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First of all, I want to make it clear that this post is NOT about all white men, nor is it meant to be insulting or racist. If you are a white male who is offended, maybe this post if for you to ponder. And I damn sure do not want to hear anything about blacks and crime. That is not the topic of this post. It is about certain white men, their pathological behaviors that affect not just those locally but globally and the mindset and atmosphere created that supports, protects and uplifts them almost unconditionally.
There are a few articles that puts the spot light of pathology on white men, especially overprivileged white men with wealth and power. The first, written by Joe, come from Racism Review and talks about the economic crisis being the fault of most elite white men:
Unusual numbers of photos of elite white men are in the news lately, since the financial crisis hit. Almost all perpetrators of our "second great depression," as with the first, have been white men, white male business "geniuses," often with top-college educations. It is odd that no one yet, to my knowledge, has featured the whiteness or white-maleness of these malefactors of great wealth as a central feature of the life-devastating economic "problem" we face globally. One can be sure that if these agents of destruction were women or men of color that the reality of their gender and racial characteristics would be a constant topic of conversation by pundits and politicians, especially in the media.
Come to think of it, white men (they named themselves "white" in the 17th century) created the modern Western (now world) economic system. They created the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Or should we say, the Predatory Ethic and the Spirit of Exploitation. Arrogant greed seems to be a major motivation behind the labor/land expropriation and exploitation euphemized by historians as "overseas exploration" and "settlement." Certainly, white men created, expanded, and maintained the often genocidal taking of millions of indigenous peoples' lands in the Americas and the Holocaust-like Atlantic slave trade. Mostly white men created the oppressive realities of modern capitalism and North American slavery, and have made huge profits and wealth off of it, now passed along to their descendants.
In recent centuries, elite white men have caused much death and destruction, probably more than any other elite group on the planet. White men are certainly not the only major sources of "democide" and related despotism, but they do seem to lead the list. (Consider not only the many indigenous genocides and Atlantic slave trade, but the Holocaust, Soviet gulags, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two world wars). While white men are not alone in such actions, the consequences of their actions have been more far-reaching, especially for the planet in general than have those of despotic not-white actors.
White men set up the Western legal systems reinforcing modern capitalism and North American genocide targeting millions of indigenous Americans and enslavement of millions of African Americans. They created the white racial frame to explain and rationalize these savage operations. The white frame is a dominant worldview that a great many white men, including elite political-economic leaders, still seem to be operating out of as they today exploit the world's majority, the 80 percent of the planet that is not white.
And it was these self-named white men who reinvigorated a very strong white-patriarchal frame, with its "great chain of being" notions (God at top, then angels, then European men, then European women, then European children, then "other races," then animals). In the North American case, they easily extended this to the system of racial oppression they had devised for Native Americans and African Americans.
The white racial frame, which I have written about here before, is more than a framing of racial matters to legitimate oppressions. It is accents white virtues, especially white male virtues. It has a dramatic arrogance about what is virtue and what is not, about who is virtuous and who is not, and about where and when there is virtue. It assumes that an arrogant greed, a predatory spirit, an overarching patriarchism that means white men should be at the head of society, should be masters of the social universe.
Yet, it is the lack of virtue of a great many white men that has gotten the world's economy into this second depression. It is their stupidity, their lack of "IQ," their lack of foresight, their lack of political regulation and planning, and thus their lack of public-regardingness. A recent report on the "financial crisis and the systemic failure of academic economics" (by mostly European economists) makes quite clear the failure of the (substantially white male) economics profession to research and interpret the global financial crisis.
Why blame white men? Well, the men who gave us this global crisis are overwhelmingly white and "educated," often from top universities, but not very good in regard to critical thinking or the ethics of the "commons." Then, there is the white collar crime, or at least corruption, that many have apparently engaged in–so far rarely discussed. White collar crime and other corruption, economic and political, is pushed to margins of public discussion because this is the kind of behavior dominated by white men. Such actions are often seen as not criminal, as "normal," in part because white men wrote the laws about what is "serious" crime. They decided what is to be punished, and how much. Millions have lost their homes, jobs, incomes, and pensions, yet we rarely see elite white men targeted, photographed, or treated as criminals who stole or otherwise savaged lives–unlike hundreds of people of color who get such treatment by the media weekly.
Why blame white men? A reason, again, is that white men control the mass media corporations, and thus control how white men and their corruption get portrayed in society. They are the ones who force portrayals of this second depression as an economic reality for which "we are all responsible," a crisis "no particular group" created. Yet, there are real people, real white male actors, who did in fact create this horrific reality the world now faces.
The second article from Salon, written byDavid Sirota, discusses another problem, the tendency of white men arming themselves to shoot and kill as many people as possible before they – sometimes – kill themselves by the same weapon. With such acts of violence common in this society, it's any wonder why there isn't a discussion on white male crime. However, Sirota wonders if it's time to profile white men:
Yesterday, during a cable news discussion of gun violence and the Newtown school shooting, I dared mention a taboo truism. During a conversation on MSNBC's "Up With Chris Hayes," I said that because most of the mass shootings in America come at the hands of white men, there would likely be political opposition to initiatives that propose to use those facts to profile the demographic group to which these killers belong. I suggested that's the case because as opposed to people of color or, say, Muslims, white men as a subgroup are in such a privileged position in our society that they are the one group that our political system avoids demographically profiling or analytically aggregating in any real way. Indeed, unlike other demographic, white guys as a group are never thought to be an acceptable topic for any kind of critical discussion whatsoever, even when there is ample reason to open up such a discussion.
For making this point, I quickly became the day's villain in the right-wing media. From the Daily Caller, to Fox News, to Breitbart, to Glenn Beck's the Blaze, to all the right-wing blogs and Twitter feeds that echo those outlets' agitprop, I was attacked for "injecting divisive racial politics" into the post-Newtown discussion (this is a particularly ironic attack coming from Breitbart – the same website that manufactured the Shirley Sherrod fiasco).
The conservative response to my statement, though, is the real news here.
Let's review: Any honest observer should be able to admit that if the gunmen in these mass shootings mostly had, say, Muslim names or were mostly, say, African-American men, the country right now wouldn't be confused about the causes of the violence, and wouldn't be asking broad questions. There would probably be few queries or calls for reflection, and mostly definitive declarations blaming the bloodshed squarely on Islamic fundamentalism or black nationalism, respectively. Additionally, we would almost certainly hear demands that the government intensify the extant profiling systems already aimed at those groups.
Yet, because the the perpetrators in question in these shootings are white men and not ethnic or religious minorities, nobody is talking about demographic profiling them as a group. The discussion, instead, revolves around everything from gun control, to mental health services, to violence in entertainment — everything, that is, except trying to understanding why the composite of these killers is so similar across so many different massacres. This, even though there are plenty of reasons for that topic to be at least a part of the conversation.
Recounting the truth of these double standards is, of course, boringly mundane, which means my comment on television summarizing them is an equally boring and mundane statement of the obvious. However, as evidenced by the aggressive attempt to turn those comments into controversial headline-grabbing news over the weekend, the conservative movement has exposed its desperation — specifically, its desperation to preserve its White Victimization Mythology.
In this mythology, the white man as a single demographic subgroup can never be seen as a perpetrator and must always be portrayed as the unfairly persecuted scapegoat. In this mythology, to even reference an undeniable truth about how white privilege operates on a political level (in this case, to prevent a government profiling system of potential security threats even though such a system exists for other groups) is to be guilty of both "injecting divisive racial politics" and somehow painting one's "opponents as racist" — even when nobody called any individual a racist.
In this mythology, in short, to mention truths about societal double standards — truths that are inconvenient or embarrassing to white people — is to be targeted for attack by the right-wing media machine.
Last, but not least, is an excerpt from Alternet that's been getting a lot of hits. It was written by Frank Schaeffer who is a former right-wing evangelical. His article focuses on his grant old party who he believes is govern not by politics, but of raw fear. He calls it America's white male problem:
Not everyone who disagrees with the president is a racist. Not even most people who do are. But the continuous attempt by the white far-right in Congress to shut down the government rather than work with our black president has a lot to do with racism. And lurching from manufactured crisis to crisis isn't about politics; it's about pathology. It doesn't make sense politically to take the blame for risking America's future — and the Republicans know they will take the blame — so how can we conclude other than something else is going on here?
I'm not talking about the white young male mass murderers we're afflicted with carrying assault rifles courtesy of the NRA. I'm talking about the white far-right males who hijacked the 112th Congress and are set to destroy the 113th. They have metaphorically done to our country what the killer in Newtown literally did to 20 children, and for the same apparent reason: alienation from the mainstream and retreat to a paranoid delusional fantasy land of — literal — mental impairment.
This has less to do with politics and more to do with the fear and mental illness that grips a willfully ignorant minority of white males. But the mainstream media is talking about everything but the underlying racial, cultural and mental health issues afflicting the white male minority of far-right congressmen holding us all hostage. And the extreme insanity of the right-wing rhetoric over the last four years, from "birther" to Obama-is-a-Muslim etc., conclusively points to something other than politics.
The manufactured crisis we face are not about economics. These self-inflicted wounds are about a few people's fear of being marginalized.
It's not considered polite to mention race anymore. But I'm going to mention it anyway. We have a white problem.
The white Republican hijackers of our Congress talk about smaller federal government and out-of-control federal spending, states' rights and the Defense of Marriage Act. These are the defenders of 30-round magazines and personal arsenals, Kevlar-piercing cop-killing bullets, access to unlimited numbers of semiautomatic weapons and lethal handguns carried in public — all in the name of the Second Amendment.
