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Officials: Parents of suspect among 7 killed in Tennessee
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The man suspected of killing his parents and five other people in two rural Tennessee homes stole the car of one of the victims and was wearing a blood-stained T-shirt when he was seen, telling acquaintances the stain was just chocolate, according to authorities and court documents.
Law enforcement agents arrested 25-year-old Michael Cummins on Saturday about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from one of the two crime scenes at separate homes in rural Sumner County. He was shot and wounded while being taken into custody after authorities spotted him in a creek bed.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch called the two crime scenes "horrific" and "gruesome." He didn't elaborate on the manner in which the victims died, but said the attacks are believed to have taken place over more than one day.
Rausch's agency, also known as the TBI, identified the dead as the man's parents, 51-year-old David Carl Cummins and 44-year-old Clara Jane Cummins; 45-year-old uncle Charles Edward Hosale; 43-year-old Rachel Dawn McGlothlin-Pee, whose relationship to Cummins wasn't clear; Rachel's 12-year-old daughter, Sapphire McGlothlin-Pee; and Rachel's mother, 64-year-old Marsha Elizabeth Nuckols. Another victim, 69-year-old Shirley B. Fehrle, was found in a separate home and has no known relationship to Cummins.
An eighth victim, another relative, remained hospitalized in critical condition.
Cummins has a lengthy criminal record and had multiple court-ordered requests in the past to undergo mental health checks.
A court filing Monday said Cummins was in violation of his probation, which stemmed from a conviction for attempted aggravated arson and aggravated assault in which in September 2017, he set his neighbor's home on fire while she was inside and shoved her and pulled her hair while he was holding a gun, court documents show.
At the time of his 2017 arrest, he said that "if I get out of jail, I'll go down there and do it again," and later, when authorities asked about that statement, said that "when I get out, I'll finish the job," according to the documents. The neighbor was not one of the seven people named as deceased.
Cummins in part violated his probation because he didn't comply with a required mental health evaluation, one document shows. In the arson and assault case, a judge had reduced his 10-year prison sentence to 10 years of probation in January - after his conviction in July - on the condition that he receive the mental health evaluation and not contact his neighbor.
Cummins was released from jail in mid-January, said Ray Whitley, the local district attorney general.
"This is one of the most horrific cases I've ever had to encounter and deal with," said Whitley, the district attorney general in Sumner County since 1980.
Cummins had entered other agreements to undergo mental health treatments previously: after he pleaded guilty to 2017 charges of misdemeanor theft and evading arrest and after he pleaded guilty to 2013 charges of violating a restraining order, TBI records show.
Arrest warrants for Cummins were filed Monday on a charge of criminal homicide for at least one of the deceased and a charge of theft of property over $10,000.
Authorities have said the initial discovery of four bodies and an injured person stemmed from a 911 call from a family member Saturday. The injured victim was transported to the hospital with unspecified injuries. On Sunday, according to a TBI statement, the bodies of two more victims were found at the home.
Another body was found Saturday at another home in the area. Authorities believe the two scenes are related. The slayings occurred near the town of Westmoreland, not far from the Tennessee line with Kentucky.
Authorities have not said what kind of weapon was used. Fehrle appeared to have "blunt force trauma to her face" and other injuries to her extremities and her car was the one stolen and found abandoned in a creek bed, the affidavit says.
Additionally, Cummins told his acquaintances that the blood on his shirt was just chocolate, the affidavit says. He also told them that "if anything goes down, he would get blamed for it and was saving a bullet for himself," the affidavit says.
On Saturday, TBI spokesman Josh DeVine said at least one officer fired at Cummins after he emerged from the woods. Cummins is believed to have produced multiple weapons and the situation escalated, DeVine said.
Cummins remains hospitalized for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, DeVine said.
None of the responding officers were hurt.
DeVine said a state law enforcement airplane helped authorities spot Cummins on the ground in a creek bed.

subset: commoncrawl


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Today I have two random Bear Pawlish polishes :)
Bigger On The Inside:Bear Pawlish Bigger On The Inside is a gorgeous navy blue holo with a beautiful rainbow, also slightly visible in indoor light settings. It is very pigmented and opaque in one coat, but this is two coats with a coat of Seche Vite.
Peek-A-Boo!Bear Pawlish Peek A-Boo is a vivid and super gorgeous pink holo – close to a neon, but it isn't, it made me smile. I cannot wait for spring and summer – this polish is all of that LOL. This is two easy coats with a coat of Seche Vite.
I love both - but Peek-A-Boo! stole my heart...
Hundreds of indies: Indies & Co.My social media links: Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram


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Welcome to Wise Bread's Best Money Tips Roundup! Today we found some stellar articles on when eBay and Craigslist are worth it, things you never thought you could DIY, and saving money in your home office.
When Are eBay and Craigslist Worth It (and When Should I Stay Away?) — Don't buy mattresses or items that need repair from eBay or Craigslist. [Lifehacker]
No Way! 18 Incredible Things You Never Thought You Could DIY — The next time you want to buy a ring, make one yourself out of a quarter! [PopSugar Smart Living]
7 Smart Tips to Save Money in Your Home Office — Save money in your home office by using a power strip and making use of blinds and drapes. [Careful Cents]
The Power Of Saying Thank You To Improve Your Life — Expressing thanks to someone can help you focus on someone else instead of focusing on your problems. [Bible Money Matters]
Why Extended Warranties for New Tires Are A Waste of Money — Extended warranties on new tires are a waste of money because the odds favor the dealer. [Len Penzo dot Com]
Top 5 Non-Medical Factors That Affect Your Life Insurance Rates — Hazardous occupations and foreign travel can affect your life insurance rates. [Good Financial Cents]
Stretch Those Pennies with Watered-Down Cooking — Did you know you can add water to milk to make it go farther? [Parenting Squad]
5 Ways to Meet the Right People — Being generous and helping others can help you meet the right people. [Marc and Angel Hack Life]
10 Reasons You Need to Make a Decision Today — It is important to make decisions because inaction can lead to a boring life. [Time Management Ninja]
Ask Yourself These Seven Empowering Questions to Help You Break Through Your Resentment and Get On with Your Life — To let go of resentment and get on with your life, ask yourself how important what you are holding onto really is. [Dumb Little Man]
Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.


