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Journal of Creation 20(3):43–45, December 2006
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Secularizing America
A review of The Secular Revolution: Power, Interests, and Conflict in the
Secularization of American Public Life, Edited by Christian Smith
University of California Press, Berkeley, 2003
Probably everyone with more than a passing interest in apologetics has given some thought to the widespread secularization of the Western World, and why and how it came about. For years, the sociologists in mainstream academia have been fairly united in their opinion on the subject. In the recent book The Secular Revolution, Christian Smith, sociologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, sounds a note of dissent, and presents a new scholarly approach to secularization theory. He lays out a framework for reworking this field of sociology in his substantial opening chapter, and then other sociologists apply this approach in a number of case studies in American life.
The problem
Smith's first chapter is the most important (and with a length of 96 pages, is the largest in the book). Smith first reviews the standard account of secularization theory, developed by founding fathers of sociology such as Max Weber and Emile Durkheim. The traditional account views religion as declining proportionally to increases in modernization. Smith counters that this analysis does not explain anything about the 'why', 'how' and 'whom' of secularization:
'"Differentiation", "modernization", "rationalization", "pluralization", and so on try to depict something that happened, but they do very little to tell us who made it happen, why they made it happen, and how they made it happen' (p. 29).
The traditional secularization theorists give us an 'assertion about, not an explanation of secularization' (p. 22). 'Exactly why did urbanization or technological developments have to undermine religious authority?' (p. 23). Smith hits hard at the tendency of other secularization theorists to present the decline of religion as 'inevitable' in modern society. 'Rather than all nodding our scholarly heads together in what could be premature analytical closure, we need to go back and force ourselves to answer these questions again' (p. 23).
New approach
To replace the old view, Smith suggests a framework of a revolution for understanding secularization. This brings into the picture what is 'fatally missing from the traditional theoretical accounts of secularization', namely, 'agency, interests, mobilization, alliances, resources, organizations, power, and strategy' (p. 29). Secularization was not a deterministic process, but rather was the result of power struggles and intentional planning which took place to effect a 'regime change'. Smith lists ten areas which could serve as a starting point for understanding secularization, starting with determining who the activists were, and then studying their motivation, ideologies, opportunities, and so on (pp. 30–32).
Smith surveys the first few areas on his list at some length. Keep in mind, the inquiry in this book is limited to secularization in America. European and Australasian secularization obviously require their own analyses. Smith's goal in the first chapter is primarily to make the case for the new theoretical framework. The detailed case studies in different areas of 'public life' comprise the rest of the book, but we can get a good summary of them by looking at Smith's chapter one outline.
The activists
First, who were the activists? Smith argues that, 'The people at the core of these secularizing movements … knew what they were doing, and they wanted to do it' (p. 33). They were almost all 'intellectual elites' belonging to the 'American knowledge class—the academic, scientific, and literary intelligentsia of their day' (p. 33).
Second, what motivated these activists? Smith argues that the secularizers were intellectual heirs of the humanistic 'enlightenment', the anti-religious line of the intellectual tradition, whose upward mobility in academia and the scientific and literary fields was impeded by the Protestant establishment (pp. 37, 48–53). Since the power of intellectuals is exerted through their authoritative status in knowledge production, the secularists needed to unseat the religious mainstream to be heard (p. 38). The secularists did this both to promote their ideologies and to strengthen their own job security.
Smith does not argue that all secularizers were personally antagonistic to religion, but he does argue that all had an interest, for one reason or another, in disestablishing religion's authority in public life (p. 47–48). For example, Protestant educational leaders themselves suggested reductions in Christian teaching, and even Bible reading in some cases, in public schools (ch. 3). They had no problem with Christian teaching; it was just that they feared Catholics would request to teach Catholic doctrines!
Third, what was the cultural and ideological framework that the activists worked in? Nineteenth-century American intellectuals tended to idolise their European counterparts, so Smith argues that intellectual 'peer pressure' led them to accept European ideologies (such as naturalism and social evolution).
Fourth, what political situations furthered the secularist agenda? A major factor that Smith discusses was the divided Christian community. For example, the Protestant mainstream had alienated potential allies in America's rapidly increasing Catholic population. And the 'mainstream' denominationalism—rife with splits, new denominations, and internal friction—was unable to provide a united front to oppose secularizers during the key era of conflicts (c. 1870–1940).
Finally, what resources did the secularizers have? Smith argues that a key here were the funds donated by big business tycoons to create research universities. By their emphasizing science education and research over older liberal arts subjects, religion was increasingly marginalized. Of course, science education and research are not anti-religious in themselves, but the point here is that theological professorships lost funding, while science departments in the universities (subject to the secularizing influences mentioned above) increased in funding.
Case studies
Each case study emphasizes points of Smith's outline, but because the subject matter of each chapter is rather specialized, I will not attempt a summary. For example, the first chapter of the case studies (by Smith himself) is on the influence of early American sociologists in secularizing the American university's approach to that subject matter. The subjects of the other studies are the destruction of moral reform politics, the secularizing of the legal field and journalism, and even psychology's secularizing influence on religion itself. There are two chapters on American public education, one studying the 'progressive' school reformers, and another on the influential teachers' union, the National Education Association (NEA). Most of these chapters chronicle the period from 1870 to 1940 or some narrower time slot within that range, except for the last chapter, which covers the secularizing of bioethics debates from the 1950s to the 1980s.
One case study, 'The positivist attack on Baconian science and religious knowledge in the 1870s', should be of particular interest to readers of this journal. This chapter, adapted from the author's doctoral dissertation at Princeton, focuses on a very specific confrontation: the positivist attack on the objective meaning of language. This in turn led to a criticism of the authority of any religious text (specifically, the Bible). Baconian science left a very permeable division between science and other disciplines, but with the deconstruction of meaning in words, scientists increasingly excluded the input of theology into science.1
Their argument basically amounted to an assertion that science provided a superior epistemological (theory of knowledge) foundation to revelation. The chapter's author, Eva Garroutte, argues that this approach to the science-religion debate resulted in great advances to the secularists by undermining the subtle, taken-for-granted assumptions of the Christians (pp. 212–213). As in any case where the field is extremely narrow, there is probably some inadvertent exaggeration of the overall historical importance of the topic, but it is an interesting topic which is often overlooked in studies of science and religion. It is also fascinating to read in light of the fact that we have seen, over the past decade or so, some increased interest in mounting an epistemological attack against secular naturalism.2
Apologetic value
In short, The Secular Revolution clears up some of the historical and sociological bias against religion that is common in our highly secularized academia.
In my view, the most important aspect of this book is not the individual case studies, but rather, the theoretical direction of this book. By presenting a careful and scholarly sociological framework to replace traditional secularization theory, The Secular Revolution has (inadvertently) rendered a valuable service to Christian apologetics. Traditional secularization theory has for too long been presenting secularization as an inevitable process accompanying modernization, and as Smith points out,
'Consequently, the de facto contemporary situation of religion in public life becomes regarded as natural and unavoidable, undermining any real sense of available alternatives or responsible choice' (p. 16).
By presenting a secular public sphere as normative, the old theory has been a form of apologetics for secularism. Smith is aware of the tendency here: ' … some able critics have suggested that academic secularization theory itself functions as a pro-secular ideology veiled in scientific garb' (p. 23).
The writers of The Secular Revolution do not show partisanship for religious interests; on the contrary, some of them give the impression that the secularists rightfully won out in certain cases. Still, the focus is on how the specific arguments of certain secularizers won out in a specific time and place over specific arguments of certain Christians. This is a victory for clear historical understanding, which does not confuse the rightness of arguments in historical confrontations with the ultimate rightness or wrongness of Christianity and secularism. In short, The Secular Revolution clears up some of the historical and sociological bias against religion that is common in our highly secularized academia.3
A technical presentation
Unfortunately, The Secular Revolution will probably have a much more limited readership than its subject matter deserves. The technical terminology and length will keep this book off the 'best-seller' list, and the case studies are highly specific in the subject matter they cover.
For example, the chapter on psychology's impact on religion focuses in on one specific popular Christian journal (the liberal Christian Century), analyzes its contents over 40 years, and chronicles the progress psychology had made in watering down elements of biblical orthodoxy into a religiously-generated psychological experience. Certainly, the theme of the chapter is very important, but the reader will have to be very interested indeed to read through all the details on the development of a journal.
Still, since we can always benefit from learning of the winning and losing strategies, arguments, and tactics of the past, each chapter provides valuable insights relevant beyond the subject areas specifically covered. Limited readership is the price that is paid for a careful scholarly work written by and for the practitioners of an academic discipline. And it is just such a book that is needed to begin a revolution of sorts within sociology by overturning the entrenched old secularization theories.
- Nineteenth-century American Christians had integrated Baconian views of science and rationality neatly into their understanding of the relationship between science and religion, little realizing that Bacon's basic philosophical approach undermined the authority of Scripture. See Sarfati, J. and Wieland, C., Culture wars: Bacon vs. Ham, Part 1, Creation 25(1):46–48, 2002. Garroutte's analysis bears out the fact that Baconianism effectively crippled the Christian response to the secularists, because Christians were not operating on a presuppositionally biblical foundation. Return to text.
- See for example Plantinga, A., Warrant and Proper Function, Oxford University Press, New York, ch. 12, 1993. Return to text.
- In this respect, this volume is complementary to several other works, covering different time periods, which were recently reviewed in this journal: for example, see Williams, A., The biblical origins of science: a review of For the Glory of God by Rodney Stark, Journal of Creation 18(2):49–52, 2004; also see Hardaway, B. and Sarfati, J., Countering Christophobia: a review of Christianity on Trial by Vincent Carroll and David Shifflit, Journal of Creation 18(3):28–30, 2004. Return to text.


