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+Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
John F. Scarpa Conference on Law, Politics and Culture
Villanova University, 9.14.12
A priest I know does a lot of spiritual direction. Two of the men he was helping died suddenly this past year, one of a heart attack and one of a stroke. In both cases they were relatively young men and quite successful. In both cases they watched Fox News. And in both cases they had gotten into the nightly habit of shouting at President Obama whenever he came on the TV. In both cases, the wives believed – and they still believe – that politics killed their husbands.
Now that's a true story. And it's a good place to begin our time together today. Henri de Lubac, the great Jesuit theologian, once said that if heretics no longer horrify us, it's not because we have more charity in our hearts.[i]We just find it a lot more satisfying to despise our political opponents. We've transferred our passion to politics.
My theme today is living the Catholic faith in public life, including our political life. But in talking about it, I need to make a few preliminary points.
Here's my first point. It's very simple. We're mortal. We're going to die. American culture spends a huge amount of energy ignoring death, delaying it and distracting us from thinking about it. But our time in this world is very limited; science can't fix the problem; and there's no government bailout program. Life is precious. Time matters. So does the way we use it. And as all of the great saints understood, thinking a little about our death can have a wonderfully medicinal effect on human behavior.
The reason is obvious. If we believe in an afterlife where we're held accountable for our actions, then that belief has very practical implications for our choices in this world. Obviously, some people don't believe in God or an afterlife, and they need to act in a way that conforms to their convictions. But that doesn't absolve us from following ours.
For Christians, the trinity of virtues we call faith, hope and charity should shape everything we do, both privately and in our public lives. Faith in God gives us hope in eternal life. Hope casts out fear and enables us to love. And the love of God and other human persons – the virtue of charity – is the animating spirit of all authentically Christian political action. By love I don't mean "love" in a sentimental or indulgent sense, the kind of empty love that offers "tolerance" as an alibi for inaction in the face of evil. I mean love in the Christian sense; love with a heart of courage, love determined to build justice in society and focused on the true good of the whole human person, body and soul.
Human progress means more than getting more stuff, more entitlements and more personal license. Real progress always includes man's spiritual nature. Real progress satisfies the human hunger for solidarity and communion. So when our leaders and their slogans tell us to move "forward," we need to take a very hard look at the road we're on, where "forward" leads, and whether it ennobles the human soul, or just aggravates our selfishness and appetite for things.
What all this means for our public life is this: Catholics can live quite peacefully with the separation of Church and state, so long as the arrangement translates into real religious freedom. But we can never accept a separation of our religious faith and moral convictions from our public ministries or our political engagement. It's impossible. And even trying is evil because it forces us to live two different lives, worshiping God at home and in our churches; and worshiping the latest version of Caesar everywhere else. That turns our private convictions into lies we tell ourselves and each other.
Here's my second point. Religious faith sincerely believed and humbly lived serves human dignity. It fosters virtue, not conflict. Therefore it can be vital in building a humane society. This should be too obvious to mention. But one of the key assumptions of the modern secular state – in effect, secularism's creation myth — is that religion is naturally prone to violence because it's irrational and divisive. Secular, non-religious authority, on the other hand, is allegedly rational and unitive. Therefore the job of secular authority is peacemaking; in other words, to keep religious fanatics from killing each other and everybody else.
The problem with that line of thought is this: It's an Enlightenment fantasy. Plenty of violence — terrible violence — has been done in the name of God by believers from every major religious tradition. We're seeing some of it play out right now in the Middle East. I have no desire to excuse any of it.
But as scholars like Brad Gregory and William Cavanaugh have shown, based on the historical record, there's no persuasive evidence that religious belief is any more prone to provoking violence than secular politics and ideologies.[ii] The murder regimes of the last century were overwhelmingly secular, atheist and based on bizarre claims of being "scientific." Cavanaugh notes that even in the so-called Wars of Religion in the 16th Century, "For the main instigators of the carnage, doctrinal loyalties were at best secondary to their stake in the rise or defeat of the centralized state."[iii] For Cavanaugh, the rise of the sovereign state was a cause, not the solution, of Europe's religious wars.[iv]
What's really going on in much of today's hand-wringing about religious extremism and looming theocracy is a pretty straightforward push by America's secular leadership classes to get religion out of the way. God is a competitor in forming the public will. So God needs to go.
Here's my third point. Man is a moral and believing animal. Christian Smith, Notre Dame's distinguished social research scholar, notes that all human beings seem to have a natural capacity for religious faith. That doesn't imply that all people are "naturally religious," if we mean by that an instinctive need to worship God in a Western sense. Some cultures – Japan is among them — seem to get along quite well without Western notions of religion. But all human beings, everywhere and always, have a need to believe something and behave according to a moral code that distinguishes right from wrong.
Why is that important? It's important because any claim that atheists, agnostics and a secularized intelligentsia are naturally more "rational" than religious believers is nonsense. There are no unbelievers. Smith puts it this way:
"All human beings are believers, not 'knowers' who know with certitude. Everything we know is grounded on presupposed beliefs that cannot be verified with more fundamental proof or certainty that provides us with assurance they are true. That is just as true for atheists as for religious adherents. The quest for foundationalist certainty . . . is a distinctly modern project, one launched as a response to the instabilities and uncertainties of early modern Europe. But that modern project has failed. There is no universal, rational foundation upon which indubitably certain knowledge can be built. All human knowing is built on believing. That is the human condition."[v]
To put it another way, atheists just worship a smaller and less forgiving god, at a different altar. And that means Christians should make no apologies – none at all — for engaging public issues respectfully but vigorously, guided by their faith as well as their reason.
That raises an obvious question: What would a proper Christian approach to politics look like? John Courtney Murray, the Jesuit scholar who spoke so forcefully about the dignity of American democracy and religious freedom, once wrote: "The Holy Spirit does not descend into the City of Man in the form of a dove. He comes only in the endlessly energetic spirit of justice and love that dwells in the man of the City, the layman."[vi]
Here's what that means. Christianity is not mainly about politics. It's about living and sharing the love of God. And Christian political engagement, when it happens, is never mainly the task of the clergy. That work belongs to lay believers who live most intensely in the world. Christian faith is not a set of ethics or doctrines. It's not a group of theories about social and economic justice. All these things have their place. All of them can be important. But a Christian life begins in a relationship with Jesus Christ; and it bears fruit in the justice, mercy and love we show to others because of that relationship.
Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets" (Mt 22:37-40).
That's the test of our faith. Without a passion for Jesus Christ in our hearts that reshapes our lives, Christianity is just a word game and a legend. Relationships have consequences. A married man will commit himself to certain actions and behaviors, no matter what the cost, out of the love he bears for his wife. Our relationship with God is the same. We need to prove our love by our actions, not just in our personal and family lives, but also in the public square. And that includes our social and business relations, as well as our politics.
Christians individually, and the Church as a believing community, engage the political order as an obligation of the Word of God. Human law teaches and forms as well as regulates; and human politics is the exercise of power – which means that both law and politics have moral implications. Christians can't ignore those implications and still remain faithful to their vocation as a light to the world and salt of the earth (Mt 5:14-16).
Robert Dodaro, the Augustinian priest and scholar – who's spoken here at Villanova in the past — wrote a wonderful book a few years ago called Christ and the Just Society in the Thought of Augustine. In his book and elsewhere, Dodaro makes four key points about Augustine's view of Christianity and politics.[vii]
First, Augustine never really offers a political theory, and there's a reason. He doesn't believe human beings can know or create perfect justice in this world. Our judgment is always flawed by our sinfulness. Therefore, the right starting point for any Christian politics is humility, modesty and a very sober realism.
Second, no political order, no matter how seemingly good, can ever constitute a just society. Errors in moral judgment can't be avoided. These errors grow in their complexity as they move from lower to higher levels of society and governance – which, by the way, shows the wisdom of the Catholic principle of subsidiarity. In practice, the Christian needs to be loyal to her nation and obedient to its legitimate rulers. But she also needs to cultivate a critical vigilance about both.
Third, despite these concerns, Christians still have a duty to take part in public life according to their God-given abilities, even when their faith brings them into conflict with public authority. We can't simply ignore or withdraw from civic affairs. The reason is simple. The classic civic virtues named by Cicero – prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance – can be renewed and elevated, to the benefit of all citizens, by the Christian virtues of faith, hope and charity. Therefore, political engagement is a worthy Christian task, and public office is an honorable Christian vocation.
Fourth, in governing as best they can, while conforming their lives and their judgment to the content of the Gospel, Christian leaders in public life can accomplish real good. In other words, they can make a difference. Their success will always be limited and mixed. It will never be ideal. But with the help of God they can improve the moral quality of society, which makes the effort invaluable.
What Augustine believes about Christian leaders, we can extend to the vocation of all Christian citizens. The skills of the Christian citizen are finally very simple: a zeal for Jesus Christ and his Church; a conscience formed in humility, love for the truth, and rooted in Scripture and the believing community; the prudence to see which issues in public life are vital and foundational to human dignity, and which ones are not; and the courage to work for what's right.
We don't cultivate these skills alone. We develop them together as Christians, in prayer, on our knees, in the presence of Jesus Christ – and also in exchanges like our time together today.
