text:
|The White House
President George W. Bush
|Print this document
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 6, 2003
Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
MR. FLEISCHER: Good afternoon and happy New Year to everybody. The President began his day with an intelligence briefing, followed by an FBI briefing. Then he had a series of policy briefings. And this afternoon, the President will look forward to a Cabinet meeting where the President will discuss with members of his Cabinet his agenda for the year. The President is going to focus on economic growth, making America a more compassionate country, and providing for the security of our nation abroad and on the homefront.
And with that, I'm more than happy to take your questions. Helen.
Q At the earlier briefing, Ari, you said that the President deplored the taking of innocent lives. Does that apply to all innocent lives in the world? And I have a follow-up.
MR. FLEISCHER: I refer specifically to a horrible terrorist attack on Tel Aviv that killed scores and wounded hundreds. And the President, as he said in his statement yesterday, deplores in the strongest terms the taking of those lives and the wounding of those people, innocents in Israel.
Q My follow-up is, why does he want to drop bombs on innocent Iraqis?
MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, the question is how to protect Americans, and our allies and friends --
Q They're not attacking you.
MR. FLEISCHER: -- from a country --
Q Have they laid the glove on you or on the United States, the Iraqis, in 11 years?
MR. FLEISCHER: I guess you have forgotten about the Americans who were killed in the first Gulf War as a result of Saddam Hussein's aggression then.
Q Is this revenge, 11 years of revenge?
MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, I think you know very well that the President's position is that he wants to avert war, and that the President has asked the United Nations to go into Iraq to help with the purpose of averting war.
Q Would the President attack innocent Iraqi lives?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President wants to make certain that he can defend our country, defend our interests, defend the region, and make certain that American lives are not lost.
Q And he thinks they are a threat to us?
MR. FLEISCHER: There is no question that the President thinks that Iraq is a threat to the United States.
Q The Iraqi people?
MR. FLEISCHER: The Iraqi people are represented by their government. If there was regime change, the Iraqi --
Q So they will be vulnerable?
MR. FLEISCHER: Actually, the President has made it very clear that he has not dispute with the people of Iraq. That's why the American policy remains a policy of regime change. There is no question the people of Iraq --
Q That's a decision for them to make, isn't it? It's their country.
MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, if you think that the people of Iraq are in a position to dictate who their dictator is, I don't think that has been what history has shown.
Q I think many countries don't have -- people don't have the decision -- including us.
Q Without going into details, Senator McCain says that he thinks that the President's economic plan should have some benefit for the middle class. From what we've seen of it, there doesn't appear to be much for the middle class, mainly geared toward higher-income Americans. Can you give us any idea -- if you don't want to go into details, give us an idea of what the percentage of the stimulus package will go to middle class Americans?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President very much looks forward to traveling to Chicago tomorrow to announce an economic growth plan for all Americans. The President's plan will encourage consumer spending, it will promote investment throughout our country and in the business community and small business, and it will also help the unemployed.
Specifically, under the President's proposal to provide tax relief, 92 million taxpayers will receive, on average, a tax cut of $1,083 in 2003; 46 million married couples would receive average tax cuts of $1,716; 34 million families with children would benefit from an average tax cut of $1,473; and 13 million elderly taxpayers would receive an average tax cut of $1,384. The final statistic I'm happy to give you is a typical family of four with two earners making $39,000 in income will receive a total of $1,100 in tax relief under the plan.
So the President's plan is a plan that helps all Americans. It helps middle income Americans, it helps the economy get going and growing again, and it's a plan the President looks forward to discussing.
Q Are those figures from the plan that was passed last year or the one --
MR. FLEISCHER: No, this is from the plan the President will announce tomorrow.
Q These figures are for the one announced tomorrow.
MR. FLEISCHER: Correct.
Q What's the percentage of the amount of money, $600 billion or whatever it is that's going to go to pay for tax cuts, what's the percentage of that will go to middle class Americans?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'll try to have additional numbers tomorrow, Ron, but as you can see from the numbers, it's focused at the majority of American income taxpayers who are middle class.
Q Just to follow up, on the $600 billion, we're looking at, according to the CBO numbers, I think, an expected deficit of $250 billion in fiscal year 2003. I understand the logic -- your logic that these tax cuts will lead to growth and that will do away with the budget deficits. But don't you have to couple that with spending cuts? And how is the administration going to do that, given the expense of homeland security and a possible war with Iraq?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President's approach is that what creates surpluses in our country and in our government's coffers is growth, that without growth, there are deficits. In times of growth, we have surpluses. And that's what history has shown. And so the current deficit is caused as a result of the recession. We know the slowdown began in the summer of 2000, and then we went into recession as an economy in 2001. And we are now beginning to emerge from the recession.
The President wants to make certain that -- the people who suffer from the biggest deficits in our society are the people who don't have a job -- and he wants to put a plan in place to help give a boost to the economy, to give a boost to business investment, to give a boost to American taxpayers so that more jobs are created so that people can go about earning income and feeding their families.
That's where the President's focus is, and that's why this plan is addressed to giving a short-term boost to the economy, helping the unemployed, as well as putting the fundamentals in place for longer-term sustainable growth. And that, in the President's judgment, will help to return to an era of surpluses.
Q Are you factoring in when you're doing these numbers, the cost of a possible war with Iraq?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm talking about the tax cut itself. That's what you're question was addressed to.
Q Right. And ultimately, you hope to not be in a deficit situation down the road, presumably, right?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, clearly, anything dealing with Iraq is such a hypothetical, I'm not in a position to address what a potential cost could or could not be. But regardless of any decisions that are made on Iraq, the economy needs a boost. And that's why the President is going to go to Chicago tomorrow, separate and apart from anything dealing with Iraq, to announce a plan to give the economy a boost.
Q You also call for cuts in spending, though, in addition to this.
MR. FLEISCHER: The President is going to continue to ask Congress to hold the line on spending. The President has announced a series of priorities which involve increases in spending for education, increases in spending for homeland security, to fight bioterrorism, to provide more money for first responders. All of those are the priorities that the President has announced that he'll continue to work with the Congress on.
And the Congress, as you know, is taking up the appropriation bill that was undone from the last Congress, in the next two weeks. They've already agreed on an aggregate cap of $750 bill for all domestic discretionary spending for the 11 remaining appropriation bills. So the President is encouraged by the fact that they have already agreed to a cap that the administration supports for the upcoming appropriation cycle for 2003.
Q British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said earlier today that the way he sees it, war with Iraq is less likely now than it was. Does the White House agree with that assessment?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President, as he said over the holidays, remains very hopeful that peace can be pursued as a result of some of the decisions Saddam Hussein has yet to make. And this is about disarmament. And that's why the inspectors are there. They're going about their jobs and they're doing their work, and the President continues to hope that war can be averted.
Q So the buildup that we're witnessing now, particularly the departure of the hospital ship Comfort today, is that posturing or is that serious?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think the President has been very serious. And hopefully, Saddam Hussein will get the message that the world community, through the United Nations, has called on Saddam Hussein to disarm, and as the President said, he will either disarm or the United States will lead a coalition to disarm him. That's a serious message. It's not a bluff. And perhaps as a result of it being such a serious message, Saddam Hussein will indeed get that message and disarm peacefully.
Q Back on the stimulus package, how does any of the benefits that you outlined in the tax cuts, especially for the average American family making $39,000 a year, does any of that come from cutting taxes on dividends?
MR. FLEISCHER: The dividend tax -- first of all, I'm not going to comment on anything specific to what the President may or may not propose tomorrow. This is the President's announcement to make the substantive points about it. I can share with you some of the statistics and aggregate information about it.
Speaking generically on the question of a dividend cut, half of all American households nowadays, in our modern economy, own stock through either pensions, 401K plans, or other accounts. That means roughly 70 million Americans, a surge in Americans, own stock. More than 35 million Americans have dividend income. Of those 35 million Americans, more than 10 million are senior citizens.
And so the President believes very much that people need to have incentives for growth. He believes very much that we should help people to plan for a secure future. Obviously, senior citizens rely greatly on their income because they're no longer working; they rely greatly on their income that comes from things like their investments. And fortunately, for an increasing number of Americans, which does increase continually year after year, a larger and larger number do have income and resources coming from investments.
Q Isn't a lot of that already tax-free, though, through 401ks and that kind of thing?
MR. FLEISCHER: The dividend income remains double-taxed.
Q Not if you have your -- if you're investing through a 401k, though.
MR. FLEISCHER: The amount that you would have in there is diminished as a result of it already being taxed once as profits of the corporation are taxed. That's the source of the double-taxation on dividend income.
Q But you aren't cutting that.
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm sorry? You'll have to show up at the speech tomorrow to find out what the President is cutting.
Q So you dispute the notion that cutting taxes on dividends of these 35 million Americans with dividend income, that most of them are well-to-do or better off or well above the average, and what you're really doing is helping --
MR. FLEISCHER: When you look at the statistics, more than half the money from dividend taxation goes to seniors.
Q Rich seniors.
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, if you believe that all 10 million seniors I just referenced are rich, then you believe that almost everybody in America is rich. The President would like to see a nation in which more and more people have opportunities to become successful. And that's one of the reasons he feels so strongly that it is wrong to tax people's future, that it is wrong to tax people's savings.
Q Okay, one -- just one quickly on Iraq. You said this morning, the work of the inspectors needs to continue.
MR. FLEISCHER: Correct.