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Ball, Kirstie, Sebastian Dahm, Michael Friedewald, Antonella Galetta, Kerstin Goos, Richard Jones, Erik Lastic, Clive Norris, Charles Raab, and Keith Spiller, "Search and indignify: Automatic Number Plate Recognition in Europe", in Kirstie Ball, and William Webster (eds.), Surveillance and Democracy in Europe (Routledge Studies in Surveillance), Routledge, London and New York, 2018, pp. 51-68.
ANPR is a surveillance practice in which digital CCTV cameras capture images of vehicle registration plates. These images are then matched to government vehicle licensing and other databases which contain information pertaining to the ownership of the vehicle, whether it is insured or whether it has been marked as suspicious in any police investigation. ANPR is also used to administer car parking and road toll charges. Users of ANPR are thus not only public bodies such as the police, city and regional municipalities and national government agencies, but also private companies who compare images from the cameras with their own customer databases. Fixed or mobile cameras can be used as part of an ANPR system and it can be deployed in an overt or covert way, depending on the legal regulation under which it is deployed. In our chapter we explore how ANPR is used in the UK, Slovakia, Germany and Belgium.

subset: commoncrawl


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Tuesday Teaser #33
Every Tuesday, I post a teaser for one of my current works in progress. I invite all of my writer buddies to join in! The rules: Post a link, image, quote, or excerpt related to or taken from your current WIP. State the name of the WIP. Do NOT explain… Continue reading