As I was gathering my thoughts for today, I listed all the urgent issues that demand our attention as Catholics: poverty; unemployment; crippling federal deficits; immigration; abortion; our obligations to the elderly and the disabled; questions of war and peace; our national confusion about sexual identity and human nature, and the attacks on marriage and family life that flow from this confusion; the growing disconnection of our science and technology from real moral reflection; the erosion of freedom of conscience in our national health-care debates; the quality of the schools that form our children.
The list is long. As I've said many times before and believe just as strongly today: Abortion is the foundational human rights issue of our lifetime. It can't be ignored or alibied away. We need to do everything we can to support the dignity of women, especially women with broken families or under heavy emotional and financial stress. Our commitment needs to be real, and more than just words. But we can't do it at the cost of more than 50 million legalized killings since Roe v Wade. We can't do it with corrupt verbal gymnastics that reduce an unborn child to a non-person and a thing. And we can't claim to be concerned about "the poor" when we tolerate – and even fund — an abortion industry that kills the unborn children of poor people in disproportionate numbers, both here in the United States, and through government aid abroad.
Working to give women the kind of material help they need so they can choose against abortion and for the life of their child is a good thing; a vital and necessary thing. But it's not sufficient. It's not a substitute for laws that protect developing unborn life – laws that restrict and one day end permissive abortion. Again, law teaches and forms, as well as regulates. It's a moral exercise. It always embodies someone's idea of what we ought or ought not to do. Obviously we can't illegalize every sin and evil act in society. But we can at least try to stop killing the innocent, which is what every abortion involves.
The abortion debate is important for another reason as well; one that's less obvious but in a way just as troubling. The case for "reproductive rights" hinges on a politically pious and very American form of idolatry: the idolatry of choice, personal autonomy and an assertion of the self at the expense of others. This is ruinous for human community.
Selfishness dressed up as individual freedom has always been part of American life. But now it infects the whole fabric of consumer society. American life is becoming a cycle of manufactured appetites, illusions and licenses that turns people in on themselves and away from each other. As communities of common belief and action dissolve, the state fills in the void they leave. And that suits a lot of us just fine, because if the government takes responsibility for the poor, we don't have to.
I'm using a broad brush here, obviously. In Catholic social thought, government has a legitimate role – sometimes a really crucial role — in addressing social problems that are too big and too serious to be handled by anyone else. But Jesus didn't bless higher taxes, deficit spending and more food stamps, any more than he endorsed the free market.
The way we lead our public lives needs to embody what the Catholic faith teaches — not what our personalized edition of Christianity feels comfortable with, but the real thing; the full package; what the Church actually holds to be true. In other words, we need to be Catholics first and political creatures second.
The more we transfer our passion for Jesus Christ to some political messiah or party platform, the more bitter we feel toward his Church when she speaks against the idols we set up in our own hearts. There's no more damning moment in all of Scripture than John 19:15: "We have no king but Caesar." The only king Christians have is Jesus Christ. The obligation to seek and serve the truth belongs to each of us personally. The duty to love and help our neighbor belongs to each of us personally. We can't ignore or delegate away these personal duties to anyone else or any government agency.
More than 1,600 years ago, St. Basil the Great warned his wealthy fellow Christians that "The bread you possess belongs to the hungry. The clothing you store in boxes belongs to the naked."[viii] St. John Chrysostom – whose feast we celebrated just yesterday – preached exactly the same message: "God does not want golden vessels but golden hearts," and "for those who neglect their neighbor, a hell awaits with an inextinguishable fire in the company of the demons."[ix] What was true then is true now. Hell is not a metaphor. Hell is real. Jesus spoke about it many times and without any ambiguity. If we do not help the poor, we'll go to hell. I'll say it again: If we do not help the poor, we will go to hell.
And who are the poor? They're the people we so often try to look away from — people who are homeless or dying or unemployed or mentally disabled. They're also the unborn child who has a right to God's gift of life, and the single mother who looks to us for compassion and material support. Above all, they're the persons in need that God presents to each of us not as a "policy issue," but right here, right now, in our daily lives.
Thomas of Villanova, the great Augustinian saint for whom this university is named, is remembered for his skills as a scholar and reforming bishop. But even more important was his passion for serving the poor; his zeal for penetrating the entire world around him with the virtues of justice and Christian love. It's a privilege to stand here and speak in his shadow.
Time matters. God will hold us accountable for the way we use it. Law and politics shape the course of a nation's future. Very few vocations have more importance or more dignity when they're lived with humility, honesty and love.
But all of us who call ourselves Christians share the same vocation to love God first and above all things; and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We're citizens of heaven first; but we have obligations here. We're Catholics and Christians first. And if we live that way — zealously and selflessly in our public lives — our country will be the better for it; and God will use us to help make the world new.
[i] Henri de Lubac, S.J., Paradoxes, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 1987; p. 226
[ii] See William T. Cavanaugh, The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict, Oxford University Press, New York, 2009; and Brad S. Gregory, The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society, Belknap/Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2012
[iii] Cavanaugh, "A Fire Strong Enough to Consume the House: The Wars of Religion and the Rise of the State," Modern Theology, 11:4 October 1995; p. 401
[iv] Cavanaugh, "If You Render to God What is God's, What is Left for Caesar?", Review of Politics, 71, 2009; p. 610
[v] Christian Smith, "Man the Religious Animal," First Things, 222, April 2012; p. 30. See also Smith's Moral, Believing Animals: Human Personhood and Culture, Oxford University Press, New York, 2003
[vi] John Courtney Murray, S.J., "The Role of Faith in the Renovation of the World," 1948; Murray's works are available online from the Woodstock Theological Center Library
[vii] Robert Dodaro, O.S.A., private correspondence with the author, along with Christ and the Just Society in the Thought of Augustine, Cambridge University Press, 2008 (first published in 2004), and "Ecclesia and Res Publica: How Augustinian Are Neo-Augustinian Politics?," collected in Augustine and Post-Modern Thought: A New Alliance Against Modernity?, Peeters, editor, Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium , 2009
[viii] Basil, Homily on Avarice
[ix] John Chrysostom, Homily on Matthew
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One Response
Mr. Chaput, O.F.M.Cap.,
I am not Catholic. I've worked shoulder to shoulder with more than a few for the good of those less fortunate. I am Christian and consider Catholics and Protestants the SAME body of Christ. However, I can only bring myself to agree with portions of what you say.
I do agree that we must each struggle to be living examples in this world; to aspire to Christ like lives. I do agree that we must pray about and be active in this world, including holding political views. I do NOT agree with your political views.
You're attempt to tackle "…all the urgent issues that demand our attention as Catholics: poverty; unemployment; crippling federal deficits; immigration; abortion; our obligations to the elderly and the disabled; questions of war and peace; our national confusion about sexual identity and human nature, and the attacks on marriage and family life that flow from this confusion; the growing disconnection of our science and technology from real moral reflection; the erosion of freedom of conscience in our national health-care debates; the quality of the schools that form our children," in one article would better be done in a series, one issue at a time.
Nuns On the BUS are GREAT representatives of where Catholicism needs to move forward to. These women are in the trenches every day. They grasp the reality of a brutal shift in our country should this Republican candidate win election. The facts are they want to eliminate Social Security, make Medicare a voucher system, slash Educational funding, slash Welfare and Food Stamp programs, all of which provide a safety net for our poor and our down trodden whose ranks have been swelled incredibly before Obama took office!
As to issues of abortion, it's always a pleasure to hear yet another MALE religious leader speak about MY BODY. Please Google the 'MY BODY' YouTube video as it expresses a MAJORITY female opinion that CROSSES party lines. I am pro-choice. When you make abortion illegal it is only another piece of legislation that will hurt the poor. Rich women will fly to Europe to obtain abortions while poor women will return to coat hangers; you may not want to admit it, but you know it's true.
Furthermore, the fact that there is male dominated coalition screaming for the end of Planned Parenthood because they provide abortions is an uneducated and unbelievable stance. Planned Parenthood does so much more. They are helping decrease the spread of AIDS and decrease birth rates in third world countries; they educate; they do a variety of health screening; they are often the ONLY choice for a low income female in these United States but you would have all these good works be gone?!
Given the release of the most recent Romney gaffe that's gone viral and dominated the news these last few days, I'm surprised in your post and your position. It's clear that Romney not only DOES NOT care about nearly half of America, but that his international skills are NON-EXISTENT. Never has it been so clear that Romney is only for himself and the one percent of super rich cronies surrounding him. Maintaining tax cuts for the rich, increasing the tax burden of the poor and slashing all the safety nets for the poor are NOT Christian values. Ryan's been chastised publicly in the past by the Catholics for his budget proposals.
I could go on for pages, but enough. I support Nuns on the BUS! These are Catholics I'm proud to serve with, walk with, pray with and VOTE with! I'm willing to pray with you and for you also, but we obviously do not agree politically.
Your Sister in Christ,
Marsha Price


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You are here: Social Security Administration > Research, Statistics & Policy Analysis > Research & Analysis by Author > Theresa M. Wilson
Research & Analysis by Theresa M. Wilson
Participation in Voluntary Individual Savings Accounts: An Analysis of IRAs, 401(k)s, and the TSP
from Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 63, No. 1 (released July 2000)
This article compares participation rates in three existing voluntary individual account-type plans—individual retirement accounts (IRAs), 401(k)s, and the federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)—in an effort to analyze who might participate in a voluntary individual account system.
