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FOX Business: Capitalism Lives Here
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Disappointing jobs data and swelling oil inventories ignited worries about the global economy, and sent stocks and energy futures tumbling on Wednesday.
Today's Markets
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 139 points, or 0.94%, to 14701, the S&P 500 dipped 14.9 points, or 0.93%, to 1583 and the Nasdaq Composite declined 30 points, or 0.89%, to 3299.
Commodities stole the spotlight on Wall Street Wednesday. Oil and gasoline futures were both sharply lower. The benchmark U.S. crude oil contract slid $2.43, or 2.6%, to $91.03 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline sold off 3% to $2.719 a gallon.
The move in oil came after the Energy Department said crude stocks surged 6.7 million barrels to 395.2 million barrels last week. That is the highest level on record since at least August 1982.
In metals, gold slumped $26.00, or 1.8%, to $1,446 a troy ounce.
Meanwhile, in economic news, the Federal Reserve held the pace of its asset-purchase program steady at $85 billion a month, and said it will hold short-term interest rates at historic lows until the unemployment rate falls to 6.5%. The central bank also said it sees the economy growing at a 'moderate' pace, but unemployment remains 'elevated.' Stocks remained deep in the red after the statement.
The European Central Bank is out with its decision on Thursday. That one is being more closely watched since some analysts expect the ECB to cut rates to record lows amid signs Germany, Europe's biggest economy, has begun struggling.
Also on the economic front, the ADP National Employment Report showed the private sector added 119,000 jobs in April, falling short of estimates of an increase of 150,000 jobs. Digging into the report, small businesses added the most jobs, followed by large businesses and then medium-sized ones. Every segment tacked on jobs on the month, except manufacturing, which shed 10,000 jobs.
"Overall, job growth has clearly slowed since November of last year and with respect to Friday's payroll report, we cannot help but feel any enthusiasm is unwarranted," Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG wrote in an email.
The labor market has shown only tepid growth in recent months, sparking worries about the robustness of the recovery of the world's biggest economy.
The Institute for Supply Management's PMI gauge slid to 50.7 in April from 51.3 in March. Economists expected a slightly stronger reading of 50.9. Reading above 50 point to expansion, while those below indicate contraction.
In corporate news, Merck (NYSE:MRK) posted weaker-than-expected quarterly sales on increased generic competition, sending shares of the blue-chip biotech behemoth sliding more than 2% in pre-market action.
Automakers also reported April sales on the day. General Motors (NYSE:GM) saw its sales climb 11.4% and Ford (NYSE:F) experienced an 18% jump.
Foreign Markets
The English FTSE 100 climbed 0.66% to 6472. Markets in Germany were closed for Labor Day.
In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 fell 0.44% to 13799. Markets in China were closed for Labor Day.


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Looking back at the busy and productive year we've had, I would say that the United States and Europe have never been more closely aligned, both in overall goals as well as tactics to achieve those goals. From the beginning of the Obama Administration we've made a deliberate and conscious effort to strengthen our ties with Europe and to work with our most important allies around the world on global issues. During 2012 the pace of our work continued with a multitude of high-level visits, ministerial meetings, summits, and international conferences. Not only did I travel widely for meetings with my counterparts, but 2012 also marked Secretary Clinton's 38th visit to Europe. This intense diplomatic engagement is driven by our profound belief that successful alliances require investment and that such investment pays real dividends.
As Secretary Clinton pointed out in her speech, "The U.S. and Europe: A Revitalized Global Partnership," we've developed a common transatlantic agenda that has resulted in close cooperation on a range of global issues including Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Mali, Libya, Egypt and so many other areas around the world.
In 2012 there were elections and political transitions in a large number of European countries. We built relationships with new governments, or solidified our contacts with re-elected leaders, in Albania, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine.
We worked hard to advance democracy and human rights across the continent -- and we must continue advancing this work. The Secretary's strong intervention at the OSCE ministerial in Dublin was an expression of our determination to advance this agenda.
Our relationship with Russia has produced important achievements, but also presents its share of challenges. We continue to engage Russia, based on the conviction that we can cooperate on areas of mutual interest while speaking very plainly about areas of disagreement. Extending Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) -- a bipartisan goal for nearly 20 years -- was a big economic step forward, as was Russia joining the World Trade Organization. Our cooperation with Russia has also facilitated the transit of U.S. military personnel and equipment to and from Afghanistan. At the same time we have had a number of disagreements with Russia, from their increasingly restrictive actions against civil society, to their decision to end the activities of USAID, to their recent regrettable ban on adoptions to American parents.
Guided by the principal that Europe should one day be whole, free and at peace, our work on regional issues inside Europe remained a top priority. Secretary Clinton's October joint visit to the Balkans with EU High Representative Catherine Ashton demonstrated both our commitment to the region and our determination to work closely with the EU, particularly on Serbia-Kosovo normalization. In the Caucasus, we welcomed Georgia's elections and the first peaceful transition in that country's history, and continued to seek a fair and just settlement to the various unresolved conflicts.
The Eurozone financial situation was a topic on which we remained engaged at the highest levels, and the situation looks better at year's end then it did when the year began. We know that the Europeans have the capacity to deal with this challenge. Time and again, governments and voters have chosen to keep the Eurozone intact and to keep trying to resolve the situation. For our part, we will have to remain at least as engaged in 2013, when we hope to be able to expand even further the transatlantic trade and investment relationship, already the largest in the world.
Another highlight of 2012 was the NATO Summit hosted by President Obama in our own city of Chicago. With our NATO allies we reached an agreement on Afghanistan transition; made significant commitments on financing, supporting, and training Afghan security forces beyond 2014; announced an interim capability for missile defense; and advanced "smart defense" projects, an increasing imperative in tight budgetary times. We have had a recent chance to reinforce the value of NATO's collective defense with the current NATO mission deploying Patriot missiles to help protect Turkey.
As I've said, the current strategic alignment of the United States and Europe is not an accident or the temporary alignment of geopolitical tectonic plates. It is, instead, the result of a deliberate and conscious strategy to invest in a partnership with the world's most advanced, military-capable, and democratic peoples who share our values and ideals. We believe that this investment has already paid off and that it will continue to pay off for years to come.
For more information regarding U.S.-European Cooperation, please visit Europe.state.gov.
BFKH in Italy writes:
What is the US State department doing about the four American children abducted from Italy by their Russian mother after she lost custody due to severe psychlogical illness? The children were abducted to St. Petersburg, Russia and abandoned into Russian orphanages for 5 months as the mother was unable to care for them.
Russia has just refused to recognize the Italan judgement which gave domicile of the children to the American father. Russia is in violation of a bilateral treaty with Italy.
These children are in danger and must be helped. No one in the family has had any contact with them in over 1 and 1/2 years. Who will help these poor children?!
Bring Florentine Kids Home

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Recently I've found that I get super inspired when I read/watch people who are doing great things despite peculiar circumstances. First it was the Maysoon Zayid video and the story of how she's done pretty much everything she's wanted to do, despite cerebral palsy.
Beyond the inspiration, it's a stark reminder of how grateful I am (and should be) for the mercies I have received, and a motivation to not only use what I've got even more judiciously, but also to think and act more kindly towards others every chance I get.
On to the inspiration for the day! I was invited to watch a video of a man who has a PhD in law. He has represented people in court (duh), plays the piano, and is blind. Why did I leave what seems like a pretty important detail to the end? Why wasn't his blindness the first thing I mentioned?
Well simply because Dr Ife Akintunde doesn't see blindness as a disability. He believes that "everyone on earth has to meet challenges or their spirits will die". He says we all have little challenges we have to surmount to succeed (or fail) in life and being unable to see from birth is his. Simple.
Ready to watch the rest of it yourself? Go on then!
Soon after I saw the video you've just seen, I was introduced to Sorbarikor Lebura, the brain/producer behind that documentary (directed by Dapo Oshinaike). Sorbarikor is a Nigerian, passionate about telling the stories of people living with different disabilities and has the long term dream of influencing policies in Nigeria that will make the circumstances, living conditions, and accessibility of these people a lot better than what it is at the moment.
I decided to be a part of telling those stories, and can very proudly announce that this documentary has been shortlisted in AfriNolly's Short Film Competition. The winning entries for film and documentary receive $25, 000 which will go a long way in getting this project/charity off the ground.
We just need you to vote! How do you do that?
1. Go here – Afrinolly Short Film Competition
2. It'll ask you to sign in via Facebook or Google Plus (I've checked it a couple times now and it doesn't save your login data. So that's not a worry.
4. Blind aspiration should be on the bottom left corner. If it's not, it's on the page sha.
If you're interested in volunteering with this project in any way, and have ideas on how Sorbarikor and the rest of his team can move forward with this, please leave a comment and I'll make sure he comes on to respond.
