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"The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem. "
Salamander Hotels & Resorts CEO Sheila Johnson
A cable TV pioneer flies high with new projects—and two business aircraft.
Salamanders are powerful animals that, legend has it, can walk through fire and come out unscathed. Sounds alot like Salamander Hotels & Resorts CEO Sheila Johnson, who has been a resilient warrior her entire life.
Johnson, whom I interviewed inside her Gulfstream GIV-SP, has certainly walked through her share of fires. Growing up in the southern U.S. during the segregation era, she found solace in the violin, earned a B.A. in music from the University of Illinois and became an accomplished performer. Then, in 1980, she cofounded Black Entertainment Television with her first husband. The first African-American cable network, BET also became the first black-controlled business to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company was sold in 2002 to Viacom for more than $2.3 billion. That same year, Johnson went through a painful and very public divorce. She then proceeded to rebuild her life by focusing on causes and businesses that she passionately believes in.
In 2005, she founded Salamander Hotels & Resorts, which now oversees a growing portfolio of luxury properties, including three in Florida, one in Virginia and one that just opened in North Carolina. Johnson is also a partner in the Virginia-based aviation-services company ProJet Aviation, which is where she parks her Gulfstream and Piaggio Avanti II aircraft when she isn't using them to check on the resorts or fly around the world toparticipate in charity work. (Her chief pilot, Madeleine Gilad, co-owns ProJet Aviation.)
One of her biggest commitments is to the advancement of women. She places them in top roles in her companies and sets policies, such a flexible hours, that enable working mothers to thrive. In 2006, Johnson was named global ambassador for CARE, a leading humanitarian organization whose mission includes combating poverty by empowering women.
She is the only African-American woman to hold ownership positions in three professional sports franchises: the NBA's Washington Wizards and WNBA's Washington Mystics basketball teams and the NHL's Washington Capitals hockey team. She has also served as executive producer of many acclaimed films, most recently The Butler.
During our interview, I was struck by Johnson's charisma and forthrightness. She is a fierce businesswoman who has managed to retain the soul of an artist, and she appears to truly live the values she espouses. One of the most inspiring things about her is her willingness to candidly discuss the setbacks and challenges she has faced.
You're involved in so many businesses. How do your airplanes help you run them?
I was brought up to take control of my own life, and this is one way I am able to do it. I spent 15 years [using a] fractional company and I decided that I should get my own plane where I can have more control over the service and maintenance.
I could not do what I am doing if I did not have these planes. I bring my staff on board and we are able to get twice as much work done. Flying commercial now is so complicated, so cumbersome, and it eats up valuable time. By putting [my staff] on this plane we can visit one, two, sometimes three hotels in a day.
I decided to [become an owner of ProJet Aviation] because I needed an airport with close proximity to the [Virginia] resort that could service not only me but my clientele. We have our own limousine company based within the resort, and it can come pick up the guests.
Do you remember the first time you flew privately?
It was when BET was starting to become profitable. We were taking the family on vacation to [the Caribbean island of] Anguilla. [Flying privately] is an experience like no other. It is the best way to travel—to be able to drive your car right up to a plane. The service is impeccable and people pick you up at the plane and get you through customs. It is amazing.
How has flying privately helped with your philanthropic efforts?
When I was a global ambassador for CARE, we did a lot of work in Africa and South America. We were going to regions where it was almost impossible to fly commercially, but [with a private aircraft] we were able to find landing strips. The only time it was a little tricky was in Haiti after the earthquake. [On those trips] we parked the plane in the Dominican Republic.
You are hands-on in your philanthropic work. Can you tell me a bit about what you've witnessed?
I have seen so much—from gender-based violence to HIV to children who are starving. In Haiti there is a cholera epidemic. Children bathe in the streets in sewage water. [The situation] is daunting.
We also have enormous issues here in the United States, and sometimes people think you have to have a lot of money to [effect change]. With my film, A Powerful Noise, I was able to capture three exceptional women [around the world] who were able to change communities. It shows what is being done a half a world away, with so little, with women living on less than a dollar a day.
Do you have any advice for someone who wants to give back but doesn't know how to get started?
If you can reach out to just one or two children who you see that are in trouble—from there it can grow and grow. I get a little irritated when people say they want to help, want to start some foundation, and the next thing I know I get a letter asking me for a million dollars. That is not the way to do it. [Instead], take one or two people under your wing and help them. Then those two can reach out and bring in two more and it will slowly grow. Even if you change one life, you have done a lot.
There were setbacks with starting your most recent venture, the Salamander Resort & Spa [in Middleburg, Virginia]. Why were some people so opposed to it?
It took 11 years to go through the permitting process and bring everyone on board. A lot of [the opposition] was fear-based and I think it also became a racial and gender issue. I think women in general, when they are trying to start companies, have a much harder time than men.
How do you handle that?
You wear that. I mean, I am a female and I have to keep that in mind when I am negotiating contracts [or] in meetings. I don't wear it as a badge of honor. I wear it as a businesswoman, and that is what is important.
How do you maintain a high level of service at your resorts?
I brought in some of the top people from other hotels and we put together our own handbook of what is acceptable procedure, acceptable language, how to address guests. Nothing is impossible—you never say no to [guest requests].
We look for the best employees with the right personalities for every position and we have a list of qualities people need to be able to execute the different jobs. Once we choose them, they go through training. Some of them do not make it through training. Sometimes the work is too hard, or they just have not been able to understand what is expected.
When I am in town, I am at that resort morning, noon and night checking on things. I can spot things that are not quite right. I make a list, take pictures. Without good service, people are not going to keep coming back, so I regularly visit every department in my hotel and take any problems back to my management team.
You moved around a lot growing up.
My father was one of 11 African-American neurosurgeons in the country. He could not practice in white hospitals back then. He had been in the army during the war in the MASH unit, and when he came out it was very tough for him to get a job, so he stayed with the VA. We moved 13 times. For me it actually was great because I got to meet so many people. I think it toughened me up.
How did your experiences with racism shape you?
We moved to Louisville, Kentucky, way before desegregation. Throughout my childhood I was not allowed to go to white schools. When I got to Louisville, however, we were able to fool them for a whole year because, as fair-skinned as I am, I was able to go to the all-white school. It was a tough period, and I remember it as if it were yesterday. I remember the sit-ins in college. Sometimes I think this younger generation does not appreciate the struggles that we went through.
How did you maintain your self-confidence in that environment? Did you always know deep down that you were special?
No. I never thought I was special. I was brought up [knowing] that I had to study harder and get better grades than anyone else. I had to come to school dressed better than anyone else. That is what we had to do to survive.
Did music help you?
Music really shaped my life. My father was a great pianist besides being a great neurosurgeon, and so I learned to play piano, but did not like it. I always wanted to play the violin, and I took it up in fifth grade. I practiced for hours every day. I remember in eighth grade playing on stage flawlessly and getting a standing ovation, and then I played the violin all through high school, and became the first African American to be first chair at all-state competitions. It opened up another world for me. I started traveling to Europe to play on tour, and then went to the University of Illinois on a full scholarship.
You remain involved in promoting the arts.
Art gives you an incredible foundation of organizational skills. It helps you focus. Playing in orchestras and string quartets taught me how to listen. It took me outside of myself. It took me into my psyche and allowed me to reach deeper into myself. I learned very early that through patience, determination and hard work, you can make things work, and I have carried that through my whole life. I never give up on anything. Don't tell me I can't do something.
How did your life change after you sold BET?
I was going through a divorce, and the sudden wealth gave me the freedom to walk away and rebuild my life. As my mother said, it was God telling me: "Let's get your power back."
You know, people ask, "After your divorce, how did you bounce back?" And the answer is, I wasn't going to not bounce back. I planted my feet and continued to move on.
And then you went on to do all these incredible things.
Exactly. And I will tell you I would not have been able to do all these incredible things if I had stayed in that moment of my life.
At that time your children were quite young. How have you instilled your values in them?
Leading by example. You would be surprised how closely kids watch you and emulate you, whether it be good or bad. I think all parents should think about that. Sometimes I will listen to my daughter talk and I'll think, "Boy, she sounds just like me. I wonder where she got that from?" [laughs] My daughter runs her own horse business. My son runs a design business. They have learned that it is important to work hard to get to that destination.
Was there a negative aspect to the financial freedom that accompanied BET's sale?
Sometimes people want to ride on your coattails when they think you are successful. You have to become very smart and savvy about who you let into your life and the people that you surround yourself with. Sometimes what they seem like on the outside is not what's going on inside, and there is a [disingenuous] reason why they are around you. Unfortunately, there are people who get a little power-hungry or who just want to jump on the bandwagon.