Q For how long?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President has not put a period of time on there. The President wants to continue to work with the international community to make certain that the inspectors can do their job. And that requires the compliance of Iraq with the United Nations Security Council resolutions. Saddam Hussein's statements where he accused the weapons inspectors of being -- of carrying out pure intelligence work is an attempt to divert attention from the fact that Iraq still has not shown signs that it will disarm itself of weapons of mass destruction.
Q You mentioned before that 35 million Americans receive dividend income. The proposal, as we understand it, is going to allocate something like $300 billion over 10 years, eliminating taxation of dividends. Why couldn't $300 billion be put to better use across a much wider array of Americans, rather than just those 35 million who receive dividend income? Never mind that only a small portion of them get a large amount.
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President looks forward to having many announcements that he'll be making. Not only what you're surmising the President will describe tomorrow on the dividend side of the ledger, but all income taxpayers pay income taxes. And the President looks forward to addressing a series of ideas tomorrow that will help lower taxes for all Americans, give a boost to the economy, give a boost to growth. But keep in mind what I said -- the President does not think it is right to tax savings and to penalize people who save, and the President does not think it is right to penalize people who plan for their future.
Q Ari, do you consider this to be a stimulus plan? Or is that not a word you'd use? And how much of the cost of this will we see in the current year?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President views this plan as doing two things: giving a short-term boost to the economy. The economy has grown, but it's not grown as much as the President would like. And for anybody who is unemployed, every little bit of growth in the economy means fewer people will be unemployed. And so in very human terms, every little bit of growth helps put somebody back at a job and puts food on a table for a family that is suffering or going without, having to make do by stretching budgets.
The President also wants to provide a more fundamental basis for long-term growth so the economy's fundamentals remain solid and we can have even more sustained growth at a higher rate for even longer periods of time. So the President views this as a way to accomplish both.
Q Can you say what percent is up front, the first year?
MR. FLEISCHER: All that will be available tomorrow when the announcement is made.
Q The IAEA passed a resolution demanding that North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons programs and giving North Korea one more chance. Do you think that that's a strong enough stand at this time?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President views the actions of the IAEA in Vienna today as the appropriate course of action. When you take a look at what they did and what they said today, they deplored in the strongest terms Korea's unilateral acts preventing international verification of their nonproliferation obligations. They called on Korea to cooperate urgently with the IAEA, allowing them to reestablish monitoring, and to verify all its nuclear material. The President views this as the appropriate course of action.
Q But why is that? I mean, in light of the fact that North Korea has broken its agreements before, I mean, why not bring it before the U.N. Security Council at this time?
MR. FLEISCHER: Because what's happening here is you see the world coming together. And the nations that were involved in this decision today are very broad. It's not only China, Russia, South Korea, Japan and the United States that are troubled by North Korea's unilateralist actions. The nations that made up the board that voted in Vienna today include Australia, Malaysia, Iran, Cuba. It takes a lot of work to get condemned by Iran and Cuba, and North Korea has done it.
Q A quick follow-up on the tax cut issue. The figures that you gave for the average tax cut size, is that just from the proposed dividend tax, or are there other tax cuts mixed up with that?
MR. FLEISCHER: That's from the entirety of the President's proposal tomorrow.
Q So that's not just from --
MR. FLEISCHER: From every piece of the proposal the President will make tomorrow.
Q It includes additional income tax cuts?
MR. FLEISCHER: Comprehensive.
Q What percentage of the total stimulus is tax related, and what percentage is other sorts of things, such as aid to the states and extending unemployment benefits?
MR. FLEISCHER: The overwhelming amount is in the form of providing tax relief to give a boost to the economy and to individuals.
Q If I could ask you on North Korea, there is a lot of talk, as you know, of some sort of agreement by which we would -- led by the South Koreans to try to get the U.S. back at the table with the North Koreans. If, in fact, North Korea takes some step to back away from its nuclear ambitions, is the U.S. prepared to sit down and have talks? And secondly, is the U.S. prepared to offer any sort of assurance about non-aggression and that sort of thing?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President has repeatedly stated as plainly as can be that the United States has no plans to invade or to attack North Korea. So that's an often-made statement that should be seen for what it is. And the President believes North Korea knows that and they understand that. But we will continue to work with our allies on a common approach to the problem that North Korea has created through its unilateralist actions.
Q Is there something the North Koreans can do that would prompt the U.S. to sit down and talk, which seems to be a key for them?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, keep in mind, the United States has long supported South Korea's engagement with North Korea. When you take a look at what's happened, nations like Japan were engaging -- were beginning engagement with North Korea. And as a result of North Korea's actions, Japan examined what it was doing and has decided to proceed at a different pace. So various nations continue to have various levels of discussion with North Korea.
I want to point out that even while there were many conversations -- in North Korea, North Korea was still breaking its word. So I don't think the issue is whether or not North Korea is being talked to or not talked to. The issue is North Korea breaking its word. They have broken the word of the people they talked to, and they've broken their word with the people they don't talk to. The one constant is that North Korea breaks its word.
So from the American point of view, we very strongly support the efforts to discuss with North Korea, through our friends in South Korea and Japan; we always have. But the United States has made it clear that North Korea knows what it needs to do, and it needs to come back into international compliance, as the IAEA has urged them to do today in the strongest of terms.
Q Is dialogue possible if they take some step backward on their nuclear program?
MR. FLEISCHER: They know what they need to do, and they need to come into international compliance.
Q Ari, a couple of questions on the numbers you've been using today. When you -- first, when you were running down the list of average tax relief, you started with 92 million, $1083, right?
MR. FLEISCHER: Correct.
Q Now, is that the overall number? And the ones that follow it, do they include a lot of duplication? For example, the married people in there --
MR. FLEISCHER: Clearly, there will be duplication in there. Anytime you talk about married couples or families with children, obviously there's duplication. And this is how the tax system works. These are the aggregate numbers that are available through tax researchers.
Q The one clean number is the 92 million?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I'm not sure what you mean by clean. They're all accurate numbers.
Q Well, not duplicate.
MR. FLEISCHER: They're all, I think, helpful ways of understanding the different phases that people are in their life and how they qualify for tax relief. We have a very complicated tax code. Whereas, you know under current law if you have children, you get a $600 child credit. So therefore, you want to take a look at families with children. But there are many people who pay income taxes who don't have children. So they're also a category that you want to take a look at.
But the overall number is that 92 million taxpayers would receive on average a tax cut of $1,083 in 2003, based on everything that the President will propose tomorrow.
Q And then on this -- the question of the dividend income, the 35 million and the 10 million of those being seniors, there has been some work by people who are not supportive of this plan -- demographic work -- and they conclude that, in fact, these are -- the vast, vast majority of these people are wealthy people. Do you dispute that?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think when you recognize that more than $10 million senior citizens receive dividend income --
Q Yes, but they say that, like, only 6 percent of them are people -- are seniors in any kind of middle to lower income brackets. And in fact, there are -- like, over 90 percent of them are seniors who are living in our highest tax brackets, the wealthiest.
MR. FLEISCHER: Again, I think that you'll be able -- tomorrow when the President makes his proposals -- to see any data, and we'll be happy to compare the data. But there's no question that we have created a tax system in America where the lion's share of people who pay income taxes -- let me put it this way -- many individual Americans no longer pay income taxes. And so it's hard to give income tax relief to people who do not pay income taxes.
What happens in America today, under our complicated tax system, is that there are many millions of Americans who pay no income taxes, but pay Social Security taxes and pay Medicare taxes. In return, they receive Social Security and they receive Medicare. And that's why there's been some discussion about the payroll tax. Both those programs, of course, are dedicated and receive their fund from that dedicated tax. And any effort to cut those taxes would mean that the shortfall in those funds would only grow worse.
Q But so you don't dispute the fact that the vast majority of these people in the dividend area, in fact, may be wealthy people?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I do dispute that. I think very often the critics of tax relief describe everybody in America as rich, in an effort to stop tax relief. And I think that's been an old tactic by people who wanted to raise taxes on the American people in the first place.
Q So who do you describe as rich?
Q Ari, the President is going to propose additional tax cuts, in part in order to stimulate what he's described as a sluggish economy. While he's doing that, a number of states are contemplating tax increases to offset huge budget deficits. If they're forced to go that route, that would, to some degree, reverse the stimulative effects of the federal tax cuts. Is the President planning to do anything to help the states avoid that course of action?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, again, it's not the President's business to tell states how to conduct their affairs. The President obviously believes that policies that reduce taxes create more growth, and that's the policy he's pursuing on the federal level. There are also a number of states that do not have shortfalls. And different states make different decisions on spending. As I indicated earlier, spending is a big contributor to budget deficits.
I'm not going to predict every course of action the President may or may not take. But clearly, states would benefit tremendously from a federal economy that is growing. The recession hurt everybody. It hurt the federal government, it hurt state governments. That's the problem with recessions, they hurt one and all. That's why the President believes the answer is in growth. Growth, of course, is good for the state governments.
Q But there's been talk of specific aid to states to help them close some of the budget deficits that --
MR. FLEISCHER: As you know, I have not described any of the substance the President may or may not announce tomorrow. I would just suggest to you, some of the things I've been reading in the newspapers are incorrect about things the President may or may not propose.
Q Like what? (Laughter.)
MR. FLEISCHER: If I told you, you wouldn't travel to Chicago and give Chicago an economic stimulus by spending all that lunch money there.