Thank you, and enjoy the rest of your week!


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Featured Article:
Archaeology of Early Christianity in Egypt
This chapter presents a historical overview of political consumerism in the United States and Canada, highlighting how societal and cultural shifts have influenced participation over time. The chapter begins by discussing the debatable origins of political consumerism in the Boston Tea Party to present-day examples, including fair trade and ecoconsumption. Throughout the chapter, there is an emphasis on the heterogeneity of political consumers, with particular attention to how marginalized groups, particularly women and African Americans, have used political consumerism to bring about social change. The chapter also argues that producer-consumer solidarity campaigns, including the antisweatshop movement and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' Campaign for Fair Food, are preferable to consumer-led campaigns. Finally, this chapter concludes with methodological considerations for studying political consumerism in North America and suggestions for future research.
This article by Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom is a selection from The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology, edited by William R. Caraher, Thomas W. Davis, and David K. Pettegrew.
Featured Image: :Bagawat.jpg. Kabaeh49 at German Wikipedia, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
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These collections of short tests are designed to get in essential eleven plus practice to fit into busy lifestyles. Each test is designed to take 10 minutes so identifying weaknesses and topping on existing knowledge can be done quickly.
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Outside of our marriage counseling sessions, my husband and I are trying to tackle some of the hurdles in our relationship on our own. Up first, we're trying to get a grasp on our family schedule, which has been wreaking havoc on our marriage for years now.
But I decided that instead of fighting about it, we should figure out why it's causing us so much trouble and make a plan to resolve it. And after just a few weeks, I'm surprised at how much better things around our house have gotten, not just with us but with our kids as well.
What we did isn't rocket science, and I'm pretty sure you can apply it to your own relationship, whether you're having difficulty dealing with your family schedule or something else.
So you might be wondering why our family schedule is such an issue for us, because really, how hard can it be? But when you live in a house with a commercial pilot and military officer who rarely has a set schedule, life as the primary parent can be terribly challenging, not just because you don't really have a sense of when he's going to be home or not, but also because when he is home, he has no sense of your routine.
It's a scheduling nightmare!
In the past, we've just flown by the seat of our pants, with him hopefully remembering to email me his flying dates and then telling me the night before when he needs to head to the Air Force base for duty. It caused me a fair amount of anxiety. Then, when he'd be home and want to sleep in or mow the lawn at dinnertime, I'd freak out and we'd just end up arguing.
But for the last few weeks, that's completely changed. And here's how I did it:
1. Don't wait for anyone to do what you can do yourself. I was waiting for months for my husband to remember to email me his schedule, but that never happened. So instead of getting angry, I just remind him every month to send it to me, and then I add it to our newly-created family calendar on Google that I shared with him.
I put everything on there, including anything that involves the kids, so he can check in from wherever he is and see what's going on. Additionally, he can add his military duty days as well, which gives me more notice and the ability to prepare mentally for his absence. It's like organizational Xanax.
This also allows me to schedule work trips and other meetings because I've got exactly when he'll be home and when he'll be gone laid out in front of me. And that means no surprises for him either.
2. Communicate what you need. For years, my husband would come home from a trip and create his own daily schedule, which would sometimes coincide with what our family was doing but other times would completely go against what we had planned. So there were days when he'd work out right before dinner or mow the lawn at bedtime. It was maddening!
So now when he's home, which can be a few days at a time during the week, we chat the night before and figure out who needs to get what done. Then we negotiate those into our schedules based on priority level. Turns out, he wasn't being reckless or inconsiderate, but rather just had a mental to-do list that I didn't know about.
3. Let go of the reins. I know I'm not the only woman who leans strongly towards taking control in the household. And while I am the solo parent for much of the month, I would continue on as "head honcho" when my husband got home, which was exhausting for me and unfair to him.
So while I used to take on pretty much all daily household tasks even if he was home, lately I've asked him to cook dinner on a night or two, as well as do a few other chores that I'm usually reluctant to relinquish.
This has affected the shift in power in our relationship so that we're now on more equal footing, and it's given me the break that I've needed and wanted for so long. And as it turns out, the dude can cook.
What are the biggest hurdles in your relationship?
Image via Iowa_Spirit_Walker/Flickr


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Circus, an entertainment or spectacle usually consisting of trained animal acts and exhibitions of human skill and daring. The word has the same root as circle and circumference, recalling the distinctive environment in which such entertainment is presented—the ring, a circular performance area usually bounded by a short fence (or "curb"). The ring may be enclosed in an arena, in a building designed for circus performances, or in a tent, and it is generally surrounded by tiers of seats for spectators.
Variations to this definition exist, however, and any attempt at a strict, all-inclusive definition reduces the term's application to a particular nationality, generation, or proprietorship. Some circuses do not use trained animals, for example, such as the circuses of China and Africa, which feature acrobatic acts similar to those elsewhere, albeit with traditions rooted in religion and folklore. At various times circuses have offered supplementary attractions such as street parades, menageries, sideshows, pantomimes, and theatrical presentations. A number of circuses, especially in Europe, have been stationary, occupying permanent, often elegant buildings in larger cities. Others have traveled extensively—originally by horse and wagon and then by railroad, boat, motor vehicle, or even airplane—and exhibited in tents, theatres, and, beginning in the 1960s, huge enclosed sports arenas. Many circus companies, particularly in the United States, exhibit simultaneously in three or more rings, with the building or tent taking on a rectangular or elliptical shape; others retain the one-ring format. Some organizations, such as the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, could point to a history extending back a century or more; other circuses, such as those sponsored by fraternal organizations (e.g., the Shriners), existed for less than a single season or for only one engagement. Through all the above, however, there runs a common thread: the ring, by which spectators readily recognize the entertainment known as "circus."
Early history
The circus is of comparatively recent origin, yet certain elements can be traced back to ancient Rome. The great Roman amphitheatres—called circuses after the Latin word for "circle"—were most often devoted to gladiatorial combats, chariot races, the slaughter of animals, mock battles, and other blood sports. The most spectacular of these arenas, the Circus Maximus, was in operation for more than 1,000 years. It would seem on the surface that these exhibitions of carnage had little in common with modern circuses, yet it is from the early Roman circuses that traditions such as trained animals and the preshow parade derive.
Elsewhere, ancient peoples performed other acts associated with the modern circus. Acrobatics, balancing acts, and juggling are probably as old as humankind itself, with records of such acts being performed in Egypt as early as 2500 bce. The Greeks practiced ropedancing; early African civilizations engaged in siricasi (a combination of folkloric dances and acrobatics); and the ancient Chinese juggled and performed acrobatic acts for members of the imperial court. Clowns have existed in nearly every period and civilization, both as characters in farces and as individual performers.
For centuries, however, there were no attempts to organize such acts into a distinct entertainment; rather, individuals and small troupes of performers with specialized talents wandered through Europe, Africa, and Asia. Such roving entertainers appeared wherever groups of people gathered: in nobles' halls, at community celebrations, and at marketplaces. In the 9th century King Alfred the Great of England was said to have been entertained by a wild beast show, and in the 11th century William the Conqueror brought performing troupes of ropedancers, tumblers, and contortionists to England from France.
Fairs played an important role in developing trade throughout Europe from the 7th century until the late medieval period, at which point more-regular channels of marketing were standardized. Fairs then became a place less for trading than for entertainment, providing a showcase for acrobatics, feats of skill, trained animals, and other elements later associated with the circus. By the late 18th century, however, they were regarded as unsavory affairs, as they had become gathering places for pickpockets, thieves, and vagrants.
Philip Astley and the first circuses
The modern circus came into being in England in 1768 when Philip Astley, a former sergeant major turned trick rider, found that if he galloped in a circle while standing on his horse's back, centrifugal and centripetal forces helped him to keep his balance. It is perhaps because of this discovery that he is often credited with having invented the circus ring, but it was in fact a device that had been in use for some time by trick riders. He did, however, experiment with the ring in order to determine its optimum size for both rider safety and audience sight lines; his first ring was about 62 feet (19 metres) in diameter, and he eventually adopted the more-popular 42-foot (13-metre) standard that is still used in modern circuses. Astley's shows consisted only of trick riding exhibitions until 1770, when he hired a clown ("Mr. Merryman"), musicians, and other performers for his show in order to provide spectators with a diverse entertainment. Because of these innovations, he is credited with having developed the modern circus. He eventually built a roof over his ring and added a stage for dramatic performances.
