Motion to study when life begins defeated in Parliament
A motion to study the Criminal Code's definition of when human life begins was defeated in the House of Commons Wednesday night.
Members of Parliament voted 203 to 91 against Motion 312, sponsored by Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth.
The private member's motion sought to set up a committee to study how the Criminal Code defines when life begins. The provision, in the homicide section of the code, says a child becomes a human being when it has fully left its mother's body.
Although Prime Minister Stephen Harper had opposed the motion and voted against it, some members of his cabinet voted in favour. Those included Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, Public Works and Status of Women Minister Rona Ambrose, government House leader Peter Van Loan, International Co-operation Minister Julian Fantino, Trade Minister Ed Fast, Intergovernmental Affairs Peter Penashue, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, and National Revenue Minister Gail Shea.
Liberal MPs John McKay, Lawrence MacAulay, Kevin Lamoureux and Jim Karygiannis also supported the motion.
Labour Minister Lisa Raitt said she voted the way her constituents knew she would, against the motion.
"It's time to move on," she said. "My constituents knew that this was something the government would not be opening up."
Critics said the motion was an excuse to reopen the debate on abortion in Canada and set limits on the procedure. Woodworth had said he hoped having a debate would convince Canadians to oppose abortion.
After the vote, Woodworth said he thought some of his colleagues voted against the motion out of respect for Harper.
"I'm a great believer in democracy … and ultimately the House of Commons will respond," Woodworth said.
Woodworth said last week that he didn't expect the motion to pass. The Conservatives, NDP and Liberals treated it as a free vote, meaning MPs were not told how to vote on the motion.
The NDP accused the government of using a private member's motion to push an agenda it's afraid to tackle more officially.
Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae said the House reflected the will of Canadians that the issue is closed.
But Rae said that Ambrose's vote in favour of the motion reflects the divide within the Conservative caucus over abortion.
Woodworth said he was "grateful to [Ambrose] for reflecting the desire I have on this issue."
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Strike paralyses life in Jharkhand
Strike paralyses life in Jharkhand
Slogan-shouting bandh supporters squatted on railway tracks in Koderma, Dhanbad and other places disrupting train services for over a couple of hours, railways sources said. BJP activists also put up blockades on national highways,affecting vehicular traffic, to protest Centre's decision allowing FDI in retail, hike in diesel prices and limiting subsidised LPG cylinders.
Work at PSUs was affected following disruption of transportation of coal, iron ore, bauxite and other minerals in view of the stir.
Most educational institutions, shops and business establishments remained closed for the day. "The BJP demands immediate roll back of diesel prices and limitation of subsidised LPG cylinders," party spokesman Pradip Sinha said at a gathering in Albert Ekka Chowk here.
Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantric-JVM) president Babulal Marandi, JMM vice president Sudhir Mahto, RJD state unit president Girinath Singh and Left leaders also demanded immediate rollback of the decisions.
JMM and JVM are supporting the UPA government at the Centre
A report from Jamshedpur said train services on Howrah-Mumbai route under Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway has been affected as the BJP and JVM workers squatted on track at Rajkharswan, Adityapur, Salgajhuri-Govindpur stations.
Railway sources said Howrah-bound Geetanjali Express,and Tata-Gua Passenger were among several trains stranded due to the blockade.
The Bhubaneswar-bound Rajdhani Express which was stranded for about half an hour at Adityapur, has left for its onward journey after agitators withdrew the blockade but other political party activists took over the spot soon after, the sources said.
Barring some stray incidents of smashing of glass panes of autorickshaw and commercial vehicles in Jamshedpur,the bandh was by and large peaceful so far, a report said.
Slogan-shouting bandh supporters squatted on railway tracks in Koderma, Dhanbad and other places disrupting train services for over a couple of hours, railways sources said. BJP activists also put up blockades on national highways,affecting vehicular traffic, to protest Centre's decision allowing FDI in retail, hike in diesel prices and limiting subsidised LPG cylinders.
Work at PSUs was affected following disruption of transportation of coal, iron ore, bauxite and other minerals in view of the stir.
Most educational institutions, shops and business establishments remained closed for the day. "The BJP demands immediate roll back of diesel prices and limitation of subsidised LPG cylinders," party spokesman Pradip Sinha said at a gathering in Albert Ekka Chowk here.
Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantric-JVM) president Babulal Marandi, JMM vice president Sudhir Mahto, RJD state unit president Girinath Singh and Left leaders also demanded immediate rollback of the decisions.
JMM and JVM are supporting the UPA government at the Centre
A report from Jamshedpur said train services on Howrah-Mumbai route under Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway has been affected as the BJP and JVM workers squatted on track at Rajkharswan, Adityapur, Salgajhuri-Govindpur stations.
Railway sources said Howrah-bound Geetanjali Express,and Tata-Gua Passenger were among several trains stranded due to the blockade.
The Bhubaneswar-bound Rajdhani Express which was stranded for about half an hour at Adityapur, has left for its onward journey after agitators withdrew the blockade but other political party activists took over the spot soon after, the sources said.
Barring some stray incidents of smashing of glass panes of autorickshaw and commercial vehicles in Jamshedpur,the bandh was by and large peaceful so far, a report said.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Life after Frontier Airlines
Life after Frontier Airlines
A Herald employee was in Boulder, Colo., when he received our email news alert that Frontier Airlines was discontinuing its service to the Provo Airport.
Since he had taken Frontier's flight to Denver, he worried that he wouldn't have a way home. When he learned that the service would not end until Jan. 7, he calmed down.
Utah Valley residents should feel the same way. We should be optimistic that another airline will soon take Frontier's place. Frontier has long been trying to work its way out of financial trouble, only recently emerging from bankruptcy, and so the pull-back can be seen as a consequence of a company reorganizing itself, not the death knell of air service to Provo.
According to Provo Mayor John Curtis, it never was a question of passenger counts or the financial viability of the Provo-Denver route. It's just that Frontier is planning to sell the plane along with other smaller aircraft it owns. Curtis said the Denver route brought in flight revenues of nearly $1 million -- when counting the purchase of second-leg trips out of Denver.
Whether counting connecting flights makes a good yardstick is for experts to debate. But in general Curtis's take doesn't seem to square with what the airline is saying. Financial performance was the central issue, according to Frontier spokeswoman Lindsey Carpenter.
"Provo has consistently failed to meet our expectations," Carpenter said, "Provo was trailing our Denver hub average by 15 points. As of right now there are no plans to return to the Provo market."
So which is it -- success or failure? Local residents would like to know. We'll side with the positive because a troubled company cannot be the best barometer.
Yet Provo should be grateful that Frontier blazed a path. What's been accomplished to date should ease the way for a replacement airline to serve Utah Valley.
For example, Texas-based TAC Air purchased the terminal, Million Air, earlier this year, and the latest passenger-screening equipment has been installed. The infrastructure will be ready and waiting after the first of the year.
A good local development team is also in place. Earlier this year, the Federal Aviation Administration recognized Provo city and the Provo Airport for leadership and teamwork in preparing for commercial flights. Now the team just needs to go back into negotiation mode.
When Frontier came to Provo in June 2011 it seemed a perfect fit for the area. We had finally grown up. It's important to maintain that mindset. Provo occupies a beautiful neck of the woods. It's got a new convention center and an emerging hotel district with meeting space and restaurants. There's lots to offer.
As word gets out, more companies and organizations will be looking to come to Provo for their events. An airport literally five minutes away from downtown is a big plus.
We have no doubt that somebody is going to pick up where Frontier left off. There may even be other regional route possibilities than just Denver -- think Las Vegas, a natural jumping-off point for travel elsewhere in the country, often with cheaper fares. Or how about Phoenix, or even Southern California? Hello, Disneyland, we've got some kids for you.
The point is that all is not lost. On the contrary, much has been gained in knowledge about what it takes to have successful air service.
Thinking about replacing Frontier, Provo ought to see if it could get a little brainstorming from David Neeleman, the brilliant entrepreneur with Utah roots who founded JetBlue Airlines. Neeleman, who grew up in Salt Lake Valley, is currently tracing another madly successful business arc in Brazil with his latest venture, Azul Airlines, which now owns more than 100 aircraft and built a business with 8,000 employees in under four years. Neeleman just celebrated he 20-millionth passenger in Brazil after starting at zero. And that's on top of his business airline, called Legacy.
So here's a suggestion: Get a little bit of Neeleman to rub off in Provo, and Utah Valley will be back in the air before you know it.
A Herald employee was in Boulder, Colo., when he received our email news alert that Frontier Airlines was discontinuing its service to the Provo Airport.
Since he had taken Frontier's flight to Denver, he worried that he wouldn't have a way home. When he learned that the service would not end until Jan. 7, he calmed down.
Utah Valley residents should feel the same way. We should be optimistic that another airline will soon take Frontier's place. Frontier has long been trying to work its way out of financial trouble, only recently emerging from bankruptcy, and so the pull-back can be seen as a consequence of a company reorganizing itself, not the death knell of air service to Provo.
According to Provo Mayor John Curtis, it never was a question of passenger counts or the financial viability of the Provo-Denver route. It's just that Frontier is planning to sell the plane along with other smaller aircraft it owns. Curtis said the Denver route brought in flight revenues of nearly $1 million -- when counting the purchase of second-leg trips out of Denver.
Whether counting connecting flights makes a good yardstick is for experts to debate. But in general Curtis's take doesn't seem to square with what the airline is saying. Financial performance was the central issue, according to Frontier spokeswoman Lindsey Carpenter.
"Provo has consistently failed to meet our expectations," Carpenter said, "Provo was trailing our Denver hub average by 15 points. As of right now there are no plans to return to the Provo market."
So which is it -- success or failure? Local residents would like to know. We'll side with the positive because a troubled company cannot be the best barometer.
Yet Provo should be grateful that Frontier blazed a path. What's been accomplished to date should ease the way for a replacement airline to serve Utah Valley.
For example, Texas-based TAC Air purchased the terminal, Million Air, earlier this year, and the latest passenger-screening equipment has been installed. The infrastructure will be ready and waiting after the first of the year.
A good local development team is also in place. Earlier this year, the Federal Aviation Administration recognized Provo city and the Provo Airport for leadership and teamwork in preparing for commercial flights. Now the team just needs to go back into negotiation mode.
When Frontier came to Provo in June 2011 it seemed a perfect fit for the area. We had finally grown up. It's important to maintain that mindset. Provo occupies a beautiful neck of the woods. It's got a new convention center and an emerging hotel district with meeting space and restaurants. There's lots to offer.
As word gets out, more companies and organizations will be looking to come to Provo for their events. An airport literally five minutes away from downtown is a big plus.
We have no doubt that somebody is going to pick up where Frontier left off. There may even be other regional route possibilities than just Denver -- think Las Vegas, a natural jumping-off point for travel elsewhere in the country, often with cheaper fares. Or how about Phoenix, or even Southern California? Hello, Disneyland, we've got some kids for you.
The point is that all is not lost. On the contrary, much has been gained in knowledge about what it takes to have successful air service.
Thinking about replacing Frontier, Provo ought to see if it could get a little brainstorming from David Neeleman, the brilliant entrepreneur with Utah roots who founded JetBlue Airlines. Neeleman, who grew up in Salt Lake Valley, is currently tracing another madly successful business arc in Brazil with his latest venture, Azul Airlines, which now owns more than 100 aircraft and built a business with 8,000 employees in under four years. Neeleman just celebrated he 20-millionth passenger in Brazil after starting at zero. And that's on top of his business airline, called Legacy.
So here's a suggestion: Get a little bit of Neeleman to rub off in Provo, and Utah Valley will be back in the air before you know it.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Half Life remake Black Mesa now available for download
Half Life remake Black Mesa now available for download
When people think of great first-person shooters they typically recall Doom and Unreal Tournament. Not me, though; I think back to the game that really started it for me, the one that did single-player right: Half-Life. Published by Valve Software in 1998, the original Half-Life was a journey through an apocalyptic experience at the Black Mesa labs in New Mexico as seen through the eyes of a brave but silent hero, Gordon Freeman. Now, 14 years later, a team of modders have released Black Mesa, a recreation of that seminal experience with Valve's Source engine. It looks marvelous.
The project started back in 2004 after Valve released their new Source engine yet failed to satisfy fans with a remake of Half-Life in the new engine titled (appropriately enough) "Half-Life: Source." After some progress and a bit of positive press attention the Black Mesa project went quiet and was presumed dead for a number of years, until in June of 2012 when the Black Mesa Modification Team offered new media once their Facebook profile reached 20,000 likes. In September the project leader, Carlos "cman2k" Montero confirmed a September 14 release date for Black Mesa.
Now the game is finally available; it was one of the first projects chosen for Steam's Greenlight program and will eventually be released directly from the Steam store. For now, there are direct downloads from the website here. Black Mesa is completely free to download and play; all that is required is Steam and the Source SDK Base 2007 tool installed (free download within Steam, here's a quick video on where to find it).
This is not just a re-skinned Half-Life, either; everything has been completely recreated with the newest version of the Source Engine (the one which shipped with the Orange Box in 2007) and despite basically being a beautiful rehash of a seminal game from 1998, Black Mesa feels like a brand-new game. It really is like a punch in the nostalgia gut, and I love it.
When people think of great first-person shooters they typically recall Doom and Unreal Tournament. Not me, though; I think back to the game that really started it for me, the one that did single-player right: Half-Life. Published by Valve Software in 1998, the original Half-Life was a journey through an apocalyptic experience at the Black Mesa labs in New Mexico as seen through the eyes of a brave but silent hero, Gordon Freeman. Now, 14 years later, a team of modders have released Black Mesa, a recreation of that seminal experience with Valve's Source engine. It looks marvelous.
