text:
June 16, 2009
Marriage Equality Attitudes: Simply Knowing Gay People Helps, But Isn't Enough
Late last month, Gallup released findings from a new poll demonstrating that opposition to marriage equality is higher among American adults who say they don't know anyone who is lesbian or gay.
The survey, which was conducted earlier in May, found that Americans oppose legalizing marriage between same-sex couples by 57% to 40% . That margin hasn't changed notably since a previous Gallup poll about a year ago.
When the May sample was split into those who said they have a gay or lesbian friend, relative, or coworker (58% of the sample) and those who didn't (40%), the differences in marriage attitudes were striking.
The latter group registered overwhelming opposition to marriage equality — 72% opposed it whereas only 27% favored it. Within this group, 63% said legalizing marriage for same-sex couples will change society for the worse, compared to six percent who said it will change society for the better. 30% believed it won't have any effect on society.
By contrast, respondents reporting personal contact with a gay man or lesbian were almost evenly split — 49% supported marriage equality and 47% opposed it. They were also divided over whether marriage equality will change society for the worse (39% believed it will) or will have no effect (40% believed this). Only about one in five said it will change society for the better, but that percentage was more than three times higher than the comparable figure for respondents without a gay or lesbian friend, relative, or coworker.
Consistent with past research, the poll found that attitudes toward marriage equality are linked with a person's political ideology, and that liberal respondents were more likely than their conservative counterparts to personally know gay people. But Gallup found that the correlation between personal contact and opinions about marriage remained significant, even when political ideology was statistically controlled.
But Why Only 49%?
The Gallup report prominently characterized the survey as showing that "Opposition to gay marriage [is] higher among those who do not know someone who is gay/lesbian."
But we might well ask why there wasn't greater support for marriage equality among poll respondents with gay or lesbian family or acquaintances. Why did only about half of that group support marriage rights? After all, research conducted over the past two decades has consistently shown that heterosexuals are less prejudiced against gay people if they know someone who is gay, and such prejudice is closely associated with opposition to marriage equality. (Data are lacking on how knowing a bisexual man or woman affects sexual prejudice among heterosexuals, but there's reason to believe that the pattern is similar.)
My own reading of the research literature suggests that the strength of the correlation between prejudice and mere contact has diminished in recent years. A decade ago, knowing whether a heterosexual had a gay or lesbian friend or relative provided a very good indication of that person's attitudes toward gay people in general. Today, personal contact remains a good predictor of prejudice, but it's not as reliable as it once was.
I believe this diminution of the predictive power of mere contact may provide insight into what it is about contact that links it to nonprejudiced attitudes. My hypothesis is that the key variable isn't — and never was — whether heterosexuals simply know a gay man or lesbian. Rather, what's always been critical is the nature of that relationship. Perhaps the central variable is whether or not heterosexuals have talked with their gay friend or relative about the latter's experiences and, in the course of those discussions, developed a better understanding of and more empathy for the situation of sexual minorities.
My hunch is that in the past, when most gay men and lesbians were highly selective about coming out, it was sufficient for researchers to simply ask heterosexual survey respondents whether they knew gay men or lesbians. If they had a gay friend or relative, more likely than not, they'd found out directly from that individual about her or his sexual orientation. Or, subsequent to finding out through some other means, they talked about it with her or him.
Today, by contrast, gay men and lesbians are more publicly visible. Many more heterosexuals probably have the experience of knowing that a relative, friend, or (especially) a coworker or neighbor is gay without ever having discussed it directly with that individual. Thus, knowing the details about a heterosexual person's contact experiences is more important today than it was a few years (or decades) ago.
Some Data
This hypothesis is partly supported by data I collected in a 2005 telephone survey with a representative national sample of more than 2100 adults who identified as heterosexual. Along with questions about the nature and extent of their personal relationships with lesbian and gay individuals, respondents were asked a series of questions about their general feelings toward gay men and toward lesbians, their comfort or discomfort around both and, using a standard psychological attitude scale, their general attitudes toward them.
For purposes of analysis, I divided the sample into three groups: (1) those who said they had no gay or lesbian friends, acquaintances, or relatives as far as they knew, (2) those who knew at least one gay or lesbian person but hadn't ever talked with that individual about being gay, and (3) those who had talked with a gay or lesbian friend or relative about the latter's experiences as a sexual minority.
Compared to Group 1, Group 2 had more positive feelings, less discomfort, and generally more favorable attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. But Group 3 had significantly more positive views of lesbians and gay men than either Group 1 (those with no personal contact) or Group 2 (those with personal contact but no open discussion).
Combined with other survey findings that I'm still analyzing, these data suggest it often isn't enough for heterosexuals to simply know that a member of their family or immediate social circle is gay or lesbian. In order for the experience to reduce their sexual prejudice, they also must communicate directly with their friend or relative about what it's like to be gay.
But although such discussions probably play a key role in reducing sexual prejudice and increasing support for the civil rights of sexual minorities, they can be difficult. Not surprisingly, they don't occur often enough. In a separate study (which is not yet published), I've found that most gay men and lesbians say they are out to their immediate family and close heterosexual friends, but many aren't out to their extended family, coworkers, or heterosexual acquaintances. And many of those who are out never discuss their experiences with their family or friends.
These findings highlight the importance of assisting gay, lesbian, and bisexual people in having conversations — giving them support and helping them find the best way to talk with their heterosexual friends and family members about their lives and how they're affected by issues like marriage equality. The Tell 3 Campaign is one strategy for promoting such discussions. If the marriage equality movement is going to succeed in changing public opinion, it will have to devote more resources to Tell 3 and other programs like it.
More information about my 2005 survey can be found in the following chapter:
Herek, G. M. (2009). Sexual stigma and sexual prejudice in the United States: A conceptual framework. In D.A. Hope (Ed.), Contemporary perspectives on lesbian, gay and bisexual identities: The 54th Nebraska Symposium on Motivation (pp. 65-111). New York: Springer.


text:
Finding Aid to the William Penn Mott Jr. Papers, 1931-1992
Scope and Content of Collection
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Speeches, 1962-1992
Book of speeches, draft, circa 1970's
"Who Designs Park Buildings", 1962
American Institute of Park Executives, 1963
"Man in California 1980's", 1964
Great Lakes Park Training Institute, 1964
Underground Power Conference, 1964
"New Concepts for Regional Park Planning", 1964
"The Park and Recreation Profession", 1964
"Employee-Employer Relations", 1964
"What is a Regional Park District?", 1964
"You've Gotta Have a Dream", 1964
Garden Club of America, 1965
"Solving the Silent Crisis", 1965
"Partners in Progress", 1965
"The Crisis", 1965
"Ten-Four", 1966
Statement on Recreation Planning and Management, 1966
"Parks, Open Spaces, and Shorelines", 1966
"Cities in Parks", 1967
"Philosophy of Recreation Service", 1967
"They Knew Nothing of the Art of Leisure", 1967
Charge of the Governor, 1967
"Following California's Trails", 1967
"Parks in the Jet Age", 1967
"The Hills Are Alive", 1967
American Public Works Association, 1968
"Recreation Opportunities for the Senior Citizen", 1968
Statements on the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, 1968
Statement to District Interpreters, 1968
Statement Concerning Proposed Redwood National Park, 1968
Statement Before the Assembly Subcommittee on Marine Resources, 1968
"The Public Interest in the Ocean Shoreline", 1968
Statement Before the Joint Legislative Committee on Water, 1968
Statement Before the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources, 1968
Statement Before the Senate Committee on Water Resources, 1968
Statement Before Mills College, 1968
Redwood National Park Dedication, 1968
"Land Acquisitions and Conservation", 1969
Statement Before the House of Representatives, 1969
"Aiglatson", 1969