Astley discovered that similar developments were occurring in France when he traveled to that country in 1772 to present his "daring feats of horsemanship" before King Louis XV at Fontainebleau. Ten years later Astley returned to Paris and opened an amphitheatre (one of 19 permanent circuses he built during his lifetime) at Rue de Faubourg du Temple, near the Boulevard du Crime, where the Place de la République stands today. He left Paris in 1793, following the outbreak of the French Revolution, whereupon his Parisian circus was taken over by the Italian Antonio Franconi, a member of a noble Venetian family who had been forced into exile after a fatal duel. Franconi became first a showman and later a trick rider, but it was as a director that he excelled. His sons, Laurent and Henri, together with their wives and children, continued in his footsteps, and the Franconi family is generally credited with the founding of the French circus. They are also credited with having standardized the diameter of the ring at 13 metres (approximately 42 feet). In 1802, with the arrival of Napoleon and his empire, Astley resumed control of his Paris circus. The Franconis moved to Rue du Mont-Thabor, where they built another circus.
Concurrent with these developments, a rival horseman and former Astley employee named Charles Hughes traveled to Russia in 1773 to perform for Catherine the Great in the royal palace of St. Petersburg. He took with him a small company of trick riders and taught horsemanship at the court. Hughes is therefore sometimes credited with having introduced the circus to Russia, but his exhibitions encompassed only trick riding. (The first Russian circus to incorporate a full complement of acts was that of the Frenchman Jacques Tourniaire, a first-rate equestrian who built a short-lived circus in St. Petersburg.) Hughes went on to introduce the term circus in 1782, when he opened what he called the Royal Circus a few hundred yards south of Astley's amphitheatre.
From the time of its origin in England, the circus was often presented in a theatre setting, mostly in permanent or semipermanent buildings of flimsy construction. The greatest hazard to these theatres was fire, from which Astley suffered particularly: his amphitheatre burned down three times in the first 62 years of its history. At Astley's, the Royal Circus, and elsewhere, a proscenium arch and large scenic stage were set behind a ring, creating a sense of theatre. Within these settings riders on horseback acted out pantomimed stories based on famous battles and sieges. As advertised in an old Astley handbill, such acts sought to demonstrate the battle techniques of "a general engagement, sword in hand, with the different postures of offence, for the safety of man and horse." In France this genre of horseback entertainment was eventually exiled to traditional theatres.
John Bill Ricketts and the American circus
By the late 18th century the circus had spread throughout Europe and had gained a fragile foothold in the United States. In 1793 John Bill Ricketts, a Scottish rider and former student of Hughes, presented exhibitions in Philadelphia and New York City consisting of trick riding, rope walkers, tumblers, pantomimes, and a clown. Because Ricketts was the first in the United States to offer such variety for an evening's entertainment, he is credited with the country's introduction to the circus. The main feature of his show was his own equestrian act, in which he leaped from his galloping horse over a ribbon suspended 12 feet (3.7 metres) in the air and then landed back in the saddle. Animals would not become commonplace in American circuses for several years, but Ricketts's steed, Cornplanter, is regarded as the first star animal performer in the United States. Within a few years Ricketts would hire John Durang, who is believed to have been the first American-born circus clown.
Despite the variety of acts presented by Ricketts and other early entrepreneurs, the main attraction of the circus was always the riding act. Such acts often required a "ringmaster" to keep the horses running properly as the rider performed tricks. In time the role of the ringmaster expanded into that of an emcee (and an occasional foil for clowns); today's ringmasters still wear traditional riding garb.
In the tradition of Astley's and other European circuses, Ricketts's productions featured a pantomime—or, as it came to be known, the "spectacular," or "spec" in circus jargon. As in Astley's circus, Ricketts's specs sometimes dramatized famous battles, but they also evolved to re-create historical incidents, ancient myths, and Bible stories. Sometimes they consisted of a grand pageant in which the entire circus company, dressed in glittering costumes, paraded through the arena (the form in which the spec has endured into modern times).
Unfortunately, Ricketts's endeavour, like Astley's before him, fell victim to fire, the most notorious enemy of circuses. Shortly after losing his New York circus to fire, Ricketts returned to Philadelphia, where in 1799 yet another of his circuses burned to the ground. After a few unsuccessful attempts at rebuilding his career, the discouraged and near-bankrupt Ricketts set sail for England, hoping to reestablish himself in that country. The ship on which he sailed, however, perished at sea on an unknown date in 1800, claiming the lives of all aboard.
19th-century developments
After Ricketts's death the popularity of the circus waned in the United States, although certain troupes had sporadic success during the early 19th century. The European circus of Pepin and Breschard, for instance, was well received at the turn of the century. It was also about this time that the popularity of exotic animals was noted by exhibitors, with the arrival of the first elephant on the North American continent in 1796. The animal, owned at first by Captain Jacob Crowninshield (and recorded in history only as "Crowninshield's elephant"), became the first elephant to be exhibited with a circus when it joined the Cayetano, Codet, Menial & Redon Circus of New York in 1812.
The second elephant on American shores, Old Bet, was even more popular and is credited with having established the circus tradition of the animal menagerie. Old Bet was owned by Hackaliah Bailey of Somers, New York. Between 1809 and 1816 Bailey toured with the elephant, walking with the animal from town to town under the cover of night in order to prevent anyone from having a free look at the beast. Old Bet's popularity inspired Bailey's farmer-neighbours to set out with menageries of their own. In a very short time there were noteworthy traveling collections of wild animals, such as the Zoological Institute of the June brothers. June, Titus & Angevine and Van Amburgh's Menagerie also set up permanent establishments in the larger cities. Similar exhibitions developed in England, which led to such famous traveling menageries as Bostock & Wombwell's. Some menageries were as large as full traveling zoos, although most of them could be contained within two or three wagons.
Other important innovations during this time included the introduction of the circus tent, or "big top," which was first used about 1825 on the itinerating show of the American J. Purdy Brown. His reasons for exhibiting shows under canvas tents (which were at first very small, housing one ring and a few hundred seats) are unknown, but it was an innovation that became a standard component of circuses for more than a century and a half. It allowed Brown to become the first operator to travel widely with his circus, which he did throughout Virginia in 1826 and along the banks of the Mississippi River in 1828. His show featured minstrel numbers as well as acts common to other circuses of the time. It would eventually offer an animal menagerie, the first (in 1832) to be incorporated into a circus setting.
The American circus lost its most important promoter when Brown died suddenly following a performance in 1834. It would be nearly four decades before entrepreneurs as influential as Ricketts or Brown would reemerge and expand the circus to newfound heights of popularity. Until that time, circuses maintained a fair level of success with traveling shows such as the Mount Pitt Circus, as well as those featuring the animal tamer Isaac Van Amburgh and the famous American clown Dan Rice.
The United States gradually became the world leader in circus innovations, however, eclipsing European circuses in terms of scale and extravagance by adding rings to the performance space and exhibiting shows under larger and larger tents, or "tops." The American circus truly came to the forefront of international developments through the efforts of P.T. Barnum, who was already a household name by the time he promoted his first circus at age 61. Barnum began his career as a showman (and charlatan) in 1834 by promoting Joice Heth, an African American woman in her 80s, as the 161-year-old former nurse to George Washington. His next major enterprise was the acquisition of New York's American Museum, which he turned into a showcase for the sensational and the bizarre. More than 82 million visitors—including such notables as Henry James, Charles Dickens, and the prince of Wales—visited the museum to examine its human and animal curiosities, some genuine (such as Chang and Eng, the "original" Siamese twins), some bogus (such as the "Feejee Mermaid," a creature fabricated by attaching the body of a fish to the head of a monkey). Barnum closed the museum in 1868 after losing it twice to fire and then spent a few years promoting individual attractions (such as Swedish singer Jenny Lind) before becoming partners with W.C. Coup in 1871. With Coup, Barnum produced a spectacular circus in Brooklyn, New York, that was billed as the "Greatest Show on Earth." It offered several attractions borrowed from Barnum's museum, from which evolved the sideshow, a feature unique to American circuses.
Before 1872 most itinerating circuses moved from town to town by horse and wagon, a form of transport that necessarily limited their size and the distances they could cover in a given season. In the spring of that year, Barnum and his partners loaded their show onto 65 railroad cars and thereby gave birth to the age of the giant railroad circuses. Circuses could then move greater distances and perform in towns that had the space and the population to support the large shows. Barnum's own "Greatest Show on Earth" eventually traveled on three separate trains, going distances of 100 miles (160 km) or more in a single night. Later in the century, Coup would introduce the end loading of circus trains, in which the gaps between flatcars were bridged by iron plates and each wagon, fully loaded, was pushed down the plates of the train to its assigned place. American circuses thus became models of logistic efficiency, their methods leading to the creation of the modern system of rail-truck freight handling.