The mainstream media doesn't have the courage to say it, but the Second Amendment "defense" is nothing to do with today's loud defense of "gun rights." The truth of the matter is that there is a subculture of frightened white Republicans who see their own government as a threat. They've embraced ignorance and a fact-free life that denies evolution, gay-rights, the demographic changes in America, and above all, the fact that their fellow countrymen have rescinded our entire history of racist bigotry and voted for a black man for president. They just can't accept this.
The common thread that runs through the Republicans' "issues" of the day has little to do with those issues per se. What it's really about is the fear of a future in which traditional white male power structures dissolve.
Simple palpable hatred drives these people to willful ignorance. The white males insisting on carrying guns (in a country where violent crime is way down!) are scared, not of muggers, but of the fact that their imaginary reality is coming unstuck.
The fact is that many flag-waving American Republican males these days are horribly unpatriotic. Not since the 1960s and the far-left of the Weather Underground have we seen people who hate America so deeply. Some of the Republican "patriots" hate this country so much they join secessionist movements and interpret their "right to bear arms" as a right to build personal arsenals against that day when the federal government comes to "take away our freedoms."
Were these articles meant to bring in an unrelenting sense of guilt onto the entire white male population? No. But these articles, all written by white male, are trying to address a problem that has been kept quiet for far too long. This is not to make white men be ashamed to be white men. This is to realize that the problem is not because of "other" people, referring to poor people and people of color from within or outside America's borders. Articles like these are responses to the constant scapegoating of the less powerful population which include poor white men.
It is not easy for some people to take this in. It's far easier to jump on the mainstream bandwagon. But in these times we can not afford to rely on simple, convenient lies and hope it will fix themselves. We need to tell it like it is, and hold those accountable.
What do you think?


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The Comedy About A Bank Robbery
Criterion Theatre, London.
More information about The Comedy About A Bank Robbery tickets
Running Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Breaking into its 3rd year, Mischief Theatre's smash-and-grab hit The Comedy About A Bank Robbery is a fast, fabulous comedy caper and the funniest show in the West End.
Summer 1958. Minneapolis City Bank has been entrusted with a priceless diamond. An escaped convict is dead set on pocketing the gem with the help of his screwball sidekick, trickster girlfriend? and the maintenance man. With mistaken identities, love triangles and hidden agendas, even the most reputable can't be trusted. In a town where everyone's a crook, who will end up bagging the jewel?
Book now for this dynamite comedy. It would be criminal to miss it!
★★★★★ "This is the funniest show in the West End" The Telegraph
★★★★★ "A fast and fabulous comedy caper is a joyful night out" The Times
Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre and starring the Mischief Theatre Company who brought you the Olivier Award-winning Best New Comedy "The Play That Goes Wrong" and "Peter Pan Goes Wrong".
Watch The Trailer
Production Shots
Important Information
·1.00 restoration levy (collected on behalf of the theatre) appears as part of the face value.
BOOKING PERIOD: Until 3 November 2019
PLEASE NOTE: The Criterion Theatre will be undergoing refurbishment works from 4 - 17th March 2019
PERFORMANCE TIMES: Tuesday - Saturday: 7.30pm, Sunday: 7pm, Saturday: 2.30pm and Sunday: 3pm
RUNNING TIME: 2 hours and 30 mins. (including interval)
AGE RESTRICTION: suitable for those aged 11+ (Moderate sexual innuendos throughout)
ACCESS PERFORMANCES: Sunday, 23rd September 2018 at 3pm - BSL Signed Performance
Saturday 10th November at 2.30pm - Audio Described Performance (Touch Tour at 12.30pm*)
Wednesday 31st October at 7.30 pm - Captioned performance
*Places on the Touch Tour must be booked in advance. Please e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com to reserve your place.
VENUE: The Criterion Theatre, 218-223 Piccadilly, St. James's, London W1V 9LB

subset: commoncrawl


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Tales from the storage frontier: What's next for flash, disk and tape
Disk spinning slower and slower
Flash is the new disk and disk is the new archive: so said an AOL presenter at Brocade's Techday summit. What was he smoking? Is this just spin?
I believe not. I believe we are seeing the dawning of a new storage age, one in which flash is used to store primary, tier one data; capacity disk is used to hold secondary and backup data; and tape once again becomes the archive data backstop. A simple trifecta of a scheme.
The outline of this trifecta is drawn from signals we have noted from companies at the storage frontier:
- EMC has slaughtered file TPC benchmarks with flash-heavy VNX systems. Huawei-Symantec riposted with a controller-heavy disk system but the direction is clear. No supplier wanting to head these rankings will submit a disk-based system anymore.
- The SPC-1 rankings are going to be dominated by flash systems, both in a performance sense and in a price/performance sense with outrageously impressive advances in price/performance by flash systems.
It simply will not matter how much disk, or how many spindles you throw at an I/O-intensive storage workload. Flash can service I/Os an order of magnitude faster and do so more cheaply. Seek and ye shall ... No, you've got it wrong. You don't need to seek any more in a world where primary data doesn't need to wait to be accessed by a disk read/write head.
For bulk data storage in the 100s of TB area, flash cannot match disk for cost. Even if 2-bit multi-level cell flash gives way to 3-bit, the rate of disk areal density increase will continue to give disk an advantage. Seagate has just announced terabyte 3.5-inch platter technology and can soon deliver a 3-platter, 3TB drive and, if it cares to do so, a 5TB, 5-platter drive.
The way forward is clear. For enterprise primary data, flash will be the medium with everything else on disk – either SAS or SATA 10K and 7.2K rpm disk. There will be no need for faster drives. Whatever residual need there is will be for small businesses that don't need or can't afford a flash premium, and enterprise apps in a similar situation. Hybrid drives, ones with flash caches, will be a higher performance option, for disks where both capacity and speed are needed.
At the other end of the spectrum, disk will be used for longer and longer-term data storage, especially where virtualised IT environments need fast movement of data between locations in and between data centres, as in cloud computing schemes. But disk, constantly online disk, is always at risk of propagated data errors: witness the Googlemail episode.
The only thing that brought Google out of the hole it was in was a set of Oracle StreamLine 8500 tape libraries and LTO-5 tape. Offline but ready to use in massive tape libraries, tape is the ultimate backstop. It is the data centre's lifebelt and lifeboat. Without it, when the data loss/data corruption storm strikes, you are sunk. It's that simple.
Tape is as glamorous as a box of tissues. But when you need them then, boy, you really need them.
Tape's cost/GB stored blows disk away. Tape's reliability, with today's media and pre-emptive media integrity-checking library software is far higher than disk. Tape cartridges don't crash. Tape cartridges aren't spinning all the time, drawing electricity constantly, vibrating themselves slowly to death, generating heat that has to be chilled, and – most importantly – are not always online, always susceptible to lightning-quick data over-writing by dud data or file deletion.
Tape is cheap, safe and reliable and there is no substitute, except if you're prepared to gamble that your disks will be safe. Ask Google how that would have played out. Ask Amazon why it lost data in its outage and why VMware did the same. Tape is the shelter you need in tornado alley – and every data centre with disk drive arrays is located in tornado alley.
These are the three tales from the storage frontier: flash for speed; disk for bulk secondary and backup data; tape for the archival backstop. That's the coming storage trifecta we're seeing. ®


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PROVIDENCE, R.I., Aug. 7 (UPI) -- No batteries necessary -- or humans! New robots created by a team of researchers from Harvard and MIT can assemble and begin crawling all on their own.
"We demonstrated this process by building a robot that folds itself and walks away without human assistance," said Sam Felton, a Ph.D. candidate at Harvard University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the lead author of the study, featured in the latest edition of the journal Science.
The robots have been dubbed Origami robots because their self-assemblage is more like self-folding. The robot starts out flat, but embedded in the thin sheet are creases made of a polymer that bend on their own when heated.
"The exciting thing here is that you create this device that has computation embedded in the flat, printed version," explained Daniela Rus, an MIT researcher who helped create the Origami robots. "And when these devices lift up from the ground into the third dimension, they do it in a thoughtful way."
Rus and her colleagues previously built self-assembling modular cube robots called M-Blocks as well as a robot that sprang to life when it was baked in the oven. The latest research builds on that easy-bake robot, only this time the heat is delivered via electric circuits.
"That's exciting from a geometry standpoint," MIT researcher Erik Demaine said, "because it lets us fold more things. Because we can do the sequencing, we have a lot more control. And it lets us make active folding structures. Instead of just self-assembly, you can then make it walk."
Though the robot starts flat, it is actually five separate layers of materials: a middle copper layer, two structural layers of paper, and then two outer layers made of shape-memory polymer (the part that folds when heated).
The idea is to be able to create something complex through simple methods and using lightweight, easily transportable material. Researchers say, with the Origami robot, they've done just that.
"These robots are inexpensive and [their] layered composites can be built faster than equivalent 3-D printed structures," Felton said.


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Law firms in China commend Projects Abroad interns
Projects Abroad now offers the chance to do an internship with a Law firm in a truly unique environment. There are a wide variety of legal areas in which interns work, including corporate, financial and criminal law. All placements are based in Shanghai.
James Fones of Grandall Legal Group - based in Shanghai - wrote to Projects Abroad recently to praise the work done by our interns. He said: "Working with interns from Projects Abroad has been educational for both of us. Each intern in his / her own capacity brought with them superb skills and resources. Even the high school interns were top notch and contributed to our firm. The university and post graduate level interns were qualified to work with any firm in the international community. Projects Abroad should be proud of its selection criteria and the results. I have never been let down by an intern. On the contrary, my business client's enjoy working with the teams and our reputation is enhanced by them."