Van Duzen Grove Dedication, 1969
"Advance Planning", 1969
"Recreation Problems in Urban Impacted Areas", 1969
Remarks Before the Ways and Means Committee, 1969
The Dos Rios Dam and Reservoir Project, 1969
"Recreation Problems in California's Urban Impacted Areas", 1969
"New Goals and Objectives", 1969
"Changing Values", 1970
"The University's Role in Parks and Recreation", 1970
"The Challenge of Parks and Recreation in the Decades Ahead", 1970
"A Quality Environment--The San Francisco Bay Region", 1970
"Outlook for Recreation", 1971
"Planning for Progress", 1971
"California Parkway System", 1971
"The Challenge of Parks and Recreation in the Decades Ahead", 1971
"Public Relations--For What?", 1971
"Recreation--It Isn't What it Used to Be", 1971
Meeting of Resources Agency Directors and Commission with the Governor, 1971
"An Administrator Looks at Mechanized Recreation", 1971
"Focus for the Future: The Challenge of Parks and Recreation", 1971
"Public Relations--For What?", 1972
"Involvement", 1972
"Recreation Tomorrow", 1972
"Maintenance", 1972
"The Challenge of Parks and Recreation in the Decades Ahead", 1972
Rotary Club of San Francisco and Sacramento, 1973
"The Power of Positive People", 1973
"Planning Ain't What It Use To Be", 1973
"Camping in the California State Park System", 1973
Hi-Twelve Club, 1973
"The Power of Positive People", 1973
"Preservation of Natural Areas and Open Space", 1973
"The Recreational Potential of the State Water Plan", 1973
"The Power of Positive People", 1973
"Developing a Quality Continuous Inservice Training Program", 1973
"Recreation Area Management for Optimum User Benefits", 1973
"Conservation Promotes Tourism", 1973
"The Future: New Delivery Systems for Recreation", 1973
"You Gotta Have a Dream", 1973
"Carrying Capacity", 1974
"California Adobes", 1974
Outdoor Recreation Planning Meeting, 1974
Testimony Before the Subcommittee on National Parks and Recreation, 1974
Statement to the Subcommittee on National Parks and Recreation, 1974
"Planning as Viewed by an Administrator", 1974
"A State's Patrimony: Its Parks and the Visitors who Participate in Them", 1974
"The Land Acquisition Program for the California State Park System", 1974
"A State Parks Director Looks at Interpretation", 1974
"Change for the Future", 1975
"The California Coastline", 1975
"Don't Die on Third", 1975
"The Next Ten Years", 1975
"Who Needs Money?", 1975
"I Didn't Know That!", 1975
"Thanks Giving", 1975
"An Administrator Looks at Interpretation", 1976
"You Gotta Have a Dream", 1976
"The Importance of Historic Preservation", 1976
"Direction", 1977
"Wilderness Management", 1977
Benjamin Ide Wheeler Award, 1977
"Future Role of State Parks", 1978
"Recreation Facilities for a Livable City", 1978
"A Third Party Approach", 1978
"Now Is the Time", 1978
"Beating the Money Pinch", 1979
"Making Cities Good Places for Children to Grow Up", 1979
"The Challenge of the Eighties", 1980
"The Old Oak Tree", 1980
Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association, 1981
"Managing Parks for People", 1981
"Political Realities for Recreation", 1981
"Don't Depend on a Better Mousetrap", 1982
"Lead the Parade--Market Your Parks", 1983
"The Case for Park Foundations", 1984
Parks in the West Conference, 1984
"Changes and Challenges", 1984
Remarks to the Staff of the Western Regional Office of the National Park Service, 1985
The One-Hundredth Anniversary Ceremony of Canada's National Park System, 1985
California State Park Rangers, 1986
The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Tennessee State Park System, 1986
Enforcement and Visitor Protection Workshop, 1987
Military History Conference, 1987
United States National Park Service Urban Superintendents' Conference, 1987
Dedication of Ruins Shelters--Mese Verde National Park, 1987
National Association of Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni, 1987
League to Save Lake Tahoe, 1987
Cody Country Chamber of Commerce, 1987
Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, 1988
Jimmy Carter National Historic Site (Plains, Ga.) Dedication, 1988
"Tourism and Parks '88", 1988
Unity College Commencement, 1988
United States National Park Service General Superintendents' Conference, 1988
Fiftieth Anniversary of Olympic National Park (Wash.), 1988
"Change", 1988
National Park Service/Historically Black Colleges and Universities President's Conference, 1989
Ranger Skills, 1989
Symposium on National Park Research and Resource Management Policy into the Next Century, 1989
Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site (Calif.) Advisory Committee, 1989
Clemson University College of Forest and Recreation Resources, 1989
Oceanic Society, 1989
"Economic Impact of Parks and Recreation", 1989
Lake Merritt Breakfast Club, 1989
"On the Seventh Day", 1989
"The Magic of Human Potential", 1989
Newton B. Drury Peak Dedication, 1989
"Plans, Plants, and the Presidio", 1989
"Yellowstone--Our Living Legacy", 1989
"Maritime Preservation", 1989
Flagpole Dedication at Fort Point (San Francisco, Calif.), 1989
"The Presidio", 1990
"Responsibility and Ethics that Natural Resources Professionals Must Face in Today's World", 1990
"What Is Your Business in the 21st Century?", 1990
"We Must Be Key Players in the Environmental Battles of the Nineties", 1990
"The Challenge of the 21st Century, Preserving our Natural and Cultural Values", 1990
"Endangered Species, An Overview", 1990
"Environmental Regulations Today and Tomorrow", 1990
"The Challenge of the 21st Century", 1990
Dedication of a Segment of the Ridge Trail, 1990
"Preservation of Planet Earth", 1990
"Survival in the 21st Century, Your Role as an Executive Educator", 1990
"The Individual, the Organization, and the Environment", 1990
"Preserving Planet Earth", 1990
Mokelumne Coast to Crest Trail Groundbreaking, 1990
"The National Park Service", 1990
"Vision of Open Space", 1991
Rotary Club, Oakland, Calif., 1991
San Francisco Businessmen's Garden Club, 1991
"Preserving Flora Species", 1991
"Endangered Species: An Overview", 1991
"The Environmental Education Center--Its Future", 1991
"Changes on the Path to Excellence", 1991
"The History of California Preserved in the Parks of the California State Parks and Recreation Department", 1991
Bayland Park Groundbreaking, 1991
"Water", 1992
"Who's Responsible?", 1992
"The Power of Citizens' Participation", 1992
"Changing the Interpretation Emphasis", 1992
"Preserve Open Space", circa 1992
American Institute of Park Executives, undated
"My Park", undated
"The Song of the Cricket", undated
"Flag History of California", undated
"Interpretation and the New Park Visitor", undated
"Parks and Recreation--Changes and Challenges", undated
"What If", undated
"The Challenge", undated
"Preserving Our National Heritage", undated
"The Future of Interpretation", undated
"Manzanar", undated
Untitled speeches, undated
"Resource Management"--draft, undated
Correspondence, 1971-92
Speech notes, 1987-92
Background Materials, undated
Related Material, 1963-91
Professional Files,, 1933-1992.
United States National Park Service,, 1933-1992.
Director of the National Park Service,
Correspondence, 1985-89
Articles, 1986, 1989
Writings, 1985-88
Memoranda, 1985-89
Briefing memo, draft, circa 1985-89
Interview, 1990
Resume, 1969
Notes, undated
Transition Team, 1985
Director's Steering Committee,
21st Century Task Force, circa 1987
"Maintenance Management", 1985
Fire Management Review Team, Yellowstone Fires, 1988-89
Regional Directors,
Meeting, 1985
Horace Albright Employee Development Fund, 1987
Memos from the Director, 1989
Superintendents' Conferences, 1985, 1986
Travel vouchers, 1986-87
Travel vouchers, 1987-88
Paradise Visitors Center, dedication, 1987
Birthday cards, 1989, undated
Retirement, 1989
Retirement placards, 1989
Old Faithful Inn, print-reproduction, 1985-89
Certificate of appreciation, 1989
White House Christmas Cards, 1987-88
Special Assistant to the Western Regional Director,
Correspondence, 1989-92
Memoranda, undated
Writings, 1989-91
Laurence Spelman Rockefeller, Congressional Gold Medal 1990,
Appointment books, 1989-90
Golden Gate National Recreation Area, (Calif.) Presidio Planning Team, 1991
Senior Executive Education Session for the National Park Service, 1992
Treasures Around the Bay Committee, 1991
Bay Area Ridge Trail Council, 1987-92
Central California Coast Biosphere Reserve, 1990-91
"California in the Year 2000", 1990
Related Material,
Landscape Architect,
Blueprints, Strawberry Canyon Park, 1934
Blueprint, Chinquapin comfort station, Yosemite National Park, 1933
"Master Plan for University of California, Strawberry Canyon Project", 1933
National Park Foundation, 1985-92
American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration, 1990-91
American Fisheries Society, 1992
Beowawe Geysers and Steamboat Springs, 1989
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (North Dakota and Montana), 1987
Friends of the San Antonio Mission, 1991-92
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (Hawaii), 1987
Huntley Meadows Park, 1988-89
High Sierra Stock Users Association, 1985
La Purisima Mission State Historic Park (Calif.) Advisory Board, 1990
Lane, L. W., Jr., 1985-90
Martini Creek bypass, 1985-92
National Celebration of the Outdoors, 1989-90
National Peace Garden Memorial (Washington, D.C.), 1990
The Nature Conservancy (U.S.), Tallgrass Prairie Reserve, 1989
Pacific/Atlantic Challenge, 1990
Yosemite National Park (Calif.) Centennial Celebration, 1990
William O. Douglas Outdoor Classroom, 1988-89
Wolf recovery in Yellowstone National Park, 1989-90
Administrative reports, 1984, 1992
House Subcommittee, questions and answers, draft, 1989
Miscellaneous, 1985-92
California Parks,, 1938-1992.
