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Can you help home these adorable animals?
Worcestershire animal charity struggling to deal with abandoned animals
10:10am Monday 13th January 2014 in News
By Catherine Phillips, Reporter
'Hello, ny name is Spice'
A WORCESTERSHIRE animal charity says it is bursting at the seams after a spate of pet abandonments during the colder weather.
It has been a bleak midwinter for the RSPCA Worcester and Mid-Worcestershire Branch, which has been inundated with calls from people across its patch who have found abandoned animals.
Margaret Layland, small animals rehoming co-ordinator, said she dreaded answering the phone after a significant increase in the number of rabbits and guinea pigs being left to fend for themselves.
Currently, volunteer foster carers are looking after 29 rabbits, 12 guinea pigs, two rats and a budgie, with a further five rabbits and three guinea pigs on the list to be brought in when hutches become available.
Despite efforts to try and relocate their owners, so far nobody has come forward to claim them and the charity, which is separate from the national RSPCA, is now looking for homes for the animals.
Mrs Layland, of St John's, Worcester, said: "It is a bit of a nightmare at the moment but we are so grateful to our volunteers who have been looking after all of the animals.
"We can never be sure why people abandon their pets but it could be because they wanted them in summer when it is nice to be outside and feeding them, but in winter when it is wet and cold and dark, it is a different story.
"We would encourage people thinking about getting a pet to think differently and remember that it is lovely to go out in the sun and look after them, but when the weather changes, you still have to be prepared to go out and care for them.
"The weather is also causing difficulties with rehoming them because it's so cold and people aren't thinking about getting them.
"For the last two years we have seen an increase in the number of rabbits and guinea pigs dumped during bad weather.
"Domesticated animals aren't used to surviving on their own. They are used to having their food in front of them and to have shelter.
"If people are struggling with their pets and need some advice we are always happy to talk to them."
The number of dumped animals included eight guinea pigs left dumped on a driveway of a home in Alvechurch, near Redditch, on Thursday, January 2.
Although seven of the guinea pigs were healthy, one was found to have polycystic ovaries and will need an operation which will be paid for by the branch.
The increase in abandoned animals is stretching the charity's coffers as they need to feed and care for the unwanted pets as well as replace worn-out hutches.
Mrs Layland said: "We are always grateful for donations of money or food.
"We never put any healthy animals down, they stay with us as long as it takes to find a new home for them."
Anyone who could rehome an animal, needs advice or would like to donate money or food should call Margaret Layland on 01905 421849.
To donate to the charity visit uk.virginmoneygivin.com/charities/rspca-worcester.
Showbiz news
Vincent's Christmas Day proposal
JLS star 'wants to study farming'
Tory MP set to make a TV splash
Golden Joey hails dough balls prize
American Hustle bags three Globes
12 Years A Slave triumphs at Globes


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|Applicable to RDBMS
The standard JDO persistence strategy is to persist an object of a class into its own table. In some situations you may wish to map the class to a primary table as well as one or more secondary tables. For example when you have a Java class that could have been split up into 2 separate classes yet, for whatever reason, has been written as a single class, however you have a legacy datastore and you need to map objects of this class into 2 tables. JDO allows persistence of fields of a class into secondary tables.
The process for managing this situation is best demonstrated with an example. Let's suppose we have a class that represents a Printer. The Printer class contains within it various attributes of the toner cartridge. So we have
package com.mydomain.samples.secondarytable; public class Printer { long id; String make; String model; String tonerModel; int tonerLifetime; /** * Constructor. * @param make Make of printer (e.g Hewlett-Packard) * @param model Model of Printer (e.g LaserJet 1200L) * @param tonerModel Model of toner cartridge * @param tonerLifetime lifetime of toner (number of prints) */ public Printer(String make, String model, String tonerModel, int tonerLifetime) { this.make = make; this.model = model; this.tonerModel = tonerModel; this.tonerLifetime = tonerLifetime; } }
Now we have a database schema that has 2 tables (PRINTER and PRINTER_TONER) in which to store objects of this class. So we need to tell DataNucleus to perform this mapping. So we define the MetaData for the Printer class like this
<class name="Printer" table="PRINTER"> <join table="PRINTER_TONER" column="PRINTER_REFID"/> <field name="id" primary-key="true"> <column name="PRINTER_ID"/> </field> <field name="make"> <column name="MAKE"/> </field> <field name="model"> <column name="MODEL"/> </field> <field name="tonerModel" table="PRINTER_TONER"> <column name="MODEL"/> </field> <field name="tonerLifetime" table="PRINTER_TONER"> <column name="LIFETIME"/> </field> </class>
So here we have defined that objects of the Printer class will be stored in the primary table PRINTER. In addition we have defined that some fields are stored in the table PRINTER_TONER. This is achieved by way of
You could equally specify this using annotations
@PersistenceCapable @Join(table="PRINTER_TONER", column="PRINTER_REFID") public class Printer { @Persistent(primaryKey="true", column="PRINTER_ID") long id; @Column(name="MAKE") String make; @Column(name="MODEL") String model; @Persistent(table="PRINTER_TONER", column="MODEL") String tonerModel; @Persistent(table="PRINTER_TONER", column="LIFETIME") int tonerLifetime; ... }
This results in the following database tables :-
So we now have our primary and secondary database tables. The primary key of the PRINTER_TONER table serves as a foreign key to the primary class. Whenever we persist a Printer object a row will be inserted into both of these tables.
You saw above how we defined the column name that will be the primary key of the secondary table (the PRINTER_REFID column). What we didn't show is how to specify the name of the primary key constraint to be generated. To do this you change the MetaData to
<class name="Printer" identity-type="datastore" table="PRINTER"> <join table="PRINTER_TONER" column="PRINTER_REFID"> <primary-key name="TONER_PK"/> </join> <field name="id" primary-key="true"> <column name="PRINTER_ID"/> </field> <field name="make"> <column name="MAKE"/> </field> <field name="model"> <column name="MODEL"/> </field> <field name="tonerModel" table="PRINTER_TONER"> <column name="MODEL"/> </field> <field name="tonerLifetime" table="PRINTER_TONER"> <column name="LIFETIME"/> </field> </class>
So this will create the primary key constraint with the name "TONER_PK".
See also :-
The above process can be seen with an example
public class Printer { String make; String model; String tonerModel; int tonerLifetime; public Printer(String make, String model, String tonerModel, int tonerLife) { this.make = make; this.model = model; this.tonerModel = tonerModel; this.tonerLifetime = tonerLife; } ... }
We now need to specify which fields we want to store in any secondary tables. To do this we can define the metadata like this
<?xml version="1.0"?> <!DOCTYPE jdo PUBLIC "-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD Java Data Objects Metadata 2.0//EN" "http://java.sun.com/dtd/jdo_2_0.dtd"> <jdo> <package name="mydomain"> <class name="Printer" table="PRINTER"> <datastore-identity> <column name="ID"/> </datastore-identity> <join table="TONER"> <column name="ID"/> </join> <field name="make"/> <field name="model"/> <field name="tonerModel" table="TONER"/> <field name="tonerLifetime" table="TONER"/> </class> </package> </jdo>
With this we have stated that the fields make and model will be stored in the default table, that we named PRINTER, and that tonerModel and tonerLifetime we be stored in the table TONER. The tables will both store the unique identity assigned to the objects we persist, in this case we have specified the column name ID for both tables, though we would usually only do this when working to an existing schema. When we retrieve any of our stored objects the tables will be joined automatically by matching the identities.
We can see how this works in more detail by setting the query logging to DEBUG (set log4j.category.DataNucleus.Query=DEBUG, in your log4j.properties file). We can retrieve all of our stored Printer objects by performing the following query
Query q = pm.newQuery(Printer.class); List<Printer> list = (List<Printer>)q.execute();
Now if we look in our log file we can see how this has been converted into the appropriate query language for our datastore. With an RDBMS datastore using SQL, for example, we get
SELECT FROM mydomain.Printer Query compiled to datastore query "SELECT 'mydomain.Printer' AS NUCLEUS_TYPE,`A0`.`MAKE`,`A0`.`MODEL`,`A1`.`TONER_MODEL`, `A1`.`TONER_LIFETIME`,`A0`.`ID` FROM `PRINTER` `A0` INNER JOIN `TONER` `A1` ON `A0`.`ID` = `A1`.`ID`"
So we can see that in this case an INNER JOIN was performed using the ID columns as expected.
This worked example was provided by a DataNucleus user Tom Robson