The project started back in 2004 after Valve released their new Source engine yet failed to satisfy fans with a remake of Half-Life in the new engine titled (appropriately enough) "Half-Life: Source." After some progress and a bit of positive press attention the Black Mesa project went quiet and was presumed dead for a number of years, until in June of 2012 when the Black Mesa Modification Team offered new media once their Facebook profile reached 20,000 likes. In September the project leader, Carlos "cman2k" Montero confirmed a September 14 release date for Black Mesa.
Now the game is finally available; it was one of the first projects chosen for Steam's Greenlight program and will eventually be released directly from the Steam store. For now, there are direct downloads from the website here. Black Mesa is completely free to download and play; all that is required is Steam and the Source SDK Base 2007 tool installed (free download within Steam, here's a quick video on where to find it).
This is not just a re-skinned Half-Life, either; everything has been completely recreated with the newest version of the Source Engine (the one which shipped with the Orange Box in 2007) and despite basically being a beautiful rehash of a seminal game from 1998, Black Mesa feels like a brand-new game. It really is like a punch in the nostalgia gut, and I love it.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Ferdinand pledges life, stay at Manchester United
Ferdinand pledges life, stay at Manchester United
RIO Ferdinand made his 400th appearance for Manchester United at the weekend against Wigan in a glittering 10-year spell that has seen him win the Premier League trophy on five occasions, the League Cup twice, the FA Cup once, and the Champions League once.
Ferdinand has one year remaining in his contract, but has told The Sun about his plans for the future. The 33-year old stated: “However long the manager wants me here, and my body can take it, I want to stay at this club.
“From the day I signed, I always said that when I leave United I want to be able to walk out with my head held high and my chest puffed out, knowing I did a good job.
“But I can’t say that yet because the job isn’t finished. It is still a work in progress. The over-30s at United know how it works, that the club will come to you and offer another deal if they still think you are up to it. We’ve seen that with Paul Scholes this year and he hasn’t done too badly has he?
“So I’m not in a panic, I’m just getting on with it and giving United everything I have. I’m proud of playing 400 times for this great club, though part of me thinks it could have been 500 if I hadn’t had those injuries over the last couple of seasons.
“That’s another good reason for keeping going to make up for lost time. I feel good now. I’m over the injuries and enjoying my football as much as ever.”
The defender added that he has turned down offers from other clubs previously, and did not feel there was reason to leave Manchester United. He said: “I’ve had offers, like a lot of the lads have, but why would you ever want to leave this club?
“There are very few players whose career has got better after leaving United, it usually goes down, not up. I have always been aware of that and realised there is no reason to want to play somewhere different. If I was going to move abroad it was more likely in my West Ham days.
“But United has everything, the history and traditions, the ability to win all the big competitions and a stature in the game which is unrivalled in my opinion.”
RIO Ferdinand made his 400th appearance for Manchester United at the weekend against Wigan in a glittering 10-year spell that has seen him win the Premier League trophy on five occasions, the League Cup twice, the FA Cup once, and the Champions League once.
Ferdinand has one year remaining in his contract, but has told The Sun about his plans for the future. The 33-year old stated: “However long the manager wants me here, and my body can take it, I want to stay at this club.
“From the day I signed, I always said that when I leave United I want to be able to walk out with my head held high and my chest puffed out, knowing I did a good job.
“But I can’t say that yet because the job isn’t finished. It is still a work in progress. The over-30s at United know how it works, that the club will come to you and offer another deal if they still think you are up to it. We’ve seen that with Paul Scholes this year and he hasn’t done too badly has he?
“So I’m not in a panic, I’m just getting on with it and giving United everything I have. I’m proud of playing 400 times for this great club, though part of me thinks it could have been 500 if I hadn’t had those injuries over the last couple of seasons.
“That’s another good reason for keeping going to make up for lost time. I feel good now. I’m over the injuries and enjoying my football as much as ever.”
The defender added that he has turned down offers from other clubs previously, and did not feel there was reason to leave Manchester United. He said: “I’ve had offers, like a lot of the lads have, but why would you ever want to leave this club?
“There are very few players whose career has got better after leaving United, it usually goes down, not up. I have always been aware of that and realised there is no reason to want to play somewhere different. If I was going to move abroad it was more likely in my West Ham days.
“But United has everything, the history and traditions, the ability to win all the big competitions and a stature in the game which is unrivalled in my opinion.”
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Halliday breathes life into Cougs' air-raid attack
Halliday breathes life into Cougs' air-raid attack
In a city where gambling is a way of life, Washington State quarterback Connor Halliday looked right at home Friday night.
Halliday treated a national television audience and more than 5,000 WSU fans to his high-risk, high-reward style of play, passing for 378 yards and four touchdowns in a wild, 35-27 triumph over UNLV.
Halliday, a redshirt sophomore out of Spokane’s Ferris High School, made his second college start due to the knee injury suffered by senior Jeff Tuel in last Saturday’s win over Eastern Washington.
Coach Mike Leach didn’t say whether he’s decided on his starting quarterback for next week in the Cougars’ (2-1) Pacific-12 Conference opener against visiting Colorado (0-2).
“Connor played really well,” Leach said.
“Both our quarterbacks are amazing,” offensive tackle Gunnar Eklund said after his first start.
Halliday, who loves to gamble with his strong right arm, completed three long passes for 47 or more yards – two for touchdowns – in the first 25 minutes at Sam Boyd Stadium. In addition, he may have lost a 75-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter when Marquess Wilson dropped a perfectly thrown pass after getting behind the defense at midfield.
“He was amazing back there,” Wilson said. “Who wouldn’t like a quarterback that’s launching the ball?”
Added Halliday: “Leach puts a lot on the quarterback’s shoulders to call your own play at the line of scrimmage. I think I got settled in well there and made some great decisions for the rest of the game after I made that first (interception).”
Halliday threw interceptions in the first and fourth quarters. Wilson dropped a ball in the end zone in the fourth quarter, but he made amends by catching his first two touchdown passes of the year.
Wilson’s second TD, an 81-yard bomb he caught in stride at midfield, gave WSU a 28-10 lead (after the extra point) with 5 minutes, 27 seconds left in the second quarter.
The Rebels answered on the next play from scrimmage with a 75-yard touchdown bomb of their own. A field goal with no time on the clock narrowed WSU’s halftime lead to 28-20.
Halliday’s pinpoint passing keyed a 13-play, 88-yard drive that Leon Brooks capped with a 3-yard run in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. It was the first college touchdown for Brooks, a redshirt junior running back who came to WSU as a walk-on.
The Rebels gambled and lost on fourth down two times in WSU territory in the final 10 minutes but scored with 1:44 left. WSU’s Andrei Lintz recovered the onside kick, and after the Cougars were stopped at midfield on a fourth-down run with 40 seconds to go, the Rebels (who had no timeouts left) stalled at midfield.
“We can’t put the game away,” safety Casey Locker said. “That’s something we’ve got to figure out here real quick.”
The entertaining contest was played before a crowd of 17,015 that was fairly evenly divided between fans of the two teams.
WSU edged the Rebels (0-3) 461-460 in total yards. UNLV redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Sherry tied a school record by completing 33 of his 49 passes. He had 351 passing yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
Halliday was 26-for-45 passing, with four TDs. He scrambled well when pressured, but WSU’s offensive line did its best job of pass blocking this season after making more personnel changes.
In a city where gambling is a way of life, Washington State quarterback Connor Halliday looked right at home Friday night.
Halliday treated a national television audience and more than 5,000 WSU fans to his high-risk, high-reward style of play, passing for 378 yards and four touchdowns in a wild, 35-27 triumph over UNLV.
Halliday, a redshirt sophomore out of Spokane’s Ferris High School, made his second college start due to the knee injury suffered by senior Jeff Tuel in last Saturday’s win over Eastern Washington.
Coach Mike Leach didn’t say whether he’s decided on his starting quarterback for next week in the Cougars’ (2-1) Pacific-12 Conference opener against visiting Colorado (0-2).
“Connor played really well,” Leach said.
“Both our quarterbacks are amazing,” offensive tackle Gunnar Eklund said after his first start.
Halliday, who loves to gamble with his strong right arm, completed three long passes for 47 or more yards – two for touchdowns – in the first 25 minutes at Sam Boyd Stadium. In addition, he may have lost a 75-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter when Marquess Wilson dropped a perfectly thrown pass after getting behind the defense at midfield.
“He was amazing back there,” Wilson said. “Who wouldn’t like a quarterback that’s launching the ball?”
Added Halliday: “Leach puts a lot on the quarterback’s shoulders to call your own play at the line of scrimmage. I think I got settled in well there and made some great decisions for the rest of the game after I made that first (interception).”
Halliday threw interceptions in the first and fourth quarters. Wilson dropped a ball in the end zone in the fourth quarter, but he made amends by catching his first two touchdown passes of the year.
Wilson’s second TD, an 81-yard bomb he caught in stride at midfield, gave WSU a 28-10 lead (after the extra point) with 5 minutes, 27 seconds left in the second quarter.
The Rebels answered on the next play from scrimmage with a 75-yard touchdown bomb of their own. A field goal with no time on the clock narrowed WSU’s halftime lead to 28-20.
Halliday’s pinpoint passing keyed a 13-play, 88-yard drive that Leon Brooks capped with a 3-yard run in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. It was the first college touchdown for Brooks, a redshirt junior running back who came to WSU as a walk-on.
The Rebels gambled and lost on fourth down two times in WSU territory in the final 10 minutes but scored with 1:44 left. WSU’s Andrei Lintz recovered the onside kick, and after the Cougars were stopped at midfield on a fourth-down run with 40 seconds to go, the Rebels (who had no timeouts left) stalled at midfield.
“We can’t put the game away,” safety Casey Locker said. “That’s something we’ve got to figure out here real quick.”
The entertaining contest was played before a crowd of 17,015 that was fairly evenly divided between fans of the two teams.
WSU edged the Rebels (0-3) 461-460 in total yards. UNLV redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Sherry tied a school record by completing 33 of his 49 passes. He had 351 passing yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
Halliday was 26-for-45 passing, with four TDs. He scrambled well when pressured, but WSU’s offensive line did its best job of pass blocking this season after making more personnel changes.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Sleepwalker's odd life makes a likable film
Sleepwalker's odd life makes a likable film
Much of Mike Birbiglia's waking life in "Sleepwalk With Me" is a nightmare.
Nothing seems to go right for the comedian, or his alter ego, a character named Matt Pandamiglio.
But the film, based on Birbiglia's stand-up act and off-Broadway show, is a dream for fans of offbeat, well-written and subtly acted projects.
The partly autobiographical tale has an appealingly low-key style that is alternately funny and melancholy and informed by Birbiglia's casual delivery. Birbiglia directs himself and his sharp ensemble cast deftly, fusing a non-linear narrative with comedy routines and voice-over narration that includes directly addressing the audience. This blend of formats suits Birbiglia's style and the weird subject matter ideally.
In addition to chronicling his arrested development, love of pizza and distaste for marriage, Birbiglia tackles the challenges of a career in comedy and probes the contours of evasion and dishonesty. These elements are almost as intriguing as the crazy stuff Pandamiglio does while snoozing.
Birbiglia's extreme sleepwalking saga first surfaced on "This American Life," Ira Glass' public-radio show, and the film was cowritten and produced by Glass.
Pandamiglio works as a bartender in a comedy club, and his stand-up gigs are few. When they do occur, they're sparsely attended and poorly compensated. Abby (Lauren Ambrose), his longtime girlfriend, yearns for a wedding, but Pandamiglio couldn't be further from sharing that dream. His parents nag him about his lack of success.
In the midst of these problems, he becomes a somnambulist. In a slumbering state, he leaps about his bedroom and later jumps out a hotel window.
Because of what he later learns is REM sleep behavior disorder, Pandamiglio crawls out of bed and begins attacking a clothes hamper, yelling: "There's a jackal in the room!"
Later, he wins first place at the Dustbuster Olympics in one of several cleverly conceived dream sequences. When he sleepwalks into a friend's shower fully dressed and gets drenched, the friend tells him: "You're not supposed to actually act them out like that. They're like movies. You just sort of watch them."
Glass' script and Birbiglia's offhand style, bolstered by sharp self-awareness, render the experiences drolly humorous, but Birbiglia also makes us painfully aware that this malady is a dangerous proposition.
Much of Mike Birbiglia's waking life in "Sleepwalk With Me" is a nightmare.
Nothing seems to go right for the comedian, or his alter ego, a character named Matt Pandamiglio.
But the film, based on Birbiglia's stand-up act and off-Broadway show, is a dream for fans of offbeat, well-written and subtly acted projects.
The partly autobiographical tale has an appealingly low-key style that is alternately funny and melancholy and informed by Birbiglia's casual delivery. Birbiglia directs himself and his sharp ensemble cast deftly, fusing a non-linear narrative with comedy routines and voice-over narration that includes directly addressing the audience. This blend of formats suits Birbiglia's style and the weird subject matter ideally.
In addition to chronicling his arrested development, love of pizza and distaste for marriage, Birbiglia tackles the challenges of a career in comedy and probes the contours of evasion and dishonesty. These elements are almost as intriguing as the crazy stuff Pandamiglio does while snoozing.
Birbiglia's extreme sleepwalking saga first surfaced on "This American Life," Ira Glass' public-radio show, and the film was cowritten and produced by Glass.
Pandamiglio works as a bartender in a comedy club, and his stand-up gigs are few. When they do occur, they're sparsely attended and poorly compensated. Abby (Lauren Ambrose), his longtime girlfriend, yearns for a wedding, but Pandamiglio couldn't be further from sharing that dream. His parents nag him about his lack of success.
In the midst of these problems, he becomes a somnambulist. In a slumbering state, he leaps about his bedroom and later jumps out a hotel window.
Because of what he later learns is REM sleep behavior disorder, Pandamiglio crawls out of bed and begins attacking a clothes hamper, yelling: "There's a jackal in the room!"