In the 1880s Barnum began to produce shows in partnership with James A. Bailey. These productions would define circuses in the United States for more than a century. Bailey was best known as the promoter of the Great International Circus, which staged successful tours of the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand in the 1870s. Regarded as the best circus organizer in the business, he was a perfect partner for Barnum, who was himself known as the best showman in the business. Their circus offered the types of acts that had been established throughout the 19th century, but they had so many acts and operated on such a large scale that the show required the use of two (1873) and then three (1881) rings. Perhaps the most famous attraction of the early Barnum & Bailey circus was the legendary Jumbo, the largest elephant in the world, which Barnum acquired in 1882.
Barnum & Bailey's main competitors during the late 19th century were the Ringling brothers, who established their first circus in 1884. During this period and into the early 20th century, the Ringlings expanded their organization by acquiring several smaller circuses.
Continental European and British circuses generally retained the one-ring format in the mid- to late 19th century; their programs were often of the highest calibre, and their tents may have seated as many as 5,000 spectators. In order to maintain the one-ring design while expanding the area beneath the tent, the European tent was designed with the four centre poles forming a square instead of a single-file line as with American big tops. European circuses were also often performed in permanent buildings—at the Circus Schumann in Copenhagen, for example, and at the venerable Cirque d'Hiver in Paris, which dates from 1852. In Russia and certain other areas of the former Soviet Union, the circus was regarded as an art form and received lavish state support and beautiful permanent spaces. To this day nearly every city of any size in the former Soviet states boasts a permanent circus building. Throughout Europe rail transport for circuses was never very popular, and, although a few attempts at traveling by rail were made, it was not until the second quarter of the 20th century that rail travel came into regular use by any European show. In Latin America and East Asia it was used, when available, after 1900.
In the United States and to some extent in Europe, circuses annually retired to winter quarters to rest and refurbish for another season. Among the cities that became identified as winter-quarters towns were Peru, Indiana, which sheltered Hagenbeck-Wallace and other shows; Baraboo, Wisconsin, the winter home for the Ringling Bros. Circus and the Ringlings' cousins the Gollmar Brothers; Delavan, Wisconsin, home to more than a dozen circuses; and Bridgeport, Connecticut, which for nearly 50 years served as headquarters for Barnum's "Greatest Show on Earth," until the Ringlings moved the operations of the combined show to Sarasota, Florida, in 1927.
General characteristics
Many characteristics of the modern circus—such as parades, acts of skill, animals, and clowns—had become mainstays of many circuses by the mid-19th century.
The parade
The circus parade through the streets, serving as a triumphal entry into town by each overland circus caravan, developed during the mid-19th century. The tradition evolved in the United States, although it was the English who popularized it and created the most spectacular processions and the most ornately carved circus parade wagons. English parades, which wound their way through the town back to the circus field ("lot" in the United States, "tober" in Britain), were a great feature of tented circuses, particularly that of "Lord" George Sanger, who once tacked his parade onto the end of a military escort accompanying Queen Victoria across London. Interest in circus parades increased in the United States when Seth B. Howes imported several English wagons in 1864. The American circus parade, which subsequently became a national institution, became the climax of a highly systematized publicity campaign to arouse interest in the circus during its brief appearance at any one place.
Equestrian acts
Continuing traditions from the days of Astley, scenic riding remained extremely popular in the 19th century, before the purely acrobatic style supplanted it. In scenic riding the equestrian, appropriately costumed, acted out a pantomime on horseback. The greatest exponent of this artistic mode of riding was the Englishman Andrew Ducrow, who was Astley's manager during the last two decades of his life. One of his acts, "The Courier of St. Petersburg," is still seen in the circus. In this act a rider straddles two cantering horses while other horses, bearing the flags of those countries that a courier would traverse on a journey from St. Petersburg to England, pass between his legs. Besides other solo acts, which were copied by equestrians throughout the world, Ducrow invented several duets and ensemble numbers. In "The Tyrolean Shepherd and Swiss Milkmaid," for example, he was joined by his wife, Louisa Woolford; while standing on the backs of their circling horses, the two performed the pursuit and wooing of a "fair peasant," complete with a lovers' quarrel and reconciliation scene, followed by an exquisite pas de deux.
In England, Shakespeare's Richard III and Macbeth and even Richard Verdi's opera Il trovatore were performed on horseback at Astley's during the 19th century. Astley's never became as fashionable as several circuses based in permanent buildings on the Continent, however. The most exclusive clubs in Paris kept their own private boxes at the Cirque d'Été; and in Paris, St. Petersburg, and Berlin the stables were regularly scented for the benefit of aristocratic visitors.
The 19th century saw other great riders who were champions of bareback riding—the art of performing acrobatic and gymnastic feats on the bare backs of loping horses. James Robinson, a mid-19th-century American, was one such rider. He was billed as "the One Great and Only Hero and Bareback Horseman and Gold Champion-Belted Emperor of All Equestrians."
A variety of other equestrian tricks gained popularity in the 19th century. A traditional finale of the larger tent shows, known as the Great Roman Hippodrome Races, was a spectacle composed of novelty races, steeplechases, and the ancient arts of chariot racing and Roman post (standing) riding. Also popular were "horses at liberty," horses that performed free of rider, reins, or harness, directed solely by visual or oral command. In 1897 the Barnum & Bailey Circus presented the largest troupe of these horses, with 70 performing simultaneously in one ring.
Acts of skill
Acts of human skill experienced a resurgence in the 19th century as a part of the circus. The flying trapeze was invented by the French acrobat Jules Léotard in 1859. That same year another Frenchman, Jean-François Gravelet (stage name "Blondin"), crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope. These events excited public interest in the work of the aerial gymnast and acrobat. By the turn of the 20th century, acrobatic acts had grown in popularity, although they never usurped the supreme position of the horse in the circus.
Circus families
Notable circus families became prominent during the 19th century. From one generation to another, members of a family would be trained from earliest childhood in the skills and discipline necessary to achieve perfection either in one specialty or in a group of related specialties. For example, the Cristiani family of Italy—known as the "Royal Family of the Circus," with a history dating back to the mid-19th century—were perhaps the most famous equestrians in circus history, but some members excelled in the common circus skills of tumbling, ballet, and acrobatics. Circus families often intermarried. The Cooke family, which traveled from Scotland to New York City in the early 1800s, was an equestrian group that intermarried with the Coles and the Ortons, both well-known American circus families. As a family expanded, branches were established in numerous areas, and members often went from one branch to another. The Cristianis, for instance, established branches throughout Europe and in the United States; they, like many other circus families, gained their largest measure of fame outside their native country. Another example of this is the Cinisellis, an Italian family that dominated the Russian circus during the late 19th century.
As the circus developed in the 19th century, the clown came to play a definite role in it. In 19th-century one-ring circuses, clowns often entertained audiences with songs and long monologues, in which they sometimes offered words of wisdom on politics and current events or quoted Shakespeare; one such clown was the popular American Dan Rice, who was known for an act that incorporated singing, dancing, jokes, and trick riding. Several other varieties of clowns were popular in the 19th century, particularly the elegantly costumed whiteface clown, favoured in many European circuses, who appears rather severe and domineering, and the happy-go-lucky Auguste (German: "foolish") clown, conceived by the American Tom Belling in the late 19th century, whose makeup, costume, and behaviour are exaggerated and grotesque.
Wild animal acts
The introduction of wild animals to the circus dates from about 1831, when the French trainer Henri Martin, performing in Germany, presumably entered a cage with a tiger. He was soon followed by the American trainer Isaac A. Van Amburgh, reputedly the first man to stick his head into a lion's mouth, who in 1838 took his act to England and so fascinated the young Queen Victoria that she commissioned the artist Sir Edwin Landseer to paint a portrait of the brawny American with his "big cats." In addition to exhibiting at circuses, both Martin and Van Amburgh frequently trod the boards of regular theatres, where they and their animals were featured in melodramas with such titles as Hyder Ali (also known as The Lions of Mysore) and The Brute Tamer of Pompeii. Other dramas performed in theatres and circuses about this time featured elephants, bears, monkeys, and horses in starring roles.
In the United States, elephants have long been considered by many to be the very hallmark of the circus. As Barnum once said, "Elephants and clowns are pegs on which to hang a circus." Beginning with the single specimens exhibited at Astley's in the early 19th century, the number of performing elephants, especially in American three-ring circuses, would run as high as 40 or more by the turn of the 20th century.
Countless other species of wild animals were trained to perform in the circus ring during this period, including polar bears, giraffes, hippopotamuses, and rhinoceroses. In the mid-19th century the members of the Knie family of Switzerland and the Togni family in Italy were celebrated for their expertise in the handling of such exotic animals.
