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Pagan Myths Debunked: Where Did You Think That Pointy Hat Came From, Anyway?
by Lilith Veritas
It's never been easy to be a pagan in a world where differences are feared and minorities are persecuted. It's made even tougher by how little nonpagans usually know about the realities of our lifestyle and beliefs. How many times have you had to explain that Satanism is not Wicca, or that Wiccans are not the only pagans? Most nonpagans get their information about Wicca, neo-paganism and other Craft-related beliefs from the mass media, which has faithfully clung to stereotypes and painted a sensationalistic picture of pagans, just like they do about everything else. TV shows like Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer have contributed much to making paganism seem less frightening and more acceptable to the mainstream, but they've also continued to support misinformation and superstitions that have plagued pagans throughout modern times. Shows like Sabrina, or even the old favorite Bewitched, leave nonpagan viewers with the impression that witchcraft is all fantasy and special effects, and anyone who believes in such things might have a screw or two loose. Really, do you know anyone who has a talking cat or has developed a working teleport spell?
The reality is that the majority of pagans today come from other religions and backgrounds and are at least partly self-educated, and many bring some of these ideas with them! It's really difficult to educate the nonpagan public if we're not clear ourselves on the history of witchcraft and the origins of our symbols, tools and stereotypes. While it's hard to change deeply held beliefs, the truth is a powerful weapon against fe
and prejudice, and acknowledging our own history is the only way to move forward to a (hopefully) enlightened future.
For a quick example of the history of a pagan tool, let's look at the Book of Shadows. Many pagans take it for granted that these books are an integral part of being a pagan. The term itself has been popularized by the media; the sisters on Charmed have a family Book of Shadows, which seems to be a universal encyclopedia of all things magickal, and the sequel to the popular Blair Witch Project movie was called Book of Shadows. The common perception seems to be that Books of Shadows have been handed down from medieval times and contain wisdom gathered hundreds of years ago. How accurate is that perception?
The first recorded reference to an actual Book of Shadows was in 1939, by the founder of modern Wicca, Gerald Gardner. He claims to have received pieces of this book during his initiation into the religion now known as Gardnerian Wicca. Both Doreen Valiente and Aleister Crowley appear to have added to the book, after Gardner "restored" it. Prior to that, however, there is no known recording of a Book of Shadows, at least not by that name, and few references to grimoires or books of knowledge used specifically by pagans. The book Aradia: Gospel of the Witches was written by folklorist Charles G. Leland in 1899 and appears to be the closest historically, but it would hardly have been ancient knowledge a mere 40 years later. Books of Shadows are now used by many pagans, both Wiccan and non-, but that name seems to be solely a creation of Gardner and his contemporaries.
Many pagans would like to believe that there is a written source for ancient spells, rituals and traditions to which they can turn to validate their current practices. They may forget that in ancient times, and often through the first part of the twentieth century, the common person didn't know how to write or read! Most pagans in the Western world today can both read and write, and even those deemed "illiterate" can often do both enough to get by. During the height of the witch hunts and in rural areas where folk medicine and pagan rituals may have continued more or less uninterrupted, literacy was not common, and it is unlikely that many witches, if any, kept such a book. Most commoners didn't keep books at all!
There is another argument against the idea of ancient grimoires being commonplace: Anyone found with such a book would likely have been found guilty of heresy and possibly put to death, and the book summarily burned. This threat would have been lessened for someone of the upper classes, but for typical rural folk would probably have been too big a risk to take. During the times when herbal healers had to be very careful to hide the tools of their trade and be sure to put their best Christian face forward, it would have been virtual suicide to have a book of "arcane knowledge" laying around the house, even if most of your neighbors couldn't read it! Having books at all was cause for suspicion amongst the lower classes, since they were poorly understood by most and rarely read by any but high society. The few documented grimoires likely did belong to folks of higher classes, as they were the ones who could afford them and could also afford to learn to read.
As I mentioned, many pagans would like to have a historical book of knowledge to justify their current practices. While it would be nice to trace such things unbroken into the past, "new" does not mean "bad" or "invalid." Newer ideas aren't automatically bad ideas! Now that we have the means to write down our beliefs and rituals to pass on to future generations, or just to remind ourselves, many of us will choose to do so. Knowing where a practice comes from allows room to change and grow, and keeps folks talking from a place closer to truth than superstition. And knowing that new practices are springing up will hopefully keep the pagan paths alive and vital instead of bogging them down in the dogma so common in many mainstream religions.
Moving into the realm of stereotypes, many Americans think of the pointed black hat as the key identifier of a witch. These folks are often the most surprised when they meet a real, modern witch wearing jeans and a T-shirt. But where did the stereotype of this pointy hat come from?
One thing to keep in mind in the search for this stereotype's origins is that it is peculiarly American and Western European, particularly from the British Isles, and it is a fairly modern invention. Witches in Eastern countries do not appear wearing pointy hats or any of the accoutrements that we commonly associate with the Halloween-style witch. Early woodcuts of witches in the Middle Ages showed them wearing scarves, or hats popular at the time, or even with their hair flying in the wind. Our media has popularized the view of witches with pointy hats as well as green skin, warts and brooms. I suspect the Wizard of Oz movie released at the dawning of the media age has more to do with the current stereotype of the "wicked witch" than does historical evidence!
The most positive interpretation I came across was echoed by Doreen Valiente as the probable source: Pointed hats were actually a visual representation of the Cone of Power that witches drew upon during their rituals. While this puts a nice, witch-friendly spin on the image, I find it to be rather unlikely. People in previous centuries who were creating woodcuts of witches tended to paint a very unkind picture and did not include positive aspects of true witchcraft as it existed at the time. Witches were portrayed dancing with devils and participating in all varieties of heinous rites, not drawing down the moon and healing the sick. It is unlikely that someone projecting a witch in such a light would bother to represent a Cone of Power, which is typically a positive force.
There is another, commonly held belief that the pointed hat originated with another persecuted group in Europe, the Jews. While Jews did wear pointed headgear, most scholars now believe these hats were not a likely source for the witch's pointed hat. After all, pointed hats were fairly common throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
This fact leads us to the source I find to be most believable, and most mundane, for the Pointy Hat Look. During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, commoners in Wales and England often wore pointed hats. As fashions changed, the last to retain the old styles were the rural and peasant folk, who were considered "backward" by higher society and were usually the ones accused of heresy and witchcraft. Much as we today have stereotypes of the sort of student who might commit violence at a high school, so did the medieval people have their ideas of what sort of person might be a witch.
Along these lines, Gary Jensen, a professor of sociology at Vanderbilt University, postulates a connection between the persecution of Quakers in America and the stereotypical appearance of witches in our folklore. Quakers did wear pointed hats, and the negative image of witches wearing conical hats in America became common about the same time anti-Quaker sentiment was at a peak. Quakers were thought by some to consort with demons and practice black magic, things also associated with the early American view of witches. Once again, an easily recognized symbol of an oppressed minority may have become generalized to a group equated with them.
In the final analysis, it's likely that more than one of these issues came into play to ingrain the pointy hat into the mainstream idea of what a witch looks like. After all, the ideas that stick most firmly in the mind are the ones repeated from different sources, and many things in history can't be traced to a single root cause or moment.
In the Craft, as in all aspects of human culture, the powers of media and modern communication weave together a new "truth" from bits of folklore and whispered traditions, and picking apart this fabric to get at the real foundation requires persistence and the willingness to view your own ideas in a new light.
For those interested in further reading about pagan stereotypes and history, I suggest the Internet as a great source of information, if one takes the information found with the proper grain of salt. Two articles in particular that I came across stand out in my mind, and I believe it would benefit pagans in general to read and consider the implications of both of them.
First of these is a speech by Doreen Valiente at the National Conference of the Pagan Federation on November 22, 1997. As a founding influence on the modern practice of Wicca and a contemporary of both Gerald Gardner and Aleister Crowley, Valiente had a unique perspective. In this speech, she questioned many "truths" about Gardnerian Wicca and presented views that some may find surprising. Transcripts of her speech can be found at http://www.users.drak.net/lilitu/valiente.htm.
Second is a very well-researched essay about the Burning Times by Jenny Gibbons, which can be found at http://www.cog.org/witch_hunt.html.
While I don't endorse either of these sources as the absolute truth, they are certainly thought provoking.
Some other sources:
The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
Best Witches site, http://www.rci/rutgers/edu/~jup/witches
"The Witching Hours," by Shantell Powell, http://shanmonster.bla-bla.com/witch