Later, he wins first place at the Dustbuster Olympics in one of several cleverly conceived dream sequences. When he sleepwalks into a friend's shower fully dressed and gets drenched, the friend tells him: "You're not supposed to actually act them out like that. They're like movies. You just sort of watch them."
Glass' script and Birbiglia's offhand style, bolstered by sharp self-awareness, render the experiences drolly humorous, but Birbiglia also makes us painfully aware that this malady is a dangerous proposition.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
The precarious life of a diplomat
The precarious life of a diplomat
Christopher Stevens, the American ambassador to Libya who was killed in Benghazi by an enraged mob of religious fanatics, gave his life for his country and in the pursuit of his profession. He became the latest American diplomat killed in the line of duty, a fate that has befallen more ambassadors than generals since the end of World War II. It's a dangerous trade.
That is especially true in a country such as Libya, where the fall of the Gadhafi regime has created a power vacuum and the populace has ready access to powerful weapons. The rocket propelled grenade that hit the consulate is designed to destroy tanks. He and the other three Americans had no chance.
Stevens, whom I did not know, surely realized that he would encounter risks on this trip. A fluent Arabic speaker, he had been in Libya since its civil war and had witnessed the deterioration in public order. He was in the consulate in Benghazi, more than 400 miles from the better-fortified embassy in the capital of Tripoli. It was Sept. 11, a day that has a special resonance among Muslim militants. And the film that ridiculed the Prophet Muhammad, which even moderate Muslims would regard as blasphemous, had become a staple on YouTube.
Still, Stevens decided to go. Like all dedicated American diplomats, he knew that to understand a country and its culture, to report accurately to Washington, and to effectively promote American policies, he had to engage the people, in provincial cities and small villages as well as the capital.
Stevens no doubt had ample security, and the level of security was determined by intelligence reports and the likelihood of violence. But ultimately all diplomats from every country must depend on the local government for their protection. When that government cannot, or refuses to, respond, as was the case with our embassy in Tehran in 1979, the situation becomes plainly hopeless for those in the diplomatic compound.
The dozen or so Marines in the embassy serve primarily to provide internal security and only as a last resort to defend the building itself. Diplomatic security agents, often in coordination with local police forces, are responsible for the safety and welfare of all embassy personnel and for the personal protection of the ambassador. But, again, although brave and well trained, they are few in number.
When I was ambassador to Nicaragua in 2009, the State Department publicly criticized Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega for manipulating the constitution to allow for his re-election. In a televised speech a few days later I repeated our concerns. The following morning a group of a couple hundred demonstrators gathered in front of the American embassy. Judging from the professionally made signs and placards, it was hardly spontaneous. They jeered and hollered but, except for a few teenage agitators, seemed to be there because they were told to be there.
The embassy's diplomatic security officer called the police and asked for protection. Eight poorly equipped policemen arrived. Around noon, the demonstration dissipated. We sent all the Nicaraguan employees and many Americans home and secured the embassy.
Then a larger group, perhaps 500 strong, arrived in the early afternoon. The tone was uglier, the demonstrators angrier and more animated. They began throwing rocks and firing projectiles through metal tubes they called mortars. They defaced signs, scrawled graffiti on the walls and broke windows. Diplomatic security requested that police dispatch the riot squad, but the police did not act.
It was then that it became apparent to us how vulnerable we were, and how quickly a sizable mob of impassioned protesters can turn violent. I called the chief of police and demanded that she send immediately a large contingent of police. I reminded her of Nicaragua's commitments under the Vienna accords, which require thathost countries protect diplomatic missions, and noted that my government would take seriously any lapse in this regard.
At last the riot police arrived in force. They wore helmets, carried shields and truncheons and kept the demonstrators at bay, often in hand-to-hand scuffles. The foreign minister phoned and informed me that the president himself had ordered the police deployment. He then assured me that the government would take every measure to protect the embassy and its employees, which it did, albeit belatedly. The demonstrators drifted away. The crisis passed.
As this was happening in Managua, the State Department in Washington maintained an open telephone line with the embassy, offering us advice and assistance. For the State Department, the safety of its employees is a near obsession. Wherever I served, from battle-scared Baghdad to tranquil Rome, security was paramount. It costs the State Department many hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
But security can never be absolute or infallible, no matter the place. Weapons are widely available. Travel is easy and cheap. The United States is a symbol and misguided people everywhere can imagine slights and invent grudges.
This does not, however, discharge diplomats from their obligation to take risks to promote America's interests. We understand the imperative. We accept the challenge.
Christopher Stevens and his three compatriots did, and they died as American heroes.
Christopher Stevens, the American ambassador to Libya who was killed in Benghazi by an enraged mob of religious fanatics, gave his life for his country and in the pursuit of his profession. He became the latest American diplomat killed in the line of duty, a fate that has befallen more ambassadors than generals since the end of World War II. It's a dangerous trade.
That is especially true in a country such as Libya, where the fall of the Gadhafi regime has created a power vacuum and the populace has ready access to powerful weapons. The rocket propelled grenade that hit the consulate is designed to destroy tanks. He and the other three Americans had no chance.
Stevens, whom I did not know, surely realized that he would encounter risks on this trip. A fluent Arabic speaker, he had been in Libya since its civil war and had witnessed the deterioration in public order. He was in the consulate in Benghazi, more than 400 miles from the better-fortified embassy in the capital of Tripoli. It was Sept. 11, a day that has a special resonance among Muslim militants. And the film that ridiculed the Prophet Muhammad, which even moderate Muslims would regard as blasphemous, had become a staple on YouTube.
Still, Stevens decided to go. Like all dedicated American diplomats, he knew that to understand a country and its culture, to report accurately to Washington, and to effectively promote American policies, he had to engage the people, in provincial cities and small villages as well as the capital.
Stevens no doubt had ample security, and the level of security was determined by intelligence reports and the likelihood of violence. But ultimately all diplomats from every country must depend on the local government for their protection. When that government cannot, or refuses to, respond, as was the case with our embassy in Tehran in 1979, the situation becomes plainly hopeless for those in the diplomatic compound.
The dozen or so Marines in the embassy serve primarily to provide internal security and only as a last resort to defend the building itself. Diplomatic security agents, often in coordination with local police forces, are responsible for the safety and welfare of all embassy personnel and for the personal protection of the ambassador. But, again, although brave and well trained, they are few in number.
When I was ambassador to Nicaragua in 2009, the State Department publicly criticized Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega for manipulating the constitution to allow for his re-election. In a televised speech a few days later I repeated our concerns. The following morning a group of a couple hundred demonstrators gathered in front of the American embassy. Judging from the professionally made signs and placards, it was hardly spontaneous. They jeered and hollered but, except for a few teenage agitators, seemed to be there because they were told to be there.
The embassy's diplomatic security officer called the police and asked for protection. Eight poorly equipped policemen arrived. Around noon, the demonstration dissipated. We sent all the Nicaraguan employees and many Americans home and secured the embassy.
Then a larger group, perhaps 500 strong, arrived in the early afternoon. The tone was uglier, the demonstrators angrier and more animated. They began throwing rocks and firing projectiles through metal tubes they called mortars. They defaced signs, scrawled graffiti on the walls and broke windows. Diplomatic security requested that police dispatch the riot squad, but the police did not act.
It was then that it became apparent to us how vulnerable we were, and how quickly a sizable mob of impassioned protesters can turn violent. I called the chief of police and demanded that she send immediately a large contingent of police. I reminded her of Nicaragua's commitments under the Vienna accords, which require thathost countries protect diplomatic missions, and noted that my government would take seriously any lapse in this regard.
At last the riot police arrived in force. They wore helmets, carried shields and truncheons and kept the demonstrators at bay, often in hand-to-hand scuffles. The foreign minister phoned and informed me that the president himself had ordered the police deployment. He then assured me that the government would take every measure to protect the embassy and its employees, which it did, albeit belatedly. The demonstrators drifted away. The crisis passed.
As this was happening in Managua, the State Department in Washington maintained an open telephone line with the embassy, offering us advice and assistance. For the State Department, the safety of its employees is a near obsession. Wherever I served, from battle-scared Baghdad to tranquil Rome, security was paramount. It costs the State Department many hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
But security can never be absolute or infallible, no matter the place. Weapons are widely available. Travel is easy and cheap. The United States is a symbol and misguided people everywhere can imagine slights and invent grudges.
This does not, however, discharge diplomats from their obligation to take risks to promote America's interests. We understand the imperative. We accept the challenge.
Christopher Stevens and his three compatriots did, and they died as American heroes.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Clinton Condemns Libya Protest That Claims U.S. Official’s Life
Clinton Condemns Libya Protest That Claims U.S. Official’s Life
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is denouncing an attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that was prompted by a film clip and claimed the life of an American official.
“I condemn in the strongest terms the attack on our mission,” Clinton said in a statement last night. “We are heartbroken by this terrible loss. There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind.”
Demonstrators attacked U.S. diplomatic missions in Cairo and the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi to protest a film being made in the U.S. that they called offensive to Muslims. An armed mob in Benghazi stormed the U.S. diplomatic office there and set fire to the building, the Associated Press reported, citing witnesses.
In Cairo, Egypt’s capital, Islamist demonstrators scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy, ripped down a U.S. flag and chanted “Obama, we are here to sacrifice for Osama.”
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said in a statement he is “outraged” by both attacks and accused President Barack Obama’s administration of initially siding with the protesters, based on a statement the U.S. embassy in Cairo issued before the violence erupted.
“It’s disgraceful that the Obama administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks,” Romney said in the statement last night.
‘Political Attack’
The U.S. Embassy in Cairo, prior to the attack on its compound, issued a statement denouncing the film clip being circulated on YouTube that sparked the attacks.
“The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims -- as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions,” the statement read.
Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Obama’s reelection campaign, criticized Romney’s comments. “We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack.” LaBolt said early today in an e-mailed statement.
Clinton called President Mohammed Yussef Magariaf of Libya last night to coordinate additional support to protect Americans there, the State Department said in its statement.
Since the overthrow of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi last year, a weak central government and security forces have allowed violent crime to rise. That violence has punctuated the lives of U.S. and other diplomats in Libya before yesterday’s attack.
Stepped Up Security
In June, after a bomb exploded at a perimeter wall of the U.S. office in Benghazi, the U.S. asked Libya to step up security around American installations.
A week later, attackers targeted the British ambassador’s car with rocket-propelled grenades in Benghazi, injuring two of his guards, Britain’s Foreign Office said. And a day after that, the International Committee of the Red Cross reported that its offices in Misrata were hit by an explosion that seriously damaged the building.
In August, the U.S. State Department warned against all but essential travel to Libya and said violent crime, especially carjacking and robbery, had become serious problems. The State Department also said that political violence such as assassinations and car bombs had increased in Benghazi and the capitol of Tripoli.
The U.S. embassy in Tripoli opened again last September to offer after closing during the conflict.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/Clinton-Condemns-Libya-Protest-That-Claims-U-S-3858182.php#ixzz26Extqomx
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is denouncing an attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that was prompted by a film clip and claimed the life of an American official.
“I condemn in the strongest terms the attack on our mission,” Clinton said in a statement last night. “We are heartbroken by this terrible loss. There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind.”
Demonstrators attacked U.S. diplomatic missions in Cairo and the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi to protest a film being made in the U.S. that they called offensive to Muslims. An armed mob in Benghazi stormed the U.S. diplomatic office there and set fire to the building, the Associated Press reported, citing witnesses.
In Cairo, Egypt’s capital, Islamist demonstrators scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy, ripped down a U.S. flag and chanted “Obama, we are here to sacrifice for Osama.”
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said in a statement he is “outraged” by both attacks and accused President Barack Obama’s administration of initially siding with the protesters, based on a statement the U.S. embassy in Cairo issued before the violence erupted.
“It’s disgraceful that the Obama administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks,” Romney said in the statement last night.
‘Political Attack’
The U.S. Embassy in Cairo, prior to the attack on its compound, issued a statement denouncing the film clip being circulated on YouTube that sparked the attacks.
“The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims -- as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions,” the statement read.
Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Obama’s reelection campaign, criticized Romney’s comments. “We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack.” LaBolt said early today in an e-mailed statement.
Clinton called President Mohammed Yussef Magariaf of Libya last night to coordinate additional support to protect Americans there, the State Department said in its statement.
Since the overthrow of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi last year, a weak central government and security forces have allowed violent crime to rise. That violence has punctuated the lives of U.S. and other diplomats in Libya before yesterday’s attack.
Stepped Up Security
In June, after a bomb exploded at a perimeter wall of the U.S. office in Benghazi, the U.S. asked Libya to step up security around American installations.
A week later, attackers targeted the British ambassador’s car with rocket-propelled grenades in Benghazi, injuring two of his guards, Britain’s Foreign Office said. And a day after that, the International Committee of the Red Cross reported that its offices in Misrata were hit by an explosion that seriously damaged the building.
In August, the U.S. State Department warned against all but essential travel to Libya and said violent crime, especially carjacking and robbery, had become serious problems. The State Department also said that political violence such as assassinations and car bombs had increased in Benghazi and the capitol of Tripoli.
The U.S. embassy in Tripoli opened again last September to offer after closing during the conflict.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/Clinton-Condemns-Libya-Protest-That-Claims-U-S-3858182.php#ixzz26Extqomx
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
How to revive Jewish life in the U.S.
How to revive Jewish life in the U.S.
The first rule for the New Year: Stop whining. Each year, as we prepare ourselves for the Days of Awe, American Jewish leaders do some communal stocktaking, almost always concluding with a groan of despair: We are assimilating and shrinking in population and in morale. All is lost.