Director of California State Department of Parks and Recreation,
Correspondence, 1967-75
Memorandum, 1975
Oral history interview, 1982
Press releases, 1970
"Delegation of Responsibility within the California State Department of Parks and Recreation", 1973
Redwood Park Special Study Commission, 1968
Annadel State Park (Calif.), 1976
Master Plan Handbook, 1966
Letters of Recommendation, 1967, 1975
Congratulations on appointment, 1967
Appointments and Resolutions, 1967-88
Birthday Card, circa 1969
Birthday greetings, 1974
Miscellaneous, 1968-72
California State Parks Foundation President,
Correspondence, 1976-85
Memoranda, undated
Articles, 1982
"Annual Report", 1976
Diablo Ranch, 1979-91
Marconi Conference Center, 1984-85
Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, 1990
Golden Bear Award, 1982
Golden Bear Award (object), 1982
Lane, L. W., Jr., 1973-90
Miscellaneous, 1969-72
East Bay Regional Park District General Manager,
Correspondence, 1964-92
Oral histories, 1981, 1990
Blue Ribbon Fire Prevention Committee, report, 1982
Metropolitan Equestrian Preservation Society. Skyline Ranch, 1990
Base Closure Commission, 1990-91
Regional Parks Foundation, 1992
Farewell card, 1967
Educator's guide, 1988
Segment of plastic tablecloth, circa 1960's
United States Geological Survey Map of the Redwood Skyline Vicinity, 1989
Miscellaneous, 1984, 1992
Oakland Park Department Supervisor,
Correspondence, 1945-46
"The Development of the Hights-Sequoia Park", 1938
"Planned Progress", 1946
Children's Fairyland, 1976, undated
Disneyland (Calif.) Press Packet, 1955
Joaquin Miller Park (Oakland, Calif.), 1941-46
Mosswood Park and San Antonio Park drawings, 1938
Advertisement for Children's Fairyland, 1950
Mosswood Park and Elmhurst Plaza drawings, 1938, 1946
Organizational Chart, First Presbyterian Church Drawings, Westminster Cascades, 1946, 1989
Miscellaneous, 1955-91
Clippings, 1946-48
Moraga Park and Recreation Authority, 1975
Private Practice and Consultant Work,, 1933-1965.
Private practice, 1943-48
Drawings and blueprints, 1933, 1946
International Cooperation Administration, Costa Rica, 1961
Drawings, 1960-61
Commonwealth of Australia, Department of the Interior, report, 1965
Australia consultation work, 1964-1965
Australian report, 1988
Organizations and Affiliations,, 1949-1992.
Advertising Club of Oakland, 1962
Alameda-Contra Costa Regional Parks Foundation, 1990
American Institute of Landscape Architects, 1957
American Institute of Park Executives, 1957-58
American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society. Cornelius Amory Pugsley Award, 1973
American Society of Landscape Architects, 1988
Association of National Park Rangers, 1977
Berkeley Exchange Club, undated
Blue Ridge Parkway Alumni Association, 1987
Business and Industrial Staff Services, 1949
Business and Professional Women's Club of Oakland, Inc., 1990
California Garden Clubs, Inc., 1987
California Exposition and State Fair, 1968
California Park and Recreation Society, 1968
California State Juvenile Officers Association, 1957
California State Railroad Museum, 1990-92
California Wildlands Program, 1989-91
Chabot Observatory and Science Center (Oakland, Calif.), 1990-92
City of Salem, Massachusetts, 1988
Colorado State University, Department of Recreation, undated
Conservation Corps Institute of California, 1992
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, 1990
Cumberland Island Historic Foundation, Inc., 1988
Daughters of the American Revolution, 1980, undated
East Bay Botanical and Zoological Society, 1975
East Bay Conservation Corps, 1985-92
Employees and Alumni Association of the National Park Service, 1989
Environmental Alliance, 1991-92
First District Agricultural Association, undated
First Presbyterian Church of Oakland (Calif.), 1989-92
Fort Scott National Historic Site, circa 1985-89
Gateway Task Force, Orinda, Calif., 1990-92
Goodwill Industries of the Greater East Bay, 1992
The Great Navy of the State of Nebraska, 1987
Hillside Gardeners of Montclair, 1952
Hot Springs National Park (Ark.), 1989
Huntington Beach (Calif.) Chamber of Commerce, 1972
International Institute of the East Bay, 1990-92
International Right of Way Association, undated
Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour, undated
Lake Merritt Institute, 1992
Lambda Alpha, 1967, 1986
Landscape Architecture Foundation (U.S.), 1985
League of Women Voters of Oakland, 1991
Los Vaqueros Project, 1990-92
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site (Atlanta, Ga.), 1986
Metropolitan YMCA of Alameda County, 1966-90
Michigan State University, Distinguished Alumni Award, 1967
The Morcom Amphitheater of Roses, undated
National Association of Interpretation (U.S.), 1989
National Association of State Outdoor Recreation Liaison Officers, 1974
National Park Service, Equal Opportunity Committees, 1985
National Republican Congressional Committee, 1983
National Recreation and Park Association, 1965
Oakland Round Table, 1956
Perris Valley Chamber of Commerce, 1973
Pleasant Hill Recreation and Park District, 1990
Sacramento County Historical Society, undated
San Francisco Bay Area Council, 1967
Save the Redwoods League, 1985-92
Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, undated
State Board of Landscape Architects, 1954
State of Louisiana, Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism, 1988
Taliesin Fellowship, 1986
United Crusade, 1968
United States Department of the Interior, Outdoor Recreation Achievement Award, 1976
United States Forest Service, Penny Pines, undated
United States Postal Service, 1974
University of California, Berkeley, College of Natural Resources, 1990-92
USS Arizona Memorial (Hawaii), 1987
Wa Sung Service Club (Oakland, Calif.), 1961
Warrior's Path State Park, undated
Personal Papers,, 1931-1992.
Family correspondence, 1960-61
Personal correspondence, 1973, undated
Ruth Mott, correspondence, 1961, 1991
Scrapbooks, 1946-1948
Scrapbooks, 1947-1950
Scrapbooks, 1950-1951, 1958-1960
Scrapbooks, 1960-1962, 1980-1988
Masters Project, University of California, Berkeley,
Drawings, 1933
Plans and drawings ( William Penn Mott and Ruth Barnes), 1931
Drawing: "A Spanish Estate of the 16th Century", 1931
Blueprint: "Mission Protestante", 1931
Preliminary Plan, Washington Square, Berkeley, undated
William Penn Mott, 1923, 1927
Barnes family, 1904-27
Masons Certificate, 1931
Poster: "Bill Mott Relaxes with a Friend", undated
Letters of condolence, 1992
Memorial Service, 1992
Tributes and obituaries, 1992
Christmas letters, 1950-89
Miscellaneous, 1968-90
Interviews, 1985, 1990
"Feedback from the nation's news media", 1985, 1988
Articles, 1946-92

subset: commoncrawl


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Books and Articles about Aimee McPherson, 1919-1957, undated
Collection consists of materials used in the preparation of the following books by Lately Thomas:
- The Vanishing Evangelist (1959)
- A Debonair Scoundrel (1962)
- Sam Ward: King of the Lobby (1965)
- Delmonico's: A Century of Splendor (1967)
- The First President Johnson (1968)
- Between Two Empires (1969)
- The Mayor who Mastered New York (1969)
- Storming Heaven (1970)
The material includes extensive notes, both longhand and typewritten; clippings; books and pamphlets; printer's copy; galley proofs; and correspondence.
In addition to the papers relating to the books, there is included a portion of the very extensive research done for a projected account of the Tom Mooney, Preparedness Parade bombing in San Francisco in 1916, and the subsequent years of legal tussle over Mooney's conviction.
- 1919-1957, undated
Conditions Governing Access
Collections are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. See www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.
From the Collection: 21.75 Linear Feet (23 boxes)
Repository Details
Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository


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Republican Gov. Chris Christie's administration on Monday pushed back against a claim that Superstorm Sandy relief funding was withheld from a severely flooded city because its Democratic mayor wouldn't sign off on a politically connected real estate venture.
Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno strongly denied Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer's claims as "false" and "illogical" on Monday, the day before Christie's second-term inauguration. And Marc Ferzan, executive director of the Governor's Office of Recovery and Rebuilding, told reporters in a conference call that Hoboken has been treated no differently than other cities with respect to storm relief funds.
Zimmer said on Saturday that Guadagno pulled her aside at a supermarket opening in May and said Hoboken's storm recovery funds hinged on Zimmer's approval of a commercial development whose lawyer and lobbyist are close to the governor. On Sunday, Zimmer told CNN the ultimatum was delivered on behalf of the governor, a possible 2016 presidential candidate.
Guadagno said the mayor's description of the conversation "is not only false but is illogical and does not withstand scrutiny when all of the facts are examined."
"Any suggestion that Sandy funds were tied to the approval of any project in New Jersey is completely false," she said.
Zimmer met with investigators from the U.S. attorney's office for several hours on Sunday and gave them journal entries she said were made at the time of the conversation. She also has offered to take a lie-detector test or testify under oath.
Ferzan, during his conference call, said claims that Hoboken received less than its fair share of disaster aid were a "mischaracterization."
Superstorm Sandy, which was spawned in October 2012 when Hurricane Sandy merged with two other weather systems, killed people in 10 states, but New Jersey and New York were hit the hardest. It's New Jersey's worst natural disaster.
