text:
Lindsey Graham on Energy & Oil
Republican Sr Senator; previously Representative (SC-3)
Proponent's argument to vote Yes:Sen. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R, SC): The climate change proposal that was in the President's budget would create a massive tax increase on anybody who uses energy, and that would be every American middle-class family, which already has a tough time getting by. This [amendment creates a procedure to block] any bill that would raise the cost of energy on our middle-class families who are struggling to get by. I ask the Senate to rally around this concept. We can deal with climate change without passing a $3,000-per-household energy tax on the families of America who are having a hard time paying their bills.
Opponent's argument to vote No:No senators spoke against the amendment.
Sec. 202 is amended by inserting at the end the following: "The Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget shall not revise the allocations in this resolution if the legislation is reported from any committee pursuant to sec. 310 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974."
Proponent's argument to vote Yes:Sen. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R, SC): This idea to most people of a debate about reconciliation probably is mind-numbing and not very interesting. But there is a process in the Congress where you can take legislation and basically put it on a fast track. It is subject to 50 votes.
The whole idea of the Senate kind of cooling things down has served the country well. In that regard, to end debate you need 60 votes. If 41 Senators are opposed to a piece of legislation, strongly enough to come to the floor every day and talk about it, that legislation doesn't go anywhere. If you took climate change and health care, two very controversial, big-ticket items, and put them on the reconciliation track, you would basically be doing a lot of damage to the role of the Senate in a constitutional democracy.
Senator Byrd, who is one of the smartest people to ever serve in the Senate about rules and parliamentary aspects of the Senate, said that to put climate change and health care reform in reconciliation is like "a freight train through Congress" and is "an outrage that must be resisted." Senator Conrad said: "I don't believe reconciliation was ever intended for this purpose."
I think both of them are right. Under the law, you cannot put Social Security into reconciliation because we know how controversial and difficult that is. I come here in support of the Johanns amendment that rejects that idea.
Opponent's argument to vote No:No senators spoke against the amendment.
Despite the positive elements of this legislation, the main sticking point is whether temporary extensions of tax relief should be offset with permanent tax increases elsewhere. The White House issued a statement recommending a Presidential veto of this bill in its current form. [Vote NAY to] allow the Senate to work its will and pass legislation that can be quickly signed by the President.
But what happens with the DeMint motion, he gives China and India a veto power over what we should be doing. Imagine saying we are not going to do anything about human rights until China acts. Why would we give up our chance to take the mantle of leadership and finally grab hold of this issue? I cannot look into the eyes of my grandchildren and tell them: Sorry, I am giving over my proxy to China & India, and I can't do anything about it.
Proponents support voting YES because:
This legislation seeks to end the unwarranted tax breaks & subsidies which have been lavished on Big Oil over the last several years, at a time of record prices at the gas pump and record oil industry profits. Big Oil is hitting the American taxpayer not once, not twice, but three times. They are hitting them at the pump, they are hitting them through the Tax Code, and they are hitting them with royalty holidays put into oil in 1995 and again in 2005.
It is time to vote for the integrity of America's resources, to vote for the end of corporate welfare, to vote for a new era in the management of our public energy resources.
Opponents support voting NO because:
I am wearing this red shirt today, because this shirt is the color of the bill that we are debating, communist red. It is a taking. It will go to court, and it should be decided in court.
This bill will increase the competitive edge of foreign oil imported to this country. If the problem is foreign oil, why increase taxes and make it harder to produce American oil and gas? That makes no sense. We should insert taxes on all foreign oil imported. That would raise your money for renewable resources. But what we are doing here today is taxing our domestic oil. We are raising dollars supposedly for renewable resources, yet we are still burning fossil fuels.
Status: Bill passed Bill passed, 65-27
Proponents recommend voting YES because:
Our NOPEC bill will authorize filing suit against nations that participate in a conspiracy to limit the supply, or fix the price, of oil. In addition, it will specify that the doctrines of sovereign immunity do not exempt nations that participate in oil cartels from basic antitrust law.
Opponents recommend voting NO because:
No one likes OPEC. But this amendment, in my opinion, would make bad law. The Framers of the Constitution wisely assigned responsibility for formulating foreign policy and conducting foreign relations to the President and to the Congress, not to the law courts.
The amendment before us has its roots in a lawsuit filed by the labor union nearly 30 years ago. The union at that time charged OPEC with price fixing in violation of our antitrust laws. The trial court dismissed the case on the ground that OPEC members are sovereign nations and are immune from suit. Adopting the amendment will undoubtedly be very popular, but it is also very unwise.
In addition, we here in the Senate ought to consider how enactment of this amendment might affect our relations with OPEC members. What will be the international repercussions when the US starts awarding judgments against foreign nations and attaching their assets in this country? Will other nations start to view our trade policies--such as our nuclear trade restrictions--as violations of their antitrust laws?
Proponents recommend voting YES because:
It just seems logical that we ask the Corps of Engineers to include in their analyses, judgments about the potential impact of global climate change. All this amendment seeks to do, as a matter of common sense, is to ask the Army Corps of Engineers to factor climate change into their future plans. Secondly, we are making a statement here to finally recognize the reality of what is happening with respect to climate change.
Opponents recommend voting NO because:
The same people today who are saying we are all going to die from global warming, just back in the middle 1970s were saying another ice age is coming and we are all going to die. Which way do you want it?
If a surge of anthropogenic gases--this CO2, methane, or whatever it is--were causing a warming period, then around 1945 we would have a warming period because in the middle 1940s we had the greatest increase in greenhouse gases. But what happened? It did not precipitate a warming period.
Peer reviewed evidence shows that the sun has actually been driving the temperature change. You don't have to be a scientist to know that the Sun can have something to do with climate change.
Implementing Kyoto would reduce the average annual household income nearly $2,700, at a time when the cost of all goods would rise sharply.
OnTheIssues.org interprets the 2005-2006 CAF scores as follows:
The Campaign for America's Future (CAF) is a center for ideas and action that works to build an enduring majority for progressive change. The Campaign advances a progressive economic agenda and a vision of the future that works for the many, not simply the few. The Campaign is leading the fight for America's priorities--against privatization of Social Security, for investment in energy independence, good jobs and a sustainable economy, for an ethical and accountable Congress and for high quality public education.
About the CAF report, "Energy Independence: Record vs. Rhetoric":
Energy independence has surfaced as a defining issue in the current elections. Are most candidates and both parties truly committed? To help distinguish the demonstrated level of support for homegrown, clean energy alternatives, we examined the voting records of current U.S. Representatives and Senators on bills vital to promoting those interests. Key pieces of legislation included goals for independence, and subsidies for the development of alternatives compared to subsidies for drilling and digging. We then compared votes on these issues with campaign contributions from major oil interests. The results show strong inverse correlations between political contributions from big oil and votes for energy independence.
A bill to address record high gas prices at the pump, and for other purposes. The Gas Price Reduction Act amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to prescribe procedures for petition, by the governor of a state with a new producing area within the offshore administrative boundaries beyond the state's submerged land, to make the new producing area available for oil and gas leasing.
Repeals the prohibition against funding: (1) regulations regarding a commercial leasing program for oil shale resources on public lands; or (2) an oil shale lease sale.
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to suspend excise taxes on gasoline and diesel fuels between May 26, 2008, and September 1, 2008. Provides for reimbursement from the Treasury to the Highway Trust Fund for any reduction in Trust Fund receipts resulting from such suspension.
|2010 Governor, House and Senate candidates on Energy & Oil:
|Lindsey Graham on other issues:
SC Gubernatorial:
Nikki Haley
SC Senatorial:
Jim DeMint
Dem. Freshmen
in 112th Congress:
AL-7:Terri Sewell
CA-33:Karen Bass
DE-0:John Carney
FL-17:Frederica Wilson
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa
LA-2:Cedric Richmond
MA-10:Bill Keating
MI-13:Hansen Clarke
RI-1:David Cicilline
GOP Freshmen
in 112th Congress:
AL-2:Martha Roby
AL-5:Mo Brooks
AZ-1:Paul Gosar
AZ-3:Ben Quayle
AZ-5:David Schweikert
AR-1:Rick Crawford
AR-2:Tim Griffin
AR-3:Steve Womack
CA-19:Jeff Denham
CO-3:Scott Tipton
CO-4:Cory Gardner
FL-12:Dennis Ross
FL-2:Steve Southerland
FL-21:Mario Diaz-Balart
FL-22:Allen West
FL-24:Sandy Adams
FL-25:David Rivera
FL-5:Rich Nugent
FL-8:Dan Webster
GA-2:Mike Keown
GA-7:Rob Woodall
GA-8:Austin Scott
ID-1:Raul Labrador
IL-8:Joe Walsh
IL-10:Bob Dold
IL-11:Adam Kinzinger
IL-14:Randy Hultgren
IL-17:Bobby Schilling
IL-8:Joe Walsh
IN-3:Marlin Stutzman
IN-4:Todd Rokita
IN-8:Larry Bucshon
IN-9:Todd Young
KS-1:Tim Huelskamp
KS-3:Kevin Yoder
KS-5:Mike Pompeo
LA-3:Jeff Landry
MD-1:Andy Harris
MI-1:Dan Benishek
MI-2:Bill Huizenga
MI-3:Justin Amash
MI-7:Tim Walberg
MN-8:Chip Cravaack
MO-4:Vicky Hartzler
MO-7:Billy Long
MS-1:Alan Nunnelee
MS-4:Steven Palazzo
GOP Freshmen
in 111th Congress:
NC-2:Renee Ellmers
ND-0:Rick Berg
NH-2:Charlie Bass
NH-1:Frank Guinta
NJ-3:Jon Runyan
NM-2:Steve Pearce
NV-3:Joe Heck
NY-13:Michael Grimm
NY-19:Nan Hayworth
NY-20:Chris Gibson
NY-24:Richard Hanna
NY-25:Ann Marie Buerkle
NY-29:Tom Reed
OH-1:Steve Chabot
OH-15:Steve Stivers
OH-16:Jim Renacci
OH-18:Bob Gibbs
OH-6:Bill Johnson
OK-5:James Lankford
PA-10:Tom Marino
PA-11:Lou Barletta
PA-3:Mike Kelly
PA-7:Patrick Meehan
PA-8:Mike Fitzpatrick
SC-1:Tim Scott
SC-3:Jeff Duncan
SC-4:Trey Gowdy
SC-5:Mick Mulvaney
SD-0:Kristi Noem
TN-3:Chuck Fleischmann
TN-4:Scott DesJarlais
TN-6:Diane Black
TN-8:Stephen Fincher
TX-17:Bill Flores
TX-23:Quico Canseco
TX-27:Blake Farenthold
VA-2:Scott Rigell
VA-5:Robert Hurt
VA-9:Morgan Griffith
WA-3:Jaime Herrera
WI-7:Sean Duffy
WI-8:Reid Ribble
WV-1:David McKinley
Civil Rights
Foreign Policy
Free Trade
Govt. Reform
Gun Control
Health Care
Homeland Security
Social Security
Tax Reform
Main Page
SC politicians
Contact info:
Email Contact Form:
Fax Number:
Mailing Address:
Senate Office SR-290, Washington, DC 20510
Phone number:
(202) 224-5972


text:
Briefings — From the December 2005 issue
SIGN IN to access Harper's Magazine
Need to create a login? Want to change your email address or password? Forgot your password?