Oh, please. American Jews are a dynamic and inventive bunch. Despite modest reductions in numbers, we are mostly thriving. The non-stop kvetchers succeed only in turning off younger members of our community and stifling the innovation that is already underway.
When crises arise, we respond. When change is needed, we adapt. That said, let me offer some thoughts to the American Jewish community on how we can move ahead and on the role that Israel can play in an American Jewish revival.
Let’s educate, educate, educate—in ways that work. We know what works with our kids: Jewish camps and day schools, Jewish pre-schools and youth groups, and of course Israel trips. Let’s focus on the basics and avoid the trendy. The “Hebrew Charter School movement,” which teaches Hebrew language but not Judaism to Jews and non-Jews in schools that get some public funding, is the latest example of pouring millions of Jewish charitable dollars into an educational gimmick that will have zero impact on the Jewish future.
Let’s move out of our cocoons and learn from Jewish approaches other than our own. The diversity and passionate pluralism of American Jewish life are usually a benefit but not always; the walls between religious groups are now higher than they have ever been. This Rosh Hashanah would be a good time for honesty and self-awareness: Reform Jews have much to learn from the Orthodox when it comes to ritual mitzvoth; without commitment to Shabbat observance, Torah study and prayer, Reform Judaism will wither. Orthodox Jews have much to learn from Reform when it comes to ethical mitzvoth; as Isaiah reminds us in the Yom Kippur haftarah, God has nothing but contempt for those who allow fasting and a surface religion of ritual alone to mask their indifference to oppression and tyranny. And Conservative and secular Jews have their own reckonings to complete.
Emulate the best of Chabad. I have my issues with Chabad. They sometimes poach the members and donors of other Jewish groups, and ironically, they are often proponents of minimalist Judaism. But they serve Jews that no one else serves; present Judaism with a welcoming and caring face; know how to focus on the essentials; and have recruited thousands of emissaries who carry their message to all corners of the world, working without the perks that are standard elsewhere. A good question for us this year: How can we do more of what they do right?
When it comes to Israel, let’s talk less and go more. Seminars on “Israel-Diaspora relations” must stop; each one is more deadly than the last. A good resolution for this Jewish year: Let’s stop blabbering and go for a visit, remembering that Israel is not only a cause, but also a place—a contentious, complex and often infuriating place, filled with boundless Jewish energy. I am tired of being told how to “sell Israel,” and I’m happy to let Israel sell herself. On how we will pay for a national campaign to get Jews, young and old, to Israel, see below.
Let’s rethink our Jewish world. Our Jewish structures are tired; let’s redo them. And let’s begin with some big ideas from Abraham Foxman of the ADL. Foxman has proposed that we redirect much of the communal purse now raised here for Israel and, in partnership with Israel, send the money back to America for Jewish education. Assume we are talking of $500 million per year; that money means little to Israel but would matter a lot here. Everyone would be a winner: Imagine a joint Israeli-American Jewish campaign to strengthen Diaspora Judaism. Imagine a dramatic rise in scholarships for Jewish camps, youth groups, and day schools. And imagine an intensive, national effort to encourage travel to Israel, with educational follow-up, for all American Jews. No, we would not offer free trips; Taglit-Birthright will do that for the young, but reasonable subsidies for adult members of the community could send the number of visitors soaring.
And finally, let’s open up the Jewish conversation in America. We claim that it is, but we know it usually isn’t. For the coming year, let’s be sure that Peter Beinart and Jeremy Ben-Ami are always welcome in our institutions; let’s hear from Dani Dayan and other settlement leaders, and from the Chief Rabbis and other religious leaders of Israel. And let’s encourage rabbis of all streams to invite a rabbi from a different religious movement to lecture at their congregation and share thoughts that they will not like and may not know. Our community will be stronger for it.
These, then, are my wishes for the coming year—along with the wish that we and all Israel may be inscribed before the Holy One in the book of life and blessing, peace and prosperity.
The first rule for the New Year: Stop whining. Each year, as we prepare ourselves for the Days of Awe, American Jewish leaders do some communal stocktaking, almost always concluding with a groan of despair: We are assimilating and shrinking in population and in morale. All is lost.
Oh, please. American Jews are a dynamic and inventive bunch. Despite modest reductions in numbers, we are mostly thriving. The non-stop kvetchers succeed only in turning off younger members of our community and stifling the innovation that is already underway.
When crises arise, we respond. When change is needed, we adapt. That said, let me offer some thoughts to the American Jewish community on how we can move ahead and on the role that Israel can play in an American Jewish revival.
Let’s educate, educate, educate—in ways that work. We know what works with our kids: Jewish camps and day schools, Jewish pre-schools and youth groups, and of course Israel trips. Let’s focus on the basics and avoid the trendy. The “Hebrew Charter School movement,” which teaches Hebrew language but not Judaism to Jews and non-Jews in schools that get some public funding, is the latest example of pouring millions of Jewish charitable dollars into an educational gimmick that will have zero impact on the Jewish future.
Let’s move out of our cocoons and learn from Jewish approaches other than our own. The diversity and passionate pluralism of American Jewish life are usually a benefit but not always; the walls between religious groups are now higher than they have ever been. This Rosh Hashanah would be a good time for honesty and self-awareness: Reform Jews have much to learn from the Orthodox when it comes to ritual mitzvoth; without commitment to Shabbat observance, Torah study and prayer, Reform Judaism will wither. Orthodox Jews have much to learn from Reform when it comes to ethical mitzvoth; as Isaiah reminds us in the Yom Kippur haftarah, God has nothing but contempt for those who allow fasting and a surface religion of ritual alone to mask their indifference to oppression and tyranny. And Conservative and secular Jews have their own reckonings to complete.
Emulate the best of Chabad. I have my issues with Chabad. They sometimes poach the members and donors of other Jewish groups, and ironically, they are often proponents of minimalist Judaism. But they serve Jews that no one else serves; present Judaism with a welcoming and caring face; know how to focus on the essentials; and have recruited thousands of emissaries who carry their message to all corners of the world, working without the perks that are standard elsewhere. A good question for us this year: How can we do more of what they do right?
When it comes to Israel, let’s talk less and go more. Seminars on “Israel-Diaspora relations” must stop; each one is more deadly than the last. A good resolution for this Jewish year: Let’s stop blabbering and go for a visit, remembering that Israel is not only a cause, but also a place—a contentious, complex and often infuriating place, filled with boundless Jewish energy. I am tired of being told how to “sell Israel,” and I’m happy to let Israel sell herself. On how we will pay for a national campaign to get Jews, young and old, to Israel, see below.
Let’s rethink our Jewish world. Our Jewish structures are tired; let’s redo them. And let’s begin with some big ideas from Abraham Foxman of the ADL. Foxman has proposed that we redirect much of the communal purse now raised here for Israel and, in partnership with Israel, send the money back to America for Jewish education. Assume we are talking of $500 million per year; that money means little to Israel but would matter a lot here. Everyone would be a winner: Imagine a joint Israeli-American Jewish campaign to strengthen Diaspora Judaism. Imagine a dramatic rise in scholarships for Jewish camps, youth groups, and day schools. And imagine an intensive, national effort to encourage travel to Israel, with educational follow-up, for all American Jews. No, we would not offer free trips; Taglit-Birthright will do that for the young, but reasonable subsidies for adult members of the community could send the number of visitors soaring.
And finally, let’s open up the Jewish conversation in America. We claim that it is, but we know it usually isn’t. For the coming year, let’s be sure that Peter Beinart and Jeremy Ben-Ami are always welcome in our institutions; let’s hear from Dani Dayan and other settlement leaders, and from the Chief Rabbis and other religious leaders of Israel. And let’s encourage rabbis of all streams to invite a rabbi from a different religious movement to lecture at their congregation and share thoughts that they will not like and may not know. Our community will be stronger for it.
These, then, are my wishes for the coming year—along with the wish that we and all Israel may be inscribed before the Holy One in the book of life and blessing, peace and prosperity.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Life sentence for Kiwi's murder
Life sentence for Kiwi's murder
The man who pushed New Zealander Andy Marshall to his death from the second storey of a Perth pub has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Stefan Pahia Schmidt, 26, will serve a minimum of 14 years, after being sentenced in the Supreme Court of Western Australia today. He was found guilty of murder after a two-week trial in June.
The sentence was backdated to May last year when Schmidt was arrested, which means he will be eligible for release in 2025, at age 40.
Marshall was the first cousin of Scott Guy, the Feilding farmer who was gunned down in his driveway in July 2010.
He was out enjoying a night with mates at Cottesloe's Ocean Beach Hotel last May when he was murdered.
Marshall was following his dream of becoming a professional musician in Australia, and had lived in Perth for two years as the drummer for local band, Rich Widow.
It took just five hours for the jury to find Schmidt, a trained boxer and kickboxer with links to Perth's outlaw Rock Machine motorcycle gang, guilty of murder, rejecting less severe charges of manslaughter and unlawful assault causing death.
Defence lawyer Tom Percy had argued Schmidt merely fended Andy off - not pushed him intentionally at a second-storey window – describing the murder as a "dreadful accident".
But witnesses spoke of an "agitated" Schmidt pushing Marshall with a forceful, thrusting motion and also viewed footage of Schmidt punching another pub patron in the face after he'd pushed Andy through a plate glass window.
Crown prosecutor Amanda Forrester last week said that a life sentence was entirely justified, and there needed to be strong deterrents to acts of random violence in licensed venues.
The court was told Marshall had been talking to the girls with his back to the window when Schmidt swore at him and pushed him through it.
Schmidt then fled the pub, glancing to where Marshall lay dying on the footpath outside before departing.
His sentencing was expected on Friday, but Justice Ralph Simmonds deferred it until today, while he considered matters including an unrelated 2010 case where a sentence of less than life was sought for murder.
Marshall’s parents live in Tauranga and his father, Alan, flew to Perth for both the trial and sentencing, and on Friday read out in court a victim impact statement in which he spoke of the devastation of losing his son.
Alan Marshall said he felt like collapsing when Western Australia police informed him of his son’s death.
“Time slipped into a slow-motion nightmare,” he said.
“Not a day starts without a sick feeling and a deep abiding pain.”
Marshall's mother, Wendy, and sister and brother gave their victim impact statements via videolink from New Zealand.
Wendy Marshall likened her horror to being in “an avalanche of black snow”.
“The sense of loss is overwhelming,” she said.
The man who pushed New Zealander Andy Marshall to his death from the second storey of a Perth pub has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Stefan Pahia Schmidt, 26, will serve a minimum of 14 years, after being sentenced in the Supreme Court of Western Australia today. He was found guilty of murder after a two-week trial in June.
The sentence was backdated to May last year when Schmidt was arrested, which means he will be eligible for release in 2025, at age 40.
Marshall was the first cousin of Scott Guy, the Feilding farmer who was gunned down in his driveway in July 2010.
He was out enjoying a night with mates at Cottesloe's Ocean Beach Hotel last May when he was murdered.
Marshall was following his dream of becoming a professional musician in Australia, and had lived in Perth for two years as the drummer for local band, Rich Widow.
It took just five hours for the jury to find Schmidt, a trained boxer and kickboxer with links to Perth's outlaw Rock Machine motorcycle gang, guilty of murder, rejecting less severe charges of manslaughter and unlawful assault causing death.
Defence lawyer Tom Percy had argued Schmidt merely fended Andy off - not pushed him intentionally at a second-storey window – describing the murder as a "dreadful accident".
But witnesses spoke of an "agitated" Schmidt pushing Marshall with a forceful, thrusting motion and also viewed footage of Schmidt punching another pub patron in the face after he'd pushed Andy through a plate glass window.
Crown prosecutor Amanda Forrester last week said that a life sentence was entirely justified, and there needed to be strong deterrents to acts of random violence in licensed venues.
The court was told Marshall had been talking to the girls with his back to the window when Schmidt swore at him and pushed him through it.
Schmidt then fled the pub, glancing to where Marshall lay dying on the footpath outside before departing.
His sentencing was expected on Friday, but Justice Ralph Simmonds deferred it until today, while he considered matters including an unrelated 2010 case where a sentence of less than life was sought for murder.
Marshall’s parents live in Tauranga and his father, Alan, flew to Perth for both the trial and sentencing, and on Friday read out in court a victim impact statement in which he spoke of the devastation of losing his son.
Alan Marshall said he felt like collapsing when Western Australia police informed him of his son’s death.
“Time slipped into a slow-motion nightmare,” he said.
“Not a day starts without a sick feeling and a deep abiding pain.”
Marshall's mother, Wendy, and sister and brother gave their victim impact statements via videolink from New Zealand.
Wendy Marshall likened her horror to being in “an avalanche of black snow”.
“The sense of loss is overwhelming,” she said.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
DNC forum explores: Can you be a Democrat and be pro-life?
DNC forum explores: Can you be a Democrat and be pro-life?
Buttons were available at the Democrats for Life of America forum Sept. 4 during the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.
"Do We Count?" the button asks. The forum was an effort by pro-life Democrats to examine the question: "Can you be pro-life in a pro-choice party?"
The answer to both questions was mixed.
The view of many of the presenters was that there is significant room to make a dent in the Democratic Party's staunch position in favor of keeping abortion legal. That is in spite of Democrats for Life's recent failure to get the party to change its unequivocal support for abortion on demand in the 2012 platform.
Democrats for Life members said they also believe that much of what does get done on the abortion issue happens not because of pro-abortion rights Democrats or pro-life Republicans. Pro-life Democrats in Congress, they say, have been the key leaders.
Kathy Dahlkemper, a former member of the U.S. House from Pennsylvania, put it bluntly: Both Republicans and some of the more active pro-life groups are afraid of pro-life Democrats.
Dahlkemper said she lost her seat to a pro-life Republican. But she also said the Democratic Party and its major fundraisers on the abortion issue do not fully support pro-life Democrats. Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America also make sure that pro-life Democrats face opposition in primary races, she said.