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Unitarian Universalist Association
The Unitarian Universalist Association was formed in 1961 by a merger between the main body of American Unitarians and the Universalist Association of America. The Unitarians emerged from the Congregational denomination about 1800. In recent decades turnover has been very high, as people use it as a vehicle to leave or enter other Christian denominations. In 2002 the denomination reported 1010 churches with 215,000 full members and 1267 pastors. The beliefs of the Unitarian Church are entirely open to interpretation. They do not directly affirm or deny God.
The Unitarian Universalism Association takes liberal positions on most issues. For example, they hold that women should be free to choose abortion. They argue for equality for homosexuals, gender equality, and work to end poverty, promote peace and nonviolence, and environmental protection.
Unitarian Universalism is noncreedal. However they are organized aroundthe following seven principles:
- The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
- Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
- Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
- A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
- The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
- The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all;
- Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part
Many small-town Unitarian church structures are picturesque white-painted frame structures of the sort that are emblematic of New England. They are likely to have a rainbow flag flying in front however, as the denomination is at the forefront in welcoming same-sex couples; one U-U pamphlet is entitled "Unitarian Universalism, A Religious Home for Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender People."[1]
As one sermon put it:
- "Sometimes we act as if we believe we can effect a complete separation of our liberal faith and our politics. Some of us confuse liberal religion with liberal politics and seem to operate under the belief that if we are registered with the Democratic party we have fulfilled our religious obligations in the public sphere. Both these beliefs are actually false. I say this even though I myself have at different times acted as if I believed one of these two things.".[2]
A Unitarian minister has answered the question "Are Unitarian Universalists Christian?" in these words: Yes and no.
- Yes, some Unitarian Universalists are Christian. Personal encounter with the spirit of Jesus as the Christ richly informs their religious lives.
- No, Unitarian Universalists are not Christian, if by Christian you mean those who think that acceptance of any creedal belief whatsoever is necessary for salvation. Unitarian Universalist Christians are considered heretics by those orthodox Christians who claim none but Christians are "saved." (Fortunately, not all the orthodox make that claim.)
- Yes, Unitarian Universalists are Christian in the sense that both Unitarian and Universalist history are part of Christian history. Our core principles and practices were first articulated and established by liberal Christians.
- Some Unitarian Universalists are not Christian. For though they may acknowledge the Christian history of our faith, Christian stories and symbols are no longer primary for them. They draw their personal faith from many sources: nature, intuition, other cultures, science, civil liberation movements, and so on.[3]
see Unitarians
Unitarian history
In the United States, Unitarianism is also an informal name for the beliefs of a religious denomination, originally the American Unitarian Association, known since its 1961 merger with the Universalists as the Unitarian Universalist Association. Members of the denomination are often called "Unitarians", although members of the organization, not wishing to overlook Universalism, prefer to call themselves "U-Us." The Unitarians appealed to a Harvard-educated Boston elite, while Universalism was common in the hard-scrabble farmers of remote New England villages.
The American Unitarian Association was founded in 1825, based on principles espoused in the sermons of William Ellery Channing, notably an 1819 sermon entitled "Unitarian Christianity."[4]
Unitarians emerged primarily within the Congregational churches of New England, in reaction against the excessive emotionalism of the First Great Awakening (from 1734) and subsequent revivals. Unitarians were rationalists who distrusted emotionalism and saw revivals as unholy. A sharp division emerged between the liberals and conservatives within Congregationalism; in 1805 the Hollis Professorship of Divinity at Harvard College was filled by Unitarian Henry Ware. The bitter debate that ensued was responsible for a great number of schisms among the New England churches. The most celebrated leader of the new liberal theology was William Ellery Channing, especially for his sermon "Unitarian Christianity" at Baltimore in 1819. The American Unitarian Association was formed in 1825 as an organization of individuals; not till 1865 was a conference of churches formed. The philosophical movement of Transcendentalism, typified by Ralph Waldo Emerson, further liberalized the Unitarian churches, as a result of the influence of Emerson and Theodore Parker. They vigorously championed the abolition of slavery and many other reforms. Parker brought to the denomination a social consciousness and a political activism that has continued strong through the years.
Unitarians moved throughout the Yankee diaspora, and became leading citizens in the upper Midwest. Many were active against slavery. Many leading literary and scientific figures have been Unitarians, including Emerson's contemporaries Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894), a poet who was the father of the justice; and Henry W. Longfellow (1807-1882), along with many scholars and educators. Unitarians include four presidents : John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Millard Fillmore, and William Howard Taft.
William Ellery Channing reacted against Calvinism, and at first tried to bridge the gulf between Unitarians and Trinitarians. Although he resisted the idea, there was a transcendental element in Channing's religious outlook. It stemmed from the Puritan tradition and 18th century rationalism, and produced a belief of human perfectibility expressed in rational vocabulary.
Channing, in his 1819 sermon "Unitarian Christianity," did much to define Unitarianism. Channing described Jesus as a man sent by God to inspire moral excellence on earth by his exemplary virtue. Thus the connection between God, Jesus, and human beings was moral, with God's universal love transmitted throughout. Therefore, there was no need for the distinctions of a Trinity. Influences on Channing toward this Christology included the writings of Francis Hutcheson and Joseph Butler.[5]
Unitarian minister Theodore Parker (1810–60) viewed religion as an instinctive expression of human needs. Critics say he was following German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach (1804–72) from Hegelian idealism into speculative atheism. Parker did agree with Feuerbach that religion was a spontaneous affair of the heart, but whereas Feuerbach believed that such concepts as God were an illusion without foundation, Parker consistently affirmed that human religious sentiment actually made the transcendent reality of God accessible to human beings.[6]
Ralph Waldo Emerson was the most important American intellectual of the 1830s-1850s. His influence was greater outside religious circles than inside—Abraham Lincoln read him closely.
A copy of David Friedrich Strauss's Leben Jesu (1835), which argued that Jesus was not the sole prophet but that all human beings are the incarnation of the Word, reached Boston in 1836-37. It disturbed most Unitarians but inspired Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was struggling to see the authority of Christianity in the message and not the messenger, to deliver his 1838 "Divinity School Address," in which he followed Unitarian assumptions in transcending Christianity itself. The controversy that greeted Emerson's "Divinity School Address" was a symptom of the erosion of basic assumptions about religion, truth, and social order. Strauss inspired Emerson, who was struggling to see the authority of Christianity in the message and not the messenger. Emerson's radical assertion of the individual's ability to perceive spiritual truth without the aid of scripture both reflected and contributed to a growing split between liberal and conservative tendencies in Unitarian theology. But the address became a sensation throughout Boston because Emerson's transcendentalist attack on institutional religious authority resonated with two political movements of the 1830s that similarly challenged the political, cultural, and moral authority of Boston elites. Although Unitarianism began as an insurgency against what it considered stale Congregationalist orthodoxy, when Emerson asserted that Transcendentalism implied that Unitarianism should reject the veracity of Christian miracles, moderate Unitarians asserted the existence of a new Unitarian orthodoxy that excluded Emerson's radical ideas.
The "Free Enquirers", led by former Universalist minister Abner Kneeland, an associate of the radical Frances Wright, linked freethinking on social issues with a Tom-Paine-like radicalism akin to the Workingmen's movement. Abolitionists led by Unitarian William Lloyd Garrison made a broad-based assault on legal authority, attacking even the legitimacy of the Constitution. This emergent discursive pluralism reflected the pervasive effects of the transformations wrought by Jacksonian politics.[7]
Unitarians were among the first to accept Darwinian evolution views as applied to religion and "higher criticism" of the Bible and have continued to modify their theology to accord with new fads. Since the 1930s the Unitarians have been influenced greatly by religious humanism—the belief that mankind should set aside unsolvable theological problems and concentrate on the application of the scientific method to the task of creating a better life
The Unitarian-Trinitarian controversy reflected the tensions created by modernization and urbanization in New England. Some Congregationalist ministers rejected the modernity of the Unitarians and fought back in the name of traditional rural values. The Connecticut Congregationalist minister Elizur Wright, Jr. protested against the loss of traditional values and issued a bitter cultural and theological indictment of Unitarianism. Wright castigated Unitarians for their personal corruption, bigotry, fanaticism and alcoholism. Adamant over the bitter verdict rendered in the Dedham pulpit case (1820), which favored the Unitarians, Wright attacked the Unitarians as a wealthy social elite, composed of lawyers and centered in evil Boston, who intended to destroy Christ's true church.[8]
Unitarianism spread rapidly in Boston and other upscale urban areas of eastern Massachusetts during 1803-35, but it did not prosper in rural western Massachusetts, despite the efforts of missionaries funded by the newly formed American Unitarian Association. This occurred in part due to a lack of money, entrenched orthodox theologies in the region, the competition of the Universalists, and a greater ease of communication with ministers from orthodox theological schools.[9]
European positivism
European positivism had a major impact on Unitarian intellectuals. Positivism in its English and French versions was eagerly received by many, and, for some, it helped undermine the Old Unitarianism and suggested forms for the New. Unitarians never adopted European positivism totally; rather, they selected those segments which fit their needs and often modified their original composition in the process. One from whom they borrowed heavily was French philosopher Auguste Comte, who with F. C. Baur, James Martineau and Charles Darwin were important in the transformation from Old to New Unitarianism.[10]
Harvard Divinity School was the main seminary in the east. The Meadville Theological School was established in Meadville, Pennsylvania, 1844 in order to train Unitarian ministers to work in the West. The chief founder was Harm Jan Huidekoper, a local businessman and land agent, who believed that the West was ripe for conversion to religious liberalism. His son Frederic, a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, taught at the new institution during 1844-77. Rufus Phineas Stebbins, president from the school's establishment to 1856, initiated a program of studies modelled on Harvard's. Stebbins devoted much energy to developing ties with the Christian Connection, a nearby church which was a major source of theology students. The entente with the Christian Connection began to deteriorate in 1848, but Stebbins continued to seek an accommodation with that body, and became a member of its Western Reserve Conference. However, the alliance was short-lived, and the Unitarians did not have great success in winning western adherents.[11]
African Americans
Unitarians were leaders of the abolition movement and always advocated racial equality, but never attracted many black members. One exception was civil rights leader Whitney M. Young, Jr. (1921–71), director of the Urban League during 1961-71. He bemae intellectually attracted to Unitarianism in the 1940s, and was a member of Unitarian churches from the 1950s until his death. While the white Unitarian denomination was proud to claim and honor him, in 1963 Young was bitterly disappointed that the denomination refused to deny privileges to churches maintaining racial segregation. He was also disappointed in the separatism of the Black Power movement in the denomination in 1967-70. Shaken by the discrepancy between the professed values of unity and the reality of division in the denomination, and caught in a religious dilemma between the intellectual Unitarianism that he believed in and the culture of the separate black church that increasingly nourished him, Young died in 1971 with his inner religious tension unresolved.[12]
While the Unitarians of the 19th century were upscale well-educated city people, the Universalists were farmers in the backwoods of New England.
A major controversy set New England Universalist ministers, led by Hosea Ballou, against the and Restorationists, led by Edward Turner, Paul Dean, and Jacob Wood. It began in 1801 and reached crisis proportions during 1817-24. The Universalists believed there was no punishment after death and the Restorationists held as an article of faith that a purifying punishment followed death.[13]
Social status differentials kept the two groups apart until the 1950s, when they formed a Council of Liberal Churches as a preliminary step to merger. They merged in 1961. The American Unitarian Conference, founded in 2000, believes the Unitarian Universalists have departed from the "Unitarian Christianity" of Channing. The splinter group regards itself as a "reborn" version of the American Unitarian Association, which it says "disbanded" in 1961 when it merged with the Universalists.[14]
External links
Video Testimonials by Members
- Why I Am Unitarian Universalist (Part 1)
- Why I Am Unitarian Universalist (Part 2)
- What Unitarian Universalists Believe (Puppet show)
- Voices of a Liberal Faith - Unitarian Universalists (testimonials and clips from actual services)
- Unitarian Universalism: You're a Uni-What? (Apologetic video, defending itself against religious denomination confusion such as "a cat with a hat")
Further reading
- Albanese, Catherine L. Transcendental Religion and the New America (1977)
- Buehrens, John A.. and Forrest Church. A Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism (1998) excerpt and text search
- Bumbaugh, David, Unitarian Universalism: A Narrative History (2001)
- Hewett, Phillip. Unitarians in Canada: How the Unitarians Have Exerted a Powerful Influence on Canadian Life for over 150 Years. (1978). 390 pp.
- Robinson, David. The Unitarians and Universalists. (1985). 368 pp.
- Smith, Leonard. The Unitarians: A Short History (2008)
- Stange, Douglas C. Patterns of Antislavery among American Unitarians, 1831-1860. (1977). 308 pp.
- Williams, George H. "American Universalism, a Bicentennial Historical Essay" Journal of the Universalist Historical Society v.9#1 pp 1–94, the best history
- ↑ Barbara L. Pescan, "Unitarian Universalism, A Religious Home for Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender People",
- ↑ Dan Harper, "An Election-day Sermon for Religious Liberals"
- ↑ Our Unitarian Universalist Faith: Frequently Asked Questions, Alice Blair Wesley
- ↑ Unitarian Christianity, text of Channing's sermon
- ↑ Nian-Sheng Huang, "William Ellery Channing's Christology and Moral Power: Rereading 'Unitarian Christianity.'" Journal of Unitarian Universalist History 1999 26: 1-17.
- ↑ Elisabeth Hurth, "From Idealism To Atheism: Theodore Parker and Ludwig Feuerbach." Journal of Unitarian Universalist History 1999 26: 18-46.
- ↑ Mary Kupiec Cayton, "Toward a Democratic Politics of Meaning-Making: The Transcendentalist Controversy and the Rise of Pluralist Discourse in Jacksonian Boston." Prospects 2000 25: 35-68. 0361-2333
- ↑ Lawrence B. Goodheart and Richard O. Curry, "The Trinitarian Indictment of Unitarianism: The Letters of Elizur Wright, Jr., 1826-1827." Journal of the Early Republic 1983 3(3): 281-296. 0275-1275
- ↑ Conrad Wright, "Unitarian Beginnings in Western Massachusetts." Proceedings Of The Unitarian Universalist Historical Society 1989 21(2): 27-40.
- ↑ Charles D. Cashdollar, "European Positivism and the American Unitarians." Church History 1976 45(4): 490-506. in JSTOR
- ↑ Bruce M. Stephens, "Liberals in the Wilderness: The Meadville Theological School, 1844-1856." Pennsylvania History 1975 42(4): 291-302. 0031-4528
- ↑ Dennis C. Dickerson, "Black Leader in a White Denomination: Whitney M. Young and the Unitarians." Journal of Unitarian Universalist History 1998 25: 26-40.
- ↑ Peter Hughes, "The Restorationist Controversy: Its Origins and First Phase, 1801-1824." Journal of Unitarian Universalist History 2000 27: 1-57.
- ↑ American Unitarian Conference: Promoting the American Unitarian Tradition