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Oh Appy Day! is our ongoing feature giving you the scoop on the coolest apps from some of the coolest people anywhere. Last week, our Editor Kristen Chase had the chance to talk to actor and dad Ethan Hawke and find out his favorite app, just in time for Father's Day.
Along with the new RedRover app, I really like the Ultimate Guitar Tabs app from Ultimate-Guitar.com. I used to have to search a bunch of different websites for tabs, but with this app, I can find everything I'm looking for all in one place. -Ethan
You can download the Ultimate Guitar Tabs app for iOS featuring 600,000 tabs and chords for $2.99, or find it for Android on Google Play.
And you can catch Ethan Hawke, along with Julie Delpy, in the new movie Before Midnight, hitting theaters right now! The premier was sponsored in part by the new RedRover 3.0
{photo credit: Chae Kihn}

subset: commoncrawl


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The Montana Hereford Association.
The Montana Hereford Association was established in 1947 as a not for profit service organization. The goal of the MHA is to promote and support all facets of the Hereford cattle industry in Montana. Promotional events sponsored by the MHA vary based on the opportunities and resources available.
Focus the past several years has been on: the development of a Hereford influenced feeder calf sale; an annual tour, each year visiting different geographical areas and breeders; a group/membership only quarterly print advertisement; and website upgrade/redesign with the goal of offering members more promotional exposure.
The Association is governed by a Board of 7. Three directors serving (staggered) 3 year terms from each district (east and west) and 1 at large directors, serving 1 year terms. A President and Vice President are selected from this group of 7 each year. Directors are elected at general membership annual meeting. The MHA Secretary is a non-voting position, appointed by the President.
Montana ranks 7th in the nation with respects to the number of new cattle registrations (2817) with the American Hereford Association and cow herd inventory (3,483). Based on 2013 data provided by the AHA.
The Association currently has over 40 members, consisting of registered Hereford breeders, commercial cattlemen using Hereford influence in their program, and allied industries.
Montana has an active Junior Hereford Association.
For more information about joining the Montana Hereford Association or to find out more information about a specific ranch or sale, please feel free to fill out our general contact form, or contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com or by calling 406-240-2587.


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Today we'd like to introduce you to Bill & Johnnie Katz.
Bill was a U.S. Army Blackhawk pilot and retired after 20 years of service in 2001. He and his wife, Johnnie, had been married since 1982. Johnnie had in banking for 20 years. They had spent 20 years traveling the globe spending 9 of those years overseas in Europe and Asia. After retiring from the military, they settled in the metroplex and got regular jobs; Bill as an engineer, Johnnie as a bank manager. Then…she got bored. She wanted her own business. Since she had supported him in his endeavors for two decades, he knew it was his turn to support her so she started looking for her niche.
Johnnie looked at start-ups, franchises, existing businesses–you name it. When the opportunity to purchase the original Frankie's on McKinney Avenue in Uptown Dallas was presented they knew it was a fit. Within four years of taking over in December of 2003, they turned Frankie's into the number one sports bar in DFW; tripling sales and becoming a staple on the Uptown scene. In 2009, a new Frankie's was opened in Lewisville. Over the next six years, the new Frankie's became the favorite spot for many Lewisville locals but the Texas Department of Transportation had other plans that included widening the road and turning Frankie's Lewisville into a connecting overpass from Hwy-121 South to I-35E Northbound. During that same period, Frankie's in Uptown has closed its doors; vowing to return as soon as it could. The closing of the Lewisville store in April 2015 presented that opportunity. Bill & Johnnie set out to build the biggest and best Frankie's ever and, in August 2015, Frankie's Downtown was opened in the Heart of the Dallas Business District on Main Street. Since that time, Frankie's Downtown has been hailed as the number sports bar in Dallas by both D Magazine and The Dallas Observer.
The Underground boasts live music and DJ's during the week and on weekends. The all-scratch kitchen serves everything from Pesto Crusted Salmon to late night pizza with dough and sauce made in house daily. Draft beer selections include 20 Texas craft brews and the hand-crafted, fresh-ingredient cocktail menu was concocted with the help of none other than master mixologist: Eddie "Lucky" Campbell. From humble beginnings, Bill & Johnnie have created what D Magazine has called, "…that rare thing in Dallas: a real neighborhood bar." Not a high-end gastropub. Not a dive bar. Frankie's has become a place to meet with old friends and make new ones. It has become Downtown's Living Room.
We're always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we've spoken with enough people to know that it's not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest challenge was that neither Bill nor Johnnie had ANY experience in the service industry. First, they had to borrow money from the SBA, friends and family. Then they had to learn everything from scratch–the HARD way. The first two years consisted of open-to-close 120+ hour weeks. Staffing and learning to grow as the business grew. Bartenders stealing, underage servers drinking, customers demanding. Learning to deal with avid (rabid) fans and that you couldn't please everybody. It was like drinking out of a firehose. In Uptown, they had to learn how to deal with an ever-changing and rotating clientele. Trying to grow and start a restaurant from scratch was their biggest challenge in Lewisville. Again–NO EXPERIENCE. Common sense and perseverance were the only things that kept them alive. Nothing in their 20 years of marriage or professional careers had prepared them for this. Then came the disappointment of the Lewisville closure. That was like a sucker-punch to the gut. Finding a new location took almost six months. The new location was in an almost 100 year old building that required special permitting, special contracting and a back & forth with TXDot to try and get everyone paid; all while–AGAIN–borrowing money from friends and family. Obstacles? Challenges? Its all part of this industry.
So, as you know, we're impressed with Frankie's Downtown and The Underground – tell our readers more, for example what you're most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Frankie's Downtown is THE premiere sports bar in Dallas. Some are bigger, some are older, some have more TV's, but NONE have the atmosphere and ability to show as many games to as many people in an intimate setting. With 44 HD displays and all the major DirecTV sports packages, fans are the top priority at Frankie's. Dallas local? Don't be silly–of course the Cowboys/Rangers/Mavericks/Stars are on! In from out of town for a convention? We have your home team right over here! The combination of our cocktails, beer selection and scratch kitchen selections put us head and shoulders above all other contenders. Frankie's is known for its warm, friendly service and their ability to make guests feel like friends and friends feel like family. The decor is strictly "Dallas". Step inside and you'll instantly know that there's no place else you could be. In keeping with the historical Davis building motif, the original (1930's) bank floor has been preserved and incorporated into the retro-industrial theme. A shining, "75202–DOWNTOWN" gleams from the back wall in case there was any doubt. Frankie's is most proud of the fact that it can be so many things to so many people. A sports bar. A restaurant. A place for lunch, brunch dinner or late night. A pub. A live music venue. Even an amazing place for a first date. What sets Frankie's apart is it does so much and it does them all top-notch.
So, what's next? Any big plans?
Frankie's has plans to enhance its musical line-up in the downstair portion known as, "The Underground." With its throwback, prohibition, speakeasy ambiance, The Underground offers the perfect venue for live performance with a personal feel. Additionally, Frankie's has plans to expand its catering and delivery programs. Known for having the best pizza in Downtown, delivery could be a way for residents to enjoy Frankie's from the comfort of their own home. Additionally, The Underground has the ability to host private functions with full food service and its own bar for parties of over 100 people.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1303 Main Street, Dallas, TX 75202
- Website: www.frankiesbar.com
- Phone: 214-741-1919
- Email: email@example.com
- Instagram: @frankiesdallas
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frankiesdallas/
- Twitter: @frankiesdfw
- Other: #MyDTDBar
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it's how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.