Ferzan said the state has received more than $14 billion in requests statewide for Hazard Mitigation grants but has only about $300 million to disburse. Christie administration officials have said Hoboken has requested more than $100 million in such funding.
"Obviously $300 million versus $14 billion, that's a big delta," Ferzan said.
He said the state has tried to prioritize its funding and programs to address the "communities most in need" and purposely directed most of the recovery funding toward homeowners, business owners and renters.
Federal authorities and state legislators are investigating another scandal involving the Christie administration — allegations that the governor's top aides orchestrated traffic jams in Fort Lee by blocking off lanes to the George Washington Bridge, which connects to New York City, possibly to punish the town's Democratic mayor for not endorsing the governor for re-election.
Assemblyman John Wisniewski, a former chairman of the state Democratic Party who is leading a legislative probe, said the new allegations may be part of a pattern of abuses of power in the Christie administration and would be treated seriously.
Republicans called the investigation partisan and called on Wisniewski to step down. Wisniewski said the investigation by his bipartisan panel would continue.
Nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis appeared to buttress the Democrats' concerns, saying he also had experienced retribution from the governor's office. Lewis said Christie dropped a plan to appoint him the state's first physical fitness ambassador when he launched a political campaign against a Christie friend.
Lewis, a Democrat, said Christie called personally to dissuade him from entering the 2011 state Senate race.
Lewis withdrew from the Senate race after a court ruled he didn't meet a residency requirement.
"The governor put his people together to get me out of the race," said Lewis, who now lives in Houston.
The Christie administration didn't immediately return an email message seeking comment on what Lewis said.
The lieutenant governor did not take questions on Monday.
Community Affairs Commissioner Richard Constable, a member of Christie's cabinet and a second official Zimmer said repeated the Sandy threat at a separate event in May, also issued a statement denying the mayor's claims.
"Mayor Zimmer's allegations are patently false and absurd on their face," Constable said through a spokeswoman.


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Summer alway makes me want to wear bold, statement jewelry to decorate all the skin we expose in this hot weather. I love these pieces because they are bright, ornate, and perfect for a trip to the beach, or a nighttime cocktails! Links below to everything!
Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
First Row:
1) PAMELA LOVE OPAL ARROWHEAD RING (Yes, this one is way too expensive, but I loved the style, so here are more affordable alternatives HERE, and HERE.
2) HOUSE OF HARLOW TURKANA RING (LOVE this, and great price!)
Second Row:
1) PAMELA LOVE SHOOTING ARROW EARRINGS (Perfect subtle statement)
2) DANNIGO EZRA CRYSTAL STATMENT NECKLACE (Perfect with maxi dresses)
3) SAMANTHA WILLS BOHEMIAN BARDOT RING (I am loving all her designs)
Bottom Row:
1) KELLY WEARSTLER PERFORATED RING (Love the openness of the design)
2) EDDIE BORGO FLAT COLLAR TRIANGLE NECKLACE (perfect statement necklace to go with everything!)


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From AlbertMoehler.com
The defense of the Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA] got a little more complicated yesterday as the law firm that the House of Representatives had hired to defend the law withdrew from the case. As The New York Times stated bluntly, the firm dropped the case "amid pressure from gay rights groups."
The Atlanta-based firm, King & Spalding, had agreed to take the case, and one of its lawyers, Paul D. Clement, was to lead the legal effort to defend the constitutionality of DOMA, which defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman in terms of federal recognition. The law also prevents any state from being forced to grant legal recognition to a same-sex marriage performed in another state.
Robert D. Hays, Jr., chairman of King & Spalding, released a statement in which he said: "In reviewing this assignment further, I determined that the process used for vetting this engagement was inadequate. … Ultimately I am responsible for any mistakes that occurred and apologize for the challenges this may have created."
Clement, a former solicitor general of the United States under President George W. Bush, immediately resigned from King & Spalding and will continue to represent the House of Representatives in the case.
As The New York Times reported, Clement said: "I resign out of the firmly held belief that a representation should not be abandoned because the client's legal position is extremely unpopular in certain quarters. … Defending unpopular clients is what lawyers do. I recognized from the outset that this statute implicates very sensitive issues that prompt strong views on both sides. But having undertaken the representation, I believe there is no honorable course for me but to complete it."
Gay rights groups hailed the law firm's decision. Activist groups such as the Human Rights Campaign had lobbied King & Spalding to drop the case. The Weekly Standard obtained copies of emails sent by the Human Rights Campaign to supporters that read, in part: "Later that day we announced the elements of our campaign to show King & Spalding's hypocrisy for taking on Defense of DOMA while touting their pro-gay policies – including their 95% score on HRC's Corporate Equality Index. … In the meantime we also contacted many of the firm's clients, LGBT student groups at top law schools and used social media to inform the public about K&S's wrongheaded decision."
The success of the group's efforts to intimidate King & Spalding serves as a warning of things to come. This is the kind of intimidation that will be used against any organization or institution – or law firm – that takes a controversial case and opposes the agenda of the gay rights movement. Watch and be warned.
We should also take special note of the statement by Paul Clement. He defended his commitment to defend DOMA and the U.S. House of Representatives by stating, "Defending unpopular clients is what lawyers do."
So, now DOMA and the House of Representatives fall under the category of "unpopular clients" despite the fact that DOMA was passed by the overwhelming vote of both houses of Congress and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. That statement underlines the moral revolution happening in our midst and indicates what groups like the Human Rights Campaign are certain is the direction of history. Armed with that confidence, intimidation is now the order of their day.


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I have listed a new property at 38223 Schooner WAY in PENDER ISLAND.
Spectacular ocean views from this property. South facing bright and sunny half acre waterfront property. A great location for whale sightings in the summer months. A creative, artistic mind can turn this rustic cottage into a true home away from home. Many happy memories were made here. Original owner of this property selling after 50 yrs. This property will also be a prime location for building your new island dream home. Panoramic views of Swanson Channel along with the views and sounds of the coastline make this spot particularly desirable. Ask about the advantages to Magic Lake Property Owners at Thieves Bay along with tennis courts, disc golf, walking trails and the Magic Lake swimming hole.


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Amidst the usual mob of protesters and tear gas, WTO ministers met last December in Hong Kong to discuss – among many things – the crippling global affect of low-cost export commodities from the US made possible by mammoth farm subsidies. However, the effects of US agricultural policies on global pricing continue to overshadow the more devastating health effects of these policies within our own borders.
The farm bill signed by President Bush in 2002, which pledged an astounding 190 billion in subsidies over the next ten years, was the latest in a long line of legislation that likely guaranteed that the next generation of Americans will suffer higher rates of obesity and diabetes, have more strokes and heart attacks, and consume less fiber than any previous generation in human history. While bulging waist lines and clogged arteries grab all the headlines, the decreasing health of our colons through diminishing amounts of dietary fiber as a function of government policy is a looming and disastrous health crisis that will knock the healthcare system flat on its back.
As an anthropologist, I've had the opportunity to peer into our nutritional past at the bits and pieces of meals and lifeways left by our ancient ancestors. Fortunately, they were messy.
In ideal preservation contexts we often see evidence for daily intake of diverse species of plants that provided 75, 100, and up to 150 grams of fiber a day. This is similar to fiber intake noted among many healthy, rural Asian people today, or what we saw 75 years ago in places like South Africa, Uganda, and other far away non-westernized regions. But in the US today, depending on gender, age, and activity level, our government recommends we only eat 25 to 38 grams a day – give or take. Based on this guidance, Americans promptly consume about half of that.
The important physiological role of fiber in human health lies in its ability to stimulate the growth and health of the trillions of good bacteria that live permanently in our colons. These evolutionary hitch-hikers have evolved a special symbiotic relationship with humans over eons and have become so intertwined in our health and well-being they are considered an organ. Importantly, these healthy bacteria require fiber to live.
Our diminishing dietary intake of fiber is literally starving our colonic bacteria, inhibiting their ability to defend us against invading pathogens that make millions of people sick, many of whom will die. A healthy and well-fed population of colonic bacteria increases mineral absorption (think calcium), has positive affects on biomarkers of colon cancer, reduces symptoms of IBS, and reduces the risk to coronary heart disease by modulating bad cholesterol. And the list goes on.
We cannot simply go from a species that evolved on a diet of nutrient-rich fibrous plants, to one that eats almost no fiber. The current US guidelines for fiber intake are – from an evolutionary perspective – in actuality, low fiber recommendations that represent nothing more than the efforts of lobbyists who represent industries that have an interest in seeing the "number of servings" for their "food groups" maintained or increased.
To understand the decreasing role of fiber in the American diet, we need not look farther than farm subsidies. Aside from boosting profits within the industry, these subsidies result in low-cost commodities – especially grains – which end up as highly processed (read: no fiber) ingredients in many popular foods. This is one of the reasons you can buy five boxes of macaroni and cheese – which supplies nearly 6,000 nutrient-poor calories – for $1. Further, the average American derives nearly 40 percent of daily caloric needs from heavily subsidized added sugars and fats/oils.