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Thursday's PR Business magazine had a full page on next Friday's Delivering the New PR Conference (PDF flyer) in London where I'm one of the speakers. PR Business doesn't yet have a website so I've copied the story below:
How small blogs bring big changes
Weblogs are having a significant impact on the way organisations communicate but many of the biggest successes are outside the public view, according to experts who will speak in London next month.
Although some use weblogs to reach a broad market, the most significant impact is on how organisations speak to niche, often internal, audiences, argues Stuart Bruce, one of six speakers at the University of Sunderland's Delivering the New PR conference on May 12.
Bruce, a partner in Leeds-based BMA PR and a high profile PR blogger, lists two major finance companies, a police force and a publisher among examples of organisations using weblogs to break new ground in internal communications.
He said: "It is a year since the cover story of BusinessWeek claimed 'blogs will change your business' and put blogging on the boardroom agenda. But if they are being honest, some of the early champions were finding it difficult to find UK examples where blogs were making a difference.
"Now all that is changing, and much of the change is coming as people realise the power of blogs to improve and stimulate communications with specialist and niche audiences."
And Philip Young, senior lecturer in Public Relations at the University of Sunderland and a lead researcher in the EuroBlog 2006 survey which tracks the impact of blogs on PR practice in 33 countries, agrees: "With experience people are realising that blogs are different than ordinary websites, which are often little more than static noticeboards. A good blog encourages dialogue, and it thrives on personal insights and a natural tone of voice.
"Crucially, a blog need only have a relatively small readership to make a difference and the quick, cheap and easy blog format provides a new way of networking. Many of the high profile blogs featured in newspapers are little different than any other page on a website; the ones that are shaping businesses thrive of links, comments and interactivity, all things which work better in a small circle of like-minded people. Tom Murphy, Paris-based social networking expert Elizabeth Albrycht, and podcast specialist Neville Hobson. With American partner Shel Holtz, Hobson produces the twice-weekly For Immediate Release podcast, regarded as the most influential voice on new PR issues.
Bruce added: "Many of the best uses of professional blogs aren't trying to reach mass consumer audiences but are conversations with specific groups of stakeholders such as a bank's chief executive having a direct conversation with thousands of employees or a neighbourhood police office talking with the local community."
Other speakers at Delivering the New PR include blog pioneer and Microsoft Ireland PR
University of Sunderland head of journalism and PR Chris Rushton will present new research about how changes in technology and practice in both newsrooms and PR offices have changed the way news releases are handled and decisions about whether to use them are made. He will provide specific tips on how to take advantage of these changes to increase a PRO's hit rate.
Young said: "EuroBlog 2006 painted a picture of a two-speed Europe, with one in three practitioners already seeing benefits from blogs, podcasts and other social softwares, but with a similar number not seeing a relevance to them or their clients.
"The high level of interest in Delivering the New PR is just one more sign that practitioners, from blue chips to charities and community groups are beginning to see past the hype and find ways of harnessing the new technologies in a way that makes a real difference to their work."
Delivering the New PR
How Blogs, Podcasts and RSS Can Work for You
Venue: London Marriott Hotel, Regents Park
Date: Friday 12 May 2006
Times: 10am – 4pm
Delegate tickets £175 + VAT for CIPR members, £195 + VAT for non members. To book please contact Nicky Wake at Don't Panic Projects Ltd on 01706 828855, e-mail email@example.com or book on line at http://www.dontpanicprojects.com/booking.htm