The Galveston Plan and Social Security: A Comparative Analysis of Two Systems
from Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 62, No. 1 (released June 1999)
This report presents a comparison of benefits under the Galveston Plan versus Social Security, based on different earner and family scenarios. These scenarios include single and married workers at the low, middle, high, and very high earnings levels.

subset: commoncrawl


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The exploding-head scene (you know the one) from David Cronenberg's bloodhappy cheesefest, Scanners, is easily its most iconic. But have you ever wondered how the film's special effects team made the head burst just so? It wasn't pyrotechnics. It wasn't pneumatics. The answer, it turns out, was a lot more straightforward.
Via /r/movies
Vizio's Latest TVs Go All Quantum


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Related Expertise: Marketing and Sales, Leadership Development, Media Industry
There's a continuing digital disconnect in corporate marketing departments—and a widening digital divide as well. CMOs and others with marketing responsibility should take note.
Many companies have refocused their marketing functions on a digital or an omnichannel approach. But too many appear to be spending more on digital without building up the capabilities that produce bang for the digital buck. In late 2016, in collaboration with Google Digital Academy, BCG surveyed some 2,200 marketers at 141 advertisers, and 2,900 employees at 126 advertising agencies, on their organizations' digital-marketing capabilities and learning and development efforts. (See the sidebar below.) The results were surprising—and not in a positive sense.
With the rapid growth in digital spending and the increasing impact of digital channels on consumers, it's more important than ever for marketing organizations to understand where and how they can most effectively influence consumer behavior.
In 2016, Google again commissioned BCG to assess the current state of digital skills in marketing organizations. The findings outlined here were discussed with Google executives, but BCG is responsible for the analysis and conclusions.
We surveyed some 2,200 marketers (including digital specialists, brand managers, customer marketers, and public relations practitioners) at 141 advertisers in 41 countries (Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, Venezuela, and Vietnam) on their organizations' digital-marketing capabilities and learning and development efforts to understand how they rate their marketing organizations against digital-marketing best practices. Participating companies were from the retail, consumer products, financial services, and technology, media, and telecommunications industries, as well as from public-sector, education, and not-for-profit organizations. Our research also included 2,900 employees at 126 advertising agencies in 28 countries.
We asked marketers to assess their organizations' capabilities across a digital-marketing framework comprising nine categories of skills. (See the exhibit below.) The first three categories are related to planning: marketing and brand strategy, partner management, and critical organization enablers. The next three involve execution: digital targeting, digital-content development and distribution, and expertise in seven digital channels (search, websites, display media, mobile advertising, mobile web and applications, social media, and video). The final three skill categories relate to measurement: metrics and measurement, marketing analytics, and testing.
Marketers rated their teams' current capabilities and performance in each skill and in each of the seven digital channels on a scale from one to six. We then turned the responses into an index, with 100 equaling best practice.
The disconnect: Advertisers ascribe high importance to such capabilities as digital- content development and to fast-rising digital channels such as mobile advertising. Despite this, we found that not much has changed since 2015, when we conducted an initial survey of 1,100 marketers at 57 companies. (See The Talent Revolution in Digital Marketing, BCG Focus, September 2015.)
Our latest survey found that on our Digital Capabilities Index (DCI), a 100-point scale (with 100 indicating best practice), the average score was 57—exactly the same as it was 18 months ago. (See Exhibit 1.) Two-thirds of advertisers scored 60 or lower, but the actual numbers are less important than the lack of any demonstrable improvement. The results were consistent across all the countries surveyed.
The divide: Agencies are in better—while not great—shape, with an average score of 68. About two-thirds of agency respondents ranked their organization's digital skills at 65 or higher, far from a best-practice 100, and there were some noticeable weaknesses in the mobile and video channels, among other areas. Perhaps more important, the differences between advertisers and agencies in certain key areas, such as digital targeting and mobile and video, are considerably wider than in the overall scores. For example, in mobile advertising, agencies scored 62 while advertisers scored 45. In digital targeting, agencies scored 67, advertisers 53. (See Exhibit 2.)
The current situation presents both sides of the digital-marketing partnership with questions about how they should work together going forward. Advertisers, in particular, need to build up their digital capabilities in order to improve their own performance and guide their agencies' work effectively.
Spending on digital channels continues to rise. At the end of 2016, global spending on digital advertising was set to top $180 billion, according to Magna Global, which projects double-digit growth through 2020. Digital channels now represent a third of all advertising spending worldwide; this year, they will overtake TV, driven by the strong growth of social media and video. Advertisers are buying more digital services from agencies: digital's share of agency revenue passed 40% in 2015. And agencies are responding to the demand. According to Advertising Age, in December 2015, US agency employment reached its highest point since the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s—almost 200,000 people.
Digital and mobile channels and advanced marketing techniques, such as digital targeting and data analytics, are reshaping consumers' purchase pathway for companies in all industries, from travel and hospitality to consumer products and retail to financial services. Different channels increasingly require different content, and the more advanced marketers are using technology to actively shape consumers' cross-channel experience of their brands and products. (See, for example, Travel Innovated: Who Will Own the Customer?, BCG Focus, January 2016; How Digital Delivery Puts the Restaurant Value Chain Up for Grabs, BCG Focus, January 2017; The Winner-Take-All Digital World for CPG, BCG Focus, March 2016; and "Digitizing Customer Journeys and the New Insurance IT Model," BCG article, August 2016.) The risk for many advertisers is that they keep falling further behind, as we emphasized in 2015, since digital technologies and the complexity of their application are advancing at dizzying speed. While many companies are struggling to develop digital content and employ social media, digital marketing is already moving toward new capabilities. The most significant may be personalization, marketing to individual consumers at scale. (See, for example, "It's High Time Airlines Got Personal," BCG article, August 2016.)
It's particularly surprising that advertisers and agencies continue to give themselves low scores on testing (50 and 60, respectively), since testing, learning, and adjusting the campaign approach or design are among the most powerful capabilities enabled by digital technologies. The ability to see what is working and what is not, and to experiment almost in real time with adjustments and improvements, is essential to using digital channels effectively. This is especially true in fast-growing channels that are also evolving at a rapid pace, such as mobile web and apps, in which both advertisers and agencies—perhaps not surprisingly—also score poorly (51 and 60, respectively).
In another area of fast-rising importance—video—the data shows a specific disconnect. While a good number of agencies and some advertisers reported that they understand the role of video in the consumer journey, they are still mostly putting existing TV assets online and not investing in the digital capabilities that make online video a more effective medium than TV. Too few companies, for example, create more than one video per campaign, tailor their video creatively to fit consumers' use of different devices and digital platforms, or make use of such tools as hotspots and sequential retargeting to keep consumers engaged with their brands. In other words, marketers are still using new and advanced tools in old-fashioned ways.
Given the pace of technological change and the growing influence of digital technologies throughout the marketing function, we expected advertisers to show material improvement in our 2016 survey—the kind that would indicate that they are moving in the right direction, if still getting up to speed. Instead, we found more inertia than action (although there certainly are exceptions). We see at least four reasons:
Since our survey was a self-assessment, advertisers and agencies that are behind the curve may not be aware of how much they lag or why. But whatever the reasons for a company's failure to make progress, lack of talent, in particular, hurts its ability to plan, execute, measure, and improve digital campaigns. As a result, many companies either mount subpar campaigns or rely on the support of their agencies to plan the work, do the work, and measure the results. So far, it appears that many are following the second course—outsourcing campaign development and execution, just as they have long outsourced creative development and media buying.
Those that outsource pay a big price—in more than just agency fees and commissions. Digital campaigns are different from their offline equivalents. They are continually modified and adjusted in real time based on real-time results. Marketers that are not actively involved in the test-learn-adapt process lose touch with both their campaigns and their digital consumers. They don't know whether their strategies are being faithfully executed or how their budgets are being spent. They are hard-pressed to explain how or why success—or failure—occurred. And perhaps most critically, they don't learn how to access and use the plethora of digital data that campaigns generate—the data that makes more advanced techniques, such as personalized outreach, possible.
Advertisers face another skills-related challenge. Unless they improve their performance and their learning and development, the digital divide is set to widen. These companies will find it increasingly difficult to attract technical talent as they compete for skills not only with agencies but, more significantly, with digital natives, tech startups, and other organizations. Since talent attracts talent, it will become harder and harder for advertisers that lack technical skills to fill the void.
All of this spells opportunity for agencies, with the caveat that they need to raise their own game as well. That agencies gave their capabilities a higher rating than advertisers did makes sense (this is their core business, after all), but the fact that they assign themselves DCI scores in only the 60s and 70s in most areas of development and execution should be a cause for concern. Agencies do have an opportunity to increase billings by compensating for their clients' weaknesses, but to add the most value, they need to improve their own skills in several key areas, starting with mobile and video. These channels are critical now, and their importance will only increase in importance. Testing is another area of weakness. The ability to test and adjust creative content and campaign formats and methods is one of the biggest advantages that digital technologies provide marketers. Yet both advertisers and agencies give themselves poor grades in how they test content, creative materials, targeting options, and offline content (such as TV commercials on YouTube). (See the appendix.)
The bigger opportunity for agencies lies in building long-term partnerships with their clients. These partnerships should be based on the development of joint skills enabling the design and execution of digital campaigns that can further continuing consumer relationships and engagement both online and offline. Such campaigns are the ultimate promise of digital marketing, but so far they are more the exception than the rule. The data suggests some reasons why.