Leaders of both Planned Parenthood and NARAL have been strong supporters of the Democratic Party for years, and at the Democratic National Convention they were scheduled for prime speaking slots.
During the forum Democrats for Life members said the lack of support for pro-life Democrats by the national party has caused their numbers in Congress to dwindle, as they have been edged out by pro-life Republicans or pro-abortion rights Democrats. There were 125 pro-life Democrats in Congress in 1978 but only 17 today, they said.
But, Democrats for Life speakers also noted, the Republicans controlled the House, the Senate and the White House in the early 2000s and yet did not propose any legislation to end abortion.
"Nothing," Dahlkemper said. If the Republicans truly wanted a "sanctity of life" amendment, as they have proposed previously, they did nothing about it when they had their chance in Congress, she said.
"I fear we haven't done enough to get our message out," Dahlkemper said.
Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life of America, which sponsored the forum, agreed. She said when her group set up at the last March for Life in Washington, they were swamped by many pro-life supporters -- many of whom were young people who said they didn't know such a group existed.
Day said there were a couple of signs of progress in the party for pro-life Democrats this year. For the first time in years, pro-life Democrats were allowed to make a presentation to the party's platform committee on including "neutral" language about abortion in the party's platform.
The proposed language acknowledged that Democrats have "deeply held and sometimes differing positions on issues of personal conscience, like abortion and the death penalty" but said all are welcome in the party.
Buttons were available at the Democrats for Life of America forum Sept. 4 during the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.
"Do We Count?" the button asks. The forum was an effort by pro-life Democrats to examine the question: "Can you be pro-life in a pro-choice party?"
The answer to both questions was mixed.
The view of many of the presenters was that there is significant room to make a dent in the Democratic Party's staunch position in favor of keeping abortion legal. That is in spite of Democrats for Life's recent failure to get the party to change its unequivocal support for abortion on demand in the 2012 platform.
Democrats for Life members said they also believe that much of what does get done on the abortion issue happens not because of pro-abortion rights Democrats or pro-life Republicans. Pro-life Democrats in Congress, they say, have been the key leaders.
Kathy Dahlkemper, a former member of the U.S. House from Pennsylvania, put it bluntly: Both Republicans and some of the more active pro-life groups are afraid of pro-life Democrats.
Dahlkemper said she lost her seat to a pro-life Republican. But she also said the Democratic Party and its major fundraisers on the abortion issue do not fully support pro-life Democrats. Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America also make sure that pro-life Democrats face opposition in primary races, she said.
Leaders of both Planned Parenthood and NARAL have been strong supporters of the Democratic Party for years, and at the Democratic National Convention they were scheduled for prime speaking slots.
During the forum Democrats for Life members said the lack of support for pro-life Democrats by the national party has caused their numbers in Congress to dwindle, as they have been edged out by pro-life Republicans or pro-abortion rights Democrats. There were 125 pro-life Democrats in Congress in 1978 but only 17 today, they said.
But, Democrats for Life speakers also noted, the Republicans controlled the House, the Senate and the White House in the early 2000s and yet did not propose any legislation to end abortion.
"Nothing," Dahlkemper said. If the Republicans truly wanted a "sanctity of life" amendment, as they have proposed previously, they did nothing about it when they had their chance in Congress, she said.
"I fear we haven't done enough to get our message out," Dahlkemper said.
Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life of America, which sponsored the forum, agreed. She said when her group set up at the last March for Life in Washington, they were swamped by many pro-life supporters -- many of whom were young people who said they didn't know such a group existed.
Day said there were a couple of signs of progress in the party for pro-life Democrats this year. For the first time in years, pro-life Democrats were allowed to make a presentation to the party's platform committee on including "neutral" language about abortion in the party's platform.
The proposed language acknowledged that Democrats have "deeply held and sometimes differing positions on issues of personal conscience, like abortion and the death penalty" but said all are welcome in the party.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Yino fights for life after leaping from blazing flat
Yino fights for life after leaping from blazing flat
However, Yino Jiang, 27, is fighting for her life in Liverpool Hospital today after making a horrifying life-or-death jump from a ferocious fire in her fifth-floor home
Ms Jiang and her flatmate, another Chinese student in her 20s known as Connie, were reportedly on the balcony of their apartment yesterday afternoon when something exploded.
Advertisement
Within minutes, the unit was filled with thick, black smoke.
The pair could not make it to the door and so went into one of the bedrooms in the three-bedroom unit instead. They climbed out of a bedroom window, then stood on the windowsill and hung on as smoke billowed out.
Down below, dozens of bystanders had gathered, yelling at the pair to wait until the arrival of firefighters, who were only seconds away.
But the fire was rapidly reaching temperatures of 1000 degrees, peeling concrete off the walls and lifting tiles off the floor.
When fire investigators later went in to the charred apartment, the aluminium window frame on to which the women had clung had melted completely and the unit's steel structures were exposed and warped.
"Everyone on the street was yelling 'don't jump, don't jump' but I don't think they could stay there any longer because of the heat," said Jama Wagad, 32, who lives on the seventh floor.
"They were standing on the window and smoke was coming out and eventually the fire and that's when they fell."
The crowd let out screams of horror as the pair plummeted 15 metres and hit a ledge on the second floor.
Connie died on impact while Ms Jiang was rushed to hospital in a critical condition suffering from burns, smoke inhalation and severe trauma from the fall.
A friend said she had regained "some consciousness" today but remained in a critical condition.
The Chinese consulate has notified parents of both women who will travel to Sydney from China immediately.
Ms Jiang, from the north-east Chinese city of Harbin, was studying nursing at the University of Western Sydney's Bankstown campus. Connie was doing a masters of interpreting and translation. Both had recently arrived in Australia to study.
"Horrifying situation"
Superintendent Chris Jurgeit of Fire and Rescue NSW said the pair were confronted with a horrifying situation.
"The extensive damage indicated it would have been horrific for the last few minutes of their lives," he said.
He said it appeared the fire started on the balcony and spread through the apartment. The pair may have been cooking at the time.
Superintendent Jurgeit said this afternoon the blaze was the worst unit fire he had seen in his three-decade career.
"I've been a firefighter for 33 years and I've never seen the amount of destruction from a single unit fire in my whole career as what happened yesterday," he said.
"Speaking to firefighters that attended the scene, they were met with extreme conditions. It's always going to be hot in a unit fire but in that case, it was extremely hot, extremely rapid."
He said the 1000-degree heat destroyed the unit.
"We've got plastic light fittings melted, the cement rendor on the walls has been cracked and has fallen off, the floor tiles have been cracked and lifted. There's virtually just the metal of the furniture left in there so all the other combustibles have burnt away," he said.
Superintendent Jurgeit said it was not yet known what started the "extraordinary" fire but that it originated on or near the balcony and appeared to have spread from there across the apartment to the front door on the opposite side of the unit.
He added that it was believed the unit's front door might have been open, allowing the wind to blow through the unit. It was not known if the bedroom door had been closed when the women jumped.
Superintendent Jurgeit said the wind and "just a combination of an open door, the combustibles in the unit, and possibly the layout of the unit made the fire as intense as it is".
"The wind has blown straight through the balcony door ... The wind has taken the fire through the unit very quickly and ignited everything else in the unit."
He said the fire did not spread to the upper levels of the building and residents did get out.
"Unfortunately, the two girls that were trapped in the building had, it appeared, no other option but to do what they did," he said.
Under building regulations, buildings below 25 metres are not required to have sprinklers. Superintendent Jurgeit said investigators believed the building was under 25 metres, "but that's something we'll be looking at more closely as well".
If the unit had sprinklers, they "certainly would have diminished the size of the fire and probably made it less of a situation" for the victims, Superintendent Jurgeit added.
He said the amount of destruction on the fifth floor, where the fire occurred, meant it was not clear when residents would be let back in.
"There's a lot of destruction up in that particular area. There's no power in the building at the moment. Gas supply has been cut off so hot water and things like that have been interrupted. There's a lot clean-up to do as well."
But Superintendent Jurgeit added that, while there was also "some smoke damage in the vicinity [of the unit], there's parts of the building that are still intact".
Compliance notices
Fire and Rescue NSW had previously contacted the regulatory authority, Bankstown Council, requesting the council look at some compliance issues with the building.
"[The council] subsequently investigated and issued orders to the owners of the building requiring them to satisfy those fire safety concerns," said the council in a statement this afternoon.
"Council understands the NSW Fire Brigade [sic] also issued orders."
NSW Planning Minister, Brad Hazzard, said he was aware that two compliance notices had been issued by the council but could not comment yet on the specifics of what the problems were.
"Whether or not those issues that the regulatory authority had considered necessary to be the subject of notices were contributors to the circumstances, it's just too early to know," Mr Hazzard said this afternoon.
The minister said buildings over 25 metres were required to have sprinklers, but that he understood the building involved in the fire was just short of that.
Mr Hazzard said the government was prepared to look at regulatory changes arising from the investigation, but stressed that strong winds appeared to play a role in the fire.
However, Yino Jiang, 27, is fighting for her life in Liverpool Hospital today after making a horrifying life-or-death jump from a ferocious fire in her fifth-floor home
Ms Jiang and her flatmate, another Chinese student in her 20s known as Connie, were reportedly on the balcony of their apartment yesterday afternoon when something exploded.
Advertisement
Within minutes, the unit was filled with thick, black smoke.
The pair could not make it to the door and so went into one of the bedrooms in the three-bedroom unit instead. They climbed out of a bedroom window, then stood on the windowsill and hung on as smoke billowed out.
Down below, dozens of bystanders had gathered, yelling at the pair to wait until the arrival of firefighters, who were only seconds away.
But the fire was rapidly reaching temperatures of 1000 degrees, peeling concrete off the walls and lifting tiles off the floor.
When fire investigators later went in to the charred apartment, the aluminium window frame on to which the women had clung had melted completely and the unit's steel structures were exposed and warped.
"Everyone on the street was yelling 'don't jump, don't jump' but I don't think they could stay there any longer because of the heat," said Jama Wagad, 32, who lives on the seventh floor.
"They were standing on the window and smoke was coming out and eventually the fire and that's when they fell."
The crowd let out screams of horror as the pair plummeted 15 metres and hit a ledge on the second floor.
Connie died on impact while Ms Jiang was rushed to hospital in a critical condition suffering from burns, smoke inhalation and severe trauma from the fall.
A friend said she had regained "some consciousness" today but remained in a critical condition.
The Chinese consulate has notified parents of both women who will travel to Sydney from China immediately.
Ms Jiang, from the north-east Chinese city of Harbin, was studying nursing at the University of Western Sydney's Bankstown campus. Connie was doing a masters of interpreting and translation. Both had recently arrived in Australia to study.
"Horrifying situation"
Superintendent Chris Jurgeit of Fire and Rescue NSW said the pair were confronted with a horrifying situation.
"The extensive damage indicated it would have been horrific for the last few minutes of their lives," he said.
He said it appeared the fire started on the balcony and spread through the apartment. The pair may have been cooking at the time.
Superintendent Jurgeit said this afternoon the blaze was the worst unit fire he had seen in his three-decade career.
"I've been a firefighter for 33 years and I've never seen the amount of destruction from a single unit fire in my whole career as what happened yesterday," he said.
"Speaking to firefighters that attended the scene, they were met with extreme conditions. It's always going to be hot in a unit fire but in that case, it was extremely hot, extremely rapid."
He said the 1000-degree heat destroyed the unit.
"We've got plastic light fittings melted, the cement rendor on the walls has been cracked and has fallen off, the floor tiles have been cracked and lifted. There's virtually just the metal of the furniture left in there so all the other combustibles have burnt away," he said.
Superintendent Jurgeit said it was not yet known what started the "extraordinary" fire but that it originated on or near the balcony and appeared to have spread from there across the apartment to the front door on the opposite side of the unit.
He added that it was believed the unit's front door might have been open, allowing the wind to blow through the unit. It was not known if the bedroom door had been closed when the women jumped.
Superintendent Jurgeit said the wind and "just a combination of an open door, the combustibles in the unit, and possibly the layout of the unit made the fire as intense as it is".
"The wind has blown straight through the balcony door ... The wind has taken the fire through the unit very quickly and ignited everything else in the unit."
He said the fire did not spread to the upper levels of the building and residents did get out.
"Unfortunately, the two girls that were trapped in the building had, it appeared, no other option but to do what they did," he said.
Under building regulations, buildings below 25 metres are not required to have sprinklers. Superintendent Jurgeit said investigators believed the building was under 25 metres, "but that's something we'll be looking at more closely as well".
If the unit had sprinklers, they "certainly would have diminished the size of the fire and probably made it less of a situation" for the victims, Superintendent Jurgeit added.
He said the amount of destruction on the fifth floor, where the fire occurred, meant it was not clear when residents would be let back in.
"There's a lot of destruction up in that particular area. There's no power in the building at the moment. Gas supply has been cut off so hot water and things like that have been interrupted. There's a lot clean-up to do as well."
But Superintendent Jurgeit added that, while there was also "some smoke damage in the vicinity [of the unit], there's parts of the building that are still intact".
Compliance notices
Fire and Rescue NSW had previously contacted the regulatory authority, Bankstown Council, requesting the council look at some compliance issues with the building.
"[The council] subsequently investigated and issued orders to the owners of the building requiring them to satisfy those fire safety concerns," said the council in a statement this afternoon.
"Council understands the NSW Fire Brigade [sic] also issued orders."
NSW Planning Minister, Brad Hazzard, said he was aware that two compliance notices had been issued by the council but could not comment yet on the specifics of what the problems were.
"Whether or not those issues that the regulatory authority had considered necessary to be the subject of notices were contributors to the circumstances, it's just too early to know," Mr Hazzard said this afternoon.