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This article is about the giant metal shapeshifting aliens with psychological defects. For the electrical device, you're probably on the wrong wiki.
This page contains Transformers! So find all the Mini-Cons, destroy the Allspark, stop the Decepticons, reprogram the stasis pods, defend the Autobots, plant the seeds of the future, process all the energon, activate the Omega Lock, open the Matrix, eliminate even the toughest stains, drink 2 gallons of mercury/lead cocktail and light our darkest hour!
"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings...unless they're Decepticons, in which case, kill the bastards!"
Transformers are members of a race of sentient robots from the planet Cybertron who were exiled to Earth in 1984. They are most notable for changing their appearance and form so as to resemble machinery like a toyota. This modification of their metal bodies in appearance (to be attractive and powerful Earth vehicles) has been likened to the human usage of tattoos, body piercings and implants to fit in with other individuals who also have low self esteem. Some of the more well known Transformers are known as: Optimike Prime, Thundave Cracker, Alan Storm, Butt Fire and Leroy breaker.
"I know that what the Puritanicons did back on Cybertron changed you, took away your feelings. But perhaps someday you'll see that there are more important things in life than revenge and toyotas."
While transformation was in vogue on Cybertron for a short time (see below), the vast majority of Cybertronians (known colloquially as the Puritanicons) do not change their appearance. These "pillars of the community" look down on those that choose to and the term "Transformers" came into vogue as derogatory term referring to any robot who disguises their true self through body modification techniques. Transformers slowly became excluded from polite society, saw a loss of Facebook friends, until finally they were barred from holding public office and forced to work in super discount chain stores outside the normal boundaries of the cities. This eventually resulted in the exile of the Transformers from Cybertron to Earth; an error primarily due to a malfunctioning navigation unit used during travel.
Transformer parades[edit]
Whilst the Earth had the shameful history of their Minstrel Shows, Cybertron had the equally damaging Transformers Parade. These events would showcase up to a hundred transformers, fully transformed, performing in formation for the speculation of an eager public. Long since seen as an embarrassing exploitation of the lower classes, the final shows were last performed over twenty years ago.
Since its Heyday, transforming has been considered a pastime of the lower classes and the deviant elite on Cybertron, and thus only individuals with low self-esteem and other psychological issues pursue this radical course of action. The issues that result in a Cybertronian becoming a Transformer are many and varied, but some of the more common are detailed below.
Identity issues[edit]
Unlike those who have the ability to change shape into whatever they wish on the drop of a dime (shapeshifters or transmorphers), the transformers can only switch between pre-rendered mechanisms and their original shape. Thus, many transformer robots have developed emotional issues and mental complexes, due to their feelings of inadequacy when compared to the superior abilities of a shapemorpher.
Low self-image[edit]
Some transformers (notably Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and others), have very bad self esteem, which they normally show by listening to Music and crying into pillows which allows them to express their feelings and feel like they are no better than common automotive vehicles. This was the original reason that their alien race migrated to Earth, in order to punish themselves. Once here, they battle each other in order to injure and maim themselves until they are bored, leaving Earth as a ruined wasteland.
Choosing sides[edit]
Unfortunately, most of these issues cannot be solved simply by re-building your body from the ground up, and most transformers eventually end up seeking self-worth by taking the path of either a Decepticon or an Autobot. While it is possible to switch from one group to the other, most Transformers find some kind of acceptance in these social groups and are reluctant to move away from what is effectively a surrogate family.
"To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures. I will accept this award as a call to action, a call to all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century"
Decepticons (lit: ''Not a pretty picture'') blame the universe for their apparent insignificance, and seek to destroy or enslave the entire universe in revenge, though due to the current economy they would be happy to settle for dominion over Earth and/or Cybertron. Because of their insecure nature,warlike personalities and general lack of diplomatic or social skills, they are susceptible to infighting and betrayal, and their greater purposes are often thwarted by petty disagreements and leadership struggles.
Not to be confused with that wide receiver from Detroit, Megatron is the long time leader of the Decepticons due to his great size, strength, and the giant tank cannon on his arm. Megatron seeks to account for his own insecurities by conquering the Earth and grinding the human race into submission, proving to his mother, Mommatron, that he is not worthless after all. He is regularly thwarted by his ex-BBFF (Bionic Best Friend Forever) Optimus Prime, and in a classic case of sibling rivalry, is driven by an all-consuming rage to destroy him and the Autobots for all eternity and be recognized as the greatest of all Transformers by anyone and everyone left alive.
A fearsome fighter in his own right and Megatron's second-in-command, Starscream seeks recognition and respect from his fellow Decepticons. This causes him to regularly attempt to undermine and supplant Megatron, which in turn results in his losing position amongst the Decepticons. This is a classic case of a self esteem spiral. He is known to contain the voice of a 40-year-old female crack addict who suffers from dwarfism He is also a fucking cowardly loser.PERIOD.
The Autobots (lit. ''self-workers'') seek to attain self-worth by gaining the adulation and approval of humankind And other Autobots by protecting civilization from 'evil', which mostly means fighting the Decepticons. The Autobots in the main part recognize that for them to remain the adored heroes of humankind (many of whom are still utterly unaware of the existence of the Transformers at all) in the long term, they must defeat but not destroy the Decepticons, allowing them to save the day again in the near future. Sadly, this also results in low job satisfaction due to never making progress in their fight.
After the schism of 1962, the world was littered with the corpses of microwave, radio, fridge, and worst of all kettle soldiers. After this, the few free-thinking house-hold appliances, split off from the main body, relocating In the South-American Rainforest. It was then that Asa Candler, the owner of the front 'Coke Cola', which in truth, is vast network of secret agents planning the downfall of soviet russia.... As the secret agents are cans, they can be forgiven for not noticing their downfall in 1991.... but that's another story....
The Coca Cola Company decided to 'Sponsor' this faction, for many of its employees did not realising that they were being skillfully manipulated by this ancient and cunning division. They are engaged in covert warfare with the Autobot-controlled Pepsi, with the victor managing to control fizzy drink consumption across the world, and so, carefully, using mind-control drugs, take over the world, and finally throw down the Iron Curtain
Optimus Prime[edit]
Optimus Prime is God's only son and gave his life on the cross for our sin. Despite being universally recognized as the best and brightest of the Autobots, the last hope of humanity and being able to transform into the kind of truck that every six year old boy dreams of driving, Optimus Prime still suffers from an inferiority complex that causes him to hide as much as possible while on Earth, sacrifice himself at each and every opportunity, and make long boring speeches about truth, justice and the American way of life. Other Autobots find him incredibly obnoxious, but hang around him anyway because he is popular with the ladies, mechanical and otherwise. He also has the unique ability to transform into a truck by making a magical truck trailer appear out of nowhere, a trick he learned from Criss Angel. The origin of this mysterious trailer is unknown and also the eighth wonder of the world. No one knows how old he is, but he's got mad skillz wit a huge ass gun and dual arm blades. Hellz Yeah Optimus!
The vain and annoying Autobot jumped up the Autobot hierarchy due to being Optimus Prime's old friend (though it is speculated they shared a much more intimate bond). A hippy high on gear oil, Jazz tries to make the mist dangerous situations sound funny and as a result, gets his buddies in trouble. Jazz has the voice of a crazy 100 year old Afro dude and acts like one too. Word of advice: don't thrash talk Jazz; he always wins. Unfortunately before he could give Megatron an ass whooping in the movie, he got torn in half.
Decepticon names like Starscream and Megatron inspire fear wherever they go, some Autobots with cool names like Ironhide and Optimus Prime are universally respected, and some poor Autobots obviously suffer from having been loathed by their parents. If robots have parents. The Autobots themselves seem to be reluctant to talk about the matter in front of humans, and the Decepticons aren't really into talking. Not only does Bumblebee have the least manly name of all robots in the history of the universe, he's also colorblind and has no idea that he is actually a bright yellow scrap metal material camaro stolen from a redneck in Alabama , which is probably just as well.
As the cartoon series hit it's peak ratings in he mid eighties a small group of Bumblebee Fans started to stay awake until the early morning hours. They often waited for the time of 3.38am (this number is significant because when turned upside down it reads "BEE") At exactly 3:38am everyone would look into a mirror and hum in unison for one minute. Apparently, according to urban legend, A yellow Mist wouldn't materialise, and it wouldn't curse the hummers. and it wouldn't leave a sticky pool of honey behind. Nevertheless It is rumoured to be not happening in a town not near to you, maybe never.
According to the film, he couldn't talk properly because his vocals were destroyed and were healed when the plot line required it..
"To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures. I will accept this award as a call to action, a call to all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century"
One Autobot who has captured the admiration of audiences worldwide is Marlbot, whose constant campaigning on health issues such as Lung Cancer awareness and reluctance to fight everything in sight is tipped to win him the Nobel peace prize in 2014.
In 1984 a small religious oriented Japanese toy company converted their line of Nascar and military related cigarette lighters into a line of child teaching aids to mock these so called "Trans-formers." After several unfortunate child deaths, the Japanese government stepped in and removed the butane based flame source and required additional safety measures be implemented in order to protect children. The popularity of the "mini-bots" exploded as the newly safe toys (re-marketed with a diversity theme) were sold to the public at a reasonable price point.
Decepticon response[edit]
Decepticons take no interest in the feeble entertainments of measly humanity, but when they are rulers of all the universe humankind will pay for the harsh portrayal of Starscream as being that misshapen and for calling action figures 'dolls'.
Autobot response[edit]
While the Autobots in general were overjoyed by what they saw as recognition from humanity for their hard work rather than simply a commercial opportunity well exploited, many Autobots were disheartened by their low sales compared to those of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Megatron.
"To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures. I will accept this award as a call to action, a call to all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century"
The transformers figurines were used as an example of cheap foreign-made goods flooding the world market in the Nobel Peace prize acceptance speech of US president Barrack Obama, who identified overcommercialization the greatest challenge of the western world in the 21st century. Autobots and Decepticons alike were reported to be devastated by the reaction from the President, whom many had considered an example of the changing prejudices of a society that might some day come to love minority groups like alien robots as it has embraced African Americans.
TV show[edit]
Emerging the same time as the 'action figures', the Transformers animated series (known by fans as "G1") did well amongst the human audience in both the US and Japan, but drew derision from Cybertron for glorifying what was now a taboo subject on the planet, from the Decepticons due to the sad inability of their animated avatars, like themselves, to attain victory over the Autobots, and from the Autobots because they weren't approached to do the voice acting. Despite, or perhaps because of this outcry, the TV show continued to do well, running to many series and producing many sequels and spin-offs, and even a series of comic books. The Transformers did not receive any royalties for the usage of their names or adventures, and as they were illegal aliens they had little to no recourse in a court of law.
The second series was known as the "Beast Era" in which the recognized Transformers were shelved so new fur-loving Transformers could debut, known as the Maximals and Predacons (or Paedocons to Wikipedia), in the cartoon Beast Wars. The series proved popular, as did Preds Dinobot and Megatron Jr. who went back in time to destroy Optimus Prime. Optimus' cousin Optimus Primal starred as the main character. The series' gained a sequel, called Beast Machines, written by hippies in which the Maximals became eco-terrorists and tried to turn Cybertron into the new Eden Project. Optimus Primal and Megatron died in the process. The series was then followed by Robots in Disguise, but no one remembers that.
The Unicron Trilogy followed, ripping off Pokemon, and sending Starscream through more personality changes than there have been toy recolors. The most recent series are Cartoon Network's Transformers Animated, where all of the character had big chins, and the Hub's Transformers Prime, wherein the characters ditched said chins for massive eyebrows instead.
Movie franchise[edit]
There are three movies of the Transformers franchise: the 1986 movie, the 2007 movie obviously named as Transformers and the sequel, known as "Transformers: Revenge of the Allen". Of the modern franchise there are three further movies planned: "Transformers: War for Your Mom", "Transformers: That's Not A Truck That's a cart" , "Transformers: The Final and Rubbish Exploitative Sequel where the hot chick gets replaced by some random chick with a cheesy explaination" , "Transformers: The Final and Rubbish Exploitative Sequel where the hot chick gets replaced by some random chick with a cheesy explaination pt.2" and "Transformers: The Ripoff and Shitty Boring Sequel". Critics are divided on the merit of the planned sequels.
See also[edit]
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Culture is not just the expression of individual interests and orientations, manifested in groups according to rules and habits but it offers identification with a system of values. The construction of cultural memory and establishing a symbolic order through setting up mental and ideological spaces is a traditional practice of cultural engineering; symbolic scenarios generate reality by mediating an implicit political narrative and logic. Maps of the world radiating an aura of objectivity and marking out the ways of life are exploited as cognitive tools. An image of the world as simulation or map of reality can be highly inductive and that explains the investment in cultural representation. From historiography to education, perception is influenced by mental scenarios that establish the symbolic order. According to Edward Bernays, a pioneer of modern public relations, the only difference between education and propaganda is the point of view. "The advocacy of what we believe in is education. The advocacy of what we don't believe is propaganda." The development in electronic communication and digital media allows for a global telepresence of values and behavioral norms and provides increasing possibilities of controlling public opinion by accelerating the flow of persuasive communication. Information is increasingly indistinguishable from propaganda, defined as "the manipulation of symbols as a means of influencing attitudes". Whoever controls the metaphors controls thought.
The ubiquitous flow of information is too fast to absorb and creating value in the economy of attention includes the artful use of directing perception to a certain area, to put some aspects in the spotlight in order to leave others in the dark. The increasing focus of attention on the spectacle makes everything disappear that is not within the predefined event horizon. Infosphere manipulation is also implemented through profound penetration of the communications landscape by agents of influence. Large scale operations to manage public opinion, to evoke psychological guiding motivations and to engineer consent or influence policy making have not been exclusive to the 20th century. Evidence of fictitious cultural reconstruction is abundant in the Middle Ages; recent findings on the magnitude of forgeries, the large scale faking of genealogies, official documents and codices attracted broad attention and media interest. In 12th century Europe in particular, pseudo historical documents were widely employed as tools of political legitimacy and psychological manipulation. According to some conservative estimates, the majority of all documents of this period were fictitious. With hindsight, whole empires could turn out to be products of cultural engineering. Moreover, writers such as Martin Bernal, author of "The Fabrication of Ancient Greece", have clearly demonstrated to what extent cultural propaganda and historical disinformation is contained in the work of European scholars. On the basis of racist ideas and a hidden political agenda historic scenarios were fabricated and cultural trajectories distorted in order to support the ideological hegemony of certain European elites.
The increasing informatization of society and economy is also the source of a growing relevance of culture, the cultural software in the psycho-political structure of influence. During the so-called cold war, too, issues of cultural hegemony were of importance. In publications such as "The Cultural Cold War" and "How America stole the Avant-garde" Frances Stonor Saunders and Serge Guilbaud offer a behind-the-scenes view of the cultural propaganda machine and provide a sense of the extravagance with which this mission was carried out. Interestingly there were efforts to support progressive and liberal positions as bridgehead against the "communist threat". If one chooses to believe some contemporary investigative historical analyses, it seems that there was hardly a major western progressive cultural magazine in the Fifties and Sixties that would not have been founded or supported by a cover organization of intelligence services or infiltrated by such agencies. In the light of this, the claim made by Cuba at the UNESCO world conference in Havana 1998, according to which culture is the "weapon of the 21st century" does not seem unfounded.
Information Peacekeeping has been described as the "purest form of war" in the extensive military literature on information war. From cold war to code war, the construction of myths, with the intention of harmonizing subjective experience of the environment, is used for integration and motivation in conflict management. While "intelligence" is often characterized as the virtual substitute of violence in the information society, Information Peacekeeping, the control of the psycho-cultural parameters through the subliminal power of definition in intermediation and interpretation is considered the most modern form of warfare.
It is a boom time for intelligence agencies, not only state but private intelligence. Mass-surveillance, dataveillance, and information processing has grown into a major intelligence industry. While state intelligence is protected by secrecy in the interest of national security, prohibitive fees and large payments affordable by corporations only, guard access to economic intelligence.
Corporations, consumers of economic intelligence, routinely advance the merging of editorial information with corporate public relations in the media. The agenda of privately accumulated capital is further supported by a multitude of think-tanks which publish ideologically biased research and hidden agendas masked as independent academic work. Unlike the billion-dollar brainware industry put into place by corporate interest, there are no Future Heritage foundations of cultural intelligence, no foresight institutes exploring the multidimensional potential of human experimental communication beyond the role as consumers. It seems as if the control of societal development is in the hands of technocratic elites, ill informed bureaucrats and a shady but aggressive lobbyism. The layout for the future of communication is decided behind closed doors.
Technologically determined environments increasingly shape society but the democratic participatory potential is more and more excluded from a public debate. Most of the early hopes of emancipatory practice in a society based on information exchange seem to have vanished and turned into gloom. Instead the potential of information and communication technologies for political control and repression seemingly has no boundaries, as its practical applications become more "normal" and manifest reality every day. The use of information technology for the deterrence of civilian dissent opens up a new dimension of political and cultural control.
By the year 2002, high resolution privacy intrusion is getting into the mainstream big time. Although 9-11 caused a landslide, this development has built up momentum for some years. The European Union's cross border communication interception project Enfopol, and the UK's Regulation of Investigative Powers (RIP) bill, which allows the police to intercept any communication using the "public communications system" were among the earlier legal frameworks paving the way for the rise of the total surveillance society. Despite being taken up by the European Parliament in1998, the Echelon communications interception system set up in1948 remains one of the secrets of western intelligence agencies and out of the reach of democratic accountability. Increasing proliferation of technologies of surveillance and control is not only useful for its potential to contain segments of society that fail to be integrated into the economy of machinic symbol manipulation but the long-term effects of social homogenization through the command/control structure of technology are also highly desirable for globalized markets and opinion management.
The situation is getting even more precarious due to the fact that new media are ever more dominated by a dramatic concentration of private interest capital and the absence of the protection of the public interest by political representatives for a society at large. The public sphere can best be developed independently of the state and of dominant business interests. The logic of the control over the media market is strongly opposed to the cultivation and formation of a public sphere, and the dysfunctionality of media markets generates a crucial deficiency of participatory media culture. A society shaped by technological systems and digital communication should keep a perspective where cultural freedom can be actively pursued and in which use and value are not exclusively determined by profits.
Therefore it seems necessary to widen the basis of understanding to support a broad discussion on the political implications of ICT and to raise awareness on issues of conflict. Developments that need to be monitored with great awareness include the attack on privacy and the databody, the digital divide, net.slaves and the deterioration of the workplace, the vanishing of a public sphere in the digital realm, the extension of copyright benefiting the content industry and IP lobby against the public interest but also the establishment of one-sided technological standards, the militarization of cyberspace and new possibilities of disinformation.
Against this less then reassuring background there is a surprising multitude of examples of emancipatory use of ICT to be found all over the world and it has undeniably become an essential tool for political, cultural and human rights activists. These groups and individuals are the ones that keep the spirit of the social use of communication networks alive and give an example of empowerment through new technology.