Q Ari, many people have come to the conclusion that the stock market is still pretty much a bubble economy. We've seen how the bubble has burst over the last few years. Many people feel that that -- we have not seen the end of it. At the same time, you have, as was indicated, many of the states which are facing deficits looking to the federal government for aid, the only type of aid, of course, which would come from some form of tax revenues. How do you counter the criticism that you are helping through this tax relief to feed the stock market bubble at the cost of the funds which otherwise would be available for the necessary needs of the people suffering in the states and in the country as a whole by cutting the tax revenues?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, again, the President begins this with the belief that the economy needs a boost. And if you take a look at the statements made by many private-sector economists, they agree. The economy is recovering from its recession. It is, indeed, growing. But the President, because he wants to make sure that people looking for work have more opportunity to find work, wants to put these proposals in place so the economy grows even faster. And his conclusion is the best way to do that is through the growth policies that low taxes create.
Now, I'm very well aware that there are many people who think taxing the American people once is not enough, and they want to tax the American people twice. And the President believes that we need to reduce taxes on working Americans, on the American people. And that's what he's going to focus on tomorrow.
Q If I can follow on that. Traditionally, the successful program for coming out of a recession or a depression are those taken by Franklin Roosevelt during the 1930s, through a process of infrastructural developments, TVA, these kind of programs; or in the 1960s where we came out of the Korean War recession of '58, '59, Kennedy launched the space program which put the economy -- was also an infrastructural investment program. Has the President considered these type of things for bringing the physical economy back into motion and thereby helping business through infrastructural --
MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, I would just urge to be at the speech tomorrow and you'll see every detail the President is going to describe.
Q Ari, in a few minutes, Senator Clinton is going to hold a news conference in which she's, once again, going to accuse the President of foot-dragging on extending unemployment insurance benefits. Any concern or regrets that the White House didn't do more to try and get some kind of UI extension --
MR. FLEISCHER: The President is concerned and he regrets very much that this was not able to get done last year. But finger-pointing is not going to get anybody's unemployment extension carried out into law. What's necessary is people to work well together. The reason it didn't happen was because it was too big a divide last year between the Senate approach and the House approach. And the President would very much like to work with people to bridge the divide and not point fingers at any one part of the divide.
Q Can I -- I'm sorry, an unrelated follow-up. The GOP has announced that New York City will be the site of the 2004 convention. Is this a signal that the President believes the state of New York is winnable for him?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, one, the committee worked very hard to make its decision about the holding of the convention. They did a tremendous amount of research and there were a number of leading cities that were considered. The President is very pleased and looks forward to go to going to New York. I think that others more expert in politics can tell you whether New York is winnable or not for the President, but the President would very much like to, if he decides to run for reelection, carry his campaign throughout the country. And obviously, the President has a great many new supporters in New York. And the President looks forward to continuing to talk about the policies that he thinks are good not only for New York, but for the entire nation. But New York, as well.
And my brother's apartment will be available to anybody who needs it. (Laughter.)
Q Did he have to explain to his brother why New York over Florida?
MR. FLEISCHER: As you know, the decision was made by the Republican National Committee. It's not a decision that the President makes, and the President supported the decision they made. He looks forward to it.
Q Isn't it the assumption with the stimulus that in order for it to have any short-term stimulative effect that people will actually have to go out and spend this money? Isn't it a real possibility that a lot of these people who are getting back $1,000, which is less than they owe on their credit cards, that they will actually have to -- that they will actually go out and spend that money, and not use it to just pay off debt?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think what you just heard, with all due respect, is exactly why some American people look at Washington and say Washington doesn't get it. A thousand dollars is a tremendous amount of money to most Americans. It's not just an amount of money on people's credit card -- that it's smaller than what's on their credit card. That's real money. That's a lot of real money to a lot of Americans. And the American people feel that it's their money and that they're over-taxed. And I think that anybody who hears that they may get $1,000 of their money back is very appreciative for it.
In terms of the mechanisms by which it can be delivered, I indicated to you that the figure would receive on average a tax cut in 2003, so the variety of means available to the federal government to make certain that money gets into people's hands so it can have a stimulative effect as quickly as possible.
Q So you're not concerned that they're just going to use it to pay off debt? You're confident people -- when they get this money are going to go out on a spending spree?
MR. FLEISCHER: As I said, the President believes that the plan he's going to announce tomorrow is good for the economy and good for the country because it will do three things: One, it will encourage consumer spending; two, it will promote investment; and three, it will help the unemployed.
Q Ari, many people are wondering why we keep 37,000 U.S. troops in South Korea where they've been for 50 years, and where South Koreans are reportedly demonstrating with placards reading "American troops out." And my question: Has the President given any consideration of transferring these troops elsewhere, rather than allowing the possibility of them being taken prisoner by a surprise attack by the 1 million-man North Korean army, possibly using nuclear weapons?
MR. FLEISCHER: Nothing like that has crossed my radar screen, that's been brought to my attention by anybody inside the White House. Obviously, there's a growing debate in print about this topic.
Q Reuters reports a senior administration official, who didn't' want to be identified, saying that "we intend to continue supplying food to North Korea, even though that government is spending its money on nuclear development rather than food. And my question: Does the President, or do you remember any incident in World War II that our planes dropped food on either Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan?
MR. FLEISCHER: Let me tell you what our position is vis-a-vis food and North Korea. The United States does not condition food aid on political or security issues. We intend food aid to be viewed and seen and received as a humanitarian gesture of the people of the United States around the world. We intend to be responsive to the world food program's appeal for North Korea, as we have in past years. We still have concerns regarding monitoring and access in North Korea that need to be addresses. It remains very important for North Korea to make certain that the people who need the food receive the food.
Q Did you recall any instance where we did this over Germany or Japan in the second world war?
MR. FLEISCHER: I wasn't alive then, Lester. So check --
Q But you have a good memory.
MR. FLEISCHER: How can you have a memory if you weren't alive back then?
Q In terms of unemployment, to follow up on Ken's question, is there any kind of outline of what kind of unemployment insurance the President will want -- a number of weeks, that kind of thing? And secondly, anything to specifically help out specific industries such as airlines, et cetera?
MR. FLEISCHER: Here's the President's approach on unemployment insurance. The President has called for unemployment insurance to be extended and to do so retroactively to December 28th, so that people who were cut off as a result of the impasse reached last year can get the help that they need. The President wants to make certain that it gets done.
And what has often happened in Washington is when people stake out positions, either one side or another, as happened last year, there's no room for compromise, no room for agreement, and therefore, people who need help don't get the help. The President sees his role in this as being the one who can bring the House and the Senate together to get it done. The problem is the House and the Senate have been feuding, and what they need is somebody who can step in quietly to help the unemployed to get it done.
And that's what the President is going to do. He's going to work very hard with the House and the Senate to help them to find a way to help the unemployed who got cut off and who deserve this help. The economy remains soft, and that's why the President thinks this is the right course to take.
Q But any position does he have in terms of weeks?
MR. FLEISCHER: It's just as I said. The President is going to work with both to bring them together to get an agreement.
Q If I could follow up to that, in a sense, the Democrats, who are unveiling another economic stimulus proposal today, do believe that extending unemployment benefits broadly for at least 26 more weeks is the best way to stimulate the economy immediately. Would the President agree with that? Is that the best way to immediately kick-start the economy?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think the fact of the matter is that unemployment insurance needs to be seen as the President sees it, which is a compassionate way to help people who have lost income, who rely on the income to feed their families and to make ends meet in our society. But by any equation, unemployment insurance itself is a very small dollar amount and would not be seen as in and of itself a stimulative part. It's a compassionate part and a necessary part of an economic recovery program, and that's how the President views it.
Q Ari, my recollection is, late last week the inspection team in Iraq indicated it hadn't come across anything to indicate a weapons program in Iraq yet. At what point does the United States provide the inspectors with the information they have so they can look in the places where these weapons are supposed to be?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the United States is providing them information and we continue to provide them information. We strongly support their efforts, it's in America's interests that they have the intelligence, the equipment and the personnel to do the job that the international community and the United Nations Security Council have asked them to do.
As the inspectors' capability to secure and use intelligence information has improved -- as, i.e., the size of their inspection team has grown, their experience has deepened, their capabilities such as additional helicopters has improved -- we'll be able to increase our level of support. And that's what you're seeing happen now.
Much also still depends on Iraq, Iraq's willingness to comply. Inspectors, even with the best of intelligence, met with a country like Iraq that won't comply, still can confound the inspectors' ability to do their job.
And one other piece, just on this issue is we continue to provide increased intelligence information to the inspectors. The inspectors are doing their very, very best. And the President is appreciative of those efforts. But bear in mind the environment in which they find themselves working. It is the Iraqis who prevent them from -- who have put in place the hurdles that mean that they -- as you knew in the past, bugging their rooms, monitoring their conversations. And so there is also the issue of what information Iraq is trying to get as a result of anything that could be conveyed. It's not as if it's just a matter between the United States and the inspectors. Iraq's failure to comply plays a role in this as well; otherwise information would end up in Iraq's hands.
Q Can you prove that?
MR. FLEISCHER: Terry, I think you reported it yourselves throughout the '90s about the fact that the inspectors rooms were bugged and they don't have secure phones everywhere. That's why I said --
Q It's based on historical record.
MR. FLEISCHER: Sure. And based on Iraqi patterns.
Q And we have definite proof?
MR. FLEISCHER: And just as -- hold on a moment, Helen -- as I said, just as they're getting additional equipment, more resources, more information is and will be provided. After all, why wouldn't we provide it? We want them to have as much as they can to do their job.