subset: commoncrawl


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Deleting Photo Galleries
Before deleting Website Builder galleries, you should move the photos to another gallery or they will be deleted, too. For more information about moving photos, see Organizing Gallery Items.
To Delete Photo Galleries in Website Builder
- Log in to your Account Manager.
- Click Website Builder.
- In your Website Builder Account list, click Manage next to the account you want to modify.
- Click Photos and Videos.
- From the Galleries menu, select Edit Galleries.
- Select the gallery or galleries you want to delete.
- From the Apply this action list, select Delete.
- Click Go.
- In the Delete Galleries dialog box, type Yes.
- Click OK.


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Artist description:
"Mei" means plum(plum blossom) in Chinese~ ^_^
Java Draw Created Apr 01, 2011 460 x 640px Unless noted Copyright 2011 Hairei.
We encourage you to submit a comment and let the artist know what you think of this drawing. Please log in or join to post a comment.
Post a comment
but mei alone can mean pretty too, and meimei means lil' sister ;U, ANYWAYS very very cute draw ;_;
Awsome draw^^ So cute 8D
OMG lol I already commented on this XD I must really love this! sorry!
OMG so cute!!! Your art work is just AMAZING!!
OWOWOWWOWWWWWOOOOOWWWWW luv it.
This is just too cute! xD She looks so pretty, and her name totally suits her. :D I just love her pose and how well you drew her hands. :) Her hairstyle and dress look so beautiful. I really like the cute little pandas on her legs/shoulder. 5/5 & fav
CUTE! Your such a good drawer! Keep it up :D
Plum plum.
ahwww this is soo cute!!! 5/5 great draw! ohh i love pandas!!! hehe
the sweet little panda bears - LOVE IT! 5/5


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TheJetsBlog is pleased to announce that Kristian Dyer will be writing some weekly pieces for the blog this season. Look for his work throughout the week.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- During his Monday afternoon press conference, Jets head coach Rex Ryan dubbed massive nose tackle Damon Harrison "Big Snacks." The "Big" part of that moniker certainly makes sense, with Harrison casting a giant shadow at six foot four inches and 335 pounds.
But calling Harrison "Snacks" just didn't add up.
It turns out that during minicamp and training camp, defensive line coach Karl Dunbar used to leave Rice Krispie Treats on Harrison's desk during team meetings. Harrison, who has lost nearly 20 pounds since rookie mini-camp in May, was told to shed weight so as to positively affect his mobility in keeping with the Jets "one step faster" motto of the offseason. Dunbar would place one or two Rice Krispie Treats in front of his rookie nose tackle prior to defensive line meetings to make a joke – and also perhaps a point.
"He would often leave one there for me, just leave it there and not say a word," Harrison told TheJetsBlog. "I never had one that he put in front of me. Sometimes, I'd turn it on him and leave one on his desk."
Harrison came to the Jets a complete unknown out of William Penn, a tiny NAIA program in Iowa. He's been through a lot, including Hurricane Rita ripping his southeast Louisiana town apart, being cutting by his junior high team and more recently the junior college team he was recruited to play for before going to William Penn also cut him. But through it all, Harrison has persevered and now he made the Jets 53-man roster after an impressive preseason.
He doesn't like the nickname of "Big Snacks" although it seems to be sticking around the Jets locker room. With that being said, his snacks have become different over the past two months as he's shed weight and definitely do not resemble the Rice Krispie Treats that Dunbar would taunt him with during training camp.
"Salads right now," Harrison said, shaking his head at his locker. "Right now, just eating a lot of salads."
Kristian R. Dyer is a contributor to The Jets Blog and covers the Jets for Metro New York and contributes to Yahoo!Sports. He can be followed @KristianRDyer.


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Lector @ Github
In case you live an a cave, don't read channel topics, and most likely have never been to a lecture, you probably don't know what Lector is, and if you do, then you probably don't know that he's on Github.
Basically, Lector is the IRC bot that runs the lectures. He acts as an IRC version of Power Point, and an announcer but we don't want to stop there. That's why we encourage anybody that can to help with the development of out little bot.
You can find the project's homepage at: http://github.com/Bren2010/HTS-Lecture-Bot
Fork the repo, do whatever you want to it, and when you think you've got something good, send me a pull request, and if I like it I'll add it to the official repo!
This is a chance to contribute directly to code used on HTS, so I hope to see some good work from lots of members.


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Episode 3
Season 6 Episode 3 | 50m 27s
A wedding dress drama takes a disastrous turn. The breakfast battle is settled. A handsome volunteer helps Edith meet a deadline. The hospital debate gets nasty. Watch Downton Abbey online and across PBS streaming platforms.
Aired: 01/17/16
Expires: 06/30/20Video has closed captioning.


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North Ridgeville Academic Center
North Ridgeville Academic Center
24620 Bainbridge Rd
North Ridgeville, Ohio 44039
Regional Director:
Nicole Baur
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
At Springboard, we recognize that flexibility in scheduling is a significant benefit for the families we serve. We offer a number of scheduling options because there is no "one size fits all" when it comes to individual family needs. Our plans are generally discounted for consistent, scheduled attendance, in other words, the more often a child is scheduled, the lower the daily cost. There are additional discounts available for siblings and active military families.
Types of Schedules:
Regular Full-time – five days per week.
Regular Part-time – two or more days consistently scheduled on the same days every week.
Flex – schedule varies but days are scheduled at least 24 hours in advance. Payment is due at time of scheduling.
Drop-in – child attends Springboard but is not scheduled at least 24 hours in advance. Drop-in is not always available or offered in all locations.
*Special schedules and rates available for early release days.
Payment Options (Regular Schedule Only):
Monthly Auto-Pay – Every 4 or 5 weeks (varies by month) credit card / checking account on file is charged on the first Monday of the month for the upcoming weeks. There is a 5% discount on accounts signed up for Monthly Auto-Pay.
Twice-a-Month Auto-Pay – Two times per month on a Monday the credit card / checking account on file is charged for the upcoming time period. There is a 3% discount on accounts signed up for Twice-a-Month Auto-Pay.
Weekly Auto-Pay – Credit card / checking account on file is charged on Monday for the current week.
*All payments for service are made in advance. Failed and late payments may be subject to additional fees.
PM 2:45-6:00pm
Regular Schedule:
PM Full-time: $15.25
PM Part-time: $16.75
Flex Schedule:
PM Daily: $18.75
PM Drop-in: $25.75
Registration Fee: $59.99


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Two Days until our Facebook Live at ELS/Vancouver!
jan 10, 2018 5:19
We will be going live on Facebook in Vancouver on Friday, 12 January 2018 at 11:45 am PST/2:45 pm EST!
Watch our Facebook Live and get a glimpse of the city of Vancouver and our ELS/Vancouver Center. We will show you the inside of the Center, answer any questions, and talk more about our students' experiences at ELS/Vancouver!
To attend our Facebook Live, visit Facebook.com/ELS on your mobile device or desktop at 11:45 am PST/2:45 pm EST on 12 January 2018.
Learn more about ELS/Vancouver!