Agencies scored relatively high in critical campaign design capabilities such as these:
Agencies also believe they are good at developing digital-content strategies that tailor content to key moments in the consumer journey and at translating marketing objectives into a set of actionable metrics.
Advertisers, in contrast, scored themselves considerably lower on these campaign-building components. This suggests that agencies are doing an inadequate job of conferring their campaign skills on their clients. Moreover, agencies have not impressed their clients with the quality and extent of their capabilities. Advertisers consistently rate their agencies (and themselves) in the low- to mid-50s on the DCI for these attributes:
Part of the reason for these low ratings may have to do with incentives. Advertisers gave themselves a rating of only 45 on whether "campaign outcomes are a critical component of how we reward our partners."
Agencies have the lead, for now at least, in digital-marketing skills and capabilities. Smart agency heads will resist the temptation to use this advantage to maximize near-term agency revenues by taking over more and more of their clients' campaign work. Instead, they will field multiskilled teams that work with clients to design and execute orchestrated campaigns that achieve measurable results, and in this way, build long-term digital-marketing partnerships that work.


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"The Tea Party has formed an unholy alliance with the left," Debbie Dooley recalls a panicked member of Georgia's big energy lobby lamenting.
Dooley, a co-founder of the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots, doesn't deny the charges. In fact, she is set this Tuesday to celebrate the official launch of the Green Tea Coalition – the same "unholy alliance" of right and left grassroots that has big oil interests reeling.
"It's an unholy alliance because they see it as a threat to them," Dooley said, speaking ahead of the launch. "In the past, the elites on both the right and the left got away with it. On the right, they'd say, 'This person's on the left. Stay away from them,' On the left, they'd say, 'They're radical, they're the Tea Party. Stay away from them.'
"But we got through all that bull, got to know each other, and started working together," she said.
And it's not the first time. In 2012, the Atlanta Tea Patriot Patriots joined the NAACP and the Sierra Club to successfully defeat a $7.2 billion transit tax referendum. That same year, Tea joined forces with Occupy Atlanta and the AFL-CIO to stop an anti-union bill that would have banned protests at private residences (the bill sought to protect the "right of quiet enjoyment" of CEOs).
The threat of a grassroots movement united across ideological lines manifested itself again last month when the Tea Party Patriots – allied with environmentalists of the Sierra Club – triumphed in a win for solar energy.
Like many other states, Georgia law, through the 1973 Territorial Act, grants a single electric utility supplier the exclusive right to generate electrical power services. The beneficiary in Georgia is Georgia Power, which is owned by the Southern Company. Southern Company is the fourth largest utility in the country, with operations also in Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi.
Even electric co-operatives in the state aren't allowed to generate their own energy under present law. Instead, they must buy it through Georgia Power, relying on a power grid that operates mainly off coal, gas, and nuclear power.
Such a centralized power grid presents practical dangers, claimed Dooley. For example, a terrorist could theoretically plunge an entire region into darkness with a few well-coordinated attacks.
Southern Company isn't rushing to jeopardize its lucrative business model by embracing alternative energy. But thanks to Green Tea efforts and a Public Service Commission vote of 4 to 1 in July, the company will be required to obtain 525 megawatts of additional solar power by 2016.
That win didn't come without fierce opposition from deeply entrenched interests, including the Koch Brothers-funded organization Americans for Prosperity. AFP Georgia sent out a misleading email to some 50,000 members urging them to oppose the solar changes, erroneously claiming that solar would raise prices by as much as 40 percent.
In reality, falling solar prices promise a future of cheaper energy – and perhaps even the opportunity for individuals to someday generate their own energy, independent of companies like Southern Company. For rate payers held captive by a government-imposed utility monopoly, what could be more conservative than achieving self-sufficiency?
Through all this, the clash between Atlanta's Tea Party and AFP has been raising eyebrows. The Koch Brothers, through organizations like AFP and Freedom Works, have spent millions of dollars to influence Tea Party groups across the country since 2009.
"We agree with AFP on a lot of issues, but when it comes to energy, they're not exactly unbiased," said Dooley. And that's putting it mildly. Koch Industries, the second largest private company in the United States, makes over $100 billion a year on oil, coal, and logging, among other industries.
Critics of the Tea Party have pointed out the substantial role that AFP and Freedom Works played in the initial Tea Party protests of 2009 — not to mention the years of planning and attempts by the Koch Brothers to launch the party as far back as 2002, and even previously. However, the Kochs may have foreseen not only the benefits of jumping on the Tea Party train, but also the dangers of allowing such a movement to grow without a little corporate "direction."
The danger was that conservatives – whose politics have traditionally aligned with the interests of corporate America – would take some of the ideas brewing in the teapot too far. Conservative Americans had begun to wholly embrace the idea that there was such a thing as "crony capitalism," that certain powerful industries didn't need to be subsidized for under-performing, or bailed out for failing, and that local and individual autonomy was more important than maintaining the profit structures of big industries.
Those ideas, taken to their logical conclusions, might have led to a conservative revolution that would have severely crippled the power of industries like Koch and Southern Company.
The Koch plan, then, was to jump into the fray: a corporate entity hidden among the throngs of one of the largest political movements in decades. On the fertile ground of an emergent movement, Koch would sow their genetically modified seeds of ideology. The idea was to tweak the message of the Tea Party just enough to reroute the movement's trajectory in such a way that, far from being the bad guys, industrialists could cast themselves as the victims and even allies of average Americans.
"We don't need taxpayer funded government subsidies and renewable energy mandates," AFP Georgia wrote in a statement on the Georgia solar plan. "The government has spent $14 billion since 2009 propping up renewable energy projects. They wouldn't have to do that if the technology was more market ready."
See? AFP is on the side of the people, standing up against big government subsidies for technology that may not even be ready for prime time. The fact that solar even requires government subsidies proves it isn't ready, so they claim.
But just don't expect AFP to apply the same standard to Koch-style industries. Between 1994 and 2009, U.S. oil and gas industries amassed nearly $450 billion in subsidies, compared to a relatively paltry $6 billion for renewable energy over the same period.
And don't expect AFP to rail against Southern Company's $8.3 billion federal loan guarantee for its new nuclear projects, either – despite its being the same type of loan granted to solar power company Solyndra, which AFP spent over $8 million to defame between 2011 to 2012.
But Dooley and the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots saw through the distortions. They didn't buy AFP's attempts to cast its campaign against solar energy in Georgia as a "grassroots driven initiative."
"There are lots of Tea Party activists who care deeply about the environment," Dooley said. "We have grandchildren. Some of us hope to have great grandchildren. I have a four-and-a-half year old grandson that I adore. I want him to have plenty of air and water. I want him to live in a world where green forest parks and mountain streams are not poisoned.
"I want him to live in a world where, maybe, by the time he's grown, he can just come off the grid and generate his own power that he needs using solar or wind."
The Green Tea Coalition, set to launch in Georgia on Tuesday, includes activists from the Sierra Club, Georgia Watch, Occupy Atlanta, Tea Party Patriots and the NAACP. Georgia's former Democratic Governor Roy Barnes has also indicated interest in taking part in the Coalition, said Dooley.
To Koch, Southern Company and other energy titans who thought they had the Tea Party in their pockets, it's an unholy alliance indeed. Beyond that, it's a wedge that could grow bigger — and not only in Georgia.
"The elites like to keep us divided because we have to look to them for power," Dooley added. "But now grassroots activists are coming together from across the aisle and saying, 'We're going to do this and we don't need to look to elites from either party – we just need each other.'"
Briefly, we wanted to update you on where Truthout stands this month.
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WILL WEISSERT,Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said Monday that he will renounce his Canadian citizenship.
The Texas Republican and tea party favorite announced his plans Monday night in a statement. The move comes in the wake of a report by The Dallas Morning News that Cruz holds dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship.
Cruz released his birth certificate amid concerns that being born in Canada could derail a possible presidential run by the tea party firebrand.
The 42-year-old gave a copy of the document to The Dallas Morning News, which posted a picture of it online Monday. It shows Cruz's birth in Calgary, Alberta, on Dec. 22, 1970, while listing his mother, Eleanor Elizabeth Wilson, as having been born in Delaware and his father, Rafael Bienvenido Cruz, as a native of Cuba.
Cruz's father was an engineer, and the couple had come to Canada as part of that country's energy boom — although Cruz would spend most of his formative years in Houston.
Asked if additional copies of the birth certificate would be made available, Cruz spokesman Sean Rushton said several media outlets had made similar requests and that he was working on them.
In a statement issued Monday night, Cruz said "the facts of my birth are straightforward: I was born in 1970 in Calgary, Canada. Because my mother was a U.S. citizen, born in Delaware, I was a U.S. citizen by birth. When I was a kid, my Mom told me that I could choose to claim Canadian citizenship if I wanted. I got my U.S. passport in high school.
"Because I was a U.S. citizen at birth, because I left Calgary when I was 4 and have lived my entire life since then in the U.S., and because I have never taken affirmative steps to claim Canadian citizenship, I assumed that was the end of the matter," he added. "Now The Dallas Morning News says that I may technically have dual citizenship. Assuming that is true, then sure, I will renounce any Canadian citizenship. Nothing against Canada, but I'm an American by birth and as a U.S. Senator, I believe I should be only an American."