The menagerie
By the time American circuses achieved their massive character in the 1870s, the menagerie was a major feature, and it remained so through the 1940s. Circus menageries in the United States were exhibited in separate tents, and audiences passed through them before going into the main performance in the "big top." The beautifully carved wagons that held the animals lined the perimeter of the tent or were clustered in the centre of the tent. The elephants formed a line around one end of the tent, followed by other uncaged animals such as camels, llamas, bison, and zebras. Many of the larger circuses had extensive collections that included exotic animals such as rhinoceroses and giraffes, in their own portable corrals. (A number of European organizations, such as the Knie, Krone, and Orfei circuses, would still maintain animal menageries of this kind at the turn of the 21st century.)
Sideshows became a part of the circus in the United States in the late 19th century, although they did not gain much popularity elsewhere. Barnum was perhaps the major influence in sideshow development, having demonstrated their popularity as an attraction at his American Museum. Typically, these shows included human "abnormalities," such as "fat ladies," giants and dwarfs, "armless wonders," and "four-legged girls"; illusions and magicians; automatons and curious inventions; and various works of art, among them Hiram Powers's titillating nude statue The Greek Slave (c. 1847). Housed in its own tent, the sideshow typically was fronted by giant banners or panels illustrating the marvels inside. A unique and vital element of the sideshow was the "talker," who lured customers by "ballyhooing" the sights to be found inside. Talkers—often associated with the phrase "Step right up!"—were called "grinders" or "spielers." As the 20th century progressed, attitudes changed toward the political correctness of such exhibitions and this caused the decline of the sideshow.
Wild West shows
Circuses in the United States were sometimes attached to "Wild West shows," which emphasized displays and events of the Old West. A Wild West show usually presented its exhibition in a large open field surrounded by bleachers that were protected by a canvas canopy. Typically, such shows featured Native American ceremonies; cowboys who engaged in bronco busting, roughriding, roping, and sharpshooting; and dramatic representations of life on the frontier. Although Barnum had added such an exhibition to his circus as early as 1876, the credit for establishing the Wild West show as a separate entertainment goes to the former cavalry scout William F. ("Buffalo Bill") Cody and his partner W.F. ("Doc") Carver, who launched their own Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World in 1883. Pawnee Bill's Wild West and Miller Bros.'s 101 Ranch Real Wild West were prominent competitors of Buffalo Bill throughout the years. The famous riflewoman Annie Oakley, "Little Sure Shot," gained her fame as a star of Wild West shows. Many film stars were also associated with them, including Tom Mix and Will Rogers. The last Wild West show was Colonel Tim McCoy's Wild West of 1938.
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:
theatrical production: Nondramatic theatre…diverse oral and musical presentations, circus and vaudeville acts, sporting displays, and ceremonial occasions such as the coronation of a monarch. There is no narrative line in such productions, but the technical virtuosity of the performers or the ritual significance of the event becomes the focus of audience attention. There…
P.T. Barnum…musical concert, and the three-ring circus. In partnership with James A. Bailey, he made the American circus a popular and gigantic spectacle, the so-called Greatest Show on Earth.…
bodybuilding…of European strongman theatrical and circus acts of the late 19th century. The first American physique contest, staged by physical culturist Bernarr Macfadden (1868–1955), took place in 1903 in New York City. The winner, Al Treloar, was named "The Most Perfectly Developed Man in the World." Similar contests were held…
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals…standards were established by such circus alternatives as Cirque du Soleil, which did not use animal acts. Other significant changes included rising standards for the treatment of animals by suppliers for fast-food chains and increasing public awareness of the abusive practices of suppliers in countries such as China that lacked…
acrobatics…acrobatics were important in the circus. About 1900 the Scheffers, Craggs, Hanlon-Voltas, Sandow, Lauck and Fox, Cinquevalli, Caicedo, and the Potters were the most prominent European and U.S. acrobats. Later, the Concellos and Codonas on the flying trapeze, Con Colleano on the tightwire, and the juggler Enrico Rastelli captivated audiences…
More About Circus7 references found in Britannica articles
Assorted References
- development of body building
- In bodybuilding
- elements in theatre production
- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
- use of acrobatics
- In acrobatics
contribution of
- Astley
- Barnum
- In P.T. Barnum
- Spaulding


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By Simon Evans
DUBLIN, Ohio, Oct 1 (Reuters) - For one of the most successful individual sportsmen of his generation, Tiger Woods certainly enjoys the novelty of being part of a team.
The world number one, who last week was named the PGA Tour's Player of the Year, says he is thoroughly enjoying the banter in the United States' locker room ahead of this week's Presidents Cup at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.
"It's fun because it's a good group of guys. We all take a pretty good ribbing, and it's constant," Woods, who highlighted PGA Championship winner Jason Dufner and world number eight Matt Kuchar as sources of much of the humour, said on Tuesday.
"You wouldn't expect the things that come out of (Dufner's) mouth. Kuch is the same way. They are pretty funny guys and you just don't expect ... you expect the unexpected with those two."
More importantly though, to Woods the competitor, is the mix of experience and talent on the United States team that makes them favourites to beat the International team for a fifth straight time in the biennial tournament.
"We have got a lot of players who have been on these teams before. I believe -- I think Jordan (Spieth) is the only rookie on here. Everyone has played on teams prior to this, whether Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, and that certainly helps," said Woods.
"Some of us have been on the team for a very long time. Phil (Mickelson) has been on here for 20 years or so. I'm not too far behind him. We've got some older players with Stricks on here, and with Jordan and the youth, it's a great balance."
The 12-man U.S. team boasts six of the world's top 10 players compared to the Internationals, whose highest ranked player after world number two Adam Scott is Jason Day (16).
For Woods, that kind of depth has been behind the American domination of the tournament.
"One of the reasons why our record is pretty good in this event is that if you look at the top 10 guys who are in their spots (on the team), they are ranked pretty high, generally in the top 10 in the world, maybe top 25, all 10 guys, and sometimes even 12 guys," said Woods.
"And we are very deep. Because every player has to play every day, I think our depth helps. We are not just top-loaded and I think that certainly has helped us in the Presidents Cups over the years." (Editing by Frank Pingue)


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After sitting out most of spring and fall camp, UCLA linebacker Eric Kendricks returned to 11-on-11 drills Tuesday morning, the most field action he's seen in nearly four months.
Last year's Pac-12 leader with 150 tackles, the 6-foot, 228-pound junior said he underwent ankle surgery four weeks ago. The procedure was optional, but he said he didn't opt for it because of worsening pain. He just wanted to be fully ready for the season.
"It feels great to be back," Kendricks said. "To be honest with you, I've just been taking it easy. I've been in the training room. I got a lot of treatment in San Bernardino."
He said Tuesday that he had been instructed not to disclose the exact nature of the injury: "It was just a little bit nagging. It was annoying. It just wasn't normal. I know how my body feels when it's normal, and it was just a little bit off."
Kendricks looked good on the practice field for someone who had been away from live contact for so long. He said there's enough practices left ahead of him to be prepared for the Aug. 31 opener against Nevada.
"That gives our team a lift. He's a heck of a football player," head coach Jim Mora said. "He's a leader on this team. Having him in the huddle, directing things, and then looking like he did — it's a great thing for us."
Duarte in the zone
Thomas Duarte had one of his best practices yet as a Bruin, pulling in a pair of touchdowns as the offense pushed toward the goal line. The true freshman, who already had his high school jersey retired by Mater Dei in the spring, looks like he could soon seize a starting spot at Y receiver/tight end.
"That's really what I wanted to do, establish myself in the red zone," he said. "That was one of my goals for this year."
One of the biggest pass-catchers on the roster at 6-3 and 221 pounds, Duarte said he sees himself as a "loft it up, I'll go get it type of receiver." He missed parts of fall camp due to cramps and other minor injuries, but said the 10 days of practices in San Bernardino helped him improve his release off the line and his route running.
Incumbent starter Darius Bell missed most of his junior year due to injury. The 5-11 senior wore a precautionary red jersey during fall camp recovering from a broken hand.
Manfro at tailback
After playing mostly as a slot receiver his freshman year, Steve Manfro has converted back to his natural position in the backfield.
"My whole life, I've been playing running back," he said. "It's just a position I love and I think I'm the best at. Last year, they needed a spot to fill and I just tried to step up."
As an F-back last season, Manfro caught 28 passes for 287 yards and a touchdown. Despite a stocky, 5-9, 189-pound frame, he toted the ball just eight times.