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Real Madrid 're-activate Falcao chase'
Radamel Falcao has met with his agent, Jorge Mendes, to discuss his future at Monaco after Real Madrid "re-activated" their interest in the Colombia striker, according to reports in France and Spain.
- Toe Poke: Madrid unveil 'dragon' kit
Falcao has entered the second year of his five-year contract with Monaco following his big-money move from Atletico Madrid last summer. The 28-year-old said after he scored the only goal in Sunday's 1-0 win at Lorient: "I'm very happy to be here. It's a pleasure to play in this team, and I hope to stay here."
However, French outlet RMC reports that Falcao met with Mendes -- who also represents Real stars Cristiano Ronaldo and James Rodriguez and brokered Angel Di Maria's move to Manchester United -- to talk over a potential move back to the European champions, with whom he has been strongly and consistently linked.
1) £85m Gareth Bale -- Tottenham to Real Madrid, Sept. 2013
2) £80m Cristiano Ronaldo -- Man Utd to R. Madrid, June 2009
3) £75m Luis Suarez -- Liverpool to Barcelona, July 2014
4) £71m James Rodriguez -- Monaco to Real Madrid, July 2014
5) £59.7m Angel Di Maria -- Real Madrid to Man Utd, Aug. 2014
6) £56m Kaka -- AC Milan to Real Madrid, June 2009
Following Di Maria's move to Old Trafford for a British record fee of 59.7 million pounds, the European champions have the necessary funds available to match what Monaco paid for Falcao.
Mendes, who reportedly dined with his client on Tuesday evening, will meet Monaco officials to settle the future of the forward who scored nine goals in 17 Ligue 1 appearances last term before a knee injury ended his season in January.
Madrid-based sports daily AS reports that Mendes, Monaco owner Dmitry Rybolovlev and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez will all be in Monte Carlo on Thursday the attend the draw for the group stage of the Champions League, and that the trio could use that opportunity to discuss what it calls "Operation Falcao."
Use a Facebook account to add a comment, subject to Facebook's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your Facebook name, photo & other personal information you make public on Facebook will appear with your comment, and may be used on ESPN's media platforms. Learn more.


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November 15 and I'm wearing shorts! Shorts! That's great. Great! Exclamatory repetition. Exclamatory!
Marijuana. (how's that for a segue?) Sometimes you smell it and sometimes that smell seems to be emanating from an automobile, one being driven only a few feet from you. I understand that some people like to smoke marijuana as a leisure activity (or for medicine?), but I'd generally prefer that it not be done in any proximity to the act of driving, which, when done poorly, is imperiling to me enough already. Also, don't drink and drive. Or text and drive. So, that's that.
It's best to remain in the bike lane at a stop light, rather than drift to the right side of the road by the sidewalk. This might even prevent impatient drivers from honking at you (since you're blocking their right turn on red). I mean, do what you want, but it's just a suggestion of a way to not get honked at.
Do taxis not come equipped with turn signals?
15th street, while possessing a cycletrack, is slow and unpleasant for the evening commute. I was stopped at red lights at:
- Rhode Island
- Massachusetts
- L (briefly)
For those of you playing at home, that's all of them from Q to the White House, except H. And that's not an irregularity. You can't avoid them. Sucks. This is why I don't ride this way in the evening.
Security tape down, so I rode through. So did the woman who was riding behind me and she pulled through the bollards faster than I did. I slowed in the bike lane to avoid some jackass jogger.
Lots of CMs parked in front of the JAWB. Didn't notice if the silver bullet was there.
Nothing much of interest for the rest of the trip. Frankly, I like it better that way. I whistled a little, sometimes it was Sheena Easton. Caution tape was down by the Capitol, so our long national nightmare is over.
I got my new lights in the mail, so I'll install them later or maybe tomorrow. So much more blinking.
One other thing: WABA wants us to drink beer on their behalf. I don't casually bandy about the word "hero," but if you were to do this, you would be one. Better than GI Joe, Batman and Sully Sullenberger combined. I'm going to try to go.
5 comments:
I noticed the security tape down just before 1 pm. This calls for great rejoicing!! well, I'm happy.ReplyDelete
It was down again this morning and I rode through. I don't think there's any rhyme or reason to it, but every time it's down, I make of point of going through the bollards.ReplyDelete
15th street cycletrack lights are awful. 14th is so much better, and I think it has better scenery/people watching opportunities.ReplyDelete
I've taken to hopping down between the two sets of bollards (after the taped set) and riding through the second set, just to be obnoxious and make a point.ReplyDelete
"just to be obnoxious and make a point"ReplyDelete
Now we're talking!
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Like most other phones these days, the iPhone's Airplane Mode is a convenient way to quickly shut off all the radios when the situation calls for it. But what if you still need WiFi to run a presentation or to join the mile-high Internet club?
As it turns out, you can easily turn on an iPhone's Airplane Mode, then turn WiFi back on. You should see both the Airplane Mode icon and WiFi icon (pictured above) once you connect to an access point, verifying that the phone and its associated services are slumbering while WiFi works unencumbered. This is ideal if you want to use something like Apple's Keynote Remote iPhone app to impress at a board meeting while ensuring that the outside world can't interrupt your flow.
Interestingly, this operational duality is not possible with Bluetooth. Attempts to enable the radio will be met with a warning that Airplane Mode must be turned off.


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Free kitchen-garden planning tool
If this warm spell has you itching to get your hands in the dirt, or at least fantasize about it, you'll love a new web tool from the folks at Gardeners' Supply. (Yes, they're the folks with the upside-down tomato planters and the wide selection of self-watering planters).
Personally, I like to get my stuff from my local garden centers when possible, because the staffers there garden, like you do, in Colorado's soil/climate/hailstorms/drought/freezes/heatwaves/windstorms. So they know what you're up against. But if you can't find something locally, the gear from Gardener's Supply is solid. (Though if you've got a wind-scoured porch like I do, the upside-down hanging tomato technique is probably not for you.)
But if you're just having a problem visualizing where you're going to put stuff in your square-foot garden? This gizmo rocks. You can drag and drop vegetables, herbs, flowers onto a map of your planting bed and then print a detailed planting and planning guide.
Got no planting beds? I'm not the only person giving stuff away this season. If you enter their contest, the site is giving away a two-level raised bed, compost, fertilizer, trellises and supports, garden gloves and $200 for seeds and transplants, plus a garden consultation. That ain't hay, peeps; it's a $550 value.
In the meantime, this week's garden-book giveaway is Sharon Lovejoy's adorable "Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars: Grandma's Bag of Tricks," a compendium of kid-friendly, garden-linked projects for grandparents (and parents!) of the nursery-school to early grade-school set. Did you know that if you take a cheap stethoscope from the drugstore out to a pumpkin patch, you can HEAR those big orange balls growing? She's even got instructions on how to make a mini solar oven out of a cardboard pizza box. (Even I want to be Sharon Lovejoy's grandkid now.)
Want to win the book? E-mail me a photo of your kid or grandkid (niece, nephew, neighbor) in the garden to email@example.com.