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Gil Scott-Heron, Godfather of Hip-Hop, Would Have Been 66
A version of this article ran on phillymag.com in March 2012.
When he first told America in 1970 that "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," after writing it in 1968 at age 19, Gil Scott-Heron set the stage for what would become part of the musical and poetic soundtrack for black, white and brown progressives and revolutionaries. And he didn't stop until 40 years later. Gil was the "musical grandson" of insurrectionist Nat Turner and liberator Harriet Tubman, and the "poetic son" of fiery author David Walker and anti-lynching editor Ida B. Wells.
Gilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was born April 1, 1949, in Chicago to Jamaican soccer star Giles "The Black Arrow" Heron and opera singer/teacher Robert (yes, "Robert," as named by her father Robert), better known as Bobbie, Scott-Heron. When he was two, his parents separated after his father had decided to move to Scotland. The two didn't speak to each other again until he was 26. Immediately following the separation, Gil's mother moved to Puerto Rico to teach English. Before going, she sent him to Tennessee to live with her mother, a serious and religious southern woman. His grandmother was pivotal in laying the foundation for him to become the man he became. Lillie, as she was called, loved gospel music. She made arrangements for Gil to entertain her Thursday night sewing circle by playing gospel on a broken-down piano that she bought for him for about eight dollars from the funeral parlor next door. And she hired a neighbor at the rate of 10 cents per lesson to teach him to play. He learned, mostly by ear and, as he later put it, competently not excellently. By the time he was eight, he found himself attracted to what he was hearing on WDIA, a local blues-oriented radio station in Memphis. Although he couldn't really appreciate what he heard, he definitely liked it. Accordingly, he began to mimic it on his piano — but only when grandma wasn't around, because she was no fan of the blues.
It wasn't just music that Lillie brought into his life. It was also black consciousness. She introduced him to the literary artistry and social activism of Langston Hughes, whose work would become a motivating force in Gil's life. She explained to him what southern racism meant for black adults and for black children, too. She became his rock, his inspiration, and his motivation, and he loved her dearly for it. One day in 1962 when he was 12, he noticed that she had not come downstairs for breakfast, so he went up to wake her. She had died in her sleep. He was devastated. She was, as he told NME in 1986, "an issues woman, looking at things in terms of what's fair and not fair. It's a question of looking in your heart for the truth and not seeing whether your favorite politician goes for a particular issue. On a right or wrong type of basis, this is how my grandmother raised me, to not sit around and wait for people to guess what's on my mind. I was gonna have to say it."
His mother returned to New York to move them into a Bronx apartment that she would share with her brother. When Gil's uncle left in 1965, his mom could no longer afford the rent because her job at the city housing authority didn't pay enough. So the two moved to a public housing project in the run-down Chelsea section of Manhattan.
As a sophomore at the neighborhood DeWitt Clinton High School, Gil excelled academically, primarily in writing courses. In fact, one of the English teachers was so impressed that she got an interview for him at the elite Ethical Culture Fieldston School in Riverdale, a prosperous section of the Bronx. He was accepted on a full academic scholarship but was disappointed to discover that he would be just one of five African-American students in a class of 100.
He later enrolled at Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He chose that school because it was where his hero Langston Hughes had attended. In fact, he actually met Langston Hughes there once. And it was at Lincoln in 1969 where he met the Last Poets and told member Abiodun Oyewole that he was so moved by their rhythmic revolutionary poetry that he "wanted to do that" in life. Although he never joined (or even tried to join) this historic spoken word and percussion group, he did begin to blossom as a musician and activist, especially when he hooked up with follow student Brian Jackson and formed the Black and Blues band. He remained at Lincoln for two years and then went on a sort of sabbatical to write two powerful and still relevant novels, The Vulture and The Nigger Factory, the former published in 1970 and the latter in 1971. In addition, he wrote a volume of poetry. And he earned a master's degree in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University in 1972.
Music became his life when he began to record with small labels, and his career expanded in 1975 when he was signed to Clive Davis's Arista Records, making him the first artist ever on that mega-label. It was then that his Midnight Band debuted. Gil's First Minute of a New Day album reached Billboard's Top-10 Soul Album chart. He headlined as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live — at the insistence of Richard Pryor. He replaced the terminally ill Bob Marley on a tour with Stevie Wonder in the early 1980s. He also performed with the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Miles Davis.
Gil had become exactly what he always wanted to be: a jazzman, a soul-man, a poet, a composer, an author, and a bluesman. He also wanted to be and did become a "bluesologist," meaning, in his words, "a scientist who is concerned with the origin of the blues." He listed his influences as Langston Hughes, John Coltrane, Otis Reading, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Richie Havens, Huey Newton and Malcolm X.
Although many of us hip-hop aficionados like to say that Gil is the "godfather of hip-hop," the man himself half-seriously and half-jokingly once said in 2010, "I don't know if I can take the blame for that." But he was referring only to the heartless materialism, the gratuitous violence, and the cartoonish posturing of commercialized hip-hop — meaning just the bastardized and Frankenstein-created version that pollutes cable TV and FM radio and that falsely claims to be hip-hop when the vast majority of what is aired is really nothing more than modern-day minstrelsy performed by no-talent poseurs. That's why he had absolutely no problem with unadulterated hip-hop, which included performing with Common and Talib Kweli, being sampled by Mos Def, Tribe Called Quest, and (the sometimes genius and sometimes asshole) Kanye West, having his songs remade by The Roots and Queen Latifah, and recording with Blackalicious. Chuck D of Public Enemy said Gil is one of "the roots of rap, taking a word and juxtaposing it into some sort of music." He added "… we do what we do and how we do because of you." Eminem stated "He influenced all of hip-hop." And Lupe Fiasco dedicated the poem "The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized" to him.
Gil's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," first recorded in 1970, was listed in the New Statesman in 2010 as one of the "Top 20 Political Songs of All Time." The Guardian's Jude Rogers wrote that Gil's 2010 I'm New Here CD was one of the "decade's best records." Gil posthumously received the Grammy's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.
The drug and jail problems of Gil's private life got more media attention than they deserved; drugs and jail didn't define him. They weren't who he was permanently, only what he did temporarily. What he was and what he is is an activist musician/musical activist who, in a span of four decades, enlightened, activated, and, yes, entertained us with 15 studio albums, 11 compilation albums, nine live albums, and one collaboration album (recordings from 1970's Small Talk at 125th and Lenox to 2010's I'm New Here and 2011's We're New Here).
Gil was also a family man, with two half-brothers, Denis Heron and Kenny Heron, and a half-sister, Gayle Heron. His four children are Rumal Rackley, Gia Scott-Heron, Raquiyah Kelly Heron, and Chegianna Newton. He was a son, a grandson, a brother and a father. But to the public in general and me in particular, he was the musically and poetically mellifluous voice of progressivism and revolution. And not just in name, but in word, in deed, and in life — at least until he became an ancestor on May 27, 2011. Without compromise, he relentlessly performed the revolutionary music and spread the revolutionary message.
And we all can celebrate that music and that message in honor of his 66th birthday at a video music screening tribute on April 1st at 6:30 p.m. at Temple University's Anderson Hall (room 14). Admission is free. For more info, call 215-552-8751 or send an email to firstname.lastname@example.com. Spread the word: On April 1st, Gil's revolution will be televised — well, maybe not televised, but certainly screened.