1. Sign in to Customer Care using your account number or postal address.
2. Select Email/Password Information.
3. Enter your new information and click on Save My Changes.
Subscribers can find additional help here. Not a subscriber? Subscribe today!
Briefings — From the December 2005 issue
This article is available in PDF and Read Online formats only.
More from Matthew Power:
Commentary — April 11, 2012, 12:51 pm
Article — From the April 2012 issue
Article — From the December 2009 issue

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Ocean stewardship in the Pacific has come a long way. Ask a Pacific islander fifty years ago about managing fish and you would have been greeted with a look of bemusement. After all, fish back in the day were thought of as unlimited. Ask a pacific islander today about managing fish and the response will be the complete opposite.
What was thought of as impossible then is seen as probable now – the collapse of the region's precious fisheries resource. In the Pacific tuna is a precious commodity. Precious to us Pacific islanders for social reason and valuable to foreign fishermen for the high prices tuna attracts.
>> Take action!
The western and central pacific supplies close to 60 percent of the world's tuna. High levels of overfishing by foreign fishing fleets coupled with the widespread illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing in and around Pacific Island waters have taken its toll on tuna numbers. Pacific islanders are now managing the resource collaboratively in order to save a livelihood and an iconic species from collapse.
Enter the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) – a treaty-based organization established in 2004 after almost ten years of high level negotiations. The WCPFC has over the years tried its best to manage the problems associated with high seas fishing and tackling the bigger questions and issues intrinsic to fishing such as destructive and wasteful fishing practices excessive fleet capacity, lack of sound scientific information and a general need for cooperation between member countries.
However, the past few years have shown that the commission is falling behind. It is failing to effectively manage the tuna that Pacific island countries are so dependent upon. Measures to stop overfishing in the region, and the crisis facing tuna species such bigeye tuna did little to halt the crushing force that is distant water fishing in the region.
The problem is clear. The commission, in particular those members from the distant states that do most of the fishing in the Pacific, simply stall any conservation efforts proposed by Pacific island states in a bid to maintain high catch rates. In 2009, over 2 million tonnes of tuna were caught. This was the highest annual catch on record despite countries agreeing in 2008 to curb overfishing. The top five fishing nations (Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea and the USA) together took two-thirds of the entire catch (over 1.5 million tonnes).
These distant water fishing giants have had little to fear and have taken advantage of the weak positions of the small island nations both on the water and in the meeting halls – that was until Greenpeace showed up.
In 2004, Greenpeace launched its first of five ship expeditions in the region in support of the WCPFC and in particular, its small Pacific island members. These expeditions to expose destructive and illegal fishing resulted in the seizure of a number of illegal fishing vessels and a blacklisting of several others. More importantly, it rallied the Pacific Island countries to act in solidarity to defend their Pacific against the foreign fishing horde.
We have worked tirelessly with the island governments to put in place measures at the commission, such as the closures of the global commons to purse seine fishing and have been working- in a bid to turn the tide on overfishing- to ban destructive fishing practices such as the use of Fish Aggregating Devices, floating objects used to attract tuna into nets, which take huge swaths of ocean life along with them. We press on, despite continued opposition from industry and diplomats bent on derailing conservation efforts.
In just 7 days, the WCPFC will convene its 8th annual meeting in Guam. We will be there again supporting the small pacific island members to ensure that the commission is held accountable to the vision it had for tuna 20 years ago for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna and upholding the aspirations of the small island pacific countries to ensure that there will be fish for their children's futures.
Join us: sign the petitionDuncan Williams is an Oceans campaigner for Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
Photo: © Paul Hilton / Greenpeace
Amazon Wariess
Way to go Greenpeace! You are absolutely right. But only one week to fulfill the petition? oh god that's gonna be tricky.
20 March, 2012 at 2:34
Flag abuse
To post a comment you need to be signed in.
(Unregistered) Goop
Yeah, one week?! Cutting it really fine, ain't ya?
I've signed, but I don't think you're going to make it. You've got what, ...
Yeah, one week?! Cutting it really fine, ain't ya?
I've signed, but I don't think you're going to make it. You've got what, 12,120 so far? Ah well.
20 March, 2012 at 23:16
Flag abuse
Gear up to celebrate your favorite events and festivals in India, and huge collections of out of the box and unique gift items are awaiting you.. For ...
Gear up to celebrate your favorite events and festivals in India, and huge collections of out of the box and unique gift items are awaiting you.. For details, visit www.rightflorist.in
22 March, 2012 at 9:20
Flag abuse
1 - 3 of 3 results.
Are you sure to remove this comment?
Are you sure to report this comment as abuse?


text:
Saiga antelope are one of the most ancient mammals, having shared the Earth with saber-toothed tigers and woolly mammoths. At that time saiga inhabited a vast territory ranging from the British Isles to Alaska. Immense herds of saiga, numbering in the tens of thousands, once roamed the steppe landscape. This evolutionarily unique animal, the only species in the genus Saiga, has cultural and historical significance for the people of Central Asia as a symbol of the traditional nomadic lifestyle.
Saiga have survived for millenia in a land of harsh and extreme weather conditions. But organized gangs of poachers, equipped with automatic weapons and all-terrain vehicles, have called the saiga's continued survival into question. Once abundant in the steppe grasslands and semi-arid desert habitat of southern Russia and Central Asia, were declared critically endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species in 2002. Their numbers in the wild have dropped from over 1,000,000 in the early 1990s to fewer than 50,000 today. The species has been decimated as a result of poaching for export of horns used in traditional Asian medicine, and for meat.
Conserving the Saiga Antelope
In 2011 Wildlife Without Borders -Russia and East Asia awarded an $80,000 grant to the Saiga Conservation Alliance. This funding will support on-the-ground conservation action in Russia and Mongolia, enforcement efforts in China, and a dialogue between authorities in Mongolia and China to address illegal trade.


text:
Prince Of Persia Movie
Jake Gyllenhaal says accepting his role in whitewashed Prince of Persia movie was a mistake
During a press tour for Spider-Man: Far From Home, Jake Gyllenhaal admitted that his role in the whitewashed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was a mistake.
Prince Of Persia Movie headlines
New PoP: The Sands of Time trailer released
Disney and Bruckheimer put out a new trailer for The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time recently, and it's posted below the break courtesy of D'toid. It's a longer version of the one shown during the Super Bowl, and towards the end it starts to descend into a bit of a chick flick with […]
Ubisoft says PoP movie could "outperform" Pirates of the Caribbean
During the BMO Capital Markets conference in New York today, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot stated that the firm has "very high hopes" for the Prince of Persia movie, and that it could "maybe be stronger than Pirates of the Caribbean. "[The film] will show what a video game property can do in the industry", said […]
Prince of Persia movie trailer makes us want to see the Prince of Persia movie
Yeah, you're probably thinking: "Isn't that the whole point of a movie trailer?" Really though, how many trailers have coaxed you into actual excitement about a videogame-based movie? Yeah. This Prince of Persia teaser is a landmark event in the histories of both film and gaming. Shame about Jake Gyllenhaal's face, though. We thought real […]
Report - New Prince of Persia to be revealed early next year
Is the upcoming movie not going to be your fill of Prince of Persia? Don't worry, Ubisoft's got you covered. How? By announcing a new PoP game in the spring of next year, according to a report from Neoseeker. The news was apparently confirmed at a trailer preview event for the movie at Bruckheimer studios […]
Jake Gyllenhaal would do a Prince of Persia sequel if asked
Entertainment Tonight spoke with Jake Gyllenhaal on the set of Prince of Persia in Morocco and its souds as if he would be keen to do a sequel if asked. Of course, no one says "no" to Jerry Bruckheimer. No one. Right, Johnny Depp? The full interview, of sorts, is posted after the break and […]
Disney to publish graphic novel based on Prince of Persia
Disney has announced that it plans to release a graphic novel based on the Prince of Persia movie. It is to be penned by the creator of Prince of Persia, Jordan Mechner and Todd McFarlane has created the exclusive art to be featured on the cover and the interior art in the 128-page novel includes […]
Prince of Persia movie posters released to the public
Two movie posters for the Prince of Persia movie have landed on the internet. We will reserve judgment and let you do all the critiquing. D'toid has 'em. Movie's out in May 2010.