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I wish to acknowledge the work of James Rickards, a hedge fund manager in New York City and the author of "...Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis..." I have borrowed heavily from his work in writing this piece and all the text in italics is taken from his website.
The (global) financial crisis might not have happened at all but for the 1999 repeal of the Glass-Steagall law that separated commercial and investment banking for seven decades. If there is any hope of avoiding another meltdown, it's critical to understand why Glass-Steagall repeal helped to cause the crisis. Without a return to something like Glass-Steagall, another greater catastrophe is just a matter of time.
Following the Great Crash of 1929, one of every five banks in America failed. Many people, especially politicians, saw the unbridled market speculation engaged in by banks during the 1920s as a cause of the crash.
In 1933, Senator Carter Glass (D-Va.) and Congressman Henry Steagall (D-Ala.) introduced the historic legislation that bears their name, seeking to limit the conflicts of interest created when commercial banks are permitted to underwrite stocks or bonds. In the early part of the century, individual investors were seriously hurt by banks whose overriding interest was promoting stocks of interest and benefit to the banks, rather than to individual investors. The new law banned commercial banks from underwriting securities, forcing banks to choose between being a simple lender or an underwriter (brokerage), thus putting a legal wall between retail and investment banking.
The Glass-Steagall Act passed after Ferdinand Pecora, a politically ambitious former New York City prosecutor, drummed up popular support for stronger regulation by hauling bank officials in front of the Senate Banking and Currency Committee to answer for their role in the stock-market crash.
It is of some interest to look at the similarities between the reasons behind the banking crash of 1929, and the global crisis which began in 2008.
The subprime crisis which was the catalyst for the global financial crisis came about in large part because of financial instruments such as debt securitization where banks would pool their various loans into sellable assets, thus off-loading risky loans onto others. (For banks, millions can be made in money-earning loans, but they are tied up for decades. So they were turned into securities. The security buyer got regular payments from all those mortgages; the banker off loaded the risk. Securitization was seen as perhaps the greatest financial innovation in the 20th century.)
Rating agencies were paid to rate these products (risking a conflict of interest) and invariably they gave them good ratings, thus encouraging other people to invest in them.
Banks borrowed even more money to lend out so they could create more securitization. Some banks didn't need to rely on savers as much then, as long as they could borrow from other banks and sell those loans on as securities; bad loans would be the problem of whoever bought the securities.
Some investment banks like Lehman Brothers got into mortgages, buying them merely in order to securitize them and then sell them on.Some banks loaned even more to have an excuse to securitize those loans.
Running out of investors to lend to, banks turned to the poor; the subprime, the riskier loans. Rising house prices led lenders to think it wasn't too risky; bad loans meant repossessing high-valued property. Subprime and "self-certified" loans (sometimes dubbed "liar's loans") became popular, especially in the US.
Some banks evens started to buy securities from others, while high street banks got into a form of investment banking, buying, selling and trading risk. Investment banks, not content with buying, selling and trading risk, got into home loans, mortgages, etc without the right controls and management.
The problem was so large, banks even with large capital reserves ran out, so they had to turn to governments for bail out. New capital was injected into banks to, in effect, permit them to lose more money without going bust. That still wasn't enough and confidence was not restored.
Shrinking banks suck money out of the economy as they try to build their capital and are nervous about loaning. Meanwhile businesses and individuals that rely on credit find it harder to get. A spiral of problems result. It had depressing similarities to the era of the Wall Street Crash in the USA in 1929.
After the Depression of 1920-21, the United States embarked on a period of economic prosperity known as the Roaring Twenties. It was a time of innovation, especially in consumer goods such as automobiles, radio, and refrigeration. Along with these goods came new forms of consumer credit and bank expansion. National City Bank (forerunner of today's Citibank) and Chase Bank opened offices to sell securities side-by-side with traditional banking products like deposits and loans.
As the decade progressed, the stock market boomed and eventually reached bubble territory. Along with the bubble came market manipulation in the form of organized pools that would ramp up the price of stocks and dump them on unsuspecting suckers just before the stock collapsed. Banks joined in by offering stocks of holding companies that were leveraged pyramid schemes and other securities backed by dubious assets.
In 1929, the music stopped, the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began. It took eight years from the start of the boom to the bust. Subsequent investigations revealed the extent of the fraud that preceded the crash. In 1933, Congress passed Glass-Steagall in response to the abuses. Banks would be allowed to take deposits and make loans. Brokers would be allowed to underwrite and sell securities. But no firm could do both due to conflicts of interest and risks to insured deposits. From 1933 to 1999, there were very few large bank failures and no financial panics comparable to the Panic of 2008. The law worked exactly as intended.
In 1999, Democrats led by President Bill Clinton and Republicans led by Sen. Phil Gramm joined forces to repeal Glass-Steagall at the behest of the big banks. What happened over the next eight years was an almost exact replay of the Roaring Twenties. Once again, banks originated fraudulent loans and once again they sold them to their customers in the form of securities. The bubble peaked in 2007 and collapsed in 2008. The hard-earned knowledge of 1933 had been lost in the arrogance of 1999.
Now, when memories are fresh, is the time to reinstate Glass-Steagall to prevent a third cycle of fraud on customers. Without the separation of banking and underwriting, it's just a matter of time before banks repeat their well-honed practice of originating garbage loans and stuffing them down customers' throats. Congress had the answer in 1933. Congress lost its way in 1999. Now is the chance to get back to the garden.
That is an informed US viewpoint. The same risks are still prevalent in the British banking sector, and Government must think very carefully about ring-fencing the role of retail banking in the UK and put a clear demarcation between them and the casino banking practices which have caused so much damage to our finances and our economy. We cannot trust the banksters to agree to this reform, they must be driven to accept the inevitable.
The recommendation of the Vickers Commission is that UK banks' retail operations should be "ring-fenced". Banks will be required to establish a separate legal entity within their corporate group to provide retail and commercial banking services in the UK. The purposes of this subsidiarisation are, first, to insulate retail banking operations from riskier financial activities and risks inherent in the global financial system and, secondly, in the event of failure, to ensure the continuous provision of retail banking services by ring-fenced banks, with reduced bail-out costs for taxpayers.
Such a reform must be insisted upon and become an electoral issue!


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Mission of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Cambodia and Thailand - de Ribbing Mission - Subject Files
- Serie
- 1904 - 1968
Parte deUnited Nations Office for Special Political Affairs (1955-1991)
The task of this mission was to provide good offices in reducing tension between Cambodia and Thailand. The Special Representative was Herbert de Ribbing, and the mission was also known the "de Ribbing Mission." It lasted from August, 19...