Though the government says we should eat more fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, these categories historically receive very few subsidies. This is why fresh fruits and vegetables increased a whopping 120 percent in price from 1985 to 2000, while grain, fats/oil, and sugar-laden products increased far less. With an ever-increasing number of Americans barely making ends meet, choices for "what's for dinner" have already been economically predetermined, and fiber-rich foods can barely be seen on the plate.
As anthropologists of the future look back upon our society, what will they see? Unless we stem the tide of unbalanced agricultural subsidies and honestly address the gaps in nutrition education among consumers, I'm afraid we will be judged on a never-ending sea of oversized caskets below a surface littered with empty prescription bottles and crumbling Food Pyramids built by congressional pharaohs run amok.


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Apr 23
7 Things to Consider When Choosing Clinical Decision Support Software
Guest post by William Daniel, M.D., medical director of Quality at Mid-America Heart Institute, Kansas City, and Chief Medical Officer for Emerge CDS.
With the new wave of healthcare reform upon us, hospitals are seeking ways to meet requirements of . With a growing number of hospitals incorporating electronic health records, health IT tools are becoming more prevalent. In fact in August 2012, a second stage of meaningful use guidelines for EHRs was set requiring physicians to use some form of clinical decision support in their practice.
The purpose of clinical decision software (CDS) software is to help the doctor?patient work process run more smoothly, however, often times, hospital staffs complain about technologies adding more time and money to the work flow. In a CompTIA's study, 56 percent of respondents noted a need to make health IT tools easier to use, improve interoperability and increase operating speed.


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June 9, 2023
How to Optimize SEO With the Help of Guest Posting in 2023
In the ever-evolving landscape of search engine optimization (SEO), guest posting has emerged as a powerful strategy for enhancing your website's visibility. By strategically contributing content
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The Politics of Food: Update
I posted three times about diet and food in 2017. You can find them here, here and here. They are among my most-read posts, and I've had enough comments and reads to encourage me to update my experience a year later. I still read everything I see regarding food, nutrition and diet, and I'm still learning what choices give me optimal health and following new science and data.
For the record, I'm 54 years old, officially in menopause now, 5 feet 8 inches tall and a steady 140 lbs. I do a minimum of two hours of sweat-producing Tai Chi a week, swim laps for 45-60 minutes without stopping weekly, and walk energetically up and down a steep hill with my partner (about 50 minutes) five days a week. This walk is also sweat-producing. I dance occasionally and take shorter walks and snowshoe excursions several times a week. I go up and down steep flights of stairs all day long, shovel snow and help hump hardwood (heavy!) firewood into the barn. My blood pressure and pulse are both low, and my BMI is exactly where it's supposed to be. I see a dentist and eye doctor regularly and a medical doctor rarely. I take no prescription medications and I don't drink or smoke. I sleep 8-9 hours a night.
In the summer of 2016, as I was slowly eating fewer and fewer plants and more and more meat and animal fats, I had trouble with hair loss. It occurred about six months into my transition to a very low-carb, high-fat diet. As you can imagine, it gave me pause. My hair is one of my few vanities (it misbehaves so gloriously!) and the women in my family have thick, healthy hair. I freaked out.
My first thought was thyroid. I was previously diagnosed as hypothyroid, but I had quit taking my medication when I moved to Maine in 2015 and had no further symptoms. I went to a doctor and had blood drawn. My thyroid levels were normal. Good news, but it didn't explain my hair loss. At that particular time I was under a great deal of family stress, and the doctor assured me my hair loss was a stress reaction combined with menopause. I wasn't much comforted, but I couldn't find another explanation and he was undisturbed, so I decided to give it some time and see what happened.
The stress in my personal life resolved and after three or four weeks so did the hair loss. I didn't think any more about it until recently, when my partner, who also eats low-carb, high-fat, told me he'd come across a blog post about temporary hair loss being a side effect of transitioning to a ketogenic diet, and it generally occurs around six months into the diet. Hair loss explained. It's worth noting that since then, my hair is thicker, wilder and curlier than ever, and it grows fast. I need a cut at least every five weeks.
In my old life, when I was eating a mostly plant-based diet, I really struggled with constipation. I took fiber supplements and ate loads of fiber-rich foods every day, but it seemed like the more fiber I took, the more trouble I had. I also had a lot of bloating and water retention, which was discouraging. I felt fat, and at the same time I felt depleted.
One of my biggest concerns about trying a low-carb diet was the issue of fiber. Everything I'd ever read told me unequivocally that it's necessary to eat fiber to maintain a healthy GI tract, and cutting out plant-based food seemed to be going in the opposite direction.
What I discovered was that I still struggled with constipation, but it didn't get worse. I was surprised, but I still wanted to fix the problem. I did a lot of reading on blogs about eating low or zero carb, and found constipation was a concern for many people. Everything I read pointed to focusing on micronutrients, especially when transitioning to low-carb, high-fat eating. I read a lot about electrolytes: salt, magnesium, calcium and potassium. My plant-based diet was low-salt (I was careful about salt and rarely added it when cooking and baking) and high in magnesium and potassium. My understanding was that salt is very bad for us, and causes high blood pressure, water retention and a myriad of other problems. Further reading informed me salt is a necessary nutrient, and I realized I was getting well below the recommended levels of salt, potassium and magnesium in my diet of meat and fat.
I began to supplement magnesium and potassium, and I stopped restricting salt (which I've always loved). I also began making sure I drink at least 3 liters of water a day, more when it's hot and humid. The other thing I read about consistently, and this was the hardest for me, was that one needs to eat at least a pound of meat a day, and many people aim for two. That's a lot of meat!
When I implemented all this, my constipation went away. My blood pressure and water retention did not increase with increased salt. I never have bloating. If I have trouble now, it's because I've been too sedentary, not drinking or eating enough, or I forgot my usual supplements.
When I began eating low-carb, high-fat, I also started having severe leg and foot cramps, which I'd never had before. They weren't like my chronic pain and spasm, but in the middle of the night, without warning, my calf or foot would cramp, waking me in a hurry and making me writhe for a few seconds before it relaxed. I was concerned this was a sign that eating this way was as insane and unhealthy as most people say it is and I was starving my body of what it needed, but this, too, turned out to be a function of imbalanced electrolytes and under hydration. I haven't had any kind of cramp since last year.
In retrospect, I wonder if both my chronic pain and spasm and my constipation had a lot to do with imbalanced electrolytes all along. It may be I've been chronically sodium deficient. I also believe I've been chronically under hydrated for most of my life. I have to really pay attention in order to get three plus liters of water a day, and I lived in Colorado, which is terribly dry, before I came to Maine. Obviously, staying well hydrated is essential to healthy bowel habits.
Another problem I had was debilitating migraine headaches that lasted for at least 24 hours and made it impossible to function. Photophobia, phonophobia, neuralgia and pounding pain had me in a dark room with an ice pack. For two or three years I had them once a month, right at the full moon. As I started eating meat and fat and reducing carbs, they gradually diminished in intensity, frequency and length. I've had one so far this year, and I was able to function all the way through it, albeit with discomfort.
So what, exactly, does my current diet look like?
I eat three thick slices of bacon and two sausage links with four to five buttered eggs every morning. It's always delicious and I'm not even close to bored eating it daily. I also drink my first liter of water in unsweetened green tea and just plain water with breakfast. Every other day I put a spoonful of fresh farm cream cheese with garlic and herbs on the eggs. We usually eat before 8:00 a.m.
I don't think about food again until around 3:00 p.m. I write for three or four hours, exercise, do housework, run errands, etc. I usually drink a couple more cups of herbal tea and I drink at least another liter of water. Sometime mid afternoon I'll feel hungry. My partner makes a beef stew to die for, but we don't always have that. We always have ground beef, however, and last fall we saved money and bought half a locally-raised cow, butchered and packaged to our specifications. The meat is grass-fed and very lean. I'm sure this is what most people want, but we find it too lean. Because of that, I make a burger patty or crumble and cook the beef in the frying pan from breakfast in order to take advantage of the bacon and sausage fat. The lean ground beef soaks up the fat pretty well, especially if I just crumble and cook it, which takes about 2 minutes. I aim to cook at least 3/4 of a pound of burger.
I find this extremely filling and satisfying. I drink a lot of water with it. Now and then I spoon garlic and herb farm cheese on top. If I'm really starving or feel extra depleted, I bake a half a sweet potato or white potato, anoint it with lots of butter and fresh farm sour cream. I don't eat any kind of carb without eating fat and meat first.
I also buy unsweetened, full-fat farm yoghurt, and sometimes after my afternoon meal I'll eat a couple big spoonfuls of that. When there is beef stew, I occasionally like to have a half a thin slice of locally baked wheat bread, liberally buttered, with the gravy. I love ice cream, and about once a week I eat a small bowl of hard ice cream, but only after a good meal of meat and fat. If we buy ice cream in town, I get a child's serving in a bowl. Cones are just empty carbs, and they make me hurt. My partner likes banana bread, and he occasionally bakes a very low-sugar version. Sometimes I'll eat a half a thin slice, thickly buttered, as a treat after my afternoon meal.