First Prince of Persia official movie still released
We have been putting this off all afternoon, but we have finally given into internet pressure along with the malaise of a slow news Saturday. Thus, we now present you with the the fist picture from the actual Prince of Persia movie not taken by a paparazzi stalking Jake Gyllenhaal from the sideline. Hope you […]
Bruckheimer says videogame movie adaptions will eventually work
Jerry Bruckheimer inked a deal with MTV Games back in 2007, and the company is hoping Bruckheimer's expertise in getting women viewers for his television shows and movies will spill-over into gaming. Van Toffler, president of MTV Networks wants Bruckheimer to take MTV "out of its comfort zone of rhythmic gaming like The Beatles: Rock […]
Prince of Persia movie - first footage
There's a video after the break of an interview with Jerry Bruckheimer which contains the first footage from the Prince of Persia film. It includes fighting, pouting and man-breasts. See for yourself. It's out next year.
Lego Prince of Persia toys cause game speculation
Lego game rumors are always out and about, and today is no exception, with news emerging of a Prince of Persia line of toys based on the upcoming movie in 2010. When Disney announced that Lego would be releasing the toys, it only made sense that gaming sites would be buzzing about the possibility of […]
PoP "Epilogue" DLC detailed
Prince of Persia gets some DLC this month, to release on February 26. Titled Epilogue, the content "continues the story of the Prince and Elika with a brand-new epic adventure," according to a Ubi press release this afternoon. Stuff you'll get: – New Region: The Underground Palace – A corrupted underground palace from which the […]
First Jake Gyllenhaal PoP movie shot released
Here. Fair play, Jake with his top off and a daft haircut pretty much does look like the Prince. As you'd expect, really. Movie's not out until 2010, unfortunately.
Prince of Persia movie delayed a year
According to this ComingSoon.net report, the Prince of Persia movie has been pushed back into 2010. The Mike Newell-directed video game adaptation stars Jake Gyllenhaal. No reason has been given for the move.
Gyllenhaal rumoured for PoP movie
According to Monsters and Critics, Jake Gyllenhaal is being rumoured as a possible for the Prince of Persia movie lead. Orlando Bloom was the latest actor to be supposedly taking on the role, but that all turned out to be hokum. The movie releases next year.
Prince of Persia movie to shoot in Morocco
Says so here. There's not a huge amount to add, other than casting is to begin on March 17 for the Dune Films production.
Prince Of Persia Movie latest
Jake Gyllenhaal says accepting his role in whitewashed Prince of Persia movie was a mistake
Ubisoft says PoP movie could "outperform" Pirates of the Caribbean
Prince of Persia movie trailer makes us want to see the Prince of Persia movie
Report – New Prince of Persia to be revealed early next year
Bruckheimer says videogame movie adaptions will eventually work


text:
By Lisa Jo Rudy [1] Mar 07, 2012 0 [2]
Building a Transition Plan
Transition planning, in its most basic sense, means figuring out what you want to do in the next stage of your life, gaining the skills and resources you need to do it, and then doing it. In theory, everyone—autistic or not—should engage in a transition planning process, not only during high school but also during the years preceding every life change.
Of course, in the world of special needs education and law, nothing is as simple or self-evident as it appears. Transition planning is no exception to that rule. What should, ideally, be a straightforward and collegial process of planning for postsecondary life has become a contentious legal requirement, bound by laws that differ from state to state and supported by resources that may be radically different from school district to school district. What's more, the philosophy surrounding transition varies as widely as does philosophy surrounding autism treatment, appropriate educational settings, and parenting styles.
In short (and not surprisingly), while it is theoretically possible to build an ideal transition plan and process, outcomes may not match the picture on the front of the brochure.
Who's Driving the Transition Bus?
In some districts, a teen's desires—no matter how apparently unrealistic—are taken seriously. One autism educator recently recounted a story, for example, of a teen who, though sight-impaired, wanted to be a pilot. Rather than hearing "that's not an option," he was offered a variety of related services including an opportunity to go up in an airplane with a professional pilot. It was the teen himself who, after interviewing the pilot and learning about the training process, determined that the career was not right for him—though he could develop the skills to work with or around airplanes.
This story is not typical, although it is not unique. Another similar example involves a girl with developmental disabilities whose dream was to be a country western singer. After trying out voice lessons and getting training in music theory, she found that she was in over her head—and made a different decision about her ideal future.
From one point of view, these stories are terrific examples of how highly-motivated teens can be empowered to make smart decisions for themselves. From another point of view, it's a painful reminder of how much time and money can be wasted when one is following a teenager's unrealistic vision of what "could" be versus what is really possible. These different perspectives highlight how differently various players view the transition process. Is it an opportunity for exploration, brainstorming, and experimentation? Or is it a process whereby a solid set of skills and resources are lined up for a young adult who desperately needs them? Or—as some suggest—can it be both?
What Is Transition Planning?
For purposes of this article, Transition planning can be defined as a process required by law which involves post high school goal-setting and implementation for students aged 14-22 who have IEPs. Here's how transition planning is defined on the Wrightslaw [3] Special Education website:
Transition services are a coordinated set of activities that promote movement from school to such post-school activities as post-secondary education, vocational training, employment, adult services, independent living and community participation. They must be based on the individual student's needs, taking into account his or her preferences and interests. Transition services must include instruction, community experiences, and development of employment and other post school adult living objectives. If appropriate, daily living skills and functional vocational evaluation may also be included.
In theory, a Transition Plan can include almost any kind of education, training or experience—from hygiene to banking to job training, driver's education, sex education, college admissions and more. Even better, transition planning should be based not on what is realistic, practical or affordable, but on what a student finds interesting and desirable. Naturally, students' ideals are often influenced by their parents' preferences, and thus a student's aspirations may well match a parent's hopes and dreams.
According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [4] (IDEA), all states are required to begin Transition planning by age 16, and some states require that districts begin the planning process at age 14. Given that a student with an IEP may remain in the pubic school system until he graduates with a regular diploma or until the end of the school year in which he turns 21 (longer in a few states), it is possible for the Transition process to last for up to six years. Ideally, this would provide a wonderful opportunity to build academic, vocational, social and practical skills while also setting up a seamless transition from school to the workplace or postsecondary education, with additional resources and supports in place for housing, socialization, recreation and transportation.
How often does this idyllic scenario play out? Of course, the answer is: Rarely.
Starting the Transition Process
You should receive a Transition planning form from your school district when your child has reached (or is about to reach) the appropriate age based on your state's laws. That age may be 14, 15 or 16. Transition planning forms differ from state to state but are generally fairly straightforward. They typically ask you to create:
- A "vision" for your child's future;
- A set of skills and abilities your child will need to achieve that vision;
- A set of activities, classes, experiences and/or supports required to help your child build the skills and abilities he needs to achieve the vision.
In order to put together the Transition Plan, at least in theory, your child needs to have a vision for what he wants when he leaves high school. If your child is like most 14-year-olds, her "vision" may vary from a shrug and "I don't know" to "I want to be a Grammy-Award-winning singer-songwriter." What's more, your child's vision may change from year to year, so that this year's would-be performer becomes next-year's would-be horse farmer!
Add to the problems of adolescence in general the problems associated with autism, and you may have a very difficult time isolating a child's desires, interests and goals. He may be unable to articulate specific directions, or she may simply be unable to imagine a life different from the one she's always led. Alternatively, a teen on the spectrum may be extraordinarily unrealistic, because he doesn't have the flexibility to go beyond one set idea.
In order to determine appropriate directions, many districts will implement a battery of transition assessments. These are tests are intended to help you, your district and your child to better understand your child's strengths, needs, and interests. The idea is that, as a result of the assessments, it will be much easier to put together a vision for the future.
Transition Assessments
The National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center [5] is a national technical assistance and dissemination center funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs [6]. Its very large website is loaded with (among other things) tools for assessing a teen's interests, abilities and needs. In general, the site recommends a combination of formal and informal testing tools, ranging from typical personality and vocation assessments to assessments of functional abilities, community-based assessments, work-based assessments, and so forth.
Ideally, the assessment process should provide the means to identify goals, needs and tools for reinforcing strengths and remediating weaknesses so as to reach the stated goals. Unfortunately, while there is research surrounding assessment practices, and recommendations for an ideal assessment process, the law does not absolutely require any particular battery of tests. The NSTTAC "assessment toolkit [7]" offers plenty of testing options, but it does not provide a clear road to insisting that your district implement any particular set of instruments for any individual student.
Because the mandates regarding assessments can be very loose, it may be up to the parent to force the district to go beyond their own informal observations—or to ask anything other than "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Fortunately, the process can lead to some helpful outcomes, even when it's less than ideal. In an interview with AA16, Nellie Aspel, Director of Exceptional Children for the Cleveland County Schools in North Carolina noted, "If enough people know the student, especially if they can't communicate, you take that information and put it together with experiences, interviews, and know for example that the child enjoys working outside, working with people, etc. Your goal can be very general—working outdoors, working with people, etc., and then base a vision on what you can do as opposed to what you can't do. Then build transition activities around those goals."
Person-Centered Assessments
Beyond assessments provided and/or implemented by the school district or professionals in specific areas of development, many experts highly recommend "person-centered assessments." According to Nellie Aspel, Director of Exceptional Children for the Cleveland County Schools in North Carolina, "Person-centered planning process empowers the central person to be at the center of the process. There are various person-centered assessment and planning processes—whole-life planning [8], PATH, etc. The common element is that the student is empowered to lead it. It's about training in leadership, and taking charge of one's own direction in life."