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Jessica Arons and Lucy Panza share the top 10 reasons why women have gained too much from Obamacare to lose it now.
Strengthening Health
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Vice President, Communications
Director, Federal Affairs
Associate Director, State and Local Government Affairs
The Supreme Court is currently reviewing the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as "Obamacare." This landmark piece of legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama drastically reforms the way health insurance works in our country. Below we outline 10 reasons why, as stated in the Center for American Progress report "Women and Obamacare," women in America have so much riding on the Supreme Court's decision.
1. Obamacare guarantees coverage of preventive services with no cost sharing. Preventive care promotes health and saves money. Yet many preventive care services are out of women's reach due to high co-pays, deductibles, and co-insurance. More than 50 percent of women have delayed seeking medical care due to cost, and one-third of women report forgoing basic necessities to pay for health care. But under the health reform law, insurers are now required to cover recommended preventive services such as mammograms, Pap smears, and well-baby care without cost sharing. More than 45 million women have already taken advantage of these services. And starting this August more services, including contraception, gestational diabetes screening, and breastfeeding supports, will be added to the list of preventive care that must be covered at no additional cost.
2. Maternity care will be required in new insurance plans. Coverage for maternity care—health care that only women need—is routinely excluded in the individual insurance market. Only 12 percent of plans sold in the individual market even offer maternity coverage, which is frequently inadequate because of waiting periods or deductibles that can be as high as the cost of the birth itself. But once Obamacare is fully implemented in 2014, about 8.7 million women will have guaranteed access to maternity care in all new individual and small group plans.
3. Women will no longer be denied insurance coverage for gender-related reasons. In today's insurance market, it is common for insurers to refuse to cover women because of gender-based "pre-existing conditions," such as having had a Cesarean section or being the victim of domestic violence or sexual assault. Thankfully, this practice will be outlawed under Obamacare in 2014. In the meantime, adults with pre-existing conditions who have been uninsured for at least six months can purchase affordable coverage through temporary Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plans.
4. Women will no longer be charged more for their insurance coverage just for being women. Under a practice known as "gender rating," insurers currently charge women higher premiums than men for identical health benefits. As a result, women now pay $1 billion more than men each year for the same health plans in the individual market. As of 2014, however, under the Affordable Care Act, gender rating will become illegal in all new individual and small group plans.
5. Women have more control over their health care. Already, women no longer need a referral to see their obstetrician-gynecologist thanks to Obamacare. And they get to choose their primary care physician and their child's pediatrician from their plan's list of participating providers.
6. Women will gain better access to affordable health insurance. Starting in 2014 women and their families, as well as small businesses, will receive tax credits on an income-based sliding scale to help purchase insurance coverage. This will help individuals who earn up to $43,000 per year and up to $92,200 for families of four. Also in 2014 up to 10.3 million women will gain insurance coverage when Medicaid expands its income eligibility to include people with incomes below 138 percent of the federal poverty level—less than $15,000 for individuals and about $31,809 for a family of four in 2011. The health law also eliminates Medicaid's categorical requirements, so that low-income women who meet the income requirements can be enrolled even if they have no children and are not pregnant.
7. Insurance companies can no longer place limits on the amount of money they'll spend on covered medical expenses. Women are more likely than men to suffer from a chronic condition, and an unforeseen medical emergency or a chronic illness can cause an insured person to rapidly reach a coverage cap in their insurance plan, leaving enrollees to fend for themselves, sometimes with thousands of dollars in unpaid medical bills. But under Obamacare lifetime coverage caps have been eliminated and annual limits are being phased out. Approximately 39.5 million women have already benefited from the ban on lifetime caps.
8. Women and their families benefit from critical consumer protections in Obamacare. Because women use health care services at higher rates on behalf of themselves and their families, ensuring just insurance practices is of critical importance. The Affordable Care Act has already eliminated the practice of "rescission," when an insurance policy ends the moment a beneficiary gets sick. The health law also requires insurers to spend at least 80 percent of premiums on actually providing health care, as opposed to administrative costs, or pay enrollees a rebate. Policyholders and employers will receive approximately $1.3 billion in premium rebates this year alone.
9. Women in marginalized communities are seeing reforms that respond to their needs. Women of color, lesbian and bisexual women, and transgender people are disproportionately uninsured and subject to higher rates of health disparities. Obamacare is making critical strides in providing vulnerable women with quality health care through increased access to insurance coverage, increased funding for community health centers, promoting health literacy and cultural competency, prohibiting discrimination in the health insurance market, and improving data collection. For instance, already an estimated 5.5 million African Americans, 6.1 million Latinos, 2.7 million Asians, and 0.3 million Native Americans, many of them women, have received preventive service coverage with no cost sharing under the health reform law.
10. Mothers have peace of mind, knowing that their children have health insurance. Obamacare prohibits insurers from denying coverage to children under age 19 because of pre-existing conditions. And adult children can now stay on a parent's plan up to age 26, an especially helpful provision in this tough economy, where finding a job with benefits is challenging. Young women in particular report delaying needed health care because of high costs. To date, 2.5 million young adults have gained coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
Obamacare is a lifeline for women and their families. Women cannot afford to go back to a world where they pay more for less health care coverage, are denied preventive and essential health care services, and are treated like pre-existing conditions. A ruling that strikes down this important law would not only undo decades of precedent, it would have a devastating effect on the health and well-being of millions of women. Women have gained too much from Obamacare to lose it now.
Jessica Arons is the Director of the Women's Health and Rights Program and Lucy Panza is a Policy Analyst with the Women's Health and Rights Program at American Progress.
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The positions of American Progress, and our policy experts, are independent, and the findings and conclusions presented are those of American Progress alone. A full list of supporters is available here. American Progress would like to acknowledge the many generous supporters who make our work possible.
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February 26, 2008
breakfast at tsukiji
At 7:10 in the morning, I was sat there at one of the small bars near the busy fish market, to a bowl of ultra-fresh sashimi chu-toro (medium-fatty tuna), salmon roe, and sea urchin on rice, along with a bowl of miso soup with clams. A sheer pleasure. Worth getting up before dawn and travelling almost one hour on the train for? Oh yes, I'd say, especially when it is with a good friend of yours who doesn't mind getting up before dawn and travelling almost one hour on the train to share the pleasure of having rather "special" breakfast with you. Well, actually, in her case she might not have had to travel one hour for that particular morning, although she did travel well longer than 12 hours flying in from Los Angeles the day before!
Now, done with our breakfast but not with chatting (two girls catching up after more than a year, what else would you expect??), we set off to explore the market district, with our eyes already on something for lunch!
*Pictures (from top left to bottom right): a sashimi tuna & rice bowl bar; our sashimi breakfast at the bar; outside an inner market building; a small Japanese sweets shop; walking down an aisle inside the inner market; inner market stalls; fresh oysters sold at an inner market stall; paper lanterns hung outside a shrine near the market; a wooden lion head enshrined at the shrine; shaved dried bonito sold in bulk at an outer-market shop; a globefish shop in the outer-market; a rice ball shop in the outer market. I didn't take too many photos there, as I thought I'd end up scaring some of you with images of raw, whole fish and seafood. And quite frankly, the sight of the massive amount of raw fishery products was rather overwhelming even to myself.
Going to the Tsukiji fish market for breakfast was long on my "bucket list", and it was great to finally get it done. Ideally, in my head, I'd have drunk through the night and have breakfast there before going home, but maybe it is for another time and for this time I did sleep at home the night before and did manage to get up early.
Although it wouldn't typically take 12 hours for most of us living in the Tokyo area, going down to this downtown fish market still is a bit of excursion. Or so it seems, perhaps because of the fact that you have to start travelling quite early in the morning to see the better part of what is going on; as is the case with any fresh food market, Tsukiji starts early and slows down early, too, with many businesses closing up for the day by midday. And here I am talking about jogai, or the area called "outer market" consisting of a cluster of eateries and retail shops where you can buy, eat, and generally poke around as you please. Jonai, or the "inner market" on the other hand, gets busiest even earlier - between 5 and 7 am -, with wholesalers and licensed buyers, but not the general public or tourists.
While you can still buy your fish, really fresh, from small stalls in the inner market, I didn't see too many random shoppers hanging out in there - in fact, nearly all non-market workers I saw in there that morning were non-Japanese tourists; in this regard, Wikipedia again is quite right in its remark that "[the Tsukiji market] is a major attraction for foreign visitors (few Japanese casually visit the market)".
The inner market aside, though, Tsukiji still is a fun place to visit for fish lovers or otherwise, if you fancy a taste of Japanese food and old Tokyo downtown townscape. Tsukiji might be best known as the country's biggest fish market, but it has a lot more beyond fish and seafood - fresh vegetables, kitchen tools, tableware, and even some fishy souvenirs. Make sure you start your day early, eat your breakfast early, and might as well grab some food for later, perhaps early lunch!
I left the place with some rice balls (fatty salmon belly, cured tuna and sesame seeds, and oyster) from a rice ball shop and Japanese-style omelettes (chesnuts and duck) from an omelette shop. And my ultimate treat among treats, flown fresh from its country of origin. None of these lasted very long, as I supposed market food should be consumed immediately, right? ;)
15 comments:
- J said...
Hi! I happened onto your blog and I've skimmed through it, but I must confess I don't really dare to read too much of it because I know it'll make me crave the food!! LOL. And that would be really bad because I'm far far away from Japan......
I must say your photos are really beautiful! I've just started taking an interest in photography and am thinking of buying a better camera; could you tell me which camera you use and what lense?
I promise to come back and read your blog from beginning to end before I next go to Japan. I've always wanted to have breakfast at Tsukiji! You must tell me which restaurant is best.
Thank you for such a lovely blog :) - 2:48 PM, February 25, 2008
- Eric said...
Great shots Chika! You're a surreally talented photographer.
- 3:09 PM, February 25, 2008
Your photography is making me hungry. The breakfast adventure sounds like fun!
- 6:30 PM, February 25, 2008
I have always wanted to do that as well! I am so glad you did!! More photos!!
- 6:54 AM, February 27, 2008
- Jeff D said...
Mmmm....I miss Tokyo. The best sashimi I ever had was in Tsukiji.
- 10:39 AM, February 27, 2008
Oh, that all looks sooo good! I had the best sushi there when I visited.
- 2:55 PM, February 27, 2008
Wonderful photos as usual. You must get a zillion requests asking what kind of equipment you use (I sent you the exact same email long ago...) Have you considered putting up the basic list (camera body and lenses) in your profile?
Thanks again for the great blog! - 3:00 PM, February 27, 2008
Tsukiji market is #1 on my list if I even make it to Tokyo. Thanks for sharing the lovely photos.
- 5:36 AM, February 28, 2008
hi there, thank you all for your comments and compliments!
jan - sorry about my late reply... my camera is Nikon D70 and lense is AF NIKKOR 35mm f/2D. and I can't quite tell you which Tsukiji restaurant is best, as I've only done there once!! must go back to check ;)
eric - arigato!
someone - yeah I have thought about doing a list... and kept procrastinating. although I really don't have much equipment to make a list of... - 5:03 AM, March 03, 2008
just stumbled upon your post and although i was already excited for tsukiji, your stunning photos have my stomach yearning as it is. i'll have to do my trip (in just two weeks!) justice and come back with some lovely photos as well!
i hope to drop myself into the famous dawai for some mouthwatering fish. - 9:00 AM, March 03, 2008
Hi there, I also stumbled upon your blog while searching for more information about the market. I will be in Tokyo at the end of this month and I can't wait to try sushi breakfast at the Tsukiji fish market. Do you know when is the best time to go for breakfast sushi and when the lineups at restaurants start forming? How long would I have to wait if I got there, let's say... around 8ish? Thanks!!!
- 6:25 AM, March 06, 2008
- Skye Hohmann said...
What a lovely description of a Tsukiji morning, and beautiful photographs to go with it! I had breakfast there last month, but didn't take any photos in the restaurant because of the sign saying "no photography" but is wish I had. I'm glad I found your blog.
- 6:02 PM, May 08, 2008
unfortunately, the tuna auctions are temporarily suspended until Jan 15th 2009
http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/tsukiji-tuna-auction-no-tourists-allowed/ - 12:11 AM, December 14, 2008
Unfortunately, Tuna Auction at Tsukiji became off-limits for foreign visitors because of bad-mannered foregin visitors.
This was broadcasted all over Japan. - 10:02 PM, December 16, 2008
- chika said...
"... the metropolitan government has informed (...) of their decision to ban spectators at the morning auctions from Dec. 15 to Jan. 17." (Mainichi Japan, December 3, 2008)
It's NOT that the tuna auction itself is being suspended, or the auction is off-limit to foreigners only.
The tuna auction is still on as per normal, but they are now NOT allowing in any unauthorized visitors, foreigners or Japanese.
The 'outer' Tsukiji area is still there, open to everyone. Although it will be even busier now, with more people coming for New Year shopping. - 10:38 PM, December 16, 2008


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When leaving the Irish Republic, U.S. and Canadian visitors get a refund of the value-added tax (V.A.T.), which currently accounts for a hefty 23% of the purchase price of many goods and 13.5% of those that fall outside the luxury category. Apart from clothing, most items of interest to visitors, right down to ordinary toilet soap, are rated at 23%. V.A.T. is not refundable on accommodations, car rental, meals, or any other form of personal services received on vacation.
Many crafts outlets and department stores operate a system that enables U.S. and Canadian visitors to collect V.A.T. rebates in the currency of their choice at Dublin or Shannon Airport on departure. Some stores give you the rebate at the register; with others you claim your refund after you've returned home.
Refund forms, known as tax-free shopping cheques, must be picked up at the time of purchase, stamped by customs, and mailed back to the store before you leave for home. It may take months for your refund to be processed. Many merchants work with a service such as Global Blue, which has offices at major ports and airports, and refunds your money immediately in return for a 4% fee.
If a store gives you a refund at the register, you'll also be given papers to have stamped by customs. Put the papers in an envelope (also provided by the store), and mail it before you leave. Most major stores deduct V.A.T. at the time of sale if goods are to be shipped overseas; however, there's a shipping charge.
When leaving Northern Ireland, U.S. and Canadian visitors can also get a refund of the 17.5% V.A.T. by the over-the-counter and the direct-export methods. Most larger stores provide these services on request and handle the paperwork. For the over-the-counter method, you must spend more than £75 in one store. Ask the store for Form V.A.T. 407 (you must have identification—passports are best) to be given to customs when you leave the country. The refund will be forwarded to you in about eight weeks (minus a small service charge) either in the form of a check or as a credit to your charge card. The direct-export method, where the goods are shipped directly to your home, is more cumbersome. V.A.T. Form 407/1/93 must be certified by customs, police, or a notary public when you get home and then sent back to the store, which will refund your money.