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Friday, February 08, 2008
Planning Paris
Thus far everyone I have encountered is delighted and saying "Go! Go! Go!" –with the exception of my 15-year-old daughter who thinks it is she who should be going; and a few friends who think I am nuts to go by myself. (But to be perfectly honest, I think they may just be a little jealous ☺.)
Since this adventure in many ways started with a blog post and I have received nothing less than enthusiastic support from my commenters, it seems only fair that I should keep you up to speed and include you in the plan makings! So, here we go:
Leave Seattle Wednesday, February 27. Arrive Paris Thursday, February 28.
My neighborhood is "in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower". Don't you just love that?
I will be returning home on Friday March 7. So, that is eight days and nights in the City of Light. ☺
Now, here is where you come in. A few helpful commenters have already given me "must do's" for the trip. Your task is to add your own dreams to my list. If you've been to Paris before—great! If not, no worries just tell me what you would want to do if you went to Paris. Or perhaps even your favorite movie or book about Paris. Or what you would wear as an American in Paris (or what you wouldn't wear.) You get the gist of this. You can continue to help me dream, sight see and pack. In return, I promise to take you along on the journey (virtually, of course ☺.)
Here to start the list are a few of my favorite suggestions thus far:
1) Sit in the garden with Rodin's "The Thinker" on an overcast day. (Theresa)
2) The Musee d'Orsay comes highly recommended by many.
3) See the accessible gargoyles on Notre-Dame and the medieval treasures of the Musee Cluny. (Barbara)
4) Please make sure to touch the small brass ring in the ground in front of Notre Dame to ensure your return to Paris one day. (Pamela)
So, please make your own suggestions and I will add them to the list as we count down to Paris.
(18 days!)
17 comments:
- Dianna Woolley said...
Well, it was so long ago when I was in Paris that there was no IM Pei structure in front of the Louvre - so you'll see that when you run in to see "The Mona Lisa". The Louvre would take a lifetime to see but there are probably others of us who would suggest other must sees inside that huge structure.
- Barbara said...
Frequent a cafe in your neighbourhood. Soak up the local atmosphere. Shop where the locals shop for bread and cheese and chacuterie (cold cuts). A steady diet of the richer forms of French cooking can be unpleasant to an unfamiliar gut.
Europeans tend to be more subdued in dress and formal in manners than an American.
- Kayce aka lucy said...
sometimes i think my computer must have a little "bug" in it so that you guys can hear what i am saying and thinking!
SS--hubby and i were just discussing the need to run in to see the mona lisa :-)
barbara--you have named my #1 choice for the week. i selected my studio partially because it is in the midst of lovely markets, etc. & i am looking forward to a little bread, wine & cheese for my evening enjoyment.
i would love to know more about what you mean of "subdued in dress". i am thinking lots of black & white clothing as well as bonjour & merci beaucoup for manners :-)
- The Dream said...
Absolutely THRILLED for you, Lucy! People who can go out on adventures by themselves have been granted the gift of LOVE for self and the security of KNOWING and FAITH.
I know so many people who suffer the burden of self and can not grasp the beauty of being alone - they are always lonely. How awful to not enjoy one's own company. They can't even go to a movie flying solo.
So my friend, it is a party of one (and, of course, as you and I believe wholeheartedly - we are never really alone). Our day of meeting will come - this one is all about you.
As you prepare to enter the Louvre, be warned. In my opinion, I.M. Pei was not thinking straight when he put an unventilated greenhouse over the hole in the ground where the entrance to the Louvre is located. Waiting in line to get in is suffocating if the sun is out! For your sake, I hope the lines are short and fast-moving.
While you're in the Louvre saying "hi" to Mona, be sure to see David as well. Magnificence in marble! Should be no problem finding either one--just look for a big clump of people. Good luck finding a clear sighting for a photograph! But of course, we were there in the summer at the height of tourist season (a few days before the Tour de France arrived).
Once you get in, though, at some point consider making your way to the basement (i.e., away from the most heavily traveled areas) where there is an exposed a portion of one of the support columns of the ancient fort over which the Louvre was built. Geezer Dude and I found that quite fascinating, especially considering how old it is.
I think you'll find the Paris metro rail system fairly easy to use. As in all the areas of France, Germany and Switzerland that we saw, the train systems are safe, clean and prompt. A shame we don't have something similar in the U.S.!
Bon voyage!
- Country Parson said...
For perfectly selfish reasons, come back with the name and address of an outstanding restaurant where a CP can find his non-cow-dairy meal when he goes - someday.
Lucy! I am so excited for you! I started to flip through pictures and memories of my trip to recommend some 'must sees' and 'must dos' only to realize that the greatest moments really were spontaneous moments that really can't be planned. My favorites: (1) The wild taxi ride from the airport with the french taxi driver who wore a cowboy hat and was so excited to discover we were from Oklahoma who insisted on playing Garth Brooks at high volumn because according to him 'he is God!" (2) Standing in front of the beautiful Monet's and trying to express to my then 18 year old daughter how wonderful it was to be in Paris and standing infront of the Monets and having her say "No kidding Mom, these French guys are Hot! (obvious generation gap!) and finally (3) visiting Euro Disney and riding the water ride 'It's a Small World' and then for the rest of the day having that song stuck in my head in French!! I think it is those moments I remember. I recommend you stand at the top of the Eiffel Tower with you arms opened wide and feel the sway of it in the wind. I hope you don't just take pictures but have pictures taken of you so we can enjoy them too!! Have a wonderful, AH Mazing Time! Love, Pamela
- Barbara said...
All this talk of the Louvre reminds me of an Art Buchwald column in which he recounted how some Finn had broken the 3-minute Louvre, i.e. he saw the Venus de Milo, Winged Victory and the Mona Lisa within 3 minutes. [Not any easy task, by the way!] My hairdresser, a fellow from Marseilles, was not amused when I told him.
Subdued in dress... hmmm, I guess I mean refined, dressy, sophisticated. European women don't have lots of clothes because they prefer a few very good items to having lots of lesser quality. They tend toward the classic. Think Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly. So I mean nothing too conspicuous. Blacks and whites are fine. You'll be amazed what they do with scarves. It must be in their genes. However, things may have changed since I have been there.
And I hear they do not drink cafe au lait in the afternoon or evening. It is strictly for breakfast and served, often, in a bowl. If you like milk or cream in your coffee, just add it to a regular cup of cafe.
And never be afraid of trying something new!
- Barbara said...
I spelled it wrong in a previous comment -- the word is charcuterie.
- Kel said...
you'll be there three weeks before me!?!
i'm going with my mum - for years we joked that we'd go to Paris for my 40th
husband gave me a box on my 40th birthday last july and said "dreams do come true", it was full of brochures and magazines on France
on my must do list is:
Chartres Cathedral on a Friday to walk the labyrinth - not in Paris, 88km sth west but easily accessible by train
Butte de Montmartre and Sacre Coeur - sit on the steps and enjoy the panoramic view over Paris
buy some designer item at a depot-vente [recycled designer store]
Berthillon icecream on the Île de la Cité
won't this be fun :)
- Kel said...
oh, and Virtual Tourist is the best website for help with planning and ideas - their forums are awesome, post a question and within minutes there is usually a response.
- Laura & Miriam said...
favorite paris book--hemingway's "a moveable feast"
- Karen said...
I've never been, but what I'd love to do is go to an outdoor cafe by a busy street, and just sit and stare. And maybe jot down a few things in a notebook.
- Kayce aka lucy said...
fabulous comments & suggestions from my fabulous readers!!! i think i may have to extend the trip to a month or year or decade or something like that. all of these tips are so enticing!!! thank you!!!!
So many great suggestions, it has been 20 years since I lived there, but I think I already chimed in with the Musee D'Orsay. I was actually underwhelmed by the Mona Lisa, much smaller than I expected, and then with the crowds, the dim lighting and the casing in front, I would rather have spent the time walking along the Seine. Yes, lots of time to linger in cafes, and look for the bakeries with the longest lines.
- His Girl Friday said...
France is where I learned the origen of the phrase, 'who cut the cheese?' ;DD
...warning, unless you like Strong Cheese, only get the mild stuff! ;)
(was only in Paris for a day, so I can't add anything else! :D)
...can't wait to see the photos...hint,hint....
- Kayce aka lucy said...
christine--lingering, walking and bakeries all sound like a significant part of my time.
HGF--i'll watch out for the strong cheeses :-)