That's changed as the Valencia High grad enters his second season at UCLA. Manfro has worked exclusively with the running backs in practice, adding that his time as a slot receiver has made pass catching one of his strengths. He is trying to beat out junior Jordon James and redshirt freshman Paul Perkins on the depth chart.
Position coach Steve Broussard said James is "penciled in" as the starter, but said that could still change if other backs impress him.
"We all seem to be pretty on par with each other," Manfro said.
Freshman cornerback Priest Willis has dropped down the depth chart since taking some first-team reps during fall camp. Asked whether or not missing summer workouts with strength coach Sal Alosi has affected Willis, Mora said no: "Priest spent this summer with some NFL guys, some guys with the Cardinals, working on his skill set. I'm really pleased with Priest." … Freshman offensive lineman Christian Morris sat out Tuesday morning's practice after an asthma attack. … Starting left tackle Simon Goines is still recovering from a hyperextended knee.


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Why the U.S. Should Be Downgraded
Even if a debt deal emerges soon, the drawn-out budget battle will at the least ding the reputation of the U.S. and its government. As a result, the U.S. should not be rated triple-A anymore, Michael Casey says. Photo: Getty Images.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... in due ... all he is betting heavily ... a Washington will finally get around to agreeing on a budget and avoid the potential debt default ... however ... the strong the budget battle will it lead in the reputation of the US the ... certainly ... and its government in fact our first guest says ... the Lord conclusion from this debt drama ... the U S should not be rated AAA anymore my Casey ... horizons columnist for my need be ... a strong statement Mr. it is our money to it if it's fifty decided that I knew it sits in the day in addition to spot because two years ago right ... but close to them the majority of of ... the three big readings as the Basilan ... of the Swans ... to give us a triple a and ... and and that reading has traditionally been built upon two factors one costing the debt numbers which not all that going on and on the state gross debt to GDP ... but they have a good counterbalance factors with all this is to shoot will strengthen the U S has ... it's kind of commitment to the foreplay from prison instead it's ... built around the idea that has a reserve currency everything else ... well when just out looking at that second pot any anyway in that his reputation the rest of the political system that put the suspicions that on that thing ... is to be staying ... ultimately the current of ... dysfunction that we've seen ... is I think ... causing a great loss of confidence in a state which ultimately undermines polls that were ... the earliest time I don't doubt that we can pay our bills the United States only was the money ... that's not the issue ... well one thing we haven't coming in it's a pretty ... decent point he said ... AAA rated sovereigns don't ask I mean in that sense into what I was in a better rating is a rating is a relative concept is critically important weekend it was a triple I so we hope you can pay the bills that apply for a double agent isn't a single edged up into the bills as well ... to do with the highest rating possible said we need it to real concert to see if they don't compare to other countries the stock around the well then the other two boys are out there ... and I did this this appeal quizzes US artist rendering it is not enough good idea for a bit of coast ride as a very good reputation for Number reasons ... that built a massive stockpile of political Superannuation dominant on defense and also Sozzi Creek Robins that I know the way ... they have these independent body that looks up that ... another aspect of budget that in Norway which has this institutionalize sovereign wealth fund that the soft soil this money for years on intimate buzz buzz buzz and it has a hundred and fifty proceed asset to GDP no didn't also the other side of the Ledger ... I'm any good Germany which of course it does decide the calm ... he noted that the goods numbers on as good as those two countries but that it's it's it's got this compromise in capacity which means that I'm that cool ... just recently when he licks the most she has to form a grand coalition cover with the arch rivals and no one doubts is condemned because they don't understand it this is how the system was to Jimmy the two rivals come together to form a government so ... it's imperative that what's been happening in Washington even if you really do we deserve to be in that league ...


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Former Gov. George Ryan was with his ailing wife Lura Lynn as she was taken off a respirator and died at a Kankakee hospital Monday.
Ryan was temporarily released from prison in Terre Haute, Ind. so he could be at her bedside during her final hours, according to one of Ryan's lawyers, former Gov. Jim Thompson.
Lura Lynn Ryan -- who stood faithfully by her husband through his decades in politics, a lengthy trial and subsequent imprisonment -- died just before 11 p.m. Monday after being hospitalized for apparent complications from chemotherapy. She was 76.
Mrs. Ryan had been in failing health for some time. Diagnosed with chronic cancer, she was hooked up to...


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Police say 4 people shot at Charlotte anti-violence vigil; no arrests so far
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – North Carolina police say four people were shot and wounded when gunfire broke out at an anti-violence vigil.
The Charlotte Observer reports (http://bit.ly/17KCSb0) Mothers of Murdered Offspring sponsored the Thursday night vigil. They were calling attention to the death of a man who police say was fatally shot when he tried to rob a convenience store.
A statement from police says officers were called by someone at the vigil who said a person pulled a gun and began firing at people.
When officers arrived, they found that most people had fled, and there were no shooting victims. But police learned that there were four victims. Each had called 911 from a different location.
Police have made no arrests in the case.
Information from: The Charlotte Observer, http://www.charlotteobserver.com


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During the spring of 1957, Dollard St. Laurent was a 28-year old with five years of experience on the Canadiens' blueline and two Stanley Cup championships already on his resume. Conversely, Phil Goyette was a 24-year old NHL rookie who had played 14 games with the parent club during the regular season but had spent most of the campaign with the Montreal Royals of the Quebec Hockey League.
The Canadiens finished the regular season in second place behind the powerful Detroit Red Wings in 1956-57. In the semi-final, the Canadiens ousted the Rangers in five games, outscoring New York 22 to 12, including a highlight reel goal by Phil Goyette in Game 4. Dollard St. Laurent missed Games 3 and 4 of the semi-final when he was hospitalized with a fever.
With a stellar 4-goal performance from 'Rocket' Richard, Montreal blitzed Boston 5-1 in Game 1. Game 2 was tighter than a mouse's ear as the Canadiens edged Boston 1-0 on a goal by Jean Beliveau, assisted by a healthy Dollard St. Laurent.
Game 3 was a third straight victory for Montreal, who won 4-2 including a third period goal from Phil Goyette, but Boston battled back and shut out Montreal 2-0 in Game 4.
Game 5, an April 16 contest played at the Forum in Montreal, saw the Canadiens capture the Stanley Cup on home ice with a hard-fought 5-1 win. The game, a testy affair, featured St. Laurent involved in a stick duel with Johnny Peirson that resulted in Dollard drawing a major penalty when his highsticking creased Peirson. But the bloodshed and tears ended in laughter and cheers as Maurice Richard accepted the Stanley Cup on behalf of his teammates in bleu, blanc et rouge.
Twenty-five or so kids waited outside the golf course's gate, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Cup. "Wait there, boys," said an executive with the golf club. "When the Stanley Cup arrives, we'll let you come in and take a look at it."
The youngsters practically panted with anticipation, and once the Cup was placed within the grounds of the golf course, the executive hollered, "All right, kids. Come and get it!" The youngsters bolted as if the sprint to the Cup was an Olympic event. Each was orderly in spite of their anxiety and waited their turn for a photo in front of the Stanley Cup.
Dollard had several high profile hockey guests join him, including nephew Andre St. Laurent, who played 11 seasons in the NHL himself and, of course, good friend Phil Goyette. The two pals posed for pictures with the Stanley Cup before heading back out onto the course to complete the round.
Once the golfers were back in the clubhouse, scrubbed and hungry, it was time for dinner and the Stanley Cup was placed on a table at the front of the hall during the elaborate, three-hour meal. Soup was followed by antipasto, then a serving of various meats, mushrooms and cheeses followed by dessert. As diners compared scores, St. Laurent and Goyette posed for more pictures with Lord Stanley's Cup.
The Stanley Cup rolled up in front of the suburban home at 2:00 that afternoon, and was carried to a table in the backyard. Phil's wife Ginette and daughters Suzanne and Lianne had done a masterful job of decorating the yard, using jerseys, artifacts, photos and materials reflecting the bleu, blanc et rouge of the Montreal Canadiens, with whom Phil won four Stanley Cup championships.
One of the photos held particular charm. It was a shot of Phil and Ginette posing with the Stanley Cup in the late 1950's. On August 30, they got the chance to re-create that photograph almost fifty years after the original was taken.
Family members and friends filtered in through the afternoon, including daughter Suzanne, her husband Bill and their children Alexandra and Charlotte as well as Lianne and Frank's children Bianca and Nicholas. Visitors arrived from Ottawa and Toronto to visit with Phil and the Stanley Cup, and the hockey star was kept busy all afternoon posing with the beautiful championship trophy, signing autographs and telling stories.
