47 PM Wow ! I am truely amazed by the hatred in many of the posts here. I really thought Aussies were as nice and as much fun as Steve Irwin. I'm sorry to say that you remind me of the democrats in this country. I liked Steve Irwin - he cracked me up. I feel for his wife and kids. This American will miss him. Posted by: Dilip Jivan on September 6, 2006 1:48 PM I remembered back in 2004, I posted a comment in an Australian press, that Steve was a BLOODY IDIOT (saw a lot of this 2 words on billboards-for another reason, from sydney to Melbourne), for what he did to the crocodile, dangling his infant but alas, fed it the chicken instead. He taught children that it is OK to pound onto to crocodiles, grab snakes, and mutter rubbish, and act silly, all at the same time. The animal kingdom decided it was too much ........... Posted by: KC on September 6, 2006 1:52 PM Brett, I couldnt have said it better myself! Posted by: Gwyneth on September 6, 2006 1:52 PM It's like you've taken a beautifully decorated 'media' cake, shoved your fist in its middle, withdrawn a lump of bullshit and then displayed it to everyone with the words "THIS is what they're feeding you!". Nice. Good artical. The truth is oh so sweet. I guess though that most people LIKE being sentimental and people like Germain Greer ruin it for them. Suck it up I say. The last thing you can call Ms Greer is a hypocrite (see "Posted by: Brett at September 6, 2006 01:11 PM" for example of hypocrite) and if you don't agree with her opinion, great...it shows you can think for yourself. Posted by: DAN on September 6, 2006 1:53 PM Just a thought from Canada on Steve Irwin. He helped re-create interest in wildlife and conservation at a time when it was sorely needed. I think because of that he ranks with Cousteau, Suzuki, and Attenborough. Australia should be very proud of him. Interesting commentary by the way. Posted by: Mike Aylward on September 6, 2006 1:55 PM i cant beleive how cruel and bitter people can be. you say the media is taking it too far, all your opinions are doing exactly the same thing ! Posted by: Renee on September 6, 2006 1:55 PM Tom Cruise must be p**d off that the news of photos of his baby have been eclipsed by the death of Steve Irwin. Posted by: hehe on September 6, 2006 1:57 PM "The truth is Steve Irwin was a media obsessive only too ready to do damn stupid things for a titillating grab. Talk shows, stupid risks - all the same. And now he's somehow transformed into one of the worlds great ecologists. How do you think all those crocodiles felt being reefed by the neck by bozo-boy for a funny bit of telly." Posted by: Clive Smith at September 6, 2006 01:35 PM I'm sorry, but that's a load of rubbish. While he obviously had a different approach than others, I think he knew more than anyone what he was doing and knew the risk that went with it. None of us know how to handle a situation with dangerous animals - unless you've been trained, like he has - so I think it's a little unfair to call him a "bozo-boy" on the actions he made. While I agree his decision to put his baby in danger a couple years ago was questionable, I agree that it was the media itself that had stirred so much out of something that could've very easily been pushed aside. But, hey, he's famous so I guess it makes money... I'm going to pay my respects to a man who knew what he was doing and did a lot for Australia as a whole. He made people aware of animals and the dangers that come with them, improved tourism and overall he was a great Australian icon for the rest of the world. I personally believe he did a fantastic job at what he did. I find it dishearting to have people not at least acknowledge what he has done for this country. Whether you enjoyed his personality or not, I still think he was a very 'out there' sort of bloke who had provided something to this country. Posted by: Mark on September 6, 2006 1:57 PM There sure are some BARBed comments on this blog; some STING more than others, but there's plenty of VENOM behind many. If I can speak MANTA man, Jack - and don't get in a FLAP about this - Steve Irwin was FISHing for trouble. He was so rash, clumsy, devoid of POISON grace that he was begging to be stung. It's a sorry TAIL, but let's not PIERCE about, eh? Posted by: Speckled Jim on September 6, 2006 1:57 PM DD at September 6, 2006 01:31 PM You wrote: Anyway ... I think I've had some pretty good times and done some reasonably good work in my time on this planet ... difference is I don't necessarily equate 'getting filthy rich doing it' with success. I note that you have to put in qualifiers on your level of success. If you had read my post you'd have noticed I did not identify whether I believed he was a success or not. I don't pretend to judge the success of others - unlike some. You seem awfully defensive. I wonder why? I also note that you completely ignore the tenets of my argument. Is that because you are too busy trying to think up pithy comebacks to consider WHY Irwins death has had the effect it has? Why was his death felt the way it was? Why does everyone think they have a right to comment on the way he lived? When quite obviously they do not! If you call that stance moral superiority, then by all means I AM superior. In the eyes of most he was a mighty success... and not for becoming filthy rich (that is just a biproduct). This is the subtext of what I wrote and you missed it completely because you were too busy attempting a comeback that whistled on by with no effect. bravo. Posted by: brett on September 6, 2006 1:58 PM In defence of the cultural cringe, let me say it works both ways. I have a view of Americans coloured by loud and lame television. I have a sneaking suspicion that most Germans are boring and emotionally stunted, that Chinese are good at maths and that the French are arrogant. Part of me knows this to be nonsense while another part has had those ideas to some extent ingrained. It can be a real battle against prejuidice at times. I once met a girl who said that she felt sorry for the Irish. When I asked why, she said it was because they were so stupid. Stereotypes - I'm just a little wary of them, that's all. Posted by: Prawn on September 6, 2006 1:59 PM I think Steve Irwin's death proves the folly of his actions involving his son. It shows that, no matter how experienced one is, how expert in handling animals one happens to be, these are wild, dangerous unpredictable animals that react on instinct. I was not particularly a fan of Steve Irwin and am annoyed that he is represented as the quitessential Australia. How many of us run around in khaki shorts and shirt saying 'crikey' all the time? I also found some of his methods as presenting his animals in a rather Ringling Bros Circus type manner as rather questionable. Having said that, he was clearly passionate about his job, a great conservationist and an extemely successful businessman. However, I for one won't be beatifying him. He was simply a very successful man who did a very dangerous job which has caught up with him in the end. I suppose these days it is natural that the death of any popular or successful Australian is going to create a media frenzy. It only takes a look at recent events such as Beaconsfield to see the Australian media are little better than the British tabloids. As someone whose father died well before his time, I do feel very sad for his children and his wife. It is a terribly empty feeling not being able to ask your dad for help and advice, and even though I am a grown man with children of my own, who dad never saw, there are many times I wish I could ask him advice, or just sit and have a beer with him. The real tragedy is those poor kids who will miss out on so many things with their dad, and for that, I am very sad. Posted by: Stuart on September 6, 2006 2:00 PM Seppo, The only thing to be said at your funeral will be "stupid bastard." Keep jumping you coward. Posted by: David Fletcher on September 6, 2006 2:01 PM Re: Craig Garside at September 6, 2006 01:42 PM You are absolutely right Craig. But why should we expect Germaine Greer's jouranlistic standards to be higher than anybody else's Posted by: Maureen Chuck on September 6, 2006 2:01 PM "I am truely amazed by the hatred in many of the posts here. I really thought Aussies were as nice and as much fun as Steve Irwin. I'm sorry to say that you remind me of the democrats (sic) in this country." Now there's a comment from Dilip with crystalline objectivity that you can rely on. Have you had a look at what your Republicans have done to the world in 6 year mate? Posted by: Seppo on September 6, 2006 2:01 PM Steve Irwin's death was undoubtedly a tragedy and the vast majority would agree with me. He was a much loved and colourful personality and there is no denying that he did a lot for conservation. But as is true for any person, there will always be people like Germaine Greer who will disagree with the opinion of the vast majority. Her article in the Guardian within barely 24 hours of his death showed an utter lack of sensitivity and respect. Besides the fact it was irrational and displayed ignorance in ascribing a human emotion ('revenge of the animal kingdom" ) to the natural defence reaction of any animal. While I disagree with her opinion, I do defend her right to express it without being subjected to personal abuse and insults ranging from being called a windbag to a male radio announcer saying "it was no wonder that blokes didn't want to touch her". Please, if you want to have a debate let it be about the issues concerned and not about her sex appeal (or lack of it thereof) Posted by: Lakshmi on September 6, 2006 2:01 PM Why can't people just accept him for what he was, a person, another living breathing human being. How many people do you know that are so passionate about what they do and live every breathing moment of their life living it, right or wrong. Sure he was in our living room wrestling crocs, but who invited him in, he didnt knock on the door and say Crikey! got a big one here. If u didnt approve of his antics you could change the channel, there's always something else to watch. Sure he manhandled some animals, but what about all the dying ones he cradled in his arms. Its nobody's business, but it seems most of the money he made went into conservation. Larger than life yes, made an impact, yes, love him or hate him, yes, he polarised public opinion, and no matter what he has broadened the awareness about conservation. This blog is all about the media beat up and the continual bantering is just sustaining it. Let's all just stop for a minute, have a cup of tea and a little lie down and realise that he is gone but not forgotten, whether we liked him or not. Condolences to the family. Posted by: vicki Emanuel on September 6, 2006 2:02 PM Oz_1788 at September 6, 2006 01:42 PM See. I told you all. Doubt no longer heathens. Posted by: brett on September 6, 2006 2:02 PM L said: 'Germaine Greer is an extremely accomplished academic and social commentator.' And this is a great achivement how? I can find "social commentators" galore at the local pub. And I'd dispute the "accomplished" bit of academic, too. Greer wrote a controversial book many years ago and has dined out on it since. Now she's trying to wring more headlines out of Steve Irwin's tragic death. Her book "The Boy" verged on pedophilia and if it had been written by a man the howling from elites would have been deafening. Posted by: newieboy on September 6, 2006 2:02 PM steve was indeed a gr8 man.all of us will miss him for our entire lives. im very much concerned for his wife n children.hope they come out of the grief as strongly as possible.the world saw a gr8 loss on 4 september-2006. he was the most courageous guy i've ever seen.may his soul rest in peace. waiting to meet him in heaven coz gr8 people rest there. Posted by: sara on September 6, 2006 2:02 PM What the fk is it with you Aussies. Australia is not the centre of the universe. We lost a great human being, what difference does it make where he was from? Would you have mourned him any less if he came from another corner of the world? i am absolutely sick of your racist mentality. No wonder no one knows anything about your country except Steve. Any one coming in contact with you creeps would like to forget the experience as soon as possible. Try to change your ways and probably the world will gradually accept you or all you will be thought of will be as fourth generation ex cons with filth in their genes. A bitter pill to swallow, but high time someone told you that. Posted by: Alex on September 6, 2006 2:02 PM Steve Irwin is a legend. What he did on Television wasn't for money or fame but was for his passion for wildlife, education and fun for people and kids. Getting trapped in controversial issues is the price you pay for being a celebrity. We can't sit here and say he put his son's life at risk when we aren't any expert on wildflife. And for God's sake.. the guy is dead now and there is no point critising him for something that happened more than 2 years- not specifically being bad. Overall he was a hero and will remain so. Posted by: Ankita on September 6, 2006 2:03 PM "Steve Irwin won his fame by creating a cliched, simplistic and deeply unflattering image of Australians as red-neck bogans". Come off it. Are all English people like David Beckham? Are all Americans like Jay Leno? Are all Canadians like kd lang? Are all New Zealanders like Jay Lagaia? Why do you think that all citizens of foreign countries are stupid enough to believe that each and every Australian looks, talks and behaves like Steve Irwin? It makes no sense. Posted by: Craig Garside on September 6, 2006 2:03 PM Yes Mr Irwin will be missed even here in Canada. Sydneysiders four generations or more removed from the land, can poke fun all they want about his connection to the younger set and the child in all of us. They are the same fools (the four or more generations removed from the land) that won't eat a turnip or apple if there is a spot on it or worms on or around it. The same people that demand everything sanitised to perfection before the appearance is correct on their plate. What we refer here in the great white north to as an "intellectual know not". Take it a little metaphorical: his actions and hamming for all to see. He drew in Millions of viewers all over the world. As anybody who watched Mutual of Omaha as a child could tell you, and so I will tell you. Mr Irwin might have spotted a pig on a river bank with not a hoof track around before he flung himself over the edge of a boat and proceeded to hog coller the little feller, commenting as he went. But who does not realise the attention span of viewers the world over nowadays? Might his repetitious nomenclenturistic bellowings have been a direct causitive effect on him hence form him thus bored in to him over the long run from a contemporary societal set that which is without a doubt the most self centred insular white bread bunch of inbreds to ever be sent from a penal system overpopulation export plan devised by of all people the British who in their own right are as evidenced by the election and support of a right wing socialist, whatever that is, just a little higher up the ladder than Italians. Mr Irwin could not have been a more perfect example for everything that is right (good bloke) about Australia today. Although I can not carry a tune in gourd with a handle, I have been known to write some of the best songs albeit in my own mind. Whom is the artist that can pen a classic to respect Mr Irwin for all that was right mate in his life? Or is there already a folk hit I know not about? Why don't you rule out Elton. His penchant for musical eulogy borders on the insane; women: preferably dead dumb and bottle blond. Mr Irwin may be not with us anymore, [how long before he is sited ala an imagined Elvis] but a good little ditty from the land down under should be the order of the day. Posted by: Skeeeter Boisverte on September 6, 2006 2:04 PM Anyone who honestly thinks that Germaine Greer is less of a cultural icon and has achieved less in life than Steve Irwin is just displaying their own ignorance. Germaine Greer is an extremely accomplished academic and social commentator. Steve Irwin appeared to have the intellectual depth of a cactus. While Greer has undeniably raised Australia's profile as a nation of intelligent, refined and cosmopolitan people, Steve Irwin won his fame by creating a cliched, simplistic and deeply unflattering image of Australians as red-neck bogans. Granted, Greer hasn't necessarily picked a good time for her comments - it's not very classy to so voiciferously denounce the dead before the funeral has even taken place- but her comments were spot on. * Posted by: L at September 6, 2006 01:43 PM Wow, so it seems we still haven't gotten over the cringe. Deal with it, he was a great man who did us all proud. The less said about Germaine Greer the better. Posted by: Uncle Kwame on September 6, 2006 2:04 PM What a pathetic & insecure bunch the Irwin bashers are. It seems so many are missing the point because they are so far up their own arses that they just don't get it. The point is that Steve Irwin was passionate about wildlife, the environment and his family. The point is rather than live in the arm of society's 'what will everyone think' he persued his dreams with relentles enthusiasim & shared it with those close to him and anyone who was interested enough to listen. There was no alternate motive apart from than he simply believed in it, loved what he did & relished the opportunity he had to the best he could. What have any of you done in terms of living a perfect life? Where are your efforts in terms of wildlife conservation? Have you even been to Australia Zoo? Are you even aware of the efforts outside of the public persona that Steve, Terri & the Irwin family have made in their persuit of all creatures great & small? No - didn't think so. Posted by: K Sheridan on September 6, 2006 2:05 PM The media hype around celebrity is really begining to cheapen grief so much so that we become indifferent. Yes! it is sad some one has passed away (but it always is) Yes! he was will be missed (but so is everyone by those who lose them) Personally i think it's none of our business or the media's when someone dies. Why can't we acknowledge and respect instead of rant and over exaggerate? Does anyone have an answer? The media, while morning (sarcasm) steve's loss, are raking it in..... shame!! Posted by: Laura A on September 6, 2006 2:06 PM Your comments are not only untimely but also totally inaccurate and very hurtful to Terri and the kids, I am the father of a young lady with Williams Syndrome her name is 'Sarah', who went to Australia Zoo last year. Originating from Jersey in the Channel Islands,UK. We have been fortunate enough to have the JERSEY ZOO created by another amazing conservationist Gerrald Durral, which helped to foster Sarah's interest in animals and there preservation, Sarah has grown up watching Steve on TV, and our visit to Australia Zoo was the highlight of our trip to OZ. Unfortunatly we missed Steve and his family by a few mins, but when our good friend BRAZAKKA found out,he phoned Steve and we received a beautiful signed photo saying 'To Sarah, I love the fact that we share a passion for animals, call me on your next visit and I will ensure that we spend the entire day togeather with the animals, all my love Steve Irwin'. He also sent Sarah his entire collection of DVDs and phoned her 1 week after we returned to Dubai ( where we have lived for the past 6 years), to say how sorry he was that he misssed seeing her, and was looking forward to meeting her on our next trip. NO ONE in the media pays this attention, to a young budding Animal lover like Sarah, and Steve was and is her HERO, She has been crying for two days now, and both my wife and myself have been unsuccessful in telling her anything, to make her feel better, she cannot accept that Steve the Croc Hunter is no more, and to be honest neither can we. To Terri, Bindi and Bob we cannot start to understand or feel the pain you must be going through, but our hearts are with you, and we know that your family will carry on the important and impressive work that Steve and his father started. To Bindi and Bob, your father was, and still is THE CROC HUNTER and the ultimate WILDLIFE WARRIOR, and you will be too,if you feel proud of Dad, you should be, because he has done more to raise the awareness of animal conservation World-Wide than everyone else put togeather. A prouder Australian or Father, would be impossible to find (your dad has set the bar, it's up to you to top it) To Germain Greer, I would like to use a local UAE saying to describe the utter contempt that I feel towards you. 'May you and your mothers womb dry up, and may the fleas of a thousand camels, drive you over the hills of damnation, to burn for all eternity in the fires of hell'. Who the hell do you think you are to leave comments like that on the internet (which will remain there forever) for Bindi and Bob to read about there father,as they grow up. I am furious, that you would use a Hero's death to showboat your feelings, what the hell have you done, that remotly compares with Steve's efforts, to even be asked your opinion, by some low life-rag is a disgrace to the journalistic profession. Germain, I am not even religious, but I wish you nothing but pain. To Terri,bindi and Bob. Live with the Passion your Genes demand. Your Dad was a bloody Eco God. All our Love Mark V Charman and Family Dubai,UAE P.S. I urge everyone to boycot Germain Greers trash, for all eternity. Posted by: kane on September 6, 2006 2:06 PM I don't know if the reaction to Steve Irwin's untimely passing is over the the top. He was the best-known animal conservationist of our era in the world. His level of popularity and his own efforts to defend the habitats of the naimals he loved is perhaps only rivaled by Jacque Cousteau. To those who criticized Steve Irwin for his highly energetic personality being somehow detrimental to the world's view of Australia and Australians is ludicrous. It's the same as saying that John Wayne is demeaning to Americans because he makes the world believe that he is a caricature of all Americans, and that the American West always looks like Monument Valley in Arizona. Steve Irwin wasn't a embarassment. He did more to promote ecotourism and conservation in Australia than any government could do. He was just Steve Irwin. Those who worked with him say that with Steve, WYSIWYG! I say thank you Steve for your passion and your joy of God's creatures. Rest in Peace away from the vultures that would pick at your bones. From a family of fans in Colorado, USA Posted by: Erik on September 6, 2006 2:06 PM "The last thing you can call Ms Greer is a hypocrite" Actually, no. It is the first thing. What about that business with claiming that she never sets foot on Australian soil without getting permission from the traditional Aboriginal owners? Last time she was in Melbourne, the local elders were interviewed and they had never spoken to or met her in their lives. Posted by: Craig Garside on September 6, 2006 2:07 PM Jack - you didn't have to know Steve Irwin personally to know he has achieved an awful lot plus he was/is a good bloke. The outpouring of grief now only proves that the so called "outcry" over the baby Bob and crocodile incident was always only a media beat up - by self serving journalists and some of the old pc movement. As for old Vinegar tits Greer- she hasn't even lived here for eons - yet in her quest for any publicity at all, somehow sees herself as some sort of spokesperson for Australia. Bollocks to the old cow! Her last relevant article she ever wrote was the female eunich- the rest since has been crap. Well at least your article is reasonably honest- fickle- yes! Some of you are very fickle indeed- but its not the majority of the population that's fickle - its the media that rocks things along and tries to stir the pot from every angle while "journalists" like you, all vye to claim some sort of moral highground- while trying so hard to make your own capital out of it. Your article is just typical of many. Posted by: Daniel Jarrett on September 6, 2006 2:08 PM Things sometimes come from the sources you'd least expect. The people, for example, doing the most for the conservation of wetland areas in the south of the USA are, would you believe it, hunters. They want somewhere wild where they can pot the occasional top predator, and they're willing to buy up huge tracts of pristine wilderness and keep it that way to get what they want. No amount of environmental legislation has managed to compete with dickheads with guns in actually saving the environment. Irwin was similar. Wrestlin' crocs while spouting off about top predators and healthy environments is probably not going to speak to Sydney's spoiled middle class (ie. SMH readers) but there are many, many (tens of millions, perhaps) people who watched his crazy antics who never would have heard his message in any other forum. No number of well-meaning tame nature documentaries would have carried Steve's environmental message to his audience. His reach was unique, his message vital. All the "great Aussie bloke" palaver seems to miss that point. Oh, by the way, great article, Jack. Posted by: Shan on September 6, 2006 2:09 PM Thank you! The trumped up "outpouring of grief" over this man's death that is being bruited about in the media is absolutely absurd, and completely inaccurate. If you believed the press, everyone in Australia believes that the planet tilted on its axis when Steve Irwin died. I own a shop in a very busy tourist area. People have been in my place constantly in the last two days, Australians and overseas tourists alike - and not one, NOT ONE, has said a single thing about Steve Irwin! Where are the burping wails of agonized grief that the press keeps telling us about? Life goes on, and most people just simply don't care, because they didn't know the man. As a proud new Australian citizen, I have to say that I considered him a complete embarrassment, particularly when people from my native country were utterly convinced that he was a typical Australian. Most Australians of my acquaintance feel the same. Hopefully this will all blow over soon, and the press will be looking for the next sentimental bath to offer to those who want to ride the emotional roller coaster that passes for news these days. After all, then what's happening on Big Brother and Australian Idol is given front page coverage, as if these are actually important news stories, we've fallen pretty far. Why bother with real news stories, or the fact that we're embroiled in an illegal war? Why worry about the corruption in our government or the economy when we can sob about a celebrity we didn't even know or cheer with elation that someone else we didn't even know won a talent contest? It's sad that people have to live vicariously through the likes of Steve Irwin. And for those of you who insist that he was a "conservationist", you might look into real wildlife documentaries by real experts. Irwin was a circus performer, on a par with the old alligator wrestlers that used to go around with carnivals. They iced down the unfortunate reptiles until they were sluggish and very slow moving, and then "wrestled" them into submission with much thrashing and punching. If Irwin was so confident that it was "safe" to have a month old baby within biting distance of a crocodile, wouldn't it make you wonder if that animal hadn't been iced down prior to the baby's "close encounter"? The man was as phony as his accent - and he didn't always talk like that in real life either - ask any of the film crews who didn't work directly for him. He talked like anyone else until the cameras were rolling - and then it was all wide eyes, monkey faces and "crikey!" Pity that makes people in other parts of the world think all Australians are buffoons. Posted by: TF on September 6, 2006 2:09 PM As you said the other day Jack, the primary function of the media is entertainment. That would make the people who write the sanctimonious dribble 'performers', and thus inclined to bullshitting for a living. Posted by: jboy on September 6, 2006 2:09 PM Jack, have the vast majority of your respondants failed reading comprehension back in high school English, or was it just me? I thought that your article was about media hypocrisy and you mentioned your personal feelings about Irwin as a form of disclosure. Posted by: Bill Steamshovel on September 6, 2006 2:10 PM Thanks you for a great article. And yes its sad to hear that he died but a state funeral?? I don't think so. Did he find a cure for cancer, save millions of lives, discover clean alternative energy ...no he just pissed off a sting ray and he got killed. Australia we will go broke giving state funerals for every idiot in this country. Posted by: ky on September 6, 2006 2:11 PM Jack - thanks for having the courage to write this article. Keep it up - I only hope some people read it and realise that by eulogising Steve Irwin as a hero the media devalue themselves and insult our real heroes (where was this level of media boosted grief when Weary Dunlop or Victor Chang died?). Posted by: Wal Kesby on September 6, 2006 2:12 PM The only cultural cringe i have felt in regards to Steve Irwin is the pathetic comments from germaine greer. With fuel at a $1.50 a litre, her 2 cents doesn't go too far anyway. An easy target in life, an easier taket in death, Steve made his name through actions some of you don't quite comprehend to well. Honesty, passion, and a sence of the greater good in protecting and conserving wildlife around the planet. A great family man who thought about everyone and the planet as a whole. Everyone close to him loves him, kids around the world love him, high rollers to the common man like him immencely, and despite that, some people feel they can take cheap shots at a guy who has done wonders around the world for athe environment and australia. Out of all the great things he has done, why the hell do we only look back at the 'bob' incident? are we all perfect? Maybe at everyone's funeral we can tell a couple of stories of good deeds told then list their failings in life. What a great way to remember everyone, forgot the good and demonise us all for our mistakes. I say good on you steve, you are a legend, honest, passionate and the worlds a better place for you being around. More than i can say for Ms Greer and those who want to cut you down. The news media in this country stopped having credibility once it went from a news service to a ratings game......... Posted by: evo on September 6, 2006 2:13 PM Now there are two sets hippocrits. All those posting their messages here agreeing with Jack M as well as those lauding him. Where were you when I was scrolling through the hundreds of condolence messages yesterday??? Or is it only because someone had the guts to say something first?? I held back simply out of good taste as I was ready to unload about the whole thing. Australia had just managed to extricate itself from the Croc Dundee imagine only to have Irwin (and our Government) 'represent' us as out embassador for many things. I for one considered him a scam artist and blagger- a very succesful one who played on a false Australian image-which countries like the US lap up. Watching one of his doco's briefly (I couldnt stand them and watched bits and pieces to see what he was actually like) i remember him being bitten by a snake and calmly whipping out a book to "see if its was venomous" Truly a disgusting piece of propaganda and irresponsible piece of filmamking ever. Irresponsible seems to be his main thing. However the main thing is this. He didnt represent mainstream Australia. He represented what many parts of the world thought or think (through no fault of their own as we let them) Australia is like. As an expat I was personally embarrassed having to put up with people from other countries even mentioning his name. And as an aside, can we please ignore Greer baiting?? We know shes a fool and has no idea and the media use her to fire up people. If the English are so dumb to give her a job just be thankful-like Kylie- that we dont have to put up with her here. Now can we get someone smart, funny and well spoken to represent us now??? Posted by: Glenn on September 6, 2006 2:13 PM Looks like Jack Marx is jumping onto the Irwin death media bandwagon just like everyone else, even though he is trying for a different angle. Couldn't think of anything else constructive to write for your column this morning could you Jack? I think journalists these days should change their job titles to 'hypocrites' oozing with desperation for inspiration! My deepest sympathies to the Irwin family who don't need this crap in their face at this horrrible time! Posted by: Marcy on September 6, 2006 2:14 PM And another thing about his faux pas invoving little Bob. Ever seen a parent that bought a four wheeler bike and then placed their fourteen year old alone atop the All Terrain Vehicle (ATV)? and then go out of their way as a parent usually does come forward with the reasons why everyhing will be right mate. How true until everything goes terribly wrong. Posted by: skeeter Boisvert on September 6, 2006 2:16 PM Gee Jack are you denigrating the media (including yourself) or the Australian public cause I thought you guys knew what we thought and reported it so. "We're a fickle mob" - I assume you mean journalists who perpetuate their own opinions in the name of the public and any fact tends to be reported with all sorts of twists on it. Personally I found Steve Irwin to be a positive Australian character and regardless of his underlying objectives he was in all practical purposes a better Australian than Germain Greer. If ever there was a phony then she is it and how much longer do we actually have to listen to her negative and benign opinions. As someone already said two little children have lost (by all accounts) a loving and devoted father and his wife has lost a friend and soulmate. Regardless of whether these situations are reported in the press or not we should still show some dignity and respect to Mr Irwin's family in their time of loss. Play the devils advocate if you like but in the end a person that apparently never hurt anyone else has died. Regardless of his quirky and maybe annoying nature this bloke deserves more accolades and respect in life and death than some of the paedophiles and crooks that masquerade behind cloaks and uniforms in this country. Why don't you write about them Jack because we all know that they exist as protected species, or do you only have the courage to pick at the dead? Posted by: Greg on September 6, 2006 2:17 PM Well I have read all the comments so far and what I can say is this: You people need to take a good look at yourselves. You really should be ashamed for your attitude towards the dead is disgusting. There is a couple of posters who have some dignity but the rest of you arrogant psuedo try hard intellectuals, please do your self a favour and drop dead. You are a waste of space in this world, and unlike Steve, you won't be missed. If anything the only thing you are good for is a real good belly laugh. What a joke. BTW Jack, good to see you expose people for what they really are. Scum and bottom feeders, keep up the work. Posted by: sindee on September 6, 2006 2:17 PM Germaine Greer = the crock of sh!t hunter. More power to her. Posted by: cioran on September 6, 2006 2:18 PM Police say there are no suspicious circumstances regarding Steve's death... Also that he was not intimidating the Stingray.. how can this be self defence? Surely there is a case to answer. Posted by: Tez on September 6, 2006 2:18 PM Every society gets the media it wants and deserves. If society didn't want to wallow in misery and reflection for people it doesn't know, papers wouldn't print it because it wouldn't sell. It's just how most of us are. Posted by: Chris on September 6, 2006 2:18 PM There are two kinds of people, one who stand apart by their work and other who try to do so by simply wagging their tongues (also pens !!) For all those people who liked Steve's work he will be respected & missed. As for people like GG, these creatures are rated even below that stingray which stung atleast a perception of threat. RIP Steve... Posted by: VS on September 6, 2006 2:19 PM TF, I think you'll find that, with a bit of research, Steve Irwin was a top-shelf conservationist who put his very substantial money where his very substantial mouth was. You can call him a lot of things, but don't call him phony. I did that in the company of a world renowned conservationist and she told me off and suggested I do some homework on the bloke. I did and a was surprised. Steve wasn't as green as he was cabbage looking. Give him credit where it's due, even if he struck you as a total wanker. As for Greer's piece, I could see where she was coming from - but within 24 hours of his untimely death? And what's she ever done since penning her book-of-the-moment a few decades ago? An appearance on celebrity Big Brother. How very gauche. Posted by: lejuan on September 6, 2006 2:19 PM Yes I agree, I live 1km from the zoo I have been there once 4 week ago with my 8year old boy I never saw him never spoke to his family. I have seen terri shopping with the kids in beerwah like a every day mum, I have to say that I have not cried and I don't think I will but I am very sorry for terri she has lost her husband and the kids have lost there dad before they get to know him. But we here in this little part of the world know full well that Terri is strong and with the help from loving friends that she has and her family she and her kids, and the zoo will come back stronger than ever. Posted by: Kim on September 6, 2006 2:21 PM There's another thread in the SMH's coverage of Crocodile Man's demise that needs some attention. That's TV-writer Michael Idato's rushed media piece on Irwin as "Loved Overseas but Ignored in Australia". We've been hearing this story about every dead celebrity since Dame Nellie Melba. Yawn. Cringe. Over 50. In Australia, we dont lick our celebrities to death like the Septics, at least not yet. Beware. If the Yanks like something (Hummers, handguns, Harry Belafonte), there's danger for Australia! Posted by: bunkum on September 6, 2006 2:21 PM A State Funeral..why? just ~coz he`s been on the Simpsons?, ..what a sad little country this is.. Posted by: charles dirk on September 6, 2006 2:24 PM For a start, Irwin's accent and manner werent 'fake Aussie'. Anyone who has lived in Queensland will be familiar with that twang, aaayyyy? As for Germaine, she rocks. Read the Female Eunuch. She basically said this: women of the world get off your arses and stop whingeing about men. Take responsibility for yourselves instead of exploiting your beauty to manipulate men. I would've thought blokes would go along with that, but I guess they continue to be intimidated by a woman who also encouraged us to taste our own menstrual blood. Steve rocked. Germaine rocks. Neither were/are saints but they had/have the guts to be true to themselves. And in this world of Naomi Robsons, damn, dont we need that! Posted by: agentprovocateuse on September 6, 2006 2:24 PM Jack, GG's article only confimed my opinion of her on two counts, firstly she gets her facts wrong, read the following article by Orietta Guerrera, on smh site regarding the immense tracts of land purchased to give " animals space", her(GG) contribution to world betterment, the environment, animal welfare etc is well known (in her own mind) and secondly it confirms what I that I have always thought, that she was a dried up old crone most likely with a fanny as big as her heart stuart Posted by: Stuart on September 6, 2006 2:25 PM He was an over the top, overly dramatic, histrionic, enthusiastic, wide eyed, wide mouthed, cross between Huck Finn, Jethro Bodine, and Jeaque Cousteau.... You have to admire a man who's life was lived with an energy and focus that was, at heart (at least I hope)for knowledge, conservation, co-existence. Posted by: texasflats on September 6, 2006 2:26 PM Sorry to disappoint you David (02:01), but I gave up doing really reckless things when I had children. Poor buggers eh? Now they have to endure me until I die of something more mundane. But that's the point of my original spray and that of this thread. Sorry I had to call a spade a spade to make my point. Posted by: seppo on September 6, 2006 2:27 PM I hope this doesn't have a negative impact on the popularity on the Sydney Stingers Water Polo team. Posted by: tim on September 6, 2006 2:28 PM So, which one of his detractors is praising him now? Please link to the journalist who beat up on this guy and who's done a 180 after his death. You do realize the media is made up of a lot of people, don't you? Lots of famous figures get publically criticized for specific actions but it doesn't mean they've been condemned as a person with finality. Why would you want a media with one rigid opinion? Black and white thinking isn't very smart or interesting to read. Besides, we usually have respect for the dead unless the person was simply, unredeemably awful. This man did a lot of wonderful conservation work and in fact was an expert animal handler. His death was just a freak accident. Overall his good points far outweigh one subjective incident. Posted by: Ki on September 6, 2006 2:28 PM I was initially shocked at his passing but not really suprised. I was also vocal about when he took Bob into the crocodile enclosure and felt like the croc would have looked at little Bob as a chicken feed & I did hold my breath n said don't slip man! The thing I can't understand is him swimming over the top of the huge stingray, I feel that with his experience he should have known they were lightning fast and he was in a vulnerable position, it would be like sitting with your back to a crocodile. But I guess we all make mistakes, his was a fatal one. RIP you crazy guy :) Its a fair story Jack and has ignited some good comments. Posted by: Jacque on September 6, 2006 2:30 PM Posted by: Glenn at September 6, 2006 02:13 PM Now can we get someone smart, funny and well spoken to represent us now??? sounds like Dame Edna to me ??? Posted by: scratch on September 6, 2006 2:30 PM You know what? Who cares. If people want to be sad, let them. If people want to not give a toss, let them. If kids feel like crying, let them. Death is a sad thing, whether you knew the person or not, Steve was like superman. He seemed invincible and to find out that he wasn't is sad. I wasn't a huge fan, I didn't watch his show, but knowing that he's not around anymore bums me out. Whether that is stupid or a result of the media or whatever, who cares. It is what it is. Leave the guy alone. He didn't ask for all this attention. Posted by: Dani on September 6, 2006 2:30 PM Get it with the papers but I do think Greer thinks more about her own persona rather than the validity and appropriateness of her comments. I don't know the guy but in his own words on enough rope... you got to entertain people for them to listen.. our fault not his. With any celebrity when there is children involved a certain amount of decorum should be excercised. Sadly Mrs Greer your consideration of animals should extend to other defenseless creatures...children.... a different opinion but not at this time a necessary one... Posted by: p on September 6, 2006 2:30 PM I think, with the comment counter now standing at well over 200, it's time this issue was moderated a bit more aggressively. If all you want to do is eulogise Steve Irwin, there's another page on the SMH website you can do that. This forum is debating the media response to his death, not his personal achievements, or failings. If you are offended by someone else's post in this comments section, address your response to them. Don't attack the writer of the article itself... try reading it instead. I've just waded through all the comments on this page & it didn't take long for the article's topic to be buried, ignored &/or forgotten by people who are determined to eulogise or demonise Steve Irwin. Again, there's a separate page for you to do all that. Go there. The media-created & manipulated wave of grief is nauseous & shallow, but unfortunately not unexpected. It's simply the latest round in the endless cycle of creating & then catering to the lowest common denominator audience with a short attention span & no real opinions except the ones they're told to have. Gone are the days when this event would have rated a 2 minute story on the news. Now it seems we need blanket coverage of everything & anything to do with the circumstances, to the point of smothering. AS for the hypocrisy of championing a dead 'hero' only months after denigrating him, well that's nothing new either. I remember the ABC running a glowing obituary/tribute story on Lionel Murphy, mere weeks after they'd finished praising themselves for their role in exposing his corrupt practices. It seems the only way to avoid this sort of treatment is to outlive public memory of your mistakes. Many of our surviving ex-Prime Ministers are now seen as elder statesmen, their policies & controversies largely forgotten. Unfortunately, Steve didn't get the chance to do that... For us, the spoon-fed masses, the only way to break this vacuous cycle is to vote with your TV remote, or your mouse. Don't watch, or don't read, more than you feel you need to know. Posted by: WaitingMan on September 6, 2006 2:31 PM A great Australian ambassador. Probably the most efect conservationist in the country. He has definately influenced more people than any Australian in a long long time. He will be missed. You are in fact a creep Jack, but not becuase you're not towing the line on this one. Tall poppy syndrome is sad. Posted by: Mike on September 6, 2006 2:32 PM First Don Chip, then Steve Irwin. Remind me never to appear on Denton! Maybe Germaine will be next. Wasn't she on it last year? Posted by: Farcough on September 6, 2006 2:33 PM Of course, at the time, when someone does something stupid it's ok to scoff (Baby Bob and the Croc)! Of course you're going to find millions of articles discrediting the offender. Though I agree with Lachlan. When you look at someone's life in retrospect and appreciate their achievements and character, you can't accuse them of being too "sentimental". Even if it is the bloody media talking about a famous person. But this is also a dead person, and death when you put the person's life into perspective. And L (posted comment 1:43) Germaine Greer is as much a cultural icon as an elitist bitch- but she is still definitely a very important and influential person and represents as many favourable Aussie qualities as Steve Irwin. Germaine Greer may be an academic though I gotta say even Steve Irwin sometimes had more credibility as an educator, at least he could be passionate about his causes without selfish bitterness. Note: I stick with these opinions even when death comes for Germaine Greer.. Posted by: Mary on September 6, 2006 2:33 PM Oh Jack...if only I were as articulate as you. I have felt exactly the things you speak of and turn off the minute I hear of the death of a notable person. The thing that disgusts me is the way newsreaders and writers use the word "gruesome" when speaking of some unfortunate victim of a horrible crime. Surely it's the killer who should be referred to in that way and not the body of a beautiful child or man or woman to whom terrible injuries have been inflicted. The media has a lot to answer for in my opinion! Posted by: Bev on September 6, 2006 2:36 PM Germaine Greer or her comments have been described in this blog as "a poisonous old tart", "a terrible, angry old women [sic]", "vituperative carping"; "vitriolic", "unprovoked bitterness"; and "bitter negativity". If you actually read the piece (at http://www.guardian.co.uk/australia/story/0,,1865124,00.html), it's mild. No bitter taste or detectable toxins. And -- this time -- where is she demonstrably in error in anything she says? Someone said "my problem is not with her expressing an opinion, but in her speaking authoratatively about a subject on which I doubt she has any particularly profound knowledge". (Note that he or she admits it comes over as being authoritative, i.e. convincing). GG's argument -- "what Irwin never seemed to understand was that animals need space" -- does not require profound knowledge, just clarity, precision with words, and common sense. Undoubtedly the insults are payback for her recent out-of-date and misguided criticism of the Australian national psyche. There's a stain of misogyny on the screen too. But it's also a good demonstration of the fact that people don't fully read things that oppose their cherished notions -- witness that Jack has to keep telling people to read his introduction before they post. I'm sure the hacks at the Herald Sun will raise a glass to her for providing something to enable them to exploit their readers' tendency towards mass hysteria. Lastly, her timing as well as her credentials have been questioned (as were Jack's). But both are pop culture commentators/writers. This is their thing, and the timing has been determined by the overblown media coverage. Don't like it? Don't read them. Don't buy Absolut Cut (no-one seems to sponsor GG -- Famous Grouse has missed an opportunity). Posted by: Gno on September 6, 2006 2:38 PM When did the media ever represent public opinion in this country??? Steve was a legend in my eyes from day 1, and l ways the baby holding may be considered a risk to some, Steve was in control. Its the f'ing media just looking for a headline. Your all scum Posted by: james on September 6, 2006 2:39 PM Thanks Jack for a breath of levity in all this hyperbole. I shall never forget the first time I saw Steve Irwin on television. It was 1999, I was in the Netherlands visiting friends with young children. I had been living in Africa so had avoided the "Crocodile Hunter" phenomenon. When the children discovered I was Australian she screamed out "Crocodile Hunter-Steve Irwin!!!" Then they made some moves with one another and the household cat that I later realised was imitation of him. They showed me his show on Discovery channel. They screamed and wrestled one another and seemed whipped up into a frenzy by, what seemed to me, this crazy man's antics! I was horrified at the way he approached and ambushed wild animals. Everything he was doing was antithetical to everything I had learned about living with dangerous (or any) wild animal. I had been living in areas that were dense with lions, snakes, elephants, baboons, crocodiles etc. There is no doubt that his antics were a bad example to children (and adults). I am very sorry about the shocking accident that took his life. But when I first saw him I said to the kids, "he won't live long acting like that". It may be that it is a tragic accident that could have befallen anyone, but all I want to say is think of other front-line wildlife workers who seemed to be able to work just a bit more safely: Jane Goodall, David Attenborough, David Suzuki, Harry Butler etc. (Dian Fossey was murdered by humans.) On the positive side, I am pleased that Steve has left a legacy of making conservation popular to kids. Posted by: Julia on September 6, 2006 2:39 PM Yes, Germaine is bitchy and bitter and negative. That's because she's smarter than most, and it must be endlessly, endlessly galling to be one of the few able to see through the swamp of unfocused sentimentality. Even those who profess not to be blinded by sentiment have some vague, unfocussed idea that Irwin should be viewed uncritically because he's dead. Poor Germaine. Posted by: Brad on September 6, 2006 2:39 PM Jack A word of advice: d... Post cancelled because it was nonsense. - Jack Posted by: Morrigan on September 6, 2006 2:39 PM When i heard the news about Steve, i was standing in the bank and i could hear the heckles of responses such as " at least his baby is safe now" i was never a big fan of his, but something was really strange about it, i then started to have all the feelings that i had when Diana died. It is truly sad, and i do feel for his wife & family. I can only remember saying to my husband two weeks ago, that i dont believe that he has long on the earth, i could see the lack of concetration with animals that can kill him, whilst watching his shows, he let his guard down! Posted by: dyson on September 6, 2006 2:40 PM Those of you who have no respect for the situation of Steve Irwins death need to get on with your lives and leave people like myself who genuinely feel for Steve Irwin and for his family to show our respects without your accusations of insincerity. Whether you knew Steve Irwin or not, the fact that he was a passionate man who loved his family and the beautiful things of life made him an adorable person who had a great deal to offer his children and the children of many around the world, including my own. If more were like Steve, our families, our society and our world would be a much better place. Unfortunately, there are too many money hungry, self-absorbed, superficial individuals like those critisising the response to Steve's death. Also, just because the media were horrid to him a couple of years ago does not mean that we who loved his honesty and simple joy of life were swayed by any of that media crap. I have always admired him, I felt greatly for him when the media were such arseholes, and I feel great dismay that he is gone and will not be able to share his spirit with his beautiful children. He kept on his mission despite his critics and he wore his heart on his sleeve. He deserves every bit of attention he is getting. And you all need to go and crawl under the rock from which you came. Posted by: Suzie on September 6, 2006 2:40 PM Good article Jack. I agree with eveything GG had to say. The sight of Naomi in khakis and a lizard on her shoulder with her TUT TUT school teacher manner was too much. Posted by: blue on September 6, 2006 2:41 PM Spot on, well said Posted by: Arch Hennessy on September 6, 2006 2:44 PM Part of my daily routine is to go through the comments to see how many people can misinterpret these opinion pieces. Usually I lose count after ten. I no longer wonder why we have the government we have - if all it takes it mentioning a push-button issue to generate an immediate visceral response from the majority of people, then why are we surprised? Immigration. Children Overboard. Aboriginals. Islam. Interest Rates. Terrorism. Politics is easy. Posted by: K on September 6, 2006 2:45 PM Greer courts controversy, tabloids hypocritical. Hardly shock new revelations or insights Jack ... Anyway, the next few days will get increasingly mawkish as hacks "try to keep the story alive" i.e. sell more newspapers/attract more eyeballs. In particular, expect his family's right to privacy and basic decency to be trampled in the rush to "be the first with the story" to interview his widow/daughter. It is extremely distasteful but if there wasn't a demand for it from us, joe and jen public, you wouldn't see so much of this behaviour from the media. Great blog to refressh the mind in the middle of the afternoon by the way. Posted by: Hugh on September 6, 2006 2:46 PM Personally i HATE Greer and all her ilk. The so -called "intellegentsia", who sneer at everything that offends their middle class sensibilities. Irwin may not have been everyones cup of tea, but the man did more good than harm, and above all he was a DOER, unlike Greer and the other middle class wankers, who have never got their hands dirty in their lives. Posted by: charles dirk on September 6, 2006 2:50 PM Thank God someone else is puzzled by this mass outpouring of grief over Steve Irwin. Absolutely, it's a tragedy for anyone's life to be cut short and to leave a young family. Couldn't agree more. But a state funeral? WTF? Posted by: Coco on September 6, 2006 2:51 PM You got it half-right. What you successfully exposed I guess unintentionally was the craven, opportunistic attitudes of the press where the "story" is paramount .And if the "story" is a little lacking, well, just spice it up a bit. What all you suckholes miss is this....Steve Irwin for whatever faults he had, leaves behind a huge footprint and a lot of love from little shining, wonderstruck faces.....and some older ones as well. Dipshits like Greer struggle to be legends in their own lunchtime and will/would barely leave an impression in their own vomit. Posted by: strewth on September 6, 2006 2:51 PM it's so good to know i'm not alone on this "Saint Steve" story. things are just as bad over here in the states...wall-to-wall coverage of a man who, for all practicla purposes, was a circus alligator wrestler. i feel sorry for his children that their father didn't have the sense God gave a goose, such that he might protect himself and be there for their futures. Posted by: cch on September 6, 2006 2:52 PM Rosie O at September 6, 2006 12:31 PM . - How about lets wait for the footage to be viewed by the coroner before we make any judgements on what did or did not happen. And to all the "what americans think of us" crowd - get over it. If thats what they want to think about us, let them, it will only show how insular and ignorant the american public are. And what is wrong with having an identity thats NOT a carbon copy of the US of A or any other country for that matter. Baaahhh - need more beer, better go back to lunch!! Posted by: NOt quite sure on September 6, 2006 2:53 PM my..my.. "When I heard about his death, I recognised my lack of emotion. I was simply indifferent.."GerardW. ?? where were you for the last 10 years or so?do u at least have a heart?guess not. u guys are a bunch of cold hearted people..give the guy a break. at least for his family's sake. for all his antics..steve irwin was one of the greatest wildlife conservationist that ever lived. remember him for what he did for our wildlife preservation rather than his mistakes.what is done, is done.what he left..well,i think its a great legacy for his family n for the rest of us to follow. but i do agree on the fact that the media are hypocrites & oppurtunists.Im from Asia, & i do not know him personally either but i do feel a tragic loss.like i've lost a mate to be exact.which is weird.but u see,this is the effect steve brought to everybody,.he was a great person,.a good man.can we say the same thing for ourselves?? Steve Irwin is no longer with us & u bet it is a great lost. Posted by: una on September 6, 2006 2:55 PM The media has always blown things out of proportion, I agree, including the death of Steve Irwin, but lets face it, the man is dead and the least we could do is let that be if we can't mourn for him. Posting messages that disrepect the dead just isn't in good taste. I personally did feel that Irwin was always "over-the-top" but he did get me hooked to watching documentaries on animals which i never did before. He may not have done anything great but did generate everybody's interest in wildlife. Nobody (especially Greer) in this world has the right to say that somebody deserved to die no matter what he or she has done. Posted by: VV on September 6, 2006 2:58 PM Steve Irwin to me was one of the last true blue Aussies. So what if he may a lot of money? He gave most of it back to try and save the environment. May he rest in peace. As for Germaine Greer - boy does she need to get laid. Posted by: Anastacia Beaverhausen on September 6, 2006 2:58 PM Shame on all of you who have made fun of Steve, degraded him and his life, attacked him and belittled him. He was clearly a good man & a great father & no one has the right to crap on about their own agendas on here or any other forum. An attack on Steve is as much as anything an attack on his family who are grieving. For those ripping off the media coverage... are you not reading it? Are you not contributing your stupid opinions to the forum above? Leave the family and Steve's legacy alone. Let Australia grieve in their own way - just because you don't want to, doesn't mean to can make less of a man who was nothing short of great. Get over yourselves and get on with your lives. Posted by: Steph on September 6, 2006 2:59 PM Germaine Greer's public life has demonstrated the same tendency to larrikinism and controversy which her critics applaud Steve Irwin for. It seems anyone who doesn't cater to the lowest common denominator is immediately dismissed as an out-of-touch intellectual snob with no valuable contribution to make. In his attempt to spark genuine debate on media-fuelled public grieving, Jack has instead ignited an outpouring of crude and downright offensive comments on the state of Greer's vagina. I am disgusted. Posted by: Stella on September 6, 2006 3:01 PM I'm sorry he died and feel for his wife and kids. However, all this adulation is getting a bit boring, and to be honest, I found watching him was about as pleasant as having a lumbar puncture. Sorry. Posted by: death-to-khaki on September 6, 2006 3:02 PM GerardW: ...reminded me of the bizaar outpouring at Kensington Palace, and how people get so affected by someone they've never met. I believe this is called human emotion. Maybe that is too strong and perilous a word/feeling for you also. Maybe you haven't grasped the concept of feeling sorry or upset for someone other than yourself but I guess you get that when your only contact with the outside world is a 17inch screen. I could be wrong though perhaps you are just autistic or lack maturity/experience. As for Germaine Greer, she is an opportunist like the rest of the media she just picked a different angle. What separates her from the rest though, is the complete inappropriateness of the comments. Kind of like pointing at a funeral procession and yelling out "Serves you right!" Posted by: RM on September 6, 2006 3:02 PM Written by Aaron Darc "I'm just a product of my parents and my environment." Steve Irwin, 2003 http://www.aarondarc.com/poppsychology/ Posted by: Written by Aaron Darc on September 6, 2006 3:03 PM In Korea yesterday, 'Westlife' had a look at these lyrics! The boys were as shocked as the rest of the world in losing 'their mate'! We're hoping we can get this song done as a Live Aid type tribute to Steve and his family and make lots of monies for conservation. So-if you can help in any way....Send info to [email protected] THE CROCODILE MAN! (By Chris Simon 4 September, 2006) He lived in the face of death First in and best dressed The legend of the bush A man we once mistook Immortal mate A legend until the end A danger man at heart Not taken by the sharks For up in Stingray Heaven You are still a living legend Immortal mate A legend until the end A large amphibious life A twist of fate and spite To take from us too soon A ?bigger than the moon? Immortal mate A legend until the end Posted by: Bee Goh Chin on September 6, 2006 3:04 PM Howdy. Steve Irwin is a Saint. Being a Canadian. He Has Done alone for conservation, something the aussie's know and practice. Must be an american that would make comments that Steve Irwin Harrassed these wild animals. He open some american eyes to animals and the world. I know I enjoyed Terri & Steve's work on opening my eye's to animals and would not of been possibel without thier work and other's with animals. I hope he is remembered for his Education on Animals to the public. I know I have learnt stuff I would not by going to a Zoo. RIP Steve IRWIN Thoughts go out to his Family and Wife Terry and children. Canadians Put out thier Sorrows and Best Wishes through the hard times. Posted by: Eagle on September 6, 2006 3:06 PM Morning all. Well it's 5.45 am over here and I've just spent the last hour reading these blogs, or should that be this blog? Don't know, but anyway it's great for insomnia. My humble opinion (which I know is worthless) is that SI entertained and educated loads of kids all over the world, and all good kids' stories should have a motto. The motto to this one is don't play with dangerous animals. Yeah, when you think about it the media actually has a responsibility to convey this message by giving SI's untimely death the extensive coverage it is receiving. Oh, and can I just say (particularly to you AJ) go a bit easy on Germaine. She is only saying what is expected of her. Rolling out her character, playing her role, or performing a duty if you like. Oh, and just 2 final things before I go. Roy Munson......great joke. GerardW......"personally vilified in vitreol"...... Beautiful. Hope you don't mind if I crib from that one day. You're the best Jack. Was that 2 or 3? Posted by: WB on September 6, 2006 3:08 PM Great article! However, be careful - you may well be labelled as "Unaustralian". Good luck! Posted by: Jack on September 6, 2006 3:10 PM Bottom Line: People may have thought he was an idiot, and may not have liked him BUT the guy died. He was only 44 and he left behind a wife and two young kids. Anyone who doesn't feel saddened by that is just heartless. Jesus Jack get off your bloody high horse. Posted by: Jess on September 6, 2006 3:10 PM You're right that I misused the term poorly researched, when I was in fact talking about GREERS comments that he had been tormenting the ray at the time, which clearly she would not know(although she may have been under a slimy rock down there). However that does not change the fact that this is an article that should have been written in a months time, with some perspective, this bloke was not adolf hitler and the mean spirited comments reflect poorly on the sender has did my first post(in parts), Let the man be buried and let his family mourn, I beleive that the out pouring of greif is genuine no matter how awful our media is (and its been bad for a while now) Posted by: paul on September 6, 2006 3:10 PM I live in England and can assure you Greer is, like most Australians, patriotic; bafflingly so to me considering the hatred she gets there. Posted by: Kate on September 6, 2006 3:11 PM I think Steve's a pretty good bloke and has connected well with the community and the people. I guess we all speak about him in that context alone. Having said that, he could have just gone hiding once he had kids... he didnt. So let's pay respect that he still wanted to connect with people and contribute something back to the community. At the end of the day, he was a pretty good bloke, a good father, a good husband, a good son and a good citizen! What else do you want from someone ? I'll certainly miss him on TV, whether people call it antics, nuisance to wildlife or call it whatever. He's someone great for me. Posted by: Nithyababu on September 6, 2006 3:13 PM Steve Irwin pushed conservation with his parents (later his) wildlife park. He also took conservation to the 'common' masses. From that time, Steve Irwin's fame became world-wide, attracting millions of fans, and gaining him celebrity status. This in no way harmed his favourite cause that being of wildlife preservation (specifically Australian wildlife). His approaches in TV, film and live appearances were at times criticised for being 'too Australian' with his expansive uses of colloquial expressions such as his signature "Crikey!". Steve's unashamed embracing of his Australian heritage, whilst causing some cultural cringing, seemed to engender a warmth and affection that surpassed many political figures, and seemed to give him defacto Ambassadorial status to the world-at-large. Despite some criticisms in the past few years, regarding the inclusion of his children in his live animal shows at Australia Zoo, and his proximity to endangered wildlife in Antarctica, Steve simply maintained 'business as usual' with his genuine and down-to-Earth approach at life and at the profession that he loved. His death leaves an iconic void which will be difficult to fill. There are very few honest 'characters' who transcend a mundane anonymity to become a true Austrlian 'character' Chips Rafferty was one, Graham Kennedy was another, Paul Hogan was yet another. With the loss of Steve irwin, Australia loses an Ambassador which no Government appointment could ever hope to emulate. I, for one, will raise a glass in his honour this evening. Posted by: Craig on September 6, 2006 3:13 PM I can see why some people quit hosting blogs. Blogs are a form of psychotherapy. A little bit of literacy is a revealing thing. If the masses had had computers in the 19th century, a blog would have stopped the other Marx in his tracks! Posted by: JN on September 6, 2006 3:13 PM HE MADE ME SMILE - CRIKEY I'LL MISS HIM DAVO Posted by: David Blackwell on September 6, 2006 3:15 PM I've never been a Steve Irwin fan. In fact, I pretty much hate the way he seemed to talk down to the camera all the time. I also felt that he often pushed his luck a little bit too far in many cases and that he also had a tendency to manhandle animals. Most of all, I secretly felt that his confidence and ego were larger than his enthusiasm and I couldn't help but wonder if he would ever have to pay the price for it. I guess I got my answer now. Please understand that I'm not doubting that he was probably a very nice and kind man in person - you can't be so enthusiastic about animals and life and not be nice. But no matter what he did, Mr Irwin would just rub me up the wrong way, that's all. Nothing personal, really. I'm also not envious of his millions or how he attained them. If earning that money was so easy as some people would have us believe, why isn't everyone becoming a naturalist too? Instead of ranting about the man and his millions, etc. Why not just say our piece quietly and let it be? If not for the man, at least for his wife and family. It must hurt enough to have to lose someone you love in such a sudden way. The man is gone. It's sad. Sad that his children are still so small and sad that they will never be able to sit in his lap or ride on his shoulders again. Spare a thought for the children and those who are left behind, however much we may have disliked Mr Irwin's style and delivery. I know we're all entitled to our opinions and that we're entitled to air them, but there's no need to snipe and no need to get mushy or gushy either. Wouldn't it be better to just live and let live, and when someone has gone and left this world, to let him/her go with the grace and and dignity that should be due to every being? Posted by: Barbara on September 6, 2006 3:15 PM There seems to be a certain aspect which has been misunderstood about this outpouring of emotion over the death of Steve Irwin. I don't think even his biggest fans would argue if you said he wasn't always the most careful person, or the most logical or even the most responsible person. But what he had was a certain indefinable "It" factor. There was a very genuine quality about him that we've seen in only a very few people in the news or entertainment world. Did his behavior encourage me or my children to go out and grab a snake by the tail? No. Did he give us the urge to run out and capture a rogue croc? No. Did he even make me want to run out and purchase a complete khaki wardrobe? Nope. But here's the big question: As Steve was running around shouting and exclaiming and bursting with exuberance...Did we Believe him? The answer is a deep, heartfelt YES. Absolutely. We didn't always agree with his methods, but we were always mesmerized by his intensity and passion for wildlife and by his incredible level of sincerity. His fans will be the first to tell you that he was crazy and did things that made you think he must be out of his mind, but by golly, when he said he LOVED crocodiles, we BELIEVED him! And then we grew to appreciate and love them too. There's not much in our society that can be trusted. Movie stars, politicians, religious extremists...even news columnists...whom do you trust? Then along comes Steve Irwin, shoving a handful of poisonous snakes into the camera lens and shouting, "Just take a Look at these beauties!" Did we think he was perfect? Did we think he was a saint? No. But did we love him like our own idiot younger brother? YES. Absolutely. Posted by: Linda K, Wichita Kansas, USA on September 6, 2006 3:20 PM My first thought when I heard of Irwin's passing; "Bugger; If a high profile Australian has to meet such a violent untimely end, why couldn't it have been some self important wanker like Paul Keating, Germaine Greer or Bob Carr?" I'd have added you to the list Jack but you're not "high profile" and the stingray would have missed you.....you're a bottom feeding journo. Posted by: Adam Olsen on September 6, 2006 3:23 PM I'm quite surprised at Germaine Greer's comments, as I am usually interested in what she has to say. And I often agree with her. And, in this instance, although I can see her point about the unpredictability of animals (domestic dogs can turn on their owners fer Gawd's sake)... I think she laboured the point from her haughty ivory tower a little TOO much. And her timing's all too insensitive. But what made me chuckle was when she says in her piece, while recounting her version of the events on the reef that day: "You can just imagine Irwin yelling, 'Just look at those beauties. Crikey!" etc. Germaine darlin' - I DON'T think you can yell under water. Especially when you have a snorkel in your mouth. Stop trying to be clever, smug, academic AND funny at the same time. It ain't workin'. C'mon luv, brush the cobwebs from your nether regions Germie and come back into the fold. It's perfectly safe and okay to be Australian.... Posted by: Gingerstarlet on September 6, 2006 3:26 PM Jack thank you for reminding us - Friends, Australians, Countrymen, Lend me your ears, We come to bury Steve, Not to praise him...The evil that men do, live after them; The good is oft interred with their bones!!........ I'm sure Brutus will forgive my adaptation. Posted by: Natalia on September 6, 2006 3:27 PM Before you post here will you please read the bloody article? I'm tired of reading people's opinions of Steve Irwin. Stay on topic and stop abusing Jack. Don't shoot the messenger. Posted by: the spoon on September 6, 2006 3:30 PM My two cents on a couple of side issues... Just think of all those poor animals that Steve manhandled. Is Germaine right when she says he deserved it? Let's all ponder those distressed animals next time we're tucking into our KFC. The world ain't fair baby. Interestingly (or not), substitute the word stingrays for nightclub bouncers in Germaine's quote... "As a Melbourne boy, Irwin should have had a healthy respect for stingrays, which are actually commoner and bigger in southern waters than they are near Port Douglas," Greer said in The Guardian. Sometimes you can have as much respect as you like, but every now and again you're in the wrong place at the wrong time. Posted by: Meateater on September 6, 2006 3:30 PM Straight from the source that shares it's name with his catch cry Steve Irwin's marketing genius Lawyer and company director Adam Schwab writes: Despite most Australian never actually watching an episode of The Crocodile Hunter (it only briefly screened here on Channel Ten) or visiting Australia Zoo, or even seeing Steve Irwin being interviewed (he was interviewed mostly on US television), his death seemed to have a more profound effect on Australians than the passing of virtually any other celebrity in recent times, with the possible exception of Princess Diana. Irwin was truly one of a kind. Part Aussie larrikin and part marketing genius, at the time of his death Irwin was the most famous Australian in the world. While Mel Gibson, Russell Crowe and Rupert Murdoch are certainly well known, Irwinï¿½s tragic death was front page news in places as far flung as Norway and the Middle East. With Irwinï¿½s passing Australia lost a major export and one of its favourite sons. Irwinï¿½s marketing genius was subtle, the constant khaki garb, broad accent and colloquial language became one of Australiaï¿½s most well-known international brands. Irwin parlayed his documentary success into movies, merchandise and of course, the highly successful Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast. According to BRW, while Irwin earned $4 million last year (far less than the Wiggles who pulled in $50 million or Nicole Kidman at $23 million) his influence was far greater than Kidman or Jackman. Unlike others blessed with wealth, Irwin didnï¿½t make donations to improve his image, but instead created his own charity Wildlife Warriors ï¿½to safeguard Australiaï¿½sï¿½wild animals and their habitatsï¿½. Since his death, Wildlife Warriors has been bombarded with donations, causing its website to fail for most of yesterday. The Age also noted that Irwin also ï¿½bought huge tracts of land in Australia and abroad to protect and restore habitat for native species.ï¿½ In making his purchases, Irwin ï¿½met the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, which raises money to buy Australian land for conservation, to discuss strategies and identify which land was important.ï¿½ Of course the praise hasnï¿½t been universal. Even in death, Irwin's larger than life image polarised critics and fans. Germaine Greer popped up on several news programs and papers criticising Irwin. Perhaps Greer was envious by all the publicity garnered by Irwin. If Greer were to pass away, the story would likely struggle to make the feel-good story at the end of the nightly news. However, of all the Irwin anecdotes that have been told since his passing, perhaps the one that best symbolises his notoriety was the story that just before the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 CNN showed an Iraqi family preparing for the onslaught. The TV cameras zoomed into the living room of the family who were watching TV. Rather than tuning into CNN or al-Jazeera, on the screen was none other than the Crocodile Hunter. Posted by: jimmy on September 6, 2006 3:30 PM The media milks a story for all it's worth, and Germaine Greer disgorges vitriol based on pure ignorance - so what's new????? Posted by: Charles Kelly on September 6, 2006 3:31 PM Marx, I just heard on the radio for what it?s worth that apparently ?our Germaine? is on A Current Affair tonight claiming her article was being ?Tongue in Cheek? Must go. Some salmon swimming nearby ! Posted by: I am the Walrus on September 6, 2006 3:31 PM So, are the Beaconsfield miners gonna be flown up to the zoo to lay a floral tribute? Channel Nine's gotta be wanting their money's worth. On ACA tonight - Brant & Todd, a pair of Aussie larrikins say goodbye to one of their own. Posted by: Imbecilious on September 6, 2006 3:34 PM Greer is a complete nutter. You can be guaranteed that she will always eer on the side of controversy. Its the only way Greer can get a mention. Otherwise no one cares about a bitter old woman. Steve Irwin was a great character and will be missed by more people than you represent. Posted by: simon on September 6, 2006 3:35 PM Nice post Linda. Okay, so there will be plenty of people with fake sadness, though I rather suspect in this case, there is an element of truth in the sadness. Those who assume Steve Irwin was merely playing up the aussie character are wrong. I only met him a few times, but sometimes you just know when someone isn't faking it - plus I know that there are actually people like that out there. If the dedicated cynics would take a little time out from their lattes and pompous facade, to actually go bush and chat to some of their less sophisticated (read sophisticated, not intelligent) counterparts, they might be able to wrap their head around the notion. I was genuinely moved by the death of Steve Irwin, and I'm sure many children, and adults around the world were as well. I never bought into the argument that he put his kid in danger, ultimately, who knows more about crocs, John Q Public or the croc hunter? The world fell for steve irwin because he was devoid of pretension, which is an incredibly rare thing in the world of showbusiness. He was one of the few world famous celebrities who kept his eyes on what was important to him - his family, and his conservation. he did more for the environment than anyone in recent history. He could have gotten rich and rested on his laurels, but he kept doing what he loved. So if you can, drop the cynicisms and pretensions for just a while, and entertain the notion that there are still people out there with that over the top enthusiasm. Truly, we are poorer for this loss. He may have pissed off animals, but if his audiences are anything to go by, deep down, we all have a childlike desire to tease a snake. Maybe we're just not as honest. Posted by: Dave D on September 6, 2006 3:35 PM Geez Jack... after following this blog all day (damn you, I'm trying to work) I'm left wondering how you feel about the amazing tangents the blog respondents have gone off on. To be honest I'm not sure why you haven't cancelled more of today's posts. A few posters have commented on the lack of comprehension of other posters, but I don't know if that's the case... I think some people just jump right in and start commenting before they read anything, or they read through whatever coloured glasses they're wearing (Steve fan, GG hater, etc) and interpret accordingly. But even though I do see how this can happen, I'm really surprised this has turned into a Steve basher vs Steve lover slanging match... surely not what you intended? So as a previous poster said, if the Steve bashers/fans(particularly those of you who have nothing to add but childish insults that add nothing to the discussion... yes, that means you Gavin QLD) could bugger off to another forum so we can talk about the issue at hand, which is Jack's original post, that would be great. (Unless of course Jack happens to be enjoying the shit storm he's caused? Are you Jack?) No. If I'd been after such stuff, I'd have lied and said that I despised Steve Irwin and was glad he was gone. - Jack Posted by: SJ on September 6, 2006 3:37 PM Jack Stop your gibbering and trying to get your 15mins of fame. Steve Irwin has done more then his share for this country. What have you done mate. Have the decency to to keep your mouth shut. If you can't say something good about someone, don't! Posted by: David on September 6, 2006 3:37 PM Yet another person trying to grab some media attention. Here in the US, the news shows were slow to catch on that we wanted them to carry this story. So it wasn't that they spurred the sentiment. Those of us who are mourning are doing it all on our own for a guy who loved his family and animals. I knew it would be just a matter of time before people started whining about all the attention and putting him down. I'm glad I'm not so jaded and cynical. Judging from your thoughts and the thoughts of some of the others, the reason why we loved Steve Irwin so much is totally lost on you and you will never get it. Posted by: e woolley on September 6, 2006 3:38 PM First time I've looked at these blog thingo's but I think I get it. Marx writes some inflammatory garbage that flows out of him like raw sewage, we all jump in and furiously defend the target then Marx get a final right of reply to impress us again with his awesome intellect? Is that it? LOL Get you hand off it Marxy or you'll have no time to type. Oh I agree, you are a sicko creep. Posted by: Jaspar on September 6, 2006 3:38 PM Far as I'm concerned, his contributions to wildlife conservation far outweigh at wrongs he may have done in his life. We can choose either to celebrate his efforts and determination or we can choose to condemn him for his failings. I choose the former. I've yet to meet a perfect person, have you? Posted by: DukeRed on September 6, 2006 3:41 PM Thanks for the article, Jack. The media certainly appeals to the lowest common denominator as it relentlessly pursues its dumbing down process so that anyone with half a brain will no longer have a voice. For the record and for those who imagine Ms. Greer only wrote one book, here is a list of her published works: Whitefella Jump Up: The Shortest Way To Nationhood (2004), Profile Books, ISBN 1-86197-739-5 Chico, El - El Efebo En Las Artes (2004), Grupo Oceano, ISBN 84-494-2600-6 The Beautiful Boy (2003), Rizzoli, ISBN 0-8478-2586-8 Libraries (2003), Lemon Tree Press, ASIN B0006S84S6 Shakespeare: A Very Short Introduction (2002), Very Short Introductions series, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-280249-6 One Hundred Poems by Women (2001), Faber and Faber, ISBN 0-571-20734-0 The Whole Woman (1999), this edition 2000, ISBN 0-385-72003-3 The Change : Women, Aging and the Menopause, this edition 1993, Ballantine Books, ISBN 0-449-90853-4 Daddy, We Hardly Knew You, 1989 The Madwoman's Underclothes: Essays and Occasional Writings (1986), this edition 1990, Atlantic Monthly Press, ISBN 0-87113-308-3 Shakespeare (1986), Past Masters series, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-287539-6 Sex and Destiny: The Politics of Human Fertility (1984), this edition 1985, Olympic Marketing Corp, ISBN 0-06-091250-2 The Obstacle Race:The Fortunes of Women Painters and Their Work (1980), this edition 2001, Tauris Parke Paperbacks, ISBN 1-86064-677-8 The Female Eunuch (1970), this edition, Farrar Straus Giroux (2002), ISBN 0-374-52762-8 Posted by: Rosie on September 6, 2006 3:41 PM How pathetic indeed. How pathetic that someone with a lust for life is gunned down posthumously by a narky cynic in order to steal a little of his well-earned spotlight. Affecting a knee-jerk cynicism towards what is genuine and near universal empathy is as tiresome as it's predictable and formulaic, for someone of your posturing. It's a shame you're too cool to get it. You're an idiot who can't read, so I'm not inclined to be bothered by what you may write. Sorry. - Jack Posted by: No Marks on September 6, 2006 3:43 PM I'm sorry Jack but you're pathetic. People like you and that silly, irrelevant and bitter Germaine Greer are really too much. What drop kick. When the day comes that people can't publicly shed tears and saddness over the death of someone like Steve is the day I pack it in. I'm so sick and tired of having to be emotionally bland or impartial in this country. I'm sorry, but sentimentalism and Australians go hand-in-hand. I didn't know Steve Irwin either - but I'm going to miss him terribly. He was, what that Greer woman can never be - totally himself. I will miss his honesty, unreserved passion and complete unwillingness to conform. For those things are being drained away by people like you who can't let the good old mass public (and mass media) celebrate the life of someone we simply adored. If you want to bag the media here's the real problem - We are ALL sick of boring, trendy, left wing, bland, intellectuals who write for newspapers. Leave Steve alone and leave the public alone - whilst you may find this hard to believe people in this country are genuinely devastated by his death. If the media want to pick up on this fine - It's better than having to hear about Kim Beazely ranting on about the industrial relations laws...or anything else for that matter. Posted by: Dani on September 6, 2006 3:45 PM Hello again Brett ... Re. Your 1:58 PM post ... I don't think my post came across as defensive at all ... I was just laughing at your description of the readership here as 'pseudo intelligentsia' (Who's using his 'long word of the day', then?) ... and your categorization of the readership re. wine choices ... the people posting here didn't strike me as that type at all. That's all. I found it funny. And your concluding comment: 'You may go back to your petty debate now. Tossers' also struck me as amusing coming from someone who had just written such a lengthy and impassioned post. I've re-read my 1:31 PM post and didn't see anything 'pithy' there. I 'completely ignored the tenets of your argument' simply because that wasn't the bit that struck me ... you put a lot more effort into putting down the readership than you did into your argument ... I just assumed that that was the most important bit! I actually don't agree with you that the death of Steve Irwin has 'garnered such attention' because it has 'reminded us all of our tenuous grip on life and how it can be torn away in a vicious instant' ... I think that's a fleeting thought for most ... I think the rest is media hype and trained response to media hype. Just my opinion ... I don't seem to know as many big words as you do. Re. my use of the word 'success' ... you're right ... you didn't 'identify whether you believed he was a success or not' by the use of the actual word 'success' ... I guess I just read that into your statement that, 'In his 44 years he probably achieved more and had more fun in his life than most of us will in our entire lifetimes.' If you weren't actually identify him as successful by that statement then I'm sorry ... my mistake. As for missing 'the subtext' of your post ... perhaps I would have realised that that was the real point of your post if you'd just posted the 4th and 5th paragraphs and not included all the other nonsense. But ofcourse I apparently missed your 'subtext' because I was 'too busy attempting a comeback' that apparently didn't whistle by without effect ... as shown by your response. Bravo me, indeed! Anyway ... I haven't made any negative comments about the way Steve Irwin lived ... I feel no envy of him or embarrassment at his image ... He was very successful at what he did, so good on him ... I've commented earlier that his death is indeed a sad event ... my issue (and I believe this is the point of Jack's article) is with the media hype surrounding his untimely death. A respect the fact that some people will feel a strong personal response to his death even if they didn't know him personally. I just don't like the media beat up ... And sure, Jack's getting a bit of mileage out of it too, in a way ... last time I checked TDT was out-posting SATC. Posted by: DD on September 6, 2006 3:45 PM Tragedies are an industry, thank you all for your contribution. Posted by: Sean Senbruns on September 6, 2006 3:46 PM Oooh... Jack, look out, people who are reading through their Steve Fan glasses will miss the 'I'd have lied' bit... I can see it now, quoted from here to the end of time "I despised Steve Irwin and was glad he was gone" J. Marx. ;-) Posted by: sj on September 6, 2006 3:49 PM To Verne "I'm an American" Olmstead at September 6, 2006 12:05 PM who wrote "Did he bring peace to the Mideast?" Mr Olmstead, has George W Bush brought peace to the Middle East? You do mean 'Middle East' don't you? Hmmmmm....... Posted by: Andy on September 6, 2006 3:50 PM I only started reading this blog because I don't have anything better to do at work. I stopped reading because everyone is saying pretty much saying one of two or three things Who cares if he died? People die all the time. Posted by: yeah ok on September 6, 2006 3:50 PM I read recently that Steve Irwins desire to take over the world included an Australia Zoo in Las Vegas (reeks of Seigried and Roy- ooops) and a much-awaited documentary series for the masses called "Bindi saves the Planet", or something similar. Thank goodness we have been spared all that. Mr Irwins major ecological achievements included buying large amounts of land all over the world, in the name of Croc Hunter Inc. and charge it to the taxpayers of Australia under the guise of the Tourism Aust grants for ecological endevours. And he's got little John Howard to thank for the golden handshake(s). Oh and by the way, why did Steve Irwin refuse Bill Clintons invitation to the Whitehouse on the grounds of being "politically neutral (unless pertaining to environmental policy" quote Denton show, but then gladly accepted John Howards recent invitation to Kirribilli House so George W Bush could pat a couple of stressed out koalas? Hmmmmm. Posted by: Rosie O on September 6, 2006 3:51 PM Is anyone starting a fan club for the stingray ? Posted by: rob on September 6, 2006 3:52 PM Maybe it's just me, but... Firstly, I don't really object to what you're saying in your article, and I think you're pointing at something that shows the "dumbness" of media today. The problem is that it seems to many people as if you are trying to trivialize Irwin's life and death. My point would be that if you wish to do so, go ahead, but you could at least show a bit of courtesy by waiting a few days or weeks. To me that is just common sense. You show your own sensationalist approach by writing this article now, very few days after his death, disguising it as an attack on MEDIA - which would have clearly worked perfectly even if you waited a few weeks before you went public with this. Does being discreet, polite and respectful when someone has just died only apply to me as common sense? Anyhow, if there is someone who does not have a clue about compassion and respect it must be this Greer woman, sitting on her high horse ranting and abusing without realising that she is actually meedling with REAL PEOPLE here. What a b***h. I support all motions to disown her as an Australian, and hope that most writers would get back at her by depicting what a sour, negative creature she is when it's her time to go. But then again, even for her, I would wait a few weeks before I said it out loud - just out of repsect and common sense. Posted by: VT on September 6, 2006 3:54 PM The Crocodile Hunter generated wide spread interest in wildlife through his many documentaries and tv shows. Thousands of kids knew about him by watching these shows, and this was eductaing them at the same time about australia's wild life and the importance of preserving the environment. That is why hundreds of parents and their kids have been paying their respects by dropping by at the Australia zoo to farewell Steve. The unnecessary "below the belt" comments sent over from the uk by "a nobody" what are you again??? make no sense at all and look as though they were made for an attention seek. Posted by: Joe on September 6, 2006 3:56 PM Regardless of anyone else's opinion, besides being absolutely shocked, I haven't really had any strong emotions these last couple of days until today when I really let it sink in. And then it reminded me on a very deep level of a couple of really important quotes which have made an impact in my life: "What is Art? To live life with a heart that is on fire." - Anna Pavlova, famous Russian Ballerina of the 1920s And another line from one of Sarah Grove's songs 'I just showed up for my own life:' "Oh, the glory of God is Man fully alive." What a glorious life Steve Irwin has lived, and rather than be jealous or judgemental, we should just be grateful for his reminder to all of us to live your life with passion - otherwise what good do we have to offer anyone? I know Terri and her children will continue to live their lives with this wonderful important understanding that their father no doubt has passed on to them. And I am sure they will continue to pursue their own lifes purpose with equal passion in their own way. What a better legacy to leave your children? Posted by: Lisa on September 6, 2006 3:58 PM Holy Crapola!! 337 posts at 4;02 pm. Jack, I'm betting you was rubbing your grubby little hands this morning and giving Pat the old "my posts are biger and better than yours today, and not one list blog in sight"!! and still no Fred! Posted by: GerardW on September 6, 2006 4:03 PM Great post Linda K. Love him or loathe him - Australia's collective "glass" is signifigantly less "half-full" through the passing of Steve Irwin. Posted by: Charles Kelly on September 6, 2006 4:05 PM Jack I am absolutlely amazed at the stupidity of some of the posters on this blog. No less than 6 times either yourself or other posters have (re)stated what the topic is and reminded others to read the article - IN FULL - before posting. Yet they persist in posting utter waffle and garbage. What can we do to improve the comprehension of these morons? (Don't worry I sometimes include myself in the "Stupid poster" category - but more through laziness than lack of basic literacy and comprehension.) Posted by: Not quite sure on September 6, 2006 4:05 PM Steve Irwin was the real deal - nothing fake about him. About who else in Australian public life can you say that? My feelings for him rose during the whole 'crocodile baby' palava. Because he lives in north Queensland and adopts a traditional heterosexual male Australian style, he is an obvious target for urban journalists, none of whom have any known expertise in crocodile wrangling (or parenting for that matter). That sorry exercise was a function of a single photo. Every other view of that scene showed what Irwin maintained --- that the crocodile was at full stretch and was a good half a body length away. Another uplifting episode in the annals of Australian media ethics. Posted by: The Dude on September 6, 2006 4:07 PM I read recently that Steve Irwins desire to take over the world included an Australia Zoo in Las Vegas (reeks of Seigried and Roy- ooops) and a much-awaited documentary series for the masses called "Bindi saves the Planet", or something similar. Thank goodness we have been spared all that. More specifically, Mr Irwins major ecological achievements included buying large amounts of land all over the world, in the name of Croc Hunter Inc. and charge it to the taxpayers of Australia under the guise of the Tourism Aust grants for ecological endevours. And he's got little John Howard to thank for the golden handshake(s). Oh and by the way, why did Steve Irwin refuse Bill Clintons invitation to the Whitehouse on the grounds of being "politically neutral (unless pertaining to environmental policy" quote Denton show, but then gladly accepted John Howards recent invitation to Kirribilli House so George W Bush could pat a couple of stressed out koalas? Hmmmmm. Posted by: Rosie O on September 6, 2006 4:07 PM What a refreshing article. Very much what I was thinking yesterday - media couldn't wait to jump all over him with the baby dangling incident and now look. You are 100 per cent correct. Champion. Posted by: EA RealWoman on September 6, 2006 4:11 PM Well this is the problem with mankind. Humans dont appreciate someone who has done something great for other beings / animal kingdom... It takes a BIG heart to accept or even like other species in this world. Especially for what Steve has done for Crocs and Reptiles is sensational. We would have never know about Reptiles more if he was not there. So just stop complaining and have a positive attitude towards fellow humans. -Paz Posted by: Paz on September 6, 2006 4:11 PM Marx Hurry up. Write some more stuff that the idiots don't read before making comment. Sam in the City 251 comments, All Men are Liars 372. Lets be quick about it Aaaagh ! Jap whaler ! Posted by: I am the Walrus on September 6, 2006 4:11 PM agentprovocateuse, Greer true to herself. Give me a break. Maybe once, but her time was up long ago. What sort of a retarded soul is she anyway? Call her what you want, but in my book anybody who continually offers their self-appointed important "view" to any media whore who will print or film it about things that happen in a country she barely sets foot in is more like a narcisstic egotist more than anything else. The Big Brother appearance said it all. How classy. How insecure. The Germ. Get the disinfectant. Posted by: Greer The Germ on September 6, 2006 4:14 PM Great article Jack. It never ceases to amaze me that the media report death more than life. A person is somehow a 'saint' when they die; they can't ever have done wrong. Don't get me wrong. I was saddened by the death of Steve Irwin, and my condolences go out to his family and friends. He was an over the top character, and did it for show. I dare say, despite his unorthodox way of working, he was good person. No, I have not met the guy personally. I believed that he was doing good: conservation matters. The country has lost a person that put Australia on the map. Try and ask anyone outside of Australia who our PM is, and you'll realise how insignificant this country is to the rest of the world. Keep mourning for Steve; however, do so privately. The rest of us, although saddened by the news, are becoming frustrated with all the 'public tears'... Posted by: SL on September 6, 2006 4:14 PM Agree, and well said as usual, but you make the mistake of thinking the public want and deserve a fair, balanced, pedestrian, consistent, non-sensational, rational, uncompromising media. Who the hell would subscribe? Not I, said the fly. Posted by: Cazza on September 6, 2006 4:16 PM Good article Jack, as others have said. I was one of many who posted a comment on the main blog the other day, of the NON fawning variety, I'm surprised it didn't attract any flak at the time, but there you go. I just thought I'd throw in a gratuitous plug for a mob I do volunteer work with on a regular basis, and they would be: http://www.conservationvolunteers.com.au/. Cheers ! Posted by: GDC on September 6, 2006 4:16 PM Like many others, I guess I feel ambivalent at the death of Steve Irwin - I didn't really know the man but feel very sorry that his young children and wife have lost him. What is notable is the instant outpouring of grief and sanctifiying of the man, led by the media, when a couple of years earlier they were leading the cries against his holding his young son in a crocodile pen. Save for promoting the wearing of khaki and reintroduction of the word crikey into modern lexicon, buying up some land and catching crocs to stick there seems to be his contribution to humanity - very laudable but hardly the stuff of heroes. Yes, his death is news, but the devotion to it of 6 pages in News Limited papers is overkill and the fascination with every aspect of his demise does nothing to comfort his family. Well played, Steve Irwin, great use of khaki and rays rule. Posted by: Chris P on September 6, 2006 4:17 PM Vaguely interesting link for jack http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/02/23/nmourn23.