What's the biggest misconception about you?
That I had absolutely nothing to do with building BET. And I think it is a lesson to any woman who starts a company with her husband. Because, you know, I wrote the first check to start getting the rent paid, and all that kind of stuff. I worked very hard within the company.
[But] Washington is notorious for [sexism]. There were times when we would get invitations in the mail addressed to only my ex-husband. I still bristle [thinking about some of the sexism]. I am now very sensitive when I send out invitations. I try to be an example.
What do you value in friends?
Character, integrity, loyalty. I can only be around people who love me for who I am and vice versa. I don't believe in having friends where you have to put on a different face when you are around them.
Why did you name your company "Salamander"?
The salamander stands for perseverance, courage and fortitude. King Louis XIV had salamanders around his moat. It was to keep out enemies, protect him and give him courage. Mythically, they say it is the only animal that can walk through fire and come out alive. You can cut off its limbs and they will grow back. I love the symbolism behind it so much. It is the symbol of courage and fortitude for me.
Read an interview with Johnson's chief pilot, Madeleine Gilad.
Sheila C. Johnson
BIRTHDATE: January 25, 1949 (age 65)
POSITION: CEO, Salamander Hotels & Resorts. Also, partner in ProJet Aviation, vice chairman of Monumental Sports & Entertainment and president and managing partner of WNBA's Washington Mystics. Executive producer of four documentary films and one feature film (The Butler) and designer of a line of luxury scarves (The Sheila Johnson Collection).
PREVIOUS POSITIONS: Cofounder, Black Entertainment Television cable network
EDUCATION: B.A., music, University of Illinois
TRANSPORTATION: Gulfstream GIV-SP, Piaggio Avanti II
CHARITIES: The Lady Salamanders (a women's street soccer team for low-income and homeless youth), Accordia Global Health Foundation, Middleburg Film Festival (founder).
PERSONAL: Married since 2005 to circuit court judge William T. Newman Jr. Two grown children. Lives on Salamander Farm in The Plains, Virginia.
Jennifer Leach English is BJT's editorial director. Her interview with NetJets CEO Jordan Hansell appeared in our April/May issue.
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Nov 29 at Carroll County
Dec 4 at Owen County
Dec 6 at St. Francis
Dec 7 at Eminence
Dec 10 at South Oldham
Dec 14 host Oldham Co.
Dec 15 hostWest. Hills
Dec 17 host Walden
Dec 21 at Deming
Dec 22 at St. Patrick
Dec 27-29 Silver Grove Coaches vs Cancer Classic
Jan 2 host Walton-Verona
Jan 4 host Williamstown
Jan 7 host No. Bullitt
Jan 12 at Christian Academy Indiana
Jan 16 at Walton-Verona 8th Region All "A" Classic
Jan 21 at Walden
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following preview of the Trimble County High School boys' basketball season was compiled from a series of Head Coach Johnny Leep's answers to a list of emailed questions regarding the upcoming season. The Trimble County Raiders open the 2012-13 season at Carroll County tomorrow night.
By JOHN B. LEEP III
Special to The Trimble Banner
Nov 26 host Gallatin Co.
Nov 30 at Carroll County
Dec 1 at Conner
Dec 8 at Williamstown
Dec 14 host Oldham Co.
Dec 18 at Owen County
Dec 21 host West. Hills
Dec 27-29 Burgin Invit.
Jan 2 host Walton-Verona
Jan 5 at Spencer County
Jan 9 at Eminence Class A Regional
Jan 17 host Carroll Co.
Jan 22 host Henry Co.
Jan 24 host Shawe
Jan 28 at South Oldham
Feb 1 at North Oldham
Feb 4 at Gallatin Co.
Feb 8 at Owen County
Feb 9 at Brown
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following preview of the Trimble County High School girls' basketball season was compiled from a series of Head Coach Kerrie Stewart's answers to a list of emailed questions regarding the upcoming season. The Trimble County Lady Raiders opened the 2012-13 season at home against Gallatin County Monday night.
By KERRIE STEWART
Special to The Trimble Banner
I am very excited about the 2013 season. This year's players have good basketball instincts, they like to play hard and fast.
A very young group of Trimble County Lady Raiders weathered an onslaught of long-range guns Monday night and threw a scare into visiting Gallatin County as the 2012-13 high school basketball season got underway. Trailing by 11 at halftime, Trimble roared back to pull within a pair of points several times in the second half before falling by a 65-58 final score.
While Gallatin's long-range artillery misfired most of the night – the Lady Cats were only one of 21 shots from downtown – the game within the arc made the difference.
The 2012-2013 season got underway for the 6th grade Trimble County boys in a border war with Carroll County. The Raiders started where they left off last year with a big win 33-12. A balanced scoring attack and some excellent rebounding led Trimble to the easy win. Scoring leaders were Dane Lacefield, Shane Mills and David Duncan with 6 points each, Logan Clifford and Evan Stevens with 5 points, Grant Weaver and Andrew Edmondson with 2 points and Duncan Ralston with 1 point. Ben Stevens had 3 rebounds and 2 steals.
The Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association recently honored Trimble County Lady Raiders Coach Ruth Staples as the Eighth Region Coach of the Year.
Staples and the coaches of the year from the other 15 regions around the state were recognized by Butch Cope, KHSAA Volleyball Commissioner, and the KVCA Coaches Association President, during the 2012 KHSAA State Tournament at Valley High School in Louisville, in ceremonies directly preceding the State Championship match last month.
Trimble County's Runnin' Raiders took 10th place in the boys' state cross country meet Saturday while the girls placed 15th. The event was held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
Copyright © 2017
The Trimble Banner is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Trimble County, KY and the surrounding area.

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Governor: At least 12 homes destroyed in Utah fire
WANSHIP, Utah — Gov. Gary Herbert says a wildfire burning near a mountain resort town in Utah has destroyed at least a dozen homes plus 15 other structures such as vehicles, sheds and boats.
Steve Rutter, a fire management officer with the state, says the homes were primary residences in the Lake Rockport Estates, a subdivision about 10 miles northeast of Park City.
The blaze also has forced the evacuation of hundreds of exclusive homes. It appears to have been started by lightning.
Herbert said Tuesday evening at a news conference that the fire has grown to 4,000 acres, or more than 6 square miles. It is 5 percent contained.
The governor says two Blackhawk helicopters will be used to fight the fire Wednesday.
Summit County Assessor Steve Martin says residences in Rockport Estates are worth around $250,000.


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Three very different ways of appreciating reality, a.k.a. "truth" are outlined as concisely as possible in these food preference examples, mainly to give each of the three ways a name to use in what follows.
These examples illustrate three different tools that we all use everyday for appreciating "truth" for understanding reality. We'd be glad of this richness if these three tools were guaranteed to take us to the same destination, to absolute "truth". But this conflicts with the irrational but real delusion that absolute truth is accessible to us. With only three tools in our kit that yield contradictory answers (four for those who count the bible's "revealed truth"), it is not quite as simple as that.
For a thorough development of this brief sketch of this idea, see the essays on Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by two students, Sara Bartos and Greg Balzer, in the Fall 1998 Taming the Electronic Frontier.
My background and interests were remote from the humanities. In graduate school I specialized in quantum physics (University of Chicago; in the same laboratory where Feynman did much of his work) and later in neurophysiology (Department on Mathematical Biology with Stuart Kauffman, Jack Cowan and others now at the Santa Fe Institute).
The events that led to my discovery of how much I'd been missing were (1) experience in the software industry with the practical consequences of differences in worldview between engineers and managers, for example, (2) Thomas Kuhn's "The Structure of Scientific Revolution", (3) Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; An Inquiry into Values", and (4) Jerry Weinberg's "Technical Leadership Workshop" (who coincidentally wrote the very IBM Basic Assembly Language (BAL) Manual from which I'd taught myself computing in graduate school, before preceeding me in the discovery that computers aren't all that's important in computing.
I wandered into this topic with a definite technical issue in mind. I'd noticed breakdowns in the way inheritance and strong type-checking are viewed by the object-oriented programming language community. This community's established paradigm is that an object's "class", its "category" acc'd Lakoff, should be determined by the object's producer in pursuit of implementation (how to build it) concerns, without regard to the objects use, its users, or the consumer's notions of what the object is "for".
Lakoff and other authors in the collection that follows show why this approach fails as soon as objects leave the hands of their producer and encounter consumers with other views of the world. Categories (i.e. classes) cannot be invarients determined statically by the producer. They are determined (or better, must be determined once software engineering gets its poop in a group) by the consumer's worldview and culture.