Cruz was a little-known former Texas solicitor general and veteran of George W. Bush's presidential campaign when he launched a bid to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Spurred by a wave of grassroots support, Cruz upset mainstream GOP favorite and powerful Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in last year's Republican primary, then coasted to victory in November.
Since taking office, he has embraced the role of Senate troublemaker, angering Democrats and even some Republicans with his outspokenness. Cruz has most recently joined with other tea party darlings in the Senate and called for partially shutting down the federal government in an attempt to block funding for the White House-backed health care law.
Cruz also has fueled speculation he could run for the White House by wowing conservative crowds during frequent trips to Iowa, which will open voting for the 2016 GOP presidential primary.
Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution states that "No person except a natural born Citizen" is eligible to be president. But Cruz's office has long maintained that because his mother was an American, Cruz became a U.S. citizen at birth.
President Barack Obama, who was born to an American mother and Kenyan father, faced sharp criticism from some conservatives who claimed he wasn't an American citizen. In 2011, Obama released a copy of his birth certificate confirming his birth in Hawaii.
Cruz is a favorite of many of the same conservative groups who raised "birther" concerns about Obama, however, and questions about his eligibility to become president because he was born in Canada have not caused as much of a stir — at least not yet.
It is legal to hold both U.S. and Canadian citizenship, but the Canadian embassy in Washington won't say how many people do so, citing privacy concerns.
Asked during a 2012 interview with The Associated Press whether he holds dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship, Cruz wouldn't answer directly, saying only: "I am a U.S. citizen."
"I was born in Canada, but I was a citizen at birth because my mother was a citizen," he said. "I have only ever had one passport and that is a U.S. passport."


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Christmas season is near and for sure, many of us are now already looking for some gifts to give for our kids or grand children or godchildren. Both online and offline stores have various items available for purchase and the much known Matchbox Truck is just one of them. They come in different designs and size that toddlers and adults alike will surely love to own. The Matchbox Rocky the Robot Truck is another addition to the wide array of matchbox truck designs and I have just recently purchased one for my kids ages 5 4 and 2. Herewith, I hope my matchbox rocky the robot truck review can help you into making buying decision.
Like many of the Matchbox truck toys that we see in the market, the Matchbox rocky also carries the known yellow color of Matchbox. One of the great features the matchbox rocky has is its ability to load and move out items. My boys enjoys the moment when they load up some things on the truck and have them all moved out with just a single press of a button. Matchbox Rocky truck also has the ability to respond when the user creates some sound, which the kids will surely love as they do their dancing and dumping tricks. Aside from the fun moves, the matchbox rocky also has the ability to produce sounds like various phrases and jokes.
Much to my surprise, even my hubby is having a great time playing with the new matchbox truck that we have for our kids. Hubby loves playing with the kids as they load and unload heavy items, which is not a treat for the toy because the Matchbox Rocky the Robot is made from strong and durable plastic and it indeed shows in the products appearance and performance. I highly recommend this item as a gift for Christmas or whatever occasion, for the prize will surely not disappoint you.


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Memory Quizzes Still Best For Alzheimer's Diagnosis
When it comes to predicting whether someone will have Alzheimer's disease, newfangled diagnostic tests for the illness aren't as good as old-fashioned quizzes of thinking and memory.
That's the word from a study that compared different methods for identifying Alzheimer's. The results was just published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Scientists have been looking for a scan or lab test, such as changes in particular proteins in the blood, to simplify and speed up the detection of Alzheimer's. The goal is to be able to identify people at risk of the illness long before symptoms such as impaired thinking surface. But that goal is far from being realized.
In this study, researchers compared how well biological and cognitive tests did at identifying whether people who already had mild cognitive impairment would go on to develop Alzheimer's. They found that two tests measuring verbal memory were the best at predicting whether someone would develop Alzheimer's in the next two years.
In those tests, people were read a story or a list of words, and then asked to recall the information 30 minutes later. In people who are progressing to Alzheimer's, "there's forgetting," neuroscientist Terry Goldberg, a co-author of the study, told Shots. "There's an increased rate of forgetting."
One biological marker, a brain scan that measured changes in the thickness of the middle temporal lobe, also predicted people who went on to have Alzheimer's. Other biological markers, such as tests for telltale proteins in blood and cerebrospinal fluid, also revealed changes, but not as well. Those tests have been used in research laboratories, but aren't being used to test for Alzheimer's in clinical practice.
"It's not that the biomarkers didn't work," says Goldberg, a professor at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine in Manhasset, N.Y. "But when you compared them head to head, you find that the cognitive markers are the most robust."
That means that the thinking tests can also be used for guides in designing therapies. In fact, Goldberg says, they may ultimately be more useful that the biological tests. "What you want to change is how people do in everyday life," he says.
The trick is to diagnose mild cognitive impairment, a stage between normal forgetfulness and serious cognitive problems. It sometimes leads to Alzheimer's, but can be caused by other diseases, too. People with MCI can be more forgetful, have trouble multitasking, and take longer to remember or decide. This study looked at 116 people with MCI who were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in two years, 204 people with MCI who didn't get Alzheimer's and 197 healthy people as controls.
The study used information from the , which is looking for ways to identify risk factors for Alzheimer's, and techniques for early diagnosis.
The goal would then be to create treatments that could profoundly slow or even halt the disease's process. No such treatments exist now. Earlier this year, the National Institute on Aging redefined Alzheimer's, broadening the definition and including the fact that biomarkers can be used for early detection. But since there is no treatment that slows or halts the disease, those biomarker tests don't help patients or families manage the disease.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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ATLANTA — The Big Easy, Naptown or the Twin Cities.
That's the choice facing NFL owners when they vote Tuesday on the site of the 2018 Super Bowl, choosing among New Orleans, Indianapolis and Minneapolis.
Each city has hosted the big game, albeit just once for Indy and Minny. New Orleans has staged 10 Super Bowls, tied with South Florida for the most.
Most recently, the 2013 game was delayed 38 minutes by a blackout at the Superdome. Despite that power problem, New Orleans is considered a favorite to be chosen by the 32 owners as the city celebrates its 300th year. A three-quarters majority is required for passage.
Saints owner Tom Benson recently had minor knee surgery, but the 86-year-old Benson is expected to attend the meetings.
Colts owner Jim Irsay is taking part in league business for the first time since his arrest for having $29,000 in cash and bottles of prescription drugs in his car. Irsay has been undergoing treatment and the owners meetings is Irsay's first public appearance since the arrest.
"It's just good to be back and good to be able to put an effort into regaining the Super Bowl," Irsay said. "I really feel we did such an incredible job the first time."
Irsay declined to comment on whether he would address the other owners about his personal situation.
Only the Vikings will present a brand new stadium in their bid, a $1 billion indoor facility scheduled to open in 2016.
"We're going to celebrate winter. And we should, because we do it well — better than anyone," said Richard Davis, co-chair of the Minneapolis bid committee. "We're going to talk to the owners about how it's about time that the NFL brought America's game around the country, like a caravan, and started taking it out from the Southern states and bring it around to the rest of the world. We should be the first."
Actually, the game was held in New Jersey this year — the first outdoor Super Bowl in a cold-weather site.
Indianapolis was highly praised for its Super Bowl in 2012, when the Giants beat the Patriots. The city has a history of staging big events and will host the Final Four next spring at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The NFL always has favored bringing its title game to New Orleans, and the appeal of warmer weather in Louisiana than in the other bidding cities could be a factor.
Next year's game is in Arizona, and the 50th Super Bowl will be in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 2017 game is set for Houston.
Also on the agenda, although no vote is certain, will be expanding the playoffs from 12 teams to 14. That proposal was discussed at the league meetings in Orlando in March. Commissioner Roger Goodell has said it's still possible such a change could happen this year if it is voted on and passed in Atlanta.
More likely, 2015 would be the target date for expanded playoffs.
"We're being very deliberate about it," Goodell said. "We want to make sure we do it in the right way."
Goodell also has been championing improved workplace environments in the wake of the Miami Dolphins' bullying scandal. Owners will talk about that issue on Tuesday.
"You never want to see any story that reflects on that we don't have the right workplace environment," Goodell said. "We've redoubled our efforts to make sure we provide the right environment … for everybody in the NFL."
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A new study indicates that bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in plastic bottles and can linings that has been linked to heart disease, diabetes and liver failure, may linger in the body far longer than previously believed.
Environmental health scientist Richard Stahlhut of the University of Rochester Medical Center and his colleagues discovered that even those who had been fasting for 24 hours still had high BPA levels in their urine, using a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey of 1,469 adults.
Stahlhut says that it appears that the amount of BPA in the body drops relatively rapidly from four to nine hours after exposure, but then levels out. "After the nine hours or so," he says, "it stops doing what it's supposed to and the decline goes flat."
Previous research had suggested that levels of BPA, which mimics the female hormone estrogen in the human body, declined by 50 percent every five hours after it was ingested in foods or water it had leached into from plastic containers. But the new research indicates that the chemical declines initially but then sticks around, making it potentially more harmful.
"This suggests substantial nonfood exposure, accumulation in body tissues such as fat, or both," the researchers wrote in their paper released today by Environmental Health Perspectives.