The firm focuses on M & A's and IPO's. In addition, as the Foreign Legal Consultant, they work on funding and start-up companies in need of financial support. The firm's Attorneys are the best China has to offer and are not shy in asking the interns to participate at all levels of business transactions. An effort is made to tailor projects for the interns in accordance with their personal education specialty and goals. This allows the interns to grow in the field of their choice. In addition, introduction to Chinese business and social customs is emphasised so the interns may return with knowledge that is immediately useful in their respective countries.
For further details please look at our project website www.internship-law-china.org. Alternatively please look at our Human Rights Law website www.volunteer-human-rights-ghana.org.
Set up in 1992, Projects Abroad specialises in offering students and others a diverse range of projects and destinations throughout Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Projects Abroad offers 80 different placements to 3,500 volunteers per year in areas such as sport, medicine, teaching, conservation, journalism, care, business and community development.
Notes to Editors
Photograph within release shows an intern at Longan Law firm
Additional photographs and interviews with Projects Abroad volunteers are available upon request.
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No. 97,671
THOMAS P. ROONEY, A/K/A THOMAS PATRICK ROONEY, et al.,
A judgment lien under K.S.A. 60-2202 does not attach to or affect a homestead as defined under both K.S.A. 60-2301 and Article 15, section 9 of the Kansas Constitution.
Appeal from Johnson District Court; GERALD T. ELLIOTT, judge. Opinion filed June 20, 2008. Affirmed.
G. Gordon Atcheson, of The Atcheson Law Office, of Westwood, and Mark D. Hagen, of Law Office of Mark Hagen, of Mission, for appellants.
Thomas J. Fritzlen, Jr., of Martin, Leigh, Laws & Fritzlen, P.C., of Kansas City, Missouri, for appellee.
Before MARQUARDT, P.J., CAPLINGER and LEBEN, JJ.
LEBEN, J.: From the time our state was founded, Kansas has had a constitutional provision prohibiting creditors from forcing a sale of a family's homestead. Similar language has been included in statutes, and the Kansas Supreme Court has broadly interpreted them over the years. Even though court judgments generally constitute a lien against real estate, the Kansas Supreme Court determined in 1869 that a judgment lien had no effect against a homestead. Morris v. Ward, 5 Kan. 239, 244 (1869). Two judgment lienholders now claim that their liens became effective against a homestead at the time judgment was entered; they argue that amendments to the statutes over the years call for a different result here. But we find no indication that the Kansas Legislature intended to change this bedrock principle of Kansas law. We therefore reaffirm longstanding caselaw that a judgment lien does not affect a homestead.
The Creditors Compete for Priority over the Sale Proceeds of Rooney's Homestead.
Thomas Rooney entered into a mortgage on his residence with Ameriquest Mortgage Company in December 2004. The Kansas homestead exemption allows liens by consent against a homestead, and a home mortgage is the classic example of a consensual homestead lien. Rooney defaulted on his loan with Ameriquest in February 2005. Ameriquest had assigned the mortgage to Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, and Deutsche Bank filed a foreclosure petition against Rooney in December 2005.
Kathleen Rooney, who is Rooney's ex-wife, and Nu-Dell Manufacturing Company compete as creditors with Deutsche Bank for the proceeds from the sale of Rooney's home. Rooney owed Kathleen $5,000 per month in support under a 2002 divorce decree; he stopped making those payments in May 2004. Once he stopped making those payments, the delinquent amounts became judgments against him and--unless precluded by the homestead exemption--would have become judgment liens against any real estate he owned in the county where the judgment was entered. See Brieger v. Brieger, 197 Kan. 756, Syl. ¶ 2, 421 P.2d 1 (1966). Nu-Dell had a dispute with Rooney's business, and Nu-Dell won a $38,047 judgment in 2004 against him as the guarantor of the business' debt. Thus, both Kathleen and Nu-Dell were judgment creditors against Rooney before Deutsche Bank filed its mortgage-foreclosure petition in December 2005.
K.S.A. 60-2202(a) provides that "[a]ny judgment . . . shall be a lien on the real estate of the judgment debtor within the county in which judgment is rendered." Both judgments were entered in Johnson County, where Rooney owned his home. A judgment lien is said generally to "attach" to the debtor's real estate when the judgment is rendered (or up to 4 months before judgment is entered under K.S.A. 60-2202[a]), which gives the judgment-lien creditor a right to force the sale of the property to collect the judgment. See Caple v. Warburton, 125 Kan. 290, 294-95, 264 P. 47 (1928); Black's Law Dictionary 845 (6th ed. 1990); Black's Law Dictionary 667 (2d ed. 1910). Obtaining the benefit of a judgment lien, then, is a two-step process. First, the lien must attach to the real estate. Second, the lien may be enforced through some judicial proceeding. Kathleen and Nu-Dell would have had liens against Rooney's home that predated the mortgage unless the homestead exemption somehow precluded that result.
Against this background, Kathleen and Nu-Dell make a clever argument: their liens attached to the real estate when their judgments were rendered, and the homestead exemption merely prevents them from enforcing or levying those judgments as long as the property remains a homestead or until a mortgage creditor brings a foreclosure proceeding. They base this argument on the specific language of the present statutory homestead exemption, K.S.A. 60-2301, which provides that "[a] homestead . . . shall be exempted from forced sale . . . ." (Emphasis added.) Kathleen and Nu-Dell argue that they are not forcing the sale but that the mortgage holder is forcing it, which the homestead exemption does not bar. Once the mortgage holder has brought a foreclosure proceeding, however, Kathleen and Nu-Dell claim that their judgment liens should take priority over the later mortgage because their judgments attached before the mortgage.
The district court granted summary judgment to Deutsche Bank based on longstanding caselaw that a judgment lien does not attach to a homestead. The underlying facts are not disputed in this case, and the only issue is whether a judgment lien can attach to homestead property. Where facts are not disputed, an appellate court reviews a summary judgment order without deference to the district court's ruling. Botkin v. Security State Bank, 281 Kan. 243, 248, 130 P.3d 92 (2006).
I. Longstanding Caselaw Remains Valid: Judgment Liens Do Not Attach to a Homestead.
The district court is right that longstanding caselaw supports the proposition that judgment liens do not attach to or affect homestead property. E.g., Morris v. Ward, 5 Kan. 239, 244 (1869); Elwell v. Hitchcock, 41 Kan. 130, 132, 21 P. 109 (1889); First Nat'l Bank v. Tyler, 130 Kan. 308, 310, 286 Pac. 400 (1930); Jones v. St. Francis Hosp. & School of Nursing, 225 Kan. 649, 653, 594 P.2d 162 (1979); In re Marriage of Beardslee, 22 Kan. App. 2d 787, 792, 922 P.2d 1128, rev. denied 260 Kan. 993 (1996); Pierce v. Bohannon, 25 Kan. App. 2d 652, 653-54, 967 P.2d 359, rev. denied 266 Kan. 1109 (1999); Bank of Blue Valley v. Plaza Media, Inc., No. 92,937, unpublished opinion filed Sept. 29, 2006. Kathleen and Nu-Dell recognize the rule stated in these cases, but they insist that all these cases trace their roots to the 1869 decision in Morris, which they contend arose under significantly different statutes governing the reach of judicial liens.
We find their argument unpersuasive for several reasons. First, although Kathleen and Nu-Dell suggest that the present statutory scheme is quite different from the one at issue in Morris, we find it essentially unchanged after almost 140 years. Second, under the current statutory scheme, the Kansas Supreme Court has interpreted the homestead exemption to prevent a judgment lien even from attaching to a homestead in 1979 while the statutes were essentially in their present form. Jones, 225 Kan. 649. Although Kathleen and Nu-Dell argue that the court simply relied on Morris, the Jones decision is still a valid precedent. Third, even if the statutory scheme had changed in some substantive way, Morris supports a conclusion that the court interpreted the statutory homestead provision consistent with the constitutional provision, which has not changed.
A. The Present Statutory Scheme Is Essentially Unchanged from the Morris Court's Interpretation in 1869, So Morris and Later Cases Citing It Remain Valid Precedents.
Kathleen and Nu-Dell claim that the present statutory scheme is quite different from the one in place when Morris was decided in 1869, but that contention is not supported by our review of the statutes over time. We must begin our analysis with the Morris decision.
In that case, the Wards sold their homestead to Morris, claiming it was free of any encumbrance. But John Ward had mortgaged the property, and a judgment had also been entered against him. The issue in Morris was whether the mortgage and the judgment were encumbrances against the property.
In addressing that claim, the Kansas Supreme Court considered two possible constructions for the Kansas homestead law, which at that time was identical in both its constitutional and statutory form. The first view was that the occupation of property as a homestead merely suspends the operation of any liens. Under that view, any lien "springs full-grown into practical and effective operation" when the property ceases to be a homestead. 5 Kan. at 243-44. The court rejected that view, noting that the framers of the constitutional homestead exemption did not intend to give homesteads "such slight and fragile safeguards." 5 Kan. at 244. The court instead adopted a different view, which was that "no [e]ncumbrance or lien or interest can ever attach to or affect the homestead, except the ones specifically mentioned in the constitution. . . . These are liens for taxes, for the purchase money, for improvements made on the homestead, and liens given by the 'joint consent of the husband and wife.'" (Emphasis added.) 5 Kan. at 244.
The court addressed in detail the applicable statutes then in effect, sections 432 and 433 of chapter 26 of the Kansas Compiled Laws of 1862. Section 433 is a precurser to the present judgment-lien statute, K.S.A. 60-2202; it provided that the lands of a debtor in the county where a judgment was entered were bound in satisfaction of that judgment. Section 432 provided that "[l]ands, tenements, goods and chattels, not exempt by law, shall be subject to the payment of debts, and shall be liable to be taken on execution and sold, as hereinafter provided." Comp. L. 1862, ch. 26, sec. 432. The Morris court specifically read these sections in tandem in rejecting the argument that a judgment lien lies dormant on homestead property until that property is abandoned as a homestead. The court concluded that, per section 432, liens can only attach to property not exempt by law. 5 Kan. at 246-47. Thus liens never attached to homesteads because they were exempt property.