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/02/23/ixnewstop.html Posted by: Kate on September 6, 2006 4:22 PM The croc hunter Steve Irwin is famous and much loved and admired by millions of fans across the world. His Fans and admirers strecthes many countries and continent, people who loved him and his genuiness and love for conservation In fact it is so hard to find a Aussie who had so such appeal. Jack marx who? Let me guess,Jack marx a gutless, hate filled left wing loser , manage to hang on to a hopeless blog job read by few, thinks he is funny when he is not. Here is a hint coward, I know it hard for you but try to get some dignity for a change. What the @#$% is wrong with you people? - Jack Posted by: Gregh on September 6, 2006 4:24 PM News is entertainment. A bloke standing really close to dangerous animals on telly is entertainment. A free thinker expressing her views is entertainment. Blogs about it all is entertainment. Being here the day TDT hits 500 posts is entertainment. It's all entertainement Posted by: paul weller on September 6, 2006 4:26 PM The wiki here is pretty balanced. I'd noticed a lot of people saying "what did he actually do for conservation?". Learn to use search engines people! ;-) I didn't like him much 'till I saw him on "Enough Rope" . It changed my opinion to seeing him as genuine rather than a caricature Aussie. He was able to laugh at himself and the whole media circus. I read through it again and i don't think I can do the transcript justice. Have a read. Posted by: Brett Caton on September 6, 2006 4:27 PM I am Ms. Soma Roy from India. We used to see Animal Planet often and we are a great fan of him. His death is really is made us speechless and we are really shocked. I can’t say anything …… Regards, Posted by: Soma Roy on September 6, 2006 4:28 PM Hey Jack If your so smart try to at least proof your sript. Second pargraph 1st sentence, you made an error error. How embarrassing. - Jack Posted by: james on September 6, 2006 4:28 PM steve was great guy,comes across as genuine person.Really feel for his wife and kids.However couple of things ,one is he certainly should not have put himself in danger so often.Secondly wish he had done 50 % of what he did for animals for human beings.Plenty of poverty in this world and desparate children,not just snakes,crocs,and lizard Posted by: Mickey on September 6, 2006 4:31 PM The media will always grab onto a subject which they think will sell newspapers, that gets viewers watching fluffy breakfast tv or any other outlet which sells news (fluff) as a business. That is their job so its no surprise about the latest big story. I bet the executives at the commercial tv stations are right now thinking of ways to snare that first exclusive interview with his widow, or the trashy womens mags wanting the childrens faces on their front covers. Bad news sells and if its a Australian 'icon' then the feeding frenzy is all the more frantic. It happened with Diana. A woman so removed from reality of everyday life that its a wonder anyone was able to relate to her. Yet after the tabloids had built up the hysteria day after day, making her into a Saint, half the country was swept away on a tide of tabloid mawkish rubbish. Still the media only give the people what they want. While people lap it up they will produce it Posted by: mickr on September 6, 2006 4:33 PM Don't forget Saint John Paul II (aka african mass murderer) Posted by: Jebus on September 6, 2006 4:33 PM Irwin was himself. He was the guy in year ten who collected spiders in jars and bought a lizard to school and was always climbing trees at lunchtime with the other dirt collectors. He was always harmless to the viewer and totally unapologetic for who he was. Regardless of what you thought of him and his brand of entertainment this much is true: he never dissembled in order to gain one up on his audience. Maybe that's why the response to his death has been so profound. But lets stop playing the man and ask ourselves if we fit the model. Are we individually as passionate, positive and committed to creating a world that is left to our children in a better shape than we got it? Environmentally, socially, politically? Maybe the chord that got struck was in that nagging feeling that we're really not doing much to shape a better world and Steve Irwin represented our need to be bigger than we are by appearing to be a force for good on our planet. Unstoppable is an impressive way to live, thank god he wasn't more like our shallow leaders who seem unstoppable in the pursuit of power and war. I'd rather be a dead dickhead who died trying than a living shell who never stood up for anything worthy. Hopefully the legacy of the croc hunter will be a new generation of environmentally responsible and passionate kids..not afraid to look like a wally every now and then... Posted by: fingers on September 6, 2006 4:35 PM Hi James, If you're so smart, you should proof read your own script. A number of errors in your 3 sentences: First sentence: 1) 'If YOU'RE so smart' NOT 'If your so smart'. 2) Script is spelt 'Script' not 'sript' It would look like you made an error error also James. Don't say they didn't warn you about being quick to criticise. Posted by: SL on September 6, 2006 4:36 PM Everyone jumps on a different bandwagon.. like some of the jaded halfwits have here. The man might've had the persona of a boiling kettle but I reckon he the world's lost a pretty decent guy. I think it would be an error of judgment to think just because the media wants to sell sell sell, that most ordinary Aussies aren't genuinely upset about his death. fickle? pfft. The ordinary Aussie isn't the fickle one. Posted by: cran on September 6, 2006 4:36 PM There are two sides to every coin. The media is definately guilty of over sensationalising. It is also the media however that has brought Steve and his efforts to the attention of millions worldwide. Who are we to question why people who don't even know him grieve for him? So what if it's for the wrong reasons? The point is, they now know more about him and what he was trying to do. I believe some good came out of it in the end. Posted by: Mark on September 6, 2006 4:38 PM It takes a really unique brand of person to write a column so cruel at such a sensitive time. Like you said on numerous occasions you didn't know the guy so you have no right to throw caution to the wind and get stuck into him at this time. You're a bloody disgrace to your country which is the complete opposite to the gentleman you so arrogantly rip to shreds before his body is in the ground. I'm grateful people like you are deep below the depths of the minority opinion of this country. If the average man was half the soul he was we would have no worries. I also didn't know the guy but I saw enough to gauge a reasonable feel for him. Read the article (again), Bawn. - Jack Posted by: Bawn Ellison on September 6, 2006 4:38 PM "What the @#$% is wrong with you people? - Jack" I am agog - and only a short scroll from my last post. Anyhoo--time for more beer. I'll be interested to see the final tally tommorrow. Night all Posted by: Not qUite SuRe on September 6, 2006 4:38 PM I'm astounded at the vitriol sprayed at Marx for what is a well considered article that is anything but disrespectful to Steve Irwin. It seems that unless Jack is setting his "Steve Irwin great australian larrikin hero" hyperbole level to 11 then he must be critisising him. A word to all posters - if you don't read the article (or don't understand it and don't ask a question in your post) then don't FN comment. Jark marx may well be a sicko, (I'm sure there's volumes of circumstantial evidence suggesting this) but this article in no way supports the premise. Not to mention the hatred towards Germaine Greer - I don't agree all she says but her opinion is always considered and backed up with rational calm arguements - something many of the vitriolic posters on here could do with large dollops of. On Steve Irwin. It's sad what happened and he did champion the cause of the environment and he seem to be a genuine person... but I could never come at his tarzan over the top approach. The only reason I can see to jump on and wrestle with animals (this does stress them out) is it's the only way you'll ever educate about the environment those with the attention level of an oyster and an interest in the wider world to match. Perhaps this was a necessary evil. But give me David Attenborough anyday. Posted by: Mike on September 6, 2006 4:38 PM To SL Thats correct, but I'm not the one getting paid. He made an error, I made a typo. Now get that tongue of yours back firmly up JM's clacker. What's the error, James? - Jack Posted by: james on September 6, 2006 4:44 PM Jack, be fair, what you say is very disingenuous and so you can't blame people for thinking you mean to provoke rather than raise a valid issue. Disingenuous because of course it's over the top newsworthy (at least in australia):- 1. australian celebrity known world-wide dies 2. young(ish) with a family 3. possibly responsible for some good works 4. weird startling death (i.e. one more than Diana). Since when was 'the media' (it has a singular identity??) ever consistent? I most certainly will not blame myself, CC, for the inability of others to comprehend plain English. - Jack Posted by: CC on September 6, 2006 4:44 PM It's amazing as I scroll through these comments just how much cynicism is expressed! I used to admire Germaine Greer back in the late 60's/70's but it's quite apparent that as she ages she's becoming a more cynical, bitter and twisted academic than she ever was, with little or no heart, espousing her cerebral diatribe from a distance! Steve Irwin may not have not have been the most articulate or cerebral of human beings but, "by crikey"... he more than compensated with his dynamic personality; sheer exuberance for living life to the full; his absolute passion about conservation issues; educating the masses on the importance of protecting our wildlife and bringing it home to the ordinary everyday person. No Germaine, he wasn't an armchair academic like you, he was a brave and dedicated Wildlife Warrior and he was a DO-ER...and he DID Australia and the world proud with his most benevolent and caring approach to all wilderness animals. It was a freak event that took his life, just ask the people that were with him in his final moments. His loss is our loss - he was a truly great inspirational Aussie that deserves our heartfelt respect and love for all that he has achieved in his lifetime. May his family and friends pick up his baton and move forward. Posted by: Susan on September 6, 2006 4:45 PM Hmmm. 353 comments so far, all adding to the media fury in one way or another. In life the guy seemed quite lovable and probably harmless, but was a bit of a joke nonetheless. In death he's just like everybody else. We all die some time, and I don't think it's harsh to point out that if you routinely play with fire, you're gonna get burnt. I feel for Terri and their two little ones, but only as much as I felt for my cousins, then 8 and 6, when my uncle died, and for any other family where a member is ripped from them. This reminds me of the rage last week when trains on the Illawarra/Bondi line, and probably others, were disrupted in peak hour because a woman died on the tracks at Central. People standing around me got angry that someone could dare disrupt their trip home etc, and I felt like saying, Someone DIED here! Think of the pain going through a suicidal person, and how they will be missed by their families. Methinks those people getting angry thene are the same ones lamenting the loss of a 'great Aussie icon' now, just because he's famous where the woman at Central was almost a nobody. Posted by: Geekgirl on September 6, 2006 4:46 PM I dont think Steve Irwin ever had to deal with any animal more venomous than some of the posters here today. No wonder he was more afraid of people than animals. Posted by: Stuart on September 6, 2006 4:47 PM You live by the sword......... And why a state funeral? The only thing I feel is sadness for his family. Posted by: misty on September 6, 2006 4:48 PM Did anyone actually learn anything by watching any of his vids? Try this test: ask anyone if they know how long a croc lives for, or better still if they are warm or cold blooded animals! The only thing you would learn from watching his vids is: "Crocs are dangerous" Posted by: davo on September 6, 2006 4:49 PM http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/marcus_brigstocke/2006/09/post_335.html You may think some of the posts on this SMH blog are outrageous, try the link above. I reckon Germaine needs a police guard after the threats there. My pick is Comment No. 202246. I've never seen anything quite like it. Posted by: tully on September 6, 2006 4:50 PM What the @#$% is wrong with you people? - Jack Jack, might have an answer for you. SMH have given you a link right under the main SI article on the smh home page... so basically everyone looking for news on SI (including lots of international visitors judging by recent posts) is finding this blog. They're probably reading no further than the link - "Jack Marx: Crocodile Tears" before posting. Get your colleagues to put the 'condolences blog' link back, then we might get rid of 'these people'! Posted by: SJ on September 6, 2006 4:51 PM So much talk, so little substance. I don't know the croc hunter personally, surprise surprise, nor do I watch his programs cos crocs just just aren't as attractive as.. Sandra Sully. having said that, I still found my heart heavy on Monday because a man who made a difference to many, whether two, four, six or eight legged, had died. The media is what it is and we have the choice to buy their crap or not. They have simply provided fodder for those who want it- in excess of course. Thats the beauty of our consumerist society. I am in control of what the media puts before me (big fan of New Idea and Who magazines and reality tv shows of course) unlike idealists like you John, who expect the media to regulate itself appropriately. Stop thinking of yourselves as being enlightened (yes, you and Germaine) and not think of yourselves as being smarter than you actually are. Really, you don't impress us with your "intellect" and your ability to see past the hoopla. You might actually gain some respect if you had some empathy. Who are you talking to, Caz? - Jack Posted by: Caz on September 6, 2006 4:51 PM Posted by: Coco at September 6, 2006 02:51 PM "Thank God someone else is puzzled by this mass outpouring of grief over Steve Irwin. Absolutely, it's a tragedy for anyone's life to be cut short and to leave a young family. Couldn't agree more. But a state funeral? WTF?" Don Bradman got one didn't he? Some (not me) might take the same view. Who deserves a state funeral? Posted by: Mutley on September 6, 2006 4:52 PM Wow, some people really missed the point of that article didnt they. Fair call on the media, fair call on the hysteria and for once, an article I have a tendancy to agree with. Posted by: Elgar Welch on September 6, 2006 4:52 PM Both Germaine Greer and Jack Marx's aricles are scathing and utterly disrepectful to a man who spent his life helping animals and protecting the environment. Maybe you should think about how your comments would resonate with his family... I was absolutely disgusted to see two respected writees trash the work and image of an Australian icon. I visited Australia zoo on my recent honeymoon and it is true what the staff have said in the media, the zoo has a real family feel to it and it was clear those people that worked for Steve had enormous respect for his cause and what he had achieved. Yes he made money out of the Crocodil Hunter image, but he used that money to pour into OUR environment and into educating OUR children. My heart and prayers go out to Terri and their two little children. I hope they continue his legacy. If you think my article was "scathing" and "disrespectful" to Steve Irwin, all I can say is that you are not the sort of person I write for, "Puppymagic", and I'm sorry we happened to find each other today. Let's both hope it doesn't happen again. - Jack Posted by: puppymagic on September 6, 2006 4:53 PM Thanks for the rational apparaisal. LIke many I was rather appalled by what I was seeing across the media. I'll chime in for the REAL biologists... It is unquestionable that Steve raised awareness of environmental issues across the world. But at what price? Germaine rightly pointed out the general irritation those of us in the natural science felt every time we were subjected to Steve Irwin's style of wildlife interaction. For those who find the work of Sir David Attenborough boring and much preferred the interventionist style of Steve Irwin - think about this Not so long ago humans went to the circus either to watch animals like lions get baited or, a while before that, perhaps to feed Christians and criminals to them. In fact Mr. Irwin did little other than revive the notion that nature is a thing to be used for entertainment and proved to our society that as a species we haven't changed much. Creatures aren't interesting unless we're poking them with a stick. He may well have loved nature - but he didn't respect it and he taught a generation across the world that it was ok to have no respect for nature. He certainly seemed like a good bloke and very likable however like many misguided souls from my stand point he will simply be another person who leaves a legacy that is best described by the addage The worst of deeds are often done with the best intentions. Posted by: Bruce on September 6, 2006 4:56 PM Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the intention of his vids were to show us how animals were misunderstood and also to highlight their plight( e.g. an episode where he visits a village that have porcupines chained to stakes for the amusement of tourists), and not to tell us how many sexual organs a croc has. Posted by: Mark on September 6, 2006 4:56 PM Slightly off topic, and I'm sure Jack can look after himself, but can I have some of whatever "Posted by: james at September 6, 2006 04:28 PM" is on ... not ?! Here's the offending (in James' view) sentence .... "Now, for heaven's sake, don't commit the error of thinking I'm kicking Irwin here" from Jack, which looks fine to ME, and my tenuous grip on the English language, and here's what James had to say, replete with what I consider to be "sic" ... "If your (sic) so smart try to at least proof your sript (sic). Second pargraph (sic) 1st sentence, you made an error error (sic)". Or have I just become an unwitting victim of your 'special' brand of humour (that's NOT a "sic" btw for any Americans viewing this) James? Posted by: GDC on September 6, 2006 4:58 PM This article hits the nail on the head. Experiencing the media hype in Australia from overseas, I am astonished to see the hypocrisy that's currently going on in the media. But somehow I am not surprised. Has Irvin really done a lot for Australia - other than just conveying the stereotypic image of an Aussie bloke who just has to wrestle crocodiles? The real conservation work in Australia in done by countless people who do not feel the urge to jump on a croc or handle a snake as soon as they see it. We all feel sorry for the Irwin family, but giving him a state funeral would be ridiculous! Posted by: Michael on September 6, 2006 4:58 PM AR - thank God I didn't see Naomi Robson wearing Khaki's ... such ridiculous hyper-media attention. Let the guy rest in peace. He died doing what he loved, and by all accounts was very happy - that's the way I want to go. Posted by: CatherineH on September 6, 2006 5:00 PM Now that Stevos gone whos left !! 1. Harry Butler - never had the marketing arm but had been in the biz for nearly 40 years and probably is the real bush man. 2. Bill Peach - you always went to sleep when he was on TV. 3. Ron and Val Tailor - best god dam scary shark footage you have every seen. No wonder they stay away now. 4. Major Les Bush Ticker Man, he would have shot that ray and saved the day. 5. The Snake Man - never really took off. But he could have thrown a few at Germaine. 6. Ben Crop - Good but tedious film making. Well theres pleanty of good Talent who never really got any support from any of the big guys. Maybe they will now, instead of all that crap about forceing a kid into the entertainment industry. Posted by: RockNRoller on September 6, 2006 5:01 PM Its only been 2 days. Idiot or not, famous or not - regardless of who he was in life, the least we can do is give him and his family the respect they deserve. Losing someone (especially in such an unexpected way) would be the worst experience any of us could imagine. Posted by: SJ on September 6, 2006 5:03 PM Hey Jack - I liked the article - it does provide a different view on the Irwin story. And if not for the subject being Steve Irwin I may never have read your work - I wonder how much your audience has grown through this? It is a tragedy when someone who has so much of their work still to do is cut down - like Victor Chang or Fred Hollows. Steve Irwin - like him or not, was contributing to making ths planet a better place for all of us, what ever we though about him. Yes there may be better ways to do it - but at least he was doing something! He made us do stuff we don't even realise we are doing - he moved us. We either liked him or hated him, we admired him or were embarrased by him (but most people did have an opinion about him - a rare thing in these days of complacency) so I thank him for making people chose. Even in death he is making people do stuff - look at all these comments! In these days of reality TV we seem to live our lives through the experiences of others - we take on their passion as a surrogate for the lack of our own. Hence the reaction to Steve's death - have you ever had this many responses to an article before? A lot of people lost a little piece of passion. Cheers Posted by: Rick on September 6, 2006 5:03 PM What a shame the (below) average Australian can't feel so much grief when someone who makes a real difference dies. Where was all your collective grief when Dr Victor Chang died? Where were the 7 pages devoted to his obituary and a pull out poster for him? Seriously, if you keep swallowing the shit, they'll keep feeding it to you. Steve, were you good or bad or a larrikin or a conservationist or a dubbo? It doesn't matter. What you deserve is to rest in peace. I think even you'd say its gone far enough. Give the Irwin family our respect & condolences. Posted by: johnnieg on September 6, 2006 5:04 PM Hmm..I wish more Aussies were more like Steve..instead of the neo-yank gangsta drivel that pervades these days.As an Aussies in Japan it was always good to hear Steve and his delightful Strine.When I moved to Oz from the Uk in '81,Aussies were real Aussies.People said 'ripper' and 'hooroo'.Steve gave me some laughs and a dose of Australia I needed. Greer? I think she had a terrifying experience with a trouser-snake when she was young anyway...it must have been a beauty!! I would have my kids watch Crocodile Hunter instead of MTV and formulaic American TV anyday.. The Australian media are, of course, hypocrites..did you expect better? Posted by: Darren Brannan on September 6, 2006 5:04 PM When Princess Diana was killed in 1997, I remember thinking to myself, sure it's sad that a human being was killed in the prime of their life, but what did Diana ever do (other than be pretty, miserable, and a princess) to warrant the massive outpouring of grief displayed throughout the world upon news of her death? With the sudden death of Steve Irwin, I feel the exact opposite. Irwin, unlike Diana, actually offered the world something pretty amazing, and that was his irrepressible personality and his love of sharing the wonders of the natural world. In an era of cardboard celebrity, Irwin's Aussie larrikin was no act for the camera?it was the man himself, and it is what made him such a huge success, particularly with children. Yes, his personality was something of a cartoon made real, except unlike others, he was for real. We all need heroes, and this man who bravely wrangled crocodiles and snakes was a perfect fit for the younger set, as well as the young-in-heart. What a thing to share with the world. And how did this all come to be? Clearly, it was Irwin?s zeal and joy for life that set him apart. Wouldn't it be nice to be so in love with what you do and who you are with that your every sentence is an act of passion and exuberance? I'm not saying I wish a world of larrikins, but who would you have to be to pull it off a life like Irwin's and have it be real? To see something interesting and think, "Wow, that's absolutely INCREDIBLE! To be able to share your excitement and vitality with others? To teach millions of people about what it is that fascinates you? So in that light, I am sad that the Steve Irwin is no more. And outside of a few who can?t help to find the snide in anything, I expect that today?s crocodile tears are for real. Posted by: Nicholas Provenzo on September 6, 2006 5:06 PM You're right, Brett Caton at 4:27 PM ... The wikipedia listing is very informative ... I did know about Animal Planet and the land he's bought for conservation etc ... though this bit, which I hadn't read 'til just now, doesn't actually raise him in my estimation as far as conservation work goes ... The Sydney Morning Herald reported in 2002 that Irwin had stated: "Here is my greatest gift to the world," he cries. "We need to stand proud of what is Australia ... the greatest grazing nation on the face of the Earth! The whole joint is grazing land ... and by crikey we're good at it! We should be ... [eating] beef and lamb, not kangaroos and crocodiles. They're why tourists come to Australia. They are tourism icons!" In response to questions of Australia's problems with overgrazing, salinity, erosion, Irwin responded: "Cows have been on our land for so long that Australia has evolved to handle those big animals." I'm not the highly trained and experienced conservationist Steve was ... but that doesn't sound right to me. Wikipedia also quotes Steve Irwin's (in)famous description of John Howard as "the greatest leader in the world." ... Perhaps it just proves what a cynical lefty I am, but that didn't win him any browny points with me either ... BUT ... my personal opinion of him isn't the point ... it's still sad that he died ... I agree with SL at 4:14 PM ... 'Keep mourning for Steve; however, do so privately. The rest of us, although saddened by the news, are becoming frustrated with all the 'public tears'...' And keep the cameras out of people's faces when they are genuinely mourning, "How do you feel? Tell us how you really feel? Are you devastated? You're devastated, aren't you? Tell us how Steve's death has changed you life. Is that a tear? (Zoom in on that tear!) ... Do you feel you can't go on? You can't go on, can you? ... Come on! Share your pain ... You can share your pain with us! Give us the scoop!" Off home now ... Something nice and non-controversial (and easy to comprehend on a literal level) tomorrow, please Jack. A nice list, maybe? Posted by: DD on September 6, 2006 5:06 PM Jack, this is a bit late but I live in Bathurst which is about as aussie as you can get and I still reckon SI was a fake, 'though a good one. You sure hit a nerve today, I advise in future to steer toward more controversial topics. Posted by: greg on September 6, 2006 5:08 PM "Dipshits like Greer struggle to be legends in their own lunchtime and will/would barely leave an impression in their own vomit." That is hilarious. One of the world's best known femininsts, a published and respected academic (what do you think she does in the UK). Ms Greer's name will most likely be remembered long after everyone has forgotten who Steve Irwin was. Posted by: haha on September 6, 2006 5:08 PM The following thought was prompted by the poster who said she "loved Steve Irwin like a baby brother": Steve Irwin was a media product, and like most media products, he was carefully crafted to make us love him. Whenever he was on the TV screen, he was in character, and he always did the things we wanted him to do. We never saw him drunk, we never had a fight with him, he never tried to borrow money from us, he never stayed at our place too long, and we never had to deal with him when he was in a foul mood. Instead, he was like a person who only had a good side, and that gave us free rein to idealise him. All of which is, of course, deliberate. His entire value - both to his own business, and to the media that was both parasite and parasitised - was his image, and his image was worthless if it didn't inspire feelings of love. However, I put it to this forum that Steve's viewers didn't love him at all; they might have loved the carefully-made character they saw on TV, but that isn't a real human being. What they loved was a fantasy that only existed in their heads. You can see that fantasy in every eulogy posted here and elsewhere: always by someone who never knew him, only saw him on TV, but always prepared to assert his "honesty" and "goodness" and "larrikin spirit". All based on a TV character that was no more real than Hogan's Heroes. I think that's why we have such a polarisation of views: those who believe that Hogan's antics are real get angry when their love object is smudged; and the people who know Colonel Hogan was mere fakery feel that their intelligence is being insulted. Post of the day, Phil. I'm not sure I agree that Irwin's character was "mere fakery", though, as I say, I have no more proof of my suspicions there than you do of yours. - Jack Posted by: Phil H on September 6, 2006 5:08 PM Oh My IGBT. I feel like bashing my head on my desk I am so sick of reading posts from the Jack bashers. I suggest they all read a passage from "The Book Of Guiness" (not Genesis or the Guiness Book of World Records) which can be located in the front of the Bible at their local Church of the Invisible Glove Box Turkey. One part of Guiness explains that a person or being should not attempt to sound intelligent or dismiss someone else's opinion before reading and understanding the facts. Bergherk! Posted by: Cro54033 on September 6, 2006 5:12 PM Jack Marx seems to be VERY jealous about any one being successful. The whole column is full rubbish. he is right by saying I am not the sort of person he is writing for, correct, you are not, and I will NOT read your columns EVER!! Steve made Australia better, Jack Marx does NOT! There goes my career. - Jack Posted by: just a person on September 6, 2006 5:13 PM I think the real attraction of Steve Irwin wasn't necessarily the fact he tackled 12 foot crocs or handled deadly snakes - I think it was his unmatched and irreplaceable zest for life, his trademark over animation, the way he threw himself body, mind and soul into anything he did (be it diving head first after giant sea turtles or signing autographs for his fans). I heard someone say "It took a one in a million accident to kill a one in a million bloke." I think that was great. PS > Germaine Greer is a professional life long pain-in-the-arse shtstirrer - die already! Posted by: Samwise on September 6, 2006 5:13 PM Jack, as a first-time reader, I'm kind of surprised that you get so defensive with every negative comment. If people didn't get your point, just blow it off...it would make you look a lot more graceful and professional than to tell a reader that you "don't write for them" or "What the @#$% is wrong with you people?" Guess what? If you're writing on the internet, then your audience is worldwide, regardless of their reading comprehension skills. You basically just come off as a histrionic ass in your comments to the comments. Post your editorial and let it be! Unless you get paid for the snark...in which case, have at it. What the @#$% is wrong with you people? Fortunately, you are NOT the sort of person, etc. - Jack Posted by: Karen on September 6, 2006 5:13 PM Jack, what Germain Greer has done is kick a man when he's down. That's low, very low. At least think of his family. Posted by: If you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing at all on September 6, 2006 5:14 PM Jack: You know I love you like a brother, man, so just answer me this... how is it that all these new people slag you off every which way and you don't respond, and I simply said zzzzzzzzzzzzz and you told me that no one was keeping me here? Oh, man, Oz...you dragging up old wars. Look, by memory, I think I was just in a bad mood that day. It happens. Other days, someone could spit in me gibblets and I wouldn't raise an eyebrow. That's just the way it is. Soemthings'll never change. That's the just way it is... - Jack Posted by: Oz_1788 on September 6, 2006 5:18 PM Someone left the door open and the do-gooders have snuck in. Can we get an intercontinental turkey slap going?? Posted by: the spoon on September 6, 2006 5:18 PM he wrestled crocs and picked up venomus snakes.....one day something was bound to happen Posted by: leigh on September 6, 2006 5:19 PM All I can say is that I hope to raise my son to be as passionate and as enthusiastic about life and Australia as he was raised. This isn't about losing a TV icon or even an Australian celebrity it is about losing a man that died way too early a man that had a lot to offer his country, his wife and his family & friends. Posted by: Michelle Ackland on September 6, 2006 5:24 PM I said I was going ... but I'm still reading ... and it's 5:22 PM! At least I got to read Phil H's post at 5:08 PM. Great post, Phil! Now I'm really going home ... and will NOT be turning on the TV. 'Night, Jack. Today was very 'stimulating'! Goodnight, DD. - Jack Posted by: DD on September 6, 2006 5:25 PM I'm a bit on the fence with this one. I think the points about the media are true but I also think what we are witnessing is bigger than that. When does community sentiment become a bandwagon? When does an obvious response of grief become manufactured? I loved Steve's passion for life and the wildlife that makes up that life in some parts of the world. He lived by that passion and he died by that passion. If I compare that to the life of cynical academic snobs trying to sound intelligent then I know who I prefer. RIP Steve. Posted by: Dan on September 6, 2006 5:27 PM Thank God, I thought I was the only one who felt nauseated by the sycophantic media attention. TV has reached another all time low with Mel and Kochie doing a special. She with her stupid mumsy look of concern and he as always looking like the plucked chook. Its like Di all over again, with the over the top public outpouring of grief and accolades from every politician, from the shit kicker to the PM. What a bunch of wankers, just using the guys death to promote themselves and curry favour with the electorate. I felt rather indifferent towards Steve Irwin, but I feel sorry for his wife and kids. His death really doesn't mean that much to me. He has been hailed as great conservationist and animal lover. Really! Is that what you call somebody who seeks confrontation with animals and provokes them and stresses them until he gets the right reaction to make good television. I would call David Attenborough a true conservationist and an extraordinary filmmaker, but certainly not Steve the true blue Aussie "Croc Hunter" Posted by: Michael on September 6, 2006 5:27 PM Thanks for the explanation Jack, I will consign that issue to the past where it belongs. On another note, I have previously said that I like the way you look at things from different perspectives, that you inspire looking beyond... I think today's article typifies that. You have done well, grasshopper. Posted by: Oz_1788 on September 6, 2006 5:32 PM I never watched Steve's shows but was outraged at Greer's inaccurate comments, so I've sent the Guardian an email Letter to add to their list of responses to GG: ********************************* 'That sort of misleading writing is what it takes to be viewed as a cranky, sour old hag' Germaine Greer in her 5 September article on the passing of Steve Irwin is clearly either intentionally or ignorantly misstating some facts around Steve, his life and his death. for example - no John Stainton's job is not to keep Steve pumped, and no Steve was not wrestling with the stingray when he was fatally injured. So I ask, which is it Germaine? Did you write these untruths intentionally to spice up your story, or do you have no idea of the facts? Either way, Germaine's credibility is effectively zeroed and we know we need not pay her any attention in the future. Let me be the first to volunteer to write Germaine's obituary when the time comes - no of course I don't know anything about her, but let's not let that get in the way of some spicy writing. Obviously she won't have a problem with that. For the record, yes I am Australian and no, I don't watch Steve's shows. But in terms of what Steve has given the world (including it's wildlife) and what his legacy will continue to provide, it's pretty clear to me that one dead Steve Irwin is worth 100s of live Germaine Greers. Anton I felt much better after sending that! Cheers, Posted by: Anton on September 6, 2006 5:34 PM Animal world can breathe bit easier, one tormentor fewer in this world. Posted by: Eero Heikkinen on September 6, 2006 5:34 PM I never watched Steve's shows but was outraged at Greer's inaccurate comments, so I've sent the Guardian an email Letter to add to their list of responses to GG: ******************************* 'That sort of misleading writing is what it takes to be viewed as a cranky, sour old hag' Germaine Greer in her 5 September article on the passing of Steve Irwin is clearly either intentionally or ignorantly misstating some facts around Steve, his life and his death. for example - no John Stainton's job is not to keep Steve pumped, and no Steve was not wrestling with the stingray when he was fatally injured. So I ask, which is it Germaine? Did you write these untruths intentionally to spice up your story, or do you have no idea of the facts? Either way, Germaine's credibility is effectively zeroed and we know we need not pay her any attention in the future. Let me be the first to volunteer to write Germaine's obituary when the time comes - no of course I don't know anything about her, but let's not let that get in the way of some spicy writing. Obviously she won't have a problem with that. For the record, yes I am Australian and no, I don't watch Steve's shows. But in terms of what Steve has given the world (including it's wildlife) and what his legacy will continue to provide, it's pretty clear to me that one dead Steve Irwin is worth 100s of live Germaine Greers. Anton I felt much better after sending that! Cheers, Anton. Posted by: Anton on September 6, 2006 5:38 PM Taking the piss out of someone right after their death could be a nice way to get attention and for the love or god and the devil, it sure does stir up a bit of commotion. It always works. But at the end of it all, Steve, irrespective of it all, 'lived' what he believed in, he stood up for what his convictions and died living his passion. It takes courage to walk the talk! He did! He will be missed surely. You are right in that, death does sells and sells very well. Buy only those that don't use their brain cells seem to buy into it. Posted by: Amit Karmakar on September 6, 2006 5:40 PM Seppo - You are a moron. A complete retard. Why don't you read up on his life a bit before you talk out of your arse. Posted by: Tyrone on September 6, 2006 5:41 PM Hey Seppo... you're a dick. Posted by: 1337 Zombat on September 6, 2006 5:41 PM Good article and some objectivity around the mass media hysteria. Watching and reading from the wilds of Africa I am never in doubt about the fickleness of the Aussie media towards anyone who can make it by being themselves. Sure Steve was a showman, but he was a great conservationalist and ambasador for Australia. I have friends in Africa that are shocked and sadened by Steve's death and their kids will miss him so much. This guy had an impact and love him or hate him, he will be remembered for his love of life, family, the animals we love the hate and his love for Australia. You were a legend Steve for what you did for our country and your legacy will last long beyond our lifetime. Posted by: jeff on September 6, 2006 5:49 PM Anton writes a mean non sequitur ... Twice. Posted by: Bruce on September 6, 2006 5:52 PM "What the @#$% is wrong with you people? - Jack" Maybe you should ask the question in front of a mirror, rather than writing a hate filled column in poor taste. You are not on drugs are you? As for Greer, another hopeless ageing leftwing nutcase trying to find her relevancy, her views most people dont care. I did not write a hate-filled column at all. You either can't read or are a liar who fights for the heck of it. Either way, take a ride down K2 on a bicycle with no seat. - Jack Posted by: Gregh on September 6, 2006 5:54 PM My nephew has been a dedicated worshipper of Steve for over half his life, and even has a crocodile composed of a great many green and brown socks. He was very upset for about half an hour when we tried to explain what was going on. After that it was time to don the cape and head-underpants of the alternative Batman, as he couldn't be Stevo anymore. The croc still helps him fight the dog, though. Posted by: Alex on September 6, 2006 5:56 PM Okay I will be the first to admit that I am not a big fan of Steve Irwin. Heck I thought he was outta of his mind while holding his infant son while feeding a croc, but everyone is entitled to live their life the way they want. He was doing something to his child that was reckless, but remember he grew up doing the same things with his father. True he may have been a bit older but beggers can't be choosers. Love him or hate him everyone is entitled to an opinion, but some opinions just go too far at times. Bashing someone, like Greer did, in less than 24 hours after their death is rather sicking and rather tasteless IMO. Steve Irwin tried to get across a message that wildlife needs to be protected. True he took risks, but then again everyone does that in life once they are born. Also Steve Irwin knew what he was doing most of the time. Remember hearing about the guy Tim Tredwell? The Grizzley Man? He had no formal training in wildlife biology. He got killed and eaten along with his girl friend by a Grizzley Bear. Steve was, I wouldn't say a professional because of his conduct at times, but he did know what he was doing when it came to handling animals. Nature often has a way of turning the tables on people in rather sudden moments. People think they are the top predator because of the intelligence, but in fact it's Mother Nature that holds all the card. In fact Steve Irwin's death showed just how fragile human life can be. It takes a brave or foolish person maybe a combination of both to get up close to a dangerous animal. Steve Irwin did what few people would ever do, he got up close and personal with some of the most dangerous animals out there. My heart and prayers go out to Terri, Bini Sue, and Bob Irwin. Again life is a fragile thing, but one can not live life in fear. I hope that Steve Irwin in his videos can still teach his children that. Posted by: Frost on September 6, 2006 6:07 PM Jack, I sure hope your barage was aimed at the media outlets that crucified Iwrin and are now ahiling him. Please don't try to group the Australian public with you scumbag journalists. It is the Australian media that is a fickle mob. You may wish to clarify this point. Posted by: Barry on September 6, 2006 6:10 PM What a cynical and heartless bunch. Does death mean nothing? Granted, it was Steveï¿½s choice to live in the public eye but does he really deserve to be slagged off after his death? WHY is he in the public eye and WHAT exactly does he do it for? He is a conservationist, he is an animal lover and he has been lucky that his crazy persona has made him alot of money. Do you see him in Gucci loafers? Are his khakis Dolce & Gabbana? Does he have his hairdresser flown in from Miami in order to keep his blonde flicks in shape for public appearances? NO, he buys land for conservation purposes, his money, as it has been publicly stated goes back into supporting the cause that means so much to him. OK so maybe it may not be YOUR cause, but it is A cause and its alot more than most people selflessly do. As for the people that bag out his voice, he was a little more animated than most, but have you even been to any other part of Australia other than Sydney? Other than the excitement in his voice, his pronunciation is not so unusual. He was ocker, an unashamedly so. I think the media surrounding the "baby bob" incident is a little over the top. The kids live at the zoo! He is merely getting the kid aquainted at an early age to something that is going to be living in his backyard for the rest of his life. His methods may not be for everyone but he clearly loves and spends lots of time with his kids and he should be able to make these decisions. Hi death was a shame. Cant say it wasnï¿½t. I wonï¿½t cry about it, but I am not going to try and think of negatives just to go against the grain either. Posted by: kp on September 6, 2006 6:11 PM I agree with Germaine Greer. SI was a "deluded tormentor of animals." Whether or not he was wrestling the stingray, anyone who scuba dives or snorkels regularly knows he got way too close. Onya stingray!!! Posted by: Nogudnik on September 6, 2006 6:15 PM I feel very sorry for Steve Irwin's kids. But then, I felt sorry for them when he was alive. He was an unrepentant, self-promoting crackpot and an international embarrassment. How could he embody all that was good about Australia when he was such a bizarre caricature? A brilliant marketer, I'm not convinced that his interest in animals was other than a convenient vehicle for media promotion and a career strategy, no better or worse than anyone else's, just more public. It's sad he died, but no more than any other tragic, premature death. Get over it, and move on. Posted by: Pedro on September 6, 2006 6:19 PM You're right about the media. It's just all about making money. I live in Switzerland and I can recall one day in 1997 I was sitting in the train reading one of the British tabloids. They had a minor article in the back pages of the paper which lampooned Diana Spencer and her academic achievements. Basically they were saying she wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the rack. Two days later, she was dead and that same newspaper was awash with stories praising her. What hypocrisy! Posted by: Tim on September 6, 2006 6:19 PM Sane, well-written article, Jack. Thanks. Can't say the same about this blog though. Live by media, die by media, I guess. Nuff said. Posted by: Keith on September 6, 2006 6:19 PM the world never really hated steve in 2004 over the incident. the media tends to create their own incidents. the hype in 2004 was conspired and fabricated by anyone who earns a buck in the media. i hate when the media keeps bringing up 2004 and making it worse than it was. the media is ALWAYS trying to instigate a story. people sometimes throw their kids in the air and catch them. if steve or michael jackson was caught throwing their kid in the air the media would have created a blitz over that also. sure its not the safest thing, but its not negligence or abuse. there is a difference but the media does not care as long as they can make a headline about it. anyways, the outpouring over the last few days is not fabricated. its real. its the world reacting to the news of the loss of a loved one. sure there may be some element of hype from those who make a buck off that type of thing. but the realness is tremendous. people who have eyes to see, know that steve was a good bloke. and we will miss him dearly. Posted by: john on September 6, 2006 6:26 PM Welcome to the real world of nature , not the TV world of Steve Irwin , it aint no joke for us people who live in the bush , Steve Irwin would be the last one you would let come with you on a hunting trip , I just wonder how he last so long. Posted by: Stan on September 6, 2006 6:30 PM Killer Rays on Crack Eh ! , Gored to Death Eh ! , well no wonder its called tha Land Down Under eh ! . Facts are the creature was seriously Threatend & Defended its self after being handled in some manner . WAKE Up Oztralia & Smell Tha Coffee Posted by: matt on September 6, 2006 6:37 PM Jack, astounding really. Can't you put both situations involving Steve into perspective for a second. He in many peoples views put his child in danger so the journalists who thought this was so lambasted him. I personally didn't see it as that bigger deal but can still understand where they're coming from. Then a few years later he died, wait jack, i'll spell it again, D.I.E.D. And you call the media who lambasted him before hypocritical now. HA! I'd say far from it. In fact the opposite, he died for godsake, put it into perspective. They're showing compassion. They're not letting a trivial matter such as that get in the way because they fear cynics like you are going to call them hypocrites. I'd hate to imagine the sympathy you'd show to someone that died who you had previously berated in some way all because you would be labeled a hypocrite. There's more to life Jack. Noone's perfect i.e. Steve, people have to do their job i.e. the media. And as for Germaine well these types of discussions on the death of someone special really do provide a clear insight into people's personalities... for the most part people show respect and pay their condolensces. But I still can not understand the type of people who feel it necessary to state the most idiodic and obvious of things such as that's what happens when you mess with animals like that. I'm quite sure that Steve more than anyone knew the risks these animals presented and with that in mind he still put the natural selfish human want of self-preservation behind his true passion which was to protect and raise awareness for wild animals. But I'm sorry, GG is of course a higher authority than the many animal experts out there who b elieve his conduct was fine. Most of us will not put our money where our mouth is so to speak like Steve did even in the most mundane of tasks in everyday life and he I'm sure would have jumped on the tail of a crocodile to save any of you who can't even show the slightest respect in a forum. That to me is the measure of a great man; one who shows more sadness and emotion for the death of a beached whale than many of you heartless forum trollers do for a human being, let alone one of the most magnificently unique to have walked in this apathetic modern world. RIP Steve legend mate Posted by: Ian Walker on September 6, 2006 6:39 PM If people like Germaine Greer and others in this blog are so worried about the welfare of these animals under Steve, where were you protecting them from the evil wildlife destroyer Steve whilst he was in his own view protecting them year round from the true threats. Please... Posted by: Ian Walker on September 6, 2006 6:48 PM Well written Brett at September 6, 2006 01:11 PM. Could not have said it better myself. Posted by: Lee on September 6, 2006 6:49 PM I understand some people's cynicism regarding the "about face" after Steve Irwin's death, particularly with the incident with his then baby son Bob. However my immediate family has grown to admire Steve's passion and showmanship over the years and I am personally proud to think that my 7-year-old son would rather as a hero someone like Steve Irwin, Jeff Corwin, Austin Stevens, Brady Barr etc etc then soprting personalities such as Andrew Johns, Shane Warne etc etc. As for Germaine Greer she obviously despises anything masculine and to publicise that bra-burning twit's comments is typical of the media. I once commented to a work colleague that Steve Irwin may be fanatical but at least he doesn't strap explosives to himself and blowup innocent people for his cause. I know our household will never be the same again now that the Crocodile Hunter is gone. Posted by: Ros Scarlett on September 6, 2006 6:53 PM Jack- Steve was a better man than you'll ever be. All you do is write articles. BORING JOB. He had a great job that was exciting and fullfilling til the very end. So stop talking about him, the man is gone forever now so show some respect. Posted by: Jenna on September 6, 2006 6:53 PM jack, 'I did not write a hate-filled column at all. You either can't read or are a liar who fights for the heck of it.' So you cant read what you wrote. Here's what you wrote 'anyone who dares speak his or her mind, giving an honest opinion unbothered by the forced public ceremony of misery, is howled down as a creep and a heretic by the very people who are being the fakes.' What honest opinion? A cleverly disguised attack on the fans and the appeal of a hugely popular personality like Steve Irwin. Your column was sympathetic to the likes of Greer and others and take a cheapshot at all this huge public outpouring of grief and emotion by his fans, wellwishers, admirers around the world. As for the Jill Singer example, it is a known fact that murdoch right wing newspapers have leftist feminists on their payroll like Anita Quigley, Jill Singer, emma tom etc. It is pretty obvious what you were trying to say in your article, be man enough to admit it rather than denying it. 'Either way, take a ride down K2 on a bicycle with no seat. ' Another example of meaningless hate, please grow up and stop acting like a juvenile. 1: "A cleverly disguised attack on the fans and the appeal of a hugely popular personality like Steve Irwin" - Gregh, if this was a "cleverly disguised attack on the fans" then it was indeed a clever disguise...so convincing, in fact, that even I didn't recognise it. 2: "Your column was sympathetic to the likes of Greer and others and take a cheapshot at all this huge public outpouring of grief and emotion by his fans, wellwishers, admirers around the world." - I defended Greer's right to speak honestly on that about which she feels strongly. You cannot comprehend English if you believe I was taking a "cheapshot" at fans, much less well-wishers and admirers, for I did no such thing. 3: "...it is a known fact that murdoch right wing newspapers have leftist feminists on their payroll like Anita Quigley, Jill Singer, emma tom etc. It is pretty obvious what you were trying to say in your article, be man enough to admit it rather than denying it." - What utter poppycock. 4: "Another example of meaningless hate..." - Not "hate", Gregh, for I don't know you, but more disgust at your hysterical kind. - Jack Posted by: Gregh on September 6, 2006 6:53 PM I want to say thank you to Jack for bringing up the Bigotry of the media over the incident with Steve and the baby. He has echoed my exact thoughts when this deadly accident went to air. I was a day tour driver who visited Australia Zoo several times a week for more than a year. I 'meet' Steve only once but the meeting was memorable to me. He was filming at the park and he had a bunch of his 'minders' who were park staff standing in a half circle around the filming area to keep everyone from mobing him. One of the minders was a very attractive young woman and I made a quiet comment about how I never got a minder who looked like that. Despite the fact that I said it quietly, Steve heard me and he looked over and laughed quietly and pointed his finger at me and our eyes met for a brief instant. It might not sound like much now, but most celebrities would have just ignored it... the fact that he heard me and acknowledged my stupid remark said heaps about they person he was... and do you know, that brief moment of recognition stayed with me to this day. He really was a regular bloke who could take the time in the middle filming to show empathy. Also, that baby was safer in his arms than strapped into the back of a car, this I know. I noticed that the media are now showing the camera angle which reveals that Steve was holding the baby with himself between the croc and the baby. Most previous camera angles did not show this. I spent 20 years knocking around tourist resorts and Australia Zoo is as well run the very best of them and their attitude to tourist industry workers (like me) is generous to a fault which is a lot more than I can say about some of the other big names in Queenland tourisim. Folks, don't knock Steve, he was as genuine as they come and he was bigger than you think. In 2001 I spent a couple of weeks in Chicago and many of the shops I walked into were playing Steve Irwin videos.. he was huge in the USA where they don't have to wait until someone is dead before they appreciate them. Posted by: Geoff Cook on September 6, 2006 6:53 PM Earlier today I posted a comment here asking Germaine to shut up. I now take it back! I've justed watched Karl Stefanovic "interview" Germaine on a Current Affair. Germaine was articulate and put forward a lucid, hysteria-free argument to support her comments. Karl, on the other hand, behaved like the knobhead he is. Australians really are idiots if we can be so easily led by the crap fed us on Channels 9 & 7. Posted by: dan on September 6, 2006 7:02 PM I think the whole 'baby bob' incident was "A Storm in a Crockpot" ... he was as 'mad as a cut snake' and refreshingly Non-PC ... Denton's interview was terrific! Posted by: Raymond Terrace on September 6, 2006 7:03 PM Wow jack. What a day. I for one am a bit batterred around by a few posters. Serves me right for beating oz to the punch yet again eh? Yet somehow I'm ok about it. I am baffled by the obvious lack of comprehension about the story though. It's almost like they read only what they wanted to read in order to hallucinate an outlet for their media-generated grief. Interesting study of people today Jack, regardless of the content. I'm going to the pub to lick my wounds, but before I do, thankyou for a good read and a very entertaining day. Have a good night Jack, and everyone else who actually did get the intent of the article. For the rest of you, who may have missed the point a bit, I'm sorry you feel angry, upset, sad, etc.. and hope tomorrow is better for you. Hey! three eights today! Posted by: GerardW on September 6, 2006 7:04 PM I agree with Jack about Phil's letter, that was excellent. As the world is today, you see so much of people in the media that they become so familiar that you feel you know them, you get used to seeing them. They did not show so much of Irwin in my corner of the world, but of course he was an entertainer in all he did. That does not mean that he was insincere. Anyway, I saw the news on the net and got a shock, I even cried. I cannot analyse why I did that but I was sad before I saw any media coverage to influence me. Whatever anyone thought of him, surely they at least respect and feel for the sorrow his family is experiencing. Posted by: Sirkka on September 6, 2006 7:10 PM What a great article Jack. Steve was big in the UK so obviously a reporter shoved a microphone in every passing Australian's face. Germaine who can always be counted on for stirring the possum was true to form. I've defended her a lot over the years. I don't always agree with her, but I am glad she is there and has the courage to say what she thinks and cop the flak. For those who think she has done nothing for Australia or the world, I think you are wrong. Lipstick feminists should shout her praises, because it is brave outrageous women like her that have enabled the average woman to benefit in all walks of life. Okay the timing of her comments was not good, but again I think the media deliberately searched for controversy. They probably asked the other usual expat suspects like Rolf and Clive but had less newsworthy results. Posted by: Heloise on September 6, 2006 7:12 PM To be honest.. the whole media beat up and subsequent "outpouring of grief" just leave me amazed. All these "I love you Steve's" from people who'd never met the guy. The hero worship from someone the whole world wanted to crucify for being himself not that long ago. I'm left feeling slightly saddened by the fact that this "grief" people are displaying is a lot more "out there" than what many of the same people would display for someone they knew who'd died. Don't get me wrong, I liked Steve Irwin - he was a clever man who wasn't afraid to be himself and I admire that. i also believe he was a good family man and his family are who I feel incredible sympathy for. I see the knockers saying - "Well, it was going to happen sooner or later" and perhaps they are right - but perhaps they aren't. Should we have less sympathy for miners because it's bound to happen to them sooner or later? Or policemen, security guards etc? We have to remember, this man was a professional in his field and he did know what he was doing - perhaps he went too far out of his field on the reef. We'll never know but accidents do happen. Let's not knock the guy, but lets be realistic too - he wasn't a saint, he wasn't superhuman. let's remember him for who he was, a very entertaining man who annoyed many of us to bits in some ways, but we liked him because he was a larrikin anyway. His work for conservation was to be admired and I do hope that continues. At least he had the guts to live life to the full and follow his dreams. Posted by: Juls on September 6, 2006 7:17 PM Anton at 5:38pm: you wasted two whole screens claiming Greer was untruthful but provided nothing to back it up. Her view that Stainton's 'job was to keep SI pumped' is a metaphor that is supported by numerous media articles (perhaps you thought she meant he always stood behind SI with a bicycle pump?). Secondly, she did not say that SI was wrestling the ray, she said: "Dr Meredith Peach has been quoted as saying, "It's really quite unusual for divers to be stung unless they are grappling with the animal and, knowing Steve Irwin, perhaps that may have been the case." Not much sympathy there then". You have got nothing. What did she write that was wrong? Posted by: Gno on September 6, 2006 7:19 PM Re: GerardW at September 6, 2006 12:17 PM I think what and how we write says alot about who we are. You, like to use big words that few people understand. So if you feel you're being misunderstood or being misjudged... Posted by: ekka on September 6, 2006 7:19 PM Greer needs to climb back into the hole from which she came. What a disguisting, nasty, ignorant human. Is she sensationalising for her own gain? I would love to know what has made her so bitter and twisted and seriously - what has she done that comes even remotely close the contributions Steve has made to the conservation of our precious wildlife. Get her off her soap box and please don't give her anymore airtime to continue her banter. Steve was a great man who did more than anyone else to fight for our environment and he put his money where his mouth is while teaching all of us to get the most out of life. Posted by: Jeni on September 6, 2006 7:22 PM As a Queenslander I have to point out how it feels from here. Steve Irwin thought globally (media savvy) but acted locally. Australia Zoo is better than world class, and Steve's philanthropy has been breath taking. I may have found his media presence embarrassing at times, but he took the money and put it where his mouth was. I only urge critics to have a look at what he has done, and have a look at Australia Zoo. Posted by: Alison McDonald on September 6, 2006 7:26 PM I dont expect that you will put this on on your list of comments, but it will make me fell better for airing it. Reading some of your viewers comments about Steve Irwin I couldn't help but feel sad and angered. the comments weren't being clever just spiteful and negative. The man Steve Irwin however you perceive him was still outstanding in his passion and getting a job done no matter how "showy" or exaggerated, how many of you can say when you had a dream or a belief in something you went out and you acheived it? As for Germaine Greer she was in my era and I have no comment about her, that's how effective she was to me. However you choose to look at it Steve Irwin he was a symbol of a Good bloke and got the job done for conservation. He was who he was, I never knew him but he always put a smile on my face. Posted by: Barbara Bayley & Family on September 6, 2006 7:33 PM I totally agreed with Germaine Greer. She did not attack him on a personal level, but for how he did what he did and how he claimed to know it all. She did not say she was pleased he is dead, she did not say he deserved to die. She merely said: he wasn't a saint you know. She is right: There was no animal sanctuary he respected, he walked through nature reserves, handled animals, scared them. All for the camera. This is not to say he did nothing useful. But the idea that Irwin can not be critisized because he is dead is ridiculous. Especially in the light of what happened 2 years ago when the media were all over him for being stupid. I thought the British tabloids were fickle but it seems some 'mainstream' Australian papers are even worse. Posted by: Marieke on September 6, 2006 7:35 PM It's the third day. He should be rising shortly. Well said Jack and Germaine Posted by: Billy the Dog on September 6, 2006 7:39 PM What is this crap: "Poor Steve he was such a great person!" ?????????????????????????????????? HELLLLOOOOO???? It was his OWN, I repeat OWNNNNN fault!!! He had it coming!! I only sorry that the crocs didn't get him! Azey (13 years old) Posted by: Azeymichi on September 6, 2006 7:40 PM I have read alot of the articles posted and I think that how would I like some of the comments that people have made about my husband, Father etc. I live in UK and My three kids love watching Steve what kid doesn't like him!! Whatever we think about the guy well that's an opinion and I think the only person's qualified to comment are his family and friends. Isn't it funny that when someone dies everyone feels that they have the right to say something. Love or Hate him It's tragic when anyone dies at a young age and leaves behind young children and family and all I can say is think about his wife and kids, parents and friends that what you say affects them and if you can't say something nice you should be a decent person and keep it to yourself. Linda, U.K. Posted by: Linda on September 6, 2006 7:42 PM CRIKEY, his fake Aussie accent, what constitutes a 'real' Aussie accent Greg - yours? Been anywhere west of Oxford Street lately? Jerk. A line from the movie Blade Runner sums up Steve Irwins life: 'The light that shines twice as bright shines for half as long'. Good on ya Steve, you gave us positvity in a world of negativity. Posted by: Sean on September 6, 2006 7:43 PM I can't say that I agreed with everything that Steve Irwin ever did or said, such as his assessment of John Howard as a great leader, his choice of BBQ companions or some of his more invasive antics with animals. However, he was a fantastic ambassador for conservation and love of nature. Most importantly, Irwin influenced lots of children to feel the same way about the magnificent creatures with which we share this world and that's priceless. As a tour guide and nature presenter I always drew plenty of inspiration from Irwin's enthusiasm and feel great sadness at his untimely departure. There was absolutely no need for Germaine Greer to speak out as she did and who set her up as an expert anyway? I hope that she continues to really, really enjoy living in the UK. Posted by: Ricki Coughlan on September 6, 2006 7:47 PM For Gregh: You are a troll, surely. For all other posters here who continue to attack Jack Marx and sing the praises of Steve Irwin you are off topic and just plain rude and ignorant. If you loved Steve Irwin fair enough, but the declarations should be made elsewhere. READ THE ARTICLE!! If you don't get it or it doesn't suit your agenda then just f* off. Posted by: j-bird on September 6, 2006 7:48 PM Greer is a disgusting crackpot. Why give her any airing time? Let her get back to gazing at young boys and leave the very decent, family oriented Steve Irwin alone. Posted by: JapaneseSakura on September 6, 2006 7:50 PM i feel so sorry 4 his kids and wife and parents and friends and every1 that new him i mean he was a great guy i never met him but u can just tell he is a great guy i just can't blieve he's gone Posted by: hannah on September 6, 2006 7:55 PM Azey (13 years old!), are we s`posed to be amazed that a 13 year old nose how two reed and rite? Charlie (37 years old). Posted by: charliedirk on September 6, 2006 7:59 PM Steve irked me a bit at first because I thought his persona was an act to make money. Then I saw an interview which revealed he was the real deal, that was his actual personality and also what he was doing for conservation. From that point I respected him but was far from a fan. I'm so sorry for him and his family and for conservation that he has passed. From that angle it is a huge personal tragedy. I also agree with Jack and indeed with Germaine, whose very well-written article brought home the level of crud spewing forth from the media at present. Posted by: Suzi on September 6, 2006 8:02 PM As a dual US/UK citizen, I must say that I find at least some of the posthumous lambasting of Mr. Irwin to smack of pseudo-intellectual masturbation of the most shallow sort. For God's sake . . . a man has died in circumstances that I think would be tragic in the estimation of most decent persons . . . and yet the first comment out of the mouths of some is lament regarding the "image" that Steve Irwin presented for international consumption?!?! Does this not amount to concern over issues that fairly pale in comparison to what actually transpired two days ago? Most astonishingly, to some it would seem that Mr. Irwin's passing is to be mourned all the less in that he was a popular figure in the USA? I just cannot fathom the callousness of such remarks. What difference does it make if his persona was a bit over the top or if he was more of a "star" abroad than at home? To me, such tangential issues detract not one iota from the magnitude of what occurred -- that a man beloved by many died in sudden and shocking circumstances. Posted by: Scott McKenna on September 6, 2006 8:02 PM Azeymichi (7.40pm): If you really are only 13 years old, then I feel sorry for you. So much hate and bitterness in one so young. Think about getting some help or you will be one really screwed up adult. Try to have a more open mind, look at both sides. Be more tolerant of people. Be more generous in your opinions and allow some light into your life. Posted by: Oz_1788 on September 6, 2006 8:10 PM Steve is now Aussie legend that's the fact. Bruce Lee is legend, same as Piccaso, Vincent Van Gogh etc... I reckon if Michael Jackson died 10 years ago he might also become a legend. But look carefully while they were still alive, Piccaso died when he broke, now his painting is the most expensive(more than 200 Millions dollar). Bruce Lee rejected by the Holywood. While Michael Jackson has been witch hunted and try live a misery life. Human Human, what else can I say but Human nature, we are such a sorry creature. Posted by: Nguyen on September 6, 2006 8:12 PM An interesting perspective from Mr Marx.. Frankly, i always thought SI was a dickhead, especially after the disgraceful 'baby feeding' incident, but i couldn't help but feel incredibly sad after hearing about his demise and i don't know why. Unfortunately, his kids will grow up without their dad and his wife will be hurting forever and that is sad. Of course, we had to endure GG's 2 cents worth on another issue that doesn't concern her.. How sad is it to tolerate the bitter musings of an irrelevant, overrated, bitter and unsatisfied psuedo-intellectual non-entity in dire need of a good rogering? Posted by: yobbo on September 6, 2006 8:25 PM When I started reading this blog I thought I'd read an article about how the media treats celebrity death in a always hysterical and often hypocritical way. By the time I got to here I couldn't remember what the article was about so I read it again. My first thought was right. It was a good, thoughtful piece. The posts range from inciteful to bizarre. I note that Steve Irwin's family has opted to decline the offer of state funeral because they believe he would want to be remembered as an ordinary bloke. Good on them. Let's hope the media respect their wishes. Bet they won't. - Jack Posted by: Slevo on September 6, 2006 8:25 PM I am from India .Steve's death was a shocker to all of us.People overseas know two people from Australia -Johny boy and the second is crocodile hunter.They have created a niche for themselves and they really stand out. Steve will be genuinely missed by my family and especially by my 7 year old son who was very sad when he heard the news. Steve hats off to you.You will be always remembered and missed by all of us. Posted by: Pratul on September 6, 2006 8:33 PM To the aptly-named Yobbo Germaine Greer is a highly respected academic. She does not write pop-feminism, she is meticulous in her research and forthright in her opinions. You may not agree with her but to offer such lame, unjustified and offensive criticism of her is more of a reflection of your inadequacies. Whilst Steve has done a lot for conservation etc,it is also good for Australia to have other high profile representation in other pursuits. To reflect our diversity. You are welcome to keep a low profile however. Posted by: Heloise on September 6, 2006 8:54 PM Some of the hurtful comments written here by several people about Steve's death and persona, just 2 days after his death, seem more venomous than some of the snakes Steve used to interact with. Sure Sure, I can hear you saying, these are your "opinions". Well, "hurtful", "shameful" and "heartless" is my opinion. How would you like to be remembered after your death? I hope others get the oppurtunity to make bad comments and statements on your death, beginning the next minute on after you die. All of you better start being "perfect" humans from now on so you may be spared in future, no excuses. Posted by: The Music on September 6, 2006 8:55 PM I want to point out something which 100% backs the original post about the Herald Sun. Anyone who wishes to verify what i say can go and visit their website. Please note people, if you love Stevie Irwin, the Herald Sun has censored readers responses to germaine greer's retarded rants about him. Check out their threads on several topics, there are posts from throughout the day. Now check out the posts on the thread about greers comments on stevie. All posts are against greer, then suddenly at 11:37 am all comments stopped. I have 4 posts that never made it and I mailed them to ask why and over 9 hours later have received no reply. The Herald sun has today proven itself to be a mouth piece for this withered old turd and I commend the Sydney Morning Herald for bringing this to public attention. As a person who respects and admires Steve Irwin I shall never again buy the herald sun, they have shown their colours, they will protect those speaking against him. From now on the SMH gets my patronage and I hope all Stevie supporters do the same. Posted by: Dave Hall on September 6, 2006 8:59 PM G'day Jack, Just got in and was freaked by whats gone on here.Mate, I think it was a great article and I think GG's peice had some good points as well. What really freaks me out is that a proportion of our society is either unable to read or just plain brain dead."what the #@$# is wrong with you people?"..Indeed! I myself would never attend a BBQ with war criminals,but thats just me.I've never met Steve Irwin and so can't really give him a reference or declare my love for him but as you say Jack,no-one could not feel sympathy for his children and wife. There are appropriate forums currently running for people who wish to greive,but I don't think this is one of them.This Blog is about the Media's lack of respect and its shameful beat up of something tragic.Somehow I think it has inadvertanly shown some peoples lack of understanding which I guess is what the Media depends upon in doing this.I think its the same thing that politicians depend on when feeding the masses hysteria to secure votes.John Howard certainly didn't miss an opportunity to tug at the strings of the patriotism puppet on this one.Interesting to hear Steve's father asking for some space and respect.Like you said I bet they don't! Posted by: Larry on September 6, 2006 9:02 PM I understand the article and the media is wacked all over the place. Though I understand the stupidity of it all. I don't understand some of the comments made here. I doubt some have even watched his shows. My kids grew up on the croc hunter. Heck, it was better than letting them watch the other crap out there. They learned about so many animals that they would of never known about. They also, learned alot about the beauty of your land. Or how about your military having the added danger of snakes when on manuveurs. I guess you didn't see that. The guy loved his job. How many of us can say that??? His passing was a shock, and there were tears in my eyes. We watched his show when it started here and since he brought his life into the show you couldn't help but feel you knew everyone at the zoo. So, yes there were tears in my eyes. No, there are no tears for the other un-timely deaths because I knew nothing about them. My kids didn't learn to torture animals because of him, they learned to care for animals because of him. I'm sure my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will learn this from someone else in the future. For those saying he was stupid and it was his own fault that he died. I guess the same would apply to military personal. Or is that different. And last from a American view point. We don't think everyone there is like Steve Irwin. Do you really think that all americans are that stupid,(don't answer I know the answer)Not all of us are, some of us are just like you there. I came to this site to see if I could find any real news about what had happened. Though finding some news, I also found some really cold and ignorant people to which I didn't expect. Posted by: Robin on September 6, 2006 9:07 PM Hmmm Scott McKenna, for a subject about media hype or whatever, the term you find to use is "pseudo-intellectual masturbation". Lol, there are many ways to describe things but it is obvious how your mind works, you're a semi-intelligent wanker who gets off with using long words!! Posted by: Dave Hall on September 6, 2006 9:09 PM Very well said. I must say that any sorrow I had initially for Irwin's death has been well and truly washed away by the utter drivel that the media is spewing forth. Posted by: JC on September 6, 2006 9:10 PM Germaine Greer wrote what was her opinion. Even if I do not agree with her, we cannot try to browbeat her to accept ours. Anyway, she did not send it the the page in SMH that was meant for condolences like many others who disliked Irwin. Posted by: Sirkka on September 6, 2006 9:13 PM Hey Jack marx. Are you related to Karl?. He was full of shit too. And I'll bet you think you're the first clever-dick to make that humourous connection, Dave. You related to Albert? Or Toad? - Jack Posted by: Dave Hall on September 6, 2006 9:15 PM Lordy, aren't we a passionate bunch. And so stupid. I especially liked Anton's comment a few hours earlier: "I never watched Steve's shows but was outraged at Greer's inaccurate comments, so I've sent the Guardian an email Letter to add to their list of responses to GG" I'm sorry, but if you never watched Steve's shows, then how do you know whther GG was accurate or not? Moron. I would suggest that all of those who think Steve Irwin was a conservationist saint check out the photo that the Telegraph have chosen to use as their tribute, a photo they want you to buy for $80. It is a shot of Steve tackling a crocodile around the throat in a mud pool, with a headline saying that the world weeps for this Aussie hero. The croc looks none too happy about this example of conservation. EDIT The Irwin poster offer has now been removed from their site, but I'm sure you'll be able to find it somewhere. And, as for the comments that he wasn't harassing the stingray, it is pretty much impossible to be stung in the chest unless you are passing about a foot over the ray, moving from front to back. In a meter of water it had nowhere to go. None of us cyncis wanted Steve to die. But I find his hagiography just as pathetic as Diana's. Posted by: Steve on September 6, 2006 9:20 PM As a "Yank", I have to cringe a bit at the comment about tourists identifying all Australians with the Crocodile Hunter. I'd hate to have anybody lump me in with the likes of Britney Spears or our current half wit President. Trust me, we aren't all that stupid. I think we let the media make too much of people, creating monsters as we do so. I'm sure Irwin was not so over the top in everything he did off camera, no one could maintain the energy. He was encouraged to be the class clown of conservation, and he did a bang up job of it. He made some mistakes, who doesn't, but I'd trust his informed opinion about exotic animals over that of some old biddy who's never interacted with anything more intimidating than her budgie. It seems a bit heartless to bash him for being what we encouraged him to make of himself. As for the hypocracy of laying on the honors with heavy hand now, have you ever noticed how it's only nice guys who die? It's very rare to have someone gaze into the casket and say "He was a right bastard." Folks are just doing it on a bigger scale, which should be no surprise as it is not incongruent with the way they treated Mr Irwin in life. Posted by: Mary on September 6, 2006 9:20 PM How does Greer or anyone else know if nature is capable of revenge? What a stupid statement. Steve did more for conservation than most people on the planet, especially Greer. Steve was not even cold before she came out with her venom. Posted by: Aussie on September 6, 2006 9:37 PM Gee, you Australians sure don't like Germaine Greer, do you! Great article, by the way. As was Ms Greer's, if a little previous. Posted by: FalselySanelyShallowly on September 6, 2006 9:39 PM I'm with GerardW. Colin Thieles great novels such as "Sun on the Stubble" and "February Dragon" resonate with me 30 years after initially reading them, not to mention Storm Boy which made me bawl my eyes out when I recently re-read it with my 10 Year old. We didn't have reality TV back in the 70's, however Steve Irwin will probably resonate with today?s? little kids and when they are 45 they can tell their kids about him. He was a great narrator for mass media, but at the end of the day I am thinking about 2 little kids going to bed knowing they will never see their Dad again - that's heart breaking. Australian kids need the role models of "quintessential characters" rather than the vacuous wankers that get served up to us on reality TV, so vale Steve and may Heaven offer you many more adventures with happier outcomes. Posted by: Happy Emu on September 6, 2006 9:40 PM Congratulations Jack. An excellent article. And commiserations, Jack. This article seems to have brought out every illiterate nutter in the country. And I say illiterate because rather than focusing on the article itself, they turned it into a massive eulogy for Irwin. makes you despair about the ability of these people to comprehend anything. Posted by: Robynne on September 6, 2006 9:41 PM Here here, well said. I liked his persona as well even when everyone else in Oz was ashamed of the guy, but i have to say i hated his guts after i heard him declare that howard was the best leader we ever had....CRICKEY what a load of bollocks. But i must say i feel really bad for his little girl. Anyway the guy did a lot in a short time i dont think he can say he didnt get most out of his life, thats what i would praise him for, not all the other bullshit. Posted by: Lina on September 6, 2006 9:48 PM I feel very sad for all of you that have been so negative and disrespectful. Is it difficult to get through the day being so bitter and heartless? Ultimately, whether you liked him or not, what he did and how he conducted his life came from a purely selfless place. I wish there was something in my life that I felt as passionately about as Steve did for wildlife, conservation and Australia. Face it, there is a bit of ocker in all of us. Posted by: Rae on September 6, 2006 9:56 PM Scott McKenna at September 6, 2006 08:02 PM: the point of this blog is the image that SI presented and which the media reflected or distorted. It's not about Steve Irwin, the man, and mourning his passing. The fact that he was a popular figure in the USA is of legitimate concern to those Australians who feel that popularity was based on myth and misconception. If you only disparaging those who've made attacks here on SI the man, fine: this is not the place. You didn't give examples of exactly what you were referring to. If you are disparaging those who are legitimately discussing his image and the media coverage, you've made a mistake. If you think these are tangential issues for this blog, you're in the wrong place. On A Current Affair tonight, Germaine Greer tried to explain to the ACA interrogator the difference: "it's not about Steve Irwin" [the man], she said. Being part of the problem, he refused to get it, like some who've commented here. Posted by: Gno on September 6, 2006 10:13 PM Steve Irwin seems to have died as a result of his own poor judgement. Swimming over a large stingray in shallow water is a bad idea by any standards and is more-or-less inviting an instictive reaction from the ray. A so-called "wild-life expert" (and one with a young family) should have known not to take such an unecessary risk. This is NOT a good role-model for young Australians... Posted by: tony on September 6, 2006 10:26 PM ----------------------------------- This count has been brought to you by Oz brand crocidile handbags. The Count (I love to count). ----------------------------------- Posted by: The Count on September 6, 2006 10:33 PM Jack Marx - you said it yourself. You're a creep. Seppo - You might want to check your grammer mate - dckhead. No one is making people watch the news or read the papers. If you don't care then pss off and let the rest of us absorb this sad news. He has done more for conservation publicly on a world wide scale than anyone I can think of. Think of his family, the wildlife and the bushland who are all at a great loss without him. And if you don't care, don't read the paper or watch the news for a week and it will all go away! "Jack Marx - you said it yourself. You're a creep." - Hang on...no...no...no, I don't remember saying that, Kelly. - Jack Posted by: Kelly on September 6, 2006 10:34 PM I heartily agree with Rae ... I would feel badly about myself if I were to bash this good man who accomplished so much good for Oz. I shall miss this exhuberant entertainer and educator. My world seems emptier today. (An American admirer of Steve Irwin) As a parting comment, while most Americans do NOT believe that all Aussies jump around yelling 'crikey' we did love the naturalness of it when it came from Steve Irwin. Posted by: Rose on September 6, 2006 10:42 PM the guys gone, leave him alone. Posted by: mock on September 6, 2006 10:42 PM What an interesting account of opinions based on the event. Although it's not beyond me to leap into a flurry edged on by pure ignorance and a desperate adolescent-like lack of self esteem, (and unfortunately some get away with it) I DO feel the need to point out the obvious. Try to notice the trendï¿½.. Take note of those who write in support of the life and attitude of the late Steve Irwin. Has anyone else noticed that the contributors of such articles tend to have the skills and education to present their opinions in an intelligent and interesting manner? These articles also show undoubtedly that the writers have the sense to know that people have emotions. As a journalist, on the other hand, the facts are crucial. Your opinion means nothing to the public. Newspapers are not in a position to push their own opinions, but instead to draw the publicï¿½s view into the open. This is not to say that journalists are not intelligent enough to have their own opinions. On the contrary, I believe the majority of public writers serve the public fantastically well, and learn to separate their lives and opinions from their work. Unfortunately there are exceptions, and it brings such despondency when a weak voice is given wings and allowed to soar. Take note of the articles published by Germaine Greer, who only generates the public interest because she preys on the emotions that made so many bite their bottom lips in a childish gesture every time they heard the words "You are the weakest link. Goodbye!" Itï¿½s sad that someone with so much reach, is incapable of presenting him (or her) self in a competitively professional way. I could also be famous if I had so little respect that I could race through the streets of post-apartheid Johannesburg shouting racist insults. What would be the purpose? TO GET PUBLISHED. Thereï¿½s nothing simpler. With such dynamic skills, itï¿½s either that or flipping burgers? Take your pick. But for heavenï¿½s sake, take care of your soul. These articles, (I refer particularly to those published regarding Steve Irwinï¿½s death by Germaine Greer) though shamefully doused with a very simple approach synonymous with a career in unprofessional journalism, tend to be cutting, emotionless and purely for the sake of attention (nobody honestly appreciates that in a civilized world - Publish the truth, sure! But don't sell yourself by stepping on the emotions of a world who appreciates a hero, in the very obvious case of Mr. Steve Irwin.) Is it even necessary to draw attention to the outdated clichï¿½s and complete lack of originality in these articles? Even for those with more than a grade 6 equivalency, I expect your answer was ï¿½Duh! Itï¿½s an obvious attack and a cheap attempt to earn a living ï¿½ (What a pity the public supports that kind of behaviour.) At this point, I'd like to encourage Germaine Greer to follow what SHE truly believes, and challenge the respect those have for Steve Irwin..... Why not take off those designer clothes, get dressed up in some khakis and save the world the way YOU deem fit. And remember.... In your own special idiom, why not try saving your own family from a poisonous snake with your bare hands. With the utmost respect to those who saw a true hero for what he was, despite the fact that he was humanï¿½. God bless you! As for the rest.... Good luck! Posted by: Chris Smith on September 6, 2006 10:46 PM For those who claim that Steve's death made no difference to them cos they did not know him....or can't say if he was a great guy...cos they did not know him personally...well all I have to say to them is...Did u know Mother Teresa or Princess Diana? But I am sure you thought Mother Teresa for Kind right? Or would you say that you are not too sure about her cos you did not meet her...or she did not help you someway. You dont always have to know the person up close and personal...just to find out that they are kind hearted or not. No matter what negative or thoughtless comments ppl make here...all I have to say is: I dont see many Australians famous worldwide for just being Australians. I dont see many or any australians as a matter of fact..advertising Australia for its true culture (even if it bush or hunting animals), I dont know of any Australians buying land to make natural parks to preserve nature as it should be. And I dont see many australians who made u feel excited or laught when they talked about little things like spiders I am sure that if Steve was nothing more than a loud personality, so many ppl around the world would have be saddened by his death. I for sure can say...there have only been a very few ppl who I did not know personally and when they died...it brought a tear in my eyes. Posted by: GG on September 6, 2006 10:47 PM "Gee, you Australians sure don't like Germaine Greer, do you!" Only morons like that washed up old hag. I doubt anyone will give a st when she carks. Posted by: tyrone on September 6, 2006 10:50 PM in retrospect the baby incident shows steve's risk assesment to be skewed a fair bit to the extreme of "normal" people i saw some wild stuff on his show spat in face by cobra etc ... he indeed make most city people cringe but in the country he had a lot more kudos. in response to greer's stated beef "torturing animals", the greater good principle of the small amount of ecodamage and distress those animals incurred to the message that he sent out to children worldwide for conservation is surely worth it. no matter how much his showmanship may have offended our modern australian sensibilities, i think everyone twigged (and maybe only now)that his heart was in the right place and that he put his money where his mouth was 100%. quote from steve : "I believe our biggest issue is the same biggest issue that the whole world is facing, and that's habitat destruction." may any of us do as much as him for good hey jack - while typing this out , a thought for a blog topic : when did we lose the cringe? or do we still have it in more subtle evolved form listening to expats like greer and hughes ( as much as i admire his writings on other subjects)it is obvious they have no idea what australia is really like and seemed trapped in a time warp of roughly the time they stopped living here. Posted by: rustycage on September 6, 2006 10:52 PM @Seppo and others. David Attenborough is a naturalist he's not so well recognised as a conservationist. I doubt, for example, that he has a bought land to protect species. Attenborough presents fascinating natural history documentaries. As far as I know his activities do not extend beyond observing creatures in the wild. Though I am prepared to be corrected. Do you know why I admire Steve Irwin? For his enthusiasm, passion and for what he DID. Sadly there is no such thing as a free lunch these days. I suspect for all Attenboroughs' good works he has done little to convince people to take up the cause of crocodiles or any other animal in danger much less get them to part with cash. If Steve Irwin appealed to the common man then that no bad thing. If that appeal led to a greater awareness of the plight of the worlds wildlife better still. Was he a hero? No. Was he perfect? No. He was just this guy, y'know. He went too soon. Posted by: Jason on September 6, 2006 10:55 PM I must say I, as a Dutchman (but living with an Aussie for 6 years now) am baffled at some of the knee-jerk responses Jack Marx's excellent, balanced and intelligent article seems to trigger. It really does remind me a lot of the public insanity after Diana's death. People: Steve's death is a shock and a tragedy mostly to his family and loved ones, but this media-orchestrated hysteria is something he himself would have found ridiculous if not revolting. Posted by: Willem van Altena on September 6, 2006 11:03 PM Hi Jack, I never read or write to any of your blogs or articles because I feel they are a front for gutless people who make snide and cruel remarks behind the safety of a username, (But that's just me) However I felt compelled to write and express a few thoughts on the Steve Irwin issue as I think a lot of people are missing the point. And that simply is, this was a great man who gave so much and asked for so little. Why must people feel the need to point out irrelevant things at this time in his life? Why can't we except the fact that he is gone and millions of people around the globe are genuinely mourning his death. He used his own money on making Aus Zoo a major tourist attraction and funded his own research. He risked his life to show us how lucky we are to live in a country so environmentally unique. He did this before the cameras and would have continued to do so without them. This was a man who was 110% committed to this country and environment we are lucky enough to call home. Baby bob and the croc was nothing but a slow news day for a media who will beat up anything and anyone given half the chance. I notice that you hide behind everyone else when making the remark "WE were lining up to crucify Steve Irwin for apparently endangering the life of his infant son bob". I sincerely hope that by saying we you actually meant the media. I don't remember lining up at all. In fact it was me and some mates who suggested that this was the result of creative footage and suggestive reporting. Steve Irwin was an easy target. I suppose you think I am trying to "suck the frankness and honesty clean out of the media" That is laughable in itself given the fact that you assume that there even is an ounce of honesty within the media. To hear that loser Naomi Robson was outside Aus Zoo in Khakis makes me sick but does not surprise me given the fact that her and others like her lead the charge to bring down Steve are now probably feeling the need to assuage their guilt at lambasting a now "dead hero". The fact that someone like Steve Irwin has died is a sad day for this Natural Australia we all love and in years to come there will be a time where all of us will truly appreciate what this wonderful man did for our country and wildlife. Its just a shame he wont be round to see it. Posted by: Dave OHalloran on September 6, 2006 11:04 PM Kelly @ 10.34 pm, "Seppo you might want to check your grammer." What have you done to Seppo's Grammer? I hope you didn't get his Grammpa too ! Oh well Kelly,like you said you are an Idiot! Posted by: Larry on September 6, 2006 11:08 PM When someone has something negative to say about another, maybe they need to step back and take a look at themselves! Posted by: Trace on September 6, 2006 11:10 PM Nice one Gno. Yes Scott, the point of this blog is? (please refer to uppermost section authored by one J Marx) Posted by: Prawn on September 6, 2006 11:15 PM I loved Steve Irwin, he will be missed. He was an ordinary bloke, I couldn't imagine Steve wearing a suit and tie, I don't recall him saying a bad word against anyone, he had passion, humor, he loved life, people, family, his work. He's done some outrageous things, surely he realised the risks involved in working with wild animals and that he wasn't immune from being attacked. Like a lot of other personalities, we only know Steve through our TVs, it doesn't mean we can't feel sad, although Steve might not want us to feel that way, he would probably want us to turn our sadness into something constructive like making a small contribution to improving our world and saving the animals on this planet from extinction. GG go take a flying leap, if Steve knew you, I'm sure he wouldn't have wasted his time critising you, he would probably respect you for speaking your mind, thankfully he had more important things to do. Posted by: Mpm on September 6, 2006 11:18 PM I am still trying to understand what exactly Steve Irwin "did for OZ". He brought alot of attention to our wildlife - increasing their potential as tourist attractions (not necessarily a good thing). He bought land (all over the world) for the good of conservation. He has obviously done a lot of work for wild animals but for Australia?!?!?! (apart from perpetuating the rather horrific "crocodile dundee that is not a knife" image....) What about some of the other great australians like Victor Chang and Fred Hollows who really did something for this country... Recognizing his contribution is important but so is keeping his contribution in perspective. Posted by: anon on September 6, 2006 11:21 PM "I dont know of any Australians buying land to make natural parks to preserve nature as it should be." Germaine Greer herself bought 50 hectares of wilderness for that exact purpose. Posted by: AR on September 6, 2006 11:23 PM It's not just the media... I'll put my hand up too. I exploited Steve Irwin years ago for my first halloween in the U.S. I wore a Croc Hunter costume just to 'pick up' boys. And, Crikey... it worked. Thanks for the memories Mr. Irwin, and sorry for sounding so fickle. Jack, love your work. Posted by: madame on September 6, 2006 11:26 PM Steve proved that with a couple of bucks and no formal education he could make it big in this world. Steve had the spark that the other 98 percent of us don't. To those that sit on the sofa, scratching their arses and watching daytime tely while they pick up their payments he must be quite a revelation. Posted by: Scott on September 6, 2006 11:27 PM Steve aggravated animals in order to attract attention and had the redeeming feature of being a conservator (of sorts)....Germaine aggravates people in order to attract attention, and has the redeeming feature of being a sociologist (of sorts). Why's Steve so much better? Neither or them are really in any way typical of Australians as a whole and tend to portray some pretty dumb stereotypes of we "Ossies" to the rest of the world. Just one of them was entertaining in, frankly, his stupidity. A human being with a wife and kids died, and that's always sad, but the amount of drivel that's coming out of the collective media butthole about it is really sickening. Of course, our politically astute weasel of a Prime Minister sniffed which way the wind was blowing and jumped on the band wagon pretty quick too. Personally, I think as a culture we are just really, really hungry for what we tend to (erroneously) call "heros" that we don't care too much who they are or what they represent, as long as they are different. Dare I say that Don Bradman was a bit of a selfish bastard (and a shady stokebroker) that could just happen to hit a cricket ball better than anyone else? Oh well.... Posted by: chris on September 6, 2006 11:30 PM When I first saw Steve Irwin--years ago--I thought he was a complete dickhead and an embarrassment. But my son liked him and wanted me to watch some of his stuff. We were living overseas and I thought, hey at least the kid will get to see some of the homeland's creatures. But I was surprised to find some real heart and a genuine passion for the environment behind the boofy exterior. Bit by bit, over the years, the guy got under my skin. He LOVED LIFE. He was also a genius at educating kids. As for those of you who say he was all about money--untrue. He has bought huge tracts of wilderness, all over the world. You won't be finding condos on that land any time soon. I think a lot of the devastation we feel is connected to our kids. I really found it difficult telling my sons. His death...it's a huge loss to a 7-year old. So yes, I cry for Steve Irwin because I feel for his family, my sons, the countless children who adored him, and the wilderness he had plans to save. The shorts may have been a bit much, but the man himself was a bloody legend!!! Posted by: niki on September 6, 2006 11:37 PM Classic tall poppy syndrome. The boy did good, yet we've got to find away to kick him down. Congratulations Australia! Wonderful article - go ahead, pat yourself on the back We'll miss ya Steve! You did good. Posted by: Joe on September 6, 2006 11:52 PM Keeping on topic, ha. Gregh asks of Mr Marx: Maybe you should ask that question in front of a mirror. Gregh you are in violation of a copyrighted comment of mine. I suggested that blog spouter of nonsense a one KillerBees partake in that time tested therapy best practised by fools that slag others with out a just cause. Mr Marx writes comment. This blog of his sets out a specific theme that would of or atleast should of been discussed, keeping in mind the topic of the day. As for the commenter that waxes lyrically about the Great Canadian Fool that is David Suzuki; man are you grasping at another CBC hoodwink. Mr Suzuki does voice over on docos produced by other companies and those companies are more than most times from another country other than Canada. He drives a huge SUV gas guzzling massive hunk of steel and polymers. He jets around the planet burning holes in the ozone layer doing "research" on the docos that he is in the future about to voice over. He is worse in many ways than a Kennedy of Yank fame when he talks down alternative energy as a blight on his ocean view from the sea side mansion he graces that was bought by funds from the Sierra Club. Mr Suzuki is a scientist for sure. The best formula he ever mastered was one of milking money from the taxpayer of Canada all the while holding court with the do-gooders that never get anything done through to completion. "The media is the message." Ever heard of that quote before? It is attributed to Marshall Maclueless, a lecturing stoog on the University circuit circa early, too late, mid one thousand nine hundreds. Know what? He never said any such thing. Sort of like the "Franky Scarlet, whom gives a man" or "'Samantha' play me [it] again" quotes repeated over and over and over but never ever checked for authourisation. Gregh blurts out once again what is indeed the greatest Aussie come back of all time. "you are not on drugs are you?" posed directly at Mr Marx. Well previously I wondered how long before a little ditty would be written in Honour of Mr Irwin. Seen one above so far. But there is no mention as to a tune I could muster in my head to relate the words with in a catchy sort of way. Did Mr Irwin ever say: OI OI OI? Or is that marvelous 'CatchCry' reserved for the metro fools that sit around a patch of grass and watch a sport so stupid the players pass backwards to someone in the open? Posted by: Skeeeter Boisverte on September 6, 2006 11:55 PM This Marx article is intended to be about the media and how the media exploit every avenue for the sake of a dollar, but remember it is also the media that brought us the joys and tribulations of the man who was Steve Irwin. With out the media we would not have any memories, being good or bad. Without the media we would not have this blog or an avenue for expression. Hippocritical by nature, the media is an organism that once, a long time ago was nuetral and inbiased, reported facts and figures,and presented a story for what it really was. This was true journalism. This same organism is now driven by the all important dollar. Sadly the world is driven by the dollar, so, it must be expected that events like this are fully exploited. The big difference in todays world being style and taste, for which, it would seem the media have none. Though not all have this style. Some connections with the deceased are real and true human relationships were formed. These relationships allow the truth to be spread and hollow 3rd party representation becomes superficial. We, as free thinking humans have the choice to discriminate, we also have the choice to turn off. Exploitation is nothing new and it goes back as far as recorded time. To believe otherwise is kidding yourself. I am not surprised at some of the posts on this blog. It sums up the tall poppy syndrome in this country. An old saying: "He who hath no sin shall cast the first stone." Disgusted? Yes. Not at the media. Though questionable at times the media connect us all to the wordly events we seek and comment on. No, my disgust is at you, the observer, who being quick to betray the unconditional love and trust of fellow humans. It is you, the observer, who is the problem, an epidemic, common in stature and feeble minded that taint the earth, with your relentless lack of humility and compassion. Your selfishness and judgementalism is the cause of the problem. The media is a by-product of you, with your insatiable appetite to devour all things outside your own existence. Your comments are your entitlement and you have your say freely. As the media does and will. Though from what I have seen here it only highlights your limited character and your ugly flaws. The same I will say about the media. In laymans terms, you are no better than the beast. This event provides an opportunity to cut through the narcism and pent up anger amongst us, and release some beauty that we have within. To take a step back from the materialsm of todays society and be aware of humanitarium values. IE: a caring sharing world, void of selfishness and the 'I' syndrome of today. Though, from recent events and continued attitudes in the world, this seems unlikely. An idealistic, optimistic attitude I have? Yes. A totally free and fulfilling life I have? Yes. Disgust at some of you who call yourselves humans? Yes. Theres my 2 cents worth. Posted by: 2centsworth on September 6, 2006 11:59 PM Quote from Rae: "Face it, there is a bit of ocker in all of us." Dear God, I hope not. I'd hate to think there's a bit of me yelling "Crikey!" Posted by: Terence on September 7, 2006 12:06 AM Steve Irwin to me came across as a good person. He had a lot of passion and enthusiasm for conservation, and there is no doubt he expressed that in a very "in your face" kind of way. He made mistakes for sure, as we all do, except his was made in a very public way. It seemed to me that he went at everything like a "bull at a gate" and when you do that mistakes get made. But also you can get a lot done. When I saw the incident with his son my first reaction was, "Hell, Steve, think about what you are doing and get that kid out of there right now!" I didn't think he was a idiot, just that he was making a big mistake. Taking a step too far. Taking it all in the balance I liked what he did, and for the first few minutes whenever I watched him I would get a bit of a cringe and then I would lose that and find myself engrossed in what he was doing and trying to say. As far as the media reaction is concerned I think they have been relatively restrained. Seven and Nine only did half an hour the last couple of nights. I watched bits of each program and well Kochie and Ray Martin always make me gag but I just ignored them and watched the rest. I think that is what people should do, just ignore the crap and take what you want from the media. And let's face it, most people would have expected at least one of the channels to do something and if they hadn't they probably would have copped flak for that. As for Germaine Greer, well, opinions on any topic range across the swing of a pendulum and to me Greer has always been on the extreme end of the swing of that pendulum. And as for waiting for a while before expressing her opinion, well none of us have waited. We have all been extremely active in expressing our opinions, albeit the far greater number has been in favour of Steve Irwin and how he lived and worked. Steve Irwin was on the far edge of the pendulum swing too in his particular field. It is good to have the pendulum I don't think that anything Greer has said detracts from Steve Irwi or herself. She has strong views, so did Steve. Lets just remember the man, be surprised, shocked and even saddened by his death. Lay flowers at the gateway of the australia zoo, do what it takes if you need it to give you some closure. And maybe do something yourselves, donate some money to conservation, the value of a bunch of flowers, check out conservation efforts in your local area and get involved. I wonder if Steve himself would have liked all this ballyhoo. I think I have heard the ghost of his catchcry "Crikey" in the last day. Maybe he would like to see us all get on with it now. So go donate some money to consevation, put some food in your garden for native birds and stop you cat from eating them. And watch the media with a discerning mind, it is so full of crap but there are still gems - seek them out and celebrate them. Steve Irwin was a gem, flawed for sure, but a rare stone all the same. I for one, will miss seeing him. I will be able to watch programs he has made but knowing that he is now gone it will be forever a different experience for me. Got to go now, I have to go out and set my traps for Minor birds who are an absolute nuisance and damaging to our native wildlife. Now that was a self-righteous dig, I know, but hell I am really going to do that now, no joking! Anyone who has got some good tips on catching those damn birds, let me know. Hey, let's turn these forums for our opinions about Steve Irwin into something really nifty - how to look after our world and it's animals. Now that would be a really great legacy that I think Steve would be happy with. Long live the Pendulum and all those who ride it's waves. (Including the crappy media!