Q If I could follow just a second. They have to have their report in by the end of this month. And the administration is confident that they've provided them with enough information that they can have a full report on what the activities are in --
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, their ability to have a full report or not is going to be directly dependent on what Iraq does, not what the United States does. It's Iraq's compliance, it's Iraq's cooperation that determines whether the inspectors have the means to do their jobs.
Q What means of comparison do you have though? If they've come back and say they haven't found anything, what are you compare it to, because there's no other --
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, let's wait and see what happens when they come back.
Q Concerning the alternative stimulus package the Democrats are offering today, has the White House been briefed at all on that and any response to it?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, the White House has not received, to the best that I've been told, any advance information on what the Democratic Party or its leaders or its individuals will be offering this afternoon. We look forward to hearing about it, we look forward to seeing it. We hope that we will be able to work with Democrats in the Congress to provide a stimulus to the economy.
Obviously, when the President's tax plan was passed in 2001, a large number of Democrats joined with the President in supporting it. In fact, you can already see there are many Democrats -- I should say there are some Democrats -- who have already come out saying that they believe that some of the proposals that were enacted in 2001 should be accelerated this year. So we'll see. There may be some divisions among Democratic ranks. There may not be everybody in the Democrat Party who supports the President's tax approach. Nevertheless, the President will be on the hunt to look for Democrats who will work with him to give the economy a boost.
Q Thank you. Some questions on the war effort. Is there any evidence that Iran played any role in support for the homicide bombings in Israel? And is the U.S. getting support from elements in Iran for efforts against Saddam Hussein?
MR. FLEISCHER: Nothing has been brought to my attention vis-a-vis the most recent attack in Israel concerning Iran, and I leave it at that.
Q What about any help for the war effort?
MR. FLEISCHER: Nothing beyond anything that's been previously reported to you.
Q One more. Do you expect the use of bases in Turkey and Saudi Arabia if the U.N. does not approve military action against Saddam Hussein?
MR. FLEISCHER: Anything dealing with operations or bases, as you know, you need to check with DOD.
Q Thank you, and happy New Year.
MR. FLEISCHER: Happy New Year to you.
Q Thank you. The President said that as Commander-in-Chief, he will get a smallpox vaccination. Has he gotten it yet? And did he have any adverse reaction? Is he -- if he hasn't gotten it, when will he?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President did receive it. He received it on the Saturday right before Christmas. I don't recall what was the exact date -- just prior for his departure for Camp David. And, no, the President has not had any adverse reactions. At least not to the smallpox vaccine. (Laughter.)
Q What?
MR. FLEISCHER: Lester, he occasionally has adverse reactions to other things, Lester.
Q Ari, I wanted to say something else. I wanted to say today is a very important day for Hispanics and especially for Hispanic children. It's the day, like Santa Clause and the Three Kings Day and it's the Santa Claus for all the Hispanic children all over. And so I thought I wanted to say happy Three Kings Day.
MR. FLEISCHER: Thank you.
Q Ari, again, happy New Year. Only one question today. Indian Ambassador to the U.S. -- the New Year he had a very high praise for President Bush as fighting against terrorism. But he said there is more room that we can do, India and the United States can work together. And now also at the same time this week, I might be attending a short conference in Delhi where Indian Americans are gathering for security and terrorism conference, first ever called by the government of India, recognizing the Indian Americans in the U.S., their contributions to both countries. My question is how President Bush will address this conference if he's there, as far as Indian Americans are concerned, and any message on --
MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, I don't have anything on my schedule indicating that the President is attending that.
Q And any message from him, let's say for this conference, as far as Indian Americans are concerned, together they're fighting against terrorism and supporting America and for the relations between the U.S. and India?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President's message to Indian Americans and to all Americans is that we are one nation. We are united in the war against terror. He appreciates the efforts of everybody in our broad community to help our country to combat and to win the war on terror. And he appreciates everybody who is serving in our Armed Forces and everybody who is doing their part in our police and everywhere else to keep America safe.
Q Ari, just so I understand, are you saying that the President will not have a specific proposal tomorrow on unemployment insurance?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I'm not telling what specific proposals he will or will not have. That will be the President's business to announce what's specific or not. I did say that the President's proposal tomorrow will focus on three things. And the third thing, if you recall I said, was there will be help for the unemployed. So I'm not telling you what he's going to announce, but I'm telling you that he will have something to say about helping the unemployed. I came very, very close. (Laughter.)
Q And also the numbers that you gave earlier on benefits, those are -- you may have said, those are for next year, the various groups that would benefit from the tax cuts --
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, 2003 has arrived, so that's for this year.
Q It's for this year, 2003.
Q Can you just clear up one other point on those numbers? Is that money that taxpayers would have had coming to them in 2004, but moved up a year?
MR. FLEISCHER: It's a combination of factors. It's based on the totality of the President's plan.
Q But how much of it was money that they would have --
MR. FLEISCHER: It includes some new proposals and it includes other proposals that have already found substantial bipartisan support in the Congress. And that could deal with calendar dates of those proposals.
Q Do you know what percentage was already included in the tax cut that is being moved forward?
MR. FLEISCHER: No.
Q Ari, as a result of the President's plan, do you have an estimate on how much you think the economy will grow by and how much the stock market will rise?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think it's impossible to predict any type of stock market performance based on announcements out of Washington. And I think private-sector forecasters may have information on growth. But as I indicated earlier, whatever the percentage growth is, if you're unemployed in America, every little bit helps to help people to find their jobs.
Q Just one more question, do you have any plans yet for briefing tomorrow? And would it be here, in Chicago, or en route?
MR. FLEISCHER: Probably a little bit of both. En route to Chicago and then also we'll have some people stay back at the filing center to answer questions following the speech.
Q Ari, other than Elliott Abrams, how many convicted criminals are on the White House staff?
MR. FLEISCHER: (Laughter.) You tell me, Russell. You seem to keep count.
Q Can you give me a list of convicted criminals on the White House staff, other than Elliott Abrams?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'll go right to the convicted criminals division and ask them to turn -- (Laughter.)
Q No, seriously -- why isn't being convicted of a criminal a disqualifier for being on the White House staff?
MR. FLEISCHER: Russell, this is an issue that you like to repeat every briefing. I refer you to the --
Q But you don't answer --
MR. FLEISCHER: -- repeat I gave you the third time you asked it, which matched the second, which corresponded to the first.
Q A question on Venezuela, Ari. Is the White House following the events of the last couple of weeks, especially the situation of the oil company where this strike has affected the market -- the international market of oil? And what do you think of the help that the new President of Brazil has given to President Chavez?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President's message remains one of wanting to work for a peaceful resolution of the dispute in Venezuela that focuses on democracy and on listening to the people of Venezuela. The OAS efforts remain underway, and we continue to strongly support the OAS and their efforts.
Q NBC News reported this morning that Saudi businessman Yassin Qadi, whom the Bush administration has designated a global terrorist, was actually a supporter of the President's and went to a Republican fundraiser and asked how he could contribute something like a half million dollars to the President's campaign. That fundraiser turned him down because it was illegal. But did -- does his support or past political support for the President cause you to question your decision to designate him as a global terrorist?
MR. FLEISCHER: This is the first I've heard of it, so I'll have to take a look at it.
THE PRESS: Thanks.
MR. FLEISCHER: Thank you.


text:
Fraternity Pledge Gets Fucked In The Ass By His Fraternity Brothers
We know that our readers all love the Fraternity X amateur videos and they just released another really hot one tonight. The fraternity has a new pledge in the house who is behind on his rent payment. The brothers decide to teach him a lesson. If he can't pay rent, he has to give up his ass. The college guys spit on his face and then pull his pants down and spit on his raw ass. They take turns spanking his raw ass which makes their cocks hard. They take turns barebacking this poor straight boys ass, all because he couldn't pay his rent on time. They fuck him like a dirty used whore in both his ass and mouth. This poor pledge takes cum in his mouth and deep inside his virgin boy cunt. Fucking dumb ass! I bet he pays his rent on time next month. Fucking hot video!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Story highlights
NEW: A Taliban spokesman says the group claims responsibility for the attacks
NEW: He says eight elders were killed; a government official says five people died
The attack occurred at a meeting where tribal elders listen to constituents, an official says
A pair of suicide bombers targeted a meeting of tribal elders in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least five people, a provincial official said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the dual attacks and released a higher death toll. Eight tribal elders were killed, said Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Islamist militants.
The attack occurred at a weekly meeting where tribal elders listen to concerns from constituents, said Kandahar province spokesman Javid Faisal.
He said 15 people were injured in the attack, which occurred in the province's Spin Boldak district.
Read more: Police: Suicide bombings target U.S.-Afghan base, kill 5


text:
Nixon visits Marcos
Total Members Voted: 6
Voting closed: June 23, 2012, 08:35:20 am
Haiku is more or less BeOS continued. After Be Inc. ceized existing (bought by Palm) BeOS became Zeta/Yellowtab. In immediate reaction upon that a few people began developing OpenBeOS, which became Haiku, a (fully?) BeOS compatible OS.Where AROS aims to be a next-gen AmigaOS (with some classic AmigaOS compatibility as a nice extra), Haiku aims to be BeOS continued (subtle difference, but hey :-))I don't think AROS and Haiku will be direct competitors, since they aim at different usergroups. However, like AROS, Haiku is well worth while the look.I have used the original BeOS on my PowerMac some 10 years ago and I really liked the Amiga feel it gave me. I guess Haiku does pretty much the same.Heh, I just thought about making a multiple-OS machine out of my PC. Lose Windows (or just a small partition) and add AROS, Ubuntu, Haiku and maybe one or 2 more OSes. How's that for diversity? :-D


text:
Having a child with autism can put stress on the parents' marriage, and a frequently cited statistic leads to a common perception that the divorce rate among these families is as high as 80 percent. But a study to be released at a news conference May 19 by researchers from Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore found that a child's autism has no effect on the family structure.