Kathleen and Nu-Dell maintain that section 432 has no modern counterpart. Based on this premise, they argue that while section 432 prevented a homestead in 1869 from being subject to the payment of judgment debts, no current statutory language prevents it. Thus, their liens would have attached when the judgments were entered. But their factual premise is incorrect: section 432 from the Compiled Laws of 1862 has retained a place in the statute books ever since. In the 1868 General Statutes of Kansas, the sections on judgment liens and on executions, with its reference to exempt property, moved farther apart, with judgment liens in section 419 and executions in section 443. Section 443 was identical to section 432 from the 1862 statutes. See G.S. 1868, ch. 80, sec. 443. The same concept is retained in today's K.S.A. 60-2401(d), which provides that "a general execution shall be levied upon any real or personal nonexempt property of the judgment debtor." Thus, the 1862 statutes provided that execution of judgments for nonpayment of debts could not reach exempt property; so too today's statutes and those in between. See Comp. L. 1862, ch. 26, sec. 432; G.S. 1909, § 6035 ("Lands, tenements, goods and chattles, not exempt by law, shall be subject to the payment of debts, and shall be liable to be taken on execution . . . ."); G.S. 1935, 60-3403 (same); G.S. 1949, 60-3403 (same); K.S.A. 60-2401(d) (execution may be levied "upon . . . nonexempt property of the judgment debtor"). Similarly, the 1862 statutes provided that a judgment lien attached to lands of the debtor in the county where the judgment was entered; so too today's statutes and those in between. See Comp. L. 1862, ch. 26, sec. 433 ("The lands and tenements of the debtor, within the county where the judgment is entered, shall be bound for the satisfaction thereof."); G.S. 1909, § 6011 ("Judgments . . . shall be liens on the real estate of the debtor within the county in which judgment is rendered."); G.S. 1935, 60-3126 (same); G.S. 1949, 60-3126 (same); K.S.A. 60-2202(a) ("Any judgment . . . shall be a lien on the real estate of the judgment debtor within the county in which judgment is rendered.").
Because the relevant statutes are essentially the same today as they have been throughout our state's history, Morris remains good law.
The only cases that have distinguished between the attachment of a lien and the ability to force a sale have arisen in the context of tax liens, which are exceptions to the homestead exemption. In Homestead Land Title Co. v. United States, 249 Kan. 569, 819 P.2d 660 (1991), the Kansas Supreme Court did note the distinction between attachment and forced sale, stating that "[t]he Homestead Exemption does not discuss whether a lien can attach." 249 Kan. at 574. But when the court revisited a similar issue 2 years later in Bank of Kansas v. Davison, 253 Kan. 780, 861 P.2d 806 (1993), it clarified its position by highlighting that the decision in Homestead turned on the special status of tax liens under the homestead exemption. The court concluded, "In Homestead, we clearly placed the sales tax lienholder above the status of a general lien creditor." 253 Kan. at 792. Homestead and Bank of Kansas thus fall in line with Morris and Jones. Read together, these cases support the conclusion that judgment liens in Kansas do not attach to homestead property, regardless of whether the property is subject to forced sale, unless the lien is one of the three types specifically excepted from the homestead exemption.
B. Kansas Supreme Court Decisions Interpreting Judgment Liens to Have No Effect on a Homestead Are Entitled to Precedential Deference.
The 1979 holding in Jones undercuts Kathleen and Nu-Dell's argument that the result in Morris does not apply under the modern statutes because Jones arose under current statutory provisions. In Jones, the court concluded that a judgment against the debtor "did not become a lien on the homestead." 225 Kan. at 653. Although court decisions that construe a statute are no longer considered "part of the warp and the woof of the legislation," Francis v. Southern Pacific Co., 333 U.S. 445, 450, 92 L. Ed. 798, 68 S. Ct. 611 (1948), the state's highest court's interpretation of a statute is a particularly strong precedent, generally meaning that it is left to the legislature, not the courts, to make further changes. See Eskridge, Frickey & Garrett, Legislation and Statutory Interpretation pp. 284-90 (2d ed. 2006). Of course, the Court of Appeals must follow Kansas Supreme Court precedent absent some indication that court is changing its position. State v. Merrills, 37 Kan. App. 2d 81, 83, 149 P.3d 869, rev. denied 284 Kan. 949 (2007).
Further, we have already demonstrated that the statutory scheme has not changed in any essential way since the Morris decision. From Morris to Jones, the Kansas Supreme Court has consistently interpreted the reach of judgment liens under similar statutes. Because the statutory scheme has remained essentially the same throughout these years, those precedents also support continued adherence to the rule that judgment liens do not attach against a homestead. We see no reason to conclude, as Kathleen and Nu-Dell suggest, that these precedents are outdated or that they have been superseded by statutory changes.
C. Even if the Statutory Scheme Has Changed in Some Way, the Homestead Exemption Statute Has Been Interpreted in Part Based on its Unchanged Constitutional Counterpart.
The constitutional homestead exemption has not changed in any material way since the Morris decision, and its language has significantly influenced the interpretation of related statutes. To the extent that the statutory homestead exemption is interpreted in similar ways to its constitutional counterpart, the absence of a material change to the constitutional provision also suggests that the statute continue to be interpreted as it has been since Morris.
The court in Morris noted that interpreting section 433 (the precursor to the judgment lien statute now found in K.S.A. 60-2202) to mean that a judgment creditor has a lien on a homestead that can be enforced once the homestead is abandoned would be "in direct conflict with the spirit of the constitution, if not with the letter." 5 Kan. at 247. The court posited that allowing a lien to attach, even without enforcement rights, would prevent families from changing homesteads and perhaps prohibit them from acquiring new homesteads--an outcome contrary to the policy behind the homestead protection, which was to protect families from destitution. 5 Kan. at 247-48. The Kansas Supreme Court has continued to note that "[t]he homestead exemption in K.S.A. 60-2301 is derived from" the constitutional homestead exemption. Redmond v. Kester, 284 Kan. 209, Syl. ¶ 2, 159 P.3d 1004 (2007). It has also broadly interpreted the homestead exemption statute, in part based on the liberal construction given to the constitutional counterpart. 284 Kan. 209, Syl. ¶¶ 1, 2; see West v. Grove, 139 Kan. 361, 366, 31 P.2d 10 (1934); Stowell v. Kerr, 72 Kan. 330, 331, 83 P. 827 (1905). The interpretation of the Morris court, to which we continue to adhere, is in keeping with these interpretive principles.
We note that Kathleen and Nu-Dell have suggested that Rooney was entitled only to the statutory homestead exemption and was not covered by the constitutional provision. This is because they contend that Rooney was a single person and not entitled to the benefit of the constitutional protection when a homestead is "occupied as a residence by the family of the owner." (Emphasis added.) Kan. Const. Art. 15, § 9. After the Kansas Supreme Court declared that the constitutional homestead exemption's failure to cover single homeowners was constitutional, Beard v. Montgomery Ward & Co., 215 Kan. 343, 350, 524 P.2d 1159 (1974), the statutory homestead exemption was amended to include them. L. 1980, ch. 176, sec. 2 (providing homestead exemption for "the owner" whether residing with or without a family). While no similar change has been made to the constitutional provision, that does not suggest that potential benefits under the exception have been substantively changed for those to whom the exemption applies.
Kathleen and Nu-Dell have presumably argued that the constitutional provision is not applicable since it clearly has not been amended in any relevant way since the days of Morris. As we have noted, though, cases from Morris through Redmond suggest that the statutory homestead exemption must be interpreted in a manner consistent with the constitutional provision from which it is derived. In any event, however, this argument rests on a false premise. Even if Kathleen and Nu-Dell are right that the constitutional provision does not aid the single homeowner, Rooney was still part of a family while he resided in this home. He had joint custody of his children, and he testified that they lived with him at his home. No more is required to obtain the benefit of the constitutional homestead exemption, under which the definition of family has been liberally construed. See In re Estate of Phillipe, 23 Kan. App. 2d 436, 933 P.2d 151, rev. denied 262 Kan. 961 (1997) (protecting homestead exemption for the decedent's estate even though the decedent had moved to nursing home before his death, finding that his adult son was still part of the decedent's family even though the son did not occupy residence continuously from minority on). In addition, we find no relevant difference between the constitutional exemption and the statutory one on the issue before us.
II. This Case Is Not Moot.
Deutsche Bank has argued that this case is moot because Kathleen and Nu-Dell failed to file a petition or cross-claim seeking adjudication of their liens. In support, Deutsche Bank cites Fidelity Bank v. King, 33 Kan. App. 2d 804, 109 P.3d 180 (2005), aff'd 281 Kan. 1278, 136 P.3d 465 (2006). In that case, a junior mortgage holder was served with a petition and summons in a foreclosure action brought by the senior mortgage holder. The junior mortgage holder did not answer or otherwise plead, and this failure waived the junior mortgage holder's rights to surplus sale proceeds. 281 Kan. at 1283-86.
Our case is quite different. Kathleen and Nu-Dell both filed answers, something the junior mortgage holder in Fidelity Bank did not do. In addition, Kathleen and Nu-Dell filed for summary judgment, specifically claiming that their lien had priority over Deutsche Bank's mortgage. Because the district court denied their motion and awarded priority to Deutsche Bank, the actual controversy remains. Even though the property has been sold, the controversy is not moot because it relates to the order in which the parties are entitled to proceeds from the foreclosure sale.