-must be a hell of a job swinging back and forth all the time) Posted by: Josie on September 7, 2006 12:06 AM Alright... I'm going to try and put this in the most sensitive manner I can, and, seeing how the majority of you seem to have trouble reading large paragraphs, I'll put it in point form. 1) The media are being hypocritical about the death of Steve Irwin. 2) Although I'm not a fan of Irwin, I'm not going to generalise and call him an angel or demon either. 3) Just because someone is saying the media is overreacting about his death doesn't mean that they don't care. 4) Germaine Greer is showing classic internet troll behaviour, but free speech allows for that. 5) Jack Marx's blog today was not a "Steve Irwin bashing", but merely one story questioning the dozens released with mindless and cliched material. 6) The upswell of aggresive patriotism is actually slightly scary in this blog. 7) Working on a widely spread newspaper and reaching many people with a stimulating topic is not the sign of someone who has done "nothing" in their life. 8) Posted by: kane at September 6, 2006 02:06 PM 9) Nice title Marx. Posted by: Owen "loopy" McRae on September 7, 2006 12:08 AM Sure, Ms. Greer is entitled to her opinion by MY opinion of her is that she is all ill-bred frumpy crumudgeon...and a COWARD for making disparaging comments about someone who has recently died so tragically...and if you ask me she resembles a croc in her looks!!! What has Ms. Greer done for animals or even PEOPLE lately? all she's ever done was be a whiney, naval gazing wanna-be groupie who write excruciatingly boring tripe like the Female Eunuch! She needs to STFU and let the Irwins grieve in peace. Posted by: Sabrina on September 7, 2006 12:10 AM Having spent several years in Australia I have witnessed (in person) the good/bad/ugly side of Australian culture. I love the country and the people as a whole and hold the country in the highest regard. However, unless someone has given more than Mr Iriwn (economically, charitably, or from a conservationist standpoint) I think you should look at your own life/accompishments first before critisizing his. The "Tall Poppy" syndrome of Austrlians is the most ugly and envious attribute that an otherwise wonderful and friendly people are dragged down by. I will miss Stever Irwin's passion and the happiness and education he offered my children. He was NOT a bad representative of Australia and anyone who thinks he embarrased the country should offer an alternative figure who could bring as much positive feeling and attention. Posted by: Rob on September 7, 2006 12:14 AM Tony, you're a pleb...17 people on the planet, in the history of such statistics have died as a result of a stingray attack... Yet your incredibly stupid leap in logic suggests that he's a poor role model to kids for swimming over a ray... What does that make the people who die as a consequence of standing in a thunder storm, flying in a plane, crossing the road, eating hawker food in asia, etc etc etc.., let alone those that chose to live life to fullest through adventure sports such as sky diving, mountianeering, horse riding or even owing a pit bull terrior. grow a brain. Posted by: Browny on September 7, 2006 12:17 AM j-bird, A troll like you always in the lookout for other trolls isn't it? even when it is not there. Yeah most of us read the article and got the point of it, a rude,inconsiderate article written in support of an equally rude obnoxious old feminist hag Greer. Steve's fans are just responding to the article, if you dont like it then use your own words just f* off. Posted by: Gregh on September 7, 2006 12:17 AM When a person dies in such tragic circumstance, it's human decency to heap on the praises and ignore the flaws. It makes his family feel better. 'Objective' but harsh words are for another day, not now when emotions are so raw. Posted by: frieda on September 7, 2006 12:18 AM You are mean and enjoy bashing people. Insecure? Steve Irwin was 10 times the man you will ever be and you know it. Cowards always attack with words. Posted by: Denise on September 7, 2006 12:20 AM Shut the hell up!, didn't your mother ever tell you, if you haven't got something nice to say, then don't say it. I admit I didn't know the man, but it does not seem to justify the terrible sickness I felt in my stomach the moment I heard of the tragedy. Why? I can't answer that either. All I know is a caring and special person has died under unexpected circumstances. If we feel this pain, god only knows the intense devastation his soul mate Terri and beautiful unsuspecting children must be feeling. All that matters is the positive, wonderful thoughts that we can think of and offer to his father, wife, children and friends. They don't want, need or deserve to have any negativity pointed in Steve's way at such a time. Germaine Greer and any one else with a negative comment should wake up to themselves, I would like to say what I think you nasty type should do to yourselves, but I would not lower myself to your disgraceful unAustralian manner and tarnish a positive message. All I can say, is that it is true, only the good die young, which explains why Germaine is still here and will no doubt out live the rest. R.I.P Steve. Deepest sympathy to Bob Snr, Terri, Bindi, Bob and family and friends - Australia and the world loved your son, husband and daddy more than they can ever fully express. Tania Posted by: tw on September 7, 2006 12:20 AM I agree with you "The Music" at September 6. I remember Steve saying on Andrew Dentons Enough Rope, he treats people the way he would like to be treated. I believe we all share his sentiments. Why dont some of you sad people in this blog reflect on what you have written and NOW read it as though it was directed at yourselves. Please dont be so evil, there is enough evil in the world already. May God Bless Steves wife Terri and their children Bindi and Bob at this very very sad time. Posted by: Tony F on September 7, 2006 12:22 AM So you aren't allowed to cry when someone you don't know in person dies? Everyone should remember that for the future so they can be as tough as Jack Marx, the internet tough guy with his own blog. Posted by: Mark on September 7, 2006 12:25 AM This Jack Marx - does he work for SMH ? Is he a true journalist ? Send your complaints to Channel Nine A Current Affair: http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/feedback/default.aspx?formid=228 I intend to also send both verbal, i.e call SMH and email the editor of SMH. Opionins are our right, I understand that, however someone with in my opionin that has a pathetic capability to present their own version of their feelings, yet to rely on a 60's (q) female rights activist to write their OWN thoughts of Steve's passing... HMMM I am thinking that you might want to seek another method of income... Can I suggest CRASH TEST DUMMY ? IDIOT.. PS.. pls contact all on this blog when a family memeber that you love dies so we can belittle you in public without your wishing... sick of this idiot... pls dont 'talk to IT' Posted by: Sparkey on September 7, 2006 12:26 AM Heloise, As a defender of Germaine Greer, I can only assume you are a bit behind the times... Having spent some years in UK recently, I can assure you that Greer these days is nothing more than an Organ Grinders Monkey, playing to the British media for the peanuts they throw her. she is the go to quote for any issue in Oz that they seek to reflect a negative spin on... She does this supposedly informed and as an Australian. Sadly in this case, she is neither informed or even remotely capable of reflecting an Oz perspective... Sad But true.. Posted by: Germ in UK on September 7, 2006 12:32 AM Thank God someone has stood up and got stuck into the media who have gone over the top again. Specially those tabloid a current affairs program on at 6:30 each night. They did not hesitate one little bit to get stuck into him with that whole baby bob incident, and now their crying poor. So lets hope that those certain sections of the media who are now ostentatiously crying the loudest give the whole Irwin family some space to grieve, and lets just hope that their isn't another media frenzy which occured with the whole Beconfield miners earlier this year. Posted by: Catherine Mayne on September 7, 2006 12:38 AM First time i saw Steve on the TV I spent all my time wishing to see him bitten, the big headed over loud Aussie twat! But as time went on I came to enjoy his shows and his outlook and passion for the wild life around Australia. I wish there was something in my life that I felt as passionately about as Steve did for wildlife. How your opinions change over time. Both I and my daughter are truly saddened for his passing and my thoughts are with his wife and children Posted by: Al on September 7, 2006 12:42 AM Halleluja! Your piece says exactly what I have been thinking since I had the unfortunate privilege of watching the a current affair show tonight. I foolishly sat through an "interview" (for want of a better term) with Germaine Greer and watched an imbecile (don't know who he is) sermonizing in the most patronizing way to a woman who outstripped him in the I.Q. factor at least three-fold. What an ass! Then again, he is just a puppet and perhaps shouldn't be blamed entirely. Let's face it, they've been chomping at the bit to find a way to crucify Greer for so long and this provided the perfect situation to go for the jugular. She is, after all, one of those feminist types. When it finished, I wondered if they were going to show the piece I assume they did on Irwin after the "baby Bob" incident. Of course not. It is interesting to see the depth of their hypocrisy knows no bounds. Having said all that, I am a Steve Irwin fan. Although I agree that he did cross the line in terms of conventional and accepted methods of "observing" wildlife, I believe that he did it with the best intentions. Where I am happy to watch David Attenborough for three hours, your average Joe would find it boring as bat shit. So I can see that Irwin was able to bring a strong message in terms of conservation to the masses. I guess that the thing that I liked the most about him, and I hope that it was true of the man in reality, was that he appeared genuinely passionate about the preservation of the wilderness and its creatures. I am truly sorry for his family, especially his children. I think he was likely to be a terrific dad and now they have lost him. This is always a tragedy, whether you're a celebrity or not. My condolences to Steve's family and thanks to you Jack for putting my thoughts across so eloquently. Posted by: Silvia on September 7, 2006 1:00 AM Iam from India and living in the middle east. Was exposed to Steve Irwin's animal planet series... found him to be a guy who knows what he is doing. His onscreen enthusiasm was infectious and his conservationist role was pretty evident to all. Hats off to Steve. Finger to G.Greer - petty,cussy old lady who iam sure doesn't know the difference between a monkey and an orangutan. Posted by: saleem, Bangalore , India on September 7, 2006 1:04 AM At the end of the day a man has died, he..unlike most people in this stupid world done and fourght in what he believed in and made money out of it, but kindly put it back into conservation so I'm led to believe & on his own. I never much liked Steve that much when he first apeared, but I was out my back yard when the news came throught the radio, I was on my roof fixing my pergola and I almost fell off when the news came throught, Instantly I thought "what a loss to the community and our future" the reason for this was because he educated people on the envioroment and animals. and of all things (and yes to a previous comment) a stings ray, well thats life I truly feel sorry for his lovly wife and fantastic kids and I hope little Bob becomes the next Steve Irwin just so he can annoy the absolute SHIT out of all who had slanged him on this site and on any other site. He's done for for this country and it's Envioment than me or any of you bastards so shut the hell up, ESPECIALLY THAT BITCH IN VICTORIA. Posted by: Ian on September 7, 2006 1:08 AM That's funny because I think Germaine hit the nail right on the head. It's poetic justice that Australians have got the international stereotype they deserve. Posted by: Lisa on September 7, 2006 1:08 AM I think it is very sad for his family and friends..naturally,I apprecited his work for conservation, and I shed some tears. However, I think perspective is paramount here. No disrespect to Steve or his family, but how many people are dying all over the world due to tragedies that could and should be allevaited, but arent! and the media gives no attention to those...they dont sell! Or worse the media purposely misrepresents some factions of society to ensure that their suffering is deemed as less important. Look at Gaza, Sudan,the continous Israeli blockade of Lebanon. If anything people should draw from Steve is, that we should look after all apsects of nature, and that includes people to. Posted by: syd expat on September 7, 2006 1:15 AM No, not many people knows Steve and it's a lost to me that I didn't. I am very sadden by his passing and it surprises me to find that I am actually tearing from this.. but seaching from within, I know why.. Like Steve, I love animals and wish I have half the talent to do what Steve has done.. he isn't one to sit on his arse and ask for donation while sending others to do his bidnig - he did it himself.. Unlike other, he doesn't do research on animals by catching them and CAGING them within a control environment.. Unlike other's, he doesn't sedate them with chemicals and poke them to knifes and needles.. He gets into THEIR environment.. he touches them.. pickes them up and at the end of the day, release them UNHARM.. Germaine Greer is a old hag that sits on her arse and make her bread by mouthing off what she does not understand .. 'INVADING and humiliating the animals?' Steve has NEVER invaded anything.. to use the word INVADE is to imply that Steve went into the animal's environment, killed off the alpha male and make himself the boss - which I have not seen happen.. and how is picking up a snake HUMILIATING them.. ? that is as stoopid as saying domesticing wild dog to be domestic pet.. humiliating them.. Steve was geniue, I had never lost faith even with the 2002 incident where photo were shown that the 'media' pictures were taken at angle to BEST suit their 'witch-hunt' purpose... all the "IF" and "WHAT-IF" are poor incrimination of something that didn't HAPPEN.. He was whom he was.. on and off camera.. his energy.. his life and most of all, his LOVE for animals and what he did for them.. He will be missed.. soooo much. Posted by: Arthur on September 7, 2006 1:26 AM Germaine comes down from the mighty heavens in the UK once or twice a year when she feels we're worthy to hear her hear The Word. She's a ranting old fool from the 60s who feels distance gives her insight into Australian society. God bless couldn't come quick enough. Posted by: Julsey on September 7, 2006 1:27 AM From reading these comments I can see that there is "nothing new under the sun". All the outrage vs grief and opposing opinions, sounds just like all the garbage posing as good reporting that I see in newspapers here in the good 'ole USA, when some poor schmuck who bought into the hype and sold his soul to be recognized bites the dust. Seems to have more to do with the human need to compare and see if we are "better than or less than" those we put under the media microscope. I thought Jack made some good points though, with his attempt to balance all the other crap I'm reading from around the world and put it into some sort of reasonable perspective Posted by: donnee on September 7, 2006 1:36 AM Firstly, hats off to the SMH for letting this thread continue. Nothing less than sainthood nomination for the Crocodile Harasser is allowed at the Tele. I was going to refrain from any further comment until I read this: "As far as the media reaction is concerned I think they have been relatively restrained." I can't find the original post now (11ish I think), and so have no idea whether he or she or it was pro/con/neutral. But that has to be the dumbest statement in this thread. Posted by: Steve on September 7, 2006 1:40 AM The only people who cared about that baby incident was the media. Anyone who has ever watched his show knew the baby was in no danger. Australia was a miserable place before Steve Irwin, and now it's a miserable place again. Posted by: james on September 7, 2006 2:02 AM Okay, sure, the weeping media might be as cynically manipulative as it is horribly cliched, but that's not news. I would still like to see some air time set aside for the guy, mostly because I did actually admire him, but it also works as penance. Those 'controversy' stories were always desperate dredging on the part of the media from the very start, and in most of the reporting on his death, you can still see shreds of it tossed at the bottom of the articles. The fact that 'baby Bob' and 'Antarctica' are the only two incidents people can point at should show how trivial his faults were. And as the comments here show, all that Regular Joe can add to this list is that Steve's antics offended the fragile sensibilities of self-concious Australians everywhere. And somehow that manages to outweigh his enthusiasm for his cause, his humility, his reach, his success, and his willingness to put his money where his mouth is for the entire duration of his career. If this current wave of maudlin media coverage can show his home country the good work he did, rather than just dissing him for babies near crocodiles, boats in the south seas, and fretting about whether every last American knows "hey, we're not all like that", then I'm all for it. At least when Steve got his work done while annoying people. Greer just annoys through simple-minded opportunism, which is only matched by her astounding irrelevance. Posted by: J on September 7, 2006 2:03 AM Greer is a miserable old bag. Transcripts of her article have her setting up imaginary Irwin scenarios then ticking him off over them. If that's how logically she writes, glad I never got around to reading THE FEMALE ASSMUNCH. In another (you will find these thru current Google news searches by the way - but I wish I'd recorded the urls.. anyway..) she tells us about the more respectful way she treats the snakes that abound in her Qld rainforest acreage. News to me, I thought she was ensconced in the UK. But no, apparently she also resides in our own North. And presumably despises it. And Jill Singer can be a bloody misandrist at times too. Posted by: Steve 2 on September 7, 2006 2:15 AM After reading some of the earlier responses, is it just me or does anyone else get the feeling Seppo likes seeing his name on the board and has nothing really substantive to contribute. The issue isn't about whether Steve Irwin was an idiot or not it's about whether the media is two-faced and hypocritical. On the one hand it's true some sections of the media lambasted Steve Irwin before and have now poured praise on him. But is that really all that bad? Is it impossible to approve of a person without approving everything he does? I mean dont get me wrong i'm as cynical of the media as much as everyone else is, but has the media done anything more than what we all do anyway. Think about all the times that you've been angered by your loved ones. I also think it's wrong for you to assume that just because some sections of the media labelled Steve as a "Drongo", others cant label him a hero. You've unfairly categorized all sections of the media as one. P.S. Steve Irwin deserves all the praise he is receiving now. He is by far the most well-known Australian and argueably the most successful (if you consider where he came from and where he is now). Posted by: Chenny on September 7, 2006 2:54 AM I met Steve Irwin once when I lived in Australia. I had only ever seen him on TV, and I sort of assumed that he would be completely different to his on-screen persona. After all, he must have been approached hundreds of times a day when out in public by people wanting autographs and stuff, so I thought he might get pissed off with people constantly approaching him. I visted Australia Zoo, and when I saw him I thought sod it, I'll go and have a chat anyway. I asked what his worst injury caused by an animal was. He went on to chat to me for ages, going through all his individual scars!! Whatever is the right or wrong thing to do is, everyone will react in a different way when something like this happens. His death IS a tragedy, as it is when any husband or father dies. I don't care about the general population's reaction, and I understand that some are upset, others not. I can only speak from my own personal experience of the man. Whatever else he was or might have been, he was a nice bloke and I feel very sorry for Terri, Bindi, Bob and all Steve's family and friends. Posted by: a on September 7, 2006 2:58 AM wow-----you aussies are tough. What makes you think that the media is making me feel the way I do. Your assuming way too much. Hey-you all sound a bit jealous--green with envy you seem. He was a good guy who absolutely loved his wife and kids...you could tell that unless you're a blind idiot--which most of you are sounding like. There aren't that many good guys out there like him. You pompous asses are the exact opposite of him--he was generous and so what if he "oh my God" touched a POOR SENSITIVE REPITLE to teach the masses that they are not to be feared , just respected. He was a mans man--he could do anything--and I wish I could have known him personally. He will leave a void--- a vacuum in the world by not being here. I loved his stories on how he fell in love with Terry. And how much his friends and family meant to him. Its a sad state of affairs that you want to bash his memory. Posted by: terry on September 7, 2006 3:21 AM As an American endlessly exposed to the Crocodile Hunter on Animal Planet, I must admit I found Steve's constant over the top-ness hard to watch. Nevertheless, I found tears springing to my eyes as I read about his death. I think part of the reason for such public outpouring of grief and caring is because he had a show you could watch with your children. Children like exageration and he knew it. He appealed to them and as parents you could appreciate that your child found a half hour to an hour of wholesome television. And rerun after rerun you got to know him and his family. He was a conservationist. He used money to buy up lands to keep them from development. The zoo he sponsored, the Wildlife Warriors organization that was dedicated to conservation across the world, the wildlife hospital.... With his quirky personality he also brought knowledge to hundreds of thousands if not millions of people. Regarding the crocodile - baby Bob incident. The child was never in danger. If you saw the entire footage, you know that it was a well-fed croc. Although wildlife is unpredictable, the chances of this croc killing Steve and baby Bob were almost zero. The child had more of a chance of dying from one of Australia's poisonous spider bites than a bite from this croc. Crocs take their prey/food into the water. If you watch the footage, Bob was turned away from the croc and the first to go would have been Steve. If you talk to folks who work with crocs, they will tell you the danger was so low to be almost nonexistent. Was Steve Irwin worthy of all this praise and glorification--he'd probably be one of the first to tell you a resounding NO, but he would also be happy that the conservation efforts so dear to his heart were getting some attention. And yes this was tragic for Terri and the children. All death is for children. My husband died when my son was 8. A heart attack at 40. My best friend's husband died at 42-car accident and left three children. My sister's husband died at 45-ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. There are no guarentees for a long lived life. Steve died doing something he loved and was passionate about--I'd say that is a better way to go than a car accident, heart attack or a slow-killing dibilitating disease. I think his Terri and kids would say the same thing. Just my thoughts.... Posted by: Deborah on September 7, 2006 3:58 AM I never cared about Steve's show much until I saw interviews with him. They showed his serious side, the side that was passionate about conservation. He explained why he did his show the way he did. He believed people wouldn't become involved in really caring about animals if all you showed them was pictures from a long-range telephoto lens at a distance. He wanted to give people the up-close experience so that they could overcome fears, and care about preserving the creatures. Whether we agree with his personal style isn't the point. He was being true to himself, and I never saw him do anything but treat the animals carefully. Greer's criticisms, therefore, I find to be unfounded. Since they are unfounded, lashing out at him in such a cruel way says to me not that she is a courageous person who is unafraid to speak her mind, merely that she is cruel. There is a time and place to courageously stand your ground, but this wasn't it. If I believed she had been right about him, I might see it differently, but I believe she was wrong about him. To hurt his widow and children for no particular good reason, therefore, makes her cruel. The point about death instantly deifying celebrities is true. However, all that says to me is that one must pick through the B.S. carefully before pulling down everyone who dies. Some who die are actually sincere individuals, and I have come to the conclusion that Steve Irwin was sincere. Lisa M. Posted by: Lisa M. on September 7, 2006 4:12 AM I am not a regular poster here and I apologize if I am butting into a conversation that I don?t belong in. I came across this blog and found it rather interesting and so I thought I would share my two cents. I find it curious that such strong negative feelings exist about the Steve Irwin story throughout the public and the media. I suspect that most have very little experience with animals, global fundraising, dealing with fame, the public and media, as well as juggling the personal interests of conservation, lobbying government and working on changing laws and policies. It is easy I suppose to sit back and criticize when much of the criticism comes from a lack of knowledge, experience or compassion for the innate differences that make us all unique. What is normal and natural in one lifestyle can be seen as extreme and bizarre in another. I think that people forget that the man became famous because of his behavior and passion. He was putting on shows at the zoo before he was on t.v., he was involved in conservation and rescuing and relocating crocodiles before he was a t.v. personality. His passion made him famous & his fame aided him in doing what he loved. I think that the public and media have far too many opinions about how famous people should behave and live. I would hate to have my every action and statement scrutinized under a microscope. We should all be so fortunate as to be successful with something that drives us and brings us pleasure and satisfaction. I can?t remember ever being so contagiously enthusiastic about something that I was working with and I don?t know that I can say that there is anything that I have done that has so much as made a dent in a law, policy, public opinion or life of a species and certainly not on a global level. Anyone?s life could be picked apart if someone had an interest to do so. Some people do it for money under the guise of journalism. At least their motivation is clear. If people stop reading the drivel then there would be little profit in writing it or employing writers who have no moral conscience. My heart goes out to Terri and their children as well as all of their friends and family. To experience such a loss in such a public way has to be just awful. They deserve some compassion. Posted by: Dee on September 7, 2006 4:15 AM Posted by: Sparkey at September 7, 2006 12:26 AM A Current Affair... Real Journalists... BWAHAHA!! Good one mate... oh, you weren't joking. Posted by: Owen "loopy" McRae on September 7, 2006 4:42 AM Is it just me or does anybody else laugh uncontrollably at Germaine Greer calling somebody "Bizarre"? - Sorry about that tangent :-) I was at the Zoo 2 weeks ago and noticed a lot more of a "theme park" feel then the last time I took the kids several years ago. The sad fact is that to raise the profile for serious issues now, you need to go this showbiz path (for the "news" media) and he had a skill at doing that. He probably did more good then harm for the animials (not sure about the environment) and I suspect he would be happy with that. I don't think there is much doubt he believed it and was not just for the show but how much of the persona was for the camera vs. real life, I have no idea as I didn't know him. Like all of us, no doubt he had a mixture of motives. While I feel sympathy for the wife and kids (particularly the older one), it's mirrored in lots of other families - both in and out of the media coverage. I don't understand the reaction, but then I never understand it for the "famous" people anyway. The up side is I am hearing more aussie acepnt on US media recently, so that must be a good thing :-) Posted by: Rob on September 7, 2006 5:14 AM Deborah at September 7, 2006 03:58 AM As regards the Bob-Croc Caper, I could never understand that all attention was focused on the croc chomping little Bob. From before the birth of my daughter (I am a male) I had it drummed into me to always support the baby;s head, their necks are not developed enough as babies. Even if the bub was in no danger from the croc (which I doubt but won't go there, where was the support for the baby's head whilst he was jumping up and down and around and backwards? Posted by: Oz_1788 on September 7, 2006 5:31 AM It's so funny. It was the death of Steve Irwin that drew me here, from Portland, Oregon today to comment. I find everyone's postings, and viewpoints interesting. Partially because I saw Steve only as one of the most amazing, dynamic environmentalist to ever walk the Earth. This is not said lightly. And I could digress but I will leave that to others. My heart goes out to his entire family, and unlike some, my compassion does not grow or wane from minute to minute. As an environmentalist myself, as a writer, a wildlife rescue worker, as the mother of 6 children. As someone who appreciated on every level the beautiful and real connection he shared with Terri (who grew up just down I5 in Eugene here), As a human being, If I could be there today, to anonomously lay flowers, I would be. Anonomously because it isn't about "funeral chasing opportunism"... no one I know will ever read this, except me. And so, as I sit here alone, feeling sorry for myself because my big dream of seeing and maybe meeting him someday, is now gone... I have only this: this day will pass, and most folks will go back to being they're same selfish, stupid, petty, environmentally thoughtless existences but, I will continue to stay awake and remember. Steve, Man, wherever you are. We're holding a wake Saturday night here in Oregon, sending out our prayers to your family and our thanks to you. I will fight on. I will push others to fight on, and I will pray every day for the health and safety of your entire family, who are as loving, and dedicated... if not maybe quite so "enthusiastic" every day. But hey, man, I understand. I understand. The world would still challenge your silly showmanship and demeanor. And it's just because they don't get it. It's part of the "irony". And to any of you who may be writing nasty, ill thouht out "stupid" things, _because_you_can_! Your mama ought to spank you. Grow up! And until you've walked in this man's shoes, shut up! You really ought to know better. (sorry... it's just... I want to be all cool, and sweet and kind... but I'm so sad, and I just wish the people who can't feel anything would just bug off! Life's short and Steve just wanted us to look out for the planet and each other. Sure some would have done differently, butmost wouldn't have done anything at all, but that's just a digression into: "What ever happen to the environmental movement of the 80's"... Anyone? Anyone? So, like I was saying, Steve, mate, we will stay awake and alert here in Oregon, and we will continue. Affirming in our dedication everything you stood for, in standing for the environment and the preservation of wildlife everywhere. Thank you. And if life allows me someday I'll thank Terri, though not today or next week. She and your entire family need to be left in peace, surrounded by a circle of healing. We'll do what we can here. You go on, because no matter how much we all wish you could stay. We know you can't. Love, Love, Love and Clan. Posted by: Phoenix Turley on September 7, 2006 5:53 AM When the Grizzly man (and his girlfriend) were mauled to death in Alaska only his closest friends and other conservationists felt he was a hero for putting himself right in the mouth of danger for the sake of protecting nature, everybody else felt he was "asking for it." Well he certainly got very close to those bears for many years and I suppose that must have been the most exhillerating honor anyone could experience. He was right there with the bears for many years, until one day he met his match with a bear who didn't want him there. He was a hard working convervationist, and a very serious one. Yes, he was very passionate. He certainly got the point across to many people who would otherwise have no idea there was a problem at all. Not everone cares about our planet, isn't that scary? It is to me... Our interests and our convictions are like feathers blowing in the wind most of the time. Steve Irwin was working for the common good. If not for him so, so many people would have no idea what needs to be done, and how to do it. It is up to all of us to preserve our planet and the creatures on it. We should all love as deeply as he did. Everyone bashing him is jealous because they don't have the conviction or the courage to do the hard work. Jealous and triffeling. Why speak ill of the dead? Because they can't defend themselves? I say don't be jealous...DO SOMTHING and be counted like Steve did.People should leave his wife and kids alone too. To bother them makes you a monster. At least Steve was DOING something big, B I G. This is what made him bigger than life, and personally I feel Steve has done well for himself on his judgement day... Can most of us say we will??? May he rest in peace, and his family rest well knowing he was a very good man although I know they will miss him so very much. The article I read at the beginning of this blog was written by a very jealous person who needs to get out there and make a name for himself some other way. Do some good rather than bash someone who did.Trying to ride on the coat tails of an ambitious person doesn't make you ambitious, just bitter and lazy.... Posted by: Donna on September 7, 2006 6:07 AM we loved you & will miss you Steve- we loved all your wonderful shows & how you absolutely loved & cared for all of the creatures- most vivid in our minds was the show when after a fire- you & Terri went in & held & comforted as many dying little animals as possible...may your family be blessed- you are with God now & may you always rest in peace with all the other creatures & souls up in Heaven. God Bless you Steve..... Bill, Kelly, Scruffy & Bridget Parkes Posted by: Bridget Bay Scott Parkes on September 7, 2006 6:27 AM I choose to remember all the great stories that Steve told over the years. I did not look at every show or program, but every once awhile my wife and two boys (17& 19) would join in on the fun and entertainment in the way a program was presented, the Aussie accent and his enthusiasm. I will continue to watch his shows, now with the knowledge that he gave his best to teach and entertain everyone watching his show. Posted by: Jo on September 7, 2006 6:44 AM Well, reading a lot of these posts affirms my observations of the basic rotteness of a lot of people. And that dried up old arse greer ( may she be granted some grace and intelligence before her much anticipated death) is a real disgrace as a human being. Irwin was a man, an real Aussie, and never displayed the kind of crass vitriol being aimed at him by blokes who would have to stand on their mother's shoulders to kiss his back side. Posted by: Joey on September 7, 2006 7:02 AM The guy was a boofhead who made a living from annoying animals. One got annoyed and killed him. It was going to happen and now it has. So what? Posted by: Allan Grogan on September 7, 2006 7:20 AM I really enjoyed Steve Irwin's shows. I had a very bad accident several years ago when the Crocodile Hunter first started. I was stuck in a bed, hurting and very depressed. I watched the show because I loved animals, love the outdoors, and he and Terri were such funny characters. I was actually afraid of alligators and crocodiles, and his show changed the way I thought about these animals. To me, the show helped bring some interest to my days, some joy, and most importantly some laughs at a time when I needed them the most. For that, I will always have a high opinion of Steve Irwin. I am sad about his passing, but I know that all he did for the show was risks that he took willingly. I think his only regret would have been leaving his family and friends. What more is there to say? I will miss his shows and I will pray for his friends and family. Posted by: Heather on September 7, 2006 7:54 AM You all don't get it. Wake up and smell the roses. It wasn't his own money Steve Irwin was actually spending when developing his own asset, Australia Zoo' and while aquiring large tracts of land both here and overseas in the name of 'habitat preservation', it was mostly money sucked out of the Australian taxpayers via Tourism Australia, and a magic golden handshake from little Johnnie Howard. We can all be philanthropic when spending other peoples money. Posted by: Rosie on September 7, 2006 8:04 AM Steve was a one of a kind individual. He had more charisma in his body than probably any person that has ever walked the face of this earth. Other than our Savior, Jesus Christ of course/ His passing is a tragedy of the highest magnitude. I feel like I have big hole in me heart, mate now that you are gone. And I never met you bloke. The saddest part about this tragedy is that the ones that will be hurt the most from his passing are the ones he cared about most THE ANIMALS and the Wildlife Warriors. You just cannot replace someone like Steve Irwin and say well things are going to be OK. NOT. Could Deep Purple replace Ritchie Blackmore, NOT, could the Beatles replace John Lennon, NOT. In closing may I say this there are some people that pass through our lives and we are lucky to have known them and when they are gone we look back and say WOW life would have been so much better if that person could have just lived a little longer. Steve Irwin was more than that person probably more than any person we will ever know again. Posted by: Terry J. C. on September 7, 2006 8:18 AM Thanks Jack .. I was beginning to think I should go and wear a hair shirt and flay myself for daring to think that Steve Irwin was an accident waiting to happen.. just a thought .. maybe if he hadn't extolled the virtues of wild animals to small children, and taught them not to be afraid.. would there be less attacks on young children by wild dingos at Fraser Island? I think the video should be shown in Aussie schools to teach kids what happens when you torment wild creatures, get right up in thier faces and scare the living daylights out of them. p.s Is the stingray ok? Rule #1, never touch thier flaps.. up here in NQ, we get taught that in school! Maybe if Steve had gone to Uni and got a few degrees and qualifications, he might have learned something and still be alive today. Posted by: Nina on September 7, 2006 8:31 AM Well, all I can say is, when I saw Stevie on the TV it did make me smile. Will President Bush ( Supposedly the most powerful man on the planet) get the same outpourings of love and respect after his passing? Bush has never made me smile. Posted by: 1000crikies on September 7, 2006 8:33 AM Who is Germaine Greer? Posted by: Mandy on September 7, 2006 8:42 AM Is it just me, or do Kochy and Mel give everyone else the roaring geewillikins as well? "Describe how you felt when you heard the news." "It must have been very distressing for you." "Our hearts go out to Terri and Bindi and little Bob." "Millions of Australians are in mourning tonight." Isn't it time we got some real journalists on our TV screens, rather than cliche-brokers? Cliche stock has plummeted due to a glut on the market this week. And as for Naomi Robson wearing a khaki shirt during her live link from Australia Zoo - puh-lease. My wife said it thus, as we watched a venomous snake plunge its fangs into Steve Irwin's arm. "The guy was a dickhead. I'm sorry, but he was. I don't know how he got to be 44." He was admirably passionate, yes, but he did milk that passion to maximum overdrive. And as Jack says in his blog, it's funny how the Baby Bob vs Croc incident has been conveniently swept aside. Quite apart from the inherent risks of taking a newborn into a croc enclosure, had he or his wife never heard of shaken baby syndrome or head support for a newborn? Nor should we forget that his wife, for whatever reason, knowingly allowed Steve to take Bob into that situation. Had something horrid gone wrong, she would have been just as culpable. And what is for sure is that we would not be deifying Steve Irwin today. I do feel very sad for his family, for anyone's death is tragic. But some perspective, please. Children with cancer is a tragedy. Homelessness is a tragedy. 3 million orphans in Ethiopia alone is a tragedy. And this is a tragedy. Please look. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Vulture_-_Kevin_Carter.jpg Posted by: Ripplin6pak on September 7, 2006 9:01 AM I never really cared much for Steve Irwin when he was alive. But now that he's dead, I think he was just fabulous. Posted by: Daniel Tubb on September 7, 2006 9:08 AM Steve Irwin, rest in peace. You weren't my cup of tea but that's besides the point. From all reports you were a good man, friend, son, husband and father. You entertained a lot of people, and brought joy to the young. As for the media hoopla, it's so bloody predictable. They feed of death, especially death of those who are famous. I just wish the Ray Martins, Naomi Robsons, Kochie, their producers and their damn ilk, would go the whole hog and jump into the croc pen while they are at the Zoo. Now that's entertainment! Posted by: sorbet on September 7, 2006 9:19 AM does it really matter now what your beliefs are about Steve Irwin... can he defend himself now...no... why didnt you deal with your feelings or opinions when he could talk back when he was alive...but to all of you that have put down the husband and father of his family..I hope you never find people as cold and insensitive as as yourselves when you find you have lost someone you love as much as they do... do you really think it is helping his family cope with their loss...come on people grow up...send them love not hurt... Posted by: gaia on September 7, 2006 9:36 AM I agree with everyone that has stuck with their view on what Irwin was like before he finally got what was coming. I think most people in this country didn't like him. He was embarrasing to watch and he put himself in dangerous situations with unpredictable animals. If you were to have taken a poll the day before he died, he would not have been seen as "a loveable larrikin" He was always after sensationalism and a favourite cry of his was "crikey he almost got me there. If he had I would have been in real trouble" This, I believe was exactly the attitude that got him in the end. He knew that by being so close to the stingray it might lashout if cornered. But it backfired on him and as we all know the rest is history.. On Germain Greer's comments. I think she is right. Just like Mundine just after 9/11 they are chastised for their comments. The truth, after the dust has settled and everyone has time to reflect without the emotion, they are right. We don't all have to love everyone we come across in life. It is tragic to lose a family member and I think everyone has sympathy for Irwins family. Posted by: Toby on September 7, 2006 9:57 AM GG being Aquarius is compelled to court controversial statements about mass outpourings of grief, (and just to let everyone know that she is still here). What is extraordinary though (as was with Princess Diana) was the sudden death of someone outwardly successful, has every thing to live for, and is suddenly and violently removed?. Why are we so perplexed by this? Is it because we think it should only happen to the (bad) people in the world and not the (good)? I just hope Steve?s story is not still raging on in ten years time. But I doubt it somehow? Posted by: kris on September 7, 2006 10:13 AM Heres a real question for all the media whores with nothing better to do than sell misery. Which of the two species displayed in the link posted by Ripplin6pak above is the more evolved and why? Posted by: evolution in reverse on September 7, 2006 10:19 AM Like all these things I tried to google "Steve Irwin Jokes" within 24 hours of his death. Only response was under "Germaine Greer". Posted by: Mikki on September 7, 2006 10:24 AM I am the American who commented on celebrity and peace in the middle east. (State funeral for Steve Irwin?) According to nut jobs like "Gary" I can't comment on such things because I am American. I thought we had the market cornered on rednecks here in the U.S. Seems many of the "Wankers" in this discussion either did not read your article or don't have the intelligence to understand it. "Oh jeez, he's picking on Stevie!" No, Jack is just talking about knee jerk idiots such as yourselves who can't stand to have their sacred cows gored by the truth. Posted by: Verne Olmstead on September 7, 2006 11:16 AM So glad you made this blog entry and said the things you did. Finally a tad more perspective! Posted by: arradius on September 7, 2006 11:35 AM "Whatever" is what I'd say to the detractors. Irwin was a mix of human qualities, but none of those qualities was mean-spirited. I prefer to think of his family, foremost; it's good to know he'll be recalled by millions, for a lot longer than most of us reading this blog, including journalists. As a descendant (a first cousin) of a journalist Drew Pearson, I remind: who recalls him today? Likely, no one. But Irwin affected millions of youngsters who -will mature- and will retain his root lesson that we are integral with the animal world. We must protect our entire family. We must forgive most human errors; errors are inherent to the living of our free-will lives. _________format is lost here, but here is a short poem text "/" indicates line breaks and line spaces________ "Steve"// if the animal world could mourn,/ it would. As we are of that world,/ we should// (entered to the public domain by r.w.) Posted by: Reid Welch on September 7, 2006 11:46 AM my brother took his kids on his motorbike when they were babies, i was taken on my dad's tractor and bulldozer, any number of things could've gone wrong, they didn't. steve irwin takes his kid in with crocs, so what, no-one got hurt. are we all wrapped in cotton wool? get off your arse australia get passionate about life. at least he had a go, what have you contributed to the world? a midlife crisis and a latte...next! Posted by: cords on September 7, 2006 11:56 AM Posted by: Rosie at September 7, 2006 08:04 AM It wasn't his own money Steve Irwin was actually spending when developing his own asset, Australia Zoo' and while aquiring large tracts of land both here and overseas in the name of 'habitat preservation', it was mostly money sucked out of the Australian taxpayers via Tourism Australia Maybe you should 'check your facts' before throwing this stuff out there. He never received any payment for the work he did promoting tourism for this country. Posted by: Rae on September 7, 2006 12:07 PM All you cynical bastards who revel in insulting a dead man must lead sorry lives. As for Ms. Greer, all I can say is that she is a disgrace and that people will remember and honor Steve Irwin long after they've forgotten her. Posted by: Robert on September 7, 2006 12:22 PM Posted by: James Dabble at September 7, 2006 11:03 AM "The mood in this blog today is a bit like the inhabitants of a house surveying the scene the morning after a party that got way out of hand due to an army of neanderthal gatecrashers breaking in and raising hell." I love it James. A great image which would explain the splitting headache I have this morning. Very balanced and well put. Gavin QLD "You continue watching life pass you by on you little screens" I have a question: how big is your screen because you seem to be spending more time behind it than the rest of us. Or is there another way to participate in this forum that I don't know about? Don't assume everybody here is from Sydney. The internet is bigger than that you know. Even Queensland has it now, or so it appears. Posted by: Seppo on September 7, 2006 1:05 PM Read the actual words that these "unaustralian" people have said before attacking them. All Jack has done is point out the bitter truth that all journalists are hypocrites, because it's basically in their job description. All Greer did was point out that the man harrassed animals, and now the animal kingdom has gotten its revenge. Yes he poured loads of money into conservation, and loved all kinds of wildlife, but you cant argue that all the snakes or crocs that have lunged at him over the years have done so because they have felt threatened by the man, hence he was tormenting them. I fail to see how an appreciation for logic, and the guts to speak your mind when everyone else is jumping on the plastic-faced bandwagon is un-Australian. Neither Jack or Greer were insulting Irwins memory! The way people are jumping on any kind of negative comment as "unaustralian" is completely illogical, irrational and unintelligent. Sometimes this country feels more like 15th century Spain rather than the modern educated nation that we are supposed to be - the earth does orbit the sun you know... Posted by: dude on September 7, 2006 1:10 PM How does Greer or anyone else know if nature is capable of revenge? What a stupid statement. * Posted by: Aussie at September 6, 2006 09:37 PM Ever heard of poetic justice "Aussie"? How about the definition or Irony? A metaphor? No? Well, taking these things literally will result in you making stupid statements. ---------------------- As a "Yank", I have to cringe a bit at the comment about tourists identifying all Australians with the Crocodile Hunter. I'd hate to have anybody lump me in with the likes of Britney Spears or our current half wit President. Trust me, we aren't all that stupid. # Posted by: Mary at September 6, 2006 09:20 PM Yeah, only the ones of you who don't realise/care that the president is a half-wit are really that stupid. Posted by: asdf on September 7, 2006 1:19 PM Reid, I just read your poem to Steve... you're not a Vogon are you? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vogon_poetry Posted by: Pugwash on September 7, 2006 1:20 PM Steve is remembered fondly by some of you suckers as a free-spirited individual, a true original who called it like he saw it, didn't give a shit what anybody thought of him (even if lots of people thought he was a complete wanker), spoke his mind, got it wrong sometimes but had passion in spades, etc etc etc. Well, all that could equally be said of Germaine Greer. And yet her fearless outspokenness in this case has precipitated a bunch of nasty comments about her age, tits, fanny and moisture levels. And it's worth noting that hardly anybody has taken issue with her central claim: that for all his blathering about animal welfare, Steve Irwin still basically harrassed wildlife for entertainment & profit. Just because Germaine went on a reality TV show doesn't mean she's incapable of making a perfectly good point. Anybody like to explain exactly how jumping all over a crocodile or getting a stressed-out snake to lunge at you constitutes furthering its welfare? Anybody like to explain how a self-styled paragon of animal rights can run a zoo and lie straight in bed at night? Posted by: sian on September 7, 2006 1:22 PM I didn't give toss about Irwin when he was alive and I certainly don't give a toss now. Everytime I heard his grating voice anywhere, I cringed. Upon meeting any North Americans in my life, they promptly mentioned him. My response was always, "He's a dickhead and nobody else in Australia is like him." I heard on telly that his death is being likened to those of John Lennon and Princess Diana. Say what you will about those two but WTF???? Two good things should come from his passing: animals will be left unmolested in their natural habitats and his kids won't grow up speaking Ocker-ese like he did. Posted by: Killer Bees on September 7, 2006 1:29 PM "All you cynical bastards who revel in insulting a dead man must lead sorry lives." Posted by: Robert at September 7, 2006 12:22 PM This quote seems to sum up the reason behind all the hateful posts in here. The man is dead, and we are speaking the truth about him. Not just the good truths, like how much land he bought for animals to live on, but the bad truths too - like that he annoyed hundreds of animals to the point where they try to attack him. Thats what you call the whole truth, or objectivity. The problem is that some people prefer to hide the bad truth and only talk about the good truth. This proves so sickening to some people that it results in them hiding the good truth and only talking about the bad truth. Whichever group you fall into (the good truth, the bad truth, or the whole truth), you're still telling truth (unless of course you're in the fourth group - lies). All the so called "negative" comments are simply telling truths about steves life that can be viewed as negative - this is not an insult, its the truth! Just because the man is newly-dead, does that mean we should all hide the bad truths and speak nothing buy praise for him? People who join in the positive-praise-fest that the media (except Greer it seems) is contributing to are just as fake and fradulent as they seem to think Greer is for speaking her mind. Can you all just part with your Ego's for a few minutes and see how all this anger is a pointless overreaction to something that you dont really care about? Posted by: dude on September 7, 2006 1:37 PM Also on Germaine, a number of people have said she should say nothing. Scene shifts to home of SMH blogger. Phone rings. "Editor of the Guardian here. Will you do a few paras on Irwin? Usual rates." SMH bloggers say, "No I am far too respectful to make any comment, and I do not wish to be paid for writing for your paper." I don't think so. Posted by: DM on September 7, 2006 1:42 PM Hey DM Thats the whole crux of my point with the Germ, she is now nothing but a cheap media whore who doesn't know her time is up because for some baffling reason imbeciles continue to read anything she says. By the way, you are not speaking for me when you say you would talk shit for money. Have some self respect, otherwise your no better than her. Posted by: It's The Germ, Get The Disinfectant on September 7, 2006 2:13 PM "Just because the man is newly-dead, does that mean we should all hide the bad truths and speak nothing buy praise for him?" Yep. Pretty much. When he's less newly dead, fire away. I don't understand why it's necessary to rip into him right up. Who gains? And what? Is it really speaking to necessary truth to damn him all over the place while he's still in the mortuary? Greer has deliberately set out to make herself the story on the back of Irwin's demise. If Irwin was a crass, self-indulgent, publicity-hungry punter, what's she? Posted by: arco25 on September 7, 2006 2:20 PM My heart does go out for Terri Irwin and the children. I know what it is like to be left alone suddenly with children but you do survive. Steve was an inspirational icon for those of us who enjoyed watching his passion for the work he did. As in life, his death was just as dramatic...the way he loved it. There are many who want to tear down the man and his mission to educate the world about animal conservation. Like it or not, his legacy will live on thru his friends and family so give it a rest, he is gone now. Be compassionate for his family during their loss and his children and wife especially. I think the world would be a better place if each one of us had just a little of the excitement, passion, and true love of life and family that Steve Irwin had. God Bless! Posted by: Angela PhD in USA on September 7, 2006 2:40 PM Killer Bees. Settle Down. Down Under. We're over at the Guardian Unlimited. Vickieman: Ye get one double post @ the Guardian Unlimited. Next time. Well or else. Remember that is one double post no more. Onya Posted by: johnemsliewjmeskeeterboisverte on September 7, 2006 2:44 PM Killer Bees. Settle Down. Down Under. We're over at the Guardian Unlimited. Vickieman: Ye get one double post @ the Guardian Unlimited. Next time. Well or else. Remember that is one double post no more. Onya Posted by: johnemslie on September 7, 2006 2:45 PM Killer Bees. Settle Down. Down Under. We're over at the Guardian Unlimited. Vickieman: Ye get one double post @ the Guardian Unlimited. Next time. Well or else. Remember that is one double post no more. Onya Please Note Newsblog guardian unlimited. Poor poor Diana. Died of complications from Car Pole Tunnel Syndrome. Posted by: skeeter boisverte on September 7, 2006 2:47 PM Jack, After reading over all these comments I'm surprised you have the will to go on in your efforts to facilitate a genuine debate. With the amount of stupid, turgid and ill-informed comments posted on here, it's no wonder everyone's favourite moron was Steve Irwin. That's Australia in a nutshell - some twerp from the lower end of the gene pool who jumps on crocodiles is a hero, and a brilliant academic whose work contributed to some of the greatest social change in human history is cruelly maligned for having a different opinion. Posted by: Stella on September 7, 2006 3:04 PM Hiya I liked your article, it made me laugh. I love the way Australians have the uncanny ability to call a spade a spade. I'm an aussie living in Scotland (long story) and I used to cringe when Steve came on the TV. I was always scared for him, worried that this might be the last snake he picks up by the tail. Then I realised they wouldn't show the program if he didn't make it to the end. Anyway, I was at work watching TV (as you do) and I was actually stunned when it came on the news that he'd died. I was sad and I had no idea why. I didn't know Steve, never met him... but I was gutted. I visited the zoo 3 times, and his staff are just as excited and nutty as him. I am intrigued by anyone who can touch and even like the animals that scare me witless. Anyway, back to the grief... I can't really explain it. Maybe it made me home sick, but I think my overwhelming grief is directed at his family. I think anyone who loses a mate or a husband or a father deserves compassion. I was mortified to see that ACA are already putting little Bindi into her Dad's size 12's. That is sad, the little girl just lost the light of her life, and she is far to little to be attempting the same wrestling of crocs as her Dad. Over here the press have stopped mentioning it, and I feel better not having it shoved in my face daily. I mean they have moved on... maybe the Australian media should as well. I don't know, just a suggestion. By the way, Steve isn't the only one to "torment" animals. There is a crazy south african guy, don't know his name but he calls himself the snake hunter or something like that. He constantly goes after these dangerous snakes, backs them into a corner and he doesn't even wear shoes... he wears sandles. I mean at least Steve had the sense to wear boots. I would have preferred it if he wore long trousers, but alas not even that would have saved him. Anyway, I digress... sorry first time blogger missing home. My thoughts go to Bob, Terri and his kids. I think he was a good bloke, and strangely I will miss him. Posted by: Mel on September 7, 2006 3:22 PM Listen to me comment0rs. There is not too many times you all will get to see Mr Marx's name up in the lights of the Guardian Unlimited NewsBlog. Go there now. That is where Ms Greer has done some writing. Check out the NewsBlog under the heading: end_of_australia's_moment. Especially you sian and killer bees and oh well seppo come along too. OZ_1748? I don't know. There is something a little insolar erm insulor, erm inseler, erm insolar, there is something about you snoring with zzzzz's. Here in the English world we zeds, zeds, zeds all night long. To hey with it. Come on over too OZ_1784. You earned it! Posted by: wjme on September 7, 2006 3:24 PM Good article Jack. I've tried to distance myself as much as possible from this hoo ha. But one tv report did astound me - some news channel was interviewing a Scottish woman standing outside the zoo. She was sobbing and said that she didn't know Irwin at all, but she was devastated at his death and wondered how she would ever get over it. All I can say is WTF?!?!?!?!? Posted by: Loony On The Run on September 7, 2006 3:55 PM It is sad that Steve Irwin died the other day just as it is sad that a whole lot of other wonderful people did as well. Any person's death diminishes us on some way. I do find the media hysteria somewhat distasteful but then I can choose not to read it. What kept me reading the comments on Jack's interesting and insightful article was the poor literacy levels of many of the respondents. It is not good enough to be able to read and write at some functional level, if you cannot comprehend the message in the writing. So many respondents have failed in this, it is obvious that our education system is in much greater crisis than people had previously thought. As for the criticisms of Germaine Greer - I wonder how many are just following the herd? How many of those making totally nasty and vitriolic comments have actually read any of her books? Ad hominem attacks are the sign of a petty mind. You should be able to attack someone's ideas without calling them vinegar tits, dried up old bag etc. If you look at the range of comments, it is interesting to see how may of them are disrespectful of older women and somewhat sexualised Posted by: Persil on September 7, 2006 3:56 PM We're always shocked and stunned when someone in the public spotlight dies ... especially someone who encourages publicity like Lady Di or Steve Irwin. But "shock" is not the same emotion as "grief". I daresay the people who left flowers at Kensington Palace and who are doing the same at Australia Zoo are yet to experience the real emotion of "grief" or are displacing real but hidden grief onto a famous person that they never really knew. The reaction to these deaths says a lot more about the emotional health of our society than it does about the worth of the people who died. The same day that Steve Irwin died, a young man from our local community died in a car accident. He was equally well-loved by his family and was popular in his local town. The local newspaper put his death in big headlines on the front page ... but that is where the displays of public grief stopped. His family has been left to mourn in peace ... something the Irwin family cannot do. Posted by: klaatu69 on September 7, 2006 5:15 PM 'Attenborough's documentaries are, for mine, far more beautiful and engrossing. But for most people, Irwin's hands-on approach was just more exciting.' Agreed Tywin one hundred percent. I'd like to remind these people that if you find that Mr. Attenborough's style of documentaries aren't as engrossing or bland then it's a mindset they have to get over. Animals are not there to 'excite' you. Documenting with minimal impact on nature is the best and safest way to go, for them and us. Posted by: Astyanax on September 7, 2006 6:36 PM I didn't care much for Irwin, either, though I feel badly for his family. All this crying about who is the better conservationalist is ridiculous; anyone who contributes time and effort to wildlife conservation is still producing a good in this world. Someone's always going to do (or be able to do) more for a cause than you will be able to do; does that make your contribution less valid? To the people who think it was terrible of Steve to handle the croc around his child; parents make mistakes. Problem with celebrities is, there's usually a camera around to catch their mistakes. No one is perfect. Irwin far from, I'm sure. I don't think there's anyone (maybe a couple of you) who knew Irwin past a fleeting moment in time. He's who you want him to be for the first day, but as you get to know someone, they tend to change your perceptions of who they really are. I'm not calling him out as a bad person--but how many of you truly knew him for who he really was, off camera as well as on? I think the one thing you can count on with his personality is that he was definitely all about the kids. The media hoopla is unbelievably tacky and unneccessary, as it is with any celebrity. Irwin is no more deserving of the publiicity than anyone who is dead. At the heart of the matter is that he was a human being. No more, no less. Plenty of people work hard, make a difference, and are not recognized publically for their work. I mean; he's DEAD. Memorials are for the family. I'm sure since he's gone that he doesn't care one whit about this mess or how big his memorial service will be. It's fine to be sad over Irwin (and I feel for the kids who have lost their hero, but as kids do, they will learn to cope, find a lesson in it that we all have to learn at one point or another); but the media acts like no one that is special to anyone else ever dies. But if your face is on TV and you die, people who have never heard of you before and who probably don't care--are going to hear about it. Since when has a simple, "so and so died this day due to X cause" ceased to suffice? And maybe a worldwide newspaper notice? Everyone can still mourn as they want. And many of us are spared the media hoopla that has spiralled out of control with this one. Posted by: Leeloo on September 7, 2006 7:49 PM Jack slightly missed the mark with this one. He unfairly accuses the public of being fickle as if we're an homogeneous mass with a single mind that drifts from one unthinking sentiment to another. I don't ever recall lining up to crucify Steve Irwin over that baby-dangle incident. In fact, I remember thinking the opposite - but I and others still get lumped-in with the collective "we". But he does touch on a good point. The media treats all celebrities like yoyos - schizophrenically gushing praise on them one minute then scornfully tearing them down the next. It's all done to maintain interest among a well defined demographic that is sold to advertisers. After all, no one buys old unchanging products, do they? And when the poor yoyo dies, there's still product left to sell. While sanctifying Steve Irwin and siding with a supposedly grieving public, duplicitous media execs mischievously facilitate the post mortem character assassinations. One by one the media sluts, phoney experts and an assortment of sniping jackals are trotted out, given copy and air time to broadcast their churlish opinions and unsupported theories. Then I, you, "we" respond by bashing our claws at the keyboard like concert pianists to fire off salvos under our respective blog-stalking pseudonyms. But while I get some satisfaction in seeing creeps like Seppo et al taken to task, I get most with the belief that long after 'Mizz' Greer's womb has wizened tight in a forgotten grave somewhere in London, Steve Irwin's 'Crocodile Hunter' will still be watched by enthusiastic viewers in the future's dubious equivalent of repeat TV. Posted by: Van77 on September 7, 2006 9:48 PM Although I say it with some reservation, you do have a point. I, like most people, found myself shocked to first hear the news of Steve's death. Hearing of the death of a public figure can have that effect. But before the "media circus" really began, immediately after hearing the news - I just stopped everything and looked back feeling awful and distressed about the fact that this person is gone and will never be returning. Death is a reality of life of course, but this type of death is significantly different as this was a public figure, who ended up not being as 'invincible'as many thought Steve really was. Different people respond to things things differently (I am 3/4 into a Psychology degree so I'd like to think have learnt to have an objective view of human responses to these things) but I think maybe a lot of people were just faced with the shock of mortality, of a person we all thought would be around for ever for us to poke fun at and just have a laugh at his antics, and share in his enthusiasm which, if you have followed his career, was an enthusiasm which cannot be faked. My own feelings of loss over Steve's death weren't suddenly brought about by the circus of media saturation, and I know that grief (especially public) can become contagious when helped along by the media. My feelings of grief came about because I genuinely liked everything I had seen and known of Steve. Despite this, I do now feel a bit uncomfortable about all the publicity, and the fact that it seems to be focusing more upon "how many tribute messages posted on message boards", "how many Americans loved him", "how many talk shows have spoken about him" - which I feel has become a bit self serving for the media and serves no point but to perpetuate the feelings of sadness and 'public grief' which I think a lot of his fans would have felt regardless of whether the tv keeps reminding us. I feel uncomfortable in hearing the constant stories of memorials and tributes for the sake of themselves, as all it will do is turn people away from the real message Steve was all about. And if the media loved the guy so much, why should they allow this to happen? Nevertheless, Jack, there is nothing to be gained by picking on things about a person who has very recently passed away, as I don't feel that death is an invitation for that kind of scrutiny, just for the sake of someone wanting wanting to prove a point. I think Steve Irwin was a good person with admirable qualities and not malicious bone in his body, who left a family behind - and that to me is what made me upset. It is the media who should be picked on, and rightly so. I for one, only feel worse when I see the broadcasts and stories. I know despite the saturation of coverage (which is probably a given in the aftermath of a very well-known person's death) I will hold my own memories of Steve Irwin - growing up watching his shows and the fact that he allowed a lot of us to experience things we mightn't have cared about other wise. That's really all there is to it for me. Posted by: Lana on September 7, 2006 11:39 PM I'm still amazed at some of the comments here. I would hope more people from your country are more like the Irwins, and their staff than some of the people on this blog. I did want to visit your land, but if more people are like those on this thing forget it. I can get rude, un-caring people right here in America. I would really like to see that woman rescue a croc. Maybe she knows a better way than pinning it down, maybe she would take it by it's hand and walk it to a safe haven. It just shows that y'all didn't watch his show's. I guess he should of been like a crack pot we have here who enjoys capturing alligators and sending them to their demise. The media is always out there looking for ratings. Do what I do turn it off and watch Animal Planet. :) Their ratings will go down, and they will realize that we don't want all the bs, just tell the story. To those who are offended by the way to check the sex of an animal. Maybe you should watch some shows to see why the sex needs to be checked, so they can relocate the animal. BTW, while you are trashing the Irwins for conservation over there. I would ask for you to please save habitat for the wombat, studies being done on the mothers milk may just save my sons life, along with many others who have Cystic Fibrosis. Posted by: Robin on September 8, 2006 12:16 AM How does Greer or anyone else know if nature is capable of revenge? What a stupid statement. * Posted by: Aussie at September 6, 2006 09:37 PM Ever heard of poetic justice "Aussie"? How about the definition or Irony? A metaphor? No? Well, taking these things literally will result in you making stupid statements.Posted by: arco25 at September 7, 2006 02:20 PM Are you saying Greer really thinks that Steve's death was poetic justice? Does she really think he deserved to die? Is this what you got from her comments? Posted by: Aussie on September 8, 2006 12:36 AM I sent this to ACA, but since they wouldn't know balanced journalism if it bit them on the arse (oh, we got loads of emails/calls blasting Germaine, here's a few of the most vitriolic; we also had some agreeing with her, but we won't talk about those just in case they make our viewers think): It may surprise you to know that there are many people who generally agree with what Germaine Greer had to say. The media circus has been hyping him up as an animal lover, but I've spoken to a number of people who, like us, believe that he exploited and deliberately annoyed wild animals in the name of entertainment. With all the hyperbole and complete lack of objectivity over the last few days, why are you surprised that someone has spoken up to disagree? We're not saying that we're glad he died, or that he deserved to die. No one should die so young and in such horrible circumstances, and no child should have to grow up without a parent. But we aren't whitewashing what we believe were very negative aspects of what he did. We thought he was a twit and cringed whenever we saw him, and we'd never allow children in our care to watch his shows. We aren't going to be hypocritical now and act like he was the second coming. Just because we are not following "public opinion", does not make our opinions any less valid. Your interview last night with Germaine Greer was one of the worst examples of tabloid journalism we've ever seen. You didn't try to counter her central claim, but resorted to the list of overused and meaningless insults, of which unAustralian is at the very top. As said in a very good blog entry on the role of the media (including the way that the media attacked Steve after the incident with his son) (http://blogs.smh.com.au/thedailytruth/archives/2006/09/crocodile_tears.html): "During these times, anyone who dares speak his or her mind, giving an honest opinion unbothered by the forced public ceremony of misery, is howled down as a creep and a heretic by the very people who are being the fakes." It was then the height of hypocrisy to have a story and phone poll on whether the film of his death should be shown. Why do you think that's even a valid question? It is the ultimate in sick voyeurism to even suggest that a person's death should be broadcast for public consumption. Now that the Irwin family have decided to have a private funeral, I hope the media will leave them alone to mourn in peace. And please, stop referring to Bindi as the next Crocodile Hunter. She's a little kid who's going through the worst thing imaginable in her world. Stop trying to typecast her. Posted by: Katrina on September 8, 2006 12:55 AM Good article. I always thought Steve Irwin was a stupid, immature loudmouth, and I can't understand why Australians want the rest of the world to think they're all like that. Kiwis are already convinced of it, but if Steve had kept quiet, the rest of the world didn't need to know. Teaching kids that it's okay to run around in venomous snake country while wearing shorts was just plain irresponsible. It's like a great rider riding a horse without wearing a helmet; it sets a very, very bad example. David Attenborough's soft-spoken, respectful approach to wild animals is wonderful. The yelling and harassing approach of Steve Irwin was not. Posted by: Nic on September 8, 2006 3:23 AM Opinions aside, Steve Irwin lived life with passion and a heart for conservation. The outpour of his loss may just very be that he had touched many lives with that enthusiasm. We all would be as lucky to live life as full as he did, facing his fears and doing what he loved regardless of how others thought of him. Can you imagine what a world it would be if we raised our children to believe that they can do what they want in life and still be kind enough to find some way to leave the world a better place? Ever think what would happen when you pass away - what have you done to leave a legacy as he has..a mark on humankind that may have helped open up hearts and minds to just how a little does go a long way in the cold, cruel world. When you lose someone that has some profound affect on you - tell us then why you hurt so. Otherwise leave the ones who want to grieve for a man who just lived his life as he wanted to...loving the animals in the world and teaching us that we all need to co-exist, rather than be superior over one another. Again, what legacy will you leave behind when you go? What organization will your name be attached to that once people hear of it, the outpour of help WILL make a difference - no matter how small it may be. Will it bring light to genocide? Cure childhood cancers? Or perhaps end child abuse? Worldwide proverty? Or even animal conservation? Steve's made his difference in the short time he's been on this world...what about the rest of us? Perhaps in death, those left behind are awaken from the terrible trance of taking life for granted and actually give rather than just take! We can only be too lucky to truly leave this world a better place than we found it. Posted by: bothlaw on September 8, 2006 3:27 AM Who is Jack Marx anyway? What have you done in your life Sir? - little I expect. Does it make you feel good attacking someone who's lived life to the full? Dickhead. Posted by: Anita on September 8, 2006 3:37 AM "dckhead Kelly? " Come on, you can do better than that. Take some lessons from your eloquent friends: "Crawl back into your septic tank" Mutley at September 6, 2006 11:08 AM "You're a tosser... Love to shoot you down, but you're right; no one would give a shit when you hit the deck." ekka at September 6, 2006 12:01 PM (not what I said but you might have a point ekka) "Keep jumping you coward." David Fletcher at September 6, 2006 02:01 PM "Seppo - You are a moron. A complete retard. Why don't you read up on his life a bit before you talk out of your arse." Tyrone at September 6, 2006 05:41 PM "Hey Seppo... you're a dick." 1337 Zombat at September 6, 2006 05:41 PM Gosh! Such names. And thinly veiled death threats too! It's kind of like being beaten with a feather and confirms without any doubt my theory that to be enthralled by the antics of a man molesting dangerous animals for a living, you have to be absolutely bereft of objectivity. The one thing I might apologise for is calling Steve a stupid yobbo so soon after his death. Please tell me, because it is apparent that I have no sense or propriety: when is OK to recommence doing so? A week? A year? Never? But my point, and the debate at large, back to which you have been directed ad nauseam is about the hysterical reaction to his untimely death. Further to this, I find it hypocritical in the extreme that his fans do not feel ashamed and guilt ridden that they are the cause of his death. Follow the money trail Einstein. If Steve Irwin had not found fame and fortune in the modern day Colosseum known as the "Crocodile Hunter" he'd be feeding crocs with Baby Bob today at the Strayah Zoo in relative anonymity and contributing to conservation in more meagre terms as I and many like minded people do. And if you don't believe me, mark my words: at this very time there is a team of editors cutting the footage of Mr. Irwin's last 30 minutes on this earth into various configurations to present to Discovery Channel executives for the biggest audience in their history. When the time is right they will seek approval from Mrs. Irwin with the proposal that it is for Steve's legacy and will help the conservation projects they both care about so much. His agent will be there to "handle the liaison" and make sure that the Discovery Channel do not overstep the mark in their zeal. He'll take 10% of course. The Discovery Channel's bottom line will not feature in the negotiations. And who amongst my critics will not participate in watching the finale to this hideous prime time snuff series marketed under the guise of education and for the benefit of conservation? Because I won't be one of these ghouls. I will gladly eat my words if they announce that with respect to the deceased, there will be no Crocodile Hunter spectacular tribute show with or without any footage from September 4th. They are going to milk this for years. One of the reasons I don't possess a television. Still not convinced? Visit Animal Planet and see if you can find a page featuring Mr. Irwin and his family without containing an advertisement. Or maybe I have just not looked hard enough. Now it seems that our late mate is selling Absolut Cut. Funny how that works isn't it? The Queensland Government have a link to Steve Irwin on their home page. Peter Beattie jumped on the hyperbolic bandwagon quicker than anyone in the final week of an election campaign but 5 years ago ordered the culling of dingos on Fraser Island after a genuine tragedy. I would like to think that Steve Irwin would not have approved of that and this pathetic opportunist will think twice about being the government version of Vic Hyslop any time soon. If you banana benders had any sense of propriety you'd turf Beattie out on Saturday for such for such calculating avarice. However, I don't think the average voter these days can join the dots. Please excuse my bad "grammer " (sic) Kelly, while I excuse your spelling. It's not like I have time to thoroughly proofread my sprays either. And I think it's OK to say dickhead here too. If you're too demure call me a dickhead without bleeping it out then use your big words. Posted by: Seppo on September 8, 2006 5:06 AM How about some perspective form America: 1. Steve did not make us think all Australians are "All Crikie!! All the time, mate!". 2. Steve has shown us that there is more to Australian wildlife that Koalas, Kangaroos and Platypuses. 3. if I remember correctly he only "wrestled", captured, or moved problem Crocodiles that were in danger of getting killed by people for encroachment. 4. He fed the crocodiles the way he did to bring out the prey instinct to give them some sort of stimulation while in captivity, they were in captivity because they were" problem crocs" and would most likely be killed for threats to human life. 5. Steve played to his intended audience, Children, who happen to like things explained in loud, excited, wounderous tones. 