Brian Freedman, PhD, lead author of the study and clinical director of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at Kennedy Krieger Institute, said the findings seem to debunk a lot of the general understanding about high divorce rates among parents of children with autism. Dr. Freedman and his research team found that 64 percent of children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) belong to a family with two married biological or adoptive parents, compared with 65 percent of children who do not have an ASD.
Dr. Freedman will present results of the study in Philadelphia at the International Meeting for Autism Research, an annual scientific meeting convened to exchange new scientific progress among autism researchers from around the world.
Receiving the news of a child's autism diagnosis can be devastating, and Dr. Freedman said the pain is compounded as parents ponder what will happen to them as a couple. "In the work I've done with children with autism, I've come across many couples who quote this 80 percent divorce rate to me. They don't know what the future holds for their child, and feel a sense of hopelessness about the future of their marriage as well -- almost like getting a diagnosis of autism and a diagnosis of divorce at the same time," he said.
With very little empirical and no epidemiological research addressing the issue of separation and divorce among parents of children with autism, researchers sought to more scientifically examine the incidence. Using data from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health*, they examined a nationally representative sample of 77,911 children, ages 3 to 17.
Previous research speaks to the fact that parenting a child with autism is stressful, and it puts pressure on the marriage. Dr. Freedman noted that past studies have found couples with a child with autism experience more stress in their marriage than couples with typically developing children or couples with children with other types of developmental disabilities, such as Down syndrome. Mothers of children with autism report more depression than those with typically developing children, while fathers report they deal with the stress by distancing themselves and becoming less involved with the family.
"While there are indeed stressors in parenting a child with autism, it doesn't necessarily result in the family breaking up more often than would occur in another family," said Dr. Freedman. "And as someone who works with a team of health care professionals to treat and provide support for families of children with autism, it's important for us to make sure our patients' parents know that, and for our fellow clinicians to provide reliable, evidence-based information about the divorce rate among this population as well."
This analysis of the National Survey of Children's Health data showed there are certain factors in a family that can contribute to divorce, such as having a child with particularly challenging behaviors, with or without autism. For some families, the challenges of parenting a child with special needs may indeed result in straining the marriage to the breaking point. Further research is needed to understand the relationships among in-tact families with children with autism to identify how they work through the challenges.
"I would hope this research drives home the importance of providing support to these families, and letting them know that their relationships can survive these stressors," he said. "We should continue to provide training for parents so that they can work through the stressors in their relationship to keep their family together and have a successful marriage."
The date for Dr. Freedman's presentation is May 21, 2010 during the Epidemiology 2 Session in the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown.
In addition to Freedman, the research team includes Luther Kalb, of Kennedy Krieger Institute; and Ben Zablotsky and Dr. Elizabeth Stuart, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
* The survey, sponsored by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration, examines the physical and emotional health of children ages 0-17 years of age.
About Autism
About Autism
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is the nation's fastest growing developmental disorder, with current incidence rates estimated at 1 in 110 children. This year more children will be diagnosed with autism than AIDS, diabetes and cancer combined, yet profound gaps remain in our understanding of both the causes and cures of the disorder. Continued research and education about developmental disruptions in individuals with ASD is crucial, as early detection and intervention can lead to improved outcomes in individuals with ASD.
Story Source:
Materials provided by Kennedy Krieger Institute. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Cite This Page:


text:
UML2 Project Update
This work is developed by Kenn Hussey from Committerati and sponsored by CEA LIST.
The Eclipse UML2 (Unified Modeling Language 2.x) project is an EMF-based implementation of the UML 2.x metamodel for the Eclipse platform. This implementation is currently compliant with the 2.2 version of the UML specification, for which newer versions, namely 2.3 and 2.4 (and soon, 2.4.1), have been released by the Object Management Group (OMG) over the past couple of years. The source code for the UML2 project is currently stored in a CVS repository and its installable artifacts (update sites and downloads) are currently produced using an unsupported pre-Athena build system running on a machine that is at risk of being decommissioned in the near future. CEA, among others, is looking to update the metamodel implementation provided by the UML2 project so that it is compliant with the UML 2.4(.1) specification. As detailed in Eclipse Bugzilla (see bugs 290024 and 327039), the UML2 project has been looking for help (investment or otherwise) from the community to conduct this update for some time. With renewed interest in keeping the project up to date with changes made by the OMG, it's time the UML2 project be given the appropriate and necessary attention needed so that it can once again support construction of state of the art UML-based tooling at Eclipse (and beyond). This project proposes the enhancement of the UML2 metamodel implementation so that it is compliant with the 2.4(.1) and, implicitly, 2.3 version of the UML specification. This project also proposes the transition of the UML2 source code to git and the migration of its build system to Buckminster, running on the Hudson installation at Eclipse.
The project is scheduled to be finished on October 31th, 2011 and will be delivered as part of the UML2 project.


text:
Our Human Services academic certificate program will prepare you to work in the behavioral health and human service fields. You will learn how to demonstrate a basic set of helping skills (warmth, empathy, reflective listening) needed for entry-level employment in human service agencies, work as a culturally sensitive ethical practitioner, demonstrate a stronger sense of self resulting from personal growth experiences, and use critical thinking and writing skills needed for working with clients. You will also do one practicum, which may be completed at your place of employment. Along with the core helping skills, you will be introduced to job-specific helping courses in fields of practice such as addictions, disabilities, gerontology or youth work.
Human Services Academic Certificate
Career Options
Courses and Completion Sequence
Semester 1
|Course Number and Name
|Prerequisites and Corequisites
|Course Type
|BHHS 101 - Introduction to Behavioral Health & Human Services
|3 credits
|BHHS 101 is a prerequisite for BHHS 111
|BHHS 111 - Introduction to Helping Skills
|3 credits
|BHHS 111 with a grade of "C" or better is a prerequisite for BHHS 194 and BHHS 195.
|BHHS 105 - Introduction to Group Dynamics
|3 credits
|ENGL 101 - English Composition or
ENGL 101H - English Composition I (Honors)
|3 credits
|ENGL 101 with a grade of "C" or better is a prerequisite for ENGL 102
|BHHS 110 - Principles and Practices of Positive Youth Development: Community, Family, and Youth Engagement or
BHHS 121 - Foundations of Addiction Studies or
BHHS 171 - Introduction to Aging Studies or
BHHS 161 - Introduction to Disability Studies
|3 credits
|CIS 103 - Introduction to Information Technology*
|3 credits
|Students with computer experience may apply for credit by exam through the Computer Technologies Department.
Semester 2
|Course Number and Name
|Prerequisites and Corequisites
|Course Type
|BHHS 194 - Case Management Practice
|3 credits
|Prerequisite: BHHS 111 with a grade of "C" or better
|BHHS 195 - Practicum in Behavioral Health/Human Services I
|3 credits
|Prerequisite: BHHS 111 with a grade of "C" or better
|ENGL 102 - The Research Paper or
ENGL 102H - The Research Paper (Honors)
|3 credits
|Prerequisite:ENGL 101 with a grade of "C" or better
|BHHS 151 - Family Violence, Abuse and Trauma or
BHHS 241 - Crisis Intervention
|3 credits
|FNMT 118 - Intermediate Algebra (or higher)
|3 credits
General Education Requirements:
All general education requirements necessary for graduation are met through the courses in the program as indicated above. Students who wish to take courses that differ from the general education courses indicated above must complete a course substitution request form. To access the form, login to the MyCCP portal, and in the Student tab, under Electronic Forms, click on the Records and Registration Forms link, then choose Request For Course Substitution Of Graduation Requirement link. A more detailed explanation of the College's general education requirements is also available.
Featured Career
Child, Family, and School Social Workers
Provide social services and assistance to improve the social and psychological functioning of children and their families and to maximize the family well-being and the academic functioning of children. May assist parents, arrange adoptions.
in the region
in the region
Typical Tasks
- Counsel individuals, groups, families, or communities regarding issues including mental health, poverty, unemployment, substance abuse, physical abuse, rehabilitation, social adjustment, child care, or medical care.
- Interview clients individually, in families, or in groups, assessing their situations, capabilities, and problems to determine what services are required to meet their needs.
- Serve as liaisons between students, homes, schools, family services, child guidance clinics, courts, protective services, doctors, and other contacts to help children who face problems, such as disabilities, abuse, or poverty.
- Maintain case history records and prepare reports.
- Counsel parents with child rearing problems, interviewing the child and family to determine whether further action is required.
How well does it pay?
New workers generally start around $32,160. Normal pay for Child, Family, and School Social Workers is $47,474 per year, while highly experienced workers can earn as much as $74,770.
Program Information
Human Services Academic Certificate
Degree Type:Academic Certificate
Credits Needed to Graduate:


text:
Perhaps to counter the recent addition of 24 and Ally McBeal, Amazon's Prime Instant Video just snatched up a ton of smarty pants video from PBS. The terrific news series Frontline, classic Kens Burns docs, NOVA, and more.