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The protest that sprang up out of the blue against rising rent costs, not started by or backed by any political power, is now described as the greatest challenge PM Netanyahu faces on the home front
It happened almost overnight: Friday morning a week ago, walking near Habima Square in central Tel Aviv, I saw only a handful of tents, with no more than a few dozen Israelis who answered an internet call for an ongoing protest against rising rent costs. On Saturday evening the tents covered an entire block on Rothschild Boulevard, and protesters threw cottage cheese containers on the Likud HQ on nearby King George Street. A couple of days later, the tent protests came to dominate the news cycle.
Housing minister Ariel Attias (Shas) argued that the protesters were spoiled kids that refuse to leave the fashionable center of the country, but by Tuesday there were tents in Jerusalem, the southern city of Beer Sheva and as far north as Kiryat Shmona, near the Lebanon border (see a map of all the protests here). By Wednesday protesters tried to break into empty apartments in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem; the tents on Rothschild Boulevard stretched several blocks, all the way from Habimah Square to Shenkin Street, and marches and rallies were scheduled for the weekend. The Friday papers declared that Binyamin Netanyahu sees the tent protest as the greatest potential political threat to his governing coalition. Throughout the week the prime minister conducted ongoing meetings in attempts to bring the protest to an end.
So, what is this protest all about? Why now? And what could be its political implications? I will try to answers some of these questions in this piece.
A well-known method used to estimate real estate cost is to divide the price of an asset by the average monthly salary. Dr. Danny Ben Shahar of the Technion Institute for Science in Haifa, estimated that the median Israeli family had to spend 50 full salaries for an average Israeli apartment in 1989. Two decades later, this figure nearly doubled – in 2011, buying an average apartment would cost the same family 90 full salaries. According to Dr. Ben Shahar, An average apartment in Tel Aviv – just an average one – is too expensive for 90 percent of the population, even if they can spread their mortgage over 30 years.
Dr. Ben Shahar presented his findings in a panel at Tel Aviv University a few months ago. He told his listeners that the real estate market is "a social time-bomb." I spoke with Dr. Ben Shahar a few days a go for a piece I did for an Israeli magazine; he admitted that he didn't expect things to happen so fast. "If this problem isn't taken care of, what you see now is just the beginning."
The real estate crisis in Israel is entirely different from the one which led to the market crash in the United States. To put it simply: Apartments, especially in the cities, have become too expensive for most Israelis. Rent alone rose between 15 and 25 percent in all major cities in the last two years alone.
Readers from abroad who visited Tel Aviv or Jerusalem lately probably noticed that neither is a cheap city, and that they are becoming more expensive every year. Average rent in Tel Aviv is still lower than in Manhattan, San Francisco and London, but it's already similar to the prices in Chicago, Atlanta and Barcelona, and it's higher than in Berlin. The important figure is that salaries in Israel are much lower than in any of those cities. In relative terms, Israelis pay more for groceries, services and housing than in most countries in the West. Housing is the biggest expense of the average household, so that's where the pressure is felt.
In the first half of the previous decade, Israel experienced a small scale economic crisis, a result of the second Intifada. The Finance Ministry, led by Silvan Shalom and later Binyamin Netanyahu (both from Likud) cut government expenses while lowering taxes for the more affluent Israelis. When the crisis ended, the best options for investment for those Israelis, and for money coming from abroad, were in the real estate market, especially in the cities.
Investors began buying apartments, driving prices up. Many of them were Jews – mostly from the United States and France. The richest of them didn't even bother to rent out their assets to Israelis in their absence; they just wanted a house in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Such assets were considerably cheaper than in New York or Paris, and had special sentimental value for those Jews. The result is the now-infamous "ghost apartments," occupied for only a few weeks each year. One luxury housing project in Jerusalem, overlooking the old city, is especially notorious for having no permanent tenants.
Young Israelis were angered by and resented this trend, and rants against "the rich Jews" became very common in the last few years. It was not surprising that a few days ago protesters in Jerusalem tried to break into some ghost apartments, ending up barricading themselves in the garden for a few hours.
All of this could have been similar to what happened in other large cities around the world – prices going up, investors coming in, locals and young people gradually moving out – if it weren't for some unique factors in Israel, which complicate the situation: First and most important, Israeli cities have no efficient public transportation systems. Tel Aviv's old bus service is especially notorious, and the privatization of a few of the busiest lines a few years ago seemed only to make things worse. Furthermore, buses don't run overnight, and due to an old arrangement with the religious parties, there is no service on weekends and holidays either (except in Haifa). As for owning a car, commuting in the Dan Metropolitan Area (Greater Tel Aviv) is a nightmare, and parking is nowhere to be found. Students and shift workers have no option but trying to rent in the city center, where they can ride a bike or a scooter, or simply walk to work.
These problems have been known for some time now, but Israel has been governed for many years by neo-liberal governments, who did not encourage the construction of affordable housing – except in the West Bank, and in some occasions, for the ultra orthodox – and refused to invest in mass transportation projects. In fact, Netanyahu's coalition has struck down no less than four legislation attempts concerning rent control; the Finance Minister was able to kill a housing ministry's plan for housing subsidies, and the Interior Minister, on the advice of the government's attorney, stopped attempts by municipalities (including Tel Aviv's and Jerusalem's) to encourage affordable housing projects, claiming they lacked legal basis.
It's been many years since Israel stopped being the welfare state its founding fathers dreamed of. While taxes remain much higher than in the America, government services have deteriorated and the cost of living continues to rise. Israel is at the top of the economical inequality index in the West, second only to the United States; Israelis work more hours than in most European economies, and they serve 2 to 3 years in the army, for which they don't really get paid. In short, life is simply more difficult than in other places, and the safety nets Israel used to provide its citizens are disappearing. So while the government boasts about Israel's excellent economic performance, more and more Israelis were finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet.
The middle class unrest over such issues has been felt for some time now, but it went largely unnoticed, also because financial issues rarely make it to front pages in Israel. But recently, things started to change. Around three months ago, there was an attempt to start "a petrol march" to protest the rising gas prices, which didn't result in much. After that there was the cottage cheese boycott, when tens of thousands of Israelis stopped buying the country's most popular soft cheese, until the three large dairies were forced to reduce their prices. And then came the tents.
The tent protest is different from all the others for a few reasons: First, it's an issue for which the government will find it difficult to present quick solutions. Second, it's an ongoing protest: people sit in tents the entire day, talk to each other, plan more activities and draw attention from the media and ordinary Israelis, who come to visit the Rothschild Avenue Settlement by the thousands. But the most important thing is that this is an issue almost any Israeli can relate to.
There have been tent protests over housing issues in the past, but those behind them were usually lower-income families, and occasionally, Palestinians. Those are groups that the authorities have no problem dealing with. This protest is different: it is led by young Israelis in their twenties, most of them from the middle class. By now, they also have the students associations behind them. Prime Minister Netanyahu must remember with horror the long student strike of 1998. Although it failed to rock his coalition, this event marked the beginning of his decline in his first term as prime minister. And now the students are protesting again.
So, what political effects will the tent protests have? Looking at the polls published every few weeks in the weekend papers, one would notice that oddly enough, it seems that nothing has changed in Israeli politics in the last couple of years. If elections were held today, according to pollster, the result would be the same as it was two years ago, give or take a few seats. Netanyahu's approval ratings are very stable as well, always within a few points of the 50 percent line. Not long ago, I wrote that there is no threat to Netanyahu in the political system – from left or right. Not much has changed since.
But there are undercurrents in politics as well, and for some time, once could definitely sense a certain anxiety amongst Israelis. It's not only about the economy, nor is it about the occupation – seems that Israelis couldn't care less about this particular issue – or the exchange of threats with Iran. I guess it's all the above and a bit more. It's the sense that there is no future for "ordinary Israelis" here. This is something which is hard to distinguish from the usual rants about what Israelis call "the matzav" (the situation), but nevertheless, I think this mood is undeniable, at least in certain circles.
So far, this Zeitgeist has resulted in people withdrawing from interest in politics. In other cases, Prime Minister Netanyahu and other right wing politicians have been able to manipulate fears and anxieties in their favor. The last wave of protest seems set to change that. While the protesters are refusing endorsement from political powers – even calling themselves non-political – they are clearly anti-government. More than anything, they seem to resent the entire current political establishment, and while this does not mean that they support the opposition, such feelings are more dangerous to the ruling parties.
As if to illustrate this point, Netanyahu's supporters and rightwing movement have gradually stepped up their hostility to the tent protest, accusing it of being a leftwing operation, initiated and funded by the New Israel Fund and various other lefty groups. A front page story in the pro-Netanyahu tabloid Yisrael Hayom—the most widely read daily in Israel—claimed that "the Zionist Left" movement is behind the real-estate protest. Rightwing group Im Tirzu, who tried to co-op the struggle earlier this week and even sent representatives to visit the tents in Rothschild Boulevard, withdrew its support from the protest, accusing it of being run by the NIF and "various anarchist groups." In this weekend's papers, almost all of the rightwing pundits wrote pieces against the protest.
So far, these attacks haven't hurt the protest, but some real challenges are emerging in the next few days. A planned demonstration on Saturday evening will give some indication of the public support for the protesters. On Sunday, Jerusalem's municipality's deadline to evacuate the tents from the city center—sources in the municipality claimed that their presence would hurt tourism—will arrive. Other municipalities are bound to follow with attempts to evacuate the tents, and they will be assisted by the inevitable fatigue of the protesters and the unbearable summer heat.
To sum it up, while it is one of the most important internal events in Israel in the last couple of years, I don't see this protest driving votes to the left or to Kadima in the short run. Over a longer period of time, it will probably help the opposition to Netanyahu, from both right and left. Plus, the feeling of alienation and resentment from the old political power will increase the likelihood of outsiders entering politics and drawing support.
The protest might also have some indirect effect on the geo-political game. As I said, protesters couldn't care less about the occupation or Iran right now, but social crises have this funny effect on politicians – they make them more active. I don't think that Netanyahu or Barak will go so far as to attack Iran, for example, to divert attention from their problems at home, as some people have speculated (I hope they are not that crazy, and there is still considerable opposition in the security establishment for such a move). Still if the protest continues for a prolonged period, we should expect some "bold" moves from what has been a very passive government so far, to say the least.
As history can teach us, economic crises and social unrest tend to increase the bets in politics. They hand ammunition to everyone – creating opportunities for political change and reform, but also preparing the ground for the rise of rightwing demagogues and warmongers. And one should never forget that in the Middle East, the stakes are always high.
As one of my editors used to say: In this country, it's all about real-estate. Every political controversy has to do with land, every social battle, and obviously, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict itself. If you understand real estate here, you understand it all.
For 972's ongoing coverage of the Tent Protest, go here.