Deutsche Bank separately argues that Kathleen and Nu-Dell have acquiesced in the judgment of the district court by failing to bid on the property at the foreclosure sale and by not seeking a stay of the judgment through the posting of a supersedeas bond, which would have stayed the judgment on appeal. Deutsche offers no legal authority for this assertion, and our court has recently held that failure to participate in the foreclosure sale or to seek a stay does not constitute acquiescence in the judgment. Citifinancial Mortgage Co. v. Clark, 39 Kan. App. 2d 149, 155-57, 177 P.3d 986 (2008).
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.


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Keith talked about tomorrow's vote on the Defense Authorization bill and the Lady Gaga rally. Richard Socarides explained what's going on with DADT repeal and the forces working against it. Their strategy is stall and delay. If we don't succeed, he said, "it will be a horrific fraud on the American people and really a massive failure of leadership at the Pentagon, at Congress and even at the White House because they waited too long." Yep. Massive failure.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Oh, the White House did issue statement supporting the Defense bill today. Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade got it:
"The National Defense Authorization Act is a good bill that is important for the overall health and well being of our forces, especially given the ongoing campaigns in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world," White House spokesperson Shin Inouye said in a statement. "This legislation received bipartisan support in the House and in the Senate Armed Services Committee and the President hopes it receives similar bipartisan support in the Senate."
You might have thought something of this import, you know, the Defense Authorization bill while we're fighting two wars, would warrant a statement from the President. Nope. Shin took care of it. Actually, from what I've been able to glean, that statement is pretty much the entire lobbying effort from the White House on the Defense bill and DADT repeal. Massive failure.
UPDATE @ 10:39 PM: Shortly after I wrote this post, I was informed by someone involved with this process that the White House is not lobbying fence-sitting senators to reach the magic 60 votes. Here's what I was told:
As we all know, without a fierce effort and person-to-person advocacy from Obama himself (or at least his senior-most staff), Senators have little reason to change their minds and support debating the Defense Authorization bill. Never did I think I'd see the day when Lady Gaga would do more to advocate for repeal of DADT than our president who campaigned on equality.
It's stunning really. And, they wonder why the base is depressed.


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Bryanna Clark Grogan's Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 21st Century Table: The kitchen journal of a vegan food writer.. I'm on Facebook and Twitter (see links in sidebar at right).
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Yes, the Lunar New Year (which we usually think of as "Chinese New Year")-- this year the Year of the Metal Tiger (DH's year), and it falls on Valentine's Day. I thought it might be fun to combine the two together, so, on Saturday, I'm hosting one of our vegan dinner parties, with five vegan couples all contributing to the dinner. It also happens to be one of our group's birthday (not mine!).
I'm going to be cooking quite a bit in the next 2 days (and housecleaning!), but check back for a post about the party. This is going to be a rather short blog post today, as it's getting late. We had a power outage today (wind storm!) and I haven't been able to get online all afternoon and evening until now.
Just in case you like my idea, here's some research I did for the party: Valentine's Day harkens back to the Ides of February in ancient Rome-- the Feast of Lupercalia. Young men chose small papers, on which were written young women's names, out of a large urn. The chosen couples would be sweethearts or erotic partners (depending on your source!) for the coming year. Since the early Church could not seem to eradicate this custom, it chose to Christianize by making it the feast day of the apocryphal St. Valentine. (Some Valentine's Day customs also recall those of the old Irish and English festivals of Brigid's Day/Candlemas or Beltane/May Day.)
In all of these European cultures, great stock was put on various aphrodisiac foods, and almonds were one of those. It's convenient for our purposes on this double holiday that almonds are much used in Asian cuisines!
On Lunar New Year's Eve there is a huge family feast for as many members of the family as possible. The children get to stay awake all night, because the Chinese believe that the longer the children stay awake, the longer their parents will live! (Better not let that get around!)
The color red is associated with both holidays, which is also very convenient for us (for decorating purposes). Red is a good luck color in Asia, so you see red everywhere. The table for the feast is set with a red cloth and red candles. And, surprise, surprise-- it is traditionally a vegetarian feast, on the first day, anyway (the celebration lasts for several days). No meat is served because harm would have to be caused to obtain meat and this would be bad luck.
While the grown-ups enjoy a long meal, the children play games and ask riddles. They usually also receive gifts of "lucky money" (lai see) wrapped in red paper envelopes. The giving of gold-wrapped chocolate "coins" is a modern-day custom, but one that serves our mixed holiday well, as chocolate is a well-known Valentine commodity (with purported aphrodisiac qualities).
Fireworks are a big part of the celebration in China, but they're illegal here, so we'll have to make do with sparklers!
My stepson Sean is in Beijing right now, visiting an old friend of his who has a filming business there. Here he is posing with ALOT of fireworks:
The belief is that whatever happens on New Year's day will influence the rest of the year, so everyone is very careful to say and do the right things, to think good thoughts and speak kind words. Visitors are offered gifts of sweets and fruit. The house is cleaned thoroughly and lots of food made ahead. Red and orange scrolls with Chinese characters conveying messages of good health, good, luck, long life, prosperity, and happiness, and flowers and pyramids of fruit decorate the houses. Oranges, kumquats and apples are the usual fruit, since apples are symbols of good luck and apples and oranges are both round (another lucky symbol) and are red and orange— colors of joy! (Apples are often known as "forbidden fruit" in Western mythology, which would add the requisite frisson of eroticism to the mixed festivities.) Sweet things are for the sweetness of life; dumplings and stuffed foods represent wealth; long, uncut noodles are for longevity.
Lots room for creativity there!
I had a tough time finding decorations in our small shopping area, but I managed to find some small paper lanterns, one big red and gold Chinese paper lantern, some of those little paper umbrellas, some sparklers, a paper dragon, and some gold-wrapped chocolate coins. I'm making some dark chocolate truffles with orange and ginger, and I found some red foil candy cups for them (they were all out of gold cups). These truffles will decorate an orange/ginger chocolate cake with chocolate/orange mousse filling and chocolate glaze.
So far, I know we have a yuba dish, a rice dish, an eggplant dish and a noodle dish coming. I'll make some plain rice, of course, and I have some flowering tea for a treat (read about it here!), but I'm still trying to decide on the other dishes (besides the cake and truffles). Gyoza (potstickers), I'm pretty sure.
Flowering Tea
Gyoza (potstickers)
"Buddha's Chicken"
Maybe "Buddha's Chicken" or "Buddha's Roast Duck"; maybe Lion's Head (a braised dish of "meatballs" and cabbage). Other possibilities (it depends on what I have in the house!)are: Pineapple Sweet and Sour "Pork"; Chinese Mushroom/Rice "Sausage"; Stir-Fried Vegetarian "Duck" with Chili, Bell Pepper and Black Beans (all these recipes are from my Chinese cookbook). I should do something with almonds!
On several sites I read that fresh tofu and other white foods (except for rice, obviously) are not served during the New Year's festivities because white is considered unlucky for New Year, as the color signifies death and misfortune.So I was thinking that you could use marinated or baked or smoked tofu, or bean curd skin (yuba) in your vegetarian feast. But Eve+line commented: "There is no such taboo about tofu or white colour food. In fact it's common to use tofu and other "white foods" (like radishes; scallops) in Chinese New Year dishes. However, we usually stir-fry or braise tofu with lots of other colourful foods so the white colour is not an issue at all.
In fact it is traditional for Singaporean Chinese to have "steamboat" during the Chinese New Year Eve, and the meal will feature lots of "white food" like tofu, enoki mushrooms and meat dumplings." Perhaps it is different according to region-- I don't know. But I'm relieved that she wrote in about that!
I'll be back in a few days with a report, pics and recipes!
Kung Hey Fah Choy!
32 comments:
- eve+line said...
"I have to be honest and tell you that fresh tofu and other white foods (except for rice, obviously) are not served during the New Year's festivities because white is considered unlucky for New Year, as the color signifies death and misfortune."
This is not true. There is no such taboo about tofu or white colour food. In fact it's common to use tofu and other "white foods" (like radishes; scallops) in Chinese New Year dishes. However, we usually stir-fry or braise tofu with lots of other colourful foods so the white colour is not an issue at all.
In fact it is traditional for Singaporean Chinese to have "steamboat" during the Chinese New Year Eve, and the meal will feature lots of "white food" like tofu, enoki mushrooms and meat dumplings.
Happy New Year and Gong Xi Gong Xi!
- Thu Feb 11, 11:12:00 PM PST
Are you trying to use Cantonese or Mandarin? In any case, it's wrong. Such is the danger of celebrating a holiday that isn't yours.
Also, a lot of the New Year traditions you mention aren't followed by the Taiwanese. It might help if you note that these are customs that might not be followed today, or if you note what region in China these traditions are followed in.
- Fri Feb 12, 08:13:00 AM PST
- Bryanna Clark Grogan said...
eve+line, I'm relieved to hear that tofu is not a problem! Perhaps it is different in different regions. Anyway, I'm going to quote you when I amend that part of my post.
I found that information at these sites:
Thanks for your info!
Happy New Year to you and yours!
- Fri Feb 12, 09:39:00 AM PST
- Bryanna Clark Grogan said...
Anonymous said:
#1) "Are you trying to use Cantonese or Mandarin? In any case, it's wrong."
My answer:
You only have to go online to find a number of different spellings, which are all phonetic. I grew up in San Francisco and always saw it spelled "Gung Hay Fat Choy". I thought the "Kung Hey Fah Choy" looked better, so I used that.