This observation points directly to something the software engineering community has never recognized (sign of its positivistic paradigm), that specification/testing technologies, tools that examine objects from their consumer's perspective instead of their producers', must be added to the software implementation technologies we've relied on exclusively to date.
See this collection of articles regarding Alan Sokal's delicious parody of the leftist academic agenda, "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity" Also see Witch Hunts, Cultural Studies, Outlaws and Big Brother. Maisin Tapa is also in this collection but its relevance eludes me right now (category problem; nice pictures, though!). Also see these musings by Anatol Holt with whom I worked at ITT in the early 1980's, and who recently resurfaced in my life via the internet.
On those remote pages it is written that animals are divided into
- those that belong to the Emperor
- embalmed ones
- those that are trained
- suckling pigs
- mermaids
- fabulous ones
- stray dogs
- those that are included in this classification
- those that tremble as if they were mad
- innumerable ones
- those drawn with a very fine camel's hair brush
- others
- those that have just broken a flower vase
- those that resemble flies from a distance
---Borges 1966 p 108
Borges of course, deals with the fantastic. These not only are not natural human categories -- they could not be natural human categories. But part of what makes this passage art, rather than mere fantasy, is that it comes close to the impression a Western reader gets when reading descriptions of nonwestern languages and cultures. The fact is that people around the world categorize things in ways that both boggle the Western mind and stump Western linguists and anthropologists.
An excellent example is the classification of things in the world that occurs in traditional Dyirbal, an aboriginal language of Australia. The classification is built into the language, as is common in the world's languages. Whenever a Dyirbal speaker uses a noun in a sentence, the noun must be preceded by a variant of one of four words: bayi, balan, balam, bala. These words classify all objects in the Dyirbal universe, and to speak Dyirbal correctly one must use the right classifier before each noun. Here is a brief version of the Dyirbal classification of objects in the universe, as described by R.M.W. Dixon (1982):
- Bayi: men, kangaroos, possums, bats, most snakes, most fishes, some birds, most insects, the moon, storms, rainbows, boomerangs, some spears, etc.
- Balan: women, anything connected with water or fire, bandicoots, dogs, platypus, echidnae, some snakes, some fishes, most birds, fireflies, scorpions, crickets, the stars, shields, some spears, some trees, etc.
- Balam: all edible fruit and the plants that bear them, tubers, ferns, honey, cigarettes, wine, cake.
- Bala: parts of the body, meat, bees, wind, yam sticks, some spears, most trees, grass, mud, stones, noises, language, etc.
It is a list that any Borges fan would take delight in.
Thus, Putnam concludes, there cannot be such a thing as "exactly one true and complete description of 'the way the world is'" -- that is, there can be no God's eye view of reality. The crucial words here are "description" and "view." They presuppose an external perspective: a symbol system external to reality, related to reality by a reference relation that gives meaning to the symbols. Putnam is not saying that there is no reality. And he is not saying that there is no "way the world is." He is not denying basic realism. He is only denying a certain epistomology. He is not saying that we cannot have correct knowledge. What he is saying is that we cannot have a priviledged correct description from an externalist perspective.
|The preface has argued that categories, including the section headings here, have more to do with the worldview and culture of the classifier than absolute reality. Be warned...
Objectivity is Everything Free from profit motive and conflicts of interest, The Aerospace Corporation can concentrate on its vital central mission: to meet our government's need for objective technical advice in national security space systems planning, development and operation. [bjc: Quite a trick, huh: "Free from profit motive and conflicts of interest"? Wonder how they accomplish that? Hire Venusians?]
Cargo Cult Science by Richard Feynman (adapted from a Caltech commencement address given in 1974) (From the book "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!") I think the educational and psychological studies I mentioned are examples of what I would like to call cargo cult science. In the South Seas there is a cargo cult of people. During the war they saw airplanes with lots of good materials, and they want the same thing to happen now. So they've arranged to make things like runways, to put fires along the sides of the runways, to make a wooden hut for a man to sit in, with two wooden pieces on his head to headphones and bars of bamboo sticking out like antennas--he's the controller--and they wait for the airplanes to land. They're doing everything right. The form is perfect. It looks exactly the way it looked before. But it doesn't work. No airplanes land. So I call these things cargo cult science, because they follow all the apparent precepts and forms of scientific investigation, but they're missing something essential, because the planes don't land.
Personal observations on the reliability of the Shuttle by Richard P. Feynman It appears that there are enormous differences of opinion as to the probability of a failure with loss of vehicle and of human life. The estimates range from roughly 1 in 100 to 1 in 100,000. The higher figures come from the working engineers, and the very low figures from management. What are the causes and consequences of this lack of agreement? Since 1 part in 100,000 would imply that one could put a Shuttle up each day for 300 years expecting to lose only one, we could properly ask "What is the cause of management's fantastic faith in the machinery?"
There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom An Invitation to Enter a New Field of Physics by Richard P. Feynman This transcript of the classic talk that Richard Feynman gave on December 29th 1959 at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) was first published in the February 1960 issue of Caltech's Engineering and Science, which owns the copyright.
How To Deconstruct Almost Anything My Postmodern Adventure by Chip Morningstar Electric Communities "Academics get paid for being clever, not for being right." -- Donald Norman This is the story of one computer professional's explorations in the world of postmodern literary criticism. I'm a working software engineer, not a student nor an academic nor a person with any real background in the humanities. Consequently, I've approached the whole subject with a somewhat different frame of mind than perhaps people in the field are accustomed to. Being a vulgar engineer I'm allowed to break a lot of the rules that people in the humanities usually have to play by, since nobody expects an engineer to be literate. Ha. Anyway, here is my tale.
The End of Science; Facing the Limits of Knowledge in the Twilight of the Scientific AgeThe New York Times, Book Review, June 30, 1996, pp. 11, 12. Science has been so successful at describing the universe, John Horgan claims, that further research may not yield much. By John Horgan. 308 pp. Reading, Mass.: Helix Books/Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. $24. By Natalie Angier [[bjc: save your money; utterly bogus from the premise onwards]].
|I'm fascinated (and troubled) by how regularly students, particularly those from technical specialties, use "objective" as a synonym for "fair, unbiased and good" and "subjective" with "selfish, biased, and bad". Don't they trust their own tastes and preferences as revealing one aspect of "truth"?
Why the best GMU material is located at UMD by Rob Shvern. "Perhaps you are curious: why is the best GMU material located at a UMD machine? There are several reasons, each more interesting than the next, all lucid, cheerful and bright, giving great indication of the human spirit's ability to rise above the dullards and sloths in a celebration of what is right, what should be."
MetaSelf -- Metaphor Model of the Self. Common spatial metaphors comprise an accessible visual model of the self. Aims: to introduce h.s. students to power of metaphor, and to offer a unifying cultural image.
Nazis on the net by Crawford Kilian. The far right has become very visible lately. New groups and movements have sprung up here, in the US, and in Europe; old groups have revived. They go under many names: neo-Nazis, Holocaust deniers, racist skinheads, militias, white nationalists. They often seem to disagree with one another as intensely as they disagree with the status quo, and their ideology ranges from the sophisticated to the incoherent.
|The foundation belief of the postmodern school is that the two other ways of understanding
(objective and subjective) are subordinate to the intersubjective way of understanding;
i.e. the belief that reality is determined intersubjectively (socially) instead of
objectively (by nature) nor subjectively (by the individual).
Although I agree that this way of understanding has been neglected for too long, I emphatically disagree (even with colleagues in my own department!) that this way of understanding should be thought of as dominant over the others. Rather they're three distinct tools that we're all equipped with at birth with no guarantee of leading to the same destination.
Although nearly all of these articles can be used to bring out the interplay between the three ways of understanding, I particularly recommend the second-hand smoke issue as revealing of how the three ways interrelate in practical every day affairs. Is the objective truth of EPA's claim that 3000 people die per year from second-hand smoke even accessible in the prevailing political (intersubjective) climate? Is objective truth even material in the face of individual subjective opinion?
Destruction of Reason by Jurgen Habermas. The GDR, "workers' and farmers' State" by the grace of its own presumption, has politically and rhetorically misused progressive ideas for its own legitimation; it has mockingly denied these ideas through its inhuman practice and thereby brought them to miscredit.