Tools such as the PATH Person-Centered Planning Tool [9] have the great advantage that they are designed to encourage buy-in. If a teen is working toward a goal she herself has selected, using tools she herself has designed, she is far more likely to feel positive, energized and engaged. On the other hand, of course, person-centered planning requires an enormous investment in time, energy, and ongoing commitment from a group of people (including your child's school district staff) for whom the process may or may not be particularly significant.
As a parent, you can tap into person-centered planning tools such as those described above with or without the district's involvement. While this can be a rich and exciting process, however, it may not have the desired outcomes if the district and/or supporting agencies are not engaged.
From Transition Plan to IEP
While the Transition Plan itself may be legally mandated, the items included in the plan are not. To turn visions into legally mandated objectives, your team must transfer appropriate measurable benchmarks, goals and objectives from the "visioning" document into the IEP. If you, your child and your district have developed a solid Transition Plan, it should be relatively easy to use that plan to enhance the IEP. If, on the other hand, you are in disagreement—or have a not-so-solid transition plan—it can be much tougher.
What makes a Transition Plan solid? As mentioned earlier, the plan should include a vision, objectives, and steps required to meet the objectives and fulfill the vision. If you've described clear, actionable steps, then those steps can become IEP goals in themselves. The trick, of course, is to determine which steps to include at which point in your child's development.
The process of developing from 14-year-old child to self-determining, independent working adult is very involved for anyone. A teen with autism will need help in almost every aspect of development and learning, from social interaction to communication to executive function. If your child wants to work in the community, she will need to learn to drive or develop the skills to access transportation systems. If your child wants to live outside of your home (or even be at home without you monitoring his every action), he will need to know how to cook, clean, wash clothes, and generally care for him or herself. If your child envisions a college career, he will need to know how to navigate a campus, prioritize work, share space with a roommate, and much more.
How much of this can you fit on a single IEP? Obviously, you'll need to pick and choose the specific objectives you want to address, based upon your child's age, level of ability and need. In addition, you will want to select items that are best managed by the school district rather than by you, the parent, or by Vocational Rehabilitation or other agencies. In general, however, it makes sense to select at least one objective in each of three critical areas: academics, vocational skills and life skills. All of this must be done bearing in mind that your child's interests, abilities and needs are likely to change between the time he is 14 or 16 and the time he graduates from (or leaves) high school.
Who Manages the Transition Process?
Ideally, your school district has a dedicated transition management expert, who is trained in and knowledgeable about all aspects of the transition process. That individual understands the assessment process, has a solid grasp of the academic offerings in the district, knows just what's available through various agencies such as Vocational Rehabilitation or Health and Human Services, is aware of vocational training and placement opportunities in the community, and has a good grasp on where to find funding, job or education coaches, peer mentors, special transportation or education programs, which colleges offer the kinds of programs and supports your child might need, and much more.
Let's say, for the sake of argument, that your district does not have a transition management expert who can manage and guide the process as you would prefer. In that case, transition management is likely to become the job of the IEP team, the special education director, and, of course, you as the parent or guardian. It is also possible to tap into a growing number of public and private services available for families like yours.
Your district, for example, may already know that they should be including local Vocational Rehabilitation staff in your child's IEP meetings. If not, can contact your local Vocational Rehab yourself. (Visit your state's Roadmap on our homepage [10] for this link.) Other resources include:
- Developmental Disabilities Centers in your state (also listed in your state's Roadmap [10]);
- National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center [5] offers a wide range of documents and legal information regarding transition planning and implementation;
- The Council for Exceptional Children [11] offers a number of articles and resources for transition planning;
- ThinkCollege.net [12] is a website dedicated to information about college and post-secondary education for special needs students.


text:
Mentioned in Passing
Posted 20 January 2010 - 18:53
I also would like to know when exactly John Youl was born.
Ray, can you help?
(BTW: Would you mind to ask Leo Geoghegan for his birth day? I cannot find it anywhere...)
Posted 20 January 2010 - 19:56
Originally posted by David McKinney
.....Was he the last of the late '50s/early '60s "stars"? Stillwell, Jones, Davison, Lukey, Whiteford, Mildren, McKay....
Reg Hunt is still with us...
Otherwise, I think you'd have to 'fast forward' to Frank Matich (Early '60s? Ran in the AGP in 1960, diced with Stillwell for the Hordern Trophy in '63, front of the grid for the Warwick Farm International in '64) to find a leading light still alive.
Tomlinson, however, continues to hold the fort for drivers of the thirties.
Posted 20 January 2010 - 20:55
I have 30/8/23 as Bill Patterson's d/o/b
Posted 20 January 2010 - 21:14
He was first Australian home in the AGP in 1956, two laps down on the winner and one on Peter Whitehead in third, but a lap up on Stan Jones and two ahead of Reg Parnell and Lex Davison. He was second Australian driver on the grid for that race.
I don't have any other material than the AGP book to refer to here for that period, so maybe he wasn't a regular 'contender' in other races? The 1957 report says he'd sent his Maserati back to the factory for a refit and then he's not mentioned in 1958, apparently his racing days by then being over.
Then again, looking at David's Gold Star web pages it seems he never contested any of those races, so he was out by the beginning of '57.
What do you reckon?
Posted 20 January 2010 - 21:29
Thank you very much, David!
I have 30/8/23 as Bill Patterson's d/o/b
Posted 20 January 2010 - 21:44
He entered the following month's NZ GP (January 1957) but instead sold the car to Bib Stillwell and retired from racing
But, continuing my semantic argument, even if you accept the end of 1956 at "late '50s", it's still not "late '50s/early '60s"
Posted 20 January 2010 - 21:55
He was in a relatively 'front line' car from the end of the fifties and into the sixties. But he'd be the last.
Interesting, though, when we still have Tomlinson from the thirties and Cobden and Hunt from the early fifties.
Posted 20 January 2010 - 22:50
I wouldn't call him a Gold Star "star" in the late '50s - or until 1964 really
You'd have to just about count Matich then...
He was in a relatively 'front line' car from the end of the fifties and into the sixties. But he'd be the last.
Posted 24 January 2010 - 09:54
Am I to take it that "Ray Bell" gained PRIVATE access to Bill Patterson and his wife in their twighlight years?
If this is the case, and, given the appalling privacy invading, posting subsequently made by Mr Bell on the event of GWP's death, I am oboliged to describe such behaviour as nothing short of shameful.
The cold, sanctimous gloating over GWP's aged inability to sign his name, in his final illness, made my blood run cold.
The term "paedophillia' as used by Mr Bell in his attempt to appear "latest with the best", is both vindictive and quite simply, WRONG.
I am prepared to provide ACTUAL details of the charges and convictions , but I dont wish to perpetuate the betrayal of the Patterson family trust as generated .....WHY DID MR BELL EVEN MENTION IT .. on a motor racing forum?
I would rather rejoice in Bill Patterson, the racing driver..the Tiger in the white Coopers......David Mckay described him as always "the Hare"
I quote Lex Davison, writing in AMS, on the occasion of the first practice session for the Horden Trophey 1963.. "meanwhile our fastest driver, Bill Patterson, lacking recent activity , was rough and unpolished....." Sorry Mr Bell..no mentiom of boys.
With the passing of Bill Patterson, a Gold Star Champion, who was also unlucky not win the 1961 AGP, we have almost lost the last link to, what was described by Mr McKinney as the heroes of late 50's/early 60's.
Reg Hunt , Briuce Walton. Bill Pitt ?
Posted 24 January 2010 - 10:42
If this is the case, and, given the appalling privacy invading, posting subsequently made by Mr Bell on the event of GWP's death, I am oboliged to describe such behaviour as nothing short of shame
I can't believe it's taken 4 days for someone to say this !!
Posted 24 January 2010 - 10:52
You can contact me privately if you have anything you want me to delete from my post, JimBradshaw. My e.mail address is at the foot of every post I make.
Posted 24 January 2010 - 11:51
If this is the case, and, given the appalling privacy invading, posting subsequently made by Mr Bell on the event of GWP's death, I am oboliged to describe such behaviour as nothing short of shame
I can't believe it's taken 4 days for someone to say this !![/quote]
It is disgraceful beyond words
Bill Patterson's private life is of no relevance here ...sure it is on the public record
But why did Mr Bell choose to raise it anyway?
If that pic was my father, gained by psuedo , "I am a journalist " means , and I saw it posted on the net, complete with demeaning shallow and INCORRECT commentary regarding criminality, I would want the fellow removed, apart from wanting to kill him.
Posted 24 January 2010 - 12:05
If you don't want to do that, please tell me where I've posted anything that was inaccurate. I will alter it, apologise for it or delete it accordingly.
And for the record, the reason for the photo was because I embarked, back in 1986, on the task of getting as many AGP winners as possible to autograph my book. When they do that I photograph them with the book, and as a matter of record I have previously posted on this forum photos of two or three doing so.
The day prior to visiting Bill, which I have done about five or six times over the past seven or eight years... and remember that I live in Queensland... I did the same with Allan Tomlinson. I had taken the book to Melbourne because I was going to meet up with Tomlinson for the first time in 30 years and it was only when I was there that I realised that Bill should be among the winners who signed the book.
You are, of course, quite welcome to withdraw any of your charges and reduce the amount of angst you show in your posts.
Posted 24 January 2010 - 13:13
I've invited you to contact me privately...
If you don't want to do that, please tell me where I've posted anything that was inaccurate. I will alter it, apologise for it or delete it accordingly.
And for the record, the reason for the photo was because I embarked, back in 1986, on the task of getting as many AGP winners as possible to autograph my book. When they do that I photograph them with the book, and as a matter of record I have previously posted on this forum photos of two or three doing so.
The day prior to visiting Bill, which I have done about five or six times over the past seven or eight years... and remember that I live in Queensland... I did the same with Allan Tomlinson. I had taken the book to Melbourne because I was going to meet up with Tomlinson for the first time in 30 years and it was only when I was there that I realised that Bill should be among the winners who signed the book.