Phil's friend Dollard St. Laurent showed up to support his good friend and the two reveled in more stories and additional photos. "Dollard is one of my golfing buddies," Phil mentioned. "I think we've played about a hundred rounds of golf this summer." "Wow," exclaimed a friend. "That's unbelievable!" "Not really," Phil responded matter of factly. "I played 130 rounds last summer!"
By 9:30 that night, the visitors dwindled and Phil and Ginette Goyette got a chance to catch their breath and reflect on a perfect day with the Stanley Cup.
Tuesday, the Stanley Cup Journal flips its pages to visits with Dickie Moore, Phil Samis and Marcel Bonin -- Stanley Cup champions all.
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Eliza Gardenia
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The EOS 5D Mark II's video capabilities created more than a stir when the camera was introduced in late 2008. Its spectacular HD image quality, low-light performance, and shallow depth-of-field suddenly gave the industry a new breed of camera with amazing imaging potential at a [relatively] very low cost. Videographers, cinematographers, and other imaging professionals began integrating the EOS 5D Mark II into their productions. Shortly after, an entire cottage industry sprang up for accessories and software to make EOS HD-SLR cameras fit smoothly into all types of professional projects.
These same professional users frequently requested additional functionality, to make the EOS 5D Mark II more flexible to their needs: Manual exposure capability was a common request, and Canon's engineers listened and developed a firmware upgrade in late 2009 that gave the EOS 5D Mark II that capability. Subsequently released EOS HD-SLRs such as the EOS 7D and EOS-1D Mark IV incorporated the wider range of standard frame rates that users were asking for.
Based on continued requests and feedback from our professional video users, Canon's engineers have once again responded: Firmware version 2.0.4* is now available for free download from the Canon USA website.
With this update installed, the EOS 5D Mark II will gain the following capabilities:
Variable frame rates:
A huge request from professional video shooters was the ability to record video at 24 fps, for a filmic look favored by many serious cinematographers.
Firmware version 2.0.4 will add several much-requested upgrades to the EOS 5D Mark II's Movie Mode, including variable frame rates such as 24p (23.976) and 30p (29.97).
Furthermore, the EOS 5D Mark II's true 30.00 fps (at 30 fps setting) differed from the NTSC-standard of 29.97 fps, sometimes making video editing and matching with audio a problem.
With firmware v.2.0.4 installed, the following frame rates are now available in the EOS 5D Mark II:
At 1920×1080:
- 30 fps (29.97 fps)
- 24 fps (23.976 fps)
- 25 fps (requires camera to be set to PAL recording mode)
At 640×480:
- 30 fps (29.97 fps)
- 25 fps (requires camera to be set to PAL recording mode)
Note: Firmware v. 2.0.4 does not add the HD 1280×720 resolution option that is available in other EOS models, such as the EOS 7D and EOS-1D Mark IV, and likewise does not add the 60 fps and 50 fps settings in those cameras.
Manual Adjustment of sound recording level:
Another big addition, tailored to the professional video user. Up to now, the EOS 5D Mark II's built-in audio recording has automatically adjusted its level for recording, and the only possible way for the user to change this was to attach third-party devices to the camera. Now, once firmware v. 2.0.4 is installed, video pros and enthusiasts will have the option of manual recording level (audio gain) control, over a 64-step range, selectable right on the camera's menu.
While the menu display will show level meters for Left and Right stereo input, please note that this upgrade will not allow users to separately adjust L/R stereo balance. There is one main manual adjustment for audio recording level only. And of course, the option remains for users to allow the camera to automatically set sound levels, as it has previously. The newly available level meters will remain visible within the new Sound Recording menu when levels are automatically set.
Now, EOS 5D Mark II shooters will be able to monitor and manually adjust audio levels prior to shooting. In addition, the sampling frequency has increased from 44.1 KHz to 48 KHz.
Manual audio level adjustment requires that the camera be set to the P, Tv, Av, or M exposure mode settings before video recording begins.
Sound sampling frequency changed to 48 KHz:
Matching the audio characteristics of the recently-introduced EOS 7D and EOS-1D Mark IV cameras, firmware v.2.0.4 for the EOS 5D Mark II raises the quality of its sound recording to the same 48 KHz standard (up from 44.1 KHz).
With this improvement, the professional video shooter using the EOS 5D Mark II now has better sound quality than before, and the ability to manually set overall sound level in the camera, without accessories. Whether shooting in a studio or on location, these two significant additions are sure to be welcomed by serious video enthusiasts and video editors as well.
New shutter-priority (Tv) and aperture-priority (Av) shooting modes:
Up to now, the EOS 5D Mark II video user has had two exposure choices — either manually set shutter speed and aperture, or let the camera completely set all exposure values automatically.
Automatic exposure control can certainly have an advantage when following fast-moving subjects that may move from a bright to a shadowed area, or move from indoors to outdoors. Still image shooters and many users of traditional pro video cameras have had the ability to lock-in a lens aperture or a shutter speed, and have the camera automatically vary the other value. Now, once firmware v.2.0.4 is installed into the EOS 5D Mark II, users of this camera will have similar capabilities.
Another benefit of Firmware v2.0.4 is the ability to shoot movies while in Av or Tv modes (previously, only fully automatic or fully manual shooting was available in Movie Mode).
Shutter-priority (Tv mode): Selecting Tv ('time value' or shutter priority) on the camera's mode dial now allows the user to pick their preferred shutter speed, and the camera will automatically vary aperture and ISO for proper exposure, based on the light levels in the scene. Because physically changing the lens aperture can result in audible noise, this new Tv mode for video will first attempt to automatically vary ISO setting to adjust for changes in brightness. Aperture will also be adjusted if still needed, but this is secondary and minimized where possible.
Speeds from 1/30th second through 1/4000th are manually selectable in the Tv mode (shutter speeds are selected by turning the Main Dial, just as in still image shooting). Remember that faster shutter speeds may be useful in bright light to control exposure and/or allow wider lens apertures for limited depth-of-field, however subject movement will appear progressively more jerky or 'stacatto' as shutter speeds increase. Speeds from roughly 1/30th to 1/125th second tend to produce the smoothest flow of movement.
Aperture-priority (Av mode): A key attraction of the EOS 5D Mark II is its characteristic film-look, thanks to limited depth-of-field when compared to many traditional pro video cameras. Control over depth-of-field is a vital element in many shooting situations, and this means allowing direct control of lens aperture. Manual exposure mode obviously does this, but it doesn't allow for any automatic exposure changes or adjustment if the subject or camera moves from one lighting level to another. Now, with aperture-priority capability, the EOS 5D Mark II shooter has this option when they need it.
Simply set Av on the camera's Mode Dial, set the lens aperture you desire by turning the Main Dial near the shutter button, and the camera will automatically vary ISO levels (at low light levels) and shutter speed (as light levels increase) to maintain proper exposure — keeping the lens aperture you've chosen.
Since shutter speeds will vary automatically (they remain visible on the LCD monitor's information display), keep in mind that the combination of wide lens apertures and bright light levels will result in fast shutter speeds — as noted above, this can result in somewhat stacatto motion effects when recording moving subjects. Keep an eye on the shutter speed when working in well-lit conditions in Av mode, and if possible run tests ahead to determine how fast shutter speeds will affect movement in your footage so that you can adjust the lighting or shooting mode accordingly.
Notes concerning Tv and Av video operation:
- ISO values are always automatically set in Tv or Av mode during video recording; manual setting of ISO isn't possible.
- ISO range is from 100 thru 6400 in the new Tv or Av video settings. Minimum ISO is 200 if Highlight Tone Priority is active. ISO expansion is not possible in Tv/Av modes.
- Remote Live View shooting remains possible with a computer using the new Tv and Av exposure modes. Shutter speeds and lens apertures, however, cannot be changed on-screen using Canon's EOS Utility software.
- All other features possible during video recording remain available: Users can shoot a full-resolution still image by pressing the shutter button, select any available video resolution and/or frame recording rate, select any of three AF options, and so on.
EOS 5D Mark II users can now review a Brightness or RGB histogram on the rear LCD before shooting video.
Histogram display during manual exposure shooting:
Before this firmware update, once the EOS 5D Mark II had been set-up for movie shooting (Live View Function setting to Stills + Movie, and Screen Settings to Movie), it wasn't possible to see a histogram display. Especially for users working in Manual exposure mode, this can be a critical method to judge exposure settings before shooting a scene.
Once firmware version 2.0.4 has been installed into the EOS 5D Mark II, you'll now be able to view a histogram on the LCD monitor before video recording begins when in Manual exposure mode (please note that the histogram cannot be viewed once recording has actually started).
A few final points about firmware version 2.0.4:
- This firmware upgrade is entirely free, and will be available for download from Canon web sites around the world, starting on March 19, 2010.