The minister said buildings over 25 metres were required to have sprinklers, but that he understood the building involved in the fire was just short of that.
Mr Hazzard said the government was prepared to look at regulatory changes arising from the investigation, but stressed that strong winds appeared to play a role in the fire.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Tasha Kheiriddin: New life for Quebec’s fear factor
Tasha Kheiriddin: New life for Quebec’s fear factor
For once, I’m happy to be wrong. Like most observers, I predicted a Parti Quebecois minority or majority in the Quebec election, but wholly underestimated the strength of the provincial Liberal party. In Quebec, they call it “la prime a l’urne”, the “ballot box bonus” whereby Liberal voters either didn’t disclose their true intentions to pollsters, or switched from other parties at the last minute, mostly out of fear. Fear of the unknown, in the case of the Coalition Avenir Quebec, or fear of another referendum, in the case of the PQ.
Fear wasn’t enough to help Liberal leader Jean Charest win his own seat, but for a man going down to defeat, he was remarkably sanguine, praising his troops for “making the pollsters lie”. Between the 2011 federal election, last night’s Quebec vote, and the 2012 Alberta election, it’s almost as if the polls have become the adversary instead of the competing parties; who knows what surprises await next year in British Columbia?
Speaking of the Rest Of Canada, the Quebec results leave it heaving a collective shrug. Yes, the province now has the first separatist government in nine years. But will it last even nine months? Or make any major difference in the lives of Quebecers and Canadians?
On the first point, CAQ leader Francois Legault boldly declared during the campaign that should his party form the opposition, he would not hesitate to topple a PQ government. But in third place, with only 19 seats, Mr. Legault is not in a position to do so. And with the Liberals likely enmeshed in a leadership vote, once Mr. Charest steps aside, the last thing they will want is a mad dash back to the polls.
Mr. Legault should also rethink that strategy for other reasons. His party scored high in the popular vote, but not high in terms of seats. If fear of the unknown was the issue, he will need time to prove the worthiness of himself and his team. Difficult to do when you’re the third party, but not impossible, especially in light of the wild card still to play in Quebec’s political drama: the Charbonneau Commission.
Established to investigate allegations of corruption linking organized crime, the construction industry, and politicians in the provincial Liberal party, the Commission resumes its work September 17. That deadline is one of the main reasons Quebecers went to the polls in the dying days of summer. Mr. Charest wanted to get out ahead of any negative findings, or even the negative publicity that the Commission would generate.
The Premier took over two years to set up a commission of inquiry, despite an overwhelming cacophony of voices calling for one. The delay can be explained by his own fear factor: fear of a repeat of Robert Bourassa’s Cliche Commission, which investigated similar allegations in the 1970’s. In 1976 its findings spelled the end of Liberal reign, provoked the loss of Mr. Bourassa’s own seat, and propelled the PQ into government for the first time. With its majority, the PQ wrought substantial changes to language laws, presided over the exodus of over 100,000 anglophones in four years, and held a referendum on separation in 1980. Not a result anyone would want to repeat.
Had Ms. Marois obtained a majority, such a scenario would have been possible. During the campaign, she pledged to extend Bill 101 to small businesses, prevent college students from studying in the language of their choice, administer French tests to aspiring elected officials (at least she recanted that one) and implement a citizens’ initiative law which would allow 15% of the population to call for a referendum.
But with a minority, those dreams turn to dust. Ms. Marois will be incapable of implementing any draconian legislation. She will be reduced to railing against Ottawa, assuming the role left by the decimated Bloc Quebecois, demanding more powers. And like the rest of Canada, Stephen Harper will likely simply shrug, smile, and say no.
This election was supposed to be about many things: a re-examination of Quebec society provoked by student unrest; a judgement on nine years of Liberal economic policies; and a statement against political corruption. We saw shades of those issues emerge, but in the end, it came down to the same old, same old. Should the province stay or should it go? In Quebec, the fear factor lives on.
For once, I’m happy to be wrong. Like most observers, I predicted a Parti Quebecois minority or majority in the Quebec election, but wholly underestimated the strength of the provincial Liberal party. In Quebec, they call it “la prime a l’urne”, the “ballot box bonus” whereby Liberal voters either didn’t disclose their true intentions to pollsters, or switched from other parties at the last minute, mostly out of fear. Fear of the unknown, in the case of the Coalition Avenir Quebec, or fear of another referendum, in the case of the PQ.
Fear wasn’t enough to help Liberal leader Jean Charest win his own seat, but for a man going down to defeat, he was remarkably sanguine, praising his troops for “making the pollsters lie”. Between the 2011 federal election, last night’s Quebec vote, and the 2012 Alberta election, it’s almost as if the polls have become the adversary instead of the competing parties; who knows what surprises await next year in British Columbia?
Speaking of the Rest Of Canada, the Quebec results leave it heaving a collective shrug. Yes, the province now has the first separatist government in nine years. But will it last even nine months? Or make any major difference in the lives of Quebecers and Canadians?
On the first point, CAQ leader Francois Legault boldly declared during the campaign that should his party form the opposition, he would not hesitate to topple a PQ government. But in third place, with only 19 seats, Mr. Legault is not in a position to do so. And with the Liberals likely enmeshed in a leadership vote, once Mr. Charest steps aside, the last thing they will want is a mad dash back to the polls.
Mr. Legault should also rethink that strategy for other reasons. His party scored high in the popular vote, but not high in terms of seats. If fear of the unknown was the issue, he will need time to prove the worthiness of himself and his team. Difficult to do when you’re the third party, but not impossible, especially in light of the wild card still to play in Quebec’s political drama: the Charbonneau Commission.
Established to investigate allegations of corruption linking organized crime, the construction industry, and politicians in the provincial Liberal party, the Commission resumes its work September 17. That deadline is one of the main reasons Quebecers went to the polls in the dying days of summer. Mr. Charest wanted to get out ahead of any negative findings, or even the negative publicity that the Commission would generate.
The Premier took over two years to set up a commission of inquiry, despite an overwhelming cacophony of voices calling for one. The delay can be explained by his own fear factor: fear of a repeat of Robert Bourassa’s Cliche Commission, which investigated similar allegations in the 1970’s. In 1976 its findings spelled the end of Liberal reign, provoked the loss of Mr. Bourassa’s own seat, and propelled the PQ into government for the first time. With its majority, the PQ wrought substantial changes to language laws, presided over the exodus of over 100,000 anglophones in four years, and held a referendum on separation in 1980. Not a result anyone would want to repeat.
Had Ms. Marois obtained a majority, such a scenario would have been possible. During the campaign, she pledged to extend Bill 101 to small businesses, prevent college students from studying in the language of their choice, administer French tests to aspiring elected officials (at least she recanted that one) and implement a citizens’ initiative law which would allow 15% of the population to call for a referendum.
But with a minority, those dreams turn to dust. Ms. Marois will be incapable of implementing any draconian legislation. She will be reduced to railing against Ottawa, assuming the role left by the decimated Bloc Quebecois, demanding more powers. And like the rest of Canada, Stephen Harper will likely simply shrug, smile, and say no.
This election was supposed to be about many things: a re-examination of Quebec society provoked by student unrest; a judgement on nine years of Liberal economic policies; and a statement against political corruption. We saw shades of those issues emerge, but in the end, it came down to the same old, same old. Should the province stay or should it go? In Quebec, the fear factor lives on.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Retailers' real-life reminder
Retailers' real-life reminder
A hard-up consumer usually spends a government handout until it's all gone, and in the case of the handout from the last federal budget it's happened a lot more quickly than most retail industry insiders would have thought possible. Blink and you missed it.
After just a couple of short months of reprieve from the drudgery of no or minimal sales growth, Australia's retail chains have once again been reminded of what the world in 2012 is really like when the government isn't there to paper things over.
Small retailers, of course, needed no such reminder. On a year-over-year basis, which eliminates seasonal factors, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data indicates that sales for independent retailers grew by just 1.5 per cent in July, compared with 4.5 per cent growth in May-June.
For the retail sector as a whole this picture was the same - growth of 2.5 per cent in July following 5 per cent growth in the two preceding months.
This weak July result is particularly concerning because it comes off a very poor July 2011 when sales growth was actually negative for small retailers. So experience suggests that things should have been better this July.
Not so.
Independent clothing and accessories retailers suffered a sales decline of 21.1 per cent in July 2011, and so their 9.8 per cent gain this July didn't even come halfway toward offsetting that loss.
Problems on the mum-and-dad side of the fashion sector may fly under the radar but the damage to small chains is becoming increasingly public. On Tuesday it was the turn of the 36 year-old Ojay chain, with more than 20 stores in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and WA, to enter administration.
Ojay's troubles come hard on the heels of the liquidation of Frat House (10 stores in three states) in August, which in turn followed a raft of other casualties such as Brown Sugar and Bettina Liano.
The fashion sector may be fast becoming retail's Bermuda Triangle, with empty storefronts proliferating in once vibrant fashion strips like Oxford Street in Sydney's Paddington.
For independents, the silver lining is the cafe/restaurant segment, which is still performing robustly - up 7 per cent for the independents and 10.6 per cent for the chains on a year-over-year basis.
Independent food-at-home retail was down 1.2 per cent on the year to July while the major supermarkets had a 3.1 per cent gain.
In the "other retailing" segment, small retailers copped a 3.1 per cent sales decline year over year, while chains were up 9.7 per cent. The health and beauty sub-segment was very strong but newsagents, book stores and recreational goods retailers were awful, at least in the aggregate.
Household goods nudged up modestly.
But for all the problems this kind of data reveals for independent retail in Australia, there's no getting around the fact that the July result for department stores and discount department stores – down 7.1 per cent year over year - was, well, shocking.
The smarter shopping centre operators are now coming to grips with the fact that the retailers that have anchored their properties for more than two generations are fast becoming unreconstructed – and unreconstructible - basket cases.
For years now these retailers have told the market that if only the weather would get more seasonable, and the consumer less cautious, their strategies for growth would propel them to a glorious future of top-line growth.
Many landlords have now switched off and are thinking seriously about what the future looks like without those retailers.
A hard-up consumer usually spends a government handout until it's all gone, and in the case of the handout from the last federal budget it's happened a lot more quickly than most retail industry insiders would have thought possible. Blink and you missed it.
After just a couple of short months of reprieve from the drudgery of no or minimal sales growth, Australia's retail chains have once again been reminded of what the world in 2012 is really like when the government isn't there to paper things over.
Small retailers, of course, needed no such reminder. On a year-over-year basis, which eliminates seasonal factors, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data indicates that sales for independent retailers grew by just 1.5 per cent in July, compared with 4.5 per cent growth in May-June.
For the retail sector as a whole this picture was the same - growth of 2.5 per cent in July following 5 per cent growth in the two preceding months.
This weak July result is particularly concerning because it comes off a very poor July 2011 when sales growth was actually negative for small retailers. So experience suggests that things should have been better this July.
Not so.
Independent clothing and accessories retailers suffered a sales decline of 21.1 per cent in July 2011, and so their 9.8 per cent gain this July didn't even come halfway toward offsetting that loss.
Problems on the mum-and-dad side of the fashion sector may fly under the radar but the damage to small chains is becoming increasingly public. On Tuesday it was the turn of the 36 year-old Ojay chain, with more than 20 stores in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and WA, to enter administration.
Ojay's troubles come hard on the heels of the liquidation of Frat House (10 stores in three states) in August, which in turn followed a raft of other casualties such as Brown Sugar and Bettina Liano.
The fashion sector may be fast becoming retail's Bermuda Triangle, with empty storefronts proliferating in once vibrant fashion strips like Oxford Street in Sydney's Paddington.
For independents, the silver lining is the cafe/restaurant segment, which is still performing robustly - up 7 per cent for the independents and 10.6 per cent for the chains on a year-over-year basis.
Independent food-at-home retail was down 1.2 per cent on the year to July while the major supermarkets had a 3.1 per cent gain.
In the "other retailing" segment, small retailers copped a 3.1 per cent sales decline year over year, while chains were up 9.7 per cent. The health and beauty sub-segment was very strong but newsagents, book stores and recreational goods retailers were awful, at least in the aggregate.
Household goods nudged up modestly.
But for all the problems this kind of data reveals for independent retail in Australia, there's no getting around the fact that the July result for department stores and discount department stores – down 7.1 per cent year over year - was, well, shocking.
The smarter shopping centre operators are now coming to grips with the fact that the retailers that have anchored their properties for more than two generations are fast becoming unreconstructed – and unreconstructible - basket cases.
For years now these retailers have told the market that if only the weather would get more seasonable, and the consumer less cautious, their strategies for growth would propel them to a glorious future of top-line growth.
Many landlords have now switched off and are thinking seriously about what the future looks like without those retailers.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Texan Julián Castro brings life of contrasts to Democratic convention speech
Texan Julián Castro brings life of contrasts to Democratic convention speech
San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro brings a life of contrasts into his keynote address Tuesday to the Democratic convention.
He’s shy, bookish and retiring, yet has chosen a life in public service.
Though a red-state mayor, he’s asking San Antonio voters this fall to raise taxes on themselves to fund a pre-kindergarten program.
A nonpartisan officeholder in a city manager form of government, he’s not afraid to tackle extracurricular subjects, such as improving education, and take stands on hot-button issues like immigration, sex education and gay rights.
He’s steeped in San Antonio’s Chicano civil rights movement, which his mother helped lead, but Castro has cultivated both the city’s Anglo-dominated business establishment and its black community. Last year, he won re-election with 83 percent of the vote.
Castro is hyped as a future statewide or even national candidate despite his short resume. The mayor, though, has dug in to solve problems at the local level for most of a decade — and plans to stay there for a while.
“He’s every mother’s successful son,” said Richard Gambitta, retired professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio. “He’s a great politician who happens to be of Mexican heritage. He is transcendent” and very well could run for governor in 2018, a year after city charter term limits would cap his potential eight-year tenure as mayor, Gambitta said.