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T wo days after landing in New Delhi, I found myself barefoot and shivering in a cold February rain at 5 a.m. on the crowded banks of the Ganges. I was with my yoga group, participating in a sacred Hindu ceremony known as Arati. Profound? Absolutely. But I was excruciatingly jet-lagged and, um, perhaps not quite prepared for all the color and chaos. In addition to enlightenment, I needed a manicure. I needed exfoliation. I needed Ananda.
So, I went AWOL. I made a phone call to the famous resort, recipient of numerous awards, including Best Destination Spa (three years in a row) from Condé Nast Traveler and Top Spa in India 2007 by Spa Finder. In less than an hour, a shiny white SUV arrived to whisk me up the mountains to Ananda, known for its Ayurvedic wellness treatments. Ayur-WHAT? The word comes from the Sanskrit "Ayus," meaning "life," and "Ved," meaning knowledge. Although it involves both body and soul, to many of its devotees, India's revered 5,000-year-old holistic healing system is more science than religion, since it focuses on making good lifestyle choices for better physical and emotional health.
Sitar and tabla musicians welcomed me to Ananda's 100-acre spread, filled with peacocks and very tidy (very English) gardens. A 108-bead mala prayer necklace (important in both Hindu and Buddhist faith) was hung around my neck by a member of the hotel staff with all the reverence of an Olympic medal, then I was invited into the comfy sitting room for ginger-lemon tea. I was being coddled in an incredibly sacred location: the foothills of the Himalayas, the birthplace of Ayurveda.
Overlooking the Valley of Rishikesh, the spa is built around a vice-regal palace that is a striking architectural blend of Moorish and Italian Renaissance styles. Decor in the public areas—particularly the billiards room and rare-books library—is an obvious nod to the British Colonial era. The sleek, modern guest rooms (with sunken bathtubs and terraces with views of the Himalayas) are a quarter-mile away, the perfect distance for meandering, power-walking, or monkey-gazing.
Ananda Spa Menu
- Country-Style Tomato and Cilantro Broth
- Ananda Caesar Salad with Cornmeal-Chickpea Pancake
- Tea-Smoked Duck Breast with Pears and Blueberry Jus
- Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Berries and Vanilla Sabayon
Ananda offers a perfect combination of creature comforts and Indian culture: There are yoga and meditation classes as well as a six-hole, par-three golf course. Want to visit the Ashram in Rishikesh made famous by The Beatles' visit in the '60s? No problem. Or perhaps you'd prefer a heart-pounding white-water-rafting trip? There are also safaris for catching a glimpse of crocodiles, tigers, and other animals. And if you happen to be traveling with a companion who could care less about yoga, send him or her off on a fishing expedition to land a masheer (carp). The record catch? Forty pounds!
But since I'd prayed at the Ganges all morning—and I can go rafting and fishing back home—it was easy planning my Ananda activities. I was there for Ayurvedic-inspired body work, pampering, and meals created specifically for my dosha (body-mind type). Although the resort focuses on ancient traditions, the spa facilities are state-of-the-art. Twenty-one luxe treatment rooms offer six kinds of massage, four versions of hydrotherapy, plus all manner of wraps, scrubs, and rubs, such as Njavarakizhi, a 45-minute massage using linen bags filled with cooked rice, designed to induce perspiration and alleviate stress. Another treatment, Abhyanga, is a whole-body massage performed by two therapists (four hands!) that is—I've been told by those who've experienced it—beyond ethereal.
I exchanged my travel clothes for the regulation lightweight cotton Indian pajamas (which are not required garb, but are very comfortable) and headed to the spa for orientation. I signed up for the mani and pedi I so desperately craved while seekers from all over the world—Mumbai, Switzerland, Las Vegas, and London—organized their respective schedules to be scrubbed, rubbed, and waxed. Later that afternoon, my inner princess was finally satisfied and I was ready to participate in something meaningful. After yoga and meditation, I attended an inspiring hour-long lecture given by A. Parthasarathy, a noted Vedanta scholar. Vedanta—which means culmination of knowledge—is a way of discovering one's true (i.e., divine) nature. It may sound heady, but Parthasarathy spoke about Vedanta in a way that the group of about eight who attended the lecture (mostly Westerners) could understand, including quoting from Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and he encouraged interaction and discussion from the attendees.
So much enlightenment! By seven, I was starving. I joined fellow yoginis and spa junkies in the dining room for a tasty finale to a day that began with quite a jolt. It doesn't take much effort to be in the present moment (as yoga has taught me). Right now I'm a food-lover; and the food is incredible.
Food, eating, and digestion are important parts of the Ayurvedic philosophy of well-being, with its belief that physical diseases are due in part to improper lifestyle such as overindulgence and stress. Therefore, the right kind of food—prepared and consumed in a specific way—is believed to bring balance and health to the body. Much of the food served in the dining room is from the spa's organic gardens, and everything is ultrafresh: Ayurvedic docs don't believe in eating leftovers—they maintain that old food can cause a buildup of "ama," or toxins.
Unlike other regimes, Ayurveda's dietary guidelines aren't about counting calories and carbs. What (or what not) to eat is based on body type, the weather, seasons, time of day, age, and geography, among other criteria. My specially designed dosha meal began with a snappy tomato and cilantro broth, and ended with panna cotta with wild berry gratin. I LIKE this Ayurvedic thing: An eating plan that allows panna cotta? Count me in!
Each ingredient and course served a purpose for my dosha (body type)—I am a mix of pitta and vata (see the Ayurveda Eating Tips tab for more about doshas). Ayurvedic discipline recommends cooling foods, such as cucumbers, green beans, and plantains, for people like me. However, during certain times of the year, including when I was visiting India, tomatoes (which are described as astringent) are advised because they relieve thirst and aid circulation and digestive disorders. And milk—the sweet/cold basis of that delicious panna cotta—balances the excessive heat of pitta/vatas. Sweet berries and vanilla are also considered "cooling." Whatever the premise, the food was fabulous and I felt terrific.
After 48 hours of living the Ayurvedic life, I went back down the mountain and joined my hardy yoga group. They admired my shiny digits and glowing complexion. For me, Ananda was the ideal place to begin a trip to the subcontinent: a gentle introduction to all the color, the beauty—and, yes, the chaos—that is India. I returned from the spa relaxed, nurtured, and rested, and ready for anything, including the following day's 4:30 a.m. wake-up call for sun salutations overlooking the Ganges.
Ananda is a six-hour drive or four-hour train ride north of New Delhi. Or, fly from New Delhi (45-minute flight) to Dehra Dun airport, then drive one hour to the spa. Singles start at $430 per night, which includes morning tea, yoga or meditation classes, hiking trips, use of sauna, steam, Jacuzzi, gym, and pool plus complimentary two-way transfers from the Haridwar railway station or the Dehra Dun airport. For more information, go to www.anandaspa.com.


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I got some GREAT news yesterday from Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI)!!
My latest tune, "Bar BQ Fool" will be considered for the next publisher's luncheon. This is especially sweet because my brother George came down and put in the lead guitar track. This will be the 6th tune I've had considered. This was the first one that made it on the FIRST evaluation and my reviewer gave me a nice compliment by saying, "I hope this song takes you on a GREAT ride! He is a former Warner Bros. executive and had his own production company. He retired from that to work with songwriters, so, I'm encouraged by his kind remarks! The next CD is in the works and the tunes so far are:Tempted In Tempe, Somebody Else's Dream, Next Time The Next Love Comes Around and BarBQ Fool.
Well that's it for now, and as always, thanks for listening!