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There are so many beautiful advent calendar ideas being pinned at the moment we couldn't resist adding our own little idea to the mix.
Enter the "Advent in a Jar" which also doubles as a lovely Christmas garland to hang on your tree. That's a double advent calendar whammy! Hooray!
If you're like me and a bit short of space to hang an advent calendar then this is the perfect DIY for you.
We've put activities on our little daily messages, but if you had a bigger jar, you could attach little gifts too.
Let's get started with materials:
- Jar (we used an old tomato paste jar)
- "Advent in a Jar" download (click HERE to download).
- Felt balls (or pom poms)
- Embroidery floss
- Needle
- Pen
- Scissors
- Glue
Step 3: Attach your balls with a little dab of glue.
Don't add too much as you want to be able to rip off the paper tab so you can add each ball to your garland.
Step 4: Glue your circles on the lid and the side of the jar.
Step 5: Crinkle up your paper before popping the balls in the jar as this will give you more room.
Add your balls to the jar and pop the lid on ready to count down!
The fun part about this Advent calendar is every day you can add a ball to your garland.
And you'll have a gorgeous decoration for your tree by December 24th!
We hope you enjoy having some Christmas cheer in a jar.
Contributor post by Penelope and Pip
Rachael is an illustrator from Brisbane, Australia and is the creator of the whimsical world of Penelope and Pip. You can sneak a peek at her art prints and other pretty paper goods and see what other projects and adventures are inspiring her on her blog too.


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Feb 20, 2024
Feb 20, 2024
By 500 BC, Vedic society was slowly stratifying into a rigid class system of the familiar four Varnas which exist in some form in Indian society even today - the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras. The former, being the priestly class, were gradually assuming dominance over society with a tenacious grasp over tedious rituals that controlled every aspect of life. This added a superfluous complication to the busy life of an increasingly urban social fabric.
In stepped two major reformers, Gautama and Mahavira, They made an impact on this scene when, almost contemporaneously, they founded new doctrines based loosely on existing Hindu precepts but denying the role of the priests as media between Man and God. In fact, Buddhism held that only the soul was of import - God was a metaphysical construct of Man's mind. Buddhism was destined to have mass appeal worldwide. Yet at the crucial point of its nascence, it was fortunate to initially receive the patronage of the mercantile class, and later, of a king who would provide vital support - Ashoka the Great. Ashoka proclaimed Buddhism as the state religion and spread its message to the four corners of the land through state-funded monasteries, grants, and his famous rock-edicts, which dot the face of modern Orissa and central India.
More by : Ashish Nangia


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FBI and DHS team up to nab border intruders with iris recognition
Feds to build upon controversial immigrant fingerprinting program with eye pattern matching.
The FBI is partnering with the Homeland Security Department to identify border trespassers by exchanging digital eye scans of booked offenders, bureau officials said.
Iris recognition -- which matches a digital image of the unique, colored portion of an individual's eye against archived photos -- quickly ensures authorities have fingered the right crook, advocates say. Critics say iris capture invades privacy and wrongfully pulls immigrants into the deportation system.
"We're working closely with border control" on iris matching projects, Brian Edgell, unit chief for the FBI's enhanced biometric system, said during an interview on Thursday. The FBI's traditional fingerprinting system is transforming into a $1 billion multi-trait repository called the Next Generation Identification program.
By law, the biometric databases at DHS and the FBI must be compatible. Immigration authorities, through a controversial fingerprinting program called Secure Communities, cross-check foreigners' prints against prints from booked individuals.
Iris recognition is a logical extension of the program, Edgell told Nextgov after speaking at an information-sharing symposium hosted by the IJIS Institute. "Secure Communities is a Homeland Security Department program," he said. "I think iris is a way we can begin to build upon what we're doing."
The FBI gradually is collecting iris scans from state and local prison wardens who use the technology to track inmates. DHS increasingly is testing iris recognition at border stations to identify suspected illegal aliens, according to department officials.
Immigrant rights groups and privacy activists are not keen on the idea of digitizing and storing various physical characteristics of foreigners, some of whom, they argue, are mistakenly arrested and then extradited.
In addition to iris images, the new FBI biometric system is slated to ingest and search by late 2014 pictures of faces, scars, tattoos and other skin markings.
In June 2012, representatives from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, the New York State Defenders Association, and the Cardozo Immigration Justice Clinic gathered at a federal advisory board meetingto confront the FBI about its role in what they call a "massive deportation program."
FBI officials stress that Secure Communities is managed by DHS, and the only irises saved in the bureau's system are from individuals who have come into contact with law enforcement.
Iris recognition also has critics in the computer science field, who note eye pattern files can be duplicated by hackers and also degrade over time.
Officials for BI2 Technologies, a company that manages a nationwide database of iris images, say the files are encrypted for protection. "Standing alone, biometric templates cannot be reconstructed, decrypted, reverse-engineered or otherwise manipulated to reveal a person's identity," states the website for the firm, which has worked with FBI program managers.
(Image via MountainHardcore /Shutterstock.com)


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SBPD Booking Mug Booth is a Pretty Good Little Headshot Studio, Actually
Live in Southern California, and can't afford a decent headshot? Maybe you should get yourself booked by the Santa Barbara Police Dept. Because their mugshots are actually … pretty decent.
And better yet, it's something that any home studio DIY'er could duplicate.
Take Iron Chef's Cat Cora, for instance, who had this impromptu photo session as a result of a recent DUI. She reportedly was very nice, somewhat embarrassed and thus behaving not at all like your typical celebrity DUI portrait session.
So that probably helped.
But also on her side was the lighting booth at the SBPD, which has been a fixture in the department's booking mug area for 15 years. It was designed as part of a (then) new digital mugshot system. The two ganged-fluorescent strip lights, one of which is seen below, were enclosed in wooden diffuser boxes by the city's carpentry staff:
There are one of these diffused strip boxes on each side, reports Strobist reader (and SBPD employee) Martin Alexander. They are supposed to be the only lights in the setup, and you are supposed to turn the room lights off before using it. But many in the department, not being photo types, ignore this advice and just turn on the box-strips in addition to the room lights.
Ironically, this evolves the setup from that of a typical booking mug to something almost Martin Scheoller-esque. That top (normal room) light becomes a high-vertical key. It's brighter because it is closer to the subject. The strip lights become the on-axis fill, thus completing the look:
It is perfect? Nope. But it beats Glamour Shots—and a fair bit of what else passes for professional portrait lighting these days.
So kudos to the SBPD, whose officers have the enviable assignment to occasionally photograph a celebrity in their most real, unguarded moments.
And with a pretty decent lighting setup to back them up.
UPDATE: They are having a little fun with this in the Strobist Flickr group...
New to Strobist? Start here | Or jump right to Lighting 101
Got a question? Hit me on Twitter: @Strobist
Have a passport? Join me in Hanoi: X-Peditions Location Workshops