One poster on the above forum writes: "I wonder why people don't spell Gung Hey (or Hay) Fat Choy the way it is actually pronounced in Cantonese. The way people spell it makes people say it like that. Well, I am hear to say you are not supposed to say Gung Hey (Hay) Fat Choy! I cringe and laugh when I hear people say it wrong or when I am watching the San Francisco Chinese New Year parade. It is a bit hard to spell it the way you say it but I hope the way I spell it here helps. "Goung Heyy Fought Choy" or "Goung Hayy Fought Choy." By the way, in my dialect, it is pronounced "Goung Hayy (or Heyy) Fought Toy."...I am not sure if the spelling is right but it is much better then which you usually find."
Another answers: "That's because English is not very alphabetic, especially with the vowel.
'Gung Hey Fat Choy' seems to be an attempt to read it somehow alphabetically. Consider 'u' as in 'pu' and 'a' as in 'farm'.
'Goung Heyy Fought Choy' would be an approximation from American English (I see from the 'fought'). I don't think you can be exact. 'Toy' sounds like Taishanese. "
I'll repeat that poster-- "I don't think you can be exact. "
- Fri Feb 12, 10:16:00 AM PST
- Bryanna Clark Grogan said...
#2)from Anonymous: "Such is the danger of celebrating a holiday that isn't yours."
My Answer:
"Danger"?? Is it so awful even if I had somehow spelled it wrong, to want to learn about other cultures and religions? I'm from a mixed background, my children even more mixed, and my grandchildren still more mixed. We celebrate all sorts of holidays and we celebrate holidays in all sorts of ways.
For instance, I'm not Jewish, but one year we did a complete Jewish Passover Seder-- even making the matzoh in under 18 minutes, which is the rule. Now, I know we weren't all kosher, and we probably didn't do everything properly, but my kids and I researched lots of Jewish cookbooks and we learned alot. We lived out in the "boonies" at the time, with no synagogue nearby and no internet then, so we had to do it that way. In any case, there are different Passover traditions, depending on Sephardi or Ashkenazim or Mizrahi Jewish customs, and also the country one is from.
I'm sure that, for instance, the Muslim holiday Eid, is celebrated in at least a slightly different fashion in Indonesia than it is in Egypt, because their cultures are different.
We have celebrated Muslim holidays, other Jewish holidays, Hindu, Sikh and Bah'ai holidays, the African-American holiday Kwanzaa, and more, as well as Christian holidays from all over the world. It's fun and you get great food and a learning experience, as well as teaching respect for all people.
Our North American holidays and those celebrated all over the world are not all celebrated the same way, depending on regional and family traditions. We've celebrated Christmas Italian-style, Peruvian-style and French Canadian-style (all part of our family's combined heritage), and I often make Christmas and Easter breads from different parts of the world.
I veganize them, of course, which might upset some purists, but I do it with a feeling of reverence for heritage and tradition.
I think you need to look at this in a different way-- the world is going to be more "fusion" than ever in the future! Maybe I feel that way because I am not of one heritage only. On one hand I celebrate that, and, on the other, I want to learn about the customs of my heritages and others to keep them alive in some fashion. But change is inevitable and maybe that will save us from ourselves!
#3 from Anonymous: "Also, a lot of the New Year traditions you mention aren't followed by the Taiwanese. It might help if you note that these are customs that might not be followed today, or if you note what region in China these traditions are followed in."
I used Chinese sources, and perhaps some of them are old-fashioned, but I'm not writing a university thesis on the subject here! I'm, sure the traditions are different all over China, as well as in other parts of Asia.
***I'd love to hear about traditions and customs from all over China, Taiwan and the Chinese diaspora, as well as other Asian cultures that celebrate the Lunar New Year, but I hope it will be positive and informative, and not so critical, please.
- Fri Feb 12, 10:17:00 AM PST
Did you delete my last post?
- Fri Feb 12, 12:57:00 PM PST
- Bryanna Clark Grogan said...
Yes, I did, and I'll delete one again if you continue to call me "ignorant" and sneer at me. You're entitled to your own opinion, but this is not a blog for arguing or disrespecting anyone. I would remind you that many non-religious people born into Jewish, Christian, or whatever, families, continue to celebrate religiously-based holidays with their families without partaking in the religious side of it. Christmas is an obvious case in point.
I am well aware that these are not just "food holidays", but since food is so important in them, they offer an opportunity for learning while cooking with children.
You know darn well we didn't make matzoh "under rabbinic supervision"-- I said as much myself. That wasn't the point. My children and I studied why matzoh is eaten and why it is quickly made. We studied the story behind it's use and the different types of matzoh used in different regions of the world. So, sue me!
Your argument that one must take part in the prayer, fasting, etc., in order to learn about a holiday from another culture or religion does not hold water. Should we not study about other cultures in any way that we can, especially as hands on as we can? We need to learn more abut one another in this world, not stay separated!
Discussion is fine-- argument for argument's sake is a waste of everyone's time.
- Fri Feb 12, 02:22:00 PM PST
- eve+line said...
Trying to write Cantonese or other Chinese dialects phonetically is always problematic. We have a "problem" in Singlish (our local patois) too, but it's not something to kick up a big fuss over. As long as we understand each other, that's cool.
I'm Hainanese and we say "kung hee fatt sai". Since I can't speak it very well, I'm probably pronouncing it wrong, but it's the thought that counts. More importantly, I am not saying some curse words inadvertedly!
For that reason I stick to hanyu pinyin - at least I'm sure Gong Xi Fa Cai is canonical :)
As for Lunar New Year food, well here're some Singaporean Chinese traditions:
Yu Sheng or Raw Fish Salad - vegetables (Cai) sound like "fortune", and fish (Yu) means abundance (actually, "extra" meaning you have so much that you have extras left over)
Pineapple tarts - pineapples are called Ong Lai in Hokkien and it sounds like "good fortune come"
Prawn rolls - prawns are called Hae in Hokkien and hae-hae-hae sounds like laughing :D. Also prawn rolls are deep-fried so they look like gold
BBQ pork or bak kwa - not sure about this one. I'm sure the red and golden colour have got something to do with it!
Anyway, the Lunar New Year season is always hazardous to the waistline. The eating starts days before and will continue for the next two weeks. Wan Shi Ru Yi (万事如意) meaning may everything go according to your wishes!
- Fri Feb 12, 08:49:00 PM PST
- eve+line said...
Actually, in a multi-cultural society like Singapore, we celebrate all sorts of festivals - chiefly by eating! The office culture of sharing food in the pantry is prevalent and it's common to find buckets of goodies when major holidays approach.
Of course we don't do sheep sacrifice during Eid (we call it Hari Raya Haji here) or do oil baths during Deepavali (although a large number of Chinese Buddhists DO go to Hindu temples for prayers with the Hindus). To us it is sufficient to know that our friends and colleagues are celebrating something special in their religions, and we help by sharing the workload when they're busy with their preparations. It helps that we get public holidays too!
I leave the celebrations to the believers concerned. They do not expect us to partake of the religious ceremonies too. They do, however, appreciate an acknowledgement and good wishes and more importantly, CONSIDERATION during their celebration (e.g. do not call them back for work when they're celebrating). For food, it is always a happy thing to be able to munch on goodies like murukku and keropok.
Oh dear I'm getting hungry already... I haven't even started cleaning my house yet and it is tradition to spring clean!
- Sat Feb 13, 01:40:00 AM PST
- ms. veganorama said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- Sat Feb 13, 11:53:00 AM PST
- ms. veganorama said...
Geez, what a rude visitor.
As for the pronouncation and whether or not it's right or wrong, it is the sentiment that counts, not the exact pronouncation. Besides, it's different in different dialects as pointed out above.
I am having a huge mental block since I haven't celebrated with my family in several years, but we always had tangerines, candied fruit, wrapped candy and chocolate coins. If I can recall correctly, I believe there was also candied lotus root.
One dish I do remember my family making was stirfried mung bean noodles with vegetables. It's served room temperature with lettuce pieces and you use the lettuce as wrap for the noodles.
I guess it is different for people from different regions, but they did/do still serve meat during celebrations.
Anyway, ignore the negative poster and have a great Lunar New Year! I think it's great that people embrace other cultural celebrations.
- Sat Feb 13, 12:02:00 PM PST
- Bryanna Clark Grogan said...
Thank you, Eve+line and ms. veganorama, for your recollections and observations, and, especially your good wishes and positivity! The cake is almost ready, the table is set, decorations up, and gyoza stuffed!
- Sat Feb 13, 01:18:00 PM PST
Bryanna, I just want to take a second to write that I'm a big fan of your blog and to thank you for it.
- Sat Feb 13, 02:01:00 PM PST
Oh! I can't wait to see what you did prepare, Bryanna. It sounds delicious. Let's have some recipes! :)
- Sat Feb 13, 02:30:00 PM PST
- eve+line said...
We had a simple reunion dinner last night, just a vegetable dish, a chicken dish and rice. However, it was nice having the whole family (all three of us) together on the Lunar New Year Eve as my mother and brother do shift work.
We watched a Jackie Chan movie on TV (Rob B Hood). In the past, Jackie Chan would make one movie specially for the Lunar New Year. So it was our "family tradition" to spend a few hours at the cinema during the new year holiday. http://www.yesasia.com/us/yumcha/kung-hei-fat-choy-lunar-new-year-films-in-hong-kong-cinema/0-0-0-arid.58-en/featured-article.html
This evening, my mother will prepare Yu Sheng (raw fish salad) at home. This dish needs to be "tossed" (using chopsticks, you lift the ingredients way above the plate to mix everything up) and the higher you toss, it signifies that the higher in life you will go. In restaurants, it is customary for the waitress to say auspicious words when adding ingredients to the plates (e.g. for the deep fried crackers, she would say Jin Yu Man Tang meaning May Gold and Jade Overflow Your Halls). When tossing, everybody would also yell auspicious words like "Huat Ah!" "Huat Ah!" means "may all become rich!" This is a scene that will repeat itself in Chinese restaurants all over Singapore during the 15 days of the Lunar New Year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDRsj2zlTDo
Hope everybody is enjoying the Lunar New Year, no matter which part of the globe you're at :)
- Sat Feb 13, 08:15:00 PM PST
- hardwood furniture said...