That may explain why 93 percent of Americans carry BPA in their bodies, according to the CDC, or it could be that exposure is coming through different routes than food, such as the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes often used for water lines in modern homes.
"It makes you wonder what percentage of [exposure] really is food. If half of it isn't food then we've underestimated [human] exposure by half. That might matter," Stahlhut says.
The U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Toxicology Program—a government program that coordinates federal studies of chemicals' adverse effects—warns that BPA exposure may lead to abnormal development in infants and the Canadian government last year banned its use in baby bottles. But the American Chemistry Council, U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maintain that BPA is safe.
Some preliminary studies have shown that the chemical can persist in human fat tissue and trigger a drop in adiponectin, a hormone excreted by fat that helps control sugar levels in the blood. "This would be good news," Stahlhut says. "If BPA is part of this huge increase in obesity and diabetes, you should celebrate because, unlike PCBs, if we stop BPA exposure it will go away."
But the first step on that road will be figuring out exactly how BPA typically gets into the human body as well as how the body processes it—something scientists thought they already knew. "If I go to a diner and they serve me a Coke in a polycarbonate glass, I drink from it. But I don't mess with the stuff at home," Stahlhut says. "I've been in this long enough to know that we don't know anything."
Like a Guest That Won't Leave, BPA Lingers in the Human Body
Chemical that leaches from baby bottles and other plastic containers remains in the body longer than previously thought
A new study indicates that bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in plastic bottles and can linings that has been linked to heart disease, diabetes and liver failure, may linger in the body far longer than previously believed.


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At the fin de siècle, the figure of the Biblical Judith furthered the development of the image of the femme fatale as a decapitator of men. The Biblical story tells of the city of Bethulia, under siege by Holofernes, an invading general of Nebuchadnezzar. Judith, the daring Jewish woman, manages to enter the enemy camp, seduce Holofernes and then behead him while he is drunk. According to the Book of Judith 13:6-9,
Then she came to the pillar of the bed, which was at Holofernes' head, and took down his fauchion from thence, And approached to his bed, and took hold of the hair of his head, and said, Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, this day. And she smote twice upon his neck with all her might, and she took away his head from him. And tumbled his body down from the bed, and pulled down the canopy from the pillars; and anon after she went forth, and gave Holofernes his head to her maid.
Judith thus saves the city and her people.
Depictions of Judith are a popular theme in art; Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Rembrandt, to name a few, painted her as an idealized martyr. Up to the middle of the nineteenth century, traditional idealized representations of Judith as a domineering adolescent predominated in art. But as Bram Dijkstra points out the image of Judith changed at the fin de siècle. He writes of the heroine, "In the Bible Judith had been a paragon of self-sacrificial martyrdom for a noble cause. The late nineteenth-century painters, however, unmasked her as a lustful predator, an anorexic tigress" (377).
The German symbolist painter Franz von Stuck depicted Judith several times, in paintings titled exactly the same: Judith and Holofernes, as if attempting to document every stage of woman's fatal encounter with man, the enemy. In all depictions Judith stands completely nude above Holofernes who lies on a bed to her right. But every one of von Stuck's paintings captures a separate moment in Judith's decapitation of Holofernes. In one depiction she raises Holofernes' sword with only one hand and looks down at the Holofernes with a look of utter despise. In a second version, she stands over Holofernes who has raised his arms to his sides as if being crucified. Judith holds the sword with both hands close to her face and seems to laugh haughtily at the prostrate figure of Holofernes. And in yet another depiction it appears as though she swings the sword back, about to give him the fatal blow. Von Stuck's obsessive depicting of Judith as a dangerously seductive and deadly woman serves to characterize the general obsession with the figure of the femme fatalein the fin de siècle imagination.
The most popular depictions of Judith are most certainly those of the Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt. The pair of highly decorative paintings — typical of fin de siècle Austria — presents Judith as a sexually charged feminine figure. As Margarita Stocker points out in her book Judith: Sexual Warrior, in Klimt's paintings Judith is fetishized,
In Judith I, her face registers an orgasmic joy in symbolic castration of the man. One breast is bare, its tinted flesh reified by the hard gold plating that transmogrifies her clothes and jewels. All the surfaces are textures of a high density, as if of the inanimate kind suggested by her gems. . . . This is orgasm as both brilliant and cruel, symbolized as the female body itself. In Judith II, the effect of cruelty is intensified into a voracious malice, the hands are talons. Both express Decadence's fatalizing of the female. (Stocker 175-176)
Many art catalogues title Judith II as Salome, although it is unclear whether this was Klimt's intention. In the painting the figure stands almost in profile, her breasts entirely bare, as she holds in her jeweled, claw-like fingers the head of Holofernes (or John the Baptist) by the hair. Bram Dijkstra points out, "Klimt's Salome/Judith is a heady mixture of vampire lore, high fashion, and the period's obsession with the notion that the headhuntress had desired to obtain hands-on knowledge of John the Baptist's head" (Dijkstra 388). In true Decadent form, Klimt's image of Judith served to vilify the Biblical heroine and in effect blended her with the darker, more bloodthirsty image of Salome.
Salome, Judith, and Decapitated Men in the Fin de Siècle imagination
- Woman at the Fin de Siècle
- Salome in the Fin de Siècle imagination
- The Biblical Story of Salome
- Salome: a woman's point of view
- Salome: Wilde and Beardsley
- Blending Judith and Salome
- Other decapitations of men in Fin de Siècle Art
- Bibliography
Dijkstra, Bram. Idols of Perversity: Fantasies of Feminine Evil in Fin-de-Siecle Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Stocker, Margarita. Judith: Sexual Warrior: Women and Power in Western Culture. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998.
Last modified 26 December 2006


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By Alicia Chang
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — For more than four decades, the powerful engines that helped boost the Apollo 11 mission to the moon have rested in the Atlantic.
Now Internet billionaire and space enthusiast Jeff Bezos wants to raise at least one of them to the surface.
An undersea expedition spearheaded by Bezos used sonar to find what he said were the F-1 engines located 14,000 feet deep. In an online announcement Wednesday, the Amazon.com CEO and founder said he is drawing up plans to recover the sunken engines, part of the mighty Saturn V rocket that launched Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins on their moon mission.
The five engines, which produced nearly 7.7 million pounds of thrust, dropped into the sea as planned minutes after liftoff in 1969. Four days later, Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon.
"We don't know yet what condition these engines might be in," he wrote. "They hit the ocean at high velocity and have been in salt water for more than 40 years. On the other hand, they're made of tough stuff, so we'll see."
Bezos acknowledged the engines were the property of NASA, but said he hoped they will be displayed in museums.
NASA expressed excitement about the find. The space agency said it has not been formally contacted by Bezos and waited for more information.
"There has always been great interest in artifacts from the early days of space exploration and his announcement only adds to the enthusiasm of those interested in NASA's history," NASA spokesman Bob Jacobs said in a statement.
No timetable has been set for the recovery. When it happens, it'll undoubtedly take longer to hoist the 19-foot engines off the sea floor than the 2 1/2 minutes it took for them to power off the launch pad.
The sea floor is littered with spent rockets and flight parts from missions dating back to the dawn of the Space Age and it's unknown what survived decades later after crashing into the ocean.
In 2009, a private company salvaged Gus Grissom's Mercury capsule that accidentally sank in the Atlantic after splashdown in 1961. It was restored and displayed at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center.
Bezos' planned Apollo recovery is the latest deep-sea adventure by the wealthy. "Avatar" director James Cameron over the weekend rode a mini-sub to Earth's deepest spot in the western Pacific Ocean, seven miles below the surface, which he described as an alien world. Sir Richard Branson plans a similar dive to the deepest part of the Atlantic, the Puerto Rican trench, later this year.
Bezos was 5 years old when he watched the moon landing on television and became hooked on getting to space. NASA "sure inspired me, and with this endeavor, maybe we can inspire a few more youth to invent and explore," he wrote.
It was not immediately clear when Bezos' team spotted the Apollo engines. Bezos offered few details about the discovery and did not say how he knew the engines were from Apollo 11.
Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener said Bezos was not available for comment.
Bezos' Blue Origin has been developing a vertical takeoff and landing rocketship that would fly passengers to suborbital space. It has NASA funding to compete to go into orbit as a space taxi now that the space shuttle fleet is retired.
Last year, a test flight went awry when the vehicle became unstable at 45,000 feet and crashed.


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Hotel Valet Attendant in Northern Indiana - Flexible Schedules, Cash Tips, Career Opportunities!
Towne Park
Driven To Serve® and Ready to Succeed!
Working with Towne Park offers a variety of employment opportunities for your unique career plan! Whether you're a part-timer, careerist or adventurer, Towne Park gives you the tools to learn and grow. With business in 50+ national markets, there's no limit to where Towne Park might take you!
No matter what you're looking for, Towne Park provides a winning environment working alongside the brightest and friendliest colleagues around. Whether it's team events, giving back to the communities where we live and work, or celebrating a Towne Park win, you'll find a fun and welcoming work experience!
The Guest Service Associate is responsible for providing exceptional customer service to guests or patients in an attentive, friendly and efficient manner. The Guest Service Associate is responsible for driving, parking and retrieving guest vehicles in a prompt yet safe manner and assisting guests in and out of their vehicle during arrival and departure.