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good christian women need fear nothing
I didn't write about the ending to Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed the other day mostly because I just did not care for the film, and I think I posted what can best be termed a non-entry about that film before I'd even gotten to the very end. And, maybe that is a good thing because I might have had a rant in me about how the sequel did far worse than just diminish Brigitte as a character and neglect pretty much all of the metaphor and meaning vital to the original; additionally, by shutting Brigitte up in the basement, leaving her to be a werewolf trapped by Ghost (who apparently fantasizes about using her against her enemies), Brigitte becomes victim to not only the infection from her sister, not only to the attack from the new werewolf or the men at the rehab facility, but also to Ghost and to the filmmakers and the film itself. What should have been, and could have been a continuation of a story that embraced femininity even as it tackled the difficulties of adolescence for females and challenged the way the world deals with and has dealt with female sexuality, instead became a dead-end story that (perhaps) embraced a metaphor for how society treats women a bit too well, ultimately leaving us with one girl a delusional sociopath, the other trapped with the corpse of the man who wanted to claim her as his... but not trapped by that man or by society, no longer trapped in the hospital, but trapped by another female, her surrogate sister.
Which is maybe, in some twisted fashion, a brilliant treatise on how women are forced to compete with one another for the attention of men to even survive in a patriarchal world. Except, I don't know if the audience for Ginger Snaps needed that lesson. They (we) knew that lesson already. We wanted Brigitte to win. We wanted her story to matter. instead, Unleashed is like a sad afterword to the original instead of standing on its own...
Which makes me wary as I finally press play on Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning after bypassing it for a few days.
It's Ginger Snaps if it were set in the early 19th century instead of at the end of the 20th. (Which is an awesome concept for a sequel.) And, it is taking itself quite seriously right away, with some opening text to establish the setting, burning images to make the opening titles dramatic, plus voiceover. (Plus, in that Menstrual Monsters DVD extra, there was mention by... someone--I'm not checking again now, one of the directors maybe--about how the presence of the natives here in thsi third film paralleled the Otherness of the sisters.) I'm figuring on this being entirely awful or even better than the original. Unfortunately, the former seems most likely.
(Nitpick: Was anyone naming their daughter Ginger around 1800?)
Before watching the film, I was reading Meredith Borders' article at Birth. Movies. Death. entitled "What The GINGER SNAPS Sequels Get Totally Right And Entirely Wrong." (I just read her bit about Unleashed and the first paragraph about this film; I didn't want to SPOIL it.) Borders seems to have loved everything that I hated--and it was only as I read her piece that I realized I was anything more than indifferent about it--about the second film. She calls Unleashed "as unblinking as its predecessor in its embrace of feminine power and its rejection of societal rules." But, the second film puts Brigitte at the mercy of the werewolf curse, the rehab facility and the predatory men there, a brand new werewolf, and ultimately her new "sister" Ghost. It is not a film about feminine power. Nor, so far, does this third film seem like it might embrace feminine power. Barely arrived at the fort (after being saved by a man, which was after they were dragged along with their father on an expedition), Ginger is slapped by James (JR Bourne), and the fort's priest (Hugh Dillon) suggests that the sisters be put back out into the woods to fend for themselves.
Now, the conflict between James and the native Hunter (Nathaniel Arcand) has relegated the sisters to the sidelines. This is a story about men, it seems. I am not sure why the sisters are even a part of it at this point, just 20 minutes in.
Borders is right that the ending to Unleashed "undoes every thematic revelation of the previous eighty minutes - and the ninety minutes of Ginger Snaps before that." I just don't think the "thematic revelation[s]" in that second film were all that... well, revelatory.
Something Borders points out: "Until the final half hour of this film, Brigitte and Ginger are shuttled to the side of the conflict, spending much of the movie wandering around in a daze while the men of the fort take all of the action (often for ill rather than good." And, I have to wonder: is this sidelining deliberate commentary on how inconsequential female lives can be in a man's world? Or is this the accidental (or incidental) sidelining of characters that filmmakers lost faith in as able to carry a franchise? Or maybe there should have been no franchise. Borders, quite aptly suggests, "If this sounds like a feminist treatise against the history of female subjugation, that may be giving Ginger Snaps Back too much credit, as the movie - though well-paced and charmingly gory - has a fraction of the thematic depth boasted by its two predecessors." Since I was not so impressed by the "thematic depth" of the second of those, I guess I should be glad that, as Borders points out, "the surface [story here] is quite entertaining." It is blatantly not at all feminist, or female-empowering. Hell, Hunter just saved the sisters again.
And now, Ginger just kissed him.
Knowing what Ginger is becoming--this is the third film, after all--I kind of have to agree with the sentiment around the fort that the presence of these two young women is dangerous (there's room for a comparison between them and the leeches here) and the men would be better off without them. And, that is extremely problematic when this is supposedly a feminist trilogy--and the original fits that bill quite well. Strangely, the big issue with both Unleashed and this film, is that the monster is no longer feminine. There are no "menstrual monsters" except as afterthoughts--Ghost's turning against Brigitte comes too late (and Ghost is more child than woman) and Ginger's transformation here, even if she was bit at the end of the first act, is too slow a burn to matter when the werewolf remnants of the fort's trade venture are the ones attacking the place.
(And unfortunate sidenote: Emily Perkins doesn't have the emotional range to carry the character(s) of Brigitte over three films. Her few expressions worked well for the goth girl turned werewolf expert in the original. They almost worked for the "drug addict" of Unleashed... almost. But here, she needs something more than her open-mouthed puzzlement and wide-eyed stare.)
Hunter gives special knife to Brigitte to kill Ginger and tells her she has no choice. Two things: 1) by the usual werewolf lore, doesn't he have a bigger investment in killing Ginger since he was apparently wounded by her and should also be changing? 2) must we remove Brigitte's agency even more? Sure, ginger comes for Brigitte--which seems very proactive of her, but maybe if she can control what she does so much, she should have, you know, not killed the Seer and not left Brigitte to be taken back to the fort in the first place.


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Rapper 50 Cent on Thursday will launch his new comedy website, ThisIs50Comedy.com. The site will feature the "This is 50 Comedy Show," a live show broadcast from Times Square Arts Center in New York City. Subscribers to the site will have to come up with $2.999 for the show, which will air on the last Thursday of each month, with the proceeds designated for the relief effort in Japan.
Colorado Springs Homes for Sale


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The Art of Becoming One with Yourself
The best thing you can be in life is to be exactly who you are meant to be.
Part of finding the "real you" entails the willingness to be open and vulnerable.
Does the word vulnerable scare you? It's not a weakness, it's a strength you need to develop. It is the guts to be the authentic you! You can't just hide who you are from view if you want to become the best you and sync your outer worldly projected self with your inner beauty. Yes, we all have inner beauty. It's when the outer and inner life doesn't sync that we experience the most angst. Finding the true you will lead you to that healing place and serenity.
Our purpose is beyond just ourself
We are on this Earth for a reason, a purpose beyond just ourselves. The World is the great community which we are part of. Each of us must contribute and participate in the World. If you hide the real you, you will not find the reason you're here for until much too late in life. We are only allotted so much time on this Earth, don't waste any days. Do you know how many days you have left? I sure don't know how many I have left.
"We do matter and we are not alone on this "lonely planet". Being ashamed of who you are or what you want to do because it wouldn't please someone else is wrong." The LadyJStyle
Let's explore how we've arrived as an adult with a life where our inner self and outer self is not melding seamlessly.
- Many of us grew up trying to please everyone but our self. Yes, we have been in training to be adults since the day we were born but your parents had expectations for you. They had the "perfect life plan" for you the day you were born.
- When a baby is born or adopted the parents think "how joyous an occasion, my child will do……and then college, marriage, grandchildren". You get the idea. But is that the life you needed for you to be the real you? Maybe not. Parents that act like parents and not just like buddies to their kids are good parents. They are our first teachers in life and need to fulfill that role.
- The best parents are not dictators and will encourage their child to explore what truly interests their child. Everyone has special talents and gifts and those talents explored can be a step forward in syncing their inner and outer being. When you observe your child expressing a sincere interest in music, writing, dancing, sports or other things encourage the child to explore that interest. Guiding your child doesn't mean stifling the child. A great life skill can be taught to your child by insisting that they last the season if they do sign up for a sport or other activity, and then if they really don't like it after all, allow them to quit. Encourage your child to give the activity their best shot always. By teaching that stick to it mentality you're teaching them to succeed in life and not jump from one project to another when things don't go their way.
"Teaching is what parents need and must do." The LadyJStyle
Your parents are not you, and you are not your parents.
Parents need to show children by example how to be good, kind, caring, responsible adults by being good examples and not just by saying "because I said so". How many of you have ever heard that once or twice in your life? It's an example of one of those phrases you swear you'll never say to your children and then it spills out of your mouth one day, and you cringe remembering never wanting to say that ever to your children.
Your life is how you create it.
Life entails learning new things every day about both the world and yourself. It's a process of daily growth, exploration and knowledge. Life can at times be painful, hard and frustrating but on the flip side, it is beautiful, fulfilling, fun and satisfying. We go through periods experiencing both sides of that coin along the way.
Want the rainbow? Get through the rain.
Now back to that word "vulnerable", it is hard to explore the world without some vulnerability. You need to take chances, be open to saying what you feel, doing what you love, and not worry about what others will think of you. Stop worrying about being judged by others! Be the real you!
You can't let the fear of failure stop you from finding the real you. Do something every day that may scare you because you might fail. Failure is part of learning and living! If we do fail, we need to stop and think of what went wrong and how we can try in a different way. Failure is never a stop sign!
Have you ever taken a chance on love? That entailed vulnerability
it could work or it could fail. But that is a learning opportunity for you and will give you insights into who you really are.
Every newly created business can be a vulnerability but you can do research and planning to enhance the chances of success. Fear is not a stop sign in life ever! You have to keep going and through the successes and failures along the way you will start discovering who you are inside and learn strength and persistence.
By allowing yourself to be vulnerable about being imperfect to others, then you allow the real person within you to be the same one you are projecting to the world. Remember this, not one of us is perfect. The perfect person doesn't exist and never will! We find our authentic self by doing, thinking, reading and learning daily. It's an ongoing process and we need to accept that in this world of instant gratification. You can attain that serenity you may have seen in others who have found their inner self and have allowed that self to be the one that embraces daily life outwardly.