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I just can't keep up, and I only have 2 kids! How do you do it with more? With a bigger house? It seems impossible. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Maybe stay-at-home moms who love their stay-at-home lives have some secret I am not aware of. How do you break out the bleach and give the toilets a scrub when a 1 year old wants to join you and - A. breath in the fumes, and - B. touch everything? And emptying the dishwasher is like an invitation to grab knives as quickly as possible. How does he grab them so fast? It's like he turns into stealth ninja baby.
I know I shouldn't complain. I have two healthy kids, a loving husband, and a roof over my head. It's all I ever wanted as far back as I can remember. I guess it doesn't need to be clean all the time. But it's like that lie that is the cover of every magazine. You see a woman who is impossibly beautiful because she's been retouched ala Photoshop, and you think that's what you have to be to be beautiful. I'm well aware of the Photoshopping that takes place and still compare myself to those women. I see homes in magazines, on commercials, in TV shows and think people really live like that. There's never sticky juice spots on the kitchen floor, never a pile of laundry preventing the hamper lid from closing, never the smell of poopy/chicken carcass garbage that hits you when you walk in the door from work because you forgot to take it out in the morning after you threw that diaper in there and the leftovers from last week, never that ring in the toilet that never comes off (though I guess no one is filming the insides of toilets) never globs of toothpaste stuck to the sink. Know what I mean?
On the weekends I can get the house back to acceptable. Towards the end of the week, it looks like a frat house with some toys sprinkled in. On Fridays I get worried that someone might happen to unexpectedly drop by and see what we're living in. Sometimes I think, I should just forget about the laundry right now and play with my kids on the floor. So I do, and then someone doesn't have any clean underwear the next day. And you can't really pull dirty underwear out of the hamper, spray it with Febreze and throw it in the dryer. That only works with semi-dirty non-crotch-touching items. Not like I do that or anything... never mind.
I've have learned to combine play and housework. They do like to help me when I ask but do I really want to turn every task into a project involving two toddlers? "Don't eat the dryer lint!" Sigh...
Such are the struggles of a mom. Work/play/kids/cleaning/cooking/and fitting in sleep. It reminds me of a quote I've seen a few times lately... or maybe it's an Irish blessing?
"May you live as long as you want, And never want as long as you live."
I'm working on it.... but I still want a clean house.


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Focusing on one manifestation of an issue can sometimes obscure other manifestations. Or, it could even obscure the fact that what we're dealing with is a systemic issue, or even problem, with multiple manifestations. To (briefly) return to a theme we're all sick of, treating certain cultural beliefs related to respect as normative in the case of The Spear is one thing, but if someone were to claim that the same cultural norms justified abolishing equal suffrage, we'd be less sympathetic.
Arguments that use some established norms or cultural preferences to motivate for a certain conclusion are open to these charges of inconsistency – both in terms of when the arguments are levelled, and in how we respond to them. Political correctness and the expectation that we respect the views of others tend to censor us – at least until the stakes seem high enough that silence is no longer appropriate.
The cultural norm of, for example, patriarchy can be used to justify teaching a child that the father is the head of the household. There's no reason to teach such nonsense, of course, and no reason to think a household needs a designated "head", and so forth. But this application of a cultural norm would attract far less criticism than a case in which patriarchy was used as the motivation for denying women the vote – men being the more responsible choosers of political leaders (or so the sexist reasoning might go).
What's obscured by this inconsistent reaction is the fact that appeals to culture are always bad arguments, in that they get the causal direction entirely back-to-front. If a certain set of behaviours or practices are beneficial, we might expect that they become cultural norms – their status, in other words, should depend on their utility. Instead, the argument often seems to be that their status as norms affords them utility.
If we ignore more trivial manifestations of these sorts of bad argument, it seems possible that we encourage their spread. At the very least, we aren't encouraging critical and careful thought as much as we could do when letting these bad arguments go unchallenged. Making this sort of point is part of what I believe motivated Prof David Benatar, head of philosophy at UCT, to write his new book The Second Sexism.
A disclaimer should be made at this point: I'm a graduate of that department and have known Benatar for about 15 years. One of the characteristics of Anglophile philosophy departments is an obsession with logical rigour, even if that rigour leads you down paths of argument that some might find disagreeable. The fact that a conclusion might be considered offensive would typically (within these departments) speak more to the hypersensitivity of the audience, or perhaps to some vested interest they had in rejecting the conclusion being proffered.
The conclusions offered in The Second Sexism are certainly disagreeable to some – in particular, it seems, to women. But judging from the tone and content of much of what's been written about the book, misunderstanding of its thesis and motivation seems prevalent – so much so that one wonders whether anyone has read past the contents page.
I've just finished reading the book and, in summary, it argues that there are some forms of discrimination disproportionately experienced by males, because of their being male, and that these forms of discrimination need to be combated.
Furthermore, it argues that if we are concerned about gender equality – or equality of whatever sort – it follows that all manifestations of unequal treatment should be combated. In arguing against identity politics, or against the apparently arbitrary tacking on of the word "feminist", I've previously made a similar point: that focusing on only one manifestation of an issue can obscure something more widespread.
What Benatar does not do is claim that males suffer more than females, or that feminists are complaining about a non-existent problem. He does not attempt to trivialise the discrimination experienced by females, but is instead pointing to the fact that sex-based discrimination has this other manifestation – against males – and that those of us who are concerned with combating unfair and unequal treatment should also be concerned with both of these.
The fact that some men's rights activist groups are using this book as a way to trivialise feminist concerns is not Benatar's problem, nor is it his doing. The book explicitly disavows men's rights groups, and also explicitly disavows any sort of affirmative action for males. The only significant criticism of feminist arguments the book offers relates to "partisan" rather than "egalitarian" feminism, where the former appears to care more for advancing the interests of women than for advancing the interests of equality.
You might not think such category of feminism exists, or you might even think it entirely appropriate that a feminist movement is partisan rather than egalitarian. If so, you would be disagreeing with Benatar on how best to achieve equality – but that is nevertheless an entirely separate issue from whether discrimination against males sometimes occurs, and whether we should pay attention to it.
The evidence presented for discrimination against males is extensive and persuasive. At Benatar's presentation of the book earlier this year, many questions from the audience challenged him on not having read (or at least referenced) various books purported to be essential in understanding sex-based discrimination. But to pre-judge an argument based on theory (or worse, ideology) from sociology, anthropology or some other field is not obviously better than a simple appeal to culture, in that it assumes a certain theoretical framework must inform our interpretation of the data.
The claim that, in some instances, males have been wrongfully disadvantaged on the basis of their sex could be empirically false, although it seems unlikely that a critic would be able to defeat all the examples Benatar uses. But to demonstrate that it's false would require assessing the evidence presented (and left out) in the book.
Similarly, although it's probable that the majority of disadvantages experienced by males are in some sense caused by male dominance of culture, this isn't true for all of them. To assess these claims fairly requires critics to read the book and engage with its arguments.
Instead, the majority of reactions I've encountered so far simply assert the falsity of the claims, and also insist that a book like this can only be a product (and expression) of male privilege. And that isn't an effective rebuttal – no matter how much academic jargon you throw at it. DM


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Yes. Property owners who had delinquent taxes under the old law could also lose their property, but they had more time to pay and more "second chances." Under the new law, if your taxes are delinquent for two years, that's it. You've lost the property.
A delinquent tax is an unpaid tax that has been forwarded to the county treasurer for collection on March 1 of the year after it was due. For example: taxes that are billed by your city, township, or village treasurer in 2009 and yet unpaid on the last day of February 2010, will be turned over to the County Treasurer as delinquent on March 1, 2010.
An Administrative fee of 4% and interest of 1% per month are added. After one year, the property is forfeited to the county treasurer. For example, 2008 taxes still unpaid as of March 1, 2010 will be in forfeiture.
No. Forfeiture is not foreclosure. If your property is in forfeiture, you still have one year before it will be foreclosed. However, the interest and fees will be substantially higher. When a property is forfeited, the interest rate goes from 1% per month to 1.5% per month retroactive to the date it first became delinquent. A $175 processing fee, as well as other fees determined by the State of Michigan are also added.
After a property has been in forfeiture for one year and is still unpaid, it will be foreclosed. 2007 property taxes will be foreclosed on March 31, 2010.
You cannot get your property back after it has been "foreclosed." Foreclosure is final. Property that has been foreclosed will be sold at public auction.
Even if you can't pay your taxes all at once, you can still make partial payments, depending on how many years are delinquent. Make your check payable to the Muskegon County Treasurer and mail to:Muskegon County Treasurer173 E Apple Avenue Number 104Muskegon, Michigan 49442
To ensure your payment is applied to your parcel, please write your parcel number on your check or money order. If you cannot pay all of your taxes before foreclosure, contact a mortgage professional to determine if you could consolidate your unpaid taxes into a mortgage; or contact the Family Independence Agency at 231-733-3700 for possible financial assistanceAvoid Foreclosure. Please do not wait until it's too late.