I have a tendency to react badly to nuts, but I love peanut butter, and we buy nothing-added-but-salt peanut butter from East Wind in bulk. Once a week I eat a spoonful of that on a small square of buttered bread.
Oddly, I've discovered eating one spoonful of ice cream a day causes far more problems than having a small serving once a week. For me, there seems to be a cumulative effect in terms of carbs. Now and then I splurge on a carb, just for fun, and if I've eaten meat and fat first I can get away with it without too many consequences. If I squirt a little catsup on my burger three days in a row, though, I'm going to start to have pain that limits my activity level and sleep. Commercial catsup, for some stupid reason, is sweetened.
Since I last wrote about food, I've done a lot of reading on permaculture, holistic food production, and land management. Please see my Resource page for links. What I've learned is that monocropping is biocide. Large-scale animal production can be equally catastrophic for the land and environment. What we know now is that a healthy complex system (i.e., Planet Earth, left undisturbed) contains an essential mix of plants, fungi, microorganisms, insects and animals. Earth is evolved for such communities, and we will destroy the planet if we don't figure out how to emulate, nurture, protect and participate in such systems. All life will starve to death.
The most extraordinary thing about eating this way, and the hardest part to communicate to someone who doesn't, is the level of hunger satisfaction. Previously, I was always snacking. A piece of fruit, a couple of pieces of toast, a salad, a smoothie. I was always hungry, and I was always ashamed of it. My shame caused me to withhold food from myself, which only made my cravings worse. My weight, mood and energy fluctuated wildly. My sleep was bad. I had constant pain. I was always thinking about food, one way or another.
It's hard to express how different it is to eat a big breakfast and walk away feeling really satisfied and full until six or seven hours later. No craving. No shame. No snacking. No sense of deprivation. No counting calories or weighing portions. Then, another big meal, the evening routine and bedtime, satisfied and satiated. When I'm hungry, I eat. I don't care what time it is or what else is going on. When I'm full, I stop eating. That's it.
The same level of satisfaction applies to drinking water. We drink filtered water from our old hand-dug well, and I never thought just plain water could give me so much pleasure. You couldn't pay me to drink soda or sweet tea or any of the things I used to drink. When I'm thirsty, I want water, lovely, fresh, cool, clean water. I'm never bored with it. I never want anything else. It satisfies me in a way that's so deep it's almost sensual.
I never feel deprived.
It's worth noting that the absolutely most satisfying meat is beef. I eat some chicken and, occasionally, turkey, but I have to eat two or three times as much in order to get the same level of satiation, and those meats are less fatty than beef. Pork is good because it's high-fat, and we hope to be able to buy a half a pig in the future from local farmers.
Sometimes, if I've been working unusually hard physically or am unusually emotionally upset, I'll need a fast snack. In this case, hard-boiled eggs are portable, quick and healthy. Every couple of months I buy a plain ham, unsweetened, smoked, or otherwise manipulated, as fatty as I can find. I thin slice it and pack it into small baggies, which I throw in the freezer until wanted. This provides a quick, high-fat, high-salt, tasty snack I can eat on the run or in a hurry. If I'm going to visit a friend and have a cup of tea or a chat, I eat a little ham so I can have a cracker or cookie with my friend without paying for it in pain.
We have the great good fortune to be able to buy food from a farm. I no longer buy commercial milk, cheese, yoghurt, sour cream or eggs. Nothing compares to food that hasn't left the farm until you take it home. It puts money back into the local community, fosters small-scale farmers who are working holistically with animals and plants (and they work day and night, let me assure you), and it allows me to know exactly where my food is coming from and how it's being handled. It's also fresh and far more delicious than anything available in the grocery store.
I've seen blogs and posts from people who claim to have tried a low or zero-carb, high-fat diet and say it "doesn't work." I'm not sure what "doesn't work" means, exactly, but I always long to ask a lot of nosey questions. First, what was the goal? Why did they try it? Secondly, how long did they stick to it? Thirdly, did they really commit to it? Did they suspend their soda habit, stop sweetening their coffee and ditch the "healthy" granola bars? Did they eat meat and animal fat and drink water and nothing else? Lastly, do they smoke tobacco or drink? All alcohol is carbs. Do they take any prescription drugs or use recreational drugs?
Another thing I've heard is that eating this way is unmanageable socially. I don't buy that. If you're trying to change the way you eat in order to feel better and improve your health and your buddies at the bar give you a bad time for refusing nachos and cheese fries, grow a pair and tell them to back off! Better yet, get them to join you! Do a two-week challenge and bet on who will lose the most weight. True friends will support friends in maintaining health. If you can pack a sandwich for lunch, you can pack fatty ham, hard boiled eggs, and a container of full-fat unsweetened yoghurt. If your only option is fast food, buy a couple of burgers and ditch the buns and condiments. If you want to eat this way, you can. Nobody cares. Nobody's really paying attention. They're too busy with their own food preoccupations! Pot luck? Take a tray of cold cuts or deviled eggs. We go out to eat a couple of times a week and enjoy eggs and sausage, meatloaf, pot roast and chopped sirloin. Hold the bread, hold the side salad!
Eating in this way has transformed my life and my health. Shopping is easy, infrequent and fast. Every ten days or so I visit my friend's farm, buy eight dozen eggs, cheese, sour cream and/or yoghurt (according to need), chat and exchange a hug. I spend a half hour in the kitchen making breakfast, doing dishes, giving the cat fresh water, looking out the windows, watching the birds and thinking about the day ahead. My afternoon meal is either already made (stew) or takes two or three minutes to cook in the breakfast frying pain. I don't meal plan. We know exactly what we need to budget to eat well. I don't need a lot of gear and gadgets or cupboard space. The refrigerator is not overflowing with who-knows-what leftovers and outdated food. Our collection of plastic Tupperware containers is virtually unused (which is good, because there are mice in that particular cupboard!). We don't produce much trash, because we don't buy cans, bags and boxes. We recycle all our egg cartons, plastic and aluminum. We compost egg shells, tea bags, coffee grounds, and any small amount of vegetable matter. Meat and bacon grease is also perfectly suitable for compost, managed properly. We know farmers who have buried a whole dead goat in the center of their compost pile with no smell and no problem.
I don't diet. I eat food — joyously, effortlessly, with great satisfaction and pleasure. I drink water with a deep sense of gratitude that I have clean water to drink. I feel healthy, happy, energetic and filled with vitality. My body is my friend and ally, and I think it's miraculously lovely.
Diet is a personal choice. I suspect different bodies have different requirements. Some people can't eat eggs or dairy. Some are particularly sensitive to the herbicides in our grains. I also suspect that a lot of the current mainstream information and advice about food is skewed and misleading. I encourage everyone to research for themselves. A sampling of the links I've provided in these posts and on my Resource page may provide you with new information and data. Ultimately, the choice is yours, and yours alone. If you're happy with your physical and mental health, your relationship to food and your body, and you have no need to take over-the-counter or prescription medication, you obviously have figured out what works for you. If not, it's important to understand you're not alone and not everyone (not even all doctors) is in agreement about diet.
As for me, I will never go back to a plant-based diet, chronic pain and spasm, constipation, migraines, hypothyroidism, anxiety and depression, insomnia and weight problems. I'm a carnivore, and I eat meat and animal fat with great relish.
All content on this site ©2018
Jennifer Rose
except where otherwise noted


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After years of hype, wearable devices are happening. What wearable computing lacks is a way to integrate devices into a broader system.
- For the past two months or so, I've been taking notes about this "wearable hub" idea (started around CES's time, as wearable devices like the Pebble and Google Glass were discussed with more intensity). At this point, I have over 3000 words in notes, which probably means that I'd have enough material for a long essay. This post is just a way to release a few ideas and to "think aloud" about what wearables may mean.
- Some of these notes have to do with the fact that I started using a few wearable devices to monitor my activities, after a health issue pushed me to start doing some exercise.
- I'm not a technologist nor do I play one on this blog. I'm primarily an ethnographer, with diverse interests in technology and its implications for human beings. I do research on technological appropriation and some of the course I teach relate to the social dimensions of technology. Some of the approaches to technology that I discuss in those courses relate to constructionism and Actor-Network Theory.
- I consider myself a "geek ethnographer" in the sense that I take part in geek culture (and have come out as a geek) but I'm also an outsider to geekdom.
- Contrary to the likes of McLuhan, Carr, and Morozov, my perspective on technology and society is non-deterministic. The way I use them, "implication" and "affordance" aren't about causal effects or, even, about direct connections. I'm not saying that society is causing technology to appear nor am I proposing a line from tools to social impacts. Technology and society are in a complex system.
- Further, my approach isn't predictive. I'm not saying what will happen based on technological advances nor am I saying what technology will appear. I'm thinking about the meaning of technology in an intersubjective way.
- My personal attitude on tools and gadgets is rather ambivalent. This becomes clear as I go back and forth between techno-enthusiastic contexts (where I can almost appear like a Luddite) and techno-skeptical contexts (where some might label me as a gadget freak). I integrate a number of tools in my life but I can be quite wary about them.