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Dave Lamb is fantastic. I used to roll my eyes and lower my bottom lip when my wife would flick over to Come Dine With Me after the football on a Sunday. And then I actually watched it and had to stop myself from giggling at the chap doing the witty and sarcastic voice-over. That chap is of course Dave Lamb, and he's fantastic.
Lamb has more strings to his bow than CDWM. He's appeared on a plethora of television and radio programmes and is, as you might expect, a comedy genius. He is also a regular on the terraces of the Dripping Pan, Lewes FC - and that is all the excuse we needed to get him onto the pages of European Football Weekends.
How come you've ended up supporting The Mighty Rooks? As a life-long Manchester United fan born and raised in the south east, I've taken a fair amount of stick over the years. It's got to me if I'm honest. I now agree completely that it's vital to support your local team. So whilst I won't be giving up United - you can't just give up your allegiance even if you suspect it may be wrong on many levels, I made a decision in good faith as a six year old and I'll stand by that - my passion has been localised. When I had this revelation I was living in Dorset so became a Weymouth season ticket holder for two years. As a Weymouth fan I developed a taste for relegation battles, financial difficulties and defeat. So when I moved to Brighton just over two years ago The Rooks and me were clearly going to be a perfect match. Also my good friend and ex-writing partner Ben Ward is one of the directors and he made me come.
The Dripping Pan is a majestic place to spend an afternoon watching football no? The Dripping Pan is simply the finest place I've ever watched football. I am an absolute bugger for a pint of Harveys, and to be able to sup a pint whilst breathing in the air and taking in the South Downs is spectacular. Sometimes I get so caught up in the experience that I forget there's a game on - but not for long.
Are you fully supportive of the new board and its 'Community Club' ethics? Very much so. I think what they are doing is beyond reproach. Their determination to ensure that the club survives first and foremost and then finds a natural level for itself is admirable and wonderful. Theirs is not an ego thing, it's a love thing.
You've been working with Alistair McGowan recently which must have been a giggle? Yes I have. "Sports Mash" on ITV4 hopefully soon to be repeated on ITV1. I've worked with Alastair many times over the years and it's always an absolute pleasure. It's like being at your own private gig. He is so bloody good at voices I spend most of the time watching and trying not to laugh on mic. His David Vine in this latest series we've been doing is sublime.
We interviewed Kevin Day on these pages not too long ago. He's someone else you've been working with right? Yeah, Kevin's one of the A-list writers on the series. I don't think an ITV 4 series has ever had such a talented writing squad. Basically it's the "Have I Got News For You" team doing it for peanuts because they love sport and love the idea.
Talking of Kevin Day, he just called to ask if you remember the Neville Brothers sketches you did on his radio show and how they portrayed Sir Alex? I do. Me and Lewes director Ben Ward wrote and performed a whole bunch of them in which we played Gary and Philip as a couple of tiny children with very squeaky voices (they were young at the time). And I fully realise why Kev is asking about Sir Alex Ferguson because we wrote him as Father Christmas and he was played by Kev. Interestingly Eric Cantona was portrayed as the French policeman from "'allo 'allo". Ben reminds me that we once had him uttering the immortal line: "I hot the woodwork with one of my shits". THAT, is comedy.
You've been sprinkling Come Dine With Me with your magic for the thick end of a decade now. Is that something you still love doing? It's all right.
What is your signature dish? Anything with Lamb in it is literally my signature dish.
Do you ever commentate on the Lewes games in your head in the same bitingly sarcastic manner as on CDWM? No. Because Lewes are brilliant, unlike most of the people on CDWM.
I'm glad I don't have to edit that show, there must be hours of footage to try and squeeze into such a short space of time? Absolutely. The CDWM crew has to be one of the hardest working in British television. Every half hour show is something like 23 minutes of actual air time and has to be cut down from about 75 hours of footage.
Right, be prepared to roll your eyes at this next question: who would be your dream four guests at a CDWM dinner party? Henry the eighth, Gillian Mackeith, Wayne Rooney and SuBo.
Have you ever tried your hand at stand-up comedy? I used to be in a double act with the excellent stand-up Gordon Southern (we got to the final of "So You Think You're Funny" at the Edinburgh festival in 1993), and I've compered a few times, but I've never really had anything I want to say. I think you should have something to say as a Stand-up, I saw Bill Hicks live, in a tent in 1993 and thought, "right, I'll give up then".
You've got a huge amount of followers on Twitter. Does that eat up much of your time? I spend a ludicrous amount of time worrying about what to put on twitter. So much so that I end up paralysed by the worry and hardly post anything, ever.
Who else would you like to see interviewed here on EFW? Former Eurotrash presenter Antoine de Caunes.
Heh, well consider that done. And finally, Christmas is fast approaching - anything you'd like to plug? Not really. Oh, I'm in "Rock and Chips" over Christmas, the "Fools and Horses" prequel with Nicholas Lyndhurst. A tenner for anyone who can spot me. (Not really. No prizes will be given, I want to make that absolutely clear).
Follow Dave Lamb and European Football Weekends on Twitter
- Feel free to comment below -


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Kristopher Murray is one of those rare exceptions. He arrived at
Washburne from the St. Charles Country Club, where, after years as
executive chef at the Chicago Yacht Club and sous chef at the Peninsula
Hotel, he was the only black chef in the club's history. Several weeks
ago, after getting settled at Washburne, he began calling every chef he
knows in Chicago — black and white — and establishing connections,
letting them know that though Washburne doesn't have a placement office,
he'd be doing that too.
One of the first people he called was Doran Payne, who grew up in St.
Lucia and became known in Chicago food circles as the chef of inventive
Caribbean-inflected dishes at Rhapsody on Millennium Park;
today, he owns Prairie Bread Kitchen in Oak Park. "I commend Kris for
what he is trying to do," Payne said. "It's insane that the executive
director is the guy doing the placement for his own students, though
maybe that's a small price for what he's trying to change here. Maybe a
chef hitting up a chef is more effective than a placement office.
"There are a lot of brilliant black cooks out there who will probably
never see the light of day — which is for a lot of reasons, though I
think this is partly a problem of exposure, to the right restaurants." Full article at Chicago Tribune


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The motion tracking dance game that made Kinect seem so interesting turns three-games-old this fall, as Harmonix announces an October 16 release date for Dance Central 3, the only game to combine "Ice, Ice Baby", the Macarena and time travel.
At this point I might pick up Dance Central 3 just to ironically listen to its soundtrack in the background while I work. The October 16 release date announcement (October 19 in Europe) for the body rhythm game comes with a handful of newly announced tracks, many of which already have me humming and tapping my foot despite myself.
Just look at these:
- 2NE1 – "I Am The Best (Original Version)"
- Alice Deejay – "Better Off Alone"
- Backstreet Boys – "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)"
- J.J. Fad – "Supersonic"
- Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz ft. Ying Yang Twins – "Get Low"
- LMFAO – "Sexy And I Know It"
- Los Del Rio – "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)"
- Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera – "Moves Like Jagger"
- Vanilla Ice – "Ice Ice Baby"
- Vicki Sue Robinson – "Turn The Beat Around"
- Village People – "Y.M.C.A."
If I could dance, these would be the songs I'd dance to.
The release date announcement also comes with a new developer diary showing off Harmonix's tattoos. I love you, Harmonix. When Kotaku eventually fires me for gross incompetence, I shall come work for you. I have the tats.