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At face value, SpamTitan and VadeSecure may appear to be equivalent products. In this post we offer a comparison of SpamTitan and VadeSecure to help managed service providers (MSPs) differentiate between the two solutions.
SpamTitan and VadeSecure
SpamTitan and VadeSecure are two email security solutions that block productivity-draining spam emails, phishing emails, and malspam – spam emails that deliver malware or malware downloaders. These cloud-based solutions assess all incoming emails and determine whether they are genuine communications, unwanted spam, or malicious messages and deal with them accordingly to prevent employees from opening the messages.
TitanHQ is the leading provider of cloud-based email and web security solutions for MSPs that serve the SMB market and has been providing email security for MSPs for more than 2 decades. SpamTitan is TitanHQ's email security offering, which has been developed for SMBs and MSPs that serve the SMB market.
VadeSecure is a French company that has developed an email security solution for the SMB market. As is the case with SpamTitan, VadeSecure offers protection from email-based threats and provides an important extra layer of security, especially for Office 365 environments. The company is now venturing into the MSP market and has recently raised an additional $79 million in venture capital to help it make inroads into the MSP market. However, at present, the solution is primarily geared toward SMBs rather than MSPs that serve them.
Enhanced Phishing Protection for Office 365 Accounts
Office 365 is the most widely used cloud service by user count and 2019 figures show that Office 365 cloud services are used by 1 in 5 corporate employees, with Office 365 email being the most common. With so many businesses using Office 365 for email, it should come as no surprise that Office 365 email accounts are being heavily targeted by hackers and scammers.
Microsoft does have measures in place to block spam and phishing emails, but the level of protection provided by Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is not sufficient for many businesses. A large percentage of phishing emails manage to sneak past Microsoft's defenses. According to research from Avanan, 25% of phishing emails are delivered to Office 365 inboxes.
Consequently, additional protection is required, and many businesses choose to implement an anti-phishing solution provided by third parties such as SpamTitan and VadeSecure. MSPs also offer third party solutions to block phishing attacks on Office 365 accounts, not only to better protect their customers, but also to reduce the amount of time they spend mitigating phishing attacks that have not been blocked by EOP.
SpamTitan and VadeSecure have been developed to work on top of Office 365 and add an important extra layer of protection for Office 365 email.
Here we will concentrate on a comparison of SpamTitan and VadeSecure with a specific focus on the features and benefits for MSPs rather than SMBs.
Comparison of SpamTitan and VadeSecure for MSPs Serving the SMB Market
Since VadeSecure has historically focused on the Telco market, the email security solution lacks many features to make MSP's lives easier and does not provide the level of control, flexibility, or the management tools and reports that MSPs seek. SpamTitan has been developed by MSPs for MSPs, so important features for MSPs have always been offered. We will cover these features below, but initially it is useful to include an infographic that summarizes some of the basic features of SpamTitan and VadeSecure for comparison purposes.
Basic Features of SpamTitan and VadeSecure
SpamTitan Features for MSPs Not Offered by VadeSecure
This comparison of SpamTitan and VadeSecure may seem a little one-sided, and that is because VadeSecure is very much focused on end users rather than MSPs. No doubt the solution will be updated to incorporate more MSP-friendly features over time as the company tries to move into the MSP market, but at present, the features below are provided by SpamTitan but are not offered by VadeSecure.
Configuration Flexibility and Customization Potential
One of the biggest bug bears with VadeSecure is the inability to configure the solution to suit the needs of MSPs. It is not possible to create custom rules for instance, and MSPs must therefore use the Exchange Admin functionality of Office 365.
With SpamTitan, MSPs can create rules based on their own requirements and the needs of each individual client, and those rules can be highly granular and can easily be applied to specific groups, users, and for specific domains. That level of granularity and the ease of customization allows MSPs to fine-tune filtering policies to maximize the detection of threats while minimizing false negatives. MSPs can easily select more permissible or more aggressive policies for each client, but with VadeSecure there is no option for customization for each customer.
True Multi-Tenancy
SpamTitan includes a full multi-tenancy view of all customers, with multiple management roles. This allows MSPs to easily monitor their entire customer base and trial base, assess the health of the deployments, view activity volumes across all customers, and quickly identify issues that require attention. With VadeSecure, there is no possibility of integrating with PSAs and RMMs, and there is no customer-wide view of the entire system.
Highly Granular Reporting
MSPs can tell their clients how important it is to improve their security defenses, but they must also be able to demonstrate that the solutions are proving effective at blocking threats to ensure they can continue to provide those services and receive regular, repeating revenue.
With SpamTitan, MSPs have highly granular reports that give them full visibility into what is happening and a detailed view of system performance. Client reports can easily be generated to show them how effective the solution is and why it is important to keep it in place. Furthermore, this level of reporting – per domain, per group, and at the group domain level – gives MSPs the information they need to identify potential issues and obtain detailed information on spam emails. The solution also has the management capabilities to allow any issues to be quickly identified and corrected to ensure the solution remains effective over time. With VadeSecure, visibility and control options are lacking and there are no options for demonstrating how effective the solution is and to demonstrate that to clients.
High Margins and Significant Revenue Potential
As previously mentioned, the flexibility and scope for customization is a real benefit for MSPs as it allows them to add more value through superior management capabilities. That means MSPs can build solutions that really benefit their clients and it helps them become more of a strategic partner rather than an IT service provider. It is much harder for clients to change a strategic partner than switch IT service providers. VadeSecure lacks this customization which means it is not possible for MSPs to add value to generate reliable, recurring revenue.
Further, with VadeSecure you get one product, but TitanHQ offers a trio of solutions for MSPs to better protect their clients and add more recurring revenue streams. Through the TitanShield for Service Providers program, MSPs also have access to WebTitan DNS filtering and ArcTitan email archiving. This allows MSPs to maximize revenue from each client by cross-selling new services, while also offering a layered security package to protect clients from the full range of email- and web-based threats.
Fully Transparent Pricing
When it comes to pricing, VadeSecure (and many other email security solutions) lack transparency and the pricing model is complex and expensive. Several features are not included as standard with VadeSecure and come at an additional cost. This makes it hard to perform a SpamTitan and VadeSecure pricing comparison.
For instance, with VadeSecure the solution is priced per module, so the Greymail, Spam, and Virus Protection options are not provided as standard and have to be added onto the cost. Based on feedback we have received from MSPs the solution is expensive, which reduces MSP profits and makes the email security solution more difficult to sell to SMBs.
With VadeSecure, the total number of users is not aggregated, which shows a lack of experience of working with MSPs. An MSP with 100 x 10-seat licenses will have that pay at 10 seats each rather than 1,000 seats overall. As such, discounts will be far lower.
With SpamTitan there is just one price which includes all features, including sandboxing, full support, dual anti-virus protection, all security modules, and updates. Furthermore, the price is exceptionally competitive (less than $1 per user). The pricing model was created to incorporate the flexibility for dealing with fluctuating numbers of customers, which often happens when providing managed email services.
Effectiveness at Blocking Threats
Price, usability, and flexibility are all important for MSPs, but features and benefits are the icing on the cake. Email security solutions are used to protect against threats, so the effectiveness of a solution is critical. SpamTitan and VadeSecure are effective at blocking threats and will provide an important additional layer of security for Office 365 users, but feedback we have received from MSPs show there is a clear winner.
VadeSecure includes 'time-of-click' protection against embedded hyperlinks, which rewrites URLs and sends them to a scanner. However, MSPs have reported that it can take a long time for phishing emails to be detected, even after threats would be blocked by Chrome. That means that phishing emails are being delivered and there is a window during which a successful attack could occur. This URL click feature only appears to work in OWA or the Outlook client as it is an API integration with Office 365.
SpamTitan includes more advanced detection methods to ensure that malicious URLs are detected and phishing emails are filtered out. SpamTitan includes SURBL filtering and other malicious URL detection mechanisms that complement the default mechanisms in Office 365 such as Recipient Verification Protocols, Sender Policy Frameworks, and Content Filter Agents. This means end users are better protected and there is a much lower probability of a phishing email evading detection.
Dual anti-virus protection is also provided and SpamTitan features a sandbox where suspicious attachments can be safely analyzed for malicious actions. This provides superior protection against malware, ransomware, and zero-day threats that are not detected by the two AV engines.
Benefits of SpamTitan for MSPs


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College Goal Montana Tomorrow
February 23, 2015
Montana Tech's Institute for Educational Opportunities and the Student Assistance Foundation will host College Goal Montana tomorrow, February 24th from 5:30-7:30pm at the Butte High School Library. All Montana Tech and Highlands students and/or parents are invited to attend to receive help with completing their FAFSAs. All who attend and complete their FAFSAs during the event will be entered into a drawing to win a $500 scholarship as well as other prizes. Food and drinks will be provided.
If you have questions, please contact Theresa Rader at 406-491-1907 or email@example.com or call Schylar Canfield-Barber at 406-496-6052 or email@example.com.