Virtual Play: Baudrillard Online The Electronic Journal of Virtual Culture 1(7), 1993 by Dr. Alan Aycock Department of Sociology Cardinal Stritch University Although the value of Baudrillard's notion of a radical form of play, the cultural force of images without clear reference to the "real" world, has been debated for many years, few scholars of play have considered its implications for their own study. This neglect is regrettable, if only because the trope of "play" is so central to Baudrillard's own work, as well as that of many modern writers. Play, in some sense, seems central to the modern experience. A case in point is Internet, the developing international network of computing linkages. An empirical instance of computer-mediated discourses which establish cultures online is adduced to show how it instantiates and extends the idea of play beyond virtuality to everyday lived experience. Some conclusions are drawn which point to further research along these lines.
Questioning Cultural Studies: An Interview with Paul Smith [This interview with Paul Smith took place on 20 June 1994 at the MLG Institute for Culture and Society at Trinity College, Hartford, CT, and was conducted by Jeffrey Williams, editor of minnesota review. Special thanks to Jan Forehand for transcribing and preparing the manuscript.
Hakim Bey Article Now that Freud has been defenestrated -- along with the Unconscious. -- modern psychotherapy can offer an all-purpose etiology for all UFO/Satanic "memories": -- child abuse. In a recent statement on the subject the APA (American Psychiatrist Association) cautioned that the falsity of certain "memories" should not be used as an excuse to ignore the underlying trauma -- or deep inner structure of the "memory" -- which is assumed to be "real" abuse.
Biodegradability: Floating on the Surface of Culture A study of the work of Charlotte Salomon as an example of revolutionary feminist poetic practice.
Scientology's War on the Internet Mirrored from a site in Holland as a learning resource for my classes.
WIRED? Bad Subjects Charlie Bertsch BAD SUBJECTS #10 -- DECEMBER 1993 That we're *physically* addicted to electricity is obvious; the extent to which we're *psychologically* addicted is not. Particularly among people who try to conceive of opposition to the dominant powers in our society, psychological dependence on electricity reveals itself in a recurring tendency to imagine that those powers behave like electrical power. To a certain extent, this makes intuitive sense: electrical power plays an undeniably significant role in structuring our everyday lives. However, this isn't the only reason we make sense of power relations with an 'electrical consciousness'. Electrical power appeals to our imagination because it is described by a coherent body of concepts, a 'conceptual apparatus' with indisputable rules to guide our classifications of phenomena. Other forms of power--political, social, economic--often seem much harder to describe. Hence, people 'come to terms' with the powers that dominate them by borrowing terms used in the description of electrical power. In other words, electrical power becomes a *metaphor* for these other forms of power. What I will briefly discuss here are the ways in which this 'habit of mind'--habits are, after all, addictions--has conditioned many people's perception of reality in the last three decades, often with politically debilitating consequences.
Flame Wars: The Discourse of Cyberculture By Mark Dery This interdisciplinary collection of essays provides an impressive guide to the many sources from which our assumptions about cyberspace are drawn, and offers some suggestions as to how the internet may be affecting broader cultural issues. For editor Mark Dery, cyberculture is "a loosely knit complex of sub legitimate, alternative, and oppositional subcultures..." (8). But this collection also shows that cyberculture emerged from images and ideas that have been a part of cultural life for a hundred years or more. Several of the writers here warn of the seductiveness of the notion that cyberculture somehow eludes the material relations of the larger society, and an important theme running through most of the articles is the need for more conscious control of technology and culture.
The Return Of The Witch Hunts by Jonathan G. Harris I went to that preschool since I was a baby. I even went there during the first grade after school. I had fun. We painted and colored," Karen (name changed for privacy), now 16, describes some happy times that ended when her preschool closed ten years ago. Her parents have similar memories. The center was open and they could drop in any time. Her father said that today Karen jumped with joy at the prospect of visiting Miss Vi; but visiting the school's seventy year old former owner or her two children, Gerald and Cheryl, is somewhat difficult today. They all remain in Massachusetts prisons. The school was the infamous Massachusetts day care, Fells Acres.
Imagining East Timor by Benedict Anderson. "Why has Indonesia's attempt to absorb East Timor failed? And how does one explain the very rapid development of Timorese nationalism since 1975? Benedict Anderson, author of Imagined Communities, argues that Indonesia cannot imagine the East Timorese as Indonesians. Their relations with them are those of colonizer and colonized, producing East Timorese nationalism as Dutch colonialism once produced Indonesian nationalism."
Making Sense of Software by Ted Friedman "Introduction: The Need for Software Theory, and SimCity as a Place to Start When students today study individuals' relations to texts, they discuss literature, film, maybe television or radio. When they get back from class, however, their primary form of textual interaction is likely to be with a different medium: the computer screen. They do research through computerized databases, write papers with Microsoft Word, and even take breaks by playing Tetris. In the past three years, in fact, I've probably spent as much time in front of computer monitors as I have watching TV or reading print."
A Cold Fusion Primer By Eugene F. Mallove And Jed Rothwell What happened to cold fusion, the "miracle or mistake," announced at the University of Utah by Drs. Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons in March 1989? It would not be surprising if you thought that cold fusion were "dead," because, unfortunately, the scientific establishment, the hot fusion community, and many in the news media have ignored or maligned cold fusion research.
Keyboarding Explosive Data For Homemade Bombs byTracy Gordon Fox Hartford Courant Staff Writer; Bomb Recipes Just a Keystroke Away;: Sunday, January 10, 1993. They use names like Wizard and Warrior and they talk via computer networks. They are usually high school kids, but their keyboard conversations are not about girls or homework: They trade recipes for homemade bombs.
Reaction to Dateline Child-proofing cyberspace article by Peter Ludlow I was very disappointed in last night's segment on the availability of bomb recipes on the internet. The segment was dishonest in that it implied that bomb building by minors was a new phenomenon, and that it was made possible in large part by the internet. In fact, this was a problem long before the internet was even imagined. For example, there are numerous documented cases of children being maimed by homemade bombs throughout the 1960's. I would have thought that a careful and honest news organization would note this fact.
The Collapse Of The Ussr And The Destiny Of Socialism By Sam Marcy On March 11, 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev took over as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It is now seven and a half years later. By almost any standards, the developments in the USSR following his election, and most particularly the breakup of the union, constitute a world historic event.
Crisis In The Gulf. By George Bush, Saddam Hussein, Et Alia As Told To the New York Times By Frederick M. Dolan. The crisis in the Gulf, as today's President acknowledges, is in large measure a crisis of self- definition: a matter of identity (as in defining America's role in a post-cold war world, and indeed of writing the rules for such a world), of marking or highlighting the boundary between self and other (as in the ownership and control of "the world's largest oil reserves," or as between the civilized and the uncivil). Following a long Orientalist tradition, the West feels compelled to go _elsewhere_ in search of its defining characteristics, even if this means, to use President Bush's own metaphor, drawing lines in the sand. As his image forces one to reflect, sand--especially the shifting, wind-blown sand of the Arabian Empty Quarter--is a most unstable medium, and a line drawn in it is likely to be erased with the next change in weather. The contours of the boundary lines and identity President Bush hopes to define remain, it is true, somewhat murky. At the same time, for those who have followed literary theory over the past two decades, the battle over what meaning to assign Iraq's invasion of Kuwait possesses an uncanny familiarity. The seemingly anarchic spin-doctoring of American officials charged with formulating war aims that seem at once defensible and feasible, and the way in which their efforts have been judged and interpreted in the press, have to do, in particular, with the much-discussed questions of allegory, symbol, and irony.
How Many Have Communists Murdered? by R. J. Rummel Everyone is aware of how costly in lives and material a war can be, and for good reason many scholars, researchers, intellectuals, and interested citizens therefore focus on how war might be prevented. Few, however, are aware of even a more deadly scourge, that is genocide and mass murder. The recent events in Rwanda have for a moment riveted attention on a genocide that within a few months has cost at least 500,000 lives. But if history is any guide, memory of this genocide will soon disappear and attention will refocus on the horrors of war. Yet in this century, genocide and mass murder has killed about 170,000,000 people, or over four times all those killed from battle in all this century's international and domestic wars. Communism, that is communist nations, have been responsible for most of this killing. Itself, this one ideology, has murdered about three times those battle killed in war.
Imagining East Timor by Benedict Anderson. Why has Indonesia's attempt to absorb East Timor failed? And how does one explain the very rapid development of Timorese nationalism since 1975? Benedict Anderson, author of Imagined Communities, argues that Indonesia cannot imagine the East Timorese as Indonesians. Their relations with them are those of colonizer and colonized, producing East Timorese nationalism as Dutch colonialism once produced Indonesian nationalism.