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Gateway To Angkor Wat
Siem Reap, which literally means the "Defeat of Siam", is the most prosperous region of contemporary Cambodia. Its close proximity to the Angkor Wat temple complex has turned the city into one of the world's premier travel destinations. More than one million travelers visit Siem Reap every year to explore over a thousand years of Khmer heritage built near Tonle Sap Lake, the foundation of the economic power of the ancient Cambodian empire.
The heart of Siem Reap's tourist district is known as Old Market, or Psah Chas. This part of town is home to a large concentration of restaurants and shops geared towards an ever-increasing number of American, British and European tourists. The influx of tourism has transformed a quiet little city into a bustling downtown area with an eclectic array of restaurants, bars and nightclubs that rivals any college town along with a night market that keep going well past midnight.
This site is inspired by our trip to Cambodia in December of 2008 and particularly by Ara, our Siem Reap Guide. She spent a couple days as our local guide and arranged for our tuk-tuk, for a licensed temple guide and showed us around her city. Ara has now started her own travel agency and can help you with all of your travel needs. If you are planning to visit Siem Reap, let Ara make all the arrangements for you. You can also fill out our contact form with details or email her directly.
Angkor Wat and the Temple Region
The primary attraction for visitors to Siem Reap is the Angkor Wat and the Angkor Temple Region, which blankets more than 300km of northwestern Cambodia. The Angkor Temple Complex has been designated a UN Heritage Site and consists of hundreds of structures from the 9th to the 14th century that tell the story of the rise and fall of the Khmer empire. This vast collection of historical structures are decorated with intricately carved, priceless Khmer artwork and that provide an archaeological and a pictorial history of an empire that ruled much of southeast Asia for five centuries. Structure range from partially renovated temples, pagoda and imperial residences to recently discovered ruins which are virtual untouched for the last 500 years.
No photo can do justice to the Khmer temples of the Angkor complex. Lists of adjectives can't either: Stunning, humbling, awe inspiring, spiritual or magical, all of these words are inadequate to describe the succession of unforgettable experiences awaiting you, so plan to take up residence for at least a week in one of the best holiday destinations cities in Asia.
A global wave of tourism focused on the exploration of the Angkor Temples has been the driving force behind Siem Reap's recent growth. The Cambodian people have responded to this influx in tourism by creating an academic program and licensed tour guides to teach travelers about the Angkor temples history, architecture, and culture.
You can spend a week reading a guidebook for recommended places to visit and study the maps to get around with a local driver, but the best way to capture the essence of the temple region is to hire an expert. Even if you don't hire an approved guide for touring the temples, a local guide will make your temple journey more informative and authentic.
Flying In
The Angkor International Airport (REP/VDSR) is less than 15 minutes from Siem Reap's town center. Most flights arriving at Angkor International Airport are Vietnam Airlines, which offers services from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Bangkok, Thailand or Ho Chi Minh City. Transportation into the city by car or tuk tuk is easy to find and will cost you US$4-7. Be aware that you will have to pay a $20 visa fee upon entering the country and another $25 exit fee when you leave. If you are coming from the United States, there is no need to change currency when you arrive; almost all business in Cambodia is conducted in U.S Dollars, including ATMs.
Other Ways to get to Siem Reap
Natives to the region mostly travel by bicycle, motorcycle, tuk-tuk and occasionally by bus and rarely go on trips further than their native villages. The streets of Siem Reap have their fair share of cars, but mostly they are taxis, VIP, police and commercial vehicles and you will rarely see anything resembling the traffic that is so familiar in cities across the world.
Tourist generally arrive by air or come for a few days via cruse ship. Some especially masochistic tourists, and those who book group packages, arrive by bus from Laos, Vietnam or Thailand. It takes an entire day to get from the border of Vietnam to Siem Reap, so only the traveler who has nowhere to go in a hurry should consider taking the bus. If you started in the capital Phnom Penh, the road is paved and smooth and there are several regularly scheduled daily buses in both directions, taking only 5 or 6 hours. It is about the same distance from much less touristed Battambanq and Sihanoukville, which is Cambodia's destination for beach vacations.
Getting Around
Siem Reap's city center is best explored on foot or on "tuk tuk" (a rickshaw with the front-end of a motorcycle). Tuk tuks, although not luxurious, are easy to find and inexpensive, not to mention these quirky vehicles have views in all directions and will add a little adventure to your daily commutes.
Most of the city's large hotels are located outside the central part of the city, along Airport Road, (technically) walking distance from the town center and the dining / entertainment districts. On the other hand, the price of a tuk tuk ride to the market is about 1 USD per person and you will do plenty of walking while exploring the Angkor complex, so you might want to save your feet. Unlike many popular tourist destinations around the world, Siem Reap reports very low crime rates, even at night. So feel free to take a moonlit stroll down Pub Street or along the Siem Reap River.
Travelers exploring Cambodia's temple region make Siem Reap their home base. Accommodations throughout the city expose tourists to a charming junction of traditional Khmer and the New Cambodia. Whether you want to select one of the youth hostels and guesthouses, a little privacy with a room in a pleasant thatch-roofed getaway for a couple of nights, a private residence, a reasonably price western style hotel with air conditioning or royal treatment in a luxurious five star resort with beautiful facilities, this list of Siem Reap Hotels has properties that can satisfy the budgets of backpackers and luxury travelers alike.
Siem Reap Restaurants are the gemstones of Cambodia's dining culture. Showcasing the culinary traditions of the Khmer people mixed with hundreds of years of French colonialism, the city's restaurant and bar scene offers gourmet food and a lively atmosphere with a very European feel and deals that can't be beat. Enjoy local dishes served in a wooden bodega, or experience the flavor explosion of Khmer-Asian-Western fusion cuisine. If you're feeling adventurous, make your reservations at Meric, Hotel de la Paix's award-winning restaurant and enjoy the world's best dried snake salad… it's fantastic.
Other Things To Do
Siem Reap welcomes approximately one million tourists per year from the U.S., England, Europe, China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, just to list a few.Beyond the draw of Angkor, Cambodia is one of the poorest…and cheapest destinations in Asia and boasts tropical rain forests and unspoiled jungle that draws its share of ecotourism. While some families visit, the majority of the American and British tourist we saw were adults in their twenties and thirties.
The official language was until recently still French and you can get buy almost anywhere in town with English, but when you walk down the center of the old town, you can hear a barrage of languages the offers instant confirmation that visitors come from all over the world to experience the historical treasures of Cambodia. This wave of vacationers has led to the growth of a vibrant shopping, nightlife and entertainment scene. Whether you're looking for a theater or a dance club, you'll find lots on like minded people and lots of cheap beer in this trekker's Mecca.
The Angkor National Museum, home to a breathtaking gallery of 1000 Buddhas, is one of Asia's premier attractions. This modern facility is devoted to the preservation of Khmer traditions and the history of Angkor Wat. Visitors learn about Cambodia's temple heritage through a series of video screens and cutting edge displays.
A variety of shopping centers, spas, cafés, parks, and other activities can be found throughout the the old market area. Don't expect duty free mall stuffed with high-end boutique shops or even basic necessities. The local merchants offer a variety of hand made item, local silk goods, world famous Cambodian puppets and an assortment of disturbingly similar goods that could be found at a flee market anywhere in the world.
My favorite Siem Reap temples include Ta Prohm, Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, but they are all amazing. The sunrise reflecting on the lake is magical, or so we are told. We arrived at 5:45 am just in time for the rain to let loose. Lots of people also rave about poolside bar and Palm garden cafe at Aspara Siem Reaps, but we stayed at the Sokha Angkor Hotel, which has an amazing salt water pool and a very friendly staff. We found it the perfect place to unwind after a day of trekking through temples.
Put Siem Reap Cambodia on your do list for vacations and remember that the recommended dates are from October to March when the weather is most comfortable, the temperature is moderate and the sun shines most of the day. April through August is the rainy season and offers a relentless mix of high temperatures and high humidity– a combination to be missed. Its these little details that make the difference!