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It's probably good I didn't write this yesterday since it would have been a string of expletives after my fourth flat tire in a week. I've since ordered a new tire and I'm going to bring the wheel into a shop to make sure that there's nothing wrong with the rim or rim strip or anything else that would keep causing these flats. To be honest, I can't complain that much since I was riding on the patched tube from Sunday- the tube I had to put back after I (1) broke the valve to the replacement tube I brought and (2) punctured the tube I bought from Bob's Bikes in Poolesville. All considered, I rode about 60 miles on the patch and I knew it was only a matter of time. It just gave out on me as I was stopped at the traffic light by the Clarendon Metro. Hard times, indeed. What was once a novelty (the pop and the fizz) has now become frighteningly familiar and while I'm pretty sure I had another tube in my bag, I didn't want to change it only to have it burst again tomorrow. I walked it home. More on that later.
Prior to my flat, the ride was going fine. I prepped for rain because of the perpetual afternoon thunderstorm warning that blots the daily forecast by mounting my light to my handlebars and by moving my jacket to the top of the contents of my bag. It remained rainless, but this still seems like a 'best practice.' (I apologize for the jargon- writing this before a staff meeting)
I didn't hurt as much as I did in the morning and found myself going much faster than I expected, even rushing to beat the countdown clock on changing light at Calvert and Tunlaw. From there it's all downhill, so it's especially nice if you can beat it. Half the days I'm far too slow or otherwise unlucky and have to wait the 15 seconds for the light to change. Which isn't a big deal, but you wouldn't know it by the number of drivers who creep up into the intersection before the green.
I turned onto S without exactly stopping at the stop sign on 37th and a few seconds later I heard a car horn, that I think came from a blue sedan stopped on S, that soon thereafter started traveling in my direction. I don't think it was because of me, but I rode the next few blocks paranoically checking back over my shoulder, planning out what I would say if confronted. I think I settled on "sorry" which is to the point and, I suppose, slightly disarming. Of course, while I was thinking about this hypothetical confrontation, I was doing my best to pedal away from it and hopefully avoid it. Nothing came of it.
Bumpy on 34th. I was worried about a pinch flat. Good thing that didn't happen.
At certain intersections, I like to move over into the crosswalk once the light changes in order to give the cars behind me a chance to pass. I normally do this at Nash and Lee Highway because Nash narrows on account of the on-street parking and I'd rather just let the cars go by where I can give them plenty of room rather than have them squeeze by where there isn't as much. This was complicated yesterday by the guy on the bike behind me, who didn't adopt the same strategy. We need a better way to coordinate these things. I guess that would be called "norms," but I don't think David Alpert has time to work out all the minutiae. Maybe some sort of convention? Or beer summit?
I saw the hipster coming up Rosslyn hill. He was wearing a Toms jersey and a mesh cycling cap, perhaps ironically, perhaps because it's comfortable. I wanted to catch him, but he got through some lights that I didn't and as usual, he was gone. I thought that I had caught him at one point, but it was another guy on a single speed, who wasn't quite as hipstery. That was a disappointment. That guy was looking down at his tires as if there was something wrong and I asked him if he needed any help. He declined, but then told me to go past him. I think he just didn't want to ride in front of someone with a derailer. A lot of pressure there.
Then my tire blew and I walked it home. I made the mistake of stopping in a local bike shop to see if they had a replacement in stock. I dragged my bike into the shop and that's the surest way to make a bike shop seem to small. There's no good way to push your bike around a bike shop. After being ignored for five minutes, I finally flagged down some help. I asked if they had any tires of my size and he went behind the counter and pulled out two. He said that these were the only ones they had but that they were good. I said no thanks. And then he said "You know you have a flat tire, right?" WHY DO YOU THINK I'M IN THE STORE YOU MORON! I didn't say that though. I just said "Yeah" and left and called the Official Wife and told her to make sure that I never go into that shop again.
The walk wasn't bad but it put me in a bad mood and, while that's not the reason I didn't bike in today, I'm pretty freaking exhausted with mechanical issues and happy to not have to deal with them for at least a day.