6. Steve brought children in on adventures they would never be able to go on their own. Posted by: Yank on September 8, 2006 6:40 AM Robert said, "As for Ms. Greer, all I can say is that she is a disgrace and that people will remember and honor Steve Irwin long after they've forgotten her." Erm... no. Love her or hate her, Ms Greer will be remembered LONG after Steve Irwin is just a faint blip on our cultural radar, like Strop, Thin Arthur and Albey Mangels. Does "The Female Eunuch" ring a bell, Robert? Look it up. Footnote: when he goes and looks it up on wikipedia, Robert will find the following note at the top of Germaine Greer's entry: "Due to recent vandalism, editing of this article by anonymous or newly registered users is currently disabled." Vandalism is right. It's like tagging her fence because she has a contrary view. And the only reason those who happen to agree with her haven't had their fences tagged as well is because their address isn't in the book. More power to you, Germaine. You might be dry and bitter, but no one can question your guts. Or your balls. (It's a eunuch joke, Robert.) Posted by: Ripplin6Pak on September 8, 2006 9:09 AM These are good comments, and respectable, however, I don't believe everyone should simply be "put in a box" and judged as a group. Personally, I've never thought of Steve as the "bad guy" as you've mentioned the rest of the world may have. I don't believe every situation is controllable, but I think Irwin knew what he was doing, and he knew that the animals could be unpredictable, and he respected them just as much as he thought of them as "beauts". What truly shocks everyone is the irony upon irony surrounding his death. I do think he may have under-estimated things. But, though I didn't know him personally, I think everyone who has seen his show even once will certainly miss a hero. I don't know what it's like, but I do feel for Terri and her children. Posted by: Kelly on September 8, 2006 9:35 AM OH HEAR YE ! OH HEAR YE !. It was not until America embraced Steve Irwins antics, eccentricity, over the top, outlandish commercialization, did Australians embrace Steve Irwin. With his talking look a like dolls, for both himself & Terry, TV Commercials for FEDEX & any other money making commercial products or ventures, that the Amercians could gobble up. We all say of a lot of products, events, Law suits & commercialization, "well it's just typical of the American's", "I hope Australia doesn't end up like America, but we as Australians have, following like sheep. Where did all the money made from these commercial ventures go ? Was it back into the saviour of our Animals or was it to feather his own nest ? There is something to be said about the quiet achiever ! Steve Irwin was a no-body, making money out of props, but these props were wild animals. With this he became a somebody, to the extreme he was over the top. My thought is ! most people loved Steve for the Crickey carry on, pertaining to the Australian image, Just as Paul Hogan did in the 70's & 80's. As Australians most are not yobo's that carry on to the eccentricity level that Steve did. I am saddened for Terry and her children. I had never been to the Zoo, only ever seen a couple of his shows, but could not stand the eccentric behaviour of this guy. I would rather watch Mr Attenborough any day, and allowed my young boy's to watch Mr Attenborogh too. I did not let them watch Steve Irwin as I did not want them to think this is the way, we as Australians expressed ouselves and copy Steve Irwin. Remember G'day Mate, we all still say it today, Paul Hogan quote, the rest of the world believed Aussies were just like Hogan. I too love animals, will avoid running over a frog, stop the car to move a Lizard or Snake off the road. But I don't carry a Camera with me everywhere I go. I don't have to pounce on animals, or scream out " Crikey " that was close. I just do my bit to save any wildlife I can. In a final note the Media is more powerful than anyone really can think, it's passive brainwashing that sub-consciously enters the brain. Think about it, has anyone you have spoken to in the last 4 day's not mentioned Steve Irwin's death, I don't think so, the world is talking about it. Without the technology of today it would be old new's. This is not a Steve Irwin bashing, but an honest personal veiw from my point. For all the lovers of Steve Irwin, I am sad for your loss. Everyday someone, somewhwere has a loss, some far greater than Steve Irwin. Just not in the Public eye, have a thought for them as well. RIP Steve Irwin, Posted by: rosey on September 8, 2006 10:49 AM When I was a lad my mom said to me, Glenn, if you can't say something nice about someone don't say nothing at all, so here goes. He was a good man and I'm going to miss him. You folks finding fault are lucky I had a mom. Posted by: Glenn LaRocque USA on September 8, 2006 12:12 PM Who is Jack Marx anyway? What have you done in your life Sir? - little I expect. Does it make you feel good attacking someone who's lived life to the full? Dickhead. Posted by: Anita at September 8, 2006 03:37 AM Anita, please explain how Jack was attacking anyone, besides the media... Dickhead. Besides, Jacks lived a very full life, including shooting up with failed rock stars and "publishing" a romance novel - the kind of larrakin antics we all love. Posted by: dude on September 8, 2006 12:34 PM The day after Steve Irwin died, my daughter's teacher stood up in the school assembly and said, "Yesterday a great Australian died. He was a wonderful character, a kind, generous man who cared deeply about animals and their habitat. He championed the cause of wildlife in this country, he was a true environmentalist and conservationist, and we should all mourn his passing. I am, of course, talking about Colin Thiele, the author of Storm Boy." If only the tabloids had run features on him instead. But of course, Thiele didn't howl "Crikey!" whenever he saw a wild creature, and as far as I know, he never appeared on Jay Leno's show in the US. And he's best remembered for a pelican called Mr Percival, and who ever risked death by tormenting a pelican? So why would the tabloids bother? Vale, Colin Thiele. Posted by: Ripplin6Pak on September 8, 2006 1:01 PM Mr. Irwin has passed away, and so now the media is 'waxing nostalgic', not 'bashing' the man. Perhaps this is out of respect for the family (though that is doubtful)... sure is better to hear the praise than to hear criticism during the difficult time that his family is going through. Makes me glad that I'm insignificant. Posted by: Kirs... on September 8, 2006 1:15 PM Who the hell is Anita anyway, What have you done in your life madame? -little I expect. Does it make you feel good attacking someone else you don't know? Dickhead. Posted by: Lila on September 8, 2006 1:19 PM Donna has it right. Steve Irwin was just like Timothy Treadwell, the Grizzly Man, only he got more successful before his stupid reckless ways caught up with him. Ms Greer is entitled to her opinion. I rarely agree with her but I concur with her views on Steve Irwin. If I was Australian I'd be cringing with embarrassment at his silly antics. Posted by: Roy Fischer on September 8, 2006 1:36 PM Many people here in the States are hoping to see the death tape according to blogs, surveys,ect. I have seen many posts regarding the viewing as "educational". Morons, go to your library and pick up a book on Sting Rays. Read it ALL the way through if your tiny brain can absorb it. You will learn much more from this than any death tape. These are the same idioits who tie traffic up on the highways gawking for gore in auto accidents. I respect the jerks that admit they want to see it for morbid reasons. At least they are honest. You want to learn something? Come over here to Detroit and you might get to see an actual blade get shoved in someones ribs. Now that's exitement. Posted by: Verne Olmstead on September 8, 2006 2:00 PM Posted by: rosey at September 8, 2006 10:49 AM Think about it, has anyone you have spoken to in the last 4 day's not mentioned Steve Irwin's death, I don't think so, the world is talking about it. As it happens, Rosey, hardly anyone I've spoken to all week - and that's a whole lot of Aussies - has mentioned Mr Irwin. Yes, his death is a sad loss for his family and friends, but nobody really seems to be that interested. We didn't know him, you see... Posted by: addie on September 8, 2006 2:55 PM I want to know if he qualifies for a darwin award? Posted by: RB on September 8, 2006 2:58 PM Sorry Steve Irwin - Peter Brock just died - we all must move on, the media can only have one grief outpouree at a time. I wonder if his death will polarise this blog as much as Steve Irwins did. Sorry, couldn't resist that pun despite the fact that this IS actually harrowing news and the death of a REAL australian cultural icon that didn't have to make a name overseas first - unlike that faux Aussie icon... whatsisname again? Posted by: MikeWhoIsCalledMike on September 8, 2006 3:44 PM "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." From Theodore Roosevelt's "Citizenship in a Republic," Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910 As an American, I think the above rather sums up Mr. Irwin's life well. My little bro and I grew up watching his fascinating brand of wildlife conservation on the Discovery Channel. We'll miss him. Posted by: Will on September 8, 2006 7:54 PM Robin, You should be aware that a minority of posts attacking Irwin in this forum are not signature of majority of views in Australia who are appreciative of Irwin and his work. Austalia like America has a share of noisy left wing losers who revel in throwing mud at others, trying to drag others to their lowest common denominator. Dignity, respect, decency eludes them(eg this blog author), they have no decent values to aspire to, they are not in any way representive of Australian society. Posted by: Gregh on September 8, 2006 8:18 PM Don't blame the media for anything - we are, all of us, a part of the media now (esp. bloggers); it's a gazillion-headed entity, that is mostly, IMHO, benevolent. Allow Steve Irwin's family sympathy; the media-whole seems to be atoning for its Baby-Bob negativity, which is good. Germaine may be a barren sump, yet she too serves a purpose at the alter of the 'media', like you, like me. Her comments work to build much more poignant sympathy for Steve, more than I'd have without her input. It's OK... (-I'm actually putting my finger to my lips in a silent 'Shhh' motion). Don't get all insecure about it gang, it's OK, it's all simply OK. I swear I am not being sarcastic. Posted by: marcusbondi on September 8, 2006 11:23 PM Very insightful post and fascinating to read. It is shocking how much of an impact this man's death has had, even over here in the UK - I have never expressed any interest in Steve, yet awoke on Monday morning to three texts from random friends informing me of the tragic news! Posted by: Amy Golledge on September 9, 2006 12:21 AM Wow, just as you claim hero worship of these masses you make to seem inferior to you, you are as idiotically berating those with some sentiment merely for the reason of self-agrandisement. Don't you understand? You are a hypocrite. It's fine to say you disagreed with the man's methods, or that you didn't like his shows. The fact that you attack those who simply show their positive opinion as 'celeb/hero worshippers' makes it evident that you are a very small and weak person, indeed--worthless snob elitist garbage is what your post turns out to when you do this. Sure, share your opinion and distaste for a person (even if mocking the end), it's a fair and free of course. But do you seriously think that by mocking those of the opposite opinion you make a point? It only shows how sad a part of society has become--to feel superior, put others under you any chance you get. No need to actually DO anything to become better or make it a better world; nope, simply say that people who have sentiment are fools, and beat it to death--feel like a dissenter for the sake of feeling like you are more of an individual. Do nothing in life, critique, and feel like you're somehow special. Good deal? Good grief... Posted by: Rapidone on September 9, 2006 2:07 AM People don't dislike Greer simply because she has differing views, or even because she is a feminist. No most people have a dislike for her because all she does is critique and try to create shock value in what she does. You didn't hear too much of her about Steve Irwin until after his death, did you? Strange? Obviously, she has good timing to put herself on the map as much, and as shamelessly as possible. I respect differing opinions, but to simply have critique whenever there is action by others--instead of, say, doing something prodigious yourself, is pathetic. And then to propel yourself above others, if even in your own mind, by berating perfectly legitimate feelings as intellectually inferior, without any real reason, is very telling about what 'small' people really do. Posted by: RapidOne on September 9, 2006 2:30 AM Yank says: "Steve played to his intended audience, Children, who happen to like things explained in loud, excited, wounderous tones." I have four children, all with excellent hearing, and I have always talked to them like I talk to adults, in a normal, quiet voice. I guess that's why, as an expat Kiwi in the USA, I find myself constantly complimented on how polite and soft-spoken my kids are, and what a nice change they make from the usual yelling and screaming that people here associate with children. My kids, I'm proud to say, all loathed Steve Irwin and thought he was a total idiot. I never told them what to think of him. They reached their own conclusions. Posted by: Nic on September 9, 2006 3:49 AM (Woops, I put this in the death blog yesterday by mistake instead of putting it in the Irwin one. And now Brockie is dead. I would like to state for the record that I did not have a premonition, I do not believe in them.) I never watched an entire Irwin show nor have I read Germaine's piece, but it seems that people didn't watch Steve because crocs are cute and cuddly, no they watched him because humans are voyuers who find it entertaining to watch people risk life and limb and get away with it, and to entertain us in this way, Steve goaded animals on while at the same time increasing public awareness about them and being very entertaining at the same time. It's the same reason people like me watch motor sport, we like to see the crashes, though we are not honest enough to admit this as it can end in death and injury but the most exiting moments in racing are usually seeing a rider or driver loose control and get it back again, it's the adrenaline rush we feel as we watch them on the brink of disaster that we find so fascinating as they are risking their lives in ways that the rest of us don't have the courage to do. It was people's fascination with Steve risking his life that resulted in his death on film. I think people feel some responsibility for this and so have an out pouring of guilt masked as grief. I also bet there are a lot of voyuers who would love to see the film. We love watching motor crashes until we find out that driver/rider is dead or paralysed. Posted by: Windmills on September 9, 2006 6:39 AM I am so disappointed to see so many hateful, misdirected comments on this post. There was hardly anyone so full of life as Mr. Irwin. So he made mistakes sometimes; we all do. He outgoing, full-of-life persona is already deeply missed in our family. I have not felt this sick about a celebrity death in a long time. Try explaining to my children what happened to Mr. Irwin. My God, people...be kind. Irwin family, we are so sorry.... Posted by: Rhonda on September 9, 2006 8:44 AM I think that greel eel, whatever that idiot authors name is a idiot,I've never heard of any of her books, so shes a looser in my book. Steve Irwin always made me laugh, and taught me alot, and I never saw him be mean to animals, I think she is the animal to even say that. I hope no one buys anything of hers anymore, for the sake of his children and animals. It's a shame that's she's the only one on this earth that believes what she said. If I could really say what I believe she would get a harsh treatment. Please don't buy anything of her's and give it to steve's family instead. Prayers to the family, Chris from the United States Posted by: chris on September 9, 2006 7:40 PM Most of these comments are from selfless, godless, ignorant peoples of society. So don't judge them for their idiotic ways. If It was my way, everyone who is talking crap on steve, should be eatin by crocs. Chris again United States Posted by: chris on September 9, 2006 7:46 PM I cant help wondering, what steve Irwin would be doing if the media had stayed away,the film crews and people who wanted to make movies and make him money and fame. He would have still ran his zoo, worked on saving the environment, which was his passion and probably still be alive today. As his dad said, he was an ordinary man....he should have been left that way to quietly do what he loved. Give his family a break. They have been through enough. Tracey Whitsundays Posted by: Tracey Lord on September 10, 2006 5:05 PM God left the building a long time ago Chris. If you're looking for him here you're in the wrong place. Posted by: Baz on September 11, 2006 8:13 AM "Most of these comments are from selfless, godless, ignorant peoples of society. So don't judge them for their idiotic ways. If It was my way, everyone who is talking crap on steve, should be eatin by crocs. Chris again United States" * Posted by: chris at September 9, 2006 07:46 PM Yes, this wish for people to be horribly killed is what makes you a good person! Good luck in heaven. Posted by: asdf on September 11, 2006 11:10 AM Ok, so some of you hate him, some love him, some don't give a **. My personal opinion is based on a few facts- He bought large tracts of land in Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the United States for use as national parks, as an aid to fight habitat loss. He spoke out against illegal poaching, telling the public not to support the export of products like ivory, tiger furs and bones and gorilla paws. He founded Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, an independent conservation charity. He also founded the International Crocodile Rescue project and supports several wildlife rehabilitation centres. On top of that, he educated millions of people worldwide (in an interesting/entertaining way, whether you agree with it or not) about species diversity with emphasis on animals that normally get overlooked (crocs, spiders, snakes etc) Ok, so whatever you think about him, thats a pretty impressive list of achievements. And all of it benefits us. We all have to live on this planet together and our quality of life isn't gonna get any better if we carrying on destroying and killing stuff. So I think I'm correct in saying that the loss of anyone who's trying to do some good for our environment is a big loss for all of us. Even if you hated him. So no one wins this argument. Not even me. And I tried. My final thought: to fill the conservation do-gooding gap left behind in the world by the death of Mr Steve Irwin we could each do something small, turn of our computer left on standby, walk instead of drive, grow a vegetable plant, recycle a can, don't stand on a spider, whatever you want. If you're anti-Steve you can do your good deed and never have to think about him again. If you're pro-Steve you can keep doing good deeds as a nice way to remember him. And we'll all be winners in the end. Posted by: Katherine on September 11, 2006 3:37 PM If you decide for whatever reason to partake in dangerous activities be it for self gratification, money, notoriety or just plain stupidity, then unfortunatly there are consequences. The same ideal applies to everyone from so-called crocodile hunters, race car drivers or stunt pilots. The one thing I think the Erwin family should do is sack the manager (Stainton)... he's trying to keep the $$$'s rolling in by recruiting that [Erwin] little girl to take up where her father left off...Just what we need, a 'Shirley Temple' in khaki letting spiders run up her arms for fame! Posted by: paul on September 11, 2006 4:54 PM Does anyone else have a feeling that these public outpourings of emotion are a way for a lonely society to connect with each other?? That maybe we are expanding our individually small social circles with celebrities, so that we always have something to feel joy or sorrow about, because even if we're doing bugger all in our lives, they surely are doing something that we can gawk at? To those who are grieving for Steve- I believe you have a right to mourn if you will feel his loss. To those who don't understand, be sure that soon enough these media dramatics will stop and something new will roll around to capture their (not the mourners', the media's) attention. Not many of us will be able to die doing something we love so dearly. Posted by: westerngal on September 11, 2006 6:26 PM I have four children, all with excellent hearing, and I have always talked to them like I talk to adults, in a normal, quiet voice. I guess that's why, as an expat Kiwi in the USA, I find myself constantly complimented on how polite and soft-spoken my kids are, and what a nice change they make from the usual yelling and screaming that people here associate with children. Nic, if you're still out there - going by your two posts I saw, you are probably also constantly complimented on being a smug, self-satisfied, jingoistic, boring, supercilious, outspoken (if softly), vowel-wrenching, arrogant sod. You're an academic too, right? Posted by: Grant on September 11, 2006 10:22 PM We all have opinions but who gave germaine greer the right to broadcast hers? Why do we even need to hear from a crusty old cynic who hasnt lived in Australia in years(clearly not long enough).She is totally out of touch with australians and if im an idiot because i am mourning the loss of Steve Irwin then i'am a proud idiot! Im not nearly as devastated by Steves death as the fact that i know wildlife will lose more land and innocent animals will die whilst we turn australia into a concrete jungle. When God made Steve he really did throw the mould away.I can almost guarantee there will never be another so passionate as Steve about wildlife and that is scary..when everyone else was all talk Steve delivered. Perhaps if more of us lived with such raw determnination to make this world a better place then we could enjoy the animal friendly paradise Steve dreamt of.In a world full of boring and cynical people with no sense of humour Steve was a breath of fresh air "life's just about having a good time".Iam devastated for his family who were forced to say goodbye too early.Since its about opinions He touched my heart. I BELIEVED in him. I'll miss him! RIP Posted by: Lozza on September 11, 2006 10:42 PM Germaine Greer-Shes like a pimple that wont pop....full of st and very unsightly,Everyones had one but no one actually wants it. Lets revoke her citizenship bcoz her attitude is totally unaustralian.She has a heart of stone and publicity aside how she sleeps at night is beyond me! U.G.L.Y she aint got no alibi shes ugly (INSIDE AND OUT) Posted by: Suzy on September 12, 2006 12:50 AM This disrespect is disgusting. Hold your slams until after a month or so... Have you no feelings??? What is wrong with you people that you bash the dead? This is pain upon pain. Show some decency. As an American, I loved Steve Irwin. Having worked for the Nature Conservancy of Oklahoma, I appreciated his programs that were lively, informative and involved with conservation. I am deeply saddened by his death and I wish that the media would show honor where honor is due, but not lambast him when he can make no defense. Or take this chance to be crass, like some in the American media aka entertainment shows that spoke so casually about him getting a dart in the heart and were arguing why we SHOULD see the final video. The lack a basic regard for human sensibilities and the grieving family and friends like John Stainton who is genuinely devastated. I challenge you to show your best self at this time. Show the BEST side of your country. Show compassion for those who are saddended. And don't add pain to pain. Posted by: Rita Bosico, M.Div., M.A. on September 12, 2006 3:48 AM Steve Irwin was awesome! imagine what great times he had...that guy really lived! he was nuts...but most genius people are crazy, borderline insane. RIP Posted by: Lord HaHa on September 12, 2006 5:44 AM ' That sort of self importance is what it takes to be a pure heartless bitch.' The Loaded Dog* (at thecud.com.au) Saturday 9th September, 2006 The world mourns. Commonwealth-famous hard line 'feminist' shit stirrer Germaine Greer has died an author, doing the thing she loved, writing books calling men every name under the sun, and generally bitching about the world.She was supposed to have been writing a book to have been called 'Thank God I'm finally happy', but when writing was held up by a morbid fascination with male pre-adolescent sexuality (the other type of little boys not handed out at parties with tomato sauce), she decided to 'go off and write a few lines' for her next publication, " Reality Television: not my reality, except when I can maybe make a few bucks." Her manager just said " fine, anything that will keep Germaine bitching about anything and keep her firmly on her fat ass." Evidently it's her manager's job to keep Greer writing catch 22's about how wearing a bra and not wearing a bra are all a part of a massive masculine repressive conspiracy designed by men all over the world to keep women wearing bras, or not wearing bras, depending on which repressive conspiracy the woman is forced to decide upon. Greer was the real hard-boiled prat. A great expatriate who was afraid of living in her own native country because England always offers anyone of any wit so much more. Greer was always one to love the forlorn nature of the rain, because it 'always encouraged her to bitch about things just that little bit more and indulge in just that little bit more self important yuppy depression: oh, I shouldn't have bought that house in Italy, I knew I should not have done that.' The world treated Germaine, as a woman and a human, in an utterly despicable way. She was never allowed to publish a naieve tome of male hate, because men are evil. She was never allowed to sleep with any of the 1000's of men that she lusted after, because men would never allow her. Indeed, she was never allowed to appear on the one show that she completely derided, Big Brother, because big male producers and repressive conspiracists never allowed her to do anything. All the men, everywhere, hated Germaine. And as a consequence, she led a terribly restricted life. Greer was an ambassador for simplifying everything and turning the slightest daily routine into a battle of the sexes. Greer thought the marriage of the late 'Crocodile Hunter', the prime example of an evil patriarchal family, the dark resemblance of an authoritarian state, in which Steve was Stalin forcing Terri to travel around the world and spend millions of dollars of hard earned cash on conservation projects and education. Greer claimed all Terri wanted to do was sit at home, without children (they were all Steve's fault, because according to Greer nobody in the West likes children), and write books in which Terri slags off everybody for doing the wrong thing all the time. According to Greer, Irwin was the most self-delusional dictator to have ever stolen the limelight from bitter old bats that claim that all men hate women and always have. Irwin's marriage was exactly the kind of insecure machismo that Greer fought all her life to force people to see through. Every time Irwin saw his wife and daughter talking it made him feel so uneasy that he would yell 'Crikey! Don't let the chicks talk! Never let Chicks talk mate. It's dangerous. If you let Chicks talk, they have a good chance of killing ya. Always make sure you beat your wife before you go to bed. Isn't that right Terri? See. My wife can't talk with a mouth full of broken teeth. Righto? back to the crocs then." Greer was a global phenomenon. Whenever a great person died she thought it was her god given right to open her mouth and say something bad about them, even though it is an age old tradition across the globe to never speak ill of the dead. When Peter Brock died she said: "The Cars have finally taken revenge on him." When the Dalai Lama passed on she said: "The Vegetarian diet has finally taught him the importance of good beef." When George Harrison died she said: "The Beetles have finally taken back their rightful name from an untalented and obese woman hater." When Colin Thiele, author of Storm Boy, died she said: " There always should have been more sex scenes in that book. Colin knew he should have written more about the way pelicans and adolescents interact sensually. It is with no regret that I say, finally, I think Pelicans have taken Colin away to watch the bird boy orgy he knew he should have put down in words. Woman hater." Greer was phenomenal because even when she was outnumbered by the thoughts and opinions of 99% of her fellow creatures she always believed that she was right. She believed every institution created by man and nature was not in the interest of any right minded academic. Upmost in her list was marriage: the creation of Satan himself. She was also of the belief that since birds mate for life, they were little Satans with wings; " all a penguin needs is a pair of high heels and she will know the pain of all womyn." Greer was a superhuman generator of feminist merchandise, books, interactive games and action figures. Her most popular figure was a pull string doll of Greer holding a pen saying, " The only place where a man can feel really secure is in a maximum security prison." A true inspiration to happy people the world over. In fact, the only creatures Greer couldn't dominate were those happy with their lot. A happy person once did their best to rip her nose off her face. Happy people are a lot smarter than sad depressed opinionated bigots. What seems to have happened on Greer's country estate is that Greer and a fellow writer of outdated feminist tomes walked around Greer's house to see what they could find as inspiration for the next nauseating highbrow claptrap to be published. What they found were nice, caring, spiritually and sexually aware men. You can just imagine Greer yelling: ' Struth, just look at these beauties! Crikey! With those minds a nice man could be the ultimate vessel of my indoctrination and mental abuse!" (Yes, Germaine, but most humans don't want to be indoctrinated. They like free thought for God's sake.) All humans, including men, know a thing or two about a thing or two. We are now being told that only 0.5% of people have ever been indoctrinated by Australian expat feminist writers. A few of them must have been the women I went to uni with in the mid 1990's. Uni back then was famous for its hardcore feminists who hated all men, and what men did, and what men wrote, and how they looked. But men back then did what most men do, put their heads down and got on with things as best they could, deflecting the verbal and physical abuse, accepting that they had a penis that most of the feminists hated extensively, but always seemed to like at the end of the night, when the hardcore feminists would always be the one to invite the men into their beds to get to know better the thing they so hated. And we all know that bedding an eager sober feminist is the highest form of male repression, forcefully combining spontaneous female hatred and desire. And that a skilfully induced male-made female orgasm is never supposed to happen because males can never ever have the knowledge, ability, sensuality or skill to create such a divinely feminine thing. And that such an orgasm could lead the rabidly horny feminist to forget her staunch position for an unguarded moment and admit to their attraction towards and respect for men, which ultimately leads to self combustion, because combustion is a physical process which self instigates if such a woman ever has to admit that she is wrong. We believe this may have been the cause of Greer's death. It was always suggested that Greer would rather die than admit that she may have been wrong. As a girl, Greer should have had a healthy respect for nice men, which are actually commoner, and bigger, in southern waters than they are in England, where Greer was killed. The other academic maintains that the nice man that Greer took out was a "really decent bloke". or Blokis really really decentus, but these are not usually found as far North as England. Marriage Scientist Dr Meredith Apple has been quoted as saying, " It's really quite unusual for dates to be treated badly by a decent bloke unless the date is abusing the bloke, and knowing Germaine Greer, perhaps that may have been the case." Not much sympathy there then. The only time Greer ever seemed less than entirely lovable to her fans (as distinct from rational devotees of free thought) was when she went into Uni with the bloke she had been dating in one hand and an engagement ring in the other. For a second you didn't know which one she meant to devour: the diamond or the man. If Greer had been less depressed she might have made the right decision. As the catatonic Greer obediently threw away the engagement ring, the decent intelligent bloke walked away, having put up with enough of her bullshit. The adoring world was momentarily appalled. They call it bitterness and stupidity. Greer would never compromise. Greer would rather have war than peace. The bloke would have rather have been anywhere else, and the engagement ring was melted down, but that's entertainment at Uni. Greer's response to the sudden outburst of criticism was bizarre. She believed that she had the decent bloke under control. But she could have fallen in love, suggested an interviewer. She admitted that was possible, but only if a meteor had hit the earth and caused an earthquake of 6.6 on the Richter scale. That sort of self delusion is what it takes to be a "purely narrow minded selfish uncompromising bitch full of shit." What Greer never seemed to understand is that decent men are every where. The one lesson any feminist must labour home is that extreme feminist bigotry is the principal cause of missing out on meeting decent men. Real relationships aren't about control, or power. They are based upon love, understanding, equality, and unfortunately for Greer, compromise. Irwin's marriage was the perfect example of the male/ female team that most married couples at least strive to attain in order to bring up their children in the best way possible. Not having succeeded in the realms of either marriage or children, Greer could only ever engage her unchanging bitterness to influence as many women around her to hate men in the same way that she hated men: by founding her hate on unfounded claims that all men hate women. There was no man, no matter how upstanding, decent, honourable, moral, loving, inspirational or giving, that Greer hesitated to despise, trumpeting her self-reflecting theories to the skies. There was not one decent bloke that Greer was not prepared to evil-woman handle. Every man she brandished at the camera was in distress. Every man badgered by Greer was at a huge disadvantage, with only a single possible reaction to its terrifying situation, which was to strike. Easy enough to avoid, if you know what's coming. Even my daughter knows that much. Those of us who live with men, which is pretty much the whole global population, know that they will get out of the way if we leave them a choice. Some men are described as aggressive, but, if you're a man, unprovoked aggression doesn't make sense. Men on a plane only want to get off. But Greer was a militant feminist, a 21st century Amazon with too much money who had forgotten to cut off her breast, and never learned to use a bow and arrow, who abused decent men instead of going after the real bastards. In 2004, Greer was accused of illegally encroaching on the space of decent men in Australia, where she was writing a book called Ball Breaker. She rocked up at a casual dinner being held at a mate's place in honour of a few birthdays, where about 15 guys were sitting around sipping wine, enjoying a bit of home cooking and generally talking about future plans, how wonderful their kids and wives were, and generally having a great time. All innocent fun. Greer rocked up and started abusing the whole dinner party for being men. She refused to listen to the examples of conversations that had taken place, she refused to believe that there weren't strippers or derogatory comments about ass and pussy, and she refused to believe that the blokes weren't going to kill each other or their wives and children before the end of the night. In short, she refused to believe that there was not a smidgeon of patriarchy in the room, and that all men present would not have felt more comfortable in a high security prison. An investigation by the Australian Good Blokes Department resulted in no action taken, which is not surprising seeing that they thought they'd take pity on her because she had already placed herself in self-imposed exile. They knew that the rest of the country was pretty much over her bullshit by now anyway. No one is really mourning for Greer, apart from the nutter who kidnapped her and thought she was her mum. She spoke ill of that many people and made that many sweeping generalisations about her fellow creatures, that by the time Greer died of a broken heart when the last decent bloke rejected her want to have a child, people had simply had enough. What was relevant on the back of the hippy generation 30 years ago, simply lost all credibility when its author came out and abused a man that the rest of the world truly respected in all the right ways and for all the right reasons. Even a fellow doctor, renowned for his and upstanding temperament, who had worked hard for his title and had not bitched when Greer had been awarded an honorary one, labelled Greer an 'oxygen thief'. Such comment is rare in academic fields, but it sadly seems that this had to be the final compliment to a woman whose once vibrant colours had faded into a melange of shit brown. The world of the Decent Bloke has finally taken revenge on Greer, but probably not before a whole generation of little girls have learned to hate their fathers and brothers for all the wrong reasons, looking at the world in extremes of black and white, where women are always perfect and men are always evil, and determined to become bitter old hags talking ill of every truly happy family man that dies an untimely death doing what they love for all the right reasons. * This is a re write of Germaine's article about Steve Irwin published in The Guardian on Tuesday September 5, 2006. Found at: -- Posted by: loadeddog on September 12, 2006 12:48 PM Jack, I hope that before long you will lash with your satirical whip this repulsive blight on Australia that is the attempted insult of being un-Australian. It amazes me that this notion, popularised by political geniuses such as our dear Pauline, is not seen for what it is: fascism pure and simple. It's getting so out of control it embarrasses me as a simple Australian individual and is the common attack of the monolithic croc hunter worshiping block. I note today that Kim Beasley has upped the anti in this absurd game with his proposal that all visitors should sign an oath to respect Australian customs. Does that mean that you will be taken out the back of the MCG and have the shit beaten out of you if you are seen eating a pie without sauce? Or perhaps be subject to a spear in the leg for adultery? In an increasingly xenophobic nation I have to ask how many Australians would sign a reciprocal agreement if visiting a Muslim country such as Saudi Arabia. If I as an individual continue to be vilified with this label I'm going to start wearing it with pride. I can see a line of t-shirts here. Posted by: Bruce on September 12, 2006 2:22 PM why are people so quick to shoot down anyone to stand up and make a difference. Steve Irwin was an aussie hero and he was a legend. He was a legend for waking up australian people to the evil being done by us to our own unique wildlife. he stood for the best ideals of australian yobbo culture and his dedication and passion set him apart from the rest. how dare a previous commenter say that terri irwin has "encouraged the melodrama on camera for all it was worth" she is a woman stricken with grief and has presented herself as such.....she has just lost her husband and her childerens father and you want her to hold back this greif so as not to encourage reporters. and as for comments of supposed animal cruelty from steve irwin.....HA! yeh right. In each and every documentry his first thought was for the safety of the animals, and their being caused minimal stress. His second was to educate those at home about those animals they fear, and therefore want wiped out. watch his docos, the only prooven behaviour of his, and you have a look at his views towards the animals he showed the camera. Also notice that those snakes that he did pick up did calm down and realise he meant them no harm. steve was a legend, an all round great bloke and a "typical aussie" and that is how i will remember him. Most ppl around the country at least went through a state of shock, which is proof of just how much people loved , yes LOVED steve irwin. Posted by: kayla on September 18, 2006 7:52 PM Steve Irwin was just a bloke who loved the limelight and capitalised on it. He used animals and even his own children in his quest for publicity. He was a danger to all concerned and I agree with Germaine Greer that the animals finally took their revenge. He irritated and annoyed them and you can see that quite clearly if you watch his tv antics. He was on a good thing but did not have the intelligence to pursue it the right way (however his manager certainly did and I think is still doing so saying Bindi will continue it all on. Poor Bindi has no say apparently.) I can't believe how people can be so easily taken in, but then again look at the world today and I guess it stands to reason. Posted by: lynne on September 20, 2006 10:53 AM Couldn't help feeling after watching a well presented and orchestrated eulogy that Church dignitaries are going to have to change their habits if they want to stay in business. Posted by: Eric on September 20, 2006 2:40 PM steve you lived your dream and gave us incentive to live ours but sometimes people are too gutless to have a bloody go, so those snooty jealous people use some big words and criticise fairdinkim people like you - but crikeys buddy you'll be in a lot of hearts worldwide forever! Posted by: the christophers on September 20, 2006 11:07 PM From a "YANK". Listen up! If you cant say anything nice about a great man whos family is in mourning SHUT THE ** UP!!! Steve Irwin has done a lot to help raise the attention of people to the incline of the endangered species list on our planet. (What have you done?) He was overly enthusiastic about how he went at it but, when you really love to do something like he loved helping animals, theres nothing wrong with it. I never met the man. I only saw him on TV, but I wish that I could have met him and shook his hand. It would have been an honor to do so! Thank You Steve Irwin for doing your part to make the World a better place CROCS RULE P.S. Would you want your daughter or son to read the things you wrote if you had passed away and they were written about you? Posted by: Chuck on September 21, 2006 7:12 AM Hey Seppos,yanks,whatever you call yourselves: I,as a human rights activist,think that you people should reconsider offending people for the crime of being insensitive.Just a thought. Posted by: Banjo Patterson on September 22, 2006 1:33 AM I have to agree with my mate Banjo here in condemning Chuck for his outburst. As a citizen of the self appointed evangelists of democracy and freedom and "leaders of the free world" you should know better. How the fk dare you tell us to "shut the f**k up." Your bias and stupidity is clearly indicated by repeating the inane catch cry "CROCS RULE." Steve Irwin's memorial service was carefully managed publicity stunt. The level of insensitivity exhibited where his grieving window was shown repeatedly is breathtaking and eclipsed all of the comments made here. Do we need to see her to know she's upset? No I don't think so. But Chuck, I have a special gift. I knew she was upset already. Not only that, I can see the future. There is going to be mayhem at the airports and on your roads this Thanksgiving due to travellers setting course for their families and all of the news networks will be reporting on it. And you will sit there and consume it like it's the first time won't you? The pinnacle of this blatantly obvious exploitation was his daughters address. She was being pushed into a role she did not ask for before her fathers death and now is destined to miss her childhood altogether. I'm sure you will view her simplistic documentaries through the same glazed eyes. So you Chuck are the insensitive idiot here. Use your brains for once. I'm sure it's in there somewhere. Posted by: Peter Lalor on September 22, 2006 5:31 AM Like everyone else, I was shocked at Steve Irwins death, but he struck me as a total opportunist; he and Terri milked their celebrity for all it was worth; it was never really about the animals or conservation; it was all about the cult of Steve Irwin; witness the hour long Animal Planet show that was all about asking Steve questions about his life. And then there was the New York show, where the shtick was Steve wearing his khaki shorts and looking like a bewildered Aussie in the sophisticated big city, but what was telling was just the opposite; in a dressing room Steve was seated next to Tony Randall, and then this supposed Queensland redneck starts shmoozing Randall like he's been in New York or Hollywood all his life. I've been watching Irwin's shows over the years, and what started out as a charming take off on the Australian stereotype for American audiences, with genuine concern for the animals and conservation, became in my opinion a, uh, media "zoo", with Steve and Terri exploiting every aspect of their private lives. I mean, come on, do we see Jack Hanna's wife giving birth, or Jeff Corwin's?? Steve just had to be a star, and his wife and the media encouraged him to take risks, act stupid, and rake in all that money. I was creeped out by the zoo funeral tribute; I swear, to me, Terri Irwin in her black glasses, grief-stricken face and rigid demeanor looked like some monarch's mourning wife, and the preternaturally poised daughter Bindi reading a tribute -- very surreal, very bizarre. You can be sure Terri will continue the circus and the exploitation and keep Steve alive and continue to rake in the big bucks. Terri will write books, do lecture circuits and bring Bindi along, and will be on t.v. a lot. The circus has just begun. Posted by: Barbara Hill on September 23, 2006 4:08 PM Gavin QLD : Good luck with your Broncos tonight mate.I hope they can get up and send Webke off in style.Wayne Bennet is a legend and the Broncs deserve to take home the trophy.Good Luck! Posted by: Larry on October 1, 2006 12:53 PM To 'loadeddog': Greer's doctorate is not honorary. She earnt her doctorate from Cambridge university in 1968 for her thesis on comedy in the work of Shakespeare. That other fellow doctor is not 'renowned for his upstanding temperament'. He may well be renowned for something else, but I'm not aware of it. Greer's 'vibrant colours' have most certainly not faded either! Posted by: WallFlowerInAFurBikini on October 5, 2006 5:57 AM Seppo said : Now there's a comment from Dilip with crystalline objectivity that you can rely on. Have you had a look at what your Republicans have done to the world in 6 year mate? I believe that it was extremists that did it to the world. Remember Al-Qaeda? They killed about 3000 in the USA and in Bali, about 200, many of them Australians, (just to mention a couple of examples). I trust Republicans to protect me. We would have been worse off under a Gore administration. I still liked and enjoyed Steve Irwin ï¿½ Posted by: Dilip Jivan on October 5, 2006 2:40 PM i feel so sorry for his family and what they are going through but steves spirit is all around the world and in everyones heart and all friends and family are there to care for everyone Posted by: alicia on October 12, 2006 12:36 PM Jack, that was really fantastically put, and it in facts is a perfect article for my HSC exams for English coming up. You really summed up my thoughts on media latching onto something that should he have survived, remained the same. Once again, thankyou Posted by: Josh on October 17, 2006 10:17 PM Steve Irwin knew what he was doing. His aim was wildife conservation, and his medium was entertainment based on adventure and showmanship. There were some risks involved, but that was his way. And he may have made a few mistakes (and upset a few "stuffed shirts" along the way),but so what. Who cares? He did a great job, and will be missed by a lot of people, especially the children of Australia. Posted by: graham on November 22, 2006 11:36 PM I am SOOO glad he is dead! He deserved it! The poor crocs! They must be really sad that they didn't get him! Posted by: Azey on January 2, 2007 11:49 PM Is it safe yet? Yes? Good. Steve Irwin was a bloody wanker. You're right up there with him Dilip Jivan. Proudly and ignorantly it would seem. Posted by: Seppo on March 12, 2007 1:40 AM	The Crocodile Hunter
May 5, 1821 saw Emperor Napoleon I die of what was likely stomach cancer on what British possession?	Metro Herald, November 27, 2013 by Metro Herald - issuu issuu INSIDE INSIDE INSIDE INSIDE INSIDE Wednesday, November 27, 2013 Your Metro Herald packed with news, sport and features A NS G E M CTIO D N U E D EK E R E TO W % S E H T T U O H G U O R TH Wednesday, November 27, 2013 Beating the X Factor curse Yamaha Mox 6 worth »p13 €1,099 to give away »p14 Right-to-die Marie’s medical card farce The health service has been by MetRo heRald staff warned to change its process Taoiseach enda Kenny after a terminally-ill multiple sclerosis sufferer was forced to warned that lessons need to be prove her sickness to have a learned by health chiefs. ‘A person does not become medical card renewed. Marie Fleming’s partner Tom un-terminally ill,’ he said as he Curran, who was repeatedly urged for compassion to be used asked for information on her in the medical card process. Ms Fleming, a former univercondition by officials at the health Service executive sity lecturer, was diagnosed (hSe), told RTÉ’s News at with MS in 1986 and can only One the situation was ‘abso- move her head. The mother-oftwo has had her full medical lutely ludicrous’. Barring a miracle, his partner card automatically renewed in is not going to get better, Mr the past. In a statement, the hSe said: Curran said, adding that four follow-up phone calls to the ‘As soon as the hSe became hSe to resolve the matter were aware that the individual has a a waste of his time, and while terminal illness, steps were imhe can understand there are mediately taken to ensure eligirules in place, he insisted ‘those bility remained in place.’ It said the medical card rules need to be human’. The hSe claimed a review processing centre has a dataform was routine, but said it base of more than two million people and handles more than regretted the inconvenience. Tánaiste eamon Gilmore said 10,000 pieces of correspondhe was unhappy at the treat- ence each week. A review of the ment of Ms Fleming. ‘I think it medical card process was andoes show that the system can nounced in last month’s Budget be quite cold at times and I in a bid to save €113million. Figures last week revealed think that’s something we have 428,682 cards to address.’ have been reThe 59-yearviewed this year, old, one of thouwith 10,393 cards sands of sick peowhich were isple being assessed sued on a discrefor eligibility for tionary basis refree health care, placed with GP lost a Supreme cards, full mediCourt challenge cal cards or taken earlier this year to from patients enend her life with Review: Marie Fleming and partner Tom Curran tirely. assistance. Gun threat over pet dog tussle G’wan ya (Moone) boy ya Actor and writer Chris O’Dowd and his Moone Boy co-writer Nick Vincent Murphy show off their International Emmy for Comedy at a gala ceremony in New York. The sitcom shot in O’Dowd’s native Boyle in Co Roscommon follows the life of 12-year-old Martin Moone and his grown-up imaginary friend Seán PICTURE: EPa Keep Dublin tidy – Please recycle this Metro Herald when you are finished with it A MAN who suffers from depression pulled out what looked like a firearm and threatened to shoot a dog owner after their dogs became entangled. Henry Bryan, 52, was walking his dog Snowy when it pounced on another dog, named Storm, and Bryan became aggressive and began cursing at its owner. He said her dog should be on a leash and threatened to burn her house down and kneecap her. When her partner came out of their house to see what was wrong, Bryan pulled out an imitation gun and pointed it at the man, saying: ‘I’m gonna blow your head off’. Three days later Bryan also threatened to shoot a Dublin bar manager because he was annoyed he was barred from the premises. Bryan of Sea Road, Galway, who suffers from depression, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to criminal damage and making a threat to kill at the Horse & Hound pub, Harmonstown, Dublin, in October last year and to unlawful possession of a fake firearm. Judge Martin Nolan adjourned sentence for two weeks. METRO HERALD Wednesday, November 27, 2013 D Wednesday 27/11/13 How to contact us Email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Text: ‘Mail’ to 53131 (30c plus usual text charge) Visit: www.e-metroherald.ie Editorial: 01 705 5088 Advertising: 01 705 5010 Distribution: 01 705 5007 Social media Facebook.com/ metroherald Twitter.com: @metrohnews #metromailbox 70% Increase in the number of holidays to Northern Ireland by people south of the border in 2012, according to the Northern Ireland’s Tourist Board Ireland’s rate of newsprint recycling is now up to 79%. Keep reading, keep recycling – thank you. Today is... Pins And Needles Day… A day to show solidarity with sufferers of pins and needles. We’re no experts here at Metro Herald, but in this cold weather, maybe a quick stroll to stretch the legs will sort it out. Stay cosy! From the archives (2008): ‘Nailgate’ chief’s €300,000 payoff The Fás chief who resigned over US travel expenses is in line for a payoff of €300,000 and an annual pension of up to half his salary. Rody Molloy resigned from his €200,000-a-year job over expenses claims of €643,000 including a $410 nail salon bill. Today’s birthdays Kathryn Bigelow, director, 62; Caroline Kennedy, daughter of JFK, 56; Mike Skinner (The Streets), rapper, 35; Roberto Mancini, football manager, (right) 49. #YourPostMadeDigital CLOCkwORD The solutions from 1 to 12 are all six-letter words ending with the letter Y in the centre. Moving clockwise from 1, the letters in the outer circle will spell out the name of a British film critic. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Twice Vim, zip Cure Put to work Renal organ Sequence Blood vessel 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Y Isolated Song bird Fish hawk Looseness Illness Yesterday’s solution: Brian G Hutton Weather Weather Today Max: 11°c Simplify your life Mainly dry and still mostly cloudy. However, outbreaks of drizzle or light rain are likely to develop on northern coasts. Temperatures between 8°C to 11°C in light to moderate, southwest to west winds. 10�C 9�C Sunrise: 8.11am Sunset: 4.14pm Min: 3°c Cool, misty and mostly cloudy tonight, with just occasional clear spells. Temperatures between 3°C to 6°C in light to moderate westerly breezes. EUROPE today Tomorrow Visit GreenLetterbox.com or download our mobile app and Claim Your Home Address today! Mostly cloudy with just occasional bright or sunny spells, best along the south coast. Some patches of light rain and drizzle will affect parts of the north. Temperatures between 8°C to 10°C in light westerly breezes. 10�C 10�C 9�C 10�C 8�C 9�C 9�C 9�C Max: 10°c Athens 10 °c 6 °c 8 °c D Wednesday, November 27, 2013 METRO HERALD Last orders for cheating husband after wife signs away their marriage at the pub You’re barred: The sign proposing to Paul... and the ones telling him his marriage was over athena pictures/WaLes neWs serVice/facebook Here’s a sign things have gone sour... MOST break-ups take place behind closed doors. But not for one unfaithful husband, whose discovery his wife was leaving him was witnessed by the entire high street. He went to their favourite bar only to find its sign had been changed to read: ‘PAUL... I AM DIVORCING YOU.’ And the next day a follow-up appeared, saying: ‘BTW I AM KEEPING THE DOG.’ The scorned wife, who wished to by sHAROn MARRis remain anonymous, said she wanted to ‘make him pay’ after she found out he was having an affair. She said: ‘I was angry and upset so wanted a sign to go up for everyone to see. ‘When I found out, I went through a mixture of emotions but felt angry and wanted him to pay. ‘We have been together for years and it is so sad it has come to this. I am absolutely devastated and going through a really tough time at the moment. ‘I did feel a bit better once the sign went up.’ To add insult to injury, it wasn’t the first time she had used the tactic, having previously used magnetic letters when she asked Paul to marry her. Noah’s Yard café and bar, in Swansea, often alters its frontage – but messages supporting Wales in the rugby are more usual. Owner Noah Redfern, 36, said: ‘Maybe this will become a new way of asking for a divorce. ‘We have had a lot of interest from customers who have been asking about the story behind the sign.’ Passer-by Ron Williams claimed it would keep men in the area on their toes. He said: ‘This could give a lot of wives in the city an idea – I’m guessing there will be a few nervous husbands walking down the street today.’ making Christmas more comfortable METRO HERALD Wednesday, November 27, 2013 Love/Hate Leroy drugs admission A YOUNG actor who featured in the controversial cat-killing scene in Love/Hate has been remanded on bail pending sentence after pleading guilty to a cannabis dealing charge. Yesterday, Leroy Harris, 19, admitted unlawfully possessing a quantity of cannabis worth €100, and having the drug for sale or supply, at Sheriff Street, Dublin, on October 14 last. The young actor, who has no prior criminal convictions, will be sentenced in January. Bomb hijack site scoured by PSNI THE area in Belfast where a dissident republican bomb partially exploded on Monday has been searched by police. Yesterday’s PSNI operation focused on Jamaica Street, close to where the driver was confronted by masked men in boilersuits and forced to transport a 130lb bomb in his car at around 11pm. Vehicle checkpoints are to return to Belfast and the frequency of police patrols is to increase following the incident. Five-year-olds ‘overweight’ A FIFTH of Irish five-year-olds are overweight or obese, a new study has revealed. Children in better-off families are less likely to be overweight or obese, according to the Growing Up In Ireland report. It found higher levels of screen-time are linked to less healthy eating, and more than twice as many five-year-olds from poorer families spend three hours or more a day in front of a TV, computer or other device, than better off children. D Tourist testifies that Monet damage ‘was planned’ A TOURIST who witnessed a €10million Claude Monet painting being damaged said he saw the accused man ‘lift his fist and put it through the painting’. Andrew Shannon, 48, of Willans Way, Ongar, Dublin 15, denies causing criminal damage at the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, on June 29, 2012. The gilt-framed painting (left), entitled Argenteuil Basin With A Single Sailboat, dates from about 1874 and is Ireland’s only work in public collection by the celebrated French impressionist. Two tourists who travelled from New Zealand to give evidence told the jury at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that they were standing next to the Monet painting when the incident happened. Michael Williams told Kerida Naidoo BL, prosecuting, that he felt the damage had been ‘quite deliberate’. ‘Out of the side of my eye I saw this man lift his fist and put it through the painting. To me, it was clearly what he wanted to do,’ he said. ‘He said to me he was feeling faint. I grabbed him straight after the event and he had his excuse ready to go. I couldn’t help but feel it was planned,’ he said. The trial continues today. Kenny set outs new target of 10% unemployment rate by ED cARTy A NEW target of unemployment below ten per cent has been set for two years’ time. As official figures revealed a fall in the jobless rate to 2009 levels, Taoiseach Enda Kenny declared the Government would seek to drive it down further bythe next general election. Those out of work fell by 41,700 to 282,900 in the year – to 12.8 per cent at the end of September, from 13.6 per cent in the previous quarter. The Central Statistics Office’s quarterly national household survey – released hours before the Government’s latest review of its action plan for jobs, which claimed the private sector created an average 42% Rise since last year in people seeking advice from Focus Ireland to prevent them losing their home 1,200 jobs a week for the year – found eight of the 14 sectors saw a gain over the year, with agriculture, forestry and fishing up 25,100, hospitality up 14,700 and professional and technical up 10,900. The 35-44 age group saw a rise of 21,000, the 45-54 age group was up 18,400, with 25-to-34year-olds the only group to suffer a fall. The total labour force is now 2,182,100, up 16,300. However, the long-term unemployment rate – 58 per cent of the total – dropped by only one per cent. Jobs Minister Richard Bruton described the turnaround in numbers as ‘encouraging’. Meanwhile, Fergal O’Brien, of business lobby group Ibec, claimed the CSO report showed the jobs market is ‘really humming’. AT LEAST €20 OFF Neckerchief Lord Mayor of Dublin Oisín Quinn was comparing neck pieces with model Holly Keating at the official opening of Pamela Scott on Henry Street Picture: NAOiSe cuLHANe Samsung Galaxy Pocket Neo — Design Collection — All Pay As You Go smartphones! Subject to availability. Excludes pay as you go iPhones. See meteor.ie/getchristmassed 69.99 Wednesday, November 27, 2013 METRO HERALD Drive to report Blackout plea city dog fouling for stand-off Guilty pleas: The former lead singer with multi-million selling band Lostprophets Ian Watkins has pleaded guilty to a string of sex offences Paedophile shame of Lostprophet ROCK singer Ian Watkins yesterday admitted using his celebrity status to abuse babies belonging to two fans. The Lostprophets star, described as a ‘determined and committed paedophile’, appeared in a 17-minute video abusing one child in the presence of the baby’s mother. He also indulged in a 45-minute virtual sex session, using Skype to persuade another baby’s mother to abuse her child. After he pleaded guilty at the start of his trial, Det Ch Insp Peter Doyle described the case as ‘the most shocking and harrowing child abuse evidence I have ever seen’. He added: ‘There is no doubt in my mind that Ian Watkins exploited his celebrity status in order to abuse young children.’ A laptop seized from Watkins’s home in Pontypridd was password protected but was later sent to GCHQ to be cracked. The password was later discovered to be ‘If**kids’. Texts sent to one of the mothers men- ARMED gardaí and negotiators were called to the scene of a stand-off in Co Laois yesterday. Gardaí determined the episode, described as a ‘barricading incident’, merited a media blackout and they asked journalists not to report on the matter while it was ongoing. The incident began at a house at Wolfe Tone Street in Mountmellick at about 11.20am and ended four hours later. A Garda spokeswoman said officers found a man in his early-30s in a ‘very agitated and distressed state’. In a statement last night, Gardaí said no further details would be provided. by TARiq TAHiR tioned a ‘summer of filthy child porn’. The Welsh star also discussed using her baby as a ‘sex slave’. Both women, aged 21 and 24, are facing jail after admitting their role in the sex offences on their own children. Drugs including crystal meth and crack cocaine were said to have played a significant part in Watkins’ offending. At one time he boasted of wanting to intoxicate one of his victims by blowing crystalmeth smoke into the child’s face. Tests showed one of the babies had been exposed to the drug. Sally O’Neill QC, defending, told Cardiff crown court: ‘His position is still the same. He can’t remember the events depicted in the videos.’ Judge Mr Justice Royce is expected to sentence him next month. The Lostprophets spoke of their shock last year after Watkins was charged but remained silent since. ‘Cheaper faster Metro plan should not be dismissed’ Montague: Plan picture: ap DUBLINERS are being asked to report dog owners who fail to clean up after their pet with the launch of a new hotline. There were more than 400 reports of dog fouling in the capital in 2012 but just three proseuctions. By calling the hotline, a report can be made of the location, time and date and the local authority can take action or increase patrols. If an offender refuses to pay up, the person who reported them may have to give evidence in court. Naming and shaming is also being considered. The hotline is 1800 251 500. A METRO Dublin proposal which claims to be able to construct city rail links faster and at a much lower cost should not dismissed out of hand, the chairman of Dublin City Council’s Transport Committee has said. Andrew Montague said he has asked council engineers to examine the Metro Dublin plan at half the price of Dart Underground and Metro North combined, saving €2bn, and to be completed in 26 months rather than 70 months. Meanwhile, the European Investment Bank has agreed in principle to provide ‘significant funding’ for the Luas Cross City link, joining the red and green Luas lines. The free Journey Planner and Real-Time Ireland apps – helping you plan your journey and telling you when your bus, train, Luas or DART is due. Leap Card – so convenient, with no need to carry cash. Newer, more comfortable vehicles with more WiFi access. Discover all the benefits of the transport system and you’ll see there are more reasons to use it. METRO HERALD Wednesday, November 27, 2013 D 60 seconds ANTÓIN DEMPSEY is the manager of the Dublin Wine Rooms and has collaborated with Urban Farm on Just Grow Up, an ‘upcycling and urban farming showcase’ taking place this weekend What is Just Grow Up and how did it come about? I became friendly with the horticulturist Andrew Douglas who I’ve admired for his work on the country’s first rooftop farm on King’s Inn Street. Andrew is one of the most innovative and exciting figures at work in Dublin today and I thought it would be great if we could bring some of his expertise and enthusiasm for all things agricultural to the Docklands. The idea’s pretty simple: we’re inviting people down to the Dublin Wine Rooms on Sunday where we’ll be giving demos, workshops and talks on urban farming and upcycling. delicious mushrooms and, better still, you can turn the box on to the other side when you’ve picked the first harvest and start again. You’ll also be introducing visitors to aquaponics. How does it work? It’s a system of food production whereby raising fish or aquatic animals is combined with growing plants in a symbiotic manner. Andrew got his hands on plastic containers that were used to hold concentrated Baileys. He sliced them in two and placed one on ground floor level and another elevated above. He then placed goldfish and trout in the bottom half and their excrement is pumped upwards to fertilize herbs growing in the top layer. On the day we’ll be cropping basil and microherbs that have been grown with this system and showing visitors how they can preserve them in jars to make pesto. Why upcycling? Upcycling has always been a big part of our ethos in the Dublin Wine Rooms and, wherever possible, it’s something we’ve really gone for in terms of design. When we ran out of flooring, for instance, we reclaimed the old Yours was the wooden floorboards from first restaurant in my girlfriend’s house in Ranelagh; one of Ireland to our cabinets is from adopt an We’ll be showing Eamonn Doran’s Enomatic selfin Temple Bar people what you can service wine and we re-pieced d i s p e n s e r. do with upcycled it together when How has it it ended up in a materials and a little been embraced salvage yard sale. imagination We’ve taken old by customers? scaffold planks and Really well. It’s a transformed them into great idea because diners tables and used old wine can choose a wine by the boxes to recover cupboard doors. glass without worrying how long On Sunday we’ll be doing the bottle has been sitting around ‘creativity’ tours of the restaurant exposed to the air. Customers have and showing people what you can to put credit on their card beforehand, do with upcycled materials and a insert it into the machine and then little imagination. they can either help themselves or ask a sommelier for assistance in Much of the day will be choosing a wine. A man named devoted to proving to city James Connolly brought the system dwellers that the absence of a to Ireland and is now one of the garden shouldn’t preclude main suppliers here and in the UK. Xtra-vision’s U-turn Argos signals end over Xbox One row for its little blue pen XTRA-vISIOn has been forced to back down on plans to sell new Xbox One consoles only to customers who forked out at least another €50. Watchdogs ordered the chain to cancel rules on pre-orders after angry customers complained they were paying over the odds to get their hands on the in-demand gaming device. Xbox Ones are so popular in the run-up to Christmas they have sold out across the country. Xtra-vision tried to capitalise on demand by telling customers pre-orders would only be honoured if they also bought a computer game worth at least €50. The national Consumer Agency intervened in the dispute and got assurances from the company it would cancel the rule and offer refunds to anyone who has already paid up and has an unopened game. The same rules will apply for the Playstation PS4. Chef Nigella ‘had a daily coke and cannabis habit’ by TARIq TAHIR “ them from GIY. Where’s a good place to start? Andrew has 150 varieties of potato growing on his roof in the city centre so I think that proves you don’t need a farm in the country to show off your green fingers. Potatoes are very easy to grow in the tiniest outdoor space but even if you don’t have a windowsill it’s worthwhile coming down. One initiative we’re very excited about – and we’ll be highlighting how they work on Sunday – is ‘mushroom cartons’. Basically, this involves growing pink and yellow oyster mushrooms in an empty milk carton that’s placed on its side and filled with used coffee grounds and mushroom spores. After 17 days you’ll have a crop of the most Have you had any design plans for the Dublin Wine Rooms that have yet to come to fruition? A bullet proof glass box used for exhibiting art over the entrance – watch this space… What’s your favourite ‘industry’ joke? What’s the difference between God and a sommelier? God doesn’t think he’s a sommelier. Daragh Reddin Just Grow Up takes place this Sunday at the Dublin Wine Rooms, Custom House Square D1, noon to 6pm. w w w. d u b l i n w i n e ro o m s . c o m . To register for your free space email [email protected] ARGOS is to replace its laminated catalogue and cheap little blue plastic pens with iPads at six ‘digital concept’ shops. The UK chain, which has 735 stores, 40 in the Republic, has, however, pledged to keep producing catalogues for customers ‘more comfortable with using them’. Tables of tablet computers will take the place of paper order slips at the concept stores, with a new 60-second fast-track collection service for shoppers pre-ordering products online. The hi-tech upgrade comes as Argos revealed that more than 40 per cent of sales are now made via its website, while revenues from smartphone and tablet orders account for 16 per cent of sales. Nine out of ten of all the company’s sales still involve customers coming to stores, increasingly using the ‘click and collect’ service to make purchases Kitchen goddess: Nigella nIGELLA Lawson used cocaine, cannabis and prescription drugs on a daily basis and was referred to by former husband Charles Saatchi as ‘Higella’, a court heard yesterday. The Tv chef and her daughter, Mimi, were accused of being so off their heads on drugs they allowed two assistants to go on a £300,000 (€360,000) spending spree with a company credit card. Advertising guru Mr Saatchi, enraged that the two sisters, now on trial for fraud, would get away with their alleged swindle, made the claims in an email to his ex-wife. In the message, sent last month, he referred to the 53-year-old as ‘Higella’ and signed off: ‘Classy!’ Judge Robin Johnson allowed the email to be read before the trial of Elisabetta Grillo, 41, and her sister, Francesca, 35, at Isleworth crown court. Summarising their defence, he said: ‘Miss Lawson is a user of class A and class B drugs on a daily basis. This was a guilty secret kept from her husband.’ The Italian sisters insist they had a ‘tacit understanding’ with Lawson that they could keep spending, as long as they didn’t ‘shop her’ to Mr Saatchi, 70, about her cocaine habit, it was claimed. They are now charged with swindling Conraco Partnership out of £300,000 while working as the couple’s personal assistants. His email read: ‘Of course, now the Grillos will get off on the basis that you, Mimi, (and another) were so off your heads on drugs that you allowed the sisters to spend whatever they liked.’ But prosecutor Jane Carpenter said: ‘This is a totally scurrilous account which has been raised by the defence.’ The sisters, of Bayswater, west London, both deny fraud and the case continues. Mr Saatchi and Ms Lawson broke up after the millionaire art dealer was photographed holding his wife by the throat. He dismissed the incident, outside a Mayfair restaurant, as ‘a playful tiff’ but later accepted a police caution for assault. D Wednesday, November 27, 2013 METRO HERALD Women’s, Men’s & Children’s Clothing, Shoes, Accessories, Lingerie, Jewellery &Watches, Home & 10% OFF selected beauty shop BEauty onlinE www.brownthomas.com Exclusions apply. D Saints go marching on N icole Appleton says a future with her old girl band All Saints could be just the ticket to get back on her feet. The 38-year-old and her sister, Natalie, have buried the hatchet with Melanie Blatt and Shaznay lewis and are hitting the road to support the Backstreet Boys next year. The trip down memory lane comes after her marriage to liam Gallagher, 41, collapsed following a scandal over his love child earlier this year. ‘i’m really looking forward to it,’ Nicole said of the reunion. And the singer put to rest rumours that the band’s split in 2001 was down to the Appleton sisters’ hard partying. ‘We’re all party girls, actually, so i don’t know where that came from. in fact, they’re worse than us,’ she said of Blatt and lewis, both 38. Natalie, 40, added: ‘We always got along, really – we just had our differences because of what we went Spreading her wings: Paloma Faith will swap the mic for flying with parrots when she opens her debut exhibition along with Album Artists this week. The 32-yearold singer will be showing a collection of her album art and live performance stills in Shoreditch, east London by JENNI MCKNIGHT through with the workload and everything. That’s what happens. ‘But we’ve always got on. i mean, we’ve had issues, i’ve fallen out with my own sister, you know – but it’s just normal, we’re all fine.’ Meanwhile, Nicole (pictured) said she was buoyed by a stint as a guest X Factor judge when her personal life was in pieces. ‘it was lovely of them to ask me. i enjoyed it. i don’t know if it will go anywhere but i’ve got fond friendships with everybody there and i loved it.’ And Nicole says the girls simply couldn’t refuse an invitation from the US boy band. ‘it was them that asked us and we have the same history so we were like, “Yes”!’ Appleton’s world came crashing down when her husband of five years fathered a child with US journalist liza Ghorbani. ★ SOUND re Britney Spears says she’s fallen head over heels again – less than a year after giving fiancé Jason Trawick the boot. ‘I’m in love,’ the Work Bitch singer said of new fella David Lucado, adding: ‘I like the fact that he’s very stubborn and he’s stuck in his ways.’ With a string of fraught romances behind her, the 31-year-old admitted protective father Jamie had run a background check on her latest flame. ★ Paris Hilton insists she never made a buck from online sales of her sex tape 1 Night In Paris. The 32-year-old claims she has much ‘nicer’ ways to make money. ‘I’ve never made a dollar,’ she said. The reality star is in a legal battle to shut down a Slovenian website that uses Paris Hilton in its title. ‘I don’t like people using my name to make money, especially in such a gross way,’ she moaned. Catalogue in this Friday’s Metro Herald. Wake-up: Niall Horan and Harry Styles of One Direction perform on ABC’s Good Morning America at Rumsey Playfield in New York City picture: splash D Wednesday, November 27, 2013 METRO HERALD Bodycon? I call dresses sucky sucky, says Posh Katy Perry tries to get on Santa Claus’s good side by flirting her way through the latest ad for her new perfume. The 29-year-old dons a red mini-dress, high-heel black boots and pearls for the 23second clip to plug Killer Queen. She wishes fans a very ‘Perry Christmas’ before sitting on Santa’s lap to ask for ‘a picnic on Machu Picchu’ to be waiting under her tree. Killer Queen is the third perfume the singer has released after Purr and Meow. She’s become one of the most sought-after designers in the world but Victoria Beckham has yet to master the flowery lingo of fashion. Posh has described her new tightfitting bodycon frocks as ‘sucky sucky’ dresses. ‘That’s probably not the best technical term for it but that’s what I call it because that’s what it does,’ she admitted. Meanwhile, the 39-year-old mother of four hinted it won’t be long before she starts working on a children’s line. The workaholic told Vogue: ‘At some point, I would love to do that. Working and having four kids is tough but I will get there.’ It’s Kylie v Dannii in TV talent show war The Minogue sisters are set to ratchet up their sibling rivalry to another level in a war for TV ratings Down Under. Kylie is taking a judge’s chair on The Voice Australia – meaning she will go head-to-head with sister Dannii, who appears on The X Factor Australia. Fresh from filming the British version of The Voice, which will air in January, Kylie announced last night she is to lead the hunt for unsigned Australian talent on the Channel 9 reality show. And she will be joined on the panel by Will.i.am. Revealing the news on Twitter, Kylie, 45, said: ‘So excited to be coming home and being a coach on The Voice. I look forward to spending time in Australia, getting up close and personal with new talent.’ The I Should Be So Lucky singer and Will.i.am replace Seal and Delta Goodrem as judges. They will work with current judges Ricky Martin and Joel Madden. Black Eyed Peas star Will.i.am, 38, said he was joining Kylie because: ‘Australia is a highly creative country and a place with many good memories that have shaped my music career.’ Meanwhile, Dannii, 42, whose act Dami Im recently won The X Factor Australia, will return as a judge for a second series in 2014. ★ Kanye West has ordered fans to boycott Louis Vuitton gear – after throwing a tantrum when the boss of the company declined his invitation to meet up. The Bound 2 rapper, 36, responded to Yves Carcelle’s snub by urging: ‘Everybody in New York City, don’t buy any Louis Vuitton.’ He seemed to believe shoppers would obey him, adding: ‘Influence. They think I don’t realise my power.’ Expecting visitors? Book a visit from us first. Life through a lens: Lady Gaga hotfoots it from the American Music Awards to Japan where she is promoting her latest album Artpop PICTURE: SPLASH Miley’s on her high horse The bickering’s started again after Miley Cyrus threw a wobbly over Lady Gaga’s extravagant entrance to the American Music Awards in LA. The 21-year-old was aghast to see Gaga turn up on a mock white horse – and let everyone know it. ‘What a f*ing... what a big scene stealer,’ she ranted as Gaga clopped up behind her. ‘Next time I’m going to come in on a dragon.’ Clearly miffed, she told E! News: ‘You can stop interviewing me if you want to interview Gaga. I don’t care.’ You don’t want to get caught out at this time of year. Why not order your home heating oil today? Our friendly drivers use the latest GPS technology for speedy delivery every time. Get winter-ready call 1850 444 334 or visit emo.ie Emo. Energy you can depend on. 10 METRO HERALD Wednesday, November 27, 2013 World digest Rabbit probe ready sarkozy in ‘psycho’ to hop on to Moon rant at Greek leader CHiNA: A Moon rover named Yutu, or jade rabbit, will join Beijing’s latest foray into space, possibly as early as next week. The six-wheeled vehicle will travel on the Chang’e-3 lunar probe, marking the first time the nation has soft-landed a craft on another planet. Yutu’s name, voted for by the public, derives from Chinese folklore. fRANCE: Former president Nicolas Sarkozy once called Greece’s leader a ‘fing psycho’ and an ‘a*hole’ in front of a room full of EU leaders. Mr Sarkozy was furious that George Papandreou wanted to hold a referendum in 2011 on more austerity cuts. The incident is in a new book by former Spanish prime minister José Zapatero. In tow: This clip from the ITV documentary shows Balakrishnan heading to an inquest followed by Josephine Herival and Aisha Wahab in 1997 picture: itv news by sHARON MARRis PHiLiPPiNEs: Survivors of Typhoon Haiyan carry on the clean-up in Tacloban yesterday. Amid the chaos, there are signs that normality is returning, with stalls appearing in front of wrecked shops picture: Ap Life behind bars for ‘Climate refugee’ is ‘throat-slit’ parents told to return home iNDiA: The dentist couple convicted of killing their 14-year-old daughter and servant have been jailed for life. Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, who hit their victims with a golf club before slitting their throats, got an extra five years for destroying evidence. Rajesh received another year in jail for lying to police. The pair, from Noida, near Delhi, plan to appeal. NEw ZEALAND: A father of three yesterday failed in his bid to become the world’s first climate change refugee. Ioane Teitiota claimed rising sea levels made it too dangerous to go back to Kiribati, a low-lying Pacific island. A judge in Wellington ruled Teitiota was not being ‘directly persecuted’. Without refugee status, he will be deported. THIS is the first picture of the man accused of keeping three women as slaves for more than 30 years. The image from a 1997 ITV documentary shows Aravindan Balakrishnan heading to an inquest, followed by Josephine Herival and Aisha Wahab, who he is said to have kept in servitude. All three were attending the hearing into the death of Sian Davies, who fell from a window of a house used by Balakrishnan’s Maoist group. It is believed that the third ‘slave’ kept at the home could be Rosie, Ms Davies’s 30-year-old daughter. The footage also shows Irish national Ms Herival arguing with a film crew asking to speak to Comrade Bala, as the 73-year-old, who was arrested along with his wife Chanda last week, likes to be known. Balakrishnan and his wife were and finally... POLAND: Failing your driving test is never a happy time. Yet a learner’s 14th flop is one her instructor will never forget. Anna Nowacka beat her instructor and drove his car into a wall in Rybnik. ‘I just lost it,’ she said. Door block: Aisha and Josephine walking in the shadow of a Maoist ‘slave driver’ believed to have been well-known to police after setting up a communist squat, the Mao Zedong Memorial Centre, in Brixton, south London, in 1976. Police found the ‘slave’ women in the house last month after Miss Herival rang the Freedom Charity, saying she was being held against her will. The property has since been boarded up by Lambeth Council and police have confirmed that there are ongoing inquiries relating to a total of 13 addresses in Lon- don that are linked to the couple. The three women are now in the care of a specialist non-government organisation and it is believed that Rosie has spent her entire life living as a slave. Speaking yesterday, London Metropolitan Police commander Steve Rodhouse said: ‘We believe emotional and physical abuse has been a feature of all the victims’ lives.’ The couple, who are of Indian and Tanzanian origin and came to the UK in the 1960s, have been released on bail until a date in January. Look out for us at Pearse Street DART Station on Tuesday 3rd December! » Tweet a photo of the DART of Physics crew » Use our hashtag #DARTofPhysics and you could win an iPad mini on your daily commute! Find out more dartofphysics.ie Tiger mauls his keeper in attack at Irwin’s zoo D Wednesday, November 27, 2013 METRO HERALD 11 Wolves killed after zoo escape THREE wolves were shot dead after a pack of five got through a damaged fence at Colchester Zoo in England yesterday. One of the animals returned of its own accord, another was shot with a tranquiliser and returned to the zoo, while the others had to be shot because they managed to escape to an out-of-safe range. Zookeepers were said to be ‘devastated’. “AS IF MY PHONE CAN TELL WHEN THE NEXT BUS IS DUE.” Horrifying: The tiger lunges at David Styles and, inset, a zoo keeper rushes to his aid Pictures: 7 News A TIGER trainer was flown to hospital after being mauled by one of the big cats at the zoo made famous by crocodile hunter Steve Irwin. Zoo keeper David Styles, 30, was bitten on the neck and shoulder by a tiger, which he has raised since it was a cub. Witnesses said the animal became over-excited during a period of play time and lunged at the trainer during a show. Schoolboy Jake D’Olimpio, 14, told Australian newspaper The Courier Mail: ‘It was horrifying. The trainer and the tiger fell in the water and the tiger was trying to hold him under. ‘The other trainers, maybe four of by SHAROn MARRIS them, tried to fight the tiger off. One of them was hitting it with a stick.’ Another onlooker tweeted: ‘Things went from playful to violent instantly. I hope that poor fella recovers quickly.’ Mr Styles, who has worked with big cats at the Australia Zoo for nine years, is in a ‘serious but stable’ condition at a hospital in Brisbane, Queensland. Zoo director Wes Mannion praised the actions of quick-thinking staff who rushed to Mr Styles’ aid. ‘They acted professionally and calmly, he said in a statement. ‘My hat goes off to them.’ Andrew Haggerty, a doctor who treated Mr Styles at the scene, said: ‘The neck is a very complex area and contains lots of serious structures including blood vessels, and perhaps most importantly the airway. ‘Any bleeding in the area itself could cause significant complications.’ The zoo, on the Sunshine Coast, keeps three Bengal and eight Sumatran tigers and visitors can be photographed with the animals every day. The zoo was formed by Steve Irwin, 44, who was killed by a stingray barb while swimming off the North Queensland coast in 2006. Download the free Dublin Bus App today. Use live info to time your journeys perfectly. XMUSIC, IRELAND’S MUSICAL INSTRUMENT SUPERSTORE. TEL: 01 411 1100 FREE Headphones Hd201 Worth €29! Buy a Roland RP 301 or RP301R digital piano & receive a set of Sennheiser HD 201 headphones absolutely FREE. In Store or log on to XMUSIC.IE RRP €1449 XPRICE €1199 XMUSIC, UNIT 1, RED COW RETAIL CENTRE, DUBLIN 22 12 METRO HERALD Wednesday, November 27, 2013 Mailbox [email protected] Text: @metrohnews and Facebook: #metromailbox ‘Mail’ to 53131 Facebook.com/ metroherald Please include a name and location. Texts cost €0.30 per message + standard network charges. SP. Oxygen8 Communications, 4th Floor, Malt House North, Grand Canal Quay, D2. Customer service number 0818286606 Some more sheltered than others heading for retirement? I nteresting to read from the archives (2010) in Monday’s Metro Herald that the taoiseach warned ‘no one could be sheltered from the €15billion recovery plan.’ We then read that the retirement age for ordinary workers is to go up to 66 next year, 67 in 2021 and 68 in 2028. Compare this to last weekend’s reports that the county manager of sligo County Council has retired at the ripe old age of 57. Just to help him along in what we all hope will be a long and happy retirement, the ordinary workers of this country have endowed him with a €250,000 lump sum and a €65,000 a year pension. now you all know where your UsC, property tax and water charges are going. never again Mr Kenny. Bill ■ i have lived in Dublin all my life and apart from the junkies, the people of Dublin are decent people. if you do not like Dublin, why did you come in the first place? i suggest you go back under the rock you Quick pic TEQUILA SUNRISE: Reader Karolina Milkowska sent us this picture of a beautiful winter sunrise in Dublin Send your photos to pictures@ metroherald.ie with ‘Quick pic’ as the subject and we will print the best each day in the paper crawled out from under. James ■ Mike, Dublin, like every other city, has its share of good and bad. if all you can see is bad, then you are the problem. Dublin will be happy to see your negative rear disappears over the horizon. Cynical Optimist ■ Hi Mike, you mustn’t get out much or your opinion of Dublin comes from watching too much Love/Hate. if you want doom and gloom, just watch the news or buy any other paper instead. i personally find the uplifting stories quite refreshing, and a perfect tonic each morning on the way to work. so please, do leave. Our fair city will be that bit fairer without the likes of you. Lee ■ Hi Mike, i would suggest that no more than ten emails a day are received in the Metro Herald good On Ya section. even more amazing than people being kind, is people saying thank you and sending in an email. Grouch gOOD On yA yEH bIg RIDE ● I would just like to say a very big thank you to the kind man along with his partner who stopped near the O2 last Wednesday night. When I came out from the O2 my car would not start, we had the jump-leads out and ready but we needed another car to help. This kind man came to our aid and was very helpful. Thank you both. Yvonne ● To the guy with black framed glasses in Copán on Thursday, I was the girl with the long, light brown hair sitting just up from you… want my number? Admirer ● Dark haired girl in Eddie Rockets, Tallaght, you said hello last week. I’m raging I didn’t stop to talk to ya! Mr Vodafone yOuR RuSH-HOuR cRuSH C Steve Carell With the 70s behind him, San Diego's top Text ANCHOR, followed by your answer A, B or C, rated newsman, Ron Burgundy, returns to take your name, email, postal address to 53133 (TEXTS COST 60C + STANDARD NETWORK CHARGE) New York's ﬁrst 24-hour news channel by storm. BOX OFFICE OPENS DECEMBER 2ND ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES IS IN CINEMAS ON DECEMBER 18TH 2013 /ParamountPicturesIreland @ParamountIRL TERMS AND CONDITIONS: THE COMPETITION CLOSES AT MIDDAY FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29TH 2013. THE WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN AT RANDOM FROM THE ENTRIES RECEIVED AND NOTIFIED BY TELEPHONE OR EMAIL. USUAL METRO HERALD RULES APPLY. THE EDITOR'S DECISION IS FINAL. BY ENTERING THIS COMPETITION YOU AGREE TO SIGN UP TO THE METRO HERALD PROMOTIONS LIST - TO OPTOUT TEXT NOMETRO TO 51155. SP. OXYGEN8 COMMUNICATIONS, 4TH FLOOR, MALT HOUSE NORTH, GRAND CANAL QUAY, D2. CUSTOMER SERVICE NUMBER 0818 286 606. #Anchorman Wednesday, November 27, 2013 METRO HERALD 13 Find out why the Citroën C4 Picasso has scooped ooped the Continental Irish Car of the Year. See WHEELS p17 ‘X Factor was a baptism of fire’ I Then 16-year-old Janet Devlin had a hard time on the 2011 show but she’s moved on with a refreshingly frank attitude. Her debut single is out later this month, writes Andrew Williams nterviewing a former X Factor contestant can be like talking to someone who’s escaped a cult. they’ll often keep repeating mantras such as ‘it’s been a fantastic experience’ and ‘they’re grateful for the opportunity’. So, it’s surprising that flame-haired irish singer Janet Devlin, 19, proves so willing to get the ups and downs of life on the show off her chest when we meet in a London members’ club. She finished fifth on the 2011 series, won by girl group Little Mix, and is about to release her debut single, wonderful. Devlin entered the show after her mother, Patricia, told her she could audition online by sending a video in. ‘i thought there’s nothing to lose by applying,’ she says. She’d already amassed 15,000 subscribers on Youtube, who watched her perform covers of songs including Adele’s Someone Like You and Florence & the Machine’s Cosmic Love. She received an email telling her to attend the live auditions two days later, where she sang elton John’s Your Song and – hey presto – was on her way to Saturday night small-screen CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR ALL THE FAMILY AT FANTASTIC PRICES! Keeping it real: Janet Devlin says she wants to earn her place in the music industry Check out our Christmas Shop where you’ll get more Christmas, for less! www.DoneDeal.ie 14 METRO HERALD Wednesday, November 27, 2013 music ➔ stardom. But Devlin’s turbulent relationship with the show started early on. At the judge’s houses round of the competition – filmed on a rooftop in Miami – Devlin hit an impasse with producers who, she says, wanted her to show some emotion on camera. ‘I was on that roof for several hours,’ she says. ‘I was being quite emotionless, which got on their nerves. They said how do you expect anyone to connect with you unless you let your guard down? Eventually, I cried. It was horrible.’ Even today, Devlin comes across as reserved, so it’s not surprising that on-the-spot emoting didn’t come easily. She says she’d previously watched the audition rounds of The X Factor but not much of the live shows, which is presumably why the karaoke aspect proved problematic. She wasn’t always happy with having songs chosen for her on the programme and matters came to a head in a heated showdown with mentor Kelly Rowland when Devlin was presented with The Jackson Five’s I Want You Back. She’d sung the original lyrics, with the song addressed to a girl, in rehearsals for a week when Rowland asked for the gender to be changed. Devlin wasn’t keen on the idea and after a shaky dress rehearsal was summoned to Rowland’s dressing room for a telling off. ‘It wasn’t nice,’ she says. The singer says it reflects a general competition XMusic, Ireland’s largest musical instrument and equipment superstore, is giving one lucky Metro Herald reader the chance to win this Yamaha Mox 6 Synthesizer worth ��1,099. XMusic opened in 2008 and is a musician’s paradise; spread across three floors, XMusic stocks the biggest brands in musical instruments: Fender, Marshall, Roland, Gibson, Taylor, Yamaha, Nord, Tama, Pearl and many more. Whether you’re a professional musician or a beginner, talk to the XMusic Xperts about guitars, drums, pianos, hi-tech, PA and DJ equipment to get the advice you need. Located just behind Moran’s Red Cow Hotel on the Naas Road or just off M50 Junction 10 and a few minutes’ walk D “If you stay longer, I think you’re automatically signed to Syco. I’d rather have a choice… personality clash she had with Rowland. ‘She’s very enthusiastic, a big character, and in those days I was quite quiet. I wasn’t very chirpy, which I think annoyed her. ’ To add to her woes, Devlin’s grandfather died during her time on the show, which meant more tears on camera. ‘They asked what happened, I cried and that was it. I needed to address it because the fact he’d passed away had already trended on Twitter. It taught me that opening up sometimes isn’t necessarily a bad thing – but it’s a lot for a 16-year-old to deal with, to open yourself up to millions of people like that.’ Devlin won the most number of votes for four consecutive weeks – until she appeared to forget the words to Hanson’s Mmmbop, which sent her packing. But it wasn’t a case ✹ of amnesia. ‘I hadn’t been eating a lot because I was working so much and then had a massive dinner that day. I felt a bit ill and when I was singing I felt bile coming up in my throat, swallowed it, and lost my place in the song,’ she laughs. ‘I just thought: “Don’t throw up on TV.”’ S HE was happy to go when she did as she still qualified for the X Factor live tour. ‘I wanted to do it to earn money to make the album,’ she says. ‘If you stay longer, I think you’re automatically signed to Syco. I’d rather have a choice. Everyone wants choices.’ She was offered other deals when she left the show and turned them all down. ‘It was nice money but it meant I’d have had to sing other people’s songs. I don’t want to be in the music industry for the sake of it – I want to earn my place.’ She crowd-funded her current album, Hide & Seek, and wrote with musicians she admires, including Newton Faulkner. ‘I was jumping around the room when I heard he’d write with me,’ she says. Devlin has no regrets about doing The X Factor. ‘It was a baptism of fire,’ she says. ‘I’ve never worked harder in my life but I learned a lot. I came out of it wanting to write an album about human experiences and for it to be real – which I have done.’ Keeping it real: Tyrone’s Janet Devlin has blossomed since X Factor Wonderful is out now. w in from the Red Cow Luas stop, XMusic boasts ample free parking – vistors are welcome to wander the store, peruse our excellent range of stock and – should they feel the urge – pick up an instrument and play. See Xmusic.ie. To be in with a chance to win this fantastic prize all you have to do is: Take a picture of yourself in XMusic with any of their instruments and e-mail it to: [email protected]. Don’t forget to include your contact details. Deadline for receipt of your picture is midnight, Nov 30. The winner will be announced on Dec 2. Exclusive for Metro Herald readers Book Your Winter Break At the 4 Ashdown Park Hotel, Gorey and we will reward you with 10% off your ﬁnal booking cost. Enjoy winter walks, cosy ﬁres, a sumptuous dinner in our award winning Rowan Tree restaurant and our renowned Wexford breakfast. Breaks Start at for dinner, bed & breakfast. The Ashdown Park Hotel, only an hour from Dublin Call 053 948 0500 www.ashdownparkhotel.com AbOuT TOwn GIG Duckworth Lewis Method The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon and Pugwash’s Thomas Walsh play tracks from Sticky Wickets, their second cricket-themed LP, featuring a dozen vaudevillian tracks about the idiosyncrasies of the gentleman’s game Tonight, Olympia Theatre, 72 Dame St D2, 8pm, €25.40. Tel: 0818 719 300. www.dlmethod.co.uk CONCERT Boyzone It’s been a whopping 20 years since the Dublin man band shimmied about The Late Late Show set for the first time with scarcely an ounce of dignity – as the BZ20 Anniversary Tour rolls into town, Keating and co have the last laugh Tomorrow, The O2, East Link Bridge, North Wall Quay D1, 7.30pm, various prices. Tel: 0818 719 300. www.boyzone.net HOT TIckETS Vladimir’s Viennese Christmas The Irish-based Slovak violinist Vladimir Jablokov kicks off a festive tour next month when he’ll be treating guests to tracks from new album Classical Christmas. Expect a stocking-full of yuletide favourites from Prokofiev and Strauss, alongside timeless carols. For tour dates see www.vladimirmusic.com Dec 2, National Concert Hall, Earlsfort Terrace D2, 7.30pm, from €23.50. Tel: (01) 417 0000. www.nch.ie We have two pairs of tickets to see Vladimir’s Viennese Christmas and albums to give away. For your chance to win, just answer the question below and text LIFE followed by your full answer, e-mail address and name to 53133 (texts cost €0.60 + standard network charge). Q Complete the Christmas carol: Little Road To… A Bethlehem B Balbriggan Festive Cheer at The Mint Bar Fancy a celebration with a difference? Tailor made Christmas parties, festive nibbles & merry tipples with live entertainment and late bar Thursday - Saturday. Email: [email protected] Tel: +353 1 645 1322 Web: themintbar.ie Terms & Conditions: The competition closes at noon today. The winner(s) will be chosen at random from the entries received and notified by e-mail. Entrants must be over 18 years of age. Usual Metro Herald rules apply. The editor’s decision is final. By entering this competition you agree to sign up to the Metro Herald promotions list – to opt out text NOMETRO to 51155. SP. Oxygen8, 4th Floor, Malt House North, Grand Canal Quay D2. Customer service number: 0818 286 606. Wednesday, November 27, 2013 METRO HERALD D [email protected] to advertise, call 01 7055010 Wolverine at his topless best The WoLverine (12) HHH✩✩ DVD, blu-ray, VoD Hugh Jackman’s return in his hairy, adamantiumtaloned, beefed-up guise (pictured right) is based on one of the best story arcs in Marvel Comics’s X-Men chronicles, the standalone Japanese adventures (published 30 years ago) taking Wolverine to a different culture and more exploration of character. In 1945, Wolverine shields a young man from the Nagasaki A-bomb. In the present day, he’s living alone in the wilderness, when he receives a summons to Tokyo from the now elderly tycoon whose life he saved. There, he’s plunged into a baffling private war, protecting the old man’s imperilled granddaughter (Tao Okamoto) while assailed on all sides by yakuza, ninjas, nasty mutant vixen Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova) and the Silver Samurai. Action set-pieces, atop a bullet train for one, are let down by some ponderous plot longeurs and a by-the-numbers climax but it’s a decided improvement on X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Jackman is splendid (and frequently shirtless). A neat end-credits sting sets the scene for next year’s Days Of Future Past. Angie Errigo SchaLcken The PainTer (15) HHHH✩ DVD, blu-ray With winter nights upon us, when better to snuggle up with a properly spooky ghost story? One of the most requested titles from the BBC’s archives, this lost Gothic TV classic was originally screened in the last hours before Christmas Eve, 1979. Our hero is eager young 17th-century (reallife) painter Godfried Schalcken, who has fallen for his mentor’s beautiful blonde niece. Alas, someone else also has their evil eye on her. Namely a mysterious ghoulish stranger, who buys her from her uncle for a box of gold, snatching her from Schalcken’s arms, though not from his art. Director Leslie Megahey commissioned himself to make this extraordinary docudrama for Omnibus, the BBC’s longrunning arts series, of which he was newly an editor. Marvellously macabre and narrated by Charles Gray, it recreates the shadowy interiors of the Dutch Golden Age with meticulous precision. It’s a cult treasure whose intricacies are explored in the essays within the BFI’s lavish, illustrated booklet. An ideal festive present for the more high-brow zombie fan. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh BiLL BaiLey: QuaLmPeddLer (12) HHHH✩ DVD, blu-ray What must it be like to be inside Bill Bailey’s brain? Probably akin to being inside the Large Hadron Collider, with lots of high-energy, cerebral elements bashing together to form a wondrous and occasionally abstract whole. This show, filmed at London’s Hammersmith Apollo earlier this year, is a typically scattershot affair, with most of the appeal resting on how intelligent ideas can quickly turn silly: a rap about thermodynamics; the British coalition reduced to three hilariously disparate objects; church music given a dubstep make-over. There are more musical mash-ups to enjoy too, the highlight being a reggae twist on the Downton Abbey theme tune. If there’s a thread here, it’s about the confusion of modern life – of government, social media, reality TV stars. Cognitive dissonance, he calls it. Thank God, in Bailey, there’s someone able to make some sense of it all. Sharon Lougher Five films to see at the cinema 1 2 3 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire It may not top the first one but Jennifer Lawrence is still astonishing in this faithful-to-the-book sequel of this gamechanging, female-led action franchise. The Summit Nick Ryan’s documentary about 2008’ss illfated expedition on K2, which saw 11 climbers – including Limerick mountaineer Ger es, is a McDonnell (pictured) – lose their lives, tense, well-crafted affair. Blue Is The Warmest Colour Steven Spielberg and his Cannes Jury awarded this controversial, epic, erotic, French coming-of-ager the Palme D’Or. Find out why. 4 Gone With The Wind Catch Scarlett and Rhett briefly back on big screens, still not giving a damn, in this 4K reissue of the beloved Technicolor Hollywood American Civil War epic. 5 Gravity There’s really only one 3D film per year worth seeing, and this is 2013’s. A sensational spac survival thriller starring space Sandra Sandr bullock and George Clooney Clooney. by Luas Looking ahead OLDbOy Spike Lee directs this remake of Park Chan-wook’s super-violent Korean thriller about a kidnapped businessman (Josh brolin) on a vengeance mission. Out Dec 6. Win a Christmas Dinner Hamper a Day until 12th December Hampers feed 6-8 people and include a delicious, 4 course, freshly prepared, ready to cook Christmas dinner delivered to your door on 23rd December Enter on www.facebook.com/luas T&C’s apply 16 METRO HERALD Wednesday, November 27, 2013 D Life television WhaT i’m WaTching Johnny vegas cartoon network I am obsessed with Cartoon Network’s triple bill of Regular Show, The Amazing World Of Gumball and Adventure Time. Adventure Time is a show I consider ‘too good’ for kids, despite the fact my tenyear-old son and I regularly sit watching in fits of laughter or exchange the same ‘did they really just get away with that?’ look at some of the show’s more trippy/ risqué moments. doctors on call RTÉ1, 8.30pm On tonight’s show, reporter Paul Walsh hangs out with ladies GAA team The Kilmacud Crokes Mothers And Others in Stillorgan as they take on a challenge to see if upping your exercise for four weeks can make you live longer. Meanwhile, Dr Ciara pays a visit to a group of young mothers to chat about issues from feeding to sleeping, plus she’ll be telling them what to look out for if their baby is sick and when to call 999. Dr Terry will be tackling Ireland’s biggest killer, ischemic heart disease, while Dr Johnny Walker puts sports gadgets, including the ElliptiGO – a cross trainer/bike hybrid, to the test. FilM oF tHe day case 39, RTÉ1, 9.35pm Working her Bridget Jones look (blonde, hair band, pout of a confused little hamster) Renée Zellweger plays Emily, a singleton social worker so dedicated to helping the ickle children she has no time for romance with fellow care worker Bradley Cooper. But her worthy instincts bite her on the bum when she gets involved with Case 39. Following a hunch that a ten-year-old girl Lillith (Jodelle Ferland, above with Zellweger) is being abused, Emily breaks into the house, only to find the little girl’s parents about to stuff her in an oven and roast her alive. Ian McShane gives an adequate performance as the local cop, although overall this horror thriller is a fairly predictable and contrived affair. Breaking Bad goggleBox channel 4, 10pm Who thought a show watching other people watch TV could turn out to be one of the must-watch hits of the year? It’s edited close to transmission and there’s no word as yet as to what our favourites will be passing comment on. But if it were up to us, we’d like to know what Brighton pair Stephen and Christopher (right), posh tipplers Stephanie and Dominic and Liverpool’s Leon (the world’s biggest Tess Daly fan) and June make of I’m A Celeb and Doctor Who – with a spot of Bottler to top it off. The agrarian bromance ’twixt chef Nigel Slater and farmer Adam Henson (right) bubbles along in the Cotswolds, where Nige is whipping up lamb burgers slathered in cheese in his dream of a farmhouse kitchen. That’s just what farmer Adam needs after a hard day fretting over the havoc the freezing weather is having on his wheat. It’s a full larder this week: tips on when best to eat lamb and what to look for in cheap cuts, plus the pick of strawberries and potatoes. gBH tHe tunnel Sky aTlanTic, 9pm i’M a celeBrity.. get Me out oF Here! 3e, 9pm We’ve passed the halfway stage of this atmospheric Anglo-French remake of the Danish-Swedish thriller but mismatched cops Karl and Elise (Stephen Dillane and Clémence Poésy) are no closer to nailing moralistic murderer the Truth Teller, who this week turns his sick mind to taking a coachload of schoolchildren hostage. Kian psyches himself up to take on the next trial after the public vote, and he’s determined to win the nine stars up for grabs. But will he keep his cool after being lowered into a cave full of slithery and multi-legged creatures? meanwhile, the remaining teams play a game to decide who gets to go on the Halfway Holiday and there’s talk of Vincent’s wee... nigel and adaM’s FarM kitcHen BBc1, 8pm I know it’s an obvious choice but what the hell. The transformation of Bryan Cranston’s ‘Walt’ from cancer victim to criminal monster proved heartbreaking but every bit as addictive as his blue crystal meth. Only a show this impeccably written, cast and shot could have you rooting for the guy, then leave you feeling ashamed for having done so. sleepy Hollow UniveRSal channel, 9pm There’ll never be another mulder and Scully but ichabod crane and lt abbie mills (Tom mison and nicole Beharie) have their own thing going on as they chase after spooky demons and that elusive headless horseman. The blade-swishing rider is back in the saddle, causing all kinds of merry hell as ichabod and abbie call for backup from sister Jenny and captain irving. Watching Boys From The Blackstuff as a child formed my obsession with storytellers such as Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, those people who presented dramas that spoke to me about my world and helped make sense of the strain my family and friends might find themselves under. Alan Bleasdale is an incredible writer. My Favourite tv cHaracter Garry Shandling’s Larry Sanders, Rip Torn’s Art, Jeffrey Tambor’s Hank..? Any character from The Larry Sanders Show would fit. All perfectly epitomise the neuroses and giant egos that abound within showbusiness. As fresh and ahead of its time now as it was then. Genius! Sharon Lougher Vegas takes over Ideal World TV shopping channel tonight at 8pm, trying to sell a product of the viewers’ choice. D Precious few television shows have avoided a drop in standards throughout their lifetime, so the mixed reviews for the latest Love/Hate finale have fans fearing the worst. Ross McDonagh looks at firm favourites that jumped the shark Very few TV series have ever managed to remain great up until their conclusions: The Sopranos, 24, The Wire and Breaking Bad the most recent to join the pantheon. As a general rule, it’s simply a matter of time before a TV show ‘jumps the shark’; a reference to the moment when it was unanimously agreed the once-great Happy Days lost its way (the Fonz literally jumped over a shark on water skis). Modern shows tend not to have a great identifiable instance of aquatic avoidance acrobatics – they just sort of taper off and, well, become crap. Dublin crime epic Love/Hate exploded on to our screens in 2010, a previously unheard-of, accomplished Irish-made drama. Could it be the long-prophesised first justification of your licence fee? Skip to November 2013 and season four has just wrapped. Reviews are... mixed. It hasn’t lost it yet, but season five stands of a precipice. Can the writers pull it back and silence the critics? Or will Love/Hate join the following list of once-potentially great TV series? DExTER Man, did this start off great. A guy who’s morally good at heart, but suffers from a condition that makes him need to kill. A serial killer with a conscience, who just happens to consult for the police force charged with solving his crimes. Early Dexter was superb, as he tried to strike a balance between covering his murders but suffering from withdrawal the longer he waited between kills. An excellent premise, until the writers seemed to forget about his condition, and just seemed to have him kill as a hobby. Then they brought Julia Styles’ moany face in… Gave up after: Season 5 LOvE/ HATE sERiEs fivE – wiLL wE LOvE iT OR HATE PRisOn BREAk iT? Who doesn’t love a good prison break? The ridiculously goodlooking engineering genius Michael Scofield gets himself arrested on purpose in order to break his wrongly-accused brother out of jail, with the plans for the prison secretly hidden within his awesome full-body tattoo. Season one was choc full of squeaky-bum-almost-got-caught brilliance. Season two is – logically enough – spent on the run after they escape. Season three, they break into a jail in Panama that’s run by criminals…. Wait, what? Gave up after: Season 2 THE x fiLEs The beauty of The X-Files was you were either on Mulder’s side or Scully’s; either you believed there was some weird paranormal stuff going down, or you were the skeptic who explained it all away. The writers managed to keep it ambiguous to a point – never choosing one side over the other – until season three, episode 22: Quagmire. In it, the duo investigate reports of a lake monster attacking townsfolk. The bodies keep stacking up until Mulder finally tracks down and shoots... an alligator! Was the alligator responsible all along? Or was there ever a plesiosaur in the lake? I guess we’ll never know. Oh no, wait, there’s the Loch Ness Monster smiling and waving into the camera for the final ridiculous shot. Series = ruined. Gave up after: Season 3 wheels Wednesday, November 27, 2013 METRO HERALD [email protected] to advertise, call 01 7055010 Picasso is master motor by jOAnnE AHERn The Citroën C4 Picasso has scooped the Continental Irish Car of the Year 2014 title, pipping the Volkswagen Golf and the Mazda6 to the post. Overall, the Citroën received 377 votes, with the Golf at 364 and the Mazda6 at 327. Presenting the award to Citroën Ireland managing director Frederic Soulier, Continental Tyres Ireland’s Tom Dennigan said: ‘The Citroën C4 Picasso is an outstanding car and a worthy winner of our main award. ‘It combines excellent driving qualities with a range of truly impressive technologies, and is a credit to everyone connected with Citroën.’ Meanwhile, there was good news for both Volkswagen and Mazda in the category awards. The Mazda6 was named the Continental Irish Family Car of the Year, with the Volkswagen Golf GTi taking the Continental Irish Performance Car of the Year title. The Peugeot 2008 crossover scooped the Continental Irish Small Car of the Year accolade, while the Citroën C4 Picasso also took the Continental Irish Compact Family Car of the Year award, ahead of the VW Golf, which was shortlisted. The Range Rover was named the Continental Irish executive/Luxury Car of the Year. The Car of the Year awards are voted upon by members of the Irish Motoring Writers’ Association, taking into account comfort, practicality, equipment level, safety, fuel economy, ride and road holding. All of the winning cars are available to test drive now. Visit atTheLights.com for reviews of the winning cars. REviEwED CITROëN C4 PICASSO Styling: As five-seat MPVs go, the C4 Picasso isn’t a bad looking vehicle, and might almost be called stylish. The cabin offers a large and bright space, while the cockpit is striking, with a 12” digital information screen centred in the middle of the dashboard, and a 7” ‘control panel’ touch screen underneath. Comfort: Very comfortable, with a fine, high driving position and good leg and head room in both back and front. Each of three full-size individual rear seats is fitted with Isofix points for child seats. There’s also a conversation mirror, allowing the driver to see what’s going on in the back without having to turn around. Boot: Loads of room for buggies and golf clubs. The rear seats also fold flat to expand capacity. Tech: The Exclusive grade test car included SatNav, cruise control/speed limiter, auto lights and wipers and an excellent reversing camera. The sound system was also excellent, but there are too many steeringwheel mounted controls. Transmission: Six-speed manual diesel, with push button start and an electric parking brake Drivability: Very smooth on the road. Not the fastest away, but no slouch either. Reversing camera made parking easy. Price: Starts at €24,495, Exclusive model from €28,995 joanne Evening Courses, Dublin City Centre Ahern . . n. ip. Mkt Dip Ma PR TEcH sPEc Engine: 1.6l e-HDi 115 Airdream manual Acceleration: 0-100kph in 11.8seconds Maximum Speed: 188kph CO2 emissions: 105g/km Combined fuel economy: 4.5l/100km Annual road tax: €190 New year brings new Qashqai to Ireland NissaN has announced details of the new Qashqai, which will be available in ireland from January. it is the first model to carry the new NissanConnect system, which now has a 7” touchscreen and smartphone connectivity. Two petrol and two diesel models will be available, with the option of two- or four-wheel-drive and a choice of manual or the all-new Xtronic automatic transmissions. Three trim levels will be available in ireland and prices will start from €24,495. . Dip nd PUATIO PR a es line odul RhEExLtensivaenaOgement1M4 n wit vent M er 20 redited Acc ob aE Extr h Oct of Ireland 8t te stitu s In tion Rela c li Pub Brochure from D tal i Dig t ven a in E a in AL NG Diplom NT NT T I I A DIGRKETMEWDordIs, EVAEGEMPRE& L d MSAOCne PIRA, GooegrleceAModule4s MANPR, OnialinMeodul1es4 ith ed & Onli omm 201 20 Dip C y with and Eruar credited SEO h Feb ment Ac 27t e nag l Ma rcia me Com f o e itut Inst CITY CENTRE 30 w al M ed uary i Soc th Febr nd Accredit la 4 2 f Ire o e ut it Inst ions elat lic R Pub ENROL NOW! tel: (01) 283 4579 [email protected] www.fitzwilliaminsitutegroup.ie Also Available by Distance Learning LAST CHANCE! LIMITED PLACES! CALL 01 283 4579 • 01 283 5259 . . Dip Prog a Jav . og. Dipcle Pr a a in Or lom E A ING Dip ACL V R QL JA AMMied R rtif le O PL/S ING Dip in ROG cle Ce odu P ith Oraaration M2014 p y w Pre uar ited n cred m Exa 13th Ja agement Ac n l Ma rcia me Com e of itut t s In Brochure from 3 GRAember 201 O R P Dec ited red Acc ent gem ana M l rcia me Com e of itut Inst 3rd . ma PG Prog iplo a eD Jav uat d a tgr Pos in A NG JAVRAMMI ent lopm P eve , PH G pp D uting ce PROndroid Ad CompExperien A 3 k lou with ules, C ed Wor er 201 Mod Arrang ecemb ccredited A & ent hD 4t em nag l Ma rcia me om C f eo itut Inst ENROL NOW! tel: (01) 283 4579 [email protected] www.fitzwilliaminsitutegroup.ie Also Available by Distance Learning www.FITZWILIAMINSTITUTEGROUP.ie 18 MeTrO HeralD Wednesday, November 27, 2013 D body matters I’m helping to break the stigma of HIV Alex Sparrowhawk, 28, talks to Vicki-Marie Cossar about living with HIV and how he is hoping to change people’s misconceptions about the condition ‘T hat’s the thing about hIV; if you keep it a secret it makes people think there’s something to hide,’ says alex sparrowhawk, who is hIV positive. ‘By speaking out, I’m putting a face to the virus, showing people my plaining the journey and explaining helpfacts. that way, I’m help ing to break down the stigma associated with gay men and the disease.’ the 28-year-old was diagnosed with the virus four years ago after a one-night stand. ‘I wouldn’t say I slept around when I was younger,’ he says. ‘I usually used protection but this was one of the times I didn’t and it was just bad luck.’ Despite scientific advances in treating the condition and laws to protect people living with it against discrimination, there is still stigma around hIV, something sparrowha hawk says is born of ‘fear and ignorance’. hIV is a long-term medical condition. ho however, lack of kno knowledge and assumptions about how it is transmitted fuel negative connotations which, in turn, discourage people from being tested for the virus. HEALTH & FITNESS CLUB the terrence higClub Vitae, Maldron Hotel Cardiff Lane gins trust’s ask Me Tel: 01 6439502 \| Email: [email protected] about hIV will be launched on World aids Day this sunday. sparrowhawk is an ambassador for the campaign, which Corporate Membership Now Available! Club Facilities • 22 metre swimming pool • Sauna, jacuzzi & steam room • Over 60 pieces of cardio equipment • Resistance & free weights area Bring this advert to attain your complimentary pass to the Club • Stretch & Abs area • Fully air conditioned • Beauty Therapy rooms • A wide range of Studio Classes - including Pilates, Swimming Lessons, Spinning, Hour of Power & many more... GeT in early Speaking up: Alex Sparrowhawk tested HIV-positive after a one-night stand aims to help dispel these myths around hIV. however, could initiatives such as this encourage people to have unprotected sex because they think hIV is no longer to be feared? ‘hIV is not the death sentence it once was,’ says Jason Warriner (pictured left) clinical director at the terrence higgins trust. ‘But the reality is no one wants to live with this virus. having hIV means taking medication every day, sometimes with unpleasant side- effects. there is no cure. People need the facts about hIV so they can take the necessary steps to protect their sexual health.’ Give the Gift of massage this Christmas 3 or 6 month mememberships available for Zenergy Clinic. 6 month €135 13 Fade Street Dublin 2 or [email protected] www.zenergy.ie Tel: (01) 611 1100 M: 087 099 0298 human immunodeficiency virus attacks the body’s immune system – its defence against diseases. the virus kills off the white blood cells that fight diseases (called CD4 cells), leaving sufferers open to infections such as tB, some cancers, oral thrush, pneumonia and meningitis. this is called aids (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). You don’t die from hIV or aids, you die from the infections that take advantage of a weakened immune system. hIV is not passed on through spitting, biting or sharing eating utensils. the symptoms of hIV are flu-like, with a fever and sore throat the most common. the hIV In Ireland 2012 report found a 160 per cent increase in hIV diagnosis among gay and bisexual men between 2005 and 2012, and said the average age of diagnosis had also dropped, from 38 to 32. In the first two quarters of 2013, there were 165 new hIV diagnoses notified to the health Protection surveillance Centre – 82 of whom were men who had sex with men and 56 of whom were heterosexual (29 male, 27 female). ‘Without treatment, a person with hIV will become seriously ill and ultimately die,’ says Warriner. ‘that’s why it’s so important to break down the stigma that can put people off getting tested. today, it’s always better to know your hIV status. It’s not a condition anyone would choose to live with but, with the right treatment, a person with hIV can live a full and healthy life well into old age. Condoms remain the best way to protect your sexual health.’ sparrowhawk was on a plane returning from a week in France when he first felt ill. ‘I had a headache but thought it was sunstroke,’ he says. ‘then I felt fluey, so I went to get tested. the test came back negative and I was so relieved. But I had a cough that just wouldn’t go, so three months later I On average, HIV sufferers die ten years earlier if they are diagnosed late. Delaying testing allows the HIV virus to damage the immune system. HIV treatment is free for everyone in Ireland. If you test positive, as long as you test early and start treatment, you can expect to live as long as someone without HIV. Someone who is diagnosed late, after the point at which they should have started treatment, is nine times more likely to die within a year of receiving their diagnosis than someone who tests in good time. went for another test and this time it was positive.’ sparrowhawk’s CD4 count was just 213. the average person has a count of between 600 and 1,200 and his hIV viral load – the amount of hIV in the blood was 79,000 (copies of the virus per millilitre of blood). the load can range from more than one million in the early stages of infection to less than 40 after medication – classed as undetectable. ‘When they told me, I just felt numb,’ he says. ‘It’s hard to describe but it was like a silence had descended over me. I had a million questions but couldn’t think what to ask first. so I went back to work and kept it to myself for about a week. I just wanted to be treated normally and to deal with it in my own time.’ a week later he told his close friends but he didn’t tell his family for two years. ‘I didn’t want them to worry about me and I needed to get my head around it before they started asking questions,’ he said. sparrowhawk wanted to take control of the situation so he D Wednesday, November 27, 2013 METRO HERALD 19 [email protected] to advertise, call 01 7055010 wHAT wE LEARnED THis wEEk Eyes on the prize Rachel Byrne and Aoife Ryan, fifth year students at Presentation Secondary School, Thurles, Co Tipperary, with their project The Amplitude Of Accommodation Of Students’ Eyes, which was one of 15 projects from across the country exhibited at the national final of SciFest 2013 Picture: naoise culhane Hiv – nO LOngER A DEATH sEnTEncE ‘In the 1980s and early 1990s, there were no effective treatments for HIV and most people with it were eventually diagnosed with Aids and died,’ says HIV consultant Dr Michael Brady. ‘But now, anti-HIV drugs can control the virus, so far fewer people develop serious HIV-related illnesses and, if treated properly, people with HIV can expect a normal life expectancy. A person on effective HIV treatment should have an undetectable viral load. ‘This is a sign that the treatment is working. ‘Having a high viral load means you’re much more likely to pass on the virus if you don’t practise safe sex. Having an undetectable viral load means there is almost no risk of transmitting HIV.’ Brady adds that some of the most common myths include people thinking HIV and Aids are the same thing, that HIV will kill you and that someone with HIV can’t or shouldn’t have a relationship with someone without HIV. ‘In 2013, a person with HIV can live a long and full life,’ adds Brady. ‘They can enjoy healthy relationships irrespective of their partner’s HIV status, they can even start a family with less than one per cent risk of passing on the virus.’ Results where achieved in a one day procedure with our top DHI surgeons Re Before dure 12 months post proce 7 million hair implants decided to ‘come out’ on Facebook a year ago. ‘I wasn’t willing to hide from it any more,’ he said. ‘I wanted to stand up and break the stigma and become an activist to raise awareness. Everyone’s really supportive.’ Sparrowhawk’s HIV viral load is now undetectable and in August his CD4 count was back to 577. He has also found love with a boyfriend who is HIV negative. ‘I always thought getting HIV meant a death sentence,’ he adds. ‘But there are so many myths about it and because of this I feel strongly that something needs to be done to raise more awareness. There isn’t enough education in schools about it and the government needs to do more. There’s been no national HIV campaign since 1987. I can only see this being more of a problem in the future unless something is done.’ For more information about World Aids Day visit www.worldaidsday.org. For information about HIV, visit www.dublinaidsalliance.ie DHI have carried out over 7 million hair implants. That's more than all our other competitors combined. Oh... and by the way, that’s over 100,000 clients, spread across 42 years in 30 clinics worldwide... so there. Our prices start from just €3000 with 10% Off all procedures booked in November/December Based at the Beacon Medical Campus. Book your free consultation today on 01 2937920 or visit www.dhi.ie gEnE Link TO bOOzy MicE Zero emissions for farming ScieNtiStS have identified a gene that regulates alcohol consumption which when damaged can make mice drink to excess. the study found while normal mice have little or no interest in alcohol, mice with a specific genetic mutation overwhelmingly chose water containing diluted ethanol. they found these mice would even perform tasks to win an alcohol ‘reward’, and would drink so much they became inebriated. the British research, published in Nature communications, may help scientists develop an understanding of alcoholism in humans. FARMIng should be completely carbon-neutral by 2050, politicians have claimed. With carbon emission levels from Ireland’s agricultural sector currently higher than the EU average, the government has been urged to set a new target in revised climate change laws. Agriculture contributes about 30 per cent of the country’s emissions, compared to an EU average of less than ten per cent, an Oireachtas committee found. Its report recommended farming be brought in line with other sectors which have set zero-emission targets. MORning AfTER piLL wARnings the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said it is looking into whether morning-after emergency contraceptive pills fail to work in women over a certain weight and will decide whether to add a warning to the drug’s label. the agency was reacting to reports that european health regulators have ordered a label change for the emergency contraceptive product by French drugmaker hRA Pharma sold under the brand name Norlevo, requiring it to include the drug’s diminishing effectiveness based on weight. 20 METRO HERALD Wednesday, November 27, 2013 puzzles NEMI by Lise Aries Mar 21 – Apr 20 Today the Moon sweeps over Mars. The upside of this is that it can give you a push to get on with any tasks that you have been putting off. Yet, it could also make you less patient and a little irritable. Use this excess of nervous energy to get busy. For your forecast, call 15609 114 70 Taurus Apr 21 – May 21 With an enlivening Moon/Mars link, you can feel sociable. There continues to be quite a delicious array of planetary energy to give you the confidence to say what you want but with a persuasive, charming, touch that few will resist. METROKU Easy, Moderate and Challenging. For solutions, visit Metro.co.uk/metroku For your forecast, call 15609 114 71 Gemini May 22 – Jun 21 You might find your mood is sensitive today and your feelings could be close to the surface. This could also make you more defensive than usual. However, if you feel in need of some extra personal cheer, you may decide that a treat is in order. For your forecast, call 15609 114 72 Cancer Jun 22 – Jul 23 Pluto has been strengthening your desire to have your say in recent years, and if done right, that has been no bad thing. Today, there are two influences bubbling away for you which could see you decide to make a generous or amorous gesture. For your forecast, call 15609 114 73 Leo Jul 24 – Aug 23 If you are tempted to spoil someone, try to be conscious of what your motives might be. Your factual take may be a bit hazy. Wait a day or two. If you have been generous or helpful to someone in the past, they may acknowledge this fulsomely. PEARLs BEFORE swINE For your forecast, call 15609 114 74 Virgo Aug 24 – Sep 23 If anyone seems to put seemingly unfair obstacles in your way, you may find yourself bridling at them. Yet, some subtle vibes suggest you should try to give people the benefit of any doubt. Someone may soothe your fears. Libra Sep 24 – Oct 23 Little things you would normally shrug off could really get under your skin today. Knowing this is the Moon and Mars up to mischief will hopefully give you the reassurance to retain your usual diplomatic cool. For your forecast, call 15609 114 76 scorpio Oct 24 – Nov 22 You might find yourself considering a change of plan when it comes to your social life. Fortunately, you can probably keep the goodwill of anyone you make changes to if you are sincere. For your forecast, call 15609 114 77 sagittarius Nov 23 – Dec 21 You might find yourself wanting to assert yourself today but ensure you get your facts right. With Neptune still mischief-making, you may have a tendency to react to something you might later see in a different light. For your forecast, call 15609 114 78 Capricorn Dec 22 – Jan 20 Mystery continues to potentially upset a planetary scenario, which nevertheless seems hopeful. As much as one situation can get you down, bear in mind the old maxim that fact can be stranger than fiction. Ignore any petty gossip. For your forecast, call 15609 114 79 Aquarius Jan 21 – Feb 19 Uranus in Aries for the past couple of years has aroused your more outspoken side. Today, you may feel that when it comes to something shared or financial, you simply have to cut through the froth and tell it how it is. For your forecast, call 15609 114 80 Pisces Feb 20 – Mar 20 Your competitive instincts could be aroused today. Or, if you are wanting a fuller love life, you may reach out to someone you like. The one thing you should try to avoid is putting anyone on a pedestal. Stay grounded. For your forecast, call 15609 114 81 DOWN 1 Kingly (5) 2 Victor (6) 3 Former (3) 4 Contend (6) 5 Entreat (7) 8 Petition (7) 11 Fall out (7) 13 Vagary (7) 15 Fret (6) 16 Departure (6) 17 Haste (5) 20 Deed (3) Yesterday’s Solutions Across: 1 Out-of-doors; 7 Alder; 8 Mastiff; 10 Farewell; 11 Envy; 13 Throng; 15 Redden; 17 Hold; 18 Catacomb; 21 Diploma; 22 Arena; 23 Deportment. Down: 1 Order; 2 Throwing; 3 Female; 4 Oust; 5 Reigned; 6 Far-fetched; 9 Flying-boat; 12 Separate; 14 Relapse; 16 Vacant; 19 Overt; 20 Solo. Astrology calls cost 1.27 euros per min from a BT landline. Live Services cost 2.40 euros per minute. Calls from mobiles/other networks may cost more. Callers must be 18 or over to use this service and have the bill payers permission. For entertainment purposes only. All calls are recorded. PhonePayPlus regulated(ComReg in ROI) UK SP: StreamLive Ltd, NR7 0HR, 08700 234 567. ROI SP:Moveda, 1 Courtyard Business Park, Orchard Lane, Blackrock, Co Dublin, 0818 241 398 ENIGMA In medieval Europe these in bright attire used to please the ladies of the court in pairs, with their cheerful songs and airs. WHO AM I? A singer, I was born in Edinburgh in 1975. I am one quarter Chinese. I won the award for Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2006 Brit Awards and my hit singles have included Suddenly I See and The Other Side of the World. WHO, WHAT, WHERE & WHEN? WHO… in theatre was born Emilie Charlotte le Breton? WHAT... nationality was playwright and novelist August Strindberg? WHERE... is Grozny the state capital? WHEN... was Interpol established? SCRIBBLE BOX ACROSS 6 Conveyance (7) 7 Extreme (5) 9 Blemish (5) 10 Liberate (7) 12 Swindle (11) 14 Coiffeur (11) 18 Excursionist (7) 19 Spurious (5) 21 Deficient (5) 22 Get (7) For a live one-to-one consultation with one of my gifted psychics, call 15809 113 68 or 1800 719 688 to book using credit card QuIz Crossword No. 867 See next edition for solutions QUIZ ANSWERS: ENIGMA: Troubadour. WHO AM I? KT Tunstall. WHO, WHAT, WHERE & WHEN? Lillie Langtry; Swedish; Chechnya; 1923. QUICK CROsswORd For your forecast, call 15609 114 75 rugby Wednesday, November 27, 2013 METRO HERALD 21 cApTAin cuLLEn READy TO sTREngHTEn LEinsTER Hopeful: Leinster’s Leo Cullen is coming back from his Achilles tear Picture: iNPHO LEInStER confirmed that Brian O’Driscoll’s exit from Sunday’s bruising international against new Zealand was the result of a concussion, meaning the Ireland centre will have to pass through the sport’s strict protocols before returning to the field. O’Driscoll was unlikely, along with heavily-utilised Ireland players such as Cian Healy, Sean O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip, Rob and Dave Kearney and Mike Ross, to face this weekend’s Pro12 opponents Llanelli, but club captain Leo Cullen could feature for the first time this season after the second row’s recovery from an Achilles injury gathered pace over the past week. Elsewhere, Rory Best should be fit for Ireland’s Six nations campaign after the Ulster hooker had surgery to stabilise the broken arm suffered against the All Blacks, however his expected return date of mid-to-late January would rule him out of the rest of Ulster’s Heineken Cup pool campaign. Fellow forward Lewis aiming for a winter boost by ADAM HAy-nicHOLLs LEWIS HAmILTon is confident a winter’s worth of input into next year’s mercedes will ensure he avoids another ‘average’ campaign. one victory, five poles and fourth place in the drivers’ standings represents a reasonable haul from Hamilton at the end of his debut season with the team. When you consider before the year began Hamilton was not expecting to be too competitive, he and team-mate nico Rosberg have performed well to hand mercedes second in the constructors’ for the first time. However, on reflection, the British driver claims he ‘should have done more’ but points out the fact the car was not his and not developed to his tastes when he first arrived. With a year under his belt, and with F1 facing its biggest rules change for formula1 Hoping for better things: Hamilton many years next season, Hamilton now has the opportunity to mould the 2014 mercedes to his liking. ‘When I was at mcLaren, going into my first year I’d already been there a period of time,’ said Hamilton. ‘I’d done a lot of simulator running to really get on top of things and changed things to the way I liked them, and the car worked for me. ‘over the following years the car was built for me and I had a lot of input into that. ‘This year’s car has been built for nico, and developed with michael [Schumacher], who drives differently to me. So it has been a really difficult season in terms of being able to extract the most from the car. ‘Actually, it’s not been such a bad year given it has been my first and with a car I’ve not known. ‘There are so many things I have been learning, with lots of problems throughout the season. ‘nico has been here from the first year, so the stuff I’m learning I’m sure is similar to what he was learning in the first year. ‘So I’m hoping next year I have a much better understanding.’ Seb will only get better, Horner warns his rivals RED BULL team principal Christian Horner believes Formula One is still to see the best of Sebastian Vettel. Vettel equalled Alberto Ascari’s 60-year-old record with his ninth consecutive victory in Brazil on Sunday. But Horner is sure there is more to come from the German. ‘It’s been an unbelievable You ain’t seen nothing yet: Seb performance from Sebastian,’ reflected Horner. ‘He has driven with such consistency, accuracy, speed, and what he has achieved this year has been quite outstanding. ‘I don’t think he can quite believe what he has achieved – nine consecutive victories in one season. ‘I’ve said before he will continue to improve and we’ve yet to see the best of him. We are just starting to see that now.’ Iain Henderson could be absent for a similar period after scans revealed a hamstring tear that will take up to six weeks to heal. Meanwhile, there was good news for Connacht in the form of a two-year contract extension for Robbie Henshaw. the 20-year-old has committed to the Sportsground until at least 2016. Quick recovery: Cuthbert cuthbert set to return for clash with Wallabies BRITISH and Irish Lions wing Alex Cuthbert has made a surprise return to the Wales team for Saturday’s clash with Australia in Cardiff. Cuthbert suffered an ankle injury during Cardiff Blues’ Heineken Cup victory over Toulon last month and missed the opening three autumn Tests against South Africa, Argentina and Tonga. But his record at the highest level as a proven try scorer means he is being rushed back. Elsewhere, flanker Dan Lydiate features in the back row with Justin Tipuric on the bench, while Dan Biggar will play at fly-half. 22 METRO HERALD Wednesday, November 27, 2013 D Basle ..........................1 Chelsea .................. 0 Steaua Bucharest ....0 Schalke .................. 0 table Chelsea Basle Schalke S Bucharest P 5 5 5 5 W 3 2 2 0 D 0 2 1 3 L F 2 11 1 5 2 4 2 2 by JACK fOx A Pts 3 9 4 8 6 7 9 3 ArsenAl’s progression into the knockout stages is still in the balance despite Jack Wilshere’s lightning-quick opener setting them on the road to victory at the emirates stadium. The Gunners midfielder bagged a brace, with his first goal – the fastest by an englishman in the competition – coming after just 33 seconds as Arsenal saw off group whipping-boys Marseille. However, with Borussia Dortmund beating napoli, it means the Gunners will probably need a point from their final group game against rafael Benitez’s side in Italy next month to be certain of reaching the last 16 of the competition. Arsenal’s evening had got off to the perfect start as Wilshere found the net champions league gRoup F Arsenal ..................... 2 Marseille ............... 0 B Dortmund ............. 3 Napoli ..................... 1 table Arsenal B Dortmund Napoli Marseille P 5 5 5 5 W 4 3 3 0 D 0 0 0 0 L 1 2 2 5 F A Pts 8 3 12 9 5 9 8 9 9 4 12 0 gRoup h Celtic .........................0 AC Milan.................3 fixTuREs Champions League Group A Bayer Leverkusen v Man Utd................... TV Sky Sports 2 Shakhtar Donetsk v Real Sociedad ............... Group D CSKA Moscow v Bayern Munich ..............(5pm) Man City v Viktoria Plzen ........................ TV Sky Sports 4 Penalty Mes: ozil failed from the spot Missing: Lionel Messi star duo to take a rare night off LIoNeL MessI and Cristiano ronaldo always seem to score don’t they? Well, not this week as both are injured. Amazingly, it means neither of them will be on target in a Champions League group matchday for the first time since the sixth round of matches in 2011, according to Infostrada sports. sucker-punch: Jack Wilshere, main picture and inset, enjoys his first-minute strike TRANsfER TALK out: Cristiano ronaldo u NeWCAsTLe may have a fight on their hands to keep Yohan Cabaye beyond this season. The one-time Arsenal target craves Champions League football and will assess his future in the summer. u NottiNghAM Forest are leading the chase for West Brom midfielder graham Dorrans but fellow Championship sides Derby and Reading are also interested. PiCtURe: ReUteRS with less than a minute on the clock. The england midfielder burst down the right before cutting inside and curling his shot beyond goalkeeper steve Mandanda. Mesut Ozil missed the chance to double the lead with a tame penalty after Aaron ramsey was adjudged to have been fouled �� replays later showed the offence took place outside the box. Arsenal were becoming increasingly frustrated by their visitors until Wilshere calmed nerves with his second. ramsey slid the ball through to Ozil, whose cross into the box was superbly guided home by Wilshere’s boot – the 21-year-old’s first career double. Theo Walcott capped a fine night for the hosts with a welcome return from injury as a substitute late on. @MetrohSport Diego tempted by arsenal interest WoLFsburG playmaker Diego has revealed that Arsenal are interested in signing him at the end of the season. The 28-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the current campaign, said: ‘I know there is interest from Premier League clubs. I have heard one of them is Arsenal.’ Diego will reportedly look to move away from Wolfsburg when his deal expires and could even agree a pre-contract move in January. southampton and Tottenham have also been linked with the midfielder (pictured), who has 33 caps for brazil and a wealth of experience. D	i don't know
The Hippocratic Oath is taken by what profession?	NOVA \| Doctors' Diaries \| The Hippocratic Oath Today: Doctors' Responses \| PBS The Hippocratic Oath Today: Doctors' Responses I prefer to think in terms of "a" Hippocratic Oath as opposed to "the" Hippocratic Oath, and in these terms I believe it is as relevant today as when the concept was initially introduced in classical times. The taking of a Hippocratic Oath occurs at a critical time in the development of physicians, setting the moment separate from the previous process and laying the groundwork for their future careers and their future care of patients. I do not see it as a legally binding oath, but as a sign of personal importance, commitment, and solemnity, just as when we mark the birth of our young, choose life's partners, and bury our dead. The exact wording we use to mark these events changes through time and through cultures, but the basic human emotions that these words wish to convey are universal: celebration, commitment, and mourning. Similarly, a Hippocratic Oath intends to convey our inner emotions and thoughts as we pass from one stage of our journey (medical school) to the next stages of training and providing care. Whether we do this through the words of other times (the Hippocratic Oath) or through the words of our present times (modern iterations of a Hippocratic Oath), we are bonding with our fellow students in the moment, joining our mentors in the present, and recognizing our predecessors. Yes, I believe "a" Hippocratic Oath is relevant—for me in June of 1990 (when I took it), in March of 2001, and every day of my life in this profession in which I am honored to be a member. What is the essence of a Hippocratic Oath? Simple and echoed throughout time, whatever the words: "May I care for others as I would have them care for me." —Daniel G. Deschler, M.D., FACS The classical Hippocratic oath is at once largely irrelevant to medical practice while also grossly inadequate to express the duties that we owe to our patients. Think of the key points from each of its eight paragraphs: Three paragraphs (1, 2, and 8) occupy themselves with the oath or the medical guild, including swearing to gods who are either not relevant or perhaps offensive to one's religion, proposing fee-splitting with your teacher as well as financial support to him or her or their progeny while passing on knowledge only to others in the guild, and again asking for reward or punishment for upholding or disregarding this oath. Little here relates the new physician to his or her patients. Another two paragraphs (5 and 6) are curios, promising to leave surgery to others (it used to be the barbers) and forswearing sex with your patients or their families. The first is wrong and outmoded, given that surgery has been a core skill in medicine for hundreds of years now, while the second hardly sets a sufficiently high moral standard for our profession. Only three paragraphs (3, 4, and 7) apply in any serious fashion to what most physicians and laypeople would expect to be the content of a solemn oath at medical school graduation. The first of these suggests giving good advice on diet and keeping patients from harm. The second prohibits both euthanasia and abortion. The third promises patient confidentiality. Now, giving good dietary advice is certainly laudable, but it hardly expresses a comprehensive commitment to provide knowledgeable treatment of all sorts, without performing a sort of biblical exegesis. Keeping patients from harm, by contrast, is a critical concept to any relevant medical oath, as is the confidentiality of patient information. However, many physicians are fully supportive of abortions, and some physicians are sympathetic to aiding in euthanasia for terminally ill patients precisely to "keep them from harm." To summarize the operational part of the Hippocratic Oath, then, all physicians would swear to (1) give good dietary advice, (2) keep the patient from harm, and (3) maintain confidentiality; would probably swear (4) to abjure euthanasia; and might swear (5) to abjure abortion. The revised oath by Dr. Louis Lasagna, which I am reasonably sure we used at my Harvard Medical School graduation in 1969, contrasts sharply with the uninspiring curios of the [classical] Hippocratic Oath. Lasagna picked up on many of the major themes of our profession: Do positive good, not just keep from harm. Promote our knowledge and skills for the benefit of the patient. Provide sound advice and guidance to the person and family, not just manipulate the diseased organ systems. Focus on prevention. His oath also specifically includes the important Hippocratic concepts of avoiding harm and keeping confidentiality. Lasagna's message comes dramatically closer to expressing the mission and complexity of our profession and offers the appropriate breadth and inspiration for the graduation of new physicians as well as for all of our personal renewal from time to time. His oath, or a version of it, is something I did and could swear to. As for the classical Hippocratic Oath, I'll think of it every time I am tempted to split fees with my teachers or sleep with my patients. —Steven R. Kanner, M.D., MSM Massachusetts General Hospital Weston Weston, Massachusetts I do not have strong feelings about the oath. I think it is an outstanding, profound declaration, especially considering when it was written. There are a few items that are not pertinent anymore, but I still like to see it included in med school graduation ceremonies, at least in the printed program. I graduated from med school (University of Minn.) in 1958. We had a small ceremony prior to the main graduation. There was a printed version somewhat similar to Louis Lasagna's PC version. I don't remember if we recited it or not. I really doubt it, but I can't recall for certain. At any rate, it is nice as a tradition but probably more of a big deal to the lay public than to physicians. —Anonymous The longstanding guiding principle of health care is primum non nocere, first do no harm. While this was a logical guidepost for medicine in the ancient Greece of Hippocrates, it is clearly dated in a world where people recognize and accept risk driving automobiles, smoking cigarettes, skiing, bungee jumping, having cosmetic facelifts, and donating kidneys and portions of their liver and lungs to friends and relatives in need of organ transplants. Health-care providers are called upon to improve and maintain the health of our patients, a mission that has become increasingly complex as our knowledge of disease and our therapeutic armamentarium have grown. Given that surgeons' ministrations routinely include wounds we intentionally create, taken literally, my colleagues and I violate the Hippocratic concept of primum non nocere daily. Our society, founded on the Jeffersonian concept of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," has consonantly invested heavily in research and development of new knowledge and methods to prolong and enhance human life. Our modern first principle of health policy and medical decision-making should be that patients should decide autonomously how they will be treated, provided their decisions do not potentially injure others. For the 15 percent of GDP that our healthcare system costs, providers should be able to deliver: 1) frank and meaningful advice with regard to risks and benefits of all reasonable treatment strategies, including no treatment at all; 2) effective treatments free of all needless risks; and 3) a continuing stream of innovative solutions to healthcare problems for which our present standard therapies are inadequate. I propose the creation within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of a Center for Healthcare System Performance. The goals of this center would be to ensure continuous improvement in the quality of healthcare delivery. Quality would be measured based on the expected deliverables of our healthcare system, assuring: 1) patient autonomy, access, dignity, and convenience; 2) measurable, maximally beneficial treatment outcomes with minimal risk; and 3) a rational and efficient process of introducing new treatments. Intrinsic to the development of new therapies is the recognition that higher levels of risk and uncertainty are acceptable for treatments for problems for which present solutions are poor. Conversely, new treatments for which standard therapies are highly effective should require rigorous documentation of safety. The Center would coordinate activities of the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and Healthcare Finance Administration to ensure their synergistic approach to maximizing the quality of American healthcare delivery. We should set the expectation to continue to lead the world with measurable achievement of goals analogous to our efforts in spaceflight and environmental preservation. Products and services that prolong and enhance life have obvious fundamental appeal. Instead of a timid, primum non nocere approach to our imperfect healthcare system, let us systematically improve its performance. Carpe diem. —Dr. Eric Rose	Doctor
In what state is Kent State University located?	NOVA - Official Website \| The Hippocratic Oath Today NOVA Posted 03.27.01 NOVA The Hippocratic Oath is one of the oldest binding documents in history. Here you'll find classical and modern versions of the oath as well as a brief article that offers a sense of the controversial nature of the oath today. Follow links at the bottom of the page to post your own comment or read those of others. While Hippocrates, the so-called father of medicine, lived in the early 5th century B.C., the famous oath that bears his name emerged a century later. No one knows who first penned it. Enlarge Photo credit: Peter Paul Rubens/public domain The oath: Meaningless Relic or Invaluable Moral Guide? The Hippocratic Oath is one of the oldest binding documents in history. Written in antiquity, its principles are held sacred by doctors to this day: treat the sick to the best of one's ability, preserve patient privacy, teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation, and so on. "The Oath of Hippocrates," holds the American Medical Association's Code of Medical Ethics (1996 edition), "has remained in Western civilization as an expression of ideal conduct for the physician." Today, most graduating medical-school students swear to some form of the oath, usually a modernized version. Indeed, oath-taking in recent decades has risen to near uniformity, with just 24 percent of U.S. medical schools administering the oath in 1928 to nearly 100 percent today. Yet paradoxically, even as the modern oath's use has burgeoned, its content has tacked away from the classical oath's basic tenets. According to a 1993* survey of 150 U.S. and Canadian medical schools, for example, only 14 percent of modern oaths prohibit euthanasia, 11 percent hold convenant with a deity, 8 percent foreswear abortion, and a mere 3 percent forbid sexual contact with patients—all maxims held sacred in the classical version. The original calls for free tuition for medical students and for doctors never to "use the knife" (that is, conduct surgical procedures)—both obviously out of step with modern-day practice. Perhaps most telling, while the classical oath calls for "the opposite" of pleasure and fame for those who transgress the oath, fewer than half of oaths taken today insist the taker be held accountable for keeping the pledge. Indeed, a growing number of physicians have come to feel that the Hippocratic Oath is inadequate to address the realities of a medical world that has witnessed huge scientific, economic, political, and social changes, a world of legalized abortion, physician-assisted suicide, and pestilences unheard of in Hippocrates' time. Some doctors have begun asking pointed questions regarding the oath's relevance: In an environment of increasing medical specialization, should physicians of such different stripes swear to a single oath? With governments and health-care organizations demanding patient information as never before, how can a doctor maintain a patient's privacy? Are physicians morally obligated to treat patients with such lethal new diseases as AIDS or the Ebola virus? Other physicians are taking broader aim. Some claim that the principles enshrined in the oath never constituted a shared core of moral values, that the oath's pagan origins and moral cast make it antithetical to beliefs held by Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Others note that the classical Oath makes no mention of such contemporary issues as the ethics of experimentation, team care, or a doctor's societal or legal responsibilities. (Most modern oaths, in fact, are penalty-free, with no threat to potential transgressors of loss of practice or even of face.) With all this in mind, some doctors see oath-taking as little more than a pro-forma ritual with little value beyond that of upholding tradition. "The original oath is redolent of a convenant, a solemn and binding treaty," writes Dr. David Graham in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association (12/13/00). "By contrast, many modern oaths have a bland, generalized air of 'best wishes' about them, being near-meaningless formalities devoid of any influence on how medicine is truly practiced." Some physicians claim what they call the "Hypocritic Oath" should be radically modified or abandoned altogether. Below, see classical and modern versions of the oath. At the bottom of the page, you'll find links to pages where you can read comments by [doctors] and [non-doctors] and add your own. *Orr, R. D., N. Pang, E. D. Pellegrino, and M. Siegler. 1997. "Use of the Hippocratic Oath: A Review of Twentieth-Century Practice and a Content Analysis of Oaths Administered in Medical Schools in the U.S. and Canada in 1993." The Journal of Clinical Ethics 8 (Winter): 377-388. Â Few medical schools today require students to recite the classical version of the oath. Enlarge Photo credit: public domain Hippocratic Oath: Classical Version I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant: To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art—if they desire to learn it—without fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else. I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art. I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this work. Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves. What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such things shameful to be spoken about. If I fulfill this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all this be my lot. —Translation from the Greek by Ludwig Edelstein. From The Hippocratic Oath: Text, Translation, and Interpretation , by Ludwig Edelstein. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1943. Â Just as medical textbooks have come a long way from Hippocrates' archaic writings, the modern versions of the oath veer far from the classical. Enlarge Photo credit: Aldus Manutius/public domain Hippocratic Oath: Modern Version I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant: I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow. I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism. I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug. I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery. I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God. I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick. I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure. I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm. If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help. —Written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University, and used in many medical schools today. Editor's note: To add your own comment as a doctor or a non-doctor , and to read the comments of other doctors and non-doctors, go to the following pages, which appear on the original website for NOVA's program "Doctors' Diaries":	i don't know
What does the DSM-IV define as: A. Disturbance in the normal fluency and time patterning of speech, characterized by frequent occurrences of one or more of the following: (1) sound and syllable repetitions (2) sound prolongations (3) interjections (4) broken words (5) audible or silent blocking (6) circumlocutions (word substitutions to avoid problematic words) (7) words produced with an excess of physical tension (8) monosyllabic whole-word repetitions B. The disturbance in fluency interferes with academic or occupational achievement or with social communication. C. If a speech-motor or sensory deficit is present, the speech difficulties are in excess of those usually associated with these problems.	Stuttering Symptoms and DSM-IV Diagnosis Stuttering Symptoms and DSM-IV Diagnosis Stuttering Symptoms and Diagnosis Overview: Stuttering symptoms and diagnostic criteria follow below. While some of these stuttering symptoms may be recognized by family, teachers, legal and medical professionals, and others, only properly trained mental health professionals (psychologists, psychiatrists, professional counselors etc.) can or should even attempt to make a mental health diagnosis. Many additional factors are considered in addition to the stuttering symptoms in making proper diagnosis, including frequently medical and psychological testing considerations. This information on stuttering symptoms and diagnostic criteria are for information purposes only and should never replace the judgment and comprehensive assessment of a trained mental health clinician. Diagnostic criteria for 307.0 Stuttering Disturbance In the normal fluency and time patterning of speech (inappropriate for the individual's age). characterized by frequent occurrences of one or more of the following: (1) sound and syllable repetitions (2) sound prolongations (4) broken words (e.g., pauses within a word) (5) audible or silent blocking (filled or unfilled pauses in speech) (6) circumlocutions (word substitutions to avoid problematic words) (7) words produced with an excess of physical tension (8) monosyllabic whole-word repetitions (e.g., "I-I-I I see him") B. The disturbance in fluency interferes with academic or occupational achievement or with social communication. C. If a speech-motor or sensory deficit is present, the speech difficulties are in excess of those usually associated with these problems. Coding Note: If a speech-motor or sensory deficit or a neurological condition is present, code the condition on Axis III.	Stuttering
What famed documentarian, a staple of PBS, has produced films on The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, World War II, and National Parks?	G Neiders Dissertation 23009-2 G Neiders Dissertation 23009-2 Theoretical Development Of A Proposed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Based Model To Treat Persons With Chronic Perseverative Stuttering Syndrome Copyright: Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC) ABSTRACT THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT OF A PROPOSED RATIONAL EMOTIVEBEHAVIOR THERAPY BASED MODEL TO TREAT PERSONS WITH CHRONICPERSEVERATIVE STUTTERING SYNDROME(Under the direction of Norman Mar, Ph.D.)This workwas motivated by meta-analyses of outcomestudies in which a third of individuals who received current stuttering therapies experienced minimal positiveresults. These individuals remain afflicted with life-long chronic stuttering.This theoretical workapproaches chronic stuttering from a new, revolutionary point of view. First, the stuttering problem is defined holistically as ChronicPerseverative Stuttering Syndrome (CPSS) that includes dysfunctional ideation, emoting, behaviors, perceptions, and life choices of the person who stutters. The holistic definitionaddresses abnormal visible or audible speech and non-speech producing musclefunctioning during speech production, avoidance behaviors while speaking, self-defeatingattitudes and unhealthy negative emotions, and self-limiting life choices.Second, building on the bio-psycho-social model, based on theneuropsychological and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy framework, a stage-by-stagemodel of how developmental stuttering begins and perseveres throughout the lifespan isconstructed. The model begins with epigenetic systems theory and subsequentlyaddresses the pre-natal, birthing, and early language acquisition stages, while alsoaddressing the classical conditioning associating speech with danger and operantconditioning associated with the development of secondary symptoms. Thedevelopmental model includes both unsuccessful and successful therapy experiencestages. More From This User	i don't know
According to the company, the Arm and Hammer logo represents which Roman god, the god of fire and metalworking?	Arm and Hammer \| WordReference Forums Dictionary and thread title search: WordReference Forums spain spanish ¿Alguien sabe si en España hay algún producto similar a "Arm and Hammer"? Arm & Hammer is a registered trademark of Church and Dwight , an American manufacturer of household products. The logo of this brand is a muscular arm holding a hammer . Originally associated only with baking soda , beginning in the 1970s the company began to expand the brand to other products using baking soda as a deodorizing ingredient, including: toothpaste, laundry detergent, underarm deodorant, and cat litter. The Arm & Hammer brand is one of the longest-running and most recognized U.S. trademarks. The Arm & Hammer logo dates back to the 1860s. James A. Church ran a spice business known as Vulcan Spice Mills. According to the company, the Arm and Hammer logo represents Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalworking. Muchas gracias!!	Vulcan
Although the 6th book written, what was the first James Bond film to be released (in 1969)?	Arm & Hammer : Wikis (The Full Wiki) The Full Wiki More info on Arm & Hammer Wikis Note: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles . From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the brand. For the homonymic American industrialist, see Armand Hammer . Arm & Hammer logo Arm & Hammer is a registered trademark of Church and Dwight , an American manufacturer of household products. The logo of this brand is a muscular arm holding a hammer . Originally associated only with baking soda and washing soda , beginning in the 1970s the company began to expand the brand to other products using baking soda as a deodorizing ingredient, including toothpaste , laundry detergent, underarm deodorant, and cat litter. The Arm & Hammer brand is one of the longest-running and most recognized U.S. trademarks. The Arm & Hammer logo dates back to the 1860s. James A. Church ran a spice business known as Vulcan Spice Mills. According to the company, the Arm and Hammer logo represents Vulcan , the Roman god of fire and metalworking. [1] It is often claimed, incorrectly, that the brand name originated with tycoon Armand Hammer , who owned a considerable amount of Church and Dwight stock in the 1980s and served on its board of directors. The Arm & Hammer brand was in use some 31 years before Hammer was born, leading some to speculate that things were actually the other way around and Hammer's father named him after the brand. [2] The Arm and Hammer is also the symbol of the Socialist Labor Party of America (SLP). Originally a stylized representation of the Greek god of fire and forge, Hephaestos (Roman Vulcan ), the muscular male arm with hammer in fist was used prior to the American Civil War as a symbol of the labor movement. [3] Industrial-strength bicarbonate cleaning products are labeled under an Arm & Hammer subsidiary division, ARMEX. References	i don't know
Who is missing: April O'Neil, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael	April O'Neil \| TMNT Wiki \| Fandom powered by Wikia Rise Of The Turtles April O'Neil is a deuteragonist in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . She is portrayed as a best friend of the Turtles and the love interest of Donatello , who first met them when when they saved her from the Kraang , who needed the psychic Kraang-like powers she had gained when she was born for their invasion on Earth. She is very sweet, mature, and brave. Her tessen makes her a very skilled (almost full-on) Kunoichi . Not Your Average Teenage Girl Contents [ show ] Official Description "Most people think that I'm a regular, shy 16-year-old. My friends and I hang out, play video games and eat Pizza. Totally normal if you think of it that way. Except.... my friends are mutant ninja turtles who live in the sewers and the closest thing I have to a father figure is a gigantic rat. So yeah, maybe not so normal. I also keep a record of strange happenings in town on my laptop. Strange, huh? The closest thing I have to a friend is Donnie. He's been there for me when I'm down and stuff like that. He's a good friend to have, you know? I LOVE my turtle friends. They seem like family to me. And Master Splinter - he's like a father to me. Speaking of which, I need to go train with him now. Bye!" - April History Born on November 28, 1995 to psychologist Kirby O'Neil and the granddaughter of a farmer who discovered a Kraang Scout Ship buried underneath his farmhouse in North Hampton and re-awakened the Kraang inside before they experimented on him, April O'Neil and her father were living in New York City when she met the Ninja Turtles and became the love interest of Donatello . From then on, her life had changed forever and she soon found out that she had inherited a psychic power from her great-grandfather and mother that was the result of the Kraang's experiments on them, making her a target for the Kraang. Appearance April is a teenage girl. Like many of her incarnations, April is a Red-head.(she has black hair in the Mirage comics, and blonde and brown hair in the movies). Her hair is up in a ponytail and she has a yellow headband. She is lean, her height is around Raph's, she has freckles, and blue eyes. She wears brown wristbands, wears a yellow and white shirt with a 5 on it, she has a black t-shirt under it, showing black sleeves, she wears a black choker, jean-shorts with black leggings under them, she has blue and white socks, and black boots. In " Panic in the Sewers ", it was revealed she used to wear glasses and once had braces. Personality Not your typical teenager, April is more comfortable around the Turtles than around her high-school peers. She always knew she wasn't meant to live a normal life, but now that extra-dimensional creatures bent on world domination have kidnapped her super-intelligent scientist father, things will never be “normal” again. She also shows to be stubborn at times such as The Kraang Conspiracy where she constantly insists on coming into TCRI with the turtles even though it's very dangerous and she's not an experienced kunoichi. Like Raphael, she can be very judgmental (for example - while she was trying to discourage Leo fom meeting wih Karai). Bio April O'Neil may not fit in at school with her peers, but when it comes to the Turtles , she's all about team green! April is the Turtle's link to the "real world" ever since she was thrown into their lives when The Kraang kidnapped her genius father. Clever and independent, this gal's got guts to spare and a mind of mischief. Get ready, Turtles. Splinter is even teaching her the ways of the Ninja. Abilities and Skills Ninjutsu: After Splinter began to train her in the ways of Ninjutsu, she became much faster, stealthier, and became a teenage warrior that is fond of self-defense. She does lack offense power, however, which is demonstrated during her first fight with Karai. However, as she continues to train with Splinter her skills and fighting improve. Telepathy: She has a rare gift that can help her sense certain aspects of other beings, such as psychic abilities. It was this ability that helped her realize that the Monkey shown in "Monkey Brains" was actually a missing scientist. This ability was later used more often and expanded on in Season 2, where it is revealed that she is actually half human and half Kraang. Danger Sense: She can sense upcoming danger and read the minds of the Kraang, though the extent of which she can read them is unclear. Also, when in danger and filled with adrenaline, she can emit what is possibly a telekinetic wave that's powerful enough to immobilize every villainous being in TCRI and The Kraang Conspiracy . Tracking Telepathy: In The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman , she is shown to have some level of tracking telepathy, as she is successfully able to lead the Turtles and Casey to the location of her dad. It seems as though she is capable of tracking any life force within a 2-mile radius. Tessen: Her Tessen is the weapon that Splinter willingly gave her, which he wanted to give to Karai back when she was his daughter; Though she has yet to fully master using it, she has shown to properly use it in the battlefield on numerous occasions. She seems to be very competent in tossing it at enemies like a boomerang and making sure that it ends up back in her hands. Mutagen Immunity: Being half-Kraang mutant she is immune to mutagen and her blood is the only ingredient needed to perfect the Mutagen (although the Kraang found another way) and Retro-Mutagen. Episodes Appeared In	Donatello
What is the name of the single cell that results from the union of the parents sex cells at fertilization?	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Review Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Review 6.0 out of 10 (add 2 if you’re a fan of TMNT in general) Cast: Megan Fox – April O’Neil Will Arnett – Vernon Fenwick Stephen Farrelly – Rocksteady (as Sheamus) Gary Anthony Williams – Bebop Peter Donald Badalamenti II – Splinter (as Peter D. Badalementi) Tony Shalhoub – Splinter (voice) Directed by Dave Green Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Review: This is one of those reviews where a number rating will be next to useless. If these characters were never significant to you (the TMNT craze hit at that age when I was just discovering girls, so none of this ever took with me), chances are that this movie will be insufferable and quite the endurance test. But, if you’re a devout fan of these characters, created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, I have the feeling that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows will make you very happy indeed. This is a movie made for you, especially if you loved the cartoon in the 1980s, because Out of the Shadows feels exactly like that. Imagine sitting on the couch, bowl of cereal to your right full of sugary goodness, on a Saturday morning, parents still asleep, the cartoons about to begin. If that appeals to your inner child, then boy do I have the movie for you, because Out of the Shadows delivers on that front. So as someone who isn’t a fan of these characters, I gave this movie a 6. But if you love them, add 2 or even 3 points to that, based on your degree of adoration. Dave Green’s previous film, Earth to Echo, was a sweet throwback to 1980s Amblin sensibilities shot through a modern first-person lens. Out of the Shadows is more traditional, but Green turns out to be the perfect director for the material due to his sense of nostalgia and fun. Unlike the previous Turtles movie, this time the foursome are front and center, with April O’Neil (Megan Fox) and Vernon Fenwick (Will Arnett) put to the sidelines. And that’s fine – we came to see the Turtles, after all. Since the events of the last film, the Turtles have been content to stay in the dark, doing their good deeds while Fenwick takes the credit for apprehending the notorious Shredder (Brian Tee). But Shredder has nefarious plans of escape, and with the help of mad scientist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry, only missing a villainous mustache to stroke), Shredder will unleash chaos on the world in the form of the alien invader Krang (Brad Garrett). Along the way, Shredder genetically modifies a couple of henchmen to become a formidable foe for the Turtles – giant warthog Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and rhino Rocksteady (Stephen Farrelly). Storywise, that’s pretty much it. We are taken through action set piece after action set piece, as pixelated characters bounce off each other in spectacular fashion. And for those people invested in them, that will be enough – Green and cinematographer Lula Carvalho shoot the action sequences with skill and not the customary Michael Bay-produced visual cacophony. When the Turtles are on screen, there’s a real visceral punch to the proceedings and the movie’s rhythms take over. A sequence in the Brazilian rainforest is especially thrilling, as the camera swoops and dives throughout. The 3D is well done here, and the action sequences are well served by it. It’s when the humans are onscreen that Out of the Shadows becomes ponderous and awful. Again, we’re not here for them, but these actors could have made the movie just a little tolerable. Megan Fox does her customary bad work here – she’s inert and lifeless, and a scene where she tries to use her charms on Stockman flops like a dead fish. Arnett isn’t much better, but at least he knows exactly the impact he has in these kinds of movies and plays it appropriately. Tyler Perry is actually entertaining. His weird stylings work for the character of Baxter Stockman and his maniacal evil-scientist laugh works. He’s the only one of the live actors who is having fun with the part, and he’s practically a live-action cartoon himself. I feel like I have to dedicate an entire paragraph to Laura Linney, who should be as far away from this kind of movie as humanity should be from an atomic blast It was extraordinarily depressing to watch her here – she’s one of our greatest actresses, and this kind of movie simply doesn’t suit her at all, and I’m fully aware that she once starred in Congo, but she’s grown past these kinds of roles. All I can think is that she needed a new deck on her house, or she has nieces and nephews who begged her to take the role. Simply put, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is beneath her. Maybe this is endemic of a larger issue for older women in Hollywood, struggling to find relevant roles while taking parts like this. That’s a discussion for another review. But here, she was painful to watch, and while I will not begrudge Laura Linney her paycheck, I wish it was for a role more worthwhile. Such is modern moviemaking. This is a conflicted review – most of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows was grating and unpleasant for me, but I can also recognize that this material just isn’t suited to me, and I cannot deny that Dave Green has successfully made a film that will work on all cylinders for its fanbase. If you love Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you will love this movie, hands down. Out of the Shadows is a course correction from the previous film, getting everything right that the fans love. If you’re a 10-year-old boy, this will likely be the best movie you see this year. But if your sensibilities are skewed a bit older (and this is coming from a guy who loves Star Wars and the Marvel movies here), you may have a miserable time. As I said, number ratings are pointless on this one. You know where you stand. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Megan Fox as April O'Neil in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Will Arnett as Vernon Fenwick in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Megan Fox as April O'Neil in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Director Dave Green on the set of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Left to right: Megan Fox as April O'Neil and Will Arnett as Vernon Fenwick in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Megan Fox as April O'Neil in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Left to right: Will Arnett as Vernon Fenwick, Laura Linney Chief Rebecca Vincent, Megan Fox as April O'Neil and Stephen Amell as Casey Jones in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Left to right: Director Dave Green and Producer Andrew Form on the set of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Laura Linney Chief Rebecca Vincent in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Left to right: Producer Bradley Fuller and Executive Producer/Writer Josh Appelbaum on the set of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Left to right: Stephen Amell plays Casey Jones, Will Arnett plays Vernon Fenwick and Megan Fox plays April O'Neil in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Stephen Amell as Casey Jones in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Left to right: Sheamus as Rocksteady, Brittany Ishibashi as Karai, Gary Anthony Williams as Bebop, Brian Tee as Shredder and Tyler Perry as Baxter Stockman in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Left to right: Stephen Farrelly (Sheamus) as Rocksteady and Gary Anthony Williams as Bebop in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Tyler Perry as Baxter Stockman in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Brittany Ishibashi as Karai (front) and Brian Tee as Shredder (back) in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Director of Photography Lula Carvalho on the set of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Left to right: Megan Fox as April O'Neil and Stephen Amell plays Casey Jones in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Tyler Perry as Baxter Stockman in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Will Arnett as Vernon Fenwick in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Left to right: Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (2016) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (2016) TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Left to right: Raphael, Michelangelo and Donatello in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Left to right: Leonardo, Michelangelo and Donatello in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Michelangelo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Raphael in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Left to right: Megan Fox as April O'Neil, Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Stephen Amell as Casey Jones in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Left to right: Leonardo and Splinter in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Stephen Amell as Casey Jones in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the 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Early prospectors often confused pyrite (FeS2) with what mineral they were seeking?	Gold Prospecting Techniques Gold Prospecting Techniques Published by MinServ (Mineral Services) 5 Cassia Crt, Wantirna ï¿½ Copyright, 1991 by MinServ All rights reserved. This text may only be held by file archives that have the permission of MinServ to distribute this text in electronic form to their users. The text may not be distributed or copied in any other way. INTRODUCTION Gold prospectors have won many fortunes and there are many smaller finds that have gone undocumented. Here is a general introduction plus a few tips for gold prospectors or would be gold prospectors. EQUIPMENT The equipment available for a prospector is varied. This includes metal detectors, dryblowers and hydraulic concentrators of various shapes and sizes. While metal detectors remain the most popular tool, knowledge of other equipment is useful, especially if the prospector wants to expand his activities. Some of the basic types of equipment are described here. Accessories Useful accessories include the geological pick, prospecting pick, compass, times ten hand lens, safety glasses, pen knife, sample bottles and bags, hand auger and gold pan. A geological pick can be used to dig holes and split rocks while metal detecting, or collect rock samples for identification or analysis. Safety glasses are used to protect the eyes when sampling or splitting rocks. A compass is necessary when prospecting away from known tracks and landmarks. A hand lens is useful for examining fine gold and minerals. The hardness of a mineral can be tested using a pen knife. A stainless steel pen knife has a hardness of 6 1/2 on Moh's hardness scale (1-10). Sample bottles and bags are used to store fine gold and samples. They should be labelled and a list written up so locations won't be forgotten. For sampling alluvium and soils, a barrel type hand auger is useful. A gold pan is used to separate fine gold from concentrates. A pencil magnet is used to test for magnetic minerals. Figure 1 Figure 2 Metal Detectors V.L.F. detectors with ground balancing are the best type of detectors for prospecting. The new models of prospecting detectors have better depth and sensitivity than many of the old types. They are most useful for detecting small nuggets, which would have been missed by the old detectors. Garret, Minelab and Whites prospecting models are popular. Garret detectors have had widespread success on WA's goldfields. Metal detectors will respond to any type of conductive or magnetic material. The metal detectors transmitting coil produces a primary electromagnetic field. When a conductive object encounters a primary electromagnetic field, currents flow through the surface of the object, called eddy currents, each producing its own secondary electromagnetic field. The secondary electromagnetic fields distort the primary electromagnetic field. A receiving coil within the metal detector receives the distorted primary electromagnetic field signal, ultimately producing an audio signal in response to the strengths of the secondary electromagnetic fields. Materials of greater conductivity produce larger and stronger secondary electromagnetic fields, and therefore audio signals, than smaller objects. For a given conductivity, the sizes and strengths of the secondary electromagnetic fields are controlled by the surface area facing the primary electromagnetic field rather than density or mass of the object. Larger surface areas produce larger fields and responses. Manufacturers of metal detectors classify targets as either metal or mineral. Metal targets include all conductive, non-ferrous metals. Examples are silver, gold, copper and aluminium. Mineral targets consist of ferrous metals, magnetic minerals and conductive ground minerals. Examples of mineral targets are steel, iron, magnetite, iron oxide ground minerals and wet salt. These have lower conductivities than most metal targets. "Hot rocks", often encountered in the field, are concentrated forms of conductive iron oxide. The audio signal produced usually varies according to the type of target. Gold tends to produce short, sharp signals while ferrous objects produce broad signals. A double blip will be produced on long thin objects, such as wire or nails. It is wise to do a bench test of different objects to determine their different responses. Some objects that can be used are a nail, silver coin and gold ring. With field experience, audio response from various targets, including "hot rocks", will become familiar so that identification will be easier. Ground conditions affect the operation of metal detectors. Heavily mineralised and dense ground conditions cause the primary electromagnetic field to compress, resulting in loss of depth. Wet ground allows greater penetration of the primary magnetic field, providing better depth. Magnetic and conductive minerals (mostly iron oxide minerals) in ground soil produce background signals that can mask target objects. The ground cancel is used to decrease the effect of minerals in mineralised areas. The following steps should be followed when tuning a manual ground cancelling detector; such as a Garret or Whites prospecting metal detector: 1. Switch on and allow to stand for 10-15 minutes to stabilise batteries. 2. Check battery condition. Batteries must be in good shape for the metal detector to work properly. 3. Place tuning on automatic. 4. Place into V.L.F. mode. The V.L.F., or ground cancelling mode, should always be used for prospecting. 5. To begin with, sensitivity should be placed on half. It can be increased or decreased according to ground conditions. If it is placed on minimum, small nuggets will be missed, therefore, always place it on the maximum allowable setting. 6. Discrimination should always be at zero. 7. Adjust tuning audio so that a humming sound is barely audible. 8. Compensate for ground conditions. To compensate for ground conditions, raise and lower the search coil (from 60cm high to 15cm low). As the search coil is lowered, the audio signal will either increase or decrease in strength. If the ground cancel knob is in its midway position then it can be turned backwards or forwards to compensate for the increase or decrease in signal strength. The ground cancel knob should be moved one complete turn each time. When the audio signal remains constant as the searchcoil is raised and lowered, the ground has been compensated for. The ground cancel will have to be adjusted as ground conditions change. Headphones should always be worn when prospecting otherwise the batteries will drain quickly. Signals are also easier to comprehend with headphones. Some prospectors have an audio boost fitted to amplify small signals, while also suppressing very loud signals. Some audio boosts also operate with a more sensitive tone. They definitely make it easier to detect small signals. Hipmounts reduce strain when detecting for long periods or using large coils. Dryblowers Dryblowers are mainly used to recover fine gold in areas where there are no water supplies. Nuggets are more efficiently located by using metal detectors. A dryblower consists of a hopper/classifier overlying an inclined riffle tray fitted with an air blower. Today's dryblowers are motorised. They range in size from small, easily portable units, less than half a metre high, to large units that can process 20 tonnes of material per hour or more. Dry material is fed into the vibrating hopper/classifier which removes the coarsest material. All material small enough to pass through the classifier falls into a riffle tray underneath. The heavy fraction is separated using a combination of vibration and air being blown upwards to remove the dust. Finally, heavy concentrates are removed by lifting up the riffles and sweeping the concentrates into a pan. Gold is recovered by panning the heavy concentrates. Vibrostatic dryblowers use a combination of static electric charge, air flow and vibration to collect gold. They only differ in that the gold is precharged and later attracted to assist in retaining the gold in the riffle box. This allows damp material to be processed. Dryshakers consist of a hopper/classifier overlying an inclined riffle tray. Dry material is placed into the hopper /classifier which removes the coarse material using vibration. All fine material passes into the underlying riffle tray. High frequency, short vibrations displace light material over the riffles and out of the tray. Gold is retained by the riffles. Air blowing is not utilised by dryshakers. Hydraulic Concentrators When a water supply, such as a bore or stream, is available hydraulic concentrators are used to recover gold. Water can be recycled in dry areas to reduce consumption. Modern hydraulic concentrators are driven by petrol engines. The simplest of these is the rocker cradle. It consists of a hopper over a tray fitted with riffles, all mounted on a rocker. Washdirt is fed into the hopper, the base of which contains small holes to prevent pebbles and boulders from passing through. The discarded coarse material should be examined for nuggets. Water is poured into the hopper and carries the fine material onto the riffle tray and over the riffles. At the same time, the cradle is rocked. Eddy currents form behind each riffle, the decrease in current velocity trapping heavy minerals. Matting covers the base of the riffle tray to help trap heavy minerals. Most gold will be trapped behind the first few riffles. The angle of decline of the riffle trays must be adjusted according to water flow and the amount and type of sediment. Too steep a decline will result in gold being washed away. A decline that is too shallow will have the riffles becoming choked in sand, preventing settling of gold. When the matting behind the riffles fills up, the riffles can be lifted and the matting removed. Finally, the heavy concentrates should be panned to remove any gold. Various types of hydraulic concentrators; such as, gold screws, knelson concentrators, jigs and shaking tables can be used when large amounts of washdirt are to be treated. It should be noted that all clay material must be thoroughly dissaggregated before processing to prevent the formation of clay balls. Puddling and log washing machines are specially designed for this purpose. Gold Pans Gold pans are made from metal or plastic. Plastic pans are easier to maintain and just as efficient as metal pans. The pan should be large (about 40cm in diameter) and contain riffles along its side to help trap gold. A pan with riffles along one half of its side is preferable to a pan with riffles along its full circumference. This allows easy collection of gold and concentrates after panning. Metal pans are often greased and should be degreased by holding over an open flame or washing in hot, soapy water. To use a goldpan, a layer of washdirt 3/4 inch thick is placed over the base of the pan. Rest the pan in water and rake fingers back and forth to loosen and separate material. Tilt the pan and rake coarse material to the top end, letting the fines fall back. Remove this coarse material. Next, shake the pan from side to side to help the heavy minerals settle on the bottom of the pan. Repeat these two steps four or five times. Now, place the pan in water and tilt so the fine material accumulates just under the pans edge. Remove from water and tilt back, allowing a wave to form. Tip forward again, letting the wave travel forward to carry the top material out of the pan. Next, shake the pan from side to side again. Place in water and tilt, so the light material remains just under the pans edge. Remove the pan from water and tilt back, then forward, resulting in a wave carrying the top material out of the pan. The previous few steps should be repeated until only a tablespoon of fine material is left. A gentler wash action is required as the amount of wash dirt remaining decreases. Finally, swirl the remaining washdirt on the base of the pan so contents fan out and gold specks will be visible. Gold specks can be collected with a damp finger and placed in a sample bottle filled with water. A teaspoon is useful for collecting gold when large amounts are present. Black, magnetic sands can be removed using a magnet. Place the magnet in a plastic bag so that black sands are collected on the outside of the bag. Now, the magnet can be removed and the black sands will fall away. This prevents a buildup of black sands on the magnet. A sieve is useful to initially separate coarse material from the fine fraction. Automatic gold pans, or concentrating wheels, are an alternative to manual pans for separating gold from fine alluvium and concentrates. The wheel contains riffles which pass from the pan's edge to its centre. It is set at an angle so that washdirt remains at the lower edge of the wheel. Water is added to the centre of the wheel by a jet spray. The circular motion and spiral action of the wheel cause gold grains to migrate towards the centre of the wheel where they pass through a hole to a collecting bottle underneath. They have electric 12v motors which operate from batteries. A new type of hydraulic concentrator, called the mini gold concentrator is replacing conventional gold pans for treating small samples of alluvium, eluvium and colluvium. The concentrator can treat twenty panloads of washdirt in the same time an expert can wash a single panload using a conventional pan. By following simple instructions a beginner can easily master the separation of gold from a shovelful of washdirt. The unit consists of a removable dish with sieve resting on top of a lower settling pan, all clamped inside of a twenty litre bucket. To use, fill the bucket with water. Place the entire assembly into the bucket and fasten with wingnuts. Add washdirt to the upper dish and agitate the dish in a circular motion. All large material is retained in the upper bowl by the sieve. This material is discarded by removing the upper dish and sieve. Small material passes through the sieve into the lower settling pan. Agitation washes the light material over the top of the settling pan with the help of agitation blades and a helical scraper blade. Gold and heavy minerals settle to the base of the retention bowl where they remain until panning is finished. Panning continues until the bucket fills with the discarded washdirt. Finally, the unit is removed by undoing the wingnut fasteners and the bucket is emptied then refilled to start the process over again. Any gold in the retention is removed and placed in a sample bottle. To recycle water, the entire bucket with concentrator is placed in a large container so overflowing water is collected until ready for reuse. Small in size and weighing only 3.5 kg it is easily transported. Sample Mill The sample mill is used to crush rock samples before testing for gold. It is powered by a petrol motor for portability. A sample is placed in the hopper which feeds the pulverisers, reducing the sample to powder. Ideally, the sample mill should be adjustable so that the desired grain size can be obtained. Most sample mills have hardened steel jaws. These can produce fine steel filings that show up in the residue when panned. When more than one sample is processed, residue from previous samples carries through. Therefore, a gold bearing sample followed by a barren sample will give positive gold results in the barren sample. When accurate results are required, the mill can be cleaned by grinding quartz between samples (sometimes, particularly with ironstone's, this is not effective). A cheaper alternative to the sample mill is the dolly pot. A dolly pot consists of two parts: a mortar and a pestle, both of large dimensions (eg. 1 litre). It is used for crushing hand samples. Samples are broken into small pieces with a hammer, then placed in the dolly pot for crushing. Analytical Instruments Today, the options available to the prospector for analyzing rock and mineral samples are numerous and sophisticated. Depending on the results required, techniques such as polarized light and electron microscopy; x-ray diffraction; and chemical analysis using various spectrometric methods are available. Polarizing microscopy is the best method for identifying and examining most rocks and minerals. By observing a section of a rock or mineral with a polarizing microscope the texture, structure and mineralogy of the sample can be determined. From this information an identification can be made and the origin determined. This information is of use during mining and prospecting. For routine use, lower cost alternatives are stereo microscopes or high power pocket microscopes. For analyzing the composition of individual minerals emission spectroscopy (ICP) or electron microscope (microprobe) analysis is carried out. Ores containing submicroscopic gold particles within their crystal lattice are analyzed with a microprobe to determine which ores are the gold carriers and where the gold is sited. Chemical analysis of a rock or mineral sample for gold is called assaying. For most prospectors, a low cost, moderately sensitive technique is adequate. For most gold bearing samples requiring accurate determination of the gold content fire assaying is the most common method but not necessarily the cheapest. Modern fire assaying techniques can determine grades as low as 1g/tonne and starts at prices of about $12.00 per sample. In samples containing minute trace amounts of gold, more sophisticated methods are preferred. For the geochemical explorationist who is searching for trace amounts of gold, indicating the presence of a hidden orebody, the latest analytical techniques are almost mandatory. Atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) , induced coupled plasma (ICP) and even mass spectrometry have detection limits in the parts per billion or less and are the preferred choice. Analytical costs are higher for these methods although bulk sampling and multi-element analysis bring the costs down. GOLD AND ITS ORES A mineral profitably mined for its metal content is called an ore mineral, whether it is an element, such as gold, or a compound of two or more elements, such as the sulphides and tellurides. A knowledge of the properties of gold and its ores is necessary for correct identification. This information is also necessary for selecting and controlling the mining and ore processing equipment. Visual examination of a sample is usually sufficient to reduce the number of possible identities to a few, if not a single identity. Gold is most commonly found in its elemental form, with varying amounts of silver, copper and iron as impurities but also occurs in ores; such as, the sulphides and tellurides. Beginners sometimes experience problems when identifying gold, most commonly confusing with similar minerals; such as pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, pentlandite and gold coloured mica. With experience, there should be no difficulty identifying gold except when it is extremely fine grained or microcrystalline. In these situations, gold cannot be easily observed and requires examination with a microscope. The most distinctive properties of gold are its gold-yellow colour, metallic lustre, softness, high specific gravity and gold-yellow streak. Other minerals with a similar colour and lustre are often mistaken for gold. Pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, pentlandite and gold coloured mica are the minerals usually mistaken for gold. By keeping in mind the properties of gold each of these minerals can be eliminated. Gold is the only mineral that will easily scratch, leaving a residue of gold-yellow powder. Gold is malleable while the rest are brittle, will break and flake when struck with a hammer. When fine and placed in a pan of water, gold will sink rapidly and refuse to move, the rest will sink slowly and swirl easily. Gold occurs in grains whereas mica is flaky. Gold also occurs as microscopic and submicroscopic particles within sulphide minerals; particularly pyrite, chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite and pyrrhotite. All of these are common within veins and zones of hydrothermal alteration and replacement. They occur as macroscopic and microcrystalline grains and crystals. Pyrite is brass-yellow in colour with a metallic lustre and greenish-black streak. Often, it forms perfect isometric crystals in cubic or polyhedral form. Chalcopyrite is also brass-yellow with a metallic lustre and greenish-black streak. It is easily confused with pyrite but forms tetragonal crystals instead of isometric cubes and polyhedrons. When exposed to air it often tarnishes to iridescent or deep blue. In some situations, a chemical test for copper using concentrated nitric acid may be necessary to distinguish it from pyrite. Arsenopyrite is silver-white to steel grey with a metallic lustre and greyish-black streak. When crystalline, it exhibits monoclinic crystals usually in prismatic form. When struck with a hammer arsenopyrite often gives off a garlic smell. Pyrrhotite is brass-yellow or brownish-bronze with a metallic lustre, greyish-black streak and orthorhombic crystals. Pyrrhotite is easily identified using a pencil magnet as it is distinctively magnetic. Gold also occurs in compounds of gold and/or silver with tellurium. The tellurides, sylvanite and calaverite are mined for their gold content. They are quite rare, however, have been mined in Kalgoorlie as ores of gold. Calaverite is brass-yellow to silver-white with a metallic lustre, yellowish to greenish grey streak and monoclinic crystals that are often striated. Sylvanite is silver-white to steel grey with a metallic lustre, black streak and monoclinic crystals. The hardness of calaverite is 1 1/2 to 2 and of sylvanite 2 1/2 to 3. Figure 3 Colour: Gold yellow to pale yellow Lustre: Metallic Specific Gravity: 19.3 to 15.6 Fracture: Ductile and malleable Streak: Gold yellow Best Field Characteristics: Gold yellow colour, high SG, gold yellow streak, softness. Similar Minerals: Pyrite and chalcopyrite have a greenish-black streak, will sink slowly and swirl in a pan of water when fine whereas gold will sink rapidly and refuse to move. They are brittle: will break and flake when touched with a knife but won't scratch. Gold is malleable and will scratch easily. Once gold has been seen and held, future identification will be simple. Gold also occurs as submicroscopic particles within sulphide minerals, particularly pyrite, chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite and pyrrhotite. All of these are common within veins and zones of hydrothermal alteration and replacement. They occur as macroscopic and microcrystalline grains. Pyrite is an iron disulphide. PYRITE FeS2 Crystals: Monoclinic prismatic. Also in anhedral grains. Best Field Characteristics: Hardness and streak. Gold can be described according to its natural size and nature of occurrence. Based on these, gold occurs in six main forms: (1) Large pieces of free gold >2mm in size that are known as nuggets. (2) Pieces of gold and gangue (quartz, ironstone etc.) known as specimens. (3) Coarse to fine grains of free gold 2mm to 150 microns that are visible to the naked eye. (4) Microcrystalline gold 150 to 0.8 microns in size only visible with a microscope. (5) Submicrocrystalline particles of gold that occur in the crystal lattice of certain sulphide ores. (6) In compounds with tellurium. All types show various degrees of crystallinity from rounded grains (eg. alluvial) with no crystal faces through subhedral grains with some crystal faces (hydrothermal) to crystalline grains with well developed crystal faces (hydrothermal and supergene gold). In most situations, gold is found in rounded forms, however, where open space crystallisation has occurred, such as in supergene environments, crystalline gold is common. Nuggets are well known to metal detector operators. While many nuggets are almost pure gold, impurities of iron and quartz are common. Nuggets that have been chemically deposited or altered in the weathering profile are often intergrown with ironstone. Large grains and veinlets of gold intergrown with quartz are derived from quartz reefs and lodes and are referred to as specimens. These are also well known to metal detector operators. Free grains of gold that are visible to the naked eye are either intergrown with gangue in primary deposits or as loose grains within secondary deposits. Machinery is required to separate gold grains from unwanted gangue. Fortunately, the high specific gravity of gold enables it to be effectively segregated and concentrated using low cost gravity methods, such as jigs, sluices, shaking tables etc. Microcrystalline gold is common within primary deposits. Grains of gold are disseminated and intergrown within a quartz gangue or locked within sulphide minerals. Coarse grains can be liberated by crushing and grinding followed by concentration using gravity concentrators. If the ore consists of very fine grains extraction with sodium cyanide or amalgam is necessary. Gold contained within sulphide minerals is present as small grains and particles within the crystal lattice of the mineral. Many primary deposits consist of disseminated grains of pyrite, chalcopyite, arsenopyrite and/or pyrrhotite containing significant amounts of gold and intergrown with gangue minerals. Sulphide minerals cannot be concentrated by gravity methods due to their low specific gravity. Froth flotation is common, followed by treatment with sodium cyanide to remove the gold. Such mining methods are expensive and can only be used on large deposits, however low grades can be worked. Gold also occurs in compounds of gold and/or silver with tellurium. The tellurides, calaverite and sylvanite are mined for their gold content. They are quite rare, however, have been mined in Kalgoorlie. 