Americans — and most Texans — will get their first glimpse of Castro in his big moment at the Democratic National Convention. If nothing else, they’ll see a commitment to public service instilled in him and his twin brother largely by his mother.
“I don’t believe that I have all the answers,” he said. “But more than that, Joaquin and I were raised to have respect for other people. … When I entered public service, I entered it to do good work for other people. And I know that that involves listening to them because there’s an arrogance that develops sometimes with people in public service where they think they have all answers.”
Republicans and tea party activists already have tried to take him down a notch. They say he’s unproven, a self-promoter who favors big government — and scarily resembles Obama in biography and ideology.
“Their families are very influenced by radical, ethnic thinking,” said George Rodriguez, a leader of the San Antonio Tea Party who heads the South Texas Political Alliance, which raises political money for conservative groups.
Criticism
Castro, who worked briefly as a civil litigator in the San Antonio office of the Dallas-founded Akin Gump Strauss law firm, “has never worked in the private sector,” said Rodriguez, who said GOP state policies are more responsible than the mayor for San Antonio’s vibrant economy.
Many have speculated that Obama — who was himself boosted by delivering the 2004 keynote address — chose Castro to speak because he’s long had his eye on the mayor. At a White House meeting nearly three years ago, Obama kiddingly referred to him as a staffer. Another motive may have been the need to inject some youth and energy into the speaking lineup.
Castro, 37, will open the convention’s prime time TV coverage on Tuesday, before a graying cast of Democratic elder statesmen take their turns on Wednesday and Thursday.
Darryl Byrd, a former San Antonio urban planner and real estate developer who heads Castro’s goal-setting civic engagement forum, SA 2020, said that though the mayor is very serious, he has a self-deprecating wit and passion that shine through in speeches.
“It’s not just clear and concise,” he said. “You look around the room, you see young people, young at heart people, people of diverse backgrounds identifying with this less-than-40-something young man. There’s something very special about him that has really resonated.”
Castro’s task as keynote speaker is clear: He’ll warn some of the president’s faltering supporters that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are coming at the nation’s ladder of opportunity bearing handsaws, and that Obama is their best bet to keep intact some lower rungs, such as health care for poor children and good public schools.
Homework first
San Antonio lawyer Frank B. Burney, a leading lobbyist at City Hall, said Castro, as a product of good schools and affirmative action admissions policies at elite universities, is in a perfect position to tell the tale.
“It’s amazing to think that in a little over a generation, you have an immigrant from Mexico producing two grandsons, and one’s a congressman and one’s the mayor of the seventh-largest city,” he said.
Burney, a Castro ally, was referring to Castro’s late grandmother, Victoria Castro, an orphan who emigrated to San Antonio in 1920; and to expectations that Julián’s twin brother, Joaquin, a state representative, will be elected to Congress this fall.
The boys’ father, retired teacher Jesse Guzman, separated from their mother, Maria “Rosie” Castro, when they were 8.
“I couldn’t have raised them by myself,” said Rosie Castro, who recalled setting up a household with her mother, who worked as maid and cook. “She really raised them” while Rosie worked.
The grandmother, though she’d dropped out of school after the third grade, “could read and write in both languages, and she loved to read,” Rosie Castro said.
Victoria frequently read fables and Disney stories to the boys and took them to the library, she said.
The boys, Rosie’s only children, were “extremely rambunctious” and competitive with one another in sports — karate, basketball, football and tennis, she said.
Rosie Castro credits their later academic success at Stanford University and Harvard Law to two household policies. In their first year of school, she offered $1 for each “A” on their report cards; and for each “B,” 75 cents.
And every afternoon after school, “they did their homework first before they went out to play,” she recounted. “They had a lot of internal discipline at an early age.”
Rosie Castro’s leftist politics have shined through in recent newspaper interviews in which she denounced what she calls the Alamo’s purported heroes as “slaveholding imperialists” who wanted to conquer “land that didn’t belong to them.”
But Castro, 65, who runs an academic and career advice center for junior-college students at San Antonio’s Palo Alto College, said she’s not disappointed her boys have gone mainstream.
“Not really, what we were fighting for back then is what they accomplished, which is that everyone would have the opportunity to self-actualize, based on their hard work,” she said.
Accomplishments
San Antonio trial lawyer Sonia M. Rodriguez, a Castro ally and a co-chairwoman of his SA 2020 effort, said the mayor’s style reflects his matriarchal upbringing: A good listener, “he is comfortable with a diversity of thought [and] a collaborative process,” she said.
Civic leaders said his major accomplishments have been to push through a bond issue, promote physical fitness, champion a rebirth of inner-city neighborhoods and pull San Antonio’s municipal electric utility out of the South Texas nuclear project. On Nov. 6, he’s asking city voters to approve a one-eighth-cent sales tax to provide full day pre-kindergarten for poor 4-year-olds.
To former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, who has known the Castro brothers and watched them prepare for public service, there’s only one comparable political act in modern American history.
“I don’t want to put this into the stratosphere of political expectations, but it’s a John Kennedy-Bobby Kennedy relationship,” he said of the twins.
Asked if Julián Castro is on track to be the first Hispanic president, Cisneros, who served in former President Bill Clinton’s Cabinet and faced similar expectations before being embroiled in scandal, said it’s hazardous to predict.
“But I would say Julián is putting all the pieces together — and is certainly in as good a position as anyone of his young generation,” he said.
Follow Robert T. Garrett on Twitter at @RobertTGarrett.
AT A GLANCE: 10 things you should know about Julián Castro
1. He and his twin brother, Joaquin, were born in 1974, in San Antonio. Julián Castro is a minute older. They’ll turn 38 on Sept. 16.
2. He’s halfway through his second two-year term as San Antonio mayor. He can serve a maximum of four, under the city charter, and says he will do so if the voters re-elect him.
3. Castro played tennis in high school and had an offer to play for the Division III team at San Antonio’s Trinity University. Instead, he went to Stanford University and Harvard Law. He said he still plays tennis “every now and then.”
4. His wife, Erica Lira Castro, is an elementary school teacher. They have a daughter, Carina, born in 2009.
5. The brothers were 8 when their parents split, and their mother, Rosie, a longtime community activist, raised them alone. A La Raza Unida poster for his mother’s unsuccessful bid for City Council in 1971, three years before the twins were born, hangs in Castro’s mayoral office.
6. Castro is the youngest person elected to the San Antonio City Council — age 26 in 2001. He served for four years, then lost his first run for mayor before rebounding to win four years later.
7. He and his brother have lived parallel lives, attending Stanford and Harvard together and starting a law firm after Julián’s mayoral loss. But Joaquin, a state representative, is likely headed to Washington, as he’s almost certain to win a congressional seat this fall.
8. The last book Julián Castro read was Walter Isaacson’s biography of Apple founder Steve Jobs.
9. His favorite past president is Bill Clinton, whom he credited for job creation and deficit reduction. “Just a very effective president,” he said.
10. His thoughts on if one can relax before giving the convention keynote speech: “Not really. I’ll be a lot more relaxed after the speech than before the speech.”
San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro brings a life of contrasts into his keynote address Tuesday to the Democratic convention.
He’s shy, bookish and retiring, yet has chosen a life in public service.
Though a red-state mayor, he’s asking San Antonio voters this fall to raise taxes on themselves to fund a pre-kindergarten program.
A nonpartisan officeholder in a city manager form of government, he’s not afraid to tackle extracurricular subjects, such as improving education, and take stands on hot-button issues like immigration, sex education and gay rights.
He’s steeped in San Antonio’s Chicano civil rights movement, which his mother helped lead, but Castro has cultivated both the city’s Anglo-dominated business establishment and its black community. Last year, he won re-election with 83 percent of the vote.
Castro is hyped as a future statewide or even national candidate despite his short resume. The mayor, though, has dug in to solve problems at the local level for most of a decade — and plans to stay there for a while.
“He’s every mother’s successful son,” said Richard Gambitta, retired professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio. “He’s a great politician who happens to be of Mexican heritage. He is transcendent” and very well could run for governor in 2018, a year after city charter term limits would cap his potential eight-year tenure as mayor, Gambitta said.
Americans — and most Texans — will get their first glimpse of Castro in his big moment at the Democratic National Convention. If nothing else, they’ll see a commitment to public service instilled in him and his twin brother largely by his mother.
“I don’t believe that I have all the answers,” he said. “But more than that, Joaquin and I were raised to have respect for other people. … When I entered public service, I entered it to do good work for other people. And I know that that involves listening to them because there’s an arrogance that develops sometimes with people in public service where they think they have all answers.”
Republicans and tea party activists already have tried to take him down a notch. They say he’s unproven, a self-promoter who favors big government — and scarily resembles Obama in biography and ideology.
“Their families are very influenced by radical, ethnic thinking,” said George Rodriguez, a leader of the San Antonio Tea Party who heads the South Texas Political Alliance, which raises political money for conservative groups.
Criticism
Castro, who worked briefly as a civil litigator in the San Antonio office of the Dallas-founded Akin Gump Strauss law firm, “has never worked in the private sector,” said Rodriguez, who said GOP state policies are more responsible than the mayor for San Antonio’s vibrant economy.
Many have speculated that Obama — who was himself boosted by delivering the 2004 keynote address — chose Castro to speak because he’s long had his eye on the mayor. At a White House meeting nearly three years ago, Obama kiddingly referred to him as a staffer. Another motive may have been the need to inject some youth and energy into the speaking lineup.
Castro, 37, will open the convention’s prime time TV coverage on Tuesday, before a graying cast of Democratic elder statesmen take their turns on Wednesday and Thursday.
Darryl Byrd, a former San Antonio urban planner and real estate developer who heads Castro’s goal-setting civic engagement forum, SA 2020, said that though the mayor is very serious, he has a self-deprecating wit and passion that shine through in speeches.
“It’s not just clear and concise,” he said. “You look around the room, you see young people, young at heart people, people of diverse backgrounds identifying with this less-than-40-something young man. There’s something very special about him that has really resonated.”
Castro’s task as keynote speaker is clear: He’ll warn some of the president’s faltering supporters that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are coming at the nation’s ladder of opportunity bearing handsaws, and that Obama is their best bet to keep intact some lower rungs, such as health care for poor children and good public schools.
Homework first
San Antonio lawyer Frank B. Burney, a leading lobbyist at City Hall, said Castro, as a product of good schools and affirmative action admissions policies at elite universities, is in a perfect position to tell the tale.
“It’s amazing to think that in a little over a generation, you have an immigrant from Mexico producing two grandsons, and one’s a congressman and one’s the mayor of the seventh-largest city,” he said.
Burney, a Castro ally, was referring to Castro’s late grandmother, Victoria Castro, an orphan who emigrated to San Antonio in 1920; and to expectations that Julián’s twin brother, Joaquin, a state representative, will be elected to Congress this fall.
The boys’ father, retired teacher Jesse Guzman, separated from their mother, Maria “Rosie” Castro, when they were 8.
“I couldn’t have raised them by myself,” said Rosie Castro, who recalled setting up a household with her mother, who worked as maid and cook. “She really raised them” while Rosie worked.
The grandmother, though she’d dropped out of school after the third grade, “could read and write in both languages, and she loved to read,” Rosie Castro said.
Victoria frequently read fables and Disney stories to the boys and took them to the library, she said.
The boys, Rosie’s only children, were “extremely rambunctious” and competitive with one another in sports — karate, basketball, football and tennis, she said.
Rosie Castro credits their later academic success at Stanford University and Harvard Law to two household policies. In their first year of school, she offered $1 for each “A” on their report cards; and for each “B,” 75 cents.
And every afternoon after school, “they did their homework first before they went out to play,” she recounted. “They had a lot of internal discipline at an early age.”
Rosie Castro’s leftist politics have shined through in recent newspaper interviews in which she denounced what she calls the Alamo’s purported heroes as “slaveholding imperialists” who wanted to conquer “land that didn’t belong to them.”
But Castro, 65, who runs an academic and career advice center for junior-college students at San Antonio’s Palo Alto College, said she’s not disappointed her boys have gone mainstream.
“Not really, what we were fighting for back then is what they accomplished, which is that everyone would have the opportunity to self-actualize, based on their hard work,” she said.
Accomplishments
San Antonio trial lawyer Sonia M. Rodriguez, a Castro ally and a co-chairwoman of his SA 2020 effort, said the mayor’s style reflects his matriarchal upbringing: A good listener, “he is comfortable with a diversity of thought [and] a collaborative process,” she said.
Civic leaders said his major accomplishments have been to push through a bond issue, promote physical fitness, champion a rebirth of inner-city neighborhoods and pull San Antonio’s municipal electric utility out of the South Texas nuclear project. On Nov. 6, he’s asking city voters to approve a one-eighth-cent sales tax to provide full day pre-kindergarten for poor 4-year-olds.
To former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, who has known the Castro brothers and watched them prepare for public service, there’s only one comparable political act in modern American history.
“I don’t want to put this into the stratosphere of political expectations, but it’s a John Kennedy-Bobby Kennedy relationship,” he said of the twins.
Asked if Julián Castro is on track to be the first Hispanic president, Cisneros, who served in former President Bill Clinton’s Cabinet and faced similar expectations before being embroiled in scandal, said it’s hazardous to predict.
“But I would say Julián is putting all the pieces together — and is certainly in as good a position as anyone of his young generation,” he said.
Follow Robert T. Garrett on Twitter at @RobertTGarrett.
AT A GLANCE: 10 things you should know about Julián Castro
1. He and his twin brother, Joaquin, were born in 1974, in San Antonio. Julián Castro is a minute older. They’ll turn 38 on Sept. 16.
2. He’s halfway through his second two-year term as San Antonio mayor. He can serve a maximum of four, under the city charter, and says he will do so if the voters re-elect him.