KahanerBulletTrainTechnology by David K. Kahaner This system is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 1994, carries up to 130 million passengers annually (3 billion in total), runs nearly 300 trains per day on the main line from Tokyo through Osaka, has never had a derailment or collision accident, and maintains a zero mortality rate for passengers and crew.
Making Sense Of Software by Ted Friedman The Need for Software Theory, and SimCity as a Place to Start. When students today study individuals' relations to texts, they discuss literature, film, maybe television or radio. When they get back from class, however, their primary form of textual interaction is likely to be with a different medium: the computer screen. They do research through computerized databases, write papers with Microsoft Word, and even take breaks by playing Tetris. In the past three years, in fact, I've probably spent as much time in front of computer monitors as I have watching TV or reading print.
McLibel Trial London Greenpeace McDonald's is suing for Libel against some people who said McDonald's food is bad for you. A total of approximately 170 UK and international witnesses will give evidence in court about the effects of the company's advertising and the impact of its operating practices and food products on the environment, on millions of farmed animals, on human health, on the Third World, and on McDonald's own staff. They will include environmental and nutritional experts, trade unionists, McDonald's employees, customers and top executives.
Can You Go Home Again? A Budapest Diary 1993 by SUSAN RUBIN SULEIMAN Dept. of Romance Languages and Comparative Literature, Harvard University _Postmodern Culture_ v.3 n.3 (May, 1993) email@example.com
A Seminar in Cyberspace: Prof. Peter Kollock's Sociology Like I said, I thought I knew what to expect. And that included a lot of reading and a lot of theoretical reading and a lot of theoretical exegesis. Sociology loves formal analysis. I knew this seminar was to be something else again when we gathered for the first meeting. First, half the class was drawn from fields outside sociology, including electrical engineering, English, women's studies and even a young women from biology, I think it was (I'm not too sure what they call themselves down on the south side of campus). And, instead of diving into deep textual waters, Kollock encouraged the class, from the outset, to describe feelings and perceptions, and, as we moved along, to relate experiences in cyberspace, surfing the Internet, following odd pathways through Usenet, or stumbling through the corners of LambdaMOO or MediaMOO which became our unofficial home. As these discussions continued, it was sort of as if Jason called the argonauts together on the deck of the "Golden Fleece" each night for a little palaver. "Hey, we're sailing in uncharted waters, fellow cybernauts. What of interest happened to you today?"
Rethinking Culture Biodegradability: Floating on the Surface of Culture
MaisinTapa/Tapa.html After an hour on the water, we approached the village. As we neared the shore, two men dressed as warriors ran out from between the houses and hurled enormous spears in our direction. From their hiding places, the villagers burst into laughter when they saw our terrified faces. This hurling of spears is, they told us, their traditional form of greeting newcomers to their village. (John Barker, an anthropologist who spent two years living in Uiaku, was horrified when he heard this story. "But they never actually throw the spears," he said, aghast, "they're only supposed to shake them!")
Patriot Games Irate, gun-toting white men are forming militias. Are they dangerous, or just citizens defending their rights? BY CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY In a remote meadow in northern Michigan, inside a large tent heated by a wood stove, 50 white men dressed in combat gear and wielding rifles talk about the insanity of the outside world. The men, civilians all, see threats everywhere. There are reports of foreign soldiers hiding in salt mines under Detroit, some of the men say. Others speak of secret markings on highway signs meant to guide conquering armies. The men's voices subside as "General" Norman Olson, a Baptist minister, gun-shop owner and militia leader, enters the tent. He tells the men they are the shock troops of a movement that's sweeping America, that the "end times" are coming, and civil wars are two years away. "People think we are the ones who bring fear because we have guns," Olson says. "But we are really an expression of fear."
The Evolution Of Criminal Justice By Sandy Judd; In twentieth century America, coerced confessions to criminal acts are not technically admissible as evidence in courts of law. Since the 1980's, however, a movement against the enforcement of such "technicalities" has developed within the federal courts. As more forms of questionable evidence become admissible, we must begin to ask ourselves if justice is being properly served. Although blatant physical torture is not yet regularly used, other techniques for obtaining confessions are common: promises of leniency, threats, isolation, sleep and food deprivation, forced nudity and other practices which serve to demoralize the accused. The validity of these confessions is highly questionable.
Objection sustained! The Animal Legal Defense Fund by Barbara Kohn CALL TO ACTION. Headquartered in San Rafael, California, the ALDF grew out of a small discussion group of lawyers who began to meet on a monthly basis back in 1979 to study animal rights issues. The group got its "call to action" when it learned of a U.S. Navy plan to shoot 5,000 wild burros at its Naval Weapons Testing Center in the Mohave Desert. They went to court and succeeded in halting the killings.
|Alan Sokal,
Professor of Physics, New York University, wrote Transgressing
the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity"
as parody of leftist/feminist/post modernist "critiques" of science, triggering
this whole hoohah.
Contrast the truth-claims on both sides of this battle with the simple argument at the top of this web. Namely that we're all equipped with several tools for appreciating "truth" which come with no guarantee of leading even to the same destination, much less to "truth" in any absolute sense.
Alan Sokal's web provides numerous links to articles on this controversy including:
A Physicist Experiments With Cultural Studies by Alan Sokal; Lingua Franca, May/June 1996, pp. 62-64 "For some years I've been troubled by an apparent decline in the standards of intellectual rigor in certain precincts of the American academic humanities. But I'm a mere physicist: if I find myself unable to make head or tail of _jouissance_ and _differance_, perhaps that just reflects my own inadequacy. So, to test the prevailing intellectual standards, I decided to try a modest (though admittedly uncontrolled) experiment: Would a leading North American journal of cultural studies --- whose editorial collective includes such luminaries as Fredric Jameson and Andrew Ross --- publish an article liberally salted with nonsense if (a) it sounded good and (b) it flattered the editors' ideological preconceptions?"
Social Text Afterward Alas, the editors of Social Text have discovered that my article, ``Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity'', which appeared in Social Text #46/47, is a parody. In view of the important intellectual and political issues raised by this episode, they have generously agreed to publish this (non-parodic) Afterward, in which I explain my motives and my true views. [gif] One of my goals is to make a small contribution toward a dialogue on the Left between humanists and natural scientists -- ``two cultures'' which, contrary to some optimistic pronouncements (mostly by the former group), are probably farther apart in mentality than at any time in the past 50 years.
Sokal's reply to the social text editorial I confess to amusement that one Social Text editor still doesn't believe my piece was a parody. Oh, well. As for Social Text's editorial process, readers can judge for themselves the plausibility of the editors' post facto explanations, which if true may be more damning than the incident itself. Some of their chronology is at variance with the documentary record (e-mail and regular mail between Ross and myself, which I've saved), but let me not beat a dead horse. More interesting than the scandal provoked by the article's acceptance is, I think, the scandal that ought to be provoked by its content. My essay, aside from being (if I may quote Katha Pollitt's flattery) "a hilarious compilation of pomo gibberish," is also an annotated bibliography of charlatanism and nonsense by dozens of prominent French and American intellectuals. This goes well beyond the narrow category of "post modernism," and includes some of the most fashionable thinkers in "science studies," literary criticism, and cultural studies.
Sokal, a New York University physicist, fed up with what he sees as the excesses of the academic left, hoodwinked a well-known journal into publishing a parody thick with gibberish as though it were serious scholarly work. The article, entitled "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity," appeared this month in Social Text, a journal that helped invent the trendy, sometimes baffling field of cultural studies.
And now, with one piece of brilliant satire, a young New York University physicist named Alan Sokal may finally have punctured the hyper inflated hot-air balloon of cultural studies. The editors of the journal Social Text must wish they had just shut up. Ever since the humiliating news broke that a long, impenetrably jargon-ridden but impeccably postmodern-sounding article on "the transformative hermeneutics of quantum gravity" in the journal's current issue was a hoax, those involved have been scrambling to explain away the joke. This is difficult, because the author, physicist Alan Sokal had just declared in another magazine, Lingua Franca, that he had submitted the essay -- a tissue of cloudy assertions, actual quotes from theorists and random academic buzzwords -- to the journal as a parody, to make a point about the field's empty-headedness.
Philippe and Danielle comment on the Sokal's hoax. We have read both the article in the New York Times (Postmodern Gravity Deconstructed, Slyly; 5.18.96) and in Lingua Franca (A physicists experiments with cultural studies; May/June 1996), and we wanted to share some of our thoughts with you. There are several issues which deserve attention. We would like to address two: 1. What does the hoax really show? 2. What should we do as Cultural Studies faculty.