5.0 GOLD ENVIRONMENTS Gold occurs in alluvial, eluvial, supergene, quartz vein and stockwork, shear related and hydrothermal replacement deposits. In the general sense, alluvial refers to eluvial, colluvial, fluvial and lacustrine deposits but is restricted to the traditional meaning of stream and lake deposited gold here. Alluvial, eluvial and supergene deposits are secondary deposits formed by reworking of primary deposits. Quartz vein and stockwork, shear related and hydrothermal replacement deposits are primary deposits formed by the direct precipitation of gold from hydrothermal solutions originating in the earth's interior. Alluvial and eluvial deposits are collectively known as placer deposits. Large, continuous quartz veins are known as quartz reefs and all other large primary deposits are usually referred to as lodes. Alluvial deposits are formed by the mechanical accumulation of grains, derived from pre-existing rocks, in streams and lakes. Eluvial gold is deposited on the surface by the downward movement of material, via gravity processes, from the source which is situated above. Supergene deposits result from "in situ" weathering of mineralised bedrock which leaves behind a residue of weathered bedrock, primary and secondary ore in the weathered profile. Quartz veins are formed from hydrothermal solutions which intrude the country rock along fractures and faults. Lodes consist of a closely spaced network of quartz veins and veinlets. Shear related deposits form during shearing of the host rock along planes of stress. The associated hydrothermal solutions form gold bearing alteration haloes around the shear zones. Hydrothermal replacement deposits are formed when hot aqueous solutions react with and replace the host rock. Figure 4 Alluvial Deposits Alluvial deposits consist of hydrodynamically accumulated gold by streams and lakes. They occur on the surface, just below the surface or deeply buried. Ancient stream channels that are deeply buried are called deep leads. Gold and heavy minerals, such as magnetite, ilmenite, zircons etc. have high specific gravities; therefore, they will be transported within the base of flowing currents where they will be trapped by irregularities in the channel base or changes in current velocity. In present day channels, the heavy mineral fraction, including gold, will accumulate in pools and in cavities, fractures, depressions, behind ridges and boulders present in runs between pools. Gold will also occur in buried channel alluvium below the present river bed. Basal channel deposits will contain the most gold. These rest upon the bedrock. Other channel base deposits can occur between the surface and bedrock where they are marked by beds of coarse sediments, pebbles and conglomerates. Gold and heavy minerals will be much finer grained than the light fraction. This is due to their density and size relationships, expressed as their hydraulic ratio. Consequently, fine gold and small gold nuggets will be found with coarse sediments, pebbles and conglomerates. Another area of heavy mineral accumulation is the point bar. A point bar is formed on the inside of a bend in a meandering stream. Current flow is strongest on the outside of the bend, decreasing inwards. As a result, heavy minerals will drop out of suspension on the inside of the bend, or point bar, where current flow is least. As the stream migrates laterally, increasingly finer grained material is deposited until the channel is finally covered by fine grained alluvium. Stream channels that migrate laterally form widespread alluvial deposits that may contain gold in the abandoned channel base or point bar. Figure 5 Eluvial Deposits Eluvial gold is deposited by gravity processes on the surfaces of hills, rises and flat lying areas. Rainfall assists by carrying the surface material, or float, downslope. Eluvial deposits consist of the unconsolidated rock fragments and soil lying on the surface. It is derived from quartz reefs and other mineralised deposits (supergene, quartz reef and lode) located above. Deposits of transported material containing gold also form on the surface of hillsides where it is concentrated at changes in gradient, such as, the base of a hill. Technically, this hill wash is referred to as a colluvial deposit but is included with eluvial deposits here. Figure 6 Supergene Deposits Supergene deposits include both secondary and primary gold that occur in the weathering profile from "in situ" weathering of an orebody. It consists of chemically altered primary grains and nuggets, secondary grains and unaltered primary gold which may overly auriferous bedrock. Supergene gold, as it is popularly known, is the chemically precipitated gold grains and nuggets deposited within surface ironstone's, including laterite, of the weathering profile. Aqueous solutions travelling through the weathering profile transport and concentrate the gold element at or above the water table. Chemically reworked and physically transported primary grains and nuggets are present in the surface and near surface laterite and soil. Secondary gold, formed by chemical precipitation, is dispersed within the surface laterite and deeper saprolite of the weathering profile. Below the water table, unaltered primary gold, within the orebody may be present. Rich deposits, such as the "Rabbit Warren" gold find, near Leonora, have been found by the metal detecting prospector in WA. Quartz Reefs and Stockworks Auriferous quartz veins and stockworks containing free gold are keenly sought after by prospectors. Quartz veins originate from hydrothermal solutions being injected along fractures and faults in the country rock. The source of these hydrothermal solutions varies. They may be sourced from rising magmas that crystallise to form igneous rocks. The solutions left over are injected into fractures and faults overlying the igneous bodies. They may also originate from a deeper magma source or metamorphism of the surrounding country rock. Figure 8 Fractures and faults cut the country rock at various angles and in various patterns. Consequently, the infilling quartz veins cut the country rock according to the pattern of fractures. A concentrated network of gold bearing quartz veins forms quartz stockwork deposits. Widely spaced networks of quartz veins are known as vein sets. Saddle reefs form when quartz veins are concentrated in the apex of an anticline. Quartz veins are classified as hypothermal (high temperature), mesothermal (medium temperature) or epithermal (low temperature) veins. Hypothermal veins are deposited at great depths (>3600m). Epithermal veins are deposited near the surface ( Gold is not only present within the quartz vein itself but also in the altered zone of wall rock associated with quartz veins. Gold occurs as free grains in quartz veins and submicroscopic particles within sulphide minerals. The auriferous sulphide minerals are concentrated in the altered zone of wall rock adjacent to quartz veins and within the quartz veins themselves. In the Yilgarn Block, most auriferous quartz veins are contained within mafic rock types (particularly meta-basalts, meta-dolerites, amphibolites) within volcanic dominated greenstone belts. Ultramafics and felsic volcanics also contain gold deposits (in fact, all rock types are represented). Auriferous quartz veins are mainly controlled by shear zones and faults, particularly where faults cut competent (brittle) beds, such as dolerite, contained within less competent country rock. Vein type mineralisation occurs at Kalgoorlie, Leonora, Wiluna, Cue, Mt. Magnet, Sandstone, Marble Bar etc.. Figure 9 Other Shear related, Banded Iron Formation hosted and hydrothermal replacement deposits also occur (listed in decreasing abundance). Shear related gold mineralisation consists of alteration haloes (a form of replacement) around zones of intense deformation (shear zones), formed from the reaction of hydrothermal solutions with the wall rock. Gold is present as submicroscopic particles within sulphide minerals that occupy the alteration haloes. Quartz veining can also be present. B.I.F. (Banded Iron Formation) hosted deposits are an example of host rock control, being restricted to a B.I.F. unit. They contain either replacement style or auriferous quartz vein mineralisation. In replacement style B.I.F. deposits, hydrothermal solutions transport the gold element along faults, forming auriferous deposits by replacing magnetite and carbonates within B.I.F.. At Hill 50, near Mt. Magnet, gold is concentrated along northeasterly trending faults cutting the Banded Iron Formation. Gold is present as submicroscopic particles within sulphide minerals plus/minus free grains. The sulphide minerals replace carbonates and magnetite within B.I.F.. Auriferous quartz veins, within B.I.F., occur in the same fashion as those described under Quartz Reefs and Stockworks. These deposits are entirely restricted to a host B.I.F. unit. With hydrothermal replacement deposits, hydrothermal solutions react with and replace the host rock, forming massive or disseminated gold deposits. In the massive style these typically preferentially replace a specific bed. This style is called stratabound as it is restricted to a single bed, or stratum. These can occur in combination with the deposit styles described above. Figure 10 6.0 PROSPECTING METHODS In the early days, prospectors adapted their equipment to environmental conditions so that dryblowers were used in dry areas and hydraulic concentrators in wet areas. Today, metal detectors have superseded the dryblower as the major prospecting tool. The gold pan and sample mill also have their uses. Metal Detecting The abundance of iron oxides on the surface of W.A.'s goldfields caused many problems for the first metal detectors. This led to the introduction of ground cancelling machines in 1975. They proved effective and became popular, although there are still areas where ground cancelling machines cannot operate. The metal detecting prospector is concerned with alluvial, eluvial, and supergene gold. In the Yilgarn and Pilbara Blocks, these occur in linear greenstone belts. Areas that have been dryblown by the early prospectors mark surface gold producing districts. Many nuggets have been found on and adjacent to these dryblowing patches. Together with the geology, they should be regarded as initial guides to metal detecting areas. Alluvial gold can be found in the small seasonal streams that cut these areas. Basal channel deposits concentrate heavy minerals and are the most prospective deposits. Laterally migrating streams that change course regularly will contain gold in the abandoned channel base and point bar. These deposits will occur in the present day stream channel and immediately adjacent ground. Eluvial gold can be found on low hills, rises and flat lying areas adjacent to the above locations. These are often covered with quartz and ironstone rubble. Eluvial deposits are concentrated at a change in gradient, such as the base of a hill. Supergene deposits are found on low hills or flat lying areas that have developed laterite profiles over bedrock. The occurrence of supergene gold is difficult to predict since it is controlled by a complex combination of processes. It is generally present above weathered orebodies where it is concentrated and deposited by certain solutions travelling through the weathered zone. Secondary gold occurs in the surface laterite and deeper saprolite of the weathered zone (laterite profile) and consists of dispersed crystalline grains. Chemically altered and physically transported primary grains and nuggets, derived from the original orebody, occur in the surface and near surface with the secondary deposits. These are the main targets for metal detector operators. Weathered bedrock is also often covered by thick sequences of transported overburden (sand sheets, alluvium and colluvium). This material should be avoided as it has been diluted and mixed. The prospector should also beware of laterite profiles developed over alluvium and colluvium instead of bedrock. In most situations, alluvial, eluvial and supergene deposits will only form over bedrock or residual laterite profiles. Exceptions to this occur when alluvial and eluvial systems are fed from these areas or where deeply buried ancient river channels exist. The beginner should locate ground that is not heavily contaminated by iron oxide or ironstone nodules that play havoc with the detectors audio. Even so, the ground cancel will have to be adjusted as the prospector moves over new ground. Audio drift or badly erratic audio signifies that the ground cancel needs adjusting. If the ground cannot be compensated for the prospector should move to a new area. "Hot rocks" are always encountered by the prospector. These are concentrated forms of magnetic or conductive iron oxide that behave in a similar fashion to gold. Mostly, they will give broad signals. To test whether a "hot rock" contains appreciable amounts of gold, switch to the ferrous target identification mode of your detector. With other detector types that do not have a ferrous target identification mode, the hot rock can be cracked open and both halves tested. If both halves give the same response, it can be discarded. Of course, it may not contain any gold, it may just be a lump of iron oxide. Gridding is employed to comprehensively cover a section of ground. After a nugget has been found, the area should be gridded and explored thoroughly. This is done by marking a rectangular grid with a pick or trailing a chain. A grid is formed by marking the corners of a 10m by 5m rectangle. Next, the ends of the rectangle are marked off in one step (1m) intervals. Detecting is started at one corner and continues along the length of the rectangle. When this is completed, the operator moves to the next grid mark and follows this lengthwise so that he eventually moves across the whole of the rectangle in 1m intervals. Even when an area is gridded it is possible to miss gold. The best solution is to slow down and detect carefully. Dryblowing and Hydraulic Concentrating Dryblowers and hydraulic concentrators are used to recover fine gold and nuggets. Consequently, alluvial, eluvial and supergene deposits, which are most likely to concentrate fine gold, are the main targets. Alluvial deposits are restricted to present day stream channels and immediately adjacent ground. The latter is deposited by migrating stream channels that change course regularly (being deposited in the abandoned channels). Basal channel deposits usually contain most of the gold. These are marked by conglomeratic or coarse grained beds in the subsurface or along deeply cut banks. Places to look for alluvial gold include creeks and gullies along hill sides and in depressions between hills. Eluvial deposits occur on hillsides and in depressions between hills. Loaming Loaming is the technique of systematically sampling and testing soil for particles of gold. Loaming is carried out to locate and test gold deposits and trace shows back to their source. Loaming using gold pans was widely employed by the early prospectors. Today, sampling machines can be used instead of gold pans to test soil samples for gold. Automatic gold pans (concentrating wheels) and small, portable dryblowers are two examples. Prospecting for Quartz Reefs and Other Deposits Reef prospecting involves locating gold bearing quartz veins. Most of the accessible reefs have probably been found by early prospectors and explorationists; consequently, remote and poorly outcropping reefs are more likely to be found. Today, in the short term, this form of prospecting is not as rewarding as metal detecting. Surface weathering of outcropping quartz reefs distributes gold away and downslope from the reef, resulting in the formation of alluvial and eluvial deposits. Consequently, it is possible to trace the alluvial or eluvial deposit upstream and upslope until the source reef is located. Often, the reef has been completely weathered away, leaving only alluvial and eluvial deposits. Once a quartz reef is located, it may be rewarding to follow the reef along its length searching for auriferous locations. Gold concentrations can increase and decrease along the length of a quartz reef. In areas that are poorly exposed, reef prospecting is mainly restricted to the low hills and rises, where outcrop is best. In deeply weathered areas, the surface expression of quartz reefs will be in the form of supergene deposits (described previously). The presence of gossan is an indicator to an underlying orebody. Gossan is the weathered product of an orebody and is stained various colours from the oxidation of ore minerals. It generally consists of iron oxide minerals with a relict box work texture left behind after the removal of cubic pyrite. Since pyrite is often associated with gold deposits, gossan may indicate the presence of an orebody. Within greenstone belts, mafic rock types should be targeted as the most likely host rocks. Meta-basalts and meta-dolerites are common host rocks; however, virtually all rock types are represented. Auriferous quartz veins are mainly controlled by faults and shear zones. The major regional faults and shears are barren of gold mineralisation. Secondary (and later) faults and shears, leading off the regional structures, contain major quartz reef and lode deposits. Alteration haloes around quartz veins and structures (faults, shears and fractures) are indicators to gold mineralisation (particularly the presence of iron sulphide minerals). Gold is present as submicroscopic particles in sulphide minerals (pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite) plus/minus free grains in veins. The best method for correctly identifying sulphide minerals, particularly microcrystalline grains, is polarized light microscopy (petrography). A petrography laboratory routinely does this type of work for a moderate price. Whenever quartz veins or zones of alteration are encountered in the appropriate geological environment they should be sampled. In some cases, fresh bedrock will not be preserved in outcrop. Laterites, the weathered product of fresh rock, are most common. In some situations, it is sufficient to sample laterite, provided the laterite profile is residual (overlying bedrock) and unmodified, since gold is fairly chemically immobile and resistant to chemical weathering, some residual gold will usually be preserved. This will vary from area to area according to the degree and type of weathering. One disadvantage is that the original rock texture is obscured by weathering; therefore the prospector cannot be certain of the rock type being sampled. Once the sample is obtained, a sample mill or dolly pot is required to crush the sample. The sample can then be panned to determine weather any free gold is present; or preferably, samples can be assayed by a lab (this would not be of interest to the small scale prospector). If the sample gives a significant result, it can then be examined microscopically to determine the nature of the ore (whether as free gold grains or in specific sulphide minerals). Geochemical Prospecting Prospectors with some vision and adequate resources prefer geochemical testing of soils and rocks to the loaming technique. Geochemical sampling can identify and locate deposits with poor surface signatures, such as, when gold particles are present in insufficient quantities or coarseness to show up in a gold pan or concentrator. Geochemical prospecting is carried out to locate hidden orebodies that are without visible surface indications or to define the location, distribution and size of a known deposit. With this type of prospecting, samples are collected and sent to a lab where they are analyzed for gold and elements associated with gold (pathfinders, particularly As). This type of prospecting can identify a variety of deposits- quartz reef and lode, supergene, hydrothermal replacement etc.. Soil sampling is done to locate and analyze the distribution of alluvial and eluvial deposits or locate anomalies that overlie hidden orebodies. Geochemical sampling of outcrops can be done to determine their gold content. Soil sampling or stream sediment sampling can be carried out to analyze gold or pathfinder elements. For detailed evaluation of prospects, contour maps can be drawn to show the distribution of elements. These may show the distribution of alluvial and eluvial deposits or the location of anomalies, indicating the presence of an orebody (where elements are most concentrated): for example, a reef. Geochemical sampling permits accurate estimation of the grades and reserves of a gold deposit. For some deposits containing microscopic gold (some shear related, hydrothermal replacement, quartz reef and stockwork deposits) geochemical analysis is the only method able to identify them. SOME GOLD PROSPECTING LOCATIONS IN WA The following locations in the Murchison and Eastern Goldfields are all proven gold producers. Some locations are renowned as secondary (nugget) gold producing areas while others are mainly known as primary gold producing areas. Nuggets have been found with metal detectors in all the major Western Australian gold fields. In this list, each area is defined according to the geological unit it resides within and the types of gold deposits are described. Southern Cross Area Gold mineralisation is restricted to the Southern Cross Greenstone Belt and smaller greenstone belts adjacent to this. The Southern Cross area is dominated by primary gold production. B.I.F. hosted and shear hosted deposits are the main primary types, however, quartz reef deposits also occur. The Southern Cross area has poor prospectivity for secondary gold and few nuggets have been found in this region. Coolgardie Area Part of the Norseman-Wiluna Greenstone Belt, Coolgardie was the site of the first major gold find within WA in 1892. This was at Bayley's Reward Lease where over 5000oz of gold was initially found over a quartz reef. The Coolgardie area has produced many nuggets and also contains primary gold deposits at Gibraltar, Bullabulling, Bonnie Vale and Bayley's. Kalgoorlie Area Part of the Norseman-Wiluna Greenstone Belt. Kalgoorlie was the site of rich alluvial gold finds at Mt. Charlotte in 1893. Major primary deposits were found nearby. The Kalgoorlie-Boulder Golden Mile was the richest mile in the world during its heyday. Gold mining is still carried out here today. The Golden Mile deposits are primary deposits that are composed of quartz reefs and stockworks within the Golden Mile Dolerite. The associated alluvial deposits have been worked out. Many primary and secondary deposits occur in the surrounding region. Nuggets have been recovered at Hogans, Kanowna, Black Hills and Bulong among other places. Kambalda Area Part of the Norseman-Wiluna Greenstone Belt. The area around Kambalda contains many primary and secondary deposits. Larkinville is famous as the site of W.A.'s largest gold nugget, called the Golden Eagle. The Golden Eagle weighed 1175 oz and was found in 1932. Numerous other large nuggets have been found here. Norseman At the southern tip of the Norseman-Wiluna Greenstone Belt. Several large primary deposits occur at Norseman and nearby. These are all shear hosted or quartz reef deposits. Some secondary gold deposits occur at Norseman and Dundas, however, secondary gold and nuggets have not gained prominence in this area. Broad Arrow Area Part of the Norseman-Wiluna Greenstone Belt. Numerous large primary and secondary gold deposits occur in the district. Black Flag, Broad Arrow, Lady Bountiful and Ora Banda are major primary deposits. Secondary gold, including nuggets have been found at Bardoc, Broad Arrow and Paddington. Leonora Area In the middle section of the Norseman-Wiluna Greenstone Belt. Large primary gold deposits occur at Sons of Gwalia, Harbour Lights, Malcom and other places. These are shear hosted and quartz reef deposits. Major secondary deposits have been worked at the Specking Patch, Lake Darlot and the Goana Patch. Nugget finds have been made at all the secondary localities. Laverton Area Part of the Norseman-Wiluna Greenstone Belt. Many primary and secondary gold deposits occur in the district. Quartz reef, shear hosted and hydrothermal replacement deposits are at Murrin Murrin, Ida H, Euro, Westralia and Lancefield. Large secondary gold finds have been made at Red Flag, Murrin Murrin, The Patch, Laverton and Erlistoun. Agnew Area Within the Norseman-Wiluna Greenstone Belt. Several large primary and secondary gold deposits occur in the region. Quartz reef and shear hosted deposits are present at Great Eastern and McCaffery's. Large secondary deposits have been worked at Lawlers, Sir Samual and Kathleen Valley. Wiluna Area Part of the Norseman-Wiluna Greenstone Belt. Large quartz stockwork and reef deposits are present at Wiluna. Secondary gold deposits also occur at Wiluna. Mt. Margaret Area At the Southern tip of the Mt. Magnet-Meekatharra Greenstone Belt. Numerous primary and secondary deposits have been worked in the region. B.I.F. hosted and quartz reef deposits are present at Hill 50 and Watertank Hill. Secondary deposits have been worked in and around Mt. Magnet. Sandstone Area Primary and secondary deposits occur at Sandstone and within a radius of 50km in the Sandstone Greenstone Belt. Large nugget finds have been made here. Cue Area Part of the Mt. Magnet-Meekatharra Greenstone Belt. Shear hosted, quartz reef and stockwork deposits have been worked at Big Bell, Golden Crown, Great Fingall and Cue. Numerous secondary deposits have been worked at Cue and in the surrounding region, particularly at Day Dawn, The Island and Tuckabianna. Meekatharra At the Northern tip of the Mt. Magnet-Meekatharra Greenstone Belt. Many primary and secondary gold deposits occur in the district. Shear hosted, quartz reef and stockworks form major deposits at Reedy's, Nannine, Kohinoor, Kiorara, New Alliance etc.. Secondary gold, including nuggets, was recovered at Meekatharra, Nannine, Yaloginda, Ruby Well, Hohens Find etc.. Figures Figure 1: A range of picks and hammers for prospecting Figure 2: Accessories for prospecting Figure 3: Some gold nuggets found near Leonora, WA Figure 4: Gold Deposit Types Figure 5: Alluvial Deposits Figure 7: Quartz veining at old mine, Daylesford, Victoria Figure 8: Quartz reefs and supergene deposits Figure 9: Quartz stockwork deposits Figure10: Shear hosted deposits	Gold
Asgard is home to the gods of what culture?	Minerals of the World With an Excellent Portable Mineral Software-By Annafarahmand and Michael Webber \| Minerals Minerals of the World With an Excellent Portable Mineral Software-By Annafarahmand and Michael Webber this is a unique document with a minerals software embedded and contains every things about minerals . encyclopedia of minerals Copyright: Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC) By Anna Farahmand and Michael Webber Minerals of the world With An Embedded Mineral Software! Volume1&2 "God sleeps in the minerals, awakens in plants, walks in animals, and thinks in man." Arthur Young Minerals of the world Second edition May 2012 © 2012 Anna farahmand -Micheal Webber All part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval systemor transmittedin any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. No profiting from sales of this of this document will be tolerated. –(Micheal Webber) Find more from Anna Farahmand and Michael Webber by Google them or here:http://www.scribd.com/annafarahmand Download free books of us here: http://www.scribd.com/annafarahmand Michael Webber: [email protected] Annafarahmand: [email protected] PrefaceA mineralis any naturally-occurring, homogeneous solid that has a definite chemicalcomposition and a distinctive internal crystal structure. Minerals are usually formed byinorganic processes. Synthetic equivalents of some minerals, such as emeralds anddiamonds,are often produced in the laboratory for experimental or commercial purposes.Although most minerals are chemical compounds, a small number (e.g., sulfur, copper,gold) are elements. The composition of a mineral can be defined by its chemical formula.Theidentity of its anionic group determines the group into which the mineral isclassified. For example, the mineral halite (NaCl) is composed of two elements, sodium(Na) and chlorine (Cl), in a 1:1 ratio; its anionic group is chloride (Cl - )--a halide--sohalite is classified as a halide. Minerals can thus be classified into the following major groups: native elements, sulfides, sulfosalts, oxides and hydroxides, halides, carbonates,nitrates, borates, sulfates, phosphates, and silicates. Silicates are the most commonlyoccurring minerals because silica is the most abundant constituent of the Earth's crust(about 59 percent).A mineral crystallizes in an orderly, three-dimensional geometric form, so that it isconsidered to be a crystalline material. Along with its chemical composition, thecrystalline structure of a mineral helps determine such physical properties as hardness,color, and cleavage.Minerals combine with each other to form rocks. For example,granite consists of the minerals feldspar, quartz, mica, and amphibole in varying ratios.Rocks are thus distinguished from minerals by their heterogeneous composition. A mere100 of the several thousand known types of minerals constitute the main components of rocks.Some rocks are predominantly composed of just one mineral. For example, limestoneis asedimentary rockcomposed almost entirely of the mineral calcite. Other rocks containmany minerals, and the specific minerals in a rock can vary widely. Some minerals, likequartz, micaor feldsparare common, while others have been found in only four or fivelocations worldwide. The vast majority of the rocks of the Earth's crustconsist of quartz,feldspar, mica, chlorite, kaolin, calcite, epidote, olivine, augite, hornblende, magnetite,hematite, limoniteand a few other minerals. Over half of the mineral species known areso rare that they have only been found in a handful of samples, and many are known fromonly one or two small grains.Commercially valuable minerals and rocks are referred to as industrial minerals. Rocksfrom which minerals are minedfor economic purposes are referred to as ores. Here is theright place youwill learn every thing about minerals. Anna Farahmand May 2012	i don't know
What name was given to the team consisting of Iron Man, Ant-Man, Wasp, Thor, and the Hulk?	Avengers \| Superhero Wiki \| Fandom powered by Wikia Avengers Mansion, Avengers Tower, Hydrobase Members Captain America (Leader, in most incarnations), Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Hank Pym, The Wasp, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Black Panther, countless others Rallying Cry Avengers Assemble The Avengers an all-star group of super-heroes in the Marvel Universe originally consisting of Iron Man , Ant-Man , the Wasp , Thor , and the Hulk , before expanding to include a large number of superheroes, including some of the most famous heroes on Earth. History Edit The Avengers Issue #1 The Avengers first formed when the evil Norse god Loki tried to defeat his brother Thor by tricking him into fight another superhero. Using his illusion powers, Loki tricks the Hulk into destroying a train station and diverts a radio call by Rick Jones to Thor with the intend of asking for Thor's help. Instead, Iron Man, the Wasp, and Ant-Man pick up the signal. After the initial confusion, Thor realizes that due to the nature of his illusions, that Loki is responsible, and the heroes team up and defeat Loki. After deciding that they are a formidable force all together, they decide to form a team. The Wasp suggests "The Avengers" (mostly due to the aesthetic appeal) and the name stuck.	The Avengers
Who, along with fellow reporter Lois, acts as a mentor and role model for young photojournalist Jimmy Olsen?	Ant-Man \| The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Wiki \| Fandom powered by Wikia Image gallery (0) YellowJacket, also known as Ant Man and Giant Man (real name Henry "Hank" Pym) is one of the first five founding member of the Avengers. He is a very intelligent scientist who is the love interest of Wasp . He goes by several super-hero code names depending on what abilities he is using. When he shrinks and uses his insect-controlling helmet, he is called Ant-Man. When he grows, he is called Giant-Man. And when he shrinks and grows, he's Yellowjacket. Contents [ show ] Biography In Africa, Ant-Man was studing Vibranium when Klaw and his mercenaries attacked him. He defeated them and asked Janet to stop the ants from eating the shrunken down mercianaries, which did not make her feel happy. Janet found Hank's research boring and battled Whirlwind. Ant-Man helped her because he didn't want her to get hurt. Wasp defeated Whirlwind and placed him in the Big House. When Nick Fury wanted her and Hank to join S.H.I.E.L.D. , Hank refused, but Wasp liked the idea of joining S.H.I.E.L.D. Breakout, Part 1 In the Big House Ant Man is interrogating with Mad Thinker about what he talked with Whirlwind that something will happen, which Mad Thinker replied that not what but when it will happen. Ant Man gets surprised that the jails are mysteriously opened and that the prisoners are walking out. Ant Man engages in a fight with Mandrill and King Cobra and evades them both, but is captured by King Cobra. Mandrill attacks Ant Man, but counterattacks with a kick and shrinks. He goes behind King Cobra and grows back to normal size to punch him. He gets assaulted by Griffin, but tried to dodge by shrinking and got pushed to the wall and fell down and changed back to normal size to cushion the fall. He then gets into a fight with Whirlwind with the latter winning and holding him. Griffin tries to assault again, but Ant Man dodges by shrinking and gets freed by Whirlwind who got pushed by Griffin. Ant Man falls down, but gets caught by Wasp. Avengers Assemble Ant-Man united with Thor, Iron Man, Hulk and Wasp and took down Gravaton. He helped form the Avengers. When Hulk was being controlled by the Enchantress, he tried to get Hulk to stop attacking the other Avengers. He later helped them defeat Enchantress. Hulk then left the team. Ant-Man and the other avengers found Captain America frozen in ice, thawed him out, and later fought Doughboy and defeated him. He saved Iron Man from Wonder Man and tried to get him to the Arc Reacter, but failed. Wonder Man was saved by Enchantress, who let him join the Masters of Evil. Ant-Man helped Black Panther and the Avengers save Wakanda and defeat Man-Ape, Klaw, and HYDRA. When the avengers left, he stayed behind to study Vibranium. He saw the Leader's speech that told him and the world that they would be affected by Gamma. However, his plans were stopped by Hawkeye, Thor, and Hulk. Masters of Evil When the Masters of Evil attacked the other Avengers, Hawkeye and Black Panther picked up Ant-Man from Wakanda and distracted Zemo and his team while Ant-Man got supplies for the fight. He helped free the others. While fighting them, Wasp warned him to run, but he freed her and the others. The Avengers eventually defeated Zemo's team. After the battle, Wasp wondered when Ant-Man got back from Wakanda. Later, He and Janet visted Carol Denvers and battled a kree sentry drone. Captain Marvel, Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor helped them fight the robot while preventing it from using it's Nega-Bomb from wiping out the planet. Ant-Man got knocked out, but before telling Wasp that he loves her. after the robot was destroyed, He was taken to the hospital, where Wasp says that she is sorry for her attention-hungry behavior and asks him to repeat what he said before passing out, but never gets an answer. Kang the Conqueror Ant-Man, Wasp, and Thor brought Blizzard to Prison 42 and later Kang the Conqueror, who was trying to kill Captain America. He later showed Ant-Man and the other Avengers that Earth would soon be wiped out by the Kree and the Skrulls, but in the end, it was Captain America (he didn't realize that it was actually a Skrull that would wipe out Earth). The Avengers made it back to the present time and defeated Kang. Kang returned and tried to take over the world. Ant-Man programmed Ultron to fight the robots. Later, he and the other Avengers fougth Kang in space. Ant-Man got knocked out, but recovered when Wasp warned the others that if the time drive was destroyed, then Ravonna would die. Kang was defeated and imprisioned. Ant-Man and Reed Richards observed Ravonna, who was moved to the Baxter Building. When Malekith the Accursed unleashed the Casket of Ancient Winters and froze the planet, Ant-Man and Ultron fought the Dark Elf souls. They were fought near New York's universities. The souls were later defeated. Ant-Man watched Hawkeye shoot an apple when the power went out. Black Widow told him and the other Avengers about the Cosmic Cube. Ant-Man went with Hawkeye and Black Widow. They fought HYDRA agents. Hawkeye later fired an arrow with Ant-Man on it toward Baron Strucker's location. Ant-Man grew to normal size and punched Strucker. He later fought the dreadnauts and defeated them with the help of Hawkeye and Black Widow. Captain America defeated Strucker and then the Avengers celebrated their victory over HYDRA and A.I.M. Ant-Man thought of what would have happened if HYDRA won. Ultron Hank invented Ultron as a peace keeping robot, designed to help with his efforts to stop the fighting the Avengers were forced to do to stop criminals. However this robot gained sentience and came to the conclusion that the only way to save the world was to destroy the humans that inhabited it. Fortunately Hank developed Ultron's mind based on the Human mind. By that logic, he perceived himself as a threat and imploded. Hank then decides to leave the Avengers, thinking that it's his fault on creating Ultron despite Janet's protests. This Hostage Earth Hank arrives to save Wasp from the Abomination over the Norm Stone in the Arctic and holds off the Frost Giants long enough for Wasp to destroy the Stone. But as a result of them being teleported to Jotumheim as the others were on other realms. Loki's War On "The Fall of Asgard", he was startled by Frost Giants and attacked them immediately with the axe he grabbed in an intention of no longer being diplomatic to hostiles. After being almost defeated by the Frost Giants, he confessed to Janet that he loved her. While the Giants attempted to kill him, he was rescued by Sif and her Valkyries. Sif was impressed that a mortal can turn himself into a giant and can fight well. Hank then replied thanks. A Day Unlike Any Other Hank and Wasp were reunited with others who made new friends while being stuck on other realms. Then they marched into Asgard to confront Loki and free Thor. But when Loki defeated them and attempted to kill them, Iron Man saved them and fought him to delay him long enough to stop him. After Loki's defeat, Odin and the Asgardians hailed them as true heroes despite they're mere mortals. Back on Earth, he left the Avengers temporarily to make up his mind. To Steal an Ant-Man Hank and Wasp had an argument at the Mansion and Hank see Ant-Man robbing a bank. Hank hires Luke Cage and Iron Fist to find the thief and it turn out to be Scott Lang . Lang steals Hank's Ant-Man costume to save his daughter Cassandra. Hank, Power Man and Iron Fist helps Lang to save his daughter. In the end, Hank allowed Scott to be the new Ant-Man, even though Scott wanted to return the suit to him. Yellowjacket After Hank Pym left the Avengers, he had been in a state of disorder before being visited by Iron Man and Wasp. When they visted him, he showed them his micro-prison. He quickly got angry at the two and told them to get out of his lab immediately. As the two left, an explosion happened in his lab that supposedly killed him. Hank had a funeral held for him by the Avengers. This would have been the first death of a member of the team. After the explosion, Hank became Yellowjacket and took matters into his own hands with supervillains. He took down the Serpant Society by blasting them with his gun and putting them in his micro-prison. He was pursed by Captain America and Black Panther, who told him they could take the supervillain he was facing at the time. He blasted the villain and began to fight the two. He stopped fighting when he saw Wasp. He was unmasked by Wasp during their next encounter. He had a stand off with some of the Avengers before his gun was knocked out of his hand, it exploded and they were all caught in the explosion. Hank revealed to them that he had been using his weapon as a way to keep the Serpent Society captive. When his gun almost killed them, he used his intellect to save them. After they were out, Hank told them Ant Man was no more and from that point on, he was Yellowjacket. He was allowed back on the team thanks to Wasp persuading Iron Man. Kree Threat When the Kree tried to destroy the sun, Yellowjacket stayed at Hydro-Base while the other Avengers went into space. When they tried to free Ronan the Accuser, he stopped them. Agent Brand informed him that Yellowjacket needed to defuse the Kree explosive, forcing him to retreat. He gave up on trying to disarm the Kree explosive, and shrunk it into the Microverse, where it detonates but harms very little, at that scale. Hank later revealed to Brand that he was merely making fun of her during the bomb diffusion, which earned him a sucker punch from her. Appearance In his appearance, he wears a lab coat on his free time. Underneath is lab coat is his Ant/Giant-Man suit with a Pym Particle belt. When he is Ant Man, he wears a helmet that is cable of summoning insects of any type and emitts sonic frequencies. When he is Giant Man he wears a mask thats similar from the comics and animated series and films. In his civilian clothing, he wears a jacket and a lab coat. When Hank became Yellowjacket he changes everything about his appearence. He wears a black mask with yellow antennas and a black over shirt with a golden wasp on it and has sticks up that goes over his shoulders and reaches the top of his head. He also wears a yellow undershirt with black gloves and wears yellow leggins with black underwear over them and wears black boots. Personality Unlike his fellow Avengers, Hank preferred a more logical way to deal with villains. He had sympathy and saw potential in villains, such as Whirlwind , and preferred to use violence only as a last resort. Hank was noted for being a pacifist, something none of the Avengers were. He was surprised by Wasp's liking of fighting and beating supervillains. After he became Yellowjacket, his tone of dealing with villains changed, possibly for the better. He was now more violent, such as punching several members of the Serpent Society in the face. He seems to have a personality disorder due to being isolated and became crazy inside his lab for many weeks without proper sleep or food besides pizza as Iron Man noticed in his messy lab, which made him think that he's Yellowjacket and Hank is another person. Relationships Wasp Wasp is Ant-Man's assistant at the university where he works, despite finding much of his work boring. In a bid for some excitement, and possibly to get Hank's attention, Wasp left to battle Whirlwind in one episode, eventually drawing Ant-man's attention and assistance in defeating against Whirlwind. Not long after, Wasp and Ant-Man attempted to contain the villains confined in the Bighouse during the events of the Breakout. Then after a fierce battle with the supervillain Graviton, they became two of The Avengers five founding members. Through the fights and adventures Hank and Janet have grown to love each other more and more. While they are still interested in each other (lacking any evidence to the contrary by the end of season 2 despite Hank's transformation into Yellowjacket), they are never shown to be openly romantically involved (dating). In the Episode The Fall of Asgard, Hank admits to Wasp's unconscious form that he loves her before growing to his Giant-man form and charging three frost giants to protect her. Ultron Ultron was Pym's greatest creation (and failure). Based on Pym's own brainwaves, he was created to contain and hopefully rehabilitate the prisoners of the Big House. However during Kang the Conquerer's seige, the avengers found it neccessary to have Ant-man reprogram the army of Ultron androids for combat against Kang's forces. Afterwards Ultron's programming convinced it that its ultimate purpose was the destruction of all life on earth to restore "peace and order." This forced Ant-man to deactivate Ultron. Ultron's corruption deeply scarred Ant-man's psyche and was a large part of the reason he left Avengers in the latter half of season 1. Powers & Abilities Size Reduction: Through the use of Pym Particles and a device fitted into his super suit, Hank Pym is able to shrink himself down to much smaller sizes. At this reduced size, he retains both his human sized strength and voice. While reduced in size, Hank typically rides a winged ant or is carried by Wasp to travel. This size has often been considered inferior to his Giant-Man form, but Hank has used it time and time again to great effect. The downside to this form is that Hank could be squished much more easily by foes. He is called Ant-Man in this form. Insect Communication and Control: Through the use of his Ant-Man Helmet, Hank is able to communicate with high order insects, such as Ants and Cockroaches. He can use the helmet to summon them from wherever they are, and can use it to command them to attack or surround enemies. Hank typically uses the insects as a binding force or to enter machines and disable them. Size Addition: Through the use of Pym Particles and a device fitted into his super suit, Hank is also able to increase his bodily mass and size, all while adding pound after pound of muscle to his frame. At increased sizes, Hank possesses superhuman strength, though it is almost inferior to both Thor and the Hulk. He is strong enough to lift enormous object and throw them incredible distances with surprising force, and was able to kick and fight the Abomination and throw him several feet away, and was also able to knock out the Asgardian Skurge the Executioner by smashing him under his hand. The downside to this form, as demonstrated in the test battle against Black Panther, is that Hank's larger body is a far bigger target than he is normally, and his pressure points are also larger and causes greater pain. While increased in size, Hank is known as Giant-Man, though he is mostly just called Hank by the other Avengers. Aside from his superhuman abilities, Hank is an incredibly gifted scientist, having developed the Pym Particles that gave both himself and Janet van Dyne their powers. He also created the Ant-Man Helmet, and is a Professor at the University that Janet attends. He is often considered dangerous for this intelligence, but is also noted as "Boring." by Janet. Equipment The suit he wears acts as conduit for his Pym particles with his powers being activating by the device on it's belt. His helmet emitts sonic frequencies which Hank can manipulation manually, which are most often used to speak to insect-life and have them help him and the Avengers diffuse opponents, but as the frequencies are variable, it can be used as a weapon against opponents weak to certain sonic frequencies. He now wears an improved version of his Pym particle belt on his Yellowjacket suit. When in the form of Yellowjaacket, he uses a gun that when hit by its rays, is sent to the microverse. Trivia Hank designed the Big House for S.H.I.E.L.D. with the intention of rehabilitating and reforming super villains. This is evident in the luxuries given in the individual cells of each supervillain. He wears the same costume from the comics and other series but a little trimmed. Hank took the longest absence of any Avenger in the series, totaling to 18 episodes for him to rejoin the team. He only wanted to have peace with everyone, including the supervillains, but no one agreed with his pacifist words and actions. He eventually became Yellowjacket to meet the Avengers' needs. He quit the Avengers when they were fighting the Serpent Society and he rejoined them in another fight with them.	i don't know
What is the official call sign of the Boeing 747 that carries the president?	I Love Air Force One THE BIRD AND THE BEAST Air Force One together with "Cadillac One", the official presidential fleet, in Mexico, (2012). President Barack Obama boards Air Force One at Los Cabos International Airport in Los Cabos, Mexico, June 19, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) Please click on the graphic for a larger view. Welcome Aboard Air Force One! Air Force One: Inside the Oval Office in the Sky ABC News, May 4, 2015 This is the homepage for my new presidential aviation fansite, entitled "I Love Air Force One". This is the second version of this website, and on these pages I hope to explain why I love these two particular twin airplanes and how they will serve the Obama Administration and the country as a whole. A Rich History I am obviously not the only one out there who is facinated by the rich history, technical inner workings and layout, and overall mistique of these famous airliners. In fact, I would like to proudly display, as an homage to the hard work and attention to detail of two individuals whose blogs and sites I have admired for some time now, The White House Museum page on Air Force One , as well as the blog (" Wingnuts Workings ") that chronicles the development of 3D models showcasing these twin 747s. What is "Air Force One"? Technically speaking, "Air Force One" is the radio call sign used on any United States Air Force jet that carries the President of the United States ("POTUS"). Usually this name applies to one of two Boeing 747 aircraft otherwise known as Special Air Mission ("SAM") 28000 and SAM 29000, but it does not have to be that way. Also, the callsign "Executive One Foxtrot" is used when only the family of the president is on board. History of the presidential call sign: The presidential call sign was established for security purposes during the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower. The change stemmed from a 1953 incident where an Eastern Airlines commercial flight (8610) had the same call sign as a flight the president was on (Air Force 8610). The aircraft accidentally entered the same airspace, and after the incident the unique call sign "Air Force One" was introduced for the presidential aircraft, (from Wikipedia ). A Saint Louis Connection to the First Presidential Flight in History! On October 11, 1910, Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to fly in an aircraft, although at the time of the flight in an early Wright Flyer from Kinloch Field (near St. Louis, Missouri) , he was no longer in office, having been succeeded by William Howard Taft. The record-making occasion was a brief overflight of the crowd at a country fair but was nonetheless, the beginning of presidential air travel, (Hardesty 2003, pp. 31-32). What's there to do? Have a look around, and feel free to give me feedback. I will add more content as time permits. This fansite has grown much since its initial debut in 2003. Please feel free to let me know what you like and what you don't like to see. As any scholar knows, peer review is a very constructive and valuable resource. Enjoy!! © 2017 - Erik Alejandro Buschardt, Webmaster.	Air Force One
Tattinger, Veuve Clicquot, and Delbeck are all makers of what?	1000+ images about Air Force One on Pinterest \| Jfk, Lightning and Amsterdam Air Force One 26000 - the plane that carried JFK back from Dallas to DC - arrives at it's permanent home - the National Museum of the United States Air Force. See More	i don't know
May 6, 1856 saw the birth of what Austrian neurologist, credited as the father of psychoanalysis?	Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud Wikipedia Oct 27, 2005 Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology, based on his theory that unconscious motives control much behavior, that particular kinds of unconscious thoughts and memories, especially sexual and aggressive ones, are the source of neurosis, and that neurosis could be treated through bringing these unconscious thoughts and memories to consciousness in psychoanalytic treatment. He was initially interested in hypnotism and how it could be used to help the mentally ill, but later abandoned hypnotism in favor of free association and dream analysis in developing what is now known as "the talking cure." These became the core elements of psychoanalysis. Freud was initially especially interested in what was then called hysteria (now known as conversion syndrome), but expanded his work to other forms of neurosis, especially obsessive-compulsive disorder. While Freud's theories, and his treatment of patients, were controversial in 19th century Vienna and remain debated today, he is considered to be not only one of the major innovators in psychology but also one of the major figures in Western thought. His ideas are often discussed and analyzed as works of literature, philosophy, and general culture, in addition to continuing debate about their merits as scientific and medical treatises. His ideas have impacted not only psychology but also philosophy, sociology, anthropology, political science, history, literary criticism, art history, music history, and cultural studies.He is commonly referred to as "the father of psychoanalysis." His life Freud was born Sigismund Schlomo Freud, into a Jewish family in Freiberg (Príbor), Moravia, the Austrian Empire (now the Czech Republic) on May 6, 1856. In 1877, at the age of 21, he abbreviated his given name to "Sigmund." Although he was the first-born of three brothers and five sisters among his mother's children, Sigmund had older half-brothers from his father's previous marriage. His family had limited finances and lived in a crowded apartment, but his parents made every effort to foster his intellect (often favoring Sigmund over his siblings), which was apparent from an early age. Sigmund was ranked first in his class in 6 of 8 years of schooling. He went on to attend the University of Vienna at 17, in 1873-1881 despite intense anti-Semitism in Austria. In his 40's, Freud "had numerous psychosomatic disorders as well as exaggerated fears of dying and other phobias" (Corey 2001, p. 67). During this time Freud was involved in the task of self-analysis. He explored his own dreams, childhood memories, and the dynamics of his personality development. During this self-analysis, he came to realize the hostility he felt towards his father (Jacob Freud), and "he also recalled his childhood sexual feelings for his mother (Amalia Freud), who was attractive, warm, and protective" (Corey 2001, p. 67). Corey (2001) considers this time of emotional difficulty to be the most creative time in Freud's life. Overall, little is known of Freud's early life, as he destroyed his personal papers at least twice, once in 1885 and again in 1907. Additionally, his later papers were closely guarded in the Sigmund Freud Archives and only available to Ernest Jones, his official biographer, and a few other members of the inner circle of psychoanalysis. Freud had little tolerance for colleagues who diverged from his psychoanalytic doctrines. For example, he attempted to expel those who disagreed with the movement (Corey, 2001). Freud's daughter Anna Freud was also a distinguished psychologist, particularly in the fields of child and developmental psychology. Sigmund is the grandfather of painter Lucian Freud and comedian, politician and writer Clement Freud, and the great-grandfather of journalist Emma Freud, and fashion designer Bella Freud. Sigmund Freud was also both a blood uncle and an uncle-in-law to public relations and propaganda wizard Edward Bernays. Bernays's mother, Anna Freud Bernays, was sister to Sigmund. Bernays's father, Ely Bernays, was brother to Sigmund's wife, Martha Bernays Freud. Freud smoked cigars for most of his life; even after having his jaw removed due to malignancy, he continued to smoke until his death on September 23, 1939. He smoked an entire box of cigars daily. After contracting cancer of the mouth, he underwent over 30 operations to treat the disease; his death was by a physician-assisted morphine overdose. Freud's innovations Freud has been influential in two related, but distinct ways. He simultaneously developed a theory of the human mind and human behavior, and clinical techniques for attempting to help neurotics. Early work A lesser known interest of Freud's was neurology. He was an early researcher on the topic of cerebral palsy, then known as "cerebral paralysis". He published several medical papers on the topic. He also showed that the disease existed far before other researchers in his day began to notice and study it. He also suggested that William Little, the man who first identified cerebral palsy, was wrong about lack of oxygen during the birth process being a cause. Instead, he suggested that complications in birth were only a symptom of the problem. It was not until the 1980s that his speculations were confirmed by more modern research. Freud was an early user and proponent of cocaine as a stimulant. He wrote several articles on the antidepressant qualities of the drug, and he was influenced by his friend and confidant, Wilhelm Fliess, who recommended cocaine for the treatment of the "nasal reflex neurosis." Fleiss operated on Freud and a number of Freud's patients whom he believed to be suffering from the disorder. Emma Eckstein underwent disastrous nasal surgery by Fleiss. Freud felt that cocaine would work as a cure-all for many disorders, and wrote a well-received paper, "On Coca", explaining its virtues. He prescribed it to his friend Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow to help him beat a morphine addiction he had acquired while treating a disease of the nervous system. Freud also recommended it to many of his close family and friends. He narrowly missed out on obtaining scientific priority for discovering cocaine's anesthetic properties (which Freud was aware of but had not written extensively on), after Karl Koller, a colleague of Freud's in Vienna, present a report to a medical society in 1884 outlining the ways in which cocaine could be used for delicate eye surgery. Freud was bruised by this, especially because this would turn out to be one of the only safe uses of cocaine, as reports of addiction and overdose began to filter in from many places in the world. Freud's medical reputation became somewhat tarnished for his early enthusiasm. Furthermore, Freud's friend, Fleischl-Marxow developed an acute case of "cocaine psychosis" as a result of Freud's prescriptions, and died a few years later. Freud felt great regret over these events, which later biographers have dubbed "The Cocaine Incident". Freud hoped that his research would provide a solid scientific basis for his therapeutic technique. The goal of Freudian therapy, or psychoanalysis, was to bring to consciousness repressed thoughts and feelings, in order to allow the patient to develop a stronger ego. Classically, the bringing of unconscious thoughts and feelings to consciousness is brought about by encouraging the patient to talk in "free association" and to talk about dreams. Another important element of psychoanalysis is a relative lack of direct involvement on the part of the analyst, which is meant to encourage the patient to project thoughts and feelings onto the analyst. Through this process, called "transference," the patient can reenact and resolve repressed conflicts, especially childhood conflicts with (or about) parents. The unconscious The Interpretation of Dreams - a powerful early work of FreudPerhaps the most significant contribution Freud has made to modern thought is his conception of the unconscious. During the 19th century the dominant trend in Western thought was positivism, the belief that people could ascertain real knowledge concerning themselves and their environment and judiciously exercise control over both. Freud, however, suggested that such declarations of free will are in fact delusions; that we are not entirely aware of what we think and often act for reasons that have little to do with our conscious thoughts. The concept of the unconscious was groundbreaking in that he proposed that awareness existed in layers and that there were thoughts occurring "below the surface." Dreams, which he called the "royal road to the unconscious", provided the best access to our unconscious life and the best illustration of its "logic", which was different than the logic of conscious thought. In The Interpretation of Dreams Freud both developed the argument that the unconscious exists and described a method for gaining access to it. The Preconscious was described as a layer between conscious and unconscious thought—that which we could access with a little effort. Thus for Freud the ideals of the Enlightenment, positivism, and rationalism could be achieved through understanding, transforming, and mastering the unconscious, rather than through denying or repressing it. Crucial to the operation of the unconscious is "repression." According to Freud, people often experience thoughts and feelings that are so painful that people cannot bear them. Such thoughts and feelings—and associated memories—could not, Freud argued, be banished from the mind, but could be banished from consciousness. Thus they come to constitute the unconscious. Although Freud later attempted to find patterns of repression among his patients in order to derive a general model of the mind, he also observed that individual patients repress different things. Moreover, Freud observed that the process of repression is itself a non-conscious act (in other words, it did not occur through people willing away certain thoughts or feelings). Freud supposed that what people repressed was in part determined by their unconscious. In other words, the unconscious was for Freud both a cause and effect of repression. Psychosexual development What's on a man's mind – Sigmund FreudMain article: Psychosexual development Freud also believed that the libido developed in individuals by changing its object. He argued that humans are born "polymorphously perverse," meaning that any number of objects could be a source of pleasure. He further argued that, as humans developed, they fixated on different and specific objects through their stages of development—first in the oral stage (exemplified by an infant's pleasure in nursing), then in the anal stage (exemplified by a toddler's pleasure in controlling his or her bowels), then in the phallic stage. Freud argued that children then passed through a stage where they fixated on the parent of the opposite sex and thought the same-sexed parent a rival. Freud named his new theory the Oedipus Complex after the famous Greek tragedy by Sophocles.“I found in myself a constant love for my mother, and jealousy of my father. I now consider this to be a universal event in childhood,” Freud said. Freud sought to anchor this pattern of development in the dynamics of the mind. Each stage is a progression into adult sexual maturity, characterized by a strong ego and the ability to delay gratification. (see Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality.) Freud hoped to prove that his model was universally valid. He thus turned to ancient mythology and contemporary ethnography for comparative material. Freud used the Greek tragedy by Sophocles Oedipus Rex to point out how much he believed that people (young boys in particular) desire incest, and must repress that desire. The Oedipus conflict was described as a state of psychosexual development and awareness. He also turned to anthropological studies of totemism and argued that totemism reflected a ritualized enactment of a tribal Oedipal conflict. No discussion of Sigmund Freud is complete without some mention of his highly influential and controversial views on the role and psychology of women. Freud was an early champion of both sexual freedom and education for women (Freud, "Civilized Sexual Morality and Modern Nervousness"). Some feminists, however, have argued that at worst his views of women's sexual development set the progress of women in Western culture back decades and that at best they lent themselves to the ideology of female inferiority. Believing as he did that women were a kind of mutilated male, who must learn to accept her deformity (the lack of a penis) and submit to some imagined biological imperative, he contributed to the vocabulary of misogyny. Terms such as "penis envy" and "castrating" (both used to describe women who attempted to excel in any field outside the home) contributed to discouraging women from obtaining education or entering any field dominated by men, until the 1970s. On the other hand, feminist theorists such as Juliet Mitchell, Nancy Chodorow, Jessica Benjamin, and Jane Flax have argued that psychoanalytic theory is essentially related to the feminist project and must, like other theoretical traditions, be adapted by women to free it from vestiges of sexism. Freud's views are still being questioned by people concerned about women's equality. The id, ego and superego Freud sought to explain how the unconscious operates by proposing that it has a particular structure. He proposed that the unconscious was divided into three parts: Id, Ego, and Superego. The Id (Latin, = "it" = es in the original German) represented primary process thinking — our most primitive need gratification type thoughts. The Superego (überich in German) represented our conscience and counteracted the Id with moral and ethical thoughts. Freud based the term Id on the work of Georg Groddeck. The Ego (ich) stands in between both to balance our primitive needs and our moral/ethical beliefs. A healthy ego provides the ability to adapt to reality and interact with the outside world in a way that accommodates both Id and Superego. The general claim that the mind is not a monolithic or homogeneous thing continues to have an enormous influence on people outside of psychology. Freud was especially concerned with the dynamic relationship between these three parts of the mind. Freud argued that the dynamic is driven by innate drives. But he also argued that the dynamic changes in the context of changing social relationships. Defense mechanisms Sigmund and Anna Freud 1913 on a holiday in the DolomitsAccording to Freud, the defense mechanisms are the method by which the ego can solve the conflicts between the superego and the id. The use of the mechanisms required eros, and they are helpful if moderately used. The use of defense mechanisms may attenuate the conflict between the id and superego, but their overuse or reuse rather than confrontation can lead to either anxiety or guilt which may result in psychological disorders such as depression. His daughter, Anna Freud, had done the most significant work on this field, yet credited Sigmund with Defense Mechanisms as he began the work. The defense mechanisms include, denial, reaction formation, displacement, repression/suppression (the proper term), projection, intellectualisation, rationalisation, compensation, sublimation and regressive emotionality. Denial means that someone will not (deliberately) admit to the truth. For example, a student may have received a bad grade on a report card but tells himself that grades don't matter. Repression occurs when someone cannot remember a past traumatic experience, while suppression is a conscious effort to do the same. Intellectualisation involves removing one's self, emotionally, from a stressful event. Intellectualisation is often accomplished through rationalisation rather than accepting reality, one may explain it away to remove one's self. Compensation occurs when someone takes up one behavior because one cannot accomplish another behavior. For example, the second born child may clown around to get attention since the older child is already an accomplished scholar. Sublimation is the channeling of impulses to socially accepted behaviours. For instance, the use of a dark, gloomy poem to describe life by such poets as Emily Dickinson. Reaction formation takes place when someone takes the opposite approach consciously compared to what he wants unconsciously. For example, someone may engage in violence against another race because, he claims, they are inferior, when unconsciously it is he himself who feels inferior. The life and death instincts Freud believed that humans were driven by two drives, libidinal energy/Eros and the death drive/Thanatos. Freud's description of Eros/Libido included all creative, life-producing drives. The Death Drive represented an urge of automatic inherent in all living things to return to a state of calm, or, ultimately, of non-existence. Psychology of religion Freud gave explanations of the genesis of religion in various of his writings. In Totem and Taboo he applied the idea of the Oedipus complex (involving unresolved sexual feelings of, for example, a son toward his mother and hostility toward his father) and postulated its emergence in the primordial stage of human development. In Moses and Monotheism Freud reconstructed biblical history in accord with his general theory, but biblical scholars and historians would not accept his account since it was in opposition to the point of view of the accepted criteria of historical evidence. His ideas were also developed in The Future of an Illusion. When Freud spoke of religion as an illusion, he maintained that it is a fantasy structure from which a man must be set free if he is to grow to maturity; and in his treatment of the unconscious he moved toward atheism. Freud's view of the idea of God as being a version of the father image and his thesis that religious belief is at bottom infantile and neurotic do not depend upon the accounts of prehistory and Biblical history with which Freud dressed up his version of the origin and nature of religion. Authoritarian religion, according to Freud, is dysfunctional and alienates man from himself. Freud's Legacy Freud on the Austrian 50-Schilling NoteFreud trained as a medical doctor, and as such, he believed his research methods and conclusions were scientific. However, his research and practice were condemned by many of his peers, as well as later psychologists and academics. Some, like Juliet Mitchell, have suggested that this is because his basic claim, that many of our conscious thoughts and actions are motivated by unconscious fears and desires, implicitly challenges universal and objective claims about the world (some proponents of science conclude that this invalidates Freudian theory as a means of interpreting and explaining human behavior; some proponents of Freud conclude that this invalidates science as a means of interpreting and explaining human behavior). Psychoanalysis today maintains the same ambivalent relationship with medicine and academia that Freud experienced during his life. Clinical psychologists, who seek to treat mental illness, relate to Freudian psychoanalysis in different ways. Some clinical psychologists have modified this approach and have developed a variety of "psychodynamic" models and therapies. Other clinical psychologists reject Freud's model of the mind, but have adapted elements of his therapeutic method, especially his reliance on patients' talking as a form of therapy. Experimental psychologists generally reject Freud's methods and theories. Like Freud, psychiatrists train as medical doctors, but—like most medical doctors in Freud's time—most reject his theory of the mind, and generally rely more on drugs than talk in their treatments. This could be more to do with modern drive to a 'quick fix' rather than problems with Freud's theories, however. Freud's psychological theories are hotly disputed today and many leading academic and research psychiatrists regard him as a charlatan - but there are also many leading academic and research psychiatrists who can agree at least with the core of his work. Although Freud was long regarded as a genius, psychiatry and psychology have long since been recast as scientific disciplines. Psychiatric disorders are often considered purely diseases of the brain, the etiology of which is principally genetic. This consideration holds that childhood and environment don't have much influence on the human mind and its well-being. However, many people reject this view as an over-simplification. Freud's model of psycho-sexual development has been criticized from different perspectives. Some have attacked Freud's claim that infants are sexual beings (and, implicitly, Freud's expanded notion of sexuality). Others have accepted Freud's expanded notion of sexuality, but have argued that this pattern of development is not universal, nor necessary for the development of a healthy adult. Instead, they have emphasized the social and environmental sources of patterns of development. Moreover, they call attention to social dynamics Freud de-emphasized or ignored (such as class relations). Some criticize Freud's rejection of positivism. The philosopher of science Karl Popper formulated a method to distinguish science from non-science, or "pseudoscience". For Popper, all proper scientific theories are potentially falsifiable. If a theory is incapable of being falsified, then it cannot be considered scientific. Popper pointed out that Freud's theories of psychology can always be "verified", since no type of behaviour could ever falsify them. Although Popper's demarcation between science and non-science is widely accepted among scientists, it remains a controversial one itself within philosophy of science and philosophy in general. Within psychiatry, there are disputes over the causes of mental illness. Some psychiatrists argue that all mental illnesses are caused by neurological disorders but most still admit that many of them are combination of neurological disorders and "learned problems". The work of Emil Kraepelin established scientific psychiatry, which maintains neurological disorder view, although it is worth noting that Freud made significant contributions in this area. Other critics, such as Thomas Szasz, argue that mental illness does not even exist, since there is no objective pathology to observe. Behaviourism, evolutionary psychology, and cognitive psychology reject psychoanalysis as a pseudoscience. Humanistic psychology maintains that psychoanalysis is a demeaning and incorrect view of human beings. The other schools of psychology have produced alternative methods of psychotherapy to psychoanalysis, including behavior therapy, cognitive therapy, and person centred psychotherapy. Major works Studies on Hysteria (with Josef Breuer) (1895) The Interpretation of Dreams (1899) The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1901) Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905) Totem and Taboo (1913) On Narcissism (1914) Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1920) The Ego and the Id (1923) The Future of an Illusion (1927) Civilization and Its Discontents (1929) Moses and Monotheism (1939) An Outline of Psycho-Analysis (1940)	Sigmund Freud
May 8 is known as Victory in Europe day when the Allies accepted the unconditional surrender of Germany, in what year?	Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( German pronunciation: [ˈziːkmʊnt ˈfʁɔʏt]), born Sigismund Schlomo Freud (May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939), was an Austrian neurologist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology . Freud is best known for his theories of the unconscious mind and the defense mechanism of repression and for creating the clinical practice of psychoanalysis for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst. Freud is also renowned for his redefinition of sexual desire as the primary motivational energy of human life, as well as his therapeutic techniques, including the use of free association, his theory of transference in the therapeutic relationship, and the interpretation of dreams as sources of insight into unconscious desires. He was also an early neurological researcher into cerebral palsy . While many of Freud's ideas have fallen out of favor or have been modified by Neo-Freudians, and modern advances in the field of psychology have shown flaws in many of his theories, Freud's work remains important in the history of clinical psychodynamic approaches. In academia, his ideas continue to influence the humanities and some social sciences . Biography Early life Sigmund Freud was born on May 6, 1856 to Galician Jewish parents in the Moravian town of Příbor, Austrian Empire, which is now part of the Czech Republic. His father Jakob was 41, a wool merchant, and had two children by a previous marriage. His mother Amalié (née Nathansohn), the third wife of Jakob, was 21. He was the first of their eight children and owing to his precocious intellect, his parents favoured him over his siblings from the early stages of his childhood. Despite their poverty, they sacrificed everything to give him a proper education. Due to the economic crisis of 1857, Freud's father lost his business, and the family moved to Leipzig before settling in Vienna . In 1865, Sigmund entered the Leopoldstädter Kommunal-Realgymnasium, a prominent high school. Freud was an outstanding pupil and graduated the Matura in 1873 with honors. After planning to study law, Freud joined the medical faculty at University of Vienna to study under Darwinist Prof. Karl Claus. At that time, eel life history was still unknown. In search for their male sex organs, Freud spent four weeks at the Austrian zoological research station in Trieste, dissecting hundreds of eels without finding more than his predecessors had. In 1876, he published his first paper about "the testicles of eels " in the Mitteilungen der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, conceding that he could not solve the matter. Frustrated by the lack of success that would have gained him fame, Freud chose to change his course of study. Medical school In 1874, the concept of " psychodynamics " was proposed with the publication of Lectures on Physiology by German physiologist Ernst Wilhelm von Brücke who, in coordination with physicist Hermann von Helmholtz , one of the formulators of the first law of thermodynamics ( conservation of energy ), supposed that all living organisms are energy-systems also governed by this principle. During this year, at the University of Vienna, Brücke served as supervisor for first-year medical student Sigmund Freud who adopted this new "dynamic" physiology. In his Lectures on Physiology, Brücke set forth the radical view that the living organism is a dynamic system to which the laws of chemistry and physics apply. This was the starting point for Freud's dynamic psychology of the mind and its relation to the unconscious . The origins of Freud’s basic model, based on the fundamentals of chemistry and physics, according to John Bowlby, stems from Brücke, Meynert, Breuer, Helmholtz , and Herbart . In 1879, Freud interrupted his studies to complete his one year of obligatory military service, and in 1881 he received his Dr. med. (M.D.) with the thesis Über das Rückenmark niederer Fischarten ("on the spinal cord of lower fish species"). Freud and psychoanalysis In October 1885 Freud went to Paris on a traveling fellowship to study with Europe's most renowned neurologist, Jean Martin Charcot . He was later to remember the experience of this stay as catalytic in turning him toward the practice of medical psychopathology and away from a less financially promising career in research neurology. Charcot specialised in the study of hysteria and its susceptibility to hypnosis , which he frequently demonstrated with patients on stage in front of an audience. Freud later turned away from hypnosis as a potential cure, favouring free association and dream analysis. Charcot himself questioned his own work on hysteria towards the end of his life. After opening his own medical practice, specializing in neurology , Freud married Martha Bernays in 1886. Her father Berman was the son of Isaac Bernays, chief rabbi in Hamburg. After experimenting with hypnosis on his neurotic patients, Freud abandoned this form of treatment as it proved ineffective for many, in favor of a treatment where the patient talked through his or her problems. This came to be known as the "talking cure", as the ultimate goal of this talking was to locate and release powerful emotional energy that had initially been rejected, and imprisoned in the unconscious mind. Freud called this denial of emotions " repression ", and he believed that it was often damaging to the normal functioning of the psyche, and could also retard physical functioning as well, which he described as " psychosomatic " symptoms. (The term "talking cure" was initially coined by the patient Anna O. who was treated by Freud's colleague Josef Breuer.) The "talking cure" is widely seen as the basis of psychoanalysis. Carl Jung initiated the rumor that a romantic relationship may have developed between Freud and his sister-in-law, Minna Bernays, who had moved into Freud's apartment at 19 Berggasse in 1896. (Psychologist Hans Eysenck has suggested that the affair resulted in a pregnancy and a subsequent abortion for Miss Bernays.) The publication in 2006 of a Swiss hotel log, dated 13 August 1898, has suggested to some Freudian scholars (including Peter Gay) that there was a factual basis to these rumors. In his forties, Freud "had numerous psychosomatic disorders as well as exaggerated fears of dying and other phobias" (Corey 2001, p. 67). During this time Freud was involved in the task of exploring his own dreams, memories, and the dynamics of his personality development. During this self-analysis, he came to realize the hostility he felt towards his father (Jacob Freud), who had died in 1896, and "he also recalled his childhood sexual feelings for his mother (Amalia Freud), who was attractive, warm, and protective" (Corey 2001, p. 67) considers this time of emotional difficulty to be the most creative time in Freud's life. After the publication of Freud's books in 1900 and 1902, interest in his theories began to grow, and a circle of supporters developed in the following period. Freud often clashed with those supporters who critiqued his theories, however, the most famous being Carl Jung, who had originally supported Freud's ideas. Part of the reason for the fallout between Freud and Jung was the latter's interest and commitment to religion and mysticism, which Freud saw as unscientific. Last years In 1930, Freud received the Goethe Prize in appreciation of his contribution to psychology and to German literary culture. Three years later the Nazis took control of Germany and Freud's books featured prominently among those burned and destroyed by the Nazis. In March 1938, Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This led to violent outbursts of anti-Semitism in Vienna, and Freud and his family received visits from the Gestapo . Freud decided to go into exile "to die in freedom". He and his family left Vienna in June 1938 and moved to 20 Maresfield Gardens, Hampstead, London . There is a statue of him at the corner of Belsize Lane and Fitzjohn's Avenue, near Swiss Cottage. A heavy cigar smoker, Freud endured more than 30 operations during his life due to oral cancer . In September 1939 he prevailed on his doctor and friend Max Schur to assist him in suicide. After reading Balzac 's La Peau de chagrin in a single sitting he said, "My dear Schur, you certainly remember our first talk. You promised me then not to forsake me when my time comes. Now it is nothing but torture and makes no sense any more." Schur administered three doses of morphine over many hours that resulted in Freud's death on 23 September 1939. Three days after his death, Freud's body was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium in England during a service attended by Austrian refugees, including the author Stefan Zweig . His ashes were later placed in the crematorium's columbarium . They rest in an ancient Greek urn that Freud received as a present from Marie Bonaparte, and which he had kept in his study in Vienna for many years. After Martha Freud's death in 1951, her ashes were also placed in that urn. Golders Green Crematorium has since also become the final resting place for Anna Freud and her lifelong friend Dorothy Burlingham, as well as for several other members of the Freud family. Freud's ideas Freud has been influential in two related but distinct ways. He simultaneously developed a theory of how the human mind is organized and operates internally, and a theory of how human behavior both conditions and results from this particular theoretical understanding. This led him to favor certain clinical techniques for attempting to help cure psychopathology . He theorized that personality is developed by the person's childhood experiences. Early work Freud began his study of medicine at the University of Vienna but took eight years to complete his studies due to his interest in neurophysiological research, specifically investigation of the sexual anatomy of eels and the physiology of the fish nervous system (as noted above). He entered private practice in neurology for financial reasons, receiving his M.D. degree in 1881 at the age of 25. He was also an early researcher in the field of cerebral palsy, which was then known as "cerebral paralysis." He published several medical papers on the topic, and showed that the disease existed well before other researchers of the period began to notice and study it. He also suggested that William Little, the man who first identified cerebral palsy, was wrong about lack of oxygen during the birth process being a cause. Instead, he suggested that complications in birth were only a symptom of the problem. Freud hoped that his research would provide a solid scientific basis for his therapeutic technique. The goal of Freudian therapy, or psychoanalysis, was to bring subconsciously repressed thoughts and feelings into consciousness in order to free the patient from the suffering caused by the repetitive return of distorted forms of these thoughts and feelings. Classically, the bringing of unconscious thoughts and feelings to consciousness is brought about by encouraging the patient to talk in free association and to talk about dreams. Another important element of psychoanalysis is a relative lack of direct involvement on the part of the analyst, which is meant to encourage the patient to project thoughts and feelings onto the analyst. Through this process, transference, the patient can reenact and resolve repressed conflicts, especially childhood conflicts with (or about) parents. The origin of Freud's early work with psychoanalysis can be linked to Joseph Breuer. Freud credited Breuer with the discovery of the psychoanalytical method. One case started this phenomenon that would shape the field of psychology for decades to come, the case of Anna O. In 1880, a young woman came to Breuer with symptoms of what was then called female hysteria. Anna O. was a highly intelligent 21-year-old woman. She presented with symptoms such as paralysis of the limbs, dissociation , and amnesia; today this set of symptoms are known as conversion disorder . After many doctors had given up and accused Anna O. of faking her symptoms, Breuer decided to treat her sympathetically, which he did with all of his patients. He started to hear her mumble words during what he called states of absence. Eventually Breuer started to recognize some of the words and wrote them down. He then hypnotized her and repeated the words to her; Breuer found out that the words were associated with her father's illness and death. In the early 1890s Freud used a form of treatment based on the one that Breuer had described to him, modified by what he called his "pressure technique" and his newly-developed analytic technique of interpretation and reconstruction. According to the traditional story, based on Freud's later accounts of this period, as a result of his use of this procedure most of his patients in the mid-1890s reported early childhood sexual abuse. He believed these stories, but then came to realize that they were fantasies. He explained these at first as having the function of "fending off" memories of infantile masturbation, but in later years he wrote that they represented Oedipal wishful fantasies. A different version of events starts with Freud's first positing that unconscious memories of infantile sexual abuse were at the root of the psychoneuroses in letters to Wilhelm Fliess in October 1895 before he reported that he had actually discovered such abuse among his patients. In the first half of 1896 Freud published three papers stating that he had uncovered, in all of his current patients, deeply repressed memories of sexual abuse in early childhood. In these papers Freud recorded that with his patients the imputed memories were not conscious, and that on his theory they must be present as unconscious memories if they were to result in hysterical symptoms or obsessional neurosis. The patients were subjected to considerable pressure to "reproduce" infantile sexual abuse "scenes" that Freud was convinced had been repressed into the unconscious. However they generally were unconvinced that what they experienced under the influence of his clinical procedures indicated that they had actually been subjected to early childhood sexual abuse: he reported that even after the supposed "reproduction" of sexual scenes the patients assured him emphatically of their disbelief. As well as his "pressure technique", Freud's clinical procedures involved analytic inference and the symbolic interpretation of symptoms to "trace back" to infantile sexual abuse "scenes". His claim of one hundred percent confirmation of his theory only served to reinforce previously expressed reservations from his colleagues about the validity of findings obtained by means of the suggestive techniques he was using. Cocaine Freud was an early user and proponent of cocaine as a stimulant as well as analgesic . He wrote several articles on the antidepressant qualities of the drug and he was influenced by his friend and confidant Wilhelm Fliess, who recommended cocaine for the treatment of the "nasal reflex neurosis". Fliess operated on Freud and a number of Freud's patients whom he believed to be suffering from the disorder, including Emma Eckstein, whose surgery proved disastrous. Freud felt that cocaine would work as a panacea for many disorders and wrote a well-received paper, "On Coca", explaining its virtues. He prescribed it to his friend Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow to help him overcome a morphine addiction he had acquired while treating a disease of the nervous system. Freud also recommended it to many of his close family and friends. He narrowly missed out on obtaining scientific priority for discovering cocaine's anesthetic properties (of which Freud was aware but on which he had not written extensively), after Karl Koller, a colleague of Freud's in Vienna, presented a report to a medical society in 1884 outlining the ways cocaine could be used for delicate eye surgery. Freud was bruised by this, especially because this would turn out to be one of the few safe uses of cocaine, as reports of addiction and overdose began to filter in from many places in the world. Freud's medical reputation became somewhat tarnished because of this early ambition. Furthermore, Freud's friend Fleischl-Marxow developed an acute case of "cocaine psychosis" as a result of Freud's prescriptions and died a few years later. Freud felt great regret over these events, which later biographers have dubbed "The Cocaine Incident". However, he managed to move on, and some speculate that he even continued to use cocaine after this event. Jurgen von Scheidt posits that most of Freud's psychoanalytical theory was a byproduct of his cocaine use. The Unconscious Perhaps the most significant contribution Freud made to Western thought were his arguments concerning the importance of the unconscious mind in understanding conscious thought and behavior. However, as psychologist Jacques Van Rillaer pointed out, "contrary to what most people believe, the unconscious was not discovered by Freud. In 1890, when psychoanalysis was still unheard of, William James , in Principles of Psychology his monumental treatise on psychology, examined the way Schopenhauer , von Hartmann, Janet, Binet and others had used the term 'unconscious' and 'subconscious'". Boris Sidis, a Russian Jew who emigrated to the United States of America in 1887, and studied under William James, wrote The Psychology of Suggestion: A Research into the Subconscious Nature of Man and Society in 1898, followed by ten or more works over the next twenty five years on similar topics to the works of Freud. Historian of psychology Mark Altschule concluded, "It is difficult - or perhaps impossible - to find a nineteenth-century psychologist or psychiatrist who did not recognize unconscious cerebration as not only real but of the highest importance." Freud's advance was not to uncover the unconscious but to devise a method for systematically studying it. Freud called dreams the "royal road to the unconscious". This meant that dreams illustrate the "logic" of the unconscious mind. Freud developed his first topology of the psyche in The Interpretation of Dreams (1899) in which he proposed that the unconscious exists and described a method for gaining access to it. The preconscious was described as a layer between conscious and unconscious thought; its contents could be accessed with a little effort. One key factor in the operation of the unconscious is "repression". Freud believed that many people "repress" painful memories deep into their unconscious mind. Although Freud later attempted to find patterns of repression among his patients in order to derive a general model of the mind, he also observed that repression varies among individual patients. Freud also argued that the act of repression did not take place within a person's consciousness. Thus, people are unaware of the fact that they have buried memories or traumatic experiences. Later, Freud distinguished between three concepts of the unconscious: the descriptive unconscious, the dynamic unconscious, and the system unconscious. The descriptive unconscious referred to all those features of mental life of which people are not subjectively aware. The dynamic unconscious, a more specific construct, referred to mental processes and contents that are defensively removed from consciousness as a result of conflicting attitudes. The system unconscious denoted the idea that when mental processes are repressed, they become organized by principles different from those of the conscious mind, such as condensation and displacement. Eventually, Freud abandoned the idea of the system unconscious, replacing it with the concept of the ego, super-ego, and id. Throughout his career, however, he retained the descriptive and dynamic conceptions of the unconscious. Psychosexual development Freud hoped to prove that his model was universally valid and thus turned to ancient mythology and contemporary ethnography for comparative material. Freud named his new theory the Oedipus complex after the famous Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex by Sophocles . "I found in myself a constant love for my mother, and jealousy of my father. I now consider this to be a universal event in childhood," Freud said. Freud sought to anchor this pattern of development in the dynamics of the mind. Each stage is a progression into adult sexual maturity, characterized by a strong ego and the ability to delay gratification (cf. Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality). He used the Oedipus conflict to point out how much he believed that people desire incest and must repress that desire. The Oedipus conflict was described as a state of psychosexual development and awareness. He also turned to anthropological studies of totemism and argued that totemism reflected a ritualized enactment of a tribal Oedipal conflict. Freud originally posited childhood sexual abuse as a general explanation for the origin of neuroses, but he abandoned this so-called "seduction theory" as insufficiently explanatory. He noted finding many cases in which apparent memories of childhood sexual abuse were based more on imagination than on real events. During the late 1890s Freud, who never abandoned his belief in the sexual etiology of neuroses, began to emphasize fantasies built around the Oedipus complex as the primary cause of hysteria and other neurotic symptoms. Despite this change in his explanatory model, Freud always recognized that some neurotics had in fact been sexually abused by their fathers. He explicitly discussed several patients whom he knew to have been abused. Freud also believed that the libido developed in individuals by changing its object, a process codified by the concept of sublimation. He argued that humans are born "polymorphously perverse", meaning that any number of objects could be a source of pleasure. He further argued that, as humans develop, they become fixated on different and specific objects through their stages of development—first in the oral stage (exemplified by an infant's pleasure in nursing), then in the anal stage (exemplified by a toddler's pleasure in evacuating his or her bowels), then in the phallic stage . Freud argued that children then passed through a stage in which they fixated on the mother as a sexual object (known as the Oedipus Complex) but that the child eventually overcame and repressed this desire because of its taboo nature. (The term ' Electra complex ' is sometimes used to refer to such a fixation on the father, although Freud did not advocate its use.) The repressive or dormant latency stage of psychosexual development preceded the sexually mature genital stage of psychosexual development. Freud's views have sometimes been called phallocentric. This is because, for Freud, the unconscious desires the phallus (penis). Males are afraid of losing their masculinity, symbolized by the phallus, to another male. Females always desire to have a phallus - an unfulfillable desire. Thus boys resent their fathers (fear of castration) and girls desire theirs. Also, when asked if he should have included vulva related concepts Freud responded that "...the vulva is a void while the phallus is a presence...." Id, ego, and super-ego In his later work, Freud proposed that the human psyche could be divided into three parts: ego, super-ego, and id. Freud discussed this model in the 1920 essay Beyond the Pleasure Principle, and fully elaborated upon it in The Ego and the Id (1923), in which he developed it as an alternative to his previous topographic schema (i.e., conscious, unconscious, and preconscious). The id is the impulsive, child-like portion of the psyche that operates on the "pleasure principle" and only takes into account what it wants and disregards all consequences. The term ego entered the English language in the late 18th century; Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790) described the game of chess as a way to "...keep the mind fit and the ego in check". Freud acknowledged that his use of the term Id (das Es, "the It") derives from the writings of Georg Groddeck. The term Id appears in the earliest writing of Boris Sidis, in which it is attributed to William James, as early as 1898. The super-ego is the moral component of the psyche, which takes into account no special circumstances in which the morally right thing may not be right for a given situation. The rational ego attempts to exact a balance between the impractical hedonism of the id and the equally impractical moralism of the super-ego; it is the part of the psyche that is usually reflected most directly in a person's actions. When overburdened or threatened by its tasks, it may employ defense mechanisms including denial , repression, and displacement. The theory of ego defense mechanisms has received empirical validation, and the nature of repression, in particular, became one of the more fiercely debated areas of psychology in the 1990s. The life and death drives Freud believed that humans were driven by two conflicting central desires: the life drive (libido/Eros) (survival, propagation, hunger, thirst, and sex) and the death drive ( Thanatos ). Freud's description of Cathexis, whose energy is known as libido, included all creative, life-producing drives. The death drive (or death instinct), whose energy is known as anticathexis, represented an urge inherent in all living things to return to a state of calm: in other words, an inorganic or dead state. Freud recognized Thanatos only in his later years and developed his theory on the death drive in Beyond the Pleasure Principle. Freud approached the paradox between the life drives and the death drives by defining pleasure and unpleasure. According to Freud, unpleasure refers to stimulus that the body receives. (For example, excessive friction on the skin's surface produces a burning sensation; or, the bombardment of visual stimuli amidst rush hour traffic produces anxiety.) Conversely, pleasure is a result of a decrease in stimuli (for example, a calm environment the body enters after having been subjected to a hectic environment). If pleasure increases as stimuli decreases, then the ultimate experience of pleasure for Freud would be zero stimulus, or death. Given this proposition, Freud acknowledged the tendency for the unconscious to repeat unpleasurable experiences in order to desensitize, or deaden, the body. This compulsion to repeat unpleasurable experiences explains why traumatic nightmares occur in dreams, as nightmares seem to contradict Freud's earlier conception of dreams purely as a site of pleasure, fantasy, and desire. On the one hand, the life drives promote survival by avoiding extreme unpleasure and any threat to life. On the other hand, the death drive functions simultaneously toward extreme pleasure, which leads to death. Freud addressed the conceptual dualities of pleasure and unpleasure, as well as sex/life and death, in his discussions on masochism and sadomasochism . The tension between Eros and Thanatos represented a revolution in his manner of thinking. These ideas resemble aspects of the philosophies of Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche. Schopenhauer's pessimistic philosophy, expounded in The World as Will and Representation, describes a renunciation of the will to live that corresponds on many levels with Freud's Death Drive. Similarly, the life drive clearly parallels much of Nietzsche's concept of the Dionysian in The Birth of Tragedy. However, Freud denied having been acquainted with their writings before he formulated the groundwork of his own ideas. Freud's legacy Psychotherapy Freud's theories and research methods have always been controversial. However, Freud has had a tremendous impact on psychotherapy . Many psychotherapists follow Freud's approach to an extent, even if they reject his theories. One influential post-Freudian psychotherapy has been the primal therapy of the American psychologist Arthur Janov. Freud's contributions to psychotherapy have been extensively criticised by some scholars and historians, and defended by others. Critics include H. J. Eysenck , who wrote that Freud 'set psychiatry back one hundred years', consistently mis-diagnosed his patients, fraudulently misrepresented case histories and that "what is true in Freud is not new and what is new in Freud is not true". Betty Friedan also criticised Freud and his Victorian slant on women in her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique. Freud's concept of penis envy —and his definition of female as a negative—was attacked by Kate Millett, whose 1970 book Sexual Politics explained confusion and oversights in his work. Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen wrote in a review of Han Israëls's book Der Fall Freud published in The London Review of Books that, "The truth is that Freud knew from the very start that Fleischl, Anna O. and his 18 patients were not cured, and yet he did not hesitate to build grand theories on these non-existent foundations...he disguised fragments of his self-analysis as ‘objective’ cases, that he concealed his sources, that he conveniently antedated some of his analyses, that he sometimes attributed to his patients ‘free associations’ that he himself made up, that he inflated his therapeutic successes, that he slandered his opponents." Jacques Lacan saw attempts to locate pathology in, and then to cure, the individual as more characteristic of American ego psychology than of proper psychoanalysis. For Lacan, psychoanalysis involved "self-discovery" and even social criticism, and it succeeded insofar as it provided emancipatory self-awareness. However, David Stafford-Clark summed up the general criticism of Freud as follows: "Psychoanalysis was and will always be Freud's original creation. Its discovery, exploration, investigation, and constant revision formed his life's work. It is manifest injustice, as well as wantonly insulting, to commend psychoanalysis, still less to invoke it 'without too much of Freud'." It's like supporting the theory of evolution 'without too much of Darwin'. If psychoanalysis is to be treated seriously at all, one must take into account, both seriously and with equal objectivity, the original theories of Sigmund Freud. Philosophy Freud did not consider himself a philosopher, although he greatly admired Franz Brentano, known for his theory of perception, as well as Theodor Lipps, who was one of the main supporters of the ideas of the subconscious and empathy. In his 1932 lecture on psychoanalysis as "a philosophy of life" Freud commented on the distinction between science and philosophy: Philosophy is not opposed to science, it behaves itself as if it were a science, and to a certain extent it makes use of the same methods; but it parts company with science, in that it clings to the illusion that it can produce a complete and coherent picture of the universe, though in fact that picture must needs fall to pieces with every new advance in our knowledge. Its methodological error lies in the fact that it over-estimates the epistemological value of our logical operations, and to a certain extent admits the validity of other sources of knowledge, such as intuition. Freud's model of the mind is often considered a challenge to the enlightenment model of rational agency, which was a key element of much modern philosophy. Freud's theories have had a tremendous effect on the Frankfurt school and critical theory. Following the "return to Freud" of the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, Freud had an incisive influence on some French philosophers. Freud once openly admitted to avoiding the work of Nietzsche , "whose guesses and intuitions often agree in the most astonishing way with the laborious findings of psychoanalysis" . Nietzsche, however, vociferously rejected the conjecture of so-called 'scientific' men, and despite also 'diagnosing' the death of a father-God, chose instead to embrace the animal desires (or ' Dionysian energies') the humanist Freud sought to reject through positivism . Science Austrian-British philosopher Karl Popper argued that Freud's psychoanalytic theories were presented in untestable form. Psychology departments in American universities today are scientifically oriented , and Freudian theory has been marginalized, being regarded instead as a "desiccated and dead" historical artifact, according to a recent APA study. Recently, however, researchers in the emerging field of neuro-psychoanalysis have argued for Freud's theories, pointing out brain structures relating to Freudian concepts such as libido, drives , the unconscious , and repression. Founded by South African neuroscientist Mark Solms, neuro-psychoanalysis has received contributions from researchers including Oliver Sacks, Jaak Panksepp, Douglas Watt, António Damásio, Eric Kandel, and Joseph E. LeDoux. Patients Freud used pseudonyms in his case histories. Many of the people identified only by pseudonyms were traced to their true identities by Peter Swales. Some patients known by pseudonyms were Anna O. (Bertha Pappenheim, 1859–1936); Cäcilie M. (Anna von Lieben); Dora (Ida Bauer, 1882–1945); Frau Emmy von N. (Fanny Moser); Fräulein Elisabeth von R. (Ilona Weiss); Fräulein Katharina (Aurelia Kronich); Fräulein Lucy R.; Little Hans (Herbert Graf, 1903–1973); Rat Man (Ernst Lanzer, 1878–1914); and Wolf Man (Sergei Pankejeff, 1887–1979). Other famous patients included H.D. (1886–1961); Emma Eckstein (1865–1924); Gustav Mahler (1860–1911), with whom Freud had only a single, extended consultation; and Princess Marie Bonaparte. People on whom psychoanalytic observations were published, but who were not patients, included Daniel Paul Schreber (1842–1911); Giordano Bruno , Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924), on whom Freud co-authored an analysis with primary writer William Bullitt; Michelangelo , whom Freud analyzed in his essay, "The Moses of Michelangelo"; Leonardo da Vinci , analyzed in Freud's book, Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood; Moses, in Freud's book, Moses and Monotheism; and Josef Popper-Lynkeus, in Freud's paper, "Josef Popper-Lynkeus and the Theory of Dreams". Media Representation The Mark Steel Lectures - Freud The Century of the Self Freud the Secret Passion (Wikipedia)	i don't know