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Sociedad (Buenos Aires)
Print version ISSN 0327-7712
Sociedad (B. Aires) vol.4 no.se Buenos Aires 2008
Spitting on the barbecued meat
Horacio González
Tenured Professor of Latin American Thought for the Sociology Degree at the School of Social Sciences, University of Buenos Aires. Director of the National Library
Translated by Marta Ines Merajver
Translation from Sociedad (Buenos Aires), Buenos Aires, n.28, 2008.
From the analysis of a popular Argentinean idiom, this article develops the ways in which a country's inhabitants boycott their homeland through actions of sacrificial desecration. Argentina will soon commemorate the Bicentennial of its independence, and the country owes itself an examination of its history and of its self-condemning forms of language.
Argentina is a pleasant-sounding name, one that we neither stigmatize nor ridiculize nor curse. However, there is another side to this. Far from being a hermit's or hopeless man's presentment, curses leveled at nations are a comprehensible part of the construction of peoples and citizenship. What we need to bear in mind is that cursing a living being, no matter who he is, primarily means cursing a name. The names of national cores are admirably fit to blasphemous practices. National aggregation never gathers those willing to share a common environment without leaving residues. There never is a lesser group of citizens who appear indifferent to a whole class of nativist heraldics. Depending on how it is viewed, indifference tends to be more emphatically condemned than is cursing. It stands to reason that, in all times, large numbers of people behave in such a way that their national belonging weighs considerably little. This does not make them feel as if they were rejecting stable, unanimous behaviors toward the collective template. Conversely, the issue of "national feeling" and of the "self-description" of their effusiveness at national identity is necessarily set within a quadrant in which impervious individuals regulate the general agreements. No doubt apathy is an essential component of names' ordinary presence. We do not object to being called "Argentineans" insofar as this protects our liberties. It is a second-degree act, presenting the common sphere as one worthy of esteem while implicitly granting a "nameless" liberty to other aspects of our lives. When I have a coffee at the corner bar or fight for a position at work I am not defined by the name given to the inhabitants of this country but by spontaneous or permanent, off-handed or class-related denominations that turn the common name into a meaningless abstraction.
This is well understood and discussed in patriotic commemorations. It is not for nothing that whoever happens to be making a speech for the occasion emphasizes that "on this day" we are expected to remember an evocation that should last "all the year round." Public memory is haunted by either imminent forgetfulness or by an abstraction that leaves us indifferent or in a state of ceremonial pretence. Like other events which confront public consciousness with values deemed unforgettable, commemoration must work out the paradox of which no ritual is free. If there were no commemoration, we would forget; if commemoration exists, it does not seem to suffice in order to explain a celebration that appears to be excessively artificial, established against the common will by an official signature. A national group's real life is ruled by these very disjunctions. No one feels overly annoyed when she catches herself appreciating as an "Argentine" some event or achievement that seems to deserve celebration. However, a hidden desire to curse rules over that part of our consciousness that does not demand any collective sentiment in the practical transaction of daily matters. Such indolence is the modest quota of execration surrounding every national commemoration.
From a hermeneutic point of view, eating a barbecue carries at least half a dozen levels of meaning. A brief listing includes the materiality of the meat as an economic, moral, and even theological issue, the rituals of commensality, which strengthen some sacrificial notion related to friendship, the celebration of nutritional qualities, subjected to some sort of lenient scrutiny that makes us take our time before "cheering the cook"; there are also phantasmatic thoughts about what was called "the care of the self" that confront the individual with the inert and practical web of dietetics, and we should not forget the linguistic connotations of the term achura1, which might come from the Inca language but is in fact related to the act of grilling and can be found in Virgil. Lastly, not to mention other considerable dimensions of sociability (raw, well-done, table manners), we have the invocation of Argentinean eating terminology. It would not be too difficult to trace the easily recognizable itineraries of the agglutinating barbecue legend as an Argentinean emblem. We find it in commercials, movies (Postiglione's El Asadito) and in certain lesser myths pointing to our general well being in times regarded as Edenic (masons' barbecues at the building site). The barbecue may not be found in the essence of Martín Fierro, which may confirm the void of "local color" predicted by Borges for every national identity when he came up with the sentence "there are no camels in the Koran." The truth is that Martín Fierro is about the melancholy form of the language. In general, literature attributes this sentiment to manners of speaking that precede the desirable construction of social law. Yet in fact there is a reflection about the barbecue in Martín Fierro: the well known lines about Old Vizcacha: "Si ensartaba algún asao, / ¡pobre!, ¡como si lo viese! / poco antes de que estubiese / primero lo maldecía, / luego después lo escupía / para que naides comiese"2.
"Escupir el asado" [to spit on the barbecued meat] is an old idiom that will not easily disappear from our variety of Spanish. It is about a qualified form of evil. The act itself is truly incomprehensible, for it shows disgusting contempt for something loved by the whole community. Nevertheless, every people has blasphemous phrases in store to express the ways of the outcast or the pleasures of the ungodly. The idiom in question amounts to what someone who despises the ineluctable thread binding the community would say. It verges on the unintelligible. Leónidas Lamborghini called "a repentant saboteur" the lyric version of he who spits on the barbecue, placing him at a point of enigmatic totality. The suffering experienced by Old Vizcacha becomes level with what Argentineans living in the last decades of the 20th century (this seems to have changed now) might have thought in terms of the social law and its characteristic threats. Spitting on the barbecue, biting the hand that feeds, is a distinctive trait of character that peoples acquire sooner or later. Is it in some way related to the usual forms of massacre that underlie the judgement of social obstacles? Such Argentinean public ideologies as circulate through "the body of what is massive and popular" were benevolences that did not force themselves to reflect on the catastrophe or thought that some obstacles were insurmountable.
Were these faults important? In fact, while popularly spread, classically coined language bears the mark of a hindrance (to spit on the barbecue), the broad ideas of the public that continue to be publicly valid operate without taking it upon themselves to think of the obstacles. Still, Argentina rose from a double game of obstacles, diachronic and synchronic, let us say. By way of simplification, I resort to these two terms that used to be of moment in the theory. In the case of diachronism, the sequence of binary political alternatives is easily detectable, and attempts at breaking the norm have mostly failed when confronted with these alternatives. The discussion about a federal or centralized model of national organization is a legacy that has persisted to this day, and each model has the capacity of vetoing the other. In regard to synchronism, we come across schismatic forms that reshape each social present into heterogeneous life expectations, diverse cultural customs, and radical imbalances in the general use of goods. I would like to offer an example in point. The peronismo emphatically insisted that it had a rupturist foundational nature. It brought new social literatures and, while it absorbed previous events, it was neither too willing to regard itself as part of a legacy nor did it believe that notions such as leadership and the like were belated replicas of a political-boss mentality. It upheld that it inaugurated a new branch of the social sciences, perhaps a sociocracy somehow inspired by 20th century's military and social positivism. This political force, or political name, was tempted to encompass the whole of the national meanings or everything related to Argentine issues. However, it found this impossible to achieve unless it created a new division under its own name, claiming the "authenticity" of the name.
Both cases imply "spitting on the barbecued meat." Let us agree that the idiom is extremely provoking. The mere fact of spitting, which is rude, makes it patent that the human body contains a considerable amount of hidden, viscous humors. We all remember the famous 1902 municipal ordinance that read "No spitting on the floor", a classic normative statement that, in a scale economy, led to the proliferation of spittoons. These are becoming extinct as vestiges of societies that maintained the hazy ideal of gentlemanliness typical of the "white collar"3 classes. The organizations intending to introduce salubrious coexistence supported by a guarantee-based system through a modest control of spitting have failed. The public health ideal failed because of the inefficacy of a paradox according to which the State, by means of a law, was to gather expectoration in a legitimate container. Those of us who have seen the last existing spittoons in train and subway stations, pharmacies, and barber shops know that they stood for the last device of the liberal, individualistic State, previous to the collapse of positivist hygienism at the hands of free spitting in the chaotic streets of our cities. In these same streets, regulations about dog droppings substituted NGO's pet healthiness for spittoon Bismarckianism.
Thus one can understand the significance of defiling the barbecue. Broiling meat is a deliberate foundational act of civilization and, by extension, of the regulation of language. Chewing hot meat must have been simultaneous with the creation of more elaborate, aesthetic forms of utterance. Thus the idiom "to spit on barbecued meat" offers an essential form of condemnation of the conventions imposed by the social law. It is not a transgression committed in the living theater of collective life. I do not know anybody who has spat on such noble meats. However, doing so is a dark reverie inhabiting the spoken language, which utters words not splutters. The impossible act has entered the language as a synonym for the inhibition rising from the delusion generated by the group. It is a self-exploration of historical and daily hindrances. It is the opposite of cheering the cook, a mystic, conciliatory salutation of common rejoicement.
I remember that about half a century ago our University Schools fostered the reading of English anthropologist Mary Douglas's Peligro y pureza, which fruitfully dealt with ritual desecration. I keep a dim recollection of it, but the book was as worth reading as the more modern writings by Giorgio Ambagen. To spit on the barbecued meat must have been the dream, come true through its linguistic expression, of the harassment that social conspirators release as a sign of danger and freedom. No one in his right mind would carry out such a disintegrating action under the harsh threat of ostracism, death perhaps. But the ordinary language is wise and, since times out of mind, has treasured an act that is naturally offensive, an injurious archetype that can be associated to the worst of societal and national denial. .
That's why, in the actual facticity of the story, Old Vizcacha spits on the barbecued meat in a seemingly effective fashion. He "cursed it before 'twas done/and then he spat on the meat/so that no one else would eat it". This kind of mythical act that the Martín Fierro presents as credible and empirical, as the construction of the reprobate's persona, proves the extent to which the epic poetry of modern peoples maintains the most archaic ideal of purity. Moreover, at least among us Argentineans, it is still the course that enables our research into such memories of the real corpus of our ordinary speech as contain potential warnings and the forever possible utopia of national extinction. The most hateful character produced by the inner poetic vein of a collective continues to enlighten us as much as do our most advanced studies of the semantic roots of disagreements. There are many well-known explanations for those. Still, the prohibition in the wise 1902 ordinance appears when all other explanations fail; when the core of the language provides a warning about what is lacking in the arguments that should enable us to understand our own language, that imaginary, so much desired factory of hatred and explanations.
Juan José Hernández Arregui. Imperialismo y cultura. La política en la inteligencia argentina. Editorial Amerindia, Buenos Aires, 1957.
Arturo Jauretche. Los profetas del odio y la yapa. Ediciones Trafac, Buenos Aires, 1957.
Ernesto Jauretche. Filo, contrafilo y punta. Buenos Aires, Juárez Editor, 1969.
Ezequiel Martínez Estrada. Radiografía de la Pampa. Edición crítica a cargo de Leo Pollmann. México, Colección Archivos, 1993.
Ezequiel Martínez Estrada. Diferencias y semejanzas entre los países de la América Latina. Caracas, Editorial Biblioteca Ayacucho, 1990.
Héctor A. Murena. El pecado original de América. Buenos Aires, Editorial Sur, 1954.
1 Innards. Derived from the verb "achurar" (to gut an animal). [T.N.]
2 "If he grabbed some charcoaled meat/Poor old man! I seem to see him/He cursed it before 'twas done/And then he spat on the meat/ So that no one else would eat it." [M.M.'s translation]
3 In English in the original. [T.N.]


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