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K2 is the original American ski and snowboard brand, founded in 1962 in Washington state. The brand continued to be a pioneer by expanding into snowboards in 1987 and was the first brand to specifically design a product for women starting from 1999; the Alliance for Women. Today, they are realigning the brand K2 for the future, one that builds on this legacy to reposition itself as an industry leader.
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Climate Change vs. National Park: New report predicts environmental crises while Park works on solutions
By Michael Beadle
More acid rain and invasive insect pests. Fewer trout in mountain streams. More "code red" days with poor air quality and less visibility.
These are some of the dangers threatening the Great Smoky Mountains National Park if efforts aren't made now to curb toxic chemicals from spewing into the earth's atmosphere.
That's the warning from a new report released last week by the National Parks Conservation Association, which predicts dire consequences for the nation's national parks if measures are not soon put in place to offset the effects of global warming.
While the majority of scientific evidence now supports the idea that man-made pollution in the form of greenhouse gases is contributing to a gradual warming of the earth and overall climate change around the planet, the national park system is particularly at risk as severe weather such as flooding, drought and hurricanes threatens to destroy these sanctuaries of delicate ecosystems, according to the NPCA's report.
In the 48-page document titled "Unnatural Disaster: Global Warming and our National Parks," the NPCA presents its first comprehensive overview of how climate change could drastically affect the nation's park system from the Everglades to Yosemite to the Arctic National Park and Preserve.
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In the Appalachian region, which includes the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, warmer streams could decrease trout populations, the report states. In addition, more rain could produce flooding, landslides and silt that would clog streams along the Appalachian Trail. Other global warming effects could mean more "code red" days and poor air quality as well as more invasive insect pests such as the wooly adelgid, which has decimated some 95 percent of the once prevalent Fraser fir stands in the Park.
"This has huge impacts on the biological diversity in the park," said Greg Kidd, a Waynesville resident who is senior program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association.
But all is not lost. Armed with this knowledge of what might happen, the public also has the power to protect these parks for future generations to enjoy.
"The thing to do is to begin acting now," Kidd said, recommending everything from using more energy-efficient fluorescent light bulbs to driving more fuel-efficient cars to appealing to legislators for tougher regulation and enforcement when it comes to limiting carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
"What we need more than anything is an increase in efficiency," Kidd said.
While some policy makers debate over how soon climate change would create serious environmental disasters — some look 50 years ahead, others a century — Kidd argues that this is the wrong way to look at the problem. He compares the situation to a leaky roof. If your roof is leaking, you want to fix it immediately rather than wonder how long you can wait before there's severe damage to your house.
"The bottom line is we need to start acting now," he said. "As we wait, the problem snowballs."
The last Ice Age pushed a number of northern species into the Southern Appalachians, so today's Great Smoky Mountains National Park is home to some species that are normally found in much colder climates like the Himalayas and Alaska's Aleutian Islands. What is more, there are some species that only live in the Great Smokies Park and nowhere else on earth. The rare and endangered Rugelia nudicaulis of the Aster Family, for example, has been found living near Clingmans Dome and nowhere else outside the Park. Scientists are studying to see if these rare species, which tend to live in the higher elevations of the Park, will be affected by climate change.
"We are in climate change," said Keith Langdon, a biologist with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. But what kinds of changes may occur and how climate will affect species in the Park still needs to be studied, he added. Langdon said he couldn't cite any particular species within the Park that had fallen victim to the effects of global warming.
Langdon said that Jason Fridley, an assistant professor in biology at Syracuse University, is conducting one interesting study right now within the Park. Fridley has been setting up temperature sensors throughout the Park to measure temperature changes at various elevations. When the research is completed, scientists will be able to see if temperature changes affect species at certain elevations.
Clearing the Air and Going Green
According to Jim Renfro, air quality specialist for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the overall air quality in the Great Smokies has been improving over the past 10 years after worsening in the 1980s and early '90s. The last two years have been worse than previous years this decade, but it's hard to tell if that's a trend, Renfro said.
"We're still a long ways away from where we need to be," Renfro said.
Measuring air quality — and improving it — can get pretty complicated. First of all, there are a number of different factors to measure including ozone, visibility, carbon dioxide, sulfate, nitrogen oxide and mercury. The Park keeps seven air quality stations to monitor these factors.
Federal, state and local standards for cutting pollution emissions can go a long way in helping improve air quality, Renfro explained, but a 50 percent reduction in emissions doesn't necessarily translate into a 50 percent reduction in acid rain or ozone. That's because emissions react with the natural composition of the air to create a new brew of chemicals that become ozone or acid rain. And the way the weather acts in the mountains, a high-pressure system can stubbornly stick around for days in the summer months and keep pollutants stagnating in the air, creating a public health hazard and poor visibility. Mountains can also trap pollutants in the valleys like soup in a bowl. So even when governments and businesses try to keep tabs on pollution being expelled into the atmosphere, weather can worsen the situation.
Still, Renfro pointed to many different initiatives that are helping to clean the air in the Smokies — from the Tennessee Valley Authority installing scrubbers at its plants to the passage of the North Carolina Clean Smokestacks Act to stricter federal emission guidelines for cars and trucks.
"Partnering has been a huge key," Renfro said. "We're getting a lot more done that way."
Meanwhile, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been ratcheting up its green-friendly programs over the past few years to cut back on carbon dioxide emissions by installing renewable energy posts and promoting better fuel efficiency within its own fleet of vehicles. According to Bob Miller, spokesman for the Great Smokies Park, the park now has a fleet of six hybrid vehicles including four 2006 Toyota Prius models donated by Toyota. The Park's heavy-duty diesel vehicles now run on biodiesel (B-20 in Tennessee and B-50 in North Carolina), and on the Tennessee side of the park, another 12 electric-powered vehicles are in operation.
At Clingmans Dome, a solar-powered generator keeps a radio transmitter and air quality monitor running, and at the Sugarlands Visitor Center, solar power heats the bathroom water. A soon-to-open science lab near the Park's Gatlinburg entrance will be LEED-certified with environmentally friendly building materials and an energy-efficient design. Miller said the Park has also submitted a grant application to purchase four additional electric-powered vehicles that will be used at the Smokemont, Cataloochee and Deep Creek sites.
Predictions and Solutions
While the 517,000-acre Great Smoky Mountains National Park holds the honorable distinction of being the most visited park in the nation, a World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve with more tree species than in all of Europe, this island of wilderness with its old-growth trees and a biodiversity unlike any on the planet also holds the dubious distinction as one of the most polluted parks in the country in terms of air quality.
According to the NPCA's report, which is rooted in dozens of scientific studies, if carbon dioxide levels continue to rise in the Great Smokies Park, red and flying squirrels would no longer be able to live here. An increase in just 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit could eliminate more than a third of the Appalachian region's trout species. Droughts, like the one currently affecting Western North Carolina this summer, could lower birth rates among trout, while floods — another erratic outcome of climate change — could flush trout downstream and out of their normal habitat where other species would have a competitive edge with food resources. Still another troubling result of pollution is acid rain, which can weaken trees so they either die off or become more susceptible to invasive insect pests, the NPCA report states.
Since 1900, sea levels worldwide have risen 10 times faster than over the past 2,000 years, and 11 of the last 12 years rank as the hottest on the planet since 1850, the report explains, adding that warmer winter temperatures are throwing off the seasons, altering flower blooms and migrations of birds and fish. In the Arctic north, melting permafrost and ice caps mean shrinking habitats for ice creatures like polar bears. If warming trends continue, Glacier National Park is expected to lose its remaining glaciers by 2030, and the Everglades National Park will be submerged under rising sea levels, the report said.
The NPCA report also recommends cutting greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by the year 2050. It urges shutting down the oldest and dirtiest polluting coal-fired plants, conserving more energy, being more efficient with energy, and switching to renewable energy sources such as solar, geothermal and wind power wherever possible.
To those skeptics who continue to doubt that global warming and climate change are caused by man-made pollution, Kidd invites the public to check out the scientific studies and even volunteer to collect data as part of "citizen science" programs.
For example, the Appalachian Trail Megatransect, the National Park Service and various groups and individuals are working in collaboration to monitor climate change along the 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail. These kinds of programs allow average citizens a chance to develop personal experiences with their environment, Kidd said.
"They see for themselves what's going on," Kidd said. "It's hard to kind of deny what these people are finding."
For more information about the NPCA's report, go to the Web site at www.npca.org.
What other National Parks are doing:
Cabrillo National Monument in Southern California
• Uses electric vehicles for all travel within the park.
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
• Pennsylvania and New Jersey officials have agreed to reduce fuel consumption in the park by 15 percent over three years and set a goal of decreasing energy demand by 25 percent.
Everglades National Park in Florida
• Encourages the use of bicycles and non-motorized boats.
• Increased the fuel efficiency of park boats and vehicles.
• Rewards contractors who run more than half of their vehicles on alternative fuels such as biodiesel.
Joshua Tree National Park in California
• Replaced its old diesel-fueled generator system with cheaper, solar paneled photovoltaic-hybrid system that costs ten times less to operate and cuts down carbon emissions by 15 times its previous annual output.
Yosemite National Park in California
• Shuttle vehicles include 18 electric-diesel hybrid buses.
Learn more about the Climate Friendly Parks program by going to the Web site www.nps.gov/climatefriendlyparks.