Which US city is known as The Big Easy, the Crescent City, or NOLA?	Why is New Orleans Called "the Big Easy"? (with pictures) Why is New Orleans Called "the Big Easy"? Images By: Calee Allen, Kzenon, Qingwa, Iofoto, n/a Last Modified Date: 13 December 2016 Copyright Protected: These 10 animal facts will amaze you Just about everyone has heard the city of New Orleans, located in Louisiana along the Mississippi River, referred to as "The Big Easy." While the term has been used in everything from literature to sales brochures and even movies, its origins are somewhat obscure. There are actually several theories on how New Orleans came to have the nickname. The nickname may be related to the rich musical heritage of New Orleans. The city has long been a haven for jazz and blues musicians who wanted a place to hone their craft. Legend has it that the earliest use of the Big Easy had to do with the fact that there were so many ways for a good musician to make a living in New Orleans. From performing on the streets and in the parks to playing private parties and in nightclubs, no other American city was said to be so open and so supportive of musical artists. The nickname might have been coined to refer to the ease with which a struggling musician could find work and study music at the same time. Another possible origin for the nickname is connected to the relaxed attitude toward alcohol consumption that was found in New Orleans, even during the days of Prohibition. The city, perhaps more than any other, continued to enjoy an active night life that offered everything from bathtub gins to the finest wines. Anyone who wanted to enjoy a drink or two could easily find something to his or her liking among the many nightspots of New Orleans. The name could. therefore, have referred to the great ease of enjoying an evening with the alcohol of one’s choice. The relatively low cost of living in New Orleans, in comparison to many major US cities, has also been suggested as the origin of the nickname. Musicians were not the only professionals who could easily find work in the city. Coupled with affordable housing and plenty of fresh food and drink, even a modest paycheck would allow a relatively comfortable standard of living. Whatever the origins of the nickname, there is no doubt that references to New Orleans as the Big Easy have increased dramatically since the release of a film of the same name in 1987. Set in New Orleans, the film introduced the culture and atmosphere of the city to many people that only knew it through travelogues. Today, just about everyone knows exactly what is being discussed when they hear the nickname mentioned. Whether conjuring images of an easy lifestyle, plenty of entertainment, or a place where music plays day and night, there is no doubt the Big Easy is now firmly a part of the national vocabulary, and will be for many years to come. Ad anon991306 Post 8 The accents in the movie (as with most shows about New Orleans) totally sucked. It would be nice if they could get it right! anon229051 Post 6 I have lived in New Orleans my entire life (38 years) and for as long as I can remember, it's been referred to as "The Big Easy." It has to do with the jazz and culture of the people (mainly creole) whose demeanor was always "easy going." The movie was given that name because they wanted viewers to know it was about New Orleans! Sheesh, people. Read a book! anon228327 Post 5 I was born and raised in New Orleans and we never called or heard of it called the big easy until that movie came out in '87., for whatever reason. I even heard that there was supposed to be a contest for a nickname, but NOLA already had one. It is called "The Crescent City" and "the city care forgot". And yes, the French Quarter was built on a higher area. icecream17 Post 4 Latte31-To make matters worse, there were few jobs in the area because damaged businesses had to rebuild and that took time. The only area that did not receive too much damage was the French Quarters. Thank goodness because that is the tourist area that brings New Orleans the most money. Most of the nightclubs and restaurants are in that area. The news reports speculated that the French Quarters were built on higher ground which is why it was not affected. I know now that New Orleans is now seeing a resurgence of construction and there is actually an active construction building industry in the area. Companies are coming back, but the crime levels still remain among the highest in the country. New Orleans is a unique city that specializes in Cajun cuisine. Cajun cuisine is a little hot and spicy very much like the city itself. latte31 Post 3 Oasis11- I remember that storm. It was devastating. The problem with the Big Easy is that since the city is built below sea level the home owner’s insurance now is very expensive. Many of the inhabitants of New Orleans did not have insurance and most of the homes were uninhabitable. Although the city has a rich history, it has a high level of poverty and many residents can not afford the home owners insurance. Some insurance, if it is still available can run as high as $4,500 a year for a $100,000 home. Before Katrina, the insurance for a similar home would be about $500 a year. oasis11 Post 2 Suntan12-I’ve rented the Big Easy DVD and I liked the movie. It is a bit intense, so there will definitely be some nail biting. I have to say that I think that New Orleans is an interesting city. Unfortunately after hurricane Katrina, some of the neighborhoods are sparse because people have not returned. The lower 9th ward, one of the hardest hit neighborhoods in New Orleans has only had 20% of its residents return five years after hurricane Katrina. suntan12 Post 1 The Big Easy 1987 movie with Ellen Barkin and Dennis Quaid was set in New Orleans. In the movie, Quaid plays a police lieutenant that falls in love with the prosecutor played by Barkin. The Big Easy Movie was filmed in New Orleans and it revolves around Quaid trying to investigate a murder of a mobster. He later develops ethical problems which not only complicate his relationship with Barkin, but it also threatens his career. The movie was critically acclaimed and to this day it is considered an excellent suspenseful drama. Post your comments	New Orleans
The Oompa-Loompas appear in which book(s) and film(s)?	U-Haul: Tips on Moving to New Orleans Share \| Moving Tips & Services to New Orleans, LA New Orleans, known as the Crescent City, the Big Easy or NOLA, continues to wow visitors and locals alike with its famous cuisine, jazz music, memorable festivals, and unique blend of cultures. Things here happen at a much slower pace, allowing you to leisurely enjoy your days. Of course, that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything exciting to do here! Not only renowned for its Mardi Gras celebrations, there are numerous festivals, parades, and events throughout the year for all ages to attend. Located off of the Mississippi River, this former French settlement combines elements of French, Spanish, African, and Creole cultures to form its own unique customs and traditions. The architecture can be breathtaking, and southern hospitality is instilled in New Orleans’ residents. It’s no shock to see that New Orleans is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States; if you’re ready to make the move, U-Haul has all the know-how and services to get you there! Helpful Moving Tips for Relocating to New Orleans, Louisiana We understand that being unfamiliar in the new city could be tough for you, and that is why we are here to give you a hand for an effortless move! With around seven U-Haul locations in New Orleans, we will provide you with all the guidance and help you need for a successful moving experience. Moving Season – From February to May, the weather is relatively comfortable; however, celebrations will be in full swing and may cause some interruptions in your transition into the city. December and January will be a bit calmer. Should you move in the summer or fall, the climate can be hot and humid. For the course of the year, it is typically rare for temperatures to exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit or drop below 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Humidity – If you plan on needing some storage, make sure it is well ventilated to prevent any of your belongings from deterioration or damages. We offer humidity controlled self-storage centers in and around New Orleans to make sure your goods stay in perfect condition. Busy Streets – As is the case with many highly trafficked and large cities, highways can occasionally contain debris and trash. Stay vigilant as you drive to avoid these obstacles. The city can also be cramped and busy, so make sure to be extra careful while driving. Our Moving Helpers®, who are highly experienced in working around the city, could do the work for you while you sit down and relax! Festival Season – New Orleans is known for their extravagant festivals and celebrations, such as the famous Mardi Gras and the Jazz Fest. Check the city's event calendar to avoid traffic and huge crowds when moving. Experience NOLA – Take some time to appreciate one of New Orleans's main attractions, such as the Mississippi River, the Mercedez-Benz Superdome, Bourbon Street, the Garden District, and many more. For more insight into the city, you can visit one of the many museums scattered throughout the city. Find nearby storage units , Moving Help® , and truck rental locations in New Orleans. U-Haul locations in or near New Orleans, LA	i don't know
Where do The Monkees take the last train to in their 1966 hit?	Last Train to Clarksville - The Monkees \| Song Info \| AllMusic Last Train to Clarksville google+ Song Review by Lindsay Planer This track is the A-side (b/w the Carole King/Gerry Goffin composition “Take A Giant Step”) to the Monkees’ first 45. In a savvy attempt to build an audience for the premier of the Monkees’ primetime television programme, the mavens behind the multi-media project released the single practically a month prior to the sit-com’s NBC network debut on September 11, 1966. According to interviews with “Last Train to Clarksville” co-authors Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, both the melody and lyrics were a direct inspiration from the fade out of the Beatles’ “Paperback Writer”. Once the songwriters had established that the fab four were not singing about a locomotive, they set out to write a thinly veiled protest song about a guy who is departing for military service -- or perhaps more specifically boot camp, as there is an Air Force base located near Clarksville, Tennessee. The song is rather unique melodically as well. The memorable chiming lead guitar introduction is punctuated by a brisk and percussive tambourine before landing into Micky Dolzenz’ dramatic and empathetic vocals. Also worthy of note is the start/stop rhythm that precedes the line “And I don’t know if I’m ever coming home”, which is especially pronounced at the end of the instrumental break or ‘middle eight’. While it is generally considered common knowledge that the Monkees’ (sans Michael Nesmith) did not initially perform on any of their early sides, the musicians chosen to accompany the lead vocals were among the best in the business at the time and include session stalwarts Louie Shelton (guitar) and Gene Estes (percussion). “Last Train To Clarksville” became an instant smash and eventually topped the pop singles chart. Enthusiasts wishing to hear the actual quartet, are encouraged to locate copies of the four-disc set Summer 1967: The Complete U.S. Concert Recordings (2001), containing four performances from the Monkees’ in their heyday. In addition to the pre-fab four’s version, a wide variety of other artists have also taken a turn at the track, ranging from jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson to 1960s garage rockers The Standells and even the high and lonesome sound of bluegrass legends Flatt & Scruggs. Appears On	Clarksville
How long is a US patent good for (as of June 9, 1995)?	Lyricapsule: The Monkees Crack Billboard Charts; September 24, 1966 \| SONGLYRICS Lyricapsule: The Monkees Crack Billboard Charts; September 24, 1966 Sep 24, 2015 \| by Gavin Paul \| in Lyricapsule , News , News Roundup Dropped just shy of a month prior, television’s favorite fake band that clearly wanted to be The Beatles , The Monkees ripped a hole in the pop-culture continuum with their very real Billboard-charting hit on this day in 1966. Titled “ Last Train to Clarksville ,” it’s basically “ Paperback Writer ,” inverted to lace a tale about love. Or whatever the “last train to Clarksville” could turn into for a young couple, rather, before one of them takes off the next morning. Date of return — unknown. But there will be “time for coffee flavored kisses and a bit of conversation,” so says its narrator. Why this matters: the ball started rolling for The Monkees here, as songwriting team Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart incited legit artistry ambitions by their real-life Monkees personalities. And America ate it up. Call it a stepping stone to American Idol, if you will: Take the last train to Clarksville, And I’ll meet you at the station. You can be be there by 4:30, ‘Cause I made your reservation. Don’t be slow, oh, no, no, no! Oh, no, no, no! Considering the song was basically an anti-war tune, this was a great song. http://www.MrMelody.US Aristedes P DuVal A great Anti-War tune that took over Pop consciousness! About Gavin Paul Gavin Paul is SONGLYRICS' Editor-in-Chief. Chicago-bred, New York-sculpted, his words and ideas have appeared in publications ranging from Spin and Rolling Stone to The Chicago Sun-Times and Arborist News.	i don't know
What would your astrological sign be if you were born today?	Astrology: Why Your Zodiac Sign and Horoscope Are Wrong Astrology: Why Your Zodiac Sign and Horoscope Are Wrong By Pedro Braganca \| October 23, 2007 12:16pm ET MORE It's a great conversation starter: "What's your sign?" But before you ask or answer that question, consider this: Your zodiac sign corresponds to the position of the sun relative to constellations as they appeared more 2,200 years ago! The science behind astrology may have its roots in astronomy but don't confuse these two disciplines. Astronomy can explain the position of the stars in the sky but it’s up to you to determine what, if anything, their alignment signifies. In short, as you'll see below, your zodiac sign is not what you think it is, and your corresponding horoscope can't be right. [Read: Wobbly Earth Means Your Horoscope Is Wrong ] The Constellations of the Zodiac The ecliptic, or the position of the Sun as it’s perceived from the revolving Earth, passes through the constellations that formed the Zodiac - Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Zodiac signs were originally determined by which constellation the Sun was "in" on the day you were born. Early astronomers observed the Sun traveling through the signs of the Zodiac in the course of one year, spending about a month in each. Thus, they calculated that each constellation extends 30 degrees across the ecliptic. However, a phenomenon called precession has altered the position of the constellations we see today. Precession and Astrology The first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere was once marked by the zero point of the Zodiac. Astronomers call this the vernal equinox and it occurs as the ecliptic and celestial equator intersect. Around 600 BCE, the zero point was in Aries and was called the "first point of Aries." (Figure 1) The constellation Aries encompassed the first 30 degrees of the ecliptic; from 30 to 60 degrees was Taurus; from 60 to 90 degrees was Gemini; and so on for all twelve constellations of the Zodiac. Unbeknownst to the ancient astrologers, the Earth continually wobbles around its axis in a 25,800-year cycle. This wobble—called precession—is caused by the gravitational attraction of the Moon on Earth's equatorial bulge. Over the past two-and-a-half millennia, this wobble has caused the intersection point between the celestial equator and the ecliptic to move west along the ecliptic by 36 degrees, or almost exactly one-tenth of the way around. This means that the signs have slipped one-tenth—or almost one whole month—of the way around the sky to the west, relative to the stars beyond. For instance, those born between March 21 and April 19 consider themselves to be Aries. Today, the Sun is no longer within the constellation of Aries during much of that period. From March 11 to April 18, the Sun is actually in the constellation of Pisces! (Figure 2) See also Figure 3, which demonstrates the precession of the equinoxes from 600 BCE to 2600. Your "Real Sign" The table below lists the dates when the Sun is actually within the astronomical constellations of the Zodiac, according to modern constellation boundaries and corrected for precession (these dates can vary a day from year to year). You will most likely find that once precession is taken into account, your zodiac sign is different. And if you were born between November 29 and December 17, your sign is actually one you never saw in the newspaper: you are an Ophiuchus! The eliptic passes through the constellation of Ophiuchus after Scorpius. Now you really have something cool with which to start that conversation! Check out your “real” zodiac sign below and see what the sky looked like on your birthday by going to the Birthday Sky application. Capricorn - Jan 20 to Feb 16 Aquarius - Feb 16 to Mar 11 Pisces - Mar 11 to Apr 18 Aries - Apr 18 to May 13 Taurus - May 13 to Jun 21 Gemini - Jun 21 to Jul 20 Cancer - Jul 20 to Aug 10 Leo - Aug 10 to Sep 16 Virgo - Sep 16 to Oct 30 Libra - Oct 30 to Nov 23 Scorpius - Nov 23 to Nov 29 Ophiuchus - Nov 29 to Dec 17 Sagittarius - Dec 17 to Jan 20	Taurus
Jurisprudence is the study and theory of what?	April 27 Horoscope \| Famous Birthdays April 27 Horoscope April 27th Zodiac As a Taurus born on April 27th, your personality is characterized by determination and a loving nature. While others struggle to find the willpower to reach there goals, your determination rarely falters. At times, you may become so dedicated to achieving a goal that you neglect your need to eat or sleep. While your family and loved ones admire this quality greatly, it may be your loving qualities that they appreciate the most. Your friendships and relationships give you a strong sense of stability and you dedicate yourself fully to all those you hold dear. April 27th Element Earth is the elemental pair of the Taurus and in fact, you have the only fixed connection with Earth of all the zodiac signs. Your special connection with Earth allows your personality to take on the unmovable and stable qualities of the very ground you walk on. More so, it is Earth's influence that keeps your head in the clouds and grounded in realistic expectations. As you embrace Earth's prudent qualities you will undoubtedly move toward achieving your goals. If Earth's influence had one danger, it would be an overly cautious attitude. By being overly conservative, one can miss out on many memorable experiences. April 27th Planetary Influence Venus is the ruling planet of your sign and as you were born in the first Decan, or part, of the Taurus sign, you are actually entitled to a double dose of Venus's power. Venus is the planet of harmony, which explains for your warmth, cooperation, sociability and appreciation of beauty. More so than any of the other Taurus Decans, your planetary influence makes you materialistic. While you are not obsessive about material gains, you have a define interest in creating aesthetically pleasing and comfortable surroundings. Emotionally, you very much enjoy being in love and being affectionate. You may be known as a "touchy feely" person, but this is only a result of your appreciation of intimacy. In love, find a partner that shares in your loyalty and appreciation of beauty, as this pairing can bring you the greatest joy and fulfillment. April 27th Career Determined and passionate, there is a wide range of potential careers for you to explore. Your social and likable qualities could lead you to careers in business, sales or management. On the other hand, your artistic careers may lead you down a path of artistic expression, fashion or design. If the world of entertainment is alluring, you may do well in media or radio, which was the case for Casey Kasem, who was also born on April 27th. If you find a political cause worth fighting, you may do well in politics or activism, much like Ulysses S. Grant, another of your celebrity birthday twins. April 27th Sabian Symbol The Sabian Symbol for your birthday is a woman of samaria comes to draw water from the ancestral well. This symbol suggests the importance of the past and tradition in your future. More importantly, one must pair the understanding of their past with their creative spirit to create a new quality of being. Celebrity Relationships Here are a few Taurus celebrities born on April 27th and their past or present romantic connections:	i don't know
With a membership of over 2.7 million members, the slogan for what youth organization is "Be Prepared"?	2012 Policy Reaffirmation The Boy Scouts of America Clarifies Membership Policy June 7, 2012 Contrary to media reports, the Boy Scouts of America has no plans to change its membership policy. The introduction of a resolution does not indicate the organization is "reviewing" a policy or signal a change in direction. Resolution: In April, a single individual submitted a resolution asking the Boy Scouts to consider amending its policy on not granting membership to open or avowed homosexuals. The resolution asked that the policy be amended to allow local units to determine their own standards. Scouting's voting members may submit resolutions, which represent that individual's personal viewpoint, for consideration at the national annual business meeting. As directed by its bylaws, on May 31, the BSA assigned the resolution to a committee that will consider the resolution and present a report to the National Executive Board. Resolutions and petitions on this subject are not unique and go back as far as 2000, when the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed this matter, and have been widely covered in the media since that time. In addition, in the past individuals have submitted resolutions asking the BSA to reaffirm its current policy. Those resolutions were handled in the same manner. The introduction of a resolution is procedural and handled with respect but does not indicate the organization is "reviewing a policy" or signal a change in direction. Petition: Completely unrelated to the introduction of this resolution, on May 27, an online petition asked the Boy Scouts to meet with a spokesperson from the group circulating the petition and accept signatures generated from the online petition, which asked the BSA to change its policy. While it was not on the Boy Scouts' national business meeting agenda, out of courtesy and respect for differing viewpoints, the BSA accepted the petition during a private meeting. This meeting to accept the petition was not related in any way to the introduction of the resolution. BSA Policy: The BSA policy is: "While the BSA does not proactively inquire about the sexual orientation of employees, volunteers, or members, we do not grant membership to individuals who are open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA." Scouting believes same-sex attraction should be introduced and discussed outside of its program with parents, caregivers, or spiritual advisers, at the appropriate time and in the right setting. The vast majority of parents we serve value this right and do not sign their children up for Scouting for it to introduce or discuss, in any way, these topics. The BSA is a voluntary, private organization that sets policies that are best for the organization. The BSA welcomes all who share its beliefs but does not criticize or condemn those who wish to follow a different path. Media Contact: After Two-Year Evaluation, Boy Scouts of America Affirms Membership Standards and Announces No Change in Policy Organization to Take No Further Action on Resolution Requesting Revision of Policy July 17, 2012 IRVING, TEXAS – After careful consideration of a resolution asking the Boy Scouts of America to reconsider its longstanding membership standards policy, today the organization affirmed its current policy, stating that it remains in the best interest of Scouting and that there will be no further action taken on the resolution. This decision follows a nearly two-year-long examination, started in 2010, of the policy commissioned by the Chief Scout Executive and national president. Under their leadership, the BSA convened a special committee of volunteers and professional leaders to evaluate whether the policy continued to be in the best interest of the organization. The committee included a diversity of perspectives and opinions. The review included forthright and candid conversation and extensive research and evaluations – both from within Scouting and from outside the organization. The committee's work and conclusion is that this policy reflects the beliefs and perspectives of the BSA's members, thereby allowing Scouting to remain focused on its mission and the work it is doing to serve more youth. "The vast majority of the parents of youth we serve value their right to address issues of same-sex orientation within their family, with spiritual advisers, and at the appropriate time and in the right setting," said Bob Mazzuca, Chief Scout Executive, Boy Scouts of America. "While a majority of our membership agrees with our policy, we fully understand that no single policy will accommodate the many diverse views among our membership or society." Following the recommendation to affirm the BSA's membership policy, the executive committee of the BSA National Executive Board released the following statement: "Scouting believes that good people can personally disagree on this topic and still work together to achieve the life-changing benefits to youth through Scouting. While not all Board members may personally agree with this policy, and may choose a different direction for their own organizations, BSA leadership agrees this is the best policy for the organization and supports it for the BSA." Resolutions asking the BSA both to affirm and reconsider this policy have been raised throughout the years. With any resolution, regardless of subject, the BSA may or may not refer it to a committee for review or may immediately determine no further action is necessary. About the Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America provides the nation's foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be "Prepared. For Life." The Scouting organization is composed of 2.7 million youth members between the ages of 7 and 21 and more than a million volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories. For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.scouting.org. # # # This page was last modified on Monday, January 06, 2014 © 2001-2014. All Rights Reserved. This site has been on-line since 2001! For more information, see the copyright/disclaimer page . E-mail Contact: webmaster at BSA-Discrimination.org	Boy Scouts of America
What city was the capital of the Confederacy for most of the Civil War?	2012 Policy Reaffirmation The Boy Scouts of America Clarifies Membership Policy June 7, 2012 Contrary to media reports, the Boy Scouts of America has no plans to change its membership policy. The introduction of a resolution does not indicate the organization is "reviewing" a policy or signal a change in direction. Resolution: In April, a single individual submitted a resolution asking the Boy Scouts to consider amending its policy on not granting membership to open or avowed homosexuals. The resolution asked that the policy be amended to allow local units to determine their own standards. Scouting's voting members may submit resolutions, which represent that individual's personal viewpoint, for consideration at the national annual business meeting. As directed by its bylaws, on May 31, the BSA assigned the resolution to a committee that will consider the resolution and present a report to the National Executive Board. Resolutions and petitions on this subject are not unique and go back as far as 2000, when the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed this matter, and have been widely covered in the media since that time. In addition, in the past individuals have submitted resolutions asking the BSA to reaffirm its current policy. Those resolutions were handled in the same manner. The introduction of a resolution is procedural and handled with respect but does not indicate the organization is "reviewing a policy" or signal a change in direction. Petition: Completely unrelated to the introduction of this resolution, on May 27, an online petition asked the Boy Scouts to meet with a spokesperson from the group circulating the petition and accept signatures generated from the online petition, which asked the BSA to change its policy. While it was not on the Boy Scouts' national business meeting agenda, out of courtesy and respect for differing viewpoints, the BSA accepted the petition during a private meeting. This meeting to accept the petition was not related in any way to the introduction of the resolution. BSA Policy: The BSA policy is: "While the BSA does not proactively inquire about the sexual orientation of employees, volunteers, or members, we do not grant membership to individuals who are open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA." Scouting believes same-sex attraction should be introduced and discussed outside of its program with parents, caregivers, or spiritual advisers, at the appropriate time and in the right setting. The vast majority of parents we serve value this right and do not sign their children up for Scouting for it to introduce or discuss, in any way, these topics. The BSA is a voluntary, private organization that sets policies that are best for the organization. The BSA welcomes all who share its beliefs but does not criticize or condemn those who wish to follow a different path. Media Contact: After Two-Year Evaluation, Boy Scouts of America Affirms Membership Standards and Announces No Change in Policy Organization to Take No Further Action on Resolution Requesting Revision of Policy July 17, 2012 IRVING, TEXAS – After careful consideration of a resolution asking the Boy Scouts of America to reconsider its longstanding membership standards policy, today the organization affirmed its current policy, stating that it remains in the best interest of Scouting and that there will be no further action taken on the resolution. This decision follows a nearly two-year-long examination, started in 2010, of the policy commissioned by the Chief Scout Executive and national president. Under their leadership, the BSA convened a special committee of volunteers and professional leaders to evaluate whether the policy continued to be in the best interest of the organization. The committee included a diversity of perspectives and opinions. The review included forthright and candid conversation and extensive research and evaluations – both from within Scouting and from outside the organization. The committee's work and conclusion is that this policy reflects the beliefs and perspectives of the BSA's members, thereby allowing Scouting to remain focused on its mission and the work it is doing to serve more youth. "The vast majority of the parents of youth we serve value their right to address issues of same-sex orientation within their family, with spiritual advisers, and at the appropriate time and in the right setting," said Bob Mazzuca, Chief Scout Executive, Boy Scouts of America. "While a majority of our membership agrees with our policy, we fully understand that no single policy will accommodate the many diverse views among our membership or society." Following the recommendation to affirm the BSA's membership policy, the executive committee of the BSA National Executive Board released the following statement: "Scouting believes that good people can personally disagree on this topic and still work together to achieve the life-changing benefits to youth through Scouting. While not all Board members may personally agree with this policy, and may choose a different direction for their own organizations, BSA leadership agrees this is the best policy for the organization and supports it for the BSA." Resolutions asking the BSA both to affirm and reconsider this policy have been raised throughout the years. With any resolution, regardless of subject, the BSA may or may not refer it to a committee for review or may immediately determine no further action is necessary. About the Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America provides the nation's foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be "Prepared. For Life." The Scouting organization is composed of 2.7 million youth members between the ages of 7 and 21 and more than a million volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories. For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.scouting.org. # # # This page was last modified on Monday, January 06, 2014 © 2001-2014. All Rights Reserved. This site has been on-line since 2001! For more information, see the copyright/disclaimer page . E-mail Contact: webmaster at BSA-Discrimination.org	i don't know
Last month, Facebook shelled out a cool $1 billion to acquire what photo application company?	Facebook Buys Instagram For $1 Billion, Turns Budding Rival Into Its Standalone Photo App \| TechCrunch Facebook Buys Instagram For $1 Billion, Turns Budding Rival Into Its Standalone Photo App Posted by Josh Constine and Kim-Mai Cutler 0 Former Clearwell And CenterRun CEO Aaref Hilaly Joins Sequoia Capital As Partner Facebook has just finished a deal to acquire mobile photo sharing app Instagram for approximately $1 billion in cash and stock. Instagram will remain an independently branded standalone app that’s separate from Facebook, but the services will increase their ties to each other. The transaction should go through this quarter pending some standard closing procedures Last year, documents for a standalone Facebook mobile photo sharing app were attained by TechCrunch. Now it seems Facebook would rather buy Instagram which comes with a built-in community of photographers and photo lovers, while simultaneously squashing a threat to its dominance in photo sharing. At 27 million registered users on iOS alone, Instagram was increasingly positioning itself as a social network in its own right — not just a photo-sharing app. And it was clear that some users were doing more of the daily sharing actvities on Instagram rather than Facebook’s all-in-one mobile apps, which had to be cluttered with nearly every feature of the desktop site. With the Instagram for Android launch last week, Instagram was going to get to 50 million registered users in a heartbeat after racking up more than 1 million in the first 24 hours. And with that kind of momentum, Facebook felt like it had to move — fast. After all, photo sharing and tagging are arguably what made Facebook. Whatever you think of the price given the fact that Instagram had no revenues, the reality is it was going to be worth whatever Mark Zuckerberg felt like paying for it. Both Google and Facebook had approached Instagram several times over the past 18 months, but the talks clearly didn’t result in a deal. So Facebook was going to have to offer a huge premium over the last valuation for Systrom and the board to take any deal seriously. [Instagram’s founders from left, Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom. Portrait by Cody Pickens ] With the deal, Instagram will gain massive design and engineering resources by joining forces with Facebook, a big change after running as a famously lean company with just a handful of employees. Still, the deal seems to let Instagram stay somewhat independent and maintain some of its company culture. Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom writes in a blog post , “It’s important to be clear that Instagram is not going away.” This is a really big departure from the way Zuckerberg has historically run Facebook as a single product. He has always been insistent that everything feed back into Facebook itself. Keeping Instagram as a separate product and brand is reminiscent of what Google has done with keeping YouTube and Android as separate fiefdoms within the company following their acquisitions. Instagram’s investors included Benchmark Capital, Greylock Capital, Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, along with angel investors including Quora’s Adam D’Angelo, Lowercase Capital’s Chris Sacca and Square and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey. The early investors must be thrilled with the price. From our understanding, the later investors, who put capital into the company at a $500 million valuation , seem happy with basically getting a 2X in a few days after the money was wired last Thursday. Congratulations to Instagram’s founders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom. You opened the world’s eyes to seeing art in everyday life, and now Facebook has opened its doors to you. So in your honor, we’ve made you part of the TechCrunch home page logo . More On The Instagram acquisition	Instagram
Scottish author Sir James Matthew Barrie, wrote what famous book, subtitled “The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up”?	Instagram Founders Were Helped by Bay Area Connections - The New York Times The New York Times Technology \|Behind Instagram’s Success, Networking the Old Way Search Continue reading the main story SAN FRANCISCO — Past midnight, in a dimly lighted warehouse jutting into the San Francisco Bay, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger introduced something they had been working on for weeks: a photo-sharing iPhone application called Instagram. What happened next was crazier than they could have imagined. In a matter of hours, thousands downloaded it. The computer systems handling the photos kept crashing. Neither of them knew what to do. “Who’s, like, the smartest person I know who I can call up?” Mr. Systrom remembered thinking. He scrolled through his phone and found his man: Adam D’Angelo, a former chief technology officer at Facebook . They had met at a party seven years earlier, over beers in red plastic cups, at the Sigma Nu fraternity at Stanford University. That night in October 2010, Mr. D’Angelo became Instagram’s lifeline. “Adam spent like 30 minutes on the phone with us,” Mr. Systrom recalled, “walking us through the basic things we needed to do to get back up.” Continue reading the main story Mr. Systrom, now 29, offered this as a parable for the roomful of would-be entrepreneurs who came to hear him talk at Stanford last spring : in the intensely competitive start-up scene here, success is as much about who you know as what you know. “Make sure to spend some time after the talk getting to know the people around you,” he told his audience. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Those people, he might have added, might one day shape your destiny. They might one day press money into your palm. They might nudge you to quit your day job and gamble on a vague idea. This week, barely 18 months after that night in the warehouse, Instagram was scooped up by Facebook for $1 billion , turning Mr. Systrom, Mr. Krieger and several of their friends-turned-investors into multimillionaires. The extraordinary success of Instagram is a tale about the culture of the Bay Area tech scene, driven by a tightly woven web of entrepreneurs and investors who nurture one another’s projects with money, advice and introductions to the right people. By and large, it is a network of young men, many who attended Stanford and had the attention of the world’s biggest venture capitalists before they even left campus. Among this set, risk-taking is regarded as a badge of honor. Ideas are disposable: if one doesn’t work, you quickly move on to another. Timing matters. You make your own luck. Photo Instagram’s offices in San Francisco. From left, Shayne Sweeney, Mike Krieger, Josh Riedel and Kevin Systrom were at work on their app last May. Credit Peter DaSilva for The New York Times “There is some serendipity for entrepreneurs, but the people who are the rainmakers are the ones who entrepreneurs need to meet in order to make those connections that lead to success,” said Ted Zoller, a senior fellow at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation who studies economic development around entrepreneurship. “The social ties that you make are directly correlated to success.” For Mr. Systrom, the connections forged at Stanford were crucial. Mr. D’Angelo, a 2006 graduate of the California Institute of Technology, helped him find engineers, set up databases and flesh out features. Soon after Instagram came out of the box, he put his money into it. So did Jack Dorsey, 35, a founder of Twitter; Mr. Systrom had been an intern at the company that became Twitter. A colleague at Google, where Mr. Systrom worked straight out of college, introduced him to Marc Andreessen, a venture capitalist who had already invested millions in Facebook. In the spring of 2010, even before Instagram was born, Mr. Andreessen wrote him a check for $250,000. The hothouse for many of these vital connections was a competitive work-study program for budding entrepreneurs called the Mayfield Fellowship Program. Mr. Systrom was a 2005 fellow; Mr. Krieger followed two years later. It was equally important in putting the two men in direct contact with new, hot start-ups in the Bay Area, along with venture capitalists looking to seed newer, hotter start-ups. “There’s ample opportunity to meet V.C.’s and make connections,” recalled Becky Neil, who was in the Mayfield program with Mr. Systrom in 2005. “We treat them as our peers.” (Mr. Systrom and Mr. Krieger declined to comment for this article, citing regulatory restrictions in advance of Facebook’s public offering.) Advertisement Continue reading the main story Mr. Systrom grew up in a Boston suburb and attended the Middlesex School, a private academy in Concord, Mass., with 375 students and nearly that many acres. In 2002 he enrolled at Stanford, majoring in management science and engineering, a program created for those who wanted to be knee-deep in the business world. He joined the Sigma Nu fraternity, which, as Ms. Neil recalled, was known for its relatively tame parties, the kind that didn’t end with anyone being rushed to the hospital. They were promoted with music videos , some of which feature an impish Mr. Systrom. His peers recall Mr. Systrom as having an eye for photography and design, with class presentations that were among the most beautiful. He was naturally gregarious and also keen to be an entrepreneur. He briefly ran a Craigslist-type marketplace catering to Stanford students. As early as 2005, recalled one classmate, Alex Gurevich, Mr. Systrom had his eyes on mobile phones as the wave of the future. Photo Kevin Systrom, an Instagram founder, in a photo taken with the program on the night it was released for the iPhone in 2010. Credit Mike Krieger Mr. Systrom wasn’t quite ready to break out on his own. After graduation, he went to work for Google in neighboring Mountain View. By the standards of his peers, it was considered a good and safe job, though not terribly cool. And he joined years after Google went public, which was too late to make a windfall. He lasted there less than three years and moved on to Nextstop, a travel recommendation site that was founded by former colleagues at Google and was eventually acquired by Facebook. But Mr. Systrom, as Mr. Gurevich recalled, was “antsy.” He had made enough investor contacts from his Stanford days, and by early 2010, he had a germ of a business idea. His big break, if there was one, came at a party at the Madrone Art Bar in January 2010, with a start-up called Hunch as the host. There he met Steve Anderson, 44, founder of Baseline Ventures and an experienced investor who had by then banked on Twitter. Mr. Systrom pulled out his iPhone and showed him something he was building, called Burbn after his liquor of choice. As Mr. Anderson recalled it, Mr. Systrom had a prototype and a vague idea. He wanted to build a service that let people share their location with friends, like the popular app Foursquare, with some photo tools attached to it. He was testing the prototype with friends. “We knew mobile was going to be important, and we knew there was an opportunity to create compelling experiences for mobile devices,” Mr. Anderson remembered of their initial conversations. “But we didn’t know a heck of a lot more than that.” Mr. Anderson worried about one thing: the echo chamber that can plague a one-person start-up. He suggested that Mr. Systrom find a business partner. Mr. Systrom agreed. Within days, Mr. Anderson wired $250,000 to a newly hatched company, set up by a lawyer whom he had recommended to Mr. Systrom. Mr. Andreessen would soon add $250,000 from his firm. Mr. Systrom could then quit his day job. Advertisement Continue reading the main story His search for a partner naturally led him to the Mayfield network and to Mr. Krieger, an immigrant from Brazil known as Mikey and, in Mr. Gurevich’s words, “a stud engineer.” Mr. Krieger brought different skills. He had majored in symbolic systems, an interdisciplinary program that blends coding with psychology, linguistics and philosophy. One of Mr. Krieger’s projects, as his professor Clifford Nass recalled, was to design a computer interface to gauge human emotion. “He clearly was very interested and thoughtful about psychology,” Mr. Nass said. “You see that in Instagram. It’s not a technology triumph. It’s a design and psychology triumph.” Photo During a so-called instawalk in Manhattan last August, Natalie Rodic Marsan, left; Cheyenne Tulfo; and Lori Weinstein snapped photos. Credit Yana Paskova for The New York Times The two men began working out of Dogpatch Labs , housed in an old pier, with fishing nets on the walls and long tables that functioned as shared office space for aspiring tech companies. Julian Green, who briefly worked out of Dogpatch, recalled that the two men were unusually obsessed with design detail. Once, he said, they spent two hours perfecting the rounded corners of the app’s icons. One of the crucial lessons of Instagram is that its founders did not spend a lot of time fussing over their original idea. Soon after they started working together in March 2010, Mr. Krieger and Mr. Systrom decided that Burbn would not work. It had too many features. It was too close to what Foursquare was already doing. They quickly moved on — pivoted, in Silicon Valley jargon. They decided that photos, popular with Burbn users, would be front and center. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Privacy Policy The release of the iPhone 4 gave them a perfect hook: it had a high-performing camera and could display higher-resolution images. Users could take a picture, tweak it, write a caption and send it out to the world. They gave it a new name: Instagram. “We renamed because we felt it better captured what you were doing — an instant telegram of sorts,” Mr. Systrom wrote on Quora , a question-and-answer site that his friend Mr. D’Angelo had started. “It also sounded camera-y.” The men worked into the wee hours on Oct. 6, 2010, to get Instagram up and running. At 4 a.m. Mr. Systrom wrote on his Twitter feed, “Well there goes that night of sleep.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story Rob Abbott, one of the advisers at Dogpatch Labs, who was keeping them company that night, said, “I remember them just sitting side by side, phones all over the desk, and cans of Red Bull.” Instagram took off like a rocket, in part because Mr. Systrom had whipped up demand. As he explained in an interview with the Internet television network Revision3 in January, Mr. Systrom let some influential technology bloggers and contacts, like Mr. Dorsey of Twitter, try a test version of the app before its official release. Soon Mr. Dorsey was using it to send photos to his Twitter followers, and word spread. Photo Steve Anderson, founder of Baseline Ventures, wired $250,000 to the newly hatched Instagram. Credit Peter DaSilva for The New York Times But the frenzy was as much blessing as curse. The heavy load prompted an all-night effort to switch to Amazon.com’s rent-a-server service, which made it easy to add capacity to keep up with growth. Mr. Systrom and Mr. Krieger soon took to carrying MacBook Airs and wireless cards everywhere. If there were glitches, they could quickly get online and troubleshoot. “Which happened a lot, due to the influx of traffic,” Mr. Abbott said. From 25,000 users in the first 24 hours, Instagram grew to 300,000 by Week 3, and then into the tens of millions. With its quirky borders and filters that gave photos extra punch or a nostalgic glow, it tugged at heart and soul . Celebrities got on board, including the pop star Justin Bieber last July. On Twitter, he posted an Instagram photo of traffic in Los Angeles . Teenage girls screamed — and then checked out Instagram. An Android version of the app, released this month, brought in one million people in its first 24 hours. The founders kept their team lean, adding just 11 people since the app’s initial release, including several Stanford graduates. Investors lined up at the door. Benchmark Capital, whose partners Mr. Systrom had met while in college, led an investment round of $7 million in February 2010. Mr. Dorsey and Mr. D’Angelo joined in. Last week came a second round of financing that valued the company at $500 million. Mr. Systrom told associates in recent months that he was not interested in selling. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Then Mark Zuckerberg called. When he and Mr. Systrom talked last Friday, Mr. Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief, was blunt: Facebook wanted to buy Instagram. Over the next 48 hours, the two companies hammered out the details for a $1 billion cash-and-stock deal, according to people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the discussions were private. To toast the occasion, Mr. Zuckerberg wrote a lengthy post on his personal Facebook page, calling the transaction an “important milestone” for the company, which has been eager to get a stronger foothold in mobile apps. The deal, and the speed with which it came together, implies that Mr. Zuckerberg saw Instagram’s meteoric rise as a potential threat, whether as a stand-alone service or in the hands of one of its rivals like Google or Twitter. A Facebook spokeswoman declined to comment. Mr. Systrom did not end up beating Foursquare. As it happened, he and Dennis Crowley, one of Foursquare’s founders, grew up in neighboring towns in Massachusetts. Over Christmas break two years ago they met at a local pub. Last month they met up on a business trip to London, where they met the prime minister , and decided to take a short vacation to Scotland together, complete with Scotch tasting. Mr. Systrom may have lost one connection in the deal: Mr. Dorsey of Twitter. His company, according to several people briefed on the matter, had expressed interest in buying Instagram in recent months. Mr. Dorsey once used Instagram daily to send photos to Twitter , but he has not been back since the deal was announced, perhaps a sign that he is not happy to see it in the hands of a competitor. A Twitter spokeswoman declined to comment. The Instagram team showed up at Facebook this week, as documented by a Facebook vice president on — where else — Instagram. Whether Mr. Systrom will stay there for long is anyone’s guess. With a public offering imminent, there is the risk that Facebook may soon become what Google was — a safe place to be, but not terribly cool. And Mr. Systrom may again get antsy. Correction: April 25, 2012 An article on April 14 about the photo-sharing Web site Instagram misstated, in some editions, the age of Jack Dorsey, a Twitter founder and early Instagram investor. He is 35 years old, not 40. Evelyn M. Rusli and Nick Bilton contributed reporting. A version of this article appears in print on April 14, 2012, on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Behind Instagram Feat, Networking the Old Way. Order Reprints \| Today's Paper \| Subscribe	i don't know
A luthier is a craftsman specializing in the making of what?	Musical Instrument Craftsman - My Job Search Advertising services in the local area Constantly improving one’s musical build and repair knowledge Possible teaching of a student/apprentice Qualifications Theoretically, no particular qualifications are required for individuals wishing to become musical instrument craftsmen (some of the best ones are self-taught, and/or have spent years learning from a master craftsman without ever walking through the doors of a university or college). But if you do want to study towards qualifications in musical instrument craftsmanship, a BA in Musical Instrument Making and Repair would be a comprehensive course of study to enrol upon. This course is offered at several universities throughout the country, including the London Metropolitan University . Skills Musical instrument craftsmen will need to possess the following skills: In-depth knowledge of instrument design and repair Woodworking (using the full range of woodworking tools, to carve, shape, sand, joint and bend wood) Wood machining Some marketing skills Working Conditions Although some musical instrument craftsmen rent a workshop in a craft centre, most work alone in a small workshop at home (for instance a converted spare bedroom or garage, a house extension). It’s a dusty environment, so not really suitable for anyone with asthma or allergies. Building and repairing instruments can be a hot and sweaty business, and can involve long hours, so you need a working environment with good ventilation, and also one that is secure and without damp to protect both your tools/equipment and the instruments themselves. Experience Most musical instrument craftsmen were performing musicians before switching to building and repairing instruments. The ‘future luthier’ was the guy in the band who fixed the guitars, mandolins, banjos, etc., in the hour before the gig (the time when instruments are prone to get damaged and be in need of emergency surgery!). The vast majority of craftsmen possess a genuine love and appreciation of wood, and so they have been around wood, woodworkers and woodworking workshops for as long as they can remember (many luthiers follow a family tradition, and seek to emulate their fathers when embarking upon the profession themselves). Employers Most musical instrument craftsmen are self-employed, building and repairing instruments for individual clients. However, some work for luthier companies that employ a large team and are headed by a ‘master luthier’ who no longer personally builds and repairs guitars, lutes, citterns and mandolas, etc. but oversees the work of others. Examples of companies like these are Lowden Guitars and McIlroy Guitars . Also, some big music stores (like those found on London’s Denmark Street or Shaftsbury Avenue) can afford to employ a team of musical instrument craftsmen, as well as sales staff, admin personnel, etc. Smaller shops in UK towns may sometimes give a musical repairman a couple of days’ work a week ‘in store’, but the luthier would not make instruments there from scratch, as the shop would be focused on selling only instruments made by household names, such as Fender and Gibson. Some musical instrument craftsmen branch out into big scale production (this can sometimes happen if a well-known musician endorses their instruments and is regularly seen playing them at concerts and on television). Trading at this level can mean being accountable and answerable to financiers (like venture capitalists), who act as ‘sleeping partners’: they have a stake in the musical instrument craftsman’s company (and therefore their future), but are not involved in the instrument build and repair side themselves. Career Progression How far you can progress in this industry is really up to you. Many musical instrument craftsmen remain as ‘one-man-bands’ (excuse the pun!), but others build-up a workforce and branch out into other areas and larger scale production. Richard Meyrick, 26, of Richard Meyrick Guitars, builds and repairs fretted musical instruments in Monmouthshire. He tells us what being a musical instrument craftsman is all about: I have played guitar since I was a teenager. After realising I wasn’t going to set the world alight on stage, I switched to the instrument building and repair side. I’d always enjoyed tinkering with instruments: changing parts, making adjustments, and generally trying to improve them. I then tried to build a guitar from scratch. It was rubbish but it worked, so I built a few more. When I realised I needed to further my learning, I went to university, gaining a BA (Hons) in Musical Instrument Making and Repair. Strictly speaking, you don’t need qualifications to become a musical instrument craftsman, but some woodworking experience is essential. Many instrument makers and repairers have either gone to university or college to learn more, or had an apprenticeship with an established luthier, because there are so many techniques that you can’t learn elsewhere. After university, I started sending my CV to most of the musical instrument craftsmen in the country, looking for work or work experience. But most of them were working on their own in tiny workshops with no space for anyone else. So, whilst they were all very helpful and full of advice, I had to set up my own business in November 2008. I raised the cash by working as a joiner’s mate and gardener! I generally work a standard day (I rent a workshop in a craft centre). Being self-employed, I can choose my hours. Not always having a regular income can be a worry, particularly after Christmas. But with regard to job security, as long as you have a good reputation and do good work, the customers will come. A typical day involves designing and building musical instruments, discussing with customers their needs, diagnosing damaged instruments and repairing them, and installing new parts. Quite often I’ll have a student learning to make a guitar in the workshop, so it pays to have more than one workbench. I have a fairly varied client base. A lot of my customers have played guitar for years and want to progress to a handmade model. I love building guitars for them. There is nothing better than hearing a guitar I’ve spent tens of hours working on being played for the first time. I’d advise budding musical instrument craftsmen (and women) to attend a course to gain some kind of qualification and experience beforehand (the industry is male dominated, but many women work on the instrument part repair side). You really need experience working with woodworking machinery and hand tools. Knowledge of musical instruments is very helpful, and patience is a must. It’s also best to specialise in one area: woodwind, brass, pianos, or stringed instruments, whichever you are most familiar with and interested in. Above all, collect as much information as you can, and spend time developing your technique. Buy cheap broken guitars and practise repairing them before you let yourself loose on a £2000 guitar. SPONSORED CAREERS	String instrument
What famous Cunard liner was sunk off the coast of Ireland on May 7, 1915, with the loss of 1198 lives?	The Violin Site :: Quercetani Violins Quercetani Violins Related Links Desiderio Quercetani (b. 7 November 1961) is a luthier specializing in the construction of baroque violins in Parma, Italy. He studied with Parma luthier Renato Scrollavezza. He has run his own workshop since 1987, and recently opened a school, Bottega di Parma, for the making of stringed instruments. He often bases his designs on those of the Cremonese masters, such as Stradivari . Quercetani is listed in the Strings Buyer's Guide, and his instruments sell for between $5,000 and $19,999. Also, he has made most of the instruments for the Italian baroque ensemble Europa Galante.	i don't know
What noted author of books such as Bumble-Ardy, Seven Little Monsters, and In the Night Kitchen, among others, died yesterday of complications of a stroke at age 83?	Learn and talk about Maurice Sendak, American atheists, American children's book illustrators, American children's writers, American people of Polish-Jewish descent Early life[ edit ] Sendak was born in New York City in the borough of Brooklyn to Polish Jewish immigrant parents named Sadie (née Schindler) and Philip Sendak , a dressmaker. [3] [4] [5] Sendak described his childhood as a "terrible situation" due to the death of members of his extended family during the Holocaust which exposed him at a young age to the concept of mortality. [6] His love of books began when, as a child, he developed health problems and was confined to his bed. [7] He decided to become an illustrator after watching Walt Disney 's film Fantasia at the age of twelve. One of his first professional commissions was to create window displays for the toy store FAO Schwarz . His illustrations were first published in 1947 in a textbook titled Atomics for the Millions by Maxwell Leigh Eidinoff. He spent much of the 1950s illustrating children's books written by others before beginning to write his own stories. His older brother Jack Sendak also became an author of children's books, two of which were illustrated by Maurice in the 1950s. [8] Maurice was the youngest of three siblings. His sister, Natalie, was nine years older than he, and his brother, Jack, was five years older than him. [9] Work[ edit ] The characters illustrated in Where the Wild Things Are caused some controversy for their grotesque appearance Sendak gained international acclaim after writing and illustrating Where the Wild Things Are , edited by Ursula Nordstrom at Harper & Row . It features Max, a boy who "rages against his mother for being sent to bed without any supper". [10] The book's depictions of fanged monsters concerned some parents when it was first published, as his characters were somewhat grotesque in appearance. Before Where the Wild Things Are, Sendak was best known for illustrating Else Holmelund Minarik 's Little Bear series of books. [11] Sendak later recounted the reaction of a fan: A little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children's letters – sometimes very hastily – but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, 'Dear Jim: I loved your card.' Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said: 'Jim loved your card so much he ate it.' That to me was one of the highest compliments I've ever received. He didn't care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it. [12] Almost fifty years later, School Library Journal sponsored a survey of readers which identified Where the Wild Things Are as top picture book. The librarian who conducted it observed that there was little doubt what would be voted number one and highlighted its designation by one reader as a watershed, "ushering in the modern age of picture books". Another called it "perfectly crafted, perfectly illustrated ... simply the epitome of a picture book" and noted that Sendak "rises above the rest in part because he is subversive". [10] [13] When Sendak saw a manuscript of Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories , the first children's book by Isaac Bashevis Singer , on the desk of an editor at Harper & Row, he offered to illustrate the book. It was first published in 1966 and received a Newbery Honor . Sendak was delighted and enthusiastic about the collaboration. He once wryly remarked that his parents were "finally" impressed by their youngest child when he collaborated with Singer. [14] His book In the Night Kitchen , originally issued in 1970, has often been subjected to censorship for its drawings of a young boy prancing naked through the story. The book has been challenged in several American states including Illinois , New Jersey , Minnesota , and Texas . [15] In the Night Kitchen regularly appears on the American Library Association's list of "frequently challenged and banned books". It was listed number 21 on the "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–1999". [16] His 1981 book Outside Over There is the story of a girl, Ida, and her sibling jealousy and responsibility. Her father is away and so Ida is left to watch her baby sister, much to her dismay. Her sister is kidnapped by goblins and Ida must go off on a magical adventure to rescue her. At first, she is not really eager to get her sister and nearly passes her sister right by when she becomes absorbed in the magic of the quest. In the end, she rescues her baby sister, destroys the goblins, and returns home committed to caring for her sister until her father returns home. Sendak was an early member of the National Board of Advisors of the Children's Television Workshop during the development stages of the Sesame Street television series. He also adapted his book Bumble Ardy into an animated sequence for the series, with Jim Henson as the voice of Bumble Ardy. He wrote and designed three other animated stories for the series: "Seven Monsters" (which never aired), "Up & Down", and "Broom Adventures". Sendak produced an animated television production based on his work titled Really Rosie , featuring the voice of Carole King , which was broadcast in 1975 and is available on video (usually as part of video compilations of his work). An album of the songs was also produced. He contributed the opening segment to Simple Gifts , a Christmas collection of six animated shorts shown on PBS TV in 1977 and later issued on VHS in 1993. He adapted his book Where the Wild Things Are for the stage in 1979. Additionally, he designed sets for many operas and ballets, including the award-winning (1983) Pacific Northwest Ballet production of Tchaikovsky 's The Nutcracker , Houston Grand Opera 's productions of Mozart 's The Magic Flute (1981) and Humperdinck 's Hansel and Gretel (1997), Los Angeles County Music Center's 1990 production of Mozart's Idomeneo , and the New York City Opera 's 1981 production of Janáček 's The Cunning Little Vixen . In the 1990s, Sendak approached playwright Tony Kushner to write a new English version of the Czech composer Hans Krása 's children's Holocaust opera Brundibár . Kushner wrote the text for Sendak's illustrated book of the same name, published in 2003. The book was named one of the New York Times Book Review 's 10 Best Illustrated Books of 2003. In 2003, Chicago Opera Theatre produced Sendak and Kushner's adaptation of Brundibár. In 2005, Berkeley Repertory Theatre , in collaboration with Yale Repertory Theatre and Broadway's New Victory Theater , produced a substantially reworked version of the Sendak-Kushner adaptation. In 2004 Sendak worked with the Shirim Klezmer Orchestra in Boston on their project "Pincus and the Pig: A Klezmer Tale". This Klezmer version of Sergei Prokofiev 's famous musical story for children, Peter and the Wolf featured Maurice Sendak as the narrator. He also illustrated the cover art. Sendak also created the children's television program Seven Little Monsters . Personal life[ edit ] Sendak mentioned in a September 2008 article in The New York Times that he was gay and had lived with his partner, psychoanalyst Eugene Glynn, for 50 years before Glynn's death in May 2007. Revealing that he never told his parents, he said, "All I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy. They never, never, never knew." [17] Sendak's relationship with Glynn had been mentioned by other writers before (e.g., Tony Kushner in 2003) [18] and Glynn's 2007 death notice had identified Sendak as his "partner of fifty years". [1] After his partner's death, Sendak donated $1 million to the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services in memory of Glynn who had treated young people there. The gift will name a clinic for Glynn. [19] Sendak was an atheist . In a 2011 interview, he stated that he did not believe in God and explained that he felt that religion, and belief in God, "must have made life much easier [for some religious friends of his]. It's harder for us non-believers." [20] Influences[ edit ] Maurice Sendak drew inspiration and influences from a vast number of painters, musicians, and authors. Going back to his childhood, one of his earliest memorable influences was actually his father, Philip Sendak. According to Maurice, his father would relate tales from the Torah ; however, he would embellish them with racy details. Not realizing that this was inappropriate for children, little Maurice would frequently be sent home after retelling his father's "softcore Bible tales" at school. [21] Growing up, Sendak developed from other influences, starting with Walt Disney 's Fantasia and Mickey Mouse . Sendak and Mickey Mouse were born in the same year and Sendak described Mickey as a source of joy and pleasure while growing up. [22] He has been quoted as saying, "My gods are Herman Melville , Emily Dickinson , Mozart . I believe in them with all my heart." Elaborating further, he has explained that reading Emily Dickinson's works helps him to remain calm in an otherwise hectic world: "And I have a little tiny Emily Dickinson so big that I carry in my pocket everywhere. And you just read three poems of Emily. She is so brave. She is so strong. She is such a passionate little woman. I feel better." Likewise, of Mozart, he has said, "When Mozart is playing in my room, I am in conjunction with something I can't explain. [...] I don't need to. I know that if there's a purpose for life, it was for me to hear Mozart." [23] Ursula Nordstrom , director of Harper's Department of Books for Boys and Girls from 1940 to 1973, was also an inspiration for Sendak. Death[ edit ] Sendak died on May 8, 2012, at age 83, in Danbury, Connecticut , at Danbury Hospital , from complications of a stroke, less than a month before his 84th birthday. His remains were cremated. [24] [25] The New York Times obituary called Sendak "the most important children's book artist of the 20th century." [24] Author Neil Gaiman remarked, "He was unique, grumpy, brilliant, wise, magical and made the world better by creating art in it." [26] Author R. L. Stine called Sendak's death "a sad day in children's books and for the world." [26] "We are all honored to have been briefly invited into his world," remarked comedian Stephen Colbert . [26] The 2012 season of Pacific Northwest Ballet's "The Nutcracker," for which Sendak designed the set, was dedicated to his memory. On May 12, 2012, Nick Jr. hosted a 2-hour Little Bear marathon in his memory. The writer of the series Else Holmelund Minarik would die herself only 2 months later on July 12, 2012, at the age of 91. His final book, Bumble-Ardy, was published eight months before his death. A posthumous picture book, titled My Brother's Book, was published in February 2013. [24] The film Her was dedicated in memory of him and Where the Wild Things Are co-star James Gandolfini . The film had been directed by Spike Jonze , who had also directed the motion picture adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are . Maurice Sendak Collection[ edit ] In 1968 Sendak chose the Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to be the repository for his work thanks to shared literary and collecting interests. His collection of nearly 10,000 works of art, manuscripts, books and ephemera, has been the subject of many exhibitions at the Rosenbach, seen by visitors of all ages. Sendak once praised Herman Melville 's writings, saying, "There's a mystery there, a clue, a nut, a bolt, and if I put it together, I find me." From May 6, 2008, through May 3, 2009, the Rosenbach presented There's a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak. This major retrospective of over 130 pieces pulled from the museum's vast Sendak collection is the largest and most ambitious exhibition of Sendak's work ever created and is now a traveling exhibition. It features original artwork, rare sketches, never-before-seen working materials, and exclusive interview footage. The exhibition draws on a total of over 300 objects, providing a unique experience with each bit of writing. Exhibition highlights include the following: Original color artwork from books such as Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, The Nutshell Library, Outside Over There, and Brundibar; "Dummy" books filled with lively preliminary sketches for titles like The Sign on Rosie's Door, Pierre, and Higglety, Pigglety, Pop!; Never-before-seen working materials, such as newspaper clippings that inspired Sendak, family portraits, photographs of child models and other ephemera; Rare sketches for unpublished editions of stories such as Tolkien 's The Hobbit and Henry James ' The Turn of the Screw , and other illustrating projects; Unique materials from the Rosenbach collection that relate to Sendak's work, including an 1853 edition of the tales of the Brothers Grimm , sketches by William Blake , and Herman Melville 's bookcase; Stories told by the illustrator himself on topics like Alice in Wonderland , his struggle to illustrate his favorite novels, hilarious stories of Brooklyn, and the way his work helps him exorcise childhood traumas. In July 2014, the Sendak estate notified the museum that it was recalling the entire Sendak Collection which had been housed there on loan since 1968. However, the Rosenbach filed a suit against the estate, claiming that they had violated stipulations in Sendak's will which gifted material to the museum. [27] [28] If the Rosenbach lost the suit, they would lose more than 10,000 items, or about 98 percent of its Sendak materials, to a proposed new museum and study center in Sendak's home in Ridgefield, Connecticut. [29] Rosenbach did lose this suit and the collection was returned to the Sendak estate. [30] Awards and honors[ edit ] Internationally, Sendak received the third biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration in 1970, recognizing his "lasting contribution to children's literature". [31] [32] He received one of two inaugural Astrid Lindgren Memorial Awards in 2003, recognizing his career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense". The citation called him "the modern picture-book's portal figure" and the presentation credited Where the Wild Things Are with "all at once [revolutionizing] the entire picture-book narrative ... thematically, aesthetically, and psychologically." [33] In the U.S. he received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the professional children's librarians in 1983, recognizing his "substantial and lasting contributions to children's literature". At the time it was awarded every three years. [34] Only Sendak and the writer Katherine Paterson have won all three of these premier awards. Caldecott Medal from the ALA as illustrator of "the most distinguished American picture book for children", Where the Wild Things Are, 1964 (Sendak was also one of the Caldecott runners-up seven times from 1954 to 1982, more than any other illustrator, although some have won multiple Medals ) [35] Hans Christian Andersen Award for children's book illustration, 1970 [31] [32]	Maurice Sendak