Science Backlash on Technoskeptics Culture Warst Spill Over Andrew Ross Featured in The Cultural Studies Times In a speech in New Orleans last fall, Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson declared that "multiculturalism equals relativism equals no supercollider equals communism." Was this some babbling formula for a conspiracy theory of the end of the millennium, escaping the fevered lips of a mad scientist? Or was it the same old witches brew of cold war paranoia reduced to its basic stock? Wilson has had a go at playing Cassandra before, and many would consider his brand of sociobiology -- which glorifies aggressive competition -- to be a classic product of the mentality of militarist science. But his comment referred to a new arena of conflict that some have dubbed the Science Wars, a second front opened up by conservatives cheered by the successes of their legions in the holy Culture Wars. Seeking explanations for their loss of standing in the public eye and the decline in funding from the public purse, conservatives in science have joined the backlash against the (new) usual suspects -- pinkos, feminists and multiculturalists of all stripes.
Report from Iron Mountain : On the Possibility and Desirability of Peace by Leonard C. Lewin Another famous hoax, but this time the radical right took the brunt.
A Message from the Democratic National Committee Flames various talk show hosts, with transcripts of the Liddy and Linbaugh. The Oklahama bombing triggered the latest and greatest of witch hunts to date. Note the absence of mention of Waco or Weaver in this article.
Clinton on Oklahoma Bombing The bombing in Oklahoma City was an attack on innocent children and defenseless citizens. It was an act of cowardice and it was evil. The United States will not tolerate it. And I will not allow the people of this country to be intimidated by evil cowards.
Oklahoma Theory I am concerned that vital evidence will soon be destroyed with the pending demolition of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. From all the evidence I have seen in the published material, I can say with a high level of confidence, that the damage pattern on the reinforced concrete superstructure could not possibly have been attained from the single truck bomb without supplementing demolition charges at some of the reinforced column bases. The total incompatibility with a single truck bomb lies in the fact that either some of the columns collapsed that should not have collapsed or some of the columns are still standing that should have collapsed and did not.
MIT Freshman Picture Book At the last minute, President Charles M. Vest asked the Technology Community Association to stop distribution of its Freshman Picture Book, because he felt its cover drawing of a monkey could be perceived as racist by African Americans.
Picture Book Cover Called Offensive, Will Be Replaced By Hyun Soo Kim News Editor At the last minute, President Charles M. Vest asked the Technology Community Association to stop distribution of its Freshman Picture Book, because he felt its cover drawing of a monkey could be perceived as racist by African Americans. Publishing the books with new covers will delay the delivery of the books until Monday night.
Judgment Day In San Antonio Jury acquits 11 Branch Davidians of murder but finds five guilty of manslaughter
The Waco Tragedy Magazine: Free Inquiry Issue: Summer 1994 (vol. 14 no. 3) Author: James A. Haught Well, the Waco cult trial is over, a year after the tragedy. But did you know that the story actually began 150 years ago with a famous fiasco?
Waco, Texas: Where A Part Of America's Heart And Soul Died. By Robert McCurry David Koresh and the Branch Davidian religious sect in Waco, Texas, held center stage in America for fifty-one days. A Rambo-style raid on a quiet Sunday morning in February by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) touched off one of the most incredible and tragic events in American history. The ATF stormed the Branch Davidian home to serve a search warrant issued on the suspicion that the group was stockpiling automatic weapons.
Waco Tragedy The Waco saga has entered history, like Jonestown, the witch hunts, and other bizarre episodes. As we go about our daily lives, it's unsettling to realize that some people among us are capable of believing far-out fantasies, enough to die for them.
WHO'S THE WACKO? by L. Neil Smith But when Rush is wrong, nobody can even approach the cosmic magnitude of his wrongness. And Rush is wrong, totally wrong, embarrassingly wrong -- just as he was totally, embarrassingly wrong back when the whole thing happened -- about Waco. It's enough to make you wonder _which_ god his talent is on loan from.
Holocaust at Waco Penthouse Magazine
General Observations on the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West by Edward Gibbon
Pliny to the Emperor Trajan Pliny, Letters 10.96-97 Pliny the Younger was governor of Pontus/Bithynia from 111-113 AD. We have a whole set of exchanges of his letters with the emperor Trajan on a variety of administrative political matters. These two letters are the most famous, in which P. encounters Christianity for the first time.
Priscus at the court of Attila Translation by J.B. Bury (Priscus, fr. 8 in Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum) We set out with the barbarians, and arrived at Sardica, which is thirteen days for a fast traveller from Constantinople. Halting there we considered it advisable to invite Edecon and the barbarians with him to dinner. The inhabitants of the place sold us sheep and oxen, which we slaughtered, and we prepared a meal. In the course of the feast, as the barbarians lauded Attila and we lauded the Emperor, Bigilas remarked that it was not fair to compare a man and a god, meaning Attila by the man and Theodosius by the god. The Huns grew excited and hot at this remark. But we turned the conversation in another direction, and soothed their wounded feelings; and after dinner, when we separated, Maximin presented Edecon and Orestes with silk garments and Indian gems....
A History Of The Warfare Of Science With Theology In Christendom by Andrew Dickson White . MY book is ready for the printer, and as I begin this preface my eye lights upon the crowd of Russian peasants at work on the Neva under my windows. With pick and shovel they are letting the rays of the April sun into the great ice barrier which binds together the modern quays and the old granite fortress where lie the bones of the Romanoff Czars. This barrier is already weakened; it is widely decayed, in many places thin, and everywhere treacherous; but it is, as a whole, so broad, so crystallized about old boulders, so imbedded in shallows, so wedged into crannies on either shore, that it is a great danger. The waters from thousands of swollen streamlets above are pressing behind it; wreckage and refuse are piling up against it; every one knows that it must yield. But there is danger that it may resist the pressure too long and break suddenly, wrenching even the granite quays from their foundations, bringing desolation to a vast population, and leaving, after the subsidence of the flood, a widespread residue of slime, a fertile breeding-bed for the germs of disease.
Constructing a Logical Argument There is a great deal of argument on Usenet. Unfortunately, most of it is of very poor quality. This document attempts to provide a gentle introduction to logic, in the hope of improving the general level of debate.
Sexuality and the Invasion of America: 1492-1806
Global Alert; Jesus is Coming The earthquake in Los Angeles, California, the flood in Europe, the seemingly unstoppable war in the former Yugoslavia, the devastating fires in Australia, the flood in the Midwest of the United States of America, the devastating fires near Los Angeles, California, the rapid and appalling increase in violence in cities, towns, villages all over the world, the famines, the diseases, the rapid decline of the family unit, and the destructive earthquake in India (in 1993) are signs that this world's history is coming to a climax. The human race has trampled on God's Constitution, as given in Exodus 20:1-17 (King James Version Bible), and Jesus is coming to set things right. These rapidly accelerating signs are an indication that Jesus is coming soon (Matthew 24).
THE MERITS AND PERILS OF TEACHING ABOUT OTHER CULTURES by Walter A. McDougall. An Address by Walter A. McDougall to a History Institute for Educators on "Multiculturalism in World History" Organized by the History Academy of the Foreign Policy Research Institute May 1-2, 1999
Labyrinth: Medieval Cultural Studies
|Modification date: March 28, 2004
|© Copyright 2004 by Brad Cox


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On Wednesday, October 26, 2011, Esther Brimmer, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, will hold a conversation with Forest Whitaker, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation, on "Bridging Divides: Youth, Peace, and Reconciliation." The discussion will be moderated by Cheryl Benton, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, and streamed live on DipNote, the Department of State's official blog, at 2:00 p.m. (EDT).
You are invited to participate by submitting questions, some of which will be selected for response during the live broadcast. Submit your questions below in the comments section of this entry.
Actor Forest Whitaker is best known for his roles in films ranging from Fast Times at Ridgemont High to Bird. Whitaker won an Academy Award for his performance as Ugandan leader Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. He spearheaded the documentaries Better Angels, a film about Ugandan child soldiers, as well as Common Destiny about the power of education in promoting peace and reconciliation between communities. Mr. Whitaker's humanitarian and artistic work earned him the UNESCO designation of Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation.
Through "Conversations With America," leaders of national nongovernmental organizations have the opportunity to discuss foreign policy and global issues with senior State Department officials. These conversations aim to provide candid views of the ways in which leaders from the foreign affairs community are engaging the Department on pressing foreign policy issues.
View other Conversations With America by following this link and by accessing the Conversations With America video podcasts on Apple iTunes.