Meet Microsoft's New Surface Laptops
Amazon's touting over 1,000 episodes of new PBS stuff ready to stream, which is great news—both Prime and Netflix needed a highbrow injection, and providing topnotch stuff like this will go a long way to balance out the catalog. Now pardon me while I binge on Jane Austen TV adaptations. [Amazon Prime Instant Video]


text:
(The Root) —
"I have both maternal and paternal DNA test done by African Ancestry.com. The two tribes indicated in the results point to my maternal roots being Fulani and my paternal roots Ibo, both from Nigeria. Can you suggest which records/archives I can continue my search?
"My mother had a middle name she did not like and never used, but I found it on some early records: Malthida. To my surprise, when I did a Google search on Fulani, an image of a female was displayed showing the some physical features of these people and under the picture was her name: Malthida. I am trying to do a genealogy search, as well, to see if I am related to this Malthida.
"I don't have much information about my ancestors, but my maternal grandfather, Walter Champ Carter, was born in 1884, according to what is written in a family Bible, in Washington, D.C. (he died in 1941). My maternal grandmother, Lily Miller, was from Lynchburg, Va. My paternal grandparents may have been from Northern Virginia." —Linda E. Newman
Your search is a common one for African Americans, many whose paper trail back to their ancestral origins hits a wall once they reach the slavery era, due to the way that records were kept (or not kept) on the enslaved. It sounds like you don't have a lot of clues that reach back before 1884, which will hinder your search for documentation of your African roots (a search, I must stress, that is all but impossible for most African Americans, beyond having a DNA test). I encourage you to work first on pinning down any birth dates and places of residence you can for your other grandparents, your great-grandparents, and even their parents, first. My previous columns, "How Do I Trace My Former-Slave Ancestor?" and "How Do I Decode Slave Records?" could be helpful in that search.
Specifically, you'll want to trace your African-American ancestry back to 1870, if at all possible, when all the former slaves appeared in the federal census for the first time with two names. Then try to find the white people who owned your ancestors in the 1860 Slave Schedule in the same county in which their black ancestors appeared in that 1870 census. Search for white people with the same last name, then see if they owned slaves 10 years younger than their ancestors appear on the 1870 census. Sometimes this technique yields a positive identification.
If — and this is a very big "if"! — you can find the area in which your slave ancestors arrived, you can search the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database for the names of ships that came to that area of the United States. This will not yield any names of your ancestors, but it can help to reaffirm the DNA results, since each voyage of each slave ship that arrived legally is documented in that database.
All that being said, the results you received for DNA testing are not surprising. In the case of the Ibo (also known as Igbo), we know through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database that about 16 percent of our ancestors who arrived in the U.S. were shipped from the Bight of Biafra, which is Igboland. So a significant number of African Americans, such as Bishop T.D. Jakes, who was a guest in our PBS series, African American Lives, descended from the Igbo, as he guessed when I asked him before revealing the results to him on camera.
Both the Ibo and Fulani ethnic groups both have vibrant histories and beliefs, the understanding of which might help shed more light on your heritage and how your ancestors came to these shores.
Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.
The Fulani
Traditionally, the Fulani (or Fulbe, Fula people, Peul or Hausa-Fulani) were nomadic herders across West Africa from the Senegal River Valley. Their adventure begins in the Tagant section of Mauritania, more or less in the Sahara desert-Sahel border, according to the historians Linda Heywood and John Thornton. Originating there explains why so many Fulbe are lighter-skinned, with straighter hair than most Africans in the same region. In the areas further south, they stand out, often having been described as "mulattoes" by visitors from Europe, say the historians. These features also led Colonial-era researchers to think of them as a mixed-race group, giving the Fulbe "a high place" in Europeans' estimation.
Fulbe communities were divided into two groups: an elite who were strongly Muslim, many of whom were scholars of the Torodbe group; and the non-Muslim commoners, who specialized in raising cattle and fighting.
In the 1460s the rulers of Mali invited the Fulbe to settle within their lands, describe Heywood and Thornton. As they specialized in raising cattle, the Fulbe often cared for the cattle of neighboring people in exchange for payment. The leader, Temala (1464-1512), led these Fulbe on military adventures as the Empire of Mali declined, and the Fulbe made attacks south as far as Sierra Leone and deep into Senegal, as well as into the central bend of the Niger. Temala was killed in action against the famed military leader Askia Muhammad of Songhay, as Songhay tried to retake former Malian territory beyond Timbuktu. Temala's son, Coli (1512-1537), continued the military campaigns, out of which emerged the Empire of the Great Fulo, which dominated the Senegal valley at the end of the 16th century and controlled much of the west end of West Africa.
Fulbe communities were established during this time in Futa Jallon, Futa Tooro and Bundu, as well as "fulakundas," or self-contained and self-governing villages scattered all along the Gambia River. It was tensions between the Fulbe communities and their ruling groups that led to the jihads of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, in which Fulbe consolidated their rule, according to Heywood and Thornton.
In the 16th century they began expansion to the west, reaching Hausaland around 1650, where they began adopting Hausa customs and language and were known as Hausa-Fulani. They remained there for a long time, before beginning their own jihad movement under Usuman dan Fodio at the end of the 18th century that would result in the foundation of the empire of the Sokoto Caliphate. The Hausa-Fulani held a dominant position in Northern Nigeria until British colonization around the turn of the 20th century.
Today the Fulbe are dispersed from the Senegambian region, across the Sahel and Northern Savanna of West Africa to Cameroon, with significant concentrations in Nigeria. They also live in Senegal, Cameroon, Mali, Niger and Guinea. Their language is Fulfude. According Heywood and Thornton, it's unlikely that your Fulbe ancestry comes from Nigeria, because the Fulbe from Northern Nigeria didn't really enter the slave trade until the jihad of Usuman dan Fodio, which began in 1804. That trade had a major role in Cuba and Brazil (especially Brazil) in the early 19th century, but by then the slave trade to Virginia "was history," they explained in an email.
It's much more likely that your ancestors came from Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry or Sierra Leone — what is often called Upper Guinea in the old literature, say the historians. The Fulbe were concentrated in those regions, in areas called Futa Tooro, Bundu, Futa Jallon, in particular, but also scattered in between.
Beginning in the 1720s they became involved in a series of wars and/or jihads that increased the slave trade dramatically. After 1760, Sierra Leone, in particular, was affected by the major jihad in Futa Jallon. The Fulbe did not win all the wars waged during the period, and many ended up being sold as slaves across the Atlantic (while in the years in which they won, they sold many slaves).
As for finding out where your mother's middle name came from, know that the Fulani have a patriarchal society that greatly values family relationships and ancestry. On every level, names are very important, and the first event in any child's life is the infant-naming ceremony. The last name comes from the father's surname, but the child will have a first name chosen by the father and another chosen by the mother. These names most often come from current or ancient family members, so that middle name of Malthida could indeed go back much further than your mother may have thought!
Elders memorize the clan's history, lineages and wisdom and passed it on as oral history. If you can learn at least the names of the ancestor(s) who first left the area, you may still be able to hear more about your own family history directly by visiting with an elder Fulani. For more about these (and other) Fulani traditions, you may be interested in reading the articles at Jamtan Fulani. A blog dedicated to African ancestral genealogy, Roots Revealed, could also prove motivating to you.
The Igbo
The Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria actually have an oral tradition that they have always been in "Igboland." Archaeological evidence shows that similar pottery has been found in the area dating back as far as 4500 B.C., and the Igbo language seems to be directly linked to two of the earliest, Akkadian and Canaanite.
The Igbo are primarily agricultural and were not inclined to have overarching rulers (like chiefs) until British colonization in the mid-19th century. It is more likely to find the Igbo in village kinship groups in which children were often raised communally.
Similarly to the Fulbe, the Igbo have a patriarchal society, celebrate the naming of infants, and revere ancestors by reusing ancestral names. The leaders are the eldest from each lineage, and councils make the decisions. In naming children, some names come from the progenitor who was believed to have been reincarnated, and sometimes the names for first-born are derived from paternal grandparents.
They, too, practiced oral tradition, rather than having written records. Since colonization, the Igbo have predominantly become Christians (especially Roman Catholic) so it is possible that ancestors can be found in surviving church records from that era forward.
There have been quite a few books written about the Igbo history and culture which could deepen your understanding of your roots. Examples of these include: Elizabeth Isichei's A History of the Igbo People (London: Macmillan, 1976); Edmund Ilogu's Christianity and Ibo Culture (Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1974); and Catherine Acholonu's They Lived Before Adam: Prehistoric Origins of the Igbo, the Never-Been-Ruled (Owerri, Nigeria: Flyann Limited, 2009).
One way to learn about Nigerian family members is to post a query to a genealogical forum like this one at Genealogy.com. These can be viewed around the world, so not only might you get a reply from someone else doing similar research, but you may also receive a response from someone living in Nigeria who knows living members of the line or who has access to onsite resources.
The Virginians
As for linking these heritages to your own family tree: If we assume your ancestors did come from Northern Virginia, as you have told us, Heywood and Thornton say it's likely that your Fulbe female ancestor came to America in the 18th century, when Senegambians were being imported into the upper Potomac region (now Northern Virginia). The Igbos were concentrated in Norfolk and other regions deeper in Virginia. The historians suggests consulting the William and Mary Quarterly article by Lorena Walsh, "The Chesapeake Slave Trade," for more information. Walsh has a lot to say about the African origins of the Virginia population and where different ethnicities were concentrated.
Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and the director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research at Harvard University. He is also editor-in-chief of The Root. Follow him on Twitter.
Send your questions about tracing your own roots to email@example.com.
This answer was provided in consultation with researcher Kyle Hurst from New England Historic Genealogical Society. Founded in 1845, NEHGS is the country's leading nonprofit resource for family history research. Its website, AmericanAncestors.org, contains more than 300 million searchable records for research in New England, New York and beyond. With the leading experts in the field, NEHGS staff can provide assistance and guidance for questions in most research areas. They can also be hired to conduct research on your family. Learn more today.
Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.


text:
Friday, July 26, 2013
The Wolverine Week - The Evolution of Byrne's Wolverine
Posted by Jason Shayer at 12:00 AM
Labels: John Byrne, Marvel Comics, The Wolverine Week, Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine, X-Men
3 comments:
That original concept sketch for "maskless" Wolvie looks kinda like Orion from New Gods.ReplyDelete
For better or worse, the "Beast"-ly haircut that Logan eventually DID get is much better.
Odd... of all the recent illo's of Wolvie, Byrne's BEST are the ones where Logan is NOT in action, but is instead looking crafty/sneaky.
Still, 1970's-1980's Byrne as drawn in the pages of Uncanny X-Men is THE definitive Wolverine for me.
That original maskless Wolverine is pretty awesome.ReplyDelete
Looks like a villain though.
Thanks for posting!
- AnonymousFebruary 6, 2014 at 9:01 PM
Amazing collection of Byrne sketches!ReplyDelete
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Cities are havens for weirdness. From communities built around garbage to dogs that ride the subway, urban environments have fostered all manner of weird patterns. Here are the 10 freakiest urban ecosystems on the planet.
The other day, we showed you the Kowloon Walled City — a bizarre, super-dense development that arose as an accident of politics and urban ingenuity. You can't visit the Walled City because it was torn down in the 1990s — but here are 10 other urban ecosystems that still exist. They range from animal life adapting to cities, to developers gone mad, to cities clawing their way towards a new state of being. They include a few urban environments that no longer support people, but still remain intact.
Moscow's Metro Dogs:
Stray dogs in Moscow are nothing new — they've been around since the 19th century. But around 500 dogs have started living in the Metro (subway) stations, begging for scraps from passengers. The dogs have developed a keen instinct for which Muscovites are likely to feed them and which ones to avoid — an important survival trait since one Moscow woman stabbed a Metro dog a few years ago. And instead of the strongest or fiercest dog being the Alpha dog of the Metro dog packs, the smartest one generally is, according to experts who've studied them. Not only that, but some of the Metro dogs have learned to ride the subway on their own, apparently recognizing stations based on the conductor calling out their names, plus sense of smell — and this lets them add multiple stations to their territories. They even have their own website. For other examples of weird urban animals, check out the baboon gangs of Cape Town and the coyotes of Los Angeles. Photo by Maxim Marmur for Financial Times.
Many cities have weird subterranean structures — Paris and Rome have catacombs, Odessa has miles of weird tunnels that are full of human remains, smuggler gear, leftover war stuff and people's random attempts to grow magic mushrooms — but only Kansas City has succeeded in turning its subterranean infrastructure into tons of office space and businesses. Some 90 percent of the world's "subsurface office space" is in Kansas City, in tunnels carved out by limestone miners, including 55 businesses in SubTropolis. And many denizens of SubTropolis believe it's the wave of the future, because its environmental impact is much lower. It costs way less to heat and cool offices deep underground, and you don't need as much energy-intensive materials like steel and aluminum. The limestone keeps things cool and dry, so it's perfect for storage. And a whole SubTropolis culture has developed, in which people talk about getting a pillar instead of getting a corner office. Image by Kenny Johnson for The Atlantic.
Thames Town
This quaint English village, housing 10,000 people, is just 20 miles outside the center of Shanghai, and a new rail system puts it just 15 minutes from downtown, as part of a rapidly expanding Greater Shanghai. Thames Town was designed to look exactly like a bucolic English town, complete with red brick buildings, a sandstone church, a village green, a market square, and a pub. But it's not a theme park - developers insist it's a real residential community. As the Independent wrote:
Residents can sip their bitter in a traditional English pub, "The Thames Town", as children scamper across the medieval market square to a bilingual school, while red-brick warehouses form a commercial area on the waterfront. Developers are targeting British companies such as Tesco and Sainsbury to add to the authentic high-street feel so the town's...10,000 residents can shop in true British style. There are sporting facilities and everything a town of its size should have.
You can watch a Youtube video of the place here. Photo by Dave Wyatt.
If you saw the movie Slumdog Millionaire, then you've already seen this Mumbai slum, which occupies 0.67 square miles but houses between 600,000 and 1 million people, smack dab in the middle of greater Mumbai. The tightly packed neighborhood has a strong sense of community, and a booming economy, as the Guardian reports:
Dharavi may be one of the world's largest slums, but it is by far its most prosperous - a thriving business centre propelled by thousands of micro-entrepreneurs who have created an invaluable industry - turning around the discarded waste of Mumbai's 19 million citizens. A new estimate by economists of the output of the slum is as impressive as it seems improbable: £700m a year.
According to National Geographic, the slum's two main streets are called 90 Feet Road and 60 Feet Road, after their widths — even though 60 Feet Road is actually wider. Residents have jury-rigged access to things like water and plumbing, but there's only one toilet per 60 people and everybody uses the local creek. There's a plan underway to redevelop the area and build fancy new housing for some — but not all — of its residents. Photo by Jonas Bendikssen for National Geographic.
The Gowanus Canal:
This Brooklyn, NY canal is one of the foulest places on Earth, and it was recently named a federal Superfund site. As housewife Eda Figueroa told the New York Daily News, "Any fish that goes in there dies of poison or if it lives, it becomes a zombie." But the canal's extreme pollution, including cancer-causing agents, may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Two City College professors, the Haque sisters, have discovered evidence that the canal's micro-organisms may have adapted to survive in such a toxic environment. Explains Nasreen Haque, "Despite the canal's toxicity, which includes cancer-causing chemical agents, microorganisms are surviving by adapting to the harsh environment there that shouldn't survive at all. Working in synergy, they seem to sense if nutrients are available; they exchange genes and secrete substances — some of which operate like antibiotics. I believe these substances may provide clues that lead to the development of new drugs to combat human disease." The canal's evolved organisms could provide the keys to curing Alzheimer's, heart disease or AIDS. Photo by Damon Winter for the New York Times.
Centralia, PA
In 1962, sanitation workers in this town began setting fire to some garbage, near a disused mine opening. The fire spread to a rich underground seam of coal, igniting a blaze that has been going for decades and could continue for up to 250 years according to some experts. The fire expanded and mutated like an amoeba. At first it was nice — the town's residents no longer had to shovel snow off their sidewalks and tomatoes grew in the middle of winter. But then trees started dying and after a child nearly fell down a sinkhole full of carbon monoxide in 1981, the town was evacuated. Now, only a few stubborn residents remain despite efforts to evacuate them. (And rumor has it this town was the inspiration for the video game Silent Hill.) Other urban developments abandoned due to disasters include Chernobyl and the nearby town Prypiat. Top image by Ray Barnett, via Offroaders.
Manshiyat Naser/Garbage City
This area of Cairo, inhabited largely by a community of Coptic Christains known as the Zabbaleen, is completely packed with trash. But it's not necessarily due to a failure of public services or slumlike conditions. It's an ecosystem created by economics. Many of the Zabbaleen make a living sorting the city's trash. People live and work alongside the garbage, and every space not occupied by garbage is taken up with livestock or makeshift gardens. Some families had as many as 100 garbage-eating pigs living in their homes, until the Egyptian government launched a new pig-slaughtering policy. The government also recently privatized garbage collection, giving the contract to foreign companies — which turned right around and outsourced the job to the Zabbaleen, who are getting less money than before. Image at top of post by Helmacron on Flickr. Image above by Bas Princen.
Mitsubishi bought a reef and built it out into an artificial island, a kilometer long, so the company would have a base for undersea coal mining operations in the area. And for many years, it was the world's most densely populated place, with 85,500 people per square kilometer in 1959 — and 135,000 people per square kilometer in the densest areas. The name, Gunkanjima, is Japanese for "Battleship Island," because the artificial island resembles a battleship when seen from the ocean. The island was completely closed down in 1975, when the coal ran out, and now it's quite possibly the world's largest ghost town. It looks like a dark fortress, its shadowy walls looming like death. Image by Saiga Yuji, via BLDGBLOG.
Anyone who has seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade will recognize Petra. Built as the capital of the Nabataeans around the 6th century BC, it was a central stopping point for several trade routes that ran through the area. Built in a rift valley, the city was virtually impregnable and also had the advantage of a steady, well-maintained water supply, thanks to underground cisterns that captured every drop of rainwater. The advent of sea-based trade sent the city into rapid decline under Roman rule in the first couple of centuries AD. The city's remarkably well-preserved and restored, and a burgeoning urban area has sprung up on its outskirts to service the tourists who visit it. You can take a virtual tour here Image by Nabateaa.net.
The Snow Castle Of Kemi
Every year, the town of Kemi in Finland rebuilds its snow castle, including restaurants, an art gallery, a hotel and a chapel. It's believed to be the largest snow castle in the world, and its architecture changes every year. Typically, the castle has occupied between 13,000 and 20,000 square meters, with its tallest tower typically being 20 meters tall. Finnish power-metal band Sonata Arctica performed in the castle in 2007. Here are some polar bears made out of ice guarding a tunnel inside the castle:
This io9 flashback originally appeared in 2010.