Happy Chinese New Year! I prepared lots of noodle and dim sum recipes! My kids loved it! It is their first time to celebrate it with them!
- Tue Feb 16, 01:23:00 AM PST
For the record, "gyoza" is the Japanese term for dumpling, Chinese people call them "jiaozi". Or if you're pan-frying them, "guotie" (鍋貼).
- Wed Feb 17, 08:08:00 AM PST
- Bryanna Clark Grogan said...
Yes, I'm aware of that, anonymous. In Vancouver, they are referred to as gyoza even in many Chinese restaurants, such as Legendary Noodle.
- Wed Feb 17, 08:20:00 AM PST
- Blase Kearney said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- Wed Feb 17, 09:53:00 AM PST
- animalactivist said...
Interesting discussion, and thanks for your boundless creativity Bryanna!
I love the fabulous variety you provide all of us interested in plant-based cuisine… it sounds like some posters may not be aware that your audience is already worldwide! I can't wait to try your gyozas!
OF COURSE what one consumes is never a solely personal choice... it is influenced by many societal and cultural complexities. Bryanna, I'm sure that most people who follow your blog can tell that you are already a very politically aware, and sensitive individual who shares your knowledge thoughtfully. Vegans, of all people, know what a challenge it can be to step outside the boundaries of 'tradition'!
We are certainly not all 'light skinned' and many of us experience being seen as an 'affront' to the 'authenticity' of our own cultures of origin by simply daring to eschew meat from our menus!
As a person of mixed heritage myself, I love the opportunity to learn about traditions different from my own and their various expressions through the celebration of food.
I'm greatful to accomplished cooks like yourself, who, understanding exactly what it means to have the privilege of choice when it comes to diet, exercise that privilege so wisely...
By demonstrating how healthfully and deliciously it is possible to practise compassion AND environmental awareness through a plant-based diet. Keep those cross-cultural inspirations coming, Bryanna!
- Wed Feb 17, 04:19:00 PM PST
- Søren said...
Bryanna, I'm sorry you had to deal with that kind of crap contributed by a visitor who wasn't brave enough to show us his/her name. Who said "ignorant"? Happy Chinese New Year to you, and thank you for your wonderful blog and positive contribution to veganism.
- Thu Feb 18, 05:45:00 AM PST
- Bryanna Clark Grogan said...
Blase, I appreciate your zeal for justice and equality, which I share, but I'm afraid that you (and the anonymous poster) have made many incorrect assumptions about me, my family heritage, education, and economic status.
You don't appear to have read my own comment and those of others on the spelling of the New Year's greeting.
And you really need to review what you wrote in your 4th paragraph about the people of Appalachia.
I'm available via email if you want more discussion.
Sincerely, Bryanna
- Thu Feb 18, 08:14:00 AM PST
- Blase Kearney said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- Thu Feb 18, 08:33:00 AM PST
- Bryanna Clark Grogan said...
My contact page is on my profile:
- Thu Feb 18, 10:19:00 AM PST
Blase, I want to point out that meat consumption is considered a sign of wealth worldwide. Most peoples of the world live on rice and corn because they can't afford meat (and perhaps for other reasons of which I may be unaware). I doubt they identify as vegan. Sure, there's a difference between people who eat organic brown rice and those who eat cheap white rice. In the US, it is considered a "luxury" to eat prime rib, etc. Poor people who eat cheap hamburgers feel like they're doing "OK" economically as long as they can have some meat on the table. It's a sign of having "made it."
- Fri Feb 19, 12:13:00 PM PST
- Blase Kearney said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- Fri Feb 19, 12:28:00 PM PST
- Bryanna Clark Grogan said...
Blase, even though you have a great vocabulary, your paragraph makes no sense-- unlike Sheryl's, I believe, who was very gently pointing out to you the unfairness and, again, incorrect assumptions you were making about an entire group of people about whom, I suspect, you know nothing.
I don't like the aggressivenes of your tone towards Sheryl and will end comments on this post entirely if it doesn't stay civil.
- Fri Feb 19, 12:37:00 PM PST
- Blase Kearney said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- Fri Feb 19, 12:45:00 PM PST
- Bryanna Clark Grogan said...
Blase, this is what you wrote in your first post:
"We aren't able to assess authenticity because we have no native knowledge of other cultures. There are things and ideas that we cannot understand because we aren't part of that world. **The same way we wouldn't really be able to understand how or why people in Apalachia would prefer meat and junk food over organic vegetarian alternatives.**" (my emphasis)
As I said before, please review that statement and think on it. Obviously, I'm not the only one who saw the contradictions in it as you reprimanded me for being found wanting in the sensitivity department.
Respectfully, we are going to end it here. This is not a forum to discuss vegan ethics, or whether we are all perfect vegans, etc.. (Some of my readers are not vegans, and they are welcome here, shocking as that may be.) This is a COOKING blog. There are lots of other venues for the type of discussion you obviously desire.
- Fri Feb 19, 01:20:00 PM PST
Funny that you separate out the US from the rest of the world in response to my use of the term "worldwide." And funny that you use the term "those people" to refer to people with whom you are unfamiliar. I understand about cultural appropriation, which some folks here appear to be accusing Bryanna of, but you seem to imply that no one should even bother to try to learn about cultures other than their own, saying "we just can't understand." For example, I'm deaf. You can learn about my language and my culture and understand deafness. You may or may not be able to fully appreciate what it means to be deaf because you're not, but does that mean you shouldn't learn what you can, if you're motivated to do so?
- Fri Feb 19, 01:26:00 PM PST
The tone of Blase Kearney's original post is outrageous. I seriously doubt that Ms. Grogan, who claims Peruvian and Persian ancestry (as well as others) and who goes out of her way to educate herself about and embrace the world's cultures needs to be lectured to like that. Ms. Grogan is a long time vegan and an innovator and author in vegan foods. A brief perusal of this blog would make those things clear and I would suggest that Blase Kearney do a little research and a lot of thinking before she takes someone to task like that in the future.
- Fri Feb 19, 08:27:00 PM PST
- Bryanna Clark Grogan said...
Thanks, Veghead! One correction,m though-- my dad was, indeed, Peruvian, but I can't claim any Persian ancestry, just a great appreciation for a rich culture.
- Fri Feb 19, 09:01:00 PM PST


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Jan 08, 2019
- Shravan Bhat
J-Power has appointed banks to finance its 1.2 GW Jackson Generation brownfield combined-cycle gas-fired project in Will County, Ill.
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With single-digit reserve margin forecasts drawing solar, battery and peaker developers to Texas in droves, PFR reporter Shravan Bhat visited Houston last week to catch up with the Ercot community and assess the market for power price hedges.
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text: Etihad Airways briefs major institutions on surging profit 05 مارس 2013 12:47 Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, is hosting 450 representatives from global leasing, financial markets and banking communities at financial roadshows in New York and London. President and Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Airways, James Hogan, said the airline had been undertaking the annual financial roadshows since 2008 to brief major financial institutions on its strategy and performance. "We are developing enduring relationships in a competitive environment so that we can continue to build a resilient and diversified access to the financial markets. "As part of our briefings we are speaking to institutions from many markets offering diverse products and solutions, so that we know what's on offer and so that we can explain our business and finance strategy in this phase of Etihad Airways' rapid and sustained growth. "It is important that financial institutions around the world understand our story and are comfortable investing in Etihad Airways. This is how we take them on the journey," Mr Hogan said. Etihad Airways' Chief Financial Officer, James Rigney, also expanded on the airline's future financial strategy. Ricky Thirion, Etihad Airways' Vice President and Group Treasurer, discussed the financial risk management strategies the airline has in place. Etihad Airways recorded a leap in net profit of 200 per cent to US$42 million in 2012 and a rise of 16 per cent in EBITDAR (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and rentals) to US$753 million. Etihad Airways has attracted support from more than 60 institutions globally, which now provide more than US$7.1 billion in cumulative funding for the airline's ongoing expansion. The airline works with banks from across the globe representing every major market in Asia, the Gulf states, Europe and North America. "Our bankers understand and trust what we are doing and share the vision we have to be the best airline in the world," Mr Hogan said.Etihad Airways has been successful in building the first 'equity alliance', with investments in Air Seychelles (40 per cent), airberlin (29.21 per cent), Virgin Australia (9 per cent) and Aer Lingus (2.987 per cent).This strategy continues to build momentum in Etihad Airways' business model, which is outside the thinking of traditional, legacy alliances. In 2012, for example, partner airlines contributed approximately 20 per cent of passenger revenue. Fuel, however, continues to be the most significant cost for the airline, accounting for around 40 per cent of total operating costs, before fuel hedging gains. Actively hedging 80 per cent of fuel costs with 22 financial institutions minimised the impact of the increase in global oil prices during 2012.Etihad Airways currently has 76 per cent of its fuel costs hedged for 2013, 44 per cent for 2014, and 19 per cent for 2015.Mr Hogan said Etihad Airways was committed to a diversified finance strategy, which included traditional and emerging finance mechanisms across financial institutions in different regions."We are very careful to balance our risk and not be reliant on any one institution, market or funding type."Etihad Airways uses a variety of funding forms, including commercial debt, Islamic structures, operating leases, and European and US export credit agency supported financing.The funding is used to grow the fleet of new, fuel-efficient aircraft. In 2008, Etihad Airways placed an order for 205 aircraft, 100 firm and 105 options, in order to secure capacity for the next decade of growth.The airline will take delivery of 14 aircraft in 2013: six passenger widebody (B777-300ER), three freighter widebody (B777F, A330), and five narrowbody (A319/A320/A321) aircraft.In September 2012, the airline issued a request for proposal (RFP) to finance nine widebody aircraft for delivery in 2013 worth US$1.5billion. Fifty-five bids were received in response to the request and all of the aircraft have been mandated for financing with four lessors and lenders. An RFP will be issued soon to finance four A320s and one A321 aircraft for delivery between August 2013 and January 2014. آراؤكم إذا أردتم أن توجهوا لنا أي تعليق أو شكوى أو إطراء أو سؤال، اضغطوا هنا انضموا إلينا انضموا لصفحتنا في فيسبوك شاهدونا زوروا قناة الاتحاد للطيران في يوتيوب تابعونا الاتحاد للطيران (العربي)


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BESSETTE, ALFRED, named Brother André, lay brother of the Congregation of Holy Cross was born . 9 Aug. 1845 in the parish of Saint-Grégoire (Mont-Saint-Grégoire), Lower Canada, son of Isaac Bessette and Clothilde Foisy; died. 6 Jan. 1937 in Notre-Dame-de-l'Espérance hospital in Ville Saint-Laurent, Que.