Brian H. in Illinois writes:
As an Aamerica i see the value of the UN It sickens me that some find it ok for the US to defund the UN. it is our job to strenghten the UN to fulill it mission of Peace and justice for all. For the UN to educate our youth in peace studies in the tradition of Elise Boulding, Johan Galtung and my mentor Daisaku Ikeda.
Hope in California writes:
Will Forest Whitaker still serve as a UNESCO ambassador even if the U.S. cuts off funding to that organization?
Sammi in Minnesota writes:
How will US and work with UN and celebrity ambasseders to get youths around world to engage in peace instead of violence...that not right way...how do we involve them in political practice so they have voices and avoid frustration? Many around world are youth, they must be heard.
Banji D. in Illinois writes:
I have no doubt that it will be a great conversation with Forest Withaker. I will be delighted if the conversation will touch on grooming the youths positively for the challenges of 21st century. It is becoming alarming how moral values is being pushed to the back seat in the scheme of things. For America to sustain his greatness and world leadership, ethics and moral values must be given a pride of place. Thanks.
Anil K. in Nepal writes:
Dan i attend in this programme. Yes, i want to attend in this programme
Can i ask some questions:
What is the aim of US to establish peace in Nepal at upcoming days?
Viki in Nepal writes:
Is it possible for the concerned ones to come upwith a modern peace ideology com style/attitude/drive that could orient the youths across the globe in a resultant direction....there after they start to think alike, act alike....as if they were blind to the existing thresholds ??? what would be your approach?? thankyou!!
Dongo A. in Uganda writes:
Youths in the world are the majority therefore UN as a body should engage them in peace deals in irrespective countries and not only UN but also various Governments /States should involve youth in decision making to avoid violence.
Youths are ignored in any aspects in life but my suggestion is that youth should have representatives to the UN from different continents so that ideas are generated on how youth can be incorporated in peace deals. After that, regional offices should be put in place to help in research, Monitoring and evolution process of the peace deal.
Together we stand and divided we fall
Dongo A.
Youth Chairperson, Sironko Town council
Mbale-Uganda, East Africa
Chris D. in Kansas writes:
Ms. Brimmer,
It is very clear from the recent developments in Syria that the anti-regime demonstrations in Syria will grow violent. What will the United States do in regards to Syria if the people of Syria take matters into their own hands like their Libyan comrades?


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Neoseeker : Lechato : Collections : Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection
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futurebird wrote:oh that looks good. is it from EoT?
saxon75 wrote:Tonight, as every night for the past couple of weeks, it's the 2007 White Dragon Lao Cha Tou from YS. I may very well be drinking leftover floor sweepings, but when they taste like this, I say bring on the floor sweepings!
Muadeeb wrote: I'm just getting into Puers and this one is decent, as long as I don't think about how it was made and stored.


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HOME NFL Super Bowl Merchandise Gear Super Bowl Merchandise Kids Super Bowl Merchandise Kids Youth (29 items) Product ID: 1008512
Main Content
Believe it or not, your youngster is more excited about Super Bowl XLVII than you are! Make sure his look properly displays his excitement with the Logo hat. This flex hat features an event logo on the crown, "New Orleans" embroidered on the back and contrast color accents. Topping off his look with this cap is sure to make your fan stand out on game day!
- 97% Cotton/3% Spandex
- Contrast color accents
- Flex hat
- Imported
- Officially licensed NFL product
- One size fits most
- Quality embroidery
- Structured fit
- Imported
- Brand: Outerstuff
Merchandise Customers also liked:
Special event items are produced by manufacturers only after the outcome of a game or event. These are advanced sale items and will ship immediately after they are received in our warehouse.
Manufacturer direct items are shipped directly from the manufacturer. These items are not available for international or expedited shipping.
Customized items can be personalized with options such as your name, your favorite number, and/or designs. Some options may be limited by league rules.


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Child Welfare Workers' Connectivity to Resources and Youth's Receipt of Services
Youth involved in the child welfare system are at high risk for mental illness, substance abuse, and other behavioral health issues, which child welfare workers are expected to address through referrals. Child welfare workers (N=27) who participated in Project IMPROVE (Intervention for Multisector Provider Enhancement) reported on services they provided to youth (N=307) in their caseloads. Using survey and administrative data, this paper examines workers' service actions on behalf of youth. Results were consistent with the Gateway Provider Model and showed that youths received help from a greater variety of service sectors when their workers were able to identify behavioral health problems, and were familiar with and connected to other providers in the community. Improving service delivery to youth in child welfare may be accomplished by training workers in the signs and symptoms of behavioral health problems and familiarizing them with providers in the community.
Child welfare workers; Behavioral health; Connectivity
Full Text:PDF
Copyright (c)
Indiana University School of Social Work
902 West New York Street
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, 46202
Voice: 317.274.6705
Indiana University - Quality Education. Lifetime Opportunities.
Last updated: November 20, 2007
Comments: firstname.lastname@example.com
Copyright 2007, The Trustees of Indiana University
Content ©2007 IUSSW


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I got rsnapshot based backup server up and running for my network under Debian Linux 5.x. But, whenever I run a backup job using the following command:
rsnapshot -v -c /root/rsnapshot.server1.conf hourly
I get the following messages on screen:
WARNING: Could not lchown() symlink "/nas/.rsnapshot/hourly.1/server1.example.com/etc/alternatives/locate"
WARNING: Could not lchown() symlink "/nas/.rsnapshot/hourly.1/server1.example.com/etc/alternatives/nc.1.gz"
WARNING: Could not lchown() symlink "/nas/.rsnapshot/hourly.1/server1.example.com/etc/alternatives/jexec-binfmt"
WARNING: Could not lchown() symlink "/nas/.rsnapshot/hourly.1/server1.example.com/etc/alternatives/servertool"
How do I fix this problem?
[click to continue…]


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Limit Of Seven Guests At Commencement Ceremony
Graduation will begin promptly at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, December 10th, 2016.
With the increase in the number of graduates, the number who attend the graduation and the overcrowding in the Gymnasium, we recognize the potential for a number of safety hazards. We must limit the number of people who share this occasion with our graduates. We sincerely apologize for this situation and hope that you will work with us to make this a memorable Commencement.
Each graduate will receive 7 guest tickets to give to family and friends. These tickets are picked up in the Bookstore along with the cap and gown. Please return any tickets you will not use so that the other graduates who need more than 7 may use them. You may leave your extra tickets in the Bookstore or bring them to the Office of the Vice President of Student Services in the Wood Campus Center, room 217. If you are a graduate who is in need of an extra ticket you may register your request online using the ticket request form. On a first-come first-served basis using the form online and based on the number of guest tickets that are returned, you may be eligible to receive up to 2 additional tickets.
Your guest(s) must have their ticket with them to enter the Gymnasium in the Pickel Field House to attend Commencement. Only children two (2) and under may be admitted without a ticket. Guests who do not have a ticket will not be able to enter the Gym.
We appreciate your cooperation and patience. Should you need to call the College for any reason in regard to the tickets, please call the Office of the Vice President for Student Services at (615) 230 - 3441 or for long distance, call our toll free number 1-888-335-8722, ext. 3441
We look forward to seeing you at the Commencement.


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Topic: Deployment, Capistrano, and Subversion
I'm working on deploying a basic app just to get an idea of how to deploy applications. I've spent the last two days setting up a couple of test boxes one with Ubuntu 6.1 and another with CentOS 4.4 which will be for testing deployment locally. I've also got a hosting account with MT on the grid-server and a VPS which I'm currently working on getting rails up and running for production deployment.
I've scoured the web and got a lot of information about how to do this successfully however as I've never used subversion, capistrano or deployed an application and I'm finding it pretty confusing.
I thought it might be easiest to setup deployment on the MT grid server first since they have some documentation on how to do this even though it's not a conventional deployment compared to other rails hosts. I've setup a repository and setup subversion however I don't understand the following from the MT instructions.
Now you should create a layout for your various projects. Most people will probably want to use the trunk/branch/tags style. cd to the tmp directory and create the layouts for as many projects as you need:
mkdir website1
mkdir website1/trunk
mkdir website1/branches
mkdir website1/tags
mkdir website2
mkdir website2/trunk
mkdir website2/branches
mkdir website2/tags
Has anyone here deployed on MT's grid or can anyone explain the above?


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Main Content
Uncontrolled blazes fueled by weather, wind, and dry underbrush, wildfires can burn acres of land—and consume everything in their paths—in mere minutes.