You are, of course, quite welcome to withdraw any of your charges and reduce the amount of angst you show in your posts.
The charges and convictions u so glibbly announce as fact, are WRONG... please delete all references, unless u have actual verifiable facts to support your comments
Upon what basis did u obtain the photograph?
Did u have permissiom from the Power of Attorney?
Did you have permission to publish any photographs?
Putting aside any legal issues..lets consider the moral issues
From your own discourse. .do you think it is moral to portray a Gold Star Champion.....a hero to many ... as being incapable of signing his own name?
You quote comments about "being home in 2 weeks" - freely given to you by an old and unwell man, but u quote them on the net for all to see..wouldn't that stuff be confidential, given u gained private access to GWP?..wuldnt you show some respect for age?
Would u like to see your own parent, even if he wasn't famous, depicted in total senile incapability?
You owe the Patterson family an apology ..for your betrayal of trust and their granting to you access to a loved one
You owe the forum an apology...for the factually incorrect statements
And most of all, you owe Bill Patterson an apology......an Australian motor racing hero
I am disgusted
Posted 24 January 2010 - 13:55
You seem to have signed up just to attack him
Please either accept his offer of direct contact with him, or take you agenda - whatever it is - elsewhere
Posted 24 January 2010 - 20:03
I suspect this might be the problem here. We are used to your own writing style, but others, perhaps just scrolling through, aren't.
In a way, it's a shame, as you can't quite always post what you'd like (or some of us won't!), but on the other hand, I think it helps TNF be what it is/was and be a more 'civilized' forum.
I wouldn't want you to drastically change your writing style though - it's what makes you, you.
Posted 24 January 2010 - 21:37
Ray Bell is a long-standing member of this forum, and held in high regard
You seem to have signed up just to attack him
Please either accept his offer of direct contact with him, or take you agenda - whatever it is - elsewhere
I agree with you David
Posted 26 January 2010 - 09:45
Ray Bell is a long-standing member of this forum, and held in high regard
You seem to have signed up just to attack him
Please either accept his offer of direct contact with him, or take you agenda - whatever it is - elsewhere
Mr Mckinney
I signed up to this forum because I was advised by concerned people that Bill Patterson's non-motor racing private life and thus his reputation, was once again under "focus".
Direct PRIVATE contact with Mr Bell will not deal with the issues of concern - only removal of the offending PUBLIC post and photograph, will go some way to addressing the moral and legal issues.
The argument that, because Mr Bell is a "long-standing member and held in high regard", it somehow excuses him from what an outsider, new to the forum and with a parent in an aged care facility, regards as totally unacceptable behaviour, suggests to me that the forum perhaps needs to widen its gene pool.
I reiterate, I am not here to make trouble or attack people, but I will defend the late Bill Patterson or anybody else for that matter, wherever and whenever, from this sort of behaviour.
Posted 26 January 2010 - 11:20
What on earth is wrong with it?
That's a picture of Bill Patterson the last time I visited him. I took the photo purely to record his signing the book, as I did with several other drivers, one just a day prior to this. I don't believe there is any way in which that photo belittles Bill.
I expressed concern that his passing had not been noted earlier (take a look through this thread, it's usually a day or two at the most before deaths are posted on here), I also commented... I thought with some evident sadness... about his condition and his misplaced optimism about his future.
Bill was reading The Age when I arrived and he welcomed me and arranged for the staff to make me a cup of tea as he drank his. We talked about a number of things, which was what always happened when we got together, and I asked him to sign the book.
I think you sadly underestimate everyone here when you post as you do. Almost to a man, everyone here holds Bill's motor racing achievements in high regard. When we hear that a person such as he is unwell, we are all empathetic about it, we don't 'gloat' over it as you claim I have done.
As for the mention of his conviction, and if I'm wrong about the description of the charges I apologise (and ask that you clarify things that I might correct myself), that is a part of the whole man. It was mentioned with regard to the circumstances that had combined to make the latter years of his life less comfortable than he'd been used to.
You didn't, by the way, take umbrage when someone else posted that his conviction led to pressure from Holden to get out of his dealerships. That is something I'd not known about, but it seems someone did. Or wasn't it true?
There are people around, Jim, who would publicly expose, deride and vilify Bill for his personal behaviour, some have been doing it for decades. I suggest you target them instead of me, as I try to keep a balanced perspective, remembering that my interest in him is through motor racing but also remembering that it is the person as a whole who once raced.
Posted 26 January 2010 - 17:22
Thanks for the thread.
Getting back to what it was meant to be used for, Paddy Robson was a wonderful lady. I remember as a kid going to Silverdale from the early 1970's watching my dad (Pat Goulding) race there in his Nota. One of dads favourite tracks, and one that he wishes was still around. I remember Jim & Paddy always being very friendly people, and a young kid, impressions meant a lot. Jim is a great bloke too. I only ran the once at Silverdale before massive storms destroyed the track, but i loved the place. I didn't know about Paddys death, and again thanks for the thread.
Ian Fergusson was a cocky from Leadville. A small town out near Dunedoo, central west NSW, he had a property a few miles from our family farm. Again, he & dad were pretty good mates. Had known each other since the mid 60's. Ian was a pretty good driver, running in the Gold Star races in the early 70's - Lotus 27? (Correct me here please Ray) and then I think in a Bowin P3. Dad & Ian caught up at the Tasman 08 meet. Ian was a real nice bloke. It's nice to remember good people in this way.
thanks again.
Posted 26 January 2010 - 20:47
As you know, I also caught up with Ian for the first time in many years at that Tasman Revival meeting. It was quite a shock to hear he'd died.
Leadville, by the way, was one of the places my great-grandfather owned a pub back a hundred and ten years or so ago. And one reason I got to know Ian was that my uncle lived at Dunedoo for a very long time and was a scrutineer at ARDC events as well as one of the moving forces (and a competitor) at the Pound Hill track.
I've occasionally driven through the area in recent years. I pulled up at Dunedoo one day and there was a little street stall there with a couple of women sitting down with their cakes and craft stuff. "Do you people happen to remember Ted Moir?" I asked.
"Yes," said one of the ladies, "I used to work at the same place as he did, in the office. As a matter of fact, my grandchildren are still using the cot I got from Teddy."
She told me how, when she was a very young mother in the late fifties or the sixties, Uncle Teddy knew his wife could have no more children (and young John was to die, tragically, unmarried and childless about 1980 while driving home from a holiday in Darwin) and when she asked if she could buy his cot he got all thoughtful.
"Well..." he drawled, "I suppose we don't need it any more. If you bring in a bag of chick wheat you can have it."
Ted Moir died of a heart attack in a doctor's surgery aged, IIRC, only 52. He'd been a panel beater in Dunedoo for many years and I'm sure Pat knew him too.
I really should post a couple of pics I have of a house in Leadville, but I don't know where I'd find them right now.
Posted 27 January 2010 - 06:30
For a little old town in the middle of nowhere it seems quite popular.
Posted 27 January 2010 - 06:56
Is Gouldo Brad? If so, hullo over the years. If not , say hullo to your parents from me( and welcome to TNF)
Posted 27 January 2010 - 07:44
I sat in an astonishingly boring Department of School Education conference in Dubbo 25 years ago, went for an astonishingly boring lunch in astonishingly boring company in the Dubbo RSL Club all the time thinking about Bathurst book research I needed to be doing not least contacting Ian Fergusson(just an hour or so down the road at Leadville), finished lunch, pushed my chair in, and noticed I had been sitting back to back with the man. I walked out in high dudgeon and didnt even speak to him. Nice man true, his cars were nice cars too. Where now is that Bowin? I hope it is not the one that Des Kelly found the remains of on the Dunedoo tip.
Is Gouldo Brad? If so, hullo over the years. If not , say hullo to your parents from me( and welcome to TNF)
John, that is me....just might be back on the track again this year. Entered for the Historic meet at WP in Feb. I recall the Bowin that Ian had was sold on to a hillclimber named butterworth, then it went to a guy from either Canberra or wagga. He was a farmer too, cant remember his name, but it ended up with a Rover V8 in it. It ended up being burnt although not destroyed in a shed fire many years ago. I think it;s still in this fella's hands. Just can't remember his name........
The car that Des has. well, he has quite a few, is the V8 ford engined fergusson special. I think it was built by both Paddy & Ian, and used to run at pound hill climb as well as the dirt gymkhana track where Robbie Medcalf used to live at. A place called Craboon. Des also has or had a bowin FFord, which I think is the ex Paul Bernasconi Grace Bros? car. I havent seen Des for a while, but dad still keeps in touch with him.
Leadville was a popular little joint. My grandfather's 70'th was held there many years ago, I went to school there for 18 months back in 70/71, and head back 'over home' every now & then to see family. For such a small dot on the map, Dunedoo/Leadville had a few racers from that area. The Fergussons, Medcalf, Goulding, Geoff Davis in the holden engined Triumph herald sports sedan, good country upbringings.
Speaking of Rob Medcalf, he passed away 4 years ago. Rob owned and built a series of clubmans in the 80's called Robin's. In the end the car driven by Kieth & Wes McClelland won quite a few state sports 1300 titles, and was as quick as some of the F3/F2 cars of the time. Robs son John now has one of his cars and is restoring it.
Edited by gouldo, 27 January 2010 - 07:48.
Posted 27 January 2010 - 10:42
As I was a Clubman competitor for a short time, and a Clubman stalwart always, I knew most of those blokes. Pat and I had another thing in common... we both tried beam axle front suspensions in our cars after Col Wear showed the way with these.
When I find it I'll post a pic of the Garner Bowin.