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For the first time in more than 10 years, the U.S. Men's Junior National Team has won its pool at the World Championship — and all thanks to last-place Bulgaria.
No. 6 Brazil in its pool-play finale defeated No. 15 Bulgaria (0-3, 0-3 Pool A) in five games Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to advance to the second round of the World Championship. However, the match going to five games resulted in Brazil losing the tiebreaker with the United States for first-place in Pool A.
No. 9 United States defeated No. 13 Japan in four games Wednesday to clinch one of the two Pool A spots in the second round of World Championship prior to the Brazil-Bulgaria match.
Brazil, Japan and the United States each finished pool-play 2-1 and were in a three-way tie for first place in the Pool A.
The first tie-breaker for teams tied are points per victory. A team at the World Championship receives three points for a sweep, two points for a four-game victory and one point for a five-game victory.
The United States led all Pool A teams five points, while Brazil finished second in the tie-breaker with three points and moved into to second round. Japan with two points was eliminated from the tournament and became the only team in the tournament to have a winning record in pool-play but not reach the second round.
The second round of the World Championship will be comprised of two four-team pool. Similar to the first round, teams will play three matches against the other teams in its pool and then the top two teams in each pool will advance to the semifinals.
After winning Pool A, the United States will compete in Pool E.
The United State will open the second round with a match against No. 4 Iran on Friday before playing No. 11 Spain on Saturday. It will also play No. 2 Russia, the top-ranked team in Pool E, in its second-round finale Saturday.
This is the second time the United States has advanced to the second round of the World Championship since the tournament changed its format in 2009.
The United States advanced out of pool-play in 2009 but went 0-3 in the second round to finish the tournament in eighth place. The best a U.S. team has finished at the World Championship in the last 10 years was seventh place at the 2007 World Championship.
As the second-place team in Pool A, Brazil will be in Pool F. The other teams in Pool F include No. 1 Argentia, No. 5 Serbia and No. 7 India.
U.S. second round schedule
4 p.m. (3 p.m. EST) Friday vs. No. 4 Iran
4 p.m. (3 p.m. EST) Saturday vs. No. 11 Spain
4 p.m. (3 p.m. EST) Sunday vs. No. 2 Russia


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The New Faces of Feminism
Feminism and the US women's liberation movement, as we know it, began in the mid-19th Century. One might say it began in Seneca Falls, NY on July 19-20, 1948 when the world's first women's rights convention was held and an agenda for the movement was set. Or, perhaps, it really began when the first sparks of desire for a different life alighted within a girl (or a woman) and she eventually found that she was not alone.
The official timeline for women's liberation is filled with laws, amendments, protests, and firsts of many kinds. It is also filled with many amazing, courageous women. Women that began as daughters, raised in a home that either encouraged that spark of hope and desire or tried to stifle it, only to make it grow brighter. The work that women have done in women's liberation thus far has made fast progress when we consider the centuries of human history as a whole. Our daughters today have a world of opportunity only accessible in the imaginations and dreams of those first women liberators.
In modern day America, the landscape of women's rights give rise to the questions: should a girl grow up to work, or should she grow up and stay at home with children? Should she try — as so many of us do now — to do both?
Many of you may agree that quite suddenly in our history of women's lib, after the rush to get women into the workplace, we have come to the point in recent years where it has nearly become unconventional to not work. Dare I say, a new face of Feminism has become choosing to stay at home. And now, as staying at home has become a movement of its own, it has given rise to many other new faces of Feminism, all of which (as I see it) have a common thread: reclaiming and preserving motherhood. We can see this and participate in movements such as Lactivism, Intactivism, and vaccination education.
Concurrent to women's liberation, another sort of movement began — an ideology referred to by historian Rima D. Apple as "scientific motherhood." She defines it as "the insistence that women require expert scientific and medical advice to raise their children healthfully."1 Toward the end of the 19th century and continuing through our present time, natural parenting as it was known — following the examples of generations of mothers within the family and a mother's own intuition — was gradually abolished.
In the beginning, advertisements and other publications encouraged mothers to educate themselves and "to be actively involved in decision making about the health of their families." However, as scientific motherhood progressed through the twentieth century, mothers were told they were to not only learn from the experts about the health of their child, but to follow the directions of the experts. Advertisements, journal articles and books all moved from informing mothers of health and wellness to outright devaluing their intuition and the advice of their mothers. As industrialization, modern technology, and a convenience-driven economy made head-way in the twentieth century, so too did the "experts'" advice.
While Apple's article does not cover the relationship between women's liberation and scientific motherhood, I think the correlation is easily made. Historian Molly Ladd-Taylor writes in her article "When the Birds Have Flown the Nest, the Mother-Work May Still Go On" about the role of the National Mother's Congress (later known as the Parent-Teacher Association) through the twentieth century. The National Mothers' Congress was very involved in parent education of the science of child development and frequently began programs asserting this agenda and passed out publications for it. Their grassroots movements began from a traditional point of view, where women belonged at home with children, and thus, intended to "professionalize motherhood by bringing science and education into child rearing."2 Ladd-Taylor asserts that they simply wanted women to be more content to stay at home. The National Mothers' Congress later progressed into a more liberal role with an active stance in women's right to work outside the home.
I bring in this bit of information, however, to illustrate how Feminism became an unintentional player in the devaluing of motherhood. After all, our fight for liberation was to broaden our freedom and to prove our capability beyond the realm of motherhood, not to crush motherhood. It was to give ourselves a choice. Now, over a century and a half into both movements, as women have moved into the workplace and have struggled with the balance of work and home life, we have lost the link to a mother's traditional knowledge of how to be a mother. Our separation from the traditional home life coupled with the need for guidance somewhere has left a large portion of mothers to become solely reliant upon the medical experts and, sadly, upon the manufacturing companies and their advertisers who sell the products we rely on to make working outside of the home possible.
I am not asserting that we have made the wrong decision in women's liberation. I am not asserting that any woman is making a wrong decision in working outside the home. I chose to stay at home, but next year when my family moves to a new state and my husband begins his doctorate program, I will join the millions of mothers who work.
I am calling us, however, to continue with these new faces of Feminism. I am calling to all mothers — staying at home, working at home, or working outside of home — to reclaim motherhood. We had the incredible power to shift the traditions of centuries within 150 years of active protest and work. We harness the power to reclaim and preserve the maternal instinct that exists within all of us. The instinct that knows when medical advice may work and when it's just not right for our children. The instinct that can find a balance between expert knowledge and trusting ourselves.
Choose to continue Feminism. Give our daughters and granddaughters a true choice of motherhood. Find an aspect (one of the many practices of traditional, natural parenting) that is important to you, educate yourself, learn about a movement if one exists, and connect with others that share your feelings. Reclaim your mothering instinct through these practices: trust it and follow it!
Acacia is a stay at home mama playing through life one moment at a time with her husband and two young sons. She is a natural parenting, cloth diapering, gentle disciplining, home schooling, wholesome foods eating, spiritually centered steward to this great Mother Earth.
- Rima D. Apple, Constructing Mothers: Scientific in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Mothers & Motherhood: readings in American History, ed. Rima D. Apple and Janet Golden, Ohio State University Press, 1997. P. 90 ↩
- Molly Ladd-Taylor, When the Birds Have Flown the Nest, the Mother-Work May Still Go On: Sentimental Maternalism and the National Congress of Mothers. Mothers & Motherhood: Readings in American History, ed. Rima D. Apple and Janet Golden, Ohio State University Press, 1997. P. 446 ↩


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Leave it to Instagram to kickstart the NBA offseason, right?
Two fun goodies here as first, over the weekend, KD bet Game he couldn't make an NBA 3… for $20,000 dollars! Game, who if you don't know actually does have game, sank the shot for the $$$ (that's going to be donated to a youth basketball team in southern Cali), but also… KD has to play for Game's Drew League team this summer. Hah! Among those in the peanut gallery: Drake, James Harden, and DeMar DeRozan.
In other NBA Instagram fun, Chris Paul posterized Kevin Hart yesterday, as captured by Kyrie Irving. Oh summer fun.