3. Castro played tennis in high school and had an offer to play for the Division III team at San Antonio’s Trinity University. Instead, he went to Stanford University and Harvard Law. He said he still plays tennis “every now and then.”
4. His wife, Erica Lira Castro, is an elementary school teacher. They have a daughter, Carina, born in 2009.
5. The brothers were 8 when their parents split, and their mother, Rosie, a longtime community activist, raised them alone. A La Raza Unida poster for his mother’s unsuccessful bid for City Council in 1971, three years before the twins were born, hangs in Castro’s mayoral office.
6. Castro is the youngest person elected to the San Antonio City Council — age 26 in 2001. He served for four years, then lost his first run for mayor before rebounding to win four years later.
7. He and his brother have lived parallel lives, attending Stanford and Harvard together and starting a law firm after Julián’s mayoral loss. But Joaquin, a state representative, is likely headed to Washington, as he’s almost certain to win a congressional seat this fall.
8. The last book Julián Castro read was Walter Isaacson’s biography of Apple founder Steve Jobs.
9. His favorite past president is Bill Clinton, whom he credited for job creation and deficit reduction. “Just a very effective president,” he said.
10. His thoughts on if one can relax before giving the convention keynote speech: “Not really. I’ll be a lot more relaxed after the speech than before the speech.”
Monday, September 3, 2012
Lagmay: Quake preparedness should be a way of life
Lagmay: Quake preparedness should be a way of life
- Every year, earthquakes of varying degrees are recorded across the globe, especially in earthquake-prone areas like the Pacific Ring of Fire.
"The earth is alive, it’s not static," UP professor Mahar Lagmay of the National Institute of Geological Studies told ANC.
Lagmay said at least one Magnitude 8 quake strikes per year, compared to 15 Magnitude 7 to 7.9 quakes, and more than 30 with a magnitude of 6 to 6.9.
Strategically located in a quake-prone zone, Lagmay said the Philippines is surrounded by fault lines including the Philippine trench, the Manila trench and the Marikina fault line, which is capable of generating a 7.2 magnitude earthquake.
"The Philippine fault goes all the way from Aparri to Quezon, Leyte, Davao until the Southern Philippines. It is 1,200 to 1,400 kilometers long, comparable to the most dangerous faults in the world, when it moves they move in segments…,” he explained.
A segment of the Philippine trench triggered Friday's magnitude 7.6 earthquake off the coast of Eastern Samar. The tremble was felt as far north as the Bicol region, and in Mindanao.
It claimed one life, destroyed homes and bridges, disrupted power and caused panic among locals. On Monday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said more than 370 aftershocks have been recorded since Friday.
Damage to infrastructure is now estimated at P40 million.
Experts said the scenario would have been dire had the quake's epicenter been closer to land.
Hazards
Lagmay likened it to the strongest earthquakes the country experienced in the past, including the 7.9 magnitude quake that struck the Moro Gulf in 1976 and the July 1990 quake that struck Northern Luzon.
"Because it happened offshore more than 100 kilometers, the impact in terms of intensity and ground shaking was less on land...The depth of the quake was about 34 kilometers. Had it happened on land, the force or impact of the earthquake would've been very devastating,” he said.
Lagmay noted it is not the quakes themselves that kill, but the hazards associated with them.
"Earthquakes per se do not kill. It's the hazards that kill. Many hazards associated with it, such as landslides, fire, tsunamis, ground shaking, liquefaction, ground subsidence...Structures are affected, they fall and might kill people,” he said.
"The more populated an area is, the more urbanized an area is, the more vulnerable people are to hazards. Disasters only happen when people are affected. If we plan accordingly and put in place mitigation measures we can lessen the losses and casualties that would be the impact of the quake,” he added.
Preparedness
Lagmay said earthquake risks can be minimized through proper compliance with strict building standards and by making earthquake preparedness a way of life.
"Because we have all these hazards we should make it a way of life, we are always prepared and alert,” he said. "If there's a strong ground shaking: hold, duck and cover. If you're outside, go to a safe place."
He also said developers should be able to adapt to such kinds of hazards.
"In Metro Manila, we have this rule that you cannot build any structure five meters away from the official trace of the faultline...When you make a project in Metro Manila, you go through a process called the geological hazards assessment,” he said.
He said it is possible to do long-term earthquake predictions, especially in earthquake-prone zones.
Short-term predictions are a different matter, however, he said.
Despite the unpredictability of earthquakes, Lagmay said the chances of a big quake striking is a sure thing.
"It's for sure than an earthquake will happen in the Philippines or a strong one...We just don't know when and where it will take place next."
- Every year, earthquakes of varying degrees are recorded across the globe, especially in earthquake-prone areas like the Pacific Ring of Fire.
"The earth is alive, it’s not static," UP professor Mahar Lagmay of the National Institute of Geological Studies told ANC.
Lagmay said at least one Magnitude 8 quake strikes per year, compared to 15 Magnitude 7 to 7.9 quakes, and more than 30 with a magnitude of 6 to 6.9.
Strategically located in a quake-prone zone, Lagmay said the Philippines is surrounded by fault lines including the Philippine trench, the Manila trench and the Marikina fault line, which is capable of generating a 7.2 magnitude earthquake.
"The Philippine fault goes all the way from Aparri to Quezon, Leyte, Davao until the Southern Philippines. It is 1,200 to 1,400 kilometers long, comparable to the most dangerous faults in the world, when it moves they move in segments…,” he explained.
A segment of the Philippine trench triggered Friday's magnitude 7.6 earthquake off the coast of Eastern Samar. The tremble was felt as far north as the Bicol region, and in Mindanao.
It claimed one life, destroyed homes and bridges, disrupted power and caused panic among locals. On Monday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said more than 370 aftershocks have been recorded since Friday.
Damage to infrastructure is now estimated at P40 million.
Experts said the scenario would have been dire had the quake's epicenter been closer to land.
Hazards
Lagmay likened it to the strongest earthquakes the country experienced in the past, including the 7.9 magnitude quake that struck the Moro Gulf in 1976 and the July 1990 quake that struck Northern Luzon.
"Because it happened offshore more than 100 kilometers, the impact in terms of intensity and ground shaking was less on land...The depth of the quake was about 34 kilometers. Had it happened on land, the force or impact of the earthquake would've been very devastating,” he said.
Lagmay noted it is not the quakes themselves that kill, but the hazards associated with them.
"Earthquakes per se do not kill. It's the hazards that kill. Many hazards associated with it, such as landslides, fire, tsunamis, ground shaking, liquefaction, ground subsidence...Structures are affected, they fall and might kill people,” he said.
"The more populated an area is, the more urbanized an area is, the more vulnerable people are to hazards. Disasters only happen when people are affected. If we plan accordingly and put in place mitigation measures we can lessen the losses and casualties that would be the impact of the quake,” he added.
Preparedness
Lagmay said earthquake risks can be minimized through proper compliance with strict building standards and by making earthquake preparedness a way of life.
"Because we have all these hazards we should make it a way of life, we are always prepared and alert,” he said. "If there's a strong ground shaking: hold, duck and cover. If you're outside, go to a safe place."
He also said developers should be able to adapt to such kinds of hazards.
"In Metro Manila, we have this rule that you cannot build any structure five meters away from the official trace of the faultline...When you make a project in Metro Manila, you go through a process called the geological hazards assessment,” he said.
He said it is possible to do long-term earthquake predictions, especially in earthquake-prone zones.
Short-term predictions are a different matter, however, he said.
Despite the unpredictability of earthquakes, Lagmay said the chances of a big quake striking is a sure thing.
"It's for sure than an earthquake will happen in the Philippines or a strong one...We just don't know when and where it will take place next."
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Life term for 32 in riot case
Life term for 32 in riot case
A special court which had on Wednesday convicted 32 people, including a former woman minister, for killing 97 Muslims in an industrial suburb here during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, sentenced them to life imprisonment on Friday.
While 53-year-old Maya Kodnani, who was the junior minister for women and child development in the Narendra Modi government, has been awarded a 28-year jail term, Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi has been sent to prison till death.
Seven of the 32 convicts have been sentenced to 21 years' imprisonment, 22 others will serve minimum 14 years in prison, and one convict is absconding in the largest single case of mass murder during the bloody Hindu-Muslim clashes.
Kodnani, a Sindhi gynaecologist, will first serve 10 years in jail for her conviction under Sec 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means). After this, her 18-year life imprisonment under Sec 302 (murder) and other sections will begin, though the jail sentences usually run concurrently.
The special court judge, Jyotsana Yagnik, who had recently walked through every affected lane of the Naroda Patiya locality inhabited by 800 poor Muslim families, observed that
Kodnani was a legislator (of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party) at the time of the genocidal violence and deserved a harsh punishment. The judge, who had acquitted 29 of the accused in the case, also asked the state government give Rs500,000 to a Muslim woman who was gangraped when Hindu rioters, some armed with swords and pistols, attacked and burnt alive 97 men, women and children in five hours on February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train fire incident in whichm59 Hindus were killed.
On the fateful day, the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad had given a call for a state shutdown to protest the Godha deaths and the appeal was supported by the Modi government.
Kodnani, a three-time MLA from Naroda area, who was considered to be close to Modi, is the first woman and first MLA to be convicted and jailed in a post-Godhra riots case.
Kodnani and Bajrangi were held guilty under sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 302 (murder) of India Penal Code (IPC) and the prosecution had sought the maximum punishment of death sentence for all the convicts. Lawyers of the convicts had, however, had sought leniency from the court.
As many as 327 witnesses, comprising eye witnesses, victims, doctors, police personnel, government officials, forensic experts and journalists including Ashish Khetan, who conducted a TV sting operation on the accused, were examined by the court. Initially, 46 people were arrested by the Gujarat Police, whereas 24 more people were nabbed after the Supreme Court handed over the probe to a special investigation team in 2008.
A special court which had on Wednesday convicted 32 people, including a former woman minister, for killing 97 Muslims in an industrial suburb here during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, sentenced them to life imprisonment on Friday.
While 53-year-old Maya Kodnani, who was the junior minister for women and child development in the Narendra Modi government, has been awarded a 28-year jail term, Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi has been sent to prison till death.
Seven of the 32 convicts have been sentenced to 21 years' imprisonment, 22 others will serve minimum 14 years in prison, and one convict is absconding in the largest single case of mass murder during the bloody Hindu-Muslim clashes.
Kodnani, a Sindhi gynaecologist, will first serve 10 years in jail for her conviction under Sec 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means). After this, her 18-year life imprisonment under Sec 302 (murder) and other sections will begin, though the jail sentences usually run concurrently.
The special court judge, Jyotsana Yagnik, who had recently walked through every affected lane of the Naroda Patiya locality inhabited by 800 poor Muslim families, observed that
Kodnani was a legislator (of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party) at the time of the genocidal violence and deserved a harsh punishment. The judge, who had acquitted 29 of the accused in the case, also asked the state government give Rs500,000 to a Muslim woman who was gangraped when Hindu rioters, some armed with swords and pistols, attacked and burnt alive 97 men, women and children in five hours on February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train fire incident in whichm59 Hindus were killed.
On the fateful day, the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad had given a call for a state shutdown to protest the Godha deaths and the appeal was supported by the Modi government.
Kodnani, a three-time MLA from Naroda area, who was considered to be close to Modi, is the first woman and first MLA to be convicted and jailed in a post-Godhra riots case.
Kodnani and Bajrangi were held guilty under sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 302 (murder) of India Penal Code (IPC) and the prosecution had sought the maximum punishment of death sentence for all the convicts. Lawyers of the convicts had, however, had sought leniency from the court.
As many as 327 witnesses, comprising eye witnesses, victims, doctors, police personnel, government officials, forensic experts and journalists including Ashish Khetan, who conducted a TV sting operation on the accused, were examined by the court. Initially, 46 people were arrested by the Gujarat Police, whereas 24 more people were nabbed after the Supreme Court handed over the probe to a special investigation team in 2008.
Lochte confirms own fashion line
Lochte confirms own fashion line
Ryan Lochte has confirmed he is launching a fashion line - which he'll show on a new reality TV show.
The Olympic star's dress sense has garnered almost as much attention as his swimming. Now the London 2012 Olympic Games are over, he has been sifting through the work offers he has received.
There has long been speculation Ryan might bring out a fashion range and the 28-year-old has now opened up about his debut Ryan Lochte Clothing Line and attempting to make a career out of television work.
"I'm in talks with the E! Network at the moment," Ryan told Celebuzz.com. "It will pretty much follow me of my normal day of just training and my new fashion line. It's gonna be me, me being myself and I'm just pretty much gonna show the world that and my new fashion line."
Ryan wore an unmissable custom made red, white and diamond encrusted teeth grill as he showed off his gold medal on TV during the recent Olympic Games. It is not known if the piece will feature in any future clothing line attempts.
Ryan has taken home 11 Olympic medals during his career.
Ryan Lochte has confirmed he is launching a fashion line - which he'll show on a new reality TV show.
The Olympic star's dress sense has garnered almost as much attention as his swimming. Now the London 2012 Olympic Games are over, he has been sifting through the work offers he has received.
There has long been speculation Ryan might bring out a fashion range and the 28-year-old has now opened up about his debut Ryan Lochte Clothing Line and attempting to make a career out of television work.
"I'm in talks with the E! Network at the moment," Ryan told Celebuzz.com. "It will pretty much follow me of my normal day of just training and my new fashion line. It's gonna be me, me being myself and I'm just pretty much gonna show the world that and my new fashion line."
Ryan wore an unmissable custom made red, white and diamond encrusted teeth grill as he showed off his gold medal on TV during the recent Olympic Games. It is not known if the piece will feature in any future clothing line attempts.
Ryan has taken home 11 Olympic medals during his career.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)