Posted 27 January 2010 - 11:53
And speaking of Leadville...
Fortunately there isn't a housing crisis there generally.
Posted 27 January 2010 - 22:37
Posted 14 February 2010 - 03:49
A few months earlier he'd mentioned that he'd met someone who knew me and who used to race, but he couldn't put in the name. But after the service we had a gathering at the house and Darryl Singleton was there.
We had a great chat with each other, a lot centering on our present interests and some about the days he raced the Elfin 360 Repco his brother had owned. Darryl had not had much to do with Barry in recent times and his life was dominated by illness. His wife, Jan, and my wife got on famously and we talked about them coming to our new home and spending time with us.
With one thing and another, I barely made contact with Darryl in the intervening time. About July I phoned and we had a nice chat, promising to do something soon. Then in December I met someone from his area who knew him and I was reminded to call again. I tried, but Darryl was unable to talk to me.
He had been overtaken by the disease that had been eating away at him for some years, he simply didn't have the breath to talk to anyone. Poor Jan was nursing him at home for his final stint, with help of course.
On Wednesday we got a call to tell us Darryl had died during the night.
I have had a look, but I can't find reports with his racing period in them. It must have been about '77 or '78.
Edited by Ray Bell, 15 February 2010 - 21:08.
Posted 17 February 2010 - 07:02
He raced a Sprite and then went into Minis, first with a 997 Cooper (entered by Ron Hodgson) and then a 1071 S. He crashed a Mini in the 1965 Gallaher 500 but returned to race a Mini in conjunction with K Hillsdon in Sports Sedans.
He died on the Gold Coast of kidney failure. He was a long-time dialysis patient and was about to lose his second leg when he passed away.
Posted 17 February 2010 - 07:27
A behind-the-scenes man in UK historic racing for many years. He established a Historic Formula Junior championship in 1976, perhaps the first-ever historic championship, and was later on the FIA's Technical Working Group, as well as working on eligibility for the MSA for many years
Alan died lat Friday, at the age of 73
Posted 17 February 2010 - 08:03
And now I've been informed that Ron Haylen has died too...
He raced a Sprite and then went into Minis, first with a 997 Cooper (entered by Ron Hodgson) and then a 1071 S. He crashed a Mini in the 1965 Gallaher 500 but returned to race a Mini in conjunction with K Hillsdon in Sports Sedans.
He died on the Gold Coast of kidney failure. He was a long-time dialysis patient and was about to lose his second leg when he passed away.
More sad news.
Ron took over the P & R Williams BMC supported Mini drive when Brian Foley and Laurie Stewart went off to set up Brian Foley Motors. He was also a salesman with P&R, if I'm on the right track.
Do you have a date of his passing and age please Ray?
My condolences to his family and friends.
Posted 17 February 2010 - 19:16
No, I don't have the date or age. Probably googling the Gold Coast Bulletin or Courier Mail would get them?
Posted 22 February 2010 - 00:25
The funeral is at 1pm Thursday Annunciation Church 20 Montacute Road Hectorville (Adelaide)
Posted 22 February 2010 - 01:19
I last saw Kevin, I think, at Speed on Tweed a couple of years ago. I thought he looked ill, but I hadn't seen him in so long it didn't register that strongly.
Joan, of course, has filled some major roles in the SCC of SA and the whole family seemed to rotate their lives around the club and its activities and Historic motor sport in general. One also raced a Clubman, I seem to recall.
He will be sorely missed. A very knowledgeable man (I remember being in his shed one night in 1977, he was showing me all sorts of oddments... "and this worm drive is from a 1909 Rover... this carby (one that looked like a DCOE) is a Zenith off a WWI tank engine... and... and...") and an enthusiast of the very highest order.
His A-Model engine's rods had steel strap welded around their sides to strengthen them, and it worked, and that car was driven with great gusto.
To Joan and the children I also offer my condolences.
Posted 22 February 2010 - 02:35
The A racer was a very spectacular device, watching coming around the bowl at AIR with the rear tyres hazing smoke was a great memory, as was when the gearbox broke and it parked itself gently against the wall. Though from memory it was not seen for a long time after.
My commiserations to Joan and family.
Posted 22 February 2010 - 07:02
My condolences to Joan, Anne, Katie, Eric and the rest of the family.
An amazing man, part of an amazing couple. Kevin and Joan's involvement with historic motor racing is part of history and he will be long remembered
Posted 11 March 2010 - 13:52
Eric was the 1999 NSW Hillclimb champion. Eric & his father Noel, who also passed a few years ago, were both heavily into motorsports, with a number of different sports & racing cars over many years.
Eric was killed on the tuesday after the world Superbike Champs at Phillip Island a fortnight ago. He was returning from the event on his new Aprilia m/c & collided with a 4wd east of bathurst.
Posted 11 March 2010 - 19:20
Bryan Hervey Talbot was from Rhyl in North Wales. He was born on January 15th 1916, son of Lt Col Douglas Hervey Talbot DSO MC and the former Olympia Annette Clarke and attended Marlborough College. Talbot seems to have been a friend of Tony Rolt, as Rolt was in his pit at Tallaght. In 1940, he married Katherine Hughes in Llandudno - they subsequently had three children.
BH Talbot died on June 14th 2008.
Sources: various genealogical websites, Times Online Archive, Irish Times, marlboroughcollege.org
Posted 16 March 2010 - 18:14
Longtime car owner/sponsor Jim Hayhoe, who brought Bruce Walkup and Jimmy Vasser into Indy car racing and also partnered with Art Pollard, lost his battle with cancer on Monday
Posted 16 March 2010 - 22:44
Alan Putt, too
A behind-the-scenes man in UK historic racing for many years. He established a Historic Formula Junior championship in 1976, perhaps the first-ever historic championship, and was later on the FIA's Technical Working Group, as well as working on eligibility for the MSA for many years
Alan died lat Friday, at the age of 73
I tend not to look at this thread, so am a little late with this, but feel Alan's demise cannot go unmarked. He was a very knowledgeable man as David has said, and always ready to help with advice and factual clarification, as I know from my own endeavours. Again as David says, whilst very much a backroom chap, he nevertheless had a great influence in historic racing and helped to keep the cars and owners honest. His wealth of experience is now lost to our sport. He was a thoroughly good bloke. RIP.
Roger Lund
Posted 10 May 2010 - 23:17
Geoff Smedley has sent me this wonderfully readable account of how they won the Australian Land Speed Record:
The Australian Land Speed Record 1961
Reflections by Geoff Smedley 2010
This is perhaps the most unlikely but successful challenge to a record ever staged and it comes with a story that is equally remarkable the story of Austin Miller, Australian Land Speed Record Holder (1961 – 1964).
I had known my friend, the late Austin Miller, for a number of years previously and we had raced cars together in earlier times. Around 1959 Austin came to live in Tasmania after recovering from a fairly major air crash in Victoria, where he had operated an aerial crop spraying business for many years. He decided at that time perhaps a slower pace of life would be better suited to his wellbeing, and so he had bought a hotel in Launceston and renovated it and renamed it 'The Monaco Hotel'. It soon became the hub of motor racing fans from far and near.
It could be argued that the array of beverages served at the Monaco may have instigated the record attempt! Not so! But it was Aussie's infectious desire and persuasive talents that eventually won out, and the idea grew into a reality early in 1960, with myself entrusted with the task of putting together a vehicle that could better the current record. This stood to Mel McEwan in the 'Tornado Special' with a speed of 157.5mph set in South Australia a few months earlier.
Some of the difficulties soon became clear. First there was no money in the kitty. This meant that all work had to done 'in house'. The only equipment available was the 1959 Cooper F2 fitted with a 2.2 climax motor that was Austin's current race car, but it was certainly not suitable for the job in hand. But a friend of Aussie's in Melbourne had just set a water speed record using the Corvette engine, and this power plant had been offered on loan as a starting point to our quest.
The thought of stuffing 400 hp into a petite Cooper F2 seemed almost as ridiculous as attempting the record itself. An assessment of the work needed to adapt the chassis to take the big and brutal Corvette engine proved it would need to be a bit of a 'suck it and see' effort, or do it as she goes, with all chassis work to be undertaken before the transplant could take place. In particular, the transmission drastically needed modification from the existing citroen light 15-based box used by Cooper at that time.
To this end I was fortunate in that I had the facilities of engineering facilities with the family business (Bedford Machine Tools) at my disposal. Being a trained engineer, I was able to modify this box to a beefy 2-speed specialised unit, and with savage cross bolting of the housing, in theory, it would withstand the short lived punishment expected of it. All this along with special beefed up drive shafts to cope with the extra power were made and, as it seemed, a never ending general tweek in all the right places.
Eventually we were starting to see some result and the project began to shape the car we hoped would bring us success. The only thing I was fully confident of was the fact that Aussie Miller was one of very few blokes in the world who could steer this mish-mash of bits to success. His long career in flying, and driving at the top echelon of open wheeler racing in this country, certainly proved he had not only the courage but also the anatomy to do the job.
After the work on the car was finished there was the hassle of setting up the legalities and finding a location suited to such an attempt. We had looked at a few areas as possibilities, but each had drawbacks, and we needed a course that would give us the very best of chances. A remote beach on the North-West coast of Tasmania (Bakers Beach) looked like the ideal place, a little out of sight in case of failure and some 4.5 miles of good surface to set up a good surveyed strip to test our hopes.
It took quite a few weeks for our little band of helpers to arrange all the last minute problems, including being told that the official timing gear was in Hobart the night before we were about to make the run! This meant someone had to drive the 250 mile journey to retrieve this very important bit of gear. While this was being attended to, my friend Bruce Burr and I decided it would be prudent to take the car to the beach the evening before to eliminate any holdup on the following day.