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- 01. Dante (1265-1321)
- 02. Leonardo da Vinci (1456-1519)
- 03. Michelangelo (1475-1564)
- 04. Titian (1488-1576)
- 05. Caravaggio (1571-1610)
- 06. Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445 - 1510)
- 07. Donatello (c. 1386 - 1466)
- 08. Matteo Giovanetti (c.1322 - 1368)
- 09. Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430 - 1516)
- 10. Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431 – 1506)
Are you inspired by Italian history and culture? Who isn't!? Why not learn Italian yourself?
From the Roman Empire to Italian unification, Italy has been home to plenty of artistic geniuses over the centuries.
Our list of the top 5 Italian artists includes one poet and 4 painters. Of course, a special mention goes out to a large number of the Renaissance painters including Piero della Francesca, Giorgio Vasari, and Filippino Lippi. Since Italy is home to so many famous artists, no one article could ever do them all justice. However, we hope you like the 5 we've picked out in this article.
Dante (1265-1321)
Towards the end of the Middle Ages, this poet helped bring Italy together hundreds of years before the unification. His writing helped Tuscan (and the Florentine subdialect) gain popularity across Italy and become the official language of the Italian government in the 19th century.
Dante Alighieri was born in Florence in 1265 and died in Ravenna in 1321 where you can visit his grave. He is one of three literary crowns.
Just like the works Petrarch and Boccaccio, Dante's Divine Comedy was written in Florentine rather than Latin. This was a huge decision since most texts at the time would have been written in Latin, a language which was considered much more prestigious than Florentine at the time.
However, Dante was a humanist and wanted his work to be read and understood by all rather than just the educated elites. While the text was written in Florentine, he also borrowed vocabulary from a number of the different dialects spoken in and around Italy so that even more people could understand it.
In addition to the general quality of the text, you can't help but admire the author's intelligence in drawing upon ancient notions in order to express the complex events of the time: battles between the Pontiff and the Emperor, the Guelphs, and the Ghibellines.
Dante managed to find a living relative to the "Courtly Love" notion in the character of Beatrice. Contemporary Italian literature probably wouldn't exist if it wasn't for this literature in the Middles Ages.
It's hardly surprising that Matteo Renzi, the former Prime Minister of Italy, said that: "Dante is omnipresent in History & Italian lessons and in schools and universities... The names of streets haven't forgotten him, either..."
Is Dante Alighieri one of our 16 famous Italians?
Leonardo da Vinci (1456-1519)
People are still appreciating this artist's works nearly 500 years after he died. Leonardo da Vinci was born in Tuscany in 1456 and died three years after being brought to France in Amboise in 1519.
He was an extraordinary Renaissance architect and the double spiral staircase in Château de Chambord is thought to be his work. When you combine scientific knowledge and remarkable works of art, you end up with a man who helped make Italy one of the most flourishing nations of the time.
Whether painting on canvas or walls, his painting was famous for its realism. In fact, this is characterised in his most famous painting, the Mona Lisa. The shadows around her mouth have made Mona Lisa's smile the subject of much debate in the art world.
If you'd like to see the Mona Lisa, you can do so in the Louvre in Paris. However, since this is arguably the most famous painting in the world, expect long lines of other tourists waiting to see it, too.
Leonardo da Vinci avoided classic techniques and preferred egg tempera where an egg yolk is used to bind coloured pigments. When painting on walls, he preferred gesso.
Michelangelo (1475-1564)
Following the Neoplatonic Florentine Academy and a renewed interest in the arts, Michelangelo was an unrivalled talent during the Italian Renaissance.
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (to use his full name) was born on 6th March, 1476, in the Republic of Florence. He died at the age of 88 in Rome shortly after the Council of Trent.
He was a jack of all trades and a master of all. He could paint on any surface and created masterpieces both on canvas and in the form of frescoes. His work on the ceiling on the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican is arguably his famous piece. However, his sculptures are just as famous: the Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica, for example.
Rome also put in its fair share of orders for Michelangelo's work. In addition to commissions by the Popes Julius II, Clement VII, and Paul III, Lorenzo dei Medici, a very influential man during the Renaissance, also commissioned works.
His works can be distinguished by his realistic representation of the naked human form. Daniele de Volterra is famous for having "covered up" some of Michelangelo's work. However, the movement of the forms are almost hypnotic and the coloured fabrics are nuanced and fascinating.
Find and start taking Italian classes Edinburgh.
Titian (1488-1576)
Titian is sometimes overshadowed by other more famous Italian artists. However, he is just as worthy of this list as any of the others.
Ludovico Dolce, an Italian theorist of painting, was full of praise for his friend Titian and said that his work "contains at once the grandeur of Michael Angelo, the pleasing grace and venustas of Raphael, together with the proper colouring of nature."
Additionally, Dolce wasn't too fond of Michelangelo and would regularly criticise his work. Can you imagine a time where an artist as talented as Michelangelo could still be hated by some?
Born in the area surrounding Venice in 1490, towards the end of the Quattrocento, he disappeared on 27th August 1576 in the Republic of Venice's capital.
The Venetian painter owes a lot to Giorgione who collaborated with him. He specialised in frescoes. He also took inspiration from Antonio da Correggio, especially half-tone backgrounds.
He favoured a process known as colorito in which paint is used to progressively give a painting body, layer by layer. Darker colours are usually applied first and the lighter and brighter colours are applied later.
This artistic freedom is a large part of the Renaissance's humanism which resulted in daring new subjects such as The Rokeby Venus which would directly inspire Manet's Olympia three centuries later. This idea would be later picked back up by the visual arts and contemporary art in general.
Ancient themes such as those from Roman myths are gladly revisited. There are plenty of examples of religious commissions. Much like Michelangelo, Titian was regularly commissioned by religious institutions to pain works for them.
This Venetian artist set himself apart from the moral conventions of the yesteryear by bringing both art and morality into the modern age.
Caravaggio (1571-1610)
Caravaggio was successful 100 years after Michelangelo. He was born on 29 September 1571, in Milan and died on 18 July 1610 in Tuscany on his way to Rome.
With Caravaggio, the realism of the Renaissance became naturalism which was powerful and dramatic. He used pronounced chiaroscuro, which later became known as tenebrism.
Roberto Longhi, an Italian art expert, classifies this artist in the Lombard art style. The striking contrast between light and dark would later become an essential part of the Baroque style, a product of the Counter-Reformation.
Caravaggio matured as an artist in spiritual surroundings at the time of Charles Borromeo and Saint Philip Romolo Neri, the founder of the Oratorians. They came along after a myriad of saints including Francis of Assisi.
As an outlaw, he was forced to roam Italy. He headed to Naples and Sicily. His influence on Italian art and history came to be known as Caravaggism. What did he do? Well, he was famous for starting fights in bars. Who would have thought it?
His style would become popular throughout the first half of the 17th century.
It's undeniable that the greatest painters existed during the Renaissance.
Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445 - 1510)
Sandro Botticelli was born in the mid-1440s in Florence, Italy. As a young man, he apprenticed as a goldsmith and then went on to study with master painter Filippo Lippi. By his forties, Botticelli was himself a master painter and contributed to many of the decoration of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
At the height of his fame, the Florentine painter and draughtsman were one of the most esteemed artists in Italy. His graceful pictures of the Madonna and Child, and more of his work such as altarpieces and life-size mythological paintings brought to immense fame during his lifetime.
His best-known work is The Birth of Venus. It is thought that it was probably made in the mid-1480s. It represents the goddess Venus arriving at the shore after her birth when she had emerged from the oceans fully-grown (a version of the goddess called Venus Anadyomene and often represented in the art). The painting is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.
Although the two are not a pair, this painting is inevitably discussed with Botticelli's other very large mythological painting, the Primavera, also in the Uffizi. They are some of the most famous paintings in the world and icons of the Italian Renaissance art movement.
Donatello (c. 1386 - 1466)
It is commonly thought that Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi (referred to as Donatello) was born in 1386 in Florence. However, his origins remain obscure and the date is only hypothetical, based on a declaration of tax submitted by the artist in 1433, stating his age at 47.
He received his childhood education in the house of the Martelli family, one of Florence's wealthiest families.
Donatello's father was part of the wool merchants guild Arte della Lana, which was one of seven imports guilds in 14th century Florence. Florence's system of governance was nominally democratic, with the guilds playing an important role in the running of the city.
Like other Florentine sculptors such as Ghiberti and Cellini, Donatello received his early artistic training in the workshop of a goldsmith.
His first important exposure as an artist arrived when he competed for the famous 1401 competition for the design of the Baptistery doors in Florence. Afterwards, he worked briefly in the studio run by Ghiberti, winner of the Baptistery door competition, whose influential workshop provided training for a number of young Italian artists.
From 1402-1404, Donatello studied with his friend and colleague Brunelleschi. According to Brunelleschi's biography, the pair travelled to the city of Rome, where they excavated and studied ancient ruins. This time marked the beginning of the Humanist movement in Florence, which favoured the classical art of ancient Greece and Rome over the stiff and formal style of the Medieval and Gothic periods.
Donatello and Brunelleschi were the first to systematically study ancient ruins for a source of inspiration. Donatello funded this time of artistic exploration by working as a goldsmith.
Donatello had maintained a close and lucrative relationship with Cosimo de' Medici in Florence. In 1430, the eminent art patron commissioned Donatello to do yet another statue of David, this time in bronze.
This piece of work is probably Donatello's most famous accomplishments. The sculpture is fully independent of any architectural surroundings or support. Standing a little over five feet tall, David represents an allegory of civic virtue winning over brutality and irrationality.
In 1443, Donatello was called to the city of Padua by the family of the famous mercenary Erasmo da Narni, who had died earlier that year. In 1450, Donatello completed a bronze statue called Gattamelata, showing Erasmo riding a horse in full battle dress, only missing a helmet.
This was the first equestrian statue cast in bronze since the Romans era. The sculpture created many controversies, as most equestrian statues were reserved for rulers or kings, not mere condottiere. This work became the prototype for other equestrian monuments created in Italy and Europe in the following centuries.