- I'm not wedded to the ideas I'm putting forth, here. They're just broad musings of what might be. More than anything, I hope to generate thoughtful discussion. That's why I start this post with a broad statement (not my usual style).
- Of course, I know that other people have had similar ideas and I know that a concept of "wearable hub" already exists. It's obvious enough that it's one of these things which can be invented independently.
From Wearables to Hubs
Back in the 1990s, "wearable computing" became something of a futuristic buzzword, often having to do with articles of clothing. There have been many experiments and prototypes converging on an idea that we would, one day, be able to wear something resembling a full computer. Meanwhile, "personal digital assistants" became something of a niche product and embedded systems became an important dimension of car manufacturing.
Fast-forward to 2007, when a significant shift in the use of smartphones occurred. Smartphones existed before that time, but their usages, meanings, and positions in the public discourse changed quite radically around the time of the iPhone's release. Not that the iPhone itself "caused a smartphone revolution" or that smartphone adoption suddenly reached a "tipping point". I conceive of this shift as a complex interplay between society and tools. Not only more Kuhn than Popper, but more Latour than Kurzweil.
Smartphones, it may be argued, "happened".
Without being described as "wearable devices", smartphones started playing some of the functions people might have assigned to wearable devices. The move was subtle enough that Limor Fried recently described it as a realization she's been having. Some tech enthusiasts may be designing location-aware purses and heads-up displays in the form of glasses. Smartphones are already doing a lot of the things wearables were supposed to do. Many people "wear" smartphones at most times during their waking lives and these Internet-connected devices are full of sensors. With the proliferation of cases, one might even perceive some of them as fashion accessories, like watches and sunglasses.
Where smartphones become more interesting, in terms of wearable computing, is as de facto wearable hubs.
My Wearable Devices
Which brings me to mention the four sensors I've been using more extensively during the past two months:
Yes, these all have to do with fitness (and there's quite a bit of overlap between them). And, yes, I started using them a few days after the New Year. But it's not about holiday gifts or New Year's resolutions. I've had some of these devices for a while and decided to use them after consulting with a physician about hypertension. Not only have they helped me quite a bit in solving some health issues, but these devices got me to think.
(I carry several other things with me at most times. Some of my favourites include Tenqa REMXD Bluetooth headphones and the LiveScribe echo smartpen.)
One aspect is that they're all about the so-called "quantified self". As a qualitative researcher, I tend to be skeptical of quants. In this case, though, the stats I'm collecting about myself fit with my qualitative approach. Along with quantitative data from these devices, I've started collecting qualitative data about my life. The next step is to integrate all those data points automatically.
These sensors are also connected to "gamification", a tendency I find worrisome, preferring playfulness. Though game mechanics are applied to the use of these sensors, I choose to rely on my intrinsic motivation, not paying much attention to scores and badges.
But the part which pushed me to start taking the most notes was that all these sensors connect with my iOS ()and Android) devices. And this is where the "wearable hub" comes into play. None of these devices is autonomous. They're all part of my personal "arsenal", the equipment I have on my me on most occasions. Though there are many similarities between them, they still serve different purposes, which are much more limited than those "wearable computers" might have been expected to serve. Without a central device serving as a type of "hub", these sensors wouldn't be very useful. This "hub" needs not be a smartphone, despite the fact that, by default, smartphones are taken to be the key piece in this kind of setup.
In my personal scenario, I do use a smartphone as a hub. But I also use tablets. And I could easily use an existing device of another type (say, an iPod touch), or even a new type of device meant to serve as a wearable hub. Smartphones' "hub" affordances aren't exclusive.
From Digital Hub to Wearable Hub
Most of the devices which would likely serve as hubs for wearable sensors can be described as "Post-PC". They're clearly "personal" and they're arguably "computers". Yet they're significantly different from the "Personal Computers" which have been so important at the end of last century (desktop and laptop computers not used as servers, regardless of the OS they run).
Wearability is a key point, here. But it's not just a matter of weight or form factor. A wearable hub needs to be wireless in at least two important ways: independent from a power source and connected to other devices through radio waves. The fact that they're worn at all times also implies a certain degree of integration with other things carried throughout the day (wallets, purses, backpacks, pockets…). These devices may also be more "personal" than PCs because they may be more apparent and more amenable to customization than PCs.
Smartphones fit the bill as wearable hubs. Their form factors and battery life make them wearable enough. Bluetooth (or ANT+, Nike+, etc.) has been used to pair them wirelessly with sensors. Their connectivity to GPS and cellular networking as well as their audio and visual i/o can have interesting uses (mapping a walk, data updates during a commute, voice feedback…). And though they're far from ubiquitous, smartphones have become quite common in key markets.
Part of the reason I keep thinking about "hubs" has to do with comments made in 2001 by then Apple CEO Steve Jobs about the "digital lifestyle" age in "PC evolution" (video of Jobs's presentation; as an anthropologist, I'll refrain from commenting on the evolutionary analogies):
We believe the PC, or more… importantly, the Mac can become the "digital hub" of our emerging digital lifestyle, with the ability to add tremendous value to … other digital devices.
… like camcorders, portable media players, cellphones, digital cameras, handheld organizers, etc. (Though they weren't mentioned, other peripherals like printers and webcams also connect to PCs.)
The PC was thus going to serve as a hub, "not only adding value to these devices but interconnecting them, as well".
At the time, key PC affordances which distinguished them from those other digital devices:
- Big screen affording more complex user interfaces
- Large, inexpensive hard disk storage
- Burning DVDs and CDs
- Internet connectivity, especially broadband
- Running complex applications (including media processing software like the iLife suite)
Though Jobs pinpointed iLife applications as the basis for this "digital hub" vision, it sounds like FireWire was meant to be an even more important part of this vision. Of course, USB has supplanted FireWire in most use cases. It's interesting, then, to notice that Apple only recently started shipping Macs with USB 3. In fact, DVD burning is absent from recent Macs. In 2001, the Mac might have been at the forefront of this "digital lifestyle" age. In 2013, the Mac has moved away from its role as "digital hub".
In the meantime, the iPhone has become one of the best known examples of what I'm calling "wearable hubs". It has a small screen and small, expensive storage (by today's standards). It also can't burn DVDs. But it does have nearly-ubiquitous Internet connectivity and can run fairly complex applications, some of which are adapted from the iLife suite. And though it does have wired connectivity (through Lightning or the "dock connector"), its main hub affordances have to do with Bluetooth.
It's interesting to note that the same Steve Jobs, who used the "digital hub" concept to explain that the PC wasn't dead in 2001, is partly responsible for popularizing the concept of "post-PC devices" six years later. One might perceive hypocrisy in this much delayed apparent flip-flop. On the other hand, Steve Jobs's 2007 comments (video) were somewhat nuanced, as to the role of post-PC devices. What's more interesting, though, is to think about the implications of the shift between two views of digital devices, regardless of Apple's position through that shift.
Some post-PC devices (including the iPhone, until quite recently) do require a connection to a PC. In this sense, a smartphone might maintain its position with regards to the PC as digital hub. Yet, some of those devices are used independently of PCs, including by some people who never owned PCs.
Post-Smartphone Hubs
It's possible to imagine a wearable hub outside of the smartphone (and tablet) paradigm. While smartphones are a convenient way to interconnect wearables, their hub-related affordances still sound limited: they lack large displays and their storage space is quite expensive. Their battery life may also be something to consider in terms of serving as hubs. Their form factors make some sense, when functioning as phones. Yet they have little to do with their use as hubs.
Part of the realization, for me, came from the fact that I've been using a tablet as something of an untethered hub. Since I use Bluetooth headphones, I can listen to podcasts and music while my tablet is in my backpack without being entangled in a cable. Sounds trivial but it's one of these affordances I find quite significant. Delegating music playing functions to my tablet relates in part to battery life and use of storage. The tablet's display has no importance in this scenario. In fact, given some communication between devices, my smartphone could serve as a display for my tablet. So could a "smartwatch" or "smartglasses".
The Body Hub
Which led me to think about other devices which would work as wearable hubs. I originally thought about backpackable and pocketable devices.
But a friend had a more striking idea:
@enkerli Undershirts will make a comeback, with a sensor mesh to monitor temp, heart rate, encourage you to move around more.
— A.J. Kandy (@AJKandy) February 26, 2013
Under Armour's Recharge Energy Suit may be an extreme version of this, one which would fit nicely among things Cathi Bond likes to discuss with Nora Young on The Sniffer. Nora herself has been discussing wearables on her blog as well as on her radio show. Sure, part of this concept is quite futuristic. But a sensor mesh undershirt is a neat idea for several reasons.
- It's easy to think of various sensors it may contain.
- Given its surface area, it could hold enough battery power to supplement other devices.
- It can be quite comfortable in cold weather and might even help diffuse heat in warmer climates.
- Though wearable, it needs not be visible.
- Thieves would probably have a hard time stealing it.
- Vibration and haptic feedback on the body can open interesting possibilities.