Guest Service
- Maintains pleasant, friendly and professional demeanor with all customer, co-workers, and clients
- Acknowledges and greets customer within five feet with a professional and friendly demeanor
- Uses guest last names during interactions
- Uses salutation of the day and welcomes guests to the location
- Practices proper Towne Park phone etiquette
- Posts up in designated areas when not completing tasks
- Runs at top speed to park and retrieve vehicles and drives slowly and cautiously
- Assists guests with bell services and luggage storage as needed (when applicable)
- Opens all vehicle and property doors for guests
- Assists customers with directions, taxis, reservations and other inquiries
- Provides customers with information about outlets, meeting rooms and/or amenities of the facility as well as main attractions in the area
- Delivers messages, items and/or guest amenities as requested
- Transport guests to appropriate places that are approved by the location (when applicable)
- Explains parking rates and retrieval procedures to guests upon arrival
Systems and Standards
- Completes all tasks in a timely manner as instructed by the Account Manager
- Treats guests and associates with courtesy, respect and dignity
- Follows all appearance standards as set forth by Towne Park, including complete approved pressed uniform
- Follows all attendance standards as set forth by Towne Park, as required by the scheduling which may vary according to the needs of the location
- Executes all terms and conditions as set forth in the Towne Park Associate Handbook and other policies and procedures
- Maintains clean, neat work environment including all surrounding areas of ramp, valet desk, wheel chairs, parking area, bell carts, bell closet, trash receptacles and ash urns
- Consistently completes location on all key tags after parking vehicle
- Calculates and collects revenue for vehicles when needed
Safety and Risk Management
- Follows site specific safety and security procedures
- Practices preventative safety procedures as set forth by Towne Park, including safe lifting techniques
- Issues claim checks only after receiving vehicle keys and collects claim checks from all guests prior to issuing keys
- Consistently completes and maintains all ticket information including key tag, guest folio, location of vehicle, damage survey and claim check receipt from all vehicles taken into the valet system
- Reports all accidents and incidents observed on shift to Guest Service Coordinator or Account Manager immediately
- Uses only equipment trained to use and operates all equipment in a safe manner
- Immediately secures all keys on belt clip or in a locked key box
- Reports all potential hazards and safety concerns to Account Manager
- Ability to read and write standard English language
- Ability to read and comprehend simple instructions, short correspondence and memos
- Ability to write simple correspondence
- Ability to effectively present information in one-on-one and small group situations to guests, clients and other employees of the organization
- Ability to add and subtract three digit numbers and to multiply and divide with 10's and 100's; ability to perform these operations using units of American money
- Ability to understand 24 hour and military time systems
- Ability to understand rates applicable to time passed
- High school diploma or general education degree (GED); OR one (1) month related experience and/or training; OR equivalent combination of education and experience
- Ability to operate a manual transmission is highly desirable
- Perform parallel parking
- Must have and maintain a valid drivers license and clean driving record
- For insurance purposes, must be at least 18 years of age and be able to pass a criminal background and drug screen
- Must complete the Wheelchair Safety Training course provided by Towne Park
- If providing shuttle services, may be subject to additional requirements
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an associate to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- The associate is regularly required to run; stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls; reach with hands and arms; climb stairs; balance; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl; talk and hear.
- Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
- Must be able to lift and/or move up to 50 pounds frequently and up to 75 pounds occasionally. Must be able to push and pull 75 pounds frequently and 100 pounds occasionally.
- Must be able to push and pull (on wheelchair) 100 to 350 pounds frequently over considerable distances
- Working flexible schedules and extended hours are sometimes required.
I understand that every effort has been made to make this job description as complete as possible. However, it in no way states or implies that these are the only duties that I will be required to perform. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related or is a logical assignment of the position. I accept that at any time there may be modifications or changes to the above job description.
I have read and understand the above job description. I acknowledge that all items are essential to the job. I understand what the job demands and I agree that I am able to perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodations.
____________________________________ ___________________________________ ________________
Associate Signature Associate Name (Printed) Date


text:
Finally a math puzzle, but then it has to be one that isn't very challenging. If you are having trouble, just keep firing arrows; you'll hit it eventually.
Edit: You'll need the full complement of 6 arrows.
Finally a math puzzle, but then it has to be one that isn't very challenging. If you are having trouble, just keep firing arrows; you'll hit it eventually.
Here's my standard reminder... don't post the answer or any hints that could lead directly to the answer (e.g. via a chain of thought, or an internet search) before the deadline of Thursday at 3pm ET. If you know the answer, click the link and submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.
You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't give the answer away. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the Thursday deadline. Thank you.
Would it be wrong to say that this puzzle is very easily solved?
Everyone will be setting up a program to solve
allowing A to range from 0 - 6; B to range from 0 - 5; C, 0 - 4; D, 0 - 4; E, 0 - 2; and F, 0 - 2.
Should only be 9450 possible answers, if my count is correct, easily scanned to see which one comes up 100.
Or you could cheat, which I did, because I have no intention of sending in an answer, and the puzzle makes my head hurt, and a little voice told me to.
Yeah, but I can hardly wait to see E&WAf's "simple" (presumably elegant) proof; and what is PC's "93 points" all about?Delete
Bob, enumerating the possibilities isn't nearly that hard. There are only 75 combinations that yield a sum between 85 and 100. (That's 1/126th as many as 9450.) The exhaustive list also proves that the answer is unique.
Paul, making a list this way is what reveals that 93 is the only other sum in the range 85 to 100 that has a unique solution.
@PlannedChaos - I'm no mathematician (my official educational status is "dropout"), so I was just considering all the possible combinations of the variables. Aside from the trivial case where all the variables A - F are zero, I would have to do some sort of calculation to see where any of the sums ended up. But if I have missed an important point, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised. :>)Delete
Blaine's clue reaches the outer limits!ReplyDelete
3 really small arrows will get the job doneReplyDelete
I have a hint, but it is too much of a give-away.ReplyDelete
Another Sunday puzzle: What is the next letter in this series: U, D, B, V . . .?
Since we all know the answer to this week's puzzle by now, here's a word puzzle you can try.
Take the name of part of a country. Add the name of a flowing body of water. You get the name, phonetically, of a famous mid-50s Top Ten song that has become an American standard.
I posted on Sun Aug 17, at 06:03:00 AM PDT on last week's thread:
In my submission to the NPR website, I started off with a simple proof that there is only ONE way it can be done!!
Nice to hear a fellow Berkeley resident on Sunday Puzzle today!ReplyDelete
Did you notice how she kidnapped KQED and moved it across the Bay? Next thing you know, it'll appear at the end of Enya_and_Weird_Al_fan's proof!Delete
Jan, Yes, I was shocked!!Delete
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Yes, Natasha and jan, I, too was shocked, shocked to find people living in Berkeley might listen to a radio station a few miles away across the Bay.Delete
Your winnings, madame.Delete
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As they say on Marketplace, "let's do the numbers."ReplyDelete
I offer the following:
1. The challenge is overkill
2. Solving this puzzle involves a few revolutions
3. Divide and conquer
So a musical hint might be "Sound of Music"?ReplyDelete
Hey RoRo, have you started rolfing?Delete
Sometimes I rolf, sometimes I roll. Great technique for stretching out my neck (Which is something I tend to do anyway). Actually need to find a new practitioner. Some of the ones in my neck of the woods are still learning and not yet mature.Delete
ROFL reminds me of rolfing. . .
Three Smithies met up on Saturday at a community garden veggie and fruit sale:
If you're ever in a jam, here I am
How do you solve a problem like RoRo :-) ????Delete
WW sounds like the beginning of one of those"a priest, a rabbi, and an Iman walked into a bar" jokes. Excuse me while I rolf, rofl and roll.Delete
RoRo knows her ro, ro, ro your boat. . .
2(16) + 4(17) = 100
"Hey, RoRo, have you started rolfing?" was a riff off of her "Sound of Music" clue. Rolf was the boy who sang "You are 16 going on 17" to the oldest Von Trapp daughter.
OK, any takers on the letter series U, D, B, V . . .?
Yes, ROLFing is complete. No longer von trapped in silence.Delete
I tried; I came up short; send me to first base.
Paul, there's a hint below in response to EaWAf's question about the letter series. Seriously. . .Delete
Sunday it was a split decision for New York's two MLB teams. The Yankees held off surging Tampa Bay, 4 to 2, while in a battle of teams trying to avoid the cellar, the Cubs defeated the Mets 2 to 1.ReplyDelete
4 17's and 2 16's make for a 4 to 2 ratio, or 2 to 1 in lowest terms.
This puzzle is definitely overkill, as there are far more numbers than you need.
Divide and conquer: divide 100 by 3 and you get 33-1/3. 33 is the sum of 16 and 17. 3 16's and 3 17's add up to 100. No problem. Just replace a 16 with a 17.
Revolution: who besides WW and myself remember 33-1/3 rpm (revolutions per minute) LP records?
Finally the two number pairs that are anagrams of each other and have the same sum: ELEVEN and TWO is one pair; the other is TWELVE and ONE. Believe both Will and Click and Clark (during their puzzle making days) used this one.
correction: 3 16's and 3 17's add up to 99, not 100. Replace one 16 with a 17, and the 2 16's and 4 17's add up to 100.Delete
Did anyone actually answer PC's question about scoring 93 exactly? 3 x 23 + 1 x 24 is the unique answer.