- Some brand-new EOS 5D Mark II cameras may appear before this date with firmware version 2.0.3 already factory-installed. These cameras will need to be upgraded with v. 2.0.4 which is now available on Canon web sites for download.
- The firmware upgrade procedure is the same as previous upgrades for EOS cameras:
Firmware upgrades are easy to do: You will need your EOS 5D Mark II camera body, a CF memory card, a CF card reader, an internet connection, and simply follow to directions to the left to complete the upgrade.
(Screen images for reference only)
- Download the .FIR firmware file to your hard drive
- Copy the file to a CF memory card by inserting the card into a card reader and dragging/dropping the file to the card
- Install the CF card into your camera and call up Firmware in the third set-up Menu
- Select OK when asked if you want to upgrade to the new version 2.0.4.
- Full instructions for the upgrade procedure will accompany the on-line firmware upgrade on Canon web sites once it becomes available. Be sure to read and thoroughly understand the steps before attempting to install it into your camera.
- This firmware upgrade is only for EOS 5D Mark II cameras.
- Fixes a phenomenon where communication between the camera and the attached lens may be interrupted after manual sensor cleaning.
- Movies captured using EOS 5D Mark II cameras with Firmware versions 1.1.0 to 1.2.4 can be played back on cameras updated with Firmware version 2.0.4. However, playback is not backwards-compatible (when trying to review movies captured with Firmware version 2.0.4 on a camera with older firmware, a "Cannot play back image" message will appear on the LCD).
- Canon Inc. has not announced any plans for similar feature upgrades to other existing EOS camera models, and Canon USA has no information about whether such upgrades might occur in the future.
With the new advances that specifically target the professional video user, this new firmware upgrade for the EOS 5D Mark II transforms some aspects of the camera and further enhances its status as the HD-SLR of choice. Without losing a single bit of the image quality or operational ease, simply upgrading your cameras' firmware to version 2.0.4 adds new features requested by many of our critical customers, and transforms it into an even better tool for creative, high-quality video production.
* EOS 5D Mark II Firmware Update Version 2.0.8 is now available. This firmware update (Version 2.0.8) incorporates the following improvements and fixes:
- Fixes a phenomenon in which movies are not taken at the shooting mode registered in the user's settings if a shooting mode Aperture priority (or Shutter priority) is registered in any of the camera's user settings (C1, C2, C3) and the user attempts to shoot a movie.
- Fixes a phenomenon in which the shutter will not release when pressing the shutter button when the auto power off function is set to "on".
- Fixes a phenomenon in which overexposure occurs when shooting a Live View shooting simulation with the ISO speed set to L.
- Fixes a phenomenon in which the settings of the Speedlite transmitter ST-E2 revert to the default settings when both the camera and the ST-E2 are set to auto power off.
- Fixes a phenomenon in which the Macro Ring Lite (MR-14EX, MT-24EX) and slave flash do not sync while shooting wirelessly.
The Version 2.0.8 firmware being released this time is for cameras with firmware up to Version 2.0.7. If the camera's firmware is already Version 2.0.8, it is not necessary to update the firmware.
Above content is accurate as of October 25, 2010, and subject to change. Check back soon for more information about availability.


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Message Board
Garry Wills Message Board
Talk about the novels, new and used books that Wills has written!
Author Wills's Book Reviews
Saint Augustine
Garry Wills, Pulitzer Prize winner in 1992 for his book 'Lincoln at Gettysburg', has also served on the faculties of John Hopkins and Northwestern Universities. He has produced in this book an excellent short introduction to Augustine of Hippo (AD 354 - 430), the fourth/fifth century North African bishop of the town Hippo Regius, who was born in an important part of the Roman empire then called Thagaste in Numidia, and today known as Souk Ahras in Algeri...


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You and your doctor may choose to use joint fusion surgery
hammer, claw, or mallet toes. You may make this choice
In joint fusion, the surgeon removes
part of the toe joint, letting the toe bones grow together (fuse). Your surgeon
In about 2 weeks, your surgeon will take out the
stitches, and in about 3 to 6 weeks, he or she will take out the wire. During this
time, be sure to follow your doctor's instructions for caring for your
The procedure may vary depending on which toe is abnormal and
how severe the abnormality is. Always talk to your doctor and surgeon about
what will happen during your procedure.
You will be able to move around by
walking on your heel. Avoid putting weight on your toe, as the bones need time
to fuse together. Your toe will strengthen over the next few months. Talk to
your doctor about how active you can be during this period of time and when you
will be able to return to work or school.
You may have to wear a
special type of shoe or a walking cast during your recovery.
the surgery, you will not be able to bend the toe joint, and your toe may not
touch the ground. Most people think this is better than the pain and disability
caused by the toe joint problem. But it may cause slight instability or
imbalance when you walk.
The success of surgery for hammer,
claw, or mallet toes has not been widely studied. The specific results and
risks vary depending on the type of surgery, your surgeon's experience, and how
severe your deformity is.
If you want surgery to improve the way your foot looks,
not necessarily to relieve pain, you may be less satisfied with the outcome.
Your bones may
not fuse together. If this happens, you may need another operation.
The wound or wire site may become infected. If this happens, you will
probably need antibiotics, and your surgeon may remove the wire earlier than
Swelling may last for a long
ByHealthwise StaffPrimary Medical ReviewerWilliam H. Blahd, Jr., MD, FACEP - Emergency MedicineAdam Husney, MD - Family MedicineKathleen Romito, MD - Family MedicineE. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal MedicineSpecialist Medical ReviewerGavin W.G. Chalmers, DPM - Podiatry and Podiatric Surgery
Current as ofJune 6, 2017
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June 6, 2017
Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
William H. Blahd, Jr., MD, FACEP - Emergency Medicine & Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine & Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine & E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine & Gavin W.G. Chalmers, DPM - Podiatry and Podiatric Surgery
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. Learn how we develop our content.
To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise.org.
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Last modified on: 8 September 2017


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At first I thought this was a father and son team...... Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
To bad the show isn't going with "engaged."
These two were definitely the most entertaining to watch! Easily my favorites.
They were very entertaining in ep 1. ETA Are we allowed to discuss something from episode 1 here or is that considered a spoiler too?(as I understand the show airs on a later date in ao Australia?)
To be completely fair, perhaps many of the great people we met along the way wouldnt have had any issues with our relationship, but unfortunately we didnt have the time to get to know them better personally. We are grateful that the producers of the show made all of the racers aware of the cultural backgrounds and differences of the countries we were heading into. Not only did it help us keep safe, but it made all of us better representatives of the U.S. In addition to all of their Emmys, The Amazing Race producers should receive a medal from the State Department for collectively being the best diplomats and ambassadors this country has.
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DIGHTON — Barbara Mello has served 16 years in the Bristol County Agricultural High School admissions office.
"This is the first year that we (have) freshman coming from all 20 cities and towns," she said.
Next year's freshmen class will include students from Acushnet, Attleboro, Berkley, Dartmouth, Dighton, Easton, Fairhaven, Fall River, Freetown, Mansfield, New Bedford, North Attleboro, Norton, Raynham, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Somerset, Swansea, Taunton and Westport.
"It takes all year to get my class," said Mello, the school's admissions director. "I visit all 55 middle schools. I give a presentation at each school. After the students have applied, I return to their middle schools and interview each student."
Selections are made in March by the admissions board, and Mello said decisions are determined by the students' grades, conduct and attendance in the seventh and eighth grade at their respective schools, as well as letters of recommendation from teachers.
"It is a long process, but I do enjoy my job," Mello said. "We had 350 applications for 130 seats."
Bristol County Agricultural High School, commonly known as Bristol Aggie, was founded by an act of the Massachusetts Legislature in November 1912.
According to a published school history, a Board of Trustees and a director were appointed in 1913, and land was purchased near the center of Bristol County, on Center Street in the town of Dighton.
"We have always served all of Bristol County," Mello said.
Bristol County Agricultural High School Superintendent Stephen Dempsey said he has "never seen such a welcoming and accepting whole school culture as exists at Bristol Aggie."
"As you well know, the 20 cities and towns making up Bristol County are as diverse as can be along socioeconomic/ethnic and cultural strata," Dempsey wrote in an email. "With geographic representation from all of these areas, kids come together at Bristol Aggie and mingle. And because of our small student population, they join together here and study, work, play, compete, partner, socialize and become friends. You couldn't find a better venue for bringing together kids from such varied backgrounds."
"I am thrilled we will be 'fully-represented' by every part of Bristol County in next year's freshman class," Dempsey added.
Bristol Aggie set to welcome freshman class with students from every city/town in county
DIGHTON — Barbara Mello has served 16 years in the Bristol County Agricultural High School admissions office.