Not that it's the perfect digital hub and I'm sure there are multiple objections to a connected undershirt (including issues with radio signals). But I find the idea rather fun to think, partly because it's so far away from the use of phones, glasses, and watches as smart devices.
Another thing I find neat, and it may partly be a coincidence, is the very notion of a "mesh".
The Wearable Mesh
Mesh networking is a neat concept, which generates more hype than practical uses. As an alternative to WiFi access points and cellular connectivity, it's unclear that it may "take the world by storm". But as a way to connect personal devices, it might have some potential. After all, as Bernard Benhamou recently pointed out on France Culture's Place de la toile, the Internet of Things may not require always-on full-bandwith connectivity. Typically, wearable sensors use fairly little bandwidth or only use it for limited amounts of time. A wearable mesh could connect wearable devices to one another while also exchanging data through the Internet itself.
Or with local devices. Smart cities, near field communication, and digital appliances occupy interesting positions among widely-discussed tendencies in the tech world. They may all have something to do with wearable devices. For instance, data exchanged between transit systems and their users could go through wearable devices. And while mobile payment systems can work through smartphones and other cellphones, wallet functions can also be fulfilled by other wearable devices.
Alternative Futures
Which might provide an appropriate segue into the ambivalence I feel toward the "wearable hub" concept I'm describing. Though I propose these ideas as if I were enthusiastic about them, they all give me pause. As a big fan of critical thinking, I like to think about "what might be" to generate questions and discussions exposing a diversity of viewpoints about the future.
Mass media discussions about these issues tend to focus on such things as privacy, availability, norms, and usefulness. Google Glass has generated quite a bit of buzz about all four. Other wearables may mainly raise issues for one or two of these broad dimensions. But the broad domain of wearable computing raises a lot more issues.
Technology enthusiasts enjoy discussing issues through the dualism between dystopia and utopia. An obvious issue with this dualism is that humans disagree about the two categories. Simply put, one person's dystopia can be another person's utopia, not to mention the nuanced views of people who see complex relationships between values and social change.
In such a context, a sociologist's reflex may be to ask about the implications of these diverse values and opinions. For instance:
- How do people construct these values?
- Who decides which values are more important?
- How might social groups cope with changes in values?
Discussing these issues and more, in a broad frame, might be quite useful. Some of the trickiest issues are raised after some changes in technology have already happened. From writing to cars, any technological context has unexpected implications. An ecological view of these implications could broaden the discussion.
I tend to like the concept of the "drift-off moment", during which listeners (or readers) start thinking about the possibilities afforded a new tool (or concept). In the context of a sales pitch, the idea is that these possibilities are positive, a potential buyer is thinking about the ways she might use a newfangled device. But I also like the deeper process of thinking about all sorts of implications, regardless of their value.
What might be the implications of a wearable hub?


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When I saw this new line of Her Universe designs my mouth dropped and I wished I was 20 again. I may have to throw my pre-conceived fashion notions out the window for a few of these new items. They are that adorable. The Loki dress is to die for, and the Tony Stark jacket is fabulous. I love them all though! Here is the official release from Her Universe below and info on the pre-sale going on at Hot Topic now before the mid-May release of this new Marvel line. Which one is your favorite??
Fangirls assemble! In celebration of the release of Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron, Her Universe – the trendsetting geek girl apparel company, and Disney Consumer Products have announced a new fashion line inspired by fan-favorite Super Heroes from the Avengers films. The Marvel by Her Universe collection will be available mid-May exclusively at select Hot Topic stores and hottopic.com, with an online pre-sale starting April 21st on hottopic.com.
The Avengers-inspired line features designs by winners from the first-ever Her Universe "Geek Couture" Fashion Show held at last year's Comic-Con International in San Diego where attendees Amy Beth Christenson and Andrew MacLaine wowed the audience with their original, handmade creations on the runway and took top honors at the event. As part of the grand prize, Christenson and MacLaine were rewarded the exciting professional opportunity to design an exclusive fashion collection with Her Universe founder, Ashley Eckstein, for pop-culture and licensed apparel destination Hot Topic. To see the making of the collection, from inspiration to sketches to fittings to ready-to-wear, visit hottopic.com/
"It's been such a pleasure to work with Amy and Andrew to create this line from their initial sketches to the final product sold in Hot Topic stores," said Her Universe Founder Ashley Eckstein. "Geek fashion is a trend that's here to stay. Fangirls are making a statement in the fashion community and this new Avengers collection is addressing their demand for more fashion-forward designs."
"It's exciting to see Marvel's female fan base grow with the second installation of our collaboration with Her Universe, inspired by one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2015,Avengers: Age of Ultron," said Paul Gitter, Senior Vice President, Licensing, Marvel at Disney Consumer Products. "This collection brings awareness of the emerging fangirl trend into mainstream fashion by uniting stylish designs with iconic characters to create a strong statement at retail."
The action-packed Marvel by Her Universe collection consists of stylish dresses and jackets inspired by popular Avengers characters, available in straight and extended sizes. The six piece fashion collection for Hot Topic includes:
– Captain America Halter Dress, $59.50
– Thor Sailor Dress, $59.50
– Stark Industries Bomber Jacket, $54.50
– Black Widow Dress, $44.50
– Black Widow Belted Jacket, $64.50
– Loki Halter Dress, $59.50
Click to enlarge the photos:
"Witnessing two talented designers who truly understand the fans and fan culture win a competition at Comic-Con 2014, and then seeing their spin on Avengers turn into real product at Hot Topic makes what we all do feel genuinely authentic – and so much fun," said Cindy Levitt, Senior Vice President of Merchandising and Marketing at Hot Topic.
In addition to the fashion collection, Hot Topic will offer a wide range of Avengers tees, accessories, gifts and more. The Avengers return to theatres in Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron onMay 1, 2015.
About Her Universe
Her Universe was launched in 2010 by actress and entrepreneur Ashley Eckstein and The Araca Group, a leading theatrical production and brand management company. Ashley and Araca created Her Universe to address the expanding market of female sci-fi and fantasy fans. They entered their first agreement with Lucas Licensing to develop and produce a line of female-centered Star Wars apparel and accessories. The success of that line was followed up with a collection for BBC Worldwide for Doctor Who, CBS Consumer Products for Star Trek, AMC for The Walking Dead, Nerdist Industries, Marvel, Hasbro for Transformers and Studio Ghibli. You can learn more about Her Universe and purchase the current line of fangirl apparel and accessories by going to www.heruniverse.com and by following Eckstein & Her Universe on Facebook (facebook.com/HerUniverse) Twitter (twitter.com/HerUniverse), Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/


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Gas hot water heaters are efficient and effective. You now have the choice of traditional or tankless hot water systems. We would like to provide you with some information to help in the decision making process of your new water heater system.
Rinnai Condensing tankless water heaters are compact heating units that provide hot water as it is needed, and do no store hot water like traditional tank-type water heaters. When a hot water tap is turned on, water enters the tankless water heater. A sensor detects the water flow, and activates an electric or gas heating device, which quickly raises the water temperature to a preset level. When water flow stops, the heating element shuts off. Thermostatically-controlled tankless water heaters vary their output temperature according to water flow rate and inlet water temperature.
Enjoy up to 40% energy savings, endless hot water, and significant space savings.
There will always be hot water. Endless hot water - for bathing, cooking, dishes, laundry, and all the other countless ways hot water enriches our lives.
Tankless water heaters consume a fraction of the space consumed by a tank heater. They can be mounted inside or outside.
Because tankless heaters do not store water, they are less subject to corrosion than tank-type heaters. As a result, their expected equipment life is possibly longer - possibly more than 20 years, compared with 10 - 15 years for traditional heaters. Also, because they are not heating 40 - 50 gallons of water 24 hours a day, tankless water heaters are less susceptible to leakage than tank-type water heaters.


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There are 1,023 county subdivisions in New York known as minor civil divisions (MCDs). There are 932 towns with functioning, but not necessarily active governmental units. East Rochester, Mount Kisco, and Scarsdale towns are coextensive with a single incorporated place and have joint MCD/place governments. Green Island and Harrison towns are coextensive with a single incorporated place and have separate active township governments. Each town is governed by a town supervisor or town manager and a town council or town board.
The five boroughs that comprise New York city (one borough in each of the five counties) are not considered to be functioning governmental units. There are 61 cities in New York that are independent of MCDs and serve as 62 county subdivisions. There are 14 county subdivisions comprised of American Indian reservations. American Indian areas have a special legal status regarding their relationship to state and county government and are treated by the Census Bureau as county subdivision equivalents for the portion of the reservation within each county.
Minor civil divisions are legally incorporated municipal corporations within the state. They provide a range of services to their residents and are empowered to tax property within their boundaries to raise revenue. Villages in New York are places dependent within towns and are not treated as minor civil divisions, with the exception of the five town-village governments.
In addition, there are 10 undefined MCDs that consist entirely of water.
Subdivisions that are also Incorporated Places have an asterisk(*) and the link takes you to the Community Profile for the Incorporated Place.