text:
Investors hope to shake off a dismal jobs report Monday, while monitoring Europe's debt crisis and nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
U.S. stock futures were slightly higher, setting the stage for a modest rebound from Friday, when the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed out their worst weeks, following a dismal jobs report.
Monday also marks the unofficial start of first-quarter earnings season, with aluminum producer Alcoa (AA) on tap to report results after the closing bell.
In other corporate news, General Electric (GE) said it planned to buy energy company Lufkin Industries (LUFK) for $3.3 billion. Shares of Lufkin, which builds and maintains equipment for oil and gas wells, surged in premarket trading.
Anheuser-Busche InBev's (BUD) proposed $20 billion acquisition of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo appears to be back on track after the companies, along withConstellation Brands (STZ) and Crown Imports, said they'd reached an agreement that would settle the Justice Department's objections to the deal.
Related: Fear & Greed slides into neutral
In Europe, Portugal's top court invalidated a portion of the government's austerity package on Friday, leaving policymakers scrambling for additional revenue to comply with the terms of the country's international bailout.
Portuguese stocks fell but the main European markets were slightly higher in midday trading. London's FTSE 100 and the DAX in Frankfurt edged up about 0.3%, while the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.7%.
Tensions remain high in Korea as the region waits uneasily for Kim Jong Un's next move.
Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite closed down 0.6%, while the Hang Seng advanced 0.1%.
Meanwhile, the Nikkei continued to rally, adding another 2.8%, as investors cheered new stimulus measures from the Bank of Japan. The yen weakened against the U.S. dollar, falling to its lowest level since 2009.


text:
I've been in El Chalten about a week and a half now, and have had some time to soak up the new changes. El Chalten has been growing and changing very dramatically in just the five years since my first trip here, and each time I come there are a slew of new buildings and paradigm shifts in the climbing scene here. Last year I realized that there were just as many climbers here to boulder and sport climb as there were for alpine climbing, which is not particularly surprising since the bouldering is very good and much of South America is too hot for good rock climbing at this time of year.
The most significant material changes to town this year are that half of the roads are now paved, Campomento Madsen has been shut down allowing for almost no free camping, and prices continue to rise (A good measure of the cost of living here is my beloved snack food: empanadas. Three years ago they were one peso each, and now they are three pesos each – a 300% price increase in three years!) For better or worse, El Chalten will continue to evolve from a rural outpost to a bustling tourist destination.
While I can't help but slightly lament the changes to town, the changes in the climbing scene are exciting. Continuing the trend of the past few years, virtually no climbers are staying at Campo Bridwell, Campomento Rio Blanco or Piedra del Fraile – everyone lives in town now, and simply caches equipment up high for quick approaches when good weather arrives. The most exciting change I have noticed this year is the frequency with which the local Argentine climbers are attacking the big routes. In the past years that I have climbed here it seemed like a few Argentine climbers (Rolando Garibotti of course, Ramiro Calvo, and a few others) tackled big routes, but most remained on the smaller routes. This year the local Argentine climbers are equally confident in attempting big routes as the European and North American visitors.
Cerro Torre's West Face has seen a huge amount of traffic recently. The last pitch was painstakingly "carved out" as usual by the first ascent of the season (Ackerman-Aguilo-Cabezas-Villavicencio-Pietron-Garibotti), and subsequent ascents have benefited from the hard work. Rolando Garibotti, the most expert historian on Patagonian climbing, has compiled an excellent summary of the activity on Cerro Torre:
Via dei Ragni, Cerro Torre West Face.
Info compiled by Rolando Garibotti
Twenty one people have climbed the Ragni route on the West Face of Cerro Torre in the last two weeks, more than all previous ascents combined. In comparison, this season there has been only one ascent of the Compressor route. It appears that the climbing community has finally come to understand that an ascent of the Compressor route is not really an ascent of Cerro Torre. It is as if overnight everyone stopped climbing Everest with oxygen, fixed rope and sherpa support. This is a humongous step forward for the Patagonian climbing scene. While Maestri's bolts remain in place, the climbing community appears to have been able to finally give them a cold shoulder.
Ascents to the summit.
1- Daniele Chiappa, Mario Conti, Casimiro Ferrari, and Pino Negri (Italy), January 1974. This was the first ascent of the mountain.
2- John Bragg, Dave Carman and Jay Wilson (USA) January 1977. Second ascent of the peak. First Alpine Style.
3- Michael Bearzi and Eric Winkelmann (USA) February 1986. First free ascent.
4- Simon Elias and Josu Merino (Spain) February 1997 via the West Face Route.
5- Ramiro Calvo, Gabriel and Luciano Fiorenza, Max Odell, Walter Rossini (Arg) and Bruno Sourzac (France) December 2005. Bruno Sourzac made the first free and leash-less ascent.
6- Kelly Cordes and Colin Haley (USA) January 2007 approaching via Los Tiempos Perdidos (south face).
7- Jorge Ackermann, Tomas Aguilo, Charly Cabezas and Matias Villavicencio (Arg), and Rolando Garibotti (no country-or 3?), and Doerte Pietron (Germany). Doerte's is the first female ascent of the route, and the 6th female ascent of the peak (after Rossana Manfrini, Inez Bozic, Cathy Cosely, Monika kambic and Tanja Gromosek), and the first female ascent without using Maestri's Compressor route bolts. December 1, 2008.
8- Ole Lied and Trym Atle Saeland (Norway) approaching via the SE ridge by traversing above the south face. A snow mushroom along the SE ridge forced them to use some of Maestri's bolts before traversing west. December 2nd, 2008. This is the much talked about "Corkscrew" link-up, originally discussed by the English and Argentine expedition in 1968 (Fonrouge, Haston, etc). A "bolt-free" ascent of the "Corkscrew" link up remains to be done.
9- Mateo Bernasconi and Fabio Salini (Italy). December 2nd, 2008.
10- Julien Dusserre, Pierre Labbre, Baptiste Rostaing Puissant and Jerome Para (France). December 9, 2008.
11- Walter Hungerbuhler. First solo ascent of the route, first solo ascent of Cerro Torre without Maestri's bolts, 5th solo ascent of the peak. December 9, 2008.
12- Nico Benedetti, Flavio "Manzana" Renzacci, Fernando "Capi" Irrazabal and Jimmy Heredia (Arg). December 9, 2008.
13- Cullen Kirk (USA) and Bjorn-Eivind Artun (Norway). In 13 hours from Niponinos to the summit via the Standhardt col. December 9, 2008.
Ascents to the base of the final 40 foot summit mushroom.
1- Dan Cauthorn and Jon Krakauer (USA) 1992.
2- David Authemann, Patrick Pessi and Fred Valet (France) 1994.
3- Thomas Ulrich, Stefan Siegrist and David Fasel (CH) and Greg Crouch (USA). Winter 1999.
Several other teams have reached the base of the mushroom pitch preceding the summit mushroom. This 50 meter vertical wall of cotton candy has turned numerous parties back, including Bruno Sourzac in 1997 that, not unlike a passionate lover returned after being rejected and finished the job eight years later.
The list of non-Compressor route ascents of Cerro Torre has now grown to 14 ascents, including the 12 of the 13 mentioned above (minus the recent Corkscrew ascent which used a few bolts), plus Alessandro Beltrami, Ermanno Salvaterra and Rolando Garibotti's November 2005 ascent of El Arca de los Vientos; and Colin Haley and Rolando Garibotti's January 2008 Torre Traverse finishing also via El Arca.
As for me, I arrived in El Chalten having already missed several days of incredible weather. Fortunately, more was on its way, and a few days later Rolo and I made a repeat ascent of "The Care Bear Traverse," a ridge traverse of Guillamet, Mermoz, and Fitz Roy, established last season by Freddie Wilkinson and Dana Drummond. Two young Argentine climbers, Jorge Ackermann and Tomas Aguilo, also repeated The Care Bear Traverse immediately behind us during the same weather window. All four of us descended Fitz Roy via the Franco-Argentine.
Rolo leading on the first day of our traverse, on the Brenner Ridge of Guillamet:
Jorge and Tomas below the summit of Mermoz:
Rolo leading a traversing pitch on the ridge between Mermoz and Fitz Roy:
Rolo following a pitch on the North Pillar of Fitz Roy (which we climbed via a combination of the Casarotto, the Kearney-Knight, and "Mate-Porro"):
Luciana and Doerte bivying on the top of Fitz Roy's North Pillar, having made the first female ascent of "Mate-Porro" to this high point:
Trym and Ole also repeated "Mate-Porro" to the top of the North Pillar. Between Rolo and I, Jorge and Tomas, Trym and Ole, and Luciana and Doerte, there were 8 people bivied on top of Fitz Roy's North Pillar at the same time! Rolo pointed out that 8 people have bivied here together once before: when Alan Kearney and Bobby Knight topped out their variation on the North Pillar, and encountered 6 Polish climbers who had just reached the top of the pillar from their gigantic dihedral route. "Mate, Porro, y Todo lo Demas," established last year by Rolo and Bean Bowers, has been one of the most popular routes on Fitz Roy recently, but has still yet to see an integral ascent from the base of the route to Fitz Roy's summit (all ascents have stopped at the top of the North Pillar).
Bad weather has finally returned to El Chalten, and thus things are beginning to feel a bit more normal…