January 6th we celebrate the life of one of Canada's truly inspiring people, Alfred Bessette whom most Canadians know as Brother Andre. I remember many years ago my mother telling me that we were indirect descendants of Brother Andre and from a very early age I have always addressed him in my prayers as "mon cher oncle Andre". Today I know that brother Andre was more likely a very distant cousin but I love to call him "mon cher oncle Andre" just the same and so when I ask him to pray for me and for my family and others I continue to address him in this manner. Through the years I have seen answers to many of my prayers which I credit to the intervention of my dear cousin. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of Brother Andre's relatives living in Ottawa today: i.e. the Maloney, Brousseau, Guillet, Toomey,Evans and McCann families just to name a few. The way mom explained the connection is like this.
Mom's grandfather Modeste Guillet'smother's maiden name was Marie Bessette. This is a small photo I have of my great grandfather on the left. What I was told many years ago was that Marie Bessette was the sister of Brother Andre's Father Isaac Bessette. However, recently I have found that Isaac did not have any sisters and so this information was incorrect. I am related to him but not as closely as I originally thought. I think we are fourth cousins, four times removed. Thankfully my cousin Valerie Lafleur's husband Claude recently unravelled the mystery and for this we are all grateful.
Please see footnote at the bottom of the page below for more details on my Bessette lineage.
In the year 2005 Elmridge Catholic School in Gloucester was considering changing the name of the school to Brother Andre Catholic School. This was initiated by former principle Maureen Atherton who is now retired. Coincidentally our grandson Kyle Marcotte, John's son was attending the school the year of the name change. Also that year, my good friend Jennifer Snell had just begun her first year of teaching kindness classes with her dog Smokey http://www.thekindnessprogram.org/ in Ottawa Schools. Dr. John Dorner who was the principle of Elmridge Catholic School had heard great things about the kindness classes from Ms. Kimberley Giles the principle of Divine Infant School in Orleans and asked Jennifer if she would visit his school as well. On Jennifer's last day at "Elmridge Catholic School" which was 23 March 2005, she told Principle John Dorner that one of his students Kyle Marcotte was an indirect descendant of Brother Andre ( I will explain how she came upon this information in the next paragraph) . Anyways, John Dorner was quite delighted to hear this bit of news and asked Kyle if he would say a little about Brother Andre at the School Board meeting when the matter of the name change would be discussed at an upcoming Spring meeting in May. When the time came Kyle did a great job and even got a standing ovation when he told everyone around the table the story of his humble cousin from Saint Gregoire D'Ibverville who later joined the Congregation of the Holy Cross.
He took the name Brother Andre, and worked for the next 40 years as the porter of Notre Dame College which is situated across the Street from Saint Joseph's Oratory which he founded.
As porter of the College, thousands of people came to know and love him and he instilled a great devotion to his best friend Saint Joseph to all who passed his way. When a miracle happened in the presence of Brother Andre, and there are countless stories of these, it was Saint Joseph, he would tell everybody, who should be thanked. He was just Saint Joseph's little dog.
The sequence of events which led me to learn about the Name change for "Elmridge Catholic School" to "Brother Andre" was absolutely Divinely inspired and was connected to Jennifer's visits there. On March 17th 2005 I decided to attend mass at Saint Patrick Basilica for their yearly Saint Patrick Day celebration. I sat near the front and in no time the place filled up. When Jennifer arrived she saw a seat next to someone wearing a red coat near the front. I looked up when she asked me if there was room for her. It was just then that she noticed it was me. I had met Jennifer the previous year during the Good Shepherd Parish trip to Ireland and the British Isles which was organized by their pastor Father Joe Muldoon. I hadn't seen Jennifer for a while so we chatted a little before mass and it was then that I found out that Jennifer chose the feast of the Epiphany that year as her retirement date from the Military in order to spend more time in prayer and in doing God's work. At that time I told Jennifer that January 6th is the day the Church honors Brother Andre since it is the day he died and I told her about my family connection to him. By coincidence I happened to have a book about him with me which I offered to her and which she was delighted to receive.. I do not remember why I had the book with me that day; probably just to have something to read before mass. Then the conversation went on where I mentioned to Jennifer that the school that my grandson Kyle attended, Elmridge Catholic School had a beautiful statue of Brother Andre in the front entrance and I wondered why. At that point Jennifer told me that she taught kindness classes at that school earlier in the month and would be returning a few days later to see the remainder of the classes. She then told me about the wonderful Principle John Dorner telling her that they were in the process of changing the name of the school to Brother Andre Catholic School. The remainder of the story I have related in the second paragraph from the top of the page..
I love Brother Andre. I know he had a great sense of humour, he loved to garden and greet people wherever he was, whether it was in the garden or at the door and he had a heart as big as the sky and showed his love and concern to all who passed his way. I recently learned that he will be declared a saint by Pope Benedict XVI later on this year. For more about his life and works please go to this link on my website. http://sites.google.com/site/faithfulcatholics/Home/saints-and-blesseds/blessed-brother-andre
and the Archbishop's Blog at this link http://archbishopterry.blogspot.com/2010/01/brother-andre-en-route-to-canonization.html
Blessed Alfred Bessette, pray for us.
Thank you Claude Lafleur ( husband of my cousin Valerie Lafleur -nee Toomey) for figuring this out!!!
Brother Andre's Connection to me
Jean-Bessette (b 27 Dec 1672, d 18 May 1751) and Madeleine Plamondon (b 22 Mar1682, d 5 May 1750).
Their children were:
Nom Naissance Décès Père Mère Époux(se)
Marie-Jeanne Bessette 09 Fév 1696 28 Mai 1697 J. Bessette M. Benoit
Marie-Charlotte Bessette 18 Avr 1702 01 Mai 1702 J. Bessette M. Plamondon
Marie-Josephe Bessette 09 Sept 1705 05 Avr 1752 J. Bessette M. Plamondon
Barre Louis-Jean
Madeleine-Charlotte Bessette 20 Mars 1708 J. Bessette M. Plamondon
Vincelet Jacques
Jean-Baptiste Bessette 28 Mars 1711 J. Bessette M. Plamondon Paquet
Jean-Francois Bessette 19 Mai 1714 J. Bessette M. Plamondon Girard
Legrain Marguerite
Marie-Marguerite Bessette 20 Août 1716 J. Bessette M. Plamondon
Guillaume Bessette 24 Oct 1717 03 Mai 1763 J. Bessette M. Plamondon Paquet
Brother Andre (Alfred) descended from their son Jean-Francois and his spouse
Marguerite Legrain.
Maureen descended from their son Guillaume Bessette and his spouse Marguerite Paquet.
Brother André's ancestors:
Jean Bessette & Madeleine Plamondon
Jean-Francois Bessette & Marguerite Legrain
Joseph Bessette & Marie-Francoise Barrierre
Joseph Bessette & Angelique George
Isaac Bessette & Clothide Foisy
Alfred Bessette
Maureen's ancestors:
Jean Bessette & Madeleine Plamondon
Guillaume Bessette & Marguerite Paquet
Francois Bessette & Francoise Haines
Francois Xavier Bessette & Elizabeth Dubuc
Noel Bessette; Marie Desanges Goguet
Marie Bessette; Didace Guillet
Modeste Guillet; Adelaide Murphy
Marjory Guillet; Emile Brousseau
Elaine Brousseau; Jim Maloney
Footnote 2
Many years ago my mother told me that the Guillet's had made a family tree and that is how we learned that we were indirect descendants of Brother Andre. I have contacted some of the Guillet relatives but unfortunately I have not been able to get any more information on this. If you are aware of how I can see a copy of this family tree please send me an e-mail at email@example.com


text:
Once considered an also-ran version of Garmin, how did this GPS maker manage such an incredible Lazarus-like return from the dead?
The stock that has captured Cramer's attention and imagination isTrimble.
Thought of as simply a global positioning play, "Trimble had been left for dead," said Jim Cramer. The Street thought it just couldn't compete with the likes of Navteq, Garmin and even Google.
But the skepticism may have been the best possible thing for Trimble – it was forced to carve out a niche.
"Management transformed Trimble into an information technology powerhouse."


text:
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