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12 days remaining
Location: Western Region | Melton
Job type: Full time / From 29/01/2024
Organisation: Schools (Government)
Salary: Salary not specified
Occupation: Teacher
Reference: 1365943
Job posted: 07/09/2023
Closes: 08/10/2023
Reference: 1365943
Occupation: Teacher
Salary Range: Salary not specified
Work location: Western Region | Melton
SC1 Demonstrated knowledge of the relevant curriculum, including the ability to incorporate the teaching of literacy and numeracy skills. Demonstrated experience in responding to student learning needs.
SC2 Demonstrated experience in planning for and implementing high impact teaching strategies, guided by how students learn, and evaluating the impact of learning and teaching programs on student learning growth.
SC3 Demonstrated experience in monitoring and assessing student learning. Demonstrated experience in using data to inform teaching practice and providing feedback on student learning growth and achievement to students and parents.
SC4 Demonstrated interpersonal and communication skills. Demonstrated experience in establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with students, parents, colleagues and the broader school community to support student learning, agency, wellbeing and engagement.
SC5 Demonstrated behaviours and attitudes consistent with Department values. Demonstrated experience in reflecting upon practice and engaging in professional learning to continually improve the quality of teaching.
The classroom teacher classification comprises two salary ranges- range 1 and range 2. The primary focus of the classroom teacher is on the planning, preparation and teaching of programs to achieve specific student outcomes. The classroom teacher engages in critical reflection and inquiry in order to improve knowledge and skills to effectively engage students and improve their learning.
As the classroom teacher gains experience his or her contribution to the school program beyond the classroom increases. All classroom teachers may be required to undertake other duties in addition to their rostered teaching duties provided the responsibility is appropriate to the salary range, qualifications, training and experience of the teacher.
Classroom teacher Range 2
Range 2 classroom teachers play a significant role in assisting the school to improve student performance and educational outcomes determined by the school strategic plan and state-wide priorities and contributing to the development and implementation of school policies and priorities.
A critical component of this work will focus on increasing the knowledge base of staff within their school about student learning and high quality instruction to assist their school to define quality teacher practice.
Range 2 classroom teachers will be expected to:
- Have the content knowledge and pedagogical practice to meet the diverse needs of all students
- Model exemplary classroom practice and mentor/coach other teachers in the school to engage in critical reflection of their practice and to support staff to expand their capacity
- Provide expert advice about the content, processes and strategies that will shape individual and school professional learning
- Supervise and train one or more student teachers
- Assist staff to use student data to inform teaching approaches that enable targets related to improving student learning outcomes to be achieved.
Classroom teacher Range 1
The primary focus of the range 1 classroom teacher is on further developing skills and competencies to become an effective classroom practitioner with structured support and guidance from teachers at higher levels and the planning, preparation and teaching of programs to achieve specific student outcomes. These teachers teach a range of students/classes and are accountable for the effective delivery of their programs. Range 1 classroom teachers are skilled teachers who operate under general direction within clear guidelines following established work practices and documented priorities and may have responsibility for the supervision and training of one or more student teachers.
At range 1, teachers participate in the development of school policies and programs and assist in the implementation of school priorities.
The focus of a range 1 classroom teacher is on classroom management, subject content and teaching practice. New entrants to the teaching profession in their initial teaching years receive structured support, mentoring and guidance from teachers at higher levels.
Under guidance, new entrants to the teaching profession will plan and teach student groups in one or more subjects and are expected to participate in induction programs and other professional learning activities that are designed to ensure the integration of curriculum, assessment and pedagogy across the school.
Teachers at range 1 are responsible for teaching their own classes and may also assist and participate in policy development, project teams and the organisation of co-curricula activities.
The role of classroom teacher may include but is not limited to:
- Direct teaching of groups of students and individual students;
- Contributing to the development, implementation and evaluation of a curriculum area or other curriculum program within the school;
- Undertaking other classroom teaching related and organisational duties as determined by the School Principal;
- Participating in activities such as parent/teacher meetings; staff meetings; camps and excursions;
- Undertaking other non-teaching supervisory duties.
Teachers currently registered or eligible for registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching and qualified to teach and/or have demonstrated experience in the curriculum area(s) specified for the position.
The Department values diversity and is committed to workforce diversity and equal opportunity in schools and all education workplaces. The Department recognises that the provision of family friendly, supportive, safe and harassment free workplaces is essential to high performance and promotes flexible work, diversity and safety across all schools and Department workplaces.
Victorian government schools are child safe environments. Our schools actively promote the safety and wellbeing of all students, and all school staff are committed to protecting students from abuse or harm in the school environment, in accordance with their legal obligations including child safe standards. All schools have a Child Safety Code of Conduct consistent with the Department's exemplar available at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/health/protect/Pages/childsafestandards.aspx
The Department's employees commit to upholding DET's Values: Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights. DET's Values complement each school's own values and underpin the behaviours the community expects of Victorian public sector employees, including those who work in Victorian Government Schools. Information on the DET values is available at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/hrweb/workm/Pages/Public-Sector-Values.aspx
Springside West SC seeks a suitably qualified English and English language teacher. An ability to work in a team effectively is a must, combined with excellent planning and organisational skills. There are opportunities for leadership development within the college.
Contact John Goodman at firstname.lastname@example.com or by phone on 8357 7103 if you have any questions about this role.
There is an online tour and key documents relevant to this role in the recruitment information section under the tab school on the SWSC website: https://www.swsc.vic.edu.au/
To be eligible for employment, transfer or promotion in the principal or teacher class a person must have provisional or full registration from the Victorian Institute of Teaching. In addition, from 3 August 2020, to be eligible for employment in the principal class or teacher class, a person who graduated from a Victorian Initial Teacher Education program after 1 July 2016, must demonstrate that they have passed the literacy and numeracy test for initial teacher education (LANTITE) requirements. This condition is satisfied where the LANTITE requirement is part of the Victorian Initial Teacher Education program completed by the person.
Springside West Secondary College is a new school being established in the growth corridor of the north western suburbs in the new suburb Fraser Rise.
The school opened at the beginning of the 2018 school year with an enrolment of 171 students- 35 in Year 10 and 136 in Year 7. In 2019 the enrolment profile of the entire school grew to over 400 students, with cohorts at Years 7, 8, 10 and 11. In 2020 the school grew to an enrolment of 740 students with a full program of years 7-12, in 2021 the enrolment of the school was 970 students, in 2022 we grew to 1200 students, to enrolment of about 1480 students in 2023. In 2024 we anticipate the enrolment profile will grow to over 1600 students.
The design concept of Springside West Secondary College is contemporary, reflecting education research in exemplary learning settings.
Springside West Secondary College is dedicated to developing an inclusive high achieving culture. We strive at all times to know our students and direct their learning in accordance with our school values: Growth: We are motivated learners, always striving for personal development and academic excellence; Challenge: We take responsibility for our learning and seize new opportunities with determination and optimism; Community: We treat all members of our community with respect and are responsible for our actions and environment.
Full time / From 29/01/2024
Classroom Teacher
John Goodman | 03 8357-7100


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Chamber orchestra refers generally to a smaller orchestra comprised of stringed instrumentalists. In this class, which meets for an hour once a week, students learn orchestral skills which they can take into a wider arena of orchestral playing. Learning to play together in a large ensemble is an important life skill for musicians.
Chamber music is music performed by multiple players in small numbers, one player per part. This class promotes musical awareness, independence and interdependence. Students are highly encouraged to set up their own outside rehearsals, and each group is coached by an instructor once a week.
Private lessons are generally half an hour once a week, and one-on-one with a private violin, viola, or cello instructor within the school. Some private lessons are 20 minutes once a week, if a student is of a very young age (3-5 years old) and is beginning an instrument. Other lesson are 45 minutes each week, or one hour each week, if a student has progressed to the point of requiring more time.