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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is teaming up with a utility company in its home state to reduce its electricity use by 15 percent over three years. The institute will work with NSTAR in a sustainability program dubbed "MIT Efficiency Forward" to create innovative programs, engage the campus community, and pilot new technologies and approaches at MIT. In a three-year period, the target energy savings is 34 million kilowatt-hours, equivalent, the institution said, to the amount of electricity used by more than 4,500 Massachusetts homes in a given year.
The new program, said President Susan Hockfield, will "capitalize on one of MIT's core strengths: the passion of our faculty, staff, and students to tackle the world's most challenging problems." She added, "Right here on the MIT campus, we will pursue one of the major opportunities to reduce energy consumption: finding Smart, sensible, economic approaches to energy efficiency. Our participation in the program signals that the solutions for today's climate and energy challenges will come not only from our research laboratories and classrooms, but also from practice-based management innovations."
Susan Coakley of Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, a nonprofit that promotes partnerships to advance energy efficiency in the Northeast, said MIT Efficiency Forward's three-year goal to reduce consumption by 15 percent was both "aggressive" and "achievable." She said the goal was in line with that of other major research institutions and universities such as Princeton University, which is working to reduce overall utility usage on campus by at least 25 percent over the next decade.
Some of the measures being tried at MIT include combining heat and power generation, doing sustainable design and construction, and rewarding people to change their commuting practices. The utility company projected a $50 million savings over the lifetime of the projects, given successful completion. The company will work with MIT to improve the efficiency of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; electrical and lab systems; and lighting fixture and control upgrades.
Students will also participate in activities facilitated by the program's Student Advisory Group. Building on work coordinated by the MIT Energy Initiative's Campus Energy Task Force using MIT's campus as a laboratory, the new program will provide research, educational, and learning opportunities through project-based coursework. The initiative will include student efforts to measure, monitor, and verify energy savings.
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.
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Apple's Ping Stumble Highlights Systemic Security Problem
Within 48 hours of Ping's launch, Apple's foray into music social networks, more than one million users joined. Too bad, like so many other applications and services on the Internet, security was an afterthought, and those users were plagued with spam comments.
September 4, 2010
Within 48 hours of Ping's launch, Apple's foray into music social networks, more than one million users joined. Too bad, like so many other applications and services on the Internet, security was an afterthought, and those users were plagued with spam comments.Chester Wisniewski's blog post (anti-virus vendor Sophos), shows users getting inundated with "Get a free iPhone from . . . " spam because Apple failed to adequately authenticate users,or filter bogus URLs, in the new service: "Strangely, Apple seems to have anticipated a certain degree of malfeasance, as profile pictures that you upload will not appear until approved by Apple. They are likely filtering for other offensive content as well, so they probably have means in place they could use to stop the spam. Another problem that is likely to contribute to spam is that it is quite easy to create bogus accounts for the Ping service because no credit card or other positive identification is required to participate.
Coincidentally, the most common spam on Ping at the moment targets Apple itself. The attacks are nearly identical to survey spams we have blogged about on Facebook, Google and Twitter.
If half as many free iPads, iPhones and iPods were being given away as Ping comments might lead you to believe, there would be no reason to bother with going to an Apple store. But if you actually want an Apple device, my advice is to go out and buy one, as filling out surveys will likely only end in tears.
Our Thomas Claburn covered the Apple spam slip-up in some depth in his story Apple iTunes Ping Draws Spam, Complaints.
To its credit, Apple does appear to now be cleaning spam from its systems. However, Apple loses points for not seeing this coming. Spam that hawks gadgets and other wares is a big problem on Twitter, while in the early days of the now defunct Google Wave complaints of spam slowing the system surfaced, and we all know that comment spam is a big scourge on blogging sites.
Which brings us to a broader, much more important question: why is security, when it comes to just about any application or service deployed on the Internet, treated as the red-headed stepchild that is ignored until something bad happens?
Security was ignored when industry moved all of its back-end applications to the Web in the late 1990s and early 2000s - and Web application security is still abysmal, if not worse, today. Same is true with online credit card acceptance. It didn't take a genius of a futurist to predict that credit card thievery and fraud would follow commerce to the Internet in the late 1990s - and yet merchants and the credit card industry didn't do much to secure e-Commerce systems. It wasn't until 2005 when the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard came into being - about a decade after online commerce started its growth.
It's because designing secure systems is a difficult (much harder than breaking them by comparison) additional step. It requires engineers step back and consider how the system they're building can possibly be infiltrated, abused and misused. And then design must be changed to mitigate those risks. And it also requires incremental layers of quality control - scanning for defects in design and code during development and as the application lives and changes in production.
That's, apparently, still too much to expect. Speaking of design defects, if you haven't yet, you should consider updating to iTunes 10 - the upgrade comes with a fix for a baker's dozen of separate software vulnerabilities.
One of the most recent, similar examples, of such security design fail and social networking site Twitter, which I covered earlier this summer in the post FTC Security Smackdown And Twitter's Hollow Excuses.
Despite its early security lapses, you can find me on Twitter, and follow my security and business observations throughout the day.
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Stanford, CA—Steroids bulk up plants just as they do human athletes, but the playbook of molecular signals that tell the genes to boost growth and development in plant cells is far more complicated than in human and animal cells. A new study by plant biologists at the Carnegie Institution used an emerging molecular approach called proteomics to identify key links in the steroid signaling chain. Understanding how these plant hormones activate genes could lead not only to enhanced harvests but also to new insights into how steroids regulate growth in both plant and animal cells.
The study by Zhi-Yong Wang and Wenqiang Tang of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Plant Biology with seven co-authors* is published in the July 25 issue of Science magazine.
Plant steroids, called brassinosteroids, are key hormones throughout the plant kingdom. They regulate many aspects of growth and development, and mutants deficient in brassinosteroids are often extremely stunted and infertile. Brassinosteroids are similar in many respects to animal steroids, but appear to function very differently at the cellular level. Animal cells respond to steroids using internal receptor molecules within the cells nucleus, whereas in plants the receptors are anchored to the outside surface of the cell membranes. A challenge for researchers has been to piece together the steps by which the hormonal signal is transmitted from the cell surface receptor to its action in the nucleus, where genes are the targets of regulation. Traditionally, genetic methods have been used to identify several components of the brassinosteroid signaling pathway. However, the genetic approach cannot identify all the components of a signaling pathway largely because of genetic redundancy (multiple genes play the same role in the cell).
To identify the links in the signal transduction chain, the researchers used the techniques of proteomics. "Proteomics is analogous to genomics," says Wang. "In genomics, we aim for a comprehensive survey of all the genes in the genome. In proteomics, we're mapping the proteins." Because there can be hundreds of thousands of different proteins in a single organism, proteomics requires techniques, such as 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis, which can process and segregate thousands of proteins at a time based on differences in their size and charge.
But even with these methods, isolating the low-abundance signaling proteins was a daunting task. "Earlier attempts to identify these molecules failed, because the analyses were swamped by the more abundant proteins," says Wang. "But because we knew the proteins would be associated with the cell membrane, we tried separating the membranes from the rest of the cell material and just analyzed that fraction. And that worked."
The study targeted a class of proteins called kinases, which transmit signals by exchanging phosphate ions. The electrophoresis analyses identified a group of kinases that responded to the presence of brassinosteroids. The researchers called these proteins BSKs (brassinosteroid signaling kinases). Follow-up analyses confirmed their crucial function in brassinosteroid signaling.
"BSKs are the first major signaling component to be identified by a quantitative proteomics approach in plants." says Wang. "Finding them fills a major gap in the brassinosteroid signaling pathway and may have major implications for our understanding of other signaling processes in plants as well. The plant genome codes for many hundreds of receptors at the cell surface, but a major missing link is their connection to the intracellular signaling cascades. Plant cells also contain quite a number of proteins that are similar to BSK, so it is tempting to speculate that they represent these missing connections". Wang's findings have not only helped establish the connections of the steroid signaling pathway, but possibly offers a paradigm for both kinase signaling in plants and for steroid signaling by cell-surface receptors in general. More importantly, the success of the proteomic methods demonstrated by Wang's study will have a major impact on studies of other signal transduction pathways.
* Tae-Wuk Kim, Yu Sun, Zhiping Deng, Shengwei Zhu, and Ruiju Wang of the Carnegie Institution; Juan A Oses-Prieto and Alma L. Burlingame of the University of California, San Francisco.


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