Matteo Giovanetti (c.1322 - 1368)
Matteo Giovannetti was an Italian painter who belonged to the Simone Martini school and was a friend of Petrarch.
in 1944 he was summoned to Avignon in France by Pope Clement VI to decorate the Palais des Papes (Palace of Popes) there. He led teams of painters and artists from right across Europe.
Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430 - 1516)
Giovanni Bellini is often regarded as the father of the Venetian Renaissance. His exceptional rendering of colour and light helped herald in a period of overwhelming creativity in Venice, and arguably all of Europe. He was known for his religiously intense images of the Madonna and Christ, as well as his talent to convey the complexity of human sentiments.
Bellini was born and died in Venice during a time when the La Serenissima, or the Venetian Republic, was a redoubtable trading power and centres of Europe. During his life, Venice remained an essential player in the Mediterranean and even world commerce.
Although he may never have ventured far away from Venice, Bellini was by no means secluded from other artists. Rather, he analysed the style of Northern European painters and embraced visitors from all across Europe. As he aged, he even took suggestions from his pupils in order to further hone his talents.
Giovanni Bellini was born into a famous family of painters around the year 1430. His father, Jacopo, was conducive in bringing the Italian Renaissance to Venice and attempted to ensure that his sons, Giovanni and Gentile, would become excellent painters too.
Giovanni and his elder brother, Gentile, presumably began their careers as apprentices in their father's workshop, mastering valuable skills and techniques from him and his pupils. One of these pupils, the Paduan artist, Andrea Mantegna, would become Bellini's brother-in-law and a great influence on his early artwork.
Once Bellini had made a name for himself through his portraitures and stunning depictions of Biblical events, he began to break with the older paint style of tempera in favour of oil paints around the 1470s. The use of oil paints served in unleashing Bellini's eye for colours and light and his compositions took on an even more life-like quality.
Many of his altarpieces are so precise and convincing, it is said, that people sitting in the back pew can feel the passion etched on the face of each subject.
It was also during this time that Bellini was awarded a prestigious position at the Doge's Palace in Venice. He painted panels in the palace's great hall, likenesses and altarpieces, and oversaw further work for the rest of his life.
Bellini composed actively up until his death at the age of almost 90 in 1516. During the last fifteen years of his life, he was overwhelmed with commissions to paint his breathtaking altarpieces, portraits and mythologies - all with thoughtful consideration to landscape detail.
Although he was a master painter, recognised by many to be the best in Venice, Bellini was always eager to learn new methods and techniques from younger painters and his students, and he worked to hone his skills until his death.
Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431 – 1506)
Andrea Mantegna was a North Italian Renaissance painter, a scholar of Roman archaeology, and son in law of Jacopo Bellini.
Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with viewpoint, e.g., by lowering the horizon in order to create a sense of greater monumentality. His callous, metallic landscapes and somewhat stony characters give evidence of a fundamentally sculptural way to painting. He also led a class that was the leading generator of prints in Venice before 1500.
Mantegna was born in Isola di Carturo, close to Padua in the Republic of Venice, second son of a craftsman, Biagio. At the age of eleven, he became the student of Francesco Squarcione, a Paduan painter. Squarcione, whose real vocation was tailoring, seems to have had a remarkable passion for ancient art, and a talent for acting.
Like his famous compatriot Petrarca, Squarcione was something of a zealot for ancient Rome: he travelled in Italy, and possibly Greece, amassing antique statues, bas-reliefs, vases, etc., forming a collection of such works, then making etchings from them himself, and forcing open his stores for others to examine. All the while, he continued undertaking works on commission for which his pupils no less than himself were made free.
As many as 137 painters and pictorial disciples passed through Squarcione's school, which had been established towards 1440 and which became renowned all over Italy. Padua was attractive for artists coming not only from Veneto but also from Tuscany, such as Paolo Uccello, Filippo Lippi and Donatello.
Mantegna's early career was moulded indeed by impressions of Florentine works. At the time, Mantegna was said to be a favourite pupil; Squarcione taught him Latin, and instructed him to study pieces of Roman sculpture. The master also favoured forced perspective, the lingering results of which may account for some of Mantegna's later innovations.
However, at the age of seventeen, Mantegna parted himself from Squarcione. He later claimed that Squarcione had gained from his work without paying the rights.
If so many big names came from Italy, why stop there? There are plenty of people who could have made this list like classical, baroque, and opera composers (Clementi, Giuseppe, Verdi, Puccini, etc.), Italian directors (Visconti, for example) and many more. We could even have included Italian singers.
When it comes to music, Italy basically wrote the book on it. So many musical terms come from Italy and there are so many genres in which the Italians excel. If you're wanting to improve your Italian, listening to music could be a great way to do it.
There have been so many amazing Italians throughout history that we'd need an entire library to fairly represent them.
With all that said, it's not just poets and painters who belong in the hall of fame. Italy has a rich cinematic landscape. In fact, during the 1950s and 60s, Rome became known as Hollywood on the Tiber due to the immense number of quality films being produced there.
To round off your knowledge of Italian culture, why not check out these Italian films?
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Dr Tom Vickers, Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences, Northumbria University
The deaths of at least 1,200 people in the last week, as they attempted to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe, have caused outrage in the European media, and protestations of concern from political leaders. Yet this scale of death was widely predicted when the EU-Italian operation Mare Nostrum was replaced last November by the Triton operation, run by Frontex, the EU's border agency. While Mare Nostrum included a remit for search and rescue in international waters, Triton has a much more limited remit that focuses on border enforcement within EU waters. Under Mare Nostrum, more than 3,400 people are thought to have drowned attempting the crossing in the year to October 2014, and 1,600 have died so far this year.
British government ministers' active opposition to search and rescue operations has led some commentators, even in the mainstream press, to accuse them of murder. Their justification at the time was that Mare Nostrum was creating, in the words of Foreign Office minister Lady Anelay, an 'unintended pull factor' attracting migrants to Europe. The implication was that allowing them to drown would deter others from attempting the crossing. There is continuity here with the deliberate policy of destitution for asylum seekers, which was introduced by the last Labour government and continued by the Coalition, justified by the argument that this would discourage people from coming to Britain (despite evidence to the contrary), or to leave once here.
The response that has been proposed so far by an emergency summit of European leaders is to send 'naval assets' to engage in search and rescue, and in the longer term to consider military action against people smugglers based in Libya. This is unlikely to improve the situation. As activists monitoring the situation in the Mediterranean point out, every previous attempt to forcibly shut down migration routes into Europe has failed to stop people moving, but has forced them to take longer and more dangerous routes.
The recent deaths in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean are partly a result of efforts to make it more difficult to people to cross into Europe elsewhere. Military action against smugglers in Libya will only produce further misery and increase the desperation of those trying to migrate. On the other hand, if migrants were able to enter Europe by regular, legal routes, the smugglers would lose their market and many lives would be saved.
As I argue here and in greater detail here, British capitalism is fundamentally imperialist, and this shapes its relations with other countries and its treatment of migrants. We need to remember who is ultimately responsible for the levels of desperation that are leading so many to risk their lives trying to flee to Europe. It is Britain and other European powers that have destabilised the Middle East and North Africa in recent years through a series of bloody interventions. The bombing of Libya in 2011 was Britain's 46th separate military intervention in the region since the end of the Second World War.
As long as the British economy is so heavily dependent on overseas assets, which totalled six and a half times GDP in 2013, it seems inevitable that British governments will take whatever steps they consider necessary to defend these investments and the profits they produce. British governments have an interest in not allowing those who have witnessed the impact of their imperialist foreign policy to settle in Britain, and so their hostility toward refugees is also likely to continue.
A further reason for the British government to support such drastic steps to keep refugees out of Europe is that the claim to asylum is based on universal human rights, which contradicts the neoliberal drive to 'manage' migration according to demand for labour. In general the presence of migrants within Britain and their access to resources has become increasingly conditional on demand for their labour, yet asylum is a fundamentally needs-based claim. It should therefore be unsurprising that the fine-tuning of UK immigration controls according to the needs of British capital over recent years, epitomised by the Points Based System (pdf) introduced in 2008 and the various measures to restrict EU migrants' access to benefits, have gone hand in hand with restrictions on asylum.
The people drowning in their hundreds in the Mediterranean are the victims of securitised immigration controls, imperialist wars, and an approach to immigration policy that places profit before people. Of course we should demand that EU states do everything possible to save people from drowning, and we should also demand a safe means for them to cross into Europe and equal rights with citizens when they arrive.
However, the issues outlined above suggest it would be naive to think the British government will do anything to address the root causes of this crisis. Even if there is a change of government at the general election, on the issues raised above Labour is no different. It may be more realistic to look for change led by migrants themselves, like those who in recent months have been mounting determined resistance inside and outside Britain's immigration prisons.
They could find natural allies in poorer sections of the British working class, who under austerity are facing sanctions, cuts, growing precarity and low wages and are beginning to fight back. Like the restrictions on migration, these attacks on the British working class are fundamentally about restoring capitalist profits, regardless of human needs, and this offers a powerful basis for solidarity.
This article was first published by the Campaign for Social Science at: http://campaignforsocialscience.org.uk/european-governments-are-responsible-for-the-mediterranean-death-toll/ and is reposted here with their kind permission.