The best laid plans were in place, we were armed with arrowed placards to be placed on trees showing the way into this well hidden beach, and the evening turned into night before we reached the last mile or so of very dense bush. Not having ever tried to visit this remote place in darkness, we became hopelessly lost and had diligently placed our signes in areas that have never been found to this day!
Our problems didn't stop there. Eventually we arrived on the Western end of the beach and it required about a four mile drive in the Land Rover, with car and trailer on tow behind, to the Eastern end to a base site we had previously chosen. We were finding this spot hard to locate in the darkness and the search required driving in the softer sand further up the beach.
Of course the trailer and race car became bogged and things became hopeless, so we simply unhitched the trailer and moved the Land Rover to a little higher ground and turned in for the night. We were woken just after daylight by a local TV crew that had somehow found us without the aid of our signs, and to our horror we found that the tide was in and was lapping the deck of the trailer and the car looked to be sitting on the water, which presented more of a comedy act than a serious record attempt. Anyhow, with the aid of the TV crew we managed to get things into a more respectable state before Officialdom and others started arriving, none of whom had seen any of the dozen or so directional signs we had placed the night before.
The timing equipment had been brought from Hobart and set up and it was then time for the first test runs up the beach. Bearing in mind that this would be the first test of the car itself, it was a very nerve racking time for me but if Aussie felt the same way he certainly didn't show, it climbing into the car as if heading off on a fun drive up the beach!
The first couple of runs looked well but a problem with the timing equipment held up proceedings for some time. This made all previous runs null and void, but it did give us a chance to delve into a possible gearbox problem which, turned out to be a minor adjustment. However, stripping a transmission on a beach in the open is not really recommended, but we did the job and soon all was ready for the first official run from East to West.
The car achived 172mph, well on target. We had the car geared for around 202 mph @ 6,500rpm and this first run was looking good. The reverse run was a little down, which was expected against a growing wind, and adjustments were made to the car before the next speed run. While working on the engine, it was necessary to remove the canopy I had made to try and wind cheat the car. I had rigged up a quick realease arrangement for this canopy should the need arise but somehow the mechanism got damaged in the refitting after the previous run, causing a major drama on the next attempt.
At an estimated 170mph the canopy ejected and went skywards, also releasing the whole backhalf of the body, and certainly shocked the observers and dimmed the hopes of taking the record somewhat. But the 'never say die' Aussie, the pilot, was determined to have a go without such refinements even though beach conditions had deteriorated and the wind was lifting the sand into a heavy haze. Pulling down his goggles, the intrepid Miller lad set off, disapearing into a wall of sand and into the record books by pushing the record up to 164.7mph, not what we hoped, but a record that would stand for almost four years - and all on the smell of an oily rag.
It's good to reminisce on a time when this sort of thing was possible and practical learning was still in vogue. For me, I later entered into F1 as a race engineer. In those early days your skills were required on every aspect of the car, you featured dirty hands but aquired a lot of personal satisfaction.
It was an era in time we will never see again in the name of Motor Sport. Four years later when Donald Campbell in his jet powered Bluebird officially became the fastest man on wheels, he put the record up to 403mph on Australia's lake Eyre, but the successful Miller challenge remained for some 4 years, and certainly must always remain as a dinkum piston engined record done on a shoestring by a a man of his time……… Austin Miller, My Mate!
Geoff Smedley, Tasmania
Edited by Ray Bell, 10 May 2010 - 23:23.
Posted 13 May 2010 - 00:19
To add to the Aussie Miller story...
Geoff Smedley has sent me this wonderfully readable account of how they won the Australian Land Speed Record:
On re-reading the article I must correct the waffle in regard to the F 2 chassis Aussies car was an early T51 (ex Stan Jones)
Geoff Smedley
Posted 15 May 2010 - 19:44
Owen Wuillemin died Saturday morning 15th May. Very few here would have ever heard of Owen, but he was a motor sportsman of a high order and in particular a great engine man and engineer.
He was in everyday life a manual arts teacher, with a high position at the Kings School. This is a school that attracts high level students in both day and boarding capacities from all over NSW and is one of the 'Great Public Schools' in Sydney. Owen worked there in a head teacher capacity for about twenty years and was very highly regarded.
He also played with Lotus Elans and Peugeots, building race engines for Doug Macarthur's Ralt and a few other FPacific competitors, as well as some Lotus twin cam engines for ANF2.
He didn't seek recognition, just to do a better job, and was always thinking. One area in which he did a lot of this was with tethered cars, which he built from scratch and raced at the Model Park at Luddenham, and he was involved in school projects along the same lines.
For a few years he and his son Adrian shared a Peugeot 205 they ran in the Marque Sports Car Clubs Super Sprint series and he liked to feign disgust that the slightly heavier Adrian would always be a tad faster than he was. He modified and developed this car constantly so it was always a major threat in its class at these events.
His dream was to finish off one of the Peugeot 504 Cabriolets that Roley Pymm (sp?) imported, but that's something that other projects always had him put aside. He did, however, transform his Peugeot 504 pickup with the fitment of a turbo diesel just to show his broad range of interests.
About five or six weeks ago he went for his regular checkup on his Lymphoma, something that's been troubling him for about 13 years. All clear of that, but the doctor was concerned about something that showed up in the tests and sent him for more. Multiple lesions ('More than I can count,' the doctor said) in the liver were found. But a toothache was also bothering him and he went to the dentist.
"I think you'd better go back to the doctor," the dentist told him. He had a tumor in his gum and another was found on his shoulder.
It was at this stage I phoned him and asked how he was. He told me all about this and I called him a week later. He was sounding poor and said he was 'getting feeble'. It was a quick downhill slide from there, even though he retained a positive outlook and radiation beat the tumor in his mouth.
He was surrounded by friends in his final days. People from Club Lotus, the Peugeot Club, friends from all over. Norm Smith, a close friend for over forty years, drove down from near Ballina to visit him in his home at Toongabbie last Monday and spent three or four hours with him. He left there feeling he shouldn't go back. "I don't think it's fair on him, he's got people all around and he needs rest," he said and drove home the long way... via Mudgee. Like many others, I'm sure he's overwhelmed with thoughts of what kind of person Owen was. And how much the world will miss him.
I know I will.
To Dorothy, Claire and Adrian I offer my inadequate condolences.
Posted 15 May 2010 - 20:31
Edited by FLB, 15 May 2010 - 20:33.
Posted 18 May 2010 - 09:40
I met Owen back in the early 80s when I helped Doug Macarthur with his RT4. I didn't know Owen very well but I did get to see what a great bloke he was.
A personal friend of mine, a good bloke, a highly respected engineer and great teacher...
Owen Wuillemin died Saturday morning 15th May. Very few here would have ever heard of Owen, but he was a motor sportsman of a high order and in particular a great engine man and engineer.
To Dorothy, Claire and Adrian I offer my inadequate condolences.
My thoughts are with his family.
Posted 18 May 2010 - 13:23
I spoke to Dorothy on Sunday night, she's 'doing as well as can be expected' but very alert to the loss. Owen suffered a fall on Thursday (I think) and hit his head on concrete, this... IIRC... precipitated his hospitalisation for his last 36 or so hours. Dorothy said she could not have gone home if he'd died there.
Yet, despite her grief, she thanked me 'for caring'. I thought that was a nice touch. Unfortunately my totally full work schedule at the moment will prevent me being at the funeral.
Posted 19 May 2010 - 04:02
Conversely, I've only known Owen for the last 9 months and let me assure you he was still a great bloke.
I met Owen back in the early 80s ... what a great bloke he was...
A Thanksgiving Service will be held for OWEN JAMES WUILLEMIN in the Chapel at The King's School, on Friday (May 21, 2010) at 4 p.m.
Edited by Wirra, 19 May 2010 - 04:17.
Posted 19 May 2010 - 14:21
He drove last year a FERRARI F430 GT with Christophe BOUCHUT and Manuel RODRIGUEZand finished 29th at the 24 Hours of LE MANS.
Posted 19 May 2010 - 19:49
Originally posted by Wirra
Conversely, I've only known Owen for the last 9 months and let me assure you he was still a great bloke.
A Thanksgiving Service will be held for OWEN JAMES WUILLEMIN in the Chapel at The King's School, on Friday (May 21, 2010) at 4 p.m.
Good to know you had the chance to experience being in his presence, Peter...
In the course of my 'other' work, I've met two Kings School students. One was in Moree, the other in the Southern Highlands, both spoke highly of him as a teacher. Even though he had retired from full time teaching, he still went in to the school two or three days a week.
I can't make it Friday, unfortunately, and I think Norm is also unable to be there. But I know the place will be absolutely packed out with people who knew and respected him.
Posted 16 June 2010 - 03:18
From Max Stahl:
IT IS my sad task to inform you of the passing on Saturday,
12th June, of our mutual friend, Mal Simpson, who in the 1960-
70 period earned international recognition as one of Australia's
finest racing mechanics.
Born in Queensland in 1930, Mal moved to Sydney in the
mid-50s to pursue his dream of working on racing cars.
He joined the North Shore Sporting Car Club, where he was
quickly recruited by Fred Vogel and Ralph Sach to work
on their MGs.
With his appetite whetted, but being an avid fan of Grand Prix
cars, Mal moved to the UK to further his career and soon fell in
with fellow Australians at the Steering Wheel Club.
One of them he already knew from Australia, Tony Caldersmith,
now working for Team Lotus, where he was introduced and
given a job.
Soon after he was engaged by Rob Walker to work with the legendary
Alf Francis on Stirling Moss's cars, a partnership that lasted until
the disastrous 1962 Goodwood crash that ended Moss's career.
When Mal left the UK and came home to Australia, he was
immediately employed by Comalco, then in 1984 joined Fred Vogel in
his Sydney automotive bookshop.