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Limited Credit? You can still get into a Nissan.
Nissan Canada is pleased to announce our First Time Buyers Program. A payment plan designed for customers with limited or no credit. The First Time Buyers Program is available on new 2013 and 2014 Versa Sedan, Versa Hatchback and Sentra vehicles.
You are eligible for this offer if you:
- Have no prior automotive finance or lease experience
- Have a minimum of a $500 down payment if financing
- Meet our credit qualification guidelines
- Meet our income requirements
- Meet our employment requirements
You must be able to satisfy your monthly obligations with your current monthly income.
You must be 3 months in your current job and provide verification of your income or a qualified co-buyer is required.
If you meet the eligibility requirements listed above, you will qualify for financing under our First Time Buyer program. Establishing good credit under our program, by making your payments on time, will make it easier for you to obtain financing in the future. You will have good credit history in no time.


text: by David Crane [email protected] DefRev recently came across an excellent article on the 502 Thunder Sabre carbine in the July 2004 issue of "Guns & Weapons for Law Enforcement". The article was written by Gary Paul Johnston. The 502 Thunder Sabre carbine, developed and manufactured by Cloud Mountain Armory, is the newest entry into the rather exciting .50 Cal AR-15/M16-based …Read More »


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Verisign's new Personal Identity Portal (PIP from now on) isn't the sexiest application out there to help you manage passwords. But it has Verisign's strong reputation for security behind it, and it is a surprisingly easy way to manage website credentials.
PIP is a a single sign in solution that supports both OpenID (you are issued a Verisign OpenID) and direct sign in to a number of supported websites. If a site doesn't support OpenID, login is handled by populating the username and password fields directly.
So far, PIP isn't much different than the previously covered Clickpass and other solutions. It supports a lot more sites, however. And it also handles signin directly from a bookmarklet that resides directly in the browser chrome.
Being Verisign, they've also added optional support for two factor authentication. Users can choose to receive a unique one time security token for each login, and/or get a browser-side certificate. Most users will find this overkill.
From a usability standpoint, the biggest drawback is the need to stay logged in to an active PIP browser session. Users could set it to their home page, I guess, and make it the first sign each time they use their browser. One use case that is particularly compelling – mobile devices. Verisign says iPhone support is coming very soon – Verisign says they are experiencing "a few challenges with certificates on the iPhone Safari."
A last, possibly unintended feature: the pop up box is a great easy navigation tool for much-visited sites.


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Ask a headline writer at any paper of record and they'll tell you that today's young people are "The Lost Generation." They tend to use this label as if Hemingway and Fitzgerald hadn't stumbled their way through half the bars in Paris under the same flag. Unfortunately, the youths of today aren't lost in a morass of sex, art, booze, and politics (not necessarily in that order), but rather can't find a path through the haze of economic insecurity and impending ecological catastrophe. The current use of the term draws less from those charmed ex-pats than from "The Lost Decade", the name given to Japan's period of economic stagnation during the 90′s. But the two uses point towards different aspects of sociohistorical lostness: one is about a generation not knowing what to do with its capacity within society, the other about a society that doesn't know what to do with its capacity for generation, a world that seems to have already made too much of everything. It is unclear in which way my generation is lost, whether it refers to the seemingly misdirected lives of 20-somethings or our potential that may go unrealized due to the employment crisis and over-production – unless we open new paths. Having read the essays that follow, I think it's a bit of both.
Of course the absent jobs that could make us "productive" members of society go a long way toward answering the question of direction. Young people are semi-autonomous when it comes to our life choices, but we are subject as a population to economic and environmental conditions; one could say we are lost because we have been lost. Even so, we don't seem to be going anywhere. The new phase of "emerging adulthood" described in the now infamous New York Times Magazine article on 20-somethings involves a return to the parents' home, (as in Lauren Westerfield's "Flexible Lives, Flexible Relationships.") Nothing could be more found. There is also some irony in calling the most connected generation in the history of mankind "lost." The phone in my pocket can not only tell me where I am, but where I might want to go next and how to get there. There are ways in which we could not get lost if we tried.
Or could we? If the directions through which productive potential is traditionally realized (traditional careers, families, housing, modes of transportation) are not going to be open to many of us, as the situation indicates they will not, then we will need to produce and construct new ones. "Make it new" is an old phrase but, from one generation to another, it's still good advice. The original Lost Generation produced its enduring works of art in flophouses and dive bars, not offices or writing workshops. For the modernists, being lost was a precondition for creation, not a barrier. We have no choice but to cease to think of exploration as a bounded time in which we are to "find" ourselves before we are put to work. For many of us, that end may never come. If the roads are closed, getting lost becomes the only way to move. The alternative is stagnation and the bare-life instrumentality of the on-demand labor contract (see Ryan Gleason's "The Janus-Faced Craigslist.") We have better things to do with our productive capacities than depress wages for those who cling to traditional employment. Instead, we have the opportunity to create new forms of social organization and patterns of mutual support.
Instead of "finding ourselves," I think my generation would be better off losing ourselves. The selves we can hope to find ready-made and waiting are not what we've been promised, nor what we've prepared for (see Sarah Idzik's "Unprepared."), nor what we want. If the traditional job market fails to accommodate so many young people, then the modes of living devised by and for our parents will remain impossible for us. I mean this both in terms of living lives centered around consumption, but also the physical habitats they've built. We will live closer to one another as we realize distance is not the same as safety. In order to survive and even have a chance to live, we will have to build communities of cooperation rather than competition. Learning to live together instead of merely in proximity to each other will be crucial (see Annamarie Pluhar's essay on housemates). Sometimes getting lost will require us to leave some small possibility of prosperity behind and jump into the unknown (Emi Gennis's "Quitter" and Jenna Brager's "Who Needs An Ivory Tower?") Sometimes it means leaving any sort of normal stability behind and taking only what you can carry (Nine gives her inventory in "Take It And Leave It") in search of something truly desirable.
The obvious but tricky question is where can we go that is away from this dominant relationship, away from the selling of our lives and planet chunk by chunk so as not to die. Both the alienated suburbs of my childhood and the costly cities of my adolescent dreams seem unlikely sites, yet we know there are places where capital and the state move too slowly, corners they cannot assimilate: the warehouse shells of an exhausted industrialism, the foreclosed homes that hold the ghosts of a dreamed America which never came to be. During Milicent Johnson's adventures in Detroit, she found a city inventing with what's there, moving past what's gone into something different. There remains space and time where horizontal networks can survive and grow, where new practices can spring from the scrapheap generated by late capitalism.
Young people can organize themselves under new forms, like cooperatives (see both of Mira Luna's essay on co-ops) and nomadic communities (Robin's "Every Guest A Host.") We can depend on each other's living labor rather than the dead value stored in commodities. A shared future means less stuff, which means less digging for more fuel to burn. If families are those groups of people against whom we refuse to fight in the race up the ladder, then young people are going to get bigger families. Networks of collaborative consumption allow people to share goods in common without the burdens and costs of personal ownership, which means less time buying and more time living. Do-it-yourself becomes the best option (as in Melissa Welter's "Eating Rich, Living Poor") and, luckily, ever more feasible as the means of production become more accessible to individual producer/consumers. We must be suspicious of everything we do not build, of everything handed down from an empire in decline, and look to our own hands. Even while the lives we build are independent, they're still shared, and sharing is what we're gonna need if we're going to get out of youth alive.
This essay appear in Shareable's paperback Share or Die published by New Society, available from Amazon. Share or Die is also available for Kindle, iPad, and other e-readers. For the next piece in Share or Die, Jean-Yves Huwart's "The State of Gen Y" click here.


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The scoop
: The Post reports on the story behind the story in Vanity Fair and how The Post got scooped: because Woodward kept his promise not to reveal Deep Throat's identity until he was released from the pledge. The Vanity Fair story was edited by my colleague and friend, David Friend.
Vanity Fair, too, was late to the story but moments after it broke on the internet, the text came online.
: Also in the Post, Hank Steuver contemplates life after the secret:
What could be more of a letdown than finding out who Deep Throat is? Finding it out in Vanity Fair? And not really finding it out in Vanity Fair so much as feeling it crash-land across the Internet and the cable news networks, days before the magazine even hits the stands? Finding out that you don't care anymore? Watching it not resonate among people younger than 30?…
Perhaps Deep Throat's lovely (and daring) parting gift to Washington, especially to reporters, is simple: He actually exists. He is not fabrication or composite. He is one man, a fact not easily proved had he taken his secret to the grave. That in itself, in an era where trust has been shredded beyond recognition, is something to behold.
: And on anoymous sources, from Kit Seelye's NY Times media report:
The emergence of the ultimate anonymous source comes at a time when newsrooms are struggling with questions about the use of such sources.
"We've had all this stuff about anonymous sources and God knows yes, we all know anonymous sources are overused," said Lou Cannon, a former reporter for The Post. "But this really shows you, this story would have never come out if we had a rule against anonymous sources."