On average, more than 100,000 wildfires, also called wildland fires or forest fires, clear 4 million to 5 million acres (1.6 million to 2 million hectares) of land in the U.S. every year. In recent years, wildfires have burned up to 9 million acres (3.6 million hectares) of land. A wildfire moves at speeds of up to 14 miles an hour (23 kilometers an hour), consuming everything—trees, brush, homes, even humans—in its path.
There are three conditions that need to be present in order for a wildfire to burn, which firefighters refer to as the fire triangle: fuel, oxygen, and a heat source. Fuel is any flammable material surrounding a fire, including trees, grasses, brush, even homes. The greater an area's fuel load, the more intense the fire. Air supplies the oxygen a fire needs to burn. Heat sources help spark the wildfire and bring fuel to temperatures hot enough to ignite. Lightning, burning campfires or cigarettes, hot winds, and even the sun can all provide sufficient heat to spark a wildfire.
Although four out of five wildfires are started by people, nature is usually more than happy to help fan the flames. Dry weather and drought convert green vegetation into bone-dry, flammable fuel; strong winds spread fire quickly over land; and warm temperatures encourage combustion. When these factors come together all that's needed is a spark—in the form of lightning, arson, a downed power line, or a burning campfire or cigarette—to ignite a blaze that could last for weeks and consume tens of thousands of acres.
These violent infernos occur around the world and in most of the 50 states, but they are most common in the U.S. West, where heat, drought, and frequent thunderstorms create perfect wildfire conditions. Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and California experience some of the worst conflagrations in the U.S. In California wildfires are often made worse by the hot, dry Santa Ana winds, which can carry a spark for miles.
Firefighters fight wildfires by depriving them of one or more of the fire triangle fundamentals. Traditional methods include water dousing and spraying fire retardants to extinguish existing fires. Clearing vegetation to create firebreaks starves a fire of fuel and can help slow or contain it. Firefighters also fight wildfires by deliberately starting fires in a process called controlled burning. These prescribed fires remove undergrowth, brush, and ground litter from a forest, depriving a wildfire of fuel.
Although often harmful and destructive to humans, naturally occurring wildfires play an integral role in nature. They return nutrients to the soil by burning dead or decaying matter. They also act as a disinfectant, removing disease-ridden plants and harmful insects from a forest ecosystem. And by burning through thick canopies and brushy undergrowth, wildfires allow sunlight to reach the forest floor, enabling a new generation of seedlings to grow.
Environment Quizzes
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Video: Fighting Wildfires
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Russian Smokejumpers
Russia's aerial firefighting organization, with their mismatched uniforms and 50-year-old biplanes, do what their countrymen do so well: make do with less.
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From the Rocky Mountains to the coast of California, wildfires are burning bigger, hotter, and closer to home. Why is the West ablaze?
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The Green Guide
Tornado Video Goes Viral
Two friends narrowly escaped an EF2 tornado that injured nine in North Dakota.
Q&A: How to Survive Any Extreme Weather Disaster
Thomas Kostigen's new book offers survival guidelines for storms, floods, fires, and more.
Wildfire Pictures From Firefighters
Catch a glimpse of wildfires from a rare perspective, as firefighters open a window into their world.
Snowstorm vs. Blizzard
What makes a blizzard worse than an ordinary snowstorm?
Pictures of Record-Breaking Flooding
Summer floods have transformed roadways into raging rivers in the northeastern U.S.
Why Is Oklahoma So Tornado Vexed?
Unlike earthquakes, which are often followed by aftershocks, the storms that birth tornadoes are independent of one another.
Everest Has Deadliest Day Ever
The 2014 Mount Everest climbing season began with tragedy.
Wildfire Pictures
See heroic firefighters and breathtaking devastation shared with the #wildfire2014 tag on Your Shot.
Pictures: Ontake Volcano
Dozens of hikers died after a volcanic eruption in central Japan.
Tornadoes Highlight Strike Zone
Twisters across much of the South and Midwest highlight seasonal dangers in vast strike zone.
@NatGeoGreen on TwitterTweets by @NatGeoGreen
The Great Energy Challenge
What Is It?
An initiative to help you understand our current energy situation.
Personal Energy Meter
See how you measure up against others, and how changes at home could do tons to protect the planet.
Quiz: What You Don't Know About Energy
How much does it take to keep you cool in summer?
Help Save the Colorado River
NG's new Change the Course campaign launches. When individuals pledge to use less water in their own lives, our partners carry out restoration work in the Colorado River Basin.
Sustainability at National Geographic
The National Geographic Society aims to be an international leader for global conservation and environmental sustainability. Learn more about the Society's green philosophy and initiatives.


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Cats, dogs and other domesticated animals who have chronic illnesses or disabilities need loving homes just as much as other animals—if not more. The Will County Humane Society in Shorewood, Illinois, recently declared January its first unofficial "special needs" month to encourage people to adopt sick or disabled pets, according the The Herald-News.
"These guys need good homes too, and we want to see that they get them," Larry Ringbauer, the shelter's manager, told the news source. "They can't help the way they are."
The shelter is trying to find homes for a number of cats who suffer from feline leukemia virus (FeLV). The highly infectious virus can be passed between cats and so it is important that an adoptive owner not have other cats. Typically, cats who have been diagnosed with FeLV will develop a number of clinical signs as their health deteriorates, according to VCA Animal Hospitals. Cats infected with FeLV often develop other illnesses such as anemia and even lymphosarcoma cancer. There is no treatment for FeLV, and once cats have been diagnosed, their life expectancy drops significantly.
Felines living with FeLV and associated diseases may be more lethargic and less playful than otherwise healthy cats. They require more frequent veterinary care and often need long term medications in order to combat concurrent diseases. The Herald-News reports that a quiet, commotion-free environment is likely best for sick cats. Adopting a pet with a chronic illness may be challenging both emotionally and financially and these things should be carefully considered before adoption.


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'Holding People Accountable'
MAYVILLE – The number of welfare fraud arrests in Chautauqua County last year was significantly down compared to 2011. But the numbers are misleading, Sheriff Joe Gerace said.
The number of undeserving residents denied access to public assistance in the first place, though, is soaring, county officials say.
There were 35 welfare fraud arrests in 2012, which resulted in 76 charges. Gerace said most arrests lead to multiple charges. In 2011, the Sheriff's Department arrested 92 individuals defrauding the county's welfare system.
The sheriff, however, said the drop in arrests do not accurately reflect the number of welfare fraud cases currently being investigated. In fact, the number of arrests are nowhere near where they should be.
"We only have one investigator assigned to a backlog of cases," Gerace said, noting that a second investigator was slashed from his budget in 2011. "If we had another one helping out, the number of arrests would double or triple."
The county's lone investigator last year was assigned 207 potential welfare fraud cases, many of which are dated from 2011. Of those arrests, the county was defrauded $149,000.
"It's very frustrating because I was opposed to going to just one investigator," Gerace said.
In October, the sheriff unsuccessfully pitched the County Legislature to restore nine part-time and full-time deputies, including an additional welfare fraud investigator.
"I think the public is very supportive of holding people accountable," Gerace said. "They want to see those people brought to justice."
Christine Schuyler, Chautauqua County social services commissioner, said front-end fraud protection has surged in the last two years, saving the county millions of dollars in the process. In 2012 alone, she said, the county prevented $6.4 million in benefits from reaching the hands of those unqualified.
"We have been doing a better job of screening the applicants as they come in and finding those red flags in the process," Schuyler said. "We're then making the necessary referrals to our fraud investigators."
Proof of success on front-end detection is in the numbers. Last year the county made 3,300 referrals to its fraud investigation team; only 700 referrals were made in 2011.
Schuyler attributes the success to internal changes within the social services department.
"These changes are a way to stop fraud before it happens," she said. "We have a responsibility to the taxpayers to ensure only those who deserve the help are getting it."
Meanwhile, Andy Goodell, R-Chautauqua County, is one of many state lawmakers to target welfare fraud. "I think it's a serious issue, and it takes a number of different forms," he said.
Goodell has introduced numerous pieces of legislation aimed at curbing the number of welfare fraud cases in the state. Goodell currently is co-sponsoring the Public Assistance Integrity Act, which would bar cash benefit recipients from purchasing cigarettes, alcohol and lottery tickets. A matching bill in the state Senate passed in June.
In order to prevent welfare fraud, Goodell said vigilance is key. "We need help from the residents of the county," he said.
For example, Goodell said, if a benefits recipient turns down a job offer in order to remain on welfare, the recipient "could and should be kicked off."
"These people are stealing money from you and I," Goodell said. "Obviously all of us are concerned. The only way to get out of poverty is to get a job and get decent money and work your way up."