Well, well, well, well, well, well....I know, it's a deep subject.ReplyDelete
OK, an easy math problem for everyone:
What 2 different numbers when spelled out anagram to 2 other numbers when spelled out AND the 2 numbers added together equal the sum of the other 2 numbers?
Rephrased: A + B = C + D and A & B spelled out anagram to C & D spelled out, What are these four different numbers A B C & D?
This reminds me of a NPR Sunday Puzzle of several years ago (but different from yours).Delete
That may be an "easy math problem," but it is also very elegant. Thanks for posting it.
I assume answers such as six and seventeen, which anagram to seven and sixteen, are not supposed to be allowed. There are an infinite number of such answers. They seem to satisfy the wording of the problem, however.Delete
In response to the Tuesday Aug. 19 comments above by Word Woman (10:33 AM) and RoRo (2:10 PM) I have just posted on Puzzleria! possibly the weirdest "A guy walks into a bar…" story ever.
2 arrows in the 16 ring and 4 arrows in the 17 ring.
17 * 4 + 16 * 2 = 100
Just Google "Sam Loyd 16 17 23 24 39 40" to find a link to the answer.
Since 16+23=39 and 16+24=40, the 39 and 40 in the puzzle were actually not needed (although including them maybe would make the puzzle harder).ReplyDelete
I Googled, and came up with this cornucopia.
I note that Gardner's approach fits in with my initial solution, and that, in his illustration, the '40 ring' is NOT a 'ring' ... or is it??
2(16s) + 4 (17s) = 6 shots at the target.
16 + 16 + 17 + 17 +17 +17 = 100. This requires a total of 6 shots at the target.
Or: 2 x 16 = 32 and 4 x 17 = 68. 32 + 68 = 100.
Or: 16 + 17 + 17 = 50, now double that.
Answer to MY MATH CHALLENGE:
ELEVEN + TWO = TWELVE + ONE. Both sides of this equation are anagrams of each other! They are not just the switching of two numbers as in six seven & -teen.
Beautiful, ron. I am going to use that with the kids tomorrow as our brain warm-up before we do the "Nuclear Physics and M & M's" experiment.Delete
The sign-off in my response, "LegoUnlucky," was an allusion to "unlucky thirteen," with 13 being the sum of 11 + 2 or 12 + 1.
Beautiful sign-off Lego.Delete
I posted on Sun Aug 17, at 11:24:00 AM PDT:
I posted on Sun Aug 17, at 06:03:00 AM PDT on last week's thread:
In my submission to the NPR website, I started off with a simple proof that there is only ONE way it can be done!!
Before I quote my submission to the NPR website, a word about a term I use: I trust most readers here know what I mean by "congruence modulo 8". For the benefit of those who don't, two different numbers are said to be congruent modulo <some third number n> if the difference between those first two numbers is an exact multiple of that n. I suppose I could've expressed my first sentence more generally by saying "Notice that all of the six values are either exact multiples of 8 or else they differ from an exact multiple of 8 by just 1!
My answer: To show that there is only ONE answer, consider the six values congruence modulo 8: (0, 1, -1, 0, -1, and 0). Since the desired total is congruent to 4 (or -4) mod 8, we must count either 4 of the 1s, or 4 of the -1s. The LOWEST of the -1s is 23, but 4 of those make 92, so you would need an 8, but the lowest number we have to work with is 16.
So the ONLY solution then is 4 of the 17s, which now needs 32 which we can make with 2 of the 16s.
P.S.: In another post at the end of last week's thread, PlannedChaos posted on Sun Aug 17, at 07:55:00 AM PDT:
Also having a unique solution: Scoring exactly 93 points.
So did he figure out my proof? It's possible he did, as my logic can also prove his statement.
Since 93 is congruent to 5 (or -3) mod 8, totaling that requires either 5 of the 1s or 3 of the -1s. Well, 5 of the 17s make 85 requiring 8 points to make 93. 3 of the smallest of the -1s (23), make 69 requiring 24 which we can just do. Of course, if we try for a second solution by replacing one of the 23s with a 39, then we've added 16 which reduces the required 24 extra to just 8 again.
EaWAf, I remember congruent Modelo from field camp days at the local bar after a long hot day in the Arizona summer sun. . .
BTW, I am going to post a Weird Al link over at PEOTS next. It starts out with dirt and then wanders. . .
So what's the answer to "What is the next letter in this series: U, D, B, V . . .?"Delete
The answer is in my question "OK, what is the next letter in this series: U, D, B, V . . . ?"Delete
Though I'm quite sure everyone knows the answer it's 16, 16, 17, 17, 17, 17. First, I looked the puzzle on the Internet. Then, just to keep my hand in I wrote a little program in Qbasic to calculate every possible permutation of the six given target values. There's one and only one answer.
Also, last Sunday I posted a word puzzle. Take the name of part of a country. Add the name of a flowing body of water. You get the name, phonetically, of a famous mid-50s Top Ten song that has become an American standard. Julie London's 1955 recording of Cry Me a River charted in at #9 in the nation in December of that year. It stayed there for 13 weeks.
Crimea + river = Cry Me a River
While walking Sunday morning I passed an English pub. Being reminded of my darting days I thought of one of my favorite three dart outs for 100. Two double seventeens and one double sixteen. Ton out, mugs away, mate.ReplyDelete
my clues: re= outer limits, The 16 & 17 numbersReplyDelete
This morning, I posted on Puzzleria! a more challenging (I believe) "target puzzle," for those of you who may be still willing to concentrate on the concentric.
Okay, if you are going to shake me out of bed, you could at least have the NPR puzzle up.ReplyDelete
No injury or damage, I hope.ReplyDelete
Next week's challenge: This challenge comes from Jason Zuffranieri, who competed for the U.S. at the World Puzzle Championship in London a week ago. Name a world leader of the 1960s — two words. Change the last letter of the second word. Then switch the order of the words — that is, putting the second word in front. The result will name a hit song of the 1990s. Who is the leader, and what is the song?ReplyDelete
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Yeah, but the first name of that world leader, and hence the last word in the song title, - is that really a word?Delete
There's an odd connection between our world leader and Mr. Auric Goldfinger.Delete
Actually, the first name really isn't.Delete
Seems Mr. Shortz deliberately used "word" instead of "name".Delete
For NPR puzzle posts, don't post the answer or any hints that could lead to the answer before the deadline (usually Thursday at 3pm ET). If you know the answer, submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.
You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't assist with solving. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the deadline. Thank you.


text:
Over the course of the next year, we'll be detailing the history of 52 companies that sold branded fishing tackle. 52 trade houses in 52 weeks -- some obscure, some famous, and all available exclusively here on the Fishing for History Blog! If you have any items from the week's entry you'd like to share with us, please send it my way and I'll make sure it makes it on the blog.
For a discussion of what exactly trade tackle is, Click Here. Enjoy the 52 for 52!
Growing up in Duluth, it is nearly impossible to escape the influence of Marshall-Wells Hardware. The company, founded in 1893, was one of the largest and most influential wholesale hardware firms of the twentieth century, serving nearly half the country and all of Canada through its five massive terminals in Portland, Winnipeg, Spokane, Edmonton, and Vancouver. The waterfront headquarters of Marshall Wells on Park Point in Duluth is still one of the largest buildings in the city.
Almost always overlooked and in the shadow of its big brother was Duluth's other large wholesale hardware merchant: Kelley-How-Thomson. They competed alongside Marshall-Wells for over half a century. The Kelley-How-Thomson Hardware Company was founded in the l890s as a tool and hardware jobber for the northern lumber and logging industries, and by the 1900s was shipping a large line of products marked Hickory, its most famous trade name, out of its South 5th Avenue warehouse in the waterfront wholesaling district of downtown Duluth.
K-H-T also had branches in a number of nearby small towns, including Proctor and Cotton. One of K-H-T's traveling salesmen in the 1920s was John Cotter, namesake of the Cotter & Co. that would later purchase Hibbard, Spencer, & Bartlett. He would later write favorably of his time spent working for K-H-T.
The K-H-T branded tackle is usually found with the word Hickory spelled over a diamond. Marked Hickory reels, lures and hook folders have been found, and date to the pre-WWII era. It is most often found on fluted spinners, but all marked Hickory tackle is rare. K-H-T also utilized the Sportland trade name on both rods and terminal tackle.
Here are four different Kelley-How-Thomson line spools. They are presented from oldest to newest.
This is the uncommon Hickory marked K-H-T fluted spinner.
Kelley-How-Thomson was purchased by Marshall-Wells in November, 1955, after which it was to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary under its own name. It met the same fate as its parent company when Marshall-Wells' wholesale hardware business was liquidated in 1958.
There is an interesting footnote to Kelley-How-Thomson history. In order to boost its exposure, the team sponsored a professional football team in the 1920s known as the Duluth Kelleys (after founder Martin Kelley). They became part of a fledgling organization known as the National Football League, playing such legendary teams as the Green Bay Packers and the Canton Bulldogs. With their hall-of-fame halfback Ernie Nevers, for a short time they lit up the football world, but were gone by the end of the decade. The Duluth Kelleys were immortalized recently in a movie starring George Clooney called Leatherheads, based on a history of the team called Leatherheads of the North. Its actually worth checking out sometime.
-- Dr. Todd