Five years there, another three in Fred's Mona Vale book
warehouse and a few years with Stephen Knox at his Cremorne
bookshop brought Mal to retirement age.
Mal chose to live his remaining years in Sutton Forest, in the NSW
Southern Highlands, near his long-time friend, David McKay, and his


text:
Leo Strauss and the Grand Inquisitor
by: : Shadia B. Drury
Leo Strauss and the Grand Inquisitor
by Shadia B. Drury
There is a certain irony in the fact that the chief guru of the neoconservatives is a thinker who regarded religion merely as a political tool intended for the masses but not for the superior few. Leo Strauss, the German Jewish émigré who taught at the University of Chicago almost until his death in 1973, did not dissent from Marx's view that religion is the opium of the people; but he believed that the people need their opium. He therefore taught that those in power must invent noble lies and pious frauds to keep the people in the stupor for which they are supremely fit.
Not all the neoconservatives have read Strauss. And those who have rarely understand him, for he was a very secretive thinker who expressed his ideas with utmost circumspection. But there is one thing that he made very clear: liberal secular society is untenable. Religion is necessary to provide political society with moral order and stability. Of course, this is a highly questionable claim. History makes it abundantly clear that religion has been a most destabilizing force in politics—a source of conflict, strife, and endless wars. But neoconservatives dogmatically accept the view of religion as a panacea for everything that ails America.
Using religion as a political tool has two equally unsavory consequences. First, when religious beliefs become the guide for public policy, the social virtues of tolerance, freedom, and plurality are undermined, if they are not extinguished altogether. Second, the use of religion as a political tool encourages the cultivation of an elite of liars and frauds who exempt themselves from the rules they apply to the rest of humanity. And this is a recipe for tyranny, not freedom or democracy.
There have always been those who deluded themselves into thinking that they were akin to gods who are entitled to rule over ordinary mortals. But no one has described this mentality more brilliantly than Dostoevsky, when he created the figure of the Grand Inquisitor. In his short story of the same title, Dostoevsky imagined that Jesus has returned to face a decadent and corrupt Church. As head of the Church, the Grand Inquisitor condemns Jesus to death, but not before having a long and interesting conversation with the condemned man. Jesus naively clings to the belief that what man needs above all else is freedom from the oppressive yoke of the Mosaic law, so that he can choose between good and evil freely according to the dictates of his conscience. But the Inquisitor explains to him that truth and freedom are the sources of humanity's greatest anguish and that people will never be free because "they are weak, vicious, worthless, and rebellious." He declares that people can be happy only if they surrender their freedom and bow before miracle, mystery, and authority. Only then can people live and die peacefully, "and beyond the grave, they will find nothing but death. But we shall keep the secret, and for their happiness we shall allure them with the reward of heaven and eternity." The Inquisitor explains that the "deception will be our suffering, for we shall be forced to lie." But in the end, "they will marvel at us and look on us as gods."
To say that Strauss's elitism surpasses that of the Grand Inquisitor is an understatement. Undeniably, there are strong similarities. Like the Grand Inquisitor, Strauss thought that society must be governed by a pious elite (George Bush the second and the Christian fundamentalists who support him fit this role perfectly). Like the Grand Inquisitor, Strauss thought of religion as a pious fraud (something that would alarm the Christian fundamentalists who are allied with the neoconservatives). And even though Strauss was sympathetic to Judaism, he nevertheless described it as a "heroic delusion" and a "noble dream." Like the Grand Inquisitor, he thought that it was better for human beings to be victims of this noble delusion than to "wallow" in the "sordid" truth. And like the Grand Inquisitor, Strauss thought that the superior few should shoulder the burden of truth and in so doing, protect humanity from the "terror and hopelessness of life."
All the similarities between Strauss and the Grand Inquisitor notwithstanding, the Straussian position surpasses the Grand Inquisitor in its delusional elitism as well as in its misanthropy. This shows that while one need not be a religious thinker to be misanthropic, religion is an excellent vehicle for implementing misanthropic policies in public life.
The Grand Inquisitor presents his ruling elite as suffering under the burden of truth for the sake of humanity. So, despite his rejection of Christ, the Grand Inquisitor is modeled on the Christian conception of a suffering God who bears the burden for humanity. In contrast, Strauss represents his ruling elite as pagan gods who are full of laughter. Instead of being grim and mournful like the Grand Inquisitor, they are intoxicated, erotic, and gay. And they are certainly not too concerned about the happiness of mere mortals. They have little pity or compassion for them. On the contrary, the pain, suffering, and tragedies of the mortals provide them with entertainment.
The Trojan wars and similar tragic atrocities were festivals for the gods, intended for their pleasure and amusement. Nietzsche thought that only when suffering is witnessed by gods did it become meaningful and heroic. Soaring high, Strauss discovered that there are no gods to witness human suffering; and finding the job vacant, he recruited his acolytes.
Strauss thought that the best way for ordinary human beings to raise themselves above the beasts is to be utterly devoted to their nation and willing to sacrifice their lives for it. He recommended a rabid nationalism and a militant society modelled on Sparta. He thought that this was the best hope for a nation to be secure against her external enemies as well as the internal threat of decadence, sloth, and pleasure. A policy of perpetual war against a threatening enemy is the best way to ward off political decay. And if the enemy cannot be found, then it must be invented.
For example, Saddam Hussein was an insignificant tyrant in a faraway land without the military power to threaten America. And he wasn't allied with the Islamic fundamentalists who attacked the World Trade Center in 2001. But the neoconservatives who control the White House managed to inflate the threat to gargantuan proportions and launched the nation into a needless war. Even though they are not hardcore Straussians, neoconservatives share Strauss's view that wealth, freedom, and prosperity make people soft, pampered, and depraved. And, like Strauss, they think of war as an antidote to moral decadence and depravity. And this should make us wonder if they purposely launched the nation into a needless war because they were convinced of the salutary effects of war as such.
There is a strong asceticism at the heart of the neoconservative ideology that explains why it appeals to the Christian Right. Neoconservatism dovetails nicely with the views that humanity is too wicked to be free; too much pleasure is sinful; and suffering is good because it makes man cry out to God for redemption. With the neoconservatives and the Christian Right in power, Americans can forget about the pursuit of happiness and look forward to perpetual war, death, and catastrophe. And in the midst of all the human carnage and calamity that such policies are bound to bring, the Olympian laughter of the Straussian gods will be heard by those who have ears to hear it. In short, the Straussian elite makes the Grand Inquisitor look compassionate and humane in comparison.
The fact that so many of the most powerful men in America are self-proclaimed disciples of Leo Strauss is rather troublesome. For example, Abram Shulsky, the director of the Office of Special Plans, which was created by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, was a student of Strauss. Shulsky was responsible for finding intelligence that would help to make the case for war in Iraq. We know now that the intelligence was false and misleading. Shulsky tells us that he learned from Strauss that "deception is the norm in political life."10 But deception cannot be the norm in public life without subverting democracy and robbing people of the opportunity to deliberate freely in light of the facts.
Another important Straussian close to the Bush administration is William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard and chairman of the Project for the New American Century, in which the neoconservative foreign policy is clearly outlined. Kristol wrote his thesis on Machiavelliæ a theorist who was much admired by Strauss for everything except his lack of subtlety. Strauss endorsed Machiavellian tactics in politicsæ not just lies and the manipulation of public opinion but every manner of unscrupulous conduct necessary to keep the masses in a state of heightened alert, afraid for their lives and their families and therefore willing to do whatever was deemed necessary for the security of the nation. For Strauss as for Machiavelli, only the constant threat of a common enemy could save a people from becoming soft, pampered, and depraved. Strauss would have admired the ingenuity of a color code intended to inform Americans of the looming threats and present dangers, which in turn makes them more than willing to trade their liberty for a modicum of security.
Paul Wolfowitz, deputy secretary of defense and assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney, is also a self-proclaimed follower of Strauss. Like many of Strauss's students, he is animated by a sense of missionæa mission to save America from her secular liberal decadence. And what better solution is there to secular liberal sloth than a war effort? I am inclined to give these powerful students of Strauss the benefit of the doubt by assuming that they have no idea of the sinister depths to which Strauss's political thought descends. And I think that by revealing aspects of Strauss's dark philosophy, I may dissuade some of them from following Strauss too blindly into the abyss.
1. Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Grand Inquisitor with Related Chapters from The Brothers Karamazov, Constance Garnett, trans. (New York: Library of Liberal Arts, 1948). I am very suspicious of this interpretation of the message of Jesus. See my new book, Terror and Civilization: (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004).
2. Ibid., p. 30.
3. Ibid., p. 40.
4. Ibid., p. 31.
5. Ibid., p. 30.
6. Leo Strauss, "Why We Remain Jews: Can Jewish Faith and History Still Speak to Us?" in Leo Strauss: Political Philosopher and Jewish Thinker, Kenneth L. Deutsch and Walter Nicgorski, eds. (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 1994), p. 61.
7. Ibid., p. 61.
8. Leo Strauss, Philosophy And Law: Essays Toward the Understanding of Maimonides and His Predecessors, Fred Baumann, trans. (New York: Jewish Publication Society, 1987), p. 18.
9. Leo Strauss, The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism: Essays and Lectures, Thomas L. Pangle, ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989), pp. 107–08.
10. Gary J. Schmitt and Abram N. Shulsky, "Leo Strauss and the World of Intelligence (by Which We Do Not Mean Nous)," in Kenneth L. Deutsch and John A. Murley (eds.), Leo Strauss, the Straussians, and the American Regime (New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999), p. 410.
Shadia B. Drury is Canada Research Chair in Social Justice at the University of Regina, where she is professor of philosophy and political science. Her most recent book is Terror and Civilization: Christianity, Politics, and the Western Psyche (Palgrave MacMillan, 2004).