First proposed by Ann Jarvis (1868) and Julia Ward Howe (1872), Mother's Day was officially proclaimed on May 9, 1914, by which US President?	Astrology: Maurice Sendak, date of birth: 1928/06/10, Horoscope, Astrological Portrait, Dominant Planets, Birth Data, Biography 1st Fire sign - 1st Cardinal sign (spring equinox) - Masculine In analogy with Mars, his ruler, and the 1st House Aries governs the head. His colour is red, his stone is the heliotrope, his day is Tuesday, and his professions are businessman, policeman, sportsman, surgeon... If your sign is Aries or your Ascendant is Aries: you are courageous, frank, enthusiastic, dynamic, fast, bold, expansive, warm, impulsive, adventurous, intrepid, warlike, competitive, but also naive, domineering, self-centred, impatient, rash, thoughtless, blundering, childish, quick-tempered, daring or primitive. Some traditional associations with Aries: Countries: England, France, Germany, Denmark. Cities: Marseille, Florence, Naples, Birmingham, Wroclaw, Leicester, Capua, Verona. Animals: Rams and sheeps. Food: Leeks, hops, onions, shallots, spices. Herbs and aromatics: mustard, capers, Cayenne pepper, chilli peppers. Flowers and plants: thistles, mint, bryonies, honeysuckles. Trees: hawthorns, thorny trees and bushes. Stones, Metals and Salts: diamonds, iron, potassium phosphate. Signs: Taurus 1st Earth sign - 1st Fixed sign - Feminine In analogy with Venus, his ruler, and the 2nd House Taurus governs the neck and the throat. Her colour is green or brown, her stone is the emerald, her day is Friday, her professions are cook, artist, estate agent, banker, singer... If your sign is Taurus or your Ascendant is Taurus: you are faithful, constant, sturdy, patient, tough, persevering, strong, focused, sensual, stable, concrete, realistic, steady, loyal, robust, constructive, tenacious. You need security, but you are also stubborn, rigid, possessive, spiteful, materialistic, fixed or slow. Some traditional associations with Taurus: Countries: Switzerland, Greek islands, Ireland, Cyprus, Iran. Cities: Dublin, Palermo, Parma, Luzern, Mantua, Leipzig, Saint Louis, Ischia, Capri. Animals: bovines. Food: apples, pears, berries, corn and other cereals, grapes, artichokes, asparagus, beans. Herbs and aromatics: sorrels, spearmint, cloves. Flowers and plants: poppies, roses, digitales, violets, primroses, aquilegia, daisies. Trees: apple trees, pear trees, fig-trees, cypresses, ash trees. Stones, Metals and Salts: copper, calcium and potassium sulphate, emeralds. Signs: Gemini 1st Air sign - 1st Mutable sign - Masculine In analogy with Mercury, his ruler, and the 3rd House Gemini governs the arms, the lungs and the thorax. His colour is green or silver, his stone is the crystal, his day is Wednesday, his professions are journalist, lawyer, presenter, dancer, salesman, travel agent, teacher... If your sign is Gemini or if your Ascendant is Gemini: you are expressive, lively, adaptable, quick-witted, humorous, sparkling, playful, sociable, clever, curious, whimsical, independent, polyvalent, brainy, flexible, ingenious, imaginative, charming, fanciful but also capricious, scattered, moody, shallow, inquisitive, opportunistic, unconcerned, selfish, fragile, ironical or changeable. Some traditional associations with Gemini: Countries: Belgium, Wales, United-States, Lower Egypt, Sardinia, Armenia. Cities: London, Plymouth, Cardiff, Melbourne, San Francisco, Nuremberg, Bruges, Versailles. Animals: monkeys, butterflies, parrots, budgerigars. Food: dried fruits, chestnuts, ground-level vegetables: peas, broad beans, etc. Herbs and aromatics: aniseed, marjoram, lemon balm, cumin. Flowers and plants: lilies of the valley, lavenders, myrtle, ferns, Venus-hair-ferns, bittersweets. Trees: nut trees such as chestnut trees. Stones, Metals and Salts: agates, mercury, silicas and potashes. Signs: Cancer 1st Water sign - 2nd Cardinal sign (summer solstice) - Feminine In analogy with the Moon, her ruler, and the 4th House Cancer governs the stomach and the breast. Her colour is white or black, her stone is the moonstone, her day is Monday, her professions are catering, the hotel trade, property, antique dealer, archaeologist... If your sign is Cancer or your Ascendant is Cancer: you are emotional, sentimental, peaceful, imaginative, sensitive, faithful, resistant, protective, vulnerable, generous, romantic, nostalgic, tender, poetic-minded, motherly or fatherly, dreamy, indolent, greedy, devoted but also timorous, unrealistic, evasive, passive, anxious, dependent, stubborn, moody, passive, lazy, touchy, stay-at-home or inaccessible. Some traditional associations with Cancer: Countries: Holland, Scotland, North and West Africa, New-Zealand, Paraguay, Algeria. Cities: Amsterdam, Manchester, Tokyo, New York, Istanbul, Stockholm, Milan, Venice, Genoa, Cadix, Alger, Tunis, Bern, Magdeburg. Animals: crabs, animals with shells. Food: milk, fishes, watery fruits and vegetables, turnips, white and red cabbages. Herbs and aromatics: tarragon, verbena, saxifrage. Flowers and plants: geraniums, white roses and white flowers in general, water lilies, morning glory, bear's breeches, and lilies. Trees: all trees full of sap. Stones, Metals and Salts: pearls, silver, lime and calcium phosphate. Signs: Leo 2nd Fire sign - 2nd Fixed sign - Masculine In analogy with the Sun, his ruler, and the 5th House Leo governs the heart and the spine, and the eyes, according to some authors. His colour is gold or orange, his stone is the diamond, his day is Sunday, his professions are actor, manager, jeweller, fashion and arts, and action (e.g. fireman)... If your sign is Leo or your Ascendant is Leo: you are proud, determined, strong-willed, loyal, solemn, generous, ambitious, courageous, heroic, conquering, creative, confident, seductive, happy, daring, fiery, majestic, honest, magnanimous, charismatic, responsible, noble, dramatic but also domineering, vain, susceptible, bossy, stubborn, intolerant, self-centred, violent, quick-tempered, nonchalant. Some traditional associations with Leo: Countries: Italy, Romania, Sicily, Czechoslovakia, Iraq, Lebanon, Southern France. Cities: Rome, Prague, Bombay, Madrid, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Bath, Bristol, Portsmouth, Syracuse, Damas. Animals: lions and felines in general. Food: meat and especially red meat, rice, honey, cereals, grapes, iron-rich vegetables: watercress, spinach etc. Herbs and aromatics: saffron, mint, rosemary, common rue (Ruta graveolens). Flowers and plants: marigolds, sunflowers, celandines, passion flowers. Trees: palm trees, laurel, walnuts, olive trees, lemon and orange trees. Stones, Metals and Salts: gold, rubies, magnesium and sodium phosphate. Signs: Virgo 2nd Earth sign - 2nd Mutable sign - Feminine In analogy with Mercury, her ruler, and the 6th house Virgo governs the intestine. Her colour is green or yellow, her stone is the agate, her day is Wednesday, her professions are accountant, secretary, writer, computer scientist, nurse, doctor... If your sign is Virgo or your Ascendant is Virgo: you are brainy, perspicacious, attentive to detail and numbers, analytical, serious, competent, scrupulous, sensible, modest, logical, tidy, well-organized, clean, hard-working, provident, honest, faithful, reserved, shy, helpful, a perfectionist, but also narrow-minded, calculating, irritating, petty, anxious, cold, repressed or caustic. Some traditional associations with Virgo: Countries: Brazil, Greece, Turkey, West Indies, United-States (the same as Gemini), Yugoslavia, Crete, Mesopotamia, Lower Silesia, State of Virginia. Cities: Paris, Boston, Athens, Lyon, Corinthia, Heidelberg, spa towns in general. Animals: dogs, cats and all pets. Food: root vegetables: carrots, celeriac, kohlrabies, potatoes etc... Also dried fruits such as chestnuts. Herbs and aromatics: the same as Gemini whose ruler is Mercury too, lilies of the valley, lavenders, myrtles, ferns, Venus-hair-ferns, bittersweets, clovers. Flowers and plants: small bright-coloured flowers, especially blue and yellow, such as dandelions, buttercups, yellow dead-nettles, buglosses, forget-me-nots ; cardamoms, oak leaves, acorns. Trees: all nut trees, e.g. the hazelnut tree... Stones, Metals and Salts: sards (red agate), mercury, nickel, potassium sulphate and iron phosphate. Signs: Libra 2nd Air sign - 3rd Cardinal sign (autumn equinox) - Masculine In analogy with Venus, his ruler and the 7th House Libra governs the kidneys and the bladder. His colour is blue or red (not too bright), his stone is the opal, his day is Friday, his professions are in the beauty, luxury or fashion industry, musician, artistic creator, lawyer, mediator... If your sign is Libra or your Ascendant is Libra: you are sentimental, charming, polite, refined, loyal, a pacifist, fair, distinguished, light-hearted, romantic, learned, ethereal, nice, well-groomed, a perfectionist, calm, sweet, tolerant, sociable, elegant, considerate, seductive, aesthetic, indulgent, but also hesitant, weak, indecisive, selfish, fragile, fearful, indolent, cool or even insensitive. Some traditional associations with Libra: Countries: Japan, Canada, Indo-China, South Pacific Islands, Burma, Argentina, Upper Egypt, Tibet. Cities: Lisbon, Vienna, Frankfurt, Leeds, Nottingham, Johannesburg, Antwerp, Fribourg. Animals: lizards and small reptiles. Food: berries, apples, pears, grapes, artichokes, asparagus, beans, spices, corn and other cereals. Herbs and aromatics: mint, Cayenne pepper. Flowers and plants: hydrangea, big roses, blue flowers and those associated with Taurus also ruled by Venus, namely, poppies, digitales, violets, primroses, aquilegia, and daisies. Trees: ash trees, poplars, apple trees, pear trees, fig-trees, cypresses. Stones, Metals and Salts: sapphires, jade, copper, potassium and sodium phosphate. Signs: Scorpio 2nd Water sign - 3rd Fixed sign - Feminine In analogy with Pluto, her ruler with Mars, and the 8th House Scorpio governs the sexual organs and the anus. Her colour is black or dark red, her stone is the malachite, her day is Tuesday, her professions are gynaecologist, psychiatrist, detective, the military, army, stockbroker, asset managemer... If your sign is Scorpio or your Ascendant is Scorpio: you are secretive, powerful, domineering, resistant, intuitive, asserted, charismatic, magnetic, strong-willed, perspicacious, passionate, creative, independent, vigorous, generous, loyal, hard-working, persevering, untameable, possessive, cunning, ambitious, sexual, proud, intense, competitive but also aggressive, destructive, stubborn, anxious, tyrannical, perverse, sadistic, violent, self-centred, complex, jealous. Some traditional associations with Scorpio: Countries: Morocco, Norway, Algeria, Syria, Korea, Uruguay, Transvaal. Cities: Washington, New Orleans, Valencia, Liverpool, Milwaukee, Fes, Halifax, Hull, Cincinnati. Animals: insects and other invertebrates. Food: the same strong tasting food as for Aries: red meat, garlic, onions, leeks, spices. Herbs and aromatics: aloes, witch hazels, nepeta, mustard, capers, peppers. Flowers and plants: geraniums, rhododendrons, thistles, mint, honeysuckles. Trees: blackthorns, bushes. Stones, Metals and Salts: opals, steel and iron, calcium and sodium sulphate. Signs: Sagittarius 3rd Fire sign - 3rd Mutable sign - Masculine In analogy with Jupiter, his ruler, and the 9th House Sagittarius governs the thighs and the liver. His colour is indigo, orange or red, his stone is the carbuncle, his day is Thursday, his professions are explorer, commercial traveller, pilot, philosopher, writer, clergyman... If your sign is Sagittarius or your Ascendant is Sagittarius: you are charismatic, fiery, energetic, likeable, benevolent, tidy, jovial, optimistic, extraverted, amusing, straightforward, demonstrative, charming, independent, adventurous, straightforward, bold, exuberant, freedom-loving. Some traditional associations with Sagittarius: Countries: Spain, Australia, Hungary, South Africa, Arabia, Yugoslavia. Cities: Stuttgart, Toledo, Budapest, Cologne, Avignon, Sheffield, Naples, Toronto. Animals: fallow deers, hinds, and all games. Food: grapefruits, raisins, onions, leeks, bulb vegetables. Herbs and aromatics: aniseeds, sage, bilberries, cinnamon, borage, mosses, sage, blueberry, patience, balsam. Flowers and plants: dandelions, carnations, thistles. Trees: mulberry trees, chestnut trees, ash trees, lemon trees, oaks. Stones, Metals and Salts: topaz, tin, silica, potassium chloride. Signs: Capricorn 3rd Earth sign - 4th Cardinal sign (winter solstice) - Feminine In analogy with Saturn, her ruler, and the 10th House Capricorn governs the knees, the bones and the skin. Her colour is black, or grey, green or brown, her stone is the jade, her day is Saturday, her professions are politician, researcher, jurist, scientist, engineer, administrator... If your sign is Capricorn or your Ascendant is Capricorn: you are serious, cold, disciplined, patient, focused, thoughtful, ambitious, indomitable, cautious, lucid, persistent, provident, steady, introverted, stern, wilful, hard-working, responsible, persevering, honest, realistic, loyal, reserved, resolute, moralistic, quiet, rigorous, attached and reliable. But you may also be curt, withdrawn, calculating, petty, cruel, unpleasant, ruthless, selfish, dull, rigid, slow or sceptical. Some traditional associations with Capricorn: Countries: India, Mexico, Afghanistan, Macedonia, Thrace, the Yugoslavian coast, the Orkneys and Shetland Islands, Albania, Bulgaria, Saxony. Cities: Delhi, Oxford, Brussels, Mexico, Port-Saïd, Gent, Constance, Mecklenburg, all the administrative centres of capital cities. Animals: goats, pigs and animals with split hooves. Food: meat, potatoes, barley, beets, spinach, medlars, onions, quinces, flour and starchy food in general. Herbs and aromatics: indian hemp, comfreys, centaureas, hemlocks, henbanes. Flowers and plants: ivies, wild pansies, amaranths, pansies. Trees: pines, willows, flowering ashes, aspens, poplars, alders. Stones, Metals and Salts: turquoises, amethysts, silver, lead, calcium phosphate, calcium fluorine. Signs: Aquarius 3rd Air sign - 4th Fixed sign - Masculine In analogy with Uranus his ruler, with Saturn, and the 11th House Aquarius governs the ankles and the legs. His colour is navy blue or indigo, his stone is the sapphire, his day is Saturday, his professions are astrologer, high technologies, scientist, astronaut, psychiatrist, actor, electrician... If your sign is Aquarius or your Ascendant is Aquarius: you are idealistic, altruistic, detached, independent, original, surprising, gifted, contradictory, innovative, humanistic, likeable, friendly, self-confident, impassive, quiet, intuitive, creative, charitable, elusive, disconcerting, generous, tolerant, paradoxical, and you cannot stand any kind of constraint. But you may also be marginal, resigned, distant, utopian, maladjusted, eccentric and cold. Some traditional associations with Aquarius: Countries: Russia, Sweden, Poland, Israel, Iran, Abyssinia. Cities: Moscow, Salzburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Saint Petersburg. Animals: long distance big birds such as the albatross. Food: citrus fruits, apples, limes, dried fruits and easily preserved food. Herbs and aromatics: peppers, hot red peppers, star-fruits, and generally herbs that are spicy or with an unusual flavour. Flowers and plants: orchids, dancing ladies, polygonatum. Trees: fruit trees. Stones, Metals and Salts: aquamarines, aluminium, sodium chloride and magnesium phosphate. Signs: Pisces 3rd Water sign - 4th Mutable sign - Feminine In analogy with Neptune her ruler with Jupiter, and the 12th House Pisces governs the feet and the blood circulation. Her colour is green or purple or turquoise blue, her stone is the amethyst, her day is Thursday, her professions are seamanship and and faraway travels, musician, social and emergency worker, doctor, writer and jobs in remote places... If your sign is Pisces or your Ascendant is Pisces: you are emotional, sensitive, dedicated, adaptable, nice, wild, compassionate, romantic, imaginative, flexible, opportunist, intuitive, impossible to categorized, irrational, seductive, placid, secretive, introverted, pleasant, artistic, and charming. But you may also be indecisive, moody, confused, wavering, lazy, scatterbrained, vulnerable, unpredictable and gullible. Some traditional associations with Pisces: Countries: Portugal, Scandinavia, small Mediterranean islands, Gobi desert, Sahara. Cities: Jerusalem, Warsaw, Alexandria, Seville, Santiago de Compostela. Animals: fishes, aquatic mammals and all animals living in the water. Food: melons, cucumbers, lettuces, vegemite sugar, pumpkins. Herbs and aromatics: lemon, chicory, limes, mosses. Flowers and plants: water lilies, willows, aquatic plants. Trees: fig-trees, willows, aquatic trees. Stones, Metals and Salts: heliotropes, moonstone, platinum, tin, iron phosphate and potassium sulphate. Sun 19ï¿½29' Gemini Sun Aspects Sun conjunction Venus orb +5ï¿½44' Sun sextile Mars orb +0ï¿½57' Sun opposite Saturn orb -3ï¿½56' Sun quintile Uranus orb +0ï¿½30' Sun square Moon orb +7ï¿½15' Planets: Sun The Sun represents vitality, individuality, will-power and creative energy and honours. For a woman, it also represents her father, and later her husband. The Sun is one of the most important symbols in the birth chart, as much as the Ascendant, then the Moon (a bit less for a man), the ruler of the Ascendant and the fast-moving planets. It's element is fire; it is hot and dry, it governs Leo, is in exaltation in Aries and is in analogy with the heart. It represents the boss, authority, beside the father and the husband ; the age of the Sun goes from 20 years old to about 40, following the Venus age when one is aware of his seductive power. Temperament : Bilious Characterology : Emotive, Active, Secondary, passionate type. Sun in Gemini With your outgoing nature and your inquisitive mind, you are made for communications. Your will to process information endows you with a sociable character, a pleasant and often courteous demeanour. Although there is a danger that you may scatter your energy, you focus your attention on each and every novelty. Your mobile mind works wonders when your activities demand a variety of capacities. Indeed, how is it possible to discover without searching and to be enriched without interacting? Geminiï¿½s curiosity offers unlimited perspectives. Are you considered to be superficial? When one is researching, one needs to launch experiments with no other goal than to enlarge oneï¿½s horizon. Gemini wants to embrace everything because everything may prove useful. This diversification ability is very helpful in relationships: chatting always produces something interesting. You are always comfortable in any communication position. More than anyone, you can leap at an opportunity subtly suggested during a debate. After several trials, you can also uncover solutions that remained unidentified. However, although diversification is fine, scattering may be risky. Therefore, it is important for you to limit your field of activities and to focus on the pieces already collected, to standardize and to synthesize them. Sun Dominant If the Sun is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Solarian: you loathe pettiness and Machiavellian manoeuvre, and you are fond of natural nobleness as well as of direct and honest attitudes. You endeavour to get out of muddled or dark situations as quickly as possible. Your need for transparency may lead you to make cut-and-dried judgments such as yes or no, and black or white. However, your honesty commands your entourage's consideration. At times, you come across as authoritarian. It is true that you never want to be thought of the notable absentee, and that you manage to make people pay attention to you, as well as to your plans and your assessments. To this end, the Solarian sometimes develops a great talent for placing himself under the spotlight without missing a single opportunity to arouse interest. Some other Solarians, although more discreet, still manage to be the focus of any debate, even in situations of exclusion. It is your way of being present even though you are actually not there... More than other people, you appreciate the esteem extended to you. It is useless to cheat with you, since in all areas you consider establishing enduring relationships only with those who love you, admire you, respect you, or express some degree of affection to you. Your will to straighten out your inter-personal relationships is your strength and sometimes, your Achilles' heel. You cannot achieve anything behind the scenes. Therefore, your comportment is marked with heroism, and your stands are devoid of ambiguity, in the sense that your commitments are unfailing, and your rebuffs, final. Interpretation of the 19ï¿½ Gemini symbolic degree "In the middle of the night, two men in uniform holding their horse by the bridle walk side by side. Nearby, three snakes crawl away." ( Janduz version) Discreet, shrewd, and clear-sighted character endowed with extra-sensory perception. Wealth and fame can be achieved in the military, sports - especially horse riding - science, or pharmaceutical research, most often thanks to the support of powerful friends. Enmities and plots are easily overcome. However, there is a danger that an outstanding success is followed by a sudden ordeal and disgrace. One must be wary of people with a high-pitched voice because they are most likely to have a slanderous tongue and to master the art of calumny. N.B.: symbolic degrees belong to a branch of fatalistic astrology. Their interpretation must be regarded with the utmost caution, especially given the fact that different authors give different meanings to symbolic degrees. This is the reason why they are not included in our Astrotheme reports. If you wish, you can receive immediately in your mailbox your detailed astrological portrait , a nice gift for yourself or for your close friends and relatives, who will deeply appreciate it. Moon 12ï¿½14' Pisces Moon Aspects Moon trine Mercury orb -1ï¿½05' Moon square Venus orb +1ï¿½30' Moon square Saturn orb -3ï¿½19' Moon trine Pluto orb +3ï¿½43' Sun square Moon orb +7ï¿½15' Planets: Moon The Moon represents instinctive reaction, unconscious predestination, everyday mood, sensitivity, emotions, the feminine side of the personality, intuition, imagination. For a man, she represents his mother and later his wife, and his relationship with women in general. For a woman, the Moon is almost as important as the Sun and the Ascendant. Her element is water, she is cold and moist, she rules Cancer, is in exaltation in Taurus and is in analogy with the stomach. She symbolizes the mother, wife, the crowd, the Moon is associated with birth and childhood. Tradition also matches her with the end of life, after Saturn the old age, it is thus customary to go back to one's place of birth to die: the end of life meets the very beginning. Temperament : Lymphatic Characterology : Emotive, non Active and Primary type or Non-Emotive, non Active and Primary, Nervous or Amorphous type. Moon in Pisces On the day and at the time of your birth, the Moon was in the sign of Pisces. Letting go is the best way to find tranquillity. You are a loner and you find peace in isolation and contemplation. You may feel that only you can understand the elements of your intimate life. It is probably due to the peculiar nature of your sensitivity. Your intuition provides you with pieces of information that remain out of your entourageï¿½s reach. Your receptivity emphasizes the selective character of your behaviours: not everyone can become a close friend and your entourage must respect the precious moments of forgetfulness and indifference that are necessary for your balance. Your life rhythms are marked by your detachment from customs and outdated habits. You often go off on your own! You donï¿½t mind it, because real serenity can exist only if you live according to your inner demands. Moon Dominant If the Moon is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Lunarian: the driving force behind your actions is mainly the pursuit of well-being and tranquillity. Your sensitive and romantic self lives on those periods of rest during which you let your imagination wander at will. This is your way of finding inspiration and balance. Nothing is allowed to disturb your feeling of fulfilment and security within a harmonious cell, be it a family or a clan. More than other people, the Lunarian is attached to those moments during which one forgets one's worries and lets oneself cast adrift aimlessly, with no other goal than to be lulled into an ambiance, a situation, or a perfect moment. Many people do not understand such absences and their meaning, which is to regain strength. These people readily describe you with such unflattering terms as apathy and nonchalance. Never mind! Some inspirations require surrendering as well as striking a balance derived from alternate action and passivity. Your qualities are expressed to the fullest in situations which demand familiarity and privacy. Your capacities to respect and blend into your environment is at least as valuable as some other people's aggressive dispositions. However, you are well-advised to avoid indolence and renunciation out of laziness or indifference. Interpretation of the 12ï¿½ Pisces symbolic degree "A soldier is ready to shoot at no particular target with his bow while a woman drifts down the river in a small boat without oars." ( Janduz version) Boastful, coward, and selfish character prone to exaggeration. Unless the natal chart clearly indicates that one has courage, high ideals, and strong will, one shows strength when there is no danger and hides away when the situation requires real bravery. N.B.: symbolic degrees belong to a branch of fatalistic astrology. Their interpretation must be regarded with the utmost caution, especially given the fact that different authors give different meanings to symbolic degrees. This is the reason why they are not included in our Astrotheme reports. If you wish, you can receive immediately in your mailbox your detailed astrological portrait , a nice gift for yourself or for your close friends and relatives, who will deeply appreciate it. Mercury 11ï¿½08' Cancer Mercury Aspects Moon trine Mercury orb -1ï¿½05' Mercury conjunction Pluto orb +4ï¿½49' Mercury square Uranus orb +4ï¿½09' Mercury semi-square Neptune orb +0ï¿½33' Mercury square Mars orb -7ï¿½23' Planets: Mercury Mercury represents communication, logical and rational mind, intellectual skills. Earth is its element, it is cold and dry, and it rules Virgo and Gemini, is in exaltation in Virgo and is in analogy with the arms, hands, nervous system. It represents tradesmen, lawyers, messengers; the age of Mercury goes from 8 or10 years old to about 15.. Temperament : Nervous Characterology : Emotive, non Active and Primary type or Non-Emotive, Active and Primary, Nervous or Sanguine type. Mercury in Cancer Mercury describes your relations, your communication skills and the way you relate to the external world. However, other astrological elements also influence these areas. The sign Mercury occupies is significant only if Mercury is part of your planetary dominantes. In your chart, Mercury is in Cancer. Your intellect and your sensitivity are indissociable. Your behaviours are influenced by ambiances and by emotions aroused as you contact other people. You assimilate through feelings and images. Communication means exchanging your perceptions and conveying emotions. To be able to follow you and to understand you, a strong sensitivity is required: hence, your selectivity regarding your relationships. Mercury Dominant If Mercury is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Mercurian: the tradition points out the importance of communication. From idle but enriching chatters to observation gift, such a dominant endows you with a wide range of expression. Human beings have one thousand facets and one thousand masks they wear according to circumstances and the fortunes of the game of life. You take the role of an observer who is avid for novelties, discoveries, and surprises. Everything catches your attention and becomes an opportunity for new encounters, relationships, and learning. The world amazes you, amuses you sometimes, and stimulates your curiosity. Because the most important thing is to discover, and because you consider that each new situation is packed with potentialities, you try to fill the gaps in your knowledge. Although your open-mindedness may scatter your centres of interest, it also enables you to carefully avoid sticking to only one immutable and rigid view. The slightest sign enables you to perceive the other side of the coin, as well as the infinite complexity of people and of situations. On the human plane, you seek the dialogue and the information without which you know that you are not able to fully grasp the nature of your interlocutor. This keen interest in the Unknown sharpens your inter-relational skills. All these qualities are traditionally associated with Mercury. Interpretation of the 11ï¿½ Cancer symbolic degree "A caduceus stands between two waxing moons, a small crescent, and a nearly full moon." ( Janduz version) Intelligent, serious, and subtle character. One is prone to extreme mood swings which shift quickly from optimism to despair and vice-versa. The waxing moon stands for remarkably good memory and indicates precocious successes in studies. Science, literature, philosophy, the arts, trips and discoveries are very favoured. It is most likely that one keeps on enhancing one's intellectual skills throughout life, and one remains interested in modern improvements even as one ages. Despite a few ordeals, life is successful. If in the natal chart, Mercury is in the 1st House and in conjunction with this degree, it heralds some unexpected reward for one's knowledge. N.B.: symbolic degrees belong to a branch of fatalistic astrology. Their interpretation must be regarded with the utmost caution, especially given the fact that different authors give different meanings to symbolic degrees. This is the reason why they are not included in our Astrotheme reports. If you wish, you can receive immediately in your mailbox your detailed astrological portrait , a nice gift for yourself or for your close friends and relatives, who will deeply appreciate it. Venus 13ï¿½45' Gemini Venus Aspects Sun conjunction Venus orb +5ï¿½44' Moon square Venus orb +1ï¿½30' Venus opposite Saturn orb -1ï¿½48' Venus sextile Mars orb -4ï¿½47' Venus quintile Neptune orb +0ï¿½57' Planets: Venus Venus represents the way one loves, relationships, sharing, affectivity, seductive ability. For men, she also corresponds to the kind of woman he's attracted to (but not especially in marriage which is more symbolized by the Moon, Venus is the lover and not the wife). Her element is the Air, she is moist, rules Taurus and Libra, is in exaltation in Pisces and is in analogy with the kidneys, the venous system, the bladder, the neck. She represents the artists, tradesmen, occupations linked to beauty and charm; the age of Venus goes from 15 to about 25 years old. Temperament : Sanguine and Lymphatic Characterology : Emotive, non Active and Primary type or Emotive, non Active and Secondary type. Venus in Gemini Venus describes your affective life. On the day of your birth, she is found in Gemini. Your balance is based on your sensuality. For you, love is a game. Your affective attitudes are very diverse and open to a variety of forms of love. Sensuality is a field for your experiments and a world to explore. Your emotions and your sensitivity allow you to grasp information about the people and the environment around you. Love is your renewed source of amazement. It is not a duel but a discovery, that of the ï¿½soul mateï¿½ and of total connivance. You are cerebral and harmony between two persons is your main concern. How do they blend their ways of thinking, of living and of loving? How is it possible to achieve fusion and to become an indivisible unit? Your inquiring mind also influences your sentimental life: you look for fantasy and amazement and often, you arouse them in your partner. Your desire for freedom does not get on well with the unavoidable constraints of life together. It is certain that your fantastic affectivity always on the alert charms and amazes your partner. However, your curiosity and your desire for discovery may cause a (irresistible?) need to see something else and to look for fresh air (which does not always mean a new partner, fortunately). Cheers for independence! Venus Dominant If Venus is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Venusian: you are a sensual and emotional person particularly receptive to the natural likes and dislikes aroused by your contact with people. You are prone to frequent instinctive aversions and true passions which are exclusively driven by the feeling of love. The heart has its reasons which Reason knows nothing of... Your balance is based on the richness of your affective life. Without love, the Venusian is resourceless, lost, and deprived of any reason for living. You have an obvious and strong will to charm and to arouse the attachments without which you cannot properly function. Every area of your life is thus marked by your affectivity. The danger is that you may "be taken in" by charm. In such cases, you would prefer to keep your emotions under better control. Thus, hyper-sensitivity has its own inconveniences. Nevertheless, better than anyone else, you know how to play with feelings and attractions. Although you are sometimes caught in the traps of an over sensitive emotionalism, feelings remain your best assets in many circumstances. There is another aspect to the Venusian dominant. According to the Tradition, this planet rules the Arts, and you are endowed with some degree of artistic dispositions, ranging from good to excellent. Interpretation of the 13ï¿½ Gemini symbolic degree "A man wearing a mask stands in the middle of a dark forest with a dead horse at his feet while two foxes devour chickens." ( Janduz version) Ambitious, shrewd, and watchful character. In most cases, one's cleverness is wasted in dubious business or insincere love relationships. All occupations in education, agriculture, or driving an animal, a car, or a tank, are favoured. One is spurred by the need to wield power, and one obtains a position of authority, for better or for worse, depending on the general trend of the natal chart. N.B.: symbolic degrees belong to a branch of fatalistic astrology. Their interpretation must be regarded with the utmost caution, especially given the fact that different authors give different meanings to symbolic degrees. This is the reason why they are not included in our Astrotheme reports. If you wish, you can receive immediately in your mailbox your detailed astrological portrait , a nice gift for yourself or for your close friends and relatives, who will deeply appreciate it. Mars 18ï¿½32' Aries Mars Aspects Sun sextile Mars orb +0ï¿½57' Mars trine Saturn orb +2ï¿½58' Mars square Pluto orb -2ï¿½34' Venus sextile Mars orb -4ï¿½47' Mercury square Mars orb -7ï¿½23' Mars trine Neptune orb +8ï¿½10' Planets: Mars Mars represents the desire for action and physical energy, sexuality, strength. For a woman, Mars corresponds to the kind of man she's attracted to (but not especially in marriage which is rather symbolized by the Sun, Mars is the lover, not the husband). Fire is its element, it is hot and dry, and it rules Aries and Scorpio (along with Pluto), is in exaltation with Capricorn and is in analogy with the muscles and the spleen. It represents the soldiers, sportsmen, warriors, surgeons, blacksmiths... ; the age of Mars goes from 42 to 50 years old. Temperament : Bilious Characterology : Emotive, Active, Primary type. It is a Choleric. Mars in Aries The planet Mars indicates how you react to life concrete stimulations. It also describes your fighting spirit, your abilities to stand for yourself and to take action. With Mars in Aries, boldness and energy bring about successes and setbacks. Success in all enterprises requiring swift reactions and decisions, quick-mindedness. Setbacks in your relationships when emotionalism is stronger than reason. You react promptly when you face adversity. You need to live intensely and to take action in the here and the now, ï¿½on the spotï¿½. Your offensive mind works wonders when the context requires fighting spirit. The danger is that your hasty actions may harm your long-terms interests. This configuration is double-edged, indeedï¿½ Mars Dominant If Mars is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Marsian: in your hand-to-hand struggle for life, you demonstrate an acute and active sense of confrontation with the world, with other people, and with your own destiny. You need to take action and to fight for your projects and your desires. You perceive all situations with deep intensity, and you react to the here and now without bothering to step back in order to ensure that events are under your control. You take up challenges with excessive foolhardiness as a consequence of your impulsiveness. However, better than anyone else, you know how to mobilise your resources in case of crisis. You take action whenever it is necessary to do so, and you are present in a timely manner. With Mars, your attitudes are dictated by the realities of the moment, by your emotions, and by everything which proved to have worked in the past. When this dominant is not well integrated, it may bring about an aggressive or impulsive behaviour. Therefore, you must learn to control your hyper-sensitivity and your fits of temper. You are also endowed with Marsian qualities: the fighting spirit and the taste for duel without which one may find oneself overwhelmed by events. When this willpower is well channelled, its precious energy enables to cope with all sorts of contingencies. There are a thousand ways to win, and a thousand challenges to take up with the enthusiasm and the dynamism which make life so worthy. A certain idea of life which is wild, passionate, and in tune with events. Interpretation of the 18ï¿½ Aries symbolic degree "In a poor house, an old man in a worn out robe fearfully holds two bags of gold against his chest." ( Janduz version) Stingy, misanthropic, and greedy character. One is only interested in increasing one's wealth, through honest or less honest means, and one displays an obsessive attachment to gold. One prefers to live in solitude, estranged from relatives and friends, for fear that they might borrow money. One would be well-advised to change one's behaviour, to indulge in a more comfortable life, and to learn the value of sharing. Otherwise, sooner or later, one will lose one's riches through a natural disaster, war or revolution, or robbery. Indeed, this degree warns against gold hoarding. N.B.: symbolic degrees belong to a branch of fatalistic astrology. Their interpretation must be regarded with the utmost caution, especially given the fact that different authors give different meanings to symbolic degrees. This is the reason why they are not included in our Astrotheme reports. If you wish, you can receive immediately in your mailbox your detailed astrological portrait , a nice gift for yourself or for your close friends and relatives, who will deeply appreciate it. Jupiter 1ï¿½18' Taurus Jupiter Aspects Jupiter trine Neptune orb -4ï¿½36' Jupiter sesqui-quadrate Saturn orb +0ï¿½44' Planets: Jupiter Jupiter represents expansion and power, benevolence, large vision and generosity. Its element is Air, it is hot and moist, and it rules Sagittarius and Pisces (along with Neptune), is in exaltation with Cancer and is in analogy with the hips and endocrinal system. It represents the governors, magistrates, professors, religious men too; the age of Jupiter goes from 50 to 55 or even 70 years old. Temperament : Sanguine Characterology : Emotive, Active, Primary type; it is an extrovert Choleric. Actually the humid version of Mars, inclined to action like him. Jupiter in Taurus The planet Jupiter symbolizes expansion, broadness and generosity. Jupiter is associated with the functions of synthesis, enthusiasm and optimism. In your natal chart, his house position is more important than his sign position because, like Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, he is a slow planet. Many people born in the same period have Jupiter in the same sign. This is the reason why the sign occupied here is less meaningful than when it is occupied by the so-called fast planets, i.e. the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. Therefore, some caution is to be exercised as you read what follows. Jupiter in Taurus amplifies your practical sense and your capacity to improve your material life. You can experience a long-lasting fulfilment. You are often a bon viveur who likes lifeï¿½s good things. You manage and develop your patrimony with a lot of luck and generosity. Your taste is very good and your loyalty is genuine. Jupiter Dominant If Jupiter is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Jupiterian: because this planet brings about a keen interest in social and professional success, the Tradition considers it to be beneficial. Indeed, you know how to adjust to events and to jump at the chance when it arises. The members of you entourage gladly entrust you with high responsibilities because they are often impressed by your learning skills and your adaptation abilities as you deal with new structures and new languages. What is the secret of your good star? It is your self-confidence which wins public support. Now, what is the secret of your charm? Definitely, enthusiasm, euphoria, and exaltation. Exaggeration also. When this dominant is well integrated, it is a factor of affluence and optimism, and a certain degree of joviality enables you to easily fit into various spheres. It constitutes your main asset to manage your life. However, you must at times curb your desire for integration, lest your sense of opportunity turns into extreme opportunism. Here also, the key to success lies in a correct estimate of everyone's chances and possibilities. Although management is one of your forte, and you can adjust your objectives to current realities better than other people, you lack the hindsight which enables you to avoid short-term vagaries and daily fluctuations. If you strive too much to adapt, you run a risk of betraying yourself. This is the other traditional side of the coin with "The Greater Benefic"! Interpretation of the 1ï¿½ Taurus symbolic degree "A dying man lies on the ground under the beams of the sunset. A half-naked woman passes by, limply reclining on a small chariot pulled by a horse." ( Janduz version) Lazy, passive, and weak character. Ambitions are overwhelming and out of proportion. This is the reason why any effort remains useless. It is necessary to set oneself goals which match one's capacities. This degree warns against risks of fraudulent bankruptcy, or destruction, caused by natural disasters such as earthquakes, fire, etc. N.B.: symbolic degrees belong to a branch of fatalistic astrology. Their interpretation must be regarded with the utmost caution, especially given the fact that different authors give different meanings to symbolic degrees. This is the reason why they are not included in our Astrotheme reports. If you wish, you can receive immediately in your mailbox your detailed astrological portrait , a nice gift for yourself or for your close friends and relatives, who will deeply appreciate it. Saturn 15ï¿½33' Я Sagittarius Saturn Aspects Sun opposite Saturn orb -3ï¿½56' Venus opposite Saturn orb -1ï¿½48' Mars trine Saturn orb +2ï¿½58' Moon square Saturn orb -3ï¿½19' Saturn inconjunction Pluto orb -0ï¿½24' Jupiter sesqui-quadrate Saturn orb +0ï¿½44' Planets: Saturn Saturn represents concentration, effort, perseverance, time, the hard reality, inevitable consequences. Earth is its element, it is cold and dry, and it rules Capricorn and Aquarius (along with Uranus), is in exaltation in Libra and is in analogy with the bones (skeleton) and the skin. It represents the grandparents, old people, scientists, knowledgeable men, Saturn corresponds to old age; it goes from 70 years old until death. Temperament : Nervous Characterology : Non-Emotive, Active and Secondary type or Emotive, non Active and Secondary type or sometimes Non-Emotive, non Active and Secondary type; it is a Phlegmatic, a Sentimental or an Empathic type Saturn in Sagittarius The planet Saturn symbolizes contraction, effort, time, limitation and concentration. Saturn eliminates anything that is not authentic, sooner or later. It is impossible to cheat him as he gives an irresistible desire to form a coherent whole with oneself, in responsible and wise ways. He is the great purifier. He represents our limitations but also our truth. In your natal chart, the house position where Saturn is posited is more important than his sign position because, like Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, he is a slow planet. Many people born in the same period have Saturn in the same sign. This is the reason why the sign occupied here is less meaningful than when it is occupied by the so-called fast planets, i.e. the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. Therefore, some caution is to be exercised as you read what follows. Saturn in Sagittarius limits your taste for exoticism and for rebellion. On the other hand, he strengthens your sense of responsibilities and your authority. You focus on what is concrete and real and you avoid venturing into unknown territories. Saturn Dominant If Saturn is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Saturnian: you gladly leave to other people the decision to take life as it comes. As far as you are concerned, you prefer to take advantage of your experiences in order to discover, to grow, and to question yourself. Interpretation of the 15ï¿½ Sagittarius symbolic degree "A man drives an empty chariot pulled by three horses out of a cavern and heads towards a fertile valley where labourers work near a castle." ( Janduz version) Conceited, ambitious, and envious character. One cannot afford the luxury which one is powerfully attracted to. Instead of banking on one's personal qualities and making every effort to become rich, one prefers to covet people's wealth. However, if one is determined to keep self-centredness and arrogance tightly reined in, with a lot of hard work and the help of one's entourage, one can achieve the financial success one so badly yearns for. N.B.: symbolic degrees belong to a branch of fatalistic astrology. Their interpretation must be regarded with the utmost caution, especially given the fact that different authors give different meanings to symbolic degrees. This is the reason why they are not included in our Astrotheme reports. If you wish, you can receive immediately in your mailbox your detailed astrological portrait , a nice gift for yourself or for your close friends and relatives, who will deeply appreciate it. Uranus 6ï¿½59' Aries Uranus Aspects Mercury square Uranus orb +4ï¿½09' Sun quintile Uranus orb +0ï¿½30' Planets: Uranus Uranus represents individual freedom, originality, independence, marginality, avant guard inspiration, ultra modernism. Fire is its element, it is dry, and it rules Aquarius, is in exaltation with Scorpio and is in analogy with the brain and the nerves. It represents inventors, odd characters, revolutionaries. Temperament : Nervous to the extreme Characterology : Emotive, Active, Secondary type; it is a Passionate type. Uranus in Aries The planet Uranus symbolizes originality, independence and cerebral energy bursting suddenly. Uranus triggers the irresistible need for freedom that we have in ourselves. Uranus tends to break the constraints that have become unbearable and gives us the courage and the will to get rid of what has become a burden; when he is well aspected, he also indicates genius. In your natal chart, Uranusï¿½ house position is more important than his sign position because, like Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Pluto, he is a slow planet. Many people born in the same period have Uranus in the same sign. This is the reason why the sign occupied here is less meaningful than when it is occupied by the so-called fast planets, i.e. the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. Therefore, some caution is to be exercised as you read what follows. The sign positions of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto have a collective meaning. They do not influence your personality, unless they are involved in numerous aspects or when they emphasize a personal point of your natal chart such as your Ascendantï¿½s ruler, an angular planet, i.e. a planet near the Ascendant, the Midheaven, the Nadir or the Descendant. In such cases, the activity of the slow planet is very highlighted. Uranus in Aries increases your dynamism and your charisma but he may give you a self-centered nature through excessive drive and confidence. Uranus Dominant If Uranus is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Uranian: personal values are prevailing. Inner certainties fuel an inflexible will and a desire to call attention on yourself as well as to follow your beliefs through. This planet prompts you to behave with determination, to put forward your own truth, and to start your personal revolution. More than other people, you are willing to keep some degree of autonomy in all circumstances, and you often display an individualistic nature. In order to achieve your ideal of freedom and independence, you may act like a despot as you try to convince and to impose your views, whether smoothly or forcefully. Regardless of the flexibility of your comportment, some situations demand an absolute firmness as well as uncompromising, frank and straightforward attitudes. People may criticise you for your intransigence and say that you are a hardliner. Outsider's opinions don't matter! The most important thing is that you act in all conscience and reach your primary objectives. More than anyone else, you know how to use your willpower and to focus your energy on a precise aim, relentlessly, whatever the consequences might be. In the chapter of qualities, let's mention a definite sense of responsibility, an innovative mind open to techniques and modern ideas, as well as a natural self-discipline which overcomes many an obstacle. Therefore, people are well-advised not to hound you into a corner. Interpretation of the 6ï¿½ Aries symbolic degree "Protected by the shadow of a wall, a fox runs along a quiet path towards the nearby wood." ( Janduz version) Cunning, secretive and vigilant character. One prefers to defend oneself without resorting to violence, and one reaches one's goals using a diplomacy which may border on lie. Since one loathes direct confrontations, one tries to get around problems. In situations of extreme danger, clever tricks or presence of mind are excellent tools to get out of tight spots. In most cases, one manages to get away with it, especially if, in the natal chart, Mercury is strong and rules Mars. Nevertheless, ruin is looming despite efforts to shelter one's wealth from bankruptcy. N.B.: symbolic degrees belong to a branch of fatalistic astrology. Their interpretation must be regarded with the utmost caution, especially given the fact that different authors give different meanings to symbolic degrees. This is the reason why they are not included in our Astrotheme reports. If you wish, you can receive immediately in your mailbox your detailed astrological portrait , a nice gift for yourself or for your close friends and relatives, who will deeply appreciate it. Neptune 26ï¿½42' Leo Neptune Aspects Jupiter trine Neptune orb -4ï¿½36' Mercury semi-square Neptune orb +0ï¿½33' Venus quintile Neptune orb +0ï¿½57' Mars trine Neptune orb +8ï¿½10' Planets: Neptune Neptune represents escapism, impressionability, daydreaming, delusions, carelessness, deception or intuition, dishonesty or inspiration, telepathy. Water is its element, it is moist, it rules Pisces, is in exaltation in Cancer, though some authors say it is Leo, and is in analogy with the vegetative system. It represents dreamers, mediums, magicians, merchants of illusion, drug addicts. Temperament : rather Lymphatic Characterology : Emotive, non Active, Primary or Secondary type; it is a Sentimental, or sometimes Amorphous type. Neptune in Leo The planet Neptune symbolizes extreme receptivity, intense emotional sharpness, impressionability and inspiration; it is the planet of mediums, mystics and religious faith. In an astrological chart, it indicates dilution, vagueness, understanding oneï¿½s environment through emotions and the absence of clear and determined limits and structures. In your natal chart, Neptuneï¿½s house position is more important than his sign position because, like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto, he is a slow planet. Many people born in the same period have Neptune in the same sign. This is the reason why the sign occupied here is less meaningful than when it is occupied by the so-called fast planets, i.e. the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. Therefore, some caution is to be exercised as you read what follows. The sign positions of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto have a collective meaning. They do not influence your personality, unless they are involved in numerous aspects or when they emphasize a personal point of your natal chart such as your Ascendantï¿½s ruler, an angular planet, i.e. a planet near the Ascendant, the Midheaven, the Nadir or the Descendant. In such cases, the activity of the slow planet is very highlighted. Neptune in Leo endows you with creativity in the fields of arts or literature. Your emotions are noble and idealized. Neptune Dominant If Neptune is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Neptunian: your intuition is highly developed. You are of a contemplative nature, and you are particularly receptive to ambiances, places, and people. You gladly cultivate the art of letting-go, and you allow the natural unfolding of events to construct your world. You follow your inspirations, for better or for worse. At times, you display an extraordinary clairvoyance gift. You seem to be able to read your subconscious like a book, and you track down subtle underlying mechanisms, flaws, or open breaches. This innate intuition might explain the strokes of good luck which the Neptunian is sometimes credited with. However, you may also be the victim of illusions and misleading intuitions. You are an idealist, and you let your deepest aspirations prevail over the realities of the moment. Then, you set off in quest of some quixotic objective, living like a Don Quixote who relentlessly pursues an impossible dream. You have a great talent for psychology and the mysteries of the human soul. Since you instinctively perceive people's intents and motivations, as you swim in the complexity of human nature, you feel in your element. The subtlety of your perceptiveness is the source of both special affections and irrevocable rejections. What is the danger of such a dominant? If it is not offset by other influences in your natal chart, you may not have an iron will. Your trump card is your instinct, which may be developed to the extent that it becomes clairvoyance. Interpretation of the 26ï¿½ Leo symbolic degree "A double-edged dagger and a scythe are set upright in the soil." ( Janduz version) Vigilant, rebellious, and quarrelsome character. This degree warns against violence, whether one is the perpetrator or the victim. Recourse to force and to all aggressive means must be avoided at any cost. One ought to make use of one's intelligence and painstaking qualities in order to turn the destructive scythe into a productive tool which would only harvest wheat fields, or whatever they stand for in one's area of action. N.B.: symbolic degrees belong to a branch of fatalistic astrology. Their interpretation must be regarded with the utmost caution, especially given the fact that different authors give different meanings to symbolic degrees. This is the reason why they are not included in our Astrotheme reports. If you wish, you can receive immediately in your mailbox your detailed astrological portrait , a nice gift for yourself or for your close friends and relatives, who will deeply appreciate it. Pluto 15ï¿½58' Cancer Pluto Aspects Mercury conjunction Pluto orb +4ï¿½49' Mars square Pluto orb -2ï¿½34' Moon trine Pluto orb +3ï¿½43' Saturn inconjunction Pluto orb -0ï¿½24' Planets: Pluto Pluto represents deep transformations, mutations and eliminations, sexuality and magnetism, power and secrets, destruction with a view to regeneration, the phoenix rising from the ashes. Its element is indefinite; burning (like lava in fusion ?), it rules Scorpio, is in exaltation in Pisces and is in analogy with the sexual organs and excretion. It represents dictators, sadistic people, violent characters, is instinctive and powerful but also mysterious with hidden strengths. Temperament : rather Bilious Characterology : Emotive or non-Emotive, Active, Primary type; it is a Passionate Choleri typec. Pluto in Cancer The planet Pluto symbolizes deep disruptions and upheavals, domination and sexual instincts, and the inner power we have in ourselves. Pluto destroys in order to reconstruct and he provokes painful crises that are needed in metamorphosis. Pluto is our deepest instinctsï¿½ brutal force. It is the hidden and unconscious violence that can explode in us with incredible intensity before being projected in our actions; in itself, the planet is not negative: the might and the intensity of its energy are beyond the conceivable but it can be funnelled. Pluto is the only possibility we have at our disposal to overcome our inner blocks and to eliminate outgrown situations that have become inextricable. Plutoï¿½s energy is valuable because of its usefulness for the irreversible destruction of what constitutes a problem and not because of its negative side and its perversity. Pluto allows to reconstruct and to regenerate parts of our personality or whole stretches of our life, provided that we manage to funnel his wild energy and to step back. It is impossible to tame this energy, given its essence. However, it is possible to take advantage of it for a precise aim, through a temporary identification of some parts of us with this energy. In such a case, the outcome is our final evolution and even, our transformation. In your natal chart, Plutoï¿½s house position is more important than his sign position because, like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, Pluto is a slow planet. Many people born in the same period have Pluto in the same sign. This is the reason why the sign occupied here is less meaningful than when it is occupied by the so-called fast planets, i.e. the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. Therefore, some caution is to be exercised as you read what follows. The sign positions of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto have a collective meaning. They do not influence your personality and they are not to be really taken into account, unless they are involved in numerous aspects or when they emphasize a personal point of your natal chart such as your Ascendantï¿½s ruler, an angular planet, i.e. a planet near the Ascendant, the Midheaven, the Nadir or the Descendant. In such cases, the activity of the slow planet is very highlighted. Pluto in Cancer may create troubles in your home because your will to control is too strong or because you are exceedingly sensitive. Pluto Dominant If Pluto is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Plutonian: you sometimes feel like a foreigner who does not belong to the world, to its laws, and its concerns. The rules of life in society are not necessarily yours. You are interested in what is unknown and in the subtle laws of a hidden order. So, you take malicious pleasure in ridiculing the patterns you find too simplistic or too rigid. You also revel in underlining the limits of explanations you deem too common. There is something unconventional about the way you are, the way you think, and the way you act. What is your specificity made of? Is it an extraordinary partner? A life off the beaten path? Or do you only distance yourself from conventional morals? In any case, you have the feeling, sometimes quite vague, that you come from nowhere, and that you do not belong to any definite group... In short, it means that you cannot be simplified in order to conform to existing models. The gap between you and ordinary mortals is also an element of your strength. Your deep clear-sightedness, firstly, enables you to put things into perspective and to grant them only the attention they deserve. Your other remarkable asset is your capacity to intervene from behind the scenes, to secretly organise events, and to bring about the desirable outcome without seeming to impose or to dictate anything. However, you must still overcome one of the major difficulties of this dominant, which is to get people to accept your difference and to smoothly fit into your environment. Interpretation of the 15ï¿½ Cancer symbolic degree "A man who could be Samson pulls down the pillars of the Temple, a dead lion at his feet. A few steps below, a hedgehog rests its paw on a dead snake." ( Janduz version) Noble, righteous, and helpful character. Ordeals and obstacles are numerous and varied, but easily overcome. However, gentle manners must not to be mistaken for weakness because one is endowed with great physical, intellectual, and moral strength. People would be well-advised not to try and pick a quarrel with this person. N.B.: symbolic degrees belong to a branch of fatalistic astrology. Their interpretation must be regarded with the utmost caution, especially given the fact that different authors give different meanings to symbolic degrees. This is the reason why they are not included in our Astrotheme reports. If you wish, you can receive immediately in your mailbox your detailed astrological portrait , a nice gift for yourself or for your close friends and relatives, who will deeply appreciate it. %DYNAMIQUE_22% Asteroids: Chiron Chiron is almost renowned and used everywhere. Most astrologers consider it as a kind of "mediator" between Saturn and outer planets. Consequently, Chiron is of Saturn's nature and at the same time is influenced by Uranus, the first slow-moving planet. Astrologically, it symbolizes wisdom, patience and the faculty to reduce others' sufferings: it is said to be the "great healer" of the zodiac. Like all the secondary bodies, it must be in close conjunction with planets or angles in order to fully express its action. %TEXTES_22% %DYNAMIQUE_23% Asteroids: Ceres Ceres, the biggest of the four minor asteroids used besides Chiron, is associated with the mythological goddess of growing plants and harvest and also symbolizes physical constitution, vitality and fertility. She's also known as Demeter, according to the astrologer Zipporah Dobyns, linked to the symbolism of the mother but in a less emotive and more physical way than the Moon. Ceres is thought to be the ruler of Virgo, in exaltation in Gemini, in exile in Pisces and in fall in Sagittarius. Keywords associated with Ceres could be order, practical sense, worry, precision, modesty, method, sobriety, motherhood, fertility, the Earth: a kind of a more cerebral Moon... %TEXTES_23% %DYNAMIQUE_24% Asteroids: Pallas Pallas is sometimes used in modern Astrology: she represents intelligence, abstract and global thinking talents. It is usually considered to be a determining element in political strategy. %TEXTES_24% %DYNAMIQUE_25% Asteroids: Juno Juno is the asteroid corresponding to the adaptation to the marital partner and to the defence of individual rights; it is thus used in the field of marriage. %TEXTES_25% Vesta is rarely used and brings the ability to efficiently devote oneself to a cause. %TEXTES_26% True North Node 9ï¿½28' Я Gemini North Node The North Node (True Node here) represents the goals that must be achieved during life, in the karmic sense according to some traditions. Its position in house indicates in what field an effort is necessary in order to evolve. The North Node is often called the Dragon's head, it is usually considered beneficial, a bit like Jupiter with the planets. The Lunar nodes are fictional points and not actual heavenly bodies: they are the intersections of the Moon with the Ecliptic (the path made by the Sun in its orbit as seen from the Earth). The axis of the Lunar nodes moves 19 degrees each year, namely a bit more than three minutes each day. The South Node is diametrically opposed to the North Node, therefore it faces it (it's not drawn here, it's the same symbol but upside down). It symbolizes what has already been achieved or acquired, in a karmic sense: it's the past from which it's advised to move on in order to progress. The South Node is rather negative, of a Saturnian nature: the experience through suffering. Interpretation of the 9ï¿½ Gemini symbolic degree "A young woman gives a child a glass of water while a boy helps an old man get on his feet." ( Janduz version) Intelligent, devoted, and philanthropist character. Life is dedicated to the alleviation of people's physical and moral sufferings. Adoption is possible. This degree sometimes indicates a medical practitioner, a scientist, a priest, or a patron whose name goes down in history. N.B.: symbolic degrees belong to a branch of fatalistic astrology. Their interpretation must be regarded with the utmost caution, especially given the fact that different authors give different meanings to symbolic degrees. This is the reason why they are not included in our Astrotheme reports. True Lilith 15ï¿½39' Sagittarius Lilith Lilith or the Dark Moon (True Lilith here) represents the uncrossable threshold, taboos, the individual's provocative and fascinating side, including on a sexual level. She symbolizes violence and "untameability", the radical and deep-seated refusal to submit. The keywords for Lilith can be sterility, sadism, perversity, castration, sadomasochism, eroticism, orgasm, forbidden fantasies, marginality, cruelty; redemption, illumination, rebelliousness... Lilith's opposite point is called Priapus; it is the Lunar perigee, the position where the Moon is closest to the Earth. It symbolizes man's primitive nature, the horror hidden in our deepest self; masochism, extreme sensuality, impulsiveness, irrationality and excess. Physically speaking, the Dark Moon is the focal point unoccupied by the Earth: it is not a concrete body but a mathematical point. Interpretation of the 15ï¿½ Sagittarius symbolic degree "A man drives an empty chariot pulled by three horses out of a cavern and heads towards a fertile valley where labourers work near a castle." ( Janduz version) Conceited, ambitious, and envious character. One cannot afford the luxury which one is powerfully attracted to. Instead of banking on one's personal qualities and making every effort to become rich, one prefers to covet people's wealth. However, if one is determined to keep self-centredness and arrogance tightly reined in, with a lot of hard work and the help of one's entourage, one can achieve the financial success one so badly yearns for. N.B.: symbolic degrees belong to a branch of fatalistic astrology. Their interpretation must be regarded with the utmost caution, especially given the fact that different authors give different meanings to symbolic degrees. This is the reason why they are not included in our Astrotheme reports. %DYNAMIQUE_29% Part of Fortune The Part of Fortune is an ancient concept, used by Ptolemy and other astrologers before him. Firstly, it has nothing to do with fortune! In modern astrology, it is actually used to enhance a planet or angle when in close conjunction with it: it thus amplifies the meaning associated to the point affected by its presence. It is calculated in the following way: Part of Fortune = AS + Moon - Sun (it is the Moons position when the Sun rises) The classical Part of Fortune, of which the calculus method is unchanged whether in a diurnal or nocturnal chart, is usually distinguished from the diurnal/nocturnal Part of Fortune which is calculated by the formula AS + Sun - Moon for a nocturnal chart, and AS + Moon - Sun in a diurnal chart. We currently use the latter formula for our astrological programmes. %TEXTES_29% %DYNAMIQUE_30% Ascendant or House I The First House or Ascendant represents one's behaviour in the eyes of others, and also one's health. It corresponds to the way the individual acts in the world. It is the image of the personality seen by others and the person's visible behaviour expressed outwardly. The 1st House is in analogy with Aries and thus Mars too, and then the Sun. It is an angular house, the most important one with the Midheaven, maybe even more so due to its link with the body and health. %TEXTES_30% %DYNAMIQUE_31% Midheaven or House X The Tenth House still called the Midheaven, is the highest point amidst the houses, at the top of the chart, in the South, and relates to destiny in general and career (and not daily work as meant by the Sixth House). The Midheaven represents our achievements and goals in the social sphere, our social position in society, and becomes more and more important as we get older. It is in analogy with Capricorn and Saturn. The Tenth House is the most important angular house along with the Ascendant. %TEXTES_31% %DYNAMIQUE_32% House I (AC) The First House or Ascendant represents one's behaviour in the eyes of others and also one's health. It corresponds to the way the individual acts in the world. It is the image of the personality as seen by others and the person's visible behaviour expressed outwardly. The 1st House is in analogy with Aries and thus Mars too and then the Sun. It is an angular house, the most important one with the Midheaven, maybe even more so due to its link with the body and health; the Ascendant is as important as the Sun in a natal chart. %TEXTES_32% %DYNAMIQUE_33% House II The Second House is the sphere of material security, the money we earn, our possessions, also in a symbolic meaning (close people etc). It is in analogy with Taurus and Venus. It is a succedent house, quite important. %DYNAMIQUE_34% House III The Third House is the sphere of social and intellectual apprenticeship, studies, relationships with close people and surroundings, short trips, light-hearted and quick contacts, correspondences. It is in analogy with Gemini and Mercury. It's a cadent house, less important than the angular and succedent ones. %DYNAMIQUE_35% House IV (IC) The Fourth House also called Immum Coeli is the sphere of inner emotions, family, the father, home and roots, but also the home one creates. It's Home Sweet Home, security and cocoon. It is in analogy with Cancer and the Moon. It's an angular and important house. %TEXTES_35% %DYNAMIQUE_36% House V The Fifth House is the sphere of pleasures and love affairs (but not commitment or marriage), creations and entertainments, children, arts and game. It is in analogy with Leo and the Sun. It's a succedent and quite important house. %DYNAMIQUE_37% House VI The Sixth House is the sphere of apprenticeship and effort in the work environment, daily life, health on a daily basis and not operations or long-term diseases, relationships with co-workers or subordinates, desire for improvement, analysis and detail. It is in analogy with Virgo and Mercury. It is a cadent house, less important than the angular and succedent ones. %DYNAMIQUE_38% House VII (DS) The Seventh House also called the Descendant (in front of the Ascendant) is the sphere of partnership, marriage, contracts, relationships with others, the outer world. It is in analogy with Libra and Venus, and Saturn to a lesser extent. It is an angular and important house. %TEXTES_38% %DYNAMIQUE_39% House VIII The Eighth House is the sphere of emotional security, the depths of the self, secrets and paranormal, transcendence, sexuality, mysteries, upheavals, surgical operations, others' money (investments, inheritances), crises, transformation after evolution, death. It is in analogy with Scorpio and Pluto, and Mars to a lesser extent. It is a succedent and quite important house. %DYNAMIQUE_40% House IX The Ninth House is the sphere of high studies, both physical and mental journeys (philosophy, spirituality), rebelliousness, changes of scenery, desire for dealing with the unknown. It is in analogy with Sagittarius and Jupiter. It is a cadent house, less important than the angular and succedent ones. %DYNAMIQUE_41% House X (MC) The Tenth House still called the Midheaven, is the highest point amidst the houses, at the top of the chart, in the South, and relates to destiny in general and career (and not daily work as meant by the Sixth House). The Midheaven represents our achievements and goals in the social sphere, our social position in society, and becomes more and more important as we get older. It is in analogy with Capricorn and Saturn. The Tenth House is the most important angular house along with the Ascendant. %TEXTES_41% %DYNAMIQUE_42% House XI The Eleventh House is the sphere of friendship and protection, projects, search for social acceptance and security, collective and humanitarian actions. It is in analogy with Aquarius and Uranus, and Saturn to a lesser extent. It's a succedent and quite important house. %DYNAMIQUE_43% House XII The Twelfth House is the sphere of hidden things, enemies, closed or remote places (hospital, prison, convent etc.), ordeals, secrecy, solitude, long-term illnesses but also sincere devotion and genuine compassion. It is in analogy with Pisces and Neptune. %DYNAMIQUE_44% The Vertex The Vertex, sometimes called counter-Ascendant, is a fictitious point which is at the intersection of two great circles, the Ecliptic and the great vertical circle (Prime Vertical) in the West of the birthplace, linking the East, the Zenith, the West, and the Nadir. It is always located in the West of the chart around the Descendant. It is the chart's fifth angle, so to speak, less important than the other angles. Its interpretation is controversial, because certain astrologers pay no attention to it. The Vertex is sometimes considered to be the second Descendant because, like the latter, it is related to communication and exchanges. It has to do with associations and fated encounters, those that are not chosen, and reveals the type of sensitivity and reactivity we have in our dealings with other people: a refined and tolerant way in Libra, straightforward and spontaneous in Aries, etc. %TEXTES_44% %DYNAMIQUE_45% The East Point The East Point is a fictitious point at the intersection of two great circles, the Ecliptic and the great vertical circle (Prime Vertical) in the East of the birthplace, linking the East, the Zenith, the West, and the Nadir. It is always located in the East of the chart, around the Ascendant. The East Point is sometimes considered to be a second Ascendant, less important, but also related to how one is seen by other people, and to how one expresses one's personality. %TEXTES_45% %DYNAMIQUE_46% Cupido Cupido is a hypothetical trans-Neptunian planet, the existence of which is not proven. It was invented by Alfred Witte, founder of the famous Hamburg School, and by his student, Friedrich Sieggrün. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Cupido, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points. On the upside, Cupido is related to socialisation, the arts, and marital life. On the downside, it indicates vanity, addiction to pleasures, and being strongly influenced by groups of people. %TEXTES_46% %DYNAMIQUE_47% Hades Hades is a hypothetical trans-Neptunian planet, the existence of which is not proven. It was invented by Alfred Witte, founder of the famous Hamburg School, and by his student, Friedrich Sieggrün. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Hades, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points. Hades corresponds to intellectual rigour, service rendered to people, the purpose of being useful. On the downside; it leads to carelessness, indifference, apathy, and mess. %TEXTES_47% %DYNAMIQUE_48% Zeus Zeus is a hypothetical trans-Neptunian planet, the existence of which is not proven. It was invented by Alfred Witte, founder of the famous Hamburg School, and by his student, Friedrich Sieggrün. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Zeus, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points. Zeus is related to creativity, as well as to organisational and leadership capacities. On the downside, it may lead to aggressiveness and to excessive militancy. %TEXTES_48% %DYNAMIQUE_49% Kronos Kronos is a hypothetical trans-Neptunian planet, the existence of which is not proven. It was invented by Alfred Witte, founder of the famous Hamburg School, and by his student, Friedrich Sieggrün. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Kronos, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points. Kronos is related to authority and cleverness. In tough aspect, it may make the person conceited, presumptuous, or elitist. %TEXTES_49% %DYNAMIQUE_50% Apollon Apollon is a hypothetical trans-Neptunian planet, the existence of which is not proven. It was invented by Alfred Witte, founder of the famous Hamburg School, and by his student, Friedrich Sieggrün. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Apollon, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points. Apollon is related to the ability to synthesise, as well as to broad-mindedness, and fame. In difficult aspect, it may bring about superficiality or extravagance. %TEXTES_50% %DYNAMIQUE_51% Admetos Admetos is a hypothetical trans-Neptunian planet, the existence of which is not proven. It was invented by Alfred Witte, founder of the famous Hamburg School, and by his student, Friedrich Sieggrün. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Admetos, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points. Admetos is related to the deepness of the mind, asceticism, simplicity, and analytical mind. In tough aspect, it may make the person nit-picking, inflexible, and narrow-minded. %TEXTES_51% %DYNAMIQUE_52% Vulcanus Vulcanus is a hypothetical trans-Neptunian planet, the existence of which is not proven. It was invented by Alfred Witte, founder of the famous Hamburg School, and by his student, Friedrich Sieggrün. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Vulcanus, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points. Vulcanus, sometimes said to be the higher octave of Saturn, provides strength to improve collective relations, to structure things, to be efficient, and to get straight to the point. On the downside, he may bring about arrogance and scattered efforts. %TEXTES_52% %DYNAMIQUE_53% Poseidon Poseidon is a hypothetical trans-Neptunian planet, the existence of which is not proven. It was invented by Alfred Witte, founder of the famous Hamburg School, and by his student, Friedrich Sieggrün. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Poseidon, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points. Poseidon brings about wisdom, a clear mind, and sometimes spirituality. On the downside, it may make the person dogmatic, manipulative, or out of touch with reality. %TEXTES_53% %DYNAMIQUE_54% Proserpina Proserpina, sometimes referred to as Persephone, is a trans-Plutonian hypothetical planet. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Proserpina, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points. Proserpina is related to mysteries, revival and reconstruction, as well as cycles. She enriches the unconscious, and gives the possibility to combine modern life with spirituality, the East with the West, and mysticism with concrete life. %TEXTES_54% Biography of Maurice Sendak Maurice Bernard Sendak (/ˈsɛndï¿½k/; June 10, 1928 ï¿½ May 8, 2012) was an American illustrator and writer of children's books. He became widely known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, first published in 1963. Born to Jewish-Polish parents, his childhood was affected by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Besides Where the Wild Things Are, Sendak also wrote works such as In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, and illustrated many works by other authors including the Little Bear books by Else Holmelund Minarik. Life and career Early life Sendak was born in New York City in the borough of Brooklyn to Polish Jewish immigrant parents named Sadie (nï¿½e Schindler) and Philip Sendak, a dressmaker. Sendak described his childhood as a "terrible situation" due to the death of members of his extended family during the Holocaust which exposed him at a young age to the concept of mortality. His love of books began when, as a child, he developed health problems and was confined to his bed. He decided to become an illustrator after watching Walt Disney's film Fantasia at the age of twelve. One of his first professional commissions was to create window displays for the toy store F.A.O. Schwarz. His illustrations were first published in 1947 in a textbook titled Atomics for the Millions by Dr. Maxwell Leigh Eidinoff. He spent much of the 1950s illustrating children's books written by others before beginning to write his own stories. His older brother Jack Sendak also became an author of children's books, two of which were illustrated by Maurice in the 1950s. Maurice was the youngest of three siblings. His sister, Natalie, was nine years older than he, and his brother, Jack, was five years older than him. Work Sendak gained international acclaim after writing and illustrating Where the Wild Things Are, edited by Ursula Nordstrom at Harper & Row. It features Max, a boy who "rages against his mother for being sent to bed without any supper". The book's depictions of fanged monsters concerned some parents when it was first published, as his characters were somewhat grotesque in appearance. Before Where the Wild Things Are, Sendak was best known for illustrating Else Holmelund Minarik's Little Bear series of books. Sendak later recounted the reaction of a fan: A little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children's letters ï¿½ sometimes very hastily ï¿½ but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, 'Dear Jim: I loved your card.' Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said: 'Jim loved your card so much he ate it.' That to me was one of the highest compliments I've ever received. He didn't care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it. Almost fifty years later, School Library Journal sponsored a survey of readers which identified Where the Wild Things Are as top picture book. The librarian who conducted it observed that there was little doubt what would be voted number one and highlighted its designation by one reader as a watershed, "ushering in the modern age of picture books". Another called it "perfectly crafted, perfectly illustrated ... simply the epitome of a picture book" and noted that Sendak "rises above the rest in part because he is subversive". When Sendak saw a manuscript of Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories, the first children's book by Isaac Bashevis Singer, on the desk of an editor at Harper & Row, he offered to illustrate the book. It was first published in 1966 and received a Newbery Honor. Sendak was delighted and enthusiastic about the collaboration. He once wryly remarked that his parents were "finally" impressed by their youngest child when he collaborated with Singer. His book In the Night Kitchen, originally issued in 1970, has often been subjected to censorship for its drawings of a young boy prancing naked through the story. The book has been challenged in several American states including Illinois, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Texas. In the Night Kitchen regularly appears on the American Library Association's list of "frequently challenged and banned books". It was listed number 21 on the "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990ï¿½1999". His 1981 book Outside Over There is the story of a girl, Ida, and her sibling jealousy and responsibility. Her father is away and so Ida is left to watch her baby sister, much to her dismay. Her sister is kidnapped by goblins and Ida must go off on a magical adventure to rescue her. At first, she is not really eager to get her sister and nearly passes her sister right by when she becomes absorbed in the magic of the quest. In the end, she rescues her baby sister, destroys the goblins, and returns home committed to caring for her sister until her father returns home. Sendak was an early member of the National Board of Advisors of the Children's Television Workshop during the development stages of the Sesame Street television series. He also adapted his book Bumble Ardy into an animated sequence for the series, with Jim Henson as the voice of Bumble Ardy. He wrote and designed three other animated stories for the series: "Seven Monsters" (which never aired), "Up & Down", and "Broom Adventures". Sendak produced an animated television production based on his work titled Really Rosie, featuring the voice of Carole King, which was broadcast in 1975 and is available on video (usually as part of video compilations of his work). An album of the songs was also produced. He contributed the opening segment to Simple Gifts, a Christmas collection of six animated shorts shown on PBS TV in 1977 and later issued on VHS in 1993. He adapted his book Where the Wild Things Are for the stage in 1979. Additionally, he designed sets for many operas and ballets, including the award-winning (1983) Pacific Northwest Ballet production of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, Houston Grand Opera's productions of Mozart's The Magic Flute (1981) and Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel (1997), Los Angeles County Music Center's 1990 production of Mozart's Idomeneo, and the New York City Opera's 1981 production of Janï¿½ček's The Cunning Little Vixen. In the 1990s, Sendak approached playwright Tony Kushner to write a new English version of the Czech composer Hans Krï¿½sa's children's Holocaust opera Brundibï¿½r. Kushner wrote the text for Sendak's illustrated book of the same name, published in 2003. The book was named one of the New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Illustrated Books of 2003. In 2003, Chicago Opera Theatre produced Sendak and Kushner's adaptation of Brundibï¿½r. In 2005, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, in collaboration with Yale Repertory Theatre and Broadway's New Victory Theater, produced a substantially reworked version of the Sendak-Kushner adaptation. In 2004 Sendak worked with the Shirim Klezmer Orchestra in Boston on their project "Pincus and the Pig: A Klezmer Tale". This Klezmer version of Sergei Prokofiev's famous musical story for children, Peter and the Wolf featured Maurice Sendak as the narrator. He also illustrated the cover art. Sendak also created the children's television program Seven Little Monsters. Personal life Sendak mentioned in a September 2008 article in The New York Times that he was gay and had lived with his partner, psychoanalyst Dr. Eugene Glynn, for 50 years before Glynn's death in May 2007. Revealing that he never told his parents, he said, "All I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy. They never, never, never knew." Sendak's relationship with Glynn had been mentioned by other writers before (e.g., Tony Kushner in 2003) and Glynn's 2007 death notice had identified Sendak as his "partner of fifty years". After his partner's death, Sendak donated $1 million to the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services in memory of Glynn who had treated young people there. The gift will name a clinic for Glynn. Sendak was an atheist. In a 2011 interview he stated that he did not believe in God and explained that he felt that religion, and belief in God, "must have made life much easier . It's harder for us non-believers." Influences Maurice Sendak drew inspiration and influences from a vast number of painters, musicians and authors. Going back to his childhood, one of his earliest memorable influences was actually his father, Philip Sendak. According to Maurice, his father would relate tales from the Old Testament; however, he would embellish them with racy details. Not realizing that this was inappropriate for children, little Maurice would frequently be sent home after retelling his father's "softcore Bible tales" at school. Growing up, Sendak developed from other influences, starting with Walt Disney's Fantasia and Mickey Mouse. Sendak and Mickey Mouse were born in the same year and Sendak described Mickey as a source of joy and pleasure while growing up. He has been quoted as saying, "My gods are Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, Mozart. I believe in them with all my heart." Elaborating further, he has explained that reading Emily Dickinson's works helps him to remain calm in an otherwise hectic world: "And I have a little tiny Emily Dickinson so big that I carry in my pocket everywhere. And you just read three poems of Emily. She is so brave. She is so strong. She is such a passionate little woman. I feel better." Likewise, of Mozart, he has said, "When Mozart is playing in my room, I am in conjunction with something I can't explain. I don't need to. I know that if there's a purpose for life, it was for me to hear Mozart." Ursula Nordstrom, director of Harper's Department of Books for Boys and Girls from 1940 to 1973, was also an inspiration for Sendak. Death Sendak died on May 8, 2012, at age 83, in Danbury, Connecticut, at Danbury Hospital, from complications of a stroke, less than a month before his 84th birthday. His remains were cremated. The New York Times obituary called Sendak "the most important children's book artist of the 20th century." Author Neil Gaiman remarked, "He was unique, grumpy, brilliant, gay, wise, magical and made the world better by creating art in it." Author R. L. Stine called Sendak's death "a sad day in children's books and for the world." "We are all honored to have been briefly invited into his world," remarked comedian Stephen Colbert. The 2012 season of Pacific Northwest Ballet's "The Nutcracker," for which Sendak designed the set, was dedicated to his memory. On May 12, 2012, Nick Jr. hosted a 2-hour Little Bear marathon in his memory. The writer of the series Else Holmelund Minarik would die herself only 2 months later on July 12, 2012 at the age of 91. His final book, Bumble-Ardy, was published eight months before his death. A posthumous picture book, titled My Brother's Book, was published in February 2013. The film Her was dedicated in memory of him and Where the Wild Things Are co-star James Gandolfini. The film had been directed by Spike Jonze, who had also directed the motion picture adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are. Maurice Sendak Collection In 1968 Sendak chose The Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to be the repository for his work thanks to shared literary and collecting interests. His collection of nearly 10,000 works of art, manuscripts, books and ephemera, has been the subject of many exhibitions at the Rosenbach, seen by visitors of all ages. Sendak once praised Herman Melville's writings, saying, "There's a mystery there, a clue, a nut, a bolt, and if I put it together, I find me." From May 6, 2008, through May 3, 2009, the Rosenbach presented There's a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak. This major retrospective of over 130 pieces pulled from the museum's vast Sendak collection is the largest and most ambitious exhibition of Sendak's work ever created and is now a traveling exhibition. It features original artwork, rare sketches, never-before-seen working materials, and exclusive interview footage. The exhibition draws on a total of over 300 objects, providing a unique experience with each bit of writing. Exhibition highlights include the following: Original color artwork from books such as Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, The Nutshell Library, Outside Over There, and Brundibar; "Dummy" books filled with lively preliminary sketches for titles like The Sign on Rosie's Door, Pierre, and Higglety, Pigglety, Pop!; Never-before-seen working materials, such as newspaper clippings that inspired Sendak, family portraits, photographs of child models and other ephemera; Rare sketches for unpublished editions of stories such as Tolkien's The Hobbit and Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, and other illustrating projects; Unique materials from the Rosenbach collection that relate to Sendak's work, including an 1853 edition of the tales of the Brothers Grimm, sketches by William Blake, and Herman Melville's bookcase; Stories told by the illustrator himself on topics like Alice in Wonderland, his struggle to illustrate his favorite novels, hilarious stories of Brooklyn, and the way his work helps him exorcise childhood traumas. In July, 2014 the Sendak estate notified the museum that it was recalling the entire Sendak Collection which had been housed there on loan since 1968. However, the Rosenbach has filed suit against the estate, claiming that they have violated stipulations in Sendak's will which gifted material to the museum. If The Rosenbach loses the suit, they will lose more than 10,000 items, or about 98 percent of its Sendak materials, to a proposed new museum and study center in Sendak's home in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Awards and honors Internationally, Sendak received the third biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration in 1970, recognizing his "lasting contribution to children's literature". He received one of two inaugural Astrid Lindgren Memorial Awards in 2003, recognizing his career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense". The citation called him "the modern picture-book's portal figure" and the presentation credited Where the Wild Things Are with "all at once the entire picture-book narrative ... thematically, aesthetically, and psychologically." In the U.S. he received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the professional children's librarians in 1983, recognizing his "substantial and lasting contributions to children's literature". At the time it was awarded every three years. Only Sendak and the writer Katherine Paterson have won all three of these premier awards. Caldecott Medal from the ALA as illustrator of "the most distinguished American picture book for children", Where the Wild Things Are, 1964 (Sendak was also one of the Caldecott runners-up seven times from 1954 to 1982, more than any other illustrator, although some have won multiple Medals) Hans Christian Andersen Award for children's book illustration, 1970 National Book Award in category Picture Books for Outside Over There, 1982 Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for American children's literature, 1983 National Medal of Arts, 1996 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for children's literature, 2003 Honorary doctorate from Goucher College, 2004 Inducted into the New York Writers Hall of Fame in 2013. Sendak was honored in North Hollywood, California, where an elementary school was named after him. He received an honorary doctorate from Princeton University in 1984. On June 10, 2013 Google featured an interactive doodle where visitors could click on the video-go triangle to see an animated movie-ette of Max and Sendak's other main characters. List of works Where the Wild Things Are (1963) Let's Be Enemies (written by Janice May Udry) (1965) Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life (1967) ISBN 0-06-028479-X In the Night Kitchen (1970) Fantasy Sketches (1970) Ten Little Rabbits: A Counting Book with Mino the Magician (1970) Some Swell Pup or Are You Sure You Want a Dog? (written by Maurice Sendak & Matthew Margolis, and illustrated by Maurice Sendak) (1976) Seven Little Monsters (1977) Outside Over There (1981) Caldecott and Co: Notes on Books and Pictures (an anthology of essays on children's literature) (1988) We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy (1993) Maurice Sendak's Christmas Mystery (1995) (a box containing a book and a jigsaw puzzle) Bumble-Ardy (2011) ISBN 0-06-205198-9, ISBN 978-0-06-205198-1 My Brother's Book (2013) ISBN 0-06-223489-7, ISBN 978-0-06-223489-6 Illustrator Atomics for the Millions (by Dr. Maxwell Leigh Eidinoff) (1947) The Wonderful Farm (by Marcel Aymï¿½) (1951) Good Shabbos Everybody (by Robert Garvey) (1951) A Hole is to Dig (by Ruth Krauss) (1952) Maggie Rose: Her Birthday Christmas (by Ruth Sawyer) (1952) A Very Special House (by Ruth Krauss) (1953) Hurry Home, Candy (by Meindert DeJong) (1953) The Giant Story (by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers) (1953) I'll Be You and You Be Me (by Ruth Krauss) (1954) The Tin Fiddle (by Edward Tripp) (1954) The Wheel on the School (by Meindert DeJong) (1954) Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm (by Betty MacDonald) (1954) Charlotte and the White Horse (by Ruth Krauss) (1955) Happy Hanukah Everybody (by Hyman Chanover and Alice Chanover) (1955) Little Cow & the Turtle (by Meindert DeJong) (1955) Singing Family of the Cumberlands (by Jean Ritchie) (Oxford University Press, 1955) What Can You Do with a Shoe? (by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers) (1955, re-colored 1997) Seven Little Stories on Big Subjects (by Gladys Baker Bond) (1955) I Want to Paint My Bathroom Blue (by Ruth Krauss) (1956) The Birthday Party (by Ruth Krauss) (1957) You Can't Get There From Here (by Ogden Nash) (1957) Little Bear (by Else Holmelund Minarik, there was also a TV series based on this series of books) Little Bear (1957) Somebody Else's Nut Tree (1958) Father Bear Comes Home (1959) Little Bear's Friend (1960) A Kiss for Little Bear (1968) Along Came a Dog (by Meindert DeJong) (1958) No Fighting, No Biting! (by Else Holmelund Minarik) (1958) What Do You Say, Dear? (by Sesyle Joslin) (1958) Seven Tales by H. C. Andersen (translated by Eva Le Gallienne) (1959) The Moon Jumpers (by Janice May Udry)(1959) Open House for Butterflies (by Ruth Krauss) (1960) Best in Children's Books: Volume 31 (various authors and illustrators: featuring, Windy Wash Day and Other Poems by Dorothy Aldis, illustrations by Sendak) (1960) Dwarf Long-Nose (by Wilhelm Hauff, translated by Doris Orgel) (1960) Best in Children's Books: Volume 41 (various authors and illustrators: featuring, What the Good-Man Does Is Always Right by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrations by Sendak) (1961) Let's Be Enemies (by Janice Udry) (1961) What Do You Do, Dear? (by Sesyle Joslin) (1961) The Big Green Book (by Robert Graves) (1962) Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present (by Charlotte Zolotow) (1962) The Singing Hill (by Meindert DeJong) (1962) (Harper Row) The Griffin and the Minor Canon (by Frank R. Stockton) (1963) How Little Lori Visited Times Square (by Amos Vogel) (1963) She Loves Meï¿½ She Loves Me Notï¿½ (by Robert Keeshan AKA Captain Kangaroo) (1963) McCall's: August 1964; VOL XCI, No 11 (featuring The Young Crane by Andrejs Upits, illustrations by Sendak) The Bee-Man of Orn (by Frank R. Stockton) (1964) The Animal Family (by Randall Jarrell) (1965) Hector Protector and As I Went Over the Water: Two Nursery Rhymes (traditional nursery rhymes) (1965) Lullabyes and Night Songs (by Alec Wilder, edited by William Engvick) (1965) Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories (by Isaac Bashevis Singer) (1966) The Golden Key (by George MacDonald) (1967) The Bat-Poet (by Randall Jarrell) (1964) The House of Sixty Fathers (by Meindert De Jong) (1956) The Saturday Evening Post: May 4, 1968; 241st year, Issue no. 9 (features Yash The Chimney Sweep by Isaac Bashevis Singer) The Juniper Tree and Other Tales from Grimm: Volumes 1 & 2 (translated by Lore Segal with four tales translated by Randall Jarrell) (1973 both volumes) King Grisly-Beard (by Brothers Grimm) (1973) Pleasant Fieldmouse (by Jan Wahl) (1975) Fly by Night (by Randall Jarrell) (1976) Mahler - Symphony No. 3, James Levine conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra - album cover artwork "What The Night Tells Me" commissioned by RCA Records (1976) The Light Princess (by George MacDonald) (1977) Shadrach (by Meindert Dejong) (1977) The Big Green Book (by Robert Graves) (1978) Nutcracker (by E.T.A. Hoffmann) (1984) The Love for Three Oranges (The Glyndebourne Version, by Frank Corsaro based on L'Amour des Trois Oranges by Serge Prokofiev) (1984) Circus Girl (by Jack Sendak) (1985) In Grandpa's House (by Philip Sendak) (1985) The Cunning Little Vixen (by Rudolf Tesnohlidek) (1985) Dear Mili (written by Wilhelm Grimm) (1988) Sing a Song of Popcorn (by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers with various illustrators including Sendak) (1988) The Big Book for Peace (various authors and illustrators, cover also by Sendak) (1990) I Saw Esau (edited by Iona Opie and Peter Opie) (1992) The Golden Key (by George MacDonald) (1992) ISBN 0-374-42590-6 We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy: Two Nursery Rhymes with Pictures (traditional nursery rhymes) (Harper Collins) (1993) Pierre: or, The Ambiguities: The Kraken Edition (by Herman Melville) (1995) ISBN 978-0-06-118009-5 The Miami Giant (by Arthur Yorinks) (1995) Frank and Joey Eat Lunch (by Arthur Yorinks), also has additional illustrations by Ky Chung (1996) Frank and Joey Go to Work (by Arthur Yorinks), also has additional illustrations by Ky Chung (1996) Penthesilea (by Heinrich von Kleist, translated and introduced by Joel Agee) (1998) ISBN 0-06-095632-1 Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom (by Ursula Nordstrom, edited by Leonard S. Marcus) ISBN 0-06-023625-6 Swine Lake (by James Marshall) (1999) Brundibï¿½r (by Tony Kushner) (2003) Sarah's Room (by Doris Orgel) (2003) The Happy Rain (by Jack Sendak) (2004) Pincus and the Pig: A Klezmer Tale (performed by the Shirim Klezmer Orchestra and narrated by Maurice Sendak) (2004) Bears! (by Ruth Krauss) (2005) Mommy? (by Arthur Yorinks, Sendak's only pop-up book) (2006) ISBN 0-439-88050-5 Bumble- Ardy; Illustrated and written by Maurice Sendak (2011) My Brother's Book Illustrated and written by Maurice Sendak (Released posthumously, February 5, 2013) Collections The Art of Maurice Sendak (by Selma G. Lanes) (1980) ISBN 0-8109-1600-2 The Art of Maurice Sendak: From 1980 to the Present (by Tony Kushner) (2003) ISBN 0-8109-4448-0 Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation (by Gregory Maguire) (2009) ISBN 0-06-168916-5 Filmography 1973: Where the Wild Things Are (Animated short direct by Gene Deitch, music and narration by Peter Schickele) 1975: Really Rosie (director, writer, and story artist) 1985: Return to Oz (directed by Walter Murch, preliminary artwork) 2001: The Little Bear Movie (producer) 2009: Where the Wild Things Are (story) 2009: Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak, documentary filmed by Lance Bangs and Where the Wild Things Are director Spike Jonze. Released in the US on DVD by Oscilloscope Laboratories. 2010: Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life (story), an animated/live action short adapted and directed by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (Clyde Henry Productions), produced by Spike Jonze, Vincent Landay and Marcy Page (National Film Board of Canada) Selected exhibitions June 11, 2013 ï¿½ August 17, 2013. "Maurice Sendak: A Celebration of the Artist and his Work" at the Society of Illustrators in New York. Permanent. Maurice Sendak Collection at The Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia. 2013ï¿½"Maurice Sendak; The Memorial Exhibition." April 2013 "Bowers Museum of California" "The New Britain Museum of American Art'" September 8, 2009 ï¿½ January 19, 2010. There's a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak at The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. October 6, 2009 ï¿½ November 1, 2009. Where the Wild Things Are: Original Drawings by Maurice Sendak at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York. October 1ï¿½30, 2009 "Sendak in SoHo" at AFA Gallery in New York. April 15, 2005 ï¿½ August 14, 2005. Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak at the The Jewish Museum in New York. Further reading Wilcock, John. "The Wonderful World Of Maurice Sendak". The Village Voice. September 26, 1956. Phelps, Robert. "Fine Book for Children by a Secret Child: The Hidden World of Maurice Sendak". Life. December 15, 1967. Merrell, Nelson. "Maurice Sendak Hits The Road". The Ridgefield Press. July 13, 1972. pp. 1 and 6. Kuskin, Karla. "Maurice Sendak, The Artful Master, Curbs Puppy Doggedness". The Village Voice. September 6, 1976. pp. 51 and 53. "Meeting of the Minds". New York. October 27, 1980. Associated Press. "Maurice Sendak: Resident Ghoul For Youngsters". The Lewiston Daily Sun. June 17, 1981. Chun, Diane. "Maurice Sendak Expertly Probes Complex World of Childhood". The Gainesville Sun. March 7, 1982. pp. 1E and 11E. Associated Press. "Sendak in Charge of His Characters". The Toledo Blade. December 22, 1984. Holland, Bernard. "The Paternal Pride Of Maurice Sendak". The New York Times. November 8, 1987. Shirk, Martha. "Relatively Monstrous: Maurice Sendak Says Nightmarish Kin Inspired His Famous `Wild Things`". The Chicago Tribune. January 29, 1990. Abrams, Garry. "King of the Wild Things: Maurice Sendak". The Los Angeles Times. December 4, 1991. O'Brien, Ellen. "Sharp Edge To Maurice Sendak's Memory: New Philadelphia Exhibits Honor His Late Brother". The Philadelphia Inquirer. April 19, 1995. Klein, Julia M.. "Where Sendak Is; Fun For Both Old And Young A Wild Thing Indeed: Please Touch Presents Maurice Sendak's Books Come To Life". The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 1, 1995. Rollin, Lucy; West, Mark I.. "Childhood Fantasies and Frustrations in Maurice Sendak's Picture Books". Psychoanalytic Responses to Children's Literature. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers. 1999, 2008. pp. 79ï¿½89. ISBN 978-0-7864-3764-1. PEN/Faulkner Foundation, editor. "Maurice Sendak". 3 Minutes or Less: Life Lessons from America's Greatest Writers. New York: Bloomsbury. 2000. pp. 19ï¿½20. ISBN 1-58234-069-2. Stanton, Joseph. "The New York City Picture Books of Maurice Sendak". The Important Books: Children's Picture Books As Art And Literature. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. 2005. pp. 37ï¿½52. ISBN 0-8108-5176-8. Gottlieb, Richard M.. "Maurice Sendak's Trilogy: Disappointment, Fury, and Their Transformation through Art". The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child. Volume 63. 2008. pp. 186ï¿½218 Schechter, Joel. "The Jewish experience and Maurice Sendak". Haaretz. September 29, 2009. Rosenberg, Amy S.. "Sendak, Picturing Mortality". The Philadelphia Inquirer. April 24, 2011. Denn, Rebekah. "Maurice Sendak: different sides of a fascinating author". The Christian Science Monitor. October 3, 2011.	i don't know
Home to the world's largest river delta, what river is sacred to those of the Hindu religion?	Ganga is the Goddess of the Holy Ganges By Subhamoy Das Updated November 28, 2016. The River Ganges or Ganga is perhaps the holiest river in any religion. Though equally polluted, it bears immense significance to the Hindus. Ganga originates from the Gangotri glacier at Gaumukh in the Indian Himalayas at 4,100 meters above sea level and flows 2,525 km across northern India before meeting the Bay of Bengal in the east India and Bangladesh. As a river, the Ganga contributes to more than 25 percent of India's total water resources. Besides being a sacred river, Ganga is also worshiped as a deity in Hinduism and respectfully referred to as 'Gangaji' or 'Ganga Maiya' (Mother Ganga). About Goddess Ganga The various myths associated with Ganga and staunch Hindu beliefs associated with the river sanctify it as a goddess. Hindus view goddess Ganga as a fair complexioned beautiful woman wearing a white crown with a water lily and a water pot in her hands, and riding her pet crocodile. The Hallowed River Hindus believe that rituals performed by the river Ganga multiply in their blessedness. The water of Ganges, called 'Gangajal' (Ganga = Ganges; jal = water), is held so sacred that holding this water in hand no Hindu dares to lie or be deceitful. The 'Puranas' or ancient Hindu scriptures say that the sight, the name, and the touch of Ganga cleanses one of all sins and taking a dip in the holy Ganga bestows heavenly blessings. The 'Narada Purana,' prophesied pilgrimages in the present Kali Yuga to the Ganges will be of utmost importance. Dying By the Ganges The land over which Ganga flows is regarded as hallowed ground. It is believed that those who die around this river reach the heavenly abode with all their sins washed away. The cremation of a dead body at the banks of Ganga or even casting the ashes of the deceased in its water is thought auspicious and leads to the salvation of the departed. The famous Ganga Ghats of Varanasi and Hardwar are known for being the holiest funeral detestation of the Hindus. Ganga in Mythology The name of Ganga appears only twice in the Rig Veda , and it was only later that Ganga assumed great importance as a goddess. According to the 'Vishnu Purana,' she was created from the sweat of Lord Vishnu 's feet. Hence, she is also called 'Vishmupadi' - the one flowing from the foot of Vishnu. Another mythological tale states that Ganga is Parvataraja's daughter, and the sister of Parvati, Lord Shiva 's consort. A popular legend cites that Ganga was devoted to Lord Krishna in heaven, which made his lover Radha jealous, who cursed Ganga to go down to earth and flow as a river. Sri Ganga Dusshera/Dashami Festival Every summer, the Ganga Dusshera or Ganga Dashami festival venerates the auspicious occasion of the descent of the sacred river on earth from heaven. On this day, a dip in the holy river invoking the Goddess is said to cleanse all sins. A devotee worships by lighting incense and lamp and offers sandalwood, flowers, and milk. Fishes and other aquatic animals are fed flour balls.	Ganges
What can be a language, a horn, and side spin?	Rivers, Goddesses and Hindus on Pinterest Forward Map of Vedic India - The position of the Kuru Kingdom in Iron Age Vedic India - Kurukshetra War - (Details given are according to the epic Mahabharata) Date: Various dates (6000 BCE – 500 BCE) - fought for 18-days. Location Kurukshetra, in modern-day Haryana, India Result: Victory for Pandavas and allies; Fall of Kauravas. Dhritarashtra abdicated the throne of Hastinapura and Yudhisthira succeeded him. The center of power in the Gangetic basin shifted from Kurus to Panchalas. See More	i don't know

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